Flashback Friday

Crazy Ains, 2 years ago. The time flies so fast!!! My cute fairy now wants to be spooky. I will miss the cute days...

These boots are made for walking

We got such a kick out of this, I had to post it. Brandon even put those pajamas on as part of his costume. hee hee. He'll hate me when he's older.


Since I embarassed him, I'll also post the poem he wrote this morning for Halloween.

SKELETONS DANCE AT MIDNIGHT by Brandon Sims

One day at midnight the skeletons went Boo.
But nobody heard them because they danced. Who?
The wind blew, their bones started to rattle,
Rattle while the were dancing.
Laughing whle the old skeleton fiddler
began to play his evil tune.

HELP ME!!!!!!

Seriously. I am a dork. Today I was roasting pumpkin seeds. forgot. Went to Mervyns, school, etc. 2 Hours of pumpkin seeds in the broiler is NOT a good thing. My house REEEEEEEEEKS!
I have already used 3 bottles of Febreeze.

Any ideas?

Going to the ASU game

It was a busy weekend. I had another scout camp. I've already talked enough about scouts, so all I will say is "Camporee" is one of the worst words in the English language. Whitney and I went to the Arizona State football game after the block party. The first thing I realized at the ASU game is "Toto, we're not in Kansas (Provo) anymore." The students clog all of the parking lots and there are literally hundreds of empty beer cans littering the ground. That's a little different than at BYU, where you can't even buy caffeinated beverages.

One student had a t-shirt that said "We Pre-Game Harder than You Party" Oh, you don't say? It's amazing how much alcohol is consumed at those games. I had to do a double take to make sure I wasn't at a University of Utah game. We also noticed that a lot of students go to the games to tailgate and party, and a great many of them never actually make it to the game. They just stay outside in the parking lots drinking, smoking, dancing, and partying. The tops are low cut and the skirts are short, and there is no way my daughters will be attending ASU. What did I expect from a school whose mascot is the Devil?

Once we got into the game, I started to see why they drink so much. The ASU football team is garbage. After all, this is a team that lost to UNLV at home...something not even BYU managed to do. The stadium is bigger than at BYU, but is old and rickety. You always have this strange feeling that you'll fall through the wooden flooring that holds you up. The crowd is good too, but not overly loud. Most of them wear gold, and it has a pretty stunning effect.

We did end up leaving the game early because 1) Alexa was with us (even though she was an angel) and 2) I kind of felt sad watching Oregon abuse ASU. We weren't alone. Apparently at half time, it is a tradition for the fans to leave the stadium, go to the local bars and drink some more, then come back to the game. The way that game was going, they were probably better off just staying in the bars.

We snuck into a pay parking lot for free, because we were a bit late, and it was a bit of a walk from the stadium, so after we left, we rented a ricksaw to take us back to the car. A happy-go-lucky granola boy was pedaling away. He had that odor that said "I haven't showered today...or yesterday either, for that matter" and the scenery we got to see was his boxers protruding from his pants. Someone get that man a pair of bike shorts, please. It was totally worth the ten bucks, though, and Alexa loved the ride.

It was an eye opening experience, albeit a little different than what I was used to at BYU games. Oh, and ASU lost 54-20.

Block Party

 

Whew! After permits, blockades, extra trash recepticals,flyers, food and games, our block party is finally over! We had such a great time. It literally lasted from 12 noon till the wee hours of the night. We left at 6:30, but noticed much partying going on past 9:30 when we got home. Fun times!!!

Our family was in charge of the pie eating contest, as you can see in the pics. We also had a pinata, bounce house, cake walk, and other fun games. Did I mention TONS of food?????

It was a success! We're grateful for a terrific neighborhood!!!

Twilight

I am Alice
Most of you probably knew that, because I can't stand Bella. Well, not HER, but her romantic and helpless annoyances. She's the reason I hated the boks. So I took the test, anyway. Glad to see I was Alice.

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Flashback Friday

Just another couple of great shots of me on Halloween.


Me and Talia. With the VERY becoming haircuts I used to have, I got to play the boy on various occasions.

Me and Shana stuffing our faces. :) LOVE the makeup. I'm supposed to be a pumpkin. Once again, GREAT wallpaper.

6 months old!

Today I took Alexa in to get a few pictures taken in her Halloween costume. But they said it would take 3 weeks! So, I am throwing these in for the day. She's a butterfly, if you can't tell. :)

Alexa is 6 months old now! I am totally shocked!!!! She is such a joy to have in our family. Happy half birthday, nene!

Alexa's first trip to the zoo

 
Thursday we went to the zoo. My kids can never get enought of the Phoenix zoo. As long as it isn't summer. When we first moved here, we bought a season pass and went almost every week. We never renewed, so they have been begging for our business again. We got 2 free passes to zoo lights and 2 to the stingray exhibit, plus $5 off. That makes it WAY cheaper than us going twice!

Brandon and Ainsley wanted to feed the ducks their sandwiches the entire time. And beg for snow cones, which Alexa loved.

We were so glad to have Ryan home all week! I wish we had fall break more often!

Happy Birthday, Whitney!!!

Happy 35th Birthday, Whitney! Look how far you have come from your first birthday until now. You hardly ever get cake in your hair anymore. We are so lucky to have such a great wife and mom in our home. We all hope you have the best birthday ever! We love you! Dad, Ainsley, Brandon, and Alexa.

If you know Ainsley these pics will SHOCK you!

If you know Ainsley these pics will SHOCK you!
Ever since Ainsley was a baby, she has been terrified of dogs! TERRIFIED doesn't even describe it enough. She won't go to birthday parties if there is a dog there. She won't go to relatives houses with animals. One of her best friends has 2 dogs, Dixie and Charlie. She hasn't been in their house ever with the dogs there. So, Zini has always played at our house.
Mona (Z's mom) is persistant, though. She always asks Ainsley to come over, or to sleep over. It payed off! All of a sudden Ainsley is in love with these dogs! She even slept over last night.
We are grateful to Mona! Look at her!

Flashback Friday

My little cookie monster on his first Halloween!

The same year (2003) Ainsley was like 5 different things. This is Alice in Wonderland. However, when we went trick or treating that night, she refused to dress up at all. When we went door-to-door, she asked every person if they would give her candy even though she wasn't dressed up. Never a shy one!

I've Been Tagged!!!!!

Jill just tagged me. hmmmmm. Who's next????

Four jobs I have had:
1. Taco Bell. yum.
2. Secretary (uniform co., law firm, printing center and OC Tanner)
3. Preschool Teacher
4. Piano Teacher (current)

Four movies I have watched more than once:
1. Meet the Parents
2. Music and Lyrics
3. Napolean Dynamite
4. The Office (I know it's not a movie, but I own all the DVD's and watch them all the time)

Four places I have lived:
1. CA (Bel-Air, Agoura)
2. Recife, Brazil
3. Salt Lake City, UT
4. Gilbert, AZ

Four TV show I watch:
1. The Office
2. Survivor
3. Desperate Housewives (am I bad?)
4. Amazing Race

Four places I have been:
1. Hawaii
2. Brazil
3. Caribbean
4. Mexico

Four Celebrity's you have met:
1. David Charvet (went to school with him)
2. Gary Coleman (he bought me a Sprite)
3. Charlie Sheen (at Ralphs in Agoura)
4. Sean Astin (his brother was in my 2nd grade class)

Four of my favorite foods:
1. mexican food
2. Chocolate Chip Cookies
3. salmon
4. homemade bread

Four places I would like to visit:
1. New York
2. Rome
3. Greece
4. Scotland

Four things I am looking forward to in the coming year:
1. My husbands bank turning profitable (fingers crossed)
2. Getting in Shape!
3. Ainsley getting Baptized
4. No more nursing!!! yay!

Four friends I am tagging:
1. Mona
2. Meredith
3. Casey M.
4. Tiffany

giggles!

Since I am on the Alexa video kick, I thought I would throw this one in from this afternoon.

yucky bananas!!!!

Sunday boredom

Ainsley has some CRAZY idea that Sunday we are supposed to totally entertain her completely. Nobody else gets any attention. Naps are not on her approved list of things to do. Whatever. She doesn't rule this roost (currently Alexa does!)

BUT, I did tell her I would make some hair accessories with her to appease her craving for attention. Here is the bounty we ended up with.


She's sporting one of the headbands she made for Alexa, too.




And here is Alexa with one of the MONGO flower headbands. Her head is so small it looks especially weird. I can assure you this will not make it out in public. Ryan did suggest she could wear it as a potted plant on Halloween!

Flashback Friday

I told you I loved this month of Fridays!!!
Ryan's mom always made them really cute Halloween outfits. I thought that not only was this darling, but he looks a lot like Brandon.
ahhhh. So cute.

Packages!!!!

I haven't been posting a lot lately. We've been so busy, but not with anything in specific. And, to be truthful, things have been kind of depressing around here. They had lay-offs at Ryan's work, so he's been in a mood. Lukckily, he's okay, but a few good friends aren't. It really gives me a sad heart.

SOOOO, I thought I had better post something a little uplifting. It's definitely needed. Just in time, came a package from Grandma Joy!! I LOVE packages. Any kind is good (amazon or ebay included!), but ones from people who love you are even better!

The kids were absolutely thrilled. They received tons of goodies, including mini-pumpkins and gourds from their garden. That was the biggest hit. They have spent all night coloring on them.

Hopefully this is the beginning of a happier autumn...It's always been my favorite season!

Flashback Friday

Oh, I am loving this flashback Friday month already.
This is like the only halloween we had costumes. Usually my mom let us fend for ourselves. My dad was a junior high teacher and would often bring home confiscated items. For like 3 years in a row my sister and I would wear roach clips in our hair. They had feathers on them and we thought we were Indians.

What I love about this picture is my sister's "prncess" costume. Remember how cheesy the bought costumes back then were? Man! That is bad!
Joe's mustache is classic, too.

And BY THE WAY, I think I would love some wallpaper like that in my house!!!!!!!

I can't wait to show more cotumes next week....

Another Scout Camp...ugggghhh

It has taken the leaders a few months to recover from our last scout camp, but we couldn't put the boys off forever, so Saturday was another adventure. In the spirit of letting the boys be more responsible, we let them plan it. They insisted on mountain biking at Four Peaks. Since none of the leaders had a clue where that was, we let them decide where we were camping. Right HERE! they insisted, a few miles up the dirt road. Where they chose was the intersection where every car, truck, quad, and motorcycle passed by ALL NIGHT LONG! (It didn't matter much, because I've long since given up trying to actually get any sleep on campouts.)

There was a really fun loving group camped next to us who boosted their bass bumping music until 4 am. It was the first time in years that I've actually heard Vanilla Ice...Ice Ice Baby...Nice!

Of course when you take that many scouts biking in Arizona, someone is going to crash into a cactus. Sure enough, one of our scouts couldn't quite seem to keep his bike on the two-lane wide dirt road and ended up in the prickly pears with about a 2 inch cactus thorn in his thumb. It took two leaders to hold him still (my job was to pin his arm against the trailer and keep his thumb still) while a third leader pulled the thorn out with a pair of pliers. The tweezers were no match for that thorn. You would have thought we tore his whole thumb off judging by how bad he screamed, danced, jumped around, etc. (Some of our scouts are such babies.)

Now for my biking experience. First, it's been YEARS since I went mountain biking. My brain still knows how to go as fast as when I was racing in High School. My body knows how to rebel against the wishes of my brain in a big way. It was a bit uncomfortable when my muffin top belly kept getting in the way while I was pedaling. That didn't used to happen. I can still out-ride a 12-year-old but it's not a gimme. I was hammering up one little hill (after about 1/4 mile) and darn near passed out. Luckily, I broke a piece on my bike, so I had an excuse to limp back to camp and sit there before anyone saw me throw up. Gotta love the scouting program!