65 years

My Nana & Papa are celebrating 65 years of marriage today. Wow.

Incredible.

3 sons.
5 grandsons.
1 granddaughter. (that's me.)
11 great-grand kids

ALL believers in Christ!


That's a legacy!

We love you Nana & Papa!! (I called my Nana and said, "So, 65 years, you think he's the one?" HA HA She just laughed!) Happy Anniversary you crazy-in-love-kids!

Also...while I'm here and before I forget...we got to do something uber cool (thanks to my Uncle Jim) on Thanksgiving. My Papa (he's 94) got to talk with his sister, my Aunt Re! She lives with her kids in California. Neither of them can make a trip like that anymore to see each other, but thanks to technology they were able to Skype and talk! It was wonderful. I had tears in my eyes watching them look in amazement at each other and talk to one another. It was so sweet and a very special memory.

Ain't technology grand!

The Tooth Fairy is Unpredictable.

FYI: When you lose a tooth in Miss Johnson's 2nd grade class at Charles Haskell Elementary school you get a cool treasure box to store your tooth in.

It's pretty amazing. (My camera was not cooperating.)


This 2nd grader was thrilled. Her tiny tooth was hangin' on for dear life but had to go to make way for that large awkward tooth that is going to cost me thousands to straighten up.
(Also, 2nd graders like anything that go on their wrists. I'm not sure why.)

She left the tooth under a message that read, "My tooth is under this piece of paper!" She's a planner - would hate for the tooth fairy not to realize where the tooth had been placed.

This latest tooth fairy experience sparked new and curious conversations. Like...

• "Is the tooth fairy really a fairy or is it a mommy or daddy?"
• "What does the tooth fairy do with all those teeth?"
• "I think it's weird that he just collects teeth, why does he do that?"
• "How does he know what to pay for each tooth? Sometimes it's $1, $2, $5?"

I have always been baffled by those questions as well sweet girl! On a side note, I was thrilled I found 2 bucks in my wallet that night.

The sweetest part of any "lost tooth" at our house is the tooth fairy pillow! My grandmother made this tooth pillow for me when I was 6 or 7. It has a little pocket and the tooth just slides in! Lily uses it now, and when she's done we will pass it to Addy. It's a sweet memory of a sweet woman! (I know Grandma would be thrilled to know Lily is using it too!)

PS. Anyone know any good orthodontists?

Edible Artwork

Dear Lily & Addy,

I love your artwork. I think it's wonderful.

When your teacher brings yummy macaroni, fruit loops, beans, coffee beans, sprinkles and whatnot, to use as decoration on your artwork it's fun! So fun! I'm glad you love it. BUT when you bring home your yummy artwork please put it up high. Very high. High enough, that you're little puppy can't find it!

He adores yummy artwork too!

For instance, this yummy apple pie artwork that had real sprinkled sugar all over the top of it!

As you can see he literally ate the entire middle right out of the pie! YUM! FYI...dogs that weigh less than 6 pounds shouldn't consume construction paper, sugar and glue. This is the same reason we said it's not good for him to eat Barbie shoes, hair clips, and crayons.

Love,

Mom

Click it, or Ticket!

I think DJ and I can say, without a doubt, that we have successfully drilled into our children's heads the rule that wearing seat belts is a must!

I was driving with the girls yesterday and while stopped at the stop light, we look over and see that the SUV next to us has two little blonde-headed girls jumping around the backseat seat belt-less!

My girls immediately notice the situation, and began to comment...

Lily, "Wow-they're not wearing seat belts, their dad must NOT care about them!"

Addy, "They're going to fly right thru the windshield."

Lily, "And probably, they're going to die."

Addy, "Then, the po-leece man will come - and their daddy will go to jail."

Seat belt safety - CHECK!

Now, back to the parent guide to see what's NEXT on our agenda...

Say what?

Addy brought home a Pre-K homework assignment (what is this world coming to when Pre-K students have homework?) She had to cut out little pictures of words that started with the letter N and glue them in their correct place on the page.

The first was...
Native American. The following conversation transpired....

Lily: Addy, that's a Nate of American.
Me: A what?
Lily: A Nate of American.
Me: A Native American?
Lily: What?
Me: Native American NOT Nate of American.
Lily: Ohhhhh!
Addy: No it's not, it's an astronaut.

Okay stike that comment - maybe they BOTH need homework!

Things I say as a Mom...

that I NEVER realized I would have to say......

"Don't sit on your sister's head, she can't breathe."

"No, we don't want to smell your feet. Yes, I realize they really stink - we still really don't want to smell them!"

"You need to wipe better."

"Why don't you have panties on?"

"Don't ask strangers to smell your feet."

"Don't lick your wounds - this is a thing your dad said to be funny and it wasn't, and he isn't, and it isn't! Just don't ever lick yourself."

...as big as your head!

Have you ever heard the saying something is "as big as your head" in reference to food?? Like "I ate a cinnamon roll the size of my head!" Or, "that burger is as big as your head." (It's probably dangerous to consume food the size of your head considering our stomachs are supposed to be the size of our fists, or something. I'm sure this girl can clear all that up.)

The other night we were eating at Qdoba. My husband loves for them to stuff a burrito until the tortilla seems like it will break, it's a challenge to him. The bigger the better.
It is a little disturbing to watch him eat it....


I made the comment "that thing is as big as your head!" Then we did some comparing...

Really????? Look at that thing!!!!!

He was so proud, and I was in shock. Then my shock turned to embarrassment when I realized people were staring at us hold a burrito up to our kids heads and then take pictures. "Look ma, this burritos as big as my head, quick - take a picture! We gotta show everybody back on the farm."

I wanted to yell out "don't worry, I'm a blogger" because when you're a blogger you can take pictures of pretty much anything and get away with it!

The Toothless Years

I love this girl! She just takes amazing pics of my kids ALL the time! (Love, love, love her!)

Lily turned 7 back in June, but it was so hot we waited a bit to get some 7 year old photos of her. I freaked out a bit last Saturday and thought...."those teeth are going to come in and I am going to forget that adorable little toothless smile! I have to get pictures now!"

(Then I thought a little more....."Those teeth are going to be big and awkward and then a dental professional is going to tell me I have to pay mega bucks to fix them, and then when it's all done and she is out of braces and her teeth are perfect it will be time for the Addy to get them.")

Teeth or no teeth....I love this sweet 7 year old!

10 Random Thoughts

1. Took my youngest child to Chuck E. Cheese's last week to reward her for not crying when going to school. (Yes, that means I bribed her. I'm not writing parenting books anytime soon, don't worry.)

2. Chuck E. Cheese's frightens me. It's like the fair only everyone is inside one small, very cramped building.

3. They serve beer at Chuck E. Cheese's. No I didn't partake, it just really bothers me that they have it there. Not sure why, it just made me mad. I wanted to walk around to the parents drinking and ask who was driving their children home.

4. I don't like the fair. (I think I've blogged about that before, but I am too lazy to find the post and link it to this post. I just don't like it. Period.)

5. The news about this mom who locked her kids in the closet for 10 hours makes me physically ill. I can't imagine a 7 & 5 year old realizing their siblings were dead in the closet with them. Sickens me.

6. Wow, that was a deep-dark Friday thought.

7. Our puppy keeps pooping and peeing in the house. He might get dropped off in an empty field soon, very soon. (Just kidding, don't alert PETA please!)

8. Addy & Lily started soccer again! I love watching them play.

9. It's time to decorate for fall! I love fall.

10. My dining table is piled high with papers, junk and other things I need to go through this weekend, and trash a bunch of stuff. Ewwww. That doesn't sound fun at all....maybe we WILL go to the fair after all.

He...

He will do just about anything for his kids.


He won't fight them when they beg him to play the High School Musical 3 Dance game for the PS2.

He does it because he knows it makes them happy.

He doesn't love the fact that I'm taking his picture, because he knows he'll end up on a blog somewhere.

He says rude things to me while dancing on the plastic mat.

He wants to know where the camera is when it's my turn. I hid the camera.

He has mad skills and can dance better than most white Church of Christ boys.

He might never speak to me again after reading this post.

God is Good!

September 11th will forever be in our hearts in minds due to the tragedy and lives lost in our country on that horrific day.

In the Utley family we remember that day for two reasons, 9-11 and the day dad went in for major back surgery to remove cancer that was forming on his spine. (We found out on the 10th, and he had surgery on the 11th.)

This past Saturday, September 11, 2010 was two years since dad's surgery...so we had our God is Good party to celebrate what God's done for us, and that dad has progressed so well.

Life has changed obviously and he can't do as much as he once did, but he's here with us and that is God's plan, for that we are thankful!

(Honestly, we will do just about anything to "celebrate" so we can have an Eileen's Cookie! YUM!)

I just loved these pics with dad and Lily! So sweet!!

We love you dad/Bob/Uncle Bob/Bob-O/Poppy!

God is so very good!!!

My Little Entrepreneur

Lily's elementary school collects donations for their school fundraiser.

What does this mean?

It means I don't have to pedal through town with cookie dough, candy bars, or wrapping paper in my trunk and deliver it to people! For that, I am thankful. But cash donations are tricky. I didn't care for the fact that she was going to just "ask for money". She wants to collect money so she can be in the drawing to win some prizes, but just asking for cash didn't work for me! Her personal goal was to raise $120. (No clue where that amount came from!) She also thinks that this magic total will catapult her to "top girl seller" in the school and she'll win a laptop. She is so young to have her dreams crushed.

So...to reach her goal, she began crafting....



She created these darling frames with a die cut cross in them. She then decorated them with words like; love, faith, joy, peace....they turned out pretty cute! (MiMi footed the bill for the $Tree frames, thanks MiMi!)
She sold several to friends at church, and GiGi & MiMi, of course! So far she's made 7 frames, and has collected $87 towards her goal!

Not bad kid, not bad.

Dear parent that drives the Lamborghini at our school,

Please don't write your kid a check for $5000 and totally crush my kids chance at being the "top girl seller." It apparently means a lot to her. Oh, and your car is kinda ugly if you ask me.

Thanks,

Lady that drives the burgundy dinged up Altima.

What the $%#@ were we thinking?

Last Wednesday DJ and I made a pros & cons list.

We tried hard to talk ourselves out of it.

We talked about it for two hours.

We didn't tell the kids, we wanted to make an informed decision on our own.

We went in fully prepared to say no.

We didn't.

Meet Scrappy. (Yes Scrappy is Scooby-Doo's nephew, and you KNOW we're a Scooby-Doo lovin' family!)

DJ put him in a bag and surprised the girls when we got home from church Wednesday night.

Is that kid happy, or what? (She actually cried a little ,which was her first happy tears and she was kind of confused by it all! She said, " I'm happy but there are tears in my eyes!")

We're all pretty in love with him.

School Daze

I remember second grade vividly. A boy named Russel gave me a necklace for Valentine's Day. Also a boy named Michael pooped his pants. Maybe that's all the "vivid" memories I have, which might be a good thing.

Lily,
I hope your 2nd grade year is filled with wonderful memories, minus the poop. And, I would also prefer you not talk to any boys, at all. Let's just skip Valentine's for the next 15 years or so. If a boy gives you anything, hide it from your dad.
Love, Mom


(Toe point courtesy of Lesley Proctor Photography. Landscaping courtesy of Damon Johnson Lawn Care. Not the real guy who does it for living in Edmond, I'm talking about the one that lives with me and hates lawn care.)

I don't remember Pre-K. Not even sure we had Pre-K when I was a kid, and i terneed owt juzt fyne!

Addy,

I hope your Pre-K year is filled with fun and excitement, and if you learn something along the way that's cool too. Just don't point and stare when the kid next to you starts eating the glue. With 240 glue sticks floating around your class, it's bound to happen.

Love, Mom

Toe point courtesy of Cailey Marie.

I love you my sweet girls! No sad tears here, you're right where GOD wants you to be and I am blessed and thankful that you're healthy and wonderfully made.

Recipes NOT approved by Weight Watchers

I struggled with a title for this blog post, options were...

Wanna die sooner than expected?

Sticks to your ribs & your rear!

Leapin' Lizards it's Stuffed Turtles


I gave up.

Please note: I haven't tried these, and I WON'T! I just saw them and had to share.

To make your own Stuffed Turtles all you need to do is...

1. Take handmade ground beef patties, top with sharp cheddar cheese, wrap in a bacon weave.

2.Next step, add hot dogs as the heads and legs with slits for toes and tail.

3. Place on an oven rack, covered loosely with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees.

4. Eat

5. Vomit

Lookin' for a New Blog to Stalk?

Look no further.

This chica rocks. As does her sister. I haven't met their brother, but I am sure he's just as cool as the other two.

This blog will not disappoint. She just started it too, so you can stalk quickly and get caught up on their lives!! Click here.

Enjoy.

Snuggie - The Blanket with Sleeves!

Where were we when they were looking for freakishly annoying people to be on their commercial?

I totally think these two qualify.

Quote from the website:
Feel the Snuggie® Warmth & Snuggle up with your significant other! Blankets are OK but they can slip and slide, plus your hands are trapped inside. The Snuggie® Blanket keeps you totally warm and gives you the freedom to use your hands!

Freedom?

Freedom to grab your sister and continue to wrestle with her all while staying warm.

Walgreen's clearance is dangerous for my mother. She shouldn't shop there, she couldn't resist the Snuggie 50% off clearance.

And, I'm not proud of it but I too was sucked into the Snuggie marketing cult when I found a Snuggie for Dogs for my parents dog, marked 75% off.

Disturbing yet adorable.