7 Random..."Things"

Another Tag I'm waaaaayyyy behind on! This one wants me to list 7 random things about myself...but I think this will be more fun (cackle cackle [evil laugh]).

So, I'm one of 7 siblings, and gheesh...without a doubt, they are the most random things in my life! And 'cause I love them so much this post is dedicated to them. So all this may bore the rest of y'all, but I hope the fam. will enjoy it!

Sibling #1 - “LainaKay” - as she is known to the blogging world. This is her in her “natural state”…in front of a computer screen designing something spectacular and amazing. She’s a whiz and a half at everything she does. She has a vocabulary that could top any politicians (she could write their speeches). She’s an artist, an interior decorator, a party planner, and a connoisseur of everything from pizza to perennials. (hey laina, can't wait for CT and Skippy's Dare!)

Her secret - you may just find her secretly rocking out to Def Leppard in her car.

Random fact about Laurel in relation to Laina – I used to be able to make her laugh until she cried. I haven’t tried this in years, but it’s the gosh darn best thing in the world!!

Sibling #2 - “Jar-head” - Don’t be fooled by the picture, this guy is making the big bucks as a quantum molecularus noputulus magolicious bolifulosolure…or running some kind of computer programming company (one way or the other it’s all Greek to me!). He’s a true Einstein, an avid reader, and a sports fanatic. Again, good at just about everything he does, even art, go figure.

His secret – he can get just as engrossed in the back of a cereal box as a Louis Lamore novel! Either way if the fire alarm goes off you'll have to carry him out on your back while he reads...and he still won't notice.

Random fact about Laurel in relation to Jar-head – I wouldn't consider myself a genius like he is…but we both graduated college Suma Cum Laude…so maybe if I were a guy I’d at least rank up there with the big boys.

Sibling #3 - “Shaka” - Yes, that’s me kicking her butt in a serious rollerblading competition. We rarely played together as kids (she was busy with boys and friends and boyfriends) but we have a lot of fun playing as adults. She’s not afraid to try anything, mountain biking, snowboarding, rollerblading, rock climbing etc…all my favorite things. She’s fabulous in a kitchen, somehow her cookies always come out just right and of course mine never do.

Her Secret – well…you can read her post to find out all her deep dark secrets. But my favorite one to tell is the time she ate all my stash of chocolates from under my bed and told me it wasn't her. Well…I should give her the benefit of the doubt, I suppose it could have been some of her friends!

Random fact about Laurel in relation to Shaka – In high school people used to say to me, "you're not Shaka's sister?!" with complete surprise...yeah....she was a bit cooler than me.

Sibling #4 – “Wonder boy” – He gets the name not just for his pseudo breakdancing skills, if I have a question about everything and anything…he’s the guy I go to. A sponge of useful as well as useless information he could win any game show.

His Secret – he’s the biggest conspiracy theorist I know…but such a comedian about it too! If you don’t think the squirrels in the trees are trying to get you…he can convince you they are! (oh, and he’s afraid of sand too)

Random fact about Laurel in relation to Wonder boy – growing up we were the best of friends…and the worst of friends! Inseparable…even when we were beating each other up. Wrestling with him is where I got my big muscles from!

Sibling #5 – “Brezo” – Let the record state…this girl is crazy random. Laying under the wheel of this wagon, dangling from trees, boxing bears, wrestling alligators…ok maybe she’s not that extreme, but she’s certainly a wild one! And randomly enough despite all that she’s got this organizational know how thing going on. She’s the guru of clean. Don’t mess with her perfectly organized space, ‘cause she’ll know it in an instant. If you need someone to organize your life she’s the one to call!

Her Secret – She's terrified of "old people"...and yet they LOVE her.

Random fact about Laurel in relation to Brezo – I may be an old timer now, but I think I can still school her in basketball, and baseball, and football, and soccer, and lacrosse, and...etc. (yeah you heard me, Brezo, the challenge is on!)


Sibling #6 – “Booger” – We could go with “cute as a button” or “guy magnet” but I generally like to refer to her as something more endearing like Booger – she’s perfect. And I mean perfect. It’s like she can’t go wrong. Smart, attractive, great at everything, friendly to everyone, kids adore her, guys worship her, other girls hate to love her etc. She eats right, she exercises, she reads books by Stephen R. Covey and Dale Carnegie. She loves public speaking so someday she’s going to make a lot of money…and I just hope to be somewhere on the receiving end of it (I’m hoping this little plug helps)!

Her Secret – she’s a bit of a ditz…but it works for her! So I think it’s just another one of those things she has perfected!

Random fact about Laurel in relation to Booger – here she is even on a ski lift looking perfect and cute. My mom often reminds me that one of my claims to fame as a kid was teaching all the neighborhood kids "mad skills" like how to ride two wheelers. Well, I taught miss Booger to snowboard, and the crazy little chick had perfected…and surpassed my abilities within the first day!

And I make 7. I fall smack dab in the middle of all these crazies...and I wouldn't have it any other way.

A little treat

Our little M&M family. I saw this on another blog, and thought it was so cute. So The Snack and I had a little fun creating our own M&M characters (note the "yellow bus"...The Snacks favorite addition to the picture). We each are holding an item we absolutely cannot live without. Yes ice cream is my item. Gotta have it. Can't live without it. If I started to get fat I'd work out twice as much just to be able to keep ice cream in my daily diet! The Dad-n is an artist, so that's an easy one. A paint brush...which of course is coming very close to painting my hair! Typical of a true artist...not only does he create beautiful paintings...he's also prone to create quite "beautiful" messes at times. Fortunately he now has his own studio (hallelujah). And for The Snack, a music lover just like his dad-n, a little guitar. This kid is always hoppin' and boppin' and begging me to "sing loud" in the middle of the grocery store. He's the voice in the back of the chapel at church singing "BOB THE BUILDER" at the top of his lungs long after the sacrament hymn has ended!

As for this family we're, without a doubt, peanut-butter M&M's. Unfortunately the Dad-n and I both adore the peanut-butter kind, so I'm not able to hide them and hoard them all to myself. But then again, maybe that's a good thing...I mean it's already enough work just to keep ice cream in my diet!

So...what kind of M&M would you be?

p.s. If you want to create your own M&M characters click here.

It was meant to be

I'm playing catch up on some tags. Here's one I'd almost forgotten...this one's for you Shaka...so here goes!

1. Where did you meet?
Our first meeting was on a youth temple trip to the Washington DC temple. I was sitting on the bus looking out the window at people getting on and saw him and said to my friend, “who’s that kid?” I’d never seen him before, and she had no idea, so I just forgot about it. Then the next day everyone went to the Lincoln Monument, it was raining so my friends stayed on the bus, but I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to see the monument of my favorite president, so I went alone. On my way back some kid ran down the steps after me and asked if he could walk me back to the bus…it was HIM. Too weird. I was nervous, so I forgot his name and practically ran to the bus. He was great though, and we ended up sitting by each other later…and then “going out” for several months.
2. What was the first thing you said to your husband?
I probably told him my name, and something lame like “oh I know your mom from girls camp.”
3. Where was your first date?
My senior reception. We really hit it off on the bus trip, but he lived an hour away, so we'd talk on the phone for hours every night (yikes those phone bills!). And since he was my "boyfriend" I asked him to be my date for the reception. We had a great time (my sister let me borrow her red Mitsubishi Eclipse for the night…thanks laina!)

4. Where was your first kiss?
He was about to leave on a long family vacation and I drove out to see him. We walked to the movie theater, he gave me a gift – a Blues Traveler tape, and in it a note I wasn’t allowed to read until I left. On the walk back I could tell he was nervous and trying to figure out what to do, we ended up standing outside by my car for a long time, until finally he kissed me. It was ruined by the neighbor taking out his trash, but we were just kids…so it was awkward anyway! The note was about his plans to kiss me, he figured he couldn’t back out if I had the note!
5. Did you have a long courtship/engagement?
Uhmmm…I'd say so! We dated for the whole summer after I graduated high school. Then broke up, but it was easy going and mutual. I went to Ricks, he’s a "younger man," so he finished high school and went to Utah State University. Then we both went on missions and actually stayed friends and kinda wrote on our missions (like two letters). I got home a few months before him so I was ready and waiting to welcome him back to the real world when he returned (his younger sister kinda pushed us into hanging out together, thanks Jess!). We were inseparable from that moment on. And got married 4 years later (we stayed in Connecticut and finished up college together).
6. Where did you get engaged?
On my last day of college classes, before all the graduation junk, he took me to a park by the school for a celebration picnic. Again the nervousness showed, and he broke out the little gift box and popped the question. And the coolest part was that a newspaper photographer for the Hartford Courant caught the “yes” moment on camera, so it was published in the newspaper the next day! We thought that was appropriate after so many years of dating our engagement should be a news worthy event!
7. How did the reception go?

More than fabulous - it helps to have your own personal Martha Stewart for a sister! It was outdoors with tents and a dance floor my dad created. There was a local fireworks show that night, so we had fireworks for free! It was seriously a reception you’d dream about with all the roses and flickering candle lanterns etc. but these few pics can't even begin to do it justice.
8. How was the honeymoon?
We had a “prima-note” as my husband calls it, the first night. We just went away for the weekend to New London, Ct. (crazy town we think everyone we met were aliens hiding in human bodies like in Men in Black). But we were waiting for our real honeymoon until the next month when his aunt’s summer cottage on Cape Cod was available - where we had a great time biking, swimming, exploring, visiting art galleries, shopping, eating great food...all the fun stuff you do on Cape Cod!

There were incidents and accidents...

Golly...how can I find time for blogging with all the other craziness that happens in life?! So the other day I hear this hissing noise coming from behind the fridge, which is plenty frightening, then water...no, strike that...WATER came pouring out everywhere! So the story is; the line that feeds the ice maker burst, and my kitchen floor got a good washing in places that have never seen the bristles of a broom, never mind a mop! Of course the Dad-n had just left like 20 minutes earlier, so I was alone on this one...well, me and The Snack. So I'm trying to squeeze behind the fridge and The Snack is standing at the edge of the kitchen with water lapping at his toes saying "Wha happn' mama? Wha happn' mama?" Trying to stay calm as I twist, and twist, and try to twist some more, the knob that supposedly shuts the water off, I yell "get some towels, Snack!" Knowing that sending my two year old off to fetch towels is a fruitless effort, but he nevertheless attempts to comply and goes running off to each bathroom coming back empty handed. Of course he can't reach our towels on the back of the bathroom door, but it brings some relief to me that I can at least yell some orders out. Eventually after getting ENTIRELY drenched I got the knob to turn the right direction and turned the water off. Then after breast stroking my way to the bathroom I grabbed all the towels I could and dropped them in the water...but as we all know, a towel doesn't really do too much to lap up a lake. So I set to work with the mop (wishing I'd invested in a wet/dry vacuum like my genius mother has...but hey, she's got YEARS on me, ok). Of course The Snack is always willing to lend a hand "my turn mama?" grabbing the mop and nearly knocking over my bucket of freshly absorbed ocean. Eventually I get the water up, but of course floods aren't cooperative, and they like to get into EVERYTHING. So, needless to say, my pantry as well as my laundry room got a little "Spring Cleaning." Which of course brings about new stories and tasks that I don't even want to go into! Now, if only I'd had the presence of mind amidst all of this to snap some great blog photos, but I'm certain you can all have a good time imagining this scene on your own.

83% Texan

I may be biased, but I think he's the cutest darn cowboy I've ever laid eyes on! (and I'm not really into cowboys). As you all know I was looking to go the easy route this Halloween, so The Snack happened to have these itty bitty Wranglers in his wardrobe which, in my non-cowboy-loving opinion, could be worn for nothing but a costume! So the inspiration finally did come, I just had to search a bit for it. I even found The Dad-n's cowboy belt buckle (a gift from an outside source...obviously!) which was super large on The Snack, and perfect for a real rodeo cowboy! Yes those boots are real snake skin (borrowed of course). And the bandanna is real....uhmmm girls camp issue? Ok, so we didn't go fully Texas here, but we sure tried. Actually my husband always says that percentage wise The Snack is more Texan than anything else...Yikes! I think it's starting to show because he's actually a little obsessed with cowboys these days (somehow I took out a cowboy book as well as a cowboy Bob the Builder video from the Library as a fluke recently, and now The Snack just can't get enough cowboy...hence the PJ's pic...he loves the look...day or night!) And it sure seems to work as far as winning over the ladies, you can see he caught himself a couple of cowgirls here

The Dad-n and I even had some fun this year. Our friends had their annual Halloween costume party, so I wrestled The Dad-n into a costume (he HATES dressing up, but finally agreed to think of something and settled on a masking tape mummy) I went as a pirate because my other choices according the the flier from the party store were; half naked hooker, half naked waitress, half naked nurse, or half naked Gypsy. We ended up winning this apple eating contest...which I guess proves we're either good kissers, or good at biting each others heads off! All in all, it was a fun filled Halloween. I think year 2 is the best for trick or treating...The Snack actually recognized this year that it was candy everyone was giving him, but now can't understand how it is possible that it is "all gone" as I keep telling him when he begs for it!

Well, now I'm off to search the candy bag for chocolate...Twix if I'm lucky...So I'm curious...what candy are you stealing from your kids stash this year?

Uhhh...I've been slacking for a bit...

I was tagged with this cute little guy a while ago, but I've been all-computered-out for a bit. So I'm back now. And since he's a candy corn (can't stand to eat these things actually) I thought he should just be a little Halloween post. Thanks for the tag Shaka...now I'll go work on the other tag you sent me!

Pumpkins and hayrides and bounce house backflips, oh my!

We finally did it! We pretended it's autumn (we're in Texas). And we took a trip to the pumpkin patch with our playgroup friends. It was great! Being from New England I was a bit bummed that it was like nearly 90 degrees and MUGGY (no sweaters or fall foliage) but we tolerated it and everyone had a blast.

There were pumpkins galore, and all sorts of festive decorations, but really the best part of this trip was that I learned I have a secret knack for gymnastics! At the bottom of this bouncy slide thing I went to sit down and somehow my butt connected with nothing but air, and I did a total back flip, completely by accident...and landed on my feet on the ground four feet below! I absolutely thought I was going to die the whole way down (it's amazing how many things can pass through your mind in 3 seconds). Once my friends determined I was ok we all cracked up. Of course the woman in charge came over and reprimanded me for fooling around and I'm like, "Oh no, I really don't have that kind of talent! That was a total accident." I don't think she believed me! Oh how I wish it had been caught on camera. I'm sure it was worthy of a win on Funniest Home Videos!!!

Celebrities...

Ok, so this is totally random...and I'm not a big celebrities person or anything, but I love, love, love the new Macy's ads! (Not really a Macy's girl either, I kinda like to get the Maxx for the minimum price if you know what I mean). But whenever these ads come on I smile. I even call my husband into the room to watch. I think it's so intriguing to see celebrities outside their "element." Marketing genius. My favorite ones are with Martha Stewart. Something about this somewhat serious lady being kinda silly really gets to me. Anyway, if you haven't seen them, you can check one out here.

A little Halloween help please!

I'm at a loss for what I want The Snack to be for Halloween this year. Last year I made him this Leprechaun costume - I did it completely from my head...no pattern, just made it up as I went along. Needless to say, it was quite a challenge, and took a bit of time....so I don't think I'll go that route this year...unless I can think really fast!

So I need ideas! I'm just not getting any inspiration. I'm sure if he were old enough to choose, he'd want to be Spiderman or something, but I'm going to avoid that route a long as I'm still making the choices!

Anyone got any fun ideas?

Poop.

Ok...so NOT a picture worthy post. We visited friends this past weekend, and they have a boy about the same age as The Snack, who is potty training. Well...it got a little quiet so I sent Dad-n to check it out. He came back looking green. "Poop" was all he could say. The other boy had let one slide right onto the floor and was playing in it! Fortunately The Snack only had a little tiny bit on his foot. Oh boy. But of course we didn't learn our lesson! Yes...it happened again! This time we weren't so fortunate. The Snack comes to me with what looks like chocolate on his hands (and I soon noticed everywhere else). My friend and I both go "oh that isn't..." Yeah, it was. I should have just asked for a hose this time! I just hope and pray that The Snack doesn't get any ideas!!!!!!

a gift for myself...

Ok....so I know at least laina knows this about me...I can't resist red and orange. I bought this funky chunky watch from the museum gift shop for myself...for my b-day. How could I not? So, it's super hard to match, but it's worth it to me!

So....tell me, what's your funky treasure?

Inevitable...

Some people call it Murphy's law, and it doesn't matter what you call it...it happens! So one day my mom is commenting to me about always keeping a change of clothing in the car for my son. I think to myself, "yeah, that's smart, but I've never ended up needing it sooo..."

Ok, so then THE VERY NEXT DAY we're down at the art museum, and it has this incredible reflecting pool almost surrounding the whole building (like a magnet for The Snack). We've been there several times before, and Snack likes to look at the water and be close to the water...but this time was different...


He goes around the corner and my mom is following him and suddenly....SPLASH! So...did she push him in to prove her point or what!? ;) (LOL) Moms...go figure...are they always right? I like to think I am!

The Snack attempts to dry off after his little dip

A visit from Mom...

A little lovin' for Gramma from The Snack (what else can bring out sweetness like a promise of candy?!)

So, nothing will pull you away from the real world better than a visit from family. Yes, that's where this slacker blogger has been...cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, and then playing, playing, playing (why is it that we think even the crack between the fridge and the counter needs to be cleaned before your mom spends the week?)

It was a great visit. One of my sisters came too (one of four...yes four...where are the rest of you?!) We hardly had a days rest I'd planned so many things (go figure, Texas can be fun)! But next time I'll be sure to plan some down time...everyone needs a nap occasionally...not just cranky two year olds!

A few pics of our adventures...we saw the crazy-awesome long horn cattle at the Fort Worth Stockyards, caught the rodeo too (uhhmm...insane!). We visited the Zoo, and the Train Museum, and for the Dad-n's sake we caught the Ron Mueck show at The Modern (wayyyyyy cool, and totally freaky real).

Zions Canyon

Ok...so I've been a little busy, and I know you're all totally over my trip to Utah by now, but I still gotta share one of my favorite parts of the trip!

The one BIG thing the Dad-n really wanted to do while we were in Utah is visit Zions National Park. Now...I didn't really care one way or another if we did this or not, except that I did want him to have his fun (despite the hassle I thought it would be with hours of driving and finding a place to stay etc.) Well, the last weekend we were there we worked it into our schedule and boy I'm glad that we did! I loved it! We took auntie Jessica with us, and my friend Mary (not pictured...she's like SUPER hiker woman...every pic with her in it she's like 100yards away just waiting for us to get movin'!)

There were many spectacular views, but the best part was the River walk. It's like 2 miles up river and you walk through the water the whole time. It's all sand or smooth rocks, so I went it barefoot, but many people wore shoes. It was crazy but fun, and we even took a break to take a dip...fully clothed! Such a fun adventure and The Snack thought it was totally wild too!

The Family

Here we are picnicking and enjoying some kickball and Frisbee in Provo canyon.

It was great to have siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, Great Gramma etc. all together. It's quite to feat gathering everyone from New York, Connecticut, Utah and California... but we were all there to celebrate with The Dad-n's mom who turned the big 50! It was the party of a lifetime. A fun-filled 10 days, starting with the BIG party, and moving on to hiking, canoeing, playing games etc.

The Snack especially enjoyed all the exploring and hanging out with the "big" kids he got to do. Some of his favorite adventures were longboarding with cousin Harley...

Climbing on rocks with Auntie Chrissy, and playing in the waterfall at the Grotto with Gramma.

Share, Dad-n, SHARE

We (and everyone on the plane) learned that The Snack knows all about sharing! Dad-n was opening some food and Snack decided he wanted some too, so he calmly at first, then rather loudly let us all know!

So I think I'll take The Snacks advice and do some sharing of my own. Here are some pics from our GREAT trip! It's hard to be back to real life, but at least the pictures will help us hold on to the memories .


The House

Talk about fabulous. The Dad-n's family just moved to Utah last summer, and they bought this great old house with all sorts of outdoor sitting area's, and beautiful trees and flower gardens. It's like being at a quaint Bed & Breakfast.



The Snack's favorite part of the house was this small apple tree in the backyard. If you ever couldn't find Snack...you knew exactly where to look! He eats these little apples core and all!!! Wow...but he still won't eat regular apples like that at home. Go figure. Well at least we know he could survive on his own outside.

(Auntie Jessica demonstrating how to eat an apple)

10 days of Vacation!

It's time for a little break. Off to visit the Dad-n's fam for a bit. Can't wait to see everyone! We've even trained The Snack to say "Utah" but we're still working on "Gramma & Grampa"...well, at least he knows where he's going...just in case he get's lost...!??

I'm hoping that because The Snack basically loves anything that drives, rumbles or beeps, he's gonna love flying...but y'all can still pray for my sanity still the same!