Thursday, July 31, 2008

Stupid Youtube...

I don't know why youtube is retarded. Do any of you have the same problem with it not posting your videos on your blog lately? Anyway, here is a cute video of Joaquin jibbering jabbering. He learned to do this just this week and he does it for the majority of the day lately and it's just so dang cute. I love that boy!...*sigh

A tired momma.

Wednesday July 30, 2008
I had a hard time sleeping last night and didn't fall asleep until sometime after 3 so today I was one tired momma. After getting up a little late I made sure to read my scriptures before I got my day going because I knew I was gonna need all the help I could get. Robert ended up coming back home from work because they sent him home due to a miscommunication so I was glad to have him home again. I need to soak up all the time I can get from him before he leaves. So I spent a lot of time scrubbing and spiffifying (yep... I made that word up!) my bathrooms today and now they are all sparkly and clean. I love that feeling. But that scrubbing and what not pretty much did me in for the day. Usually I'm not such a wuss but like I said, I was one tired momma. We just hung out and whatnot during the day and then I made a really good dinner of broccoli cheese soup and chicken salad sandwiches. I think this is my favorite meal these days. I usually make the sandwiches with croissants but that was too expensive so I just made them on toasted french bread and it was just as good. After dinner it was time for my show. By this time I was over tired and a big grouch. Sorry family! My kids were super tired as well and were fuss butts and they were driving me crazy. Joaquin has been head butting and scratching and pinching me like crazy because he's always on the move and even though I know he doesn't do it intentionally, it gets to me after a while. Robert graciously went and put them in the bath so I could have a little bit of sanity. But I had to ruin that by going in there and smacking Baily's mouth because she kept drinking the bubble bath water after Robert kept telling her no a million times. Robert looked at me like he was appalled and I felt like the biggest jerk. I hate that but sometimes I don't know how to handle when she's so defiant and will not listen to what we tell her. I really need to work on my patience. Anyway before I was a jerk the kids were having fun. Baily was decorating her brother's head with bubbles and it was so cute. But back to SYTYCD- I'm rooting for Joshua. He's my fave for sure after tonight and I really want him to win. My second choice would be Katee. The only one I want to go home for sure is Mark but other than that I'm don't really care about the others. Mostly though I just want Joshua to win. So GOOOO Joshua! We had had family prayer and scriptures (3 for 3 this week- wahoo!) earlier so as soon as the show was over I put the kids to bed and they fell asleep fast since they were so tired. I'm grateful for that. I was able to get some stuff done for Primary and now I think I'll go join them in sleep land. Hopefully the whole sleep thing goes better tonight than last night.
366 Blessings:
#212- Delicious broccoli cheese soup and chicken salad sandwiches for dinner.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Happy Birthday Babe!

My top 10 (I will do 10 instead of 5 because he's my #1 in my life!) favorite things about my hotty husband Roberts:
10. His big, kissable lips!
9. He's one of the most loyal people I know.
8. He makes me laugh at least twice a day.
7. He's a worthy Priesthood holder.
6. He loves me with all his heart.
5. He's THE BEST DADDY in the world to my kids!!
4. He's one of the most compassionate people I know.
3. His strong testimony of our Savior and His gospel.
2. How he rocks my world;)
1. He's my very best friend in this whole, wide world!!!
I love you so much babe! Thanks for being the best ever. I hope your birthday was great!

My sexy man's special day!

Tuesday July 29, 2008
Today was my babe's 31st birthday. Wahoo! He had the day off today as well so that's super awesome. After he woke up and we sang to him and showered him with kisses I got ready and went to my Primary Presidency meeting. I gotta tell ya'- I'm loving this calling more and more. There's starting to be a lot more responsibility but I feel ready for it and excited. Scouts is getting ready to start up again and it's going to be a lot of work and very time consuming but it's all so exciting to me. I feel like I have worth and that's a good feeling. After that I came home and got the kids dressed and ready and then myself ready and then all of us headed into town. We had to make a stop that was a very humbling experience that made us very grateful and then we went to my MIL's house. My niece and her fiance and my other in-law family pitched in and threw a delicioso carne asada bbq dinner for Robert's birthday dinner. It was fun visiting and eating great food. Since we're so broke I just made a fun little candy bar card for him (Em helped... thanks!) and got him cheesecake with 4 different flavors (he doesn't like regular cake). It was actually cheaper to buy one than make one. It was a fun time and I was grateful to celebrate the birth of my perfecto husband. Oh I love him so much! After we finished up there we came home. My nephew came with us and will be staying with us for a few days at least and quite possibly a lot longer to get some things worked out. He's a great kid and I love him so much and I hope we can help in any way possible. After we got home we had family scriptures and prayer and the Spirit was especially strong which I love. Then I ran to the store to get a few things, came home and put my babies to sleep and here I am. I'm looking forward to having another productive day tomorrow with lots of cleaning! Oh, and this is more for my personal recording purposes, but I finally started reading the BOM again yesterday with a goal of reading 2 chapters a day and finishing by November 24th. My daily scripture reading and kneeling in prayer are more of my goals for the week and I know adhering to them is key to my success.


366 Blessings:
#211- Robert!!!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

My groove is coming back to me!

Monday July 28, 2008
Yesterday was a good day and I felt accomplished and much better about myself. I made a few goals for the week to help me get back on track and stop being so lazy. I will only let myself be on the computer 3 times a day (this may sound like a lot to a lot of people but that's a big deal for me), twice to only check my email and once to blog at night after my kids are asleep and my house is picked up. I also made the goal not to watch tv at all except for my SYTYCD. I knew this would free up so much time during my day and help me be a better mom, wife and housewife. My other goal was to make sure and have family prayer and scriptures every day this week. Yesterday I kept all my goals and it felt super good. I felt like a good little housewife and felt a high from that all day. My house needed a lot of picking up and I had a lot of laundry to do. I even folded and hung my laundry. Wahoo! Robert had the day off so that helped me a lot with him helping out with the kids and he also braved the torturous heat and went and picked all the horrible weeds in front and back. Thank goodness because I've been dreading doing that for way too long. I was able to get an early dinner made and we had a pretty good FHE. We did the little kid activity from the new August Friend. It was so cute and Baily loved it. First she helped us read a story about Grandpa's red truck that was very friendly to her and then her and daddy colored animals from the Book of Mormon while I read the scriptures that referenced those animals. (Sorry for the "naked" pic of Rob- he was sweaty and stinky from picking weeds all day!) The last pic is what Rob's interpretation of a Curelom is. Looks like a creature from a Harry Potter book to me! After that FHE we had yummy ice cream for the treat. I got the kids to bed pretty early so Robert and I were able to watch a movie I rented a while ago, How To Make An American Quilt. It's an old chick flick from back in the day and Robert was not impressed but I liked it. I was so grateful for such a good, productive day.
366 Blessings:
#210- Getting my house picked up and getting back on routine

Monday, July 28, 2008

Thankful for charitable friends!

Sunday July 27, 2008
Today had it's ups and downs. Robert had to be at work really early today and was gone until like 7 this evening so that was really poopy. I feel like we were totally robbed of our weekend daddy bliss. I treasure my time with him so I'm not a happy camper when that's taken away from me. The morning was ok until it came time to get everyone ready for church. Joaquin was so tired and fussy and that stressed me out so I was snappy with Baily and then she became snappy. I don't know what I'm gonna do for the 2 weeks that Robert's in Florida- I'm already stressing about that. Anyway, luckily my super sweet VT partner volunteered to give us a ride on Sundays when Robert can't and to help me during Sacrament with both of my kids and taking Joaquin while I'm in Primary. She's so sweet and this means so much to me. I was really worried about how I would handle church and my calling without Robert and she came to my rescue. Thanks Angee! Sacrament meeting was really good today. I felt so grateful to take the sacrament and feel renewed and hopeful and motivated to really get my act together. I love that feeling. And Primary was great. I'm learning more and more names and starting to get to know the kids and their personalities and I just love them and their little spirits. We had a lot of kids today along with visitors and newbies and they're just so sweet. I love this calling! After church Angee brought us home, we snacked and just chilled. When Robert finally came home we ate (I'm ashamed to say what...) and hung out for a bit then him and the babies all fell asleep pretty early. They were tuckered out. I'm really looking forward to having an extremely more productive week and finding my groove and getting back on track. I've been off of it for way too long. And I'm gonna end this post with this thought that I just LOVE!

"President Brigham Young once counseled us: . . ." 'Let all leave the cares of their work behind them; let the kitchens take care of themselves, and let the barns, the flocks and herds take care of themselves, and if they are destroyed while you are praying, be able to freely say, "Go, they are the Lord's; He gave them to me, and I will worship Him; I will assemble my family and call upon the name of my God."" 'By leaving business and the cares thereof where they belong, and attending strictly to worship in its season, if not at first, you soon will be united, and be able to bring every evil principle into subjection. If all are bound up in this manner, don't you see that it will make a mighty cord of faith?' (Journal of Discourses, 3:53.)"Let us teach our children to pray for courage, for opportunity, for comfort, for peace, for understanding, and not for material gifts. Let us teach them to pray, 'Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.' (Matt. 6:10.)"
L. Tom Perry,
"Our Father Which Art in Heaven," Ensign, Nov. 1983, 13
Have an awesome week everyone!
366 Blessings:
#209- The Sacrament

Sunday, July 27, 2008

99 Childhood Memories

I saw this on my friend Addie's blog a while ago and loved it. So of course I wanted to do it and here it is. A list of memories. I have so many and I know they'll come to me sporadically (can you tell I watched Clueless today...lol) so I'll just start with childhood memories and perhaps do more from different stages of my life later. So these are memories from before High School.


1. my Grandma Brown's cheese crisps- hers always tasted the best
2. my mom always giving me little prizes and notes just because she loved me
3. going to the lake and fishing with my dad and Patty like every other weekend
4. my Grandpa Bud making the best tire swing for us and playing with it for hours
5. building car cities (like matchbox cars) with my cousins and my cousin Amy always making the best "house" with the best "landscaping"
6. riding my bike with my brothers or friends all around the neighborhood all the time
7. sledding on the hill by our house and making big jumps at the bottom
8. building the best outdoor forts with my cousins
9. playing hide-and-go-seek in the dark in the big yellow house with my cousins
10. having 2 awesome Halloween parties with my friends and my mom's scary story about "Rose" and my step-dad coming up the stairs and scaring us all with panty hoes over his head and carrying a chainsaw
11. spending so much time at the bowling alley
12. playing soccer and my nickname being "Axe Lady" and "Tenacious" because I was awesome at defense and so aggressive
13. my mom always making my sleepovers so much fun by getting us tons of junk food and movies
14. playing Mall Madness and some other girly game I don't remember with Christy and the neighbor girls down the street
15. playing for hours with my barbies
16. singing and recording "Wind Beneath My Wings" on my karaoke machine for hours
17. going to the rodeo with my Grandpa and Grandma Brown and her letting me put on make-up... I caked it on so bad but I felt like a supermodel
18. Having awesome New Year's Eve parties
19. Alex's snow boots and Underdog cape
20. playing Tetris on our Super Nintendo for hours
21. my dog Gabby and all her awesomeness
22. having major Mario Kart tournaments with my brothers and Beau's friends
23. playing for hours on our trampoline
24. staying up with pure excitement on Christmas Eve and REALLY, truly believing in Santa Claus with all my heart
25. the same as above for Easter and with the Easter Bunny
26. going down to the valley and staying with my Willis Grandparents when they lived down here and going to a really fun Homemaking Night with my Grandma that was a special Grandma/Granddaughter night
27. going down to the Jr. High with Jessica Stewart and pretending we were making a music video for the song "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid
28. riding my bike to Safeway or the gas station with friends or cousins to get candy
29. riding my bike with my brothers or the neighbors to Mac's Ceramics to get candy
30. watching the good cartoons at my Grandma Brown's... Inspector Gadget, The Jetsons, The Flinstones, Alvin and the Chipmunks, etc.
31. my mom always making the best Halloween costumes for us- we never had store bought costumes
32. Gerald's chocolate chip pancakes
33. my mom or Gerald always coaching us in soccer or bowling and me loving that
34. doing the slip n' slide at my Grandma Brown's
35. taking my boom box to Elementary School and making up dances at recess
36. playing Chinese Jump Rope for hours
37. my huge troll collection
38. being part of the pog phenomenon
39. playing 4 square at recess in middle school
40. playing football with Chelsea and the boys and loving the attention from the boys during 6th grade recess
41. admiring and feeling so proud of my Grandma Holwick's artwork at the art gallery shows
42. watching America's Funniest Home Videos at my dad's house every Sunday
43. going on vacations to the "valley" with my family and always ordering Dominos delivery and staying at a motel where we could swim for hours

44. playing for hours on our trampoline
45. sleeping on our trampoline during the summers and sneaking down to the field in the middle of the night to play crack the whip and capture the flag
46. playing May I? with my family all the time and with my Grandma and cousins
47. my Grandpa Bud making the best salsa and me and my cousins just sitting around eating that with chips and talking for hours
48. my Grandma Holwick's grilled cheese finger sandwiches
49. lying on my Grandpa Holwick's big tummy when he laughed
50. playing with my Grandma Holwick's veins and super soft skin
51. going to El Rancho for my Grandpa Brown's birthday and him wearing the sombrero and me thinking that was so cool
52. my mom's awesome Family Home Evenings- they were rare but when we had them they were awesome... especially the lesson on Lehi's vision of the tree of life
53. my dad and Patty taking me to the carnival everytime it came to town
54. spending tons of time in the health and beauty department at Wal-Mart everytime we went there
55. when Rachelle took my to the KFC buffet for lunch and giving me this awesome gift basket
56. being SPOILED every Christmas, Easter, birthday and Valentine's Day
57. my mom and dad sending my flowers at school for every Valentine's Day and birthday
58. loving Mrs. Fox as my 4th and 6th grade teachers
59. having a blast as Sea Camp in 5th grade in San Diego
60. when my Grandpa Bud baptized me and had to do it 3 times because my feet kept popping up so then he had to stand on my feet
61. always being the only girl in all my Primary classes
62. loving Merrie Miss activities with Shaelynn and thinking she was the best teacher ever
63. sitting next to my grandparents and church and just feeling their love for me and the Spirit was always so strong
64. Gerald's grilled chicken- it was always the best and my favorite food
65. soccer tournaments in Tucson when I was on the boy's All-Star team and feeling so cool
66. going to Beau's Little League games and having so much fun and being so excited about getting something from the concession stand
67. playing dress up with my step-mom Patty's clothes and shoes
68. how fun our stick horse rodeo was for one of our Nikolaus family reunions
69. my mom being the best cook ever and me always loving her food
70. big Sunday breakfast with Belgian waffles and strawberries and whipped cream with bacon
71. having so much fun being on the track team and being pretty fast- loving being on the relay team with Mr. Hart training us and breaking the record
72. a fun field trip in 6th grade to Mrs. Fox's house
73. my Grandpa Bud's chicken croissant sandwiches, peanut butter fudge, caramels, kilbasa sausage dinner- he was always the best cook ever and he always made me anything I wanted when I wanted it
74. the blessing of living with my Willis grandparents
75. taking turn rubbing lotion on my Grandma Willis's feet with Janea
76. when my Willis grandparents lived at the Petrified Forest and managed the gift shop and having stayovers with my cousins and having so much fun- the treasure hunts and pairing up with Becca against Karly and Janea
77. Alex's Pirate birthday party and how awesome it was
78. all my fun birthday parties at Pat's Place
79. my fun birthday party at our blue trailer house
80. going down to the orange swings at the middle school and swinging for hours
81. sleepovers at Jessica Stewart's house
82. sleepovers at a bunch of other friend's houses
83. making tamales with my mom for different fundraisers
84. tucking my pants into my socks that were always coordinated with my outfit
85. krimping my hair
86. in Primary telling my teacher that my favorite movie was Terminator 2
87. loving going to the 4th of July parade every year
88. having so much fun taking family vacations with my dad and Patty to Wisconsin- roller skating, catching lightning bugs, cookouts, playing basketball, going to Six Flags
89. going up to Utah on the plane by myself for a Spring Break skiing trip and feeling so grown up
90. the toad at my Holwick grandparent's house that came back every year
91. taking a walk with my Grandma Holwick through her garden and feeling like I was in a dream because it was so beautiful
92. nature walks with my dad and Patty every Sunday
93. being ridiculously boy crazy
94. having Becca Allsop, Chelsea Brewer, Jessica Stewart for best friends
95. sticking up for my brothers when other boys picked on them no matter what
96. listening and belting out to my Debbie Gibson tapes for hours
97. playing house with my cousin Lindy every time she came over
98. when Gabby had puppies and remembering being amazed at how compassionate my mom was
99. feeling loved by so many family members

Thanks so much for that idea Addie. That was seriously so fun taking a walk down memory lane and enjoying remembering how fun my childhood was!

A boring Saturday.

Saturday July 26, 2008
Robert's stupid job made him work today so they robbed us of our daddy time that we usually get on Saturdays. Today was very uneventful and very boring. It wasn't necessarily bad, just boring. When Robert got home I got some pizza and went to the store but I'm retarded and forgot my card so I had to leave and it was really embarrassing. I really would like to find my brain and have it back in my head because I'm making an idiot of myself. Robert has to work tomorrow for the majority of the day which stinks but at least we'll have church. The end.

366 Blessings:
#208- Being free from natural disaster

Me!

I got this from Leslie's blog and we all know I can't resist a good survey. And this one is a little deeper so I really liked it. Thanks for all the goodies I find on your blog Leslie!

I am: a daughter of God and a wife and a mom
I think: I should probably get some sleep right now
I Know: that my Redeemer lives and that I belong to His true church
I want: to be righteous and financially secure
I have: the best husband and kids ever!
I wish: I could be the person I know I have the potential to be
I hate: my weaknesses and when people have any sort of prejudices
I miss: my mom sooo much it hurts!
I fear: me or any of my family dying unrighteously
I feel: cramps and sleepiness
I hear: nothing... it's almost 1 am!
I smell: leftover Barro's pizza
I crave: Dr. Pepper and salty foods
I search: the scriptures
I wonder: where we're gonna live when this house is foreclosed
I regret: being so careless with my credit when I was younger and drinking and partying and not finishing school
I love: Robert!
I care: about being true to what I know
I always: kiss my babies and tell them how much I love them
I am not: always consistent
I believe: in Jesus Christ
I dance: everyday- dance is my passion!
I sing: all the time... but not very well
I don't always: clean, fold my laundry, stay productive, live healthy, etc.
I fight: with myself and my weaknesses
I write: to my mom not nearly enough
I lose: patience way too much
I win: when I pray and read my scriptures consistently
I never: take the Lord's name in vain
I listen: for my kids all the time
I can usually be found: on the computer (not good)
I am scared: of clowns and bridges
I need: to get it together!
This is very cool if you want to learn more about yourself. I would love reading this on all your blogs so do it!

Pres. Hinckley Quote

"May the Lord bless you, my beloved sisters. You are the guardians of the hearth. May you be strengthened for the challenges of the day. May you be endowed with wisdom beyond your own in dealing with the problems you constantly face. May your prayers and your pleadings be answered with blessings upon your heads and upon the heads of your loved ones." GBH

Daddy's Day Off

Friday July 25, 2008
Since Robert has to work overtime this weekend he took one of his vacation days yesterday. We had planned to have some fun family time kind of in celebration of his birthday coming up on Tuesday. I wanted to plan a couple of things but he insisted he just wanted to go to Amazing Jake's and that was it. So Friday morning we all got ready and headed out. Robert had to make a "quick" stop at his new job (I17 and Peoria) to fill out some paperwork and stuff. It ended up being a pretty annoying first part of the day. It took longer than we thought and then it took a while and a lot of driving around and waiting to get his drug test done which was pretty annoying. I'm grateful he got the new job and everything but I hate when things take longer than I plan on and when I feel out of control. And I hate it when I have to tote my kids around and they get restless because then I feel like a crappy parent. But enough complaining. Once we were done with that the rest of the day was great. First we went to Amazing Jake's. We had never been there before but heard great things about it and we wanted to do something fun for Baily since she had been locked up in the house for a few days. It was a little pricey but not over the top. I liked all the food in the buffet but the pizza. While we were there Robert's fam met us there so that made it more fun. After we grubbed we played games and had good times. Baily was in heaven with her 3 hours of unlimited fun on all the kiddy rides and we had fun playing other games. I rocked DDR and had a blast. I seriously want that game so bad! After we were done there Baily went back to the house with Em and D and me, Rob, J and my MIL went to Kohl's to get Robert some much needed work clothes and for his trip to Florida coming up. His mom gave him a big chunk of money for his birthday to spend on his clothes and the balance that we owed was his birthday present from me. After that we went back to my MIL's house and met the rest of the fam there. We hung out for a while and then played a few hands in May I? and that was fun as always. But the kids were spent by that time so we had to leave. We made a quick stop at Wally World and finally got Baily's long-awaited toy for being potty trained. I know... that was like 2 months ago but we just barely got around to it. Bad parents. But at least we keep our promises, even if it does take a while! She had a hard time picking her toy out but she ended up getting a Play Doh kit and she was so excited about it. But as soon as we got in the van both her and Joaquin crashed and burned and they were out for the night. Robert and I made a quick stop to pay a bill and headed back out to the Copa where we got to see another beautiful and awesome lighting storm. We got some food from Carl's Jr. and came home and chowed down and it was sooo good! I love Robert's days off!

366 Blessings:
#207- DDR

... One door opens!

Thursday July 24, 2008
So Thursday was a very good day indeed. We finally found out that Robert got hired for one of the many, many jobs he has been interviewing for. Hooray! It's not our first choice but the good things are, it's like a $4 pay raise and he won't have to go to a job he hates every day and they seem like they really like and respect him already. It's at a place called PSCU- some credit union call center or something (I really don't know). So it's definitely a lot more reputable than Frederick's of Hollywood. So I guess it's true what my dad has been telling me all along- when one door closes another one opens. The downers about the job is it's quite a bit farther away and he has to work Sundays for a while. Hopefully that won't last too long. His schedule will be Su-Th from 9-6. So even though it sucks that he has to work on Sundays the hours are much better. He'll be home earlier than he is know which is nice. So we're excited about that. He officially starts his new job on Aug. 11 and will train in Florida for 2 weeks. He gets to stay in a nice hotel and stuff which is cool for him but I'm jealous and I'm gonna miss him like crazy. I don't know how well I'll handle feeling like a single mom and taking on all the responsibilities for 2 weeks. That's a long time! I guess we'll see how it goes. He's still going to pursue being a police officer but since that is a long hiring process we figure that at least he'll have a better job in the meantime. So hearing that news put me in a pretty good mood all day. Baily took a late nap so we were up pretty late. After nursing J I came into the room and found my sweet Bug like this. She was pretty tuckered out. She's so sweet! As soon as Robert got home I sad see-ya and I met my VT partner to do some Visiting Teaching. We just got assigned a new sister and I already love her. She's so bubbly and sweet and her spirit just radiates. I'm excited to get to know her better and to be blessed to be one of her Visiting Teachers. After a visit with her we went to one of our other sisters we VT and had a nice visit with her like always. I really do love Visiting Teaching! After I was done there I went to Jack in the Box and used my $5 I'd been saving all week and got me some cheap, yummy tacos. Unfortunately, I didn't think I could possibly enjoy those greasy tacos without some DP so I was weak and I gave in a drank a big Dr. Pepper. I felt ashamed and like a loser but man did it take away my 3 day headache and man did it tast so good! While I was enjoying my blissful meal Baily wasted no time getting her playtime in with daddy. She decided her dad was going to be a camel and Robert thought we would make it very authentic and put her in middle eastern apparel. They crack me up! While they were playing and after I enjoyed my meal I turned on the tube for some So You Think You Can Dance time. I loved the ballet performers- it's such beautiful dance. When they announced the bottom 2 guys I was like what the...? And then when it was Will that got sent home I was just dumbfounded. I'm pretty sure America got that one wrong but I didn't vote so I suppose I should keep my trap shut if I don't participate. Baily and her daddy built another fort, a small version and her and Joaquin had a blast playing in it. It was like their secret little club. Only they allowed Robert in so it wasn't complete secret or exclusive- only I wasn't allowed in it. It's all good though. I love that they have that fun relationship with their dad. And like I've mentioned before, Baily isn't very fond of clothes as you can see. So sorry about the nudy photos. I still think they're both dang cute though;)
366 Blessings:
#206- Robert getting hired at a new job!