The Longest Month Ever...is Almost Over!

One more day of our family "spending freeze" and I can't wait!!

Then I can...

...get my hair done

(you should see my roots!!)

...buy all the goodies for the kids' easter baskets

...go out to dinner

(this is the one I am MOST excited about)

...go on a date with my hubby

(oops, I guess this is the one I should be most excited about)

...and buy those cute white sandles I saw at the store.

I think I may just have to plan a trip of my own too;)

Here's a picture of Tyson--that he took himself.

This is how HE feels about the spending freeze:)

She's Old But She's NOT

I have never thought of 31 as being old, but lately I've been feeling exactly that--OLD. The more I think about it, the more I realize; in some ways I am old and in some ways I'm just NOT.

I'm OLD

When we first moved to LA and went to our new ward, I remember thinking "this is great, there are a lot of young couples in our ward to be friends with." It wasn't until a few hours later that I realized--those young couples could be 10 years younger than us!!!

I have an achey hip, my shoulders make grinding noises when I rotate them, it takes me all day to recover from an hour long work out, if I go to bed later than 11pm I'm cranky in the morning, I look like Nick Nolte when I wake up, and I cannot for the life of me get rid of these extra pounds (seriously, when I was 20 all I had to do was eat one less chip and I would lose a few pounds)!

I talk to my kids about before microwaves, before computers, before the internet, before DVDs and CDs. I remember songs and styles and shows from the 80s.

I'm NOT Old

Recently a few people have told me I look YOUNG! One of Kya's friends mom went so far as to guess my age and she said (23!!). That made me feel good. Check out ladies (isnt' that what they are called?) at the grocery stores always tell me I look too young to have 3 kids:)

I seriously can't wait for the new Hannah Montana movie to come out...AND the new Zac Effron movie too (you think I'm kidding, but I'm NOT). I also love HSM and most of the shows/music that my kids like. See, that makes me young right?

I can still paint my own toe nails, keep up with my step classes and take care of my three kids.

I pick my books from the young adult section of the book store (that's gotta count for something).

So, although most days I really do feel OLD, I think I've still got a LONG way to go (at least I hope I do). At least I know I still have A LOT to learn:)

It's a good thing!

I guess it's a good thing we moved or...the girls wouldn't get ANOTHER chance to be "Student of the Month"! I am so proud of my sweet girls. Now, if I could only get them to be that sweet AT HOME (I couldn't even get Jordan to pose for a picture with her award...)!!!

From The Mouths of My Babies

I interviewed my kids (with these questions I found on facebook) to see how much they know about their mom (it's always about ME isn't it?!). Anyways, they came up with some cute answers.

J=Jordan (8yrs), K=Kya (5yrs), T=Tyson (3 yrs--and not very cooperative)

1. What is something mom always says to you?

K--"I love you"

J--"Let Tyson have a turn"

T--"Don't Say"

2. What makes mom happy?

K--Cleaning her house

J--When I clean my room

T--Friends (wow, an anwer that makes sense)

3. What makes mom sad?

K--When I'm bad

J--Tyson crying

T--Kya

4. How does your mom make you laugh?

J&K--Tickling me

T--Can't say (he really didn't want to answer anymore questions)

5. What was your mom like as a child?

K--She liked to watch Dennis the Menace

J--Like me

6. How old is your mom?

J&K--31

7. How tall is your mom?

K--very tall

J--6 ft.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?

K--play games with us

J--play with us

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?

K--Go grocery shopping

J--Go to Taco Bell (I went ONCE without the girls and they will never forgive me)

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

K--Singing

J--Having the cutest cat ever

11. What is your mom really good at?

K--Typing

J--Dancing

T--Jumping (he finally agreed to answer another one--he must think I'm really good at jumping or somthing)

12. What is your mom not very good at?

K--Drawing a monkey (VERY true)

J--Getting off the computer (again VERY true)

13. What does your mom do for a Job?

K--She doesn't do a job

J--Nothing (seriously--NOTHING?!)

14. What is your mom's favorite food?

K--fruits and vegetables

J--Brownies

15. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

K--Spongebob (realy flattering, I know)

J--Piglet (she said spongebob too before changing her mind and calling me a PIG)

16. What makes you proud of your mom?

K--When she cleans the dishes

J--She spent a million dollars (umm...no I didn't?)

17. What do you and your mom do together?

K--Play candyland

J--Watch Full House

18. How are you and your mom the same?

K--We have the same eyes (wolf green)

J--We are both girls

19. How are you and your mom different?

K--Mom is bigger

J--Mom is old (big and old...great)

20. How do you know mom loves you?

K--She says it

J--She takes us to Disneyland

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?

K--When he takes care of his kids (love the ways she says "his")

J--He gave her a beautiful ring

22. Where is your mom's favorite place?

K--The park

J--Canada

I think my girls know me pretty well...not too sure about Tyson:)

Nostalgia At It's Best (or worst depending...)

For some reason, I've been caught up in memories today. I found a few fun and interesting things. As well as some rather embarrassing things (note to self: throw away some of those old letters/pictures before the girls are old enough to read them and judge you for them). Anyways, I thought I'd share just a few:

This is me my first year at Ricks

(You might not realize it, but the Banana's in Pajamas are very important to this picture)

Goals (Winter Semester 1997)

-get 4.0

-read scriptures every day

-say morning and night prayers

-not kiss any boys:)

A note that was left on my cubical at the library

(at Ricks):

"You are a baby Humming Bird"

My letter from the Dean:

I appreciated the opportunity of discussing your violation of the code of Honor with you and trust you have a renewed commitment to abide by the Code of Honor. This letter will serve as an official reprimand and warning that any further violations will result in serious disciplinary action which could include dismissal from Ricks College.

(Just to be clear--my "violation" was COMPLETELY innocent!!!)

And the greatest FIND:

The Things We Hate

(by Anita and Mykalee)

this is only excerpts...for obvious reasons

1. The Male Species

-boys who never write

-boys who never call

-boys that lie

-boys that we love but can't be with

-boys that think they are God's gift

-boys who pretend to like us

-boys who we catch in the laundry room with other girls

-boys who are too easily offended by our music

-boys who get A's on Zoology tests

-boys who cross their legs
-boys that don't keep us warm

-boys that don't carry us to class when it's icy

-boys who aren't in Math or Science

-boys who are Business majors

-boys who don't know what they want

-boys that are so dang cute you can't stand it

-boys who are engaged or married

-boys with bad hair

-boys that make our roommates cry

-boys that are hairy

-boys who only like us when we're hyper

2. Winter

-slick sidewalks

-M.'s knee going out of place

-frozen nose hairs

-no visibility

-people die

-having to warm up the car

-all the people who ski

3. Annoying girls

4. Zoology tests and quizzes

5. Finals

6. Girls who always have to have things tied around their wastes

7. Girl with chains

8. People who enjoy running

9. People who think they can judge the world

10. Girls with annoying looks on their faces

11. People who take our seats at Devotional

12. People who aren't' financially independent enough to get married

but buy cd players for their cars

13 Hair anywhere but on the body

14. Weirdos at Arbys

15. Overplaying music

16. None of our Tupperware have lids

17. People who want to be FHE mom

18. Things that remind us of last semester

19. People who don't put cd's away in alphabetical order

20. The price of make up

21. Moldy bagels

22. Gross kid in Chemistry with eczema/dandruff

23. Poor layout of Albertsons

24. People who try to read with English Accents

As a disclaimer let me just say; we were having a BAD day (and apparently had been wronged by a few boys recently). This list is 5 pages long:) Just be glad I didn't post our "Everyone Who Loves Us and Wishes Polygamy Was Still In Effect..." Ahh...memories!

Me and my roomie/partner in crime

(hope you don't mind me publishing this to the world Mykalee)

No Kittens Here:(

We took our kitty, Miley, to the vet yesterday to get "fixed." The girls had a good cry about the fact that she won't be able to have kittens. They kept saying "I don't want her to go to the doctor and get CUT!" Very traumatic! I was really torn about the whole thing...but you've got to be a responsible citizen right? Anyways, now she has to wear a cone around her neck for TEN DAYS!! It is so sad watching her trying to do her usual stuff with that huge thing around her neck. And she has to stay INSIDE too! Poor girl. At least Mike opted for the pain meds when he dropped her off:) Miley is very grateful.

Miley "trying" to eat her food--

I had to dump it onto the towel because she couldn't get her face in her food dish.

Here's Miley visiting Tyson in the bath (and yes, I let my little boy play with naked mermaid barbies in the bath--he's got two sisters what did you expect?).

Oh, and did I mention Tyson has his own "owie"? He got hit in the eye with a ball--a ball that our neighbor was hitting with a baseball bat on the other side of the fence (don't ask me how that happened, but that's the story)

Where's OUR Superman??

Mike has been travelling SO much lately and we miss him!

We've gotta do something to fill the void, right?!

Ginny and Ashton visited on the way to Disneyland and we took them to Hollywood!

(That is where we found Superman too!)

Now I Remember

I started watching "The Bachelor" during it's first season. Not something I am extremely proud of, but I really did enjoy it. I even bought into "The Bachelorette" phenomenon. That's right, I was sitting on my couch glued to the TV to watch Trista and Ryan's wedding (along with a large portion of the American public, I might add). I swooned over Andrew Firestone--he was my favorite. And then, I VOWED I would never watch the show again after watching the bachelorette JEN refuse to pick either of the two men left at the end (Jerry was SO great BTW).

Well, I was at "card club" with some girls from my new ward, and guess what became the topic of conversation...The Bachelor. So, I thought..."why not give it another chance?" When Monday night came, I watched and once again...I quickly fell in love with the show--it is seriously so captivating.

Last night was the big "Final Rose" show. Jason (the bachelor) picked Melissa--the girl who I wanted him to (she was so awesome). I was so excited...envisioning their outrageous televised wedding like Trista and Ryan (I know, I'm pathetic, right?). Anyways, they do an "after the rose" show 6 weeks later and Jason breaks off the engagement and wants to pick the other girl instead. Blasphemous!! I swear, why did he have to do it on television?! Just let us think everything is fine and break up the next day--NOT ON TV! Seriously--sick.

You don't need to ask...I am NOT watching next season. I'll stick to Lost and American Idol.

(If you want to watch "the break up" here it is):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLfmHBthvFE

Let's see if I can really do this

March Resolution: Stop Spending/Start Saving

During our move to LA, I got frustrated about how much money it cost (deposit, moving truck, rent, hooking up all our utilities etc.). So after a few weeks past I realized that more and more expenses just kept coming our way (new car, insurance, cell phones, replacing our kitchen table, gym membership...) and things in LA cost more! I just hated forking over so much money for everything. So I came up with the idea of giving ourselves a "spending freeze."

This was supposed to be my February goal, but since we had a birthday, baptism, and trip to Disneyland, I thought I should push it back a month. So February's goal was to buy as much as I could to prepare for March--just kidding (although I did run out to buy my clinique face wash last night).

For March we are going to try to just buy the absolute essentials. That's no eating out, no cute spring sandles, no paid parking, no unnessisary trips to target...wow this might be harder than I thought.

I am really excited about it though. It'll be intersting to see what we can cut back on:) I think Mike will have the easiest time with this, since he has a trip every week this month (in which his meals, hotel, rental car etc. are all paid for by the company). It won't be so easy on me, since when Mike is out of town I like to rent movies, get take out for dinner, and get out as much as possible. We'll see...

Oh, and did I mention we went to Disneyland last week?! I'll tell you, it's not that magical with 3 kids and no husband:)