A Day In The Life

It's About Dang Time

2011-10-23T16:06:00.000-07:00

Okay family and friends. I know that you have been asking that I do this, so here it is. I am just going to start with the last couple of months, and go forward.

First picture is of Brooks' first day of preschool. He is loving it. He wants to go everyday, and seems to be catching on rather quickly. Sometimes, Emma gets a little jealous if he learns something first. He can swim without the help of floatation devices, he can whistle, and he is not scared to smack the heck out of bugs. Love the little man!

Next up, Emma lost her first tooth. She came to me conference weekend, and said her tooth was loose. I was really surprised. She wiggled it all day on Saturday and Sunday. Sunday night she said that it was bothering her. Cam and I were watching t.v., and out she came with a bloody headband and her tooth in her hand. She got annoyed with her tooth and placed the elastic headband on either side of her tooth, and pulled. She was fine until she saw the blood. She only freaked out a little though, because I was laughing. She got a lot from the tooth fairy, because she was brave. She now has yet another loose tooth on the bottom. Go Emm's!!!

Next, I have expressed to Cameron my desire to get outdoors more. He agreed, and yesterday we went hiking. It was quite the experience. The desert although beautiful after rain, can also be ugly without the rain. It was a really pretty hike though once we gained some altitude. We saw a tarantula, and of course Brooks wanted to kill it. We tried to explain to them, that we were in their house so to speak and to leave them alone. We saw a lot of lizards, and grasshoppers. The kids were exhausted at the end, and the adults didn't fare much better either. We just need to do this more often.

Well, that is about all for now. Just hope that I can keep this up.

Weight Loss

2011-02-07T14:55:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess I am doing a weight loss thing with my sisters. I have to post my weight and I am not really sure what else. I am 5'7 and I do weigh 225 pounds. Ouch! I don't really like admitting that to anyone. When I got married 11 years ago, I weighed 115 pounds. I know I won't get that skinny again, but I am aiming for 140 pounds. I think that is pretty realistic. Here's to hopin' I guess I have to include a photo.

Goodbye little Fudge!

2011-01-21T19:49:00.000-08:00

My little sister had a guinea pig go to guinea pig heaven. Made me think of the Saved By The Bell episode. Enjoy!

Happy Halloween

2010-11-02T16:36:00.000-07:00

This year was pretty fun. Our ward had a huge carnival, games, popcorn, cotton candy, bounce house, and a fun little train to ride. I think everyone had a good time. The only disappointing thing was the food. It was just chips with cheese on top. I promised my Mom that I would post some pictures, so here ya go.

My Hometown

2010-10-03T16:01:00.001-07:00

Hey all you Idahoans. I think this video is pretty cool. Check it out!!! www.greatidahogetaway.org

Finally

2010-09-10T16:03:00.000-07:00

Hi,

I know that it has been awhile, but I am back after much prodding from family. We have had a pretty interesting year, and I am not even going to try to catch up on everything. Here is just a breakdown of what we have been up to.

Movie Star In The Making

2009-12-12T08:43:00.000-08:00

My sister had her 15 seconds of fame on her local news station. Check out the link to watch. It is the one at the bottom that says Tips on Hiding Holiday Gifts. She is the one that keeps her presents in the rubber maid container. CLICK HERE!

Tutorial Week

2009-12-08T20:46:00.000-08:00

Okay Everyone,

One of my friends in Missouri has one of the best blogs ever! She has a knack for writing, and she is a great photographer and super crafty gal. She is having a Tutorial week on her blog that shoes some awesome make it yourself stuff. Right now she is doing a CELEBRATE banner. Check out her blog, and enjoy some "ME" time during the holidays. CLICK HERE!!

Christmas Caper

2009-12-01T15:58:00.000-08:00

So first off, I won't be posting pictures anytime soon. Our digital camera went caput, and it costs more to fix it then it is worth. So at least for the rest of this year unless I scan pictures there will be no pics.

Thanksgiving was really fun. We had the perfect amount of people, and the food was really good. I was also excited that I didn't have to make it this year. I was in charge of bringing Sweet Potatoes and Pecan Pie. I don't eat those things, and have never made them so I was a little nervous. I used fresh Sweet Potatoes and roasted them until they were tender and the skin just peeled right off. The topping was super yummy.

Before Thanksgiving there was a Martha Stewart Thanksgiving Special. She made her own pie crust and she also made a pecan pie on the show.

So, I copied Martha.

I have never attempted to make my own pie crust, and was excited to try. It ended up being a little dry and when I tried to roll it out it kept falling apart on me. I tried to salvage it, and it looked a little funky when it finally made it in the oven. Good thing is that my Mother-In-Law and my Brother-In-Law's girlfriend couldn't stop eating it. So yeah for me. I also got rave reviews about my sweet potatoes, and pecan pie. Everyone was impressed that I roasted my own potatoes.

What did everyone make for their Thanksgiving?

So Cam and I went Christmas shopping on Craigslist this year. Emma wanted a doll house so badly, but those things are SUPER expensive. I was looking through people selling dollhouses and found this. The lady on Craigslist was only selling it for 15 dollars, and it even had some extra dolls and accessories. It is in super great shape, and I think that I hit the jackpot.

We stashed the dollhouse wrapped in a blanket in our closet until we could put it in our attic. Well, I was out and Cam was home with Emma. Emma apparently came downstairs and told Cam that she found a talking dollhouse in our closet. She was so excited for Cam to see it. He told Emma that he had to use the bathroom first. He ran up to the master bath and while he was in there he hid the house up in the attic. When Emma came into the closet and saw that it wasn't there she was super confused. Cam just kept telling her that he didn't see anything, and Emma was so insistent that is was there. After Cam had her thouroughly confused, she had to call me on the phone and tell me what she saw.

I had to think quick, and this is what I told her. "You saw a dollhouse? That must mean you are really special. Santa wasn't sure what you wanted for Christmas so he made the dollhouse appear to see if you would like it and play with it. Since he saw how excited you were, he magically took it back to the workshop so he could make it even prettier and more fun." That must have appeased her, because she now thinks that Santa likes to do magic tricks. I also told her that we had to make sure to write a list and send it to Santa so that he was sure that was what she wanted. Have any of you ever had that happen, and if it did what did you say or do? The last thing I need is my almost 4 year old think that Santa isn't real.

This Christmas is going to be really fun now that Emma really understands who Santa is. Although it does get a little annoying telling her that everyone who has a santa hat on isn't necessarily Santa. Whew! Happy Holidays!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-02T09:31:00.000-08:00

I think that we had a pretty good Halloween this year. Emma really enjoyed watching the Halloween cartoons and reading the Halloween books from the library. She really got it this year.
We had a ward Halloween party on Friday night. It was a fun little shin-dig. They blocked off some streets on our neighborhood. They had fun games in the park, and then they had chili, hot dogs, and cornbread in a little culdesac. Our kids were then able to go Trick-or-Treating at the houses around the area. It was a lot of fun, and it got them prepared for the Saturday night greed fest.
Saturday Emma wanted to go Trick-Or-Treating as soon as she woke up. She was upset that she had to wait until it got dark outside. We finally made it, and we were able to go out with several family and friends. Emma was so excited that she was able to keep up with the brutal pace that the older kids had. About 2 hours into it, she started to slow down and she couldn't hold her bag anymore due to it being so heavily laden with the good stuff. Brooks made it about 40 minutes and then we had a melt down. Too many people, and too much poking and proding him to go the right way. It was a really fun night, and I now know why my Mom never wanted to take us around the neighborhood for hours on end. You were a trooper Mom. I hope that you all had a Happy Halloween, and I hope that you covet my Edward pumpkin.

Freakin Hilarious!

2009-10-19T23:17:00.001-07:00

This is so funny, and Brooks is in this exact phase right now. Enjoy!

Anyone want a pumpkin?

2009-10-16T00:40:00.001-07:00

Anyone who lives in Arizooney. Superstition Ranch Market has pumpkins on sale 10 cents a pound. Buy up!

2009-09-23T15:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our summer adventure to the Grand Canyon. There is one picture of Cam and Emma at the Wind Caves, and the rest are at Slide Rock in Sedona. Enjoy. And yes, that look on my face is pure shock. The water was extremely cold! Emma has that scowl on her face because she hated getting cold and wet. She sat there with a towel around her the whole time we were there.

Back In The Swing Of Things

2009-09-13T15:33:00.001-07:00

Well after a long hiatus, I have decided that I should get back into things. We have since moved into our condo, and Cameron has started school. It still is darned hot here, and I am excited for the weather to cool down a little. Here are some of the things that we have been up to since we moved back to AZ. I will try to post fun pictures soon.

June was a fun month, because I was finally able to go and see the Grand Canyon. We first drove up to Sedona, and had some fun at Slide Rock. It was very, very cold and I got up the courage to jump off of the rock into the water. My Mother-In-Law also videotaped the expression on all of our faces as we first entered the water and went down the rocks. It was a lot of fun, and the view was great! We then headed out to our campground for the night at Meteor Crater outside of Flagstaff. It was a great campground with lots of room, and a great fire pit. I will have to say though, if we didn't have our kids with us, I would have enjoyed myself thoroughly. The kids did not sleep well due to it being so cold. They finally snuggled in with Cam and I, but the mattress started to lose some air, and I kept falling off the mattress. I finally gave up, and went to go sleep in the pickup truck.

It was a really bad night, but we then packed up and went to the lava tubes. I stayed behind with Brooks, Loa, Whitney and Bailey. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and we then officially headed to our campsite at the Grand Canyon. Our campsite was great! We each had our own little pad, and we had some really good food. Due to our rough night prior, we decided to change things up. I slept with Brooks so he would stay warm, and Cam had his own air mattress, and Emma had her own as well. All was good until about 3:00am. Emma decided that she wanted to get up and play. She was shivering the whole time that she was up, and I finally told her that I would take her on a walk and show her how dark it was. We walked for about 200 yards before she decided she wanted to go back to sleep.

The next day was great we walked all around, and it was so beautiful. The squirrels there are not shy in the least bit. We were also able to see some Condors. We then hit a place called the Watchtower. I thought that it had the best views of all. The tower itself was so cool. All in all it was a great trip, and I hope that we can do it again sometime.

The 4th of July was fun, and we had a good day of swimming, eating, and watching the fireworks. It was really low stress this year. We went to Apache Junction High School to watch the fireworks. We got there about a half an hour before it started and we got right in and had a great view! Brooks and Emma were enamored with the show.

We had a good summer. We have had the opportunity to do a lot of swimming and playing on toys inside of the mall. Emma is excited for Halloween, and I hope that she comes to love the holiday as much as I do.

Red White and Blue!

2009-06-29T21:20:00.000-07:00

I am sorry for the delay in posting. It hasn't been easy living with the In-Laws. First off, the computer is in their bedroom, so it doesn't make for easy accessibility. I won't be able to post any pictures, because our camera lens got some dirt in it from our camping trip, and so now the shutter won't open. We just need to find the time and or money to take it in and get it fixed. We have been having fun in AZ, and the weather hasn't been too terrible until this last week. We are now officially hitting the 105 and hotter temps, although I will take it over the humidity.

Here is just a little story from my little Emma. I swear the kid is going on 13. So Cam's parents had a free movie weekend with HBO, Starz and Encore. We taped anything we could get our hands on. Anyways, we recorded Ratatouille because Emma had never seen it before. So the movie started, and then after a little dialogue the scene broke and there was a pause before it picked up again. Well, during that pause she turned to Cam and said, "Not bad Dad." She is my little movie critic. Brooks is growing so well, and he can see fragments of the alphabet, he likes to moo like a cow, and he LOVES to be chased. I think the kids are hitting their limit with living and "Grams" and "Papa's" home. Last night Emma was asking me where her bed and toys went. That made me so sad. I know when we will be leaving here, but our kids don't. I tried to explain to Emma on a calendar when we would be finally in our new house. Hopefully it will help to countdown days.

Well that is about all I have for now. Hopefully I can steal a few moments again soon.

Under Construction! Will Post Soon!!

2009-04-13T07:55:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted. You are all probably sick of seeing the twilight spoof on my site. Anyways, I haven't had a lot of time lately due to packing. We are moving to AZ on Thursday, and our plane leaves at a sleepy 6:50 am. I should be pack to posting more soon, but for now here is something to tide you over.

My mom and sisters minus Lyns came out to see me, and we had a blast! My mom was really glad that they Sky Tram was sold out. I don't think she wanted to go up in that thing.
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It was soooo windy that day, but I thought we had some fun. My nephew Taggart was such a doll. I loved spending time with him. Good Times.

See ya soon posting from the great ol' state of Arizony.

Totally Funny Spoof Of Twilight!

2009-03-22T21:57:00.001-07:00

Loved this.

Sorry for the Delay

2009-03-21T07:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in posting, and sorry for the length of this post. I think it is interesting but then again, it is my life. So read on my friends, read on. On our anniversary, our computer crashed. The motherboard pretty much fried. We were however able to get a really cheap computer at an auction, and just had someone put in all of our good leftovers into the new computer. It now of course is back up and running. Just a couple of things to sum up the last couple of weeks.

Brooks has learned another word on top of Uh Oh. It is no. Yep no. He just started saying it last night and then again this morning. I can't believe how big he is. He is walking better now, and is content to sit and play for hours. He is also a good eater. For breakfast he usually eats two packets of instant oatmeal, and just today he ate 3 pancakes. I love that he is a good eater most of the time.

Cameron was accepted to Arizona State University. Yipeeeee!!!! We are of course extremely happy. It was the program he wanted plus of course there is the added perk of having Cam's family there. We also will be in a more reasonable driving distance to my family as well. I really miss them. I am also excited for normal malls a Michael's and fabric stores that are on hand. Also I am excited about the fact that I will be able to eat at Wendy's again. Small little thing, but I love that place.

I am going to miss good ol' St. Louis. St. Louis hasn't been that kind to us. The coupe de gras was about two weeks ago when Cameron was severed from his job. He is getting a severance, but it is only until the middle of May. It is funny how life works. We came to St. Louis excited about a new position and the prospect of Cameron climbing the corporate ladder. We had such high hopes and it seems the moment we stepped off of the plane it all fell apart. I am glad however of the decision Cam's made to go back to school. I believe that this is what he needs to be doing. I will miss all of the free things to do here. The zoo, botanical gardens, the parks, the Magic House, etc... I am also going to miss some of the wonderful people that I have gotten to know during my time here. I hope that I will be able to keep in touch with some of them.

I hope to post soon again. These next three weeks are going to be incredibly crazy. I hope that you are all looking forward to Easter. I know I am, and Emma thinks the Easter bunny is like Santa. I guess he is, but it has been interesting telling her about him. Well, I am off to clean my house.

Happy Anniversary Cam!

2009-03-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

Well, how do you sum up 9 years of marriage? I am going to try to do a little recap of our Topsy turvy tumultuous marriage so far.

1999
July 22nd-Cameron set his eyes on me for the first time in Chester, Idaho. I am from Sugar City and the population back then was 1,242.

July 26th-First kiss in the parking lot of an apartment complex at Ricks College. We exchanged addresses and phone numbers. The thing was, is that I forgot to put my number on the piece of paper, so Cam thought that I was just a playa'.

August 2nd-I wrote Cam a letter because I hadn't heard from him, and I kind of laid all of my cards out there for him. Oh, and I put my phone number at the end of the letter.

August 5th-Cam called me for the first time.

October 1st-4th-I met Cam's family for the first time, and we got engaged that weekend. Just so everyone is aware, I had only seen Cam one other time prior to this weekend. Can anyone say CRAZY????

December 28th-I moved to Arizona to date Cam. Good idea ya? I moved in with is 81 year old grandmother, and to tell you the truth it didn't go as smoothly as we all hoped.

January 22nd-I moved in with one of my Mother-In-Laws good friends, and they had a daughter that was around my age as well and we became roomies.

March 11th-Sealed for Time and all Eternity in the Idaho Falls Temple. It was a balmy 23 degrees, and snowing. After the ceremony, we had some time to kill before the luncheon. So in the spirit of making one of the biggest decisions of your life, we went to the mall with Cam's best friend James and looked at RV's. Now, I don't know about you, but I will do everything in my power to make sure that that never ever happens to my children. What in the world were we thinking? Gotta say though, loved my dress, the cake, Cam's tux, the refreshments (though I don't think we ever had any), and my wonderful, wonderful honeymoon. Thanks Mom and Dad for making it a good day. Also, thanks to Rod and Loa for making it a great day again for the Arizona reception. Loved them both!

Well, since that point we have had financially complicated marriage. I would rather have this trial in life than about a billion others. We will slay this dragon and move on, but I dream of a nice little house with a fenced in yard. Is that too much to ask? Anyways, I love my hubby so, so much and he has been my rock for as long as I can remember. He is a tightwad, he let me cry and vent when we couldn't get pregnant and I had to sit through baby blessing after baby blessing. He has the most amazing rear end! I know, I know. Hey, I have to state the obvious right? He is good with our children, and instills the fear into them that should be there. Who wasn't afraid of their father? He tries so, so hard to be happy with what he does and hopefully in the end it will also bring us some income. I couldn't imagine spending nine years with anyone else, and I will love you for eternity.

Happy Anniversary Cam!

Totally random picture I know, but this just is one of my favorite pictures.

Slamming Saturday

2009-03-07T08:27:00.000-08:00

I don't know how many of you watch the Amazing Race, but since we are already into another season, I have to share with you one of my favorite moments of watching the show. Enjoy, and laugh your bum off!

Give it up Bachelor

2009-03-04T15:48:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that I have watched so many seasons of The Bachelor. I decided that this season I wasn't going to watch because he never seems to pick the girl that I want, and for the also obvious reason that they never stay together. I did decide however to watch the last couple of minutes of the finale, and also stuck around for the After The Rose special. I have to say, that these things just get more and more ridiculous ever single time that they are on. Pretty soon they are going to run out of ideas on how to create drama and they are going to end up with the first bi-sexual bachelor or bachelorette. It is just sad that anyone would agree to be on the show after watching season after season of failure. Well ya know, I guess it isn't all that surprising in today's world. Well that is my rant. I included a video from You-tube in case you missed all the drama. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Brooksie!

2009-03-01T17:58:00.000-08:00

Sorry, but this post is going to have a lot of pictures and a couple of videos. These obviously are mainly for the grandparents. Well, my sweet little baby turned 1 today. I can't believe that time has gone by this quickly. I feel badly that we weren't able to make it a bigger deal than it was, but of course he was okay with it. We went to Chuck E Cheese last night, and he chowed down on pizza and even got a little taste of the good stuff. What is the good stuff you say? Dr. Pepper! He liked it, but the carbonation was a little much. It was funny to see he reaction every time. He rode on the carousel, clifford, the Chuck E Cheese car, and we even got our family in a sketch. It was fun, but a late night for both of them. He also took he first steps yesterday. Our goal is to have him walking by the time Grandma Bean comes to visit in April. I am very excited to see my Mom and my sisters. Although, my little sister Lynsey won't be able to come. I promise I will see you soon Lyns. All in all I think he had a good day, and thanks so much to the grandparents for all the wonderful stuff you sent.

What Are You Reading?

2009-02-14T17:18:00.001-08:00

My friend Emily had this on her blog, and I thought it was a neat idea. I am enjoying all of them. For any of you that don't know, I am a multiple book reader. I like to read more than one book at a time. Ask my mom, she knows. I have always loved books, and I have handed that love down to my daughter. This is her in her fort or "fork" as she calls it. How cute! Let me know what your reading.

Emma is 3!

2009-02-12T14:07:00.000-08:00

Well, I offically have a toddler. Emma turned 3 on February 5th, and we just had a small party (Thanks to Cam for helping to not go overboard) with some of Emma's friends and their parents. I have a really good friend from Idaho that live in Missouri as well, and she drove about an hour and a half to come to the party with her cutie little girl Aubrey. My parents also decided to view the festivities via webcam. Hope that had a little bit of fun. She got lots of really great stuff, and I appreciate everyone coming out on a weeknight. To ring in her birthday, Emma is getting 4 new teeth. So just one last set of molars, and we are done! I wish I could say the same for Brooks who is in the process of cutting 4 teeth. Don't you just wish you were me?

Suff I am Behind On

2009-02-08T14:50:00.000-08:00

First off, we had a kickin snow storm a couple of weeks ago and I would say we got a couple of feet. Unfortunately, it was not snowman snow. Emma couldn't understand why we just couldn't roll up the snow and make a gigantic snowman. I think she excepted my explanation, because she moved right on to her second task which was to make snow angels. Now Emma has never played in the snow before, so as soon as I told her she needed to lay down she freaked out. She eventually relaxed, and she then proceeded to make snow angels wherever there was a space. It was pretty fun, but we got pretty cold. Of course the snow right now is gone, and yesterday we boasted temperatures into the 60's. That is crazy St. Louis for ya.

Next, My sister gave this outfit to Emma for Christmas and I tried to take her picture while she was looking really cute. I have to say that I don't know how professional photographers get the shots they do with kids. I tried to get her to hold still, but alas here are some of the better pictures. Also, Emma is singing a song that she learned from Dora the Explorer. It goes like this. "Arriba up, Abaho down, Abre open, Cerra closed. I speak spanish and english too, I like them both how about you."

Bummer Wummer!

2009-02-04T08:46:00.000-08:00

Well, it is sad to say that the Cardinals lost the Superbowl. We were all a little sad around here, and tears where shed (Just kidding). It really was a great game, and the Cardinals just couldn't hold onto it. We had a great party at our house, and we had quite the spread. It was a great time, and here are a couple of pics.

Cardinals Made It To The Super Bowl

2009-01-20T14:21:00.000-08:00

Well it was an exciting time at the Owens home on Sunday afternoon. We had just gotten over the 24 hour bug at our house, and Sunday was the recovery day. If any of you have ever watched a game with Cam, then you will know what a die hard fan he truly is. I think that he scared our poor kids to death with all of the jumping, screaming, and yelling at the t.v. Never a dull moment at the Owens home when there is a game on. Every year Cam watches the Cardinals and every year he just about swears them off for good. This year has been a great year for him. I am sad that he couldn't be there to watch the big game in Arizona with his Dad and brothers. We are however going to be having a kickin super bowl party so all are invited. Here is a video of some highlights of the Cardinals big year. Honey, I love you and I am glad that you finally can cheer for your team with pride. GO CARDINALS!

First Post For The New Year!

2009-01-15T20:23:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has been so long everyone. This is going to be a LONG post, so brace yourself. Things have been a little hectic.

After Christmas, we started to pack to move to our new apartment. I was doing pretty well with the packing until one day I was running down the hall after Emma, and I hit my foot on the side of a box. Now you are probably thinking to yourself, "I have done that tons of times where is this story going?" I will tell you. I broke my toes when I kicked that box. The littlest toe on my left foot was totally going the opposite direction. I was in quite a bit of pain, and had no idea how to proceed. I called Cam and he just told me to put it back myself. I tried to move it, and I heard more cracking. At that point I decided to go to the doctor. I called a friend who so graciously agreed to watch my two kiddles while I went to the ER. Before I left I called a surgeon in my ward and left him a message to see if maybe he would do it for me instead of me having to wait in the ER for a procedure that would only take like 5 minutes to do. He didn't return my call, so when I got to my friends house she called an ear, nose, and throat doctor that was in our ward as well to see if maybe he would come over and fix my toe. He agreed, and my friend Emily let me chill at her house until he came over. Once he got there, I was extremly nervous. I knew what was going to happen, and I new it was going to hurt. He felt bad as well, because he said that they normally give anesthetic to do this kinds of thing. I just covered my face with my hands, and he jerked that sucker into place while I tried not to scream so I wouldn't scare the kids. He did a good job though, because now it is looking great. Needless to say, this all happened a couple of days before the move. Cam was a trooper and pretty much packed up the rest of the house. We had 8 guys from the ward come over and help us move, so that was a blessing as well because I just pretty much sat back and watched.

Well we are in now, and my life is getting back to a routine. I have started to watch a little boy from 6:30am-12:00pm, and it is working out well. Now that you have listened to my fun story, here are some pics. They aren't that great, but you will get the idea.

Christmas at the Owens Home

2008-12-28T18:34:00.000-08:00

We had a really great Christmas this year. Of course a lot of it had to do with family. We were really poor this year, and our Christmas present for Emma was going to be a bear from Build-A-Bear Workshop. They had a lot of bears that were only ten dollars. We went on Christmas Eve, and told her we had a surprise for her. Well just going to the mall is an exciting thing for Emma, but she just about had a heart attack when she got to pick out a bear. She immediatly picked up a dog, but we asked her if she wanted a bear or a dog, and she said dog. I think we asked her about 10 times if she was sure she wanted a dog. She stuck with it, and she named it Princess. It was such a neat experience to have, and Brooks enjoyed himself as well. He loved the machine that has all the batting in it. Overall, it was a blast, and Princess has not left Emma's side since. Here are some pictures.

After we finished with Build-A-Bear, we headed over to a friends house for dinner, dessert, and adult conversation. It was fun being with friends and eating fudge and pie. When we came home, we put out milk and cookies for Santa. Emma watched a cartoon earlier that day, and they left out chocolate milk for Santa. She instantly clung to that idea, so we had to make some chocolate milk for Santa. Pretty much all of the presents that Emma and Brooks got were from family. I am so lucky to have such a great family and In-laws. I don't know where we would be without them in our lives. So thank you everyone who has helped out. Here are some pictures of Christmas morning.

All of the presents have been a hit, and we had a great day. Now, onto packing and moving to a new apartment.

December Happenings

2008-12-28T12:35:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a really long post. Hopefully you will enjoy it. December has been a busy month. We have been looking for a place to live, getting in Cam's grad school applications, Christmas, and Cam having to move locations with his job. Whew! We are ready to move on into a new year. This past year has been a really difficult one for us. A lot of changes, and most of them haven't been enjoyable. Things are looking up for us in this new year, and I can't wait to get started.

Well first off, we did decide on an apartment. We went with Apartment number 1 in my previous post. Unfortunately the images are no longer there, because he took the listing off. I will take some pics though and show ya next week some time. We are moving in on January 1st.

I checked out a book from the library that had fun craft ideas. We decided to do a couple of them due to the fact that we couldn't go outside due to illness and cold weather. Here are some pics.

Here are some pictures of Emma going to see Santa. We went to the mall, and Emma was trying to talk to Santa, but he did not seem interested. It stinks that he has to be like "Hi, sit on my lap, take picture, see ya kid." Emma didn't seem to notice, so I can let it slide this year. Notice the super cute outfit courtesy of my sister Nicole.

Who Loves The Midwest?

2008-12-20T06:45:00.000-08:00

I have been reading the book "American Wife" by Curtis Sittenfeld. There is a portion of the book that describes her love of the Midwest. I just thought that I would share it with you.

"But to think of Wisconsin specifically or the Midwest as a whole as anything other than beautiful is to ignore the extraordinary power of the land. The lushness of the grass and trees in August, the roll of the hills (far less of the Midwest is flat than outsiders seem to imagine), that rich smell of soil, the evening sunlight over a field of wheat, or the crickets chirping at dusk on a residential street: All of it, it has always made me feel at peace. There is room to breathe, there is a realness of place. The seasons are extreme, but they pass and return, pass and return, and the world seems far steadier than it does from the vantage point of a coastal city.

Certainly picturesque towns can be found in New England or California or the Pacific Northwest, but I can't shake the sense that they're too picturesque. On the East Coast, especially, these places-Princeton, New Jersey, say, or Farmington, Connecticut-seem to me aggressively quaint, unbecomingly smug, and even xenophobic, downright paranoid in their wariness of those who might somehow infringe upon the local charm. I suspect this wariness is tied to the high cost of real estate, the fear that there might not be enough space or money and what there is of both must be clung to and defended. The West Coast, I think, has a similar self-regard-all that talk of proximity to the ocean and the mountains-and a beauty that I can't help seeing as show-offy. But the Midwest: It is quietly lovely, not preening with the need to have its attributes remarked on. It is the place I am calmest and most myself."

So what do you Midwesterners think of this exerpt. I personally don't mind the show-offness of the West because I myself am a Westerner. I just loved the way she put things.

Sinter Klaus Day!

2008-12-12T07:22:00.000-08:00

Sinter Klaus is the Dutch version of Christmas. My mom's mom is Dutch, and we have always celebrated this holiday. My mom rules at holidays! She always had a way to make them special. She is also big into decorations. I am glad for all of it, because I am excited to share them with my children as well. Thanks Mom! Basically you put your shoes out on the 5th of December, and Sinter Klaus comes with Black Pete and puts presents in your shoes. It was hard trying to explain to Emma about two Santas, but I really don't think she cared.

Brooks is a Climber

2008-12-12T06:40:00.000-08:00

Well, my little boy loves to crawl into places he shouldn't be in. He also loves to crawl on top of things now too. Also here is a picture of the naked princess. Enjoy!

Apartments, Apartments, Who Wants an Apartment?

2008-12-12T06:20:00.000-08:00

First off, many of you know that we are trying to find a new place to live. I had a random experience the other day when I went to go look at an apartment. I arrived in the parking lot, and when I went to get out of my car, I noticed a little boy about 4 sitting all by himself in a car. I was in looking at the apartment for about 25 minutes. When I cam out, I noticed that he was still just sitting there. I was just going to leave, but I just felt that I needed to do something. I opened the car door and asked him if he was okay. He then started to cry. He said something about his Daddy, and that he was sleeping in the car. I wasn't sure what to do, so I called my friend Emily, and she told me to call the police. I called, and they sent out a unit. Well by the time the police got there, it had been about and hour and a half and still no adult in sight to claim this little boy. They manager and maintenance men of the apartment complex, called around and tried to see if they could find a man with the name the little boy kept telling us. Well, we finally found out where he belonged. The police and maintenance knocked on the door, and a man finally came to the door. He told the police that the little boy was asleep, and he had just gotten off work and wanted to sleep as well, so he just left his son in the car and came up and fell asleep. What? You did what? Just take your son upstairs with you. How hard is that? I am so mad! Who knows how long that little boy was in that car. What annoyed me also was that the police just told him to not let it happen again. That's it? That's all the reprimand that he gets? No wonder people think that it is no big deal. Oh well, at least we found his Dad and no harm done. Hopefully he will think twice before doing it again.

Anyways, I can't tell you how many apartments I have looked at, but I finally think I have whittled down to three. Here are the links. Take a look, and vote for your favorite. Here we go.

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/apa/946872873.html

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/apa/953004228.html

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/apa/953050629.html

Let me know what you think.

Poison

2008-12-09T05:08:00.000-08:00

My friend had this on his blog, and his turned out great! Mine, kind of so so. This was pretty fun. Read down to find out why I named my post Poison.

RULES:* Put Your iTunes, Windows Media Player, MP3 Player, or whatever on Shuffle.* For each question, press the next button to get your answer.* You must write down the name of the song no matter how silly it sounds!* Put any comments in brackets after the song name.

1. If someone says, “Is this okay?” You say?
- "I Dare You To Move" [Switchfoot]
2. How would you describe yourself?
- "Blurry" [Puddle of Mud]
3. What do you like in a guy/girl?
- "Maestro" [Hans Zimmer]
4. How do you feel today?
- "Time of The Season" [Ben Taylor Band]
5. What is your life’s purpose?
- "Ice Box" [Omarion]
6. What is your motto?
- "Surf Song" [Fenix Tx]
7. What do your friends think of you?
- "Goodbye" [Spice Girls]
8. What do you think of your parents?
- "The Little Things" [Colbie Caliet]
9. What do you think about very often?
- "The Boys Of Summer" [The Ataris]
10. What is 2 + 2?
- "Decode" [Paramore]
11. What do you think of your best friend?
- "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" [Iron and Wine]
12. What do you think of the person you like?
- "Ellie (Cameron) My Love" [Inside Out]
13. What is your life story?
- "No Air" [Jordin Sparks]
14. What do you want to be when you grow up?
- "Beautiful" [Meshell Ndegeocello]
15. What do you think of when you see the person you like?
- "Inconsolable" [Backstreet Boys]
16. What will you dance to at your wedding?
- "Chasing Pavement" [Adele]
17. What will they play at your funeral?
- "Buy You A Drank" [T-Pain]
18. What is your hobby/interest?
- "Call Me When Your Sober" [Evenesance]
19. What is your biggest fear?
- "Wild Horses" [The Sundays]
20. What is your biggest secret?
- "I Need A Hero" [Frou Frou]
21. What do you think of your friends?
- "Lucky" [Jason Mraz]
22. What will you post this as?
- "Poison" [Bel Biv Devoe]

Posted by Cameron at 11:06 PM 2 comments

Its Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

2008-11-30T18:46:00.000-08:00

I think I was the only one that didn't drag myself out of bed Black Friday and go shopping. I did it last year, and I don't think I will be doing it again anytime soon. Instead, I got to sleep in and we got ready to go have some fun as a family.

Cameron heard at his work that Santa comes in on a Helicopter and lands in the shopping center where he works. We thought that sounded like fun, so we went. He arrived on a News 5 copter, and he landed in right next to us. It was crazy windy, and Emma was one of the only children not frightened by it. Santa then got out with his Elf, and went around the crowd taking pictures and handing out candy canes. Emma had a really good time, and she wasn't afraid of Santa at all. Ya know, it is free events like this that make me happy that I live in St. Louis. There is just so many family friendly events around here.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Happy Turkey Day

2008-11-28T06:38:00.000-08:00

Well I hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was pretty good. I tried to get Emma to watch a little of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but she wasn't interested. I remember they used to have a lot more balloons in the parade when I was growing up. Now it is all dancers and famous people.

Cam and I made our own Thanksgiving meal this year, and I was pretty much in the kitchen from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm. Whew! Things turned out well. My gravy was a little greasy, and the green bean casserole ended up being green bean soup, but the important things turned out well. Here is my turkey.

I also had to make the famous Owens rolls. I have made them a couple of times, and they are getting better, but just not quite the way they are supposed to be. Here is the story behind the rolls:

When Cameron's Grandma Lerue was living in Texas during World War II while her husband was stationed there. She was approached one day at the post office by a nice looking man who asked if she was a soldier's wife. When she said she was, he asked if she had a driver's license. She again said yes. Many women at that time didn't drive. He then asked if she was looking for work. Although she had a job she was curious to know what he had in mind. The man, a Mr. Connelly, was looking for a part-time caregiver for his invalid wife. Lerue began taking Mrs. Connelly out to lunch a few times a week in addition to other duties. Mrs. Connelly liked to go over the state line into Oklahoma to a special restaurant. One day Lerue asked to see the chef to compliment him on his wonderful Parkerhouse rolls. She then asked for the recipe, and that became the rolls that Cameron's Grandma was famous for.

After we ate, we were invited over to a friends house for pie. There were a couple of families there, and a lot of pie. Two pumpkin cheesecakes, 2 apple, a coconut cream, a chocolate, and I believe a pecan pie. It was all really good. I missed being near family, but we had great friends around and there isn't anything better than my husband and children.

Well, It Was Worth It!

2008-11-23T15:25:00.000-08:00

TWILIGHT!!!!!

I was able to go to the movie on Saturday, and I loved it. You have to be able to go into this movie knowing that they are going to take some liberties, and take it for what it is. They do a good job of following the book, and I thought they did a great job with the casting. Here is my breakdown.

EDWARD: He surprised me. I wasn't sure I would like him, but I was very pleasantly surprised. I loved the color of his eyes, and the way they made him twinkle in the sun was cool. I think he needs to work on his acting when it comes to him being serious, but it was only a couple of times. I also hated his sunglasses in one scene. They looked like they belonged in the 1980's. Other than that, he did great.

BELLA: She did an AWESOME job! I think they could have played up the clumsy part a little bit more, and I think they could have dressed her up a little more for prom, but over all she did a great job.

JACOB: I will have to see. I just think they could have done a better job casting him. I know he is a little younger than Bella in the book, but he just seemed too young. Does that make sense? Anyways, he wasn't in there for too long so we will have to see when they make the next one.

EDWARDS FAMILY: They all did a super duper job! I loved everyone, and it was just a home run. Rosalie did a great job. A lot of people thought she could have been prettier, but come on she is gorgeous already. Carslille did such a good job. He just was so smooth and everything came across natural. Esme was just like I pictured her, as well as Jasper, Alice, and Emmett. Just overall it was great!

I know I haven't talked about some characters, but it would have taken too long. I want to go see it again. Like I said, it had its flaws, but if you go in knowing it will be a little different you will be happy. The books of course will always be better. Let me know what you thought.

Twilight Here I come!!!!!

2008-11-19T13:51:00.000-08:00

I have become so excited for this movie!

I had to save a few pennies (okay a lot of pennies) but I got my ticket. A lot of us from the relief society are going. I read the book again, and I have even listened to the soundtrack in preperation for the movie. I was so excited to find this blog background from TCBOTB. Nothing says Thanksgiving like vampires right?

Hopefully you are all Twilight fans, and are going to the movie as well. Check out my movie bar on the right hand side, and take a look at the previews. I figure that my sister can be obsessed with New Kids On The Block, so why can't I be addicted to Twilight. LOL!

A Day in the Life

2008-11-19T13:29:00.001-08:00

Punkins and Scary Costumes

2008-11-05T19:24:00.000-08:00

We had a great Halloween. The weather in St. Louis was in the 70's! Emma was a little hopped up if you can't tell from the first picture.

The pumpkin in the middle I carved with the kids in Emma's Joy School, and the two on either end are the pumpkins I carved. It took my 5 hours to carve those puppies. I secretly love it, but I wish they would last a little longer than a day or two.

We let Emma eat as much candy as she wanted on Saturday, and she hasn't asked for any since. Hopefully she will be like my sisters. I was the candy freak in my family, and my sisters would still have Halloween candy at Christmas. Come on people, live a little. Unfortunatly I can't eat that much now if I want to not gain 500 million pounds. I hope that you all had a great Hallospookyween.

Happy Holidays I guess?

A Few Of My Favorite Things!

2008-11-03T15:49:00.001-08:00

I just thought I would do this short post to tell you of a couple of things I have discovered that I love! First off, Honeycrisp apples. Yum! Yum! I can only afford like two because they are so expensive but worth it. They are crispy and sweet. Best apple I have ever had.

Second, Softsoap soap in Pomegranate and Mango. Makes me want to wash my hands all the time. Not like I don't wash my hands, but you know what I mean. Buy it, try it, love it. Thanks for letting me rant.

Notice the Video Bar

2008-10-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

I just want your eye to wander to the right of your screen. I have a video of Cam blowing out his candles, Emma telling a scary Halloween Story, and Brooks crawling. Enjoy!

One Year Older and Wiser?

2008-10-27T06:45:00.000-07:00

Well, Cam celebrated his 31st birthday on the 23rd. I tried to make it a nice day for him. He played World of Warcraft all day.

Then we went to Applebee's for dinner, and then came home and had cake. His mom makes these wonderful coffee cakes, and Cam loves them so I thought I would make one for his birthday. My mother-in-law explained how to make it, but I think I need to work on my baking skills. It didn't quite turn out the way it was supposed to. The great thing was, is that they tasted great. I guess that is all that matters.

So hopefully he had a good day. Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Party In The Patch

2008-10-25T17:49:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, we went to Party in the Patch. I was put on by the city, and it was so much fun. We started our jaunt through the park by receiving a Trick-or-Treat bag from the firefighters. From there, we went to a magical carousel that was magically transformed into a place where Emma was able to run like a crazed woman for about 5 minutes. We then ate a really nutritious meal of hot dogs and chips with the water downed wonderfulness of McDonald's orange drink. The hayride came, and we ate some popcorn while we saw the gravestones, pumpkins, and ghosts along the trail. We then came to a gigantic tent where they had games, face painting, and crafts. The night concluded topped off the night by searching for candy in a haunted graveyard. I think I had more fun than anyone. The great thing about it, was that they had some fires going and it had that crisp fall smell combined with fire smoke. My favorite!

A Fun Week

2008-10-18T18:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Fall Everyone,

I just want to start by saying that I have hit my 100th post. Crazy! I have almost had this blog for a year now. Thanks to everyone who has read whatever it is that I have to say. We had a really fun week. We got to go to the Botanical Gardens, and I was able to get in a couple of pics for ya.

Stupid Tag!

2008-10-09T17:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have been tagged by my sister. We just post 6 things about each other that most people won't know. Here goes.

1. I LOVE, LOVE decorating for holidays. I decorate for Valentines Day, Easter, Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and of course Christmas. I have three Rubbermaid bins full of Halloween stuff, and two bins of Christmas stuff. I love this time of year, because from October 1st until January 1st, it is unlimited decorating.

2. I think the Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson) is HOT! I also love Dougray Scott, and Christian Bale. Oh, and I also think Cameron is fairly good looking. Love ya Babe!!!!

3. I am obsessed with shoes and accessories. If I had the money I would have tons of shoes and jewlery. The move "The Devil Wears Prada" is one of my favorite movies. I love Ann Hathaway's outfits in that movie.

4. I am a night owl. I don't mind mornings, but I hate the afternoons. I love it when the kids are asleep, and I know I have about twelve hours before they start buggin me again.

5. I am a sucker for guys who smell good. I love it when my husband wears cologne. Yummy!

6. I wish that I was a workout guru. I always look at people running down the road, or in the gym, and I wish I was one of them. I just can't seem to get my lazy bum in shape. So for all of you who exercise religiously I bow down to you. Curse your toned bodies.

I am now supposed to tag people, but I am not going to. If you want to right six things about yourself, do and then let me know.

Punkin Patch!

2008-10-04T13:25:00.001-07:00

On Friday afternoon, we went to a pumpkin patch in the area. It was a lot of fun, and we got some good pictures. They had animals to look at, a maze, a little haunted house, and a lot of other things. All Emma cared about was the playground, firetruck, and a little fort they had there. It was a fun time, and I am still waiting for the leaves to change. The weather has become great. It is a little brisk, and overall fun to be out in. How is the weather where your at?

Arthur in the Park

2008-10-04T13:14:00.000-07:00

So a couple of Saturday's ago, we went to an event in Forest Park called "Arthur in the Park". They had booths set up with all of the characters that are on PBS. They of course had Arthur, Sid the Science Kid, Sesame Street, and many others.

We went there for Emma to see Curious George. She watches it every day, and loves it. We walked a long way due to the parking issue, and we got in line. Cameron then went to scope things out, and discovered that it would take us about 2 hours to get to see George. When you get to George, you get to sit on his lap and take a quick picture. We all decided that waiting that long to see something for about 2 minutes just wasn't what we wanted to do. So we tried to take a picture and let Emma peek in the tent at the characters. She was pretty upset about George, but it has been quickly forgotten. This is probably an event that we won't go to again.

Something Really Cool!

2008-10-03T18:22:00.000-07:00

I was helping at Emma's joy school a couple of weeks ago, and one of my friends suggested using Pandora. It is a website where you can put in your favorite song, artist, album, whatever, and it makes your own radio station for you. I just used it the other day, and I put in Colbie Calliat. It then played Jack Johnson, Michael Buble, Vanessa Carlton, and others. It was so good, and in an hour, there was only one song that I didn't really care for. Try it out. One of my new favorite songs though is by Jesse McCartney called "Leavin". You might think it is lame, but I like it. I posted the video on here.

Cameron's sister Caitlin got married!

2008-09-26T15:15:00.000-07:00

First, I want to say that I will never, ever, ever, ever take a drive halfway across the country with kids ever again. We decided to leave Thursday night and drive thru the night. We decided to do this, thinking that the kids would sleep and we could sleep and switch off driving. What fools we were. Brooks slept on and off, and Emma never slept. Cameron couldn't get to sleep due to our kids being so loud and the fact that Shrek 2 was played over and over again. I was able to drive until about 4:00 a.m., and then Cam took the wheel. He wasn't able to get very far though, and we had to stop about 6:00 a.m. in Clinton, Oklahoma. We paid for a room that we slept in for 4 hours. Emma still wouldn't sleep, and we just turned on Nick for her so that we could sleep. She kept wanting to leave the room, and would get upset when the chain would prevent her from leaving. She started crying at one point, and was so loud that we were afraid that we were going to be asked to leave.

We didn't get good sleep, and about 10:00 a.m. we were off again. Well we got about 20 minutes into the drive, and I realized that I forgot my cell phone at the hotel. We turned around and had to go get it. So that was a wasted 40 minutes. Emma still hadn't slept at this point, and we didn't reach AZ until around 11:00 p.m. Emma still hadn't slept, so we gave her some Children's Tylenol and she crashed. Coming home wasn't very easy either, but we left Arizona around 9:00 a.m., and stop in Amarillo, Texas for the night. Then the next day we drove again and didn't reach St. Louis until 8:00 p.m. It was just the pits. I am glad that we had a blast once we reached Arizona. Cam's sister Whitney was an outstanding host. We loved staying at her house. Well that is about all.

We had such a good time in Arizona. Take a look at my slide show. Here are a couple of pictures of the bride and groom. They looked so happy, and I wish that I was as calm on my wedding day. I wish that I would have taken more pictures of the decorations, but they were goergeous. Here is the link to what the pieces looked like. It is called Not your mother's wedding. Everything was just beautiful. Anyways, here are some pics.

Filler

2008-09-16T15:57:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Well, sorry once again for not posting anything. I kept meaning too, I just didn't have anything to say. We all got sick at our house, and let me tell you trying to keep a two year old in a house for a week was torture. I didn't want to get anyone else sick, and we all had fevers and coughs and snotty noses. It was great fun. Well after we got better, I had to start packing to go to Arizona for my Sister-In-Law's wedding. Trying to pack for all of us was interesting. I didn't think that I would need all the stuff I packed. I felt like we were moving instead of just leaving for a week and a half.

I wanted to explain the poll a little bit. I got an email from and ex's Sister-In-Law asking if I was single. I guess my ex is still single. Anyway, I was curious and looked him up on Myspace. I decided to just write and say hi to see what he was up to. Anyways, no response. I know this is so stupid, but I was a little annoyed that he didn't respond back. It just made me mad, and so I wanted to tell him off. Thus the poll. Juvenile you say? Yes, it was. One of those days I guess.

We are having a lot of fun in Arizona, and I will post a bunch of pictures when we get back into town. I am so excited to go back and experience a fall in Missouri. I LOVE fall. Halloween, here I come.

Sorry, It's Been Awhile

2008-08-22T21:07:00.001-07:00

So I have to say that I have been looking like this a lot lately.

I have kind of been going through a funk. I know I need to do housework and play with my kids, and cook dinner, and do laundry, and shower, and have play dates with friends, etc.... I guess I needed to just be a bum for awhile. I have decided that I am at least going to start with myself. I am going to get in the shower everyday, do my hair, makeup, and get dressed. When I do that, I look like this.

Bootimous! I never really though that I looked that much different when I tried. But ya know what, I do! So now that I am showering on a regular basis, feel free to come over. At least I will be dressed. I don't know about anyone else. Here is kind of how my week went.

Sunday:

Was about a half an hour late to church. We have never been that late. Anywho, I found out a lady in the ward needs someone to work from home entering in data. I happily applied for the job, and now am able to work and stay at home. Yipeee!

Monday:

Started my first day of working at home. Nothing got cleaned up, and I didn't shower. I don't even think I made dinner.

Tuesday:

Another boring day. I think I got in the shower, but this day is a little fuzzy. Ya know, the mom crack that you sometimes get on.

Wednesday:

This was the worst day. Had the worst dream on Tuesday night, and woke up screaming. I of course scared the crap out of Cameron, and he woke up screaming at me to tell him what was wrong. The dream was pretty much about our kids getting killed, and the guy was coming after me. Of course this dream took place in our house, so it is always hard to go back to sleep after that.

Then, I decided to take Emma and Brooks to a different park. I didn't have the car, but it was only about a mile. The only thing I didn't think about was that it was one mile uphill. Whoosh! I was tired. Emma had a sippy cup of water, and I stole it and drank the whole thing. She wasn't very happy with me. Then, she only wanted to stay at the park for like 15 minutes. We were leaving the park, and I turned around to latch the gate and I hear screeching tires. I turn around and my daughter is standing in the middle of the road with a car right in front of her. I can't tell you the terror I had at that moment. The guy was pretty mad at me, but he calmed down after he saw my terror stricken face. It scared Emma pretty badly too. I was embarrassed as well thinking that all the moms at the park were thinking I was a bad mom. She literally was out of my site for 2 seconds.

Anyhow, we walked all the way back home which wasn't so bad because it was all downhill. Then, I got an email from my sister-in-law talking about a sensitive subject. Well after having had a horrible dream, and almost seeing my daughter get hit by a car I burst into tears. I then sent out an email to everyone I knew telling them not to send me that kind of stuff. Sorry everyone who was in that email. That was my day in a nutshell. At least I showered that day.

Thursday:

I showere today. I took Emma to this little preschool thing, and that took up most of my morning. Then I had to do some work, go pick up my husband, and get ready to have book club at my home. Due to being in such a funk, I forgot that book club was this week, and didn't even read the book. I felt so dumb. The book we read was A Wrinkle in Time. I read that book when I was younger and enjoyed it a lot more then I think. Anywho, I wasn't about to make dinner, so yet again we got something to eat. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many people come. Hopefully they will just keep coming. After that was all said and done, I sat down and watched Return To Me. I love that movie.

Friday:

I showered today. Ya! I took Emma over to a friends house, and we made cards for Grandparent's Day that is coming up. It was nice to just chill and talk to friends. After that, I didn't have any work to do, so I took a nap. Mind you my house still looks like a bomb went off. After we woke up, I cleaned up Brooks' room and did the dishes. Then we went to McDonald's and then over to my friend Allison's house for some more playtime. Where is my husband during all of this you ask? He is playing D&D tonight, so I haven't seen him all day. I feel bad for him, because he pretty much has a 6 day a week job, and he isn't getting paid nearly enough money.

Well that has been my week so far. Pretty exciting I know. I will let you know if anything else is worth sharing.

Goodbye Laundry Mats

2008-08-05T07:15:00.000-07:00

HELLO!

NEW WASHER AND DRYER!

Can I say that I am in heaven? Here is how it happened. I received an email from a couple in our ward that was moving, and wanted to give their old washer and dryer to someone deserving in our ward. Another lady in our ward got there first, but after finding out that we didn't even have a washer and dryer, she let me have them. She already had a set, but just wanted to update. I was so grateful to her, and last Monday my husband set out to load them up and bring them home. When Cam got home, he told me that she wanted to keep her older washer and dryer, and she gave us the brand new set that she bought in February. So not only did we get a washer and dryer for free, it is brand new. I can't tell you how happy I am that I only have to walk down some stairs to put some laundry in. I don't think that I can ever go back to a laundry mat again. Thank you Natalie Lukens!

Emma singing her ABC'S

2008-07-30T19:33:00.000-07:00

Emma pretending to go shopping

2008-07-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

Emma loves to pretend to go shopping, or go to school. When she goes shopping, she puts her hat on and takes my keys and my cell phone and puts them in the back of her princess car. She then goes up and down the hallway a dozen times saying she is going to the mall.

When she goes to school, she put on a little backpack that she has and says "Bye-Bye, I go to school." She is just so cute, and I love the imagination starting to come out.

P.S. Notice the sweet bruises she is sporting. My daughter is a dare devil and jumps off of everything she finds, thus, leading to some nasty spills. Plus, she is just plain clumsy. I guess she takes after me.

Alex Boye Concert

2008-07-28T07:56:00.001-07:00

So my friend Allison and I went to an Alex Boye concert about a week ago. It was at this swanky dessert bar and lounge called "The In Spot". We ordered organic mango lemonade, and strawberry lemonade. We also got a raspberry and mango sponge cake. It was yummy. I didn't feel like a mom, I actually felt like a person hanging out with my friends. Isn't it great to have a night out?

Alex Boye is a contemporary christian singer. He was in a boy band called "Awesome" in the 90's as the lead singer. He is currently in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He was very entertaining, and it was better than I thought it was going to be. If you want to see him in action from the 90's, take a look at my friend Allison's blog. It is a pretty funny video.

Avon

2008-07-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I have just become a representative for Avon. I am excited about the venture, and I hope that I can be successful. My mom sold Avon when I was little, and it was the makeup that we always used. I still use Avon products, and thought that I would try to takle it as a business to help with the bills. If anyone is interested in purchasing, or just want to look at what kind of products they have, my personal website is www.youravon.com/brittanyowens. Please come and take a look. If anyone lives in St. Louis and would like a catalog, let me know. Please try to help me in this and if you can buy something. I will feature something fun each campain, so keep your eye out. Thanks for letting me ramble about this.

Emma and her Tricycle

2008-07-22T07:05:00.000-07:00

I got this tricycle at a yard sale for 25 cents. It isn't the best, but it will serve its purpose. She loves to ride it.

Yum! Yum! Yum!

2008-07-22T07:02:00.000-07:00

Brooks had his first cereal the other day. I can't believe that we have reached that point. He really didn't care for it, but maybe he will like the veggies.

10 Years Since High School

2008-07-16T14:42:00.000-07:00

Well everyone, it is official. It has been 10 years since I have walked the halls at Sugar-Salem High School in Sugar City, Idaho. Sugar City you say? Yes, we were the Sugar-Salem Diggers. Here is a picture of our high school.
My house is literally right across the street. I want to just take a second and take a trip down memory lane during my senior year in high school. I don't have a scanner, so I just took a picture of some of my pictures, and there ya go. So here are a couple of pics from my senior year.

This is the car that I drove all through high school. My friends used to call it the Beanmobile.

These are three of my good girlfriends during high school. The guy in the picture with me is my Brother-In-Laws little brother. His name was Jed. I had a blast.

This is the guy that I snagged my senior year. His name is James Schlegelmilch. He had been trying to get my attention for a couple of years, and he finally succeeded. He played catcher on our high schools baseball team, and he was very good. His parents did not like us going out though, because I was a senior, and he was a sophomore. I know, I know. He broke my heart though. Sigh!

This is the guy I should have gone after. I really liked him in high school. He was dating my friend at the time, and I started liking him. They broke up, and I was hoping we would start going out. I remember this dance. I think he was going to ask me to go steady with him, but my friends started making fun of me, and I got embarrassed. I am not sure what went down after that, but we didn't go out. We kind of lost touch. He made me laugh so much. He is just a genuine, genuine guy. He is currently at the Playmill in Yellowstone, so go check him out.

This picture was at my Baccalaureate service. This was the gang. We just had so much fun hanging out with each other. From L to R: Jessica Bagley Rushforth, Jed Quirl, Natalee Smith Francom, JaNae Timothy Hancock, Brittany Bean Owens, Heather Cherrington Romrell.

This is a picture of me at graduation. Don't I look so good? I wish I could look like that again. I guess I really should start kicking my butt with exercise. Anyways, my Mom bought me a wrist corsage and I loved it! I had a great graduation.

Well that just touches the surface of the fun I had. I have posted a couple of songs on my blog if you noticed of songs that were popular back during that year. The KC & JoJo song "All My Life" was dedicated to me by my boyfriend James (see above) during prom. Hope this was fun for you.

Google Tag

2008-07-15T14:04:00.001-07:00

A girl in my ward had this fun tag on her blog, and I thought that I would give it a try. If you think it looks fun, do it and then let me know so that I can check it out as well.

Rules: For Every question, look up an answer on Google Image Search. Pic your favorite from the first page of results only. Totally random stuff.

My Age:

A Place I Would Like to Travel To:

My Favorite Place:

Favorite Object:

Favorite Food:

My Favorite Animal:

Favorite Color:

The Town Where I was Born:

The Town Where I Live:

Past Pet :

Past Love:

My Best Friends Nickname:

My First Name:

My Middle Name:

My Last Name:

One of My Bad Habits:

My First Job:

My Grandmother's Name:

My College Degree:

What I am Doing Right Now:

So Fun Eh? Let me know if ya liked it, or had any questions about the pics.

Blowing Raspberries!

2008-07-12T13:20:00.000-07:00

This is Brooks' favorite thing to do. I have been trying to get a video of it for awhile, but he gets distracted when he sees the camera. Enjoy!

Why do I try???

2008-07-12T13:16:00.001-07:00

So I get really frustrated sometimes. I get Emma dressed and ready in the morning, and by lunchtime she looks like this. I just can't keep her clean. She wouldn't let me take her shirt off, and it was just a play shirt anyways hallelujah. On this particular day though, she dumped her juice on her head, and it was all over her shirt. Then, she proceeded to get yogurt everywhere. Can you say, "Spoon in mouth?" I know it will get better, but I don't know if I can wait a billion more years. Anyone else have this problem?

Oh Those Hot Humid Days

2008-07-12T13:10:00.001-07:00

From L to R: Ellie, Nayeli, Emma, Karyna

Emma fighting for the hose
Emma is thinking, "Mom, why are you bugging me?"

I am glad that we have some friends who have a backyard and a pool. Emma loves the water, and it was fun to be able to go and play with friends. I must say though, that I should have jumped in the water myself. It was a fun day. Emma took a nice long nap.

Emma's super cute dress

2008-07-08T09:03:00.001-07:00

My mother-in-law made this dress for Emma. She also made one for everyother niece I have in Cam's fam. Check out my sister-in-law Amy's blog to see the other picture. I thought that I would post a picture of her since she was the only one not able to make it into the picture.

The Adventures of Brooks and the Baby Stroller

2008-07-07T17:34:00.001-07:00

Cam thought it would be fun to put Brooks in Emma's baby stroller. This is the result. Enjoy!

4th of July Weekend!!

2008-07-07T17:14:00.000-07:00

So, I must say that we had a great weekend. Here are some of the highlights.

Thursday the 3rd, I had some friends come over to make a craft that I found in my Parents magazine. Here are some pics.

Friday the 4th, we went to the parade downtown. It was a beautiful day! It wasn't humid, and it wasn't hot. How great can you get. Emma had so much fun! She sat on the sidewalk for 2 hours! She got lots of candy, and had her picture taken by some people in the parade. We went with our friends Nick and Allison and there two children, Karyna, and Nayeli. Hope I spelled those right Allison. Later on that day we went to a barbecue with some friends in the ward. It was good food and fun with friends. The kids kept themselves occupied while the adults talked. We didn't see any fireworks due to the fact that Emma was exhausted, and we didn't think she would make it. Overall, it was one of the best 4ths that I have had in awhile.

I Have Been Tagged!

2008-07-02T06:13:00.000-07:00

My friend Natalee wanted me to do this, so here it goes.

rules: List 3 joy, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions, and 3 random facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end.

Joys:
1. My family: Cameron, Emma, and Brooks
2. Sleeping (Yawn)
3. The beautiful green of Missouri

Fears:
1. Death
2. Airplanes
3. My children growing up in today's world

Goals:
1. To own a home
2. Pay off debt
3. See as much of the world as I can

Obsessions:
1. Ebay
2. Cooking
3. Exercising (Not losing much weight yet, but at least I am doing it)

Random Facts:
1. I love being pregnant as well. Its nice to embrace how your body changes.
2. I haven't had a zit in about 6 months.
3. Cam and I are the only ones of our family that live in another state. Cams fam is in Arizona, and my fam is in Idaho.

Hope I didn't bore you to death.

I now tag all of my sister-in-laws.

Its Official!!!!!!!!!

2008-07-02T05:55:00.000-07:00

Well, Cameron has officially received his own banking center. For those of you who may not know, this past 8 months haven't been so smooth. Cam was told that he would only be in training for a couple of months, and then he would be placed in a center. Well now, 8 months later he was still being shuffled from branch to branch because they didn't have a place to put him. Well he has been placed, and he has his work cut out for him. The branch he got is in Florissant, and it as the bottom of the heap of all the banking centers in relation to sales. The branch just hasn't run very smoothly, and Cam is excited to make some much needed changes, and bring the center back up. Unfortunately monetarily we won't see any change until October, but at least relief is in sight. So congrats to Cam! He will do great.

Say What???

2008-06-29T06:14:00.000-07:00

Okay all,

I must say, that I enjoy reading the comments of others. That being said, POST SOME COMMENTS! I have a visitor map, and it tells me who is checking my blog and where they are. I know people are looking at the blog, but even if I don't know you, you can still comment. It is almost like that movie You've Got Mail. I sign in everday and look at my blog hoping that there is a comment waiting for me. I know this sounds weird, but I like to know that people are enjoying my blog. Also, if you only know me through my blog it is still okay to post a comment. I love to meet new people. Consider yourselves warned! :-) For those of you who post comments on a regular basis, just know that I love to read them. Thanks for letting me get this off my chest, and thanks to Kristen S. for giving me the idea to write this.

Brooks rolling over

2008-06-25T14:12:00.001-07:00

This is a little long, but I posted this more for the grandparents. I put him on his stomach, and turned around to pick some toys up. The next thing I hear is a bam. He rolled off his blanket onto the floor. I got out the video camera, and this was his second attempt at rolling over. Hope you enjoy!

Nauvoo

2008-06-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law Caitlin came in from Arizona on Tuesday night. I was glad that she came, and I hope that she had a good time. On Wednesday we went to the Botanical Gardens. I had never been there before. It was fun, but I think I was expecting something different. We let Emma play in the water for a minute, and walked around and looked at the weird statues. Wednesday we went to the old courthouse downtown. It is where they held the trial for Dred Scott. Thursday we went to the Arch. She had a good time there. We couldn't go on the ferry boat though because the river was so flooded. Friday we went to the zoo and then shopping. Saturday was when we went to Nauvoo and Carthage. The weather was beautiful the whole entire time Catilin was here. Here is where we went:

We had a little trouble getting over the Mississippi to get into Illinois. We finally found a way through, but it was very scary this is what we saw out our windows. The water was right up to us on both sides.

Once we got across the river we went to Carthage. It was a wonderful experience to actually see first hand the jail that they kept Joseph Smith in. I would have enjoyed it more, but when you have a fussy baby and a two and a half year old you can't get picky. Here is a picture of us at the statue in front of Carthage Jail. The jail is right behind us.

After Carthage jail, we went into Nauvoo and ate lunch at a cute little cafe. We then went to the Nauvoo temple. It was very beautiful, and the view was great. Here is a picture

We then went to Pioneer pastimes and let Emma play some games. Then we went to the Tin shop, the Blacksmith shop, Scovil bakery, and the Brickyard. The blacksmith shop was cool, because they made Emma a little horseshoe, and they gave our rings to everyone. At the brickyard they give everyone a souvenir brick. Unfortunately we didn't have time for much else. There is so much more to see. Check out the website at historic Nauvoo. We are definitely going back to see more. It was a great experience, and I hope that my sister-in-law had fun, because we sure did. Thanks for coming Caitlin.

Cards, cards, cards!!!!

2008-06-23T13:46:00.000-07:00

I have to say that I love making cards. I don't have alot of experience, but I am never going to get better if I don't practice. I have always put it off, because I don't have all the cool equipment to make them the way I would like to. here are a couple of pictures that I took of the cards I have made recently. I am sure that they will start to look better the more practice that I get. Hopefully this will become more of a hobby then it currently is.

Happy Fathers Day!!!

2008-06-15T18:54:00.000-07:00

Well, for those of you who can't figure it out, I made that slide show for Cam. Emma helped a little (she likes to look at herself). It was hard trying to figure out what pictures to use, because I am always the one taking the pictures, so Cam is in a lot of the pictures. I hope that you all enjoy. I didn't have a lot of money for Fathers Day, so this is what he got. Emma also made him a card. I told him that I would make him anything that he would like to eat, and he chose waffles, bacon, and eggs. I kind of feel like a bad cook, but I just have to accept the fact that that is Cam for ya. I have to say for the record though, that I am an awesome cook. Anyways, here are a couple of facts for you about Cam.

1. Born: October 23, 1977 Mesa, Arizona
2. He had blond hair when he was young
3. He actually had a ton of hair, and it was curly
4. He loves D&D, and World of Warcraft
5. He loves the ocean, and loved going to California every Christmas (I can attest, it is a blast).
6. He served his mission in Lansing, Michigan. He was a great missionary
7. I first laid eyes on him July 22, 1999
8. We had our first kiss July 26, 1999
9. We were married March 11, 2000 in the Idaho Falls Temple
10. He loves sports. He is now talking about how football is starting soon. He loves Arizona. The Sun Devils, Cardinals, Suns, and I am more of a baseball fan, but he likes the Diamondbacks as well. I am just glad that he isn't that into hockey.
11. He grinds his teeth when he sleeps
12. He surprisingly loves me, and I couldn't be happier that he picked me.

Happy Father's Day honey, I love you.

Another thumbsucker!

2008-06-12T06:52:00.001-07:00

Emma went off the pacifier bandwagon after she discovered her thumb, and I think her little brother is right behind her. He has found his thumb, and sucks on it so hard sometimes I think he will take it right off! Noticed he is covered in slobber! He is getting his first tooth.

Our super cool park

2008-06-12T06:34:00.000-07:00

There are a ton of turtles in the pond at the park by our house. They are always sunning themselves on a tree stump, but today they were all in the water.

I think this is a falcon, but it could be a hawk. I don't know the difference. This bird was huge, and when it landed in the tree, all the birds and squirrels went nuts! I have also heard woodpeckers in the park, and we see bunnies as well. We have a family of bunnies living somewhere close to our house, because they are always in our yard.

This is a video of Emma feeding the duck at the pond. It isn't great, but it was fun feeding him.

Brooks laughing

2008-06-07T16:42:00.000-07:00

Brooks is starting to laugh. he gets better at it every day, but I thought this video was cute.

Can you find Emma?

2008-06-07T16:32:00.000-07:00

Emma decided that because she didn't want to go to bed that she would trash her room and then I guess fall asleep on the floor. We went in to check on her, and I freaked out when she wasn't on her bed. We looked around and saw this. Had to take a picture.

Back to Normal?

2008-06-03T07:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I had my surgery on Saturday. Friday it stormed a lot, and Saturday morning my doctor called and wanted to bump up my surgery because his soccer game was rained out. I was there about 9:00 am, and the nurses there were so nice. I guess it was pretty slow for a Saturday, because we had about 5 nurses in the room with us. They were googling over Brooks, and they gave Emma a coloring book, stickers, and Teddy Grahams. After I got set, they sent me to preop and Cam had to leave. I sat in preop for about 45 minutes. It was horrible! You just sit there and have time to think about everything. Finally some nurses came to talk to me before I was knocked out cold. They said they were going to give me something to relax me, I told them I could feel it, and they said that I would really feel it in about 30 seconds. That was the last thing that I remember. I was extremly uncomfortable when I woke up, so they pumped me up with morphine. That pretty much knocked me out again. Everything else about that day was pretty much a blur. I am feeling better of course than Saturday. I am hoping all goes well with Biopsy and my checkup. Thanks so much to everyone that called and was thinking about us.

Emma counting to 10

2008-06-03T06:55:00.000-07:00

Emma is now counting to ten really well. We are working on colors as well. Her favorite at the moment is Blue. Everything is Blue.

Sleeping Cuties!

2008-06-03T06:50:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I enjoy my children more when they are asleep! I remember this day as being especially hard, and I was glad when they were finally asleep. Notice that Emma has no pajamas on. I guess that is another phase of the beast that is Emma.

Storms in St. Louis

2008-06-03T06:28:00.000-07:00

I thought that I would take a little video of the storms we get here. The past couple that we have had have been pretty severe.

Surgery

2008-05-24T18:45:00.000-07:00

Well on Saturday the 31st, I have to go in for an outpatient procedure. It isn't anything big I hope, but I need to have a cyst removed. My obgyn thought it was a serious thing, but when I went to see the specialist, he told me that it will be a very quick procedure, and that they cyst looks benign. He is still going to get it tested, but he told me that I don't have anything to worry about. I still am a little nervous about getting the anesthetic. The last time I was put under, when I woke up I was so groggy and I had dry heaves. Hopefully things will go a little better this time. Another downfall to this, is that I have to bottle feed Brooks for 24 hours after the surgery. I honestly think that I am falling apart. Wish me luck.

He did it!

2008-05-24T18:41:00.001-07:00

Well, Brooks finally slept through the night. I put him down around 9:00 pm, and he slept until 7:30 am. I can't tell how good it felt to have a good nights sleep. When he woke up this morning though, we both REALLY needed him to eat. It was extremely uncomfortable for me. Well we will see how tonight goes. I think that he is going to be a thumb sucker like his big sister Emma. Cam went to check on him about an hour ago, and his sleeve was covering his hand, so he had his pajamas in his mouth and was sucking on that. Cute little boy!

It's about time!

2008-05-20T08:05:00.001-07:00

I am so happy that a plus size model won America's Next Top Model. It just goes to show that you can be beautiful no matter your size. Granted she is a size 12, and a plus size model, but I think that she represents most of America. Check out the website, and look at her portfolio. I think that she is absolutely gorgeous.

Poop

2008-05-20T07:59:00.001-07:00

Okay, so last night around 2 a.m., I hear Emma calling my name. Normally I just ignore it, due to the fact that she wants to get up and play. I decided I would go in though and make sure everything was alright. I open her door, and she is standing there covered in poop. She has been taking her diaper off whenever she gets the chance, so we have had to start duck taping her diaper on at night. Last night we overlooked it, and yeah. The worst part about all of this was that she had diarrhea. She had it on her face, hair, the floor, and all over her bedding. Well Cameron cleaned her up, while I took care of the room. I did not appreciate having to Lysol everything at 2 o'clock in the morning. Well, everything worked out, and now I have a pile of poopy laundry to do. I hope these terrible two's go away soon.

Can you love something so much?

2008-05-14T07:59:00.000-07:00

Emma loves, loves, loves her new stroller. Grams and Papa Owens bought this sit and stand stroller for us when they were here. I absolutely love it, and it has that new car smell about it. But Emma thinks this is her long lost friend. She wants to eat in it, sleep in it, and take it anywhere we go. So thank you to Cam's parents. Best present so far.

Brooks attempting to smile.

2008-05-11T15:33:00.000-07:00

My new thing has been to try to capture that beautiful Brooks smile. He does it so well off camera. I just think he has a little stage fright. He has inherited my wonderful dimples. You can't see them very well, but they are there. I am sure I will be able to capture them later. I just thought that I would post this very cute video. Just scroll down and pause my music, and then play.

New Idea

2008-05-04T18:51:00.001-07:00

Okay, so with the rise in gas and groceries, I have decided to find recipes that are cheap and easy. I try to make them as nutritional as possible. I made a meal tonight that I thought was pretty tasty. Most of the ingrediants are pantry items. Here is the recipe. Let me know if you try it and like it.

Southwestern Lasagna

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can whole-kernel corn with red and green peppers, drained
1 jar (16 oz.) chunky mild salsa
1 pkg (10 oz.) fajita-syle cooked chicken
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
5 (10") low-fat flour tortillas
2 cups shredded reduced-fat monterey jack cheese
fat-free sour cream

Heat oven to 425
1. In a medium bowl, combine black beans, corn, salsa, chicken, and cilantro.
2. Coat the bottom of baking pan with vegetable cooking spray. Place 1 tortilla in coated pan. Top with 1 1/2 cups of the bean mixture and 1/4 of cheese. Layer 3 more times, finishing with the last tortilla.
3. Bake in oven 15 to 20 minutes, or until cheese melts and filling is hot. serve with sour cream, if desired.

You could even make this without the chicken, due to the fact that black beans have a high protein. My goal is to have a new easy meal once a month. Enjoy this recipe, it is super easy.

Reflections of Christ

2008-04-26T16:07:00.001-07:00

I wasn't able to get the video itself on my blog, but click on this link and watch the video. Very touching, and the song is beautiful. They did these pictures and music for the Arizona pageant. The fellow singing is Freddy Ashby. Cameron used to go to high school with him.

http://mabrystudios.typepad.com/reflections_of_christ/2008/03/reflections-sli.html

Popcorn anyone???

2008-04-26T07:26:00.001-07:00

So on Thursday, Emma got into the popcorn kernels. She dropped them everywhere, and we had a nice time trying to clean them up. Well yesterday she kept pointing to her nose and putting her finger in it. Generally, her picking her nose is nothing new, but when she wanted me to stick my finger in her nose I got to thinking. I looked up her nose, and sure enough there was a popcorn kernel in it. When Cam got home from work, we pinned her down and with the help of some tweezers we got the little bugger out. After that, I scoured the house looking for any stray popcorn kernels. Hopefully it was an uncomfortable experience and she learned her lesson.

Blessing

2008-04-21T18:28:00.000-07:00

I am going to be taking more pictures of Brooks, but hopefully this will satisfy you until then. Isn't he soooooo cute? Thanks to Loa, and my mom for buying Brooks' blessing outfit.

EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!!!!

2008-04-21T17:49:00.000-07:00

Well, we had an earthquake last Friday. It registered a 5.2 in Illinois, and we felt it over here in St. Louis. It was about 4:30 am, and I woke up to the windows shaking. Here is our groggy conversation that fateful morning.

Brittany: "What was that?"

Cam: "I don't know"

Brittany: "It was probably an earthquake."

(Brittany then rolls over and goes to sleep)

(Cameron was awake until the rumbling stopped)

Disclaimer: Both children were not affected by this at all. Sweet little dears.

Needless to say, in the morning Cameron turned on the television, and sure enough it was an earthquake. I am so smart at 4:30 in the morning. I have also been more diligent in getting my 72 hour kits ready to go. We have also purchased renters insurance as well. We seem to always put it off, but even though most of our stuff is crap, its stuff, and I don't want to try to replace it. Well, I have finally experienced most natural disasters. The only ones I think I am missing are hurricanes and tsunami's. Cross my fingers that I can avoid these completely.

Hilarious!!!!!!!!!

2008-04-02T20:44:00.000-07:00

I am sorry, but I thought these pictures were a riot. Emma thought it would be fun to put the ball under her dress. I realized what it looked like, and I had to take a picture. Cameron does NOT think these are funny, but I did so here ya go.

Fun

2008-04-02T20:20:00.000-07:00

I stole this from my friends blog, who stole it from someone else's blog. So here it goes.

1. Rockstar Name (first pet and current car): Tigger Torrent
2. Gangsta Name (favorite ice cream flavor and favorite cookie): Chocolate Oreo
3. Fly Girl Name (first initial, first 4 letters of last name): B-Owen
4. Detective Name (favorite color, favorite animal): Red Cat
5. Soap Opera Name (middle name and birthplace): Ann Rexburg
6. Star Wars Name (first 3 letters of last name, first 2 letters of first name): Owe-Br
7. Super Hero Name ("the" + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink): The Purple Dr. Pepper
8. Nascar Name (Grandfather's first names): George Harold
9. Witness Protection Name (Dad and Mom's middle names): Craig June
10. Weather Anchor Name (5th grade teacher's name, a major city with starting with the same letter): Hathaway Houston
11. Bond Girl Name (favorite season, favorite flower): Fall Rose
12. Cartoon Name (favorite fruit, article of clothing you are wearing + "ie/y"): Raspberry Socky
13. Hippy Name (what you ate for breakfast, favorite tree): Oh's Japanese Maple
14. Rockstar Tour Name ("the" + your favorite hobby, favorite weather element + "tour"): The Scrapbooking Rain

Hope you enjoyed. I thought it was fun.

Easter

2008-03-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

I hope that everyone's Easter was great. We had a fun time at our house over the weekend. Saturday we had a little egg hunt with Emma in our backyard. She loved finding the eggs and putting them in her basket. After we were done she wanted to do it again. That night we colored Easter eggs, and Emma wanted to drink the dye. She kept trying to find ways to put it in her mouth. We had fun doing that and putting the stickers on the eggs. Sunday morning she was very excited about her Easter basket. The first thing she did was stuff two rolos into her mouth wrapper and all. We bought 101 Dalmations for her, and she seems to like it. We had the opportunity to go over to some friends for a small lunch. It was very tasty, and it was fun to meet some new people. Emma also had a very fun time playing with all of the children. I couldn't convince Cameron to watch the Ten Commandments, but all in all it was a great weekend.

2008-03-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

Random stuff

2008-03-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

Well, I had a wonderful time with my sister Nicole when she was here. She left her four kids, and came here for 3 days to take care of me. She had no idea what to do with herself while she was here. She was so used to taking care of four kids, that taking care of two wasn't so difficult. She helped so much. She mopped my floors, played with Emma, and cooked. She also helped me stay fat by making these super yummy rice crispy things. They are rice crispies and peanut butter, and butterscotch and milk chocolate chips melted on the top. Sooooooo good. I was incredibly sad to see her go. I don't get to see my family much, so it is always sad to see them go.

While my Nicole was here, we went to the arch. She convinced me to go up to the top. I can't believe that I did it. You are in the tiniest car, and as you are going up, they have to adjust your car since you are going on a curve. so you car is moving, and you can't see out at all. Then, when you get to the top, you can feel it sway. I don't think that I will do it again.

I am excited for Easter. We are going to do an Easter egg hunt for Emma, and Grandma and Grandpa Bean and Aunt Lynsey bought some things for Emma and Brooks for Easter. She of course gets spoiled. I will be sure and post some more pictures soon. I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter. And for those of you in Arizona, enjoy the Easter pageant.

Brooks' cool new digs.

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Still need to put some finishing touches to his room like some things on the wall and maybe an area rug. My sister made this super cute bedding for me. Don't you love it? The things you can do with a sewing machine.