What a Mess!! What a joy!!

This is what I have been up to lately. This is an old picture of when my friend Melissa and I did some mini albums. The mess I have going on now is much more hideous than this but you get the idea.

I am entering S.O.Y. this year. (scrapbooker of the year for Creating Keepsakes)

I am not nearly as qualified as other people entering but I am doing it for the pure joy of accomplishing something other than scrubbing the floor 4 times a day (that's no joke!)

I felt like I was losing my creative mind. So I decided to exercise my brain a little bit and go for it!!
Do you see that can of Diet Pepsi there? That is a necessity!....most days!

What are BEST friends made of?

Shopping~~Food~~Fun!!

My best friend Janette and I had a very fun day date!

She took me to Ikea for my very first time.

It was AWESOME!!

I just love the fact that they have everything in the showroom set up like an

actual living space.

It was like we were magic and we could snap our fingers and all of a sudden we were in someone elses house. We loved this groovy orange Front Room.

Lots of style and art around the joint too.

I love the dark cupboards but Janette loved this basin sink!

My favorite room of all was the paisley wallpaper. And this lady will one day grace the walls of my salon....... someday, when I get a "real" salon ;)
Isn't she a beauty?

"Calling all shoppers"

"testing...testing ....1...2....3..."

This was Janette's favorite kitchen. She likes the look of the stainless steel.

Ikea has a restaurant. It was so yummy!

We were testing the self timer on the camera.

Guess we had it a little too low eh?!

There. It works better sitting on the salt and pepper shakers.

We had Swedish meatballs and potatoes with yummy sauce.

(I cant remember the name of the sauce. It is like cranberry sauce but sweeter.)

I love that there is this kind of stuff to look at while you eat. cool huh?!

Cant forget the dessert. It was surprisingly light and fluffy. Not as rich as it looks.

Ohhh, so good!!

Here is Janette's apple pie. (Martha Stewart would say that is a very beautiful piece of pie.) She says it was tasty. I will take her word for it. I am not a big fan of the cooked apples. Ever since I was little I have not liked it. But I had my big girl panties on that day and gave it a shot. uhhh...nope still didn't like it. I wanted to, but.. nope.

I saw this round bed and thought to myself.."That is probably not very comfortable." So I leaned on it and discovered bliss!! It was surprisingly comfy!

How fun would that be to have a round bed in your room? It might be hard to find sheets though.

Here is a great picture of Janette's new AEon Flux Hair Cut I gave her.

Another pic of our orange room.

All-in-All it was a fabulous Date with my girl friend. Her girls watched all of the kids so we could go. Aren't they awesome?

Janette came over to my house last night to watch the young'ins so me and my hubby could go to Carter's game and out to dinner. It was so nice. Best thing of all....I came home to a spotless house and all the laundry was done!

YOU ROCK JANETTE!!

I couldn't ask for a better friend.

Emma-isms

Emma and I are upstairs putting laundry away and I realize that there is a load in the dryer. So I have Em go down stairs and get it.

I hear a little voice yell....

"Mom!"....

"What Emma?".......

"Is the laundry in the dryer clean?"

I am thinking to myself, well, it wouldn't be in the dryer unless it was clean!! So instead of saying....Duh! I yelled back with a chuckle...

"YES!"

Then I gave her a squeeze and said "you are so cute!"

her response.....

"I know!"

First Home Run of the Season!

Carter got his first Home Run! We told him that if he got a home run we would give him 50 bucks. We have been telling him that for about 3 years. And finally on Wednesday he got his first home run!!

Well, Last night he had another game....and he got another one! We couldn't believe it.

Russell, said "We need to change that reward from $50 to something we can afford, like ice cream."

It was Awesome! I hurt my throat because I was yelling so loud and cheering!

A Series

We went to Outdoor World to hang out and see the fish in the big aquarium. We attempted to get a picture of all of the kids together.....but

Jarom CANNOT hold still, so he is trying to stand up. In the mean time, he is causing Emma to hit her head on the rock behind her.

Carter thought it was funny, as any brother would....(not funny Carter!!)

Okay, maybe a little funny :)

Because....seconds later....I mean like.......4 seconds later she was ready to pose for the camera!

If you point a camera at Emma she automatically goes into a pose.

SprinG BreaK

We went to the Young at Art Childrens Museum!

Carter

Emma

Jarom Loved climbing up the slide..and of course flying down it as fast as he could.

He loved the light tunnel too!

Allie was very curious!!

She loved the slide too. We could have stayed there all day!!

Hair, Fingers and Toes...Yipee!

This hairstyle is an inspiration from *jessica mcdougalls blog. This was a perfect style for a day at the spa!
I am a Hair Dresser. That's what I do! It is not very often that I get worked on by someone else. I cut my own hair. I color my own hair. I style my own hair. I do my own nails. I do my own toes. And lately it all has been a little neglected. Russ bought me a gift certificate to a spa for Christmas. Well, there is nothing like getting to use your Christmas present in April! I guess I should be grateful it's not July right? Anywho.....I thought it was going to be soooo relaxing and such a renewal of my spirit to go and get worked on. --I was nervous the whole time!-- All I wanted to do was get up and grab that nail file and start working on someone else. I was in my element... but... so far out of it being on the receiving end. It was really hard to sit there and relax. So I spent the rest of my gift certificate on products so I wouldn't have to go back. Weird I know, but that's me. I have a hard time sitting in Relief Society too. I will go in there for a while and then figure someone wants something from the Library ('cause I am the Librarian) then I will jet. If I sit idle too long I just start thinking....and thinking....and sometimes that's not a good thing. I am a doer. My idea of relaxation these days is getting to sit on the toilet for about 5 minutes reading a magazine hiding from all the chillen's ;D

* http://www.jessicamcdougall.blogs.com

imperfection

I struggle. I struggle with being imperfect. When I see someone that is dressed better than me. Someone with better teeth, with nicer hair. When I realize I could have done better on 'that something' than I did, or simply when I am in a crowded place with people that catch a glimpse of me. I feel imperfect. I constantly feel like I am being judged. Not by just the world, but by myself.
So I saw a book at the library called The JOY of Imperfection
It teaches you to be you...simple right? You would think....but it still takes practice to be your true self.
So here are some imperfect affirmations

*I am perfectly imperfect.
*Being imperfect is my way of being human.
*If I can live with your imperfections, I can live with mine.
*My flaws are better than yours.
*My imperfections are perfectly normal.
*I am worthy, lovable, smart, cute, and entirely imperfect.
*I am imperfect without even trying.
*I am imperfect; therefore I am.

So I will practice to be non conforming to everyone else, and be my true self.....perfectly imperfect!

Announcement

For those of you that know me really well know that I was content with 2 kids. A boy and a Girl.

How much better could it be than that? Well, I found out that I was going to have another baby. It was a surprise to say the least. I thought, okay, I can handle 3 kids but that is IT! Well, 1 week later, I found out that I was having twins!! What?? Twins!?! Well, It has not been easy but we have made it through. They are now 17 months old. So now I have 2 boys and two girls. What could be better than that?
We have another surprise for ya. We are pregnant again! Just one this time. Phew!! At least I wont get enormous again. Or will I?

This is a funny look on my face but I was trying to smile through the pain in my back. You can see from the chains on the wall behind me that I still had at least 5 weeks to go. So you can imagine how big I got in the end. (no pun intended) They were both 7 pounders!

Oh one more thing ~~April Fools!!~~ I am not pregnant. That's a relief because just writing about it makes my blood pressure go up.

Emma's 5th Birthday

EmmA had her 5th birthday at Magic Kingdom. It was back in November but I saw the pictures today and thought they were cute.

Isn't this funny? Jarom didn't want to stand still. We either had to hold him or have him tied down in his stroller or he would JET!!
Emma took this pic. We were waiting for Russ and Carts to get back from Space Mountain.

Miss Allie Cakes

Mr Bear

And My beautiful 5 year old. Wow! she has grown up way too fast!

How old are you Em?
She got to wear a button that said it was her birthday so all of the characters would make an effort to come and see her when they saw it. Mary Poppins saw her and came over and hugged her and said "Happy Birthday" Emma's response...."This is the BEST birthday EVER!!"

Our last day in Utah

Russ is very melancholy about leaving the next morning.Emma and her cousin Miss Kylie- who is a spit fire!

Emma and her cousin Tyler

Jordyn, Emma, My sis Loni and Kylie

Our last supper together at Vera's house

My bro Ben, Loni, Me and My biggest sis. Vera

We are missing my Oldest bro. Marv. He went home to WA the night before.

(I am still waiting to receive pics from other family members ;))