Cravings

I know that after a good workout you are supposed to feel pumped up and ready to eat healthy, blah blah. But you know what I feel like after my workouts???? A cheeseburger. Or maybe a giant cookie. Or a chocolate shake. I would eat any of those things if I had them available to me after my workouts. Instead, I tried to be good today and had a weight loss shake when I got home. I'm still thinking about that cheeseburger though.....

3 weeks.....and counting

Andy has been home (ie. not gone on a business trip!) for 3 whole weeks now and let me just say, it has been pleasant!! Usually he is home for a week and then has to be gone part or all of the next week and it goes like that week after week. Bless his heart, he's been trying really hard to do his best at his job while not traveling as much and I know it weighs on his mind. So, Andy, I just wanted you know I appreciate your effort to slack at work so that you can be home with your family!! Keep up the good work!!

The Opera

I was looking in the newspaper one Sunday a few weeks ago and noticed an ad for the Utah Opera. Their newest opera is The Marriage of Figaro. I've always wanted to go to the opera and since I actually recognized the title of this one, I thought I'd bring it up to Andy. Surprisingly, he said that he has wanted to go to the opera as well! We have a babysitter, we're buying the tickets on Friday and my new custom made little black dress should be ready by then!! Now, I just need to find out what in the world the opera is about!!!! www.utahopera.org mentioned an online class that you could sign up for the 4 weeks prior to the opera. They are just little lectures that come into your email and you can read as much as you like! It really is fantastic! I am looking forward to knowing a little bit more about operas in general and I think I will enjoy the opera even more if I actually know the story!! Thankfully they have English "subtitles" to go along with the Italian singing. Aren't we oh so cultured??? Not too cultured though.....I still plan on bringing candy in my purse to snack on! You can take the girl out of Payson........

A little difficult for a 4 year-old to grasp.....

My sister Richele came over this morning. She is pregnant and her belly has decided to show it. We were talking to the kids about it as they were eating lunch and explaining that she has a baby growing in her tummy. Alex piped up and said, "Your tummy is big Shell-Bell!". I'm sure Richele appreciated that!

So, obviously Samantha had babies on the brain because as I was putting her to nap we had this conversation:

Samantha: "Mom, are you going to have a baby?"

Me: (Well, my brain was screaming NO WAY IN HELL AM I GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER CHILD), but this is what I really said, "No sweetie, mommy isn't going to have another baby."

Samantha: "Why not? You could have a baby in your belly."

Me: "No baby, mommy can't have babies in her belly because I'm missing something."

Samantha: "What are you missing?"

Me: "I'm missing something called a uterus which is where the babies lives inside the mommy and grows big. I don't have one so I can't have any babies in my tummy."

Samantha: "Well, maybe you could borrow Richele's!"

Me: "Um, no that's not really how it works." (Fighting back the laughter)

Samantha: "Maybe you could pray to get one!" (Now I'm kinda touched!)

Me: "That is a really good idea babe, but I already have you and Alex and my family is perfect so I think we'll just leave it like it is!"

These kids amaze me every day with the things they come up with!! And now that you all have learned more about me and my anatomy I'm sure you'll be able to go about your day in peace!!! You're welcome!!!

President's Day Bowling and Food Poisoning

For our day off last Monday we went bowling with the Hall's and had a great time. I did really awful until the 10th frame and then I got 3 strikes in a row!!! It was terrific! After bowling we ate at Costa Vida which is right in the bowling ally. This is where it all went downhill. Alex, Andy and I all got food poisoning!! I still can't think of the food we ate because it makes me sick! Needless to say we will never be eating there again! A few days later while playing at the playground with the kids Cameron came up and asked me, "Is your food poisonous all gone?". Thankfully, yes, it was all gone by then. Cameron took a picture of Kami and I....pretty good job Cam-bam!!
All 4 kids totally done bowling and ready for lunch.
Samantha was very girly in pushing her ball.....hand on her hip and doing it with flair!!!
Alex laughing and just being a goon!!
Thanks for letting me steal these pictures Kami!!

My life

This is what life is like when your kids are only 14 months apart. This was my life every day. This was my uniform every day. And, I hate to admit it.....but sometimes I miss it. Now I have to catch the kids and grab a quick kiss and snuggle before they wiggle out of my arms. And yes, that is Alex's crib in the living room. Good times!

Admission

Fine, fine, fine!!! I admit it!!!

I WEAR MOM JEANS!!!!!

I bought a pair of cute looking, cheap jeans at Costco. I got home and tried them on. They are mom jeans. Therefore, the waist is a little bit high. But guess what??? I DON'T CARE!! I LOVE THEM! THEY ARE THE MOST COMFORTABLE JEANS I'VE EVER OWNED!! In fact, I'll probably go back and buy some more!! You can't really tell they are mom jeans when the top is covered by a shirt. So, if you are like me and wear most shirts long and not tucked in, then you would love these jeans as well!! Aside from the high waist they are very fashionable and cute and come in many colors. AND, when we went bowling on Monday my mom commented many times on how good my butt looked in them....which is the true sign of a good pair of jeans. Yes, oh yes, I think I will purchase another pair (or two)!!

Further proof that Alex is the cutest and sweetest little boy EVER!

And, yes mom, this IS a video....not just a picture! Click on the little arrow button to play the video! ;-)

Valentine's Day at the Higham's House

Because nothing says "I love you" like sweet pirate accessories!!!


These lucky children got pirate accessories as part of their Valentine's gifts and they were totally happy about it!! Samantha walked around the house with the eye patch on shouting things like, "Get off my boat!" and "Walk the plank!". She is a true pirate!!!

Cookies

Do you realize how many cookies have been baked in this house in the past 2 months?? I am trying to perfect my cookie recipe and then I am going to enter it in the Pillsbury Bake Off!!!! "What's the prize?" you may ask?!!?! Well I am glad that you asked............

1 MILLION DOLLARS!!!!!!

If this cookie can win me 1 million dollars, I won't know what to do with myself! Besides have a PARTAY!!! There are some rules to follow and ingredients that need to be used so I am tweaking my recipe and making sure it is just perfect before I send it in. Andy's co-workers have been fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to try almost every batch and vote on their favorite. I like a lot of input so I can decide which ingredients work best and which are going to go for the million dollars. I think I have decided on the final ingredients and now I am going to make batch after batch for consistency purposes. Then, I am going to give the recipe to a very select few and have them try to make the cookies and see if they all taste the same. This has been quite the labor of love for me and it has been a lot of fun as well. It's also been expensive buying all the ingredients!! Hopefully it'll be worth it in the end! I have trained Alex well and when I ask who makes the best cookies he enthusiastically replies "You momma!!!". Damn straight!

Our $15 Disney Photo

In Disneyland they have professional photographers stationed throughout the park to take your family photos. The first time you get one they give you a card that you carry with you all day and each time you take a photo you hand it to the photographer. At the end of the day you can log on to their website and view all the photos they have taken. Then, you can cut off your arm and your leg to pay for them!!! A 5X7 is $14.00!! We had enough good pictures of our own that the only one we wanted to pay for was this family photo. I thought it turned out cute and it just isn't a Disneyland trip without a picture in front of the castle. We opted to purchase the download of this photo for $15 but now we have unlimited access to it. I am really looking forward to taking the kids to Disneyland again. Plus, we need an excuse to wear our Mickey ears again!!!

Dress up

Nicole came over last week (before The Plague hit our house) and she and my kids enjoyed dressing up like princesses. Even Alex joined the fun though it's not shown in this picture. He is a very pretty princess!!

Nasty

I've decided one of my least favorite things about being married is...........

Cleaning a toilet that a man uses.

'NUFF SAID!!!!

Broccoli

My herbivore of a son just had steamed broccoli as a snack. He came in the kitchen and told Andy and I that he was hungry (again!!! kid must be growing) and so Andy replied that he could have some broccoli. I'm quite certain that he was joking but Alex thought that was a great idea. So I steamed up some fresh broccoli and Alex happily ate it for a snack at 10:30 am. He even asked for seconds. I love this kid!!!!!

Sickies

At least the kids aren't sick! But Andy and I sure are feeling it! I am going on day 3 now which is about a day and a half longer than I am usually sick but I still have body aches, runny nose, slight cough and I feel SO weak. I almost passed out in the kitchen this morning. Andy was gone from Monday through Wednesday so my sweet mom came over Wednesday afternoon to help me with the kids and laundry (which, by the way, still isn't put away even though my mom washed and folded everything perfectly!). I was so happy that Andy was coming home and would be able to help me but he got home and was so pale that I knew I'd have to step up and finish with the chores and kids myself. He looked AWFUL! He went up to bed at 5 pm and took a pretty good nap and woke up just in time for me to come to bed and pass out! Andy has taken the last 2 days off of work for himself and to help me which I appreciate very much!! Right now I am mostly praying that the kids don't get sick and that Andy and I get better soon!! Or, as Samantha puts it "Bless that Mommy's cold will go to someone else.".

SERENITY NOW!!!!!

SERENITY NOW! SERENITY NOW!!!!

Draper Temple

Yesterday afternoon we took the kids to the open house for the new Draper Temple. We thought it was important for the kids to have the chance to see inside the temple so it wouldn't be such a mystery to them. The temple was BEAUTIFUL!!! Like pretty much everything the church does it was classy and gorgeous. The woodwork was amazing and the stained glass work was even more amazing. I loved it because it reminded me of Frank Lloyd Wright who I adore!! They also had a great display of temples in the reception afterward with yummy cookies and water. I loved all the pictures of the temples and of Christ. I wish that we would have had a non-member friend to take with us like we did when we went to the open house for the Manhattan temple. We were lucky enough to live in New Jersey when the Manhattan temple had its open house and our friends Ashly and Jesse and Ashly's sister were in town as well. Ashly's sister brought along a co-worker who isn't LDS. It was kind of fun and strange to see it through his eyes. I am not sure the impression it made on him, but I hope that he enjoyed it.

The kids were really good through the whole thing and Alex exclaimed, "I love this temple, I want to come back!". I thought that was a really cute thing for him to say! Samantha made all the people on the bus laugh when she saw Moroni on the top of the temple and she said, "There's Moroni with his telescope!". When we asked Samantha her favorite part of the temple she said, "The cookies.". Well, right there is further proof that she is a Higham!!!

The ever mysterious accent of Kristi

Many times throughout my life I have been asked by strangers if I am from either Minnesota or Wisconsin because of my accent. The lady at the spa in California thought I was from the South. Yesterday at Target the checkout girl asked if I was from England. Really?? Do I really sound that strange? I guess it must just be a "Utah" accent which is just a combination of hick and California. I would blame it on being from Payson but I don't use the word "ain't" often enough.

California - January 2009

Saturday
* We left for the airport around 9 am for our 11 am flight. We even got out the door a few minutes early!! Shocking!
* Arrived at the airport and checked in with no problems. We were at the airport at the beginning of the Sundance Film Festival and we saw lots of paparazzi and caught a glimpse of Susan Sarandon. She is short.
*Kids were great on the flight and we had plenty of room since the plane was more than half empty (or half full if you're an optimist like me!!!).
* My favorite part of the flight was Alex patting on his legs at take-off like they do in Little Einsteins to help Rocket fly. Too cute!!!
* Arrived in Santa Ana, got rental car and drove to the condo.
* Stripped off clothes and ran naked in the warmth.
* Went to the grocery store to stock up on supplies for the kitchen and got some lunch.
* We drove around to look for an Old Navy to buy some shorts (it was hot!) but the kids were being rotten so we went back to the condo, had a small dinner and put the kids to bed.
* You don't want to hear about the rest of Andy's and my night (wink, wink!!).

Sunday
*We woke up early - courtesy of the time change and the children! - and got ready for the hour and a half drive to Sea World
* We got to Sea World just before 10 am and went straight in to the whale training area and had Breakfast with Shamu.
* We sat in the sun and ate a yummy buffet breakfast and watched the whales swim and train and learned a little bit about them.
* I'm certain I enjoyed the breakfast more than anyone else since I love marine life. Well, not so much marine life as just whales and dolphins and the cute, smart ones. The ugly, gross ones not so much!
* Sea World was a big hit for everyone and we had a great day. We went to all the shows we could fit in, I got a HUGE yummy Pepsi in a hideous cup that I brought home, the kids were great and the Sesame Street area was a great thing for the kids to be able to run around and get some energy out.
* On the way home we stopped at the Chart House for dinner which was delicious. We caught the sunset and were lucky enough to see a pod of dolphins swimming in the ocean and playing around. It's quite different to see them in the wild as opposed to jumping and clapping for an audience.
* Both kids passed out in the car on the drive home and for the first time in their little lives we were able to carry them from the car and into bed without a fuss and they slept the night!!! If you know my kids at all, you know how amazing that is!!

Monday
* We woke up a little later on Monday and had a leisurely morning in the condo watching cartoons and playing around.
* Finally around 10 am we headed to the beach.
* California beaches suck. There is washed up stinky marine life and the water is FRIGID! I prefer soft, white sandy beaches, but I'm from Utah.....I can't afford to be picky!
* The sun hid behind the clouds but it was still warm for us and we dug in the sand and made sand castles and just played around for an hour.
* We went and picked up some lunch and took it back to the condo and ate, cleaned up and tried to get the kids to nap.
* Alex took a great nap and Samantha rested for a little while.
* Once Alex woke up we went to the pool but the water wasn't very warm and the sun was on it's way to setting, so we didn't stay long there either.
* We went to a grocery store to pick up some BBQ fixins since the condo had a grill outside. But upon our return the grill was occupied so we cooked our food inside, which, was not too pleasant for Andy since he didn't have all the necessary equipment. But it was edible.
* Bathtime and bedtime

Tuesday
* Disneyland!!!
* We arrived at Disneyland an hour before the park opened like we were instructed to do. It turned out to be a good thing because our friends the Fausts were there and got us in early with their passes.
* It was so great to see our friends and their adorable family. Little Adam is 7 months old and so squishable!!
* The kids had a rough start and were so confused by the whole concept of Disneyland (their faces were like "what the hell??" But really, who's face wouldn't be like that? Most of the rides are dark and creepy and make no sense unless you're on drugs! Even the puny Winnie the Pooh ride. INSANE!!! But I digress.) . We rode Dumbo and the Teacups which they both loved and that kind of got them into the swing of things. We went to Pixie Hollow and Samantha got to meet Tinkerbell and another Fairy which she loved. Alex couldn't have cared less! That's my boy!!
* We rode rides. Kids cried. Samantha drew blood on Andy's arm. Samantha screamed. Andy and I laughed. We spent money. Lots of money.
* We ate lunch at the Blue Bayou which is attached to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and Andy and I clogged our arteries with Monte Cristo sandwiches. Greasy and tasty!
* Andy told Alex he would buy him pirate junk if he went on the Pirate ride. So he did. He cried, but said he wanted to go on it again as he was wearing his Pirate Mickey ears (adorable!).
* Took both kids on Splash Mountain. I have never seen anyone as scared as Samantha was. Slightly sad, slightly funny. She was tough though.
* Ate ice cream, went on more rides, spent more money.
* When we decided we were done with Disneyland we left the park and found a yummy taco place where we all shoved chips and guacamole in our mouths. Especially Samantha. Guacamole whore.
* We weren't even out of the parking lot before Samantha was fast asleep clutching her baby Minnie Mouse doll. Alex was too pumped up to fall asleep in the car, but slept well at night.

Wednesday
* Kind of a waste of a day. No real plans except to swim and shop but Samantha was an angry little elf so we put her down for an early nap.
* We thought she'd wake up happy and ready to conquer the day. We were wrong.
* We took the kids to lunch at a mall but had to go right back home since Samantha was feeling under the weather and very cranky.
* Andy watched the kids at the condo while I drove to Huntington Beach and got a lovely spa treatment courtesy of my dear husband!
* I relaxed in the sauna. Dipped in the hot tub. Tried the steam room and almost passed out! Received a volcanic body scrub and facial and fell asleep during the whole process! Lovely!
* I got home, we ordered pizza and had an early night.

Thursday
* We flew home. Kids were great on the airplane again and we got home early enough to do some laundry and clean up the house.

I would love to take the kids to Disneyland again and next time I think 2 days would be better. I also hope Samantha will get a little more brave and will enjoy more rides next time. Lessons learned!!

California Trip (FINALLY)

So, I'm not a huge fan of these sideshows, but there were so many pictures I wanted to include that this was the easiest way. If you want to look picture by picture you can click on the sideshow which will take you to their website and you can look through each picture. I find that to be easier.
I will post later all the details of the trip because I KNOW that you have been biting your nails just waiting to hear all about the Higham's vacation!! We sure do know how to party!!