Perfect stocking stuffer!

Last year, I got this wonderful mini serving spatula from Pampered Chef in my stocking! I have absolutely loved it- and has been one of my favorite stocking stuffers yet! They are only about 4 bucks... so if you are in need of a stocking stuffer for anyone who may actually work in the kitchen, this is a great one. This is the only spatula I use now! It's cute too:) Happy shopping:)

Whoopsie Daisies.....

So, I do not have a picture to go along with this.... but last night was the first time I accidentally rolled the window up on one of my children's fingers! Or 2 fingers actually! Ethan, Dante and Erin were all sitting in the back seat of my sisters truck- I was driving and Ethan had somehow rolled the window down- so I rolled it up very quickly, and all of a sudden I hear an OUUUUCCCHHH! and crying.... and I look back and his fingers are at the top, so I roll it down and start apologizing profusely to poor little Ethan who is in tears. I ask Dante to check his fingers for me to make sure that they are ok--- and Dante looks at them and HAPPILY replies, " Oh, mom- don't worry- you didn't slice them off or anything! You're good to go!" and i was like- oh, good! Thanks Dante! LOL! Then not 2 seconds later after Ethan stops crying, I ask him if he is feeling better and he shows me his fingers and he is like- "yeah- mom! Look- they are still there! I'm good!" Whooo! That was a close one! I did feel awful about accidentally rolling his fingers in the window though! I've always been super careful in the past.. and the one time I didn't check, it happens!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Elise is now engaged to Jake!!


My very beautiful sister Elise got engaged last night to the man of her dreams! She has had a crush on him, practically since she was 17- and she first laid eyes on him! I'm so excited for these 2 lovebirds- and it only gets better from here!!!:) I'll put better pics up- when they get down here on Friday-- it's just that the only ones I have of them now- are from camping over Thanksgiving- but they both look great... even when camping! Congrats again guys- I'm super excited:)

The love of randomness

This year Santa came a little early for me and Chet. My mom offered to give us a piano for Christmas, but Chet wanted a professional keyboard- which is cheaper, and just as good- and this is what we got! We love it!!! Well, the kids love it and Chet loves it! I love it too, except for when I'm trying to have quiet time and the kids decide to turn the speakers up SUPER loud and the sound resonates throughout the house... and I get no peace. But it's all good. So good in fact- Dante - will not let us take him away from his "hour" of practice. The other day after school, I needed to run some fun errands and thought the kids would like to come with me. However, all I heard from Dante was- but MOM- I have to practice for one hour! Are you sure you don't want to go see the puppies??.... no, mom, I have to practice for an hour.... What about practicing later and going to the park, because it is sooo beautiful?? No, mom- I have to practice for an hour!

THEN- as you ALL know from my 6 things listed below- I'm not musically inclined at ALL! I can play the piano with my right hand, but not my left--- just something to do with my left side being stupid. Anyhow- so it came to a total shock to me- when last year at this time of year--- I learned Chet knew how to play the piano with BOTH hands! When we were dating, we both had said, we can play the piano, but not that well- and I just thought, that meant he can only play with his right hand too. So, last year, we were over at my family's house and we are singing Christmas carols and my dad isn't home yet- so we see if anyone can play the piano, and Chet says- I can. I so "ignorantly" say, "honey, I think they mean someone who can play more then just the right hand." He then says- I can do more then the right hand... and then I said- well, I think they mean someone who can play well and keep up with the singers.... and he was like- I can do it. So, he sits down- and doesn't miss a beat!!! I was like What the heck?? You said you weren't very good- that is AMAZING!!!

So- on with my story about the other night- Chet and I went to bed around 12:30 AM and we had been laying there for probably 5 min. when Chet says- I just want to go play the piano for a little bit. I say, ok, just turn it down a bit so the kids don't wake up..... he turns on one of the automated tunes and sits and listens, then when it is done.... he starts playing it!? I mean- no music or anything?? So- NOW - Chet has gone from- (in my eyes) "not being able to play the piano very well" (only right hand) to being able to actually accompany a group of people perfectly with music-- and NOW- he can play by ear????? Seriously! how many more secrets does this man have up his sleeve?? He is a musical genius!!! "I'm not very good at the piano"- my arse!:)

But we are all enjoying the "professional keyboard"! Thanks mom and dad!


And- today.... I guess Ethan thought it would be fun to get dressed and put his underwear on backwards giving him an all day, automatic wedgie- and he figured it must be snowing outside, hence the hat-- and he is in love with the vacuum cleaner and it sucking in his skin. It is an all day entertainer!! :)

TAGGED: 6 THINGS about me!! :)

I was tagged by Jill- and I'm supposed to mention 6 facts about myself that others may not know. This should be interesting...... hmmmmmmmmm....... anyone want to help me out a little?? Just kidding!

Ok here we go!

1. I'm a prankster! I love to joke and laugh and pull pranks and laugh some more! But- I'm the worst at actually being able to "pull it off" without people knowing it is me! I get that part from my dad! We both love to joke- but we end up laughing at ourselves- because we think we are SOOOO funny- and everyone knows it is us! A few years back- Chet and I were trying to be serious and saying funny things to people with a straight face, and I'd get half way through whatever I was supposed to say- and I'd start laughing like a crazy person- and he would be like, you're ruining it! Or when I'm hiding and throwing raisins or choc. chips at my kids, or hiding under their bed with the remote for the tv and turning the tv off after they keep turning it on... they only find out it is me, because I start to snicker uncontrollably. I'm just too funny for my own good! Laughing is good- and being able to laugh at yourself is even better!!:)

2. Ever since I was 16- it was my dream to compete in fitness competitions- and it finally happened... when Ethan was 15 months! I kept getting pregnant while trying to train for one- and - somehow, after Ethan we managed to not get preggo- and in 2005 I competed in fitness and won the title of Ms. Fitness Delta 2005 and placed 3rd in Ms. Fitness Texas! Hopefully after I get pregnant the next time- I can go back:)

3. I have no musical abilities at ALL!!! I mean- zip, nada, absolutely NOTHING! I can't sing worth a darn- and it is actually pretty sad, when you start to sing your child a lullaby and they reach up with their chubby little hands, to cover your mouth, and say- "Mom, it's ok- don't sing!" Or in the car- when you are belting out tunes to the radio- they cover their ears and say STOP SINGING!!! I guess I always "knew" I wasn't the best singer... even though I would like to pretend I was..... but the 1st time I was 100% sure, was when I was 14 or so, and I had to get up and sing in a trio, for a fireside (don't ask me what I was doing singing in a trio!!) and I was on the right side, and the girl in the middle plugged her right ear during the song- because she couldn't be "in tune" with me singing next to her. Oh well- I guess my talents lie elsewhere!

4. I'm an ice-cream freak! I will go to the ski slopes- and order the biggest, yummiest banana split, while everyone else is ordering their hot chocolate. I LOVE ice-cream- I mean LOVE it! One year in young women's and I was only 12... we had a 1/2 gallon challenge- where we all got to choose our own flavor or blue bell ice cream- and then we had a race to see who could finish first. I finished SECOND next to an 18 year old boy- who could definitely pull his own weight--- but I was soooo proud of my 2nd place finish in the contest!

5. I'm left side deficient... I'm serious! I'm one of those people that has to cut with my right hand, and then once I'm done cutting- I have to switch the fork back to my right hand, and eat. I can't use my left hand.. I don't know why! Even doing laundry- I'll pour the detergent into the cup with my right hand, and then when it is time to pour the cup into the holder, I have to switch the cup over to my right hand and pour it into the washing machine drawer.... or else I'll spill it everywhere. It bugs me so badly- because I feel like it is such a waste of time to have to keep switching everything back to my right hand--- it would be like working double time, if I could actually USE my left hand!

6. I'm an ice chewer. It is the one habit that I can't seem to break. I chew ice all the time! I get into take a hot bath, I have to take my cup of ice with me... I'm reading a good book- better make sure I have that cup of ice next to me! I know it is terrible for my teeth- but I am addicted to it! I remember when I was like 6- my grandma saying.... if you don't chew ice for a week- I'll get you a barbie doll..... well- I guess that didn't work, huh?! 20 years later- and I'm still chewing it, whenever I get the chance. I can't have a fridge with the crushed ice thingy- because then I eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner- and when anybody else goes to get some ice- it's gone... because I've decided to eat it all.

Now it is my turn to tag 6 people! Let's see: Katie, Morgan, Lauren, Lindsey M., Noelle, and Jamie - Have fun and I can't wait to read YOUR answers:)

CHARITY

Yesterday morning I went visiting teaching, and as usual- I hadn't read the visiting teaching message, and it was my turn to teach. So, I quickly found my Ensign and turned to the visiting teaching message and saw that it was on Charity, and immediately thought that it was the perfect subject for this time of year. I was excited too- because I have this one quote that I found a few years ago by Marvin J. Ashton about charity- and I have always kept it in a special place, so if a time called for it- I could use it! I was talking with my companion and I told her how excited I was on this topic- because it seemed as though the last few messages haven't really moved me... but this one did:)

Anyhow- I thought I would share my quote with you- and then the other quotes I really liked in the message- just in case, maybe you haven't read it either:)

Whenever I think of charity I think of donating money, or time or giving to someone that I normally wouldn't give to. But- charity is so not about just that-- in fact- it is a LOT more then that.

“Real charity is not something you give away; it is something that you acquire and make a part of yourself. And when the virtue of charity becomes implanted in your heart, you are never the same again. . . . Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don't judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone's differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn't handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another's weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other.” —Marvin J. Ashton

When I first read that a few years ago- I HELD onto it, so that I could remember what charity really is. The other quotes that made my heart sing were,

".......Those who are filled with the love of Christ do not seek to force others to do better; they inspire others to do better, indeed inspire them to the pursuit of God. We need to extend the hand of friendship. We need to be kinder, more gentle, more forgiving, and slower to anger” - Pres. Howard W. Hunter

“We can alter the face of the earth one family and one home at a time through charity, our small and simple acts of pure love. “Charity, the Savior’s pure love, is the ‘highest, noblest, strongest kind of love,’ which we ‘pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart’ to possess. Elder Dallin H. Oaks teaches us that charity ‘is not an act but a condition or state of being [one becomes].’ Our day-to-day offerings of charity are ‘written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; … in [the] fleshy tables of [our] heart[s].’ Little by little our charitable acts change our natures, define our characters, and ultimately make us women with the courage and commitment to say to the Lord, ‘Here am I; send me’” - Anne C. Pingree


I absolutely loved those quotes and the message moved me AGAIN to be a better person and recommit to doing that and trying harder!! I hope and pray to have charity- and it not just be an "act" but truly who I am. Anytime I'm helping someone else out or have the "pure love of Christ" I know that I'm really helping myself more then anyone else... and that it is with the strength of my Heavenly Father for me to be able to exercise charity 110% and grow closer to and becoming more like my Savior. As we give- we gain so much more and grow 10 fold, over whatever we gave, and I wonder sometimes, why I choose not to actively grow- why I CHOOSE to hold that grudge- if even for a few minutes or a day... or CHOOSE to be offended, or CHOOSE not to go help the man who smells like fish. I guess that is all apart of learning - and we have to fall in order to get up, and stand taller!

So, anyways, if you haven't read this months message, you have to! It is simply wonderful!!

Oh, and I chose the painting at the top of the page... because as i googled images for "charity"- it was the one that didn't have to do with money or giving to a charity (even though, those are all great things) - but it was of a child angel, feeding some ducks- and it seems as though charity comes to a child so easily- and they are perfect examples of charity- so I thought it was fitting:)

another favorite movie!

This is another one of my favorite movies! There are not many movies out there that I can watch over and over and over again- but this one is one- that I could watch over- and I actually bought. I'm not a big movie buyer - I'd rather spend 20 bucks on a shirt:) This movie is very funny and moving! Anyways- for those of you who have watched this with me... all I have to say is " But MA! I want my own apartment!!" , "76 trombones led the big parade", "Do you give private lessons?", "Stop laughing at meeeeee!!", "Daniel your job pays you in marshmallows??", "They put gum in my hat again..

It really is a great movie and I really did like it!! So- if you are ever bored- I recommend renting it:)