Details

Okay here are the details:
Baby Girl #2 should be gracing us with her presence around the 10th of April. We're excited. We think Camille will be excited! The only thing I'm dreading is deciding on a name. Any suggestions?

Oh Primary

I love being in Primary! I realized the other day out of the 6 1/2 years we've been married I've been in a Primary calling for 5 of the years. (Does that say anything about my maturity level?) Well, those primary kids always keep you on your toes but that's what makes it so fun. Today I was talking with one of our Primary teachers when her 5 year old looks up at me and says "You're pregnant!" I could see the look of horror creep onto her mother's face. It was nice to be able to say "Yes, you're right, I am pregnant." Her mother looked relieved and I'm glad that I'm pregnant and not just fat!

It pays to be cute!

Today Camille and I went to the bank. We walked in the doors and there were 3 workers that just swooned over her. They all thought she was soo cute and looked like Cindy Lou Who. (I'm not one to argue.) As I was getting my deposit ready one of the workers came up and asked if Camille could have a treat. I said yes imagining a Tootsie Roll, a dum-dum, or some smarties. The lady came back with one of those plastic candy canes filled with M&Ms. Of course, I couldn't get Mil to say thank you but she did score quite the "treat". We'll work on thank you and next time we're at the bank give it another try!

Camille with her treat

Mom let her have a few pieces

A mouthful (she's throwing away part of the wrapper)

M&M face

Getting beat by a girl

Brad's a good Dad. He and Camille have a great time playing together.

Chillin'

Camille has been a little sick the last few days. Yesterday after her nap she woke up looking and feeling worse then when I'd put her down. I decided it was time for a "sick day" (You know the days you didn't feel good and your mom just let you laze around and watch movies.) I put on Sword and the Stone (I don't think Mil has ever really watched a movie.) and got her all snuggled down and she lasted about 20 minutes before she needed to be held. We pretty much got nothing else done the rest of the afternoon. I guess we'll do the movie in 20 minute segments until she feels better.

Ingenious

Have you played?

Camille meets Wendy...

Today at 2:00 pm the power went out which I didn't think much of because the only electricity I was using was the oven. (I had a batch of cookies in and so I just left them in the nice warm oven until I thought they'd be done.) Besides the cookies, which seem to have done fine, (Well, at least it didn't stop me from eating 4 of them.) our afternoon went on as normal. We read books, got the mail, played with the junk mail, Mil climbed all over Mom, we had a snack, did some light cleaning etc. I was going to vacuum but decided I'd sweep and mop instead. I got the whole kitchen swept and ready to mop when I realized I live in the country, (Hence I have a well, hence I need electricity for the pump to run, hence no water.) so I didn't mop the floor. (I was really broken hearted about that!)

It wasn't until about 4:45 pm that I began to wonder what does one do with a 15 month old when the power is out and it gets dark. Too early for bed (darn it!). So, we dusted out the flashlight and played follow the light around the house, put the light in Mom's mouth and laugh when it glows red, peek-a-boo, point out our body parts with the light, and put different colored cups over the light so it glows all cool. The cups turned out to be more exciting to stack and restack then to use with the light, oh well Camille was entertained.

5:30 pm Dad gets home and got out the lantern to light up the house. I decide we need to eat and I'm not in the mood for cold leftovers so we went to see what Rigby had to offer. I'm smart enough to be able get out of my garage without the electric door opener :) Well, we ended up at Wendy's. It was nice to see we weren't the only ones. (We ran into a few families from the ward.) Camille had her first fast food experience. I thought "Heck she never eats junk" so she got a burger, fries, and chocolate milk. Yes, Wendy's offers healthy choices but it was a special occasion. (Okay, Brad took the chocolate milk since I grabbed her milk before we left the house.) She loved the fries and ate a surprising amount of her burger. Her favorite was sharing a frosty with Daddy and having a new toy to bring home. All in all the day was a success and the power was back on by 8:00 pm so we'll have heat tonight as we slumber.

Mmm Turkey!

One of the best things about Thanksgiving is leftovers. Tonight I concocted some homemade turkey noodle soup. I love homemade noodles. I impressed myself since I'd never made turkey noodle soup before. (Like it's hard to mess up, veggies, meat, and noodles!) I'm glad my Mama sent us home with some leftover turkey. (Since I convinced her we needed 2 turkeys for 22 people, I was hoping for leftovers.)
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My mom hosted us at her house and we all brought food to contribute. Besides a great meal we enjoyed family. My brother, Gus introduced us to a new fabulous game. (Ingenious, if you like games you'll love it!) We watched episodes of Monk, played the Wii, ate Nutella, celebrated birthdays, went to the temple, and just had a great time together. Of course, I was having such a good time I didn't even think to take pictures, rats. Well, maybe at Christmas I'll get some family shots. Even before such a fun holiday break I had so much I was thankful for but spending time with family just reaffirms how much we truly have. We love you all!

I cheated!

I broke a holiday rule today. You know, you're not suppose to start listening to Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving. Well, today on Oprah she was doing her favorite things show and had a bunch of thrifty ideas for the holidays.


She had a gift for the viewers: "This year, we've teamed up with some of the biggest names in the music business to create a one-of-a-kind holiday mix. It's our gift to you! These eight songs can be downloaded free for the next 48 hours."


So, of course ,I had to get on the computer and download and burn them (I LOVE Christmas music!) I had to make sure the CD worked, so I had to listen to the whole thing. I broke a rule today but I totally enjoyed every minute of it!

MYRNA

Wyatt, Knees, and Grandpa

We had the pleasure of having little Wyatt come spend the day at our house on Friday. He is such a stinkin' cute kid. Camille and Wyatt get along swimmingly and love to be around each other. When Wyatt showed up Camille ran and gave him a hug. It was so sweet. She calls him "Wy-hee" and that's what I heard all day long..."Wy-hee, Wy-hee, Wy-hee".

(This is an old picture of Wyatt but I love his hair in this.)

Camille knows what knees are and loves to point to your knees and say "knee". The other day she was sitting with Brad and pointed to his elbow and said "knee". Technically, your elbow is the knee of your arm so she was on the right track.

Camille spent the evening with her grandparents and now loves to say "grandpa". Still can't get her to say grandma. Must be much harder to pronounce!

Stats

The lastest on Mildew... We went to Camille's 15 month checkup today and here's how she measured up.

Weight: 21.5 lbs 29% (She must get the from Brad I've never been in the 29% for weight :)

Height: 32.5 in. 96% ( I guess she'll be our ball player!)

Head circ.: 18 in 45% (and if she's a good baller she won't even have a big head about it!)

Book Club

Anyone that knows me knows I love to read so it shouldn't be any shock to know that I am part of our ward's book club. This month we held book club at my house. Something I haven't done since Mil was a month old, so I figured after more than a year it was my turn again :)

The Book: The Last Town On Earth by Thomas Mullen

The year is 1918. America is fighting a war on foreign soil that has divided the nation. Meanwhile, rumors of the spread of the deadliest epidemic ever are causing panic on the home front. The uninfected town of Commonwealth, Washington, votes to quarantine itself, and two young friends are asked to guard the town entrance and keep strangers out.
One day, a starving, cold—and seemingly ill—soldier comes out of the woods begging for sanctuary, and the two guards are confronted with an agonizing moral dilemma.
So begins The Last Town on Earth . . .

The Treat: Leftover treats from the primary activity (Yes, I'm the President I can take the leftovers!) and some yummy Cinnamon rolls.

The Ladies: Delightful! It's so fun to get together with others who love to read. It's a fun range of ages 27 to ? (Well, I'm not sure how old Sister Rose is but it's older than 27 :) and great personalities.

The book for December: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

The book for January: Power to the People by Laura Ingraham

Thanks

Just wanted to give a shout out to all the veterans today. To all those who have, are, or will serve our country THANK YOU! I love America and you help make it's freedoms possible! God bless you all!!!

It's dropping...

...$2.29 That's the price of gas in Rigby today.

I VOTED

Hope you do too!

Merlin's Beard!

What a fun Halloween. Camille got to spend the day with Grandma Hart so Mom could go substitute. Camille was more excited to see Aunt Valerie then Mom when they both walked through the door about the same time. We hung out with at the Harts for awhile then had to head to Grandma and Grandpa Wilding's to show off Camille. The evening was pretty uneventful. We got a total of 7 trick or treaters at our house. (So, glad I bought 3 bags of candy!) It was one of the nicest, warmest Halloweens I can remember. We took Camille to the neighborhood trunk or treat just for something to do.

Princess Jazmin and the wizard. Isn't Val's costume awesome? That's the work of the Myrninator. (She made an Aladdin for Spencer but he couldn't be bothered to show up to get his picture taken.)Eating bread, not candy!

One happy wizard

Checkin' out her loot. (Thanks for supplying the bucket Donna Bomba)
The stash....Mom and Dad are sure going to enjoy it :)

Happy Halloween

I woke up to an absolutely beautiful sunrise this morning. The picture doesn't do it justice! What a great way to start a day!

Home Decor

We've lived in our house for just about 2 1/2 years now and we're still working on getting the decorations up. I had Brad help me clean out one of the closets and was able to convince him to get out his tools right then. So we're are a few steps closer to looking like we live here. :)

Thanks Lee and Melody for the signs. (They've been out of the box for years. Now people will actually get to enjoy them.)

Facts in Five Featuring Frad -- I mean Brad.

Melody tagged me to do a post on facts about your husband. So I'll attempt to get these right. Brad never reads the blog anyhow so I'm probably safe. :)


Five things Brad Loves:
1. Karen
2. Camille
3. Our families
4. Beating Karen when they play games
5.Traveling with Karen




Five things on his "to do" list:
1. Get the yard done
2. Get out of debt
3. Get the yard done
4. Go to Australia
5. Make the yard look pretty for his wife.

Five of his favorite snacks:
1. Gummy Bears
2. Cinnamon Rolls
3. Rocky Road Ice Cream
4. Apple Sauce
5. Homemade strawberry jam


Five things you might not know about Brad:
1. He'd prefer to live in a warmer climate
2. He's super frugal
3. He's an Assistant Scout Master
4. According to Big Brain Academy his brain is bigger then Karen's
5. He makes really good Mac n' Cheese
Five places Brad has lived:
1. Rigby, ID
2. Rexburg, ID
3. Brazil
4. Chesapeake, VA
5. Provo, UT
Five Quirks:
1. He loves to wear socks all the time!
2. Doesn't think puke is as bad to clean up as poop. (ewww)
3. Keeps his things super nice & clean(he has toys from childhood that are practically brand new) 4. Loves to go shopping on Black Friday--bright and early
5. Secretly he likes it when we wear matching outfits or shirts Five people tagged:
1. Kaitlyn
2. Kacie
3. Karlie
4. Cynthia
5. Rachel

Aunt Linda

I'm lucky enough to live approximately 4 miles from my Aunt Linda (Which out here in the country makes you neighbors.) It's fun to run into each other at Broulim's or walking at Rigby Lake but best of all we like when she just decides to drop by. The other day she dropped by bearing gifts, which was totally unexpected and we'd let her in even without gifts in hand. She doesn't have any grand kids so when she see some cute little thing that she just has to buy Camille is the lucky recipient. (Fine with me I don't think there was ever a thing as too many Grandmas.) She said someone was selling these darling little hair bows at work the other night and she couldn't resist. Linda works at the hospital so she brought them over in a biohazard bag, which I totally got a kick out of. But the best part was the note inside. Like I'd really think she'd give us a used biohazard bag. Needless to say we love the bows and are so thankful for the kind and thoughtful people we're surrounded by.

Pepe La Peu

Last night at about 10 to 10 Brad and I were laying in bed waiting for the 10 o'clock news to start when all the sudden we heard "BANG, BANG, BANG!"

Brad jumped up "What the heck...." and ran to the window.

I doused the lights so he could peak out unseen. (Yes, quiet often we peak out our windows from the blackness inside so the neighbors don't know we're spying.)

Then three more gun shots, "BANG, BANG, BANG!"

We couldn't see anything from our room so we ran to the front room, "BANG, BANG, BANG!" There were people in the field across from our house with lights and guns.

My first thought was, "They are shooting our neighbors cows."

"BANG, BANG, BANG. Yeah, you got him!"

"Brad, what are they shooting at?" but even as I asked an overwhelming smell answered my question.

Our house smells HORRIBLE. The wind was blowing, only as it can in Idaho, slamming the smell into our house with incredible force. It was hard to sleep. Brad and I covered our heads with the blankets but that wasn't enough. I ended up getting some Victoria's Secret lotion and rubbing on my hands and by Brad so we could muffle the smell.

Why why why does someone shoot a skunk at 10 o'clock at night right in front of my house? And may I add, this morning I looked out to see if there was a carcase visible only to see another skunk sulking by the body of the dead one. I'm guessing this isn't over.

You should get one of these!

My Brain Hurts...

This game is great but it makes my brain hurt.

Really...funny!

My favorite is when they are talking about AIG.

The Thriftiest Family in America

There was this thing on Oprah yesterday (Yes, I'm a housewife ofttimes Oprah is on at our house.) about the thriftiest families in America. I was really impressed by Stephanie Nelson, The CouponMom, she took Oprah's cameras shopping to show how much you can save if you shop right.

"With coupons in hand, Stephanie hits the store and fills up her shopping cart with $127 worth of groceries. "Don't panic," she says. "That's not what we're paying." As the clerk scans coupon after coupon, the total falls lower and lower—until it hits $37.16, a 71 percent savings!"

This lady is saving $90 a week on her grocery bill. I want to be more thrifty! I want to be in better control of my budget. I'm sure it takes some practice. (Stephanie's been doing it for 15 years.) Here's a link 5 Ways to Save Money on Groceries By Stephanie Nelson

Smarty Pants

We've really been working with Camille on where her nose is. She's pretty good finding it. To our surprise she also knew some other body parts that we hadn't ever practiced with her. Apparently, she really observant. What a little smarty pants.

Harvest Time

I've always liked the first part of October. Probably because it meant we were out of school for a week and a half or so for Spud Harvest. Yup good ole Idaho where you get time off to help with the harvest. In elementary school it just meant more play time, in high school it meant money making. I have to say working in the potatoes wasn't my favorite job but having drove potato trucks on my resume actually helped me in a job interview. They said it grabbed their attention and made my resume unique. So I'm grateful for potato harvest and grateful that I no longer drive potato trucks.

Speaking of harvest, I dug up some of the carrots we planted this year. They are delicious! Nothing like a carrot fresh from the garden. Brad's Dad complained about having to plant the carrots. Said they were too labor intensive but I think he's singing a different tune now that we are enjoying the bounty.

This carrot grew through some metal thing that was in the ground. Which I think is pretty cool.

We're all about free stuff

Saturday was free day at Tautphaus Park so we had to go. There were a lot of other free things going on around the park as well. You'll never guess who we ran into. ..

Mil letting the goats lick her fingers

Riding the Tiger with Daddy

She loved looking and pointing at the Tigers.

Darth Vader and the Storm Troopers were at the park. (And me without my lightsaber!)

(Camille is not a fan of the Dark Side.)

Play Dates and Pumpkin Bread

It's been awhile since I've posted one of my favorite things. Today I thought I'd post about some of my favorite things that start with P.

Play dates:
Camille and I love when we get to hang out with our friend Cooper. He and Camille usually have a pretty good time together plus that means Kacie and I get to hang out so it's a win-win. (OR maybe it's a win-win-win.) We'll miss you when you move Coops!

For some reason they thought it was a blast to play in the playpen.

Pumpkin Bread: Can I just say YUMMM! I love pumpkin bread. Kacie was kind enough to introduce me to it and provide me with her delicious recipe. Last time she came she brought some. I cut into it before she had even pulled out of the driveway. (I did restrain myself enough that there was some left when Brad got home from work.) This is a delicious treat and just tastes like what Fall should be.

PUMPKIN BREAD

Makes 2 loaves (32 servings)
Prep: 20 minutes Bake: 55 minutes

Ingredients
3 cups sugar
1 cup cooking oil
4 eggs
3-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2/3 cup water
1 15-ounce can pumpkin
Directions
1. Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of two 9x5x3-inch, three 8x4x2-inch, or four 7-1/2x3 1/2-x2-inch loaf pans; set aside. In a very large mixing bowl beat sugar and oil with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add eggs and beat well; set aside.
2. In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add flour mixture and water alternately to sugar mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Beat in pumpkin. Spoon batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 55 to 65 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool completely on wire racks. Wrap and store overnight before slicing. Makes 2 loaves (32 servings).
Raisin-Nut Pumpkin Bread: Prepare bread as above, except fold 3/4 cup raisins and 3/4 cup chopped walnuts into batter after pumpkin has been added. Nutrition Facts per serving: 220 cal., 10 g total fat (1 g sat. fat), 27 mg chol., 197 mg sodium, 32 g carbo., 1 g dietary fiber, 8 g pro.Daily Values: 59% vit A, 2% vit. C, 2% calcium, 6% ironExchanges: .5 Starch, 1 .5 Other Carbo., 2 Fat