The Truth Hurts Sometimes

I know I keep blogging about the funny things that Austin says, but come on, they're funny. So why not? Here is another one.

For Cassie's baby shower I attempted to make cinnamon rolls. Key word here being "attempted". Well after the shower Austin saw them for the first time, and here is how the conversation went.

Austin: "Aaghh! What is that?"(nose turned up like he has just walked into a port-a-potty)

Me: " It's supposed to be like a cinnamon roll."

Austin: "I don't want to taste that! GROSS!"

Does that give you some picture of how my "cinnamon rolls" turned out?

Build-A-Bear, Make A Friend

2 Saturday nights ago we went to Build-A-Bear. That was really fun! The kids, well Austin, had a lot of fun with it. I originally went in there thinking that Zoe would be the only one having the time of her life because she is all into animals and stuff, but Austin was way more into it. Zoe just wanted to run around the store and UNSTOCK the shelves. Hence why she is in almost NO pictures!

Austin and Zoe putting hearts into their animals.

Zoe picking out a ballerina dress for her bear.The Dressing Room.

And $54.00 later, "Sammy" and "Super Pup" were born! And Austin treats "Super Pup" like he is real. He puts him down to sleep in his "box house", and takes him lots of places with him, like Show and Tell at school.

Then, sleep fell over the kids and their new friends, And They Lived Happily Ever After.

What?

Austin was watching Chicken Run tonight, and at the end of the movie there are these 2 chickens that hug. When Austin saw that he said to Travis, "Dad, those chickens want a baby."

All we could do was laugh.

Vonda, this one's for you!!

Vonda has requested that I blog about my upbringing. This should be interesting because I have never really written about that before. So I am not sure how interesting this will be! But here goes... a look into the life that was Amy Brinn Campbell.

So I was born January 2, 1983 in Tucson, AZ at the Tucson Medical Center... Mom, is that right?? I lived there in Tucson until I was 13. I went to Copper Creek Elementary, which I remember looked as big as a High School. I drove by there a few years ago, and I wasn't far off. It really is big!! That was the place I had my first boyfriend, Darius Pittman, YUCK! In 4th grade was when I started playing the violin in the school orchestra. In the 5th grade, I got my braces. Someday I will post a picture of my oger-esque teeth back in the day. It was to die for, let me tell you.

Eventually I graduated elementary school, and went to middle school. Cross Middle School. I spent 6,7 and half of 8th grade there. I started playing school sports, volleyball and basketball. The next year, 7th grade, is when I got my boobs. I had tons of friends, I was in love with Jordan McKee, and I was still in orchestra. Not to brag or anything, but I was always 1st or 2nd chair in the orchestra. It was either this year or my 6th grade year that I was selected to play in the All State Orchestra in Phoenix. Only 2 people out of select orchestras were invited to go. My friends and I would go to the mall and shop and hang out. We were all into No Doubt and Nirvana. As a family, we would always go to the lake, it seemed like every weekend, no exxageration. We were big boaters & skiiers. We went to a lot of U of A games. We went on vacations all over. Disneyland twice a year, snow skiing in Beaver Creek, Colorado, all over the place, and they always seemed to be big cities. Probably why I think of a vacation as being in some big city somewhere, hitting the town! I want to go to New York City, Paris, Chicago, Seattle, actually, I want to go EVERYWHERE. Big cities excite the crap out of me. So much opportunity, things to do, things to try, the possibilities are endless. Anyway, then we moved to Gilbert, where I went to Greenfield Jr. High for the last half of 8th grade, and when I got a stupid poem I wrote published in some book. It was about basketball! Stupid! Then Gilbert High came. A school of 3000+ students, 5A sports, it was fun. I played on the Varsity Basketball and Volleyball teams there. The pressure that a person has to endure in the sports programs here taught me alot about endurance, and fighting for what you want. I miss the competitiveness that was playing for Gilbert High.

I have a brother, Josh, who is 17 and really cute, tall and buff! A sister, Cassie, 22, who is pregnant with her first boy, and 2 parental units, John and Mary Ellen.

We were very privledged as kids. Not just with our vacays, and everything, but Christmas was and still is the most intense and exciting thing every year. We always went all out. Example, Christmas for us starts right after Halloween. Prestents seem to be endless, decorations everywhere, traditions non-stop. I mean, it goes on and on. No exxageration, we always ( and still do) listen to 99.9 nonstop through out the holiday season. THere is NO turnign the station to see what else is on the radio, we ONLY LISTEN TO CHRISTMAS MUSIC. Same goes for movies. Christmas ones only. That is just how it was, and I now I am the same obsessive freak about Christmas as they were. I love it! Oh, and I SO want to go to New York for christmas someday. But that is just the way we grew up.

So, there wasn't much to tell, but there you go. Ok, Vonda... was that at all interesting??

Ooooohhhhhhhhh!

That was what Zoe said in the highest pitched tone you ever heard... "Oooohhhhhhh!" Last Sunday when we went and picked up our kids in Safford, they were catching a baby lizard (yuck), Austin didn't seem to mind it at all, but once it was on Zoe, she proceeded with the faces you see here, and the high pitched "Ooooohhhh!'s" She really is a girly girl, even though she seems to reak havoc and destruction on everything she touches....and eats like there is no tomorrow. Seriously, she can hear you open the fridge from the other side of the house, and she will come a'runnin! I know that has nothing to do with lizards, just a little Zoe trivia. Who knows, maybe sometime soon I will give you all a little review quiz to see who is really reading my blog?? Hmmm, it's an idea...

Dear Santa...

Guess what Austin just told me he wants for christmas??

He wants a baby Zebra for christmas. Pishaa! As if! As soon as monkeys start flying out of my butt, sure, then you can have a baby zebra for christmas.

Here was his logic to why it would be ok to have a baby zebra.

Austin: "Mom, I want a baby zebra for christmas."

Mom: "Ok, I don't think that you will be getting one of those, how about you ask Santa for a baby puppy?"

Austin: "Because I want a baby horse and a baby zebra. "

Mom: "But a baby zebra won't fit at our house. "

Austin: "Mom, he would fit in our backyard, and I could feed it carrots, and play with it..."

Mom: "But I don't think it would be very happy at our house Austin."

Austin: "Well he would be happy with me Mom! "

Austin: "We could put him on the roof, then he would fit?!"

Mom: :"Well I dont understand why you want a baby zebra."

Austin: "Well I want to borrow one so that he can sit on my bed, or on my lap. Cuz sometimes I dream about baby zebra's..."

Mom: "I don't think so."

Austin: "Come on Mom!! It is only a present!!!!"

Seeing that I am not giving in to the whole zebra thing he settles with this one....

Austin: " Ok, well then how about we get a little baby dolphin and we can just put him in our pool. I didn't say that we would get him from the zoo or Sea World, we would just get him from the pet dolphin store. That would be so sweet!"

He actually thinks this is a realistic situation, buying him a zebra or horse and he especially thinks it more than easy and normal to aquire a dolphin.

Paula is always good for a laugh

We have had tickets to see Paula Poundstone since like May, so finally Saturday came and we went to the Orpheum Theater to see her. She is a comedian, and a really funny one. And apparently she is a lesbian because I have never seen so many lesbians and gay guys in one building at the same time!!!! But she is hilarious. I was actually more enthralled at the sight of the theater. It was beautiful. Here are some pics.

Night on the Town

This weekend the kids went up to stay with Grandma and Grandpa John in Safford and had a BLAST!!! While they were there, we had a little fun of our own here. Friday night we celebrated our friend Jason's birthday.

Here we are at Buca Di Beppo.

Here is a guy named Jeremy. Why is he doing this?

The Birthday Boy. Oh, did I mention he basically just turned 50??

Then we went to Jesterz.

Of course, the Sugar Bowl was on the agenda.

Justin had my camera and took the following pictures of some of us inhaling our desserts... and some of you will not be happy about these.

So, Happy 50th Dr. Mulder!!!

Is it that time already??

This is a humdinger. It seriously troubles me once a month. Why is it that after 12 years of buying a certain product at the same time every month, it still takes me about 15 minutes to finally decide which to buy?

Girls, are you with me? Are you following?

Feminine Products.

I go in the store, thinking this will be a quick in and out trip cause that is all I need. Well, once I reach the aisle and see all the options the rush of shock and utter confusion takes over me again, much like it does this time every month. 5 minutes later, I am still debating whether or not to get plastic or cardboard, wings or no wings, scented or unscented. " Well these plastics are $1 less then these ones, but they are only for light use, and these supers are a $1.50 more, but they are scented. Hmmm." Then another 5 minutes goes by. Still I am not even close to a decision.

Do I really care about that $1 that I am saving on these stupid products? And why do I not know what I want already!! It is so frusterating! I mean, they couldn't make it any more confusing. The aisle is filled from the floor to the top of the shelves of these things. That is like 6 shelves to look at! I mean, how is anyone supposed to see through all that clutter and confusion? And they all look alike, so you look at the prices, but they are all really similar too, so then there is no clear cut indicator that is helping you come to a decision. Does this make any sense?

So once I finally grab what I think I want, and the stocker boy has already walked past me 5 times trying to avoid eye contact with me because he probably thinks I am insane because for the last 15 minutes all I have been doing is staring at tampons and pads like I would a Monet painting, I take my items to the register. But you know what? I still feel a smidgen of doubt in my decision. I think it is just that I hate buying these things, so I want to spend as little as possible on them, yet still get results.

Am I crazy or what?

Frosty Austy

Here are some really cute things that Austin said today. He is so funny! I love him!

Austin: "Mom, Dad said this movie is really old."

Mom: "He did? Well he's right."

Austin: "Why is it old?"

Mom: "Because it is."

Austin: "Oh, I never thought of that."

Austin: "Mom, is Zoe in timeout?"

Mom: "Yes she is."

Austin: "I love you Mom."

And the other day he came up to me on the rocking chair and put his arms around my neck and gave me a good hug. While he was hugging me he said "Mom, this is love."

He is definetly like his Daddy. The boys in the family are very affectionate and loving, and then the girls, Me and Zoe, are so the opposite!! Austin is the sweetest boy there ever was!! P.S. my cousin Jana took this picture of Austin last christmas. Oh, and everytime I call Austin "Frosty Austy", he says with a huge grin, "I'm not Frosty Austy! I'm Austin Jace John!"

Ebay is DEAD to me!!

Can I just tell you how mad I am right now?? Well, I'm going to. Let me paint a little picture for you.

August 13, I win some gold Steve Madden stilettos on eBay for $1.79 + $10.00 for shipping equalling, you guessed it, $11.79. Naturally I pay almost immediately. So about a week and a half goes by and I have totally forgotten that I even won that auction, but there are still no shoes in the mail. Or the next day, or the next. I mean, they are only coming from Cali people. So I send a friendly email requesting to know when she sent the shoes out. Couple days later, still no answer. I send more emails probably totalling 5 or 6, and guess what? No answer. I even try calling the "you know what" and uh, surprise! No answer. Then, one magical morning, my inbox so lovingly tells me that la_venus1 has replied... finally! She tells me the shoes were sent out on the 3rd, and gave me tracking number. OK, first, the auction didn't even end till the 13th, and I checked the tracking number and that was invalid. So I email her back and tell her I want my shoes soon or I want my money back. Couple days later of course, she writes back and gives me new info. Ok, so this tracking number checks out, but she JUST sent them. So I end up getting my shoes like a month later!! That's crap you guys!! So usually I won't give negative feedback, I will just not leave any, but this time I felt totally deserved it. So I left a NEUTRAL saying that she doesn't make contact, blah blah. Can you guess what happened next???????????

SHE GAVE ME A NEGATIVE FEEDBACK. She said "Bad transaction, NO COMMUNICATION, too bad." Can you believe her? She goes and wrecks my PERFECT eBay score just for buying her stupid shoes and paying on time. I mean, come on, I did nothing wrong! I don't think any of you will ever realize how mad I am about this. She won!! And I can't do anything about it! I seriously want to go find her and send her to the moon where she belongs.

Now, I know I am going to get some comments from some of you saying everyone gets negatives, one isnt that bad... well I don't get negatives. It is not ok for me to get negatives!!! She is going to pay.

Ok, thanks for letting me vent. But it's not over, ohhhhh no. It's not over.

To be continued.......

New Love

Wendy let me borrow this book and I love it. I read it the WHOLE way back from Safford on Sunday. No joke. It gives you info on ANY kind of sickness, disease, anything and it will tell you what kind of prescriptions you could have, and also what herbs will help too. It also tells you what the side effects of each drug and herb are and what not to take them with. It will also tell you what they are good for. It is soooo interesting. Everyone should have this book. I couldn't put it down! It talks about everything from something like Flatulence to Heart Disease. I love it!

Apples to Zebras

Today Austin started his little preschool again, Apples to Zebras. He loves it. It is M-W-F from 12-2. It is a good break for him. THey do a craft every day, sing, and all kinds of fun stuff. At the end of every semester they do a program where they get up on stage and show off all the songs they learned. It is so adorable!! At Halloween they always have a costume carnival, and they get to go on a field trip to the childrens museum. His teacher this time is Mrs. Michelle. She loves Austin!

Here is Zoe, anxiously awaiting the return of her big brother.

Belated Birthdays

So we got home from Safford at 3:00 p.m., I got home and grabbed the cake that I made the night before, then we got back in the car because we had to be at my parents by 4 p.m. for my mom's and zoe's combined family birthday dinner. IT was crazy! So here is the cake that I decorated in the CAR WHILE TRAVIS DROVE!!! So that is my excuse for its lameness. Try not to lauch too hard at the cake, or my dang new bangs, oh and at my chicken lips and huge teeth. Anyway, the inside of the cake was cool though, it was checkered with brown and pink. So it wasn't a total blow!

G.G. and Donna were so kind to grace us with their presence too! It was fun. They gave Zoe this adorable little vaccuum that sings. She loves it.

~*~Happy Birthdays!~*~

Day Trip

Last Sunday we went up to Safford for Travis's cousin Chandler's mission farewell. It was fun! We haven't seen everybody for awhile so it was nice to catch up. Of course, the kids looked spectacular in their sunday best, considering they got dressed in the car and had their hair done in the car!

The kids, they know they look good!

This is their sweet cousin, Jayden. There are so many pictures of these two where they look like they could brother and sister!

On the way back we stopped and got the kids ice cream cones.

Austin: "Mom, do you want me to make my sexy face for this shot, or my sweet 4 year old face?"

Zoe : " What do you mean I have something on my face???"

Zoe, still saying "cheese!" 5 minutes later!

Excsqueeze Me???

Ok, so you all remember that while the High School Musical craze began like last year, I am just now dicovering its awesomeness and wonder? And you remember that I have been in love with Zac Efron ever since I saw it the first time? Well then as you can imagine, it was to my utter bewilderment when I read in an old magazine that "Zac has admitted that it was not his voice in the first High School Musical movie..."

Did you catch that??

No, it is not an error. I am quoting directly from a People magazine caption.

Are you ok?

Do you need oxygen?

Or did you know this all along and you were just trying to keep it from me so as not to stomp all over my dreams? I mean, there has to be some of you out there that knew this... Right?? I mean, I guess this could be false.

Yeah, it has to be.

He wouldn't lie to us like that. Would he??

Mini-Who's???

Call Me Martha

Well I have finally done it. Last night I attempted to make something for dessert that I have never made because it was so intimidating to me. And I love this dessert! I always have it at buffets and stuff, and always think, "Gee, I wish I knew how to make this." And everyone always told me "Oh my gosh, that is the easiest thing to make!!!". It is my ablsolute fave with fruit in it, but I was conquering enough fear already just making it plain! So, I made it, and it turned out perfecto!! Maybe next time I will add the fruit. Although, if making it plain was scary, imagine my intimidation at having to add something to it... yikes. As you can tell, I am not a cook, nor do I like to cook.
So what is this prize winning dessert that I was so brave to attempt at making???
Jello.

Night at Grandma's

Does anyone speak Zoe?

Today Zoe said 3 new phrases and words. Want to hear them? Well, you have no choice.

" I wan huck", translation... "I want a hug."

"I wan gumbo" translation... "I want a gumball."

" I wan li" translation... "I want the lid."

Every once and a while she will say something out of the blue, and we'll be like, "Did she just say what we thought she said?" She is a cutie.

The Studmuffin

So, being at the field with my camera I got to take some pics of my brother, Josh. Yes, I had to fight off some of the other papparazzi there, but they should be out of the hospital in a couple weeks. Please, just look at how handsome he is becoming... I give you the many faces of Joshua John Campbell.

Sorry single ladies out there, last I heard he was taken.

Our kids really like him too. There was like an hour and a half break between games, so we went to Bahama Bucks that just opened out here and got some shaved ice, courtesy of Dad.

Here is Zoe, mad that I am taking pics of her. Seriously. That is why she is crying.

And here she is later, completely fine. She's moody.

Austin of course had to make an appearance.