What was I thinking?

On Thanksgiving day after we ate way too much, we decided to go to a movie. Our son in law Brooks, brought the babies over and so with all the different ages and taste in movies we decided to seperate into 3 groups. Dan and Brooks would go watch Transporter. The teenagers would go to Four Christmases and I would take
John John (7) Donnie (4) and Lyla (2) to watch Bolt.

So, I get a large popcorn and drink and the movie starts. It is really cute by the way and I would suggest it to anyone.

About 1/2 way through the large bag of popcorn, Lyla is trying to take it away from Donnie and in the course of that it spills all over our row. She looks at me immediately and says, "Dorry" and hugs my neck. How do you get mad over that? John John and Donnie are not so amused and wanted more popcorn!

Ten minutes later John John is literally slurping the very last of the drink and was making too much noise. I tell him to stop that and open the lid to drink some more. He does and as he is making more noise with the ice, the VERY large cup is too big for his hands and slips and spills all over the row on top of our popcorn! He quickly looks at me and says, "Sorry Mom"! Donnie and Lyla were very upset as they were still thirsty!

By this time Lyla is tired of my lap and promises to be a good girl. So, I put her in the chair next to me. She sits for about 5 minutes and I think she is secretly watching me to know when I will not be paying any attention to her because, to my surprise she was up out of her seat and in the row in front of us. She is smiling at me and going to each seat and putting the seat down and then slamming them up! She proceeds to do this to 3 seats down the row, I am trying not to make a big scene to grab her but, how can you NOT, when you are climbing over a 7 and 4 year old, totally engrossed in the movie and yelling MOVE MOM, MOVE NANA! I am stepping all over popcorn and ice making loud crunchy noises and the whole time Lyla is just a giggling slamming seat cushions up and down! Meanwhile, the other movie goers are all taking turns looking at the crazy lady who can't control her crazy children.

I finally get Lyla in my control and put her back in my lap and tell her to NOT move nor make a sound! And, I meant it! About 10 minutes later I felt my leg get all warm, then I felt it get all wet! NO WAY!!!!!!!!! I cannot believe she just peed on me! But, she did! I take her out of the theatre and tell John John I'll be right back. I have to go to the theatre Dan and Brooks are in to find Brooks to get his keys, to go to his car to get a diaper! All the while Lyla is walking like a bow-legged cowboy! People in the lobby are just cracking up! We run to the car and I hit the wrong button and the alarm starts going off! Lyla is saying "Uh Oh Nana"! We finally get into the car, do our thing and luckily there were some spare pants in there for her. I am also panicking because I have visions of Donnie and John John screaming and crying because I am not in there and the whole theatre crowd trying to comfort them. Luckily, they were fine.

When we walked up to the door of our theatre, Lyla started to resist me a bit and was moving her head back as I opened the door and it hit her on the back of the head. Obviouly, she starts screaming and once again the movie goers all look at me. I am closing the door but notice John John coming towards me. I whisper to him to sit down as I am comforting Lyla. He tells me he has to go to the bathroom, and now! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! I tell him to quickly go to the restroom and I will stand in the hall and wait and watch for him. **NOTE TO ALL** I have NEVER let him go to a public bathroom alone! So, now I am panicking! I shut the doors to watch John but, I know I am close to Donnie so he should be fine right? No, he sees us all leave and yells in the middle of the movie, "Nana wait"! and runs out!

Well, finally John John comes out and we sheepishly return to the theatre but take the back row and sit quietly for the remainder of the movie, which was about 20 minutes! Afterwards, the guys came out of their movie just smiling and having fun, the teenagers came out of theirs smiling and having fun! I, on the other hand, have a wet leg, a baby with boo boo on her head because of me! And, the babies are so mad at me because I will not let them go for anything! But, I survived and it made for a very memorable turkey day! i just have to ask..."What was I thinking"?!

Holidays are here!!!!!!!!

The Holidays are HERE!!!!!!!!

This is my favorite time of the year!

I love, love, love the holiday season!

People seem to be nicer!

Stores have the BEST sales!

I love the beautiful white snow!

My house is all lit up!

There is a party EVERY weekend!

I get presents!

I give presents!

My hubby doesn't moan about me shopping for silly things!

I usually get to see my mom!!!!!!!

I have all my kids in town!

And, it seems as if the Savior is on our minds more then normal!

There are just a few things different though...

First of all, my Loni Anne will NOT be home because she is on a mission...

I may not be able to attend all the parties and festivities because of the dreaded post office!

My mom will be here but only right before Christmas and then off she goes to Pa.

It rarely snows in warm North Carolina!

And, this year because of the crazy economy gifts will NOT be as plentiful (sad day)!

But, the most important thing of this season is remembering the birth of our Savior and remembering those less fortunate!





I love the Holidays!!!

PLEASE HELP!!!

PLEASE VOTE FOR BROOKE BURKE ON DANCING WITH THE STARS!! SHE IS MY NIECE AND WE REALLY WANT HER TO WIN!!!


SO PLEASE CALL 1-800-868-3405




YOU CAN CALL ABOUT 6 TIMES AND THEN IT WILL TELL YOU HAVE EXCEEDED THE TIMES ALLOWED TO VOTE ON THAT PHONE...PLEASE VOTE ON ALL YOUR CELLS AND HOME PHONE!! THIS IS THE LAST TIME TO VOTE FOR HER TO WIN IT ALL!!! AND SHE IS THE BEST DANCER LEFT SO PLEASE VOTE!!! THANKS!!!

YOU CAN VOTE TILL TOMORROW!!!

BUT, DO IT NOW DON'T WAIT OR YOU MAY FORGET!!

THANKS DIVAS!!!

"THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS"!

Hi All!

I am back from NYC and we had a BLAST!!! We shopped a little in Chinatown and ate tons of yummy Yankee food! The kids loved Times Square and walking on 5th Avenue and riding the dirty trains! YUCK! I could do without those and the rats that run on the tracks and the lack of hygiene in the city as a whole!

Some of the awesome things we saw and did...

Our amazing friends who treated us like royalty! They are the BEST! Jenn Cook's one-liners is reason enough to visit the Big Apple!

My nephew Reno flew in from Utah to help with the show and brought my daughter Sela to surprise me as well!!! THAT WAS BY FAR THE BEST SURPRISE!

Watching Sela dicker down the prices with all the foreigners, she is a PRO at that stuff! **Reminder** she is only 19 and was very intimidating and very successful at it!

Eating all of Andi Cooks amazing Hawaiian cooking!! Oh I am craving some huli huli chicken right now!

Eating pizza in New Jersey that tastes just like Motta's Pizzeria in Hartford, Conn.

The Statue of Liberty! In all its green glory...we saw it from the other side of the Hudson but it was even majestic from that far!

Ground Zero, Wall St. (the apts. we stayed at were right on Wall St.) The Bull, Trump Building, The Empire State Building, Gray Papaya's, Broadway, 5th Ave and we even drove through Greenwich Village!

The man on the subway selling pop-up books for Jesus!

The foreigners on the street whispering, "Gucci, Prada, Chanel and Coach"? then taking you to a van parked on the side of the street and pushing you in! (Not fun and I freaked them out when I said, "Get me out of here"!) and magically the price for Sela's Louis Vuitton went down another $20 bucks!

The show we went to do was great and the crowd was fun and young! They had a blast and the food and dancing afterwards was so fun too!

I especially loved seeing one of my dearest friends whom I consider family, my Andi Cook!! She has always been so wonderful to my family and I, it was good to just reconnect with her and to feel of her warm and beautiful spirit!

This was such a much needed shot in the arm for me prior to all the hustle and bustle of the upcoming holidays!

Thanks Jenn and Andi for having us and treating us so well!

Thanks to all my nieces and nephews and of course my own kids who came and helped in the show!

And, thanks to my sister Loni for driving us all the way there and back in the very comfy and BIG 15 passenger van!!!

PICTURES ARE ON THE WAY!!!!!!!!

NEW YORK NEW YORK!!!

Hi all, I am in NYC to do a show for a singles ward for one of my best friends daughters! My sister Loni and I along with Jaz and Andi and all of Loni's kids and our sweet Eva!! The show is tomorrow night and they are cookng up a storm here tonight! Smells so good! I will post pix. and updates as soon as I can! Thanks all!!! I feel like putting on a top hat and grabbing a cane and dancing to Frank SInatra's, NEW YORK, NEW YORK!!

PLAYING DRESS-UP!

So, I am way late on posting pix of the kiddos at Halloween but, hey...better late then never right???

We had an awesome ward trunk or treat party and the kids always love it! There was plenty of fun, food and games! And, of course tons of candy...the kids are just huge balls of sugar still!



STEELER FANS FOR LIFE!!!! SIAOSI, LYLA AND SPENCER!




JOHN JOHN IS THE TOP BANANA!




SPIDERMAN, PRINCESS LYLA AND THEIR MAMA!



PRETTY ROBOTS! ALEXIS AND EVA!




SISTER NOCK THE ROCK STAR AND HER MISSION PRESIDENT AND WIFE! I LOVE THIS ONE!




THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SPIDERMAN EVER!



SELA THE GOLD DIGGER (CLEVER HUH)? AND NIECE ENI AKA STORM!

DON'T YOU JUST LOVE PLAYING DRESS-UP???

3's Company, 4's a crowd but 8???

I almost said 8 is enough but did not want this post to come off the wrong way! Our oldest child/daughter has moved in with us and her 2 children. The move was actually made last July and then she went to work with my sister in Ohio for almost 2 months, while her children were with their dad here in NC. Now, she is back and they are separated...(sad, I know)! But, I have come to realize that in this life we are all individuals who make our own choices and we deal with the consequences (good or bad)ourselves.

So, why am I blogging about this? The one week with 8 back in our home has been noisy, fun, stressful, busy and more! Here are some one-liners you may have heard around here lately...

"Nana I want dink"
"John John won't let me play with his Huk (hulk) game"
"Do NOT touch the toilet again!!! UNDERSTAND"!
"MOM!!!!!! Was the baby in my room again"?!?!?!
"Just sneak out, before she sees you"
"Nana move over" (at 1 am)
"Papa you funny"
"Don't turn it, I'm watching Diego"!!!

And, the best line you could hear around here...

"Nana I love you"!

Oh the sweetness of the grand babies in this house! They are too funny and keep this place rockin'!

I know it won't last forever and honestly I don't think I would want it too. I mean that in a good way, they NEED their own space and time away from us, as we do them. But, it is so good to me right now hearing, smelling and kissing on these sweet babies while in our home!

8 is GREAT!!! For now that is!! hahahah!~