Foxy Alert

She's on the prowl again. During a week filled with all sorts of rotten, Foxy makes it all o.k. Did I tell you she is one busy lady? Well, she is, but she still took the time to make something for me.




And all because a little bug is weaving its way through my system. Thoughtful, kind, caring Foxy. Thanks!

Looky Lou

I've been dipping my toe into digital scrapbooking and if you like what you've seen, go to the above link. It a week of prize giveaways and, believe me, you want to WIN!

Where's Waldo, I mean Hunter?

He went to Young Men's this way. He vowed to stay awake all night so his hair would stay this way. He went to school this way. He only got caught up in the ceiling fan once. Marge Simpson is so proud. And he took his friend slicka with him too.

Foxy Roxy

I have a friend. To protect the name of the innocent, I'll call her Roxy.

Roxy is a rebel rouser. She's the friend who makes you weave your arms through the volleyball net so she can pull your pants down.

Foxy Roxy likes to ambush her friends and dress them up in kooky outfits and take them out in public. She always makes sure she looks exceptionally fine when carrying out these attacks.

Foxy Roxy...let's call her Foxy for short...Foxy is ultra talented. She sings Karaoke like a cowboy in a MT saloon. To see her on a bicycle is awe inspiring. And let's just say smarts run in her family.

Foxy is a run way diva extraordinaire. She outwits, outshines, outlasts...and she takes her friends with her.

You've gotta love Foxy if you've ever been around her and sometimes, just sometimes, Foxy gets what's coming to her!

Oh Beautiful Lady....

The Economy

Almost always there are elements of life that are cyclic. They come around, we grow a little, they leave, we slack, they come around again. As you go through the spicy cycles, I suggest you search for the sweet. So, on that note, here are my top 5 reasons I can handle unemployment:

5. I don't forget to ask Kurt about a "honey-do" item, because he's always close by.

4. I get to sort through all the to-good-to-be-true fraudulent Craigslist Ads.

3. I have a great response when my kids ask for things.

2. I can add "it saves money" to the reasons my family should enjoy vegetarian cooking.

1. Telemarketers tend to stop mid-stream when I go into my woe-is-me tale.


Truthfully, I'm also able to reflect on how blessed we have been over the past few months. We had medical & dental insurance which covered my kidney surgery, Hunter's clumsy mishap, Cooper's Orthodontics, and much more. If you would like to read about our specific economical opportunity, click here.

8 is enough

8 TV SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH


1. Criminal Minds

2. Heroes

3. Can't write it outloud...too embarrassing.

4. The Office

*That's it, no cable and too much homework.


8 PLACES I LOVE TO EAT


1.Home

2.Olive Garden

3. This one place DJ took me to.

4. My mom's house.

5. My grandma's house.

6. Whitewater Pizza

7. Red Robins

8. Flatbread Company

8.THINGS THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY


1.I made 24 mini muffins

2.I took a quiz

3.I talked to DJ

4. I washed dishes

5. I read a bunch of techno gobbley gook

6. I talked to Sherri

7. I hugged my boys

8. I cried


8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO


1.Thanksgiving

2. Halloween

3. Flu Shot

4. Stability

5. Church

6. Hair appointment

7. Reading

8. Christmas

8 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT FALL


1. The colors

2. The temp

3. The holidays

4. Routine

5. School

6. Anticipation

7. Our Anniversary

8. Hunter's Birthday


8 THINGS ON MY WISH LIST


1. Face my flaws head on

2. Braces

3. Jeans

4. Perfume

5. Kurt's dream job come true

6. Go see family

7. Learn Spanish

8. Settle into my life's work

Car Quiz

I'm a Ford Mustang!

You're an American classic -- fast, strong, and bold. You're not snobby or pretentious, but you have what it takes to give anyone a run for their money.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

My Heroes

Cute, Easy Craft

Go to Skip to My Lou for directions.

I wish I were a shark!

I wish I were a shark. There are lots of reason. For instance, you never hear anyone say, "I think that shark gained weight". When a shark eats someone's pinky toe, no one responds with "must be PMS". Today though, I have a very specific reason I wish I were a shark.

Today, I ate a tooth. My tooth. Yep. I was eating cookies when I crunched down on something. I figured an egg shell must have slipped in. Then, there seemed to be something stuck on the edge of my tooth, so I kept trying to pick it off, but really it is a jagged hole. It probably looks like a shark tooth.

If I were a shark and I broke my tooth or lost a tooth, another tooth would just rotate forward and take it's place. They renew their teeth, so they always have a spare. Think of the money you could make alone. You would make money and save money because you wouldn't have to see the dentist (nothing against you Kevin, or Dr. Gray for that matter). Being a shark sounds really good right now.

How well do you know us?

Pitfalls of the Media

I have a truly scary story to share, but it's not fiction my friends.

Today, while I was stretching post-workout, I turned on the T.V. I began to watch a talk show and the supposed topic was Motherhood. They did a video intro on a woman who is a perfectionist, I mean EVERYTHING has it's place and is IN it's place (oh how I envy...in a good way). Then, after the video clip, the woman and her daughter are on the stage and the hosts introduce another mom and label her the "laid-back-daughter's-best-friend" mom. The hosts then begin to pick apart the first mom, barraging her and her daughter with questions that obviously intend to cause contention and promote competition with the other mom. Sure enough, when they begin to ask the "fun" mom what she thinks, she begins to promote the way she parents while adding barbs about the other woman's parenting style. I doubt it was ever the intention of the 2nd mom to do so, but the media set it up to become an arena of parenting competition.

I turned the T.V. off. The last thing we as women, mom's or not, need is to feel that we have to defend every decision we make. We're hard on ourselves. We, for the most part, know our weaknesses. We are trying, really trying, to do what is best for our families, our communities, our God. So ladies, here is my plea: Ignore the media. Embrace each other's differences. Learn from each other. Be humble, be teachable. So what if we don't approach things the same way? Encourage one another. As long as you are striving to improve, forgive yourself for deficiencies and always be forgiving of others.

Don't let the dark side pull you in. You have a wonderful work to do.

Enlightenment

By far the highlight of my weekend was sitting in my pj's absorbing General Conference. Sometimes, I need reminding. And sometimes, I need encouragement. And often, I need guidance. So, I'd like to post some of my favorite remarks from this past weekend.

• Establish a residence in Zion and give up your summer cottage in Babylon


• In righteousness there is great simplicity!


• You don't know everything, but you know enough. (I'd like to add "so get to work")


• Fear and faith cannot exist in our hearts at the same time


• Despair drains all that is vibrant, pollutes the soul.


• The things we have hope for leads to faith. The things we have hope in leads to charity.


• Come what may and love it


• The way we react to major adversity can determine the happiness in life.


• It is by faith angels appear unto man


• Forgiveness in Mandatory!

Greatest Brother in Action Award

My first "Greatest Brother in Action Award" goes to Kevin (I think I need a better picture of you...sorry). All of my brothers are fabulous and I could spend hours on end with them, but Kevin wins this oh-so-special award because of something he did just the other day. You see, Cooper wants to be a wizard for Halloween, but finding a cloak that didn't cost 2 kidneys and a lung was proving impossible. Last week, I was struggling with an intense school project when Kevin popped up to visit on instant messenger. The conversation turned to Halloween and I explained my cloak plight to him.


Within seconds, a link appears. Unbeknownst to me, I'm related to Nigerian Royalty and if I just send him some $$, he'll be able to send me my right deserved and earned fortune. Just kidding, the link was to the Spokane Craigslist site where a cloak, in Cooper's size, was for sale for $10 (which I can easily afford once I get some of that Nigerian money). I told Kevin it looked good and he called the gal. Within 20 minutes, he went to her house, bought the cloak, and mailed it to Cooper. He was thrilled. What kind of brother spontaneously eases a little stress in his sister's life? My kind of brother. This time, it was Kevin...to be specific. Thanks Kevin!

ps. Please don't tell our other brothers my exact wording to you that day. Let's be diplomatic!

Just Don't Say It

I'm serious. Don't put it out into the Universe. Don't chance it. Remember my girls night (see prior post)? I said it. "My boys have never had stitches"! I might as well have added they had never broken a bone. I know what you are thinking. You should have knocked on wood. Well, HA! I did, I knocked on real wood and it didn't work and I'll never do it again because I know it doesn't work and it just makes me appear to have an odd tick or something.


Fast forward to today: I had plans, good plans, fun plans. Today is my friend's, Brie, birthday. I was going to get her some delicious, non-homemade lunch and take it to her at school. It was a surprise...good thing. I had my usual Wednesday-no-workout-day and hopped in the shower. I got dressed and blew my hair dry when the phone rang. It was Hunter's lifetime sports teacher. Not good. She explained Hunter had dropped a weight on his finger & it didn't look good. So, I zipped over to the school and we went to the nurse's office. Due to it's stitch worthiness, we drove to our doctor's office.


How was Hunter during this time? He went into hyena shock. That's right...giggling like a little school girl the whole time. He was SO thrilled to possibly need stitches. He smiled at he prison guy we saw in the lobby, giggled at the check-in lady, practically raced to converse with a woman we know. It (it being my crazed maniac of a son) definitely needed stitches, but due to the fact it was a 30 lb weight, it needed to be x-rayed. I took special Hunter to the x-ray area where he laughed and grinned and jumped around, practically shouting "look at me, look at me". In the end: 4 stitches, one chipped bone, a possible trip to a hand specialist. Don't say it...don't put it out into the Universe. Don't...Ever...Not Once...Knock on wood. Exasperating wood!