Halloween 07

I really want to write up a cute post about Halloween for all of my peeps, however.... my stupid, annoying computer is doing what ever it does when it won't let me post pictures. I really don't think this post will work with out some visual aides so lets all hope that my computer likes me tomorrow. I am sure you are all on pins and needles in anticipation for my Halloween report hahahaha.

Well I am off to Walmart at 10 p.m. so that I can pick out three little prizes for my trick or treaters. They all gave up their obscene amount of candy (well not all of it, they each got to pick out their 10 most favorite pieces) so they could get a prize from "the candy fairy".

A NEW BABY!!!

Congratulations to my sister Sarah, her husband Sean and their son Ashton for the addition of their son and brother, Alva Reed Taylor. Alva was born early this morning around 2:30 with no major complications. True to the Reed genes Alva weighed in at a hefty 10 lbs. 2 oz. and 21 and a half inches. From what we hear he is adorable and I will try to post pictures when they get emailed to me. We can't wait to meet our newest nephew!!! My sister Emily is scheduled for an induction on Nov. 2 we are anxious to see how big her next one is. Her last little girl was over 10 lbs. and so her doctor has agreed to induce her about a week early. Any guesses out there on Ellie's weight? I am thinking over 10 but Jake is hoping for less then 10 lbs. 7 oz. because he is quite proud of his birth weight and hates to see it beat.

long time no blog...

I know it has been a while but I have a very good excuse for not blogging. My sinking computer has some sort of bug or virus or whatever it's called. I have had lots of things I have wanted to blog about but every time I try to post I get this old form of blogger that doesn't have all the nice features such as spell check (I really need spell check), font options, font color options and worst of all no way to post pictures. I sort of think blogs are less interesting with out pictures. Especially when written by someone who does not write well and is not very interesting to read (ME). I was aware of my computer problem but I like to think that the computer fairy will come to my home and magically fix my computer without me actually trying to figure out what the deal is because computers in general stab my brain. Well so far no fairy, dang!!! I have a very good excuse to blog today, I was tagged by my great blog buddy Emily Matson (I really wish I knew how to make her name light up and become a link to her blog like everyone else in this free country does but like I said before computers stab my brain so I don't know how). I am suppose to give you all 6 little known fun facts about myself and then tag 6 other people so make sure you read to the end to see if you are obligated to do this fun post.

1) I LOVE diet Dr. Pepper, I am seldom without a large styrofoam cup of my own personal liquid crack. I have been know to bring my 44 oz cup to places that apparently are inappropriate. I started back at the gym after a nice 18 month (I need to take time off because I just had a baby) vacation. I brought in my large cup from McDonald's so I could stay hydrated while on that treadmill. I got a lot of weird looks apparently the cup holders on the treadmills are for water bottles only.

2) I always use my ATM debit card instead of carry cash for a very good reason. I don't know what the deal is but when I have any amount of cash on me I am like a 4 year old who was just given a dollar. I can not spend it fast enough. It doesn't matter if it is 50 cents or 20 bucks I can guarantee I will not have that money at the end of the day. It just burns a hole in my pocket I honestly sit there at work and think to myself, "wow I have 75 cents in my pocket I can buy a bottle of diet Dr. Pepper from the vending machine." It totally consumes my thoughts when I have cash... is that weird?

3) I love the t.v. show Hannah Montana. I have caught myself watching episodes of Hannah Montana and then realized that there is not a child in the room. I can give you the plot of every HM they have made because sadly I have seen every episode. If I find out there is going to be a new episode premiering I make sure I set my DVR to record it (hey, I know how much the kids enjoy the show...)

4) I have an unnatural fear of scrapbooking. I hate the very thought of trying to start a scrapbook. I have friends who LOVE to scrapbook and are always trying to rope me into this cult/money pit.

5) I know I am way to old to think and feel this way but... I still don't really think of myself as a "real grown up". I don't know what it will take to get me to the point of being a "real grown up" you know the kind of grown up that my mom is (she rocks at being a grown up!). I some how feel like I am faking people out and one day they will expose me as the sham I feel like I am.

6) I hate getting invited to any kind of party where you are expected to buy something. You know the type (jewelry, candles, cooking equipment, makeup...) Maybe other people enjoy these things but I hate the pressure that is involved. My friends invite me and always make some kind of comment like, "don't worry about buying anything I just want lots of people to show up so I don't feel like a loser." So I go and then there is lots of food all spread out and my overly excited friend who is hosting the thing telling me that if she sells X amount of products she will get X amount of stuff free. Bottom line is I am weak when it comes to this kind of warfare tactic and I have bought way too many things I really don't need from these parties.

I TAG: MOM, AMANDA, AIMEE, BROOKE, DANIELLE, SHAUNNA, and TORRIE (oh wait Torrie doesn't have a blog... hint hint)

Papa came to town!!!

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

We were so excited to see Papa Harm and spend some time with him. As you can see Jeremy and the kids all dusted off their dancing shoes to prepare for his arrival. Papa got here on Sunday evening and had to head off for Houston to see Aimee and her family on Tuesday morning. While he was here we went to the dollar store (a Clement family tradition that my kids LOVE), we all went out to eat at Joe's Crab Shack, we had a fun Family Home Evening with Papa, and Jeremy and Papa went golfing (of course this one is a given). Everything was so much fun but of course our favorite time was sitting around the living room talking about everything from sports, to family memories. We wouldn't trade our chats for anything. We are very impressed that Papa had the gumption to drive from Bakersfield, CA, to Mesa, AZ, to Albuquerque, NM, to Amarillo, TX, to Houston, TX, back to Amarillo, back to Albuquerque, on to Laughlin, NV and then back home to CA. What a brave man!!! We are thankful that he wanted to make the trip and welcome him back any time he wants!

Guess what came in the mail today?!?!?!

So I won't lie or candy coat it I have been anxiously driving home everyday in hopes that my PIF would be meeting me at the door. I never gave up hope but I was starting to wonder about this "Mandee standard time" as I checked it day after day uneventfully. Well the "PIF prize watch" is officially over. I got home today and what was on my porch but the beautiful sight of a package. I was so excited as I opened it up. I know many of you out there would love to know what some of Mandee's favorite things are. Here is what the package included and an explanation of why they were included by the wonderful Mandee herself:

1. Notebook; to use as a journal, recipe book, a secretary, "calling" keeper, funny things your kids say journal, pregnancy journal (on a personal note this one in NO way applies to me)... I have at least 10 of these stashed all over the house.

2. Magazine; because nothing is better than sitting down to lunch (while the kids are napping) and enjoying a magazine.

3. A delicious cupcake from Dear Lizzie's a local super cute boutique/bistro,which is totally overpriced, but still a place that I love to stop in and grab a cup of soup or a cute cupcake for a friends birthday or a "just thinking about cha" moment.

4. $1; stop by your local gas station or drive thought and treat yourself to your favorite drink while running errands, or being the kids taxi. Sometimes it's the one thing that gets me through my day... because there is nothing like a Diet Coke on the rocks!

5. A pumpkin spice candle; because it's cozy, and it makes me happy.

The last thing included in the box that I am passing on to all my readers (yes that is all 3-6 of you that actually read my blog) is a really simple recipe that sounds good and best of all EASY.

Super Fast and Super Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 box spice cake mix

1 small can pumpkin

1 small bag chocolate chips

mix all ingredients together bake at 350 for 12 min (or longer depending on oven)

Doesn't that sound easy and it is something that I would actually feel ok about my kids helping me with. I know it sounds mean but for the most part, I have no patience having my kids cook with me. I know it is very picturesque to have your kids measuring flour and all laughing together as it spills all over you, the kids and the floor but I really am not into that at all. Jeremy is so patient he is always letting them crack the eggs into the cookie dough and stuff like that but as for me I will pass on that activity.

Thank you Mandee for sending me this fun package. I loved your favorite things and many of them are my favorites as well. I hope those who have won my PIF enjoy their stuff as much as I LOVE mine. You made my day, heck you made my week!!!

On a side note: I have tried 4 times to put spaces inbetween some of the paragraphs and the list of goodies I got. I hate when my posts look all squished. I have no idea what is going wrong with my post today. Sorry I hope it doesn't bug you too much that it is all squished together I tried my best to fix it.

Drum roll please....

The winners are:

1. Jill
2. Danielle
3. My mother (can you believe it???)

I hope you all are excited to win and "PIF" I had lots of fun trying to think of what I should send you all, and have narrowed it down to one of two options (who would have thought that I could have come up with two options?!?!) Option one is a set of five personalized embroidered burp clothes I don't think any of these ladies are expecting (anyone want to announce anything?) but being LDS there is a good chance that you have a sister, friend, cousin, or daughter who is. If you chose this option then let me know what name you would like on the burp clothe and what kind of image you would like. I have access to a super fancy computerized embroidery machine at my high school so I promise you are not relying on my very limited sewing skills. The other option is some of my VERY awesome homemade cookies in a cute clear cookie jar with vinyl lettering across it saying "mom's bribes" or "grandma's bribes" if you would prefer. I think either would be cute but you decide which you would prefer. Please email your preferences and your address so I can get busy making your prize and ship it out in a timely manner.

clementfam97@sbcglobal.net

Winners have been randomly chosen...

I know it is too early to announce anything but the kids have helped me randomly draw three names as our winners. I am so excited to post who has won and what they have won. I know I had said that I would wait until 11:59 pm but... I don't think I will have any late entries. I guess to be fair I will hold off to see if anyone comments last minute but if not I will be announcing our winners at midnight my time (I guess it is not really Eliza standard time that would be Central time for those who don't know which time zone I am in). If I do get last minute entries I will just draw again. Hold on to your seats folks we are only about 5 1/2 hours away.

I have won a "major award"!!!!

As most of you all know the very adorable Mandee Grant picked me as one of her extremely lucky Pay It Forward (PIF) winners. I was so shocked when I found out. I got to work and had to go into a very long explanation of this amazing blog PIF that I had won with a bunch of people who didn't even know what a blog was. I think they were impressed because everyday they ask, "did you get it yet?" I feel like the dad from the movie Christmas Story. I have won a "major award". Well I did agree that if I won I would gladly PIF just as Mandee herself had done. So here goes the rules and legal stuff (I have always wanted to allude to legal stuff) I have taken these rules from our cousin Jocelyn's blog but have tweaked them slightly to make them my own.

1. I promise to make 3 lucky comment makers a handmade gift as soon as I get around to it (with in a two week time period)

2. Comment makers must have a blog and be willing to PAY IT FORWARD if they win.

3. I will choose 3 winners randomly, based on a one entry per person rule.

4. There is NO possibility I will give the winners a little choice of what they may want. (I wish I could offer a choice but really my best talents can't be shipped so you will just have to take the one thing I do well and can send you)

5. Comments must be a little interesting to read....I'm not gonna count a "count me in" comment. Give me a little something funny, something new I may not know about you...I'm talking quality information. Maybe why you would like to Pay it Forward...or how you feel about the challenge all together. If you have been lurking around my blog and I don't know you please make yourselves known. I would love to get to know you, or see your blog too. An introduction would be FANTASTIC.

6. I know most of you are related to me but that doesn't mean you shouldn't enter I think you will still like what I am giving away and the drawing will be completely random so your chances are no better or worse. (This one is for my mom who doesn't think she should enter because we are related)

7. A special rule for my brother Carl and sisters Sarah and Clare: START A BLOG you might win something cool!!!!

8. Now for the time line. All comments left before Friday, September 28th at 11:59 pm will be counted and I will announce the winners Saturday morning. Good luck everyone.

On a personal note I will feel really stupid if I get my typical 3-6 comments. Please don't let me feel stupid you 3-6 people who actually read my blog... tell your friends!

Let the commenting begin...

The best 3 year old birthday party ever!!

As promised I am reporting on our awesome time in Lubbock last weekend. We had such a blast and must start off by thanking Garth and Brooke Thomas for being such great hosts. We went to Lubbock because Garth Jr. was turning three and we wanted to be at his birthday party to help him celebrate. I am in the habit of: A. not doing birthday parties until my kids REALLY know when their birthday is and know if we didn't have a party for them, and B. Not spending much more that about $20 for the whole shebang. The Thomas family apparently are not on the same party page as I am. Let's just say there was really no need to go to any county fair after this party. There was a great cook out (around these parts you can't call anything a BBQ unless it involves brisket), horse back ridding, a huge fabulous water slide, a bounce house, and a great little swing set/sand box combo. On top of it all the entire ward was invited and I would guess there were at least 100 people there. It was a blast!! I am feeling a little bit guilty about Brooke's last birthday party which included a 1/2 price belated Valentine's Day cake (Brooke's birthday in February 18th), 75% off Valentine's Day decorations and one guest. We keep things simple. Thanks so much for the great time Thomas family it was great!

Happy International Day of Peace

Today at Caprock High School some of my students were involved in a neat project. You might not have realized it but today was the International Day of Peace. Some of the English teachers and art teachers got together to join in on a national project called "Pinwheels for Peace". The students decorated with design and words over 1,100 pinwheels that were stuck in the ground. The thought behind this project was to send out messages of peace and acceptance into the wind through these pinwheels. Our school was one of many through out the county participating in this project. Those who started it estimated that more that 1.5 million pinwheels would be made and displayed today. The teachers stressed that this in not a political campaign just a campaign of accepting one another and showing peace and harmony to everyone. Everything culminated into a very nice display. As I looked around at all the pinwheels I thought of childhood in general and the innocents and child like love that all very small children are born with.
The last class I interpret for is an art class and we were going out to the pinwheels to dismantle it all. I went ahead and picked up Brooke early so she could go out with us and see it all before it had to be taken down. She loved it! She was beaming from ear to ear as we walked around the display. The teachers involved were so sweet to Brooke and let her pick out her favorite pinwheel. They then gave me a HUGE stack of the left over pinwheel papers so we could make a bunch at home. This weekend we are going to be making as many as we can and then for family home evening we are going to surprise one of the families in our ward by sticking them all in their lawn. The kids are so excited to give them a big surprise come Tuesday morning. Happy Peace Day everyone!!

Blogger to do list...

I feel like I am slacking. I have become a little obsessed with blogging and now seem to keep a running list of things that I NEED to blog about. I am just about to wake up kids for school and go to work so don't have time this morning to get my blogging done but I felt like if I put it all down in a list I will be committed to getting it all done. Here is the list and my promise to you of upcoming blogs:

1. Our big Lubbock trip last weekend (so much fun and lots of pictures!!)

2. If you didn't know I won Mandee's big pay it forward give away. I have not been avoiding my obligation to now post and pay it forward I just thought it would be fun to wait until I got my awesome box of favs that she is sending that way I can post pictures and start my own little P.I.F. I really am excited to post this one but honestly the pressure is on. I don't want to disappoint. Keep checking the blog I think this one will go up Sunday because I am hoping to get my box on Sat. Mandee said she was sending out her stuff by Wednesday (she also said that Mandee standard time runs any where from 15 min to 3 days late hahahahaha isn't she so funny??)

3. We are still debating going to our big county fair on Wednesday night. If we go of course it just adds to this list.

4. Our ward has a HUGE community event this Saturday that we are hosting and I am baking like crazy for it. I am sure I will have a post on this too. Geez I am exhausted thinking about it all.

I promise to get it all done just give me a day or two. Wow now I need to get to my task at hand and wake up my 3 little sleepy heads have a great day!

CHECK IT OUT!!!

Jacob has been wanting to start his own blog. We finally got around to it this afternoon and he would like everyone to check it out! I have link on my list of blogs we go to.