1. My sister in law Melanie! Happy birthday! Mel is one of the sweetest people I know. She is friends with so many people and makes people feel good about themselves. I hope your day is fabulous!
2. that my boys did AWESOME in their recital last night
3. carpet cleaner

1. when you are speeding on the freeway and you see a police car 2 feet in front of you so you slam on your brakes knowing that you are dead meat and they pull out, put their lights on and catch the guy 2 cars in front of you.
2. that there is actually a nice night going on at work
3. having time during the day to play cars with Liam

Do you want chips with that?

Last night for dinner we were having nachos. While I was getting everything ready, Luke took the container that the guacamole was in and was bopping Liam (gently) on the head. After about 6-7 protests from Liam, Justin finally yelled: "Luke, cut it out!" Luke shot back and said: "But Dad, it's whack a mole!"

1. DANCING WITH THE STARS STARTED LAST NIGHT! WHOO-HOO!! I already like Warren Sapp :) but that could change!
2. seeing Liam's huge grin when he sees me from the bus window waiting for him when he is getting dropped off after preschool
3. the leaves are beginning to change

I finally figured it out!

(...Thanks to Matti and Hillary!)




First name: Corinne
Favorite food: watermelon
High school I attended: East High
Favorite color: violet
Celebrity crush: Patrick Dempsey
Favorite drink: Diet coke
Dream vacation: the world!
Favorite dessert: molten lava cake
What I want to be when I grow up: a photographer
What I love most in life: being a mother
One word to describe me: patient

1. one on one time with the boys--even if it is just grocery shopping at Costco
2. Luke's waterproof cast-sooo much easier!
3. the smell outside right before it rains-delicious.

1. that Liam's eye doctor said that his eyes were slightly better and he doesn't anticipate he'll have to wear his glasses long term! Hopefully that is true!
2. I found my keys...after much stress and running around on Justin's part getting me a new one. Thank you honey, at least now we have a spare!
3. I saw pumpkins at the store for sale today...whoot whoot! I love fall :)!

The ripple effect

Tomorrow marks the month "anniversary" of the plane crash of the Nielsen family. This is significant for me in that even though I do not personally know this family, I have been deeply impacted by not only their accident, but their everyday lives.

Stephanie is a remarkable woman. I read through her blog thoroughly after the accident and was inspired by her love of her children, her husband, and the gospel. She frequently has a "spiritual enlightenment" link on her blog that has talks and other gospel related subjects to read or print out or whatever. Her blog has obviously has left a mark not only in my life, but thousands of others throughout the world.

This is one woman. She probably didn't have the intent of starting a blog and becoming such an inspiration. In the past month, I have been more patient, read my scriptures more often, spent more quality time with my family, I think I have only yelled at my kids once, and feel more at peace with myself, my marriage, and my relationship with my Savior. I know that I had the intentions multiple times to improve myself but things seemed to always come up, and her accident put my life in perspective for me. Again, this is one woman that over the past month that others are stating did the same thing for them. What an amazing phenomenon. I want to be such a person that positively influences someone and pushes someone to be their absolute best. I know that I am not a bad or terrible person, but I know that I can be and do so much better. It is terribly unfortunate that this happened to the Nielsen family and I feel indebted to them because it woke me up and made me realize what is truly important.

1. That I will NEVER have to worry about job security while I am working in Labor and Delivery--they just keep coming!
2. crunch carts for those crazy nights
3. the thought of being mauled by my family when I get home from work

Jesus wants me for a WHAT?

Luke and Liam were listening to the song "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" on my Ipod last night. Both had their own interpretation of the words.

Luke: "Jusus wants me for a sunBEAN" and
Liam: "Jesus wants me for a sunBEEP".

Hopefully Jesus wants those too.

1. We have extra time in the morning now since we live so close to our new school...AND I don't have to drive!
2. my schedule worked out so I can have Andrew and Nick's birthdays off in November...AND I still have every other weekend off with my new improved scheudle...AND I will only be tired 2 days out of the month from now on. Can you say AWESOME!?!
3. I don't have to have the air conditioner on as much during the day now that it is cooling off

Ode to my hubbs.

It has come to my attention that I rarely give credit to the man of my life. SO, without further adieu, I give you the 3 things that I am grateful for (right now) about J:

1. He is goofy. He is always rhyming words that do not usually go together in normal conversation and can makes me laugh quite often.
2. He is a hard worker. He works full time and does full time school on top of that and then is a fabulous dad and husband. He is a busy guy and is managing his overloaded schedule well.
3. He is a good kisser. I think it is pretty darn awesome that after 11 1/2 years of marriage we can still act like newlyweds sometimes. I will leave THAT to your own interpretation.

Love ya babe!

On August 16th we had the opportunity to see an original copy of the Declaration of Independence at the Utah State Capitol.

It was quite a spontaneous decision to go...we saw an advertisement for it in the previews to "The Clone Wars" the night before. Oh my, the wait was LONG, I think we waited 2 hours and 15 minutes to see it.

Luckily, there was a ton of room for the boys to run around, stairs to climb, and even an elevator that we went on a couple times. Grandpa was a good sport and took frequent walks with each of them.

The capitol building was beautiful though, I haven't been in it since the renovation. All in all, it was a good experience and it was pretty cool to see a piece of American history.

Pics of the last few days

1.That my cute sis and brother in law let us borrow their car while ours was getting fixed. THANK YOU!
2.That it didn't take forever for our car to be fixed-just a day!
3.I got called off last night from work-I love it when it is totally unexpected-AND I got to stay home the ENTIRE night!

A ton has happened in the last 2 days. A lot. I will post pics later because I have much to document but I wanted to jot down a couple things and then when I have a minute this weekend I will add the pictures.

September 1 was Liam's 3rd birthday! He was so cute and SO excited for his party. The theme was Little Einsteins and all day he would say "birthday...party?" like, WHEN is this going to happen? He got a kitchen set and TONS of food and some fun magnetic games and books that have been a ton of fun to play with. We are so grateful for Liam! He is such an adorable creature, such a special member of our family!

Yesterday...has it really been only a day? The boys started school and they all had a fabulous day. They all looked so handsome in their "uniforms"-not an acutal uniform per se but they go to a charter school and are restricted to certain articles and colors that they are allowed to wear to school. I love being able to walk them to and from school since it is just down the street.

My cute nephew Ashton's birthday was yesterday and we went to his party in the evening. It was ADORABLE (great job, Mistie!) and pirate themed, perfect for the boys. There was a treasure hunt and swords, tattoos, bandanas, pizza, cake, ice cream...everything you could possibly want in a party! We are grateful for Ashman and what a good boy he is and that we were able to have a birthday party in Utah!

As we were getting ready to go, the boys were playing at the park. I told them to get in the car and Luke told me he just wanted one more turn on the monkey bars. All right, I said. The next thing I knew, Luke was crying and yelling "My wrist!, my wrist!" and running toward me with his hand hanging at a wierd angle. Yup, he broke both his bones in his lower arm. Justin took him to the ED at Alta View hospital because it was closest and Luke is doing well. He was so brave and I loved hearing him retell his experience in the ED. He said "the doctors told him his arm was like this (imagine him drawing a "V" in the air) and putting a cast on so it could be like this (imagine him squishing his fingers from open to close). I asked him about the IV he got and he stated "it didn't even hurt. They gave me water (IV fluid) and then put pressure on it." He stayed home from school today and we have watched all the T.V. he has wanted and eaten a Happy Meal. He really has gotten into the spirit of being pampered--he has asked me to scratch his leg a couple times even though he was fully able to reach the itch with his good arm and having me feed him grapes. He is disappointed because it is not a colored cast yet but that will come next week! We are doing well and are grateful that it was only his arm that was hurt.

My house is too quiet.

It feels wrong.

There are NO kids in my house.

The 3 older boys started school today and they will be gone ALL DAY.
Liam has preschool until 11:00 and I am all alone.

I am sure everyone out there is thinking I am crazy for not totally enjoying this. Maybe I will after a while. I have always had someone to take care since November 9, 1998. Now, it is just me and my house.

My kids are much more fun.