And where are my super MOM powers?

Almost every morning the girls and I will wake up, eat breakfast and they will watch Dora while I get myself together..or I fiddle on the computer for a few minutes. As i walk into the living room where Hayley is laying, I notice her licking her fingers...the obvious clue is the plate of cookies on the counter with the foil wrapping slightly askew. So i ask her if she ate a cookie and she giggles. I tell her that it is not a big deal and that i just want her to be honest. So she goes into a 5 minute explanation of why she would not eat a cookie this hour of the day, which to me is a dead give away that she simply ate the cookie. The problem was not that she ate a cookie, it was that i COULD NOT tell if she was telling me the truth. She was SO convincing. And usually, I feel pretty perceptive. But lets be honest. HOW perceptive do you really need to be with a 4 year old. They are not very good liars. So then i rely on my mommy powers to let me know the truth...no luck. You know, those "feelings"..the "intuition"..or "little birdy". WHATEVER. Or maybe they will kick in when something actually matters..probably when she is a TEENAGER.

A Lazy Day

So Leah's hair looked like THIS for the majority of the day...and unfortunately my hair did not look much better. It was just one of those days...

Just a thought...

My friend's husband is leaving a SECOND time to go over seas and just being with them recently has triggered alot of emotions and memories for me. It was about 5 years ago that Matt left to go to Iraq and be a part of the first convoy up into Baghdad. I was living with my mother in law and pregnant with Hayley. I am sure all of you know someone who has served or is serving in the military. That experience changed me forever. I cant sing the national anthem without getting choked up. I want to hug every Veteran that I see. I NOW know what true brotherhood is. I love the guys that Matt served with because i know WITHOUT A DOUBT that they would have taken a bullet for him. During those few months I would lay on my bed gripped with fear not knowing FOR SURE that he would return. I believed that he would come home but I knew it was a possibility that I might have to hand him over to the Lord regardless of how hard that would be. Neal A Maxwell said " For the faithful,our finest hours are sometimes during or just following our darkest hours." i am sure that i could have had more faith that he Lord would bring him home, but seeing him for the first time was one of my "finest hours".

Driving Drunk

Can you believe it?! Matt pulled these two over for driving under the influence at Chuck E Cheese. This picture is PROOF that Chuck E Cheese can be a dangerous place.

PREGNANCY CRAZINESS

I just thought that i would take a moment and blog about how crazy my mind and body can be while I am pregnant. Hopefully you will get a good laugh. First of all, eating pickles wrapped in turkey for breakfast is definately not normal. The good thing is that I have eaten more grapefruit this preganacy than I have in my entire life. My life seems to be ruled by my kids..and then my bladder, which equals..loss of sleep. That might explain the weird dreams. Last night i had a dream that I had not seen Matt in awhile and so I just wanted to cuddle with him..but then he turned into a giant piece of beef..a juicy roast with gravy on it to be exact. So loss of sleep plus weird dreams equals emotional breakdowns to complete strangers in public places. Yes, while I was shopping for maternity clothes my kids were running around in the store totally out of control. The store manager even reprimanded myself and my children. So after a depressing session of trying on maternity clothes scrutinizing every piece of clothing that i managed to put over my expanding waistline, I had had enough. And when i came out of my dressing room, a really nice lady who had compassion on me gave me some words of comfort because she had raised 8 boys. Then came my breakdown and i had tried to convince her that I really am a normal person. But after re-reading this blog entry, maybe I am not..or I am just pregnant!!

A South Salt Lake City Moment

While most people are off in a deep sleep having pleasant dreams, my husband is busy patrolling one of the most messed up cities in Utah. Most of us know that when the sun goes down, the crazies come out. Matt says its even worse when the weather gets warmer..good grief. Anyways, i have decided that i must share some of Matt's stories from work. I will refer to them as SSLC Moments and i will blog as many as humanly possible. The other night Matt arrested a lady who referred to herself as the biggest "crack-_ _" (rhymes with no) in Salt lake. Matt says she was someone straight out of an "In Living Color" episode and apparently she is proud that all of the dealers know her. She even called herself "CRACKALICIOUS" and "CRACKTASTIC". Then she asked Matt if she could take off her wig because her head was itching. (Its 10:22 pm. Matt just called and told me he just pulled a few people out of a car at gun point because it was a stolen car..just another day on the job.) I love my husband.

We Love Our Friends!

The other night Matt and I had some of our favorite couples over for dinner. It was such a fun night. We will miss you Ben.

More Friends!

We miss our old neighbors so much and hopefully we will someday have neighbors as great as them! We love you!

Leah's Prayer

I wish i could write this in Leah's language but that would take all day. Example: Heavenly Father is "Henwy Wader". But here it goes..
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you that I can go to bed, thank you that I could go to Tarzan's treehouse. thank you for Grandma and Grandpa, thank you for Tarzan, thank you for mommy, daddy and Hayley, thank you that Tarzan lives in the jungle, thank you for my blessings, thank you for Nana, thank you for daddy can go to work, thank you for Tarzan. Amen
Hmmmmm...

Another sweet baby!

Sweet Kaitlyn was born Febuary 4th and is the sweetest baby ever. We are so happy that she is finally here!

A new member of our family!!

this post is long overdue but I just wanted to show everyone my adorable new nephew! Jennifer (Hribar) Jacob just had her FIFTH child and his name is Benjamin Isaac Jacob. We thought Jenn would only produce girls since she comes from a family of mostly girls and her husband has NINE sisters! So this little guy is pretty special.

READ THE PREVIOUS POST!

For some reason could only type so much in that previous post so here are the rest of the answers to the questions.

Five bad habits (please continue to be my friend after this!)
1. I bite my nails 2. I have no shame licking the bowl after I make cookies 3. I can go to bed with my house being a disaster ( i have more energy in the morning to clean!) 4. I love, love , love soda and will even drink a big old coke once in awhile..or every other day. 5. i use to hide a box of cake mix in the pantry and eat secret spoonfulls when no one was looking. Now I just go to Coldstone and get their cake batter ice cream.
5 jobs that i have had..1.Does being a babysitter count? 2. Expert sandwhich maker at Kelly's Korner in Palos Verdes..YUM. 3. CNA at Old Folks home 4. Retail EXPERT at Old navy 5. I was basically a mother to 8 elderly people at a private assisted living home. I cooked, cleaned, bathed them and did everything. Best job ever. I made each one of them promise me that they would put in a good word for me when they got to the other side. I hope they remembered.
5 Things people would not know about me...
I barely graduated from highschool. I get anxiety in any classroom setting. I am not naturally a kid person and could never run a daycare and i dread being called to the nursey, but i could take care of a hundred old people at once. Wind chimes completely terrify me..I hate the sound. i just figured out that the TAB button on my keyboard moves that flashing line. Did i mention that I am a retard when it comes to computers?

I tag: Lisa, Angie, Sarah, Mckenzie

I HAVE BEEN TAGGED..I HOPE THAT I DONT BORE YOU.

Where was I ten years ago you ask? I was living at King Henry apartments with the greatest roomates, who i am still friends with to this day. I was trying my hardest to appear as a smart college student..but who was i kidding? I dropped all of my classes and got a promising job at Old Navy.
Five things to do on my to-do list today.. 1. Do laundry (I am half way done) 2. Go to store to get stuff for rice krispy treats 3. Eat all of the rice krispy treats 4. Work with Hayley on her letters and numbers (done) 5. Go to see the premeire of a documentary about Matt's reserve unit in Iraq and see all of his wonderful friends who served our country that i love!

Snacks I enjoy..this might be gross..
1. Wheat Thins with cheese and if I am really naughty i will throw a slice of salami in the mix. 2. Almonds 2. peanuts 3. cheeze-its (only if I have a diet Pepsi near by) 4. HARIBO gummy bears (they have to be HARIBO) 5. rice krispy treats

If I suddenly became a billionaire..I would probably first throw up. But THEN, I would buy a beach house in So Cal and take all of our friends and family to Cancun. I would buy my parents a house and let them play all that they wanted. I would burn all of my clothes and buy new ones. I would give to certain charities and visit 3rd world countries with my kids. I would hope to remain modest and humble only after i bought a really nice BMW.

GOALS...a very scary word for me.

My fabulous friend listed some of her life goals on her blog which ranged from traveling to Europe to eating pizza in bed all day with her husband while watching movies. She encouraged everyone to make some kind of LIST of what they would like to accomplish. I am really only excellent at making grocery lists, so this could be a challenge. Here it goes..

*Have a KILLER body after I pop out all of my kids.
*Run a marathon...even a half marathon will do. (this could be HOW I get my killer body...)
* Raise good-hearted children who sincerely love other people.
*Have a personal wildlife excursion with Jeff Corwin.
*purchase an original James Christensen painting and hang it in my house.
* be a back-up dancer for Gwen Stefani
* start painting again and produce a piece I am in love with
*NOT get skin cancer
This is all I can think of for now. Perhaps I will add to the list...

Interesting

THE HAIRCUT

Today Matt took the girls with him while he got a haircut and I ran an errand. Big mistake. He sent me a picture on my phone of Leah getting her hair wacked! Matt has banned me from even trimming the girls hair because I accidentally gave Hayley a mullet when she was two. But this is Utah and she fit right in. And I am not quite sure how I feel about Leah's new hairstyle. Lets just say if it is styled just right she looks quite similar to Hillary Clinton.

THE CRISTIONARY

While I was serving my mission in New York, i met some of the greatest people. One of them, Cristy, was from Long Island and she gave me a special gift called "the Cristionary" right before I left serving in the area. It is basically a dictionary of words, terms and phrases that you would use in the ghetto. I know alot of decent people living in New York who could find these words helpful if you feel like you need to fit in in certain areas. By the way, i will type these just as she wrote them. POLICE- 5-0, po-po or one time.. FIXIN'- when you are going to do something..STINKIE- a mean person.. BALLER- a rich person who spends alot of money.. CHICK or SHORTY- is a female..TO CALL SOMEONE A DONUT- means they have nothing in the middle, no brain..STAY UP-also means see you later..SO FRESH, SO CLEAN-means nicely dressed..BRICK- means its cold..CHICKEN HEAD- is a stupid girl..YO BUST IT- means listen to this..FLOSS- means to show off..SCRUB- broke guy..BIRD- broke girl..BEASTIN'- you are over reacting on one thing *****My personal favorites..GET OUT-you need a tic tac.. U KNOW-means you know.. So hopefully you are not "beastin" over my blog because you are a "stinkie"..so "stay up" and hopefully you dont need to "get out"..."u know"!

WELCOME THE NEWEST MEMBER OF OUR FAMILY!

No, i did not have my baby..but we finally have our house! We are absolutely in love and are so happy to have a place we can call our own and raise our little family. The girls are having so much fun. It just feels so good to know this is where we will stay. Our community is great. Hayley's school is being built down the street. There is a park across from our house and a pool, tennis courts and community garden down the block. We have a lake close by where you can fish or rent a paddle boat and today I noticed fabulous hills for sledding. And I am certainly happy that a Target and Costco is just around the corner. So here are some pictures of our home. First off..my front door which i love.

Our family room

This picture was taken from the loft where there are 3 bedrooms. Our bedroom is on the main floor. The house has about 26 huge windows everywhere which I LOVE.

Dining room

the girls eating banana shakes..yum!

my kitchen

Our master bedroom

THIS x THREE...for now

ARE THERE ANY BOOKS ON HOW TO RAISE 3 GIRLS IN A ROW?!! Because that is what I am about to do. Yes, the bun in the oven is another girl. We're excited!

GUILTY PLEASURE

I am pretty sure that every person that I laugh at on American Idol will greet me in the next life with a slap in the face. But it is so freakin' hilarious! Sure I am impressed with the good singers but I am absolutely BEWILDERED by some of those people. Who ARE they? WHERE did they come from? WHO is responsible for raising them? WHO are their friends? WHAT on earth do they do when they are alone in a room? And you know Simon is thinking the same thing. At least he showed compassion to Temptress. But did you notice that he did not hug her? And what about the psycho "eye-shadow, Janice Joplin wannabee" who is currently off her meds? Her poor mother. And the deep voice dude...WHAT is up?!? Even Leah was covering her eyes like SHE was embarassed for him. That brings up the subject of laughing at people in front of your young and impressionable children..any advice? Okay, I know it is very WRONG...but that is why this entry has the title it does.

Comforting Comments from my Husband

So Matt likes to start my day off by saying to me this morning " I dont think I want to be a cop forever..if we go to war with Iran, I want to be an Apache pilot."

I LOVE FLEETWOOD MAC

thanks Noelle Bates..my excellent babysitter who i believe unintentionally introduced me to them.

Age Two is a blast.

Leah, Leah, Leah. The child is crazy..a good crazy, nevertheless, CRAZY. I had Matt get the girls ready and loaded up in the car to go out to dinner while I was running an errand and he tells me to grab a brush because Leah was looking a little homely. So when we get to the restraunt I notice that Leah's hair is soaked in lotion. It appeared as though she had been playing in Crisco or she was going through puberty. And I should know by now that if she locks herself in the bathroom and it is silent for more than 3 minutes than she is up to no good. Well sure enough, I just caught her washing her hair in the sink with handsoap. At least she is concerned with her hygiene.

Have You Tried Skeeball?

This evening Matt and I took the girls to the 4th happiest place on earth..Chuck E Cheese. It was so nice to just be together. Matt is always such a fun Dad even when he has been up for almost 24 hours and his eyes are glazed over. For some reason I am reluctant when it comes to playing games..any games. I get nervous playing Uno. I do not have one competitive bone in my body...not even a sliver...EXCEPT when it comes to Skeeball..watch out. I have never played golf but I think Skeeball would be like golf for me. I become incredibly focused and i could spend hours doing it. And considering you have to spend a whole QUARTER for 7 balls, it could quite possibly be as expensive as golf..well almost, okay not really. So of course after an excellent round of Skeeball, Matt wanted to challenge me. UGGGHHH. But i won. All of a sudden my self-esteem is based on how many stinkin' tickets came out of the machine. For some sad reason Matt is always shocked when I am really good at something other than vacuuming in incredibly straight lines. Like when he saw me snowboard for the first time. Mind you, I stick to the intermediate slopes and its taken me 7 seasons to become decent. Anyways, that shocked him. So I left Chuck E Cheese with my head held a little higher..Skeeball works wonders.

It is ALMOST Ours!!!!!!!!!!!!

So we are in the final stages of getting ready to close on our house..there have just been a few glitches in the process and let me tell you, it is TORTURE. We are incredibly ready to be in our own house and be reunited with all of our belongings that have been so lonely and cold in storage. It is very strange that I could miss a piece of furniture so much. I know my kitchen table is just a few pieces of wood that have been put together, but to me, it is a gathering place where bellies are filled, stories are told and people are loved. Cheezy, i know.

Person of the Year

Recently Matt decided to take our nice and expensive camera to work with him so he can get "quality" shots of all the "quality" action he witnesses every night at work. Keep in mind that he works in South Salt Lake which has the highest crime rate per capita and some of the most , what i like to call "colorful" people around. So now our pictures consist of crack pipes,meth houses and these colorful people. One of them being "Scuba Steve". I like Scuba Steve because he rides his bike around in freezing weather with a full body wetsuit, a motorcycle helmet and ski goggles. The outfit actually makes sense if you really think about it. He gets an A+ for ingenuity (sp?) if you ask me.

That's my girl!

Since we are moving, hayley just had her last day of her amazing preschool which she attends with two of her cousins. It has been so fun for her. The last day she had a Christmas program that all of the parents were invited to and the children sang all sorts of Christmas songs. Following the program we were able to eat refreshments and I found that Hayley had an interesting assortment of food. It was mostly cookies with a huge pile of shrimp in the middle. She actually ate all of her shrimp first, went back for seconds and gradually finished her cookies throughout the day. This is what i love about Hayley. She loves sushi, Miso soup, seaweed paper and Calamari (fried squid). And she doesnt really like peanut butter.

Hayley and Rebecca

Hayley and Rebecca

Hayley's Rebuttal to Leah's Obsession

For those uninformed, Leah's obsession with Tazan is ongoing..keep in mind that she has not seen the movie in over a month..but continues to mumble nonsensical things about 10 times a day. So Hayley one day was absolutely and positively fed up and came up with this..."LEAH! TARZAN IS NOT A PART OF JESUS'S WORLD!!!" Go hayley, go Hayley..go go go Hayley.
And Leah's response? " but Tarzan lives in the jungle!!"

Mannerisms, Reminders and Memories..A Birthday Tribute to my Dad, Lou Hribar

OR IS IT LOU HAAAARIBAR OR LOU REEEEBAR? *classical music*the sound and sight of a major league baseball game*diet coke w/ lemon*being the scariest tootsie roll monster at our b-day parties* how you will "brake" with your foot in the passenger seat when we dont brake soon enough*blasting in your car"she came in through the bathroom window" by the Beatles or "Hotel California" *watching you body surf* any Billy Joel song*Polo Cologne* scope mouthwash*teaching me how to paralell park and drive stick in St John Fishers parking lot* "feeding" me to the waves at the beach*how you laugh and sometimes snort* how you have managed to keep your desk perfectly organized for 20+ years*how some of the women in your life STILL dont understand what you do for a living*pitching and hitting balls at Ridgecrest*last of all..our good talks..I Love you so much Dad. By the way, its Lou HriBAR..not Lou HriBER..Dad. ENJOY THE SLIDESHOW!!

Check out my Slide Show!

MMMMM....LOVE THIS MAN!

You gotta love a man in uniform. I am realizing that I will probably never see Matt in this particular uniform again. Good thing he is one hot cop! This picture was taken at the Marine Corps ball in Nov. of 02 and I was just baely pregnant with Hayley. I must say that Matt is such a great husband, father, friend and comedian. He IS my circus monkey. I am so glad that he is mine.

THE OBSESSION CONTINUES

The other day in the car Leah decides to sing the Primary song " I love to see the Temple" which is so sweet but at the very end instead of singing "this is my sacred duty". She says " this is my little Tarzan". What??! Then on the way home from church Hayley decides to sing a song about how she loves Jesus and just makes up the words as she goes along..La la la. THEN Leah pipes up and says she wants to sing a song. So in a deep and soft voice she starts to sing a song about how she loves...who else? Tarzan. Matt and I just look at eachother like this is going on way too long. If this continues I will have to hire a hypnotist.

Jennifer's Baby Shower

My sister Jennifer is finally having a boy after 4 girls! So we held a shower for her and some very special people came. It is always good to see friends from your childhood. It always makes me happy.

Some of my favorite people!

Jen, Noelle, Briar, Suzanne and me!

The Polar Express

There is a very generous family here in Utah that have a miniature train that goes all throughout their property and for Christmas they turn it into the Polar Express. There is Christmas music playing and lights and decorations all around and you even make a stop at the North Pole to see Santa. Santa lets all the kids sit on his lap and then he gives out candy canes. He tells the children that if they turn the candy cane upside down it becomes a "J" for Jesus and when it is right side up it becomes a sheperd's staff like the sheperds who had come to see Jesus. Then we sing Jingle Bells and get back on the train only then to see huge pictures all throughout the property of the Savior starting with his birth in a manger to his crucifixtion and resurrection. Of couse I am crying like a baby...a little emotional from pregnancy..right? It was a wonderful experience.

Baby Jesus

The girls were very protective of baby Jesus. They would have taken that baby home if I let them!

Just a little Christmas fun

One evening We took the girls and Matt's mom Linda down to Temple Square to see all of the pretty Christmas lights. We met my mom and dad and rode the Trax train to Temple Square. The girls thought that was super cool and i felt like I was riding a NY subway for a split second, except for it was much cleaner and lacking the crazies that I grew so fond of.

Happy Days

Sometimes when my kids ask me to make a meal and I am NOT in the mood to whip something up (but I do anyways) I sigh and think to myself how great it is to be a kid and not have a care in the world. I ALSO have to remind myself that I really was a kid once and i most likely ordered my mother around, mostly for McDonalds french fries. I was the 6th child so i am guessing my mom was pretty tired by the time i was making these demands and just simply gave in. Sorry Judy. I am on kid #2 and I am exhausted! What to do?! And I am having another?! I figured I have made it this far and i can keep going. That is why we are usually given 1 kid at a time. (Deep thoughts by Lori.) Anyways, I have been a stress case lately and i need to remind myself that these sweet, innocent children will grow up to be teenagers and may choose to throw something AT me instead of throwing fits. By the way, if you have not seen the movie "Dan in Real Life", go see it. Its one of the best movies I have seen. By the way, if anyone knows where I can get one of those Palos Verdes California t-shirts I am wearing, PLEASE let me know.

Hayley and Hunter

Our Zoo

This is our newest exhibit..well not really. But Leah does act like a wild animal sometimes.

SNOW MUCH FUN!!!

Its only 9 am and its been an excellent day so far! I woke up to breakfast in bed. Yum. I didnt quite have the heart to tell Matt that I was still feeling full from dinner the night before. But my baby (who is currently 4 inches and finally looks human) needs to eat! Sure. Then I looked outside and it was a winter wonderland! We promptly woke the girls and bundled them up to play. I am so glad we finally got a good snowfall..Appropriate for December 1st , dont you think? Its starting to look alot like Christmas!