Jingle's back!

I know I have some major catching up to do, but I just wanted to post my favorite thing that our elf on the shelf has done so far. The day before he built a marshmallow fort and had a marshmallow snowball fight with some marshmallow snowman that he made.


Well, Mom was not happy and all the kids knew that I was mad a Jingle for wasting an entire bag of marshmallows hee hee! So the next morning the kids came running into my room and said that they knew Jingle was sorry about the mess he made. I came into the kitchen to find this:



Sigh...can't be mad at that little guy for long lol
I'm going attempt to catch up on posting soon :)

Ding Dong Ditching

SO I know that posting about this is totally going to blow our cover- but it's just too hilarious not to post. First, let me preface by saying that b/c I live in a very spread out town- most of our friends (and even people we know) do not live within walking distance. The neighborhoods of my youth where you can run to ding dong ditch your friends or cute boys you liked are pretty much non-existant. I remember summers in Prescott with the Halterman's, running down the street to ding dong ditch the Crockett boys. And then waiting at the girls' window which overlooked the front door to see if they would ding dong ditch back- they did. (Sigh I also remember hide-and-go-seek-in-the-dark at Taylor Hicks, another neighborhood staple that my kids will probably never get to experience, but I digress.)
So when I came across this post- I knew I wanted to teach my kids, but I also knew that I had to be creative. SO I became the getaway driver and decided we would drive to a few places.

It's spring break this week and our original plan was to do it during the day. But we went and the first 3 houses we went to no one was home and let's face it: ding dong ditching is nooooo fun if there is no one home!

So tonight, when the kids' cousins came over to spend the night we decided to try again.

It went much better- and way funnier!
I'm pretty sure no one was home at the first house, cuz Zach was out in the yard for a long time. He actually rang twice and nothing. So, then we go to the next house and park a little ways away from the driveway. Jared is good friends with the guy who lives there so he decided to help Zach with this one. As soon as they get out of the car a dog barks like crazy and they both dive back in the car! Zach is yelling,

"Warewolf!"

And Jared is just shaking! It took a couple of minutes (maybe because I was laughing so hard) to convince them that there is no possible way the dog they heard was a warewolf, but once they calmed down Jared says,

"Mom, I'm not doing ding dong ditching! Ding dong ditching is way too scary!"

But Zach decided he was brave enough, so we parked away from the dog and tried again. Zach did pretty good- even hiding on the side of the house while the answered the door. Unfortunately, while he was gone I looked at the floor of the car and discovered that the spot they had dived back in the car was right on top of the pile of ding-dongs. So, I must apologize if your ding-dongs are alittle squished!
So then, we head to my nieces' house. They were so excited to do their own house! Talking all the way over there about how they were going to be sneaky and ask their parents about it tomorrow.


But once we got there, neither of them wanted to actually ding dong ditch! So, Zach volunteered again, and to my surprise, Jared decided he was brave enough to try again. So we park in a pretty good hiding spot ;) and I turn off the car. I got out of the car thinking this is a good spot to take pics. I hear running and snap a pic of Jared.


Then I wait a couple minutes till I hear more running and get ready to snap a pic of Zach, but I hear

"Stupid dog! Go away!"

and snap the pic just as Zach and Pepper (my SIL's dog) come running around the corner! It's tough to see in the pic, but Pepper is right behind him.


Well, I couldn't drive off cuz that dog would not have gone home. So I had to chase her till I caught her and bring her back up to the house and tell Andrea,

"Shhhh you didn't see us!"

It was pretty funny! Ahhhh the memories we make! The other couple stops were pretty uneventful, I'm pretty sure they weren't home. So when we got back to the house I let the kids eat the last box- they earned it!


Hopefully, they will remember their mom as a fun mom and have good memories of their childhood- they sure give me good memories! I love them so much:)

he gets it!

SO another car conversation. Zach asked if I had listened to Barrack Obama lately because he was supposed to write a letter to the president in school. Jared interrupted and said,

"Zach! don't write to Barrack Obama because he lied to us! He said everything would be free and it's not."

Zach said, "No, he just said college and health care would be free."

So I asked him where he heard that and he said that he watched him give a speech and say that. I'm not sure what he watched, but that's what he came away with. SO I asked him what he thought of it and he said,

"I think that it's a bad idea, beacause if health care is free then all the doctors and dentists and other workers will quit because they'll say 'this sucks we aren't getting any money!'"

So, if my 9-year-old gets it, how come the president doesn't?


p.s. after that we talked about how doctors and dentists go to a lot of school and it costs a lot, Zach asked how much and I said it depends, but around a couple hundred thousand. He says, "$200,000! That's not so much." I said, "what? that's a ton." He said, "you could win that in the lottery- you just need to buy a ticket!"
Why didn't I think of that? I'm calling Kerry and telling him to pick one up on his way home- our student loan worries are over!!

On the way to school

Some of our most interesting conversations happen on the way to school in the morning. We live about 15-20 minutes from school (depending if I stop at Maverick for a diet coke) so i decided to blog some, so I dont forget.
this morning we were listening to the radio and the kids were boppin along to some
song, and I hear Jared ask Hannah who her favorite singer is.

She says, "Well, I have alot. Taylor Swift, Joe Jonas, Nick Jonas, Demi Lavato, Selena Gomez (we watch a lot of Disney Channel) and Lady Gaga."

That stopped me short. SO I ask how she knows who lady gaga is.

"O she sings poker face."

How does my kid know that song? We don't really listen to much lady G in our house- she's not exactly the role model I would choose for my 7-year-old. But wait it gets better- "Tick Tock" comes on the radio next and Hannah says,

"O I love this song, Mom who sings this."

I say, "Ke$ha." (although I didn't really say the dollar sign part hee hee)

Hannah says, "O yeah I love her- she sings 'your love is my drug'" What????

to which Jared replies, "Mom, what's a drug?"

So, we spend the next 5 or 6 minutes talking about the dangers of drugs. SO I guess I can thank Ke$ha for my kids weekly "just say no" discussion, but I am still trying to figure out where Hannah is hearing this music. If it comes on the radio (on the rare occasion our dial is not tuned to the country station) I usually change the channel. Fess up! Which one of you is corrupting my kid? hee hee

SO anyways, after that I decided we would all be better served listening to a cd of the Doodlebops- which coincidentally Hannah rocked just as hard to. And I'm pretty happy about that. I'm gonna do my best to keep her innocent for awhile longer ;)



p.s. joke of the day from Jared:
How do you wake up Lady Gaga?
Poker face!

Major blog update

Okay so I don't know what the deal is, and why I let the blog become less important, but I really am going to try to update it at least once a week. So read on- I have tried to update it with all we've done so far this year. I know it's not a ton, but we;re kinda boring!

Just cuz she's so adorable!

ok I know im a mom, but my baby is stinkin cute! And she loves to have herself videotaped and then watches it over and over again. You have to turn off my music at the bottom to hear, but she's super cute! just sayin'

BHC winter wonderland

Isn't it pretty?

the kids wanted to play in it, but it was a little painful

Winter finally hit Bullhead!

Incase, you couldn't figure it out, it's hail! We got a ton this past weekend- the kids thought it was sooooo cool, until they tried to play in it! lol

v-day

So valentines just kinda happened this year. We did a cute fhe the week before where each of us decorated a mailbox and then we wrote love notes to each other all week.
Kerry and I bought each other a treadmill (I know- super romantic) cuz we are planning a cruise next year with some friends and really want to get in shape before it.
I helped the kids (i.e. did them for them) make homemade valentines this year. They turned out really cute but I didn't get any pictures. I just wasn't into it this year.
Kerry took me out and bought me flowers and a gift card to the new JoAnn that just opened in town. I was gonna decorate his office on Valentines day but then the week of sick kids hit with full force! I guess i owe him, huh? Hmmm better get on that.

Vegas Baby! for the best reason ever!

So we got to spend the weekend in Vegas, got to hang with some awesome people that I always have a blast with!

My dear brother-in-law just keepin it all in perspective!

And we did have a blast! But I am so thankful that we got to be there when one of my best good friends, Christa went through the temple and was sealed to her family.


It was so amazing I am so happy for them. And so happy we got to share in it. She- and her daughters- looked so beautiful! Ok Ron didn't look too bad either ;) It was a very special day.

They are such a great family- I hope they know how loved they are! My camera is not the greatest so the pics did not turn out wonderfully- and I took a little of the temple landscaping with me on accident- but I think it was a fantastic day!

I am so thankful for the friends I have- and to be friends with someone as awesome as Christa!

Bieber fever and other randomness

Just wanted to share how Becca has Bieber Fever! She's such a fan that she's sportin' his 'do


Zach got to go shooting a couple of times when Kerry went with the guys! He loves it, and wants to go more- I think the Burgess hunting legacy will continue (even if it skipped a generation) j/k babe!



And Kerry took the kids to Kingman when it snowed this winter. They had a blast making snow angels.

New Years 2011

New Year's turned out really fun this year. We weren't really planning anything big, but at the last minute invited some friends over.

The kids had a blast! They played the Kinect and partied hard.




I can't believe they all (except Becca) made it to midnight.


I can't believe Christa and Ron did either! (I think it was their first New Years j/k) It was really fun to hang out and laugh with great friends.

I think Ron must have been extra tired though, cuz at midnight he was MIA-


he did finally reappear and Christa got her long-awaited New Years kiss!

Book of Jared- you speak Chinese?

So Jared is hilarious! That kid has his own point of view on how things work. He keeps saying stuff that makes me laugh and that I want to write down, but then I forget. SO I'm gonna start posting when he says something so at least I'll have it somewhere.

Here's today's:

My mom took us to get donuts after the kids' basketball games. The people who own the donut shop are oriental. Jared sees the lady and goes,

"Hi, do you speak Chinese?"

I about died! But then the lady says

"Yes, I speak Chinese." (i'm not sure if she actually does or was being funny)

So then Jared goes,

"But do you speak English, too?"

She says, "Yes."

Jared sighs with relief, "Good, I want that white cinnamon roll right there."

He was worried she wouldn't be able to understand which donut he wanted!

I'm sure there will be way more additions to the book of Jared. Im so thankful that he is my son- I love him so much!