ALLXYS

Monday, May 10, 2010

MOTHER'S DAY TEA (KINDERGARTEN)

My last Kindergarten Tea. Kyler came out to the hall to crown me and bring me to my seat.

He made the crown himself. Queen "Neekol" he wrote.

He's so proud of this plant! He wanted to take it home and grow it. He said "If it grows bigger than the earth, then I won't grow it again" Somehow that reminds me of Papa.

Now to the folder. Kyler took out the papers and one by one read them to me. Here's some of the highlights: a coupon that says he won't fight, a butterfly pop-up card, he thinks my favorite food is milk and cereal (it's HIS favorite food), he thinks my favorite thing to do with him is....sleep, he said for fun I........sleep, and the one thing I say to him most often.............GO TO SLEEP! Really?!? I don't get where all the sleep comments came from. Was I tired the night before he wrote this?!? Then Kyler made a wish train for me. First wish he has for me......"I hope you don't bother me" Nice boy, huh. Just when I didn't think I could take any more, uh, compliments - our table was up next for food.

Kyler was a pro at the food table. He told me how many of each item we were allowed to get.

He served me my drink. It was so gentleman-ly (is that a word) of him. I chose water, he had fruit punch - two glasses (with a red mustache to prove it!)

Then it was time for him and his friends to take as many pictures as they could before their mom's were frustrated and asked for the camera back. This is one of the nicer shots.

Our Kindergarten Tea ended with a few songs from the kids. It was really cute! See my boy in the back corner. Thank you to Ms. Jones and the whole Kindergarten class for a great afternoon! And thank you Kyler, for being my baby!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

THE BIG 4-0!!!

Yes, this sweet little baby girl is 40 today!!!!!

My cousin, Jacquelen has counted down the last 13 days of my 30s on facebook. It's been really fun to see what new photos she would post everyday and I decided to put it up on the blog. So here's the countdown:

"On the thirteenth day before Nicole's 40th birthday, let's all remember Nicole's Big hair!"

(picture taken at Metro Center as we were trying on dresses)

"On the twelfth day before Nicole's 40th Birthday, let's all remember Nicole's endless Braces!"

(Full braces from age 13 - 21! This was my sophomore year at Shadow Mountain High School. Mita made my dress, but I picked out my fabric and pattern. Ok, I was supposed to make the dress, but Mita didn't have the patience to let me do it. She just took over and did it.....I was fine with that.)

"On the Eleventh day before Nicole's 40th Birthday, let's all remember Funerals and Weddings with Mita and Papa every weekend of Nicole's childhood!" (

So many funerals!!!!! At the funerals from age 12 on up, I was constantly mistaken (and hugged) by strangers (to me) for my Aunt Mimi....because people apparently didn't realize that she grew up.....we're like 15 years apart!!!!! I did LOVE all the receptions I went to, but I went to soooooooooo many that I started a napkin collection! I had stacks of napkins from tons of receptions of people I didn't know. I did whittle the collection down, but found the remaining napkins in a childhood box I have. Yes.....this was my sad, little childhood)

"On the Tenth day before Nicole's 40th Birthday, let' all remember Nicole's 3 Sons!"

(I love these boys!!!!!)

"on the Ninth day before Nicole's 40th Birthday, let's all remember 'The Princess Bride'!"

(Tony and I watched this movie all through our engagement. Maybe I should start calling him farm boy again? But only if he starts saying "As you wish" again!)

"On the Eighth day before Nicole's 40th Birthday, let's all remember Nicole never getting Rice Krispy Treats!"

(My mom actually did this just before my 40th birthday.....but it was a big deal until then!!! Sorry Andrew, you can't tease me about not having them anymore......well, you probably still could......and would......WHATEVER!!!!!)

On the Seventh day before Nicole's 40th Birthday, let's all remember Chevy Sprint Adventure!"

(Apparently no photo of my Sprint!)

"On the Sixth day before Nicole's 40th Birthday, let's all remember Road Trips with Mita and Papa!"

(Too many to count....lots of memories.......some good, some great, some CRAZY!!!!!)

On the Fifth day before Nicole's 40th Birthday, let's all remember All things John Cusack!"

(LOVE, LOVE, LOVE HIM!!!!!! ALWAYS HAVE, ALWAYS WILL!!!!!)

[Tony knows we live like this!]

"On the fourth day before Nicole's 40th Birthday, let's all remember Cousin Parties!"

(I LOVE MY COUSINS!!!!!! (Mom's side:) Jacquelen, Jason, Juliet, Ben, Matt, Kari, Marcus, Christin, Becky, Emily, Andrew, Rachael, Scott, Candice & Morgan AND (Dad's side) Bret, Brad, Cheri, Tammy, Rich, Natalie, Gabe, Jeremy, Derek, Deni, Danelle, Kristine and Codi PLUS my siblings Jean-Jacques, Audra, Austin and Catherine!!!!!! (sorry- didn't include spouses)

"On the Third day before Nicole's 40th Birthday, let's all remember Christmas programs under Charlie Brown trees!

(The Charlie Brown trees with the HUGE outdoor lights on it. I was so afraid it was fall over or go up in flames! And how can we not remember.....MITA PAJAMAS!!!!! Oh the years of all that sewing! How cute is Christin!!!!! [and a shout out to Mita's sunshine yellow couch.....the only thing brighter than it was the sunshine yellow shag carpet that it stood on!!!] Notice I have pj's instead of a nightgown. I HATE NIGHTGOWNS!!!! I can never sleep in them. I didn't ever want to be a bother, but I always wanted pj's. Some years I got them, some years - nightgowns)

"On the Second day before Nicole's 40th Birthday, let's all remember Nicole's Big Fat 80's Wedding!"

(If you've ever watched The Wedding Singer, then you've seen my wedding. Ironically, we had everything in that movie EXCEPT a wedding singer!!!!! Maybe for our 25 wedding anniversary, we'll hire one!!!)

'On the Day before Nicole's 40th birthday, let's all remember Nicole being in her thirties!"

(My thirties were all spent living in Gilbert. I became a van driving, mom of three in my 30s. My guess is the next decade will be more of the same! 17 days after my 50th birthday, Kyler will be able to get a driver's license and the mom taxi can retire?! We'll see.)

So, do you have a memory to share?

Would you like to venture a guess of what the next decade will bring?

Think we're done with three kids?

I'd love to hear from you!

Monday, April 12, 2010

CATCH UP!

I'm playing catch up with EVERYTHING right now. Cleaning my home, doing the laundry, visiting with friends, doing my church calling, and writing on my blog! First, there was spring break. We were very busy during the first week and then I had horrible back pain.....

that got worse.....

and worse.........

and worse!!!!!

I've been out of it while I waited and waited and waited for things to get better. Finally I turned a corner and have been getting so much better. Last Friday I started physical therapy. I felt so good afterwards....and then it hit me. I was so worn out! Crazy!!!

So, this morning I posted 4 new items. Make sure you read all of them so you can see a really embarrassing photo at the end. Before my back pain, we picked out matching ties from The Matching Tie Guy (www.thematchingtieguy.com) The ties come in every size - newborn to adult! There are even some ties that have matching hair ties for girls - way cute! Here's the boys springtime tie. Kyler picked one out for the summer.....you'll have to wait a couple of months before we debut them. What a good looking bunch! (yes, I'm fully aware of the haircuts that they're in need of)

The boys....just being themselves!

The last item has no photo.....no hard evidence......no visual proof.....but it happened! It took nearly 40 years and an ambulance ride to the ER for it to happen, but

MOM

MADE

RICE

KRISPIE

TREATS!!!!

(maybe my canopy bed is next.....I just hope it's not on the 40 year plan too!)

HANGIN' WITH MY PEEPS

Last year we went to Provo, UT to visit my baby brother at BYU during Easter. We had such a fun time visiting him, touring the campus (Colton even went to a Biology class with him), shopping in the bookstore, eating at the creamery, etc. Lots of fun! Well, Austin will be reporting to the MTC on May 5th and we wanted to see him again before then. As we thought of going up to Utah, we had a great idea.....why don't we just fly him down here! Easy and much less expensive!!! Austin came out on Thursday, April 1st and flew back Monday evening. Here he is -

hangin' with his peeps!

It was cool that General Conference was on Easter weekend. Austin went with Tony, Colton and Asher to the priesthood session. This picture reminds me of that song from Sesame Street.....
One of these things is not like the others, One of these things just doesn't belong, Can you tell which thing is not like the others By the time I finish my song? Did you guess which thing was not like the others? Did you guess which thing just doesn't belong? If you guessed this one is not like the others, Then you're absolutely...right!
Austin should have gone to The Matching Tie Guy (www.matchingtieguy.com)

And then.......we celebrated Easter! What would it be without Peeps?!? Look at these cute, little, innocent peeps. Are you confused? Aren't all peeps innocent?

Behold

EVIL PEEPS

(Someone forgot to position the eyes properly....oops!)
These may be evil......but not as evil as.......

DARTH VADER PEEP!

Let's move on to something happier.....

EASTER BASKETS!!!

Austin

Colton

(poor Roscoe, no basket for you)

This is where Asher's picture should be

SNEAKY

KID!!!!

He escaped the camera!!!!!

Kyler and Austin......with conference in the background

(these photos are not out of order......we didn't color Easter eggs until Sunday morning - AFTER they received their baskets) I love how Tony's the only was smiling in the picture. We normally don't color eggs, so I was just proud of us for doing it at all.

Our traditionally colored eggs

Our not-so-traditionally colored eggs!

Darth Vader

and Yoda!

The time flew by too quick! Before we knew it, it was time to take Austin to the airport. We love you, Austin!!!!! We can't wait to see our first pictures of Hermano Mulleneaux from the Roseville, CA mission (spanish-speaking).

COLTON'S BIRTHDAY!

Colton turned 14 this past St. Patrick's Day! It fell on a Wednesday, which was perfect since Tony has Wednesday's off. Colton picked the places he wanted to eat during the day and all the boys had a great time together. The best part of turning 14 was that Colton was ordained a Teacher in our church. It was a beautiful Sunday and just look how handsome all my men are! Don't you LOVE their matching ties!!! (just visit www.thematchingtieguy.com Ties in Every Size - from newborn to adult!!!) This is their spring tie.....in a couple of months I'll show you their summer look! Colton, we are so proud of you and the choices you make. You're a good example and we LOVE you!

Now on to other important things about turning 14.....THE PARTY! Colton rolled out of bed on Saturday, March 20th and typed a message to some friends about a party at 4:30. THAT'S IT! A party......4:30........NO DATE, NO STOP TIME, NO EXPLANATION. I asked if he could get some more information to everyone. He typed that the party was from 4:30 - 9:00. After he sent it off I mentioned that he might want to say that the party was for that day. He rolled his eyes and said "They know." Apparently they did! He had almost a dozen kids....excuse me, TEENAGERS at my home that afternoon. I ran to Costco and grabbed a cake and a veggie tray....Tony ordered pizzas and crazy bread and rented 2012....and VOILA - the party was ready! I teased Colton that they only had princess cakes left at Costco (since he gave us practically NO NOTICE). This was the most masculine cake they had left. For all intents and purposes, Colton thought this WAS a princess cake!

A shot of the aftermath of pizza boxes and Mr. John Cusack on my TV.

As I called all the kids....oops, TEENAGERS over to sing Happy Birthday to Colton I said "Come on, Schmoopie!" Everyone laughed and Mitch sang Happy Birthday to Schmoopie to him. Colton couldn't stop laughing to blow out his candles.

More laughing.

After this they all went to play 007. Even though it's his favorite game to play, his favorite part of the party was probably ALL THE GIRLS that attended. I'm so mad I didn't get any photographs of them.....grrrrrrr! I'm sure it will just give Colton another excuse to host another party soon.