Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator

Sarah Palin's kid's names are Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, and Trig. Have you ever wondered what your name would be if Sarah Palin was your mom? Well now you can find out! I ran into this Sarah Palin baby name generator. It's pretty funny.
The names in our family would be:
Brent~ Bowl Antler Palin
Cindy~ Froth Moonshine Palin
Isabella~ Knife Pile Palin
Zoe~ Moose Roadster Palin
Noah~ Mullet Troll Palin

Here is the link if you want to try too....right....Here

What's your name?

Candidate Quiz

I found this link on my cousins blog to this quiz you can take that shows what presidential candidate you match up with on the issues. It even includes Bob Barr and Ralph Nader. It was kind of interesting although my results were nothing surprising. If you want to try it out and see whose views you match up with click here:
Candidate Quiz

Ugg! Crazy Week!

This week has been crazy! Every fall it takes me a while to get back into the routine and all the craziness that comes with it. It's taken a while, but I don't scream and protest as much as I used to. I love summer because it's just me and the kids and we can go off on little adventures whenever or just kick back at home. When school starts I kind of feel like my kids aren't all mine anymore. But routine and being a functioning part of society are good things too I know. This year on top of all three of my kids doing soccer, Isabella is also doing band (learning the flute) at the Jr. High which is a ten minute drive from here. She gets to do that three mornings a week before school, then ride a school bus from there back to the elementary school. I'm lucky enough to be able to carpool with another mom (I haven't even had my turn yet, next week) but it still means we are getting up at 6 a.m. three times a week and I am not a morning person at all! But I am getting used to it I guess. This week has been extra crazy because we had a couple extra girls here for a couple days. Isabella has a friend from school who's parents were out of town so we took her and her little sister for a couple of nights.
This has been interesting juggling even more kid stuff. I felt like a drill sergeant cracking the whip getting all that homework done every night! I don't envy those parents who have lots of kids close in age, juggling all the activities and homework. On Tuesday, Isabella had soccer practice at the park down the street at 5:30. Then one of our little house guests had practice at 6:00 over at the elementary. Then it was back to pick up Isabella and going straight back to the school where everyone else was waiting. Then I dumped everyone at home, because Brent was finally home, except for Zoe and ran off with her to her 7:00 practice. So it was quite the adventure. But the kids had a lot of fun having friends over for a couple nights. I kind of wished they would have stayed over the weekend so they could stay up late and party tween style, instead of having so many rules and all that structure and that pesky bedtime! On top of all that, I've had a cold all week. So I'm looking forward to kicking back and relaxing this weekend, after tomorrow's soccer games.

Quirky?

I stole this from blogging buddy, Mylee. List 6 quirks then tag 6 people.

1. I like to laugh at stupid things. For example, yesterday just before the closing hymn in Sacrament Meeting at church I flipped open the hymn book to find the closing hymn and landed on a hymn called "Lean On My Ample Arm". I'm sure back in the day when this was written, probably a hundred and some years ago, this was a lovely sentiment. But in today's vernacular it simply means lean on my fat arm. It was just kind of funny and silly to me. So I reached past the kids and showed it to Brent who kind of grinned but remained serious. Then I leaned back and giggled quietly (and irreverently) to myself in a very immature manner for the next few seconds. I apologize to any reader who's Great Great Grandfather or Grandmother may have written this hymn. :)

2. I come up with weird, unorthodox, crazy schemes. I always say something like this to Brent, "Why do we have to do things the way society says is acceptable?" When we were first married I suggested to Brent that we move out of our apartment and live in a campground for the summer to save money. I also once suggested when we sold our old townhouse that we get a van and live in it for a while to save money. I would never actually go through with crazy stunts like these but I definitely have this side that rebels from the status quo a bit.

3. I can't stand misspelled words or bad grammar from myself. I don't really have any way of telling if my grammar sucks but I have to immediately check on any misspelled word I type and have to edit any words I find misspelled later when I go back and read old blog posts. I know, this blog is probably full of misspelled words and grammatical errors that I'm not even aware of making me sound like a complete fool for even bringing this up.

4. I like crappy T.V. Who knows how many T.V. shows I've enjoyed watching that I wouldn't ever admit to. I will admit to one. I've probably seen every episode of Beverly Hills 90210 twice. I know, I'm embarrassed for me too! I will say that my love for the crappy T.V. seems to be diminishing as I get older, so there is still hope for me.

5. I have a hard time going out places at night without Brent and the kids. Maybe it's because I'm sort of a homebody. I do try to make my way out into the world to be social once in a while and get myself out of my comfort zone.

6. I'm a political junkie. Only for presidential elections though. I don't think I know anyone personally who enjoys it as much as I do. It isn't just with this years election either. In 2000 I stayed up 'til probably 2 a.m. watching to see who won before I finally gave up and went to bed. Four years ago I was very into it too. This year I think my obsession has peaked with watching too much CNN and reading too many blogs and talking to anyone who is interested. Annoying some, I'm sure. It's probably kind of like how some people are with televised sports. I feel like my interest will probably wane to more normal human levels in coming elections because I'm sure to suffer significant burn out after this year. Which is probably good.

Tag: Anyone who feels like doing this.

Whoever you like, this is funny....

My little boy is a big kid now!

Noah started Kindergarten this week! He is having a lot of fun. He is still a little nervous, but he's doing great! The first day he was fine until his dumb mom stared him down a little too long while she was trying not to cry, making him start to cry. But Brent talked with him and all was good. That's why I insist he come with me on the first day of school (he likes to too, of course!) Then we watched him on the playground and he ran back and forth between us and the kids and went into the class just fine when the teacher came out. Noah and I have been riding bikes to school everyday. I'm loving that, it was too much of a pain with the girls when they were in kindergarten, with younger siblings in tow, since I never really got along with the bike trailer. We just zip over to the school and back after. It's fun doing that with him. I guess the girls could walk him home from school but I walked them when they were little and I want to enjoy this short time I have left with him before he's too big and rides off with the scooter gang. Yesterday before we left he asked what time he would be home. I told him 3:30, then he went in his room, picked up his big teddy bear and told him when he would be home, giving him a kiss and a hug. It was seriously too cute.

Noah's first day of Kindergarten!

Elementary Meanderings

Kindergarten, 3rd grade and 5th grade. Those are the grades Noah, Zoe and Isabella are in this year, respectively. It took me until Isabella entered 2nd grade to no longer feel nauseous on the first day of school. Maybe it was because she started a new school and there were no lingering ghosts of past downtrodden school children floating around the halls. Or maybe it was because it didn't have that 1970s elementary school smell. Kindergarten is a blur for me. I remember the first day, I threw up the eggs I had for breakfast on the playground and the little overly helpful blond girl helped me to find the teacher. I was always mortified when people tried to assist me when I was sick. I had a kidney infection in 2nd grade and opted to stay home alone rather than go to my Grandma's house and be subjected to her friends pinching my cheeks and and paying too much attention to me (plus the infection made me pee my pants which was a secret I wanted to guard with my life). But I digress. That's all I remember from my first school and I think I became friends with that overly helpful blond girl again in 7th grade in a different town. She said she went to the same school in kindergarten and remembered me throwing up and helping me. But she was prone to lying, too. So I moved about a month in and my new teacher was strict but nice. The day I missed the whistle on the playground announcing the end of recess I stayed outside who knows how much extra time until I finally looked around and saw I was surrounded by the big kids. I finally found my sister and she walked me back to class. My teacher didn't look happy but she didn't yell at me, just gave me my math worksheet with strawberries on it and we carried on with the day. Later, my Mom went to parent teacher conference and came home and related the good laugh she and my teacher had at my expense over the situation. I was humiliated at the time, but now I know they probably just thought it was cute. That's about the extent of my kindergarten memories other than a boy named Skyler telling me I looked ugly on picture day because I had curled hair. He's the only kid in kindergarten who's name I remember. I guess you never forget the first boy who calls you ugly!

In 3rd grade I was on my 3rd school, having moved early in first grade. I loved 3rd grade. As far as elementary school went, this was the time when all the stars aligned. Miss Diston was my teacher. She was one of those popular teachers that every kid hopes they will get. She had long, straight, red hair and wore glasses, like me. Life was just easy that year, I had my friends Karen and Lele across the street and Colette at school. She had a twin sister in Karen's class named Nanette. The only way you could physically tell them apart was that Colette wore brown shoes and Nanette, blue. I was awesome in math that year. We had math groups and had to go to a different class based on the group you were in. I was proud to be in the highest math group. I loved the times tables and made it in the 3 minute club. You had to fill in the times table chart in 3 minutes to get in the club. After a lot of practice, I rocked it. But soon came my downfall when we had to master check writing and it was completely beyond my level of intelligence. Or maybe it was that third graders have no use for writing checks, thus they are not equipped with the capacity to learn such things. I also got to dance the hukelau in the third grade program, which was very cool. At the end of 3rd grade I moved and was sad, but I was accustomed to moving by then.

5th grade was a weird year. My best friends, Julie and Linda, moved over the summer leaving me on my own. That was partly good because my 4th grade crush was Linda's boyfriend and with her gone I could now make my move on Jamie Wright (who I secretly called Mister Right). But that was never to be for a shy girl like me. I had some work to do in 5th grade. While I believed my educating had been excellent in 3rd grade, even I knew my 4th grade teacher sucked and I had come out of 4th grade dumber than when I went in. Things at home were tense. My Mom and Dad were fighting even more than usual and I think we all knew the end was near. We moved just after Christmas after losing another house. I shared a room with my sister Lynn there. Every morning I woke up to that "Take off to the Great White North" song. The one by the Canadian comedians where they keep saying, "Take off, Hoser". It was on the radio every single morning for months, it seemed. I hated that song. I hated my new life at my new school, too. All the classes were full except the one that combined gifted 5th and 6th graders. I'm not an idiot but I wasn't prepared for that class. I was lost and the kids all thought I was a freak. I came home and cried a lot because the work was too hard and the kids hated me. Soon there was a diversion because my parents finally decided to give up and get the divorce we'd all seen coming my whole life. I think I was more relieved than sad. I'd never have to hide my head in my sleeping bag again, pretending to be asleep while I had a friend sleeping over, while my parents were having one of their screaming matches in the middle of the night. That was a good thing, and I got a new bike out of it. Needed that bike. So 5th grade ended on that note and I was off with siblings and my Mom to live in our first apartment ever. The divorced months offered new adventures, followed by the step-parent years. And as usual, they all landed me in a new school at the start of almost every school year.

Back to School!

Thursday was the first day of school so I have to (excuse me, I get too) put the required first day pics up. Zoe is sporting her new shorter "do" and Isabella has her new glasses! 4 more days 'til Noah starts!

3rd Grade here I come!

5th Grade already?!!

Kids 1k race!

This morning Isabella, Zoe, and Noah ran the 1k Teddy Bear Race for The Children's Justice Center in West Jordan. They did awesome! Isabella and Zoe ran together and came in a little bit before Noah. I ran alongside Noah to keep him going. They had a great time and of course their favorite part was getting a teddy bear at the end.

Camping

We went camping up Big Cottonwood Canyon a few days ago. It was a fun time. It seems to get easier the older the kids get. Noah had a hard time on the hike but we stuck it out and made it to the lake. We had tinfoil dinners, a first for the kids. Isabella and Zoe liked them but Noah, not so much. He was nice enough after he said so to apologize for not liking them. Always the polite boy. We roasted marshmallows after dinner and Isabella created a new treat by putting her marshmallow in the middle of an Oreo cookie, which I then dubbed Smoreos. I know, someone has probably already invented Smoreos but we're claiming it for our own. It was peacefully uneventful in the tent that night. Despite being extra cold and our air mattress going flat from a slow leak. Like I said it was fun but nothing especially crazy happened, which is a good thing. So I thought I'd share some noteworthy events from past camping trips.

Back in 2000, Zoe was about 9 months old and Isabella was 2 1/2. We took the girls camping for the first time. Zoe went to bed before the rest of us since she was a baby. We were getting ready for bed and we went across the street to where the water was, leaving Zoe sleeping in the tent. While we were over there we saw a skunk wander into our campground, taking it's time exploring the area, looking for food, I guess. I was very worried about my baby being asleep with a skunk just feet away from her. Fortunately, the skunk soon left and we went back over to the tent where Zoe peacefully slept.

The next year we ventured out again. Around 2 a.m., while we were asleep in the tent, a loud bird started chirping. It sounded exactly like R2D2 from Star Wars. It woke up me, Brent and Zoe. Zoe starts saying loudly in her almost 2 year old voice, "A biddy Mommy, A biddy Mommy". It was so cute, the way she said it, that I couldn't help but laugh. Well between the bird and Zoe and me laughing we couldn't go back to sleep. Meanwhile, Isabella is peacefully snoozing away. Brent gets impatient when he can't sleep, so he talked me into going home in the middle of the night. We woke up Isabella (she's now 3 1/2), she starts crying and continues to scream and cry the whole time Brent is packing up and the entire two hour drive home. Gee, that was much more fun than laying awake in the tent for the next three hours! We never did that again.

We didn't make it out again until after Noah came along. Two years ago we were up Blacksmith Fork Canyon, above Hyrum. This is the same place we went in the two previously mentioned camp outs. We roasted hot dogs as usual and there was one left over so Brent threw it in the fire pit after the fire was put out. I asked him if it would be okay to just leave it there. He said sure, so we went to bed. Well, I guess this campground has a few too many skunks because around 3 a.m. we hear a scuffle outside the tent. We hear a bunch of growling followed by the strong smell of skunk nearby. It was very smelly and I was extremely freaked out by the growling sound outside of the tent. I'm not too big on growling forest creatures. Somehow we managed to fall back asleep for a couple of hours. Around 5 a.m. we wake up again because it is pouring outside. We lay there for about an hour listening to the rain until I talk Brent into getting up and driving into Logan for breakfast at the IHOP, since none of us can sleep. As we left the rainy campground I noticed the hot dog was gone. I guess the mysterious growling creature and the skunk were fighting over it! It continued to rain the next day off and on and I admit I just wasn't in a camping place at that time, so we packed it up and stayed in a hotel the next night. Which may or may not have been a good thing since Zoe decides to throw up in the hotel. Much easier to deal with in a hotel than in a tent. Although she may not have thrown up in the tent because one or another of my kids seem to throw up almost every time we stay in a hotel.

Last year we decided to try somewhere new since we always end up camping in either Blacksmith Fork Canyon or Big Cottonwood Canyon. So we went up to Albion Basin at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon. This time we were sitting in our campground at night, enjoying the fire, the kids are frolicking about with marshmallows on sticks, when a young woman of about 23 comes into our campground. She was from Seattle and was traveling the country seeing the sights. She wanted to meet the locals I suppose, so she decided to join us for a bit. Well she starts asking us if we are LDS. We tell her yes. She tells us she recently visited Temple Square and we were like, that's great! Then she starts asking us about gays and lesbians and how the church feels about them. We then figure she is a lesbian herself so we're trying to be polite. No the Church isn't too big on that.... Meanwhile my kids are keenly observing the nice stranger who is visiting our campsite and I'm looking around from her to them, and I think she gets the picture that maybe this isn't the best conversation tho have around the campfire with the children. So we talk to her for a few more minutes and she heads back to her campsite. Nice girl but kind of a strange conversation. So the next day we leave, no waking up in the middle of the night this time around. We head out and want to do another hike before we go home. We stop at this trail and get out of the car. As we head to the trail Brent quickly turns around as I see a tail take off in the other direction. We get back in the car because we really don't want to go hiking with a mountain lion.

Just a few camping stories I share with you tonight. Take them, share them around the fire at your next camp out! Okay, maybe they weren't that exciting!

Answer the following with only one word

1. Where is your cell phone?....Unimportant
2. Your significant other?....Brent
3. Your hair?....Strawlike
4. Your mother?....Judy
5. Your father?....Fathers
6. Your favorite thing?....Many
7. Your dream last night?....Trouble
8. Your favorite drink....Water
9. Your dream/goal?....Attainable?
10. The room you're in?....Architectural
11. Your children?....Amazing
12. Your fear?....January
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years....Here?
14. Where were you last night?....Nowhere
15. What you're not?....Short
16. Muffins....Occasionally
17. One of your wish list items?....Mortgageless
18. Where you grew up?....Everywhere
19. What you read last....Meyer
20. What are you wearing?....PJs
21. Your TV?....Earlier
22. Your pets?....Childhood
23. Your computer?....Daily
24. Your life?....Blessed
25. Your mood?....Thoughtful
26. Missing someone?....Babies
27. Your car?....Gold
28. Something you're not wearing?....Ring
29. Favorite Store?....Target
30. Your summer?....Shrinking
31. Like someone?....Brent
32. Your favorite color?....Green
33. Last time you laughed....Colbert
34. Last time you cried?....Yesterday