Are you a NO PHONE ZONE??

Does anyone else watch Oprah EVERY day like I do??

I LOVE her for her strength, and her determination. She brings up topics that are tabou, and others would never DREAM of bringing up. I first meet Oprah when I was young. My mother watched Oprah when we were kids, and I only liked watching it when she had NKOTB on. It was a daily ritual. My mom would watch Oprah, then get up and make dinner for us. It was like her release from the world, and I never understood it until I started watcing Oprah for myself.
What I admire most about her right now is that she has the NO PHONE ZONE pledge. Have you heard of it?? She wants EVERYONE in america to know how STUPID it is to be on your phone texting or talking while you are driving in your car. Sit back and THINK about that... people are behind the wheel driving other people around not paying full attention to what they are doing! It is illegal to be on your phone here in California, and I LOVE IT! We are allowed to use the Bluetooth Headset's however if we need to. But REALLY people?? Do HAVE to talk to that person right now?? What makes YOU so important and that CALL so important??
PEOPLE HAVE DIED!! TEXTING DRIVERS HAVE KILLED THEMSEVES! If you are not wanting to take the NO PHONE ZONE pledge I don't want you on the road!! My children are more important that the phone call. PULL OVER if you must talk! I took the pledge today! I printed my Pledge out and signed it... google it up, and sign the pledge for yourself.

The last few weeks she has been asking her guest's to sign the pledge, or makes a comment about remembering to sign the pledge. Lately she has been sharing stories of people who have died because of cell phone use in the car. These stories have touched me, and made me realize NO CALL is THAT important! PLEASE join the Pledge!! YOU CAN SAVE A LIFE! ~ Possibly your own...

PRESTON BRYAN ANDERSEN ~

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STUD!

He is my FAVORITE brother! And I can say that without offending anyone! My little bro turns 16 today! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?? I remember when he was born, and how much I loved him then! It is amazing that I can say I love him more now than ever!

It was having a little brother that made me want a little boy so bad! I got so used to the girl babies, that I REALLY wanted a little boy of my own! He was a calm, chubby baby, and was just TOO cute to let go!

Everyone feels sorry for him because he had 5 sisters to "help" raise him... let me tell you... this kid has it made! I feel sorry for his wife having to TRY to get along with all of us! :)

Preston is a Sophomore at Natomas High School, and plays every sport he can get his hands on! He plays football and baseball for the school, but he also plays soccer on a rec team outside of school. He is getting good grades because he wants to get a scholarship for College. He is preparing to finish his Eagle Scout, and also preparing for his mission.

He is the BEST uncle any kid could EVER ask for! Hailey LOVES playing with Preston. She thinks he is the ultimate because he will take her out on the trampoline or to the park! He is so sweet and kind with children, I know his wife will have a GREAT future companion with him.

He is currently on "bed rest" because of an unexpected health issue. His Freshman year of High School he developed a small bump on his forehead above his eye. The doctors thought it was a cyst, and they were going to remove it. When he went in for the surgery, they did not find a cyst... they realized it was an overgrown out of place artery. Artery's that are in your head are under the skull, and for some reason his is WAY out of place. The Dr. said he was lucky to be alive because if this artery was to burst, he would die within minutes. Hearing this made me VERY worried about my little brother. My big sister instinct kicked in, and I just wanted to protect him! He will be seeing an eye specialist on March 5th, and hopefully we will be able to figure out what to do to fix the problem. During the mean time he is not able to play sports or get too excited... our daily prayers are constantly blessing him and the Dr's to know what to do. It is so sweet when we kneel down at night with Hailey and she says to Bless Uncle Preston...

We know that he deserves the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER because it is his 16th, but we also hope he can take it a little easy! :)

We love you SOOOO Much Preston!

We hope all your wildest dreams come true!

HAPPY SWEET SIXTEEN! ~

Private??

Should I make my blog private??
I have been thinking about this because I have children, and I use their names. I could go back through every post and change the names or I could make my blog private... THOUGHTS??
I would of course invite all my current friends and future friends to read my blog, but I guess I am beginning to worry about all the CRAZIES that could be reading it...
I have LOTS of family that reads it... would they have to open a Blogger Account to read it then?? HELP!

Oh Canada ~

Anyone who is ANYONE knows about these babies...

Hailey is modeling the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Special Canada Gloves.

They have been SOOOO hard for people to get apparently, Oprah had them spotlighted on her show. Of course Oprah was able to get her hands on a pair (and a pair for everyone in her audience) but if you did not GO to the Games in Vancouver, you would have a hard time getting a pair of your own.

Matt's Dad had a co-worker go to the games, and he asked her to pick up a pair for "All the Women" in his life. You would not believe my surprise when they showed up on my doorstep! THANKS DAD!

YOU REALLY KNOW HOW TO MAKE A GIRL FEEL SPECIAL!

As you can tell... we love them! They coordinate very nicely with my snuggie... I think I might have to use them with it! :)

P.S. Hailey has a red pen in her mouth... and this is me before hair and makeup... :)

Ode to my Mother ~

~HAPPY BIRTHDAY~

Mom

Grandma

Whatever it is you are called by the

MANY people who ADORE you...
Your FIRST adoring fan is Hailey. Hailey LOVES to call her and talk to her on the phone, and asks us often when we get in the car if we are going to see Grandma and SharShar. (Sharon my sister) Just the other week Hailey got her suitcase and dressed herself and was waiting by the front door to "GO GO GO" When I asked her where she wanted to Go, she said " To Grandma, and Grandma's and Shar-share and Preston." It was TOO cute... yes, she calls Grandpa Grandma too! We hope she will sing Happy Birthday to her when we call tonight...

And her is her next adoring fan... Landon. He likes her because she takes good care of him when we go places. He thinks Grandma Andersen is SO funny! When he was a baby she could get him to giggle just by talking to him! It is so fun when we go to visit to see how excited the kids get to see their Grandparents.

And this is my mom at her best! Giving Hailey a TREAT after dinner. My kids are SO spoiled by my mother, and I appreciate it because I remember being spoiled as a kid by my grandparents and how much LOVE I felt!

My mom is AMAZING! She can cook ANYTHING! She can mend any clothes that need it! She can make anything! She is such a helpful and loving person, no wonder she has so many crazy fun friends!! I know if I need help with anything I can give her a call and she is there ready to help in any way possible! THANKS mom!!

And of course her last two adoring fans are Matt and I... we are ETERNALLY in DEBT for all the love and help you have given us! She has been supportive of everything and anything we do from day one! THANKS A BUNCH MOM! WE LOVE YOU TO PIECES!!

I hope my mom is able to relax and enjoy her birthday! We want you to know that we love you SOOO much mom! We hope ALL YOUR WILDEST Dreams come true!! Have a safe and fun Birthday weekend!

HOMEMADE APPLE PIE! ~

So my friend Lauren Baker is AMAZING! We are SO lucky that they live so near to us. When we moved, we slowly moved ourselves even farther from our friends, but the Bakers moved even closer to us! WE LOVE IT! Anyways the reason why Lauren is so amazing is because she brought THIS over to our house last night for dessert...

HOMEMADE APPLE PIE!!

She has been going to school at the Institute of Technology in Clovis. She is doing her Culinary Degree program, and this was the FIRST thing she made at school. Let me tell you... it was AMAZING!! She left what SMALL leftovers we had after we all pigged out! I am VERY excited for her to have us TASTE TEST things in the future! :) Don't you love her in the picture... I told her to smile, and this is what she gave me. YEAH LAUREN GO GIRL!

COULD YOU HAVE EVEN GUESSED THIS....

So after making a big deal about practically LIVING at Kaiser this last week...
We got home from church today; I was stirring the crock pot, and Matt was putting our bags on the table. I hear a crazy crying and then a THUMP...
I turn around to find Landon laying face forward in the middle of the floor with nothing around him... what could have happened... Hailey is NO WHERE in sight to have caused this...
As I walk over to him Matt is picking him up and all I see is BLOOD... EVERYWHERE...
(the first thought to cross my mind is UGH ... REALLY... we are all in our nice church clothes... and I JUST did laundry...)
He bit through his upper lip and the blood was non-stop... Matt and I are both in shock. We are trying to strip the nice clothes off the kid, and calm him down and assess the damage. I freak out because I think he has bitten through his upper lip and hit tooth is stuck... I can't really see because blood is just all over the place...
We jump back in the car and rush over to the Clovis Kaiser only to learn that they do not provide Emergency Medical Care... that would have been nice to know earlier... no wonder there were no cars in the parking lot!
We are already out of the car because Landon was not having it being in the car seat. He just wanted someone to hold him. Matt and I are looking at each other like "WHAT DO WE DO NOW??" I hate feeling helpless... especially when it is my kid that needs me to help them! Matt grabs his paci and while I am holding him looking around like What Now He falls asleep on me...
Did this kid who just bit his lip just fall asleep??
We wipe up the blood a little more... the kitchen cloth I grabbed to used is no longer white... it is now full of blood. Matt looks in his mouth again because the bleeding is slowing to see if we can figure out if this is really serious, or just going to have to heal on it's own.
You know when you go to the Dr. and you pay the co-pay and they tell you... Oh we'll just wait and see... YEAH I saw that scenario happening here. We decide to go home, and luckily the kid stayed asleep and we were able to see that it was not all the way through like we thought. It was pretty deep, but not all the way through. After calling the call center to confirm my fears, if the bleeding has stopped and the kid is sleeping and it was not all the way through the skin we are good to go. Just watch him extra close she said... PHEW!
I mean we did take another trip to the Hospital, so that my friends is trip number THREE for this week. I only have two kids... how does this happen??
Prayers that we will not need Kaiser's services anytime soon would be GREATLY appreciated! ;)

Soccer Game ONE

Our new Stake has a Co-Ed Soccer Team. You can not even imagine my excitement after hearing this news! REALLY? We did move to the right area! The coach recruited me after I gave my talk in Sacrament Meeting stating that one of my hobbies was soccer. The coach is also our Home Teacher, so he would have found out sooner or later.

I made sure to tell him that I played 10 years ago in High School, and I have had two kids since and am VERY out of shape. It was funny because he announced that to the team right before the beginning of the game. It was a fun way for everyone to get to know us a littl more. We are still new to the ward, and we feel like we are meeting people every week. It was nice to see some of the ward members outside of church.

I got to start as Center Forward. This is the same position I played in High School. The first half was fun, we were just getting into the groove of the game, and the score was tied 1-1. I am realizing that I need to run a little more when I am running in the mornings because I am getting quite winded. (mental note for Melissa) Now this is "Church Ball" so you are going to assume that it is going to be a nice friendly game... NOT the case. I should have guessed it would go sour, but I always hope that people can bring their A game to the plate...

The other teams true colors began to show right before the second half. They had two girls playing defense that I heard after the game had played soccer in High School and College. They seemed to be nice girls, but ONE of them turned out to be a BULLY. I guess some people think it is ok to try to play the game and make all the calls. We did not have real Ref's there for the game, so this other nice lady was being the ref. Her husband was suposed to me in charge and was not avaliable for some reason, so she stepped in. Well... she had NO clue what was going on in the game. I am not sure if she was not paying attention, or if she really did not know the rules to the game. EVERY time the ball went out she called it for the other team... because the ONE girl was "making her calls" ... When it was actully suposed to be our ball, I would speak up, but besides that I did not want to look like a "know it all" even though I have played and I know how to call a game too...

Anyways... fastforward to almost the end of the second half... it was after a corner kick I believe and we had cleared the ball. Matt was running to clear the ball even more forward and I was running maybe a yard to his side and 10 feet ahead of him. That ONE girl is coming from behind Matt heading towards the ball too. Matt goes to kick the ball, and ends up kicking her foot. Matt backs off putting his hands in the air like "My Bad" and the girl swings her hand around and punches Matt in the chest. My jaw dropped! I am standing there like did I just see this girl HIT my husband? And it was not like she was "flailing" and hit him on accident... that girl WOUND up and SOCKED my husband. I started yelling at the ref that the ONE girl needs to be out of the game. So she kicks both of them out to "cool off" Matt at this point is like "What did I do?" The ONE girl is still running her mouth, if I was 50 lbs. heavier and back in High School I would have been running my mouth RIGHT back at her. I am glad I have grown up a little bit from my angry High School Days!

We lost the game which made it even worse because I am thinking now this girls feels even more justified about hitting another person. They had two of our guyes playing for their team... they REALLY helped them out. After the game I STILL hear this girl talking about how she was just running and his chest must have gotten in the way. We'll let me put it this way; I was RIGHT THERE, I saw the whole thing unfold. It was like I had a front row seat to the madness. And because Matt is my husband, one might think I would be a little biased. But if I have to go into tell the Stake President about this... I am not going to LIE! This girl has been a bully the past years they have played soccer. We have heard this from MULTIPUL people out of different wards. Our coach is going to escilate this, and wants this girl to know that it is NOT ok what she did.

Matt told me today that he understands her getting upset and all, but she did not apologize after hitting him. We all do things in the heat of the moment that we wish we could take back, but you have to admit... grown people don't HIT other people. And if your first reaction when you get angry is to HIT someone... YOU have issues. We learn not to hit as children. I am working on that with my 2 year old. This lady looks to be in her 30's and is obviously still learning this lesson.

To make this story even better... our daughter was playing in the sand with her daughter... haha. And they were having a GREAT old time, I love how kids are able to get along!

What really scares me is that she has kids... does she hit her kids when they make her angry? I have heard she is a great mother, and a nice person off the field and I hope this is the truth. But being a nice person off the field does not make it ok for you to HIT another person ON the field.

Anyways... we are going to continue to play for our ward soccer team. Matt has a sour taste in his mouth about the whole situation because it's like she can get away with whatever she wants. Someone needs to call this girl out, because she has proved from past years to all our team members that she is just a bully. All our team members came up to Matt after the game and apologized that it went down that way. We hope someone can get through to this girl that it is unacceptable to act the way she did. We'll keep you posted! :)

Lets hope next week is better than the first week!

Do you feel this way too??

If you head to the Hospital, and think GREAT how much is this going to cost... I feel like I should just opened my wallet and tell Kaiser to TAKE IT ALL, WHATEVER YOU NEED!!!

I had to take Landon to get all his 12 month crap done... vaccines, and all! They also had to check his Iron levels... OH little man is Anemic... that is a shocker! I know he just went through a "skinny faze" because he did not want to eat much, but he is obviously having a growth spurt now because the kid is a bottomless pit!! I guess me being Anemic when I was pregnant with him has something to do with it. Great, that makes me feel better... off to pick up that medication.

THEN, I had to take Hailey to check out her ears. The night before she kept holding her ear and saying "I have a boo boo!" I thought she might have PUT something in there, LUCKILY that was not the case. After getting it checked out by the Dr. the next day... exactly what I had expected, the dreaded Ear Infection. She got LOTS of these when she was a baby, and I know exactly how to treat it. The Dr. said this time it was normal because she is getting over a cold... so yet another medication I have to pick up...

So after TWO hospital visits, a LAB visit, and TWO Pharmacy visits... all in one week mind you... I feel like Kaiser is my second home! Not to mention I will have to take Landon back to the Lab for a second test after his medication to see that he has improved... :) Thank goodness we are able to take care of our kids when they are sick! And Thank Goodness I had Matt to help with the madness of GOING to the Hospital with two kids. Oh, and THANK goodness for good health insurance, that is something I will NEVER skimp on!!

Valentine's Weekend ~

Sick Kids do not make a Valentine's Weekend much fun! After our Snow Trip (see last post) the kids just stayed at a "steady sickness level"

I left the sicko kids at home with Matt, and went out with a few of my girlfriends to Jimbo's. I needed to get a break from the throw-up and tantrums. Jimbo's is a Country Bar on the corner of 168 and Herndon. The first time my friend talked me into going there I thought I was going to die laughing... it is just an old farm house that has been added too, and all kinds of people hang out there. There are young college kids, divorced crazy women, Old Farts, and funny looking Line Dancers! The Country Line dancers took over most of the floor, luckily for me; Megan and I had no problem making FOOLS of ourselves for a good time. I have now gone three times, and I have to admit every time I go we get even more crazy, and have even more fun!

The reason we go is to support our friend Bobby J. He is in a Country Band called Hillbilly Rockstar. I meet him through the Cluff's. Travis and Bobby have LOTS of funny stories, and I just knew he would be a fun guy! Anyways... we have WAY too much fun there! I am sure we are the ONLY sober people there, and we LOVE people watching. Our favorite things to do is imitate other dancers on the floor, bring back the OLD SCHOOL moves, and break it down like we are in a HIP HOP Club. I am SURE we get lots of looks, but for the most part people LOVE us. We get comments ALL the time from girls that wish they were as outgoing as us and could just let go... after they have a few drinks in them they usually join us! HAHA! We just go to have fun and release from everyday worries.

Hillbilly Rockstar plays once a month, and we have just made it our ritual Girls Night Out! Some months we have a group, sometimes there is just three of us... no matter what we are there to have a good time! We are always looking for people to come and experience the fun with us, so if you want to make a complete fool of yourself let us know you are SOOOO invited! :)
So I got home just before 2:00 AM, (I know I know, nothing good happens after midnight... but I got a free t-shirt, and I am not a teenager anymore) Matt was asleep on the couch watching The Winter Olympics. I tried to quietly go to the room and change for bed, but Hailey woke up and wanted to sleep in my bed. I was so tired I let her stay... I was OUT FOR THE COUNT, and woke up to my whole family in our bed. GOOD thing we have a Cal King bed huh!? After I went into the bathroom to wash my face, I heard Hailey coughing. Not just like a little cough, she was really having a tough time. I am one of those parents who HATES when other parents bring their sick kids to Nursery, so I knew one of us would be staying at home today with Hailey. Then Landon woke up, and he started with his coughing... wait WHAT? BOTH kids are coughing up a lung? GREAT! HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ME!!!

We lounged around with the kids, and wished we could have gotten out of the house for church, but not wanting to be "those parents" we knew we needed to stay home. The nice thing about the kids being under the weather was that they both napped for a good while. Matt and I talked about what we wanted to get each other for the big Valentine's Day, and we agreed on a movie we both wanted to see. We got Goal 2, a sequel to one of our favorite movies Goal. It is a soccer movie, and we are glad we watched it. It was a GREAT watch! I told him we would go after the Holiday was over and get our candy fix at half off... I LOVE getting candy 50% off right after the Holiday. This is a new tradition we do... it just makes sense! :)

Matt made French Toast for Breakfast... the kids loved having a warm breakfast! For lunch we did easy sandwiches and did a little picnic on the front lawn because it was such a beautiful day. For dinner I made Chicken Broccoli Casserole, and the kids ate that up too. It was nice to see them eat because that meant their sickness was not too bad.
We really enjoy spending time together as a family. That is exactly what I would have wanted my Valentine's Day to be like... (minus missing church and sick kids) I am SO thankful for my husband who lets me escape and have fun with my friends, and who can also show me a good time just us together! I look forward to MANY more Valentine's Day's with my hubby! Quite Literally my Little Love Bird! ~