MY Theroy on Shoes

I, like most air breathing women, like shoes. I have an ever changing collection, that I am happy with right now. I am consistently behind on any fashion, so switch to a nonjudgmental mind frame as you read my deep thoughts on shoes...

I bought this lovely pair a few years ago at Payless. I payed full price- $24.50! They have become my very favorite pair of basic brown shoes. They are so comfortable. I wear them anytime I know I will be doing lots of walking and I love them!

Because I loved my basics browns so much, I searched for some similar basic blacks. While in Minneapolis last November, I found these babies at the Nordstrom in the Mall of America. As you can see, I payed $52.50 for them. That's a lot for me, as I am very cheap.

I just loved them so much though, so I forked over the dough and had high hopes. Sadly, they are so uncomfortable. I only wear them if I know I won't be doing too much moving around.

With my black and brown wedge quota filled, I had to get some fun ones. I ordered these online for about $20. They fit like a glove and are now on my list of "shop worthy" shoes (shoes comfy enough to do some real shopping in).


Recently, I was at Payless again looking for some knock off crocs for John and found these babies


And these


They were each on clearance for $9, but with BOGO (Buy one get one half off) I paid $13.50 for both. These are what I call "novelty shoes." I can never pay a lot for novelty shoes because they don't get worn much and go out of style fast. I have worn both a couple times and they are both so cozy!

These little darlings are dear to my heart. They are about 8 or 9 years old, but such a perfect pair of camel sandals that they haven't gone to DI heaven yet. Cami teases me for my foot permanently imprinted,
but I don't pay any attention because they are perfect summer shopping shoes! $20 Dillards clearance.

I ran about 10 laps around my church building in these guys last sunday (primary was hectic!). I paid $20 at Ross for these awesome Steve Madden heels. By the end of church, I had to take them off to walk to the car, but had it been a normal day at church, they would not have hurt any more than my other church heels.

John likes my normal stubs of legs in heels, so I suffer for love!
These novelty heels I got online for like $15 (shipped). I have a love/hate relationship with the peep toe just because I have to have my toe nails painted to wear them and that's iffy in the winter. But for $15 they can be summer shoes. And they feel pretty good!
So it seems to me that my cheap shoes are more comfortable then when I spend a little more. So why should I spend more? Why should I buy designer or name brand at full price? What I have is cute enough, right?
My sister-in-law Emily might disagree. I'm just not sold on spending $250 on shoes. Trends change so fast and my turn over rate is so high that I just can't feel good about spending like that.
I do have to admit, I have this pair of Paylessers that I paid like $15 for. They are funky and that's what I like about them, but they KILL my feet. Too bad.

I was in desperate need of black boots and really forked it over for these babies. $100 at Nordstrom and I LOVE them.
These two pairs of boots are the only exception to the rule that I have in my collection.

While I was taking pictures of some of my shoes, I thought I'd get these in there. I got them for so so cheap at the swapmeet and have NEVER worn them. They are a size 8 and up for grabs. I will throw them in the mail for whoever wants them. The heel is just too short for these stubs I'm walking on! Truly, if my cheapo shoes are cute, comfy and last as long as I need them to, why should I pay for a name? Please, Anyone! Enlighten me on this subject.

The Proper Name

So I have this thing against teaching my children the correct names for various body parts. When I was nursing Addie, Austin referred to"it" as the "brown thing." You better believe I was so happy with myself when Addie was crying in the grocery store and Austin announced "MOM! BABY WANTS THE BROWN THING." So glad he didn't know the "N" word. Anyone could have assumed that's a binky.
I have still not taken it upon myself to teach any of my kids any proper names, but they adjust with age.
Yesterday Austin was watching the kittens nurse and one little kitten was having a hard time finding a nipple, so Austin guided it in the right direction and announced to me "MOM! I HELPED THE KITTEN FIND A BRA!"
Good job, honey. I'm still not ready to tell you the truth.
Am I a terrible mom who is stunting my kids growth? Does anyone agree with me? Please share your experience with me!

John's Birthday Weekend

Today (February 24) is John's 31st birthday, but I've taken the liberty of celebrating it all weekend. However, I did not take the liberty of taking pictures of all of our partying. SORRY! I will do my best to supplement (because let's be honest, a post just isn't a post without some good pics).
The weekend started with dropping my kiddos (yes, all three) at my mother's house for a sleep over (yes, all night). I know, I know, my mom is a wingless angel! Can't thank you enough, JuJu. Now that we are kidless, we headed to the mountains for some cross country skiing. For those non-locals, there is a loop that connects Provo Canyon and American Fork Canyon that is called the Alpine Loop. In the winter it's closed to cars and open to skiiers! It's so beautiful and so so so much fun. John's good friend (and old mission companion) Ben and his cute pregnant wife, Emilee, came with us, which made for such wonderful company.

This is a picture of us skiing the Alpine Loop two years ago when I was 6 months pregnant with Bailey! But at least you can see the beauty of it.

After skiing we hit up Winger's, a Jonas favorite, for dinner. Then a movie at our house afterward.

Saturday morning we went on a nice walk and ran some errands before we got the kids from my mom.

That afternoon, the weather was "so nice" for Utah, John took the kids out back to work on his golf swing.

That night, our good friends, The Buckles, offered to watch our kids for us to go out to dinner again! So nice. We just did a quick dinner and got the kids home to bed (everyone was pretty tired from our partying the night before).

For dinner on Monday night we invited ourselves to the Marx house for Steve to cook us up some tepenyaki.

(this picture is from a ferw months back, but gives you the right visual)

This morning we took advantage of more nice weather and went for a walk, then John made his first visit to the golf course for the year!

For dinner he ordered chicken cordon blue and potato casserole. No problem! TA-DAAA....
(I'm a terrible cook, so this is quite an accomplishment)

Then my family came over for presents and birthday pizzookies (let me explain. A pizzookie is a "pizza cookie". You bake cookie dough in a pie tin and as soon as it comes out, pile ice cream and hot fudge on top. Then everyone grabs a spoon and digs in. This is another Jonas favorite). John ordered this instead of cake and ice cream.

I'm not going to gush too much about John, but just know that John is a perfect husband for me. He is endlessly patient and actually finds my craziness funny. He is so simple and easy to please. He is always on my side and supports me in all I do. He seems to be dedicated only to the church and the family and doesn't need much more in life. I adore John and am so grateful I chose him.

First Time Holding the Kittens

This is why I let this cat have another litter. Who can resist those smiles!?!?!

Happy Birthday Kittens!

We got home from being out tonight and noticed that Tasha was acting weird. We thought our time might be at hand, so we put some towels in a box and laid her in there. While I was putting Austin and Addie in bed, John yelled for me to "get down here." I came running and there was already one kitten all clean and nursing! So I set up camp. My friend Jen has been here with me and we've just spent the whole night watching her deliver 3 more kittens. I did get a video, but am not going to post it- YUCK! (Well, kind of cool to me, but yuck to most everyone else).
The pictures are a little gard to see because Tasha is white, her kittens are white and the towels (which are now trash) are white.
This is #1 nursing

Here she is with two kittens. One is nursing and one is cuddled between her head and arm.

Here's a close up of the one cuddled in a hug.

Here's all four out and still a little gooy and bloody

Look at that cute little face

Let me know if you are interested in a kitten for summer! This is our last liter, as we will be responsible and have her fixed now.

Feb. 17, 2009 Started Good, Ended Bad

Here's the run down of my day...
9 am on the treadmill for an awesome 1 hour workout. So good, I felt my heart pumping blood through my viens for hours! It felt great.







11 am off to the temple with the primary pres. Kathy Crosier. It was a nice, small session at a great time of day (no afternoon sleepies!)

2 pm home from the temple, house is trashed. Put a little effort into cleaning it while I talk to my mom on the phone for the second time today (will talk twice more before the day is through)

3 pm Addie's dance class. She is so darn fun to watch. I love this part of my Tuesdays

4 pm home to make cookies scouts and dinner while I talk to my sister on the phone. When John and I were first married, my sister gave me this recipe for cookies. I have never found a better one and wanted to share (sorry Cam, I have changed it a little)
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup peanut butter
cream these ingredients together well
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 bag milk chocolate chips
Mix well. Eat 3 cookies worth of cookie dough and bake the rest at 325 for 12-14 minutes
Whenever I make a different recipe John gets mad and says it's never as good. Try it out and let me know.
Dinner was a new recipe... my very first "Dinner Braid." I went to this bread class called Pantry Secrets. If you have not learned this method of bread making, you are missing out! I am a horrid bread maker, but have had so much success with this. I am loving it. So I made a quick bach of dough, rolled it out on a cookie sheet, cut horizontal strips down the sides, filled the middle (can be filled with anything) with a "leftover concoction" (ham, peas, mushrooms, and cream of mushroom soup- I know, yuck to me, but yum to John), then braided my cut strips back and forth (the kids helped with this part and thought it was so cool).

Baked this baby for about 20 minutes and it's dinner! Meat, bread and vegetable all in one! Wasn't a huge hit, but I think with a better filling, I'll get more enthusiasum. It still got eatten up!

Here's where everything goes down hill. I have to run out the door to scouts (my primary calling puts me over scouts, so I'm back in). I was having the boys help me with centerpieces and invitations for the blue and gold banquet. The plan was for the boys to finish painting something they had started and I would take the last half hour. I showed up 10 minutes late for scouts, but 20 minutes early for my part. All the scouts were sitting in cars in the parking lot! All the doors were locked and NO leaders were there. I got the attention of someone in the church and we headed in. Of the 4 scout leaders that should have been there, one called to tell me he was sick. I never heard anything from the other 3 and they never showed, so I just took over. I guess they are lucky that I was coming and didn't come at my scheduled time. I busied the boys with tying ribbon, cutting paper, and placing brads and pushed my frustration with the leaders to the side, so I could be kind to the boys. One of the boys had the responsibility to bring treats for his den. There are only four boys in his den and he wasn't informed that 2 dens were combining tonight, so he only had 4 treats with 6 boys there. Luckily, I had brought my speciality cookies. As I was busy with something, he passed out the treats, leaving out himself and a down syndrome boy. When our cute special needs boy saw the treat, he said "I love chocolate cake!" (it was brownies). I said "Who is willing to share with Kai?" Silence. I looked at each of them and they avoided my stare. Alec, the boy who had brought them, said "I didn't even get one for myself." "Thanks for sacrificing, Alec," I said to him "Who will sacrifice half of theirs for Kai? We still have cookies" No one answered. I made Kai happy by giving him 2 cookies, but I was so disappointed in my primary boys. I am so sad they weren't better.

John had dropped me off at the church, then came back with the cookies that I forgot, then came back to get me. I grumped out to the car and huffed myself in. When we got home I said "Thanks for running back and forth for me." And do you know what John said to me? "Anything for you"

I felt better until I walked in and saw the state of the house! Now, kitchen is clean, toys are put away, laundry folded, kids in bed, American Idol is on and my bathtub is calling my name! Night Night.

P.S. Still waiting for the kittens to come. I am thinking another week or so. I have been watching cat deliveries on youtube and reading up on signs of labor and complications in delivery. I even pulled out some rubber gloves, just in case. I'm sure I'll wake up one morning and there will be kittens on my bathroom rug. I will be so sad!

Mom's Creative Control

As long as Austin is too young to know the difference, I have taken over creative control of his class Valentines.

It wasn't all about me. He made the fingerprint hearts and wrote his own name (see, it was fun for him too).
I probably should've shoved the Power Rangers Valentines, that he picked out at the store, into the bag too, but did I mention I had CONTROL?!?! Hopefully we get good reviews when he comes home from school.

For My SLOWER Friends:

I'm so sorry to confuse you with a previous post. I AM NOT PREGNANT!!!Our cat, Tasha, is pregnant. Hence, the comment about the delivery happening at home with the video camera. Come on, I'm not freaky. I'm sorry if you didn't get the joke. Go back and read the post again and maybe it will be funny to you this time.
Just wanted to clear the air, so please don't call, email or comment a congratulations, unless it's for Tasha!

I LOVE Primary!!!

My new calling has been busy, but wonderful. I LOVE to spend all this time with this little children. They are so pure and sweet and I love to watch them learn that they are children of God, that they have a Savior and an earthly family to help them return to Heaven.
I remember a General Authority saying when he was young their primary songs were "Give said the little stream" and "Oh what do you do in the summer time?" Later the songs were "I'm trying to be like Jesus" "I am a child of God" and "I love to see the temple." Those were my primary songs that I now sing to my kids!
I am watching this progression of primary music at work again. We need to be teaching our children more now then "I am a child of God."
The primary theme this year is "My Eternal Family" and the newest song we are learning is "The Family is of God."
Click here to listen to it
My favorite line (and it's oh so sweet being belted by a 4 year old!) is "God gave us families to help us become what He wants us to be." That is so perfect for our confused world. God wants us to be like Him and we can only do that through eternal marriage between a man and a woman.
(If that link doesn't work, go here and click on the mp3 (with words) icon by "The Family is of God")

Another Addition

The excitement and anticipation are building for me! I'm starting to have all those crazy and exciting dreams of new, tiny life. My children are going to be so thrilled and I think Bailey is old enough to handle it! I'm not positive on the due date, so I'm just getting things in order now. I don't want it to just happen on my bed one day, although I do want it to happen in my home this time with the video camera going, or least lots of pictures! Don't worry, I won't let the children watch.







Our cat Tasha is due with her second litter (that we know of)! HAHAHA. She is a sweet cat and let me rub her belly today and feel the babies moving inside. It's really fun to be on this side of things. I seriously want to video it. I'm excited to watch. The gestational period of a cat is 8 weeks, so I am thinking she will have them in the next week or two.

With everyone else being pregnant and having big announcements lately, I felt a little left out (not enough to do it myself), but just wanted to share what we are expecting!