How would it be?

Here we have my Mom and Dad on their recent trip to Maine. Looks like fun, doesn't it? My parents said if I posted about it, I would get to go with them next time. I don't think they really thought I'd do it. But they underestimated me. I love it back east. I could live there. In fact I did live there, and I miss it. So, Mom and Dad, be sure and let me know when I need to pack my bags. I'm ready and waiting. And No, I'm not kidding. I could show you around Bean Town, then we could drive on up to Maine for some lobster. What's a trip to New England without your first born, not to mention favorite daughter. Hee, Hee.

Not a Bali Bear

This is a picture of one of the Bears we saw at Hogle Zoo. Could he look more bored? Now if we were at a zoo in Bali this would be a picture of all of us playing with the bear. Sounds pretty fun and exciting, eh? Now how do I know this? Well because my sister is currently living in Korea and they went to Bali for their summer vacation. On her blog she has pictures of her kids actually playing with Giant Bats, Elephants and Dolphins. That's NOT how things are done here though. We count ourselves lucky if we just get to see some kind of movement, or action. We did see the Tiger moving around. That was nice. Can you tell I'm just a little bit envious of my sister Kim getting to swim with dolphins? Just a life time dream of mine. No big deal.

Boo at the Zoo

Saturday we went to the annual Boo at the Zoo event. It was soooooo crowded. It was TOO crowded. We have never seen that many people turn out for it. I definitely think it's more fun with less people. It was next to impossible to find a park, there were long, long, lines for everything, and you could barely squeeze your way in to get a look at the animals. Of course you could just take a look around your personal space and see plenty of the human variety. It truly was a ZOO!! To give you a little bit of an idea, at one point I was sitting on a bench next to another Mom discussing the madness. She told me that her family had been to three different concession stands in the park trying to buy lunch. Well they were completely out of food at all three. Lucky for our family we had packed a picnic, which was actually the highlight of the day. Unless you ask Ethan. For him I think riding the train was the highlight of the day. The kids did seem to have fun and are already talking about our next visit. I guess that is all that really matters but I'll tell you what, if Hogle Zoo doesn't schedule Boo at the Zoo for more than one Saturday in October the Brunsdales won't be going again. After all, we're quick learners.

Holy Hot Potatoes Batman!!

The other day at about 1:00 the phone rings. It's Kaylie's school calling to let me know that she had PASSED OUT in the lunch room and I should probably come get her. What in the world? So I go pick her up and ask her what happened? She said that she was feeling fine and just eating her lunch, when she preceded to take a bite of VERY HOT mashed potatoes. Not realizing how hot they were, she swallowed them. She said they burned and hurt her chest so bad she blacked out. Lost consciousness. How humiliating for the poor thing, huh? Not to mention painful. Anyway, she's okay and we are laughing about it now. I told her she needed to check the temperature of her food, and maybe blow on it before she starts shoveling it in. By the way, I did get her permission to tell this story.

Matthew has somethin' to say!!

I thought this was so cute. I was doing dishes and Macky was keeping me company. He really had something to say. He sure gave me a piece of his mind.

Whatcha got there, Macky?

So I was in the laundry room sorting laundry, not paying too much attention as Matthew scooted his way into the laundry room with me. A few minutes later I look up, and low and behold.... he has found a roll of toilet paper. What fun!! He had unwrapped the roll and was eating it. Mommy says, "MMMMMMM, Chocolate!" Matthew says, "MMMMMMM, Paper!!"

Where's the Fire?

One of my very favorite things about being a Mom is watching my children use their imaginations. It is so entertaining to me to watch their pretend play. The other day Meghan and Ethan were pretending to be firefighters. It was sooo cute. I just sat and watched them for a half an hour. It was better than an episode of Seinfeld.

Bear Bum

Yesterday Ethan went potty and didn't put his pants back on afterwards. I mean really, who can be bothered with such things? Well, it didn't fly well with me and I told him to go get his pants on "Right Now!" A few minutes later I run into him again. Still he has no pants on. So I say to him, "Ethan, go get dressed. No one wants to look at your bare bum!!" He looks up at me, furrows his brow in total indignation and says, "Mom, I don't have a BEAR bum! I have an Ethan bum!!"

Can you say ARACHNOPHOBIA?!

Okay, I don't know what the deal is but I've had one too many run-ins with these gruesome little creatures in the last few days. Ugh! I'm getting a serious case of the Heebie Geebies just thinking about it. First, I was putting up our Halloween decorations when I pulled out a jack o lantern. I happened to nonchalantly glance inside and there is a big ole spider. At first I thought it was another decoration but upon closer inspection I slowly began to realize it was the real thing. A big ole dead arachnid. THE HORROR!! I scream, Mark comes running. Takes one look inside and calmly states "It's the male. You better be careful, the female could still be in the box -- ALIVE!" (Gee, thanks Hon, that's very reassuring.) Two days later I'm in the kitchen doing dishes. I had washed some pans by hand and set them out to dry. As I was putting them away I noticed what looked like a ball of dirt or something. I went to brush it off. And Oh, THE HORROR!!! This big ole monster spider un-balls itself and tries to crawl up my arm. The audacity! To curl up on my clean dishes and take a nap?! To say I screamed very loudly is an understatement. Kaylie comes running. Tells me that I'm being ridiculous, but then she gets a look at the BIG HUGE SPIDER. Thankfully she quickly did away with it for me. I was going to upload an image of an actual spider for this post, and let me tell ya, it was just too much. (I don't think I'll even be able to sleep tonight.) I just couldn't do it, after all this is a family blog. So lucky for you I uploaded something cute and friendly. AS IF!! I know that absolutely, with out a doubt I suffer from arachnophobia - an irrational fear of spiders. Well it seems pretty rationale to me, Bub!

Matthew has the giggles.

Ethan was playing with Matthew the other day and really had him giggling. He had put a mask on him from the Halloween box. Matthew really got a kick out of it. It was pretty funny.

In my heart we have 8

When the world looks at me they see a mother with 5 children, but in my heart there are 8. Tomorrow is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. I know it's kind of a sad topic but I am thankful for this day because it gives me an opportunity to acknowledge and remember my angel babies. I have three of them. The heartache of losing a baby is something you just don't understand or comprehend until you experience it first hand. My heart goes out to all those that have to endure this trial. I am thankful for the light of the gospel and for my scriptures that have brought me peace, and answers to my prayers. One such scripture is found in the Book of Mormon in Alma, 41:2 "... for it is requisite that all things should be restored to their proper order. Behold, it is requisite and just, according to the power and resurrection of Christ..." What could be more proper order than to restore a Mothers baby whom was growing in her womb, underneath her heart? The Spirit has whispered to my soul that this is true. I have found great comfort in that knowledge. I know that I have three babies waiting for me in heaven. A dear friend sent me a card at a time when I was struggling with our loss. I would like to share a little snippet from it. "Even though a flower may not bloom, in our hearts we still know the wonder of it's blossom. So it is with your tiny someone..." My angel babies have made me a stronger, better person and I am indeed thankful Heavenly Father sent them to me, even if for only a very short time.

Temper Tantrums Are Exhausting

Boy was Ethan upset with me on Saturday. He wanted to go outside and play but the weather has turned very cold. I told him he had to have his hat and gloves on if he was going to go out and play in the cold. He whined and carried on the whole time I bundled him up. When I was done he told me he "wasn't going outside anymore!!" Then I tried to help him take off his coat. He wouldn't have any of that either. So I went about my business and listened to him scream and cry for about 20 minutes. Eventually I realized it had gotten quiet. I went to check on him and this is what I found. He had fallen asleep right there by our front door, and used a step for a "pillow". It was adorable and heart breaking at the same time. I love this little guy so much it hurts.

A really, really good read!

What is it about the fall that makes you want to snuggle up with a really good book? As far as good books go this is one of my all time favorites. When you pick up INKHEART you really do step into another world. Warning: It's hard to put down and come back to reality. Here's wishing you lots of free time so you won't have to. Happy Reading!!

I love the FALL

I think fall is my favorite season. I love the cooler days and all the warm colors of the changing leaves on the trees. It's such a cozy, snuggly time of year. And of course my favorite holiday comes with it - Halloween. Some of my favorite things about this time of year are... (in no particular order). That perfect crispy crunchy sound you get when you step on those freshly fallen leaves. The smell of pumpkin that comes when you have had a candle burning in your jack o lantern all night. I love that smell. It takes me back to the halloweens when I was a little girl. This equation- a bowl of popcorn, my snuggly cute hubby, and a scary movie (BOO!). Seeing how adorable my kidos are in thier halloween costumes. And last but not least CHOCOLATE!!

MMMMM, Homemade Ice cream

A few weeks ago when we were up in Heber helping my dad clean out my grandparents house we came across an old fashioned ice cream maker. My dad asked me if we wanted it. Uh, YEAH!! So tonight for family home evening we made ice cream. Mark has these awesome raspberry bushes growing along our fence. There are so many yummy raspberries right now so we threw a bunch in along with the other ingredients. It was a big hit! We will have to do it again for sure. Anyway if your up for homemade ice cream here is a great recipe.

1 pt. whipping cream
1 qt. half & half
1 large pkg. instant vanilla pudding
3 1/2 c. sugar
2 to 3 quarts milk
2 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Whip cream until frothy, not stiff. Add half & half and instant pudding: mix for a minute. Add sugar, vanilla, and part of the milk. Pour into freezer can and fill with milk to the fill line. Freeze according to manufacturer's directions.

Conference Weekend - My favorite

I'm just posting this little ditty in honor of conference weekend. I just love General Conference when we get to hear from all of our church leaders. I snuggle in with my family and we eat comfort food. I just love it.

You What??!!!

This afternoon I was busy folding laundry when Hyrum comes running into the house as excited as can be and pleased as punch. "Mom, Mom, guess what?! It's so cool, I just started a fire!!!" My jaw drops. "You just started a what?" "A fire!!" Okay so my first instinct is to freak out. Images of matches, and the fire department spring to mind. But then I realize that Hyrum is much too calm, cool, and collected for there to be a real emergency. Not to rain on his parade I calmly asked him how he started said fire. Seeing my concern he made sure to let me know that he had been very cautious. He did it with a magnifying glass, in the street, with a bucket of water close at hand. I have to say his enthusiasm made me smile. Just know that if a 10 year old boy gets his hands on a magnifying glass there is for sure going to be some combustion and probably a few BBQ'd insects as well. Boys. I love mine, they sure make life interesting and keep me on my toes.