Jazz Tied, Bulls Set To Sweep!!

I've missed a day! MJ just asked about the Jazz/Rockets series. I remembered that they played last night-so we got on to check to see if the Jazz had been able to hold on to the lead. They had, and I announced to MJ that the series was now 2/1, but wait--last night was game 4 not game 3...and the series was tied 2/2. When did the Jazz win game 3? I really have just missed a day. That is never a good sign-but I will either blame it on being the same night as the Bulls game 3 (which they took as well, and are leading their series, 3/0!!!), or on getting the new computer up and running. Either way---Go Jazz! Of course, I never thought I would say that. Even living in Utah, I was not a Jazz fan. We only went to Jazz games when they were playing the Suns, and I was a Sun Fan-mmmmm, Tom Chambers!!! When we moved to Phoenix-I would finally be able to cheer "with the crowd" and we never went to a Suns game!!

The Bulls game 4 starts in 53 minutes according to my little Bulls fan-so we will be cheering for them to "Sweep The Heat"!! If they win--I will be jumping online to try to get my kids tickets for the next series. They are playing the Pistons--and they don't play well against the Pistons-so we will have to hold off on the "Finals" tickets just yet!

Just Look What My Job Paid For!!

This is my new purchase today! I can't believe I bought the whole thing!! I was going to go for a laptop--but honestly-we've never had a new computer-so I thought--What the heck!! It took a little bit of time this morning to get set up--but by the time the kids got home from school--she was purring like a kitten! I am going to have to get used to the keyboard though. I used to do data entry from home when we lived in Arizona--and you had to go in to the company office to take a typing test before you could be hired and trained in order to work at home. I took the practice tests at home and I passed them all with amazingly good times and 100% accuracy. So I went into the office to take the official test. I passed the Alpha-Numeric test on the first shot-but didn't pass the 10 Key. This was strange to me, because I'm a flipping legend on the 10 key. Since I had passed one of the tests I could come back in two days to take it again. So I went home, and aced every test with incredible numbers. Went back to the company to take the test--and failed the 10 Key AGAIN! I was talking to the lady administering the test afterwards and mentioned that I just didn't get it--I was rockin' at home. So she told me to bring in my keyboard two days later and test on it. So I did, and I rocked! So I do understand the intricacies of having the keyboard that my fingers are used too--and so far today-this keyboard isn't it. But it is a cool keyboard--so I will get used to it!

Another Sick Day!!

MJ is home from school again today. That's twice this week. hmmmmmm, I would worry, except that Monday he stayed home because our power went out and he would have been very late for school anyway. DG was staying home sick-so I gave MJ the offer-and honestly, what 3rd grader would turn down the opportunity to stay home with mom?? Today he has a headache. MJ is a very good student. Straight A's and ZERO problems at school-so what is an absence every once in a while.

I hope he isn't expecting Play Station time today--'cause it ain't happenin'! We are going to go tonight and make a video--so check back later to see our goofiness!

Bulls Playoff Game 2!!

These are the pictures from our evening out with the boys! I have to say--it was worth every penny. We had so much fun, it was such a good game, and it was really cool to see my boys in their element. Throughout the game they did several photo collages of the Bulls of Yesterday. They started with Jerry Sloan--who I knew-because he's been the coach of the Utah Jazz as long as I can remember. After him I was clueless-yet my 7 year old next to me just rolled out with the names of the players. As soon as he would say the name the name would come up on the screen--and he was 100% correct! I was amazed. They got up to the Michael Jordan years-and I knew many more-but as soon as Jordan was gone, I was lost again. But not DG--he kept right on going. We got to the team this year-and again, I knew a couple mainly because of the boys and their interest in the game. We got to see the 6 World Champion Trophies (Golden Globes as they are called!) The boys wanted their picture with the Michael Jordan statue out in front of the United Center. Next time we are in Utah-we are going to have to get the boys picture under the Karl Malone and John Stockton statues. It was fun to be a part of a playoff NBA game.

I've gotten to see many NBA games and many hockey games--but the hockey playoffs (White Out-with the Phoenix Coyotes) and the NBA playoff games have been the most exciting. The Bulls got the original jump ball-but because the ref under threw it, they had to do it again. The Heat got the second jump (just as awful of a toss) and the game started. The Heat took the lead first off of free throws by Shaq-he made them both, in fact the first 5 point for the Heat were made from Shaq and his free throws. After the very beginning the Heat never led again. They tied the score twice at 15 and again 38, but the Bulls who had leads as much as 20 points would take the lead after the tie and steadily climb back to 15 points up. They ended up by 17 or 18, it would have been 20 except for the last second basket by the Heat. I don't know if that was a 2 or a 3 pointer--all I know--the Heat was down by 20 with 2 minutes left when Pat Riley conceded the game and pulled all of his starters. Scott Skiles did the same thing and every starter got a cheer and chant as they were seated to finish the game on the bench.

I went into the game with Ben Gordon and Chris Duhon as my favorites. They are the two we stood in line to see and get autographs. But after watching this game and the first playoff game--I have to say, Nocconi and Deng are my favorites by far!!

GOD Bless America!!

I have to tell you--I was near tears with pride last night. NBA fans are 150% more patriotic than hockey fans. I used to go to hockey games with my husband, and yes the men in the audience would take their caps off (if they remembered)--but absolutely less than 10% of the crowd put their hands on their hearts as they sang the National Anthem. Last night as soon as the flags lit up on the floor and the Naval Officers began their march--cheers began. Hat's were off, hands were on hearts--and people were singing along with the man with the microphone. At all of the fabulous points of the song the entire building would erupt into cheers, and at the end there was a pyro-technics moment. It was amazing! How proud I am to be a citizen of this country. How proud I am of this country. How proud and amazed I am at the amazing spirit of our young men and women who serve or have served in the armed forces to protect our country. They fought, bled and died so that we have every freedom we enjoy. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!

Elijah Day!!

Katerbug wanted to look really cute for Pre-school today because Elijah is in her class today. So she chose her favorite t-shirt and shorts. I painted her fingernails and toes and french braided her hair. She wanted a little blush and some lip gloss. When she was done she turned to me and asked, "Mom, Do I look stylish?" She's 4! I had no idea about fingernail polish and blush at 4--I can't imagine what I'm in for when she is a teenager!!

The Rest Of The Day!!

Today turned out to be a fun day! The boys both stayed home---MJ late-DG sick. Grayson seemed to be feeling better but took a turn for the worse when I found him fast asleep on his bed in the middle of the day--that is a guarantee that he doesn't feel good. I went after school and picked up all of their homework and they both got it completely finished with no pushing from me! I LOVE days like this!

We had steak sandwiches with Mozza cheese and grilled onions on them--Yummo!! It's MJ favorite dinner, so he was thrilled with the idea. We didn't do dessert tonight--and everyone headed to bed on time. DG seems to be feeling better--but is having a hard time falling asleep because of his nap. So even though he is healthy enough to go to school tomorrow--I'm thinking he may need to sleep in a bit to catch up for his late night!

Oh My Heavens--How Scary!!

Some of you have read a post I put on my Aunt Peggy's blog this past week. I hadn't heard from her in awhile and I was starting to get worried. I knew she was busy getting settled in her new home-so I didn't worry too badly! I guess I should have! Read about her brush with death over on her blog! Oh my heavens! I immediately called my mom to see if she had talked to my Aunt. She hadn't--so I made her. Peggy was still at the doctor so my mom got to talk to my Uncle Mike--and apparently she is doing better--but oh my gosh--how scary!!

Spring Cleaning!!

This morning is "Spring Cleaning" garbage day. It's the one day of the year when you can put anything out on the curb and it will be picked up and taken away. Every year that we've lived here--this has been a huge family event. My in laws have come over to help and we've had a BBQ after it all was finished. This year--not so much. We got all of the trash out--broken chairs and old yard toys that the kids have grown out of--but nothing else. We are looking at moving and after we are out we will be ripping out carpet and we'll need a dumpster--so why not save all of the heavy stuff until we have people to help!

Total Hijack!!

Yesterday I got onto my Aunt Peggy's Blog looking for her. She's literally dropped off of the face of the earth! Turns out after they moved to Arizona-and got their entire house painted and re-carpeted--they headed back to Utah for the summer and had to paint and recarpet their condo there. So they are currently living with their daughter while everything gets finished up at their place! I guess that's why she hasn't been blogging lately!

So I took my snooping one step further! I totally hijacked her blog--and completely tweaked out her template! Guaranteed she won't even recognize the place when she settles back into normal life!! I hope she likes it--if not--I'll move her back to her boring green Blogger template---hee hee hee!!

I'm Awake!!

I find it strange that the mornings when it is hardest to get out of bed--I get the most done! I honestly could not wake up--I would roll over and think, "5 more minutes" and I would fall back into a deep sleep for another hour. Then wake up and do it again--4 hours later--I finally pull myself out of bed! I got the kitchen scoured Roomba and Scooba have both finished their jobs and the dishwasher is running one last time before dinner is ready! The kids helped out with the living space while watching their hockey game! Jake is ecstatic because his Devils beat his little brothers Lightenings! Kind of a funny day!

Bulls Win!! Bulls Win!!

This house is in shock! The Bulls actually won their first playoff game against the Heat. My oldest Jake just didn't think it was possible. We have tickets to the next playoff game next Tuesday-and when the last game of the season ended and the Bulls lost to the New Jersey Nets--my Jake was in tears. He really had wanted the Bulls to win because then we would have played the Nets in the first round. We tried using logic to let him know that we just lost to the Nets--we stand a better chance of beating the Heat. Not to believable with Shaq and Wade--but hey, in my logic--I would much rather go and sit in an arena with Shaq, Wade and Pat Riley--than some of the no names on the Nets. Oh--sorry--Jason "I Beat My Wife Up" Kidd is on the Nets--but I watched him play at Phoenix! I want me a basketball game with some stars!!

This is a picture of Ben Wallace. Center for the Bulls. He made some great plays during the game--but I'm sorry--he just always looks like he rolled out of bed! I HATE his hair!!!!

I Am But A Sheep!

Yep!! Baaaahhhh!! I copy anything I find online that I think is cool! Well, here is another one for you! Stolen from Skeet!! This is a quick list of the 8 blogs that I frequent at least everyday!! It doesn't come with links--but guaranteed you can find all of these links somewhere on my blog!! If you would like to make up your own list--click here!!

There Is Sunshine In My Soul Today!

That's how it is when your best friend is around. You see--I'm totally chatty!! I finish one post--and immediately start a new one on a different subject. I haven't felt like blogging all week, but then mom comes home and the flood gates have opened! She mentioned that on the cruise ship she was able to see a couple of good movies. She doesn't have good health--so I'm glad there were decent movies on for her. She watched Night At The Museum with Ben Stiller and Robin Williams. They are two of my boys favorite actors--throw Jack Black in there and you have a trifecta!! So tonight we are going to have my Pizza Bread, homemade popcorn--and we are going to "hope" that Night At The Museum is on DVD already! We will be heading to the grocery store to check out one of those DVD Rental boxes--who knows--a video may just be made!! Keep your eyes open! After the movie I promised Blake we can make cupcakes again. She loved it last time, and my husband loved the cupcakes--so I think we are up for a repeat!!

The Plan!!

We are really lucky on the possible move this time around. We don't need to sell our home in order to buy the next one. Why is that nice, you ask??? Well, for one--we can have a slow move. Box up what we need everyday and get that moved first. Then when just the heavy stuff is left we can hire a couple of movers for a few hours to get that moved. With a partially paralyzed husband I can guarantee we are going to need them. Then when everything is out we will go in and rip out the carpet--paint the walls--re-lay carpet--and then we will have the kitchen tiled. And then when it is all beautiful--we can look at putting it on the market! So that is the plan! I'm getting excited!!

Life With Barrett!!

You may find yourself asking--Why I put this picture up on the blog-it really is of little significance when there are a ton of cute pictures that would actually merit the placing! Well, this is here--because it so vividly portrays my life with Barrett! He's 2 but is so thrilled with this opportunity to be alive that he lives his life at 150 miles per hour. Tasmanian Devil is the perfect nickname for him--I have the messes to prove it! Barrett was so excited to be on an Easter Egg Hunt--that he literally left his basket in one central location and then would bring the eggs to it. I tried to capture the moment he put the eggs in the basket--but as you can see--he's much quicker than I am. The little blur in the bottom left corner is the "B" man off to find more treasures! The feet in the picture belong to all of us adults who stood there in amazment as this boy ran from egg to basket to egg to basket!! He really is a whiz!!!

Barrett's First Real Hunt!!

I had to wake Barrett up from a dead sleep to get him to Easter dinner on time. So he came in his jammies with his play clothes packed and waiting. Well, when you get to Gramma Jo's house and there are Eggs to find--forget fashion! Barrett did his hunt in his Footie Football Jammies!!

Blakelynn Kate!!

Here is my Blake during her Easter Egg hunt! She looked so pretty in her dress! She wore it all day, even though I had play clothes in case she asked to change. She loved her pretty dress, so on it stayed! We don't do the public Egg Hunts--but Grandpa & Gramma Jo have a private hunt in their yard, & their eggs are the best, they have dollars in them!!

My Boys!

These are my boys! They are 9 and 7 and they can duke it out with the best of 'em-but what is also amazing to me is that they are also the very best of friends. They play together most of the day everyday. They have the same likes and dislikes-and yes, competition does set in-usually ending with the younger one in tears-but as quickly as it starts--it stops and all is forgiven and they are back together whispering and goofing around! This is them at my in laws house on Easter. Everyone was mentioning how even at 9 I still insist on dressing them the same. It was amusing! Jake didn't want to go to Target with us--so he stayed home. At Target we found each boy a new pair of levi's, a t-shirt and a "dress shirt" to layer over the top. Jake's t-shirt fit his personality and sass--It said, "I see your lips moving, but all I hear is Blah-Blah-Blah!!" So totally my Jake! Grayson's t-shirt was the same way for him. The front is a little boy and it reads, "I swear, I have no idea where my little sister is!!" Then as Grayson turns around--the little sister is bound and gagged on the back shoulder. So great--because Grayson really struggles with his little sister. After the t-shirts we got to the dressy over shirt. I had two picked out, one for Grayson and one for Jake--it was Grayson who asked if he could have the same one as Jake--I thought it was sweet--so I let him!

Legs!!

Do you want to hear something crazy? I think one of my legs is shorter than the other! Oh that would explain so much!! Not really like it grew that way--my mom has had to go to a chiropractor quite often to get her "axis" put back in. When it is out--one leg is shorter than the other! I'm wondering if I should get in with said chiropractor and find out what is up.

What makes me think this? Well, I kind of 'galump' when I walk--and there is a bit of pain in my left hip joint. I really don't know if this is what it is--maybe I just slept wrong--but it would explain alot. I do not enjoy walking--I get back pain if I walk too long. I shouldn't say I don't like to walk--I want to buy a treadmill-I love to walk--but I'm in pain when I walk. My mom will take a walk to remove the pain in her back--so me thinks something is up! I will have to let you know!!

Black Day!!

Do you have those days when you just need your mom?? Ok--I have them more often than most--but today has been positively the blackest day in a very long time! Scary Black--and I hate that! Everything is good--everything is fine--everything is perfect--except me! It's as though all of the joy in me somehow got flushed out my toes!! I've been sitting here thinking about finding a new doctor to get onto new anti-depressants because these ones are obviously failing miserably--and then I realized...I haven't talked to my mom in 4 days! Now--that isn't a long time to some--but what is different with me--my spirit seems to be intertwined with hers--and when I don't get that interaction in awhile--the spirit seems to wither and die!! Pretty strange I guess--but that's just me! Honestly--we could win the Lotto--and I'm not sure there would be too much jumping around and whooping and hollering! Yep--I told you it was dark! I think I'm heading to bed and hoping that her cruise ship is in dock tomorrow so she can call me!!

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Today was my Sweet Daddy's birthday! It's his Diamond Birthday--kind of perfect since he spent his life working in the diamond industry! You've heard me "GUSH" about my dad on this blog before--and I really, really, REALLY want to again on this post--but I'm not feeling my best--and should be heading to bed, so let me just leave him a little note!!

To My Sweet Daddy!!

Happy 75th Birthday to the man who raised me. Fed me. Loved me. Bought my first car. Put braces on my teeth. Worried on my first date. Paid for college. Cried when I went to Japan. Cried when I got home from Japan. Walked me down the aisle at my wedding. Came to the birth of all of my children. Provided a home, a family, a mom to me. Loved me unconditionally.

You are my hero! You are the very essence of what I want my children to become. You are honest, trustworthy, patient, virtuous, faithful, loving, kind--and honestly--best of all--You are MY DAD!!

I love you Dad!! More than you will ever know! You have changed our lives for the better, from the moment you stepped into it. We would truly be nothing without you--and I know that because we were weren't so great before we got you! I'm not sure how we convinced you to take us on--but 27 years of blissful marriage later--I'm so glad you did! It is an honor to call you Dad--and I'm so glad that you found us!

Ok, gushing to be continued at another date!

Chores...Postie Style!!

I have got to tell you!! We are on Spring Break this week--and it's always a hassle to find activities to keep the kids occupied for the week--let alone the nightmare of actually getting them to help me with the housework!! But I devised a plan!!

When they woke up Monday morning there was a huge cork board on the wall. There were white envelopes covering the board. Each envelope had a yellow sticky note attached--and a dollar amount written on them. Inside the envelope--the cold hard cash that was written on the envelope. On the sticky note--the job that must be accomplished in order to remove the money from the envelope. There were the regular $1.00 Ops as well as a couple of "big money" Ops of $5.00 available!

The mission: Each child could only take one "Op" at a time--remove the yellow sticky note to 'reserve' it for themselves, and when they finished the "Op" they could remove the money and choose a second one! I also threw in a few "postie patrol" quick money jobs!! For example--2 minutes to gather all of the shoes strewn about the house and put by the front door--$1.00. All of the video games and DVD's picked up and put in their cabinet in 2 minutes--$1.00, etc!!

I have to say--I had my Jake, who has proclaimed himself "Not the chore type" running around the house earning money! Each child (3) earned $5.00. I got 2 bedrooms cleaned--the living room and family room picked up, the bathroom clean--and the vacuuming done!! For $15.00---I think I made out like a bandit!! We are going to try it again today--although, I don't have much left to do!! I guess it will be $1.00 per load of laundry that gets done!! Wow, with just that--it will be another $15.00 day!!

If you have kids who don't help out--give this "immediate gratification" route a try--it was amazing!! Let me know how it works for you!!

"Keep Moving Forward"!!

Last week, we took the four kids to see Meet The Robinson's. It was the one movie that both of the older boys could agree on. Me--well, I wasn't too sure about it! It's not really my type of movie at all--but as any good mom does--I did what my kids wanted to do! Holy Cow did it take forever for the movie to start! Not a good situation when you have a 2 year old sitting next to you, strapped into his car seat--with a very LIMITED attention span!! He was just about ready to leave by the time the show actually started! I should mention that Blakelynn found the original Mickey Mouse cartoon fantastically fabulous!!

The movie finally started and moved steadily along, until I turned to my husband and said--"What's going on? Who are these people? and Why are we meeting them? Not that they were amusing folks--just highly confusing--how a man married to a hand puppet can have 2 kids--to having just met a family of people who are willing to risk life and limb to save a kid they just met--and a kid rude enough to keep his baseball hat on at the dinner table!! But after time--the story did "slow down" and let me catch up! I pretty much knew who "Louis" was the whole time--and even recognized the old lady makin' cookies--as being the over caffeinated science fair lady--but I was pleasantly surprised at the end to see that they were his parents! Now yes--they adopted him--but like any adopted parent will tell you--they were his parents!!
I thought the ending was cute--much more under control than the beginning--but it wasn't until the screen went black and this quote came up:

“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” - Walt Disney

That I truly got chills. Walt Disney didn't change the world like Louis/Cornelius did--but you have to admit--that man single handedly changed the world!! All in all, it was a great kids movie--my 4 sat contentedly through the entire (and I mean ENTIRE) thing--and even would like to see it again! That's a winner in my book--even if I didn't find it nearly as enjoyable as they did!!