The Vaughn Family

HO. LE. CRAP.

2010-09-15T21:46:00.002-06:00

Just would like to show you all what I found IN. MY. GARAGE. tonight. Ick, ick, ick.

This little varmint is known as a Potato Bug in Oklahoma, a Jerusalem cricket, or, as Jared and I used to call them, Sand Puppies (we found some on the end of good ol' Vine Street when it was just a dirt road). It is about 2 1/2 inches long. And creepy as H-E-Double hockey sticks. And I was barefoot. It almost killed me. Even though they're not poisonous. Still. I am going to go to bed now and am already planning on having horrible nightmares. Good night everyone! Sleep tight knowing that you are not living among the scorpions, enormous spiders, mice and sand puppies. I'll just lie awake and shudder every now and again.

Thrown under the bus.

2010-06-05T01:47:00.002-06:00

So I have this great friend Erin. As many of you know. She is the one that I aspire to be like someday. She is one of the most talented, creative people that you'll ever hope to come across. And now we found another hidden talent of hers. Throwing innocent victims under buses. That's right. She posted my blogs, both my family blog and my stamp blog on her new and wonderful blogspot, www.gypsysnook.com. At first I thought it was gypsy snook, which sounds like either a dance or some kind of an infection. But then I figured out it was gypsys nook. Filled with all her craftiness and the wonderful things that she makes. While she cooks. And cleans. Oh, and cares for her 4 darlings. While sewing. And cutting her own wood for projects. You get the picture. {ANYWAYS} She posted my blogs up there to goad me into posting on them so that it wasn't shameful for me to have my last posting state 1 year ago. Shamefully. Well, it worked. And so now I am up at 2:00 a.m., missing precious sleep so that I can keep up appearances. Thanks Erin. Now I have you to thank for the Stampin Up problem as well as sleep deprivation.

The blog titled "I Hate Thanksgiving" or "Rock the Vote"

2009-11-11T07:01:00.003-07:00

Let me tell y'all something. I dislike Thanksgiving. Very much. So much that I might just say that I hate it. Its out there now, no pulling it back in. I love the family time together, I love the meaning of the holiday, I just don't love the gorging. Or the 'oh geez I think I'm going to throw up if I eat one more....SURE, I'll have another piece of pumpkin pie' or the bloated bodies lying around after the meal. It's just not my favorite holiday. Perhaps I should practice some restraint and not stuff myself silly, some of you might ask? Maybe. But who wants to eat Thanksgiving leftovers for a month and a half? Nah, better to take care of it all at once.

Onto the voting part of the title, we are debating on driving to San Francisco for Thanksgiving. There is one member of our family that flat out REFUSES to go. SO, the question I am wrestling with is do we drive out, me, 3 kids, whatever grandparent loses the armwrestle and has to ride in our van with us...leaving Aaron all alone (but not really because he'll go to his family's house and have their traditional dinner and their traditional enchiladas, which is why I am suspecting he'd really like to go there and is just pretending he doesn't want to go to SF, he just wants a crack at the enchiladas) or do we stay here and have our own little Thanksgiving dinner with the 5 of us in our house for our first Thanksgiving? I can't decide. Tell me what you think.

P.S. Do you think that I might have a problem with run-on sentences?

And some more...

2009-10-21T10:52:00.002-06:00

Summer Photos

2009-10-21T10:41:00.005-06:00

So here are a few photos from a couple months back, I got some great pics done of the kids in the summer and never posted them.

Hey, I already said that the goal was once every 6 months...

2009-09-28T22:35:00.003-06:00

So technically, I am being an overachiever. Again. I said that I was going to try to blog at least every 6 months, it has only been like 2. We just had to let all of our thousands of fans know what we're up to...M & L both started up with school again, Mars loves school but detests getting up early everyday. She is the biggest nightowl I've ever met, during a sleepover at our house I told her and her friend that they could stay up as late as they wanted, and at 3:30 a.m. I finally had to pull the plug on that promise.
Laine loves her school, her teachers, and her friends. She can't wait to go to kindergarten. She just turned 5 and tonight she told her uncle Jared that since she is 5 she can now see all the food over the counter at Subway. Ahhhh, the milestones, huh? Crawling, walking, talking, the Subway counter. *Wiping a tear* Lainee (as previously mentioned) turned 5 on Saturday. Some of you might be thinking "But wait!!!! Wasn't Saturday the 26th day of the 9th month of the year YOUR birthday?" And yes, you'd be correct. I had my birthday TAKEN from me by my sweet daughter. So we decided that this year, since Disneyland was giving out free tickets on your birthday that we'd take advantage and get 3 of us in free (Ash is still 2 he gets in for free). So we drove out to Cali with all of us plus Papa in the good ol' van, spent 2 days at Disneyland, Sunday morning at the beach and then drove back. You might think that this would have been a good plan, right? Well, let me just tell you that at one point on her bday I had Lainee scream at the top of her lungs, tears rolling down her cheeks "THIS IS THE WORST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!" I would have LOVED it if my parents took me to Disneyland for my birthday. Guess you can't please some people, right? We'll just have to do it up bigger next year, try to make amends for the rotten time she was put through. Poor kid.
Ash got sick at Disneyland, I think that he was dehydrated. We watched the Pixar parade (all his favorites) and when Lightning McQueen and Mater came by (the absolute favorite of all), he didn't react even a little bit. So I knew something was up. I took him inside to get a drink and then the projectile vomiting began. You haven't lived until you've had 2 handfuls of vomit at Disneyland. Grandma & Papa took him to the hotel to get him cooled off, and he didn't really care one way or the other if he went back. As long as he had some Tylenol, he really liked the rides. Except for the Matterhorn. I asked him if he liked the ride and he said "No, its scary!" We're so glad that we got to go celebrate there, we had a great week of celebrations.
Mars just lost her front tooth, she came home from school with it in a baggie. I asked her how it came out, she told me that she was hugging her friend James and he didn't want her to hug him so he pushed her away and knocked her tooth out. We're thinking of suing. Laine discovered that she also has a loose tooth. She is convinced that it is because she turned 5.
I have been released from scouts. I am 99% sure that it is because I refused to do the Tarzan cry at Roundtable. I was getting the ol' stinkeye from the leader that wanted everyone to do it, she made everyone repeat it several times while glaring in my direction because "not everyone was doing it and I noticed a couple of people not pounding on their chests with their fists." Yeah, that was me. Released may not be the best word, I may have just been blacklisted for not showing my scouting spirit. Now I am the Primary 1st counselor. I'll let you know if they are trying to teach me a lesson or not.
I will post our Disney pics in the morning, when I get them off of my mom's camera. So technically, that will make 2 posts in a 24 hour period. Take that, all you people that think I'm being a slacker!

Camera troubles

2009-06-23T07:40:00.003-06:00

So after I found my camera (phew) I was at the Donner Reed Museum for scouts (someone ask me what we had for a snack, hee hee) and I went to take the boys' pictures inside the jail. Total Photo Op. And the camera busted. It was like "Pictures of scouts? Really? I think this is the all time low, so nope, I am going to resign. Right....NOW!" And then this little error showed up that said Lens error, restart camera. Which would have been all right, except for there is no way to restart the camera. At all. So after tapping it, then hitting it, then almost throwing it I decided it is time to get a new camera. Yay! And then I accidentally fixed it, and now it is JUST LIKE NEW. sigh.

No title. I don't deserve one.

2009-05-05T00:54:00.005-06:00

Guys, honest to Pete (there ya go, Aaron) my life is not crazy enough for me to not blog more than once every 2 months. Although its really not that interesting either. BUT, it's not about me all the time, is it. Is it? Sometimes I forget that I'm not just blogging about me, but all the kiddos too. Here's the rundown on all that is happening lately:

Heathie and Jed just came out for a visit, it was great to see them both. They had very little time to spend, they were here for Jedders brothers' wedding, but it was good while it lasted. I'm sure that they are always ready to get back to the peace and quiet of Queens. After spending time with 6 kids under age 6.

I am slowly coming down from my ultra obsessive decorating the house mode. I didn't say that I was done, but I am getting there. I will take some pics, I just got my furniture Saturday, it is fabulous. Love it. It doesn't even matter that everyone slides of the slickery leather, I still love it.

My favorite brother Jared started a blog. Jared should be a chef, he is the ultimate gourmet. I think that if I am ever rich and / or famous I will hire him as my personal chef. He really is a good cook, check his blog if you get a sec. http://www.tinykitchenchronicles.blogspot.com/

Aaron and I went to WICKED in SLC. Wowee, I got teary eyed just from getting excited to watch it again. We had a fantastic time, we went to Spencer's at the Hilton for dinner (salad, Filet Mignon, crab legs, sauteed spinach, mashed potatoes, and strawberry shortcake, YUM) and then the show. It was absolutely as great as it was in NYC, just on a much smaller stage. We had 5th row tickets, it was amazing. LOVED IT!

Hillary and I joined a card group. It was so much fun to see what everyone came up with, everyone had way good technique so it was nice to get cards that people put as much work into as we put into ours. I am finally getting my craft area organized, and I am a little uncomfortable with the shelf that displays all my stamp sets. I don't know if I really want them in the open like that, I feel all exposed. I want my, er, habits behind closed doors. It made me feel extremely guilty, however, we are talking approx. 5 years of accumulation. Besides, if I get any flack from anyone, I am just going to defer all comments to my friend Erin. I KNEW it was going to be like this. She is the one that got me hooked on Stampin Up, I didn't really want to get involved. But now I'm in it deep, and facing a possible intervention. Thanks Erin.

I think that about covers it. School is wrapping up, I am trying to shift gears to summer activities, so far we are interested in: Tae Kwon Do, gymnastics, swimming lessons, violin and / or piano, soccer, little league, language lessons, and something about drama lessons (snort laugh). We TOTALLY need drama lessons. I think that my girls could teach those drama people a thing or two.

We are having a sleep over tonight at aunt Hillarys', and Tater is waking up. It is 1:30 in the a.m. and I am going to try to let my poor sleep depraived sister get some zzzz's and get the little punkin back to sleep. So I am going to sign off and hopefully post some pics in the next couple of days. No promises, but I am setting a goal to post as least once every 6 months. Yeah, I can do that.

The Fans have spoken.

2009-03-30T08:30:00.002-06:00

So I've been taking a lot of guff from people about not updating my blog for the past 17 months. Simple reason. I can't find my camera. I know that it is here somewhere. I just don't know where. And sometimes, I wonder if a blog is any good without pics. So here is an update, until either the camera appears magically, or until someone takes pity on us and buys us a new one. I thought that moving was going to be a much, uh, smoother process than it was (is). I thought that I'd be moved, unpacked, and settled within 1 week. Nopedy nope nope. It is still a huge process, the boxes in the basement seem like they are multiplying like rabbits, and there is truly no end in sight. I think that I need Aaron to take the kids somewhere for a week and leave me to battle the boxes. We all know that I wouldn't do that though, I'd be reading and sleeping my life away and it would be an even bigger mess by the time they got back. The bedrooms are done, I still need furniture for the bonus and the living room areas, and other than that I need to hang things on the walls. I'll have some fun posts after Spring Break next week. I'll have to go get a disposable camera and *shudder* develop some pictures, scan them in....forget it, I'm just going to have to go get a new camera :)

Kids say the darndest things...

2009-02-16T09:40:00.003-07:00

My kids have been exceptionally funny this week...they are so excited to move and around these parts, excitement=silliness. Here are just a couple of the funny things that have come out of their little mouths:

Mars and I were watching one of my all time fave movies, 7 Brides for 7 Brothers. (sigh.) I love this movie, and the part where the brothers are all capturing the girls to put them on the sleigh, Marbles said "why are those boys taking those girls?" and I said "because they want to marry them, so they decided to kidnap them." She said "You mean grown-up nap them."

Laine saw me write a reminder on my hand (big mistake) last week, so this morning she came up with a pen and said "Mommy, can you write a reminder on my hand? I know that Thanksgiving is coming up soon and I don't want to forget it..." So now my little 4 year old is walking around with a note on her hand that says 'Thanksgiving, November 26th 5:00 SHARP!!'

I'll have to post some more this week, as for right now I've got to go buy me a house! Yay!

New House.....I hope!

2009-02-02T23:56:00.002-07:00

So for those of you that I talk to often, you all know this. Please feel free to skip this blog entry, I won't be mad. Well, maybe I'll be a little bit mad. I've been debating with myself if I should post this entry or not, so I figured I'd chance it and make it happen. I am just a little nervous about posting all this stuff and then something happening to make it not happen and then both of the people that read my blog (my mom being one of the 2) will think that I'm a big fraud. Or a loser. Or both. OK. (Deep Breath.) We bought a house. We haven't closed on it yet, which is why I am nervous to say anything. I can just see us going to sign and then some glitch making it not happen, so that is why I didn't want to say anything yet. But there ya go. Its out there now. Here are a few pics, we don't close until around mid month. As soon as it's official, we'll party like its 1999. Til then, I am going through house anxiety. I think I'm getting an ulcer.

Last pics to go with post, I promise...

2009-01-12T17:26:00.003-07:00

Sorry, people. We took a lot of pics, alright?

2009-01-12T17:20:00.002-07:00

More pics to go with the latest post!

2009-01-12T17:16:00.002-07:00

Playing Catch-up

2009-01-12T16:01:00.005-07:00

Hi all, hope everyone is having a great new year with no broken resolutions thus far. I joined the gym and so far am keeping to it, but no results :( I am the type that wants the instant gratification. I think that I should be able to eat how and what I want, when I want it, and then make one visit to the gym and *presto*, Victoria's secret is calling me the next day, begging me to be their new model. Of course, I will tell them no, I have 3 kids to raise. You'll just have to settle for Heidi again this year.

Ash had a birthday, that's right, the big man is now 2. Like you couldn't tell that otherwise. I love how my kids start terrible two's at 16 months and get out of them at...hey, when are they supposed to be out of the terrible two's again??!?!! I think that everyone in my family (myself and Aaron included) (Especially Aaron and not so much me) is still in the terrible two's. In our family's case it is called the terrible infinity, or the terrible-however-old-you-are-at-the-moment. ANYWAYS we had a great time with Ash for the big day, I ordered a Wal-mart cake (don't knock em til ya try em), white cake with raspberry filling...mmmm....oh yeah, with a Cars theme. I love how my kids are still too little to give a real preference for cake at the moment, that way I get to pick the flavor. Cake is cake to them, as long as it has a Barbie or Buzz Lightyear on the top, they're good. We went to Chuck E. Cheese with my family on the 1st, and to the Discovery Kids museum at the Gateway and then to the Old Spaghetti Factory on the 2nd with Aaron's family. They were both a lot of fun and, of course, Ash was spoiled by all. I took him to the doctor for his check up and he is 36.5 pounds and off the charts for height and weight. He now weighs more than Marbles and Laine. Not combined, just on their own. :)

We are still waiting to hear news on the house, we should know something by this week or next. (Oh, please, please, PLEASE be this week) I think I am getting an ulcer. It really has been a long wait for us and now the end is in sight and I am tired of waiting. And all of you that I talk to regularly had better be praying that I hear soon too, because then I can stop complaining about that and start complaining about things that are much more interesting.

Marlee lost another tooth, the one right next to the first one, so she is looking a little jack-o-lantern-ish. She is adorable, she lost it over Christmas break, and waited until school began again to put it under her pillow. She wanted to take the tooth to school to show her teacher, and knew that if the T.F. came that she couldn't take it. Smart girl! That would have never dawned on me when I was 5. Or 25, for that matter.

So I think that is it for now, I guess if I think of anything else I'll just have to post more than once every 7 weeks.

White Christmas after all!

2008-12-21T01:46:00.004-07:00

For those of you that don't live in Utah, we were slammed with a huge snowstorm, it was sooooo icy cold. Our poor little Texas born children were icicles (holy crap, I just had to get online to figure out how to spell icicles), but the day after the huge storm they wanted to hit it hard, making snowballs, snowmen, snow angels, lets see, anything else they wanted to make with the word snow in front of it....nope, that was it. The best part of the day was when papa hopped on a four wheeler with a sled roped onto it and took them for sled rides. Ash was fine as long as he was on the four wheeler. Mars was fine as long as she never had to get off the sled. And Laine was fine as long as she never had to get on the sled (the 1 time she did she screamed until she could get off). The twins LOVED the sled rides and, despite the frozen noses and cheeks, still were dragged in the house kickin' and screamin'. Then we had (getting a stomach ache just thinking about this) a pizza and doughnut fest, along with some hot cocoa with marshmallows. Ugh. I really don't know if I ever want to eat pizza or doughnuts again. Ever. We are having so much fun with Jedders and Heathie, and we can't wait for Jare and Ryanne to come out. We always have a great time when everyone is home for the holidays. Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! Only 4 days left! (High pitched squeal!)

Dancing girls

2008-12-18T16:11:00.003-07:00

Mars and Laine are both attending dance classes, and this week we had a recital. We were lucky enough to have Nana, Crappy, Aunt Heather and Uncle Jed all attend, along with the regulars...they both did wonderfully and we were so proud of them. They especially liked wearing make-up and the flowers that grandma gave them afterward. Both of the girls have asked when they are performing on stage again, their next recital isn't until spring so we have awhile to brush up on the moves. :) We didn't get a great pic of Lainers (not for lack of trying) but we'll post one when we get the pics from grandmas and grandpas. We are so excited to have such talented dancers in the family!

Asher's fave game

2008-12-07T21:00:00.002-07:00

Ash is about to turn 2 (can't believe it!) and is getting very involved with playing games with his sisters. Right now, hide & go seek is the best game EVER to these guys. Mind you, we have about 1100 square feet to work with here, there are truly not a lot of places to hide. But Ash has come up with his own way of hiding. I really do think that he thinks we can't see him when he puts his hands over his eyes...so funny and cute, I think every kid does this, don't they? At least all of mine have. Don't tell me if I'm wrong, I like to think that my kids are as normal as they come...even if I know better :) We have had a HECK of a week, sick kids and house hunting have about done me in. I really am hoping that everyone gets better in time for Christmas. Once we get the sick ball rolling around here, everyone gets something at least once before we pass it along to friends, other family, ward members, or random people that got our shopping cart at the store. Merry Christmas to all, and to all use a good hand sanitizer.

Reflecting on Reflections

2008-12-03T18:01:00.002-07:00

I feel like I am able to take a deep breath again before running like mad to the next huge project on my list - buying a house. I idiotically signed up to be the independent commissioner for the PTA, thinking I was doing a great service. I ended up being in charge of the Reflections program. Let me just say it ended up being A LOT more work than I had bargained for, and I'm really glad it is done and over with. I really don't think that it would be a big deal to do again (even though I won't) now that I know the ropes, but jumping into it the way I tend to do really kicked my butt this time. I am really glad that I did it, it's just that combined with all the other things I have going on with my life right now it was poor timing. Not to mention that all of my hard work was appreciated by exactly 3 parents that actually showed up last night to claim their prizes. I really hope that someone will stop me next time before I get myself into something like that again...heaven knows I'm not going to do it!

The toothless wonder!

2008-11-20T22:08:00.004-07:00

We had some exciting stuff happen tonight...first things first, Mars had her first official tooth loss. Let me explain. We have paid close to 2000 dollars OUT OF POCKET because of her tooth problems. She has had 2 pulled, and consequently, LOATHES going to the dentist. We had her teeth cleaned in August, you would have thought that we were pulling her toenails out with rusty pliers. She honestly (no exaggeration) screamed at the top of her lungs for 20 minutes, I had to pry her little fingers off the doorjamb on the way in. I would be horrified if I were a kid sitting in that waiting room, going to visit the dentist for the first time and here comes screaming mimi, being dragged in by her evil mother for heaven knows what kind of torture. Anyhow, she was wiggling her tooth with her tongue and out it came, she was so cute. She said that her legs wouldn't quit shaking, and that she believes in fairies, so she'll get a visit tonight for sure. She is getting so grown up in so many ways, I am very happy that she believes in magic and fairies and all that. I know she's only 5, but some kids are cynics at heart.

The other exciting thing that occured tonight, and definitely takes a back burner to the tooth news is that Hillary and I went BY OURSELVES (sans children) to a private screening of Twilight. We got free tickets (thanks Rache and Brady!) and went to the movie at 5:30. That's right, folks, we got to see the movie an entire 6 1/2 hours before the lowlifes in the general public. Guess this is what its like being a celebrity...

Plugging my own blog...pathetic, I know

2008-11-13T21:44:00.005-07:00

I've got to put a plug in for my own blog, I started this new one earlier this week to kinda keep an online book of the cards and stuff that I make. I also love to look at everyone else's crafty things, so that is a way to keep those blogs contained in the same spot. Anyhow, if you get a minute, stop by and check it out...if you don't, I will honestly never even know! www.brittsstampin.blogspot.com

Why oh why oh why oh why.....

2008-11-10T21:44:00.003-07:00

Can anyone shed some light on something that has plagued me for 5 1/2 years? Why won't my kids go to bed? I am trying to do everything right, I read the stories, say the prayers...I even have Lainee include in her prayer for Marlee to go to sleep, and vice versa...I have COVERED my bases. I do the night time ritual, get them water to keep by the bed, go potty, brush teeth, you name it. I've begged, plead, and threatened. I've tried the Nanny 911 technique, my kids laughed at that one. I've been sweet, not sweet, and downright tyrannical. Nothing works on these kiddos. Marlee is especially a problem here. She will get up at 8:00 a.m., go all day long without a break, and I promise you if I would let her she'd stay up until 4:00 in the morning without batting an eye. I would so love to do the bedtime routine, tuck the kids in sweetly and say good-night and shut the door, check on them 5 minutes later to find them sleeping like little angels. In our house, its more the other way around, the kids say good night, shut my door, and 5 minutes later I'm off to la-la land, and heaven only knows what goes on after that. Any suggestions that don't involve the Vulcan neck pinch? Already tried it. Doesn't work.

Just a few more pics

2008-11-05T12:33:00.002-07:00

ACK!!! Now I can't stop!!!

2008-11-05T12:17:00.006-07:00

Ok, now I can't stop blogging! But Lainee just came in here and said something that made my eyes water, it was so dang sweet, so I thought I'd share it...she brought me in a 1 dollar bill and said, 'here mom, you can have this dollar and now you can go buy a house.' Awwwww....isn't that cute? She's a punkin. I don't know if everyone has heard about our housing woes, but we are looking right now and are hoping to be in a house by Christmas. If anyone has about 400 grand to spare so my 3 kids can have a home of their own (am I tugging on the ol' heart strings yet, anyone?) just email me and let me know where to send the thank you card. We are having a really hard time finding anything we like in our price range, Utah prices are still a little high, but are getting better. Wish us luck, and hopefully soon I can blog pics of our new place!

WORST BLOGGER EVER!!!

2008-11-05T11:43:00.004-07:00

Here it is, already November, and my last post was...October 13th. I can't belive it, but Halloween ROCKED me, we went to party after party after gathering after corn maze after trunk or treat...I am not exaggerating when I say that we had half a trash bag full of candy. For the most part, the kids had fun. We didn't go to one function without at least a little whining, though. Grandma put together a fun Halloween party, but for some reason, there was a lot of caterwaulin' going on...the effort gets an A+ though. Marlee spotted a unicorn costume and it was love at first sight for her...despite the fact that it is 2 sizes too small, she is wearing that thing into the ground. This is going to be one of those things that she'll look back on and say 'why did you let me out of the house in that thing' and I want all of my readers (ok, ok, I know that my mom is probably the only one reading this) to back me up when I say that I tried desperately to get her interested in something else. Lainers was the all-original princess, Cinderella, and Asher was originally going to be a garden gnome, then we bought a rooster costume which he is terrified of, and ended up being Buzz Lightyear. He is nearly as attached to that costume as Marlee is to the scraggly unicorn. We had one group of trick or treaters at our place, and Lainee pitched a huge fit about giving away one piece of her candy, so the trick or treaters ended up giving some of theirs to her...maybe we should do it that way every year, huh? We'll stay home, you bring the candy to us. Sounds good to me. Either way, I am so glad that Halloween is done, now I can start getting stressed out about Thanksgiving and Christmas...

Nope, we weren't burglarized. We're just messy.

2008-10-13T21:22:00.002-06:00

So today I didn't do anything productive. I really didn't. I fed my kids whenever they demanded it, and Marlee went to school. That's really about it. When Aaron goes out of town I kinda feel like a kid whose parents went away for the weekend. It's not like he has all these expectations for how the place is supposed to be kept or wants dinner on the table every night, he doesn't. And if he did we'd be long divorced by now. On Saturday I got on a cleaning kick. Gotta take advantage of those, they don't show up very often anymore. House was spotless, laundry done, mmmhmmm. Then, Sunday I didn't have to do anything (day of rest, people) cause the house was semi-clean. I think that hanging your church clothes up counts as work, am I right? Monday...the place is trashed. Not your 30 minutes, things are back in order trashed, I'm talking 'better start now so that by the time Aar gets back things might be back to normal' trashed. I think that if some real burglars showed up they would think that someone else got here and ransacked it first, so they'd probably leave. In fact, that was my plan all along...those 2 good for nothing weinie dogs aren't going to keep burglars away, so I gotta take some further action. This isn't a mess, this is home burglarization prevention.

On a downward spiral from Honey/Ranch Sandwiches...

2008-10-12T13:01:00.004-06:00

You might think to yourselves that a Honey Ranch sandwich is pretty awful. Well, what if you could take it down another notch? Today after church I came into the kitchen after making our Sunday standard grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, and once again, our little chef Lainee was at the table eating tomato soup with candy corns floating in it. Ewwww. She loved it. I can't decide if she is more like Remy on Ratatouille (the little chef) for her creativity, or Emil, the brother who eats the garbage and thinks that it tastes great. Right now, I am leaning toward Emil...

Ok, so MAYBE I was trying to make the font colors look like Candy Corn. However, the white didn't show up very well on the background, so you'll all just have to use your imaginations a bit and pretend that they're the ones with the chocolate tips rather than the white ones.

Chef Lainee's New Creation

2008-10-03T13:55:00.004-06:00

Ooh La La, we have a new chef in the family. Lainee is spreading her 4 year old wings and trying new things...things that may not be delicious to all, but perhaps to some. Her newest creation is - are you ready for this - wheat bread spread with honey and dipped in copious amounts of ranch dressing. YIKES. She keeps asking me to try it out, and although I want to encourage my childrens creative endeavours, I am not willing to play guinea pig. Sorry Bugsy. Love ya anyway. Ya never know, maybe someday there will be a big demand for honey and ranch sandwiches. And our Lainee will be able to say 'that was MY idea!'

Feeling a little WICKED...

2008-09-30T23:09:00.002-06:00

I can't get enough of the Wicked soundtrack, and I sit there and think about the play various times during the day. It is just so GOOD! I don't know 1) if there's really anyone reading my blog but me, and 2) if anyone else that's seen it was borderline obsessive with it like I'm getting. I am at the point that I want to be Elphaba for Halloween...and go around singing the tunes from the play...and probably get egged for singing...All I have to say is that they are coming to SLC in April / May, and I had better be front and center for it. If you ever have the opportunity to go, I highly recommend it. At least look it up online, you can watch clips of the play, my 2 faves are 'Defying Gravity' and 'Popular'. Let me know what you think! Also, notice that the font color is......Wicked Green! See what I mean????

She's on a roll...or maybe I'm just getting delirious!

2008-09-29T23:44:00.002-06:00

I don't know if it is just me feeling slap happy, or if this little girl is just on one tonight, but I haven't stopped giggling since she said this. I am updating my blog, she is playing with our 2 dachshunds, Woody and Dozer. This is what she said: "Mom, I know that Woody is a man now, but I just don't know about Dozer. Is he a kid or a man?" I don't know exactly how to answer this, as he is neither, but I just told her their ages and hope that answered the question. I think that I really, really need to go to bed.

Marlee being funny...again!

2008-09-29T23:29:00.002-06:00

Marlee just said something that caught me as funny, so I thought I'd share: Marlee is really missing her Texas friends. We were looking at Erin's, Christa's and Caroline's blogspots, and she saw all of her friends. She then asked if we could find her friend Max too, so I tried to see if Teresa had a blogspot. I didn't find one, and I said, "Sorry honey, I guess Teresa doesn't have a blog." She said "His name isn't Blog, it's Max!"

Took a bite out of the Big Apple...Or did it take a bite out of me?

2008-09-29T22:56:00.003-06:00

Well, I'm back. I really had a good time with Heathie and Jed. They are just a couple of New Yorkers now, I'm very proud of them for doing so well there. I really don't know if I could manage as well as they are managing. Today was fun, we went to 5th Avenue. If only I had 14 million dollars, I could have bought everything I wanted to today. Sigh. It was great though, we went to St. Patricks cathedral, Fao Schwartz, had a dirty water dog (ended up taking one bite and chucking the rest) and went to Dylan's Candy Bar (didn't buy a thing, though). Some of these stores are so huge you could spend an entire day in just one. But, I am glad to be home, I missed my kids badly, I know that it was just a few days, but it was a much needed break. Thanks to Aaron, Hillary, Poppa and Grandma for making sure everyone was taken care of! Here are a few pics of NYC, I'm sure some of them are nothing you haven't seen before, but deal with it the best way you know how!

I have fallen in love...with NYC!

2008-09-27T19:11:00.003-06:00

I think that I may have a new favorite destination on my hands. I really really REALLY love NY. I love the busy-ness, the restaurants, the plays, the parks, the almost getting run over by cabbies (OK, I don't really LOVE that, but it's happened enough that I am getting used to it), the mixed cultures, I could go on and on but I won't. Heathie and I went to see Wicked today at the Gershwin Center. Oh my word, I don't know if I could possibly love a play more. I want the CD so that I can belt out the tunes, it was simply wonderful. Thank you to my honey Aaron, for putting this trip together for me, Wicked was just the cherry on top of the cake. I really can't believe you did that for Heathie and I, you really outdid yourself and I appreciate it so very much. :)

We walked so much today, good thing because I feel like I have eaten all day long. We went shopping, went to Cafe Metro for a little NY Pizza (I got spinach, grape tomato and feta cheese pizza), walked, shopped, went to Dale and Thomas for gourmet popcorn (carmel and chocolate chunk), walked, went to Wicked, walked, went to Central Park, walked, went to Rue 57 for dinner (Yum, I had filet mignon, garlic mashed potatoes, it was garnished with pearl onions, peas, and shaved black truffles) and then we walked to Magnolia bakery for cupcakes and banana pudding. I really wish I knew if I've burned off all the calories or not! It has been drizzley and rainy all day, I look like a poodle. A big, frizzy poodle. It is really lovely here, though, and if I didn't miss my kiddos so much I'd be tempted to stay longer! I'll post pics when I get back!

Lainee starting her school career in Preschool!

2008-09-25T14:32:00.004-06:00

Lainee is so thrilled to go to Preschool, she absolutely adores Miss Amber, and wishes she could go everyday! I know that these are a little late, but I thought everyone would love to see Lainee's darling school and how dang cute she looked on her first day there!

Marlee's First Day of Kindergarten! (And the pains it took us to get her there)

2008-09-25T14:21:00.005-06:00

Uh-oh, I think we may have a problem here. Is there a support group set up for people who can't stop blogging? Hi, my name is Brittney. I am a compulsive blogger...I think I may just be making up for lost time. Anyway, on to the post at hand.

Here are a few belated pics of Marlee's first day at school. 2 days before school started, I came into the room and saw that Lainee had cut long pieces of the back of Marlee's hair off. I didn't exactly love that she did that, but we went up to Cookie Cutters in SLC and got a brand new cut for school. This happened exactly 1 week after we went to Cookie Cutters and got a brand new cut for school. I asked if they had an accidental cut by a sibling discount, but no go. So, here are the pics of the 2 haircuts and the end result for her first day of Kindergarten as a big girl!

(To the tune of London Bridge) Autumn leaves are falling down, falling down...you can figure out the rest

2008-09-25T10:08:00.003-06:00

Well, people, it is officially fall. We took a drive up South Willow canyon on Sunday to check it out, and even though its just the very beginning of the season there were some gorgeous colors already! I have to say I didn't think the ol' minivan was up to the challenge, but it proved me wrong, way to go blue! We went up as far as you can drive, and passed a LOT of people going up and back. The kids were FREEZING, after all it was about 65 up there. My poor, poor Texas born children, they are in for a rude awakening this winter, aren't they? We played in a tiny creek, the kids thought that throwing the rocks in the water was the best thing ever. Marlee missed Lainee's head by about an inch with a really big rock, Laine bent down at the precise moment that Marles threw it so that was really really close. Woody hated the water and we couldn't keep Dozer out of it. I am so excited for fall, I really missed seeing the leaves turn!

Lainee's 4th Birthday!

2008-09-25T09:42:00.001-06:00

I need to post some pics of the Chuck E. Cheese party we had for Lainee with Aaron's side of the family, all of the kids went crazy there, they loved it so much. Nana and Crappy were there, Aunt Nicole and Uncle Somebody (Robb), Hunter and Kailey. We had pizza and a Diamond Castle Barbie cake, per Lainee's request. Asher found a car to 'drive' and spent the rest of his time and tokens driving that, he probably used at least 3o tokens and still screamed when we had to rip his hands away from the steering wheel. Marlee loved the bike that you pedal fast and it makes the platform rise up about 5 feet or so...she got up there and was pedaling like a mad man and said "Look Mommy, I'm getting some exercise!" I never thought of Chuck E. Cheese as a real healthy place, but there ya go, another way of looking at things thanks to a 5 year old. :) Lainee loved a game that she and I played together, a lizard tongue that darts out and catches bugs. She cleaned up on presents, she got a darling tea set (from our good friends the Cummings', thanks you guys!) and from Nana, Crappy, Nicole, Robb and family she got a little book and tea set, a dress up box full of goodies, a darling puppy in a purse, and a Polly Pocket boat and tons of teensy tiny accessories. She LOVES those tiny toys! Thanks everyone, you did great and I'm sure that she was very excited and happy with her gifts. I'll post pics when I get home from New York so y'all can see her fun toys.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAINERBUGS!

2008-09-25T00:06:00.002-06:00

Yes, I am using the pink font because (big surprise coming up) pink is Lainee's favorite color! This is a Happy Birthday shout out to our big ol' 4 year old lambie pie... Althought it is only the 24th, we already had the Thompson side family party, we went to the Ringling Brothers circus and to Olive Garden for dinner. Laine got not 1, but 2 Diamond Castle Barbies, a new tea set, a book with her picture in it, a Disney Princess keyboard (thank you Hall family!), a little toy horse and rider, and a new Cinderella dress...and that is only the 1st party!

Here are some of Lainee's loves: Tiny toys, she has a thing about cramming as many toys into her 2 little hands as humanly possible. Preschool, reading stories, spicy foods (especially chips and salsa), pink, Barbie toys, horses, flying unicorns, her sister and her brother.

Hates: Getting her hair combed out (I would too if I were her!), sharing her extra special toys, feeling like she is missing out, having to stop whatever she's doing for a potty break.

Anyway, ya gotta be proud for 2 posts in 1 night. I think that I'll take a year off now, that did me in. All right, all right, I will post some more and get some pics up as well.

OK, OK people, I get it. Time to get on the ol' bloggin wagon already!

2008-09-24T22:55:00.000-06:00

For some reason, I am having an aversion to blogging. I love to read other peoples, it's just that every time I have 5 minutes to sit down and put this together, I really, really, REALLY don't want to...and now it's been 1 year, almost to the date that I started this. And here is my 2nd entry. Here is the DL on what is happening with us.

We have: moved to Utah, failed miserably at finding a great house at a decent price (still have our fingers crossed on that one), and sold one of our Texas houses. Marlee has started Kindergarten, (she loves it one day and detests it the next) Lainee has started Preschool (loves it all the time and wishes she could go everyday), and Asher has started his terrible twos. Only his little phase is WAY worse than the girls ever were, mainly because the kid is a lean mean wrestling machine. Doesn't matter who, doesn't matter where. He just wants to take you down and take you OUT. He fights dirty too, poor little Marbles and Lainers, getting taken down to the floor by the hair, gouging eyes, whatever it takes. Luckily when Dad gets home from work he can give Ash a run for his money. I am going to try to figure this out some more and maybe we can get some cool graphics going here...we'll see.

The Vaughn Family

2007-09-30T14:28:00.000-06:00

This blog is for all friends and family to see what is going on with our family, so check it often, and we'll TRY to keep it up! No promises!