Does not play music

Alex has been loving Fruit Loops lately. Only he says it Flute Loops. It's very cute. That's all.

Sistas

I'm realizing more and more how talented my sisters are! Kami makes beautiful jewelry that I am constantly wanting.....and sometimes just taking when I am at her house! (Her fault for leaving it laying around!!!) I love that I don't have to buy jewelry anymore because she can just make anything for me in any color I need! Here is her shop if you're interested. versajewel.etsy.com.

Richele took the kids birthday pictures on Tuesday and I am so happy with how they turned out!! And I've only seen 4 of them! She has a lot more to fix before I get to see them. Here are the ones I have so far. These are for Samantha's 4-year-old shots and Alex's 3-year-old shots. Much cheaper than Kiddie Kandids!

Ramblings

To go from something so entertaining like the Olympics to something SO NOT entertaining like the Democratic National Convention is just tough. For me anyways. I don't do politics.

Peanut Butter and Apple juice DO NOT taste good together.

Cheetos and Apple Juice DO NOT taste good together.

I need to eat healthier food. But I probably won't. I don't do healthy. Or exercise.

My kids made a GIANT mess outside with the sand and I am so reluctant to clean it up. Maybe that will be Andy's welcome home present. "We're glad you're home baby! Clean up the sand."

I am getting an hour massage when Andy gets home. Maybe a manicure too. And possibly a pedicure. Not a facial. Had it one time....hated it.

My neighbors were gone all summer and it was great. Now they're back and noisy. But the big black truck is back and that is slightly comforting.....in a very weird way.

I have more tomatoes than I know what to do with!

Woo hoo!

Let's hear it for technology where I can use a web-cam to chat with my husband in Switzerland and show him my ta-tas at the same time!! Oh come on! Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same! Okay, maybe only half of you would. The other half of you are OLD!

My sweet Alex

Oh Alex, the headaches you cause me!! I don't know what to do with you! I am at a total loss besides just faking my way through every day. You are SO hard-headed and stubborn and it seems the more times I ask you not to do something, the less you listen to me. Your stubborness can be a good thing. I watch you try to figure things out and you don't get frustrated you just try and try again until you get it. I admire that you don't give up. But really, you can give up on trying to kill me. Really, I'd rather you be good and us be friends. Please, ease up a bit buddy.

Macarons - from Switzerland...posted by Andy

We're still here!

Well, we've survived so far without Andy but we still have 1 week to go. We've been busy and the kids haven't napped much but I won't complain much about that because then I get to put them to bed early!! Last night they were in bed at 6 and it was AWESOME! Alex REALLY needs one today though so we'll see how he does.
We got to talk to Andy today through Skype which allows you to talk and see each other through the computer. It was good to see that he's alive and doing well and he was happy to see me and the semi-naked children. There was a bit of a delay with the video and talking because, well, he's far away, and the bandwidth in his hotel isn't great. Today they went to France and did some hiking up a mountain and I hope he enjoyed it since it was the only free day of the trip. His schooling starts tomorrow at 8 am. Good luck baby! We love you!

PS: Andy, the house smells like pot roast!! I could smell it when we pulled into the garage! That'll teach ya for rubbing your macaroons in my face!!

1 or fewer? Does that mean I don't exist or just too skinny to count as 1 person???

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 1 or fewer people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Sniff, sniff

Well, Andy is boarding a plane to Switzerland and I am a single mother for the next 10 days. He's going to Geneva for a week long school event and he'd be more excited for his trip if he weren't going to be stuck in class all day. I am going to try and keep busy with my family and friends and the kids and just pray that the time goes quickly and Andy comes home safely!

I love being married

I love being married because you get to have conversations like this:

Andy: "Should I be concerned if my pee is nuclear orange?"

Me: "What did you eat today?"

Andy: "Greek food. Yellow rice and chicken with a yellow sauce."

Me: "I'm not sure that would do it and do it that quickly. But if you keep peeing that color for a while you should probably be concerned."

Andy: "Ok. I didn't flush it so you could take a look at it."

Me: "Wow, how thoughtful. Thank you."

Successful Daddy

I think Andy would consider himself a successful parent given that the children are right now playing with cut outs of the Super Friends and they can identify each hero. Batman and Spiderman are easy, but even Samantha can name Green Lantern and Aquaman. Way to go Andy!!

He's Alive!

We went to Bear Lake for the weekend with my family and I didn't realize until the last minute that we now have a fishy that needs to be fed every day! I was terrified that we'd come home to a dead fish but the little guy survived the weekend like a champ. Then Andy decided to "play" with him and held up a mirror for him to fight with. I've never seen these guys look at a mirror before but they puff up their gills and get all defensive. I told Andy to stop since Merrie is a lover, not a fighter.

I'll be posting about the weekend and hopefully include some photos when I feel like it. So you never know when that will be.

The Kristi Diet

Follow these easy steps to achieve your desired weight on "The Kristi Diet".

1. Get stressed about your upcoming trip with the kids.
2. Get even more stressed at the thought of your husband being gone for 10 days.
3. Develop 4 giant canker sores in your mouth from the stress that cause too much pain to eat.
4. Starve

Bada Bing! A quick and easy 4 step process to loosing all the weight you want!! It works for me!

Sneaky

Our bedroom window looks out over Mt. Timpanogos and the parking lot of the complex next to ours. Usually I try to overlook the parking lot and focus on the mountain but this morning there was some action in the parking lot I couldn't ignore. I saw 3 cops surrounding a man who was just sitting on the ground near a car. The car and the man looked equally trashy. I saw on top of the car a large, empty bottle of whiskey and a large can of beer. The man was very animated in obviously trying to tell his side of the story and one of the cops was just as animated in yelling at him. I've been known to be a little nosey from time to time and I just wanted to know what was going on. So I proceeded to lay on the floor and crack open my window to try and hear the argument. Our window is fairly close to the parking lot and is very noisey when it is opened....hence the secrecy and laying on the floor. Unfortunately they weren't talking loud enough for me to catch what they were saying but I did see them cuff the guy and take him away. Later, when we went out to ride bikes I noticed another bottle of the same whiskey on the grass in front of my house. Trying to get rid of some evidence I suspect. (Yeah, I watch CSI) The kids enjoyed watching me being sneaky and then got a lesson on what happens when you're bad.....you go to JAIL!!! I think I'll use it next time they don't nap.

By the way, I think I get my noseiness from my mother who has been known to lay on her bedroom floor, peer out the window and listen to her crazy neighbors scream at each other and call the cops. But then again, what else is she supposed to do at 2 am??

What's up people???

Am I just not writing anything interesting enough to comment on? Or have you stopped reading? Or are you intentionally trying to make me cry? I'm trying to think of reasons why you all aren't commenting on my witty and wonderful posts? Hook me up people! I'm feeling very unloved! ;-) (I'm only partially kidding!)

A couple of funnies from today

I got the hiccups at dinner which still hurts my back so I had a painful look on my face and complained a bit to which Samantha responded, "Tough it up mom!". I couldn't help but laugh.

Alex and Samantha were playing outside after dinner and she came inside to complain that her head got hurt. Alex was running behind her saying, "You won't die, it's okay, you won't die.". Can you tell what we say often to our children???

Enjoyable

I enjoyed listening to Andy scream for the USA basketball team this morning against China and Samantha repeating the cheers. Then she would run upstairs and tell me about the cool "goal" that a guy made by spinning around and dunking. I also enjoyed watching Archery and the kids getting into it by asking what score each person got and keeping track of how many 9's and how many 10's there were. As you can tell, we are enjoying the Olympics!!

Oh, and did you SEE those Opening Ceremonies??? I usually skip those but I was entranced by the sheer quantity of people involved and the fabulous costumes. Best Opening ceremonies ever. I was taking notes on what to have Andy buy me when he's there in April.

Side note: I'm watching water polo right now and the men wear very tiny Speedos. Not that I'm complaining.

Most expensive Build A Bear EVER!

My mom took all of the grandkids to Build A Bear and let them choose an animal and an outfit. The kids had a great time but, of course, Alex and Samantha enjoyed playing with the box more than anything. Here's the proof....

Long Lost Friends

Jenny, my best friend from high school, and her family came over for dinner last night and it was so good to see her and her husband again and meet her two beautiful daughters (they live in Ohio). Her oldest, Ali, is 3 and got along famously with my 2 kids and her 4 month old Sophie had me wrapped around her little finger! We have not seen each other since my wedding day and there was a lot of catching up to do. Andy felt bad that his hamburgers did not come out as he liked but I still thought they tasted good. The fact that I didn't have to stand over the hot flames and cook them made them taste that much better. Not that I ever have (or ever will) cook on the grill, but you know what I mean! The sky was overcast and we were able to eat outside which is a first for the summer. It's been so hot and we have a very sunny backyard so only on the overcast days can we spend much time back there. Thanks for coming over guys and spending some of your vacation time with us! See you again in another 5 years!

FHE

This is how our family home evening just went......the picture for the evening : Peter's Denial.

Andy: "Do you guys know who this is?" (Pointing at Peter)

Samantha: "Jesus!"

Andy: "No, this is Jesus in the dark back here. This man in front is Peter."

Samantha: "Yeah, like Peter Pan!!"

Andy: "No, not Peter Pan, just Peter."

Alex: "Peter Parker!!!!!!"

I didn't catch the rest of the lesson because I was silently laughing to myself in the corner. If they weren't so much darn work I'd have a hundred kids just for the things they say.