This had better be the last time!!

(I know this is a HIDEOUS picture, but it's all I could find of the two of us that I haven't already posted. Apparently we don't take many pictures together).

So Jason had an entire week off of work!! Seven whole days!! We spent the first two in Wyoming with him, looking for a place to live. Then he spent the rest of the week here with us!!

(Jason helping Payson make a little beaded bracelet at the Cox Family Reunion this past summer).

I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it was to have him here with us!! We didn't do much of anything. We played and did normal things, like take Payson to and from school and ran errands.

(Jas with the kids at the Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.).

On Sunday, we got to go to church with our Daddy! That was SO NICE!! He asked to take Jack to priesthood, so I actually got to listen in Relief Society! That was wonderful! And then I had an extra set of arms in sacrament meeting. We didn't have to take anyone out in the halls! NOT EVEN ONCE!!

(Jack and Daddy swimming in Grandma and Grandpa L's backyard. Those are two HANDSOME boys!!)

And then tonight, Jason had to leave again. :( Back to Wyoming for the last time. I should be overjoyed that after this last stint, we're all moving, so I'll see my husband every night! And I am! But this last time is for over a month. He won't be off work until the week of Thanksgiving. So this is going to be HARD.

I spent this afternoon on my bed in tears in his arms. And then I cried most of the lonely drive home, after dropping him off with his carpool. And I'm crying again now thinking about going to bed in a bit alone. I hate that.

But women have gone through much worse and as stated in conference, I can do hard things! So there will be MUCH to be thankful for come Thanksgiving!! Aside from the gospel, my family, our health, etc. I will merely be glad that I get to fall asleep next to the best man in the world every night for the foreseeable future!! :)

P.S. Jason took me to see GhostTown with Ricky Gervais while he was here and I spent most of the movie in tears, laughing hysterically!! SO FUNNY!! Go see it NOW!!

Who's cheap like me and L.O.V.E.S. F.R.E.E. stuff?!?!?!?

Who wants a free handbag? Go to http://www.handbagplanet.com/ and check out the details!!

Do as I'm doing! Follow, follow me!!

Okay, so that song has nothing to do with this. But I'm pathetic and it makes me feel better about myself when I see that someone has clicked "Follow This Blog" (to the left). Comments and followers boost my self esteem. :) So go ahead!! Click it!! What harm is it going to do?

P.S. What the *#$^@*&$^(@!! I can't figure out why there's a big gap between my image and script!! Arg. Dumb computer.

Playing Catch Up

And now the moment you've all been waiting for!!!

Really, the truth is, this is probably going to be a lame post. It's taken me forever and thus built up undue anticipation. But oh well!! I didn't promise anything special. Just a post!!

So first, we'll start with our excursion to the zoo!! A couple of weeks ago, my cousin, (actually, my cousin's wife, but family is family, in law or not!) Erin, and I decided that since we were both temporary single mothers we needed to get out of the house. So we took the kids up to the Hogle Zoo!! We planned to leave early (ish) in the afternoon but ended up leaving around four. Such is the life of mothers with young children. :)

Morgan, Noah, and Jack
three monkeys watching the monkeys =)
p.s. Jack's shirt is light maroon, but for some reason it looks pink in this picture

The kids had a lot of fun. I think Erin and I couldn't have cared less. Anything that got us out of the house for some adult conversation would have been accepted JOYFULLY!! We hadn't hung out for a long, long time so it was really fun to reconnect. We've been each others' replacement spouse the last few weeks. (Erin's hubby, Isaac, does summer sales and extended, but she and the kids had to get back for Morgan to start school).

beautiful Morgan Mae

Of course, I had to take the traditional picture of Payson comparing her arm span to that of a gorilla...

And then, to show you how freakishly tall Erin is compared to me, check out her arm span!! SIX FOOT ONE!! Actually, almost the same as the gorilla!! =D

Check out this picture of Noah! I know it's a little blurry, but look how similar he and Jack look!! At first I actually thought this was my son!!

He's just too cute! Look at those pouty lips!! I wanna bite 'em off!!

Anyway, so then the next week, Jason had Monday through Wednesday off of work!! AND he got off early on Sunday! So we had him home Sunday evening, Monday, Tuesday, and half of the day Wednesday before he had to head back.

I can't even tell you how much fun it was to have him home!! And for three days instead of two!! I bawled like a baby again when he had to leave. I hate that part. But we had a blast while he was here. Monday we took Payson to school. She was so excited to show her Daddy her classroom and teacher. It was really fun.

Then we spent the rest of the day Monday and Tuesday shopping!! I was still wearing nursing bras and garments!! YIKES!! So I got what I would call an AMAZING boob job from Mervyn's!! a.k.a. new bras. Seriously, if I don't catch you checking out my rack the next time I see you, I might be a little offended.

Okay, so maybe I've gone too far. Back to our time with Jas! So then Tuesday night my little sister (thanks Madie!!) watched the kids so that Jason and I could go on a d-a-t-e!!! We hadn't been out together in MONTHS! It was so perfect!

We went to my favorite little Japanese place for dinner. Osaka in Provo!! It's SO delicious! I got loads of sushi (and yes, I even eat the raw stuff) and Jason got the same things he gets every time: Teriyaki chicken and steak.

making our best fishy faces in front of the fish tank

Just for me, Jason ACTUALLY tried some of the RAW stuff!! I had to catch it on film...

AND HE LIKED IT!! Who can resist a good spicy tuna roll?

After dinner, we headed over to tRaFaLgA to steal a date night idea from Jayni!! Apparently Trafalga has a $20 date night package that includes

* go cart races
*50 pitches each at the batting cages
*18 holes of mini golf
*some tokens for the arcades
AND
*2 large dip n dots at the end of the night!!

What a steal, right?!

We made a bet before we raced about who would win. Here I am taunting the future loser.
When the light turned green and we started, I pressed my foot down to the floor on the gas and my car didn't go!! WHAT?!?! So Jason got a HUGE head start! Not fair! Although, he turned to look behind himself at me and while he was distracted I zipped right passed him and then stayed on the inside of the track so that he had no chance! :) I totally won!! (By the way, babe, you still owe me that massage!!)

Batter up!!

Look at that BUTT!! So HOT!!

We had so much fun! I didn't think I would like the batting cages as much as I did. And I was surprisingly good!! Or maybe lucky. I'm not sure which.

Jason kicked my tail at the miniature golf. I had several holes where it took me 7-10 strokes to reach the stupid hole. I'm a little impatient and golf is not my thing. By the time we got around to the golfing it was too dark outside for any decent pictures. Oh well.

We bought some extra tokens inside and wasted them on ski ball and some shooting and racing games. I felt like I was twelve!! We had such a blast!! Then we found this arcade game version of Deal or No Deal!! SO FUN!! Instead of money amounts it gives ticket amounts and is played just like that game show, but with a few less cases. It goes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, 40, 70, 100...or something like that. Anyway, we ended up winning 70 tickets!! The second highest amount!! Imagine if it had been the real game show!! HALF A MILLION DOLLARS!! :) Well, I can dream, can't I?

We got our dip n dots and used our tokens to get some cheap prizes for the kids and headed home. We had so much fun and didn't want to be done with the night, so we grabbed a movie on the way home. And then realized that we're old and went to bed before we were half way through it. :)

Anyway, having Jason home was amazing as ever! This time apart is such a reminder to me not to take advantage of having him around. I can handle the house and kids and laundry and such on my own just fine. But having my best friend around makes it a million times more worth it!!

That next weekend was the General Relief Society Broadcast, which I L.O.V.E.D.! President Uchtdorf is so wonderful and I loved each of the talks. They were so perfect. It got me so excited for General Conference this weekend!! I must be a real grown up. As I teenager I always dreaded (even though I did end up enjoying it most of the time) knowing that I was going to be spending eight hours in front of the tv trying to stay awake. Now I can't wait for conference to roll around! I love taking notes and then rereading the talks in the Ensign later in the year.

Oh!! A couple of funny stories about my silly girl!! So the last week with Payson has been terribly entertaining!! First, the other day I was doing laundry and could hear Payson in the family room. Rachel Ray was on in the background. All of the sudden Payson cracked up as loud as I've ever heard her! She starts yelling, "Mama! Mama! Guess what that lady said!" So I came out and asked what. She says to me, "She said 'chicken bra'!!" And she starts guffawing again. I couldn't help but laugh!! Apparently Rachel Ray was cooking with chicken broth and Payson had misheard. :)

Then one morning this week she had put a Barney dvd into the portable dvd player and turned it on in the bedroom before school. There's this song that goes, "No matter how you choose to move, exercise is good for you!" So I'm listening to Payson sing along and all of the sudden she belts out at the top of her lungs, "No matter how you shake your boobs, exercise is good for you!!" Ha ha ha ha ha ha!! I almost peed myself! That one caught me so off guard. She looked at me so innocently! She thought those were the ACTUAL words!

And last, to top it all off, she came to me the other day with her teeth super glued together. That's right, folks! Her TEETH were SUPER GLUED together. Apparently she had found my secret stash of superglue in the back of a drawer and chewed on the tube. Her tiny teeth punctured little holes in it and the glue was all over in her mouth. SOMEHOW she managed to keep it off her skin, thank the high heavens! But I spent some time after that reading the warning labels to make sure we didn't need to call poison control or the doctor's office and then sat picking at the dried glue until we had most of it off. Good grief, child!! I swear. Fortunately, the saliva in her mouth kept the glue from sticking to her cheeks and gums and also made it a little easier to pick off of her teeth. But it was still time consuming and completely obnoxious!! So next time your kid eats glue, just be glad it's not Superglue!!

I still have a couple of tags to post and another post in my head about honesty that I will be needing some input on!! So stay tuned! But that's all for now!! Happy Conference Weekend!!

** sigh **

I have way too much to post and no time to post it. I'm falling too far behind and I'm losing the will power to catch up. So for those of you 'anxiously awaiting' my next rant, soon enough. I promise.

Ah, the ramblings of me.

Usually I think a little ahead of time what I'm planning to post prior to doing so. Tonight, I haven't at all. Totally impromptu. We'll see how this works out.

Random ramble #1) Today, I decided I want some one on one time with my sweet little girl. This desire came after I realized there was nothing in the house that sounded appetizing and it was lunch time. I wanted to go out. I had just put Jack down for a nap. My mom was home and not planning on going anywhere. So I bribed her to listen out for Jack with a promise of bringing her home something delicious to eat. I mentioned Kneaders, Payson wanted Los Hermanos. It was her special date, so we went with Los. She was hilarious the entire time. She talked my ear off and I just smiled and thought about how I'm the luckiest mommy in the world. Then we ran a few errands, grabbed something delicious at Kneaders for my mom, and came home. I have now decided that this will be a monthly tradition (monthly for now; I'm sure as life gets busier, it will have to be less frequent). And as soon as Jack is old enough to really appreciate it, he will be added to the mix. Spending time special time with her was meant to be for her. But it turned out to be a reminder to me of just how grateful I should be that even when she isn't behaving so sweetly I really do have the best three and a half year old out there!

Random ramble #2) Last week I packed up the kids Tuesday afternoon and headed to Wyoming. We drove three hours in the POURING rain. Jack slept for the first half of the trip (then we stopped to eat, which woke him up) and was silent and happy the rest. Payson watched the Wiggles on the portable DVD player the whole time. I think I reached back once to hand Jack his binki. No screaming, whining, grumpy children to be found in that car! Does anyone else find this to be ASTOUNDING?! I mean, my kids are unusually good (at least I think so) but on a three hour car ride?? I was BEYOND amazed! We then spent Tuesday evening, all day Wednesday, and most of Thursday with our WONDERFUL daddy! (He had Wednesday and Thursday off. His schedule is really weird right now, and he wasn't going to be able to come down, so we went to him). We didn't do much. We looked for housing, we saw daddy's work, we rented a movie one night, we ate out a lot. But mostly, we just enjoyed being together as a family! That's something I need to remember never to take advantage of!! When Jason's not around, we're just not whole. For those of you who have asked how I'm doing with him gone, I've generally responded that I'm doing REALLY well. And that has been the truth. Things have gone really smoothly. Then we saw Jason for those two days. I spent most of Thursday crying like a little baby. It was pathetic! Every time I thought to myself, "We have ___ hours left", the floodgates opened. The whole time he's been gone, I have kept myself busy enough that I hadn't even realized how TERRIBLY I missed that man! Leaving felt like someone was tearing my heart out! I hated it. I couldn't see for the first fifteen minutes of our drive home. When I stopped to get gas, I ran in to pre pay and I'm sure the cashier was wondering what was wrong with me. Swollen, red, puffy eyes, smeared mascara. I was such a wreck. I finally called a friend who talked to me for a while and got my mind off of Jason and I was okay for the rest of the drive...mostly. (Thank you, Shauna. You probably saved us from dying in a fiery car crash). But I really do have the most wonderful husband and he is making such a sacrifice right now to provide for our family. Only until November 8th (ish)!! Then things will get back to normal. (That's when we'll be moving). I spent Friday and Saturday in my pajamas ALL DAY moping. It was pretty pathetic. I'm sure everyone was wishing I would get up from my book and take a shower. Sorry. Anyway, I'm good now. Back into busy mode and missing my husband with a reasonable amount of hormones and emotion. :)

Random ramble #3) I finished the afore mentioned book late Saturday night (the one listed on my sidebar). It's definitely a new favorite! I cried like a little tiny baby at the end!! Really, it was pathetic. I was in bed at two a.m. sobbing, hoping my kids wouldn't wake up from my sniffling. SO GOOD!! I recommend it to you all! But now I'm done and I need a new suggestion. I like just about anything. I used to say anything but sci-fi or fantasy stuff. Then I met Harry Potter and Edward Cullen. So I guess from now on I'll have to just say, I'll try anything once!! So please leave your recommendations below!!

And final ramble of the evening) I don't have many enemies (that I'm aware of). Okay, as far as I know I don't have any. But I do recognize that I can be snippy and judgemental and critical of people at times, even if it is only in my head. This is something I've decided to make a serious conscious effort to work on. I was reading about having virtuous thoughts the other day and found so many wonderful scriptures and counsels on the subject. I believe that will make a significant difference. However, I need some help. There is a certain group of people who I have a VERY, VERY difficult time with. I don't think they know how I feel. But I am very aware that I do not love these people. I am extremely critical and judgemental towards them, and if you knew the whole story, I believe it's fairly justified...if not for the fact that it is NOT my place to judge them. And because of my relationship to these people I feel it is absolutely necessary that I learn not only to interact with them civilly, but to actually love them. Not knowing the circumstances, I'm sure this sounds silly and childish. Maybe it is. I don't really know. I'm not entirely objective. But I do know that this will be one of the hardest things I will ever have to do. It will take all of my effort to erase my previous habits and thoughts and learn to actually sincerely LOVE these people the way Christ would. So I'm wondering if any of you out there can relate. Is there anything you can share with me? Any advice? I honestly feel like it would be easier for me to jump out of an airplane or climb a mountain than to do this. So your thoughts are super appreciated!!

Anyway, now that all of my rambling is out of my head and into cyber space, I think I may be able to sleep soundly for the night!! Sweet dreams, fellow bloggers!!

Whistle While You Work...

Ode to Generation LAZY!!

Well, I'm much too lazy to write an actual 'ode', so this post will have to do. I've thought about this a bazillions times in the last several years, but lately, especially. And I'm allowed to be critical about this subject, because let's face it: I'm in desperate need of this criticism.

To what do I allude, you ask? Work. REAL, HARD, WORK. My grandparents and great grandparents worked their tails off daily. Just to get by. They had to. The cows had to be milked, the gardens had to be planted and weeded and watered. The sewing had to be done. The laundry had to hang dry. The butter had to be churned. I'm sure this list could go on and on. You get the idea.

So now I come to me. My life today. I am so grateful for the luxuries that I have that make life a little easier. I'm glad I'm not out shoveling manure or hand stitching all of my children's clothing or anything like that. I feel overwhelmed enough with my modern day work load. But lately I've realized that I may be the laziest person I know.

Growing up, we had chores around the house. We dusted and vacuumed daily. My poor mother had to nag us to death to get it done, but eventually (most of the time) we did. We did dishes, scooped up the dog droppings in the backyard, helped in the yard, cleaned our own rooms and toys. The usual.

Then one day, we had a bigger house, a bigger yard, more to clean, more to weed. We griped and groaned and eventually my parents got sick of trying to make us and hired help. My parents themselves continued to work, but paid others to come in and help where we children would not. I don't blame them.

Now I'm a grown up with a husband and a family and a home (soon!!) and responsibility. And although my parents gave it their honest BEST effort, I have not learned how to work. I was a lazy kid. Now I am a lazy adult.

I do dishes and laundry and I cook and my kids are always dressed and bathed and their teeth are brushed. We stick to our routine pretty closely and the kids are generally in bed on time. We always make beds first thing in the morning. My house is USUALLY straightened. I'm good at the basics.

But when it comes to cleaning...I'm a disaster!! When guests are coming over, I clean it...usually. When there are things sticking to my feet on the floor, I clean it...usually. When you can barely see yourself in the mirror, I clean it...usually. When the car is full of crumbs and gunk and I can no longer see out the windows, I clean it...usually. When it gets really disgusting, I clean it...usually. When you can see a black ring starting to form in the toilet bowl, I clean it...unless Jason is home. Then I make him clean it. Get the idea?

So what am I thinking with wanting to get my own house?! I'll just run it down!!

I DREAD cleaning. I have a really hard time getting myself to start. Then once I get going I realize that I'm just fine. And I feel so great when it's done.

Lately I'm trying to be better. I think, especially since having Payson, I've been in a rut. I get ready...when I have to. I clean...when I have to. I go out...when I have to. It's been depressing.

So I've been making an effort to get ready, whether I have somewhere to go or not. I'm calling friends and making plans to get out of the house, just to get out of the house. I'm trying to read my scriptures more and really search. I'm trying to pray more sincerely. I'm trying to work out and eat more appropriate portions and more healthfully. I'm trying to make little efforts to make BIG changes.

So far, so good. Everything is working. I'm happier. I feel SO MUCH BETTER! Getting my behind out of bed in the morning is hard. Getting to bed early is also hard. Getting myself onto the treadmill is hard. Ignoring the goldfish crackers and choosing a celery stick instead is hard. But I'm doing it. And I feel so great when it's done!!

Twas the lesson I (re) learned yesterday. I got up early, got everyone fed and ready, got Payson off to preschool, came home and worked out, picked Payson up, ran some errands, fed the kids again, put Jack down for his nap, and realized that I didn't have anything to do for a while.

Turns out, Jack didn't actually want to take a nap yesterday. So instead, Payson threw on her swimming suit and I put Jack in his stroller with some toys outside and we decided to wash the car!! That's right, I decided to wash it myself. No automatic car wash here, folks!! I cleaned out the car, vacuumed and wiped down the inside, cleaned the windows, busted out the soap and hose and bucket and rags and got that sucker SPARKLY CLEAN!! And it felt SO GREAT when it was done!!

I just kept thinking to myself, it's just a silly car wash. Most people wash their own cars. Why am I so darn proud of myself? But the answer I came up with is: I DON'T CARE!! I worked hard, with no nagging mom on my tail, and got the job done. AND IT FELT GOOD.

Light bulb moment: I LIKE to work!! I like the feeling of being productive. I like looking at my work when it's done and feeling that pride. I like sitting in a clean car, or house, or whatever it may be, and not having the thought floating around in the back of my mind that I have to do that (and a million other things) later.

I guess that's why the Lord says, "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;" D&C 109:8.

And that one scripture could take me off on SO MANY tangents that have run through my mind the last few days, but I'll save those for another time, another day. But for now, my latest revelation:

I LIKE TO WORK!!

(Mom and Dad, I hope if you're reading this, I don't give you an actual heart attack).