Are you donating???

I hope we are all donating to the oldest free soup kitchen and coat facility in the northwest!! I guess Justin Timberlake is good for one thing!! I hope this brings you all the holiday cheer it has brought me.

That's Hotter!!

This is Ben and I on Halloween. I just got these pics from a friend. I was sad because no one at the ward party noticed we dressed up. They never said nice costume or anything. I don't get it. Oh well! I was a little sad because my poofy bangs went flat. Nice Gut!! Not so Hott!

This is what happens when you give your kid a small chocolate covered pretzel in the car. Claire fell on the way to the car and was really sad so I gave her one of the pretzels I had grabbed. When I opened the door of the car I saw this face. And that's not all the other half of the pretzel was all over her car seat. It was seriously a mini, tiny pretzel. What is she Houdini!!

All Hallows eve!!

We were really excited to go to the pumpkin patch but, as you can see by Haley's face it didn't last long. Haley decided to go down the big slide first. She went down once and then said "uh oh mom" I guess the slide was a little too exciting for her. She had a little accident. Poor kid, she was so upset we had to leave. I made her take a quick pic w/ me and if you look close you can see wet spots on her leggings.....I bet you will all look!!

Claire loved the train! You can always read her emotions right on her face.

My cute witch and cowgirl! Claire wouldn't put that darn straw down

All the kids at the Marlows.Claire, Dallin, Chase, Milana, Zoe and Haley. What a wild bunch!

Knocked Up!

Don't be offended by my title, I know some people don't like that term....but, I do! So, yes I'm pregnant, but only by like a day. I was going to keep it on the low down, but I told my dad (big mistake) and I had like a dozen people come up to me last night at the Halloween party with Congratulations ....thanks dad!I have to say I was very surprised. I thought it would take us from 6 months to a year like Claire. Not this one, it only took one month. So now Claire and this baby will be almost exactly two years apart. I'm so scared! Anyway, That's all I got, now I just wait to get fatter!!

Carpinteria!

This is a long post because I don't know how to shrink pics. Every year our family gets a beach house in Carpinteria for a week. This is the first year I've stayed the whole week. Let's just say sleeping with both kids in a small bedroom doesn't make for much sleep. I barely survived. Otherwise the weather was perfect and we didn't have to breathe in Ash all week. Overall a wonderful time!!

Haley and her cousins on the Beach. Notice my child is the only one who cant give a normal smile.

Claire loved the beach, but she loved suckers more. This is why she rarely gets one. She kept dropping it in the sand and would scream while I took it to rinse off. I finally let her suck on sand.

I had to post this picture because rarely does Haley do a normal smile or face. Doesn't she look sweet here? Looks can be deceiving!!

So, Ben and his brother decided to go fishing. They got some poles and a little blow up raft and went out to sea.....far out! They went 3 times and spent a cumulative 10 hours fishing........this is what they caught. Poor babies! One lousy little fish. See how proud Ben looks. Of course I made fun of them.

We went and visited our friend who has a pony ranch. Haley got to ride Pebbles. She's a pretty good little equestrian. Now she tells me she wants a pony for Christmas.....yeah that's gonna happen!

We went to the Santa Barbara Zoo which, I usually enjoy, except this time. Isn't a Zoo supposed to have animals in enclosures? Not this time, this time it was just enclosures. Yes, we only saw about 1/3 of the animals, they must all be in Rehab or something.

My wonderful friends came down to visit me. It was so fun we got to watch our kids, type Ben's paper for him and wake up with our kids in the middle of the night. The best time was when the kids went to bed...

Because that's when we got to watch The Office together and eat slice and bake cookies. I love womanly bonding. I'm going to plan a women only get away every year now. Start preparing your husbands!!

A Burning Sensation!

Don't try this at home!! Anything with a marijuana leaf on it is bad for you!!

Exhibit A:Vanity is a wicked, wicked thing. I will be going to our beach house this week so I decided this year I would have a tan. I'm usually okay with my pastiness but, my bodies not the same as it used to be and I heard a tan makes you look slimmer. Im usually anti tan but Ive gotten vain in my old age.The man gave me a free sample of a lotion guaranteed to make you darker. I tried it on my lower legs. Exhibit B: He said it would cause some redness and tingling. Tingling my *&%. It was a full on fire. My legs were burning so bad. And these pictures weren't taken right away, this was after they had gotten better. I'm all for tigling, just not on my legs(wink, wink).Im just putting this out there so none of you are tricked with the line "a little redness and tingling" Thats what I get for trying to fake bake.

Disneyland

For Haley's 4Th Birthday we went to Disneyland for 2 days. It was so fun! And I have to say Haley was perfect. No whining, went on every ride, and was happy to be there. I watched all the other kids crying and throwing fits and I was very grateful. Ben and Haley are clones, NO FEAR! They went on every ride, I sat at the exits when they were too scary or would make me vomit. The only one Haley didn't like was the snow monster on the Matterhorn. Every ride after that she would ask "Are there any white gorillas on this?" Overall a great time!!

Here's Haley and Ben after our first trip down splash mountain, not too wet. The next time Haley was soaked. Her favorite rides were Pirates of the Caribbean(3x) Jungle Cruise(3x) Space Mountain(2x) and Splash Mountain(2x)

The little Mermaid was checking out Haley's Birthday manicure. Haley was in awe of her, she could hardly speak. The mermaid was super cute! I told Ben to wait around the corner!

This is a funny picture of me playing at the pool trying to get some sun!!

Carl's Bad!

We took a little trip down to Carlsbad to visit Dianna, her sister Val and their families. It was really fun. I wish it could have lasted longer. Here's a random, non planned pic of my family gazing out to see holding hands!!

This is how you watch your kids at the beach. 1. Dig hole 2. Place child in hole 3. Dig them up when its time to go. We almost forgot to do # 3!

What a good lookin group of Mama's! Notice Haley heard the word camera and couldn't help sticking her little cranium in the pic. What a HAM!

Reunited!

This Picture brought a tear to my eye(sniff). All these wonderful women have been my bestest friends. Im soooo lucky(sob) to have them and... Holly to steal them from!! Seriously , though I love you guys.

I put this pic up because Haley looks so funny. She likes to roll her ballet tights until they look like biker shorts. Its all the rage now!!

No nose bleeds this time!

Someone Ben's doing a job for gave us these tickets. What a difference good seats make. I actually got into the game because I could see the players. It was fun. I also liked looking for all the famous people in the fancy seat section in front of us. To sit there you had to have had Botox done.

We were so close (this is not zoomed). See that lady down there. That's doctor Quinn medicine women. She stood up like 20 times during the game. Need some attention?( I didn't take this pic because of her, she was just always there)

Camping in Carp!

Haley loves the tide pools! She likes to poke the squishy anenamies(?) and have them spit at her. I told her I'm squishy and I'll spit on her but she said it's not the same.

Ben likes to show off his cooking skills. He'd grilled up some tasty shrimp. I wish he'd show off at home. Nice face too!!

Claires new favorite thing is to dip...her food that is. So she loved the beach, it was one big bowl of dip to her. Everytime she took a bite of chip she had to dip it in the sand first. Yum, fiber!!

Laguna Beach

For our 5th Anniversary we went to Laguna Beach. We've done this almost every year. We had a good time. We played on the beach, shopped, ate at some good resturaunts and swam alot. Our hotel was right on the beach but, we didn't like it very much...dirty! Ben got me a massage where I fell asleep and woke myself up snoring...not too pretty. The kids got to eat junk food so they loved it. All and all a good little vacation. This is our only family pic, it was late and we were learning how to use the timer.

Poor Claire couldn't get a nap, so she slept where ever she could! Including Dad's shoulders. Ben loved it, all the women would say"oh, that is sooo cute". I just held down my lunch.

Haley found a sea slug at the beach. It was pretty gross, it gooed all over her. Haley felt cool because all the kids came to look at what she found. Then these older kids came and took it from her and stole her thunder. So I did what a good Mom should, I threw sand at them!!

We went to the Marine Rescue place and Haley bonded with a baby seal named "Nick", isn't he sweet. I asked if I could leave Haley and take Nick...they said No!

I've Been Tagged!

Tag! You're it!This is just like one of those "get to know your friends better" Tagging means that I do my "top four" in the following categories, and then tag four more people.

Favorite 4 jobs I've held:
1. Special ed Aide
2. Subway Sandwhich Artist
3. GAP girl
4. Banana Republic girl (its all about the discounts)

4 Movies I can watch over and over:
1. Pride and Predjudice(A&E version)
2. The Holiday
3. Pride and Predjudice (new version)
4. Sense and Sensibility

4 Places I have lived:
1. The hills of Granada
2. Fresno, Ca (for like a week)
3. Spanish Fork and Provo, Ut (yuck)
4. Woodland Hills, Ca

4 T.V. shows I watch:
1. The Office
2. Heroes
3. Top Chef
4. Real world/ Road rules Challange (Im sorry)

4 Places Ive been on vacation:
1. Kauai
2. Laguna Beach
3. Carpinteria
4. Utah (what a sad list)

4 Favorite Foods:
1. El pollo Loco salad
2. Fried Zuchini
3. Biscuits & white gravy
4. Fish Tacos

4 Websites I visit:
1. Blogs
2. Wells Fargo
3. Stephanie Meyer ( she writes the books I love)
4. Go city Kids

4 People Im tagging now:
1. Valerie
2. Laura
3. Holly
4. Lisa

That's Hot!

I try to get Claire to take swim lessons with her sister but, she says she can't because she can't find goggles that fit. What a diva!

Swim Lessons??

So Haley has been taking swim lessons, if you call it that. The teacher will ask Haley to do something and she will say"No, it's okay" or she'll take the things she's supposed to do and change them to her liking. For example, the teacher told the girls to drop the rings to the bottom of the pool and try to get them. Instead Haley took them to the step and did it from there. Much easier as you can see in the pictures!!

Must Read!

I thought I must share with you, my fellow bloggers, something that has made me very happy. I want you to also have this happiness in your life. You must read Twilight. I should warn you that it is addictive. Its a good idea to buy Cheerios to throw at your children so you don't have to stop reading. I have given the gift of happiness to my mother and she hasn't spoken to me in 2 days, she's obsessed with it! So please read and try to prove me wrong...I'm serious, go get it!

Our Balls and Minds are in the Gutter!

We took Haley bowling for the first(and last) time. Let me tell you it took forever. We tried through the legs, beside the leg, over hand, and underhand. Nothing made that ball go fast. Each time she bowled it took like 5 minutes and then it would just fall in the gutter.......and it was bumper bowl. It reminded of "Uncle Buck" for those of you who remember. We'll try again next year!

Claire bowled a 230. She beat us all.

Here she gets a high five after she bowled 3 strikes in a row. It's a turkey! (I know my bowling lingo)

Pucker Up!!

I felt like I was neglecting my poor, homeless naked child so, I had to post a pic. I swear she does have clothes. How could you not kiss those lips? That's her boyfriend Ken's leg in the picture with her.

Mormon Night at Dodger Stadium

Three tickets to the dodger game= $33.00

Dodger Dog, a root beer, and a ice cream= $75.00

Sitting in the nose bleeds and not finding your car at the end of the night....priceless

So worth it!

Im going to get a little corny...Having kids can be tough sometimes. Yet the good always out weighs the bad. Like today when the girls were being really quiet I got worried they were up to something. Then I come around the corner and see Haley reading a touch and feel book to Claire. It was soo sweet. It melts my hard little heart. So to all my friends with one child....get busy!! It gets better with each one.

Melissa Jolie

I just want everyone to know Im doing fine after my enhancement surgery. Everything went beautifully and I think I look fabulous. Haley really wants hers done as well.

Meana Ballerina

Haley is a ballerina diva. She must not have a hair out of place or she makes me fix it. I feel like a pagent mom following her around with a can of hairspray. She loves ballet and she listens so intently to her teacher. Maybe I should wear a tutu and she'd listen to me

Haley is such a girly girl but, suprises me when she does stuff like this. She was the only kid in our group at the Bug Fair willing to hold a millipede....and she loved it.