Turkey Day, etc...

Last weekend we took the kids to the new mall. Every time Brayden sees Build-A-Bear, he begs. And begs. I always say, 'not till your older' (so you will appreciate a $40 stuffed animal!!!) or 'lets wait till Dadda is here with us'. Well he asked, we were all there, and he is old enough now. Right when he walked in he grabbed the Rudolph. He loved stuffing it, and giving it a heart & a bath. Sorry but our Rudolph got a bell collar & no special clothes (thats where it gets extra pricey!) It never ceases to amaze me, anytime I am at the mall, there are parents carrying 2,3,4 Build A Bear boxes! Well when we went to print his gift certificate, I asked him what his name would be, presuming it would be Rudolph.. but no. He insisted on Bambi. I love a kid who marches to the beat of his own drum. Right when we got in the car, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer was playing..too perfect. Then he requested to go home, "bake sugar cookies and make my Christmas list." Then he sat in front of the TV and every commercial that came on, it went on the list! He is feeling the holiday spirit, for sure! He has not let Bambi out of his sight either. He IS appreciative and grateful, so it was worth it.

We had another lovely turkey day. We went to Jer's parents & then to my Dad's. Yes we do 2! We used to do 3 until my Mom moved! It is nice to have family so close, and most definitely I am grateful for that... its just a little overwhelming come the holidays. It feels like we never get to sit still. I have one complaint, I didn't eat any pumpkin pie!! WHAT!? And I LOVE that stuff!There were just too many sweets to choose from & I cant just have a little of all of it, makes me sugared out... so BUMMER! I chose a chocolate pie not knowing that I would be sacrificing the pumpkin! NO! Anyways... the morning after Thanksgiving, Brayden woke me with a sweet request, "Can we please put all the Christmas decorations out?" Nothing like an excited 5 yr old to get your butt in gear! We put out all the stuff minus the tree and then Aunt Erika came over for a "sleepover." Which he has been begging for weeks. Jer and I got a romantic date night to In-N-Out and to the grocery store. It was actually fun and necessary, so fine by me. Thanks Erika!
Saturday, my Mom and Clay came down so I spent the day with my Mom and Uncle Chase came over to play with the boys. Brayden was in heaven with his young Auntie and Uncle all in one day! Saturday night we had a get together at my Mom's Mesa house. Sunday came and after 8:00 church, I retaliated by taking 2 blissful naps! I gave Brayden the choice of Grandmas house, or stay home & get out the Tree, well of course he chose the Tree! I told him we would have to decorate tomorrow but he hurried and stuck on all his favorite ornaments. Such a fun weekend! I told Jer, I don't ask for much but I would like to request 4 day weekends from here on out...it was so nice!

What the heck happened last night?

I hope I'm not the only one that was left jaw dropped after last nights Final Rose Bachelor!! I can't believe he didn't choose either one! But really, how lame is it that you hardly really get to know anyone on that show. Which is why Brad is by far my favorite Bachelor of all time. He is the only one who tells it like it is & has a grip on reality. So, he never fell in love with any of them....of course that's realistic. Just because he had so many to choose from does not mean his one true match was among them. What I couldn't believe, however, is that he didn't even want to "see where it would go" with either of the girls! Just "SEE-YA"! Ouch! That's gotta be a low blow to Jenny & Deanna. But, GO BRAD! I support him all the way!

My 7 randoms

Finally finishing the tag that I started oh so very long ago, yes its taken me this long to come up with anything of interest. What a reality check, I am so not interesting!

1. I have a really good memory about certain things, or as my Sis would say, "A Mind like an Elephant!" I don't think she is a fan, nor is Jer at times :) Working on this guys. But it is extra handy for certain things, like I know pretty much any phone # by heart, even if I've only seen it once. I remember every word to my first recital song, "floppy was a rabbit." I was only 4 years old!

2. I won 2nd place in the Spelling Bee in 5th grade, I was especially disappointed at myself because the word I missed was disappoint! (I added an extra 'S')
Oh.... and I won 3rd place in an Emeril Recipe Contest about 2 years ago, for submitting an Eggplant Parmesan, my all time fav recipe from my Mom, and I won a really nice set of kitchen knives! Thanks Emeril, and thanks Mom!

3. I was a total tomboy from 5th grade to 8th grade. I'm talking over sized T-shirts, shorts, and high top Nike's with knee high socks everyday. A sight for sore eyes... And I played football & basketball everyday with all the boys in my neighborhood.

4. Speaking of 8th grade...I pretty much lived my entire 8th grade year in fear. A hardcore gangsta girl from my English class, whom I never even spoke to (okay, maybe thats why?) anyways, told the whole school she was gonna beat me up for no reason except 'she just didn't like me'. I ended up writing her a letter apologizing for whatever it was that I didn't do, and then she was totally NICE after that. I guess a random apology can go a long way! But for years any sight of a "Rollin Hard" shirt (remember those?!) would make me quiver!

5. I was dead set on moving to San Diego to pursue my dream of becoming a Shamu trainer at Sea World. I wanted to move to Cali, work at Sea World & be single till I was 25, until someone came along and changed all my plans!

6. I am obsessed with balance. I am constantly doing the 'Posse Releve' position on one foot around the house. Even when I am cooking, getting ready, and even in the SHOWER! Weirdo.

7. I CANNOT properly function for the day unless my feet have been lotioned, and especially NO SHOES can go on my feet until then.

melts my heart...

I was just tucking Brayden into bed & I told him I loved him. Then he said, "I love you too, you cute little momma." Awwwww :)

R.I.P. Wario...

What the heck is the deal with the short life span of goldfish anyways! Yup, Brayden's brand new goldfish already decided he was ready for the after-life. Cop-out! We found him floating a couple nights ago. Brayden didn't even seem sad at all. The next day he asked me where the dead body was and I told him Daddy had to flush it because he was dead. He looked at me with a disturbed & angry look & yelled, "BUT HE'S SUPPOSED TO GO TO HEAVEN!!!!!!!!!" Poor Bray, he acted like we robbed poor Wario of his chance to meet his Maker. So then I had to explain all about bodies & spirits, I explained to the best of my ability that we all have bodies but once they don't work anymore & die, our spirit goes to heaven & the body is left behind. He asked a few more questions, but overall I think it made perfect sense to him.

This whole conversation I was having with him rang a bell for me. When I was little, maybe 6ish, we had 2 hamsters named Chip & Dale. (Britt, memory lane?) Well anyways, one or maybe it was both that died, and my sister and brother were crying & I remember so clearly my Dad pulling me aside, and asked me why I wasn't crying. I remember telling him that I knew they went to Heaven. Random I know, funny how certain things bring you back & trigger your memories. It was all sounding so familiar when I was talking with Brayden. Anyways... Mario & Luigi are still going on strong so we'll see how long they last!

My mom came down this weekend & I spent the day with her on Saturday. We went to lunch at Carraba's & went to check out the new mall. Not sure how much I like the outdoors part of it! Well especially since we were still sweating in mid November! Today Brayden had his Primary Program at 8 am. I was absolutely dreading this new time, especially since we had to be up by 6:15 to get there early. It was cold and dark. Yuck. Jeremy's Mom and sis & bro came to watch. How sweet of them, especially (for teenagers) to sacrifice sleeping in for Brayden! Then he had to give the talk in Primary, busy day. It was about being thankful for blessings. He did a great job, I love how he doesn't get nervous at all. Lucky! Then we had Brunch at our house with Jers family. I have to admit I loved having the rest of the day left. It felt like the day lasted so much longer. Later after naps, we went to Jer's parents house so Jer & their home teacher could give his Dad a blessing. As many of you know, Jer's dad has been sick for about 8 years. He is an excellent example through it all, and I don't think I have ever heard him complain. Anyways, he is getting surgery tomorrow morning for a replacement shunt. And we are hoping & praying it will improve his health. He is a trooper. I love so many things about the gospel, but I especially love how it is designed so that we are all taken care of by Visiting Teachers and Home Teachers. And of course for the power of blessings. After the Blessing, Brayden said, "ok, my turn!" They do have an incredible Home Teacher.

Last but not least, I am constantly trying to switch up Kosty's bedtime lullabies, so he will stay interested/distracted! Anyways, his favorite as of now is "I Know Heavenly Father Loves Me." (click on the link). For the life of me I could not remember the end of the song, I was making up different words every night, so I got on lds.org and they have all of the Primary songs with the music and the lyrics! Phew, now he doesn't have to suffer with my own crazy rendition. I love technology!

oh no she didn't...oh YES she did?!!

I am seriously unsure if this post is a good idea, in fact I KNOW its not, but as painful as it is, I need this in writing as part of my documenting the "VERY BADS" in life.

On Monday, the little girl I babysit for was over (Lauren). The kids were in the back yard when Brayden screams, "LAUREN POOPED ON THE GRASS!" What? No way- is what I was thinking. Obviously he found some dog poop in the yard?? Right? Please?? No. I walk out there to find Lauren pulling up her pants with the guiltiest look on her face... I walk closer...and closer...in sheer horror... there it is, oh my gosh, yes she DID POOP on my grass! Horrified & disgusted, I told her to go wipe & wash her hands twice. Then I called her MOTHER. What in the world did I do to deserve such a surprise? By the way, this was after she dumped half the fish food in the fish bowl, cut her hair with the kid scissors, then she decided to go for the glory and top off the day with her own version of fertilizing my lawn?

To her credit, she told me she had a stomach ache & had to go 'real bad'. So I guess if we are looking at the "bright side", (JER!) I am "lucky" it wasn't on my carpet. Jer walked in during the commotion & started laughing hysterically... I'm glad he took it so well since he's the one that has to "get rid" of IT!

some slimy, slightly stinky new additions...

I have been procrastinating the day for as long as humanly possible, yes I delayed & made as many excuses as I could... but the day finally came. Brayden has been begging for a PET for a quite some time. I have been telling him for who knows how long, that he needs to show me how responsible he is first. He has been patient & dilligent & he kept his word. His room has been virtually spotless for months. Poor kid! I am so not a pet-person.

Even though a fish doesnt really count, its the closest I could get, and even then I dreaded the arrival. His great grandma sent him $10 for his birthday & I gave him the option to get whatever he wanted... he picked a pet fish. So I took him on a date, we got gelato & then went to pick some new pets. His excitement made me it all worth it. He was completely giddy all night. Oh to be a kid again... I love how the simplest things can just make them so happy. He picked 3 fish, and he named them Mario, Luigi, and Wario. While we were at the register, he said, "Maybe we should send Grandma Judd a thank you note, and tell her that we spent the money on my fish." Sweetness. The part I hate the most is cleaning the bowl, so gross, and it smells... but dangit, he deserves those fish!