More snow, and other stuff too

I woke up this morning to snow falling again.... ugh! I am glad that the day has warmed up enough that the snow that did stick has melted away already. I am really antsy for SPRING... can you tell?!?! I feel like I over-blogged last week, and so I gave myself a break (and possibly my readers too, who must think I have nothing to do around here!)

We survived Spring Break and got Nathan off to school again. He was excited to be going back; he loves being at school and was particularly happy today to show his teacher all the books he had read during break. He is quite the reader, and has already polished off nearly half of the books we have on the kids bookshelf! We all suffered a bit with being sick, and am glad to be almost completely healthy again.

Notice I said "ALMOST completely". That means that mommy is still struggling with a stuffy/runny nose, and of all things a DANG cold sore. Nathan and Besty have them too. My poor kids! I feel there pain, more then I would like to admit. I have gotten cold sores as long as I can remember, and it is a plague that I have not enjoyed. Stress and being sick is what makes the flare up, and I HATE them!

Um, David returned home safely from Reavis Ranch Thursday night with some great stories and a few pretty good pictures too. I have never been to Reavis, and I swear I will go one day. I love to hike, camp and do all that outdoor-sy stuff, so I look forward to the day when the kids are all old enough to take camping, hiking and that sort of thing.

This next week is pretty busy, and I am looking forward to it. I have random/everyday stuff going like visiting teachers coming, but I am also performing a solo at the Enrichment Activity this month. It is on Thursday night and I am pretty excited. I have gotten more comfortable with singing, dancing and/or performing in front of people and only wish that I had this type of bravery and support in high school. Oh well...

So, Happy April Fools Day on Wednesday, and a very happy viewing of General Conference. I am looking forward to the messages that our leaders have for us. It should be interesting to see what the topics are... more on that later!

I spoke to soon

I felt like we had made a smooth transition into spring and I was rejoicing the feel of the warm sunny days and blossoming trees, BUT......it's snowing. High winds, super cloudy skies and SNOW. AHHHHGGGRRRRHHHGGG!!! I hate winter, especially when it won't go away.... grumble, grumble....

ABC Tag

Sherry tagged me with this one! It is pretty long, but here I go: =)

A-
Available: No, very happily married
Age: 27
Annoyance: When the kids don't listen, on purpose
Animal: Probably a dog

B-
Beer: Nope, never have, never will.
Birthday: September 11, 1981
Best Friend: My hubby
Body Part on opposite sex: Hair and eyes
Best feeling in the world: Laying in bed in the morning.
Blind or Deaf: Much rather be deaf.
Best weather: Sunny and hot
Been in Love: Yes, twice.
Been on stage?: Yes, more often lately.
Believe in Magic: Not really
Believe in Santa: Yes.

C-
Candy: I love gummy bears, gummy worms, and of course, chocolate.
Color: Red
Chocolate/Vanilla: Is this actually a question?!?! CHOCOLATE baby.
Chinese/Mexican Food: Mexican, all the way.
Cake or pie: Um, not really either. I like cream pies (NOT fruit).
Cheese: The more the better

D-
Day or Night: Night
Dancing in the rain: Yes, I LOVE rain.

E-
Eyes: Grayish blueish--blah.
Everyone's got: To be loved.
Ever failed a class?: More then I can count honestly.

F-
First thoughts waking up: NO, I don't want to get up!!!!!
Food: Chicken Divine and parsley potatoes... one of my moms greatest meals.

G-
Greatest Fear: drowning
Gum: Don't really chew it.
Get along with your parents? My dad-yes, my mom, usually

H-
Hair Color: Strawberry blond
Height: 5'3"
Happy: Yes, usually =)
Holiday: Christmas or Thanksgiving
How do you want to die: Peacefully, in my sleep... but don't we all?

I-
Ice Cream: Something creamy, like chocolate with marshmallows.
Instrument: piano, voice.

J-
Jewelry: 2 rings, my wedding ring and a CTR ring, and randomly a pair of earrings
Job: Full-time mommy

K-
Kids: 5, 2 boys, 3 girls
Kickboxing or karate: neither
Keep a journal?: Never been a journal writer, but I blog...does that count??

L-
Love: My hubby, kids, music, and rain.
Laughed so hard you cried: Cried, no, but wet my pants, yes! =)

M- Milk flavor: Not really a milk drinker.
Movies: My all time favorite is, The Princess Bride.
Motion sickness: Anytime someone else drives for a longer distance. YES, bad.
McD’s or BK: Burger King, I hate McDonald's.

N-
Number: 4

O-
One wish: My life could be as organized as I envision it.

P-
Perfect Pizza: Meat Lovers. I love my pork.
Pepsi/Coke: Pepsi

Q- Quail:Never tried it.

R-
Reason to cry: My feelings are hurt. I can't cry from physical pain.
Reality T.V.: Biggest Loser, I love that show.
Radio Station: 101.7 FM
Roll your tongue in a circle: Never been able to.
Ring size: 6

S-
Song: On my play list on the blog.
Shoe size: 6 1/2
Salad Dressing: Ranch
Sushi: YUCK!
Skinny dipped?: Yes, a few times.
Strawberries/Blueberries: Strawberries

T-
Tattoos?:none, gratefully. Why would I want something drawn on my body forever???
Time for bed: After Frasier, so 10-10:15pm
Thunderstorms: One of my favorite things, especially if there is rain too!

U-
Unpredictable: I like lists and schedules to much to be unpredictable.

V-
Vacation spot(s): A cruise ship.

W-
Weakness: I love sleep to much. =)
Which one of your friends acts the most like you: Amy.
Who makes you laugh the most: David.
Worst feeling: Regret.
Wanted to be a model: Probably when I was little.
Worst Weather?: Snow that buries you inside for DAYS.

X-
X-Rays: A few; hand, wrist, chest, nose, and, of course, the dentist.

Y-
Year it is now: 2009-
Yellow: My nieces favorite color.

Z-
Zoo animal: Elephant

LAST PERSON WHO....
1. Slept in a bed beside you? Betsy and Aubrey (David is out of town)
2. You went to the mall with? David
3. You went to dinner with? David
4. You talked to on the phone? David
5. Made you laugh? My kids
6. Hugged you? Nathan
7. Said they loved you? Nathan
8. Held your hand? Betsy
9. You spoke with? My kids.
10. You cried over? My Uncle Jon.

If you made it to the end of this long tag, then you are IT!! It is pretty fun.

Playing "single mom"...

David has left for three days camping/hiking at Reaves Ranch. I am on day #2 right now and am doing relatively well. Last night was a LONG, patience-losing evening, but I got a pretty good nights sleep, and the kids have behaved a bit better so today has gone good.

David loves doing this kind of stuff, so when his friend Bridger called and asked him to go with him and the Young Men, he was more then happy to say yes. You would think he was still in YM with all the camp outs and activities he attends! He sure loves the youth and secretly wishes that he would be called to serve as an advisor yet again, and probably permanently!

One thing I have learned through playing "single mom" randomly while David is gone, is just how grateful I am for him when he is here. He is the type that just jumps in and does things that need done. He is more then happy to change diapers, empty the dishwasher, or take a couple kids with him when he runs errands. He is a great dad, and a wonderful husband, and I miss him terrible! I am just glad I don't have to do this on a regular basis!!!!

My FaVoRiTe look EVER

So, I was thinking that St. Paddys day was over, and I was getting tired of looking at the clovers on my background, so I went to change my look to something "spring-ish and/or Easter-ish". Well, I didn't find anything I absolutely loved, and then it happened.... I found a cherry theme!! For those of you that don't know, my favorite thing in the world is the color RED and I also LOVE cherries (not so much the taste, but the look!). So, this background may never change again... Enjoy.

Quarantined

I have officially quarantined my family. I called and got a substitute for church and we all stayed home today. I would never want my church friends and family to get this awful plague, much less, my worst enemy. This bug that has passed though the Peterson Home is NOT a fun one. Luckily, there is no throwing up involved, but each one of us feels like our head is going to explode! Running, stuffed up noses, horrid sounding coughs, and sinus pressure like you couldn't imagine!! UUGHH! Just avoid this house for a few more days at least... I have felt pretty cruddy, and well, my house is an ABSOLUTE disaster. I would be SO embarrassed if anyone came by at this point. Me saying "Oh, we are sick, you don't want to come in, I promise." would be true to a point, but I think it would be more because of the tornado of mess I wouldn't want anyone to see!! I hope that I can get some sleep tonight, and feel a bit better in the morning so I can do a small house sweep and get a few things straightened up.

When mama is sick the whole house suffers....a truth I have learned far to well these last few days.

Wedding Day Details...

I don't know why, but I love filling out surveys, forms, questionnaires... I don't know, I am CrAzY.... So I was reading blogs last night and came across this one from Sherry's blog. So here is my next tag...You can if you want!

1) When was your wedding day? November 10, 2001
2) What day of the week was it? Saturday, 11 am, David showed up over an hour late, talk about panic.... But he showed, and married me anyway =). (He got the times mixed up).
3) Did you get married in a church? No, in the Mesa Arizona Temple; that's better then a church.
4) How many in your wedding party? Don't know the exact number, but there were sure a lot of people lining the walls and standing during the sealing. The Peterson family is BIG.
5) How many guests were invited to your wedding? Just immediate family, aunts, uncles and a few very close friends.
7) How long did you wait to Tie The Knot after your proposal? We got engaged July 21st and married November 10th. Nearly 4 months....too long. =)
8) Who did you hire as your photographer & videographer? Davids Aunt Deon took both our engagement pics and wedding pics. She does an amazing job!
9) Did you have a DJ or a band? Nope, we had a harp.
10) Did your father walk you down the aisle? There wasn't an aisle to walk down, but he was there, and served as a witness.
11) What color were the bridesmaid dresses & groomsmen vests? The wedding colors were plum, green and white. The dresses were plum jumpers with white shirts underneath (not my favorite choice, but we had to work around a very pregnant maid of honor), and the ties for the guys were green.
12) Who was your Maid Of Honor/Best Man? My Maids of Honor were my twin sisters, Heather and Heidi and Davids Best Men was his close friends Greg and Ben.
13) Did you have a Bridal Shower? Yes.
14) What type of limo did you get? Limo?!? Hahahahaha!!!
15) Where did you go for your Bachelorette/Bachelor Party? All the girls came to my moms house and pampered me good, and taught me a few things too! =) All the boys kidnapped David and they went paint-ball shooting. Yeah, he had welts all over him, poor guy.
16) What type of wedding gown/tux did you two wear? My mom pain-stakingly made my beautiful dress, and David borrowed my dads black tux.
17) How was the weather? Very nice, perfect wedding weather.
18) Where did you go on your Honeymoon? We spent the first night at the Best Western on Main Street in Mesa, and then headed up to Pine Valley Utah, and spent the rest at the Barton Family Cabin.
19) What was your favorite part of your wedding day? Knowing that I was marrying the RIGHT guy. It felt so good and so right to be with David.... still does.
20) How long have you been married? Eight years in November
21)What was your favorite part about planning the wedding? Even though my mom made my dress, we still went and tried on hundreds of wedding dresses, for ideas. That was too much fun.
22) What was your least favorite part of the planning? Licking and writing addresses on millions of envelopes. Oh, and our reception in Snowflake just happened to end up on a semi-final football game played in Mesa, so more then half of the town was gone....It's alright, I forgive them, high school football is HUGE here. =)

Did anyone else notice that this survey is missing a #6? Oh well...

Bragging

SO handsome in his Sunday duds...

Here is the greatest little boy there ever was. David just got back from our parent teacher conference for Nathan, and had great news for me when he came home (I was here, taking care of my super sick kiddos).

So, my first grade boy (who should technically be in kindergarten) is reading at a third grade level....the best reader in her class. He is above average at everything he does, and LOVES to learn. The only concern Mrs. Morris had about our little genius is that he has a hard time deciding what is left or right. Heck, I still have a hard time doing that sometimes!

I am so proud of my Nathan. He is such a wonderful guy, and smart as a whip. I love our Nathan Reese!!

Just bein' silly!....

Tagged

I was tagged on Facebook, and since I still haven't figured that website out completely, I thought I would answer my tag questions here, on Blogger, where I have already learned most of the glitches. So here goes nothin':

IN YOUR SENIOR YEAR DID YOU...

1. Did you date someone from your school? Yes.
2. Did you marry someone from your high school? Thankfully, NO!
3. Did you carpool to school? Kind of.
4. What kind of car did you have? Didn't have one.
5. What kind of car do you have now? Dodge Caravan
6. It's Tuesday morning ...were are you? English or World History
7. It is Friday night...where were you then? With that guy mentioned in question #1.
8. What kind of job did you have in high school? Worked at Monesorri as a teachers assistant (LOVED that job!)
9. What kind of job do you do now? A full time mommy.
10. Were you a party animal? Um, not really.
11.Were you considered a flirt? Yes.
12. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Choir
13. Were you a nerd? Definitely not popular, but not exactly a nerd either.
14. Did you get suspended or expelled? no
15. Can you sing the fight song? I think I remember it.
16. Who was/were your favorite teacher(s)? I honestly can't remember any of my teachers.
17. Where did you sit during lunch? Usually in the upstairs hallway.
18. What was your school's full name? Mountain View High School
19. When did you graduate? 2000
20. What was your school mascot? Toro.
21. If you could go back and do it again, would you? NEVER, in a million years... high school is something I would rather forget, thank you.
22. Did you have fun at Prom? Not really, it was a bad night.
23. Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with? No.
24. Are you planning on going to your next reunion? Yes.
25. Do you still talk to people from school? Yes, thanks to my recent Facebook find. =)
26. School Colors: Red and blue
27. What celebrities came from your high school? None that I know of.
28. Did you earn any honors or awards? No, my priorities were WAY off.
29. Did you do sports/teams? No.
30. What habit do you still have? Still love to sleep in, when I get the chance....very rarely.

Kinda fun thinking back, and realizing, yet again, how blessed I am in my life now. So with that, I tag Melinda, Marcie and Heather.

Happy St. Patricks Day!!

Today is the day of the wearing of the GREEN!!! How many times have you been pinched today?!?!

Heber Cabin II

My family and I just returned from our Barton Family Vacation. We went to the same cabin in Heber that we did last October. It is a HUGE, fun place. You would NEVER get bored there. I spent most of my days chasing, running and keeping tabs on Jay. There are many sets of stairs, and he hasn't quite mastered going down them. He gets up okay, but would flip end-over-end if left to his own devices coming back down. It was a pretty big job. Next time we go again he should be well-versed on stair safety... then hopefully I will have a bit more fun and get more involved in the game playing.

The kids got a chance to wander and roam pretty freely, and had a great time playing with the "Mesa cousins". There was a afternoon where it hailed/ snowed, and the kids had a blast. It was funny to me to see how excited everyone got, even the adults, seeing a little snow fall! I guess I am used to it. When you live in Mesa, snow is something you hear about, not see. But, it was fun to watch all the kids and some of the daddys out playing in the snow. The weather warmed up nicely, and was actually quite warm this morning as we were packing up. I always have fun being around my sisters and brother again. I miss being around them more, since I am the only "Barton" that lives outside of Mesa. Oh well...

My kids all began getting runny noses and coughs, and so by the time I loaded up the car this morning everyone but Aubrey looked sick as dogs. I haven't slept very well the last couple nights, that is for sure! I guess the benefit of Spring Break coming in a couple days, is that Nathan won't have to miss school if he gets worse.... But who wants to be sick on their school break???!!?? Poor kids.

David allowed me to have a two hour nap a while ago. What a good guy.... he must have seen how TiReD I was.....

Burnin' daylight

I have so much to do today, and I just don't want to. I have been killing time and wasting my day very professionally today. UGH!! I finally caved, decided to go look and see what this "Facebook" craze is all about. Well, I joined, and am officially getting addicted. I have found all sorts of people from my past! Kids in my kindergarten class, ward I grew up in, high school friends, x-boyfriends... the whole lot! Strange, but super fun to see what everyone is up to, and how life is treating my family and friends. I know I should get off this dang computer and get crackin' on getting the house cleaned and bags packed for our extended weekend stay in Heber with my family.... BUT I DON'T WANT TO. Waa, waa, waa! Whine, whine, whine!

...Does anyone have some cheese?

You know your carpet needs cleaned when....

....your kids measure their jumping skills off the spots on the carpet!

So, Sunday night Nathan and Aubrey were jumping from the couch (yes, my kids jump on, and off the couch, so sue me) and Nathan jumps to the ground and said, "I got to this big spot!" Aubrey then takes her turn and jumps, and Nathan said, "You only got to this smaller spot, but I got to the big spot! Lets see if we can get to that spot over there next!"

I know my carpet is gross, and needs a serious cleaning job. I have tried my mother-in-laws steam cleaner, tried the carpet cleaning attachment set-up that came with my vacuum, and have even rented a Rug Doctor thing from Bashas, and I don't know why, but I refuse to call in the big boys to help. I know that it is just a matter of time before it is all ripped out and tiled in my family room anyway, so I rationalize by saying, 'Why spend all that money when we are just tearing it out anyway?' I feel like I do a really good job with vacuuming (at least once, and sometimes twice a day... yes, I love to vacuum), so shouldn't that count!??!

So, for now my kids have conveniently built-in markers on the floor to improve their jumping skills...... ={

Born to be silly

On Saturday Nathan got a great treat. His best friend, Jace who recently moved to St. Johns, came to Snowflake and they got to play together again. He got here around 2:30pm and left at 9:30pm. And they had a bLaSt!! I sure miss having Jace around for Nathan. They are both such good kids, so you can trust that they are doing and being good all the time. Here they are...
A few times throughout the day I would say "You are such silly boys" or "You guys are being so silly!", and they would both say, most of the time in unison, "We were born to be silly!". What a great day for Nathan, and I am so happy that Larry and Megan asked us to "watch" Jace. It was just what Nathan needed.... and me. Nathan has struggled quite a bit trying to find a new friend around the neighborhood since Jace left, and so it was nice to have him come back. Nathan is still talking about it. Just look at those happy faces!! We miss you Chlarsons!

Wind is blowing all around....

....on the rooftops, on the ground!

And man is it ever! I don't have an exact measurment on the wind, but I bet it is pushing 40-50 MPH right now. And it hasn't let up much at all today. I usually just stay inside during days like this, but when you are out of milk, you HAVE to go to the store. Nothing quite like mac n' cheese with no milk. Yum. So after our "interesting" lunch, I loaded up 4 out of 5 of the kids (Nathan was still at school), and we went to Bashas.

Ahhh, I LOVE Bashas....because of the free kids care while you shop. So we get there, and carts are laying all over the parking lot, dirt is flying everywhere and the wind is whipping through there like no body's business. We push our way into the store only to find out the the free kids care that I love so much is closed for the afternoon! So to make a long shopping trip short, we ran through the store quicker then normal, and headed back out into the hurricane-force winds. My heck, I know the wind is just part of life here come spring, but I forget just how StRoNg it blows!!!

We got home and our storm door, that is already bent off its frame a bit from last spring, is SO bent now that it barely closes on its hinge now. We will most likely be taking it down, and not having a screen door this summer. =( That is a bummer, but that door ripped out of Aubrey's hands so fast, she didn't know what hit her (no, it didn't literally hit her). And just after a neighbor friend commented on how nice a door like that must be! (I guess I will be using a baby gate now also!)

Nothing else to report, just looking forward to and planning another trek to Heber, to that cabin that my parents rented out last fall. They have it rented out again to coincide with Mesa's 'Spring Break' (not ours). Oh well, I just feel bad for Nathan, because if he ever wanted to aspire for "Perfect Attendance", I have already shot that in the foot for him.

But I bet she makes good bread....

In my family, and maybe in bigger circles, we would always say "but I bet she/he makes good bread", after saying something bad, or not so kind about someone. It might be from a movie or something... I don't know. And so I though it would be a great title today. No I am not gossiping, and don't have anything too terrible to say about someone, but I did make some pretty good bread last night!

So, here is my first official attempt at making bread. It turned out a little sticky/ doughy in texture, but it really tastes alright. I though for sure it would flop because I have heard horror stories about learning the art of bread-making. BUT, I do have a few questions for seasoned bread makers, if there are any of you out there that read this blog....

1) What is the correct way to make yeast active? I know that you put it in a bowl of warm/hot water, but do you mix it to dissolve the tiny yeast pebble things, or do they just sit and do their thing without any help?
2) I need a serious lesson on kneading bread. Sure I have watched my mom do it for years, watched the demo at the bread class a month or two ago, but, man, I can't figure it out. David had to come in and after literally laughing at my technique, showed my how he thought I should do it.... and his way worked a lot better then mine. =) Maybe I need a face to face lesson on it. At least it turned out okay.
3) So the recipe says "form into loaves and place in pan", so I split my nice kneaded chuck of dough into 4 sections, and then, because I didn't exactly know what to do to "form into a loaf", I kinda just made a giant snake shaped thing, like working with play-do.... I formed it to fit into the bread pan. Is that right?

Maybe I should get a lesson or two before tackling bread-making....We can call it beginners luck. =)

Happy Birthday Dad Peterson!

March comes in like a lion, and out like a mad woman...

David remembers hearing his great grand daddy, S. Eugene Flake say that often, and it is SO fitting to Snowflake. Come spring (usually about March), the winds pick up. Now, I am not just talking a light breeze.... I am talking 30+ MPH winds for what seems like forever (about 6-8 weeks). The only solace through the hurricane winds is the fact that spring is here and that summer will follow soon and the winds will die down, eventually.....

Taken at Snowflakes' 24th Celebration, 2003 with Nathan, when he was 11 months old. Super cute picture!=)

Today also happens to be my father in laws birthday. Last week we had a last minute family BBQ, and they decided to call that the birthday party. But we will go over today for a short visit, and to give him a little gift. We all love him, because he has given us an opportunity to move to Snowflake, have stable employment, and been on of the greatest grandpas ever for our kids. Happy Birthday Dad Peterson!