So Far...

...this morning I've been able to:

• clean out the closet in the boys' bedroom, thowing out random/cheap/broken toys
• wash, dry, fold and put away six loads of laundry
• play choo-choo train with Tanner while Taylor had a much needed, yet short nap
• organize, and 'size-up' (putting too small/too big clothing away and mending in a pile to do later) Taylor's dresser of clothes and Tanner's dresser of clothes (my kids have WAY too many clothes!)
• label where the toys go in the closet (I've been wanting to do this for months! The other side is the same book shelf, just with books and their Sunday clothes hanging above.)



• iron Sunday shirts for all three boys (that includes my man)
• dishes from breakfast and lunch are done
• the little sink thingies that sit in the bottom so your glasses don't break are now bleached and sanitized (still a funky color, but clean)
• kitchen floor swept
• tickle Taylor
• bleach ALL of our kitchen wash rags and cleaning rags...they start to look dingy after a while, you know?
• desk cleaned off, thanks to Ryan
• our bedroom picked up (it seems like the catch-all room)
• high chair scrubbed down, cushions ready to be washed
• hall closet fixed my kids had pulled everything off the shelf they could reach and it had all been thrown back in
• sheets on our bed, Tanner's bed and from the crib changed, dirty ones washed, dried and put away
• and last, but not least, last night I got in some good episodes of "The Office" while putting the finishing touches on our family's "Happy Birthday" banner...I even hung it up, although it technically doesn't need to be hung until Monday

and a close up...And all before two o'clock! Now I just need to shower, get out of my pjs, and maybe go vacuum out the car(s), depending on if Tanner ever takes a nap today. What a productive morning!!!

These were a suprize from my boys...they fixed me a yummy pinapple stir-fry for dinner Friday night, and had these beauties on the table. Aren't they sweet?

I told ya'all I was excited for Saturday! It's the first weekend I've been home (not working or out of town) for a month!

Yeah.

Okay. Let's just follow up with a "it went well, very well".

Next, I'll have to combat the laundry-monster, most likely four loads; so we have clean clothes, not to mention things to wear under our clothes (underwear) and towels that are dry...I'm re-washing since I forgot to 'inform' my dear husband that they were washed during breakfast.

Ahhhhhh...looking forward to Saturday!

Anyone want to baby sit while Ryan and I go out for a few hours Saturday night? We're thinking Stake Conference and Ice Cream could be in our budget. ;-) Just kidding. Don't sign yourself up for that, I might just take you up on it!

{Cha-Ching!}

We're getting our taxes done tonight. I can hardly wait! Either for the excitement or the disappointment. This should be good!

Also, Ryan FINALLY broke down and bought a nice suit coat for winter. He has a suit (jacket and pants) but not a coat to wear over it, besides his Marmot...so while 'shopping' with the boys this afternoon, he informed me he was getting what I grew up calling, "a Sunday coat". I am SO excited! (Too bad he didn't cave before my grandpa's funeral, but that's okay).

I am so excited for this weekend! I have NO plans except for MY plans, and they are flexible, as am I. I'm going to get some much need organizational 'to do's' done. I'll let you know how that goes. :)

It's All About the Ice Cream

I received the following 'experience', if you will, in an email from my brother...and yes, I didn't take time to notice who he got it from or where they got it from. I do, however, think it's a pretty good analogy, if not downright true. Something similar happened to me in the seventh grade, and I lost, because I didn't promise pop machines in every hallway. Yeah.

Let me precursor that I think our current President of the United States of America is probably a nice guy. Did I vote? Yes. Did I vote for him? No. Am I racist? Absolutely not. Am I posting this to argue anything? No. I just thought it was a great story.

"From a teacher in the Nashville area:

Who worries about "the cow" when it is all about the "Ice Cream? The most eye-opening civics lesson I ever had was while teaching third grade this year.

The presidential election was heating up and some of the children showed an interest.

I decided we would have an election for a class president. We would choose our nominees. They would make a campaign speech and the class would vote.

To simplify the process, candidates were nominated by other class members.

We discussed what kinds of characteristics these students should have. We got many nominations and from those, Jamie and Olivia were picked to run for the top spot.

The class had done a great job in their selections.

Both candidates were good kids. I thought Jamie might have an advantage because he got lots of parental support. I had never met Olivia's parents.

The day arrived when they were to make their speeches. Jamie went first. He had specific ideas about how to make our class a better place. He ended by promising to do his very best.

Everyone applauded. He sat down and Olivia came to the podium. Her speech was concise. She said, "If you will vote for me, I will give you ice cream." She sat down.

The class went wild. "Yes! Yes! We want ice cream." She surely could say more. She did not have to.

A discussion followed. How did she plan to pay for the ice cream? She wasn't sure. Would her parents buy it or would the class pay for it? She didn't know. The class really didn't care. All they were thinking about was ice cream.

Jamie was forgotten.

Olivia won by a landslide.

Every time Barack Obama opened his mouth he offered ice cream and fifty-two percent of the people reacted like nine-year-olds. They want ice cream.
The other forty-eight percent of us know we're going to have to feed the cow and clean up the mess."

I sure hope we know what we got ourselves into.

That's all I have to say. Actually, I could go on, but I hate politics, I don't have the 'smooth-talking' brains to talk politics, so I'll leave it at that.

It's STILL Snowing!

Well, I thought the snow had stopped, but it just paused. It's still snowing!!!

Let it Snow!

The weather outside's delightful! I'll have to post a picture later, but we got a good five inches of snow early this morning...I love it!!!

If I only had a brain

Dummm-di-duh-duh-dum-di-deeee-dummm...

• Ryan has class at the same time I teach a class so we 'hired' a girl in our ward to watch the boys for one hour on Wednesdays.
• So I can take her home, Ryan switches cars (the one with the carseats) on his way to class in Pocatello as I'm teaching.
• After my class tonight I speed home, take the sitter home, and swing by work to pick up my clothes and makeup bag I had forgotten in my rush to pick up the sitter...I had my weight lifting class before and after two classes at a local high school, had to change my clothes at work to make my appointments.
• I park at the front door of the building.
• As I'm getting out of the car, Tanner yells out, "Too Dark! Turn the car back on!"
• I re-start car and flip on the dome light.
• I then exit the car while simultaneously locking the doors, twice, so nobody runs off with my children inside and shut the door, hard.
• Run up a flight of stairs to my office, grab said bag of clothes.
• Return to my car.
• Remember that I LOCKED THE CAR WITH MY CHILDREN INSIDE AND I HAVE NO KEYS BECAUSE THEY'RE IN THE IGNITION!!!!!

Begin humming the tune that Scarcrow sings and skips to on the Wizard of Oz, "If I only had a brain".

• I then think on my toes, with my head on straight, and bribe Tanner with a stack of cookies I had grabbed inside (the yummy Loft House kind with thick sugary frosting and heart sprinkles) to TAKE OFF HIS SEATBELT (usually we're bribing him to leave it on!)
• He complies, but can't get one of fifty harnessess undone, so he's still trapped in his carseat & frustrated his cookie is on the other side of the window.
• Tanner can reach the door handle, but we have the door on child lock for that very reason.
• Tanner can also reach the window roll-down button, but the windows are on a lock for the SAME reason.
• I return to the hall closet in the building and retrieve a wire hanger, dead set on getting into my car.
• Didn't work.
• After having a coworker come look at the situation and not being able to do anything, I resolve to make a phone call.
• I called 911.
• The dispatcher probably thought I was crazy, calm, but crazy, and said she'd send someone over.
• A nice officer showed up, said, "Yup! They're locked in there good. We've called a locksmith. They won't charge you because your kids are in the car."
• I made some funny joke that went something like this, "Well, I guess if you want some attention and a locksmith to unlock your doors for free you'd better make sure your kids are in the car!"
• He didn't find it amussing.
• I was just trying not to loose it.
• Apparently I already had, because a mother must entertain her children and cease the crying by dancing obnoxiously and rapping on the windows.
• There was a Cattlemen's Association Meeting at the building beginning, so 20 or so cowboys and their wives got a free show and entertainment on their way to a mid-evening nap.
• About 45 minutes later, a Locksmith roars into the parking lot in a huge van, jumps out in a suit and says, "excuse me", uses this little wedge thing, and a really long tongue depressor and in less than four seconds has the door open and is walking away.
• I thank him, offer to pay, he just says, "Have a good night, ma'am" (Am I a ma'am?) and roars out of the parking lot.
• Officer ____ (I didn't even think to ask his name.) leaves, and I get home 50 minutes later than anticipated.

Note to self: Never lock your keys in the car, with or without children, when your husband is an hour away with the spare.

Note to self: Next time, call Tiffany, who is the landlord and lives downstairs, to go to your apartment, get another spare key hanging on the calender board, and bring it to you, 6 blocks away from your nice, comfy home.

Note to self: Thinking ahead will spare you an hour of freezing in the cold, dancing for random people, and feeling like you HAVE NO BRAIN!

Um, Yeah.

This is not intended as what Ryan calls child porn, it's merely a mom loving this 'can't miss this' shot...Taylor has lately been fascinated with getting in and out of the tub. For a 13 month old who can barely walk five steps before face-planting it, this is a HUGE feat!!! Sunday morning I needed to kill some time...so the boys got to take another bath. Cheap entertainment, I'll tell ya! And I know my bathroom needs to be cleaned. The thing is, the grout was sealed with the mold in it, and so it disguises when I actually have to scrub the tub down. I know. It's gross. I'm thinking I'll get to it one of these nights...two weeks ago! arrgh!

So, after donating plasma at six this morning, teaching four classes of (33 in each class!) sophomores, doing paperwork, visiting teaching with a friend who couldn't contact her companion, fixing grilled cheese (again) and crashing in the computer chair, it's been a long day. HOWEVER, it's been a good day. I've earned my tired-ness.

While catching up on my 'daily blog addiction' and getting a snack at 10pm for Ryan because that samwich just wasn't enough...I downloaded these diddies.

Check out what Tanner was up to during his hour and a half of free time. Freedom is something I am passionate about, but really, there are boundaries, and you just crossed 'em, son.

And yes, it was a brand new bottle of shampoo...and it is completely caked in his hair...but I'm too tired to care...I just laughed. Tanner played in the tub for almost an hour and a half! I put in hot water two or three times...just so I wouldn't have to keep Taylor and Tanner from pummling each other. Then I put Taylor to bed, at 7:15. He was out like a light. Lets just hope he stays that way until at least 6:30 in the morning.

This is Ryan, doing homework. For all of those interested, he's working on his thesis, and mastering Metroid. That's why they call it a MASTER'S degree. I love you sweetie! :)

I have to give Ryan a lot of credit...he read his entire chapter inbetween combating on Brinstar and educating our three-year-old about vowels and teaching Taylor to RUN for his life. Isn't he just the best?! Really. I'm NOT being sarcastic. {sigh. i'm in love.}

And if you're needing a good laugh, check out this site...Cake Wrecks...if you haven't already. You will laugh your head off, or die trying!!!

{Thank You}

I need to publicly thank all of you for your kind words, thoughts, and prayers at this difficult time. The funeral held for my dear, sweet grandfather was beautiful. We really enjoyed being together as a family, and had many moments of laughter because of wonderful memories.

I have been so blessed to be a part of such a wonderful family. I can't imagine being anywhere else.





His obituary is linked to the picture if you are interested.


So, Thank You, again.

Change at Every Turn (no punn intended)

So, many of you may know, or not know, that I was released as our ward's primary Chorister the week before Christmas. I was slightly relieved, but more sad than anything. I {heart} singing time, and will miss it!!! I will be the first to admit that some days were frustrating, as the children wouldn't sing their best, or were goofing off, but I REALLY enjoyed singing with these fun kids. I was SO looking forward to picking some songs for the program this coming year, as opposed to in years past, when the songs are pretty much already decided. Anyhoo, Congratulations, Elena, you will do great!

As the weeks have passed and Sundays have come and gone and no calling was extended to me, I honestly felt a bit lost. I have liked having a place to go and something to do to feel part of the ward, and the last month or so I felt...well...not sure what to do. Even the week I attended Relief Society I was in the hall with Taylor, so it seemed kindof pointless, although I did get in some great visiting. :)

Are any of you familiar with this? Well, now I'm a part of it!!! It's official. I am completely overwhelmed and completely excited and totally stoked to be a Den Leader for the Bear and Wolf Den...our numbers are small, so we're combined at the moment...we are going to have a riot!!! I've been singing the same three scout songs that I know, dad and Stephanie, HELP!!! Ryan is going nuts. I even went today and got all the patches I need to start off with to put on Ryan's old shirt...we'll have to get him a new one...a boy can grow to a man in 20 years, you know!?! I was able to attend Den meeting last week, along with Roundtable, and we have Pack Meeting this week...I think life will never be the same. I feel like I've stepped into another relm of parenthood.


I know I have some boys that are high energy (who am I kidding. All 6-10 year-old boys are high energy-heck, our one- and three-year-old are high energy at our house, so it shouldn't be too hard), but remember my motto? Yeah. We can do this! And by the time Tanner and Taylor are participating in theprogram, I can hopefully be a good mom and help them with their 'stuff'.

I have a LOT to learn, and it's only slightly like a brick wall, too high to reach over, but that's what life is about, right? Change. Challenges. Learning. Growth. I am excited to grow. So, bring it on!!! No more idle nights at the computer for me...We'll be busy at our house! Oh, and the title...remember those 'do a good turn daily' deeds your brothers got to do? Yup. We'll be working on that, too.


As it turns out I will get to sing in primary, at least next week, 'cause I have been asked to substitute...This is going to be one wild ride! Everybody, hold on! And get your thinking caps on, because I'll be asking for ideas!

{Quiet Reflections}

This morning, just shortly after midnight, my dear grandpa, my father's father, LaMar Vernon Crandall, passed away. Born June 28, 1925, he lived and thrived for eighty-three wonderful years. I am humbled by this great man's testimony of the gospel, his love for his family and grandchildren, and his gentleness.

I have many fond memories of my Grampa Crandall, and they are wonderful memories. He and Grama would come to EVERY birthday celebration we ever had. He would saddle up a horse just for us to ride, even if Dad was busy irrigating or taking care of other tasks. Grampa would take us for rides on his four wheeler in the milk crate strapped to the front, and for rides up at Keetley on the motor bike to change the water. Grampa was always active on the ranches and farm for as long as I knew him. He was a respectible person in the community and a wonderful leader in our Church, serving in numerous presidencies, on counsels, boards and holding many other leadership positions. Grampa was a man of honor, a man of his word, and a servant of the Lord. There is so much more, but it's late, and my head is swimming, literally.

This past Thanksgiving, our family had the sweet privledge of 'having' grampa for dinner. I know we wore him right out, expecially my boys, but we will cherish those few moments we had with him most recently.

This is the only picture I have of Grandpa from Thanksgiving...with my sister Katelyn. He's not frowning at me...just caught him after he took a bite to eat!

My most fond memory of Grandpa includes him taking Keith and I to the 'gold mine' at Keetley because dad was changing the water and mom was nursing Reed at the time. Granma insisted he take us to find some fool's gold so we'd quit flicking 'fish', really moss, from the ditch at each other!

I remember when Grandma passed away, on October 12th of 2003, he was so sad. He looked so lonely and it made me weep, to see his sadness and how much he missed her.

This picture was taken the day we blessed Taylor. He was so thoughtful to come clear to Idaho Falls from Springville. It was very special to have him there. I feel awful that I don't have pictures of him with Tanner...at least one he's not scrambling to get away...

What a blessing it is to have a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and know of the truthfulness of God's Eternal Plan of Happiness. I am positive there was a multitude of people on the other side waiting to greet him! Our Heavenly Father truly is mindful of us and our needs, and I know he has a plan for us to return to live with him. There is no doubt in my mind that He is All Knowing.

Grandpa, I will miss you. Although we lived hundreds of miles apart, I always looked forward to seeing you at mom and dad's or in your home when we came to visit.

My heart is full of gratitude, my thoughts are somber, and my words keep pouring out. I suppose I should get to sleep as it's going to be a long weekend.

Strong Women...yes, plural.

So today I hit a milestone. At least I like to consider it that. Let me back up. When I went into the interview for my job, I was asked a series of questions. Make that PAGES. Yes, pages. I still have all five pages of questions I was asked. Talk about hot seat!!! Anyhoo, the second to last question was pertaining to individuals I could work with. It went like this, "How to do feel about working with people whom are older than you. Would you feel comfortable teaching an 'older' age group?" My answer (textbook, yet honest), "I love working with people of all ages, and feel that I work especially well with the older generations because of my upbringing and relationships with my parents, aunts and uncles, and even grandparents." (good answer, huh!)

Anyways, after my reply, I got a , "That's good. How would you feel about teaching a weight-training class to older women, say in their 60's?". I got all giddy inside just thinking about visiting with 30 women in their 60's. Am I weird? No, I just have good relationships with my parents, their siblings, my grandparents, and their siblings. I know, kindof dorky, but SO MUCH FUN!!! (My dad would say that 'big ears' was around, meaning me, so the grown-ups would mind what they said...I LOVED to visit/listen with those generations. All my cousins wanted to do was play games...who wants to play games???)

Anyways, University of Idaho sent me to Billings, Montana back in October to be trained to teach this course, StrongWomen, Stay Young (and yes, there is no space between those words...it's like their logo...). Just being away from my kids and husband...like REALLY AWAY...not just grocery shopping...was definately a big step. But I learned so many good and informational things!!! I was one of two girls at the training that was under 50, so that was fun, plus lifting weights and giggling and sweating in a tiny conference room with 40 other women was hilarious!!! I learned some good techniques and wonderful pointers on how to teach this program.

Now, about my milestone. The StrongWomen, Stay Young class I teach is two times a week, offered on Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 am and at 5:15pm, for an hour each time. That means I'm 'instructing' these fun ladies (two different classes) two times a week, for 6 weeks. Am I crazy? No, I just get paid for not setting New Year's resolutions and doing them double-time. Is that crazy? Probably, but I have to say, if I ever have to be a working mom after Ryan is done with his masters, I know what I want to do!!!

Every day is different, I get to deal with so many people, on so many levels. Anything from 'what kind of carpet fibers you should look for in new carpet' to 'how to properly clean cloth diapers' to 'how to bottle potato and beef stew in a water bath, which you should never do, BTW, PRESSURE COOKER!!!!', to 'how to budget $1,300 for a family of five for a month.'. That's just the tip of the iceburg...I'm telling you, I LOVE my job!!!

Yeah, I got a degree, yeah, I had a wonderful family to teach me these things, but I'm telling you...and don't let this cat out of the bag...but there are some great professional websites (which I use hourly)...sites with great information (which are bookmarked on my favorites)...and for everything else, there's Google. I know. C-R-A-Z-Y!

Back to my milestone...sorry for the tangent. I did two hours of workout/strength-training/whatever-you-wanna-call-it and it was FUN!!! I got (had) to smile and talk the whole time, cause I was explaning, you know, and it was FUN!!! My cheeks are sore...the ones on my face. :) But I had fun. I haven't had fun 'working out' for a long time.

So, to make this exceptionally long story short, I had fun working out and that is a milestone for me.

Check it out!!!

My friend, Natalie is doing a givaway on her blog, Greengoer...go visit! It'll be up until January 31st, so go see what she's giving away...pretty nifty!

New Year's Adventures

New Year's Eve was rather un-eventful. We kicked it up a notch and actually went to a friend-of-a-friend's house for a party...it was good company and good food, but I had a killer of a headache (probably from lack of sleep and piles of laundry I had to sort after returning home the day before). We left the party about ten, and I was out before 11 o'clock.

On New Year's Day, however, we really turned up the excitement!!! We humm-hawed around, trying to make a decision on whether 'to go or not to go' on a little excursion the 'boys' had planned the day before...we decided to go and it was GREAT!!!

We drove up near Island Park to a place called Bear Gulch. It's a really old ski 'resort' where Ryan's dad learned to ski as a boy. In the summer we go just below the peaks to what is known as Warm River. It's called Warm River because it runs full force even in the freeze of winter...it's FREEZING in the summer!!!

We parked where all the other 'big boys' had parked with their big SUV's and rigs with sleds and trailers full of fun toys. We got our kids bundled, bundled, and re-bundled to keep them warm, then hacked a staircase in the six foot snow embankment to get to our awesome destination...20 feet from the 'parking lot' in the semi-shelter of some trees.

Once at our destination, we set up camp, literally!!! We brought in a Coleman stove with propane, pans, wood for a fire, a card table, tarp, toboggans, blankets, matches, hot dogs, tons of water, and hot chocolate from the cannery (10 times yummier than Stephen's, in our humble opinion!)

{Ryan pulling Tanner & Adelaide towards 'the hill'. }

{Burried in the snow!!! They thought this was great!}

Tevye and Ryan built a fire, started the water to boil and put up our tarp. Sara and I kept the youngest two occupied while keeping them from getting too wet and cold. Our oldest two, just 10 days apart, really enjoyed playing in their 'cave' and sledding on a flat 10 foot snow pack.

{Tevye, Lord of the Flame}

We had a roaring winter fire to cook our hot dogs on, drank hot chocolate till our tummies thought they'd burst, and froze our little fingers off! But the best part of all was having so much fun watching our husbands have so much fun!

{Tanner in his cave}

We went to Bear Gulch to do some sledding, but drove away after only two runs down the hill...or should I say MOUNTAIN. Our hubbys took the oldest and sled cleeeeeeaaaaarrrr down the 'hill' and then hauled the kids back up....two times was plenty!

{Sara keeping these two out of trouble...while I was shooting pictures and making hot chocolate}

After about two hours, the babies were done, and I was worn out from sinking up to my armpits various times. It was time to return home. We got everybody packed up and decided that next time we'd get a sitter for the kids and come back just as adults...we are SO stoked for that!!!

The people you see in the pictures are our friends the Waites. Tevye and Sara have a little girl just 10 days older than Tanner, and another little girl just a few months younger than Taylor. We're working on a Cult. :)


Before we ever pulled from the parking lot, our kids were sound asleep. And if we would have had a taxi driver, Ryan and I would have both been asleep, too!!! We were tuckered out!

There's nothing like ringing in the new year with a great adventure!!!