reality tv and shows not really for kids

So I have to say hooray for all of my silly reality tv. This is my first (from start to finish) season of So you think you can dance-and I love it! I could scream like Mary Murphy, but she is the reason tivo is so great. I don't have to hear her. Project Rungay is also back, and another one I am excited for. The other one we watch is Last Comic Standing. Did anyone watch a couple weeks ago with Marcus (the guy from West Jordan, UT) talking about Willy Wonka and how it wasn't necissarily a kids show? His parents would watch the first few minutes with him, and then thinking it was safe, they would leave him alone with creepy Gene Wilder and that was when the show went wrong and scary.

We experienced this with our kids this week. We netflixed The Spiderwick Chronicles for the girls. We actually watched the whole thing with them, but I will get back to that later. It started nice enough, but then goblins and trolls came out, and even the good guys were a bit scary. We would have turned it off, but the girls were so entranced by it, and also we had to let them know that things turned out all right in the end. Poor Isabel even screamed and jumped behind me at one point, but she was the one fighting for me to let her stay downstairs to watch it. The next day, Abby told me that she had a nightmare, about the scary spiders and that I made her stay downstairs in the dark to watch it by herself. Am I a mean mom or what? So here is your warning-don't make your kids watch it alone in the dark.

On a side note, they watched this one easier than they did Wall-E. We took Abby as a treat, because she is finally keeping her bed dry at night!! But the poor girls were bored to death by that movie. It definately wasn't made with kids in mind. It was more like Happy Feet with the "saving the penguins" at the end, but slightly less obnoxious. (Don't get me wrong, I love penguins, sort of like, I'm not racist, I love black people. (I hope you all understand my humor))Anyway, the only thing to keep the kids near us, was the popcorn and soda. I thought the movie was cute, but we really did go with the girl's in mind. That is all my ranting. Go watch some tv and tell me what you like.

Who's child is this anyway?!?!

Neil and I have always determined which child belonged to which parent. Abby has always had somewhat of Neil's personality and a lot of his features, Isabel has always been mine. Now, I don't know if I want to admit that I was that awful for my parents. She has definately hit two, and has hit it hard. She has not limited herself to this, but her favorite thing to do is to get into the pantry and dump out the flour. If she has time, she will try to mix the flour and the sugar. Yes, the pantry is being rearranged, with those things closer to the top. Her other favorite things, as grandmothers will attest, is to pull keys off the computer keyboard, and pour out whatever liquid or gel she can get her hands on. This includes, but again not limited to, shampoo, lotion, diaper cream, syrup, egg dyes, etc.

I'm sure the picture below is one that my mom is very familiar with. I'm finally realizing that I was that awful for my parents. I am also realizing that I am losing my patience with the number two. So, if anyone has any "2" stories they would like to share, please do. Maybe I can award the winner with a candy bar and a coke. Anyway, I need to get back and clean up another possible mess.

TGIF!!

It seems that ever since Neil finished school, we have been doing something every weekend. Back in Arizona, Saturday's were filled with laundry, homework, and house work. I almost feel bad that the girls haven't had a normal Saturday here, at home, but at least I think they are enjoying themselves. We spent the first few weekends at my mom's house. We also went to Lagoon with the fam for birthday's and such, this weekend we went camping for the 4th. We went to Bloomington Lake (near Bear Lake), and it was so beautiful! Thanks, Phil for telling us about it. We missed you, though. We had a place next to the river, which was really nice, except for the bugs. So, if anyone plans a trip, don't forget the bug spray. I think we went through a couple bottles, but luckily we escaped with little to no bites. These are just a couple of my favorites, so I'll try to post the others on facebook. We all had a great time the first day. After one night's sleep, Isabel had had enough. Thus saying, I had had enough. When Isabel gets grouchy she is awful!! But, as you'll see in the pictures, at least she is adorable. We went for a hike the next morning and Isabel was trying to fall asleep on our heads when we carried her on our shoulders. Abby thought she was hilarious when she took a bath in the little washbasin. We got those on Target clearance, and I don't think they were made to be washing tubs, but they worked fine for us. The girls were clean for a whole two minutes!! They got so filthy, but right before we went into the tent, we scrubbed them up in a small tub and they were clean for the night.

So I can look forward to Fridays again like I used to in elementary school when Friday's were full of Urkel, Full House, and Mr. Cooper. I'm glad times have evolved!

Bye bye pacifier, sort of and hopefully.

So here is my cute family. I think everyone is familiar with my girls, but in this picture I also have my sister's kids (minus one). By the way, I miss you already, and am so glad that you came. Abby and Isabel have been asking non stop for their "friends".

Today is the day that we are getting rid of the pacifier for good! We kind of got rid of it back in AZ, but during the move we kind of went back to it. So, today, we finally cut off the top and she won't get it for bed time or even naps. Okay, stressful for me. I know they are bad for the teeth, and it isn't as if I want her to have it. I just don't have the heart to take it away. I think I am being a tough mom when I tell her that she can only have it when she goes to bed, but I am also a wimp and can't handle the crying and screaming, and whining, and hitting and grouchiness. I also try to tell myself that all or most children go through this, but it isn't helping. I hate the pacifier!! I remember when it was Abby that I told myself that Isabel would be off of hers by 6 months old. Okay, obviously that didn't work. Isabel is even more attatched than Abby ever was. She would prefer the pacifier to me any day. Any good mothering ideas are welcome, just not the ones that tell me that I am a bad mom because she isn't already off of it. Yes, I know she is 26+ months old!! I'm trying!! My goal for the end of the day, is not to stop at Walmart and get a new one.

Happy Birthday, Tia

Here's some random pics of my 4th favorite sister. Haha. That was a joke. We miss you Tia, and wish you were closer! We were happy to spend at least a day with you for Leigh's graduation. We're all so glad you are happy in California. Dan is one lucky guy. Make sure he knows that!! I know all of your nieces and nephew love you to death. When we called, she wanted to say Happy Birthday, but Sonya's name just got in the way. We love you. Happy Birthday!! Have a good one!

more posts

I had actually forgotten about this picture, and how much I wanted to show them off. This is the type of help I get from my children. So I wanted to make a really nice tiered cake for Neil's graduation. Granted it is not the best so what they did, kind of helped me in a way. At least I could blame the fact of it not being the best cake on them, and not necessarily on the fact that I didn't want to spend so much time on it. Oops, secrets out. I'm kind of a lazy baker. I love to bake, but am not willing to spend a whole lot of time on it. This is partially why we do muddy buddies so often. Anyway, I thought the cake was funny because of the face that was put here. These are Isabel's fingerprints, and as soon as she did it, she told me that it was a face. Luckily I had already planned to put stars on in ASU's colors, I guess this helped me to "strategically" place them. (yes, I know I am spelling terribly, but like the lazy baker, I am also a lazy blogger)

Hooray!!

Okay, so the moment you've all been waiting for.....I'm back online. I know you all couldn't wait to see what odd ramblings I have to add, which is really not much. I've gotten out of the habit of blogging, so I really have nothing to say, but I have a few pictures I wanted to post. Here are some fairly old pictures of the girls and their Sharp cousins. This was while we were staying over with Neil's parents. By the way, we miss all of you!! The other two are pretty self explanatory. Neil's graduation. Congrats, babe! We are really proud of you!