AAARRRGGGHHHHH!!! edward,....bella, where are you??!

okay i am dying here! of all nights....

troy is at a scout campout tonight. (he has them usually once a month) i usually use those nights to catch up on cleaning i have been putting off or just deep cleaning. i thought the house looked horrible today...with there having been sickness in the house...and then today my allergies flaired into something much more miserable. so i put the kids to bed and get ready to break out the big guns. to my horror, as i got going, there isn't much to do!! well there IS but most of it has to get done with troy's help. (our what-was-office is in shambles since we gave his dad our computer desk...but i can't do a lot in there until we decide what to do with it!!)

now some may laugh at my "predicament"...but then i am left with:"so what am i gonna do now". as i sat down with my laptop on my lap with my blog page open the flyleaf song comes on (you can scroll through the songs and click on it if you want to hear it...it's twards the bottom of the list) and it's all over!



i am a hopeless twighlight addict! i have only read the first 2 books though...because that's all i had. sooo...what does twilight have to do with that flyleaf song? well ever since i heard it after reading the first book i thought that it fit perfectly with it...i thought it would work well in a soundtrack to it. so imediately i feel like an alcoholic that just walked into a bar...(okay maybe not...but you get the idea) i NEED my twilight fix! tonight would be a perfect night too...the kids in bed, the house presentable, no husband to feel like he's second fiddle to some "silly book"...i has been stormy. all these things add up to some perfect book devouring time. but, alas, no book three....or one or two for that matter...they were borrowed but now returned.

and yet, another dilema...as millions of you are aware the 4th and final book in that series is coming out on august 2nd. and you better believe there will be mass chaos with the lines waiting for midnight to roll around so they can victoriously claim their precious copy of the book. i will be sitting here...very sad. my birthday is august 3rd...so how PERFECT is that...but still i have no book three!! how torturous!

so here i sit blogging so i can keep my brain occupied until i go to bed....

*sigh*

kids...LOL!!!

okay just picture this:

all of us are in the living room. i'm laying on the couch feeling like crap because of a stomach bug that the kids so generously shared with me. the kids are a little stir crazy, so to keep them a little occupied troy gets them singing some fun songs. (he's a great guy huh...too bad, he's mine!) :)

anyway, the kids are having a ball...singing all sorts of songs dancing around and expending some energy. then we sing "row, row, row your boat". troy and i show them how to sing it in parts (as a round) and had the kids sing with us to see what it's like. we sang it as a round like three times and when we were done troy asks

Troy: "now does anyone know what that was called?"
we were looking for the answer "a round"

Noemi "i know! a sour note!!"


kids....don't you just love them?? :)

what haven't we been up to??!

this month has really flown by already! wait!! this month??! this whole SUMMER has passed with lightning speed...just a few short weeks till school starts again for us!

noemi and lance had their first session of swimming lessons. they had a BLAST! i would have been slightly more fun for me if i could have been in the pool in the mom and tot class with samantha...but the desk person i talked to on the phone said that bekah was too young for level one and would have to be in mom and tot...i can't be in the class with two kids...so therefore it was none...all three of us got to sit and watch 4 days a week for two weeks. it actually was pretty convenient because right after swimming lessons we were able to go to the school next door for the free lunch program!

then for the fourth of july, we got to do some traveling up north and lance got to meet gaga and papa for the first time. we had so much fun with troy's parents. on the morning of the 4th, we went to a parade and got loaded up with candy. that afternoon we went to the park for the fair. the kids got cooled off by a fireman and a fire hose...boy that was nice!

then we walked around enjoying everything that was there. as we were waiting in line to get some food there was a booth next to us that had a sign that said "free mini manicures". the end results: two very happy little girls! unfortunately for lance, it was not something that he got to benefit too much from. :) but while we waited for the girls to be done we got to watch some native american dancing. lance was mesmerised...i don't think he minded the wait one bit!

that evening we were invited to a barbecue with some friends and family. we got to enjoy good food and scenery with good people while we waited for the fireworks show. it was beautiful!

the next morning was something i had been looking forward to for a long time! we went FISHING!! i'm not sure who was more excited, the kids or me...but, really, does it matter? :) i was a little leery about our chances to catch anything because it was overcast and stormy looking...even as early as 7 am. but we tried our hand.

it took a while, but noemi was the lucky girl who got the first catch of the day! we were very excited!! we named him tom!

bekah caught the next fish. i was not able to get a picture with noemi and tom because he was taken off the line so fast, but getting a picture of bekah and her fish was even more exciting. i had a line in the water when bekah caught hers so i propped the fishing pole as i went to get the camera. as i was getting the camera focused i saw that i had a bite!! aah! what was i to do??! it was my first bite! do i take the picture and risk loosing the fish...possibly the pole too, or skip the pic and see what i got. obviously you know my choice. :) and, yes we did lose the fish. (pole was safe and sound) the next excitement was noemi caught a huge fish! although, unfortunately as we were trying to reel it in, we discovered that the line was wrapped around a cable underneath the dock. we were trying to figure out what to do...hoping that maybe the fish (whom we so affectionately named sherry) would help get the line untangled, bekah got a bite too! woohoo! but we soon discovered that she too caught sherry. we caught the same fish twice! what are the chances...catching the same fish while it was still on the line of another hook. but, alas, there was nothing we could do we had to cut the line on both poles. it was a sad moment. lance was the next one with a catch. he managed to catch himself a catfish! those suckers are fighters! when he was reeled in he was bleeding pretty good...he actually swallowed the hook. lance named him bloodhead. ahh yes, definitely named by a boy! ;) i actually never caught a fish...i had a good 6 bites, but with my inexperience i either waited too long or i tried to set the hook too quickly. oh well, next time i suppose. the last fish was caught by troy as i was taking bekah to the bathroom. we didn't get much of even nibbles after that because the wind really picked up and it started raining lightly. between 10 and 10:30 we packed up and headed back. 4 fish...not too bad for our first trip as a family! lance's catfish and the other three were stripers.

we had some delicious fish for dinner!

we just kinda hung around until monday when troy, lance, samantha and i headed out. noemi and bekah got to stay with troy's parents for a week. we missed them tons, but they had a ball! troy's parents brought them back home the following saturday.

while the girls were gone lance started another session of swimming lessons to help keep him occupied. his last day was this last thursday. now we just have 2 weeks left of summer...school starts on august 4th this year! how crazy is that??!

i hope you all are having a fabulous summer!

how big is baby??!

okay, how cute is she??! i thought this nice big picture is fitting for this big girl. :)

we have been watching samantha as she has hit each milestone. we have been very anxious as she has been nearing walking for sometime. she has been cruising around furniture and anything else that is around. she also has this little push toy that is intended to help walking...she practically drags it with her...as long as she is holding onto something.

yesterday, while at church, samantha must have had a strange burst of confidence. she suddenly decided to stand up...unsupported. she did it over and over and over...until her poor little legs were so tired they were shaking.

this evening she dared to go a step further....

how big is Mantha Baby?? SO BIG!!

picture?? PERFECT!!

okay, if i were to give a thorough 'journaling' of all that has gone on since the last post of substance...it would take like two pages and therefore would probably never happen!

so, what i am going to do is picture update with captions. if i had the camera with me, it gets mentioned. :)

at the beginning of april, we went up to utah. we were able to visit my brother- seth, his wife- joyelle, and their son- little seth. we also got to stay with troy's uncle matt and aunt laura the entire time we were there. were were also able to make it to the sunday afternoon session of general conference! it was a great little vacation for us!

this is samantha and little seth....cute cousins!!

the seths!! i love, love, love this picture! :)

awww! i had to take advantage of the purdy flowers, and the girls are always up for a photo shoot. :) too bad i couldn't get samantha in there too.

they really do love each other...it's not just for the camera!






on april 19th, our little sammymantha turned 1! doesn't time fly?!

mmmm! the first birthday cake! thank you walmart for your reduced price strawberry parfait cake...really saved us some time after running around all day!

yummy!! the very messy aftermath of that delicious cake!

we have this large lot....but it is a lot of dirt. we have lived in this house for six years this coming september and we have been working towards landscaping. here is our back yard. it looks small with some small piles of rock...but this is misleading. those piles equal 100 tons of rock! we purchased it last year, but there was a lot to do before we could get it put up.

how far does 100 tons of rock go?? it was just enough to rock the banks in our backyard. i don't know the square footage, but they are between 6 and 7 feet high. here is the completed picture.(completed banks anyway) unfortunately there is SOOOOOO much more to go...then there is the front yard.

yeah, a larger lot is nice...until you have to landscape and maintain it! eesh!




this is the famous lance that you have all been curious about! he has been with us since march 1st. he got to celebrate his 7th birthday with us on june 2nd. he got to spend some time with his 10 yr old brother earlier that afternoon too. here he is with a couple of his presents...a john deere set and a red fuzzy blanket.

a blanket in june??! that's what he wanted. he loves snuggling in blankets. :)

the birthday boy and his cake. it's no strawberry parfait cake...but we sure enjoyed it just the same!










heehee here is our sumo looking child! she had her first ponytail...not much there, but i consider it a milestone. she has had the slowest growing hair out of all the girls and i have been dying to be able to put her hair up. it is still a LOT of effort so i don't attempt it very often...but at least i know i can!

noemi and lance both graduated kindergarten this year! unfortunately i don't have any pictures of noemi graduation too, because her teacher opted not to do one...just a private celebration in their classroom for just the kids. (no families invited) but it actually worked out really well because lance and noemi attend different schools and i was wondering how i was going to juggle 2 graduations. phew! that coulda been sticky!

and thus ends my photo update!

I'm not dead yet!

or...am i back from the dead??!

sorry for the long hiatus!

what has kept me from blogging?

• lack of motivation
• having gotten too far behind and dreading the long "catch-up" post(s)
• getting my hands on the first two books in the Twilight series....i need book three BEFORE august 2nd...
• giving into the dreaded facebook "cess pool" (and enjoying every minute of it!)

*sigh* but since i have been so desperately missed, i have decided to grace you all with my blogging presence again!

so in the next few days i'll be in the process of getting things back in order...new postings, blog face lift...possibly some catch up- but don't hold your breath!

so here's to new beginnings!!

i'm it!

i've been tagged again! thanks andrea! :) no, and that is not sarcastic either...i've been i'm a blog funk. it's nice to have something to post. *sigh* i do have some updating to do...but i don't have the attention span for that at the moment.

on to the tag!

How To Play This Game of Tag:
Post these rules on your blog.
Answer these 15 questions about yourself on your blog.
List:
3 joys
3 fears
3 goals
3 current obsessions/collections
3 random/surprising facts
-Tag five people at the end of your post by leaving their names .
-Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


joys:

1. a great book and time to read it without guilt
2. my kids! they are so funny and sweet
3. relaxing/snuggling with troy. i really do have the best hubby in the world!

fears:

1. heights...this is a very real phobia too...i even get dizzy looking up at really tall things
2. creepy/crawly things (snakes, scorpions, spiders, cockroaches..the list goes on)
3. something happening to someone in my family...getting hurt or worse :(

goals:

1. lose weight!
2. organize the house...do some downsizing so we can do some rearranging of things
3. become more self sufficient

obsessions:

1. Survivor!
2. ice cream
3. my hair being clean

random/surprising facts:

1. i have been known to get sucked into teenage shows...like "instant star". i love the music on it! (which is how it hooked me to begin with) so if you were wondering who alexz johnson is on my play list...she's the main character "jude" on that show.
2. i don't do well with blood or needles...even though i have to endure weekly shots through out my pregnancies. the anticipation of a shot or a needle poke is enough to make me worried about passing out.
3. i have never gone to get a manicure or pedicure and have little desire to do so.

my tagging victims:

1. amy
2. lisa
3. heather m.
4. jess
5. suzanne