Flashback Friday

Here is my family just after I was born. Notice the lovely blue mohair cushion I am sitting on. This is our only official family picture. My dad still has a beard but mercifully it has been trimmed up throughout the years.

SPT

This week's challenge:

Go on a scavenger hunt for the following "L" words: Lavender, Lips, Little, Lunch, Laughter, and Light.

LAVENDER

At first I thought I had nothing in my house with lavender in it. Imagine my surprise when I discovered my favorite Bath & Body Works scent (Moonlight Path), was "infused with lavender extract." I had no idea. Can you tell I am kind of obsessed with it. I currently have Moonlight Path bubble bath, body cream, perfume, body spray, soap and hand lotion.

LIPS

I don't wear a lot of make-up. Mostly because I have no idea how to apply it. However, the one piece of make-up I always wear is lipstick. I get this from my mother who has used the same shade of lipstick (Copper Glaze Brown) for as long as I can remember. I also have many memories of bits of paper and napkins around the house with lipstick blotches on them. I am sure my kids will grow up with those memories also.

LITTLE

Right now we have lots of little things around our house. Little diapers, clothes, shoes. But my favorites are these.

LUNCH

This is what I had for lunch today. Pretty much every Tuesday I have Salmon. This is because I weigh in every Tuesday night at church for our "Biggest Loser" competition. You will notice however that my will power was sorely lacking today because I stopped and bought a 32 oz. Dr. Pepper. I don't think my weigh in will go so well tonight.

LAUGHTER

Since I couldn't figure out how to get a candid shot of myself laughing, I decided to take a picture of Jackson. I knew I could count on him. You can illicit this response from him most often by tickling or by watching Tom & Jerry.

LIGHT

Here is a picture of me lighting my favorite candle. You will notice it is almost out and I don't think I will be able to purchase another one. I purchased this one from Pier 1 on clearance and cannot find it again. So sad.

Snow Day

Today we went to Mt. Charleston to play in the snow. It is amazing to me that we can travel 45 minutes and the weather can be so drastically different. Since my kids have grown up here they are definitely not used to the cold weather. I was worried we would have lots of complaining, but they were having too much fun to even realize it was cold outside.

Megan and Jackson didn't notice the cold, but as you can tell by Sadie's face, she sure did. She adjusted after a few minutes and ended up falling asleep.

Luckily we still had gloves, hats, and coats that fit everyone. The only thing we were missing were boots. The kids definitely had cold, red feet by the time we were finished.

Mt. Charleston has gotten quite a bit of snow the last week so there was lots of undisturbed powdery snow to sink into.

Jackson, Megan and I built a snowman. Isn't he cute? I have not built a snowman in years. Building the snowman was my favorite part, Megan's was sledding, Jackson's was having a snow ball fight and Eric says his favorite was seeing everyone have fun together (Isn't he sweet?). We definitely had a lot of fun.

SPT-Self-Portrait Tuesday

This week's SPT question:

What do you turn to when you need a quick pick me up?

When I am having a stressful day, nothing makes me happier than turning on my favorite music, singing along, and of course dancing. If I am in the car you can bet my music is turned up loud and I am singing my heart out. I enjoy it so much that I don't even care if people in other cars are making fun of me.

Family Visits

This last weekend we had family in town. It was Sadie's baby blessing so Eric's parents flew in from Washington, and his brother Todd came from Arizona to stay with us. On Saturday, after a marathon shopping session at Wal-Mart and Costco (without kids - it is so nice to have family in town to watch them), we all went to Hoover Dam. We have been there a few times, and I am always amazed and a little bit frightened by it.

In this picture you can see the bridge they are building across Hoover Dam. SCARY. You will also notice Megan giving me rabbit ears. Isn't it so funny how all kids love doing this (And I am sure even some adults).

Here is a picture of all of us. Notice Megan on her Grandpa's shoulders. Right after this picture was taken I forced her to get down. I just could not take the stress.

On Sunday we had Sadie's baby blessing. My mom and her husband, along with Eric's cousin, and some good friends were able to be there with us. I wasn't sure what to expect since my other two kids were not blessed, but everything went fine. It was a good day, and we were so happy so many people could be there. Here are a couple of pictures.

Flashback Friday

For those of you who grew up during the time I did, I am sure you remember a little movie called Wayne's World. My best friend Kate and I loved the movie so we decided to dress up like Wayne and Garth for Halloween. Here is a picture of us at our High School Halloween dance when we were Sophomores. It was honestly one of the best Halloween's I have ever had. I love dressing up.

SPT-Self-Portrait Tuesday

This week's SPT challenge:

The other day, I was in my _____________, and I noticed this _______________. My only thought was, "Why do I still have this hanging around my house?!?"

This past week I don't know what has come over me but I have been organizing and throwing things away like crazy. However, when I read this SPT I realized I clearly had forgotten to throw something away that desperately needed to be.

So:

The other day, I was in my kitchen, and I noticed this bowl of Halloween candy. My only thought was, "Why do I still have this hanging around my house?!?"



I do realize that Halloween was 4 months ago, but somehow this giant orange bowl has been allowed permanent residence on my refrigerator. It has been refilled with some Christmas candy, but now all that is left is the candy nobody in my house wants to eat. So today I am throwing it away. Of course, I will have to wait until the kids go to bed, or you know I will hear desperate pleading to keep it.

Flashback Friday

This picture was taken July of 1999. During this time Eric and I weren't married yet, had just finished college, and were getting ready to move to Salt Lake. That summer we spent a lot of time riding this motorcycle and hanging out. This picture was taken at Tony Grove up Logan Canyon in Logan, Utah. I love this picture because it shows Eric with a beard. If you know Eric this is totally out of character for him, but for some reason he decided to grow one for a few months. I would like to see him in one again, but I don't think it is going to happen. I am just happy I have pictures to document it.

31 Things About Me

31 Things About Me

Here it goes. Anyone that hasn't done this yet, I would love to hear your answers.

1.If your doctor told you TODAY that you were pregnant, what would you say?
I would probably pass-out from shock and then ask if I was artificially inseminated after giving birth 3 weeks ago.

2. When was the last time you flew in a plane? May 2006 to Seattle

3. What did the last text message you sent say? I have not mastered texting.

4. What features do you find most attractive in the opposite sex? Butt, hands

5. What is a goal you would like to accomplish in the near future? Become fearless.

6. Shoe size? 5 ½-6

7. Been to Mexico? Yes. We went with Eric’s family in 2006 to Cabo.

8. When is the last time you had a massage? Never. I would be too uncomfortable having someone touch me.

9. What was the last TV show you watched? Biggest Loser. I also watched a little bit of Tom & Jerry with the kids.

10. What are your plans for the weekend? We always go out on Saturday nights. Then on Sunday, watching the Superbowl with friends.

11. If your significant other asked you to marry them TODAY what would you say? Of course. I fall more and more in love with Eric every year. But I would take more pictures this time.

12. What is in the back seat of your car right now? 3 car seats, and lots of little toys and papers from the kids.

13. What were you doing at 8 am this morning? I was asleep. Eric was feeding the kids breakfast.
14. If you could marry any celebrity today who would it be? Phil Vassar.

15. Have you ever been to a strip club? Totally.

16. What is the best ice cream flavor? Chocolate with raspberries.

17. What is the last sporting event you watched? NY Giants/Green Bay football game.

18. Ever go camping? No. I am not a camper.

19. Last phone call? Rachael. I just got good news from her.

20. Are you allergic to anything? Dust, pollen. When I was little I was allergic to milk.

21. What is one thing you have learned about life recently? More awareness that you need to weather bad times with patience and love.

22. What do you do at work? Stay at home mom. Lots of cleaning and cooking.

23. What is your mom's name? Myra

24. Ever cried for no reason? I am not much of a crier, except when pregnant.

25. Can you do the Crank Dat dance? Of course. I am also excellent at the running man, and cabbage patch.

26. What is your favorite color to wear? Black. It seems to flatter everyone.

27. What is the longest plane ride you have ever been on? To Spain. I can’t remember how long it was, but I was really tired when it was over.

28. What is the longest road trip you have ever taken? I hate road trips. 14 hours in the car was my longest. (To Seattle from Utah. To Nebraska from Utah)

29. What are your turn-offs? Mean people. Intolerance.

30. What was your last alcoholic beverage? I don't remember

31. What are you craving right now? Nothing. We just got home from Macaroni Grill and I am stuffed. Usually I crave Dr. Pepper.

SPT-Self-Portrait Tuesday

This week's SPT Challenge:

What if there was a twenty-fifth hour of the day. An hour all to yourself! No commitments, no distractions, no need to sleep. What would you do?

The list of things I could do in this hour is endless. Because I have a new baby who enjoys being held the majority of the day, I can barely keep up with essential housework. If I had more free time I would probably choose reading or watching one of my favorite shows on T.V. However, since I have been pressed for time I would probably choose a project off the list I made yesterday. This list includes:

Clean & Organize Linen Closet

Clean Baseboards

Clean & Organize Pantry

Clean-out junk drawers

Plus a few other equally boring jobs. So if I had an extra hour I would probably do one of these projects. Here is picture of me in front of my very-disorganized pantry.

First Day At Church

Sadie and I finally made it to church today. I couldn't let another Sunday pass by without her wearing one of her cute dresses. With Megan I was very anti-frilly, bows and pink. However now with Sadie all I can say is bring on the girly clothes. Times and feelings change.

Here are a few pictures of the kids today.

She Finally Made It!!!

When I say she finally made it I am not only referring to Sadie (our new baby), but also to myself. This pregnancy was challenging for me so I was anxiously awaiting her arrival. But now she is here and we couldn't be more overjoyed.

She weighed 7 lbs 1 oz at birth and was 19 1/2 inches long. Her name is Sadie Lane McClellan. She is named after both me and Eric. Sadie is a nickname for Sarah, and Lane is Eric's middle name.
We were not sure how Jackson was going to react to a new baby but he has done surprisingly well. Of course, Megan has been waiting for a sister for years, so she has adjusted wonderfully.

Here is a more current picture of Sadie. She is now almost 8 lbs, and has become a lot more alert this last week. She will be 3 weeks old tomorrow.

Lastly, here is a picture of me right before giving birth. I am sure I have mentioned to many of you how many people asked me if I was having twins, and now you know why. My stomach was very, very big this time.