Quote of the Day

Remember how Austin is in love with Infomercials and commercials and thinks of them as good as gold?? He in the past had tried to get me to buy the Aqua Globes, send in my old jewelry for cash, things like that. Well after seeing a Payless commercial, here is what he told me today in the car:

" Mom, if you love shoes, then you should shop BOGO!!"

Meet the John's

A coupla weekends ago we got to go up to Safford and we got everyone togother to take a family picture. Wendy said the last one they ever did was when Travis got home from his mission! Anyway, for those of you who have never met Travis's family, here they are. I will list names going from top left to right.

Wyatt(brother), Misty (sister), Me, Travis, Jayden (wyatt's), Bryant (Misty's), Keaton (wyatt's), Wendy (mom), Jace (dad), Austin, Zoe, and Jaxon (wyatt's).

We are so excited because Wendy and Jace's christmas present to everyone this year is to take the WHOLE fam up to Disneyland for 3 days!!!!!!! It is going to be so much fun!!! We have never been there with any of them and we are really looking forward to it. Thanks Jace and Wendy!!

PLEASE HELP!

Hey you guys. I got an email today from a friend who is trying to raise some money to help a relative pay to fight her newly diagnosed cancer. Below is the letter she sent, and I would like you all to read it and see if you would be interested in helping. She is a Massage Therapist, and will be giving massages for free, and taking donations for her relative in need. 100% of the donations will be given to the family. Please take a moment and read the letter! Get a massage and give to a good cause!

Dear Family & Friends,

I have recently been informed of my visiting teacher/my father’s cousin, being diagnosed with Breast Cancer. She is a mother of two adopted children, and foster children currently numbered at 5. She is a strong woman, faithful in her testimony, and is a wonderful example to me personally. Her husband was laid off, and they have no insurance. They are working on getting insurance through the state.
I stayed up thinking about her situation, and wished that I could do something. Then I thought about my talent for massage therapy. While this thought excited me, I began to have thoughts of doubts and every selfish reason not to pursue it. Nevertheless, here is my idea and I would like to invite you to participate: one, for a good cause, and two, this is a stressful time of year. A little relaxation will not only help us personally, but our whole family.

****January 17th: MASSAGE MARATHON DAY 9am-6pm******

I will be giving FREE massages, donations accepted. 100% will go to my visiting teacher. Simply call me with a convenient time for you, how long of a massage you would like, and show up (39 S Pueblo St Gilbert, 85233).
(i.e. 15, 30, 60, 90 minutes)

Feel free to share this with others. Thank you for taking the time to at least read this. Please know that I won’t harbor any hard feelings if you can’t participate. J I’m just trying to follow through with my “excited feeling”.

God Bless, Merry Christmas, & Happy New Year!!!!!

Alison Larson
480-202-4409
39 S Pueblo St
Gilbert, AZ 85233

Christmas Tag!

Shannon tagged me this year so here goes....

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? ... NEVER gift bags, just Wrapping Paper!! And I totally think Wrapping paper is a reflection of the type of person you are, so I take my paper selection VERY seriously.

2. Real tree or fake?... We put up our tree too early for it to be fake.

3. When do you put up the tree?... October 26.

4. When do you take the tree down?... mid January

5. Do you like eggnog?... LOVE IT

6. Favorite gift received as a child?... All of them. I remember Teddy Ruxbin and Grubby, roller blades. Tons of things.

7. Hardest person to buy for?... Travis. He will never tell you straight up what he wants!

8. Easiest person to buy for?... The Kids.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?... Yes thanks to Karen and Wendy.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?... MAIL!!! I love sending and RECEIVING cards!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?... Why I would never!..

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?... You know I can't answer "Favorite" questions. So here are the ones we watch all season.. Christmas Vacation, New Miracle on 34th street, One Magic Christmas, Xmas with the Cranks, Deck the Halls, Home Alone 1 and 2, Elf, all the Santa Claus Movies, Charlie Brown Christmas, Alvin and The Chipmunks Christmas, Polar Express, any of the classic christmas cartoons, any and all of them.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?... Black Friday

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?... sure, but none of yours :)

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?... Rice Krispie Treat Christmas Wreaths with red hots

16. Lights on the tree?... always clear, never color

17. Favorite Christmas song? ... Again, can't name faves. Too much pressure. But seeing as how I ONLY listen to Christmas Carols from Oct 26 till whenever I can part with them, I love all of them.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? ... stay home

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? ... Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen, and Rudolph

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?... red star on one tree, big bow on the other

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? ... Christmas Eve we open one present plus the pj's the elves bring us, the rest on Christmas morn.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? ... That it will eventually end and it flies by!!!!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? ... I love all my ornaments, but every year we get a personalized family ornament from the mall

24. Favorite food for Christmas dinner? ... Turkey and Honey Baked Ham

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?... Christmas not to end

26. Favorite thing about Christmas? ... EVERYTHING!! The carols, the happiness, the lights, the fact that most of the world is just as excited as you are. I LOVE IT!

K, Ashley, Brenna and Cassie I want to see yours!! You have been TAGGED!!

Visit With Santa

A couple weekends ago the kids got to go see Santa and I totally forgot to blog about it! Austin wrote his letter to Santa ALL BY HIMSELF.... Can you read their letters? They are kind of hard to see... He would like Santa to bring him 4 Superhero Transformers (Spiderman, Bad Spiderman, Wolverine, and IronMan.)

I wrote Zoe's for her... she asked for a Princess Vanity.They had these really cute Christmas Windows the kids could look at while we waited in line....

Zoe wouldn't even humor me with a smile. This is her "I am way to cool for this" face.

K so then it was the kids turn to sit on santa's lap. They handed him their letters, and he read them VERY CAREFULLY. Then Santa talked to them one on one. No idea what he told them though.

And that concludes our Trip to Santa for this year!

Digital Scrapbooking Help Needed

I totally want to start doing Digital Scrapbooking. I used to do actual scrapbooking all the time, but it has been 3 years since I have even touched it again! 3 years! Do you realize what that means?? That means that at least 3 years of both my kids lives haven't been scrapbooked!! TRAGIC, YES???? I feel like the worst mother of all time.

So I have come to the conclusion that Digital Scrapbooking would be a viable solution. It is cleaner, more convenient, and seems to be pretty easy.

But WHERE do I get all the crap to do it with?? Is it all free?? Will I have to buy most of the kits?? How do I print them and where (besides Shabby Princess) ?? And can I only make 8x8 pages, or can I still make 12x12 pages?? If I can make 12x12, then where can I take them to be printed at that size??? Are we talking a photo printing place or at home printing?? Prints on photo paper or real paper??

I obviously have lots of questions. I know of a few of you that have the answers. I really want to do this. Let's call it my New Years Resolution shall we?? To catch up on my kids scrapbooks. So anything ANY of you could tell me to get me started would be wonderful. Thank you!

Thanksgiving at the Dunes!! And BLACK FRIDAY UPDATE!!

This Thanksgiving we celebrated John style. We headed up to the Dunes just past Safford on Wednesday night, then spent Thanksgiving day eating, visiting, eating, riding the 4-wheelers, eating, and did I mention eating?? It was really fun to see everyone again from Travis's side. The kids had an absolute BLAST!

So we woke up on Thanksgiving day and had pancakes and bacon. Someone had bought a kids table at an auction and it came in very handy...

Then for most of the day, all we heard out of our kids was "I want to go on another ride!!!" Kyle and Travis took Austin out with Payten and Kaleb to go teach him how to ride the 4-wheeler himself. He did pretty good until he almost rode full speed into and through the camp. The second picture is of the kids playing Follow the Leader.

Around 1:00 it was declared Turkey Time. They had pitted the Turkeys in the ground the night before, and it was amazing how dang moist and yummy they turned out! Here is Jace and Grady digging them up...

And here are the kids at the Kids Table eating their Thanksgiving Feast. For some reason Zoe is protesting her feast- she is so dramatic.

We had to go home that night because Travis had to work on Friday. But it was all good because that allowed for us to get some Black Friday Christmas shopping done!!! I am going to try my best to give you the play by play of the night, but FYI, I do not have REAL pictures of the events that took place. This was too serious for fun and games, and a camera would totally slow me down.

So, we got into town at 9:00. I dropped Travis off at Toys R Us so he could wait in line to get it while I got the kids to bed at my Mom's house. I got back to the store around 9:45. So we waited until Midnight till they opened. While in line we mapped out the store and made a plan as to where and what we would get first. Good thing our friends Shannon and Jason came otherwise this would have been a very boring night. So they open, we get in, and this is basically what happened....

Somehow we try to quickly get our stuff, and get in line only to find out that IT IS WRAPPED ALL THE WAY AROUND THE STORE. We waited in line for OVER AN HOUR to check out our things!

After that, it was like 2:15 am. There would be no nap as we had planned in our Black Friday Itinerary. So we all went to Denny's to kill some time. We knew we had to be at Walmart by 4 am, so we had an hour and a half to kill.

I probably should have taken this ladies advice to heart....

But I didn't.

So at 3:30 we head off to the local wally world. This was the place I HAD to get what I wanted. I was nervous. And for good reason. At walmart they dont let you even grab what you want until 5 am on the dot. So you just have to HOVER around the items and hope you get it. Well, I was standing next the Leapfrogs (pink) for Zoe on sale for $30. I was there with about 2 other ladies. But by the time 5 rolled around, there were like 40 people there.

AND THERE WERE ONLY 24 LEAPFROGS PEOPLE.

Luckily I had formed an Alliance with 2 of the girls there and we were all looking out for eachother. That is not to say that I didn't have to put some people in their place though. A couple ladies tried to weasle in in front of me. Oh but trust me, they heard from me. They heard me loud and clear....

Anyway, thanks to my alliance I got the pink leapfrog for Zoe. So I went to check on Travis at his station and then Jason and Shannon at their stations. It turned out to be a success! Everyone fulfilled their missions.

After Walmart, it was time for Target. It opened at 6 am, and that is exactly when we showed up. I got in the back of the moving line and BOOKED it for one item that I can't mention. But let me just tell you. Those sorry suckers that waited in that line for probably 3 hours or more totally lost to ME! I got the ONLY ONE of the thing I came for and we were in and out of there in seriously 5 minutes. It was amazing.

So after a night of absolutely NO SLEEP, we went home around 7 and got some shut eye for a couple hours. Poor Travis had to go to work. But he was a trooper and I couldn't have done it without him! But as I lay there trying to go to sleep, this is all I could think about..... and I was so dang tired I wished I hadn't gone! But we really did save A LOT of money. ( I know Kristal had this on her blog, but it was so fitting I had to use it.)

It was sooooo much fun though. I spent the WHOLE night with our friends and with Travis, I felt like we were kids again. Totally fun!

Just a few pics

I know, I know. I need to blog about our thanksgiving and stuff still. I am working on it. In the meantime, here are some pictures of the kids being the cutest dorks EVER!

Zoe's Apples to Zebra's Program

Zoe just finished her very first pre-school ever! She did Apples to Zebra's just like Austin did at her age and she really loved it. Below are her teachers, Ms. Lizzie and Ms. Dori. They always got a kick out of Zoe. They told me the day of her program that Zoe told them, "My Daddy calls me a Doofus." They were laughing and told me that "Zoe is truly herself and is so unique." They also told me that on Stranger Danger day, Zoe shouted out "My Mom told me to poke their eyes out!!!" Go Zoe.

All right, so at her program they sang all the songs they learned and stuff. The first thing they did was say the Pledge of Allegiance. So cute.

This is what Zoe looked like most the time when she thought we were watching her. She would cover her eyes and mouth so we wouldn't think she was singing.

And this is Zoe's little friend from school, Ashten. They seriously look like sisters to me.

She starts up again in January, and she can't wait!

Halloween was a month ago???

You can all call me a slacker. It's ok, I won't get mad. I mean seriously, it is what, November 26 and you still haven't even heard how our Halloween went? That's what we call sad, people. But I am here to make everything right again. I come bearing poor quality Halloween pictures that you probably don't want to see, but you know I will show you anyway. And you better love every minute of it. Or else I will just show you even MORE horrible Halloween pictures, ok? Golly.

To start, we were invited over to our neighbor's house for some dinner and mingling. Then we all left as a very large group to beging the night of tricking and treating. Here are all the kids.

Here is what the kids look like while they trick or treat. "Ooh, Aah".

Austin was Jack Skellington, Zoe was Belle, Addison was Transformers Animated Optimus Prime, Diesel was a monkey.

Zoe was very excited and and happy to be getting candy, can you tell?? Oh, and everyone, meet Joe, the man with the candy. He is our neighbor across the street.

Here is Zoe's pumpkin that she made (I made). She wanted Minnie Mouse.

This one is Austin's pumpkin. It is a vampire Mickey.

The night was a blast. Shortly after we took off to Dland for some Halloween fun thanks to our Annual passes. Someone please remind me sometime to tell the story about the Vampires that almost killed us while we were riding the Matterhorn. YOU HEARD ME RIGHT. I'm serious, I have pictures.

Amy "Devoted" John

That should be my name. Know where I was last night from 8-12 pm??? Waiting in line to see my man Edward on the big screen. We saw Twilight last night and I am here to give you the details. So if you don't want to hear this, DON'T READ ANY FURTHER. I just want to tell you what I did and didn't like about the movie. And keep in mind that I went into it expecting to be COMPLETELY disappointed, because how can you seriously recreate a story as perfect as this one?

First of all, ever since they cast Robert Pattinson to play my ever so perfect vampire boyfriend, I have been terribly upset. He was not MY Edward you know?? Surprisingly towards the end of the movie, he started to grow on me and started to accept him as Edward. So that was a bonus.

I think the movie went WAY TO FAST, but again, I expected this completly. I just think IT SUCKS!!! In my opinion, if you are going to make a movie based on a widely popular book, DON'T CUT OUT SCENES. Its not like fans aren't going to watch it if it is 4 hours long. We want to see it all.

They didn't involve the Cullens as individuals as they should have. Especially Alice. Alice is a key part in all the books, and they should have spotlighted her more, which goes back to the whole cutting out scenes for time bit that I mentioned before.

Speaking of Alice, she was one of the more accurately casted vampires in the movie. I thought she was perfect for the look of Alice. Did not like the guy who played Jasper, or the girl who played Esme. It just bothers me when the people they cast don't even come close. Oh, and the guy who played Jacob?? The boy from "Sharkboy and Lavagirl", I mean COME ON!!!

I really enjoyed watching the scene at the ballet studio. I thought that Kristin Stewert (even though I can't stand that girl) did a good job making her pain from being bitten by James believable. I think they should have torn him up more graphically though, like they do in detail in the book.

There are so many things I would love to crtitique, but there just isn't time for that and you probably havent even made it this far in the post anyway!!! But considering I went into it with low expectations, I came out of it loveing it enough. I will probably go see it another 5 times. I LOVE TWILIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am Waldo

Ok, no I am not. But you get it right??

"Where have you been??" is all I read whenever I look at my inbox.

Actually I have been seriously protesting the computer lately. Don't know why either! But I look at the end of the hallway where my computer tempts me with its colorful screen, and pushy keys. But somehow, I have resisted.

Then whenever I do this resisting thing, I get in this "What do I blog about?" rut. It is a vicious cycle really. But look at me, trying to blog even if it is about nothing at all.

You wanna know what I have been doing the last few weeks I have been AWOL?? Pretty much nothing. Although we did decorate for Christmas. Has anyone else??? Tell me what you all do for christmas/traditions/when you decorate and how. I would love to hear what you all do!

Also, Kristal sent around an email that had her updated address for christmas card sending on it. A great idea if you ask me. So....... could everyone give me their address??? Some of you I may have already, but there are some I know I don't have. So EVERYONE, that is including all the people I know read this and never comment, please leave me your address so that I can send you a christmas card this year!!! Oh, and it will have a picture of JUST THE KIDS again. Know why?? My husband is now a bald dude due to a haircutting mishap that DOES NOT involve Cassie, I might add.

Ok, so christmas traditions and addresses for christmas cards. Let's move people!! Christmas is only like 35 days away!!!!

Happy Birthday Diesel!!!

The Precious is 1 now!!!!

Jonas-ly FABULOUS

I am IN LOVE with the Jonas Brothers new single, LOVE BUG!!! Please watch this video of theirs, it is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!! I LOVE THEM!!!! Just watch it if you want a smile plastered on your face for the rest of the day. It will make you happy I promise!

Photoshoot with Zoe

Curiousity Killed the Cat

Hey, I am just curious, and maybe this is one of those "TABOO" questions. But I was wondering who everyone is voting for this year for the Pres??? And why?? And does anyone know if I can still get an apsentee ballott?? Or is it too late?? Anyway, if you feel like it, pretend that I know nothing about the candidates, and tell me why I should vote for either guy. I am not on the fence, but either way I see it I am unsure and that is a scary thought. And I seriously am not going to judge you for any opinions or anything, so just lay it all out there for a girl like me to understand!!!

So I found this on Whitney's blog and felt like doing it.


A is for age: 22........... :)
B is for Breakfast: Hate it
C is for Career: Mom
D is for Dog’s name: used to be Tink :(
E is for Essential Item I use Everyday: deoderant, face wash
F is for Favorite T.V. Show: DIRTY SEXY MONEY
G is for Favorite Game: Guitar Hero
H is for Hometown: Gilbert, or would it be Tucson because I was born there??
I is for Instruments I play: used to play violin, and can play piano somewhat
J is for Favorite Juice: sparkling cider... does that count?? Not a huge sugar drinker
K is for Kitchen: hate it in there.
L is Last Place I Ate out: Brio, YUM!
M is for Marriage: taken folks.
N is for Nickname: Amers, babe
O is for Overnight Hospital Stays: babies, cleft palate as a baby...
P is People I was with Today: Cassie, Meghan, Austin, Zoe, Diesel Cakes
Q is for Quote: "Wherever you go, There you are!"
R is for Biggest Regret: you don't want to know!
S is for Sport: volleyball and basketball
T is for time I Woke up today: 9 (Zoe was late for school, whoops!)
U is for Favorite Piece of Undergarments: ???
V is for Last Vacation you took: Disney
W is for Worst Habit: going to bed without taking off my makeup
X is for X-rays I have had: back, teeth??
Y is for Yummy Food You Ate Today: Nothing
Z is for Zodiac: Capricorn

Yay or Nay??

I have a question that I thought would be interesting conversation that I wanted to pose to all of you.

What is your opinion/ feeling/ belief about Permanent Makeup???

If you don't know what it is, basically it is a tattoo that you can get on your eyes, eyebrows, cheeks, and lips to look like your makeup. That way you never have to apply any.

I know that our church says "No tattoos." But it isn't like you are getting a big fat heart with the word Mom in the middle you know??? I mean, everyday us women mark ourselves with eyeliner pencils and stuff, so is it really any different????

For Christmas, I am asking to be able to get my eyeliner done. I am so sick of putting it on everyday, and taking it off every night. My opinion is that since we pretty much color on ourselves everyday, and it isn't gauddy like a real tattoo, then I think it is acceptable.

What is your opinion??

Got Teeth??

Yesterday the kids got to go to the dentist for the very first time!!! And they LOVED IT!!!! If any of you are looking for a GREAT dentist for your kids, look no further. You MUST take them to Dr. Tyler Carter. Do any of you know Jennie Stradling Carter??? It is her husband! He was SOOOOOOOO Good with the kids. And the office is AMAZING!!! The office is called Kids First Dental and it is on Gilbert and Queen Creek Rd. It was an absolutlely amazing experience, and I have been dreading taking them to the dentist, but I am so glad I took them there. Click HERE to see their website and information. Or you could go to Jennie and Tyler's blog on my friends list on the side of my blog. Seriously take your kids there! Ok, now for the run down......

In the cleaning room they have a tv and some awesome little cars and fire trucks for the kids to play in.

Austin went first. Seriously, they were both sooooo brave. They didn't cry, scream or anything. They just chilled the whole time, and they loved every minute of it. Of course Dr. Tyler was really good at making sure they knew what was going on and making every second of it fun for them.

Then little Zoe bear went. Again, quiet as a mouse. I was SOOOO proud of them. Dr. Tyler asked her where she got such good teeth and she told him that she bought them at Target. Silly girl.

They they both got some "pictures" of their teeth taken (xrays). Notice Zoe wearing her princess "glass slippers" as she calls them. She can't ever leave home without those things.

Then they got to see the xrays and see what their permanent teeth will look like when they come in. The top pic is Zoe's xrays and the bottom one is Austin's.

After the kids were done, Dr. Tyler gives them a gold coin that they get to put in the machine and get a prize for being so good! The kids thought this was the coolest thing ever.

From the visit, we found out that they both have 20 teeth, Zoe has NO cavities, and Austin has 4 CAVITIES!!! Yikes. So we have to go back soon and get that done. They gave us an estimate and said it would be about $230 to fill them. Austin is actually excited to go back and get his cavities fixed! Anyway, so seriously, take your kids to Kids First Dental!!! It seriously is the best place ever.

Sleepover At Addison's House

Last week Austin's bestest friend was on Fall Break, a little thing I like to call "Teacher is Being Lazy" week. Anyway, so Austin got to go over there for a sleepover! The boys have been wanting to do this forever. Here are some pics!

First up is a picture of them playing the Indiana Jones Lego video game. See the concentrated look on my sons face??

The sleeping quarters.

Look at the freshly awoken faces. Even right when they wake up they are still extremely handsome don't you think??

Shannon decided to show me up and make not just pancakes for them, but MICKEY MOUSE pancakes. Of course, she wouldn't be my friend if she wasn't as into Disney as us!

The boys got to play something called Light Beam Tag with R2D2. Austin really loved that. You know, cuz he LOVES R2D2.

Thanks for having Austin over you guys. He loved it!!