Lilly Tidbit

Lilly loves to get her nails painted, loves to hold baby dolls, hold purses, push strollers but due to the fact she has an older brother just 2 years older than her she also loves to pretend she's a superhero.

Busch Gardens

We went to BG with my friend Karen and her kids since they're only here a few more days. I actually had and used my camera! It was pretty overcast and rainy today but we still were able to stay for a long time and do almost everything we like to do (i.e. everything in Dragon Land, see the tigers, and see the bats). It started pouring when we got over to the motorcycles and airplanes which dissappointed a couple little boys but they got over it fast since they were pretty tired themselves.

Jackson and Arden

Lilly cruising, or not. She's gotta learn to keep her eye on the road.

Lilly, again.

Jackson.

Maya(aka "Mayita") and Karen's body (sorry Karen!) and in the background Jackson trying to get away from a crazy little boy who sat squirting little kids, and got the biggest kick out of it, for the whole 20 minutes we were there.

He looked something like this.

If you know who he is can you please tell his parents that he's in the water area of Jungala.

I'm a slacker

I know, I know I've been slacking at blogging. The problem: I haven't taken any pictures. And I didn't want to post without any pictures. But here are some amazing pictures my amazing friend (can I say amazing enough?) Amy took on Fourth of July (which, by the way, was the most fabulous and fun filled day). And, yes, I know my kids aren't extremely clean in these pictures but thats what happens when they have a ridiculous amount of fun. FYI, Dirty Kids = Entertained and "Go to Bed Easy" Kids. And for those of you who care this is what I did last week minus pictures: We went to Busch Gardens. We went to the beach. I ran my third 5k this summer. My friend Karen and her two kids came up and visited. We went to the beach, again. I had a great Sunday, which is a miracle because all my Sundays for the past month have been emotional and physical CRAZINESS! This week: I'm planning a lesson for RS - which I totally stress about, everytime I have to do one. I'm getting ready for Laura, my sis, and her fam to move down here on Thursday and they will stay with me for a week before they move into their new house - 15 minutes away (YAY!). Looking forward to Breaking Dawn coming out on Saturday where me and some gals will be celebrating by going out to lunch. And of course, I will be going to the beach.

Attention friends of Jason

Jason checked himself into this facility a week or two ago. Feel free to write letters of encouragement , support, or just to say hello. The address is located at the website. I'm sure he would appreciate anything since he'll be there for the next 40-50 days.

Goodbye, TV!

I've put down the remote at night and picking up books, instead. This might just be a summer thing since there is absolutely no good TV on (except for Project Runway, that is). But while I'm on this kick I'm on Goodreads.com. Please join it and add me as your friend. So far I only have one friend, Lisa, who was the one who told me about it. It's really fun because you can see what we're both reading and what we want to read and our reviews on everything we read. I love it!

New Neighbors

A week ago these guys showed up on our block. I thought they were just passing through but they have been out every day since they showed up and I think they're going to be here a while. Especially since our whole block takes turns feeding them throughout one day. I have been taking the kids out after dinner and they love it. After our bread is gone, Jackson likes to chase all the ducks away but one, usually the smallest, and asks if we can keep it, and then he cries when it runs to catch up with the rest of the group. This is him trying to coax the duck back. But they're long gone and Jackson knows he can try again tommorrow and convince the "baby" duck he wants to live with us. So as we're walking back in the house we then have to watch our step so we don't step in this....

or this....

or this....

I know's its gruesome I just wanted to paint the whole picture.

It's a fun little ritual we have going on - I'm curious to how long they will be here, if they're just "summer birds" or what. Speaking of ducks, how cute is this one?

Walmart boycott!

Location: WalMart
Time: 9:30 PM
Event: My sister and I were trying to find a pair of sunglasses for me in the sunglass area of the store. We had tried on a few but didn't like any of them so we set one of the pair we didn't like down at the bottom of the tray/shelving part. Approximately 30 seconds later, I hear someone jingling their keys close by. I look up and there is this Walmart employee with her hands on her hips just two feet away, jingling her keys and glaring at us.

Me: I'm sorry, do you need to lock up these sunglasses?
Walmart lady: No, I'm just waiting so I clean clean up the mess ya'll just made.

Sister: We only put down one.

Walmart lady: I'm still gonna have to clean it up.

Me (while picking up the sunglasses we put down plus some more): Don't worry, I'll get it. What was you name?

Walmart lady: Charisma.

Charisma turns away and walks back over to her boyfriend.

What I really wanted to do was slide my hand down the sunglasses letting them fall to the floor and walk away but hindsight is always 20/20. Instead I put down all the stuff I was about to buy, went straight to Customer Service where Bette Jo told us the best course of action was to fill out a comment card. So thats just what we did. We really stuck it to them. I wrote something like "I wish I had gone to Target, instead" (yeah, I know, what a burn). So I'm going to boycott Walmart, atleast for little bit, they do have amazing low prices.

I'm done with my books, so...

Last week I went to upstate NY for my oldest brother's engagement party. His fiance's family lives up there and they had a big soiree for everyone up there who might not be able to attend the wedding down here. And while I'm on the subject, his fiancee is so amazing. I'm so excited for them and the day when she is officially part of our family. This is the pair of them with her parents, who are also, of course, amazing people.
So, I caught a 10 am flight on Saturday and was back at home the next day at 7 pm, Sunday. Just enough time to meet up with my sisters, who drove all the way from SC and VA, go to the party, sleep and then catch my returning flight home. A lot of great things happened on the trip, though. I got this fabulous pictures of my and my siblings, minus my younger brother who lives too far away :(. I was able to spend a lot of time with my nieces and nephews. Aaron took me and the older kids on a tour of the woods behind Claud's house where there was an Indian burial ground ... so cool, but too creepy to take any pictures of the actual graves - isn't that off limits?. AND, on the returning flight they bumped me to a later flight (I was supposed to get home at 3 pm) and gave me a free round trip ticket and I got to sit in first class on the way home AND it gave me just enough time to complete my book. Overall a fantastic trip. I missed my kids and wished they were there but I also enjoyed the longest time I'd ever been away from them. The biggest thanks to Laura, Debbie, Anna, and Brandon for keeping my kids alive - you guys are the best! So anyone have any ideas where I should go for a REAL getaway!?

I'm in love.

Everbody has been recommending this Twilight book of the LDS author Stephanie Meyer. It didn't sound that amazing to me but after so many random people mentioning it to me I decided to read it on my 24 hour trip to NY. That was on Saturday and today, Tuesday, I'm in the middle of the third book. So any free time I want spend reading so I will do a post about my trip when I'm done obsessing. I have never read anything that has been so entertaining to read. So thats MY recomendation now ...read these books!