The Phillips Family

A Recap - January to April!

2010-04-11T16:18:00.010-06:00

Ok, so Jake tells me I am the worst blogger ever. I do a great job keeping up my Krafty Blog, but when it comes to the family one I kind of suck! ;) So while he's out enjoying 18 holes of golf with the guys, I thought I would surprise him that I finally got our blog-o updated! So this is seriously PICTURE HEAVY, but so fun going back through everything! Enjoy!

So, recap of the last few months!

January

Brady turned 7 on the 21st!

Brady got a new bike

Skateboard, helmet and pads (along with some clothes and toys)

Brady's actual birthday fell on a Thursday, which happened to be Senior Night for the wrestlers! So, the other coaches arranged for the Cheerleaders to sing to Brady! It was so cute, but he told me he was so embarrassed after! ;) (PS - the one side where its not full is the visiting team, the other side of the stands was packed of course!)

Here are a few pics of Jake coaching that night. Man, he is such a hottie! Love my cute husband!

Then there was the Little League wrestling club the high school hosted. They only did one tournament, but it was sure fun!

February

State Wrestling! Just one pic of the arena Jake took. He was gone for three days and we missed him a ton! They had I think 6 or 7 kids qualify for State, and their Freshman 103 pounder was the only one to place. He took 6th. They had a blast though and are really excited for next season.

Jake had a fancy work party that was a Black Tie Event, so we got all dressed up and had a blast!

Monster Trucks! After State Wrestling was over we took the kids to Monster Jam. It was kind of their reward for being such awesome kids through everything!

I forgot to take a pic (bad me!), but Gwynie did her Science Fair Project on lava lamps, and how they work, and the experiment, etc. She did incredible on it! Her teacher even asked if he could keep her board as an example to show future classes what it should look like! ;) I helped a little, but it really was all her! Just helps to have a crafty momma right? I do have pics though that we put on her board, this is one showing the bubbling. (Oil, water, food coloring and alka seltzer)

March

Disney on Ice! Grandma Deb and Poppa Wayne bought all the grandkids tickets (except for Sydney, she's too little still) to go to Disney on Ice! Gwynie and Hannah did't plan on wearing their twiner shirts, but it was too cute!

Deb and Wayne got Brady a bow for his birthday, so once it finally warmed up he got to practice in the front yard!

April

Snow! BOOO SNOW!!! April 1st - not kidding!!

Easter! The kids love dying eggs, their baskets and egg hunts. Just booooo snow!!

And our doofy dog Bridger. He has gotten HUGE since December! His paws are bigger than Brecken's already! Breck turned 3 this year too, crazy! So our little pup will be bigger than his big brother soon! This is one of his typical positions on the couch, weirdo.

And, I chopped off lots of hair again! ;) Super short, but I'm getting used to it! Gwyn also chopped her hair, I'll have to get a pic of her cut to post soon!

I also started a new job! I wasn't looking to leave, but an opportunity came up at Jake's work, and one thing led to another. Within a matter of a few days I had a brand new job! I gave my two weeks notice, and started my new job last Thursday.

Freestyle Wrestling Club

So the other thing that's been going on is the Freestyle Club. Jake is the chairperson for the club and has been running everything!! Since mid February we've had 3 day a week practices (Tues-Thurs) and then Friday night and Saturday morning/afternoon tournaments. Next week is our last tournament, and its State for both Freestyle and Folkstyle. Jake has been coaching not only Brady, but their other kids that signed up. So nice that a few of the highschool kids came and did it, too. They will definitely have an advantage next year! I have a folder where I'm putting all those pictures (and videos). Not counting this weeks tournament, I have 1079 photos!!! I have picked out 25 so far to post to the blog. I have a feeling I will be scrapbooking those for ages. ;)

Speaking of scrapbooking...I have fun news in that area, too!

Kandi's Addiction, erm Hobby

I was so excited to have a some fun opportunities come my way! Not sure if I'd mentioned it or not on the blog before, but I was choosen to be on a Design Team for Skipping Stones Design. I get free stamps (can't beat that), and create cards with them weekly. I LOVE their stamps, so funny and sassy! I've been doing that since December.

Last month I also found out I'd gotten a spot on the Staff Reporter team for Craft Critique! I've had one article published so far, and have a few in the queue. I have assignments based on what I currently have, or plan on buying, to write my articles on. I've also been fortunate enough to be selected to review products, and have them sent to me by the vendors! Woot! :)

I've had a few more cards picked up for publication as well, and have loved seeing my cards in an actual book! It was kind of surreal, walking into my scrapbook store and seeing my two cards and MY NAME in a book! Then, next month I was in Hobby Lobby and saw that months mag with a card of mine. Wow, talk about cool!

And the end...

Ok, well I think that's about it! My plan (HA!) is to get a post ready after next week of all the Freestyle Wrestling stuff going on and a recap of that. After that, well I think we are MORE THAN READY for a break! We felt like we've been going a million miles an hour...wrestling 5 days a week, working, kids homework/school stuff, then just trying to have fun every now and then. ;) Spring Baseball/Softball starts mid May though for the kids (Jake's team starts next week), so I'm sure we will be ready after three weeks of boring-ness and nothing to do. ;)

Better late than never....right?

2010-01-17T12:32:00.002-07:00

So my parents have been telling me that its been ages since I've updated our family blog. They would be very correct! ;) I honestly couldn't even begin to tell you everything we have been up to, but its a ton and we have been super busy! But of course, we all are, our if you have kids you are in the same boat! Last month I really wished for the remote from the movie Click. I just wanted to pause time, and spend that extra time just hanging out with my kiddos and super awesome hubby. I just had to remember to tell myself to breathe and relax and enjoy. Easier said than done of course!

So I decided today that I better update the blog-o and then call Mom to tell her the good news! :) Because I hate having things out of order I'll be back dating things so the "oldest/newest" post will be from October 15, and hopefully I can work my way up to now! (Please cross your fingers and wish me luck, I think I might need it!)

ETA - DONE!! I'm updated from October through this month!!!

A boy and his dog...

2010-01-12T16:05:00.000-07:00

Bridger has definitely adjusted well to life around here. Take a look...

Brado gets so tired some nights after wrestling practice and his warm shower that he'll crash on the couch. Such a sweet little man...when he's sleeping. ;)

Side note...the blanket is one my Dad's Grandma made for him! It is Dennis the Menace (which was so fitting for my Dad!) and my Grandma found it, patched it up, and gave it to Brady. He loves this blanket because it was Poppa David's. Brady has definitely been my Dennis the Menace so its funny to see this all come full circle.

The Coach - AKA my hottie husband

2010-01-03T15:30:00.000-07:00

I'd mentioned before that Jake applied for and was offered an Assitant Coaching position this summer on the blog-o, and now I finally have some pics to share! Thanks to my in-laws who took a ton of pictures at one of the Home Duels in December, and a few I took at a duel on the 2nd of January, I can show off my hottie husband in action! ;)

Jake goes into work early every morning so that he can leave early for wrestling practices. He drives out to Stansbury every day, does practices for 2 hours and has tournaments on the weekends and duels on Thursdays. Then there's Little League practices on Tuesdays and Wednesdays that I bring Brady to, and Jake runs those as well. Despite that hectic schedule, Jake has still managed to take care of things I need or ask from him, and balances it all. Sometimes I pick up a little more of his slack (hehe you know its true babe!) but I honestly don't mind because I know Jake is doing what he has dreamed about for years. This all started late October, and will wrap up next month at State which is also during his birthday! ;) Then after the high school program is over, the freestyle wrestling club starts! Yep, I know we're in it for the long haul! ;)

My in-laws took so many great pictures that I had a hard time narrowing it down! So I just picked out my favorites or the ones that stood out to me.

Jake starts out in the coaches chair...

And ends up on the floor where he can really watch, and coach, and yell!

Showing a Senior Wrestler how its really done. ;)

This wrestler is also named Jake. Apparently at a recent tournament Jake gave my Jake "knuckles" for having a hot wife. ;)

In the center of all the Varsity wrestlers giving them a pep talk before the final match.

These are a couple I took at the duel on the 2nd. This was actually at the high school Jake went to and wrestled for. I was able to get a picture of the "wrestling wall board" that Jake is on three different times. Its for State placers. :) Yeah, my baby rocked it in high school!

Obviously I'm still learning my new camera as I'd had it on the "Sports" setting so that it wouldn't show the display and I could snap away, so this is a little blury. But, this is Jake yelling something about elbows. Now, I know a fair amount of wrestling terms and moves, but I can't quite tell you what this is all about. I can tell you all about single and double legs, and cross faces and cradles, and how they calculate points, but I can't tell you the finer points of wrestling. Sorry, that's what I have my husband for to explain that to me. ;) Oh and my in-laws. They of course had two boys who wrestled so they know ALL about it. I love listening to them yell and cheer at matches. They crack me up!

And I just like this one. Jake is so focused during the matches. He loves this sport and is having an amazing time coaching. Just think, in a few years he might be a head coach. Wow, I can soooooo wait for that day! :)

New Years Eve

2009-12-31T17:00:00.000-07:00

Today is MY BIRTHDAY! I'm always asked how I feel about having my birthday so close to Christmas, and especially on New Years Eve. Honestly, my parents made sure everything was kept seperate so I always had plenty to go around! ;) They would even take all the ornaments off the Christmas tree and decorate it with balloons and streamers! That's probably one of my fondest memories of growing up, actually. I knew my parents wanted to make my day special and they always did! They never went out on New Years Eve either, even though I told them it didn't matter to me, haha! My husband also makes sure I'm treated extra special on my birthday too, thanks babe! I always say that everyone celebrates my birthday too...you didn't know it, but really you are! Cause I'm a cool kid, and you're all celebrating that I'm here!So this year I decided that since its been well over 10 years that I've had a "birthday tree" I would do one for myself! ;) Here it is! This one is for you Mom and Dad! :D

Christmas Re-cap

2009-12-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

Well the kids got spoiled again this year (as always) and loved every minute of it. I just wish it all didn't pass by so fast!

Christmas Eve the kids got their traditional jammies and of course loved them. Because I'm a good mom and totally know my kids! ;) Gwynie loves penguins (we called her 'Pen-gwyn' when she was little haha) so her jammies were penguins with a little seal friend! Brady got some skull and cross bones fleece jammie pants so he was diggin them! And of course a blue thermal shirt to go with em!

The kids also got a movie and the new Super Mario Brothers game for the Wii. All four of us played their new game before bed and it was a blast! Holy crap we laughed soooooo hard and had so much fun just playing and hanging out together! ;) Man I just LOVE these kids to pieces!!

Cookies and chocolate milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. Brady made it a point that Santa HAD TO HAVE chocolate milk this year. Thanks B! ;)

Christmas morning was a blur we just had a blast and I loved seeing the kids faces light up as they got everything they asked for and more. *sigh* I love these guys!

Gwynie with her vanity from Santa! She got little make-ups (from Claires), more jewelery and perfumes in her stocking. I found a hot pink blow dryer and straightner so she was in heaven with all her girly stuff Christmas morning!

Brady with his new tv and dvd player from Santa!

I just love this picture! My Mom and Dad got Jake and Brady some remote control Monster Trucks. Like the REAL ones that are super heavy duty! They were high fiving! :)

Christmas morning we went to Dustin and Erica's and did Christmas with his parents there, too. After that we packed up and headed up to Idaho to visit my grandparents and my Aunts family that made the trip from Colorado Springs. Coming home Sunday afternoon...everyone was worn out and exhausted!

A Puppy Surprise!

2009-12-24T20:00:00.001-07:00

Jake had been wanting another dog to be a "friend/brother" to our lab/retriever mix Brecken for the last few months. We'd tried it with another dog last summer (who was almost a year old), but they did not get along at all so we had to give the new dog away. We knew we'd have to get a puppy that would know Brecken was the Alpha Dog, in charge and the boss. I of course didn't want another dog, but I could see Jake's point in Brecken having a friend to run around the backyard with when we were at work and the kids were at school.

This is Brecken (this pic was actually taken in December!) - or Breck, Breckie, Brecko-Recko, or Brekker Brekker One-Nine (you know braker braker one nine), or any of the other nicknames we call him.

So Christmas Eve...Both Jake and I were working a half a day and I get a text from him saying to check my email and look at a link he sent me. It was for a puppy who was also a lab/retriever mix and was 7 weeks old. After talking me into it (and promising that I'd never have to clean up after it) I relented and agreed to get this puppy for the kids for a Christmas Eve present. So Jake left work to get the puppy and after an hour or so I left work and went home to clean up and get ready to surprise the kids. Jake brought the puppy home before he picked the kids up from daycare.

So when they came home we had the kids sit on the couch with their eyes covered and I very quitely placed the puppy between them. Needless to say the kids love him and Brecken and he are really good friends!

Meet Bridger! or Bridge, Bridgie, and Bridger-Ridger (see I have this name rhyming complex I think!)

The cat is not quite sure about him, but now that I'm writing this a month later they play like crazy!

Is this sweet or what?! Brady put his blankie on him after he just crashed after playing with us. One minute he was awake and the next he plopped on the floor and took a nap. Too cute!! ;)

Just to show that the dogs really do get along, here they are "playing"! Brecken let Bridger "play" at first, but now he tackles him and they rough house a lot!

Family Christmas Party

2009-12-21T20:00:00.003-07:00

I wasn't feeling very well so I didn't take that many pictures, but here are two pics of all the great grandkids at the annual Phillips Family Christmas Party at Grandma Lee's.

L-R: Gwynie, Sydney, Hannah, Bailey, Brady, Trinity, Abby, Ashlynn

Syd, Han, Bay and Abs are our neices, Dustin and Erica's girls. Trin and Ashlynn are Jake's cousins girls. Yep, Brady is the ONLY boy! Also, can you believe Bailey, Brady and Trinity are the same age??!! Brady was born in January, Bailey in March and Trinity in May...and Trin is the tallest (as tall as Gwynie is actually)! Stevie is a big guy so its totally understandable, but man Brady is so small, haha!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

2009-12-12T14:27:00.001-07:00

Our tree went up really late this year! Normally it gets done the weekend of Thanksgiving or the weekend after, but with Wrestling season and everything else it was crazy busy! Luckily its done and now we can just enjoy it!

Gingerbread house!

2009-12-10T14:22:00.000-07:00

Brady really wanted to make a gingerbread house this year so I bought a premade one that they could decorate. We had such a fun time I think it will be a tradition from now on!

The First Loose Tooth!

2009-12-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Brady had his first loose tooth! He tried wiggling it and wiggling it, and finally one day at school it was loose enough that he just pulled it out! Here are some pictures of us trying to get it out one night! ;) His new tooth was already coming in behind it so we knew it was only a matter of time before it came out. The other bottom one was just a teensy bit loose and the other tooth was coming in as well. Looks like the Tooth Fairy will be visiting very soon!

( See my grubby face Mom?! ) But look there's a loose tooth in there!

I'll just see if I can pull it out myself! (Seriously not staged, he did this and I snapped the pic...priceless!)

Jake tried some string and then dental floss, but it wasn't quite ready yet.

Sister hold my hand, it hurts.

Aww its ok little brother. :(

(They do this all this time its soooo sweet!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T20:00:00.003-07:00

This year we spent Thanksgiving day out in Grantsville with Jake's parents and his brother Dustin's family.

All the grandkids

And now one with Grandma and Grandpa!

These are some "tough" Phillips kids!

New Moon T-Shirts!

2009-11-25T11:50:00.001-07:00

Gwynie and I went to New Moon together and we made shirts to wear to it! I designed and cut everything on my Cricut and then used fabric paint to make our own custom shirts! You can read more about the process here on my krafty blog. I didn't want to leave Brady out of the shirt making so he made one as well!

Jazz Game!

2009-11-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Jake's company has season tickets (Row 1 seats 1 and 2!) and we got to use them again this year at the Pistons game on the 21st! I LOVE his company! ;) (Can you believe these tickets are 700 bucks a peice?!! Ya we are so lucky to get them when we do!)

Here's the typical "hold the camera out in front of you and hope for the best" shot!

This is Deron Williams, or D-Will. We sit right next to the visiting team so it was hilarious to hear them cat calling him when he was shooting free throws. They'd say, "Hey D-Will, hey D-Willy!" So funny!

And oh be still my heart! Just kidding! But this is my crush worthy Kyle Korver who's also a Jazz player but was out with knee issues. He was signing autographs afterwords so we took the chance to say hey, get a pic, and have him sign our tickets. I actually met him in January of this year at my birthday party at the bar. So fun to get another pic! ;) He is soooo very dreamy in person!

And one other Jazz sighting! Jake and his friend Nick were at the heated driving range of one of the courses they go to. (Yes golfing in November in Utah, it can be done!! Just at Jake and Nick!)Little did they know that Mehmet Okur was there golfing as well! Nick took Brady to say hi and snapped a pic on his phone. So cool that Brady was actually wearing his Jazz beanie too! ;) Holy cow is he ever tall! And look at him palm B's head! ;)

Halloween!

2009-10-31T23:00:00.001-06:00

Every year we go Trick or Treating with Sharon and her kids. Here are a few pics of the kids over at Sharons house before we left to get some candy!

And one other fun picture. At work our department was going to dress up as the Wizard of Oz characters. Barb and I were the only ones to actually dress up, but it was fun anyways! I'm sure you know who we are! ;) (She also brought this shower curtain to make it like our other co-worker was the Wizard behind the curtain!)

Carving Pumpkins!

2009-10-23T08:00:00.000-06:00

This year Jake and Brady carved a Black Widow (or black LIDow as Brady said when he was little), Gwynie made Jack Skellington, and I did a witch on a broom. I also made my pumpkin "puke out his guts" which the kids thought was hilarious. I had to reenact that one several times just to hear their giggles! :)

Pumpkin Patch!

2009-10-21T08:00:00.000-06:00

We love going to the Pumpkin Patch, and always make it a point to go to the same one every year. Its tradition, and by now the kids know exactly where I like to take their pictures at. They literally just marched right up, posed, and moved to the next spot! They are so trained its almost scary! ;)

Here's one that I take EVERY year! (For some reason I'm not seeing hardly any 2005 pics though on my computer, I'll have to figure out where I put my back up cds!) And instead of uploading tons of pics, I put it on this little page (with a few scrapbook elements, not anything big though, not enough time!) so you can see it all! ;)

*Click to make them bigger*

Ahhh such a fun walk down memory lane! It seems like forever ago that they were that small, yet only yesterday all at the same time!

And now for a few of the pumpkin patch pics from this year...not all of them though, I take far too many pictures to do that! ;)

The Things Kids Say...

2009-10-19T21:02:00.005-06:00

My kids are always so amusing...

Gwynie: Mom, even though I know you don't wear my pink jacket, do you know where it is?

Hmm, apparently I use that line far too often ya think? I always tell the kids when they ask where their shoes or clothes are..."I don't wear it so why would I know where it is?!" I heard that A LOT as a kid! ;)

Brady: Dad, these fishsticks taste funny.
Jake: Well then don't eat them.
Brady: You know what would make them taste better?
Jake: I don't know, what?
Brady: Ketchup. Ketchup makes everything taste better!

Brady actually LOVES fishsticks (I say ewwww) so this cracked me up when Jake told me about it. He really does love ketchup, too. He would eat 42 packets of ketchup for lunch if I would let him.

October 2009 Happenings

2009-10-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

So I wanted to break up all the October stuff like pumpkins and Halloween, but I have a few random things also. This is a random happenings post with all the extras! ;)

First, is our Gwynie! The 5th graders got to do a program called JA BIZTOWN where they had to interview for certain jobs. Then they got to do the work at a facility where they all worked together! Gwynie had to dress up for her interview (so cute right?!) and was so excited when she got the CEO position for Merit Medical! She made the most money out of anyone there! ;) She loved it and had a blast doing it. Here are two pics I took before she went to school and had her interview.

Here's Brady modeling the cool shark tooth necklace my Mom made for him! It was also hat day at school that day so he got to wear his Florida Gators hat!

And last, its POMEGRANATE season! The kids and I LOVE poms and they love to help me peel them and get all the seeds out.

Hehe, Twilight-esque pic! ;)

The Monster Mash!

2009-10-06T19:06:00.002-06:00

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Happy Halloween!

Golfin Weekend

2009-10-06T18:37:00.004-06:00

Well the cold weather is here to stay I think! Even though Jake tried to play golf three days in a row it just didn't happen! He went Friday for a work golf scramble, played 9 holes Saturday and then went for another 9 on Sunday. Too bad it rained and hailed Sunday! The weekend or two before Brady and I went to Mulligans with Jake to hit a bucket of balls. There is nothing like the sun shining on your back, a golf club in your hand, and boobs the get in the way of a great swing. ;) Oh well!

We had a blast and I'm hoping next Spring to get back into it. Brady's favorite part...cleaning the golf clubs!

Photo by me, edititing by Jake.

Random Happenings

2009-09-23T21:57:00.006-06:00

I have a few things I'll be back dating, but right now I wanted to just put up a few random things from our evening tonight. Its just that regular old stuff, but I love those little glimpses into everyday life so I thought I'd share!

First off is our kitten Roxy. (Named so because she looked like my old cat Moxy that died two years ago...sad story.) Anyway, Roxy was for the kids, but she has become my kitty ironically. The one person who didn't want any more cats...and who does she go to?! Every night she cuddles on my lap and its no exception if I'm vegging on the couch with my laptop . Well tonight she was being mischevious. (And the brat cat thinks I am a tree or something and is always scaling up my legs...currently she is on my shoulder...Arggg pirate cat!)

Here she looks totally innocent right.....?

Then she got curious, and kept peeking her little face and paws around the side....unfortunately every time I got the camera out she would move, but I have a little of it! Here is the one that shows her kinda peekin around the corner. It was seriously soooo funny she was being such a spaz!

I think right here she was curious about my phone...I had gotten an email or text and it vibrated so she was like what?! and was going to pounce! ;)

After dinner I made Strawberry Smoothies, and then the kids seemed to disappear. They were being REALLY quiet so I was a little worried I'd find some mass destruction in their rooms. This is what I found instead when I came upstairs...

The kids were playing together on a video game! I don't know why, but for some reason this just cracked me up and melted my heart at the same time. It was just so fun to see this...them being so quiet and concentrating, but giggling to each other, sharing tips and playing so well. I seriously have the best kids a girl could ask for!

Then I had to take a few pictures of Brady's Diorama he made in school. He was SO proud to show us this and tell us all the seasons. The funniest part...for Spring he made a boat with Jake on the wakeboard (like when we were at Bear Lake in July) and for Summer he made fire crackers!! Too cute!! He said he was going to make a snowboarder for winter but ran out of time at school. Talk about creative!

Winter...snow on the ground and no leaves on the tree

Spring...wakeboarding (well maybe in Florida!) ;)

Summer....firecrackers going off!

Fall...leaves on the ground and one hanging on the tree

And not to be left out...our 80 pound lap dog! Brecken turned 2 this year and is the dumbest smart dog I know. He is incredibly smart but can act so damn dumb sometimes! When he was a puppy I would hold him in my lap and rub his belly...well 2 years later he is still so spoiled and "sits" in Jakes lap to get a belly rub. Its a nightly ritual...crazy spoiled "kids" we have! ;)

Well that was just a little recap of what our night was like tonight. Of course there were dishes and homework to be done and all that *cough* fun stuff, but otherwise just a typical night here at the Phillips Homestead. lol homestead...haha

A New "Do"

2009-09-15T22:36:00.003-06:00

So I was getting really sick of my hair and decided just to change it all up. I was sick of maintaining the highlights as its a pain, and a small fortune. Do you know how many stamp sets I could buy with the money I was spending on my hair?! ;)

So I cut off 9 inches tonight (gasp! I didn't realize I had that much to cut off!) and dyed it a light brown. I think this might be the closest I've had to my natural color in years, but honestly, I have no clue what my real color is at this point. Its really more of a dirty blonde at the roots, but this color works for me.

At work I got some stunned, surprised looks, but everyone all said it suited me very well and as one friend told me...its make me look more together and sophisticated. Cool, I'll take that! As Jake told me, this is his new favorite picture of me.

Lagoon...its what fun is!

2009-09-12T22:44:00.002-06:00

Yay Lagoon! For my work party we went to Lagoon (like we did last year) and the kids had a blast. Brady was finally tall enough (exactly 46 inches) to ride all the big kid rides. We rode pretty much everything in that park, and some multiple times. It was so fun taking the kids on Colossus (the coaster with the double loops) and hearing them freak out at first, but then loving it after and begging to ride it again. I know I haven't laughed as hard as I did that day in awhile. But being with my family, having a perfect gorgeous sunny day, and a whole day to ride coasters...now that was perfect.

I realized at lunch time a very ODD coincidence....the kids were wearing the same colored shirts they wore last year! Different shirts, but still...I didn't plan it that way, but how funny! So I thought it would be fun to show some pics from last year as well just for fun!

2008

2009

2008

2009

(bad lighting...not as good as last year, haha BUT look how much they've grown!!)

The rest of 2009 pics below!

The story on this one...that is the kids little car getting SPRAYED with water, hahahaha!

One word....PRICELESS!

Brady wanted us to win him a Husky soooo bad and we did. Then we had to win Gwynie a Baby Patrick (from SpongeBob) and we did. $24 later they both had stuffed animals. ;)

Orange Blossom Crafts

2009-09-12T21:58:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to take a minute to tell you about something fantastic! Cause you know I'm always looking out for you all! ;)

My super fab Mom and sis Laci started an Etsy shop called Orange Blossom Crafts. Right now they have some three piece jewelery sets (necklace, bracelet and earrings), but are looking to add more crafty stuffs later.

Some of my favorite three piece sets are:

- Of the Earth

- Morgana

- Just Beachy

And you can't go wrong with the Wish Upon a Starfish necklace, or the super fun (and totally wallet friendly at $10 bucks!) Go Fish! earrings!

How cool are these?! I love buying things that are handmade instead of just cheap-o things you know were made in China. Being the lucky person I am to have such fabby family members, I have a three piece set (in purple and black of course!) that I've had tons of compliments on. So, if you've been looking to spice up your wardrobe and add a few fun accessories in, well I've solved that little problem for you! Now the hard part will be deciding what to get, right?! ;)

Look what followed us home!!!

2009-09-07T15:05:00.004-06:00

Ok just kidding! This is the 2010 Porshe (Cayman) that Jake's company bought. This rotates among the top sales reps for 3 weeks at a time. Eventually its supposed to rotate through the management team, but until then, Jake got to take it out for lunch on Friday. So of course he came and got me so we rode around in style for half an hour. I had the camera in my purse from the football game the night before so it was super fun taking a few pictures of this gorgeous car.

P.S. The blog-o is NOW FINALLY CAUGHT UP!! So, a few (ok lots) of entries are now back dated, but everything is there and hopefully I can stay caught up again, hehe!

U of U Football Game

2009-09-04T14:54:00.000-06:00

Along with the first day of school, Fall approaching, and the beginning of September comes FOOTBALL SEASON!! :) We are such a sports minded family that we love this time of year! To start the season off right, we got to go to a U of U Football game, their opener! We have a few friends that Tailgate so we had dinner and hung out before the game. The Utes won 35 to 17 against the Utah State Aggies. It was a great game!

Brady wanted to make a goal post...hehe

This is Brady with Brian Johnson. We got a picture of them together last year (when Jake and Brady had sideline passes), and then during the summer Jake got Brady's jersey signed by him. So how perfect to get a picture of them together with Brady wearing the signed jersey! (Of course he was told he had to stay super clean because it will be framed here shortly!)

Monster Truck Show!

2009-08-26T14:49:00.001-06:00

Last Saturday we went to the Monster Jam Rally and had a blast! Brady is a HUGE fan of anything that has to do with trucks or cars, so its no surprise he LOVES Monster Trucks and Nascar, haha! We went to a rally last summer that the kids totally enjoyed, so we were estatic to find out they were going to be in the Rio Tinto Stadium. Jake's company has a suite at the stadium, so he asked one of the owners if we might be able to get discount tickets. Phil, who thinks the world of Jake and all his mad IT skills, told him he would do better than that, and gave him 4 tickets to the SUITE!! We had water and drinks and popcorn and Jake even had a few Coronas! ;) It was so much fun, and the kids thought we were SO COOL to be in a Suite! We sat on the balcony for the most part, but during the mini half-time we retreated to the nice air conditioned room to cool off after being in the 100+ degree heat. We had super comfy padded chairs, too! To top it off, Brady's favorite truck Grave Digger won the Freestyle competition!

First Day of School!

2009-08-18T14:39:00.003-06:00

I can't believe the kids went back to school today! I feel so amazingly old to have a 5th grade and a 1st grader!! Of course it will only be worse next year, haha!! They look a little sleepy this morning! ;)

Happy Anniversary Baby!

2009-08-16T14:24:00.000-06:00

Today, 8 years ago, Jake and I were married. Some days it seems like it was only yesterday!

For our anniversary, we went to a Green Day concert! There were actually here on our anniversary, the 16th, so it was perfect. As the wonderful wife I am, Jake even went golfing in the morning! :) We went to Red Rock Brewing Company for dinner, and then had a blast at the show!

Us at the concert

There are so many reasons I love my husband. Here are just a few.

1. I love that you have given the kids your passion for sports. The kids love playing sports, watching sports, and talking about sports. We go to several sporting events through the year and the kids love it.

2. You always take care of the yardwork so I don't have to. I've never had to mow the lawn, I don't even think I could start the lawn mower!

3. Jake always puts gas in the car for me. I probably haven't done it in at least 2 years...I know can you believe it!! I'm just a little spoiled aren't I?!

4. Jake is an exceptional cook. I say it all the time, but seriously, the kids and I would eat cereal and microwave dinners if it wasn't for him.

Love you Baby! You have made me so happy all these years, and I can't wait to see what else the future has in store for us! ;)

Ok, ok....

2009-08-10T20:53:00.004-06:00

I been begged, beaten and bullied into updating our blog. Well ok, the beating may have been non-existent, but I've been mercilessly begged by both my Mom and Dad to update the blog-o. Its just been a crazy, busy summer, but I guess that's nothing new to anyone else, right?!

So in my crazy OCD way I'll be back dating entries so that the events correlate with the dates. Yes, yes I know I have a problem, but really I'm fine with it so maybe you are the one with the problem huh? ;)

Alright so without further delay (because its not like its been delayed 2 whole months ya know...) scroll down below this post for some pictures and the goins-on at our house lately!

EDIT: I'm slowly getting caught up! 4th of July is now up...now I only have left....

-24th of July in Bear Lake

-Jake's exciting news

-Our anniversary

-First day of school

-Monster Truck Show

Coach Jake

2009-07-30T14:07:00.001-06:00

After the Summer Games Jake realized how much he missed Wrestling, but more so, how much he missed the Coaching aspect. As he watched the high school age kids he would think, that guy is too high, that kid is too low, he needs to this-that, etc.

So around the end of June he started looking on the School District websites to see about getting on at a high school as an Assistant Coach. I remember when we met that Jake told me one of his dreams for the future was to one day be a Wrestling Coach. Of course, not for a full time job, but because he loved it so much, and it was his passion. Jake wrestled since he was 5 until 20, when he had to have his knee scoped in college. I thought yeah sure, maybe one day...and that time has come for him!

Jake applied for the Assistant Coaching position at a brand new high school, and interviewed in early July. Let me tell you, putting together a Sports resume was a first for us! Once it was all done and put together, man he looked super impressive on paper! :) They finally made a decision, and he found out in late July that he got it! The Head Coach and Principal both told Jake that he came highly recommended to them! We are so proud of him, and we're looking forward to Wrestling season this year!

The logo for Stansbury High....the Stallions!

Bear Lake

2009-07-25T13:35:00.001-06:00

Over the 24th of July holiday (Pioneer Day in Utah) we spent the weekend in Bear Lake. Uncle Mick took his boat out on the lake, and we had a blast hanging out with our cousins! The kids have a blast (especially Axton and Brady!) and its always so fun to catch up with my cousins, too!

A couple funny stories about some of these pictures!

I had settled down on my towel to relax in the sun, and cute little Gracee came and snuggled right beside me. Too cute!

Before we headed out into the lake I wanted a pic of Gwynie.

She got mad after I took this picture.

She took off her life jacket, sat down and posed, and said NOW I could take her picture! HAHAHA!

Brady and Axton...crazy B as usual.

All the kids

Uncle Mick wakeboarding

Jake

For Uncle Mick...he wanted a pic of his boat with people in it! :)

Gwynie loves driving...uh-oh! She keeps reminding us she's only 6 years away from it!

And one of the funniest stories....Brady was driving and Mick was teasing him that the cops were going to come get him. Brady lets go of the steering wheel, jumps away and says, "You drive!" ;)

It was a super fun weekend and I'm so glad we got to get a day in at the lake this summer!!

4th of July!

2009-07-04T22:12:00.001-06:00

Following my OCD tendencies, this has also to be back dated! (Its 8/23 right now...just a tad late!)

For the 4th of July we almost always go out to Grantsville for the parade and a BBQ with Jake's Mom and Dad. There's just something about those small town parades that I love! Although, it always makes me mad that their cheerleaders and drill team don't actually march...they ride in trucks! What the heck!! For Drill Team we had 6 AM practices for months to get ready for the few parades we would march in! Plus, we looked good, too! So G-ville people...I'm just sayin...

Anyway, the kids love the parade to grab the candy they toss out, and we always end up with two bags full of salt water taffy (YUMMO!). My Mom usually gets the kids special little 4th outfits, but this year the Post Office guaranteed it to be to us on the 3rd, but we actually didn't get the package until that Monday the 7th! Bummer!

Here are some pics from the day. It was actually sprinkling a bit before the parade, but cleared up just in time for it to start. That totally cooled us down so this year we weren't so hot!

Waiting for the parade to start!

After the parade we headed over to see the classic cars at the park. The kids loved this oldie fire truck!

Then the fireworks and sparklers later at home...another fun 4th of July!

Everything I Learned....

2009-06-30T17:00:00.003-06:00

I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN!

We cannot believe Brady is done with Kindergarten!! It seems like he was barely walking and talking! He had such a great teacher and had such a fun year! For an end of the year field trip they went to the zoo and Jake chaperoned. I still can't believe in the Fall he'll be a 1st grader!!

Here's Brady...oh wait just kidding! However, here is my caption for this little monkey:

Monkey discovers opposable thumb...plots to rule the world.

Here is my cute little monkey in the middle! They all had a blast and Jake said he slept almost the whole bus ride home!

And here is one last one. This was Brady's end of year assessment with his teacher Mrs. Hansen. She was a delight and was a fabulous teacher! Jake actually works with her husband so all the time he would tell Jake stories Mrs. Hansen would tell him about Brady. We are pretty sure Brady was one of her favorites!

Double the Trouble!!

2009-06-21T17:00:00.001-06:00

Happy Father's Day to Jake and our Dads, and Happy Birthday to Gwynie! For the first time in 10 years, Gwynie's birthday fell on Father's Day! It was super fun celebrating the special occasion because we had so much to celebrate!

We went out to Jake's Mom and Dad's for a BBQ, and we took the cake that my friend Sharon had made for Gwynie.

Now, you all know how sarcastic I can be, yes? No?! Gee, you must not know me at all!! Well I really am, and I'm quite the smart ass. Yep, shocker I know. So here's a fun little story for ya about how I can actually be NICE sometimes! Yeah, I heard that...you just fell out of your chair. Its ok, just pick you and your jaw up off the floor now....

My Father-in-law Wayne has a certain way to put a hamburger together. Something about how the mayo goes on the top bun and the ketchup goes on the bottom bun, or...I don't know something along those lines. Everything has to be in a certain order and if its not in that order he says it doesn't taste right. He calls it the "Perfect Burger". So here was the convo as me, Jake, Dustin (Jake's older brother) and Wayne were putting our burgers together.

Wayne: (to us) You're doin it wrong! That's not the way it goes!

Dustin: Its ok Dad. At least one of your kids knows how to make a burger the right way. I know perfection when I see it.

ME: Well then I must know perfection when I see it too, because I married JAKE!!

*Kandi and Jake high five*

Score bonus points for me on Father's Day!! Wooo! :)

Alright, enough of the chitty chat for now, here are my favorite pics from the day! :) How I managed to not get any of Jake and both kids is beyond me...

Gwynie is modeling her new jewelery my Mom made for her! The necklace, bracelet and earrings are so cute!

Gwynie and her froggy cake!

Gwynie Turns 10!!

2009-06-20T17:00:00.004-06:00

Gwynie "officially" turns 10 tomorrow, and we feel sooooo OLD!!! Today she got to have a party with her friends and celebrate the day! Unfortunately it rained, which was a total bummer because we had reserved a pavilion at the outdoor pool! Never has this ever been a problem, but of course with all the weird weather going on...

We moved the party to the indoors pool and the girls had a blast swimmin around! Brady got to bring his best friend Taylor, and our friends Sharon, Dru and their kids all come as well. It was so much fun!

Here are a few pics from the day!

This was a card her friend Autumn made for her. It says, Happy 10th Birthday, with a 10 dollar bill! What a cool idea!

Also, just something really random. We have snails in our flowers beds like crazy! Later that night this little guy showed up, and was just making his slow way across the steps back to the flower beds. Gwynie thought it was really cool!

Dear Blog

2009-06-17T21:13:00.007-06:00

Dear Blog,

Yes, yes, I know. You are feeling neglected. However, Blog, you need to realize that so many things are going on and making REAL LIFE busy for our little family. Yes, I know you understand, and that you are all for us having a great time making memories and taking fun pictures so that I can then upload them here for you, Blog.

What is that you ask? What have we been so busy doing that I've been neglecting you so harshly? Well, let me tell you.....

First, there have been the day to day things.

Gardening:

(and earning $$ for allowance!)

Catching up with friends:

(George's going away party)

BBQ at the neighbor's house:

Work:

(no pictures, sorry Blog)

Kandi was promoted at work and now works in the Finance Dept. processing the Accounts Payables. Its a very busy and a bit stressful of a job, but she loves the work and the company she's called home for 2 years now.

And then there are always the funny random things that make us laugh each day and appreciate our funny kids.

This, dear Blog, is what happens when a train goes over a "cliff". Just ask Brady! ;) His track went from his bedroom, down the hall, and then down the stairs...to the demise of all the trains you see here.

Then there have been a few road trips we've taken.

First was to Colorado Springs for Lauren's graduation. Unfortunately we were having too much fun just hanging out so there weren't many pictures. Mainly just the scenery, and a visit to Garden of the Gods for a few prime pictures before it was a massive downpour on us! But, I do have some funny hotel pictures! The kids love hotels, and think hotels are the coolest things ever. Guess we know we'll never have a problem traveling with them!

And this quite possibly (according to the kids) was the COOLEST SHOWER EVER! It was just very cool looking so they kept talking about the shower so much that I took a picture of them with it.

Then it was off to Cedar City so Jake could wrestle in the Summer Games. This was during his warm up, when he didn't know I was snapping pics!

Also, there's been a fair amount of hard work going on at the Phillips house. Jake has lost 34 pounds so far this year, and Kandi has lost 15. Both are committed to healthier eating, better focus on staying fit, and staying active and busy with the kids. However, neither is quite done yet and will continue down this road!

Gwynie has worked very hard on her grades all year long and ALMOST has straight A's. Math is the only grade at a B! We couldn't be more proud of her and her hard work, and dilligence to homework and classwork.

Brady's also been working VERY hard on lecturing to all of us about all the different animals that inhabit this planet. Brady has become quite the Animal Planet buff and can recall endless (and I mean ENDLESS!) facts about all sorts of animals.

The other hard work has been on Kandi's part and can hardly be classified as work, but more of working the creative juices! Kandi will have her very first published card appear in the CARDS Magazine in November! Its very exciting and such a sweet sense of accomplishment for a hobby she's passionate about. But, you can't see the card until December, a month after the book has been out....so there Blog!

So Blog, are you happy now? Of course there are other things that will need to be posted later, like Brady's Kindergarten Program (no pics but video - too dark in the gym!), funny stories and things the kids have said recently, and Gwynie's birthday this weekend! But Blog, I will definately try not to leave a month gap again! Hopefully by that next time I post, you can expect more frequent updates like you've enjoyed in the past.

The Phillips Family

Quizno's Commercial = DIRTY DIRTY!

2009-05-11T22:10:00.000-06:00

Ok, I never noticed this before, but leave it to Jake to notice it. How many times have I seen this commercial??!! What you are looking for is the very beginning.

Oven: "Scott, I want you to do something for me."
Scott: "Not doin that again...that burned."
Oven: "We both enjoyed that."

NOTICE WHERE HIS EYES GO WHEN HE SAYS "THAT BURNED"!!!!!

Hmmm I always thought he burned his hand...wellllll...erm yeah....are you all seeing what I am seeing here?!

Spring Pictures

2009-05-05T22:58:00.002-06:00

I just had to show off the cute Spring pics the kids brought home! I love seeing these cute school pictures! :) Sorry for the crappy quality of the scans, but aren't these kids adorable?! Well, of course they are! Gwynie looks so grown up, and Brady is such a cute little man! (I've been told by Jake I can't call him a cute little baby anymore, so he's the "little man" now!)

Family Rock Band?

2009-05-03T13:15:00.004-06:00

We're starting a family rock band...or so I've been told. According to Brady we are anyway. He's the manager so he made us all sign "IN CURSIVE" our signatures on the band contract. When I went to sign it he made sure to tell me it had to be in cursive because this was a serious contract. Of course, I had to ask him what signing this contract meant. He said it just means I'm in the band. Well, like a rocker who just wants a gig and a record deal, I signed my life away. Hope it doesn't come back to bite us, as he just made us sign a blank contract. Sneaky...no?

EDIT: I forgot to add, he already has our first show lined up...Ready for where its at?

OUR ROOF!

Easter, Baseball and a Museum...all made for a fun month!

2009-04-26T20:08:00.004-06:00

Well, its been awhile that I've posted anything about the fam. I finally decided tonight that I better just do it instead of feeling guilty about it. (Sorry Mom! I know how much you like to see these!)

So....here is a jumble of stuff all at once!

First, I better do some Easter stuff. Here is a quick recap of what our week had been shaping up to be...

Wednesday - Dye Easter Eggs

Thursday - Bees Baseball Game

Friday - Kids spend the night in Grantsville camping with Jake's Mom and DAd in their trailer

Saturday - Dutch oven cooking, shooting clay pigeons, easter egg hunt w/ Jake's family

Sunday - Easter

The Bees game ended up getting postponed on Thursday. It was their opening game and we had gotten our tickets for 75 cents each! Since the game was postponed we could use our tickets for Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Well, we knew we couldn't use them on the first two, so we decided that if the weather was nice we would go on Sunday. Even though it was Easter, we thought it would still be fun for the kids.

So first, Easter egg dyeing on Wednesday night!

Gwynie's eggs

Brady's coloring an egg with these paintable things I found at the store. Of course it was all blue...which we told him he could have just dyed, but oh well.

Here are their eggs, all done! Word to the wise...don't fall for those foil or glitter things next year. They were awful and messy and didn't work. You would think after how many years of always buying the "cool" dyes I would just realize they never work and stick with the standard stuff.

On Friday Debbie, Jake's Mom, came to pick up the kids about noon to take them camping in their trailer for the night. We went out on Saturday, and Jake's brother Dustin and our neices Hannah, Bailey, and Abby came as well. Erica and the baby stayed home since Sydney was sick.

The kids got Easter baskets, and then had an egg hunt. We did dutch oven chicken, potatoes, and a peach cobbler. It was delish! :)

Kids with their Easter baskets from Wayne and Deb
The Phillips Boys...in all their glory

Sunday the kids woke up to their easter baskets, an egg hunt, and then that afternoon the ball game.

The weather actually turned out beautiful that afternoon! It was supposed to be 55 and partly cloudy, but the sun was shining, and we all got a little burned! I actually made the kids wear jeans, and they were bummed because they could have worn their new shorts. We ended up with even better seats than our original ones (and still only 75 cents each!!) so we were on the first row right behind home plate!

Last weekend we took Brady to the Museum of Natural History. Gwynie decided playing with friends was more fun so she stayed at a friends house instead of going with us. :( But we had fun, and it was more geared towards Brady anyways. They have a special Toads/Frogs exhibit going on until September. If you are in the area you should check it out, it was so amazing!

In the lobby they had two workers showing off a millipede, a hissing cockroach, and a tarantula! Brady had been dying to see a REAL LIFE tarantula so he loved this...but got a little scared right at the end.

Brady is the funniest little kid. He is a true boy and loves spiders, bugs, and all that stuff. He is so fascinated by the world around him, and is always asking us questions. He asks things like, "What is the deadliest scorpion on the planet?" or "Why are there so many different kinds of beetles?" and then wants to know about dinosaurs, and sharks, and sting rays all in the same breath. So the area here with the bugs, beetles, and scorpions was perfect for him...he probably could have stayed here all day long! Here he is next to a "Black Lidow". No, that's not a typo...its not a Widow at our house...Brady calls them "Lidows" and so we all say it now, too. :)

There is a great kids area here, too. Brady is uncovering dinosaur bones and had a blast playing in it!

Haha, no I didn't pose him like this. I told him to stand in it (kids area - don't worry no rule breaking here!) so I could take his picture...and this is what he did. Well, of course we just laughed and I got a funny picture out of the deal!

So right now...I'm all caught up...finally!

Laundry Day...Help Wanted

2009-04-14T19:36:00.001-06:00

Ok, I'll eventually get around to posting Easter stuff...but in the meantime I'm buried under a mountain of laundry. So this makes me laugh...

see more pwn and owned pictures

The Mom Song

2009-04-04T11:04:00.003-06:00

I wanted to save this until Mother's Day, but its just too good to wait another month! My boss Carol showed this to me yesterday...it is so true and hilarious!!

The Mom Song - Everything a Mom says in a 24 hour period.

An Update!

2009-03-30T09:13:00.005-06:00

My Mom pointed out to me on Friday that I never posted Gwynie's play or Brady's last wrestling match. Sure, I had plenty of reasons, let me count the ways... Ok well it can all be summed up by a book, or rather several books in a series. Guilty as charged. So, since I'm home with a sick kiddo I figured now was the best time to post! (Poor Gwyner has the stomach flu...ugh!)

Gwynie's play was awesome! The leads were 5th and 6th graders and then the 4th graders were all the Munchkins. It was so cute! The kids did songs and everything, and the scenery was amazing! It was too dark to really get some good pictures during the play, but here are two of her before the play.

The first part of the play was a small part from Wicked, basically showing how the Wicked Witch of the West became wicked. Message! :) She was one of the wizards in the classroom, and then a munchkin after Dorothy comes to Oz, and a dancer in the Emerald City. We were SO proud of her! She put in a lot of time at practices and did an awesome job!

Brady had his last wrestling match that same night as Gwynie's second performance of the play, so I went with her to the play and Jake took Brady to wrestling. Earlier that day they had found Jake's old headgear, so Brady decided he just HAD to wear it! He looks so cute!

They all got medals at the end, and Brady is holding his card they used to match them up with their opponents. All the schools got their own medals, so Jake told Brady because his had a blue ribbon it meant first place. Brady got a kick out of that! He even wore it to school under his hoodie last Friday!! (haha we didn't realize until that night, but it was funny!)

P.S. - This picture is sad because look how nice it was on March 19th! Now, we have snow all over again! :(

Now this picture is just for my own personal amusement. All of the high schools in the area have these banners in their school colors in the gyms.

If you can't quite see it here is what it says:

Welcome to (Insert High School name)
Where Sportsmanship is an expectation

Let the Players Play
Let the Coaches Coach
Let the Officials Officiate
Let the Spectators Be Positive

Hehe, that just cracks me up...you would think it would say, Let the Spectators Spectate! :) Guess I'm just easily amused.

And the next part of this is a plug for me, so I apologize, but I'm interrupting your regular Gwynie/Brady program.

I have made a community on Live Journal for Card Challenges. Each month, on the 5th of the month, a new challenge, or technique challenge will be posted by me. You will have until the 4th of the next month to post your completed cards and/or projects. After all entries are in, a random number (or name from a hat!) will be picked to determine the winner. The winner will get a prize or small RAK from me personally! I'm still figuring out all the details, but I plan on sending out RAKS if you post at least once to the current months challenge, or if we get a lot of entries, I'll draw names for one large monthly prize.

I'm really horrible at making cards. No, really! Unless there is something specific I have to make a card for (a birthday, a swap card, or other occasion), I don't just make cards for fun. Very rarely do I make a "just because" card. I don't try new things. I wait for my Stamp demonstrator to do it first (thanks Sharon!), and then I reproduce the effect, sometimes. I spend hours researching new techniques, new products, and card ideas...yet I never make the card. I download templates, but never make the box. So, I decided the only way that I would try the new techniques I want to do, make cards just to have on hand, or make a new box/project, would be to challenge myself. So I thought, why not make it even more fun, and have a Challenge Community? There are sites that are so large I don't feel that I "belong" or can't make myself at home in those vast sites. I decided to do my own, where I would feel comfortable, have fun, and share my ideas or things I found. I want to interact with other stampers and card makers, and I think this will be small enough, yet fun to meet other crafters.

Alright, so here is the deal, I'll post what I make on my krafty blog as well as the Card Challenges community. If you want to join the community its really easy to sign up for Live Journal. If you do sign up, you will see anyone else that posts to the community and you can see all the entries for the challenges. Or, if you would just rather, you can email me (kandipants21@gmail.com) your submissions for the contest, and I'll post them in the community. If you have any questions about the challenges, the community, or Live Journal in general just let me know! Here is the post I did about the community (lol I mostly copy pasted it here anyways...) with the challenge and the pictures of my completed projects. There are templates to download to make the projects. Ok, sorry for the shameless plug, but I thought if there were people that didn't read my Krafty Blog then I better put it here as well!

VERY IMPORTANT PLEASE READ ME!!!

2009-03-13T11:22:00.003-06:00

I just wanted to share this with you all. One of our field technicians out of the California office sent this email yesterday afternoon. I didn't have to think twice about donating.

Hello all,

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

I am John Croft, a Technician in California, and I am participating in a 24 hour Cancer Dance-A-Thon in Irvine this weekend. Yes, I know I am crazy to dance for 24 hours straight, but I know that it is for a great cause.

I know that Cancer has affected all of our lives in one way or another. Part of the event is to help raise money to support Cancer research and treatment. I know that times are tight right now, but I would like to ask if anyone would like to make any type of donation, even if it is just a $1 or $2 or more it doesn't matter.

You can check out the website http://www.danceathon.org, if you want to learn more. Donations will go to The City of Hope.

For those of you in California, the event is being held at the 24 Hour Fitness Ultra Sport off Von Karman and the 405. It is right across the street from the Irvine Marriott.

You can make a donation online at http://www.danceathon.org/index.php?loadbody=mip&mid=330.

Once again thank you for your consideration

John Croft

With so many people I know that have passed away from cancer (including my co-worker Kurk, and Grandpa Neil), that are currently battling cancer (my friend and co-worker Barb just had breast removal surgery yesterday), or are survivors of cancer (my cousin Trevor's wife Amy and Jake's Aunt Mary), I knew that I had to make some donation, no matter how small or large.

So, I'm certainly not bullying or pushing anyone to donate, but this really caught my attention, and made me want to donate for those crazy people dancing for 24 hours!!! So, if you can spare $1 or $2, it will really add up! It was so simple too, you can use either a Pay Pal Account, or just a debit/credit card. I've been feeling the need lately to be more charitable, and be more active in the giving process so this is a great start for me personally.

Thanks everyone! :)

2009-03-11T18:18:00.002-06:00

I see all of these little tag things in emails (sorry I never respond!), but I thought it would be fun to do with the kids.

Gwynie

Five names you go by

1. Gwynie
2. Gwyn
3. Gwynifer
4. Gwynie Po-Po
5. Gwyn Head or Poo Head

Three things you are wearing right now:

1. Jeans
2. Striped Old Navy v-neck
3. Socks

Two things you want very badly at the moment:

1. A cell phone (haha yeah!)
2. .............Nothing she says!

Three things you did last night

1. Watched TV
2. Played the Sims
3. Did homework

Things you ate today:

1. Baked Potato
2. Chili
3. Cereal

Two people you last talked to on the phone:

1. Mom
2. Grandma Della

Two things you are going to do tomorrow:

1. Dress Rehearsal for Play practice
2. Watch TV

Two longest car rides:

1. To Oregon for Thanksgiving and Laci's wedding
2. To Vegas

Two of your favorite beverages:

1. Dr. Pepper
2. Pepsi

Brady

Five names you go by

1. Brady
2. Brado-Potato
3. B-Dog
4. Brayden
5.

Three things you are wearing right now:

1. Jeans
2. Old Navy thermal tee w/ long sleeves
3. Socks

Two things you want very badly at the moment:

1. Another train track (he wants more!!!)
2. To dive with Shamu

Three things you did last night

1. Watched TV
2. Played on the Thomas the Train website
3. Did homework

Things you ate today:

1. Baked Potato
2. Chicken Nuggets
3. Cereal

Two people you last talked to on the phone:

1. Poppa David
2. Grandma Della

Two things you are going to do tomorrow:

1. Go to Wrestling practice
2. Color the pages I printed from the Rory the Race Car website

Two longest car rides:

1. To Oregon for Thanksgiving and Laci's wedding
2. To Vegas

Two of your favorite beverages:

1. Rootbeer
2. Fruit Punch

2009-03-09T19:11:00.004-06:00

Brady had his second Wrestling tournament last Thursday. Jake had really worked with him on learning the Double Leg take down before the match, and Brady showed he paid attention! I laughed at this because Brady did the same thing as I've heard Jake did as a kid. He would take the kid down...and then let him back up! Points! Its all about the points! :) Brady won this match 14 - 10.

This post brought to you by the letter W!

2009-03-03T20:34:00.009-07:00

Remember how on Sesame Street they end the show with..."This episode brought to you by the letter ___ and the number ____!" Well....

This post is brought to you by the letter W!

First the letter W for - The Wizard of Oz!

I had been meaning to post this for a few weeks now! Gwynie is in the school play, The Wizard of Oz! They were doing tryouts while we were going to be in Florida, but Gwynie talked to the teacher in charge, and they let her audition early! All the 4th graders got to try out to be Munchkins! :) They had to learn a song and perform it. When we came back from our trip, and she went back on track, she found out that she made it in! She's been working really hard for the last month, and has practices every day after school for the next two weeks! Their big parent performances are the 18th and 19th of this month. We are so proud of her, and can't wait to see her cute little munchkin self!

And....the next thing that starts with W...is Wrestling!

Tonight was Brady's first Wrestling Tournament...

I can't tell you how nervous I was before Brady's little wrestling match. Sure, this is just for fun, its not for medals, or anything like that...but STILL! My stomach was in knots, and I kept talking big gulps from my water bottle to try and dislodge the sick lump that had settled in my throat. It would finally go down, down, down...to where it would sit in the pit of my stomach. With the butterflies, and the knots. Those butterflies would then send that lump back up in my throat to lodge there, once more, and I would have to repeat the process. I know Jake was just as nervous as I was. His hands were shaking as he helped Brady put on his wrestling shoes and run through drills.

I know, I know, we had nothing to worry about, no reason to feel this way. As Jake said, "Wow, now I know what my parents went through!" I guess I really can't even begin to describe the emotions that were coursing through me. It was never like that with T-Ball or Basketball, or when Gwynie had her dance recitals or soccer games. This my friends, is a whole new Monster. This feeling...it...it blew me away. Never before have I ran this crazy, crash-course of emotions. Never before have I felt the elation of a proud Momma in one instant, and then was on the verge of tears watching my "baby" get ready to take down his opponent. I'm still not quite sure I understand it all. I honestly can't put it into words.

I was so relieved when Jake's family showed up. His Dad, Mom, and older brother Dustin came to cheer Brady on. I love hearing the stories from when Jake and Dustin wrestled as kids. The stories would get even better as the boys got older. I've heard a few times before that people around Deb (my MIL) would say, "Don't watch the match, watch that Mom, now that's where the show is!" She would get worked up, screaming, yelling, cheering, and cussing the refs. I guess that's what I get to look forward to. :)

I think I finally have it figured out though...thanks to my wise husband. He just said, "Yes, it's a whole new Monster. It's different than T-ball because that was a team sport. This is Brady, all alone out there, standing up and proving himself."

So....onto the match stuff! Now that my crazy emotions are finally going back down!

Brady's first match rocked! They way the do the matches, is the kids wrestle for three, one minute rounds. If they pin the other kid, they just restart the match and keep going. Well, in that first round, Brady pinned the kid! When we got the score sheets we were all like, no way, that's wrong! They had the match as 10-14 with Brady losing. Sure, they still raise both kids' hands at the end, but we were told they wouldn't be keeping score. I knew Jake and his family would still count points anyways though. Well, we got home and Jake watched the video. Sure enough, the score sheets were WRONG! They gave Brady's points to the other kid! >:( I know it doesn't really count, but it irritated us. Well, we watched it and we kept seeing over and over again where they didn't give points, or they gave the other kid points when they shouldn't have. So, after all was said and done, it was 13-9 with Brady winning! If it was high school, or any other tournament, with Brady pinning the kid in the first round that would have been it. Done, finito. But because they kept going, they kept counting points. So, even if Brady hadn't pinned him, and gotten his 3 Near Fall points, he would have won by points alone, at 10-9!

Now the second match...not so much fun. Brady was so distracted by everything else around him and he just didn't pay attention. We reminded him on the way home that the reason you pay attention is to not get hurt. Anyway, I won't say it was all on Brady because it wasn't. The kid he was up against kept choking him, and at one point they stopped the match because you could see that Brady was having problems breathing. Well, I guess I wouldn't want to stay involved in that match either if that was the case. I would probably be distracted, too. Also, when Brady was in bottom position, the kid, instead of cupping his elbow and crouching to the side, was sitting on top of him! Actually straddling him! Why the refs didn't fix that before telling them to start is beyond me. Well, probably because they are high school kids, but still. This is all about teaching the kids the basics, and the right way to do stuff, without hurting other people. So that match was 0-4, but Brady fought hard, and that's all that matters! :)

Digital Scrapbooking...Taking the Plunge!

2009-02-24T18:02:00.003-07:00

Ok so I did it, I tried my hand at digital scrapbooking. Wow! What a ton of work! It's really amazing though! I know I won't abandon traditional scrapbooking anytime soon, but this was really fun to try. I've never really done much in Photoshop, especially with the layers tool, but I'm pretty happy with my progress so far. I'll show you my second and third attempts, the first was just practice. I'll go back and change that later, but at least it taught me what to do and what not to do!

I had been debating even trying digital scrapbooking up until this last weekend. I never saw the appeal. I thought there was no way I would sit in front of a computer to make a scrapbook page! I was proven wrong...

The digital scrapbook my Aunt Teresa made was just so fantastic that it made me want to give it a try. Like most things I do, I researched it all day Sunday (lol from my "crack berry" on the way home from Vegas!) and then gave it a shot last night.

Here are the two layouts I completed:

I think this could end up being a new addiction. I want to have them printed at the place recommended by the site I downloaded the free kits from. If I like the result, I may do both traditional and digital in the kids' books. It might end up being a time saver, as well as a cost saver depending on the price of printing. It still did take me a while to do, and I still had to tap into my creative juices to make them. It was certainly not as easy as I thought it would be! There is still so much to learn, but at least it's fun so far!

I'll tell you though, I felt like a huge idiot trying to figure out how to crop the paper to fit behind my photos, and I was so proud of myself when I realized I could rotate the little ribbons (DUH!) and when I got the journaling just right on those strips in the second photo. *pats self on back* Again, it's a learning process, but I'm pretty excited by it all. It's just weird not actually feeling the ribbons, or laying the page out by hand.

All free digital products used (and amazing tutorials!) can be found at Shabby Princess. The first layout I used the Sweet Sprinkles kit, and the second one is from the Harvest Spice kit. There are also a few more out there, they are just a "Google" away! Shabby Princess is the first one that pulled up for me, and I was really pleased with their free selection.

SURPRISE ROAD TRIP!!

2009-02-22T22:57:00.000-07:00

Have you ever done something spur of the moment? What about a road trip? Well that is what we did Friday morning! We came up with our little plan Thursday afternoon, came home and packed, and then left Friday at 6 am. Wanna know where we went? :) Vegas Baby!

(Gwynie did a pretty good job taking this didn't she!)

But, there was a reason for our impromptu trip...Grandma and Grandpa Merritt. This weekend marked their 50th Wedding Anniversary!!

On Saturday night we watched a DVD and looked at a scrapbook Teresa had put together with all the kids/grandkids/greatgrandkids in it. It was awesome! To top off the night the kids (meaning the original kids!), and Grandma's sister Carol, came up with reasons why they had stayed married so long. Now, just a disclaimer, I don't remember all the reasons, and I'm not sure we ever hit 10 (we were all laughing too hard!). So if this list isn't perfect I apologize, but I know it's pretty close! Plus, I have writer's liberties at this point, and added at least one of my own. :)

TOP 10 REASONS WHY RICHARD AND LANETTA STAYED MARRIED FOR 50 YEARS

10. Grandma married Grandpa for his money, and he married her for her body. They both got jipped on that deal, so they stay married out of spite.

9. Grandma wanted to go to heaven and she knew if she put up with Grandpa for so long, well that was an instant ticket into those pearly gates. ~St. LaNetta

8. It's much too expensive to live apart!

7. Their marriage survived because of Grandma's patience, and Grandpa's work ethic.

6. They had to make it last to get the good stuff....the grandkids and great grandkids.

5. They are both too stubbon. Everyone said it wouldn't last more than a year...

4. Murder is a punishable crime.

3. You can't beat FREE nookie for 50 years...yet we all know it's never FREE!

2. They really, truly, madly, deeply love each other.

And the number one reason, as submitted by GRANDPA! The REAL reason why these two have stayed together for 50 years:

1. Grandpa loves her with all his heart, and he married the dumbest girl he could find!

So here's how we happened to be there and how this all came about:

There was a plan in place...Rick and Jody, who were celebrating their upcoming anniversary, were to meet Gram and Gramps in Vegas on Saturday and stay at Rick and Jody's timeshare. Grandpa was in on the plan though. All their kids, Mick, my Dad, and Keri (and spouses of course!) were all meeting there! We decided we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see Mom and Dad, and the rest of the family, since we are only about 5.5 hours away.

We met up with Mom, Dad, Keri and Tom Friday about 11 and then headed out to Hoover Dam. That was were Grandpa, tugging a reluctant Grandma, was to meet up with them. Little did they know we would send the kids to them saying they were lost! :) Grandma bawled of course, but it was an amazing surprise for her. :)

We were going to take the DAM tour, but the DAM elevator was broken (hehe), so we ended up doing the power plant tour. The kids loved it! We had seen the new bridge they are building on a History Channel or Modern Marvel special, so it was impressive to see it up close and personal!

Saturday was spent seeing M&M's World, and a few other places. We have a lot of other pictures, but my bed is calling my name! I'll leave you with this one...the whole fam damily, and some of just the original family.

L to R:
Mom, Dad, Me, Jake, Keri, Tom, Teresa, Mick, Jody, Rick
Brady, Grandpa, Grandma, Gwynie

For My Husband

2009-02-14T11:57:00.006-07:00

Wednesday was Jake's birthday, and since today is Valentine's Day I thought I would make a "special" post for him. (Hehe, if you got the special bit...yay for you! Fun family joke!)

So, here are 10 random facts about my hubby!

For My Husband

1. Jake's Mom's due date was actually Valentine's day. His Aunt told his Mom if he was born on V-day then they should name him Valentino. Good thing he was born on the 11th!

2. Jake wrestled for 15 years! He started at 5 and ended his season at Western at the age of 20, after undergoing knee surgery. He had his knee scoped and that ended his career. While in High School Jake went to Regionals twice, once to Pennsylvania, and once to North Carolina. He's really excited for Brady to start wrestling next month!

3. Jake has no middle name. I tell him his middle name is "Mine" to which he just says, "Yes Dear."

4. Jake is a true sports man. He can recall obscure facts about any sport (well maybe not hockey...but then again who does?) and rattle them off at any given point. He can also tell you the stats of almost every player.

5. Jake is a horrible speller. I think all the sports info blocks that part of his brain. :)

6. His Mom and my Mom are the only ones who call him Jacob. I do occasionally, mostly when I'm mad at him. But then it's Jaaaccoooobbb, because I'm whining at him.

7. In my Anatomy and Physiology class in high school I named my fetal pig Jake. Coincidence?

8. Jake HATES tomatoes. It's all about the texture. He says I've poisoned the kids because they love tomatoes. He will eat things with tomatoes in them, but never a slice or a cherry tomato itself.

9. Jake is a sleepwalker. His Mom tells us about the time when he took out the garbage in his sleep. Why can't he do that now??

10. Jake is an amazing cook. If it wasn't for him we wouldn't eat...or we would eat cereal a lot!

I saw this on my cousin Melissa's blog awhile back, so here it is!

1. What is his name? Jacob "Mine" Phillips
2. Who eats more? He does
3. Who said "I love you" first? Totally Him
4. Who is taller? About even, but him by an inch
5. Who is smarter? Of course me... duh
6. Who is more sensitive? Me for sure but he is a caring guy
7. Who does the laundry? Me - he ruins clothes so I won't let him, that or he's a sneaky bastard and knows how to get out of it
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? That would be me
9. Who pays the bills? Hmm... he does all the bill paying online, but I'm the one to remind him that they're due
10. Who cooks more?Actually, Definitely, HIM!
11. What meals do you cook together? None? I'll help every now and then if he's lucky
12. Who is more stubborn? That would be neck in neck if it were a race
13. Who is the first to admit they're wrong? I'm never wrong so this question doesn't pertain to me! :) So I'd say him...but we both hate to admit it.
14. Who has more siblings? Me
15. Who wears the pants in the relationship? He wears them, I just pick out which ones he wears, oh and I control the zipper
16. What do you like to do together? Just about anything
17. Who eats more sweets? Sixes, we both like sweets and are addicted to Twizzlers
18. His guilty pleasures? Guns, Poker, Rum and Coke...He's a modern day Captn Jack ;)
19. How did you meet? Lol, his roomate in college who was my boyfriend at the time...long, long story...
20. Who asked who out first? He did, but we were friends first and shopped a lot together
21. Who proposed? Him of course
22. Who kissed who first? It was def. him
23. His best features? His eyes and his smile
24. His greatest quality? He loves me and the kids so much. He would do anything for us, so I would say it's his caring heart, oh and his ability to put up with me.
25. Tag: Anyone with hubbies or significant others that wants to!

I LOVE YOU JAKE!!!

Jake, Nick and George...good friends and good times!

My sweet, cute hubby!

It's All in the Family

2009-02-08T21:24:00.004-07:00

I think I'm posted out...ok kidding, but really after posting all the pics (or a large portion of them!) from our trip to Florida, I really didn't want to post anything! Also, we took so many pics, I don't think I've recovered from picture shock. I'm sure the kids haven't! But, I did want to pop in and post something that makes me happy!

While we were down in Florida I helped my Momma setup a blog (yay!) and Jake made the mistake of showing Dad the wonders of torrents, and then sent him a 250 gig hard drive full of music. Long story short, Dad accidentally copied all the music from the portable hard drive onto their computer and almost killed it! Kyle stepped in and fixed everything up, but I'm sure they were kinda scarred about the state of their computer until it was back up! So, with those computer problems, and Dad hogging the computer, Mom is finally able to post again, lol! :)

I love blogs just for the fact that it's a good way to keep up with everyone. I know my Mom and Dad love looking at everything we post, and seeing all of our pictures. It's a fun little hobby too I guess!

Nothing new here, just still recovering from our vacation. The kids go back to school tomorrow after being off track for 3 weeks, and they seem pretty excited to see their teachers and friends. We had Brady's friend birthday party last Saturday and that was lots of fun. He had his last Jr. Jazz Basketball game yesterday, but never fear, we'll be busy enough again now that he can wrestle! So, it will be T-ball and Wrestling for him, and Tumbling and Softball for Gwynie. I love that my kids like to be active and have fun doing it!

Well, it's off to get the laundry finished up, and ready for the week! I dread Monday's, but I do like getting a good start to the week!

And We're Back!

2009-01-28T20:53:00.008-07:00

Well, here we are back at home. It is nice to sleep in our own beds, and see our animals, but man is it hard coming back to 20 degree weather and a snow storm! When we left Tampa it was sunny skies and 80 degree weather!

I've been told by co-workers that I look tan and refreshed. I don't quite believe the tanned bit, but I do feel very relaxed and refreshed. It was simply wonderful to spend 2 weeks with my family and enjoy the things we did! I can't thank my Mom and Dad enough for such a great trip! That was our family Christmas present...talk about topping it next year, lol! Mom joked that she didn't know who benefited from it more, them or us!

Tonight I had the choice of dusting and vaccuming, or blogging...you can guess which one won out.

We have a serious overload of pictures that I'll have to go through. Jake made a comment on our first day at Disney. It was mid afternoon and he said, "So, you think this trip will be about 12 scrapbook pages?" First, my mouth dropped on the ground, and then I died laughing. Typically, I can get on average 4 photos to a page. Sometimes more, sometimes less depending on the page. When I explained this to him, and said that would only equal about 48 pictures he said, "Well, I guess it's a bit more than that, huh?!"

YES QUITE A BIT MORE! TRY 547 PICTURES DURING THAT TRIP!

Of course there will be those random ones that weren't quite right due to being blurred, etc. but I figure that still leaves at least 480 pictures. Let's say I do 5 pictures to a page...that's still 96 scrapbook pages!!!! SERIOUSLY?!!! I'm sure I'll figure it out, and it won't be quite that bad, but I'll document it as I go! And in all honesty, I really hope I even get to them this year! I'm still so behind on others, but that aside, I need to move on with the rest of our trip!

Previously, I posted our flight there, the boating trip on Silver Springs River, Daytona Beach, and last but not least, Sea World.

So let's start back at Wednesday the 21st where I left off. That was Sea World day and Brady's Birthday! He's having a Monster Truck party with his little friends this Saturday and wanted a Monster Truck cake while we were in Florida!

This cake was just perfect for him! Brady got lots of awesome presents from everyone!

Thursday marked our first day at Disney World. We started off by going to Hollywood Studios. Here we met lots of the characters, went on some great rides, and saw a Lights, Motors, Action stunt show.

The kids loved meeting Buzz and Woody! The funniest thing...Buzz would "turn off" and you had to press his button to make him turn on again. Woody wouldn't let the kids turn him back on! You can tell these guys have a blast at their job!

Mike and Sully!!

Heh, heh, heh. I made the kids stand under this...Gwynie got it! :)

Woot! One of Brady's all time favorite movies! He has so many of the Cars characters cars and playsets that of course we had to make sure we saw these guys!

Then we found the Power Rangers and Brady wanted to meet the Blue one, go figure! When we got up there, the Power Ranger turned Brady's hat around and posed his hands!

Shortly after that we finished up in Hollywood Studios and decided to head over to the Magic Kingdom!

We spent the last half of the day in Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom, and managed to get this cool pic of the castle! The colors kept changing and the kids were entranced.

The next day we dedicated the whole day to Magic Kingdom since there was so much to see and do there!

Teacups was pretty much the only thing Brady said we had to do...so of course me and the kids went on it! Jake wasn't about to do it!

Minnie and Mickey's houses were fun!

Then meeting them was even more fun!

On Saturday we had our final day at Disney. We split the day up between Animal Kingdom in the morning, and Epcot in the afternoon.

The Tree of Life

This thing is so freaking cool! They do the Bugs Life show actually under the tree itself, in the roots! It is so neat up close, there are so many animals in the tree bark!

When we met every character they would all put their hands on Brady's head and pretend his spikey hair was so sharp and pointy. Lilo just loved Brady's hair and made Stitch's hair just like Brady's. It was hilarious!!

There was a whole area dedicated to meeting some of the other characters at Animal Kingdom, so we got to meet Jungle Mickey and Minnie!

Then we made our way over to Epcot! They had some awesome things for parents, and some fun, even educational kids programs! Of course there was Honey I Shrunk the Audience, but the kids loved the Finding Nemo stuff the best I think! That and any futuristic type rides they loved!

There is also a whole area that is setup like other countries that you travel through. Here I am trying to figure out how to get down to the Ministry of Magic...they used this in the movie...I'm sure it had to be it!

That Saturday night after we were all done with the parks I got to go with my sis Shae to a Wizard Wrock concert. There I got to meet my long time online friend Mandala! It's so funny, the first thing she said was, "I feel like I know you already!" which was exactly what I was thinking! We have so many things in common, we probably could have sat and chatted for hours!

Sunday was a day of resting and packing as we knew Monday and our flight home would come all too soon...

This was taken on our way to the Tampa airport. Both kids were so tuckered out from 4 days of walking and just a fun, amazing, awesomely wonderful trip!

Sea World

2009-01-25T19:47:00.005-07:00

I can't believe it's already been almost 2 weeks! I am so sad our vacation is ending. We have loved spending time with my family and being able to go to Disney World and Sea World. Although I am looking forward to my bed and seeing our pets again, it will be really hard saying good bye tomorrow.

I thought I would get a bit more of our vacation days on here before work and everything starts again! Wednesday the 21st was Brady's 6th birthday, and the main thing he has been wanting to do for ages was go to Sea World. We did that on his birthday (I'll post those pics and Disney later) and had a blast. It was very cold, but we had a fantastic time and saw some amazing shows!

We went to the Dolphin Nursery first thing that morning. Dolphins are my favorite animal, and I'm pretty sure they knew it! They were so playful and kept posing for me! :) This guy here has a leaf that he kept flipping up and catching!

The kids loved the Shamu show, and the Dolphin show had such amazing stunts. The kids loved posing on these little whales!

And so Shae and I decided that we needed to play on them, too! We were going for a whole "riding" them with our hands in the air.

And then of course I had to show my clumsy side....I don't know how I did this, but of course, here is my falling off the whale! I just laughed so hard and the whole family was dying laughing too because they all know me and how clumsy I can be. You would never know I did drill team in high school and college! :P

Brady and the Sea World car

Well, I guess that is all I have for now! I'll leave you with a slide show of several Sea World pics. I have no clue how many we have actually taken this trip...I'm guessing about 300+. I'll let you know the final tally!

Florida Fun!!

2009-01-18T21:01:00.011-07:00

Well we are here in Florida, and loving every minute of it! Just to give you an idea...it was 75 degrees today at the beach! :P

We've played at the beach, soaked in Mom and Dad's hot tub, took a spin on their boat, and are getting ready for SeaWorld and Disney World this week. Plus, we've been treated to Mom's awesome cooking! We've had fantastic breakfasts and amazing dinners. Last night we had Steak and Lobster Tails, and for breakfast we had Mom's famous Egg Gravy and biscuits. Yes, we have been spoiled!

Since I know it will take me ages to update everything once we get home, I figured I would do a little at a time!

First, the plane ride on Wednesday! The kids did really well on the flight from SLC to Phoenix, but got a bit restless from Phoenix to Tampa. At least they had lots of entertainment in the electronic form!

Brady took this picture as we were leaving Salt Lake and the snow!

We ordered drinks on the plane and Brady loved his apple juice in a can! That was the best dang $2.00 can of apple juice he ever had!

Then on Thursday Mom and Dad took us out on the boat. It was actually a little chilly (about 60), but we still had fun anyways! We saw lots of cool fish underwater and then got to see them on Dad's FishTV. It was so amazing!

This tree is called The Lucky Palm. It grew in a circle, and local legend says if you stand in the circle and make a wish it will come true.

The kids loved driving the boat most of all!

Me and Brady...I was midsentence, lol!

Jake and Brady

Poppa David and the kids

Grammie Della and the kids (Brady was having loads of fun I promise...)

We saw lots of birds and turtles, but no Alligators or Monkeys (left behind after filming Tarzan back in the day!) because it was just too cold for them.

We did see lots of birds, and this guy was drying his feathers off after fishing.

Look at the cute turtles!

Friday night Shae took Jake and I to see Repo! The Genetic Opera! It was playing in Salt Lake on Tuesday night, but we weren't able to see it since we were leaving on Wednesday. We were so excited they extended the showings in Gainesville!

Trailer for Repo

Me with my Repo ticket and the poster!

"Zydrate comes in a little glass vial!"

"A little glass vial?"

"A little glass vial!"

We loved the soundtrack and it was even better actually watching it! We can't wait for the DVD!

Today we went to Daytona Beach and enjoyed the warm weather! Brady took a spill in the ocean (Why are we not surprised!), but other than that it was a pretty perfect day. Mom and Dad got the kids some tee shirts and hoodies from a souvenior shop and they are so excited to show them off at school!

Here are some of my favorites at the beach, and then a slideshow with about 50 pictures from the beach.

Brady is telling the ocean who's the boss

Gwynie's running from the waves

Family Pic

A Little of This....A Little of That...

2009-01-02T20:40:00.013-07:00

Disclaimer: Holy crap, this turned out to be the most giant post ever!!! Sorry this is so much all at once, but if I don't do it now, then who know's when I'll update it!

That Christmas song shouldn't say "The happiest season of alllllll" it should be the BUSIEST season of all! So a much delayed post with Christmas stuff and some other stuff that happened in December! Although I'm glad it's all said and done, and we are already into a new year, I was so happy during that crazy, busy time! We did so much, but at the end of the month weren't able to go to a few places we planned on because of the snow. :( Oh well, Gardner Village Elves and Zoo Lights will have to wait until next year!

First, are the Christmas Choir concerts we went to! Gwynie had been working so hard since October with her choir practices. They practiced twice a week, put on 3 different shows, and sang 12 songs, in addition to learning all the dance moves! She wasn't able to sing at the 4th one because it was the same night at her dance recital, but we got to see her perform twice! They performed at Winter Fest at Cyprus High and then twice at the elementary school. It was too dark to get pictures during their singing, so we just have some afterward pics.

Gwynie with her Choir teachers.

Winter Fest

Performance at the elementary school.

The same day of the Choir concert we went to in the morning, (the 18th) she had her dance recital that night. We went and had a lot of fun watching her perform what they'd been working on in the last 3 months. She took Tumbling 2 and a Hip Hop class. I was the biggest idiot and didn't take pics of her outside of the recital part...grr, but I do have a couple of her performing.

Look at that awesome hand stand!

Here is a small clip of the hand stands(or whatever fancy name they might have in tumbling)! You could tell at the end she was getting tired because this was near the end of all of their tumbling passes. And...ow! There's a girl that kind of fell, too!

Hip Hop routine is hip hoppy!

Here is the Hip Hop routine. The teacher was fun and cute, but kept changing the dance during the last few weeks so only a few girls knew the whole routine! She had fun though and that's all that matters. I did laugh in a few parts because her little body just doesn't move like that yet, but you know she was concentrating pretty hard. Watch her Cheer video from the summer recital and you'll see the difference, lol. Also, this was recorded with our camera because our camcorder was at the school! I tell you that was the worst feeling, but the office ladies kept it safe for me until I picked it up the next morning! I had left it in the office after recording her Choir Concert that morning and stopping to drop off lunch money. (And yes I purposely didn't tell you this story MOM!) Jake recorded this and did a pretty good job with our camera!

We had a Christmas party with friends at our house on the 20th, and then went to the Phillips Family Christmas party on the 21st. I'll just post one of the pics from our Christmas Party (Family Blog remember!) that I just love.

Mel, Steph and Me - I love you girls!
Here are two of my favorite pics from the Phillips Family party.

Gwynie got this cool kit to make bracelets from her cousin Hannah.

Brady freaked out when he got this hoodie from Grandma Lee! He loves it!

Before we knew it, it was already Christmas Eve! My cousin Ryan and his wife Sara and their kids were visiting her brother so they stopped by for a little bit. It was so much fun!

Here are the kids modeling the traditional Christmas Eve jammies.

We decorated sugar cookies for Santa and put out some oats and carrots for the reindeer.

The kids had so much fun decorating the cookies! I'm pretty sure Brady ate all the blue frosted cookies before we got them on Santa's plate...

And after the kids went to bed I finally finished wrapping the rest of the presents! I had presents shoved up under the tree, around the back, and still had some coming out the side. No, my kids aren't spoiled...not at all! ;) wink, wink

I also have the funniest story to tell about Christmas morning...Brady and Gwynie spent the night in Brady's room so they could wake up together Christmas morning. They woke up at 6:10am, but waited until exactly 8:00am to wake up me and Jake. WE COULDN'T BELIEVE IT!! Gwynie kept telling Brady that they couldn't wake us up because we would be mad at being woken up so early on our day off. The even crazier part...they never once went out into the living room to peek at what Santa brought them! I seriously have the BEST KIDS EVER!!!

It was so fun seeing their faces at what Santa brought them and opening presents! Jake was camera man and I was recorder lady this morning. I'll have to ask Jake to upload those videos from our camcorder (including her Choir stuff)...because I'm not that talented yet....

Gwynie's present from Santa was this HUGE Lego set...which took her all of about 45 minutes to put together.

Brady got his blue DS that he's been wanting for forever, and the Wall-E game

Hmmm....but no pics of the kids with those presents.... Jake! :)

This was the present Brady bought for Gwynie...a beach house lego set! She picked out a Monster Truck crash stadium for him.

And, I just love this picture...check out that dimple!

Welll....I guess that's it for December! Oh wait! Of course I have New Year's Eve pictures too! And that happens to be my birthday as well! Betcha didn't know that didja?! Ok well some of you did! Thank you for all the birthday wishes! Jake got me a Pink Zune (since my iPod died a few weeks ago), the Opposites Attract Cricut cartridge, and some pen/marker thingys for my Cricut!

Every New Years Eve for the last few years we have gone over to our friends Sharon and Jim's house to play board games and hang out with the kids. They are in the finishing stages of their game room and just got their pool table setup. So we spent the night playing pool and hanging out. By the end of the night I was so exhausted, my makeup was all gone, and all I wanted was to make it to 12:01 and then go home, hehe.

Me and my Brado-potato

Ugh...see how tired I am?! Gwynie is sure cute though.

Sharon and me...wow I look even more tired here!

Jake and Jim playing pool.

The kids, all ready for sparkling cider!

Ok, now I guess that's it!

But I will leave you with a couple more things....

That's right!!! 12 more days until our TRIP TO FLORIDA, DISNEYWORLD, & SEAWORLD!!! And my FAMILY!!! We are so excited and I can hardly wait!!

And...if you've made it this far.....go check out my Krafty Blog that I updated with some scrapbook pages I completed yesterday.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-14T20:23:00.002-07:00

This had us laughing so hard!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

And although I hate country this was hilarious as well!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Christmas Stuff!

2008-12-14T18:15:00.007-07:00

I can't believe how fast this month, let alone this year, has flown by! Here's a recap of what we've been up to these last two weeks!

JAZZ GAME!

On December 3rd (Wednesday) we went to the Jazz Game! We got $40 tickets for $10 each, so for the price of one ticket we got four! They were upper bowl, but were center court! The Jazz lost, but we had fun! The kids really get into it, shouting DEFENSE! and yelling for our favorite players!

Then on December 5th we went to The Festival of Trees! It was so crowded and there was so much there! We were there for 2 hours and only saw 1/3 of the trees!

This is the gingerbread house for Twilight! Edward in the tree and the little red pickup!

After walking for two hours we were so tired and hungry! We went to the Mayan. If you've never been its a must go! They have mexican and american dishes and have diving! We sat right in front of the divers so we got to see each show!

If you look close, you can see the girls preparing to dive!

Brady is now doing basketball for Jr. Jazz! He has practices on Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings. This was his first Saturday morning practice. Games start in January!

Shooting

Blocking

More shooting

Dribbling

Stretching

And, this really is just something random! We were in Mervyns this last Friday, and Brady grabbed a bra and put it on his head! If you've seen Wall-E you'll understand! So then later we were in Wal-Mart and I pointed out this ginourmous bra and Brady had to point out his WHOLE HEAD fit into it...hehe.

Then we finally set up the tree today. More like I finally finished the lights after the cat kept mangling them!

As a tradition I had as a kid, we always get the kids a new ornament each year. My friends and I were shopping when I got these and I had to explain the tradition. My friend Stephanie decided she wanted to start this too! Her daughter is only 2 (almost!) so its the perfect time to start!

I'm Thankful For...

2008-11-27T21:38:00.013-07:00

I can't believe the year has gone by so fast! I swear just yesterday we were lighting sparklers for the 4th, or dying Easter eggs! I had to take a minute to list all the things I'm thankful for because this has been a wonderful year, and what better day to do it! :)

And like all the best Top 10 lists...here you go!

10. Pepsi
Hmm...this really seems like it should be farther up on my list! I don't love Pepsi for the caffeine, but for the taste. It can't be Diet though! That just doesn't taste near as good! Nothing tastes better than the cool, thick, rich, syrupy liquid sliding down your throat and the bubbles stinging as they go down....Oh Pepsi...how I love you.

9. Post It Notes

Sure this seems funny, but its true! I love Post It Notes. Even this list was written on a post it! I write To Do Lists, sketch card designs, write grocery lists, and any random thoughts I put on post its. I even stack them on top of each other and check things off or toss them as I finish. I'm thankful for post its because of their size and the small sticky strip on the back...oh and without then we wouldn't have Romy and Michelle's movie!

8. Chocolate
And another that should be farther up on here! What words can describe how thankful I am for chocolate? Instead, I'll leave you with a visual and you can come up with your own words...that is, unless you're not drooling!

7. Sunsets

What's more beautiful than watching a sunset with your loved ones? I love them because each sunset you know you have finished a wonderful day, and even if tomorrow never comes...you know you have lived each of your days to the fullest and loved as hard as you could.

6. Stamping and Scrapbooking
I'm so thankful for this hobby because it's such an outlet for me. Although I'm sure Jake isn't because of how much I spend on it (hehe), but I know he loves that I have such a fun hobby. I love watching my kids look through their scrapbooks, and I love sending handmade cards to friends and family.

5. Authors and Books

How could this be a complete list of things I'm thankful for without books being on here?! I love diving into a great book and spending time in a little fantasy. So, I'm thankful for those authors that pour their heart and souls into their work so that we can enjoy them.

4. Love

Love makes the world go round and is something rare to be treasured like it's a priceless gift. I'm so thankful that I can love and be loved.

This is Jake and I shortly after we were dating. We somehow started a cake fight...I got him bad! August 2000

3. My Kids

So these next three really are tied for my #1!

Gwynie and Brady are the best kids ever. They always make us laugh, and make us so happy. There is an emptiness in the house when they aren't there, and I miss them like crazy. I love those moments when I can watch them sleep, where they are so innocent and I remember when they were babies. So many more things I could say about them!

Yellowstone July 2008

2. My Husband

I don't know what I would do without Jake. He is such an amazing husband, and he's my best friend. A few weeks ago I defined the term "husband" as:

Husbands - Love you no matter what, tell you what you need/want to hear. Tuck the kids in bed, take care of you when you are drunk, laugh at your not so funny jokes, buy your feminine products, whisper sweet nothings in your ear, cook dinner and breakfast, surprise you with treats, rubs your feet, lets you be the "right" one almost all of the time even if you are dead wrong.

And that's pretty much Jake! I couldn't ask for a better husband or father for my kids.

Lagoon Frightmares October 2008

1. My Family

Obviously, this is my number one! No words needed right...

Thanksgiving 2008

And two pics from Thanksgiving!

Gwynie with her newest cousin Sidney

Brady with the marshmallow house he built! Yep, he's rockin that faux-hawk!

You know you're old when....

2008-11-23T23:19:00.002-07:00

Tonight I was telling Gwynie that I was surprised she didn't read that often, only the 15 minutes a day for homework. Coming from the women in my family it's tantamount to a travesty, a betrayal of gigantic proportions, a traitor in our midst. Chalk it up to her being 9 Jake tells me. Well I wasn't satisfied with his answer and stated I've always been a reader. My previous post must have been weighing on my mind. Here is how our convo went:

Me: *venting and ranting about how I always read, blah, blah*
Jake: Right, but when you were a kid you didn't have computer games, a DS, or legos to keep you busy.
Gwynie: Yeah, or TV.
Me: We had TV when we were kids Gwynie.
Gwynie: Oh, really? Cause that's like out of the 80s.
Jake & Kandi: *explode into a fit of laughter*
Jake: Gwynie, we were born in the 80s, how old do you think we are?!!!
Kandi: *makes mental note that Gwynie is as blonde as her* *oh, and to remember/find out when tvs were made*

I have to say, we always have these kind of conversations at our house. Something unexpected or just funny questions from the kids prompt hilarious conversations.

Books

2008-11-20T16:05:00.003-07:00

For those of you that know me fairly well, you know what a book fiend I am. I love reading, and I know that obsession started at an early age. I remember being in 1st grade, and getting in trouble for sloppy handwriting because I was trying to finish my work early so I could read. That thirst for knowledge, or the thrill of a good book has never released its grip on me. It's always so fun to find friends that I can share books with, or get good recommendations from. It's awesome too, when you recommend a good book and then it gets recommended to someone else. My sisters (Shae and Laci) and Mom will now what I'm talking about...The Black Dagger Brotherhood, anyone? :)

However, the only thing I hate about reading...is waiting for sequels to come out! The anticipation almost stops my heart from beating, and the agony of the months of waiting is torture.

So, I have a lot of books (well series I guess would be the correct term) that are now in the "Waiting" stage. I'm waiting for the next book that will either finish the series, or give you a little niblet to tide you over until another book comes out. Although I'm not a very patient person, at least it gives me something to look forward to! I decided (since I'm home with a sick kid and have nothing better to do) that I'm going to list all the books I'm waiting for here. Mom and Shae, if you see any I missed let me know!!

Lover Avenged (#7) - Black Dagger Brotherhood Series - 5/5/09
At Grave's End (#3) - Night Huntress Series - 12/30/08 (yay, its getting closer!)
Bone Crossed (#4) - Mercy Thompson Series - 2/3/09
City of Glass - (#3) - Mortal Instruments Series - 3/24/09
An Echo in the Bone - (#7) - Outlander Series - 3/1/10 (GAH! That is forever away!!)
Fade (#2) - Wake Series - 2/10/09
Gone (#3) - Wake Series - 2/?/10 (Another forever away!)

Ok, I guess its not all that bad, a few months right? Plus, I have a zillion that I still need to read... I have a link on the side of our blog that has my "Good Reads" list from goodreads.com. It has all the books I've read (from what I can remember!) and a "to read section" which currently has 88 books in there. So, if you're ever wondering about a good book...you know where to look now!

Also, has anyone ever heard of book trailers on youtube? I head about them from a friend last year, but never really checked them out. It's actually pretty hilarious and kinda cool...trying to describe a book in video in 2 minutes. Some are good, some are not so good...so I leave you with a good one, from a book called Wake. Thanks to Shae for recommending this to me!

It's Almost That Time!

2008-11-18T11:56:00.002-07:00

I can't believe Christmas is right around the corner! Thanksgiving is next week and before you know it, BAM! It's Christmas! So I decided I would post here to see who wants a Christmas Card! I've never been great about mailing anything (thanks Mom for those wonderful genetics, hehe!), but I decided that if I made it into a big deal then I might actually get Christmas cards mailed out to people that want em.

So, here is your chance to get a fantabulous handmade Christmas card from me! You can either leave a comment here with your address, or for privacy's sake, you can email me at:

kandipants21@gmail.com

All requests welcome! Even if you know of someone that doesn't read our blog, but you know they would like a Christmas card, let me know as well!

School Pics and Halloween...

2008-11-17T22:19:00.005-07:00

You know I'm either really busy, or really tired when I get home from work, when I don't update for awhile. I'm sure everyone else is the same way. Real Life rears its ugly head and things like a blog (and dishes) fall to the side. Ok well, the blog does anyways! So...it's been what...over 2 weeks? I don't have much to share (blame it on being busy), but I do still have some Halloween pics and (gasp!) the kids school pics (from September...) to post.

For Halloween, we went over to a friends house, ate pizza, and then went trick or treating. We took some pics at her house before we went out.

The Cowboy and the Ghostly Witch...so serious!

A little smile now!

Brady loved his costume!

Election Day!!

2008-11-04T23:11:00.000-07:00

OBAMA FTW!!!

I can't tell you how excited I am that this day has arrived, that the Democrats took the Senate and Obama was elected President. Sure some of you out there may disagree, but don't spoil this with any negative comments. I am so happy to live in a country where we do have the choices and freedoms we have, and that we can express that! Although there is a long road ahead of us, I truly believe Obama is the man that can help lead us there. He may not be perfect, and I might not agree with everything he does, but I know that he is (based on tonight's speech), a very loving, humble, and confident man. It really gives me hope that we did vote for change and that our voices were heard. I am devastated about Prop 8 and 2 (FL) however. I won't go into anymore detail because its a FAMILY blog (not my personal one) and I reserve the right to only post happy family stuff on here. Besides, I'd probably just get people mad at me...

Ok, I'll get off my political soapbox now and just share a couple pics. I still have to post Halloween, but in the spirit of election....

After we voted we got stickers for the kids, too!! Brady was like "oh cool a sticker", but Gwynie really understood everything that was going on, and watched most of the coverage with me tonight. She thought it was cool she could wear her "I Voted" sticker and say that she would have voted for Obama.

There was a part in his speech that really made me pause. He said:

"What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow."

And for those that know how bad I hate Palin....I seriously can't believe she wants to run in 2012...

Pumpkin Carving!

2008-10-30T23:10:00.001-06:00

Ok, time for one more and then it's off to bed for me!!

Oh, I forgot to put on here....instructions for our pumpkins in case inquiring minds want to know what's up with them in the pics.

So I found a website that gave some tips on pumpkin carving. It says when you print out your patterns you should get them a little damp and stick it to your pumpkin. Then take a push pin and basically make yourself a dot to dot pattern of what to cut. Once you are finished with that you take off the pattern and then rub flour over the surface so it fills in your holes, making it easier to see. So, you can see that in some of the pictures and now you know!

Pumpkin Fun

2008-10-30T21:33:00.007-06:00

We love this time of year! I love the fall season and Jake loves Halloween! The kids love the candy! Every year we go to the same place to get pumpkins and I take pictures in the same exact place. Jake laughs at me for it, but hey! I say its fun to see how they've changed! (Oh and look at the difference from my old digital to my new one! Thanks again babe, good present!)

Here's an example:

Gwynie October 2007 & 2008

Brady October 2007 & 2008

Here a couple cute little ones from carving pumpkins. Oh and yay, they are wearing the shirts Mom sent! I'll try getting all the rest of pics up by Sunday! :) Gwynie carved hers all by herself and Jake helped Brady with his. I did the gutting...

All of our pumpkins! Top to bottom: Jake (Grim Reaper), Me (Witch stirring cauldron), Gwynie (Skull) and Brady (Black Widow)

Look at my gourds!!

Mr. Brady (whoa check out how cool my flash is...oops!)

Miss Gwynie

This is Brady with his mini pumpkin. He named it Little John and has been taking it everywhere. We had to put our feet (yes that's both from both of us so 4 feet!) down and say "No!" to taking Little John into stores with us over the weekend. Brady assured us that Little John really liked the car ride though, but he was sad he couldn't go in the store.

Ok, one more thing! My slideshow of the Pumpkin Patch finished, so here you go!

Life's Little Mysteries...

2008-10-24T20:36:00.000-06:00

Having kids is like having a walking, talking, 20 questions machine in your back pocket. It's rare the day that I don't get a wondering type question from the kids. Really, I have to admit, I love it. I love hearing their questions because I know they are questioning the world around them and using their brains.

Gwynie doesn't ask as many questions as Brady though, she just seems to piece together her own answers by observation. For example, when she was 2 she asked my father in law if pigeons have belly buttons. He thought about the best way to answer the question and she just answered herself by saying, "Well of course they do, they get it from their umbilical cords!" Seriously people, my daughter thought of this at 2. She made the connection to a belly button and an umbilical cord and reasoned that all animals had some form of cord and so therefore must have some residual effects from said cord. Now, I've never really looked to see if that's correct, but all the same it just shows the power of a kids mind.

Brady however loves to question everything, but its not the typical kids question of "Why is the sky blue?" or "Why is the grass green?". Yes these are very good questions, but his questions though are somewhat unique like, "Why is the engine of a car in the front and not the back?" or "What are the ingredients in cement?". The most recent questions I've had I just didn't know the best way to explain them so I gave my paltry answer and then followed it up with a "Let's Google it when we get home".

So here are some of Brady's recent questions, and an answer to one of them:

"Why does the moon sometimes look like a banana?"

"Why does it only snow when it's cold?" followed by "What is snow made out of?"

And my favorite:

Brady: What are snakes made out of?
Me: Uh...snake skin?
Jake: *smacks head with hand* You mean scales.....

Now, I must not be giving great answers because the other day Brady asked me a question and as I opened my mouth to speak he held up his hands and said, "Wait, wait, wait, wait.....I'll just go Google it" and proceeded to the computer room. Hmm...

So which brings me to my next thing, the kids love using the computer (under our supervision of course!). We have Gwynie go to this Math website and practice her times tables and division each day for 15 minutes. It's setup that you do 5 minutes of times tables three times in row which they say helps the kids retain it better because its strictly memorization, not problem solving. So Brady thinks that he has to do his "homework" each day, which consists of visiting the Thomas the Train website and doing the puzzles and coloring pages. Somedays I just giggle and he cracks me up that he is so serious about it, but I let him do it because I know that will help him when he is older. If I can teach them now to do their homework right after school, and actually DO IT, then I think we won't have homework issues in the future.

Ok so this is getting really long, but I just wanted to jot this down so that I can remember this for later. My kids really are just so amazing and wonderful. I know you all are like, well duh she thinks that they are her kids, but really they are just so freaking awesome. They are just two of the most easy going kids you will ever meet.

Frightmares!

2008-10-22T21:28:00.001-06:00

Weekend Update!

2008-10-22T21:27:00.002-06:00

I decided to share some stuff Jake and I have been up to and not just what the kids or the family have been doing. Most of this is pulled from my personal journal and is just a bunch of writing! But if you are curious about our weekend, here you go!!

Thursday Jake called me and told me a guy at his work had these marketing tickets for the Rock Bands Live concert. It was so amazing! The opener was the group called The Cab and we were like wtf? Who are these guys? They were pretty ok.

Then it was The Plain White T's. I love them and they did so many songs from their new cd. Which, we ended up buying off iTunes because it's so damn good. So....they did do our favorite songs, Hey There Delilah and Hate and then off their new cd they did Big Bad World, 1,2,3,4, and Natural Disaster. They did some others, but of course I can't remember now.

Then it was Dashboard Confessional, which again another band I just love. Ok I loved all three of the big name ones....So these guys were my favorites of the night. They put on such an awesome show! They did Hands Down, Vindicated (of course!), Widow's Peak, Thick As Theives, Stolen and I think they did Rooftops and Invitations, but I can't remember. Then they did the coolest thing....they brought out The Cab guys and they all played Pink's "So What" together!!! Before they started playing it he was saying, "You know how you get a song stuck in your head and you just want to listed to it from 9am-9pm and then only way to get it out is just to sing it?" So then they played it!! That is one of my current fav songs right now, the kids know all the words because I listen to it so much, and its even my ring tone right now. Anyways, they were freaking amazing and I just can't even tell you how awesome they just WERE....you know? Like they just loved being there, and I was just blown away.

So then it was Panic at the Disco. I was actually pretty bummed with them a bit. I love their music, but they were kinda boring. Or, maybe I was just so damn tired, it was only about 10:30 but I was wiped! So after they played Nine in the Afternoon and I Write Sins Not Tragedies, we left. It was a way fun night and was so fun for Jake and I to have a night out together.

So Bodyworlds was so incredible. DON'T READ ANYMORE IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH!!! They didn't allow any photography there. I was worried about how the kids would take it, but everything was done so tastefully that you didn't realize you were looking at an actual cadaver. They do this process called Plastination so all the parts are there and they removed some sections of muscle so you could look right into the organs, etc. Go check out the website I linked, it is so amazing.

The most interesting part was the fetal development. All of the fetuses from this area were retrieved before 1920 and were babies that couldn't have been saved. I was really glad to know that, instead of them being abortion babies or something. They had these little tubes that had the embryos (? Feteuses?) in them and at 12 weeks it was the size of a peanut (or thereabouts) but you could clearly see its toes and fingers and the umbilical cord. Then they had cases with the fetuses from like 15 weeks up to 36 weeks. But they looked like they were sleeping they way they were so it wasn't weird or gross. It was so incredible, I just can't even tell you. To see how fragile the human body is, and to so how truly freaking awesome we are is just...wow...I take for granted the miracle of life, but looking at those fetuses and then at my own kids and to know I created them and nourished them and supported them...it's just again wow...just no words, but its such an emotion that I can't believe how precious life is.

I'm just in awe right now of how we are made and how different we all are. They even had an area that they showed an artificial heart valve and a pacemaker. Jake's Mom has both of those. As a child she had Rhuematic Fever, so when Jake was a kid she had those things done. So we are showing them to the kids and explaining how they work to save people and keep them alive. Which that blew me away too, just all of the advances of medicine and how far we have come, yet how far we still can go.

Then they had a camel. YES A FREAKING CAMEL!! That was awesome. Something that really was good, but was crazy were the lungs they displayed. They had a healthy lung set and then lungs of a smoker. The smokers lungs were black, like severly black. I'm so glad neither Jake or I smoke, but it makes me worry about those that I know that do, and my family members that do. They even had lungs that were affected by emphysema. I never really knew much about that disease, but what it does is it destroys the lung sacs so it leaves empty sacs in the lungs. That was just crazy seeing these empty pockets, it looked all crispy in those parts and well I can't think of the words to describe it, but it was awful. Both the kids have always known how bad smoking was for them and I think this will help remind them when they are older.

So, this was such an awesome experience, I know I'll never forget it and I'll never forget how priceless life is, and how my kids really are little miracles. We couldn't take pics in there, but I took a few outside. Once Blogger isn't being idiotic I'll load those pics up.

Afterwards we went to The Cheesecake Factory. Let me say, I wasn't really impressed. The last couple times I wanted to go there the wait was 1+ long so I was really happy that we got right in. First, the way they did the seating was asinine. They have some booths and tables, but in the center of the restuarant they had this long strip of a bench with little tables and chairs on the other side. Um...hello...McDonalds? Yeah, that's what it reminded me of. So this guy sitting next to us kept hitting me or elbowing me because it was so cramped. Then, and this is a big one, they didn't have a kids menu!! Yes, they didn't have a kids menu!!!!! Plus the menu is freaking huge because of all their stupid advertising in the middle. And the prices are pretty high too. So Jake and I were like, um ok this better just be a place for the two of us. No kids menu and what they do have is pretty expensive. So he decides on a Kobe Burger (kobe is a type of meat...not named after the ball player, lol), I get a Renee's Special that had a ceasar salad, turkey sandwich and soup, and we got Gwynie a grilled cheese and Brady a side of Mac N Cheese. So the kids food was ok, but my ceasar salad was way over garlicked (is that a word?). It was so garlicky (I think I like making up words!) that my mouth was on fire so I barely touched it. The bread on my turkey sandwich was hard as a rock so I had to break it apart to eat it. Then Jake's burger, which he requested medium well, was practically mooing. He didn't realize it till a few bites in and lost his appetite. They asked if he wanted anything else, but he really didn't so they just credited that for us. So yeah, don't think I'll be going back there anytime soon!

Sunday we went to Lagoon for Frightmares...you can check out all the pics in my slideshow!

CARD and an Update

2008-10-15T21:04:00.005-06:00

Ok, if you didn't know, tomorrow is my youngest sister Shae's birthday! It's her big 21, so I made a pretty cool card (if I do say so myself!) so you need to go check it out!

Here is her card! Now the problem is mailing it! I have this genetic aversion to the Post Office...thanks Mom!

And in other family related news...

The kids are off track for a few weeks...wooo?
We are going to Body Worlds on Saturday (sadly no cameras allowed!)
And on Sunday going to Lagoon for Frightmares (weather permitting)
Buying costumes somewhere in that mix
Putting off getting pumpkins until next weekend...
Got a Halloween package from Mom...will take pics this week of the kids in their shirts!

Update!

2008-10-12T22:04:00.006-06:00

I can never seem to go to bed at a decent hour on Sunday nights...too true tonight as well. So since I can't sleep, I'm updating!

It's been reeeeaaaalllllly cold here! Friday it stared to get chilly and they forecasted it to snow Saturday night. So Saturday afternoon we decided we better get the kids' new winter coats! These are what we ended up with after 4 stores!

Gwynie's coat is so cute on her! It's a long style that is cinched at the waist. It has this awesome hot pink lining and a furry hood. She loves the hood, but I'm sure she'll have static-y (? is that even a word?) hair forever!

Cute cute!!

And here is Brady! Of course he got a blue one! He loves his coat because it's blue and has so many pockets in it!

After buying coats we took the kids for haircuts. Gwynie has been driving me crazy asking to get bangs...I really liked her haircut but gave in to this shorter, choppier version. It works, but I can't wait to see what it looks like when I actually style it.

She was so serious, lol. This is the side view, this is a little more choppy looking than I wanted, but I figure in a couple weeks it will be blended in pretty well. The other side isn't even trimmed up like this so I'll have to see how it looks later and maybe get it trimmed up to match. She likes it so that's all that matters!

Brady just needed a trim, but he still wanted a picture. His hair grows so fast! Nothin special, no gel or anything today, just plain clean hair!

Somehow Gwynie got Brady to give her a foot rub and a massage tonight!

So we made her give him one too!

Friday night was Brady's very first sleepover! His friend from daycare isn't in his same class, but they see each other at the playground and at daycare everyday. When Jake picked them up from school Friday the boys told him what they wanted for dinner. Apparently they thought it up at recess. They decided on ravioli's, spinach, and fruit! Taylor cleared his spinach, but Brady and Gwynie ate just enough to get the Mom and Dad approval that they were done. They had a blast!

This was about 5 or 6 tonight. The snow really was coming down! Glad we bought their coats yesterday!

U of U Game!

2008-10-12T21:23:00.004-06:00

Last month I asked Jake to see about getting us tickets to a U of U Football game. He called me on a Wednesday and told me he had good news and bad news. He asked what I wanted to hear first. I opted for the bad news, (I always ask for the bad first) and he said he couldn't get all of us tickets for the Saturday (the 27th) game. So I said what was the good news? He told me that he had a guy at work that got him two sideline tickets and he and Brady were going. Of course I was a little bummed, but I was so excited for him and Brady to go! Turns out I had a stamp party to go to that day so it worked out ok afterall!

We bought Brady a jersey at Fanz and Jake a polo and visor. Brady was so excited!

They did some tailgating with Jake's work buddy.

At the tailgating lot Brady met Swoop the team mascot.

And then they got to Rice Eccles Stadium and watched the team warm up.

They were watching the team warm up and one of the Weber State Cheerleaders gave Brady a foam claw. Sean Smith kept pointing to Jake like "What's up a U fan with a Weber claw?" and then came over to chat with them. Jake got a pic of Brady and Sean after that.

Brady in the South End Zone.

Brady with the cheerleaders who thought he was so cute! What a ladies man!

Jake's work friend John that got them the passes, his daughter, Brady and coach Ron McBride who used to be the U coach, now he coaches Weber.

Not sure who these two are, but Brady got a pic with them! Everyone kept telling Jake what a cute/cool kid Brady is. They all commented on his big brown eyes and his cool spikey hair!

After the game! Brady was given an ACTUAL game ball! It has the U logo on it and everything! Posing in the End Zone!

2008-09-26T22:25:00.003-06:00

2008-09-26T22:12:00.002-06:00

Tee Ball and Family BBQ

2008-09-24T21:18:00.006-06:00

Here are some pics of Brady's last Tee Ball game!

Jake really loved Coaching and is going to coach again in the Spring!

Pitching to Brady

Brady's trophy and the certificate Jake made the kids - he got Most Determined

On the 14th we went to Jake's brother's house for a Family BBQ with the whole Phillips Fam. We had a fun time and the kids liked roasting marshmallows!

I'm pretty sure Jake was stealing Brady's marshmallow!

The kids and our neices and Great Grandma Lee.
L-R: Abby, Grandma Lee, Brady, Bailey, Gwynie, Hannah
Oh and, we didn't make it out to see the new baby yet, but Brady is still the ONLY BOY on the whole Phillips Family side. Jake's other cousin has two girls and isn't planning on anymore. So, looks like he'll have to carry on the family name!

Gwynie was really enjoying that marshmallow!

Last weekend a friend and I went to the Scrapbook Expo and did the Midnight Crop. We probably did more talking than scrapping, but it was a blast.

Here I am hard at work!

And I had to throw this picture in here....look what I just barely dumped out...EASTER CANDY!! Seriously, we never eat the candy that we have in the house!! It just sits in a basket after Santa or the Easter Bunny, or whoever comes. The only candy we really buy and actually eat are Twizzlers....I could eat a whole bag by myself I'm sure!

Lagoon!

2008-09-23T22:01:00.005-06:00

Um...yeah...should have posted these last week...whoops! We went to Lagoon for my company party on the 13th and we had a blast! I really didn't take near as many pics as I took last year, but they were all cute anyways!

Ok first, probably one of the funniest pictures of me ever! We went on the Log Flume and Jake told me we wouldn't get very wet...boy was he wrong! I was drenched...and not happy at it AT ALL! It really looked like I wet my pants for hours!

Well, I was so mad after getting so wet on the Log Flume that I didn't dare ride Rattlesnake Rapids with Jake and the kids. I knew with my luck I would end up directly under the waterfall, so I let them go by themselves. Jake and Gwynie had fun, but I don't think Brady had fun!

Jake and Gwynie on the train.

Brady loves the train! Both the kids love seeing the animals, but he just likes being on a train!

The first ride we went on that morning. It's called the Space Scrambler, but the kids call it the Egg Scrambler. We asked Brady after the ride if he got scrambled and he said YEP!

Jake and Gwynie had the camera and of course had to pull faces!

I love this picture!! Gwynie and Brady rode together on the new ride Odysea, and she held his hand and led him to the ride and everything. She is an awesome big sister!

We went into Pioneer Village where they have all of the olden times stuff. Jake told Brady, "See, we really were taking you to the Dentist!" Brady wasn't amused...but he smiled good for me!

Me and the kids taking a break from walking.

It was a really fun day! We can't wait to go back for Frightmares!!

Aaannnnndddd....I still have more pics to post of the fam bbq we went to last week and some of the last of Brady's tee ball pics that I haven't posted yet.

Also, my Sister In Law had their baby today, another girl! That makes 4 girls! They named her Sydney, but that's about all I know at this point. We are going to go visit tomorrow night.

Funny Stories

2008-09-19T09:18:00.004-06:00

Um...I've been too lazy, er busy to update the blog, so while I have a minute I'll just share some funny things the kids have said. I've always thought they would be the funniest kids on that show, so here are some recent funnies.

Brady
Jake rented Brady a Thomas (the train) video a few weekends ago and there was a character on there that he hadn't heard of. Brady had watched the movie on a Saturday night and told me about it the next morning. He told me about the character name Oliver and how that was a stupid name for a train. He was seriously going on and on about this train name and finally said, (and this is an exact quote!) "Screw that, he needs a better name than Oliver!"

Last night we were talking about school and about his friends and Jake asked him about any girlfriends. Here is how our convo went.

Jake: So who are your girlfriends?
Brady: I don't have any girlfriends anymore.
Me: Did you break up with them?
Brady: Yeah I dumped them all.
Us: *giggle* *snicker*
Brady: I was searching for a new girlfriend so I dumped all the other girls.
Me: Well, were you nice when you dumped them?
Brady: Yep, I just dumped them all in my mind.

Gwynie
I know that I've succeeded as a parent and in particular as a Mom when Gwynie tells me she knows the kind of man she wants to marry. Here was our convo.

Gwynie: So I decided on what guy I want to marry.
Me: Oh really?
Gwynie: Yeah, he needs to be rich and strong.
Me: Yeah, I think that's pretty good, but how come?
Gwynie: Well, strong so that he can protect me and fight off people trying to hurt me.
Me: True, that's a good point.
Gwynie: And rich so that he can make me happy!
Me: Yeah, but a poor man can make you happy too.........(thoughtful pause).....But the rich man could make you lots happier!!

And here are a couple other funnies that I found on my personal journal that I thought I would post here as well.

*Brady poking around the garage picks stuff up*
Brady: What is this Dad? *holds up thing*
Jake: It's a caulk gun.
Brady: A cock gun?
Jake: *giggles like a girl*
Brady: What does it shoot? (because here he is thinking its a gun so it has to shoot something)Jake: *chuckles manly this time*
Ha, hum
*clears thoat*
*giggles like a girl again*
White stuff...

Brady: So Gwynie, is your dance teacher cute?
Gwynie: Erm, yeah, she's cute.....
Brady: So.....is she hot?

Picking up Gwynie from school (This was in January!)
Me: So how was school?
Gwynie: Good
Me: So what did you learn in school today?
Gwynie: We learned about Negative American History
Me: ....*facepalm*.....is that anything like "Native American History"?
Gwynie: Oh yeah, that's what it was!

Tee Ball Stuff

2008-09-14T22:54:00.004-06:00

Mom pointed out to me that I haven't been very good about updating our blog lately...oops! Its just been such a busy summer and things are finally settling down, I think anyway! I still have some old pictures to post here as well as some new ones, so I will really try to get them all up sometime this week!

Thursday was Brady's last Tee Ball game. He had so much fun, and Jake was an amazing Coach! All the kids had a blast, and they sure learned a lot!

Some of my favorites from when they did the action shots at a game a few weeks ago.

Yesterday we went to Lagoon for my company party and today we had a bar-b-que at Jake's brothers house so I have lots more to post. I'll get those soon I promise, but I really better go to bed now! I always have the hardest time going to bed on Sunday nights. It's just something about knowing the weekend is over and that going to bed means that it really is cause the next thing I know its Monday!

Cause I Told Mom I Would

2008-08-25T23:13:00.004-06:00

I called Mom tonight and told her about my unfortunate eyebrow waxing earlier this evening. I've never had them look this bad...I'm still not happy about it...but I told Mom I would post pictures of the botched job so we could laugh at it together. The lady was so nice though that I think I will go back to her, but I'll take a picture next time of what I want them to (what they should) look like.

Trying to smile, maybe its not so bad? Oh wait, no...there is that eyebrow that looks like I'm asking a question cause its all arched funny...

No, no, it really is that bad. Angry Kandi is angry.

*sigh* Oh well, it could be worse.