Count Your Many Blessings, Name Them One by One

Dylan in his "blessing" outfit (2 months old).

Kaleb in his "blessing" outfit (4 months old).

As I stop and reflect on 2007, I feel very fortunate and truly blessed! I'm married to the love of my life and best friend, have two healthy boys that make my day every day, a wonderful family and fabulous friends! I love the saying that goes something like: friends are the family you get to pick yourself, because that's how I feel about all of you! Other things I am thankful for: our beautiful home, our health, the internet that keeps me close to faraway family & friends, the cooler weather (finally!), that we get to go "home" for Christmas to Oregon this year, soft, green grass that is actually growing, new couches in our family room (I REALLY hated our old ones), that Ben has a job he enjoys and allows me to stay home with my boys, the country we live in and the freedoms that we enjoy, answers to prayers and the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.

We had a Thanksgiving lesson for FHE tonight and sang some Thanksgiving songs... the infamous Murdock "Gobble" song and some new ones we learned from Jen at Music Makers. Afterwards, Kaleb told us what he was thankful for. This is his list: our family, friends, Dylan, Daddy, Mommy, Kaleb, bugs, bugs again, cows, friends, house, mini cookies, toys, scriptures, turtles, ducks, the zoo, tigers, lions, monkeys, the park, and friends again. Can you tell our little guy is a bit social... he sure loves his friends! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Let's get down...weigh down!

Let's get down...weigh down!

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!
SO I MADE THIS LIL DANCE OFF "MOVIE" TO CELEBRATE THE END OF MY FAMILY'S BIGGEST LOSER COMPETITION AND POSTED IT ON OUR B.L. BLOG. KALEB & MY NIECE, HAYLEE, LOVED IT SO MUCH, I THOUGHT I'D SHARE THE IDEA (FROM MON) HERE. IF YOU HAVE KIDDOS, THEY GET A HUGE KICK OUT OF IT! KALEB WANTS TO WATCH IT OVER & OVER...ENOUGH SO THAT IT GOT HIM TO EAT HIS DINNER LAST NIGHT (WE'RE ALL ABOUT BRIBERY).

MY FAMILY & I HAD SO MUCH FUN "LOSING IT" WE'RE GOING TO START "SEASON 2" ON JAN. 1. IF YOU NEED OR WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT, THIS IS SUCH A FUN WAY TO DO IT! WE'VE BECOME A LOT CLOSER (WE LIVE IN 4 DIFFERENT STATES) & ARE A LOT HEALTHIER BECAUSE OF IT. BEN'S GETTING COMPLIMENTS AT WORK ALREADY & I'M FINALLY FITTING IN A LOT OF MY PRE-PREGNANCY CLOTHES...WAHOO!

I'M IT!

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago
1) Living with Kell in the WORST apt. ever in Provo (ah the memories & frantically looking for a place to live mid-semester)!
2) Starting my Elementary Ed. program at BYU and loving BYU football & men's volleyball
3) Really becoming friends with my brother, T!
4) Writing Ben on his mission.. AS FRIENDS! He was always trying to get me to meet him at the Provo Temple or the airport though, but I was playing hard to get!
5) Flying home for Thanksgiving and almost missing my flight...Our ride to the airport fell through, we got stuck in crazy traffic after leaving late and T and I had to book it down the entire SW wing to the very end of the terminal carrying our luggage. NUTS! (and you know we both brought home all our dirty laundry so that luggage was hefty!) I think this was also the beginning of our Sour Cream & Cheddar with Peanut M & M's travel snacks...thanks, T!

5 Things on my to do list today
1) Aerobics with Krista
2) Music Makers with Kaleb & friends
3) Mommy & Me preschool meeting at the park
4) Make sloppy joes...sloppy-sloppy joes for Ben (his new fav!)
5) Cuddle my sweet baby boy

5 Songs I know the lyrics to:
1) Sh-Boom (Life Would Be a Dream from CARS)
2) Love is Spoken Here (Primary Song)
3) Kokomo (The Beach Boys) Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama! All the way to AZ and back. :)
4) When You Say Nothing At All (Alison Krauss)
5) Island in the Sun (Weezer)

5 Things I would do with a million dollars
1) Pay off debt
2) TRAVEL! Hawaii, Bora Bora, Italy, Australia, Jerusalem, the entire US, the list goes on and on!
3) Buy a few homes... one really nice dream home near family and a beach house for sure!
4) Buy an entire new wardrobe!
5) Invest so Ben could retire!

5 Things I say every day
1) I love you!
2) You're SO cute!
3) What do you want for breakfast/lunch Kaleb?
4) Be soft, scoot back (K is always smothering D)
5) When are you coming home?

5 Favorite Toys
1) My jogging stroller/roller blades...watch out!
2) My computer... wish it was a laptop, but oh well!
3) My Cell Phone
4) My Kitchenaid mixer
5) My Durango... but would love it even more if it was clean and had a DVD system :)

5 People I'm Tagging
1) Jen
2) Jenna
3) Shannon W.
4) Emilie
5) Cindy

and anyone else who would like to share!

BACK TO SCHOOL!

My friend Jilly tagged me! I can never hear those words w/o thinking of Billy Madison & my brother, Jonny! BTW Jill, we're too much alike! ;)

*Devise a list of 5-10 courses you would take to fix your life. It’s more fun to be in classes with friends, so include one class from the person who tagged you that you’d also like to take. Tag five.*

So here it goes.
Religion/Scriptures 301: I loved my religion classes at RICKS & BYU and also the institute class Ben & I took together while we dating. I have so much to learn and really enjoy going deeper in the scriptures and learning from others.

Sewing 101: I really had NO interest in sewing while growing up... I think it skips a generation. My mom majored in home ec and is an excellent seamstress, so I wish I would have learned more from her. Good thing she visits all the time and is always up for a project!

Haircutting/Styling 201: I have three boys and their hair grows so fast! I don't dare touch their hair (but Ben does!) I'm not really a hair/makeup girl, but would like to be! I always love seeing hairstyles of those who know how to change their look with just their styles. I also already feel bad for my future girls since I have NO skills! Help, Babs!

Ballroom Dancing 101: This is the class I'd love to take with you and Paul, Jill! I can totally see you two dancing together all dressed up! I love watching Ballroom dancers, Dancing with the Stars, and that Richard Gere/J. Lo movie (can't remember the name). It looks so graceful and fun... a great way to exercise, connect & have fun with your spouse! Mon... are you ready to take us on?!? First I'd have to talk Ben into it, of course! ;)

Italian 101: I took German in high school and Spanish in college and don't remember much if any of it! I'd love to speak Italian... mostly because Ben does and I love it when he speaks in Italian... so romantic! We've been to Italy once and would love to go back on trips, or even live there temporarily.

Pottery 101: I always wanted to learn to throw pots and never had the chance in high school or college! Maybe when my kids are in school and Ben's out of school!?!

Photography 101: Another one of those fun classes I never had time for. At least this is one you can play around with on your own w/ or w/out formal instruction. Ben and I like to pretend to be artsy-fartsy sometimes. Digital cameras also let you play with your shots which is fun!

I am tagging Babs, Mon, Bobyn, Terra, Kell or anyone else who wants to play!

More Kalebisms

Super Kaleb has a super smile!

Giggling Madly!

Lately, Kaleb's been really interested in Superman... he's been watching the old school cartoons, and has his dad's Superman poster hanging in his room. I think there's also a new PBS cartoon called Super Readers that he likes. We sometimes call him Super Kaleb and Dylan Super Baby. Tonight as we were reading scriptures together (the kind with pictures for Kaleb) he saw a picture of Jesus and said it was Super Guy. Ben said, "Are you sure?" He then said it was "Super Jesus." :)

We've also been working on getting Kaleb to fall asleep on his own. He's used to being cuddled to sleep by Ben or me. Our trick is to tuck him in, sing a few songs, then tell him we'll be back to check on him. He's pretty tricky himself and tries to get one of us to sleep with him by being super sweet, going in for a hug, and then "wrestling" us down beside him. The other night he yelled that he needed something...we're thinking water, the bathroom, all the usual ploys to get out of bed. Ben goes in and asks what he needs... K's response, "I need Mom." Aaah....how can you resist that?!? Somehow I did that night, but there's a reason he's 2 1/2 and still getting cuddled to sleep.

This one's for Mom & Uncle Ron! Today we were rocking out to Sh-Boom on Kaleb's CARS CD, while stuck in traffic. I was singing along as usual and Kaleb told me, "No Mom, don't sing that part!" My mom once hit her brother with a frying pan for singing "her song" when they were kids and doing dishes together! Too funny... I guess some things never change.

Kaleb has also been very "needy" lately. I need to go to the park. I need to watch cartoons. I need to play stamps. I need to have a lollipop, etc. Whenever I tell him no, his first response is, "But Mo-om, I NEED to." Sometimes I think I have a teenager stuck in that 2 year old body of his!

The Man Rules...

Ben rarely, if ever, emails me...but if he does it's almost NEVER a forward. Well that all changed today! I just had to share and laugh about this one... of all the hundreds of emails he sees in a week and all the time he spends in front of a computer, this is the one that is noteworthy enough to pass along to his lovely wife! :)

I thought that these were pretty good. Remember to laugh!

Ben

The Man Rules

These are our rules!

Please note.. these are all numbered '1 '

ON PURPOSE!

1. Men are NOT mind readers.

1. Learn to work the toilet seat.
You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down.
We need it up, you need it down.
You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Sunday sports It's like the full moon
or the changing of the tides.
Let it be.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want.
Let us be clear on this one:
Subtle hints do not work!
Strong hints do not work!
Obvious hints do not work!
Just say it!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do.
Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument.
In fact, all comments become Null and void after 7 Days.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one

1. You can either ask us to do something
Or tell us how you want it done.
Not both.

1. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during commercials..

1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings.
Peach, for example, is a fruit, not A color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched.
We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say 'nothing,' We will act like nothing's wrong.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, Expect an answer you don't want to hear.
1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine... Really .

1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as Football
or Tools

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!

1. Thank you for reading this.
Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight;)

Ranch Tooth

So we've been dieting lately and in an effort to keep food fun for us, I've been trying new recipes each week. For some reason two weeks in a row, my new fav. has had ranch as a main ingredient. It reminds me of that dumb "ranch tooth" commercial. Anyway, thanks EG for the yummy recipe and Stacie & Monica for compiling our fabulous M4 cookbook! :)

Lion House Ranch Chicken

4-6 chicken breasts
3/4 c. crushed corn flakes (I used total whole wheat flakes)
1/2 c. melted butter (I used egg white)
ranch dressing dry packet

Mix the ranch dressing packet with the crushed cereal flakes. Dip your chicken in the egg white, then the cereal/ranch mix and place on a sprayed baking dish. Bake at 350 for 40-45 min. ENJOY!!!

TRICK or TREAT!?!

Kaleb... the "scary pumpkin."

This is mad dash #2 of the day! I'm in my PJ's because Dylan and I were going to be a "baby shower." (I had robes and shower caps for us to wear, but Dylan slept through the whole party.) We got showered on anyway!

"I'm sad... I had a bad day!"

The day before Halloween we had a party at the park for our coop preschoolers. It was a party to remember! What we had planned: cake walk, doughnut on a string contest, costume parade, followed by yummy treats. Well, the trick was on us! We had to switch parks because the one we had planned on using was being used and there were no tables left. After getting a late start and having all the food on the table under a ramada, the sprinklers came on and instead of hitting the grass, the sprinkler heads had been changed to point directly at us and all the food we had set up! We made a dash to save babies, toddlers, video cams, cell phones, food (you get the picture) and moved it all to a bench away from the sprinklers. Well the party must go on, so we start doing the cake walk in the grass, when of course.... the sprinklers hit us again!!! It was hysterical! Good thing we live in Phoenix where it's still 90+ degrees and the water was quite refreshing. We ended up just visiting, eating, and letting the kiddos play.

Kaleb has become quite adventurous and is trying to keep up with the kiddos that are a year or so older than him. He fell twice, once getting sand all over and inside his "scary pumpkin" costume... the second a hard fall on his bum after falling from the monkey bars. He had so much fun, I could hardly get him to leave, but on the way home he told me, "I'm sad. I had a bad day!"

The next day on Halloween he told me he didn't want to wear his scary pumpkin costume, because he'd already worn it the day before with his friends at the park. We weren't sure if he was going to be a pumpkin, bee, ghost, or cowboy until about 30 min. before our Trunk or Treat party! He had so much fun this Halloween we had to pretend it was Halloween for FHE tonight. He also told us, "I LOVE candy!" He's just TOO cute!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Fun on the Farm!

Last Friday we went on a family outing to Mother Nature's Farm in Mesa. We had a great time and it definitely helped us get in the fall spirit, even though it was in the low 90's that day. Kind of funny that we have to drive from rural Maricopa into the city to find a pumpkin patch for the kiddos! Kaleb and Ben picked out a pumpkin and decorated it. They also enjoyed a tractor ride and a bouncy house while Dylan and I chilled in the shade. Dylan's little outfit says "on the farm" but you can't really tell from the photo... he slept most of the time we were there.