Check it out!

Go to http://rozephotography.com/blog/ and scroll down until you find the entry titled "Beauty" to see some fantastic pictures of Tana. The photographer is a friend of ours, and all I can say is "Wow!!!"

One more Ian-isim

This morning I said to Ian, "Okay, I've got Tana ready, now I need to get me ready." His reply was, "Mom,"me ready" is impossible English!"
(I'm pretty sure he meant "improper".)

Dishonesty

I asked a friend a question and she promised to lie to me, now I must make the same promise to you. Ask me any question for the next 24 hours and I promise to lie 'til my nose grows. The only caveat being you must do the same on your blog. Providing you have one.

Why?

Why don't babies and children come with "snooze" buttons and volume control?

Two Cute "Ian-isms"

Ian-ism #1
So, the day after Thanksgiving, we went on the "Polar Express" up in Heber and the guy that did the reading while we were on the train told us that Santa's favorite color is red because he is a Ute fan. (as opposed to BYU). Ian came home from school soon afterward and told me that Kyler and Emma did not believe that Santa is a Ute fan. First grade and already the rivalry is heating up!

Ian-ism #2
I had to take the computer in to be fixed and told Ian he would have to carry Tana's car seat in while I carried in the tower. Ian asked why we didn't use a "barbie". Being confused, I asked what a barbie was. When he explained, with much sighing and eye rolling, it was one of those things for carrying heavy stuff I finally realized he meant a "dolly".

New Pics - Thanksgiving!

Grandma and her "sweeties"


SMILE!



Ian, Tete and Tana on Thanksgiving morning.

Tana's Thanksgiving feast as administered by Papa.

Everyone is exausted!

Tana and Us

Denali trying to protect Tana from that evil camera that causes sudden lighting storms.

I vote we ALL take a nap now.

Okay, he's my big brother and all, but WHERE'S MY BOTTLE!!!!

A kitchen scale and a popcorn bowl. How else would we weigh her?

Tana Pictures

She is a genius! She already found her thumb!



Proud Big Brother at the hospital.



Awww! Isn't she adorable!

Daddy's got you! (Also a size perspective.)

Welcome Home

Some mysterious person or people decorated our house to welcome Tana home. Whoever you are, (and Amy's not telling), Thank-you. That was incredibly sweet. I promise to post more Tana pics soon.

NEW BABY

Yippeee. Tana Rei has finally made her appearance. She was born this morning at 01:55. She weighed in at 5lb 8oz and was 18.5 inches long. No more as of now but will keep updated.

Baby Update 3

Sorry. No news on the baby front. Nothing will probably happen until mom's induction date of Nov. 6th. We are all just waiting around for the phone call. Will post more as we learn more.

Baby Update 2

We are still counting down the days for Tana Rei to come into our family. We have a family bet as to what day she will really come into this world. So what is your guess?

Baby Update

We met the birthmother today. Her name is Coletta and she is the cutest thing ever. The birthfather, Jakwan, did not come because he did not want to leave their other three children with a babysitter. Hopefully we'll get to meet him and the children later. It depends on if they decide they want to meet us again. But Coletta is a very sweet, wonderful woman and I am glad to have got the chance to have met her.

Ian's Response

So, when we told Ian about the new baby, the following conversation ensued:

Ian: Is it going to be a sister?
Me: Yes.
Ian Good. Is she going to be tan?
Me: You mean brown? Like T?
Ian: Yes. Is she going to be like T?
Me: Yes, she'll have brown skin.
Ian: Good. Now you won't be the only girl in the family.

Kids. Ya gotta love their perspectives!

Heather! You were right!

We were just informed that we were matched! We will be the proud parents of a baby girl who is due to be born on November 6th! We are thrilled and I am bawling!
Isen't life wonderful!

Right on!

Your True Love's Name Is Brian W.

Now you just have to find this person!

What's Your True Love's Name?

Blogthings: Waste Time at Work!

Pockets

When you find two really cool snails at recess and don't want your teacher to take them away from you, where do you put them?

Waiting....

So we've had our profile shown to five different birth mothers and for one reason or another they've all chosen other families. One lady wanted the baby to go to a family that had no children, another wanted siblings, but more than one, still another wanted any other siblings to be adopted too. Things we have no control over. It's okay 'cause I know our baby is out there, but I get so jittery every time we're shown to a birth mother.

Then on Tuesday we were asked about another situation. We turned it down because we felt there was too much of a chance of fetal alcohol syndrome. The mother had drank heavily for the first trimester of the pregnancy. There were also some other clues that led us to believe this was not the child for us. (I don't want to get too into it because even though she'll never see this I want to protect her privacy. Let's just say I can totally understand her reasons.) Ian was devastated. He was so afraid that because we turned down this child we might never get a baby at all. Poor thing. How is it he worries about so many "grown-up" things at such a young age?

Anyway, we are still waiting and hopeful. God has brought us this far, we just have to wait patiently.

Soon Maybe....

I got this reply in an email from the social worker when I asked her about when we could have our profile shown to prospective birth mothers

I feel comfortable telling the agency to begin to present you with upcoming situations even though you aren't officially "approved" until the clearances are back, but if a baby comes very quickly, we would have to have the attorney complete a temporary custody order for the courts so you could bring your baby home.... I'll go ahead and let the adoptive family coordinator know you're ready to be shown and she'll give you a call when she has one that looks like it will work.

...So keep those fingers crossed and prayers coming!

Rock'n Ribs cake

This last weekend we had another barbecue competition. A big one down at Gallivan Plaza downtown. So, I decided to make "ribs". I found a very good recipe for red velvet cake, and then ruined it by running out of time and having to use premade fondant. (YUCK!) But it turned out pretty cute. I got the "fatty" streaks in it by rolling out the red and then, using a spoon, drew four lines through it into which I placed cords of the white-ish fat and rolling it out a bit more. Then I dropped the whole thing over the prepared cake. The "meat" was a mixture of red and scarlet and the "fat" was white with a little copper added. I thought it turned out pretty good. Even with the blob of "fat" I had to add to hide a hole I made. It sort of made it look more real I think. In any case I fooled a few people with it. When they saw it at a distance the couldn't figure out why someone had put raw meat on the table.

We did okay at the competition. We won a medal for 6th in chicken. So now all of our meats have won awards. Brian and I were happy as we were competing with a lot of teams who have been doing this for 10 years or more and those were the teams who won. Ian was not so happy. Running on little to no sleep he saw the trophy for the Grand Champion and was EXTREMELY upset we didn't get to take it home. I then made a major "Mom mistake". I was trying to comfort him by explaining how much experience the winning teams had compared to us, and when that did not work I tried telling him that the trophy doesn't really mean anything. You can go pick up an old one at the D.I., (our local version of the Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc.,) for a couple bucks. "You can?" he says. "Sure," I tell him. At that moment Brian walks by and Ian goes running up to him all happy 'cause I'm going to go to the D.I. and pick him up a trophy. I ended up going yesterday and getting him an old bowling trophy from 1972. Seriously. He thinks it is the coolest thing ever. Who knew it was that easy?

Home Study

So Monday night the Social worker came to look at our home and talk to us. We spent all day Saturday cleaning the house. I had the cleanest bathrooms in town! Then, she did not even look at them! Ian showed her around and she kind of went on a little walk through, but that was it! Brian says we've passed, and I'm pretty sure we have, but I'll be worried until some one OFFICIALLY says so. But I still need to get a Physical done that says I am healthy enough to raise a child, which won't happen until the 20th because my doc is out on maternity leave until then. (sigh) So on it goes, paperwork and all!

Idaho BBQ Results

We went up to Declo Idaho for a competition this last weekend and it was so much fun! We were at an RV park called Village of the Trees. And let me tell you it was BEAUTIFUL! When Brian told me this comp was going to be held in an RV park, I had visions of an old broken-down KOA. But this place was great. It was clean, well cared for, lots of grass and, of course, trees. There was a swimming pool, showers, a laundry and a catch and release fishing pond. Ian and I both caught fish.
These Pictures may looked posed, but I swear it's true. Ian caught a good three pound trout and mine... well, mine wasn't even three inches. I did not even know I had anything on my line, I was just reeling it in to head back to camp and here I had this tiny little fry in there!

The competition went great too. We took 3rd in chicken and 2nd in ribs. Our pork was a little overdone and our brisket was VERY overdone, but we were happy with the results. I can definitely say we will be going to this competition next year. And if you are ever in need of a RV resort and you are anywhere near Delco Idaho you MUST go to Village of the Trees.

LIFE!

So, I started this blog to tell you about my cakes, but to tell you the truth things have gotten far more complicated, and there is more important things to talk about and remember.

Right now we have started the process to adopt. We always wanted more children, but, frankly, it ain't going to happen for us through childbirth. So we're going to try this. We do not care if the child is male or female, and we do not care what race. We just want another baby.

(Ian does not want me to talk about this right now, he says I must talk abot racecars. Since I have nothing to say about racecars, I will move back to the previous subject.)

We are scared, well, I am anyway. But it will be wonderful at the end. Just keep our eyes on the goal. I will try to keep you abreast of what is happening, but since things are so busy I do not know how well I'll do.

We have talked to a fair few agencies, and have found one we are comfortable with. So we will probably be going through them. In the mean time we are trying to get our finances in order (AAAARRRGGG!), figure out where and how to get fingerprinted to get our FBI clearances (double AAARRRGGG!), and get our home study done (triple AAARRRGGG!). But we'll get through it.

Thirteen Things That Happened on July 13th

574 John III ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1772 Captain James Cook begins 2nd trip (Resolution) to South Seas
1787 Congress establishes Northwest Territory (excludes slavery)
1836 U.S. patent #1 (after 9,957 unnumbered patents), for locomotive wheels
1865 Horace Greeley advises his readers to "Go west young man"
1868 Oscar J Dunn, former slave, installed as lt governor of Louisiana
1934 Babe Ruth hits HR #700, against Detroit
1939 Frank Sinatra made his recording debut
1943 11th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 5-3 at Shibe Park, Philadelphia
1960 U.S. Democratic convention nominates John F. Kennedy as presidential candidate
1977 New York City experiences 25 hr black-out
1985 "Live Aid" concert raises over $70 million for African famine relief
1996 Brian Winther and Tara Wetherell were married in Everett WA.

Not News To Anyone That Knows Me....

Your result for The LONG Scientific Personality Test...

INFP - the Healer

You scored 36% I to E, 16% N to S, 10% F to T, and 74% J to P!

You are more introverted than extroverted. You are more intuitive than observant, you are more feeling based than thinking based, and you prefer to go with the flow rather than having a plan. Your type can best be summarized by the word "Healer", which belongs to the larger group of idealists. You have a capacity for caring that is deeper than most. You strive for unity, are fascinated by the battles between good and evil, and can be something of an idealist. Only 1% of the population shares your type.
As a romantic partner, you are usually supprtive and nuturing, however, you have a high need for individuality. Harmony is extremely important to you as you are very affected by conflict and tension, which also makes you resist confronting your partner directly about problems. When you get angry, you usually blame yourself, rather than your partner. You can also be stubborn and unyielding when you feel you are being criticized or mistreated. You feel the most appreciated when your partner listens to you carefully. You need to be understood. You need to hear your partner express their feelings, the more often, the better.Your group summary: idealists (NF)
Your type summary: INFP

Happy Fourth of July!

Yesterday Brian grilled some salmon, corn and potatoes. The whole meal was YUMMY! Then we went and watched the rodeo, where Brian bid on tickets to a Toby Keith concert and a cowboy hat signed by some big-time rodeo professionals. We didn't win, but I got to wear the hat for a minute when the clown came by and put it on my head. It was too small.

So even though that was yesterday, that was our 4th of July celebration since Brian has to work today. We did get up early and go to a new restaurant called The Red Rooster Waffle Company, (or something like that), it was yummy! And tonight when we pick up Brian from work we are going to look out over the valley and enjoy the fireworks going on all around down there.

HappyFourth To All!

Signs and Stuff

Well, if you read my blog much, (and why would you? it's sort of boring), you know we went to a bbq competition recently. I was asked to make up some signs with the team names and city of orgin. This is what I came up with: Well, the organizers liked it so much, they said they may be contacting me to do some signs for future competitions. Go me!

This is a sign Chris and Doug, one of the BBQ teams asked me to design for them. I did not charge them because Chris and Doug are both very nice guys. However, they ended up taking third place overall, so maybe I should have charged them. Just Kidding!
Then while at the competition another gentleman asked me to make a sign for his team. Since I don't know him I'm going to charge him. (That sounds weird, doesn't it?) These are the ideas I sent him, so we'll see if he's interested.

I like this one the least, but it's the one I spent the most time on.




This one is cute, the cows are all branded with "Richard's Round-Up".



But this one is my favorite, and the one I spent the least amount of time on.
So, we'll see if we make any money off my hobby. It's fun in any case.

P.S. Sorry Richard's Round-Up signs are so small, I have the super large ones I work on and then the thumbnails I send out so my designs won't be stolen, and I had to post the tiny ones.

A fun game

http://www.fastgames.com/images/littlewheel.jpg">
Play This Game

I like point and click games and this is a very easy very cute one I enjoyed. Click the link above and try it out!

Sorry!

Sorry I did not get the results posted sooner from the BBQ competition. It's been a little crazy around here!
First off, Brian was sick the week before the comp which is when he usually puts his sauces together. So this time the did not have time to "blend" like they usually do. Then Ian came home from school on Friday with a raging temp, so I wasn't able to stay with Brian and help out like we had planned. Then, in the middle of the night, Brian fell asleep and lost one of his fires and it took him 45 minutes to get it started again. While he was trying to recover from that, he thought he was supposed to get his ribs on, but he was an hour and a half early, when he realized what he'd done he took them off again, but they still weren't as good as usual. Then to top it all off I gave him the wrong seasoning for the chicken.
So needless to say we did not do perfectly. There were 19 competitors and overall we took 11th. solidly in the middle. We did get a 5th place call for brisket and a 6th for pork. Which, as I told Brian, for all we had going against us wasn't too bad.
However, look out next time when we're all healthy!

BBQ Competition this weekend

Whoo-hoo! Our first comp of the season! I spent all day today trying to find a brisket for Brian. Two stores didn't have them, one store did, but it weighed 20lbs. (How is lbs. short for pounds? there is no l or b in the word!) Finally the fourth place I tried had a 12.6 pounder. Brian wanted one that was between 12 and 14 lbs., so that worked. I'm set! Brian... well, he's nervous.

Wish us luck!

Thank Goodness for Amy!

Brian has had a fever hovering around 102F since Sunday. Way too hot for my taste, but he kept insisting that it's just a virus and will go away soon. However, last night at around 7pm I took his temp and it was 103.5F. Way way too hot and I insisted I was going to take him into the ER. But there was the problem of what to do with Ian. He had School the next day and could not be out 'till all hours of the night.

That's where Amy came in, she graciously agreed to take my son for the evening and even offered to bring him home and sit with him at bed time so he could sleep in his own bed.

(As an aside, as Ian and I were walking to Amy's house when Ian saw his friends Lydia and Mikayla. When they asked him where he was going he told them he was going to Miss Amy's house because "Mom has to take dad to the OR at IFA." The IFA is a farmer's co-op. And since the girl's dad was standing there I had to explain I was taking Brian to the ER at IHC.)

Poor Amy! She had to stay in my messy house 'til after 1AM. Aren't I lucky to have such great friends?

THANK-YOU AMY!

Hamburger

How about a hamburger? Nice, cheesy, juicy and fresh off the grill? Okay, this one isn't exactly fresh off the grill. Okay, it isn't cheesy or juicy either. It's cake. But boy was it fun to make!

The "sesame" seeds are sunflower seeds, the top "bun" was baked in a metal bowl, and the "lettuce" is rolled out gumdrops. Fun, huh?

Amy needed a cake for a Scout auction, (I presume they auctioned the cakes and not the Scouts), and I had a book with this cake in it and decided it was perfect. I added a few touches of my own, and Viola! a cheeseburger cake!

The Ladybugs Worked! - Finally!

So I went back to the nursery and returned my dead ladybugs, and when they looked in their fridge most of their ladybugs were dead. Someone had turned the 'fridge up too high. But they did find me one container of Ladies that were in the middle of all the others that had been a little insulated and the bugs were still alive. So I brought them home and let them go. Sure enough on Saturday I saw ladybugs in my roses munching away on the aphids. YAY!

If this works as well as I hope it does I plan on buying ladybugs every year since I hate the aphids and the whole soap thing never seems to work for me.

Ladybugs to the Rescue!.... NOT!

I have nine rosebushes. My personal philosophy is there is always room for a new rosebush especially if it promises to be one that smells good. To that end I like to cut off roses and bring them in the house for their beauty and their scent. However I HATE aphids. Nasty crawly bugs that eat my roses!
Noticing that I already seemed to have an aphid problem I went to the nursery and bought ladybugs. I bought them at about 1:00pm and brought them home and set the container on my kitchen table to release in the evening so the ladybugs would not fly off but instead make their home in my bushes. That was the theory anyway.
When I went to release them it looked like they were all dead. Now, they hadn't been moving when I got them but I assumed that was because they kept them in a 'fridge and that as they warmed up they would wake up and move around. But eight hours later they were not moving. So I called the nursery. They said to wait 'til morning and see what was what. Guess what? They're still dead. Stupid Bugs. Now I have to take them back and hope the next batch is not a dud too. If they are I'm getting my money back and buying my Ladybugs elsewhere. Humph!

Personality tests

Your result for The Social Persona Test (What kind of man/woman are you?)...

The Rarity (QTAF)

Quirky Traditional Alpha Female

You have an unusual and unbelievably precious combination of traits, especially in a woman. Not only are alpha females extremely rare, but traditional ones with nerdy/geeky interests are even more scarce. Unlike the other types, I can't give you a description because I'm not sure if you actually exist.

PS: I know this is not a compatibility test, but there is a very good chance you are the girl of my dreams. Not to sound desperate or anything, but please, oh please message me! (Assuming, that is, that you are between 20 and 30 and live in New England).

--Bookwyrm85

You are more QUIRKY than NORMAL.

You are more TRADITIONAL than LIBERAL.

You are more DOMINANT than PASSIVE.

When picking a date, consider: Lord of the Misfits (QLAM), The Late Bloomer (QTAM), The Snowball's Chance in Hell (QTBM), or The Manga Geek (QLBM).

(Image from http://folk.uio.no/thomas/lists/amazon-connection.html)

Take The Social Persona Test (What kind of man/woman are you?) at HelloQuizzy

Okay already!

For all you people out there that seem to care how my throat is doing, and apparently there is a bunch of you and I love you all for caring so, I went to see the doc for my post-op today and he said that everything looks great. I have a little bit of something that he said was like thrush only much less so, I can't remember what he called it, but he gave me a script for some lozenges to suck on that should take care it. Everything else looks good, the swelling is going down and I feel fine.

The really good news is I told him I have been sleeping without my CPAP machine and doing well. So he has scheduled a test for a month from now that will test my oxygen levels while I sleep to see if I can get off the thing permanently. I'm pretty confident that it will work out, but keep your fingers crossed!

Thanks again to everyone for all your love and support!

Happy Birthday Ian! (a little late!)

Ian turned SIX yesterday! I cannot believe it! He was born May 9th, 2003, was 8lbs. 11oz. and was 20.75 inches long. Which was pretty amazing considering he was three weeks early. Oh, he was beautiful, and at six even though he doesn't want to hear it I'm sure, he still is.

His personality was very apparent even as an infant. Pretty easy-going most of the time, but the red-haired temper could come out when pushed. He loved play, didn't mind being dirty, and REFUSED to sleep until he was completely overcome with exhaustion. He was a sweet baby who liked to be cuddled and loved Mommy more than anything. I still think I am the luckiest mom on the planet.

Now, at six years old, he is bright and intelligent with tons of imagination. He loves Daddy more than anything now but still comes to mom for the scraped knees and bruised elbows. He is affectionate and sweet, and most of the time has pretty good manners. He can still be a little shy, but is starting to get over that a bit.

P.S. I found a way to decorate the Bundt cake. Ian wanted a "monster" theme to his party, so I made a Loch Ness monster. Unfortunately the icing wasn't as thick as I wanted and it all flowed down to the bottom of the dish. Tasted good though!

R.I.P. Bob

Yesterday was a sad day. Bob died. Bob was Ian's goldfish and a first rate dragon deflector. When Ian was about 2 1/2 years old he suddenly became very frightened of dragons. In my desperation I told Ian that dragons were afraid of fish because fish live in water and water puts out fire. Ian was sneaking into our bed every night or would wake up crying for me and I was getting no sleep, so I decided to get him a goldfish. That night was the first night Ian slept through the night. It was wonderful. Ian has since added Farmer Pickles to the tank and we had to go get a new fish so now we also have America.

For all the dragons you kept at bay, we will miss you Bob!

Tonsils Update

Tomorrow at 9 a.m. I go in to get my tonsils out. I'm frightened! How come when things like this happen everyone comes out of the woodwork with horror stories of what happened to their aunt's cousin's neighbor twice removed? ARRRGGG!
(Feeling better now.)

Cake - Very Yummy!

I made a cake! Woo-Hoo! Okay, but I did not get into decorating it because it is a bundt cake. It is called "Tunnel of Fudge Cake" and it is VERY yummy! Ian decided he wants it for his birthday, so I may have to do some decorating then, but this is the result.

You can kind of see the dark fudgy "tunnel" in this photo. Believe me, it is the best, and richest, chocolate cake I have ever had.

Am I Stupid?

A couple of months ago I went to visit the doctor for a check up when she told me she was fairly certain I have sleep apnea. Three tests and a CPAP machine later it turns out she's right. I HATE that machine. I am certain it is some sort of medieval torture device. It's either in my way for rolling over or its beeping because it is not on my face correctly. On the upside I've never slept better. But my doc wanted me to go see an ENT anyway.

You see I was sick a while back and the doc at the walk-in clinic mentioned my "very prominent" tonsils. (His words, not mine.) So when I went to check back with MY doc for the final results of my sleep study I mentioned this to her. She took a look and agreed that the were "rather large". (Again, her words.) So I went to the ENT to see if the tonsils were a contributing factor to my sleep apnea. He said that I did not have prominent tonsils, but rather "gigantically large tonsils that almost meet in the middle and are certainly contributing in a large part to the sleep apnea." ( His words, I swear)

So at the end of this month I am going to go have my tonsils out. This does NOT sound like fun to me. And the question I have is, am I stupid to have my tonsils out just so I, hopefully, won't have to sleep with a machine any more? It's not a sure thing, but I REALLY hope it works.

War & Peace

Guess what? I had most of a day to myself today! It was great! The house is relatively clean, the laundry is mostly done and Ian went to school and the was home from 11:30 'till 1:00, but then went to a friend's house for a couple of hours of playtime. So I decided to make a cake. I really owed one to Heather since she made my mom an apron and refused to take any money for it. So I decided to make a book. But since the "book" was so huge I had to make it a big book. I suppose I could have made it "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", but that was way more words than I was willing to write. As you can see, I still need lots of practice with me writing. But it was a lot of fun to make.



This part is my pages. I tried to make it look like books where the pages are all different sizes. I think my coloring is a little too dark, but it doesn't look too bad.

So, Heather, I hope it at least tasted good!

(Edit 3/17/09: So last night I was laying in bed and just before I fell asleep I realized that if you opened this "book" it would have been backwards! I've GOT to pay more attention!)

Look out! There goes Spiderman!

Spiderman, Spiderman,
Does whatever a spider can.
Spins a web, any size.
Catches thieves- just like flies.
Look out! Here comes the Spiderman.

Is he strong? Listen, bud.
He's got radioactive blood.
Can he swing, from a thread?
Take a look overhead.
Hey, there! There goes the Spiderman!

In the chill of night, at the scene of a crime,
like a streak of light,
he arrives, just in time!

Spiderman, Spiderman,
friendly neighborhood Spiderman.
Wealth and fame? He's ignored.
Action is his reward.
Look out! There goes the Spiderman!

To him,
life is a great big bang-up.
Wherever there's a hang-up,
you'll find the Spiderman!

So, the best thing about having kids is you never have to really grow up. I don't think I ever had my face painted as a kid. Not from any real reason other than the opportunity never presented itself. But look! I get to live vicariously through my son. (I tried convincing the lady Ian REALLY wanted butterflies, you can see how well that went.) The make-up itself did not last long as Ian doesn't like calling attention to himself. Actually, sounds like most superheroes. Also he was afraid he scared Miss Becci! Ah, but now I have the "superhero evidence" forever! Isn't he adorable?

Declawed

So if you ever get a cat, especially a full grown one, and think "hmm, I wonder if I should get him declawed?" listen to Auntie Tara and DON'T!

Simon is a very sweet kitty who weighs about 10 lbs. Denali, our dog weighs close to 80 lbs. Guess which animal is scared of the other? You got it, Denali is scared spitless of a tiny little cat. However, poor Denali has many scratches on his nose, paws and sides to prove why he should be frightened. So on Friday Simon attacked Denali and had him backed into a corner, Thompson, our other kitty decided that the fight was too lopsided for his taste and attacked Simon. The water bottle was nowhere to be found, so we couldn't break up the fight. The end result was Denali, Simon and Thompson were all bleeding and very angry at each other.

So I called the vet to get The Instigator declawed. I am not the kind of person who thinks cats should be declawed. I'm pretty good at getting cats to realize the scratching post is a really good alternative to my couch. But my couch wasn't what whas being beaten all to heck, it was my poor sweet dog who doesn't seem to realize he could probably eat Simon in about three bites.

Simon came home the other day. Poor baby! He can hardly walk and when he goes more than 10 feet, he stops and picks up his front paws and sits like a bunny on his haunches while he gives his toes a rest. He's also a little whacked out on the pain meds, so he sleeps a lot. I feel so sorry for the little baby, but I'm not sure we really had another option. There's no way we could give him up, he and Ian are like glue. They just stick together.

On the up side, Denali is happier!

Whoo-Hoo! I'm feeling better!

Brian and I cooked a pork butt last night. If you have never experienced Brian's pulled pork you may not know it is award winning. I have the award up in the cupboard. It's good stuff. We had a couple of friends over last night for dinner and shared our pork. Dinner is defiantly more fun with friends than without.

Then with a little leftover pork I made funeral potatoes. If you do not live in Utah you may not know what funeral potatoes are. I didn't 'til I moved here. They are creamy and cheesey and baked and apparently someone always brings them to funeral potlucks. Mine are a little different with a "smoke pit" twist. Anyway, I took my potatoes over to T and Becky this morning since they like my recipe so much. They own a restaurant called "Q4U". Big-time BBQers. I am so ready for some competitions. I'm sad Brian and I were not able to get the pit he wanted but it is on schedule for next year. It's fun to see how we do in the competitions but the camaraderie is really the best.

Brain is over with T right now smoking some chicken. He wants to get T's opinion on his sauce for the chicken. I think it is wonderful and everyone we ask about it says it's great, but we did not do so well in competition with it. I'm wondering weather we're being told one thing and people think another or if there was just a bad batch of chicken that went out last time. T will tell us the truth, we can trust his opinion.

Anyhow, things are better around here and we're all feeling better too.

I'm Sick

I'm sick and I don't feel good and my throat is so sore I can't swallow. My head is pounding I'm coughing and choking and you don't even want to know about the phlegm. I'm SICK! So where is my sick day? Why can't I just curl up with some NyQuil and sleep all day and all night! Why is there no sick days for mommies? I want someone to bring me COLD Kool-aid for my sore throat and MAKE me take the icky cough syrup that tastes like (insert bad word here)so I'll feel better later. And I want way more sleep than I am getting. Enough complaining. Sorry. I'll talk happy later!

Personality quiz

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm a

Romantic Organized Builder

25 (or so) random thoughts about me

I was tagged twice to do this, so I guess I'd better do it.

1. If I was not married, I'd be the "crazy cat lady", though I'd probably have dogs too. And all my money would go tword making sure they were spayed/neutered, had all their shots and were otherwise healthy and spoiled.

2. At the ripe old age of 36, I still cannot bake cookies without burning the first batch.

3. Being a wife and mother is both more fun and more work than I ever thought it would be.

4. Right now, this moment, I have a headache.

5. Red continues to be my favorite color.

6. I HATE laundry!

7. Judges is a very difficult study, but interesting.

8. We just got a new couch that is VERY comfortable.

9. I am an awful bowler, but it's fun.

10. Books are the single best thing man has ever invented.

11. When I was little my mom used to sing bits of songs to my sister and me, dreadfully out of tune, and very embarrassing. I swore I would never do this to any child of mine.

12. I sing bits of songs to Ian, very out of tune and dreadfully embarrassing. It's way fun.

13. I always wanted to find that genie in a bottle that gave out the wishes. I think however, I found him and did not notice. I have a great life I would not trade for anything.

14. Burnt popcorn and spoiled fish are the worst smells ever.

15. If I ever have another child, I hope it is a boy. Boys are way more fun than I ever thought they could be.

16. I would defiantly take a girl though.

17. Someday I hope to have land with cows.

18. Orange blossoms smell beautiful.

19. I always have a faint hope there is something fun in the mail for me. There never is, but that's because I am terrible at writing letters to people.

20. I have more friends than I ever thought I would have.

21. The laundry is beeping. I am ignoring it.

22. I always wondered about those people who wake up with their hair completely white. Where does the color go? Is it all over their pillow? Is it absorbed back into the body?

23. If I ever met anyone that #22 happened to, I would be too embarrassed to ask.

24. My 5 year old son has told me I'm weird. My husband did not disagree.

25. I like riddles. How can you drop an egg from three feet onto a cement floor without having yolk splatter all over?

26. I'm all done now!

...And ya know, I had to agree

This morning as I was drinking my coffee, Ian asked, "Mom, why do you like coffee so much?" I told him that coffee was good for the soul. His reply? "No it's not. Ice cream is good for the soul!"

Ian's new Guinea Pig

About a year ago Ian came to Brian and I and told us he REALLY wanted a Guinea Pig. Brian and I REALLY did not want a Guinea Pig. But Ian would not give up. So we told him if he could save the money to buy one, and a cage, and food and dishes and other assorted things the Guinea Pig would need, he could get one, but he would have to keep care of it and clean up after it himself. Now, Ian was 4 years old at the time and while he had an allowance we figured there was no way he would not spend at least some of it and it would take him about three or four years to save up the $80 to $100 he would need. Let me tell you that kid did not spend a CENT! Not only that, he would look for extra jobs to do do earn money and would save any spare change he found on the ground.

Yesterday, I counted his spend money and he had a little more than eighty bucks saved. (I did not tell him I was counting it, I was just curious.) EIGHTY BUCKS! And he's five years old! Some was allowance. Some gifts and such, but you have to understand, Ian has a spend jar and a save jar. Half of his money is his to spend as he likes, and half is money he is saving for collage. So that means he has approximately $160. He is FIVE! This kid is dedicated!

Well I had to go to PetSmart to get some light bulbs for the fishtank and Ian fell in love.

Okay, I'll admit this is not a Guinea Pig (Thank Heavens!) This is Simon. The newest addition to our pet family. He is very cute, very sweet. And "talks" more than any cat I've ever met. Yes, Even more than TAC did, if you can believe it. Ian paid for him and I think Simon knows and is grateful. I keep stumbling across the both of them curled up together with Ian petting Simon and Simon telling Ian stories. It's very sweet. I think Simon is a good addition.

Nana's new jeans

Anybody that really knows my mom will get a good laugh from this picture. For everyone else, I will explain.

My mom does not own any jeans. My mom does not own a pair of pants as far as I know. In my memory, I do not recall ever seeing mom in pants, with the exception of pajamas.

Now, here is why mom is wearing them: On Christmas it REALLY snowed here, so much so I was afraid Brian would not be able to get into the driveway after work. However, a few days prior, I had fallen and messed up my back so I could not shovel it myself so my mom volunteered to do it for me. I went and got her a pair of Brian's old jeans, and she put on his fireman boots and went out with the snow blower and cleaned up the driveway.

This is the picture Ian took with his camera since he thought Nana looked pretty funny.