What Life is all About

A young mom in my mom's ward was having a rough day once and told my mom that, "life is just all about poop and pee." And, we have laughed about that ever since. And, if you are a young mom like me, you know exactly what this lady was saying. Every day in our house there seems to be issues with poop and pee (I don't mind if you stop reading now because you are grossed out). I just cleaned up a peepee mess on Avery's carpet. She was trying underpants yet again. She wants to be a big girl, but she likes to choose when and where and how. And, usually it does not include peeing in the toilet. Just a couple of hours before that, I was cleaning up poop from the carpet because she decided to take her poopy diaper off herself. Poop everywhere. Zack pees in the toilet, kind of- does peeing around the toilet, or on the toilet seat count? I'm sick of cleaning that up, too. Maycee, for the life of her, cannot remember to flush the toilet. When will it ever end? I do have to say, though, I don't have to deal with dog poop or pee anymore. Hallelujah! That would put me over the edge. Although I love the stages that my kids are in right now, my stage of life is all about poop and pee.

Oh the passion...

Some of you may have noticed that I have been neglecting my blog as of late. I'm sorry. I have a confession to make. I have a new guilty pleasure. It is taking up all my free time (and much more).

A few weeks ago I went to visit my friend Melissa. We have been friends for about 20 years. Crazy. Anyway, she was showing me around her house, she and her husband have been remodeling. We went room to room, checking it out. The last room we entered had huge book shelves covering a whole wall. She has tons of books. Books, books, books. I'm a little jealous. But, I noticed there were quite a few books by the same author. So, I asked her about those books. She just kind of grinned and giggled a bit. I was more intrigued. So, I asked her if I could borrow a couple to read (it was obvious that she loved them) thinking that because I would have to return them, it would give us a good excuse to get together again soon.

After reading the Twilight books, I found I was hungering for more books that also contained that same romance and suspense. I loved those books. I couldn't put them down. But, since I had read them over and over, I needed something else. I found it.

The author's name is Marcia Lynn McClurre. She writes fictional/historical romance novels. She is an LDS author, so no smut. Sorry. But, they are full of romance and a good storyline, handsome heroes, etc. They are feel-good stories, maybe a tad predictable- the girl and the guy always end up together (but who would want it any other way?), and they make you look over at your husband and think, "Hmmm...he does kind of look like this rugged, handsome rogue of a man. Maybe he needs to taste of my sweet kiss..." Needless to say, Ryan also likes these books in his own little way.

So, if you are a sucker for a good romantic book, you better check these out. If anything, your husband will be glad you did. :)

These are my favorites:
The Highwayman of Tanglewood
The Visions of Ransom Lake
Shackles of Honor
Sudden Storms

Twilight Preview!!!

I can't tell you how excited I am!!!

Skunks and Family Home Evening

We were having family home evening tonight and we were discussing obedience. Somehow the lesson turned to making good choices. Out of nowhere Maycee pipes up and says, "It would NOT be a good choice to put a skunk in someone's hair. It might be funny, but not a good choice." And of course Zack feels the need to add, "It would also not be a good choice to put ants in someone's pants." Thank you kids. Another spiritually enightening family home evening at the Norman home.

Tagged...3 Things. You might be next!

3 names you go by:
Mom, Em, Aunt Em (sometimes by my own children), and when I was little- Emil-I-poopy-I (yes, my fam is weird)

3 things you're wearing right now:
Sweatshirt, workout pants (although the “workout” part hasn’t even crossed my mind), and…what else? OK, sports bra.

3 Restaurants that I love:
Gardunos. Gardunos. Gardunos. I love this restaurant the very most but, alas, it is down in Albuquerque and one in Vegas. So, I don’t get to go very often. But, it is the very best and authentic Mexican food ever! So, if I had to choose my 3 fav restaurants in Utah they would be: Tepanyaki, Café Peirpont, and Café Rio.

3 Favorite things to do:
Go on dates with Ryan, play (mostly card) games with family and friends (Game nights are the BEST), and go on vacation.

3 Trips to plan this year:
This is hard because we’ve already gone on a couple this year. So, I’ll use a couple of those. Ry and I went to Vegas in April. Very fun. For our 10 year Anniversary we went to the ArmstrongMansion in SLC (thanks Stephanie, Shan and Tori!!) And then we are planning a trip to DISNEYLAND in November with Ry’s fam. We are so excited.

3 Things I want badly:
Sorry, but a lot of money. Good, happy kids. A tummy-tuck.

3 Pets I have had/have:
Zimba (cat), Panther Bill (cat), Barkley (dog)

3 Things I did yesterday:
Made B-day cake and cupcakes for Ryan, went to church, and went to the Norman’s for dinner.

3 Things I ate today:
I’ve only had one thing to eat today: corn Chex. Yum!

3 goals:
Get my teaching degree, lose 18 pounds, read my scriptures and write in my journal more.

3 fears:
Dying a painful death, losing any of my kids or husband, heights.

3 Things I plan on doing today:
Have a shower, go to Maycee’s class today because she is the spotlight this week, and maybe do a little shopping with Ryan and his B-day money. :)

3 Things I plan on doing tomorrow:
Amazingly enough, I don’t have anything on the calendar for tomorrow. So, I’ll go with the usuals: workout, get showered and dressed (let’s all admit that doesn’t happen everyday), and pick up the kids from school. Boring. Maybe I’ll start on my new drapes tomorrow…that sounds better.

3 Favorite Holidays:
Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, my B-day. (Yes, I know that’s 4 things. But, they are all my favorites) Can you guess my three favorite months of the year?

3 Favorite Beverages:
Water, Diet Cherry Coke, Virgin Strawberry Daquari ( I have one of these maybe once a year, but I really do love them!)

3 Friends to Tag:
Tyra, Shawna, Edith (old West side Sistas) Peace out.

Sleeping Beauty Wears a Hat

Maycee was lying in bed last night "trying" to go to sleep. But, she called me into her room to tell me that she couldn't fall asleep because her head was too cold. I had to supress a laugh. She'd had a bath not too long before bed and her hair was still wet. I'm sure some of you girls know where she's coming from. So, to make her satisfied, and (selfishly) to keep her from calling me anymore, I went and got her a winter snow cap. After she fell asleep I had to take a pic. It was too cute!

I am so excited for fall! It is my favorite season- the air getting cooler, the leaves changing color, the football, the yummy smells, the Holidays approaching. I just love it. And, to make me even more excited, I went to Tai Pan Trading the other day. The decorations there are too cute. I'm in heaven walking around in there. So, needless to say, I have already decorated my house in all it's fall glory. I haven't broken out the Halloween stuff, yet. I'm not that crazy. Ok, I do have one cute item that I got at Tai Pan that says, "Happy Halloween" displayed on the side table. I think I'm obsessed. Oh, well. Bring on fall!!