What's A Mom to DO??

It's raining like cats and dogs here right now. I turned on the sprinklers today thinking that the weatherman was wrong. Hopefully this will help drive the roots down deep for the lack of care the yard will receive in July. My grandpa called today and asked me to push it down south for you Wyomingites, but I just can't bring my self to part with it yet. We are going stir crazy being inside after so many days in the sunshine, but I know that we need it and am hoping it will help the flowers and strawberries I planted this past weekend. I now wish that I would have gotten the tree planted too. Maybe, just maybe, we will get another bout of wonderful moisture after that happens. On to the original idea for this post......

I have this little girl with the freest spirit around. She loves to help around the house and loves it even more if I help her pick up her room and make her bed. She is the best at getting bottles made if Myles is mad and I'm in the shower. She will change an occasional diaper as long as there is nothing too stinky inside. She will sing her heart out and often dance along. She is very independant, but will ask for help once in a while. She is in constant motion, but will sometimes slow down enough to snuggle. She doesn't ask for much, but loves her time alone with Mom and Dad. She is so excited to start kindergarten next year. She's an eager learner and has mastered practicing things until she has them down pat. She can tie shoes, and blow bubbles with gum (maybe not at the same time though). She is the best reminder of how I used to be. Packing as much stuff as I can into a room and not parting with anything....broken or not. It drives me crazy. I don't know how my parents allowed me to do that kind of stuff. She is very outgoing and loves to meet new people (kind of scary in a big city). She has the greatest memory around and doesn't forget a friend. We have several projects that she has started for others, but hasn't finished yet because she starts another for someone else. She has also taken it upon herself to visit the beauty shop on a daily basis:

Macy's Beauty Shop that is! It's located between the boys' room and ours if you even want to visit it. There are two picks, green and pink; one tiny white comb, and an orange detangler spray bottle right below the mirror covered with spray marks. These marks often have little finger print drawings through them. I'da taken a picture of them too, but I washed them off yesterday before company arrived.

She will spend more time fixing her hair than it takes me to bathe all four children. I don't have the heart to do it again. So....this is how she went to school today. I had to photograph it. The outfit was more normal than most days, so I just focused on the hair. There are four ponytails and so many clips that I don't even want to count them. As I was taking her to the door, the teachers said, "I see that someone visited the beauty shop again!" They are so great at commenting on her outfit and hair do. They think that it is fine that I allow her to go around in public like that, but have also encouraged me to take pictures for her high school years. So, here's one of the many that I need to take. What BEAUTIFUL scrapbook pages I will turn out someday. (this is me daydreaming of those right now).....

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Too BIG!!!!

Well, today is both a day to smile and a day to cry. First off, the crying part....

Myles has figured out how to climb the stairs! He has been getting up on his knees and putting both hand up on the step, but he figured out how to reach to the second step and pull of the knees. He got pretty show offish when I took out the camera and ended up sliding back down the step, but I did manage to get one picture. He is my BABY....he's not supposed to have this figured out yet. One good thing about it is that we only have one more to teach stairs to and then we will have that obstacle beat. I guess that crawling will be next. :(

Yesterday, Grady took off of work for his birthday. It's actually today, but he made a three day weekend out of it. He put in the boarder where those ugly juniper bushes used to be and then I planted 50 Lily of Valley starts. Here's what it looks like now. I hope that they fill in fast. It has helped so much with natural light in the basement. I am going to buy a hose holder for the house and then we are getting a tree for the front yard too. I'll post pictures of that when they are complete.

He did manage to get a little bit of rest this weekend though....

Happy Birthday Grady!

We are having a Snickers Blizzard cake this evening with some friends that he has invited over. The kids are excited. They had a birthday party last night and another tonight. Three is 5 days is a lot of celebrating. We are most thankful for our wonderful Daddy and Husband though. I'll try to update pictures from that sometime.

I better go tend to Mr. Myles. He's mad....imagine that!

My Many Days....

After posting last, I decided to play McGyvor (sp). We had some leakage under the kitchen sink last weekend. Grady showed me that they garbage disposal had some major problems. He put everything back under the sink and moved my dish drain to that side. I guess I was not supposed to use it? Well, Monday rolled around and that sink STUNK! I took it into my own hands. I called his mom and asked for some tips from Gene. He said I needed plumbers putty. I grabbed the computer and looked at what installing one needed. I FOUND THE PROBLEM! Some of the screws had come loose and fallen out. I loaded the kids up in the suburban and ran to Home Depot. We purchased the expensive stuff to fix it ($1.86). I came home and put them to bed and then took on the fix.

These are GROSS!!!!
When Grady got home (it was late), the kitchen sink was fixed! I was so proud of myself, so I had to share it with you all. Pat, pat on the back...

Myles has been a bit cranky again lately. He is running a fever and just seems miserable. I called the pediatric nurse and she was concerned about another ear infection. I don't want to put him on antibiotics again since he has had four since birth, not to mention the risk of the bugs becoming super ones. I DON'T WANT MRSA AGAIN. I took the kids to the health food store and bought some garlic oil for him. He smells a bit funny, but I think that they are working. Everytime I give him some, he falls asleep with the cotton balls in his ears.

Our Vampire Repellant....

While uploading pictures for the post, I am often surprised at what else I find on the camera. I don't know who took this picture, but had to share it. Doesn't this just look like fun?

While browsing Etsy the other day, I came across a gal that reuses boxes and makes notepads out of them. After shopping yesterday, we had four bargain boxes of fruit snacks. I tried my hand at the notepad. It was simple thanks to the cropodile that my wonderful husband bought me a while ago. Thought you all may like the idea too. Here they are:

I wanted to save them for the trip in July, but may let the kids take them to church for artsy stuff during sacrament.

Grady pulled out the ugly shrubs out front yesterday and has been doing some yard work. As much as I don't want to water again already, it is time. The sprinklers are watering down fertilizer right now. After doing the monthly grocery shopping, we had a birthday party yesterday that was fun for the kids, and then an Elders Quorum dinner at the church last night for the families. My babies were tuckered out. I think that shopping on the weekend just did me in. WAY too much TRAFFIC. I really feel for you Wyomingites that come up and have to battle it. Monday through Wednesday are the best for your information.

Have a great Week!

Card Winner!

"Ampie Jill" just left. She came up yesterday for a visit and then watched the kids while we had Grady's birthday dinner date last night. I wanted to take him out to dinner for his birthday and was going to hire a sitter, but she wanted to watch the kids as his gift, so it worked out wonderfully. We love you lots "Ampie Jill" and hope you enjoy your move and new job. Please keep us posted on how it goes in the tiny town. You should love it! We miss you already!

ON TO THE CONTEST:

I think that I did not do a very good job of making a contest out of this. I needed to post only one post for the day. So, since I encouraged continued reading, I had to go through both posts that day. Here is the way I assigned numbers,(in order of comments and to keep it fair, I only entered everyone once. I began with the first comments from the original card post):



1. Sandy
2. Deana
3. Donna
4. Tosha
5. Nana
6. Gramma Rose
7. Forshee Family



Random.org picked the number for me. SOOOOOOOOO, THE WINNER IS #2! Deana, I will be mailing it out to you soon. Congrats and THANK YOU ALL for entering. I may have to do more, they are kind of fun! But I need to remember from this mistake. I hope you all think it was fair enough for everyone. Have a great Thursday!

Scattergories....

SCATTERGORIES...It's harder than it looks! Erase my answers, enter yours, send it on to 10 people including the one that sent this to you. Use the first letter of your first name to answer each of the following. They have to be real places, names, things..nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.



WHAT IS YOUR NAME: Ashli, Momma, Honey, Bride

4 LETTER WORD: Arms, alps, apes, aint, arch, 

VEHICLE: Audi, Love to have one, it's got me drooling already.  Maybe someday when there is only Grady and I

TV SHOW: All My Children...was that a soap?  It's the only thing I can think of

CITY: Afton, and it' s a name too!  Anchorage, AK ...here we come BABY!

BOY NAME: Andrew, Alexander, Alfred, Alanzo

GIRL NAME: Ann, Amy, Andrea, Adrienne, Avery

OCCUPATION: Architect, I wanted to be one in HS, but the job counselor said there wouldn't be a call for them when I was out of school.  I should just go back and kick him in the rear right now!  Aircraft Pilot

SOMETHING YOU WEAR: All Spice.... well, if I were a MAN.

FOOD: Almond Poppyseed muffins, Alfredo sauce

SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: Always, Almond oil 

REASON FOR BEING LATE: Almost had a crash?  Does that count?

SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME???  Amen (If I were Fiona, and my hands would be up in the air for a split second before digging them into my food)

Don't really have anyone to send it to on a blog, so IF you take the challenge and post on yours, leave me a link so I can check in on ya!

The Letter C...

The letter C...

C is for CARDS. I love getting cards, sending cards, and making cards. WHEN I have time. Don't get me wrong, there is a time and place for email, but taking the extra bit of time for something handwritten or handmade shows someone that you were really thinking about them. I had to make a few for a gal that is moving, and a missed birthday, so I made some extras as a GIVE AWAY!

Just post a comment about why you like to send cards, make cards, or receive cards and I will randomally pick one to mail these cards to. There are four: It's a Girl; It's a Boy; Ewe are Loved; Thank Ewe. I want to make some more, so maybe there will be another bonus one included, or a few more to pick from. I will end this Give Away on Thursday, so make sure to post a comment when your read this.


Is this a bribe? YES! I know that I have some readers that don't post at all, and my comments have been down low lately. I love to blog, but I also love to read the comments you all leave. Please let me know that you are still checking in on us.

Keep reading, I have the letter B below!

The Letter B....

We had some bouts of cold weather here, so the two a week letter post had to be delayed. I did some major catch up last night with the camera, so hopefully I can get caught back up. Here it goes....

The Letter B....

My version...the hose actually looked like this...I did NOT do it for a picture!
Grady's version...we couldn't find much on our walk last night...
Macy and Stuart's version.....
Grady also found this one, but we will be using another that is opposite for another letter, so I couldn't count them both....

B is for BUSY. We've been busy. We started out last week waiting for a semi-nice day to wash the camper before moving it out to store. It was gross from the road trip home. By Wednesday, the postal worker left us a notice to move it. SOOO....we pulled it out to of here in a rainstorm and got so muddy unhooking it that I was rather happy I never spent the time cleaning it. Macy had a carnival at school on Saturday, so we were busy preparing cakes for the cake walk. Here's what we made...

Yes, there are four of them, but we were only able to take two. Miss Fiona found them and had a time pulling out feet and licking frosting off of two. And it was in the last half hour before we left Saturday morning. We came home with lots of toys and another cake. Does anyone want some cake? We had Grady's coworker over for dinner Saturday night. The kids had a blast. I spent yesterday cleaning the suburban and church.

That's it for today....Have a great one.

WANTED: WebBlaster ASAP

Yesterday was one of those days that I really needed to climb the walls. Trust me, I tried, but my Spiderman fingers were not working. WARNING: This is a long one, so have a seat....

We had several rounds with Stuart running away. YES, RUNNING AWAY! After dropping Macy off at school, we came home and I gave the neighbor some money (we're going to store the camper out at his shop). Stuart was out front and Myles was having a fit. I put Fiona down for a nap and then took Myles in for a bottle and diaper change. Hoping, just hoping, that he'd go to sleep. No such luck. I called for Stuart to come in and then ran to the bathroom (mom's have to go too). He didn't come in, so Myles and I went out front looking for him. No Stu. We went out back looking for him. No Stu.  I yelled and yelled and then the neighbor came out of his garage and said he had told Stuart to come home because his mommy sounded worried. I brought him into the house. He was playing in the living room with Myles. I ran downstairs to print out a table for a record of what we had paid and when the rent would be due. Stuart came downstairs and said Myles was mad. I grabbed my print and went upstairs. No Stu. I yelled for him. I went out front and yelled for him. No Stu. I went out back and yelled for him. No Stu.  I came back inside and I yelled, "Stu, if you are hiding, I need you to come out, Momma is getting worried."  No Stu.  I grabbed Myles, we went back out front to yell some more. No Stu. I went to the neighbor's garage again. No Stu. They were in the car and hadn't seen him. I yelled some more. No Stu. I started to come into the house (I was going to call the police or Grady) and then the neighbor across the street came out and said that Stuart told her I said it was okay for him to go visit. NOPE. We went to pick up Macy from school.

While I was making Chicken Enchiladas for dinner (thanks, Nana, for putting that into Macy's dinner desires), I gave Myles some biter biscuits to munch on so he would be happy for a while. He gave a new meaning to "head to toes".

Macy came in and said, "Mom, I'm too heavy for the trampoline now." I looked at her and said, "What?". She told me that she was jumping and then she ripped it and we should put it in the garage sale now. Here's the "fat girl" hole:
Little sister had to show it off too!
While we were out inspecting the tear, Myles was put onto the grass. Right before this picture was taken, he had both arms up in the air and was laying in his chest with his head held up. He had to pose when the camera came.
I took him and gave him a bath. While I was in there, I kept peeking out the window and the other kids. Stuart was throwing stuff into the neighbor's yard and their son was throwing them back. I grabbed Myles, wrapped in only a towel, and went out to put a stop to it. Stuart was saying some not so nice things, so I made him come into the house. Myles got dressed and went down for a nap. I took the laptop out to the deck to look for some extension mirrors for the car and spotted Stuart escaping to the neighbor's yard. I yelled for him to come home. He went to hide in their swingset. I came back through the house and went after him. He wouldn't come home. I pulled him off the swingset and made him put his toys back in our yard. Then told him to get home. He resisted. I had to swat his bottom. The first time in forever that I had to spank the kid. Then he listened to me because he knew that I meant business.

We had dinner, went for a walk, and had a bath. I went to check email and received this one:

Why Parents (sometimes NEED a) Drink

A boss wondered why one of his most valued employees had not phoned in sick one day. Having an urgent problem with one of the main computers, he dialed the employee's home phone number and was greeted with a child's whisper. " Hello ? "

"Is your daddy home?" he asked.

"Yes" whispered the small voice.

"May I talk with him?"

The child whispered, "No ."

Surprised and wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, "Is your Mommy there?"
"Yes ."

"May I talk with her?"

Again the small voice whispered, "No ."

Hoping there was somebody with whom he could leave a message, the boss asked, "Is anybody else there?"

"Yes ," !
whispered the child,
"a policeman ."

"Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked, "May I speak with the policeman?"

"No, he's busy ", whispered the child.

"Busy doing what?"

"Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the Fireman," came the whispered answer.

Growing more worried as he heard a loud noise in the background through the earpiece on the phone, the boss asked, "What is that noise?"

"A helicopter " answered the whispering voice. "What is going on there?" demanded the boss, now truly apprehensive.

Again, whispering,
the child answered,
"The search team just landed a helicopter ." Alarmed, concerned and a little frustrated the boss asked, "What are they searching for?

Still whispering,
the young voice replied
with a muffled giggle...
"ME ."

WHAT A DAY! HA, HA!

The Alphabet

I visited a blog where women were photographing pictures of things that look like letters and then were blogging about something that started with that letter. I thought it would be a great way for my kids to recognize the alphabet outside of the box. We kept our eyes open while traveling this past weekend, and found our start. And a few others that will come later. Here it goes...

The letter A...
A is for ALPHABET! We are currently in the middle of an alphabet frenzie here. Macy has been learing her letters at school and is always wanting to write something. She has also gottin into the numbers, especially the telephone numbers. She wants to call people all of the time. Stuart loves to say his letters, but needs a bit more work on writing them. This will by no means be a photographic professional taking the pictures, I am just hoping to get them clear enough for you all to actually see the letter we saw. Maybe it will inspire us all to keep our eyes open for the "not so noticable" beauty around us.

Until we find a letter B, keep your eyes open for them around you. Have a Marvelous Monday!

Primary Activity in Worland

We were invited to attend a primary activity in Worland since Nana and Popi were part of it. The kids made vests and head bands and attended as Nephites. Stuart (who wanted to be a Lamanite);
Macy hunting deer with her bow and arrow(s);

Elijah having fun;

They listened to several different stories and were either acting part or watching the story. Here is Popi as Lehi. Notice the Liahona....the kids were playing around with it prior to this activity and broke it. I ran to the store to buy superglue, but it was taking way too long to fix, so we used the gorilla tape....the BEST stuff in the world!
After the activity was over, we met up with the kids in Manderson for some branding. Actually, we made it on time for lunch and some fun in the sunshine. It wore out the kiddos.

We brought home our camper and hit a terrible snow storm at the state line. We made it on time for church. Grady had to teach in Priesthood and Stuart gave a talk in Primary. He did a wonderful job! He was so nervous that we practiced it four times this past week. I was so proud of him! We showed pictures of each of the Prophets and then he stated what the prophet encouraged the members to do. It was long, but we got through it with flying colors! Now he wants to give more talks! At least someone isn't afraid of the microphones in this family.

A few Updates

Tuesday night Macy was invited to a friend night at The Little Gym with a girl from school. She had a blast and then cried when she was dropped off at home. She didn't want to leave her friend. My little girl is growing up. I could not take her to the fun, she wanted to ride with her friend. She came home with a water bottle from the evening that they bought so that the girls could have matching ones. How sweet is that?

Last night Grady set up the cameras that his mom bought for video conferencing via the internet. He has a program that allowed him to get it set up on her computer too! A little scary(that someone can access your computer...she had to allow him to do it!), but they really enjoyed talking and watching each other. The girls were being little show offs for Grandma and then picked up the basement so that she could watch before signing off for bed. Fun, fun, fun.
I was playing on the computer upstairs while they were down here chatting, and ran across a website that was all about leaving inspirational notes in public places for others to find. I was inspired to make these cards for us to leave at the stores, parking lots, etc. I think that it will be a fun way to make someone's day without them knowing that we did it.

Grady's cousins welcomed twin baby boys into the world yesterday. We don't have any other information besides that, but we are very excited for them. Congratulations Jeff & Sara!

Well, I need to go change a stinky. Have a great Thursday everyone.

Peek-A-ZzZZzzZzZzzz

So, Myles started playing Peek-A-Boo with me this afternoon. We were laying next to each other on the floor. He would actually pull up the white blanket and listen for me to say, "Where is Myles?", and then push it back down and smile, or laugh, at me when I replied, "There He is!". After a few moments of this, he put his favorite blanket in his mouth and his arm over his face and fell asleep. Am I really that boring?

Summer Sampler

After yesterday's beautiful sunshine, the kids really got excited again about swimming. I promised that if I could just help Grady with the other fan and the painting on Sunday that we would swim on Monday. The forcast was for warmer weather.

We had to use two ladders for the living room fan. I had to stand on the shorter one and hold this fan up while Grady connected the wires and got the screws put in. Man o Man was that ever a workout for me. I was trying so hard to hold it still that I completely forgot about my fear of heights and managed pretty well. I would NEVER make it on Survivor for the long term challenges. I just can't be still. Now I KNOW where my children got that one from! Stuart decided to be "Daddy's Helper" after I climbed down. He went a little higher than this, but I was too scared he'd fall to get the camera back out.

This morning I filled the tiny swimming pool to give it a chance to "warm" up a little before the kids took a dip. We ate lunch and then Fiona went down for a nap. After her nap we headed down for the fun. Myles loved the swing until Stuart thought that he'd be helpful. I ran up to put the camera back in the house to save it from the splashing and came back to find Myles backwards and almost falling out of the swing. Stuart thought that he'd give him an underdog. I had to explain that he is a baby and doesn't like that yet.
Here's the first dip. Stuart stayed in the pool forever. Fiona never got it, but played in the water from the warmth of the grass. Macy was back and forth. We didn't have any sunshine and the wind was blowing pretty well. Yesterday would have been better, but we had fun anyway.

I hope that everyone was able to enjoy this small burst of warmth. We have tiny buds on our rose bushes (that appeared last year out of no where) and one daisy coming back. I'm still hoping that the blueberry bushes made it, but can't see any life yet. Spring is coming, and we are ready for it! I listed some of the garage sale things online for sale and have taken some baby clothes to the second hand store for credit on larger ones. Some others will be put into an extra suitcase for our trip to Alaska for Kaitlyn to enjoy and all of the rest will be either taken back when winter clothing is accepted or given to other babies soon to make their arrival. Jeff and Sara...I hope you have one of each, we'll stock your dressers full...I PROMISE!

Have a Marvelous Monday!

The Loot & Progress IS Being Made!

Pampered Chef has arrived! We have delivered the local orders, and will head south next weekend for some branding and the rest of the delivery. Here is Grady's loot! We are spending some time getting used to the stainless cookware, but haven't had many problems with it other than cleaning. Thanks Auntie Mikell for your advice, it has helped tons. We tried out our grill basket lastnight with some yummy shrimp and are also enjoying the bamboo sets. They are wonderful!

Yesterday was another day of "home improvement". I think that it must be in the air. My parents were working on their place and so were our neighbors. Spring IS IN THE AIR! Our kids played outside most of the day, so we (I mean GRADY) did manage to get lots done. The first project was to switch out the dining room fan. Here's the old...

....and the NEW! We've got a matching one for the living room. AND that means we will have more light down there!

After I braved my fear of heights and climbed the ladder to help him with that fan, he started in on painting the walls. Here's my BRAVE husband way up in the top corner with his paintbrush...

..and the roller. He will bring in a larger ladder for the other wall.

There's our Saturday. I hope you all had a fun one!

I Now Remember....

......the JOYS OF A TWO YEAR OLD!

How can something so SWEET turn so SOUR in a moment's time? Before I continue my day, I have to post this short story about our dear little Belle. This all started fifteen minutes ago, it was time to get dressed. Myles had a fresh diaper and was dressed, and Macy was changing into fresh pajamas (PJ party at school today for the letter P). Even Stuart was dressed, amazingly he came away from the cartoons and changed without a fuss today. Fiona had a stinky in her diaper, so I gathered clothes and laid her down to change her. I no more than got that yucky diaper opened up and she started throwing the famous McElhinny fit, screaming, "I don't want to!" at the top of her lungs. She was kicking, turning and arching her back. Man-O-Man was it the fight of my life to change a diaper. It took every muscle that I had to spare my carpet from the dark stuff. I tried everything I had and did manage to get it changed without a mark on the carpet, but I was sweating at the end. She didn't even want me to put on clothes. I managed to get that done, and then had to place her on the couch and take a breather. I knew at that moment how mothers lose control. I was so MAD. After I threw out the stinker, I went back to the couch where Fiona was sitting trying to catch her breath. Macy had ran upstairs and brought down her cup thinking that would help the situation. I picked up Fiona and apologized for getting so mad, she just wanted to snuggle. Back to the precious and loving FeeBee we all enjoy. WOW!

Well, I'm gonna go get started on laundry. I hope you were all laughing at us with this one. My, how I can forget some things. I know I've been through that before, but am sure that today was my first time fighting one for a new diaper. Who knew Mothehood would take so much from your memory?

Updated Foyer Light

We purchased new ceiling fans and a new entry light at a "sale" Home Depot was having. We managed to get the light changed out the other night, but have to go back to pick up the extension rods for the two fans. We had no clue what size we needed. I voted to purchase some spray paint (they make the nickel finish stuff), but was quickly overrode on that idea. Maybe tonight we can get down there to buy them up. Onto the photographs:

BEFORE

and AFTER!
There is sunshine....precious sunshine.

Well, not quite, but very, very close when you light this sucker up at 1 a.m. I am so excited to have brighter lights down there. We've been progressing on the painting, and I will post pictures after we get one more coat on the living room area. I think that we have narrowed the wall color down to one, so we will start in on that sometime too. I'm just not sure if we will complete ALL of the trim before the wall area, or just the trim in the areas to be repainted.

Today is Fiona's "special day" since she was born on the 8th. She got to pick lunch, dinner, and dessert. I thought that it would be a good way to practice being nice to each other. They will be given "special" treatment on their birthdate numbers every month. Just something to help them feel a little more love and hopefully a way to get less fighting out of them too. We'll see. I've gotta go mash up pinto beans, warm tortillas, and make some taco meat. Can you guess what we are having? Burritos (aka soft shell tacos).

Have a great Tuesday. We'll be parked in front of the TV. Our shows are finally coming back on after that lovely strike that killed our routine.

Tumbles & Paints

We finally started in on painting this place. We have talked and talked about painting the trim white, but I had completely convinced myself that painting the railings would be a total pain since I have such a hard time washing those things, but Grady jumped in with both feet earlier this week. It is looking very nice, but is very time consuming. We've got lots of baseboard to do and window & door trim, but it is brightening things up tons. AND, now you can notice how terrible the paint job the previous owners did on the walls ....so......we're picking a new color for that too. YIKES!

As I was painting some primer on the railing the other day, Myles was at the bottom of these stairs smiling and cooing to me. I was sitting on the second step from the floor. We were chatting and then I went back to getting the last two spindles primed. A few seconds later I hear the baby tumble down the stairs. I felt so terrible. When I got to him, he was laying on his tummy at the bottom of the stairs crying.

Iwas sitting right there....bad momma!

And, of course, the staircase that he had to fall down was the longest one in the house. The older kids had thrown their jammies all along them, so I am hoping that cushioned the fall some. But, he is fine and sleeping in his carseat right now!

Today, Fiona put on some sunglasses and was playing around the living room when she tripped and hit her face HARD on the bottom of the TV stand. She's got a little shiner, but I'm pretty positive that the sunglasses saved her eye.

On to some fun: I got blog "tagged" by Sandy! Here are my answers (and I tag: Deana, Jilly and Jessica).

Three names you go by: MOM, ASHLI, & MOMMY TOMMY (FIONA'S NEW VERSION OF TROMBLEY)

Three of your favorite things to do: SCRAPBOOK (ANY CRAFTING), VACUUM (YES, I'M SICK), BAKE SWEETS

Three favorite pets you have had/have: JASPER (TURTLE I HAD WHILE IN GRADE SCHOOL), ED & POLLY (OUR BIRDS THAT HAVE SINCE PASSED AWAY), SIMON & JORDAN (DOGS, I LOVE THEM, BUT HAVE MANY MOMENTS WITH THEM STILL)

Three longest car/plane rides: WORLAND TO DENVER (TO VISIT MY MOM WHEN I WAS YOUNGER), TEN SLEEP TO LAS VEGAS (MOM AGAIN, BUT I WAS OLDER & HAD KIDS AND TOOK SIBLINGS WITH US....WAY LONG TRIP), TEN SLEEP TO SEATTLE (TO VISIT GRADY'S FAMILY) ... OUR LONGEST AIRPLANE RIDE WILL BE THIS SUMMER GOING TO ALASKA (SOMETHING LIKE 12 HOURS TOTAL WITH LAYOVER IN DENVER)!!!! OTHERWISE, BILLINGS TO VEGAS WITH LAYOVER IN DENVER

Three favorite beverages: TEN SLEEP WATER (I HAVE TO AGREE, SANDY, IT'S THE BEST. NO CHLORINE ADDED), COFFEE (LOVE THE STUFF, BUT HAVE BEEN WITHOUT SINCE EASTER), DIET PEPSI (MY COFFEE SUBSTITUTE).

Well, I better go check on my hubby's painting progress. Have a great night!

Red Bull's Eye!

Here's some picture updates that I mentioned yesterday. Fiona and Macy wore their matching dresses and coats from Christmas to Church on Sunday. I snapped this picture after everyone else was out loading up the car. I had to share since she was so darn cute. She also wore some "go-go" boots that Macy got from Grandma & Granpa, and loved them. I actually love them too and am so happy to have another to enjoy them. Monday was a very tough day for us. The forcast called for five inches of snow (where it is, I still don't know), and we are so ready for spring. We were all grumpy and there really wasn't anything happening that would have changed our moods, so I had to "find" something to cheer us up. The first thing that I thought of was something fun for lunch, and the first idea I found online was for a "bull's eye". I actually think it was for a breakfast food, but the kids jumped with joy at the idea. They wanted me to share it with everyone, and make them for daddy on his next day off. I guess the idea was a good one and worth sharing. Here's the pictures.
They each took a cookie cutter and cut out their hole and shaped toast. I buttered, seasoned and fried them. I had to break the yolks and flip these (which kind of loses the design, but I don't like runny yolks). A little grated cheese and here's the finished product:
They ate two each of these! We'll be having that again for lunch sometime. Sure is healthier than lots of other things we find to eat. Maybe something to put in your head for a rainy day. (That's me crossing my fingers that we don't get anymore snow.)

We've begun a long painting project and I will post pictures when the areas are done. I'm not very excited about the work, but the finished project will be nice. Have a Great Hump Day!

New Look Again..

One of the blogs that I frequently visit for craft ideas was giving a tutorial on how to customize your blog to your likes, so I accepted the three part challenge and hit the internet world hard this morning.  If you checked in on me, you probably noticed that I have had to reset the template several times to get one that I liked AND could customize.  I finally found one, and am happy enough with the backgrounds and title font for now.  Plus, I've completely neglected the children most of this morning (I've gotta take advantage of Myles' naps whenever possible).  Let me know what you think, and I may post a link to her blog later.  I've got pictures to upload and share from yesterday still.  BUT the BIGGEST news is:  MACY LEARNED TO TIE SHOES!  I tried to teach her the other day, but found my descriptions weren't helping much, so I told her to ask her dad later.  She forgot to ask him, but took what I said and sat in her room for  a while before running upstairs shouting "LOOK MOMMY!".  Well, we're heading out to take Macy to preschool.  Have a fun day.

Man-Tastic Party & Birth Announcement!

The Man-Tastic Pampered Chef Party was a hit. Macy took out the camera to photograph it. I just loved her pictures. Grady invited only men to this party. I was supposed to take Macy and Fiona and leave, but FB fell asleep and Myles was a workout, so we stayed to give the consultant some feminine support. Here are a few photos from Macy's point of view:

They made brownies. That right, the MEN made the recipe! Boy were they yummy too. I'll have to post the recipe later for you all to try.

In other news, our dear friends, Jeff & Deana, in Alaska have welcomed the arrival of their daughter, Kaitlyn Mae. She came into this world yesterday afternoon. They were able to pick her up and take her home last night. It was sleepless to say the most, but I know that they are in heaven right now! CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU! The stories they already have make me tear up. I'm so happy that they have been blessed with a baby to adopt. In light of the event, I stayed up late tonight to finish a project for her. The picture is terrible, but you get the idea: We are really counting the days until we get to see that happy family! Have a great night!