Okay, so Shally "bag tagged" me. Here are the rules: 1. you have to show your bag 2. you have to show all the contents in your bag-without cleaning out first 3. tag 5 other people. This is by far my favorite diaper bag that I have ever had, and it just so happens to be the cheapest(very cheap). It is dark and doesnt show any marks, and if you spill anything on it, it just rolls right off. It has several pockets, that are perfectly placed for bottles, sippy cups, my plethera of lip glosses and anything else that I want to carry around. In the second picture is all the kids things. We got your diapers, wipes, random toy, bum cream, (which by the way was a white elephant gift at our Christmas party-score),lotion, partially used cold bottle, teething cream and formula powder. Usually I have several other things to occupy the kids and Todd, but just so happened that I cleaned out my purse a couple of days ago. In the third line up, are obvious things that all mothers or girls in general carry around, except for the screwdriver. I don't know exactly how that got in there, maybe Tyson took a break unscrewing all the face plates off the outlets and wanted a safe place to store it, knowing it would not be found by me until the monthly diaper bag cleanout. Okay, now for the tagging: Carlie, Ashlee, Patria, Mandy and Shanna. Lets see what you got!

LETS GET COOKING

My friend Shally came up with the wonderful idea to start a recipe exchange. It will be fun to get easy to follow recipes, using common ingredients, for us busy mothers, and anyone else who wants to join in or partake. Be sure to email her your name if you want to be a contributing "chef". Lets get cooking.......... just click here http://bloggerbuffet.blogspot.com

RECIPE SWAP

My friend Shally came up with the great idea to start a recipe swap for moms, or whoever wants to contribute or partake. I have decided that I may have a recipe or two that I could share, and Click http://bloggerbuffet.blogspot.com/ to get to it.

HOW WE WILL MISS OUR DEAR PROPHET GORDON B. HINCKLEY . "In all of living, have fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." My sister sent me this clip of Glenn Beck, talking about President Hinckley. I must admit that I regularily watch his show, and was quite surprised to see such emotion on national television. I love how passionate he is and credits our prophet for the changes that he has made http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z58eHBnEHhk

ACCEPTANCE!!!

Todd applied to 3 programs for a GPR (general dentistry residency). 2 were located in Salt Lake and one in La Jolla California. It is a match program, so it is only possible to be accepted to one. And this program only took a handful of residents, out of hundreds. I am happy to announce that he has been accepted to the University of Utah. We are so excited, as this was our first choice. This program will be a year long, and on from there, he will do a specialty residency, depending on where we apply and get into next year. We will now be able to be near family and friends, and couldn't be happier. Best of all, he will get a good 2 month break after he graduates in April to rest and prepare for working several hours and the world of being on-call.

FOR THE PICKY EATER

My dad has been making his morning fruit drink for over 25 years. It usually consists of frozen fruit, yogurt, juice and some fresh fruit. It is similiar to say a zuka juice, but without all the sugar, and calories, as he uses yogurt instead of sorbet etc... So, Todd and I have been doing the same thing for about 4 years now. We usually do mostly frozen fruit because it is not only cheaper than fresh, but it makes it thicker. Anyways, so Todd decided a couple of months ago, to try a handful of baby carrots just to see what it would do. It did nothing, which is great. It might make it a little sweeter, but that is good right? Since Tyson usually has it for breakfast too, now he is a getting a serving of vegetables, yeah! Then I decided to try spinach, since I remember seeing on some show that if you add it to certain things, it doesnt change the flavor much. We tried putting in a handful of baby spinach, and you dont really notice that much either. So, now Tyson gets his fruit and 2 servings of vegetables in his first meal of the day, without him even knowing. So, any extra he might decide to try during the day, is just extra:) I have to suggest a berry juice as the staple though. We like cranberry, cran-raspberry etc.... It hides the vegetable flavor even better. I don't like grape flavor, but it certainly would work. Then, we do one frezh banana, maybe and apple, blueberry yogurt, and any frozen fuit, we like strawberries and pineapple. Just think about all the different things you could add and no one would notice: fiber, calcium, protein powders etc... Then, I also decided to try something else out to trick Tyson. He LOVES pizza and it was getting to the point where we would have frozen pizza a couple of times a week. Not that bad you say? Well, now we get a jar of pizza sauce, whole wheat tortillas, and cheese. I put them all together and then stick them in the oven for maybe 5 minutes on broil. This makes the cheese melt and it gets just a little crispy. It is so much easier and cheaper than buying the frozen pizza, and there are no leftovers for me to eat:) I know there is a new book out with a bunch of ideas, but if anyone has any other ideas on how to get kids to eat "good" foods, please share, I need it.

SO DREAMY

What am I going to do when George Bush is no longer in office? My family makes fun of me for having a small little crush on him, but isnt he just "dreamy" in this picture?

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

Three things in life, that once gone, NEVER come back: 1.Time 2.Words 3.Opportunity

Mostly Black

What's Your True Color?

My Result: Black

Your color is black. The color of night. Serene and mysterious, black conjures up images of elegant evening gowns, dashing tuxedos, and gleaming limousines. Traditionally a symbol of success, black also represents power and an uncompromising demand for perfection. Not surprisingly, you tend to set challenging goals for yourself and do whatever it takes to achieve them — your strength of character is second to none. This unfaltering determination, along with your natural elegance, impresses people. But keep in mind that your personality might be intimidating to some. Try to temper your demanding side with a little softness — trust us, it won't kill you. Overall, though, black is the color of professionalism and achievement, which means it's clearly the color for you.

Take this test >

OTHER THAN THE LIMO'S, TUXEDOS, IMPRESSING AND INTIMIDATING PEOPLE, I WOULD HAVE TO SAY THAT THIS IS VERY CLOSE TO WHO I AM. AN OBSESSIVE PLANNER AND GOAL SETTER!!!TODD MAKES FUN OF ME, BECAUSE I HAVE THE NEXT 3 YEARS PLANNED OUT, EVEN THOUGH WE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE WE WILL BE LIVING IN 3 MONTHS WHEN TODD GRADUATES. BUT, FOR SOME REASON, I FEEL THE NEED TO HAVE EVERYTHING PLANNED OUT, AND EVEN BELIEVE THAT IT WILL ALL HAPPEN ACCORDING TO THE WAY I SEE IT IN MY HEAD. SAD, I KNOW! I DO HAVE TO SAY THAT MY SPONTANEOUS SIDE CAME OUT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS LAST WEEKEND WHEN TODD ASKED ME TO COME WITH HIM TO LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA. HE HAD INTERVIEW WITH THE VETERANS HOSPITAL ON MONDAY AFTERNOON AND WAS GOING TO DRIVE SUNDAY AND COME HOME MONDAY. I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF GETTING READY FOR CHURCH AND HE ASKED ME TO PLEASE COME AND KEEP HIM COMPANY. MUCH MUCH MUCH TO HIS SURPRISE, I PACKED UP THE KIDS AND WE WERE OUT THE DOOR IN AN HOUR AND ON OUR WAY TO A 24 HOUR VACATION? THIS IS THE FIRST OF MANY ATTEMPTS TO BE MORE SPONTANEOUS FOR THIS 2008 YEAR!!! I MIGHT ADD THAT TODD WAS VERY IMPRESSED AND STILL CANNOT BELIEVE THAT I WENT ON SUCH SHORT NOTICE. AND, I HAVE TO ADMIT, IT WAS KIND OF EXCITING IN A STAY-AT-HOME-MOM TYPE OF WAY.

Um.............can you include Todd's whole face please?

Todd decided to take me out for my birthday, and since we were going out without kids, I thought that we better document it, since it doesn't happen often. Well, as you can tell my sister, who took the pictures didn't think that it was important to get Todd's face in any of the pictures. So, the only picture that we have taken together in months, and my husband is missing half a face. This picture will forever mark my 30th birthay, and we will always remember who took it :)

STOP.................and think!!!

Earlier today, I was on the phone with my sister, and every 20 seconds Tyson would ask me to come and help him with his puzzle. I kept putting him off, telling him that I would be there in just a minute. So, after about 1o minutes, he came over to me and before he could get close enough, I said in a stern voice "Tyson, I will help you as soon as I'm off the phone, I can't hear, so you need to be quiet please". Well, before I could pull him off, he had climbed on the chair behind me, pushed my hair aside, kissed my cheek and said "mom, I love you'. Oh, I felt so bad. I don't think that he needed help with the puzzle, since he puts it together by himself all the time. But, because the baby was asleep, Todd was at school, and there was quiet in the house, I think that he just wanted to spend quality time with me. I was so busy telling him to be quiet and talking about non important things on the phone, that I didn't see a little boy who went from being number one to sharing that spot with a sister. So, my lesson has been learned. I am sure that I will find myself in this situation again, too busy to listen....heck, it will probably be very soon, but for today, I got to spend quality time with my little Ty.

First "normal" day this week

After spending almost 3 weeks in Utah, catching colds and being overly tired, we are finally home, and a week later.................. happy and healthy again. I was beginning to think that I would never see Tyson smile again. He has been miserable and not able to sleep really well because he was so tired. Does that make sense??? So, he and Jai went to bed a 5:45 last night, and for the first time this week, peace and quiet ALL night!!!!

We would like to welcome......

"Goblin" and "Munchie". Todd thought that it was time for Tyson to "try" out another pet. Last year he had a beta fish named Poopie Guy, which Tyson named himself, but he only lasted about 6 months. I didn't realize that fish don't like to be in direct sunlight, even when in cold water. So, unfortunately he passed away. So, we are trying 2 African Dwarf Frogs, that Tyson is currently sleeping next to on the floor. We are hoping to have these for years to come, but I have my doubts.

CTR

I got Tyson a CTR ring the other day, not knowing if he would ever wear it. While he and Todd were playing memory that night, he kept getting match after match. The kid has an incredible memory. Normally when we ask him why he is so cool, or why he is so smart he answers with "cuz I'm 4 years old." Well, when asking him why he was so good at the game, he said " because I'm wearing my super power ring". I thought that it was so cute, and he was dead serious. He even ended up sleeping next to the ring on his bed, so that he would not be scared.

Oh how Ty and Jai LOVE their dad!!!

FUN IN THE SNOW

Out to lunch + Movie + Treat + No drinks for 2 hours before bed = DRY PANTS THIS MORNING!!!!!! (day #2)