Ben & Kristi Davis

My Nightmare

2012-01-11T20:40:00.000-08:00

I was on a walk with my husband and our youngest daughter. It was a glorious day. It was the kind of day that begs to be spent outdoors as long as possible. The grass was tall. It was up to my shoulders and I could see a sea of golden grass waving in every direction. The sun was shining, but it wasn't in my eyes and I didn't need my sunglasses. There was a path that we followed without really knowing where we were going. We were near my parents' house so I didn't worry about getting lost. I knew I'd always be able to find my way home.

We came to a creek. I grew up playing in this creek and was happy to splash a little cool water on my face. As I got closer to the water, I saw some toys belonging to my children. I figured that they must have washed downstream while their backs were turned. I started to gather the toys one by one into a backpack that suddenly appeared on my back. A Hello Kitty piggy bank, a plastic red apple, a fire truck with a broken ladder, and what appeared to be a giraffe head were all half buried in the silt at the bottom of the creek.

I picked up Hello Kitty, the apple, the fire truck and placed them into my pack. I went to grab the giraffe when I saw something move. I had disturbed the silt while removing the toys. Now that it was settling again, I saw the snake. It looked like a rope. A lot of rope. If I hadn't seen it move and recognized a head, I would have told myself that it was a rope and moved on. But it wasn't a rope. It was a snake. A lot of snake. As the silt settled further, I saw more rope. Realized that there were more snakes. Then I saw another giraffe head further on. Then another and another. There were 5 that I could see clearly, maybe more further on. The creek had changed into a small lake and I was standing on a beach made equally of river rock and dark, wet sand. The giraffe heads were connected to giraffe bodies. There were entire giraffes, dead, at the bottom of this lake! How is that possible? These snakes were long, but they were thin, they couldn't have done this.

At that moment, the sick realization hit me. These were the babies, and they were waking up hungry. The first snake that I had seen started to move out of the water toward me. Once it was out of the water, it's skin looked like velvet. It was a light lavender color and looked wonderfully soft. I was frozen with terror. Despite my fear, I was horribly curious to know what it's skin felt like. I managed to force my legs to move a few steps to the left, away from the beautiful, soft snake. I saw ripples on the water and realized that the adult snakes were coming to tend to their young. They were all hungry.

To my complete and utter horror, my sweet, fearless daughter bent down to pet the velvet snake. I was so terrified that I couldn't even scream for her to run. I was paralyzed and I was sure that I was about to witness the death of my baby. My legs had stopped moving, but the snake hadn't.

Miraculously, the snake completely ignored my little girl. It was like she was invisible.

More snakes had started to come out of the water. All in beautiful shades of lavender, violet, and purple. She continued to pet each one as they came out of the water and slithered past her. I was farther away from them, but I hadn't moved.

Like a voice from heaven, I heard my husband behind me. "Kristi, you need to step very carefully toward me." Fear still gripped my heart like a vice and I couldn't even answer him to tell him that it was impossible. He repeated himself. "Kristi, you need to step very carefully toward me. Now." My foot moved. Then the other. In five steps I was clinging to his back and he told me that I needed to hang on tight. I closed my eyes and prepared myself for him to run. He only made it a few steps. I heard a strange, high pitched scream a second before I felt the razor sharp fangs sink into my back. I felt the teeth puncture my heart and went limp. The last thought in my head was, "I wonder if they'll let me touch their velvety skin before I die."

The I woke up shaking and sweating and never wanting to fall asleep ever again. Ugh. Dreams are dumb.

20 lbs and counting

2012-01-09T10:10:00.000-08:00

Gross.

I can't believe this happened.

I thought I was okay. I knew I was slipping, but I didn't realize that I'd fallen this far.

I weighed myself. I know. Bad move. The battery in my scale has been dead for a long time. I'm totally okay with that. I hate knowing how much I weigh. I went to my mom's house and her scale was sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor (so they could weigh their bags before going on a trip). Tori stepped on and weighed herself. She's almost up to 40 lbs. She bouncing on it and trying to make herself weigh more. Then she said, "Hey mom, remember when you used to stand on the scale?" Yes. I remember all too well. She begged me to step on the scale. I told myself that I would step on the scale, but I wouldn't look. I was doing just fine until Tori said, "Wow, Mom, you made it all the way to 200!"

WHAT?!?!?!

I quickly looked at the scale. Fortunately, she was way off. I wasn't at 200. But I looked. I saw the number and I wanted to cry. I would rather not post on a public blog how much I weigh, so let's just say that I have never weighed this much (other than when I'm hugely pregnant). It's time to fix that.

Ugh. I hate dieting! I love to cook. I love to eat. I LOVE FOOD! I really don't want to give up nachos, buttered popcorn, cookies, cupcakes, white bread, or any of those really delicious, highly processed snacks from the grocery store. It's a very sad day for me.

But, it needs to be done. I need to lose a full 20 lbs. I'm not going to set a date that I need to have it gone. I'm just going to reward myself when it's done. That will be my motivation. My reward? New jeans. My favorite jeans are dying. They are ripping everywhere (probably because I insist on squeezing my ample bottom into them) and they will not last much longer. I refuse to buy new jeans in my current size. So, when I get back down to my normal size, I will reward myself with new jeans. Not Walmart clearance sale jeans. Good jeans. I'm actually really excited about it. I'm excited enough that I got up this morning and put on my workout clothes to get on the treadmill.

So, I could use some help. First, don't say things like, "you don't need to lose weight, you look fine just the way you are!" That's not helping. That will just weaken my resolve and that's not good for anyone. Second, don't invite me to go running with you. I don't run. I have messed up feet and 3.5 miles is about as far as I can go without serious pain. I have a treadmill and a laptop with Netflix. That's how I like to work out. Third, don't tell me how fat you think you are. Chances are good that I think you look beautiful and I wish I could look like you. Telling me that you're fat makes me feel worse about myself.

So, without any further procrastination, I'm going to go get on the treadmill and watch The Vampire Diaries. Wish me luck, I'm going to need it.

It's Resolution Time!

2012-01-01T09:41:00.000-08:00

Well, it's January 1st and time to make some resolutions for this year. I'm pretty bad at following through on my resolutions. I'm good until about March, then it all goes down hill. I just forget about them! So, I've decided to write them down and put them on my mirror so I'll see them every day. The trendy thing this year is to choose a word to define the upcoming year. I'm not going to do that. My year is going to be too awesome for just one word.

1. Get back to basics. Don't worry about doing every single thing perfectly, just focus on the most important things, do them well, and everything else will be good enough.

2. Exercise. My goal for this year is to do some form of exercise every day (except Sunday). On super busy days, I might only spent 15 minutes on the treadmill or take Baxter for an extra long walk, but I will do something 6 days a week.

3. Read The New Testament. I have studied this book of scripture at church many times, but I don't think I have ever sat down and read the whole thing by myself. This year, I will.

4. Think nice thoughts. I'm very hard on myself and am my own worst critic. This year, I will be nice to myself. I will accept that I can't do everything perfectly and I will try to recognize my talents and strengths. I will still try to overcome my weaknesses, but I will not hate myself for them.

5. Don't pick. This sounds dumb, but I'm a picker. If I see a scab, a zit, a loose piece of skin on myself or anyone in my family, I must pick at it. It's not a good habit. It's bad for my skin, it's gross, and it needs to stop.

That's it. I'm not going to make a thousand goals that I know I will never get around to fulfilling. I won't put that kind of pressure on myself. I want to keep the list small so that I have a chance of succeeding. Maybe I'll do an update half-way through the year, maybe not. We'll see if I can remember...

The Bubble Monster!

2011-12-15T21:29:00.000-08:00

Tori loves to take baths and showers. Every day -- several times a day -- she sniffs her arm and tells me that she had better take a bath/shower because she smells like dirt. Sometimes I give in, other times I don't. Today, I had no problem with it so she got in the tub. I gave her a little bubble bath and decided to fold some laundry while she was in the tub. I heard her turn on the jets in the bath and thought that she might be surprised at how many bubbles she would end up with. It turns out, I was the one who was surprised! She thought it was great fun. I thought it was time for some pictures.
In these pictures, we had already let out the water and she was playing in just straight bubbles.

2 loose teeth + 2 pieces of floss = I need $2 tonight

2011-12-15T20:56:00.000-08:00

Tyler and Nicole both have teeth loose. Multiple. Nicole has three loose and Tyler has 2 loose. I hate pulling out teeth! That is a job I happily reserve for my husband. Unfortunately, he's not home tonight and the kids wanted these teeth out NOW. It has gotten to the point where they don't want to eat because it hurts to bite on those teeth. So, I tied some string around the tooth, counted one... two... PULL! and out it came. Nicole went first (to show Tyler how to be brave) and then Tyler followed only a couple of minutes later.

Christmas Program

2011-12-13T18:12:00.000-08:00

Tori had her Christmas program at preschool today. She was the loudest one! In years past, I have never been able to pick out my kids' voices when they sing with their class. This was not the case with Tori's class! Watch the video and you'll see what I mean:

She looked so pretty!

This picture was going to be so cute, until she decided to fall over backward and throw her feet in the air.

The Gratitude Challenge

2011-12-11T23:02:00.000-08:00

I was reading in The Ensign just now and found a "Gratitude Challenge" that was directed to the youth of the church. I decided that I should do it myself.

10 physical abilities I am grateful for:
1. I can see, hear, smells, touch, and taste without troubles.
2. I had free surgery on my foot so now I can walk with less discomfort.
3. I am tall enough to reach the highest cupboards in my kitchen.
4. My body is healthy enough to keep me free from medications most of the time.
5. I have steady hands.
6. I can breathe without the use of an oxygen tank or inhaler.
7. I have a healthy back which enables me to lift and carry my children.
8. I have 10 fingers and 10 toes which help me to run farther and type faster.
9. I have strong fingernails to scratch my itches.
10. I can do 10 cartwheels in a row down a hill before I fall over.

10 material possessions I am grateful for:
1. My 1999 Midnight Blue Jeep Cherokee that always gets me where I need to go.
2. A home where I can raise my children.
3. My laptop and iPhone that help me stay in touch.
4. My refrigerator and freezers that keep my food from spoiling.
5. My camera that helps me capture memories.
6. My bed. It is so unbelievably comfortable. I want to be in it all the time.
7. My dog. He loves me for me.
8. The Calvin and Hobbes artwork my brother-in-law made. It makes me smile every day.
9. My clothes that keep me warm, modest, and cute.
10. All of my hair products that help me control this curly head of hair.

10 living people I am grateful for:
1. My husband. He's the best. :)
2. My family. (if we share blood or I'm married to someone who shares your blood, you are included in this.)
3. My beach girls. They build me up, make me laugh, and help me stay sane.
4. My Young Women that taught me so much about who I want to be.
5. The teachers I had in school and church.
6. My ex-boyfriends that taught me how to stand up for myself.
7. The doctors that help me when someone I love is sick or hurt.
8. The wonderful men and women that teach my children.
9. The leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
10. The people who are mean to me. They help me learn patience, tolerance, and humility.

10 deceased people I am thankful for:
1. My Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Loe for being some of the most loving people I ever met.
2. Joseph Smith for being brave enough to do what he was told.
3. The countless men and women that have died defending our country.
4. My Grandma Lenz for singing me funny Australian songs.
5. My Great Grandma Lenz who taught me that eating raw pork sausage off the floor won't really hurt you.
6. The Founding Fathers of our nation.
7. Robert Jordan, for writing some of the greatest books I've ever read.
8. My childhood pet, Sam. I know he's not a person, but he was the greatest dog ever and I still miss him.
9. Adam and Eve, for their understanding of the plan God had in store for them.
10. Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for my sins so that I can be saved.

10 things about nature that I am grateful for:
1. Sunsets and sunrises.
2. Warm summer wind and cloudless, icy, winter days.
3. Green grass that lasts all year long.
4. Flowers of all shapes, sizes, colors, and scents.
5. The beautiful colors of autumn.
6. Fog.
7. The ocean and it's beaches.
8. Water in all forms: oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, rain, snow, ice, waterfalls, etc.
9. The beautiful and diverse animals in this world.
10. Rainbows.

10 things about today that I'm grateful for:
1. I got to go to church and feel the Spirit.
2. My husband helped me with a birthday present for my dad.
3. My kids all hugged and kissed and and wanted to spend time with me.
4. I got to see my friends at church.
5. Baxter let me brush his hair without trying to eat the brush.
6. I made super yummy chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles.
7. I beat Tyler at air hockey.
8. I painted a sweet picture of the "snowman house of horrors" from Calvin and Hobbes.
9. I had a pretty good hair day.
10. Everyone is asleep and I have a few quiet minutes to myself.

10 places on earth I am grateful for:
1. Multnomah Falls.
2. BYU's Provo Campus
3. The beaches of Oahu.
4. Lincoln City, Oregon.
5. Vancouver, Washington.
6. Portland, Oregon.
7. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
8. The Caribbean.
9. Disneyland.
10. IKEA.

10 modern inventions that I'm grateful for:
1. Cars.
2. Digital cameras.
3. Microwaves.
4. Running water.
5. Computers.
6. Cell phones.
7. Christmas lights.
8. Hair dryers.
9. The Slap-Chopper.
10. Treadmills. Because I'd hate to have to walk outside and get fresh air.

10 foods I am thankful for (I LOVE food):
1. Pasta.
2. Meatballs. BBQ, swedish, sweet and sour, spaghetti and m. I love them all.
3. Soup.
4. Fruit salad.
5. Roasted vegetables.
6. Chicken curry.
7. Breakfast burritos with eggs, hashbrowns, ham, salsa, and cheese.
8. Nachos with olives, guacamole, sour cream, refried beans, lots of cheese, salsa, and lettuce.
9. Ketchup.
10. Mashed potatoes and gravy.

10 things about the gospel that I am grateful for:
1. The atonement of Jesus Christ.
2. The resurrection.
3. The Bible and Book of Mormon.
4. The law of Tithing.
5. The Relief Society program.
6. The Priesthood.
7. Our sweet prophet, President Thomas S. Monson.
8. Temple ordinances.
9. Baptism.
10. My testimony.

Well, I made it. It took me an hour, but I had a wonderful time thinking of all of these amazing things that are part of my life. I am truly grateful for so many things in my life and I could never write them all down. It is my hope that I will be able to keep these things in my heart and try to be more diligent about counting my blessings so that I can keep a positive attitude and outlook with me always.

What do 3 kids do with a big pile of leaves?

2011-11-18T15:59:00.000-08:00

I'm Disappointed In You

2011-11-09T22:47:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, my brothers and I were pigs. We were worse than pigs, we were lazy, selfish, thoughtless slobs. My mother is a saint. She always managed to know the right way to deal with the crap that we put her through. I don't remember a lot of it, but I do remember one time when she sat us all down and started to cry. She told us that we hurt her feelings and she felt like we didn't appreciate all of the hard work that she did for us. I remember feeling like scum. I wanted the earth to open up under my feet and swallow me whole rather than see my mom crying because of me. It was awful. But you know what? It made me want to be better. I never wanted my mom to cry because of something I did. It was a turning point for me. Did I keep my room clean forever after that? Nope. Still struggling with that. But it changed the way I thought about it. I tried to do better and I think I succeeded a little.

Fast forward many years into the future and here we are in 2011 and I have three little pigs of my own. They are little kids. They make messes. They make the same messes every single day. I spend most of my time in my house cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, and taking care of my children. I do the same things day in and day out. I make meals and clean them up, I brush teeth and comb hair, I make beds, pick up toys, read annoying children's books, vacuum, sweep, dust, mop, wash marker off of walls, play barbies and legos, ooh and aah over schoolwork that comes home, help with homework, fold laundry, keep up with the yard work, flush the toilet a thousand times a day (because my children NEVER remember), say "NO" a thousand times a day, and about a zillion other things. Going to work and dealing with grown ups all day sounds heavenly sometimes. I have to remind myself that I chose this life and really, I do love it. It's just a thankless job and sometimes I get in a rut. (when i really feel like i'm in a rut, i do crazy things like paint rooms turquoise or dye my hair red!)

Today was one of those days. I spent all morning running all over town and spent the afternoon trying to have a nice afternoon with my kids. I let them have friends over. I let them eat Halloween candy. I let them play the Wii (after homework of course) and even let them get out ALL of the stuff in the costume box and play dress up. The only thing I asked them to do was to put their toys away when they were done. That's all.

I told them this at 4:00 pm. At 7:35 pm, I looked around and there were toys everywhere. I had reminded them several times about needed to put things away, but I tried to keep it nice and calm and not yell -- which is obviously what I felt like doing. I was staring, dumbfounded at the mess and all three kids looked at me. I could see the gears turning in their heads. They were all thinking about what was going to happen. They knew that they had blown it. They knew that they were supposed to be picking up and they completely ignored it. Instead of quickly trying to pick up a few things or even apologizing, they just shrugged their collective shoulders and went on playing. I walked quietly into the girls' bedroom and sat on the bed. The kids followed me and saw that I was crying. Now they were worried. Moms don't cry.

My mom cried, and now I was crying. I gave the kids a speech that was very similar to the one I received as a teenager. I dumbed it down a little since they are only little kids, but it's the same basic points. I told them that they hurt my feelings. I felt like they didn't appreciate the hard work that I do for them day in and day out. I felt like I didn't matter to them. I felt like if they don't care about what our house looks like, then neither should I. I'll just stop cooking and cleaning and I'll play all day long just like they do. At this point, they are all crying. Tyler is trying to be brave, but he's quickly wiping away tears before they fall and his lower lip is trembling. Nicole is curled up in a ball next to me crying silently. Tori is on my lap sobbing like a baby. Now it was time for the big guns.

"I'm disappointed in you."

I could see all of them shrink. They all felt like scum. I could see it on their sweet little tear-stained faces. They all tackled me and hugged me and apologized. They made promises of clean rooms and toys that never touched the floor. They wanted to do nice things for me that cost a lot of money (which I would need to front, of course). I told them that really, all I want is for them to put their things away when they are done with them. Well, this sounds like the easiest thing in the world when you're ready to offer to make dinner for the next month, do all of your own laundry, and mow the lawn until you move out. All three of them quickly worked together and went from room to room cleaning. They cleaned both bedrooms, the bathroom, hallway, kitchen, family room, and toy room... in 15 minutes. It was amazing. I have never seen them work together like this. When they were done. They felt good. They hugged each other and then they hugged me. They said that it was so much more fun to work together and they were shocked at how fast it went! They said they loved looking at our house when it was all clean.

I looked at them and wanted to dance a jig. I was so happy! They had finally done what I wanted them to do! I didn't have to yell or get mad at anyone. I don't know if this will be a turning point for them. I don't know if they will remember this a week or a month from now. But now, I'm going to bed in a clean house with children who will try harder tomorrow.

What do you think they would think if they knew that I had to REALLY work to force myself to start crying in the first place?

Return of the Red Hair

2011-11-07T19:24:00.000-08:00

I put red in my hair again! I get bored with my hair and this keeps me from cutting it all off and regretting it. Even permanent color isn't that permanent. I thought I'd share some pictures with y'all. Turns out, it sort of strange and awkward trying to take pictures of your own hair. It was kinda fun once I got into it. The last picture is my favorite.

I sort of love it. It's fun to have something different. I definitely get some strange looks and I bet there are a bunch of people out there who think I'm too old to do stuff like this. The thing is... I don't care what they think. I like it.

The process of getting my hair done wasn't terribly difficult or complicated, but my hair took longer to process than expected. Of course, I didn't have a ton of time because I had to pick up Tori from preschool, pick up Nicole from the bus stop (Tyler was sick) and then take Nicole to Karate. Unfortunately, my hair didn't feel like cooperating, so I had to do all of that looking like this:

Aren't you jealous? Do you wish that YOU could have run all over town looking like this? Ugh. It was not cool. I guess it was worth it because I like how it turned out. Next time, I'll build in an extra hour to my hair time.

Family Home Evening

2011-11-07T19:08:00.000-08:00

For FHE tonight, we talked about being thankful. I got out a big roll of paper and gave everyone a marker. I let them draw or write things that they are thankful for. They loved it! This is what we ended up with:

Then for our treats, we had "Pookies". One of our awesome made up desserts. A Pookie is pudding and a cookie. Tonight we had peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, chocolate pudding, and cool whip. It was delicious.

Tori didn't get one. Not because we are mean. She didn't eat her dinner. We warned her that if she didn't eat her dinner she wouldn't get a Pookie. She said that was okay, she didn't like them anyway. Ben told her that she would probably be sad when everyone else was eating treats but she wasn't. She said, "That's okay, I like to be sad."

Puke is Gross

2011-11-02T15:49:00.000-07:00

Puke is gross.
Seriously, it's really disgusting.
Tyler wasn't feeling well. Poor little guy. Ben and I were talking on his bed and he said the words every parent dreads...
"I think I'm going to throw up."
I ran to get a bowl, but two of them were stuck together. It only cost me a second-and-a-half, but that was exactly how late I was. Tyler kept his mouth closed as long as he could, but the pressure built and built and he shot Ben -- machine gun style -- with his sickness. When Tyler was done and feeling a little better, I started laughing. I laughed all night long. Before you judge me, you should know that it's a genetic defect. This horrible character trait has been passed down through the generations of women in my family. When something bad happens or someone gets hurt, we laugh. A lot. Once I knew everyone was okay, that's when the laughter hit. Thank goodness, Ben was a good sport and didn't throw me out of the house for my callousness.

Halloween

2011-11-01T10:26:00.000-07:00

This year we had 2 Pirate Princesses and a Skull Lord Ninja. The kids had tons of fun and got tons of candy. And it didn't even rain! Unfortunately, I didn't know my pictures were blurry until it was too late. Oh well, blurry is better than nothing.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday and the kids had lots of fun. We did a hay ride, a maze (Tori got left out and she was NOT happy), picked pumpkins, ate cookies and apples, played in piles of hay and the kids loved it. I know it looks like Tori is my favorite because I take so many pictures of her. The truth is, she just gets left out of stuff more then the other two so I have to take pictures to keep her busy. Plus, I love her funny faces. Here's some of my favorite pictures from the day.

Picture Day

2011-10-20T10:19:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again: Picture Day. I always get nervous for picture day. I'm not there to make sure that every hair is in place, faces are clean, Tyler's tie is on straight and Nicole isn't sticking her tongue out through the hole in her teeth. So, I decided to take a few pictures at home before they left. I didn't have a lot of time (and the batter was almost dead on my camera) so we only got a few pictures by the front door. Tori wanted to get in on the action, so she grabbed her "fancy" headband (she made it herself) and started posing. Can you tell that she picked out her own outfit?

Welcome to the family

2011-10-13T13:28:00.000-07:00

Katelyn Michelle Lenz was born last night to David and Sara Lenz which means... I'm an aunt!!! Again. I have two nieces on the Davis side, but none of my brothers had any children until last night. I'm so happy for them! David has wanted to have a baby since before he was even married. I know that it's something both of them have been looking forward to and I'm glad that everything went so smoothly with pregnancy, delivery, and recovery. I can't wait to meet this sweet little bundle of joy!

Date Night

2011-10-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

Ben and I actually went on a date! We really should do this more often. Basketball season is fast approaching which means I will not see him nearly as much as I would like. I appreciate him working so hard to support our family and I'm glad he has found a job that he enjoys so much and is so good at. I just miss him sometimes. Last night my mom watched the kids while we went out to dinner. We went to Chutneys for Indian food. It was delicious.

When we got home we watched the latest Transformers movie (Dark of the Moon). Transformers movies are kind of corny, but we love them. What's better than robots punching each other and fake blood coming out?
I love my Benamin. Thanks for being awesome.

Nicole's 6th Birthday

2011-09-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

It's Nicole's 6th Birthday! I won't say that it seems like just yesterday she was born, because it doesn't feel like yesterday... it feels like 6 years. I don't think I've hit that time in my life where time passes extra quickly. I have loved every single day with this little girl. She is such an amazing girl! She is the girliest girl I have ever met in my life. She loves everything sparkly, pink, or soft. She wants to wear makeup and dress "fancy" all the time. She wants to wear perfume every single day. She loves being a girl! But at the same time, she loves to do karate, loves pirates, and loves to wrestle. Her love of pirates has inspired her birthday party for this year.
8:30 am -- Nicole wanted a special birthday breakfast: scrambled eggs, toast, and chocolate milk. The only reason this is different from normal breakfast is the chocolate milk. Easy enough for me!

9:10 am -- Drove Nicole to school instead of making her walk. Plus, I had to bring her treats for her class and I didn't want to carry it the whole way. What complicated, time consuming treat was a required to make for her kindergarten class? OTTER POPS! It doesn't get any easier than that!

11:30 am -- Nicole wanted a special birthday lunch. Last year I brought Tyler a Happy Meal at school. I assumed she would want the same thing. She surprised me by asking for macaroni and cheese from Panera instead. That's my girl! She also wanted root beer, but Panera doesn't sell it so I had to go down a few doors and get one from Chipolte. She loved eating restaurant food at school.

1:15 pm -- Today was early release so Nicole got to come home early. Her friends walked home from school with her and we had our pirate party.

The kids made these pirate hats and loved wearing them. They had sword fights and played pirates for an hour. Nicole wanted a very ~~weird~~ unique cake. She wanted a chocolate cake with grey frosting and chocolate decorations. She did the decorating all by herself. I set out the rest of the chocolate and the kids added whatever decorations they wanted to their own slices of cake.

3:00 pm -- Party is over. Whew. Nicole got to hang out and help me put her presents away while she got ready for karate. She was so excited to tell her karate friends that it was her birthday, especially her teacher. She has a little bit of a crush on him. In the hour between the party and karate, Nicole decided to try out her new face paints that Tori gave her:

I was able to scrub it off of Nicole's face before karate, but Tori's eyebrows are stained red! She looks weird and devilish. I hope it fades soon.

5:00 pm -- we had Nicole's birthday dinner. She wanted chicken curry and broccoli. We ate quickly and got ready for the family party.

6:00 pm -- Grandma Lisa, Diego, Aunt Susie, Grandma Belva, and Grandpa Wiley came over for our little get together. We did presents and then had brownies with powdered sugar, whipped cream and hot fudge.

At the end of the day, she was hopped up on sugar, but exhausted. She went to bed feeling happy that she was finally 6 and she couldn't wait to measure herself to see how much she had grown. I'm afraid she's going to be sorely disappointed to find that she's the same height.
Happy Birthday, Nicole! We love you.

Pictures!

2011-09-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

As usual, Ben's dad has taken some amazing pictures of my kids. Here's some of my favorites:

Tori's First Day of Preschool

2011-09-03T11:28:00.000-07:00

Tori started preschool at Mill Plain United Methodist Preschool! Hooray for me! Do you realize what this means? I will have 2 1/2 hours all to myself on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I am WAY too excited about this. When it came time to take pictures of her in front of the door, she followed in her sister's footsteps and wanted to do a whole photo shoot.

When it was time to take her to school, she grabbed her backpack and went running to the school. She was so excited! I was excited for both of us :-). I thought I would go in the classroom with her and hang out, but she asked me to leave so she could start working on her coloring page. There were a bunch of kids crying and there were some very frustrated moms. It was so nice to just kiss her goodbye and walk out the door! I ran over to Wendy's and grabbed myself a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, fries, and a Diet Coke, then met my mom at Elegant Nails and got a pedicure. After stuffing my face and getting pampered I went to World Market and got some new accessories for my new family room. I picked up all the kids from school and got back to real life. I can't believe this is going to be my life! I love it! It would be different if my kids didn't like school, but they love it and they are becoming smarter, more independent children. Hooray for school!!!

Nicole's First Day of Kindergarten

2011-09-01T10:09:00.000-07:00

My little girl starts kindergarten today! In some ways it seems like she's already done kindergarten because she spent all summer working on math and reading. She did 3 years of preschool at Mill Plain United Methodist Preschool and I feel like she has a good head start. She was really excited this morning and we ended up leaving for school REALLY early because she didn't want to wait anymore. She wasn't nervous at all and couldn't wait to learn how to be a kindergartener. She wanted more than just the traditional picture-by-the-front-door so here's our little photo shoot:

Nicole is really excited to walk to school with Tyler every day.

We'll see if that excitement lasts once the rain comes.

Here's Nicole with her teacher, Ms. Roberts. Tyler had her for kindergarten and I was THRILLED to learn that Nicole would have her as well. The little flower in her top button hole was a gift from Nicole. Ms. Roberts made a very big deal about how nice it was and how much she liked it. I fear she will be getting a lot of random weeds picked on the way to school during the upcoming school year. There were no tears from me or any of the other moms. I was very proud of all of us.

Tyler's First Day of School

2011-08-31T12:09:00.000-07:00

Tyler started 2nd grade today. I had to take the traditional picture by the front door:

When I asked him if he was excited, this was his reaction:

It's going to be a good year.

All About Tyler

2011-08-28T11:33:00.000-07:00

I am 7 years old
I like reading
I like writing
I love my family
I am a meat lover
I like hot dogs
I like chicken
I like fried chicken too

I am a sweet boy.
My name is Tyler Davis.
I like sports.
I played a few this summer.

(Tyler made up and typed this post all by himself. What a smart boy!)

New-ish Coffee Table

2011-08-26T09:13:00.000-07:00

I have a new coffee table! Well, to be fair, it's not really new. It's not even new-to-me. It just looks different so it seems new.
Here's the before:

(I decided there were a few too many pillows, so I cut down to just 3 instead of 7)

Here's the after!

The lighting will probably be better later today when the sun isn't shining directly into the room, but I am so excited with how it turned out that I couldn't wait to blog about it. The end table in the corner of the sofas is in the garage undergoing a makeover as well. I have to get everything done by Labor Day when Ben's family comes to visit. Yay for paint!!!!

Tyler

2011-08-22T17:20:00.000-07:00

Here's a few reasons why I love my biggest little one, Tyler:

Nicole

2011-08-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

Here are a few reasons why I love my little girl:

Tori

2011-08-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a few reasons why I love my little Tori-bug:

My Garden

2011-07-31T16:36:00.000-07:00

Lenz Financial BBQ

2011-07-22T15:27:00.000-07:00

Every year, my dad throws a golf tournament for all of the agents that write business through his company. The insurance companies sponsor this event and my mom and I throw a party for them the night before. We do different themes every year and it's always pretty crazy for a week before the party, but it's always a lot of fun and things turn out perfectly. Here's some pictures from this year's party.

This year our theme was a "Back yard BBQ".
Our menu:
Appetizers - vegetable tray with dip, chips with guacamole, salsa, and hummus, fruit kabobs, sushi, cheesy sausage cups.
Main Dishes and sides - Hamburgers, hotdogs, (toppings - carmelized onions, relish, sauteed mushrooms, sauerkraut, grilled pineapple, bacon, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, and miracle whip) baked beans, pasta salad, corn salad, and a green salad with red onion dressing.
Dessert - strawberry shortcake, berry cobbler with ice cream, brownies, and ice cream.

Paper Flower Napkin Rings

2011-07-20T23:16:00.000-07:00

I've been helping with a big BBQ at my parents' house and one of my assignments is to make some napkin rings with paper flowers. Here's what I came up with:

The napkins are dishtowels from the Dollar Store and the flowers are held on with ribbon. I think they turned out pretty cute!

Zach and Logan's Wedding

2011-07-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

Hooray for weddings! Zach and Logan got married on July 11 and now I have another new sister-in-law! This is very exciting for me since I have all brothers and Ben has all brothers. It is so much fun to have girls in the family! It was a perfect day for a wedding and everything turned out beautifully. I made the huge mistake of losing my camera after the ceremony so I only have a few pictures. I love how our family is growing!!!

Jim and Michelle's Wedding

2011-07-09T09:57:00.000-07:00

I got a new sister-in-law and niece today! Jim and Michelle got married in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. It was a beautiful sealing and I was so happy to have been there. It was REALLY windy when we came out which made pictures ~~difficult~~ interesting. We found a little spot on the side with some protection from the sun and wind and were able to get some good shots. Since Jessica Willis was doing the official pictures, I mostly just took pictures of my family/kids waiting for their turn in front of the lens. Here's the 'behind the scenes' day in photos. (Warning: there's WAY too many pictures in this post.)

When we were done at the temple, we went over to Kim and Justin Walker's house and spent most of the afternoon with them. Kim and I were pregnant at the same time and she had her little girl, Navie, only 2 days before I had Tori. They are both so big now! Kim has a new little girl, Harlow, who is only a few weeks old. It was so much fun to see them!

Fun with the Slack Line

2011-07-06T16:41:00.000-07:00

Ryan has a slack line and he set it up when we were at the lake for our picnic. I usually don't get on it, they made it look so easy, so I gave it a try. Turns out it's easier said than done.

More from the 4th

2011-07-05T15:50:00.000-07:00

Here's more pictures of our 4th of July weekend at the beach...

Even when you are 28 years old, it's still funny to put things in your brother's ear.

Here's Tori all snuggled up with her bag of chips.

I LOVE hot dogs cooked over a fire. Pretty much one of my favorite things about summer.

The kids wanted to fish, so my dad found some sticks, tied some string and hooks on the end. They caught so many fish!

Good thing Ryan was around to help Tyler. He loved catching all those fish.

Nicole's first fish of the day.

Tyler's first fish of the day.

Tori's fish jumped off the hook. She was a little nervous about picking it up and putting it back in the water.

4th of July Weekend

2011-07-04T10:39:00.001-07:00

My whole family is here!! We went to Lincoln City, OR for the weekend and I have never laughed so much in my life. Here's our weekend in pictures:

(These are all my brothers' bellies. I won't say which is which. They liked our menu for the week)

Ben tried surfing ( I wasn't there to witness it so there aren't any pictures.) I think he was glad for the wetsuit. Brrr...

Jason didn't have a wetsuit. He was so cold when he got out of the water that the kids had to bury him in the sand so the hot sand could warm him up. The sand was so hot that it was burning our feet. He was completely red when he finally got out of his sandy bed.

Big surprise. Jason's cold again. David and Sara seem fine though. :-)

I love my brothers.

Jason buried his feet in the sand and got himself completely stuck. It was pretty funny.

I love how short Jason looks since he's buried in sand. It make me look extra tall.

Tyler buried himself and acted like he was sitting in a chair.

Tyler was the only one brave enough to go out on the surfboard with Ryan. He loved it!

Then Tori got sand in her eye and we had to go home.

Guess who lost her first tooth!

2011-06-16T12:01:00.000-07:00

Nicole has a loose tooth. I mean, it was REALLY loose. It was gross watching her flip it back and forth with her tongue. Whenever she took a bite, it hurt. It was time for that tooth to go! Ben came to the rescue and put her out of her misery. (see video above-don't judge me because I have a load of laundry on the floor.)

We were afraid that the tooth might get lost under her pillow, so we put the tooth in a ring box and put it on her dresser. Just in case the Tooth Fairy didn't know where it was, we left her a note:

She was VERY excited. I wasn't sure she would ever fall asleep. This morning she ran into my room with this:

What's the going rate for a tooth nowadays? We give a dollar. I don't know if I'm overly generous or a cheapskate, but the kids like it so I don't care.
We are ushering in the days of teeth-that-are-too-big-for-my-mouth and awkwardness. Good times!

Summer Fun

2011-06-15T10:28:00.000-07:00

My goal for this summer is to worry less about keeping my house clean and more about having fun with my kids. Less TV, more art projects and trips to the park. Less gourmet food and more picnics.

Sounds good on paper, a little harder to actually do it. Lucky for me, I found a great blog with a bajillion great ideas and decided to do one of them. I got the full directions here. Here's how our Bubble Prints turned out:

Preschool Graduation

2011-06-13T10:27:00.000-07:00

I'm so proud of my little girl! Nicole has spent 3 years at Mill Plain United Methodist Preschool and finally graduated. She loved her teachers and her friends. Now it's time to say goodbye to preschool and hello to kindergarten in the fall. Congratulations, Nicole and the rest of the class of 2024!

A Weekend at the Coast

2011-06-05T09:05:00.000-07:00

Belt Advancement

2011-06-02T19:55:00.000-07:00

Tyler and Nicole both take classes at Kanthak Karate. They LOVE it. I love it too. I love the teachers, I love the discipline, focus, athleticism, and confidence that my children learn there. I love that it's less than a mile from my house. I am so proud of the progress they have made. Nicole has only been taking classes for a few months, but Tyler has been in for a year and he's doing amazing! Now he wants to be a karate teacher when he grows up. Not a bad goal. Here's the videos of Tyler and Nicole receiving their new belts.

Nice Work!

2011-06-01T20:12:00.000-07:00

Tyler: "Mom for being such a great mom, you get this sticker. It says 'nice work', so... nice work, mom."

How do I feel about this?

Renewing Our Vows

2011-05-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our 10 year wedding anniversary. Ben had the brilliant and romantic idea of renewing our vows and sharing a second wedding day with our children (since they weren't able to attend the first one). We went to my parents house because they have a pretty gazebo in the back yard. We didn't invite anyone, so don't be offended that you weren't invited. It was just a little thing that we did to show each other, and our children, how much we love each other.

We weren't trying to exactly recreate our wedding day. I did wear the same dress (it actually fit!!) and I ordered the same flavor cake that we had 10 years ago, but the rest of it was different. Tyler officiated in our little ceremony. He did a really good job. :-) The girls did the rings, we wrote our own vows, my mom and dad helped keep the kids under control and videoed for us. I wrote out the transcript if you want to read it instead of watching the whole video.

Overall, it was perfect. I forgot my shoes, but it was a good day to go barefoot. Here's a few pictures from the happy day and a video of the whole shebang -- courtesy of my dad -- at the end. Happy anniversary, Ben!

Tyler: We are gathered here today to witness Mom and Dad get remarried. It was 10 years ago that they were first married, and today they wanted to show each other how much they still care for one another.

Dad, would you like to exchange your vow?

Ben: Kristi, you are the most beautiful, smart, kind and unfailingly-generous person I have ever known. 10 years ago, I pledged my love and commitment to you, but it seems like only yesterday. I promised to love, honor, and comfort you, for better or worse, for the rest of our lives and for eternity. You have been by my side as we created a family, a home, and this crazy life of ours together. So, today, at the beginning of our 11th year as an old married couple, I renew my vows, pledge my eternal love to you, and eagerly await whatever it is that life brings us. I love you.

Tyler: Mom, would you like to exchange your vow?

Kristi: On this day, 10 years ago, I chose you. I chose you to be the person that I share my life with. The one person in my life that would come to know everything about me. The person who would love me in spite of my faults, encourage me in all my endeavors, and pick me up when I’ve fallen. Ten years ago, I chose you because of your contagious smile, your ability to make me laugh, your dashing good looks, and because I knew that you loved me more than anything else in this world. Ten years ago, I thought I would only make this choice once. Oh, how little I knew of marriage ten years ago! I choose you every day. I know that there are other options. I know that marriage isn’t always permanent. I know that sometimes we go in different directions. But I choose you. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would still choose you. I will always choose you. I love you.

Tyler: Dad, do you continue to take Mom as your loving wife?

Ben: I do.

Tyler: Will you always love her and tell her how pretty she is for all eternity?

Ben: I will.

Tyler: Mom, do you continue to take Dad as your loving husband?

Kristi: I do.

Tyler: Will you always love him and laugh at his silly jokes for all eternity?

Kristi: I will.

Tyler: Nicole and Tori, please bring up the rings.

Mom and Dad, these rings are a symbol that show you will love each other always and forever.

Dad, you may now kiss the bride.

Now let’s go eat some cake!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPGpfSWek-Q

Hawaii

2011-05-15T21:53:00.000-07:00

It's time to go home. It's a little bittersweet. I miss my kids like crazy, but it has been so nice to spend so much time with my husband. We have never spent this much time together. After 10 years of marriage and 3 kids, we needed it! We were together the entire trip. I think that the only time we weren't together was when one of us was in the restroom. It was so nice to spend time together, but we both really miss the kids. Talking to them on skype actually made it worse. Seeing their sweet little faces and hearing their voices made me want to fly home right then and squeeze them to death!

We got up early and went back to Boots and Kimos. This time I got the macadamia nut pancakes and they were delicious. I am really glad they don't have one here because I would weigh 400 lbs after eating those every weekend. We were done with breakfast by 7:20 and went to Aunt Susie's to say goodbye and return her stuff. We visited for a little while, vacuumed the sand out of the rental car, and headed to Honolulu. We left ourselves plenty of room in our schedule for things like traffic, delays in security, problems with returning the rental car, etc. Lucky for us, none of those things happened. We were at our gate, sitting down, and waiting for our plan a full 2 hours early. It was nice to not be so rushed.

The flight from Honolulu to Portland is about 5 hours long. That sounds like torture to me, but Ben and I had fun. We watched Burn Notice on the computer, we played games, we visited, I read my book, and did some word puzzles. Before we knew it we could see land out the window.

We got home and the kids were appropriately excited to see us. Even Baxter was jumping extra high so we would pay attention to him. They immediately wanted to know if we brought them "prizes" from Hawaii, but we decided to wait until the next day. It feels so good to be home. I'm afraid I'll wake up tomorrow and feel like I never left. Hopefully my tan will help me remember.

I really do love living in the Pacific Northwest. I love how green it is. I love the mild summers and the winters without huge snow storms. I can't say that I love that it rains half the year, but I don't mind the rain so much. Being away from home always makes me appreciate it more. I love that it's NOT humid here. Having curly hair and living in a humid climate is not good. I like that our temperatures vary more than 10 degrees. I like that I can see snow, the ocean, and desert all in less than a day's drive from my house. Thanks, Hawaii for letting us visit, but I think I'll stay here for a while.

Ben, let's do this again :-)

Hawaii

2011-05-14T21:36:00.000-07:00

Day 7

It's hard to be excited for today. I feel like our trip is coming to an end way too quickly. Today is our last full day and we plan on spending the whole day relaxing.

See that beautiful, blue water? See that flat little island out there? Let's swim out there and check it out! This is Ben's face when I told him my idea:

Ben isn't the greatest swimming in the world. He sinks like a rock in a pool. In the ocean he's a little more buoyant. He grabbed the fins and the boogie boards out of the car and we struck out for the little island. We found out (once we got there) that it's a bird sanctuary. There are trails you can walk on and see stuff, but after swimming out there, I was tired and I didn't want to take off my fins and walk around barefoot. We paddled back and spent the last little bit of our vacation doing NOTHING. I loved it.

Now it's time to back to the house, pack up all of our stuff, and say goodbye to the island.

Hawaii

2011-05-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

Day 6

At dinner last night, Shayna said that she didn't know if she had ever had a cake made from scratch. She had certainly never made a cake from scratch. She and Duke had both mentioned that they liked Arkansas cake (which is basically Texas sheet cake). Ben and I thought we would surprise them and make a cake. To keep a long story short, it took us a while to gather all of our ingredients but we got it done. It was delicious (not to toot my own horn) and they were certainly surprised. I think most of the cake was gone by the time we went to bed. We all ate A LOT of cake that night.

Today was another hang-out-and-do-nothing-on-the-beach day. We went to Kailua beach (best beach in the whole wide world) and took the boogie boards with us. Apparently I really suck at boogie boarding. I didn't catch a single wave. Oh well, it was fun to just be in the water.

At the end of the day we went to the India Cafe for dinner and then back to Duke and Shayna's. It was a good day.

Hawaii

2011-05-12T21:04:00.000-07:00

Day 5

Guess what I had for breakfast today! Spam Musubi! Seriously, I love that stuff more than I should. I must say, buying breakfast at 7-11 is much cheaper than eating at a restaurant! So, after my delicious breakfast, we went to Aunt Susie's house to get some gear. We needed some chairs for the beach, a big umbrella, a cooler, boogie boards, beach towels... you know, beach stuff. We decided that yesterday was the most touristy day in the history of the universe so today would be a day to chill at the beach.

"WHAT?!?! Didn't you guys just get burned to a crisp two days ago? What are you thinking!?"

I know, I know. But this time we are smarter. We applied our SPF 50 sunblock before leaving the house. We rubbed it all over instead of just spraying it on willy-nilly. We also plan on spending time in the shade and using the umbrella to block the sun when we need to. Yay for the beach! After spending all day on the beach, we left to get cleaned up for dinner and found that neither of us were burned! In fact, we looked better now than we did in the morning! I was very happy about this. I spent most of the day in the shade, but I did get in the water quite a bit. It is so nice to be able to get in the ocean. You can't get in the water like that on the Oregon coast. The water here is so blue and clear and beautiful!

For dinner we went to Aunt Susie's and had dinner with her whole family. Duke and Shayna, Adam, Bailey, Uncle Shep, and their friend, Dee. There was prime rib, shrimp with pasta, sweet potatoes, salad, and more. It was delicious. I don't get to see them very often so it was a lot of fun to get everyone together. My Uncle Shep is hilarious. I wish he had his own reality show. I would totally watch that.

Hawaii

2011-05-11T20:22:00.000-07:00

Day 4

Today started out wonderfully. I had a left-over Spam Musubi in the fridge (they are surprisingly filling) so I scarfed that down in the car as we headed off to Pearl Harbor. Wait, let me rewind a little. Ben and I got back from the movie last night and realized just how badly burned we both were. We bought some waterproof/sweatproof spray SPF 50 sunblock for the trip. When we got to the beach, we sprayed each other head to toe and laid out in the sun. It turns out that even with the spray, you still need to rub it in so that you get an even coating. It was a rookie mistake.

Yes, that is my leg. Yes, it hurts. Anyway, we decided that lying on the beach isn't a great idea for today. We went to Pearl Harbor early to beat the crowds. The museum, movie, and memorial were all very interesting and moving. We left feeling grateful for the people who serve our country and keep us safe. Now, off to the swap meet to spend our money!

The swap meet -- for those of you who have never been -- is a bunch of little stalls set up around the outside of the Aloha Stadium. If you want Hawaiian souvenirs for very little $$ this is the place to go. We got a bunch of little things for the kiddos stuck at home and a BBQ chicken sandwich with "ice cold lemonade" to wash it down. It was hot and "ice cold lemonade" sounded divine. Turns out they just fill the cup with ice all the way to the top then fill in the cracks with some Countrytime lemonade. Oh well.

After getting stuff for the kids, we thought we would drive out to the middle of nowhere and get some Matsumoto's shave ice. This is the greatest shave ice on the island (which is really saying something). We got coconut, strawberry, and watermelon. Now, this isn't normal shave ice. First, they put a scoop of ice cream on the bottom. Then the ice with the delicious flavored syrup. Then, to top it off, they squirt on some sweetened condensed milk. So good! We ate outside and I saw a tree that looked like it needed someone to climb it. Since Ben was holding our snack, the responsibility fell to me. Too bad I was wearing a dress and sandals. That made it a little more difficult. Did I let that stop me? No way.

I seriously HATE this picture, but I think it's funny so I put it on here. Just before taking the picture, Ben said "knockers up!" and I did this as a joke. Then he took the picture. Dang.
Anyway, I climbed back down, brushed all the ants off of me (so many!) and we were on our way. We thought we would go to the North Shore and watch the waves and the surfers. This is what Ben looked like for a lot of our trip:

Ben's GPS told us to go one way, but it was actually the opposite way we were supposed to go. We were looking for a place to turn around and found the Dole Pineapple Plantation. Should we go in? Sure! Why not? We did the World's Largest Maze and then went into the cafe to get some Pineapple Dole-Whip. People, I would go back to Hawaii just for this ice cream. It was so good! If you get the chance to eat some, DO IT!
Next we went to the Laie Temple and spent a few minutes walking the grounds. The bench that I sat on for this picture was like sitting on a frying pan!

We had plans to go to a Luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center tonight but we were pretty early. We went anyway and walked around to see the different exhibits there. I was tired. We had spent a lot of time walking around and I wasn't wearing great shoes (they are the shoes I wore when I got married!) so I just wanted to sit on a bench and enjoy the surroundings. Instead, we ended up sitting on a bench playing "words with friends".

By the time the luau started, we were both starving. Ben was so hungry, he was about to eat his lei.

We have both been to the luau here before and I think that either they were having an off night or that we just remembered the food being better. Either way, we were a little disappointed with the food. We sat next to a couple who was on their honeymoon and they were from Australia. I think I enjoyed the conversation more than the food.

(Ben is having a very intense game with my dad. He REALLY wants to beat him.)
After dinner we saw the show. Ha - The Breath of Life. The dancing was amazing, but the actual program itself was surprisingly cheesy. At the end of the night, we were both tired and ready to crash. I was glad Ben was the one driving home, I just wanted to close my eyes and pretend I was asleep in my own bed with a cool breeze.

Hawaii

2011-05-10T16:55:00.000-07:00

Day 3

I am not used to sleeping in this kind of heat or humidity. It might take a few days to get used to. Thank goodness for 5 hour energy! We went to breakfast at Boots and Kimos. They are famous for Macadamia Nut Pancakes but I wanted some protein so I got eggs benedict. it looked good, but Ben's tasted sooo much better. Next time I'm definitely getting the pancakes.

We wanted to lay on the beach, but it was pouring rain. Lucky for us, we could just drive to the other side of the island and enjoy the sun. We ended up at the beach in Waikiki where we spent a few hours lounging in the sun.

And of course, when I say "lounging" I mean that I was lounging and Ben was playing "words with friends" on his phone. This was a constant for both of us for the entire trip. I think the sun was frying my brain as well as my skin because I was really having a hard time focusing on the game.

I could feel my skin frying so I forced Ben to leave and buy me some lunch. He went for the "plate lunch" option with steak and rice. I was craving subway (I've been wanting it for months!) so I got a BLT with sweet onion sauce. Delish.

We both got a little toasty on the beach so we decided to stay out of the sun for the rest of the day. There were a few movies out that we wanted to see, so (after buying some aloe at Walgreens) we found the nearest theater and decided to see Fast Five. Too bad it doesn't start for an hour... and the tickets are stupidly expensive... and we are covered in sand and seawater. Back to Shayna's and Duke's house. We got all cleaned up, got some dinner at L&L and then went to the theater in Kaneohe. The movie was entertaining and the theater was cool. Perfect. I had a pretty awesome movie snack too (shh... don't tell anyone that I brought outside food into the theater). Now, keep an open mind and don't judge me until you've tried it:

It's called Spam Musubi. It's like sushi, but they use fried Spam instead of raw fish. This one is Teriyaki flavored so it has sauce on it. OMG. I love this so much. I don't eat Spam unless I'm in Hawaii. It's seriously like heaven in my mouth. Oddly enough, my favorite place to get Spam Musubi is at 7-11 by the tray of rolling hot dogs. YUM!

Hawaii

2011-05-09T22:47:00.000-07:00

Day 2

It's day 2 in paradise and all is well. We started off the day at the Koa Pancake House. The pancakes were delicious! I love breakfast. It's definitely my favorite meal of the day. I think the Koa Pancake House was more of a local place - there weren't very many tourists there. We were definitely going to need a good breakfast because we have a full day ahead of us. We donned our swimming suits and headed out.

After breakfast we headed up to Diamond Head. The hike is only 0.8 miles each way, but it's uphill, lots of switchbacks, and 271 stairs! Oddly enough, it was easier for me to go up the stairs than down. My legs were trembling the whole way down. I had to stop twice on the way down. The view was pretty even at the trail head.

Half way up we stopped to take in the view.

The pamphlet they gave us at the trail head said, "it's always hot here". They weren't kidding! I was sweating buckets! The hike wasn't terribly hard, but it was so hot, I felt like I was melting. I hate being sweaty.

When we got to the bottom, we saw a food truck and decided to get a shave ice. It was sooo good! We got coconut, strawberry, and watermelon. Yummmm...

Actually, it tasted so good that I took off my sunglasses so I could fully enjoy it. Then I proceeded to walk off and leave them there. Crap.

After we made it back the car, we headed to Hanauma Bay. We borrowed some snorkeling equipment from Duke and Shayna. We didn't take any pictures, but we had lots of fun laying on the beach, snorkeling, and punching pigeons. There was even a rooster on the beach! I wish I had a picture of it. It was a beautiful bird! It was very rainy on the windward side of the island but it was beautiful where we were. It was a little cloudy, but that kept us from getting too hot. People kept apologizing for the weather. Like they could do something about it! We didn't mind at all.

After snorkeling we went back to Duke and Shayna's house, got cleaned up and then went to Waikiki for dinner. We went to a Japanese place called Ichiriki. It was interesting. Not the greatest food I've ever had, but it was a different kind of dining experience. It's called Nabe. There was a boiling bowl of flavored broth and they brought us different meats and vegetables to cook in the broth and then rice to eat it with. It was good, but I probably wouldn't spend that much money on it again.

It's the end of day 2 and I'm tired. I managed to NOT get sunburned today so I'm pretty happy. I'm excited for tomorrow!

Hawaii

2011-05-08T02:14:00.000-07:00

Day 1

We left our house at the crack of dawn Sunday morning for Portland Airport. We made it through security in record time got to the gate and got on our plane. Ben, being the wonderful husband that he is, put a few episodes of Burn Notice on our laptop, got us some headphones and we passed a few hours like that. I also beat him in a game of Egyptian War. After that he wanted to play Gin so he could win. Of course, he beat me most of the time. Then we played Toy Story Uno and I beat him every single time. Pretty soon, we were on the ground and we stepped out of the plane into the oppressive heat and humidity that is the Honolulu Airport. Hooray! We're here! Now find me a bathroom so I can get out of the clothes! Seriously... what was I thinking? I wore jeans, tennis shoes, long socks, and 3 shirts with a scarf. Dumb.

We found our rental car, got some lunch at L & L Drive In and then came over to the rainy side of the island. We are staying with my super awesome and amazing cousin, Shayna, and her husband, Duke. They have a beautiful home and they have opened it to us. We changed our clothes and went to a cemetery called the Valley of the Temples. It has a beautiful Japanese temple and the grounds are beautiful. We walked around, rang a giant gong that promises blessings from Buddah and lit some incense at the shrine. It was raining, but it was warm and we were so happy to finally be here that we didn't care. We were pretty wet by the time we got back to the car, but we weren't cold so it was okay. We drove to the beach in Kailua and took a walk. I love Hawaii! It felt so good to be alone with the man of my dreams in a warm place where we don't have to worry about a thing! I never want this to end!

Okay, that's not entirely true. We see little kids everywhere we go. It makes me miss them like crazy. Every time we see something or do something that they would like I miss them more. Do I miss them enough to come home early? Fat chance. Someone would have to lose a limb for that to happen.

Anyway, I'm loving this trip already and it's only the first day!

Mother's Tea

2011-05-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

Mill Plain United Methodist Preschool does a Mother's Tea Party every year for Mother's Day. I feel like I've been going to this party for my entire adult life because I have had kids in this school for so long -- and I have another 2 years to come with Tori. It's always very nice and I always have a good time... and they are all exactly the same. The same snacks, the same tea/punch/coffee, the same songs, the same gifts and cards. I love it. Nicole looked so pretty. Originally, she wanted to match. When I informed her that I was going to wear jeans, she decided that maybe we should just wear matching colors. :-) She's not a huge fan of jeans. So we settled on black, white, and pink.

Nicole seems to think that today is actually Mother's Day. Did I tell her that it's not until Sunday? Nope. She brought me peanut butter toast in bed while singing her own made-up Mother's Day song. Then she let me curl her hair, she did all her chores with no complaints, and she has been expressing her love for me all day long. I wish every day was Mother's Day! We decided that we might as well celebrate today since I'll be on a tropical island for the real Mother's Day. Darn. :-)

Games People Play

2011-05-03T11:08:00.000-07:00

I love to play games. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of games that are good for just 2 people. The few that Ben and I like to play have gotten old. We needed something new. Ben found these two games and they are so much fun!

So, if you're looking for something fun to do with your sweetie, try these. Or, if you want to hang out and have a game night, that would be okay with us.

Some of my favorite group games are:

This is what happens when I leave my stuff out...

2011-04-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

Vegas Vacation

2011-04-24T20:30:00.000-07:00

Lenz Financial Group gets to go to Las Vegas every year. Since I am married to a man who works there, I get to go too. Yay for me! My mom -- who is married to the big boss man -- doesn't like Vegas and doesn't like to fly. She volunteered to stay home with my ~~crazy kids~~ sweet little angels while I went to Vegas and took a couple days off. OMG. It was amazing. It was the most perfect weekend EVER. It has been the rainiest spring I can remember in Washington, but Las Vegas was 88 degrees and sunny. I spent almost an entire day by the pool! I woke up on Saturday morning and went straight to the pool. Luckily for me, my husband thought ahead and got us some Krispy Kreme doughnuts for breakfast. That's a dang good way to start out a day. Then we hung out by the pool for a few hours, ate nachos and turkey sandwiches poolside, then worked on my tan a little more. Finally, we went back to our room and got dressed and went to In-and-Out for dinner. See, I told you this was the best day ever! Oh, did I mention that the pool at our hotel had a water slide? Normally I would save that stuff for the little kids, but this slide was awesome!!! The best part? It went straight through a shark tank. I know, awesome.

Plus I get to hang out with this hottie all the time!

After dinner we went to a show at the Wynn. La Reve was a great show, even though I didn't understand most of what was going on. Still it was pretty awesome. I love taking awkward self portraits at stuff like this. So here it is:

The whole trip was great, but those were my favorite parts. I'm not sure if it's possible for me to have a more perfect day. Thanks, Dad, for taking the whole office to Las Vegas. Thanks, Mom, for keeping the kiddos, and thank you Vegas for being sunny and warm. I needed it!

Tori becomes Victoria... and she turns three

2011-04-20T23:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I survived. Tori was the world's craziest two-year-old and I made it through the entire year. Whew. Oh wait, she's exactly the same today as she was yesterday! She's still CRAZY! Well, she's not exactly the same today. Now that she's three, she wants to be known as Victoria instead of Tori. We'll just see how long that lasts.
She looks pretty much the same as she did yesterday, but I'm always looking for excuses to post more pictures of my kids so here's some pictures of her third birthday.

We started off the day with pancakes for breakfast and then sent Tyler off to school. Mom got ready and the girls and I went too the park (oh, Baxter came too). Tori got to play with her friends and thought she was having a birthday party at the park. This is very good news for me, because I didn't throw her a party. Thanks for inviting us to the park Elizabeth!

I'm glad I brought her some wheat thins. She sat in the swing and ate almost half the box! Then she wanted to share the rest of the crackers with the other kids. A child on a swing is a hard target to hit with a cracker.

Nicole got to play with her BFF, Megan, which absolutely made her day.
After the park, we headed home for some Chicken Fries and celery with peanut butter for lunch. Tori's choice. I tried one of the fries, they weren't bad.

We raced to the preschool to drop off Nicole and settled in for some down time. Tori wanted to watch Despicable Me while I made dinner, cleaned the house, and decorated her cake. Speaking of the cake... Tori has been going back and forth for a month on her birthday theme. One day it's Hello Kitty and the next it's Strawberry Shortcake. Yesterday she decided that she wanted her cake to look like Hello Kitty, but taste like strawberry shortcake. Yikes. No pressure. So, Ben made Dinette Cake (best. cake. ever.) and I decorated it. I had to make the bow, eyes, and nose out of chocolate (luckily I still had some melting chocolate left over from Valentine's day). The outline and the whiskers were chocolate frosting. She didn't want the cake to have frosting, but I ran out of brown chocolate so that's the best I could do. The white is whipped cream (you can't have strawberry shortcake without whipped cream!!). I think it turned out pretty dang cute, if I do say so myself.

The yellow nose is actually just a drop of yellow food coloring mixed with the whipped cream. It was sad to cut it up and cover it with sliced strawberries, but it was worth it when I took the first bite. I know that the pictures don't really look like it, but she liked her cake and she had a good birthday. She just didn't smile for any of the pictures that I took. I swear, that girl is out to get me.

Too bad I didn't take pictures of her opening her presents. That was dumb. You would think I would learn. Anyway, she made out like a bandit with clothes, play dough, my little ponies, strawberry shortcake, hello kitty, and even a pinwheel. She was so excited, she didn't know what to play with first.

I know I complain about this little girl a lot. I know some of you are probably sick of it. Some of you are probably telling me to just suck it up and deal with it. Well, you know what? She was a hard baby! And, dangit, I had a rough couple of years! But she's getting better. Every little step toward independence makes my life a little better and her a little more calm. I love my little Tori Bug. She has made me a better person and a better mom. Someday I'll wish I could just sit down and play Barbies with her or listen to her sing her funny little songs and she'll be too old. I love this little girl more than I could possibly express. So, Tori, excuse me, Victoria, I am sorry. I will try to cut you some slack and stop telling everyone that you're crazy. I love you, Baby Girl. Thanks for keeping me on my toes.

Tyler loses his FIRST tooth!

2011-04-18T22:55:00.000-07:00

Tyler turned 7 last week and had yet to lose a tooth... until tonight! He went to bed and a little while later I heard his door open and he tiptoed out to the family room where I was watching Chuck. I don't like my time with Chuck interrupted, but the look on his face was priceless. Apparently he couldn't sleep, so he decided to wiggle his loose tooth. And the he wiggled it some more and pulled on it. Then pulled some more. Then pulled REALLY hard. Voila! No more tooth!

He called his grandparents to tell them the good news. When asked how much he thought the tooth fairy would give him for his tooth, he replied, "50 bucks." WHAT?!?! What does he think I am? Made of money?! Hopefully he'll be okay with the dollar that the tooth fairy left for him.

Lame Jokes

2011-04-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

My kids LOVE telling jokes. Unfortunately, they don't understand most of the punch lines. So, they end up changing the jokes and then they really don't make any sense at all. Take this joke for example:

What day does a potato hate?
Friday.

They have changed it to a bajillion different things, but today Tori asked me:

"What day does a banana hate? Tuesday!!!"

Then she doubled over laughing.

So, today Nicole wanted a "gogurt" for a snack and there was a joke on it:
Why did the strawberry leave work early:?
To avoid a traffic jam.

She looks at me and says, "Hahahahaha! A strawberry at work!? That's hilarious!"

Birthday Lunch with Tori

2011-04-07T12:57:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my little Tori-Bug is going to be 3 years old! Her birthday isn't until April 20th (She shares a birthday with Hitler. Shocking, right? That day is cursed.) but I thought I would take her out for birthday lunch now and spread out the birthday love. She loves Old Spaghetti Factory (so do I) so we ditched Tyler and Nicole and went out. Now, when I say ditched, I really mean that they ditched us. They went to see the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie with my mom. When she found out that they were going to the movie and we were just getting some lousy macaroni and cheese, she was really upset. So, we went to Target, bought her birthday present, and finally went out for lunch. She spent most of our time at the restaurant playing with her toys. Oh well.

When her salad got here I told her to put her toys on the bench and eat her food. That didn't go over very well.

Whatever, I give up.

She actually cheered up a little when her macaroni and cheese showed up so that made everyone in the restaurant happy. Maybe next year I'll just buy her a happy meal and call it a day.

I love you, Tori. You make me crazy sometimes, but you have taught me more about myself than anyone else. Thanks for being you, Baby Girl.

General Conference

2011-04-03T20:53:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to me,

Happy Birthday to meeee-eeeeee,

Happy Birthday to meeeeeeeeee!

For my birthday this year, my parents gave me a Kindle (which I LOVE and use every single day) and tickets to Utah to see the Sunday afternoon session of General Conference. Hooray!!! I have never been to Conference before. It was just a weekend (thanks for staying home and taking care of the kiddos, Ben) and I had a lot to do and see in a few short days.

Friday:
I flew into SLC with Grandma Belva. My sister-in-law, Sara, picked her up from the airport and I got a ride from Annie Selander and Kim Walker. Sara and Grandma went to Provo while I spent the night in Salt Lake with Annie and Kim. We went to PF Changs for dinner and didn't leave until almost 11:00! I felt so young! Usually I'm in my pajamas reading a book that late. We went back to Annie's house and talked the night away. Kim pooped out on us about 2:00 am. Something about needing to sleep in her own bed when she's pregnant, blah, blah, blah... just kidding Kim. You know I love you. :-) Annie and I stayed up until after 4:00 until she informed me that her son had a soccer game the next morning and she should probably get some sleep. Oops! Sorry, Annie! Off to bed. (I can't believe I didn't get a single picture of us together!!!)

Saturday:
I woke up, got ready and Annie made amazing oatmeal buttermilk pancakes. It was a delicious way to start out the day. She drove me down to Provo to meet up with my brother at WalMart. I missed her as soon as she drove away. I love that girl! So, David and I went into WalMart so he could get laundry soap. While in line, I saw a 5-Hour Energy. I snagged one. Not gonna lie, I needed caffeine in a bad way. We were in the self-check out line and when we scanned my beverage, there was some kind of error. The helper lady came over to us and asked for my ID. WHAT? Seriously? They are carding me for caffeine? I looked at the girl and said, "I'm 30. Are you really going to need my ID for this?" Apparently I looked mean or crazy or something because she quickly entered a code and scurried away.
The next few hours were spent hanging out with Mom, Grandma, David and Sara. The girls went to the mall and got pedicures and then a late lunch at Ruby River. Poor Sara, her soaking water at the pedicure place was freezing. I'm not even exaggerating. This water was straight from a glacier or something. She kept asking nicely if they would change it. She mostly just got ignored. I felt bad for her, but not enough to give her my nice, toasty soaking water. She got her revenge when the girl painted a "flower" on my toenails. Yikes.

Back to David and Sara's house for a few minutes and then off to dinner with my mother-in-law while the boys were at the Priesthood Session of General Conference. No one except Debbi knew that I was coming. It was so much fun to surprise everyone!!! There aren't a lot of girls in the Davis clan, so the dinner group was usually just me and Debbi when I was around. This year, it was Debbi, her niece, Kim, Logan (Zach's girlfriend), Michelle (Jim's fiancee), Aeryn (Michelle's daughter), and me. It was so fun! We went to Mimi's and talked and ate and had a blast. I didn't get a single picture of us together. I hate that! You know what I did get a picture of? This:

I was THIS close to an In-and-Out and didn't eat there. Sigh. Very sad for me.

After Priesthood Session was over, the boys all went to The Bombay House in Provo for dinner. If you live within 100 miles of that place, it's worth the drive for the food. Seriously. It was really fun to walk in and see the looks on their faces. I'm pretty sure I was the very last person that they expected to walk in. Zach did a triple take before he cocked his head to the side and said, "Kristi?" Everyone else looked at me... then they looked behind me for my husband. Sorry, boys. Ben had to stay home. I know they were happy to see me, but I bet they would have been overjoyed to see him. I couldn't stay long but I had a good visit with them before it was time to head back to David and Sara's house.

Sara and I were working on a project and my back started to hurt. I took one of my muscle relaxants. Let's just say I got a little goofy after that. Sara, shhh... don't tell them what happened. :-) (It certainly didn't involve covering each other with Mod Podge, squirt guns, or funny You Tube videos.) But look what we made!

Sunday:
I got up, got ready, finished Sara's message board and we were off to the Conference Center in Salt Lake. Oh, did I mention that it was 70 degrees on Friday and Saturday? It was beautiful! Sunday we woke up to snow. Crap. Not good.

We were all freezing. We had to wait outside for a little while to get into Conference and we were all wishing that we had had tickets for Saturday's session instead. Quick! Huddle together for warmth!

Once we got inside, I was amazed at how many people there were! It was so cool to know that all of these people were there to hear the words of the Prophet of the Lord. It was thrilling to feel like I was part of something so big. We waited for everyone to get in their seats and visited for a few minutes.

I kept staring at the three empty seats that would soon be occupied by the First Presidency of the Church. I was so excited to be in the same room as the Prophet! When they walked in, all 21,000 people stood up and were silent. The Spirit was palpable. It was without a doubt, one of the most memorable moments of my life. We were really far away. I couldn't see his face. But I know his face. I know that this man holds all the keys of the priesthood. I know that he was chosen for this calling. I know that whatever he says to me during this conference, I am going to do my best to obey. My testimony was strengthened just by being there. Thomas S. Monson is an incredible man and I got to be in the same room with him.

Conference was a wonderful, uplifting, enlightening, spiritual experience. It's something I'll always remember. After it was over, we went to Sara's work (she is a journalist for the Deseret News) and had some chicken salad for lunch. After lunch, it was back to the airport and back home to real life.

So, thanks, Mom and Dad for the great birthday present. Thanks Grandma for getting tickets to Conference. Thanks David and Sara for letting us crash at your place. Thanks Annie and Kim for making me laugh and cry and for always being my friends. Thanks Debbi for the great dinner with the girls and for not telling anyone that I was coming. Thanks boys for being happy to see me, even though Ben wasn't with me.

Can we do it all again next year?

Hold Still!

2011-03-31T12:31:00.000-07:00

I swear, it is impossible to do this girl's hair. When I actually get her to sit still for a few minutes while I do it, I want to document the occasion with a picture. That is easier said than done when she won't turn around!

Please, just come out from behind the curtains. I'll give you a treat!?

Come on! Just look at the camera! I don't even care if you're smiling! Just look at me!!!!

Whatever. I quit. She looked cute, I promise.

Unsupervised Snacking

2011-03-31T12:13:00.000-07:00

I have been on some pretty nasty pain killers/muscle relaxants lately because of some random back pain. After taking them I am just this side of comatose. Apparently while I was in my drugged stupor, Tori needed a snack. This is what I found on the kitchen counter:

Sorry, baby. I'll be better soon and you can eat real food.

Bribery, don't knock it

2011-03-31T11:49:00.000-07:00

Yes, I bribe my children. I do it a lot. If you don't approve of bribery, please just keep it to yourself. I don't want to feel worse about my parenting skills. With Tyler I usually have to bribe him with time on the computer/psp/wii/iphone. With Nicole, it's usually something like painting her nails or a quarter for one of those little toy/candy dispensers by the door at the grocery store. Tori has to be bribed with food. Nothing else works. Nothing. Trust me, I've tried it all. If you know me at all or have kept up with my blog over the last 3 years you know that Tori is the greatest trial in my life. I love her more than life itself, but she is certifiably crazy. Taking her anywhere is difficult, but she's getting better so I try to take her places when I can. This usually includes the grocery store. So, yes, I result to bribery in the store. Oddly enough, she always wants the same thing: strawberries. I know! Weird! Not marshmallows or chips or chocolate or something normal. She wants strawberries. She pulls off the stem, hands it to me, and then eats the whole thing. By the end of our shopping trip, she's usually plowed through almost a pound of them.

I suppose I should be thankful that she wants to eat something other than junk. I'm sure that will change someday, but for now I'm trying to laugh at her funny little quirks and not lose my mind. I love you Tori Bug!

Shredded Wheat? Could I be that lucky?

2011-03-29T22:34:00.000-07:00

"What do you want for breakfast today?"

"We want Shredded Wheat!!!!!"

Wow, really? Could this be happening to me? My kids almost never want to eat anything healthy. There are a few exceptions, but for the most part they like to eat junk.

For some reason, the kids were unusually worried that they would mix up their bowls of cereal. I thought we could just use different bowls, but then they started fighting over the blue bowls. With a drop of food coloring here and there we were able to satisfy everyone.

Nicole Denounces Dance?!

2011-03-29T11:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true. Nicole has decided that she doesn't want to do dance anymore. This is after months and months of begging and pleading for me to get her into a dance class. She did one trial class and decided that she just likes to dance by herself and doesn't like learning all the steps that the teacher tries to teach. She wants to do karate like Tyler. Okay, I guess if we let Tyler do it, we can't say no to Nicole. So, I signed her up and she did such a great job!! She has been watching Tyler and practicing with him at home so she might have had a teeny tiny advantage over the other brand new students. I was so proud of her! She insisted on wearing a flower in her hair so she wouldn't look like a boy. :-)

If any of you are interested in a karate class for your child and you live in the Vancouver area, I would HIGHLY recommend Kanthak Karate. A lot of other places we looked at had extra fees all over the place! Any time you wanted to advance to a higher belt, or needed to make up a class or new uniforms or whatever. Tyler stained his shirt (eating curry with a white shirt is never a good idea) and they just gave him a new one! They do more than just teach karate. They teach discipline, respect, and focus. They also do "safety training" which helps kids know what to do if a bad guy tries to take them. They role play different situations in class and learn different strategies to defend themselves and to avoid being taken in the first place. I love this place! They also do a lot of extra activities like Nerf Nights, Pool Parties, and even a Star Wars night where kids come in costume and use their stick fighting skills with light sabers. With Tyler and Nicole now in Karate I'm there 5 days a week. I love everything about Kanthak Karate.

Go Titans!

2011-03-28T11:19:00.000-07:00

Tyler loves sports. He has done T-ball, Coach-pitch baseball, soccer, basketball, and karate. I don't know if karate is considered a sport, but if not, it should be. Anyway, we haven't always had good luck with our coaches. For T-ball, the coach split after just one week. Ben had to step in and coach the team with his friend, Eric. For baseball, the coach bailed because his son broke his arm, so they just found some random guy in the parking lot to coach. Then for soccer we had an amazing coach. She did 2 practices a week when she only had to do one. She encouraged the boys and really helped them with their soccer skills. But basketball, we have truly been blessed with the coach we had. He was amazing with the boys on their team. He was fun, but still taught them. He was encouraging, but still serious. When one of the boys would make a mistake, he just laughed it off, patted them on the head and told them what to do next time. The boys had a blast this season. They were undefeated! (or, as Tyler says, they were unbeatable!) Now, Tyler loves basketball and wants to play every year. I managed to forget my camera every single game, but I took a few pictures with my iphone. I'm sorry they are so blurry, he was moving and I was far away.

My Treadmill

2011-03-16T23:06:00.000-07:00

Running sucks.
Running is dumb.
Why would anyone run unless they were being chased?
Running is gross.

If you are a runner and you post about it on Facebook, chances are good that I will comment on it with one of the above statements. I hate running. A lot. I have problems with me feet (bunions - gross, I know) so running is quite uncomfortable for me. I have tried pretty much every other kind of exercise. Turns out I just hate exercising! Who knew?

Well, for my 30th birthday I got a treadmill. Before you all freak out and call my husband an insensitive lout for giving me exercise equipment for my birthday, I asked him for it.

"Why on Earth would you want a treadmill if you have foot problems, hate exercising, and despise running?"

Good question. Because I am crazy. No, actually I thought that I could watch tv on my laptop and walk in the evenings so I could burn a few extra calories and not feel so lazy. Well, I love it. I will shout it from the rooftops, I LOVE MY TREADMILL!!!! Funny thing is, I love running on it. I did the walking thing for a little while, but then I got stronger. I got in better shape. Just walking was too easy. I turned it up a little and ran. The whole time thinking, "what am I doing? I hate running!"

But I didn't. I loved it.

I just spent 85 minutes on my treadmill (while watching LOST on Netflix) and the only reason I stopped was because it's almost 11:00 pm and my pinky toes are asleep. According to my fancy treadmill, I burned almost 800 calories too. Probably a good thing considering the huge brownie I ate tonight.

I don't know what's happening to me. I really don't. But I can tell you this, I will not make fun of runners anymore. People who run marathons, they are a different story. That's just nuts.

Why I Switched to Scentsy

2011-03-16T16:34:00.000-07:00

I love good smells. I think I have a stronger sense of smell than most people. I can usually tell which aisle I'm in at the grocery store just by smell. When I was pregnant, I had to avoid certain aisles because the smells of things like garlic or pickles would make me throw up instantly.

(I actually threw up in the grocery store once, it wasn't pretty. I carried ziplock bags with me from then on.)

Anyway, I like my house to smell good. The reed diffusers are good, but Ben and I have a REALLY hard time finding ones that we both like. Candles are good too, but with Tori around, this happens every single time.

First, she sees that the candle is lit. This usually happens within a minute of lighting it.

You can tell she's contemplating what she's about to. Weighing the pros and cons.

Apparently she has decided (as always) that the pros have outweighed the cons.

"Oh shoot. Mom totally saw that. Look innocent."

"She's not buying the innocent act. She knows me too well.

Quick, look cute! Cute enough that she can't be mad!"

She's right. I can't be mad at that -- even though that face is more scary than anything else. Besides, it's just a candle. So now I use Scentsy. My house smells good. There's no flame to blow out. The best part is, I can change the scents whenever I want!

Purse Cupcake Toppers

2011-03-10T16:39:00.000-08:00

I was given the assignment to turn a cupcake into a purse. Originally the plan was to frost the whole cupcake, then use licorice for a handle, an M&M for a clasp, and some piped frosting for decor. Simple. Actually, not so much. I couldn't make it work. So, instead I made purse cupcake toppers. I think they turned out much better than my cupcake purses would have. I wish I had a picture of them on the display table (all 70 of them!) but this will give the general idea of what they looked like. (yes, this is inside my refrigerator) Too bad my frosting got warm and droopy. :-(

TV Addiction

2011-03-09T10:55:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when the Food Network comes on at our house.

I'm glad my kids like watching cooking shows, but this is ridiculous!

My Neurosis

2011-03-03T11:01:00.000-08:00

I'm embarrassed to post this, but I have to show you all how crazy I am. I am not a neat freak. I don't have to have everything perfect -- if you've been to my house, you know this is true. But some things have to be exactly right. When I organize, I have to have everything at right angles to each other. I don't crumple up paper (even at fast food places), I fold it into a square. Here's an example of my neurosis. I dumped a bag of tater tots into a pan. It says to put them in a single layer in a pan. My pan was just a little bit to small. Instead of just getting a bigger pan, I did this:

I wish I cared more about what my house looks like and less about what my pan of tater tots looks like.

Valentine's Day

2011-02-28T10:55:00.000-08:00

I love Valentine's Day. Every year, Ben sends me flowers. I love hearing the doorbell ring and knowing that it's a box of flowers!!! This year, my box of flowers also had a box of chocolates, lavender bath goodies, and a teddy bear. Two weeks later, my flowers still look like this:

Thanks for always being my Valentine, Ben. I love you more than I can say. xoxo

Snow Day!

2011-02-24T09:18:00.000-08:00

I love waking up to snow. It's so pretty! My kids were thrilled. School was canceled so they threw coats and boots over their pajamas and ran outside.

Calvin and Hobbes

2011-02-19T20:44:00.000-08:00

I love Calvin and Hobbes. We have books and books of this comic strip and a lot of them are so funny that I actually laugh out loud. I can't read them before I fall asleep or I just lie in bed and laugh. My favorite strip is this one:

And thanks to my amazing brother-in-law, Zach, it's now hanging on my wall. Yes, he drew this. I know, he's the best. Ever. This will probably be the first thing you see when you walk in my house. I know. I'm a lucky woman. Thanks, Zach.

This will be me very soon

2011-02-16T18:41:00.000-08:00

Ben and I will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary in Hawaii this year. Time to start dieting again!

2 of my favorites

2011-02-15T14:40:00.000-08:00

I usually forget to take pictures of my favorite flowers before I sell them, but these are some that I made recently. The denim ones are separate, I wore just one of them, but I found the other on the floor and stuck it in my hair too.

Do you ever...

2011-02-15T14:35:00.000-08:00

Do you ever feel like sitting in a recliner wearing an old t-shirt and your favorite sweater and eating chicken salad straight out of the bowl? Yeah.... me too. It's that kind of day.

Buzz

2011-02-15T14:32:00.000-08:00

If you remember, Tyler cut his hair last week at school. Why did he have his scissors out during handwriting practice? I don't know. We let him walk around for a few days with weird hair, but I just couldn't handle it anymore. So, Ben put him in the shower and buzzed it. I think he looks much better now. His head is a little cold, but that's what hats are for.

A Little Paint Goes a Long Way

2011-02-10T22:53:00.000-08:00

It's amazing what a little craft paint and a 28 inch stencil can do for a bathroom wall. My arm is killing me!

Out With the Old, In With the New

2011-02-10T22:50:00.000-08:00

We have replaced our washer and dryer, stove/oven, refrigerator, water heater, bought a dog (and all the things that go along with it), redecorated the kids' bedrooms, and got new carpet. All of this in just the last year or two. Seriously, when it rains, it pours. Speaking of water damage, our hardwood floor is warped -- right in front of the dishwasher. Uh oh. This can't be good. Ben pulled out the dishwasher and found that we have a slow leak under it. Sigh. This is very bad timing. So, he pulled it out and we took it out to the garage. We put a few fans on the wet spot and hoped for the best. Will it ever dry? Who knows. I was so sad! Our dishwasher was old, but it worked really well! I didn't appreciate it nearly as much as I should have though. Now that I am without a dishwasher, I realize just how wonderful it was. We didn't have a dishwasher when we were in college, but we didn't have children either. Ben picked out a new one and brought it home. It's so pretty! It's so shiny, you can see me taking it's picture:

Ben worked so hard getting it installed and it's leaking! Seriously!? What the heck!? Not cool. So, now I have a pretty, new dishwasher in my kitchen, begging to be loaded up with my dirty dishes. Instead, it will sit there -- empty -- until Monday when the repair guy will come and try to fix it. Until then, we will be using paper plates and everyone will be limited to one cup during the day. Wish me luck!

Fighting a losing battle

2011-02-09T23:41:00.000-08:00

Tori hates having her hair done. She doesn't want me to wash it or brush it let alone actually style it. I hate fighting with her about it, so I took her to Ellen's Hair Country in Camas and she transformed her from this:

Into this...

Isn't she adorable?!?! I love it. Seriously, I think she's so flippin' cute, I can hardly stand it. Of course, during the actual haircutting process she mostly looked like this:

She kept pushing Ellen away and moving around, so I gave her some perm rods to play with:

By the end, she was ready to be done. When she finally looked in the mirror and saw how pretty she looked, she didn't want me to ever stop taking her picture. She posed with the bear, on the bench, and everywhere in between. I won't bore you with all the pictures, but I have to include my 2 favorites:

Now that her hair is short, it takes 5 seconds to brush it and Tori doesn't even mind. She can shake her head all around and nothing gets in her eyes or sticks to the snot that is constantly dripping out of her nose. Best haircut ever! Thanks, Ellen. What would I do without you.

It happens to everyone... right?

2011-02-09T23:31:00.000-08:00

Tyler cut his own hair during handwriting practice at school yesterday. Why did he have his scissors out during handwriting practice? I don't know. But now his hair looks weird. I can barely look at him without thinking, "wow, your hair looks weird." Good thing he's such a cutie!