I'm Getting Old!

In light of my 24th Birthday today I would like to write 24 random facts about me.

***I probably have the best family you could ever ask for. There are six kids, 18 years between me (the youngest) and my oldest sibling.

***I am deathly afraid of Clowns. My high school friends would always take me to haunted houses where there were clowns because they thought it was funny that I would freak out so bad. I think there were a couple of times that we had to be escorted out the side of the haunted house because I was having a panic attack. They also would watch IT at every Halloween party too... not fun. Isn't that clown freaky?

***I love school supplies, and even though I haven’t been in school for seven years I still buy school supplies for myself every year.

***I could not live without music. Music makes my world go round!

***I have a serious phobia of Moths. They are so fuzzy, and leave a trail of nasty Moth dust everywhere. What is the dust anyway, are their bodies slowly decomposing or what?

***I have to do the dishes twice, once to clean (by hand), once to disinfect (dishwasher).

***My kids are little copies of me and Josh… oh man is it scary. Daimen has Josh’s anger issues and needs a physical outlet, usually punching one of us in the face, and don’t be fooled by his small body and big nugget, he can punch and it will make a grown man cry. KayBree is no where near as sassy as I was when I was little, unless she has a bad dream and can’t find her orange medicine bottle alligator.

***I LOVE THE OC!!! There is something about it that makes me happy. I look at the cover and smile. I know, I know… it’s a teenage soap opera. I guess I am in to teenage movies. Some more of my favorites include; John Tucker Must Die, She’s The Man, Nancy Drew, the list goes on…. I just can’t get enough!

***I am a poor sport when playing games especially with Josh.

***Josh has shown me the light that is Anime. We have watched many many different TV series and my favorite has to be Soul Eater. It’s so colorful and funny!

***My older sister shot me with a BB gun. She also told me alligators were going to get me when she put me down. I blame her for my current mental condition thanks sis!

***I have 10 nieces and nephews, with another on the way! Hooray!

***I HATE THE TWILIGHT MOVIE!!! I know a good movie when I see one, watching movies is one of my favorite things to do. TWILIGHT IS NOT GOOD!!! Don’t waste your money on it. There is hope for New Moon though, the old Director got the ax (thank the heavens) and Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass) will take over. I have hope for the rest of the movies!

***Josh calls me a copy cat. If I see something I usually can recreate it. Not a talent in my book, but Josh thinks so.

***I love to write. I would love to write a children’s novel and have josh illustrate it.

***Hi my name is Ashlee and I’m a recovering Dr. Pepper addict.

***I truly and totally believe me and Josh were made for each other, to explain it would take too much time so just believe me when I say that in my last life as a penguin… he was my big fluffy papa penguin.

***I grind my teeth at night, and not just a little. It’s so bad that I usually wake up with a migraine and a jaw that feels like I am an underground cage fighter.

***I love to bite babies, Josh, or anyone who will let me. (Don’t worry… I only bite my own babies so if I happen to tend yours just know I resist the urge to bite their chunky little cheeks and yummy smelling necks) …no worries though, my therapist thinks I’m special.

***I have a slight obsession with Kitchen things. The kitchen aisle in the supermarket is usually where you’ll find me.

***I can cook anything. I wish that I loved to cook, but it’s more like a chore for me and after I slave away all day I usually don’t want to eat the food that I just cooked.

***I want to be rich. Filthy filthy rich! I don’t care what people say, financial security does bring a peace of mind, which rolls over into happiness!

***I had a awesomely strange relationship with my Grandpa Shaw. We were kindred spirits. He gave me crap and I gave it right back. If you ever knew my Grandpa you would know that he wasn't the easiest person to love. He was kind of a jerk, but man did I love that old Jerk. I still cry when I think about him. I love him and miss him so much!

***My favorite thing to do is be with my family. If there is ever a family get together I am there. I can’t stand to be left out of the fun. My sisters and I are LOUD and crazy! My most favorite thing to do at home is to get my mom to say, “OH FOR HEAVENS SAKE ASHLEE!!!” Then she blushes and we all bust up laughing, because let me just get this out there, I am crude, rude and rotten (as my mommy would say)! I love you mom you make our family so much better thank you!

Christmas 2008

We had a very good Christmas this year. We are so thankful for my family, if someone is struggling we all step up to help. I am so close with all of my siblings, and love that my kids are close with their cousins. Family gatherings are always full of love, laughter, and craziness! We were very sad that a few members of the family were unable to be here this year, we thought of them often and missed them more. I love my parents, the glue that holds all of us together. Mom with her loving pessimistic reserve and Dad with his giving optimistic candor. They would do anything for anyone of us. They so freely give us their love and support. My kids don't know what they would do without Grandma and Grandpa, they are always so excited to be near them. I am so thankful for my family, I love them so much!

Christmas Baking Crazed!

This week, I decided to try some new recipes.

I made Fudge, Caramels, and sweet chexs mix for my very first time!

Daimen helping me with the fudge!

KayBree wanted to decorate gingerbread houses, and since I was on a baking spree I decided to try my hand at Gingerbread too. Gingerbread was fun to make but REALLY time consuming! I was pleasantly surprised at how good they came out since it was my first try. I also made little gingerbread men but I didn't have a cookie cutter, so I used one of my sucker candy molds! It actually worked!

Daimen with his "glue frosting" and some gum drops making his house wonderful!

KayBree invited her friend Max to come decorate one too! Thanks for coming Max!

KayBree's friend, Grace, making (as Grace would say) an "ADORABLE" gingerbread house!

They worked really hard, and had a lot of fun!

Thanks for coming guys!

THE ORANGE MEDICINE BOTTLE ALIGATOR!!!

At about 8:50 tonight an hour an fifty minutes after I had put the kids to bed, KayBree came chargin' into the kitchen where I was cleaning, freaking out about "that orange thing" she has been waiting for all day! Huh, I stop to think... Orange thing... nope I had no clue what she was talking about. I asked her what orange thing she needed, and then she yelled, "YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ME!!!! I ALREADY TOLD YOU!!!!" All the while stomping her feet and bumping into to furniture like a wasted drunk! Trying not to laugh my head off I asked her nicely again what she was talking about, and she proceeded to stomp into the kitchen, grab a bottle of red children’s Tylenol, and said... "IT'S LIKE THIS!!!!" Then she slammed the bottle back down on the cupboard, and ran back to the couch. "Oh so you want medicine?" I said confused. To which she screamed, "NOOOOO MOM WHY DON'T YOU LISTEN TO ME!!! YOU ARE ALWAYS MAD AT ME!!!!" I am flabbergasted watching her kick her feet and have a complete mental break down over an “orange thing” that looks like medicine, but isn’t. So I gave her a second, and then asked what she wanted so she can get to bed. “I TOLD YOU WHAT I WANT; I NEED MY ALIGATOR IN MY SINK!!” Ok so that was weird… I just hope that the alligator was ORANGE! I did mange to get these pictures of her freaking out… HAPPY DAY!!!
p.s. The bottom left hand picture looks like she's about to bust out her Karate on me!!!

KayBree's Christmas Program

KayBree had a cute little School Christmas program on Thursday. They just sang lots of cute Christmas songs. She was very nervous to sing in front of everyone. She worried about her hair and what she was wearing, she had to be perfect. Grandpa and Lolly came to watch her, and she was so happy to see them!

This is her favorite Christmas song!

Jingle, jingle, jingle

You can hear the sleigh bells ring

Jolly old Kris Kringle

Is the King of Jingling

~~~

Jingle, jingle, reindeer

Through the frosty air they go

They are not just plain deer

They're the fastest deer I know!

~~~

You must believe, that on Christmas eve,

Kris wont pass you by,

He'll dash away, on his magic sleigh,

Flying through the sky!

Salon Day for Daimen!

He was SO mad at me for putting that bow in his hair!

He does make a really cute girly girl though!

Love ya chunky Bubba!

Finals Week, Christmas, Bills, NO MONEY!!!

I welcome unconsciousness

BRING IT ON BABY!!!!

My Cute Kids Are Home!

Well after a long, sad, and uneventful week, my kiddos are finally home! I honestly thought that this week would be great, finally time all to myself, but truly I was lost. Josh almost put me on suicide watch the first day because he went to work and when he came home I was in the same spot, crying. This time alone might have me wavering on my resolve to get my tubes tied, maybe... OH and ya know that list of things I was going to do??? Yeah... not one thing got done except that I finished all four seasons of the OC. On Josh's days off we had a lot of fun, Josh took me to the Olive Garden then we watched Twilight (to which I'm starting to think that I got punked and watched a spoof on the real movie because I might be the only one who thought this movie was barf-orrific). We also went out to dinner at Blackstone with Jem and Jeanette and it was delish! (p.s. we owe you guys big time! THANKS!)

The kids on the other hand were spoiled beyond belief! They were sad to leave April and Aaron, but I could tell they were glad to be out of the car when they finally made it here. KayBree gave me the lowdown on they're many activities. Here are some of the highlights; they played with Nelly (the dog), they went bunny hunting (to find a replacement for Josh's childhood pet), they went swimming at the local rec center, they went sledding down Aaron and Aprils hill from the 'tippy top', they cooked KayBree Soup and Mac and Cheese... and so so much more.

Thank you to mom and dad for taking my kids and being patient with them when they were restless in the car. Thank you to Aaron and April for loving them as much as we do, even though sometimes they can be crazy! They love you!

WOW... That's All I Have To Say...

OK everyone... I am sorry if I offend you with this post.

While we are kid free this weekend we thought that it would be the perfect time to watch the Twilight movie. Now heading into this I had VERY VERY VERY low expectations, I figured that it couldn't possibly be worse than I expected... oh man was I wrong. This is by far the worst movie I have ever seen. I would rather scoop my eyes out with a spork than watch it again. I think that the Director should be shot, and if I were Stefanie Meyer, I would sue them! They slaughtered this movie beyond recognition.

On a happier note... I thought they picked the actors and actresses really well with the exception of Edward, he is hideous... sorry....

Good ol' Fashioned Swanson Thanksgiving

Josh works Thanksgiving, it's a ritual and the kids left today with Grandma and Grandpa to enjoy a 14 hour drive to North Dakota for a week. I am going to be oh so lonely! What am I going to do with myself while I am kid free you ask? Well, I am going to orginize/dejunk/deep (oh so deep) clean my house, and then if I have time I'll read one of the many books I am in the middle of, do some christmas shopping (if we magicly get money), go to the temple and more than likely watch the OC! Then Josh doesn't work for three whole days so we're going to watch Twilight and just hang out!

My wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner courtesy of the Swanson Family!

Please Leave A Comment!

Hello all fellow friends of the wide blogging world,

As editor and chief of this blog I have one tiny little request....
If you look at my blog would you mind leaving a small comment below telling me who you are.
Even if I don't know you and you found my blog off of so and so's blog no worries,
I do that all the time, blog hopping is a great pastime,
it would just be nice to know who everyone is that looks at my blog.
Thanks Ashlee :)

It's a Crazy Day When the Bellies Start Singing!

(: Scroll down and turn of my other music before watching! :)

What can I say? We were board... being stuck in the house all day makes people wacky! Apparently Daimen thinks his belly is chunky and then somehow his eyeball gets chunky... we don't call him Flubber Bubber for nothing!

Sorry the second video is really dark, I only posted it to show off Josh's amazing singing talent!

My Prom Flashback!

Wow this was a walk down memory lane.... This picture was Josh and I at my Junior Prom. We were engaged and got married a month or so after this picture was taken.

My wonderfully talented mom made me this dress, she altered it a lot, by the end it was basically her own pattern, let me just say that she is amazing!

I am so glad that Josh and I can look back on our dating experience as some of the greatest times in our lives, still to this day almost 7 years later we talk about all the good times we had.

P.S. Look how young Josh is, ohhh honey, you are so dang cute!!!

Veterans Day

I apologise that I am posting about Veterans Day two days late.

In my life I am blessed to have the support of many, many wonderful Veterans. For starters my Dad, my brother, Adam, and last but definitely not least, Josh.

I am so proud to be part of an Army oriented family. I even more proud to be a Veteran's wife.

Josh and many, many other Veterans have given up so much for us, there is no way ever to repay them. So much is lost at war, so much that we'll never get back.

I am so proud of Josh. I'm so thankful for my role in supporting him, and I'm entirely indebted to his wonderful friends who pick him up when I fall short. Wouldn't you know that they are Veterans too?!

Mason, thank you so much for all you did for Josh in Iraq. Thank you for being there for him, when I wasn't. Thank you for accepting me, as a friend too. I don't think you will ever know what you have done for us. Thank you.

Patrick and Norte, thank you for making Josh laugh and be carefree. When he is with you I see a little of his pre-war, old self come out. Thank you!

There are so many more people I need to thank but I can barely see the computer screen through my tears. I am so proud to be friends with so many Veterans, and especially to be married to the BEST one!

KayBree's First Friend Birthday Party!

Well My baby is SIX!

She's lost that baby fat and chunky cheeks,

She's not so rolly polly or drooly,

She HAD all of her teeth (not so much anymore),

Where did that curly hair go, I miss it...

Good by forever squishy baby days I will miss you,

but I'm so excited to hang out with my little preteen.

I just have to say that I was truly blessed with KayBree.

She was such a good baby.

She is so nice to everyone and thinks about everyone before herself.

I love you Sis!

I went to her class in the morning to give them her Birthday treat. She gave them rice crispy treats, a reeses peanut butter cup, a little mechanical pencil and a stretchy frog, spider, or lizard. They gave her a crown that had four shapes on it and she got to pick four friends to say something nice about her, this is what they said: I like KayBree, KayBree is nice, KayBree is wonderful, and they last person she picked was a boy who said KayBree is pretty! The teacher had just talked to me before that and told me that at this age the girls pick the girls and the boys pick the boys. They have never had a girl pick a boy! I was so proud of KayBree!

Here's some pictures of her birthday party! It was crazy but she LOVED it! We played a lot of animal games like animal charades, and I made up a penguin relay race game. I let the KayBree and Daimen make penguin eggs with a balloon and paper mache, then we painted them white. At the party the kids were split up into two teams and they had to walk like a penguin with the egg on their feet.

It was fun!

I can honestly say I know why my mother never threw us friend birthday parties...

It's so much work!!!

Pre-Birthday Celebrations

Yesterday we had an early birthday party for KayBree with my family. My Mom and Dad came up and brought my nephews, Spencer and Connor. We had a really great time! We took the kids to the Fun Park, where they rollerskated, me and Josh played monster chasing them around in this maze structure that's all padded and has tubes like the ones at McDonald's which are defiantly not made for adults, and then we played all the token games like air hockey, Spencer rode a motorcycle, so did my dad, and he got a moderate case of motion sickness! :) Daimen also figured out the best way to play Skee-ball. . . he climbed up behind the screen and dropped the balls into the 10,000 point hole. He was very resourceful when it came to getting tickets and winning the game! We got tickets when we played, and then we bought cheap little rip off toys....all in all, it was a great night!

KayBree got three little birthday cakes, chocolate, carrot, and white with six balloon birthday candles that Daimen picked out for her!

Then today at church I finally let her wear the BEAUTIFUL dress that my sister Aletha and her husband Kevin picked out for her. She looks so pretty in it!

Halloween Fun

KayBree sweeping up the leaves, in her BEAUTIFUL witch costume that my wonderful mom made her. Thanks MOM!!!


Daimen... oops I mean Batman showing off his ginormous muscles!

Pumpkin carving at it's finest. Daimen and Dad were on one team and me and KayBree were on the other. KayBree drew the face she wanted on our pumpkin and I carved it out. Daimen told dad that he wanted a scary pumpkin with sharp teeth. They turned out pretty good!

Scary!

Happy Hodge Podge Day! :(

Today we found poor Hodge Podge dead in his tank. KayBree is devastated. I told her that this would be Happy Hodge Podge Day so we could always remember him! She stayed up crying on my lap by her bed, until she fell asleep. This is the third pet she has had that died. Spikey (the horny toad), Glowie (the Purple Beta Fish), and now Hodge Podge. KayBree is so tender hearted, it kills me to see her like this.

This is a play dough sculpture she made of him after we got him in California. She did it by herself with a potato masher. She is so creative.

): You will be missed Hodge Podge! :(

Fall Celebrations

This week KayBree insisted that we celebrated FALL!

So we made, decorated, and ate delicious caramel apples probably three times or more!

KayBree has collected a bag full of dead leaves and sticks... I still don't know what she is planning to do with them, maybe a fall mural?!?!

I volunteered to help with KayBree's class field trip to the Pumpkin Walk. I was so glad that they let Daimen come too because he would have been sad if he missed out. The pictures above are some of our favorite exhibits!

Below is picture of her class, her teacher is on the right side of the picture, and KayBree is right in the middle looking as cute as a button!

Last but not least... It was CRAZY HAIR DAY today at Kaybree's school! She told me after her bath last night that if we just left her hair wet while she slept in the morning it would be crazy! I knew she was right of course, but I thought that might be a little TOO crazy, so I twisted little squares of hair up into tight wormy buns and she slept on it and in the morning I brushed through them and this was the ending product!!!

She LOVED it!

P.S. I have added an intresting video about Barack Hussein Obama if anyone is intrested in watching it. If you do watch it let me know what you think! :)