One of the joys of spring....the lizards are back, which I completely forgot about until I heard the door open yesterday and Alex scream, "Mom, look what we caught!" This little lizard was kinda freaking me out. It kept opening it's mouth like it was wanting to eat or chew at something so after a few hours hanging out in the lizard cage, I talked Alex into letting this one go.
Alex enjoys taking his friends to the mountains (which are a few streets behind our house) to hunt for lizards. We have a cage in our basement that he keeps them in and feeds them until he decides to release them in the wild.
I have some serious catch-up to do with my poor neglected blog. For my few faithful readers, keep checking back to see what we've been up to the past few months. Hope you all enjoy this lovely Spring weekend.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Lizard Hunting Season has begun
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
And the winner is....
Thank you, thank you to all of you who took time to vote and comment on my blog! I used the "random number generator" and the winner of my $100 scraptastic, blogtastic giveaway is.....
Congratulations! Come over anytime to get your free stash of scrapbook stuff!
And, I'm feeling generous today, so for anyone that left a comment and/or voted for Aliza, come on over and you can have $10 worth of scrapbook supplies. Can you tell I'm wanting to get rid of our excess inventory? $10 will get you plenty (especially since we've been selling the paper at a mere 10 cents/sheet and stickers at 25 cents/sheet). If you need my address, email me at payrollplus@msn.com. Thanks again!
Thanks to all of you!!…ALIZA won the Nick Jr Super Fan of the Year Contest!
A HUGE Thank You to everyone who voted for our 4-yr-old daughter, ALIZA! We want to personally thank each of you for taking the time to vote and getting your friends & family involved in this contest.
Aliza was so excited to be named the winner…..She was smiling and running from room to room. She doesn’t realize what she has won, but we are excited to see her reaction to whatever arrives from Nickelodeon.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
We truly are amazed at how many people jumped on board to help Aliza win. Whether it was the competitive nature of the voting process, the fact that she’s a local girl or just how close the race was, you all stepped up and made this happen and we hope you had as much fun as we did throughout the process.
We’ve been flooded with emails & stories about people who went to public libraries, to friends & neighbor’s houses and people who went to their local schools to vote. There were several teachers who involved their students in computer labs who voted at school and then from their home computers, and people who called all of their friends & family members to encourage them to vote. A special thanks to all of you who forwarded emails to your contacts. We received votes across the nation from Washington DC, Wisconsin, Texas, Utah, Colorado, Alaska and likely others we don’t know about.
As Dora the Explorer always says, “ WE DID IT! WE DID IT! WE DID IT! HOORAY!”
Click here to see the results:
http://www.nickjr.com/home/super-fan-contest.jhtml
We’ll keep you posted about the par-tay!!!
* For being named "Dora's biggest fan" in October, she received $80 worth of Dora merchandise including: Dora princess dress, computer game, stickers, Dora doll and the walking Pegasus horse. 
Thursday, March 5, 2009
VOTE for ALIZA! + BLOGTASTIC GIVEAWAY!
I am asking a HUGE favor! Please vote for Aliza each day from now until March 24th. You may vote once per day per computer. (So if you have more than one computer at your house or work, please vote from each computer every day).
Click here to vote. This will take you directly to Nick Jr's site. Scroll through the pictures until you see this picture.
To give you an extra incentive to vote, if Aliza wins the super fan of the year, I will randomly pick a winner from comments left on my blog and I will send over $100 of scrapbook products & supplies to a lucky winner. And if you pimp me out on your blog, leave a comment for a 2nd entry to win.
So for each time you vote, please leave a comment. THANKS a ton! Please pass this on to all of your family & friends.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Weekend Update
Our life right now is literally surviving the tax season. On Saturday, I enjoyed a Mother Daughter Tea Party with Ashley & Abbey at our church for Activity Days. We had breakfast and then each girl paid tribute to their mom. Here's the sweet notes that Ashley & Abbey read to me.
On Sunday, Alex received the priesthood & was ordained to be a deacon by his dad, Jason. Alex got his first chance to collect fast offerings on Sunday and will be going to do baptisms for the dead on Friday. I'm so grateful that both he & Jason have the priesthood. I honestly wouldn't be here today if if weren't for a priesthood blessing given to me by my dad when I was 2 1/2 years old (I'll save the story for later since I'm out of time today).I was released from working in Nursery. It'll be great to be back in Relief Society. Our ward has some pretty amazing Relief Society teachers. Sunday's lesson was on being kind. I loved the quote by Sis. Hinckley, "Be kind. Everyone is fighting a hard battle." Good thing to remember!
Short & sweet post. I better get back to work!
And Happy Birthday, Mom, if you're reading this...My mom is turning the big 6-0 today. We'll be having a party at our house on Sunday to celebrate.
And Melissa if you're reading this, we're counting down the hours until we see you. My cute sister, Melissa & her family are flying in tonight. We're SO excited to be with you!
Crockpot Chicken w/ Angel Hair Pasta
Here's a super easy, but delicious meal that we had for dinner last night. It's a great one to make on Sundays.
This recipe is enough for 10-15 people (so you can either half the recipe for your family or make the entire quantity and freeze the other half, it freezes well)
8 chicken breasts
In bottom of crock pot, put:
2 cans golden mushroom soup (or 1 can cream of chicken soup & 1 can cream of mushroom soup)
1 8 oz container of onion & chives cream cheese
2 envelopes Good Seasons dry Italian dressing mix
2 cups chicken broth or bouillon
Mix above ingredients. Cook on low for 6 hours. Serve over rice or angel hair pasta.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Draper Utah Temple Open House
Last Friday, January 30th, we took a well-needed break from taxes and took the kids to the Draper Utah Temple Open House. Here's a quick picture I took of Jason & the kids before we went inside the church. If you look closely towards the mountain you can see the temple in the background.
I was amazed at how organized the experience was. Our stake was given tickets for either Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. Of course, we picked the Friday afternoon time since I couldn't imagine us getting 5 kids ready and being in Draper by 9 am. We arrived at the church and watched a movie about the temple and then we went by bus to the temple. Ava loved being in a moving vehicle and not wearing a seat belt. She was squealing & jumping in her seat the entire 6 minute ride.
The kids were so great and reverent throughout the temple. They were fascinated by the baptismal font. Ashley & Abbey loved the beautiful bride's room. All of the kids were amazed at the size of the chandelier in the celestial room. Alex wondered how much it cost. It truly was breathtaking! And of course, we all LOVED the cookies and water at the end of the tour.
I was so grateful that we were able to take our children to the temple and have them see for themselves how incredible & beautiful the temples are. I am so incredibly grateful for the knowledge we have that we will always be together as a family. It was so peaceful and special to be together as a family in the celestial room and reflect on my love for each of them & for Jason.
The next day, Saturday, I had quite a few tax appointments. One of my clients was from Draper and told me some interesting facts. The church is having the open house until March 14th and the temple is open from 8 am to 8 pm. She was a volunteer one day serving cookies and water and told me they go through 250 cookies every 10 minutes and Costco delivers a truckload of water every day. Also, the first week the temple was open, the missionaries received 26 names of people interested in learning more about the church. If you want tickets you can go to lds.org or even just go anytime.
After we went to the temple, we then spent the rest of the night with David & Mindy and their kids. Mindy & I had a pedicure, which I haven't had in quite a few months. In fact, the Vietnamese lady said to me when she was scraping my feet with her magic blade, "Oh, your feet so bad, very bad." Gotta love their brutal honesty! At least now I have very smooth feet with a handpainted flower on my big toes and my feet are so good, very, very good!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Happy 12th Birthday, Alex!
Alex turned 12 today, January 27th. So hard to believe that our oldest child is now 12 years old! Alex adds so much to our family. He's quite the tease and is a great big brother to his little sisters. I'm so grateful for his daily hugs. Alex met with the bishop on Sunday and will be ordained to be a deacon.
We had both families come over for dinner on Sunday and then had the traditional cake & ice cream.
Our kids with cousins Jake & Josh.
Alex scored lots of great presents: Shirts & a hoodie & $ from Grandma & Duane, $ from Grandma & Grandpa, U of U shirt & treats from Steve & Margo & kids, game from Jared & Marize and a "day of fun" from Ellen & Angie. This shirt from Jeff & Missy is perfect for Alex. Alex lives for playing the guitar. Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Winter Dance Recital
Ashley, Abbey & Aliza had their Winter Dance Recital last Tuesday night, January 13th. Ashley & her friend, Kaitlyn are on a competition team this year and have dance every Tuesday & Thursday night. Abbey is also on a competition team this year and has dance every Monday & Wednesday night. Aliza takes ballet, tap & jazz with a 3-4 year old class every Tuesday afternoon. So yes, with three girls in dance we are constantly driving back & forth to their dance studio. Our girls have always loved to dance and we've started all of them in dance since they were 3 years old. So needless to say, we've been to many dance recitals!
Ashley with friend Kaitlyn, Abbey with friend Alexa and Aliza
Gangsta's in the house. Ashley with friends Kaitlyn & Sierra.
Ashley hip hopping with the best of them. Go Ashley!
Abbey twirling in her ballet dance. Check out those calf muscles. Go Abbey!
Abbey in the center of her class.
Aliza shaking it with her dance class. Go Aliza!
Aliza and her dance friends.
Claire, Emma, Hayden, Ashley, Aliza & Mesa. Aliza is so lucky to have these cute girls as neighbors and friends.
Ava, our future dancer, shaking her money maker. See if you can spot Aliza running in the background. At the end of the recital, they have all of the kids run to the stage and dance. This was taken at the end of the night & both Aliza and Ava didn't want to leave the stage!Friday, January 16, 2009
It's Tax Time!
The tax season has officially begun! Today is the first day to file returns electronically. It's been a busy few weeks at our house. I've had the kids helping me with our annual mailers that we mail to our clients. Ashley & Abbey have worked hard stuffing envelopes, putting the labels on and placing business cards on calendar magnets. I've also been extremely busy filing W-2's & payroll tax returns, which are all due January 31st.
As I've thought of this past week, it reminds me of this picture I found at motivatedphotos.com. I have no idea what this dad is doing, but I love the caption, "Parenthood: Now you always have someone who will go along with your brilliant ideas!" And that's what's been happening at our house this week, a week full of work, work, work!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Hi from Ava!
Ava's new word of choice, "Hi!" I really should count how many times she says it in one day. From when she wakes up from a nap, to when she sees anyone (especially the older kids coming home from school) and my personal favorite, almost every time I'm nursing her, she'll pull off and say, "Hi." She cracks us up!
Oh, to be the 5th child in a family. The kids LOVE her so much, but wow, does she ever get "mauled" on a daily basis which is from all of Ashley's friends who constantly want to hold her, to being pushed around in every doll stroller in our house, to being put in a laundry basket and holding on to dear life while her older sisters run through the hall, and the list goes on and on. I wonder if she knew the chaos she was going to be born into 14 months ago.
For any of my fellow blogger friends with 3 or more kids, you'll probably laugh at this one. I received this in an email from my friend, Marie. ENJOY!
BIRTH ORDER OF CHILDREN
Maternity Clothes
1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.
Preparing for the Birth
1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don't bother because you remember that last time, breathing didn't do a thing. 3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your eighth month.
The Layette
1st baby: You pre-wash newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.
2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?
Worries
1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your three-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.
Pacifier
1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.
Diapering
1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.
2nd baby: You change their diaper every two to three hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.
Activities
1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, Baby Zoo, Baby Movies and Baby Story Hour.
2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaners.
Going Out
1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home five times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.
At Home
1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children. (so true!!)
Swallowing Coins
1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays 2nd child: When second child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for the coin to pass.
3rd child: When third child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Weigh In Wednesday Week #1 & Biggest Loser
So here's to a new year of Weigh in Wednesdays. I officially have 18.2 lbs left to hit my goal weight. Each Wednesday, I'll weigh myself in and then report if I've lost or gained weight. Feel free to play along on your blog. My good friend, Kristy is in! And I'm grateful to a few of my close friends, Mindy & Margo, for their support and ideas of how to lose the final pounds!
I'm officially declaring 2009 as my year to "Feel Fine in 2009!" In 2008, I managed to lose all of my pregnancy weight and then an additional 7.8 lbs. I was hoping that I could finish the year without anyone asking me if I was pregnant, but oh no, that happened 2x in 2008. And here's a few of the latest weight comments said to me in the last few months that have left me determined to get rid of my muffin top for once and for all!
I was trying on some clothes at a local boutique and the owner said, "You know, you should get one of those spanx for your middle section, it really tightens it up." But then again, to her credit, I did just purchase one and it really does make a difference.
A friend of mine at one of our bunko parties said, "A friend of mine has a body just like yours, she has teeny arms and legs and a bigger tummy!" Thanks for pointing out the obvious!
A distant cousin at my Grandpa's 90th birthday party asked if I was expecting. Note to all: never ask!!! Even if you see a pregnant woman that is full term, just talk to her and if she truly is expecting, she will always bring it up! Once again, NEVER ASK!!!!
And Abbey before Christmas walked in the door after school and said, "Mom, are you having a baby? Is this a Christmas surprise?"
So let's just say after the many comments, it's officially time to lose the muffin top!
I watched Oprah on Monday and was extremely touched and teared up as she said the most important step of weight loss is to truly love your body that God has given you. I had chills run through my body when she said this. I know I have been blessed by an extremely fertile body that has given birth to 5 incredibly beautiful and healthy children. I feel so great being pregnant that I recently joked with Jason that I should be a surrogate for people with infertility. Of course, it was a joke, but when you hear that they charge up to $80,000/pregnancy, it's quite tempting! In all realities, at 37 years old, I'm actually to old to be considered! I have been blessed by a healthy body.
In honor of the Biggest Loser TV show, one of my neighbor's is hosting her own Biggest Loser Group. I just signed up. Each person is putting in their $20 and each week we weigh in. The winner will take the pot. The contest is true "biggest loser" style, based on your % weight loss not total # of pounds lost. Nothing like money to be the ultimate motivator! So far, only 5 of us have signed up. Abbey overheard me telling Jason about the contest and then she had this mortified look on her face and said, "Mom, are you leaving to go be on the biggest loser show?" Alex then piped in, "Mom, you're too skinny to be on that show." Of course, I then reassured them it was only a neighborhood contest to help us get in shape.
So here's hoping that 2009 is my year! Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Another super fabulous blogtastic giveaway!
Monday, January 5, 2009
Happy New Years!
We rang in 2009 with some friends of mine! (I'm a poet and didn't even know it). We had a great time celebrating New Year's Eve at David & Mindy's house. Rock the house good times! Jason & David went and watched the movie "Yes Man" (their favorite thing to do when we get together, in all reality I'm sure it's to escape the madness of 11 children). We always have a blast hanging out with David & Mindy & their kids. Good food, good laughs, what more could you ask for? And Mindy accomplished one of her resolutions for 2009-she started her own BLOG! Click here to read. We brainstormed together some possible blog names, but after much collaboration we all voted for: partylikeasoccermom! David is also an amazing computer programmer and updated my tax website with a new calendar for 2009. He came up with this genius idea of creating a website that our tax clients can access and set their own tax appointments online. It truly has saved Jason & I so many hours (of returning phone calls) during the tax season. Thanks again, David!
Yes, count them-there's 11 kids total. Mindy's family is opposite of ours (she has all boys & one girl-Kaden, Kalyssa, Karson, Karter, Koleman, & Kyler).
Aliza had fun playing with Karter. Plus, Mindy & I joked about taking pictures of the "betrothed ones" for their wedding video (just in case!)
Ashley & Abbey always have fun playing with Kalyssa. 
Kyler giving Ava a smooch. Another possible photo for a future wedding video.
And Kyler sharing his sippie with Ava. Thanks David & Mindy for having us over! Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Math Quiz
Who is your role model?
Try it without looking at the answers.
1. Pick your favorite number between 1-9.
2. Multiply by 3 then
3. Add 3, then again multiply by 3 (I'll wait while you get the calculator...)
4. You'll get a 2 or 3 digit number
5. Add the digits together
Now scroll down..................
Now with that number see who your role model is from the list below:
1. Einstein
2. Abraham Lincoln
3. John McCain
4. Nelson Mandela
5. Bill Gates
6. Gandhi
7. Brad Pitt
8. Hitler
9. Michelle (ME!)
10. Barack Obama
I know.....I just have that effect on people.....one day you too can be like me!
PS. Stop picking different numbers. I am your idol. Just deal with it!
* Thanks to Uncle Lee, for sending this math quiz. And I had to replace my name for #9, sorry Lee!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Merry, Merry Christmas!
I had the hardest time waking up Christmas morning. I always stay up way too late Christmas Eve wrapping presents, cleaning the house, and making breakfast for Christmas morning. I probably slept a total of 4 hours on Christmas Eve.
Luckily, the kids slept in until 9:00 am. They didn't fall asleep until 12:30 and Ava didn't fall asleep until 2:00 am. She was so wired and didn't wake up until 11:00 am. We opened presents and then later, our extended family came over to see the kids and their presents and had breakfast at our house.
Ashley & Abbey were thrilled to open their American Girl dolls. They also received a magazine subscription to American Girl, an American Girl game, Littlest Pet Shop games for their Nintendo DS and Littlest Pet Shop toys.
Ashley & Abbey with their "Just Like You" American Girl dolls.
Ashley with her newest Webkinz, a hedgehog she named, Halle, to add to her collection of Webkinz.
Abbey with her newest Webkinz, a goldfish, to add to her collection of Webkinz.
Aliza anticipating opening her HUGE present-what could it be?
A Dora Magical Welcome House (and in Aliza's words, "Mom, did you know I asked Santa for this?") It's a good thing Santa came through!
Alex, poster boy for Guitar Hero, was thrilled to open Guitar Hero World Tour with 2 new guitars. He also received Mario Brothers Super Smash Brawl for the Wii, Rock Band II for the Wii and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.
Gotta love Rock Band to fulfill my brother Jared's dream of being a rock star. Love how Rock Band brings out the rocker in all of us. Here's my brother, Jeff at the drums, Alex at the guitar and brother, Jared lead singer.
My mom getting her baby fix holding Ben & Ava.
Ava likes crawling into Ashley & Abbey's bratz chairs that Grandma gave them.Thanks to all of our family members for spending Christmas with us! The kids love all of the presents you gave them. We loved spending time with each of you!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Christmas Eve
So, here's how we spent our Christmas Eve, full of family and full of traditions.
Before bedtime, the kids each open a present, which is always a new pair of pajamas.
We went to Jason's parents for dinner and then opened presents.
Jason's mom & Ava.
Josh, our nephew and one of my daily blog readers. I added a few more songs to my playlist, Josh. Let me know if you have any requests! One of my new favorites "Read my mind" by The Killers.
Jason's brother, Steve, our nephew, Jake and Alex.Then, we headed to my mom's house, which is conveniently only a minute or two drive from Jason's parents house. She had a turkey dinner and then we did our annual nativity scene with the kids while we read Luke 2. We started this tradition in 1977, when my little brother, Joe was born.
Aliza was thrilled to be Mary this year. Ben as baby Jesus. Aaron as Joseph and Ashley, Ava & Abbey as angels.
The kids talked my mom into letting them each open a present.
When we came home, Aliza was so excited to sprinkle her reindeer dust (a bag of gold glitter so Santa & his reindeers could find our house) that she got at preschool last week. She's been carrying this bag of glitter with her everywhere she went and couldn't wait until Christmas Eve.
