Candy Stash-er, Good Hair Day, Cute door

This little cheese saw me get out the camera and ran over to make faces at it. He then wants to see them on the screen. I don't know what is in his mouth. So for girls camp a few weeks ago I bought a ton of candy for the girls and ended up coming home with some extra laffy taffy. Bode found the bag and so I gave him one and he loved it, of course who wouldn't love taffy? Soon after that he ripped open the bag, and there was candy every where. So I thought I got it all pick up. But he has randomly come out of his room with taffy, like once a day! So I was cleaning is room and found a stash of it under his bed. I figured I had solved the problem, but I was wrong. Jeremiah was watching him on Saturday and Bode kept coming to him with taffy!?! So a little while later Jer hears Bode whining, so he comes out to check on him and he is by the entertainment center with his hand between the TV and the side of the entertainment center. There was just enough room to stick a few little taffy's between there and he had been saving them for a while I guess! Gonna have to watch this kid!! Little candy monster!

So don't think I am conceded but I had a good hair day. All women know that having a good hair day can make or break the day. My hair is getting so long, for me. Normally this is about the time I get fed up with it and go hack it all off. Just a few more months and maybe a full ponytail! That will be the first real ponytail since, I don't know, seventh grade!!!

Isn't this cute. It is on the door going into Bode's room. It is in the process of being decorated in old plains and cars and I just thought this was cute. My mom just got a vinyl machine for up here so I was playing around with it. Way to much fun!

A little late...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM AND CONNIE!

Sorry this is an old picture but a good one any way. I love you both!! You both make a strong couple and I am so glad you are in our family Connie! I need a new picture of you guys this one is so old. Abbey is huge now and such a cutie! We can only hope the next one will be just as cute;)

Yeah for Video

Now I don't have to deal with photo bucket to get video's on my blog! Jeremiah wanted me to post this awhile ago and I had trouble. So this is him in Colorado this year.

Noboby wants C.H.A.O.S.

So this is how this charts works. I have this specialized for my house, so you do the same for the rooms and priority of the rooms in your house. I set up a table in publisher or word to keep it organized.

To the left is a description of what each job entails. So if for some reason my husband wants to mop he can look to the left and know that "mop" on the chart means that the kitchen floor, entryway, bathroom and laundry room needs to be mopped at the same time. (so he might choose and easier chore instead)

On each day there is a "deep clean" day. That means that each day a specific room or area gets special treatment. Like if it is the laundry room, instead of just spot cleaning it I go full on and spend extra time in there to make sure it gets extra clean because I wont really clean it again for a whole week. So when "bedrooms" come along I clean out drawers and closets without losing to much time.

At the bottom I have morning and evening things that must be dome everyday. Mind are; make beds, unload dishwasher. In the evening; load dishwasher, sweep and spot clean.

Spot cleaning is picking up the small messes from the day toys, shoes, projects, and throwing away old mail and trash.

Another thing that gets done everyday in the kitchen. I wipe down counters and keep them free of clutter. I load the dishwasher through out the day. Maybe it is just me but when my kitchen is lcean I feel like my house is just plain old cleaner.

This has really helped me. Hopefully it can do the same for me. I don't always follow it exact but if I atleast try, my house stays under my control. I am always looking for time saving house things so post what you guys to. I would live it!

The Chart

I will post the whole chart and how it works this evening. It really does work and it has made cleaning a lot easier for me. So if you are interested check sometime tonight and it will have the details.

100th post

Just me in my everyday life. So I was "blog surfing" through some sites and ending up reading an entry form someone talking about how everyone seems so perfect in their blog worlds. I know I have mentioned this before but what the hey, why not again. Like all the pictures of me are super posed or black and white or nonexistent at all becasue ever since I had Bode I am so uncomfortable with myself. Ahh motherhood, chubby belly is one of my calling I guess. This is me in my everyday life. I do manage to shower before Bode gets up but I rarely put on makeup. Now that I can kinda put my hair back, I sport the pony everyday. But besides my belly. I have come to like myself and the things that make me, me.

Here we are just playing. Bode would not look at the camera and Stat in right there under my are just playing with us. I love this time of the day when I just relax and play with my little family. Our little pup. He is so good...knock on wood! Look at this face. Jeremiah taught him this face and it cracks us up. He was catching people's eye all through church and whipping this face out. Talk about a distraction.

AAA...my beautiful flower. We got this from our old landlady right before we moved into our house. She said to consider it a house warming gift. It was so small. Now it has grown so big!! I remember the first time it had flowers on it and it made me so happy!!! That is Jeremiah's cactus in the corner. Since we don't live in the desert we have to have a little of it around for him.

This is my CHAOS chart, you know Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome. Cheesy I know but it keep my house clean and my brain functioning. It is a system I modified to fit me after reading a book of my Mom's. It makes it so I never have take that dreaded day of to to completely drain myself and clean my whole house. I clean a little bit everyday and so that by the end of the week my whole house is clean and I feel like I didn't hardly to any work.
Although my all time nemesis still lurks around every corner of my house...dang laundry. I have got to figure out how to get it done before I have a tone of kids going through a ton of clothes everyday. Any suggestions?

Jeremiah James

1. Who is your man? Jeremiah

2. How long have you been together? Three years in October

3. Dating/Engaged/Married? 2 1/2 years

4. How old is your man? 24

5. You or your man? Truthfully, sometimes I can, but over all he will eat more.

6. Who said "I Love You?" first? He did, I kinda forced it out of him.

7. Who weighs more? He does.

8. Who sings better? we both like to sing.. but neither of us are very good.

9. Who's Older? He is.

10. Who's temper is worse? I would say me... I can get snippy and he stays calm

11. Who does the laundry? me, but Jer will do a load or two here and there

12. Who does the dishes? Me, he will unload or load occasionally.

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does

15. Who mows the lawn? Jer mows the weeds

16. Who pays the bills? I do, but Jer always knows what is going on with our bills

17. Who cooks dinner? Me... but during volleyball Jer cooks alot.

18. Who drives when you are together? Jeremiah

19. Who pays when you go out to dinner? We both do, we share our money.

20. Who's the most stubborn? Me, I hate saying sorry. Jer is more kind hearted than me.

21. Who's parents do you see more? Mine, they live like 5 mins away and Jer works with both of them. Plus you all know his side of the fam, it is a bit scattered.

22. Who named your dog? We both did, along with some help from friends.

23. Who kissed who first? I did, nothing big just a little peck. That gave him licence to really kiss me or he never would have.

24. Who asked who out? I think he did.

25. What did you do? We had hung out before but I guess our first date was going to the football game, eating Hilly-B's Burros and swing on park swings.

26. Who's more sensitive? Me, but he has a very sensitive side.

27. Who's taller? Jer

28. Who has more friends? Jer, but he considers them to be more like family to him.

29. Who has more siblings? I have more blood siblings, he has a bunch of foster siblings and one real brother.

30. Who wears the pants in the relationship? He may be the head but I am the neck. JK I feel we are good at wearing that pants in our own equal way.

Nursery!!!

Getting a hair cut. If you look close enough you can see
a few killer mosquito bites on his forehead.

Well I know Bode isn't really quite 18 months old yet, but we shoved him off to nursery. I have my Primary calling so Jer has had sole responsibility of the kid during the last two blocks. Our nursery isn't all that big, like less than 10 kids, they welcomed him in with open arms. They were asking me if I should stay with him the first time but I said no. He really likes other kids and for the most part he doesn't need me around. When I came to pick him up they said he didn't even fuss or notice I was gone. I guess there are a few kids that are like 20-24 months that still won't stay the whole time without a major commotion. Oh well I bet the next time he will freak out just to remind me he isn't the angel child I sometimes think he is.

He was so little.

Stat is getting huge. He is almost completely house trained. He only has an accident by the front door when I am not paying attention. He still hasn't figured out that is he made a noise or scratched at the door that I would let him out. He is sleeping in our room on his pillow all night long. At six in the morning he puts his head on me and wants to go out. He and Bode are pals. They run around with each other until they both collapse.

Out with the old, in with the new.

Jeremiah is doing well. He is getting ready to take all his testing to get licensed this fall. And we are waiting on grants and our fasfas to see when he can start the NAU program to get his bachelors. He is getting ready to sell the orange jeep. We are going to keep the white one and get a lift on it for him and get a more dependable family car for us. We are trying to decide if we want a Jeep Grand Cherokee or a Nissan X-Terra. Whatever we get it will be fun to have power everything. I love my little white jeep but it would be great to have power windows, locks ext.

The varsity team at camp this summer.

Volleyball season had started! YEA! I love this time of year. Won't say the same for Jer though. It takes up time but I know I won't coach forever so I enjoy every minuet. I am assisting the varsity this year instead of having the JV team. It is fun to work with girls with a little more skill and a bit less pressure for me. I am watching a little boy at my house in the mornings three days a week. His name is Danner and he is four. I feel bad for him because I don't have older kid toys. He does play with Bode but nap time is a bummer for him. So on Wednesday we mopped and vacuumed. And on Thursday he played computer games. PBSkids.org has some good ones.

Anyway that is what we have been up to lately. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

53 questions

Just for fun. I was bored with cleaning my kitchen so I decided to waste a bit of time doing this.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:45 I have been trying to get myself back into a routine. It is nice to get all ready without a toddler trying to sit in your lap the whole time.

2. Diamonds or Pearls? Diamonds, princess,cut. Pearls and really classy, I am not in that league.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Cinema, What dork still says cinema? Harry Potter was the last one I saw. A birthday treat from my little sis.

4. What is your favorite TV show? I am stuck on Scrubs right now. I also love the Office.

5. What did you have for breakfast? Ego waffles

6. What is your middle name? Elyse

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Mexican

8. What food do you dislike? Beets

9. Your favorite chip? Doritos or pringles, I can eat a whole can in one sitting, so I never buy them

10. What is your favorite CD at the moment? I just listen to my blog's playlist, it has a bunch of random songs

11. What kind of car do you drive? Jeep Cherokee, but we are in the works of getting us a newer one . YEAH!

12. Favorite Sandwich? I love panni's aka a grilled italian sandwich

13. What characteristics do you despise? keeping up with the Jones'.

14. What are your favorite clothes? Workout clothes

15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation? Europe

16. What color are your eyes? Blue

17. Favorite brand of clothing? I love American Eagle, but normally I wear Old Navy

18. Where would you want to retire? Somewhere not hot and close to family.

19. Favorite time of day? When my kid is asleep, and it is me an Jer and we laugh and have fun

20. Where were you born? Show Low, AZ

21. What is your favorite sport to watch? Volleyball duh.

22. Pepsi or Coke? I know a few people who would shoot me for this but. Coke hahaha

23. Cats or Dogs? Both. We have a boxer right now. He is so good. He gets to sleep on a pillow ion our room now and he stays there all night. An I don't want to speak to soon but he is 99% house trained!

24. Are you a morning person or a night owl? both. I like staying up, and I like mornings

25. Pedicure or manicure? Pedicure

26. Do you prefer funny or mushy cards? funny

27. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with everyone? nope just life as normal as can be. Just the way I like it.

28. What did you want to be when you were little? A mom

29. What do you have in your trunk right now? Clean as a whistle

30. What is your best childhood memory? I have so many, but probably spending time at the creek catching tad poles or camping with my family.

31. What are all the different jobs you have had in your life? Maintenance worker, Sandwich Artist at Subway, Nanny, Ice cream scooper and night manager at a B&B. To name a few.

32. What is your favorite Holiday? Thanksgiving through Christmas. I also really like Easter.

33. What is your favorite dessert? Ice cream

34. Favorite Getaway? Who has time to get away.

35. Ever been to Africa? No

36. Glasses or Contacts? Glasses need a new prescription.

37. Ever been toilet papering? no

38. Been in a car accident? Yes, with Tim

39. Favorite day of the week? Friday.

40. Favorite restaurant? La Casita in Show Low

41. Favorite flower? A very specific rose. Jer know which ones. They are cream with red tips. My Grandpa Merrill had them in his yard.

42. Favorite movies? Zoolander, Pride and prejudice (sp), I have quite the range.

43. Favorite Past time? Volleyball, family time together, the computer, tv

44. Favorite ice cream? Rocky Road

45. Favorite fast food restaurant? Taco Bell

46. How many times did you fail your drivers test? Never, it was quick because I took it in November and there was a bunch of snow coming down and it was a bit scary.

47. Sandals or tennis shoes? Sandals. although I have a few cute pair of tennis shoes I like to wear.

48. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Only one? Sturbridge Yankee Work shop or Pottery Barn.

49. If the speed limit is 60 what is the fastest you will drive? 73, my brother told me that DPS won't give you a ticket unless you are going more than 15 over. (Don't hold me to that, I might not have heard him right...)

50. What is your bedtime? 9:30-10:00.

51. Last person you went out to dinner with? Applebee's with the Papa's on Saturday night

52. What are you listening to right now? "Popular" from Wicked

53. What is your favorite color? RED

What a weekend!

We had a fun weekend. It started Friday night with a 40min deture in Globe. There was an accident between Globe and Superior so we were going to have to cut across Roosevelt then down through Fountain Hills. Which would have added about 2 hours on our trip. Or we could have waited 3 hours in globe for the road to open. But my smart husband looked at a map and figured that we could drive through Winkleman then through Kerny to end up in Superior. That only to us and extra 45 mins. So that was a relief. We would like to drive it again some day to see what it looks like seeing as we drove through late at night. None the less we got there. We dropped off my little sister and her friend with another friend for the week end and we took off to Jill and John's.

The boys went golfing Saturday morning and the girls and babies went shopping. We found some good deals at the outlet malls in Casa Grande. And Yea I got to to to Target.

Then Jer and I went to visit Alex and Louis in their nice new home. Bode figured he could do anything he wanted and put on a show for everyone.

Then we went to the D-Backs game. I have never been and we has a really good time. Bode was a bit of a stinker at first but got over it after he got a corn dog. D-Backs won so it was a good game. Then we went out to dinner. Long day but a good one. It was fun to just hang out with family. After meeting Alex and Louis again for lunch we headed home.

Thanks Alex and Louis for all the Bode gift and lunch. Thanks Jill and John for the fun weekend. Next time we gotta go to a football game!

SALT LAKE CITY 10 August 2007 President James E. Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died at his home early this morning surrounded by his family.
President Faust, 87, had served in the First Presidency since 1995 and as a General Authority of the Church for 35 years. A Church statement today said that President Faust had died of “causes incident to age.”
President Faust was appointed second counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 12 March 1995. The First Presidency is the highest presiding body in the government of the Church.

He had previously served four years as an Assistant to the Twelve (the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is the second-highest presiding body) before being appointed a member of the presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy (other senior leaders in the Church) on 1 October 1976.

His most recent assignments included vice chairman of the Church Board of Education; the board of trustees of Brigham Young University; the Welfare Services Executive Committee; and Deseret Management Corporation.

Bruce Olsen, managing director of Church Public Affairs, said this morning that President Faust’s “gentle manner and depth of knowledge, which was an important part of his ministry for nearly 35 years, will be missed.”
“He was a true Christian who spoke and wrote with wit and wisdom,” Olsen said. “Many members of the Church loved his unique way of teaching the restored gospel of Jesus Christ at General Conference.”

Olsen said that Church members around the world are calling to extend to President Faust’s family their heartfelt condolences.

President Faust was born 31 July 1920, in Delta, Utah. He participated as a member of the University of Utah track team in 1938 and ran the quarter-mile and mile relay.
His college career was interrupted first to serve as a missionary for the Church in Brazil and later by World War II, during which he served in the U.S. Army Air Force and was discharged as a first lieutenant. In 1948 he graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor's and Juris Doctor degree. He began the practice of law in Salt Lake City and continued until his appointment as a general authority of the Church in 1972.

He served as a member of the Utah Legislature from 1949 to 1951, as an advisor to the American Bar Journal, and president of the Utah Bar Association in 1962-1963. He received the Distinguished Lawyer Emeritus Award from the Utah Bar Association in 1995. In August of 1997, he received an Honorary Doctors Degree of Christian Service from Brigham Young University. He was honored as a Distinguished Alumni at the University of Utah in 1999, and was awarded the Honorary Order of the Coif at Brigham Young University in 2000. In 2003, he was given the Marion G. Romney Distinguished Service Award by Brigham Young University Law School, and he was awarded an Honorary Doctors of Law degree by the University of Utah. President John F. Kennedy appointed him to the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights in 1962.
In 1998 President Faust received a Brazilian national citizenship award — an honor given to only a select few world leaders — and was awarded honorary citizenship of the city of Sao Paulo.
Married to the former Ruth Wright of Salt Lake City, they are the parents of five children: James H. Faust, Janna R. Coombs, Marcus G. Faust, Lisa A. Smith, and Robert P. Faust. They have 25 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren.

This article courtesy of LDS.org Newsroom

My sweet husband...

Jeremiah has been so sweet to me the last few weeks. Even though he has been so sick. He has had some stomach issues and still found the time to come pick me up from girls camp early. Yesterday he made the bed including changing the sheets! He came home with my favorite flowers and cleaned the carpet. I love him to death. He makes me so happy. I love that he loves me for all my imperfections.

I can do anything you can do...

What a cheese. I love this little boy. He is getting bigger and more fun everyday. He was too cute here. Jeremiah was clipping his toe nails, yeah I know on the carpet a bit gross. So bode decided to clip his too. He found his little clippers and did just what dad did. He is all grubby in these pictures, just the way I like him.

He has been such a jibber jabber-er that I was wondering when he would spit out some kind of word. He has caught on to "no" and he says what sounds like "later" as in "see you later". Also he is giving out kisses. He will pucker his lips and wait for you to make the move toward him. But if he really doesn't want a kiss he will open his mouth and tongue ya instead. He is such a joy in our lives.

Don't bother me...

Bode wakes up just like his Daddy...GRUMPY!