He Screams for Ice Cream...Cone

(Please ignore the bruises. Part of being a boy and walking fun.)

Beckam is not one to be left out of anything, especially eating. Last night Brandon and Brylie were having ice cream cones and Beckam didn't get one. Well he obviously didn't think that was right because he started screaming and crying like he does every time he doesn't get what he wants. (And when he starts he won't stop and it's not easy to ignore.) A cone with no ice cream was quickly produced and Beckam was immediately happy. Oh if all of his other fits were this easy to handle.

(He has started laying down to eat if he's not in his high chair)

A Celebrity in my House

With Brylie and the Disney Channel being best friends I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by what happened last night. Brylie was singing and dancing around the house and I asked, "Brylie what are you doing?" Her response was "Call me Hanna Montana." I couldn't believe it. She's only three and now she wants to be Hanna Montana. I didn't even realize she watched let alone liked that show. (Guess teaching her the channels on the remote for PBS and Disney has come back to bite me.) So now I have Hanna Montana at my house constantly dancing and singing and sometimes even finding a stage to preform on. Guess I'm going to have to learn some of the songs so I can sing along.

(Her stage)

Tag You're It

8 things I am passionate about (in no particular order)
1. My Hubby
2. My Kids
3. My extended family
4. The Gospel
5. My Hobbies
6. Birthdays and Christmas
7. learning new things
8. Shopping - Finding deals

8 books I have read and enjoyed
1. Breaking Dawn
2. Eclipse
3. New Moon
4. Twilight
5. Kite Runner
6. The Pelican Brief
7. The Firm
8. The Notebook

8 words/phrases I say often
1. Be nice
2. In a minute
3. How do you ask?
4. I love you
5. Are you o.k.?
6. What do you want?
7. No
8. You're such a good helper

8 things I want to do before I die (in no particular order)
1. Get scuba certified
2. Be financially independent
3. See my children happy in and with their lives as adults, whatever that may bring
4. Go back to school just to take classes in areas I'm interested in
5. Serve a mission with Brandon
6. Find my true self and to constantly be true to that self
7. Increase my gospel knowledge
8. Pick up and go somewhere on a whim

8 things I've leaned this past year
1. Being a mom is harder then I imagined, but so worth it!
2. My little family is my life! As long as they are o.k. I'll be o.k.
3. It's o.k. and sometimes necessary for me to take a timeout from my kids and I'm not a bad mom for doing so.
4. I can try again tomorrow
5. Trying to sell a house really stinks and I don't want to do it too many more times
6. My personal happiness lies within myself and I control it.
7. Brandon and I make a great team and together we can concur anything!
8. I need to let things go easier for my sanity and those around me

8 places I want to see
1. Australia
2. Europe
3. Africa
4. Puerto Rico
5. Yucatan Peninsula
6. Boston
7. India
8. Vancouver, BC

8 things I currently want/need
1. to sell my house
2. to get out and have some fun with the kids
3. to have some alone time with Brandon
4. to have Brandon or I employed (preferably Brandon)
5. to do laundry (definitely not a want)
6. To stick to exercise and eating better goals
7. more time in the day
8. some peace and calm

8 people I want to tag
1. Any one who reads this and hasn't done this yet!!!
2. Your name here
3. Or here
4. Or here
5. Or here
6. Or here
7. Or here
8. Or here

No More Fear

I'm not sure if the fear was forgotten or overcome but regardless Brylie had a break through last night. For the longest time she has been less then thrilled with big things that made lots of noise to the point she either runs away, starts crying, or has to be held as long as they are around. The Harwards are big motorcycle fans and all of us have been trying to get her to at least get on a motorcycle for over a year. She's fine around them as long as they aren't on, but as soon as they rev up, she's out of there. It was the same story with Brandon's parents Razor they got a couple of months ago. All the other grandkids love taking rides in it and would fight over who's turn it was, but Brylie kept her distance. Well last night, of course when I wasn't around, Brylie took her first ride in the Razor and loved it!!! She came running inside to proudly tell me she had taken a ride in the four wheeler. I couldn't believe it and didn't at first. I asked Brandon if she really had taken a ride and he said she had. She quickly headed back outside to get another turn in the four wheeler and was quite devastated when it didn't come fast enough. Her turn finally came and she was quickly all smiles.

I was really starting to wrack my brain with how I was going to help Brylie handle loud, noisy, things and then she did it on her own. You would think I would have learned by now (it has been three years) Brylie does things in her own time and it always works out fine. You can't force her to do anything sooner then she is ready and when she is ready she does whatever it is with a bang. My little girl is getting so big and I'm looking so forward to the rest of her growing moments. (If they could come with a little less drama it would be great!)

Mamma Mia

Yesterday with the planning of my mother-in-law, I got some much needed adult and girl time with her and all of my sisters-in-law. We got a quick lunch and then headed to see Mamma Mia. To be honest I wasn't really expecting anything from the movie and probably wouldn't have picked to see it on my own, but man am I happy we went. I really, really enjoyed the movie and am hoping to find my Best Of Abba CD really soon. I love Abba music and this made it come to life. There are major movie stars in it and they could all sing. I do have to admit I did start cracking up when Pierce Brosnan was singing during a serious moment. I just kept seeing him as 007 and him singing just didn't fit. And if anyone wants to go see Mama Mia let me know. I want to see it again but I doubt I can convince Brandon to go. But if I get a chance to see this on stage, he won't get off the hook.

The Princess in me

I've seen this on a few blogs now so I thought I'd give it a shot.

You Are Pocahantas!

Free-spirited and wise. You have a strong passionate spirit that touches and changes all who know you. The wisdom and common sense that you have is really what guides you through life. Even so, you also have a very playful side that loves adventure and excitement.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Hawaii was GREAT

(So my disclaimer up front is this is going to be a long post. I was thinking of trying to break the trip up into a few posts, but it's just easier this way. Enjoy!!!)

Our vacation started with a quick detor to drop the kids off at my parent's house. While there I realized that all of our confirmation stuff had been left at home. In the process of Brandon trying to get all of our confirmation numbers he learned our hotel had been cancelled by the travel company we had made the reservation through. The funny thing is Brandon had just talked to them the day before we left and re-confirmed out arrival date and such with them. There was nothing we could do while at my parents house (time difference and all) so we went to bed and got up bright and early to catch our flight. (We had a different hotel for the first night in Hawaii and felt pretty confident we would have everything worked out by the time we needed the hotel that had been cancelled.) After meeting up with our friends Randy and Viv, a really long flight, a couple of movies, reading magazines, and a quick snooze for Brandon we made it to Oahu.

My first fun moment of the trip happened fairly quickly. We were at the car rental place waiting for our car and I noticed a family who rented a Mustang convertable. At first I was jealous because I kind of wanted a convertable for the trip but by watching them quickly realized how unrealistic it would have been for four adults and all our luggage. This family consisted of Mom, Dad, and two daughters one of which required a carseat. For twenty minutes Viv and I watched them try to fit all of their stuff in the convertable. You know it's bad news when the stroller won't even fit in the truck of the car when it's empty. Now I thought the frustration between spouses I saw on the launch ramp at the Marina was bad, but these two were right up there. Needless to say they got everything in the convertable with the trunk stuffed, the stroller in the back seat with the girls and a big suitcase behind the front seat of the car. Because of the suitcase only Mom would fit to drive the car and even then it looked like she was kissing the windshield. That meant Dad got stuck holding another good size suitcase in his lap as they drove off. Having a convertable would be cool in Hawaii but its not worth going through what they did.

After getting to our hotel for the first night, and finding out nothing had been resolved regarding our hotel situation for the rest of the trip, we headed to dinner and then to bed because we were all exhausted.
Thursday was our first full day in Hawaii. We started the morning by finding out our reservation had been fixed and we now had a hotel room for the rest of the trip. (Funny enough Randy and Viv had no issues with their room and we booked at the same time.) For the rest of the day we went to a lookout point, had beach time at Lanikai Beach, went to see an old house of Randy's and went to another lookout point. Brandon got a little to close to the waves for me at the second lookout point and I was a little concerned he might get carried out to sea by one. I'm glad he knew when to run away.

Friday we started kind of early to get to a couple of places before going to the Polynesian Cultural Center. On the way there we stopped at Byodo-In Temple (a replica of a 900 year old Japanese temple), the Laie LDS temple, and spent the rest of the day at the PCC. The entertainment was great and the pineapple drink and delight were amazing!! I'm so glad we went.

Saturday we went to get our snorkel stuff, took a surf lesson at Waikiki, snorkeled at Hanauma Bay, and went to a beach front restaurant for dinner. If you are in Waikiki and want to take a surf lesson, I have the best surf instructor for you. I really thought surfing would be really hard and he made it so easy. Granted all we did was get up and head straight to shore, but it was a lot easier then I thought it would be. If I lived on the coast I would definitely take up surfing.

Sunday was designated our North Shore day. On our way up we stopped at the swap meet. It was great shopping and Viv and I definitely tried our husband's patience. We wanted to shop a little bit more then they did, but they were sports and hung in there with us. We then went to the Dole Plantation. The fresh pineapple and pineapple juice was to die for. I love pineapple and never knew pineapple juice could taste like that. It's amazing what being fresh can do. We then continued up north and first went to Turtle Bay. We left there and planned on spending pretty much the rest of the day at Waimea and/or Sunset Beach. Well both were pretty crowded (by that I mean no parking) so we took the opportunity to go to Motsumoto's. Brandon had been raving about it since we planned this trip and I can say that the shaved ice was pretty amazing. We finished there and tried our luck again at Waimea. We found a parking spot and spent the rest of the day there. After the boys and I jumped off the cliff, Viv and I were hanging out on the beach while the boys snorkeled. Randy came running up and said they saw a sea turtle. I looked for Brandon and he was swimming away from us. The guys kept swimming with it for the next 10 minutes or so. And then it was all they could talk about for the next little while. We stayed there until after sunset and headed back to the hotel. I really enjoyed Waimea.

Monday was unfortunately our head home day. The boys started out the day by doing a little boogie boarding at Waikiki while Viv and I got packed up. We checked out of the hotel and headed to Pearl Harbor. All Brandon had wanted to do the entire trip was go to Pearl Harbor so I was a little disappointed when we got there and all the tickets to get to the Arizona memorial were gone. We walked around a little bit and were getting ready to head over to the Missouri when 4 tickets became available to head over to the Arizona on the next boat. So many emotions were felt being at the visitors center and memorial that there is no way to describe it. I am so so happy that Brandon pushed to go to Pearl Harbor and him and Randy talked to the desk person one last time. After getting back to the visitors center and taking Brandon's picture with our boat captain (you'll have to ask him about that story), we headed over to the Missouri. After seeing the inside of the ship and walking around it, I admire the service men who live on those ships. If their living and sleeping quarters are at all like what I saw, I know I wouldn't be able to survive. My favorite part of the Missouri was seeing where Japan signed the surrender document and World War II was ended. As we were leaving the Missouri was saw our 1st and only rainbow of the trip.

After a little bit of last minute souvenir shopping we headed to the airport and our vacation came to an end. It was so much fun and I can't wait to go back. Brandon and I have a long places to travel list, but this one might get bumped back up closer to the top. Next time we'll spend a lot longer!!

We're Back

We are back from our fabulous Hawaiian Vacation and now need another vacation to catch up on sleep and recoup from this vacation. Don't worry pictures are coming but I need a nap first!!

Fun exercise...Getting to know you!!

So if you read this you have been tagged. Let's see how much we can learn about each other!Then at the end, tell us which of these things that you haven't done but really really want to. If there isn't anything on the list you really want to do that you haven't done tell us what it is.

(X) Gone on a blind date

(X) Skipped school

(X) Watched someone die

(X) Been to Canada

(X) Been to Mexico

(X) Been to Florida

(X) Been on a plane

(X) Been lost

(X) Been on the opposite side of the country

(X) Gone to Washington , DC

(X) Swam in the ocean

(X) Cried yourself to sleep

(X) Played cops and robbers

(X) Recently colored with crayons

( ) Been to Europe

( ) Been to Asia

( ) Saved a life

( ) Saved an animal's life

( ) SCUBA Dived

( ) Pilot an airplane

(X) Walked on a frozen lake

( ) Drank too much

(X) Hitch Hiked

(X) Sang Karaoke

(X) Paid for a meal with coins only?

(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't?

(X) Made prank phone calls

(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose

(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue

(X) Danced in the rain

(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus

(X) Been kissed under the mistletoe

( ) Watched the sunrise with someone you cared about

(X) Blown bubbles

(X) Gone ice-skating

(X) Gone roller skating

(X) Gone to the movies

1. Any nicknames? Stace

2. Mother's name? Margaret

3. Favorite Drink? Strawberry Limeade from Sonic

4. Tattoos? No

5. Body Piercing? Just my ears.

6. How much do you love your job? Since it's staying at home with my kids...LOVE IT!!

7. Birthplace? Kentucky

8. Favorite vacation spot? Caribbean

9. Ever been to Africa ? No

10. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? Yes

11. Ever been on TV? Yes

12. Ever been in a car accident? Yes

13. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4 doors

15. Favorite Salad Dressing? Poppy seed

16. Favorite pie? Fresh Strawberry

17. Favorite number? 8

18. Favorite movie? Honestly don't have just one

19. Favorite holiday? Christmas

20. Favorite dessert? Cheesecake

21. Favorite food? Crab legs

22. Favorite day of the week? Saturday

23. Favorite brand of body wash? Bath and Body Works

24.. Favorite toothpaste? Whatever Brandon gets

25. Favorite smell? Vanilla

26. What do you do to relax? Put the kids to bed and do something that takes no effort

27. How do you see yourself in 10 years? More in shape, less stressed, and maybe back in school just to take classes for the heck of it

I really want to Scuba! I think the next thing I will work on is getting certified, especially before I take another beach vacation. I would also like to go to Africa and Europe.