Nerds

Paige and Carson just had a little treat from the treat basket. Paige picked Nerds. She did a ballerina spin and nerds went everywhere! She is such a little stinker, but she keeps us all laughing!

Deck'n The Halls

I am joining the Blogging Bandwagon and adding a festive background to my blog. We'll see how long I can stand being all cute and trendy! I think backgrounds always look really busy on my blog that is why I have never done them, but my old template is really boring and ten million bloggers use that template. So here is the new look. What do you think? Should I go back to my old one or keep up with the blogging trend and change it up every so often? Whatever...

We got our house all decked out for Christmas. We are getting our big tree tonight. My brother is bringing it back from Utah. They cut it down for us. I love the smell of live trees. Sorry to all you tree huggers out there, the Christmas tree candle doesn't do it for me. We'll probably decorate our other tree tomorrow. We already put up the kids tree. That is the tree I don't get all crazy about. The kids can rearrange the ornaments fifty times a day and hang all sorts of home made (we'll just call it stuff) all over it. Two trees makes everyone happy. I get my pretty tree with my do not touch ornaments with white lights and the kids get to have the fun colored lights and mismatch ornaments.

Mario Pary

 

Here are a few pics from Carson's Mario Party. We played Mario Soccer, Duck Duck Goose (with Mario Caracters of corse), Mario soccer, and had a Mario theamed treasure hunt. It was a lot of fun. Carosn even dressed up at first. That halloween costume is stil coming in handy!

Thanksgiving

I documented the entire day with pictures. This is our first Thanksgiving with just our family. I was a little sad at first that we weren't going to visit family or have family here, but then we did some planning so we could make it special. It has been a great day!

It all started last night. Trevor came home an hour early from work and we went to get Carson his book it from pizza hut, rented some video games and Wall-E. Then we came home and he opened his Birthday presents...



When the kids went to bed last night, I started to prepare for dinner today. I made pomegranate jello. Then I made pumpkin muffins for breakfast. Those are becomeing a tradition on Thanksgiving morning. I must say they turned out wonderful.


Today we had a little turkey drama. Is it really Thanksgiving with out turkey drama? Our bird was still a little frozen and I couldn't get my hand inside to take out all the "stuff". After a few phone calls for help and a hot water bird bath we were in business. When I bought our turkey last week they only had HUGE ones left. It was a 22.5 pounder. Yeah, that is bigger than Garrett and just 3 pounds shy of Paige.

Here are some pictures of how the kids spent the day while I was cooking. They had tons of fun with daddy! I really enjoyed cooking dinner with my family around me, hanging out, and having fun.


While the kids played video games with dad, and colored pictures of what they were thankful for I made rolls, stuffing, potatoes, and a cherry pie. Then it was time to take the turkey out...Oh NO! I put it in upside down, and so it was not all the way done. Trevor worked some magic and fliped the buring hot turkey over so it could cook the rest of the way. Amazingly, everything was still finished right on time!


I was quite pleased with our Thanksgiving feast. My kids even liked most of the things we made. The stuffing was by far the best dish. The turkey was really moist, probably because it cooked upside down in the juices! My rolls were perfect. (Thanks for the recipe Cherise I made the white roll version!) Trevor made the potatos. Of course those were excellent. My gravy was sorta yucky, but we are used to my nasty gravy around here. We still have to try the cherry pie, but it looks really good. All and all everything turned out great.





Even Garrett had some Thanksgiving dinner. We gave him a tiny bite of potatoes. He loved'em!



Happy Thanksgiving!

Counting Backwards

Paige and I are doing a little pre school at home while Carson is at school. She loves it! We do work book pages, coloring activities, practice letters and numbers, and play games. The other day we were counting to ten with some number magnets and when we finished counting from one to ten I asked her to count backwards. She turned around and counted to ten with her back to the magnets. She counted "backwards" to ten! I love this girl!

Fundraisers

If Carson brings home one more paper the word with FUNDRAISER any where on it I'm going to lose my mind! I did well with the first wrapping paper fundraiser. You know the one. The school turns your child into a peddler selling ridiculously expensive wrapping paper and nasty chocolates for the holidays. I just tossed it into the trash ignoring the, "But momma, if I just sell 200 things I can go to Disneyland, or get a robot!" I wasn't even nice enough to purchase one roll of paper so my poor kid could get the oriental trading company, piece of garbage, dog tag that everyone got if they suckered their parents into buying one thing. Next is the yo yo fiasco. They take students out of class for a yo yo assembly. They see this guy do amazing things with a yo yo. Then he tells them they can learn to do tricks like that too. Just take home this order form to mom and dad. What do you think all the kids are talking about at recess? That's right yo yo's. Carson just had to get one, I mean everyone had one, but him! (I said no to the $20 yo yo the school was selling and found one in the dollar spot at target.) Then they bring home another fundraiser a week later informing parents that they are going to have a special Christmas store fundraiser. Oh, but this one is really a service to the parents. This way students can purchase inexpensive dollar store garbage for the entire family, at ten times the dollar store price. How nice! Let me get my check book. Yeah right, are you kidding me? Then the next week they send home another fundraiser that's suppose to help the school get needed school supplies. What happened to the back pack full of supplies I sent in at the beginning of the year? (Yeah, they were hitting me up for money and supplies before Carson's first day!) Then the next week they send home a flier asking for canned foods for needy families and pennies for a penny drive. OK, this one I can deal with. But I pose this question, how many families do you think over extend themselves buying this stuff because they feel obligated or because it is too tempting to say no? Maybe that is why we have so many problems in our country with people over extending themselves and needing canned food. OK maybe I'm exaggerating just a little in my thought process...but I might be on to some thing. Do I sound like Glenn Beck?

On to my problem of the day. Carson came bounding off the bus today all excited about yet another fundraiser. He didn't know it was a fundraiser. He brought home a package with punch out Christmas ornaments and gift tags that have his school picture on them. If the parent wants them they are suppose to send back a check for $10. The teachers didn't explain to the children not to open them or punch them all out. They didn't mention that their parents were suppose to buy them first. They just sent them home with excited little kids who are thinking about who they will give these great treasures to for Christmas, and how fun they are to punch out. It's like giving a child a big cookie and then asking for it back. I called the school after I explained to Carson that we had to pay for the tags and that I didn't want to buy them. He was disappointed, of course. Well, the school didn't seem to care in the least about my concerns. They seemed annoyed that I had a problem with the fundraiser. The principal was like, "Don't you know that we are facing a $120 million in potential reductions this year." I can't believe this. Each student in NV is alloted ten thousand dollars in education. What are they doing with the money? I guess they must be spending a ton paying these fundraiser companies to get our kids selling stuff. Where is the logic? I would rather give them $50 at the beginning of the year then have all this junk brought home. I'm sorry but there is no way Carson is receiving a ten thousand dollar education. I'm so sick of this and he is only in Kindergarten! OK I'm done ranting and raving. I feel much better.

First Hair Cut

We cut Garrett's hair. It was falling out on top and he looked like a little old man. He's still cute as can be. Carson said, "Mom he has a Luke (Lainhart) haircut!"
We have shaved all our kids heads when the hair starts falling out. I think it helps it to grow back faster and thicker. I might be wrong but at least he looks like a baby and not a grumpy old man.

Before


After


Look at that grin!

Namiste

Some of you might be wondering why I am just sitting here posting for like two hours. Well, I started a yoga class yesterday and now I am in a great deal of pain. Here's the story. I have this great friend here in Vegas (her name is Stephanie) that loves to work out. I really do mean LOVE. She does all sorts of amazing things like running marathons (yeah that's 26 miles!) and teaching spinning classes and yoga classes. She's totally buff and could kick my butt in a hear beat. She invited me to one of her yoga classes and so I went. At first I must say I had a hard time not laughing, but by the end I was digg'n it. Today I am feeling the work out, ouch! The thing I liked the most about the yoga class is that you can feel the difference right away. You really tune into your body. I'm excited to start getting back into shape after nine plus months of the baby mama body. I am also speed (that's right speed) walking two nights a week. I tried running but it didn't stick.

Spicy Salsa

I bottled some homemade salsa the other day. I am really getting into this personal preparedness stuff. It's fun and you have a great feeling of accomplishment when you see all of the neat little jars in a line ready to put away in your food storage. I made 7 quarts, that's a lot of salsa! I got my tomatoes at the mexican store 3lbs for $.99. It was very cost affective and really fun. I did think it would be much faster than it actually was. I started at 4 and thought I would be done by 6, wrong. It was more like 8 pm but that is only because I had to brake for fussy kids and dinner. I am excited to make more next year. I am trying to think of more things I can bottle. Right now we have salsa and peach jam coming out of our ears. Maybe I'll learn how to do tomato soup or something next year! All I need now is a garden.

The Sling's the Thing!

I love my sling. My friend Marianne Trotter sent it to me when Garrett was born. It is an amazing invention. I can do so much with free hands and a happy baby. On Sunday after I had Garrett in the sling Paige thought she should have a turn. I was surprised at how easy it was to hold her. Carson on the other hand was a different story. I maybe smiling in the photo but I could only sling him for a few seconds! I tell ya the sling's the thing! I would recommend this to anyone with a baby.

it's finished

The bridge is finished! Our lives are now connected to I15 without having to drive an extra 15 min around on the 215!!! We will now hear the constant buzz and flow of traffic out our back bedroom window instead of BEEP BEEP BEEP every morning at 5am!!! Oh it's the little things in life!

The Great Pumpkin

We carved our pumpkin for FHE on Monday. I am a little late in posting these pictures. We had a fun night of cookie making and pumpkin carving. Trevor made the BEST chocolate chip cookies. We all enjoyed them while we carved the great pumpkin. It was a fun night.

Garrett AWAKE!

Here are some pictures of Garrett awake! He started to smile this week.

A Dream Come True

Tonight is trunk or treat at our church. The kids go around the parking lot dressed up and trick or treat out of peoples trunks. It is really fun and my kids like it better than the real trick or treat. But don't think I am getting out of that just because of trunk or treat tonight. No no my kids are much to smart for that! We'll be rounding the neighborhood tomorrow night.

Carson has wanted to be Mario for three years in a row now. I am a totally lame mom and have never come up with the costume. The other night while I was at a bread making class, (taught by non other than the supper domestic goddess Mindy Huffines) us moms were sitting around talking about what our kids are going to be for Halloween. I announced that for a third year in a row I was grasping at straws for Carson's costume. One of the other moms announced that her and her husband were going to dress up as Mario and Luigi. I told her about Carson's true dream in life to be Mario for Halloween. Kirsten offered to make Carson a costume for me. I will be indebted to this women for the rest of my life. She made the best costume ever! Carson was thrilled. After we left her house we went to Walmart to get a long sleeve red shirt and of course he wore his costume in the store. Some one said, "Hey, look there's Mario!" Carson looked up at me with a HUGE grin and said, "Mom, I think that kid thinks I'm the REAL Mario!" It is going to be a great Halloween! Kirsten, thanks a million for making Carson's dream come true!

GPS for Kids

I was watching this dumb debate show on TV last night. It was a really low budget, buy some how it caught my attention. They were discussing the pros and cons of GPS tracking systems for children. You know like the kind seen in the photo above on sparky. Can you imagine putting one of these on your kids. Hopefully they don't go around their neck. Probably just around their ankle like someone on house arrest. They were talking about the kind on that Duracell communal and how they were just not good enough. "Kidnappers these days are just too smart", they commented. "So maybe we should embed them in our children." Seriously!?! What is wrong with people? I guess not as paranoid as I should be. I'm wondering what ever happened to good old common sense and watching your kids when you're out and about, or teaching them about safety. Do we really need GPS for our children?

Garrett

One of these days I'll get a picture with him awake.



Garrett is getting so big. I can't believe how much he has grown. He is going to be two months old next week. I have been promising pictures of him so here are a few.

Garrett's Blessing

We blessed Garrett last weekend. Trevor's family came in from Utah and my parents came from Colorado. It was a great weekend. The Braswell clan came late last Wednesday and stayed until Sunday. We just hung out and visited with each other. I really enjoy spending time with Trev's family. It is fun to have girls to talk to and go shopping with. The boys aren't too bad either!

My mom made Garrett's blessing outfit. It thought it was really cute. (Thanks mom you are an amazing seamstress.) I wish they could have stayed longer. I didn't even get any pics of my parents with Garrett.

Enjoy the cute pics. I am going to do a little photo shot with Garrett in his blessing clothes and post more pictures later.

Milk Diet

I'm on a diet! It's killing me! Garrett has been grunting and groaning for a few weeks now. I decided I can't take it (the grunting and groaning ALL night and day!) and he is miserable. His poor little tummy. Well I have cut ALL milk out of my diet to see if he has a milk aversion. That's right folks, even milk chocolate. I'm on day two and it is killing me! I love milk and all things dairy! I love Garrett more so I am willing to suffer (for a while) to see if this helps his little tummy. We have tried Mylicon drops and a few other things. Any other ideas are welcome! Post your suggestions ASAP I'm dieing for a glass of milk!

Adjusting

Garrett will be a month old tomorrow. I can't believe it has only been a month! Time flies when you're not pregnant! Having three children has been an adjustment on all of us. Everyone is having to deal with a messy house and an often grumpy tired mom/wife. The kids have their days. Yesterday was a not so good day. Lots of arguing and fighting between Carson and Paige. Paige started to get sick with a low grade fever and a runny nose. All of my best laid plans to clean the house fell apart. Last night there were 8 (yes eight!) loads of laundry to put away. Trevor dose all the washing, me and the kids put away. Trevor has been doing a lot more than washing lately. I feel bad that he goes to work and then comes home to do much much more. But that is just our life right now.

Today however is shaping up to be a better day. After a terrible night of Garrett grunting and complaining, Paige waking up a million times, and Carson needing that famous glass of ice water in the middle of the night, my children were so helpful and cheerful! How refreshing. Carson helped sort all 8 (yes eight!) loads of laundry. He put his clothes away AND his sisters! This chore took him about 45 minutes! I didn't even have to ask him or nag him. It was all his idea. What a sweet boy. He just made my day. Things have been smooth sailing thus far.

I know life is going to be crazy for a few more weeks and I am slowly coming to grips with that. The hardest part is my messy house. It drives me crazy to have my floors a mess and toys everywhere. I am looking around at my house and it is just a mess. There are clean dishes in the dishwasher and a huge stack on the counter. My floors all need vacuumed and mopped again, even though I just did it on Monday. There is baby stuff everywhere. Oh well, I'll get it done someday. I'm just so happy to have my laundry done! Carson rocks!

A-Z Get to know me!

A-Attached or Single: Attached
B-Best Friend: So many! Kristen Little, Shikay Loveridge to name a few.
C-Cake or Pie: Brownies in cupcake tins with Carmel Icing. I will owe Deanna Sharpe the rest of my life for getting me hooked on this yummy treat! Defiantly one of my favorite treats!
D-Day: Thursday, it’s the new Friday! Trevor works 4 10's so Thursday is our Friday and I love the feeling of having a long weekend ahead!
E-Essential Item: For the next few weeks...nursing pads!
F-Favorite Color: Purple and green
G-Gummi bears or gummi worms: Gummi bears white and yellow
H-Hometown: I don’t have one but I call Ohio home
I-Indulgences: Chocolate, I know that is totally unoriginal but it is so true.
J-January or July: July for sure because I’m very patriotic. I don’t know if I show it outward but I defiantly feel it inside! I love the 4th of July!
K-Kids: 3
L-Life is incomplete without: Family and friends of which I am abundantly blessed.
M-Marriage Date: June 16, 2000 Best day of my life!
N-Number of Siblings: 4 brothers, 7 sister in laws, 5 brother in laws, and counting
O-Oranges or Apples: Apples- pink ladies are the best
P-Phobias or Fears: Someone hurting my kids, getting lost, and spiders.
Q-Quote: Kindness begins with me!
R-Reason to Smile: It’s my Friday! Trevor will be home in 30 min! The Office starts tonight!
S-Season: Autumn and Spring- total opposites but I love them both. Well, I loved them both in Ohio. Seasons don’t really exist here in Las Vegas.
T-Tag: Natalie, Vanessa, Shikay, Elise, and Deanna (come on post something el Sharpe!!!)
U-Unknown fact about me: I’m obsessed with Amish people and polygamists. I don’t want to be one of them, the lifestyle is just very interesting to me. Every time we drive to Utah I want to swing through Colorado City and look for polygamist families. I almost asked a really nice Amish girl to be my pen pall but my wise husband talked me out of it. Why would an Amish chick want to be my pen pall?
V-Vacation destination of choice: I love the beach and for some reason I have a hankering to go camping so I hope we head to CA sometime this year and camp for a few nights.
W-Worst Habit: Pealing my dry cracked lips. I am desperately trying to stop!
X-X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds, as long as there are no needles involved. Amniocentesis was not fun!
Y-your favorite food: Too many to pick from. Some of my favorites are; cupcake brownies with caramel frosting, GOOD pizza, rocky road ice-cream with REAL marshmallows, s’mores, chef salads with all the fixings, scones, home made jam, and I could go on and on.
Z-Zodiac Sign: Aries- I had to look this up on google because I had no idea. Does this make me a total girl loser? This is probably one of those girly girl things I should know.

First Bath

Paige helped Granny Annie give Garrett his first bath real bath last week. He was a little startled but seemed to enjoy it for the most part. This is now one of Paige's favorite activities when Carson is at school. She loves to help wash him and most of all lotion him up! She told me today that she is all "growed up" and so she is Garrett's mommy too.

Yes, I know I am a little camera happy right now!

Pics by Carson

Carson is really dig'n taking pictures with our camera. He cataloged ALL of our baby stuff the other day. I looked at my camera and there were 70 some pictures on there I didn't take. Things like diapers, binks, toys, my shoes, Garrett's clothes, etc... It was really funny to look at all of the random pictures. He's not too bad with a camera. My personal favorite is the crown over Garrett's head and all of the rainbow pics.

Carson is really doing well adapting to Garrett and this crazy life we are living. There has been a ton of change this month with him starting school, riding the bus, me in the hospital, Granny Annie coming, and a new baby at home. I am very pleased with how kind he is to Garrett and Paige. He asked me last night if I remembered the promise he made me the night before I went to the Hospital. He said, "Remember how I said I would be a really great helper when the baby came? Well, I am a really great helper!" Yes Carson you have been AMAZING!!! My little boy is growing up!

More Pics of Baby Garrett!

Garrett William Braswell

Garrett William Braswell
William is after my Grandpa John William Huffines
One of the greatest men I have ever known and someone we love dearly.
Born September 4, 2008 at 7:54am
8.8lb and 20in

Garrett had some breathing problems when he was first born and he spent the first four days of his life in the NICU. I didn't get to see him until I was released from the hospital on Sunday. I was released at 10:30am and then Garrett was released from the NICU at 2:45pm. It was a great reunion. This was the first time I got to hold him and really even look at him. I saw him after the c-section when they were stitching me up. The nurse held him up to my face and I gave him a kiss, then they whisked him away. He had an exciting entry into this life, how many kids get to ride in an ambulance before they are even five hours old? Garrett you rock!

He is doing wonderful now. We are all home and happy. Garrett is loving life. He hasn't had any problems transitioning from IV feedings, to bottles, to nursing. His breathing is fine now and he doesn't have an infection like the doctors originally feared. He is a very happy and sleepy baby. I have yet to hear him cry. He sleeps all day and all night. He wakes up only for food and even that he sleeps through. He is a joy we just couldn't live without!

Baby boy? girl?

We are having a baby tomorrow at 7:30 AM. C-section. Should be tons of fun.

June

June Highlights:
Visiting with Grandparents
Trip to Ohio and Colorado
Trip to Utah/Nat & Ryan's Wedding

Aug 2008

One of these days I am going to be a better blogger. Here are some pics of the kids from August. I wanted to do captions but it is late and I don't know what I am doing. Enjoy the pictures. I'll figure this all out some day.

Highlights:
Pizza Lovers
Swimming Fun
Lake Mead Day Trip
Carson's First Day of School
Paige LOVES Sponge Curlers

Normal Mormon Husbands

http://mormonhusbands.blogspot.com/2008/02/twilight-series-for-dummies-and-totally.html

Normal? That is debatable. Could I really ever live in Utah?

For all of you Twilight Fans out there. This is a really funny site that Mindy's sister in law found. There are tons of really funny things on this blog. Make sure you watch the lego robot movie. It was funny for the first few minutes but after about 5 you have seen enough. Enjoy!

Where were you last night?

Yes, I was out late last night waiting in line for my copy of Breaking Dawn. I did not however join the throng at Borders or Barnes & Noble in my old prom dress and painted face. I waited anxiously with my two Twilight buddies, Mindy Huffines and Shikay Loveridge, at Walmart. There was a point when we worried that we might be too far back in the line to get a book, but finally I got my copy! I am also happy to report that we were not the oldest women in line. I have not started the book yet. I let Mindy read it first. She is more dedicated to the book than I am. She has read the books and listened to them over the computer twice. I have not even reviewed that last book yet. I hope to do that first and then enjoy the book. I don't see my self pulling an all nighter, as I'm sure a ton of you did last night!!! I am excited to read it though.

We're Back

So after a long summer of travel we are finally back in Las Vegas. We went to Ohio, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho this summer. I'm exhausted! It was wonderful to visit so many friends and family members, but I am happy to be home with Trevor. I do miss the weather in Utah and Idaho. It is a blazing 110 here. I don't remember it being so hot here last summer but I guess that is because I wasn't pregnant!

I just realized that this is my first time announcing on my blog that we are expecting number 3!!! We kept it a secret for a long time. People in our ward didn't know we were expecting until right before I left for Ohio. I think I was about 24 weeks. We decided to surprise all of our family as we saw them this summer. It was a lot of fun and it made the time pass more quickly. I have about 6 weeks left. I'm due the first part of September.

I guess that is about it for now. I'll try and get some cute pictures of the kids posted this week. I hope to get back in the swing of blogging now that I am back home.

It's been awhile....

I'm totally aware of the fact that I am a blogging loser. I know I need to post mounds of information about our exciting life, but really I have not had the time. I can not remember a time in my life when I was so busy and stressed out! One would think I would like to remember this time in my life by posting, but not so much. I just want the next week to fly past. I know I'm not "enjoying the journey." I'll have to work on that.

I will be taking our laptop on our next five week trip to Utah and Idaho. I will put up some wonderful pictures of the kids and update my blog, really I will. Isn't it amazing that children can enjoy any journey?

Who are you?

Take the Quiz here!

I'm a Bennet. Who are you? Take the quiz here.

I'm not tired...

Makeup

This is what happens when Daddy watches the kids! Last Sunday I took a nap and Trevor was "watching" the kids. Little Paige kept busy by giving herself a makeover. She has mascara on if you look closely. I was pretty impressed with how well she put it on. She also painted her toes and her fingernails. It was really funny when we found her. She was very proud of herself.

Surprise

For my birthday Carson planned a surprise party for me. With daddy's help they got balloons, a Happy Birthday sign, noise makers, gifts, and ice cream. I came home from lunch with some friends and they had the house decorated. It was a wonderful birthday. Carson is such a little sweetheart. He really made an effort to make my day special. Trevor took me out on a wonderful date later that night. We had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then we walked over to the Bellagio to watch the water show and walk through the botanical gardens. It was a great birthday. Thanks to Jacob and Mindy for watching the kids over night!

Cinderella

Paige always wants to help me clean so last week I put her to work! Don't worry it's only water!!!

Club House

Carson and Paige are starting to use my beloved yellow couch as a club house. I use to get so frustrated when they "played" with my couch, but I am now giving in to their imaginations. Who could get mad at these little faces?

Hula in the Kitchen

The microwave we got for our wedding almost seven years ago died last week. We were very impressed with how long it lasted. It was the most useful wedding gift we received, other than my first cook book. They really went hand in hand. So thanks to all of Trevor's Aunts and Uncles for picking out such a wonderful gift. We couldn't go more than two days without a new microwave so we are now the proud owners of a shiny white GE appliance. I thought you might like to see what it looks like. I'm modeling in a new apron my mom made me for my birthday. I thought it tied the whole moment together. Thanks mom!

I just hit 100!

I would love to offer a prise to my 100 recent viewer, but I don't know who you are! I'm so excited. I didn't think I would hit 100 on my sitemeter, ever. Let's face it my blog is not that exciting. Thanks to all of you who care enough to keep coming back to check up on my blog! You're all great!

Dinner!

Carson chowed down dinner last night! I know it seems like no big deal but around our house it is rare that I make something he will eat willingly. He ate a ton! Check out the pics. Trevor and I were so excited that we had to document this night!


He likes spaghetti sauce on his garlic bread! Who would have guessed?
He ate everything on his plate by the end of dinner. He even had seconds!

Paige couldn't even be coaxed into trying one bite.

Kids Say Funny Stuff

Paige talks all of the time, as most of you know. Some of the funny things she has said lately:

Balicious = delicious
I'm so exciting! = I'm so excited!
Scoop over = Scoot over
na huh = no
making yellows = going pee
making browns... you get the picture.
She has said this ever since we potty trained her back in October. It stuck and I think those will always be her terms.


When she wants something like a popsicle, cup, or sucker she has to pick the color and tell you who it matches. For example yesterday she said, "I want a blue popsicle to match Cinderellas dress."

One funny conversation that Carson and I had the other day was about getting married. He told me that he would probably be married before Paige because he is five and she is only two. That was logical thinking. Then he asked me who was he going to marry. I told him he'd fall in love with a princess some day and he would marry her. He then said, "I think it will be Paige, she's a princess and I already love her." He melts my heart!

The things kids eat

I now know why this cereal is called Cinnamon Toast CRUNCH! I had a bowl for the first time this morning. I almost gagged. It was like eating a bowl full of sugar flavored sand. I don't know why children like this cereal. I will never ever buy this again. I don't care how much my children beg or how cool the prize inside may be.

Everyone knows how extremely picky my kids can be when it comes to food. Try as I might, they balk at everything that is not processed or loaded with preservatives. Offer them dinosaurs shaped meat or sandy cereal and they'll sit and eat every bite. Offer them a meal made with LOVE (ok maybe not love) but real time, effort, and fresh ingredients and the kids put up their noses. People keep telling me, "Oh they'll grow out of this phase." Well, I would like to know when!

Cereal

On Friday nights we leave a box or two of cereal on the table with bowls and spoons. The kids get up at their normal crack of dawn on Saturday morning, and Trevor and I sleep in a little longer. Carson is very proud of the fact that he can take care of himself and his sister. He gets them cereal and then they watch a few shows on Noggin. Then later when I come down I fix a big family breakfast and we start our Saturday. This morning was a little different. When I came down to make waffles there were a few new boxes of cereal with huge holes poked in them, the prizes were of course removed. Carson was the ring leader, as he is the only one tall enough to climb the ladder stool and retrieve the cereal boxes from the highest shelf in the pantry. Paige was sitting on the floor enjoying a medley of newly opened Cookie Crisp, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Golden Grahms. We now have five boxes of cereal open and this might be the end to my sleeping in on Saturday mornings! Why do cereal companies put prizes in the box? As if the sugar is not enough for us mothers!

All is safely gathered in!

All is safely gathered in! That is the heading on the Provident Living website. http://providentliving.org I have been feeling a sense of urgency this past year about gathering together our food storage. The move and getting settled has made it difficult for us to build our food supply back up. But today as I left the Smith's case lot sale with two carts brimming to the top with canned foods, flour, and sugar I felt an amazing feeling of peace and JOY! We do not have nearly enough food to last a full year, but we are well on our way and I'm confident that we have more than enough to last three months which is the current church council. Tuesday I am going to the cannery to get 75 lb. of wheat and some other things like refried and black beans.

So far we have:
-33 lb. of noodles
-116 lb. of sugar
-115 lb. of rice
-110 lb. of white flour
-10 lb. of powdered milk
-tons and tons of canned veggies, beans, tomatoes, soups, fruit, etc.
-a freezer almost full of meats, chesses, other random foods, and water
-36 gallons of water and four cases of water bottles

I know I get excited about crazy things like food storage, but it was so comforting to restock and organize my food storage. After I finished I started to take a few snapshots. Trevor was totally making fun of me when I told him I was going to post them on my blog. Hey, it is things like this that bring me great joy!

A few more!

I am so behind on my posts! I found these pictures too. I hope Carson and Paige stay friends like this forever.




Paige likes to sit behind Carson while he plays on the computer. Carson has been trying to help her learn what buttons to push, but it is still a little too hard for her. For now she just enjoys watching her big brother.




What is Paige going to do when Carson goes to school in six months?

Spring is in the Air

These pictures are really from February. I just found them in my file while I was posting the Easter pictures. We had a picnic on the first real nice day here in Vegas.

Spring Treats

Carson likes to look through my cook books and pick out things for us to make. He usually only picks dessert. These are some of our recent creations.

Easter Egg Hunt

We had an Easter Egg hunt later that night. Carson was really helpful with Paige. He showed her where she could find eggs. Sometimes he put some of his eggs in her basket.

We don't the traditional easter basket we do a big egg. A few years ago I found these huge eggs at Walmart and I bought eight of them for all of our possible future children. Anyway, I made the pillow cases and put them in the big eggs this year. It was fun and they really liked them. After they found all of the eggs they picked the perfect spot to leave their "big egg" to be filled by the Easter Bunny. It was fun.

Eggcitement

The kids had a great time coloring eggs. You can tell that Paige prefers the colors pink and purple over all the rest! Girl to the core! Carson was really excited about coloring eggs and while the hard boiled eggs were cooling he found one more egg in the fridge (I was saving it) and added it to the bowl. Trevor saw him do this and he asked Carson to put that one back in the fridge. As you can imagine it is hard to tell two white eggs apart. The next day while I was making rolls I cracked the egg into the dough. It was hard boiled! So I had to go through all of the colored eggs to find the one that was not hard boiled. That little stinker!

Oh how I miss Aldi.

I am very sad about the rise of grocery prices. I can't believe how expensive things are getting. I feel old when I say things like, "I remember when I was a kid gas was only $.99 a gallon!" I find my self saying those things more and more. Can you believe the price of milk? Can foods are sky high these days. There is a case lot sale this next week at Smiths (AKA Kroger) and the deals are not really even good deals. I feel compelled to purchase some of these items in bulk because who knows how high the prices will go in the near future. Then I hear about the trucker strike that happened today and I get all anxious. Do we have enough food storage? I hope that we will be blessed for having our three month supply. I would LOVE to have my year supply but we are just not even close yet. Oh how I miss Aldi! Ohioans take advantage!

Mr. & Mrs. Fix It

Our car broke down...again. We had it towed into the shop to figure out what was wrong. The alternator is broken and we needed a new battery (b/c jumping it five times apparently takes out all the juice!) They said it was going to cost us about $600 to fix. We decided to tow it home and try to fix it ourselves. *Just to clarify, by fix it ourselves I really mean call my brother Jacob and watch him fix it. We are helpful in buying the parts, making pointless comments, and providing the appropriate tools at just the right moments. So today I was out "helping" they guys fix the car and I don't think it is going to be as easy as we thought. Imagine that! At least my brother seems to know what he is doing.

Misadventures

After a week visit from the Trotter Family, life is back to normal. Marianne and the kids left on Friday and my kids are now completely board with plain'ol mom! We had lots of fun with the Trotters. We discovered that there are not many kid friendly places in Las Vegas. We went on a tour of a chocolate factory. That was totally boring for the kids. Who would have guessed that the process of making candy could be so boring to a group of 4-6 year olds? They did perk up at the end when they got a taste test. From there, we went to the Hoover Dam. My father in law warned me about this before we went. Why do I never listen? We were about two miles from the dam when we hit the traffic. It took over an hour to get to the dam. And when we got there the kids were less than impressed not to mention the terror a mother feels when her child tries to jump up on a ledge to see what is on the other side. That was a fun day trip! At least I was in good company, Marianne and I had lots of time to just chat. Another day we went to Red Rock Canyon. This was really cool but again not the best thought out plan. Poor Marianne is 7 months pregnant and we had to carry the little girls most of the way because it was not stroller friendly hiking. The kids did enjoy the hike and looking at all of the desert plants. Our last big outing was to take the kids to see the water show at the Bellagio and then to the lion habitat at the MGM Grand. Yeah,Las Vegas is not kid friendly. I'll never do that again. We didn't even make it to the lions. The most fun was just hanging out and laughing about all of our "misadventures." It was great to see the kids play together. It's funny how they seem to just pick up where they left off. We all had a great time and we miss Ohio a little more now.

Rub-a-Dub Fun in the Tub

The kids had so much fun at the beach that when we got home they wanted to go swimming everyday. So, finally I gave in and let them go swimming in the tub.

Fun In The Sun

While we were in California we went to visit my Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Bryan. We had so much fun seeing the sights. One day we went to Zuma Beach in Malibu where we went boogie boarding...yes that's me in a wet suit. Trevor even braved the waves but I don't think we got any photos of him. The kids loved playing in the waves and sand. We also went to Ventura Harbor so the kids could see all of the boats and walk on the beach one last time. It was a great trip!

Finally!

Photos of our California trip. These were taken at Disneyland 2/15/08. Enjoy...

Pretend

I love to listen to Carson play with Paige and other friends. He has the best imagination. He can defend his castle (chairs with blankets strewn every which way) from thousands of evil villains and giant dragons. He can save Princess Paige from the evil Bowser with one "swish, swoosh, hiyah!" He always protects me from various dangers in our home. Sometimes I play along in these little games, but I mostly like to sit back and listen. One of my favorite phrases in his imaginary battles goes something like this, "Paige, pretend you didn't know that the evil Bowser was about to grab you, but then I'll come and save you." or "Pretend that you don't know that a hundred bad guys are about to come in the door." When he plays with older kids they just go right along pretending they didn't know. When he plays with Paige it is a little different. Most of the time she looks around and tries to see what in the world big brother is talking about. Some day her imagination will catch up to his and she too will see the danger that lies around our home.

Vitamins

Paige really likes taking vitamins. I didn't know how much she liked the taste of them until we were at my aunt's house in California. While we were there she ate a weeks worth of children's chewables! We all stayed in the same bedroom while we were there. The kids were on an air mattress and we were in a bed. On our last morning there Paige woke up earlier than the rest of us and got into the tupperware I brought all of our vitamins in. She ate all of the chewables that were left. Two whole vitamins and two halves (she takes a half and Carson takes a whole). Thus, she had a 6 day dose in one shot. We woke up to Paige vomiting bright red all over my aunt;s WHITE carpet! It scared me to death because it looked like blood. So I snatched her up and ran to the bathroom, that is when I caught the fruity whiff of her breath. I found the tupperware empty of the children's chewables and we called poison control. They said she would be fine she would probably just have an upset tummy, check! My Aunt Marilyn, cousin Talisha, and I spent the next hour scrubbing the carpet. Because of a wonderful product called Oxyclean it all came out! Paige was fine and I learned a valuable lesson. Don't save space by packing a little tupperware. Just bring the childproof bottle!

Then, this morning she was looking into a box of cereal and she said, "Mommy I don't see any vitamins in here. Where are they?" I am attributing her knowledge of vitamin fortified cereal to the commercials she sees on Nick Jr. and Noggin.

Stay Tuned

I'm sure you are all just dieing for the next installment of "The Braswell Bunch and Their Exciting Life!" I'm sorry that I am such a slacker. I do have a ton of new posts ideas, like our trip to California, Day and Life of a Housewife, Rub-a-dub Swimming in the Tub, and so so much more. I just have been so busy with things (stay tuned for Day and Life of a Housewife). I just can't seem to get my act together. I am going to make a big promise that there will be some activity on my blog in the coming days. Stay tuned!

I'm It Again!

I like this little quiz better than the last one. Here's a peek into life with my wonderful husband Trevor.

LOVEY DOVEY

What is your husband’s name?
Trevor Anthony Braswell

How long have you been together?
Married for almost 7 years.

How long did you date?
Started dating in September of 2000, and then I moved to Provo, UT on November 1, 2000. I came home at Christmas for two weeks and we decided to get married. I moved back to Provo for a semester and he came to visit for two weeks in March. I came home in May and we were married on June 16, 2001 (back in UT!)

Who eats more?
That is a toss up. I have been known to out eat Trevor, but he is a snacker and I snack a LITTLE less.

Who said I love you first?
Trevor. He told me on Christmas Eve 2000. It was in a letter that was part of my Christmas gift.

Who is taller?
Trevor, but not by much.

Who has more speeding tickets?
I have never ever had a SPEEDING ticket, just one TRAFFIC ticket for running a red light. Trevor, on the other hand, had many SPEEDING tickets from back in the day (before I knew him). But he has a clean record as of late!

Who is smarter?
As much as I would love to say me, I can't. Trevor is extremely intelligent. I'm no dummy, but I always had to work at getting good grades and I can't spell to save my life.

Who is more sensitive?
ME! Come on what kind of question is that. When is the man ever more sensitive?

Who does the laundry?
Trevor does the laundry most often. He will usually wash it all and then me and the kids put it away. We probably wouldn't ever have clean clothes it is wasn't for him.

Who does the dishes?
I do mostly, but Trevor is very helpful and does his share.

Who sleeps on the right?
Trevor sleeps on my right away from the door. That way I can get up with the kid in the night.


Who pays the bills?
Trevor! I hate doing the bills and managing the money. The entire process is too stressful for me. I just like to know how much money we have and how much I can spend!

Who mows the lawn?
We live in Vegas and all we have are rocks.

Who cooks dinner?
I do, but Trevor is a great cook when he is in the mood.

Who drives when you are together?
Trevor always drives. Even on long trips he is at the wheel. When we moved from Columbus, Oh to Las Vegas, NV I drove for about an hour. He says I'm too scary behind the wheel. I think he just loves the feel of a mini van!

Who is more stubborn?
Trevor hands down.

Who kissed whom first?
Trevor kissed me first. I was taken by surprise... but pleasantly surprised.

Who asked who out first?
He asked me out first, but I was an instigator in the relationship.

Who proposed?
Trevor proposed to me in Provo, Ut. We were golfing and when I putted in on the 18th green there was the ring in the hole! It was my best putt ever!

Who has more siblings?
There are 8 kids in Trev's family and 5 in mine.

I’m tagging Natalie, Vanessa, and Melanie.

Little Laura Ingalls

Paige has a slight obsession with her Easter bonnet. She wore it to Wal-mart last Saturday, to Jacob's house, to the park, and just about everywhere. Today after church she went upstairs to change out of her dress and she came down in dress shoes, socks, white panties (on backwards and inside out), and the bonnet. That's IT!

Snuggle Buds!

Carson and Paige snuggled up to each other the other day after breakfast in the guest bed. It's times like these that I love being a mom! It is so fun to see my children bonding and being kind to one another.

Future Engineer

I was so proud of Carson the other day. He was in his room for quiet time and he called Trevor and I into his room to see something. For Christmas two years ago Carson got T-Rex Mountain. I remember it taking about an hour for Trevor to put together. I have attempted to put it together by myself over the past two years and I just can't manage to get it right. It is very complex. The directions say "requires adult assembly." Back to the other day. Carson had us close our eyes and he surprised us with this...





If you ask me he could be a future engineer, but if you ask him he'll tell you he wants to be a farmer. He told me that farmers have easy jobs because they get to stay at home everyday and "just dig in the dirt!" Well, at least we can see from these pictures that he is a hard worker with a sharp mind! Engineer or farmer he has a bright future!