Family Pictures, June 2011

We went to FotoFly in Draper and had family pictures done today. I also wanted to get some of the kids together since Syd is 19 months now and Ethan just turned six. I can't believe my little man is growing up so quickly. Anyway, enjoy.

New Post...It's about time...

I know this blog tends to get randomly timed posts and a few pictures here and there, so I'm trying to remember to write more consistently. Things are going pretty well for us. We're working on trying to get out of debt, which has been a little hard as far as "fun" is concerned, but we're getting creative. Ethan is loving school. He comes home every day with songs and stories and just loves his teachers. Sydney is doing well too! She's almost a year now and is eating solid foods for the most part and drinking milk now, which is good (and cheaper). Dan is working hard, as usual, and I'm getting more work in with doing transcription between housework, etc. now that Ethan is in school.

Ethan spent the night over at Grandma's house a couple of weekends ago. He was SO excited to go. I'm so glad he can have so much fun with Grandma and Grandpa. **Funny side note, it's not Grandma and Grandpa's house, it's just Grandma's house and Grandpa lives there, according to Ethan...** They frosted cookies and Grandma and Grandpa took him to breakfast the next morning. He asks everyday if we're going to Grandma's house.

For Halloween, Sydney will be a pink kitty and Ethan is going to be a firefighter. This is his first year of a Halloween party at school so he's really excited. I think we're going to partake in the trunk or treat festivities in my parents' neighborhood and then go to a few houses in their neighborhood. Should be fun, hopefully the weather cooperates.

Another new thing in our house, we got a dog! His name is Jasper and we love him so much! He's a Shih Tzu and his mommy Gidget is my sister-in-law Chris's dog. He is 10 weeks old now and a great dog. Almost fully potty trained and he just learned, albeit with whining and being scared, going down stairs today. That was an exciting day! No more whining at the top of the stairs because he can't get down on his own!

We're looking forward to Halloween this week so I thought I'd share a couple of videos of Ethan singing songs from school. My personal favorite is the last one...Enjoy!

Stuff

I haven't just blogged lately, so I thought I would do a quick post. Dan is at work and both kids are asleep so it's one of the rare times that I actually have a completely quiet house. In fact, the only thing I can hear currently is the sound of the keyboard as I type.

Today was kind of a rough day for me. I'm not sure if it's the postpartum hitting or the fact that I haven't really seen the sun out today, but it was just one of those days where everything is annoying, you feel like you want to cry, and you just want to get in bed and hide to get away from it all until tomorrow...if the sun happens to peek through the clouds. I knew I had to do something about it, especially since Dan was working tonight. I knew I had to change my attitude somehow. I decided when Dan got up from sleeping (he worked last night too) that I would go beat the crap out of myself at the gym. I did and it worked. I feel so much better! I love the endorphin high that I get after working out, and boy did I really work out this time, weights, cardio, the whole deal. I'm going to be feeling it tomorrow, but it's a good pain.

As far as what is going on with us, things are pretty normal around here. We blessed Sydney in sacarament meeting on the 7th and it was really nice. Some family and a couple of friends were able to come. Both of my brothers were able to stand in the circle, along with the grandpas, Dan's brother Ben, and our friend Moby. Sydney is growing so much and changing so much every day. She really is a happy baby. Give her food, make sure she's not messy, and cuddle with her every now and then and she's happy. It's so fun to have my little girl. She is so different from Ethan. She loves to cuddle and Ethan hated it. He was always afraid he was missing something going on around him. He would always push away when I would try to cuddle him so he could see what was going on. Sydney, on the other hand, is content just to be with Mommy. I love it.

Ethan is doing so well in school. I'm SO proud of him. He has wonderful teachers in his preschool class that are working with him on some of his issues with the social aspects of school. I love them and am so grateful for them. He comes home with so many art projects that our refrigerator is always sporting something new. I really love it. He can write his name and is learning to use scissors. He is getting pretty good at that. He loves to sing all the songs and is so funny with the things he says sometimes. The other day, they sang "The Wheels On The Bus" at school and he sang it all the way home. When he got to the verse about the Mommys on the bus going, "Shh, shh, shh." he said, while pointing to me, "The yous on the bus go shh, shh, shh." It was cute and it made me laugh so much. He has many friends and is relating well to the classroom time. I'm just so proud of how much he has accomplished in such a short time being in that school.

Dan is working a lot, but that's a good thing. He recently started working part time on one or two days a week with a temporary agency. His overtime was cut due to overstaffing at his regular job, so this fills in the gap for us. It's flexible and the money is good, so we're happy with it. He is also gaining a lot of experience in things he doesn't normally do, so it's been really nice. I love Dan and I'm so grateful he works so hard for our family.

As far as anything else goes, we did our taxes and we're getting something back, so that's a good thing. I've been working as much as I can, but it has been slow, so the extra money to do something a little fun will be nice. I'm fully recovered from my gall bladder surgery. I'm glad it's out, but I'm sick of being the expensive one in the family. Hopefully my expensive medical stuff is done for the year. I think I was having attacks during my pregnancy but didn't know what it was. Finally, after one trip to the Instacare and another trip to the ER in January, we figured it out and I saw the surgeon. Surgery was good. It went well and I'm happy to be able to eat again.

February is shaping up to be pretty busy for us. We had Sydney's blessing the first week, we had my nephew Logan's missionary farewell this past Sunday, and we have my other nephew Andrew's homecoming this coming Sunday. Hopefully the ward doesn't think we're inactive. We're not, we just have a huge family. I'm grateful we get to have this fun time with our family though.

We've been busy, but hopefully that won't keep me too far from the blogging world. I need to do it more often than I have been.

Ethan's Abstract Art

So, the other day I was on the phone and had gone into the other room to talk because, as you know, life in our house is not always quiet. Anyway, Dan comes up after a couple of minutes and asks, "Are you watching our son?" I said, "No, I thought he was with you. He hasn't even come in here." Dan proceeds to show me that Ethan has figured out how to use the scanner/copier in the office and has been making his own "abstract art." Dan thought I was helping him do it. It was really funny because Ethan was so proud of his creations that he was bringing them downstairs to show Dan what he had done, but he was only showing him the ones he deemed "good enough." Maybe we'll be rich someday with Ethan the artist.

Exhibitionism Anyone?

One of the weird quirks that Ethan has recently exhibited is his need to remove his clothing at will. Thankfully, he hasn't done this in a store yet, but he has done it at my mom's house, at a friend's house, and at my grandmother's house. I'm not sure what the deal is with that. I never thought I'd have to utter the words, "Big boys keep their pants on." I swear sometimes we say the weirdest things as mothers. I find myself taken aback at times thinking, "Did I seriously just say that to my kid?"

We went to my Grandma Page's house on Friday for the big Pioneer Day barbecue and Ethan decided that his pants needed to come off while playing in the dirt. Thankfully, he left his underwear on! Earlier in the week he decided he was done swimming while we were at a friend's house and proceeded to come in the house naked. It's interesting. I guess it's his way of showing that he's a big boy and he can take off his clothes by himself. I would just rather he not do it in public.

Halloween Came Early This Year...

My husband decided to go as the Elephant Man with a doll hand.

Really he was helping his dad out with winterizing his bee hives and there was a hole in the suit. He didn't even realize that until a bee was in his ear! So, obviously, he didn't want to alarm the patients on the cardiac unit and cause someone to have a heart attack, so he called in sick to work today. We know he got stung at least three times. At one point last night his head was so swollen his ear started to close up. Luckily he's doing better. He still looks a bit deformed, but the doll hand is less now. I just think it's funny how big his hand is, it's all chubby like a doll hand, but it has man hair on it. What a freaky doll that would be!

Keep Your Temple Recommend Handy

Remember the house in Clearfield I used to live in? This was in my old stake. My sister-in-law, Lisa, sent it to me. She also lived in that house for a time.

This guy is in the Clearfield First Ward, Clearfield Utah Stake and this absolutely happened at a house on Main Street just south of 200 South. Yes, it is a true story. They left the house and rushed right over to the Bishop's office to tell the Bishop, who was Jeff Schofield at the time, and he rolled on the floor laughing. The story in itself is funny but Brother Budd's telling of it makes it even better. He approaches life with a smile and a corny joke and much laughter. Anyway, enjoy.

Hello, Here is some inspiration and humor for you...

By Daryl Zadok Budd, Clearfield, Utah - The Mormons Meet the Metro Narcotics Unit

The Elders Quorum President and I were visiting some lost souls, when they were found by the long arm of the law. As we were preparing to say the closing prayer at the conclusion of our visit we heard someone pounding on the door and yelling, 'It's the police! Open the door!' I thought, 'Oh, that old joke.' Then there was more pounding, 'It's the police! We have a search warrant!' Before this lady's boyfriend made it to the door to open it the police opened the door for him. Into the house stormed ten police officers dressed from head to toe in black body armor. Each gentleman had a submachine gun. When I saw the door burst open, read the word POLICE across the first officers Kevlar vest and saw the large gun that he had I thought, 'This is going to make a great story.' The Officer only got to 'Get on the...' and I was face down on the carpet with my hands above my head in full view. 'Get down on the ground!' The friendly officer again shouted at the President. The only trouble the President had was that the room was very small and had a coffee table in the center of it. There was no available space remaining on the floor, as the rest of us had already 'hit the deck.' There was no room left in the Inn, if you know what I mean. The Elders Quorum President therefore made the mistake of standing up from where he was sitting on the couch and trying to explain who we were. The kind officers did not seem to like this action and one very large officer stepped toward the President who then found himself looking directly into the muzzle of the gun with a bright light shining in his eyes. As the officer placed his finger over the trigger and shouted, 'I said get on the ground!!' The president decided to do so. As there was nowhere else to go, he laid on top of me, his first counselor. I never thought I would need to 'support the President' like that I assure you. I really felt the 'weight of my calling.' We were instructed not to move or speak which was difficult to say the least as I had eaten a little too much for supper and the President is not exactly a small man. After a time the President whispered, 'Are you O.K. down there?' I didn't dare answer. But a few seconds later the humor of the whole situation hit me full force and I started laughing, silently mind you, which made my body shake and the President being on top of me was well aware that I was laughing and thought, 'What in the world could he possibly be laughing at?'

After they got done handcuffing the two closest to us they were ready for us. 'Stand up and keep your hands above your head!' We arose and the officers searched us for weapons. The heroic officers did a much more extensive search of the President's person due to his earlier, 'Non-compliance'.

'Who are you?!' asked the large officer who had gently persuaded the President to get down on the floor. 'We are the Elders Quorum Presidency from a local Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' replied the President in one breath. The officers looked at each other and their weapons lowered a little bit. 'Do you have any church I.D.?' One officer asked. They gave us back our wallets and we showed them our Temple Recommends and Drivers licenses. Big smiles came onto their faces and they soon escorted us out to our car, wished us a good night and allowed us to drive away with a great story to tell. I knew that my Temple Recommend could help me get into the Lord's house but I never dreamed it could help me avoid going to the 'Big house.' This time the lost sheep that we were hoping to bring back to the fold sadly ended up going to a different pen. I hope that you have a wonderful day!

Sincerely,
Daryl Zadok Budd

P.S. Feel free to forward this story on to anyone that you'd like. It's too funny not to share it because it's a true experience that really happened to me.

I Hereby Declare Today...

International Embarrass Your Husband With His Freaky Weird Mullet Picture Day! Celebrate with one you love. Enjoy your new holiday people!

Thought For Today

One of the random things I thought about the other day while I was at the gym on the elliptical was this:

Could there be a way to harness the energy of all these people on the treadmills etc. to power the gym's electricity? I bet there's a way, but it would suck if you were the only one there working out.

Don't Do That To Me!

So today, the phone rings. I check the caller ID and it's Dan. We usually talk a few times during the day, so I answer it and he says, "I just got some really bad news." I'm thinking, somebody died, somebody got in a car accident, he got in a car accident, you know...all of those fun things your mind does. Your heart drops, you start preparing yourself for the worst. Anyway, so I say, "What?" and he says, "I just found out that all the deer tags are sold out." I kind of jolted because this was not what I was expecting to hear. Apparently, deer tags selling out is really bad news. Don't do that to me!

Later on, I had just put Ethan down for a nap and I'm getting ready to start working when he calls again. He says, "What are you doing right now? Is Ethan asleep?" I say, "Yeah. He's asleep. I don't know. Just sitting here getting ready to work. Why?" He says, "My gas gage got stuck again so I'm out of gas stuck between Tooele and Saltair. Can you bring me the gas can?" So upstairs I go, to wake up Ethan, get gas in my car, because ironically it was just about out of gas too, and get drinks, because it gets hot out there in the middle of nowhere, and off we went to rescue Dan. By the way he told me this news on the phone, I think his priorities are a little weird....deer tags selling out apparently is worse than running out of gas in the middle of nowhere because your gas gage said you had gas.

Hillarious!

I got this email from a friend the other day. It still has me chuckling. The awesomeness of stupidity...

Keep in mind this actually really did happen. This is someone who was moving from an insurance claims office.

Okay so this is how I imagine this conversation went:

Walmart Employee: 'Hello 'dis be Walmarts, how can I help you?'

Customer: ' I would like to order a cake for a going away party this week.'

Walmart Employee: 'What you want on the cake?'

Customer: 'Best Wishes Suzanne' and underneath that 'We will miss you'.

You can't fix stupid...

The Missing Toilet Paper Caper

Toddlers love toilet paper. That's just a fact. Why? I don't know. There is some sort of joy that they get from tearing it to shreds, rolling the entire roll through the whole house, etc. I went to use the bathroom the other day when I noticed the toilet paper was not in it's proper place. I had recently gotten a new roll, but hadn't put it on the holder yet. I looked at the empty holder and then looked at the floor, the back of the toilet, but I couldn't see the roll. Finally, I opened the toilet...and there it was, the entire roll, in the toilet. It wasn't even unrolled. I kind of chuckled to myself. This wasn't the first time Ethan had decided to play with the toilet paper and I'm sure it won't be the last. Hopefully it's the last time I have to fish it out with the plunger though.

Happy Josh

The Office Deleted Scene

I thought this was so funny, I just had to share....

Bears, Beats, Battlestar Galactica...

I'm totally geeking out right now! So tonight was the season finale of my favorite show "The Office." I love it. It's the one time during the week that I don't have to do anything except for laugh out loud. I thought it was a really great episode. I was a little disappointed that Jim and Pam didn't get engaged...grrr...Other than that though, it was a great episode. Loved the fact that Ryan got arrested for fraud. Serves him right for being a little weasel! Awesome!

I think I like it so much because I can relate to everyone in that office setting. I mean it's exaggerated, of course, but in the office where I used to work, there were a lot of things like that. Random office parties for no reason at all, weird boss outbursts, boring meetings that you have to be at, etc. The list goes on and on. I love "The Office." Too bad the season is already over. I could watch each episode over and over...but mostly I want to figure out what happens to Jim and Pam. :)

Age Is Relative...I Guess

I have often wondered what has happened to my 30 something husband and who this 90 year old man is that has taken his place. It's funny, sometimes Dan seems so old. He watches his "programs", listens to talk radio, complains about various aches and pains, is tired all the time, etc. I make fun of him, especially for watching "programs" or going to the "movie house" to watch a movie. I guess we're all as old as we think we are in our minds...if that's true, heaven help me for I will be married to a 100 year old soon.

The other funny thing is he often reverts back to a 12 year old boy, watching anime, playing video games, etc. I guess I'll have to keep up. Maybe if I stay my 20 something self it will somehow balance things out. Going back and forth from elderly to infancy is too exhausting for me to tackle.

For me, I'd rather stay the age that I am. Hopefully I'll still say that in 20 years. Granted, I do reserve the right to revert to age 12 when New Kids On The Block decide to come in concert...but that's just a given. I think anyone would excuse me that one time. :)

Fun On The Interstate

I got this email from Dan this morning so I had to share.

Instructions for a fun time on the interstate............... Step 1. Tie balloons to car. Step 2. Drive like Crazy. Step 3. Watch people freak out!!!! Can you imagine this guy going 90 mph on his way to Dallas with these balloons trailing a few yards behind him? I don't care who you are....that's funny.