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Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Top 10 Tuesday - 10 Things Beau Miraculously Fixed (in the past 2 weeks)

Over the past couple of weeks things seem to be falling apart at our house. So it is right now that I am particularly grateful that my husband is so handy. It seems there is no job too big that he feels the need to call a repairman. His parents taught him how to work and that he can do anything he sets his mind to. So here's the list:

10. The blender (the blender and I had a little mishap)

9. The garbage disposal (my fault too)

8. The flusher lever on the toilet (it literally just broke off)

7. Gutter (that froze this winter and fell off)

6. A gate on our fence (one of the kids swung on it and bent one of the brackets)

5. The dishwasher (was leaking)

4. A power window on our new car (rolled down and wouldn't go back up...the dealership said they would fix it but we bought the car in Utah 3 hours away...Beau took it apart and fixed it)

3. The washing machine (also had a terrible leak...Beau took the whole contraption apart, found the offending part, plugged the leak with some goo he had in his tool bag so I could use the washing machine while we ordered the new part, then eventually replaced the part)

2. Our 2 year old refrigerator (stopped working altogether, after searching on the Internet and taking it apart, found and ordered replacement parts and put them in and my fridge, hallelujah, is fixed!)

1. OK....so all of the above really happened in just the past few weeks...but there were really only 9 things he fixed, like with tools and stuff. And, being that this is a top 10 list, I had some other ideas. Like how nicely he "fixes" our bank account because he works so hard or how he "fixed" my sons attitude today or how he "fixes" my daughters spirits by being a loving doting dad. But I guess the truth is that it couldn't really be just 10 things, so I will leave it at this. Thanks babe!

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Hypocrite That I Am

I just had a moment...

Brookelynn was just in the family room hiding under a blanket shrieking at the top of her lungs in an attempt to get the dogs to howl (one of Beau's favorite past times-I'm not kidding). So the dogs answered by barking it up. So I yell through the house over the dogs, over the shrieking and hopefully under the blanket to Brooke to "STOP!"

Does it make me a hypocrite to yell at my kids to stop yelling??? I think it might.

Side note: Brookelynn agreed to let me post this only if I highlighted her name in PINK

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Top 10 Tuesdays

In the spirit of trying to be a fun blogger I have decided to do a weekly post called "Top 10 Tuesdays". This idea started with an idea inspired by VH1's top 100 songs of the '80's. I thought...I should think of my favorite 10 songs of the 80's! Then I thought I could think of lots of Top 10 ideas like, Top 10 Reasons to Vote for Barrack Obama (or not...really not decided on that yet), or Top 10 Recipes, or Top 10 Things To Do With the Kids this Summer. So here we go...my

Top 10 Favorite Songs of the 80's

10. Hot Blooded

Foreigner (please don't be shocked...fond memories from my oldest brother)

9. When the Children Cry

White Lion

8. Keep on Loving You

REO Speedwagon (love them!)

7. Queen of Hearts

Juice Newton

6. Jessie's Girl

Rick Springfield

5. Islands in the Stream

Dolly & Kenny (would any 80's list be complete without them...I think not)

4. Don't Stop Believing

Journey

3. La Isla Bonita

Madonna

2. Africa

Toto

And, finally...probably my favorite song of all time...

1. Leader of the Band

Dan Fogelberg

These are my favorites...there is a player at the bottom with all 10 songs. What are your favorite 80's tunes???

Simplicity

I decided to change my background to try to add a little simplicity to my life. All the color was making me a little crazy. We are heading into a busy summer...so I will take serenity where I can find it.

The kids have full schedules almost all summer long of all kinds of activities and I am starting school in July. The plan right now is to take 9 credits this summer and start with a full schedule in the fall. The 9 credits I am taking (Music Appreciation, English 102 and History 102) will be cramped into 4 weeks. The last week we plan to be in Washington....so it will be a crazy-busy month!

So, if you have any words of peace or advice on simplicity, please send them my way...

Monday, May 26, 2008

Birthdays!

During my blogging hiatus :) we had 2 big birthdays. Brookelynn Kay turned 9 and Beau turned 40.

Happy Birthday!

My Husband, the Adventurer

This past Saturday we decided to head up to the mountains. It was supposed to be rainy but the weather was perfect! These pictures were at a place high up on Harrison pass. The boulders are so cool there.

Beau saw this huge rock and decided to help the kids climb up. I am thankful that he is full of wonder and adventure. I am such a scaredy cat that left to me, my kids would grow up not experiencing anything with the slightest element of danger. He even got me to climb the thing too. There was a moment that I nearly had an anxiety attack...but I just had to look away from my kids on the edge of that cliff and take some deep breaths. It was so beautiful there that it was easy to ground myself again.

Lots 'o' Ball

Chase and Brooke are playing ball again this year. It is funny because last year in Arkansas it was blazing hot through ball season. This year we had snow during a few games and mostly chilly weather. But whatever the weather it is always fun to see the kids play!

Baptism Trip

Causey Reservoir, Utah

Huntsville, Utah

Bonneville Salt Flats, UT

A few weeks ago the kids and I took a trip to Utah for my niece's baptism. It was great to see and spend time with my family. And, we had a ton of fun seeing some of the places we spent a lot of time when we lived there. We stayed with our friends who live across the street from our old house. The house is empty and for sale again...so we went in the backyard and peeked through the windows. Brookelynn left in tears...the kids' swing set is still in the backyard and a little playhouse Beau built to look like our house. Brooke wanted to take those things home with us...sadly, that didn't happen.

It was so much fun seeing our friends and attending church in our old ward. After church we went up Ogden canyon where we used to spend most of our free time camping, fishing, or picnicking. We love it there. And springtime in Utah is truly breathtaking!