Potty on the Brain

Logan loves to play peek-a-boo with Jonah. It is the cutest thing to watch. We have been talking a lot about using the bathroom. (He is still struggling) So today he was playing with Jonah...and he started playing peek-a-boo...but he has changed the words to "pee-an-poo." So very tragic.



AUTHORS NOTE: I took my first test...and got 100% yay me!

A moment of scrubs

Ok..I love scrubs...this is one of my favorites, because it reminds me of my dad. When I was in the hospital, I think it was when I had Logan...my dad thought the pain scale was so funny...the nurse sent him a copy home. It was hilarious.

I admit, I am a snob

I don't know what it is about public transportation. It brings out the inbreds...that's all I can say. Lisa, my mom, Logan, Jonah, Layton and me...we all load onto this train, with not a seat available. This kind older gentleman and his wife gave up their seats so me and Lisa could sit with the boys. It was very sweet. We had a front row view of this crazy lady who sat on the floor and bawled because she had to sit on the floor. She just kept saying "This is not my idea of fun." super. So then this group of (pardon the political incorrectness) special eddy's sits down. There were about 6 of the most ghetto...most special people, with approximately 16 teeth between them. They screamed at each other from Woods cross to salt lake and then from salt lake to clearfield. I wanted to stab them with a pencil. They had 2 little babies with them, one was screaming her little brains out. I picked up a package of yogos out of my purse and asked the mother "Would your baby want some yogos?" She looked at me very strangely and said "Maybe," and took them from me. The baby continued screaming. I looked back and there is this lady eating her baby's yogos. I HATE PEOPLE! It was an interesting trip, but I will wait to ride it again until they start charging a regular fair...hopefully that will clear out some of the riff-raff. (And yes...I admit it, I'm a snob!)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I buy a lot of the things we use a lot bulk. I do this with mashed potato flakes because I use them to thicken creamy potato soup.

I bought the following container several months ago..

and only made soup once, so it was basically full. I have a lot of my bulk items on the bottom shelf in my kitchen because they fit there. Until yesterday, the kids had never bothered them.

I got out of the shower and got dressed, but I couldn't find my nice jeans. I went downstairs to look in the laundry room. As I sorted through things, I heard little feet running. When I walked into the kitchen I saw mounds and mounds of potato flakes. I called out, "Logan?" No answer. I began to follow the trail of potatoes down the hall and into the boys bedroom. I walked into his bedroom to find Logan sitting in the crib with the still sleeping Jonah. Poor little Jonah was covered with a 1/2 inch of powdered potato. It was in his nose and ears. so sad. I picked up Logan and said "Why would you do this?" He said "I made it like Christmas for Jo-dah" (that is what Logan calls Jonah)
I got mad and I may have yelled. Logan burst into tears and said "It's not naughty, it's special." super. So I bent down and apologized for losing my temper, and told Logan we don't use potatoes on anything except for eating...even if it is to make it Christmas-time. He looked at me, gave me a hug and said, "That's ok momma, we bof (both) made a mistake." So super cute. So I thought that was the end of it.
Last night at 11 p.m. after I got my homework done, I was submitting my pay to my work (I bill them for my services basically) I heard walking, but kids aren't up at that time. I put them to bed at 9...so I assumed it was Layton. I finished my work, went to go upstairs...and found mounds and mounds of oatmeal. I had 4 tubs of oatmeal. They were laying in the middle of my kitchen. The oats had been systematically spread all over the whole upstairs. I walked into the living room to find Logan sleeping in the middle of a "snow mound." I woke him up and said "You are in trouble mister!" He said "No, I not..It's not potatoes."

NOTE TO READER: My bulk items are no longer kept on the lower level.

Suspended License

So I should start out by saying that we moved into our "new" home in October of 2006-We've been there for awhile.
Well...two days ago we got a telemarketing call from Allstate. Normally I would hang up or something...but I haven't been overly impressed with our state farm agent--over the last year, he has pretty much proven to me that he sucks. I had just paid our insurance on 1 car for $140 a month when allstate called wanting to give us a quote. I was like "Fine, give us a quote." When the quote was $107 less a month for home and car, I was like "We're switching!" We went in to go sign some forms and whatever. That is when he said "Oh, Layton...you're license is suspended." He never returned his medical forms...so it's been suspended for over a year. ARGH!!! Layton was like, "We just moved...I must not have gotten the forms." Um, super. He has been driving on a suspended license...for over a year. It gives me chest pains. Obviously...he is going to the doctor today!

A sad moment in the life of Lauralee...

I realized something today...something that is very sad. I am not a "young lady" any more. I remember the first time I met my friend Ann she told me that she was 26 and I had a hard time relating to her, because that is so old.

Today I started school, and while I love it...I entered the room where they were holding a new student orientation. As I entered the room, I surveyed my surroundings and noticed a bunch of teenagers sitting at many of the surrounding tables. I selected a table and was talking to the ladies there when a counselor came in and was telling us as a group about many of the grants and scholarships available. He explained that there are many opportunities for funding for students between the ages of 14 and 21. He said "By a raise of hands, how many of you are in this age group." Most of the room raised their hands. One young lady was trying to be helpful and she said "I think we all are, except for the old lady table." I looked around and realized that she was pointing to my table. How bad does that suck!
(and to any representatives from the AARP who might be reading this...I am only 28!!!)

Truth: The best policy

To start off, my husband hates to talk on the phone. I don't mean he dislikes talking on the phone...I mean he HATES it. Normally, when someone mispronounces his name, it's a good sign that it is a telemarketer. I have always said "No, he is not here." Today, that backfired on me big-time. Layton got laid off from a really good job about 6 months ago, and was fortunate enough to get hired on temp-to-hire at Fersenius, through SOS staffing. It is a great job! He seems to really like it too...but we have a few months left until he is hired permanently. There is a lack of stability there which causes a due amount of stress. Today when the male voice calling asked for "La-ton" and I said he wasn't here...they told me that it was Fersenius wanting to interview him for a full time position...(YAY) I felt so stupid walking into the other room to say "Honey, you have a job interview on Wednesday." But hey, HE HAS A JOB INTERVIEW ON WEDNESDAY!!! YAY!!!!

Costa Vida-like Pork

So my mom made this first....it is amazing, and so easy.

1 C. Salsa
2 C. brown sugar.
4 lb. pork roast.

mix up the salsa and brown sugar in slow cooker. plop the pork roast in the salsa-sugar-y goodness. Cook for like 8 hours until the meat is so tender that it falls apart. mix up with the sugary sauce and serve as tacos or burritos.

I like to serve this with mango salsa. (see previous recipe, substitute cantelope with mangos.)

"Woof, Woof, Woof!"

My parents have this really cool mini-schnauzer "Gandolph." The kids love him. Gandolph sits at the window and watches as people walk up to the door.
Until yesterday, Jonah only said Mamma, Dadda and Hi. Yesterday as we were walking up to the door, jonah yelled "woof, woof, woof," to Gandoph. It was so cute-Barking at the dog! I love it!

WOO HOO!

So after a rocky couple of weeks, I'm finally back on the program and I lost 2.6 pounds this week!!!

Things I'm thankful for!

I have decided I am going to post one thing a week that I am thankful for.

This week (and every other day) I am thankful for my friend Misty. She is the most wonderfully supportive friend that anyone could ever have, and I am so lucky to be able to call her my friend. When I told her that I was going back to school, she is one of very few who didn't feed me negative statements like, "How on earth are you going to do that?" She is one person that I can always count on. Anytime I am struggling, or having a hard time, I know that she is there for me. It's a rare quality to have in a friend.
We were friends when we were little girls and lost contact when she moved when we were about 8. I am so thankful that we moved into the same ward so that we had the chance to become friends again.

Dinosaurs are scary!

My cousin Jennifer called me yesterday and wanted to know if we (me and the boys) wanted to go to the Eccles dinosaur park. I don't get to see Jennifer and Noah (her son) near enough, so we were all so excited to go. We met there soon after with picnic lunches to have a great afternoon. We have the coolest jogging stroller.




The only problem is that the stroller was about an inch too wide for ALL of the doors at the dinosaur park. (I honestly wonder how a lot of these places pass "code" because it is definately not wheelchair accessable.

Every time we had to go through a doorway, I had to take out the boys, collapse the stroller, and push it through sideways. Then, I had to put them back in their seats and get them all situated. It was such a pain!

The dinosaur park was really neat, and the boys loved it! It was great to spend time with Jenn and her little man too!

Your Mom Goes To College

I registered for classes yesterday. *GULP* I am beginning classes at the Davis Applied Technology College. I am in the media design program. While I am really excited about these endeavors...I am SO nervous!
I used to joke that my college career was a process of elimination, I now know what I don't want to be when I grow up. My major has changed from Communication with a focus on journalism to English, to Nursing. I am now back to the media field.
I love my job now. I honestly would do it for free. This program will help to enhance my skills and will help me to learn aspects of web design.
I worry though. I withdrew from college twice. The first time, I wasn't married, I had no "adult responsibility", the second time, I didn't have any kids. I didn't have near the responsibility that I do now.
My mom made a comment to me "Your kids deserve a mother." Sad. They do. But they also deserve a mother who would be able to support them, no matter what. That is why I am going to go to the DATC instead of Weber State. I can go to class when Layton is home. I really feel like this is what I should do, So I guess I'll give it a shot.

It was funny. Layton has a very, very dry sense of humor. Logan walked up to me while I was going through my packet from school and was like "What you doin'?"
Layton said (in a napolean dynamite voice) "Your mom goes to college." (Ok, maybe you just had to be there) Pretty funny.

Also...side note: I have turned in the last of my SWARMS assignments, so I will be blogging a lot more and I will try to post a few pictures of what has happened during the last week or so.

Signs of Spring

During the past week, little signs of spring have started to pop up all over. I am so happy that the snow is gone and it's finally time for spring!
Here are a few pictures I took in my flower garden yesterday.














I have mentioned before that I am a bit of a plant nerd. Here are some pictures of the extent of the nerdiness, lol.

Sardines

I decided earlier this week to go to Logan to visit a friend of mine who just had a baby. Later, I noticed on KSL (If you haven't noticed, I love KSL classifieds.) that someone in Logan had strawberry plants for a great deal, so I thought, "Why not make an afternoon of the visit?"
I was talking to my mom this morning and she and my grandma decided to ride with us to enjoy the scenery. Well, then my mom decided that she would drive. (with the price of gas, I wasn't complaining) So she comes to get us in her giant Dodge truck (the one I can barely crawl into) This is a very tall truck...but it seats 6 adults....but 4 comfortably. In the back seat, there was Logan on one side and Jonah on the other. It was terrible. After all of the driving and everything, I had a great time while we were there. It was great to see Tasha and her sweet little baby Kaden. It was wonderful to be able to spend some time with my grandma and my mom! On the way back, jonah was so fussy/hungry, so we stopped at Wendy's and got the boys some chicken nuggets and fries. Jonah was still fussy and crying most of the way down the canyon (If I could have cried...I probably would have too...I honestly felt like a human sardine) At about the point when we were going to emerge from the canyon, Jonah started to cry/choke/dry heave all at once. All of the sudden he started to gurgle...and to anyone who has ever seen the exorcist...(from TV of course) insert the vomiting scene here. Jonah began to projectile vomit whole french fries. It wasn't just a little...it was a ton! It was bad enough that Logan hid his head under his blanket to prevent seeing it/becoming victim to sympathetic barfing syndrome.
Needless to say, it was eventful trip, and I'm glad my mom drove her car!

Who am I?

After a young Utah girl vanished, I decided that it would probably be wise to sit down with Logan and teach him about what to do if he were ever lost or stolen. I decided to be sure that he knew his full name and both of his parents full names. My brother David has called Logan "Mr. Magoo" since he was just tiny.
I said "Do you know what your first name is?" He looked at me like I was the silliest person ever and said, "It's Logan, momma!" I laughed and said "Do you know what your last name is?" and he sat there for a second and said very confidently "Magoo!" I said, "No, it's Stephenson, honey." He looked at me very sternly and said "It's not Ste'enson! It's Magoo!"
Super.

Happy Birthday Logan!!!!

Today is Logan's Birthday!! I am so excited! We aren't having his big party until Sunday, but he is already taking full advantage. He has already said twice this morning "But it's my burthdey momma" He's such a funny boy!

Things are wonderful!

I can't believe it's already April. I can't say that I am sad about that. I thought winter would never end! Spring is my favorite time of year. Logan turns 3 this week. It's really kind of weird. I was watching him while we were all at my parents house. He is a grown up little man. I couldn't help but wonder "when did that happen!"
It's funny. I was there. I just can't remember the moment that he quit being a baby..and became a little boy. He is such a tender little man. A few days ago my mom had a terrible tooth ache. We had been over there and she told him, "I'll see you later, grandma's got to go to the dentist because her tooth is killing her!"
We got home a little while later and he said, "Momma, I'm nervous." I said to him, "Why are you nervous?" He said "Because I have feelings in my belly." (He is so cute!) I said "What is making you have those feelings in your belly?" He said "My grandma's tooth is killing. It hurts so bad!" He is such a sweet little boy!

Yummy recipe!

I got this recipe from my cousin Lora. They are amazing. I haven't made them in awhile. I got the recipe out, and thought I might as well share it!

Homemade Granola Bars

2 cups old fashioned oats
1 c flour
¾ c. brown sugar
¾ c toasted wheat germ
¾ tsp. Salt


1 c. of the following (or in combination)
Raisins (with ¾ tsp. Cinnamon)
Mini chocolate chips
Mini M&Ms
Toffee chips

½ c. vegetable oil
½ c. honey
2 tsp. Vanilla
1 egg

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan. Line with foil, grease foil.
Mix dry, stir in wet ingredients. Bake 15 minutes cool. Turn upside down. Cut into slices and wrap with saran wrap

Our new addition!

I got the most awesome piano today! I found it on KSL...if you can believe it...it was FREE! I love it! It is a beautiful upright grand from the early 1900s. I LOVE THIS PIANO! It was kind of drama getting it here. I hired Dunkley piano movers (the used piano store) and they told me it would be $135 to move it. They moved it, and once it was sitting in my living room, it turned into $185. They got it in the house, and it was quick etc. But they were even rude to me when I only had $150 to give them. (HELLO..you told me $135)Other than that...I am thrilled. It needs a little work, but it has so much potential. It is very antiquish and will be awesome when it is done!!! (Ok, it will be more awesome...it is already very awesome!

Here are pictures of my new piano!

Brothers

A few days ago...I accidentally locked Jonah in the car. To make a long story short...Logan got to sit in the police car while we waited for the spare keys to arrive. He has always loved police, and the police woman let him talk over the speaker and turn on the sirens. Needless to say, he was in little boy heaven.
Logan said to me a day or so ago, "Momma, can we lock Jonah in the car today?" I looked at him and said, "Honey, we don't ever want to lock Jonah in the car again!"
He frowned and said, "But I want to sit in the police car!" He is so funny! (I can't really blame him...I wanted to lock my younger brother in the car when I was a kid too!)

Good-bye Old friend :(

Today was the last day in the life of my beautiful old tree in my back yard. They started cutting it down today. It will take 2-3 days to be cut down. This is not just any old tree. It is over four feet wide. It is a monster! I love this tree. We bought this house because I envisioned swings dangling from the branches and kids playing around it. I was the perfect size for a treehouse. It had to go. It has these monster roots that had gone through our sewer line and had actually seperated and lifted one side of the sewer line. We had to do it...I just feel like I sacrificed an old friend. SO sad!!!


This is our tree at the beginning of day 1 of work


The tree at the end of day 2 (obviously there will be a day 3)

I'll Be Swarming

My posts probably won't be as regular this week. It is SWARMS week at the Standard Examiner. (That is where we go to 2 different high schools and publish a special edition for each high school)
It is a lot of work, but I am so excited. SWARMS is my favorite time of year!!!
I am going to Davis High School today. Right now, it is 5:51 a.m. and I am remembering what it was like to get up so early in the morning!!! I guess at least I don't have to ride the bus to school!!!