Tag- I'm it!

I altered this a little so there were 8 things of 8- what can I say, I love talking about myself! :) The lists of 8 are in no particular order.

8 Favorite TV Shows:

1: The Office

2. Fringe

3. Til Death

4. So You Think You Can Dance

5. American Idol

6. Bones

7. House

8. Everybody Loves Raymond

8 Favorite Movies:

1. White Christmas

2. Dan in Real Life

3. Notting Hill

4. Sleepless in Seattle

5. Cabaret

6. Elf

7. Bourne movies

8. Hairspray

8 Quirks about you

1. When I am done getting ready I tilt my head to the right and take a final look at myself. Jefferson pointed this out to me after we first got married. 

2. One of my ears is a different shape than the other- great, now I'm going to be self conscious about it when everyone starts to look at my ears!

3. I have a serious phobia of moths. I would take spiders or snakes over moths any day. I don't know if it's the size of their hairy little bodies or their unpredictable flight pattern, but they freak me out.

4. I hate getting my blood pressure taken. I would rather have a shot. 

5. I sometimes don't know if I said what I was thinking or I just thought it. It drives Jefferson crazy.

6. I break down into hysterical fits of laughter at random. We're talking pain in the side, can't breath, tears streaming, laughing- over nothing! Literally. It happened a lot more frequently when I was younger, like in high school, but it happened two nights ago during scripture reading with Jefferson. It was so bad that we just closed our books and threw in the towel for the night.

7. I narrate my life in my head during the day. Like everything I do is a blog entry in my head. I don't know if it's the hidden journalist in me, or the obsessive blogger in me. I wish that I had a tape recorder up there to record my life story. 

8. I can't bite into a banana. I hate the fuzzy feeling it leaves on my teeth, so I have to break off bites and then pop them into my mouth.

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Went to playgroup at Carolyn's! We live for our playgroup. I love my friends and my kids love their kids- it's perfect!

2. Had a YW presidency meeting to finish up planning for our YW in Excellence on Wednesday.

3. Had my haircut cancelled because my lady threw out her back. I almost cried, literally, when she called to tell me. I need a hair cut!!!

4. Had my old lady card club where I got to use their cuddlebugs. I am addicted- I want one for Christmas or my birthday or just because I am an awesome wife and mom. (ok, that last one might be pushing it)

5. I ate a spider leg- long story, but it was on accident.

6. Consequently made a sound that sounded like a caribou (according to Jefferson) as I tried to get the spider leg out of my throat, which made me....

7. Laugh so hard that I cried...

8. My husband looked at me like I was crazy and now calls me spiderwoman. :)

8 Things I Look Forward To:

1. Owning my very own house

2. Growing old with Jefferson and watching the fruits of our labors as our kids have kids.

3. Christmas!

4. Being pregnant again

5. Thanksgiving with my parents

6. Monday playgroups!

7. Vacations with my family

8. Having a yard!

8 Favorite Restaurants:

1. Muchas Gracias

2. Pita Pit

3. Olive Garden (for their pasta y figioli soup)

4. Mongolian Grill (most of the ones I have tried I have loved)

5. Cafe Pier Pont (if only for the memories)

6. Schlotzky's Deli

7. Baja Fresh

8. Rodizio (picture all the meat you can eat of all different kinds- I am a meat and potatoes kind of gal, what can I say?)

8 Things on my wish list

1. A house

2. A second honeymoon with Jefferson

3. A king sized bed- with a bedroom set

4. A cuddlebug 

5. My very own craft room, custom designed by me

6. Endless sky miles so I can travel wherever I want, whenever I want

7. A heated swimming pool

8. A new car for Jefferson

8 people I tag 

1. Alli

2. Dyan

3. Tory

4. Heather

5. Ashlee

6. Michelle

7. Amy

8. Jessica

Church today...

Today was our primary program in church. They did such an amazing job. The spirit was so strong and we had more people in our congregation than I have ever seen. It was the best sacrament meeting we have ever had as a family too. Carter sat on Jefferson's lap almost the entire time totally enthralled with the kids in the program. I could see the wheels turning as he watched them, and about half way through the program after any group of kids would give their part he would say, "My turn." "Come on Daddy." "I want to go up the stairs" (that lead to the pulpit) "I want to go up Daddy." He felt the spirit! I hope he has that fire when he's actually in primary!

Who am I?

Yes, I love Twilight.

You are thoughtful and care very deeply for your family.  A loving home is of great importance to you and you always try to make people feel welcome.  Although you have a great capacity to love, you also have a great capacity to hurt, so at times you can be sensitive.  You're firm when you need to be, but people trust your judgment and appreciate the kind way you always handle things. 

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Mommy Moment: Funny talk

Carter got up to wash his hands in the kitchen sink this morning and there were egg shells in there from breakfast. He turned and asked me, "Were there chickens in there?"

I don't really know how he knew that, because I have never told him that these are bird eggs we are eating because I think the whole eating a baby chicken thing might be kind of freaky to a two year old. I just had to laugh and say yes, that there were chickens in there. 

My beautiful little family

My friend is an amazing photographer and hooked us up with some sweet pictures! Check her out at www.heatherwardphotography.com 

200th Post

This is my 200th post and I thought I would commemorate it by listing 200 things that I love about life. Don't feel obligated to read them all because 200 is a lot. 

1. Jefferson; the most amazing, tender, strong, smart, devoted, man in the world.

2. Carter; that strong willed, energetic, little ball of energy.

3. Andi; the feisty, happy, hungry, purse carrying girl of mine.

4. The true gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives

5. My Savior

6. Prayer

7. Answers to prayers

8. The Book of Mormon

9. A family who supports me and raised me so well

10. A roof over my head

11. Food on the table 

12. My education

13. Jefferson's education

14. Our health

15. This job; even though I complain about it a lot, the little discomfort that it is has caused has actually provided us with a lot more comfort

16. My van :)

17. Clothes on our back... and decent ones at that (ok, I suppose that's subjective)

18. Cell phones

19. Living in a free country

20. The right to vote

21. Internet that makes it so easy to keep in contact with so many family members and friends

22. Blogging

23. Blurb. I can't wait to publish my first book!

24. Loan money

25. Government aid

26. Good books

27.  Singing

28. Dancing

29. Singing and Dancing

30. Singing and Dancing with my kids

31. Playgroup

32. Amazing friends

33. Story time at the library

34. My double stroller- it's deluxe!

35. Safety handles on doors

36. Scrapbooking

37. Wii

38. Laughing; it's one of my favorite things to do

39. Writing in a journal

40. Sleeping next to my husband

41. Pictures

42. Our video camera

43. Temples

44. Being married in the temple

45. Missionaries

46. Digital cameras

47. Living in Portland

48. The Oregon Zoo

49. The Children's Museum

50. Eating out

51. Movie theater popcorn

52. Anything with peanut butter in it

53. Steak

54. Christmas

55. Christmas music

56. Christmas music in July

57. Stamping

58. Craft time with my kids

59. Baking

60. Cooking

61. Cookie Mondays

62. Board games

63. My young women

64. TV (I wish I didn't)

65. Sleep

66. Being pregnant (No, that is not an announcement)

67. Nieces and nephews

68. Thanksgiving

69. Halloween

70. Valentine's Day

71. 4th of July

72. Fireworks

73. Piano

74. My couches. We got a lot of comments on how comfy they are. I love them.

75. Fall and the changing of colors

76. Going on long drives with my hubby

77. Diet Coke

78. Hot chocolate on cool mornings

79. Exercising

80. Turbo Jam

81. My in-law family

82. Nursing- I know I'm not practicing, but it sure is useful knowledge

83. Swimming

84. Dressing up

85. Hot water (for my showers in the morning)

86. My kids love books!

87. Target

88. $1.50 popcorn and a drink at Target

89. My kids' grandparents

90. My grandparents

91. My ancestors

92. Modern medicine

93. My kids' awesome pediatricians!

94. My midwife

95. Hospitals

96. Room spray (especially ones from bath and body works)

97. Scentsy "candles"

98. Tucking my kids in bed at night

99. Listening to Carter say his prayers

100. Every time Carter says "I love you"

101. After Carter says "I love you" he often says "You make me so happy mama" (because I say that to him a lot)

102. Andi's new found love of her binki (who knew you could become an addict at 14 months)

103. Andi is our vacuum cleaner- she finished up everybody's plates

104. Betty the Ballerina

105. Lasso

106. Mooers

107. My Big Star jeans

108. My Frye boots

109. So You Think You Can Dance

110. My favorite TV shows: The Office, American idol, Fringe, Til Death...

111. Sports

112. Animals (and those of you who we are close to that have pets so we don't have to get one yet)

113. Making love (can I put that on here? I waited til I was down the list a ways so hopefully people don't make it this far and get embarrassed) :)

114. All my tender mommy moments

115. Being a mom and appreciating everything that my mom has ever done for me on such a new level of appreciation

116. Being a parent and married and appreciating everything my dad has ever sacrificed for his family. Seeing what Jefferson has had to do has made me realize everything my dad has done for us.

117. Lighting pillows on fire :)

118. Roasting marshmallows

119. Warm days at the beach

120. Watching my kids taste something new for the first time

121. Joseph Smith

122. Mint chocolate chip ice cream

123. Hot cookies and milk

124. Listening to my kids play in their room after they are put in bed

125. Appreciating where I am at in my life right now

126. The Holy Ghost (and the guidance it provides me)

127. Scary movies: Wait Until Dark, The Sixth Sense...

128. Chic flics; including, but not limited to: Sleepless in Seattle, The Notebook, Notting Hill, Dan in Real Life, You've Got Mail...

129. FHE

130. 10 for $10s

131. Costco

132. Shopping

133. Jeans that are long enough

134. Snowboarding

135. Snow

136. Snowmen

137. My patriarchal blessing

138. People watching

139. Traveling

140. Disneyland!

141. A living prophet on the earth

142. Flowers; especially a vase full of them that my husband brings me

143. Watching my kids sleep

144. The smell of my kids room in the morning

145. Watching Carter and Andi play together/fight together

146. Pumpkin patches

147. Cinnabons

148. Chips and salsa

149. Vacuum cleaners

150. My happy little plant that I can't kill

156. Mail in ballots

157. Date nights

158. DVD players in cars

159. Flying a kite with Carter

160. Bon Fires

161. Electricity

162. Running water

163. Britas

164. Christmas shopping

165. Sales

166. Free magazine subscriptions

167. Riding my parents horses

168. Four wheeling

169. BBQ's

170. Grilling in the summer

171. Parties

172. Birthdays

173. Candles

174. My down pillow

175. Girls' night out

176. Dessert

177. Voting

178. My old lady card club

179.  Bubble blowing- my kids never get sick of it!

180. Listening to my kids laugh

181. Watching my kids when they don't know it

182. Bath time

183. A jacuzzi tub some day

184. Being adjusted!! (whenever I want!)

185. Massages

186. Leg scratching

187. Pedicures

188. Getting my hair cut

189. Crocheting

190. Being loved

191. Being a wife

192. Playing with my kids

193. Listening to Carter sing all of his favorites: "Twinkle Star" "Speckled Frog" "Itsy bitsy Spider"

194. Going on walks

195. The smell of fresh cut grass

196. Putting on the nativity with my siblings (but really I can't wait until our kids are old enough to take over for us)

197. Planning for the future with my hubby

198. Going on vacation

199. Appreciating the small things with my kiddies

200. My love of life

That was way easier than I had anticipated! 

.VOTE.

Be still my heart

Today was fast and testimony day in church. For those of you not LDS, during the first hour of church anybody in the congregation can get up and bare their testimony about the truths of the gospel. It's usually only a minute or so. There was a time in today's meeting when a number of kids got up in a row and bore their testimonies, and pretty soon Carter turns to me and says, "My turn mama?" My sweet little two year old wanted to bare his testimony! It was so tender. I assured him that we would practice our testimonies in FHE this week. 

Happy Halloween!

We had such a fabulous Halloween this year! Jefferson was at school until 4 and the kids were super excited to get dressed up when daddy got home so I decided to have some activities to make the morning go by faster. First we decorated pumpkin cupcakes. They are super delicious and apparently the name "pumpkin cupcakes" is too long for Carter to spit out so he has nicknamed them "pumcakes." I love it so the name is going to stick. We decorated pumcakes:

Then, since we never got around to carving pumpkins (which is a good thing because I noticed a few days ago that ours are already going soft and they haven't even been carved) we decorated our own pumpkins with the fun stickers grandma and grandpa got the kids:

Finally it was time to go party the night away. We got all dolled up and headed to Halloween party #1 that our friends the Kemp's hosted. They decorated a ton and we just ate snacks and talked for the little bit that we were there:

Then this marked the first Halloween that our kids have been trick-or-treating. Carter was a bit skeptical at the first door. The lady was already sitting on her porch and when she tried putting the candy in Carter's pumpkin he snatched it out of her hands because he wanted to hold it; I think to examine if indeed Mom and Dad were telling the truth about everyone giving out candy. (insert Jerry Seinfeld clip here)  He quickly figured out that it was real candy and not just an impostor and proceeded to run to the next door, literally. He loved trick-or-treating!

After about an hour of that we headed to Halloween party #2 at the Ward's. We had a great time munching on scones and all the different kinds of soups. The kids were entertained with their candy and a Halloween movie so the grownups could sit in the dining room and talk. Jefferson got a lot of laughs at his costume and scared some little old lady half to death when that deep voice came out of what she seriously thought was a woman. I don't think she looked too closely at Jefferson at the door, but when he started to talk, she jumped and then just laughed and laughed. Good times had by all. Here is the star quarterback (ok, lineman) and his head cheerleader: 

To finish off our Halloween festivities, Carter and Andi wanted to try on our costumes, only they actually got the genders right: