Giving up!

Last night we had 2 other couples over at our house for game night. It was a lot of fun! It was very last minute and I didn't have any food in my house... what did I put out for food and snacks? Mini corn dogs!!!!! I LOVE THEM! I like them more than my kids do. I think I buy them secretly for me. I'm hoping they don't finish them so that I can eat the rest! The food was ghetto but it was fun nonetheless!
The first game we played was the Newlywed Game DVD version. It was so funny!!! I swear most of those questions are designed to get the men in trouble. One of the questions was "Men, would you say your wife last gave up, or tried tried again?"
When this question was read on the screen Kel and I cracked up laughing. Earlier in the day I was in a bad mood. Actually I wouldn't even say I was in a bad mood, I'd say that everyone around me was annoying the hell out of me and putting me into a mood that I didn't want to be in! I didn't feel very good and I just wanted to lay on the couch and veg out. Kel was on the internet (BIG SURPRISE - he is on the computer about 90% of the time), and Liam and Arie were just standing on the floor staring right in my face and whining while I was trying to just chill out! I ignored them for quite some time but the whining and hands all over my face was getting to be more than I could bear. I picked both of them up, plopped them on the floor in their toy room (full of the toys we have bought for them so that they can entertain themselves), and then I walked back to the couch and continued to watch E!News (the only real news). About 90 seconds later they were both back in my face staring at me like I was their private entertainment staff! They were putting their feet all over me wiping their snotty hands on me, yelling and whining demands at me... all while Kel is still on the computer about 4 feet away. I knew Arie wanted something to drink so I threw the blanket I was using on the floor and began stomping towards the kitchen, Arie following closely behind whining the whole way. I got into the kitchen and I yelled "I QUIT! I'm not doing any of this anymore! I just want to do nothing!" I thought to myself I'll just get Arie's milk and then I'll really quit. But then I decided that was too nice of me. I turned around and looked at my snot nosed baby girl and yelled "I'm not even goin to do that!"
I walked into the living room and slammed my butt on the couch cushions and proudly anounced "I'm not doing anything anymore! I'm not doing any laundry! I'm not entertaining anyone! I'm not feeding anyone!! I'm not responsible for anything anymore! I QUIT! I GIVE UP!!!!!!!"
I was serious and determined to no longer be the one responsible for all. I looked over at Kel to make sure he knew how serious I was, and to make sure it was sinking in how much he was to do now. But he was just staring at the computer screen smiling. He wasn't smiling at anything on the computer, he was laughing at me! HOW DARE HE LAUGH AT ME?!? Didn't he know how important my display of power was? Didn't he understand that I really was never going to do anything ever again?
Kel got up and got Arie some milk and then took Liam into the toy room. He came back to the living room and laughed at me again.
I'm sorry to report that my moments of doing nothing didn't last very long. But one of these days .....

Feel like crying?????

My mom sent me an email earlier today that made me laugh so hard I was crying as I was reading it. This story is very similar to many experiences with my little Liam. All of you parents will get a kick out of this. It is classic!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A 3-year-old tells all from his mother's restroom stall.
By Shannon Popkin

My little guy, Cade, is quite a talker. He loves to communicate and does it quite well. He talks to people constantly, whether we're in the library, the grocery store, or at a drive-thru window. People often comment on how clearly he speaks for a just-turned-3-year-old, and you never have to ask him to turn up the volume. It's always fully cranked. There've been several embarrassing times that I've wished the meaning of his words would have been masked by a not-so-audible voice, but never have I wished this more than last week at Costco.

Halfway through our shopping trip, nature called, so I took Cade with me into the restroom. If you'd been one of the ladies in the restroom that evening, this is what you would have heard coming from the second~to~the~last stall:

"Mommy, are you gonna go potty? Oh! Why are you putting toi wet pa per on the potty, Mommy? Oh! You gonna sit down on DA toiwet paper now? Mommy, what are you doing? Mommy, are you gonna go stinkies on the potty?"

At this point, I started mentally counting how many women had been in the bathroom when I walked in. Several stalls were full ... 4? 5? Maybe we could wait until they all left, before I had to make my debut out of this stall and reveal my identity. Cade continued, "Mommy, you ARE going stinkies, aren't you? Oh, dats a good girl, Mommy! Are you gonna get some candy for going stinkies on the potty? Let me see doze stinkies, Mommy! Oh .. Mommy! I'm trying to see in dere. Oh! I see dem. Dat is a very good girl, Mommy. You are gonna get some candy!"

I heard a few faint chuckles coming from the stalls on either side of me. Where is a screaming newborn when you need her? Good grief. This was really getting embarrassing. I was definitely waiting a long time before exiting.

Trying to divert him, I said, "Why don't you look in Mommy's purse and see if you can find some candy. We'll both have some!" "No, I'm trying to see doze more stinkies. Oh! Mommy!" He started to gag at this point. "Uh oh, Mommy. I fink I'm gonna frow up. Mommy, doze stinkies are making me frow up!! Dat is so gross!!" As the gags became louder, so did the chuckles outside my stall. I quickly flushed the toilet, in hopes of changing the subject. I began to reason with myself: "OK. There are four other toilets. If I count four flushes, I can be reasonably assured that those who overheard this embarrassing monologue will be long gone."

"Mommy! Would you get off the potty, now? I want you to be done going stinkies! Get up! Get up!" He grunted as he tried to pull me off.

Now I could hear full-blown laughter. I bent down to count the feet outside my door. "Oh, are you wooking under dere, Mommy? You wooking under DA door? What were you wooking at, Mommy? You wooking at the wady's feet?" More laughter. I stood insid e the locked door and tried to assess the situation. "Mommy, it's time to wash our hands, now. We have to go out now, Mommy." He started pounding on the door. "Mommy, don't you want to wash your hands? I want to go out!!" I saw that my "wait 'em out" plan was unraveling.

I sheepishly opened the door, and found, standing outside my stall, twenty to thirty ladies crowded around the stall, all smiling and starting to applaud. My first thought was complete embarrassment, then I thought, "Where's the fine print on the 'motherhood contract', where I signed away every bit of my dignity and privacy?"

But as my little boy gave me a big, cheeky grin, while he rubbed bubbly soap between his chubby little hands, I thought, "I'd sign it all away again, just to be known as Mommy to this little fellow."

how little minds work

Yesterday morning 10 am rolled around and Liam had still not woken up. He came in our room around 4:30 and asked to sleep on the floor (that is his new thing, so now we have a permanent "bed" on the floor for him). At 10 I decided to peak into our room and see if there was any movement. I saw Liam on our bed, under the blanket. I went in there and I saw that his eyes were open. I asked if I could lay down next to him and he said yeah. I snuggled up next to him and he looked up at me and said in a quiet little voice, "Mom, my stomach hates me!"
I asked him if his stomach hurt and he said yes, and then 30 seconds later he threw up! Luckily he only threw up twice that morning, he fell asleep soon after and woke up fine.
I just thought that was a realy funny way to describe how his stomach felt! He has the most creative and outlandish ways of saying things sometimes!

You will be missed . . .

I am going to miss President Hinckley so much. The news of his death really came out of now where. Sure we all knew that he was an old man, but his energy seemed never ending. I never had the opportunity to meet him face to face, but just watching him twice a year in General Conference was such a treat. His warmth and love for everyone was so obvious. I always feel inspired when I see the different General Authorities speak, and I know they are great men, and I know they are called of God. President Hinckley had something different about him. Just one look at his sweet face and you had no doubts about how great and important he was. He truly loved the Lord, and he truly loved not only the people of the church, but he loved all the people of the world.
Most of our parents remember President McKay as "their" prophet. I will remember President Hinckley as mine. All of the prophets thus far have been wonderful men. But President Hinckley was the Prophet in my life when I definitely needed some guidance. I never met with him in is office, or spoke with him face to face; but his words gave me so much strength and continue to strengthen me always.
While I am sad that he is gone, I've also been thinking about what it must be like in Heaven right now. What a homecoming he must have received. I can't imagine the joy that he and everyone there must have felt to have such a magnificent Child of God return home again.

annoyed

ok I just got done posting about our Sapporo trip and now I just have to say something about this.
I;ve been watching the reality show about the Miss America pageant and I just have to say - WHAT IN THE WORLD IS WRONG WITH MISS UTAH???????? She is a beautiful girl but she is possible the most annoying person I've ever seen. At first I though no one could be more annoying than Miss Alaska, but Miss Utah takes the cake. In fact she makes me want to take the cake from her and smash it all over her face!

Snow to Sun!

We had to opportunity to go Sapporo Japan about a week ago. Kel had some time off so we loaded up the kids and took off for some fun in the SNOW!!!!!!! We left on a Tuesday morning and returned on Thursday night. Just a quick trip. Sadly Kel and I didn't get to hit the slopes :( but we did have a lot of fun watching Liam and Arie discover snow. Let me just say that it was COLD COLD COLD!!!!!!!!! We didn't have any cold weather clothes here (it is about 85 degrees year round) so we had to go to Ross and hope that we would get lucky, and we borrowed from many of neighbors who happened to have cold weather gear here. Thanks guys!!!!!!
Every year in Sapporo they have a world famous Snow Festival. Sadly we weren't there for that HAHA!!! But we were there while they were setting up. I suggest you get on the internet and look at some pictures so you can see how truly amazing the sculptures are. Being there for the set up was cool. Next year we will plan ahead a little bit better and hopefully be there for the real thing. Actually a lack of planning is my favorite thing about living here. I don't think we have planned a single trip an earlier than 12 hours before leaving! On-the-go is the name of the game here!!!
Anyway - I hope you enjoy pics of our crazy family!!!

Liam before we boarded our flight!!!!!

Liam and Dadddy on the train


Arie fell asleep - BIG surprise

Liam and me in front of the beginnings of a snow sculpture!

Liam and Arie taking a break from the cold in the department store toy section! I think Kelly like this section more than they did though. This store was amazing! 10 floors of gadgets really. There were 4 isles of toilet seats!!!!!!! Amazing toilet seats - they seriously were impressive!

Arie in front of the mini arcade games - these were CRAZY!!!!
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sweet girl - sweet mittens

Liam and Daddy checkin out the super fat pigeons

Liam and Arie sledding in the park - they had so much fun doing this. Liam had one face plant that upset him. Arie laughed the enitre time she was on the sled - it was AWESOME!!!!!!!!

Liam told us several times when we were on the plane that he wanted to make a Frosty the snow guy. The last night we were there it was so cold I was kind of hopng that he forgot about Frosty. Suddenly he yelled out Frosty! and we saw that someone had already made a snowman in the park! Liam was so excited he ran up to it and started telling Frosty all about our trip. It was really cute! Years from now we will tell him that we made the snowman HAHAHAHAHA

Boys having fun in the snow!

Liam at the food market - he loves fish - dead or alive!

we were soon back to our home island. This is a picture from our hike at Gun beach - one of our favs!

Liam our professional hiker!

Jet also enjoys the beach.

And this makes 3!

This is my third post for the day - but you'll be glad to know it doesn't include any pictures!!!! :)
Today I'm sad. My little sister and best friend has recently left for Costa Rica for a semester of study abroad. I'm so excited for her new adventure, but I'm sad because we can't talk on the phone!!!! Jill and I used to talk on the phone about 3 times a day. That may seem crazy, and maybe it is. Our conversations weren't always meaningful and important, infact they were usually about nothing! Most of the time we made fun of each other, made fun of our mom, made fum of Zach and made fun of each other again. Don't worry it is all in good fun - well some times we really meant the things we said HA!
I'm not sad that she is there - I'm really excited for her and I'm proud of her for being so brave. I hope her Spanish improves to the level she is working toward and I hope she makes life long friends. I hope she experiences every aspect of the country and its people and learns to love her brothers and sisters in that part of the world.
I love Jill because she is always up for an adventure! She isn't afraid to get out of her comfort zone and really challenge herself. She is close to her family but not emotionally dependent on them. I feel sorry for poeple who don't take advantage of everything in this life and in this amazing world that was created for us to explore. Jill is brave and she is some one I look up to.
I hope she gets out of her trip everything she was looking for. But mostly.....
I HOPE SHE GETS A PHONE CARD WITH TONS OF MINUTES OF IT!!!!! I NEED SOMEONE TO MAKE FUN OF ME TODAY! Love ya Peeschy!

Please forgive me....

I'm normally not huge poster of pictures but I'm also not very good at sending pictures to family memebers or friends... so forgive me while I put up more pictures of our family.

Yes I did these pigtails...I'm so impressed with myself!


New Year's eve just before we went to the neighbor's


Liam and Arie's play date


WHAT A FACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Arie likes all of Liam's toys!


Silly girl


What a sweet baby! But man I look ROUGH!!!!!!


I love you Dad!!!!


I told Liam to sit next to Arie - he sat right in front of her! typical!


LOOK he's huge!


This picture isn't clear but you still see her HUGE gap!!! HAHA Thanks Skeeter!

Christmas 2007

Ok - so I realize that it is the middle of January already... but I either post them now or I post them never.

So please enjoy our Christmas morning picks. And hopefully I can figure out how to post this video too.

after we opened our present

Liam inspecting breakfast with one of his favorite toys!

We knight you Sir Liam

Kelly with his favorite toy (mine too:))

Tagged by Jenni!!!!!

these aren't just from 2007 - they are my life up until now ( I didn't read the directions!)
GREATEST MEMORY - hmmmm laying under a thousand stars at Lake Powell with my cousins, and fishing with my Grandpa when I was five - I felt bad about hooking worms so he let me use canned corn!
GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT - pushing out two babies! I know all women do it but I'm still impressed with myself.
GREATEST HEARTACHE - watching my Dad's mind deteriorate
GREATEST EPIPHANY - realizing that parents aren't perfect, and just because you grow up and get married and become an adult that doesn't mean life is easier, there is still temptation and hardship, and you still don't feel any smarter.
GREATEST YOUTUBE VID - I don't watch a lot of youtube - but that laughing redhead baby was pretty funny.
GREATEST MOVIE - WOW how in the world can I pick just one???!! I guess I'll go with Schindler's List. But Brad Pitt looks AMAZING in Troy!!!! YUM YUM YUM
GREATEST RECORDS - anything by Joni Mitchell, I also love anything by John Mayer, all time fav is Sade though - any album
GREATEST CONCERT - Hopefully I'll be posting the video soon... best ever concert is when Kelly rocks out on ROCKBAND and Liam dances along! SO FUNNY FOR SOOOOOO MANY REASONS!!!!!!!
GREATEST MOMENT OF IMMATURITY - I have a lot of these... I once kicked the windshield in my Mom's car because my Dad was laughing at me, then he laughed harder and I punched him! Who acts like that???!!!
GREATEST AREA OF GROWTH - I still have a very long way to go, but having kids has made me more patient and selfless, again I still have a LONG way to go.
GREATEST MOMENT - the first time Kel met Liam, when Kel proposed, when Liam clapped after we came out of the temple, watching Liam enter the sealing room in all white when we were all sealed, the first time Arie and Liam really played together, the day Liam became an official MONSON... I'm sure there are MANY more to come!
UPDATE: I am tagging the following individuals to post their answers to the above Greatest of 2007. Cut + paste, folks.
I will be reading everyone that Jenni tagged so hopefully everyone did it!