(Left)before picture (right)Cleaning out the weeds (yes E is in her diaper, her shorts got wet and she had to strip them off)
(left) planting the flowers
(right) the finished product.
I think we need more flowers. But all in all it is much better than before.
one down
He loves me
DH brought home these beautiful flowers yesterday. He is so sweet. E was really excited. She is now old enough to understand what it means when daddy brings home flowers & she loves it. She always says "daddy bought me flowers." I guess I will let her live in her blissful world & think they are for her.
He better love me
OK the number one reason my husband better love me is: I MOWED THE LAWN AGAIN.
He loves it when I have an opportunity to mow the lawn. This means that is one less thing he has to do this weekend.
Wild West
These are pictures of my wild flower bed that need to be tamed. I will let you know when there is a change. Yes this is three separate flower beds. These are all in the back yard. We have a lot in the front also.
Trash Pick Up
Today I was out front with my kids. E was riding her bike and someone had busted a bottle to the side of our house on the sidewalk. She almost cut her foot. Then there was a gatorade bottle on the street near our yard. Then I saw 3 teenage boys walking home from school and they threw an empty can on my neighbors yard. I said, "you should pick that up"& he said it was not his and I said I saw you throw it. Then they just kept walking. I said I know where yall live & will tell your parents. Then they walked around the block & while I was inside they picked up the can. I went back outside & they were walking past again & I said, "look I am not trying to be mean I just want you to pick up your trash" they showed me that they pick it up & I said thank you that is so good of you.
In between the time I asked them to pick up the trash I had gone inside & called DH. We were worried they would come back and do something to our house. You know it is really sad that we have to be scared to exercise our authority as parents and adults. But I am really glad I had the courage to stand up to them & that it turned out good. Now hopefully they won't throw their trash down again, at least not when I am watching.
100 things about me
I actually sat down & did this. It was very refreshing to dig deep into my soul to come up with my 100 things about me. I hope you will take a little time to get to know me better.
1. I crave alone time.
2. My favorite color is purple.
3. I know & love sign language.
4. I could spend all day reading.
5. I want to go to New Zealand & Australia.
6. I am a very impatient person.
7. I love bags & purses.
8. I love stationary and writing utensils but rarely use them.
9. I want to be a crafty person but am never very good.
10. My husband & I are complete opposites.
11. I love Drumstix vanilla cones.
12. My pet pevee is when people get road rage.
13. I will never get my kids a pet.
14. I love being outside only when the weather is perfectly perfect.
15. I prefer watching movies in the theater.
16. I love to plan things way far in advance.
17. I like making lists.
18. I am tired of thinking of new things to cook.
19. I make spur of the moment decisions. "Ok lets go to the store, now."
20. Sometimes I will just get in the van and go, not knowing where we are headed.
21. I love to spend time around family.
22. I hate calling people, I am always worried they are too busy to talk. So I rarely call anyone.
23. I love Blogs.
24. I hate math & was never any good at it.
25. I miss old friends & think often of people who have had an impact on my life.
26. I hope I have made an impact upon people too.
27. I love it when my kids are napping.
28. I love when my husband buys me flowers, which is about once every 1 or 2 months.
29. I love to give gifts to people.
30. I love that my husband can do wood working and is currently building our kitchen table.
31. I want to take an everyday sewing class while the kids are being bsat. Too bad that is not an option.
32. I want to learn how to play the piano.
33. I want to teach another sign language class.
34. I want to learn to speak Spanish.
35. I want my next car to be a Honda Pilot. With all the extras.
36. I am ready for my next kid, but not.
37. I need a makeover.
38. I would love to have a personal chef.
39. We just got memberships to the local REC CENTER GYM . Wonder how many times we will go?
40. I have a hard time retaining facts.
41. I love LOST and can't wait for the season to start again.
42. I want thing to happen now, like Steve building my new desk.
43. I love to organize stuff.
44. I would sleep till 8am every morning if I could & go to bed at 11pm.
45. I like oatmeal the way my dad makes it (lots of sugar, butter & sausage)
46. I love to play volleyball.
47. I love our house but hate that you actually have to clean it everyday. Can't it just stay clean a little longer.
48. I hate white milk & love chocolate milk.
49. My favorite ice cream is Blue Bell Fudge Nut Brownie then Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.
50. My favorite candy bar is the blue Symphony bar. (almonds & toffee chips) Skor is a close second.
51. I would like to learn how to arrange flowers.
52. I have never been to Disneyland or World & want to go.
53. Mexican food is my favorite.
54. I have to stop comparing myself to others.
55. I love to get letter or packages in the mail.
56. I want to do things my way. I usually think my way is the better way. I know it is something I am trying to overcome.
57. I love that I can tell my mom anything.
58. I am glad I am close with my brothers & sister.
59. I want people to visit me at my house. I am tired of going to theirs.
60. I can eat rice with chopsticks.
61. I love it when my husband tells me to leave & he will watch the kids.
62. I love a freshly mowed lawn.
63. I would love to put flowers in our flowerbeds but I don't want to do it.
64. I don't like getting my hands dirty.
65. I am so sick of people telling me my daughter is quite a unique challenge. yeah I know!!!!
66. My least favorite stage of my children is the toddler stage.
67. I want to go back to school and get my degree.
68. When my children are all older I want to teach.
69. I try to be sympathetic with people.
70. I worry.
71. I have a hard time using my imagination & coming up with new ideas.
72. I drink water all the time.
73. I went for a year on my mission with out eating chocolate because a lady had to give up coffee and could not do it on her own.
74. I went to California on my mission & my favorite area was Napa Valley (yep, wine country)
75. I love rolling hills.
76. I love to look out my window & see snow.
77. I am scared to death of my calling as Gospel Doctrine teacher.
78. I wish I had a quieter voice.
79. I wish I had a BFF.
80. I am glad I made good choices growing up so my kids can't air out my dirty laundry.
81. I need to be less selfish.
82. I wish there was more time in the day.
83. I want a personal nanny. It would be great not to feel bad to ask someone to babysit.
84. I want to take my husband to a Billy Cosby concert (he loves him) but it is soooo expensive.
85. I like to get things done.
86. I love my Palm Treo phone. I will never switch back to a regular phone.
87. I wonder what people think of me?
88. I wish Elvis had not come to our wedding reception.
89. Steve said maybe next year I can take a weekend trip by myself. Where should I go?
90. I love tradition.
91. But love change.
92. I love moving but miss things before.
93. Sometimes I wish I was 17 again.
94. I wish friends could go back like old times.
95. I wish I could travel in time.
96. Sometimes I wish I was invisible.
97. I love a newborn baby's innocence.
98. I want to lay on a beach.
99. I hope I can return to live with God and have him be happy at the life I have lived.
100. I am happy to be me.
HELP
Our new ward has this thing they do every year. Each month a different couple hosts dinner for a few other couples in there home. It gives everyone a chance to socialize with out the kids. November is my month to host and I need help with ideas. What do I serve 2 weeks before Thanksgiving? Dinner and desert. Also we are in charge of the activity at our house that night. What should we do? I know how creative all of you are out there, so please help me because I am lacking in that department. Thanks
1st tooth
Here is it! Spencer's 1st tooth. It took me so long to get this picture he already has another one.
My Blankets
If anyone knows Emma you have seen how attached she is to her "blankets."
Well they are no more. She has grown out of the stage of needing them all the time. The old friends are being tossed aside. My little girl is growing up. But she will always be "my baby."
New Callings
Well Steve started seminary today and let me say it was off to a rocky start. The kids were very talkative. Hopefully as the days continue they will show a little more respect.
I am gospel doctrine teacher and it also has been challenging. I am amazed at how much the Lord knows where we need to grow and progress and then he gives us the opportunities to do so.
Another Boy
Lavonda (my brother John's wife) had her sonigram today and they are having a boy. This was a great day for them because they have been married for 5 years and never been able to get pregnant until now. But last year they adopted a little boy "Jacob" and now they are pregnant. So they will have 2 little boys under the age of 2, how fun!
ITS A BOY
ITS A BOY
ITS A BOY
ITS A BOY
Sat. is my sister Kelly's baby shower. I wanted to throw it and have it at my house but everyone said they did not want to drive an hour to get to it. So I am trying to help in any way I can. Hope everyone comes and has a great time. She is having a boy via C Section on Sept 13 and his name is Aiden.
ITS A BOY
ITS A BOY
Bags Bags Bags
If you know me you know I have a bag problem. I love bags and am always looking for the perfect one. I just found it. Well at least until I find one that is better. It has a great color (stem green- but comes in other colors) & look. the shoulder strap has a non slip spot (never slides off). You can pick it up by the short handles or wear it across your front. It has a ton of zipper pockets including a clip for your key and small side pockets for quick access to stuff. It has a top compartment that is lined with soft plastic to put snacks in so you don't get the rest of your bag messy. Last but not least it has a ton of room & and is a great airplane carry on, diaper bag, or me-bag. Love it.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA TOLMAN
I REALLY DO LOVE THE TIME WE GET TO SPEND TOGETHER
I LOVE THAT WE NEVER FIGHT
I LOVE THAT YOU GET ALONG WITH MY HUSBAND
I LOVE THAT YOU OPEN YOUR HOME TO ONE AND ALL
I LOVE THAT YOU ARE SUCH GOOD COMPANY
AND MOST OF ALL I LOVE THAT YOU ARE MY GRANDMA
Reading
Ok so right now I am reading the DiVinci Code. I know finally right. Well if you know me I am a slow reader and I love to relish each word. But lately I am getting frustrated because I spend all day yesterday reading my current book and still did not feel like I got anywhere. Steve said , "you should learn how to speed read." I said, "What and miss all good stuff." So I guess I want my cake and eat it too.
I am hosting Book Club at my house next month and I suggested we read "The Time Traveler's Wife" because ever since Ally said it was a good book it has been on my list. And Since Farrah & Kristy said they really enjoyed it I figured it would be a good one to choose. I will let you know how the Book & Book Club turn out.
San Antonio Trip
We had a wonderful time in San Antonio. To add to Steve's blog. We did get to the water park on saturday and got to ride all the rides there. Steve go a bad sunburn on part of his arm & back. I just got a better tan. We also got to see Bourne Ultimatum. Got Massages at the Hotel Omni Spa. We loved our room at the Omni. Also ate at the Hard Rock Cafe and walked around the beautiful river walk. Oh and saw the Alamo. Here are a few pictures.
San Antonio Report: Part 1
I'm gonna get the first post in here post-trip. We had a very great trip. We got to San Antonio right as planned without delay and got to check into our hotel early. After checking in and changing we headed off to Six Flags. Due to all of the rain, the water park portion of Six Flags was closed, so we rode a number of the roller coasters. I actually rode two or three coasters, Kathy rode a few more (I tend to get motion sickness / headaches...). The greatest thing was that we only had to wait in one line (and that was b/c they had to clean the ride after someone threw up...and yes, somehow I still rode that one...). We had ridden all of the rides we wanted to ride in 2-3 hours, so we went to see Harry Potter in IMAX 3D. They gave us these silly glasses that we thought were fairly useless, that is until the final showdown. Kathy kept leaning over to me asking if "he was right in front of me..." or something similar, it was awesome. We then tried to find a restaurant that we had driven by called Salt-Wheat Steakhaus (at least I enjoyed making up lots of different names for the restaurant...). Our GPS took us to a different one, about 10 minutes away from our hotel, that was surprisingly hard to get to from the interstate. In the course of trying to get into the parking we took a small detour (which drove Kathy nuts...I can understand why...I mean...we had our GPS...). Well, during our detour we saw almost 20 deer, about half of those looked like babies. It was quite strange to look to one side and see more, all less than 5 minutes from the interstate. It must be fun to live in that little neighborhood. We finally found the restaurant near our hotel and after some bad service that took forever (they lost our order and undercooked our food) we finally called it a night.
-Steve :)
San Antonio Here we come
We leave in the morning to go on our trip to San Antonio. I know the weather is yucky, but the plans are made and the bags are pa...well not all the way packed but we are still going. Childless and fancy free! We are on our way. We will be sure to take the camera and bring some of the fun with us.
The BENCH
This is the Steve's first project he has built from the ground up, all by himself. He did a great job! He also let Emma help while he stained it. Now she says, "thats my bench, I helped daddy paint it." I am so grateful to him for making her feel special. Hopefully now The BENCH will always carry with it a special father/daughter memory.
My two GAP kids
Ok love the GAP. I saw these two shirts at the outlet and thought it would make a cute brother/sister photo. I was right!
More pics from week with my SIS...
Here are some more photos from the week spent with my sister and all our crazy kids. The sandbox picture is actually a dinosaur dig at the museum. We tried taking the kids to a free planetarium show but the first minute we were in there they turned off the lights and one by one all five kids started screaming, so we left. We got our use out of my double stroller. At one point we had 3 kids in there. It was so much fun. Thanks Kelly for a fun 2 days!
Fowler Grandparents
Emma was so excited when we told her Grandma and Grandpa Fowler were coming to visit as they passed through to go to Utah. We were so glad to see them, even if they could only stay for 1 night. It was fun to have them visit. They are welcome anytime.
Guilty Pleasures
Big Brother
I know we are all weird for having those little things we like that we know we are better without but we just love them so we keep them....yes, they are guilty pleasures. Mine is reality T.V. This summer it is Big Brother on CBS to be exact. But everytime I ask someone if they watch it, they say no, "I don't like that show." Am I the only one out there that likes to watch????? Please let me know if I have any Big Brother friends out there!
Spencer's first tooth
My son is 9 months old and is getting his first tooth. This is not a picture of him, but of how he must feel.
Shoes Shoes Shoes
I went to Dillards to buy a much need pair of shoes for church. Emma had a blast and tried on many different pairs herself. This was one of them. She was so cute walking around in them. She is such a girl!
Fear of Heights....
Good evening fine peoples! I have poked my head in to the ether to inform everyone that yesterday, as we were enjoying the American Airlines Summer Picnic at Hurricane Harbor (a water park...) that Kathy was more afraid of heights than I was. When we drove by Six Flags later I think she got sick to her stomach just looking at one of the big roller coasters.... We were standing in line for the ride, somewhere on the stairs and she just started to go nuts about how high up we were and how scary it was. This is just amusing (most likely, only for me, but I felt I should share...). She may make say that these claims are all false, but I assure you, they are all true. (In all truthfulness I work on the sixth floor and I make a point to not look down when I am near places where I could....)
Cousins
Today Kelly (my sister) came over and brought her daughter Kristen, Jacob (my brother's son) & Nevaeh. They had so much fun with my kids and always love to see their cousins. We swam, played games (ring around the rosies), and watched a movie. This is a cute picture of them all in the bath.
Sunday Shoes
I dressed Emma in this beautiful white dress from the GAP and she got to pick the shoes she wanted to wear. She tapped around in them for an hour before we went to church.
San Antonio Here we come
Ok we chose to go to San Antonio, TX. We are going to get Six Flags Season passes and go both days. The Six Flags in San Antonio has a water park inside the theme park which will also be fun. We are going to save the different trip ideas for next year. We thought if we are going that far we need more time. So we are going to enjoy ourselves at Six Flags and maybe even get a tan!
Coupon Savings
So I told yall I was going to share what I learned at our money saving Enrichment night. Basically every monday go to Walmart & buy the $2.00 double decker paper (they only charged me $1.50 today). It has twice the ads. Then go and clip the ads of things your family will use. Then go to www.thegrocerygame.com and sign up. It is $1 trial for the first month. Then every 2 months it is $10. You can cancel anytime with no penalties. You have to go to the website each week and print out a list of the one store (example: Albertsons, Walgreens, CVS, Target) you shop most from. Then she has listed all the sales from that store, (advertised and unadvertised). She even tells you when you can match your coupon with the sale in the store for a super savings. If you want to add more than one store it is $5 more. Also you can go to coupons.50webs.org for Target coupons. That is the jist of it. There are more details if you are interested. You can save a ton of money on groceries. Well wish me luck! Happy Saving!
Spencer is AWAKE
Every morning when Emma wakes up, whether Spencer is awake or not, she says "mom Spencer is awake." So today we went in and she crawled in bed with him & told me to go get the camera because they looked cute.
Curl attempt
I used the sponge curlers and they worked pretty good. Next time I will have to keep them in longer. She would not sit still for a picture, she was bouncing off the walls.
Try #2
Well I used sponge curlers on this try and it was cute. It did not last very long. Next time we will put the curlers in earlier in the morning. Oh and she would not stay still for me to get a very good picture of her so this is it. She is a cutie!
The long awaited HAIRCUT
When I say long awaited I am not kidding. I have not had a haircut since before Spencer was born. He is almost 9 months old. Thanks to my wonderful husband that watched the kids this morning while I got my hair done. Here are some before and after pictures.
Free ride and no where to go!
Well since Steve started work at American Airlines we have been itching to travel and we just can't pick a place. We kinda need to be frugal about what we spend money wise. So does anyone have any ideas. I know yall read my blog, so here is your chance to live vicariously through me. Have fun!
Is he cute or what.
I just can't get enough of that cute smile. Every time I pointed the camera at him he would stop & look or smile. And yes his hair is shorter. I cut it again.
the hair that does not curl
Sunday we tried once again to curl Emma's hair. This curl lasted no more than 10 min. She has straight hair like mom that just won't curl. Oh and yes this is a recent picture with the bangs that she cut herself.
Longest 15 minutes ever
After we came home from the park today. I pulled into the garage and unlocked the door to the house and dropped off my purse and keys in the kitchen. I usually get Spencer out first and Emma is always last for the very reason I am about to tell you. But Spencer was sleeping and I thought if I get him last then maybe I can keep him asleep. Well, to no avail because Emma ran in the house and locked the garage door on us. So Spencer and I in the hot garage on a hot day and I am trying to coax my 2 year old to open the door. The only thing I hear on the other side is, "mommy you forgot your keys!" She tried a few times to open the door then .....silence. I am yelling her name, please open the door & a few other things. I am just imagining being locked out of the house all day and not knowing what to do. Well finally after the longest 15 min. ever she finally opens the door. As you can imagine she got in major trouble and I said you are taking a nap right now and in your own bed. You are not sleeping in our bed anymore. She fell asleep.......& here is proof. I am sure one day I will be able to laugh at this.
New Haircut
I am going to get a haircut this weekend. Can anyone send me any pictures of cute hairstyles that I can choose from. Any ideas?
On a mission
Ok I am on a mission this week to save money. On thursday night we are having this lady at church talk to us about professional couponing. Should be fun. I will let you know if I learn anything useful. Does anyone out there have any money saving tips they would like to pass along?
Baseball Fanatic
Last week we went to the RAVE free movie here in town and they showed Everybody's Hero. It is a cute animated feature about a boy loves baseball and is on a journey to return a stolen bat to Babe Ruth. Well, ever since that movie Emma has been asking to play baseball. So at Walmart the other day I bought her a sponge bat & ball. Daddy and Emma played outside and had a blast. She asks to play all the time. It is so cute.
