The Thueson's

We are having a....

2011-09-13T10:08:00.000-07:00

Well when Braun came back for the week during that crazy time with my dad, I thought...."Heck, since he is here we might as well go find out what we are having!!" With Anisten, I found out right around 14 weeks and of course wanted to do the same thing this time! I am so impatient. Emery and Anisten were already telling everybody it was a boy. Braun told me not to even doubt it because then it WOULD be another girl! Come on.. would that be so bad?! haha! YES! So all 4 of us were gunning for to see a little pecker on the ultrasound. We met at Fetal Photo at South Towne Mall after I picked Emery up from school. I got my belly all lubed up and saw our cute little nugget. It was sitting right on its tushy the whole time though! They couldn't see anything. I decided to get up and go get a sugary drink and eat lunch and come back after.

14 week belly shot!

Seriously... those cheese dogs are TO.DIE.FOR!!!

Well we went back after about a half an hour and the baby was in the perfect position to see the goods! Aww.. aren't ultrasound pictures so surreal?! It is so insane to me that they can see this little thing inside of you. I LOVE it! So this was about 14.5 weeks. Just like my other 2 babies, this little one had the hiccups the whole time. My girls were loving the fact they could see the baby in there. We all had huge smiles on our faces the whole time!

Well HELLO there!

Are you ready for it???!!!! YAYAYAYY!!!! It is a HE! We are having a BOY!

Now a teeny part of me is still a little nervous that that thing is going to shrink back up and it'll be a girl. That can't happen right?! I mean... I have only ever seen girl ultrasounds. That is definite right? Well I go in 2 weeks to have my 20 week appointment and so I guess I will find out for sure then! I just get so nervous. But holy smokes... I can't even believe it. Braun was so cute. He had his arms up in the air screaming "Yes!! Yes!!!" I am pretty sure there were some fist pumps involved too. We are BEYOND thrilled for our little guy! Bring on the blue and green! :)

Of course we went and celebrated by getting chinese mani's and pedi's... totally Braun's idea. haha!

...and then I told Braun how much I wanted Birthday Cake Remix from Coldstone.. he sure takes these blasted pregnancy cravings VERY seriously!!

Our New Nephew Bauer....

2011-09-13T08:47:00.000-07:00

We have a cute new nephew! Braun's brother Cade and his wife Kelsie had their little baby boy on September 9th. He is teeny as can be and it makes me oh so excited for his little cousin to come in February! We went and saw him at their house yesterday and I asked Emery..."Emery, isn't he just sooo cute?? Does that make you so excited for your little brother to come?" To which she replied..."Mom, I want HIM to be my little brother!" Then she later told me that we could just trade babies with Cade and Kelsie. Haha! I don't think they would give him up that easy! ;) Congrats Thueson's! He sure is cute!

My dad...

2011-09-13T00:24:00.004-07:00

(Sorry, this is a lot of detailed information and INSANELY long... as much as I would like to forget this week, I am sure I will forget a lot of these details that I may want to remember one day so I am just going to say it all!)

August 13, 2011

On Saturday morning, I went to pick my girls up. The day before that was my birthday and my mother in law wanted to watch the girls so I could go out and have some fun without my kids. I woke up around 9AM and picked the girls up at about 10. They had a birthday party at 11 and so I took them to that. I did a haircut during the party and then went back to pick them up and was just going to stay there for the last half hour. At 12:25PM, I got a phone call from my brother. I was taking Anisten to the bathroom and I just heard it ringing out in the kitchen. When I got out, I picked up my phone and saw that my little brother Jordan had called me. I called him back at 12:28PM. He picked it up and all I heard him say was..."Tara, Dad just called me and he is having a heart attack. He is in Evanston, Wyoming and he is being life flighted to the University of Utah. I can't get a hold of anyone. You are the first person I have been able to get a hold of. " I was shocked. I was in a room with a bunch of people (only a few of those that I actually knew) and I immediately felt like I was going to collapse. Never in a million years are you expecting a phone call like that! I really felt like I was hyperventilating. Oh it was such an awful feeling. Then I am pretty sure I did start hyperventillating. I started crying and I couldn't stop. Emery is just staring up at me like..."What in the WORLD is going on with YOU?!" Luckily I have great neighbors and they offered to take my girls for me while I went up to get my mom. Oh and my mom... my little brother wasn't able to get a hold of her since my dad called him. I tried her phone and she picked up. I told her what Jordan had told me. She started BAWLING instantly which I think is what set me off. She just kept asking..."Why is this happening to us?!" She has definitely hit her maximum stress level between Jackie and all of her operations, getting laid off and the other stresses of life. I feel so bad for them. I told her I would be on my way to get her and we would go up to the hospital. The ride to the hospital seems like a blur. I remember praying like a mad woman the whole way to my mom's house. I got there and my mother in law had come to sit with my mom while she was alone. I walk in to see them both crying.. we still hadn't heard any news. It was the longest hour ever. I started calling the University of Utah E.R. because that is where Jordan said they were taking him. I remember being so frustrated because they couldn't tell me if he was on his way there or where he was headed. Why didn't you know where the life flight was? Who was in it? Was Jordan's info really correct?!

Finally about 20 minutes later I call the main U of U number and ask if my dad is there. They said he was... he was in the MICU (M=Medical). I should have called that number in the first place, he could have been there the whole time. I spoke with his doctor there and they said he had in fact had a major heart attack. He was being taken in to get a procedure done where they put a stent in the artery that is blocked so they can stop the damage that is being done to his heart. It should take about 30 minutes and then we will be able to see him. I was so confused. My dad just got done hiking the Grand Canyon. He went from the North Rim to the South Rim and then turned back around and hiked back to the North Rim. That is over 50 miles in over 100' temps. A man just about to have a heart attack shouldn't be able to do that! My dad runs a few miles every day! How is this happening?!

All the kids met at my mom's house and headed up to the U to see him. My mom's phone was ringing off the hook. It was good having her talking to people... I think it kept her from thinking the scary thoughts that you so obviously try so hard not to think about in situations like this. We got up there and he was still getting the stint procedure done. About 30 minutes later, a doctor came into the waiting room and told us what was going on. He showed us some pictures of his heart and the 3 arteries coming out. He said they call this kind of heart attack a "widow maker" At that point, I wanted to reach out and smack him. Who says that to his wife?! We didn't even know if he was okay at that point. He showed us that the main artery that supplies blood to 50% of his heart was completely closed off and that is the worst kind of heart attack you can have. It supplies blood to the outer layers of the entire heart. He says that after a heart attack has gone on for over 20 minutes, the heart muscle starts dying and they won't know the extent of my dads damage until the next morning. He then says we can go in and see him.

My mom and I head in to see him. I was surprised at how good he looked! He had to lay flat for the first 4 or 5 hours and he also couldn't move his right leg because that is where they went in to that artery and they didn't want things to get messed up. He was really out of it but he could still talk to us and answer our millions of questions. He told us that he had headed up to North Fork of the Bear (Uintahs) in Wyoming around 5:30 that morning. He was driving his motorcycle up there and felt fine. He said that he got up there with the scouts and about 15 minutes after he got up there helping, he started feeling sick. He went and laid down under a tree and things didn't get better. He said his chest hurt, it hurt to breathe, it seemed like something was poking him in the back and the chest.He had just taught a class the Wednesday before on Hiking Safety (which is seriously one of those blessings in disguise!) and so he immediately knew that he needed to take 300mg of Aspirin and he needed oxygen STAT. Another blessing in disguise was the guy who he got the oxygen from later told us that he never brings it with him but just felt like he should that day. Oh Heavenly Father sure knows what he is doing up there! :) They then got the scout doctors over to him (it was a big get together up there) and they told him that it was indeed a heart attack and he needed to get to a hospital right away. All my dad remembers after that is he was taken in the back of someones truck and they drove like a crazy man to meet the ambulance on the way to Evanston's ER. Once at Evanston, they verified once again that it was a heart attack and then he was life-flighted to the University of Utah. Everyone kept telling him how smart it was that he got that Aspirin into him as soon as he did. So many crazy things happened and my dad got insanely lucky that this ended up the way that it did.

Turns out this wasn't the end of it. He got released from the hospital on Tuesday and was put on 6 medications that he will need to be on for a very long time. Since he had a heart attack before he was 55, that means it is hereditary which is a scary thought for us kids. Well we thought he was out of the bad part of everything and in the clear. On Friday night, I was in bed asleep. It was around 11PM and I hear non-stop knocking at my front door. It was one of those things where you feel like you are dreaming it so I didn't get up. Well the knocking kept going and I got out of bed in my G's and went to see what was going on. I hear my neighbor Pete telling me to open the door. I went and got some clothes on and got the door. Braun had called him because I guess my family had all been calling me and I slept through it all. I pick up the phone and Braun tells me that my mom heard a big thud in their bedroom and she ran in and my dad was lying on the floor and very out of it. I was in shock. I really couldn't even believe it and I didn't even know how to react. I felt so bad that Pete was there telling me the news.. that had to have been so awkward for him. I called my inlaws and they came over with my kids. Braun's dad drove me up to the University of Utah. They had taken my dad in an ambulance back up there to the ER. When we got up there, my sister Heather, her 2 kids, Jordan, Jackie, my brother Aaron and his girlfriend were all there waiting. My mom was inside with him. My mom came outside and told us they did an MRI and a Cat Scan and he had just had a stroke. My mom said that they were out watching Harry Potter when my dad said he was tired and went in and got in bed. She doesn't know how long had passed but all the sudden she heard a big thud in their room and ran in. Somehow my dad had fallen out of his bed and hit his head on his nightstand. Noone knows how he even fell out of his bed but it is a good thing that he did. If he would have had a stroke and stayed asleep, he would have major brain damage and there is a very good chance he would have died. Such scary thoughts. They caught it quickly after it happened and so we were hoping the brain damage would be very minimal. It is scary with a stroke because there is no way of knowing the extent of the damage until after it all unfolds. No anwers sure makes me stressed out! We all got home around 5AM and I slept at my moms house. That next morning I got a call from Braun and he told me he was coming home!!! It was a good thing because I seriously don't know how much more stress I could have handled. Being pregnant, a single mom of 2 for the last month and helping with my family... just a lot of stress for this little baby growing inside of me. The next day I stayed with my brother and sister and at about 4PM went and got Braun from the airport. Anisten came with me and holy smokes... I have never seen a girl more excited to see her daddy! It was so cute to see and just what I needed during this crazy time! We went up to the hospital and they actually gave my dad the option to go home! He was already on all of his blood thinner medicines so recovery would be the same at home as it was in the hospital. After 1 stroke, it is very likely that you will have another in the next 24-48 hours. They found out that the reason he had the stroke to begin with was when he had his heart attack, the bottom tip of his heart died. Well then blood just pooled around it because it wasn't pumping and then when the blood did start moving, it was thick and it sent a clot up into his brain. Seriously... who knew these things happened??! I hate that I know all of this information about strokes and heart attacks. My poor dad! I hate even more that he had to go through all of it.

Luckily it has been about 2 weeks since this happened and his recovery has been pretty awesome so far. He does struggle a little bit with his words but every time I see him it feels like things are improving for him! It has been a crazy ride but we have had so much help and support from our family and friends. It is times like these when you really stop and think about how grateful you are for the things that you have and the friendships you share with people. So THANK YOU for all of the support, calls, texts, meals that were brought to my family, prayers, etc!!

Being a mother...

2011-07-21T08:00:00.001-07:00

(Sorry, something happened to this post from yesterday and now the comments from it are under my Bread post! Silly Blogger...)

These past few weeks I have had a lot of time to think (as I am lying down on the couch trying not to toss my last meal!) about being a mom. I am so grateful that I was chosen to be a mom and also stay home and raise my 2 little girls. On a particularly rough day a few weeks ago, I remember thinking... "What in the heck was I THINKING having 2 babies so close in age/Why did I get pregnant after only being married for 6 months?" Luckily those thoughts are far and few between but still, I hate thinking that way. That night, I sat down and grabbed the Ensign and read a conference talk on being a mother and a wife in this time. It made me stop and think about how lucky I really am. I love that I don't have to take my kids to daycare. I love that I get to stay home and relive my childhood through theirs. It is so fun going out and playing with sidewalk chalk for hours at a time. Why on earth would anyone complain about that? It makes me feel bad for Braun that he has to miss those sweet moment that I sometimes take for granted. I got these journals for all of us called One Line a Day. You make a quick 5 line recap of your day. In my girls books, I write the funny things they do or say. It has spaces for the next 5 years so you can see how far your kids (or you) have come or what you were doing on that day 1,2,3,4 years ago. It is really helping me to cherish the small and insignificant things we do day to day that one day I am sure I will miss. I wish that I had done it since they were born. If you feel you don't have the time to journal everything but want to remember the cute important things your kids say or do, I highly recommend those! :)

The other day, we had just gotten back from the pool and were about to walk into our apartment. I was stopped by my neighbor who was just sitting in his car. He is an insanely nice guy. He has this thick Milwaukee/black accent and is always telling me how cute my girls are. I asked him what he was doing in his car and he said he was stalling so he didn't have to go inside to his wife and her kids. His wife had just had hip surgery and he said she was awfully ornery. I sat out there and talked with him for a bit. He asked me how many kids I wanted and said that I needed to have "dozens" because my girls were just too adorable to not have that many. He told me that he could tell I had a "gift for being a mom." I asked what he was talking about because I honestly didn't understand what he meant or how he would even know to say that because we always just briefly see one another while walking to our cars/houses. He said you can just tell. Some people are always yelling at their kids, talking down to them, never actually "playing" with them, constantly harping at them, etc. And honestly, if you really stop to look around, a lot of parents are that way. It makes me sad. I am not saying I am perfect, heck.. I have gotten mad at my kids plenty of times but in the end, they know that I love them. I am happy that someone else notices that too. I am lucky to have been raised in Utah. I think living in Utah and being raised LDS has taught me so much about families and creating a happy environment for your kids to grow up in. Moving out of state every summer helps me to realize that fact too!! I have heard more moms than I can count out here saying nasty things, swearing at their kids, and just being horrible examples for them and it makes me sad. Sad because kids don't need to be treated that way.
I don't know what brought on this post, maybe it is because I am feeling so incredibly grateful lately. I can't believe that I will be a mom to 3 kids. I seriously couldn't have picked a better life for me to have. I couldn't have picked a better partner in crime either! Braun is seriously the best husband I could have ever asked for. He is strong when I am not. He is patient when I am not. How in the heck did I get so lucky?! Anyway... kids are awake now. Bellies need to be fed! :)

But what is a post without pictures?!

Yes, Anisten is totally going potty in this picture. And this is my daily look I'm sporting lately...hair not done, in pajamas all day and what the heck is makeup?! I think this was about a week or so ago which would put me at about 9 weeks in this picture. I told you, I get large FAST!! ;) You should see my side profile!

There is nothing sweeter than a dad with his baby girls!! Oh they love their daddy so much!

Emery has changed races this summer. She is sooo tan! I sunblock her everytime we go to the pool too. I used to love playing with wet chalk on the sidewalk. Emery loves it too! Double the mess, double the fun!

...and my current view. I've popped!

Oh this was soooo funny. Emery was in her room last week and she started screaming for me to come in. I run in thinking something was wrong and she goes..."MOM!!! I squirted out some lotion and it looks just like the baby in your belly!" haha... I love the crazy things they think of.

My Bread Recipe....

2011-07-20T09:29:00.088-07:00

Last summer, my friend Brooke would always tell me how easy it was to make bread. At the time, I seriously couldn't even get Rhodes rolls to come out right. It was dang annoying. Soooo... she came over and I whipped out the $0.18 bosch. (remember that? I still can't even believe it!) She gave me her tried and true delicious bread recipe and helped me make it that first time. I have made this bread at least 100 times since and I haven't even messed it up once (which is a dadgum miracle, I tell ya!!) I get asked for her recipe a lot and thought I would share! :)

Anyone have a good wheat bread recipe? My inlaws gave us a wheat grinder last Christmas and I have yet to whip it out.

Oh and if you are now remembering that I am allergic to gluten and wondering why I am posting about delicious bread when I shouldn't be touching the stuff, well... let's just say I just deal with the annoying consequences. It is awful I tell ya, but what is more awful is dealing with these blasted pregnancy cravings/feeling like I have to eat non-stop or I am going to die and wanting nothing but gluten filled goodness/cheeseburgers. Yeah, its a lose lose situation.

(You can make this in a Bosch mixer or you can half it and make it in a Kitchen-Aide. I tried making the full recipe in a Kitchen-Aide and my mixer literally fell off my counter onto my tile. Luckily, my tile survived but the mixer has a big ole' paint peeling off dent in it!!)

Okay now onto the recipe!

(this is the whole 4 bread loaf recipe)

10 1/2 C white flour (it says to use bread flour but I have used all-purpose and can't tell a difference)
1/2 C Sugar
1 Tablespoon Salt
3 rounded Tablespoons instant yeast
3 Tablespoons Liquid Lecithin*
4 C Hot Tap Water

Mix dry ingredients in mixer. Add lecithin and water. Mix for 1 minute and check consistency. If dough is too dry, add more water. If dough is too moist, add more flour. (The dough should be barely sticky to touch) Mix for 5 minutes on high. (Do not add water or flour to the dough after it has finished mixing.) Spray counter and pans with Pam. Shape loaves* and cover with a dish towel. Preheat oven to 350" and let raise for 25 minutes. Bake at 350" for 25 minutes.

*Squeeze or pour approximately 3 Tablespoons of Lecithin directly into the bowl. Do not measure. It is a sticky sticky mess if you do! (Tara's tip- take your tablespoon and push it into the flour making 3 Tablespoon sized dents, then pour in the Lecithin) Oh and you can find Lecithin at any health food store. Whole Foods, Good Earth, etc. It comes in a big bottle for around $8.

*To shape the loaves, I have my big mound of dough on my Silpat baking mat. I cut it in half (using my hands) into 2 big even balls of dough. Then I cut those dough balls in 2 smaller balls. I flatten each one into a circle and fold the sides in like you are folding a burrito. Then roll it up and place each loaf seam side down!

Any questions, ask away! It is seriously sooo easy and sooo delicious! Spread a little Cinnamon Sugar Spreadon it, and you will be in heaven! :)

Some very exciting news!

2011-07-13T10:59:00.002-07:00

baby thueson #3 is on the way!!

9 weeks- current gestation
5.5 weeks- when I got a positive pregnancy test
4 negative pregnancy tests AFTER missing aunty flow..
9 days after missed period did i FINALLY get a positive!
2 VERY excited big sisters
16 weeks is how far along I actually look. It is getting a bit ridiculous.
37.5 months between Anisten and the new baby
25 times (and counting) where I thought I was going to throw up and never actually did *thank heavens*
400 questions from very curious big sisters
8 months- how long it took us to get pregnant
3 new cousins coming within a few months of this wee one
1 daddy who REALLY hopes you are a BOY!!
1 big sister who prayed daily for a baby brother for at least a year....

a MILLION times "over the moon excited" about our upcoming arrival!!

and the Facebook announcement.. when Emery tells people about me being pregnant, she always starts it with..."Well Jesus FINALLY listened to my prayers!!!" (with a semi- annoyed voice) Too funny!

Past week or 2 via iPhone...

2011-06-28T06:33:00.001-07:00

This is going to be a super random post!

Anyone read this book?! It was really good. I found myself talking like the ladies in it throughout my day! Haha!

Chicago!

Emery and Diesel are inseparable. I used to think Diesel probably hated Emery and her constant need to hold him but he loves it. When she sits down, he jumps right up on her lap and lays down.

Cheesecake Factory!

Cab rides in Chicago...

Yummiest salad in the whole world. I eat it for lunch almost daily!

We went to the pet store one morning and Emery saw some kitties. She asked me if we could get rid of Ellie and Diesel and trade them for some kitties. Apparently she doesn't love Diesel as much as I thought! ;) Anyway, Braun sold a house that night and they had a kitty so he sent this to Em.

The pet store!

Isn't the road we live off in Milwaukee BEAUTIFUL?! oh gosh, I love driving through it. Not at night though because I swear Vampires live in it. Haha! Too much Vampire Diaries?! I think so! ;)

Robes

2011-06-28T06:15:00.001-07:00

I made my girls some pool/beach robes last week. I saw a cute pattern on Dana Made It and knew my kiddos would love them! They were suprisingly really easy to make until it got time for the bias tape around the edges. I officially HATE bias tape. But if you cross your eyes and look at them, the edges look really good! ;) haha!!

Would that be weird if I made myself a matching one?! Haha!

P.S. Only one more month out here in Milwaukee?! Can you believe it? This summers gone by so fast!

Bradford Beach

2011-06-26T20:21:00.001-07:00

We went to church on Sunday and then headed over to the beach! It was such a fun day!! We got to relax on the towels while the kids played in the sand. Lake Michigan is real cold! Rachel is a nut and got in it though! :) We are probably 20 minutes from the Lake. We usually go to this pretty secluded area but tried this busy one! It was so fun. There are tons of volleyball courts set up all around, food, music, oh and how come no other states besides Utah, Cali an Hawaii have shaved ice stands?! I want a dang snow cone!!!

Anisten in her stunna shades!

Love cute little girls dancin' at the beach!

CJ cat-calling the elderly!

I was told my hat makes me look like a cotton picker. Baha! I love it!

I love this boy!!

Hip poppin' dance moves!

I can't wait to go back. We had so much fun and it was such a pretty beach! Maybe next time I'll be brave enough to get in! ;)

Potty Time!

2011-06-09T20:51:00.000-07:00

Well last week we went and bought this silly little Dora seat. Anisten is VERY independent. She wants to do EVERYTHING on her own. Let's say if I grabbed her out of her seat in the car and put her on the ground, she immediately has to get back into the car, climb into her seat and then get out on her own. Does it drive me nutso??! Yes. But I have learned to just let her do it in the first place so it doesn't take any longer than it already takes!! Okay back to the story.. so I bought this toilet after she refused to let me help her get on the toilet. She hops onto it front ways and swings her leg around and straddles the toilet. Well what do you think happened?? It was only a matter of time before she fell in!! Hence the Dora seat. (Which she also refuses to sit on now!) Anyway... last week I was just trying to get her used to the idea of going potty on the toilet. I don't feel any need to rush her into potty training. I felt like when I rushed Emery, was when she really refused to cooperate. I feel like I can help ease them into it, but they can do it when they are ready. (Now if she was like 6, it would be another story!! yikes!) So tonight we were over at Rachel's house and Anisten started taking off her diaper. She told me she needed to go potty which happens a few times a day. But usually she will sit on the toilet and hop off saying she is done before she even goes potty! So I didn't think today would be any different. But I took her anyway. She hopped right on and went potty!! I was AMAZED to say the least! She was beyond excited for herself. She kept asking me if she would get a "teet" now (treat). She has since gone 3 more times in the toilet and I haven't even had to ask her! She immediately had to call her dad and she left him the funniest message. Oh boy... let's hope tomorrow is just as successful! :)

Remember when I was potty training Emery a few summers ago? I swear.. it was a nightmare. I would be grocery shopping (this happened at Target TWICE and Costco ONCE!!) where Emery decided she would stand on top of everything in the cart and pee?! Oh for hecks sake. I have never been more frustrated or embarrassed in my dang life. (Which is why I have been dragging my feet with Anisten!) Gosh.. parenting sure is rough sometimes!

Roly Poly Hunting

2011-06-04T06:29:00.003-07:00

Emery is obsessed with bugs. Roly Poly's (potato bugs) to be exact. Every morning she asks, "Are the Roly Poly's out yet mom? Can we go on a hunt for them?" Last year at our apartments in Wauwatosa, they were EVERYWHERE!! She would pick a big tulipy flower thing and fill it with them! So now of course, she associates Wisconsin with bugs. Haha! Anyway, this particular morning we went on a hunt and couldn't find a single one on the sidewalks. We walked past our friends apartments and they told us they had seen some in their flower beds. So we checked there. They were INFESTED with 'em!! Emery was in little bug lovers heaven! It looked like they were just hatching because they were teeny tiny!

We even had to bring out dad for the party!

...and then Jake...

Funny story. Emery was planning these little bugs life for them as we were hunting for more. She was figuring out where they were going to "live" and picking plants for them to eat. I grabbed my trusty phone and googled "what do potato bugs eat?" and found out that if indoors, potato bugs like to feast on dead skin, other dead bugs and they will lay their eggs in your ear, up your nose and in other places potato bugs definitely should NOT be!!! Nasty. Well I'm reading this to Braun because,well, I'm grossed out and Emery was right there. Next thing I know, Emery hands me a crumpled up ball of tin foil and says, "mom, I bet Roly Poly's don't do those things if they can't get out of their house!" bahahah! You're right Emery, they can't. They'll be dead! Oh I love their way of thinking!! :)

The pool opened!!

2011-06-03T20:52:00.001-07:00

Our pool finally opened at our apartment complex. It's about time too! I get annoying headaches if I'm out in the heat too long (I blame the crazy humidity out here! Ya can't breathe!) and my kids were constantly wanting to be outside since the weather has been so nice lately. Can you blame them?! So now that the pool opened, it's a win win for both of us! :)

Emery and her bestie, Jaidyn.

Rachel, Anisten and myself. Notice that ash tray to my right?! Yeah, the kids would NOT stop playing in it. Disgusting. Next time I think I'll empty it beforehand!

Heidi and Mila!

Emery is a little fish. She swims for hours!!

Anisten took of her suit and was attempting to put it Back on. I hear her saying , "mom, takeapicshaamee!" haha...they know me too well!

This pose was all Emerys idea... Goofball.

I am so excited to have something to do everyday now! :) ooh and guess what?! We are coming back a month earlier than planned this summer! Okay so it's not 100% for sure yet but pretty sure. I am both excited and not all at the same time. I look at the summer as sort of a break. Nothing too important on the to-do list, long summer days hanging out with friends, pool days, estate sales, weekly recipe swaps, etc. So to only have it for 3 months instead of 4 will be weird. Being home in August?! That's very weird. Braun has now worked in summer sales for 8 years. That's nuts to me. How has he handles this job for that long?! I couldn't take a day of it. Anyway, I don't know why I'm saying all of this. But the cute husband just walked in so I better say goodnight! :)

My body aches!!

2011-05-27T22:51:00.001-07:00

Today was a VERY productive day. I don't know what got into me but as I just laid my head on my pillow I realized this is the first time (including dinner time!) that I have sat down since 7:45 this morning. I'm POOPED.

Joanns Memorial Day sale started today and I needed to get a few things for some quilts I'm working on. So Rachel, Heidi and I headed over there so we could get there right at 9AM. All of the husbands watched the kids so it was super nice to shop just us! :) We got back and the girls and I played outside for awhile. Emery always wants to go on "Roly Poly" hunts (potato bug hunting) and they haven't seemed to have come out for the summer yet. Emery got a new princess dress from the Disney store yesterday and besides bedtime, it's been on her 'round the clock!

Oh my goodness! She came up with a brilliant idea today. She said she would be Cinderella and I could be her evil stepmother. She then told me I needed to tell her everything she needed to clean up and she seriously went around the house cleaning for a good 20 minutes!! It was FANTASTIC and something I hope to do daily! ;) I knew we played "pretend" non-stop for a reason! :)

I am making a secret something for a special someone out of these fabrics. So I needed to get them all cut and ready to be sewn! So that was next on the agenda... And I surprisingly finished it all during Anisten's nap!

Oh and in the midst of everything else, I did 8 loads of laundry!! We went up to Greenbay, Wisconsin for a few days and so I was a little behind on laundry.

I also attempted making homemade tortillas tonight for dinner. They were really good!! I could've just ate those for dinner. Yum.

Then Braun calls and asks if I can get breakfast for his office tomorrow. He makes a special request for Cinnamon rolls! I made a HUGE batch of copycat Cinnabon rolls in the Bosch. I was super nervous it wouldn't hold all of the 18 cups of flour it called for, but it did it with ease!
Haha! How's that for a long log?! There was 2 of those!

Yummy--I can't wait until I get to scarf one of them down in the morning.

So quick recap of my day:

*Joanns
*Roly Poly hunt
*Cut tons of fabric for secret project
*made tortillas
*made dinner
*grocery shopped
*did 8 loads of laundry
*cleaned house
*bathed kids
*made 4 batches of cinnamon rolls

Good heck I'm exhausted!!!! Let's hope tomorrow is much less productive. I need a break! :)

On the road again...

2011-05-24T08:32:00.001-07:00

(these posts are a little out of order, I'll fix them later on my computer!)

Well it's summertime again! (Even though it snowed last week!) We are in Milwaukee again this summer. We LOVED it here last summer. It is the prettiest place we have ever lived. I am pretty sure Wisconsin has at least 25 times more trees than any other state in the U.S. Ill have to take a picture of the street we live off of, it's beautiful!!

It's a 23 hour drive and when traveling it with a 2 and 4 year old there's bound to be some meltdowns. Suprisingly, there wasn't!! The kids were SOOOO unbelievably good on the way out.

We were filled to the brim!! Don't mind Ellie in this picture. Pretty sure she is cleaning her "lady parts" in this picture!! ;)

There was lots of coloring, stickers, movies, treats and games on the way...

Oh and homely looking little ones... Come on, you can't look cute on a road trip!!

We were smiling and happy on the first part of the drive but after about 3 hours it gets a little old!! Funniest part of the drive was when we looked over and saw a deer in the back seat of someones car!! It was a little unexpected but we were dying laughing. We were in Wyoming if that explains anything. Haha!!

Oh boy, when I saw a Panera we had to stop. Holy sheesh.. I NEED to find their Macaroni and Cheese recipe. I found their French Onion soup recipe but need to try that one too. WHEN are they going to build Panera's in Utah?!

And while eating at Panera, we looked out the window and saw a Claires. Apparently we were feeling a little spontaneous because we went and got little Anistens ears pierced!! :) I'll save those pictures for another post though but they sure look adorable! :)

Late Nights...

2011-05-24T07:40:00.001-07:00

One of the fun things about summer sales is when the boys hit their goal for the week, Braun gets to take everyone in the office out for dinner on Saturday night! Dinner starts at about 11PM which is GREAT for the kids bedtime! ;) Can you see my sarcasm in that sentence? We went to Texas Roadhouse on Saturday. My kids had already been in bed for about 2 hours but who wants to miss out on Texas Roadhouse rolls and cheese fries?!? Not me!!

These two are hysterical lately. They are the best of buds and I LOVE it!! They giggle and play together all day long.

Tired Girl...

2011-05-18T13:43:00.003-07:00

Anisten loves to "Cu-Yer" all of the time. Grandpa Thueson came over to visit the girls one night and brought them some stickers. She played with them for about a half hour and then I noticed it was really REALLY abnormally quiet. Usually when that happens, it is never a good thing but what I saw when I walked in sure was funny!!

Mothers Day 2011

2011-05-18T13:35:00.007-07:00

I had such a great Mothers Day this year! We woke up a little late and had church in about an hour, so Braun gave me the option of either making us breakfast or getting the girls ready for church! haha.. that was easy! Have you ever seen Braun get the girls ready? Oh BOY! Not a pretty sight. BUT... have you tasted Braun's pancakes? They are heavenly!! So it was an easy decision for me. We ate breakfast together and then went to church. It was our first week at church in Milwaukee. Our church building is a little more normal looking than last years. I kind of missed going to church in a cute little Swedish house! Emery gave me her little Mothers Day present from preschool. I LOVED it so sooo much. She thinks I am 9 and my job is to clean up! Gotta love little 4 year old minds. Hey, she was spot on with going to Target though! I do love a good Target run!

and her adorable little 4 year old handwriting.. does it get any better than this?? I don't think so.

My hinting WORKED!! I have wanted a pressure cooker for awhile now so I can can chicken, beef, beans, make mashed potatoes in 10 minutes, potroasts in an hour, I could go on and on. That is what he got me! I borrowed my mother in laws last time I canned chicken and took pictures so I could one day (the day obviously hasn't come yet) post a tutorial on canning meat. I will call her and get the details so I can post it.

doesn't it look so gross? Yeah, it does. This will soon become your favorite thing in your whole pantry though. Canned chicken makes dinners so quick!

I love that Mother's Day is on a Sunday. It gave me the whole day to spend it with my kids and husband. We chatted with our parents later that night. I am so grateful for my little family. Becoming a mom has been the greatest blessing in my life! I saw this on the side of my LuluLemon bag on Mothers Day!! haha! I laughed.. it was so fitting for me to read it that day.

I am grateful for a mother that always taught me by example. I sure do love her! I am also incredibly grateful to have such a great mother-in-law! Between my moms and my grandma's, I have some amazing footsteps to follow!

Moving to Milwaukee!

2011-05-18T13:30:00.006-07:00

So we have been out in Milwaukee for about 2.5 weeks now.. it has been really nice being out here. I can't wait for it to warm up though! It has been quite rainy out here. One day it is in the 50's, the next day the 60's. I hear Utah is the same right now. Mother Nature can't make up her mind I guess! Today I went to take the dogs out and it was already 65' so I am hoping that means warm weather is finally here! I think I will be regretting that statement come July though when the humidity and heat makes my hair look like a LION.

I went to my first estate sale of the summer this morning too! I got some cute vintage tablecloths, a couple scarves, some doilies (to make the blanket seen HERE) isn't it cute?! and I think that's it.

We started a for real chore chart with Emery since we have been out here. It has worked wonders on our little stubborn girl. She has 10 things she has to do every day and we pay her a nickel for each thing she completes. She loves sticking the little stickers on each of her "jobs" she finishes. Anisten has one as well but she doesn't get near as excited about doing her chores as her sister does! I used the cute printable chore chart found HERE.

I have become obsessed with sewing again. It is what I want to do all day. Obviously, I can't with my 2 little crazies running around all day. I have suprisingly finished a lot of projects since I have been out here. My favorite part of the day is 1pm when little Anisten is napping and Emery is having her "quiet time!" My good friend Rachel is out here with us this summer and I think we feed off of each others creativity!! :) We have very similar taste and it is helping me get back into the groove! :) I have about 10 quilts being planned in my head.

So I am obsessed with Pinterest. Are you on there? It is so amazing. It is a place to catalog all of your ideas. You see something online you want to make, a recipe you want to try, a skirt you want to buy, a house you love, etc...You PIN it to one of your boards and it is always there to remember. I could sit on it all day. Good thing my kids keep me busy or I WOULD be on it all day! ;) My pinterest link is HERE. You can also follow people and their favorite pinned things will pop up on your feed. It is a brilliant idea. I signed up for their waiting list about 3 months ago and I still haven't gotten an invite! So being invited by someone already on there is your best bet. If you need an invite, let me know in the comments and I can send you one.

Well Anisten is napping and I have a quilt back to piece so I gotta run... Have a good day!

Great sale on Strawberries!

2011-04-29T11:20:00.001-07:00

There is a great sale on strawberries at Reams this weekend. You can get a whole case (8 containers) of strawberries for $6.99. I am not a Reams shopper so if you aren't either, price match them at Wal-Mart for $.87 a container!

It is freezer jam time!! :)

For Sale: Petunia Diaper Bags and more!

2011-04-27T12:58:00.006-07:00

So I have some things for sale. Here are some of the pictures and I will post the links below if any of you are interested in more pictures, descriptions, etc! :) I am moving soon so if you are interested, jump on it quick! I still need to post an Ogio black laptop messenger bag (mens or womens) an Xbox, and a Jabra Bluetooth speaker for your car and 2 Nikon camera lenses for a DSLR (a 55-200 and a 18-55) !

Here is a link to everything for sale:

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=231&userid=856308

about 400 CROCHET HEADBANDS!! haha! You could turn around and make a killing on this buy. You could easily sell each headband for $3-4 a piece.

One last Coupon Class!

2011-04-21T08:13:00.002-07:00

Hey everyone! Okay I posted something on Facebook about having a coupon class on Tuesday and I forgot to come on here and post it too! There should be a lot of people coming so it should be good! :)

Here are the details:

Tuesday, April 26th at 6:00 to about 7:30. My house. If you don't have my address, message me on Facebook or send me an email to tarathueson(at)gmail(dot)com and I will get it to you! No kids this time please. Sorry!

And keep in mind that I am moving a few days after that and so there will probably be a lot of boxes lying around! ;) Don't judge, okay??

Hope you can come! Even if I don't know you, come!! (except if you're a creep, then you can stay home... ;) )

Let me know!

My Double Coupon Wal-Mart Trip

2011-04-19T12:54:00.001-07:00

This trip was sooooo much fun! Here are the details:

Things purchased:

26 Betty Crocker fruit snacks (gushers and regular)
5 Brownie mixes
5 kids toothbrushes
6 dental floss
5 soft scrub
5 409 cleaner
5 crest toothpaste
5 Colgate toothpaste
5 crest kids toothpaste
5 aquafresh kids toothpaste
1 Magic Eraser
8 Tin Foils
5 Stuffing
3 Powdered Sugar
2 Brown Sugar
6 String Cheese
3 Glade Air Fresheners
5 Shout Wipes
11 Simply Lemonades
4 Motrin
5 Yeast Packs
Clementines
5 Bic Razors
5 Degree Deodorant
2 Oatmeal
2 Poligrip (free-donating!)
1 Nail Clippers
8 Heinz Ketchup
1 Disposal Cleaner
1 popcorn kernel bags
1 popcorn seasoning
1 gallon Milk
1 Dozen eggs
1 cereal
Bananas
10 3pack Listerine Pocket Packs

Total before coupons and price matching: $320.42

Total out of pocket after coupons and price matching: $33.89

Total savings of: $286.53
Saved 89%!!!!!!!

I bought 168 items making each thing about $0.18 a piece!

Can I get a YAAAHHHOOOOOOO??!

I may do one more class next week before I leave for the summer--if you're interested, leave a comment below or send me a FB message! :)

I've gone crazy...

2011-04-19T04:38:00.001-07:00

I just got back from the grocery store at 5:20AM. I've decided coupon shopping is way more fun with a buddy. Me and my neighbor went all out tonight!! We left around 1:30 and scoured the aisles. I had my little sister sleep over last night so she could be there with my kids while we went!! Needless to say, I doubt this will be the last time this happens. Double coupon Tuesdays at Wal Mart is the best thing EVVVVEEERRRR!! I'll post my savings along with what I bought tomorrow but as of now, it's time for me to SLEEEEP! g'night!!

And after looking at this picture, I realized I left my milk on the bottom of my grocery cart. Dangit!

My little Anisten...

2011-04-17T19:07:00.001-07:00

This little sure keeps me busy! She is the funniest little thing too. Always saying the strangest things. Last week, we were sitting in my parents sacrament meeting. Someone was baring their testimony and it was really quiet. Anisten was sitting on my lap facing me with her head at boob level. Next thing I know, she is grabbing lefty and saying "HONK! HONK! BIG BOOBIES!" Braun, myself, my parents, and the row in front of us was cracking up! It was seriously hilarious. There's never a dull
moment with kiddos around!

Day 4: A Dream of Mine

2011-03-22T23:29:00.002-07:00

Oh boy.. I have A LOT!! The thing I look forward to most in life is having a big family. Like a huge family that all gets together every Sunday for big family dinners at our house with spouses, kids, grandparents, etc!! Which means we need to have a few more kids so we can get that "big family get together!!"

One more dream of mine is to go sight seeing and traveling all over Europe!! Braun and I have wanted to do it for so long but with our kids it just hasn't worked out very well. I would love to go over there for a few weeks. Taking the train to all of the places over there. No strict agenda.. just going wherever whenever. It will happen. Ooh baby! It will happen.

Day 3: Pet Peeves

2011-03-22T23:20:00.002-07:00

Sorry.. this is a day late! Here we go...

Okay pet peeves--

When I take hours and clean the whole house, within an hour my kids make it a complete MESS! I do have to say though, I can finally tell Emery to go and clean her room and SHE DOES IT!! I have waited 4 and a half years for this! FREAKING amazing. It is about time. :)

Negative People. It drives me nutso when people look for the worst in everything and then complain about everything. Come on people, how old are we now?? I thought that went away once you had kids.

People who update their Facebook status hourly with things like "just getting in the shower" "just eating lunch" etc...

jeeze-- this was a negative one. I am being one of my own pet peeves!! ;)

Day 2: Favorite Movie

2011-03-19T21:06:00.002-07:00

Heck.. I don't really have a favorite movie but if I had to pick a REALLY good one, it would have to be "The Blind Side!" Such a good uplifting show. Now if I had to pick two... the next one would be "Taken." Boy... that dad sure knows how to woop some booty!! Those shows couldn't be more opposite but I really do love them both!

Day 1: Me

2011-03-18T21:53:00.002-07:00

A recent picture of me:

(taken in LuluLemon this past weekend in Cali!)

(and yes, I bought those pants! They definitely need a good hemming.)

Five interesting facts about moi:

crap.. this is harder than I thought.

1. I have a rock in my cheek from when I was in a car accident. I can still feel it in there and sometimes I bite on it and it makes me want to throw up!!

2. I LOVE to work out. Although it doesn't happen as much as I would like it to, I love how I feel when I am doing it and how it makes me feel the rest of the day!

3. When Braun and I got married, I wanted 6 kids. Then I had Emery and thought 4 was a good number. Then we had Anisten.. and now the thought of another scares me to death!! ;) But I do know we will have more. One day. Oh and I do want to be DONE having kids by the time I am 30. Shoot-- I better get on it!

4. I am allergic to gluten and I hate it. HATE IT. Food is my life and the foods that I love the most are filled with stuff my body hates! It really stinks. One day I will be good and get off gluten completely. Until then... bring on the headaches. :(

5. My favorite TV shows to watch are the murder mysteries.

Oh and I hate to open mail... and do the laundry....

Do you LOVE Google Reader like I do??

2011-03-17T19:34:00.004-07:00

Well if ya do, I have the best news since sliced bread. Seriously. So I always just click through peoples blog posts that way (and if you look at the picture below, you can see I am very behind. About 2,906 blog posts behind!!) Anyway... I have the BEST NEWS for you if you look at blogs like that. I took some screen shots so you can see how I did it.

Okay this is what your normal google reader looks like. This is how I usually read peoples blogs. No cute backgrounds, just a plain jane webpage. LAME-O!

So click that little bolt icon in the top right corner. Then click on 'Reader Settings.'

It will take you to a page where you can then click on 'GOODIES'

Scroll down until you see this part. Now see that icon that says 'next?' You are going to click and drag that icon to your bookmarks toolbar that is at the top of your browser. Then see the 'subscribe" icon that's a little further down? Drag that up to the top of your browser too!

See both of them up there on the left side?? Now here comes the magic... click on the 'next' icon!

Then keep clicking... and clicking... in my case, click it 2,906 times. ;)

Now.. another thing that I hate is when I find a new blog that I love, I have to go and open up Google Reader and copy+paste it to subscribe. Well, now you don't have to do that either. I love finding little ways to make my life easier. All ya gotta do now is click on the 'Subscribe' bookmark you put up there and it subscribes to it automatically!

Are you amazed??? YOU ARE WELCOME!!!

30 day blog challenge:

2011-03-17T16:03:00.002-07:00

So... I am committing to something. I WILL stick to it btw. I have been in a blogging funk for the past little while (heck, probably the last 6 months!) I am HOPING this will get me back in the groove. So this is how it is going to go down. Follow along and if you are up for the challenge, do it along with me! Note: I did not come up with this but I did switch some of the questions up a bit. This 30 day blog shred starts tomorrow! :)

day 1: recent picture of yourself and 5 interesting facts about you

day 2: your favorite movie

day 3: pet peeves

day 4: a dream of yours

day 5: your parents

day 6: your celebrity crush

day 7: an animal you'd love to keep as a pet

day 8: a hobby of yours

day 9: a place you love

day 10: a person you love

day 11: favorite tv shows

day 12: photo of you taken ten years ago

day 13: something you're afraid of

day 14: your makeup bag

day 15: your family

day 16: something you're looking forward to

day 17: favorite book

day 18: what makes you different from everyone else

day 19: something you bought recently

day 20: what did i wear today??

day 21: your friends

day 22: a place you've traveled to

day 23: favorite recipe

day 24: favorite photo

day 25: your house and your favorite rooms in it

day 26: a habit you wish you didn't have

day 27: a picture of you last year and a picture of you now

day 28: something that stresses you out

day 29: favorite vacation

day 30: photo of yourself today + three good things that have happened in the past 30 days

California...Days 1 & 2

2011-03-14T18:35:00.001-07:00

Well we decided to make an impromptu trip to California last week! Braun had his last week off before we leave for the summer and us girls wanted to take full advantage of it! :) We loaded up our trailer and headed to San Diego.

We left at about 10 am and got into San Diego around midnight. With 2 little kiddies, we make plenty of stops and don't rush it. It makes it nice! And the great thing about bringing our 5th wheel along is when we need a bathroom break, we pull off and use our own super clean bathrooms. Oh it's so nice. Around 10 that night, Emery got a bit hyper. It was so cute. Braun looked back at her and she had this huge grin on her face. We asked her why she was smiling so big and she told us,"I can't stop smiling!! I'm just so excited to go to Disneyland!"

She then tried to "wipe off her smile" because she said it was making her cheeks hurt! Oh I just love her!

We got lucky with our kids. They are RARELY awake before 9 and this trip was no exception! Which was a very good thing because Braun and I were dang tired from the day before.

We got all gussied up and went to do a little shopping.

My kids LOVE Nordstroms. What girl wouldn't I guess? They have at least 20 pairs of shoes tried on before we leave (which drives me nuts!!) but they sure get attention from everyone walking by.

Oh I seriously debated over these shoes. I LOVE them. Is the bow too big?? Gosh-I couldn't decide. Help me??

We went to CPK and vegged on salad and pizzas. Emerys pizza of choice is pineapple and olives. Eew.

The tostada pizza is AMAZING!!! I'd never tried it before and I loved it!

Got some dLush milkshakes! Holy amazing. Those sample people really got us on those ones!!

And while dad was taking forever in the bathroom, the girls had a little dance party.

Haha! I had to take a pic of our convo. I died laughing when I read Brauns text. He's so gross. ;)

The girls were zonked by the end of our day. I was too!

Braun was hoping he would get a nap in too but the second we drove into our KOA, Emery perked right up and was ready for swimming! Can ya blame her!? Our Utah winter has seemed Sooo long! It's about time we got some warm weather.

Oh jee whiz-gas prices are RIDICULOUS!!! $4.39 for Diesel. Not a good time to drive to a far away place, eh? Especially getting 8.7 miles to the stinkin' GALLON!

Excuse the dirty-ness of this but I saw it and had to laugh!! Dang true though.

Sea Worlds next!!

51% back on Magazines today!!

2011-03-04T09:31:00.003-07:00

Okay sorry, one more deal post. I totally took advantage of this deal when it was on a while ago and I am so excited that it is here again! :) Are you guys members of eBates? It is a program that pays you cash back for doing online shopping just like you normally would. So like if you wanted to buy something from Old Navy, you would go to www.ebates.com and then from there, click on their Old Navy link. It opens up a 'ticket' to that store and you get a % of your purchase back. It is awesome!! So for todays deal, you get 51% back on your order from www.magazines.com which is AMAZING!!! You could order Parenting or Parenting Early Years magazines and get those high value diaper deal coupons that I posted about from Amazon. I think you get 22 issues of it for $5 after you get your cash back.

Here is a link to sign up for that too! Trust me on this one, you gotta do it! :)

2 Movie Tickets for $9!!

2011-03-04T09:17:00.002-07:00

Ya'll gotta get in on this sweet deal! :) You can get 2 movie tickets for $9 on Living Social today. It has been going on for a few days but today is the last day! It is actually a Fandango gift card type deal so I am betting your local movie theater is on the list! :)

Click on this link HERE to get your tickets! Then lets all go on a massive date night to the movies! :)

The coupon class last night was awesome!! Thank you to everyone who came. It was packed and I loved it! :) If you missed the hand out and want it emailed to you, let me know and I will get it sent over to ya.

Camping!!

2011-03-02T12:16:00.001-07:00

Well we are headed back from a
fun few days at the Sand Dunes! We packed up the trailer, 3 kiddos (Kendall came along) 2 dogs, Braun and I and a whole bunch of food and movies and headed out! We got a new fifth wheel before the winter and we have been itching to get out and use it!! ;)

We only got one MAJOR dent in Brauns truck this time. For heck sakes, last time Braun hit our house backing the trailer in. So surprisingly, his truck was a little better than our HOUSE and our BRAND new trailer!! When are we going to figure this camping shiz out?!?! Oh and no warm water worked AND we found out one of the pipes sprung a leak too which meant no showering either. Haha! It was still fun though. Let's just pretend I took pictures okay?

Like the picture I should have taken of Emery and Kendall trying to take her Barbie jeep up sand mountain. Yeah, that would have been a good one.

Once I realized I was sucking in the picture department, I snapped these two from breakfast this morning.

My kids kept saying over and over how much they love camping. Which made the dent, no warm water, no showering, etc. TOTALLY worth it. :)

Side note: This coupon class is going to be AWESOME!!! I can't believe how many people are coming. It's looking like about 25 so far which makes me a tad nervous but still, it's going to be awesome!! The more people the merrier! So come if ya can! :) Also, if you can't make this one, I have another one on March 24th for my Relief Society that you could come to as well!

Coupon Class and Today's Walgreens Haul!!

2011-02-28T17:54:00.001-07:00

So today was AWESOME!! I got crazy awesome deals at Walgreens. It's definitely the week for freebies!! Want to see what I got?

How much do you think I spent??

Well let me tell ya what I got and their retail prices.

6 Baby Magic Lotions $22.74
7 Baby Magic Body Wash $26.53
4 Vicks Cough Drops $3.96
16 Colgate Total Toothpaste $47.84
5 Aquaphor Lip Treatments $24.95
5 Nivea Lip Gloss $14.95
2 Motrin $6
6 Peroxide $4.14
3 Puffs $4.14
2 Stickers $2.00
1 Donuts $1.59
4 Crest Mouthwash $19.96

My total before coupons was $185.64. Yikes!

Let's hear your guesses!! ;) Okay, I'll just tell ya. $27.24!!!! AND I got $27 in Register Rewards (free
money) for next time I go to Wal Mart or Walgreens! So basically I got all of this for.......

.......
.......

$0.24!!! FREAKING AMAZING!!!

Want to learn how to do that?? I am going to have a "Couponing Class" at my house this Thursday! It's at 6:00. Come alone, bring a friend, whatever!! You will be able to sign up for your newspaper that night as well if you'd like to! If ya don't know where I live but you want to come, send me an email at tarathueson [at] gmail [dot] com

Also, if you can't get a sitter but want to come, I am going to have someone here to watch the kids upstairs while we are downstairs. It will be $10 for the night. My guess is it'll be about 2 and a half hours. So let me know on that too! :)

Anyway-- leave a comment below if you're going to come!

Couponing!!

2011-02-25T22:38:00.009-07:00

Well I have become addicted to something. Like crazy addicted. Like dumpster diving at 11PM addicted. It's bad. Well technically it's really good. But ya know, addictions are bad.

This is the face of a little girl who just said... "MOM-- are we REALLY at another one of these??"
(when talking about a dumpster!)

But what is awesome is:

spending $1.78 and getting 75 packs of my favorite gum! (50.73 before coupons)

Spending $1.32 and getting 6 body washes.

Getting 12 (yes, only 11 in this picture-- I couldn't resist!) Mento's completely free.

Getting 36 airheads for $1.20-- Braun's church class is going to love him! :)

All of this was $3.43 from Target. (before coupons was 50.95)

and getting everything you see in this picture for $4.34!!!!!

It has required a lot of time staying on top of coupon clipping, etc.. but I am amazed! (and this is like 1/100th of the deals I have gotten lately. This was just today's haul! :) Everything you saw in those pictures cost me $12.07.

This was the other days newspaper dive. After this one, I've told myself NO MORE dumpster diving for coupons. It took WAAAY too long to clip them all.

Did you also know that you can online coupon shop?? These are screen shots from my Amazon couponing tonight! I got $297.33 worth of diapers and wipes for only $40.86 shipped!!! I got huge 120-140 ct. boxes of Huggies for $6 (normally around $40 at Costco) and a few boxes of Pull-Ups and wipes completely free!

I really am amazed at how easy it is to get crazy good deals. I haven't paid more than 50% of my grocery total for about two months. One of my goals this year was to have an amazing food storage by the end of the year and like I said before, it has only been about 2 months but it is INSANE how much stuff you get for free and super cheap that you are used to paying B00K0 BUCKS for!

One of the biggest questions I get is "How did I learn??"

First off, I am no pro. I went to 2 classes, read a lot of couponing blogs and figured out the best way to get TARA to do it. It took a few weeks to get it down but this book was a HUGE help. Her website is also equally great!

The Krazy Coupon Lady- beginner section this will take you on a 10 day plan to becoming a Krazy Coupon Lady!

Another question I get is how do I hear about all these deals. That is the awesome thing about the internet. I do NOT have to go out and find my own deals. There are people who do that for their job! They go out and research all of the best deals that week and post them on either Facebook or their own Coupon Blogs. Some of my favorite coupon blogs are:

www.thekrazycouponlady.com All deals
www.iheartthemart.com All Wal-Mart deals
www.totallytarget.com All Target deals
www.savvyshopperdeals.com All deals
www.grocerysmarts.com All deals-- great if you are a Smiths shopper!

The BEST thing though is if you are a Facebooker, add some of those sites to your Facebook feed and they literally post things 10 or so times a day. When something good pops up, get those coupons out of your binder and write it down on your grocery list. If you only shop at Wal-Mart, price match them from other stores with your coupons and you will get a sweet deal! :) Even just do a search for "coupon" in the search bar and find some coupon pages with a lot of fans. Add them!

Any questions, ask away! I would love to help you get started in this. It is so dumb not to!

Random coupon facts:

I get 5 Daily Herald newspapers every Sunday. It costs me $18.50 (I think??) a month. You will save that within your first 5 minutes of grocery shopping! :) It will take you about 6 weeks to get your coupon "stock-pile" so order it soon and clip every last coupon. For example, I clipped coupons for $10 off some $25 diabetic foot cream. After a bunch of store sales, my $10 coupon, etc.. Walgreens paid me $5 to buy this foot cream. Now I have a whole bunch of foot cream that I donated to a grandma and took to an elderly home. (AND it is all a tax write off-before coupons, I might add!)

Wal-Mart price matches other stores. You rarely even need to have the ad with you. Some Wal-Mart's even accept other stores coupons. Like the one in Sandy- they will totally take a Target coupon! Awesome.

Wal-Mart also accepts Walgreens Register Rewards.

You can "stack" coupons on single products. For example, in the Dentyne gum above, it was on sale from Target from $1.99 down to $1.79. There was a Target coupon on their website for $.75 off 1 and a manufacturer coupon from the Sunday paper for $1 off 1. So each pack of gum cost me $.04 for a 3 pack of gum.

If there is an awesome coupon that you want a lot of, just buy them online! Try eBay and other coupon clipping sites and you can get them for cheap. That is how I got so many Dentyne coupons.

Always take your coupon binder with you into shop. BUT be organized with a list and your coupons set aside before you go. There is NOTHING I hate more than being behind a SLOOOOOW coupon shopper. Now sometimes your cashiers are idiots and that doesn't help the process, but don't you be slow! Be ORGANIZED! Back to why you should take a coupon binder with you... I was in Smiths a few weeks ago and I walked through the deodorant aisle. They had an unadvertised sale on Dove deodorant. It was $2.00 each. I remembered that I had a few $2 off 1 coupon and whipped them out. I got 6 deodorants completely FREE!! That will happen a LOT. Especially in the Target clearance sections!

I organize my binder by putting my coupons all in baseball card holders. It is an awesome way to do it. They are 30 for $4 at Target near the sports card section. I bought a binder that zips at Staples for $19.99. It also has a big strap on it which makes it nice to carry around like a purse. You NEED to get at least a 3" wide ring binder. That is what I got and it is already full to the max.

Walgreens is usually crazy EXPENSIVE to shop at. Want to see how to get amazing deals there?
Watch this Video HERE.

Another coupon stigma is that you are buying a lot of products that you don't need or won't ever use... I have been VERY strict with myself on this couponing gig. You will be shocked at how many things are free or a few pennies. At first, you will want to buy it all. But will you really use that spicy mustard that you get for free at Target?? No, I won't. So therefore, I don't buy it.

Well, I think that is all of the information I have for you right now. If you have ANY questions at all, I would love to help you!

Las Vegas.. Day 2

2011-02-18T08:39:00.003-07:00

(I just realized I have had this saved in my drafts for a few months!)

Well we started this day off by heading to the gym! I have become such a gym girl the past few months. It's amazing how good a little working out can make ya feel!

and then I probably ate 10x's the calories I had just burned by eating this delicious breakfast panini! We ate at the pool and there were people swimming IN JANUARY! crazy people. It was pretty warm (low 70's) though I guess.

Today was a full (like 11am-midnight) day of SHOPPING!! I seriously couldn't even believe how big of a sport Braun was! Didn't complain once that day. Amazing man, right?

He was even able to squeeze in some work while we were there! :)

He did sneak a nap or two in in the dressing rooms with me.

I got him converted to LuluLemon! No joke, he probably said "I seriously LOVE these pants" at least 15 times that weekend!

I convinced Braun to get his eyebrows threaded! It was awesome to watch and they looked so good after. Again, Braun is such a good sport to my crazy ideas!

After Fashion Show mall, we headed over to the Venetian and walked around. They had this extremely creepy huge bunny that occasionally blinked! It was weird. Who comes up with their decorations??!

Our damages.. I am now set on workout clothes for at least a few years! It was a very successful trip if I do say so myself! :)

Pawit's....

2011-02-05T09:12:00.001-07:00

So Braun and I had a little day date on Thursday! We went and had the most horrible 75 minute (it was supposed to be 90 but the ladies cut out early!) massages. We bought it off Groupon a while back and I am even mad I paid $50 for it! Ya live and ya learn, right? Our lunch made up for it though. We went to Pawit's up in Holladay! It was highly recommended by some friends of ours.

Braun apparently wasn't in the mood for pictures that day.

I want to go back already! Seriously though, stay away from "A New Day Spa" in Holladay. Soooo bad.

Las Vegas--Day 1!

2011-01-28T01:40:00.001-07:00

Braun is so darn cute. Last Tuesday he could tell I was having a rough day. I wasn't feeling very well and he had been working a lot. He called me into his office at about 10 pm and asked me if I'd like to go to Vegas on Thursday for the weekend!! Of course I did!! I love Vegas! So we rounded up a sitter (Thanks Ash and Jake!!) and left bright and early on Thursday!

What's a roadtrip without a trip to the gas station to fill up on treats?!

Our drinks of choice...

Seriously, I could eat 2 dozen Krispy Kremes before I ever got sick of them. They're Sooo yummy!

We stayed at the Trump! This hotel is unreal. It smells like heaven and the service is fantastic!! :) There isn't a casino in there which is why I love it so much! You don't feel like you're staying in dirty Vegas and literally, you walk out the front steps and you're at Nordstroms front door! Score!!

Notice the TV in the mirror? I was able to watch plenty of the "You're Cut Off" marathon on VH1 as I got ready! :)

I think this tub could fit about 6 people comfortably! ;)

We went and got some pedicures and manicures (Brauns choice, may I add!) at this little Chinese joint. It was great. That night we went and had some delicious Maggianos. We were serenaded throughout dinner by these cute little old guys playing those gigantic cello (I think that's the word for a large guitar thing, right?!) things like they do on the movies. So cute. The food there is to die for!

After dinner, we shopped around a bit and then went back to the hotel! Day 2 will be next! :)

Cookie Deliveries...

2011-01-28T01:37:00.001-07:00

I have been trying to teach Emery about being thoughtful of others. I think it's really important to teach kids her age this simple concept that makes a world of a difference! So a few Sundays ago, she asked if I would help her make cookies! I agreed and then she told me that she wanted to decorate some and take them around to her friends in the neighborhood. It sure makes you feel good to see your kids wanting to do nice things for others without me having to push for it! :) So we made some yummy sugar cookies and the girls and I got to decorating! I had to take pictures of the "during" part--having 2 little helpers does NOT make for a clean workspace!

And here is the cute delivery girl out delivering cookies in the single digit temps!

Making Goo!

2011-01-28T01:25:00.001-07:00

Well today I promised my kids that if they were good, we would make some goo later tonight! Anytime they started being stinks, I threatened to take away the "goo-making" and they were angels! ;)

My little Oreo faced Anisten. Silly girl!

I caught her sneaking into them all day today!

It is the coolest stuff to make and play with! I got the recipe from www.ourbestbites.com and you can make a few batches in less than 5 minutes! :) My girls LOVED it. Definitely going to be making lots of this!! :)

50% off at Amazon.com!!

2011-01-19T01:31:00.004-07:00

I love a good deal and thought you all might like one too! :) Today ONLY you can get a $20 gift card for $10 on Living Social. Just click this link:

https://livingsocial.com/deals/21336?ref=conf-jp&rpi=3820002

and buy yours! I stinkin' LOVE Amazon. Dirt cheap prices and I get everything shipped to me in just 2 days for free using their Prime account. Oh and P.S. you can buy more than one if you use separate emails!

Happy Shopping!! :)

Sister Wives....

2011-01-02T23:50:00.001-07:00

Anyone watch that show?? I love it. I don't know why but it sure intrigues me! We were at Costco the other night when I walked into the freezer section and spotted Christine!! I have never in my life seen a normal looking (as in without the side swooped bangs, dress, long braided hair and a 4 inch long gold snap clip!!) polygamist but there she was. I followed her around for a good 10 minutes just to find the perfect moment to snap a picture! It was totally awkward but she was awesome!! Super nice and she even laughed at my dumb jokes I was making while trying not to look like an idiot! ;) pretty sure I failed.

Oh and I had to snap a picture before I asked her for one. Ya know, just to make sure it was gonna work.

Can't wait for the show to start back up! March 11th... Just incase you were wondering! ;)

chenille baby blanket...

2010-12-30T09:23:00.006-07:00

I really want to try this!! The possibilities are endless with it and think of how cozy it would be! :)

The tutorials for it are found here:
http://www.aestheticnest.com/2010/08/sewing-heirloom-cut-chenille-baby.html
and here:
http://www.dana-made-it.com/2008/07/tutorial-faux-chenille-blanket.html

photos were found on flickr.

happy as a clam...

2010-12-29T21:54:00.002-07:00

We took the kids to go and see Tangled. Oh my goodness! That is the cutest movie ever! By far my favorite princess movie. It is so much fun being able to go out with both of our kids, do something we all love and not have to get a babysitter!

We got us a large popcorn and no joke, Emery seriously ate ALL of it. I had one handful and I was not in the mood for it. That girl and her popcorn... she LOVES it!

Anisten watched it for a good hour or so and then the stairs looked a lot more fun for her. She is a lot busier than Emery ever was. Emery would sit there and watch 5 movies in a row if I would let her!

Creepy eyes...

Holy smokes.. I love my kids. They are seriously the best. Funny story...Emery totes Diesel around with her all day. I will find him in the sink, laundry basket or other random places she will hide him. She thinks that if she sticks him in those places, he won't dare jump out so she always knows where he is. She has also become a cheeseball.. She will come up to me with this big grin on her face and say..."Mom, I just love Diesel soooooo much. I just wanna SQUEEZE him because I love him so much."

Funny thing is, I do that to her all of the time!

Christmas 2010....

2010-12-25T16:00:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! I want to get caught up on here and so hopefully I will be posting a lot in these next few days. We had such a great Christmas this year. Christmas is so much more fun with kids. Christmas Eve day we went to lunch with my family at Texas Roadhouse. We enjoyed about a million rolls, cheese fries, awesome blossoms, etc.. it was divine. I have ditched the gluten free living lately. Seriously though.. I need to get back on the ball because I feel like I have 100 year old joints. Ugh! This is the only picture I got at lunch that day.. I sure wish I would have taken a picture of Emery though. She sat on Santa's lap this year and told him that she wanted "Red Lipstick and Mascara" and the red lipstick part, she was sporting on about half of her face!!

That night, we wrote letters to Santa Clause. Emery was really concerned because she had forgotten to tell her that she wanted the princess barbie set from Target! So we had to be sure to leave that on his note. We left out Oreo's and Milk along with some carrots for Rudolph!

We all opened up some Christmas jammies and went to bed! P.S. Victorias Secret Satin mom pajamas are AWESOME! Soooo comfy and worth every penny.

Christmas morning was AWESOME!! I swear, I am so much more excited about Christmas than my kids are! I was tossing and turning all morning while my kids slept peacefully in their beds! Finally at 10:30 I went and woke them up. Anisten walks around in these pj's and calls herself "Lella" as in "Cinderella" all morning long. Cutie.

The first thing they ran to was from Santa! They LOOOVED this and were so excited for it. They ride around on all of the neighbor kids' jeeps and whenever we go camping, they steal their friend Gage's. It is going to be so fun for them to have! And heck, the thing plays the actual radio... Sweet!

Santa even brought the dogs some treats!!

Anisten was a little tired at first...

Emery got some great presents from Grandma and Grandpa Hathaway!

Anisten got the princess heels she has been wanting....

We went to Hawaii a few weeks ago and Braun was dead set on buying the girls some crocs! Anisten is literally OBSESSED with shoes lately. The second she wakes up she wants them on and she wears slippers to bed! They were extremely excited about their new shoes!

Anisten got some coloring books and movies from Grandma and Grandpa Hathaway!

And somehow Santa got the memo that Emery wanted those princess dolls! Lucky girl.... :)

The present aftermath...

We went to Braun's parents for dinner that day and got spoiled some more! We got an awesome camping table (we are slightly obsessed with camping!) and a wheat grinder! Then we went to my parents after and ate some more. Oh my goodness... we got Just Dance 2 for the Wii that day. It is the best game EVER!! I am a sweaty, breathless mess after I play it but it is awesome. I was about crying from laughing so hard. Anyone want to come and play?? SOOO FUN!

We had such a great Christmas. Although it is so much getting gifts, I hope you all were able to do something charitable this Christmas season. It is so much fun receiving things but it is ten times as good when you can help people in need! :)

Merry Christmas!!

Update on Jackie #2...

2010-12-13T21:27:00.001-07:00

Day of Surgery...

After her hair got chopped (due to the massive rats nest in it.. no joke, her entire head of hair was a big tangled ball) and it had a few days to heal a bit....

Sooo... Jackie is out of the hospital!! She was in there for a little over 2 weeks. Maybe 3?? Now I don't remember. Jackie had only had a 2 seizures while she was there so after 2 weeks they decided not to leave those sensors on her brain anymore. It could cause a lot of things like infections, clotting, etc. So on Monday, they said that no matter what, Jackie would have that final surgery done that Thursday. We were praying for seizures to come so that they would know the exact spot the seizures were coming from to remove it. Well on Wednesday night she had 7!! They were all long enough that the doctors could read where they were coming from. It was a huge relief. Well turns out the seizures weren't just coming from the spot they thought they were. A lot of them hit that center spot but they all didn't originate from there. That wasn't the best news to hear but there is good that comes from knowing that as well. So she went in for surgery that Thursday. They took out a small piece in the center of her brain. They think that her seizures will come back eventually but now that they know that they come from all over, there is some shocking sensor thing they can put on her "vegas nerve" that when that nerve feels a seizure coming on, it shocks it and calms it down. They don't know if her seizures will come back 3 months from now or 10 years from now... we are definitely hoping for the latter! :) Thank you for all of the prayers, well wishes and support!!

camping in the frigid cold...

2010-11-29T22:14:00.001-07:00

We got a new camping trailer after we went to California this fall and really wanted to try it out before it got too cold. Well we got our neighbors on board and left the day after Thanksgiving! We just went to the sand dunes which is about an hour and a half from us. So much for it not being cold.. it was in the single digits the whole weekend!! It was still so fun though. We suprisingly stayed REALLY warm. Like warm enough that I was sweating at night!! We played lots of games, built plenty of forts, ate like pigs, and ate some more....

Our neighbor Pete building scrabble towers! We played a few games of Bananagrams with scrabble tiles.. that is a fun game!

The girls have their own room that they can play in all day long. It is AWESOME not to have their stuff all over the trailer! You can't see this in the picture but Anisten is asleep on the floor under that bunk and there is a bunk above but they are too scared to sleep on the top! Do you see Diesel and Ellie in there too?

Braun makes us gf-pancakes every morning.. oh I love camping!

We brought Kendall along for the weekend!

I beat Braun in PLENTY of Yahtzee games!!

I downloaded a sweet panoramic app on my phone.. these pictures were taken with it! :)

one of our many many forts during this weekend...

This is our cute neighbor, Gage. Him and Em are the same age! He is stinkin' cute. Even though Anisten is now 2, he never says her name without calling her baby Anisten.

Emery LOVES to cook. She is ALWAYS asking to help me with anything I am doing in the kitchen. It is so fun and I love my little helpers!

They kids play so hard all day long. My favorite thing about camping is that I can finally relax! Poor kids fall asleep so quick at the end of the day because they're wacko all day long.

We had some dance parties...

Okay.. I take that back, Anisten is a good snuggler sometimes..

I can't wait to take the trailer back out when it's warm!

recipe...ruth's chris sweet potato casserole

2010-11-24T22:00:00.005-07:00

yummy!!! Have you ever been to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse?? That is us Thueson's favorite place to eat! I wish we could eat there daily. Okay maybe not because then I would get sick of it. Anyway... a few weeks back, Braun and I went there with our friends the Nicole and Jordan Davis. I ordered one of these casseroles and didn't share it with a soul. Of course, we got another for the table to share so I didn't look quite as selfish! :) I immediately came home and knew I MUST find the recipe for their famous Sweet Potato Casserole. I found this one and tried it out last week.

IT.IS.TO.DIE.FOOOOOOORRR!!!!

So of course, I have to share it! Make it right now... or you could wait until Thanksgiving tomorrow.... it is delicious.

Ruth's Chris special sweet potato casserole

Makes 12 servings
Crust

1 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1 cup chopped nuts (pecans preferred)

1/3 stick butter, melted

Combine brown sugar, flour, nuts and butter in mixing bowl. Set aside.

Sweet Potato Mixture

3 cups mashed sweet potatoes

1 cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs, well beaten

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a medium-size casserole dish with nonstick spray.

Combine sweet potatoes, sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs and butter in a large mixing bowl in the order listed. Beat thoroughly with a hand mixer to increase the fluffiness of the sweet potato mixture.

Pour mixture into the baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes. (At this point, dish can be covered and refrigerated.)

Sprinkle the surface of the sweet potato mixture evenly with the crust mixture and return to oven for 10 minutes. Allow to set at least 30 minutes before serving.

The brown sugar and pecan crust should be slightly browned and crunchy.

and if you are a visual person, here is a link to the video of a Ruth's Chris chef himself making it! :) Enjoy!

disney princess barbie deal....

2010-11-23T14:59:00.003-07:00

So I recently went to a coupon class (so I could keep stocking up on food storage for really cheap!) and learned sooo many tips on using coupons and how to get 5-10 times the amount of groceries you normally get for the same price you are spending now. So I am sure you will be hearing about all of my good deals that you can get if you'd like to!! Like this one... in Targets ad this week there is a 50% off coupon good for anything Disney. So for example... these princess dolls (that I already bought Emery for Christmas for $54.99!!) can be 50% off if you print off the online coupon.

Total cost after coupon is $27.49- instead of $54.99.

Upon Checkout you should get a $5.00 off $50 Target Coupon Catalina printed off too! Just in time for Black Friday shopping at Target!

Update on Jackie...Brain Surgery Part 1

2010-11-21T13:04:00.010-07:00

Well on Wednesday the hospital called my parents house while they were at the temple (trying to figure out what to do about her surgery and a few other things) and told Jackie that if they wanted, Jackies surgery could be moved up from the middle of December to FRIDAY! As in 2 days away... Jackie couldn't get ahold of them and called me about four hundred times in a 3 hour time period. She was a little nervous to say the least! My parents came home and she filled them in and decided to go for it. No sense in waiting for the inevitable, right?! She went in on Friday morning at 6 AM and the surgery started at 8:45. The first surgery took about 5 hours. What they did was cut her scalp from ear to ear and then saw a large circle through the top of her skull. They then spread apart the right and left lobe of her brain and they placed about 100 sensors in between those lobes and then randomly all over her brain to monitor all activity going on. Then they stapled her head back up and now we wait... Jackie has to have at least 4 seizures and they all have to be at least 4 hours apart to get the readings that they need. They cut her medicine in half for the first 2 days hoping that would bring on seizures. And now as of tonight, she isn't on any seizure medicine at all. So far, she hasn't had any. The other hard part of it is they have to give her hardly any pain medicines because that could also stop her seizures from happening. So it is quite a painful, long process for her. As soon as she has had the 4 seizures and they get the results they need, they can go in and take out that part of the brain as soon as possible! So we never thought we would say this, but bring on the SEIZURES!!! The longer she has those sensor things on her brain, the more risks there are for infection and clotting among other things. Please, Please, pray for Jackie!! She really needs it. :) Oh and my mom is a big ball of stress too.. so if you could pray for her too, that would be much appreciated!

Here is Jackie the day after surgery (which was last night)...

This was definitely a forced smile but still, a smile nonetheless!

Now this picture is of the top of Jackies head. That big telly-tubby thing coming out the top of her head are all of the wires that are telling us what is going on inside of her brain. When she has a seizure, she has to be held down really tight so that those don't get bumped.. because that is a whole other problem!!

Kids are not allowed in the NCCU and I didn't feel like getting a babysitter so the kids got to hang out in the waiting room and color for awhile!

This is the same place that my grandma died after our car accident.. it has brought back a lot of sad emotions being here. It is so sad to see all of the people in this unit. They are all really out of it and look like they are in a coma (which I am sure a lot of them actually are)... you leave this unit feeling VERY grateful for the good health you have!

All of these squiggly lines are what is going on in Jackies brain. How somebody reads this is beyond me!

My dad reminded me today that it was about 4 years ago that Jackie was about to get her first brain surgery! Time has sure flown! Jackie has also made AMAZING progress from where she was 4 years ago. She was having seizures every 2 or 3 minutes at some points. Talk about SCARY!!

and here is my telly-tubby sister all zonked out on pain meds!

My cute grandma! She is sure a trooper for being almost 90!

That yellow line is the problem spot in her brain.. The "cingulate gyrus" I think is what it is called.

and that is what they took out of her brain last time. About 2 inches across... quite the chunk!

They think that the problem spot now is only about the size of your pinky nail area.

They have scheduled Jackie's surgery for this Wednesday. If all goes as planned and she has her 4 seizures at least 4 hours apart then that will happen! :) The poor kid is missing her favorite Holiday...Thanksgiving... looks like our family will be celebrating late this year!

I got to spend the day up at the University of Utah with her today while my mom went home and got cleaned up. It was such a humbling experience. Jackie is seriously such a trooper. The only thing she complained about all day was her dang suppository she had to get! Sheesh-- if that were me, I would be complaining every second I could. This morning a cute couple came in the room and asked if they could tell us a spiritual thought and let us partake of the sacrament. It was one of the neatest experiences I have had in a long time. I wish I could remember the quote she told us.. the spirit was really strong in the room and I was such a bawl baby! Earlier tonight, Braun and my dad were able to give Jackie and my mom the sweetest blessings. I am so grateful for Jackie and the things that she has taught me in my life. I need to stop taking the little things for granted. I don't have a single thing to complain about in my life but yet, I still do occasionally. Again.. note to self.. be more like Jackie. :)

This little hiccup in her life isn't over yet, but she seems to be making some good progress! Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers! This week is going to be a really rough one on her!! :)

Update as of Monday Morning: Jackie had her first seizure at 5:30 this morning! One seizure down, 3 to go!! Who knew I would be so excited for her to have seizures???

come to a boutique and support my sister all at the same time!

2010-11-17T01:41:00.003-07:00

Well hello there... I just wanted to tell you all about another boutique going on this weekend! It is the Jeni Gochnour Holiday Show up in Holladay! I think you all should go! :) There will be a lot of really cute things from a lot of vendors. Please read all the way to the bottom... it gets good! :)

Holiday Art Show

Wednesday, November 17th - 6 to 9pm

Thursday, November 18th - 9 to 9pm

and

Friday, November 19th - 9 am to 5pm

at The Holladay City Building

4580 south 2300 east(Holladay blvd.)

Now.. onto the real goods.

My little sister has struggled with a rare seizure disorder since she was about 14. She is now 22. I wrote up a little post on my sister a couple years ago on this little blog of mine to enter her into a makeover thing on TV. (and yes.. she won!! :) )

Jackies Story

Well.. where do I even start?? Jackie has had a really tough hard life. When Jackie was 14 she randomly started having seizures. The doctors couldn't figure it out. She didn't get in an accident, she didn't bump her head, nothing. They were apparently brought on by "growing up." She would have a few a week, nothing major. Well.. with every seizure Jackie had, it slowed her down. Pretty soon she started getting really behind in school. Kids started thinking she was "awkward or weird." People on the outside had no idea what she was going through physically and mentally. She was only at school about half the time. All of the friends that Jackie did have ended up going on with their lives while Jackie had to start living hers at home. Seizures started getting more and more frequent. After 2 or 3 years, Jackie was a puzzle to the doctors. She was seizing every 3 minutes and had to be in the hospital constantly. It was BEYOND hard on my family and parents, but especially my little sister... to this day I have never heard a single complaint from that girl. She is the strongest person that I know. Seeing her go through something so challenging was the toughest thing I have ever had to go through. She has made so many people stronger for facing those challenging things and always keeping a smile on her face. Jackie ended up staying in the hospital for awhile. She lost over 30 pounds in there... she was so exhausted, couldn't stay awake for the life of her. Normally having 1 seizure would completely wear her out, and she was having one every 2-3 minutes for days on end. She missed out on everything. Her whole high school life. That was such a fun time for me when I was her age. It was so hard to see her miss out on that. Not being able to go to Friday night games, Junior Prom, dates.. anything.

About two years ago, (also Jackies Senior year of High School) all the specialists from around the country came together and had a conference on Jackie. A lot of them were completely shocked at her story. But they also said the surgery would hopefully help her to the point she would only have a few seizures a week again. The doctors finally decided to do it. She had gone through enough in the past 6 years. My family was terrified. We were told that she might lose a lot of her memory, have speech problems, among a lot of other problems. She decided that it was worth the risk and she wanted to go for that slight chance that she might be able to live a semi-normal life.

Well.. they cut her head from ear to ear. They went in and took out a 2 inch by 3 inch piece of Jackies brain. They thought they had gotten all of the problem area. The next day Jackie woke up. She remembered all of us. She could still read, write, and do everything BETTER than before. The girl suprised us all again :) She responded really well to the surgery.. for about a year her life was back to normal. Not a SINGLE seizure :) She was able to go out and get a job, try to meet some friends, and hopefully start living her life again. Well about 5 months ago, the seizures started again. We are hoping and praying it doesn't get back to where it was again.

Jackie is really shy now. Back before all of this started she had a cute group of friends, lots of self confidence, would dance around the house and just had a fun life. This situation has really taken a toll on her. I would love to be able to see her like that again and I think a makeover on my cute little sister would help to do the trick and help her be a little more confident. :) She is such a nice girl. Like I said before, I have never in my life heard her complain about her situation that she has been given. She makes the best out everything.. I wish we could all be a little more like her! :)

And why am I writing this post on here?? Well my family is stressed. Jackie is about to go in for that 2nd brain surgery in just a few short weeks. They have been doing testing on her for the past few months. Next week Jackie goes in for a test where they open up her skull, drill a few holes through it and place wires with little electrical pads all over her brain so they can pin point the exact place where her seizures are coming from. They keep her skull like that for 5-7 days and then they will close her back up, go over all of her test results and she goes back in where they will actually cut MORE of her brain out.

Brain surgery alone costs over $100,000 not to mention follow up visits with specialists, etc. My mom was recently laid off and her insurance runs out the end of December. So basically... I am trying to help in anyway that I can! :) 100% of all sales from my boutique this weekend will be donated to my sister and her upcoming brain surgery!! So I thought I would spread the word out into the big ole' blog land! :)

So come and get some Christmas shopping done and donate money to a great cause! Thank you for your support! Oh and any prayers you could send her way would also be MUCH appreciated!! :)

Thank you for reading! Spread the word!

did you all notice.....

2010-11-15T11:13:00.002-07:00

my new blog design???

Isn't it fabulous?

Thank you Mary Plautz.

Our Whirlwind Weekend!

2010-11-14T15:30:00.010-07:00

This past week was super busy with Oh Sweet Sadie and all. It was such a good show and just wanted to say THANK YOU if you went out there!! It was fun wasn't it?? Well on Friday afternoon I got a text from Braun saying he had boughten 25 tickets to go and see Unstoppable and had invited a bunch of friends from work... PAUSE... real quick, I just went to find a picture of the Unstoppable show. WELL... for some reason this site came up and look at how crazy these people are! YOWSA!!! If you want to see more, go here!

I am sorry, but seriously???? That would be SOOOO uncomfortable to have all of that stuff hanging off of you! Do any of you remember Mr. Feline from above?? I had totally forgot about when I ran into him in California!! Yikes!

Haha.. Okay, sorry for the randomness! Anyway... back to Unstoppable. It was a really good show!! I swear after the show finished, I needed to reapply deodorant AND get a massage to work out all of the knots in my back and neck for being so uptight the whole show!! WOW! It was intense!

Saturday was just as fun! We went up to... dum dum dum... Red Iguana 2 for lunch!! That place is so yummy! We hadn't been to the new one yet and so we packed up the kids, invited my sister and her husband and headed up!

Their chicken chimichanga is AMAZING!!

Of course, there always has to be a meltdown or 4 during any outing, right???

So yummy... Oh and so I decided to opt out of Gluten Free eating for lunch when I went! My tortilla messed that all up! I started using DoTerra oils and their vitamins (and I ABSOLUTELY LOOOOOOVE them and what they've helped with in my body!) But they have an enzyme called Terrazyme that supposedly will help aid in the digestion of foods. More specifically in my case, GLUTEN! I have only taken them a few times but they really seem to help! We'll see though... I am testing it again tonight at dinner at mi madre's house! My fingers are definitely crossed!) Holy smokes though... those oils are UNREAL. If you suffer from headaches, try rubbing their Past Tense blend on your temples and upper neck. It works so much quicker than any medicine you take and it is all natural! :) I can get it for you if any of you want to try it or any other oil for that matter... they're great!

Saturday night, we went to a surprise birthday party for my friends Brooke and Jesse! It was great seeing everyone from the Milwaukee summer 2010! :) I wish I would have gotten pictures from then, but I didn't. Woops!

We also celebrated my brother Justins 32nd birthday on Sunday! My mom made delicious chicken pot pies and then I owned everyone in a little Catch Phrase!!

Gotta love busy weekends!!

Okay.. I am off to can some chicken now! And yes, I am documenting the process to show you all how it is done! :) Have a great day!

Oh Sweet Sadie!!

2010-11-12T08:45:00.003-07:00

(click on the picture to enlarge and be able to actually read it! :])

How did I forget to update my lovely blogger friends?? Oh Sweet Sadie is this week! It started on Wednesday night and goes through Saturday night at 6! You all must go over there! So many cute one of a kind things to help make your Christmas shopping a little easier! :) And of course, there will be a LARGE selection of Car Litter Bags for that special someone on your list! :] Seriously though, its awesome over there. Come this morning and say hello to me.. I will be there from 9:30-noon. For driving directions and any other information, go to www.ohsweetsadie.com

FHE....

2010-11-08T23:30:00.001-07:00

We have been doing so great with FHE the past few months! Our girls ask for it a few times a week actually! It is funny what kids actually take from the lessons though. I'll overhear Emery telling Anisten "If you don't be good Anisten, Jesus is going to put you in a whales mouth!!!" or "If you don't give me that toy Jesus is going to make a snake bite you!" funny kids. At least she is remembering something out of the lessons!

Tonight for FHE, we did it a little different! We went out to dinner with our friends the Thatchers. We hit up Chilis and then went and saw Mega Mind!! It is hilarious and such a cute show for boys and girls both! Emery was an angel the whole movie but Anisten on the other hand was shaking her wild thing in the aisles, climbing over EVERYTHING and just being her busy little self! The movie was in 3D and that was another thing, she wanted to wear her glasses on top of her head and not over her eyes. Silly girl! When is she going to like TV???

While I was in the movie I got a call from my sister and mom. I called them after and my sister told me her little 1 year old boy had touched their fireplace when it was hot. Poor little guy! Be sure you all have gates in front of them if you have little ones! Look at how bad his hand looks! :( This was before they had to cut all of his blisters open. Yowsa!!!

our little fam....

2010-11-01T22:20:00.004-07:00

oh for heavens sakes.... i sure love my little family.

meet tom1 and tom2.....

2010-10-24T22:42:00.005-07:00

.....my shoes, that is! I finally jumped on the bandwagon and purchased my first pair of Tom's shoes. And holy smokes, am I glad I did?!! They are quite possibly the comfiest pair of shoes that I own. I wear them around my house for slippers just because of that reason. Did you know that 40% of the world has no shoes?? That is the cool thing about Tom's. For every one pair of shoes you buy, their company donates a pair of shoes to a child in need in another country. As of last month, over 1 million shoes had been donated. Now I think that is pretty dang awesome!!! They have a great selection of them at JMR, Lolabella and Nordy's. So go snag some! You won't regret it!

and just because I couldn't leave well enough alone, I had to try on some boots which I then proceeded to buy. Seriously though, I am in LOVE.

Aren't the red ones cute too?? I really couldn't decide. I went with the brown though just because I would wear them about jillion times more I bet.

Allergic to WHAT???

2010-10-22T22:45:00.003-07:00

About 2 and a half weeks ago I went into the doctor. If you know me in real life, you probably know that I am a CHRONIC headache/migraine sufferer! I literally would wake up with a headache every morning, get one around 2 or 3 and sometimes have one at night. EVERY.DANG.DAY. It was awful. But it was honestly something that I have lived with since I was in middle school so I had just learned to get through the day with it and just deal with it. I had my eyes tested, a doctor before this summer wanted me to go in and get an MRI but we never got to the bottom of it. Well I went to a new doctor right after I got home from Milwaukee. I got a bunch of blood testing done to see how my hormone levels were and while they were at it, they tested me for food allergies, Limes Disease (because we move out East every summer), and arthritis. I also have 80 year old joints!! Yikes.. my shoulders and knees will hurt like CRAZY sometimes. Well no limes disease (thank heavens!), no arthritis BUT... I am very allergic to GLUTEN! Are you kidding me? Never in a million years would I have thought that my headaches that I have literally been having for at least 15 years would have been the cause of a food allergy!! I am also allergic to dairy (that is super common though, most people actually are allergic to it and don't even know it) and I am allergic to soy beans. I eat edamame like crazy, dangit! Oh and I have a lot of yeast growing in my intestines. SOOOO.... what does this mean? Basically I can't eat anything that I am used to anymore. Okay, that was an exaggeration but that is how I feel right now! It has been 2.5 weeks and I have already lost 5 pounds on this dumb forced diet. Gluten is in EVERYTHING. It is what holds dough together so it is in breads, flour, thick soups, licorice, most cereal, popsicles, processed food, some seasonings, you name it... unless it is fresh, it probably contain's GLUTEN! Honestly, once I get rid of the cravings.. it will be a great lifestyle change for me but for now, I am hating it. I eat Crispix cereal, fruits, veggies, sauces, some deli meat and smoothies!! I am learning slowly (VERY slowly) what my body can handle and what it can't. I am amazed at how much better I feel being off of gluten though. I am almost mad that I wasn't tested for this sooner. Gluten free eating is becoming very mainstream though which is good for me. I actually went into Smiths this week and they have all sorts of Gluten-Free/Wheat-Free tags up which will be nice as I am trying to figure out what my options are. A lot of restaurants have gluten free menu's....so I will make it through this! There are actually 100's and 100's of different symptoms for gluten allergies. So if you have some annoying health issue that you have never been able to figure out, maybe get off of gluten for awhile! ;)

Boring post, I know.. but if you know anyone allergic to gluten.. send them my way so I can ask them a million questions about what they eat!

Toddler Headwraps NOW AVAILABLE!!

2010-10-20T23:31:00.005-07:00

I am sooooo excited my new toddler headwraps! :) Emery and Anisten LOVE them. They look so adorable on their little heads too. Plus, it keeps them warm and they aren't super itchy. AND they are so excited to be able to match their mama too! I just updated my shop with a few. There are a lot more colors than what is listed though.. the sun was setting as I was taking pictures of them so those will have to wait for another day!

Here are the details: They have been knitted in the softest 100% cotton yarn and adorned with 2 flowers on the side. The double buttons on the back make it adjustable! These flower headwraps fit children ages 1-6 (approximately). If you are worried about it fitting, send me an email or Etsy convo with the age or size of your childs head and I will make sure to send you the appropriate size! :)

This children's headwrap measures approximately 4.5" x 17" and are made of a super soft 100% cotton yarn.

The available colors are Pink, White, Black, Grey, Plum, Artichoke (my FAVORITE!!), Brown, Khaki and Light Pink! Head on over to Bitsy Blossoms to check them out!

Little Sicklies....

2010-10-03T19:03:00.001-07:00

Thursday, we all woke up sick in our house with a nasty cold. I had felt something coming on a few days ago and was eating about a million Vitamin C's. They certainly didn't work. I had a chiropractor appointment in the morning and while they did muscle stim on my back, I got a little 1 on 1 cuddle session from my little busy body.

LOVED. IT.

We needed to get out of house and Braun had a few hours before meetings so we met up at Thanksiving Point and had lunch and then went to the petting zoo.

Emery was being so funny. Every time she went around the horsey ring and came near me she would say in her most dramatic voice..."Mommy, I want a teeny tiny horsey SOOOO bad." I asked her where it would sleep and she told me we could just buy it a BIG BIG bed. I just told her to ask her dad. :)

And then there was Anisten. She HATED the horses. Haha! So funny.

We hung out around the bunny cages for awhile! Of course, Emery wanted the teeny tiny ones too.

Poor Emery. Anistens hair has totally passed hers up. Emery has never had a hair cut. Well I take that back. She had a TEENY trim like a year ago. The poor afro just shrinks into tighter curls the longer it gets!

After that, I still wasn't in the mood to head home. We made our way over to Cornbellys! It was opening day.

They have a tent filled with princess dresses for kids and boy dress ups for the boys!

It was a little girls dream!

I found this wig and picked it up for Anisten...she saw it and yelled "Jackie!" Which is my sister who has dark hair. It was cute!

They get to dance onstage to Disney music!

We played there for a few hours. Anisten started getting a bit whiney so we left. This was her after being in her carseat 2.5 seconds! She was WORN OUT!

Anyone out there get a Cornbelly's pass?? LET'S GO! :)

Utah Lake...

2010-09-30T07:56:00.003-07:00

I love how yesterday, the 29th of September and the temperature was almost 90'!! We were able to go boating out to Utah Lake and had such a fun time regardless of the boat not even working! haha! We borrowed Braun's parents boat and headed out with Cade (Braun's brother), their buddy Jesse, the Griffins, and their sister in law Talisha! Luckily Joe has a couple wave-runners because we lowered the boat into the water and something was wrong with it and it didn't start! Warning: These pictures are HUGE!! Sorry about that.

These two are the best of friends! They play so well all day long. Emery acts like Anistens little mommy. So sweet!

Hummm---these pictures are all HUGE!!!

The water was AWESOME yesterday. Glass on the whole lake!

My awesome second-hand find this summer! Look at her little Juicy Tooshy.

Interesting fact about Tara: I hadn't eaten a hot dog until YESTERDAY!!! I don't know what my deal is (other than the fact I like to KNOW what is in whatever I am eating!) But yes, I did eat one yesterday. Will I eat one again?? Probably not.

There are a million seagulls all over the docks and in the water around the dock. We hopped on the wave runners with the girls and went to try and chase the seagulls! It was funny. They loved it. Braun let Emery drive and that was pretty funny too! Anisten, of course, wanted to be just like her sister and she wouldn't let me touch the handle bars either. THAT was pretty scary! haha! Silly kids. Oh and Anisten pulled out the little plug thingy that stops the waverunner at least 400 times on our ride. Sheesh! The girls even let us go super fast with them out on the lake! We need some of those waverunners....... :)

By the end of the day, the girls were ZONKED. Braun about fell asleep on the drive home. I kept having to lean over and give him a smack!

Date Night!!

2010-09-22T17:52:00.001-07:00

Oh Chin Wah... I've missed you this summer.

FHE!

2010-09-02T17:04:00.001-07:00

Us Thueson's had our first official Family Home Evening with the 4 of us! Yeah, it's taken us awhile to get rolling with it (I know!) but we had such a good time. We started with a good old "Popcorn Poppin' on the Apricot Tree" a lesson on "Daniel and the Lions Den" and finished with a game of "Lion, Lion, Hyena" which was "Duck, Duck, Goose" where you had to pull out their lion tail before they sat down. The girls loved it!! Oh Braun and I so lucky to have these cute little girls in our family! Braun was in charge of dessert so we went to Red Mango! Yum. Here is some pictures!

Happy Labor Day weekend!!!

I won a Bosch Mixer!!!

2010-08-31T20:23:00.005-07:00

Are you kidding me?? I feel like I just won a lottery! So have you heard of www.beezid.com or buck to bid? Well I hadn't either. I have a friend who keeps winning $200 Lulu Lemon gift cards and thought.. "I want to win!" So earlier today I bought 24 bids for $24. I set the alarm on my phone to go off around the time the the auction was ending. I put my girls in the tub. Sat in the bathroom with my laptop and there was 9 minutes to go. It was at $.03 still. I was nervous. I have wanted a Bosch for a long time but I have a Kitchen Aid so I just figured I didn't need a Bosch too! Well bidding got until about 10 seconds and each time a person bids, it goes up another 10 seconds so it gives everyone a chance to be the last bidder. Well in the last seconds, I just kept bidding and bidding and sure enough..... I WON!!! The final bid was $0.18! It cost me 7 bids ($7.00) plus the $0.18 and $25.00 in shipping! So total money spent was $32.18 and I got a Bosch Mixer that normally would have cost me $399.99!!!!!!!!!!!! I am literally on cloud 9 tonight..... this could get VERY addicting. Uh ho!

Daddy Daughter Date

2010-08-29T12:46:00.001-07:00

Well Braun is FINALLY back home! He stayed in Milwaukee another 2 weeks longer than we did. He wanted me to get everything unpacked and ready for him to come home! Lucky guy. Unpacking this year was the WORST! I packed WAY too much. I swear, all I need to
bring next year is a bunch of swimsuits, 7 outfits and my kitchen goods. No books, crafts (YEAH RIGHT!) or games, etc. Let's hope I can stick to that one! :) Well Friday Emery had school (that is still so weird to say!) and I had a few errands to run. Braun needed to get his four wheeler fixed and so he took Anisten with him to Spanish Fork. While at lunch with Emery, I got a few pictures from Braun.

Isn't she cute??? oh boy. We sure love this girl.

Mila's Day Dreams

2010-08-20T07:46:00.003-07:00

I am sure a lot of you have already seen this but I just think it is the cutest little thing. I love the idea. Mila's parents sure must be creative! I could probably only think of like 2 things to dress her up as! :) Go to Mila's Day Dreams to see a bunch more adorable pictures!

Testing, Testing

2010-08-15T18:20:00.001-07:00

Just seeing if I have enough service in Wyoming to do a little bloggy blogging from my phone!

Long time, No see!

2010-08-12T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hey there. It's been awhile and it's gonna be awhile (probably!! :)) We are about to head home from Milwaukee and I am in the midst of an apartment tornado! :) boxes are everywhere. Ick. On a happier note, today's my birthday! We celebrated on Sunday and saw Wicked and went to Flemings with the Jeppson's. FINALLY! I've wanted to see it since our anniversary 5 years ago!! :)

Anyway, just wanted to let you know we are alive. This picture was taken this morning when my girls came to give me a birthday snuggle!! Favorite part of my day. I sure love these kids!!

Oh I made the cutest things for all of the wives out here. I'm taking them all out to dinner today and can't wait to give them to them! I'll take pics so you guys can see too!

Good thought...

2010-07-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

"You can't live a positive life with a negative mind."

Sooo true. Gotta love when you find awesome words to live by in the strangest places! Thanks Dove!

Oh and just FYI.....

2010-07-23T12:22:00.004-07:00

Not that I am excited or anything......

(Yes, I am a huge dork. Oh and Caramel Apple Empanadas from Taco Bell are also a favorite of mine!!)

These are AMAZING!!

2010-07-23T12:14:00.004-07:00

I seriously need to stop eating these but I can't. I guess it is better than eating ice cream or candy right?? Probably not too much better though since I eat like a whole box of them in one sitting. Anyway, if you like tomatoes, salt and garlic... you must buy them. And as I was searching for a picture of the box, I saw the "6 pack bubble" on this picture. I had to click. I need more. Sure enough, Amazon (where I get free 2 day shipping for a year!!) sells them in a 6 PACK!!! Oh boy--Oh Boy. That is dangerous.

Really Tara?? Did you just blog about Triscuits?? Who AM I?

Stitches.....

2010-07-21T21:11:00.014-07:00

Well on July 2nd we had just gotten back from the pool, showered, changed and Anisten was napping. I had gotten a babysitter out here for a couple hours and had seriously been looking forward to going somewhere ALONE all week long. Oh what a treat! Well Emery comes running into my room (I was putting perfume on before Lexi got here to watch the girls) when I hear her slip on something and then a big loud THUD followed by a immediate SCREAM! I looked out probably not even a second after it happened and I see blood that has already dripped down her face and has already gotten all on her clothes (not that that is a big deal, just the fact that THAT much blood has already came from her head in a matter of a second was crazy!). I freaked out a little bit, for heavens sakes.. this little girl is accident prone! She had nailed her forehead right on the corner of the wall. I knew I liked our rounded wall corners at home for a reason!! :) After I got a towel on her head, I realized it wasn't as bad as it looked. Just then, Lexi knocked on the door. We debated back and forth for awhile about if I needed to take her into the hospital and get stitches. I am so new at this whole "kids getting hurt all of time stuff!" Sheesh! Well then we called Nicole (a wife out here who is a nurse back home) and she came and checked it out too to see if she needed to go in. Eventually I just decided to take her in and I am glad that I did. It was right smack dab on her forehead so she needed a good looking scar to live with and I would feel awful if it looked bad when it healed! :( Soo.. we drove to the Emergency Room at about 2:45 that day. Lexi stayed and watched Anisten while I went. And now onto the 400 pictures I took to capture the event! :)

Luckily the hospital is like 3 minutes away... It was a children's hospital and so everyone had on the cutest scrubs! The Hello Kitty ones are always my favorite! :)

So for kids they don't stick the numbing needle right into the cut (like they so rudely do to us older people!!) They put on a bunch of numbing GOO and throw a big piece of sticky plastic over it. It has to sit on there for 30 minutes-45 minutes for it to go completely numb. Needless to say, we had a bit of time on our hands! :)

The GOO working its magic!
Then one of the people that isn't quite a doctor, but close (I think they are called a "resident??") came in to stitch Emery up. She was seriously shaking like a leaf! It made me wonder if this was her first set of stitches she has ever done. For heavens sakes it made me worried!

Good to go!
....... and ready for some delicious Baskin Robbins! (and lots of stolen hospital prizes! :) )
She only needed 2 stitches. Nothing major. But come on Emery, a broken leg and stitches by the time you are THREE! I hope this isn't a sign of major things to come!!!

The doctor told me I could just take them out on my own 5 days later since we don't have a primary care doctor out here. I decided Emery would be a lot naughtier for me if I tried to get them out, so we called the trusty nurse over and she worked her magic! Thank you Nicole!

Anisten wondering what the heck is going on!

Well what a fun day that was! I decided that I am unlucky on Fridays out here for some reason.. I found out on a Friday that someone had stolen my credit card information and duplicated the whole card. Oh and they spent $14,000 on it. THEN, my apartment flooded another Friday, Emery got stitches and we are planning on driving home on Friday the 13th. Let's hope my luck changes REAL soon!

Cheap Fabric!!

2010-07-20T09:15:00.000-07:00

Hey blog friends! Here is a good deal you all need to get in on...go to www.fabric.com and click on Westminster Blowout Sale! Their fabric is on sale for 2.49 a yard (its usually $10) and then as you are checking out use the code ANNV1 to get 20%off your order! Oh and if you spend $35 you get free shipping! :) that is a HECK of a deal and you'll never find designer fabric for any cheaper! :) happy shopping!

Go now! It goes FAST!

Date Night!

2010-07-19T09:27:00.001-07:00

We went on a date!! :) those are few and far between out here but when we go, it's as fun as can be! :) we went to benihanas in downtown Milwaukee! I tried sushi. Suprisingly I didn't hate it as bad as I thought??!

Braun said he looked fat in this picture....

So in this picture he was being "skinny!"

The group of us that went!

After benihanas, we went to see Inception. Okay first off, the theater was the nicest theater we have ever been in. There was a posh bar inside, lots of recliners all over and the actual movie theater seats were so cushy, huge AND they reclined! Oh and they had wooden tables to go with each seat! I want a theater like that in Utah! Prices for the movie were $10 so not even much More. totally worth it! :) and inception....WOW!!! it was crazy good. My mind hasn't been that "active" in a LONG time! Hah! Seriously, if you even missed a minute in that show you'd be totally lost. Crazy good though. I want too see it again!

I hope you had a great weekend too!

Homemade Play-Doh!

2010-07-05T15:00:00.000-07:00

I use to LOVE making play-doh when I was a kid! I found a recipe online that I am going to try with Emery and Anisten this week. I am sure they will love it just as much as I use to! :) Did you know if you keep it in the fridge in a container, it will last a really long time? I didn't either.

Here is the Recipe!

{organizing part deux}

2010-07-04T17:33:00.000-07:00

I am loving the Real Simple blog today! I really want to remember these and thought they would be fun to share!

"Make no-mess pancakes with the help of a ketchup bottle: Pour in batter, then squeeze out precise portions."

"A hard plastic soap case is the perfect size to protect a camera stashed in a carry-on bag."
"At a party, stash ice in a colander set on top of a bucket or a bowl. Water will drain out, and guests will get only the solid stuff."
"A giveaway shower cap becomes the perfect wrapper for shoes when traveling, preventing them from dirtying clothes packed in your suitcase. "
There are 50 of these tips on there website! Click here to see the rest.

{organizing}

2010-07-03T20:49:00.003-07:00

For some reason every summer (when I am not near my home!!) I get on an organizing kick. I like to sit there and imagine what I will be able to do when I get home and then I get home and am way too lazy/busy to do it. hah! Well here is what I am dreaming up right now.. but LUCKILY this is something that I have been wanting to do for a long time and I am actually able to do it out here! yayay!! Does this picture make your heart go **PiTTeR PaTTeR** like it does mine?

So ever since having kids, I seriously take at least 10-15 pictures everyday and THAT is usually just if we are bummin' around the house. If we are out, then its like 100! I usually will come home, upload them to my computer.. delete the krappy ones where the kids aren't looking/blurry/orjustplainugly and then leave them on my computer. I currently have over NINE THOUSAND pictures on my laptop with zero room left on my computer! I am excited to try this out. Let's hope mine are as pretty as this picture!

**Taken from Real Simple. Here is what they had to say:

For digital images: Color-code your collection by storing discs in vibrant cases (slim jewel cases, $11.50 for 25, staples.com)―blue for parties, green for trips, and so on. Use empty cases positioned vertically and marked by the year as dividers; they’ll extend about a half inch above the others.

What have us Thueson's been up to??

2010-06-30T12:13:00.006-07:00

Well hello bloggity blog! It's been awhile.. I think that is how I start all posts lately. (Not that I have posted lately...but ya know what I mean!) So what have we been up to?? All sorts of fun things! I am still loving it out here. Weather is awesome, great company, great kids, its just great! Here are some pictures of the past few days. I really want to line one of the sides of my house with these flowers. Anyone know what they are called? I love how they are like big cream polka dots!! :)

Anisten gives the BEST crusty faces. I tried catching her in one yesterday!

Just hanging out at the dog park!

Brauns office won an incentive and so we got to take everyone to Six Flags for the day! It was so fun. It is in Illinois which is about 45 minutes from here. We spent most of the day at the water park. We rented a Cabana and got free drinks all day. It was heaven. My girls loved it.

Anisten has a little friend out here named Payton. They are seriously best buds. They both start squealing when they first see each other to play. I love it!

These are some sweet shades, eh?

So the new iPhone is awesome... I LOVE the front facing camera. The quality of it isn't near as good as the camera on back, but it is decent and nice to see what you are taking a picture of! :)

We have spent a LOT of time at the pool this summer! Emery swims all over the place. It is so nice to be able to somewhat relax a bit when I go there and not have to be (completely) worried about my kids. She gave us quite a scare the other day though. We were having a BBQ a few Sundays ago and all of the boys were having a belly flop contest. How THAT is fun I have no idea??? I guess when $100 bucks is thrown at you it makes it fun! Well all the sudden I hear Emery crying and so I turn to see her. She had fallen into the pool but swam to the stairs!! She didn't have her floaties on but somehow was able to swim enough to get to the edge. Whew! It is scary how fast things happen. I didn't even know she had fallen in and I was right there! Yikes! Then a few days later Anisten did the exact same thing. Except she doesn't know how to swim and so it made it a bit scarier! Dang kids. They are just too daring! Are they trying to give me a heart attack? Sheesh!

I started typing out all of my recipes. It is actually really addicting and fun. I got so sick of looking through my box of notecards and having them be dirty and gross that I finally resorted to this and am so happy that I did! Emery loves looking through the pictures and picking out what she wants to eat. It makes it nice for me because when I make it and she says she doesn't want it, I tell her she has to eat it because she picked it out! :) Go Mom!

While looking for recipes, I found a super yummy chocolate chip recipe. One that Braun actually LOVES! He is VERY picky about his chocolate chips. Seriously though, these are sooo good. You all need to try them! I love the pudding cookies I posted awhile back and these are definitely just as yummy! The recipe is found here.

Grandma's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: 72 cookies

Time: 1 1/2 hours

Recipe from Jill Eskelson

1 1/2 C butter, softened

1 1/2 C sugar

1 1/2 C brown sugar

4 eggs

1 t salt

2 t baking soda

1 t baking powder

2 t vanilla

5 C flour

2 bags Guittard Milk Chocolate Chips

1. Cream butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla together for about 3 minutes. You want the mixture to be well incorporated.

2. In a separate medium sized bowl mix the dry ingredients.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed ingredients and mix until all the flour is incorporated.

4. Add the chocolate chips and mix.

5. Roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet.

6. Bake at 350 for about 8 minutes. Do not over bake. You'll want to take the cookies out of the oven when they start to crack, then let them stay on the hot cookie sheet to continue cooking for about 5 minutes. (I have a convection oven and bake them at 325 for 6 1/2 minutes.)

Enjoy!

Well I am off to our weekly Recipe Swap out here with the ladies. Todays swap is "Italian" themed. I am excited! We have quite the group of wives out here this summer! There are 15 of us now (3 more came this week!) and it makes for a fun time every time we get together. There are so many different personalities out here but at the same time we all blend so well! It is nice to have a summer with no lady drama. 2 months down & 2 months to go! :)

Have a great day!!

Scenes from Today.....

2010-06-29T21:34:00.001-07:00

Does this outfit make me look like a 'mom?' I mean.. I know I AM a mom but ya know... I don't want to look all old and stuff. Look how cute the shirt is?? I am still debating whether to go back and buy it. Ooh and the pants are baggy and SUPER comfy. Loved them. Don't need them though.

I am seriously going to go
Through Panera Bread withdrawals after this summer. I LOVE this place. Will someone please open 14 of these in Utah?? I guess that's how many a person has to open if they want to bring it somewhere. Dang.

And now here I sit... At the midnight showing of Eclipse. Yes, I am a sneakity sneakerton. When we pulled up to the theater here in Brookfield, 2 lines started at the front of the theater and wrapped around the WHOLE thing. Like a theater the size of the District in South Jordan. There is no way in HECK I was waiting in that. I don't really know how to flirt with a 13 year old girl (which is what the majority of the line consisted of) so I went inside, chatted with the concierge and he let me in before anyone else! Yay! I am a happy camper considering people started lining up at 6:45 tonight!! Ha! So now I sit for another hour and a half until the movie starts. I'm just hoping I can make it through the previews this time. I don't do well with midnight showings!! :)

XOXO!!

Today at the Farm...

2010-06-15T14:41:00.001-07:00

Well our ward here does a playgroup once a week! It's usually at Parks or Splash Pads but today we drove out to Mequon (it's about 25 minutes away and is the cutest little town ever!!!) and went to this little old ladies farm. She had baby cows, donkeys, pigmey goats, chickens, and I'm sure more things I'm forgetting. It was super fun! (besides all of the Mosquitos flocking to my sweet smelling skin! Dang bugs...) anyway as we were leaving the lady brought out a bunch of carton of eggs for everyone! It was awesome and the kids couldn't get over the fact that the chickens they were just running around with were the ones that layer those eggs! Here are some pictures from today!

-

Poor Anisten--noone wanted to hold her hand and she was getting so mad! :(

We brought food to have a picnic at the farm with everyone but seriously people...mosquitos LOVE me. I wish I felt the same to them but sadly, we opted for a picnic in the Costco grocery cart instead.

Funny Story! Okay so while we
Were at the farm we learned that people eat the chicken innards in stews and such. Brooke and I were disgusted at the thought but whatever--so then the lady told me that a lot of people will even buy the feet from her and eat the chicken feet! I'm sure our faces were ridiculous because honestly, I wanted to barf right there even thinking about it. She even called me a "city slicker!" I laughed... Well then we were all sitting there after the lady brought out our eggs. I was as amazed as Emery was that we were eating eggs from the chickens we were playing with earlier. So here's where I kind of got diahrea of the mouth. Leave it to me to ask seriously stupid things to
Complete strangers. So here's the conversation..

Me-"So I've always wondered, why don't the eggs we buy at the grocery store hatch and have chickens inside???"

Little Old Lady- "Well because they haven't been fertilized!"

Me-"Well how do they get fertilized? Does the boy chicken (aka ROOSTER-me=moron) sit on them and it fertilizes them?"

Little Old Lady- "oh no dear!! the rooster finds his lucky lady, chases her around, jumps on top of her and ... (you know what goes on from there!!) and if that happens on a Monday, Tuesdays egg will be fertilized!" I'm not sure the phrase she used for "the deed!" but seriously, I had no idea that's what happened and I felt like a moron that I didn't know Roosters and Chickens did the dirty. Haha! It was really funny.

Now come on, did you know that about chickens?? I just thought they laid eggs and if you put them in the fridge fast enough it stopped a chicken from growing inside! Haha! I guess I am a city slicker!

Well that was our day! Now if I can remember the funny comment I got while at Costco I'd have more to say... I need to remember cause it was hilarious! :)

Look how adorable this girl is!

2010-06-04T19:12:00.004-07:00

I sure do love her...

Morning Bike Rides!

2010-06-03T10:50:00.001-07:00

We spent the morning at the park. Braun woke up and realized he had a bit of time and so we all went on a bike ride! Did I tell you guys about my last years and this years Mothers Day present? I am obsessed. (and SUPER mad I didn't get one sooner!) I wanted one last year and never got around to researching one to get. REI had their anniversary sale last week and so I took full advantage! :) Here are some pictures of our recent biking adventures!

We bike to this stream near our apartments. The kids LOVE it. I loved it until I saw a giant racoon headed our way! I heard those things are nasty mean!

So to those of you that know me in real life--I swear, I have a ginormous head. I Blame it on the amount of hair I have but guess what?? I was able to buy a small-medium helmet! Go me! :)

Sometimes if I'm feeling super nice, we will bring the dogs along!

These are from today...neither of my girls would look at the camera! Little Stinks!

Emery seriously was going to pee herself so Braun decided to take her to the nearest tree. I am not gonna lie, I've done this plenty of times (yes---I like to pretend I'm roughing it occasionally!) but it was super funny to me this morning. Anisten wanted in on the action. Emery is gonna kill me one day for posting these kinds of pictures! :)

It rained pretty hard here yesterday so the park wasn't very fun today!

I highly recommend getting a bike! We ride 6-8 miles a day and my girls love it! It's such an awesome workout pulling the trailor around. Not to mention, super fun! And wanna hear something awesome? On my first ride around town... I saw
Money flying in the wind. I stopped to grab it and it ended up being 1 $50 and 2 $20's! I found $90!!! I seriously felt like I had won the Price is Right again I was THAT excited! :) hahaha! My bike riding is already paying off!

Anyway--enough of nerdy bike stories, I hope you all have a fantastic day! I'm making Cafe Rio Burritos for dinner and I better get started!

XOXO!

Hair!!

2010-06-01T12:53:00.001-07:00

I got back from the pool and saw this picture in my email...

I immediately went to my hair color and am attempting it. Oh boy--let's hope it turns out! Why oh why can't I just go to the salon in the summers? Oh yeah... It's because I am a single mom out here and have ZERO (literally) time to myself! :( I can't wait until I have a husband again. Well wish me luck!

ooh--we went to the pool for the first time today! I was in HEAVEN! Two little crazy kids at a pool sure brings a lot of stress to me though. What kind of floatie do you have a one year old wear? She hates the bulky life jacket but is too small for arm floaties. Any suggestions??

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Minky Blankets!

2010-05-28T07:21:00.001-07:00

Did you know that they sell ADULT SIZED minky blankets at TJ Maxx for $15 to $20 dollars??! I never go to TJ Maxx but heard they have good workout clothes occasionally so I decided to check I out! I didn't get any workout clothes but came home with 2 pairs of sunglasses and 2 of the softest blankets in the world! Now--I rarely would buy something that I could easily make BUT you can't even make one of these for that cheap. Minky is usually $13-$15 a yard and these blankets are at least 6 feet tall which by my calculations would be a lot more than what they cost there....And DEFINATELY a lot cheaper than the $100 one I was tempted to buy at Swiss Days! :) anyway....I definately say head to your nearest one like...now! You'll be in minky heaven! :)

Oh and just another funny picture of Anisten---silly girl LOVES her treat cups! :)

--posted from iPhone (hence the krappy pics!)

i'm in a funk....

2010-05-22T22:16:00.007-07:00

you guys.. i don't know what my deal is. i seriously struggle with blogging lately. i don't know if it is the process of it..(uploading pics, finding pics, downloading pics, whatever) but seriously... i am struggling with it lately. i hate that i am struggling with it though. some of my favorite moments are looking back through old posts to find pictures of my girls, me, braun, etc. so i NEED to get better. okay that felt good to get that out. now this post is going to be random. prepare yourselves.

i am super excited for church tomorrow. i don't know what it is about church out here but i love it. we are in a branch and i love the small ward feel to it. there are about 5 kids in emery's entire primary. yes.. the whole primary. NOT just the class. there is one other girl her age. i went to get her from class a few sundays ago and back in our home ward, there are so many kids (4 nurserys in our ward alone!) that they have to corral the kids in until their parent comes and grabs them. here, i go in to get her.. and they just let them run free. i sort of had a mini panic attack but luckily she was playing on the stairs with the other (and only) little girl her age. Have I shown you a picture of our church??? isn't it cute? i feel like i am in another country when i see it. sweden perhaps??
emery and i after church one day...

the first week we were there i learned a really big lesson. after sacrament meeting, i had AT LEAST 10 people come up to me and ask me if i were new, where i was from, and just genuinely want to meet me. i felt like a million bucks. after we left i told braun how happy i was to be in that ward. the people were extremely welcoming to us. well the next sunday was fast and testimony meeting... a guy stood up (he was one of the people who had introduced himself to us the week prior) and was bearing his testimony and saying how truly grateful he was to be in the branch out here. he then went on to say that he went and visited a church in Utah and got there about 15 minutes early. he went early so that people would notice that he was new and he would be welcomed by people in the ward. he stood by the front doors and everyone started coming in the building. he was amazed at how many people were in the wards out in Utah. he thought for sure someone would come and say hello. not a single person did. it was also fast and testimony meeting in the ward that day. he got up and bore his testimony and just told the story about what had happened just to open peoples eyes to the fact that if he were an investigator to the church, he definately wouldn't have felt very welcomed by the ward. it made me realize that i need to get out of my little bubble no matter how busy i am with my girls.. there is always someone that is needing my help that i can help out or make feel welcome.

another random... about 6 months ago i couldn't even comprehend what it would be like to not have emery kicking and screaming at bedtime. i would go to bed everynight SOOO mad because of the fight i just had to go through with that girl! remember her cast? i seriously thought it was going to go through the wall sometimes. dang kid! anyway... bedtime is heavenly now. anisten and emery share a room out here and they both love it. we have a 3 bedroom apartment but they both wanted to be in the same room so why not? I am sure we will move them together when we get home as well. anisten is emery's shadow. she adores her big sister sooo much. i love it.

i love milwaukee. when braun initially chose this place i was a little mad/worried/annoyed you name it. but it is A.MAZ.ING here. it is super pretty here. this was taken on mothers day at lake michigan. which by the way.. i am getting my mothers day/last years birthday present tomorrow and can hardly wait!!
the other wives out here are awesome. there are 12 wives here and plenty of kids for my girls to play with. it is funny how all of us are so different but we get along so well. we are constantly saying how excited we are to be able to hang out with each other all summer. we all got together the other night and brought appetizers/desserts to the park. we had sooo many yummy dishes there to try. food and great company... it doesn't get better than that!

emery seriously says the funniest things ever. tonight we walked over to our friends apartment and we stepped into our freshly carpeted hallway... emery looks up at me with her nose plugged and goes..."mom, it smells like beans" it didn't smell a thing like beans so who knows where that came from. last night she was sitting on the toilet right before bedtime and there were ants crawling on our floor (I HATE 1st floor apartments!!) she puts her hand on her head and goes.."those FREAKING ants!" i about died trying not to laugh. she was T.I.C.K.E.D!

today we went to the zoo and to lunch with some wives out here. the kids had a blast. we got passes to the zoo because it is maybe 5 minutes from our house. as we were walking i couldn't help but think how blessed braun and i are to be taking care of two sweet little girls. they were angels today. it also made me feel bad that braun works so much and doesn't get to play with them as much as i do! anisten is sooooo stinkin' cute. i can't get over how much fun she is to have around. and to think.. when she was 6 months i wanted to give her away cause she was such a pain! hahaah! just kidding. i honestly don't know how i made it through her first 6 months of life though. HARDEST-ONRIEST-CRIEDALLDAYLONGEST-baby in the world. I wouldn't wish a Acid Reflux and Colicky baby on my worst enemy. okay maybe i would but still... i don't know how i functioned.

so our pool at our apartments opens next week. i can't even wait. i took my girls to play in the giant hole today and it made me even more excited to swim every single day this summer. i wish i had unlimited funds to buy more swimsuits. i found the cutest suits last week online.. i will have to find the link.

here is emery running away from a GIANT bee in the pool. it was the size of a large beetle. sick!

anyway, i took some sort of "natural" sleep aid and i think it is starting to kick in. i can barely keep my eyes open. (and this post has been boring enough! :) ) have a great weekend! we sure will.. tomorrow we are having a giant office picnic/volleyball tournament in the park! :)

HAPPY WEEKEND!!

Poor Diesel...

2010-05-18T18:56:00.000-07:00

Today Emery wandered around for most of the day with Diesel in this
little pretend dog stroller my mom bought for her. The stuffed dog is
bigger than Diesel is so I should have known this would happen
eventually! For the first few hours he was really nervous about it and
then for last like 8 decided to take it easy and lie down in there.
Silly Emery! Poor Doggy.

Quilts and more QUILTS!!

2010-05-14T21:01:00.007-07:00

I am loving quilting lately. Sewing the quilt top together is so relaxing and seeing it all come together makes me so excited!!! I have seen a few quilt top patterns lately that I want to make and so what better place to bookmark them than here! :)

I think this Picnic Quilt is adorable. I love the messy flower applique on the top.... and I NEED a picnic blanket this summer! :) PERFECT! The pattern is found here.

and then there is this cute thing. This quilt looks SOOO easy! The pattern for it is found here.
Her blog is fun to look at if you are into sewing!

and then there is this cute quilt from Joel Dewberry's blog. SUPER cute fabrics were used on it and I think the pattern is great as well! The pattern is found on his right sidebar of his blog HERE.

Anyway.. I think thats it for now. I guess I could go through my bookmarks and find some more that I have starred, but for now.. I think I will be busy enough! :) This is the next fabric I have picked out.. Maybe I will make the picnic quilt out of it?

Emery really wanted me to snap a picture of her with the cute fabrics!

and I finished this a week or two ago.. I have NO idea where to send it off to be quilted out here in Milwaukee so this might be just a quilt top for awhile! :)

Look how cute those Riley Blake Umbrellas are! These fabrics aren't normally something that I would choose but I seriously couldn't pass those up! :)

Well that's all for now... I hope you all have a great weekend!

Top VS. Bottom

2010-05-12T08:20:00.009-07:00

Okay.. here in Milwaukee we have a bottom floor apartment. After living on the 4th floor last summer with kids, dogs that need to go out a few times a day, groceries, etc... I refused to live on anything but the lowest level this year. Well I got my wish. First floor, I am able to park right outside my apartment to bring in my groceries, I can let my dogs out without loading up my kids, etc. Yes, I am hopping a fence to do all of these things, but the fence isn't high and I am getting quite LIMBER doing it multiple times a day! :) haha! There are definately negatives about being on the first floor as well. I have had to kill 4 spiders in my house in the past few weeks, saw the STRANGEST looking bug I have ever seen. (I swear it had a zillion legs.) and ANTS. I DESPISE ANTS. With kids it is impossible to get the little bits of food off the floor daily so we started seeing them in our bathrooms, then in our bedroom and family room, and now this is the worst of it. Yesterday Anisten was using her little Gerber snack cup.. ya know, the ones that look like this....
Well Anisten had been walking around with it for a good 10 minutes when I hear Emery rushing in with her panicked little 3 year old voice.... "MOM---THERES ANTS IN ANISTENS CUP!!" Oh Sure enough I looked inside it and there must have been at least 30 in there. Who knows how many she ate!! Poor kid. Needless to say, I called the office immediately and Pest Control came that day! :)

Now for story number 2. If any of you are Facebook friends with me than you already know about this. A few weeks ago I made a Sam's Club run with my girls. I was putting all of my groceries on the top of the fence and I had just lifted my girls over and they were just waiting for me on the patio. I hopped the fence and was trying to find my keys in my purse when Emery (again.. in her overly-excited 3 year old voice) "MOM!!! LOOK-- IT'S RAINING!!!"

This is the fence I hop all day long.

No.. it wasn't raining. The upstairs neighbor dog was out on its balcony peeing. ON US. and this wasn't a small dog by any means. It was a full grown golden retriever. Oh boy--- now, in situations like this when most people would be livid, I was trying not to laugh. I was disgusted, my girls and I were splattered with pee but somehow I was able to find the humor in it. Emery's "It's RAINING" comment probably helped that a bit. Sheesh- kids are so funny. Oh but you better believe I wrote them a note and made Braun stick it to their door.

I showed them, didn't I?? haha! I did see him a few days later and he was EXTREMELY apologetic and said he would of been super mad if it had happened to him which was nice to hear! :) They have since moved so I won't have to worry about THAT happening anymore!

So now I don't know whats worse... being peed on and my daughter eating who knows how many ants -OR- living on the top floor.

Hmm...