SWEETS!

We took a field trip to the Sweets Candy Factory for Coren's preschool class.  It was tons of fun.  I let Carson sluff school like a nice Mom (Makenna couldn't cause she missed 2 days for DisneyLand) and the kids had a blast.  

It was so much fun, and very interesting to see how candy is made.  We got to have tons of free samples (always a bonus) and we all got to wear

hairnets!!   You couldn't ask for a better time!

This is the second time Mandy and I have worn hairnets together.  I am wondering if that is a sign or something...??  Do I see a factory in our future?  PLEASE NO!

Ariane, Me, and Mandy.  A bunch of BABES!

Museum of Natural History.

Grandpa Johns called and invited us to the Museum of Natural History!  It was tons of fun, and the kids loved it.  Here are some of the pictures:

It was a great day.  Thanks Grandpa!

Elves!

We took the kids to do some 'Elf Watching' but as it turns out, they were watching us!  Everywhere we looked we saw them, and it was a great reminder that now is the time for the kids to start being really good, because Santa will be coming soon!

This is Kenna's new Elf friend.  She better hope that he puts in a good word for her!

Have you ever felt the inside of an Elf's nose?  Carson has!

Have you ever eaten an Elf Booger?  Coren has! (He liked it too!)

Oh, how cute!

We found these Elves steeling all of the gifts making people sad and broke.  They were what we call the 'Politician Elves!'  They are giving these gifts to the banks that failed so that they can have a good Christmas.  The CEO will get most of the gifts.  Merry Christmas!

That Elf said that we have been naughty.  That's weird!?!

Teepee project.

Makenna had a school project this last week.  It was her first BIG school project that required a report and a model.  It was on Indians, the UTE to be specific.  It was a little stressful making a teepee, because she wanted it to look GOOD, and I think it turned out pretty great.  She did a great job (with a little help) and then painted some really cool things on it.  GOOD JOB KENNA!

She's back!

Makenna made it home from her DisneyLand trip.  She had a great time.  She was worn out and excited and came with GIFTS!

The boys each got a toy and some smashed pennies.  They were SO excited!  It was nice of Kenna to think of us!We are glad that she is home.  We missed her!

Bedtime.

                                       We're bringin' SEXY back!!!

People are probably beginning to wonder what goes on at the 'The John's House'. 

I know, we are pretty scary, and if you actually knew what went on, you would be even more fightened.  

Last night, we were all getting ready for bed.

Coren took one look at me in my interesting outfit (a nightgown with pants underneath, who does that?) and said, "WOW, you look cute!"  He was serious by the way...

I took one look at him in his 2T PJ's and started to laugh.  I told him that we were the best lookin' people in the house, in mismatched and small clothes.  He agreed.

We danced around and took some pictures of our cute selves!

We have no shame!  No shame at all!

The End.

Never a dull moment.

Boys.  There is never a dull moment in this house.  I am quickly learning that boys are different from girls and that they come up with some crazy ways of making me laugh, making me scream, and making me wonder.  The things they come up with!


This is Coren's "stitch" doll.  He is in training.  I am not sure what event he is taking on, but Coren had him tied up and running.  Coren watched and cheered, and then eventually joined him on the treadmill.

I am pretty sure that these snakes floating in the tub were just a way to freak me out in the middle of the night.  It worked!

And then there was this cute cookie Coren made.  He even broke the tops off of the candy corn to make little white teeth.  Very creative.  He was proud of it.

Girls just have a little bit different style.  They arrange their dolls and have tea parties.  Makenna has not given me nearly the scares that they boys have. (well unless you count the worst moment of my life, the bird incident)

It is really fun to see the differences as they grow up.  People always ask, "Which is easier, boys or girls?"

I am seeing that they are so different.  They are both really fun.  I love my kids!

No more meat! At least don't talk about it!

I think that maybe, well not maybe... for sure... I should stop eating meat.  I am a meat lover, so I have struggled with the concept of going meat free.  It is the kids fault.  All their fault!!  I am not so much an animal lover, at least not a dead animal lover as I am a meat lover.  Does that make sense?  I'll explain.

Here's how it goes down at the Johns family dinner table.  Carson especially Carson feels some burning need to talk about whatever we are eating.  "Is this cow, or pig?  Oh this is a tasty cow.  Is the cow the one that says MOO or is it the one with the feathers?"

"Carson. PLEASE don't talk about the food, just eat the food", I beg each time.  

30 seconds later Coren starts in.  "Mom, why do we eat a cow, I like cows?"

Kenna tries to help (she sits across from me, and my face says it all).

I feel my food slowly coming back up and gathering in my throat until it can build up enough pressure to shoot across the room.  The thought of a cow, or a chicken, or a nasty pig in my gut seems wrong.  My body loves the taste, but my mind cannot handle the thought.

I try to eat on.  EAT ON I TELL MYSELF!  YOU CAN DO IT!  I try to get my mind off it.  I can't; those little twerps ruin the meal for me.

The next night or two we go without meat.  One day Steve looked at the dinner and said, "It looks like we are slowly becoming vegetarians.  We are aren't we."

I nodded my head and enjoyed my meal.

This has been going on for some time now.  Tonight, something happened that was more than I could handle.  Again, Carson spoke.  "Mom, I thought you said these were chicken legs.  They aren't."

At the same time me and Kenna said, "Carson, don't talk about the food, just eat it!"

"But, Mom.  You got the chicken head! (He said it like I had won a prize)  See... there are the eyes; those two bumps on the top of the head."

I looked down at the chicken that looked so delicious when it came out of the oven.  Sure enough there were two bumps on the bottom of the leg staring back at me.

Upon further examination there was some weird bloody stuff and some black stuff that was a strange texture.  I think I will go and throw up now!

My oh my how kids change our lives.

Camp out.

Steve took the boys on a campout.  Yes, it was cold, but they had a blast.  They went to the sand dunes, and Steve brought them a sled.  They had a blast sledding down the sand hills.  They even had a jump that they would go off and catch some good air.

The boys had one of the funnest nights of their lives.  They were so happy that their Dad took them, and can't wait to go again next year.

And wait, did I mention that it was one of the best nights of Dads life too?  Well, it was.

"The jungle"

Lipstick Jungle.  One of my favorite shows to watch.  In case you've missed it, it is about three sexy women, who are rich, business savvy, and leading quite glamorous lives.  They are all very successful business women; one a designer with a billionaire boyfriend, one a wife and mother who runs a huge company, and the other a lady with a boyfriend half her age who is of course, rich and successful.

Each has the most amazing wardrobe , money coming out their ears, and super dramatic lives. 

I watch and wonder if people seriously have lives like this.  After all the last time I wore lipstick and designer clothing was... uuummm.... NEVER!  The last time I had a boyfriend half my age was when I was two and my neighbor boy was one.  I thought he had nice diapers, and a lot of hair for a boy his age.  Young love!

My jungle:  The CARPOOL JUNGLE!  Instead of getting up, looking my best, and heading to my office each day, I roll out of bed about 7:30, put on whatever is laying on the floor closest to me, and drive the carpool.  I don't even comb my hair!

Carpool jungle? Yes it is a real thing.  It's a jungle out there!  A jungle full of mini-van's and SUV's.  Mom's that drive like bat's out of hell.  In a huge hurry to get to the next soccer game or WalMart; who knows where they are going in such a hurry!  If you drive the speed limit, or even a little faster, they pass you up and stare at you for as long as possible.  As they pass they growl at you, like you are some kind of freak.  They keep glaring, turning their necks to the breaking point, just to glare at you for as long as possible.  They want you to know how terrible you are for driving at such a pace.  They want you to know how fast their mini van goes.  Then they fly past you, and then darn... the light turns red.  Oh well, they are fast off the line.

On my street their is a speed bump.  The ladies around here all know that it is there.  It has been here for a few years now.  However, they fly down the road 30 mph and then next thing you know, they are catching air on the speed bump!  In defense of my fellow SUV drivers, this is mainly the minivanners!  Those vans can fly!  

Most experiences that I have had in a minivan have been scary.  Is it just me, or do these drivers not break until the last minute?  The front of the vans are really short, so I guess that gives them some false comfort, who knows?  For minivan drivers it is cut and dry... put the pedal to the metal, or slam on the breaks!

And now the point of this whole 'carpool jungle' rambling.  Today I drove the carpool.  I went to the school three times.  I drove to the preschool twice.  Between school pick up and drop offs I went to the grocery store two times!  I would say I spent a few good hours driving around town.  I opened the trunk three times.  I got some strange looks, but I always do.

At the end of the day I noticed this on the back of my car.  A "support pimpin" magnet.  Yes, I drove around with it all day.  It was there when I opened the back of the car several times.  It was there as I drove my kids around, and waited with all of the other Moms.  But I never noticed it!

Steve, you will pay for this!!!!!!!!!

I bought this dumb thing.  I put it on Steve's truck one day last year as a prank, and he noticed it before he even left the garage.  He then put it directly on my car, and I didn't see it for a long time!  Yes, I am a fool!

So, the glamorous life continues.  No, I do not wear lipstick and designer clothes.  I do not have a high paying job, or a rich boyfriend (I am looking), and I do not go to lavish events each night.  Instead, I buy my clothes on sale, buy my make-up at WalMart, and now I am the joke of all of the carpool Mom's!

I do support pimpin, I just didn't want everyone to know about it!

I was tagged.

My friend Shari tagged me so here goes.

Crazy 8's

8 T.V. shows I love to watch:

Nightline

Ellen

24

Prison Break

Grey's Anatomy

Lipstick Jungle

CSI (all of them)

The Bachelor

8 Favorite restaurants:

Sweet tomatoes

Pei Wei

Robintinos

Texas Roadhouse

Bajio

Chili's

Cheesecake factory

Anywhere that I have a coupon for.

8 things that happened yesterday:

Ran

Went to lunch with Mom and Kristen

Watched Coren be so cute with the cute baby

Gave Mom some hats for her shedding head

Made a good dinner for the family

Celebrated Emily's 30th birthday.  Old Lady!

Talked politics and parenting with Steve

Celebrated Steve coming home

8 things I am looking forward to:

A night without the kids

A good nights sleep

San Diego trip

Thanksgiving and Christmas

Getting rich

Running a marathon with Shari ;)

2012 when I get elected President and save the world

Having the basement finished

8 things on my wish list:

Getting rich

Cure for cancer (and all other sickness)

Win a marathon or any race

A mini cooper convertible

A cook, maid, and a nanny named Gilda

A really fun and long vacation

That Obama miraculously does a good job

8 more wishes

8 people I tag:

The 8 people that are so bored that they actually read this.

Snow!

It's here!  Winter and cold.  Gone are our warm fall days.  They were too good to be true anyways.  

And now we play in the snow.

We are excited because we are going to make a really cool sledding hill in our backyard this year (at least I am!) and I am going to get the kids some really great snow gear so that they want to spend lots of time out there.

Welcome winter.  

Election Day!

It is already here.  Nearly two years in the making, millions of campain dollars down the drain, and three men and one woman all hoping to be packing their bags and moving into the white house.

Here I sit.  Dressed in cozy fleece attire from head to toe, accessorized with my pink fuzzy slippers.  Lookin' HOT!  Outside the sky is black, and snow is starting to fall to the ground.  Weather such as this does not lift my spirits and neither does the thought of an Obama victory speech.  

My previous pleas to be written in as the candidate of choice are in the back of my mind.  Although I was ready to serve and make the world a better place, I am not even registered to vote.  So who am I kidding?  My real hope for a vote was me, and I messed it up.  2012 is going to be my year.  If any of you were crazy... I mean smart enough to vote for me, Thank You!  It really shows who my true friends are.  A vote for me is a vote against evil, and you did the right thing.

I am going to watch how this thing plays out.  Spend the day hoping for a miracle.  Hoping that at the last minute, in that little voting booth, Americans see the light, and vote RIGHT!  Hey, that just gave me a slogan for 2012...

SEE THE LIGHT, VOTE RIGHT!

BRANDI 2012

If the gloomy day is any indicator, we are in for some dark times ahead.  If this day ends up looking anything like my hair looks right now, we need to prepare for the worst.

So, now I go about my day.  Folding laundry (yes, Steve, I am folding laundry.  Already miracles are happening today) and cleaning the kitchen at least 20 times.  I might choose to shower, and maybe if my mood changes I will put on some jeans and try to look presentable.  I will probably comb my hair, but make-up is a strong MAYBE!  If I do go out, I might make my way to the polls, doing some last minute campaigning, or I might just pass them by and sigh... "Oh to what could have been."

And, for those of you that registered, I am jealous.  Go VOTE!  Go now, hurry, I hear the lines are long.  Dress warm, it is COLD out there!

H~A~L~L~O~W~E~E~N

The kids were all so excited for Halloween this year.  Coren spent the entire day in his Halloween costume, and wouldn't take it off.  They were ready to trick or treat at about 4.  We held them off until 6.

The boys both wanted to be Spiderman (actually Coren wanted to be half Giraffe and half Lion, but I talked him into Spiderman, PHEW!).  Kenna wanted to be a scary guy in a mask wearing all black.

Makenna wasn't with us, so I don't have a picture, but I am sure that she looked creepy.  
Coren go

t his pumpkin ready when it was time to head out.  He called it his pumpkin "pot".  He then stuck it on his head and said proudly, "Look, I am a POT HEAD!"2 hours later Danelle "Spidergirl" came over  to go out in search of candy with the boys.  They were still

 out and going strong.  They looked so cute.  I think it is great that she wanted to be Spiderman.

After they got home and ate TONS of candy, Coren and Danelle sat down to talk about their fun night.

We had a great time, and I made my new favorite soup.  It is so good that I have to share the recipe.  Plus, it is SO easy and really healthy.

1 can black beans

1 can corn (drained)

1 cup salsa

1 can chicken (or veggie) broth. (Use less for thicker soup)

Stick it all in the blender and then heat it up.  Add in some cheese, and Mmmmm.  So good!

We had a great Halloween.