Eeesss MY birthday (or was).... on the 28th!

Yes- it was my birthday- and I turned 28 ON the 28th!! I've heard that is your golden birthday-- and MAN- I have a pretty golden one! Thanks to many, many people.

First that morning I went visiting teaching, and then my VT companion- Shanna, was so nice and took me out to lunch to:

YUMMY!YUMMY!YUMMY! Thankyou Shanna!! It was so much fun to just sit and talk and eat and not have ANY kids running around or to clean up after!

After a wonderful meal- my good friend, Melynda dropped by to pick up Erin for dance, and brought me this LOVELY picture frame! I absolutely LOVE it, girl! You know me too well:) It is already on my bedside table- now I'm just looking for the perfect picture to put in it... do you think Chet or Joel would be offended if you and I took one together and I put it on my night stand? I could get you a copy too!:) Seriously though- I love it! Thanks so much!

That night, I went to my parents for a birthday dinner, cake, presents and ICE-CREAM! Seriously- you'll see some SERIOUS ice-cream below!!

My family is the best! Amy got me a really cute box, and then she filled it with Kit-Kats and Peanut M&M's, and this cute little guy............

Isn't he CUTE??!!

Then Ethan stole the show for a little bit.. because he always HAS to do that... and him and Mr. Kit Kat became good friends!I love this last one.... with some drool coming out of his mouth!

We then did cake and ice-cream. Usually I get a Baskin Robbins World Class Chocolate ice- cream cake- (ALL ice-cream, no cake) and it is usually decorated pumpkin style.. like This. (If you scroll down in the link, you'll see me with my cake from last year)

This year, however- my mom wanted to make it simple and just have a chocolate cake (which I was cool with). I love all of our expressions in this photo! SO ATTRACTIVE!;)

BUT THEN
They bring out this HUGE, GIMOUNGOUS, WHOPPIPNG THREE GALLONS of world class chocolate ice-cream... straight from Baskin Robbins! I mean, this is the thing that you see them scooping your ice-cream out of at Baskin Robbins!
(that is how much of an ice-cream freak I am)Oh, my DELICIOUS!!! I mean- DELICIOUS! And I will be 75 pounds heavier when I finish it in a few weeks- BUT a HAPPY 75 pounds happier at that! Seriously- I have a LOT leftover-- so if you are craving BR... then you are welcome to come have a bowl... with me:)


Chet took me shopping and arranged a night to ourselves- I mean ALL night. I got lots of cute new stuff- and these shoes....for 6 bucks!

Cute, pinstriped, red wedges for 6 bucks! Steal of a DEAL! Yes they are for summer- but they are CUTE and too cute to PASS up!

I will leave you with 28 things that I made Chet write about me- and why he loves me! Because I like to look back and read stuff like that... if I'm feeling blue. He did it- and added a 29th for good measure... he is SO sweet:)

1. Optimistic – always sees the positive side of things first
2. Beautiful – still don’t see how someone can be so pretty 9 years later, and continues to look prettier than she was when she was 19. How’s that work??
3. Sweet mom – I love that the kids don’t behave for her 100% because she’s sweet to them. That’s the way it should be… dad lays down the law, mom nurtures.
4. Beautiful hair – long, soft, lays down, easy to style, looks A- MA – ZING.
5. Sees things in a new light every time. Gets excited about newness like a kid still.
6. Ambitious. Hasn’t settled into a groove and just thinks status quo is ‘o-kay’.
7. Hard working.
8. Beautiful eyes – bright blazing blue tiger eyes
9. GREAT sense of humor – love that she pulls pranks on everyone. Tells crazy lies about randomness to everyone just to see their reaction. Hi-larious. Or pulling down Ethan’s pants until he starts yelling. BWAHAHAH.
10. Takes such good care of me – gets me anything I want, does anything I ask, never refuses me (or anyone) a favor and never expects anything in return.
11. Further to 10 – completely selfless and full of charity.
12. Loves to dress up and look good for me and I love that!
13. Still probably my favorite Bertie-ism. An unquenchable thirst and desire for pleasure and joy. Could eat out every night at a new restaurant and not feel guilty. Could go on vacation for a year straight and enjoy every day of it. Could eat 20 gallons of ice cream and still think the ice cream was the best she ever had at gallon 21. Guilt-free enjoyment of life = helping me to enjoy more of life’s little pleasures.
14. A health nut and natural at fitness.
15. Amazingly naturally beautiful and curvaceous figure. This woman was born to be a fitness or fantasy model.
16. Great communicator. People love to listen to Bertie, talk to Bertie, read Bertie’s take on life. She’s beloved and I dig that!
17. Passion for learning and reading.
18. Passion for travel and trying new things. Has never said ‘No honey, I don’t think that is something I want to do or see our family doing in the future’.
19. Accepting of people for who and what they are, as they are, except for negativity. Love that!
20. Doesn’t make excuses, doesn’t quit.
21. Great cook, especially desserts. Loves trying new recipes and making meal plans.
22. Athletic – whose wife after nine years is pushing the GUY to go play tennis, racquetball, ride bikes, get outdoors, etc.?
23. Great organizer and socializer – into becoming party central for those around her!
24. CREATIVE! She doesn’t think so, but for Pete’s sake, just look at her blogs and tell me she’s not creative?!?!
25. Loves to cuddle and be touched, isn’t self-conscious about her body.
26. Helps me be a better person without being pushy about it or condescending.
27. Spiritual – sees life for what it is, a journey in which we all need to come together and lift each other.
28. Sweetest and kindest and most selfless person I know, not a bad bone in her body!
29. The woman of my dreams, I couldn’t ask for anything more!

Awwww!! So sweet- who could have asked for a better "golden" birthday or husband!

Please- feel free to add why YOU dig me! You don't have to keep it a secret :)

I'll tell you why I dig me: I dig me- because somehow I'm awesome enough to have family and friends like ALL of you! Thanks for making life that much sweeter!

You know what is SOOO nice after a crazy, busy weekend?

The ability to fully appreciate what RELAAAAAAAAAAAAAXING really is. Yes- this is a post about LAST weekend- because I'm SO on TOP of things- it is almost crazy!:)

Let's start with Cougar Under the Stars! It was a beautiful night- and the kids had so much fun just running around and playing on the playground watching the giant screen all at the same time! It was pure craziness- I tell you:) Here are plenty o' pics of that night.

Here are Dante and Erin getting ready to hop on the big jumper slide (that they were taking down at this point) I love how Dante can always get a really good picture with his bum in the air like that- it is like on cue- EVERYTIME!

Dante made it up- and it seems as though Erin is still in the same exact spot.... hmmmmmm?? She's a fast one!

Ethan LOVES to ride on daddy's shoulders- anytime he gets the chance!

Erin too:) We are so happy when dad gets to come and do FUN stuff with us! He is gone too much:)

Take note of the t-shirts the 2 boys in the middle are wearing- they are the "official" Cougar Under the Stars t-shirts and since I'm the coolest mom on the block and didn't get my kids the t-shirts- I thought WOW! BYU COUGARS-- Same thing! So- we all wore our matching BYU COUGAR sweatshirts! COOL- COOL!

Like father like son- no matter what the picture- they play off each other so well! Chet just randomly started to choke Dante- and Dante's reaction was SPOT ON! It is like constant improv when you watch these two have a conversation! I'll have to tape it sometime- SO FUNNY!

Now, Erin on the other hand.... not so much! Erin was actually crying in this picture about something completely dumb... and so Chet thought it would be funny to take a picture of her crying over nothing- and as soon as I whipped out the camera- Erin's frown turned into a huge smile- so now the picture looks kind of funny- since only Daddy is "crying"

MOM- Can I go to bed yet??!

The movie went WAY past the kids bed time- and Dante and Ethan both had early morning soccer games- so we hurried home and tried to fall asleep as quickly as we could....

Ethan doesn't look like such a hardcore player and so far this season he has been an asset to the team- but not the STAR-- maybe here is why..........

He likes to pick his nose!

I mean REALLY pick his nose! (Can't you tell?)
Here I told him to smile- and he had to do it like this!
The game was SO intense that Chet decided to play a little one on one with Dante before his game started!Water Break!

Peace and LOVE, this is a GREAT GAME!
Ethan jumping for joy at the end of the game because somehow in between all that nose picking- he was able to score not 1- not TWO- BUT a grand total of SIX goals in the game!
Then he decided, that they need to change their uniforms to something MUCH more in style- I mean COME ON BOSS! I'M THE STAR OF THE TEAM NOW!
Here we tried to get a cute family picture- but Dante was no where to be found, Erin was crying because she got stuck at the game wearing her pajamas (long story.. ask Elise), and well- Ethan was high after scoring all those goals! But- BOY do Chet and I look GOOD!

(ps. Dante's team won too- but I forgot to take pics- sorry!)



And to top our weekend off... Sunday night we hightailed our way across town to Kingwood to have dinner with a friend of Chet's who was visiting from California. Her sister was so sweet to have us over for dinner and a round of games.Here is everyone playing not only Apple's to Apple's but BIBLE Apple's to Apple's!

Saaawweeet!

And here is the crew- Rachelle and Kari (sisters from Cali. from Chet's ward growing up) Our kids and little Austin (or Jason according to Ethan) and Chester- the grandmaster himself, who my kids literally have to be on top of all the time! He is a LOVED man!

And when we got home- Chet and I put the kids to bed and were able to actually SIT and relax for the first time in 2 days.....and it FELT good!!;)

I've discovered....

BIG HAIR!
(Well, big hair for my usually flat hair)

Courtesy of the: Triple Barrel Curling Iron

What do you think?

Also, tonight we will be taking the kids to Cougars Under the Stars, which is a school function, where you get to sit on a big blanket, on a big field, watching



on a REALLY, REALLY big screen.


I'm excited, because the weather is actually going to be cool tonight, and feel like fall. And Chet is off work tonight, so he will be coming too. YEAH!!

I'll post pics tomorrow of the grand event.

Until then, wish my "big hair" luck and hope that it actually stays, instead of falling flat again in 2 seconds like it normally does.

And do me a favor-- have fun tonight NO MATTER WHAT IS GOING ON!:)

( ps- I love it when I hit the spell checker button and it tells me that there have been no misspellings found... it puts a smile on my face... I don't know why? Maybe because I need to feel smart sometimes:) )

What KIND of excuse is that???

SERIOUSLY!!!


OK... so the above stuffed dog has been a problem recently in our house hold. Note: ONE dog vs. THREE kids (luckily Ethan was already asleep that night). I didn't even BUY this dog- it was given to my kids by one of the neighbor kids who has outgrown it.

Here is how the night went.... Erin and Dante are both screaming that it is there turn to sleep with the dog. We have 1 MILLION stuffed dogs that they can both choose from! I try to coax one of them to give in, but neither of them would have it, so the fighting continued. I then walked in with a pair of scissors (trying to be wise like King Solomon) and said- ok- I will cut the dog in half, right down the middle, and you can each have 1/2 of the dog to sleep with. Both of them immediately erupt into tears... NOOOO! MOM!! Please don't cut the dog in half. I then asked who was going to be nice enough to give in, so that I didn't have to resort to cutting the dog in half-- and I also reassured them whoever gave in tonight could sleep with the dog the following night. Finally, I ended up sleeping with the dog and Erin and Dante chose different dogs to sleep with... I asked them WHY they were so crazy about that dog- and had to have THAT particular dog. Dante claims that the dog reminds them of Dixie (who died over a year ago) and that they miss her. OK- That is a load of BULL!

FIRST: The dog doesn't EVEN look like Dixie- Dixie was a red hair mini daschund and since then 2 have replaced her that we see daily at Grandma's.
SECOND: You are missing her JUST now?? It has been over a year- and you are JUST now fighting over this dog (it has been about 2 weeks now since they have been fighting over this dog- and they have had her for a while)

So, what kind of excuse is that to fight over the dog.. to which I replied- Do you think Dixie would really want you to fight over a dog that doesn't even look like her?? I think that would make Dixie sad! (so we will see if that sticks tonight)
Next up-- Ethan LOVES his tinker toys! He loves putting them together, he loves seeing how far he can throw them, he loves picking his nose with them... and now- he has a NEW use for his tinker toys.

The other day he was sitting next to me playing with his tinker toys and he is holding one of the longer sticks and attaches one of the "round" wheels to it, and then proceeds to hit me in the middle of my forehead with it. SERIOUSLY?? (It hurt too!) I said, "Ethan! That hurt- why did you just hit me with that?" and do you REALLY want to know his excuse?? Here is what Ethan had to say:

"Well, MOM, there was a mosquito on your FOREHEAD!!"

Oh, OH!! Well, in that case- keep that handy sucker around- so that if it happens again, you can wap me or anyone else for that matter and give them a HUGE bruise instead of having the blood sucked out of them from a mosquito.

It is like they just pull these excuses out of no where- that don't make any sense- and NO - I did not have a mosquito on my forehead. Do they really think that I'm supposed to just buy into their nonsense excuses? LOL!

SERIOUSLY!!

What are some of the "out of no where excuses" you have heard from your funny children? :)

Dante... say WHAT?!?!

Bright and early this morning at 6:45 I go in to wake up Dante.... but he is already awake and quietly jumping up and down on his bed. It was a funny site to see.... like he couldn't wait for someone else in the house to be awake and he was bored.
I got the funny idea to excitedly (in a quiet voice) shout "There is no school today! YEAH!!" to which he stops jumping and I start laughing. He says, "What?!" and I say- "No, I'm just kidding- you have school today, YEAH!" and he is like... "Mom, why did you just say that?" (saying this in his slightly your weird mom voice) I replied, "Because I thought it would be funny." Dante then looks at me, with a little hint of a smile and in ALL seriousness tells me how it really is!

"Mom, THAT wasn't really funny!" to which he then lets out a cackle.... and I then said, "Whatever!" I'm so funny!"-- to which he then reconfirms his statement, "No, mom- that really wasn't funny." AND he is still laughing at me like I'm just the "weird" parent who makes jokes and laughs at herself- (which, I'll admit- is true most of the time) LOL!

Then he asks- why I was up so early- did Ethan come and get in my bed in the middle of the night and pee in it? And I was like- No, actually, it really is time to get up and ready for school.

Seriously- Nothing gets by Dante- at the ripe age of 7 and almost 8, he already knows me and Chet too well. He is one smart kiddo! (And yes- it is true- he gets that from Chester!:)

So, what do ya'll think- am I funny or am I FUNNY?!i

Matching owies??

The other day I noticed Ethan has a scab under his chin. I had not seen it there before- and I asked him "Ethan, what happened to your chin?" to which he very excitedly replies.............


"Mom, it is the SAME thing that happened on YOUR chin."At that point Aunt Christie looked at me, and said "No, Ethan, that's a pimple." Nice! and forgive the fly aways... I was out the door to the gym:)

PS- Keep those ugly doll pictures coming! There will be a sweet surprise for the winner- maybe a homemade Halloween costume because I sew SO well.... (actually it would be my first piece ever sewn- which would mean it would be a classic, so double bonus there!) but seriously- we'll see!

Another tooth for the record

Ms. Erin has lost her like 17th tooth. It is crazy- I swear she loses them daily. Maybe it is because the instant they are loose- she tries as hard as she can to pull it out... and keeps on doing that daily til' she succeeds. I think the process has been highly sped up due to her bravery in pulling her own teeth out. You can see in the picture she is now missing 3 teeth completely and 2 are still in the process of coming in.

Funny story- I thought Erin had a weak stomach because every time she sees someone throw-up, she will then follow suit... and it makes me laugh every time- because it is so involuntary, and she just looks so funny! Same thing with a really smelly diaper- she will just throw up on the spot more often then not. But extracting her own teeth, with blood and the sound of it to boot--- SHE HAS NO PROBLEM!

PS- I am working on a post about the ugliest dolls ever- Erin has like 60 of them, I would love to have you send me your "ugly doll" pictures to bertieranger4@gmail.com and I will post the ones I think are the ugliest! Let's do this in the spirit of Halloween!!

An award- and AWARD.. I got an AWARD!!!

Ok, maybe it isn't as cool as the "E" for Excellence award, or the "funniest" blog award-- BUT it is an award none the less-- and I'll take it:)

Moogers has passed this Brillante Weblog-Premio 2008 Award to me :)


Here are the rules: I have to answer the following questions with one word answers and one word only! Then I must pass it on to seven others.

Here are the questions:

1. Where is your cell phone? non-existent
2. Where is your significant other? work
3. Your hair color? dirty-blonde
4. Your mother? giving
5. Your father? funny
6. Your favorite thing? family
7. Your dream last night? wierd
8. Your dream/goal? speaker
9. The room you're in? office
10. Your hobby? fitness
11. Your fear? suffocating
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? babies
13. Where were you last night? noyb:)
14. What you're not? stupid
15. One of your wish-list items? creativity
16. Where you grew up? Texas
17. The last thing you did? blog
18. What are you wearing? earrings
19. Your TV? big
20. Your pet? Chet
21. Your computer? Dell
22. Your mood? anticipation
23. Missing someone? sure
24. Your car? different
25. Something you're not wearing? shoes
26. Favorite store? Forever 21
27. Your summer? fun
28. Love someone? YES-SIR-EE
29. Your favorite color? yeller
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? stupid

I now pass the award onto........

Beatles Diva
Julianne Smooters
Stephanie Fitzers
Cheryl Bowers
Jill Hunters
Sonja Amers
Melynda Robers

To get the award just save the image and then add it to your blog post-- it is NOW yours!:)

Ethan's first day of Pre school on the actual 20th day!

With all the holidays and early dismissals and then the 6 days of no school due to the Hurricane, it seems as through school has just started and this week is the 1st actual week of school- so it only seems appropriate that I post this now- since Ethan only goes on Wed. and Fridays. He started school and LOVES it! In fact, it is as if he still cries every time Dante and Erin leave for school, and he doesn't get to go. (That's a good thing right?)

Here are a bunch of different photos from our morning photo op.

This one is my favorite because he is in the middle of smiling but also yelling "Come on MOM- let's go ALREADY!" But he couldn't break the "smile". I can't believe he is 4- and I h ave 2 days ALL to myself. It is great:)

On a funny note about Ethan- he has many nicknames- Beefycakes, Ephers, Phinners-- but my personal favorite (dubbed by Erin and Rechelle) PeeMan!

A couple Saturday's ago- during Dante's soccer game, Erin, Rechelle and Isaac were all playing at the nearby playground. I walk over there to make sure everyone is still doing well-- and Rechelle is getting a drink from the drinking fountain. I ask her if she needs help and then she proceeds to tell me that Ethan peed at the park. I was like "Are you kidding me?" There are probably 50 kids playing at this park- with 50 parents watching there kids at the park- and I'm imagining Ethan pulling down his swim trunks (because in October that is still all he will wear) and peeing in the grass next to the playground. I was thinking- "Great- what were all the parents thinking- when this child's parent didn't stop him immediately (because I didn't see him).

Ethan then comes up to me and I pick him up- and I asked him if he peed on the playground. He doesn't deny it- and says, "Yes Mom- but it is all dry now." I was like- Ethan-- YOU do NOT pee EVER in front of ANYONE-- You go to the actual BATHROOM! Then he was like- "I didn't pull down my pants." to which I immediately dropped him from my hip- and was like, "You peed IN your swimsuit? and NOW it is dry- but I'm holding you??" GROSS! And of course I reprimanded him again- saying- YOU are potty trained- GO to the restroom next time- and then he sat with me for the rest of the game, vs. being able to play on the playground.

He also started crying at one point and I was like- why are you crying? What happened- and he was like Rechelle and Erin called me "PeeMan" to which I started laughing because you have got to love the "nicknames" that are true!

I have to admit I was relieved that he didn't pull down his pants and pee in front of everyone... but I still wasn't happy of the fact that he peed in his pants- "but it is ok, because it dried Mom" scheme. And it was not on any of the equipment- which is a good thing too!

Seriously- if he was not SO darn cute-- I just don't know:) And I hope his preschool teachers never have to experience him doing that.

A Match Made in Heaven!

What spells love more then a couple who can do silly things together without feeling weird?! This post is to salute my parents on their 30th wedding anniversary and their brave attempt to look like walruses with chopsticks! Thanks for teaching me that you can have fun and be in love with your sweetheart for all eternity and that each year just gets better and better! I learned all I know from you two:)

Happy 30th Anniversary!

Here are a few pictures from the celebration at Benihana!

My Dad wanted to one up everyone and try to eat with his chopsticks using his eyes. The chef thought he was the funniest man alive while his children laughed at him like he was the weirdest dad alive. :) But that is what we LOVE about him- and my mom laughs right along with him- after 30 years- she still has yet to get tired of his jokes! Sincere laughter ALWAYS follows.
Me Christie and Emily sat at one end of the table-- We love not letting our parents live down many moments-- we are ruthless:)

Here is the gang that was able to go. Chet had to work and my kids had fun with a babysitter at home:)

Happy anniversary again Mom and Dad! I love you so much and you two are truly a match made in Heaven!