Be not Afraid.....

Pandora Radio......baby!

I stumbled upon this cool website called Pandora Radio. It's pretty cool. You basically name an artist and it makes a radio station with music from that artist and other similar ones as well. So for example: I named Emerson Hart (LOVE HIM FYI) and now that station plays his music along with other songs that sound similar to his.

If I'm not making sense go to http://www.pandora.com/ and check it out yourselves.

Some of my Pandora Radio stations include:

John Mayer
Emerson Hart
Lady Antebellum
Sick Puppies
One Less Reason
Anberlin
Plumb

It's cool because some of the artists (i.e. on my Emerson Hart station) I have never heard of, but yet it is music similar to his. So now I have a broader music base to choose from. The next logical step would be to go to itunes and download some new tunes.....yeah baby!!!

Don't forget to pray.....

First game win....baby!

Congrats to CrossFire on their first game win. I was a little nervous. It's a brand new team, I honestly didn't know what to expect.......but they did great. Don't ya think their uniforms ROCK!!! Hopefully we can keep this up! Good Job guys........

One step at a time........

I usually don't comment much on my personal life. I try to focus on my kids, my hobbies, my friends and family etc. I do however need to begin sharing my spiritual life more, but that will have to happen in another post.

Anyway, life is more difficult than I ever really imagined it to be. It leads you down roads that you didn't ever expect to go down. But the truth is, those roads take you to places you needed to go in order to become someone different. You learn from heartache, you learn from your trials, you finally see what really matters in life.

I love my 4 boys with all of my heart. They truly are my greatest blessings. I strive everyday to be a better mom. To be less irritated, more patient, give more attention, be a better example ect. My family is my universe. But that HAS to include more than just 4 boys and a Mom.......

So anyway........I hate it when I cry and type at the same time.......hopefully, with a prayer in my heart, my entire family can someday be complete again. One step at a time starting 9/9/08.

I want to thank my many friends, family ect. For all your love and support. I love you all, and you know who you are. I could not have made it through without you. Most importantly I want to thank my Heavenly Father and Jesus. Through many, many prayers I owe my life, my children, my sanity, my peace to Them.......thank-you.

We are not through the woods yet, but step by step, day by day, prayer by prayer.......I believe we will see a clearing.

Peter A. Cohen "There is no one giant step that does it. It's a lot of little steps"

Define Soccer Mom.....

In North American social, cultural and political discourse, soccer mom broadly refers to a middle-class suburban woman who spends a significant amount of her time transporting her school-age children to activities such as soccer practice.

The phrase soccer mom generally refers to a white, married middle class woman who lives in the suburbs and has school age children. She is sometimes portrayed in the media as busy or overburdened and driving a minivan. She is also portrayed as putting the interests of her family, and most importantly her children, ahead of her own.

(I agree with everything in this definition, but I DO NOT drive a mini-van)

And one more makes four........baby!

I can't believe it!!!! My baby, my last one ever, my #4 boy is finally playing soccer! On his very own team. Whoa what a milestone, I think I'm gonna cry...... So one more makes 4. FOUR stinky little buggers, 4 soccer teams, 5 to 8 soccer practices a week, 4 t0 7 soccer games a week etc. PLUS me and my Ellie are in charge of #3's team CROSSFIRE. That has included massive emailing, texting, calling, ordering, scheduling, planning........Huh, sometimes I ask myself why? Then my reply to myself is, if not me, then who?

Anyway it's a lot of work, but those little guys are worth it (sometimes)

FYI the blog background change, what a pain in the BUTT!! Ellie's butt hurts probably more than mine LOL!!! But you have to admit a 3 column blog ROCKS!!!! But HTML SUCKS!!!!! Ellie you are beyond AMAZING, but you already know that!!!

P.S. I finally created my own AVATAR. I've been wanting to for a while, so there she is......wait there I am.....in the digital world. NICE.........dorky, I know.........but NICE.

P.P.S I forgot to mention that Ellie and I manage our women's indoor soccer team, Team X-Treme (her husbands X-Treme Coatings business is our sponsor). That as of lately has been a pain to organize, but all is well now.

Preschool, Baby......

My #4 who happens to be 4, had his first day of PRESCHOOL today. He has a little "attachment" issue with me. I can't complain much, because he is my BABY you know. He didn't want to go to school today, but he conceded in the end. Anyway........he attends two different preschools, but Miss Jodies is his favorite. I thinks it's because she is soooo wonderful!

My Tag Bag.....Temple Clothing Bags

We found the CUTEST bags ever at Swiss Days. They're called TAG BAGS . They are marketed as Temple clothing bags, but can be used as travel/garment bags as well. I bought one for myself and some others for Christmas gifts. I think Katie and I were asked more than a dozen times where to get/find those. I'll almost guarantee the Tag Bag booth was completely sold out by noon. Good news though, go to their link and you can order your own if interested.

http://www.mytagbag.com/

P.S. The website only shows a few of the styles and colors that were sold at Swiss Days. There was a bigger selection to choose from.

Swiss Days & Park City, Baby........

The FAB 4 plus 2 more......Myself and 5 of my friends had a great girls trip to Park City and Swiss Days this weekend. It was NYC on a smaller Utah level. An overnight excursion is just what we all needed. Thanks to Katie, Natalie, Amy, Lori and Kris.

(Just don't ask us how much money we all went through......it's not pretty)

Peach Pie anyone.....

My sister-in-law gave me a whole bunch of peaches last Saturday. So what do you do when you have a whole bunch of peaches, you make "Peach Pie". I also made peaches and cream ect..... Anyway this is a stellar example of a post of my not-so-interesting life. Besides I told Ellie I'd post a pic of my pie. FYI my kids loved it!!

This is kinda funny.....

Quote of the day:

Whatever you give a woman, she's going to multiply.
If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby. If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her.

So - if you give her crap, you will get a bucket full of sh#t.

(Thanks Kent and Sandy)

Back to school baby.......

SO, it's the first day back to school. I can't believe I'm going to admit this, but.......I don't want summer to end!!!! I miss those messy little buggers already. Oh well, I still have my #4, my baby!!!

Weber State 3 on 3 Tournament.....

My #2 had quite the busy Saturday. His La Roca team started their season with 2 games in the morning, then he competed in a 3 on 3 tournament at Weber State. His team took 2nd place. Good Job, dude!

Welcome back....

My Ellie is finally back from her vaca!!! How I missed her so...... Too bad she brought a little "Montezuma's Revenge" back with her! But I am wondering if she woke up one morning in Mexico and wondered "Why am I covered in feathers"? By the way Ell our shirts came in the mail today. They're HOTT!!!

New Logo and Blog Header....

Here is the new CrossFire logo for our boys U8 soccer team. Practices seem to be going well. My husband just finished up with his license/coaching classes. The season is set to begin on Sept. 10th. Looks like we are on our way to a great first season.....

We are the Champions.......

Congratulations to my #2's La Roca soccer team. They took first place in this years Adidas Cup. My #2 was sick all but one of the tournament games. He battled through the sickness and played his best. Good Job, buddy. The virus has now spread to the rest of my boys and it SUCKS!!!! No Lagoon today boys, maybe tomorrow.

I have updated the La Roca blog (cause I have so much time on my hands LOL), next will come the CrossFire blog.

Thanks to Tiffiny for the Adidas Cup pics. For some odd reason I forgot my camera. That is soooo unlike me!!! That will not happen again........

Self inflicted.......but loving it!!!!!

Blogging......either your into it or your not. I will admit I have my dry spells, but lately I like to post about the mundane happenings of my not-so-interesting life. I knew when Ellie and I agreed to be the "Team Mom's" for our boys U8 CrossFire soccer team that it would eventually include a blog. Well the time has finally come. I also thought it would be great to open a blog for my other son's U10 boys La Roca team. So now I am the proud blogmaster for two boys soccer teams. Of course Ellie will help me with the CrossFire team.

So I've added them as blog buddies. For right now they are open blogs, but as soon as I post pics, names, schedules ect. they will become private. It looks like I better start enjoying blogging a whole lot more.....

Oh yeah my #1 started a blog a while ago I just forgot to add him to my blog buddies list. Anyway happy blogging.........

Feathers????

I just ordered me and my Ellie a couple of these babies!!

My Little Sickie.....

Here are two pics of my little sickie. I took him to the doc yesterday cause I was worried he had strep, but it was a negative. He'll be fine, but isn't he the cutest thing ever. My bugman gathered all of his stuffed animals and placed them around my little sickies head......oh how sweet!

We are the Champions.......

Well finally this busy week has come to an end. My boys did great at their soccer tournaments. My #2's team only lost 1 game, however the way the tournament was scored/decided they weren't able to play for the championship. That sucks......but whatever.

My oldest boy did AWESOME!!! His team went undefeated and took the Championship!!!!! Way to go guys!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!

I told my CeCe (#2) that he should of been born in the year 2000, then he would of turned 8 on 8/8/08. Instead he turned 9 today. Then the thought ran through my head that I was pregnant in August of 2000. Pregnant with (#3) my bugman. They are only 16 months apart, what in the h#!@ was I thinking. I wasn't that's the point.

Anyway.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! Check out his new bike. Fresh from his dad's bike shop (Biker's Edge). This week has been crazy. Two of my boys in two different soccer tournaments. The birthday boy did awesome today, his birthday must of brought his team good luck. Go LA ROCA!!!!! My #1's team is doing great as well. Neither one of them have lost a game yet. Go OFC!!!!!

Tomorrow will be a challenge. Possible 4 games between the two of them. Holy Cow what have I signed up for?!? It will only be me/myself/I at the games (+ my 4 boys), but I can handle it. Remember I'm turning into quite the independent woman!!!!

Whoa Baby......

I've been meaning to post about this all week, but "Breaking Dawn" took precedence. Anyway.......every year we always seem to have hornet/wasp problems at our house. At anytime in the summer months you can find hives all around my house and yard. This year in particular seems to be worse than others. Luckily we have had only one "sting" that I know of. It always seems to happen on pool days, and never to my own kids.

So last Friday we found close to 10 hives around our sandbox, swingset, playhouse ect. They were very mature hives with lots of wasps/hornets. We went through 3 cans of insect spray that day. As we were searching for more nests we stumbled upon the mother of all hives hanging in a tree. It is at least as big as two football's put together. Inside were these hornets/wasps that were black and at least double their normal size. Holy cow......I've never seen anything like it.

The next day I went on bug patrol again and found five more start up hives and the big black hornets were starting another hive in almost the same spot. But no worries.....I'm on definite exterminator patrol......my house will be a safe place to visit. Anyway we've decided to keep the hive for future show and tells and science projects.

The End....(Slight Spoiler, read with caution)

I thought I would be writing a plea to Stephenie Meyer on why the (Twilight) series should continue, but I'm not. The final book wrapped up exactly like all "happily ever after" stories should. I didn't cry once, not until the very end. One day hopefully, I will get my "happily ever after".

P.S. Now ya never know if she'll write a prequel.......Midnight Sun anyone???????

P.S.S. I am so tickled that my name is in the book, different spelling, but still the same. (I just had to get a small ounce of fame out of the book, that's the fanatic speaking)

I'm really not a fanatic.......

So I changed my music playlist. Can anyone even give a guess as to why? If you can, feel free to leave a comment. Only true "fanatics" would know the real answer/reason. JUST AN FYI.......I'm really not a fanatic. But acting like one is just too much fun to pass up. Life is too short.......have a little fun!!!!

I have no problem at all admitting this........

I have absolutely no problem admitting this. I went at exactly 12:01 a.m. Saturday August 2nd, 2008 to my local Deseret Book Store and picked up 2 copies of "Breaking Dawn". I know, I know.......it seems a little fanatical......but I'm just being me!!
And I quite like who I am, so there!!!! I pre-ordered them so I was in and out in a jiffy. I purposely cheesed it up for the camera :)

After my slick in and out I traveled up to my Ellie's house and stuck her copy in her mailbox. And here I am blogging about the whole thing!!! Now I'll just read one chapter then hit the hay.

My Independance day.....

I have a profound knack to underestimate myself. But sometimes doing something out of ones comfort zone allows for growth. So Wednesday of this week I did just that. I decided that I would load up my kidlets and travel up to Morgan. Morgan County Fairgrounds that is. Ellie and her bandwagon were going up there for the MX races. Her 7 year old was racing and her Hubby was a sponsor at the event. So I thought what the heck, why don't I take my 7 year old up there to race as well!!!!

It's never that easy to just pick-up and do something like that. My husband was at scout camp with my oldest. So how would I manage the whole operation?????

Well let me tell ya, I did........It began with borrowing a hitch from Ellie. Next came the snack trip to Wal-Mart. Followed by taking a 4 bike (bike rack) off the back of my Denali. It was mega heavy. Then unloading 3 MX bikes from my husbands bike trailer, leaving only my 7 years olds bike. Then hooking-up my Denali to the bike trailer and then backing it out of the driveway. Next came the realization that I needed fuel. So I proceeded to a gas station with trailer in tow to get gas. Finally traveling to Morgan with 2 of my boys headed to the MX races!!! My other boy went with his Nannie and Papa to soccer practice etc.

Anyway I DID IT!!!!! I unloaded and loaded my boys bike. I went with him to the start of every practice and race. I was in the arena during the races to make sure he was doing o.k. ect. I was the man (so to speak). I definitely had a little help from Ellie's husband, but honestly it was mostly me. (thanks Kent)

My boy took 3rd place overall. He did awesome. He was very consistent each practice and race. I was proud of him, myself included. Ellie's boy was super impressive. He is quite the little jumper. Those 2 boys are great friends just like their mothers (LOL) Anyway I took some picks to document my experience. They have races next week, hmmmmmmmm

Organic Delight.....

If you already didn't know I love organically grown food. The health benefits overwhelmingly outweigh the increased cost. Here is a "delightful" example of our morning/breakfast fruit salad. Everything is completely organic. No pesticides, herbicides ect. Some products may claim they are organic but always look for the USDA organic seal. I also(when I cook)use meat ie. beef, bison, chicken, turkey that is either organic or was raised with no hormones, antibiotics, or animal byproducts feed ect.

Now listen, I'm also realistic. Not everything I eat or feed my children is organic, but I am trying. When I went to Hawaii last February I was in organic heaven. So many Hawaiian restaurants had organic menu options that I was completely overwhelmed. Just recently the Standard Examiner ran an article on organic food. It estimated that every year we as consumers drink a gallon or so of pesticides (other harmful chemicals). This is mostly from eating fruits and vegetables that are treated with pesticides, herbicides ect.

WalMart, Target, Smith's, Lee's are the main grocery stores where I shop. I am pleased that their organic food options are increasing as time go by. I occasionally will shop at health food stores, but those aren't as convenient.

So anyway......we enjoy eating organic. Just yesterday I picked 7 tomatoes out of my "ALL ORGANIC GARDEN"!!! The first of the season, they were delicious.

Better safe than Sorry.....

You know that guy that goes around displaying his SSN#, the company that he founded is called "LifeLock". LifeLock will essentially protect you of fraud (stolen identity) for up to a million dollars. I have signed up for LifeLock along with "Equifax" which is another security company that deals with all 3 major credit bureaus. Im probably over doing it, but better safe than sorry.

Johnny........

So I haven't posted FOREVER......I know, I know it's really quite unlike me, but the whole break in my car and steal my purse thing ruffled my feathers!!! So anyway here are some pics of my most fabulous night with Ellie. The John Mayer concert was.......WONDERFUL......MAGICAL......INCREDIBLE. He is quite the cutie-petutie!!!! Just think he was a total nerd in high school......not anymore!!!! I have the same pics on my blog as Ellie because I realized right before we left for the concert that my (little) digital camera was in my now stolen purse!!!! It just keep getting better!!!

P.S. Our seats were on the 13th row. I honestly didn't realize how good they were until we got there. Ellie's date was definitely not a cheapskate!!! LOL.....

P.S.S. Colbie Caillat was FABULOUS too!!!!!!

HellBoy, Wall-e and a new Driver's License

My boys and I (plus Tee Tee) are determined to see every movie that comes out this summer. Opening day if possible. Now keep in mind the movies are PG or PG-13, NO RATED R. Anyway........so today we saw the movie #3 has been waiting for all summer long HELLBOY. He absolutely loved the first HELLBOY, and HELLBOY 2 (The Golden Army)exceeded his expectations. We saw Wall-e Thursday, my dad thought it ranked right up there with some of the best animated movies of all-time.

Getting off the movie track for a minute.......

Ya know how Driver License Pictures usually SUCK? Well I really quite liked my old (now stolen) driver's license (picture). Today I visited the DMV, Social Security Office and my Bank to figure out my now stolen identity. All went well, but the new picture definitely doesn't live up to the previous. Oh well, what to do. I think I've covered all my bases, and feel a little bit better about the whole ugly situation.

Just a tip.....if this ever happens to you there are company's that (for a small monthly fee) will keep track of your credit and SSN# activity and alert you to any inquiries or hits. So for the rest of my life I will pay that small monthly fee so I can sleep at night.

Bad things happen in 3's........ (warning this post has a expletive or 2)

So if what they say is true (bad things happen in 3's)then I had #3 happen this morning. I went to my fav "body pump" at the 12th street Gold's Gym, with my mother no less. It was her first time doing "body pump", pretty sure she didn't enjoy it all that much. Anyway.......so the class ended, we proceeded to our cars, and what did I see before my two brown eyes.........a smashed in passenger front window!!! Niiiiiiiccccceeee!!!! A smash and grab took place and my lovely car was the target. The perpetrators had some serious balls. I was only parked 40-50 feet away from the front door of the the gym. IN BROAD DAYLIGHT!!!!! Wow how brazen can you be?

My purse was on the floor of the passenger seat. That's all they wanted. Not the cash in the console, or the fuzz buster. Just my favorite orange purse and my new Fossil wallet. BASTARDS!!!!!!! So YES I have been doing damage control all day. He, she or they hit Wal-Mart first and charged close to 700$. They're not stupid. Their spending spree didn't end there, I just choose not to reveal the rest. I'm having a hard time even typing this whole event. I'm beyond frustrated.

Anyway.......It could have been worse. I'm ok, my kids are great, I have a roof over my head, and of course I just went to Buckle yesterday so that makes everything better!!!

Pool Day

Here is a pic of our latest "Pool Day Party" Just an FYI reminder every Monday at 2:00. Count on it unless weather, holiday ect. My boys are quickly becoming little "brownies" with all the sun, I on the other hand am becoming one big freckle. LOL!!!

Happy 4th of July 2008

4th of July SlideShowStravaganza (Thanks Tee Tee for the Name!)

FrontRunner-Gateway-Fountains-Build-A-Bear Slide Show

Why?

Why do I feel the need to change my blog background for July 4th? Who knows? I downloaded the kit for it a while back, and I can only use it on the 4th. It's not like I can use the kit for Christmas. I know come Saturday morning I'll want to change it back, or into something entirely new hmmmmmm.........

These backgrounds and headers require massive amounts of time. Don't get me wrong I love doing it, but I like to keep them longer than a few days. Oh well! I blame my Ellie for getting me into this LOL!

By the way Ellie your blog is waaaayyy cute. Very Festive!!!

Hancock

Today.....myself, my boys, little bro and parents went and saw Hancock with Will Smith. Our initial intention was to see Wall-e, but Hancock won out in the end. We also ate at Iggy's, newly opened at the Junction. Anyway.....my boys loved it (of course), I thought it was good, I'm not sure what my parents thought. Tee Tee laughed pretty good through-out the whole thing, so he must have enjoyed it. I have heard mixed reviews, but all in all its pretty good movie.