CaliFORNia

Well here are some pictures of my fun vacation. There is a lot, sorry as you can see we did a lot of things!

I am the most NON spontaneous person on the face of the earth. I like schedules, I love routines and have a hard time doing things last min. So I did exactly the opposite. Last Friday I was instant messaging my little sister who was telling me mom was heading out to her house there in Cali. I was so jealous, I have been wanting to go to Cali so bad and see her. I was like well I coming. Lac response was funny jam, you don't have the money. I was like really I want to come, book me a flight, I will never have money so better now than later. That's how it all started. So the next day I flew out at 8 in the morning and the rest is history. So unlike me and no one minute do I regret. I got a killer deal on tickets last min I could not believe my luck, I like to think it was meant to be!
Things we did in Cali:
Went to observation lookout in which you can overlook the whole city of LA. IT is beautiful and has an awesome little museum to walk around in. Than on the outside there is hundreds of dirt hikes going off in tons of diff directions. My mom of course was like lets take a STROLL. We start off on this STROLL and Lac says' mom this one takes you clear to the top of Bunker Hill, it's no little hike. My mom's reply " oh sweetie we won't go all the way just a little ways." From that point on we knew we would go all the way. Now lets clarify the difference between STROLL and HIKE A FREAKIN MOUNTAIN, and the difference between Hill and Mountain. First a stroll is a nice relaxing walk if you will, you can even hold a conversation cause your not breathing hard. What we did is not a STROLL. It was steep like 95% if the way, 5% flat. I could hardly breath by the third switch back. I was disgusted with myself thinking, gosh am I really this out of shape. I mean I know I am 6 months prego but seriously I can't breath. My amazingly in shape mom was pushing the stroller in it with MYa and I got feeling really bad. So I took over for like 1 min and I started having crazy cramping all over in my stomach and gut like minor contractions. I was like holy cow I am going to birth Marlee right here on this mountain. My mother probably seeing the pain in my face thankfully took over the stroller again. Hill: Small round thing coming off the ground. Mountain: Steep, uphill, rocky thing coming out of the ground. Just clarifying cause it is called Bunker HILL should be Bunker MOUNTAIN! Me and Lac did make it to the top for those of you who are wondering and it was beautiful, I am just glad Marlee did not come early. On the way down is when I realized how steep it really was. IT was quite a hike so I don't feel so out of shape now.
We also went to the beach a couple of times and walked along the coast. In which Mya loved playing in the sand with grandma but you got her near the water and she had a nervous breakdown. The ocean terrifies her. The weather was nice and perfect for walks along the beach.
We also went to the fish aquarium down on the port. It was so neat. Well not going to lie, I was completely and utterly disgusted by some of the things in those tanks, uggg like the mother of all lobsters. No exaggeration this beast was the size of a 1 year old. SO GROSS. ALso there was some nasty snails that had tongues like snakes and they were eating. Other than a few sicking things it was really neat and Mya loved looking and the fish.
We also went to a water shore down on the port. Just like Vegas it plays really loud music and water dances to it. It was really neat and pretty, once again, Mya not a fan of the water show, I felt so bad, what is it with her and being scared of water. She loves baths!
Things I learned while on my mini vacation
1. It is impossible to leave the house before noon with two children. It just did not happen.
2. Some life guards will actually let you walk on their beach stand and take a picture with you.
3. Public restrooms, it does not matter where in Cali are the grossest thing. Everywhere I went to the bathroom was so gross, I would have rather held it in if the pain was not unbearable.
4. My little sisters cooking is the GREATEST. That is coming from a very boring eater (me) and a pro chef (Lacey). I ate like a queen. First time in 6 months I did not have a bowl of cereal at least once a day.
5. Hanging out with your sister and mom is the greatest way to spend a vacation. It was so fun!
6. Don't bring up the topic about things that bug you about each other or each other weaknesses, it only ends in anger, tears, laughing, more tears and more laughing.
7. DON"T EVER FLY with a child in the middle seat and having a 6 month prego belly. The way there sucked and I could not move an inch with mya crawling all over me. I felt so smothered I wanted to cry. Mya was an angel and did so good though.

An Amazing Photographer

My little sister Lacey is an amazing photographer. I just realized I didn't put any of our new family pictures up. I have to brag about the person who took them. She is so amazing and so fun to see her get better and better everytime she does a shoot for us. She should charge an arm and a leg for these shots like all the other photographers but she doesn't for family! I wish I could offer her something in return, I could teach her kid, that was if Mas had special needs and he doesn't so really I have nothing to offer her back except THANK YOU! She captures the most priceless moments. I love these Lac, and you better get a business up and running and charging people for this talent you here! Sorry there is so many pics I could not chose they were all so good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BUSTED

So Mya constantly askes to eat. That was one of the first signs and words she learned..."EAT...EAT...EAT". I don't want her being overweight or to get in the habit of just snacking all day long which she would if I let her. So lately I have been putting the smack down and not letting her eat ALL day long when she askes. SHe than screams and tries to hit me thinking I am teh worst mom in the world. She may be going through a growth spurt...WHo knows. ANyways I made TOdd pancakes for breakfast this morning but didn't get them done fast enough before he had to run to the dentist quickly. So I just left them on the plate for him on the table knowing he would be back in 30-40 min. I later went into the bathroom to get ready and Mya always follows me into the bathroom to get ready. ALWAYS. SO when she didn't and it was really really quite I got suspicious. I knew something was not right. SO I than started to look for her, there was no Mya to be found! I started to get worried until I could hear this muffled sound in her closest. This is what I found. Mya sitting on the floor on her closet downing Daddy's pancakes! That little sneaky girl! She had it half gone by the time I found her. Needless to say when TOdd got to his breakfast he had several bits taken from each of his pancakes. Guess she can reach stuff on tables now, better watch myself! I couldn't even get mad at her, it was just so dang cute!

 

 

 

Cookies N Small Talk

Mya LOVES doing anything that includes Todd. She must follow him to the bathroom too! She is so into her Daddy, which I love. It is so cute to see them interact. Here is Todd making cookies for ME cause I have those cookie dough cravings! Mya must be his little helper!

 

 

Mya flipped her step over and squeezed in it and yes she will talk FOREVER on an old cell phone of ours we gave her. She walkes around the house laughing in the phone and talking baby talk 100 miles a minute. Not even 2 going on 16! Help Me Know!!!

 

Teacher of the Year

So yesterday as I was teaching my English Class, sitting behind my desk I noticed this spider come crawling across my paper. For those of you who don't know, I am TERRIFIED of spiders, I hate even looking at them, they make me sick to my stomach. Grossest creatures to ever roam this earth. I know I know...they are good have in your yards because they eat things...No people, spiders do not need to exist in my house or in my yard. Because of this strong belief I have I pay someone to come and spray my house every 3 months, I cannot handle spiders. Anyway, back to my story. I did with all my power happen to hold the scream in my throat as I first saw this little man crossing over MY papers. I soon took action know I couldn't lose site of him. I yelled at the kid sitting closest to my desk to grab a kleenex and come get this spider. I jumped up and got the tissue but the way he was going in for the kill I could tell he was going to smash the spider on my papers and that would not happen. I could not have spider guts on my lesson plan books. So I yelled once again "don't smash it on my papers, just grab it and smash it in the kleenex." How hard is that people? Not a very hard task I would think, so what does he allow to happen. He kinda of grabs the spider and than takes 3 seconds to examine the spider, mean while the spider crawls off the kleenex and yes! It drops on the floor.
Are you kidding me, you have got to be kidding me! Immedietly I was like Earl where is the spider you just dropped it didn't you. HE looks at me worriedly and says No Mrs.Tanner it's here in the kleenex as he hurries to throw the Kleenex away. Well I know that trick, Todd has tried that one to many times on me where he says he caught the dang spider off the ceiling and really it dropped. So I made him get the kleenex out of the garbage and show me a fast glance at it's guts. I was correct, there was no spider guts in that kleenex. That meant that spider was crawling on my floor right by my desk. I than took action again and had all my kids get on the floor around my desk looking for the spider. THey all complained that the carpet was 80's carpet (i have to agree, it's an old school ok) and that they were unable to locate the spider cause it blends in the old school carpet. I was not in the mood for excuses. I could not possible teach with that thing crawling around my desk. I finally allowed the kids to stand after giving it a decent search. Class was soon after out in which I couldn't go back to my desk all day.
HEre it is the end of the day and I am still freaked out that that spider is somewhere by now on my desk again. I had to reply to some teachers emails so I was forced to take my place again at my desk. As I was typing an email to my principal the fire alarm goes blazing off. I was like are you kidding me. So I quickly gathered my things to just leave for the day and I took one last glance back to the computer to make sure I turned it off. There HE was crawling across my screen, but it was just me and that ugly thing. SO I was brave and I smashed that spider. I felt so much better and such relief that it was found again! As I drove home I got thinking oh crap what if that was not the same spider and I have a sac in my room and that was another one! Oh gross! Ok your right I so need a life and to worry about something else! But come tomorrow I will be coming armed with spider spray, just incase there is a sac in my room. UGGGG!

TreeHouse Muesum

This post is a little old but when my friend Tami came down about a month ago we went to the Treehouse in Ogden. It was so much fun and Mya LOVED it. THey do toddler time on Wednesdays where they read books to them and than sing songs. Mya had a great time. Than from there they have several different rooms with different activities or themes. One is a doctor room where you take care of babies, another is a music room, another is digging for dinasour bones. Literally it has everything. It was a fun day and so glad Peyton and Tami came with us!

 

 

 

 

Crafts and music

THey had this station where you make a craft depending on the theme. SInce during story time they went on a bear hunt we may bear masks! Mya had fun although she did not comprehend the mask, she kept wanting to put it on like a hat! Thanks Tam for going with me.

 

 

THey had this really fun music room which Mya like for about 3 minutes. Anyone that knows her knows she is a very very VERY spookie baby. Sounds scare her to death, such as a knock on the door, sometimes my cell phone ringing, buzzers at athletic games, some music, anyways she is gets freaked very easily. So the music room was fun until some older kids came running in and bagging on the drums and making some crazy noise than she lost it. We had to leave immediatly.

 

 

Valentines

Valentines was great this year. I admit, me and TOdd both hate this holiday. To us it is just another annervisary, a day you express your love. Well we got through it and it was great. Todd worked most of the day, but that's not why it was so great. We went out to breakfast at Doug N Emmies, greatest scones on this earth. Than I decorated the house with cute out hearts, which really I showed to myself I cannot do hearts, they look more like odd looking circles. They were pathetic. And I blew up balloons and put them all over the house. I got TOdd some of his favorite treats which include: Cheeto puffs (I never buy those for him), rasberry filled powered donuts and peanut butter m & m's. No matter how hard Todd tries to get those items on the monthly shopping list they very rarely come home with me after the trip. He made the cutest thing for me. I have to brang cause he is so creative with building things. He made me this little showdow box and were putting cement in it and having Mya's hands and feet prints in them. It really is so cute. When it is all done I will post a picture. I love you Todd and thanks for a great gift. Oh and that night I made a great dinner, steak, mushrooms and onions, broccolli and baked potato. Impressed? Yea so was Todd, so was I!
Todd also is so cute cause he watched Mya for a day and they made these adorable crafts for me for Mya's Valentines to me. They colored paper and glued fish and noodles on. ANd than they crushed cheerios and glued the crumbs to the paper. So creative. TOdd said I was lucky to have anything still glued on the paper, Mya kept picking off the gold fish and eating them. Several of the fishes were half eaten and the bottom of them still glued on the paper. Ah it was really cute!

 

 

 

Such a Girl

Mya is such a girl! Oh man anything when it comes to purses, jewerly, chapstick, shoes anything she LOVES it. I blame it on her Grandma Cindy who buys her dress ups and purses and jewerly galour! No we love it around and I know Mya wouldn't be the same without it all. THanks Grandma Cindy for all this fun stuff you send her way. I know for some kids you have to dress them up and make them wear something just for a picture. Not Mya it is very very unusual to see her ever without at least 4 or so necklaces on her. She puts them on everyday along with braclets and purses! I love this little girl. She is going to be so fun for her new baby sista!

 

 

 

 

To Give or Not to Give

My friend McCall recently wrote about a incident she had while going to and from work. Long story short she was scammed out of her money by some poor, helpless girl who had been "evicted" and needed money. This really got me thinking and took me back to a time when I too would fall to tears whenever I saw someone in need. When I was in high school, Davis High, the huge hang out spot was 7-eleven. Well I wouldn't say hang out spot, but it seemed like every monday morning you would hear of a fight that took place at the 7-eleven. There was always some sort of action that took place at the 7-eleven, fights, drama, you name it, it happened there. Well me and my boyfriend at the time, would always stop their for slurpee's or hot chocolate depending on our moods. It was our thing you could say. Well I started noticing this bum that was always their sitting outside by the phones.
Now I have always had a very very sensitive heart towards people like this. Anytime I saw hitch-hikers or the people who stand out infront of stores holding signs saying they need money with a little tin can out front of them, it broke my heart. I remember so many times growing up seeing these different people and crying over these complete strangers that I wanted so badly to take their problems from them.
Well one specific night at 7-eleven, my boyfriend ran in to get us some hot chocolate. When he got back in the car I was sobbing my head off. He had no idea what had happend. He kept asking me if someone hurt me or what happened! I finally got out that no one hurt me but that I just couldn't stand coming here anymore seeing this old bum sitting there in the FREEZING cold. It broke my heart. My boyfriend gave me some money and I ran back in the store and bought a hot chocolate for him and gave it to the man. He thanked me very much for my kindness. I felt a little better but still was sick for the man. I wanted to take him home with me and let him shower and clean up. We got to my boyfriends house and I asked him if we could make dinner for the man and bring it back to him. He was so sweet and let me do it. We drove it back to 7-eleven but the man was gone. I felt horrible that I didn't get it their fast enough. Anyway a week later I get a call from my BF and he said "you won't believe this but that bum that you have been crying over was an undercover cop. He broke a huge gang fight last night at 7-eleven." I instantly was relived for this man knowing he did have a family and a home. And of course later I felt very very stupid and was the cause of hysterical laughing from my BF. But I really learned from that experince.
Now days you don't pick up hitch-hikers for fear of them overtaking you in your car and doing gosh knows what. We don't leave our car doors unlocked and our house doors unlocked like they used to be able to, for fear of dishonest thiefs. We are torn inside by our emotions wanting to give money out to those who hold up the signs that need money but wondering are they just going to go buy beer with it or will they really go buy some food? Society has put us in a position in which we feel so torn in these situations. Do I hate it? Yes, I think the way I was in high school, sensitive, naive, trusting, open hearted are great qualities. But I can't change the way the world has made us change. I hate that I am more gaurded now, more hesitant to do kind acts. Although I still see the people holding signs for money, and the bums wondering the street and the hitch-hikers that are badly in need of a ride and my heart still breaks for these people, I still wish to take their problems away. And from time to time I still hand out money to these people, knowing they may very well be scamming me and does that suck...yea. But it is the right thing for me to do and it makes me feel better. What they do with the money is their choice. So for all those who give their money out and later find they were ripped off or giving money to an undercover cop, don't feel bad, you did the right thing!

MY FUNNY HUSBAND

Ok so Todd is a very sacastic person, for all those who know him he is a funny guy. Well I on the other hand am extremly not street smarts, usually called blonds. But I don't want to offend any blond haired people out there so lets just say I never get his jokes, unless he spends 15 or 20 min explaining them to me. My family did this for me all growing up. ANyways one thing that I laugh really really hard about is Todd's dancing. Now this goes all the way back, don't worry TOdd never reads the blog he won't read this, or he would kill me. NO not really. Ok so when we were first married Todd would dance for me. A funny crazy dancing but than it turned into "hmmm let me see if I can get her in the "mood" with my dancing." Well he has one pair of silky garments in which he says he feels sexy in. SO he would start wearing these garments and dancing for me in the bedroom. Than it went from just crazy dancing to all of a sudden there was an imaginary pole he would be dancing with/on. Well I think he was hoping it would get me in the "mood" but it always just ended in me laughing hysterically and feeling anything but lovey! So over the next couple of years it's just become a joke with us, when I need a good laugh I ask him to do some of his incredible pole dancing moves.
SIDENOTE: I coached volleyball at Bountiful High this year and Mya came with me to practices and anyways she well lets say takes after her daddy. Anyone who has seen Mya dance it's hilarious and well advanced for a baby. THe volleyball team would just be rolling from laughing so hard when they would put warm up music on before a game and Mya would be sitting out on the floor just shakin her stuff. Really really funny thing to see. Anyways back to my story.
This Saturday our ward is doing a Valentines dance for couples or anyone really 18 and above. They do it every year and we never attend. This week though Todd has mentioned several times saying "so got your outfit ready for Saturday, or got your dance moves ready?" I thought he was just joking, we never go to this dance thing. So finally the other night after dinner he was asking me about it again and I was like do you actually for reals want to go to that? It's a theme dance TOdd, (meaning last year was swing dancing and I am not sure what this year is). And this is Todd's reply. "Oh I can theme dance honey." He than gets up from the table and says this is white dancing and procedes to do some insane dancing that I guess white people do. Than he says this is black dancing and well you don't want to know the moves he tried to do with this one. He goes on to Chinese dancing, mexican dancing,Mong dancing ect. I think he covered most of the contintient. I was laughing so hard begging him to stop. Mya is just thinking it is the greatest thing in the world and keeps cheering him to keep going. I think this really made Todd feel good cause he kept going and going. I thought he was going to pull something. After he finally stopped to catch his breath, I said honey I meant like swing dancing, country line dancing, like dance themes not dances from cultures all over the world. He looked at me confused and was like oh that's all you had to say, cause if they ever do culture world dancing, I'm all over it. Oh man I love my husband and he can always make me laugh!