Anyone want some ICE CREAM???

Me: "Hey KIDS! We've been kind of cooped up today...and since Parker has been fighting this flu the past few days, how about I treat you to a delicious REED'S ICE CREAM?!!" ☺

KID: "AWESOME!!! Reed's ice cream is the BEST!!!!"

(20 minutes later, enjoying Reed's Ice Cream)

(While we are eating I start eavesdropping on the convo going on behind the counter)  "Hey Jace, why do you keep wiping your eye over and over again." Jace says,"Well, I've got these eye boogers that keep coming back....pretty sure its pink eye."

Freakin SICK! Gahhhh! We are SO outta there!

ME: "Hey kids, lets go look at the cows back behind Reed's Dairy and see where our ice cream comes from."

KIDS: "Yay!"

What we see:

Hot steamy pee flying all over the place:

 Poop squirting out all over the ground: Oh, and the CHICKEN in the picture went over and helped himself to a little sample of that nastiness (Seriously??? Could this GET any more DISGUSTING???)

Big engorged utters all over the place, and yes, more green soft serve spewing out from all directions.

Cows walking around and laying in more crap and piss. (Sorry, it just kind of came out.)

My kids were laughing uncontrollably:

And I was busy dry heaving and trying to hold in my "DELICIOUS Reed's Ice Cream." Bleh.

Sick boy...and some sick deals!

Looks like my P-man caught the flu. My usually very active and busy boy has done nothing but lay around ALL day today. He took a nap this afternoon and now he is already back in bed and its only 6:00. Poor guy.

My kids rarely get sick (which I am SO thankful for) but when they do it literally HURTS me to see them so miserable. Hopefully he'll bounce back quickly but for now it looks like he's staying home from school tomorrow. Good thing I have a good ORGANIZATION project to keep us busy at home tomorrow!

Check it: I got 10 bins from Lowes the other day for only $1.50 per bin! Thats a smokin' price if I do say so myself! They are usually over $5 per bin. I'm ready to get my organization on! (The cat is in the picture just for you Aubrey!)

I'm going to attempt to organize my storage room in the basement. There are some boxes down there that continue to move with us from house to house and I really have no idea what is even in them. I also need to go through all of my FOOD storage down there and chuck some of the stuff that is getting old.

Check THIS: I got a "few" boxes of oatmeal yesterday. My kids LOVE "mush." That's what we call it around here. When you get it for .30 a box its time to STOCK UP! I think we're good for a year or so (especially since we still have some from the last Quaker sale!) I even got lots of "reduced sugar" ones this time around. Hey....I may not be a "stone ground oatmeal mom" but I'm tryin. ☺

I also need to rearrange the "Christmas/Birthday gift hiding place" in the storage room. Which reminds me,

CHECK THIS OUT: Today while shopping at Target I came across a gem of a find. I found this awesome basketball game thing to put in the basement. Usually over 100 bucks....Guess how much I got it for????

$24.99! Yippee! I don't know if I can wait that long to open it...I'm ready to take Nate ON!

Christmas is FAR away but it's never to early to think about next year! I got all of these items yesterday at Big Lots. All Christmas stuff was 90% off.

I paid  a total of 96 cents! Woo Hoo! Plates for goodies for next year, and the red candle works now for Valentines Day!

And the red ornaments? I pulled the tops off of them and used them for my Valentines centerpiece! It's not the cutest but it works. I'm going to try to find some cute plastic conversation hearts to add in there...that will make it much better!

And now for my last deal of the day.....a few items at Smith's (ignore messy kitchen in background). I really have fallen off the mega coupon bandwagon but I NEED to get back on! I got these few things for about 4 bucks. Yay!

Alright, enough with the good deals already...better get back to taking care of the sick boy. Maybe I should make him a bowl of oatmeal??☺

A very frosty morning

I was fascinated by all of the frost on each and every branch this morning. It was so beautiful. All of the trees and bushes looked fuzzy and glittered. Even though it was bitter cold it really was breathtaking.

Quick trip

We went to Boise this weekend! Missy was throwing Emily a going away party and I wasn't going to miss it! ☺ At first I was just going to head over alone but then the whole family decided they couldn't live ONE SINGLE DAY without me so we all packed up and headed over! Guess I'm loved...that's a good thing, right? It was a great weekend.

Friday night was the party and it was at Missy's new gorgeous house!  The party was tons of fun and as always, it was so great to see everyone. We stayed up way late chatting and playing games. We even gave the good old "I-pod Idol" game a go! Good times. I love all of these ladies! I'm still in denial that Emily is moving but she is so loved and I know she'll make lots of new friends quickly over in D.C. We're already talking about flying over for a visit in the fall! Yippee!

Saturday we played hard. Grandma and Grandpa were ready and rearing to spoil the grand kids! We went to the candy store first and the kids went crazy throwing all sorts of goodies in their baskets!

 Nate took off to go on a a 4 hour bike ride with his teammates. He sure misses riding outside. It was 45 degrees out so he was in heaven! He rode with all of the Bob's Bicycle guys AND the Olympic GOLD medalist Kristen Armstrong! He was pretty stoked to say the least. 
The rest of us headed over to Emerald Lanes to do a little bowling. It was Carter's first time bowling so it was fun to watch him try to figure the whole thing out.

Add some Chuck E Cheese and McDonald's and its pretty safe to say the kids had a FANTASTIC and very UNHEALTHY weekend!

Sunday we went to our old ward. It was fun seeing so many familiar faces and a few of the Young Women that I have missed SO much. Life just continues to change....the ward has split since we moved, lots of friends have moved or are moving in the near future. Nothing is constant in life except for change. I can honestly say it was the first time since we've moved that I wasn't sad (except for the Perry's moving part)☺. I'm so glad that Idaho Falls is feeling more and more like home to me. We were all excited to head back to the freezing side of the state. And even though we were only gone for 3 days, I can't believe I'm actually saying it.......(shhhhhh) I missed my cat.

Very random

The BAD:

I got a HUGE crack all the way across my windshield.
My dryer is broken.
My Grandma fell and broke a bunch of bones and is in the hospital.
My kids are sick.
I cut my thumb while cutting lettuce. It even went through my thumbnail. Ouchie!
I spent an hour and a half CHIPPING all the ice off of my driveway (the ice that has been there since CHRISTMAS) and I just looked out the window...SNOW again EVERYWHERE. Grrrr!

The GOOD:

Cuts, bones, and illnesses eventually get better. Grandma is going to be ok.
The Sears guy is coming tomorrow to fix my dryer.
Both of our cars are paid off so we can AFFORD to get the windshield replaced. (And hopefully I'll be getting a new car in the very near future.)
I burned a ba-zillion calories clearing off the driveway yesterday and it looks like I'll be getting a good workout tomorrow as well. Winter doesn't last forever....I hope.
Zumba makes me happy! And I'm so glad I had a few friends who wanted to come along last night! ☺

And the RANDOM:

My husband is silly. And I love him for it.

Nate's dream date

It's a Saturday night. Date night for lots of folks.

Some people:

Do dinner

Enjoy a movie

Go dancing

Attend a play

Go to a game

Go out for dessert

Go bowling

Attend a concert

The list goes on and on.....

Yeah, my man wouldn't mind doing any or all of these things. Any time spent together ALONE is grand.

He's pretty darn easy to please.

His FAVORITE date though?

What he would choose to do EVERY single night (If I let him ☺)?

Take me downstairs

Into his bike room

And kick my trash

The joys of being married to an AVID cyclist!

My Loot

It looks like a clothes tornado hit my front room! Today was the big Old Navy sale! I was introduced to this marvelous sale last year and have been looking forward to it ever since! 40% off of already clearanced items! Awesome! It's like black friday ALL over again!

So, what did I get? Here's the breakdown.

For the boys:
26 shirts
4 dress shirts
8 sweatshirts
3 backpack/shoulder packs
2 pairs of slippers

For myself:
A new coat
2 pairs of pants
4 new shirts

For my man:
2 pairs of pants
3 shirts
3 sweaters

3 baby items for gifts

Total before ALL sale prices PLUS my coupon:

$947.43

Total after:

$235.67 thats a 75% savings!

So much fun! I LOVE a good deal! Back to school shopping for next year is DONE!

♥Great Friends♥

Our amazing, fabulous, FUN and incredible friends the Perry family came by for a quick stay last night. As always, the kids had a blast and the parents stayed up WAY too late laughing and acting like kids themselves. We went to bed around 3am! No wonder I've been worthless all day! ☺ 

NOW, I know WE were the ones who moved away from Boise and that was difficult enough to deal with BUT at least we were still able to get together at least every couple of months...they stop on their way up to Canada and we always hang out each time we go back to Boise for a visit. Here is the pic from the day that I moved away. THAT WAS HARD ENOUGH I'm telling ya!

Now the Perry's are moving. And they aren't just moving a few hours away. They are moving all the way to WASHINGTON DC! We really are excited for them and for the adventures that await them. We realize this is a great opportunity for their family. At the same time, it is OH SO HARD! Tonight Parker started asking questions. "Mom, how far away is Washington DC?" I pulled out Dallin's globe and showed them how far away Washington is. Parker's eyes filled with tears and he buried his head in his pillow. "Mom, that is TOO far! We'll NEVER see them anymore!" Parks and Jameson have been best friends for years. My heart hurt to see Parker get so upset about it. I told him about how when I was 6 years old, I had to move away. I had to leave my very best friend but we continued to be friends. We wrote letters, called each other and we're STILL best friends to this day and that was 23 years ago!

He liked that story.

I started to think about ALL of the great times we've had together. Then I fell apart too! It's so hard to find good friends....especially ones where everyone meshes so well. Our kids absolutely adore and love each other. Nate always talks about how Tom is his all time favorite person to hang out with. Those guys can talk law and sports until blue in the face. And Em, she is another one of my angels on earth. I credit her for really helping me break down some of my "walls" that I had put up during those law school years. We first met 4.5 years ago...we were both working with the Beehives. She was so spontaneous, crazy and fun and she helped me realize me that it's OK to be that way! She has been a great example of spiritual strength and faith when facing adversity. She is a devoted mom, she's absolutely hilarious and a true friend.

Now, I realize they aren't DYING here but it will definitely be different. Our visits together and our late nights may not be as frequent, but of course we have phones, blogs, and skype, and now we have a REAL reason to finally go over to visit our nation's capital! I'm thinking we better just plan on an arranged marriage between Landon and Layla (or WayWa, as Landon pronounces it). We'd have the cutest grand kids EVER!

   Best wishes Perry family! We ♥ you!

What does your sweep pile say about you?

I sweep my floors every day. I HAVE to! Look at all the stuff that accumulates after 1 day in our household!
So I was looking at all of the garbage/treasures in my pile. Then I thought, this pile really does say a lot about our family. How so?

1. I live with a bunch of PIGS! (or BOYS)

2. My children are candy obsessed. From the various nerds, smartees, dum dum and gum wrappers, it is apparent that they are also really good at SNEAKING and STASHING candy.

3. Beebees, nerf darts and other various ammunition. My children love to play together (or beat each other up) and they also love to SHOOT each other all day long. I recall a not so distant day when I swore I would NEVER allow a shooting toy in the house. Once again...never say never!

4. I see a band aid in the pile. Funny how I'm ready to throw a good band aid away but every time I need one I can't find one anywhere. Band aids are magical in my household. It's incredible how every little scrape HAS to be covered immediately by a band aid or this wound will NEVER heal!

5. Popcorn kernals. We LOVE to rent a redbox, pile up the blankets, pop some popcorn and watch movies together! Plus we're CHEAP!

6. Matchbox cars and those finger skateboard things. They are a CONSTANT in the sweep pile. I do tend to rescue those toys. Those are the toys that NEVER get old!

7. Pieces and parts of games and toys. I HATE toys with lots of small parts. If a lego, crayon, or piece of an action figure gets in the pile.....its a GONNER! Sorry kids. I'm not like my mother in law who does such a great job of keeping every part of every game set together. I don't have the patience! Thats just the way it is!

8. A cat toy. Really? I still can't believe we have a cat.

9. A tag for a new shirt. I buy my kids way too many clothes. Ask my sister...I keep giving her everything my kids outgrow!

10. A cheerio, a noodle, some bread. We like carbs.

 I must love these PIGS. That's why I continue to clean up after them day after day!

Another season comes to a close.......

Saturdays in the Starnes home for the past couple of months have been BUSY with lots of soccer (INDOOR of course) and basketball games! Dallin's soccer team (the RED Dragons) was coached by the very handsome and talented Coach Starnes. Nate was forced into the position because no other parents would step up to the plate. Nate was a great coach and the kids learned a lot over the season!  He and Dallin especially enjoyed the one on one time they were able to spend together each week. 

 "Grandma Molifua" came to cheer him on at his last game! Boy, she has one LOUD cheer voice! Dallin LOVED it!

Parker had a FABULOUS basketball season. We had no idea this kid had such talent! He definitely got his hoop skills from his aunt Nanny. He was one of the few players who actually figured out what was going on during a basketball game. He scored LOTS of points (almost to the point of embarrassment) but he was teachable and learned how to share the glory and pass the ball. It was SO much fun to watch his drastic improvement over such a short time frame. Here he is in action:

It has been a GREAT season! Now, onto the next!

Sledding video

My brother made a little video to go along with our New Years sledding adventures! ENJOY!!! Be sure to watch Parker EAT IT at the end! LOL!

Landon's preschool class!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you all know how much I miss all my friends in Boise. They are so much fun, are always DOING things, and always have fantastic ideas! One of which was our co-op preschool we did with Parker and his little friends last year. Well, THIS year I thought I would just take the year off from preschool. I've loved getting the older boys off to school and having some one on one time with my Landon but lately I've felt like he needs something more.

SO, I asked around. And guess what? EVERY mom I talked to wanted to join a co-op here in Idaho Falls! YIPPEE! SO, this week was Landon's first week. We had an All ABOUT ME week! We made books, colored outlines of ourselves and made masks of our faces. I taught the first week and now it will rotate between myself and 5 other ladies. Its only a couple of hours 2 times a week. The kids had a blast. It was a huge success! Glad I opened me mouth and asked........☺

I'm looking forward to my 4 hours a week with NO children already!