Do you see that sassy pepper button on my side bar??

You should check it out.

My friend is doing a give away. As I previously mentioned. But I am doing it again.

You have many chances to win!

I think you will enjoy this,

A denim fashion show by RichJuz

This Week In Pictures

The last week was the busiest week in December. I am glad it is over. I had planned on today getting organized and finally really cleaning my house and getting some personal Christmas stuff done. However I spent the day on the couch watching kid shows with Chloe, being that I spent the entirety of last night puking. It was wretched. Turns out I have heard of at least 20 people from my ward also experiencing the same fate. And poor Don is preemptively drinking gingerale and eating crackers. we had a ward party a couple days ago so I am thinking a nasty little bugger is being passed around. (although it was a ward pot luck, and food poisoning doesn't seem too far fetched of a possibility) Anyway, here are some pictures of my week. Can you believe that these "shoes" are actually sold in Nordstrom? Chloe saw the pink one and instantly threw off her shoes and slipped on the moon boots.

These are in the women's section. Really, does anyone actually wear these? I have never seen anything more hideous in my life.

Here are some pictures from the ward Christmas party:

I want them to get married, They are the cutest pair of kids.

I told macie that if she intends on becoming a professional baby model, she needs to look more fierce. I think she is definitely on the right path.

Last Thursday was the Relief Society Dinner that I was kinda in charge of. It is always a big undertaking but it turned out really nice thanks to the efforts of many, many fantastic and talented women. the pictures don't do it justice, but the ambiance was so beautiful.

The food was really amazing. We had Breaded stuffed chicken with a cranberry orange sauce, rice pilaf, homemade breadsticks, and a spinach salad with fruit and....bacon. And then we had hot coco with homemade peppermint marshmallows, and a dessert bar with lemon bars, cheesecake, mint brownies, sugar cookies, chocolate/caramel pretzels, butter tarts...I am sure I am forgetting something. I think the women really enjoyed the food and that was our goal, for the women to come to a beautiful dinner and eat a delicious meal that they didn't have to cook. and I am not going to lie. Next year I won't mind a bit if I am not in charge!

And here are just some pictures of my bald baby who fills my heart with glee. Except for when I am vomiting and want her to sleep through the night.

Check out my friend's 12 days of Christmas give away!
http://thesassypepper.blogspot.com/2011/12/on-11th-day-of-christmas.html

Dear Santa

So far these are the things on Chloe's Christmas list:
Belle Barbie
Big castle that you jump in with princesses on them.
jewelry box for her ring
a princess and a frog doll, but no frog
a star
a heart
Belle dress

And she wants to give:
Santa a wreathe
video game for Chelsey
a lollipop, cake, and sticker for me
and my favorite,
fast roller skates for Don.

Remember how I said macie falls asleep standing up?

pictures from 3 months ago

My brother gave me a cd with all the images we took three months ago. some are cute, most make me think I need to lose some weight, and some are funny.

This is the funniest kiss I have ever seen.

You won't regret watching this.

Thanksgiving 2011

Well we had a really great Thanksgiving. And I am not just saying that because that is what you are supposed to say about how your Thanksgiving was. Seriously I don't think it could have been any more perfect. Wait. I take that back. My green bean casserole failed miserably. I didn't think it was possible to ruin something like a green bean casserole, but in fact, it is possible.

We drove down to St. David Thanksgiving morning and then we ate a ridiculous amount of delicious food. Chloe was in heaven as she got to play with her best friend/cousin "Moma." Chloe and Macie both loved getting rides on the quad on pro hauler.

Most of the extended family left in the evening. I convinced my brother in law and nephew and Don that we should go check out Wal Mart's black Friday sale. I thought maybe since it was a small town that it would not be so insane. Well I will say this. There were not people with pepper spray or people beating each other out of 2 dollar waffle makers, but there was way too many people for my sanity, so we left rather quickly. At least I got Black Friday out of my system. No amount of money is worth it to me to have my precious personal space invaded like that. And I often find that money, scarcity, and greed does not tend to bring out the best in people. I wanted to go to the sale because we have been in the market for a t.v and it has proven to be a more difficult decision than picking out names for our children. I thought I didn't care about what kind of t.v we were getting. But apparently I do because I can't make a decision.

awesome picture.
Anyway the day after Thanksgiving we relaxed on the farm and Don and I went for a 2 hour quad ride which was the best part of the trip. I love quad riding. It's like snow mobiling or wave runner-ing which are also fun. But quad riding is better because with snow mobiles you get cold. And with wave runner-ing you run the risk of falling in the ocean. I am not a huge fan of the ocean. I think aquatic creatures are gross.

And now I will tell a story about a blind date I took in college. Somehow I ended up on a blind date with some guy who took me quad riding in the sand dunes near Rexburg, Idaho. I would not recommend getting on the back of a complete stranger on a quad in the dark. There are several dangerous factors to consider, which I am sure I considered back then but felt too awkward to mention that perhaps I was not comfortable with this arrangement. But obviously I survived so....anyway the funny part of the story is I ran into the guy a few months later and I said to him, "Hey you look familiar...how do I know you? Oh ya we went quad riding." So obviously the date went really well. "Remember me? I was attached to your backside for a couple hours?"
That evening everyone left and it was just our family and Don's parents. We rented "Soul Surfer' and watched it with them. It is about a girl who gets her arm eaten by a shark. Chloe asked me every five minutes "why her have no arm." And no matter how many times I told her a shark ate it, it didn't seem to sink in. She asked me if sharks were mean. And I said yes. And then she asked me, "Mom-do sharks have friends? Like mean ones?"

She has recently developed a fear of bees. So her next question really cracked me up: "Mom-what would happen if a bee and a shark met?" I love the way her mind works.



And last but not least, my macie news is 1. she is crawling. Which means I need to baby proof my house very soon. (sob) and 2. she learned how to stand up in her crib. So we lowered the crib and thought would solve the problem of her almost falling out of the crib. Well I put her in her crib the other night and heard her cry off and on for an hour. Finally I couldn't take it anymore so I went to go check on her. The child had fallen asleep standing up. Her head resting over the bar of her crib. It was the saddest and funniest sight. And so this is now her routine. She does not just give up and lay down. So I guess have 2 strong willed children. So now I guess it is in to the pack and play!

And well I think I am caught up. The end.

The World According to Chloe

I always have a good laugh when I turn on my camera and see Chloe's latest pictorials. Some times she captures something cute (above). But most of the time she captures less than flattering shots of us all.

Chelsey brushing her teeth.

I took this one. Macie fell asleep next to Chelsey.

Okay back to chloe. This one reminds me of the cartoons with the dead frog where they put x's over the eyes.

This one is my favorite. (above)

I love that Macie always looks like she is just along for the ride. She has no control over her life and the strange people who pick her up.

So last week I had Chelsey over for most of the week. We had a good time together. Mostly. Besides her hating my guts every time I turned off the t.v. I told her we should find something else to do. She told me that "she wanted to just watch t.v. because Heavenly Father intended her to be a bump on a log." Yep. that's what she said.

Most of the time I feel very fortunate that I have the opportunity to get to spend all day with these delightful little individuals. And then sometimes I want to drive out to to the desert and just sit there alone for a couple hours to regain my sanity.

Last week I was watching Chloe and her little friend. I saw them climb our little orange tree. And then I watched as her little friend popped herself over the fence to my neighbors yard.

I think that was the same day Macie figured out how to stand up in her crib.

And the day Chelsey yelled at me for an hour and a half straight for turning off the tv.

That day I wanted to go out to the desert and not come back.

Well I sure am excited about Thanksgiving this week.

and black Friday. we are going to join the 21st century and get a flat screen tv.

usually I don't care too much about tv but I have found myself a fan of a few shows this fall:

Parenthood

Revenge

Once Upon A Time

Well that is all I have to say. Except for here is the one picture of Macie on Halloween:

I seriously cannot believe it is almost Thanksgiving. Macie is over 9 months now and getting better and better at crawling every day. And I feel terrible that I can never remember to get my camera out and record all of her milestones. I brought the camera on Halloween but conveniently the battery went dead the moment I turned it on. So I got one picture of Macie in her flower fairy costume. Which is typical. I think I got only one picture of Chloe in the flower fairy costume 4 years ago.

But Halloween was awesome this year. Chloe is old enough to really get excited about it, and if it is one thing she is motivated by, it is candy. It might have been the best day of her life. Other than the day she was born. But I don't think she remembers that. And actually that probably wasn't very fun for her (or me). She giddily ran the neighborhood streets with her cousin Loma. She complained a few times that her stomach hurt, but she soldiered on. Nothing could deter her from filling up her sack with a week supply of sugar. She told me once with weariness in her voice, "Loma, she sure is a fast girl...."

Earlier in the evening we trick or treated down our street and met some more of our new neighbors. Then we went to my sister in law Leonore's house for chili before taking the kids around the neighborhood. I made 2 dysfunctional pies. Probably the worst pies I have ever made. I was really having an off day in the kitchen.

So hopefully I can figure out how to get a picture of actual Halloween on here...I might have to hack Don's phone.

So last Friday was Veteran's Day. Don told me I should take the kids to the local parade. So I did. The attractions in the parade were basically old people in one of the following 1. retirement village bus (that was probably my favorite since you couldn't even see them because the windows were tinted) 2. the back of a truck 3. On a platform being pulled by a truck. But hey, it was a VETERAN's Parade, and it was definitely a literal representation. And Chloe loved it. She clapped very enthusiastically for all the old people passing by. (oh by the way, lest anyone be confused, I am very grateful for all the Veterans. They truly are heroes. But you know, the parade was funny.)

Anyway for about 15 minutes I was thinking to myself, well this is good old fashioned America fun. (except for when a whiff of cigarette smoke floated into my air space.) Then Macie started crying. So we went to a local sandwich shop and I ordered something very baby friendly: a chicken salad sandwich. Here Macie have some of one of the basic food groups: Mayonnaise.

Well then we walked back to the parade and found a new location to loiter. And all was going well for about oh, 7 minutes at which that time I looked over at Chloe and she was grabbing her derriere and grimacing. So then we made our way back to the sandwich shop and found a one seater bathroom. And that is where we spent the next 25 minutes. It was a lot of fun being the bathroom police and getting to tell people they probably ought to look elsewhere.

And after that I said, well that was really fun. Let's go home.

And the last piece of information I have to share is that we officially sold our old house and it officially is being lived in by someone else. It is so nice to have that thing done with. I think the owners will take good care of our (their) little sweet house.

It's been another eventful past 2 days with my lovely sister Chelsey.

Yesterday after a whole day of complaining that she really, really wanted to get her video game systems, I finally drove to her house and had her pick up her newly gifted (courtesy of older brother) Game Boy and Super Nintendo.

She carefully packed them in her travel suitcase and I waited in the car.

When she came out she slid into the passenger seat and says:

(audible sigh)
"It sure is a lot of work transporting my video game systems but... (another audible sigh) I can do it."

I wish you could have been a fly on the wall. It was classic.

My Genious Astounds Me

So I have been browsing online for Ballet pictures for Chloe's bedroom. I came across this one that I really liked:

Well then I said, I need another picture, because there are two beds and I need a picture above each bed. And then I found this one:

And I said, oh that's perfect! There's my 2 pictures and they look sorta the same! But wait, why are they both called "Les Pointes?"
And then a few days later it finally dawned on me.
They are the same.
Doh.

So awhile back I wrote this post about the time Chloe got Roseola.
Well this week Miss Macie got it. And funny thing is I got confused again.
Like last time she had a fever for three days...and then it looked like she had a sunburn on her face.
And it just so happened I had taken her to the park that day so I figured she had had too much sun.
But then the next day she had a rash all over her back as well, so...
Maybe with the next kid I will clue in faster to the whole Roseola thing.
Poor Macie. She's still a champ. Even with a fever she is as sweet as she can be.

Tonight I went to "Time Out for Women" with a bunch of ladies from my ward. I had a splendid time. And then when we came out, it was raining and it was cold. It was kind of magical. Rain here is a special event. FINALLY some cooler weather. Oh boots, how I missed you.

So this week was filled with Halloween celebrations. We had a Halloween themed play group at my house. And it was awesome. I love Halloween. Halloween is so much more fun when you have a 4 year old. If you look at the picture above, it is a snapshot into my typical day, minus the party. 1. Macie sits mellowly in her Bumbo. And Chelsey fills up a plate of food. I think she ate for 2 hours straight. I am not even kidding. And she weighs I think 100 pounds. I just don't get it.

Emily looking so spooky.

Then the next day Chloe had dance lessons and they wore their costumes and passed out candy. Of course she found the camera and took self portraits while I was getting her ready.

Okay. Let me just say that I hhhhhhhhhhhhate this wig. I spent 2 hours combing that rats nest and then burning myself with a hot glue gun trying to tame it into a braid and then sewed a nylon inside to keep it on Chloe's head. And all my hard work still resulted in crappy looking wig. I am tempted to dye her hair brown and say you are Rapunzel at the END of the movie. last week Chloe was being uh...tempermental...and as a last resort I said I was throwing her wig away if she did not listen to me. well I ended up throwing it away in the recycle bin. Chloe doesn't know the difference between the blue and the black container. Of course I wasn't really throwing it away and I gave her the chance to earn it back.

Well here's the thing when you are a Mom. You have to stay on top of your stuff because I forgot about the wig and saw that the recycling bin was out on the street for pick up one morning. I frantically ran out my front door and thankfully the big truck had not come yet to take all our goodies away to be turned into other goodies.

Although I think in hindsight, I might not be too disappointed if the wig was taken away. But I think chloe might have been traumatized.

Anyway, the movie 'Tangled" is aptly named. Stupid wig.

Watching these little girls dance is the most entertaining thing I do all week.

One day Macie, you'll get to dance too...

And then I always find these little treats on my camera of Chloe flashing her gang signs.