Change of plans

Life has been a bit crazy lately. Which is probably one of the reasons my blog has been severly neglected. That said, I'm trying to do better now that my Christmas cards are addressed and ready to be mailed. :)

We've had a bit of a change of plans this holiday season. My grandma passed away last Monday, so Kate and I changed our tickets that were originally for the 19th, and came a week early so we could attend the funeral. It came as a bit of a shock for me and was very sad. I'm not sad for her, since she was 91, and she really wanted to go--but sad for the loss of a woman who has part of so many fun and special memories for me growing up. It was a really nice service, and the best part was spending time with so many family members that I rarely get to see. It just brings to my mind more focus on the things that really matter in this life--family, especially.

So, here I am, with this extra week of vacation that I wasn't planning on. It's kinda nice I have to admit. Nice to escape the stress that was very prevalent last week as I hurriedly got ready to leave town for 3 weeks--doing laundry, baking several different types of cookies and toffee for teacher and friend gifts, cleaning the house, making costumes for the ward Christmas party, making arrangements for my kids during the days I'm gone, and trying not to get an ulcer! I swear I need therapy. Trevor walked in the door the night before I was to leave, saw what I had been doing all day, and said, "you know this is all self-inflicted stress, right?" He was referring to all the baking I had been doing all day. All I could say was, "I know! You are married to a crazy person!" So my goal this week is to de-stress, and do the things I couldn't seem to get done at home--updating my blog, sending out the Christmas cards, and maybe even getting caught up on my photobooks! I have Kate with me, and Trevor will come with the other girls this coming Friday.

If you're in town, give me a call! Let's plan a gathering!!

A Holiday Photoshoot

What a little stinker this little girl was...I'm surprised that we got any good ones of her!

A long overdue post

Okay, so it's two weeks late...but better late than never, right? I'm a little disappointed with our picture taking on Halloween night. This was the best one of the three girls together. Grace was a "Sparkle" witch (whatever that is), Holly was Tinkerbell (she even had her little stuffed bear in a tinkerbell costume!), and Kate was Minnie Mouse--she kept the headband in her hair for, oh, maybe 5 minutes. But it was cute while it lasted. Our ward has a trunk or treat every year. The primary presidency was in charge of the cake walk, so that's where I was all night. Trevor signed up to do the donut on a string. It was a great success! But also very busy; hence the lack of good pictures. The kids had so much fun.

This is a terrible picture of our cute pumpkins. Here in Houston, you can't carve your pumpkins more than 24 hours in advance because they start to mold and attract bugs, etc. So, about an hour before we had to be at the church we started the mad dash of carving 5 pumpkins. I was quite impressed with the turnout considering we did it all in about 30 minutes. The one on the end spelled "TREAT." The one to the far left, Grace did the carving. Holly designed the middle pumpkin. Anyway, this is not all that interesting, but they did look very cute at the donut on a string booth.

After the trunk or treat, we took the girls to the local high school football game. A bunch of families in our ward have kids in the marching band, so we went to support them. It was a blast!

HSM3

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Trevor - I thought this was funny and Annie hadn't posted anything for awhile. She has been meaning to take Grace and Holly to see HSM3...maybe this will motivate her to go. XOXO

Switzerland

Our trip was so fun! Here's a quick rundown of our whirlwind week.

Saturday: flew from Houston to Lyon, France via Paris.

Sunday: arrived in Lyon--it was a really long flight. Met Trevor at our hotel, went out to dinner, tried to get some sleep since I couldn't get any on the flight.

Monday: took train to Lausanne, Switzerland-- the Olympic capital of the world. The city sits right on the edge of Lake Geneva, which is absolutely breathtaking.

Tuesday: Spent the morning exploring the Chauteau de Chillon that was built in the 12th century, and had been beautifully restored. Then we took a beautifully scenic train through the alps to Gruyere, where the cheese comes from. We watched them make it, and we had some really delicious fondue. Then we continued on the train high up into the alps to the Berner Oberland region. I think this was probably the coolest part of our trip.I mean, words or pictures can't even describe the beauty, and absolute majesty of these mountains. We stayed in a village called Gimmelwald. Its a small village that sits on the edge of a sheer cliff, and can only be accessed by tram.

The peaks from left to right are the Eiger (ogre), Monch (monk), and the Jungfrau (maiden).
We arrived in the evening. And this is what we woke up to. Are you kidding me? Doesn't it just make you want to sing? It almost brings tears to my eyes just looking at the pictures.

Wednesday: Took early lift to the Schilthorn, ate breakfast in a revolving restaurant where we had 360 degree views of the alps. And it was also famous for filming one (it might have been the first) of the James Bond movies.

A lot of these pictures were taken on a hike that we took just above our village. It was the best day. We were surrounding by amazing views and walking in Sound of Music meadows. We both felt like bursting into song whenever we looked up--and sometimes we did! Seriously, it was that pretty. Pictures just can't do it justice. I tried to put some of the best ones, since I am sure you don't want to look at the millions we took.

If I could do the week all over again, I would spend more time high in the alps. What an amazing place.

Thursday, we woke up with the intention of staying the entire day and going up to the top of the Jungfrau, but we were fogged in. It was devastating. What was so clear and beautiful the day before, was still beautiful, we just couldn't see any mountains. So we headed out and spent a couple of days in Lucerne. I've been to Lucerne before. Eight years ago, when Megan and Kate and I went to Europe we stayed there. It's a beautiful city that sits on a really pretty lake with swans, etc. But I don't remember it being so huge 8 years ago. I think it's really grown. We had fun, though. We went to the Picasso museum, and the glacier museum, and we shopped, ate, and walked a ton. We even went to a movie. We hadn't seen The Dark Knight, so we found a theater that was running it in english with german subtitles.

Friday, we spent the day in Lucerne. We took a 2 hour boat cruise on the lake to see the different towns around, and it was really beautiful. We also had to figure out our travel plans. We were supposed to go to Zurich and both fly home together. But the hurricane had totally changed Trevor's travel plans, so we ended up going to Paris instead of Zurich so we could catch his flight.

Saturday: We took the morning train to Paris. It was the most beautiful and perfect day to be in Paris. Just gorgeous. We had worn jackets and coats all week, but not in Paris. Blue skies, in one of the most beautiful cities on earth. We only had time to see the main sights: Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysses, the Louvre (we didn't get to go in, though...next time!) I think we ate in the same cafe that Megan and Kate and I ate in right by Notredame. Memories! We took a cruise down the Seine River. It was such a lovely day, we wished we'd had more time.

Look at those gorgeous parisian bridges all lit up!

Sunday: Sadly, we had to fly home. But, we were happy to come home and find our kids and grandparents all alive and happy and living in a house with newly-restored power (it had just come back on the night before.)

What a blast.

My house is no longer a third world country...

Okay, I'm finally posting pictures! All I have to say is, September was a CRAZY month. Ike hit Houston on the 12th, and this is what my house and neighborhood looked like when I drove around taking pictures on the 13th...

our fence in the backyard.
part of our neighbor's tree was blocking our driveway.
a couple of houses down...there were a TON of trees like this in our neighborhood.
that's right, the tree is IN their house. Wish I could say that it was the only one I saw...
this was my across the street neighbor's garage.

I still can't believe that my house was literally unscathed. We had a ton of debris to cleanup, but that is really all. When we drove around our neighborhood, it looked like a bomb went off or something. Phones were out for several days. Cell phone coverage was very spotty. Gas stations did not have gas, and stores didn't have power, so many were not open. Trevor got on one of the first flights out after the airport opened back up to leave for France, and so the girls and I camped out on our own...and the power was out for us for two full weeks. That was a bit of a nightmare. Luckily, the weather was unseasonably cool and pleasant. So we were able to open the windows to keep things cool. Some friends of ours that had power restored to their house very soon after the hurricane lent us their generator so that we could keep our fridge and freezer cold. So many blessings to be grateful for. I don't think I realized just how much we relied on power until it just wasn't there. You can't run your dishwasher, or garbage disposal, cooking becomes very difficult, no tv, no phone, no internet, I could go on and on. And it gets very very dark, very very early. My poor girls became very well acquainted with their flashlights. But they were troopers. It was sort of like camping and being on vacation. Everything on our calendar (including school) was just cancelled, so we hung out with friends a lot and played. Slowly more stores opened, and gas stations that had gas didn't have lines a mile long anymore, and the cell phone service improved. Eventually, the city did pick up the mountain of debris sitting on my front lawn. But we are still waiting for them to pick up the mountain of bagged debris that is still out there. But at least we have power...hallelujah! Kind of a surreal experience...one that we survived, but wouldn't wish on anyone. Those poor people on the coast have it so much worse, and it will be months if not years before life is normal for them again.

My house is a third world country...

Well, I only have a few minutes to post an update. The hurricane hit last Saturday, and it is now Friday and we still have no power to our house. Luckily, the weather has been unseasonably cool, which has been a major blessing. I have so many pics of the damage to our neighborhood, but since I don't have internet at my house, I'll have to post them when I get back from Switzerland. Hopefully within another week we will have power restored so I can share with you our "exciting" hurricane story. (Not really very exciting, though.) Our house is fine. Our fence in our backyard blew over in one section, and we had a lot of debris from a tree falling on our driveway. But that is really all. We are so blessed...so many people had their entire houses destroyed. My across the street neighbors had a huge tree take out their garage. What a mess! The grocery stores are slowly getting back to normal, and gas was hard to find at first, but is starting to normalize too.
I'm leaving tomorrow for Switzerland and I'm so excited...but I feel bad leaving my inlaws with my children in my house without power. Pray for cool weather! :)

Hurricane Update

Well, Switzerland is looking pretty good right about now...

I've received several phone calls, emails, and text messages wondering how we are doing. So I thought I'd post a message here to let everyone know that we are fine so far. We're still about 12 hours away from land fall, so I'm sure the situation is going to get worse, but I think we'll be fine. My biggest concern is a prolonged power outage since it's still hot outside...

Trevor has missed his flight to France (all flights have been cancelled). Hopefully the airport will be open on Sunday so he can fly out. But I am glad that he will be with us during the storm...I thought I was going to have to do it alone for a while!

We'll keep everyone posted as we know more! Thanks for all the prayers and concern.

Happy Birthday Grace!!!

It's Grace's 7th birthday tomorrow, and this is what I have been working on tonight in preparation. I have to say, I'm happy with how it came out...but me and buttercream frosting have a love/hate relationship. I wish it would have gone on a little smoother. This was my first time dabbling with fondant. Maybe next time I'll try covering the whole cake (for a nice smooth look). But Grace really wanted chocolate frosting--I mean, who can blame her!

I can't believe I have a 7 year old child! That means next year she will be baptized! It's really all going way too quickly. Happy Birthday, Grace! I love you more than you will ever know.

In other news...

this is what Kate is up to lately.

That's just gross. And yes, she's a climber. She also is really into hiding lately. She'll just find a quiet corner somewhere, and sit and hide until someone comes and finds her. She thinks that she's hilarious and very clever.

Mamma Mia!

I have to start this post with a shout out to my good buddy Jon Fairbanks for introducing me to the ABBA gold album over 8 years ago on a little road trip to Vegas. Ah, memories. Since then, Trev and I have loved that album. It's got such a great beat, and you will often find all of us dancing and singing to it in the car. Yes, all of us. The girls LOVE it.

I have to admit I was a bit skeptical of the premise of Mamma Mia in a play. So, I haven't seen it...then the movie came out. Again, hadn't seen the play, so wasn't really planning on making this movie a priority. Well, my mom and sister and sister-in-law saw it last weekend, and they just raved about it. So, I got a little excited to go see it.

Well, yesterday, due to a little tropical storm (named Edouard) headed straight for Houston...Trevor didn't have to go to work. Yeah us! Then, the "so called" storm that was supposed to be a category 1 hurricane when it made landfall, was just a typical rainy day in Houston. Nothing to even write home about. We were a little disappointed...oh wait, relieved should be the word. I guess we're a little starved for some excitement? Anywho, the storm came, it was a dud, but we had been indoors all day, so we got a babysitter and went out to see the aformentioned movie.

I loved, loved LOVED it! Want to see it again and again. If your are not much for musicals, then this is probably not the movie for you. But if you don't mind the characters bursting into song rather frequently, then you will love it too!

The Summer's Top Ten (so far)...

I've been thinking about all the fun things we have done this summer so far, so I made a top ten. So, in no particular order, here it is:

1. Jordan and Andrea's wedding. What a fun and neat thing to experience. Their temple sealing was the neatest one I have ever been to. The man that sealed them told them some really special stuff. They are such a cute couple, and it reminds me of how fun it was to be newlyweds just starting out. Good luck you two, we sure love you! (Yeah, like they even read my blog. ha ha)

2. Hiking the "Y" for the first time! Yes, I grew up in Utah Valley my whole life and I had never hiked the Y. Well, I take that back. I attempted to hike the Y when I was a senior in high school, but due to a lovely thyroid disorder, I just couldn't make it. So this time, I was determined to make it. It was a youth activity for the Aitken's ward, so Grace and I tagged along. I was a little worried about Grace when after literally 5 steps up the path she started whining and saying she didn't think she was going to make it. But we had a little conversation about having a positive attitude, and thinking like the little engine that could. She didn't complain again. She just kept truckin' up that hill and pouring her water bottle on her head as she went. (It was 95 degrees...but hey, at least it was a dry heat!) And, cue the music, we made it! We even made it ahead of all of the Young Women. It was a great time, and the view was incredible.

3. Ultimate Frisbee at Vivian Park. Some our young men from our ward in Texas came up for high adventure camp. So while they were in town, we took them up the canyon for some good, old fashioned ultimate frisbee. What a blast! Sorry again, Tiffany, for grabbing you in an inappopriate place on your chest. What can I say...I guess I'm just competitive!

4.Girls Night Out--twice! It was so fun to see my friends from high school. We can always just pick right back up as if we see each other everyday. It was so much fun chatting and laughing hysterically with you.

5. The Glazier Family Reunion. I could never leave this off the list. It is a highlight every summer. This year, we had only about half the people there, but it was still really fun. The kids just love playing in the sand by the pond, and could just run around outside all day. I would have to practically drag them in to eat. There was a zipline we could ride this year, and it was a lot of fun. My little Holly was the first of the little kids to try it out. She has no fear, that girl. All in all, a fun time had by all.

6. Valley Center Playhouse. Um, this is a highlight only because I will NEVER forget the ridiculous play that we saw there. We had a family girls' night out, and had a fantastic dinner at Magleby's, then to top it off we went to go see a play. I can't even remember the name of it...oh wait, yes I do..."Don't Kiss on a Park Bench." We all just kept looking at each other throughout the whole thing and laughing because it was so stupid. Famous line that we like to quote to eachother to remind us of our experience: "Ever since you started massaging my shoulders, I knew you were the one." Gag. Note to self: when considering community theater, stick with Hale Center...they are the best.

7. Parade of Homes. It was so fun gallavanting all over the valley and seeing some really amazing homes. It's great to get decorating ideas, and just see how the "other side" lives, if you know what I mean.

8. I made a quilt! Thanks Michelle and Mom, for all the help and support. It turned out so darling. Maybe once it's bound I'll take a picture and post it. ;)

9. Swimming lessons. Grace and Holly took private swimming lessons while we were in Utah. They had such a blast. And I can't believe how much they learned. Seriously, it was totally worth the money. They went from being non-swimmers to little fish! It makes going to the pool with them so much less stressful.

10. Galveston Beach. Yesterday, a bunch of my friends from church drove out to Galveston for the day. I originally wasn't planning on going...something about the screaming voice in my head shouting "flesh-eating bacteria, FLESH-EATING BACTERIA!" But, somehow, peer-pressure got to me and we went. It was so fun. We went to a beach I hadn't been to before, and the kids had so much fun digging in the sand, eating snacks, and watching dolphins. We're all a little toasty-skinned today (and when I say toasty, I mean burned toast!)

Well, that's it. My top ten of the summer so far. We have a lot of fun things planned in the coming weeks, so I may have to post a second list later.

Oh! I almost forgot. Something else really exciting happened...Grace lost her first two teeth while we were in Utah!

What we're up to...

Okay, this post is SO long overdue. I think I've just been in a non-blogging mode since I was on vacation all of June. Then there's just so much to catch up on that it gets a little bit overwhelming...you know? But I'm now ready to face it and start into the blogging business again.
Since we've been home, something really exciting happened. We are no longer the only Mormons in our neighborhood. Isn't that exciting? Well, to us, it is VERY exciting. I'm always trying to recruit some peeps to my hood. We kind of live on the outer reaches or our ward boundaries, and we get a bit lonesome sometimes. They have six kids, and they are just too darling. And it will be nice to be not the only resident Mormons, if you know what I mean. Plus, our ward has really been shrinking lately. A lot of families with youth-aged children have been moving away. So our youth program has really shrunk. We've been praying for new move-ins. He listens, that's all I have to say.
We're still steeped in home improvement projects. It's a never-ending list...if only we had never-ending funds! We are having new carpet installed next Friday. I think the current carpet has been here for 20 years, so yes, it's about time! So, between now and next Friday, we will be painting baseboards and doors, and fixing all the squeaks in our sub-floor. Oh, and organizing! Maybe I'll take some pics this time and post it when it's all done. But don't hold your breath...we know how I am when I promise pics (remember those promised kitchen pics?)
And another exciting thing on the horizon is happening in September. Trevor and I are taking a much-anticipated trip to Switzerland! I've hesitated talking about this because so many things could have come up and made it not happen. But the tickets are now purchased, so come rain or shine, we are going! We haven't gone on a trip just the two of us in a very long time. Trevor's parents have kindly agreed to come watch the midgets for an entire week...I hope they survive.
Anyway, we are staying busy, and trying to stay cool. I'm trying to convince Trevor that we need a pool in our backyard. Yeah right! We had so much fun on our trip to Utah. We sure miss our family and our friends. Oh, and Cafe Rio. ;)

We're Home!

We'll we're back! And it's been over six weeks since I have even looked at my blog...what a slacker! We had so much fun in Utah. I promise I am going to post a lot more pictures and tell you of our adventures. This is a picture that we took Memorial Day weekend.

Happy Mother's Day

To all you wonderful mother's out there, especially my own mother...you are fantastic! Today, my kid's and hubby were so sweet and thoughtful. Kate has been sick all weekend, so Trevor stayed home with her from church. But when we got home he had a wonderful dinner prepared and the table set....awww! My girls made me several cards, my personal favorite was a little fill-in-the blank mother's day card that Grace brought home from school that I found out that she thinks I weigh 40 lbs, I'm 10 feet tall, and she wouldn't trade me for 10 cats....now that's love!
Hope everyone had a good day!

Where does the time go?

Honestly, doesn't it feel like we just had Christmas??? I can't believe that we leave for Utah in less than two weeks. We are so excited for the trip...not necessarily the drive, but the destination. My brother, Jordan, is getting married on the 23rd. Grace is missing the last 6 days of school...it's just 1st grade, right? It's just crazy that it's already the end of the school year.

We'll be in town for just over a month. So, let's organize some playgroups and girls nights out! Dry weather and good mexican food, here we come!

I promise I AM going to post pics of our kitchen. We have a lovely habit of starting a project and getting most of the way done and burning out. So we just have a few odds and ends to finish and THEN I will take the "after" pics. I'll make it a goal to get it done before we leave for vacation. Oh, and wish me luck, I'm going in for my crown tomorrow...it better be perfect!

Tooth Trauma

Do any of you recall one of my most embarrassing moments that I shared on Megan's blog? If not, let me refresh your memory. A long time ago in a land far, far away (Utah) I was taking my required Fit for Life course at good old UVSC. I had put off taking the course until my last semester before graduating. I'm a great procrastinator...but in my defense I did bear a child during those years, so I had somewhat of an excuse. I took it with my sister-in-law, Marie, which was the only thing that made the class remotely bearable. We were living with the Aitken's at the time, so it was very convenient to get up on Saturday mornings and drive to school together in the dead of winter. (As convenient as it could be, I guess, considering it was on Saturday!) Well, one fun Saturday morning we were doing circuit training in one of the workout rooms. Half the class was doing cardio on treadmills, ellipticals, etc. And the other half was doing weight training. We would do each for a set amount of time and then switch when the teacher blew the whistle. Well, Marie and I were working on the weights when we heard the whistle to switch. We immediately headed over to two empty treadmills. Very nonchalantly, I hopped on up to start my workout...only to be knocked completely off my feet and thrown off the treadmill. That's right, some dimwit had left the machine running after leaving it. Hello!!! And me, already a dimwit, didn't notice. In my defense, the room was very noisy, and it is hard to tell that the conveyor belt is moving, when it's moving very fast! I got pretty banged up, but my pride got the better of me and I hopped right back on the blasted machine and completed my workout.

So let's fast forward a few years. And we'll find out what happens when you fall off a treadmill.

I'm sitting in the dentist chair after several years of no visits due to lack of insurance, and my dentist asks me if I've suffered a tooth trauma, because my left front tooth appears to be slightly darker than the other one. I had noticed, but I thought it was nothing that a little bleach wouldn't fix. Apparently not. An exray confirmed the fact that indeed my tooth had been traumatized and the root had shrunk back significantly. Well, long story short, they told me that at some point I would probably want to have that tooth either veneered or crowned so that it would match the rest of them. I've waited three years now since hearing that wonderful news, and started the process a couple of weeks ago. I don't know if you know the process, but they have to wittle your tooth down to a veritable nub to do this work. We decided to try doing a veneer since it was much more conservative. So I had a temporary veneer for a couple of weeks while they were custom-making a veneer that would match my other teeth. Yesterday was the day that I was supposed to get my veneer. What a disaster! The tooth looked WAY fatter than my other front tooth and it still looked yellow. No improvement at all, if anything it was worse. So the dentist tells me that they need to prep it for a full crown. Okay, fine. I can live with that. So they then proceed to wittle down my tooth even more. (There's pretty much nothing left by now.) And the dental assistant makes me another temporary. Here's where I have a major problem. The temporary is hideous! I'm not exaggerating. I think I could have made a better temporary...and I have NO experience. It's all bumpy and weird colored and just plain ugly. So I'm walking around not wanting to smile or talk to anyone because I don't want them to notice my gimp tooth. My confidence has really been shaken with this dentist and the lab. I really hope that I have normal looking teeth when I come home next Thursday. If I don't...someone's gonna get hurt! But I guess there are worse things in life...I could have this guy's teeth!



And, no, I won't be posting pictures of my teeth. I won't even show Trevor.

Sunday morning with pancakes...

Honestly, what's better than Sunday morning, homemade buttermilk pancakes, jammies, and conference? I say nothing. And it's a little embarrassing that my favorite food in the entire world is pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream. Many of you already know this about me. They are the ultimate comfort food for me. (And I wonder why I can't seem to lose ten pounds!) I think it's because we ate this growing up, and when I was really sick/pregnant with Holly, my mom made these for me and it was literally the only thing that sounded in the least bit appetizing and didn't make me throwup. (I know, why did I need to mention the throwup...sorry.) Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed your conference weekend.

Here's my recipe for delectable, fluffy buttermilk pancakes:

1 2/3 c. flour
2 T. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
Whisk to combine, then add:
2 c. buttermilk
2 eggs
2 T. oil
Whisk until combined. Batter will be slightly lumpy. Don't overmix.
Heat up griddle and cook. The key to fluffy pancakes is to only turn them ONCE. You know they are done when you can press on them and they immediately bounce back.

The Rest of the Story...

All right, my friends, here is the rest of the story. Sorry for the long delay, as I'm sure you were all just waiting on pins and needles to hear what happened next. Yeah right! In any event, hopefully this is the last post about racoons.

So after many sleepless weeks because of the critters in my ceiling, I finally called Critter Control. Yes, the same people that I paid to come last year that didn't catch any critters. But, I will give them props for giving me a "discount" for being a repeat customer.

So, the guy is crawling all over the outside of my house and canNOT figure out where the little devils have been getting in. Like I said before...Trevor had sealed up all possible entrances. So we have all been pretty dumbfounded that we are still hearing critters. Anyway, I showed him where I have been hearing racoon chatter in my ceiling, and he tapped around. He finally got them to start making some noise. And he cut a whole in my ceiling, and LO and BEHOLD, there were four little baby raccoons inside. No sign of the mama. I really hope she can't back inside because she's gonna be pretty mad if she gets back in and her babies are gone. Yikes!

I know the picture doesn't really show it, but they were really kinda cute. It made me kind of feel bad for all the cursing that went on about them. My girls really wanted to keep them. Yeah right. No, those little rascals are on their way to a rehab center to be nursed back to health and then released back into the wild so they can break into someone elses's house to have their own babies. That's right, that's what I just paid for--racoon rehab.

I'll post again soon, and show you pics of what else we've been up to lately...a little kitchen remodel.

New Theory

Um, I think we were wrong about the squirrels...
It's something much bigger than that. Last night, when Trevor went to check out the "racket", I thought he was walking around the room just above our bedroom. When he came back, I asked him, and he said he hadn't been. Whatever was walking around up there was A LOT bigger than a squirrel...big enough to make the floorboards creak. It might explain why when we set up squirrel traps, we never caught any. Our current bet is that it is an oppossum. Maybe a racoon. Last night, we were both up very late, and couldn't go to sleep because the critter was in our walls again. Trevor patched up any possible holes during the day, and it's probably stuck in there. So...we are setting some racoon traps tonight in hopes of catching something.
Can you believe any of this? I hardly can. Who would have thought I would be posting about a racoon/oppossum invasion.
So, for now the squirrels are safe, and there has been no alliance formed between the racoons and the squirrels. Phew! That's a load off my mind...

Well apparently, I do!

Our home...a squirrel's paradise

So, here it is...a veritable squirrels paradise. We live in a heavily-wooded area of Houston. Our whole neighborhood is full of trees. Our lot alone has 20-30 trees, and for some reason the squirrels prefer our yard. At any given time during the day, you will see numerous squirrels frolicking in our trees, running along our fence, and even playing on our swing set in the backyard. It's like disneyland for squirrels! When we first moved in, we thought it was so cute. In the above picture, in the big tree, do you see the stump that kind of sticks out? That's the squirrel's little perch to sit on while he eats his little acorns. I actually caught one in action a couple of weeks ago.

Awww...cute right? Sure, you can continue to think that for the moment. While these little creatures are cute, they are wily little devils. Last spring, in the wee morning hours one morning (Trevor had just left for work, so I was alone), I heard some rustling above my head. I totally freaked out. I thought someone (or something) was in my house. My bedroom is on the main floor, and the girls are upstairs, which is where I head the rustling coming from. I immediately called Trevor (it was about 6:30am, and he had just walked into his office), and was whispering on the phone that something was in the house. I didn't know what to do. I ran upstairs and barricaded off the rooms in which I heard the noises, so that whatever it was couldn't get into the rest of the house. I continued to hear the rustling noises as well as some animal chatter. So I knew it was an animal of some sort. Well, to make a long story short, we had squirrels in our attic. And every morning, I would be awakened to them knocking their nuts and acorns around, and scampering through the walls. I called Critter Control, and they came and set traps on the roof and in the attic and found a hole in our roof where the squirrels had chewed their way in. (And you thought they were cute and friendly! oh no.) Do you think that we caught any squirrels in those traps? Oh no, they are way too smart for traps. Look in the below picture. Do you see the above the upper window some vents? Well, we also discovered that they were getting there as well.

So, Trevor fixed all the points of entry. He put chicken wire over the attic vents, and for a year we have been squirrel-free (in the house, anyway). Well, a couple of weeks ago, we started to hear a bit of rustling in the room that is just under that attic vent (you know, the one with the chicken wire). Trevor ran outside, and guess what he saw! A racoon was hanging from the tippy top of the roof upside down, pulling up the chicken wire. That's right, the racoons and squirrels have formed an alliance against us. Here's a close-up picture of what the racoon did. Incredible!!


Trevor threw a stick at it, and scared it off. And the next day, he climbed up there and fixed the chicken wire. So, problem solved, right? Read on, dear friends, the fun isn't over.

Well, this morning (and when I say morning, I mean 4 am!), I was enjoying the first full night's sleep in several days due to a sick baby, and what do I awaken to? Not a baby crying...but the rustling above my head! I listen for a while in shock! How are these creatures getting in?! I rolled over and said, "those d#$% squirrels!" Trevor just laughed...he had been awakened as well. Neither one of us could go back to sleep because they were being so loud.

Let's not think about the fact, that they could be chewing through my electrical wires, and could possibly cause a fire. Let's not think about the fact that they are probably having their babies in my house. That's right, it's that special time of year when animals procreate. Let's not think about the possibility of spending another $200 to have Critter Control come set traps that WON'T catch them. I'm not going to think about any of these things.

I will, however, be making a trip to the sporting goods store and seriously consider buying a pellet gun.

I Heart Michael Buble

Okay friends, turn the mute off on your computers, and crank up the volume. What you are listening to is the fabulous voice of Mr. Michael Buble. His new-ish song "Lost" is the first on the list I have on my playlist, and it just gives me pins and needles all over (and brings a tear to my eye, even) when I listen to it. I love love LOVE his music and voice.

Last fall, I heard he was coming to Houston, so I bought a couple of tickets put them in Trevor's stocking on Christmas. Well, the concert was this last Saturday night. I have to tell you, I am always a little leary of seeing someone in concert, because sometimes they just don't measure up live. Let me tell you, he definitely delivered. What a fantastic show, and he was just hilarious, too. I just wanted to take him home with me! You know, to sing me to sleep every night. :)

If you get a chance to see him in concert, do it. Don't hesitate...it's worth every penny! American Idol holds nothing compared to this. (Although, I am a fan of A.I.--hello, David Archuletta?! Wow.)

I'm a slacker!

I am seriously such a slacker when it comes to blogging lately. I don't know what my deal is. Maybe it's the lack of new material. I mean how many times do you guys want to hear about my most recent trip to Costco, or hear about whatever my kids are up to, or whatever. :) But Trevor just called me and asked me when I was going to blog again....so here I am! By the way, Holly just said something really funny to me. She says, "Mom, I've been thinking about it, and I think we need a new car." Me (laughing): "Why do you think that?" Holly: "Because that one is just making me crazy!" I don't know what's making her crazy about it, but we are NOT getting a new car. I happen to be quite partial to it.

Well, as I write this post, I'm still in my jammies (it's 4:00 in the afternoon), Holly's finally agreed to eat PB and J for lunch (4 hours and a nap later), and Kate is eating her first meal of the day--cheerios. All of you are probably on the verge of calling Child Protective Services at this moment. I promise, this is not a typical day. The reason I am still in my jammies--by the way, I did shower, and they are very cute jammies that my husband gave me for valentine's day--is because the baby was up half the night throwing up last night. Poor kid, it's really all my fault for having the thought yesterday morning that we have been really healthy lately and haven't had flu-like kids in a long time. What was I thinking letting that thought cross my mind?! I totally jinxed myself. She seems to be on the mend, though; hence the reason I'm letting her try her stomach out on dry cheerios. The poor kid's gotta be hungry, since all I've allowed her is water and pedialyte. So we've been holing up at home all day today...no workout, no errands, just staying home and watching the rain come down. I did, however, pull out my wheat grinder today and try out a new wheat bread recipe that my sister told me about. The bread is in the oven as we speak and it smells divine. Yum!
Let's talk about my new jammies. They are SO cute!! Bright pink with white polka dots...I mean, come on! Gotta love it.
Okay, Valentine's day....I'm so glad we actually had one this year. The last two years have been duds because 1)Holly was in the hospital the first year with rotavirus, and 2)I had just had a baby. So, Trevor took me to a really swanky french restaurant. It was nice to get out and enjoy each other's company. The food was pretty good. Probably a little to fancy-shmancy for my taste. I mean, who actually eats foie gras? Disgusting! (Well, I guess I shouldn't judge unless I actually taste...I just couldn't get past the texture.)
Well I hope everyone else's days are going well, and I hope you all made it out of your jammies. :)

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl!

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'll just say it again...where did this last year go?! How is that my baby girl is turning one. It makes me kind of sad that it's gone by in a flash. Trevor had the day off, so while he took Holly golfing, I took Kate to get her pictures taken. Holy cow, can we say that I need a 12-step program to learn how to say no to all the adorable pictures they took? I came home with so many pictures, I really don't know what I'm going to do with them all. Of course, the more you buy the more you save...yeah, I need to get help. If I framed and put on the wall all the pictures I bought, I could put one on every wall of my house. People would come over and think that we only have one child, let alone three. The poor other two are severly neglected in picture representation now. Oh well... I guess when your absolutely darling 1 year old just sits and smiles and poses so pretty and takes so many good pictures, how can you say no. I couldn't. And I must also state for the record that they took 86 shots, and walked away with around 9 poses. So I narrowed it down by quite a bit! So, here is a sneek peak at a few of them. Happy Birthday Kate! We love you so much.

These are the untouched up negatives that they put on a cd for me--some of them were printed in black and white or sepia, or cropped a bit. So you'll have to take my word for it when I say they are even better in real life. Obviously this isn't all of them, because it would take all night to upload everything. :)

Big Time Saturday Night...

Well, here it is...the weekend. Do you remember back in the good old days when weekends were fun and fancy free? We didn't have a care in the world--nothing tying us down. Date nights were abundant (well maybe not abundant, but the possibility of abundance was there.) And even though now our weekends consist of somewhat of the same as what goes on during the week--i.e. caring for children, cleaning up messes, wiping noses, doing projects around the house, grocery shopping, wiping the kitchen table for the millionth time, the list can go on forever--I still find myself looking forward to the weekend. What is it about the weekend? Maybe it's the fact that husbands are home from work, and it just feels like there's freedom in the air. I don't know what point I'm trying to make, other than I look forward to the weekend. But, here I sit, on Saturday night--kids in bed, husband chaperoning a multi-stake dance (I think he could have gotten out of it, but maybe he's brushing up on his dancing skills--ha!) and I'm sitting on my behind-- blogging. Pretty exciting. The girls and I actually did do something fun tonight in the absence of Trevor. We went to some friends' house for dinner with a couple families from our ward. It was fun to visit and let the kids play for a while. (Thanks Kinsey for organizing, and Laura for hosting!)
I keep meaning to post some of the funny things that Holly has been saying lately. Today, she kept saying "yes, ma'am" to me. I thought it was so funny. Because when Grace would say "yes, ma'am" to her, she would say, "hey, I'm not a man!" Another funny thing...slightly sacriligious, but still funny. She gets the words Heavenly Father and Harry Potter mixed up. We were in Costco walking by the bigscreen tv section and they were playing the latest Harry Potter movie. So, she keeps saying, "Mom, mom! I want to watch Heavenly Potter!" She has also been expanding her vocabulary to include the word "totally." Is she my child? Totally. This girl, though exasperating 99% of the time, she sure is hilarious.
So, my baby brother got engaged today. I can't believe it. He's not old enough to get married is he? I called him today to wish him a happy birthday, and he told me the good news. I'm so excited and happy for him. He's marrying a great gal. So I guess it's okay that they are disrupting our plans to go to Ireland in May. We'll just have to reschedule our trip--ooh, and maybe as payback I'll rope them into babysitting!
Okay, enough random ramblings on my part. I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Sledding Video

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Whenever I watch this video, it just makes me laugh. Maybe you had to be there to know how funny it is, so here's the story. We all decided to go sledding as a family while we were in Utah. My sister and her kids went, as well as my brothers and my dad. Well, at some point my brothers thought it would be "so cool" to haul a big ball of ice from the bottom of the hill to the top just so they could roll it down again. I know, sounds thrilling, right? Well, it was quite the ordeal getting it up the hill since it was huge and did I mention...solid ice?! Well, this little video clip I was trying to just talk to Grace and see how she was enjoying herself. But the action is all going on behind her. It's just classic Robbie and Jordan playing like little boys. They get the iceball rolling, and then we all notice that my nephew Justus decided to follow it down on his sled. (As soon as he makes impact, I forgot I was recording it, so the actual collision wasn't caught on tape, just the reaction.) Well, as you can see from the following picture, it didn't end well. I think this pic will go down in Glazier family history as one of the funniest. Painful, but funny! Sorry Justus, I just had to share!!