Daniel and Shannon Smith Family

Facebook or Google+?

2012-01-09T10:39:00.000-05:00

Neither. Why, you may not ask for I will tell you. Facebook keeps changing and each update I get more disgruntled. Now, they are both wonderful places to keep in touch with people, share anecdotal stories or just post funny stuff our children do. Here I'm going to try go deeper with stuff that really needs to get fleshed out and expanded. Will people notice again, maybe, but I really don't care at this point. I control how my blog looks. Facebook and Google can take their millions from ad revenues and, well, grumble, grumble, not give it to me. Of course, I wouldn't mind if they gave some to me but pigs will sooner fly than that will happen.

Big thanks to Alisha (or her husband), one of Shannons friends on Facebook who helped me get a virus scanner that killed a Trojan. http://www.simplysup.com/. I also put on a new firewall from http://www.online-armor.com/.

I hope everyone has a good start to 2012 and I hope it's a better one for the Smith-Bass clans as well. Ben was a welcome addition that helped to balance things out. Losing a mother/mother-in-law/grandmother is never good but Ben is wonderful.

Daniel

A Philosophy question

2010-09-13T13:54:00.001-04:00

Is being normal OK?

Yes.

Is being different OK?

Yes.

OK, that's two questions, make the topic....Philosophy post #1

Funny thing...

2010-08-29T20:06:00.002-04:00

So, today while my children took a nap, Daniel and I had a chocolate fix. Daniel got an Oreo truffle out of the Freezer, and I pulled out some Chocolate Ice cream to get a little bit. I realized that I can't look at one of the Pet rectangular boxes of ice cream without thinking of Daniel's grandad, Pop. Before Daniel left on his mission, we would go over and visit a good bit. Many times we would park at Grandmother and Pop's house and walk to the USC football games. It was fun to spend time with them and get to know them better. One day, we got there after the game, and Pop says "Would you like some cake and ice cream?" I said "That would be great. Not too much, though." So pop gets us plates, and slices a HUGE piece of cake for each one. Then, he gets out a fresh carton of ice cream, a carving knife, and "Thunk", cuts off these huge inch to an inch and a half slices, one for each one. Ever since, whenever I am scooping out ice cream, I can picture that in my head. :-) Thank you, Pop, for such a fun memory!

Thanksgiving

2010-08-24T21:00:00.002-04:00

Thanksgiving. One of those national holidays we celebrate where the original pilgrims survived by the grace of God and Native Americans. Our ancestors repaid that kindness with 250 years of taking land. Manifest Destiny only furthered our insatiable appetite for land and...dang, already on a tangent after the first word!

Thanksgiving. Turkey. Food. Friends (more on topic). Sunday, August 22nd, we had some wonderful friends over for Turkey. We bought some turkeys after Thanksgiving for dirt cheap and stuck them in the bottom of the freezer for our eventual "Thanksgiving in July" we started. I dunno why we didn't do it last year...never mind I do, doesn't matter. July turned out to be pretty hectic with Shannon's miscarriage, our anniversary and our vacation/anniversary/Shannon's business trip to Chicago to plan for. We pushed it back to August and had 4 other families come, all with children, ranging from 10 years to 5-6 mos. I took out the extras from the halfway frozen turkey and placed it in our roaster before going to church.

When we walked in the door, faint smells of turkey wafted through the air. Shannon made mashed taters and stuffing while I cleaned the rest of the living room and moved chairs to allow for better seating. Sweet potato soufflé, green bean casserole, rolls, pumpkin and chocolate pie and banana pie all made their appearance. I started carving the Turkey as people got here and finished up everything for a Wonderful meal.

Why share this experience? I think Thanksgiving never be put off until November of each year every year. We have things to be grateful of throughout the year and should be celebrated. Does that mean we should eat Turkey 6 times a year instead of 1? Sure!!! Who doesn't want sweet potato soufflé and turkey more often? More importantly, we need to be able to show our thanks and more importantly, be grateful no matter what. Friends to be around is a wonderful blessing.

Finishing up my college studies is something I still am thankful for. Some teachers may get a bad rap because of how hard they grade but I understand that they try to push you to do better. My teacher in my class for the 20 page history paper in my last semester was one of those. She pushed us for perfection and unfortunately, I only learned that in the last 3-4 weeks. But she also recognized the hard work I put into it. I know there was no way I was able to get a "B" in the class but a "B" I received. My diploma came last week and EVERYONE around me for the last couple of years was grateful FOR me for getting it.

I look forward to November for more wonderful food and the chance to express more thanks for the marvelous wonders in my life. Oh, please pass the dark meat and the gravy. :-)

Confessions...

2010-07-31T23:56:00.005-04:00

Okay, so I have a small confession. I'm not always the most obedient patient. I try, but I'm not exactly a "sit by and do nothing" type of person. It's just not me. (For example: What? I need to take it easy? Okay - I'll just take the kids to the zoo. No problem. Don't worry, it's only 95 degrees outside... we'll be fine! Lots of fluids? I'll just bring water bottles!) A friend mentioned that when the doctor gives me an inch, I'm a person who takes a mile when it comes to over doing. That being said, it's been a rough year for our family personally. With 3 miscarriages since the beginning of December (4 overall. I had one between Jed and Alyson), the most recent one being just a few weeks ago, it's been kind of hard on me in several ways. This is the first time I've had to have a D & C with one, though. The doctor was very... precise with his directions (And, knowing me, made sure to make Daniel aware of the directions). Take it easy, no heavy lifting, rest, and all that such for 2 weeks. No swimming, no baths, nothing very tiring. (And I'm sure that you realize this means other activities in that area.) I found it funny that the nurse said "Don't be brave, take the medicine." So, Daniel was adamant that I take the advice seriously. He pretty much wanted me home, feet up. I didn't lift heavy things, I didn't swim (despite the fact that it is summer in SC), I tried very hard to do what I was told, without sitting around twiddling my thumbs. I will admit, I had to keep busy somehow. I tried couponing one day, and the next day was very achy and tired. After that, I kept a much slower pace, though still couldn't sit still. So, what could I do? I decided to take inventory of all of our years supply items, which took a day. It's so nice to be able to actually see what all we have! I can just keep track with my spreadsheet when I add and subtract. The other thing I did was that I decorated Jed and Alyson's bathroom. I found the perfect paint for what I wanted at Lowe's a while ago, and I had everything I needed to paint a room. So, I taped everything off and got started. It looks fantastic. I painted it chocolate brown, and used a blue for the curtains. I eventually want to get a better shower curtain, but it looks better already. I was stir crazy! My mind does better sometimes if I don't have as many idle moments to think. I really am doing a lot better. We know that something is going on, but aren't sure what yet. We're hoping that we can figure things out soon.
Daniel and I went to the Craft and Hobby Association Convention with my work this past week. With all that happened at the beginning of the month, it was great timing for us to go away together for a few days. Jed and Alyson spent a wonderful week with Grandma and Grandpa Bass, and came home very tan and happy. With Daniel in the car with me, the 13 hour drive seemed to go fairly easily. We got to go sight seeing in downtown Chicago, and we went to the top of the Sears tower with the Hovermans. It was awesome. We even ventured onto the glass sky walk.
It has been forever since we posted anything, and we wanted to let everyone know what was going on. We hope your summers are going well!

Swimming

2010-06-11T20:13:00.004-04:00

Hey, everyone! Just a random post! Things are starting to get back to normal a little. We've had a ton going on the last few months, and we're getting back into the grove of things. We painted Jed and Alyson's rooms (Alyson's is purple, Jed's is blue) and we're really enjoying our garden. We have watermelons that are getting bigger and bigger, tons of zucchini and squash, plenty of snow peas, and cucumbers. We should be able to start getting Tomatoes soon, and are enjoying watching them get bigger and bigger! The blueberry bushes have actual blueberries this year, so we're thrilled!
Jed is counting down the days till he starts school in August. (literally - he asks me all the time "how many sleeps till I go to school?") He has a calendar that he uses to mark off the days. :-)
I took a ton of pictures yesterday when we went swimming with some of my sisters' families, so enjoy! This week was the first time Alyson was willing to let go of me in the pool. Normally she grabs me with a death grip that doesn't allow much oxygen to get in, and if I try to ease the tension on my throat, screams bloody murder (which is, I'm sure, a fun scene when we're attempting to swim at the Y.) I typically just go with the lack of oxygen as long as I can. Easier than the looks of "what is she DOING to that poor child" that I get. However, Wednesday of this week was the end. I was done. Perhaps it was the pool at my friend Rebecca's employer's home has magical "Children, be brave" water, maybe it was that I was tired of feeling lightheaded after swimming with her, or maybe it was the ear infection I had and that I couldn't handle the noise... who knows. But I put her in a ring, and floaties, explained that she would be fine, and pried her little fingers from around me. Then I swam backwards, with her crying and kicking right behind me. She kept up just fine, and once I showed her how far we had gone, she calmed down. Hasn't had a death grip in a few days (and we went swimming yesterday for 4 hours!) Yay!!
Jed wanted to push baby Logan around the pool. They had a grand time. It was a ton of fun.

Graduation

2010-05-09T09:55:00.005-04:00

I apologize to all my loyal and devoted followers, waiting for words of wisdom and uplifting to uplift and edify your lives but a much greater and pressing matter dominated by thoughts and energies for the past year. I have been working hard attempting to gain the piece of paper that tells the world I am finally knowledgeable. I descended into the depths of hell to retrieve rare and mighty artifacts. Dragons have been slain. Dozens and a half of damsels in distress were rescued. Evil overlords were thrown down and vanquished. The power of evil wizards were turned against them. I have finally returned and have sent the armor to repair the dents and scratches. Rust stains will be removed and everyone will rejoice!

While the journey was not quite as wonderful and harrowing as it sounds, it often felt like it, especially the evil overlord part. My final semester was probably the most difficult of them all, despite having just 4 classes instead of my standard slate of 5. My senior seminar, a requirement for all history majors, required one large "circa 20" pages final paper. It had to be related to the class subject: Movies of the Midieval Ages. Being fascinated with the Arthurian legend, I decided to do my final paper on Merlin. Not to bore you with the details but Merlin is a combination of 2 people with a host of different writers adding to the legend of Merlin. Everything didn't go as planned with my paper and didn't finish my revision. I turned it in 7 days before graduation, not even close to satisfied with the finish project or confident that I passed the class.

The traditional waiting period for grades is 3 days after taking the final exam/turning in the final paper. Tuesday comes around, no grade in this particular class. Now I have NEVER had acid reflux but anytime I thought about grades, my stomach would churn. Unfortunately, I thought about it too often. I finally had to take an anti acid OTC medicine. It sort of helped, made it slightly more tolerable and took the edge off but it was still there. Wednesday, no grade. Thursday, no grade. Friday morning, no grade. Friday afternoon, 2 grades in, not the important one. Friday I get home from work, no grade. Finally 14 hours before actual graduation time, I finally get straight 4 "B's" higher than I thought. 3.0 for the semester. I shed a couple of tears of relief when i went upstairs. The rest is history as the pictures show. Thank you Rebeca for the wonderful cake.

CARS!

2010-04-08T19:42:00.004-04:00

So, I've been very lax about our family blog lately. Sorry! Well, I'm going to try to make it up a little. I have pictures today! Imagine that! So, tonight Jed, Alyson and Daniel were playing "Race Car" in the hallway, and it was just too cute. Every time Alyson would send a car down the hall, she would jump up and down, and do a little "I did it, I won the race" Dance. Anyway, lots of laughing and lots of fun. :-) Enjoy the pics!

News

2010-02-03T20:36:00.002-05:00

So, Jed and Alyson have both had a few "Big" things go on this week! Jed and Alyson had their first Dentist visit on Monday (Okay, so he's 5, and I"m sure that sounds bad, but it was after like 4 failed attempts where he wouldn't let the hygenist look in his mouth at all and they said we'll try again later, and later it was the same... you get it.) So my friend Genean had me babysit her youngest while the others and her went to the Dentist a few weeks ago, and I asked who she saw and how her kids (around Jed and Alyson's ages) do with them, and she said that they did wonderful. So, I thought we would try again with a new dentist, (and it helped a TON that Smith LOVES the dentist and told Jed how cool it is, and how he would get a cool goody bag) and Jed went right back, and left me in the waiting room. No problems at all! He did Fantastic. And when he was back there, he started telling the dentist that the picture machine (x-ray) that they had was "similar to the one my Mom's doctor uses on her." and was asking all kinds of questions. When I got back there, they said "wow, he's so smart! I can't believe he knows all of that! And he used the word Similar, and understood what it meant!" It was very fun. Alyson sat in the chair next, and had her teeth cleaned and then the Dentist came in and checked. They are both Cavity Free! He said that whoever brushes their teeth does a great job, and to keep it up. :-)
Alyson's other news is that she is "Accident free for 3". We even were out and about all afternoon yesterday, and today we ran a few errands as well. She told me when she needed to go potty, and we went. She's doing fabulous! We have a goal to be in regular panties by Friday, and if so, we'll go to the store and get Princess big girl undies. She's so excited! We're so proud of both Jed and Alyson, and wanted to share!

Alphabets!

2010-01-15T13:11:00.002-05:00

Okay, so we do a preschool group with two other families in the ward, and it works out wonderful. During Christmas time, though, I got ahead by two letters. So today, when my housework (or the lack there of) has driven me crazy, I made a decision: We are going to take a day off and have a play day. We went upstairs, and the kids played dress up, we built car tracks, train tracks, dressed up as super heroes and had sword fights, and played tickle monster (With me as the monster, of course. The kids were armed with foam swords, and I would grab the sword, pull them in and tickle them, then let them go and it would all start over again!) Well, in between helping with costume changes and things, I got so much done! My upstairs hall is cleaned out and looks like a regular family, not just a frat group lives here! The kids rooms got cleaned and everything put away (though after 4 children playing dress up, it needs to be tidied again), and I scrubbed the bathroom. Yay! I'm starting to get back into the swing of things! My house will get more organized! I don't do traditional "Resolutions" each year, I just set a few goals that I would like to improve on. I feel like if I say "I will lose 30 pounds" or "I'll do ______ every day!" then I'm setting myself up to fail, since with my luck something will happen, and it won't get done. My goal is to be better at housework and keeping things organized. So, it's out there now! I guess I'd better get cracking! I've taken a 30 minute break, relaxing and writing this, so now back to laundry and working on my bedroom. Wish me luck!

Recipe!

2010-01-14T23:16:00.001-05:00

Chicken Corden Bleu Casserole (From the Hoods, with slight changes by Shannon)
1-1 1/2 lbs cooked, diced chicken
4 cups cooked rice
2 cans cream chicken soup
16 oz sour cream
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
6 to 8 oz ham (lunch meat), diced
swiss cheese (can be slices or shredded)
bread crumbs (optional)
Mix soups, sour cream and mustard. Mix 1/3 of soup mixture with rice. Layer in casserole dish in this order: Rice mixture, chicken, ham, cheese, remainder of soup mixture, then top with bread crumbs. Bake at 375, 30-45 minutes, keeping covered for first 20 minutes. This recipe freezes beautifully if you use parboiled rice. (Comes out of the freezer better than regular rice. Keeps its consistency.)

Adopting

2010-01-03T21:57:00.003-05:00

We have some friends that are trying to adopt a baby. If you know of anyone, or have any contacts, their names are Ben and Sarah Tyhurst, and the link to their blog is under our friends and Family list. They are an amazing couple that we have known since before we were married (I've known Sarah since High School!) and are going to make amazing parents.

We're Baaaack....

2010-01-03T21:17:00.002-05:00

Okay, so it's been a little insane around here lately. Here's our update:
My business partner Monica Coleman and I had a very successful Crop (Scrapbooking event) in November, and it was so much fun. We are having another on January 8th and 9th, if you know anyone who would like to come, our email is memoriesinthemakingcrops@gmail.com , and more info can be found at our blog, memoriesinthemakingcrops.blogspot.com
The new business has been stressful, but also a ton of fun. And I have the best partner in the world.
Daniel finished his second to last semester at USC, and had a 3.0 gpa. YAY!!! We're so proud of how well he has done, and are even happier that he will graduate in May!
The holidays have been so great, and we're starting to get things back to normal. When we went to see Santa, Jed asked for a new movie, and Alyson asked for Princess stickers. (I love my children!!! So easy to please.) Later we wrote letters to Santa, and they decided that they would each like their own living room blanket. Santa brought them those in their favorite colors, rocking chairs to sit in with them, and Jed got a new movie and Alyson got her stickers. I made Daniel a "Memory" quilt, and it turned out great. Daniel and the kids (With help from Grandma Janie) made me a scrapbook. I cried when I opened it. It was so perfect.
Right after Christmas, Jed caught a little bug, and last week I got a flu bug. Alyson and Jed seem to have gotten just the shorter one, and their fevers are now gone. I still sound kinda rough, but my fever is lower than before now, and we're hoping this thing will be gone in the next couple of days. I feel better today than I have in the past week! Daniel, of course, immune system of iron man, is still unscathed. (The rest of us might want to beat him, but we are thankful he was not sick with the rest of us and was able to get things done!)
So, that's our update. As I get some pictures together, I will try to post them! Happy New Year!

Crafts!!

2009-11-14T15:59:00.002-05:00

Okay, so last year I went to Super Saturday, and I taught a card class. Well, to make a long story short, more people were on the list for my class than the number that they had given me, so I wound up making kits and teaching the whole time, and never got to do any of my crafts. (They gave me pieces in kits, and they are still sitting in a box in my craft room, undone.) I am one of those people that if it's a kit, half the time I never get around to doing it. I have good intentions, but the SS thing is for people like me who will never get around to it later! So this year when they asked me to help with something, I said sure as long as I didn't have to sit and teach, since I wanted to do things this time. Well, it was great. I didn't have to take too long to teach, it was really an easy project, and a few very sweet sisters helped me to make the projects that I wasn't going to have time for. (Sister Coggins announced that there was "someone" last year that didn't get to do any of her projects, and that they wanted to make sure that didn't happen this time. She was talking about me!) Anyway, it was fun. Sister Ammerman made my Quiet Book, Tara made my menu board, and Angelyn is cutting my pants! And I got all of my other crafts done. (Hopefully I didn't forget about one!) Makes me want to pull out that box and do the others now.

That's so funny!

2009-10-27T00:30:00.002-04:00

Let's start out with telling you that Alyson is petrified of bugs. Especially ones that fly. (FYI - we have discovered she is allergic to stinging insects, so there might be a reason for that!) When she sees one, wild shrieking begins, and continues until the bug is taken care of. Well, Sunday on the way to Grandma Janie's house was no exception. A very small bug had somehow gotten into the car, and Alyson spotted it. Wild banshee sounds ensued, and after a few moments, Jed turns to Alyson and says "Alyson, Faith is when you don't get scared......... SO, Kill the fly." And ends the conversation.

Daddy the Tickle Monster

2009-10-18T21:50:00.006-04:00

When I was little, my dad would crouch down in the middle of the living room floor and play "Tickle Monster" with us. We would all take turns attacking him, and he would grab us, and tickle us for a moment, then let us go, and the whole cycle would start over again. It was one of our favorite parts of the evening. Imagine Zach, Erin and I teaming up to pounce at the same time, seeing if we could take him down, only to get caught! I remember thinking how fun it was when Dad would play tickle monster with us. Well, Daniel has a very similar game with our children. They take turns attacking him, and Jed's started taking a running leap at him. They have a great time, and burn off some energy. I finally got a few pictures of it! (And the picture of just Alyson was when she figured out I was taking pictures and said "Mommy, take my picture. I smile, see-- Smile!!")
Enjoy!

Today

2009-10-04T20:53:00.002-04:00

Well, General Conference was this weekend, and like it always is, it was an amazing, uplifting experience. (For those that are not Latter Day Saints, twice a year we have a big meeting where the leaders of our church speak to us, and it is broadcast all over the world in many languages. We are able to watch it via satelite, internet, or at church buildings.) I am so thankful for many things, and for this particular post, I'm talking about the invention of the HDMI cable. We were able to watch Conference here, in our own home, on our TV, and were able to hear it despite the four and two year olds playing/arguing in the background. (or foreground, at some moments) I loved the talk by Elder Bednar when he mentioned that they had not always had perfectly behaved children. It makes me feel better about the fact that we're here, our children are catching bits and pieces, but not all of it. Hopefully, they will remember the fact that Mommy and Daddy listen and watch the Prophet and Apostles speak to us, and will remember us explaining who different people are, and will know that this is important. Jed and Alyson both have wonderful teachers at church, and I know that Jed was excited today when we sang "How Firm a Foundation", which he knows from Primary. It was just such a wonderful session.
In between sessions, we cleaned Jed and Alyson's rooms and then after dinner we cleaned the play room. When we were done, Jed got in the shower and Alyson brought me one of her baby dolls (which she carries around half the time treating it like a real baby. She talks to her like I talk to Alyson, and it's so cute!) and said "Mommy, Baby Laiza needs a diaper change. Do we have a diaper?" (She says diaper "dipuh" and Laiza sounds like "Wiza") And I'm thinking ... okay, I have no size N diapers for this doll... cloth diapers! So, I go downstairs, grab some scraps, and we cut out two diaper shaped pieces, and put them on the twin dolls. Alyson was so excited. We finished baths/showers, brushed teeth, read stories, said prayers, and tucked in to bed. It was a very calm night. Kind of a perfect end to this wonderful weekend.

Well, the kids WANT to go...

2009-09-25T13:45:00.002-04:00

For those of you that don't know, Daniel hates camping. I don't know what it is, but his version of camping is in a hotel room. Personally, I enjoy it. And I kinda miss it. So, I've been wanting to take the kids camping sometime soon. Daniel's dragging his feet, of course. Then, this great thing happened! Jed is so excited by the idea of camping. My parents let him spend the night one night and set up a tent inside the house. He had a blast. He's been begging to sleep outside, or to go camping all summer. This week we learned about fire safety on Monday in his preschool class. (Yay Genean!) Today he sat down with me and said "Mommy, let's go camping, and we can learn fire safety with the camp fire! Can we cook marshmallows on sticks and be safe and have fun?" I just smiled. This afternoon/evening we're going to have candles and cook marshmallows over them so he can at least try it. Hopefully, we can convince Daddy!

Already??

2009-09-24T12:39:00.003-04:00

So, everyone knows that Jed has eyelashes about a mile long. Several months ago he started trying to use them to his advantage. He has figured out that if he gives this certain smile and bats them a time or two, old women swoon and give him whatever he wants. Well, he has been teaching Alyson, apparently. We went to Tot Trade yesterday, and they both flirted shamelessly with the lady at the desk selling candy and popcorn. I had seen a friend in line behind me, so we were waiting. While we waited, they talked and flirted and batted like crazy, and of course she offered them both free popcorn and oohed and ahhed over them. Poor kids. I suppose they get the flirting honest, though. They do have Daniel and I for parents!

Dora

2009-09-22T19:58:00.002-04:00

I really don't like Dora. Break out the name calling but shoot me please. As an explorer, you would think after 5 jazillion episodes she would know where she is going but noooooooo........ Chica can't even find her own house without help from "super map." Ever wish Swiper the Fox would just eat boots? I do. From now on, I'm rooting for broken legs and the alligators.

Waste not..

2009-09-19T11:23:00.003-04:00

So when Daniel wears out pants, it's only one area that gets worn out. The rest of them are just fine. So I've started cutting off the still good parts and saving them. Well, we felt kinda junky yesterday, but I had had a long nap and wasn't tired yet. So I pulled out the Legs of Daniel's old Khaki's, and made a jumper for Alyson. It was my first attempt at doing this, and I did it free hand (no pattern), and I must say I was please with just about the whole thing. (I don't know how to do button holes with my machine yet; those need work) I also used some old curtain fabric (I just shortened Jed's curtain so it would actually fit his window, and used the remnant from that) to make him a tie. It's my first one, and it's a little wider than it should be for the part that goes around the neck, but it looks really good! I have pics of the jumper! I'm excited to make them some clothes this fall! (sorry the pics are so blurry! Used the video camera to take them, and they seem to always turn out that way!)

Boys will be boys...

2009-09-18T14:50:00.002-04:00

So, boys stick together just as much as girls do. We've been feeling a little under the weather today, and Daniel's home with it too. (Let's try not to spread too many germs, right?) So I toss him the phone (Honestly, it was a beautiful shot. We're talking, swish, hole in one, no rim type thing. Gorgeous.) It goes right into his hands, and he fumbles the ball and it goes rolling on the floor. Jed, my loving traitor, turns to me and says "That wasn't a very good shot mommy." "What? Honey, Daddy dropped it. It was a great shot!" (In Daniel's defense, he agreed with me, saying that it truly was a rare and beautiful toss made by me) But Jed just couldn't believe that Daddy would miss it if it was a good throw. Man, guys are just as bad as us girls!

Crayons

2009-09-07T14:23:00.003-04:00

I hate crayons and I love crayons. They are great for occupying time and fun to watch kids color things and be so proud of them. They are also a PAIN. Alyson was holding her crayons and straining. I asked her what was wrong and she replied simply,"It's not broken." The look on her face was "Duh daddy, can't you see what I'm trying to do." I have never seen crayons get totally used up before. I wonder what these execs. at these companies are thinking? Did they never have kids who would break the crayons so here I am to propose and idea that would revolutionize the crayon world -

Mini Crayons!!!!

Ok, I know that they exist but oh, the potential! A great marketing team could sell this. All you need is former parents who took an active role in the raising of their children.

I hate broken crayons!

Kids say the darndest things

2009-09-07T00:07:00.001-04:00

It's dinnertime and our kids naturally hate everything they put in front of you but Alyson is fond of the bread family. We also had grapes and beef stroganoff but she was not fond of that. She ate most of her bread (dinner rolls) and didn't eat the hard bottom portion and asked for more. I get up, give her another piece, wait for a second and ask "What do you say?" She answers a curt "No" and goes about eating the piece of bread and Shannon starts rolling with laughter. I just kind of stood there with disbelief watching her chow down and thought, "Well give me back my roll then," but I figure, since she is eating, why bother her?

School!

2009-08-23T20:10:00.004-04:00

Well, Jed and Alyson are very excited tonight. In the morning they are going to be starting "School" with a group of parents in our ward. We are switching off days, and we will be doing a letter a week. We talked about what the kids were excited about, and Jed mentioned that he wanted a back pack. Well, I'm kinda crafty, and I thought.... I have all this material, some of which is in characters that they both really like... I bet I could make them back packs! So, last night Jed, Alyson and I sat down and they picked out the fabric they wanted me to use. Jed chose Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Alyson chose Veggie Tales. Tonight I sat down at the table while they watched a Sunday friendly movie, and made two back packs. They are denim and the character fabric, and they are super cute. Jed came over and helped me make them. From start to finish, it took about an hour to do the project. I was very happy with the results! I have not done snaps or anything yet for the top, but I'll get there! Anyway, Jed and Alyson went running around the house wearing them, quite happy. (Alyson found her bed and passed out before I could get her picture, though!) Well, I just wanted to share our fun day!

2009-07-19T19:57:00.002-04:00

It has been well documented that we are attempting to color our thumbs green with produce and we've shown some flat dirt that would rival Covil's from years back (brownie points to those that would get that) and some sprouts. Now it's time for results.

Our flourishing garden

1 of 4 cucumbers

Cherry tomato

Regular tomato not yet ripe

And some failures. Hey, nobody's perfect but I'll take the results we have.

Houses and Boo Boos

2009-07-06T11:57:00.002-04:00

So, admittedly it has been far too long since I last did a deep cleaning of my children's rooms. Today, I went upstairs to do a thorough cleaning, and saw a few interesting things. Some things I learned that I had never known before:
1: Apparently the side of a dresser makes a great chalk board.
2: Houses get owees too.
3: Only the name brand bandaids get used on houses.
4: Chalk is easily smuggled into rooms.
5: Bandaids that have been adhered to carpet don't like coming up from said carpet.

This was the conversation when I discovered the first bandaid on the floor, stuck to the carpet.
"What's this, Jed?"
"The floor had an owee."
"Um... okay honey. But let's not do this any more. It's hard for Mommy to get them up."
He hung his head and left the room. As I worked more, I found out why. (Side note, I do make my children clean their own rooms for the most part. However, when it gets down to the end, I vacuum and dust myself.) I found a total of 20 bandaids stuck to various places on my carpet. I don't know if anyone else has done the math, but that's an entire box. How fun! While my first instinct was to call my son in the room and beat his butt, I thought to myself... he's four.... he's four... no beating... he's four... and counted to 10 about 20 times. Then I could see how cute the whole thing was. (Some were in the hall, most in Jed's room though. Makes me wonder what he's doing to cause so many owees.... :-) ) By the last one, all I could do was shake my head. A few remnants of sticky parts of bandaids are still on the carpet upstairs, but overall it's much better.
The mural on the side of the dresser was nice. He must have tried to erase it, because it was pretty much a blob when I got up there, but the dresser was covered in chalk. It's nice and clean now, at least! And we had a nice little chat about the fact that chalk stays outside.
Anyway, that was my morning adventure! Chalk and bandaids... who'd have thunk...

Scrapbooking...

2009-07-04T20:06:00.003-04:00

Okay, so if you know me you probably also know that I am a scrapbooker. I love it. I love being able to express myself creatively through my pages. It's stress relief, it's fun, and I just adore crafting. There is an amazing giveaway/challenge going on right now on a friend of mine's blog, debbysdares.blogspot.com
Debby Lewis is an amazing crafter with a huge heart, and it's been such a blessing to get to know her and to be able to see her beautiful works of art. She's really been an angel, and I'm so thankful for her friendship. The challenge this month is about helping children. I encourage you to go there and check it out! And the giveaway that she's offering is absolutely mind blowing!

Homeowner thoughts

2009-07-01T20:28:00.002-04:00

Being a homeowner of a new home has its perks but there are also things you wished you could have done differently if presented with the chance.

First off - Sod would go down the day I close. It would be written into the contract. The sod I lay down is beautiful and thriving, all because I took care of it when I laid it down. They don't insure sod because it's a "live product." Unfortunately, it wasn't a live product once we moved in.

Second - All doors will be opened and closed full and will latch and stay closed once closed. They will also make sure to fit.

Third - Things must match. The big window in our living room must have window panes that match. I know you're thinking "What?" The top portion that doesn't move has 4 panes. The bottom portion has 6. You don't think about that until you notice it, or Shannon does. That's it for today's edition. Until next time. Ingat Kayo.

Piano!!

2009-06-24T10:06:00.003-04:00

We're the proud owners of a Piano! I went to Craigslist yesterday morning, just to look (I've been looking for a piano in our price range... free... for a while. Wishing for one for even longer!) and someone had posted a free piano! I emailed her, and she called me back very quickly. She wanted a good home for it, and we've been dying to have one for Daniel and I to practice (of course his practice sounds MUCH better than mine... Something to do with having taken lessons for many years or something... ;-) ) and it just worked out great! We were both thrilled. We picked it up at 6:30 last night with the help of Jared and Kristen, Grady, and us. Susan (She is the woman who owned the piano) was just so wonderful! We hugged when we left, both very happy with the way things worked out. Now I have a beautiful Schaff Brothers piano in my Dining room (which will be used as a music/formal living room), and I couldn't be happier! Oh, and Susan is moving soon, and also wants to find a good home for a large computer desk. L shaped, with built in book case/hutch. If you are interested, let me know and I'll connect you with her! Yay, Piano! We cleaned it this morning, and my children and I sat and played for about an hour!

One of those days...

2009-06-17T14:33:00.002-04:00

So, this morning I went to Aldi to start getting some of the things for Freezer meals. (I'm so excited to be doing them again!) I had a whole list of places we needed to go and things we needed to do today, and Aldi was number one. So, first aisle, there's the Ketchup. On the list. I pull out the two bottles that I need, and as I'm doing so notice that there is an extra bottle in the box, and it has been kind of balanced in there. When I removed the two bottles, it must have thrown off the balance, and out flies the other bottle. Seriously, it was like watching it happen in slow motion. Puss had dropped the potion, and Donkey was trying desperately to get to it, but this time he didn't make it. The bottle hits the grounds and bounces up, erupting while it does, and covering me from thigh to toe in ketchup. I found someone and let them know what happened (She looked REALLY annoyed with me) and went to the bathroom to attempt to clean myself up. No paper towels. So, I'm there, leg propped up on the sink, kids running around my other leg, using toilet paper and baby wipes to try to clean myself up. All I could think was... Well, it's gonna be one of those days!

Do I look like I can help you??

2009-06-15T09:01:00.002-04:00

So, what is it with children that they think that Mommy sitting down is a bad thing, and the perfect time to ask for everything under the sun? I go to the bathroom, and just as I sit down, the door bursts open with one of my children, frantically saying "Mom, Mom, I'm thirsty. Can you get me a drink?" Now, here I am in the rest room. Exactly what part of this makes it look like I can go scampering off getting beverages for people?? My new answer is "Do I look like I can get you a drink right now?" Another one. I get everyone's plate made for dinner, get them on the table, we say prayers, I get mine last. I sit down, lift the fork to take a bite, and "Mom, I need _____. Can you get it for me?" Now, Daddy is sitting right there. He's already inhaled half of his meal. Is there a law that they can't ask him? Anyway, I just had to share with someone! It's been interesting. All questions like those have now been referred to Daddy once Mommy has finally sat down. :-) I love my hubby.

Southern Savers

2009-06-11T11:28:00.002-04:00

Southern Savers has been a wonderful tool for us in keeping our grocery bills down, and they are having a giveaway on their blog in honor of their birthday! A $50 gift certificate to your favorite grocery store! The people who run this site are genius! We actually were coupon shopping last night and ran into another lady with the same list that we had, and realized we were are Southern Saver fans. It was so much fun to run into another groupie!

Where is Uncle David when you need him??

2009-06-02T19:44:00.002-04:00

Or Isaac for that matter? Okay, so yesterday I picked Jed up from his Grandma Bass' house, Hunter was with us. All of a sudden, I hear "Knock Knock", "Who's there?" with incredibly silly ends. This went on for several minutes. Then "Mommy, tell us a knock knock joke!!" and all I could think of at the moment was Apple. Apple Who? Knock Knock. Who's there? Apple. Knock Knock Who's there? Apple. Knock Knock. Who's there? Orange. Orange Who? Orange you glad I didn't say Apple?? Which,l of course, led to piles of laughter from the back seat. But they wanted more. I my mind went blank. And I thought of Uncle David, and his endless knowledge of jokes that would tickle my children to no end, and wished he was there! And then I thought of Isaac, who when he was little would sit for an hour and tell me knock knock jokes, and find each one absolutely hilarious, and thought "Why on earth didn't I pay better attention! I need to ask them for a list!!" So, anyway, here's to you, David and Isaac! I miss being so close to you!

The finished product!

2009-06-02T14:02:00.003-04:00

Okay, so here's the end result! There is still a little strip in the very back that is "bare", but hopefully that will eventually have other things in it. (Basically, we're not made of money and could only afford two pallets, but it works out because a third would have been way too much.) If you look close, you can see the blueberry bushes behind the garden. Eventually they should be nice and full. (Yay!!) Anyway, 4 of the 5 seem to be doing really well. Most of the garden seems to be surviving well. I'm very excited! It's been really nice to say "Go outside and play" and they can go out!

Grass!!

2009-06-01T23:02:00.004-04:00

Well, the grass arrived on Saturday (Our neighborhood has a sod day in the spring, where you can order the sod and on the last saturday in May they deliver it to your house.) Daniel spent the whole day laying the sod, and we've been very careful to follow all of the watering instructions, and it's still looking nice and green! Hopefully it will all go well, and our back yard doesn't look near as sad anymore! (By the way, Heather, Daniel says "Ask and it shall be given!") I don't have a picture of it totally done yet, but I'll post one tomorrow. Yay!! No more red clay dragged all over the house!! And at least half of our back yard will be green!

Jed and Alyson's Playhouse!

2009-05-28T21:05:00.003-04:00

So, I researched and looked around till I finally found the play ground that I wanted. I wanted it to be solid wood, not metal, and it needed swings, a slide, and just a few other fun things. Oh, and it had to be under 500. Well, Toys R Us finally had the one I wanted on sale for under 400, and I was sold. I went down and paid for it, and it was here just 3 days later. I brought it home, our neighbor Robin Dawkins and Daniel got it off of the truck, and it sat in my back yard, with all of the wood labeled and ready, for several weeks. Finally my dad and Uncle Bill (who was visiting from San Francisco) offered to come help Daniel put it together, and it got a good bit of the way done in one day. When I got my tonsils out, Daniel actually had time to finish it. It looks amazing. I'm so happy with the results. And Jed and Alyson love their new play ground! It fits perfectly in the back yard, and we have it positioned so that no matter where I am I can look out a back window and see them. It's just what I wanted! A big thank you to Daddy, Grandpa Bass, and Great Uncle Bill!

Oh, yeah... forgot...

2009-05-25T20:15:00.003-04:00

So, I forgot to mention that on Friday my tonsils came out. So Daniel has been home since then, and will be here tomorrow and Wednesday as well. If you've called and no one answered, it's probably because Daniel was running an errand and I can't really talk yet, so I didn't bother trying. (It kinda stinks when you're a vocal person, and you can't really talk or anything like unto it.) Anyway, some fun things have happened as a result:
The playhouse got finished!! It's beautiful, and the kids are really loving it.
Daniel has learned how to use the mini food processor (mainly to grind things up for his wife...)
Alyson has slept in two days in a row. (she must know that Daddy needed the sleep after waking up in the middle of the night to get mommy tylenol and ice...)
My front yard got mowed! (again, I'm liking this whole Daddy being home long enough to finish some of these chores...)
I might be able to think of more if I weren't drugged at the moment. Anyway, Thought I'd share some. Enjoy!

Survival of the fittest

2009-05-24T16:07:00.002-04:00

And I'm not sure who's going to make it. Alyson to copy whatever Jed is saying or contradict him. For instance, the typical exchange, in the backseat of the car, halfway home is -
J: Your name is Alyson, mine is Jed
A: No, my name Jed, your name is Alyson.
J: No Alyson, I'm a boy, you're a girl.
A: I not a girl, you're a girl

and so forth. At this point, I'm not sure if Jed, Alyson or Mommy and Daddy is going to survive. Tune in next week to "These are the days of how the world turns in a guiding light."

Funny you should mention that...

2009-05-19T23:40:00.002-04:00

So, have you ever done something really dumb, and it always comes back to haunt you? Well, I have a funny example. Several years ago Daniel sent me to the store while I was sick with a 102 temperature. Not the brightest move on his part in the first place. So anyway, I had been looking for some very cheap fabric to make curtains for our bedroom , since it was always several degrees hotter in there than the rest of the house, and I was hoping to make something light blocking. While at WalMart, my delusional mind thought that I should go take a look at the fabric. I went over there and found some hunter green fabric on clearance for a dollar a yard. Great!! Now, how much did I need? Again, delusional. I thought I would double it, and 7 feet for each panel, so that's 28 feet. No problem! Well, the feet didn't make the conversion with the whole insane-dimensia thing going on, and I bought 28 yards of fabric. I think I still have a yard or two floating around. So instead I made curtains for the living room, our room, a friends house, gave a few yards away, made Daniel's halloween costume out of it, you know... it was the all purpose fabric. So tonight I mentioned that I was going to start thinking about what I want to do for the curtains in the living room, and Daniel says "Gonna go buy 50 yards again, huh?" and we both had a good chuckle. Then he let me know that it's just one of those things I will never live down, and that the number of yards I bought will continue to increase over time. Just thought it was funny that we do things like that.

The semester is officially DONE!

2009-05-09T17:32:00.002-04:00

I am so relieved that it's over. Working, buying a house and going to school is very stressful. So naturally, I was a bit worried about school. Not everyone knows but my GPA last semester was a whopping 2.3. The greatest but I survived. So this semester was really important. I finally get my grades back and I have a 3.2. I got (1) A, (1) B+, (2) B's and (1) C+. Needless to say, I am extremely happy

My son the Ladies Man

2009-05-03T20:55:00.004-04:00

Okay, everyone who grew up with us knows that Daniel and I were both flirts. So, it makes sense that our son is one as well. Actually, he goes one step further. Here is the general dialogue whenever a cute little girl comes around. "Mom, she's pretty" then "Mom, I like her" then "Mom, I love her" and during all of this he somehow gets the girl to hold his hand. The child is 4! Anyway, we went to the zoo the other day with my friend Rebecca, and the children that she nannies. The little girls name was Bailey. Within 10 minutes the normal dialogue started. Within a half hour they were holding hands. Anyway, it was all very cute, and I just keep thinking... what on earth am I going to do when he's a teenager?!?!

2009-04-19T19:33:00.003-04:00

Anyone here love the idea of going to the grocery store and spending your money on food that seems to be rising all the time? Well, with a new house and being counseled to be able to provide for yourself come economic hard times, Shannon and I wanted to plant a garden. For the preparation of the garden, see the below post of Shannon's. We also went to my mom and got 5 blueberry bushes. This was last Saturday so we have had plenty of time to kill them if we turn out to have a black thumb. After constant vigilance of watering them blue berry bushes and the garden, we are beginning to see the fruits of our (mostly Shannon's) labor. First picture is a redbud tree my mom gave us. The rest are blueberry and garden pictures.

Things you remembered as a child

2009-04-14T21:35:00.000-04:00

When I got home today and we were about to eat, I asked Jed if he could go tell Alyson it's time to eat. He proceeded to stand there and yell at the top of his lungs, "ALYSON, IT'S TIME TO EAT!" In my mind I am hearing my mom say the same words that I said to him. "If I wanted to yell I could do that, go upstairs and tell your sister it's time to eat." Then I recalled my brilliant response so long ago when I was probably approaching my teenage years - "Then why didn't you?" Oh the joys of being a parent and remembering what your parents told you and you did the exact same things your kids are doing.

One of those days...

2009-04-03T13:54:00.000-04:00

So, has anyone else had one of those "Okay, I don't know that this one will MAKE it to puberty..." moments? Okay, so this week I've been working on my garden. I dug it, I put the walls together, I hauled the dirt and filled it in. Woo Hoo. In the course of all of this, I pulled a muscle in my neck and back. It's bad enough that I went to the doctor this morning. Not so good when he feels your neck and says Ow. Anyway, so that's where we start. I went to my parents to take the truck back, thinking "No sweat, I'll rinse it out and we'll be good." Well, it rained yesterday. So the remaining dirt basically turned into black cement like sludge in the bed of the truck. I had to dig it all out, then sweep what I could out, then I took it down to rinse it. Again, sludge. Well, the last step is the only one I had to do in the driveway, and the driveway was all black, (just the bottom. I did it so that I would get as little as possible dirty) and at the end, I'm thinking... okay, this water is working so good. The landscape guy had been using a leaf blower before for this kind of job, mom and dad have one, bingo! So, the "shed" has things packed very tightly against the walls. You have to be very careful to get things up and down. I got it down (It's on pegs above my head.) and then I call to see how to turn it on, and they say not to worry about it. (that's another story I won't go into right now. :-) So, I go back in. Well, in order to get around the other stuff to the pegs, you have to kinda do what looks like a pirouette move. So picture me, stiff arms, neck and back, holding up this huge leaf blower over my head, in the pirouette move, and trying to get it back on. Enter Jed, scream in that "my-sisters-hair-is-on-fire-and-the-world-is-ending type scream. "Mommy Mommy!!!!" Of course, I'm thinking something must be wrong, so I freeze in that pirouette stance, blower in mid air, "what's the matter, honey? what's wrong??!!?!?!" He stops, and says "Can I have some candy?" And that's when the moment happened. I think if I weren't hurting so bad, that leaf blower might have left my hands. Good thing. ;-)
Anyway, I hope it gave you a chuckle.

The escuela

2009-03-31T19:10:00.000-04:00

For all my Spanish speaking amigos...

I had my advisement today and it turns out I need 7 more classes to graduate. I am taking four classes in the fall and three in the spring. My senior seminar will be in the Spring. I am excited beyond all words and just wanted to let the 3, er, 5 people that read this blog know. Cheers!

Alyson's Two!

2009-03-24T09:40:00.000-04:00

Well, it's official! Alyson is two years old. We had presents, and cake and ice cream. I made a Princess Blanket for her, and she got her first barbies. It was a very fun evening. And we got to spend the day together doing fun things at home, which was nice. Here are a few pics.

2009-03-24T09:33:00.000-04:00

Okay, so this is our new house! They are in the middle of putting up our fence now. When we finish getting the rooms inside put together, I'll add more of those. Enjoy!

30 days in...

2009-03-16T13:31:00.000-04:00

I'm amazed... More than 3! So, we've been here for a whole month now, with no more big disasters (knocking on wood now) and we're getting ready to have our meeting with them to give them our list of things that need to be fixed. Yay! We're doing pretty well. Alyson is going to be turning 2 on Saturday, and we're going to just have a nice dinner, cake and icecream here at home. I'm making her a blanket for her new big girl bed (we took apart the bunk beds and put one in each of their rooms.) She loves Jed's and tried to "borrow" it regularly, so I'm making her one of her own. It has pink, purple, yellow, polkadot, and arguyle squares, and a panel in the middle with Belle (who is her current favorite princess), Aurora, and Cinderella. (I just finished the front. I'm planning to get the back pieced together today.) The back has blue polka dot, blue princess print with Cinderella, aurora, belle, snow white, and jasmine, and then I have leftover of the other fabrics from the front to put throughout. Anyway, I'll post pictures of that and the house when I'm done. I'm so excited! I think I'll have some material left over, and I might make some little blankets with it. Haven't totally decided that one, but I'm thinking about it. Anyway, I hope that ya'll have a great day!
Shannon

New Home

2009-02-27T22:44:00.000-05:00

Well, here I am at last, all 3 of you that stumble across this blog. Shannon and I finally sold our house in January and closed on our new house on Friday, February 13th. The Elders quorum helped us pack up and unpack. It took about 5 hours from first loading to unloading the last box from the truck. So we unpack just enough to survive and go to church in the morning. I begin to hook up the washer and dryer connections. I hook up the water and start the first load. After getting it started, I then go downstairs and begin to unpack the car. I get upstairs and Shannon starts screaming bloody murder. There was about 1/2" deep water in the laundry room. Brilliant me forgot to put the drain hose in the pipe. We use every single stinking towel to get the water up. We then get in the car to go to Shannon's parents house and find the water has leaked around the drainage pipe where the washer sits into the garage and starts leaking from the light bulb in the top and from the power outlet...Great! Wonderful! All on the first complete day of owning the house. To make matters worse, where I parked the car is where the automatic garage door wire is hanging down because I hadn't gotten the time to install it so when I got out of the car earlier, the wire got shut in the door acting as a wonderful way for the water that leaked onto the top of the car to run off INTO the car, Both side pouches of the car were full of water as well as about 1/5th of the seat. So I finally get that cleaned out and semi dry. By the time we finally got home, the leaking water was now a very slow drip. A ring appeared shortly thereafter around the light. Day is finally over.

So after breaking in our new house, we finally get unpacked enough to cook. Shannon begins to make eggplant parmesan. First time using the over so we get the over preheated and ready to put in. It is in one of the tin pans and as Shannon is putting it in the oven, you guessed, it dropped. So we cleaned it up, added more eggplant and scooped out as much from the oven as humanly possible at this point. There is of course some that is already cooked into the oven so there is nothing we can currently do about that. Once we get done it's too late to do a self clean because you really need to clean it immediately after. The next day is Sunday so we put it on for 4 hours and go to church. We get back and most of it is ash left over but scrubbing was still necessary to get some of the more stubborn portions off.

One week later, we finally got internet service. Of course, the hardware was supposed to arrive the day before. It didn't. We got it the day of, after the AT&T guy set it up. And now, here I am, listening to U2, on the fifth song, Sunday, Bloody Sunday, finally getting this post finish. Enjoy our tales

Till next time...

The other perspective

2008-12-01T10:57:00.000-05:00

Let's start out by saying that Daniel had ME dealing with all of these people, while he just sat back and watched, trying not to laugh. Okay, so we are in line with really nice people, and discover that we're all getting different things. So there are happy feelings between everyone. However, we've learned that there are other doors that people might be standing at, so we're all gearing ourselves up to sprint upstairs to the only two electronics counters, which is where we get what we're coming for. They finally open the doors (Side note - Daniel went to the other door just in case they opened that one first... which they did) and we all go running - literally running - to get there. We get upstairs, and we are the first ones in line. Yay! No worries, right?? The man (Name is Andrew, by the way) acts like he doesn't think they have that TV on sale. I show it to him in the flyer. He says "Oh, that one. Um.. okay I guess..." and calls downstairs to clear that they have it. They of course don't. (I still have the other sales flyers in my hand, by the way. Ran with them. ) I ask if he can have one transfered or saved for us at the Columbia Sears, since we're here and everything. He says "Sure... uh, wait. It's saying no. Oh well." So, I said "All right, can you at least price match this one, since you don't have the one that I came for? "Not on Black friday I can't!!" (he shouts this - have you seen the Truman show, where she does the little side thing for commercials? And Truman says "Who are you talking to??" It was like that.) Remember, we have a line of about 50 people behind us. So he tells us that we're going to have to pick another TV. Daniel starts looking and picks another one out, while the guy starts getting our information. He asks for my address. "251..." "298" No, I said 251 you moron. Please, listen. (I was polite. I didn't call him a moron to his face. :-) Phone number? I had to repeat it 9 times. Yes, 9. By time number 2 I had the flyers (which were pretty thick) rolled up, by time number 5 my whole body was shaking I was so mad, and by time number 9 I handed it to Daniel for fear that I was going to pummel this guy with them. The whole thing finally got done and he asked if there was anything else he could help us with. It was all I could do not to strangle him. By this time the line behind us is almost to the escalator. So, we went downstairs to pick up the TV, where I asked to speak to a manager. Mr. Unhelpful manager informed me that as of Wed. Night when he went home, they'd had 3 in stock. (Which tells me someone took them home, or is reserving them for someone.) Oh, and yes, we could have ordered it for you and sent it to columbia. Oops. I'll have to give that Andrew a talking to. Have a nice day! I wanted to shoot someone. It was a really good thing that I didn't have any weapons. Anyway, that's the other point of view. Hugs and kisses!!

This isn't the Mens department...

2008-11-30T22:44:00.001-05:00

So Shannon and I go to Myrtle Beach after Thanksgiving and stay till Saturday morning. We are young and strong and able to stay up the whole night like fools shopping at 1:00 A.M. for great deals. So we have this High Def. TV we are looking at in Sears. So we are done at the Tanger outlet and stroll on over to Sears about 3:00 A.M. There are about 5 cars there but nobody outside yet. Bestbuy was already at the corner of the store Thanksgiving Day at 10:00 P.M. So anyway, one we got there, people decided they should get out. We are 2nd in line and just chatting away with the other crazy shoppers. So they open the doors and there are two checkout lines. We get in one and say, "We want this TV" and we show it to him. He precedes to tell me they don't have it and he can't transfer the order nor can he ship it to us. He can't seem to get our name or phone number right, won't scan the receipt with our information so it will just pop up and is getting so flustered because he has blundered it up that he is visually shaking...first customer mind you, he's in for a long day... and we finally decide on a different TV. We talk to the manager, he procedes to show us that he CAN transfer it but by this time we are tired and ready to go. He gives us half an apology and doesn't offer anything. Although not funny at the time, this is pretty hilarious afterwards. When Shannon is visibly angry at the guy and with mutterings from people behind us about how ridiculous it is for Sears to not do anything, she hands me the sales flier that is rolled up like someone is going to swat a fly. She gives it to me and it is wet. The ink literally runs onto my hand. I couldn't help but laugh at the whole thing, running on a 3 hour nap at 1:00 the previous day.

Carters clothes

2008-11-09T20:48:00.000-05:00

Whoa!!! Stop the presses, I'm posting. Anyway most some of y'all that have children clothes from Carters may have heard the news http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09023.html We have 6 outfits that bought last year for this upcoming winter for the two kids and we saw this come out. Shannon e-mailed Carters and following is what she sent and the response -

"Hi Shannan:

Thank you so much for contacting us about your tag-less clothing. Please provide us you're your mailing address and we will send you a postage paid envelope to return the clothing to us for a full reimbursement at the manufacturer's suggested retail price. If you have any questions please check our website, www.carters.com , and follow the tag-less link, or call us at 888-282-4674. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Carter's Consumer Affairs

________________________________

From: Shannon Smith [mailto:sabysmooth1@gmail.com]
Sent: Sat 11/8/2008 9:25 PM
To: contactcarters
Subject: Tagless clothes

- Hide quoted text -

We have 4 sets of pajamas with the "tagless" tag in question. I had noticed my children having a red spot there after wearing them, and haven't had them wear them as much. My friend just sent me your information, and it helps to know what's going on. I have two sets that are 4T, and two that are 18 month. I got them at Kohls, though I no longer have the receipt. How do I go about getting them replaced? My name is Shannon Smith. My email is SabySmooth1@gmail.com , and my phone number is 803-865-3995. I would appreciate hearing back promptly.
Thank you,
Shannon Smith"

So there we go. They obviously can't spell Shannon's name right but the MSRP refund will be nice since we did get them at 70-80% off.

Teething

2008-10-29T10:34:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I think I've decided that my least favorite time is when the kids get molars. Both of my children have gotten little fevers and terrible diapers when they get them, as well as waking up in the middle of the night. Once it's over, they stop waking up, and everything goes back to normal. However, Alyson just finished cutting two top molars last week, and then Sunday night I noticed that her bottom gums were swollen. The first one started breaking through yesterday, and the poor kid had it rough. She's also getting the two teeth next to the front bottom ones. I feel so bad for her. Anyway, just thought I'd vent for a second... we're all very sleepy today, since she was up around 3 and didn't get back to sleep till around 6...

Just a brief post...

2008-10-23T14:53:00.000-04:00

So, something funny happened today. Let me back up and say that my sister Kristen taught my daughter Alyson that there is a baby in her tummy. Now, of course, Alyson goes up to everyone pointing to their tummy and saying "Baby?" (Including Travis Hoverman... that one was quite hilarious.) Anyway, so upstairs she (for the millionth time) points to my stomach and says "Baby?" and I said "no, honey, mommy doesn't have a baby in her tummy". Jed pipes up with "Girls have babies, not boys." I told him that he was right, and then he sat there for a second, thinking. Then he smiles and says "Some girls have babies, but not the hippopotamus" (Alyson has been carrying the book "But Not the Hippopotamus" around everywhere for about a week. It was actually lying on the floor by her while all of this was going on.) Then Jed proceeded to start laughing. It was quite funny.

Okay, so belated pics

2008-10-22T09:18:00.001-04:00

Daniel Smith as Peter Pan!

It was so much fun to see Daniel get into the costume thing for Jed's birthday party. Jed was captain hook (he only wanted a vest, not a coat, thanks very much mom) and Alyson was Tinkerbell. I will have to get a more attractive nightgown next time if I'm going to stay as wendy. Alyson started out with wings, but after a while they were discarded. Poor wings. And some people work so hard to get those. :-)

We had a great time. We had apperances by Mulan, Woody, a Doctor, Princesses, Helen Keller, a fireman, and much more. Lots of fun (hopefully) was had by all. We painted pumpkins and ate pasta salad and hot dogs. I hope that you all have a great day!

Halloween is Coming!

2008-10-08T19:54:00.000-04:00

Okay, so Saturday we're going to have a little birthday party for Jed. It's a halloween theme party, so costumes are a must, right? Well, Jed asked if we could all dress up, and he knew exactly what he wanted us all to be. Daniel is Peter Pan, I am Wendy, Jed is Captain Hook, and Alyson is Tinkerbell. I made Jed and Daniel's costumes, and I'm wearing a nightgown, and I found Alyson a dress at Once upon a Child that kind of matches Daniel's outfit. I'm so excited. Once I have pictures, I promise to post them. Daniel's costume is complete with tights! Anyway, I'm really excited. Check back after Saturday for pictures!

Family News...

2008-09-14T22:36:00.000-04:00

Hey! Well, it's been a while since I posted (again... sorry) and lots has gone on. Daniel is in school at USC, currently as a History major. He's apealing the decision on him getting into the business school, and hopefully will be able to attend there soon. It's been a long process, and he's getting tired of it. On the lighter side, our house is under contract and the closing is scheduled for the 22nd, only 8 days away! We think we might have found a house that we like, and are hoping to get a contract on it in the next week or so. Things are moving along. Yay! Jed keeps asking when we're going to go back to our house, and we're hoping it won't be too much longer. We love Grandma and Grandpa, and we're very grateful to them. However, we're also ready to get back to normal.
Hope that everyone is doing well!

School Supplies

2008-08-10T19:07:00.000-04:00

Hello, again. Well, it's school time, and I know that we're all trying to keep on budget. I do all of our shopping by the sales and such (well, most anyway) and thought I'd start posting some of the really great ones that I find so that others can benefit from it as well. Here goes. I'm going to focus on school supplies today. (s-w means sunday thru wednesday)
Office Depot:
12 pack pencil erasers - .05 (s-w)
Protractor - .05 (s-w)
Crayola markers 10 pk - .50 (s-w)
Ativia DVD-R/+R 50 pk - 9.99
Staples:
Free Elmers Glue (school glue, limit 2)
Filler paper (college and wide) - .09
Papermate Mechanical Pencils 5pk - .25
2 pocket plastic folders - .20
Index cards - .33
Staples brand Copy Paper - 1.99/ream (500 pages per ream)
KMart:
Composition notebooks - .50
Samsung 8 mp camera - 129.00
Rubbermaid bins (18 gallon) - 3.99
Bic pens 10 ct. - .50
Target:
Backpacks (greatland) - 11.00 or 10.00
Nikon Coolpix 8mp - 119.00
Walgreens:
24pk Bic mechanical pencils - 1.99
Backpacks - 2 for 9.99
Mini composition books - 6 for 1.00
mini stapler/mini post its - 2 for 1.00
Walmart:
2 pk elmers acid free glue sticks - .22
elmers school glue - .22
papermate 10 pk pens (blue, black or red) - .50
1 subject notebooks (college or wide) - .05
3 ring binders (value) - .97
Crayola crayons (24pk) - .22
Crayola markers (10pk) - .88 (but you can price match the .50 price)
3 prong folders - .08

Don't forget that Walmart will match any price if they carry the same brand. So, just take your flyer and when you get to the check out let them know that you are matching some things. It doesn't take much longer, and you can get some really great deals. If you get coupons as well, you can really save a great deal. Good luck!
Shannon

School is coming...

2008-08-07T13:53:00.000-04:00

Well, it's that time of year again. Daniel is transferring to USC this semester (After about fifty thousand hoops that he has hopfully successfully jumped through) and will be starting classes in a few weeks. Back to school shopping... (sigh...) But, I think I'm almost done and he's just about ready. Yay! The kids are doing well. We've had a little bug running around this past week, but other than that we are doing really well. I have been experimenting with some of my new scrapbooking things and now have a page up at Pages from the Heart, my favorite scrapbook store. Things have been really great. Our house is on the market and we're just waiting for it to sell so that we can start seriously looking for a house, or looking to build... we're still trying to decide what would be better for us right now. I'll try to update with pictures and things later. Have a great day!

Christmas is Coming!

2007-12-23T01:47:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a long evening. I have made a total of 15 lbs of fudge so far this year, and I'll be making 5 more tomorrow. Hopefully my family will enjoy it. My children are so adorable and sweet, and their father is so great with them. Merry Christmas to all, and I hope that you all have a happy new year!

Just another day

2007-10-19T10:27:00.001-04:00

Hey! Alyson is weighing in at 16 lbs now, and is still very tall. She loves to eat, and especially likes fruit. Jed is starting to get this potty training thing down, and can tell us when he needs to use the potty (though when he is hard at play he forgets, which I hear is normal for boys.) Anyway, we have a birthday party tonight, and we're really excited to go. Hope you all have a wonderful day!!

Alyson Scoots!!

2007-10-07T21:11:00.000-04:00

Alyson started scooting the other day. She is doing so great!! It looks kind of like the wounded man crawl. Anyway, lots of fun!! Jed is doing really well. He turns 3 tomorrow, and he knows his shapes and colors. Very Fun!

First Post!!

2007-10-07T18:04:00.000-04:00

Hey! This is going to be our way to update everyone on the goings on of our family!! I hope ya'll enjoy!!