I changed a page.

I redid this Scrap page of Livvy with the vampire teeth. I didn't like how the other one looked. I'm not sure if I like this one better or not. Anyway, I've been fixing and organizing my Digi stuff and decided to post this new version. I've got some pages I'm working on, but in a bit of a slump. I've been a little busy lately. :)

Shake Your Undie Butt

Right now I am watching 4 little butts groving to the closing credits of the Chipmunks movie = and one of those booties is 4 years old and in underwear! There's nothing like a little underwear butt running (or dancing) around the house. This evening has been a lot better compared to this morning. We went to Walgreens and got a couple of movies from Redbook. Then got KFC. E and J LOVED the mac and cheese. :)
The beds are now out, a new movie is in and candy is sitting in Tupperware nearby. We are ready for sleeping (not me, I'm ready for them falling asleep and me playing Lego Indian Jones)!!

Bret called this evening. :) I love that guy! Distance sure does make the heart grow fonder. And we've had a lot of distance the past couple of weeks.

I've had some other things happening in my life right now. I feel the winds of change coming my way and usually I'm ok with change. I come from a Military family and kindof came to enjoy the changes in life. But this new change is actually hard for me. I've been on my knees in prayer and tears trying to find peace about this. Don't get me wrong, part of me is excited - it's just hard, that's all.
I also have a busy year in the PTA coming too. I've very excited about the changes in our school! I'm just worried that I won't be what they want/need over there at the PTA. Secretary - that's gonna be a lot of work. It was easy just being a board member.

Well, I really should go and get the kids settled down and ready to sleep. Have a great night everyone!

Swim Lessons

Well, our swim lessons started today. I was nervous and so were the kids. :) But they did well and enjoyed it. I'm not sure about Livvy though. She seemed to have fun. But they made her dunk her head and she didn't enjoy that. I'm curious to see how she does tomorrow when they make her dunk again. I envision a panic filled scenario. She's quite the stubborn little firecracker!

Elizabeth and Elijah and Jake did super! I was most worried about Elijah - but when he got out he walked quickly (because they don't run at the pool) over to me and said, "Mom, can we go home and swim in our pool because I can swim now?!"

Other news around here: Jake does NOT have any contagious disease. I think he must have had an allergic reaction to something (probably being good). He woke up fine - no spots or fever, just a mass amount of naughtiness! Could I trade that back for the spots? :)

Bret is gone until tomorrow. He's been at Scout Camp. I miss him. Could've used him yesterday to talk to. :)
Tonight is "No Daddy Party." The kids LOVE this time watching movies and eating junk. We pull their mattresses out and they sleep in the living room. I will sleep in my own big bed all by myself!
I'm trying to figure out what we'll have for dinner tonight. KFC sounds good!!! With an extra large Mt. Dew on the side. Or to be more sodaly correct - Mt. Dew with KFC on the side. :)

Well, Hugs to all!

Post for Lane!!!

Hello My Sweet Nephew!!
Guess what I have! Cheat Codes for Age of Empires! I'm not sure if they will work for yours, but you can try them and see.

if you press "enter" a little thing pops up and then you type in one of these codes:

woodstock (it will give you extra wood)
pepperoni pizza (will give you extra food)
bigdaddy (look over by your town center - there is something VERY cool) with this thing you have to be careful. when it shoots it'll destroy anything around - even your own people. But it is really fast and cool!

I hope you enjoy these codes. Are you glad to be back home? Did you have fun with Grandma and Grandpa? i wish I could have come and played with you and Paige. Let me know if these codes work for you or not.
I love you!

Green Tea is NOT allowed!!

I am SO embarrassed! I thought that Green Tea was ok for the LDS Word of Wisdom! I found out that I was wrong! I am SOOOOOO sorry if I lead anyone astray. I have stopped the use of Green Tea in my uses of cooking. :(

Ramen Noodles

You all know that I've been using the Sneaky Chef recipes and ideas, right? Well, can I just say again how much I LOVE it! I only have one of her books, she's made more and I think I'm going to save up my money to buy them one at a time. :)
I Sneakified Ramen Noodles. Yep, that's right - Ramen Noodles!!! I always cook the noodles a little "a dente" then when I put the flavor packet in I let it soak for a few minutes. This time I added a green tea bag in with the flavor packet and let it soak in with the flavors. Then I took the tea pouch out and fed the Ramen to the kids. They couldn't taste a thing! I used Roasted Beef flavor, I'm not sure how it tastes with any other flavor.
I also used the green tea in boiling noodles for stroganof the other day. Couldn't taste anything.

On another side note, the kids are still doing great at Judo. Our last class was a real good one. One of the Sensei's asked what Martial Arts Elizabeth has taken before. I was a little confused. But Sensei Sally mentioned that she is doing so well that they thought she must have taken some Martial Arts before. Nope! My girl is just picking it up quickly.
Bret also pinned one of the younger guys there. They were doing a few matches and Bret pinned him. Oh, did I mention that the kids is a BROWN BELT??!!! :)
The boys did a much better job listening this time. They've been doing ok, but last Thurs. class was a little unfocused for them both. Tues.'s class went really well.

Well, I still have 15 posters to make and stuff to return today. I had better get busy! I will probably not be back on the computer at all at least until Tuesday. Have a great weekend and send out a little prayer for me. I'm SO nervous and hoping that all goes well at Camp. :)
HUGS!!!

Countdown!

Camp is coming! This Friday I leave to spend 4 glorious days away from my kids and hubby. I know - pathetic! Girls Camp is glorious?! Well, let me put it this way:
1. I get to sleep in. 7am is a lot better than 6am.
2. I don't have 4+ kids calling for me.
3. I don't have to cook AT ALL!
4. I get a bed all to myself.
5. No cleaning house.
6. Spiritual High!!!

That's all I can think of. PLEASE, Please don't point out the negatives! I am trying to pump myself up for this weekend.

Well, I had better get back to my pot. LOL! I'm making 200 some odd pots for camp. But I might need some REAL pot when this is all done! :)

The Much Anticipated Judo Photos!

Drum roll please......
here are the photos I've been promising everyone. If you click on the pictures, it will take you to the actual slidshow website. I've got captions for the pictures explaining them. Go check it out!

The kids did really good with Judo on Thursday! I was so proud of them and Bret! It was a great evening.

On another side note, I got quite the impressive phone call last week. I was invited by the school district to sit on a board to interview and pick a new principal for our school. I think it's only cause I'm one of 4 or so involved parents. :)
We did the interviewing today and I had a really great experience doing it. It was amazing to be a part of it. I'm grateful. And you know, I started being more active at school just thinking it would be me doing simple things at the school. But WOW, can you get more involved than choosing your new principal?! I really do feel lucky and blessed that they asked me.
And I'm not allowed to say anything specific about what went on during that meeting so don't even bother asking! (I'm talking to you Melissa and Jeffrey! Heather you were there, so you know.)
I really have had a full day today. I'm quite reflective and would really love to share my feelings with you, but I don't want to bore you with all that "stuff" and I'm not sure my thoughts are very clear right now. I'm a little tired. But since it is my blog and you wouldn't be here reading now if you didn't want to hear about me then I will touch briefly on my thoughts.

I have had an amazing experience with being more active in the school. Yeah, I've been asked to be more active than I imagined I would be, but to me it's been the little things that have touched me. Simple things like walking into the school and having Jane at the front desk file out my visitor sticker with my name and not having to ask me who I am. Or having the students in my children's classes (or even other classes) smile and wave at me in the pick up line, "Hi, Mrs. Little." I like not being "Jacob's Mom" or Elizabeth's or Elijah's - I'm simply Mrs. Little and that is a good thing. It's comforting to know that when my kid pukes in the hallway (several times) that the janitor really doesn't mind cleaning it up because he knows me. And I really like having my thoughts and ideas about my childrens' schooling count for something and they are valid and listened to! Or having teachers/staff know that I'm willing to do what I can to help them so they are more willing to do what they can to help me as a parent. And honestly, I also like being something other than "Mom" and "Wife." I like being important to someone who doesn't have the last name "Little." I know these things are simple and silly, but that's what I am - simple and silly (more specifically "dorky"). Which actually leads me to my next set of thoughts....

I've been mulling this one over for a while now, and it has taken me this long - I have decided to embrace my dork!
I've always know that I was a Dork. I've tried to hid it in my youth and glorify it in my not so youth. But now I want to embrace it! I've realized that we try so hard to be pretty, or perfect, or some outrageous version of who we really are and its such a difficult struggle. We put so much energy and time into trying to be special. But do you know what really makes someone special (in my opinion)? Being normal and not perfect. I love so many people in my life because of their faults as well as their strengths. When someone truly sees who they are and enjoys (not just loves) themselves regardless, THAT is special!!! I'm so tired of people trying to stand out as the most creative person, or the spiritual giant, or even as the most brutally honest person (that one chick's blog I mentioned before). It's a bit of a slap in the face when I come across those people. As if I'm just not good enough to breath the same air.
I can honestly say that I know how to do some pretty fun things. I've been blessed to be in positions to teach others those things. But I also know completely that I'm not skilled at those things!! I'm ok with that! :)
Now, if you are creative, spiritual, or honest; please don't assume that I'm bashing on you. I'm not - I value your talents. I wish I had them sometimes. :) But understand that those talentS make up a small part of who you are. Don't let yourself (any of us) get caught up in being perfect because you think that it defines who you are! DigiScrapping, Coupons, or helping in school doesn't define who you are! More specifically and personally, it doesn't define who I am. I am also a goofy, clutsy, big hearted woman. I am more concerned about how others are feeling than myself. I like Mt. Dew and chocolate and books. I love piano music and my imagination. I am so grateful for God and who he has made me. My family is amazing and I will take a little credit for that - I make dang cute kids! :) And you know what, I have a great sense of humor!!! Sometimes I go a little overboard, mostly cause I get nervous - but that all plays into the dorkiness which I am now embracing. :)

Well, those are some pretty deep thoughts. I'm sure it didn't make one bit of sense. At least I know that my Mommy will understand. She has always understood me. :)

And that's it for tonight! I'm done.
Hugs!

Thump Thump BOOM

This is the sound at my house; and probably will be going on for quite a while. Guess what the kids started last night. No, not the drums - that would be my worst nightmare and something I would have a hard time supporting.
The real answer is....
Judo!
The sound, "thump, thump, boom" is the sound of them practicing their falls upstairs in the family room.

They LOVE it!!! I sent 3 nervous kids out the door with Bret and had 3 excited and rambunxious (I don't believe in spellcheck, by the way) kids rush back in the door 2 hours later. Yep, I think this might actually be something my kids will really get into. And we found a really AMAZING place to teach them. I hate those strip mall little Karate places. You walk in and come out missing and arm and a leg. Plus, you don't get to actually watch your child during the lessons. I'm not even going to go into the large class sizes and the extreme competetive learning. Although, if the only time you got to see your kiddo performing Karate is at tournaments, then I guess I'd be pushing for all the tournys I could get. I mean honestly, I'd like to actually see my "arm and leg" being put to good use.
So anyway, this place is laid-back and family oriented. They let you sit there and watch your sweetkins. In fact, Bret is going to take the class with them. :) It seems to be something really GREAT! Livvy is too small, but she is excited for when she is big enough to take classes.
At this very moment she is talking to me about Party Bear (one of her stuffed animals) and if he can take Judo classes too. I told her that animals don't go to Judo class. She responded, "I have a good idea, they could go to Animal Judo. You know, it's right here at our house."
I laughed and replied, "Yes, and you can be their teacher."
She liked that idea.

So as of right now I have a Judo Cutie, 2 Judo Punks, a Judo Wannabe, and a Judo Party Bear with others soon to join the Animal Judo class. Purply (a bunny) has shown some interest. :)

Yep, another one!

It's been a while...

since I did an actual DigiPage! I've been so busy making up the PowerPoint stuff for our class that I burned myself out of Scrapping. Until tonight. :) So here is one of Livvy.