My Daughters Eyes.....

This is going to be one of those gushy ones....so for those who hate this stuff - move along.....I have considered a "Things I am Thankful For " list and I am afraid I would use up my entire blogging world space with the list...so I am going to write about one. My Daughter. I love her!! I am grateful for EVERY SECOND she is in my life. I would have waited another 7 years if it meant that I would be blessed to be her Mom. She is amazing in so many ways....she is smart - SO smart...she is funny, sweet, kind, has a good heart, LOVES to laugh, surprises me EVERY day with some smart insight into something she has been thinking about, loves reading the scriptures in the morning with her Mom - and says her day just isn't the same if she misses it....wants to spend time with me...wont go to bed at night unless I tuck her in with LOTS of kisses....is BEAUTIFUL to look at, and even MORE beautiful to know!! Has a kind and gentle heart - and LOVES EVERYONE - but thinks sometimes they exist to just love her! She has a sweet testimony and wants to always Choose The Right. I am grateful for her amazing mind - for the way she thinks about things, the way she tries to figure everything out, the way she wants to know about EVERYTHING and will spend hours reading about it and looking it up on the computer. I love the way she looks at me and tells me I look pretty - that she wants to have hair just like me - and wants to grow as tall as me.....and wants to be JUST like me! I love how she wants to grow up to be a vet or a doctor - and "you can live with me Mom and tend my kids when I have to work". I love that she believes she can do anything and be anything she wants to be (because it's true!). I love that she is a miracle, and understands what it means to BE a true miracle - and that she thinks it's PRETTY AWESOME!! I love how she loves her Dad....how she counts down the days for it to be Daddy Daughter Day - and plans their activities.....and how they enjoy EVERY second they spend together. I love how she saves her allowance - so she can go "garage sailing" with Mom and Dad early on Saturday mornings.....and barter with people to get something down from $1 to .10!! She ROCKS at bartering...and isn't afraid to say - "that is a total RIP OFF". I love how she says "I Never Knew".......as a statement -not as part of a sentence...I love how she sees Heavenly Father's world - and how she loves EVERY SINGLE LITTLE CREATURE in it!! I love how her heart is big enough to love EVERYTHING and EVERYONE.....and how she always prays for people who need it!! I love how Cassie fills my heart with joy....how she fills my world with light! I love how beautiful her eyes are....how they truly sparkle when she is excited about something.....and I LOVE that Heavenly Father picked her out just for me!!! I get to be HER Mom!! I am SO blessed in SO many ways....but when it comes to my beautiful Cassie - i just can't even MEASURE the enormity of how blessed I am!! My prayer, is that I can live to be the person she believes I am. I LOVE YOU CASSIE!!!

These Are A Few Of MY Favorite Things.......

So - I LOVE trying out ALL of the new products that come out....it's FUN for me!! BUT.....there are a few tried and true items that I LOVE....that I HATE to be without.....They are part of my beauty/comfort arsenal! Go ahead....give em a try!!! 1st. I LOVE Jergens Original lotion - the cherry almond flavor.....such a light clean smell - PERFECT for right out of the shower - Makes my skin soft, and smells REALLY nice. 2nd. I am NEVER without Blistex Complete Moisture....it's in the blue tube - I just CAN NOT even describe how much I love this product!!! It can be hard to find - so I usually buy it in bulk. It's in the pharmacy at walmart - and costs about $1.39 a tube - LOVE IT!!! It makes my lips SO soft....and almost feels like lotion going on - almost....smells and tastes really good and makes my lips SOFT!! This is part of my nightly routine. 3rd - ASPERCREME!! This is my MUST HAVE for my purse - and by my bed...I rub it on sore knees....feet, back, shoulder and hands - ANYWHERE I have an ache and pain - it has NO smell and works REALLY good......so I don't have to take medicine to fall asleep - LOVE IT! 4th Sarna Anti Itch Lotion.....it's Pricey...in the Pharmacy.....but is AWESOME - it has a menthol smell, is GREAT for sunburn....and really takes care of winter itch - This lotion REALLY cools the skin - so I LOVE using it at night in the hot summer.....if you have itchy skin and cant sleep because of it - try a LITTLE of this and you will feel a MILLION times better!!! 5th Swiss Ives Skin Polisher - with Cocoa and Shea Butter - Find it at Walgreens - this stuff ROCKS!! PERFECT to buff away dry skin!! You have to scoop this stuff out in hard chunks - but once you add water and rub......WOW!! It lathers up - smells AWESOME - and when you rinse it off - HOLY COW TALK ABOUT SOFT!!! You skin doesn't need lotion and on legs before shaving - SILKY!!! 6th. Ban Roll On in Unscented and Secret Clinical....I use these in combination - roll on first, Secret on top - YES....it sounds excessive, but for those of you who sweat - A LOT....try this - Not a drop of wet!! 7th. Lightdays thin and long pantyliners - Can't live without these!! Perfect for staying "fresh" in the hot sweaty summer months - GREAT for light days - and you can't feel them - AT ALL....thin as heck - blend TOTALLY into your underclothes- LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM!! 8th. Walmart's brand of whitening pre-rinse. If you want to get the MOST out of brushing your teeth - give this stuff a shot!! It's about $4 - HUGE bottle......Has quite a bit of Hydrogen Peroxide...you can definitely taste it - but this stuff cleans your mouth and teeth - and when you brush - your teeth are SLICK.....they feel GREAT!!! And it really helps heal up canker sores and gum boils. 9th. Vaseline hand and nail lotion. I use this every night.....really makes nails strong, cuticles soft - and I have noticed that my nails grow VERY fast when I use this and rub it in at night - PLUS it makes my hands soft and smooth!! 10th. Mary Kay Timewise Eye Creme -Since I was about 15 I have been using eye creme at night - and this is the one I LOVE. It's pricey, but I get it on ebay and get a really good deal. A little goes A LONG way - and from what I can see - works really good at fighting those approaching 40 crows feet!! LOVE IT!! SO - that's my top 10 list of beauty items I love.....there are more I HATE to be without (define-a-lash Mascara by Maybeline - ROCKIN' LASHES).....but I won't bore you with those - These are my winter survival items......LOVE THEM ALL!!! GIVE EM A TRY - and let me know what you think!!

Remember When........

As anyone who knows me knows VERY well......I get EXTREMELY sentimental this time of year.....not really sure why....but I think it has to do with the passing of time - and the fact that we can do NOTHING about it.....(maybe it's the whole control freak thing) I was organizing my pictures - moving them into new albums.....and thought it might be fun to share my walk down memory lane with all of you. I love you all.....and ENJOY!!!

We are a HAPPY FAMILY!!!

Sunday afternoon - Joel, Cassie and I spent a WONDERFUL afternoon together. Debbie had a fun post on her blog, and I found a really fun craft idea - that I thought wouldn't cost a lot, and would be easy and fun - SUCCESS!! We all got into the spirit of it - even Joel....(he is SO stinking cute!!) We made To/From tags for Christmas....we all decided to be creative, and do what ever we thought would look fun.....NO TV, NO Phones....just us - talking, laughing....being a Family.......Joy.

My Sad Ending.......

Don't ya hate it when you have been reading a TOTALLY great book - enjoying EVERY page.....not wanting it to end....slowing down the speed of which you are reading it....so that it will last longer.......and yet - it still comes to an end? Well....it just happened to me. After SEVERAL months, I decided to go ahead and read books 3 and 4 of the "Twilight" series. The second book had pretty much turned me off - having no interest in reading book 3 let alone book 4...but after my last visit to Utah - I decided to go ahead and finish them up - LOVE EM!! Book 3 was GREAT....bought book 4 on Friday, and I am ALMOST done!! Which makes me sad, but I have THOROUGHLY enjoyed them. OBVIOUSLY they aren't written to make you think - but they really are SO much fun in giving you a way to escape!! It has been A LOT of fun reading them and just inserting myself in the whole vampire world. Hmmmmm what am I going to read next...........Whatever it is I hope it is as much fun as this series has been.....and NOW I understand what book 2 was all about!! PS....The music you are hearing is in honor of this series....the author has given her favorite music group "Muse" credit in all of her books......THIS is her favorite group......not bad at all!!!

I Voted - Follow-up.....

SO - Barack Obama is our new President. Which is not really a big surprise....it will be very interesting to see what the next few years bring to our Country. After I picked Cassie up from school - we stopped at a grocery store to pick up a few groceries. As we were walking to the car, Cassie said - "you know Mom, God really DID bless America". And I looked at her and said "Really.....?" And she said "Yea Mom, he made it so we could vote, and that we could all be free, and we still have a democracy - he really does bless America". And I thought about it for a minute - and said "Know what Cass - you are right - God does bless America and we are blessed to live here". I was amazed at the thought Cassie had put in to this....she had told me the kids at her school were all bummed out because Obama was elected.....so she had thought about it and came up with what made sense to her. Out of the mouth of our little ones - GREAT lessons can be learned. Regardless of the outcome of this election - I am still VERY proud of America!

God Bless America!!

I JUST VOTED!!! I planned and organized my institute class and Nathan so that I could be SURE to vote!! And I must say - it was emotional. Holli said I was a NERD....because when I put my ballot into the box - I got all teary...then the ballot worker asked me if I was OK - and I just said "I just LOVE America"......he got emotional, said he was a WWII vet and put his arm around me and said "ME TO YOUNG LADY!!". It was pretty cool. I got in my van, and had the radio on, ....and this is where the nerd part comes in....turned the radio off - and started singing and crying all at the same time....GOD BLESS AMERICA!!! I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!! I think of all the people who died to give me the right to vote....reason to cry....I think of all of the people in the world who don't yet have the right to vote - and who would be willing to wait in line for DAYS not HOURS for the right to vote.....reason to cry.....and I thought of what this elections means - to me, to my family, to this country, and to the future of this country......REASON TO CRY!!! Hopping off my soapbox now....but I just have to say - I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!! Sing the words to yourself.......and see if YOU don't get teary!!!!

I ran away from home!!

So.....yesterday arrived, and after a VERY long weekend of not feeling well (girl stuff).......I decided that I HAD HAD IT!!! At my house, when Mom is in bed - the house turns into a PARTY - or as I lovingly call it - LAZY TOWN!!! Not much of anything got done - despite my plans to get A LOT done. After getting Cassie off to school - I got busy. Did dishes, SEVERAL loads of laundry....and after much internal debate - decided to tackle the toy room. At our house, we have a Jack and Jill situation - one room is Cassie's bedroom, the other room we use as a toy room - and let me tell you - yesterday morning you couldn't have found 1 square inch of carpet for all the toys. It was a DISASTER.....Cassie has WAY too much stuff!! And the kids I tend think it's FABULOUS....all the toys, none of the clean up!! I grabbed a bunch of garbage bags and dug in!! It took me about 2 hours, but by the end - there was NOTHING left in the room - NOTHING!! I cleaned out the closet, and put the totes in there - so the floor is EMPTY!! I have decided to get just one tote out at a time....easier for us to manage - after all - how many kids TRULY need 7 HUGE totes full of toys? That was the morning......I got busy and did the laundry - cleaned out my bathroom drawers, hair stuff and medicine totes....MAN I had a lot of stuff that NEVER gets used......I got ready for the day and went and picked Cassie up from school.....she had a BIG report on John McCain - 5 paragraphs talking about where he stands on various issues - (let me remind you she is 8)....but she left her rough draft at school....so she started to fight with me.....she was mad at herself, but took it out on me. After a few minuets of arguing with her - I called her Dad - and let him handle her. I forgot to mention - I was tending Lizzie through all of this. ANYWAY - I got dinner ready for them and waited. Joel got home around 6pm and as he walked in the door - I walked out. (let me clarify - without sharing our dirty laundry - I was done with BOTH of them...there were other things that they did - or should I say that they did NOT do...but that is ultimately the reason I ran away). I just left....took my book - my ipod - got in the car, and left. I just drove for a while, and then went and got gas at Costco......sat in the parking lot, read my book and listened to various talk radio people OF COURSE talking about the elections today. I made a few stops, and decided I could go home again. Cassie was still at the counter working on her report - it was almost 9...but rather than say anything, I just went upstairs and got ready for bed. I was SO tired......she came up, I kissed her goodnight, and settled in with my book. I love being a Wife and Mom....there is nothing in my life I love more, but there are times I feel like my efforts just aren't all that appreciated- I know it's not true....but some days it just feels like that. Running away from home gave me just the time I needed to take a breath, think about how naughty I was being.....and take just two seconds out for myself. As I type this, I realize how bratty I sound, but I don't regret running away......it felt good and I think that we all should take the time to run away more often!! This morning I feel MUCH better....and I have more to do today than I had yesterday....but at least today I feel up to the challenge!!!

ONLY JOELA

My husband makes me LAUGH. So last night he was invited to go to a Trunk Or Treat party with someone from work. Joel loves to find free stuff for him and Cassie to do - so he went ahead and took her....but the people who invited him never showed up. Now....for me and for most people in the world, if the people who invited you to THEIR ward Halloween party didn't show up, you would just bag it and come home....NOT MY JOEL!! He and Cassie just went in, made themselves at home, trunk or treated and got some GOOD stuff.....did the cake walk, enjoyed all the booths - had some YUMMY chile, and enjoyed themselves!! The sad part about it is that they were TOTAL strangers - and NOT ONE person in that ward talked to them.....no one asked them if they were new, no one even asked them who they were......WHAT IS UP WITH THAT? It just reminded me that we need to do better with the whole fellow shipping thing.....if you see a stranger - introduce yourselves!!! I love the way Joel is comfortable in ANY situation....it's good for me to see how easy it is for him to make himself at home. But again - let me say.......ONLY JOEL!!!!!

Our Civic Duty

On Monday night, Joel, Cassie and I participated in helping with the Prop. 102 - protecting marriage plan. We spent the evening hanging 50 door hangers to people in our neighborhoods. We were supposed to just walk up and hange them on the door....but Cassie got scared at every door and would walk up, get about 10ft from the door, and would drop the hangers and run!! I was just waiting/watching her on the sidewalk - because Shiloh was with us and he is a CRAZY dog....so Cassie had to do the hanging.....she was almost crying, and I of course was laughing. Why is it SO funny to me to see people get scared? Not sure but there is about nothing that makes me laugh harder. It felt really good to participate and help support this proposition. It was a great opportunity for us to talk to Cassie about our country, and how important it is to be involved in what is going on. In the end, Joel ended up hanging the majority of the flyers, and Cassie and I enjoyed laughing, dancing, and talking as we walked Shiloh down the street. It was a GREAT way to spend FHE.

Halloween 2003

In 2003 we had the cousins come and Trick-or-Treat at our house. It was a cold Halloween, but still lots of fun. Toby - Amy Guy; Cassie - Spider Web; Sidney - Pea Pod; Savana - BYU Cheerleader.