Brian Froud

Chelsey asked who painted the Fairy Godmother posted on the last entry and it got me to searching and I am glad I did! Here are a few other pieces that I really liked, although I think the Fairy Godmother is still my favorite.

We were driving in the car this afternoon and talking about the last two nights of sleepovers the kids have had at the neighbors. Richard commented that maybe we should let our neighbors adopt them. Very seriously Gavin asked, "Well they are our Fairy Godparents aren't they?"

A Little Snow Humor...

It Finally Snowed!!!

The kids had so much fun! They invited Taylor and Ethan over and for two and a half hours, they played and built a snow fort. Richard went out and helped, which made it even better for the kids. At one point, Alli and Ethan pounded on the door to come in. I grabbed the broom to brush them off before they came inside. When I opened the door, they only needed to have me help them loosen a scarf and use the bathroom. Within minutes they were back outside. The only light they had was for a half an hour as the sun went down. The rest of the fort was concocted in the dark. Now their prayers include keeping the fort from melting!

I Got Elfed!

Copy and paste this web address in your address bar and watch the elf-ish Beans!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9635155329

Do you remember Lovell, WY?

I was at the health food store yesterday and came across some taffy-type candies made without sugar, only honey. They had six different flavors, so I bought one of each kind (except fudge) to try. Well, they were wonderful little candies, especially the coconut and caramel ones.

So, when I got home, I checked the website that was listed on the wrappers and much to my surprise, they were manufactured in a little town called Lovell, Wyoming! I would never have guessed. We stayed there on our way back from a road trip across the midwest. I remember thinking we were out in the middle of NOWHERE. Well, apparantly it's somewhere because QueenBee Candies are born and raised right in our very own little Wyoming town.

Here's a link to check out those Praline candies...they were yummy!

Gourmet Honey Candy - Natural Honey Candy - Truffles - honeymoons - Pralines - Wax

It Happened

I knew Gavin would probably be teased about his new glasses (kids can be so cruel), but I didn't expect Gavin to handle it that way he did.

He came home from school, two days into his new eye-wear, and declared that a boy at school told him he better get some contacts because he didn't look that good in glasses. Gavin's response: "Ahh, Ben...you're just jealous cuz' I still get all the ladies."

According to Gavin, Ben walked away speechless.
That's my boy!

A New Kid on the Block

He has been complaining for almost a year now that he can't see and wants glasses. His complaining came at about the same time he kept asking for braces because he thought they'd be cool. It wasn't until his teacher told Gavin to "tell his mom" about the fact that he couldn't see things on the board from the third row that I finally decided to break down and have Dave take a look at his eyes.

When he sat in the chair and looked at that first set of letters, Dave asked him which ones he could read. Gavin hesitated and said, "Mmmm....Z?" With a look from Dave, I mean "Dr. Esplin", I knew he was definately going to need glasses! Poor kid. He hasn't been able to see very clearly for over a year now. I think my neglect puts me at pretty good odds to win "Mother of the Year 2007".

On the way home, he was a bit shocked that he was ACTUALLY going to get the glasses that he had been asking for. He said, "Wow. I am going to have all the ingredients for a real nerd now. Buck-Teeth and Glasses." He wasn't real thrilled about that part, but I don't think he looks nerdy. He's still pretty cute to me!

Nap Time

Last Sunday, Allison and Gavin put themselves down for a nap. I was on the computer doing the newsletters and didn't pay them much heed. When I got done, I turned around and was caught off-guard by Allison's method of napping. Actually, it reminded me of Grandpa Duncan and the way he used to sleep on the 2x8's. When Richard saw her, he didn't believe she was really asleep, but she slept like this for over 30 minutes!

TAGGED

I have been tagged:
Four places I've lived: Utah, Georgia, Colorado, Montana

Four jobs I've had: Jerry's Dairy Burger Barn, Artistic Floral, Central Bank, Park Elementary

Four things I'd like to do before I die: Serve a mission, Visit England, Kiss my grandkids, Be mortgage free.

Four favorite desserts: Cheesecake (the real stuff), Caramel Cashew Ice Cream, Strawberry milkshake, Flan from Jalisco's in Idaho Falls

Four interesting facts about me: I hate the all-american Macaroni and Cheese, I love going for long drives, I like window shopping, although I usually end up with at least one item looked at, and I enjoy learning something new.

Four favorite movies: Pride and Prejudice or anything Jane Austen, What about Bob?, Corrina, Corrina and Sound of Music

Four people I'm tagging: I'd love to hear from Betsy, Chelsey, Jenni C. and Bean, if you have the time.
Now copy and paste to your blog and tag someone else.

5th Grade Gavin

So, the kids got their school pictures back. Gavin came home very excited. He said, "Mom, you are going to LOVE my new pictures!" I opened his backpack with great anticipation and when I pulled out his pictures packet, I was speechless. "Wow," I said, "You are such a good looking kid!" Then I quickly changed the subject. Admittedly, I was hoping for a bigger smile, the same beaming one from last year's pictures.
The next morning, I tactfully approached the subject and asked if he was sure he didn't want re-takes. We approached his previous picture sitting on the shelf. I pointed out the big smile in last year's photo. I commented on how happy and excited he looked. He then began to enlighten me. "Mom...that was last year. That was Fourth-Grade Gavin." Proudly holding up his new pictures, he said, "This is Fifth-Grade Gavin."

Needless to say, we are keeping the pictures and you will find written on the back of every, single one, the title, "5th Grade Gavin".

Trouble

Allison came to me the other day and said in a very concerned tone, “Mom, I need to talk to you.” She sounded so serious! I wondered what kind of discussion we were in for. With the television turned off, I got situated on the couch. Nope. That wasn’t good enough; she requested that we move to my room. Really?

When I got to my room, she was already “prepping” the bed by taking off the bigger pillows and laying out different ones for each of us to lay on. She turned on the lamp, off the fan, closed the door and propped herself against my headboard, then waited for me. When I found my place on the bed, she took a deep breath, looked at me very seriously and said, “Mom, ….I can’t decide which two boys I like the best...Tyler or Aiden.”

Poor Alli...

While we were trick-or-treating last night, Alli tripped and fell. We were crossing a wide, busy street and trying to hurry because the opportunities to do so weren't coming around that often. As we sped across, she stumbled and down she went. Her elbows and knees caught her fall and she skinned all four. She also managed to spill candy out across the road.

We hurried Allison and the other kids safely out of the way and then my neighbor watched as the cars went by. As soon as she had a break in traffic, she jumped out to pick up a few pieces of candy until the next car came along. Four or five cars later, she managed to get it all except a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup that had been run over at least three times.

Happpy Halloween!

Gavin was an old man (he got called "Grandpa Bean" all day at school and loved it). He is wearing his grandpa's suspenders and even had some of his old after shave on. He hauled Richard's old walker (the one he used when he had back surgery) around to complete the costume.



Allison was the White Witch from Narnia. We didn't really get her hair all gnarled, but she did have glitter and glow-in-the-dark eyelashes. She also wore my old, white lace prom dress. This pose was her idea; she wanted to look as "witchly" as possible.

One of the Best!

I just finished reading Jane Eyre. Absolutely wonderful book! Can't wait to see the latest movie!

Why?

Why is it that the flowers always look the best in your flower beds when it's time to pull them out for the winter? Drives me crazy! I want them to be beautiful and bushy in July. I guess I'll just add this to my list of things to hope for in Heaven. (It seems to be growing on a daily basis).

Our Last Camping Trip in 2007

Poor, poor Lexi

Lexi had a run in with a skunk over the weekend. It was bound to happen with all the time we spend outdoors. We saw the skunk and then Lexi. She went up to it like it was a kitten to play with, smelling and sniffing the way all dogs do. We immediately started yelling her name, but she didn't understand the six different voices frantically calling her and returned back to check out her new friend. With one more scream, I got a response and she reluctantly came.

I quickly smelled her and threw her in the trailer to keep her "safe". Richard went out after the skunk and I checked on Lexi. Darin sniffed her again and without any mistake, she smelled awful! If my original scent of her had been thorough enough, I would have found it too, but alas, I did not and she managed to reek out the trailer in the 53 seconds she spent inside!

We happened to have some old cans of tomato sauce in the trailer. (Who knew that our attempt in emergency preparedness would end up saving our noses?) But now, we can pack for the future, knowing that it takes three whole cans of tomato sauce, lots of shampoo and a few sprays of Super Orange de-greaser to get enough skunk-stink out of a dog to allow for some relief.

Oh, it was a long night! Maybe by next Spring the trailer will have recovered.

WHOA!

For Richard's birthday, we went fishing for the day and even though the fish weren't biting much, the yellow jackets were. R got stung twice in the same spot and after two days of expansion, the results are worth sharing. Poor boy...

Happy 34th, Richard (You old f*rt)!

A:
With Richard having a birthday today and getting older, we thought maybe he needed a change in his look. Something more sophisticated. A look that will set him apart in his professional world, maybe even put him up for that promotion. We have two options. I know...limited, but we work with what we have. So, the question for you all is this: Do we go with Ol' Roy (A) or Top Gun (B)?...keeping in mind that if we go with (A), we will need to knock out a few teeth to complete the look.
B:
(Disclaimer: These photos have not been altered or made to appear as something they are not. The facial hair represented is actual and belongs to the subject. And although these photos were taken live, they do not represent the style or fashion statement of said subject. They were merely taken for educational and entertainment purposes...and entertained, we were! Please Note: No offense intended toward individuals who sport this kind of look. It is not the look alone, but the look on subject that creates diversion.)

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

As you walk into Alli's room...

This is all stuff from inside her closet!
Poor Lexi can't get out...

I decided I had better tackle Allison's closet today while she was away at school. No need to have the owner of all this precious stuff be around to decide what goes and what stays. The thing that really gets me is, everytime I clean out her closet, we have a little "talk" where she promises to keep it clean! Someday, when my kids are all grown up and move away, I will think back on these kind of adventures and miss them, right?

Fall Break

How do you like our engagement photo? Matching jackets, perfect pose, nice scenary...sunglasses on top of head. But, he's so good lookin' you probably didn't even notice the glasses.

This photo was taken in Yellowstone along the Snake River.

We spent our weekend with my parents in Jackson Hole and Yellowstone. It was a quick drive through Yellowstone, but absolutely beautiful! (Actually, the drive wasn't that quick, Richard stopped every two minutes to take a picture. He couldn't help himself. There was just too much to shoot.) The colors were amazing and we had a great time. Not to mention, it just happened to be Land-something-or-other Day and we didn't have to pay the fee to drive through either park.

Blogging Blues

I am hoping that someone, anyone will read this and have the time to help this poor, tired, and frustrated blogger. I am trying to provide links on the sidebar to previous Post Pages and I cannot, for the life of me, figure it out! I even checked out a couple of books at the library on HTML and XHTML in the hopes that it might help open my mind (except it was printed in 2000 - like that does me any good! Books printed about this sort of stuff seem to become obsolete in a matter of weeks). Does anyone know what I am asking and how to help? I am becoming a little obsessed about it and pretty determined to figure it out. Of course, this is one of my last straws and if I can't work it out soon, I am going to commit myself. I think I've nearly fried my brain.

Trying Something New...

I have started playing around with Photoshop and just discovered how to colorize after making a photo black and white. I know this is elementary to most of you out there, but I was just so darn pleased with myself, I had to share! This Photoshop has been a huge learning curve for me. I keep thinking I should really get a book or something to make it a little less time consuming, but hey, what else is there to do...housework? No thanks.

Pyro

My son decided to burn the house down yesterday. My response: "Gavin don't ever do that again!"

I had no idea there was anything out of the ordinary going on upstairs until Gavin came to ask if he could play with his neighbor friend. As soon as the smell hit me and I asked him what was going on, I could tell from the look in his eyes that it wasn't going to be good!

His first attempt at the truth failed miserably. He tried to tell me that he happened upon a lighter in his bedroom, checked it to see if it worked and the corner of the paper just happened to be in way of the flame. He was baffled at how it all had come about and after that, being the good scout that he is, he set to extinguishing it as quickly as he could. Immediately, I went up to check his room.

He had worked pretty fast to put those flames out. When I reached his room, the window was open, the garbage that held the evidence was next to the open window, the ceiling fan was on and he had drug a floor fan into his room and directed it to blow away from his door and out his open window. I thought how dissappointed he must have been to find, that despite all his effort, he had been foiled by Mom's Mega-Senses.

I went directly to the garbage and found only a small portion of what used to be a wad of papers and a half-melted little box. I don't think our boy scout knew what hit him. His evidence clearly revealed the real "truth". Situation assessed, Mom-Detective on the case, he had to change his story. Shamefully, he admitted that the flames were too much fun to watch and it wasn't long before it was more than he could handle and into the garbage the blaze was stashed.

Overall, his parents did a good job of making him feel as miserable as possible. Maybe if he felt bad enough he wouldn't ever, EVER do it again. Success in that department, I'm sure. Unfortunately, our house stunk to high heaven all night, but in the end Dad made enough jokes about it that the culprit was his normal, happy, lighter-free, pre-teen. In fact, his first act of reform was to hand me the lighter and make me promise to never let him have it again.

Service

As we were getting ready to start Family Night tonight, we received a couple of phone calls, both within thirty minutes of each other. One call was asking us if we could please be of assistance in helping someone move and the other was from good friends inviting us to go to a movie with them. After much thought, Richard and I decided we better go help move. After all, it would be a good experience for the kids to do some service, right? While I was preparing a quick dinner, I thought I would call my kids in and ask them what they would do if they were the parents and could have made the decision on what we would do for Family Night.

Gavin was first and after a long pause, he said, "Mom, I would have chosen to help move. They really need our help and maybe we could get a treat afterward." I smiled with parental pride. Good choice Gavin.

Next Allison was summoned into the room to be asked the same question. Without much hesitation at all, she said, "Well, if I were the Mom, I would say 'Let the kids go to the movie with their friends and have the parents do the moving'". I reminded Alli that it was a night where the family is supposed to do things together. In a non-chalent tone of voice, she said, "Well, that sounds like a real problem."

As it turned out, she went without complaint and very happily danced around and posed for us all while we hauled things up and down two flights of stairs.

Kids...

We were watching tv, the kids and I, when a commercial came on about Lysol Cleaner. Let me paint the picture: There is a young child seated on the sidewalk with her lunch lying directly on the pavement. The narrator says, "you wouldn't let your child eat on the street..." The next scene shows the same child with the same lunch, but now they are seated at a table. The narrator continues, "But would you let your child eat on your kitchen surfaces where over 60,000 germs roam free? Did you know not all cleaners get rid of germs?" To this statement, Allison speaks up and in that "duh" tone of voice says, "Well yeah-uh, that's why you use plates."

Remember when...

As I considered just how fast the time has flown by since my kids were still home and spreading fingerprints faster than I could make PB&J, I couldn't help but reminisce on their preschool days. Thought I would post a memory...

The First Day of School

Wow! I am still a little amazed that my kids are 4th and 5th graders. If they hadn't changed the format of the schools, Gavin would have been heading off for middle school next year. Time flies!

The Best Weekend...

We just spent a day and a half on a ranch with our good friends, Gary and Alece. Gary's parents have a ranch in Altamont, at the base of the Uinta mountains. We went to the Vernal temple, which was wonderful-very neat temple, after which we went out for one of the best steak dinners we've ever had at a place called Stockman's. Gavin and Allison rode horses for the first time and did quite well. We just handed them the reins and off they went, without us. We also played in the canal and had fresh corn on the cob from the garden. We spent most of our weekend sitting on the back deck looking out over the fields and into the Uinta's. We extended our trip an extra hour and half to include a scenic drive through Hannah, back down through Woodland and then Heber City. It was Heaven! After three days, I still can't quit thinking about it. Time just slowed down and we drank everything in that we could. The only down side was that it didn't last longer.

Family of 5

I thought maybe the time had come to start one of these for our family. It was just too easy to do. So, I will give a current run down on our family as a whole and then try to remember to post the current events as I see them.

Richard is still employed with Far West Bank/American West Bank (I can never remember how the new name works to include both bank names, but you get the point). The big merge was actually just what we needed. Without it, I think Richard would be employed somewhere else or back to school so he could move jobs eventually. He was able to help set up the pay structure for loan officers and was finally given a long awaited and promised promotion. Aside from his 8-5 job, he still continues to work too hard, but he's a Bean, what do I expect?

Carillisa is keeping busy with the kids for the summer and fully enjoying it. We'll see what comes up for fall when they return to school. No plans yet.

Gavin is 10 and going into the 5th grade (Wow, that blows my mind! I remember that age...) and he couldn't be happier about it. Life for him is pretty much what you would expect a 5th grade boys life to be. Football and basketball, sword fights with sticks, air soft guns and video games.

Allison is 9 at the end of August. She'll be a 4th grader. She spends most of her time doing what her brother does, minus the air soft guns. While the boys play in the fort, she decorates it. She signed up for soccer in the fall and has found a new favorite thing to do, for which her mother couldn't be happier...SHOPPING. Finally someone who will enjoy school shopping as much as I do.

Lexi, our family pet (along with Kolibar the Cat) is 4 1/2 and thinks the world revolves around her. I guess it kind of does.

Well, that's us in a nut shell.