Mother's Day 2012

For Mother's Day this year, I asked for one thing in particular...a new lawn mower.  Sounds like a Father's Day gift, huh?  I didn't need a new lawn mower because the one we had was just fine and did a good job. It was just a little slow. I knew I could cut my mowing time in half if I had a faster machine. Curtis wanted to get me a riding lawn mower...but honestly, I didn't want one. I like the lines on the grass that the regular mowers make. Weird? Maybe. I can't wait until I can mow this week! Yes, I insist on mowing our lawn because I honestly enjoy it!*Image below not of the exact lawn mower I got.

Throughout the week I had been sort of buying myself Mother's Day gifts. Curtis told me too. :) Two years ago I got some Asic running shoes. I used to be a Nike sort-or-gal...because of the looks and the brand. Not so much anymore. I am about comfort and Asics are awesome! My two year-old Asics were used and abused...so I got myself some new Asics. *Image is exactly the pair I bought.

Lately, I can only think about food. And it is kinda driving me crazy! Anyway, I think about Orange Dream Machines from Jamba Juice a TON!!! So...I also got a gift card from Curtis and the boys. I recommend you go get a Jamba soon and have them add a vitamin boost to it! P.S. If you get one, substitute it as one of your meals. So many people think a Jamba is a snack. NO WAY! It has way too many calories to just be a snack...it should count as a meal!

I was also surprised from my boys with these nummy sugar cookies from Mrs. Powell's...

And during the week I got myself a pound of these bad boys and had them eaten in a day...yes ONE DAY!! I told you I can't stop thinking about food...particularly sweets!!! But that's nothing really new...;) I am like that pregnant or not pregnant.

Was given breakfast in bed...with a delicious cinnamon roll. Yum!

I am grateful to be a mom! It is by far the hardest job/task/assignment/calling I have ever had, but it is the most rewarding and beneficial!! My boys keep me busy and are constantly asking questions, like today...Cannon asked why the google sign was different (it had the letters as people and a flower for Mother's Day). I told him they change it on holidays. I am grateful we have holidays to celebrate...especially mothers because they do so much!! I am thankful for all of the mothers in my life and the influence they have had on me!!! Thank you mothers everywhere!!!

Cannon at the Ward Primary Talent Show

Cannon sang "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" in the ward primary talent show. Watch and see what he does at the end.;) I have my sister, Becky to thank, for teaching him that. :) Don't forget to push pause down at the bottom of my playlist so you can hear Cannon sing.

                                       I just love this pic of our little family!

Don't you love it when...

Your husband is out-of-town in Chicago for five days for work, and you have sick kids to deal with alone.;) P.S. The boys are sick with two totally different ailments. Lovely.

Easter 2012

Hope you had a Hoppy Easter like our family did! :)

Cannon was assigned to say the prayer in primary today. Curtis and I both went in there to listen. We don't have to help him. He pretty much volunteers every week to say the prayer in the microphone. Anyway, we smiled as he was saying the prayer because one of the things he said was, "...we pray that the Easter Bunny will come again tonight." ;)

Baby Boy Browning #3

Today I went to the doctor. I am 15 weeks pregnant. This was the first time I went to the doctor with this pregnancy-bad, I know. Two reasons why it took me so long to go to the doctor. #1 - Curtis got a new job just recently, and I wanted to wait for that insurance to kick in (since it is better than his previous job). #2 - I had the "been there, done that" attitude. You know, I had had two others so I didn't really feel the urgency to go (to the doctor that is). ;). Again, bad, I know. So, I finally got in to the doctor and the first thing they did was give me an ultrasound...since it was my first appointment and all. The ultrasound tech said, "Do you want to know what it is?" I said, "Sure!" Curtis wasn't with me...he now works from home, so he was home with the boys. I didn't know I would find out the gender today. Anyway, the little boy was positioned perfectly!;) I will admit, I was a bit shocked. All this time I was thinking it was a girl. I had even been buying girl items (I can always use those for gifts, right?). I was thinking it was a girl because A) I was really, really sick at the beginning of this pregnancy. B) I felt like I deserved a really, really calm, mild, little girl since I have two pretty rowdy boys. If only you could see and hear what they are doing right now. ;) C) The Chinese Birth Calendar said I was having a girl, and afterall, it was dead on with the other two. ;) Boy, was I wrong!!!


Again, I am not showing and the ultrasound tech was amazed! I keep telling people that I won't really show until month eight. In our last ward, someone actually came up to us and asked us if we adopted Carter...cause the man had no clue I had been pregnant. I guess I'm just blessed that I don't have to buy maternity clothes. ;) The problem with not really showing is that people have a hard time grasping that I am pregnant, and expect all of the same things from me...things that may be too physical for a pregnant woman. Curtis said to me the other day, "I keep forgetting that you are pregnant." "Out of sight (big belly), out of mind"...I guess?


The crazy thing... I am due on Sept. 19, 2012. I had a miscarriage when I was 10 weeks along on Sept. 19, 2011.


I am going to be outnumbered in our household 5 to 1. Curtis, Cannon, Carter, new baby whose name will most likely start with a "C", and Bobbin (our cat) to me. Wish me luck. ;)

Perfect Spring Day

On Saturday, March 24th we took the boys for a picnic at a playground. The weather was so beautiful...especially for Idaho in March. They played and played on the slides and swings. We are looking forward to more sunny days ahead! P.S. The boys are at the age and stage where they have to pick out their own outfits, and as you can see, they still wear their boots pretty much all of the time. ;)

Last Day of School for my dad

This article was in The Post Register in June of 2000 - when my dad retired from being the Idaho Falls High School principal. My dad retired from district #91 the summer of 2000, and I got a teaching position in the same district in August of 2000.  I am posting this mostly for our blog...as I am going to print it into a book.

Right after the bell rang Wednesday morning, Idaho Falls High School Principal Steve Holtom picked up his telephone to broadcast the day' s announcements. From his office, he reminded students to pay fees and fines before they left for the summer and to clean out their lockers. Then, after a brief pause, Holtom bid them farewell. Make the best of every day, he said, and most of all, good luck. It was another last for him. On Tuesday, he herded about 350 seniors through his last graduation practice. Later that night, he gave his final commencement speech to teary-eyed parents and students. Soon he' d be walking up Seventh Street, across Tiger Avenue by Ravsten Stadium - his morning route to work - for the last time. After 37 years in education, 22 of those as IFHS' s principal, Holtom is retiring. "It' s been a nostalgic week," he said. "When I look back on it, it' s all gone so fast." Holtom, 61, first considered a career in education during his junior year at Bonneville High School. Raised near Iona, Holtom had plowed enough fields, harvested enough wheat and strung enough fence to know that was not a life he wanted forever. In 1956, he went to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, to study education. Six years later - he spent two years in South Africa as a Mormon missionary - Holtom returned to eastern Idaho to teach driver' s education in the Idaho Falls School District. He then taught social studies at Clair E. Gale Junior High School for a year before taking time off to complete his master' s degree. He returned to the old Central School and was promoted to assistant principal and then principal. It was at Central that Holtom went through one of his most trying and memorable times. The school, where the Aquatic Center stands now, burned to the ground in the middle of a school day in 1973. When fire was spotted in the back of the school, teachers grabbed their roll books and everyone evacuated the building, he recalled. Holtom and a few others went back in to gather student records while teachers accounted for all 800 students. "I remember we were moving something out of the office and one of the teachers told me to be careful or we' d chip the paint on the door," he said. "All I could think is there wouldn' t be a door left pretty soon." From across the street, students and teachers watched their school burn to rubble and cinders. Holtom has two framed pictures of the fire in his office along with four of the school' s burned bricks. He' s used them over the years to remind teachers and students why the school must plan for disasters like fires. "No one thinks it can happen, but it can," he said. Holtom has also dealt with pranksters stringing dead cats from the school' s marquee as an Emotion Bowl prank (IFHS' s mascot is a tiger), and has watched angry people storm Clair E. Gale Junior High School looking for a student who beat up some O.E. Bell students. In that case, Holtom and another principal locked the student in the main office and called the police while an O.E. Bell mom kicked a hole in the door. "They were arrested for disorderly conduct and we ended up testifying in court against them," he said. Holtom is well-known in the Idaho Falls School District for his even-keeled, fair temperament and steady handling of bad situations. For that reason and others, several young principals have trained under Holtom, including Skyline Principal George Boland, Edgemont Principal Cody Claver and Randy Hurley, IFHS' s new principal. "He' s provided a lot of stability to the district during times of turmoil," said John Murdoch, assistant superintendent. Mary Noble, who' s taught journalism at IFHS for 20 years, attests to Holtom' s fairness. During her years as the Tiger Times' advisor, Holtom has backed her up on more than one occasion and has never told her students what they cannot print. Holtom is one of the longest serving principals in the district, and has also served the longest tenure at one school. Holtom is the third principal the nearly 50-year-old IFHS has had. Glenn Manion, Holtom' s predecessor, also served 22 years there. Holtom' s last day isn' t until the end of June - he still has to sort through 37 years of paperwork and files. But in many ways, this week was the end for Holtom. This was the last week he patrolled the halls making sure students attended class. It was the last time he played the national anthem over the intercom, which he' s done every Monday since he became principal. He' s played a different artist each week, ranging from Jimi Hendrix to the Army Band. On Wednesday, students and staff stopped by to wish him luck. He signed yearbooks and conducted interviews with the media. When the final bell rang, Holtom stepped into the hall to make sure nothing happened the last day of school. "I just need to make sure the building is clear and they leave the building intact," he said while confiscating a piece of metal a student had taken from a broken desk.

Parenting Quotes

" It is one thing to show your child the way and a harder thing to then stand out of it."
       ~Robert Brault

"If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders."
       ~Abigail Van Buren

beginnings of spring

For the past few days, I have been going outside checking our yard for green. I get excited when I see the beginnings of spring flowers! Look at what I found today! I know yardwork is just around the corner...and I love it!!! Some people think that's weird...that I like yardwork.;) I love everything about it...mowing the lawn, planting and watching flowers flourish, watering flowers, pulling weeds, etc. Leave a comment and let me know if you can identify these flowers coming up.?. :)

Despite the snow...Spring really is just around the corner

Yesterday I went to the house where we used to live. As I was walking around the yard, I noticed the green coming up - the beginnings of daffodils. I was excited when I saw it! Despite the snow and wintery weather...spring really is just around the corner.