GO UTES!!!!!!!!!

Go Utes!!!! Beat them Cougs!!!!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!

I love that there is a day set aside to think about all the things you are thankful for. I just wanted to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving and let our families and friends know that we are thinking of them and are so grateful for all that they do for us. I have so many things to be grateful for and will refrain from listing them all here, but just wanted to sum it up with this: Everyday is a blessing!

OUR LITTLE TADPOLE!

About five months ago I put Rylee into swimming lessons. She wasn't old enough to go into the pool by herself so she and I enrolled in a mom and me class. It has been fun to go swimming with Rylee once a week and spend that time with just her and me.

Her favorite thing to do is at the end when they get to walk along the mat, hit the flags, and then jump off!!!

Well our little water baby is now going to be a tadpole. She is moving up. She no longer needs me in the water and gets a new teacher. She will be doing similar things, but I get to sit on the sidelines. I am excited for Rylee to branch out and explore her independence. I know that a teacher will push her more. I am not a fan of the water, because of that I swore that my children would not be scared of the water and would be able to swim with ease.

I just have to show you what we get to see out of the windows of the swim school. Not a bad view eh?

CHRISTMAS HELP!

So I will admit, even though I was trying not to get my hopes up, I was hoping that we would be home for the holidays. I was hoping that the Lord's timing for my life plan and my timing were one and the same. Obviously not! I was tying really hard not to get my hopes up, but admittedly that is harder than it seems. Anyway, because of this I have put off those last few Christmas gifts that I need to get and send to family in the States. I have to get this done soon or it will be too late and I will have to pay heaps of money to get it there on time.

This is why I need your help. I have two sisters-in-law to buy for this year. I was going to make them something spectacular, but due to my hoping I have left myself little time to do that. Do you have any ideas of something I can either make quickly or buy and send to the States? Something I can buy on-line in the States and ship to my mom's house? Anything fun on Esty you have seen recently. Something unique yet personal. Anything at all?

I am looking for all kinds of ideas. I need help!

THE GAP!

About a month ago Cooper tried to use his teeth to get two Legos apart - smart move huh?! Needless to say those two bottom baby teeth couldn't handle the pressure and became loose. He has been working on them since then, but wouldn't let us help with the wiggling. He said it hurt too much. Every once in a while he would bring Kev some Kleenex to try and pull them out. It has been a month of cutting up his apples in his lunch box because they hurt to eat. That was until yesterday. They were finally really loose. Kev got one out after a bit of pulling and wincing on Cooper's part. I found Cooper a little container he could decorate with stickers to put his tooth in. We then had dinner, and as I was getting ready to go to bookclub Cooper asked Kev to try the other one. Sure enough it came out with just the slightest pull.

Two teeth in one night = two gold coins from the tooth fairy ($3 in total - I guess the tooth fairy didn't have two $1 gold coins).

I think it is fun when the kids start loosing their teeth, but I also find it kind-of sad. It is one more thing of "babyhood" (is that even a word?) they are loosing. They are growing up and their teeth are growing up with them. Their smiles begin to look different with those big teeth and gaps. Although adorable as well.

Here is tooth #1

The lovely container

Two teeth gone within 45 minutes of each other

That toothless grin and big boy! Who now thinks he has the most special mouth of the whole family because he lost two teeth at a time.

WANTS

I haven't felt like blogging much last week - thus the reason nothing new came from me. Life has been a bit on the stressed out side of things. Waiting to hear back from jobs that Kev has applied for, sick kids, this new digital scrapbook designing I have taken on, and normal every day things in my life have created that stress.

Last week I thought a lot about the things I want. Some things that have been put on the back burner for us to come and life overseas. Some things that I didn't even know that I wanted.

• a house to call my very own
• to decorate that house any way I please
• a garden to grow delicious veggies
• to plant bulbs and see them come out of the newly thawed ground
• to compost my waste and bottle, freeze, and dry fruits and veggies to last all through the winter
• a new baby - there, I said it out loud
• to go to family dinners
• to stay up until midnight playing games with my siblings
• a rootbeer float whenever I feel the urge to have one
• Cafe Rio
• to know what the future has in store for me and my family
• a stop over in Hawaii on the way home when we finally get to move back
• to laugh with my sisters until I cry and have to pee my pants
• to see the snow on the mountains
• to get a good deal on kids clothes
• November to actually feel like the November I remember - fall not summer
• Thanksgiving dinner with family

What I keep reminding myself is that when you worry about all the things you want you forget the things you already have.

Need a laugh?

Q: What do you call a boomerang that won't come back?
A: A stick!

Q: Why do kangaroo mums hate bad weather?
A: Their Joey's have to play inside.

Q: Why did the crocodile cross the road?
A: He was after the chicken!

Just a little Aussie humor for your day!

lesser known FACT about me...

...I have gray hair and have had gray hair since I was 16. At least that is the first time I remember seeing one. The boys in choir used to sit behind me and pull them out. My roommates at Ricks used to do the same thing. When I was about 21 I decided that I was too young to have gray hair and I bought my first hair dye. I was too poor to go get it done professionally so I turned to the box. That box has been my friend now for over 10 years. I am still to poor (or maybe now it is frugal) to go get it professionally done.

Why am I telling you all my deepest secret? Because it has been a while since I dyed my hair. I have been busy and lazy and haven't gotten it done. The older I have gotten (and the more kids I have had) the more gray hairs have developed. It is bad, and it is noticeable. Including to my six-year-old son who notices nothing. He asked me the other day why my hair had white in it. Madi proceeded to inform him that I usually color it brown. Sad I know! That's when I decided I better make the time to color it.

So I am sitting her with my color in my hair waiting the allotted 25 minutes (I may have to wait more like 30 for stubborn gray) for my hair to turn a nice light brown color. I have had it burgundy, light brown, golden brown, and even black. It depends on my mood and the season. I have no idea the actual color of my hair - it is in the brown category somewhere. It is a good thing I can hide my gray so easily, and people tell me all the time they like the color of my hair. I wonder how long it will be before there isn't much brown left. When do I have to give up the box?