"The heat is on in Saigon!!"

I have been a huge, HUGE fan of the theatre for a very long time! Probably since I was a little girl. My mom always liked watching old classic musicals like "The Music Man", "Carousel", "7 Brides for 7 Brothers", "Oklahoma"...the list goes on and on. She instilled in me a deep love for music, and because of that, I developed a great love for singing and acting.

I have been in many theatrical productions, mostly when I was in high school and college, and I miss being in the spotlight all the time. However, the reality of my life is I'm a mom and a wife, so there just isn't time for that kind of stuff anymore. But I love watching stage productions just as much as I like being in them.

When I graduated from high school, my parents bought me a 2 week trip to New York. While on that trip to NY, I saw 6 broadway productions. I saw "Phantom", "Les Miz", "CATS", and 3 others. I was thrilled, but the one other production I always wished I could have seen was "Miss Saigon". It's musical score is breathtaking and the story tragic. It's much like the Opera "Madame Butterfly".

For my birthday, my mom thought she'd be clever and had me play "Let's Make a Deal". Each package I opened held a picture of some grandios gift like a cruise, a cricut cutter (scrapbooking lovers COVET those!), and my long lusted after Mische Bag. Of course, in all reality those items were not available to me...what a horrible prank!! Granty and I really thought I was getting a cruise!!!! Ha! Box #4 however, held what I have wanted for over 20 years now...tickets to see "Miss Saigon" in May.

Words cannot express how excited I am to see this remarkable show! Thanks mom, dad & Aunt Shelly for such a great birthday gift! Turning 38 wasn't half bad! Now maybe if they could make good on the "cruise" for my 40th birthday. THAT wouldn't be half bad either!!

I Love You!

This actually happened on Saturday, January 31st, but it took me until today to blog about it.

Last week was a bad, bad, extrememly busy week, and Granty knew it. Saturday I was gone grocery shopping FINALLY and I wasn't too happy about it. I had tons of cleaning to do, and I just didn't have time to go and get stupid food! Anyway, I got home and found these beautiful, cheerful flowers. Granty said he knew last week had been a bad one and he hoped the flowers would cheer me up. He's such a great husband. I love him so!

SurPriSe TO mE!!

I have these 3 kooky friends. Yes, I just said kooky. Anyway, the three of us, plus a couple of other fun gals, have declared ourselves the "Domestic Goddesses". We've started hanging out watching dumb movies like Xanadu and Copacabana, just cuz it's fun to giggle and spend time with your best girl friends!

This morning I woke up with the WORST headache! I had taken Excederin all through the night trying to get rid of it, but it just wasn't working. I was supposed to watch one of my fellow goddesses little girl while she went to the Dr, but I told her I just couldn't. My head was pounding! Anyway, I lay down to take a nap and a while later, there is this banging on the door and my door bell keeps ringing. I threw off the covers and I was PISSED! I mean, who in the crap doesn't give up knocking after one knock and there's no answer!! RUDE!

I pulled the door open, ready to tell the person on the other side exactly where they could put their knocking, and there stood my 3 three friends (obvoiusly there was NO Dr appt for Heather)! They started singing, "Happy Birthday", they had PRINCESS balloons, presents and lunch PLUS bday cake from Dippidee!! I was in total shock and had to go in the other room for a second to recover! My actual birthday isn't until Saturday, but what an awesome way to start the celebrations!! We spent the next few hours laughing, planning future get-togethers and snapping some fun pictures. I have NEVER been so excited to go to bed in my life as I am tonight! I am now the proud owner of a pillow case complete with a picture of BARRY MANILOW AND his awesome movie "Copacabana". All I need now is a yellow feather in my hair to match my new leg warmers!!

I LOVE my girls! They are probably 3 of the best friends I have ever had. We laugh, we gossip, we cry, she share...we have such a great time together! I don't think I've ever had a group of friends like this in my life, and I'm so grateful for them. They are truly the "cream of the crop". WHY they would wanna hang out with me, I don't know, but I'm glad they want to!

TO AUDRA, DAWN & HEATHER...you guys rock my world! Thanks for not only being such awesome, awesome friends, but for being the kind of women I can look up to! I LOVE YA!

My NEW sassy Xanadu-esque leg warmers!!

Izzy trying to find her way out of the balloons!

Chloe & Dawn practicing their "kissy face" for Barry!!

Dawn, me and Heather doing what we do best...be retarded!

You oughta be in pictures!

The Saturday after Christmas, my mom arranged for us to get our family pictures taken; my parents, my family and Wade's family. The pictures turned out so CUTE! We had the pictures taken in the snow and in the studio. It was fun to be together and take an updated picture of everyone.

This picture was taken of my kids, and I love it! I can't believe how BIG my kids are getting! In ways it makes me sad they are growing up, but at the same time, they are truly a lot of fun. I was blessed with really wonderful children and I couldn't have asked for better! They are thoughtful (for the most part), kind, helpful, loving and generally obedient kids. I'm so grateful to my heavenly father for answering my prayers and letting me be a mom! It isn't easy, but it's so very worth it!

I love you darling kids! Thank you for making my life such a fun adventure!

P.S. Sorry the picture in the snow is out of focus! It's the best I could do...it just didn't wanna focus for me!

Obama, Obama...

Well, Obama was sworn in today...yadda, yadda. Most people who know me understand that I am in no way a supporter of Obama.

HOWEVER...

Now that he is officially the President of the US, I suppose I will quit murmuring and hope he's a man true to his word. Okay, in the past he's been a big liar, a putz, a con-artist, a jerk...you get the idea...I will forgive and forget and hope for the best!

He has said a LOT of stuff, made a LOT of promises, and gotten a LOT of people stirred up thinking he is the next Messiah and will save our country from impending doom. Know what? I hope he DOES!! I don't want an idiot for a President, I want a great man...it's just, I don't feel like Obama is even a GOOD man.

YET...

Time will tell, and I will watch and see how things turn out. I PRAY that things in this country turn around and that everyone who voted for Obama can say to me, "WE TOLD YOU SO!"

Good luck President Obama! May you prove all of us doubters wrong!

YAY FOR MOM!

I was looking at my Xanadu-loving friend Audra's blog and saw the cutest tag/blog entry. I got my kids together and asked them the following questions. It was fun to hear their reactions, even though some of them were rather silly!!

K = Kaleb, C = Cameron, TY = Taylor, T = Timothy

1) What is something mom always says to you? K:) Think before you speak, C:) I don't know...shut up? TY:) I love you, T:) You're an idiot!
2) What makes mom happy? K:) People that listen to her, obey her, help her, and do chores, C:) New shoes!, TY:) When you are obedient, T:) Not lying.
3) What makes mom sad? K:) People not listening, people bugging her, screaming when she has a headache and being alone for a long time. C:) Whatever Kaleb said, he took all the good things! TY:) Not listening and being disobedient, T:) Lying.
4) What does your mom do to make you laugh? K:) Tickle me, and she tells jokes and says funny things, C:) I laugh when she yells at Taylor, TY:) She says, "Hey Taylor!" and I say "What?" and she farts! T:) When she looks at me.
5) How old is your mom? C:) She's either 37 or 38, K:) What? She's 35!, TY:) She's 37, T:) She's older than the dinosaurs.
6) What was your mom like as a child? K:) Playful, she never put sunscreen on so she got sunburned and her mom had to peel off all the dead skin, C:) She was always nice to her brother and friends, TY:) She had curly hair like a perm and was loving and nice, T:) She never got in trouble.
7) How tall is your mom? K:) About as tall as Tim. How tall is Tim? C) Ida know, I've never measured you before. 5'2"? TY:) I'm not sure, 4'5", T:) 5'4"
8) What is your mom's favorite thing to do? K:) Go shopping, watch Seinfeld, hang with her friends, go watch movies, C:) SHOPPING! Reading vampire books, TY:) She likes cuddling and us giving her massages and she likes going to movies, T:) Anything Twilight.
9) What does your mom do when you're not around? K:) Talk to friends on the phone, read vampire books, babysit kids, C:) Hang out with Angie or Heather or Dawn, TY:) She babysits and probably gets annoyed, T:) Babysits.
10) If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? K:) A comedian, like Jerry Seinfeld, C:) Singing, TY:) Acting and singing, T:) For being the craziest person on earth and drug dealing.
11) What is your mom really good at? K:) Making meals, scrapbooking, and babysitting C:) Scrapbooking and she's really good at sleeping! TY:) Cooking & parenting, T:) Being a mom.
12) What is your mom not so good at? K:) Tech deck skating and playing Grand Theft Auto, C:) Cannonballs like when you jump in to the pool, or any gun games, TY:) Math and disciplining us. Sometimes she is too nice and she needs to be harder on us! T:) Skateboarding.
13) What does your mom do for her job? K:) Babysitting, C:) Babysits, TY:) Babysitting, T:) She sits around watching TV all day.
14) What is your mom's favorite food? K:) Chinese, C:) salad from Cafe Rio, TY:) salad, T:) Cafe Rio salad.
15) What makes you proud of your mom? K:) She tells funny jokes, she doesn't yell as much, she takes us fun places, C:) When she takes us places to buy stuff with our money, she doesn't get bothered when people make fun of her, TY:) She is nice and she always tucks us in bed and she helps us with homework and she is a really great mom, T:) She's just a good mom.
16) If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? K:) a cartoon version of Elaine from Seinfeld C:) Velma from Scooby Doo, the geeky one, TY:) Lois from Family Guy, T:) Cartman.
17) What do you and your mom do together? K:) I show my mom stuff on youtube like Potter Puppet Pals, C:) If dad can't go with you to Desert Star, you take one of us, TY:) Shopping and spa days, T:) Sometimes she checks me out of school and we go have lunch and talk.
18) How are you and your mom the same? K:) We both like Potter Puppet Pals and we're both funny, C:) We both have brown hair, TY:) We both like acting and singing and we have brown hair and we like to shop, T:) We are both totally cool.
19) How are you and your mom different? K:) I'm more obnoxious, C:) I'm younger and you're older, TY:) She is way taller than me, T:) She is old.
20) How do you know your mom loves you? K:) How? That's easy! She says I love you and hugs you and stuff and when she takes us out places, C:) Same thing as Kaleb said, TY:) She tucks us in bed and gives us hugs & kisses and makes us treats, T:) She beats me. Just kidding! Ha, ha, ha! She tells me she loves me and calls me a jerk...she always calls me a jerk!

I have awesome kids! Try this with your own kids...it's a real eye-opener!

The Lord & His Witty Sense of Humor!

A few weeks ago in Relief Society, the lesson was about teaching our children. We talked about the frustrating moments we all have with our children and the things our Heavenly Father wants us to teach them, but nothing hit me as hard as the following story illustrates. I thought is was so clever, and just the thing I needed!! Here it is...

"The First Children "

Whenever your kids are out of control, you can take comfort from the thought that even God's omnipotence did not extend to his kids. After creating heaven & earth, God created Adam & Eve, and the first thing he said was, "Don't"
"Don't what?" Adam replied.
"Don't eat the forbidden fruit," God said.
"Forbidden fruit? We got forbidden fruit? Hey, Eve! We got forbidden fruit!"
"No way!"
"Yes way!"
"Don't eat that fruit!" said God
"Why?"
"Because I am your Father, and I said so!" said God, wondering why he hadn't stopped after making the elephants.
A few minutes later, God saw his kids having an apple break.
"Didn't I tell you not to eat the fruit?" the First Parent asked.
"Uh huh," Adam replied.
"Then why did you?"
"I dunno." Eve shrugged.
"She started it!" Adam said
"Did not!"
"Did TOO!"
"DID NOT!"
Having had it with the two of them, God's punishment was that Adam and Eve should have children of their own. Thus the pattern was set, and it has never changed.