The last time we did this....

Daniel and I are taking the older 2 kids to Disneyland etc for 10 days. We are leaving on Friday and we are all so excited. We took them just over a year ago, in October, for the first time, and since we are going again, I couldn't help but be reminded of something unusual that happened the last time we went, so I figured, "Hey, why not blog about it?"

So October of 2006 rolled around. We decided to take the kids to Disneyland as a surprise for Mason's 8th birthday. We had our airline tickets, the secret was still intact, and I was packing our suitcases to leave.

As a female, I am so lucky as to have to think, when packing, about what time of the month it is, and whether I will need certain female items while on said trip (there is a point to this, I'm not just throwing that wicked mental picture out there for my health). I got to thinking about it, trying to remember when the last one was.....hmmmmm...let's see, it was when my brother Paul and Kristin got married...that was.......calendar.....5 weeks ago. WHAT???? Wait a second. 5 weeks? For me, that's like 6 years. 5 weeks is unheard of. Hmmmm....for most people, that would be a pretty sure sign that something was up, right? But for me, not so much. Most people who know me know that Mason, Savannah, and Jaxon were all fertility babies. So wondering if I am pregnant was not something I had ever had to do. I know when I'm pregnant. It happens after a lot of doctor visits, a lot of pill taking, a lot of shots, a lot of worrying and hoping, a lot of disappointment and expense. What it doesn't do is just happen. Weird. Well, I knew I didnt want to take a trip to the coast, wondering what was going on. So I decided it would be best to buy a test. I didn't tell Dan anything about it. I knew from past experience that it would be a complete miracle if I was. I also knew that with Jaxon being only 9 months old, Daniel would be more than a bit freaked out. So there was no reason to worry him over nothing.

I went to the store and bought 2 tests. I took one the morning before we left. Negative, just like I thought. No reason to even mention that scare to Dan at all. I was strangely disappointed, but I wasn't sure why. I told myself I knew before I ever took the test that it would be negative. I can't tell you how many times in 10 years I had a negative pregnancy test. So I went ahead and packed my female items, and off we went on our trip.

The flight went rather smoothly. Except for one thing. For some reason, my stomach felt very unsettled. Flying doesn't usually affect me that way. But I was nauseated not only on the flight, but right after we landed as well. Reaaaaallly nauseated. Odd.

A couple of days into our vacation, we decided to go swimming. I put on my swimsuit and immediately started complaining to Daniel. "Look at me! I must be retaining 10 pounds of water! I know I haven't gained any weight but look at my stomach! It's huge!" Since I was over a week late, I figured I was just having major PMS. I didnt even want to go out in my swimsuit looking like that, but I bit the bullet and just hoped that extreme bloating would go away soon.

That night, as Daniel and I hopped into bed, I snuggled up close to him and he said, "What is wrong with you? Are you sick? You are burning up!!!" I felt fine, and told him he must just be cold. "No" he said, "You are hot to the touch. You must have a fever." Mason had been sick the day we arrived, and I could have caught that, but I didnt feel hot at all. I felt fine. Weird. Again.

The next night, the same thing happened. There are only 2 times when my body feels hot to the touch- when I have a fever, and the first 10 weeks-ish of a pregnancy. But I knew I wasn't pregnant since I had just taken that test. But here it was another 3 days or so after that and still no period.....And yet I was totally convinced I could chalk it all up to an extreme case of PMS. Dan made a joke with me, saying, "Maybe you're incubating HAHAHA" Big Joke. I decided to reassure him, and told him about the fact that I actually had thought I might be before we left, but he could rest easy, it was negative. His response, "You BETTER NOT BE PREGNANT!" I kept reassuring him that duh, it wasn't possible for me to be pregnant, chill out.

Throughout the rest of the trip, I continued to feel sick to my stomach from rides, food, the car etc. But not badly enough that it ruined any of my fun.

It was a short trip so 4 days or so later, we headed home. Daniel and I got in a silly argument over something ridiculous on the drive home from the airport so we weren't speaking when we arrived home. By this point, I was almost 2 weeks late and I did not feel right, so I decided to take the remaining test the next morning.

I shouldn't have been surprised. I mean, all the signs were there. But after 10 years, and never being able to get pregnant on our own, I was shocked. I kept going back in there and looking at the test again and again. The strangest part was that even though I had just had a baby, and even though this was in no way planned, I couldn't help but see the miracle in front of me and be grateful, and happy, about this incredible surprise.

Now for telling Dan :) We still weren't speaking, and I wasn't about to drop that on him when he was already pouting. So I sat on it for a few days until the right time seemed to present itself. Let's just say he was far more shocked than I was.

It's ony been 14 months but how life has changed since then! Jayden is the best surprise we have ever been given. He is an amazing addition to our family. He is the sweetest, snuggliest little guy. I can't imagine our family without him. I am so grateful for the blessing he is. It is such a neat experience for me to see the dynamic between him and Jaxon, being so close in age. My other children are all close to 4 years apart, and my boys are over 7 years apart. I am so excited to see how their relationship develops as they grow up.

As we head to Disneyland this time, we are leaving 2 babies home with family, instead of 1 like we did last time. And I expect my tummy will feel much better this time around. But I think every time we take a Disney vacation, I will recall the big surprise we got the first time around.

Still my Baby Girl

Trouble Turns Two

My sweet little guy turned two this past week! I know, you thought by his actions he was already 2 right? Naw, he's just ambitious :)

For Jaxon's birthday, we went to Grandma Miller's house, had cake and Ice Cream, and opened presents. He was so funny. He did help a little when it came to opening the presents, but when it was time to blow out the candles, he was so cute! We lit them, and then told him to blow them out (he does know how). He just stared at them, so Savannah showed him by blowing one out. He said, "Uh oh, Bi-yure! (fire)" And then pointed to the lighter because he wanted the candles lit. Thinking he wanted to blow them out himself, we relit them, but he just wanted to watch them burn. He did not want to blow them out, and didn't want anyone else to either. We finally had to blow them out for him.

My little birthday boy has been such a wonderful blessing to our family. Jaxon is the life of the Miller house. We refer to him as stealthy :) He doesnt SEEM like he's mischevious, he is so quiet, but turn your back for one second.... You will see from his pics that his usual demeanor is pretty somber. He keeps a straight face most of the time, as if he is always concentrating on something (I know those wheels are a turnin in there). But then, every so often, he breaks out into our little entertainer. He will do anything to get a laugh. He loves to be the center of attention. He love people to laugh at him. He has the sweetest smile I've ever seen. He actually talks up a storm, but only to people he knows. If strangers are here, he acts like he doesnt know how to talk yet, and acts like he doesnt understand what you are saying. Trust me, he does :)

Jaxon loves his brothers and sister. All day long, he takes inventory of where everyone is. It goes something like this, "Where Dada? Dada erkin? (working)", then "Where Bason (Mason)? Ooks (school)?" "Where Nanna (Savannah), ooks?" , "Where Deeden (Jayden), "seepin (sleeping)?"Sometimes we even get Grandma (Bumm-ah), Grandpa (Bumpa), and Danna (which he actually says right) in there as well. He loves kisses. He loves cars (which he calls Brrrrrrroooomies,while he makes the brrrrooom sound that imitates a car). He loves his blankey. He teases the cat ceaselessly and has scratched up hands to prove it (but he never flinches when the cat cratches the heck out of him, he just laughs and evil little belly laugh). He loves to watch Super Why over and over and over. He is quite a daddy's boy at times. He loves to take a bath (blapth) or a shower (show) every time I change his diaper. He even tries to mother Jayden. He hates nursery, or anything that takes him away from mom for even a minute or two. He loves climbing, messing, breaking, throwing and screaming :) And I love him!

So Happy Birthday my sweet little boy! I love you to pieces!

Oh and for the record, yes, he did do with his cake the same thing he did with Savannah's cake (turn it upside down and break it up into pieces all over the kitchen when Mom wasn't looking), so we had to throw it out also.

Brrrr....

Taco TV Tuesday

WHAT? Yeah, that's what I'm going to explain.

First I want to thank my kids for being such a great example to me. They LOVE family time (I know, give it a few years) and because of that, they are always coming up with new, creative things we can do together as a family.

It all started a couple of months ago. We enjoy watching the Biggest Loser together (my kids are really into being healthy, don't know where they come by that.... ;) Anyway, we DVR it since we can't always watch it at that time. However, Dan had 2 of his own programs that he insisted we could not override. So we started recording Biggest Loser on the kids TVs. That meant when we wanted to watch them, we had to head into one of the kids bedrooms to do it.

It just so happened that the first week we were doing this, I made Taco Soup for dinner, and my kids love taco soup. We loaded up our taco soup and headed down to Mason's room on Tuesday night and watched Biggest Loser (I know I know, shouldn't we have been eating grilled chicken and steamed broccoli instead?). We had such a good time that Mason said, "Mom, we should do this every week!" And so a new tradition was born- Taco TV Tuesday (how's that for alliteration-who says a SAHM doesn't use her college education?).

Each week, the kids help (yes, they really do) me cook the taco soup. They now know how to brown hamburger and tell when it's done, how to cook onions etc.... and when it's all ready, our fun begins.

Now that Biggest Loser is over (and thankfully turned out the way I wanted it to), we get to pick a new show to watch on Tuesday nights (like I said, thanks to DVR, it doesnt actually have to be ON on Tuesday nights, so that opens it up a bit) that we all will enjoy.

Invisible Mother

My dear friend Carrie sent me this in an email, and I loved it so much I thought I better blog it to share it with all of you. Thanks Carrie!

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously, not.




No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom.



Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated sum a cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going; she's going; she is gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England .. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe .. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To My Dear Friend, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything. A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees' I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.' At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life.. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'you're going to love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Nothing Sweeter...

...to a mother, than when her baby looks up at her face, lights the room with his beautiful smile, and all is right with the world simply because she is there.

*shakes head*...oh Jaxon

You could have guessed that I was due for an installment of Jaxon's latest disaster right? The last couple of weeks have been filled with them, but they have been uncharacteristically mild. 5 or 6 boxes of cereal dumped all over the house, the boxes ripped to pieces (at once), French Vanilla hot chocolate dumped all over the place (the best kind to be dumped, since it's white, not brown), the usual emptying of drawers, spilling of food etc.... but nothing to write home about- these are just part of our daily routine. Until today....

Today started off REALLY well. In fact, I almost blogged about how some days just come together. I got up, got the kids off to school, got everyone dressed and ready, washed 3 loads of laundry, baked cookies, had the whole house clean at once *shock*, good mood....


There we are. I am feeling safe since Jaxon is in the same room with me, in fact, I am facing him. I am teaching piano lessons and he is hanging around our 72 gallon salt water fish tank. He loves to watch the "shishies" so that's normal for him. Sometimes he likes to sit on the bottom of the table that holds the fish tank, and that's what he was doing. A few minutes later, he had moved and I noticed, about 5 feet away or so, a small wet spot, that I was sure was a spilled bottled water (Im not dumb enough to keep anything other than milk or water readily available in this house. It would all be on the carpet in a nanosecond). So I wander around looking for the bottle and grab a towel to soak it up. I can't see a bottle anywhere, but as I look back at the fish tank, I notice it is about 1/3 empty now. I just did a water change 2 days ago so I know it was not low on water. So I start to investigate, and then I see what the problem is, and it's a big one!

Jaxon apparently decided to play around with the fish tank filter. I do not know what he did, but I know that it was now working as a vacuum and sucking the water out , into itsself, and spitting it all over the carpet. Since it was a 72 gallon tank, and is now 1/3 empty, you can guess just how much water was now on the carpet. Let's just say the carpet was now functioning as an overfilled sponge. That small spot I saw was just what he tracked. The majority of it was covering about 100 sq feet of carpet, including behind the table which holds the fish tank (and cannot be moved due to it's weight).

What to do, what to do. Thankfully, I long ago decided for my own peace of mind and sanity, I would purchase a carpet cleaner for these sort of occasions. I put it on "spill pick up" and after soaking up what I could with towels, started sucking up water. I filled that tank in just a few minutes. I wasn't cleaning the carpet so I wasnt putting any water into it, just pulling it out. I dumped out the water, and filled it up again, and again, and again. About 20 gallons later, it felt just wet, no longer underwater. It took me a good 30 minutes the first round to suck it up. I went back a half hour or so later and sucked up another tank of disgusting, gross, brown fish water.

What fun.

Another day in the life.....

The 2 silver linings to this story:


#1- No one ended up in the hospital on this one

#2- It happened before we put in the new carpet. Phew.


Of course Dan is out of town also, and I have no idea how to fix the filter so that it works as a filter and not a sprinkler system. It's such a good thing that Jaxon is the most charming, cutest, most loveable child alive because if he were not, things would be ugly around here ;) Even when he does crazy stuff like this (which is pretty much always), you can't help but want to squeeze those adorable chubby cheeks, and fall in love with his amazing smile. My older 2 kids think he is the most entertaining thing to ever grace the earth. My husband loves to come home and wrestle with his burly little boy. And truth be told, I think he's extremely smart and wonderful. I just know that mischeif is part of the package with Jax. Blame his Dad for that. Dan carries the mischief gene. I carry the boring gene.

Anyhoo, he's still alive, and as far as I can tell, so are the fish. The carpet, well, let's just say it's probably good that it's on it's way out some day soon. But for now, I think it's okay..

And in other Jaxon news, he has peed on the potty several times over the last few days. In fact, just a few minutes ago he went in all by himself and sat on the potty and peed, without me putting him there or asking him if he wanted to go. See, told you that kid is smart ;)

What will the next installment bring? Only Jaxon's diabolical mind knows....

He did WHAT?

Jaxon peed on the potty!

Jax is 22 months old and for the last month or so, he makes us let him sit on the potty when we change his diaper. He would not actually do anything, but he had to sit there. Then he would rip off a piece of toilet paper (not wipe, just rip it off), drop it in the toilet, flush and wash his hands. It was actually a time consuming activity since he had to do it 3 or 4 times over and over before you could put his diaper back on.

I knew he was too young to worry about potty training, so I just let him do it to get in the habit, or entertain himself. Well, last week, I went in the bathroom, and wouldn't you know it, there was a yellow wet spot in the middle of the bath tub. WHAT? He will pee in the tub but not on the potty? Then a couple days later, same thing in the shower.

Today, we were having our thanksgiving festivities, and he pooped 3- count them- 3 times, in an hour. So the third time I was changing him, he once again wanted to sit on the potty. So I let him, as I gathered up the diaper bag. All of the sudden, I hear the most beautiful sound! The sound of a toddler peeing where he is supposed to pee! It was glorious. It was music to my ears. I looked over and sho nuff, boy is peein' on the potty! I was ecstatic! I cheered and hugged and smooshed him, telling him how proud I was...

that's all. Probably won't happen again for a long time. But it was cool.

Ashlee and Pete- really?

Bronx Mowgli Wentz?

Seriously people, have mercy on the poor child.

Beyond Blessed

I felt the need to write this blog. I talk all the time about the happenings in our lives, particularly those of our children. But the last year has brought some different stresses on us.

Daniel works in the mortgage industry. Need I say more? Well, I will anyway. He actually works for a Mortgage software company. Suffice it to say that his company has not been immune to the impact of the mortgage crisis. As the past year has gone on, and we have seen the outlook for the industry getting more and more grim, and as we have seen so many companies close their doors, and others who can barely leave them open, we have seen without a doubt how blessed we truly are.

Daniel loves his job. He truly has a passion for what he does and has no desire to do anything else. I think he would be happy if he never worked anywhere else the rest of his life. I addition to that, he has been able to make a suitable living for us, where our bills are paid and our children are taken care of each month. In an economy like this one, that's more than many families can say. While it has certainly been a stressful time for him, we are both so grateful that he has been blessed with continued employment. With a new baby to pay for, a toddler who spent some time in the PICU recently, and all of life's other expenses, I know how tough it would be if he were one of the many people in his industry who lost their jobs.

So first of all, I want to thank the Lord for blessing us so generously. Even though I'm sure there are so many others who deserve those blessings far more than we do. And secondly, I want to thank Daniel for working so hard to provide for this family, for dealing with these new stresses the best he can, and for being willing to do whatever it takes to weather this storm.

This situation has certainly opened my eyes to the importance of being prepared (which I will add, we really aren't), and to living within our means. To be honest, it's scared the crap out of me (can you use the word crap in a blog about blessings?). I've become more committed to finishing building our years supply, to cutting costs where we can, to paying off bills as quickly as possible, and to putting money away in case of hard times. We certainly are not anywhere near as prepared as we ought to be, but I can say that at this point, we can say we are making progress, and that we are committed to getting there.

Jaxon's bum

Jaxon calls spoons "bums" for some reason. And like a bad mom, I mimic him when I say it back. Here was our conversation this morning. It wasn't until I had said it all that I realized what I was really saying.

Me: "Jaxon, do you want a bum? No, that bum is too big. Hey- that's MY bum! Your bum is the little one. Mine is the big one. You want my bum? It's too big. I dont think that's going to work.
I would take the little one but I dont think you can make the big one work for you."

Project: Remodel- The Beginning

Daniel and I are about to undertake a very slow, very time consuming, very frustrating and stressful project :) We are doing a bit of remodeling to our home. It's only 9 years old but it's just time for some updating. We will be replacing all the flooring (tile in the entryway and bathrooms, hardwood in the kitchen and dining room, carpet throughout the rest of the house). We are repainting. We will be finishing 2 or 3 more rooms, including a bedroom (which has to have a window cut in, a closet framed in, and then can be finished), a bathroom, and the laundry room. And then some smaller cosmetic things throughout the house.

Tomorrow, the first big thing happens. The window is getting cut into the bedroom downstairs. When we moved into the house, there were 2 really large rooms downstairs in addition to the family room. One was made to be a bedroom. The other, well, Im not sure what it was going to be, but it didnt have a window or closet. Daniel and I had decided to make it our home gym, so we went ahead and had it drywalled, taped and textured. But then Baby Jayden made a surprise entrance into the world, leaving us one bedroom short. Since we like him a bit and want to keep him, we figured another bedroom would be more important than our gym. So now, after all the taping and texturing is already done, we have to go back and have the window cut in, the closet framed in, and re-drywall, tape and texture parts of that room.

So I plan on taking many before and after photos as the project moves along.

Please, wish us luck with this one :)

8 Things Tag

I was tagged by Carrie for this one. I love tag, but Im kind of slow at getting to them sometimes.

Eight things I'm passionate about:
1. My family and everything they do.
2. The Gospel
3. Triathlons
4. Photography
5. Taking time out for just me and the hubby
6. And on a related note....lol
7. Health and Fitness
8. Improving who I am and what I do

Eight words or phrases I use all the time:
1. I love you more the most, more than toast
2. JAXON WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
3. Oh no Jaxon!!!
4. Will you two stop fighting?
5. Jaxon get down from there.
6. Can you please put your shoes away?
7. Jaxon how did you get that?
8. What is that on the carpet?

Eight things I want to do before I die.
1. See every moment of my children's lives (well, almost every one. Im sure there are a few I will prefer to skip)
2. Lots and lots of traveling
3. Get my degree
4. Have a 6 pack
5. Get both babies to nap at the same time
6. Be a missionary mommy
7. Be great at something- anything :)
8. Do a half ironman triathlon

Eight things I currently want or need:
1. To get the hardwood sample from the floor guy so I can make my final decision
2. More time in the day
3. To eat something
4. Our remodel project to be done (and we aren't even started yet)
5. Warm weather year round
6. My back to heal up
7. A good run
8. Alone time

Eight places I want to visit:
1. Cancun (again)
2. Japan (again)
3. Europe
4. Hawaii
5. Puerto Vallarta
6. New York
7. The Bahamas
8. Any place warm and with a beach

Eight favorite restaurants:
1. Tucanos
2.Taco Johns :)
3. Outback
4. Wendy's
5. Johnny Carinos
6. Jaliscos
7. Garcias
8.Wasabi

8 TV shows I watch:
1. 24
2. The Office
3. CSI
4. Wife Swap
5. The Unit
6. Supernanny
7. The Mentalist
8. Criminal Minds

Eight People I tag:
1. Alida
2. Tiffany M.
3. Mason
4. Savannah
5. Tiffini
6. Sally
7. Brittany B.
8. Loots

Mason funny

Jaxon is standing there, diaperless, playing with himself. He thinks it's fun to flick it with his hand and watch it bob up and down :)

Me: "Nice. Is that a fun toy?"
Mason: "We should get you another one of those Jaxon!"

Halloween, Halloween, Trick-Or- Treat

We had a great Halloween- amazing weather, which is rare here. We usually trudge through snow, sleet, ice and hail on Halloween ;) Thought I'd throw up some pics.


My wonderful neighborhood did a fun thing. We had a dinner party at Betsy's house at 4:30, and then loaded the kids on a hay-filled trailer. We took them up our road (about 30-40-kids were on it) and stopped at each house. They would come out to the trailer and give each child their candy. The kids didn't have to get off. The neighbors only had to answer the door once. And everyone could go visit grandma, or family, later in the evening. It was so much fun.



Did I mention that I looked hot? Check us all out. Try not to drool too much ;)

Here I am with my blue eye shadow, my dark blush, my side pony tail, huge, belted shirt over leggings, layered sock and high tops, as well as radical earrings :)




Baby Jayden in his Kangaroo costume.
Savannah was a kitty. And yes, this is the same costume I wore to Hidee's party. Except I didnt wear her leotard or leggings :)


Jaxon was a lion. The hood stayed on just long enough for me to snap this. You can see his hands are already on it, and off it came about 1/3 second later.




Mason was a skeleton. He's trying to hold Jayden but pooe Jayden wasn't loving it.




Here is a pic of all the neighborhood kids on the hayride, going from house to house. Why didnt our parents think of this all those years ago? What an efficient way to get some snackage!

Jaxon got tired and was dragging around his blankey, sucking on the fringe, as he does when he is tired. So cute.

Jaxon's Distaster of the Week

When you have a child like Jaxon, you have 2 choices:


#1 Become frustrated and bitter about the fact that nothing in your house will last longer than a week or so, everything will be drawn on, broken into pieces, and thrown at someone's head, and someone will likely be hospitalized on a regular basis as a result of his antics

or

#2 See that Jaxon has just given you a perfect weekly column for your blog :)

I choose #2.

So, you will now get a weekly installment of "Jaxon's disaster of the week".

When I tell people about things he does, they say, "Oh Im sorry he was so bad today. I'm sorry you had a rough day." I want to say, "No, you dont understand, today was just another day. This was nothing out of the ordinary." So I thought it would be fun, as the week goes on and I clean up mess after mess, as I throw away another box full of cereal that was dumped all over 3 rooms, as I soak up 10 gallons of water that made it onto the carpet, etc...to pick which one of his little tricks was the best.


Well, the week isn't over yet, but Im gonna post the one that takes the cake *pun* here and if he tops it again this week, you might get an extra installment.


Okay, actually the cake wasn't the best one, but here is a picture of Mason's birthday cake- Jaxon style-, just for kicks,

But that was nothing, I assure you. I didnt even flinch at that one.

So far this week, here is the best one, which you wont get until I tell the story.

What is this, you might ask? Well, with Jax, we know that everything must be locked, or things will be either dangerous or expensive. So I put a lock on the oven. Jaxon was opening the oven and using the racks to climb up on the cupboards. I was terrified that he would do that when it was on and burn himself badly. So we locked the oven.

Yesterday morning, I was bathing Jayden when I smelled smoke coming from the kitchen. I went in to find that Jaxon had pulled the bottom of the plastic lock off of the front of the oven door, opened the door, and placed it inside the oven. Then he climbed up onto the stove and turned the oven on. As the oven heated up, the plastic lock melted onto the inside of the oven and eventually started dripping onto the inside of the oven door and smoking up my entire house.

I have no idea how to get this melted plastic off the inside of the oven and cannot use my oven at all until I do :)

In keeping with my resolve to put a positive spin on these things (I should so be a politician), I will kindly thank Jaxon for making it so I dont have to cook for a while.

See you next week with our next installment. Please pray for me that it won't be too expensive.

is it ME?

The past week, I've been spending my life on the phone, trying to get other people's stupid mistakes figured out. It must be me because I swear, it's not normal for this many things to be "processed incorrectly".

Last week, I got a statement from my insurance saying that Jaxon's hospitalization was denied because he was not eligible for benefits at the time of service. So I called them to find out what was up. You would think that if you pay $500 a month for insurance that you rarely use anyway, they would be willing to pay when it is actually needed. They said it was their error and they would indeed pay all the claims that they denied (which was the hospital, the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, the radiologist etc...).

Then, I got a statement in the mail saying our house payment was late. So I called because we recently refinanced and our old mortgage was supposed to be paid off weeks ago. When I called, I was told they couldn't access that information since they were undergoing system maintenance. I would have to call back another time to find out whether it had indeed been paid off. Here it is the end of the month and Im panicking because if for any reason, they haven't received the funds, they could report it to the credit bureau. I tried to access it online as well but had no luck their either.

Then today I took Mason's lunch money up to the school. I took it straight to the lunch room and paid cash. A couple hours later, he called me to say they wouldn't let him eat lunch because he didnt have lunch money. Apparently they didnt get it put into the computer or something....

After that, I ran to Target to get some birthday stuff for Mason. I wrote a check. He told me my check was not approved. I was confused since I have never had a returned check. I asked for a number to call to find out why it was not approved. He didnt have one, but called the front desk, who didn't know either, and gave me their guest relations number. So I called and explained, and was told, "We're sorry. Our system is having issues and we cannot accept any checks right now. It has nothing to do with your account, we are just asking all guests to pay with another tender until we get it fixed." Would have been nice if the store had known that so I hadn't felt like an idiot when they told me they wouldn't take my check!

Then I got the mail, and sure enough, there is a bill from the hospital saying the insurance has failed to pay and I now have to pay thousands of dollars right away. So I get to call the insurance back, and I get to call the hospital, to see if I can get that resolved before we have anything showing as delinquent.

I also had a battery for my camera go bad. So several weeks ago I called and since it is warranteed, they said they would be sending me a new one and it would be here in 2-3 buisness days. That was 3 weeks ago, and it has not arrived. So I get to call them as well to find out where it is.

Is this normal? I give my money to all of these people and you'd think that would make things go smoothly, but no, apparently it's very common for people to not realize that you are or have given them money. I would have lots more free time if I didnt have to spend so much of it on the phone taking care of these issues. Seems like I need to keep my schedule completely free so that I can spend the day doing nothing except straightening out whatever messes have been made with my accounts :)

Phew...there is my rant for the day!

And of cooooouuuurrrse

Mason found out that Savannah had a blog, so he had to have one too!

His is

http://www.theworldofmason.blogspot.com/

Savannah Says so

My mini me has decided she needs a blog. So of course, it's pretty much what Savannah wants, Savannah gets, so I made her a blog. Not much on it yet, but we'll get there!

http://savannahsaysso.blogspot.com/

Paaaar-TAY like a Rockstar

Or like a bunch of Mormon married people who are easily amused :)

Sadie (poor girl), Chad, Daniel, Me, Lane, Loni

Can I just say how thankful I am for friends? I have so many long distance friends who say they have the hardest time finding people they can go out with and enjoy themselves- a group of friends to belong to- and I am so thankful to have a group of friends who share common interests, have the same values, and remind me to make time for fun!

Jason (Napoleon- DUH!), and Torrie (Debbie, with glamour shot)

Saturday morning, Hidee called me and sais she was having a costume party for couples that night. I had a crazy/busy day scheduled (typical) but thought it would be fun. Dan wasn't as thrilled about the idea but he knew I wanted to go so he agreed.


Neither of us had costumes, so I decided to use Savannah's borrowed cat costume (no laughing, yes I used my 5 year old's costume). Dan, in typical Dan fashion, asked me at 6:55 (party at 7) what he should be. I gave him a bunch of ideas, and in typical Dan fashion, he rejected them all and called his mom :) Truth be told, she had much better ideas anyway, so looks like he made the right call. He borrowed his Dad's old letterman Jacket from 1963 and had this mask...well, you'll have to see the pics.


Anyway, we had such a great time. We ate lots of food that I had no business eating. And we played games that most of us have probably not played since High School :) Everyone's costumes were hilarious! We finished the night off by playing a very rowdy version of "Have you Ever" (is that what it's called??). I have a few bruises and a couple broken toenails, but hey, it was fun. And Dan, who didn't want to go, had a great time. Here are some fun pics:

Torrie, you hot mama- I love the fanny pac with floral motif and I'd like to schedule a booking for one of those sessions, if you don't mind ;)

Seth (who ditched the costume early on it seems), Debbie (who must have been sweating by the end of the night) and Hidee (Hannah Montana)

Daniel sitting on Sadie's lap.

Me- Meow.

Cassie, Hidee, Ryan, Levi, Dananda, Daniel, Lane, and Chad

There was a lot of lap sitting going on. Seth, Debbie, Hidee and Ryan.

Thanks Hidee, we had a great time. I still need your caramel brownie recipe. And while Im making requests, Torrie, the salsa? Thanks :)

A year's Supply of Soap for...you guessed it- Free.

Here are all my free soaps from last week :) Not just any soap- these are really fun! They have a mesh covering on them that does 2 things- it helps the kids grip it so it doesn't slip and it last longer since it doesnt wash away. It's also very sudsy and smells fruity, so the kids think it's great.

Anyway, I got 30 bars for free. I could have gotten more but I bought them out. Here is how this one worked:

Smith's had/has a catalina coupon (printed at the register when you make a purchase) that you receive when you buy 3 Johnson and Johnson products at once. I bought 3 of these soaps, which are $0.99 each. The coupon is for $3 off of any 3 Johnson and Johnson products. So after I made the initial purchase of 3 of them, I took the coupon back, loaded up on the Buddies soaps, and had them ring them through 3 at a time, each time using the coupon that printed from the previous 3. Since they are $3 off 3 and 3 of them cost only $2.98, they were free :) I still have the coupon from the last purchase, so I can go back when I'm in town again and use those to get more.

That's all :)

I'm not a Cheapskate, I prefer to be called extremely greedy

Let me preface this by saying one of my biggest weaknesses has been that I am NOT frugal. I have never liked to take the time to search for deals, comparison shop or any of that stuff.

However, when I had another baby (so 2 in diapers) and noticed I was spending $700 a month on groceries, and gas prices were through the roof, I decided that maybe, juuuuuust maybe, it would be worth my time to try and save a litte.

So I started getting the paper, clipping coupons, watching the ads, and picking Kimber's brain, and was amazed at how much I have cut back our grocery bill, without cutting back our groceries. In fact, I've been able to buy much more for storage than I ever did before.

Yesterday I got:

10 liters of A&W and 7up- Retail price 23.90 total- for FREE
40 bags of Green Giant Fresh Steamers Veggies- Retail 99.60 total- for FREE
Two 24 packs of bottled water- Retail $15.58- for FREE

A slew of other stuff for very cheap....

3 Jumbo size bags of Huggies Diapers- Retail $40 total, for $15.50

I was spending $350 every 2 weeks on groceries. Yesterday I spent $163 and saved $257. And I was able to get 8 bags of stuff for my storage, that I usually wouldnt have squeezed into our monthly grocery budget.

Kudo's to Kimber for all her advice, emails, and tips, and Brittany for all her forwards. You're helping me a ton! If anyone is interested, I have a link to Kimber's blog, where she tells a lot of her secrets. It's on my list and it's Kimber LOVES a deal! (Hope you don't mind Kimber!).

The thing is, I am more likely to be referred to as a shopaholic than a cheapskate, really. I LOVE to spend money! I just have a lot of other things I would rather spend it on than groceries :)

I also found out about a Caregiver's Cash back program. If you buy items to care for an individual (including children under 5) you qualify. The link is http://www.caregiversmarketplace.com/. You just buy 5 items that are on the list and send the form in and you get cash back. For example, I get $1 cash back for each package of Huggies I buy (with my 2 boys, that is A LOT of huggies!). This is part of how I got the Huggies so cheap. Rite Aid had them on sale for 3/$33 ($11 a pack). Then they had their own single check rebate on them for $10 for the three, making them $3/$23. Then I had coupons for $1.50 off each pack, making them 3/$18.50. Then there is the caregiver's rebate of $1 off each package, making it 3/$15.50.

So just because I can, I will probably come on here each time I do this to brag about what I got for free/cheap. And I'll pat myself on the back for finally getting around to building up my food storage to more than the 3 months-ish I had beforehand.

Which brings me to my next project, which is cleaning out my storage room and adding shelving so I can FIT all this food and stuff!

Really Daniel? Really???

WARNING: If you have a husband like mine- impulsive, admittedly self-indulgent, and when he wants something, nothing will stop him from making it happen), and you have a crazy dream about him doing something completely ridiculous (but that, were it possible, he would love to do), DO NOT TELL HIM ABOUT THIS DREAM!!!


Case in Point.

Daniel and computers. It's ridiculous really. I dont think I really need to explain because the pictures and story will speak for themselves.


A few months ago I had this silly dream. I dreamed that Daniel came home and told me he was hooking up our big screen HD TV and using it as a computer monitor. While he was doing it, I was rolling my eyes and saying, "Daniel, you are crazy. You are NOT using a $3000 television as a computer monitor!"), all the while, he was doing just that.


Now, why, you may ask, would I have such a dream? Here is a clue:

THIS is the computer in our room. Yes, what you see is 4 monitors. And yes, he can scroll across them all as if they were one. But that's not the end of it. We have another computer downstairs and the other day, ANOTHER monitor, that looks exactly like one of these, showed up at my door. WTH?? He said he wanted to move one of these to the downstairs computer (I mean, heaven forbid we have a monitor down there on a computer we rarely use, that is NOT a flat screen. Unacceptable!). So of course, it made sense that we must buy another monitor (otherwise, this computer would only have 3 and how could we live with that??) So another monitor it was.

Does the craziness end there. No, but here we go.

Yes, what you see is our 52 inch flat sceen now serving as a computer monitor. That is indeed Yahoo messenger there. And yes, he was giggling with giddiness over this. Should have kept the dang dream to myself :) LOL.

Only Daniel, I tell you. Gotta love him.

For Old Times Sake

I was cleaning out my computer, getting rid of any pics I no longer need when I came across this beauty!!!

Some of you that read this are in this photo :) Remember back in the day hehe...

Okay, so this photo is from my 9th grade graduation. In this photo are some people who I still consider some of the best friends I have ever had- whether I've seen them recently or not. There are some people who you will always love, always feel lucky to know- and this photo reminds me of some of those people.

Anyway, so I was cleaning out the photos on my computer and I came across this, so I thought it would be fun to blog about it and tell some of the story to go along with it. In fact, I think I will periodically post on old pic from my childhood and do just that. So we'll start with this one. Forgive me for making fun of myself, please.

I know you are all LOVING the dress. Oh, in case you didnt know, I am the one in the front row, middle right. I know, what's up with the brown hair? I'll get to that.

So this was such a big day :) LOL. My mom took me to get my hair done. My boyfriend at the time, Doug (yes, you all remember that one, dont you- we totally "went" together- for like a week- which just so happened to be THIS week) was going to meet me and my friends at the dance (since I wasn't 16 it was he and his friends, who I also "went" with for like a week- just a different week), so I was all excited to get dressed up with my new dress that I drove 3 hours to find (no, I couldnt drive- my MOM drove me 3 hours). Im drifting here....so anyway, my mom said I could get my hair done at the- warning here- beauty school (this is your first hint of trouble in case you didnt pick that up). I had been there before and gotten what they called "clear" something or other that was just meant to make your hair shinier. So when we got there, we told them I wanted the same thing I always got. The girl who usually did my hair was on maternity leave. So her substitute pulled "my" card and got to work. To shorten this up a bit, a supervisor was called over somewhere during the process, at which time she asked me what color my hair was when I came in (to which I responded "blonde") and was told it was now brown with green streaks. The dear lady had pulled the wrong card and colored my hair a nice color called "Moroccan Sand". I stayed for several hours while they bleached the heck out of my hair and by the time I left, it was a reddish brown, but at least the green was gone. Oh well, I still had that FABULOUS dress :) So we had graduation. I met up with my BF at the dance and his first question was "wasn't your hair blonde when I saw you earlier today?" Ummm, yeah it was. But anyone who knows my luck could have seen that one coming a mile away.

So then I got this pic, which makes me smile all these years later.

To April, Melanie, Stephanie, Melisa and Jessica -and Karen (why weren't you in this pic?)- this goes out to you guys. Thanks for such great memories and for being incredible friends. For the love of LA Gear, splatter painted jeans, Girbaud, FHA, Cougarettes, the Dungeon, Vanilla Ice, greased lockers, red gym shorts, the ramp, Mr. Fehlberg and Coach Fielder. To Mr. Auva'a kicking over Aaron Mecham's desk. To Kathy Cowley getting mad at me for hanging out with a boy on our FHA trip. To growing up in a town that was 1 square mile. Here's to the times we had at Canyon View Jr. High :)

Girls Gone Wild (or as close as it gets in our family :)

L to R (ish): Natasha (SIL), Brigham (newphew, Lyndi (SIL), Hannah (niece), Savannah (daughter), Janna (niece), Grandma Janet, Miriam (sister), Kiana (niece), Donna (mom), Me, Jayden in cognito.

What do you get when you send a mother of 4 on the road with 2 of her children, a group of her friends, her mother, her grandmother, her sister, 2 of her sister in laws, 3 of her nieces and 1 of her baby nephews?

Well, what I got was a break, and a lot of shopping done.

Way back in the day, in like, August or so, all the girls in my fam decided it was about dang time we went for a girl's trip. My mom had a seminar in Salt Lake the first weekend in Oct so we thought that would be the perfect time and place. And that's where the craziness all began.

Then, more recently we (we being my friends and I) realized that it was Tammy's 40th (I mean 29th) birthday, which meant a girl's trip was in order there too. Lucky for me (and if you know me, you know luck doesn't come my way often), they decided to go down on Thursday, when my plan with my fam was for Friday through Sunday, so I was able to do both in one trip.

So Thursday morn I headed down with myself, my daughter, my Gma and my baby. I dropped my grandma and Savannah off at the hotel and met up with the girls at Taipan. Heaven, I tell you, that place. After that, we went to eat at Cafe Rio and hit the mall for some more spendage. I got some fun things at Taipan and some great clothes at the other stores. Ahhh..retail therapy.

Around 4ish, the crew headed home and I drove to meet up with my mom and company. Most of the group wasn't coming in until Friday, so my grandma, my mom, myself, my daughter, and my baby, hung out and ordered in :)

Everyone else arrived on Friday, later in the day. And that is when the craziness all started (it was all Miriam's fault for sure. She WAS always the brave one!) We were getting settled that night. Miriam, me, my kids, my mom and Gma Janet were in one room. Somehow we got on the discussion about the Hilary Clinton/Sarah Palin SNL video (if you have been living under a rock, you can watch it at NBC.com). In the vidoe, Sarah Palin uses the word MILF. My dear, sweet, at times naive mother didn't know what it was when she watched the video, so (prior to the trip) she did what any reasonable, completely insane person would do- she googled it. Poor mom. She is no longer naive. Shortly after, my grandma said she needed to take a shower and put curlers in her hair so she could look all purty. I said, "You mean so you can be a MILF? A GILF?" Silly girls.

Anyhoo...after we stopped laughing about my mom's little google misstep, I realized that my sister Miriam had my mom's phone so I whispered to her to change mom's banner to say "MILF". So sho nuff, soon it read "Donna is a MILF" and my mom had no idea. We got settled into bed, but like a 12 year old at a slumber party, I couldn't stop giggling.

The next morning, we got up and got ready to go shopping. Oh, let me not forget, I did get up and run 4 miels on the treadmill downstairs. We went to the Gateway Mall where I was able to FINALLY buy my jeans at Express (it's the only place I buy jeans, the only place that carries my size in longs, and we dont have any in Idaho). I bought 3 pair, including some skinny jeans (that my daughter thinks are totally "in"). After that, we ate at my fave restaurant in the world, Tucano's, where I tried my darndest to make sure I never fit in those skinny jeans.

After we were done shopping there, we went to Taipan where I went NUTS and got so much fun stuff for my house. When we had blown all our money, we headed back to the hotel once again. The kids swam in the pool off and on the whole time we were there. It was a blast. Oh, and my MILF of a mom finally saw what we did to her phone around Saturday evening sometime.

Sunday morning, we turned on conference and then checked out of the hotel to head home. But since the rain had finally let up, Miriam and I decided to stay and go visit temple square before heading home. I took a few pictures, we talked and let our girls play together, and then we headed home.

I wont tell you what my house looked like when I got home. Im still trying to block that image from my brain. Anyway, here are just a few snapshots from temple square.

Savannah-isms

Savannah: "Mom, I think I know why Grandma Janet and Grandpa Gary are still alive."
Me: "What? Why?"
Savannah: "They must eat a LOT of healthy food. Because they should be dead by now!"

Later on....


Savannah: "Mom, I don't like your shirt" (a new one I just bought)
Me: "Too bad. I like it."
Savannah: "You look like a dude."

a bit later....

Savannah: " Mom, I think I know something you can do to look less Dude-ish"....


and lastly (and do NOT ask me where this came from)

Savannah: "Mom, you are useless!"
Me: "What? Why am I useless?"
Savannah: "Oh, no, no...I just meant for shooting people and stuff..."

A night in the Emergency Room

Turns out that Jaxon's permanent marker escapades were not the worst thing he would put us through last week. Not even close.

My sister Miriam's daughter, Kiana, was getting baptized this weekend in Boise, so Daniel and I planned our trip up. We were really excited to spend time with Miriam and her family, and I was excited to spend time with my childhood best friend April, and her family as well. I have only seen her once in the last 3-4 years! So we drove up uneventfully (although we did end up leaving the morning after we planned because I am still no good at getting all of us ready and out the door in a timely fashion) and attended the Saturday afternoon baptism. Now, the only reason I am not spending more time on that important event is because that will be a separate blog in itself, once the pictures are ready.

Anyway, after the baptism, we went back to Miriam's house for dinner.


For brevity' sake, I will give you the reader's digest version. We were all staying up late talking, and when we decided to go to bed, I went to pick Jaxon up off the couch, where he was sleeping next to Dan. He was making weird noises, but I thought it was just because he was tired and mad that he wasn't in his own bed. He was crying and coughing, but it sounded off. My mom and sister both noticed and and asked if he had asthma, which he doesnt. After I had been watching him for a while (he was sleeping off and on, and would wake up and cry and cough again and again, with that weird sound), my mom came into the room and said she found her purse and that Jaxon had gotten into her chewing gum. We figured that must be stuck in his throat. We continued to watch him for a while, but since he seemed to be getting worse and worse, we decided we better get him in to the hospital before he could no longer breathe. We arrived at the hospital about 3am.

We ended up waiting in the ER, back in the room, for 3 hours, which at any time during, he could have stopped breathing, just to be told that the xray showed nothing (which they had told us it wouldnt since it was chewing gum) and that we had to go to their other campus, where he would need surgery.



When we arrived there about 7:00am, the doctor was ready and waiting, not wanting to wait any longer than necessary since it could dislodge at any moment and cut off his airway completely. The nurses tried pretty frantically to get an IV in, but couldnt get it for some reason. Jaxon was hysterical and I was crying, seeing him in pain from the IV issues and hearing the horrible noises he was making as he struggled to breathe. Finally, after a long while, they got an IV in and took us down the hall to prep him for surgery. He was crying and calling, "MOMMY! MOMMY!" as they took him away from me on the gurney, and it was so hard for me to let him go.


Daniel and I waited in the waiting room, but thankfully, it was a very short procedure. The doctor came in later on and told us that indeed, the gum had been stuck in his airway, and that she was able to locate it and remove it, and he was in the PICU, still asleep from the anesthesia.


Daniel and I went up to see him and called Miriam to bring over some clothes for him (he was just in a diaper when we rushed him out the door and to the hospital). He woke up not too long later, but had to stay for a while so they could monitor his oxygen sats and make sure his airway was not too traumatized to be able to breathe effectively. Thankfully, by about 11am, they told us he was getting better and we would be able to take him home.

After all of us being up all night, that sounded like a great idea. We went back to Miriam's house, thankful that we were blessed enough to have a positive outcome from something that could easily have been much, much worse.


I fell asleep on the couch, and woke up to Jaxon laying on top of me (I didnt even know he had climbed onto me) and a few pictures of that were on my camera :)

After getting something to eat and taking it easy for a few, we drove home.

I grabbed my camera this morning to take a few pictures of my sweet, happy, healthy little boy, but instead I got pictures of Jaxon back to his usual self

Climbing cupboards

Throwing a fit when he couldn't get up them

And begging for food

Today everything is pretty much back to normal, except I am a little tired, and a lot more appreciative of my little boy, mischief and all. Today I skipped making the bed and instead, got on the floor with my tough guy and wrestled around. And those little, big, and most often unfixable messes of his didn't seem so life altering. Today at least, they are just reminders that he is here, that he is okay, and that all too soon, he won't be little any more.

Blue Permanent Marker

Do I really need to say more?

What happens when a toddler gets ahold of a dark blue permanent marker? Somethin's about to go down. And in our case, it was

The tile
The carpet
The wall
The rug
A picture of Christ
Toddler's arms and legs
A pair of Guess shorts
A Guess Shirt
a stool
the kitchen counter
a Barbie
the kitchen table

Not to mention the bottle of hairspray used to clean it up, and the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser that pitched in as well. And of course, Jaxon couldn't be more proud. Good morning to Mom :)

Tagged- Twice

Wouldn't you know it. Carrie tagged me and I took so long getting to it that before I had it done, Alida tagged me too :) Lucky for me, they wanted pics of almost the same things, so that made it easy. Here they are, in no particular order.

So the rules are this- you must take pictures of the following things, as is, no straightening up etc.

My fridge (yes I know, a million gallons of protein on top. I think we have a disorder).

My toilet, in all its glory.

My kitchen sink

My favorite room in the house

My closet

What my kids were doing right then. Mason was at school and Jax was sleeping, so here are the other 2.

Dream vacation - Daniel and I went to Cancun in 2007 and it was amazing. Can't wait to go back.

And lastly, a self portrait.

I am tagging Torrie, Heather W, Morgan, Pam, Melanie and Marnie. So hop to it (faster than I did lol).

Oh yeah, I am coming back later on and adding this. I forgot that I was supposed to add 6 quirky things about myself (from Carrie's tag) so here goes:

1- When I walk, one of my feet points out at a 45 degree angle (because of a spinal deformity) so I look ridiculous.

2- When I eat M&Ms, skittles etc, I have to have the exact same number of each color. So if I have 8 brown, 5 red, 3 yellow and 2 orange, I eat 3 brown first, then I eat 2 brown and 2 red, then I eat 1 brown, 1 red and 1 yellow, then one of each until Im done.

3- If music is playing, I cannot stop myself from singing along, even if Im running with an MP3 player on (well, I try not to do this if there are a lot of other people running with me. I wait until I think they can't hear me). Those around me do not appreciate this quirk.

4- When I decided to do a triathlon, I could not swim. At all. I couldnt put my face in the water. Mind over matter I guess.

5- I always dream that I am being chased by bad guys. Im never faster or stronger than they are, but I'm always smarter so I think of creative ways to get away. One time I locked myself and my friend in the bathroom and shrunk us so we could escape down the drain. Hey, it was a dream and I knew it. Told you I was smart ;)

6- When I was in 2nd grade, I wanted to be an olpympic gymnast. Im 5'9', so you can see how that worked out. Then I wanted to be a singer. I can't sing, so you see how that worked out...the list goes on.....