Blonde Joke

Well, I don't have too much to say today--or this week apparently. I went shopping yesterday with some of the girls (sans kids--YAY!) so that was a nice break...and expensive.

This has been going around the internet, so thought I'd pass along the laughs!

Here is the funniest blonde joke!

Cookie Diet

OK, so I know that a cookie diet (thanks Vanilla) sounds too good to be true, but I think I may have found one that actually works.

In the past 5 days I have eaten (I can’t believe that I am going to admit this IN WRITING for everyone to see), approximately:

• 32 homemade chocolate chip cookies (I had to make some for Sam to take to work and then more for Valerie's son Benjamin's baptism on Saturday--and hey, that's really only about 6 per day)
• At least half a pan of Rice Kryspy Treats (again, I have Ben as an excuse…and truth be told, I have been known to eat an entire pan of these all on my own—just ask Valerie)
• Half of a half gallon tub of Chocolate Malted Crunch ice cream (ummm…it has been hot here so I needed it to help cool down)
• And who knows how much cookie dough I actually consumed while making the cookies

Clearly I have some sort of problem, but somehow this has resulted in my losing 4 pounds. No kidding. I was scared to see what damage had been done by my reckless abandonment of all self control when I stepped on the scale this morning and realized that I was 4 pounds lighter than last week. Maybe it’s because I was too full from all of the junk food to actually eat any other food except for some vegetable lasagna on Sunday night, so I really just consumed my normal amount (or less) of calories.

What ever it is—I’m ready to package it up and sell it to America.

Maybe I DON'T have it so bad...

My sister emailed me about this Ebay auction that she thought was funny. It made me laugh and I ended up reading this woman's blog for the past hour. She has 6 kids (surprisingly not LDS though) and a great attitude about the craziness that is her life. If you get a chance check it out.

Seriously, I think that I have my hands full with just 2 kids and a husband who is currently working two jobs so he isn't home as much as I'd like, but apparently I'm living the good life!! Who knew!

While you're spending all your time reading blogs, check out Vanilla and Amy too--they are sure to make you laugh out loud as well. If you have time, read the archives--there is some really funny stuff in there. I don't know either of these people personally, I just happened upon their blogs while blog surfing. Is that what it is called? You know, when you link from one blog to another then another and then you find something really funny...and you think, how did I find this?

I always find it interesting when someone who you know links to another random blog whom you don't know, and then that blog links over to another random blog who mentions a different friend of yours. Did you follow that? It's some type of 6 degrees of separation...or is it 7? Who knows.

Ok, I looked it up, it's 6.

Farm Visit

Yesterday we went with some of the moms from MEPAF to Underwood Farms in Moorpark for some outdoor fun and berry picking. It was less than an hour drive (well, with the way I drive) and the weather was perfect. Not too hot, a nice cool breeze and there was plenty of shade. It is a great place and kids had a blast!

We spent the first hour feeding the animals, you can buy a bag of carrots for $1.00 or they also have little "gumball" machines that will dispense food for 25 cents. Sammy and Hannah couldn't get enough of throwing the carrots to the animals and dropping the food down the feeding chutes. There were lots of goats, a huge pig, some sheep, horses, alpacas, chickens and even some emu.




They had an enclosed kids play area that was perfect for Hannah and even Sammy had fun. They had a few trikes to ride, but Sammy's legs were just a little too short--so Hannah tried to help by pushing him. It was so sweet!

They also have a bounce house, pony rides, tractor rides, a trike course and a few more attractions that are geared for the older kids that we didn't do since Sammy and Hannah were too small.

You can pick your own fruits and vegetables at the farm, so after we finished feeding the animals and eating our own lunch, we loaded the kids up in wagons and trekked out to the fields.


We picked a TON of raspberries (hooray for child labor) and a few zucchini so I could make some zucchini bread (thanks to Valerie for the fabulous recipe--I can't wait to make it!)

There is something satisfying about picking your own fruit and vegetables--it makes me want to have a huge garden and grow all my own food...if it weren't for the fact that I kill every plant I have ever owned. These were the best raspberries I have ever tasted, I'm supposed to share some with my mom, but they may be gone by the time she visits on Monday.

We finished up the day by playing a bit more on the wooden train and then we headed back home. Hannah was asleep before we even got on the freeway. We will definitely go back soon!

Peacock Attack!

We went to the Arboretum on Thursday with Shannon and Sarah and the kids. We haven't been there too much this summer because of the heat, but it wasn't too hot. The kids has fun feeding the ducks and the fish (I did bring a camera, but forgot to take pictures of the kids ACTUALLY feeding the animals, lame, yes, I know), and after our bread was all gone, we stopped in a grassy area by the waterfall to eat lunch.

There are always peacocks roaming around looking for a handout and today was no exception. We had one who just wouldn't leave us alone while we ate and the kids were pretty good about not bothering it too much. I was surprised that there weren't any geese, since they are usually more aggressive than the peacocks.

The Culprit

Can you see Chloe heading towards the bird?

Chloe just got too close (I think she tried to touch it, but I didn't see it happen, so I'm not sure) and it let out a squack and pushed Chloe in the back and knocked her over. Poor thing--it freaked out both her and Lauren. I hope they don't develop a fear of large birds because of this.

Other than the bird incident, we had a lot of fun.

Who knew a sprinkler could be so fun?

The kids area is always entertaining with frogs and turtles to climb on, mazes, a look-out point and stepping stones.

Zoo Day!

My sister's three kids are in town, so we all went to the LA Zoo today. The past few weeks have been so hot here that we haven't done much of any thing outdoors. This week is supposed to be cooler and it was definitely a beautiful day.

Hannah is at that independent stage where she wants to walk everywhere and doesn't want to sit in the stroller nor be carried. She is growing up so fast and has an opinion on everything!! Sammy has been doing much better and even ventured out of the stroller to walk a bit. This past week I have really noticed an improvement on his willingness and ability to walk. He'll walk around the house and tell me "look mom, I'm walking!" It's really sweet.

Most of the animals were asleep in the shade or not even visible (inside maybe?) because of the heat--although it was definitely cooler today that it has been. We saw the bird show which is usually Sammy's favorite, but he was obsessed with buying popcorn to eat and wanted to leave so we could buy some. We never found the popcorn guy and Sammy asked about it all day--it's our usual routine at the zoo. Popcorn, bird show, walk around, leave.

We also checked out the "Spider City" exhibit that has lots of cool looking spiders that the boys enjoyed seeing.

We finished the day at In-N-Out which is always a favorite. I can't believe how grown up my niece and nephews are! They are already teenagers--time just flies! It reminds me to cherish the sweet and tender moments with Sammy and Hannah. She already acts like a teenage girl who HATES to have her picture taken. Every time we tried to take her picture today she kept shaking her head no or closing her eyes. What a stinker--just look at this face!

I wasn't good about taking photos today, there are none of my niece or nephews and none of the zoo except for these two. My dad took a few so I'll try to get copies of those as well.