Like Father, Like Daughter

I'm sure most of you have heard the story about when my husband was little. The story about how he talked his younger brothers into greasing up there mom's carpet with Crisco, then stripping butt naked and using it as a Slip n Slide down there mom's hall-way. Well, Karlee decided to pull something like that yesterday but it didn't involved Crisco, rather permanent marker. Yes, she decided to strip naked and color all over herself with a black permanent marker. She managed to get every inch of her body, even the soles of her feet, her back, belly, legs, arms, hands and even her face. She found the marker in our church bag and colored the tile in our bathroom and got so crazy marker even ended up on the door. This all happened in a matter of minutes. I just ran upstairs to change the laundry over and then came downstair and realized how quiet it was with a funny smell in the air.

I was trying to get Karlee to show me her arms but because she knew she had been caught and was in so much trouble, all she wanted to do was hide and cry.

These pictures don't really to justice to the crime scene. Let me just put it this way, after I got her out of the bath, the tub had a ring of black around it from all of the ink on her body. We weren't able to get all of it off but atleast it looks faded and will someday disappear.
I guess I should have saw something like this coming. She acts like her dad in so many ways. I guess I was just wishfully thinking!

I'm happy to say that it finally snowed out here and actually stuck to the ground. Saturday it snowed almost all day and my kids were excited to get out and build snowmen and Cannon wanted to drive his toy snow machine in it. Steve shoveled the driveway but he started to early because at the end of the day you couldn't even tell he did.

We searched high and low, through lots of boxes before coming to our snowsuits. Karlee didn't want to be left out and was really excited to go play in the snow until she actually went outside.
I think she lasted about 7 minutes before she decided it was too cold and needed me to make hot chocolate with extra marshmallows. Doesn't she look adorable all bundled up!

Karlee was helping me decorate the Christmas tree by playing in the box that it came in. It was a short lived tree, though. Steve saw the tree and decided it wasn't good enough, so he went out and bought a real tree. I forgot how good they smell. The smell makes all of the difference.

This was a funny picture that Karlee wanted me to take of her. She brought my camera to me in the morning and said "say Cheese mommy, say Cheese!" Needless to say she has some crazy bedhead and a jam face.

Oh ya, I just wanted to tell everyone Cannon is now allergic to cookies that DON'T have chocolate chips in them. Just in case any of those grandmas were thinking of making cookies for us.

RECaP of November

Sorry about being such a slacker for the month of November. I can't believe it is over already. We have been so busy that I have been slacking on my blog. So I thought I would give you a recap in a nut shell.

Steve finished his internal medicine rotation and started a new one in surgery. He liked internal med but still wonders if it will be exciting enough for him. Surgery has been very exciting, but he feels the stigma of surgeons, being arrogate, is true. Not all are like that, of course, but a lot are and he doesn't like the idea of having to deal with people like that. He really does like the surgery part, though. Last Tuesday, (his second day of surgery) he went to work about 5:15am and didn't return home until Wednesday around 3:30pm. The kids were wondering where daddy was and if he was ever going to come home. Luckily because of Thanksgiving they let him have the rest of the week off.

As for the rest of us, Wednesday we got ready for Thanksgiving. The kids helped me make a couple of pies to take over to the Olson's. Thursday morning we spent hanging out with the missionaries and then we all headed over to the Olson's for Thanksgiving dinner. We spend the rest of the day playing Wii and looking through ads. Friday morning Skye, Allison and Michelle (Matt's mom and sister) and I went and hit lot of early bird specials. It was a lot of fun but I have to be honest the lines out here are by far the worst I have ever seen. We waited for a long time in lines and they didn't seem to be moving. But it was still fun to hang out with everyone and share the excitement on the great deals we found. After shopping we all had breakfast together and after sitting down, realized how tired we all were. Needless to say, the rest of the day was spent lounging around. Saturday our ward had a Turkey bowl followed by a breakfast. Steve and I are on activities so we spent the morning helping make breakfast. It was a lot of fun. So here we are back at Monday starting the routine all over again. Hopefully everyone had a great Thanksgiving and found some awesome deals. I'll try to be better to update my blog, but I can't promise anything, it is December now!

Can I just say, AMAZING?

The limo Pres. Kennedy was assasinated in.

Autonomy- car of the future. Made by GM
one of the first snowmobiles

hangin with the crowd

enjoyin the show

While my parents were here we went to The Henry Ford Museum. Can I just say, AMAZING? It was the biggest museum I have ever been in. We were at the museum for 4 and a half hours and still didn't see the whole thing. I took a whole bunch of car pictures for all of you folks in Idaho, Papa Steve and the boys because if you ever get the chance to make it out here, we are definitely taking you there. I didn't realize how big the Ford company really was until I toured this museum. They were involved with not only cars, but airplanes and trains. This museum had about 4 REAL airplanes, 5 REAL trains complete with a caboose, 100's of cars and bikes, old fashion furniture and the special exhibit right now is the costume exhibit that has a whole bunch of costumes that they used in movies. This museum is truly amazing.

{HapPy BiRthDay Stevie J}

Boogers are like birthdays, the more you have---the harder it is to breathe!

Today is Steve's birthday. I had to clarify in the title his family nickname because his dad's birthday is coming up too. His name is also Steve, so when he is around I have to revert to calling him his family nickname Stevie J.

Steve is not big into birthday's and doesn't like me to do anything. Despite what he says I still have a few things up my sleeve. But first off I wanted to tell him 29 things I love about him.

Why 29, because he turned 29 today!

1. I think he is the best husband ever. He understands me and knows me better than anyone.

2. I love the way he loves his kids. He is always playing, wrestling, coloring, drawing and teasing his kids and me.

3. I love how he lets me snuggle up to him with my cold hands and feet.

4. I love how he thinks I am the most beautiful person even if I haven't showered or brushed my teeth yet.

5. I love how smart he is. Everytime I ask him a question, he rarely say's "I don't know", even if it deals with random stuff.

6. I love how excited he gets when he talks about things he saw at the hospital.

7. I love how he is the best story-teller. I know he gets this from his mom and aunt Kim, but he gets really animated with his story-telling and it makes the story SO funny. Very dramatic!

8. I love how he is constantly trying new things. Food, new hair do, clothes, sports, etc.

9. I love how Steve ALWAYS thinks he is right and he usually is.

10. I love how handsome he is. He seriously is the most handsome guy I have ever met. I thought that when we got married and I realize it even more now.

11. I love how he thinks ties are the best present ever, even though most of his ties are UGLY.

12. I love how talented he is on a snowmobile. He makes it look so easy and fun side-hilling, jumping off cornis', climbing the steepest tallest mountain. But every time I try, it isn't easy.

13. I love how he has no fear of anything.

14. I love how he doesn't let people push him around.

15. I love how he stands up for what he "thinks" is right, no matter what.

16. I love how he smiles when he is being flirty.

17. I love the look on his face when I tell him something Karlee did today and it was totally something Steve would do or has done.

18. I love how he turns comments I make into something perverted by saying "That's what she said." And I can't help but laugh because after I said it, I realized what was coming next.

19. I love how he whistles while he eats. It is so funny.

20. I love how he cooks the best BBQ ribs and chicken enchilada's.

21. I love how he uses more hair products than I do. What do ya expect with a mop like his?

22. I love how mad he gets when I wear his t-shirts to bed, like a little kid, he stomps his feet and straightens his arms and legs and says "your putting booby marks in them."

23. I love how he sings in the shower. I purposley brush my teeth just to hang out in the bathroom and listen to him.

24. I love how much fun he has with his family whenever they go boating or snowmobiling. He becomes totally stress free.

25. I love how he makes me feel needed because he looses everything and thinks I know where it is.

26. I love how he never complains about anything I cook. The experimental, out of the ordinary, never looked at a recipe stuff.

27. I love how handy he is, let me clarify, Handy NOT handsy.

28. I love how he will scratch my back and tickle my neck if I stay up with him a little longer.

and last but not least

29. I love how he is willing to go shopping with me and the kids, just for the simple fact of hanging out with us. I never have to beg him to go anywhere, he is happy too.

Happy Birthday Steve. I love you and think your the greatest!

Is it for REAL?

I know it is happening all over the nation, but I just have to share my excitement. When we moved to Michigan in July we were paying about $4.37/gal for gas. I really hated to go anywhere because the cost was outrageous. It seriously would cost us over $80 dollars just to fill up ONE of our cars. We could see our money flying fast. Just last night we had to fill up our car and for 21 gallons it cost just over $40 bucks. I was amazed! I haven't seen gas this cheap in a long, long time. Now we can start putting money back in the piggy bank.

Well not really because as most of you know, we live off of borrowed money. It wasn't ours to start with.

During the summer I would go to the gas pump,and truly feel like this comic. If over night gas dropped after I fueled up, I would be so upset at myself and I think, "I could have waited one more day to save 2 cents at the pump." Needless to say I usually drive my car until it is completely empty just to rationalize my spending on gas. It drives Steve NUTS! I have a small fascination with gas prices. Every time I drive by I gas pump, I have to look at the prices. I purposely drive past the gas pump now just to see how much gas has dropped again. I know this won't stay but I enjoy it while its so cheap.

How much is gas where you live?

TuRkeY DaYs

Last week Cannon brought home a paper turkery for the family to decorate. They wanted us to work as a family to come up with the decorations. This is our finished product.

A couple of days ago, when the weather got up to 70, we strolled around the block to find the prettiest leaves. We finally got a sack full and can home to dry the leaves. Steve came up with the idea of using dried orange peel for the feet and the beak. Too make the face white we rubbed glue stick all over and sprinkled powdered sugar on top. We used black frosting for his eye and a red balloon for that thing that hangs off of there face.

We think it turned out pretty cute. What do you think?

6 days!

Okay, so yesterday was the craziest day. My mom called me early yesterday morning and said "Dad and I want to come visit you". I said "Awesome, I'll start checking for cheap flights." After jumping on the computer we started talking about the best time to visit. She said "How about next week?" I was so excited. I spent a long time on the computer yesterday bidding flights and finding the cheapest and best ticket to come to Detroit.

My parents wanted to visit my brother in Colorado so they decided to drive there and then catch a plane in Denver and head to Detroit. It was such an unexpected surprise and I can hardly wait. I love it when family can come visit. It is the best. My kids are so excited too. Karlee lately has been claiming all of the neighbors grandma's as her own. When we leave she yells "No, I stay grandma!"

Now I just have to drag Papa Steve to Michigan.

I think he's too much of a mama's boy to be that far away for a week.

PLEASE, tell him I said that too! Ha Ha Ha!

{Sick Bellies}

Its finally come to an end. Yep! Halloween is FINALLY over. Don't get me wrong, I love Halloween but by the time Trick or Treating finally gets here, my kids have had enough, especially Cannon. His school had a huge Halloween party and then a parade. The little kindergartener's walked 3 or 4 blocks around the school. It was really cute to see all of his friend dressed up. He came home from school with his backpack full of candy.

We roamed a neighborhood in Fraser. The houses were pretty close together so the kids didn't have to walk too far, but by the end of the night, they were all asking parents to hold them. Atleast my kids were!

Buzz was leading the pack!

( Toy Story Alien... YEAH!, Buzz Lightyear, Michigan football player, Little Red Riding Hood, Black Spiderman)

We had a lot of fun and the kids are happy with all of the candy they got. We have so much candy! YIKES! Any ideas on what to do with it all?

This past week we have had a lot of fun partying. The Olson's invited us over for a Halloween party that Cohen & Nixon's Grandma brought to Michigan.

They all had funny faces, chased donuts and squashed balloons.
My Fierce Venom and My Little Red Riding Hood!

This year I decided to get creative and made Karlee her costume. It was a lot of fun, but I can't decide if it was any cheaper.

Never fear, I have plenty of superhero's here. Now the Cannon has two Spiderman costumes, Karlee gets to join the fighting crusade.

Saturday was the ward Truck or Treat. The kids played games and ran around to all of the doors "Trick or Treating". Steve dressed up as a Sen say, while I was Dr. Adams.

Now that we have been in Michigan for a while, we have been up-dated on all of the different traditions. I'm happy to say that Trick or Treating DOES occur on Halloween. In Iowa, Trick or Treating was done the day before Halloween and they called it Beggar's Night. Crazy, I know!

Cannery

This week I was able to go to the cannery in Michigan with Skye and her mom. It was such a fun experience to see everything that the church has to offer. This was my first time at a cannery and we had so much fun. It was nice to get out of the house and laugh and joke around with some great friends. Has anyone been to another cannery in Idaho or Utah? It would be interesting to know the differences in cannery's in the west compared to the one I went to in the east! Thanks Skye for letting me tag along with you! I can't wait to go back.

Tagged--are you next?

I was tagged by James and I was suppose to post my fifth picture in my fifth file but I only had one picture in my fifth file. Actually it wasn't even a picture it was a video of Karlee who had a lollipop stuck in her hair. It is really funny so if you have time, its a funny short video to watch. So now I tag: Chelsea, Trina, Amy, Skye and Debi.

Remeber the rules: 5th picture file, 5th picture in that file and then tag 5 other people.

Marathon Anniversary!

I can't believe a whole year has pasted since Shauni and I ran the Des Moines Marathon. It was such a great experience. Something that I will never forget. I didn't have a blog last year at this time so I only have the memories in my head, but I need to write them down so I will always remember. The story started after I came back from Idaho for the summer and Shauni and I were on a long run along the Neal Smith trail. We got this great idea to ask our manager at work if he would sponsor us for the marathon. It didn't take much persuasion, he said he would pay our entry fee which was $80/person. We were so excited and grateful. Then came the early mornings of training. We got up everyday about 6am before our husbands left for school at 7:15am and ran. On Saturday's we would do our long runs. Most of the time we were running in the dark. We ran up and down all of the trails and sidewalks within a 10 mile radius of our home. I think our favorite run was across the Saylorville dam early in the morning as the sun was coming up. The Saylorville dam was high enough that you could look out across and see the few tall buildings in downtown Des Moines which was about 12-13 miles from where we were running. Saturday's were our long runs which usually consisted of 2-4 HOURS of running. The time goes by fast. The first couple of hours we would just chit-chat and then we would run out of things to say so we started taking our i-pods and we listened to music the last 2 hours. We started eating these power gels to get us through our longer run. They were disgusting! But they helped out so much. So as time went on the marathon got closer and on Oct 21, 2007 we started our pace for the marathon. We were so excited and nervous at the same time. We knew this was once in a lifetime opportunity and we were going to do everything we could to finish. As they say at some point everyone hits there "wall". Mine was about mile 19 and I was getting so tired, my legs were cramping and I was getting very dizzy. I remember sitting in the port-i-potty thinking that it was going to tip over while I was in there. That was a SCARY feeling! About this time we saw all kinds of people laying on the side of the trail crying, or people just collapsing on the side because their legs were cramping. But we kept pushing ourselves and over the course of 4 hours, 45 mins we finished the marathon. I'm still amazed we finished while running. Don't get me wrong, we didn't run the whole time, we had to take some breaks and walk, but we did finish running. It took us longer than we had anticipated but at that point we were just excited we made it. I will forever be grateful to Shauni for helping me complete my goal of running a whole 26.2 miles. I couldn't have done it without her.

So today is the 1 year anniversary of the marathon and hopefully it won't be the last one I run. I did promise Steve that I wouldn't train for anymore until he was done with school. Until then, I'll keep running my 20 miles/week.

Happy Birthday MOM!

Today is my mom's birthday and I can't tell you how old she is! She would ground me!

I just wanted to tell her Happy Birthday and let her know how much I love her and want to thank her for everything she has taught me. She is such a talented lady. She can do so many things that she would never admit was a talent of hers. She is a wonderful friend, mother, wife, grandma, great grandma, sister and neighbor. She would do anything for anyone. She has done so much service in her life and for so many people. When I was growing up, she was always taking meals to people and making phone calls to see how everyone was doing, making quilts and sewing humanitarian projects. She has so much love in her. So much love, she would sneak flax seed into my dad's cereal every morning for breakfast, hoping it will keep him healthy. She also made this juice, we call it 90 weight. Any leftover juice from canned pineapple, tomatoes, apples, peaches, pears, prunes, you name it got thrown into our morning orange juice. Needless to say, it wasn't exactly orange juice anymore. More like a cocktail! Maybe it would have been a little more bearable to drink with some alcohol in it?

We always tease her about being helpful sometimes. My husband always tells the story about how one day my mom asked Steve "Would you like some apple crisp?" "Oh, no Karen, I'm fine!" "Oh here, I'll just go get you some real quick." "That's okay Karen, I'm still full." "It will only take a minute and it tastes really good." "Really, I'm fine". " Would you like ice cream with it?" "Sure, Karen!"

She is so funny!

Her grand kids think she is wonderful! She makes the best egg pancakes! I remember growing up with grand kids always staying the night at our house on Friday. I loved it! My mom would play with the kids, color, help them pick out old clothes to wear the next day and to wear down the water slide. She constantly is running around. Seriously, that lady never stops! She gets up at the crack of dawn and does laundry before breakfast. Before answering the door, she runs to the bathroom, puts on lip-stick and then goes to the door. She is amazing! She continues until 9:30 at night and then still has a hard time stopping for the evening. She is such a great mother. I only hope to be as patient and loving as her someday. Until then, Happy Birthday MOM!

I love you!

Sorry about the pictures, they are the most recent that I have!

All of the grand kids adore her.

{HauNtEd HoUsEs}

Monday we invited our neighbors over and decorated haunted houses. We had lots of fun and all of the kids left with a belly full of treats. The last two years we have made haunted houses with the Frost's and because we had so much fun I thought I would carry on the tradition.

Three Tasty Haunted Houses made by three adorable boys!
The night was filled with laughter, stories and treats.

Apple Orchard

Saturday we went to an apple orchard in a really pretty part of Michigan. On our way there, it reminded us of Iowa and all of the rolling hills and big barns. We past beautiful golf courses with huge homes that share there backyard with the golf course. I can't believe how fast Michigan changes. The farther from Detroit, the more beautiful Michigan is. This is a picture I took from the apple orchard we visited.

My silly kids, posing for a picture, while screaming "CHEEEEZZZZ"
After playing on the inflatables, we enjoyed homemade-donuts and fresh apple cider. YUMMY!
No, Cannon and Cohen aren't dinner for the dragon, its the opening on the inflatable. Then the kids play around in the belly before being pooped out. In on end and out the other!
The Adams Family! Da Da Da Da! Clap, Clap!

Just a recap of the last couple of days. (this is really long)

So on Wednesday our visitors left. We were really sad to take them to the airport. Cannon was so tired from all of the adventures, he fell back asleep on the way home. Karlee on the other hand, chatted with me and sang songs. I didn't quite understand what songs she was singing, but they did have a tune. Our trip back home was a little crazy and with traffic it took a lot longer than expected. Closer to Detroit are hundreds of "on and off" ramps really close together. It reminds me of spider-webs. Hundreds of roads that are all connected at some point. Well I was paying attention to Karlee and our garmin told me to exit right, stay left. I didn't hear the stay left part until after our exit had passed. So I started heading back to Detroit. The garmin "recalculates" when you make a wrong turn, but sometimes when the roads are so close together it can't tell exactly what road you are on. After the garmin "recalculated" I thought I was heading back in the right direction, but after looking at road signs that were not familiar, I knew I was not heading home. Right about that time, the low fuel light came on and I realized that there was NO WAY, I was going to stop and get gas in this part of town. For one, my kids were with me. Two, I was the minority. Three, I was a female and four, you just don't stop at gas stations that have bars on the windows, no matter what time of day it is. So I gave the garmin time to figure out where I was and time to recalculate. At that point I was just praying to make it home with the fuel I had. I finally figured out where I needed to go and we continued on to our normal I-696E with out further problems. I did make it home, running on fumes.

So Thursday I went to Cannon's school to be the Library mom. I read his class a book called "Pumpkin Jack". Then I helped the kids find library books to check out. It was really fun getting to know kids in his class and seeing the different personalities. Later that night, we had the missionaries over. They are having transfers on Tuesday and Steve wanted them to come over and pick out one of his many ties to exchange. He usually writes a personal message on the inside before the exchange.

Friday, I just cleaned the house and we watched movies in the evening. We let Cannon rent Iron Man and he loved it. I think in the 24 hours we had it, he watched it 3 times. Now he is busy coloring pictures of Iron Man.

Saturday we watched both sessions of General Conference. During the brake, I went to Randazzo which is a produce market. The produce there is a lot better then Wal-mart or Meijer. Anyways, while I was there I was looking at the potatoes and they had the usual small potatoes and then I saw a sign that said "Idaho Potatoes". I went and looked at the potatoes and they REALLY were Idaho potatoes. They were HUGE. I started thinking about home and what everyone was doing now. I can't believe a vegetable can make such a difference in your life. I was thinking how, all of the kids are probably out of school for Spud Harvest, about working in the spuds when I was younger. And how the potato was our high school mascot. It literally brought a tear to my eye. I could even smell the spud cellars and hear the spud trucks driving endlessly back and forth down our road. Life in Michigan is so much different than in the small farm town that I grew up in. Someday, we'll be back!

Sunday, we did the same thing, but we spiced things up a bit. We had the Olson's and the missionaries over for dinner. Steve cooked ribs and we ate those precious "Idaho" potatoes. The missionaries picked out their ties and headed back to the church. We listen to conference here. After conference we just sat and visited, watched the kids play and attack Steve and Matt. They raced back and forth. Karlee and Nixon wanted to participate and it was driving Cannon nuts that the little kids would start before Steve said "go". He said to me with his arms in the air "Mom, grab her!" It was really funny.

So a little about Steve, he is on psych rotations now. They sent him to a mental hospital. Most of the patients there are in lock-down and he doesn't get to have much interaction with them except when they need to have shock therapy. Steve gets to hold the patients while they shock them. Supposedly its suppose to reset the brain! It reminds me of something out of a movie. I have never seen the movie of Silence of a Lamb, but that's the kind of thing I picture when he tells me about it. I didn't think they actually still "SHOCKED" people. Isn't that a little inhumane? So after Steve and another student get done helping the doctors, they send them to--- the basement,--- of the mental hospital,---- in a file room,----- to study. He says he is usually down there for 4-5 hours a day. If that doesn't mess with your psychi, I don't know what will. Anyways, Steve doesn't think that psych is something he will ever go into.

So here we are, back at Monday, to start the week, all over again!

Challenge Failure!

So I have officially failed my challenge. Life got busy or I just got lazy and tired of posting, so when life calms back down, I'll try the challenge again!

THANK YOU GRANDMA TAMMY AND BUBBA! We enjoyed your company!

(turn the phone around Tammy! Ha Ha Ha!)

Day # 15

7:00am-- Taking Grandma and Bubba to the airport. Everyone really wasn't as happy as they looked in this picture! ---Or maybe they were?

Day # 15

English Garden Home at Greenfield Village

day # 14
Sunday-the best part of making cookies
Sunday we made PB cookies for Grandma Tammy and Bubba. Who thinks the dough is the best part?

day # 13

day # 13

A great birthday hangin with family!

(Cannon on Trampoline)

(nothin' like a game of miniature golf)

day # 12

day # 12

We Love Famous Dave's!

day # 11

Just playin around!