Spittle...

So I was having this very vivid dream that I was brushing my teeth. Like I seriously didn't know I was dreaming, it felt so real. Then when it came to the part where I was spitting out the toothpaste into the sink I woke up...And I was really spitting. I had slobbery spittle dripping down my chin and on my blanket at 5 am this morning. Nice one Stace. Hey, at least it wasn't a peeing dream. Gotta find the silver lining somewhere.

Please don't adjust your monitors...

No, you are not imagining things. Yes, I have finally updated my blog. I'll wait while you pick your eyeballs up off the floor...Okay, nice to see you again. A lot has happened since my last post and rather than blog in detail about all of it (can you say overwhelming?!) I'll do a quick summary:

~Elli had her first birthday, there was cake, family, food, and fun
(Yeah, she's pretty cute. And she knows it. Oh man does she know it.)



~Thanksgiving, again more food, really really yummy food
(Look it's John Smith and Pocohontas!!)


~Zoo Lights, fun at the zoo at night, with lights, duh, that's why it's called Zoo Lights
(If you look really hard in the background you can see Carlos' dad and Becky buying cotton candy and a Coke for a ridiculous amount of money)

(Lexi riding the carousel at the Zoo, oh and that is CJ and I in the background too)


~CJ and Lexi turned 4 years old, again more cake, food, family, and fun
(These are their cheesy smiles)


~Christmas, more food, family, and gifts
(Our Christmas spread. Carlos and his dad made that kitchen set for the kids, it is awesome!)

(CJ and Lexi wearing the aprons my mom and I made for them with my Christmas present, a new sewing machine!)

(Trying on their Christmas church outfits)


~I turned 27, more food, but NO cake! what a ripoff (Ha, no pics)

~Happy New Year's!!! (Again, you'll have to imagine this one in your mind)

~Carlos turned 28, yesterday actually, more food (I'm starting to see a pattern, hmm), cake (I learned how to make marshmallow fondant icing!), family and fun. I actually wish I had some pictures for this one because Carlos' coworkers got him pretty good yesterday. When he arrived at work, in his office there were life size Marachi posters and mariachi music playing,

the office was covered with hay

And there were two LIVE chickens running loose in his office!!

Yes, they did crap everywhere but thankfully the masterminds of this plot had put a tarp down under everything. I don't know how Carlos is going to top this when someone's birthday in the office comes up but he's got to. Anyone have any ideas?

And there you have it, you are all caught up :)

With Election Day Only 4 Days Away, You Should Vote For...

PEDRO!!!


They were so funny as Napoleon Dynamite and Pedro. Yeah, I dressed my little girl up as a boy, so what, she made a darn good Pedro. Oh and when we went trick or treating tonight a nice little old lady told her that she was going to make a very handsome man someday. I didn't have the heart to correct her and Lexi didn't even notice that the lady thought she was a boy, she was more concerned about the mini Snickers bar the lady had just dropped into her bag.

Then later after the kids went to bed we adults had some fun with the wigs and some pretty funny pictures resulted. I've been contemplating whether I should post them or not and decided to chance it. Carlos may kill me when he finds out but I'm sure you all will agree it is worth it. Oh and none of us are smiling because Hello! Have you seen the movie? I don't think Napoleon or Pedro smile once which makes it even funnier! It was VERY hard to get pics of us straight faced because we were laughing so hard in between pics.

(Here is Carlos as Pedro and me as Napoleon)


(Carlos' dad as Pedro and his mom as Napoleon. Aren't they such good sports for playing along!)


(The funniest picture of all! Carlos as Napoleon and Becky, my sis-in-law as Pedro although she looks more like a cross between Satan and the Red Baron dontcha think?)


(Carlos and I trying on the bug-eye glasses the kids brought home from school)


(And we'll end it on a cute pic with Elli trying on the glasses)

She's back in the saddle again...

Okay, blah. I know it's been like 5 years since I last posted. Whatever. I didn't know that it would be as hard to start blogging again as it would be to get back on a horse that's bucked you off but strangely it is. And now time for the excuses. Things got busy, blah blah blah, and as more time went on the more guilty I felt for not posting, and then more time went by and there's another helping of guilt thank you very much. And oddly enough with the guilt that I felt about not blogging (I know, it's just a blog, I'm not running the nation or anything, but forgive my dramatic nature for a moment) I felt even more guilt if I read other people's blogs because they were a reminder of what I wasn't doing so I stopped reading too. Man, I've missed you guys. So I guess that brings me to one of the reasons I've climbed back in the saddle again. I miss reading everyone's blogs and so I'm writing a rather boring catch up post so I can start reading again without the guilt gnawing at me.

Let's see where to begin? Well, August came and CJ and Lexi started preschool. We also enrolled them in a dance class once a week which has been great. They really enjoy it and do pretty darn well for uncoordinated 3 year olds.

Then we had September and not much exciting happened there. That or I can't remember anything, which is probably more likely. Oh but our ward's womens volleyball team won the stake tournament!! Yeah, I know it's just stake volleyball but man were we pumped when we beat last years winners. We were the underdogs and incidently the stake's redheaded stepchild or at least we are treated that way so it was very satisfying to win those yummy cookies and bragging rights.

And now we are in October. I love the fall and this month will be busy. The kids are starting soccer tomorrow which should be fun to watch. At least I think it will be funny to watch 12 three year olds running around chasing a ball or more likely chasing each other. Hopefully it will use up some of CJ and Lexi's unboundless energy. Wishful thinking right? Carlos and I will have our anniversary on the 23rd and then Elli will turn 1 on the 28th. Holy crap, I just missed a whole year :( I know every mom says it but I can't believe my baby is almost one. Sigh.

Oh and how could I forget Halloween?! I'm going to try really hard to get Carlos to dress up this year but I fear my efforts will be futile. He can be pretty stubborn and Halloween isn't really his thing. Oh but can you guys imagine the pictures!?! Any suggestions for us as far as costumes?

And on a sad note, my sister Whitney and her husband Bryce left yesterday to move to Idaho. I know it's not the saddest news but she was one of my best friends and I'll miss her dearly. I hope she freezes her nose hairs off up there!

Anyway, so I guess that first dreaded post back is over with and I can resume posting with some consistency. Maybe I should start taking fiber to help with my regularity.

Camping trip or better known as the Griswald Family Vacation 2008

I think I'm finally recovered enough from our camping trip last weekend to finally blog about it. Okay, so it wasn't that bad but there were enough surprises thrown in that I can't help but shake my head and laugh when I think about it. I'll give you a quick overview. Well, it may not be quick but here we go:

Thursday night - 11:00pm Should be packing the remaining stuff but am instead lounging on the couch half asleep arguing with myself about how I should be packing instead of watching, wait what was I watching, see that's bad that I can't even remember. True procastination there, I am the queen! I give up and go to bed vowing to wake up at 5:30am to get the packing done.

Friday morning - 6:30am Finally wake up to finish the packing and get everyone moving. Shut up, I know it's an hour later than I planned, I need an hour cushion time to hit the snooze button, just the way I work.

7:30am - Carlos and his dad leave to go pick up the barbeque grill from my bro-in-law, Rudy's, house. Should take them about an hour. We figure we'll be out of here between 9 and 10. I know you can see where this is going right? I'll give you a hint, we don't make it out of there even close to that time. In the meantime, I'm doing what else but PACKING.

8:30am - No sign of Carlos and his dad. Zip, zero, they've fallen off the face of the earth and we haven't heard from them either. I hop in the shower because who knows when my next one will be.

9:00am - Call Carlos for probably the 20th time and still get his voicemail. Meanwhile, I'm still packing crap. Seriously, how much junk do you need for a 2 night 3 day camping trip? Apparently 3 tons of crap, cause that's how much I packed. Oh and everyone made fun of me saying "Do we really need all that stuff? All those blankets?" I would reply with "Shut up, when you are freezing your hiney off and it is MY blanket that finally warms you and allows you to drift off into wonderful slumber, you will wake up in the morning and find me standing over your body pointing out a prime spot on my hiney to kiss." Okay, so I didn't really say that but I wanted to and that is exactly how it played out by the way.

9:45am - Still waiting, finally get a call from Carlos and don't get even a hello when I'm asked to find out where the nearest Urgent Care is in Queen Creek. Oh great. Urgent Care. That's never good. So I find it and give them the cross roads and he tells me that Rudy had cut his hand while they were lifting the grill into the back of the truck. Urgent Care won't take him because the cut was too bad so they go to the emergency room. He gets 14 stitches and was extremely close to cutting the ligament or tendon, whichever it is. The cut was on the web part between the thumb and pointer finger. Ouch for sure. But Rudy is a champ and decides to go camping anyway.

1:30pm - We finally all pull out and head on our way to Big Lake in the White Mountains. What should have taken us about 3 1/2 - 4 hours instead takes us quite a bit longer because let's face it with 9 people in two cars you are going to make a lot of pit stops. Oh and we were steadily dumped on by rain. What were we thinking going camping during Monsoon season?

6:30pm or 7:30pm (can't remember now) - Arrive at campsite, it is beautiful there. But wait, am I seeing this right? Our campsite is on the side of a hill. Yes, and that means an incline. That we have to sleep on. Oh fun. None of us had been there before but we were told by others who had been that Big Lake is a great place to camp. So we chose a campground and reserved the sites online. We just happened to pick the campsite that is on a hill.

My parents and my sister and her husband, Whitney and Bryce, were already there and had their tents set up so they helped us unload. It is beginning to rain and is getting dark quickly. We pick some sites and set up the tents. Eat dinner and everyone gets to their tents quick as it is now raining pretty steadily. Nothing is set up inside the tents so I have all three kids and I'm trying to set up sleeping bags and blankets and sleeping pads while CJ and Lexi are being the three year olds that they are and Elli is trying unsuccessfully to crawl around and is instead rolling from the top of the tent all the way to the bottom because like I said earlier, we are on a hill. I'm getting more and more frustrated, yelling at CJ and Lexi to "Please sit down in one spot and stay there!!" and Elli is screaming because she has once again rolled down the tent at a surprisingly fast speed. Carlos finally gets into the tent and is trying to help me settle the kids and it is NOT working. His patience is even less than mine if that's possible and he goes from calm to frustrated in 1.2 seconds. He then exclaims "This is going to be Hell!!" Oh great, now I have 4 screaming babies. We finally get everything situated and everyone in bed. It is pouring rain outside and there is not 1 but 3 rocks underneath the tent where I am sleeping. And no, the little half inch foam pad we have underneath us doesn't help.

It takes me forever to fall asleep. Partly because of the aforementioned rocks underneath my spot, the incessant rain, and the weird cold but hot muggy humid feeling the tent is taking on because of the rain. As I'm laying there I started reflecting on the pioneers and how this situation we were in was miserable for us but was nothing compared to what they endured while crossing the plains. It put it into nice proper perspective for me and I eventually fell asleep. It rained ALL night long. Seriously, all night. Monsoon season. Yeah, we aren't the brightest bulbs in the pack. Oh and because we are sleeping on a hill we started at the top of the tent but by morning we had slid, sleeping blankets and all, down to the bottom. Now the rock that was at my hip is now at my head. Fun times I tell ya.

Saturday morning - We wake up extremely early because that's what happens when you camp. You get up with the sun. We all get up and have a wonderful breakfast of homemade bread and gravy. Yummy, thanks mom it was great! We then find out that pretty much everyone's blankets and sleeping bags are wet from the ground up so we pack up all the wet stuff and head into Springerville which is about 30-45 minutes away to dry things. Oh and did I mention that I now have a full blown head cold making my experience that much better! Super! While in town I visit the local pharmacy to inquire which cold medicines I can take while nursing. I get the okay from the pharmacist to take Alkaseltzer Cold that my mom already has back at camp. We dry our things and head back to camp. I take my Alkaseltzer cold meds and feel much better.

Saturday afternoon - Some people are fishing, some are sleeping, others are out exploring. I'm at the campsite with my mom and Elli, just hanging out when I need to use the restroom. Which is at the top of the hill, by the way. So I make the trek up the hill, and am grateful that there is a restroom to trek to, remember the pioneers didn't even have a porta-potty. Gotta keep it all in perspective you know ;). Anyway I get to the restroom only to discover that my monthly visitor, Aunt Flo, that has been absent for over a year and a half decided that this weekend, this camping trip, would be a great time to return. Yep, that's right, my first postpartum period happened while I was camping. What are the odds? Heavenly Father has a sometimes cruel sense of humor. I don't even have any feminine hygiene products with me. So my mom and I go to the little store down on the lake to see if they have any we can buy. We walk around the store twice looking and searching and finally give in and ask the cashier at the counter. The one thing you probably don't want assistance in finding and they hide it on the shelf behind the trashcan. Anyway, so I get that all taken care of and then the cramps start.

So, let's review: We are camping on a hillside during Monsoon season. I have a full blown head cold and then Aunt Flo tracks me down all the way in the wilderness and she is wreaking havoc on my insides with lovely cramps. Why did I think this was going to be a good idea?

Saturday night - We have a yummy dinner of chicken, baked potatoes, and baked beans. Seriously, the food alone was worth the camping trip. Mom, you did good. Muchas gracias. Anyway, so we eat and because Rudy and Becky got drenched the night before in their little tent we decide to put Lexi and CJ in the tent with Carlos' parents and Rudy and Becky will sleep with us. Oh and remember all those blankets I packed? Yeah, everyone used them so PFFHHT, I was right to pack the whole house, take that! This night was much better. It didn't rain and we were all much warmer and more comfortable. We still ended up at the bottom of the tent by morning though. Kinda unavoidable.

Sunday morning - Again, wake up at the crack of dawn. Eat breakfast and start breaking camp. We get the tents down and mostly everything packed. Carlos, Rudy, Becky, and I decide to take advantage of the showers they have there, even though they were $5/person. Oh but that shower was the best shower I've taken in my life. It was wonderful. Worth every cent. After we get back to camp, lunch is almost ready. We eat and finish loading everything up and everyone heads back home.

Sunday afternoon - It is raining again and we get rained on almost the whole way home. Doesn't matter though, we don't have to sleep in it this time. We make 63 pit stops. Okay, it wasn't that many but it might as well have been for how long it took us to get home. The reason we didn't get home until 8:30pm when we left at 12:30pm? Oh it was because after we passed through Payson and were about 20 minutes down the road the traffic stopped to a standstill because of a car accident somewhere ahead. Cars were stretched out for miles and miles. I'm not sure how far but what should've taken us about 1 1/4 hours instead took 2 1/2 hours. It was crazy and frustrating but a fitting end to our camping trip.

Overall, though we had a lot of fun and we WILL be camping again. Just not during monsoon season. And not on a hill. And closer to home. Oh and preferably not during that time of month for me.

(Carlos, Becky, and Carlos' Dad)

(A scenic lookout point up in the mountains, beautiful)

(The view from our campsite. Not bad, huh.)

(A not too great pic of me, I was trying to get the background. Be nice, remember I was camping, no make up or done hair.)

(Elli in her pack n' play. That thing came in very useful.)

(CJ and Lexi with their Aunt Josie heading down to the lake to throw some rocks in.)

(Our campsite on the hill, the blue tarp thingy is the food tent)

(Carlos' Dad in front of their tent)

(Lexi peeking inside the tent)

(Rudy and his injury, he toughed it out though)

(A pit stop on the way home. They were TIRED.)

(A view from our car of the backed up line of cars on the trip home. Can you say frustrating?)

Feeling Conflicted

So, I've been in a funk for the last two days. CJ and Lexi are at my parents. Without me. For the first time ever. They are only there til Friday but the house feels so empty without them here. Don't get me wrong, it's been great to not have to get up at the butt crack of dawn because my kids have an uncanny sense of when the sun rises even with the blackout shade on their window. It's been nice to not have to clean crumbs and food up off of the floor every 30 minutes. It's been wonderful not to have to worry about potty-training and poop. Well, I still have to worry about poop because Elli is still here with me but her little poops are nothing up against two 3 year old's poop. It's been nice to not have to watch Caillou and Dora. It's been fantastic to not hear shrieking and screaming for most of the day, really my ears are in heaven.

But it's been horrible to sit through a quiet dinner. And worse to not hear my kids chattering and laughing together. It's been awful not having them fight over who gets to sit by mommy on the couch. And terrible not getting to tuck them into bed after our family prayer. I miss their smiles. I miss their singing. And most of all I miss their kisses and hugs. I can't wait for them to get home.

Minty Fresh

I know it's been forever since I last posted and I've got no excuse. So, I guess just get over it already, lol.



Anyway, we've been busy having a horribly hot summer which means we're basically stuck inside all day since it's too hot outside for the kids to play. Oh and not to mention it's Attack of the Gazillion Ants in our backyard and yes we've sprayed for bugs, didn't work. So because of our voluntary confinement inside our wonderful air conditioned, ant free bubble, I'm sure you can all imagine how stir crazy it gets and how little sanity I'm left with at the end of the day. So really y'all (going Britney again for a moment) are lucky I'm even coherent enough to even use the computer right now. I guess I'll just share a few stories from the past few weeks that have given me a chuckle.



We are still in the midst of potty-training. It isn't going too bad, some days are better than others, I'm sure you can imagine. The other day I finally got Lexi to poop on the toilet by promising to give her a sucker if she did, so she did and she got her sucker and we were both happy. Well, CJ saw it and wanted one too but I told him what he had to do to get one. Bless his little heart he sat on the toilet for almost an hour trying to poop, or at least making it seem like he was trying. I kept asking him if he was done and if he wanted to get down and he kept telling me "No, I want sucker." He was determined I tell ya. At one point he was grunting and pushing and then he stopped and said "Mommy, I can't, it stuck." Which had me giggling. Long story short, he never pooped but did pee a few times on the toilet. Did I give him a sucker? NO!! I'm a mean mommy I guess but suckers are for poop and jellybeans are for pee so he did get a few jellybeans. Broke my heart though to deny him that sucker. I really did want to give it to him but you've got to stand your ground right? Wow, funny how much I can post about pee and poop.



Moving on...So Carlos did the shopping last week and picked up some more shower wash since we were almost out. He picked up Dove Refresh liquid body wash which we haven't tried before.

Great, I love Dove. I usually get the one in the green bottle that is I think cucumber melon but this'll do. So I hop in the shower and took the new bottle with me since we were now officially out of body wash. I squirt some of the body wash on my loofah and start washing my body, being very thorough if you catch my drift. Oh and one thing that may be important to know is that our shower is possessed and likes to randomly spew out lava temperature water every couple of minutes.



Well, I finish soaping up and just as I'm about to rinse off the lava water comes forth out of the faucet. I hurry and turn the shower head away from my body so as to not get burned when I start noticing a rather peculiar feeling down in my girly region. It is like this tingling burning sensation. You know like what it feels like when you put Ben-Gay on sore muscles, only maybe a titch milder. I grab the bottle to see what exactly is in this soap and it says "clean scent of waterlily and fresh mint." MINT!! So that's why my down under is on fire!! And to to make it worse I can't rinse the soap off because the water is still the temperature of the sun's surface. The water finally returns to normal temp. and I rinse off. By then the rest of my body is all tingly and slightly burning. Wow, must be powerful stuff and my girly bits just must be more sensitive than the rest of my skin. Oh and I just went on their website and this is what the description says: "Leaves your skin with a gentle tingly, refreshing feel." Gentle my butt.