NOW I know where they get it from...

Dylan saw B kissing me and yelled, "No Daddy! My mommy!" Then ran up to us and tried to wiggle in between us and pushed B away.
B said: "Whatever Dylan. You wouldn't be here if I didn't kiss your mommy!"
Dylan responded: "You no more kiss mommy, k?! What you say?!"
B said: "Dude, I'm not saying sorry to you."

B was venting a little bit about his day to me, how he was feeling right then, and then talking about our busy schedule that we have planned... I teasingly asked, "Are you complaining?"And B responded, "I'm not complaining. I'm just giving you a play by play."

It's been a good day.

For Mo-Mo and Sarah from Shelly Hale

Okay Mo Mo that last post was totally for you... but it was because I promised you a post... and this one is to say how EXCITED I am to see you and Sarah in just a couple months! I can't believe it! We are going to have so much fun =) I miss you girls so much. Love you!

Sorry each of you has a kid missing... I had to steal these pictures from your blogs because I didn't have many. We need to fix that!

From, Shelly Hale

Happy Birthday from Jen Harper

This is one of the nicest birthday gifts I have ever received. I even cried! It goes to show you how thoughtful gifts go farther than anything else! I also received 46 messages on facebook to tell me Happy Birthday. *sniff* I definitely felt the love on my birthday!

Monique is still the most beautiful person I think I've ever met, inside and out. She just lights up rooms!

Look how amazing she is! She'd *just* had Dylan.

She has so much love in her heart, it just spills over onto everyone else. Theres nothing she wouldn't do for her family, she is just the most incredible mother.

Happiest of days to a woman I know has at least made our world a little brighter!! We love you and wish we could celebrate with you!!

Love, Jen Harper

3-0, Sho nuf!

May we all act our shoe size.

May we all love with all the fibers of our beings.

May we all bloom where we are planted.

May we all find beauty everywhere we go.

May we all love one another.

My birthday today was wonderful and I just have to say how wonderful it is to be alive in this day and age. I think people concentrate on all the bad that is around us, (believe me, I have those days) but if I really think about it, I have to say that I know too many people in this world that are amazing and wonderful people, SO THERE IS HOPE! Now if only those people would procreate...

see? I have faults. That judgment just flew out there without warning. I'm working on it. I figure I have at least another 30 years to figure that one out... Here is to another 30 WONDERFUL loooong years with hopefully more doses of good than bad. Bring it on.

Now for my birthday, I only want one thing. A quick memory of me. This will go down in history in my blog book, so be, um, kind. :) I wasn't that bad. . . or was I????

Eyeball Spit

Haley was joking around and told me that tears are like Eyeball Spit. We laughed until our eyeballs were spitting.

Then today I cut up some strawberries for her snack and a while later she came in and put the bowl on the counter without me looking, then ran into the other room and yelled, "I left you some strawberries, Mom!" "Oh, thanks!" I said without looking. Then I saw Haley peeking into the kitchen with a huge grin, so I knew something was up. I looked at the bowl and she had made paper strawberries to put in the bowl. We laughed and I pretended to eat them while chasing her around the big room.

Maybe I do like this stage.

Thankful

This is the only picture I have of Thanksgiving this year. Those crazy turkeys. Well, really they are trying to dress up like Indians, but some took extra convincing. And I even tried to convince them it was cool becuase they were made from McDonald's bags. No go. Two pictures later, both boys have their hats on the ground.

I am thankful for girls who like to dress up. :)

Gag Me with all the Cheese

#8??? Really?! 8 years??

My husband is better than me. Phew! I said it. You know it's true.

Just to prove it, I will relate some experiences that I don't want to admit. FULL of judgmental ammunition. (Just no mudslinging please.)

1. The first time I figured out that he was better than me was when I was so excited to tell him I was pregnant (with Haley) and planned a whole night for him. Complete with cheesy note in the fortune cookie and have a family member deliver it to a favorite park of ours. The second before we left the house, the phone rang. I shouldn't have answered it because it was my work telling me that I was supposed to be there. I was so mad I threw my planner across the room after I noticed I got my days crossed (I'm claiming hormones) and it exploded with a rainbow of papers everywhere. As I was tearing up, fuming, and feeling sorry for myself, Brandon silently picked up and organized my entire planner and offered to take me to work and then come and pick me up afterward too. What a guy! To add insult to injury, I ended up just telling him while we were doing dishes the next day and even said, "Like you didn't know already." As if that whole ordeal the day before was a text-book "I'm telling you I'm pregnant" ordeal. (Again, claiming hormones.)

2. When B goes out of town, I don't do dishes for a couple days and then clean them up before company comes over. Don't get me wrong, the house stays clean, I just HATE dishes. When I leave for a night out, I come home to a SPOTLESS house. Thanks to Mr. Clean (B).

3. He actually has a laundry day. Wait. He has TWO laundry days. He does it and it's done. Only two days to worry about it. With me, laundry is a lifetime process and sometimes I don't do it until I run out of underwear, then it just continues. Forever. He's also VERY picky about laundry and gives him an excuse to watch sports, so he does most of the clothes. I fold, do all the linens, towels, etc. I still think he wins though.

4. He's nicer than me. A week ago B was on the phone with someone who was treating him very poorly and just plain rude. I had no idea. He was still so nice and polite and even said "thank you for your help" at the end of the conversation. He told me how he was treated afterward and I DEFINITELY would NOT have been so nice. I give people the benefit of the doubt 2 times. I really have to contain myself, but I even have to count it in my head before I let my tongue fly. And no matter what, I tell people that I do not appreciate their rudeness and confront them. B turns the other cheek... though I know he appreciates my confronting personality becuase when it gets a little tough, he will turn to me and ask (in a polite voice of course) "Would you like to handle this?" My answer: "Would I ever!" ;) Let's just call it spunky.

5. I will organize, I just don't love it like B does. He's good at it too. I will look at some closet he's just tackled and exclaim, "Well that makes much more sense!"

So I really want to throw something at someone who introduces their spouse as their "Better Half" not only because is it gaggingly cliche, but how do you really respond to that? I usually ignore it, but I want to ask, "Do you have a name or do I just call you Better?" It really would make it that much more awkward. Anyway, I do have to say that B is my better half in many ways, but I can still out-party him and out-blog him any day. So there.

And as if the rest of this post didn't gag you with a spoon I will go on limb and say: B, you are the BOMB.COM! (Yes, that was ALMOST as bad as watching the new Twilight movie, New Moon, that we watched tonight. almost. gag!)

Happy Anniversary Babe!

Did she just say that?

As usual, our Maleia comes up with some winning Quotes:

We were going to go see the play, Annie, and I explained how in a play, they act out a story on a stage. Maleia thought, then asked, "Is it real?" I responded, "Well, they are real people who are pretending," and then she asked me, "So in the play, are they playing to pretend or are they pretending to play?"

"I can't eat that many big bites because then my poop will be too big. Can I do little bites instead?"

"So it's fall right now AND Autumn. The leaves are falling AND the trees look odd and dumb."

"I wish I could be back in Utah so that I can be married like Todd and Adrianne."

And the winner:

B was grating cheese and he decided to grate the entire block and Maleia exclaimed, "That must be some exhausted cheese!"

Potty Mouth

Dylan woke up this morning and asked, "Where's Daddy?"
I told him, "Daddy's at work."
Then Dylan responded, "Awww. That sucks."
Seriously, we don't say 'sucks.' We just don't, so who knows where he picked that one up?

Then he asked where Maleia was and I told him that she was down stairs and he responded, "That's cool!" We say that all the time, but this was the first time I heard him say that.
______________________________________

We were playing the "Let's Go Fishing!" game and Dylan kept yelling, "Let's go pissing! Let's go pissing! Wook mom! I gotta piss!" Oh for the love I couldn't hold back the tears of laughter. Brandon was laughing so hard he couldn't talk.
______________________________________

And when I was putting on his shirt he kept saying, "I want tuh piss in cup!"
"Excuse me?" I kept saying. This went on for about 5 minutes until he pointed to his shirt and exclaimed very annoyed, "Mom. Wookat ah piss. in. cup!"

And then I realized what he was trying to say: 'I want the PISTON CUP.' If you have ever watched Cars, the Disney Pixar movie, then you know what this is. He wanted the shirt with what looks like the Piston Cup in a crest.

Now how could I have missed this one? So obvious, right?


Oops! Did I say a naughty word?

There is no charge for awesomeness or attractiveness!

Wet and Wild and Wet

If we are going to be wet anyway, let's be wet on purpose.
It was a rainy day and we were going to show our friends, the Christensen's, around Budapest, but we opted for a fun-filled day at Aquaworld instead.

The Christensen's. They flew all the way from MD to see us. Okay, so actually James' parents live in Vienna, so we just got to reap the benefits of a family reunion. Lucky us! Molly was one of my bridesmaids and a stellar friend. She has three awesome boys with one more baby on the way! We LOVED having them stay the night and hang out for a couple of days.

Haley had no fun at all. You can tell.

You would have no idea that last time Maleia was scared to tears to go on this water slide.

Haley helping Maleia get her confidence to go by herself. Thanks sweetie bug!

Dylan trompsing around the knee-high water with the water slides in the background.

These two were so sweet and played AWESOMELY the entire time.

Sweet Molly and her tired little Jackson.

The two dads and the two babies about to plunder down the rainbow slide together.

If you know Haley, she has some irrational fears that we have been working on for a while now. Since birth. And water is one of them. Going to a pool on a regular basis has helped her feel more comfortable in the water. This and her swimming lessons at school I guess. But mostly going to Aquaworld. yea. I guess we will just have to keep going back... bummer.
________________________________________

There is a little place here in Budapest that has been a family favorite for a long time. Aquaworld. It's an indoor waterpark. Yes, I admit, that there was a few months that we did not go because there was actually a death there, but we held out a couple of months after all the inspectors went in for their final inspections. Now the inspectors go in every other month, so I hear. Eh. (shoulders shrug) We just don't go near the Surfing place where the little boy died...

But we go. And we love it!

It's a place where the kids have their own child-friendly area complete with 4 kiddie water slides (all three kids go down with ease), aquarium, mushroom water thing, 2 boats to float on, kid-sized bathroom (where I admittedly have gone in to go to the bathroom with my kiddos. I mean, really. Is it that hard to have ONE adult sized potty in there? It was like going into one of those training potties. I felt like Buddy the Elf) and they also have a whole out-of-the-water play area. They have waterslides that start inside the dome, run outside the dome, and then end up back inside. They have an indoor/outdoor pool complete with auto censored door to keep the cool out, 2 hot tubs, sauna, wave pool, lazy river (more like a pond), and the scary Surfer place that has been closed since the incident. We get a 2 1/2 hour pass and it's perfect for us.

It is well worth the $25 we spent for our whole family to go and have too much fun. It wears them out, and we leave them wanting more. This has helped Haley's fear of water, Maleia can swim with her floaties wherever we go, and Dylan LOVES the "deep wahta," so he says. We like that everything is close together and in the summer we don't have to apply sunscreen! A definite bonus.

The night before we wanted to take the Christensen's to see the city at night. The castle usually is glowing brighter, but they must have forgotten to pay their electric bill. We took them to mostly get Kurtoskolacs, chimney cake that is divine, and it was rainy and wet. We all soaked through our clothes.

The two little boys chillin. Again, getting wet!!!

Though we were wet more than we were dry when they came to visit, no one complained a bit!
Come back!

The Grand Ball

Here ye! Here ye! Thou hast been formally invited to the Stuart Ball. Wherest thine children may dress in thy best robes, eatest out of thine best troughs, and dance like there is no tomorrowst. Canst thou tell Duke Dylan lovest it?

The fair maidens with the handsome Duke of Budapest.
(Jenny, Maleia, Ava, Nora, Sophia, Lila, Anastasia, Maddy, Haley, and Dylan)

My girls were in heaven and Dylan was excited... to play with Ava's trains. Typical boy. And as the token male, he had the sole responsibility to dance with all the maidens. . . someday he will appreciate it more.

Maleia: "Mom! This is just like Cinderella! Dylan is like the prince with all the women!"
(Nora, Maleia, Jenny)

The highlights:

• The knight in shining armor rescues the fair maiden in distress. (Dylan went up to Ava, the mini hostess, when she was crying and gave her a hug and she immediately stopped crying.)
• Food was aplenty and delectable (gourmet mini pb&j sandwiches with the crusts off, chicken nuggets to be eaten with fancy toothpicks, fancy shmancy cupcakes, etc. etc.)
• Gratitude for good friends, great art activities, rockin' DJ, and lots and lots of stickers.
  
• It was the soiree of the century! (everyone left happy, full, and tired.)
  

My favorite Hungarian words

Tesek- (teh-shake) It's an all around word used all the time. It means "here you go," "go ahead," "come again?," "your turn," "pass," and probably a million other meanings because we hear it all the time.

Helyes- (hay-yesh) This means "correct." I see this every time I make a credit card purchase and after I see how much everything costs on a little machine at the grocery store where you type in a pin number. It looks like "He** Yes" and I just want to giggle like an immature teenager every time.

Viszontlatasra - (Veece-sont-lat-tash-roh) means Bye. I mean, a 5 syllable word that took me forever to memorize takes the place of a 1 syllable English word? Typical Hungarian. Okay, so it specifically means, "I will see you later," but it's used for "Bye."

Hungarian is one of the hardest languages to learn. Finnish, Hungarian, and Chinese are the toughest. The only thing it has going for it, is that it uses a similar alphabet to English. But that's it. And for some reason, I really like learning it. My brain is thirsty for some stimulation I guess. Dora just doesn't cut it. Too bad I still stink. But hey, I can order stuff, ask for stuff, ask directions, and ask, "My child is lost! Can you help me?" And then describe each of my kids. I have not had to use this yet. Knock on wood.

Mini Madre

Before
(My mom is right smack in the middle with glasses. Karen Stewart.)

James Bonnett, Michael Patten, Susan Kofford, Billie Hundley Casper, Ralph Cherrington, Zoetta Burmeister, Kathy Hall, Andrea Seegmiller, Necia Mangum, Necia Mangum Burrup, James Blaylock, Dianne Evertsen Davis, Valerie Clark, Jerry Bitter, Darlene Evertsen Allred Proctor, Karen Stewart (photos), Susan Millstead, Kevin Kirk, Diane Ferre (photos), Judy Wright Edwards, Susan DeLong Duarte, Nacy Rohbock, Randy Jensen, Margene Schauerhamer, Ann Marie Lewis Christensen, Brent Bloomfield, Victoria Flandro Chadwick, Carolyn Beffort Christensen, Bill "Kelly" Summers, Diane Wolsey Grover (photos), Gary Oveson, Ray L. Louder

After

I wish I had more photos of my mom when she was younger. And what are the odds that someone would post one on FB and tag her in one from High School?!!

She was a Tigerette for the Orem High Tigers and in a bunch of clubs. This picture happened to be her Seminary class picture. Do we even do those anymore? I mean, of course we have Seminary, but do we take class photos? Awesome!

And just so you know, my younger brother and I have always called her Madre. Not the Spanish sounding 'madre' where the 'r' is slightly rolled, the American sounding way. mah-dray. I have no idea why or even where that started. I remember back in Elementary School calling her that...

Still as beautiful as ever!

I'll show YOU some Culture!!

When you think "concert," I think of a performance with chairs and some sort of performance. So, yes, you can call this a concert that we went to.

I took Dylan to a "baby concert" with friends in downtown Pest while Haley was at school and Maleia was in Dance School. I have always enjoyed the one-on-one time that I get with my children at this stage, but it seems so rare after having three kiddos. We were going to take public (bus, metro, bus) but it was raining a little and I chickened out, so it took us 40 minutes to get there instead of 20. ug! Dumb bridge closing...

The concert was held in a Hungarian Man's flat where he keeps his grand piano and had a screen set up that shows a movie while he plays classical music. It was like a live version of Baby Einstein or like one of those old, soundless, black and white movies with someone playing the piano, but this one had introductions to each "movement" in Hungarian. I had to keep myself from laughing some times, and sometimes I couldn't help it, but it was pretty fun!

__________________________________________

The highlights from the Animal Movie:

1. Mating Turtles
2. Sharks devouring other sea creatures
3. Lions licking themselves
4. Birds pooing all over a tree
5. Dylan yelling "Amen!!" when it was going on too long for him
6. Scarlett sitting next to Dylan. :)

Now THAT'S culture!!

___________________________________________

This was more MY face during the 'Mating Turtles' scene.
"What do I do mommy?? She's busting a move!!"
Awww. The hand-over-the-shoulder trick. Just take notes buddy!

There was a time after the movie was over and the Hungarian man was just playing the piano and he let the kids take turns sitting on the piano to feel the vibrations as he played.

The giggling that persisted from these two was a little too cute not to take a picture!

Just another picture of the two lovebirds at Rhyme Time (a playgroup of sorts that does songs and activities.) Isn't my future daughter-in-law a doll?? ;) Darn agency and choosing your own eternal companion... didn't they have betrothing in the Bible?

Currently Crying

Because I am laughing sooo hard!!

I usually don't post putrid pictures of my family, but when I was trying to get a picture of all three of them looking at me for Maleia's birthday post, (hey, better late than never) out of 7, they were all horrible. And this one made me laugh so hard I cried. I mean, just look at Dylan. Is he in pain? Haley. I just told her to open her eyes bc her last pic her eyes were closed. Yup, definitely open. And I think this was two seconds before Maleia fell off the chair.

But wow. Dylan buddy. wow.

My sides hurt... I may just be slap happy.

And click here for the post I was working on ....

AND SCROLL DOWN FOR THE HALLOWEEN POST I FINALLY POSTED.