My Fall Mosaic

I love tags because it always gives me something new and more creative to write about. This one is especially creative, and I am excited to be able to try this out. So, anybody who wants to do this, also, please do! It'll be great to see what you create!

So here is what you do:
Create a mosaic based on the following questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite autumn food?
3. What was your favorite movie?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your favorite celebrity?
6. Favorite autumn drink?
7. Dream Vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. Your favorite Flower?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Favorite Fall activity.


The instructions to create the mosaic are:
Type your answers to each of the questions into
Flickr Search
Using only the first page, pick an image
Copy and paste each of the URLs into the
mosaic maker

Officially Annoying

My children have made me annoying. I don't mean in just one way or even two, but I am now annoying on so many levels!

The worst one is how repetitive I have become. I don't think I can say anything just once anymore. It now sounds more like, "Don't hit your sister. Don't hit your sister. Don't hit your sister!!!!!"

I've also gotten a stutter, it seems: "Don't, Sto-, wait, sto-, leave, don't touch, . . . stop!"

Plus, I think my brain cells are fried enough I can't even get the names right. I always saw my mom do it and I said I would never call my children by the wrong names -- and now she laughs. I even mix in names of my siblings every now and then: "Annicka, Elli, Violatte, I mean . . . Annalee!"

Then, who can forget the phrases that I can say in my sleep because I use them so incredibly often:
"Chew with your mouth closed."
"Be nice to your sister."
"No, it is not snack time yet."
"Say please."
"Be happy with the plate you have."
"Don't whine."
"Stop playing and get back in bed."
"Do you need a timeout?"
"Mommy needs a timeout!!!"

So, as bad as it is to be annoying, I've come to the conclusion that it is one of the requirements to being a mom -- and definitely one of the requirements that I have perfected!

High School Tag!

High School Tag!

1. Did you date someone from your school? Umm..yeah, but we all have regrets
2. What kind of car did you drive? '87 Chevy Celebrity -- It was a beast! I loved that car!
3. Were you a party animal? Not at all!
4. Were you considered a flirt? That's debatable.
5. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Band, choir, show choir, and played with the Symphonic Orchestra
6. What was your most embarrassing moment of high school? losing a real gun tucked into my top during a play I was in.
7. Were you a nerd? You could say that.
8. Were you on any varsity teams? I wish
9. Did you get suspended/expelled? nope
10. Can you still sing the fight song? lol, I don't think I was ever able to in the first place
11. Who were your favorite teachers? some of my Seminary teachers were incredible, Mr. Bowen was great at teaching Spanish, and my AP English teacher was also really good. I can't remember names, though.
12. What was your school's full name? Madison High School
13. School mascot? oops, I put the wrong one down originally, we were actually the bobcats (thanks Cynthia for correcting that.) :)
14. Did you go to homecoming, and with who? yes. the sad thing is I had to look these up. Junior - Bill Eskridge, Senior - I don't remember if I went or not.
15. If you could go back and do it again, would you? Only if I could go back with the things I learned and do it differently. If it was the same way -- you could never ever pay me enough to go back and go through that again.
16. What do you remember most about graduation? that I spent a lot of the time praying I wouldn't trip when I went up the stairs to get my diploma. I didn't, so I was good.
17. Where did you go senior skip day? :D I skipped Senior Skip Day. I think they went to Lagoon, though.
18. Were you in a club? yup. National Honors Society as well as speech, debate,
19. Have you gained some weight since then? Sadly, yes. Not much, but some. As soon as this baby is born I am going to get back down to high school size.
20. Who was your prom date? Junior Year- Braedyn Mockli
21. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? good question
22. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself? Who cares what everybody thinks!! As long as you're happy and having fun that's good enough! Oh, and don't worry about not having a boyfriend. You're cooler without one. :D (Aimee, it was too well said, that I just have to say ditto!!!!)
I tag: Cynthia, Lynette, Chelsi, and Tasheena

To Grandpa and Grandma Howard

Ok, this video didn't turn out too well and the camera memory ran out before we were able to finish, but I wanted to show how cute they are and how much they can't wait to see their Grandparents! It's hard to hear what they are saying, but I'm interpreting, so it helps. :)

Our Boat

This week we were given a boat. It had been left in a storage unit and the guy who was paid to tow it out didn't want it so he advertised it and we were able to get it. It came with the trailer and everything. It does have some damage to it, but Jim is going to fix that. The guy who gave it to us said that he was told a small tornado picked up the boat and made it fly. The damage isn't that bad, though, and should cost very little to fix it. It is a fairly nice sail boat and came with a lot of equipment and things that we were surprised to see.

We are all really excited to try it out once it gets fixed up, but I think Jim and Violatte are the most excited. It's all Violatte has been able to talk about! Jim is so excited, too. I am thrilled to boat because I love boating so very much! I love being out on the water and the relaxing motion of the boat and everything about it. It will be wonderful having something new and fun to do together as a family.

Baby Update

Yesterday I went in the for the thorough ultrasound to check everything with the baby. I am happy to say that the baby is healthy in every way and looking very good. The lady doing the ultrasound checked everything -- the heart, the brain, the organs, the limbs -- and everything looked perfect. It was also very obvious that it was a boy. So, now we have no doubts that we are going to have a son, and he looks wonderfully healthy and strong. I can feel him wiggling all over the place and I can tell he is getting stronger and bigger each day.

The due date was also moved up a few days. The new date is February 14th - Valentine's Day. Violatte was so fascinated by watching the baby on the screen that the nurse asked Violatte what she would like pictures of. Violatte asked for pictures of the baby's feet, so the nurse printed off a couple for her. She is so proud and has even hung them on the fridge. The girls are so excited for the baby to come, just like Jim and I. It will be wonderful to have this new addition to our family.

Everything Fall

It really has felt like fall these last few days. It has gotten so cold suddenly that our house is about 65 degrees in the morning when we wake up. Jim got our swamp cooler winterized today so we can use our heater. It's amazing how it has been only a few days since we had to have the cooler on. I really miss seeing a lot of reds and yellows and oranges on the trees, but, thankfully, we have some bushes outside of our front window that have leaves that are turning red some. It makes it feel very fall now.

Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year. I love everything about it. I love the colors, the cool air, getting to wear sweaters, drinking hot chocolate, the fall food, perserving things from the garden . . . everything! The only problem is that with how cold it has been, everybody has gotten a nasty cold and cough and we just can't seem to get over it. The girls have been esepcially miserable. Hopefully we are coming to the end of it. I know Violatte misses going to preschool and we are all so ready to get back to normal.

This past weekend was a great weekend for all of us. We did some fun fall things. We got a pumpkin and Jim and girls cleaned it all out. We cut it all up and put most of the pumpkin in the freezer. Then, Violatte and I made some pumpkin pie. It turned out delicious! We also made a fire in our fireplace and roasted marshmallows. Annalee didn't like the marshmallows, but Violatte loved them! Mostly, though, we've just relaxed and spent a lot of time together. I wish it could be like this all of the time. It was especially nice today because Jim had work off because of the holiday. It's always nice having everybody home and relaxed and enjoying being together.

I have also gotten really crafty lately. The girls and I spent a lot of time this past weekend working on scrapbook pages. Violatte especially loves to help me with that and is always so proud of the finished product. (I have to admit that I feel proud, too -- it's a big accomplishment for me to be creative!)The other thing that I am absolutely proud of is that I sewed this nightgown for Violatte. Now, I have to admit that sewing is something that I'm not only terrible at -- I don't like to do it. It is so discouraging for me and I can never get it to look good. I had decided to sew the girls some nightgowns for Christmas and decided to get started on them. Halfway through making this one I realized that it looked really really bad and I decided to give it to her now and try to do a better one for Christmas. So, if you notice, it is big because I thought it would be a few months until she would be wearing it. She loves it, though. It sure made me feel good how happy she was to wear it.She loved the big sleeves a lot. She said that she is a "mortician" (she means a magician) and she kept going around casting spells on Jim and Annalee. I think we have found a Halloween costume! Now, all I need to do is make her a sorcerer's hat. I can't wait to see the faces of people when she tells them she is a mortician. I don't think I'll even correct her. It's too cute!