What the Kids Have Been Up To and A Bunch of Other Junk

I know I haven't said much about the kids lately. They were being so silly on Thursday. Ok, so a favorite game at our house is American Idol. How you play is 3 people are judges (my mom, husband and I) and the kids are the contestants. The kids go up one at a time and it goes something like this"

Judge: So tell us your name and where you are from.

Child: My name is Plankton and I'm from Alaska.

Judge: Ok Plankton. What are you going to be singing for us today?

Child: I'm singing "Oh baby, I really miss you when you're not here"

Judge: Great! Let's hear it!

Child proceeds to rock out and improvise some crazy song we have never heard before. Then we go around and each judge tells them how they did and vote on whether they are going to Hollywood or not. Sometimes I like to be like, that was awful. My dog sings better than that. You should go home and never sing again. Hey, you have to have some variety. Every contestant can't make it through. Then if they made it, they get their ticket to Hollywood (a coloring book page) and run into the living room. When they come back, we are now the family instead of the judges, and we all jump around and scream "Woo-hoo! You're going to Hollywood!". Then we repeat it with the other 5 kids, and keep doing it til they get bored. It is a lot of fun and if you haven't done it before, you should totally give it a try. :)

They really enjoyed having my mom here to play and read with. Hailey cried when she left with my dad last night, even though it was only to go stay with him at the hotel (he just got in yesterday) and we will see them today. I tried to tell her that, but she was devastated that they weren't going to stay at our house. Sorry, but grandma and grandpa don't want to sleep together in the full bed I have in our guest room. It is not big enough for a couple, especially one that has a king size one at home! But they are going to the Lehi rodeo with everyone today, and since it is about 5 minutes from my house I am assuming I will see them over here in the next little while.

I bought the kids new bathing suits yesterday. (Well, not Austin and Camren, cause they already had ones that fit passed down to them). They were totally excited about them and had to put them on and prance around in them. Hailey and Brooklyn cracked me up cause they came running into the family room and had to prance around singing and wiggling their little butts in their bathing suits. They thought they were hot stuff! Amelia wouldn't take hers off. Even when I took it off to change her diaper, she had to have it right back on. Finally she decided she was cold and wanted to put her regular clothes on, only to notice her bathing suit sitting all alone on the couch and decide that she needed to wear it again. Yeah. So it went back in the bag and out of sight.

I went to a new clothing store yesterday. Well, new to me anyway. It is called Justice. It is like Limited Too (my favorite girls clothing store EVER!) but cheaper. Yay for me! They have basically the same type of clothes. The girl who worked there said that they are made at the same place. Kind of like Gap and Old Navy. So I can get basically the same type of clothing that is so cute I can't stand it, but I can get more cause it is half the price. Good thing my husband is not reading this! There is one in AF by Target and he would be horrified to know that I have one so close to our house. I went yesterday while I was out with my mom, so he doesn't know I have been into the store he has been trying desperately to keep me away from. (Insert evil laugh here.) I also found a fun kids toy store over near there called Red Balloon Toys. They have a lot of really cute and educational/ developmental toys. Reminds me of what you would find at the smaller pricey-er toy stores in like, San Ramon or something out in CA. They had a great selection of things, especially their awesome display of all things playmobile. I am a total fan of that stuff. It is durable and encourages a lot of great imaginative play, which a lot of toys these days don't. There are too many toys out now that practically play with themselves for you. How lame is that. There are barbie houses that talk and make all the sounds, along with the barbies with their pre-recorded phrases. All the boy toys make sounds or talk or something, unless they are an action figure. Even the little plastic microphones come with a couple tracks recorded on them. (If you know somewhere that has them without sound, let me know. I want a bunch. That is something my kids are dying to have.) Anyway, I will definitely be going back there. Especially since it is Camren's b-day on Tuesday. I can't believe that he will be 6. But I will save a post about that and him for Tuesday. :)

Well, John is on his way home, so I better get off of here and go fold the laundry and act like I have been doing something. Or maybe pay attention to the kids. I know. I can have them fold it with me, then I can do both. Hee hee! I am so great at coming up with ideas. I know they will love that. Actually, scarily, they will. They love doing any and all cleaning with me. Or without me to impress me. Seriously. It is the only thing I don't have to fight them to get them to do.

EDIT: John got home with the carpet and it is awesome. It is really nice carpet and it is in great condition. There is only one faded area, where it was under a window, but when we cut it down, it is the right size so the entire faded spot will come off. Yay! I can't wait to get it down there and have the rooms done. My family leaves Monday night, so we will have both rooms done by next weekend for sure. We haven't worked on it while my mom has been staying with us cause I wanted to visit while I could.

Rambling On About Nothing or Doesn't She Ever Shut Up?

Yay! A new post 2 days in a row! I might just be getting back into the swing of things. I am finally getting to be a great blogger. Or my husband might be gone getting carpet for the basement and I am just sitting on here being a lame mom and ignoring my kids while they run like escaped mental patients through my house. I'll let you decide.

As I sit here drinking my Slim-Fast, I have 2 shocking revelations to share with you:
1. I totally love chocolate Slim-Fast mixed in my magic bullet (it's a blender - you sicko's) with 7 ice cubes (it has to be 7). It tastes great and is like a milkshake.
2. The High Protein one totally does stave off your hunger for longer than the regular one. I know that it says that, it has extra protein in it or something - blah, blah, blah, but I didn't really believe it. Thought I would try it because it was on sale. Well, lo and behold, it will actually keep me from starving to death until lunch! I say that this is a great discovery. I think that drinking that, coupled with my blogging (you can't type and eat at the same time - at least I have not become that talented yet) I may just have a chance at this weight loss thing I am trying to do.

Next challenge: the gym.
Here is the dilemma I am facing about the gym. I belong to 24 hour fitness. I will never cancel my membership. Why, you might ask? Because after paying like $800 for the first 3 years, I now have to pay - and I am not kidding you - $20 a year. For life. Yep I am serious. For the rest of my life, as long as I don't lapse on my yearly dues, I will have the joy of going to a gym that is open 24 hours a day for $20 a year. Now for the down side. There are no 24 hour fitness locations that are closer than 30 or 40 min. away. Right now I could probably do that, because my husband is still home and I wouldn't have to get a babysitter. (in UT they offer free babysitting, but only for up to 4 kids. yeah that's helpful. what am I supposed to do with the other 2, leave them in the car?) The thing is, do I want to waste driving all the way there, then working out for a couple hours, then driving all the way home and I have just been gone for almost 4 hours! I have 2 possible solutions (though they have yet to be agreed upon by my husband).
They are:
1. Join the Golds Gym in AF. Apparently their month to month membership is only $15. It is a lot closer, and apparently my sister likes it, but I have not checked to see what if any membership fees you have to pay to join along with the monthly fee. I have to check into that.
2. There is an Anytime Fitness about 5 minutes from my house. Closest possible option. Positives - it will be cheaper than anywhere else, because it is so close to my house and with gas prices, cheaper places will lose because they are too far away (like 24 hour). the negative - it is a really small gym. I really like big gyms. They are less boring because there are more people in them, they tend to have more and better amenities, and I am more likely to actually get to use a machine. Since they are the only gym right near my house and they just opened, I worry that they will be so clogged with people that I will never get to do anything. Also, I am still trying to get over there to find out how much they charge. Lame I know, since they are like 2 miles from my house. What I mean is, I am trying to find a time that I can go there ALONE to discuss their pricing.
So that is what I am debating at the moment. I will have to find a way to go check it out when my husband gets back from getting carpet.

So, speaking of carpet. My husband found some really nice carpet on SL craigslist. It is similar to the carpet we had at the old house and in good condition. The had 2 big pieces. One that is 14' x 19' and one that is 17' x 16.5'. So I may end up having carpet in my scrapbook room after all! Maybe I can use the brown cement paint I got in the garage. I really wanted to paint the floor in there (makes it look nicer and cleaner) so I will have to suggest that when hubby gets home.

As for vocal news, I have decided not to take the class, and just focus on individual sessions.Why? Because the class is to help you develop a powerful voice really fast. As much as I like taking group classes, that is not something I need. Because I really don't need a more powerful voice. I could put on a concert without ever touching a mike. Yeah. So I am just going to focus on song choice and stage presence in one on one sessions and hope that it will help enough with my confidence. I have to have 4 or 5 ready to sing a Capella for my vocal coach on Wednesday and then we will pick which one is the best audition piece.

Freaking Out - As Usual

Ok, so I got an email from my vocal coach and now I am freaking out. Why? Because AI tryouts are not in August like I thought they would be, they are next month. On July 29th. In 4 weeks. I think I am going to have a nervous breakdown. I was sure it would be the middle to end of August, so I was all prepared that I was going to be able to lose enough weight to not look like a total looser if I try out. Now I am trying to think of how much I could work out/ lose in 4 weeks. I also haven't made a song choice. I have a lesson with my coach next Wednesday to go over song choices and make a final decision. I also realized that I was wrong about the age limit. It says ages 16 - 28, so this is really the only year that I could try out. I guess if I didn't make it, I can always do Nashville Star since they don't have an age limit and that's what genre I sing anyway.

In other news, I had my last group class on Wednesday. It went great. We did a different format this time. We all performed one after the other without giving any immediate feedback. Instead we all took notes on different papers for each person and read them afterwards and then they could take them home. It was much faster and we didn't run over an hour like we usually do. Usually we sing, then feedback, then sing again, then any final feedback, then on to the next person. I loved taking the class and I am starting a new one on the 8th. It is called Vocal Athletics. It incorporates physical exercises that relate specifically to vocal strength and stamina. Basicall it is getting in shape while doing vocal exercises that strengthen your voice. I am totally excited to take the class, especially since most of the people from my other class are taking it too.

I am getting so frustrated with my husband I feel like strangling him. He sits here and complains at me for over 3 years about not trying out, and now he wants to complain that my classes and sessions with my vocal coach are costing him money. Well, duh. I have to be at the top of my game. I am a 28 year old, overweight, sahm of 6 competing against young hot teenagers. I am at the top of their age limit. What does he expect. That I can just pick some song and walk in there with no professional preparation? When I have major death stage fright and I feel like I am going to faint and die singing in front of people? Get real. The whole point of all the classes and stuff is that it makes me lesss scared and makes me feel like I can do it and not die. So I guess we shall see with that. If he is going to have an issue with the classes, I'm not doing it. I am not going to half ass (sorry) something because he wants to save a buck and embarass my self. Sorry I am all over the place. I am stressed right now.

In non-singing news, I have enjoyed having my mom stay with me since Monday. My dad had to go out of town to Florida and so he gave me my mom so that we could hang out while he was out of town. He gets in today and so do Jacob and Natalie. Yay! They are here for Henry's blessing Sunday. He is such a cutie, I can't take it! I just want to squeeze him, but he is only 6 weeks old so I will just kiss him to death for now. :)

The Longest Post I've Ever Written or What I Have Been Doing For the Last Month While I Have Been Ignoring You

So I am elated to say that I finally have internet here again. So prepare for the longest post of your life, since I have a lot of catching up to do!

We are all moved into our new house. Except for the stuff that goes in the rooms we are finishing in the basement, I am all unpacked. Yay! Today I am playing clean the house and rearrange the furniture cause I haven't been able to do that since we have been working so hard on the basement. The upside to that is that we are almost done with both bedrooms in the basement. We are sanding it. Then it is just texture and paint. We aren't going to do the flooring yet cause we want to wait til the whole basement is done. We did get some industrial carpet (I think that's what it is) for the playroom. We lucked out. We were at Home Depot (one of my favorite stores ever) and we went and looked at the carpet remnants. Someone had returned one that was the wrong size, so we got a piece that's big enough for the playroom, including the closet, for $51. Not bad, huh? I figured they will probably ruin it anyway, so get something nice and cheap cause I don't want them down there playing on cement. In my scrapbook room I got some nice chocolate brown cement paint and I am just going to paint the floor for now. It will be nice with my rolling chairs anyway. Eventually I plan on hardwood for the basement, but I haven't been able to find one I like at a price I like. We lucked out on finishing the rest of the walls. We will be able to borrow a texture gun from my neighbor (he and his family do drywalling) so we won't have to pay the $98 a day to rent one. Whew! Like I have that kind of money! We also don't have to buy paint cause there is so much left over paint from when the house was built that we have several of the 5 gallon buckets of paint in the garage. I am excited to have my scrapbook room done and get to get my stuff back out. I am more excited to get the playroom finished because then I can unpack all the kids toys and then maybe I won't feel like banging my head on the wall all the time!!

In other news, John is still on disability. He was starting to have some more numbness in his hand (which apparently can be a sign of recovery?) and so the doctor wants to do another MRI and get him in for another epidural injection in the next couple weeks. I guess the doctor decided that it might do some good after all, because when he had the first one he said that it had not done enough to be worth doing another one. So we just wait and see, but it looks like he will be home til about August going off what I have heard so far. Which is frustrating, but I know that there is no way I would have gotten the basement done without him, so I'm not complaining.

Another reason it has been nice to have John home is that I am able to work on my singing career without having to pay a babysitter money we don't have. My vocal coach is holding some summer classes that I really wanted to go to, that I wouldn't have been able to go to without him home. The one I am taking this month (or I took, it ends this Wednesday) is Winning Your Audience. It is a group class with 9 of us and it is to help you learn how to draw in your audience when you're singing and basically to get me over feeling like I am going to die when I sing in front of people. I still get scared, but I am able to control it and am doing far better than I was when the class began. The next class I am taking in July is one that involves exercise and vocal technique training to help build my core muscles, which are very important in singing, and to expand my range so I can belt the really high notes like I can with everything else. :) I am really excited for that class. I am so glad that I finally decided to stop being such a weenie and to follow my dream. It is 100% because of my husband. My family totally doesn't support my singing as anything more than something I do with my kids, or in church when I get asked. My husband is my #1 fan and tells me all the time to get off my butt and do something serious with my singing. My vocal coach (who is a singer and her husband is in a band) has invited me to sing at some of their gigs with them and I am going to start out at one they are having on July 19th cause it will be a smaller one and I am not quite ready for big crowds. She also said that she wants to start recording my demo soon, but that takes quite a while to get done and put together so don't expect to hear anything in the near future other than that I am doing it. She gave me an old copy of her first one to listen to and it is awesome! I hope mine can be as good as hers! Another thing that she has been bugging me to do is try out for American Idol. As some of you may know, thanks to David A., AI will be bringing their tryouts to Salt Lake this year. She says I have a great chance of making it on and, as her husband says, you have as good of a chance as anyone else, why not you?

Well I can think of several reasons, such as:

1. I'm too fat and definitely not cute enough - Assuming Simon even let me through (he has made comments to other hopefuls about their weight), why is America going to vote for some fat ugly housewife? that brings me to #2

2. I'm a stay at home mom of 6 kids - Every year you see the older contestants and every year they get passed over for the young and hot. And no matter how good I am, I am most certainly neither of those. I am pushing the age limit. I turned 28 in Feb. and would turn 29 during the airing of the show next year. The age limit is 29 at the time of tryouts, so next year is the last year I could do it, but I would be 30 by the time the show started airing. And seriously who wants to vote for some old, ugly, overweight stay at home mom from Utah?

So although I have thought about it (as in, if I were in an alternate universe where I could suddenly lose 90 lbs. and become hot and then maybe it wouldn't matter that I was old and had 6 kids) I don't think it is going to become a reality. I have an outfit picked in case I change my mind. I have a couple song choices in case I change my mind. I just don't know how likely that will be. My husband is dying, I mean DYING for me to try out. He has told me that every day for the last 3 1/2 years that we have been married. He is obsessed. He says things like, you could be making us all this money and we could do all the stuff we want to do, or, God gave you this talent and it is a blessing and if you don't use it then he is going to take it away like it says in the scriptures. Nice. Always good to get in some doctrine based guilt when you can. So I don't exactly think that God's plan is for me to do American Idol, but I may try out just to say I did and to show myself that I didn't die from it. Or to shut my husband up. Yeah, more likely it would be the second one.

Yesterday was my ex-mother in law's birthday, so we went out to celebrate her birthday. We had a family get together at a campsite up in Big Cottonwood Canyon. It was beautiful and it was great to see everyone. The only awkward time was when we first got there my ex was still there. His mom had told me that he would be leaving at 5:30, but when I got there just after 6 he was still there. I talked to him and his mom, I didn't want anyone to have to leave because of me, but he said that he would leave so that the kids could stay and visit. I just felt bad that he should have to leave his own mom's party so that we could come. It is my sincere prayer that some day my husband will get over my ex husband and we can all just be civil. I don't want his family to have to choose between our family being there and him being there. I want to go to family gatherings and Christmas and so on, and not worry about is he going to be there, when is he leaving, etc. I appreciate that he left so there wasn't any drama, and he said he understood since I had been told one thing and then something else had happened instead, but I really don't care that he was there. I don't think my kids would have cared. Brooklyn doesn't know who he is so that wouldn't have mattered. Hailey might have cared for a minute, but she was so excited to see her grandma and aunt, that I don't think that it would have been more than a passing interest. He hasn't been in their lives at all for almost 3 years. I just hope that at some point we will be able to get the drama behind us and just coexist like grown-ups. I am just a lot more easy going that John is. Plus it is hard for him to deal with because we don't have that issue with his ex. She hasn't tried to contact him in almost 4 years. I have never met her or any of her family and none of them are involved in our lives. However I am very involved with my ex's family. I love them all like my own family and I can't imagine not having them around. Now that we are in the new house I am about 20 min. away from his parents and about 30 or so from the rest of his family. His entire family lives here in Utah close by. I am happy to be near them and to be able to have them be part of my kids lives. I love them all a lot, and with his great grandparents getting so old, I am glad to be able to see them and let them see the kids as much as I can while I can. I love them a lot and his mom's mom especially has a special place in my heart. I have lived with her twice and she has taught me so much and she has always treated me like I was one of her grandchildren, no matter what was going on . I love her like she was my own grandma and I can't imagine what it will be like when she is not here. She is so loving and giving and kind and so many things that I hope to become.

Well my husband will be here soon, so I should probably get back to my cleaning and rearranging the house. My mom and dad came into town today, and my mom is going to stay with me for the week while my dad is in Florida. He will be back on Friday and then Jacob and Natalie will be coming down that day too, cause Robyn and Joe are blessing Henry on Sunday. I am looking forward to my family being here again. I love having everyone here! :)

Laptop Drama

I am really not ignoring my blog. It is waaaay better than that. Besides the fact that I have yet to get an internet connection of my own, I can't even "borrow"anyone elses because the laptop died. As in never to be resurrected again. As in I would have to pay a professional to take my hard drive into a clean room and rebuild it for $800-2500. Yeah right. Except for the fact that I have about 2-300 pics of my kids and extended family on there. That my husband did NOT listen to me and back up. Special. So I am assuming I will end up paying that at some point so I can get them. Gag!!

In other news, the 2 rooms in the basement are almost done and I am most of the way unpacked. I will finish both of those things before my mom comes to stay with me on the 24th. Yay!

Well I am at my best friends, so I better quit hogging her computer and visit while I can, since she lives an hour away now. :(