The Harmon Journal

A quick update

2011-04-20T23:26:00.001-07:00

I've been gone for quite a long time from Blogger! The reason behind this is I've been working. I started as a seasonal employee at Victoria's Secret last October. They asked me to stay on after the holidays. In February, I began working at a nearby preschool. Right now I'm still working at both jobs and even though they don't add up to "full-time", I feel like I'm always gone. I have to really plan my week out to get everything thing in. We've done a lot of fun things since I posted last October but for now I'm working on a post about spring break trip to Washington. We have family living near Seattle and it's a really fun place to visit! I don't have all my pictures organized yet, but I'll publish the post as soon as I do.

Thanks for the request Sausha :)

Fall

2010-10-09T15:49:00.000-07:00

I'm always sad to say goodbye to summer but I really love fall. Today I made one of my favorite fall recipes, Pumpkin Waffles. They smell so good. I love cooking with pumpkin because it's always a challenge to make it taste just right. Pumpkin can be really bland and gross but if you do it right it's the best!
This afternoon, I took the kids to our favorite park. Talon loves fish. He always asks if we can catch some in the ponds at our park. I actually said yes today and all three of us were able to catch a few guppies in our net. We brought a bucket to put them in and after a while we let them go. The kids also played on the playground. Kaila tried to turn everything into a competition. Half of her sentences ended with "ha-ha"... little brat ;)
Tonight we are making Teryaki Burgers (<--- my newest favorite cooking blog). I've never made burgers with turkey so this could be interesting! I've been looking for new recipes all over the place lately. I hate eating the same dinners over and over.
I didn't take pictures of anything we did/made today because I'm lame. Usually I'm on top of pictures. I'm really looking forward to Halloween and all the fun little crafts, activities, and fun it includes. Two things I really want to do this month: 1) Make a fun Halloween cake. 2) Take family pictures in the pretty leaves. I'll definitely be trying to make up for my lack of pictures today in my next posts.

Pizzucchini

2010-10-06T19:22:00.000-07:00

Picture from www.dashingdish.com

This is such a yummy recipe! I made it for my family tonight and everyone loved it. That's amazing. It's really healthy and easy. I'm excited to try more of Katie's recipes, especially this one. I've never tried the Vitatop muffins she mentions in that post but I'm excited to try her version because I have a really terrible sweet tooth!

October, Part 1

2010-10-02T09:04:00.000-07:00

Kaila has been going to the after-school cooking club. She gets so excited for Monday afternoons! So far she has made pizza, smoothies, and a hot dog wrapped in biscuit dough??? I don't know what you actually call that. It was sorta gross. We chose to walk home that day, so I had to carry it while the dog was trying to steal it.

These are the (hopefully) pretty cards I made for the YW that earned their Young Womanhood Recognition Award.
Halloween cookies!
For some reason I deleted the picture of all the best cookies. It had ghost cookies too. This picture has Kaila's vampire and Talon's...um...zombie?

My new shoes!
The are leather and I only paid $21 for them on Overstock.com!

It spent a ton of time working on two cute Halloween projects. I didn't realize how expensive this blanket would be or I never would have made it!

It looks busy but you should have seen what Kaila picked out originally! It included Spongebob material and had a blue backing instead of black. Kaila's favorite blanket that she has been obsessed with since she was about 17 months old is past the point of mending. So sad :( This is her replacement, even though it's a seasonal blanket. The second project didn't turn out so well. No pictures of it for the internet!

Fall Break was sadly boring. I wish we could have gone to Washington like we did last year. The only fun thing we did was go to Vinyard Garden Center's Pumpkinland.

Of course I was asked to be the witch ;). We went through a little corn maze. There were Halloween jokes written on signs throughout the maze. Kaila LOVED that. Talon kept asking if the maze "had a bloody end." I'm not sure what that meant, but it was pretty funny.

We saw goats, peacocks, ducks, roosters, hens, and bunnies! This little guy was my favorite, besides the peacocks of course.

One goat had it's head stuck in the fence. Chris tried to help, but he was too stubborn.

The kids loved everything, especially the bounce houses, "Hungry Caterpillar" tunnel, and the playground.

It's hard to see, but if you look closely, you can see a lot of gourds hanging it that last picture. They grew a huge canopy of gourds (the picture just shows a small portion). Chris and I thought it was really neat.
Each of the kids picked a pumpkin and for some reason Kaila picked the weirdest, non-round one available. It wasn't a funny gourd or anything. It's the most pathetic pumpkin I've ever seen. Chris picked the one that inspired dirty jokes (to be told to his wife). We ate at Diego's Taco Shop for dinner. It was yummy!

September

2010-10-02T08:41:00.001-07:00

I've been super busy with Kaila's gymnastics,

Talon's soccer,

the PTA (which I will not do again), and a few little projects I have. I had two job offers. I turned both of them down because of their schedule. Family comes first.

We had a fun dinner with Chris' cousins at Ichiban. Too bad I didn't take a picture. It was fun, especially with Mark...

Somehow I managed to get Kaila to a dance clinic. YAY! Timpview Dance Company was having their annual fundraiser clinic for little girls. I used to do that with the drill team. Their clinic was 7 hrs. long on a Saturday. I was nervous Kaila would be miserable so I promised to bring her Subway for lunch (mostly just so I could check on her). She had a blast, didn't ask to go home early, and instead asked if she could do it again next year!

We love having Sunday picnics up Provo Canyon with ALL the family. This is the week before the Storytelling Festival at Timpanogos Park (hence the ugly canopies).

Best cookies ever.

Kaila chopped off her long hair!

My new little headache. He wandered into our backyard on the first day of school. For some reason I wanted to keep him. He is a wild menace. His name is Jasper.

Here, the kids are celebrating their uncle's 20th birthday. He is serving a mission in Brazil.

I'm not sure what I did all month but somehow I was super busy and for the first time I got sick of hearing my cell phone ring.

A Goal

2010-09-30T08:25:00.000-07:00

I was forwarded an email. It was based off of this article. My email was more fun to read than that article because it included a lot of pictures like this one:

My email also mentioned an HBO movie called Iron Clawed Angels. It's all about these women and what they did back in 1917.
To sum up the email's message: What would these women who lived 90 years ago think about women like me today? I want to vote and I know I should vote but I never make the effort of learning about the candidates. Lame.
I've been running outside a lot lately. I keep seeing candidate's signs and thinking I need to get on the ball. I need to figure out who all these people are, what they want to do, and who I want to vote for. This email was a definite shove in the right direction for me.
I believe voting in the smaller local elections is most important. That's how you get your city and state to be the type of place you want it to be. Also, it's the local government's vote that really counts in the Presidential elections since we use an electoral vote. Get good local leaders and it will trickle up to higher the higher levels.
I found an interesting chart in the Women's Suffrage Wiki. Scroll down to "Timeline of international women's suffrage" and they click on the little arrows in the year column. It looks like the Pitcairn Islands win.

The Little Man's First Day

2010-09-20T11:16:00.000-07:00

This is Talon on his first day of preschool with Miss Kirsti. He's four years old. Talon was so excited and silly while I tried to get a nice picture.

Here is Talon's first soccer practice. He loves it and is a great player!

Talon is really easy going and happy. He is such a sweet little momma's boy. He's always telling me he loves me and covering me in kisses. Who knew little boys were like this? I sure didn't.

Kaila's first day

2010-08-24T08:13:00.001-07:00

Awwhh, look at her cute toothless smile.
My baby didn't grow up when she started Kindergarten last year. That practically didn't count. Even though she actually learn A LOT, I'm guessingg it was just playtime compared to first grade.

Today she started first grade. She took a homemade lunch because she doesn't want to eat the school's pizza. She rode her scooter to school (which I forgot to buy a lock for). She is using her Spongebob backpack again. It makes bubbly sounds when you squeeze it.

She grew up today because this is the first day of thousands where she will be gone at school, and eventually work, all day. That makes me sad to think of it that way. When I simply think that my tiny, little six year old is ecstatic to go to first grade and she will be back at 1:20, then I feel happy and excited for both of us.

I keep thinking about Wendy saying "....I have to grow up tomorrow." and Peter Pan yells "GROW UP!?...No, I won't have it." hahaha

Oh yes, and last night after visiting her classroom and teacher for the first time, she whined that "all the boys are in other classes" (referring to all her little neighborhood and kindergarten ~~boy friends~~ friends that are boys). Great....*eyeroll*

Here she is so excited, she can't look straight at the camera.

Job Hunting Part 2 (now with picture #2 working)

2010-08-16T04:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm no Allie Brosh, but it's still pretty awesome...for me. This sums up how I feel about my job interviews so far. I'm obviously the one in the pretty purple pencil skirt with awesome high heels and the hideous beast is anyone of my past interviewers. I realize this is only funny to me and that the spaghetti noodle with a speach impediment makes no sense unless you've already visited that link before. Please click those links ONLY if you aren't easily offended. I'm a HUGE fan of hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com. I don't know how she can draw the way she does. It's kind of fun to try. Maybe only because its 5:30 am and I haven't slept all night...anyway...

Job hunting

2010-08-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

I've been looking for a job since May, so over 3 month. It's going terribly. Looking for a job right now is the best way to feel like a horrible loser. It took about 1.5 months before I had my first interview. They told me "You're at the top of our list. Will you stay for a second interview right now?" So I waited about an hour for a second interview. Then heard "You're at the top of our list. We will be doing more interviews next week. Does that work for you? You'll definitely hear from us even if it's a NO." Did I hear from them? NO. I applied for about 2 more weeks to different jobs then took a month break to spend time with visiting family and to go camping. Since that break ended it's been about 3.5 weeks (I think). It's been a lot better in the fact that I've actually been interviewing. Five interviews is my total. One told me they received about 60 resumes. I'm guessing he interviewed about 30 people. I made it somewhere into the top 8. They told me I would receive either a call saying "yes" or an email saying "maybe. we need more time" or "no". Did I hear anything back at all? NO. My last interviewer told me they received 140+ resumes in three days and I was one of the 16 that he interviewed. I'm just confused because all (most) of my interviews seem to go really well and then I don't hear anything back. Maybe it's just as difficult to interview someone as it is to be interviewed. I'm sure it's tricky to know you are going to let down 15 out of the 16 you interview. They have generally all been nice to interview with but then it makes me wonder why they don't call for a second interview. I wonder if I am being too picky. I really don't want to be too desperate and take an awful job. I really don't want to waste my time in a job I hate especially if it means I have to miss out on being with my kids. So that's my rant. Here is something more funny.

The craziest things I've been asked while interviewing:
1. How do they get the filling in a Twinkie?
2. Tell me a joke.
3. Do you have a problem with people yelling, swearing, and threatening to call the BBB/Atorney General?
4. Give me a word to describe yourself. Great. And another. Great. And another. Great. And another. Great. And another.
5. This isn't a question, but during the ENTIRE interview the interviewer's 13 month old was SCREAMING. I have kids so I know how it is, but seriously?

Science experiment

2010-08-11T11:25:00.001-07:00

After making a volcano (with eyes) together and while making thier own science creation/mess/disaster, the kids came up to me and this is what Talon said:

"Mom, we are going to make a soda and Kaila is going to drink the cotttage cheese"

I'm really not taking this out of context. It was pretty much spoken out of context.

a handsome boy

2010-08-07T09:02:00.000-07:00

This is my knight-in-shining-armor. His knight-name is Sir Tallihad, but when he is off-duty we just call him Talon.

When we went to register his sister for 1st grade (1ST GRADE!) and stopped to learn about the after-school programs, he went into panic mode. He started whining, hyper-ventilating, and almost crying. I asked what was wrong and he said "I'll never see Kaila!" All day school plus after school programs are more than he thinks appropriate. He's so cute and sweet.

Another funny kid story: We were driving home from the gym and it was so hot. I told the kids they could have popsicles when we got home. That made them happy and they asked if they could have "combat bars". I'm thinking wow, that sounds intense, I have no idea what they are talking about. I asked for clarification and finally figured out they meant Klondike Bars. :D

New book

2010-06-12T08:37:00.000-07:00

So I finally got around to checking-out a Shannon Hale book from the library. I say finally since I'm sure almost everyone female in Utah has already read all her books. Anyway... I really liked it. It's about a Jane Austen-obsessed lady, who is surprised with a trip to "Austenland" where she gets to immerse herself in the 1800's. It is a completely authentic experience where she is surrounded by a cast of actors and everyone has to stay in character the entire time. It was funny and cheesy. I would definitely recommend it.

Random junk from a quarter machine

2010-06-08T10:30:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to Two Jacks in Springville for pizza and cheese bread, mostly cheese bread. On the way out they saw a quarter machine with Bakugan toys. Apparently all the boys in Kaila's class have some and they are amazing things. I don't know why they are even remotely cool but dad said yes to their pleading and this is what we got:

Caution tape and a lost-looking puppy.

Awesome.

What's worse is that Kaila hung the caution tape on her door for a few months.

My cute little graduates

2010-06-08T10:23:00.000-07:00

Kaila's class made their own graduation hats. I was SO sad on her last day of school. She wasn't but that's because she to little to understand... haha. Her school has a dance festival on the very last day. Each grade dances together and it's really fun to watch. She did a song and dance to what I thought was called "Tony Chestnut" and I was like WTF? But when I saw it, it was the cutest thing EVER! It would be more accurately called "Toe-knee-chest-nut". I sort of got a video but it I don't think it turned out so well so it's probably not going on here.

There's my funny little guy with his awesome preschool teachers. He did some really funny songs and dances at his graduation. I love his preschool. They do the cutest things with them. I'm so lucky they are just down the street from us. Kaila went to this preschool too. He loved it all year long.

Summer fun

2010-06-05T16:06:00.000-07:00

I have had a lot of fun the past week. We had a BBQ with some of the extended Harmon family for Memorial day. I brought chocolate dipped strawberries (yay!). They love to BBQ all summer long. It's always really fun.
Wednesday we went to Payson Lakes. When we came home, it was too hot to be in the house so we went swimming at Chris' Grandma's pool. The kids didn't want to leave of course. I don't blame them. It was their first day back to the pool and their swimming has improved so much from last year. It's fun to see how they grow and change each year. It doesn't seem very long ago that I would hold Talon in the pool the whole time and he was just to relaxed. Now he's swimming around by himself. For dinner we went to a little Mexican restaurant called Los Corporales. The kids LOVE their melted white cheese sauce. Talon was shoveling it in so fast he choked. It was sad but he was fine.
Thursday I did a practice run with my friend for the Art City Days 5k. We did pretty well considering we talked the entire time we were running. That afternoon our friends/neighbors held a mini carnival for the little kids in our neighborhood. It was so cute. I love that family. They are just amazing. The mom runs a daycare out of her home and that's who I want to take my kids to if I ever find a job (that's a whole other post).
Friday we ate at Rooster for the first time. It is a fun little place in Provo that just opened last year. We loved the rolled noodles with peanut sauce and the pork & chive dumplings. There have been a lot of new places opening in Provo lately(in the past 2 years is "lately" to me), especially in the old downtown area. We need to try them all! The worst/best part of Friday was organizing the kids school-work folders. I haven't been able to throw ANYTHING away that they've made here or at school. I've SLOWLY been putting it all into big 3-ring binders but I'm a huge slacker and it was just an amazing mess. So finally we decided we had had enough and got it as organized as it will ever be. YAY!
Saturday I ran my big 5k. I LOVED it. They chose a different route than we practiced but I thought it was easier. I am now over-enthusiastic about 5k's and want to run a few more this summer, not to win, just for fun! Lastly Stephenie Meyer's BRAND NEW novella was released today! I'm so excited to read it. What's really great about it is that you can read it online for free at that last link from 6/7-7/5. SM is also donating 1$ for every book sold to charity.

Our big adventure

2010-06-03T10:24:00.001-07:00

Yesterday the kids and I drove up to Payson Lakes for a picnic and some hiking. It wasn't REALLY hiking as we only walked around the lake on the paved trail. It was perfect though. The air smelled so nice up there. We fed our bread crust (and Kaila's fruit by the foot) to the bravest pot-guts I've ever seen. They came so close to us. The kids loved it. We also saw a few deer.

On the way home Talon said "that was a HUGE adventure!". He is so cute.

I really want to go camping there this summer. I used to go with my grandparents when I was little. It was my favorite place to camp. That was where we learned my grandma's dirty little secret. My grandpa informed us that when she was little she got tired of her little sisters following her around and bothering her. One day when they asked her to play she said "only if you will suck on my toes". If you know my grandma that is so out of character for her. We all laughed and teased her for a long time about that one.

Re-do

2010-06-02T10:50:00.000-07:00

I've been so grumpy lately. More than usual. About EVERYTHING. After I COMPLETELY messed up my blog template I just gave up on it. Instead, I've spent all my time reading all the great blogs I follow. I don't feel as smart, funny, interesting, creative, etc. as all the others I read. Blah blah blah so I've been ignoring my blog. But not anymore! I'm going to try to "get it together" and do all the little things I should be doing. Including my blog because it was fun while I was doing it!

~Jessica

What year is it?

2010-03-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

I'm fairly certain that yesterday my Home Teacher asked us how we were going to sacrifice a lamb next Sunday, if we were going on a vacation.

WOW

I didn't have it in me to ask him to repeat his question. Then, luckily, the other Home Teacher changed the subject.

If you had been there, seen the look on Home Teacher #1's face, and endured the awkward silence that followed, you would be as baffled as we were. The more I replay it in my head, the more certain I am that he really did ask that.

New sun glasses

2010-03-12T14:23:00.000-08:00

Trying to persuade spring to arrive

Fun day

2010-03-09T08:39:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we had such a fun day with our family or four. I didn't take any pictures because we didn't actually have big plans; the day just turned out really awesome!

While K was at school, T and I made cookies. After eating a good portion of the cookies and waiting for K to come home, we took some to my cute little grandma. I LOVE hearing stories about when she was growing up and somehow she came up with a few new ones for me. My favorite one happened when she was about 16. Gone with the Wind was very popular then. She and her little sister decided to hitch hike from Payson to Springville to see the matinee. She told me hitch-hiking wasn't so bad back then :) oh Granny, *sigh*. Luckily they made it there and back safely.

After our nice chat, the kids and I took cookies to my mom's house for her, my step-dad, and step-brother. The S.B. is now living with them and I'm very excited for him! He starts his new school today! The four of us played hide and seek. They made me be the seeker. I only lasted two rounds and if you have seen my mom's surrounding yard you'll know why! It's huge with TONS of stuff to hide in and under and behind. YIKES. I was a bit of a cheater though. After I found the first kid, I made him/her go find the others with me (and they knew exactly where go so that's why it was cheating).

When we returned to Provo, we picked up Chris and went to see

Alice in Wonderland

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Disney movie and the books. Now I love Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland too! Alice's dresses were so perfect. I wish I could wear something like that and get away with it. Stupid Rotten Tomatoes only has it at 52%. I really hate that website... ANYWAY, we all loved it and after the movie we walked over to Five Guys. It was good, but not great. Not great like Burger Supreme's green chili burger or Barry's Drive In in Spanish Fork. Their fries were not AMAZING, like I had heard. Red Robins fries with their special fry sauce, that you have to specifically ask for, are the best in my opinion. Sorry about the food review... just slipped out. When we got home the kids went (almost) right to bed and I went my favorite class at the gym. It was a great day.

Mad

2010-02-22T10:07:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it's the very best I can do to just keep my mouth shut and quiet when someone makes me mad. My face may contort into an uncontrollable, scrunched-up, angry face, but at least there isn't anything that ugly coming out of mouth...right?

Copy-cat crafter

2010-02-13T22:05:00.000-08:00

When I told my friend I call myself the copy-cat crafter, she said most of us crafters are copy-cat crafters anyway and that it's OK. Here is what I made with my crafty little friends:

We were planning to make letters for our kid's rooms, but Robert's was out of K's and T's. I made letters for my hubby and me. His turned out very bold, so I tried to add flowers to mine to make it extra feminine and to help it stand out a little more. They are a little hard to see. This project is probably only halfway finished. I want to make matching letters for my kids, add big black satin ribbons, then tie them all up to a black shelf or something.

My crafty friend Laura fell in love with this idea. These are valentine gifts made from Bath and Body Works soap. We copy-catted it from here.

My inspiration for this craft came from a very cute candle I saw in an awesome boutique. The candle was $26 and I thought "WHAT!? I could make that so easily!" Mine is quite different but I really like it. Now that I have played around with it a little I can make a variety of candle holders :) I only spent about $4 for the supplies. I started out with a plain, glass, candle holder from the dollar store.

25

2010-02-10T12:25:00.000-08:00

My birthday was last Saturday and it was the best! I felt so loved and received many unexpected surprises. Here is list of birthday greatness:

Mom took us to dinner at Joe Banditos, my favorite Mexican restaurant.
Craft day with the girlfriends (who spoiled me). While at craft day, I learned that my new phone opens...yeah...I know...
Naughty brownies - a lady I used to work with brought them to share with everyone now and then. They are my favorite brownie. Unfortunately, mine don't turn out quite like her's but they were still pretty good.
Birthday cards, (with $$) yay! My favorite card was from Kaila:

Birthday calls from the Relief Society (lol - I don't know why but this new tradition cracks me up)

Hubby going to get me my favorite salsa (from Joe Banditos) on my birthday (when I was sick)
Game night with friends (who spoiled me). Look at these beautifully wrapped Estonian chocolates. They are so rich and yummy!

Wing eating contest at WingNutz = most fun birthday dinner I could have come up with! Chicken wings are totally not my thing but the contest sounded fun to watch and the wings were actually pretty amazing! My studly hubby entered the contest. I'm pretending it was for my birthday but he probably would have entered anyway. To win, you had to eat 10 of their spiciest wings before anyone else. Look, he's going so fast the picture blurred! ;)

Very cute birthday spotlight in YW, written hubby
Superbowl party + Jessica's birthday weekend = superjessicaparty. Hubby always lets me pretend the superbowl party is for me :) awh. Hubby's dad practically bought out Sam's club for this day. He told me he didn't know what I liked so he bought it all...which was almost true.
Another game night with friends
Plus, one more birthday dinner and shopping that haven't happened yet since hubby and I were sick.

It was a very fun weekend. I felt very loved and everyone should on their birthday.

eShakti

2010-02-10T11:46:00.000-08:00

I just found out about this website here.

I think it's amazing!

You can have your clothes customized for only $15! So, if you need sleeves on a dress or want the hem shorter/longer YOU CAN! Some of their stuff reminds me of Anthropology but it's priced decently. AND, if you register on their website, you will be emailed a $15 gift card! I'm so excited! I found a very cute outfit with a black layered panel dress, studded belt, and necklace, but the picture isn't coping in full so you will have to go to their website to see it. I don't think I would ever wear it but it's so very cute!

My boring post?

2010-02-09T16:14:00.000-08:00

So since this is supposed to be my "journal" I guess it would be ok to just put out boring posts. That's hard because I think my regular posts are already boring haha. But here are a few things we've done lately:

2 birthday parties - one at Jumpin Jacks and another for a school friend of Kaila's at her house (this girl's mom is a hard core scary teacher at Gold's Gym...I should make friends with her huh?). I LOVE Jumpin Jacks. That's where we go during the winter when we have cabin fever. I highly recommend it, along with the "mom and me pass".
One Sunday filled with YW meetings (bleh). Getting ready for Girl's camp has been fun. I would like to work it out so I can go with them this summer.
Chris's younger brother went into the MTC on February 3rd. He is going to the Vitoria, Brazil mission. We spent weeks saying goodbye by playing games and feasting on his favorite foods. I will have to do a separate post with some pictures.
Stitches for Kaila

Later that day K asked "Since I got hurt, don't I get whatever I want?"
We bought ice cream and waffle cones.

Dinner at the world-class hunter's home

Monster African Porcupine - did you see Bear Grylls hunt one of these?

Grizzly Bear - T couldn't stand there long enough for the picture. It was too scary!

Group shot - The giraffe neck is sitting on the floor. Wow it's tall!

K wanted to take a picture too, so here I am next to...umm...something...?

K's favorite part of the collection was the squirrels. They are originally from the Grand Canyon area (that's one of the few things I remembered learning).
The hunter also gave us fossilized dinosaur poop, which will be our next show and tell item.

Cleaning underneath a kids bed can be oh so scary. Here is what we found:

That book is an over-due library book that I had to pay $24 for! Refund! I seriously checked under the bed for it long ago, but it was invisible or something.

And here is the little cutie that crawled under the bed for me to gather it all.

OK, so I guess the stitches and dinner at the hunter's home kept this post from the boring category.

Playtime drama

2010-01-26T14:00:00.000-08:00

K & T have been taking care of a baby doll together lately. We have more than one but this one is the favorite and they actually want to share it. Here is what I just heard:

T - Come on, lets go home.

K- No! I don't live with you anymore remember? I gave you the ring back and we're not married anymore and the baby's mine. You'll have to marry someone else.

T - But I want to marry the baby.

K- You can't marry the baby, she's too young. You'll have to marry someone else. And I have to marry a different boy.

T- Well I want to marry a fish...and I'm living at Seven Peaks

The first part sounded kinda sad but then it got so funny I had to type it down.

Treasures

2010-01-26T11:57:00.000-08:00

Treasure #1
My kids love playing photographer and they are usually nice to the camera. Here is T telling himself to say "cheese".

Treasure #2
I found this cute couple outside the kitchen window this morning. I love pheasants. We had a lot around my house growing up.

Treasure #3
"Treasure boxes" I made for my kids. They are for the random little things they love that would otherwise sit scattered on the floor. I asked them to pick out the paper they liked. I want to add more things like their names or matching chipboard designs, but we'll see.

I hope I win it!

2010-01-24T14:51:00.000-08:00

My friends is having a giveaway here.

Best of luck to myself ;)

Random January fun

2010-01-23T15:10:00.000-08:00

I love making crafty things but I'm not very great at it. I really like making cards. Somehow it just feels easier than making scrapbook pages. This card is for my step-grandma.
A friend and I had a fun girls night. We did dinner, a movie, and a craft. I'll have to post a picture of what we made next time.

Backwards day at preschool. He wore his shirt, coat, and hat backwards. I tried to have him wear his backpack on his front but he started to cry.

When I was little some of my favorite cookies that my grandma would make were carrot cookies. They really don't taste anything like carrot cake (bleh). If you would like to try something new, here is the recipe:

Cookies:

2/3 C shortening
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 C sugar
2 c flour
1 egg
2 tsp baking powder
1C grated raw carrots
1/2 tsp salt
Blend shortening and sugar. Add beaten egg and beat until fluffy. Add grated carrots and vanilla, beat. Sift dry ingredients together and add to first mixture. If too stiff add 1T mild. Drop from tsp onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Frosting:
1/2 C sugar 1/4 C evaporated milk
1/2 tsp vanilla 1/2 cube butter
pinch of salt zest and juice of 1 orange
Bring to a boil for 2 minutes then add 3/4 of a pound of powdered sugar.

tips: when I make the frosting recipe it is ALWAYS too much but this is what the recipe says. I would suggest making a double batch of cookies or halving the frosting recipe. Anytime I bake cookies I HATE washing the pans afterward so I put tin foil down first. It makes washing much easier. I also do this when we heat chicken wings in the oven for the boys.

Talon and I made these treats for his class (since he's in preschool and it's still OK to bring homemade treats). It was orange day.

Speaking of recipes... my brother-in-law Zac worked in Alaska all summer and sent home TONS of Halibut and Salmon. We've been having fun finding new recipes for it. Chris discovered an awesome curry flavored one. You can find it here. I didn't take a picture when I made it. It is now my favorite fish recipe...well it's close with fish tacos but they are a PAIN to make. The curry was super easy.

Later during orange day...
we SOOO needed a battle ax.

We went to Dell Taco and played on the playground. Then headed to game stop and bought Kaila a game called Viva Pinata. THEN we went to Walmart where we discovered more awesome Nerf weapons. We've already got the swords. I'm surprised they didn't come kick Chris and the kids out for playing with the toys for an hour. Anyway, to explain the picture Talon was coloring with markers and (accidentally???) made that long mark on his forehead. Chris thought it was funny so he added more "war paint". LOL

Mmm, blue sugared popcorn. K and I were bored so we made this while T napped. Again, on tin foil.

Do you ever feel like the harder you try the more you fail? It doesn't really make sense if you think about it but that's kinda how I feel about getting myself to the gym and exercising. I did so well way back in 2008. I lost about 25 lbs. In 2009 I did ok off and on and lost another 10 lbs. So far this month I have no motivation. Maybe it's because I'm not a morning person and when it's so dark and freezing on winter mornings I really hate mornings. Lately I just don't want to go at night either. I feel too sleepy. I can't imagine how un-motivated I will feel 10 years from now! Hmmm just gotta suck it up and do it I guess.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-19T21:20:00.000-08:00

We had such a great Christmas! We were really missing Jessica and Austin but we had the Bales up from Texas! Their 2 kids are almost the same age as ours so they love to play.

Here are some of things we did:

saw A Christmas Carol at the Hale Centre Theatre with my dad
sledding
shopping
Jumpin Jacks - it's a big play place with giant inflatable bounce houses
didn't make Christmas cards (I'm on an "every other year deal" right now
shopping
saw The Squeakquel, Avatar, Sherlock Holmes, Astro Boy (again...I hate it but it was at the dollar theater...I love the dollar theater), The Princess and the Frog!!! The Harmon's always go to movies at Christmas time so that what we do too. It's hard not to when there are so many good movies out.
made Christmas gifts for the ladies I visit teach and never delivered them
made my grandma's toffee. She used to make lots of candy every Christmas but now it is too difficult for her so I try to keep up the tradition
shopping
made calenders with family pictures for the grandmas on Costco's website (have you seen those? they are great!)
family game nights! our cousins get the best games at a place called Boardgame Revolution
made lots of cookies
bowling
went to In-and-Out for the very first time
ice skating with the YW
Christmas party with Kaila's class. I had a game similar to an egg and spoon race but used Christmas candy instead. The kids scooped up the candy, ran it down to a stocking, dumped it in, then ran back to their teammate. I think they really liked it because I had a lot of them come back to play it 2 or 3 times.
Talon went caroling with his preschool and took gifts to those people. He also had a book exchange with his class.
shopping
went on the train at the mall and visited Santa with the kids (I refused to pay for a picture but took my own instead ;))
made lots of cookies! Talon loves snickerdoodles now. He saw a subway commercial and freaked out because he wanted snickerdoodle cookies so bad (I don't think he had even tried them before). We made some of our own that very night.

Christmas at my parent's house with my step-brother

Blurry caroler picture taken by Kaila

Dinosaur attacking said carolers (LOL)

Opening presents at Grandma & Grandpa Weight's house

The 2+ year old gingerbread house kit that grandma told us to use
(don't eat the candy.....this tastes yucky.....i told you not to eat the candy.....repeat.....repeat....repeat...)

Molasses cookies I made for the Christmas Eve party at Grandma Woolsy's

Cute kids for the Christmas Eve party at Grandma Woolsy's

(Kaila -" look at the camera damn it!"... JUST KIDDING!)

Christmas morning

Do you like the matching toe socks? At one point Kaila looked up at me with a genuinely sad face and ask "Why do I keep getting clothes?" Hmmm, better not do that to her again!

spoiled :)

We think Snuggie commercial are hilarious/retarded and the kids think they are the best things ever invented. Somehow Frosty the Snowman heard about that and brought these (one for me too!). You can put it on your back and have a nice Hogworts costume.
There was some jealousy so we had to go back for 2 more after Christmas with our Christmas money.
Wow! This was Zac's last Christmas at home for 2 years!

He made a gift fort after we made him mad (can't remember why) and hid in it for quite a while.

Sledding with cousins

The crafty gifts for my mom:

Sidenote - Why can't I get the underline to turn off on some of the words? Underline isn't even an option so how did it even get there? It always happens when I add pictures.

Recycled crayons!

2010-01-16T21:36:00.000-08:00

I tried this once before and it didn't work out so well. After seeing this done online with silicon ice cube trays I couldn't wait to try it again. We were going for a swirly/tie dye look. I'm hoping to make a bunch of them to give as valentines for K & T's classes. I just love homemade valentines SO SO much.

Here are my results:

Not quite as shiny as brand new crayons are but K was very pleased with them :D

YUMMY

2010-01-07T14:06:00.000-08:00

If you live in Utah County then you are supremely lucky. Lucky, because you live close enough to eat the most amazing cupcake in the world! I've driven by The Sweet Tooth Fairy bake shop a dozen times and wondered about it. I finally stopped in after reading a little blurb about it here and then here. It is EXPENSIVE but an awesome occasional treat! Normally I'm a chocoholic but the dulce de leche is my FAVORITE!

Last night Kaila was having a whining fit because her dad and I both refused to take her doorbell ditching. After dinner, she dressed herself in warm clothes then came to calmly inform me she was going to go doorbell ditch some of our close neighbors. Hmmm....right.... Anyway after I told her she couldn't do that she thought it would be alright if an adult went with her so she wouldn't be alone. So when that idea was also turned down the pitiful whining began.

Old post that I never posted

2009-12-14T11:21:00.000-08:00

Talon's comments to me:

1. "Something stinks mom. I think it's you."

2. "I found two pennies for you! It's your lucky day!" - I still have them in a special place

Talon is the CUTEST little man ever. He is the wittiest three year old I know. He is always changing the words to his favorite songs. He really makes them work and they are hilarious.

Making the most of the white stuff mid December 2009:

Kaila has a friend at school that played Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol at the Hale Centre Theatre. This was a great excuse to do something that I've really been wanting to do. Talon was too young to go so Kaila and I took my dad. It was so much fun. Kaila had a difficult time understanding the old words and phrases they used but she was so well behaved and had a lot of fun. After the play, the cast stood outside singing carols while the audience left. When "Tiny Tim" saw Kaila he ran over and threw his arms around her. It was so dang cute! That was a very good night.

Babies babies babies. Seems like half the people I know just had a baby or are now expecting one. I loved being pregnant and I love little babies but... I think the most I want out of all of this is hearing eveyone else's baby stories and making visits to those little babies and their moms. Then I will go home to my own little family and be very satisfied. Nice way of saying that I'm done for now right? ;)

K

2009-12-04T21:56:00.000-08:00

K to T: "I'm going to punch you in the face if you call me princess again!"

So funny and typical from our non-girly-girl.

Thanksgiving Break

2009-11-26T19:11:00.000-08:00

Wow I wrote this post right after Thanksgiving and planned to add a lot to it and make it great, but it didn't happen. So... here it is :)

Our little family of four is so blessed during the holidays. Most of our family lives within 30 miles of us so we are able to see all of them for every holiday. The ones that live away come for visits as often as they are able. Both of us were raised with such simple but memorable holiday traditions. We don't believe in the "every-other-year" plan with our families. It just doesn't make sense when they are all so close and so much fun! With that great blessing why not take advantage of it?

Jessica and Austin (Harmon side) came down from Washington for the week. We have eaten out, played games, sports, watched the Macy's parade, and most importantly watched NEW MOON!!! I've been feeling extra crafty lately so Chris's aunt is slowly teaching me how to knit YAY! For the second year in a row I made it to the gym the morning of Thanksgiving. I'm pretty proud of myself.

Our food on Thanksgiving was so dang yummy. My side of the family is pretty small so my mom made all the food herself (with help from her hubby). There was also my Grandma, step-brother, and us! After dinner the kids went horseback riding (while we dozed on the couch) and roasted marshmallows outside over Papa Clayne's fire pit. LUCKILY we had a good amount of time in between dinners to enjoy both of them :) The Harmon side always has a TON of family, extended family, and friends. We make a sort of pot luck Thanksgiving dinner. I just have to say Talon was a bit of a pill on Thanksgiving. He's been getting mad a lot lately and after he peed his pants at dinner #2 we had to take of early for home :(

I couldn't resist a little black Friday shopping. I only went to two clothing stores though.

It was so hard to get back in the swing of things after a nice break. I've ALWAYS hated going back to school/church/work after a long break. I thought it would get easier as I got older but IT DOESN'T and I don't even have to go to school or work. Just taking Kaila back was bad enough! LOL So... it was fun :)

Christmas stresses

2009-11-18T12:16:00.000-08:00

I just want to say I don't like choosing gifts for anyone other than my kids. The only Christmas stress I have is trying to figure out what to get people, especially men! The one exception is my husband. I just decide what I think he should have and then that's taken care of.

Ok...

thats all

~Jessica

So dang cute

2009-11-18T12:08:00.000-08:00

When I picked Talon up from school last week the whole class came marching out in these outfits. I burst out laughing. It was so cute.

Cute Kids

2009-11-16T17:46:00.000-08:00

My kids are hilarious. Kaila was the wildest funniest little thing from the time she could smile until she was about 3. She kept us all laughing non-stop. I wish I could remember more of the funny little things she did but for some of them, you just had to be there. I going to write these funny little things that they say on here to help me remember them better.

Last week Kaila told me about her first "cymbal" at school. I thought wow what a cheap school until I realized she meant assembly. Hahaha.

Over the weekend Kaila came up to me and volunteered that she was thankful for cheese and Zac (her uncle). After Talon heard her, he told me he was thankful for toys and his lunch (mac and cheese). I thought it was amazing that they knew what being thankful was and wanted to share their thoughts on it. Little smarties ;)

Oh Washington

2009-11-15T14:21:00.001-08:00

For Fall Break this year the Harmon's decided to visit their daughter and her husband in Washington. We were lucky enough to be invited to go too! Jessica and Austin moved there earlier this year for work and everyone has been missing everyone ever since ;). We rented a 15 passenger van so we could save our cars and ride together!

hahaha...that was an adventure for Chris by itself. We were all so sick that week. It was so gross with all of us coughing our way up to Washington. Talon and I had fevers too.
BLAH
But, we made it! The kids were unbelievably good the whole way up. I think they liked sitting next to their uncles and getting WAY too many treats from Grandpa and Grandma.

It took us 17 hours to get there. The only trouble we had was Talon coughing so hard that he threw up...yeah...he does that sometimes. ANYWAY...

-DAY ONE IN WASHINGTON-

This was the beautiful view we woke up to the next morning. I guess it's like that every morning at their house. Surprisingly they said in the 4 months that they have lived there they have only had about 3 days of rain. Weird huh? Of course, it rained everyday we were up there and then cleared when we left. haha :)

We rode a ferry from Port Orchard to Seattle. We were such excited tourist geeks. We kept waiting for everyone to get our of their cars or for some announcement that we could walk around on the ferry. Finally we realized no one else cared about getting out of their car because they ride the ferry EVERYDAY to get to work LOL. There were beautiful houses right on the water. This is the view from the top of the ferry.

When we got to Seattle my camera batteries died so I missed taking pictures of the kid's favorite part of the trip. There is a great place called Ivers Fish Bar where we ate lunch. They have the best chowder! If you get your food at the fish bar you just eat outside right over the water. So the kids favorite part? Throwing their fries to the seagulls (I think the adults liked it to). They kept running back to me for more fries and just thought it was hilarious. Chris made me eat fried oysters here and let me tell you they are HORRIBLE. I'm not a picky eater but they were disgusting. I don't know how anyone eats them raw. After I bought more batteries I finally got a picture of the Crab Pot. We totally should have eaten there! If you haven't seen it, look for the show Man vs. Food (on the Travel channel) when he goes to Seattle. I'm not sure why I didn't get anymore pictures that day but next we went shopping at the pirate store and the famous Pike's Place Market. This was my favorite day on our trip.

-DAY TWO-

Day 2 was our little "Twilight" day. Yes, Jessica, Lisa (my mother-in-law), and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the books (not so much the movies for me). Unfortunately we got a late start on the day and we had boys with us so we only made it to Port Angeles. I was so excited to see the "beautiful little tourist trap" as it's described in Twilight.

It was such a disappointment! The worst part of it was the smell. Weird I know, but it smelled like the fried oysters I ate (and I'm not the only one that thought so!). We went down to the water, the Visitor's Center, took some silly Twilight pictures, and kept driving.

SWEEEEEET

This is Lake Crescent. It was gorgeous. Everyone wants to go back and rent a cabin on the lake someday.

Jessica and Austin

Talon loves throwing rocks and things in the water.

On the way back we decided to go visit Port Townsend. Jessica and Austin had heard it was a neat place. We got there just as the sun was setting and it was everything we thought we would find in Port Angeles! Since it was so late all the shops were closing so we just had time to eat dinner and drive home. Port Townsend will be on our list of places to visit next time we go to Washington!

-DAY THREE-

Since this would be our last day we wanted to stay close by the house and not do much driving. We went shopping in town, down by the water. I got a pretty necklace. :) This is Mr. Crabs, no, I'm not talk about Chris ;) He scared Talon.

This is where Mr. Crabs lives. Washington was so neat. I loved it. Every place we went was right on the Puget Sound. I can see how that might not be so great when you live there because you either take a ferry to get where your going or drive WAY around the water, but it was so pretty.

On the way home we went through Oregon. I wish I could have taken a picture of Portland. I love the way it goes up onto the hills and the river runs through the middle of the city.

This was a random little spot right off the freeway in Oregon. So cute! You can just see the waterfall behind the bridge. I think it took us about 16 1/2 hours to get back home haha. When I asked Kaila if it was worth the drive up there she said yes, because of all the treats she got along the way. Hahaha whatever works right?

99% chance of rain at the ESA

2009-11-13T21:58:00.000-08:00

ESA = Energy Solutions Arena. I love the Jazz and I've always been a one team woman. I don't mess around. But... unfortunately...I've become a fair weather fan ***GASP!***

Yes, every good team looses BUT holy crow the Jazz are below .500...ugh...That has been hard to watch. OK so I guess it's still early in the season but what the heck am I supposed to do this winter if the Jazz keep stinkin it up???

Favorite book #1

2009-11-08T20:52:00.001-08:00

I'm guessing MANY of you have read this, but if not, you should! It is so hard to put down. In my opinion it appeals to many different people. Here is the book description from http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/index.htm:

Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When her sister is chosen by lottery, Katniss steps up to go in her place.

Technically Hunger Games is a Young Adult book but I didn't even think about that fact as I was reading it. The main character, Katniss, is amazing. She is nothing like me even though I'm probably amazing too. I love the story and the messages it puts out there. Hunger Games definitely made me cry. What's scary is this could totally happen in real life! LOVE LOVE LOVE this book!

Flower garden

2009-11-07T10:12:00.000-08:00

I LOVE making these flowers. Most are for my daughter but I also make them as gifts. So much fun!

This is Halloween!

2009-11-02T07:54:00.000-08:00

We LOVE Halloween around our house. We rounded out the trick-or-treating with cookie decorating, pumpkin carving and painting and 4 parties! What a blast. Kaila chose to be Robin from her current favorite show, Teen Titans.

After Talon changed his mind about 5 times he chose Robin too. The only Robin costumes I could find had manly muscular chests and that's where I drew the line! If Kaila had to wear a boy costume AGAIN this year it could not have a man chest. So, I decided to make their costumes myself :)

On Wednesday Talon was able to go to the Halloween story time at the Provo library. The storytellers do an amazing job! It is always packed with moms and kids. Thursday, Talon had his class party at Wiz Kidz. Both of our kids have attended preschool there. We all love it. I missed the costume parade AGAIN this year. Luckily Miss Jill always has her camera handy ;) Later Kaila went to the Jr. Library Kids party for crafts and stories. Finally, Thursday night was our ward Halloween party. The kids always have so much fun running around with their friends and our youth do a great job with the games! Friday morning Kaila had her class party. I volunteered to help out with a craft. Staying true to form, I over-did it. I always think things will be easier than they turn out to be. When will I learn? Luckily we had some extra mom's there to help out.

So... 23 haunted houses later. I was rather burnt out. I took a 24 hour break from Halloween (and skipped party #5, SHHH don't tell the kids!) and picked it up Saturday with cookies!

Kaila has always loved decorating cookies

I was so happy with the weather and how everything turned out for the kids this Halloween. It was perfect!

Here we go...

2009-10-25T22:08:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking of starting a blog for a while now. So why did I finally decide to start one? Well... I'm now the YW Secretary in my ward. I was asked to type up the 2010 lesson schedule and saw my name next to the lesson about keeping journals. YIKES! I am the WORST journal writer EVER. I have started about 20 different journals each lasting about one week. So this is my alternative to keeping a real journal. My goal will be posting at least once a week. Easy right? I guess we will see. My lesson is scheduled for May 2.