The Icky stuff

Dear Mr. Flu:

We'd like to Thank you for your visit. We have had so much fun while you were here... these are a few our favorite memories;

the 2 hour trip to the after hours clinic at our doctors office, with lots of other sickly coughing children, only to get a giant Q-tip shoved up our noses (seriously GIANT) until we think it touched our brains.

the lovely facemasks which we were so excited to wear,

the search around the valley for some liquid Tamiflu (did you know that even with insurance a box of Tamiflu for adults is about 100.00- yikes), which resulted in not actually locating any,

the chills and the fevers

the stomach aches and all that goes along with that- you get the picture, right

the constant hummmmmm of the washer and dryer running

the headaches (I'm sure the makers of Motrin are raking in the bucks this flu season)

the coughing and stuffy noses

the smell of Lysol from Mom spraying everything in sight- watch out she might accidentally spray you

We'd also like to Thank You from the bottom of our hearts for letting us miss school and everything else for an entire week plus 2 weekends!

We're glad you decided to leave, you have officially worn out your welcome.

P.S. Please don't plan any more visits

P.S.S. Please leave us alone for any major upcoming holiday ie. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Years!

Sincerely,

Alex, Eli, David and Avery

This big collection of meds has been residing on my kitchen counter, no need really to even try to put it away. It has been an eventful past 2 weeks, thankfully Manuel and I made it through without getting sick. This is all going back to the medicine closet today- ciao!!!!!

Goodbye September

and Hello to OctoberNovemberDecember. They seem to speed past me so I'm just going to combine them into 1 word!

So as we bid September farewell here's a quick update...

One last day at the pool before it closed for the summer. The boys are a little sad, they have really enjoyed the Flowrider.

David turned 6 years old on September 7th, we spent the morning relaxing since there was NO SCHOOL and then after wrangling an Iguana (see previous post) we spent the afternoon at Pirate Island Pizza. We had dinner in Smuggler's cave and then the kids played in the arcade forever. Super FUN and it was perfect for David!

We have been enjoying our garden and the tomatoes have been so yummy. It is so nice to be able to walk to the backyard when I need something. This year we grew 3 varieties of peppers, onions, carrots, 3 varieties of tomatoes, cucumbers, zuchini, yellow squash and we tried corn (not sure what happened to the corn).

Avery and I flew to Las Vegas to visit my Mom and my brother Spencer for 3 days. Avery broke my camera so I am still waiting for pictures from Mom and Spenc (hint, hint), but we had a great time and Avery especially enjoyed playing with her cousin Colin.

I turned 34 on September 18th. Looking forward to a Great year!

We spent lots of time playing at the park. This is the boys rolling down the hill at Rock Canyon Park in Provo. We have also been enjoying South Fork Park up Provo Canyon.

Eli and David are taking a Hip Hop and Breakdancing class. It is super hilarious and they are really enjoying it. David is loving all the moves & practices standing on his head and spinning around at least every day. Eli is loving it too, but maybe a little more b/c he has some friends in there. It's a good thing! I'll get some pictures as soon as I get a new camera!

I'm off to break out the Halloween decorations- BOO!

A VISITOR

On Memorial Day which also happened to be David's birthday this year, we had a VISITOR!

I jumped in the shower and as I'm lathering shampoo through my hair I hear yelling and excitement and commotion and "there's an emergency" type of pounding on the bathroom door. So I shut the water off and try to resolve the problem as best I can with a head full of shampoo.
Alex: Mom, I need you RIGHT NOW
Me: What's going on Alex?
Alex: Just hurry MOM
Me: Alex what is the problem, I'm kind of in the shower.... Where is your DAD?
Alex: I don't know where Dad is but you better hurry
Me: Alex can't you.....
Alex: MOM, there is a giant iguana on my window? Can you get out and help me???
Me: (thinking to myself) (An iguana.... he is so joking, if there really is an iguana how do I catch it? Do they bite? Why on earth is there an iguana in UTAH? This kid is such a joker, there are not even lizards in this part of Utah)
Alex: Mom are you coming, nevermind Eli found Dad now!

So I finish my shower and put my bathrobe on.... the house is SILENT. I guess I better go take a peek out the window.
There are about 20 people who live on our street on my front lawn, maybe there really is an iguana! I run back to my room to get dressed so I can go out in the front yard and this is what I see (it's tail is actually about 3 times as long as it's body and it is so strong) .........

Seriously, I wouldn't ever have expected this! What an fun surprise! We found out it had actually escaped from the neighbor's house a few doors down about 6 weeks before this. Thankfully Manuel was able to use his iguana catching skills and get it before it ran away again!

There's never a dull moment around here:) We wouldn't want it any other way!

Sloppy Joe's

So the other night our ward has the "Annual Ward Picnic, Car Show & Pool Party" at a local park.
I thought just by the title we could find something for each member of my family to enjoy, Who doesn't love a car show anyway! After a disappointing phone call from Manuel telling me that he was going to be home late and would be missing this "high on his priority list" activity, I decided to go at it solo. After all, it's just a ward picnic, car show and pool party, I can do this one by myself.
So after I've parked the car and given the boys the lecture about eating healthy, not touching the food unless your planning on eating it, no smelling things if your not sure about them and only choosing 1 dessert then I let them loose.
I decided to just sit down and save us a spot to sit while they navigated the food table, Avery had stopped at the playground so I could just eat after the boys got their dinner.
Eli arrives at the table first with a cupcake, 3 pieces of cake and a large pile of potato chips in the center. He quickly drops his plate on the table and races back to get a cup of root beer. Upon his return I asked him where his dinner was. "This is my dinner, it's all I like over there" I see the talk in the car really made an impact....
David arrives next, strangely he has the exact same thing as Eli. He sits down very quickly and starts inhaling cake while not making eye contact with me or answering me when I say his name. After several bites of cake he finally looks at me and says "Mom, they have some wierd hamburgers, but not really hamburger thingys over there. I can't eat them or I'll throw up"
Alex then sits by me with a strange look on his face but a much better looking dinner plate, he nods to his plate and says "What is this Mom?"
Oh, the mystery dinner item is a Sloppy Joe.................................................. I said to Alex" You should try it you might like it."
The sweet sister next to me, who has quietly been listening to all of this sits up a little straighter and sticks her head very close to me and in her best speaking voice says " Do you mean to tell me your kids have never had a Sloppy Joe, what on earth do you feed them?"
What on earth do I feed them? I was just wondering if I missed a memo about sloppy joes being a staple in the diet of picky children? I think I'll be revamping my menu to try and acclimate them to the american classic of Sloppy Joes!
Oh and by the way, the car show was a hit- especially with the 5 and under crowd! The pool party was great except everyone was freezing to death. Can anyone tell me why it is so COLD here in Utah in the middle of August??????
Wishing your family lots of fun at your Annual ward picnic this year- I bet your jealous that you didn't get to have a car show too;)

Just a few things I am loving lately...

Tomato Sandwiches & Corn on the Cob- this is my all time favorite summer food- Thanks to my friend Stephanie for getting me hooked!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake- I never would have thought I could love it as much as real "bad for you" chocolate cake. The kids all love it too- Oh except for Eli, he found a tiny piece of something green in his cake and now he thinks we are secretly putting vegetables in everything-ugghh!!!

Sundance Day Camp- The boys are loving camp up at Sundance! I am loving some quiet time around the house and it's so awesome to have them tired at the end of the day from spending the day up in the mountains. They really keep them busy and my boys never get tired of riding the ski lift up to the top of the mountain- they have had nothing but rave reviews each of the days they have gone.

Glimmer Mist and Distress Inks- I have been really working hard to squeeze some scrapbook time into my schedule and I have been having so much fun playing with these. Maybe I'll get brave and post some of my pages. It really is the coolest stuff!

The slushy store- My kids are loving the slushy store around the corner.

The Lindon Pool and the Flowrider!- Seriously this has saved my sanity this summer. It is clean, easy to keep track of my kiddos and the Flowrider has been a huge hit with Alex, especially. He seriously will stay there for at least 8 hours riding it! I hav some pics so I'll try and get them downloaded so you can see how much fun it it!

Hope you are all enjoying these last few weeks of summer- Yikes, I can't believe school is starting in less than 2 weeks!!!

Washers

(Okay, still working on Part 2 to my last post, I promise it's coming.)

I will be the first to admit I have a serious love/hate relationship with all things LAUNDRY!

I love to sort the laundry, I hate to pick it up from the floor in what seems like every room, every day!!!

I love it when my laundry room is clean and smells good, but I hate that I have to clean it everyday to keep it that way.

I love having warm, clean smelling clothes fresh out of the dryer, I hate that my washer is continually having issues- serious issues!!!!

I love to fold laundry, I hate putting it away.

I think it's time to eliminate some of my "hates". After reviewing them I think getting a new washer is the one I actually have the most control over and the one I may actually have some success with (previous attemps to have some boys in my home help with picking up said dirty clothes or helping to put away said nicely folded clothes has proved highly unsuccessful!)

So I'd like washer recommendations, I am looking at the front loading kind that wash LOTS of stuff at once and that can accomodate big fluffy blankets!

Let me know if you have a washer and dryer set that you LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!!
Happy Weekend to you!!!!

We are still alive!!!!

Hello everyone!!!! I'm so excited to be back blogging again. It's been 4 months since my last post- I can't believe it!!!

Anyway, I realize that I left ya'll hanging on my last post so here's to an update and hopefully more regular posts from here on out!!!

YES, we did actually move! It was really difficult to leave, we were really enjoying the neighborhood and the ward and the good friends the kids were making. We were not enjoying all the little problems that started showing up in the house. All in all, it worked out to be a blessing for us.

Avery enjoying some chocolate milk on one of the only seats left in the old house!

This is our current house! I say current because this will be a temporary landing spot for us while we look for lots or until we find a house with everything that we are looking for.

David and Avery are getting so big and they are great helpers, they love to help me paint or in this case distress a piece of furniture that has been in the family for a long time.

Avery is getting to be a pro on her scooter, she has loved being able to take it outside and ride up and down the street. She also continues to impress us with her fashion choices- gotta love those snowboots in the spring!!

Our street has a slight incline and Alex and his cousins love to ride down the street on their longboards, scooters, and ripsticks. There is a neighbor dog that isn't so nice that chases them sometimes, but I'm to scared to stay outside and try to get a picture of it- It is scary but really so hilarious!

We sold our old Orem house- we were really happy to get close to what we wanted out of it and are so grateful that we are done taking care of multiple houses!!!!

We celebrated our 14th Anniversary in March- no pictures or fun things because we were all sick! It's okay we look the same as we always do!!!

Alex turned 11 on April 1st. He only wanted an Ipod touch so after he had earned half the money we pitched in the rest and gave it to him for his birthday gift!!!! We wrapped up a fake toy Ipod and gave it to him before he left for school, he was confused but I think he was catching on that there was something more for him. He wanted to eat Filet Mignon at home so we stayed here and had a little celebration. It was fun and he was super excited to get his Ipod Touch!


Eli turned 8 on April 7th. He was a little upset that he didn't get a MP3 player that Alex had convinced him that he "needed", but we got him lots of fun toys and action figures that he loves to play with. He wanted to eat at Brick Oven so we had dinner there and then cake when we got back home.

Manuel's niece had a baby, his name is Joshua and Little Miss Avery is in heaven!!!!!!

Manuel and I went for a weekend to Colorado- shocking, yes I know! It was really fun to have some alone time away from the kids and we loved seeing all our old friends in Louisville. It was raining when we flew in and by mid-afternoon they had started to cancel flights and close roads because of the snow. We made it to our hotel and pretty much had to hang out there for Friday and a good portion of Saturday.

Even with the snow, we wouldn't have missed meeting Trish and Gerry (and Kyle) for dinner. They actually bought dinner for us which was not part of the plan. Now they need to come here so we can treat them to dinner!!! HINT HINT!!! We'd still love to meet you in MOAB, Mapquest says it is 5 hours and 47 minutes from Louisville!!

Thanks again guys it was great to catch up!!!

Okay so I think that catches me up through April so for now we'll leave you with.....

TO BE CONTINUED...................................................

Busy Thoughts!

I know everyone is busy, but somehow you WONDER WOMEN seem to find time to

download your photos and write fun little posts that I so enjoy reading. So I guess this is a "confessional" of sorts.

I am a blog reader and not the blog writer that I thought I would be.

I just can't find time to do both.

I think updating every month is more my style! Someday:

I'll have a food blog,

I'll workout everyday,

My house will actually stay clean,

I'll have an art studio where I can sit in the sunlight and be creative,

but for right now I am a Mom. That is my main focus and everything else must WAIT!!!!!

I'm still WONDER WOMAN, I just won't be wearing that little outfit anytime soon!!!

So, until I get the "blogging bug" back again, please know that I love to read your blogs and hear about your fabulously exciting lives!

P.S. We are probably moving soon, our house is having structural "issues" that we are not comfortable with so we are probably going to rent somewhere for a little while till we can find another home that we love!!! Call me if you want more details, we haven't told the kids yet so keep it on the down low for a little longer. I'll give you contact info once I know a little more!!!!! UGGGHHH!!!

Catch Up!

I have good reasons for not blogging lately, here are a few of them......

Ahh, the deliciousness of this time of year!!!! We have been doing some baking and enjoying all the fun treats and time in the kitchen. The kids are turning into great little sous chefs!

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Pumpkin Bread

we sprinkled raw sugar on the top and it gave it a delightful extra layer of goodness!

We have done a few arts and crafts projects- anything to keep the kiddos busy and happy while it's freezing outside!

David and Will and Avery(those are her fingers on the bottom left) having a blast using up all my old Christmas die cuts!
Avery painting a birdhouse that Manuel put together for her. That is serious talent to paint with 2 paintbrushes;)

We have been doing some decorating, these are a few of my favorite projects. Still lots to do but we are making progress!


This makes me smile everytime I look at it!!!!

We spent some time with Grandpa in town over Thanksgiving.

The highlight of the visit was putting fire crackers in the apples in the backyard and blowing them up.


Eli flexed his muscles with Santa!
Alex had a singing performance at the tree lighting ceremony at Zions Bank where Santa made an appearance. All the pictures of Alex had another boys head in the way- sorry Alex!!!

Manuel had a Birthday- He is 41-yikes;). I'd list 41 reasons why I love him but he never reads this so I think I'll just give him 41 kisses instead!!!!
We decorated the tree and listened to Christmas music!!!!!

We have been enjoying our generous helping of snow, every few days!
Snow boot requests have been added to everyone's Christmas lists- Is it too late to make requests??

We have tried to take SEVERAL pictures of the kids for a christmas card, all in various locations, (the couch was a last resort) This one is in the running for the BEST PHOTO!!!!! I'm planning to keep trying so if you see a Christmas card anytime between now and Valentines Day, consider yourself lucky!
We spent 1 evening at David's preschool for the annual holiday concert. Seriously don't let this picture deceive you, this is the only second that he actually sang. I'll try to download the video clips that I have. It is one of the best concerts in Yanguez family history!!!!

Happy Holidays!

Love the Yanguez Family!!!!!

Congratulations!

Congrats are in order for the youngest member of our family... Avery is finally potty trained!

(I am so happy to not have to add diapers to my grocery list anymore!)

Weekends

There are many Saturdays that get filled up with errands and all the nonsense that life throws at me, but last Saturday was different. We had a LAZY day!!!!! This means no trips to the grocery store, no laundry, no cleaning! What this also means is that I could actually revisit my days before I had children who needed me. This means that DAD is home and he can put out fires, make lunch and holler at the children to put their shoes on and close the door as they bolt for the backyard. This means that my deep yearning to create something or do something crafty may actually be satisfied. Could I really get a project started and finished in one day?

It was a longshot but I was optimistic and willing to give it a try just to please my creative soul.

The old piano in my front room has been begging me to make it pretty again, and I knew I could restore it, if only I could find the time. I guess this is THE TIME!!!

I've mentioned before this piano that my grandma so kindly gave to me. It has a story, like so many things in our lives do. While all its dents and scratches hinted to how long it has been around and to how many behinds have sat on it's bench, I knew it could look better, I knew it could look as good as it sounds. I knew it could be restored to pretty close to what it looked like when my sweet grandma returned from her LDS mission in 1947 and purchased it for $800.00. I knew that it was my turn to add my chapter to this pianos long and wonderful journey. You see, this piano is a treasure to me even though I can't even play it! Someday I WILL play it!

The Bench BEFORE

The Bench AFTER

This is the last corner. The part on the left is already done- so much better!

The above 2 are both AFTER pictures, It looks so awesome that it needed 2 pictures

Laughed so hard... I cried!

I hope I can re-tell this and have it be as funny as when Manuel told me.

Manuel received a calling during the summer to work with the 12 year old boy scouts. He meets weekly with them and then camping trips once in a while. So the other day Manuel gets an email about a meeting on thursday night that he needs to attend. Well, Thursday night is sort of when he plays basketball and more recently it's also become chess night. So he crossed the chess game off his list and went to the meeting in his clothes for basketball.

He walks into a room full of very serious scouting men and women, they are decked out in more scout paraphenelia than he has ever seen and they seem to be all older than him. He takes a seat and they start talking and presenting people with various neckerchifs (sp) and awards . Two men suddenly stand up and start singing a song something along these lines...

"We are the Owls, we are the Owls" Complete with shoulder movements up and down

"We are the Owls, we are looking for something that we just don't know" At least this is what Manuel is hearing. He said he turned his head sideways and raised his eyebrows.

The men sit down and they keep talking when another set of men stand up and start singing...

"We are the Beavers, We are the Beavers"

"We are the Beavers, we are looking for something that we just don't know"

"What in the world is this" (in Manuel's voice it is so hilarious), He is thinking

So they finish the program and an older gentleman approaches Manuel and asks if he is new here.

"Uh, yeah I'm new here" says Manuel

The old man says" Well welcome to the Brotherhood of the Beaver" he moves his face a little closer to Manuel and he puts his 2 front teeth out and makes a beaver noise.

"OMG, I have to get out of here" Manuel says to himself

He excuses himself to use the bathroom and puts those basketball shoes to good use as he BOLTS out of the church.

Whew!!! A deep sigh of relief and a fear that he won't soon forget..... The Brotherhood of the Beaver!!!!!

Autumn Fun

It's definitely a busy time of year, but OH SO FUN!!!

This is our trip to the Corn Maze at Thanksgiving Point. We went a few days before Halloween and it was pleasantly on the warm side. Yes, I know Avery's hair is a mess, she took out her barettes!

Alex, Eli and JT trying to decide which way to go.

My cousin Ben got married the day before Halloween so Avery and I went to the reception at Wheeler Farm, it was good to see family that we don't see too often. But the best part was

when sweet little Thomas actually asked Avery to dance. She was a little unsure at first but they got it down! Such a cute little moment!

Halloween!!!!!

I don't know what else to say, we had a fabulous night. We had MUMMIES for dinner and the older boys went trick or treating (before I got the camera out) with their friends from the neighborhood and their cousins. They scored BIG in the candy dept, which I have since had to hide from them, oops I mean myself;).

This is my "Pottery Barn catalog" photo from Halloween. They seriously are so cute at this age!!

We have been raking leaves, they are

NEVER-ENDING around here! But the kids have had NEVER-ENDING fun hiding in them. They love to play "Ghosts in the Graveyard"! (This is a VERY small sampling of all the leaves!)







I did some Fall-ish decorating! I know it's funny for those of you who have been to my house. I have hardly decorated the regular parts of my house (I really am working on it, just indecisive and BUSY), but the leaves falling outside made me want to celebrate the season and put some of my holiday decor out where it could actually be enjoyed.

My goal is to have made some serious decorating "headway" before the end of this month. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Have a Fabulous week, I think we only have 2 1/2 weeks to Thanksgiving!!!

Happy x3

I believe we have done it. I actually found a sport that ALL three of my boys are loving!!!!!!

Yes, I signed them up for Wrestling at the local THROWDOWN gym.

This is a 1 month introduction course and if they like it they can go on and do competition.

I personally thought we'd be a soccer, baseball, football, basketball family, but they are having so much fun. So I'll trade sitting on the sidelines of a soccerfield for the soft cushy mat at the gym if they are having fun!!!! David is a natural- he's super fast and he's strong, he's still trying to get used to wierd little boys grabbing his legs but he's a pro.

Eli, well he is out for blood or anything else he can get. He is STRONG and determined to take down anyone that gets in his way. I am thinking he is picturing more WWF style, since he grabbed his partner's shirt and just started swinging him in circles. A little bit of instruction from the coach and he's headed in the right direction now!

David and his partner, this looks more like Karate but they are supposed to be practicing their squatting- I think it's called a stance? I'll have to work on my terminology;)

Alex is doing a more advanced version of what the younger kids are doing. He's a little shy and still getting all the rules down but he's doing awesome. He's also really strong and his long legs are an advantage to him. This is his summary of his first week. "It's really fun but you have to get used to grabbing people in wierd places and putting your head in wierd places and then hoping your opponent doesn't FART!" I thought that was hilarious!!!! Oh, how I love a 10 year old boys!!!!

Lastly, I just had to include this picture! I realized that wrestling is not a sport that is easy to photograph, this "photo shoot" made me seriously question any photographic ability that I may have had! 70% of my pictures look like this one below and the other 30% are the ones above and several pictures of peoples backs, butts, ears & legs. I don't start out trying to get a coach's butt in my photo but they always move before my camera actually takes the picture and now I have some really "precious" pictures that are begging to be deleted from my camera!

Anyway, have a happy week and we'll keep you updated on our little wrestling experience!!!!