At home with the Ericksons

Merry Christmas from my little elves!

2008-12-15T15:13:00.001-08:00

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It's a wonderful life

2008-12-15T14:55:00.000-08:00

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Letters from Isabel

2008-12-14T17:24:00.000-08:00

Jason and I went out to dinner last night. When we got home we found a letter and a painting on the table for both of us from Isabel. They were so sweet I thought I'd share:

Mom,
Thank you for all of the food you buy for us. Thank you for being such a good Mom. Thank you for being there for me. I love you so much. I act like a brat sometimes. But I really love you so much. I don't ever want you to leave me. I love you!
Isabel Erickson

Dad,
Thank you for letting me ride horses. Why did you sell Izzy? You sometimes be mean, it is part of your job I guess. Sometimes you be very nice, Bennett never be's nice like you. I love you. I hope you can be my Dad forever.
Love, Isabel Erickson

It was a fun treat to find these letter from Isabel. Maybe I need to work on her insecurities a little. Let her know that Jason and I will never leave her! Goodness I had no idea she was so worried about that.

Lillia's first hair cut

2008-12-14T17:04:00.000-08:00

Lillia had her hair cut on Friday. She did so well! I was pleasantly surprised. She just sat there with her chin down holding very still. It only took Michelle (my hair dresser) about five minutes to get it all cut and looking so cute! I guess it helps that I blow dry her hair with the round brush about every other day! She is use to this kind of treatment. She has a cute little A-line cut that shapes her face and hopefully will help her hair be fuller as it grows in. What a doll!

My Big Problem, a story by Bennett Erickson

2008-12-11T17:39:00.000-08:00

Once I had a big problem on my hands. And yes, I know you want to find out what the problem is but you will have to wait and see.
I was buying a lot of stuff and it was 1934. I was very, very poor and I had spent all of my money. Once I found out I said “Ooooooooooooooohhh that’s great!” I went to my room and sat on my bed and I thought and thought and thought until I knew what I was going to do. “Aha!” I yelled as I ran out the door and to the library.
I had a great idea, and I just need a little help getting started. I looked up robots. “Ro-songs…..,ro-books….,row, row, row your boat…., ro-bots….., that’s weird row, row, row your boat, I like that song, but back to business. Robots, where is it, aha, here it is.” “How to make Robots,” I said.
Two days later, and five boxes of band aids, making robots is hard on your hands! I was done with five human helping robots, and the sixth one was being tested. “It’s alive!!! It’s alive!!! Or we are having an earthquake….. No, no, no, he is alive!”
The next day I went to the State Fair to sell them. I sold them for $200.00 each. I know, I know $200.00 each isn’t very much for human helping robots, but remember this is 1934. That was a lot of money back then. It is like $1000.00 today.
“Somebody is coming to buy one, or complain about one. Hello Miss, would you be interested in any human helping robots?” I said.
“Yes, I would,” she whispered.
“Why are you whispering?” I asked.
“My husband is right there,” she pointed to her left. “The robot is a gift for his birthday.”She pays for the robot and leaves.
“One down, five to go.” I said. After I sold all 6 of the robots I had $1200.00 and I started to head home.
Once I arrived home I had another problem, it wasn’t that I was so tired from walking home because I didn’t have a car, but it was that the bank was foreclosing on my house!
I paid the bank $200.00, but the bank said that the “Great Depression” had started. Then I fainted.
THE END

Arrow of Light

2008-12-11T15:43:00.000-08:00

Bennett is passing all of his milestones to becoming a young man. Last night was another one, his Arrow of Light. For those of you who don't know, the Arrow of Light is the highest honor a cub scout can earn. Bennett has been working on it for almost a year now and has put a lot of work into it. I am really proud of him and all that he has accomplished.

Big Truck?

2008-12-04T14:19:00.000-08:00

WARNING: The following video has been rated R due to very strong language. Anyone under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian to view. :) You have been warned.

Seriously what are they teaching this poor kid!! The worst part, was the rest of the day, Robyn and I were following him around asking, "Hey Aidan, What do you have in your garage?" I know we're terrible!! I'm just trying to get Charlie back for doing that to Bennett when he was that age. Okay, so that's not entirely true. It was just so dang funny I couldn't help myself!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Bozeman with my family this year. It was a full house with only one of my siblings missing, Mac and his beautiful wife Kelly. (we missed you two!!) Mac works in retail and there was no way he could get off black Friday! ( I am so glad Jason doesn't do that anymore!) While most of us were gone to Charlie and Candi's to watch the game Robyn stayed behind with the kids to make the turkey and feather decorations so we could all think about things we were grateful for this year. Each one of us had a feather with our name on it across our plate and we were to write something we were thankful for and then put it on the turkey the kids made. Here are a few things that we are Thankful for.

Family

Kids, Candi just found out she is going to have her third baby this summer!! That is # 12 for Grandma and Grandpa!

Health, Mom just finished up with her chemo treatments in October. Hopefully that will be the end to the cancer nightmare!

I have also been migraine free for almost a year now! Before that I was having two-three a week so I am very thankful to have them under control.

My Brother Liberty, to have him living close to me. To have him know my kids and get to share my life with him has been so much fun for me. Seriously, look at how much Lillia loves him!

Jason. A husband and a father who loves and takes cares of us. Who puts us first and who would do anything to make sure we were safe and taken care of.

We really have been blessed this year and have so much to be thankful for. These were just a few that I had pictures to go along with from the day. Other things that people put on their feathers were, my dog, scriptures, the atonement, my toys, fast feet, school, books, vampires (I swear it wasn't me!) west coast offense (back to the bad game, or good depending on who you were cheering for) the priesthood, etc. It really was a wonderful day and so much wonderful food! Happy Thanksgiving!

Traitor (I admit it, I am)

2008-12-04T09:27:00.000-08:00

So I guess I am now officially a traitor. You see I grew up in Seattle rooting for the Seattle Seahawks, but I married a Dallas Cowboys fan. Over the years I have slowly become a Cowboys fan, but have always still rooted for the Seahawks when they played the Cowboys. Now that my son is old enough to understand and love football it has been harder for me to stick to my guns about the Seahawks. You see, he is also a Cowboys fan and week after week watching the games with my two guys, well their enthusiasm is infectious. On Thanksgiving the Cowboys played the Seahawks. I was torn! Not only was I going to be watching the game with my two guys, but with most of my brothers as well! (all of which are die hard Seahawk fans) I knew this would be the test to see which team I was more a fan of. I did find myself cheering for the Cowboys from the very first play of the game. Although I don't think anyone would blame me since the Seahawks didn't even show up to play. It was a sad, sad day for Seattle. Bennett had bet Liberty and My Dad on the outcome of the game and now they both owe him a milkshake. I have never seen Bennett talk so much smack. It was really funny! I was a little worried about the game getting a little heated with both teams fans being in close proximity to each other (anyone who knows my brothers knows their tempers well!) but like I said earlier, it wasn't much of a game so I didn't have to worry.

Midnight Movie Madness!

2008-11-23T19:31:00.000-08:00

As you all know I am a huge fan of the Twilight series and have been anxiously awaiting the movie to come out as many, many other women alike. I planned a fun girls night out for dinner and the midnight premiere of the movie. We had a lot of fun just getting out, away from the kids and the house and yes, even you men. (sorry honey, you know I love ya) What I had not planned on was how rude and catty, overly tired and romantically starved women can get over seats when waiting to see "their Edward". Not all of us were like this this, in fact it was a very small handful out of thousands that were there, but it was very funny to watch these women fight over seats. At least it was funny to me because I wasn't one of the ones getting yelled at. It really amazed me how emotional people were getting. After all of that, standing in line (the line went around the theater, but luckily ours was the first to be seated so we didn't have to wait long. I felt bad for everyone else that had to stand outside wrapped up in their blankets. It was really cold that night!), fighting for seats, waiting in our seats for hours, the movie starting late because the projector was having problems, the movie wasn't that great. It was okay, I was just disappointed because it was done so cheaply. After all the hype, I was expecting an epic movie. I'm not saying the movie was horrible, and you shouldn't go see it. It was a good movie, it just wasn't as good as the books. So if you go see it, just lower your expectations. I didn't get home until three thirty in the morning and the crazy thing was I could not go to sleep! I was still so wound up. So when the alarm went off at seven to get the kids up for school I wasn't to happy. It was all worth it though and the truth is I would do it again. I had such a great time. Thanks Ladies. I'm looking forward to seeing it again this week with my Mom and My Sister Candi while I'm in Bozeman for Thanksgiving.

This was taken after the movie. 2:30 Can you tell how sleepy we are?!! This is only half of us I'm not sure what happened to the rest of them.

Holy Crap!

2008-11-11T13:30:00.000-08:00

Last night (yes, Lillia takes an early evening nap) I went into Lillia's room to get her up from a nap. The moment I entered the room I knew what had happened. The smell was the first give away. It was bad, no it was worse than bad. It was paint peeling off the walls bad, but that was not the worse part. What I saw, that was even worse. There in the middle of it all, and covered in in all, is my sweet little baby girl. Who knew something so sweet and small could make something so nasty and big! Lillia had woken up from her nap and decided it was time for a diaper change, which it was apparently, because the diaper was full. It looked as if (I can't be sure of exactly what went down in that room) she had begun to play with her leftovers when she decided it was time to deliver more leftovers. So she walked to the corner of her crib, not before walking through the other mess and leaving footprints the whole way, and left a pile there and then walked to the opposite corner and left another pile there. After she was good and finished she began to make "mud pies" is the best way I can describe it, and she made mud pies everywhere!! On the blankets, on the bars, on the sheets, on the walls, on her clothes, in her hair and I do believe she was even taste testing her lovely pies as well. OH MY GOODNESS!!! It was disgusting!!! I had not planned on spending my evening sanitizing the crib, but I guess that's what happens when you have children. Things don't always go according to plan.
Jason is out of town this week and has the laptop so you are in luck. I cannot post pictures on this old dinosaur of a computer. So your stomach is safe, at least this time! That is also why I have been slacking on my blog the last two weeks. It's not as much fun to blog without pictures.

Tis the Season

2008-11-03T08:10:00.000-08:00

We are getting to that time of year again, you know what I'm talking about, the hustle and bustle of Christmas. I know it's only the first of November, but sometimes we have to think ahead! I know lots of you like to help out this time of year, donating to local food banks or donating gifts to under privileged kids. Well if you are looking for a project this year, my sis-in-law Kelly has the perfect opportunity for you. She is collecting items for the kids in the orphanage in Africa where she spent a month this year. The things the kids need are so basic and inexpensive, to help would be of little or no cost to you, but would mean the world to these beautiful children. She is collecting rain jackets, flip flops and back packs. Now your kids might think these things would be very boring to get for Christmas, but the kids at the Ryvanz-Mia Orphanage have little to nothing and these items would be such a blessing for them. Please take the time to check out her blog page http://kpandochildrensfund.blogspot.com/ for more information.

Question of the Day

2008-10-31T15:40:00.001-07:00

What do you get when you have a dancing skeleton:

A cackling witch:

A trigger happy star wars clone trooper:

A tough army man:

And a black widow/black cat?:

(black widow for Halloween party)

(a black cat for trick or treating)

Answer: An Erickson Family Halloween!!

Here's hoping you all have a spooktacular Halloween!!

Boo at the Zoo

2008-10-31T15:29:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to boo at the zoo. It's a fun thing that the Idaho falls zoo puts on every year. Local businesses set up booths around the zoo and kids come dressed in their costumes and trick or treat at the booths while getting to see the animals. The zoo is decorated with lights and jack-o-lanterns everywhere. This year Yellow Book had a booth and Jason was working at it last night, so we all went. The kids had a ball, and the weather was actually nice! (doesn't happen very often on Halloween here.) They had a costume contest and Miss Isabel won first prize for the 5-10 age group! YEAH!! Uncle Liberty was one of the judges, but he swears he didn't sway the other judges!

I thought this was pretty funny. The zoo's graveyard:

Will's Halloween carnival

2008-10-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

My little skeleton:

Party time:

Will had his preschool Halloween carnival tonight. He was so excited and all day he kept telling me about this birthday party at school tonight. I had to tell him over and over "Will, it's not a birthday party, it's a Halloween party" then he would reply,"Oh yeah, that's what I meant." He had so much fun, they had games and prizes and all kinds of goodies. It was a very fun party and now he can hardly wait for tomorrows! We have a different party or trick or treating thing every night this week. I decided I didn't want to dress up that many times, so tonight I went as Will's Mom. I'd say I did a pretty good job pulling that one off!

More cute treats

2008-10-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

I baked most of the day today. I'm not complaining, I love to bake, and to make fun things like this, well that's at the top of my list for a fun day! (Wow, that sounds pathetic!) I started with the skeleton cookies (I posted them earlier) then I made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, (my favorite this time of year) and then I made these cup cake pops. I am so happy they turned out so well. I wish I had gotten a better picture of them, (my camera sucks) but you get the idea.

Woo Hoo!!

2008-10-28T21:22:00.000-07:00

I filled up my gas tank today and it was under fifty dollars! What a nice shocker that was! I was so surprised I had to take a picture. Hopefully it will keep going down.

Dancing skeletons

2008-10-28T14:24:00.001-07:00

In honor of Will's favorite Halloween song, I made these fun skeleton cookies today. I came up with the idea last year and they were a big hit. Last year I made them out of gingerbread, but I really don't like gingerbread. So this year I found a crisp chocolate cookie recipe (thank you Martha Stewart) and they are really tasty, not to mention cute!! Speaking of cute, here is Will singing "dance little skeleton". We really love Halloween around here!

Family Night

2008-10-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

Last night for FHE we carved pumpkins. It was a lot of fun, well for a few minutes anyway. The kids were very excited to get started and then when they found out they had to pull all the pumpkin guts out, they were not to happy. I don't understand why they thought it would be different this year. Every year we do this and every year they complain. When I was a kid I loved to clean out my pumpkin! It was the one part I got to do all by myself. Isabel and Bennett were fine with this, but Evan and Will were cry babies! You'd think they had never gotten their hands dirty before. Once we got them all cleaned out and the complaining stopped, we had fun designing and carving the pumpkins. I think they turned out really well! Can you tell which pumpkin belongs to which child?

So did you guess right? The Answers below, Left to right:

Evan, Bennett, Isabel, Will, Lillia

Another funny conversation, with William Erickson

2008-10-24T13:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday For the boys afternoon snack, I gave them a couple of left over doughnuts from pack meeting the night before. I sat them down at the counter, gave them their snack and went to check on Lillia. When I got back to the kitchen Will was standing up at the kitchen table looking extremely guilty.

I asked: "Will, what are you doing?"

Will: "Nofing"

Me: "Then why do you have that guilty look all over your face?"

Will (feeling his face): "oh, that's just from the doughnut, I'll go wash my face."
He runs to the bathroom quickly washes his face and comes back out saying, "Dere, the guilty look is all gone momma. See, all clean now."
I never did find out what he was up to. At that point I was laughing to hard to care anymore!

Driving Lessons

2008-10-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

I was reading on my friend Aaron's blog on an article he read about 6 dangerous things your child should do. (http://shariandaaron.blogspot.com/2008/09/kids-and-danger.html) I thought this was very interesting and while there were some things that I disagreed with, there were a few that I did think had some merit. Some of them were things that I did as a child that were big self confidence boosters, like driving a car. So today I took Bennett out for his first driving lesson. He had no idea what we were going to do, all I told him was that we would do something fun after school today if he finished all his work at school. He came home all smiles as he handed me a note from his teacher showing that he was all finished. So when Jason got home (we were not using my car) we headed to the high school parking lot. I explained what we were doing and at first he didn't want to try. He was pretty nervous, but I told him to trust me and I would teach him what he needed to know. After getting the seat adjusted so he could see and touch the peddles (he had to sit on two phone books) he got started. He pretty much just drove around in circles and did a few figure eights, but still, he did a great job. (minus the time he gunned it while taking a turn!) He had a great time and was beaming when he was finished. It was good to see him smile for a change. Bennett is at that wonderful age when it's not cool to smile and normally will hide it when he does. I have to say this was very cool for both of us, and reminded me of when my Dad would take me out to drive.

He is growing up so fast. Just the other day Jason and I were saying how in just four short years this could be his car! CRAZY!! Wasn't it just yesterday he was learning to ride his bike?

That's when the lesson officially ended! He is so funny.

What is wrong with these?!!

2008-10-21T20:57:00.000-07:00

Mermaids:
Pirates: These were the kids Halloween costumes from last year. I made most of them and I still think they are dang cute. So why is it that they are not good enough to wear again? They still fit, and still look new, but oh no, it was like I told the kids they couldn't go trick or treating when I suggested that they wear last years costumes. DRAMA!! I guess it will be hours at the sewing machine again this year! So tell me, why do I like Halloween again?

This one was taken after trick or treating and the kids had had enough. Not the best picture, but you can see the mermaids a little better. (can you see Lillia's shell bra top?)

"QWOIDERS"

2008-10-21T20:30:00.000-07:00

Last night after tucking the kiddos in bed, Jason and I were relaxing watching hero's, When we hear Will screaming crying coming down the stairs. After a few minutes we finally got him calmed down enough to understand what he was saying, "I swaloowed a qwoider!! It hoits in my tummy!" (translation: I swallowed a quarter and it hurts in my tummy.) After calming him down and getting the crying stopped we asked why he had a quarter in his mouth. He replied, "I don't know how the qwoider got in my mowf (mouth). Bennett didn't put it dere (there), Isabel didn't put it dere, Evan didn't put it dere and Lillia didn't put it dere. You know that you and Mommy didn't put it dere. I just woke up and it was in my mowf." We had to have a little honesty talk and then he said, "Okay, I put the qwoider in my mowf and then I swalooed it!" that brought on even more tears! I asked him why he was crying he said, " it is in my tummy and Dad said tomorrow it will be in my poop. It is going to hoit (hurt) coming out!" More crying.... More crying.... and more crying. Finally when he settled down enough I told him I swallowed a coin once and I didn't even feel it when it came out. That seemed to make him feel better. I made him show me what kind of "qwoider" it was, and pulled a few coins out of my pocket. It turns out that it was a penny not a quarter. He was so scared to go to the bathroom this morning, and was relieved to find that it didn't hurt. I don't think he will be putting any more money in his mouth any time soon! (hopefully nothing else either!)

fun times

2008-10-21T19:05:00.000-07:00

Jason and I had a fun, fun, fun weekend! First we went to Pocatello for the Secondhand Serenade concert. I am a huge Secondhand serenade fan!! Jason not so much, but he loves me so he came along. The show was great! It was just in this small ballroom at ISU so there was only a couple hundred people there. I really like shows like this, you can get up close and personal. The first guy that performed was Alexander Seier. He was really good. He is also the guitar player for Secondhand Serenade. (at least on this tour.) He was just featured on MTV as a new and upcoming performer. (of course, I didn't know this until after the show when I looked him up.) I bought his CD and I really like it. The next performers were a group called Spondee. They pretty much sucked! We were glad when they finished. Then came Secondhand Serenade..... Oh my, this guy is soo good, and put on an awesome show. I got his CD a few months ago and fell in love! I was so excited last week when I heard he was performing at ISU. At the show, I looked over and saw Jason's nephew, Ryley and his nieces, Whitney and Megan! IT was pretty funny to see them there. I think they thought it was just as funny to see us there! Jason kept saying he felt really old standing there with all these kids from the college, then he kept saying, "oh, my back hurts" and "man, my knees hurt." I finally told him to stop acting like an old man and enjoy the show. By the end of the show, even "old man" Jason was a fan. I made a playlist of his new CD "a twist in my story" check it out, he really is that good! (just click on the pop out player)

University of Utah vs. Colorado State:

After the show we headed to Utah. We went down for the University of Utah football game against Colorado State. It was so much fun! We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was in the mid seventies (a miracle since last weekend it was snowing!) and sunny! Our seats were awesome, right on the 50 yard line. The U won by a land slide! 48-16 was the final score. So not the most exciting game, but still fun. Thank You Trena for the tickets!! After the game we met up with Kelly (my sis-in-law) for an early dinner. It was really good to get to see her and catch up. (Mac we missed you, it sucks you had to work.) Then we headed home to save Jake and Megan. You see, they got suckered into watching ALL our kids for us. Long story short, our original babysitters flaked out on us last minute! So here we are two hours before we were supposed to leave, and no babysitter for Saturday. I called Megan and she so kindly agreed to take them. (a million thank yous to Jake and Megan!!) Jason's Mom came over and stayed with the kids on Friday night and then drove them to Jake and Megan's. (a million thank yous to Coleen!!) Thank goodness for wonderful people in our life that we can trust with our kids.

I'm sporting my new U hat!! Jason bought it for me at the game. I figured it was a good investment since Isabel swears she will be going to school here and be on their gymnastics team!

look at these little treats!

2008-10-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun in the kitchen today, but before I get into that, I really need to thank Emily and Melanie for sending me to http://www.bakerella.blogspot.com/ . Emily, the fact that you thought of me when you saw this blog makes me smile! Everyone who reads this and loves to bake, needs to check out this blog. She has the best ideas for fun baking! (Tiaras and Tantrums, I thought of you!) It is where I got the idea for my project today.

One eyed purple people eaters:

Mummies..... very scary:

These creepy little treats are cup cake pops. All they are is cake mixed with frosting rolled into balls and dipped into a chocolate candy coating and decorated for Halloween.

Cupcake Bites:

These little tasty treats are basically the same thing. It is cake mixed with frosting rolled into balls and then placed into candy molds with melted chocolate in the bottom. Once the chocolate has set you dip the tops into melted chocolate candy coating and decorate. They were pretty simple once I got the hang of it. (It did take me a while to get the hang of it) Once I was finished I packaged them up and took them to my visiting teaching sisters. Later (after it was dark) the kids and me took these to a couple of houses and "boo'd" them. Which is knocking on the door, leaving the treat and running like crazy so you don't get caught. On the treat is a note with a cute little poem saying it is their turn to "boo" someone, and they have to put a picture in their window showing that they have been hit. It is fun to see how many houses get "boo'd" before Halloween. My kids have so much fun doing this each year. It was also pretty fun to have such a cool and yummy treat to take around. If you would like to give this fun activity a try, here a link to the notes and picture (and to be honest, a better explanation of the game then I could give!) http://organizedchristmas.com/youve-been-booed

Question of the day

2008-10-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

What is the worst thing you have eaten today?

Today I sat down and ate an entire bag of kettle chips washed down with a bottle of Dr. Pepper. These chips are the best chips ever, but still I can't believe I pigged out on them like this! I am so full right now I feel like I could throw up, but if there were anymore of these chips left, I would still be eating them. I guess I shouldn't have them around. O.k., so these are "healthy" chips, but still, eating a whole bag, not good! So tell me, what is the worst thing you have eaten today? It can't be worse than mine!

boys and bowties

2008-10-13T15:00:00.001-07:00

Look at these cute boys!! My parents brought these bow ties back from Scotland for all the boys. I don't think they could be cuter!

All dressed in white

2008-10-13T14:10:00.000-07:00

We had a very busy, and wonderful weekend. Isabel was baptised on Saturday! She has been looking forward to this day for so long, and was thrilled it was finally here. Me on the other hand, that was a different story! I was so anxious! It's one of those moments as a parent that you are torn. Where you're so excited for your child on their big day, but at the same time, I couldn't help but to wonder if she really understood the significance of what she was doing. Had I taught her everything she needed to know to make this decision? As she walked into the font to be baptised, I got my answer. I suddenly had a very calming feeling flow threw my body and a small voice inside me saying, she knows, she's ready, she knows. After that, everything was wonderful. I had my answer and I could relax and enjoy this wonderful day and wonderful moment. When Isabel came out of the water she was glowing with the spirit. I can't even explain how beautiful she looked, and how grown up! It really was a great day! We had lots of family come to support Isabel from both sides of the family. It was really nice having everyone there. After the baptism we headed to our house for a huge meal. On Friday I spent the day cooking all kinds of yummy Mexican food. Enchiladas, garlic lime chicken, spicy shrimp, shredded pork and beef and of course salsa!! (My Dad actually made the salsa) I bought the rice and beans from a local restaurant. I can make the rice and beans, but I don't like to! It was an awesome meal! I don't always cook like this (if I did I'd be the size of a house!) but it was a special occasion.

Here we are before her big moment

and here is the family after

I have more pictures that I will post later. I asked my Mom to hold my camera and I forgot to ask for it back! It ended up taking a trip to Bozeman! So, more to come...

Win a free handbag

2008-10-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

I saw this on my sister-in-law's blog. (she always has the best things on her blog) Really, who wouldn't want to win an absolutely free handbag? They really have the cutest bags to choose from too. I chose this cute brown one. Just click here or go to www.handbagplanet.com to check it out!

Cute girl

2008-10-06T19:10:00.000-07:00

My parents just got back from a trip to Scotland. Since they were gone for Isabel's birthday they brought something special back for her. What do you think? Doesn't she look adorable in this Scottish outfit?! She is so excited about her special gift. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

karaoke high school musical

2008-10-03T12:19:00.000-07:00

I love the WII!! I never thought I would ever say that about a video game system, but I really do like the WII. Isabel got the high school musical karaoke revolution game for her birthday and can't get enough. She loves to sing and loves high school musical, so it's a perfect fit. I get such a kick out of watching her dance and sing along with the game, so I thought I'd share!

tagged

2008-10-03T09:45:00.000-07:00

The rules:
1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Okay, here are 7 facts about myself:

1. My favorite season is fall. I love the leaves changing color and the still warm weather, but with the crisp nights.

2. I lived at a nudist colony with my family when I was 9 years old while my parents looked for a house in Seattle. Not many people know this about me, but it is always fun to see their reaction. (Yumi, do you remember the paper in third grade?)

3. I love to run. (pretty self explanatory)

4. I have always wanted to learn how to play the guitar. (still haven't)

5. I love to cook and bake.

6. My favorite flowers are first, a sunflower, second, gerber daisy's, and third, tulips. To me these are just really happy flowers and always put me in a good mood.

7. I would probably have ten or more kids if I thought I was patient enough to handle them all. That being said, I am stopping at five!

I'm tagging anyone who wants to do this tag. I know, its against the rules, but I don't want to tag anyone who doesn't want to do it. I know some of you feel very strongly about being tagged. That being said, this was a fun tag, I had to sit here for the longest time thinking of things. (I'm not use to thinking about myself!)

updates

2008-09-29T11:17:00.001-07:00

After a few requests to see the side by side pictures of Mrs. Palin and myself, what do you think?Any resemblance? I have to admit that I really tried to make myself look like her. My outfit (I didn't have a red blazer so I had to settle for the tan one in the picture. I did consider going over to my in laws and borrowing one of my MIL's!) my hair (I don't have bangs and I'm not very good at ratting my hair into a beehive) but all in all I'd say I got it kinda close. So I'm taking a pole, What do you think, do I look like the woman? Not to try and sway your votes one way or another, but I am still a bit miffed at that guy!

Also on an other note, another update, Most of you probably already know since I'm usually the last to hear about things. (the cost of living in a small town) Stephenie Meyer has started writing another twilight book. Well I should say started and then stopped. She started writing "midnight Sun" which is the first twilight book, but from Edwards point of view. She had given the first couple of chapters to a few people to see what they thought, her publicist, friends, family, and somehow it got leaked to the Internet. She was devastated and decided that she would not finish it. (stupid thieving jerk had to ruin it for the rest of us!) She did decide to go ahead and put the first twelve chapters that she had done on her website. So any of us that knew it was out there would get it from her instead of searching the Internet for it. (the whole explanation is on the website also) I have to say it is amazing!! You get so much more from Edwards point of view, (with the whole reading minds thing) you get to really know the other characters a lot better. I am so sad that I wont get to read the entire story, but we do know how the story ends, so it's not terribly frustrating. I know I'm a little crazy, but the other night I read both twilight and midnight sun together. I'd read a few chapters in one and then read a few chapters in the other, until I was done. It was so good I had to read them all again. (yes, my fifth time! like I said, crazy.) Her web site is http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/ Check it out, you will not be disappointed. It is really that good!

I'm losing my mind!

2008-09-25T11:04:00.000-07:00

I think I am losing my mind or maybe I just have to much on my plate and things are starting to slip through the cracks. Either way it's not good. Last night I forgot all about pack meeting! It's my job to keep all the leaders on track, make sure their all doing their jobs and that they don't forget anything. I'm suppose to make sure they don't forget anything! (what a joke!) I was cleaning up the kitchen last night and getting the kids ready for bed, when I get a phone call from one of the leaders, asking if I was planning on going to pack meeting. I said "yes, tomorrow." She replies, "no, not tomorrow, tonight." I couldn't believe what I was hearing! I had thought it was Tuesday all day, when in fact, it was Wednesday! I looked at the clock and I was already 15 minutes late! I was supposed to make cookies for refreshments (which I bought all the stuff for earlier that day thinking I would make them in the morning so they would be fresh for pack meeting) and I was suppose to pick up the boy's awards from the scout office. So both of my jobs, I didn't have done. I'm am still horrified at the whole situation! I can't believe that I was so mixed up in my days! I have been in cub scouts for over five years now and never screwed things up like this! Maybe it's a sign that It's time for a change, or maybe I'm really just losing my mind!

Clown Day

2008-09-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

Today at Will's preschool is clown day. During the year they have many dress up days. They always have to do with whatever theme and letter they are working on for the week. This week is the letter (can anyone guess, I'll give you a hint, What does clown start with?) C. So yesterday they learned all about China (or at least what a 3-4 year old would understand.) They ate their snacks with chopsticks and talked about the great wall and lots of other things. Today all the kids got to dress like clowns and this morning Will was not thrilled with the idea. He is not much of a morning person. So when I woke him up and started to get out the clown outfit, he was not happy. "I don't want to dress like a clown Mom!" He said over and over. I told him he didn't have dress up if he didn't want to, as I continued to find all the accessories to the outfit and lay them out. He does this most mornings so I knew it was just a matter of time for him to wake up completely and want to dress up. After breakfast he says "O.k. Mom, I will dress like a clown." He looked so dang cute in his rodeo clown costume. (what other kind of clown would a kid in this family be?) When we got to school, the first three boys he saw were not dressed up and I could see Will getting a little tense. Then he saw his teacher, Mrs. Thompson. She was decked out in her clown outfit, (she always dresses up) and he relaxed a little. It wasn't until he walked into the class room and saw other kids decked out with the full clown make up that he was totally o.k.!

Happy 8th Birthday Isabel!!

2008-09-23T13:35:00.000-07:00

Isabel turned 8 years old yesterday! I can hardly believe how quickly my "baby girl"(that has been her nick name since she was a newborn) is growing up! As much as I wish that she will stay a baby forever, she continues to grow. For example, for her birthday party this year she wanted to invite a few friends and go to the nail salon to get pedicures and manicures. I thought this was a really fun idea, but told her only two friends. She was thrilled and picked her two very best friends, Courtney and Savannah. (It also happens to be Savannah's b-day also!) After school we headed to the mall to Trendy Nails. The girls were so excited and talked and sang along with her new CD. (Miley Cyrus, a birthday present) This was so funny to me, I tried very hard not to laugh, remembering all to well how I would do the same with my friends at that age. When we got to the salon the girls picked out there nail colors and sat in the big massage chairs for their pedicures. The ladies that were doing their nails were very sweet and laughed and giggled right along with the girls. Each of the girls got little flower details over their painted toe nails.

Isabel! The poor girl is still really small for her age. She couldn't get her nails done and a massage from the chair at the same time because she is to short. Savannah told her, "it is good to be little, because then the boys can carry you around and take care of you." Yes!! They are only eight!

Courtney is the tallest one of the bunch. She had no trouble getting her massage.

Savannah was pretty quiet during her pedicure. She said it was because she was enjoying the massage. This girl is so funny!

The finished product, They looked so pretty!

The next thing was nails. It was pretty much the same, the girls picked out the color and the nail techs got started. The only difference was, Isabel got acrylic nails. She has been asking me for a while now, and I know it's kind of a waste for an eight year old, but it was her birthday and I'm a push over. I have to say they are really beautiful! She can't wait to show Grandma Brown. (since Grandma always has pretty nails) All the girls got flower details on their finger nails as well.

This is Savannah, she is a little camera shy. Every time I'd take a picture, she would look away. She has been one of Isabel's best friends since they were two. Isabel and her witch nails! This was before they cut them down to a normal length. She said for Halloween she wants to go back and get really long ones like this and have them painted black! I'd be scared!

This is Courtney, It was actually her idea for the nail party. She invited Isabel to do this last month for her party. Courtney has been one of Isabel's best friends since they met in pre-school. They later found out they were cousins! (second or third, I'm not really sure!) The Finished product, Oh so pretty!

I had to take a picture of this little shrine in the salon. Now, I'm not trying to mock or make fun of this, I'm just not understanding this whole concept. You cant really see it very well, but they gave it offerings of incense, a cigarette that they lit, a cup of coffee, flowers and candles. Does anyone know what the deal is with this? Interesting....

Before heading home, we stopped for some cold stone ice cream. The best ice cream ever! On the way home the girls were really rocking out to Miley Cyrus (AGAIN) and I had to get it on the camera. It was just to cute to pass up. As soon as I turned on the camera, they mellowed out and as you can see got very camera shy. It was much funnier before the camera was on. They had their spoons from their ice cream and were using them as microphones. Singing their hearts out. Oh well, you still get the picture.

Later that night we took Isabel to dinner. This is something we just started doing last year with the kids. On their birthday they get to pick where they want to eat and we all go and celebrate over dinner. Isabel picked The Olive Garden. She loves this place, her favorite thing is the soup, salad, and bread sticks meal. She has always had adult tastes ever since she was little. Grandma and Grandpa Erickson and uncle Liberty joined us. We ate, talked and laughed as Isabel opened presents and got sung to by the wait staff. It was a lot of fun.

This video is really dark, the restaurant had the lights low. Sorry, I know it's hard to see, but you can still hear the song they sang to Isabel. I wish that you could see her face. She got really red!

We are so lucky to have Isabel for our daughter. I have so many things that I love about this girl. Here are a few things you might not know about Isabel:

- She is really loving and has a tender heart.

- She is a huge help around the house and with her younger siblings. She is their second Mom!

- She is a girlie girl and a tom boy at the same time. She loves to dress up and get her nails done, but is the toughest soccer player on the field. (football, baseball, all of them) She doesn't let anyone push her around.

- She is super smart and loves to learn new things. She loves to read and loves math (she didn't get the math thing from me!)

- She is VERY competitive!! She wants to be the best at every thing she does (most of the time she succeeds)

Happy Birthday Isabel! You will always be my baby girl no matter how old you get. I couldn't have been happier the day I found out I was going to have you or when I found out you were a girl or the day you were born. You have added so much joy to my life and I can never thank you enough for that. I love you honey.

Palin look-a-like?!

2008-09-21T19:26:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, during church, I noticed a man staring at me from across the room. As I walked closer to him he acted excited and a little nervous then relaxed and walked up to me. He said, "has anyone ever told you, you look exactly like the republican vice president nominee? I had to get closer to make sure you weren't really her!" Now this was before all the hype, before she was on every magazine cover you come across. I had no idea who he was talking about. I smiled, and said, "thanks, I think?" Later that night at home, I got on the computer and looked her up. What the heck!!!! What was that guy thinking? It's probably a good thing I hadn't seen her yet, and new nothing about her, because I might have punched him if I was up to date on my current events! Not that she not a pretty woman, I think she is, but there is no way that I look anything like a 44 year old! The only thing that even resembles her is my glasses, they are some what the same as hers, but come on! Needless to say I was not happy and it is still bugging me.

Journey.....

2008-09-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

The kids have been begging me to go and see "Journey to the center of the Earth" since they first started seeing previews for it. I told them that they could see it if they read the book first. So months ago we went to library, checked it out and read it together. (I like to do this with all movies based on books, it gets the kids excited to read.) We had it read before the movie even came out. The problem was, it costs a lot to take two adult and four kids to a movie when it first comes out, but I did make a promise to the kids. Finally last week it came out in the dollar theater, (Hooray for cheap theaters!!) and since the yard was flooded and it was pouring rain outside, today was a perfect movie day. The kids LOVED it!! It was filled with action, and comical scenes that had my kids rolling! Will has been talking about it all night. There were some cheesy parts, but as far as a family movie goes, this one was awesome. A must see if your kids like movies other than cartoons.

Hurricane Joe?

2008-09-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke up to the phone ringing. It was our neighbor wondering if Jason was irrigating the pasture, because we had water all the way up to the road. Jason was a little confused, because no, he wasn't irrigating at all. He hangs up the phone and asks me "did Bennett leave the hose running last night?" I told him that I didn't think so and we got up to check. There was no way that this was from the hose! We had up to four feet of water in some places and all the way up the pasture, into the horse corrals, through the barn, out onto the lawn, across our circle driveway, to the middle lawn, and to the front lawn, all the way into the street! It was insane. Apparently what happened is the farm behind our property was irrigating and forgot to shut off the water last night. ("people" being Jason's cousin, Joe!) We have never had the water come up this close to the house, and I am so thankful that it didn't reach the house! What a mess that would have been. Jason spent most of the day out side trying to pump some of the water from the flooded Pasture, yard, barn, to the other side of the pasture.(the side that didn't get flooded) We still have a ton of water outside and most likely will for a few days. We look like we have been hit by a hurricane! We just need the sand bags and we'd be set! The worst part is the water went through were the horses and steers have been "doing their business" before it got to the lawn. So now the lawn is covered with filthy poop water. There is even a foam over the top of the water from all the droppings! YUCK!! I guess the lawn is good and fertilized now.

The crazy thing is you can't even really tell how bad it is from the pictures. We could go out and stand in the pasture and the water would be up to our waist. Now, I don't want to make Joe feel to bad. On his defense, he hasn't irrigated for a long time, and the sub water is up really high this year. That being said, I'm still pretty ticked!

This is going to be a gross clean up when the water finally goes down! What a mess.....

I'm hooked on Twilight!!

2008-09-17T15:35:00.006-07:00

As if I haven't been busy enough lately, I started reading the Twilight book by Stephenie Meyer. Oh my goodness!!!!!! They are so good! I had heard about them from various people, but I thought come on, how good could a vampire romance novel be? Well with Jason gone I needed something to fill my nights, so I picked up the first one, Twilight. I started on a wednesday night and finished on thursday morning. That same day I headed back to the book store to pick up New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn, the following three books. By Sunday I was finished with the fourth. I seriously could not put these books down. I am completely hooked and cannot wait until the movie comes out in November. If you have not read these books you need to do yourself a favor and go pick them up. I have read them all four times now and if I had not lent them to my friend, I would be reading them again!! They are that good! I am planning a girls night out to go see this movie, so read up and then give me a call!!

Three long days in the kitchen!

2008-09-17T15:35:00.005-07:00

Like I said in my last post I get tons of fruit to can every year from Jason's parents. Since I opted on Saturday to get my nails done with Candi instead of doing my fruit, I had to do mine by myself. So Bright and early Monday morning I started with my peaches and finished by nine o'clock that evening with my tomato's. Tuesday I started early again with my pears and finished around five o'clock. Tuesday night my legs and feet hurt so bad from standing for two days straight! But it was well worth it! I ended up doing 100 quarts of fruit and 20 pints of jam for my food storage. Whoo Hoo!! Today I thought I hadn't spent enough time in the kitchen over the last few days, so I baked two peach pies and a pan of chocolate peanut butter bars! Yummy! Tomorrow I will finish off my fruit by making some more jam. It is long and tedious work, but it is so worth all the trouble. The canned fruit is ten times better then the stuff you buy in the stores and it ends up being a lot cheaper. My kids are spoiled and wont even touch the store bought canned fruit and jam and even though I complain about my feet hurting I really do have fun when I'm canning. Maybe I'm just strange....

Fun Weekend!

2008-09-17T15:35:00.004-07:00

My brother Charlie, and his very cool wife Candi and their adorable boys came down for a visit this weekend. Every year I buy boxes and boxes of fruit to can, and last year Candi bought some and I taught her how to can. It was a lot of fun to do it together so this year she said she wanted to do it again. John and Coleen (Jason's parents) take orders and go to Utah to pick up the best fruit around. So Saturday, Candi and her family came for a visit and to do our canning at my house since we had the awesome Utah fruit. We spent most of the day on Saturday canning Candi's peaches and instead of doing mine we headed into town to get manicures and pedicures. (believe me we earned it after a long day on our feet. Earlier in the day Jason and Charlie took the kids outside to ride the horses. Jason had Will on the horse with him while he was rounding up the steers. One of the steers took off and Jason went after it and got off the horse to scare the steer in the right direction. Well instead of scaring the steer, he ended up scaring the horse with Will on it! The horse took off running and bucking and poor little Will hung on for dear life. He started slipping and hanging off the side of the saddle, but still hung on tight to the saddle horn with one hand. He eventually fell off and luckily no serious damage was done, just a few scrapes and bruises on his face and arm. Seriously, what a tough kid!! Although I would never want my kids to saddle bronc in a rodeo, Will is well on his way to being the world champ. (at least for his age) Jason and Charlie also took some guy time and went golfing once things settled down. On Sunday before they headed home, we hit Mesa Falls. It is a beautiful water fall with a nice path for a very small hike to the falls. (perfect for the little kids) We normally take the kids to Mesa falls every year, but we usually wait another month for the leaves to change color. Sunday ended up being the perfect weather for an outdoor activity, and it was so much fun to be able to do this with them, so we didn't mind going a little early this year. The leaves have just started changing and it was so pretty. I was able to get a few really cute pics of the kids, Enjoy!

Lillia has hair!!!

2008-09-17T15:35:00.003-07:00

O.k., so I know that Lillia has had hair for a long time now, but her hair is now long enough to put in pony tails!! I was so excited when I made this discovery the other day I had to take picture and share them on my blog. What a cutie!

Yellow Book

2008-09-17T15:35:00.002-07:00

I figured that since I keep talking about Jason's new job and him being gone all the time, I should let you all know what is going on. Jason has been in real estate for going on two years now. Things were great for a while until the market crashed..... Now things have not been great to say the least. He wanted to find a new job that he could do while still doing the real estate thing on the side. He ended up getting a job with Yellow Book. (the phone directory) So far he seems to like it, but he does travel a lot. He had three weeks of training in California, which was difficult for me. (we had never been a part for more than a few days before this!) He came home for another week and then had to leave again to Rock Springs, Wy. for another week! It has been a little crazy for me and the kids to be without him. (that is one of the reasons I haven't blogged in forever. Jason takes the lap top with him when he travels!!) It is a good company, my Mom and my brother Liberty both work for Yellow Book. They have done really well and worked for them for years. Liberty is actually Jason's boss. (yes it is a little weird, mostly for me) It is a big company and they have great benefits and bonuses. Jason seems to be getting the hang of it and has gotten a few really good sales. Plus he had a few properties close last week!!Hopefully things are looking up!! You might need to call and check on me when he is gone, I mostly do o.k., but this last trip I kinda had a break down!! I need some adult conversation so I don't go crazy! (sorry about the whole erased post thing last week, I had an emotional break down, blogged about it and then got embarrassed and erased it the next day when my head was clear again! I'm o.k. now!)

Back to school

2008-09-17T15:35:00.001-07:00

Just a few days after we got home from Bear Lake, the kids started a new school year. It was a little strange not having Jason here to help (he was still in training, in California for 3 weeks!) but we managed ok. The kids were thrilled to get back to school. Bennett started 5th grade and was really excited to learn that his teacher was a guy. He seems to be a really fun teacher and so far Bennett is really liking school. Isabel started second grade and is more than happy to be back. She got out a few of her old workbooks before school started again. She said it was just to "refresh and get ready for school", this was a few weeks before school started and she would work on them every day! She could have the worst teacher in the world and still love school. Evan started kindergarten and the thing he was looking forward to the most was riding the school bus! All these years of watching his older siblings get on and off the bus must have made an impact. Will started his first year of pre-school and even now, weeks after school has started, still gets too excited to sleep the night before school. He sits in his bed thinking about all the fun stuff he will be doing the next day. Too funny! Hopefully the good vibes will continue throughout the year!

I know this is short, I wasn't very quick with the camera!! But you get the idea!

Bear Lake family vacation

2008-09-17T15:35:00.000-07:00

Every year the Ericksons get together and have a family vacation. This year Jason and his brother Jake were assigned to plan the trip (So Megan and I planned it!) We decided that Bear Lake would be a fun and close trip. We had a blast! We stayed in condos, (which is so much nicer than a hotel when you have kids!) and spent most of our days playing on the beach, or water skiing, knee boarding, swimming, or riding the water wienie. (Thanks to Trena and Kirk for suppling the boat and other equipment!) We also golfed, toured caves, biked (some of them all the way around the lake, 50 miles!!) and basically played all week. It was really a lot of fun for the most part. I say for the most part because Jason had to be gone to California for almost the entire week. (due to a new job training) He was only able to come on Saturday and then left on Sunday. It was really sad having a family vacation with out him! We still managed to have a great time. We had a few family birthday while we were there as well. Happy birthday to Evan (my big 6 year old!!) and to Jason (yes he was gone for his birthday) and to me!! My birthday is on the 12th and Jason and Evan's birthday's are on the 14th. It was a crazy week jam packed with all kinds of events and activities. Next year I believe that Susan and Eric are planning it, it should be a lot of fun!

Here is a slide show of our many activities, Enjoy!:

our soccer season in a nut shell

2008-08-05T21:00:00.000-07:00

We have had a crazy summer filled with games almost every night, but I have not been good about taking pictures of the kids while playing. (hard to take pictures while coaching!) My brother was at Isabel's last game and got some really good shots of her so I thought I'd share. Isabel has had a great season. She loves soccer (almost as much as gymnastics)and it shows in the way she plays. She really is so much fun to watch! She is usually the smallest player on the field, but is not at all shy about going for the ball, no matter how big the other kid is who has it. It can actually be a little comical at times. She has her last game tomorrow and they have not lost a game. WoooHooo!! (I'd like to think it has something to do with the coaching!) It has been a really fun season.

Bennett had his last game tonight. He is not as into team sports as Isabel is, but the truth is he is really good. I keep signing him up thinking he will start to like it, but so far it hasn't worked. If he ever decided he liked it, he would be the best kid out there. He was pretty happy that this was his last game. Oh well, I guess he is going to be our golfer. He does make a good looking soccer player though!

Evan has his last game on Thursday. I still don't have any pictures of him playing yet (coaching) but I will get at least one at the next game. He likes to play, but gets easily distracted. One minute he is kicking the ball and the next he is running up to me for a hug, or wrestling with one of his team mates. The last game I had to stop him from giving another kid a piggy back ride as the ball went right past him! It is so funny to watch him play!

Well that's our soccer season in a nut shell. I am really happy to say it is almost over, and our lives can get back to normal!! YEAH!! That is until basketball starts.....

Cleaning?

2008-08-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

I just had to post this!! I asked the kids to go clean their rooms and when I went to check on them this is what I found.....

If you can't tell, that is Isabel and Will. They decided that they would switch their clothes while cleaning. Well, obviously there wasn't much cleaning going on, but this was much funnier!

*Hiring a maid...............................................200.00

*Asking your kids to do it and see what kind of mischief they get into..................................................................PRICELESS

Longest post EVER!!!

2008-08-01T17:37:00.000-07:00

After an absolutely insane and busy July, I'm back!! I have wanted to post and tried a few times, but with my crazy schedule lately, I just haven't found the time. I am truly sorry to all of you who can't start your day with out reading up on the latest Erickson adventures, I know it has been a long trying month, (hee hee) I was even reported to the "blogging police" by Dad. Seriously though, it was nice to know that I was missed, and I will try not to go into hiding again, try being the main word there. I can't make any promises, remember I do have five kids!

I am going to try and fit a months worth of activities into one post so if you choose not to read it all and just look at the photos, I will understand. But to tell you the truth, I have slacked on my picture taking this month as well, so maybe it won't be the longest post ever! I will start with the beginning of July and work my way through up until today, Makes the most sense to me. Let's see if I can remember a month ago!

Right after my last post, we headed to Bozeman for a visit with my parents and for a wedding of one of my best college friends. I was so excited to see her again, I hadn't seen her in a couple of years. The first night we got there we attended a "cowboy BBQ." Laura (my friend) and Steve (her fiancee) came up with a fun themed BBQ for there wedding, just a few days before the "I do's" Everyone was to come dressed in cowboy attire and awards would be given to the best dressed in different categories. I think we were the only one actually dressed in "real cowboy" clothes, but it was a blast. Isabel ended up winning for "prettiest belt buckle" (she refused to wear one of her Dads big buckles and wanted to wear one of her pretty buckles instead and I guess it paid off!) and I took away the prize for the "biggest belt buckle." (it can sometimes pay to be married to a cowboy) The kids had a blast eating and playing on the playground, while I had a great time catching up with my dear friend and meeting her soon to be husband.

I can't believe that I didn't get any pictures at the wedding but, Laura looked beautiful! I don't think I have ever seen her look more beautiful or more happy. I was really glad we could make it. Congratulations, Laura and Steve.

While in Bozeman we thought it would be fun to hike up to the "M" something I did quite a bit while going to school there. I love to hike and don't get the chance to go as often as I'd like to, so I jumped at this opportunity. My Dad offered to watch Lillia, so we took the other four kids and my brother Liberty came as well. We had a great time other than a few spills and tired little feet. I had forgotten what a beautiful view it is from the top of that mountain. Bozeman is really such a cool area.

Here are some other fun pictures taken while we were visiting Grandma and Grandpa Brown.

Once at home we tried to get back into a routine, but with three kids playing soccer and a different game three nights a week, a routine was much harder then it normally is. We did manage to get in a few of our families favorite summertime activities, like this one, a cookout.

The kids love to have cookouts, we roast hot dogs, and marshmallows for smores and after we sing songs a perform in front of the fire. Even my shyest of kids, Evan, loves to perform in front of the fire. I don't know if you noticed, but half of the hot dog, Will is eating in the picture, is gone. Cinnamon came up and took a bite just as Will was having a bite! It was really funny. It's a good thing Will likes to share!

Another fun thing we did in July was (of course) the fourth of July! This is usually a very hectic weekend for us. Jason is a team roper (for those of you who didn't know) and there are tons of rodeos on the 4th weekend. I swear every little town from here to Timbuktu has a rodeo and Jason enters every one of them! This year (with the cost of gas and all) he only entered a few and so we were able to get in some of the other fun activities that the 4th offers.
Early that morning Isabel, Jason and I headed to Menan for their annual 5K fun run. That's right I said JASON! Isabel really wanted to run this race with me. Knowing that she would have to stop and walk a few times (I wanted to run the whole thing) I asked Jason if he was up to running it with Isabel. I had expected him to laugh in my face, but instead, he smiled and agreed! I was shocked that he would run and very proud that he would do that for Isabel. The race was a lot of fun, but it was even better getting to watch Isabel and Jason finish strong together!
Later we hit the Menan parade and festival while Jason went to a few rodeos. It was not easy keeping up with all five kids in that crowd by myself, but it was still a lot of fun and the kids had a blast playing games and eating the yummy treats! After that we headed to Grandma and Grandpa Erickson's for some fun with the cousins. They flooded their lawn for the kids to "swim" and cool off a little. This is also one of my kids favorite summer activities. Once the heat of the day was over, we had another cookout and later enjoyed some fire works. It was a really busy fun packed day.

The next big Erickson event was Jason's niece, Whitney got married!! They had a beautiful ceremony at the Idaho Falls temple and dinner and reception in Pocatello. It was a fun day of visiting with family and eating (a lot), laughing and dancing. Whitney looked beautiful and so happy. Her new husband, Jordan seems like a really great guy. They make a nice couple and They seem very happy together.

The next two events were Kasen's blessing and Will's birthday!! We celebrated both the blessing and birthday on the same day. Kasen is Jed and Emily's first son and second child. He is such a little sweetie! They live in Chicago while Jed is going to school. They came out to visit for a few weeks over the summer and decided to bless Kasen here with all their family. We were so happy to see them and get to be part of Kasen's blessing.
I can't believe that Will is four years old! Times flies so fast! It was a pretty crazy day so I only got a few photos. I didn't even get any of him blowing out his candles!! (I know, BAD MOM!! but in my defense, I gave the camera to someone else to take pictures and I'm not sure what happened!) I do have to say our lives have been blessed having this little guy in it and I don't think I could have asked for a better kid. Happy birthday William!!

The rest of the month has been one busy day after another, but so much fun. It's crazy to think we only have a few weeks left until school starts. But summer is not over yet! We still have a lot of things planned and I'm sure a lot of unplanned things are still to come.

Here are just a few more photos of random things we have been doing. Enjoy!!

kung fu fighting

2008-06-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend while visiting my parents, Grandpa took the kids to see kung fu panda. They were so excited to go and they loved the movie. Bennett was able to stay and spend the week in Bozeman. This was one of the fun things they did today. Enjoy!

http://www.kungfupanda.mcdonalds.com/KFP/?replay=1214259137609#youkungfu

You gotta love his fighting face! he's such a bad @#$!!

Funky music

2008-06-16T16:35:00.000-07:00

Lydia, the new song on my playlist is dedicated to you! Bring back any memories? Ah, high school!

Isabel and Lillia playing

2008-06-16T15:28:00.000-07:00

Isabel loves her baby sister and loves to play with her. Yesterday Isabel was spinning (very slowly) around with Lillia in her arms, and Lillia couldn't get enough. When this first happened Lillia was squealing so loudly and laughing as hard as she could, but by the time I got the camera, I think she was getting a little tired. It was still pretty funny though. I wasn't going to post it, but the kids were insistent that I do. Enjoy!

Father's Day

2008-06-16T15:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Fathers Day to all you Pop's out there, but especially to Jason, Grandpa Erickson and Grandpa Brown. The kids made this video just for you!

Dad, Happy Fathers day! Thanks for teaching me how to play baseball, you are a good coach, and for taking me to roping's. I like it when we get to spend time together, just the two of us. You are a great Dad. Love, Bennett

Dad, Thanks for teaching me to ride horsies. I like to wrestle and tickle you. Your the best! Love,Will

Dad, Thank you for teaching me to ride Izzy and for helping me to ride her. I like when we play baseball in the yard and when we go out for ice cream. You are a lot of fun to mess with! Love ya, Isabel

Dad, I like your hugs and when we play together. You are a nice Dad. Love Evan

Dadda, Bla Bla mamamma ddadda hi bouie blub dadda daddda muma bah bah ieeeeeo whaaaaie. Love Lillia

Erickson Family reunion 2008

2008-06-16T14:18:00.000-07:00

It has been a few years since we have had an Erickson Family reunion, so Jake and Megan and Tara and Cole, planned a get together. It was a lot of fun to see everyone that came. (maybe next year more people will show up.) We ate (of course, what's a reunion with out lots of food?) and caught up with everyone while the kids ran around. They had games planned, but the kids were having so much fun playing football and playing on the play ground, we ended up not playing any. About half way through lunch, Will runs up to me saying he had to go potty. The bathrooms at the park were locked, so I told him to go behind a big tree. Well, he ran over to it, and instead of going behind it, he pulled down his pants right in front of everyone, giving us all a full moon. Everyone got a good chuckle out of this and suddenly everyone is rolling, laughing so hard they are chocking on their food. I look over and will is no longer going "potty" but is squatting and going number two! Jason runs out to stop him but it was to late, he was already shaking his bum, trying to get the poop to drop! I guess that's what happens when you grow up with horses and steer, they do it, right? I was laughing to hard to get a picture of this, but a few others did. As soon as I get a copy of one I will be posting it. It was just to funny.

Lillia had a great time with everyone around giving her tons of attention!

Evan is kind of a loner, he likes to play by himself when he doesn't know that many people. He still has a great time no matter where he goes.

Bennett, Isabel, and Samantha playing on the playground.

Uncle Roger was giving kids rides on the four wheeler, and all them decided to jump on at once. I promise he was only going like two miles an hour! I'm not really a fan of kids on these things, but I have to say it was pretty funny.

I love to get together with the Erickson clan. They are a great family, no back stabbing, or fighting. It is really fun to be around them. I don't think there are to many families like them.

Jefferson stampede days parade

2008-06-16T13:40:00.000-07:00

It's stampede days time, so time for parade and rodeo. The kids have such a great time at the parade, and were so excited to go. Isabel was in it this year, she participated in a cheer leading clinic that the high school cheerleaders put on as a fund raiser. All the girls that did the clinic got to be in the parade and show off their new moves. Isabel was so excited! The boys couldn't wait to get all the candy and see the floats. ( this is just a small town parade so the floats are just decorated pick up trucks, but it is still fun.) We were able to sit by some of Jason's cousins and their kids, so it was even better having all of us there.

...............Evan checking out all his candy

..Lillia trying to get into some of Evans candy. That wrapper just wouldn't come off!

.. She finally gave up trying to get the wrapper off and just put it all in her mouth!

.........Daddy and Will enjoying the parade and the sun!

Will waved at every float and group that went by, just hoping they would throw him some candy! It worked most of the time. Both he and Evan came home with half a grocery bag full of candy. He was so cute standing there waving, I had to get it on video. He waves just like the beauty queen's!

By the time Isabel's group got to us they were pretty far behind the rest of the parade, so they just ran right by. I wasn't able to get much of a video of her, she was so funny, just a "hi Mom, bye, Mom" and right by. She had been saving a piece of candy to throw to us the entire parade, and after said "who got the candy I threw to you?" I thought it was really sweet of her.

Isabel's baseball team

2008-06-16T13:23:00.001-07:00

....................................The Stingers

I thought since I have posted about the other kids and their baseball, I should post about Isabel also. She is having a harder time this year with baseball than last year. Last year she played t-ball, and was a super star, but this year she is playing machine pitch, and it is really hard for her to hit the ball. The pitches are never in the strike zone partly because she is so little, and partly because the machine is so hard to position right.

At her game on Wednesday, she got her first hit! It was really exciting, and she was thrilled. It made her feel like she still has it, and gave her the confidence she needed. As you can see from the video, she just barely beat the first baseman to get on. She has another game tonight, wish her luck!

Kelly's Home!

2008-06-11T20:58:00.000-07:00

My sister in law, Kelly, just got home from teaching in Africa for a month. We are so excited for her to be home, but as you can imagine, it was hard for her to leave the children that she has grown to love. If you would like to read about her very cool trip visit macandkelly.blogspot.com
She really learned so much and it was truly a life changing trip. Please visit her blog and see what you can do to make a difference. Welcome home Kelly!

R.I.P Blossom

2008-06-09T16:07:00.000-07:00

Well I figured it was going to happen soon or later, but I really didn't think it would happen this soon. Blossom was killed last night. We got home from the dentist and the kids ran out to the barn to check on the cats, Isabel comes running into the house screaming and crying that Blossom was dead. This brought back terrible memories about the bunnies that we bought last year. They were out in the barn and it was Isabel's job to feed them. When she got home from school she ran out to check on them, and she came running back to the house screaming saying,"Mom, the bunnies are gone, there is nothing left but fur and blood!" Something (I don't know what kind of animals does that) came into the barn and skinned and ate the rabbits. Well I was really hoping not to find that kind of scene when I got to the barn, and thankfully no. Just a dead kitten (I think it had been dead for a long time since it was rock hard) it had four bite marks on the back of the neck and it was a little bloody, but that's all. There was also a tiny little bird with a broken wing in with the cats, and the kids thought the bird killed poor Blossom. I know it's not funny, and shame on me for this, but I had such a hard time not laughing at them. We buried blossom under a tree, and we all said a few words about what a special cat she was.(we have had her for three days!) Isabel cried forever, and even now hours later if you mention the cats she will start again. All the kids think that we should give Felix back to the family that we got him from. They have decided it would be better if he lived there, since it is just not safe for small animals out here. (We'll see if they will take him back or not, they seemed pretty happy to have gotten rid of them) I feel really bad for poor Isabel, her heart is just breaking. I thought I would spare her feelings and not take a picture of Blossom to post. (I'm sure some of you are happy about that as well.) I guess we are just not meant to have cats around here.

another trip to the dentist

2008-06-09T15:48:00.000-07:00

I took the kids to get their teeth cleaned at the dentist today. They all did really well, I am always scared that they will freak out and bite the dentist like many of the kids did when I was a dental assistant back in the day. Luckily that hasn't happened and hopefully will never happen. Isabel and Evan both have a cavity!! I'm so ashamed, what a terrible Mother I am turning out to be. (just kidding) It really doesn't surprise me to much that Evan has a cavity since he sneaks anything and everything sweet from the pantry late at night. I am not kidding, this kid will take full bags of marshmallows, cans of frosting (with a spoon), bags of chocolate chips, bags of brown sugar (with a spoon), he once took a jar of marshmallow cream (with a spoon, that was the worst thing I think I have ever had to clean up, once that stuff dries it's like glue.) He takes it upstairs to his room and hides under his bed until it's gone and then goes to sleep. So really I think we are lucky he just has one cavity! Isabel one the other hand hates to go a few hours with out brushing her teeth, go figure.
It was Will's first cleaning and he did awesome! he wasn't even nervous at all, just sat up in that big ol' chair and opened wide. The hygienist was really sweet and told him he was magic and he could move the chair if he thought about it hard enough. Will would close his eyes and make tight fists and then the chair would move. He thought that was just the coolest thing. Both Will and Bennett's teeth look great, no cavities to worry about.
I meant to bring my camera, but of course forgot it. I guess that's what happens when you are trying to get five kids in the car and to the dentist on time. I'm surprised I didn't forget anything else! (like my mind!)

Do you have a swing set?

2008-06-08T20:25:00.000-07:00

I was asked to substitute in primary today at church, I said yes and was really surprised at how well behaved the class I taught was. I don't know why, but I am usually asked to teach the worst class in the entire primary, with little monsters waiting to get me alone in the classroom so they can eat me alive! I was very happy to have a class that actually listened and participated in the games and stories. Anyway, this is not the point to my story, but I thought I'd share that little tid bit of information.

Before class time, we were sitting in sharing time, and my class was sitting just behind Will's class. I love that age group, they are so funny to just sit back and listen to the things they say. One of the boys in his class was going around asking all the other kids if they had a swing set. Well it was actually more like this, "I have a swing set, do you have a swing set?" over and over to all the kids. Most of the kids replied yes, but when he got to Will, that was a different story. He says again, "I have a swing set, do you have a swing set?" Will didn't say anything, but he shook his head no and then hung his head in shame. It was very funny and at the same time so sad! You could tell Will was so nervous about getting asked this question, knowing that he would have to say no. Like it was the worst thing in the world to not have a swing set! I think it might just be time to break down and buy one of these things. If I only had a camera with me to catch the look on his face, so sad. If anyone knows of a good deal let me know.

Felix and Blossom

2008-06-08T20:01:00.000-07:00

Introducing the newest members of our family, Felix and Blossom. Isabel had a friend over on Friday and her friend mentioned that her cat had kittens and they were looking for a good home. We were not in anyway looking for another cat, (we have tried to have cats a couple times, but they don't last to long. They have been taken by the road, the owls, and I think even the neighbors!) but Isabel was very persistent and I gave in. When we took her friend home Isabel got to pick out a kitten. They were all so cute and Isabel just couldn't decide which one she wanted more, plus the fact that I'm such a pushover for a cute animal and my kids, we ended up coming home with two. Jason was not happy with me, he didn't want one cat let alone two, but two cats are better than one for a couple reasons. 1) they keep each other company, and are less likely to wander off 2) two cats catch more mice than one, and since they (the cats) live in the barn, they should be catching quite a few. 3) two cats means less fighting when all the kids want to hold one. The list could go on and on. (actually that was all I could think of) Isabel got to name them since she picked them out, and I really think they are cute names and fit the kittens. Can you tell which is which? Hopefully these cats decide to stick around, Isabel is becoming very attached already.

more baseball

2008-06-05T22:08:00.000-07:00

The Dodgers won tonight!! Bennett had a great game and the weather was actually pretty nice. Not a bad evening! They have their last game on Tuesday (thank goodness!) and then we will only have four games a week instead of the six games a week we have had lately.

Evan also had a game tonight, it was his first of the season since his last was cancelled. He has a lot of hard work and practice ahead of him! He was out in the field, rolling around, picking grass and throwing it a people, throwing his mitt, and jumping on players! The one time he caught the ball, he just stood there smiling and the batter ran right by him! It is only t-ball, and he has a lot of years of playing to improve, but for a parent, oh my, it can be hard to watch! He does look so cute in his uniform.

The garden

2008-06-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

We finally got our garden planted today!!! HURRAY! What a load off my mind, we really should have done it last month, but with the cold weather and me being so sick, it just didn't happen. We actually had a few hours with nothing on the calender so we took advantage and started planting. I had a crazy time trying to find any seeds to plant. I think with the prices of everything sky rocketing, everyone is a little scared and planting a garden this year. I had to go to four different stores to get all the seed I needed, we still didn't get everything we wanted, but we got the basics. Corn, beans, peas, carrots, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, and pumpkins. Every year I let the kids plant the pumpkins. They plant them and through out the summer they water and weed. I think it is a great way for the kids to see what hard work can accomplish. Come October, they have great pumpkins for carving, and it is all because of the work they did. (we didn't plant last year, I was still in hibernation from having a baby and wanted nothing to do with a garden. So Grandma gave the kids pumpkins from hers.) After the pumpkins were planted, we separated, Jason and Will tackled the corn, Isabel, Evan and I got on the peas and carrots, and Bennett decided to mow the lawn. (it was his first time mowing the lawn, and he was really excited. He felt like he was driving a car!) After those were down, everyone but Isabel and I wimped out and we were left with the rest to plant by ourselves. When we finally got it done, I was thrilled. It can be quite a chore to get it all done, especially with how big ours is, but nothing is better than fresh veggies from your own garden!

...............................Bennett's first driving attempt!
.....................................Daddy's little helper
.......................................my hard workers
......................................the finished product

Dentist Isabel

2008-06-04T20:34:00.000-07:00

......................................BEFORE Isabel has had a dead tooth for a couple of years. Evan got mad at her for some reason (it was really to long ago for me to remember the exact reason) and threw a toy at her. It just happened to be a big enough and heavy enough toy and hit her directly in the tooth. The next day it was all grey and has been that way ever since. The tooth has been lose for a couple months now, but every time she would wiggle it, it would get pushed up into her gums instead of coming out. Lately her gums around the tooth have gotten really swollen and irritated, so I knew that tooth needed to come out. As more time went on it became more obvious that it was not going to come out without some professional help. The last week it has been extremely sore and Isabel has been having a hard time eating, so I finally made the call to the dentist and got an appointment for today at 1:00. Isabel woke up this morning saying, "Oh 1:00, oh no, scary, 1:00" over and over. I told her it was really no big deal, and that the dentist would give her some medicine so she wouldn't feel it getting pulled. She was not convinced, a friend of hers from school had a tooth pulled and told her it was awful, and it hurt soooo much. The poor girl was scared to death! We got to the dentist and he is actually a friend of ours, he was so sweet to Isabel, telling her silly stories of Jason to take her mind off of it. (from the picture you can tell it didn't really work!)
Dr. Dansy numbed her gums and then gave her the dreaded shot. She did a lot better then I thought she would. She squirmed a little and made a few small squeals, but did really well. (seriously, how morbid am I, taking pictures of her while she is in pain! Anything for my blog!)
After the shot starting working she was so funny, it was her first time having any work done, so she has never had to have a shot. She kept asking if her lip was fat and if she looked funny. When Dr. Dansy came back he asked her to try and pull out her tooth. She was very nervous about this because it has hurt so badly for the last little while, but she went ahead and tried, (after a little coaxing) she was able to move it a lot but no luck pulling it. Dr. Dansy then got out the pliers, grabbed her tooth and told Isabel that she could pull it out if she wanted to. Isabel grabbed the pliers and gave it a yank. On the second try it came out. She was really excited that she was able to pull it out and that it didn't hurt! She was thrilled to have it finally out. Her gums are still pretty swollen, but that should be gone within a few days. The best thing was Dr. Dansy didn't even charge us for the visit because he said that Isabel did all the work! Nice job Isabel, maybe I have a future dentist on my hands! (you might not want to watch the video if you have a weak stomach! I'm kidding, it's really not that bad.)

............................................AFTER
.........................................Still as cute as ever!

Playoffs

2008-06-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the Dodgers first playoff game. It is a two game elimination, which is a good thing, because they lost by one run tonight. It was a hard night on both teams (and spectators) because it was pouring rain. We had some wild pitches because the pitchers couldn't keep hold of the wet ball, and the other boys were so cold and wet they were having a hard time catching. The game started at 6:30 so I was able to watch about 30 minutes of it before I had to leave to take Evan to his game at 7:00. Luckily Evans game was cancelled due to the rain. I made a quick stop at the convenience store to pick up some hot chocolate before heading back to the Bennett's game. (it was soo cold, we really needed something to warm us back up) I am a true believer in supporting your kids in everything they do. If they are out in the rain playing then we are out in the rain watching. None of this watching from the car for me. I feel like, if they can do it, so can I. My other kids didn't feel as strongly as I did, and decided to stay in the car and watch a movie. Which was fine by me, that means less whining that I have to deal with. I don't know if they got bored or if the puddles were just too irresistible, but they only lasted in the car for about twenty minutes. About five seconds later they were soaked head to toe and completely covered in mud. Bennett's second game is on Thursday so more to come..... Hopefully the sun will make an appearance for that game.

Bennett the fireman

2008-06-03T20:10:00.000-07:00

Bennett worked on his webelos readyman badge today. Basically it is learning all about first aid. So we arranged for him and two other boys to go to the fire station and earn their badges. We have a guy in our ward who is a fireman and was happy to put on a class for us. They learned all kinds of great info from CPR to frostbite, shock to burns, and lots more. The funny thing was Bennett fell asleep half way through the class (I think he got up during the night to play the WII) and was so embarrassed. He didn't open his mouth the rest of the time there. I tried to get a picture of him asleep, but his friend sitting next to him woke him up before I got a chance to. After they were done with all the webelos requirements, they were able to go out and check out the fire trucks. They loved this!! Bennett had such a great time, (I know you can't tell from the pictures. He is at that age where it's not cool to smile!) he has now decided he wants to be a fireman.

Snow? In June?!!

2008-06-02T20:44:00.000-07:00

Last night we were at Grandma and Grandpa Ericksons house for a little visit. My kids had been begging me all day to go see Grandma. We get there just as they are breaking out the brownies and ice cream. (perfect timing right!) We were all just sitting around visiting eating our desert when I notice big white flakes coming down outside. No, not snow, but pedals from the blossoms on the apple tree. So I decide to play a little trick on Isabel. I say, "Isabel, look outside it's snowing." She gets a little upset and goes to the window to investigate. She then says "oh man, I thought those were pedals!" We had her going for a few minutes, she even called all of her siblings in from the other room to see the "snow". When they finally saw that it really was flower pedals and not snow, they got really excited as they realized it was a perfect fun new game. They all ran outside and began pretending that they were playing in the snow. It was really quite cute to watch, but haven't we had enough of snow. Real or pretend? I say bring on the heat!

Mom update

2008-05-30T23:23:00.000-07:00

My Mom had her third chemo treatment today. Each one seems to be getting a little worse. The Doctor told her this would most likely happen as the poisons build up in her body. I haven't talked to her today, but I have had her in my thoughts. She is amazing, she is still continuing to work, even though she is feeling even more sick. I know that working is helpful because it helps to take her mind off of it, but I hate that she is working so hard when she really doesn't feel up to it! She is not supposed to lose her hair with this kind of treatment, but she says that everyday she sees more of it on her bathroom floor. She can even find a positive thing for this. She says it will just give her an opportunity to check out new hairstyles with cute wigs! (always the happy go lucky!) The good news is with each treatment she has, the closer she is to being done! Only nine more to go. I think she should have a party with each treatment. In two weeks she can have a number eight party, and then keep counting down until zero! We love you Mom, and you are always in our thought and prayers.

Barn Owls

2008-05-30T22:52:00.000-07:00

I think we have a Major flock of these things in our yard! We have always had a few owls here. I can remember when Bennett was little, and we watched the secret of NIMH, (a movie about smart rats that I loved when I was a kid) he was really scared of owls after that. Well we had an owl that lived in the tree right outside his window, and it would hoot all night long. Which would scare the poor kid half to death, and he would come down stairs crying almost every night. After a while he got use to them, and now the kids think they are great. I have always liked them because they keep the field mice population under control. (we live in the country and have lots of mice in the yard and the fields around our house) Last year we had a pack meeting here at our house. (we do a couple times a year, it is the perfect place for a bon fire, and roasting hot dogs and marshmallows) We were having an arrow of light ceremony and right in the middle of it an owl flies over our heads and lands in a tree right next to the kids who were getting their arrow of light. It was so cool, and perfect for the ceremony. But lately however, it seems as if we have hundreds of owls living in our trees, and they don't shut up! All night long I here "WHO WHO WHO" over and over and it really seems to be getting louder. I toss and turn most nights because of the stinking things, and tonight is no exception! I can't see them, but I know they are there, dozens of little peeping Toms, trying to get a look! (I'm joking! I'm not really that self involved!) What to do! I should stop complaining and get up earlier in the morning, then I will be so tired at night, I won't hear a thing! Anything that eats mice is a friend of mine!

time alone with my thoughts

2008-05-30T22:25:00.000-07:00

Jason is in Utah, for what else, a roping. I really miss him terribly when he is gone, but it does give me time to catch up on my chick flicks. After I got the kids in bed, I settled down with a box of candy and the movie, P.S. I love you. Oh man, what a great show. I really wasn't expecting much, the previews weren't all that appealing to me, but I saw it and thought, why not. Now I am really missing Jason, and wishing he was here and I could feel his arms around me. I was reading my sister in law's blog earlier, and she was saying how you never know what the future holds. One minute you are here and the next, well possibly, you're not. The truth is you should never waist a moment that could be spend with the people you love, and you should never waist the opportunity to tell them just how much you love them. (you see what a chick flick does to me!) So, here goes, Jason, I love you, probably more than you'll ever know. You came into my life (nearly twelve years ago) and swept me off of my feet, and I have yet to set my feet on the ground. We don't always see eye to eye, but I think that is one of the many things that makes us great. Our differences and the way we come together, make us so much stronger. You are an amazing husband, father, friend, lover, coach, athlete, son, teacher, and the best man I know. I know that I am really embarrassing you right now (another thing I love about you, your modesty) But that's what you get for leaving me alone with all my thoughts! So honey, come home safely, I'll see you soon.

What a crazy day!

2008-05-27T20:19:00.000-07:00

I had the craziest, super busy day today! I started out trying to get awards for my cub scouts, what a joke! I use to be able to just go to the scout office and pick up any awards that I needed, but now you have to go online and fill in all these forms and it is a big frickin mess. Most of the time the scout office computer is down and then it takes hours to do one simple award. Well today I had eleven awards to get, all going to different boys so I was on the computer forever!! I'm not kidding it took me over three hours to fill out these stupid forms, that should have only taken me five minutes, but their computer wasn't working! Pack meeting is tomorrow, so I had to get it done today. After I finally got the computer things figured out, I headed to Idaho Falls to pick up the awards. Well it turns out their computers were really screwed up today and they hadn't received my forms!! So I had to do it all over again at the scout office. An hour and a half later I left with the awards I needed, needless to say I was a bit frustrated! I had a lot of other things to do for pack meeting, which took up the better part of my day. I finally get home and have to rush to get the kids ready for baseball. That's right I said "the kids," Evan and Isabel have started baseball now. Evan had practice at 5:30 to 6:30, then Isabel had practice from 7:00 to 8:00 and then Bennett had a game at 6:30. I was so bent out of shape from the whole cub scout mess, and in a rush to get the kids where they needed to be, throwing them in the car while they are all screaming at each other, the next thing I know, I hear this big crunch! As I was pulling out of the garage, I failed to notice that Jason had parked his pick up behind me and slammed into it! Now on my defense, he never parks there. We have this huge yard and driveway and he picks right behind me to park. I am saying all this to point the finger at someone other than me, but the truth is it was all my fault! All I had to do was look in my rear view mirror and I would have seen this giant truck behind me. UGGGG! What a day I am having! So after having a few words with Jason, and shedding more then a few tears, I finally got Evan to his baseball practice. Oh, but that's not all, while Evan was practicing I let Isabel and Will play on the play ground next to the field. After practice I'm grabbing them all, and rushing to get them in the car to get to Isabel's practice, and I notice Isabel's pants are wet. She has had a potty accident because she couldn't find a bathroom! So we have to hurry and drive home so she can change and get to practice on time. I drop her off at practice and rush to Bennett's game. While I was watching him play, I notice Will has wet pants. Yes, that's right, another potty accident! So after only getting to watch about 15 minutes of Bennett's game, I have to take Will home to change. By the time we got home and I got Will changed, it was time to pick up Isabel. Bennett's game ends at eight, so we just headed home yet again. On the way home, out of the corner of my eye, I see what I think at first is a huge horse. I slow down and get a better look, no not a horse, but a moose, out in our neighbor's field! I was pretty excited about this, because it is not to often that we see a moose around here. So I grabbed my camera and got out of the car. I was trying to get as close as possible to get a good picture and got as close as I could, while feeling safe. I was looking through my camera, trying to get it to focus on the moose. When I finally got it to focus, the moose was gone. I looked up from my camera, to see where it had gone, and found it charging at me! I took off running as fast as I could back to the car and just about had an accident in my pants! The moose stopped and snorted only about 15 yards away from me! Oh that was a little to close for me, but I was able to get a few good shots on my camera from inside the car! After finally getting home and the kids to bed, whew, I'm so tired! What a crazy day. I hope tomorrow goes a little better.

Here is my poor van, I guess it could have been worse, but still. I want to cry (again) just looking at it! Jason's pick up is fine, not even a scratch.

This is the female moose that almost killed me. (o.k., so maybe it wasn't quite that dramatic, but still really scary!)

To sleepover or not to sleepover?

2008-05-23T23:13:00.000-07:00

Tonight Bennett went to spend the night at someones (I wont name names) house, and I didn't even know about it! I sent him with his Grandpa and some cousins to a roping that Jason was in for the evening, but had expected him to come home. Around eleven o'clock I was getting a little worried when I got a phone call from Jason saying he was going to spend the night. I was so mad!! I have a rule about sleepovers, which is no sleepovers! To many bad things happen to kids at sleepovers and I want to protect my kids. The thing is you can't trust anyone when it comes to this issue. (child abuse) If people who hurt kids went around with it tattooed on their forehead it would be a different story, but the sad thing is, it is usually the one person you would never think would do it, who hurts your child. I hate having to be this way, and sometimes feel like my kids are missing out on a childhood right of passage, but how else do you protect them from those sick individuals who hurt kids! Jason thinks I am way to over protective, and we don't see eye to eye on this issue at all. I have seen first hand what abuse can do to a child and I don't want my kids to have to go through that kind of pain. Am I wrong about this? Should I let them have sleepovers? I would love some advice on this subject, please! I made Jason go pick Bennett up tonight, even though it was almost midnight before he got there. He was so mad at me for this. The thing is, I have made myself perfectly clear on this issue and the fact that I wasn't even consulted about it makes me irate! I think we are going to have to agree to disagree on this. I don't think I will be changing my mind any time soon.

Thank you Mrs. Hansen

2008-05-23T22:15:00.000-07:00

I was just reading my last post and I realized that I hadn't said anything about Bennett's teacher. All I said was how Bennett was happy to be out of school and raved about Isabel's teacher, making it seem as if Bennett didn't have a wonderful teacher, which is so not the case. Bennett's teacher was so great, she spent so much extra time and energy with him. Bennett doesn't thrive on school like Isabel. He has had a rough couple of years with school, and things don't come easy for him. He works and works at his school work and it just doesn't sink in. His teacher, Mrs. Hansen, worked hand in hand with Jason and I to keep Bennett caught up and on task. (which is not an easy thing.) We really appreciate everything she did for Bennett, because he had a great teacher, he had a great year. He brought his report card home today (Que the dramatic music, duh da da) it was awesome! All A's and B's! We are so happy and proud of all his hard work. You rock Bennett, Great work! (thanks Mrs. Hansen)

Last day of school

2008-05-23T18:19:00.001-07:00

Today was the last day of school for Bennett and Isabel. Bennett was thrilled to be done, but Isabel on the other hand was not happy at all. She loves school and learning new things, but even more she loves her teacher, Mrs. Johnson. She is moving to California this summer and Isabel is so sad that she wont get to see her next year. She was a great teacher, always doing the funnest things to get the kids involved and enjoying school. She gave all of the kids a disc today, that had pictures of the class over the past year. How cool is that!? Isabel has had so much fun looking at these pictures and remembering all of the fun days in first grade. We hope she has a second grade teacher as wonderful as Mrs. Johnson.

Isabel brought home her report card yesterday. When I opened it I was so excited, she had a perfect report card! In first grade they don't give regular grades, A's and B's, that sort of thing. They give numbers and E's for excellent. The highest number is a 4 which means above grade level. Isabel had all E's and 4's. Isabel took one look at her report card and started crying. She said "I thought I did good this year" I was surprised by this and told her she did great. Isabel then replied, "I got all E's, the worst is an F". I tried really hard not to laugh at this, and explained that the E was the best she could get.

a conversation with the toilet

2008-05-21T19:33:00.000-07:00

Earlier tonight, I walked into my bedroom and I heard the funniest conversation coming from my bathroom. It went something like this:

Toilet (AKA Will, in a deep kind of scary voice): Hey what are you doing to me?
Will: Don't worry toilet, I'm just going potty.
Toilet: I don't want you to make me messy!
Will: I promise, I will only pee in your water, and I wont poop on you this time.
Toilet: O.k. you can go
after a minute.......
Will: Thanks toilet, I'm all done.
Toilet: Don't forget to flush, and make sure you wipe off those drippys.
Will: O.k. but don't tell Mom I made drippys on you.
Toilet: Don't forget to wash your hands and I wont tell.
Will: Thanks toilet, you're a good friend. See you next time.
Toilet: Bye, bye Will.

I'm not kidding, this is a true story!! Kids have the best imaginations!

Liberty got his bear!

2008-05-21T15:23:00.000-07:00

My oldest brother, Liberty, is in Canada right now on a bear hunt. He was so excited to go and had hoped that he would get his bear. Today I got an email from him letting us know he had in fact gotten his bear. Congrats Lib! He got this bear on the second day there, with his bow. I wonder what he will do with the rest of his time in Canada.

I've been tagged

2008-05-21T13:52:00.000-07:00

Tag I'm it:
What was I doing ten years ago?
I was moving into our first house and loving being a first time Mom. Bennett was just a few months old, and I had just decided that I would not be going back to work, and would instead work even harder as a full time Mom.

Five snacks I enjoy:
-I can't get enough of homemade salsa and chips
-fudge bars
-kettle chips (preferably salt and vinegar)
-mini Charleston chews
-cheesecake (I don't know if this counts as a snack, since one slice has more calories than a normal daily intake, especially since I could easily eat the whole thing!)

Five things on my to do list today:
-clean bathrooms (everyday)
-clean kitchen (everyday)
-check on my brothers house (he is in Canada on a bear hunt)
-make a few baby slings
-soccer coach meeting

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
-I would pay off my mortgage and every other debt, and my families.
-I would set up college and mission funds for each of my kids
-my sister in law is in Africa right now teaching in an orphanage, and has told me about all that needs to be done there, so I would set up programs to help build roads and schools and hospitals in Africa.
-I would help with the clean up in New Orleans from the Katrina disaster
-I would travel the world with my husband and kids

Five (4) jobs I have had:
-Baskin Robbins (my first job other then babysitting. I think I gained ten pounds that summer)
-waitress (many different restaurants at different times in my life)
-dental assistant
-Mom (my favorite of all my jobs)

Five of my bad habits:
-Eat way to much junk
-spend to much money
-crack my knuckles
-hooked on soap operas (days of our lives, pathetic I know)
-I don't like to use sun screen

Five places I have lived:
-Utah
-Nevada
-Seattle
-Montana
-Idaho

Five people I want to get to know better: (a nice way of saying,"tag your it")
-Emily
-Megan
-Yumi
-Rachel
-Brittany

Six random things:
-I'm a bit of a goof ball
-I love music. It doesn't matter what kind it is, I love everything from classical to rock, country to rap and everything in between.
-I try to stay away from reading, because once I start, I can't put down the book until I'm finished, and everything else suffers for it.
-My favorite cereal is lucky charms. Always has been.
-I can't stand people who drive under the speed limit.
-I hate mushrooms

Game 4, 5 and 6

2008-05-16T22:51:00.000-07:00

So I haven't updated on the Dodgers lately. I felt like every post was another update, but I guess that's what happens when you have two games a week. The Dodgers record so far is: 2 wins 3 losses and 1 tie. (how do you tie in baseball you might ask, well you are not aloud to start a new inning after 8:00 in this league, so if it is tied, it stays tied.) The last couple of games have been really hard on the Dodgers, but Bennett is playing so much better!! I didn't go to the game on Thursday, Lillia wasn't feeling well, so I stayed home with her. Jason came home just raving about how great Bennett played and that it was his best game yet! I can't believe I missed that! He got a couple kids out on second base, caught a pop fly, and scored. (maybe I should stay home more often!) Each week he gets better and better, the sad thing is, once the kids really start to get the game, and are playing their best, the season is over. Oh well, I'm just glad he is having fun.

Let them eat cake

2008-05-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Little Lillia
Tonight we had Lillia's birthday party. It is so funny to throw a party for someone who has no idea that anything special is going on! She just kept staring at me like, yeah, so what. Oh well, I had fun. Jake and Megan and Mom, Dad and Micheal came (thanks you guys for coming) we ate a lot of good food and opened Lillia's presents for her and we sang, and Will blew out her candle. It was a nice night. McKenna (Jake and Megan's little girl) is getting so big, and she is so smart. She is only 16 months, and is doing the funniest things. After Lillia had eaten her cake, I was cleaning her up, McKenna came over and started handing me wipes, I finished cleaning her face and hands and set her down next to Mckenna. McKenna then got out another wipe and started to clean Lillia's face. It was really the sweetest thing. What I couldn't believe was that Lillia just stood there and let her. Those two are going to have so much fun together as they get a little older. Megan I think we are in for some trouble!! Here are some fun pictures and videos of the night.

Will loved all of Lillia's new toys. Actually all the kids did. What is it about baby toys that make even older kids want to play with them? Here is Will showing Lillia how to use her new phone. She keeps on putting it up to her ear and talking, they learn so young. The cute chair she is sitting in is from Mckenna. She picked it out herself, Thanks Mac! (that is McKenna's nick name, not you (brother) Mac.)

This is Grandpa Erickson, playing Nacho Libre. He was so funny, he had no idea who Nacho Libre was. I think it's time they have a movie night! Take a look out the window, we actually had a nice day!! Oh Yeah!!

Sorry about the filming, Bennett was working the camera!

Evan graduates

2008-05-14T21:07:00.000-07:00

Tonight was Evan's pre-school graduation. What a big kid he is. He will be moving on to kindergarten next year. My kiddo's are all growing up to fast!! He loved his pre-school and all his teachers, and will miss them so much, but he is so excited to move on. After his graduation, he kept asking me if he got to go to kindergarten tomorrow. What a cutie!! They sang songs, talked about their favorite things they learned, told shapes and time, and then they all received their diploma's. Evan gets so nervous and shy when he is in front of people, so he wasn't as lively as he normally is, but he still did a good job. Next, kindergarten adventures.....

This is one of Evan's favorite songs, he sings it almost everyday. Sorry about how shaky it is at first, I was trying to get a little closer.

My Baby is One!!

2008-05-14T19:46:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Lillia's first birthday!! My baby is now one year old! In a way I'm a little sad. She has grown so fast and the past year has just flown by, but at the same time this next year will be so much fun. She will soon be walking and talking and her personality will really start shinning through. I thought I'd share some photos of her first few days with us (I saw this on my friend, Yumi's blog and thought it was so cute) Enjoy.

Her birthday party will be on Friday, so more to come....

Father/Son Campout

2008-05-14T09:56:00.000-07:00

I realized last night that I haven't posted about the father/son camp out that my boys went to over the weekend. It is actually a funny story. It was just an over night camp out, and thank goodness it was. I don't think that Jason could have handled it for much longer. The boy's were so excited to go, and headed out Friday, and when they got there it had started snowing. My little boys all found their friends and took off playing, and Jason set up and was helping the other Dad's with dinner. After about an hour the little boys were freezing and wet from the now three inches of snow on the ground! Jason doesn't think that when you are camping you need to pack extra clothes, so they had nothing to change into. I really thought he had learned his lesson two years ago at the father/son camp out, when Evan fell into the river up to his neck, luckily I had packed a clean set of clothes for them that year and Evan was able to get changed. When he got home he was very happy that I had packed them those clothes, even though he gave me such a hard time for packing them in the first place. But unfortunately, Jason hadn't learned from that experience and the boys were now freezing cold and miserable. Jason took them into the camper and got them all warm and snug in their beds and were asleep by seven thirty! About halfway through the night, Jason woke up to a loud thud, Will had fell out of the bed and now wanted to sleep with his Daddy, so Jason got him all snug in his bed and they both got back to sleep. Well that turned out to be a bad idea, Jason woke up later because he was now sleeping in a puddle of wet, that's right, Will peed the bed! Of course since Jason doesn't think he needs extra clothes for camping, neither one of them had anything to change into, and no clean bedding either. The next morning they quickly packed up and happily came home for some badly need rest! I think he will pack a little better next year!

Idaho History

2008-05-12T22:04:00.000-07:00

Bennett and I worked all night on his Idaho history project. Thank goodness it is now done!! I wanted to do something easier, but Bennett was quick to remind me that, "it's MY project Mom, not yours!" So we made a mountain, and a train, and a forest, all to symbolize the timber industry in the early Idaho days. He learned how workers would cut down whole forests and then move to the next without even thinking about what they were doing, and pretty soon Idaho was running out of trees, and many of the smaller timber companies had to call it quits. They finally realized they had to plant new trees when they would cut others down. It was about this time that President Roosevelt established national forests, to protect our forest land. I bet you didn't know all that, I didn't. Bennett thought it was funny that he knew more about Idaho history then me, I had to keep reminding him that I grew up in Seattle not Rigby!! He is very proud of his project and I am very glad it is done. Hopefully it makes it to school in one piece!

Happy Birthday JJ

2008-05-12T21:39:00.000-07:00

My good friend JJ had a birthday today, so I thought I'd make her a cake. I love to work with fondant, and I wanted to practice for Lillia's birthday tomorrow. I had so much fun making this cake. I think Lillia's cake will look a lot like this one. We will not be having the official birthday party for Lillia until Friday because we have such a busy week ahead, but considering she is turning one, I don't think she'll mind!

JJ has been an amazing friend to me over the last five, six years. I really don't know what I'd do without her. We live out on the ward boundaries, and for a long time we were the only families out here, so we learned to take care of and lean on one another. Now that the area has grown and is continuing to grow, we have more people to look out for, but we still lean on each other. When I think of a true friend, I think of JJ. Happy Birthday.

Happy Mother's Day/Happy Birthday

2008-05-11T21:30:00.000-07:00

I Just want to first of all say, Happy Mother's day to every Mother reading this!! Being a Mom is I think, one of the most challenging jobs out there. So here's to you Mom's, YOU ROCK!! I also want to tell the two Mom's in my life how much I love them and how much I appreciate everything they do for me and my family. Mom, you have made me the woman I am today, and I am truly thankful for your wonderful example. You have been the most amazing Mother and Grandmother. We are extremely lucky to have you in our lives. Coleen, You raised a wonderful Son, I know that he is who he is because of you (and his four other Mom's, his older sisters! Although they may have spoiled him a little, but that is a completely different post!) You are a loving a attentive grandma, and my kids look up to you and we all know that we can count on you for anything. I have such awesome examples in my life of what a mother should be, so thank you, both of my Mom's.
Mother's day was such a nice day. I was able to go to church with my parents and after enjoy a nice meal made by my little brothers, Mac and Charlie. I thought I needed to take a picture of this to prove to any non-believers that my brothers really did cook! And yes, they really are this cheesy all the time!
The beautiful Mom's (we missed you Robyn!)
We also celebrated Mac, Pip and Lillia's birthday's Mac and Pip are my little brother's, and their b-day was on Thursday. Yes, they are twins, and I know, they look nothing a like! Lillia's b-day is on Tuesday, so we thought we'd go a head and celebrate with my family today. She is pretty out of it, because I had to wake her up so she could be part of the birthday cake and song. Lillia was born on Mother's day last year, so it was only fitting that we sang to her today!

It's hard to say which family sings happy birthday worse, the Brown's or the Erickson's!!

This is all five of my brothers, (listed from youngest to oldest, left to right) Charlie, Pip, Mac, Zac, and Liberty. I love my bro's and I was so excited to get to see all of them. What a good looking group!

After parting with the Brown's, My girls and I headed home. I have made that drive to many times to count over the past twelve years, but today I saw something I have never seen before, a grizzly bear!! It was so cool, right before the Idaho border, a grizzly was just hanging out in an open field. I tried to get a picture, but I didn't get to my camera quick enough. So sad, sorry. I got home and was so happy to see all my boy's!! It was strange being with out them all weekend. They were so cute when I got home, running up, giving me hugs and telling me "happy Mother's day!" I had the best day, I hope that all of you Mom's had a great day as well.

Mother's Day Weekend

2008-05-11T20:33:00.000-07:00

Friday Isabel, Lillia and I headed up to my parent's home in Bozeman to spend Mothers day with my Mom. The boys had a father/son camp out on Friday night, so we decided it would be easier to split up for the weekend and we could celebrate Mothers day for me another time. I had no idea what I was getting myself into with this drive. I thought it would be a nice easy drive (I mean really, it is May!!) but this is what I ran into. I couldn't believe how much it snowed. It even got a lot worse before it got better. I was really excited when I nearly ran into a herd of bison on the road. (I really mean it when I say "nearly ran into", they were right in the middle of the road!!) Isabel was so excited to see the little baby bison. We also saw them on the way home. I guess they hang out there, just past West Yellowstone. It was a fun treat to see them.

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

Saturday was night and day difference from Friday. We had really nice weather and took advantage of it! My parents live on a golf course, which is really nice, they have a huge back yard it's only the sixth green! So Grandpa loved this opportunity to teach his Grand kids (I say grand kids, because my little brother Charlie, and his wife Candi, and their two little boy's were also there.) how to golf. Isabel took to it really fast, (like she does with every other sport) and had a great time. All us girls, (My Mom, Candi, Isabel and I) decided to spend the day shopping and hanging out. It was so much fun. I don't get a lot of opportunities to do this, so I had a great time.

That was a little later in the day, just some cute pictures of Lillia, downing a banana. She loves to eat!

Even Lillia was enjoying the nice weather we were having, now if it would only stay!

Game three

2008-05-07T10:18:00.000-07:00

The Dodgers had their first lose last night. It was a hard close battle, we came back to tie it up and then in the last inning, they scored one run and won it. Bennett played awesome though, I was so proud of him. He was playing second base for most of the game and made a few spectacular plays to get the kid out. So although they lost, I was beaming. Isn't that funny how something so simple can make you so proud! The team was pretty bummed after the game, but over all, they played great and they still have a lot of games to go. The next game is on Thursday.

Mom update

2008-05-02T16:59:00.000-07:00

My beautiful Mom had her first chemo treatment this week. She had her surgery in February, and was going to start chemo a few weeks later. When she went in to have her first treatment, they told her she was anemic and jaundice, so they wouldn't be able to start her on the chemotherapy treatments until that was taken care of. I think the hardest part was not knowing why she was anemic or jaundice, and just having to wait until she was better. The good news is, she is doing much better now and so far the chemo hasn't been that bad. She is dealing with a little nausea and she has a hard time eating or drinking anything to hot or cold, but overall she is doing really well. Hopefully the next six months will fly by and that will be the end to this cancer nightmare!

American Idol

2008-05-01T20:47:00.000-07:00

Last night on American Idol, my favorite performer, well one of my favorites, was voted off. Brooke White, I was so sad. She really didn't perform that well on Tuesday, but I thought she did better then Syesha Mercado and Jason Castro! I even called to vote last night, over and over, but I kept getting a busy signal. I tried for two hours and not once got through! So I thought that she would be safe, seeing as she was getting a lot of votes. I'm starting to think the whole thing is rigged! Now I'm rooting for David Cook. I really like him. As for David Archuleta, I'm not really a fan. He does have a great voice, I'll give him that, But I would never buy one of his Cd's. He seems really old fashioned, and as Simon would say, not "relevant" to today's music. I am really surprised that he has made it this far. So, I just want to say to Brooke, you rock, I will be buying your new album that was re released today, songs from the attic, available on brookewhite.com

Game two

2008-05-01T20:20:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke up to a couple inches of snow! That's right I said SNOW. The first day of May, and we have snow. I was not very happy about this at all, but the good news is by noon, it was all gone. Still cold, but the snow was melted, and the game was able to go on. Tonight the Dodgers played the White Socks. Bennett had a better game tonight, at least he wasn't hit by the ball. Both times up to bat he got walked, and then rounded the bases, and stole home. He really likes to steel home. His second time he almost got out, but luckily the other kid dropped the ball. The Dodgers won, 16-6. We're on a winning streak, go Dodgers!

Lillia was cold and getting really restless, so I let her play with the camera. She took this picture of herself. I thought it was pretty cute. Their next game is on Tuesday, more updates to come.

Season opener

2008-04-29T21:29:00.000-07:00

Bennett had his first game of the season tonight. He had a bit of a hard game. His first up to bat he got nailed by the ball, but being the tough kid that he is, shook it off and took his base. After two others at bat, he rounded the bases and stole home! It was pretty cool. His second time at bat he got struck out. He has a hard time waiting for a good pitch, but at least he's trying. On defense he was out in right field, and the ball only came out to him once, but he did catch it and throw it home. The rest of the time in right field he was trying to pull out his tooth. Like I said, the ball only got out that far one time! After the third inning, Jason walked over, laughing, and handed me Bennett's tooth. I guess it's a good thing he's good at entertaining himself!! His team, the Dodgers, won 15-9! YEAH, GO DODGERS!! His next game is on Thursday (it is supposed to snow! so we'll see if he has one or not. Sometimes I really hate Idaho!)

warning: for female eyes only!!

2008-04-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: Read at your own risk. You have been warned. I will not be responsible for anyone being uncomfortable or offended. This post is for female eyes only.

I felt that with summer on it's way it was time for a little female waxing. That's right, bikini waxing time. I normally have this done during the summer months and then I let myself go during winter hibernation. The past few summers however, have been with out this summer ritual for two reasons. The first summer I was pregnant and my skin gets very sensitive while I am with child. The last time I had a wax while pregnant, I ended up with huge scabs above my eyebrows. So I avoid it, like the plague while preggers. Last summer I had a newborn and I was not quite myself, so I didn't bother. So last week, I decided it was time to buck up and have it done. I seriously had the full on fur bikini. The poor girl that did it had no idea what she was getting into! It took almost an hour and, yes, it was extremely painful, but oh, so worth it. I know it sounds strange for me to say I feel pretty because of a bikini wax. But the truth is, I do! This is something that I believe all women should do. So I am recommending it to anyone reading this. The first time you have it done is the worst, but after that, each one gets easier, and quicker. The great thing about it is, you don't have to worry about grooming that area for five or six weeks after it's done. Unlike with shaving, you have to do it everyday and then you deal with the painful in grown hair and it is never really smooth. Yes, waxing can be a little embarrassing at first, but the women who wax for a living do it all the time. They have seen it all, and once you find someone you are comfortable with, it really is no big deal. So I am challenging you all to go and get a bikini wax, (strange challenge yes I know) you will thank me for it! (and so will your husband!)

deluxe devils food cake

2008-04-26T18:44:00.000-07:00

Since I had several requests for this recipe, I thought I'd go ahead and post it. It really is simple, and if anyone needs help while baking this, just give me a call and I'll walk you through it.

preparation: Spray 3 nine inch round pans with cooking spray and dust with flour. Heat oven to 350 degrees
In a large bowl add:
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 tsp clear vanilla (I don't have any clear vanilla, so I just used regular vanilla)
3/4 tsp almond extract
2 large eggs
Beat on med speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time.

In a small bowl add:
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
mix dry ingredients

2 1/4 cups buttermilk

beat dry ingredients into creamed mixture alternating with buttermilk on med speed. Beat 1 min longer. Pour into prepared pans

Bake 26 to 30 min or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 min, remove from pans to wire rack. Cool completely

Butter cream frosting:
1 1/4 cup butter at room temperature
2 tsp clear vanilla (the clear vanilla will make the frosting white, but you can use regular vanilla, the frosting will be more of an off white.)
1 tsp almond extract
8-9 TBLS milk
7 1/2 cups powdered sugar.

beat butter, vanilla, almond extract in med. bowl at med. speed until creamy. Gradually add milk and powdered sugar, scraping bowl as needed. Beat on high speed adding additional milk by the TBLS until the right spreading consistency.

Place first layer, rounded side down on plate. Spread butter cream frosting. Level off top of second layer. Top with second layer, top side down. Spread with frosting. Top with third layer, top side up. Frost sides and top of cake. Refrigerate cake to set frosting. Allow cake to stand at room temperature 10 minutes before serving.

So that's it. I promise it really is simple. Give it a try and then post your results.

my beautiful creation!

2008-04-24T18:28:00.000-07:00

I am so proud of myself!! Today I made this beautiful three layer devils food cake, from scratch! I have never made one before and yes, maybe I am a little to excited, but I don't care. Look how pretty it is, and even better, it tastes SOOOO good! I did try to make one when Jason and I were first married for his birthday. I made it with a box mix, (which was my fatal mistake) and when I tried to stack them, the cakes crumbled and fell apart. That was ten years ago, and I thought it was about time I tried again. If anyone wants the recipe, let me know. It was really a lot easier then I thought it would be. I know I shouldn't say that, I should say, it was so very hard to make and really time consuming, only a really, really well trained cook should attempt to bake this. But the truth is anyone can make it!

Lillia's eye drama, chapter 2

2008-04-24T16:58:00.000-07:00

This morning Jason, Lillia and I woke up very early and headed to the surgery center for Lillia's eye probe. (I don't know what the real term for this procedure is, but that is what they do.) I was really surprised at how happy she was, considering that she couldn't eat anything, and hadn't eaten anything for eight hours. Normally in the morning, she will scream until she gets a bottle. I know it was because of her blessing that she was given last night. When we got there, they explained everything to us again, and then the nurse took Lillia off to the operating room. It was only about ten minutes later that the nurse came to tell us that they were done and Lillia was starting to wake up. Dr. Fullmer said that every thing went really well and that it was a good thing we did it, because her ducts were really bad, and that we should see a dramatic difference. Lillia was really happy to see us and acted as if nothing had happened. She has been crawling around all day, just as happy as can be. So hopefully this is the end to all of her eye drama, well at least the eye infections. We will still have to keep a close watch on her vision over the next year,(she has inherited the bad Erickson eyes, or is that from the Holbrook side?) but I'm o.k. with that. If it hadn't been for her closed eye ducts, we wouldn't have know about her bad vision, and who knows how long it would have been before we would have found out?! So over all, this has been a good experience. That is until we get the bill!! :)

This was taken this morning while we were waiting for them to take Lillia back into the operating room. As you can see, she was a little confused as to why we were there, and why on earth am I up this stinking early in the morning! They gave her this cute little bunny, and she kept hugging and kissing it. It was really cute. I had to laugh at the nurse who was giving us our discharge information, He said, "you will have to put eye drops in her eyes four times a day for a week. Just pull out her bottom eye lid and put one drop in each eye." He said this so matter of fact, and very calmly. I thought, O.k. this guy either has never had kids, or if he does have kids, he has never had to put anything in their eyes! To put drops in Lillia's eyes it takes both Jason and I to do it. One of us to hold her down and one of us to pry open her eye and quickly put the drop in. It is no easy task. We are just happy to even get the medicine anywhere in her eye, let alone the bottom lid!

The Amazing Magician!!

2008-04-23T22:13:00.000-07:00

Tonight we had pack meeting (ah, the joys of cub scouts!) The theme was ABRACADABRA. So each of the kids planned a magic trick to perform in front of everyone. Bennett was so excited to perform his magic trick! He practiced all afternoon, and had his younger brothers in awe, wondering how on earth he did that! It was really funny to see their faces as he would perform. You could see the wheels turning in their heads, but Bennett would just say "a magician never reveals his secrets!" He really is quite the showman, and loves to be the center of attention. (I know this has nothing to do with pack meeting, but it proves my point about Bennett being a showman. When he was a sunbeam, he was asked to give a talk in primary. He got up to the microphone, did a wonderful job on his talk and closed with "in the name of Jesus Christ, amen" Jason had been standing next to him, to help if he needed it, and started to turn to walk down from the podium. Bennett then wrapped both hands around the microphone and proceeded to say, "I will now teach you my favorite song" Jason quickly turned back around and tried to get him away from the microphone, but Bennett had a firm grip of the thing and did not want to let go and sit down. Jason finally got him down, and after the closing prayer, Bennett took off out the door. We finally found him in the gym, on the stage, with about twenty kids on the floor watching him as he taught them his favorite song! See what I mean, born showman!) Bennett did a great job and is looking forward to the next family get together so he can perform it again. I am the cub comittee chairman, and it really is fun to be part of the cub scout program, while Bennett is going through it. It is hard to believe that he is a webelos and will be a boy scout next year! They grow up so fast.

La Luchador

2008-04-23T21:54:00.000-07:00

Jason's favorite movie is Nacho Libre! We have watched this movie so many times that I have lost track. It doesn't matter that we have seen it over and over again, every time we watch it, Jason laughs so hard, you would seriously think he had never seen it before. Even when he's not watching it, he's quoting all his favorite lines, and the kids have started following in his foot steps! They know this movie by heart and love to act it out! My Mom and Dad just got back from a trip to Cancun, Mexico and they found the best souvenir for Jason! Just look at the pictures, and try not to pee your pants laughing. (That comment was for you, Jake and Jed!)

WII fun

2008-04-23T21:36:00.000-07:00

Today was a cold and rainy day, so my kids asked if they could play the Wii. I don't like to let them play to much because I think it's better to have them outside running around, but since it was such an ugly day today I let them. The truth is, the Wii is a great way for them to burn off any extra energy. I have always been against video games because the kids just sit there staring at the screen and would do it for ever if I'd let them. So Jason and I agreed a long time ago, that we would not get the kids any video games. That was before we found out about the Wii. This thing is awesome! After 15 minutes (depending on the game) they are exhausted! They are up moving around and interacting with each other, we love it. We got it for the kids for Christmas, (no easy task, since they are sold out in every store 5 seconds after they get put on the shelf) the next day they all woke up with stiff, sore muscles from playing! It was the funniest thing. Boxing is one of the hardest games, just because you get so tired after only a few minutes. My boys get so hot and sweaty, they have decided the best way to "box" is with their shirts off. I love to watch them play, I just sit back and laugh.

Lillia's eye drama!

2008-04-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Lillia and I went into the Doctors office. We went in to get some medicated drops for our eyes, because we both have eye infections. Lillia always has one! We have tried the drops quite a few times, and they seem to work for a few days, but then her eyes get all goopy again. This time her doctor suggested that we take her to see an ophthalmologist, because he thought they were being caused by a blocked tear duct. He made the appointment for today, so this morning we went to see Dr. Fullmer in Rexburg. (Jake and Megan, he said to tell you hi.) He examined Lillia and put some fluorescent drops in her eye to see if they would drain right. He also dilated her eyes and did a quick exam , and we now know that Lillia is near sighted! Dr. Fullmer said it is uncommon for kids her age to be near sighted already, and that she will need glasses by the time she is two! After waiting a while to see if her eyes would drain, we found out that her eye ducts are clogged and need to be probed, and that in order to do this she will need to be sedated. We got all kinds of wonderful news! ( just in case you couldn't tell, that was sarcasm.) So Lillia will go in to the surgical center on Thursday morning. It is a really simple procedure, but I am still a little nervous. Having her put under scares me, mostly because she is so young and we don't know how she will react to the medication. The poor girl is so sick and tired of people messing with her eyes! She was so happy when we finally left the the Dr. office. More to come on this adventure on Thursday.

my little runaway

2008-04-17T20:40:00.000-07:00

Bennett had a really difficult day today. He was a little off when he came home from school, but he said everything was o.k. He even got all his work finished at school, which doesn't happen very often. We were in the middle of cleaning the house when he got home so I gave him a list of his chores and he got to work. A little later I found him screaming at Isabel. Apparently they had different cleaning strategies and so I split them up by giving them jobs in separate rooms. I thought things were o.k. and then a little later Isabel was crying and Bennett was screaming again. Come to find out, Isabel was putting a toy away and had to walk by where Bennett was cleaning. Bennett didn't want Isabel in the same space and threw a hat at her, which hit her in the eye. Instead of apologizing he started screaming at her, telling her to get out and not to come back. I was really angry and told him, yelled at him, to knock it off, and to control his temper! While I was mad, I was screaming at him to control his temper! (quick someone sign me up for mother of the year!) A little later, Bennett finished his chores, so I said he could go out and play ball with his Dad. I was finishing up with the laundry, and having the kids put their clothes away. I called outside for Bennett and didn't see him, so I asked Jason to check upstairs in his room. Bennett wasn't there, so Jason went outside to look around while I checked the rest of the house. For some reason my kids think it is funny to hide in closets and under beds while I'm looking for them, so I was searching the house. Still no Bennett, I got this feeling that He had run away. He has never does this before, but I really felt that I needed to drive around and look for him. I quickly headed out the door, and went to the school first, thinking that he would go somewhere familiar, but no luck. I thought, maybe he went to his grandparents house, so I headed that way. About two miles down the road, I see Bennett walking on the side of the road. He has his back pack on, stuffed full, with his hockey stick poking out. I pull up along side of him and ask where he is going, he says "I don't know." I open the door and tell him to get in, trying really hard not to get mad, but the thought of all the bad things that could have happened to him start racing through my mind, and through my tears, started asking what he was thinking, where was he going, where did he think he would eat dinner and sleep. Then I saw my purse on the car seat, opened with my wallet out and opened. So I ask, "Bennett, did you take my money?" He shakes his head yes, and says "I thought I would need some for food." I was so angry by this point I thought I had better not say anything else, until I calmed down. We got home and Jason took him out and had a talk, then they headed to baseball. When they got home Bennett said he was sorry, and that he was mad because he felt like no one in his family loves or cares about him. We had a long talk, and I told him how much we all love him, that it is o.k. to get mad, but not o.k. to take it out on the people around him. I hope it sunk in, but I am really worried about him. He is at a really hard age, he is no longer a little kid, but still not a teen, and is feeling lost. I tried to explain to him about puberty, and that he would sometimes fell sad or angry because of the chemical changes in his body, and that it's o.k. to feel this way. That it's normal, but it is not o.k. to act out in these ways. That he can always talk to me about anything, and I will always be there for him. I don't know if it helped. I can remember trying to run away when I was little, and I think I turned out o.k. Maybe I am making to much of this. It just really freaked me out. Does anyone have any advice on ten year old's? I need help!