2 Weeks

It has been 2 weeks today since I had a COKE. I can't say that I don't miss it, however, I don't miss it as much as I thought I would. Reminder to self: Water is my favorite drink!

Lame entry, but it's all I've got today.

April Snow showers bring what?

April snow showers bring May dead flowers. Is that how the rhyme goes? Seriously, snow on April 29th! Yuck

Hurray, the tooth fairy was able to find Jessy last night. Jessy left her a note letting her know that if she wasn't in her room, to check downstairs in Kassy's. The tooth fairy left Jessy a note letting her know that she had stopped by, but couldn't find her. Whew, what an ordeal, luckily we all made it through.

My eyes are swollen, puffy, and sore - ouch!

Even the Tooth Fairy is busy

Last night Jessy lost a tooth, she was so excited. She put her tooth under her pillow, anxiously waiting for the tooth fairy. Imagine her disappointment when she got up this morning, early, to discover the tooth fairy hadn't taken her tooth or left any money. I told her that it could have been because alot of kids lost their teeth yesterday and she wasn't able to get to everyone, even the tooth fairy get overwhelmed with all that she has to do, or that it could have been because Jessy bounces from bedroom to bedroom and the tooth fairy didn't know where to find her. No matter what the reason, we hope that she makes it to our house tonight!

2 1/2 weeks without a Coke. I've missed it, but I am coping!

Lots to do

I think the title of this blog entry is fitting for pretty much every blog entry. When do we not have lots to do?

Today is a very busy day, like most days. I really need to get my lawn mowed, my house cleaned, my dishes done, and the laundry finished. I have Activity Day Girls at 3:30 pm and book club at 7:00pm. Both of them are at my house.

Better get busy!

Lack of COKE

Thanks to all of you who shared tips ideas with me, or at least just felt sympathy for me. It's nice to now that my kids are not the only ones who fight. Sometimes it feels that way, but I realize we are all going through similar things, just on different days!

Part of my lack of tolerance could be that I have not had a COKE in over a week. Just FYI, water is my FAVORITE drink - NOT, but if I keep telling myself that, maybe one day I'll believe it. I am not saying that I am giving up COKE, that is to final for me, I am just trying to cut back. I got to the point that I had to have a COKE every day. Once 10:00am came I was out the door to get my COKE. Surprisingly I have not had a migraine, quick, quick, knock on WOOD. Will see how this cutting back thing goes. I'm hoping to at least make it to the end of April - hehe.

Favorite for today: A day of sunshine and pleasant temperatures. Tomorrow is supposed to bring more of the same, and then dang it, Wednesday it's supposed to rain, snow, and be cold. Spring in Utah.

Oops, I can't stand it!

Ooops I missed yesterday.

I can't stand it, the fighting in my house seems to be non-stop these days, Jessy and Cody battle constantly. They are driving me CrAzY!!! I honestly don't know what to do about it. I've taken away TV time, playdates, grounded them to their rooms, even given chores. Any suggestions because next might be checking me into the funny farm! HELP?!

Weather and Twilight

It's raining it's pouring this weather is annoying.... Seriously, I don't know how much more I can take of this cold - hot - cold weather. I need something stable, like a pleasant three weeks of 75. Is that to much to ask for? However, I realize I live in Utah and I have to expect the unexpected, like snow showers in July, or 60 degree days in December. So unpredictable.

Just FYI for all of you Twilight fans, the final Eclipse trailer comes out today! I think it is airing on Oprah, I have my DVR set to record. If you miss it on Oprah, you can watch it on the web tonight. I can't wait to catch another glimpse into the world of Twilight. I hope the trailer shows something from the tent scene, that is one of my favorite chapters in the entire series.

Happy Friday!!!

It Worked

Thanks to the chocolate cake Dave did great on his test. I'm sure it had nothing to do with his hard work or the help of his awesome tutor. He only missed 2 1/2 problems. Way to go Dave!

I am so proud of Dave for going back to school. He is setting such a great example to our kids, not only is he finishing something, he is giving it his all. He gets so upset if he gets anything less than an A. He was pretty worried about this math class, but it looks as if he is going to pull at least an A-, possibly an A. Again, I am super proud of him! Unfortunately there is no rest for the weary, he has one more week in his other class, final due Sunday May 2nd, and then his next math class starts Monday May 3rd.

I was supposed to work today, I made all the arrangements for my kids for after school, and then at last minute they cancelled on me. I was kind of bummed. That seems rather odd doesn't it? 1. My work called and told me not to come in and 2. I was sad about it. Oh well, what do you do?

Tomorrow Kassy competes in her first rock climbing competition at Momentum. Maybe I should give her some chocolate cake right before she competes - lol! Good luck Kassy!

READING Update: I just started reading The Shack, it is Interesting.... I'll give more details when I am done with it. Also, just found out that two of the books I just read have sequels coming out. One in October and the other one in November. That takes care of a sequel coming out every month until 2011.

Chocolate Cake and Finals

Have you ever heard Bill Cosby's song about Chocolate Cake? It goes a little something like this, "Dad is great, he gives us chocolate cake..." I need to get my hands on it, totally busts me up. We use to listen to it when I was a kid. Bill Cosby is such a crack up!

Anyway..... Tonight Dave is taking his final in math - Lucky boy - NOT! I decided that the best way I could help is to make chocolate cake. It is cooking as I am typing. Hurray for Chocolate, it is the cure all for everything. Even better, the timer just went off, it's done. It's cooling so I can add chocolate frosting. YUMMMMMMY!

As a mom there are many things we give up (I'm not complaining). Tonight however, I was able to enjoy one of those things. Jessy and Cody were both tucked into bed, and Kassy was at Young Women's as I was making chocolate cake. Usually one of my kids gets the spatula to lick and the other two get the beaters. Tonight I was able to lick all three utensils. Oh the joy of it. Even though it was delicious for ME, I did miss my helpers. Crazy how attached you get to those darn helpers.

Good luck to Dave as he takes his math final. Thanks to a fabulous tutor, lots of Hagan Daz, cookies, treats, and now chocolate cake, he has made it to the end of this session. Unfortunately he has one more math class to take. Better load up on chocolate.

In closing, I know some of you, I won't name names (Michele), couldn't stand the fact that you didn't know what my secret was. It isn't anything terribly huge, but hopefully it will be fun for our family for the summer. We bought a ski boat, not a very big one, but still a ski boat - yeah. Maybe I can finally use my wake board that I got for Christmas three years ago, it's never been used. That is if I can still remember how to get up. I am excited to expose my kids to such a fun activity. I hope they love boating as much as Dave and I do.

Planting Done

My garden is all planted thanks to the help of my kids. Thanks guys, you were great helpers today. Wish I could say the same about Kalea. Hope the garden can survive her!

Sunburn and Secret

It was such a beautiful day today that I decided not to pick up a book, but to go outside and work in the yard. I spent several hours digging up weeds, and getting the garden area ready to plant. By the time I came in I was a little sunburned. I'm so not complaining, I love having a little sun on me. Maybe this might sound weird, or maybe I'm in line with others, but there is something about having a little color that makes me feel better about myself. Is that weird, or am I normal?

I have a secret..... tune in and I'll share in the next few days.

Sad to see it end!

This weekend has been great. The weather was beautiful, and we were able to spend a lot of time together as a family. On Saturday we got lots of yard work done. The front flower beds are all cleaned out, and the front and back lawns have been edged and mowed. After our yard work was done we went bike riding on the Jordan River Parkway. We started at 6200 South and went all the way to 9000 South. The kids did great and didn't even complain, good thing since it was their idea. Jessy had a hay fever attack on the way back and couldn't stop sneezing, but other then that it was a lot of fun. Today we made another run to the Jordan River Parkway, this time with the dog, and the kids on their scooters. Kalea is a TERRIBLE walker, she is easily distracted and yanks on her choke chain the entire time. None the less, it was great to be outside enjoying the beautiful weather and being together.

SS

Sunny Saturdays are the BEST!

Drama Queens don't only live at my house!

Yesterday I went to drop a book off at my friends house, school had already started, however her daughter was still home. I asked her what she was doing, she told me that she hadn't been able to swallow her pill, and was having a bad day. Sounded so familiar! When her mom came in the room the daughter started whining. Her mom told her that she didn't want to talk to her at the moment and the daughter left the room in a huff! Again, sounding way to familiar. I was headed to the school, so I offered to take her daughter to school. I'm not sure who was more excited about the offer. I got a text shortly after that said, "thanks for taking my drama queen to school." I have often thought that the only drama queens, myself included, lived at our house, but apparently they are scattered all over. Who knew???

Put down the book for Spring

It was so nice outside today that I put my book down, and haven't read all day. It was great to spend time outside.

This morning I helped in Jessy's class, we practiced vocabulary words. After I was done in there, I got to go on a field trip with Cody's class to the Water Conservatory in West Jordan. It's just down the street from our house, yet I have never been there. It was a lot of fun and the kids behaved fairly well. I can't wait to go when the plants are in bloom, I bet it's beautiful!

After I was done with my "school" activities, I decided Kalea needed some time outside as well. I called my friend Kristen and we went to the Jordan River Parkway and went on a walk. It felt great to be outside enjoying the weather and getting a bit of exercise. Once I got home I still hadn't got enough outside time, so I spent the next hour and a half cleaning out flowerbeds. I love digging in my flower beds. I think digging in the dirt is therapeutic. Can't wait to plant flowers!!!!

I had to put the shovel down so I could go pick up kids from school. Yesterday I had promised them that we would go to Target after school to look for this "squirmey" things - some kind of fuzzy worm toy. We couldn't find them at Target so we ended up at good, old Walmart. Hurray, or not, they had them. The kids were so happy, apparently they find this worm things therapeutic - What ever.

Do you ever feel like you spend the afternoons driving kids around to various locations? That's what the rest of the afternoon entailed. Cody to a friends, Kassy to rock climbing. Jessy had no where to go so she decided we should take Kalea for a walk. Off we went to the Jordan River Parkway for walk number two. I am not complain, again, it felt great to be outside enjoying spring and getting exercise.

Once we got home, I couldn't wait to get my hands back in the dirt and finish cleaning out my front flower bed, it looks so pretty, with it's newly overturned dirt.

Still no time to read my book, it was after 7:00pm and my friend Stacie was having a Scentsy party. I love Scentsy's, however, I hate trying to figure out what scent I need to buy. There are so many yummy ones. I finally settled on my top three favorites and then spent the next hour and a half talking with my friend Debbie about......BOOKS. I have about five or six new ones to add to my list of "need to read".

Once I got home, I asked Cody if he had finished his homework, he said "yes". A few minutes later he came in and said, "mom, I can't lie to you, I didn't finish my homework." He and I have spent the last 30 minutes finishing homework, of course it's due tomorrow. Hurray, everyone is now in bed, Dave is doing homework, so I now have a few minutes to go READ!

Something I have learned since I started blogging: the correct spelling for tomorrow is with two "R's". Apparently I have been spelling tomorrow wrong for some time now. Thank Heavens for spell check, because of it, I now know the correct spelling of TOMORROW!

Beautiful Creatures

I finished my latestet book today, Beautiful Creatures. It was good, interesting... I can't say much more then that, because it is one of those books that you can't talk about or you ruin it for others. Honestly, it wasn't until they very end that I understood why they even named the book Beautiful Creatures. Not my favorite,but still a fun read. Moving on to the next book. I've got about ten or so books in my stack of to read pile. That doesn't include all the ones I want to read, that's just the books I have here at my house.

Favorite place to read, besides my closet. On the floor in my bedroom when the sun is shinning in.

Yummy, plus other stuff

Doctors appointment - rescheduled, Yea.
Attorney stuff - taken care of, now for the bill.
Costco Adventure with Michele - Fun, I too wish we could hang out together more.
Reading - ALWAYS! Latest book Beautiful Creatures.
Kids - All picked up and delivered home safely.
Activity Day Girls - Huge success with a recipe to share.

Today in Activity Day Girls we made, Listen to the Promptings of the Holy Ghost and Choose The Right... FUDGE! I did this activity years ago in Primary and the kids loved it. I gave the girls the opportunity to choose out of two ingredients as to what they wanted to put in the fudge. Example, cream cheese or regular cheese. While they were deciding, the Holy Ghost, aka Me, whispered in their ear what to use. It turned out great, plus in the end we had a yummy treat to eat.

This recipe is easy and tasty. It's great for outings such as camping. Hope you enjoy it!

Choose the Right....FUDGE

1 large freezer ziplock baggie
1/2 cup margarine softened
3 oz cream cheese softened
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa
3/4 bag powdered sugar

Put all ingredients in ziplock baggie. Get as much air out of the bag, then close. Squeeze baggie until ingredients are the consistency of fudge. Approx 20 min. Cut edge of baggie and squeeze fudge onto spoons to serve.

Have I ever mentioned that my favorite things are generally, fast, cheap, or easy!

What Happened?

The day started off warm and spring like. Early afternoon, more of the same. By 3:30 the storm started rolling in and by 5:00 it was cold, rainy and yucky! What happened? Oh ya, I live in Utah, and that's the way the seasons go.

I apologize for swearing on my blog. Swearing is something I try to keep under wraps. Apparently I didn't do a very good job of it! What Happened? See my post about Kalea's Graduation. My sister-in-law pointed this out to me, she herself was laughing her A... off when she called to tell me about it. The banner at Kalea Dog School say, "Dog Training Class." Apparently in every picture Kalea is sitting in front of the CL, so the banner reads, "Dog Training A...! Oops!

Kassy tried out for the talent show at school. She sang I caught myself by Paramore. I thought she did a great job but unfortunately she didn't make it. What Happened? I myself would have never been so brave. I am proud of her for trying. There's always next year...

Yesterday in Sunday School we talked about the Word of Wisdom. The topic of caffeine came up...UGH! All day yesterday I felt BLAH. What Happened? I'll tell you what happened, I didn't have a coke. Today I went to lunch with Angela and Tiffaney - Five Guys - Yummy, I had 32 oz of Coke, man did it taste GOOD. Amazingly I didn't feel like Blah today. Hmmmm!

What Happened in your world today???

Favorite Sister: Jennifer - hehehe. Does that count cause I only have one sister!

Blah

Blah, Blah, blah! That's how I feel today!!!!

Graduation Day

It's been a really busy day that has included sleepovers, going to two baptisms, dropping kids off at parties, playing with friends, washing cars, cleaning house, doing laundry, grocery shopping, and Dave skiing. Among all of that craziness, we managed to fit in an outing for Kalea as well. Today she graduated from Dog School!

Congratulations Kalea, we are so proud of you. Is she the perfect dog and super well behaved - NO. However, she is doing much better and we will continue to work with her. Sometimes we forget she is just a puppy, doing puppy things.

Some of Kalea's favorite things to do when we are not around are:
*Find a shoe, not to chew on, just to hold.
*Roll on any ones clothes who might be on the floor, or grab there clothes and put them on the floor.
*Get one of Jessy's stuffed animals and lick it until it is super slobbery.

Like I said, still not perfect, but we are working on it.
Kalea has brought a lot of interesting challenges into our lives, but boy do we love her. Now if she would just stop shedding!

"Sit Kalea. STAY! What a good girl!"

Cody was so excited that he got to come to Kalea's graduation. By the way he took all the pictures except this one.

"Lay down, good girl."

"I said sit down!"

Congratulations Dog School Graduate!

Negative

The results are in.... Jessy doesn't have Celiac. Now What????

Thank Heavens it is Friday!

Bragging About Kassy - Lion of the Quarter

I am going to brag about Kassy! At school today, she was honored with an award, Lion of the Quarter. Many of you might not no what that is, to be honest I didn't either until a week ago when we got a call from the school letting us know that Kassy was getting it. It is a prestigious award that is given at West Jordan Middle School. One of your teachers nominates you to receive the award, and then at least half of your teachers must agree that you deserve it. Your name can be vetoed out by other teachers as well. This award is given out every quarter to six kids, three girls and three boys, from each grade. There are approximately 950 students at West Jordan Middle School. You may only get this award once during your time in Junior High, that means your chances of getting this award are pretty slim. Kassy, along with all the other kids were called down to the office and told that they needed to report to the Media Center. Kassy, as would most junior high students, wondered if she was in trouble for something. (Not like Kassy has ever gotten in trouble at school. Home, now that's a totally different blog entry!) As the kids walked into the Media center, they were greeted by friends and family applauding them. Most of them, including Kassy, where completely surprised. A few words were said, introducing the program, and then a breakfast in their honor was provided. After breakfast there was an award ceremony. Each of the kids received an award, a bag of treats, and a booklet made specifically for them. The booklet has a letter from each of their teachers as well as one from their parents, congratulating them on there accomplishments. Their pictures are taken by a professional and are displayed in a case at the school until the next students are chosen. A lot of time and energy goes into this, it really is a BIG deal. This award is not about good grades, however that does help, it's about being an all around good student. Even though I already knew Kassy was a great girl, it's nice to know that others think that of her as well. I want to share what was written about Kassy, to introduce her. It says: WJMS Lion of the Quarter - 3rd Quarter 2009-2010 Kassy Fagg has a gift for kindness, which truly adds to her classes here at West Jordan Middle School. Kassy helps other students in her classes and works well with others. Kassy is a hard working student, dedicated to doing her best. Kassy is planning ahead for her future by setting high goals for herself now. Kassy realizes that who she is now makes a difference in where she'd like to be, and she is working hard to get there. These are a few of the nice things her teachers said about her. Mind you, I am only writing down a few of them. *You are a great student who is truly deserving of this honor. - Miss Geilman *Remember who you are makes a difference. - Ms. Nielson *You are a very hard working student, dedicated to doing your best. - Mr. Zander *You always seem to have a positive attitude and are a great role model to others. - Mrs. Bailey *You are on the path towards a successful life. - Mrs. Brumfield *You continue to amaze us.... Dad and Mom Hurray for Kassy for getting this award her first year in Junior High. We are so proud of her, and know that she is working hard so that she can make her future bright. Way to go Kassy Bug, or as you would say, "You Rock"!

The kids coming in, they were so sure they were all in trouble.

7th Grade Lion of the Quarter Winners

7th, 8th, and 9th grade Lion of the Quarter Winners.

7th grade girl winners. Emiily Reichmann, Allison Jensen, and Kassy Fagg.

Proud dad and mom with their super sweet daughter Kassy. Yes I know, she is taller than me!

Easter Pictures With Captions

Trying to play a little bit of "catch up". Here are a few pictures from Easter, you know, the holiday where the freaky 6 foot Easter Bunny jumps around, delivering candy and eggs. What's up with that, Really? Don't get me wrong, I really love Easter and what it's true meaning is, I am just sad that we lose the importance of holidays due to the fact that they have all been comercialized. WOW, that was a rant....

I am grateful to my Savior who died for ME on the cross. Because of him I can be forgiven of my sins, return and live with my Heavenly Family, and be with my earthly family forever! That's what Easter is about!!


Kassy, Jessy and Cody coloring Easter Eggs. Cody looks thrilled!

Easter Morning - The Easter bunny brought candy, soda, new tooth brushes, and dollar bills in our Easter Eggs.

Family Tradition: Every year we go to Sugar House park and roll our Easter Eggs down the hill. Okay that's a lie, we throw our Easter eggs at each other. Dave didn't come cause he had homework, and sadly enough everyone else in my family dogged out this year. Oh well, the kids and I still had fun.

The Seaguls LOVE the Easter eggs. This doesn't even begin to show the amount of birds that came to join in our fun!

I think that is a smile. Jessy!

The Seaguls would come almost right up to you to get the eggs. Crazy birds! Cody

After throwing all our eggs, the kids decided to climb the trees. Kassy

Just FYI, I didn't take this picture, Kassy did.

All in all it was a fun Easter.

Where does the time go?

So I thought that today would be the day that I would catch up on my blog, but it's already 9:30, and this is the first time I've had a chance to sit down at the computer. Okay, that's not true, I did get on this morning to check Kassy's grades for her. This is just the first time I've gotten on for me.

Pretty much my blogging details are going to have to wait until another day. For tonight I'd like to post that I took Jessy back to the doctor and they drew blood to check for Celiac (Dawn is that the right spelling?) We should know the results in a couple of days. I am praying that's not what's wrong with her because I already have the hardest time cooking for my family. I can't imagine what it would be like if we have to change our entire way of eating. However, I would like some answers. Will see what happens.

Larger post, with details on "Life" forthcoming, some time this week.

Favorite place to wonder around: Borders - I love BOOKS! Target is a close second!

Still No Time

I don't have much time to blog, today is the kids last day of spring break, so hopefully tomorrow I can catch up with important stuff and pictures.

I did want to write that Jessy had her Ultrasound today, and everything was normal. Yeah! However, that doesn't change the fact that she is still having stomach problems. Boo! So for now we wait until she has another attack and then we go see the doctor again to eliminate the next set of things. Poor girl!

Favorite thing for today: Not waiting. We are blessed with modern technology that allows us to get result immediately! Love that, I hate to wait!

Happy Easter

It's a good thing that the reason for Easter Sunday is so important, because frankly, I think it's kind of a dumb holiday. Six foot bunny hopping around giving out candy, and what's with the eggs. If you ask me the eggs are good for only one thing and that is throwing down the hill! Sorry for the negativity, having a moment, I guess.

Happy Easter
Favorite treat I got in my Easter Basket: A giant bottle of Coke. If nothing else, at least the bunny knows what I like!

Crazy Busy

Crazy busy today. Dog school, work, grocery shopping, visiting with a great friend! Super Fun!

Favorite thing about Easter: Throwing Easter eggs at Sugar House Park!

Slacker

It's true, I've been a slacker, but I can't help it. The truth is all I want to do in my spare time is READ! I love it, and can't get enough of it. I finish one book and pick up the next. I finished Intertwined last night - sequel comes out in September, then I started PURE this morning. I decided to put my book down and spent the next hour browsing Borders web site looking up the dates the sequels come out to all the series I have been reading. Here's the run down: One comes out in April, one May, two in June, one in July, one in August, one in September, and the final one in December. That's only 2010, so exciting! I think I might have a problem, but at least it's a good one!

Spring Break is upon us. Today the kids all had friends coming and going. We started with friends at 11:00 am and sent the last one home at 5:00 pm. I'm exhausted. After words Kassy, Jessy, Cody, and I went to dinner with my dad, Pat, Jennifer, and Mike. We went to the PIE - Yummy! It was a lot of fun hanging with my family. Pat busts me up, sometimes I wonder how she and my dad ever hooked up. Dad is great at being "dad", and Jennifer and Mike, I just adore. Mike invited my kids to go to their house and sleep over after dinner. Free night, to bad Dave spent the afternoon snowmobiling and is now stuck doing homework. The price one has to pay for fun! Hopefully the kids will be good and get some sleep.

I still have much to write about, but I'm going to go lounge and enjoy my quiet time (okay let's be honest, I am going to go read). I'll get out of slacker mode next week, or at least I'll try to put my books down long enough to do so.

Quick update on Jessy's tummy problems. She is still having issues. Monday we are headed to Primary children's for an Ultrasound. Thanks to you who have given suggestions as to what her problem could be. Right now our doctor hasn't ruled anything out. We are just taking it one step at a time. I still truly believe part of it is self inflicted, caused by stress. Poor little thing. Her cousin Taylor ended up in the Hospital this week for his own kind of weird stomache problems. Jessy's tummy has been huting more and more since he went in - again, STRESS! More on all that next week when we know more.

Favorite Gatorade Flavor: Grape!