I took the kids park hoppin' today. The weather is so nice! After going to the first park I had to run home and change because it was so hot outside. The kids had fun and we were there for a good while until it got really crowded and the older rowdy kids came and took over the playground.
I had the car today so I was able to go and take the kids to Homes Park. They all had so much fun playing on the playground and in the trees. Bryson is now old enough to climb on all the monkey bars and not hurt himself. Here are some pictures of my five little monkeys swinging in a tree.
Travis surprised me yesterday and took me to Gervais Day spa here in Medford. He scheduled an appointed for us at 4:00 to get pedicures and an hour long side by side full body massage. It was so nice to get away and be pampered for a few hours at a nice spa. Thanks Travis for the nice relaxing date you planned for us I really enjoyed it.
One of my favorite shows to watch on TV is Heroes. Every time I'm watching it with my kids they say " Look Mom! Matt Parkman looks just like Tom." I thought about it and it's true he does look like one of our friends from our ward. I had a picture of Tom from when we went to The Olive Garden for our friend Mary's birthday party. I cropped him out of the picture and then found a picture of Matt from Heroes. They do look alike! I hope that Tom's family doesn't get upset with me for this post and if they want me to take it off I will but I thought it was pretty funny.
My friends and family have been reading the Twilight books for a few years now and everyone I talk to seemed to be obsessed with the books. I think I stayed away from Twilight because too many people were going crazy over it and I didn't want to be like everyone else. Travis went to rent a movie the other night and he rented Twilight. I watched it for my first time last night with Travis. Come to think of it, I watched it by myself because Travis fell asleep not too long after the movie started. I thought the movie was really good but I don't know if I liked it because of the character Edward or because I liked the story. Did you know that Robert Pattinson (The actor who playes Edward in Twilight) also played Cedric Diggory in The Goblet Of Fire. When the other Twilight movies come out I'll watch them, but I'm definitely not a crazy Twilight fan or groupie.
I took a facebook quiz on eye color and this is what it said about my eyes. Your eyes reflect the color yellow. You are a warm and inviting person. You tend to have brighter spirits more often than others. You try to see the silver lining in everything. You are also very open to others' opinions and put your heart in everything you do. You also love to make people happy by being a bit humorous. Because you are so positive when things turn out not as you planned you tend to feel pity for yourself. You can also be gullible and unaware of things. You can also be forgetful at times. In all you are a Bubbly person. This is so right! I do like to be positive and I love making people happy. I always tend to blame myself when people around me are upset or sad.
Today's the last day of school and then the kids are all home for Spring Break. The weather here has been so nice, I don't want to spend spring break stuck in my house! I want to do something fun over spring break. I was thinking it would be fun to go to the coast and see the Redwoods. Our family hasn't done that for a very long time. Bryson has never been and I think it would be fun to get out and do something fun as a family.
I found some fun pictures of our last trip to the coast with my family. I think this was our last trip. This picture was taken in 2004 when my family came to visit. We went to the Redwoods and the coast together. Michele was living with us at that time and Brandon was working for us up in Washington. I miss having my family around! Carrie, Michele and I had always had so much fun together!
Travis' eBay business is doing great. A little too great I think. I haven't seen Travis for a few days now because he is trying to keep his many eBay costumers happy. These are all the boxes he had to pack and ship yesterday and this is just the beginning. He has many more packages to pack and it is getting a little crazy!
I haven't had a picture of all my kids together in a long time. Last night I wanted to try to get some good pictures of my cute kids. It was hard to get them to sit still and smile at the same time but I think I got a few cute pictures of them. Maddy was looking at this picture of herself and she said to me "Mom that's not my smile." I said to her "What do you mean it's not your smile it's on your face." Then Maddy said "That's not a good smile, I think I lost my smile." I thought that was pretty funny! When Maddy came home from school she was smiling. I said " Maddy I thought you lost your smile." Maddy said "I did my teacher had it." "Why did your teacher have it?" I asked and she said "Because every time I see her she makes me laugh. She has a funny face." Kids say the cutest things.
I went into photo shop and cut this picture out of the ones I took of the kids together. While I was taking pictures Bryson leaned over to Maddy and gave her a kiss. I thought it was the cutest picture. Bryson loves Maddy so much! He is always kissing her and giving her hugs. I think that Maddy is Bryon's favorite.
Lexie made this hat for Bryson yesterday and I thought he looked so cute in it.
We caught a Leprechaun last night but he got away before we could see him. When a leprechaun is caught they are suppose to give the person who caught him some of his treasure. When the kids woke 
up this morning they found their trap filled with green and gold coins, necklaces with shamrocks on them, green candy, pens, pencils and jewels. Lexie saw that the leprechaun left his lucky hat on the ladder when he went to get the gold we left for him. 
The hat was the first thing Lexie wanted. The rest of the kids wanted the hat too. I told them that each year we can look and if something is left Allison will get it and then on down the line. He also left us a note on the sign we made for him. 
The note said (in very little writing) You can't catch me . They were a little sad that they didn't catch the leprechaun but they were very happy with the treasure that was left for them. Before the kids left for school they all got dressed in green so they would be safe from
pinches at school and then had green french toast and milk for breakfast. Then we left for school in our green van filled with people in green. The school monitor helping kids from their cars thought that we looked pretty cool.
The kids and I wanted to set a trap to catch a Leprechaun. We made this cute hat. Leprechauns have big egos, so a giant version of their own hat is irresistible to them. We also made a little ladder for the little leprechaun to climb. They don't like to follow rules so we made a sign that says Don't Climb Ladder! The sign will tempt the leprechaun to climb it even more.
Once he steps on the false top to get his gold chocolate truffles, he will fall in and be trapped. The kids are very excited to wake up tomorrow morning and find that they have trapped a Leprechaun.
Can you guess who Ethan's trying to look like in this picture? If any of you think he's trying to look like his dad your right! last night Ethan put on Travis' shirt, hat, coat, shoes, and glasses. He was walking around the house with Travis' cell phone acting like he was talking to a customer about a bedroom set. I thought Ethan looked so cute and so much like Travis, I had to take a picture. We told him not to smile in the picture because Travis doesn't like getting his pictures taken and I don't have that many pictures of Travis smiling. Ethan had a very hard time not smiling and after trying not to smile for awhile, we got this picture. I think Ethan looks just like his dad! Before he was born I told my Mom that I wanted a little boy who looks just like his dad and I got one. He even has the same moles on his face as his dad. One on his chin and one just above his lip. Ethan loves his Dad so much and wants to be just like him.
I drove by this cute elderly couple walking hand in hand the other day. What a great example of love! It made me think about how busy life gets and how hard it can be to slow down and enjoy little moments with the ones we love. I know that too many times I get caught up in my house work and other projects that I miss out on quality time I could have shared with my family. I think we all need to slow down and make time for those special people in our lives.
We have had our mini van (The Green Bean) for I think two years now. We have always had problems with our right signal light. We would replace the light and than months later it would burn out and we would have to replace it again. Just a few months ago our left signal light started to act funny. I would go to signal and it wouldn't work at all and then some days it would work but not for that long. 
I have had people get mad and give me the finger because my signal light wasn't working. Every time a cop would pass, I thought he was going to turn around and give me a ticket for not having working signal lights. Well after watching Cameron yesterday, Robby came over and fixed my lights. He found the reason my right blinker wasn't working wasn't because the bulb was bad it was because the bulb holder was. Robby also replaced the flasher in our van which was causing the left signal light to have problems. Thanks to Robby both my signal lights work and now I can drive around town with no worries.
I have been known my whole life as a person who is shy. I was talking to my friend Jeri the other day and we were talking about what it really means to be shy. I decided I would look it up on the Internet and this is what some people had to say about being shy.
1. A person that is usually quite and secluded especially around new people. They are sometimes afraid of saying there opinions for fear of what people will think. I don't think they have low self esteem, I mean they could but I don't think all "shy" people have low self esteem. They can also be very unsure about there opinions or what they want to say.
2. One who is afraid of being ridiculed or rejected (fear of failure/fear of people) or one could just be appearing shy because they can't or won't look beyond themselves and look outward to what someone else may want, need or have to offer (self-absorbed).
3. Being socially defunct.
I don't think I'm shy, I just don't like speaking in front of large groups. I may be a little quieter than most people, but I don't think that makes me shy. I'm not afraid to speak my mind and I don't care too much about what other people think about me. I don't think I have low self esteem or that I'm self-absorbed. I think people have been calling me "shy" for too long. I may be a little quiet, but I'm not shy!
I now have a favorite day of the week. Travis told me that he wanted to start having date nights once a week and we decided to have them on Wednesday nights. Every week Travis and I are going to take turns planning the date. Last night was our first date and Travis chose to go to Applebee's. It was so nice to get out of the house and spend time alone with no interruptions. You would think that because Travis has his own business I would see him more, but that's not the case. Travis is always working! I'm not saying that he would pick work over being with his family because that isn't true. When you have your own business it's hard not to work or think about work all the time. I'm glad that I can spend quality time with Travis every week! I hope he enjoys the quality time as much as I do.
Today was such a pretty day. Because it was so warm outside, I decided that I would let Benji play out on the grass. At first Benji was a little nervous to go out, but once he finally decided to join us, he had so much fun playing with sticks and exploring the front yard. Benji is such a cute dog and we are having so much fun with him!
This camera is one of the many items Travis got a great deal on at Circuit City. Now I have a camera to carry around in my purse. I love my nice Cannon Travis go me for our 12 year Anniversary, but is is so big and I can't have it with me all the time because it's a very expensive camera. I was playing around with my new little camera and found that it does slide shows with the pictures I have taken with my camera, and they play the slide show to music. I can go in and pick from 8 different songs. I thought that was a funny little thing to discover on my new camera.
OK. I was so excited to go and see Dr. West today and be closer to getting my braces off. For some reason I thought I would be getting my braces off this month. I went in and Dr. West adjusted my wires and told me I have to wear elastic bands on my side teeth during the day and some on my front teeth at night while I sleep. The purpose of the elastics is to move my top teeth back so they are touching my bottom teeth. My next appointment will not be until the 27Th of April. I can't believe I have to wait even longer. I know this is a funny picture of myself and my nose looks huge, but I want to look back and see how much the elastics helped move my teeth back. I will go see Dr. West in April and he will see if I'm ready to get them off. If my teeth look good, he will schedule another appointment and then I will get them off. Who knows I might not get them off until the end of May if I'm lucky.
I have been thinking about my parents a lot lately and I want them both to know how very lucky I am to be their daughter. They are both very hard working, loving, and selfless people! My parents are always helping those around them without wanting anything in return. I hope they know how much I love and appreciate them and their love for me and my little family. Mom and Dad, I just wanted to say that even though we are far apart, you are always with me in my heart. I love you!
Lexie's friend was over spending the night last night, and we were watching a show about over weight people. I was thinking out loud and I said that I needed to lose a little weight. Lexie's friend over heard me and laughed. She said that she knows some people who would be so happy to be my size. Shortly after complementing me she said in a very surprised voice" They want to look like you and you are messy." I couldn't believe that Lexie's little friend thinks I have a messy look. Have I reached that stage in my life where I have let myself go? Are my kids and their friends embarrassed with how I look? I wonder how many other people look at me and think I'm a mess. I wish I had someone to help me with my look! I don't want people thinking that I have let myself go.
Lexie says I dye my hair too much and she's right. I love having darker hair, but my hair doesn't hold color well so I have to dye it over and over. Carrie and Lindsey you are beauticians. Do you know why my hair wont hold color? Do you know of something I can do to keep my color longer? I would really love your advice!
I made spaghetti the other day for dinner and after we were all done eating, Bryson came in and said " Look mom, mine hat " I thought he looked so cute with his lid hat and messy spaghetti face.
I was watching American Idol yesterday and I found another singer that I just love. Jorge nunez-Mendez from Puerto Rico, he has a very nice voice and a big heart. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for him.
Yesterday after church I pulled Ethan's second front tooth out. I was so happy that he finally lost that tooth because it was a bad tooth and it was the first thing I would see when he smiled. Now it's gone and he will be getting nice new white teeth. Ethan sure is a cutie!!
Travis went to Circuit City the other day because they are going out of business. They have 70% off on most of their merchandise and we got us a new plasma screen TV. I'm so Happy! Now I don't have this huge TV taking up most of my family room. Lexie was not happy that we got a new TV! She has a very hard time with change. We have had this huge box of a TV for seven years and Lexie says it has lots of memories. I thought I would post a picture of our old TV before we sell it, so Lexie can have a picture of it to make her happy. The cool thing about our new TV is that it didn't cost us anything. Travis worked some things out so we ended up getting a nice upgrade for nothing.
