'Twas the night before Christmas,

and the kids still aren't down.

It'll be a crazy night with the Rice circus in town.

Dad with his laptop and Mom with her bowl,

As you can see in the photo we're losing control.

Ashley with scissors, and Ainlsee her book,

Andi is grasping the marker she took.

Spencer is playing in the clothes we just washed,

"We're thinking dry cleaning is worth the cost."

But in this season of giving and joy

We are truly blessed with three girls and one boy.

And with love, family and friends, to you we write...

Merry Christmas to all

and to all a good night!

And it begins. . .

So we've graduated into the typical suburbian family. We've bought our very first tchoctchke (pron. Chauch Key - slang for a cheap showy trinket) for Christmas. Next year will probably be lights on the house, then a reindeer or two or three, then of course a blow up lawn ornament thing, and the grandest of all: setting the lights to music! Check out our front yard:

Giddy with excitement

Is anyone else excited for this Christmas season like I am?!?! YOOHOO!!

And the winner is.....

Me and the girls had a great time with our races on Thanksgiving Day. I had my race first and set a new PR (personal record). From the pictures, it looks like I am about to die, so you can probably guess why I didn't include my PR time. I was proud of my finish though.

And then the girls had their race. It is hard to see Ainslee in the one picture because there was another kid in the way. But it was awesome to see the girls racing. They both got a t-shirt, medals, and goodie bags with waterbottles and other fun stuff. Way to go girls!

Been a while

Okay, so it's been a while. Not much has happened since I last blogged. Oh yeah, Cory and I went to FLORIDA! Cory won an award at work back in July. He was chosen as an MVP from his group. All of HP is divided into 3 groups which work somewhat separately from each other. So his group makes up 1/3 of the whole HP company and those that were honored represented the top 2% of the group. So as part of the award, he recieved a prize package that included an all expense paid vacation to DisneyWorld for him and a guest (me!). So we went and had a great time. We stayed for 5 days. They put us up in a fancy shmancy hotel and had so many nice activities for us. There was a beach party and we ate steak and lobster then went to Epcot for their front row seats to the laser show. Then the next night was their actual awards ceremony which was a formal affair. Me- wear nylons? Ow!!!! It was fun, though. AND we hit all 4 Disney parks in 3 days! We were so busy but it was so exciting. I felt like a kid again. But so sorry, we took no pictures! Tower of Terror is still my fave. And here are a few recent pics of the kids.

Andi- just for fun!

Spencer likes to climb up on the bottom drawer of the stove- not on of course!

Here's Ainslee in her little pilgrim hat at her preschool party.

Ashley is so upset in this picture. All of the kindergarteners did a little Thanksgiving performance up on the stage while the parents watched. Then when it was over, they let the kids go out into the masses to find their parents on their own! Poor Ashley was worried because she couldn't find me in the choatic mess of a crowd. So here she is with teary eyes.

Halloweenie Pictures

Pachelbel Bedtime

You know you're a CRAZY mom if . . .

* You let your 2 year old wear hot pink cowboy boots with jeans, shirt, AND a dress (none matching) to the grocery store and don't even blink an eye at how weird that probably looks.
* Your 2 year old keeps running away from you in the grocery store so you throw her over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes and still keep shopping while she's screaming.
* You threathen that the Halloween Monster will come and take the kids' eyeballs if they don't just CLOSE YOUR EYES AND GO TO SLEEP !
* You let your 2 daughters share underpants because you cannot keep up with all the dang laundry!
* You're so hungry because you didn't have time to eat lunch in between screamings so you sneak some (okay- a lot) of Baby Puffs from your 8 month old.
* When people ask if you're running a day care and if you have any more space available you say, "No, they're all mine and I am so happy that they are" with a proud smile.

And the winner is . . .

Not Cory. He did finish his half marathon gracefully, though. For not training very much he sure did great. Heck better than I could do. I would have just tried hitch hiking. Or throwing my ankle chip into some other runner's pocket and then claiming that time as m y own. That's more my style of running. It was really nice to be in the nice, brisk, cool air of the mountains. And on Monday I did something really fun. I got to go with just Ainslee to a pumpkin patch with her preschool class. Yes, it was muddy and rainy and cold. But my heart was warmed with love for that little girl. I hardly get to spend time with just her. Somehow Cory and I will have to schedule more one-on-one time with the girls. So here are a few pictures of the pumpkin patch.

Nothing new

Let's see, it's been a while since I've been on. I guess that means nothing really new has been going on. Andi now says "Ew, Doss" (Ew, gross) and "Dupid" (Stupid). What the heck!? What kinda family is she growing up in anyway? Spencer has a nasty bad temper right now. Full on arches his back and swings his arms. Hellooo. Somebody tell him he's only 8 months old and life is going to get A LOT harder this. Ainslee surprises me sometimes. She's like the hidden gem (the hidden gem with a Minnie mouse voice). Sometimes she's just very normal and even. Then she'll say something really funny. I have to do a double take because it comes out of nowhere. And Ashley is just loving kindergarten. She was the first one chosen in her class to have her art printed in the weekly newsletter. Congratulations to her. Oh, and we did the camera fixed finally. Here's a picture of Cory training for his HALF MARATHON this weekend up at Lake Tahoe.

Okay, so it's not Cory- yet. But soon I'm sure.

Just for fun

Well, I have a few minutes to kill and instead of doing the dishes I am shamefully (shamelessly) getting caught in the web and searching for . . . .nothing really. Just playing, I guess. I ended up walking down memory lane. You see, growing up my 2 brothers, my dad, and I had one thing we all liked to do together- besides playing baseball. We watched WWF. A lot. Since the very very early 80's. I mean I can remember the Junk Yard Dog, Big Boss Man, Ricky the Dragon Steamboat, Brutus the Barber Beefcake, and Ric Flair as if they were part of my family. Our family. Our elbow throwing, knee on the ribs, rake to eye family. We pretended to wrestle just like the 'real wrestlers' did every week. Mom would roll her eyes. Then off I went to college and my wrestling watching died for a few years. Until Lindsey and I started holding wrestling parties with friends. My love for Shawn Michaels ignited once again. And then it died after Cory and I got married. Through our on and off relationship over the years (me and wrestling, not me and Cory) I always have held it dear in my heart. The thought of "I am a Real American" and "Helllloooo Ladies" always makes my heart flutter in sweet rememberance. And I realize that probably only a few of you know what I'm talking about and even more of you know now the deeper side of me, but I just had to get it off my chest. So in memoriam of the good old WWF watching days, please click on the link below.

http://www.wwe.com/content/media/video/superstars/hulk_hogan/entrance/hoganentrance?zone=videos_index

What a fun time!

Do you want to know what a really fun time is? It's Spencer throwing up Saturday night, Sunday at church, Sunday afternoon, and early Monday morning. THEN Ainslee throwing up Monday night at 11:30pm, Andi throwing up Tuesday morning at 1:30am, and Ashley throwing up Tuesday morning at 5:00am. And having to clean it all up!

Cory . . .

That was Cory who wrote the last blog. It's HIM who is tired of me whining about the camera. Dumb warranty stuff takes forever! But yeah, those pictures were of Ashley's first day of kindergarten a few weeks ago. Isn't she cute! Really, not so cute when all she wants to do is HOMEWORK. How do I tell her that there is more to life than drawing and writing? I guess I'm the kid here. I hope her love of school continues until she finished law school (Cory's idea).

Post From Cory...Yes believe it or not.

Ok, so now that all of you are thoroughly aware that our camera doesn't work, and are probably tired of hearing about it, I decided to post some pictures of Ashley's first day of Kindergarten. These are from back on August 21.

Warning--I used my .005MP camera phone to take these. So they are not that crisp.

That can't be comfortable

Okay, everybody do this: Sit on the floor with your legs out in front of you- straight out. Then spread them apart to maybe shoulder width. Now, if you're flexible (I'm not), try to touch your toes and just kinda lay down with your tummy touching the floor. That is how Spencer fell asleep for his nap! What the heck! I'm trying to train him to fall asleep on his own so he spent about an hour crying. He finally stopped and I let a few minutes pass before I felt it was safe to peek in. And that's what I saw. But then I had a dilemna. Do I leave him like that or do I slightly tipped him over to a more comfortable position? I picked the wrong one. He woke up as soon as I gave the initial shove. Man, I wish I had the camera.

Disturbing

So the other day I took Andi and Spencer to Walmart to kill a little time. I took them down the Halloween aisle because I love to scare them with the creepy stuff. I know, I'm mean, but it's funny to see their faces. So I noticed a new "Halloween item" that they haven't had in years past. It was a bloody brain wrapped up to look like hamburger meat. Gross, I know. But then I read the labels. It said "Donner Party Meats." Do they really mean Donner Party? No, I thought to myself. And then I read on. "Serving quality TRAIL meats since 1846." What the heck. I got this really sick feeling in my stomach. I couldn't believe they were making a mockery of what happened to the Donner Party. No pun intended, but I think it's really distasteful and in really bad humor. Does anyone else think so? Doing the bloody brain thing is funny, gross, ha ha. But why not put a fictitious name to it. It would still be nasty but not offensive. But I'll still shop there, no boycotting here. But I'm still a little disturbed by it.

I keep waiting and waiting. . .

Yes, the camera is still not fixed. Yes, I don't like blogging without a camera. Yes, the world is passing by without me catching pictures. Yes, I know you don't like reading this without pictures. No, I'm not upset at all :) Keep checking back because one of these days this little problem will get better. So in the mean time, I'll just catch you up really quickly. Last Thursday I flew home to go to Swiss Days. Yodel-ay-hee-hoo! Just Spencer and I went. We spent all day Friday in Midway and bought some wonderful things. Of course I would have taken a picture, but oh well. Then Saturday we shopping at a home decore place and The Gateway. Then I flew home on Sunday morning. It was short and sweet and so wonderul. Cory stayed home with the girls. But he cheated. He took them out to dinner every night. What the heck! As long as everyone was safe and happy when I got home that's all that I cared about. While I was there I found a new favorite song. I'll have to see if I can somehow put it on the blog for all to enjoy.

Aargghh. . .

So here I am so mad STILL about our camera. I realize that blogging is not at all fun if you don't have pictures to share. Isn't that a good part of blogging? It is for me anyway. So none of the stories I tell are going to be entertaining in the least because there is no picture to accompany it. I'm putting Cory in charge of dealing with the camera situation this weekend while I'm gone. So hopefully soon there will be some visual stimulation to go with my blah blah blah.

Such a tweenager

So today Ashley and I were preparing her snack to take to school. I thought it would be a good idea to pack baby carrots- you know refreshing, crispy, healthy. She looked at me real slow and said, "Mom, carrots?" As in "I'm in kindergarten now and that's really weird to pack carrots. No one else takes carrots. They're going to think I'm weird for bringing a vegetable to school. How about a cool snack." And I say to that, "You're only 5!" She ate them, by the way. I guess it was a 'cool' enough snack- until 1st grade. And earlier this morning at breakfast, Andi did something funny. She (and the others girls) had a pop tart with a barbie picture on it. She ate in a circle around the barbie so she would stay in tact. Then as she was looking at it, I guess she got a little too enamored and it broke in half. I mean the Barbie picture broke in half. She screamed and cried really hard and said, "Barbie break." I didn't get it at first and then I realized she was upset to see the head in her one and the body in the other. I guess it was traumatizing for her. As it should be!

Who does she belong to?

Okay, really, did Cory give her a perm without me knowing it? She's always had wavy hair, but this is full on jerry-curl!

1st day of school

Okay, first let me say that our camera broke. Yes, the Canon SD1000 that we just bought in May. So I have no pictures from Ashley's first day of kindergarten. But then I ran into Ginger and I borrowed her camera so I guess I do have 2 pictures, but they're on her camera so we'll all just have to wait until I get those and then I can post them. Okay, with that out of the way, let me tell you about Ash's first day. She chose the outfit: little denim burmuda shorts, and turquoise polka dot dress-like tank over a white T-shirt. We curled her hair and put it up in a half up and half down with a white bow. At 8:00 we left and fortunately Cory got to walk with us (a whole other story about the car). It was so exciting! All the other parents were there walking their kids in. Ashley's teacher is Mrs. Vincent and she's in room 12. They have a little cubby to put their snack in and a shelf to put their backpack on. Ashley sat down at a table to do an activity while I walked out the door and cried. Yes, I did. I didn't think I would, but I did. I couldn't help it. It was such a sad day to think my baby is grown up enough to go to school. And we all know how long we're in school for- years! It was a realization to me that time is moving on and I don't really want it to. As hard as it is to have all the kids home, I love it so much. I love them so much. But I'm excited that she's excited. I picked her up at 11:35 and I think she felt pretty overwhelmed. But all in all it was a good day. And we get to do it all over again tomorrow.

"All this because 2 people fell in love"

Happy anniversary, honey. It's been an amazing 8 years with you.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Andi!!! She's 2 years old today. In honor of her . . .

Kids say the darndest things

So while we were at the County Fair both Ashley and Ainslee said really funny things. This is how they went:

Me: Look at that cow walking by. Do you think it's a calf or a grown cow (it was obviously a calf)?
Ashley: I think it's an OLD calf because it has extra hanging down skin on it's neck.
Me: Don't tell your grandparents that.



Ainslee: I like this part of the rodeo (It was the calf tying part).
Me: This is fun. What animal do you think they will tie up next? (obviously another calf)
Ainslee: I think a giraffe will come out next.
Me: What the heck?

Umatilla County Fair and Rodeo!

On Thursday Day ?? of our trip, our camera decided to break. Yes, the Canon we got in May- OF THIS YEAR!!!! What the heck. I'm so mad. So sorry to say there won't be many more pictures. Thursday was the County Fair. It was cute. There were tons of farm animals on display that the local 4H kids were raising. The kids even got to pet a pig. It was so lazy it didn't even move when they opened the pen. Later that night we went to the rodeo. So much fun. Cory also decided to fit in with the locals and grow a handlebar mustache. He shaved it in time for church on Sunday, though. On Friday, we had our last hurrah. We went boating on the Columbia River. It sounded weird to me, too, but it worked great. So great in fact that I-me-got up on the water skiis. The last time I had done that or even tried was when I was 12. It was fun but man, I'm paying for it now. All my muscles are so sore. But it was worth it. Then Friday night Grandpa took us for a hay ride into the back 40. Poor Alyshia had to sing Old MacDonald with the kids the whole time. Then Saturday we drove home. That was pretty much torture as you could only imagine. And thus ends our wonderful 2 week vacation. I really didn't want any of it to end. I'm ready to go again.

Caught up

Okay, now I just have the last 2 days to catch you up on so I think I can do it in this one blog. On Day 10 Tuesday we went to the 'big city' they call "Tri Cities." Yes, there are actually 3 cities kinda in the middle of nowhere and they're all bunched together. I just can't remember the name of the 3 cities. Anyway, we went to the Costco there and we saw the Temple. It's a mini one but it's nice to know there are so many members there that they get their own temple. The Work is moving forward! Then Grandma Rice took Ashley to get a new outfit for the start of kindergarten. Ashley was dead set on getting a High School Musical shirt and purse. Grandma Rice laughed because she was acting like a little teenager. She just knew what she wanted and didn't really want anything else. It's funny to see a 5 year old walking around with an "I Love Troy" shirt on. Then on Day 11 Wednesday we had the kids paint the old corral. To protect their clothes and boots (of course you can't wear painted on boots to the rodeo) Grandpa Rice bought large shirts to go over their clothes and tube socks to go over their boots. It was hilarious. You could just imagine the jokes we told. The kids really loved it and went through 1 whole can of primer. Child Labor Laws!!!!

Again, we're vacationing

So Day 9 Monday was just a very calm and relaxing day. We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner all while sitting underneath the porch of Allen and Denise's Ranch in Oregon. They have a farm/ranch right on the northeast corner of Oregon. It had been in the family for generations, really. Cory's dad, Allen, spent many summers as a boy here so there are a lot of memories to go around. The place is like a little time capsule. There are tools in the shed from years and years and years ago. There's even a calendar hanging up in the shed from May 1938! Wow! The kids have been loving taking tractor rides on the 1952 Ford tractor. They've even been driving it while sitting on Cory's lap. They got these Cowboy hats and Cowboy boots and have been roaming. Cory took them out to the "back 40" meaning the back 40 acres where they have explored. The found really neat stuff. A little later in the afternoon, they did the good old fashioned Slip n Slide. They loved it! They've never done one before. It was fun to sit and watch the girls while sipping on an old fashioned Coca Cola in a glass bottle.

Day 8

So Day 8 Saturday was very exciting. We drove.

And we're still vacationing

I told you, we'd be gone for a while. So now I'm even farther behind. AAAHHH! I'll do the Cliff's Notes version of what's happened up until now. At least I have lots of pictures to show.

Day 7 Saturday: This was the last day we were spending in Utah with my family. We decided to go ATVing up at Cascade Springs. We first drove to Midway and parked the cars. Then Cory and I drove the ATV up about 15 minutes while the kids drove up with Grandma and Grandpa in the truck. We found this little nook by a little stream and had a picnic lunch. Then we took turns on the ATV with the girls loving every second of it. It was so peaceful and relaxing. We also celebrated Andi's 2nd birthday since it was coming up. She had little pink cupcakes as her treat.

Still vacationing

So we're here in Oregon doing the farm thing, but I've got to catch up on the last few days. Here it is: Day 5 Thursday: So today I had a “day off” from kids. My mom took the girls to the Ratatoille movie while I went to Quilted Bear. I love that place for little girl bows. Every time I come to Utah I go there to get bows. They are so cute and there is a good selection of them. There was even this booth that had ribbon shaped into little butterflies, lady bugs, and other cute things. I got Andi a few bows since her hair is finally growing long enough. And it was weird, I had this sudden urge to buy wooden signs that had cute sayings. I have no idea why :)

Utah Trip!

So here we are in Utah. Yes, we're visiting family. Again. Some of you have the luxury of being near parents, siblings, etc. We are too, just we have to drive 10 hours. We got here on Saturday night and are leaving early Sunday morning to do the next part of our trip. We'll be heading to Eastern Oregon to visit Cory's family. As for now, I'll do a play by play of what we've done so far. Here goes:

Day 1 Saturday: Left our house at 5:15am. Drove and drove and drove and drove . . . We got to my parent's house at 5:30 pm and we all went up to a ward BBQ in Provo Canyon. Yummy dinner and they shot candy out of a cannon. A dream come true for the kids.

Day 2 Sunday: EARLY church (compared to ours which starts at 1:30pm) then roast at home. Mom's and Dad's roast is the best in the world. For our family reunion this past May we all had a lesson on roast making so we could try to duplicate it. But nobody makes roast as good as mom and dad. Then after dinner we went on our traditional Sunday walk near the canal. There are some horses back there and the kids love to visit them. Here's a picture of the girls near one.



Day 3 Monday: We went on a nice walk to Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon. The water is icy cold but the girls still went through it in their suits. Call 'em crazy. It looked so fresh I wanted to just take a straw and slurp it up. But I didn't because that's weird. Here's a picture of my mom with the girls.

And here are Ashley and Ainslee posing at the base of the waterfall.




Then after we left the canyon we went swimming at the Pleasant Grove Pool. The water was so warm. And it's such a wonderful feeling swimming on a hot summer day with the huge mountains just right there. It's almost a little surreal. There are water slides there and Ashley went down them on her own. My sister Katie helped Ainslee down since she's not tall enough and I went down with Andi. It brought me back to the days when we had Raging Water Season Passes. I love that place!!!! And so now I'm going to do something that most people wouldn't do. I'm going to post a picture of me and my kids in a bathing suit. Me in a bathing suit, yes you read that right. I have no shame. Sure, I could work my butt off (literally) to look good, but I really would rather spend the time with my kids. I just love 'em to pieces (my kids not my rolls of fat).




Day 4 Tuesday: We drove up to Park City for me to shop at the outlets. Ashley is starting Kindergarten in a few weeks and I needed to get her some new clothes. I remember LOVING school shopping. I just got this little giddyness in me like ooohh, fresh new clothes for a fresh new school year. Yes, I liked school. Again, I have no shame. Sorry, no pictures for this day but I did find a lot of good stuff at Old Navy.




Day 5 Wednesday: We hung around the house for the morning and played toys and with the dog, Lucy. Then after lunch we went to Kangaroo Zoo in Pleasant Grove. Way fun place. It's a big warehouse with 8 or so big inflatable slides and jump houses. The kids loved it and I got such a work out. It is hard climbing little ladders up 20 feet. It's a pretty good deal, too, if any of you are looking for a fun special activity to do with the kids. When we pulled up, my mom and I laughed at how many Suburban's and vans were in the parking lot. So many I had to take a picture. You don't see this kind of thing many other places.










So tomorrow we haven't decided what we'll do during the day- maybe a movie and shopping. But all I know is that I have our family portrait set for tomorrow evening at a park in American Fork. Yeah, I'm so excited to get them done. We've never really had professional pictures taken before (well, does kiddie kandids count as family portraits?) So this wonderful photogrpher is meeting us and take amazing pictures (I'm sure because I've seen her other work). Oh wait. It's supposed to thunderstorm tomorrow. What the heck!!!??? Can I not get a picture taken of my family! Everyone pray it will be sunny and beautiful tomorrow evening. If not, you'll all get a drawing of my family drawn by me in your Christmas card. And considering Ashley can draw better than me, you don't want that.

When Tush Comes To Shove

There are no words to even tell about it- a picture is worth a thousand words.

Are they all yours?

Every morning me and all 4 kids take a little outing together: park, grocery store, Michaels, library, etc. Almost every single day when we are out I have someone say to me, "Are they all yours?" Really. I'm not kidding. I've had one variation of "Oh, looks like you're babysitting today." I guess we are just a sight to be seen. Yes, it's true that not many people have 4 kids here in NorCal. The majority have 2, some crazies have 3, and then there are the few 'insane' of us that have 4. Maybe it's because my kids are so close in age that people just can't believe I'd do this to myself. GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!!! If I had to do it all over again, I would have it the same way. Sure, it's a handful, but I'm happy with the way we are. Everybody better watch out if baby #5 comes- we'll be put on the nightly news. How could you not love little faces like these: