The "HOUSE" scoop

For anyone that was wondering why I need to find a new place to live, or even if you aren't, this is the scoop. When Joe and I moved into our house 7 months ago, we were renting and had an agreement to buy the house in a year. We put up a very expensive fence and made the house super cute (if I do say so myself) and all sorts of other things. Well, a few months ago we found out that our renter dude hasn't been paying our money to the bank AT ALL. In fact I don't think that he had paid for a long time before we moved in either. The reason I say that is because on Tuesday January 6th (next week) my house is going to auction. This is after we had a few offers to buy the house and the bank denied them all. I don't know how much the bank is planning to get at auction or maybe they just want to keep it.
I am so, so sad. I had the idea when we moved here that we would be staying for a long time so I am not pleased. I don't want to move again. I don't have a choice, but I still can say that I don't want to. I don't want to have to change wards again and to have to find a different school for Makenna. I would love to stay in the area. I am trying my hardest to find one to rent in the area, but it may not happen. I can handle another ward etc...but I would prefer not to. That is the deal for anyone that wants to know. If you know of a place and would like to share it with me, please do. I need all the help I can get. Love you all.

Maddie Sue

Today is Maddie's 7th birthday. I can't believe how fast time has flown by. I can remember the day she was born just like it was yesterday. I am so glad that she is a part of our family. I love that little stinker so much.

My mother in law took Maddie and I to lunch today for her birthday and Maddie kept giving me kisses because she was so happy to be out with us. She is so happy! I can truly say that she is a joy. She can be a pain in the back side, but so can any kid.

I was so nervous when she was born and I didn't know what to expect of her. She has come so far and is so smart. Her teachers love her and so does everyone she meets. She is so infectious and you can't help but love her. I am truly blessed to have her as my own. I thank my Heavenly Father every night for her and the joy that she brings to my life. I just wanted to tell my Maddie how much I love her and hope she has a happy birthday today!

p.s. Thanks for taking this fabulous picture, Kristen!!

Esme

Just took a female character Twilight quiz and thought that I would share it with all of you. Nothing of any importance, really.


Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Adoration of the Christ Child

A good friend of mine, and a fellow mom of a child with Down Syndrome, showed me this picture today. It came with a story that talks about one of the Angels that has Down Syndrome, but the artist never makes mention of the fact that some of them are different. This painting was made way before the man "discovered" Down Syndrome or named it that. The best part of the painting is that she is doing just the exact same things as the others. They are just a capable of participating in Jesus' birth as other people.

I wanted to share this picture with all of you say how grateful I am for my Maddie. I am so glad that she is apart of our home. Sometimes I don't even think of her as being any different as other children. She does the same things that my other 2 kids do, and is every bit as loud and vocal about it. She is truly a joy to have in our home. I am also so thankful for Makenna and Seth. I love them all. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and wonderful holiday this week.

"Twilight" the movie

My sister in law Cyndi really wanted to go and see Twilight on opening night. She asked me if wanted to go with her and Anna about 3 weeks before it opened, and of course I said I would. I was a little skeptical ( I have to admit ) and didn't know what in the world I was doing going to a movie at 12:30 at night, or morning. It was a little bit crazy with all the wild fans and such, but we had a great time. The movie was awesome. I really liked it a lot. I am not one of the die hard fans and wasn't counting down until the movie came out, but it sure was fun. The characters were great and I just had a fabulous time. So glad that I went.

My Crazy Dad

This is what my dad "normally" looks like.

Halloween

I have a pretty straight-laced dad, type A personality and a right to the point kind of guy. He is a get it done yesterday and don't waste time doing it kind of guy too. Needless to say he was never all that wild and crazy growing up, but when we would go on vacation or somewhere fun he would make up silly songs and be a little bit silly. When I saw that he wore this costume to work on Halloween, I just about had a heart attack. My dad! What a nut. I guess you would need to know him a little better to know what I mean. I just had to share this picture.

Halloween 2008

Snow White

Super Girl

Batman

Maddie was Snow White, and the night before Halloween I decided that I should spray her hair to be black. I went to all the stores in the area and couldn't find any hair spray stuff anywhere. I was gone to Walmart and then Walgreens and even Albertsons trying to find some. I have to let you know that it was after 9 when I went looking. If I had been better prepared then I would have had it. I never found any, but the next morning I called my sister in law and she had some. She always has everything. I decided to put it on her and let me be the first to tell you it was a mess!! A nightmare! She had black on her from heck to breakfast. It was awful. If you haven't ever tried it, don't. So after we used almost an entire bottle of black spray, we got her in her dress and off to school. By the time we got to the school later for the parade, she was covered in black. It was all over the back of her dress, on her hands and who knows where else. As soon as we got her home from school, we put her right in the tub. By the time we went trick or treating she was back to her beautiful red hair. It was actually way cuter that way, but I was trying to be cute etc... No more. We will stick to the red hair from now on. Makenna was super girl and so cute. We went to her school for the parade and waited forever for the school to make around the parade route. It was fun, but we were sure ready to go home after. Seth was batman and so funny. He told me for the past two months that he was going to be a dragon, but needless to say I couldn't find one. I didn't want to spend a fortune, so we settled with Batman. He loved it and looked so cute. We had a great time trunk- or- treating with Anna's ward and then went to visit Grandma Max for some yummy stew and to see the other cousins. It was fun and we only got a little bit wet.

RadKids

Maddie's group

In her full pads etc

Getting away from the Bad guy

How cute is she?

Makenna's group

Fighting the big red bad guy (oh how comfortable can he be in that get up?)

About a month ago Makenna and her cousins took a course at her school called Radkids. Its a course that teaches the kids how to defend themselves if someone is trying to hurt them. No one has the right to hurt me!! It was a great program that I enrolled her in after school for a week. At the end of the course they have a little program/simulation where everyone comes to watch them and cheer them on as they take on the "bad" guy. Well Makenna did great with the program and I was so glad that Meadow PTA offered it. A few weeks ago I got a letter in Maddie's backpack saying that they were doing Radkids in her special ed class and the lady from Meadow PTA was coming over to teach it. I didn't even have to pay for Maddie to take the course (I would have) but it is so neat that they are teaching these kids how to protect and to defend themselves in a situation. SO many kids are preyed upon and especially kids that are a little bit behind. I was so proud of both of my girls as they did the simulation. These are a few pics of the events. Way to go girls for completing RADKIDS!!

10 Year Anniversary

Friday the 24th of October, (tomorrow) marks the anniversary of 10 wonderful years being married to Joe. It is so crazy that 10 years ago we were at the Provo temple beginning our new life together. I honestly cannot believe that it has been that long. It should be since I have an 8 year old, but it still seems just like yesterday that we got married. Now don't be looking too terribly close to the details of the picture, like the fact that Joe and I have gained several pounds since then. We both look like teenagers, (I guess that I was) but Joe looks way young too.

I just want to let you know Joe how grateful I am for you. I love you so much. You are such an amazing man and a wonderful husband and father. Our kids ADORE you. I am a very lucky woman to have "caught" such a neat man. I love you, and am so looking forward to many, many, many more years with you!! Didn't we have the most beautiful back ground for our picture? I love the fall.

Stolen Email

I have been had. My email has been taken over and I am not too thrilled about it. The best news of all is that there isn't anything that I can do about it. Isn't that great?? So I have changed my email to momofmandms@yahoo.com and I need all of you to email me so I can get your email again. I am so sad about the whole thing. Let me just send out a reminder to change your password often and to make it hard to figure out. Don't let this happen to you. Let me be a good warning to you. Don't let someone take you over! At least it is just my email right? So do not be alarmed about the emails that you have gotten about me being in Malaysia. I have not gone anywhere but someone is trying to get you to give them money. Malaysia? Not too believable. I hope you all know that I am not planning to go to Malaysia anytime soon. Hope you have a better day than I am having.

Fall Boutique

Hey everyone! Some friends and I are putting on a
fall boutique this coming weekend.
The date is October 11th from 10:00-3:00
It is located at my Mom's house in Orem(339 W 840 S)
Also, there will be another one held in Salt Lake on
October 25th from 10:00-3:00
The address for that one is 6071 Castle Park Ln (6540 S).
There will be lots of fun homemade holiday crafts like bows, jewelry, quilts, aprons, and scrapbooks and cards. There will also be Scentsy candles. Come enjoy hot wassail and refreshments while you shop.

We would love you to come if you can. See you then!!

Buddy Walk Pictures

So we had the buddy walk on Saturday and it was a lot of fun. I have some fun pics for those of you that want to see what we did. It was a blast. We had so many people come to help and just to support us. I was so proud. I was nominated to do the raffle, and boy let me tell you that I was a goof. I need practice. We hope to see you all there next year!

Buddy Walk

I wanted to do a little plug for our kids that have Down Syndrome, so I thought that I would post something on my blog. Every year the National Down Syndrome Society has a big fundraiser walk that they put on and we do it at a local level also. It is called the Buddy Walk. It is being held this Saturday the 20th, in Orem at Kids on the Move 475 W 260 N. It's Located right by Orem Community Hospital. Registration begins at 9:00 a.m. and the actual walk begins at 11:30. It doesn't cost anything to come and walk, but there are things that you can buy. It is a great way for us to get our name out there and for us to be able to raise money for our kids. There is going to be a carnival that goes along with our walk that will have everything from face painting, to haircutting. Also there will be a bounce house and food. I think it is so neat that there are lots of other families out there that have a child just like my sweet little Maddie. This is a great way to get to know them and to support the Down Syndrome Foundation here in UT. If anyone would like to come, please do! We would love to have you.

Fishing at Strawberry

On Saturday, Joe took Makenna and Seth to Strawberry to check out the Salmon and to catch some fish and crawdads. They had a great time and I thought that I would share some of the fun pictures of the day with you. I wrote on all the pics, but if they didn't show up, then take your best guess.

Remembering Spetember 11, 2001

I can still remember the day as if it happened just yesterday. I was pregnant with Maddie and an emotional basket case anyway, and I just kept thinking about those poor people who have just lost loved ones. There were thousands lost. Not just a few, so many. We are so lucky to have the time that we have with our husbands, children, friends, family that we do have. Never waste an opportunity to tell someone that you love them. I have been thinking about that a lot today and wanted to share it. I can't even express how much I love my family. My husband and children are the world to me. Just as my parents and siblings and in-laws. I am so grateful for them. I hope that we can just remember how much they mean to us and to hold them just a little bit tighter and for just a little bit longer tonight. When I think about the songs that were written about 9/11 the song called "One Last Time" comes to mind. It's a song about one of the pilots that gets to call his wife just before the plane goes down. How would that have been to have to hear your husband say goodbye and that he knew that he wasn't going to be coming home? I think it would be great to have gotten to talk to him, but so hard. I just hope that we can remember all those that helped that day and who lost their lives.

Another Maddie Adventure!

I'm sure you know that if it says Maddie "adventure" that it is going to be something pretty crazy. It wouldn't be a complete week if we didn't have some sort of Maddie Adventure, that's for sure. What would I do with all my free time?
Yesterday I told my husband that I was going to go upstairs and ride my bike and basically that he was supposed to watch the kids. I guess I didn't say it in those exact words because he didn't even know where the kids were. I was in my room riding my bike and the two little kids were playing some kind of hut thing on my bed. After about 20 minutes of listening to them scream and fight over who gets this pillow and what blanket etc... I finally told them to go down and find Dad. Basically to remove themselves from my sight. I finished the bike ride a little while later and the next thing I know Seth comes into my bathroom (while I am in the shower) and hands me my straight edge razor. Atleast his fingers were all still attached. I knew that I had left my haircutting stuff in the front room, but it was all bagged up. That has never stopped her before. I took the razor and thought OK I will go and put everything away when I get out. Then not 3 minutes later I hear Joe walking up the stairs saying OH NO over and over. The thought ran through my mind that she got into some color and proceed to color the "nice" carpet up the stairs. He scolded Maddie and said no we don't do that etc.. and then made it into the bathroom. I asked him what happened and he told me that Maddie gave herself a haircut. I thought oh is that all? He said you didn't see all the hair on the ground. Well at least hair grows back. At least I didn't have dark brown color stains going up my stairs. That would have been about par with the rest of the house, however. So in Maddie comes sporting tears of being in trouble. Her hair was a mess. She gave herself bangs!! Not just bangs but all kinds of layers and such. Her hair was half way down her back and then the front was to her eyebrows. The before picture doesn't do it justice, but it was bad news. I wanted to cut her hair to her shoulders or something cute, but I wasn't expecting 8 inches or more in places. We had to go to Grandma's house to spray for bugs later that day and grandma said what did you do to all your long hair? Maddie said "haircut". She was quite proud of herself. I guess in all the time that I have been doing hair with her around I should be grateful that she hasn't done it sooner. Oh well like I told Joe "its just hair!" Hope you enjoy Maddie's NEW do.

These don't really do the hair cut justice, but see if you can see all her random layers.

Maybe I should have left the mullet, we are in Lehi now...

Do pardon the toy room disaster behind her.

We are going to need some serious bobby pins for the front for the next year or so, but she does look really cute!

Starting Pre-School

My little dude started pre-school this week. He has been so excited for the past 3 weeks, ever since the other kids started school, to get to go to his own school. Every time we would drive by it he would tell me that is his school and I will leave him there. He was really big on going by himself. I hate to see him growing up so fast. I am so excited for him to be getting big and to get to experience those fun things of growing up, but I am not liking it. Everyone always asks me if I am going to have anymore kids, and to be honest, I don't think it's in my cards (at least for now). So needless to say I want him to stay little as long as possible. Here are some cute pictures of his first day of pre-school.

Two Dollar Tuesday

I have never been to the dinosaur museum here in in this lovely town that I live in, and probably wouldn't have taken all the kids if it hadn't been for 2$ Tuesdays in August. It could break you to have to pay the full price, so we didn't. Anna and the kids and I decided to brave the last Tuesday in August (and the crowds) and take the kids to see the dinosaur museum. It was really neat. I have to say that if it wasn't such a hoppin place it would be a really neat place to go to again. There was hundreds of people taking advantage of the really great price (and can you blame them?) so it was kind of hard to get around. Needless to say we had fun and had some great pictures to boot. If you ever get another chance for a good deal to the museum, take the kids and go in the day time while the rest of the hoodlums are in school. That was our first mistake was waiting for Makenna, Belle and Maddie, but they loved it!! Here are a few pictures of our adventure.

I did it!

So I decided the other day that I was going to be a blonde again. I got it into my head, so there was no changing my mind. After the kids went to school I whipped out the bleach and the 40 volume developer. I put it all over my hair and on the head. I cannot even begin to describe how bad it itched and burned my head. I think I made it for over 45 minutes on there, but I am not sure how I did it. I was scratching and itching and screaming while it was on there. I'm sure that Seth thought that I had gone super crazy. I was afraid that I was. Well I had to wash it off (of course) before the hair all fell off and then realized that I had to get Makenna a 3 ring binder for school. Good thing I have my trusty (not quite pink) Yankees hat. I threw that onto my orange hair and ran to the store. I forgot the mention that the roots were blonde, just not the ends. It was a beautiful sight. I wish that I would have taken pictures. I made it to the store and even to the school and then Helen called and wanted to go to Lunch. I still had on the hat, so I went to lunch too. It was so tasty. I haven't been to Los Hermanos in forever and I love that place. After lunch I went back to Anna's house and luckily for me my cousin Krista was there to help me put some more bleach onto the ends. It was a great idea (before) but who knows why I do these things to myself. Then I had to drive down to my moms house to say goodbye to Sarah (because she was leaving the next morning to go home to New York). Here I was driving on the freeway with bleach all over my hair and looking oh so nice. I thought after over a half an hour with more 40 volume and bleach that I should wash it out, and then it was peach. Not SO good. I was just a tiny bit bothered by that point. I had bought some ash to put on it because I knew that red is the hardest to remove, and I knew that I would need it, so I then put that on. There were some parts that took too well to the bleach because then they went purple. I had some really peach colored hair and some gray hair. I was really worried at that point. After I made it back to my house I looked into my stash of color to see if I possibly had any extra color and to my surprise I had a 10n and a 10bg. I mixed them together and this is the end result. It is a lot lighter than what I think I was planning to be, but this is what it is going to have to stay for a while, or else it will all fall out!!!

Fun at the Bean Museum

Oh what fun it is to play at the Bean Museum today! So this past week we had a chance to take (almost) all the grand kids on the Preston side to the Bean Museum to see the reptiles etc... We left baby Max at the babysitter. Jill was working. Sarah and her family are here in town from New York and we thought it would be fun to have the lady talk to all the kids about the snakes and turtles and to see them too. It was great. I haven't ever been to Bean Museum and (other than the smell) I found it rather fascinating. Nothing like the smell of moth balls to get ones sinuses working correctly, right? A fun time was had by all when after the museum we headed to Costco for smoothies and ice cream. That was the best part for sure. I am so glad that Sarah is here and that we got to spend time with her and her kids. They are so darling and I wish that we could see them more often.

Jen's Before and After

Before

After

I just wanted to take and minute and toot my own horn. I have to say that I am pretty proud of myself for being able to have lost 75 lbs and to have a before and after, so I thought that I would share it! Its pretty sad how big I was, but hooray for me. I still have more to lose, but we'll get there eventually. It's actually kind of hard to see in these pictures, but you can definitely tell in the face.

All Finished!

I have to say that now that I am officially finished with the "Twilight Series" I am kind of sad. Nothing left to look forward to in the vampire story. No, its a good thing that we don't have to wait another year for more of their story. Breaking Dawn was great!! I have loved all of her books. She is a fabulous writer and I can't wait for whatever it is that she is writing about now. If you haven't read the last book of the series, the what are you waiting for? Just teasing. You can always borrow mine if you don't want to go out and buy it. If you haven't even read any of them, then get on it. No, I would imagine that they aren't for everyone. I haven't met too many that don't like her books, but there are a few out there. Now I can finally get the house clean and the laundry put away, right? Doubt it. Anyone want to start a book club with me to chat about whatever it is we are reading, let me know. I love to read and love to chat, so what better idea is there? Now if I could only enjoy cooking as much as I love reading...

Marvelous Maddie

My sweet little Maddie sure does keep things hopping in our home. I debated whether or not to post this story, but then I thought why not? The title of this story should be "Watch out for Wild Maddie!"

A few weeks ago I was awakened by the sound of the garage door being opened. I jumped out of bed sure that Maddie had escaped and I found Seth using the "toilet" on the front dirt. That was fabulous! Can't take him anywhere. Anyway I took care of that problem and then asked him if Maddie had come outside with him. He told me that she was upstairs sleeping. (Hint: never trust a 3 year old.) We decided to watch a show until it was time to wake Maddie to get ready for her last day of summer school. When it was time I went up to "wake" her and couldn't find her anywhere. I panicked and awakened the great sleeping bear (aka Joe). We both jumped into our cars to search for the wandering Maddie. Have I told you all before that she wanders? Just checking. He went one way and I went another way and had no luck for a while. Then after I passed him on the road I thought that I would try another place. I turned down a street not too far away from our street, and I saw a little person walking down the sidewalk in her Dora jammies holding onto some kind of toy. I pulled over and gave her a "talking to" not that it helps anything, but it makes me feel better. She was hanging on to an Elmo toy and a dalmatian puppy dog. The worst part of the whole ordeal is that they weren't our toys. I don't know whose house she "took" them from, and whose house or houses she had been in. This had all happened before 7:30 a.m. If it was your house and you are missing any toys, please let me know. Needless to say we have a few "stolen" toys at our house. I came to find out later that Joe thought that I had locked the back door and I thought he had done it. So we double and triple check the locks before going to bed now.

The Dark Knight

Yesterday was my husband Joe's 34th birthday! He is getting up there in age (just teasing hun) and we went out to dinner and a movie. We haven't really been on a date since we moved to Lehi almost 3 months ago. (pathetic, I know) So, first we went to dinner at Tucanos. We used to go there when we lived in Orem and it was just as good as I remembered it was 6 years ago. Maybe even better since it had been so long. Then we were trying to decide what to go and see. Joe wanted to see a comedy and there really isn't a good one playing right now. I wanted to see Batman because, well Batman is hot! Also I was really curious to see how well Heath Ledger did on the joker. I guess I won, but I'm not sure why because it was his birthday. He just didn't care one way or the other. We went out to the Thanksgiving Point theater and saw The Dark Knight. I really liked the show. It was about a half hour too long, but it was great. Heath Ledger was so creepy but fabulous. No wonder he was having all the issues he had. It was really fun going out on a date with my sweetie and being away from the kids for a few hours. My sweet sister- in- law Anna watched them for us so we could go. She is the BEST! I just lover her.

Our Trip to Liberty Land

On Monday, my sister in law Anna and I took the little ones to Liberty Land. It is sort of like a mini amusement park for kiddies. Grandma Helen told them a month or so ago that she would take the to Boondocks (another place like that) and we hadn't gotten around to taking them. Well, we made the executive decision to take them to Liberty Land instead, because we thought it would have better rides for the little ones. Also it is in Lehi. Anyway, it was nice and overcast so it wasn't nearly so hot and we had a great time. The kids rode the bumper boats, the little airplane ride, the race track, this drop thingy, climbed up the rock wall and even got to ride a roller coaster. It wasn't Lagoon, but it was about the same quality as the kiddie part at Lagoon and sooooo much cheaper. I wouldn't say that it is great for kids over 10, but sure enough, they had a great time!