Maggie

This is a picture of my sweet little cousin, Maggie. Today would have been her 16th birthday. She passed away in August of 2007 after a 5 year battle with Ewing's Sarcoma. I didn't know Maggie very well because she lived in Wisconsin, but she is still loved and missed and we all felt her strength and courage as she fought her cancer with a smile and positive attitude.

We love you, Maggie! Happy Birthday!

***Maggie's Page <<<

Maggie's mom asked that family and friends light a candle today in memory of Maggie.

Cheese Toast and Pears

I originally took this picture to show how cute an open-faced sandwich could look when cut with an apple slicer. A cute flower! But then I thought about why I like this quick, simple meal. When I was younger and we would go visit my Grandma and Grandpa Schumann, this was always a quick little meal Grandma would whip up for her guests. Of course she would butter the bread, put on the cheese and broil it. Much yummier that way. I just skip the butter and throw it in the microwave. It's not as good and the bread gets a little soggy, but hey, I'm lazy. Pair it with a side of canned fruit (usually pears but peaches are good, too!), and you've got a quick little meal! I like to make this for our lunch when I can't think of anything else to make.


***Bathroom Frustrations
You know how they say most little kids in the potty training age are afraid of using the potty in public restrooms because of the automatic flusher, they are huge, and they are unfamiliar? Not Hudson. I think he enjoys using public bathrooms. I took him shopping yesterday. I went to 3 stores within walking proximity of each other. He "had" to go potty twice in the first store, once in the second store, and once in the third store. All within about an hour or so. I know he can hold it longer than that because he does all the time. And I know he doesn't have a bladder infection or something like that because he always does this when we're out, but not at home. The only reason he had to go in the third store is because he overheard a little girl talking about the potty and all of a sudden he "had" to go potty too. The last 2 times he only went a couple of drops and the other time nothing at all. I swear he just likes to go in and check out the facilities! It is so frustrating to have to find a bathroom (which is usually clear on the other side of the store), leave your cart outside hoping an employee doesn't come and put your stuff away, find a stall that is clean enough to use, go through all the motions, wash both your hands trying not to get soaked because your kid is playing in the water....you get my point. And I can't NOT take him or tell him to hold it because you never know if he REALLY needs to go and it will result in an accident (which we've had in the car a few times because he's held it to the last second and we can't pull over soon enough. We're starting to have him pee on the side of the road a lot lately. What would I do with a girl?) Anyway, just wanted to know if this was "normal" or if any of your kids have fascinations with public bathrooms?

Green Eggs, Ice Cream, & Oakley

For St. Patrick's Day breakfast I made Hudson green scrambled eggs on a green plate with a green fork, and green milk in a green cup. That's about as festive as we got for the holiday, besides wearing green shirts.

Here are just some pics of our dog, Oakley while we were out enjoying a warm day:

I love this one ^ of the tongue hanging out!

The ice cream truck had been hanging out in our neighborhood forever. We were trying to explain to Hudson where the music was coming from. He finally came by our house and was stopped across the street. I promised Hudson I would get him some ice cream from the ice cream truck at least once this summer. Jeff didn't think that was good enough and took him right then to go get an ice cream. See, I told you he was a good daddy!

I Create

Murder Mystery Dinner in Margaritaland

Some friends from our ward invited us to our first ever murder mystery dinner. We had such a great time and were so happy we were invited! They did a great job. Dinner was so yummy--grilled chicken and steak shishkabobs with veggies, fresh fruit and dip, and chips and salsa. We also had pina coladas, strawberry daiquiris, and mojitos (all non-alcoholic of course :)
Everyone dressed up and looked great! I played the part of Bindy Barkeep and Jeff was Thurston Howard III. It was so much fun and we hope we can do another one soon! Here are the pics....Sorry, there are a few!

Me/aka Bindy Barkeep--Bar Manager & Jeff aka Thurston Howard III--Millionaire

Starr Bright--movie star & Sandy Beachbum--professional surfer

Lifesavin' Sam--Lifeguard & Candy Cotton--Millionaire's girlfriend

Izzie Islander--Island girl & Jack Daniels--Bartender/Sgt. Lord--Police Officer

Coconut Joe--Owner of Margaritaland & Kylie Cocktail--cocktail waitress

Lucky Numbers--Lottery Winner & Tatum Tatt--Tattoo Artist

Cabana Bob--cabana boy & Coconut Jan--wife to Coconut Joe

Lifesavin' Sam aka THE MURDERER!!! I knew it!

The guys.

The girls.

The women were all over Thurston. They were out to get his $$$.

Coconut Joe was hilarious. He won the best costume and best actor awards.

The bar.

Finger Painting and Ramblings About My Day

So this was my day yesterday as I was still kind of moping. I woke up at the terribly naughty but absolutely delicious hour of about 10:30. Had a donut for breakfast. Hudson watched Chicken Little while I dinked around on the computer. I finally decided I needed to be involved and pay attention to my child so I pulled out the finger paints and took about 100 pictures. I sure wish I was a better photographer, but still think I got some cute ones. Especially with Hudson being as anti-camera as he is.

After painting I threw Hudson in the bath and blew bubbles for him. Out of the bath and onto lunch. I was pretty proud of myself for not only making but also eating tuna fish sandwiches. While I was opening the can of tuna Hudson kept saying "Sick. Gross." While I fully agreed with him, I told him he could have chips (one of Hudson's food weaknesses) if he ate his sandwich, and suprisingly he did. And I managed to eat mine, too. On wheat, even.
Then it was naptime. While Hudson was asleep I decided to partake in some Jon & Kate + 8 clips via the internet. Does anyone know where I can watch full episodes online? There are a few on TLC.com but I want all of them! I don't get the TLC channel so I've never watched the show, but eveyone's still talking about it so I've been trying to figure out how I can get in on it, too.

After I got frustrated with only being able to watch 2 minute clips instead of entire episodes, I decided I needed some chocolate so I indulged in some Bryers Rocky Road icecream and looked at my new Scrapbooks Etc. magazine in my unmade bed:

Then I decided I needed a hot soak in the tub. I layed there for about an hour, debating on whether or not I should shave my legs, because I was also debating on whether or not I should re-paint my toenails and didn't think a new pedicure would look good in the shade of my leg hairs. I decided not to do either.
Jeff came home and said we needed to go so he could take me up to Orem to pick up our dying car from the shop on his way to set up his booth for the Business and Technology Expo. After setting up, we went to get the car but it was locked after Jeff had told the guy to leave it unlocked with the key under the mat, and we didn't bring a spare. I was relieved I didn't have to drive home alone in the dark. So we decided to go eat dinner at Chick-Fil-A in the mall at 8:15 p.m. We stopped by WalMart on the way home so Jeff could buy some candy for his booth and saw Pinocchio is out on DVD so I picked it up to give to the Easter Bunny. I'm a sucker for Disney. Got home, took care of the dog, put Hudson to bed. Then Jeff and I watched "Chuck" on the laptop in bed...and that was my day. Don't know why I had the need to share the excitement, but there you go.

And here is a cute picture from the other night as Jeff was reading "The Paper Bag Princess" to Hudson for his bedtime story. He's such a good daddy.

Two Seven

27. I've already thought I was 27 so I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I get to re-live it for another year. It was a somewhat depressing birthday (see video below) but friends and family made it good. Jeff took me out on Friday night to Outback Steakhouse for dinner and then we went to a movie. Saturday my dad came down to visit, then Jeff took me shopping for most of the day, although I didn't buy anything. Sunday my family had a get together and we had dinner, cake and ice cream, and played games. That was all great. The reason I say it was depressing is I just don't feel good about myself. I spent the morning of my birthday looking in the bathroom mirror pouting and feeling sorry for myself. I'll spare you the details! I'm too young to be feeling this way!

A gift from Jeff.

Happy Birthday Samantha!

So as I'm starting to do these birthday "shout-outs" to my siblings, I am realizing I have slim to nil pics of them, and the ones I do have (at least in my computer) are at least a few years old. I'll have to start taking more pictures of them.
Anyway, Happy Birthday to my little sister Samantha! She will be turning 9 tomorrow (which is my birthday, too!). I think she was 5 in this picture (see...I am terrible).
Samantha and her mom (Samantha and I have different mom's, same dad) are in Switzerland (where my bonus mom and her family is from) for the next few months to help my step-sister who is going to be having a baby soon. They said they would read our blog while they were there so this is for them...

Hi guys! Hope you are having fun!
Dad came to our house today and we had a nice visit. Thanks for the gifts! Samantha,
I am so amazed at your talent in making crocheted things! I love the
hot pad you made me! Thank you! And thanks for the gift card. That will be so fun!
Samantha, I'm sorry I didn't get you a gift before you left, but I will try to get
something in the mail to you soon. But I hope you know I love you
and will be thinking about you on your birthday and sending you lots
of birthday wishes! Love, Nichole

Sunday

After church Hudson headed straight for the backyard, and fell in the mud.

Matthew 4:19 "And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Hudson was assigned to give a scripture in primary yesterday. Of course Jeff wanted him to do one about fishing. We worked on it with him all week and he memorized it beautifully. Of course when it came time for him to get up and say it, he froze up and didn't say a word. But I was pretty proud that my 3 year old has a scripture memorized!