My guilty pleasure.

Hot chocolate from the gas station. Any gas station (but the Shell station up the street is the best). Not Starbucks. Their cocoa is way too bitter for me. But I love me some good cocoa from the gas station. Nice and warm, with lots of things to add to it.

My recipe? Fill the cup more than 3/4 full, but not all the way to the top. Add 3 French Vanilla little creamer things, then top off with some cold water to make it not so nuclear hot, then enjoy! Love it!

HE'S HOME!!!!

Well, after 3 LONG WEEKS, he decided to COME HOME!!! (See all my excitement??? All the caps... that's how excited I am!) He finished his project in L.A. and was able to come home a week ahead of time and we were all so excited to see him and to have him home (and he was just as excited to come home!)! We love you D and are very glad to have you back home with us!!!

Snow pretty.

It is so beautiful when it's all snowy outside, and the sun decides to shine. Just one of God's gifts to us.

We found a couple icicles hanging off our roof, and also saw this and I couldn't help but take a picture. Not the best, but believe me when I say it was "snow pretty"!

Evidence of said Snow Days.

And when the Snow Days do happen, our house is full of kids and ALL their belongs. And you know that snow clothes are much bigger than regular clothes. They make much more mess. What's that about anyway????

We've got snow!

Sleds left everywhere.

Our street, which is a bit steep, totally gets the road closed and then is turned into an ultimate sledding hill. All the kids hang out here.

We woke up to find our front yard full of snow! We love when we get snow! It doesn't stick around too long... but enough to enjoy some sledding, a snow day or two, some late starts, and just the "prettiness" of it all! Even Cooper loves the snow!

Scentsy Team Meeting.

(Notice Joy and I wearing similar sweaters! Too funny!!!)

I work (and play!) with some great people! We have lots of fun and really enjoy sharing our ideas, our accomplishments, our friendships! I love the people I "Scentsy" with!

Sweet Dreams.

I swear, this kid can sleep in any strange position (Luke was the same way though). About when he turned 3, he decided he was too "old" to take naps... so now every so often we find him in strange places around the house, sound asleep. We've even found him at the bottom of the basement stairs sleeping. Strange. Why wouldn't you just go and get in your nice, cozy bed???? That's what I would do. Just saying.

Cookies for Sale!

Macy and I spent a couple hours in front of the produce market this weekend selling Girl Scout cookies. Haley and I spent a few hours in front of Lowes. (Note to self, cookies sell MUCH better in front of Lowe's than they do in front of the produce market... duh!) Fun had by all, but I'm glad that we are done with this weekend. Haley and I have another assignment, but hopefully it will be warmer then!

Carnage.

You can almost always find "dead Legos" in our house. Reed has this thing for the Lego people... but he almost always takes their heads off and their bodies apart and then leaves them lying all over the place. Poor little Legos! We have lost many pieces this way!

Can you see me now?

D loaded Skype onto my computer and his computer quite a while back because he was doing business with a company in China and he needed to make sure that it would work. Well, little did we know that it would become our primary source of communication for a while! The kids love it! They think it's really cool to talk to daddy this way. It took me a while to get used to it though. Better now. I like that I can continue to do stuff on the computer while I am talking to him. It's fun to check in with him everyday this way!

Because we care.

D wanted to be involved in the Picture of a Day thing, so he sent me a pic of the care package that we sent him for Valentine's Day. Notice it has Girl Scout cookies and Scentsy involved! Perfect!!!

Tin Grin

We are very fortunate to have a good friend as our orthodontist! He takes great care of us and the kids! We love you Dr. Allen!!!

And the first of our "Tin Grins"! Doesn't he look cute? Some kids can totally pull off braces!

He picked green and gold for his first set of bands so that he's ready for St. Patrick's Day. Totally a kid after my own heart! Having his braces coordinate to the closest holiday! Gotta love that!!!

State Reports are in our house...

One of the reasons I love my Cricut machine is that I can use it to help the ENTIRE 5th Grade (ok, maybe 5 of them. Whatever!) come up with stuff for their State Report. So far I have worked on Hawaii, North Dakota, Michigan and Mississippi... and Macy's working on Idaho, so we've been full of states in our house this week.

And for all my hard work and efforts I've profited 4 cupcakes and $4 so far. I might have to make this my new living!

Valentine's Day aftermath...

Some of what made up our Valentine's Day...

Pretty roses sent by my honey!

These pretty girls! Macy is really into braiding wet hair right now, so as you can see, they both have a bit of "crimping" going on.

Heart-shaped cookies for playgroup.

Krispy Kreme donuts. I go there every year to get heart-shaped donuts for the occasion, and by the time I got there (about 1:30) all the heart-shaped donuts were sold out! What a let down!!! Valentine sprinkles are still good though.

Heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphys - yum!

Heart-shaped cake made by Luke. It was super yummy!!!

Treats brought by my friend, Joy, asking to be her Valentine because she knew that mine was out of town. Thanks Joy for the love!!!

Valentine crafts... 'cause you know I'm all about the crafts!

Yes, I did sit down and decide that we were going to eat nothing healthy this day (only heart-shaped or sprinkled items. I even have heart-shaped, pink marshmallows, but totally forgot to take them out. Maybe we'll snack on them today!). Add to this the cheeseburger and coke that Reed and I got for lunch and we were totally on a winning streak! Some days are just like that though.

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's. We did! Even with D away, we know that he loves us and was with us in spirit (and on the phone!). Love you Schmoo... and love spending ALL my Valentine's with you! You are always and forever My Valentine!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Go out and hug someone... or EVERYONE!!! Everyone deserves a hug!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4

Cookie Heaven.

Ok, and check these out. Chocolate-chip covered Oreo cookies. Kind of crazy, but oh, so yummy. All you need is about half of one, and you're done in, but still so good!

Girl Scout kind of weekend.

Macy's troop hosted Thinking Day.

Besides all the cookies, we also participated in Macy's troops' Thinking Day. Thinking Day is when bunches of troops get together and create booths about different things, usually different countries. They have activities, treats, decorations and even performances from those countries. It's always a lot of fun, and the girls really enjoy it.

It's Cookie Time!

Piles of Girl Scout cookies currently cover our kitchen table! Like it, but hate all the mess!!!

I'm a lemon.

So I went to the doctor yesterday and this is what I found out.

Yes, that "shockey" feeling that I've had in my wrist the past week is from the blood work that I had done last week. Apparently they hit a nerve, which is totally hard to do, but lucky me, they hit mine. I have my blood checked about every six months-ish (I have thyroid problems), and this is the first time this has happened. The doctor informed me that the "shockey", weird feeling should "only" last for about 6 weeks... lucky me.

Yes, I am anemic... a lot. We kind of already figured this, based on the amount of ice I've chewed for like the last year, but now we finally know for sure.

Yes, I am also apparently really low on vitamin D. My numbers came up to like 17, which is really bad apparently. I don't know what "good" is, but 17 is not it. This hopefully explains all the soreness and stiffness I've had the past few months. It's not from all the exercise I've not been doing (didn't you just read that... I'm already sore... why do I want to add to it????).

So, I left the doctor's office with 3 prescriptions yesterday. Two to up my dosage of my thyroid medicine and one for a gigantic dose of Vitamin D. I also left with 4, count them, 4!!! over-the-counter "vitamins" she wants me to also take. More Vitamin D (I said it was bad!), Fish Oil (yuck! I hate those burps!), something about magnesium, and Feosol (I think this is for the anemia???). So, my once daily dose of thyroid medicine that I've been taking for the last 10 years, has now been up'd to 6 pills I have to take daily. Could I be any closer to 60????? I know that I'm turning 40 next month, but this is a bit crazy!!! And I hate taking pills... which is why I haven't taken the fish oil before... oh, and the burps. Have I mentioned the burps???? They are yucky!!!

Lucky me, D loves me... if not, I'd be turning me in.

***And now I'm reading the directions on some of these, and it says, "take daily with the meal of your choice." I just ate a cupcake. It was my choice. Do you think that counts????

Getting ready.

So Chad and Luke went in for their first "braces" visit this morning. They both had impressions done, x-rays and photos taken. Luke even got some separator thingys put in his mouth.

Luke gets his actual braces put on next week, and Chad's are being put on in March. So be watching our house for a couple of "tin grins" in the next couple of weeks!

Happy Meet-a-Versary!

Every year, no matter what, D remembers the date we met... 19 years ago. Whether I am 6 months pregnant, walking down the street having a melt-down because our 2-year-old just cut her own hair, or home alone with 5 kids while he's in a different state doing a job, he always remembers it (me... I have a hard time remembering what day of the week it is, let alone the date!).

So, I was pleasantly surprised when I came home yesterday to find some beautiful flowers in our kitchen. I wondered what they were for... after all, Valentine's isn't for a few more days, and all the kids reminded me that it was our Meet-a-Versary.

I am so lucky and thankful to be married to the man I am married to. Besides the fact that he gets me flowers on occasion (which truly, I do love), but more because of the person he is, and the person that I am with him. The wonderful children that we've been blessed with, and although sometimes full of trial, the great life that we share. Thanks Schmoo for the past 19 years, I wouldn't trade them for anything! And I am grateful that I met you so many years ago too!

And what's better, when I was thanking him for the flowers, he said, "I thought you might need a Picture of the Day" today. So, he also supports all my crazy hobbies!!! Love you!!!

Leaving on a jet plane...

And during the Super Bowl (Packers won by the way, D! Just wanted to let you know!), I took D to the airport so he could head to Cali for a bit to work on a project. Love you D! Have safe travels and come home soon!!! We love you!!!

Go Packers!

Enjoyed the Super Bowl with our friends, the Allens. They were able to come over, bring some food, share lots of snacks, play games, and just have a good time.

D and I wanted to support the whole football thing, so we sported jerseys as well. Granted, they were for the 49ers and BYU... but it's the thought that counts. (So then Macy and Haley wanted to wear those jerseys to bed. Only a little bit big.)

Date Night.

D and I were able to go out for a little date before he left town. Dinner and movies. Nice. So nice to get some time together... even if the movie was kind of dumb. (The Dilemma - not suggested whatsoever!)

Helping daddy.

Reed decided to make D's push-ups a little bit harder for him. Not bad with Reed on him... much worse when Chad and Luke join in!

Gung Hoy Fat Choi!

(Sorry for my great Chinese misspelling!)

So... in my "native tongue", Happy Chinese New Year! We celebrated by getting some yummy Chinese food. We were able to enjoy some nice family time and take one of our little friends with us!

Happy Year of the Rabbit... now, go out and multiply!!! :)

Melvin's gift.

So we bought Melvin a ball to play in. He loves it. Problem is, so does Cooper. Cooper likes to push it around with his nose, which makes it go a bit faster than Melvin's little legs will carry him, so Cooper has gotten banned to the basement a few times.

Problem with the ball is, Melvin can now move. Macy had him in her room, and then went to the bathroom for a bit, came back and couldn't find him. She's freaking out, we all come upstairs, are looking all over the place and can't find him anywhere. I look over the railing and he has managed to go down ALL the stairs (14 of them!) and is now in our living room. (*** Note to Macy... we live in a 3-story house and I don't think that hamsters like going down all the stairs in their ball.) He seems fine, but it was a good lesson learned.