Movie night leading me to this....

So last night we rented Juno. I was kind of looking forward to watching it because the previews just made it look so funny. I was pleasantly surprised. I actually liked it! The comedy is a little irreverent but not too bad. But it was light and funny most of the time and well acted without being harsh or like all these Will Farrell movies that make me wonder why on earth they are so popular. For the first time in a while I was happy I spent a dollar to rent a movie. (I know... I'm cheap) Anyway, if you've seen the previews and like what you see.... go watch it!
Another newly released movie I just watched was Enchanted. I watched while I sewed, so maybe I missed something but in my opinion it did not live up to all they hype. I liked it ok, but the first half I was so annoyed by that girl I wanted to turn it off. Luckily, she cooled it and it wasn't so bad. I guess it's really the point of the movie she was naive and cartoony but it was over the top! What I did like about it is that it was a movie that you could really take anyone in your family to. Sure, there would be some things that a 3 year old wouldn't grasp, but I don't think it would be bad to have them watch it. I think there need to be WAY more movies like that. Too many movies have bad stuff in them for no reason at all. I don't get it and I really don't get why Hollywood cares if I edit that stuff out so I can watch the movie they made.

Anyway, in case you don't know anything about Juno, it's about a teenage girl who gets pregnant and how she deals with it. and that leads to this......

I may not be a teenager, although sometimes I still feel like one. But I am once again pregnant! Baby #3 is due October 30th (I'm praying he/she doesn't come on Halloween, my least favorite holiday). Making me 14 weeks along.
I've actually been quite sick this time around. Maybe due to the stress produced by the baby princess that joined our family last year about this time ;) or the lack of sleep but it is finally subsiding and with Marisa completely weaned, I'm feeling a lot perkier. I just hope Marisa learns to like being with someone besides me, she's a little, no... A LOT attached to me and it wears me out!
Anyway, we are excited about our newest addition and can't wait to meet him or her. I love that we already have a boy and girl because I don't really care what this one is. As long as it's one or the other. However, Shane isn't so care free. I guess we'll find out in June.

And we all lived "happily ever after" :)

Look at me GROW!

Marisa had her 1 year doctors appointment this week. She is 29 1/4" long (60%) and 19lb 15oz (25%). She's just about to get some more teeth and everything seems good. She still has fluid behind her ears although they are not infected. I wonder if that affects her hearing at all. I didn't think to ask. I know it bugs Roman because he had some too and he goes around with his hand over his ear trying to "fix" it. I guess it's common after a cold and we've all had this never ending string of colds this spring. So hopefully it clears up soon.
Anyway. were glad she's growing good but I'm also glad she's on the lighter side, because she LOVES to be carried around :)

The Gods must be CRAZY!

This was just outside our door yesterday! Will it never end. I'm trying to remember what I did to deserve this :) This was a full blown blizzard for about 20 minutes. Nothing stuck to the ground though.

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth day everyone!

I know I did a "going green" post not that long ago but it's occupied my mind so much lately. It's all over the news and papers so I guess that is why it's in my mind so much. I would LOVE to see 20 years down the road just to know how much is being done and how much will change. I hope it's all for the better.

This time I'm going to list a few easy energy saving tips. I found most of these on Better Homes and gardens website, Some I hadn't really thought of before:

1. Unplug: Unplug things you aren't using. Just think about all the little appliances, stereos, cell phone charges that have that little light that is ALWAYS on. A lot of things still use energy even when turned off. SO unplug or use a power strip and flip the switch when these things aren't being used.

2. Cut your grass longer: A lot of our neighbors have super short lawns. I know they look great but they can take up twice as much water to keep green than a lawn that is longer. Most grass species fare best when they're kept at least 2 1/2 inches tall. The length creates more surface area to absorb sunlight, which creates thicker turf and deeper roots, which means you won't need to water as often.

3.Buy local or grow it yourself: I already talked about growing a garden, but this just amazes me. Typical grocery store produce travels nearly 1,500 miles before it ends up on your plate. All this traveling burns fossil fuels and results in carbon emissions -- a fancy term for pollution. Buying from local farmers means you're not only getting the freshest food possible, you're saving energy. I never thought about all the energy that goes into just getting foods into grocery stores. I bet that cooking from scratch takes less energy than buying boxed or bagged meals as well. Just imagine how much energy goes into something like a frozen pizza or one of those meals in a bag. All those veggies etc. have to travel to the plant and then to the grocery stores. not to mention the packaging that just ends up in the landfills. It's baffling!

4.Full loads: Whenever you wash just a few clothes or dishes at a time rather than waiting for a full load to accumulate, you're wasting water, power, and money. The average American family of four washes about 540 loads of laundry a year, which consumes up to 21,000 gallons of water, and more than 150 loads of dishes, which uses about 1,500 gallons. Most of the energy consumed by washers goes toward heating the water -- about 90 percent in the clothes washer and 80 percent in the dishwasher. Combining half-loads, choosing short cycles, and using cold or warm rather than hot water in the clothes washer racks up savings. My problem is filling the loads so full that they don't get clean, and have to be washed again. LOL I'm so lazy sometimes.

5. Try to find little ways to reduce waste: every little bit counts. Whenever I'm at Walmart I go through the self check out and if I don't have much. I don't use a bag. If I do have a lot I try to stuff those bags ALMOST to the breaking point. I try to take a bunch of bags back to walmart when I go because they recycle them. I'm thinking about sewing some good sturdy tote bags to take when we grocery shop too. Even if we just take two bags, that is two plastic bags we don't use each week. It adds up.

I'm excited for earth day this year. I love all the attention it's getting. :) Have a wonderful and hopefully earth friendly day!

It's Great to be ONE!

Yes, my baby girl turned one year old today :) We didn't do much in the way of celebration because we are going to wait for daddy to get home but maybe I will let her have as many french fries as she can handle. She loves em.
Anyway here are a few pictures from the year, and to top 10 reasons why it's GREAT to be one.

1. I get to drink your milk out of cup like Roman and it's TASTY! (mommy likes that part too)

2. Peanut, peanut butter, and jelly!

3. I get to face forward in the car. It's like a whole new experience!

4. Walking is just around the corner. It wont be long now.

5. Roman will be able to remember my age.

6. My hair can fit nicely in two little piggies
7. I can eat my weight in cheerios

8. I get to stay up later (at least I think so)

9. I get to eat CAKE!!!!

10. I get a party!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARISA!!!! WE LOVE YOU!

My BIG mistake

So. I was given strict instructions to do one thing while Shane was away. That was to record Smallville...... I blew it! Anyone happen to have it recorded? I mowed the lawn instead and didn't remember until it was 1/2 over!!! AAAAKKK!!!! Darn lawn.

If wishes were fishes

"if wishes were fishes, I know where I'd be, Casting my net in the dark rolling sea; And if my net's empty when it comes back to shore, I'll throw it away and go fishing no more."

I was just thinking about a few things that I wish I had today. Mostly because I've been feeling kind of lost with Shane gone. I know it's silly but it's like I'm forgetting to do something ALL the time. It's such a strange feeling and I know it's just because the 2-3 phone calls during the day and the evenings with him here are such a big part of my NORMAL life that without them things aren't quite normal. So anyway.... on with my post :) With the boredom comes a little extra time spent on the Internet just looking at blogs etc. and I kept wishing I was as talented as some of these people, or had such a cute house etc. etc. I really am happy with the way I am and my wonderful family but here is a list of my wishes beyond my next to perfect life:

Commercial wishes: (what I would buy if I had some extra cash)

1. A really nice SUV. I don't really have an absolute favorite but we have been looking at bigger vehicles lately because it's quite a tight squeeze getting our little family into our Civic and 626 and you can forget about bringing someone else along. So far I really liked the Honda Pilot because it's not huge, but it was still quite roomy. We also sat in a few Accura MDX's and i felt squished when compared. I think it's because there was a little less headroom. Anyway. If I could, I would buy a Pilot or something similar that had nice leather seats, a DVD player, all the bells an whistles and some kind of lifetime warranty so that I wouldn't ever have to worry about it breaking down. :) Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my little civic, but getting kids in and out of it is getting tougher and tougher these days.2. A custom made wardrobe. Jeans, Jeans, Jeans!!!! I want a whole bunch of jeans that all make me look fantastic! (don't we all?) Shirts that are flattering and LONG enough, lots of cute shoes, and accessories to go with every outfit. I've never been a good shopper. Its so hard to find things that fit me well so I usually come home frustrated and empty handed. I've never really liked my wardrobe. Sewing is actually quite expensive and lets face it, You just can't sew a pair of jeans or cute T's and have them come out right.
3. One of the Rainbow play systems for our back yard. Of course if we had one, my kids would never want to play on it, but if the neighbors have it, it's the best thing in the world. I've always loved things like this and trampolines because we never had them as kids so they never lost their charm for me.
4. A Cook and a Maid. I think if the cooking and cleaning were taken from my list of responsibilities, I think I would be more up to playing with my kids. After cleaning the house, and cooking two or three times a day I just want to sit and watch T.V. or relax in some way. We'll never have these things, even if we had more money. So I guess I better just suck it up and play with my kids cause it won't be long before they don't want to play anymore :(













Non commercial stuff:

1. I would love to be more creative. I know that sounds funny because I sew all these children's clothes, but It takes everything I can think of to come up with that stuff and it's NOTHING compared to some of the other stuff I see out there. I really do consider myself a seamstress, not a designer. Just look at how my house is decorated...... It's not! Our house needs an interior decorator SO BAD!!!! I'm afraid to even try for fear that I would be wasting my money on something that wouldn't look good in the end. If anyone wants to come help me decorate my house.... PLEASE DO! And you can forget about scrapbooking. I can not do it. I spend an hour on one lousy page and it still looks like something a 2nd grader did, and there are probably a lot of 2nd graders who could do it better than me. Now, show me a picture of something and I can usually recreate it to a T, but coming up with the idea on my own in next to impossible.
2. I wish I was better with kids. I feel like I'm good with my own kids, but throw the neighbors kids in the mix and I panic. It may be a result of a handful of terrifying babysitting experiences as a kid (I've had my share) but I do not do well with other peoples kids. I'm always amazed at those moms who have every kid in the neighborhood at their house and still have it together.
3. Well, since I will never have a cook, I wish I was a better cook myself. I really don't mind cooking at all but I'm no good at it. I could not come up with my own recipes if my life depended on it. I consider myself lucky if the recipes I do use come out right. There is a lady from our ward who is an AWESOME cook. Granted, she did go to culinary school but she makes food that is to die for! I would be happy just to have a lot of good recipes to go by. I guess it doesn't help that I judge my cooking abilities by the satisfaction of the family, and well..... Shane is just plain picky. But if I knew how to do it right, I could probably get him to eat things that he thought he didn't like.
4. Now this last one is actually achievable, I want to have a better attitude. I know sleep deprivation has a LOT to do with it, but I would really like to be one of those people who is at least usually happy and rarely has a nasty comment. When I have more sleep this is a ton easier. And it's getting better as at least 4 nights a week now I get to sleep from 11pm to 6am without interruption. But this is the "wish" that whether or not it comes true, is entirely up to me.
I guess if there is anyone out there randomly granting wishes, here is my list :) If not... oh well. I'm pretty darn happy without these things.

A day with Chuck-E

Since daddy is going to be gone for the next TWO WEEKS!!!!(someone shoot me now) he took the Morning off Wednesday and went went to McDonalds for breakfast, then Thursday after preschool we all went to Chuck-E-Cheese for lunch and play. Roman had a blast. He is just the right age and size for everything there and he could not get enough. The food is marginal at best, but if you go hungry, it's tolerable. The last time he went there was with his cousins on the day Marisa was born, and I think he had fun but I think he was able to do more of the games this time. Anyway here are some pictures of our little day at Chuck-E-Cheese.

I know this might seem like a silly picture but I think it's so cute how he wants to do it all himself.
Shooting some baskets. Thanks to our hoop at home, he was quite good at it.
The water guns were a HUGE hit.
This incredibly slow swing ride was also a big hit, but it nearly moved as slow as a second hand on a clock would move.
Marisa Cruisin' with chuck

The prize won with Roman's 80 tickets.


Now, have I ever mentioned the Marisa is a DRAMA QUEEN!!!!??? Well, she is. Too often if she sees me, she will come up to my feet and do this. She is just saying that she wants me to pick her up, or that she is hungry or tired, but instead of simply raising her arms. She THROWS herself down, covers her head, and starts bawling. Poor baby! (not really) Sometimes all I have to do is look at her while she is perfectly happy and suddenly she will do this. What an act! This is kind of how I feel right now. I'm missing my husband and feeling lonely. But I think I will put on a tough face. :)

I'm turning green!

ok, not really. When I first thought up this post I thought I would title it "I'm a hippie" or "I'm granola" but that's really not the case. These terms include too many other issues like politics and lifestyles that I wouldn't want to associate myself with. :)
But, as I get older, I find myself being more and more conservative with some things. And being a lot less wasteful with others, or at least wishing I could be less wasteful.

Here are some examples of how I'm going green:

1. Fluorescent light bulbs: These things are all over our house. Granted, there are some places that they just don't work. They save money and save power. If every house in the U.S replaced just one light bulb with these things It would make a HUGE difference. Have you tried them yet? They take a while to warm up and get bright and the color is a tad different but you get used to it and they really do last a long time. We bought a box when we got married (7 years ago) and the first one just burnt out a few months ago. They come in all sorts of sizes and shapes. Some have coverings that make them look just like any other light bulb. Some countries are banning all incandescent light bulbs altogether.

2. Cloth Diapers: I've mentioned before that I never would have thought that I would be a cloth diapering type. I'm not all gung ho about them. But if I'm going to be home, I really don't mind using them one bit. If we are going out for a long trip, I will have baby wear a disposable because if it gets used.... well, I don't want to carry around a yucky used diaper with me. I want to be able to throw it away and move on. But, just having Marisa wear them every other day (which it usually ends up being two days cloth, one day disposables) I literally save over 700 diapers a year from going in the trash. That makes me feel like it's worth it, not to mention that in just a few months, the diapers paid for themselves and now we are saving money. :) This does take a little dedication and sometimes I just don't feel like using them, but that's ok, because they've already paid for themselves, and I can just use them again when I'm more up to it. And when I'm done, believe it or not, I can sell them and get 1/2 my money back.


3. I recycle when I can. Utah is SO far behind in the recycling scene. Right now we can PAY to have a recycling can at our house, but Shane won't do it. I can't say I blame him. It really should be state or city funded. If it comes out of my taxes I won't complain but right now you have to pay $6 a month for the right to recycle. I really wish there was a recycling center that we could take our cans, paper, plastic and glass. I don't mind cleaning and sorting it. But it's not really an option as far as I know. I do save all our newspapers and phone books and take them to the dumpsters that are at the schools and churches anyway.

4. Gardening: I love growing my own food. I wish I could grow more so I didn't have to eat the over chemicalized food that the stores provide. I know they HAVE to use all those chemicals to make the food "safe" and turn a profit, but home grown food is so much better for you! Organic foods are always an option, but an expensive one.
5. Walking: If I can walk there, I usually do. I love to walk to the store and I'm so happy that we live close so we can. We are about 1/2 mile away from Reams. I usually get some funny stares when I'm loading groceries into my stroller but I don't care. Why drive when it's so close and walking is good for me? We walk to the post office and library when we have the time and the weather is nice. It's a longer walk (about 3 miles round trip) but I love the exercise. With gas prices soaring, this is a much more tempting option. I've also been "clumping" my car trips a lot more lately I rarely drive to Orem anymore and try to get any errands I need to get done while I'm taking Roman to preschool anyway.


I think that it really is important that we take a little better care of our earth. I'm not 100% on board with any theory or a global warming nut or anything like that, but I do think that more needs to be done and it starts with the little things that all of us do. :)

So.... are you going green?

Oh geez! 28 Already!!!!

Yes... it was my birthday over the weekend and my oh my, I'm slowly creeping closer and closer to 30!!!! It can't be. I wanted to go somewhere I've never been for my birthday meal so I picked Goodwood BBQ.

Here is my review, just in case you ever want to go:
service: not so great. I had read that they never let your glass get empty. well, My glass was empty most of the time. Maybe because I didn't pay for a drink, I just got water.
Ambiance: It was a nice place that wasn't too loud and comfortable and smelled really good.
Food: The portions were kind of small (for a BBQ place anyway). I finished my whole plate and wasn't even too full. I got pulled pork and BBQ chicken. Both were pretty good but all of our meats were cold, which was disappointing. And Shane didn't like that they didn't serve any kind of bread with it. I guess I was expecting just a big ol' plate of food and it really wasn't. One thing I LOVED was their coleslaw... I don't even like the stuff usually, but I crave it every once in a while and it was so fresh and tasty. I could have had 4 more servings.
Price: Average. I didn't feel ripped off.

So I would give it 2 1/2 stars out of 4. I probably won't go back anytime soon, but I wasn't overly disappointed either.

We then went to Circuit City to see if we could find something to spend money on there and there was nothin. I want to buy some wii games but have a hard time spending $50 on something I've never tried out before.

The rest of the day was spent attempting to hear/watch conference over two noisy children. We had strawberry shortcake for dessert and I LOVE it, but it has to be made with white cake, not nasty sponge cake. mmmmm.

One thing exciting is that I think my friend/old rommie from college, Kristy, had her baby on my B-Day... at least that is what I'm thinking. I haven't heard an official word but I have a hunch. :) It's a good birthday! The only downside (or upside depending on how righteous you are) is that it sometimes lands on general conference, and sometimes two years in a row! Not very fun when you are kid and your parents are trying to get you to hold still for 4 hours and listen to a bunch of old guys talk, and all you want to do is PARTY!!!

Oh yeah, on Friday the weather barely peaked above 50 degrees so I packed up some food, a blanket and the kids and we went on a picnic. It was a little cold for such an outing but even Marisa seemed to really enjoy being outside and Roman was just about peeing his pants to be on a picnic. Since there wasn't any planning ahead, we had quite the variety of foods. I had a PB&J sandwich, a hard boiled egg and a few carrots. Roman had a Lunchable, and Marisa had some Macaroni and Cheese (one of her new favorite foods). Good times!

The winter time BLAHS!!!!

Only problem with that..... IT'S APRIL!!!!! What is going on? This was Sunday morning at our house, and it just kept snowing. The weird part was that the more it snowed, the less deep it got. I think the fluffy snow from the middle of the night was overpowered by the wet snow from the day time.

The next morning there was ice on everything. It wasn't like one of those classic ice storms that you see back east, but it was still messy.

Why is this bugging me so bad??? Because this has been going on long enough! Even my daffodils decided rain or shine they would come up and they paid dearly for that decision as they are laying down, frozen to the ground now.

I guess I'm used to the typical Utah winter where November, January and March are freezing but December, February and April are unseasonably warm. It just didn't happen. From November 1st to now it's just been COLD. Granted we did get a few nice days in the last weeks but not enough to make up for all this.

So..... Mother nature.... I'm pleading, seriously down on my knees!!!! GIVE US A BREAK!!!! I want to be warm again. And what will happen? Two weeks from now we will have our air condition on or something. I guess I live in the wrong state. I gotta move to California or Hawaii where the weather is usually pleasant and a cold day is a breath of fresh air.

You know you have nothing to talk about when you start talking about the weather. I haven't had much to write about lately because I'm stuck inside trying to keep two small children from going nuts or driving me nuts. This includes lots of books (which I've already written about), a few movies, the wii (also already wrote about), and feeding Marisa (she is a bottomless pit). I will try to come up with something better next time. :)