What a week we've had!!

Hannah had her first swim meet with the Meridian Streamliners last weekend at the YMCA, there were teams from all over the place, even kids competing from Park City, Utah! We love watching our swimmer, Hannah did great!! We were all so proud of her! She competed in the 100 Freestyle and got 2nd place in her heat! She also competed in the 50 breaststroke and got 2nd place in her heat and then she finished with the 50 butterfly with 4th place in her heat...she did so well!! (our little midnight adventure Thursday night didn't slow her down a bit!!) GO HANNAH AND THE MERIDIAN STREAMLINERS!! Her next meet isn't until January, but she will train hard all month long! I can't wait to see her race again! Here are a couple of pictures, I took a ton, but they didn't turn out! I am STILL figuring out this camera! Here she is getting some feedback from Coach Matt after one of her events, she is so intense! WOW!! A whole week with the kids home from school...it flew by! I have to admit, I was a little worried, about fighting, entertaining them and hearing the endless whine, "what can I do?" But the kids were great! We had lots of fun getting ready for Thanksgiving and for our special guests to arrive...GRANDMA AND GRANDPA KIRK came up to spend the holiday with us! It was marvelous! A grand time was had by all! TURKEY DAY Rich cooked a fabulous turkey ON THE GRILL to give me more room in the oven! What a guy! It was an experiment and turned out great! THANKS RICHARD! Gobble! Gobble! Hannah made turkeys for us, look how cute! THANKS Hannah! Here is our beautiful holiday table! Grandma brought us this gorgeous tablecloth, THANKS GRANDMA, I LOVE IT!! We dined on Rich's FAVORITE china, crystal and place settings!! He actually hates it when I break out these dishes, but they still remind me of our wedding and the kids love to use them too, so sorry Rich, this is tradition! Check out our fun table! This is what our menu looked like: Rich's turkey Mashed Potatoes and Gravy (of course) Stuffing Cranberry Salad Green Salad with Cashews, Craisins and Apples (and Lemon Poppy seed Dressing) Yams and Apples Bacon Green Beans with Garlic Butter Fabulous Rolls (that Grandma brought from the big city!) We topped it all off with traditional apple and pumpkin pie! I think my favorite part of the whole day was listening to my children share what they are most thankful for. THEY MELT ME!! It is nice to know they notice all the little things we do all year! I am lucky to have such great kids! We actually had a calm, peaceful meal...JOHN WAS TAKING A NAP!! IT WAS AWESOME! Hannah helped so much with all the baking and cooking. THANKS HANNY-HOO! Grandma entertained the wild ones and was also a great help in the kitchen. THANKS LADIES, I couldn't have done it without you!! Thanksgiving is a lot of work, why do we do this do ourselves? I decided it was a great meal, cooked to celebrate a greater holiday with even greater people! So to sum it up, THANKSGIVING IS THE GREATEST!! I love my family and are so grateful to have them in my life! Friday night we were even lucky enough to have a BSU game to enjoy, their last game of the season, as a matter of fact! They DOMINATED Fresno, it was CRAZY! The final score was 61 to 10...WOW!! We had a fun pizza party and enjoyed the awesome game and INCREDIBLE company! GO BRONCOS!! GO BOISE STATE!! Thanks for sharing Thanksgiving with us Grandma and Grandpa, we love it when you come to visit!! WE LOVE YOU!! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

For just ONE night

For just one night, I was the "fun Mom!" What a rush! I surprised Hannah by getting us tickets to the first showing (which was at MIDNIGHT, on a SCHOOL NIGHT) of TWILIGHT...the movie we have been waiting to see for SO LONG...I couldn't believe it, I jumped on line last night, around 5:00, to get us tickets for Saturday evening and saw that there were still tickets available for the first midnight show... WAHOO!! We had a ball but man do I feel OLD!! We got to the theatre, along with oh, about 1000 other people, just before 10, waited in line (so we wouldn't have to sit on the front row!) and didn't get home and into our beds until 2:30 A.M!! I know it is crazy and probably a little foolish, but I would do it again in a second! What a fun time we had together. I am feeling guilty though...because Hannah had multiple tests today AND has her first swim meet on Saturday. I do have to say she was very prepared for her tests (WAY TO GO HANNAH) and she can go to bed early tonight, so she can be refreshed and ready to go for Saturday! (or so I am trying to convince myself!!) I am feeling that glorious Motherhood guilt because she looked like she wanted to drop dead as she left for school this morning. To tell you the truth, I feel a little woozie and slightly light headed myself, and it is only 10:30AM...I may be in trouble!! I have so much I need to accomplish today. My only real regret is a got a diet coke at the theatre, to help me stay awake (I haven't had a diet coke for over TWO MONTHS) and it was disgusting...how and why did I drink that for so long...YUCK!! I wish I would have just bought water! I also wish I wouldn't have eaten most of the extra large popcorn (with butter) we purchased! I also wish I had enough energy to make it to the gym this morning! Oh well, it will all make for a GRAND memory. When Hannah is old and gray,or when she is 34 and her daughter wants HER to take her to the opening of HER favorite movie, she will remember that for just one night, I was the "FUN MOM!!"

Another visit with John

Sorry, now that I know how to post videos, I can't get enough! John got a haircut the other night and LOVES to go to LeDeen's house for his haircare needs...she is darling to him AND she has 3 cats. It is a perfect match! John loves LeDeen (and her cats) and talks about her all the time. She cuts all of our hair and recently started cutting hair from her home. SO...SHE IS A SAINT!! SHE PUTS UP WITH ALL SIX OF US IN HER BEAUTIFUL HOME!! She is AWESOME!! Here is John trying to tell me about her cats and that they say meooooooow! ENJOY! Oh f.y.i. My Fabulous Father-in-law, calls John "JUANO," that is why John refers to himself as Juano! It cracks me up! He might just think that is his name!

If only a Mother could stop time! (and stop an injury from happening!!)

Kirk officially has a new football buddy! John wants to play pass 24 hours a day...it is cute but dangerous and difficult for me to witness. John is tough and doesn't cry when he gets pelted in the head with the ball...too funny!

Need something to smile about?

In addition to car seat materials, John's favorite snacks these days are board books, pencil erasers and crayola crayons...YUM! I wonder if there is some nutrient his body is lacking...or is he just a weird kid? One never knows...or maybe a Mother just doesn't want to admit the truth!! Ruby finally admitted to me this afternoon that she has a "crush" on someone at school. (a few weeks ago, she told me that she just had a crush "on his name!") I asked her what it meant to have a crush on someone. She responded, "uh are serious Mom, you don't know what a crush is?" Trying not to laugh, I said, "Well I think I know what it means, but I am not sure." She said, "Uh Mom, crush means L-O-V-E! (spelling it out with her fingers), I am in love okay?" She thinks I am an idiot, but how else can I find out what is going on in her sweet little mind!? Oh to be six again!! ha ha

Listening to John...he melts me!

What a sweet voice this little man has! He is so funny! I wanted to get his little voice on film. I wasn't sure how he would react, it was great though, even got a song out of him!! Now that I watch this video, I see that he was trying to tell me that Grammy and Grandpa are in Hawaii, not "away!" Rich taught him to say that while they were in Hawaii...hasn't been able to convice him that they are home!! TOO FUNNY!!

A reason to celebrate!

In the middle of another CRAZY day at our house, we found time to celebrate our anniversary as a family. Hannah raced in from swim team practice, on cloud nine...shredded a personal best at practice by 5 SECONDS!! I am so proud of her. She pushed herself hard, she is my hero! Anyway, she raced in from practice, jumped in the shower and we had time for a turbo celebration dinner before she headed off to Young Womens. Life at our house is never dull! What a blessing. I asked the kids to raise their glasses (to toast to our family and Mom and Dad's anniversary) Look what Kirk did, always the jokester!! I LOVE IT!! THREE CHEERS FOR OUR FAMILY!! John was a little grossed out by the sparkling cider we were toasting with, so he opted to toast w/ a sippy of milk, he takes after his Grandpa Kirk! (he did however enjoy dipping his broccoli and dinosaur chicken in his cider-YUM!) We, or I should say, they, dined on Crispy Apricot Pork Chops, broccoli, brown-sugar glazed carrots, Spinach Salad w/ bacon and for dessert, OATMEAL CAKE!! YUM! It was a celebration to remember! Check out these beautiful roses Rich brought me Tuesday night! THANKS RICH!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

WARNING:This post contains mushy material, if sensitive to such matter, skip this post or grab a barf bag! Happy Anniversary to my best friend and most favorite person in all the world!! I truly feel so blessed to have you in my life! I feel like I am the luckiest girl out there!! THANK YOU SO MUCH for all you do for me and our family! FOURTEEN YEARS!! How have you put up with me all these years? YOU ARE AMAZING!! HERE IS TO MANY MANY MORE HAPPY YEARS TOGETHER RICH!! I LOVE AND ADORE YOU!! Heather

Sunday Mornings

Sunday Mornings are lovely (and quite lively)at our house! My dear husband has spoiled me rotten over the years by cooking me and the kids breakfast EVERY Sunday! He goes all out and makes me feel like a queen! Sundays are also special because it is the one day that I don't have to share my family with anyone, they are mine all day, I LOVE SUNDAYS!! While Rich was busy in the kitchen (and wouldn't let me help him...OH DARN) I decided to keep John and Ruby busy (and out of his way) so I grabbed the camera...THEY LOVE TO HAVE THEIR PICTURE TAKEN!! We had all sorts of fun. Of course we couldn't appreciate the GLORIOUS if we didn't have the HIDEOUS!! ha ha

THE MORNING AFTER

Do you remember doing this as a kid? I do! It was awesome, we would spread out all our loot and make trades with siblings and friends. That was it, after that first morning after, my candy was GONE!! My brothers would steal it! To this day, I am still trying to plot my revenge! Toothless Franny here had a ball organizing all her goods,(she gets that from you GRAMMY!) that is until John joined her at the table...he ruined her beautiful display! The funny thing was, he really didn't care about the candy he got,he would unwrap it, lick it and throw it away, but he LOVED this witch finger puppet that someone gave him!

Does this look like lunch? I am confused!

Would you believe me if I told you that John is EATING his car seat? (YES!! I SAID EATING!!) I know it sounds crazy? But it is true! He lifts up the cover, while I am driving (and can't reach back to stop him) and picks little pieces of Styrofoam and foam off of the padding and Styrofoam inserts and EATS IT! I keep wondering if maybe they have added Styrofoam padding to the food pyramid and I just don't know about it yet...I also wonder what Britax would think if they knew of my strange child. Now I know that Britax is known for being one of the safest car seats out there...but do they know they are also the tastiest? I got on their website to check things out, see if other Mom's have reported this tasty discovery...and I found this statement: "This warranty does not include damages which arise from negligence, misuse or use not in accordance with the product instruction." Do you think John just voided our warranty? ha ha ha Hey, ONE MORE THING...do you think I could count his car seat as food storage or maybe as food for HIS personal 72 hour kit? You know me, I am just trying to see the positive in a negative situation, it is what I do! Just in case you didn't believe me, I took pictures to prove it! It looks like it has been snowing INSIDE my van!! I won't show you that picture though because you might vomit! Let me just say...I need to vacuum out the ole van! Goldfish or pretzels anyone? Under the seat cover, it should look like this: BUT ON THE RIGHT SIDE, IT LOOKS LIKE THIS!!: Oh yeah, while I was taking these lovely pictures, I realized I forgot to tell you about the harness that he nibbles on as well! It looks like mice have attacked his car seat and if I hadn't seen him in action, I would be calling an exterminator! He is weird isn't he? Should I be alarmed? Should I call someone?

Halloween Hangover

I am sick...NO MORE CANDY FOR MOM!! To justify my all day binge, I started the day at the gym, worked HARD and ended the day on the couch with chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate...actually ate it all day long! I truly AM SICK!!! I think I have cured myself, I will never crave candy again! UGH! We had a grand Halloween though!! The kids were bouncing off the wall and ready to go by 6:00p.m. They looked adorable (THANKS GRAMMY AND GRANDPA!!) What fun it is to beg total strangers for candy and parade around the neighborhood in strange attire! Halloween was a favorite growing up for me and I know my kids adore it as well! Every year, Rich and a couple of "neighbor Dads" take all the kids trick or treating and the Moms stay home and pass out sugar to the masses...it is a great tradition! Fun for all!! This year their group started out small, but grew throughout the evening! Here they are just before heading out! We had a blast craving pumpkins on the 30th! Kirk HAD to carve a Volcom stone (surprise,surprise!) and did an alien pumpkin at scouts, Hannah, of course, carved, "I LOVE PHELPS!" Ruby wanted a kitty, John a dog and Daddy, carved FRANKENSTEIN (imagine evil laugh) Check out our awesome pumpkins!!