28

Mark turned 28. Finally...he's 28. Haha! I have to laugh because 28 came and gone for me a few years ago! We had a fun day with him...with two kids in school, Mark and I went out to lunch and it was fantastic just the two (and a half) of us! :)

Also, as another awesome thing that I totally love about him is his motivation to help us stay organized around the house. We have been working on building our food storage for the last few years...you know, a little bit every month or so...with no place to put it!! Until now.... ya...check that out...lots and lots of storage for our dehydrated and canned food...that should last us til we've been married for 36 years!

Except Putter...he won't live that long, but he was sure cute climbing between shelves checking it out!

And Mark's cake request this year was a piece of yellow cake with chocolate frosting *and the Halloween sprinkles* were not his idea, but the kids...of course!

I love all 28 years of you, Mark...for the wonderful husband, provider, protector and daddy that you are. Happy Birthday, again!

my man

Happy Birthday to the....

...best daddy...he's always playing with the kids, spending lots of quality time with them. The kids just LOVE their daddy! Last night we gave mark his presents to him, and they were clothes, so he gave us a very fun and entertaining fashion show!! Thanks honey!

...best hubby...he's alwas putting me first and I can't thank him enough. He's been extra attentive during this pregnancy and I don't think I'd be able to make it if it weren't for all his help with the kids and around the house.

...my best friend...we have the best conversation, and we alway seem to get each other laughing and giggling hysterically. Isn't that what a best friend is for? Thanks for all the great laughs and silly moments that truly make it a blast to be married to my best friend.

Doesn't he get to have the coolest birthdate ever today? 09/09/09.

Last night we celebrated early, and went to dinner at bootlegger (yummo!) and then we went and both got massages (...hey, he needed some moral support getting a massage). I felt like a million bucks when I woke up this morning. I think I need a massage every night!

Happy Birthday Mark!

Father's Day

I wanted to wish my man a Happy Father's day. He has been so wonderful to me. I am so grateful for all his help through this miscarriage. He has stepped right in and done so much extra for me....handling the kids and keeping them happy, fed, bathed, clothed, and rested! Thanks babe for being there for me. And not to mention all your hard work everyday to make our fun vacations a reality! This has been such a pleasant, relaxing trip and I can't express my gratitude enough.

I wanted to wish the other men in my life a Happy day too...my grandpa, for the wonderful example of compassion and charity he has been in my life. Recently, he has had some injuries and he had to go in for back surgery. It went well and he can live without pain now. Watching grandpa take care of us and his patients, doing his rounds at the hospital, and witnessing him give so much of his time to those in need has helped me to see how Christ-like he is.

And to my own dad, for your wonderful example in the gospel, for being such a pillar of strength, giving me the tools in life to be happy, and even leaning on his testimony in my youth. You have been so wonderful to me and my little family, and I can't thank him enough.

To all the men in my life, I love you tons...hope you have a wonderful Father's Day!!

Best Dad

I just have to give a little shout out to Mark. He is such a wonderful father, and husband. I love him so much! I want to tell him thank you for being the sun, the moon and the stars in the kid's lives. They LOVE to play with him! He makes trampoline time, story time, hide-n-go-seek time...a truck load of fun!

Handy man

I am soooooo glad Mark is handy. This is his 2nd garbage disposal he has had to replace. The first one was in our last house...and thankfully its still working, no complaints from our renters.

And then this one is quite a story. About two months ago I started getting ants on my island counter. GROSS. Well, I couldn't figure out where they were coming from other than the ground beneath the drain/water pipes, but where the place of entry, I had no clue. We'd bug spray, keep things really clean, but still, there were ants.
Apparently, the old garbage disposal had a leak, and I was oblivious to it. The water would leak out and had been rotting out the bottom of the cabinet in the very back corner. I didn't see a thing til I went to take everything out and clean underneath. And the filthy culprit...a big crack on the back side of the disposal, enticing ants to come and explore my kitchen island for food.

Well, the disposal is replaced with a stronger and quieter one. I love it. I can run the disposal with Mark on the phone even! :) Since the replacement, no ants. Let's hope it stays that way!

New Garage Floor...

Makes my kitchen floor look absolutely atrocious! Although it was ugly even before the garage floor got a make-over, now its even more wretched!
BEFORE...

DURING...



The Finished Product...



Going from the garage to the kitchen floor is quite a big difference. Although I don't want my kitchen floor to look like a car should be parked in the middle of it, I have big plans on a cheap budget to make the kitchen floor look amazing! Thanks to Mark in the remodel of the garage...I'm hopoing he's ready to give the kitchen floor a new look now!

Potty Training, by Mark

So, I thought I would try to start potty training Maddox, even though he is only 20 months old, because he is showing interest. It all started a few weeks ago. We give both the kids a tubby at the same time to save time, and every time we make Bryanna go potty before she gets in the tubby. I dont know about everyone else, but the sound of running water makes me want to pee and I am a grown man!!! So, I can't imagine how much harder it is to hold it for a 3 year old!

Well, after months of them bathing at the same time, Maddox would say "poo poo" before he would get in the tub. So, if he was saying it, it must have meant that he wanted to try it! So I put him on the toilet, and about 1 second later, he says "All Done".

This has gone on for about a month. A couple weeks ago, he actually went pee on the toilet. I started screaming with excitement like a little girl!! With me screaming, he got real excited too! Well, tonight was I think the biggest step we've made.

While getting ready to get in the tubby, I put him back on the potty. His diaper was really full, so I figured he wouldn't have to go. I was persistant, and kept telling him to push...while making the grunting noises to help of course. After about 2 minutes, he started to pee. Then he kept pushing. I said, "Maddox, do you have to go poo poo?" He said, "Uh HUH" while grunting, and then there it was! His first poop in the toilet, at 20 months!!! Good Job Maddox!

I like to think I did a pretty good job with this one...

Best hubby ever...and Dessert of the Month

Mark is the best hubby ever. He's so good with kids, of all ages; loves them and is very patient. I feel so blessed to be married to such a great man! As I was busy getting ready for my party tonight, he helped me so much with the kids, I couldn't have gotten everything done in time with out him! Thanks babe!

I hosted Dessert of the Month tonight...Drum roll please! Carmel Apples were so much fun to do, but I have a pretty serious back ache going on right now. Regardless of the ache, I had a blast and it was so great having so many friends come and be creative together!




Next time I'll try and pick up the camera a little more! Between chatting and keeping the show going, I totally spaced picking the camera back up!

Dance Class, Carving Pumpkins, Best Homemade Bread EVER!

Bryanna had Parent day at dance class on Monday, it was so fun to watch her dance, she is always dancing, singing...so it was great to watch her be apart of the class and take her turn doing all the fun moves. Her teacher is due to have her 6th baby right before thanksgiving, and I really hope she will want to keep going after she recovers...but if not, I don't blame her one bit!





Mark carved this really cool spider web and spider on Saturday. I love Saturdays when daddy is home and playing with all of us. He's such a great hubby...love you Mark!



I have to share the most delicious homemade bread recipe originally from my cousin Trachelle who lives in Anchorage, AK...and then I got from Kaerlig my other wonderful cousin in Provo...Thank you to both of you...I have enjoyed having the yummy smell of a bakery in my home ever since! It's addicting...I seem to be on a homemade bread kick lately!


Using a bread machine on the dough cycle~

here is Trachelle's recipe for one loaf:

1 cup hot water
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 T. oil
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup wheat flour
1 cup white flour
3 T. gluten
1 T. yeast

Add them in that order. The breadmaker stinks for baking bread, but it is good for mixing dough so I let it do it's job and when the timer went off, I took it out, punched it down and put it in my bread pan and let it rise again and baked it at 350 for 25 minutes and it's perfect.
I have a bread machine, but not a kitchen aide mixer...so this is such a great alternative! Thanks Trachelle and Kaerlig!

Mark's Take Over Part II

Today I am thankful for Stacy. She has been so great lately. We are in the process of moving and she has done 98% of the packing. Actually, it is probably more since I have only packed up 2 boxes. Yesterday was national "take your child to work day" and since Stacy's sister is in Hawaii, we took our neice Lexy for the day. Lexy took such good care of Bryanna all day by playing with her that when I got home the house was like twice as packed up!!! Thank you Stacy for all that you do. I could never get as much done around the house with 2 kids around like you do. Love you Love you Love you...

Mark Takes Over...

I thought it was about time that I took over this whole blogging thing, and maybe say something that some of the husbands will care about. (No offense honey, but I have hardly heard anything about sports on these blogs). As many of you know, I am one of the biggest Oakland A's baseball fans. What was supposed to be an utterly disappointing year has started out very well. We are currently tied for first place with the Angels. The big news of this week is that the A's re-signed the "Big Hurt" Frank Thomas. The Blue Jays released him on Sunday and the A's picked him up. The nice thing about it is that the Blue Jays are responsible for paying him the rest of his contract, which is about $8 Million this year, while the A's have to pay him a measly $350,000.

In other sporting news, I am playing in a golf tournament tomorrow with T-Money, The Bish, and Cal Sanders...We'll let you know how it turns out