TEARS

Not mine, the children's. Addison got sent to her room for an early nap with no lunch. Lots of tears.

Liam is crying it out. More tears there.

Pre-surgery he was taking 2 hour, uninterrupted naps, and if he did wake up, he'd stir and be able to fall back asleep. Post-surgery he wakes after 45 minutes to an hour. I went in to calm him back down because I thought I had to be extra sensitive with him, who knows if he is in pain. Now he knows I am going to come up when he wakes up, he expects it. Smart little buggars. So I am on a mission to let him figure it out himself. I go back to work next week and it's imperative he goes back to good naps.

I will stand strong. I am currently wearing ear plugs to "drown out" the cries. Go ahead and judge me. I can still hear him, it just doesn't grate on my nerves------as much.

CHURCH HISTORY MUSEUM & TEMPLE SQUARE

Have you been there lately? I haven't, not since before kids I think. They have added a kid's section, which is really cool because it's interactive. The only part about it I didn't like was the parents who let their children run amok and don't make them clean up their messes they make. I'm judgey like that. But I feel I have a right to be, especially since I cleaned up the messes those kids made at 3 different stations. Slovenly I tell you.

But it was a good time for the little family. Addison loved it almost as much her her father did.

So miss Addie does this stinky eye face lately, kind of like a pirate face. It's horrible when you want to get decent picture of her, but it sure makes us laugh.

Apparently Angel Moroni is now called Angel Noah. At least she got a churchy name in there and didn't call him Angel Kevin.

Did you know Hyrum Smith is Brian's 6th Great Grandfather? We didn't until about 6 or so years ago. This picture makes me laugh because I forced Brian to make a death mask face, and in the bottom of the picture, unbeknownst to me, Addison was doing the same.

ADDIE HAPPENINGS

She is really into painting lately, and she has to hold her palette just like Ruby from her favorite show MAX & RUBY.

Addison has a cousin who is a cheerleader at Taylorsville High and had Addie join her for their annual Mini-Cheer fundraiser. So she went to the HS 3 nights in a row for practice, then performed her little dance and cheer during half time at the basket ball game.

Here she is in her practice gear, AKA her butt crack pants. Brian took her to practice and texted me during and said, "Addie's pants are a DISASTER!" Apparently she was showing crack to everyone all night long. She has no hips.

The night of the performance was a train wreck! We had to wake her up from her nap early to get her off to dress rehearsal. So she was crying and I promised her I would bring her dinner before she danced and afterwards we would go out for ice cream. Well, food is the only thing on that kid's mind. So the entire dress rehearsal was spent with her crying for food and ice cream and would NOT participate. Brian was so frustrated. By the time I got there with food he was ready to take her home. If it hadn't been for the fact that her Grandma & Grandpa and Aunts and Uncles all came especially to watch her dance, he would have. And he had serious doubts of her even doing the dance.

But, as soon as she marched out onto the floor and saw her Azure (her cousin, she calls me, "my Azure") and then all her family, she beamed and pulled through. And since, we can't stop her. It's, "We got the spice, we got the groove, we'll show you what it takes to move. GO WARRIORS!" Oh boy! What have I gotten myself into?

Addie- "Mom, I have a angry heart."
Me- "Why do you have an angry heart?"
Addie-"Because Jesus didn't give me a happy heart."

MAGIC

Being forced into playing "Restaurant" isn't on his list of favorite things to do.

Addison thinks our garage door is magic. Really, it is. I mean, you press a button and it opens up. You press the same button again and it closes. MAGIC! It's a small miracle for us in our life because well, since moving in to this house, we've never had a garage door opener. A garage, yes. An automatic, opener? Well, that would be me, or Brian. I quite like it. And so, the only way to really describe the automatic garage door opener would be magic. Things that are just so wonderful and so amazing and make you think of rainbows with pots of gold at the end and unicorns and ponies, isn't that word to describe all of that magic? Like beyond your imagination? yes, it's magic.

So Liam is 3 months old on Feb 2nd. What a joy he is. Yes, he has a look of concern on his face quite often. As my sister Lindsey would call it, "the perpetual worried look." Not as much as his eldest sister had. She could and still does, shoot the biggest crusties this side of the Mississippi. BUT! You can get a grin and a laugh out of him a little easier than Addison, unless you made her smell her stinky toes-that one always got a gut laugh out of her. That laugh just tickles my toes. Almost like it's too much for him to bear. "Seriously mom, you're going to make me pee my pants. Oh wait, I already did that." It's the cutest thing.

Like I said before, he's just turned 3 months and it's just so much fun. At the surgeon's office 2 weeks ago he was already weighing in at 13 lbs. Quite the big boy. "I wasn't fat, I was husky." Addison was 14 pounds at 4 months, I think he's going to outgrow his clothing a bit quicker that she did. He's got the chunkiest little thighs that I love to squeeze. And sometimes I grit my teeth so hard to refrain from squeezing him or biting him. He's that delicious I just want to bite him sometimes. So if you ever see bite marks on him, it's only me showing my affection to him, I'm not abusing him or anything.

Liam sleeps through the night. I put him down at about 8:15 and he sleeps until 7:30. I know in a month when we start him on rice cereal that he'll be able to go down even earlier, what with getting more calories in during the day. He's such a champ. Seriously, babies sleeping through the night is MAGIC. I can't describe it any other way. All my baby sleep books say that for a newborn, making a 5 hour stretch during the night is considered sleeping through the night, and that at this point, he should be able to make it 8. PSHT! That is not sleeping through the night my friend. Maybe for an adult. Sleeping through the night, in my book, is defined as putting your child to bed hours to before you hit the hay, so that you may eat bon-bons, parked on the couch watching DVR episodes of GRAY'S ANATOMY, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES & UGLY BETTY, and then said child does not wake up until after you've rubbed the sleep bugs from your eyes and possibly have gotten out of the shower. That's sleeping through the night. And that, my friends, is MAGIC? What could get better that this? Could there be anything better than this you ask? Oh yes-that your older child also goes to bed at the same time as earlier mentioned child and sleeps just as long, if not longer on some mornings, and then patiently waits for breakfast while you feed the smallest one his breakfast. That is pure, heavenly, magically delicious-MAGIC. And I like it.

FUNNIES

At least to me.

So lately, there were lots of GUN SHOW signs all around West Valley (they really know their market), particularly on bus stops, and every time we pass by I can't help but say, "2 tickets to the GUN SHOW!" In a really loud, very red neck type voice. And EVERY time I say it, Addison pipes up, "Mom, I want to go to the gun show, let's go to the movies mom!"

I have a Valley Girl. Every morning, every TIME she sees Little Liam, she says in her most Valley Girl voice, "Mom, he is such, such, such adorable."

Coming out of Target last week, the wheel on our shopping cart kind of got stuck and wouldn't spin and made that horrible skidding sound and really loud she says, "UUUUGGGGHHHH! FREAKING CART!" That one may have gotten a gut laugh.

At my parents the other night my mom had just finished showing her all the "new" toys she has for the grand kids (some of Ginger's old toys she donated to Granny's toys for the kids). Mom had gone upstairs, I was on the phone and she says to my Dad, "Where did all these toys come from?" Dad tells her and she says, "Uh, it's a load of crap!"

She has been making up words lately, like Ewok type sounds/words, like guttural noises coming from the back of her throat. Sometime she does make a Chewbacca noise, it makes me laugh. Recently her words are GWOP, GGGWWWWOOOOPPPPP! Or Feische (fye-ssshhh). And you ask her what "Feische" is and she throws us a gang sign and says, "THIS is feische." But the best one yet was HERPE. Yup, Herpe. As in I've got Herpes. It comes from HURRY. She kept telling me to hurry and eventually it transformed into HERPE.

And on a side note, since being home on maternity leave, her need to have a snack all the time has grown exponentially. It's really getting annoying. All day long she asks for a snack, or a treat. She still has Halloween & Christmas candy, so she's always asking for that. It's funny how on days we're busy doing fun stuff, like making crafts or just really playing with one another all day, instead of me letting her do her own thing, she doesn't ask for much food. A year ago she was always saying, "My Hungry Mom." Now it's, "Mom, my tummy is starving." And sometimes, "I'm freaking hungry mom!"

"I'M IN LOVE, I'M IN LOVE AND I DON'T CARE WHO KNOWS IT!"

Today a little guy was getting fresh up on my neck. That's right, he was necking me, and earlier today he was whispering sweet nothings into my ear. And sometimes, I have to tell him, "No frenchies," because he likes to kiss me with his mouth open.

For reals, having a baby in your house in the best feeling in the whole world. Nothing beats the spirit that resides with this little one. I'm really in love with this little guy. I think his Dad might be a little bit jealous.

Holy Germs Batman!

Oh wow-we've hit an all-time low for grossness and hoarding. On Saturday Brian was called over to his Dad's house to get his bags of toys and journals and odds and ends that have been sitting in his Dad's attic for quite some time now. Between Brian's stuff and his sister's stuff it filled the back of his brother in law's truck. Oh boy! Luckily, most of that load was Trisha's treasures to wade through. Brian made it home with a couple of boxes and bags full of things.

Hmmm, things. Through the plastic bags I spied the entire set of Castle Grayskull. I'm sure we'll be recycling some He-Man collectibles on to Liam for Christmas in several years. He'll be none the wiser. But then I spied an old cool whip container, a tooth brush. Really? Thankfully I didn't stay out in the garage as Brian waded his way through his childhood, but he did grab me when he found a few gems worthy to share.

Ah, the retainer. The piece of equipment that donned his mouth for so many years, that helped shape that toothy smile that I love so much. But really, it was saved with his memorabilia? I still have my retainer, but only because I still WEAR my retainer. This thing looks like it's been sitting, stashed away since his freshman year, and he'll be 33 this April. Ew.

Brian quickly wanted to dispose of it but I would not let him. "I'm going to take a picture of it and blog about it!" "Ew, you're disgusting. Why would you do that?" "Because I'm disgusting and think it's funny that you still had this, complete with the dried up saliva still gracing the retainer box."

The thing that is the most funny about this though, is the fact that just 2 days earlier, I told Brian that I really needed to buy a retainer box. My retainer just sits on a shelf behind my bathroom mirror. It doesn't gross me out, but it grosses Brian out. Sometimes I even will leave it on top of the microwave, while I eat breakfast. It really makes him want to vomit if he spies it out in the open. I must get that from my Grandma Savage. I'd often go to her house as a little girl and her teeth would be sitting out on top of her microwave.

When he called me out to the garage to behold his treasures untold, he said, "I found a box for your retainer!"

Oh wow.

Addison was about a little younger in her picture, but boy do these kids look similar. I think it's those caterpillars that are dancing across their foreheads. And Liam is a bit chunkier that Addison.

Liam had his 2 month check up last week and weighs in at 12 pounds 23.5 inches. 70% for his height, 60% for his weight, and 17% for his head.

At Addison's 2 month check up she was the same height but only 10 pounds, and had a larger head.

CHRISTMAS 2009

Wow-I'm super lame. These are the only Christmas pictures I got. And the ones of the kids are 4 days after Christmas. I blame it on my Grandma. She had to go dying on me on Christmas morning. I had just finished feeding the baby when I rushed down to the kitchen to answer my cell phone. I really thought it was going to me my mom telling me the bad news. But it was Angie. Hm, 8 am, calling me? Whatever. Then she said Grandma had died and I started crying. She then said, "Have you not opened your Christmas presents yet?" "No." "I'm so sorry!" It was okay. I knew she was going to pass on Christmas Day, I knew it, even before our long Christmas eve night with her. She just love Christmas so much and I knew she would wait til after they opened presents. But she couldn't wait. She passed sometime before 7 am. Even though we were prepared for her passing, nothing prepares for the sudden feeling of loss you will experience. And even though I KNOW I will see her again, it still doesn't make the loss any easier. We're human. But-Grandma did open a gift on Christmas eve. Angie bought her some comfy, warm socks and opened them for her. She wanted to put them on her while she was in bed so she would be warm and Mom quickly said, "No, no, she HATES to wear socks to bed." Even though Grandma could not communicate, she would have hated it so Mom respected that.

Christmas morning really was a very peaceful and beautiful one, one I will never forget. There's nothing better than Christmas with a newborn. When Addie was 3months old we had Christmas and it just felt so special. My Mother in law gave me a little board book called THE FIRST CHRISTMAS about the Savior's birth, and I bawled like a baby when I opened it that year. I just felt the sacredness of that little baby, much like I'm sure Mary felt on that Christmas Day Christ was born. And again, I felt that special feeling this year with Liam, and knowing that my Grandmother was with our Savior. As we opened gifts for one another I would find myself crying. Every once in a while Brian would look over and give me a little reassuring smile. All was right. I was with my family and Grandma was finally in peace.

Liam got a floor gym. We were smarter this year with a new baby that they don't need anything. We went over board with Addison at this age. We got him a few toys since Addie didn't have many to pass on to him, this gym, and some 3-6 month clothes. I was busting at the seams to give him this gym. It wasn't so much a present for him but FOR ME! Selfish, I know. But I get to be.

Here's the man with the kids. Addie has her good and bad days with pictures. This day would be a bad day. I love that kid.

On another note. At my Grandmother's viewing last week she was running around the mortuary saying, "What the hell!" My nieces and nephews came running to me. I asked her, "Addison, what are you saying?" And in a matter of fact way, not skipping a beat, in her high pitched, cute little voice said it again. I whisked her upon my lap and tried very hard to explain to her that we don't say that. Then I threw her face over my should and silently laughed, while my sisters did the same. Later I said, "Where did she learn that?" Angie says, "Uh, Laurel, I heard you say that today! You say that all the time." I confess, I do. It's kind of my thing I say to be funny, especially around Angie. I guess it's not so funny when your 3 year old starts saying it. I thought I only said it when she wasn't listening, or when I thought she wasn't listening. Those kids and their big ears. She's cramping my style.

Blessing Day

We blessed our little Liam at church yesterday. What a great Sunday! I had all 6 siblings of mine, plus 2 of Brian's, both our parents and nieces and nephews there in attendance, so that made the day even better for me, to be surrounded by all our family. So you can imagine quite the brood that showed up to church. Had our families not been there, I think our chapel would have looked pretty sparse.

In my picture collage, I'd like you to think that we're a happy, loving family all the time with the most perfect kids, but that's not reality. The bottom left picture pretty much shows how we really are. Liam was screaming, Brian was thinking, "Get me outta here!", I'm laughing, and Addison is being difficult. I didn't post the first pictures we started taking because, well, they were a little TOO revealing! Addie would not stand for a picture. I had to hoist her up! She wouldn't turn around, just being silly, wait, bratty. My dress was a little low on top to begin with, but add a wiggling/flailing child to the mix, and well, some things were heaving out of my dress. It was pretty immodest to say the least. That Addison. We threatened her to not go to Sunbeams-it didn't work. Later last night we were talking about how naughty she was being at church for pictures and she said, "I was just being shy-I didn't want my picture."

Wow! Getting ready for 9 am church with 2 kids-kill me now! I don't know how the moms in the ward do it with more that what I have. It wasn't a problem being ready on time yesterday, it was that both of our kids were crying/screaming/throwing tantrums ALL morning while trying to get ready. The spirit was not with me. And all I could think about was how thankful I was for not doing anything after with the family. Our house just cannot accommodate our large family. We just had Christmas together, and then we have funeral stuff today and tomorrow for my Grandma, it was just too, too much. And even though I felt like we ditched everyone after sacrament meeting, and it just didn't feel right to NOT get together, it was so nice to NOT get together. We just spent the afternoon together, just the 4 of us. It really was a Great Sunday! Brian pulled through with an amazing blessing, as always, and we had a family there around us.

The Grand America Hotel has a display of really big, ornate Gingerbread houses. It's basically a village. It was neat to see the amazing things people do with some cookies and icing.

One thing's for sure, Addison is never lacking for attention when she is around Angie's boys. They love her so much and she loves them back. We got Angie's christmas card in the mail last week and Addie was pointing to each of the boys and telling me who they were. She got to Spencer and said, 'And that's Spencer. He's my favorite friend because he jumps on the trampoline with me.' Then last night while we were eating dinner, Adds and Spenc were sitting next to one another. Angie asked Addie who was next to her. She said, "Oh, that's just my favorite friend."

Addie got tired while listening to the Nativity she kneeled down on the sidewalk. Her buddy Bryant was right there by her side.

GLAMOUR SHOTS-by DEB

One thing is for sure, It's never a dull time with Angie's family. Those boys are the biggest hoot.

Bryant, Angie, Logan, Spencer, Boyd and Addie. Doesn't this picture just look perfect? See, Angie, your family needs a little girl of their own. It just fits.

TEMPLE SQUARE

My family had soup and fresh, hot, home made bread at my mom's house last night. Then we all bundled up and headed down town to see the lights. We were all supposed to meet up but no one was able to. By the time we'd all gotten there it was just too crowded to find one another. So Addison and myself hung out with Angie's crew all night. It was a BLAST!

It was so foggy (stupid inversion, but made for some neat-0 pictures). We all sat down below the temple and decided to have a quiet moment and think about what the temple meant to us. Logan was the only one taking the task seriously. You can tell in the pictures. He's always been such a sweet, thoughtful, meaningful little boy. I love this quality in him. Bryant and I were too busy doing GLAMOUR SHOTS BY DEB.

BE STILL MY HEART

Oh wow-this little man has taken me hostage. I don't think it's going to be a matter of him being a momma's boy, I think I am going to be the other way around. I am smitten by this little child of mine.

If these eyes go brown, oh boy-I'm in trouble!

Liam met his Great Grandma Smith today (Brian's grandmother). He was rockin' his Rancid "Drooligans" shirt and his little socks that look like he's wearing red and black checkered vans, thanks to his Auntie Natalie. They rock.

IT'S A MARSHMALLOW WORLD

The kitchen is cleaned, the floor swept and mopped. Brian is out in the garage trying to assemble and then attempt to install a garage door opener, Addison is playing on the laundry basket, telling me she's got muscles in her stomach that make her strong and strong bones. She's also doing LEG UPS. I think she means sit ups. Liam is lying on the couch next to me screaming, and I am blogging, listening to Christmas music, and thinking about how much I love my family and this time of year.

On Saturday I took some quick pictures for Angie's family to send out Christmas cards. It really was quick, like less than an hour, and thank goodness because it was freaking cold.

It's always a hoot taking their pictures-I have the funniest nephews around. Bryant is a mini Angie, he'll do anything for a chuckle. Gots to love him!

Sissy Lindsey just posted about her favorite Christmas memories, which was a blog of mine in the making, she just beat me to it.

So here are my favorite Christmas memories, in no particular order:

-1995. I was a sophomore and Ginger was a senior at Olympus. Our loving, trusting, very naive mother let us drive her car, the beloved Silver Bullet, God rest it's soul, after school to our jobs or hanging out with friends, and sometimes, to school. It was the night of our choir Christmas concert. Ginger and I drove the silver bullet up to the school for the performance, mom and dad took the van. Mom had been Christmas shopping all month long and just keeping all of the purchases in the trunk of the car. "DON'T open the trunk!" Rrrrriiiggghhhht, do you know who you're talking to? After we sang Ginger and I popped that puppy open and dug through all our presents. It was then I got one of my BEST presents ever! Doc Marten greased black boots. I was in heaven. Mom stopped shopping at Kmart & shopko that year as well, and we found all our Old Navy clothes, which we thought she was the coolest mom ever.

-I don't know the year, but it had to be around 1990 maybe? Sisters, help me out. Grandma Hansen always mailed our presents early since she lived in Logan and we didn't see her til the day after Christmas. Mom was against putting presents under the tree unless they were from people outside our immediate family. So Grandma's presents always went under the tree and they sat there, for several weeks, taunting us. Our cousin Krista, also from the Hansen side of our family, was over, and she taught Ginger and I an art that would come in handy for many years to come; opening the presents with such precision, and carefulness, as to not rip the paper, peeking at what you got, and then re-wrapping them and no one would ever be the wiser. It was this year that we found out Grandma had bought us a Nintendo and slipper socks. Grandma, why even bother with the slipper socks, the Nintendo is good enough.

-1992. I was twelve. Angie had been dating Boyd. We knew they might get married, and Boyd popped the question on Christmas eve while they were at his family's christmas dinner. They drove up to my Aunt Diane's house up little cottonwood canyon where we were partying to tell us the good news. When they walked in they were hand in hand and Angie had her other hand behind her back. They said they had an announcement and I just started bawling. And they weren't tears of joy. I was really mad and really sad that I was going to be losing my sister. Little did I know I was going to get the best brother and the best nephews.

-1992. Same christmas as above. Mom and Dad knew in advance Boyd was going to ask Angie to marry him and a wedding would be coming up. Christmas day we all take turns opening presents. We start with 1 kid and then go either up or down in birth order, each person opening 1 present at a time. Mom and Dad always open their presents after we're all through with ours. Our presents are all piled under the tree, so usually the youngest would search through the pile (it was huge-there was 7 of us kids), find presents with your name on it and pass them out. Oh, don't worry, my mom decides she wanted to be funny and pull a prank on us. Don't ask me why. She came up with a system in her head of switching tags on presents. So, for instance, if the tag said to Angie, it was really to Laurel. If it said to Laurel, it was really for Natalie. She tried keeping it straight, she thought she'd written down her "system," but failed miserably. So that Christmas I opened up pots and pans meant for Angie. Angie opened up a Karaoke machine meant for me. Ginger opened up little boys under pants. She was roaring with laughter-we didn't think it was funny. I remember near crying when I opened up pots, thinking, "What the hell is this?" Ok, I didn't think that back then, I was only 12, but really. It would have worked once we got into it, we would have figured out the system, but mom got confused at some point wrapping all those gifts. So when we opened a crappy gift, Mom would have to say, "Now wait a minute, wait a minute, that was for Natalie."

Lindsey pointed out that since mom got confused, she ended up not buying enough gifts for Ginger and took her shopping the next day to make up for her crappy Christmas.

*Really, it wasn't crappy. Obviously, because I wouldn't be writing it as being one of my favorite Christmases. It just shows how funny my mom is.

-1996. Mom wised up and stopped keeping all our presents in the trunk of the car, and hid them in her closet under a blanket. Really? Really? When my kids are old enough to be little you-know-whats, I'm going to put the presents under lock and key. So Mom was at work, I got home from school early, went into her room and pillaged all of the presents, which included me trying on all the clothes she bought me.

Wasn't I the biggest brat? It makes her sad to hear that we peeked at all our presents. I don't know why. I would just be angry at my bratty kids, not sad. They were still surprises to me, just a little early.

This Christmas I think will be another Christmas I will always remember. Not only because it's another Christmas with a new baby, Liam's 1st Christmas, but we may be having a funeral for my Grandma Savage. In a way I don't want her to die. But like my Dad said yesterday, "If we knew what was on the other side for us, we'd all be killing ourselves to get there." I really think that's why we don't know what it's like. So many people are afraid to die and don't want their loved ones to die. But it's a relief for the soul. "what a wonderful thing is death, really, when all is said and done. It is a majestic, quiet passing, from this life, to another life, a better life. We go to a place where we will not suffer as we have suffered here, but where we will continue to grow, accumulating knowledge and developing and being useful under the plan of the Almighty made possible through the atonement of the Son of God." Apparently I shared this with my mom. But I have no recollection of it. It's nice. I don't know who said it. But I like it.

So there are a few of my favorite Christmases.

NOW EXCEPTING YOUR LETTER OF RESIGNATION

I have a problem with misspelled, misused words and grammar errors. It's fine if it's me, because heaven knows this blog is full of them, but I'm not a professional blogger and getting paid to do so. I do have a problem when companies make mistakes and pulish it for all to see.
Like the local Holiday Oil on 5400 South and 5600 West. Mmmmm, I think I'd fire that employee. I ALMOST went in to the store to tell them the error of their ways, because that's just something I enjoy doing (like at the movies, I am the first to run out to the manager and tell them the sound isn't matching up with the actor's lips-must come from my days of working at Movies 10 in sugar house)-but I had the wee ones in the car with me. I didn't want to drag them into the convenience store or leave them in the car like and get arrested for child endangerment.

I then took the mini for a sudsy. Apparently someone didn't want their headphones OR their shorts.

I took Addie to the mall last week to get her picture with a cross eyed Santa. I considered scanning the photo and share with the rest of the world the goofy looking Santa, but it might be rude to make fun of the man who spreads joy to little girls and boys. For once, I am erring on the side of caution. I know-what's becoming of me? Anyway, they gave Addie free cotton candy. She was in heaven and I was covered in sticky pink stuff the rest of the afternoon; she kept rubbing up against me while we were shopping.

Side note: remember your stroller at the mall when you want to go shopping with a 5 week old and a 3 year old. Needless to say, I didn't do much shopping, my arm was about to fall off from the car seat.

DIRTY SOCKS PART DEUX

At least they're just dirty socks. So are you ready for it? I am a former, well, semi-former, bum pincher. Blame it on my Grandma Ginger, who would always do a little 'Burk, Burk!' on our hinies if ever we were in front of her. And from there, it was just a massive snow ball effect. Giant I'm telling you. Just ask anyone person from the Olympus High Student body from the years of 1995-1998 who got their cabooses goosed in a crowded hallway. Well, not any student body, just the male variety.

I love to pinch bums, especially to unassuming, unsuspecting people. It gets the greatest reaction and I get the biggest thrill as I try to act innocent and keep from busting out laughing or even just a smile from spreading across my face. The look on goosee's face really is the best present because really, what are you thinking? "Wow-that felt great!" "What the-" "Who?" "I knew someone liked my bum as much as I like it!" And also, the look of their eyes darted back and forth, to and fro, hither and thither, trying to figure out who just got a handful of their backside.

I got my 2 best girl friends in high school to get the same thrill out of goosing as I did. It was always fun riding in Heather's car if you were in the back seat. You could always goose through the driver's (or passenger's for that matter) seat from the back. Just goose through the crack in the chair where the back of the seat and the seat of the seat meet. All time surprise for the driver! Just be careful not to goose when the driver is following closely behind someone on the road, because the reaction is the right foot hits the gas pedal just a little harder, accelerating the car just a tad.

I'm telling you, I goosed throughout my entire 3 years at Olympus, always with a vow to goose a teacher before I graduated. And goose a teacher I did-on graduation day! Not only was it just a teacher, it was my math teacher I'd had for the past 2 years. It was planned-not like I stalked him through HS and planned my attack with precision. We were lined up in the hall of the Huntsman center getting ready to march. We were packed in their like sardines! Lots of teachers were pushing through the seniors, trying to yell instructions, and there he was, my teacher, within pinching distance of my fingers. I just had to reach through the crowd a bit-and BAM! I did it! He looked all around and couldn't figure out what happened or who it was. Was it deliberate, and accident? He'll never know. But I did it, mission accomplished. I got terrible grades my senior year, failed a class, had to do extra credit just to barely graduate. But if nothing else, I pinched my teacher's bum-all was right with my high school career.

Come to think of it-I think I get where the FEELS-R-US man is coming from. Sorry, Nat, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

DIRTY LAUNDRY

So my little sister aired some of her dirty laundry, or her dirty little secrets on her blog and encouraged the rest of us to share theirs as well.

We all have our little things we do or watch or say that we don't want the general public knowing, and by general public, anyone outside of your home. So why would I be blogging about it? Because it's funny to share yours and in turn, your friends share theirs.

It it a common known fact around my close family and friends that I love trashy television. Namely, MTV trashy television shows. I have watched REAL WORLD, ROAD RULES, LAGUNA BEACH, NEWPORT HARBOR, THE CITY. I love DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, GRAY'S ANATOMY. At one point, it was a long list of DVR "Set to Record" programs on my television. And every night, after Addison would go to bed, my shows would begin. It was an addiction. And I would cycle through these addictions. In addition to my trashy tv, I also had/have other programs on there as well, including ER when it was on, SURVIVOR, UGLY BETTY; really, the list goes on and on.

Through the years my "cycling" of the addiction would be me deleting recording because the show didn't do anything for me, it was just a time waster, and really, the shows were just that, trashy. So I would delete them, only to cave several weeks later and maybe just record 1 show, or completely cave and re-set the series recording. Pathetic, I know. But I've gotten better lately. I have completely deleted all of my MTV recordings, and only now have DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (I blame my sister Natalie on this one), GRAY'S, SURVIVOR, UGLY BETTY and LAW & ORDER SPECIAL VICTIM'S UNIT. Since having the little Liam, I've also added OPRAH & ELLEN. That's just what I do when I am at home with the new babies. I watched these 2 programs when I was home with Addison as well, but I will delete the recordings as soon as I go back to work.

So, there is just one of my many dirty little secrets. Stay tuned for my next one, it was spurred on by my sister Natalie's recent post on her blog found here.

And I can't post without adding some pictures.

Thanksgiving at my parent's house last week. Nice and relaxing, only 2 of my siblings and their families. I heart everything about Thanksgiving because Thanksgiving dinner is my favorite kind of meal.

From Left to right, Bottom row: My stunning mother, Linda, my husband, Brian, Ryan Martineau (married to Lindsey).

Top Row: Camie Hansen (married to Ryan, my brother), Ethan, Ryan, Hannah, My Dad, Lynn, My Addison, Me & Liam, Ben, Lindsey & Ellie.

Camie is pregnant with her 3rd baby, a girl, due in March, and Lindsey is pregnant with her 3rd as well, due in February. We don't know the gender of her baby because they want to be surprised. They are lame. I tried convincing her to get the gender of the baby put in a envelope and for her to just let me see it, but she wouldn't do it. I HATE surprises!

Gobble Gobble

To gear up for Tukey Day, Addie and I did several crafts, including a pilgrim hat, her Indian Princess feather headdress, and a turkey hat.

While getting ready to go and decided on which hat she would choose, she also had a tough decision to make: what type of braids to wear with her hat? Indian Princess braids, a Princess Fiona Braid (from SHREK, it has to have TWO elastics, 1 at the top and 1 at the bottom), or another set of braids to go with her turkey hat.

Well, she opted for the turkey hat and as I was getting ready to braid her hair, she informed me, "Mom, you have to make turkey braids." Ok, turkey braids it is, which is identical to her Indian Princess braids, which happen to just be 2 braids.

With no nap she fell asleep on the drive home, with chocolate pie smeared across her face. That's my girl.