I'll take the Fifth(s)

Oh, poor Amanda and Mommy! We have Fifths Disease! The crazy thing, if you don't know much about it, is that by the time you show signs on Fifths, you aren't contagious anymore. Amanda had bright red cheeks on Saturday and Sunday and then had a rash all over her body on Monday morning. On Tuesday, I took her to her doc just in case they needed to test for strep, but he confirmed Fifths. I woke up with a rash on my arms and ankles and thighs yesterday and it's itchy! Other than feeling a little under the weather, that's all we have to deal with. Luckily, (or hopefully if someone hasn't announced anything yet) we weren't around any pregger gals. Amanda went back to school this morning with long sleeves! I hope no one makes fun of her because of her rash. I told her not to show anyone because they won't understand. It is a pretty dramatic rash.

On a happier note, we finished decorating the tree last night. Lots of help from our little ones. Brandon is especially excited about the snowmen ornaments and he sings 'Go Utes!' when he sees our Utah ornaments! I love seeing how excited the kids are about Christmas! Maybe the whole house will be decorated by the first of December and we can relax and enjoy the season!

All About Me Trees

Since both grandparents are out of town this Sunday (and we aren't visiting), we promised the girls we would start decorating for Christmas. Well, the girls' anxiousness this day could not be matched by anything but maybe Christmas Eve! Finally, we found their room trees and set them free to decorate. They just invited me in and this is what they said. "These trees are all about me!" And they proceeded to point out certain ornaments or favorite things on their trees!

Amanda

My name is Amanda

My favorite color is red

I love Utah (University of)

I love Santa

I love bears and bells and bows

I like dolphins

I like dogs

I like bears in tubs and cartoons of bears

I like Pinocchio

My favorite celebrity is Hannah Montana

I like My Scene

Sydney

I like playing with my friends

I like bunnies

My favorite celebrity is Gabriella

I like My Little Pony

I love loving one another

I love snowmen

I love Santa

I love the American flag

I love My Scene

I love Christmas trees

I love snow

I love red

I love purple

I love putting stars on the Christmas tree

I love SharPay

I love dogs

I love myself

Well, Mike and I LOVE our girls!

Thanks for a fun memory to start the season! XOXO

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is how we spent Thanksgiving!

We hope all our friends and loved ones had a GREAT Thanksgiving! We missed our parents and siblings. But, we had a GREAT time in St. George with Kris & her boys and had a

GREAT turkey day spent with the Flowers!

Dish Duty! Good job Mikey & Kev! Back to the hot tub after dinner!

A little football with Brock. Brandon would run back and forth as they tossed the ball around! He was a big boy playing football with the boys!
Look at Corvin catching some air! And check out that view!
Brandon was done with the swimming!

We took the kids to see the movie "Enchanted"... Mike spent most of the movie outside with Brandon, so he could pretend to play the video games. Kris' boys were rolling their eyes a lot. I guess it really wasn't a good boy movie. Our girls loved it!

Turkey Day was spent making Grandma Hook's special rolls and when they were done, we headed over to Bud & Kay's house. The kids LOVED swimming, even though it really wasn't that warm outside. Bud did heat up the pool and hottub so the water was toasty. The kids had a great time with their cousins! My kids love Staci's kids so much! And they loved seeing Hayden again. Super yummy dinner and we planned a shopping trip for the morning.

Unfortunately, Tate was really sick, so Staci didn't make it shopping, but Kris and I found some GREAT deals and I checked quite a few presents off my list! YEA!

We packed up and headed home on Friday afternoon and were in temperature shock as we made our way back home! YIKES!

Our little UTES!

We had to be home for our Ward Rivalry Breakfast on Saturday morning. It went GREAT! Good turn-out, especially for a holiday weekend. The Utes sang their fight song the BEST! Too bad it didn't help them win the game....UGH...let's not even go there. We put signs up all over the neighborhood before the breakfast (Nicole's idea) and after the Utes lost, our cougar friend sent us an e-mail with a little smack....continued to today, but nothing we couldn't handle! ha, ha

To get past the depression, we went to dinner with the Francis'....to a new place in Centerville. Good food, terribly slow service! We love the Francis' and had a good time with them! By the way, the terrible cold I had...turned into my first ever Sinus Infection! Ouch! (I'm feeling for you now, Kat! The drive down to St. George was very painful as I felt every elevation climb and descent in my head, face, teeth!)

(I made my first poster for our next activity last night. One down, one to go!

My stress level just went down a little!)

Above all, we felt incredible gratitude for all our blessings. We are particularly thankful for our marriage and our children. We are grateful for our parents and our siblings. We are grateful to be members of our church and all the knowledge that it brings to us. We are blessed to be born in America and to enjoy the things we do. We are blessed with good friends and many opportunities. We are blessed that Mike is employed and are grateful for his employers. We are grateful for this time of year that we get to reflect on our life and remember how wonderful it is!

A thought

I remember hearing this at conference once and I just found it on my cousin's friend's blog: Enjoy!

Women of God can never be like the women of the world.
The world has enough women who are tough;
we need women who are tender.
There are enough women who are coarse;
we need women who are kind.
There are enough women who are rude;
we need women who are refined.
We have enough women of fame and fortune;
we need more women of faith.
We have enough greed;
we need more goodness.
We have enough vanity;
we need more virtue.
We have enough popularity;
we need more purity."
Margaret Nadauld

The Utes and the Flu!

Thank Goodness for those flu shots! The kids and I all got what we thought were killer colds this week. BUT! It was really the flu. We know this because Mikey (who didn't get his flu shot) has the full blown flu and is completely wiped out! Poor Mikey....

We did, however, get him some flu meds so that we could go to the football game today. We had all 4 of Grandma and Papa's tickets since they are in New Zealand. We took the kids....and just imagine how much fun that was....NOT! They were good while they had dippin' dots and licorice, but once that ran out.....it was short of torture for me. At the very end of the 3rd quarter I took the car keys and told Mike I was just going to walk them around. We did walk around, went potty, and then went to the car and waited for the game to end. Mike said he debated leaving early to come find us, but decided to stay (sounds more like the old Mike, right Darin? Die-hard fan), and I was glad he stayed. I wanted him to be able to enjoy the game. It was a great night for football. The weather was amazing for mid-November! And chalk up a 'Dub-ya!"

I love naptime!

My sweet little boy came to me a minute ago and said, 'Mommy, I so tired.'

And so we laid down on my bed, we snuggled and he was out!

I love his sweet face

especially when it's quietly sleeping!

SEP's and more

We had the girl's SEP's this week (for old school people like me...it's parent/teacher conf.) and we are so proud of our girls and the great work they are doing at school! Both teachers said they are a joy in class and they can't do any better! I did laugh at Syd's teacher because she told me that 'Sydney' could read every day without skipping days....and I thought..She's giving ME the assignment! Reading everyday has nothing to do with Sydney~it's the Mom's responsibility! So, I have a goal for next term! Wish me luck.



And now...we have killer colds! Our friends have had this cold and it gets better the second day, but today I feel crappy!

Out of an airplane window

We picked Mike up from the airport today. He'd been in Denver for a couple of days. After he got in the car and said his hellos and passed out the kids their treats, he told me about the experience he just had. I won't tell it as well as he did, but I think it's worth repeating.

He got on the plane in Denver and just happened to notice a military man sitting in the front. He didn't think anything of it, just noticed him. Later, when the plane landed in SL, he looked out the window to see a cart being wheeled up to the plane. He thought to himself that it was a strange looking luggage cart and watched it for a minute. Then, he saw the soldier who had been sitting on the front row, down on the tarmac near the cart. It hit Mike then.

The soldier was escorting a fallen soldier home.

He sat and watched as people gathered on the ground, flight crews stood still and the soldier saluted. He watched as the fallen soldier was brought off the plane onto the cart. When Mike looked around the cabin, he realized that only he and 2 other men had seen what was happening and had stayed on the plane. As he caught the eye of another passenger, the man said, 'I'm waiting for him to get off the plane before I go.' Mike said, 'I am, too.'

I was in tears as he retold the story and was feeling sad that an announcement hadn't been made to the rest of the passengers about what precious cargo had been brought home today. I know that given the chance, all the passengers would have waited to get off the plane out of respect for this soldier who paid the ultimate price.

Just another reminder of how many things we have to be thankful for.

Flu Shot Wednesday

I took my kids to their pediatrician's office to get flu shots tonight. The mention of this caused great anxiety in the girls. Brandon, of course, didn't know what he was in for. We had to wait for a minute at the doctor's office and I have learned that anxiety makes our kids hyper! They were running around the office, Sydney was saying 'Oh no you did'unt' and making the office gals laugh. Finally, our cute nurse, Eldean called us back to give the kids the shots. The girls went first and then Brandon. After he was done, he looked right at Eldean and said, 'That really hurt.' He repeated this about 4 times looking at Eldean! When we went to check-out and get stickers, Eldean followed us out and he told her one more time, 'That really hurt!' That got all the office gals laughing! Very cute moment!

Good news with my Dad. His angiogram went well and they didn't see any blockage or problems. Thank Heaven! At one time thought I would stop and visit him tonight, but after how the kids acted at the dr.'s I knew that wasn't happening!

I have finished painting my nightstands! Yippee! I don't know how it happened, but today I had an hour to go out and paint! Maybe they'll be in place when Mike gets home. I need some cute lamps. Any suggestions?

And, per Kat's request....here is another stress-relieving giggle thought:
"I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president." -- Hillary Clinton commenting on the release of subpoenaed documents.

Ok, one more:
Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life." -- Brooke Shields, during an interview to become spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign .

Just a stress reliever thought

I'm feeling stressed right now. Lots of different things all going on at the same time. Normal, right? I spent my free hour today passing out the donation party flyer to the neighbors. Added a couple more piano kids (and my friend, Nicole) for lessons today. Mike is leaving town. My Dad is having an angiogram in the morning. I have 3 ward/stake parties I'm preparing for right now. Had to vote. Must help kids with spelling words (Amanda's teacher gave them 50 words this week...is she nuts?) And my list goes on and on and on. Probably not much different than many of your lists.

So, I got a stress relieving giggle today when my good friend, Sharon, sent me an e-mail of people saying 'not so smart' things. I just had to post one today...maybe two. Enjoy!

(On September 17, 1994, Alabama's Heather Whitestone was selected as Miss America 1995.) Question: If you could live forever, would you and why? Answer: "I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever," -- Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss USA contest .

"Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff." --Mariah Carey

A few good things!

First off, MATER scratched the door to tell us he needed to go out and potty! This is HUGE! He's almost a year and stays outside most of the time because he CANNOT BE TRUSTED not to pee in my house. We have really been working with him lately and today he was a GOOD BOY! He must have figured out that it's more fun to be IN the house! Let's hope this keeps up.
Second, I got our bed painted. I know you are thinking, 'Isn't she done with that project?'

Well, NO!

But the bed went better than the previous pieces of furniture. The nightstands are still in the garage halfway done. That is this week's goal. I wanted to get the bed done so it could dry while we were in Park City....and that plan actually worked! YEA!

Finally, the guy we hired to fix our water problem came on Friday with his tractor and dug out what he calculated would fix our problem! So, Mike just has to level it and put new sod down and we should be flood-free! Please keep your fingers crossed for us!

Happy Halloween!

Can we get going?

Our neighborhood has a fun tradition of meeting before trick-or-treating in someone's garage and having dinner. Then, the kids hook up, the parent who is manning the door for treats dashes home and 'let the games begin!'

I usually man the door at our house. This year was fun because it was light out when everyone started! And warm! Brandon didn't wear his costume. He loves Thomas, but it wasn't happening! Amanda took off with her friends and we didn't see her for a couple of hours. Sydney went with Daddy and B and Francis'. We had soooo many kids! I went through 10 bags of candy! Since it was warm enough, I sat out on the steps and handed out the candy. Mater helped me, but I had to keep getting his nose out of the candy bowl.


I went to Sydney's classroom earlier on Halloween and helped with the party. Our school didn't allow costumes this year. I was really bummed and don't quite get the reasoning, but wasn't upset enough to stir the pot!


The, sickness hit our house! Amanda came down with a fever on Wednesday night, but luckily it was gone Thursday and she went to school. I volunteered in Amanda's class Thursday morning and Sydney didn't want to go to the gal I trade babysitting with so I took her. Just as we were about to go home, Sydney told me she really didn't feel good and we ran outside just in time for her to barf in the playground garbage can! You know, I can handle a lot of things, but throw-up gets to me.

She stayed home from school (obviously) and only got sick one more time, which was good because it was also my night to host Recipe Group. Our theme was apples and we had a great time! I'll have top post some of the recipes on my sis-in-laws recipe blog that I'm supposed to be contributing to! (Sorry, Hill!). http://recipesyummyrecipes.blogspot.com/


Everyone was better by Friday and we took the kids up to Park City for the night. We had a relaxing time and went to see 'Bee Movie' which is pretty funny!