Success

My sister Lauren had her annual Halloween party last weekend and it was so much fun! The theme this year was decades, so I dressed like a hippie. Funny thing, my entire costume came from my closet. Not a stitch was bought or borrowed-what does that say about me? Gary left to go hunting early that morning so he did not come with me. In fact, Kimberly, Victoria and I were all singles that night. The food was good, Lauren and Tyler's costumes were awesome and it was a lot of fun. We went on the treasure hunt around American Fork, Highland, Manilla, Cedar Hills and Alpine. Our team finally won!!! It was so great cause the last couple times we came in second. Lauren and Tyler did a great job!
I did have my pumpkin party this year but it was a very small party and I really didn't want to do it. My husband convinced me to do it. It was a bit stressful trying to get everything ready in time. At one point, Evan flooded the upstairs bathroom and Ryan was an unfortunate victim of the process. He took a nap after that-it was for his own good, and mine! Pumpkin party went well. Lauren and Tyler and Lessley came a bit early and saved me by helping with the final decorating and cooking that needed to take place. All in all, it was a success and I am glad it's done! Today I am letting my house go to pot so that I can somewhat relax and unwind from the festivities. The rest of the week is crazy with Kaleb's birthday party tomorrow, murder mystery party on Friday night as well as birthday parties Friday, Trick or treating and trunk or treating party on Saturday as well as date #6 for our anniversary. This weekend we are taking the kids out on our date to celebrate our family. I am starting to think that a date at a spa would be a nice alternative-couples massage?! That is our life right now-oh including random flu victims. So far I have been able to escape but I am not holding my breath!

But it is funny!

So I went to California a couple weekends ago for my Aunt Julie's wedding. Understand, she is my Dad's little sister, in her fifties, and this is her first marriage. She married a guy named Norihiko Nakajima. It was awesome! My mom was the wedding coordinator and she did such a great job! It was beautiful. I got to help out with some of the decorating but not a ton. Anyway, I had a great time being with family. The Sadleir clan tore up the dance floor. Even Jen was out there as soon as the music started, 8 months pregnant and all! I also got to see Leah and her cute new baby Mia. Life was good. Regular drama, that always comes up when we get together, eventually showed up. I was smart enough to steer clear of it for the most part. Ryan was with me and he was pretty awesome the whole time. Such a good baby! He is happy every time he wakes up unless he was woken up rudely-like when the kids are screaming or they try to pick him up. On to the funny part! We went to visit my brother, Michael, in LA in a rehab home. We went to church, ate lunch, had pictures taken, and spent some good time together. On the way home I got a call from Gary. I asked how it was going and he told me it wasn't going so good. He proceeded to tell me how the kids were being horrible and loud during church-sacrament meeting-fighting over silly bands. He told me how he had to finally put them all in their rooms when he got home and how Evan and Tanner were sent to bed for naps. There was more to the story than I am telling, but to get a better idea without details, it was a typical day in the Christensen home. Everything he told me they were doing is stuff they do everyday. The only differences were that I had the baby and he was the one having to deal with the rest of it. So I tell him that this is good for him and good for the kids and good for me. Before I had left town, I was having major melt downs-crying and all- because I was so stressed out. So I could understand his frustrations and I began to laugh while talking to him on the phone. He didn't like that too much and responded,"It's not funny, Lisa!" So I apologized and told him my phone was about to die and I would call him later. It really was almost dead, but I needed to get off the phone because I was about to burst with laughter. He didn't realise just how funny it was. In fact, every time I thought about this conversation after, I would start laughing again. It was funny, it was hilarious! He told me I need to be the stay at home parent-it's not a job he can handle. Hopefully he will remember that when he comes home on days that the house is torn apart and there is no dinner on the table-like today!

I love this time of year!

The weather is definitely cooling down. I walked outside today to get the newspaper and ran back into the warmth. It wasn't nearly as cold as last night, though. We had family night on "Love" and retold the story of President Hinckley and how as a child he and his brothers enjoyed star gazing. He talked about how the North Star is constant and unchanging just like our Heavenly Fathers love for us. So I took the kids out to the North side of the porch and pointed out the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper and the North Star. We quickly ran back inside to warm our toes back up. The leaves turned a long time ago but you can still see the colors in the hill behind my house. It is beautiful and I love living in Utah during this season. I love Hot Cocoa and Hot cider, Autumn leaves, Autumn colors in general, Halloween, CANDY-of the chocolate variety, Soup and fresh baked bread, and long baths-which I know are horrible in this dry area! This is my favorite season. Every season has its pros and cons but I absolutely love this season and can think of few cons. One thing coming up in this season is my annual pumpkin party. It has been going for six years now and a little move will not interrupt its place in history! I am super slacking though because I haven't even begun to plan it! That ends today, I am planning it today and I will begin making invites today as well. Although I am going to be lazy and do e-vites probably!
Funny things this past weekend. SO as I said on Friday, I was a widow this past weekend while Gary was hunting. I had my friend Jen W and her kids over Saturday and Ashly dropped her kids off so she could go on a date with her hubby. Everything went pretty well. The kids had fun eating pigs in a blanket and homemade pizza-they got the one that didn't burn. We passed around soda and licorice and mike n ikes' and the kids had their sugar fill. The only issue we had that night was when Evan and little Lilly bean found my bag of nail polish and decided to paint my newly painted/glazed desk that I refinished last month. The good news, they painted on the underside sides of the desk so it is not so obvious. I really wasn't too upset, it can be repainted and it wasn't too bad. At least it is not on my carpet or on the front of the desk. It's fixable! Well, yesterday a neighbor kid, Nathan, came over to play with Tanner and they found a bottle of spray paint-I think it was my neighbors and it fell out of their trash last Thursday. Anyway, they found it and decided to repaint Evans tires on his trike and paint some rocks on the driveway as well as their hands. Once again, not too worried. I guess you get that way after so many "accidents" and "art projects gone very wrong" because you think, "It could have been worse!"
Tanner and Evan are watching TV right now and they have been drinking red Gatorade left over from Dad's hunt. They look like they went crazy with the red lipstick. It's pretty cute. Evan has been having a lot of fun with potty training lately. He is always taking off his diaper and leaving it in random places. My favorite is when he poops in the diaper and then decides to finish in the toilet. Of course he doesn't tell me and I get to find fun surprises all over the seat, bowl, floor and on him as well as his clothes. In fact, I did a load of laundry the other day and as I was switching it from the washer to the dryer I found little poop balls that had been washed with the clothes. I got to shake out every item, collect all the poop and rewash that whole load. It was awesome! Today I got to clean off two toilets that had poop dried on them. That was so much fun!
So Kaleb is such a sweetheart and very sensitive. Last night I had had it with the kids. They ignored me repeatedly when told to come inside and didn't listen until losing FHE treats was threatened. When they did come in, (BTW Karly never did until I had to get her and then she was grounded because she came half way and then tried to sneak back) they began fighting over where they were sitting at the table and which bowl or plate they got. This is a common fight at our home at meal time. Evan was put in time out three times and received a swat on the bum after he threw his bowl across the room and then refused to pick it up. Karly was sent to her room because she took Kaleb's seat and then his plate after I told her to stop fighting with him. So I turned into "mean mommy" and began to speak to them with a raised -not yelling-voice and no nonsense tone. Tanner was told to eat and not complain at all or he was going straight to bed. This was spread to the rest of them as well. Back to Kaleb. It was his turn to say the prayer this morning and he had overheard mine and Gary's conversation about him having another meeting for the HOA tonight and my disappointment in him being gone again. So as he prayed he asked Heavenly Father to help him finish work early and quickly so that he could spend time with them. I opened my eyes and Gary and I spied a look at each other and smiled. He then followed this up by asking, "And please help mom to not be angry today." This made Gary and I both start laughing. After the "Amen" Gary said, "see, he wants to spend time with me and wants you to be nice." I of course responded by telling him that it's because I am always here. So I am going to practice being nice today!
I am finishing this post with a funny story about Tanner. On Saturday I was folding the mountain of laundry in my bedroom and called him in to take some towels downstairs. He ran in and then ran behind me. I said,"Tanner, come over here." To which he responded by roooaaarrring right behind me in my ear. I didn't know he was that close so it totally made me jump and scared me. He thought it was hilarious! I reached back and smacked him on the butt for screaming in my ear, but I was laughing too. He got me good. He couldn't stop giggling and ran out of my room to tell Kaleb about his success. He is so funny! Did you know he has an extra front tooth? Next time you see him, take a gander-it makes him even more precious!
Ryan is crawling up the stairs as of last week! SLOW DOWN BABY!! Let me enjoy you a bit more. I love how he clings to you like a monkey when you pick him up. He is such a happy baby. He always wakes up early in the morning and starts saying "a da da dad!" It is so precious! That is all for now!-BTW I did haul my computer upstairs, I just haven't hooked it up! Soon, I promise. Baby steps, right?!

Hunter's Weekend Widow!

It's that time of year again. The leaves start to change, the temperature dips down a bit, and I turn around and my husband is nowhere to be seen. Okay, I knew where he went, but the way he gets ready and leaves is so stealthy it's as if he were a ghost! So this week started with him going to work on Monday morning, working all day, and then going to school. He came home that night after FHE but with ice cream cones-so of course the kids waited up and had their dessert and didn't get to bed until almost 10pm. So we got the kids to bed and then got into bed and went to sleep-yes, we went to sleep and did nothing else. Tuesday he went to work and I had the day from you know where with my children. Evan screamed and yelled at me all day. He kicked, pinched and scratched me as well as threw things in my direction. By the time Gary got home, I needed a break. Evan had received at least 3 swats on the bum, had numerous time outs, never took a nap, had hot sauce twice and I even pulled the towel in the door trick to keep him in time out long enough so I could get Ryan to sleep. (Sometimes I wonder if I should really divulge all of this info online-could I get into trouble for this stuff?) Karly decided to leave school without waiting for Kaleb which made him really upset and set the school in a frenzy looking for her. She was found walking home with her neighbor friends. I do have to add that Kaleb was so upset he started to cry because he was worried about her. Of course Karly didn't care too much. After they got home they ignored me and refused to do their chores. Later they started fighting which resulted inboth of the getting hot sauce. Karly would later get more hot sauce because she was talking rudely to Tanner. Crazy day, needed chocolate and a break! Anyway, that night Gary needed to go to Provo so we went with him, but once again the time was brief with him. Wednesday morning he gets up and goes to work and then to school once again except that he did come home for a couple hours-long enough for me to run to walmart and shop. After school he met me at Lessley and Ryans where we dropped off the two older kids and then went on our "date" for week three. We were supposed to go to Provo and run around to different places around BYU to represent 2003 when I graduated and we moved a couple times during the year. Due to the fact that it was 8:15 pm when we left Lessleys, I decided to keep it local. So we went to Thai Village in AF and it was really good! The Pad Thai wasn't nearly as good as Thai Ruby's, but the mango and rice dessert was amazing! We took our take out and drove over to the Fresh Markets parking lot and ate it there since we had three sleeping boys in the middle seat. Then we picked up the kids and went home. I fell asleep nursing Ryan back to sleep and Thursday morning started as all of the others. When Gary got home around 6pm, he had bought a new scope and need to sight it in so he headed up into the hills west of our home to do some shooting. After that he went straight to an HOA meeting and called me on the way to let me know. He got home just after 9pm and then began packing up in the garage and outside. When I finally went to bed-after falling asleep on the couch first-he had just finished packing. He got up this morning at around 3pm and went outside to finish up his packing and preparations. In the process, he woke up Evan, who would not go back to sleep in his bed so he slept with me. I was sandwiched between Ryan and Evan until 4:30 when Evan finally woke up Ryan. So I got to get up! Gary left at 5 when Reid got here and then I got to stay up with the kids. SO like I said, Gary has been a ghost in my life this week and now he is gone. We are planning a movie night with a neighbor and her kids since her husband is gone for work. We are eating all kinds of Junk food and just having fun. I am sure it will be a mess after all said and done but I know it will be fun. While Gary is gone, I am hoping to get some majorly needed deep cleaning done! Unfortunately, soccer is tomorrow and it is there last game, so we have to go, but I am still planning on accomplishing as much as I can!! I am planning on at least getting the corn stalks leaning against my front porch tied up and put on my porch for decorations instead of acting as a white trash dump station sitting next to all the sprinkler parts and boxes. Anyway, that is my current activity and my brain can no longer function logically due to the time so I will sign off now!

Pictures coming soon!

I am determined to hook up my personal computer and printer some time this week so I should have pictures to post very soon! On a side note, my lovely and only daughter and I were having a conversation the other day while I was baking. She has a friend named Savannah and her mom's name is Jen. Well, Jen and I have become friends recently and we have had each other over a few times. The husbands get a long great and we like hanging out. So, I think they are a great family. Anyway, Karly tells me,"mom, Savannah's mom is really special. You know why she is so special?(No, why? I reply)Because she doesn't make her kids do any chores. She cleans the whole house by herself and they never have to clean up!" Of course I then used this as a teaching opportunity to explain to her that it is important to have chores so that you can learn to work. How are you going to know how to clean once you grow up and move out? Of course she responded that she would just get a maid to do the cleaning. To which I replied, that would only work if she had the money for it and not to count on it.

What were you thinking?

I had started writing this post yesterday after conference and wasn't able to finish because Gary needed my help in the kitchen. Of course, he shut down the computer last night and never told me, so he deleted all my hard work! Anyway, what is done is done and we must move on. There is an awesome thunder storm rolling over my house right now. I love this kind of weather. It makes me want to make soup, read a book and drink hot chocolate-oh and make all my kids do the same or put them to bed. That can't happen today cause I have extra chitlins! I will be making the chicken noodle soup though! So yesterday I was in a baking mood and made banana bread during breakfast time and then made pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting during lunch. Gary took the older three boys to see his sister so I decided to clean up while they were gone. I then realised that I should bake some french bread to go with our spaghetti that night, so I got to work. When I finished kneading it-with Karly's help-I placed it back in the bowl and covered it with saran wrap. I set the timer for 15 minutes and then sat down to watch conference and feed Ryan. When the timer went off I wasn't done so I asked Karly to punch down the bread. I told her where it was-which she ignored and asked me a second time where it was-and told her to make sure to cover it again when she was done. When she came back into the front room to sit down, I asked her what time it was. She asked why and I explained that I needed to know so that I could punch down the bread again in 15 minutes. She went into the kitchen to look at the clock and then asked, "Mom, is the bread in this bowl?" I replied that it was and then proceeded to ask her what bread she thought I was talking about. I got up and came into the kitchen and found that all my banana bread had been punched. I guess I should have said "dough" instead of "bread"-but come on, she's 7! Why would I ask her to do such a thing? Amelia Bedelia anyone? So I told her it was my fault and that in the future, if I ever asked her to do something that she thought was odd, to please double check before proceeding. I am happy to report that the banana bread was just as delicious, it had that extra "punch" to it that really made it good!