TAGGED BY MICKIE

1. Started your own blog? YES, STILL FIGURING IT OUT THOUGH
2. Slept under the stars? YES, I REMEMBER SLEEP OVERS IN IVINS AND PUTTING CRICKETS AND ROACHES IN MY OLDER SISTERS SLEEPING BAGS...
3. Played in a band? NO
4. Visited Hawaii? SOME DAY MAYBE
5. Watched a meteor shower? YES, I NEVER FELT SO SMALL AT RECOGNIZING THE BEAUTY OF CREATION.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity? YES , THE GOVERNMENT EVERY YEAR, THEY ARE THE BIGGEST CHARITY I'VE SEEN YET
7. Been to Disneyland? NO, TO MY KIDS DISMAY...:)
8. Climbed a mountain? YES, MY FIRST WAS HURRICANE HILL, IF YOU CAN BELIEVE ALL THE SNAKES THAT ARE THERE, I'M NOT SURE I WOULD LET MY OWN KIDS DO THAT. BUT THERE WERE SOME REALLY COOL CAVES, ONE WE CALLED KINGS THRONE, WE'D TAKE A LUNCH AND EAT IT UP THERE ALL THE TIME...
9. Held a praying mantis? YES, BUT ONLY AFTER I HAD MY DAD PROMISE LIKE KNOW OTHER THAT THERE WAS NO POSSIBLE WAY FOR IT TO BITE ME, EVEN THEN IT WAS WITH GREAT HESITATION.
10. Sang a solo? YES, SCARED THE ....... OUT OF ME
11. Bungee jumped? NEVER, NOT EVEN CLOSE TO MY THING, ALTHOUGH I HAVE LOVED TO REPEL... THERE IS A DIFFERENCE.
12. Visited Paris? NO
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea? ON A MOVIE, THAT WAS CLOSE ENOUGH FOR ME.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch? YES, GOOD THING IT DIDN'T ASK IF I WAS GOOD.
15. Adopted a child? YES, MANY MANY FRIENDS CALL ME MOM....
16. Had food poisoning? NO
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty? NO
18. Grown your own vegetables? YES, NOT SO GOOD THOUGH, STILL WORKING ON THAT:)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France? NO
20. Slept overnight on a train? NO, BUT HAVE RIDDEN THE HEBER CREAPER...:)LOL
21. Sluffed school? YES (Don't tell my kids)
22. Hitch hiked? YES, TO GET TO JOHNS HOMECOMING
23. Taken a sick day when your not ill? NO, THOSE WHO KNOW ME KNOW I'M ALWAYS A LITTLE SICK IN THE HEAD
24. Have a favorite book? A LOT OF THEM
25. Held a lamb? YES
26. Gone skinny dipping? QUAIL LAKE, AHHH THE GOOD OL' DAYS
27. Run a Marathon? NOPE,NEVER, EVER,
28. Ridden a gondola in Switzerland? NOPE, I'M NOT EVEN SURE WHAT ONE IS :)
29. Seen a total eclipse? YES, 2ND GRADE, IN ST. GEORGE... REALLY COOL
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset? MANY TIMES, JUST AS COOL AS THE ECLIPSE
31. Hit a home run? YUP, BEEN MARRIED TO HIM FOR ALMOST 15 YEARS
32. Been on a cruise? NOPE, ALTHOUGH THAT WOULD BE A FUN ONE TO DO
33. Seen Niagra Falls in person ? NOPE,
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors? NO, BUT I WOULD LOVE TO
35. Seen Amish country? NO
36. Taught yourself a new language? YES HONG KONG, AND UBIE DUBIE
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied? YES, MY HUSBAND DOESN'T CHARGE.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person? NO
39. Gone rock climbing? YUP, AND QUITE ENJOYED IT
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David? NOPE
41. Sung karaoke? NOT IN PUBLIC
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt? NOPE, ON THE THINGS TO DO WITH THE KIDS LIST
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant? YES
44. Visited Africa? NOPE
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight? YES, ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS
46. Been transported in an ambulance? NO THANKGOODNESS
47. Had your portrait painted? YES, ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, BUT MY FAVORITE IS DONE BY MY HUBBY.
48. Gone deep sea fishing? NOPE
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person? NO
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris? NO
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling? NOPE MAYBE SOMEDAY
52. Kissed in the rain? YUP
53. Played in the mud? LOTS OF TIMES, IT'S FUN
54. Gone to a drive-in theater? MANY TIMES, I'M SAD TO NOT HAVE THEM AROUND MORE FOR MY KIDS TO ENJOY
55. Been in a movie? YES, THE ELECTRIC HORSMAN, IT WAS MY KINDERGARTEN CLASS THAT WAS CROSSING IN THE CROSS WALK WHEN THE CHASE CAME THROUGH TOWN (autograghs and signings later) :)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China? NO, AM TRULEY AMAIZED BY IT THOUGH.
57. Started a business? MY KIDS LEMONADE STANDS, CHILD WORKERS COST SO LITTLE TO STAFF
58. Taken a martial arts class? NO
59. Visited Russia? NO
60. Served at a soup kitchen? NOT YET
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies? NO BUT, BUT HAVE BOUGHT A FEW (no comment)
62. Gone whale watching? YES, ANOTHER THING ON THE LIST FOR THE KIDS TO DO, WAS REALLY COOL
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma? YES, EVERY TIME I HAVE A CHILD...
65. Gone sky diving? NO
66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp? NO
67. Bounced a check? i THINK IT'S STILL BOUNCING
68. Flown in a helicopter? NO, WOULD LOVE TO THOUGH
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy? YES, LITTLE MINI BARBIE DOLL SET
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial? YES, REALLY COOL
71. Eaten Caviar? NO, HAVE NO DESIRE TO EITHER
72. Pieced a quilt? YES, MY FIRST WAS A LEVI QUILT I MADE FOR JOHN OUR SECOND CHRISTMAS TOGETHER, TURNED OUT OK
73. Stood in Times Square? NO
74. Toured the Everglade? NO
75. Been fired from a job? NOPE
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London? NO
77. Broken a bone? NO, BUT DISLOCATED MY FOOT
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle? YES, I WAS DRIVING:)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person? YA, A TIME OR TWO, BREATHTAKING BUT ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT A PICTURE DOES NOTHING FOR.
80. Published a book? NO
81. Visited the Vatican? NO
82. Bought a brand new car? IT WAS NEW TO ME
83. Walked in Jerusalem? NO BUT THINK IT WOULD BE A NEAT TOUR SOMETIME
84. Had your picture in the newspaper? A TIME OR TWO
85. Read the entire Bible? NO, NOT COVER TO COVER
86. Visited the White House? I HAVE VISITED A WHITE HOUSE, NOT THE ONE IN DC, BUT I HAVE BEEN TO MANY OF THE OTHER SIGHTS IN DC.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating? HAVEN'T KILLED, AND PREPARED BUT HAVE PREPARED
88. Had chickenpox? ONCE, SO MY MOM SAYS, I DON'T REMEMBER
89. Saved someone’s life? AS A MOM IS IT POSSIBLE TO ANSWER THAT NO?
90. Sat on a jury? NO
91. Met someone famous? YES, REMEMBER (robert redford< jane fonda< electric horseman92. Joined a book club? NO
93. Lost a loved one? TWO MANY TO COUNT
94. Had a baby? ONLY 7, AND A FEW TIMES A YEAR A SICK HUSBAND
95. Seen the Alamo in person? NOPE
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake? NO, HOW PATHETIC IS THAT, ALWAYS WANTED TO, LESS THAN AN HOUR AWAY THOUGH...
97. Been involved in a law suit? I PLEAD THE 5TH:)
98. Owned a cell phone? NO
99. Been stung by a bee? THE FIRST I CAN REMEMBER WAS ON MY 6TH OR 7TH B-DAY, I GOT MAD AT NOT BEING ABLE TO CUT MY OWN CAKE, AND WENT STOMPING OUT SIDE AND SAT DOWN ON A BEE ON THE STEPS, AND WELL, HE DIED.
100. One cavity or less? I WISH! A NEW ROOTCANAL FOR EVER CHILD BORN

I tag, Mamma James, well I thought it would be fun to hear some of these questions answered. Call me or ask Jenny to copy this page and paste it in the new post box, and then you'll just erase my answers when you write yours in.

Mini- mes'

So I wake up on Saturday morning with these three so excited, they had fixed me breakfast in bed; eggs, toast, and carrots :) with a half a glass of milk. And a comment, "sorry we burned your eggs mom, we got to playing and forgot we were cooking your egg; it's okay right mom?" For those of you who are saying 'breakfast in bed!' It's a regular thing here in our house. And I think we have about broke them of us getting breakfast in bed in the 5 & 6 o'clock hours of the morning. It's great, I love this expression. Even though at times I sigh when it is 6:30 on a Saturday morning, and they have eggs cereal milk water carrots, an apple, toast, pancakes, the kitchen sink, and anything else they can find to put with it, but the most beautiful thing is when I go down stairs and see that they have put an effort into trying to clean up after themselves.

Well this morning (Saturday) they came in with the camera and, they were showing me a dozen or more, picture of Anni, that they had just taken saying to me that they took these pictures and now I can blog them. So here I am. Blogging my mini-mes' blogging picture. I would have shown more, but all of them looked just about exactly like this one;) Thank goodness we have a father that knew there was a lot of love going to be handed out to this little girl in this family and sent the right little spirit that could handle that. Man i love my kids!

A little late, but better late than never....

Thank you, to everyones great ideas for my Christmas. My kids had fun with several of the ideas. Jesica and Naomi loved spending one on one time with each other as Jesica helped Naomi learn a new ball room dance kind of Dance. Gloria had a ball making little darling stuffed animals out of socks and yarn. Here in the picture, Sam is displaying his brilliant (thanks to Steven and Erica) homemade twister game he made for our game closet. And much more. We had alot of fun. I think that next year we are some how going to do a theme of food storage, or preparedness??????? It will be a year round thing, we'll see what I can come up with that will get the kids catching the vision:/:) We'll see. Any way I thought I would just start my year of blogging off with a Thank you, and I love you. And hopefully, givin the thought that I have actually gotten momma to blog her first blog on her own... I probably should be a bit better at it myself. That's the goal anyhow:)

Homemade Christmas Ideas?

For the past couple of years as a family we have taken a vote. Do we want to do homemade Christmas or not? Homemade Christmas is that everyone makes their Gifts for each other homemade. Then Santa will bring something store bought. It has been a tremendous success every year. To my delight, I thought that maybe my kids might be getting to old to want to do this again, But when the question was posed Homemade or not homemade?, The answer was unanimous HOMEMADE! yeah:) But now the thought of what to help them make. Suggestions here would be great. I love doing fun things from the kids. Things that they would like to play with or actually be able to use. Last year, as shown in the picture above, I made John an afghan, It is one of his favorite kinds of blanket. And done with a really soft yarn it was a wonderful success.John made the kids shelves for their rooms. The kids loved them. And of course Gloria and Jesicas wedding dress pictures. The first year, Sam made stuffed snakes for everyone, that was a big hit. The funnest thing for me to see was when it was christmas morning, because the kids had worked so hard to make their gifts, they were by far more excited about giving their gifts than receiving anything and the last thing on any of their minds was SANTA. It was fun to see that that was possible. Anyway, my four year old made bouncy balls for everyone using a kit. He thought that was way cool. Gloria made Samuel a homemade chess set, he loved that as well. I won't go into detail about everyones gifts from everyone but they all had fun making them. Well so....This is my asking for ideas on homemade gifts that are EASY for me to help them do. Hopefully we will be able to count this year a success too, wish me luck.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.
This is the llama song and If you want to go crazy show it to your kids....I DID NOT but Gloria found it on youtube. And this house is not the same... Even kenneth sings it, over and over and over and over which would be fine if he were the only one. It started out cute at first but now....oh my!!!!!6 kids who love to sing and then this song is NOT the best combination. But I thought I would let you in on part of my craziness(lol):)

When i went to Amy's blog she showed a picture and said if you are reading this you should go to your pictures 4th folder and 4th picture. This is it. Last year we had a home made Christmas with our kids. The Gift for Gloria and jesica from their dad was that he would take the kids for a couple of hours and leave them alone with me individually and I

would doll them up and let them put on my wedding dress and take pictures of them in front of the temple. Jesica is at an out door theater across from the Timp Temple and I will add Gloria's also, she is in front of the Provo temple. This was such a perfect gift. We had a great time together. I've got some beautiful daughters. But I am a little partial.:)

I am forever and for always coming up with creative ways to make cleaning fun for my kids and at the same time make it something that needs a little less mom and a lot more kids. Well we sat down and decided each night before bed each child would draw a room out of the hat and clean it. They would earn a "mamma buck" for each room they cleaned. Anything of theirs left out would be put in a bin and they would have to pay me a mamma buck to get it out or it would be thrown away. So we are anxiously engaged in cleaning when I inform Gloria that I have just put her shoes in the bin. Hey she says, I was just cleaning my living area and then I was going to do a sweep and clean up all my stuff. Okay I said, Just this once I will let you get them out without a "buck" but next time you should really do the sweep through first. On her way past Naomi, who is having a hard time, Gloria stops to comfort her and puts her shoes down in the babies swing. When she is done and gets up to go out I say to Naomi, put her shoes in the bin. Naomi jumps to do. Gloria realizing what she has done and goes to get a mamma buck out so she can get them back, mean while Sam is up to clean his area and puts a bottle of candy that's
Glorias in the bin she walks up to get her shoes and another HEY comes from her:) So this now has happened several times this night And the most of it has been done by Sam so in a fit to get even with Samuel she goes on a hunt for his things. Walking into the table she grabs a school book that has been left out where Samuel kept his books for a while, she quickly puts it in the bin and with a great bit" HA" calls Samuel to the bin so she can gloat over him having to pay to get something out. Sameul takes the book out opens up the front cover and reads Gloria James. She had put her own book in the bin. We laughed so hard all the kids came running to see what was making their mom almost pee her pants. This may be one of those things you just had to be there on. Anyway, I thought it was so funny.