"MINE" and "Theirs"

A few years back, I realized my "Obsessiveness" that seems to come out in me while decorating the Christmas tree really wasn't fair to my kids (or husband) who just wanted to place a cute, handmade ornament in a random place on the tree. I swear that I really do love the little ornaments the kids make at school, and I really do want them to have "FUN" decorating the tree. That's why they have their OWN tree! They can put what they want, where they want and I can channel all of my OCD into my perfectly spaced and color coordinated tree. Funny thing is, I really think that I like their tree better! I guess I'm just a proud mom. GOOD JOB GUYS!! Merry Christmas!

Road Trips & "Baby Crack"

All I have to say is....WE SURVIVED!!
Well, OK there is more to say. We decided to take a "little" road trip to California on Thanksgiving night. A little trip that included Lego Land, Sea World and 3 VERRRRY full days at Disney. (sigh)
First of all....I cannot stand being in a car for more than an hour at a time. Never have! But we made it mostly due to our DVD player. (A.K.A. Baby Crack) We named it so due to the glazed, zombie-like stares the kids get while watching it. IT'S AWESOME!! I remember my first trip to Disney when I was 3. My parents took My dad's '74 Corvette and I rode in the back the whole way. Now, I know that some of you have caught on and are saying, "Corvettes don't have back seats!" BINGO!!!! No back seats (or seat belts), no "Baby Crack", NOTHING! Just a 3x3x2 ft space to look at books, color and do puzzles! Thanks Mom and Dad! Maybe I have just uncovered the reason for my hatred of long road trips! LOL!
Anyhoo....Sea World and Disney were wonderful. We walked on pretty much every ride and if you haven't been on the Haunted Mansion ride during Halloween and Christmas, you are SOOOOO missing out. Nightmare before Christmas EVERYWHERE!

Emma LOVED Sea World soooo much! She loved Shamu, the dolphins, petting sting rays, holding star fish...EVERYTHING!

That child is not afraid of anything!! Not even the rides at Disney scared her. In fact, she was VERY angry at us for not letting her on the "Bigger" rides her sister was going on.
Grace is an absolute adrenalin junky just like her mom. I love it!! Her fav. ride was the Tower of Terror and California Screamin' at Calif. Adventure. Tyler's fav. ride was Casey Jr. Talk about opposites!! Oh well, at least he had fun!
Long story short....I'm glad we did it! We had a lot of fun and we were ready to come home when the time came. (A mark of a successful vacation!)

Not a "Cub" Anymore

Well, on Wednesday my "baby" graduated from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. He received his Arrow of Light and his Duty of God knot...and he gave me my last 2 cub scout pins for my jean jacket collection! (Thanks Bubba!!) We are so proud of him! He is sooo excited to do the Boy Scout thing! Over night camp outs espeically. (those of you who know me well wont be surprised to know that I'm already pricing GPS units to send with him...not kidding!)


On other children news...WE ARE POTTY TRAINED!! Emma is officially a big girl now! (Even waking up in the middle of the night to go! I really enjoy that one...NOT) This is her doing the ritualistic "Big Girl Potty Dance"

Our kids are awesome....What can I say!?!?
Gracie is, of course, enjoying her new school. For those who haven't heard, I am no longer driving 3-4 hours a day to our old school. YAAAAA!!!!! We got into the charter school just 4 min. from our house (YES, I did time it....can you blame me?) Change is always hard, epically for the kids, but Grace LOVES making new friends (BOYS and girls) and she has really done well with everything.

Have a great Thanksgiving Everyone!

TAGGED?!?!?

Well, I have finally been tagged. (Gee thanks Glenna ;-) It was only a matter of time. So....for all of you poor saps that I tag, here are the rules: 1. You link back to the person who tagged you 2. Post these rules on your blog 3. Share six unimportant things about yourself 4. Tag six random people at the end of your entry 5. Let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs 6. Enjoy the results! Lets get to it, shall we?

1. My FAVORITE breakfast in the whole wide world are "gas station chocolate doughnuts" aka Dunford chocolate glazed doughnuts. My Dad did it to me when I was very young by taking me to the old Lee's Cafe in Bountiful every morning he had me. (AWESOME breakfast Dad!!) I ate about a million of them (NOT kidding) when I was prego with Tyler....Hence the 50 lb weight gain!! ( I learned my lesson for the next 2 pregnancies...fun while it lasted though) THEY'RE AWESOME!!!!!!

2. I love scary movies!! My first fav. movie ever was Poltergeist. (I made 6 other 6 & 7 year olds watch it at my 7th birthday party) Yah...there were some pretty angry parents for my Mom to deal with the next day.

3. O.C.D. admission.... I CANNOT walk on the floor without socks. Stupid I know!!! If I do, I have to wash my feet immediately and then....put socks on.

4. My ULTIMATE car to own (and not let anyone else drive) is a 1957 Corvette! YEAAAAAHHHHH!

5. I want to be in a big epic movie. I don't want the fame or any thing like that. I'm just absolutely fascinated with the process of it. I'm one of those sick people who watch familiar movies with the director's commentary on. I want to see everything that goes into pre and post production, set design, direction, costume design, camera movements, learn lines, interact with other actors, etc.... However, I don't want to be an extra ever again!! (Been there. Done that. It SUCKED!!!) Dreams are nice, aren't they?

6. And finally....I WANT to be Laura Croft. Not just for the body (not that I would complain if I did!!) but I want to kick A** with the guns from my 2 thigh holsters, break bad guys jaws with my AWESOME karate kicks, ride motorcycles...you get the point. (For those of you who haven't seen Tomb Raider & Cradle of Life, I highly recommend them!) TOTAL GIRL POWER!!!


So, there you go. NOW I tag Cara B., Becky Cooper, Amy Hansen and my dear, sweet husband (just because I think it would be funny!) I know that that's only 4 people, but all of the other bloggers that I know have already been tagged! Breakin' the rules!!
Love to you all!
Sonni

TRADITION!!!

Over the years, Erik and I have come up with a few traditions of our own that we LOVE and follow religiously. This one happens to be my favorite!! Every year we go to the pumpkin patch, walk around until we all find our PERFECT pumpkin, once found, take our picture with our wicked cool pumpkin, pay for said pumpkins (OUCH!) and last but not least, take a group photo with all of our awesome finds. (The past couple of years, we have added a hay ride into the mix and the kids think it is the coolest thing ever.) As Erik and I were putting all of our photos together for this, we realized how much time has gone by and how much our kids have grown! HOLY CRAP...Where have I been!?!?!






(Unfortunately, 1999 and 2004 have gone MIA! They will be added as soon as they are found!)
I am so glad that this random tradition started so many years ago!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!

Who Knew????

OK.... Everyone can pick your jaws up off of the floor now. I know, I know! I said that I would never do a blog even though I read all of yours religiously, but I finally got talked into it by a good friend of mine. (DARN YOU with your sensible logic Erin!!) Now, just a warning to all of those people who will subject yourselves to my "blogging".... My spelling sucks, my grammar is worse and my "clever gene" died out when I became completely sleep deprived 11 years ago. But, I will do my best and at least I will have something to look back at years from now (because heaven knows, I DON'T SCRAP BOOK!) and I'm sure I'll be thankful that I did. Maybe I can even talk my poor husband into participating. BWAHAHAHAHAH!!
Anyway, WELCOME to our crazy world