I've Been Tagged

I really don't know if there is anything weird or funny about myself but I'll give it a shot... 1. I despise spiders. When I see one, my heart pounds really hard and I get sweaty. It's gross.

2. I used to sing in high school...like a lot. I was in just about every music class that was offered, including guitar.

3. I never wanted to have kids. Is that rude? Accidents happen! Then after you have one, you have to keep going. Luckily, I love my girls!

4. I love to be needed. When people call me for help, it makes me happy. I guess that is why I'm a teacher.

5. When I was a teenager, I was scared of the Bear Lake Monster...and sharks...in Bear Lake.

6. One time, I sliced my head open all the way to the skull and I looked at it. I had a plastic surgeon repair the scar.

7. When I was 24, I hit a parked car. A parked car in front of an elementary school! Oh, the good ol' days! I am still probably the world's worst driver. Please keep your kids off the streets...and sidewalks.

The people I tag are...Kim Lee,Charlene Wilhelmsen, Crystal Howe, Sean Hennefer, Stefanie, Alison Lucas, and Angie Pitts

I love Sicily

Fall Carnival

Last night, the girls and I went to our school's Fall Carnival. The ladies that put this together are simply amazing. They come into the school day in and day out, volunteering. I'm so grateful to them for providing a night full of fun!

Sicily wasn't doing very well by the end of the night. She felt really warm, and well, was laying on the floor. Luckily, I had some friends take Cassidee and Kennedy for the last little bit so I could sit with Sicily. SO SAD!

Spouse to the Rescue!

I so appreciate everybody's words of incouragement. I love my friends, family, and neighbors. I couldn't ask for more!

Yahoo! Joseph is home and killed the really fat spider that was in my kitchen. He is such a man! I'm glad he is home.

I brought my camera to school yesterday to take a picture of our "Drug Free" door for my teacher blog. I think it turned out really cute. I love those third graders. Kennedy's first grade teacher is my really good friend. She sent her over to my classroom dressed like a witch. The best is when she sings the song "I'm a Mean Old Witch". Kennedy has the best cackle.

My Adventures of Being Spouseless

I guess I need to vent tonight. I'm used to Joseph being gone and it really doesn't bother me. He is up in Oregon this week and I guess I am tired. I will try to create a vivid description of my week so far...only half way through.


Mondays are always awesome for some reason.


Tuesday started well. On the days that I have to be to school by 8:00 a.m., Joseph takes Sicily to East Layton and I take the older girls to school with me. This is what we did on Tuesday morning.

Then I got to school, had a meeting, heard "Puedo ir el bano, por favor?" about a thousand times, had ANOTHER meeting, and left by 4:30. Then it was off to get Sicily from my job share's house (thanks Bethany!) and over to get Cassidee and the carpool kids from gymnastics. I stopped for dinner-thanks to Subway-took the friends home and rushed us home. By this time, it is close to 6:00. I hurried and changed, get the girls fed and off to the gym for one of my favorite classes at 6:50.

On the way home=drama. Sicily is poopey, Kennedy is screaming at the top of her lungs because of the smell. Our Amarda didn't seem that big anymore. Cassidee lets Sicily out of her car seat and madness occurs. Poor Kim just wants to get home to her sweet angel babies! When we get home, I get called a lot of names. For instance, "promise breaker". Kennedy is mad because I can't get the computer to work and I told her she could play on Club Penguin. JEEZ! I can't wait until 9:00.


Today...I have the day off. But I'm changing diapers, doing laundry, dishes, getting groceries, and trying to get the stupid computer to work. Then, Joseph calls. I get a little cranky when he talks about his day. "Well, I didn't get to that Rachel. I was really busy. We were out to eat last night and I was golfing with clients all day. I'm just heading to go out right now." What?????


But then everything turns all worth it. Cassidee just told me that I am a great mom and that she loves me, Kennedy spent five minutes jumping up and down because I got her Cinnamon Toast Crunch at the store, and Sicily is snug in her bed. I love my girls and I love my job. I'm also grateful for all the friends I have that get me through the day! That is enough venting for the night! Whew, thanks for listening.

To Blog or not to Blog

I was going to write about this last night, but it was 1 a.m. and I had an artichoke cooking. I decided to eat my artichoke (yummy!) and finish blogging later.

But then I got to thinking...after my "friend's" comment, am I supposed to blog? Is anyone really interested in what I have to say? Or is this self therapy to guide me through my constant thoughts and insecurities. He says, "You have fans." Is he making fun of me? Do I have fans? Or is this his polite way of saying, "Seriously stop. Nobody cares."

Just FYI, I have a thing about broken things. Even garbage cans.

Well, I figure I have come this far, and if I was up until 1 in the morning working on a new slide show and adding some pictures, I might as well continue on my journey through the blogging world...which I love by the way. Thanks Chelsi.

Wow, where did that come from?

We went to the Dall's house for a little Halloween celebration. I'm always down for that, since the girls only get to wear their costume once or twice during the month.

This is Cassidee. This costume was from last year. My mom made it for Cassidee's oral book report. She read the fourth Harry Potter book and was Hermione. Since I was a bad mom this year, she just used this costume and switched it into to Queen Elizabeth-younger years. I think she looks fabulous. Kennedy was a fairy last year. This year, same costume (minus the wings) only Princess Diana. I was puzzled, but didn't say anything after looking at the cutest grin on the planet.
I really like this costume. Chelsi let us borrow it, because of the whole bad mom thing, I didn't get Sicily a costume this year. We think this is "Friendship Bear". Anyone know?
Since the Utes are 8-0, Chelsi and I are right on the Ute bandwagon. We are the hottest cheerleaders ever!
This picture is my little brother and his wife. They went to another party, but I stole this from their blog, because they look so awesome. I think maybe they were born during the wrong decade because seriously...they look too groovy baby!

Fall Break

On Thursday night, we went up to Heber to a friend's cabin. The weather on Friday was perfect. I love the fall and I love my girls. They played so well outside and had a blast! Sicily is still in love with Rocky. She had to take him on a walk. I'm trying to convince Joseph to get her a dog for Christmas. She just loves this little guy.
I don't love four wheeling. It is dusty and bumpy. But I realized this weekend that this is one of the few times Joseph lets me hold on to him and hug him. So, I guess it is worth it, right?

After four wheeling, I went to see Sean at his art show. He is quite talented. (I don't remember him being that tall though.) I'm wanting him to paint some Red Sox stuff for our basement. Are they going to make it to the World Series? I guess we'll find out tonight! Make sure to scroll to the bottom. I added a new slideshow of our Halloweens over the years. It's so neat to see how much the girls have changed and grown. AAAHHH-pretty soon I'll have a teenager on my hands. That can't be right, a teenager?

Rachel's Day Care

The other day I babysat four kids all two years old and under. What an experience! Sicily gets incredibly stressed out by having to share her toys and Chandler thinks the best thing in the world is to get all my movies off of the shelf. I guess he doesn't realize that I alphabetize them by genre. But man, I love these babies!

It's sunny again!

So, this post has no pictures or anything interesting to say. I was just out working in the yard when a "friend" text me (you know who you are, jerk) and made fun of my blog. Anyway, not a lot to say so I think I'll just rummage up what I can. (This is dedicated to you...watch your back!)

Last week, I started on Facebook. I absolutely love it. I have reconnected with friends from high school, middle school, and even elementary school. This will be great for me, especially with winter on the way and I can't get outside as much.

Then, last night, I actually went out to a nice dinner with some girl friends! Can you imagine? I try to get out but it is stuff like...run to Old Navy for some uniforms for the girls or get to the gym for my 90 minutes of me time...but a nice dinner? In Salt Lake? Without any children? It was amazing! We didn't even talk about school. We had a wonderful conversation and got to know each other even more. It was wonderful! Thanks Jenn and Begona.

I'm also happy about this weekend. We are headed out of town for a day in the mountains, going to try to make it to Sean's art show downtown, getting my hair done, the Utes play (7-0 baby!), and hanging out at a friend's house. I feel like a teenager again!

Plus, I don't know what it is, but I love my blue toe nail polish. I've never done blue...mmmm, I wonder why.

Sad Day!

So, I was really bummed out by the snow today. I just wasn't ready. Plus, I had to risk my life by putting two coolers on top of each other to climb up to get the kids winter clothes down. They were really excited to get out and play in the snow (I know, not a Sunday thing but...). I also killed three spiders-which makes me sick. I seriously can't even handle it.

So, I thought I was having a pretty bad day. Until I found out one of my best friends from high school is sick. Really sick with cancer. He was so nice to me and drew the best picture of me snowboarding. If you have time to check out his site and help him out, I'd appreciate it! http://www.keepseanalive.com/

We love Gramps!

So I was thinking today about my Gramps. Some of you may know he passed away this past July. There are a couple things I will always remember about Gramps.

1. He answered the phone like this...
"Hello"
"Hi Gramps"
"Who's this?"
"It's Rachel"
"Rachel who?"
"Rachel Lee"
"Oh, well that's a funny name." (Gramps first name was Lee)
2. He always, from the day I can remember, played Santa Claus.
3. He came to every single one of my girls' birthday parties, blessings, and baptisms.
4. He and Grams let me live in their upstairs apartment virtually free while Cassidee and I got back on our feet.
5. He sang in Norwegian
6. He was happy even though he hurt a lot.
7. He served two missions to Norway.



I love my Grams too. She is a trooper! She cries when she laughs, is always willing to help, and does a birthday card for each of the girls every year. She is also a mad recylcer which makes me proud! Go Grams go!

Go UTES!!!!!

This is at the end of the U game on Thursday. I wasn't planning on going. We actually had swimming lessons that night but then the girls' swimming teacher called and asked if she could reschedule. I asked her why (I'm pretty nosey) and she told me she wanted to go to the game. I was really excited because I wanted to go to the game too! I can't believe they pulled it off, I was so dang worried! This is when the MUSS (mighty Ute student section) was rushing the field. It was one of the most fantastic games I have ever been to. Thanks Dickie for taking me! You can see the crowd on the field start to grow.
This is what the fans looked like (well, maybe just the crazy ones). That is Joseph, Mike Dickamore (Dickie) and BJ.
This one is funny because there are more people on the field than in the stand.
This is a rare opportunity to see Joe and I in the same picture, actually smiling! Thank goodness for those Utes!

Black Hills Farm

Thanks to the girls in the neighborhood who let Sicily, Jack, and I come on their field trip to the farm. We had a blast. Each of the babies got a pumpkin and then played forever. We came home and took a long bath. They had corn, hay, and dirt everywhere! It was so fun...thanks girls!