Frustrated...

Can I just say how much I hate it when my computer breaks down!! The computer is really one of those items that when it breaks, you have to hire someone to fix it!! I think my lap top got a virus and it it is not working at all! The desktop won't even load. My father-in-law tried to fix it but, he couldn't...NOT a good sign as he is almost always able to fix our computers!! So we will take it to the Geek Patrol at Best Buy and see what they can do.

Amazing and SCARY how we rely so much on technology these days!! My Grandma wouldn't believe the amazing things we can do with computers, cell phones and everything else if she were still alive!! It is pretty incredible to live in 2009!!! Incredible and FRUSTRATING!!!

I am sooooo BUGGED!!

Ok...so this is awful to share...but Aubrey and Julia had lice last week!! Aubrey, one night said, "my head is really itching me". I shuddered and said I would look at it the next morning. So I got her up early and sure enough, I found LICE!!!! Ahhhhhhh!!!!! Eggs and actual BUGS......holy crap!! So I freaked a little and immediately went to Rite Aid and bought furniture/bedding spray, metal combs (better than the plastic ones that come with it) and the lice conditioner. I sprayed all of the pillows, mattresses, my rocking chair, anything I thought they could live on!! YUCK!!! Then I shampood and put the lice conditioner on Aubrey and Julia's hair. I also did Michael, Pat, and Me!! I didn't think Julia had it, but I did find some eggs on her head. I'm assuming that they got it from someone at school....ewwww!!

Aubrey and Julia both came in my bed during the night, that night before to sleep!!! OH MY GOSH!!! My head was "itching" ALLLLLL day...I didn't have lice but, my paranoia sure felt like it! HA! Luckily, I found the lice the day before I had to do the big dinner for all 62 varsity football players! My mom reminded me that it could have been worse.....I could have found it the day of the dinner! THAT definitely would have been worse....cooking, killing lice, cooking, killing lice!!! GROSS!! My older children had this fun experience when they were younger; they got it from a neighbor, but it has been several years since then. It REALLY gives me the heebie jeebies!!!!!

We are currently lice free and I am TRULY thankful!! I am also thankful that they have a cream rinse/shampoo these days...if I would have had to shave their heads and put turpentine on them that would have been devastating!! So that is the bright side of lice!!

After I put the conditioner on I put a large ziplock bag on their heads...not in the directions mind you, but I thought I would really suffocate the little suckers.

Even with lice and a bag on her head Julia is cute! I wish I would have gotten a pictre of Aubrey too.....she also had a ziplock bag on her head!!

Beef Stroganoff...yummy!!

I am sooo tired tonight!! I had the vasity football team dinner at our home tonight!! There were about 53 football players, 5 coaches and a few water girls. I made beef stroganoff, salad, rolls and 3 cakes. It was a lot of work, but Patrick said the boys really enjoyed the dinner, so that makes it all worth it!!

Corey, Emily, Hannah Pettijohn and Aubrey were such HUGE helpers for me today!! I would NOT have gotten everything done if they had not helped me. They washed and broke 16 heads of romaine lettuce, cut up carrots, broccoli, and cucmbers!! They loaded and unloaded the dishwasher, threw away trash....they just did anything I asked them to do!!! Corey helped make and completely decorated all 3 big cakes. She made footballs on them out of blue and yellow sprinkles!! And also put BVHS. They were sooooo cute!!

I am truly thankful for the wonderful helpers they were to me. They did so much and with a happy attitude!! They also helped me serve the food to all of the players. Although, I think for them, serving the cute players was the EASY part!!

I am glad it all worked out...I was BEYOND stressing that I wouldn't have enough food for them!! But, I ended up having enough and even a little salad and stroganoff left. It was fun to have them all here. It makes me feel good to know that they all left with full happy tummies!! Now they need to beat RBV tomorrow!! What polite and gracious football boys we have!! They all said thank you and many asked what they could do to help...they all ate outside and they were sooo quiet!! The neighbors wouldn't have even known that they were there except for the cars on our street!!

I love Patrick so much. I really hope he continues to heal from his surgery so that he can start playing quarterback!! He is ready to start playing!! I get so much joy from watching my children do the things that they love!! I am just surprised that I enjoy the sports side as much as I do!! It is a BLAST!!!

Making our house a home....

While my mom was here a month or so ago, she and I did a few things to help make my house look more homey!! I really hadn't bought anything for my house since we moved in and it just didn't really feel like home yet. One of my favorite stores EVER is Taipan. There is a huge store in Salt Lake that I try to go visit when I am visiting my family, but it is hard to really bring anything home because there is NEVER any room in the car!! I was BEYOND excited when I found out that they were opening a store in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. It is about 2 hours from my house but WHO CARES!!! So, when my mom was here we hopped in the car and off we went to go to Taipan. I was like a kid in a candy store!! I had my money in my pocket that I could spend and just had to try not to double that amount!! HA! We found some really cute things...and my kids and even my HUSBAND noticed and said it made our house feel more like our home!! It was really nice to have my mom here to help me. It is SOOO fun to have someone else to bounce ideas off of and to give their opinion!! It was great to find some good deals to help with the cost.

So, after my mom left and went back to Salt Lake, I did a few more things. While my mom was here we had bought flowers for me to make an arrangement in this bluish/green metal double vase that I had purchased at Taipan. So I made the arrangement and grouped a few things together in my bedroom. I liked the way it turned out!! When you start doing projects to make your house look nice you REALLY get the bug to keep going!! I wish I had the BUDGET to go along with my IDEAS!! One of the things that just KILLS me is that I can't paint right now!! The walls need color soooo badly. Everything would look soooo much better with some more color on the walls!! Oh well...someday!!

This is a picture of my bedroom. Aren't the branches with the birds above the headboard cute! It looks really cute with the bedding and the pillow with the 2 love birds on it!! I got the vinyl branches and birds at Bed, Bath and Beyond. It was 19.99 and it came with all of the pieces that are on my wall. You have to peel the individual pieces off and apply them on the wall and decide how you want to create the branches. It is fun!! It helps to pull the room together.

I found some really pretty bathroom items to match my bedroom colors at Bed, Bath and Beyond on their clearance isle. It was 70% off!! Sooo pretty!!

This arrangement is on our bathroom counter. The flower arrangement was also 40% off at Michael's. I pulled out flowers that didn't match and put in flowers that I had bought with my mom. It ended up being really pretty and it was such a good price!

This is by the tub. I added towels and also used another flower arrangement from Michael's and added my own flowers! The picture tree was from Taipan and is soooo cute...now I just need to put real pictures in it instead of the "cute" store pictures!!

This is a close up of the arrangement that I made with the flowers that my mom and I bought at Shinodas and the metal vase from Taipan.

This is the arrangement with the flowers. The candle stick is the one from Taipan and I found the super cute clock at WALMART!!!...for 14.99!

Making our house a home continued...

The frame used to be black and we painted it red. We got the flower arrangment at Michael's for 40% off and the candle was on sale too!

This is the antique dresser that was in my room with the baby's clothes in it. It is now in the guest bedroom.

Couch in the living room with a mirror over it that had been in the garage. The picture that was above it, is now the picture over the long counter top in the family room.

Making our house a home continued...

Here are some pictures of what my mom and I did while she was here. This is the guest bedroom. We put the antique dresser and grandma's sewing machine in here to kind of have an 'antiquey'...grandma Folkman feel! Frank gave us the bed and we found the bedding at Walmart!

This is Patsy's table that she gave me and we put it in the empty dining room. That is the picture that I got at Taipan....I LOVE the picture!!

This is on top of the armoir in the EMPTY dining room. We moved some things from other places and also added the candle sticks that I got at Taipan. Have I mentioned that I LOVE Taipan!!

This is the corner of the long counter in the family room. That's the "family"plaque I got at Taipan and mom and I got the little flower thing for 40% off at Michaels.

Full view of the long counter in the family room. We switched this picture from the living room and put this picture here and then put the big picture that was here and put in on the wall by the stairs.

Always and Forever...

I ended up having a really nice night for our 20th Anniversay. I had been irritated earlier in the day because Pat had to work ALL DAY and I hadn't gotten any flowers or card or anything!! Well, it was a Wednesday night and on Wednesdays Corey always goes to this local Hawaiian food/sushi place and does kareoke. Pat was still working at 6:30 pm, so I decided to go with Corey to do kareoke.

Well at about 7:30, Pat finally showed up from working in LA all day. He came and sat by me and we decided to do a song together. Well, a few minutes later they called Pats name. Corey pulled a chair up in the very front. Pat asked me to come sit in the chair and gave me a bouquet of roses and then said this..." 20 years ago today was the best day of my life because I married Hadley. I don't have much of a singing voice anymore, so I may make a fool of myself singing this song...(speaking much more loudly) but I am in love and I'M NOT AFRAID TO SAY IT!!!!" He then sang to me, "Always and Forever". It was the sweetest thing ever!!! Everyone there was waving their arms with a phone or lighter in their hands!! When he finished everyone stood up and yelled and cheered. Corey had several of the young adults there with her and we had some good friends, the Diaz family there also. He really made me feel special and LOVED.

We went out for dinner on Friday night for our anniversary and we took a couple of pictures and this is one of them. I am lucky to have a sweet husband who is not afraid to PUBLICLY proclaim his love for me!!

Sweet Aubrey Anne...

I love this picture of Aubrey and me!! This was taken when Pat and I were leaving to go out to dinner for our anniversary. Aubrey is such a sweetheart!! She is probably...well, not probably...IS...the most negelected of all of our kids. She is more like the middle child. Poor thing!! I love her so much and am sooo proud of her...she is a special part of our family!! Aubrey...I love you and I am so honored to be your mom. What a special girl you are!!!!