An extra day to play!!

Happy leap year day yesterday! I was grateful for the extra day of the year because it was a good day- busy and good. We took Robert to work and on our way back home I stopped at Jack in the Box since I promised Baily an ice cream shake. I forget how much I love Jack in the Box... soo good. After that we went to Great Clips and I got my hairs cut. It felt really good since my hair was outta control and dee-scusting! And I just have to comment again that everone out here in the Copa is sooo nice. I love the small town feeling here! The girl that cut my hair even catered to Baily's desire for a "haircup" by just letting her sit in the chair and combing it through. Baily was so excited and she even got a sucker afterward. It was so cute... all day Baily kept saying "mommy, see my haircup. Soooo nice momma. I won't touch it momma." I love that little girl... she cracks me up! After that we came home and did our thing for a while. Later we all loaded up and I headed out for Mesa. I had to stop in Chandler at Target to meet my landlords to get the new water filter for our fridge and get a few things. After that I went to my MIL's house and dropped off my kiddos. Baily was so excited to spend some time with her la-la. My friends Malissa and Sicily came and picked me up and we went to Tia Rosa's for my birthday dinner. We got to sit outside on the patio and it was so beautiful out there. Usually when we go on these birthday outings there's a lot more of us but I was so glad it was just the 3 of us. Sicily and Malissa are secretly my favorites anyway... lol. we had some good laughs, deep discussion and it was a good time. I got a lot of good advice (hot chocolate...lol) and it was so good to be able to talk to someone about things I'm going through. So thanks girls! After we finished I got dropped off back at my MIL's where Robert was. His sister picked him up at work for me since I was having such a great time and didn't have time to pick him up... lol. After that we and the kids went to Robert's final church ball game. There were a lot of fans there to chatter with and it was a lot of fun. Plus Robert was on Fi-ah! He did awesome... one of the best I've ever seen him play. After we got home we chillaxed for a bit and then hit the sack. It was a sweet leap year day!

366 Blessings:

#60- My awesome friends Sicily and Malissa!

Weekly Menu

So here's my pretty boring menu for the week. Can't wait 'til next Friday... pay day!

F- Tia Rosa's with friends for birthday dinner

Sa- Out to eat

Su- Joaquin's Blessing Dinner- sub sandwiches, pasta salad, potato salad, chips, punch, brownie sundaes

M- chicken salad croissants, broccoli cheese soup

Tu- Italian sausage & peppers, french bread

W- baked penne pasta, garlic bread, salad

Th- chicken enchiladas, spanish rice, salad

Pres. Hinckley Quote

"I hope for you the very best that life has to offer, but I hope even more for a few simple things-things that come of the heart, things that come of the spirit, things that come of the divine within each of us.

When all is said and done, when you have lived your life and grown as old as I am, you will regognize that it is the simple virtues that count, that make the great differences in our lives. It is better to sleep at night with a clear conscience than to worry oneself sick while living a fraud.

When all is said and done, our success in life will not be spelled out in the money we make, in the honors we attain, in the plaudits of men, but in those virtues which become the essence of that which is greatest within each of us." GBH

A very swell day!

Yesterday was just swell! I got more birthday cards and a little more somethin', somethin' in the mail which was awesome along with my brother's wedding announcement. Wahoo! My brother Beau is one of my very best friends and I just adore Eben so I'm so, so excited for them. Less than a month to go! And the announcements looked great. Later on during the day Baily and I decided to dance like there was no tomorrow. And dance we did for like an hour straight. Talk about a good work-out. It was so fun. We were laughing and giggling and having a blast. Baily is so fun and I love being her mom! It was Thursday so that meant Robert getting off earlier than usual. I told him I wanted him to take me to dinner for birthday so he did. As soon as he got home we loaded up and headed to Olive Garden. I hadn't been there forever and it was sooo good! We were a little frustrated at first since it took so long to seat us and people that got there way after us were getting seated before us but once we got sat and fed we were happy campers. It was a perfect night out with my family for my birthday dinner. We even finished in time to make it to Robert's church basketball game. It's their tournament going on right now and Robert had a chance to play so he did. He just wants to finish up the season with our old ward as a last hoorah. Sadly they lost but it was fun to see the familiar faces anyway. After the game we stopped by my MIL's house to say hi and chat for a bit. Baily was so excited to see her La-la and Tata (Martha) and Andre. It was nice to visit with them. After that we came home and watched our recorded Lost. (We really need DVR!) Same story there... answer some questions already!! Seriously. Once we made it through that (we had to stop a lot to tend to children) we all hit the sack and passed out. What a swell day!

366 Blessings:

#59- Going out to eat!

Napoleon Dynamite Dance Scene

This is one of my favorite movie scenes ever!!

8

Saw this on a blog and thought it was a super fun one. I know... I'm weird. Oh well, it's my blog and my obsessions so live with it...lol.

8 Things I want to do before I die (in no particular order)
1. Be the best mom and raise righteous, happy children.
2. Be a home owner.
3. Be debt-free.
4. Do an Iron Man!
5. Go on a mission with Robert.
6. Travel to NYC, Maachu Pichu and to Europe
7. Get my RN degree.
8. Be all caught up on my scrapping.

8 Things I am Passionate About.
1. The gospel.
2. My husband.
3. My kids.
4. My freedom.
5. My extended family.
6. Music.
7. The beauty of nature.
8. The talent of the world... particulary dancing.

8 Common phrases
1. Crap.
2. I love you.
3. Baily Fay!
4. Babe.
5. It's soooo guuurd momma. (Baily says good as "gurd." Love it!)
6. Watch a bideo momma. (Baily's way of saying she wants to watch a movie.)
7. Mom. (Baily is constantly talking to me or trying to tell me something.)
8. dammit! (I'm working on improving that...)

8 Recently read books.
1. Goofy Goes To the Fair
2. I Love You Forever
3. Dr. Seuss's ABC's
4. Book of Mormon
5. Eclipse
6. The New Moon
7. Twilight
8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows

8 of my album covers
1. Josh Groban (all of his cd's I own)
2. Dean Martin
3. Louis Armstrong
4. Yanni
5. Enya
6. Martina McBride
7. Step Up Soundtrack
8. Save the Last Dance Soundtrack

8 Random things about me
1. I have a weird fetish about popping things- eggs, fingers, zits...
2. I LOVE to dance!
3. I really struggle with my self-esteem.
4. I wish I had more charity.
5. I want to be rich so I won't have to have the financial stress and so I can give more to charity.
7. I love to cook!
8. I'm so sensitive. I cry probably once a day and I hate it!

TAG YOU ARE IT... Alex, Beau, Becca, Jes, Janel, Reidhead Family, Tamie, Laurie

A quarter of a century years old...

So yesterday I turned the big 2-5. I can't believe it. Time really does fly way too fast. It was a really good birthday... or I should say it was so far. I have a lot more celebrating coming up. I really felt loved yesterday as the texts, phone calls and cards came in. I woke up with a lovely kiss and birthday wish from my man which was fabulous. Then I had a happy birthday text from my step-dad waiting for me. When I got my mail I had a card from my dad and family with a nice little somethin', somethin' inside which I can't wait to spend. All throughout the day I got lots of calls... my brother Beau (this was a pleasant surprise since he's not the best at remembering things- he even sang to me!), my mother-in-law that was so so sweet, my sister-in-law, my dad and my grandma... plus many birthday calls from Robert throughout the day. Then later that night another text from my good friend Carrie which was so sweet. And that's not to mention all the sweet comments from all my blogging buddies... thanks guys! So yeah... I felt very loved. The rest of the day was pretty ordinary since my birthday fell during the middle of the week on a work day for Robert. I blogged, did the mommy thing and did more house stuff. Later that day was American Idol and it was just ok for me as Randy would say. Brooke was my favorite girl and that's really the only one I really liked. I think the rocker chick with the skunk hair and the blonde Britney impersonator chick will be going home. The girls didn't hold a candle up to the guys though. And no one comes close to my David. As I was giving Baily a bath something kinda freaky happened. Joaquin was in his room in his crib sleeping and he woke up and fussed a little. I was still in the bathroom with Baily when all of a sudden his mobile came on. It can't turn on unless you wind it up. It was pretty freaky and I was anxious for Robert to get home after that. But I do have to say that if we have a ghost at least it's a friendly ghost who was trying to calm my baby down. Or maybe it's a ghost who just doesn't like crying. If that's the case it better leave this house 'cause there's a lot of crying going on here. Anyway when Robert finally got home I was sooo happy when he surprised me with a dozen roses and a cute Bettie Boop balloon. They were gorgeous and anyone who knows me knows I LOVE roses and LOVE being surprised. Earlier that day my dad asked if I had gotten flowers from Robert and when I told him no he said he was a stinker. My dad wants Robert to carry on the tradition that my dad had of giving my flowers for all of my birthdays. So my dad would be proud that Robert carried on the tradition and that was the perfect icing to my cake of the day. He came home with a yummy dinner of Carl's Jr. He and I shared their $6 burger which is probably one of the best burgers I've ever had and I had a really good chocolate shake. Baily was so excited about my balloon and she even got a strawberry shake so she was a happy camper as well. By the end of the day I was one very happy birthday girl and I felt very loved. I'm excited for my girl's night out on Friday to celebrate with my girlfriends and to go out to dinner with Robert tonight. Plus I'll be celebrating with my Grandma and family in Show Low when I go up there in a couple of weeks so that will be fun. It's good to be me!
366 Blessings:

#58- When Robert gives me roses!

Happy Birthday Me!

This is so hard for me to do because I have a really low self-esteem. I'm trying to improve that so I thought I'd try to name 5 things I like about myself. I turned 25 today.

5. My loyalty to my husband.

4. I love my kids more than words can express.

3. I would do anything to help my loved ones.

2. I'm very goal driven.

1. My testimony of the gospel.

That was really hard...

Happy Birthday Bryan!

My top 5 favorite things about my nephew Bryan who turned 6 on February 7th.

5. He's a great cousin to Baily and she absolutely adores him.

4. He loves his family so much.

3. He loves school.

2. He always wants to help others.

1. He's very generous (most of the time!)!

I love you little guy!

Happy Birthday Patty!

My top 5 favorite things about my Step-mom Patty who's birthday was February 6th.

5. She's always been there for me through many of the hard times in my life.

4. She's an amazing grandma to my kids and Baily adores her as I'm sure Joaquin will as well!

3. She's so much fun to hang out with.

2. She's the perfect match for my dad.

1. She's one of my very best friends!

I love you so much Patty!

Happy Birthday Thomas!

My top 5 favorite things about my Brother-In-Law Thomas who's birthday was on January 22nd:

5. He's a great father.

4. He took Bryan under his wing like his own child.

3. His loyalty to his wife.

2. He likes to have fun and play games with our goofy family.

1. He's serving our counry in Afghanistan and sacrificing so much to help fight for our freedom!

Happy Birthday Thomas!

Happy Birthday Zachary!

I've been wanting to do this idea of giving birthday shout-outs to my family members and listing my top 5 favorite things about them on my blog, and since it's my birthday and I've been thinking about birthdays I thought I'd start today. So I'm catching up with all the birthdays since the beginning of the year and first up is my sweet little brother Zachary who turned 10 on the 10th of January.

My top 5 Favorite Things about Zach Attack:

5. He's a great uncle to my kids.

4. He loves to have fun and enjoy life.

3. He's a great soccer player.

2. He's so sweet and loving.

1. His hilarious sense of humor!

I love you buddy!!

David Archuleta- Imagine (American Idol) High Quality

He's it for me... the next and the BEST EVER American Idol. His voice brings me to tears every time. I love this kid!!

Joaquin Cooing

I love his talking! It melts my heart... he melts my heart!!

Lazy Momma

After having such a productive day on Monday you would think that would fuel and motivate me to have another one yesterday. Not so much. I was actually a pretty lazy momma yesterday. This is a picture of what our bed looked like yesterday morning. The kids have been doing pretty well at going to sleep in their own beds at night but after a long night of musical beds (Baily waking up and getting scared and either coming to our bed or us going to her bed, Joaquin needing to be fed and will only nurse if I'm lying down...), I get too tired of moving them back to their beds and I end up sleeping in Baily's bed. Our kids have complete control over us! Oh well... the whole bed situation is much better than what it used to be and will continue getting better. After getting all of us cleaned up and dressed and fed I decided it was too much of a gorgeous day to sit in the house all day so I took the kids to the park down the street and it was good times. This is our beautiful mountain view from the park and this is actually what's right behind our house. I love it. On our way walking there 2 really nice neighborhood moms introduced themselves to me. I really like this neighborhood... everyone seems so friendly. At the park 2 little boys, about 5 or 6, came and played while we were there and they were so sweet with Baily. She was so excited to have someone to play with and I was glad for that. Most of the rest of the day, when I wasn't tending to and enjoying time with my little ones I was on the computer blog hopping. I found tons of blogs of people I grew up with in Show Low and that was fun to see how they're all doing. And yes I realize I have a serious blogging addiction that needs to be controlled. I also wasted too much time watching tv which I never do. I always try to not watch tv but I gave in a little bit yesterday. Last night was American Idol. I first have to say that, even though America may not agree with me, but I love Simon. I think he may be a little too harsh at time but that's who he is. And I agree with him pretty much 99% of the time. The show just would not be the same without him. The show was pretty good and there were a few favorites I had (David Hernandez and Michael Jones) but when David Archuletta came on that was it for me. I LOVE him. He's gonna win and the way I see it, the rest of the contestants will just be fun to watch until he does win. For dinner Robert stopped by at Basha's and got us a brick oven pizza. Can you say DELICOUS! It was one of the best pizzas I've ever had. And Robert is now in love with Basha's- it's his new favorite grocery store. He could not stop talking about it all night. Later that night after I got the kiddos to sleep I finally opened up to Robert about some issues I've been having and things I've been struggling with. This is so hard for me. I think communication is a weakness we both have which causes problems. But we did pretty well last night and we'll keep working on it. I love him so much. Marriage just takes a lot of work and dedication. I was glad to finally have things out in the open though. And that's my Tuesday for ya'.

366 Blessings:

#57- Joaquin's coos (see video) and his kissable

chin!