Your daily dose of laughter coming right up...

This was in an email sent to me...I thought it was too funny not to share. A little humor can go a long way in these "tough" times. I got an extra kick out of it since I remember watching Steve Urkel and loving Family Matters - you too?

Humor is at it's best when combined with the truth! The following link is to a video that is VERY funny and WELL worth watching. It is a Conan interview with a comedian titled "Everything's amazing, nobody's happy". Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoGYx35ypus

A Barnyard Moosical

Tyler had his first grade music program this past week for school and was the cutest grey goat there ever was. The program was very well done and a lot of fun. He did his speaking part perfectly...but HE was most impressed that the microphone was cordless!

The little goat at the end of the show - missing front tooth and all! Way to go Ty.

A True Act of Love

Our kids recieved the truest display of love and affection from us for Valentines Day this year...we took then to spend the afternoon at Bullwinkles Family Fun Center. It is one of Bart's least favorite places to go with the boys - and it was even his idea...a father that TRULY loves his kids! So along with every other person who loves crowds and wasting unlimited amounts of money on tokens and games, we spent the day playing mini golf, climbing through kidopolis and putting endless tokens in arcades hoping to win more junk! But we did it TOGETHER! And the boys loved it. Even if we left with half of them crying from being over-tired, crashed from their sugar high and wanting to play "just one more time". After 8 years of parenting we don't let that kind of ending get us down! Smiles or not at the end - it was a Happy Valentines Day!The greatest part of Valentines Day was the evening when we got our babysitter and Bart and I enjoyed our night out - alone. I'm not hard to please, and usually far too practical for elaborate plans or gifts, but Bart suprised me by having my wedding ring reset in a beautiful new band - What a guy!

I truly love all my guys - on Valentines Day and every other!

Girls Night

I have gotten way behind with blogging...but I couldn't let our couple of pictures to document the latest girls night go without being posted (Your welcome Haley..."zittleton" doesn't even show up!) My little sister Haley came to town to visit over Valentine's Day weekend, so "my girls" (mom and sisters) had a little date night of our own on Friday night. With us, the fun always (or sadly) revolves around eating. Dinner at the old, beloved Changs Mongolian Grill (we actually had a 20 minute wait - do you believe it! It was definitely the night to be out with all of America's finest citizens in Milwaukee, Oregon, I guess.) We took too long at dinner, so we skipped the movie at the theater, rented a chic flick, stopped by Papa Hyden's for a "sampling" of dessert take-out (ok, so we got like 5 or 6...we couldn't decide) and went back to my mom's to stuff our faces and hang out until the wee hours of the morning. It was a very lovely beginning to a Valentines weekend. Love you girls!

A Room for Champions

Most of you probably don't know that I like to pretend I'm an artist and do a little painting now and again. But some do and have been asking when I was going to get around to posting pictures of my newest project. Especially since I have had a side bar list of "Things I Love" on my blog for the past year and a half with the statement "-painting murals, newest one coming soon". Not too "soon", but better late than never. This hasn't been my only project, but it is the most recent. With limited space and a new baby boy due in a short while, we have been switching around sleeping arrangements. Our playroom now has more purpose (as it is Cade and Ty's bedroom as well) and it also got this football stadium face-lift to make the transition all the more fun. The room already had different blocked out areas, so this back block became the beds/desk space. The desk cabinet is made of 2 throw-out filing cabinets that I spraypainted and the desk top is a solid core door turned on it's side. Bart secured it all together and bracketed it to the wall, I threw in a couple IKEA chairs and lamps - and Wha...la!

A view of each of their "sides" - I'm sure I'll walk in some day to see a chalk line down the middle of the room where each other is not allowed to cross!

Close-up of the crowd (yes, it took a while. Especially since I only get a chance to work on it an hour or two at time.) The black areas of the scoreboard are chalkboard paint, so the boys can easily change it when they like.

There's still an area for the "upstairs toys", a long hall way perfect for practicting jump shots and field goals, and their new make-shift closet area thats awaiting some finishing touches.

Well, the crowd painted on the wall may be cheering, but what do you think? Really, it was a lot of fun to do and the boys think it's great - so, I guess that makes it a score for the home team!

Here's a few quick shots (might I add, very unprofessional shots - I'm more of a painter than a photographer, that's for sure) of the "locker room"(bathroom) that I did a long time ago.




As you can see, it's still not finished. Poor Cole, his locker is going to be soccer gear. I guess it's a good thing after all since I have to figure out how I'm going to add a 5th locker now anyways!

I promise these are the only rooms in my house done in sports! But when you have a house full of boys, it just works.

Everyone Needs a Get-A-Way

It's true - It really doesn't matter when or where, sometimes you just need a Get-A-Way. And for Bart and I this past weekend, our old stomping grounds of college years in Provo, Utah did the trick. While far from exotic or original, we had a wonderful time visiting family, old friends and fond, familiar memories. With our 10 year anniversary just a couple of months away - and Provo being the place that Bart and I started this wild ride togheter - it seemed all the more fitting. It always takes a little juggling to leave the kids, but with Bart's truly wonderful parents who came all the way from Florida to stay with our kids for part of the time, and my amazing and always willing parents who handled the 2nd half - we went "kidless".
Being in an airport and on a flight without packing and hauling 4 energetic boys was relaxing enough, I could have called it a "vacation" right there. Good meals out, always leaving room for dessert, watching movies, & shopping for unessentials were just the icing on the cake! My sister and her husband let us stay with them in their darling college condo, which is always a blast. We also fit in time to visit old friends, catch a BYU basketball game, meander through the bookstore, and reminisce about how simple life was 10 years ago. One of our favorite memory-lane experiences was going with my sister and her hubby to church on Sunday in the exact same builing and BYU Married Student Ward we attended while finishing up school. Bart and I kept asking ourselves - "where did the time go?" While Bart guest lectured at BYU, and then had a business meeting, I finished the trip by enjoying the last day revisiting the amazing sites of Temple Square in Salt Lake.
We had so much fun and enjoyed ourselves so much, I forgot to take my camera out of my purse! But even without pictures to prove it, it was a great weekend. Everything a Get-A-Way needs to be. Now I just need to know...

When is the next Get-A-Way I can start looking forward to?!

New Years at Black Butte

After making it through the busy time of year, and feeling snowed-in for much of the Christmas break, we decided to slip in a little family get-away for the New Years holiday. We loaded up and headed through the snow to one of our favorite places in all the world - my parent's house at Black Butte Ranch.

Most of the weekend was spent RELAXING. Hard to believe with 4 boys, but our guys love it there so much that they can keep themselves entertained for hours. We read, watched a lot of football, played even more Monopoly, swam and hot-tubbed, and fit in a couple of fun outings as well.

This is a quick family picture taken at Hoodoo's snow-tube park only minutes after we got there and only minutes before I left with the 2 little ones to head home. Since there was really no warm lodge close by for me and Cole to watch from and Bo (as the picture would portray if closer) was finished after only 1 time down, we decided that the tubing was going to have to be a "big boy" activity.

And more sledding took place throughout the weekend right out the back door. Golf courses make for good sledding runs in the winter-time. The boys spent a lot of time together enjoying the fun of the snow.

Lots of fun, quality family time, beauty all around with no one else in sight - you can see why we love it here! Happy 2009.