Chocolate Jesus

We were talking about Christmas the other night and what gifts we could give to God. The girls had some great answers like service and visiting people. Then Braden said "I could give him a Jesus statue...a chocolate Jesus statue...He would like that...but if he ate the statue he would die." Gotta love 3 year olds.

So Christmas is closing in fast. Most of the shopping has been done. I still have all of the wrapping. And I plan on dipping oreos in chocolate for the second year in a row. Partly by default because last year I purchased 40 lbs of dipping chocolate. I had always wanted to try dipping candy and last year was the year. I didn't know how much I would need but I knew I would need dark chocolate for me and milk for Brian. Only the 20 lbs increments were on sale so that is what I bought.  The other reason for dipping oreos, have you tried them? Add a little peppermint and you know why I am doing it.

Besides putting off wrapping and blogging, I have been procrastinating Christmas cards.  I have put off cards for 3 years now.  It was nice not to have to worry about another thing to do.  But my list of received Christmas cards has greatly diminished.  So maybe this year I am up for the challenge.  We did get a new family picture this summer (which I failed to post).  When we moved into the new home I pulled out wall pictures that had been packed away since AZ.  Kelsey was only 6 months old in the last professional family portrait which meant Braden wasn't even a twinkle. I remedied the situation very quickly and am pleased with the results.  I don't think I could even give you a favorite of the kids.  So maybe just maybe I will get to it this year.

Speechless

The other day I was asking the kids what they wanted for Christmas. Kelsey has been having a hard time thinking of things she wants (shocking). Her birthday was a couple of weeks ago and she received everything she really wanted. Brian came home from work and asked her the same thing. She replied she didn't know what she wanted. So Brian half teasing suggested that we take the money we would have spent on her and give it to someone without. Instead of getting upset and whining about not receiving anything, she gave a calm matter of fact response. She basically told us that was fine with her. She would be happy watching Macy and Braden open their presents and would be excited to see what they get.

I was speechless. Where did this sweet, Christlike response come from? I cannot take credit for it but I can certainly learn from it. I probably perpetuate the desire to gain things by placing so much emphasis on what they want for birthdays and bugging the kids until Christmas lists are made. I will still get her presents but I probably won't ask her again for a list. Maybe I should take her to pick a gift out and then take her to a donation drop off place to give away that gift.

Funniest Halloween Moment

The kids were super excited and ran the neighborhood in an hour and a half. They made it back in time to hand out candy which they were super excited to do. Kelsey staked out a spot on the front porch step with the bowl of treats. Braden comes out to help and brings a stuffed animal monkey with him. He says he wants to let people pet his monkey and then sits next to Kelsey. The first customers arrive and they are maybe 13 or 14 years old. While picking out candy Braden asks "do you want to pet my monkey?" While snickering under their breath, the girls were cute enough to say they would love to.

Happy Halloween Goblins

2 rainbow fairies and a ghost came to haunt our house.

Rainbow fairies are from a book series and they wear normal clothes. They did have rainbow makeup and lots of glitter. The pictures don't show it. Braden also made it easy on me by wanting to be a ghost.

A side note, Kelsey had to be a witch last night at the church party and at a friend's party. She at least wore her fairy stuff at Disneyland, the neighborhood party, and trick or treating. Macy didn't want to wear a costume to the parties.

Someone Please Explain the Male Species

Braden had 2 friends over and they were playing out front. I checked on them and they told me they were searching for treasure. Okay great. I go back in to help with homework. The next time I check 2 are without shirts and Braden is trying to take his odd. They inform me they are still digging for treasure. Without shirts? Well someone had gotten someone else's shirt dirty so the shirts had to come off. Good thing it was warm today. I help them put clothes back on and I see the excavation sight/destruction zone. Dirt every where and one flower casualty. The 3 treasure hunters head inside while I make repairs. I come in and there is now mud all over the kitchen. Someone had it all over the bottom of their shoes. I am guessing it wasn't the one with bare feet. Arg. Boys!
Another thing, why are they always hitting? Braden punches me to get my attention. He kicks me when mad. He hits me when he is happy and playing. He spanks my bum when playing. The other night when we were trying to leave a party I kept chatting like usual. Braden did not like that and was hitting. Obviously not hard enough cause I didn't stop so he whacked me in the arm and sent my cupcake flying across the room. He did go to time out and people saw another side of me for a few seconds. Hey he ruined the last chocolate cupcake.
I saw this boy thing in Brian the other day. He had a stick and was walking by the trailer in our garage. Brian whacked the trailer for no reason. I know there was no reason because I asked and he just smiled and said I don't know.
Now Braden and his friend came home and started chasing Kelsey and her friend bugging them. What is it with boys?

The new ride and home teachers

Saturday Braden finally got his "jeep". Brian had us sell the purple Barbie power wheels before we moved because his son could not ride in a girl car. Braden was upset and he was promised a new one. 5 months later he finally has one. Not brand new but it works and he loves it. May need a new battery (not thrilled about that) but I guess that is the risk you run buying used. He wouldn't stop this morning for a picture.

And if you are wondering how the picture got here, we'll I have turned to the iPod. A little slower at typing but much faster Internet speed.

So Kelsey has somehow picked up some bad habits from her uncle and dad. Yesterday our home teachers were over. These are men from our congregation that are assigned to look out for our family and help when they can. They usually come with some sort of message. Well our kids are never great when they come. They get rowdy, don't pay attention, and get bored easily. Kind of like family night. This time Kelsey let her feelings known. She blurts out "This is boring. Are we almost done?" We laugh and try to finish things up but not at her pace so she says again "is it time for the lesson? This is boring." I am grateful she did not behave like her father when he was little. He once ran into the room where his mother and he teachers were talking and lets out a loud fart. Then he ran away laughing. Some people's children!

Excuses...they stink

So my blog has been haunting me for sometime. I just don't have the desire. I have lots of posts but they never get written.  It seems to have gone the way of most of my journals.

Yesterday I had the best of intentions of writing about our recent trip to Disneyland. I went to download the 352 pictures on my camera when the message saying my disk space was completely full. Only 10 pics were downloaded. For sometime we have had the intention of buying a new computer. This old, super slow computer has been one of my reasons for not writing. It is horrendous to work on. Just ask some of my family. Well the computer again gave me an excuse for avoiding the blog. But now we really have to act on computers and we have no clue about what we need and what is a good price. Our printer has been broken since we moved in and it ran out of ink 2 months ago but I wasn't going to buy a new printer until we had the new computer. You would think that would be incentive to buy a computer but no. Yes I would curse when I had to hand write my talk or hand write my letters to my brother or hand write quotes for my church lessons on Sunday.  I guess we had to make things worse before we would act. (Are we dumb or what?)

But don't worry we have our priorities. Earlier this month we bought a new TV instead of a computer. We were able to watch General Conference in HD. We are now officially cool and have stepped into the realm of flat screen, HD, internet connected TVs.


Anways, you do not get to hear about Disneyland today. Probably not tomorrow either. Maybe you will be lucky enough to get a few old updates that have been swirling in my head for months like boys hitting for no reason or answering philosophical questions like "is he a boy or a girl, mommy"?

Disneyland re-cap

What can I say?  Disneyland is great.  By the end I was ready to be done with Disneyland, but that was because it got crowded towards the end of our trip.  Now I want to go back.  Everyone else does too, except Brian.  He is not a lover.  He is happy to take the kids but it is not his first suggestion for a family trip.

We went the last week of September with our Disney fanatic friends, the Walker family.  I think they did the 6 day hopper pass.  We did 4 and that was pushing it for Brian.  Kelsey's best friend is their daughter Kristina.  Kelsey wasn't happy unless she was shopping or with Kristina.  There were times our families would separate to have time as a family and she would turn into Oscar the Grouch. 

Kelsey giddy because she has a new purchase and is with her
friend.

The weather couldn't have cooperated any better.  The first 3 days at Disneyland were in the mid-70s.  When we went to the beach on Thursday and Friday the park was reaching the 90s so the beach weather was great. 

The crowds were awesome and minimal Monday and Tuesday.  The Tower of Terror had a 10 minute wait, Star Tours 15 minute, and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters 5.  We did have a Utah family of about 40 in front of getting their entrance tickets Monday morning which caused us to wait in the longest line that day.  That didn't start our day off the happiest way, but it improved dramatically.

Wednesday's crowd was ridiculous.  It was like summer time crowds and it is supposed to be the slowest day of the week.  Come to find out it was Yom Kippur and Orange County and LA County schools were out for the day.  Disneyland didn't even catch this and wasn't prepared so they extended park closing time by an hour.  That didn't help much with the heartache of so many people.  I will never go in the summer.

We decided to try out the Halloween Block party Friday night and paid the extra $60 for each person.  We had heard wonderful things about it.  Well we thought it stunk for families with little kids.  It must have caught on because it was sold out.  You couldn't move through the streets and the lines for trick-or-treating were 20 minutes.  The candy was good but I could have bought a whole lot of the same stuff for the price paid.  We were told wait times were amazing at the rides.  Well not with a sold out crowd.  The wait times were longer than Monday and Tuesday and there was not quick moving through the streets to get to a lot of attractions.  Of course the fireworks were fantastic.

We made it to the new Radiator Springs and it was awesome.  The new Race ride was great.  Braden wasn't a fan but we made him ride it 3 times.  Luckily were smart and help from friends to make sure we didn't wait in the 2 hour line.  We made use of fast passes and ran in first thing when the park opened.  Nobody like Luigi's Flying tires.

Braden wearing Macy's purchase waiting for the racers.

We finally made it to World of Color and I want to see that again in a better viewing location.  It was amazing and fun.  Of course, I think, I had to make 2 or 3 bathroom runs with the kids during the show.

Kelsey rode everything.  She didn't like everything but was determined to be braver than her friend.  One of her favorites ended up being Tower of Terror.  Macy liked all the big ones.  I know they rode the roller coaster several times.  Kelsey may have liked that one too.  Braden always asked to go on the Ariel ride.  Not sure the fascination.  Maybe it was because you never had to wait to ride that one.  They all liked the teacups.  Braden got to ride almost every ride too.  He just barely reached 40 inches.  His head would just barely scratch the measuring arm and their were a few close calls.  We were worried the first 40 inch ride and folded maps to put in his shoes.  But he didn't need them.  Now our friend's youngest daughter who is a year older than Braden didn't quite make it.  She had to wear hand-me down 1 1/2 inch wedge flip-flops that had been through 2 sisters and many Disneyland trips (height is not a trait for their family).  New ones could not be found before the trip.  Those poor shoes had had enough and broke but she needed them to ride some of the rides so creative engineering had to take place.  It wasn't always comfortable for her nor did it always work.  Good thing she is their last.

This was the first year I have ever had to do the autograph thing.  Macy bought her own book and wanted as many as she could.  The characters she met were:  Cinderella's fairy godmother, Jack Skelington, Flick, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Goofy, Micky, Jessie, Woody, Pluto, Jake from Neverland, and Red.

Like I mentioned before the beach days were awesome.  We went to Laguna and Newport.  We played in the sand and did lots of burying.  The kids played in the waves.  Brian did some boogie boarding and the kids rode on the boogie board.  At Newport a seal came within 6 feet of the girls and I while we were playing in the water.  He was playing the waves too and didn't mind having us close.  It really startled me when I first saw him because it was the last thing I expected to see.  At Laguna we were robbed and then attacked by seagulls.  We left our backpack open thinking things would be fine because all our snacks were sealed in their packages.  Just so you know that doesn't stop seagulls.  They rummaged through the bag and stole 4 bags of chips and opened them.  I can't remember what else the grabbed, but they would not leave us alone after that and were not afraid to get too close for our comfort.

Attack of the seagulls. They want her chips.

Our seal friend

Growing Up

Life is still good in the new neighborhood. However, I might go broke with all the birthday parties. I think we average about one invite a week. I am always running to Target for a gift. Braden had two last week and Macy has one this Saturday. Totaling them all together since we moved in there have been 9 parties and that doesn't include 3 from our old area and the 1 we couldn't make it too.

But I did get a raise in my budget. Kelsey can finally sleep through the night without disposable underwear. I think it happened sometime in July. She was so excited. She still has an occasional accident but it is less than once every 2 weeks. It just helps me stay on top of laundry. Braden also is saving me money. He finally decided he would use the toilet. It also happened in July. I guess he wanted to be like his friends. He used pull-ups at night for awhile until I figured out that he is just lazy. He would wet in them as soon as he would wake up so I could never tell if he was dry through the night.  When I force him to wear underpants at night he usually stays dry (he has occasional accidents like Kelsey). So that is another couple of bucks in my wallet because no one is wearing pull-ups.

My kids are growing up faster than I document.  Kelsey is excited because she is the only kid in her class that has lost 8 teeth. This last tooth the tooth fairy kept messing up. At first the girls wrote a note asking the tooth fairy to not take the tooth until Tuesday (she lost it on the Friday before labor day). She wanted to show her class. Well she changed her mind that night and removed the note. She woke up a little upset. Then the tooth fairy forgot the next night. Then we went to Bear Lake and she forgot her tooth (which is okay because the tooth fairy would have forgotten again). Then the fairy forgot again. Finally on the fifth night she got it right. The girls chalked up the mishap to the note and getting confused.

Speaking of growing up and the tooth fairy. It is time we had the talk with Macy (and that probably means Kelsey too). Macy started asking if the tooth fairy was real in front of Braden and Kelsey. She would say "come on mom, just tell me the truth." Then one day she came home and said she knew the tooth fairy was the Bremser's mom. Note her friend Wyatt kept making the announcement about Santa in front of all 3 right before we moved. And then we would ask me, with the audience of young listeners still around, if Santa was real because his mom said Santa wasn't. I think he still wanted to believe just like Macy still wants to believe but it isn't all adding up and kids talk. I feel like we need to talk to her before she inadvertently ruins the magic for some other kid. Now if I can remember and try to find a time when she is alone. Of course I think Kelsey already knows the truth and could care less about believing so maybe I will need to talk to both.

Call Me Crazy

Today Brian worked from home because he was a little under the weather.  I took advantage of that and decided I would jog outside for a change.  What would be the difference of sticking Braden in front of the TV and running on the treadmill vs sticking Braden in front of the TV and leaving the house?  Right from the get go I wanted to wimp out. Running outside seems much harder to me. I told myself just go for 30 min instead of my usual treadmill time of 35 to 40 (40 when I really make an effort to get up on time). Would my music be enough to distract me. I love the distraction of the TV. Put on closed captioning so I can read the words and have to watch the images and I am set.

I didn't make it 30 min. I thought I would do a loop and not have to double back. I didn't realize how far my loop was. I kept pushing myself and wishing I had a bike like everyone else so I could get home faster. At one point I started to think about my course and realized that it was a really long course. I immediately turned around and re-traced my steps. My legs were mad at me and made me stop to walk sometimes. I was wishing I had my Hallmark channel because I would have been done a lot sooner. I did force myself to run up a big hill, only because an upbeat song came on my MP3 player. I reached home after 50 to 55 min. According to google maps (because I am not cool enough to have a smart phone with one of those apps that maps your route) I went 5 miles. I can't say never again because I do feel like it challenges my leg muscles differently. But it might have to be with a partner and when Brian figures out a way to work from home.

After that I thought to myself, "I am not worn out yet. I am still young." So I did some grout repair on my shower. It took a lot longer than I thought too. By the end, my back was sore, my legs were cramped, and I dreaded my stairs. But the grout is done and I can re-seal it on Monday.

And my talk is still not done. I am having terrible writer's block. I feel like I all I do is stare at the computer screen. Sometimes the easiest topics are the hardest because there is so much information that I don't know what to focus on. In case you were wondering the topic is "Building a Strong Family". Wish me luck because I still have to put together a lesson for my class also.

Oh You Lucky People

Oh you lucky people. I have to speak next Sunday but I don't want to write my talk just yet, so I will blog. I have done research but I don't know which way to go. I will ponder a bit more then get to writing. As for now I will give maybe not the latest but certainly the greatest.

First off we moved. Back in May actually and Brian had out the whip to get us unpacked as quickly as possible. Within 2 weeks all boxes were unpacked except for about 3 and most wall hangings were up. The garage, master closet and basement storage were all organized by then. I finally finished hanging things about 2 weeks ago. Brian eventually gave up on trying to get that done when he saw that the whip did not phase me. My excuse was it was summertime and I was having fun while he slaved away at work.

In June we went river rafting on the Snake river and then turned around and drove to Lake Powell. We left for the river on a Thursday. We took my grandma's motor home, which decided to blow 2 tires on our drive. One on the way to Alpine and the other on the way home. We got home on Saturday. Went to church on Sunday and then left for Lake Powell. It was a little crazy, but a lot of fun.At Lake Powell Brian brushed one of Kelsey's loose teeth right out. Luckily he noticed the hole in her mouth before she spit and the tooth was gone forever.

The kids took swim lessons. Kelsey's favorite stroke is the backstroke followed by the butterfly. Macy likes the butterfly too but I am not sure her favorite stroke. I was really impressed at how good they actually were this year. Kelsey is still afraid to swim by herself where she can't touch. Silly girl. Braden on the other hand has no fear. He thinks he is a good swimmer and was hysterical to watch. He loves to gawk and he even likes to gawk underwater. You can see him looking around as he swims. As he waited his turn he would sit on the step with his head underwater. I can't believe how long he could hold his breath. Sometimes he would do the deadman float. The first time he did this it scared me and the teacher because he sat there so long.

This summer our new front porch was broken in with a lemonade stand, rock museum, nail salon, music concerts with the karaoke, photo shoots and many other activities that I am sure had the neighbors laughing. I know the neighbors are excited we moved in at least the thousands of girls that live nearby are.

The girls are back in school already so it has really killed my summer. I feel bad when I am not being responsible and accomplishing things other than reading a book. It is just Braden and I all day. He gets a little bored with me. Luckily he has a little friend around every corner in this neighborhood. One of Braden's favorite things to show his new friends when we first moved in was he dad's tooting spot. He would bring his little buddy into our bedroom and point to Brian's spot in the bed and tell them that was his dad's tooting spot. Then all of them would giggle and laugh. I guess he has passed gas one too many times in that spot in front of Braden.

The other big event was my brother leaving on his mission Aug 1. We all said goodbye and know that he will do good. He may bug a few companions but they will all still like him. His presence was really missed when Emily and Jake were moving into my parents and we were cleaning out the basement. Someone was about to say "Where is Jeff and why isn't he helping?"

Family Pictures

When we unpacked our family photo.  I noticed a problem.  Braden was not in it and Kelsey was 6 months old.  So here is the update.  It was hard to pick favorites.  They were all great and Braden was so photogenic that day.

Macy's baptism came at a time of chaos in our life so I am just now leaving the post about it. She has been bugging me for awhile because she wrote about her baptism and wants it published with pictures.

She was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on May 5. Luckily that day was peaceful and exciting. I don't remember much besides that it wasn't too hectic because the baptism was scheduled for 4 PM. That gave plenty of time to have everything ready. Everything about the event was enjoyable. There was a great talk by a member of the stake presidency, Brian shared his testimony with Macy, I talked about Macy (and of course cried) and then we went home for dinner with all of our family.

Macy's thoughts on her baptism:

MY BAPTISM!

When you get to your church you get your suit. Then you go into the chapel. The people give talks about baptism. Then you go into the font and get baptized. When you get baptized you go fully under water.

After you get dressed you go to a room and get confirmed. Then it’s over.

THE END!


By: Macy

YOU WILL LOVE YOUR BAPTISM!

One of My Babies Turned 8

Before I get to the actual subject, I need to tell a quick story. So the other day Braden informed me that my butt is too big. Those were his exact words "Mom, your butt is too big." Thanks buddy. I was unloading the dishwasher and was standing at the open door to it. Braden thought he needed to try to squeeze between me and the counter. Obviously he thought it was a little tight.

On to the real celebration. Last week Macy turned the big 8. How I love that little girl. There are times of great frustration between the two of us, but I couldn't ask for a better, smarter, cuter, nicer, friendlier girl. I hope that we can be great friends as she continues to grow up. I love her enthusiasm for things. I love how she carries, gets ice and cuddles her brother when he gets hurt. She probably does a better job than me. I love how she wants to be so cool and grown up as she listens/dances to her Ipod touch (it was one of her presents). For school she filled in a poster all about her. This is what it said:

When I grow up I want to be a cook. (She is always checking out cookbooks from the school library and wanting to help me.)
My favorite things to do are boat (ride on the tube), swim, and cook.
My favorite place is California.
If I could have one wish, I would wish for $100.

On the day of her birthday she had her 2nd piano recital. So the family watched her wonderful performance of London Bridge. Grandpa DeVon, Jeff and a friend, Grandma Carol and Grandpa Alan and our neighbor Wyatt came too. After we went to dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory with everyone. She opened her presents at dinner and was super excited for an ipod touch, bubble gum machine, the Lego Knight Bus (from Harry Potter), clothes, and an angry bird.

But that was not the end to the celebration. The following Saturday she was able to have a friend birthday party. She invited 17 girls. Who was the crazy mom who said yes to that? In my defense, when I asked her to trim the original list she went from 15 to 12. That would leave out 3 girls from her entire school class and I thought that would have made them sad so I agreed to 15. Then I remembered I hadn't included the cousins in the original count and what is 15 compared to 17.

So the theme was Angry Birds. We built towers and launched birds to knock the towers over. I thought this would be the hit. Not so much. We only spent 15 minutes at this game.

The girls and I made our own pinata. But when it was filled it was too heavy for the string and fell to the ground unopened after 4 hits. So Macy threw it from the deck. This activity only lasted 5 to 10 minutes.

Pay no attention to my closed eyes. I am sad that this is really the only picture we have of the pinata.

Then we played angry bird ball/dodgeball. I wasn't sure if we would even have time to do this and I wasn't sure who would like it. Well it was the hit of the party and they wanted to keep playing which is a good thing because I ran out of things to do with 45 minutes left. I still had to improvise at the very end but I hope they had a good time. I wasn't sure Kelsey liked dodgeball because she would hide in the corner the entire time but the next day in the car she enthusiastically asked if we could play dodgeball again. Macy's cousin, Jensen who is 7, hid behind Braden during each game and used him as her shield. So it was a fantastic party except I had too much time at the end.