Daddy-Maddie Time

Two of my most favorite people. My cute husband Brandon, and our cute 4 year old "Spanish" daughter Maddie (referring to prior blog entry). Daddy took Maddie to a wedding reception of a friend at work. They had a little photo booth there, and they were able to take these pics. How cute are they? Love these two little sweet peas.

13th Anniversary

Motorcycle Visions

This may be TMI. Maybe.

So, my husband Brandon sees a motorcycle for sale. (We are in the van driving by.) He points it out to me. He suggests we could buy it to save on gas money. Whenever he makes this suggestion he gets several reminders of past accidents. I remind him that I like him better living. Then he always tells me about the insurance money and how rich I would be. Cuz that almost tempts me. Raising five kids by myself, without my best friend, that would be fun.

When that offer falls on deaf ears, he tells me, "hey laura, what do you think. We could get a motorcycle, some leather vests, and some leather chaps. We'd wear those leather vests and the chaps, and nothing else." (Now I'm getting tempted.) Then he says, "Yeah, you could sit behind me and hug me tight." Then he does the motions of revving up the engine and riding on the motorcycle. I just had to share because I was busting a gut laughing. My husband always makes me laugh. I know you wanted to share in his motorcycle vision. Such a glorious thought! Do they make plus size motorcycle vests?

Before and After

My husband did a great job of tiling the basement bathroom. Thanks Brandon!!! (For more details; see entry about the Tile Man)

Before


AFTER (Good job Brandon!)

Now the toilet needs to go back and it's time for grout.

My Tile Man

Well, Maddie overflowed the tub last week to such a point that we had a drip through our ceiling. Not great, so my husband decided to take out all the linoleum in our bathrooms and put in tile. He had tiled most of our downstairs in our Springville home, so it's not his first time. Anyway, after several trips to the Home Depot with three toddlers this week, I was able to choose out some tile. 16 by 16, light, and cheap. They were around $1 a tile. Pretty good for the larger tiles I thought. I am feeling so lazy, the weather is so great, I tried to cajole my husband into waiting to work on the tiling and just play this beautiful afternoon away. (When I get home from work, I just want to play, and that's what happened this afternoon.)
But, he's sticking to his plan, no matter what I have been offering---just kidding. I have to put in some spice every once in a while. Anyway, our van is in the shop and ouch!!! it is going to cost a bit of a fortune to fix the air, and something to do with the steering. Yikes. I sure hate being stranded. Nothing gives me greater cabin fever.

My tile man; my husband. Almost as good as a pool boy!


The linoleum

Practicing on our basement bathroom before he gets to our Master Bath

The tile from Home Depot (16 by 16)


So, since I am stranded currently, I guess I will plant some of the bulbs I was supposed to plant in Sept/Oct. I can see them starting to bloom in the bags. So, I guess it's time to plant. Wish me luck.

Procrastination at it's best.

And.....I am so excited, garage sale time is almost here. YAY!

Great Balls of Fire

To my brother Daniel; this one is dedicated to you!!! Brandon can't wait to take you out for a good time on your next visit.

My husband having his male bonding boy moment. And we are totally not rednecks, I don't know what would give you that impression! See video below for validation of the facts:

Great Balls of Fire

Another Flashback

Brandon, me, and my cousin Amy at a Family Reunion. BACK in the day. Do you just love our matching Family Reunion t-shirts? (Great to recycle for bowling. Cause can you really go bowling without a shirt with your name on it and have success? I dare say no.)



I am loving Facebook. Almost daily, friends and family are posting pictures from the past! This picture was taken by my cousin Amy at a Bartholomew Family Reunion. We all had matching shirts with our names on them. How come everything always comes back to bowling? It made me want to use my bowling name "Stella" instead of Laura, but that is another story. Stella is just the best bowling name----and best name for lots of other things too. Hey Beyonce has another name too---Sasha Fierce. She must've stolen the idea from me. I have had my bowling name Stella for at least a decade or two. If you have not thought of a great second name for yourself, it's time. Trust me, it will have SOOO many uses.

What is frightening is Brandon and I look so young. Wow. We were so young once. I don't think we were old enough to be married. (Are you listening kids?) But hey, he is the best thing that ever happened to me. And like I have been known to say, when you see the most beautiful purse or outfit you have ever seen and there is only one of them, are you going to leave it at the store or are you going to make your purchase? Well, let's just say when I met Brandon and he was the best thing ever, I was all about closing that purchase! So what if we had only been dating 5 weeks. So what if we got married 3 months later. And hey, Stella wanted to get married. It has been the best decision of my life. Thank goodness for Stella and her influence in my life. And to think back then, within a week of our getting married, I started my Master's Degree in Social Work. He was earning minimum wage at Tri-Connections. Isn't it amazing that even though there is not much "going" for you at the time you have everything going for you 'cause you are young and in love? Wow. Memories, memories. And all because of a picture on facebook today.

When you were young and your heart was an open book
You used to say life and let life
(you know you did, you know you did you know you did)

OK, the rest of the lyrics don't match the rest of my entry, so I won't print them.
From the song----Live and let die. Paul McCartney. A fabulous song, but hey, any song that involves Paul McCartney is just that. FABULOUS!

Here are all the song lyrics; you also may remember it from Guns 'n Roses (OK, I changed my mind, here are all the lyrics to this song.):

Live And Let Die lyrics

When you were young
and your heart was an open book
You used to say live and let live
you know you did
you know you did
you know you did
But if this ever changin world
in which we live in
Makes you give in and cry
Say live and let die
Live and let die

What does it matter to ya
When ya got a job to do
Ya got to do it well
You got to give the other fella hell

You used to say live and let live
you know you did
you know you did
you know you did
But if this ever changin world
in which we live in
Makes you give in and cry
Say live and let die
Live and let die

The lyrics may sound depressing, but I love the energy of the song. Not to mention the voice of Paul or Axl. You know we are on a first name basis. They call me Stella.

Valentine's Day

My man Brandon knows how to warm my heart. Time alone with him. Shopping. Beautiful scenery---I just love Park City. And a great restaurant. I just love sitting across from my man in a restaurant. Knowing we can talk without interruption. Good food. Laughter. No screaming kids. Hours. Dreamy.

Dad on Duty

How can you tell a Dad is on duty?

The menu is:
IBC bottled root beer for all the kids and Daddy
Lunchables meals for all the kids
Cheetos (but hey, they are baked for extra nutritional value!)
Chips

We went to Walmart earlier as a family, and we divided up, so I didn't notice my husband buying the menu items for the night. I loved it, I was getting ready, and saw all his fabulous preparations for the night. Gotta' love it!!! They are having a boys night! Although Maddie kept saying she wants a girls night. Maybe in a couple years, and maybe when you don't pee on me when you sit on my lap right before a Girls Night. That made me need that Girls Night all the more. Oh, the joys of children.
Only the best for our family!

My husband is so bloody funny

Just in case you have not checked out my husband's blog, you really should. My husband is SOOOOO bloody funny! He is definately my better, more funny half! He is so laid back and has a great sense of humor; he always has me laughing. Is there anything more sexy than a guy who can make you laugh? I know, TMI. I just can't resist. And hey, the truth will set you free. I am not quite sure how that works with this nugget, but hey, it's a freebie. Sometimes you get what you pay for. And hey, I am not as funny as him. For some great laughs, check out: Brandon's Blog

A Touch of Arkansas

My husband took this picture just for me. See, I am from NY, and his roots are in the South. I think he took a picture of the Confederate Flag just to give me a little taste of the South! I had to share!

The Tooth Fairy is Easily Confused

You probably did not know this, but the tooth fairy is easily confused. Ethan lost his tooth several days ago, and we were wondering why that tooth fairy hadn't picked up his tooth yet. We were wondering: Had the tooth fairy had an accident? Maybe the tooth fairy was in the hospital. We were a little concerned. Luckily, my husband emailed the tooth fairy today. (Thank goodness the tooth fairy believes in technology!) The tooth fairy emailed him back and let him know she has come several times, but since Ethan has so many pillows on his bed (necessary for all the pillow fights he and Benjamin engage in every night), she has gotten confused as to where the tooth is.

Luckily, when Ethan returned with me from basketball today, my husband was able to relay the message from the tooth fairy, and let Ethan know he needed to get rid of some of those pillows. Ethan ran upstairs right away to rectify the situation.

The tooth fairy said she could come back today. While we were out today she must've come. Thank goodness Ethan got rid of the extra pillows.

As you can see, our Christmas tree is still up (picture below). So are all our Christmas decorations. If I asked REALLY nicely, do you think the tooth fairy could come and take them all down for me?

Moral of the story:

-Don't keep too many pillows on your bed.

-Keep up your email account; you never know when Santa, the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy might need to contact you.

-Don't be scared to contact the Tooth Fairy if she doesn't arrive, there is probably a good reason (which is usually the child's fault:)

-I think we need a Christmas decorations fairy that will put away all the Christmas stuff for us. Perhaps a seasonal fairy who will decorate and put away decorations for all the holidays. Yeah. That's what I need. I think they call them personal assistants. Not free. Crap.



If you lose your tooth at school, the school gives you this "tooth" necklace to hold your tooth until you get home. Back in the day, I probably would've done anything to get one of these. I probably would've pulled out some of my teeth to get one. Even at 36, there is a little part of me that secretly wants a "tooth" necklace. Oh, that child within.

Paper Airplanes

Grandma and Grandpa gave the boys a book on making Paper Airplanes for Christmas. Well, tonight they broke out the book and paper and began creating. All the children were huddled around their Dad and the book trying to figure out how to make awesome paper airplanes. I overheard little Brandon tell his Dad, "I love to spend time together creating things." Awwwww. One day they won't be so thrilled. We will savor these moments as long as we can. Even little Maddie joined in the paper airplane fun!

Beware of Paper Airplanes

The book that started all the fun

Here are some amazing Paper Airplane options from the book

Brandon and Ethan deciding which planes to make with Daddy

This book is a hit!!!!! I definately would recommend it! Perfect for Father's Day from a son, hint, hint.

Thank goodness for Daddy

Our family had a little emergency yesterday. For us, it really was an emergency. Our dryer broke. Stopped working mid-cycle, and the drum would not move. Not a good thing. We checked all the possible obvious issues, like checking the circuits, etc. So, we started with cleaning out behind it and around it. Gotta' love spilled detergent behind the dryer, some clothes that fell behind, etc. Then my husband began dismantling the dryer. As he did so, he found SOOOO much lint it was frightening. Finding over $5 in change was also unsettling. The whole time we were so scared that we would have to buy another dryer. And right before Christmas, not exactly how we wanted to spend some bucks.

So, finally he got into the motor, and what did he find? A red Sharpie pen stuck in the motor. I am sure it wasn't mine, just cause I bought a bunch of Sharpies for Christmas cards.......that means nothing. I am sure it was someone elses red Sharpie. And how dare they push that Sharpie past my lint trap, way down, way down, till it went into the motor. It even had marks on it from the motor trying to run with it in tow.

So, yeah, our dryer is back. Wow, makes you so grateful for a working appliance. Just stay away from the Sharpies. Amazingly, the lid was still on the Sharpie. or else, we may have had some clothes come out red somewhere in the process. And I am also grateful for my main man who fixed our dryer. A little Christmas miracle! Or a big Christmas miracle for a Mama who always has clothes in the washer and dryer.

"This is the best day of my life"

Little Brandon was so excited to go to school today because "this is the best day of my life." Today he is being honored as Student of the Month for "CARING". The vice-principal told all the students at the special luncheon that they were the most "caring" students in the school. Glad Brandon is considered in that group! He was thrilled. My husband Brandon, my Mom, and I attended. It was a great moment for him! I am so proud of my baby Brandon and I hope that this truly is one of the best days of his life!

My two Brandons

The three of us

Aren't they handsome?

Me and my oldest baby

Brandon and Grandma

Father and son!

That's my baby....student of the month!


Do I get a bumper sticker now? I can put it next to the sticker showing stick figures of all my kids! (Just kidding, I hate those stickers, or to use correct terminology---vinyl lettering?)

Best Christmas Gift Ever

Warning: This is a super-sappy blog entry which is highly personal. I am recording this so it will be in my "scrapbook" of a blog. So, feel free to skip it if you don't enjoy the sap!

My favorite Christmas gift of all time was a gift my husband gave me for Christmas 1998. It is precious to my heart! My husband wrote me a little book filled with his sentiments for me. There is not a better gift. I cherish this book. It just shows that the best gifts are gifts from the heart! To give a little history, this was our 3rd Christmas together. A month after our marriage, my husband was in a car accident and he had to have back surgery 6 months later. His recovery took about a year. At the time he gave me this gift he was in school at BYU and working full time. I had just graduated with my Masters in Social Work and was working full time. We had no children at that time. What a beautiful time! My husband was quite the romantic back then. He still is!

This is the book he gave me:












I really wish I had this disk today. Brandon wrote a multiple choice game about me and also did a slideshow with music of us together. So cute.