bday

Turned 36 today… aka: "The wrong side of 35." So what choice did I have but to chop off

all my hair and eat CAKE?"

See ya facebook

I like this picture.

It's old and we look funny, but of course we thought we looked pretty good. 

That's how it usually goes with old pictures. 

I'm sandwiched between the boy and the little blonde, for those who didn't know me back then... which is pretty much all of you. Except of course if you belong to the Coates family. Then you know who's who.

Obviously.

When I look at this picture, I have to wonder to myself…

Did my mother just waltz all her girls to the hairdresser and simply say,

"I'm gonna want them all to look like little toadstools… so make it happen will ya?"

Anyway… It is physically impossible for me not to look at this picture and smile.

My parents look so young and awesome ;)

In other non-related nonsense:

Do you know why I began this blog? Because we moved trillions of miles away from our family, and we wanted a great way to share our lives with the people we so cruelly left behind. 

Then over the years, I realized another great benefit to the blog. My kids LOVE to plunk themselves down every so often and scroll through the posts I've made over the years. It's like a little life journal for them. 

I like doing this blog for those reasons. Of course I have no problem with other family and friends checking out our random life… if I did, I would have denied public access forever ago.

BUT! Linking my blog posts to facebook has made me feel some sort of pressure to entertain the masses. It's all in my head I KNOW (like so many things are), but I have noticed that I'm not keeping things up to date like I should because of it… 

So even though I won't be sharing the posts through facebook anymore, you are still more than welcome to visit our blog if you choose… or choose not to. Either way, I'll never know. You'll just have to do it the old fashioned way of typing our address in:

www.prepchuks.blogspot.com

Thanks for stopping by :)

blast from the past...

This blast from the past is in honour of a very important question somebody asked somebody exactly FIFTEEN years ago today.

He was nervous… I was not. I had the easy part…

And it was very easy to say yes (hello sappy!)

Freshly engaged, April 1999… back when I constantly permed my hair 

and Wes sported Harry Potter glasses and a goatee.

So cool! So sweet, so happy… so innocent.

blast from the past

This blast from the past should probably be entitled MAJOR blast from the past.

Back before Wes and I had children…

Before we were married…

Before we were super cool awesome teenagers who couldn't care less about each other…

We were little kids who didn't know that the other person even EXISTED.

Amazing, I know.

But it happened…

This is Wes. Go ahead and laugh if you want. I know I did.

Once upon a time he had no beard!!! WHAT???

This is me. I guess you could also go ahead and laugh if you want. 

I don't think it's weird at all that I am sharing a similar 

 hairstyle with Wes at this point in our lives.

Thankfully, I had Winnie the Pooh on my dress to up my cool factor.

Love those 80's...

Fifty five billion trillion gazillion

I thought I'd be back to update sooner than this. Turns out homeschooling four kids is a lot harder than homeschooling three kids. It's Lena's first official year, in case you were wondering.

Which, of course, you WERE.

Once I'm done with the whole homeschooling deal, I think I'm going to go ahead and take a nap for about a hundred years. Plus fifty.

Speaking of fifty...

Fifty is my magic number. My magic "let's exaggerate things" number.

"I love having fifty kids..."
"We've watched that show fifty thousand times..."
"Wes, I'm sure I've asked you to take out that garbage fifty bazillion times already..."

You get the idea. Well, if I were to tell you it was fifty degrees here the other day, I would actually NOT be exaggerating much at all. It was 46 degrees... although that was in the city, and us "landlocked" people out to the west apparently got a couple of extra degrees. (So say my sources anyway... and I suppose they can be trusted).

We died from the heat.

Pretty much.

Towards the end of the day, when we were all melting into puddles, I took my hair and my daughter's, and put them into braids in an attempt to keep our long, hot, heat trapping hair off our backs and necks.

This, is fascinating to you, I'm sure.

I don't normally like to share pictures of myself, but

I can show you this picture, because it was taken in a badly lit room, using

my iPad and it turned out all nice and grainy, so now you have no idea if

I actually look this bad or if it's the fault of the photo taking conditions. 

Anyway! What I wasn't expecting from the whole braid thing, was how EXCITED Lena

would be. "We are MATCHING Mommy!" and "Now we are twins!!!" And on 

and on she went the rest of the night, so thrilled with our hairdos. At 6.00 the next

morning, I woke up to a tap tap tap on my shoulder, Lena's face in mine, 

and she's tugging on her little braid whispering loudly:

"Mommy! Do you still have your BRAID???"

Daughters are great. 

Except when they wake you up at 6.00 in the morning to discuss hair.

I bet you are glad you stopped by for that story.

Let's move along to things that have nothing to do with the weather or how my child and I are styling our hair... and get into things a little more random.

I'm sure you've noticed that from time to time, I like to poke a little fun at my husband. Well, you'll be happy to know, that I don't restrict my teasing to the man of the house.

My oldest child Reid is quickly turning from child to teenager, and it is great fun for us to watch the whole thing unfold. His younger brothers are in total awe of him... especially because he gets to sport that cool peach fuzz on the upper lip that boys are so lucky to get. 

I'm cool. I know it. Anyone want to comb my moustache?

He yawns in my face all the time these days. Maybe because

he wants to sleep in until 10.00am but we wake him at 7.13am instead.

We're very specific about our wake up times here.

He fakes a smile... but little did he know I took this picture with

my "I expose your thoughts" camera. 

We love you Reid :)

okay, I'll do it

So while I was in the middle of posting about setting up the tree, my eldest child sees me, laughs at me, and demands to know: "Why are you posting about Christmas before you have posted about your birthday???"

And then I laughed at him, because I actually had no intention of posting about my birthday.

But then I thought, maybe I should. Especially because my kids did something sweet, and I really feel I should record when they do something sweet, so on those days when they are very un-sweet, I can sift through this blog and remember why it is exactly that I keep them around.

The sweet story comes at the end. You'll have to put up with some birthday nonsense first...

Would you like to know what my kids look like when they sing happy birthday to their mother?

I thought you might:

Some twisty fingers...

And some crazy arms. 

For those of you who haven't heard, I love chocolate.

I also love oranges.

Therefore my husband put two and two together and made

me a chocolate orange cake.

He's smart like that.

For my big old birthday present, I told the man of the house he could 

take the family and me to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang the musical.

So can you guess what we did...?

I really loved this movie as a child. 

You don't realize when you are a child, just how weird/disturbing children's

movies actually are. 

Before the show, we sat outside at this fancy hotdog place and ate hotdogs. I think the 

cigarette butts really class this place up.

Doesn't everyone look so dignified while they eat? I'm sure glad I was the one

taking the picture!

Now for the cute story...

I got really sick the night of my birthday. And then stayed sick for several days.

It was not because of the cigarette butt hot dog.

(That's not the sweet part. This is...)

One of mornings my kids decided to put on their angel hats and bring me this:

They have apparently heard the rumour that I like chocolate.

Mum's Day

Well since there have been so many requests to see what my delightful little family got me for Mother's Day, I figured I should go ahead and show you.

Prepare yourselves for the excitement!

Cards lovingly and painstakingly crafted by the hands of my very own children. 

Can't you just feel the love...

Mother's Day flowers. So sweet :)

Oooh.... what wonders lie beneath?

The unraveled loot. Ipad (and all the gear to protect it) and a whole

lot of chocolate. If you know me, you will know how much 

I LOVE chocolate. I'm pretty sure I would

shrivel up and die without it. So would my kids apparently, judging by 

how much they were pestering me the rest of the 

day to "please, please, please! Share your chocolate mommy???" 

And since it doesn't feel right to go a whole entire post without a child in sight...

Mother's Day with some bunny ears. Thanks Lena!

it's time

Yes I suppose it has been awhile since I've posted... but I'd just like you to know (mother), that it has nothing to do with the lack of comments... (thank you though, for thinking so highly of me and my level of maturity).

I actually had a perfectly good reason for leaving you hanging for so long...

A few weeks ago I got sick.

And a couple of weeks later.... I got better.

Isn't that so interesting?

Of course after neglecting the blog for so long, even after I was feeling better, I continued in my bad habit of neglecting the blog, because I discovered something amazing...

Not blogging is very VERY easy to do. Just ask my parents.

But I couldn't keep it up forever. So here I am again... much to your relief I am sure.

You'd think I'd have so much to tell you since the last time I posted, but sadly... no. You'll just have to make do with this...

On the 14th Wes and I had our TENTH anniversary. Thank you, thank you very much. We are very proud of ourselves... ten big pats on the back for us.

Would you like to see a picture of us on that very special day ten years ago...?

I thought you might...

How cute! How happy! How... how... how it makes me laugh. I don't know why, but it just does. I'd show you a picture of what we look like now, but it would be wasted effort, because, really... we haven't changed that much... ten years is actually not that long. We look pretty much the same... except we don't go around wearing such fancy clothes.

Wes got me these flowers as a way of saying thank you for staying married to me for so long. On the day, they were all closed-up buds the size of footballs... then the next day one popped open, and gotta say... I could smell it a mile away. I have never had flowers that have had such a strong smell before... people walk into our house and say "what is that smell???" My kids refuse to sit at the table, the smell is so overpowering. If you even stand within two feet of them, you can actually taste them. And the thing is... they won't die. They are still thriving ten days later, and several of the buds haven't even opened up yet.

Wes has told me several times to throw them out, but I can't do it. I think it's some sort of test... and if I pass, he'll stay married to me another ten years.

Moving on...

Other than a major anniversary coming and going... the only thing we have been up to is school. Wondrous, delightful, exciting school.

Don't they look so enthusiastic? Just look at those brains grow! Fun times, I tell ya.

Even little Lena has found some work to do... figuring out what key combinations will cause the computer to smoke and explode. Such talent.

Conner has spent most of the year learning his letter sounds, and that's about it, because technically he's not "in" school yet. But he insisted on having something to do as well. Once he was a letter pro, I bought him his first set of books... and he loves them. He can read the first two books in the box, and I have to say, it has been fun doing this with him. He gets so excited when he can read a word, he jumps up and down and laughs his head off every time. I don't know why he does it, but it's great.

I hope he keeps it up, because I think it would be great entertainment to see him reading a textbook that way when he's off at college.

awesomeness

Get ready, because this is going to be the most interesting, exciting, and thrilling blog entry I have ever written in my entire life!

It's all about hair...

Sorry. I hope you didn't take me seriously about this being the most thrilling blog entry. You ought to know by now that I'm a sarcastic liar.

The thing is... I have a fear of hairdressers... (all the Coates' out there know why, and don't think I can't hear you laughing all the way over in Australia).

Long story short... a story I like to call, "the day the hairdresser ruined my teenage life." It's a working title. Anyway, when I was thirteen, and all obsessed about being as beautiful as humanly possible, I walked into the hairdresser's a normal, cute, GIRL looking teenager, and when I walked out I was a miserable, freakish, BOY looking teenager. And the horror of that day has lived with me ever since.

Oh, wow... don't you feel so sorry for me???

Yeah, I wouldn't either if I were you.

Anyways, it takes a lot to drag me out to see a hairdresser, but once in a blue moon I make it there... the main reason being, I start to look a little something like this:

No, really... that is actually a picture of me.

So, I took a few gazillion deep breaths, and got in the car and drove to the hairdresser yesterday. I bet you are thinking I have some horrifying experience to share with you now. Well, I don't.

I told you this would be an exciting entry.

The girl did a good job, and I was highly entertained by the shampoo boy, (?... is that really what they are called?) because he was extremely fond of the word 'awesomeness', if that even is a word. Awesomeness this, and awesomeness that... and he said it like he'd been surfing all day long, and had swallowed too much salt water.

Awesomeness. It's a pretty good word, you should all try using it in a sentence today.

Anyway... there is kinda some point to this post, although not really... aren't you so glad you stopped by?

When I got home, Conner was all over me, because he has a deep obsession with my hair, and he had to touch it and smell it, and tell me he loved it.

Which by the way, he does all the time. Tells me he loves my hair. He usually says it as he's smushing his face into it.

He's a weird kid, but I expected to have weird kids... because, well... if you've met my husband, you'd understand.

Back to the story.

Wes asked Conner if he liked my "new" hair, and Conner takes his face out of my hair for a second to say "yes." And then Wes asked him what was different about it, and Conner answers, "it got dressed."

Ummm... okay then.

Then as he's smelling my hair, he tells me, "you're hair smells like carrots mommy."

Interesting. It smelled more like hair dye to me, but what do I know.

And, yes... that is the whole post. Who would have thought I could blab on so much about a haircut???

What can I say... I had nothing else to write about, and I feel bad that I haven't been a good updater lately.

I suppose you want some kind of 'before' and 'after' pictures or something. Well... you do know I'm not too fond of putting pictures of myself on this blog... but maybe just this once. An 'after' picture, because I already showed you the before.

Here's what I look like now:

Awesomeness.

something spiritual

Give me a moment to be serious, alright? You know, the way most of you usually picture me to be. I just wanted to share this really amazing slide show... I think you'll all really love it as much as I do. If you've seen it already, oh well, watch it again! And I only have one thing to say to you... why didn't you forward it along to me when you first came across it?

For those of you who need very detailed instructions because you are afraid of the internet and computers...

Click on the link at the end of this post.

Then you'll be taken to a new page with a black video box.

Press the little triangle thingy in the middle of the video box.

On the bottom of the video box, there is a little black square button to the left of the volume. Press it, so you can watch the show in biggie size. And while you're there, make sure the volume is turned up.

Now, enjoy... and maybe use a tissue or two.

http://mabrystudios.typepad.com/reflections_of_christ/2008/03/reflections-sli.html

Two Great Speakers

(This post brought to you by the one the only... Wesley!)

Yesterday Amanda delivered an excellent talk in sacrament meeting for which she was very nervous about despite the amount of preparation she put into it. All of her worrying was for nothing because it was one of the best talks I have heard in church in a long while...and I wasn't the only one that thought so! I spent the rest of church trying to take credit for her inspiration telling everyone (and I literally mean everyone) who approached me with thanks for her talk that I actually wrote it for her. And the appreciation didn't stop there, Amanda received call after call that evening from those that weren't able to catch her at church including our Bishop who was very impressed and will probably have her speak on a regular basis now...haha. Amanda I am very proud of you!


The second great speaker is more of a great speaker in training...as Amanda finished her talk the intermediate hymn began and she came to sit with us. Just as she sat down Conner turned to me and said "my turn Daddy" and before we knew it he had made his way past us and was heading towards the stand. By the time I caught up with him he was nearing the pulpit prepared to address the congregation and was quite disappointed when I brought him back to our seat before he was able to do so...I wonder what topic he would have spoken on?

break out the polident...

Okay, so today was my birthday... the big two-eight (that's twenty eight, for those of you who are a bit slow)... so, a warning to you now... there will be no pictures of my kids in this post... so leave now if you don't visit this site for any other reason. Now that we've got rid of most of you, here's a few pictures of me and my birthday stuff. That's right, pictures of me... it's rare and strange, I know... but I'm feeling generous and giving in my old age...

Ahhh... you know it's a special day when you get real flowers that were bought from a store, instead of dandelions plucked from the backyard.

Well, here I am with my cake... chocolate, in case you couldn't tell. And apparently, I was mistaken in telling you I turned twenty eight... my cake is telling me I'm four. Oh, sorry... what was that? You can't really see me in this picture too well? Hmmm... well maybe the next picture will be a bit better...

... Nope, guess not. Oh, well... better luck next year. You can blame Wes, he's the photographer. That chocolate looks good though.

proof of life...

I thought I might try and get away without showing any pregnancy pictures, but since some of you are curious to see, I'll relent this one time... this may be all you get to see... but belly pictures are so boring anyway, you'll have more fun seeing pictures of the baby, and I have no problem with sharing lots of those. So here I am at 30 weeks... or maybe it's 31... either way, still a long time to go before I have to start to worry about delivery day. Sorry, it's not the greatest picture, but you get the general idea... I'm nice and fat, and that's all that matters.

just call me, 'your majesty'

Well I figured something ought to be said, seeing as this is such a special day and all. So happy mother's day to all of our friends and family who are mothers, or grandmothers, or future mothers... hope you have a fantastic day, you deserve it! And of course a special shout out to the best mother in the world... aka, my mother. I love you lots, they don't get any better than you. And that's where I'll leave it, I don't really want to go on and on and be all cheesy, and then be held responsible for all the gagging the rest of you will be suffering through.

I had a great mother's day, Reid and Jarom were just beside themselves... could not wait to give me this special gift...

That's right, a beautiful crown for me, the queen of the house. Sadly enough though, it didn't fit on my great big head, so I had to miss out on wearing it all day. Dang!

My favourite number is seven

Okay, I suppose I will do it... the tagged thing. I wouldn't do this for just anyone, so I hope you enjoy this Amy. Seven random, useless things about me... and here they are:

1. My two favourite foods... chocolate and oranges. Lucky for me, they go really well together. And yes, chocolate does count as a food.

2. I like the look of flowers, but I don't really like the smell of them. For some reason they smell kind of sour to me. My least favourite... lilacs. Sorry mom.

3. I wear my hair in a ponytail 99% of the time. During the times when it's not actually in a ponytail, I have a hairband around my wrist, just in case I can't stand it anymore and need to give in to the ponytail addiction.

4. The last thing I do before I go to bed at night is check on my kids... and when I say check on my kids, I mean I have to put my hand on their chest to make sure they are alive and breathing. And I also literally mean it is the last thing I do before I climb into bed... I can't do anything in between that and going to sleep. If I stop to do anything else... eg. brush my teeth... I have to go back and check on them again.

5. My favourite tv show is Gilmore Girls... I don't know why it's embarrassing to admit that, but it is.

6. I don't like to wear jewelry... nothing... not even a watch. The only thing I tolerate is my wedding ring, and much to my husband's disappointment, I sometimes won't even wear that.

7. I've read Pride and Prejudice about a million times. Okay... slight exaggeration, but it's got to be close to that by now.

And my apologies to those of you who live in the world of blogs... but I don't think I will continue the cycle of the seven random facts by tagging seven more innocent people. But to appease you all... I will give you seven random facts about my favourite husband, Wes:

1. His keys are always lost. No matter what... no matter how hard he tries. His keys are LOST. And his wallet is sadly following in that same path.

2. He checks his school email about 40 times a day. I can't figure it out... things can't possibly change that much in one day.

3. He likes to watch documentaries. The more boring, the better. I once caught him watching a show on how they grow the grass on golf courses. YAWN.

4. I have only seen him get sad three times in the eight years we've been married. And even then, it was kind of hard to tell.

5. He can't stand being late for anything. It's even hard for him to be right on time... he likes to be 10-15 minutes early. Actually, I think deep down, he'd like to be up to half and hour early, but there's no way he could convince me to do that.

6. He does not have the ability to turn the dishwasher on... he can unload and load it just fine. But his brain cannot comprehend the fact that he then has to press a button to get everything washed.

7. He likes to save everything. He is so sure that whatever it is I'm about to throw out, he will have a use for someday. He tries as hard as he can to hang on to stuff, but unfortunately for him, I'm the one at home all day... and I like to de-junk.

idgie and ruth would approve

It may not really seem like a big deal, but this is probably the first thing I've ever grown in my life. The first thing that you could actually eat, and live to tell the story. Yeah, it's a tomato, and I know it's still green... but I figured I ought to take a picture of it now, because once it turns red Conner is going to notice it. And once he does that, that tomato is as good as gone. Unless of course Wes notices it first. I'll keep you informed on who nabs it.