What is strategy?

So I'm reading this article titled "What is strategy?" for my, you guessed it, Competing through Strategy class. Let me share a choice morsel of wisdom with you.

"The most viable positions are those whose activity systems are incompatible because of tradeoffs. Strategic positioning sets the trade-off rules that define how individual activities will be configured and integrated. Seeing strategy in terms of activity systems only makes it clearer why organizational structure, systems, and processes need to be strategy-specific. Tailoring organization to strategy, in turn, makes complementarities more achievable and contributes to sustainability."

The guy that wrote this teaches at Harvard. I can't express to you how glad I am that I don't go to Harvard right now. I swear, if the guy had used the word "synergy" even once in that paragraph, I would have dropped out.

Why we have the perfect family.....

Because Andy has one lap. I have one lap. Samantha fits perfectly on Andy's lap. Alex fits perfectly on my lap. And we can fit perfectly on one couch and watch Lambert the Sheepish Lion together before bedtime.

I miss Bob Barker

You know those people who sit on their couch and watch The Price is Right and scream the answers at the TV? Yeah, that's me.

Schmoopy!

I woke up this morning suddenly hit with the memory of a poem Andy wrote me when we had been dating only a month. I'm not sure what prompted this memory but I dug through my drawers until I found the print out of the email containing the poem. I think it may be the only copy I have of the poem so I am always so careful with it and someday I'll figure out a better way to preserve it. Andy wrote the poem while he was on his way to San Francisco for Thanksgiving in 2001. I won't share the poem here because I think that would embarrass Andy terribly. Which, oddly enough, was also my same reasoning for sharing the poem! But don't worry Andy, I won't do it. Let's just say it's the most wonderful poem I've ever read! It's so elegant and beautiful and the fact that it was written about me makes it even better! After all of these years together I still get butterflies when I read it. I guess I just wanted to say what a great husband Andy is and how much I appreciate him. Hence the title of this blog.......schmoopy!! I love you Andy!

I never even made it through the book!

Take the Quiz here!

You are Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice! You are intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive. You have a good head on your shoulders, and oftentimes find yourself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of ridiculousness. You take great pleasure in many things. You are proficient in nearly all of them, though you will never own it. Lest you seem too perfect, you have a tendency toward prejudgement that serves you very ill indeed.

I tried so hard to make it through Pride and Prejudice, but never could. The description sounds pretty fair though. Except the tremendously attractive part. I'm just plain ol' HOT!!!!

Things Andy loves

So we've got our computer hooked up to our TV. This is cool because Vista has a built in Media Center, which essentially means that we've got a Super Tivo. Lest you think that this is a total nerd-fest, Kristi actually asked me to do this because a couple of the guys at work have them, and they convinced her that putting all of the kids' DVDs onto a hard drive is a much better way to go instead of fumbling with the disks. That's right, we go into a folder called Disney, and pull up Cinderella, or Monsters, Inc., or Enchanted in about 5 seconds. No fumbling with discs, or cases, or anything. It's awesome.
So the reason I'm showing Microsoft all of this love, is because having our TV hooked up to the internet means I can watch things like this from the couch. Let's see who remembers this one.....



Bump, Bump

That's one of my all-time favorites. I plan to wander through YouTube one of these nights that I'm putting off homework and gather all of the old classics. So far I've gotten Lambert the Sheepish Lion and Paul Bunyan, a couple of my favorites from the old Sunday night Disney stuff they used to have on TV. Have to make sure the kids keep up on the classics. And just to make sure that they don't disappear off of YouTube, I go to www.vixy.net, and that site will download and convert the files into something I can watch in my Media Center. So we'll have a big folder full of the classics for me, er the kids, to watch. If I find some really good ones, I'll post those on here from time to time.

Waaaay too much time on their hands

Kickin' it old school Nintendo style.

krandy.etsy.com

Well, I FINALLY got my first duvet cover listed on www.etsy.com for purchase. I now have a link on my blog here below my pictures that you can click on and jump right to my shop. Kind of fun! We'll see if it sells, but at least it's keeping me busy while Andy does homework! I have started on a second one and have a third one in mind but I think I might see what the response is like for this one before I go too crazy and spend a ton of money on fabric. My sister Kami is also setting up shop on etsy under the name VersaJewel. She has some great jewelry on there so I highly recommend taking a look at her shop as well. But look at mine first! ;-)

A new kind of sandwich!

The picture we chose to study on family night on Monday was the picture of Peter, James and John giving the priesthood to Joseph Smith. Samantha just brought me the picture and we went over it with Alex. 2 minutes later I heard Samantha talking to Alex about "peanut butter and John" and Joseph Smith. I had no idea the church was so tasty!!

Triple D!

We had such a fun day today as we went up to Salt Lake to Ruth's Diner to watch them film an episode of Diner's, Drive-In's and Dives! It was very interesting to see how it all gets put together and how they decide what shots to do, etc. The host, Guy Fieri was there and very involved with all of the shots and interviews. I was surprised he didn't just sit back and wait until it was his turn on camera.
We got there around 11 and they started filming around 11.30. We sat in a section that was just for the people that emailed the show to tell them about Ruth's so Guy knew who to talk to. He interviewed a few of us including my family! He asked Alex to give him knucks but Alex was a bit shy. Samantha had no problem doing it though and has talked all day about "giving the spiky haired guy knucks!". Guy talked to Andy and I about our food and how long we'd been coming to Ruth's at which point I told him we were fairly new customers since we just moved back to Utah after living in the Diner capital of the world, New Jersey. I told him that this diner was better than any in Jersey I'd been to and he liked that I was sassy and offered a throwdown. We'll see if any of it makes it into the show, but hopefully the cute kids will seal the deal! We were half way home when the producer called us and asked us to come back for some additional shots of us eating. We were so full and not in the mood but we went back anyways and they got some great footage of the kids eating and laughing. The guy with the mike was hilarious and making the kids laugh while not looking at the camera.
It turned into a long afternoon but the kids fell asleep in the car on the way home so all was well!
I'm not sure when the episode will air, but I heard Guy tell someone usually about 5-6 weeks. If I find out beforehand I'll post the date on here. I know you're all DYING to see it and make fun of us!!

"Rock me please!"

I know Alex asks me to rock him just to stall bedtime, but if you looked straight into those big blue eyes you wouldn't be able to resist either! Plus, I know that the day will come (sooner than I would like) where he will stop asking me to rock him. He won't even want to sit with me anymore. So until that day comes I will rock him any time of the day or night that he wants!! Just don't tell him that!!

UB40

Samantha is dancing her little heart out to the UB40 music Andy put on and I told her she was a good dancer. She replied, "I've got the moves!". Really! Where does she get this stuff?? She is so fun it's ridiculous. Just as I was typing this she then switched up her dancing and said "Now I'm doing rock and roll moves.". What a character.

Alex is finally starting to say his "S's" in words but he says them with a bit of a lisp. It's very adorable.

A new Andy!

Today starts the Andy Smile Transformation! Andy is not really looking forward to this whole process, it will be painful, but the results I think are going to be fantastic! Today he is having 2 root canals leading up to a set of 8 new crowns for his top front teeth!! They are going to be so shiny and white and straight! If he lets me, I'll take before and after pictures. I know this doesn't mean a whole lot to Andy but I am so excited for him to have beautiful teeth to match his nice smile. The whole thing will be done in about a month. He has an appointment in a week to shave down all his teeth then in 3 weeks they'll put the crowns on.

Silly silliness

Samantha:
This afternoon I asked Samantha to get dressed after dance class so she could go outside and play. She got her shirt and pants on and I noticed she was putting her socks on. I told her she didn't need socks because she was just going to put on her crocs and it was a nice warm day. She exclaimed, "Yeah, I need socks because that's how I roll.". I know you're all jealous of my kids!

Alex:
Alex has come up with a new song that I keep wanting to get on camera but he gets all shy and won't sing. It goes something like this. "Me and my teddy, we get ready.". Which, if you didn't notice, rhymes!! Who taught this kid to rhyme?? It's got a cute little tune as well and even at 6:30 in the morning when I want to yell at him for singing so bloody early, I can't help but smile at his first song! He even lines up his animals in his crib and sings to them. I smell American Idol in our future!

We wear short shorts!

I have hairy legs. That's all there is to it. Oh, and my hair grows really fast too. Like, in the summer I have to shave every day just so Samantha doesn't mention about a thousand times a day "Momma, you have spiky legs!". And so my husband will sleep in the same bed as me. Although, I do enjoy the bed to myself......hmmmm......maybe I've devised the perfect plan! Anyways, where was I...oh, hairy legs. I get so sick and tired of shaving my legs every day so about 3 1/2 weeks ago I got my legs waxed. I've never waxed before and was a little nervous. Turns out I was nervous for good reason. It hurt. Like, really bad. Ouch. Pain. Redness. Soreness. Painful to have any sort of fabric touching my legs for about 24 hours. It felt like a super bad sunburn only without the good memories of lounging on the warm beach. The waxing lady, who I like to refer to as, Frau Pain told me that she suspected the results would only last about a week, week and a half. This was disappointing. Also, she really didn't even get all the hair! I still had to shave some off that night. I guess this is normal, but I was expecting more. I walked away, well, hobbled away quite sad that my plan of only waxing a few times during the summer was not going to pan out. And I wasted $50! Welllllllll, it's now been 3 1/2 weeks and I am still pretty hair-free!!! The hair is growing super slow and I only have to shave about every 4-5 days, which is astounding for me and my hairiness! I am so happy that I just might brave the pain again and get waxed when the hair really starts growing again. Although, it's tough because you have to let the hair grow out for like a week and a half which is super scary in the summer when you're wearing capris and shorts. But that might be a week and a half of being alone in the bed........decisions, decisions!

Blurg

Is it just me, or does everyone else hate all the colorful Mother's Day rings and necklaces that we get overwhelmed with this time of year?? I know my jewelry taste may be a bit more simple than most, but all that un-matching color in one ring is enough to make me evacuate the Oreos that I just inhaled while the kids were pretending to nap.

Explanation

Since a lot of you must live in a bubble and don't know what Samantha was saying or where it came from in the clip below, I will explain.
She is saying....."I will drink your milkshake. I drink it up." Followed by slurping noises. This comes from the movie There Will Be Blood with Daniel Day-Lewis. Here is the clip from YouTube. Every time she sees this clip she laughs and repeats it. Basically, the girl has hilarious taste! Learn, enjoy!

Why we love her so much...

Also, in the background is the wicked sweet mini trampoline that Aunt Cathy gave the kids. Not only does she babysit our kids for 5 days, but she buys them awesome gifts! Don't you all wish you had an Aunt Cathy???

Extras

The posts below are all about our trip to New York and are very boring and generic. They are a travel log mostly for Andy and I to remember our trip but hopefully you will enjoy reading them as well. I'm going to add pictures and maybe links tomorrow. They start with Saturday which is, by now, at the bottom of the page.

Overall this was one of the best vacations I've had. I don't feel like a tourist in New York. It feels more like a home to me. I didn't take many pictures because, again, I don't feel like a tourist there. I enjoyed the time I had alone, I enjoyed the time I had with friends, and I enjoyed the time I had with Andy. We don't get to spend a lot of time together these days because of school so it was muchly needed. I hate to admit it because it makes me feel like a bad mother, but I didn't miss the kids much. In fact, I completely forgot to call them on my birthday. I guess it's good that I was able to enjoy myself but as all of you mothers out there know, guilt consumes us in every aspect of parenthood. I knew they were well taken care of by Andy's super sister Cathy and her daughter Julie, so that was a load off.
Part of me wants to move back to New York/New Jersey so bad, but my quality of life here in Utah is far superior to what I would get back there. I have a nice house with a back yard for less than half of what my friends are paying for their tiny 2 bedroom apartment. AND, Andy's commute is 15 minutes versus the hour and a half it was in New Jersey. Can't beat that!

There was always this guy in front of the World Trade Center with pamphlets about September 11th and his tag line to get people to listen to him was "This is history, don't let it be a mystery". That guy always cracked me up and guess what?? I saw him still there this week! It was comforting to know some things haven't changed. Unlike Jersey City that is exploding! There are so many new apartment buildings, condos and townhomes. The place is looking nice!

I am really looking forward to when we can take the kids to New York. I think a couple more years will be good and we will have a fantastic time showing them all around and making their feet and legs just as sore as mine are!!

Wednesday

Wednesday morning we had to get up early and pack so we could head into New Jersey for Andy's work appointment. We caught a cab to take us to the Hertz rental car place to get our cute Ford Edge and left New York via the Lincoln Tunnel. It was fun to drive through Jersey again and when we drove into Woodbridge, again, I cried. Especially when we reached the Holy Grail......WEGMANS!! The grocery store to end all grocery stores! We had breakfast and lunch there if that says anything. After breakfast we drove to Princeton and Andy went to his appointment and I wandered around. Downtown Princeton is full of cute shops and the campus is just wonderful and old. I found a great shady bench and watched students come and go and read my book. It was very pleasant.When Andy's appointment was done we had lunch at Wegmans then drove to the shopping center Jersey Gardens to kill time until my flight. We found some adorable outfits for the kids at H&M but not much else. Andy drove me to the airport around 4:00 and I flew home!

Tuesday (My Birthday!!!)

The hotel bed was too soft for my delicate back so I was up early with Andy and he took me to breakfast at the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle. The restaurant is called Landmarc and I had the most giant French toast EVER! It was so good and I know probably so bad for me, but I didn't care, it was my birthday!! After breakfast Andy headed into work and I went back to the hotel and took a little nap watching VH1's top 20 countdown. I never get to watch it because the kids dominate the TV in the mornings, so it was a treat! Too bad music these days is CRAP! But the best part was the nap and when I woke up I got ready to meet Sarah and Andy at work for lunch. Sarah was sweet enough to take the day off of work to hang out with me but I think she enjoyed the sleeping in as well! Andy's boss Mike came to lunch with us which was great because he ended up paying and he made some cracks that made me laugh, so it was fun to see a side of him I've not seen before.

After lunch Sarah and I headed up 5th Ave for our day of shopping while poor Andy had to go back to work. Normally I wouldn't have wanted to hike 5th Ave because of the major quantity of tourists, but all of the shopping I needed to get done happened to be located on 5th Ave, so we just went for it. Sephora for makeup, American Girls for a doll for Samantha, H&M for clothes and FAO Schwartz for Alex. The weather was heavenly so after all was said and done we sat in some chairs outside FAO and enjoyed the sunshine and people watching. Sarah bought me some hilarious Smurfs for my birthday so we took some good pictures.
We went across Central Park for the Bouchon Bakery for some tasty treats before I had to head back to the hotel to get ready for my date night with my sweet husband. We had just enough time to make it to our reservation at this Greek restaurant named Kellari and the food was incredible but we had to hurry through it all so we could make our 7:00 play of Young Frankenstein in Times Square. The play was very funny but nothing can compare with the movie. If you've never seen it before......we can't be friends.

Monday

Andy had to go to work Monday morning (this was a work trip after all) so he got up early and I slept in! hehehe. After I got up I put on my swimming suit and went up to the indoor swimming pool in the hotel for a little morning exercise. It was so fun and refreshing but made me miss my kids a bit because I know they would have loved swimming. When I was done I got ready to meet Andy at work for lunch. I'd never been to their office on Park Avenue so it was fun to see it and meet some people I'd heard about and also see some old friends. We had lunch at the Blue Flowers Cafe with Sarah which was casual and huge and just good!

After lunch I took the subway to the World Trade Center so I could hop on the Path and ride to Jersey City. It was the same route that I always took when I lived and worked there and I got all dumb and sad thinking about the good ol' days! Seeing Jersey City again also brought back a lot of good memories. I rode the light rail to my friends house by the Liberty Science Center and the light rail took me right past my old apartment building and I will admit....a few tears welled up! Jersey City was a great place to live! It was a lot of fun to see Maile and her adorable kids and hang out with them for a couple of hours. Kaia was hilarious and came out to greet me in a purple princess dress with pink heels and by the time I left, she was dressed in a chicken costume! It made me sad that we don't live near them because she and Samantha would be such good friends!

Maile drove me back to the Path station where I returned to Andy's work and he and Sarah and I met our buddy James for dinner. We ended up going to Bobby Flay's restaurant Mesa Grill. Andy and I had eaten at the Mesa Grill in Las Vegas before and the food was just as good. We had an enjoyable evening catching up with James and the whole day ended up being another great day in NYC!

Sunday

Sunday morning we slept in, packed, and left the hotel. We took a cab to our next hotel in the city called the Le Parker Meridien. It was a very nice hotel and we had a very big room and the biggest shower I've ever been in!! I kept thinking how much the kids would have loved to play in that shower! I know I did!!! We dropped our bags in the room then went downstairs to this awesome restaurant in the hotel. It looks like a little hole-in-the-wall place but it's in this fancy hotel! It's called The Burger Joint and we each had a juicy cheeseburger. Num. After being recharged by the food we wandered around for a while and found a Pink Berry to have some frozen yogurt. We had it with blackberries and Fruity Pebbles. It was delicious! We shopped around, went to Chelsea Market and back to a Brooklyn Industries where we spent even more money on cool clothes (Andy bought a button-down shirt with blue pigeons on it...trust me, it's cool). We figured there might be a street market going on at Union Square so we went to check that out and I'm glad that we did! We have a couple of pictures up on a wall in our staircase that we don't really love and have been looking for something else to replace them, and we found a beautiful print that is colorful and I think will look great. I'll take a picture of it when Andy brings it home and post it.

There is a little place called Pommes Frittes that sells only French Fries with about 30 different dipping sauces and is SO yummy. We snacked on that before we headed to our friend Sarah's apartment to visit and bake cookies. Sarah moved to NY from Utah about 2 months ago and lives in a great little apartment......except it's 5 bloody floors up!! No elevator!! I guess the exercise is good for me! We talked and baked my chocolate chip cookies for all the guys at Neovest (and James) and then went to the Delta Grill for dinner. It's a southern restaurant which I generally don't enjoy, but I had some terrific Mac and Cheese there and everything else we tried was delicious. We caught a cab, took Sarah back to her apartment and headed back to our hotel.
I have to add.......the weather thus far has been great.....and it only gets better!!

Saturday

We arrived in New York on Saturday morning and tried to check into our hotel in Brooklyn. The hotel was packed with a bunch of school kids so we were not able to check in. They suggested we try back around 1:00. We roamed around Brooklyn Heights after a terrific breakfast at a little cafe. Brooklyn Heights was so nice and had so many cute streets and shops.....not to mention a fantastic view of Manhattan! After roaming for a couple of hours we passed a movie theatre and decided to watch a movie until 1 when we could hopefully check into the hotel. The only movie we thought might be good and played at the right time was Forbidden Kingdom (the Kung-fu flick with Jackie Chan and Jet Li). Let me just say, it was awful! The kung-fu was good but the acting and story was TERRIBLE! I was so tired because of the overnight flight so I curled up in the seats, laid my head on Andy's lap and took a little nap during the movie! Best $8 nap EVER!
After the movie we were able to check into the hotel and we watched the Pope make his way up 5th Avenue in the Popemobile. We were both still tired so we took a little nap and woke up around 5:00. We got dressed and headed to an area of Brooklyn known as Park Slope. We wandered the streets there and found a great store called Brooklyn Industries and spent a good chunk of money there. Then we found a cute Italian restaurant where we shared a pizza and some of the best ravioli I've ever eaten. For dessert we went to The Chocolate Room and had some Butterscotch Custard and a Triple Chocolate Cake that was featured in an issue of O Magazine (Oprah's magazine).

It was a very fun, successful day in Brooklyn!
By the way, food is important and fun for us, so you will hear a lot about what we eat.....get used to it!!!

I told you!

I told you that I'd suck at posting while I'm here in NY! In my defense though, I haven't had a laptop with me except in the evenings when I'm rubbing my sore feet and applying bandages to my blisters. Busy, busy!
I have written down every days events though and will fill you all in when I get home. You're excited....I know it!
Thanks to all of you who wished me a happy birthday today!! It was a fantastic day! Maybe my favorite birthday! I fly home tomorrow evening and am excited to see my babies again! Thanks for the wonderful trip to NY, Andy!!!

We're here.....but first....

We are here in Brooklyn and having a great time so far, but before I post on our happenings thus far I need to write the funniest thing Alex has said/done before I forget!

On Friday we were in Costco (surprise, surprise) and they were giving out lots of samples. One of the samples the kids spotted was cheese and crackers. Not some mild cheese that kids usually like, but gorgonzola cheese. I have to admit I was looking forward to their faces when they realized how nasty the cheese was and spitted it out. Alex took a bite and just kept on chewing and looking around all casual like while Andy and I peeked at him to see what he would do. He chewed and swallowed, looked down at the cheese, looked up at me, held up the cheese and with a furrowed brow exclaimed, "This cheese tastes stinky!". I haven't laughed that hard in a LONG time! To make it even better, he popped the rest of the cheese in his mouth and ate it all! What a freakin' cute kid!!!

I'll catch up the blog tonight with our New York fun. The pope is in town so we might hang with him, ya know, bless some people, chill at Mass in Yankee Stadium, the usual!

Phew!

We are leaving tonight for New York on the midnight flight and it's difficult for me to express how badly this trip is needed!! So I won't. Let's just say that Andy's sister Cathy who is staying with the kids is my hero!!! Thank you Cathy!

We will, of course, have a computer with us since Andy will be working while we're out there, so I plan on posting every night about the days events. We'll see if it actually happens!

I love you dearly Samantha and Alex.......and I will love you even more after some time away!
Toodles!

Ahhhhhhhh

Yesterday Andy and I were sitting together on the couch and we kissed. Samantha saw the kiss and said "Ahhhh, true love's first kiss!". What an observant little girl we have........orrrrrrrrrrr we've watched Enchanted too many times!!

Also, (this is for you Andy) our daughter has trouble CONTROLLING THE VOLUME OF HER VOICE!!!!

Mad Parenting Skillz

No, I don't have any, but you can bet that I'm taking notes from this lady. Courtesy of Gizmodo.

UPDATE: after hearing about how the kid broke his mom's vacuum, Dyson is sending her a a $500 vacuum for free!

I'm gonna be a star!

So, a few months ago Andy and I were eating at Ruth's Diner (I posted about their goodness a while back) and we were commenting on how it was the perfect location for Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives to do a spot at. We joked about how we should write into Food TV and tell them how delicious the food is at Ruth's. So, on whim, I did. Yesterday I got an email from someone at the production company telling me that they were seriously considering filming the show at Ruth's and asked if I would be interested in showing up that day and being interviewed! I called them right back and said "Hell yeah!". Not really in those words though. They are going to be in Salt Lake May 5-9 filming at various locations and are going to call me if they pick Ruth's and give me all the details. I think it would be hilarious and fun so I will keep you posted on the happenings!

Unwanted Company

Do I have a sign on my forehead that says "Hey, when I'm in the bathroom doing my business, feel free to join me! I love to have a party while I'm evacuating my bowels!!". No??? I didn't think so! Can someone please tell that to my children? Thanks!

Apron

Here is a picture of the apron I made for my sister. I am glad that you can't see the details very well because they need some work! I am also glad that you can't see my blue fuzzy socks and my sexy lounge clothes! Well, I guess you can see peeps of them!

Mmmmm.... Pie

Remember those Hostess Fruit Pies? I loved me some Hostess Berry Fruit Pies when I was a kid. Actually, it's probably safe to assume that I still love them, but I made the mistake once of looking at the nutritional information label on one. A third of the total fat that I can have in a day, and HALF of the saturated fat? I can find tastier treats. Anywho, I ran into this crazy article on Wired.com today that explains what is actually in those things. Perhaps I should re-title this post "Innocence Lost".

P.S. Check out these recipes from the Hostess website. Gag me with a spork.

NYC Flashback Friday

Remember when we went to the Knicks game at Madison Square Garden? The game was pretty lame until the 4th quarter when suddenly the Knicks came from behind, made the game close and ended up winning! It was a great comeback and a great ending to what was mostly a boring game. Who cares though......it was the Knicks at the Garden!! How could you not enjoy that!?! Do you remember who they played, Andy?

The Back Saga

A couple of my favorite Murray girls (hey Tiff and Michele!) asked what happened to my back after I posted my x-ray, so this post is more for them since a lot of you have already heard this story. So, here goes.....

We believe the original injury occurred one winters night while I was visiting my sisters house. She is known far and wide as having the most dangerous front steps in all of Springville, as I first found out. It was quite the fall. One of those cartoon falls where my whole body went up in the air and landed right on my BUTT!! Kami said the entire house shook when I fell. I'm not sure I should have admitted to that.....oh well. I knew that I broke my tailbone but didn't feel any other back pain until a few years later. When we were moving from New Jersey back to Utah my lower back just started hurting. Not from picking up any specific heavy box or anything, I just think the combination of moving things and herding kids and the stress and everything caused the disc to just bulge and break and put pressure on the nerve. It went on hurting for a few months before Andy finally made me go check it out at the doctors. After a bunch of doctors appointments I finally got an MRI that showed a huge herniated disc. I am no doctor and I even looked at it and knew something was wrong. I was referred to a great back specialist who told me that the disc was dead. Gone to heaven. No life left in it. Meaning, no liquid left in the disc. The only thing to fix it would be surgery. I don't know about you, but I've always heard the one surgery to avoid is back surgery, so I was a bit apprehensive about all of it. I knew the pain wouldn't get any better (even after I started physical therapy) and someday I would need the surgery, so I figured I'd get it over with while I was young and healthy.
So, a year after the pain started I went in to remove the disc (which the doctor said was so bad it was in pieces!), put in a spacer to fill in where the disc was, put a couple of screws and rods in to hold it in place and I was finished! I was back taking care of the kids full time 2 weeks later and only went to physical therapy a few times before she said I was all good!! There is still some pain, mostly from stress and the fact the kids keep me running all day, but if I lay down and get some rest it's managable. On my last appointment with the doctor the only question I had to ask was "Can I go water skiing this summer?". The doctor said yes. THAT, my friends, is a happy ending!!!

If wishes were fishes we'd all have a fry!

I wish that my children would simply state, "Mom, I'm hungry", rather than rip books, chew their faces off, shoot laser beams out of their eyes and scream so loud the international space station calls to tell me what a horrible mother I am.

Comparison

This is a comparison test of a tiny baby versus my giant baby Samantha! This is my cousins baby Katherine. She was a little premature and if I remember correctly was just over 4 pounds. Cute little mite!!
Now, to compare, this is Samantha at just a few days old. She, on the other hand, was 9 pounds 5 ounces. Yeah, I know, large baby!!

Alex was a large baby as well weighing in at 8 pounds 10 ounces....I think. I kind of forget sometimes. I don't have a picture of him in his car seat to compare, but I always chuckle at this picture of his first bath. That is one pissed baby!!

Some seriously silly kids

Alex with a plum slice smile. Unprompted, by the way, which is further proof of just how nuts this kid is! You can't help but love him!

Samantha doing her pirate impersonation. If you could hear her say "Arr Matey" with that look on her face, it would be even better!

All the cute you can handle!

If you've never checked out www.cuteoverload.com you are missing out!! Whenever I've had a bad day it is the first thing Andy tells me to go look at. You can't help but get in a better mood after you've checked out all of the wicked adorable animals. My favorite, and something that has made it's way on to my want list, are the Scottish Fold kittens. If we ever decide to get a cat or a dog, I think this kitten will win out over all the rest. Now check out that site and tell me that kitten on the first page isn't the cutest thing ever born???

Tag

My friend Ashly tagged me to tell 10 things about myself that people may not know. Honestly, I don't know that I could even come up with 1!! Sorry to disappoint Ash! It's a good thing you know just about everything about me already! Maybe if ya'll want the scoop you could ask Andy to write my list of 10. He may be able to come up with something scary to embarrass me.

NYC Flashback Friday

Remember when we went to the ESPN Zone with the guys from work for Torts' farewell party? We sat around eating appetizers, drinking and laughing for a few hours after work and just thoroughly enjoyed each others company.

Speaking of Torts, remember when I yelled at him for swearing on the phone and he thought it was hilarious! And when you first told him we were dating and my name was Kristi Loveridge and he said he thought it was a great porn name. Then there was the time at Todd's wedding when out of nowhere this little Italian guy from the Bronx ran up and hugged me; which was a little awkward considering his face came right smack dab into my breasts! That was the last time we saw John Tortorella.

Rest in peace JT. We love ya!

2 Assinine Arguements with a 3 1/2 year old

Samantha : "Is this tomorrow?"

Me: "No, this is today, Friday. Tomorrow is Saturday."

Samantha: "No, this is tomorrow, MOM."

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As we were driving to a restaurant for lunch we passed by a car dealership.

Samantha: "Momma, I want to eat at that restaurant." (She says as she is pointing to the car dealership)

Me: "No honey, that is a place where you buy cars. We'll be at the restaurant soon."

Samantha: "No, you don't buy cars there, we eat there."

Me: "Whatever."

Titanium

Ladies and Gentleman, my back.
4 screws, 2 rods and a spacer : $15,000
2 nights in hospital : $16,000
Spine surgical team of 9 : $30,000
Having insurance pay 95% : Priceless

Wanting to shout it at the top of my lungs!

As part of my "lose a few pounds" scheme I purchased a few of the frozen entrees from various companies; Lean Cuisine, South Beach, Weight Watchers, etc. I wanted to sample each brand before I bought massive quantities of any one type. Well, in my first try I found a winner!! It was the Lean Cuisine Panini Chicken Club and it was AWESOME! Maybe my expectations were just super low, but I found myself thoroughly enjoying it! It had tomatoes, chicken, bacon and cheese on a sourdough bread that came out of the microwave crispy and delicious. It only had 9g of fat and 350 calories and was high in protein and fiber. I've never had good feelings towards these frozen "health" foods, but this one may have changed my mind.

Thumbing my nose at the snow

Yesterday as I was terribly depressed because of the yucky weather and my difficult children, I decided to lift my mood by putting the new duvet cover I made on my bed. It fit better than I thought it would and looks great, I think. Samantha stood outside my room when I was finished and just said "Oh momma, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty!". It was cute. Every time I went into my room after putting it on, I smiled. THAT is the sign of a good looking room!

While I was posting on quiona......

While I was writing that last post, my very adorable and very monster-like son and his sister were in the kitchen having a snack of strawberry yogurt. Unbeknownst to me Alex was dipping his spoon in the yogurt and flinging it across the kitchen. Not the spoon, oh no, he realized that would be too much noise. But the yogurt, yes, that flings nice and quiet!!! It was the perfect plan until of course his sister snitched on him. It was a bit of a mess that I was lucky enough to clean up while Alex had his nose in the corner and Samantha sat there very disapproving thinking to herself "I would never do such a thing! No, my stint of rubbing vaseline all over my brother and dolls was not NEAR this bad!".
Only 4 more weeks until I get a 5 day break in New York. I'm going to make a construction paper chain to count the days. THIS is my Christmas!

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa)

Last night Andy found a recipe in Jamie Oliver's cook book for a spicy couscous. I LOVE couscous but we also wanted to try a new grain we've been hearing a lot about lately called quinoa. It's been around forever and it was a staple in the diet of the Inca because it provides more protein than any other grain. It's also very versatile. So Andy substituted the couscous for quinoa and it was delicious!! Samantha chowed down on it as well but did think it was a bit spicy for her. Alex had one bite and shoved it aside. Oh well, gotta give him points for trying! Needless to say, we're going to find a bunch more recipes for this new grain of ours and if you are interested in this recipe we did (I thought you might be Maile since you posted about quinoa as well) then let me know and I'll email it to you.

Blah blah blah

Pretty crappy weekend. Ornery kids who didn't nap. Ornery mom for no reason that anyone can figure out. And snow. Lots of cold snow. Snowed all day today. Looks more like December than the end of March. Of course, we are in Utah so I guess the unexpected is to be expected. On the bright side....it's 6pm and the kids are in bed!!! So I have a full evening of cleaning the kitchen, exercising and watching TV ahead of me! Rock on.

Some recipe help please!

I have decided it would be prudent for me to shed a few pounds for no other reason that I think it would make me feel good. So I am inquiring to all of you if you have any healthy recipes that you enjoy that you could pass along to me. I am going through my cookbooks and finding healthy recipes that sound good that I might actually eat but am finding I'll need A LOT more if I'm going to stick with this for a while. Mostly I'm shooting for leaner meats, no butter but instead use olive oil, more veggies and fruit (easier this time of year than winter) and smaller portions. Anyone who knows me well knows that I don't do self-control very well, so this is going to be tricky! Andy is on board with most of it too, so that will help. Of course, he'll be steering clear of the veggies. Wish me luck!!

NYC flashback Friday.

I decided yesterday that every Friday I'm going to post a little story or just a remembrance from our time in New York. It might not being too interesting to most of you, but it's more for me to remember some of the cool stuff we did or the funny stories. Sometimes I forget the things that happened while we were there and I really don't want to forget, so I'm going to get them all written down here. Andy, help me out here if you remember stuff too!

I think I'm going to start all of my entries like I'm talking to myself and Andy......Remember when??

Remember when we went to The Today Show to see Annie Lennox perform for their Summer Concert Series....and it rained......a lot!!?? Then we had to make our way downtown to work and we were soaking wet and I cleaned up in "The Executive" bathroom.
And since I'm thinking of Rockefeller Center already, remember when we went to see the lighting of the Rockefeller Christmas tree and it was like -45 degrees and they had lame act after lame act perform and all we wanted to see was the damn Christmas lights, so we gave up and went to Virgil's instead? It was so warm and toasty inside and we ate BBQ and biscuits until we had to roll ourselves home!!
Good times!!!

A few pictures for your entertainment.

After the Easter Bunny visited.
Play-date with sweet cousin Nicole.

Grampy and Samantha being oh so silly.
Alex coloring his egg his favorite color - orange.
Samantha being a princess.
Annual coloring of the eggs.

My hat goes off to this family!

I don't know how many of you have seen the TLC show "Jon and Kate Plus 8", but I am in awe!! This family has a set of twin girls who I think are around 6 or 7 and then sextuplets who are 3. That's right, 8 kids!! Kate is a stay-at-home mom and she is my hero!! I love how REAL she is about all of it. She gets frustrated, and she shows it. She and Jon fight, and they don't hide it. Their life is totally crazy, but they love it and they do it with humor. It is so refreshing to hear parents say what is on their minds and what they really feel about being a parent. It's a tough job! I feel like kind of a wuss complaining about my 2 kids when these people have 8 young ones!! I'm going to try harder not to complain. If you get a chance, check out this show and this hilarious family.

First for the Season!

Last night Andy and I slept with the window to our room open!! We love to do this in the spring and fall when it's nice outside and last night was the first night we noticed how lovely it was. The low for the night was only supposed to be in the 40's so we cranked that puppy open. Hopefully we'll be able to do it for the next few months before it gets too hot.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all! We had a great egg hunt at my mom's house and I forgot to bring my camera. Par for the course, I know. But my sisters had their cameras so I'll mooch pictures from them and post them later. As for now, my friend Gerd sent this to me for Easter and it made me laugh. It's in German but I will translate with my wicked German skillz....
"My butt hurts"
"What?"

Collective Soul

Last night Richele and I got to attend the Novell Brainshare party at the Delta Center. Neither of us work at Novell, but thankfully we know people who do and who could get us tickets to this party. The opening act was Frank Caliendo, the comedian who does impersonations of the President, John Madden, Charles Barkley and Al Pacino. I've never seen his act before so I thought he was hysterical. But we were really there for the band that followed! Collective Soul!! They played for over an hour and were terrific! They are always great in concert and just look good doing it too! Most of their hair was a little long for my taste, but the tight pants made up for that!! I'm terrible, I know. They always seem so happy to be performing and are so energetic that you can't help but like them. Andy and I went to a John Mayer concert in New Jersey a few years back and you could just tell he didn't want to be there (it was the night of the Grammy's). It made the concert awful since the energy just wasn't there. I'd never go to a concert of his again because of that. I would, however, go to a Collective Soul concert any day of the week!!!
It was a great time with laughs and good music so thank you to Wendy for getting us the tickets. The best part of it all was that it was free!! Everything is better when it's free. And of course a big thank you to Kami for babysitting while I was gone. Samantha gave her a bit of trouble but Kami is a professional mom, so she handled it just lovely!

Giving myself a pat on the back!

I had a first this week. I actually attended a Relief Society function....of my own free will.....AND I brought a salad!!! I hope you were sitting down for that because if you know me at all you know that I just don't do Relief Society, so you may be totally shocked. Andy sure was. He immediately stopped what he was doing and turned all his attention to me when I said I was going to this function. He all but felt my forehead to check for a temperature! It actually turned out to be quite fun. All thanks to this lady in the ward that I sat by who has more personality than 10 normal people combined. She is outgoing, funny and a great story-teller. She is getting married in a month.....to her ex-husband! They were married for 35 years, got divorced 11 months ago and are now getting remarried. I thought it was a hilarious story. She is trying to sell her condo so if anyone is looking for a 2 bedroom, 2 bath place with a garage, I can hook you up. PLUS, you could live right down the street from me!! What could be better??
I guess I learned a lesson from all of this......Relief Society isn't all that bad. I suppose I just needed to give it a chance. Only took me 10 years to figure that out!

I dare you...

I dare you to have a cooler car name than "The Brentmeister General". Bring it on!!!

Good times

Our neighbors came over the other night and we played Liars Dice. I think it's also known as Pirates Dice. It was shown in the second Pirates of the Carribean movie and so the set that our neighbors have is all decked out in a pirate theme. Barnacles and all! It sounded a bit lame to me at first but it was really fun.....especially because I rocked that game! So, if you ever get the chance to play Liars Dice I highly recommend it. It's also fun to talk like a pirate while you play. I make a great pirate and I think next time I play I'll wear an eye patch. Yeah, that'll be hot.

No real reason to post

Someone made a comment on one of the discussion boards for my Global Political Economy class that made me think of this. In fairness, he was trying to be silly.

Because I'm a moron

I'm a total idiot for forgetting to take my camera with me today as my mom and I took Samantha to Disney Princesses on Ice! She was dressed as Snow White and her hair was pulled up with a cute little red ribbon. She even had red shoes to match! Matching red shoes and me without my camera! Can everyone say "Worst mother in America"??? Thankfully my phone has a camera and I was able to snap a couple of photos with that. I also have a picture of her in the full Snow White outfit from Halloween. I will post those at the bottom.

Samantha was so excited to have a girls day with Grammy and mom and Grammy even bought her a "Princess Day" present---a miniature tea set with, of course, Princesses on them. Samantha held it all the way up to Salt Lake. We had a little trouble with traffic around the Gateway because unbeknownst to us there was a St. Patrick's Day parade going on right down the main street. It wasn't really a big deal and kind of fun to see everyone in green for the parade. I hate parades. Especially in the winter. I mean, who wants to stand on the side of the street, freezing, watching a bunch of people walk and wave?? Not me!! But I digress.
There also seemed to be a "Parade of Princesses" as a ton of adorable little girls dressed as princesses walked toward the Delta Center (oh, excuse me, the EnergySolutions Arena!). Samantha was, of course, the cutest one there and was so pleased to see other princesses like her. She really is the most beautiful girl in the world. I can't say it enough! Again, I digress.

When the show started and Tinkerbell came skating out Samantha let out a huge shriek and started clapping. This is when I began crying. Then when Mickey and Minnie Mouse came out, she jumped 10 feet in the air with excitement. Again, more crying from me. To see your child so happy and excited about something is the most wonderful feeling in the whole world. I felt so content. Like this is what everyday should feel like.
It was a great show and Samantha seemed to enjoy every minute---except of the dragon from Sleeping Beauty. That kind of freaked her out. And Grammy and I thoroughly enjoyed watching Samantha enjoy herself and clap and dance and sing. I wish I could do that everyday with her.

If you're wondering what the little cowboy and his daddy did today, they went to the trampoline place and jumped their little hearts out for 45 minutes! Andy said Alex had a great time and I think they just enjoyed being together. What a lucky gal I am to have such an awesome family! Man we're cute!!

Travelzoo Top 20

I won't lie - I feel a little dirty posting a link to a contest on our site. But I've actually used this site to pick up good deals before, so I guess it's not so bad. Travelzoo has lots of deals, just like everyone else. Every week they send out a Top 20 email, mostly filled with things that I can't do, or are too expensive. But every so often (once every 2 months or so), they'll post great deals on Vegas shows, or hotels. I can't really comment on how a lot of the other deals are priced, but those have been great deals, as have the hotel deals they have had in NYC. So if you want to try to win all 20 of their posted deals, click the flashing banner before Kristi takes out this post and bans me from posting on her site.

What I've been up to!

Andy devotes every night (almost) to studying and reading and taking tests and all that crap that comes with getting your MBA. So in the evenings I have a lot of time to myself. Some nights I laze about watching TV or reading and other nights I sew! Most recently I decided to make myself a duvet cover and a skirt. The duvet cover was originally going to be white, lime green and purple, but when I got to the fabric store I was uninspired by any of the purples they had. I found this pink, aptly named Flamingo, and thought it with the green, white and brown would look lovely. I think I was correct! It turned out just how I had planned and I'm excited to use it. When I asked Andy what he thought he asked if I wanted the truth. I should have said no. He does like it but says it reminds him of Neopolitan ice cream. Now we're going to go to bed hungry every night craving ice cream! Great!My next project was to take an old dress I had for a friend's wedding and turn the skirt into another skirt. I loved the yellow fabric but it was a full skirt on a sleeveless top that I knew I would never wear again. So I cut the skirt portion off, found a cute pattern for a more fitted, shorter skirt and sewed away. I think it turned out pretty well. This picture is of the back since the front isn't too interesting. All of the detail is in the back. I think I have a pretty nice rear end so hopefully this skirt will accentuate that feature!!! "Whatever draws attention away from your face!"
Next project is to make an apron for my sister for her birthday (we still need to go fabric shopping Kami). Then I'm going to attempt to make a purse. I have a shape in mind I want to try, so we'll see how it goes. If it bites I'll just give it to Samantha....she'd love a new play purse I'm sure.

Reality Check

I got a phone call from my old friend Sophie Houser (now Sophie Child) on Friday reminding me that our 10 year high school reunion is this summer! It actually feels like high school was more like 20 years ago. So much has happened in the last 10 years that I barely remember my days as a Red Devil at Springville High School. But still.....go Red Devils!!! I wonder how hard I'd have to club Andy to knock him out and drag him with me?? Do I really even want to go though? I guess I have a few months to think about it.

Thing I Love - Extended

This picture was meant to go in the Things I Love section, but this quilt has a funny story. I bought it in Venice, Italy when my friend Ashly and I were backpacking through Europe. Not the sort of thing you usually buy when all you're carrying with you is a backpack, but I fell in love with it when I saw it through the window. Luckily, our next stop after Italy was Switzerland where my friend Gerd came down from Germany to meet us and hang out with us. He drove his motorcycle down and when I inquired if he would take the quilt back to Germany with him he looked at me like I was nuts. Did I expect him to strap it to his back and ride it home?? Well, yes, I did. Actually, he had a carrier that strapped to the front his motorcycle. Much better, I know. I didn't think in a million years this huge quilt (it fits nicely on our king size bed) would fit inside this tiny bag but Ashly pulled some voo-doo out of her hat and managed to stuff the entire thing in the black bag and still was able to zip it up. I wish I had taken a picture of the magic. Gerd rode it all the way from Switzerland to Germany.....in the rain, where I picked it up and shoved it in my suitcase to bring home. Yes, this quilt has made an incredible journey!! Thanks for making it possible Ashly and Gerd!

Dance Dance Revolution - The Samantha Higham version

Oh. My. Goodness. Squirrel Melts

Five bucks to the first person that shows me verifiable proof that you made one of these. 10 if you eat it.

A new body

As I was watching Samantha in dance class today (I finally remembered to take my camera so I will post cute pictures of her later) I was thinking what it would be like to have a perfect little body that would let me do anything I wanted. She is able to twist and turn and dance and stretch any way she wants with no pain or discomfort. I know she's 3 and I'm....well....not 3, but still, it would be nice. As long as I can remember I've had horrible knees that have limited my activity. Now I have 4 screws and 2 rods in my back that cause me pain and will probably limit my activity as well (although I fully plan on water skiing on Greg's new boat this summer!! So there!). I know I'm blessed and healthy so I shouldn't complain. It just would be nice to be able to walk up and down stairs without pain and not be a human barometer sensing every pressure change as storms come and go. I guess our pain management plan is to live at sea level in a rambler with no stairs. Yeah, that's not going to cost us anything!!

Observation

The Spongebob Mac and Cheese is not near as good as the regular shaped Mac and Cheese. I lead a sad, sad life.

Sunny Days, Sweeping the Clouds Away

We took the kids to the Sesame Street exhibit at the Gateway. Not worth the money, but a cute picture nonetheless. It's always been my dream to go on the set of Sesame Street in NY so if anyone knows how I can do that, let me know!! I don't think I have any friends with special connections, but who knows!!

Potty Training

So, Alex is in the middle of potty training which is going very well I must say. I have very mixed feelings about all of it though. There is this side of me (the much larger side) that is letting a huge sigh of relief because of the hundreds of dollars spent on diapers and wipes. Also my nose is relieved not to have to endure any more changings! Then there is this other side of me that is feeling a bit melancholy at the idea of my baby not being a baby anymore. See, we are not planning to adopt any more kids so Alex is my baby. I don't think it matters if you have 2 kids or 20, the youngest will always be momma's baby. The diaper seems to be the final stage of a baby before they cross over to being a big kid. First they ditch the pacifier (or at least I think they should!) then goes the bottles, then the last thing are the diapers. Pretty soon he'll be in a big boy bed and out of his crib too. I went through all of this with Samantha but it's really getting to me more with Alex. It's both a celebration and a mourning for me. Pretty much just a celebration for Andy! We love you baby Alex just like we're going to love big boy Alex!

I've been trying so hard.....

To not let the public know what nerds we are, and in 2 little posts Andy screamed it out to the world!!! "We are nerds! We have Star Wars figurines and know what an RSS reader is!!! Ridicule us! We welcome it!". Thanks a lot babe. ;-)

Ignoring my homework

I started an MBA at the Thunderbird School for Global Management in January. We are forbidden from referring to it as an on-line program - our program is "on-demand". Well, as on-demand as their servers will allow. Everything's been running slooooowly for a few days. Anyways, I'm currently watching a video ONLINE (so there!) on the World Trade Organization, and just like in class, my mind is wandering, and I find myself here writing on the blog. In all fairness, we spent a week in January on campus in Arizona, where we were in class 12 hours a day, and we already had this lecture, but I guess I should be paying more attention to it...

Which is why I'm about to post this link. Kristi has her list of her favorite things down below. My favorite things will make random appearances in my posts. Kristi loves a website called Outblush. Ladies, if you haven't already, you'll want to check it out. Guys, if you know how, you'll want to re-route your browsers so that URL points into space, as it's sure to cost you a lot of money. However, it's very good check out whenever you need to buy a gift. If you can get over the stupidly expensive items, there are a few things on there she's sure to love. Just don't surf the site at work, because it's very pink, and you will get looks.

I think I said I was going to post a link, and got sidetracked. Just like while watching my video. I can't even focus on wasting time! Anyways, the link is a sister site (brother site?) to Outblush called Uncrate. This thing is even worse for giving you ways to waste your money - $500K watch anyone? But occasionally they come up with a real winner like this one. Being a true geek, I had one of these things long before these guys posted about it, but it prompted me to go buy a new one today. I wanted a Boba Fett to complement the Han Solo (which is weak, but was the only one they had when I bought it), but no dice. Toys R Us only had 4 of them, and Darth Vader was the best of the bunch. I'm really looking forward to the Indiana Jones collection coming out to ride the coat tails of this year's movie (don't miss the awesome trailer). Kristi wants Mola Ram with the awesome flaming heart accessory. Is there any wonder why I love her?

Heeere's Andy

Hi everyone - I totally don't know most of the people that read this site. I'm Andy, the one that's usually behind the camera so I don't have to be in front of it. Kristi has asked me to contribute to this thing, so I'll see if I can't do better with that in the future. In the short term, I'll be making some nerdy enhancements to the site. The first one is already there - the big RSS icon on the left (you have to scroll down). If you right click on that and choose Copy Link Location, you can paste it into your RSS reader and get notified whenever there's a new post. If you still insist on using Internet Explorer, you can right click and choose Copy Shortcut and paste that into your reader. Then you can click here to get your new browser.

A Great Weekend

Our fun weekend started off on Friday because Andy had the day off. He didn't have President's Day off since he was flying to Philly for work so he took Friday off instead. We got going early to get my car up to the Honda dealer by 9 am for a 10K mile check-up and then took Andy's car up to Ruth's Diner for breakfast. Now, if you live in Utah and have never experienced Ruth's Diner, you're really missing out. They have the best biscuits in the entire world!! Possibly one of the best things I've ever eaten. All the other food was delicious as well and the kids ate great which always makes a meal out even more fun. We then took the kids to the children's museum at the Gateway which was showing a special Sesame Street exhibit on the body. It wasn't quite as cool as we expected and was just expensive! The kids weren't that entertained by it but had fun in the rest of the museum. It got past nap-time so we picked up the car and rushed home for naps.

Saturday we did a little shopping at a fantastic place called Steve and Barry's. I'm a little hesitant to tell everyone about this store but it's too good to not share. EVERYTHING IN THE STORE IS $8.98!!! Now that is with a "sale" going on right now, but I think in general nothing is usually over $15 or $20. Sarah Jessica Parker has a clothing line sold here as does Venus Williams. I bought 4 pairs of pants, a jacket and a shirt. Andy got 2 shirts and a pair of pants. We also bought the kids a scarf each and our total bill was $92! It was a lot of fun. On our way home we stopped by a new frozen yogurt place called Red Mango. I got the Fruity Pebbles with Raspberries. It was delicious!

Sunday night we FINALLY had our neighbors over for dinner. It's only taken us 16 months. They are a very busy, young married couple with no kids. We had a great time getting to know them and it turns out that we all get along just lovely. The kids adored them as well and showed off in their usual fashion. We now have plans to have them over to play games or to play the Wii. It's always nice to find new friends.

We posted this video on YouTube almost a year ago and thought we'd post it here for those who haven't seen it. Yes, Samantha did cry after she fell but as soon as I showed her the video of herself singing and dancing she laughed it off. Enjoy!!

This afternoon Samantha and Alex were fighting (surprise, surprise) as we were getting ready to leave for IKEA. I believe Samantha hit Alex for doing something he shouldn't have, so Alex pushed her. This really upset Samantha and she was on the verge of crying when she stomped into the other room huffing and puffing and said "Alex, you're a bad ol' putty tat". I sense they're watching too much Looney Toons! But I don't care, I cracked up and thought it was the funniest thing I'd ever heard.

With Andy gone as much as he has been lately I try to think of the positive things about him being gone.

1. The house stays much cleaner. Not sure why. He must be a dirty boy!
2. I get to eat cereal for dinner every night without Andy getting mad at me.
3. I get to cry out loud at whatever commercial or episode of Supernanny that I want.
4. KING SIZE BED......ALL TO MYSELF!!!!!!

It's still better to have him home though. I miss you baby! See you soon!!

We got these great chairs for the kids at IKEA for Valentines Day. I love that they are the kids perfect size and they look good in the house. It's like we have 2 stylish dwarves living in the house! Good ol' IKEA.

Have any of you seen my sweet baby Alex? Because in his place seems to be an obnoxious, devilish 2 year-old who defies anything and everything his momma says! I miss the old Alex. I hope he comes back to me some day.

Both kids are up in their beds screaming their heads off because they need naps so badly, but don't want to take them. I love being a parent! I wish I could put up an audio clip for you all to hear the joyous sounds of a typical day in the Higham house.

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern. A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock. A unique soul like you needs a city that offers everything. No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

Andy will be super happy to hear this since we are looking to move to London when he finishes MBA school. Rock on London!

The kids and I were just watching a Looney Tunes cartoon before bed. One where Sylvester the cat fell into a fire after a failed attempt of eating Tweety Bird. With his behind smoldering Samantha laughed and exclaimed, "He's grilled like a hot dog!". Funniest kid I know!!

Yesterday as I was getting Samantha ready for church she said "Mom, I'm going to try not to get sick in Primary today". It seems about every time we take her to Primary she develops a cold a couple of days later. She then misses the following week of church and then the next week the cycle begins again. I wash her hands and do the best that I can to prevent the sickness that seems to live in our house, but if idiot parents keep bringing their sick kids to church we will never get over these colds. Please people, if you or your kids are sick, STAY HOME!!

We returned a few days ago from a week long trip to San Francisco. Andy had to do business there and so we decided to tag along and enjoy the free hotel and rental car (hey, he had to get them for work anyways). Andy's family still lives there so we enjoyed some time with them and our friends the Richards. Matt was even kind enough to take me on a date while Andy stayed in the hotel with the kids and did homework. Thanks Matt! Brandon and Claire invited us to dinner at their house one night and the kids played so well together and had a great time. Abby, Brandon and Claire's adorable 5 year-old loved Samantha and came up with all sorts of fun things for them to pretend. She even told me that Samantha "is so pretty and looks just like an angel". I couldn't agree more! Aunt Cathy was a saint and took us somewhere fun everyday to get us out of the hotel and having fun. We went to a trampoline place one day and I've never seen Alex so happy in my life! That kid had a smile on his face the entire hour. Samantha was a little more hesitant and only really jumped around and had fun when the male worker watching over the place looked at her and paid attention to her. She loves the attention of males. Yes, we are in serious trouble!!
We went into the city on Saturday with Andy and enjoyed the chill and rain. I guess that's what winter in SF is like. Still, MUCH better than winter in Utah. The kids loved the sea lions.
Another afternoon we went to the beach with Cathy and Julie and let the kids play in the sand. It was windy and cold but it didn't seem to stop them from having fun. We don't make it to the beach much so I think they just take every opportunity to soak it in. I prefer my beach with a lot of sun, but I try not to be picky.
Although the kids got a slight cold on the trip we still had a nice time. The hot tub at the pool was a favorite and they both did great on the flights. Andy is taking every opportunity possible to get the kids to be good travelers since he has his sights set on a family trip to Brazil in 2014 for the World Cup. Start saving your pennies Andy!

3 YEARS! 3 years since the last post. Now that's just funny! Life does get a bit busy with moving a couple of times and having a couple of kids. We used to be the only people I knew with a "blog". In fact, we were probably the only people who knew what a blog was. And now everyone has one and I think it's a great way to keep in touch with friends and family. I enjoy prying into everyone's lives so hopefully people will enjoy a peek at ours. I'm sure Andy will post about school (he's in MBA school), work, travel and food. I'll mostly post about Samantha and Alex and our fun-filled days at home together.