I hosted book club last month and when I told Addy that we were having a "book party" she said "We have to have cake."  She made cupcakes and not thinking I set them on the chest of drawers which is between the kitchen and guest room.  Later that evening I had Zeena come inside. If you ever have wondered what would happen if you put a plate of cupcakes in front of a dog...  Anyhow, we used silicone cupcake holders which thankfully she did not ingest.  Addy made sure to put sprinkles on the cupcakes which you can see randomly scattered on the white comforter.  My favorite is Zeena's face.  She's like "What? What?"

Addy and I got on a roll for a few days of sewing little animals out of scrap material. Addy did a great job helping to stuff the little buggers.

Addy's buddy Grace spent the day with her.

Addy and I painted and painted and painted.  I however wore a shirt while painting.

This is what happens when you give the kids a camera

Addy at Sand Hollow about an hour from the house in Hurricane.

Daddy and Addy at Sand Hollow. The water was 85 degrees which we weren't looking forward too but it ended up feeling fairly cool.  I guess when the air is 105 degrees 85 is chilly!

We had stayed the night in St. George so that I could get a 90 min massage and Addy and Daron could go to the Bounce House.  Sat. morning I headed to a great farmers market and stocked up on veggies.  We also got Addy some new furniture for her bedroom.

She is such a hoot.

more recycled animal toys -  cat, octopus and shark - the cat and shark used to be Addy's shirt and the Octopus was a skirt of mine.

hat day at the Andrews house

old shirt = new mouse toy for our cat

Some Days...


There is a restaurant in St. George that says something like “God created kids so parents would welcome death.” I didn’t like it all that much until today. Today was one of those days. To be fair it started the night before. Addy fell asleep in her baby jogger around 9 which is early so I was thrilled. Unfortunately she woke up whining at midnight and two and four. What the hell? She asked me to “tell me a story not a book story.” So at midnight, two and four I told her stories. At two she wanted a story about birds very specifically a mommy, a daddy and a baby bird and at four a.m. she wanted a story about horses (I think) but again was very specific that the story had a mommy horse, daddy horse and a baby horse.
Luckily we slept in but that didn’t seem to help either one of us. We were both sleepy and when her friend Cedar came over her grumpiness came out. Every question I asked or Cedar asked resulted in a high pitch response that usually was a negative to whatever we were asking. I decided to tip all the furniture over and vacuum. Since Addy hates the sound of the vacuum I figured they could play in her room while I swept. When I brought this up to Addy she adamantly said “NO!” Since I was tired and grumpy myself I said “Fine” and turned on the vacuum. She screamed and cried and said “No I don’t want you to vacuum.” Again, I was in a bad mood and wanted to accomplish something this morning so I told her to go in her room or deal with it. The bottom line is I ended up dropping the couch on my toe. I sucked back screaming bloody murder and running down a roster of bad words. I yelled something at Addy went towards my room and told Cedar as politely as I could “I just hurt my foot I need to go in my room for a little while.” Poor girl. Usually I have a very chill house but not today. No not today. Addy cried and yelled and cried and eventually I felt so sorry for Cedar that I braved the waters again.
Addy and I were going to head up to my office and I wanted to get a sandwich on the way there. Addy didn’t want to do either. I was gathering all the stuff I needed for the office while she whined about needing a blue juice or another episode of Fishtranaut. Usually if she says she doesn’t want to go I pick her up and we go anyway and she is fine. Today with my broken toe, bad mood and insane child I decided to bag the whole idea. I was irritated. I crawled into bed and she came in. I almost fell asleep three times she never batted an eye. Ugh. She kept poking me and saying play with me. On a normal day I would play with her because I am a stay at home mom and that is what I do but today the last thing I wanted to do was play make believe. I wanted to sleep in quiet bliss.
Her buddy Brax came over and they played a little. Excellent I thought. Ya right. They started asking for a drink and a snack and then Addy wanted me to play with her. Ahhh why did I invite your friend over? To play with you! I made them dinner which they didn’t eat. I finally got ½ the meal down Addy but it was a struggle. Then as I cleaned up the kitchen I realized Brax had poured juice in the kitchen drawer, Addy had left a popsicle drenched napkin in her room, Brax spit on my leg (claiming it was an accident) and Addy basically whined about every little thing. The kicker was when Brax ran to the bathroom yelling “I have to poopy” with an urgency that scared me. Later that evening when I walked into the bathroom to take a shower I picked up with my BARE HAND what I thought was a red clay rock. EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

Needless to say, I am in bed and Daron is getting Addy her cheesy cracker minus the blue juice since I told them both it was too late for that. It ensued yet another crying fit. Whatever. I am hoping that he will remember to have her brush her teeth before bed and that she will eventually GO to bed. So much for my Preschool Training Bootcamp.

That reminds me the other day I told her I was ready for her to start preschool. I felt as though I have been touting it up forever. In fact, I have been talking about it since June. She replied “Ya, I can’t wait to see what all the fun is about.” I told Daron I probably built it up too much at this point.

Why Women "Nag" and other rantings~

So this morning on the news a survey unveiled that women have trouble sleeping because they are worried about money. Not surprising since most women are the budget keepers in the family. When the men were asked what they worried about at night the answer was "nothing." I will never feel bad again when I get a migraine. Are you kidding me! NOTHING! Daron believes (and it is probably true) that when my worry level falls below a certain threshold I find something else to worry about. I wouldn't doubt it.

Back to the money issue. I know many many couples have this same issue. The men working and the women trying to budget the money they make. Just tonight I asked Daron to look at Priceline to book a hotel for one night. "Why am I doing this? I don't want to do this. This is not my job I did my job today." This is fine because budget is something of a foreign language to him and in the past he will spend WAY more than I would on a hotel. The nice thing is he just does it no stress no feeling of regret for not pre-planning just we need a room I got us a room move on!

So back to why I am up at night (along with all of the other women). I have to book tickets to Florida for a cruise that my parents are taking us on. Nice right! Right. If I don't DIE first trying to find an airline schedule that will work. I find plenty that look great until I realize we have to get a hotel the night before and possibly after, the times are perfect except the 6 a.m. depart when our cruise doesn't dock til 7 a.m. I know I know it is a good problem to have.

Daron and I don't really want to buy a house though sometimes I think it might be nice but then we don't have a down payment and if we decide to tighten the purse strings and save for one we can't visit family for a few years and that never seems to be an option. Either emotions, guilt, missing them, illness or an offer we can't refuse will come up. Sure folks can come here but not everyone can get off work or is in good enough health for the long ass trip out here! In addition I like to travel and would like to go to new places such as Oregon, Washington, Boston, California and Argentina. Our families live in Florida and Texas. Texas is one of my favorites and my in laws have a great home. Florida is hot. Really hot. But I love to visit my parents and they have a nice condo on the inter-coastal. But did I mention Washington, Oregon, Banff? I think the most stressful part is it is completely up to me. Daron doesn't care one way or the other. He loves his family and likes to visit but if it were up to him to make all the plans he would decide it's easier just not to go. This was just like my Dad and Mom. We wouldn't have traveled anywhere if it weren't for my Mom saying "ohh would you like to go to the Bahama's Brian we could take the girls..." I am sure he just looked up from his paper with his pipe in his mouth and said "uh huh." I am glad we went on that trip I was about six years old and it was awesome. I am also sure that he wasn't the one who spearheaded the drives to Florida to see his parents or the trips to St. Louis to visit my moms family. A few years ago when we were in Montana I asked Dad if he wanted to go to Glacier National Park he said "No I've seen mountains before." Fair enough! I do however remember my Dad doing the bills when I was a kid. I wondered why he was always grumpy after the fact. Now I know!

Then I worry about having enough money when Daron and I get older, will we have enough for health insurance, will there be health insurance? What if the stock market just goes completely away? Should I be putting cash in a fire proof lock box under my bed? I think I just have to stop worry about making the right decision because there isn't one!

Oh and I asked the kids to turn off the hose yesterday because they were filling puddles up after a short rain we had. What a waste I thought and I didn't want to add to our water budget. When I mentioned this Daron looked like me like I had two heads. Am I going overboard I thought? The kids are entertained and quiet. How much was that worth? Apparently it was worth a lot because I said to hell with it and let the water run. I told Addy to shut the refrigerator door "because we aren't cooling the whole house" yup just like my Dad used to say! I asked Daron to put the leftovers in a tupperware the other night. On occasion he has forgot and of course people would say I was "nagging" but it all falls back to the budget. If you waste food it throws my grocery budget off. In fact, any nagging women do it because men cannot plan ahead. I get home and think change the laundry so the clothes don't sour, empty the dishwasher, start dinner, clean up the toys, water the plants, get a drink of water, make sure Addy uses the restroom, feed that cat that keeps following me, turn the fish tank light off, write down the ten things I thought about in the car and oh ya I have to go to the bathroom. Men come home and think. Beer. Thank goodness they do because "hurricane Jen" as Daron calls me times two would be a nightmare!

My first priority is Addy so that makes most of the decisions easier. Whatever is in her best interest we do. I prefer not to work so Addy and I can go to the library, color, paint, and sew (All of which we did this afternoon) and I don't mind budgeting at all although the last four days before payday can be a bit tight. But do I stress about money like many folks in America - yes! Do I try not to - yes! Will I continue to? Yes, probably. Will I wonder why I often get headaches? No not anymore!

Mom made a Dress!
I found the cutest fabric at walmart of all places. I made Addy a little dress and Elmo a matching shirt. She can wear it now and we plan to take it on "the ship" as Addy says. Mimi and Grandpa Nagle are treating us to a cruise. Addy asked me if the ship had a roof yesterday. I told her yes, it even has rooms. I told her Mommy, Daddy, Aunt Sasa, Mimi, Papa and Addy will have three rooms that all connect to each other. Her eyes got wide and her smile came across her face. I told her she could run between all the rooms that she could sleep with Mommy and Daddy or Aunt Sasa or Mimi and Papa or Aunt Sasa, Mimi, Mommy and Addy can have a girls sleepover. She was over the moon with excitement.

Daron's Parents Grammy and Grandpa Visit and We Put Them to Work!

Poor David. He is going to stop asking what he can do since he spent three days installing new counter tops in our rental home as well as a new dishwasher and oven. Yes, I had to say farewell to the bungee cord that kept our front door of our old oven shut.  Below is a mixture of photos from this summer.  Wish we got more pictures of Grammy and Grandpa!  I told David the fourth morning they were here that I didn't recognize him since I had only seen his butt for three days (because he was under the sink working working working).  Daron, Addy and I are very lucky to have great parents.Addy has two fabulous sets of grandparents.

Grammy and Addy at Zions Buffalo Grill.

Morning stories

Rounding up baby chicks with other kids staying at the resort.

New Cat Headquarters.  Daron's doing major work there.

Grammy made that egg basket Addy's carrying.

Checking for eggs

Addy at Tuesday Mornings in St. George.

Addy at a yogurt shop in St. George

FAVORITE PHOTO BELOW!


They drove from Texas to see this little toot.

New horses and fairies from Grammy.

Addy asked Grammy to draw her a horse.  Grammy drew her a horse.  Addy went and got her plastic horse brought it to Grammy and said "This is what a horse looks like."  I saw the horse and it was good - poor Grammy.

Helping Grandpa

Is it me or are they dressing alike?

I helped Kim make pillows for her couch.

Isa and Addy in ice cream bliss

Pricilla and I at the park - Isa 's sister

Addy's first sleepover at Isa's house (Mom stayed too)

Addy shopping at the thrift store.

My latest project - painting my bedside table

Isa and Amanda's going away party - Mexico ;(




Addy helping Daddy press down the new kitchen counters.

The other day Addy came into my room and said "Mom, nuffin happened." As it turns out Braxton and Addy had spilled some yogurt and cleaned it up as best they could.

Addy starts preschool on Sept. 8th,  she is really looking forward to it but we have to start going to sleep early and getting up earlier.  I told her we were in Preschool Boot Camp.  We did good for about three days and both of us fell of the wagon or should I say slept in til 10 a.m.  Yikes!!!!  Since Addy is at the top of the alphabetical list we are the first ones to bring the snack.  The pressure!  I have to find something fairly healthy but still awesome and fun.  I am after all setting the bar for snack time. I think I am going to do a "Gone Fishing" snack theme as seen in the photo below. The kids dip the pretzel into the cream cheese and then "catch"  the fish.   I had thought about fruit and cheese kabobs but I pictured kids getting stabbing each other with the skewers...

Addy quotes from Oct. 2011

I want a (chocolate) kissy and I don’t want it tomorrow.

Mommy can you open the refrigerator so I can get a blue Popsicle?

Addy tumbled off the end of her bed when she was playing with her dad and exclaimed “That was amazing!”

Shopping at a local store she saw rock sculptures and said “These are so beautiful”

I showed her some Halloween invitations at Target and she said “Thanks for showing those to me Mommy.”

Pull My Finger

Last night when I was telling Addy stories before bed she was being very witty and silly.  In fact, waggish seem to fit the bill perfectly -   Waggish  suggests the spirit of sly mischief and roguery of the constant joker, with no harm intended: a waggish good humor.  For some reason she was pointing at me and giving a very mischievous laugh.  I pulled her finger and said "Your papa used to say 'pull my finger and then he would toot' and she tooted as if on cue."  That sent us both into a fit of giggles.  So much that Daron had to come in to see what all the fuss was about. 

It has been pretty hot here the past few weeks but the day we took the kids to the park it was maybe  80 and cloudy.  We even had thunderstorms which was really really terrific.  It was such a nice break from the sun.  I cannot believe Addy will be starting preschool in a month. She is SO excited.  We are practicing going to bed earlier and earlier so she can be up by 7:30 or 8 to make it to school.  We don't really need to go back to school shopping but we are going to because I think it will be so much fun to get her new shoes and crayons and paper.  She will like it too.  I haven't wanted to drive to St. George Utah because it has been about 100 - 110 there.  That would make for a miserable day of shopping.  We have gone to Page, AZ where Lake Powell is and done some shopping. They don't have as many stores but it is in the 90's and Addy's best friend lives there.  Basically Kanab has a Walmart 75 to 80 miles away in three directions.  East, West and North.  Just today I realized that going North to Cedar City would be a great mid summer option!  Cedar City has a high of 88 today! Whooo Hooo.  We rarely go to Cedar City because the roads can be bad in the winter however in the summer it is a beautiful drive into the mountains. Well, Addy is asking for me so I must go! 

Addy and her buddy Meadow were due on the same day.

It's Friday night - Pizza and Dancing were on the agenda.

Addy and Meadow were due April 8 and Meadow arrived on that day.

Addy as we know arrived on March 21st.

Addy is becoming a great artist and like her mom will draw on anything.

Sporting an outfit from MiMi.

She will wear this on the cruise or "the ship" as Addy says.

Weekend Project!
Daron and Addy spearheaded a project to spruce up the horribly depressing back porch on our rental house. Addy had a ball painting and though we are still in the process of figuring out what goes where I had to take a photo.  Yesterday we had pesto sauce made with fresh basil leaves from the garden.  I also made a homemade spaghetti sauce that included an eggplant from the garden. Unfortunately, it wasn't that good. Whoever made the recipe didn't add enough spices so I plan to teak it a little.