The Office season premiere is on TONIGHT at 9pm!!

I am so happy, I just might pee my pants. Nobody call me after 8pm please. I am having a pre-party!!

When I had WOW on the tele. the other day, I asked them to cut my voice mail. I NEVER check it and when I do I seem to have 20 messages or more.

You see people, I have an answering machine. I grew up with an answering machine. I did not have voicemail nor did I care to have it when I became an adult and lived without the rents. I am not used to it, nor do I care to be…

If,in the past, I didn’t return your calls it was probably because they went to that silly voice mail. Hopefully with it gone I will be better at returning calls to people.

Wish me luck!

I decided that we needed to cut some “extras” out of our lives so we could save more money. I sat down to looked at my numbers, meaning $$$, and quickly realized that I couldn’t cut too much at all.

I decided to check out what other deals I could get from WOW that would be cheaper. We have our internet, cable and phone with them. We were currently getting all of the “Star movie channels” and yes they are nice when I watch a movie BUT definitely they are a WANT and not a NEED. I called the company and let them know we want a more basic cable. At this point, I am feeling good about myself because I have just manage to save money. It wasn’t a ton but it was something. Every penny counts, right?

The next morning I get up and do my AM schedule. At 11am I ask Lucas if he wants to watch “Little Bill” (which is my favorite cartoon!) He says YES and we go to turn it on. Well you see, Little Bill is on Noggin. Apparently Noggin is one of the channel we no longer get! AAAHHH!!!! Boy was I sad (Lucas was too) . If you haven’t seen Little Bill, you are missing out on life. This cartoon is awesome.

Yes I know–

Heavenly Father never said it would be easy, he only said it would be worth it!

I need to remember that when I get sad about my “Little Bill” not being on my TV anymore…

The day started off great! We all got up , did the bathroom stuff, put on our new school clothes on, went down to eat breakfast, drove Zoey, Jack, and Nolan to school. The entire way to preschool Lucas talked about how he was going to be a big helper to Brooklyn this year. It was her first year going to Churchill and Lucas’s second year so he knew how things work.

We pulled up in the parking lot at the same time as Lisa and Brooklyn. We got out and take a few photos of the two of them. At this point he was still positive.

We walk in, hung up our backpacks, put our name tags on AND then it happened! Tears started to flow down my baby’s cheeks! Big tears, ladies (and all men who read this) you know the kind of tears that just make you want to cry with them.. I wanted to cry but I stayed strong!! He’s my baby though so it was hard!!

We walked into the room where I tried to get him to play with anything and everything but it wasn’t happening. The girls tried to talk to him but that definitely wasn’t working. He wanted to be left alone. He wanted to get back into the car and go anywhere but where his mother had just taken him-school!

They had the kids go on a little treasure hunt and sit in a circle and tell everyone what they found for the group. I had to go with him for that activity. After that, the kids went over to the table to paint. I had two girls standing next to me and I asked one of them if they would be okay with me sneaking out. The girl said as long as I was okay with it. I explained to her that this was my 4th child and I had no problem. As I made a break for the door he saw me! I didn’t look back and just kept on walking. I could hear him screaming. I stayed outside for about 3 minutes. I then sat in my car for another 5minutes to see if they would come out and get me but they didn’t.

When I came to pick him up Mrs. Tuck (teacher) said he did cry for awhile and they almost called me. I came in with him sliding down the slide as happy as could be! Was this the same boy I had dropped off just a few hours before?

Until Thursday…

PS Brooklyn kissed Lisa goodbye and went in without any problems at all.

If you are counting calories DO NOT make this!!

Crust:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch fine salt

Brownie:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
4 large cold eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour

Topping:
4 cups large marshmallows

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat oven to 325 degrees Line an 8 by-8-inch square baking pan with foil so it hangs over the edges by about 1 inch.

For the crust: Lightly butter the foil with some of the melted butter. Stir the rest of the butter together with the crumbs, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Press the crumb mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the brownie. Put the butter and chocolate in a medium microwave safe bowl. Melt in the microwave on 75 percent power for 2 minutes. Stir, and microwave again until completely melted, about 2 minutes more. Alternatively, put the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with 1 inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl on the pan without touching the water. Stir occasionally until melted. Stir the light brown and white sugars, vanilla and salt into the melted chocolate. Add the eggs and beat vigorously to make a thick and glossy batter. Add the flour and stir until just incorporated.

Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the top is crispy and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean, with a few crumbs, about 40 to 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven and carefully position a rack about 6 inches from the broiler and preheat on low. Layer marshmallows across the top and toast under the broiler until golden, (keep an eye on it, it can go quick), about 2 minutes. Cool on a rack, gently removing the brownies from the pan using the aluminum flaps. Carefully separate any marshmallow from the foil and fold away. Cut into 12 (2-inch) squares.

Nolan, Jack, and Zoey started their swimming lessons yesterday. They have lessons every Monday/Wednesday after school for 40 minutes. It’s nice because our REC center is 1/2 mile from our house. We could even ride our bikes there (if the weather permits).

Nolan has never taken any type of swim lessons so I wasn’t sure how he would do. By the end of day #1 of his lessons he had graduated from the level I thought he would do best in. The teacher came to me and suggested that I move him up 1 level. I was happy and sad at the same time.

Why sad you may ask?

It’s for a silly and selfish reason to be quite honest with you. I signed up the kids on this specific day and time because all 3 would have lessons at pretty much the same time. Zoey and Jack are in the same class and go from 4:20-5pm; Nolan was going from 4:25-5pm. The class up 1 level goes from 5-5:30pm. I was hoping to be home by 5:30 and eat by 6pm every night. I like to have eaten or in the process by 6pm every night.

Instead of staying at the pool for 1 hr it’ll be more like 1 1/2 hrs. I know, I know, it’s not going to kill me! It’s worth my children not having a fear of water too!

I received this email from my friend Mandee. I laughed!!! I am the primary president in my ward and in the process of helping get ready for our program at the end of October. Thanks for sending me this Mandee, it made my day.

Everyone else, enjoy reading.

Children’s Primary Talks: A Handy Identification Guide by Jana Whitley, March 2003

This is the one Sunday a year when the Primary children take over the sacrament meeting to sing songs and recite talks. The grownups get to alternately laugh and cry as the gospel is elucidated by the mouths of babes.

As a counselor in our stake primary presidency, I had the privilege of attending ten different primary programs–except, as I found out, they aren’t so different. After watching several of these 40-minute-or-longer programs, I began to see a pattern of behaviors. And so, offered for your amusement, is an identification guide to common children’s talks:

The Mumbler

This child’s talk is unintelligible (except by the adoring parents), and may sound something like this: “Muh baba da libba dabba doo.”

The Barker

Shouts the first word of his talk into the microphone, jolting the whole congregation like an electric shock–and disturbing those worthy priesthood holders who were, up to that point, observing the day of rest.

The Microphone Eater

Wraps his lips around the mike while he’s talking, resulting in horrible, raspy, grating noises that assaults the delicate ears of every saint in attendance.

The Slow Talker

Usually a beginning reader who reads one… word…. at… a…. time… so … slowly…. as to render his talk incomprehensible.

The Speed Talker

Usually a seasoned primary child who breezes right through her talk in a fast monotonous tone sothewordsruntogetheramen.

The Heavy Breather

A combination of the Slow Talker and the Microphone Eater, he pauses after each word to exhale heavily, usually suffering from swollen adenoids. Results in a sound effect not unlike Darth Vader.

The Cryer

She goes to the pulpit with her primary teacher, has to be sweet-talked into starting her talk, gives up after the first line, and buries her head in her teacher’s arms and sobs while refusing to say another word (usually resulting in a sympathetic, simultaneous “Awwwwh” from the congregation). The teacher ends up giving the remainder of the talk.

The Giggler

Goes up with her teacher (see The Cryer) but breaks into nervous laughter at every attempt. Continue as The Cryer.

The Ad Libber

Abandons his prescribed talk and starts waxing enthusiastic about the presents he got for his birthday.

Deer in the Headlights

Approaches the microphone, takes one look at the sea of faces, and goes catatonic. The teacher whispers encouragement to him, to no avail.

The Echo

A small child, usually a Sunbeam, who has a teacher at his side to relay every word one at a time to him. So it sounds thus, “(The) THE (gospel) GOSPEL (teaches) TEACHES (us) US (about) ABOUT (Jesus) JESUS.”

The Perfect Child

The well-groomed, poised, confident 10-year-old who delivers her own talk perfectly from memory at just the right tempo, whom everyone finds very impressive and also very dull.

Less common, but more dangerous, are the following types of children to keep your eye out for:

The Sprinter

The very active child who requires adult supervision, and will escape his captor and race down the aisle at the earliest opportunity, usually pursued by a heavily pregnant primary worker.

The Puker

Most dreaded and feared by every Primary President. This child gets so nervous, he loses his breakfast in the choir seats.

A newcomer can usually identify which child belongs to which parent by looking for the grownups who suddenly sit at attention and try to telepathically transmit _do a good job_ karma to their child from across the chapel. As each child takes a turn at the pulpit, you can see the parental interest rise and fall here and there, like trout jumping to the surface of a lake.

But after all is said and done, when the primary president collects her frayed nerves and heaves a sigh of relief as the bishop shakes her clammy, nail-bitten hand, as the parents mill in the aisles sharing post-game commentary, one thing is for certain: the Children’s Primary program is definitely the most memorable sacrament meeting of the year.

Many have asked me “What’s the difference between a Web site and a blog?”

But the answer was to long for a general post, so read the whole answer here,

“The Question is…?”

The first day of school finally came! We awoke at 7am to get the kids up and ready. Of course Nolan was already up and almost ready to go. He was very excited. Nolan and Zoey quickly obeyed- going to the bathroom, brushing teeth and getting dressed. Lucas woke up and you could tell he wanted to stay asleep. Then there’s was Jack. He is a snail in the AM hours. I told him 3 times to get out of bed, 2 times to go to the bathroom, he left the bathroom without brushing his teeth!! I walked by his room 3 times and told him to keep moving and get dressed! This kid drives me crazy sometimes!

After we ate breakfast we all walked to school. Daniel went into work late so he could walk with us. It was nice. We got to school and made sure the kids were all the right lines. At about that time the bell rang. We walked Nolan to class and away we went. I didn’t cry! As we were walking home I started to sing to Lucas “Together At Last” LOL. Daniel told me to stop and just laughed at me.

All in all, it was a great day!

We were invited to go over to “Crystal” and “less-than” house one sunny afternoon to take a dip in their pool. My sister “Red” and her kids were still in town and they came too. The kids had a blast jumping into the deep in and having “Red” take their picture!! We ended up having the pool to ourselves most of time and all kids loved that!!

Not pictured: Aleya & the Mom’s!

I think the mom’s all agreed not to be photographed on swim day!