Rhett's Pirate Dance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO1mKtK677U



We took Rhett and Bree to Princess and Pirate Day at the Paul Mitchell Hair Academy. Two of the girls at the school put on a little "pirate flag dance." At the end they invited the kids to come out and "twirl" with the princesses. Rhett was the only one who would do it. He went out there and instead of twirling around put on a show of his own! It was totally unexpected and I laughed so hard I started crying. Though truthfully I started crying before I started laughing..for some reason I always cry when I see my kids doing something I think they are too small to do, but it was so funny I had a good excuse. At the end you see Bree actually started to go out to twirl, but Rhett had stolen the show, so she didn't have much of a chance, but at least she tried!! It's hilarious you have to see it! Rhett comes out about a minute into the video...

Fooled ya'

So I had no idea Heath loved April Fools day SO MUCH!! For some reason I have no recollection of him being so giddy our previous 5 years of marriage. He was so funny though! He pranked pretty much everyone at work seperately then came home and told me about it. He begged me to make a phone call to the Weed Man Boise office, because they had gotten him. It took me ten minutes to talk myself into it and come up with a whole story in my head and I ruined it with the first 4 words out of my mouth... What happened to me? I cannot tell a lie! It's a mommy gene or something.. Then he went and stole my dad's truck and parked it in our garage. He called his mom and sister and told them I was pregnant with twins. He told his dad that his brother had gotten mad at his boss and quit his job. We went to grab some pizza and he also took home 4 empty pizza boxes to take his workers that night. While we were at Little Ceasar's he saw an old employee and talked him into wearing a mask and bringing a fake gun and trying to "rob" the sales room that night. I'm telling you - he was absolutely giddy all day! So weird. While he was gone I googled April Fools pranks, because I thought that someone needed to really get him. I kind of have that attitude a lot.. so and so needs to be brought down, so I'm the one that is going to do it. I found a couple funny ones, but then I imagined April Fools day for the rest of my life, salt on my toothbrush in the morning, getting sprayed by the water faucet thingie after I'm dressed, weird toilet tricks.. FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. I decided we should leave things at the unofficial truce we seem to have between ourselves on April Fools day. Go get them honey!

Reflection, Harmony, and Happiness.. or is it Peace, Love, and Rock n' Roll...

I was reading a friend's blog and she presented the question "What makes you happy?" I could probably write a discourse on what brings me true happiness and joy, having ridden a bumpy life through my teenage years trying to figure this out. Of course, anyone who knows me now would know that I find true happiness through God and my family, which to me are so closely intertwined they are almost one and the same. But aside from my family and my religion bringing me joy... there are some things that just make me Happy. I could list a hundred things but how about my top ten?
10. I love looking up at the night sky - not the city night sky, because you can't see the stars, but most of Rexburg is okay, the further out of a town you get, the more you can see and the happier it makes me. I love seeing the stars twinkling and all the different stages of the moon. It is just so much bigger than me and reminds me that there is something out there bigger than us all. There has to be. You can just feel it when you look out there.
9. I love to walk with my kids. But only when they are in the stroller. Double joggers, yeah!! I love the fresh air and the exercise. My kids love it too, which makes me happy. (PS walks with kids not in the stroller are okay, but don't make the top ten, because I constantly have to be reminding Rhett to stay where I can see him, not to knock on people's doors, and to leave that dang cat alone!)
8. Idaho sunsets are the best. I have seen sunsets all around the world from Australia to Brazil. from the Ukraine to Utah, and Idaho sunsets are my favorite. I love the pink and orange colors that signal the transition from morning to evening, and they can be seen from pretty much wherever you are. Watching an Idaho sunset - definitely in the top ten, but really any sunset will make me happy.
7. Blankets. I love curling up with a blanket. For whatever. Reading a book, watching a movie, just cuddling and talking with my husband. No matter what time of year I like to end my day cuddling up with a blanket around my toes.
6. Dancing. Dance has almost always been a part of my life. I used to do a running leap through the playroom everytime I went to my bedroom (for as long as I can remember, which means all the way through high school). Performing, however, I don't love. But in college I could dance all night long and never get bored. I miss that. Now I just do silly dances for my kids, but I still leap through rooms from time to time.

It's funny that most of the times I remember being most happy are also the times I remember feeling most at peace. These next things are rare occasions that don't happen much, but they are still things that make me happy.

5. In the winter in Hawaii the waves are huge and the ocean isn't really a place to swim, but a place to watch (at least for us non-natives). I loved going out and sitting on the beach and watching these awesome waves crashing down on some poor rock. I guess I just really like moments that remind me there is some power out there bigger than us all that created these awesome forces of nature. It is beautiful and awe inspiring. Sometimes when I am sitting on my front porch I think about that.
4. Sitting on my front porch, watching the neighborhood kids play and reminiscing.
3. Another Hawaii moment. We used to go camping on the "West side" and in the morning (I think sunrise in Hawaii is prettier than the sunset) we would get up and go swimming with the dolphins. Really dolphins. Swimming right by us. Jumping around us, swimming with their families. I dreamt about that for months after I left Hawaii, and it always made me wake up happy.
2. I use to LOVE going snowboarding all day. Working my body until it was exhausted and then taking the last chair lift up the mountain. My friend and I would sit at the top of the mountain, until everyone was gone and it was just me, her, and the mountain. I love the fresh crisp mountain air, the snow covered trees, and the view of patchwork farm lands below. I still remember the stillness of the air, the smell of fresh mountain air, and the sting of it on your cheeks. We would then quietly take our last run down the mountain with just the sound of our boards cutting through the snow and head for home. Those memories are SO vivid in my mind and I miss them so much it hurts a little.
1. I used to hike up in the mountains with a book and a journal. I would then find a big rock or tree stump and read and write. Usually it was my scriptures. I find nature to be an incredibly spiritual place. I think "communing" with nature is "communing" with God. I think it is easier to feel God, or at least his Power or Spirit, in one of his biggest and most beautiful creations. I just feel so at harmony with my life when I spend time with my spiritual side in nature. And really I can even do it in the backyard under a tree, whatever gives me the feeling of His awesome power and that force that I keep talking about that is so much bigger than the little bit of life that I can comprehend. Like I said it creates harmony for me and makes me happy.
So that's my top ten happy moments. Some I experience a lot, some I wish I experienced more, and some are moments that I experience again and again through my memories and they never fail to make me happy. So I pass the question along, What makes you happy?
Peace and Love - i'm out.

A little of this and a little of that

In honor of President's Day, or more truthfully to celebrate Jenna and Chase being in town, we decided to do a family snowmachining day. We took Rhett, Bree, Jenna, Chase, Quinn, and Mitch to the sand dunes. Look how adorable Bree looks in her little beanie!!

She was so happy to be involved.

Until we got outside. Then she went comatose on us. She just curled up on Jenna's shoulder and went to sleep. It was her nap time, and she slept on and off, but even when she was awake she didn't make a peep for the entire 3 hours we were sledding.

She pulled the coma on us once before... The first time we took her swimming at Green Canyon. As soon as she hit the water, she curled up on my shoulder and wouldn't lift her head or smile or cry or anything for about a half an hour. Finally she decided she wanted to try one of the floaty devices we had and splashed around and jumped into the pool and had fun for the second half. If I wouldn't have had this first coma experience to look back on, I probably would have thought she went into hypothermic shock and spent the whole time in the car with her.

And here's the happy fam. Rhett had a blast! He was all over the place. He loved riding the snowmobile and getting off and sledding down the hill with me. He even went down a couple by himself!! Which I was grateful for, because the last time he went sledding down a hill by himself he somehow ran into cement (I don't know I wasn't there, if I was I'm sure it wouldn't have happened - Heath and Mitch). He still has a slight scar on his face from it. The kid was tireless and it made me so happy to watch him have so much fun. I also REALLY appreciated Jenna sitting on the snow or sled or whatever pretty much the whole time holding Bree for me. Sometimes I really don't think I'm cut out for this mommy job. I have a hard time standing back with the little kids instead of being out there in the middle of the fun. I'm pretty sure when we go to Lagoon and stuff that I'll make Heath sit out on the rollercoaster rides with the baby while I get my thrills. Otherwise our marriage just might not work. HA HA Just kidding. But he would have to sleep on the couch for a couple nights...

The pictures aren't real high quality because they are taken with my phone, but I decided as long as I was downloading them to stick all the good ones in this post.

Here's Bree the day after I bought curlers!!!! She pulled a "no doing my hair" strike on me and would pull everything out as soon as I put it in, over and over and over, until I gave up. One of my ideas was to just curl it and let it be, but lo and behold... She likes curlers and always lets me do her hair after having them in... go figure...

Here's her hair during the hair strike. Very boy like. But check out the cute little mittens!

"MOM, stop taking pictures of me!!"

For some reason she loves putting my boots on even though they are as tall as her legs and she really can't walk in them at all.

Funny girl.

On to the Rhett-ster. We got to tour the Fire Station for our playgroup. Rhett was in heaven, he was so interested in everything. They let them walk through the ambulance and sit in the firetrucks. The kids loved it!

Rhett got scared to get down from the fire truck. He was creating quite the pile up and he wouldn't move until Mike, our Chief of Emergency Services, and family friend (aka the guy we go to whenever Rhett gets hurt to see if we need to take him to the hospital...Lindsay - you remember him, right?) helped him down.

The whole group. That was pretty nice of our local emergency workers to let this many kids, mostly under age three, invade their place of business. They were all so excited, it totally made their day. Give a shout to firefighters/EMT's!

And that is the conclusion of the pictures off of Trish's phone.

and so it continues....

I was making myself the perfect omelet. I cut up a red pepper, a green pepper, some leftover ham (Real ham - not deli stuff), grated some cheese; I've never put so much effort into an omelet before. I was right to the point where I had dumped everything into the omelet and was going to start folding, when Rhett comes running up holding himself and babbling.
"Rhett - go to the bathroom right now!!"
He starts running to the bathroom and then runs back to me, yelling, "Mommy HELP ME!!" I pick him up and run to the bathroom, pulling his pants down, putting the toilet seat up, and turning on the light all at the same time - don't ask me how - something to do with mommy endorphins.. Anyway, there he is standing in front of the toilet doing his business, and I ask my standard question, "Why don't you try and poop, Rhett?" and I glance over at his little Elmo potty thinking about how I'm going to make him sit on it for awhile tonight...When "thooump" - I felt something hit my leg right below my knee.. I look down...
yep, for once in my life Rhett had decided to instantaneously obey me and interestingly enough had shot it out and hit my leg before it plopped to the floor. I just sat there and stared at the poop sitting on the rug right in front of my leg with my mouth wide open.
Rhett just stared into the toilet like nothing had happened.
I guess I asked for that one.


My omelet? Burned...

A Poopy Payback

It all started one dark night, about two months ago, when my husband was out of town on business. I let Bree toddle around naked after her bath. She looked so adorable just learning how to walk, and those cute little baby bottoms are so funny to watch. I must have left the room for a minute, all I remember now is discovering about four little lumps of poop in a line across the floor from the family room to the kitchen. I just laughed and thought, "This must be payback."
There is a funny story that I used to LOVE to have my mom tell me about when I was a baby and someone was changing my diaper (my dad?). Whoever it was left me alone for a minute between taking the old diaper off and putting the new diaper on, and came back to find a trail of poops from the diaper changing spot, right on out the front door, where I was still walking, then squatting, walking, squatting. I thought it was such a funny story, mostly because my mom said she laughed so hard, but my dad was so mad (I think he had to clean it up). I asked to hear the story again and again.
Anyway, I also laughed and cleaned it up without a second thought.
Yet, the story continues. Apparently retribution was not enough. The next day Rhett was helping me wrap some presents and as I was taping, he took a pen and started drawing all over the couch. I sent him to his room for a time-out and started cleaning it up. After a couple minutes I went into his room to get him. I opened the door to find that he had pooped his pants, taken them off and distributed the poop all over his whole room. I have never smelled anything so disgusting in my life. He had it on the walls, on his garbage can, all over his legs and fingers, and had even ran multiple cars into it so it was stuck up in their wheel wells. I was FURIOUS. I put him in the tub, wiped him down with wet wipes and then washcloths, I threw his underwear away as well as half off his cars (any that had poop on them). The other half didn't appear to be contaminated, but were at the scene of the crime so I threw them into the tub with him, took Rhett out and poured clorox in. I dressed him and told him to go into Bree's room, because I could hear her waking up from her nap, probably due to my barely controlled, not too gentle, very continous scoldings. Luckily, we have a Kirby vacuum shampooer thing, but I had never used it so I was reading it and trying to figure it out, however Rhett and Bree kept bugging me and trying to go in the room, so I told them they had to stay in Bree's room. After awhile I figured it out and after manually carrying the poop out, I shampooed the carpets. (I was supposed to go to a baptism of one of our new young woman at 5 in Sugar City, this happened a little after 4, I also need to take some mashed potatoes that I had made to the ward Christmas party at 6, and Heath was driving home from Utah and was supposed to be home around 7 - when the party started). By the time I was done shampooing, it was 5, I wasn't dressed for a baptism and neither were my kids, so I missed that. I felt awful AND the room still stunk. I went into Bree's room and discovered....the kids had taken a new roll of toilet paper out of the bathroom and tore the whole thing up into teeny pieces. I went ballistic. I went and got, yet another plastic bag to throw the toilet paper away and was yelling about whatever, and throwing the toilet paper away, and then I decided it wasn't worth it and I sat down and cried. Now before any judment happens here, remember that not only had this been a very trying day, Heath had been gone for 5 days and being alone with two kids 24 hours a day is hard, even on a good day. I was at the end of my rope. Poor, sweet, naughty Rhett came and sat down by me and put his arms around me and comforted me. That just made me cry harder. Then he started picking up all the toilet paper without me even asking. He threw it all away as I calmed down. That is the only thing that saved us all.
You would think that the price had been paid, huh? My dad's revenge exacted? Not to be....
The next day Rhett woke up with a poopy diaper. I was so exhausted and sick of poop, I laid in bed a told him I would change him in a minute. We heard Bree talking in her room, and as usual Rhett ran in there to be the first to greet her. They sounded like they were having fun so I laid in bed awhile longer. Heath was already at work. I don't remember if I decided to take a quick shower, I think I did, or if I just went into the bathroom for a little while before going to get Bree and change Rhett, but when I went into Bree's room, Rhett's poopy diaper was sitting there with poop spread out around it and then poop wiped all over Bree's crib. Rhett was also in Bree's crib, hands cover in poop. I could not believe it. I walked out of the room, called Heath, and told him he needed to come home before I murdered his child. (I REALLY never would of!! But I REALLY didn't want to clean up more poop) Poor, wonderful Heath did come right home, maybe a part of him believed me... and he helped me clean up the poop, wash bedsheets and kids and everything else. He left while I got to shampooing Bree's carpet. The kids wisely stayed out of my way and I was impressed, until I actually turned around and saw what Rhett was doing. We left the salt and pepper shakers on the table from the night before and Rhett had climbed up and dumped them out all over the table, under the table, on various things in the family room, such as the computer, camera, couch, speakers and toys. I could not and still to this day do not understand why he was torturing me so. Maybe it was a test, if so, I probably did not do well on it. But I probably at least passed, for I did not beat my child. I did discover that I had been shampooing the carpets not exactly right and figured it out at last and vacuumed and shampooed all the carpets in the house. Rhett's room finally smelled better. The end?
Think again. The next day, I noticed that Rhett had been in the living room a little too long. I ran in there and discovered his pants off and a poopy diaper laying on the floor. I heard him in the bathroom and went in there to find poopy toilet paper stuck to the toilet. Later Heath said, "At least he was trying to clean it up." Doesn't help. But at least it wasn't that much to clean. I shampooed the front carpet again anyway.
I know, your thinking, okay its got to be over now. This is the poopest post ever. I thought it was over too. There were little things, like I would find a little bit of poop on Rhett's wall that I had missed and I would wipe it off, but for the most part I thought that I had paid back my penance to my dad for my own poopy mishaps.
Then last week I again took the kids out of the bath. I put a onesie on Bree so she didn't get cold and then she took off. She loves running away from me as I try to dress her, so I throw her onesies on first because I don't like seeing her shiver. Then I turned to Rhett and dressed him completely. He gets colder faster because he has no body fat. Then I told him to grab Bree for me. He loves carrying her over to me. He picked her up laughing, but then he threw her down half on the floor and half on our bean bag. I scolded him for throwing her down and he said, "But Bree's poopy." In the middle of telling him "no, she's not" I noticed a big pile of poop next to the walker she was trying to climb into. Great, I checked her onesie and it had just a little trace of poop on it (I hadn't done it up), I wiped it off and put her diaper on. I wiped Rhett's hand off, because someone he had gotten poop all over it and then I told him to go wash it in the bathroom. I once again got out the plastic bag and deposited poop in it (wasn't this the reason I never wanted a dog). Rhett came back, but I had never heard him wash, so I sent him back to wash his hand. I quickly cleaned up the pile of poop and was congratulating myself on staying so calm, when Rhett came out of the bathroom again. A little exasperated I told him to go wash his hands, this time he said, "MOM, Bree's poop is on my foot!" I looked down and saw, that sure enough his foot was covered in poop. I took him into the bathroom and made another grand discovery. Rhett had tried to wipe the poop off with a comb, a bath toy, and a little head scubber I had for Bree. Poop was deeply embedded in all of these, not to mention on the rug, the toilet and the stool. Also quite ironically I had just cleaned that bathroom that morning. I have to admit I lost my calm in that moment, wondering quite loud to myself WHY he didn't just TELL me he had poop on his foot. I cleaned it up and then noticed the trail of poopy prints all over the kitchen floor. After I cleaned that up and scoured the family room floor to see if there was anything I missed. There was. Finally done and tired I leaned back and put my arm down behind me to support me, and stuck my hand into poop.
The End
I hope.

Edwards look-a-like contest

So we saw this look-a-like meter on Heath's cousin's blog and we wanted to see how it worked with our kids. (See below - last two posts). I can't really tell who looks like who, but my bro-in-law, Chase, always calls Rhett mini-Trish, so I was expecting a little more lean to my side. What do you think? Who looks more like who, or are the meters right on?

Edwards Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Descendants - Free family tree software

Edwards Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Christmas '08- Last Christmas with Grandma Merrill

My Grandma (dad's mom) passed away a few days ago. It was very sudden, and we are all in shock, but luckily we were able to spend Christmas Eve with them at my parents house and have a good time together before she was gone.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

God be with you 'til we meet again!! We love you.