Got stress?

James has been out of town since yesterday morning. I usually do pretty good on my own. Yesterday was of course crazy. I went to a funeral, I had to get Christian to Scouts at 4:00, Taylor to Soccer at 5:30, Christian to Baseball at 6:00. In the meantime, I had to fix meals and make sure homework was done. Averi, who is usually good, decided after an hour in the car to have a "meltdown" because she couldn't feel my neck while I was singing along to her annoying kid songs (yes, I sing along, but only because I have every darn song memorized!).

At 6:30 I came home really fast to change out of my funeral clothes because my girdle was strangling my will to live. I was in my room changing and Taylor came to tell me someone was at my house. I ran out into the living room and I didn't see anyone at my front door (I was dressed). Then out of the corner of my eye I saw someone in my laundry room. All I could think was that a serial killer was in my house! I started having an "outer body experience" and I was actually thinking I could karate fight them or something. My adrenalin was rushing through me. It turned out to be just 2 of my little church girls visiting me and hiding in the laundry room. I told them I could of accidentally killed them with my karate skills and they looked at me like I was crazy.

This is where I need to mention that I have no karate skills! I like to make up my own.

At 8:00 Averi was still screaming her head off in bed and I took my anger out on Christians' dresser. It needed some nails hammered back into it. I used my super human strength and threw the dresser on it's side, then I got a huge rock (I couldn't find a hammer) and put a towel between my rock and the dresser and beat the heck out of that thing. I felt so much better, and the dresser is almost as good as new! My stress levels are not good today either. I need some Pepsi with Prozac added to it (or vodka, either would do the trick!). I have 2 hrs. and 15 min. until my kids get home and I should be cleaning the house, but I am going to watch my Ghost Hunters and try to scare the stress out of my brain!

Averi did do a cute thing this morning: She grabbed her silky (big pink silk nightgown she loves to snuggle with) and as she left for school she said "bye silky, see ya later, be a good girl at school". It was so cute, I must say that to her a lot.

Sluffin' Church!

James thinks he is so funny putting "beware of blog" on here! When he actually "blogs" he can comment on my blogging skills! (yes James, this is a challenge!)

Yesterday was Stake Conference for our church (big regional meeting-2 hrs. long) so technically that means a day off for our family. Sitting through a 2 hour meeting with Averi would be He**, and we don't want church to be like He** now do we? If somebody makes the effort to get there we would not want to be the people to ruin their experience. So...we sluffed! Now, this is not something we are particularly proud of, but at least I'm forthright.

However, one problem we have with sluffing church is that we live across the street from our Bishop, and we don't want him to know how evil we are! We had a master plan of dressing up in our church clothes and driving around the block and getting out of the car at the same time they were getting home. We decided against that because we don't want to go to He** for deceiving our Bishop.

In the end we decided to just chill out and be "rule breakers" and enjoy the moment. We decided to roast smores in our backyard and enjoy the weather. I have to admit it was so fun and relaxing! It was a beautiful day too!

P.S.- The "show" will air sometime after June. We want to screen it before we give out too much info.

Home again home again jiggity jig!

I am getting a ton more pictures to post soon!

We're Hoooooome!

O.K., it is finally done! I just have to say that it was NOT fun!!!! Here is a brief synopsis of what we did:

1st day: Hours of grueling camera interview. I had 6 hrs., James had 3, Leann had 1 1/2, and our doctor also had 1 1/2 hours interviewing. We were sitting in a director chair under bright hot lights with people and a camera staring at us. James commented to me that under those conditions he sees how people confess to crimes they don't commit. I agree.

You think it would be my dream come true to have uninterrupted talking time, but by the end, my tongue felt 3 ft. thick, and I am sure I was stuttering. I am embarrassed to even see what I said that day, James feels the same way. Of course the whole time I was worried that I had some booger hanging out of my nose, something in my teeth or cleavage hanging out on camera so I couldn't concentrate on what I was talking about. I started lisping at the end because my mouth and lips were so dry too, I felt like such a dweeb! It should be interesting for sure.

2nd day: Hours of grueling reenactment! I had to dress in scroungy clothes and do a lot of acting. No talking this day thank goodness! The hard thing was the sitting still like a statue for the camera to get the right shots. I felt so dumb, everyone was watching me the whole time. We had to make the kids act in this one. They did so good! It was fun for them, except for Caleb who had to cry the whole time-SAD! I felt so bad for him. James and Leann had to do some things this day too, they did great! Poor Roger and Leann had their house taken over, it looked so beautiful though.

I can't even really comment on the embarrassment I am going to feel watching this!

3rd day: Hours of grueling reenactment at the hospital! Ironically we ended up filming in the old BMT unit that has now been remodeled. We realized about an hour after we were there that we were in the exact room that we left from in June 2003. We didn't recognize it, but we finally figured it out. We were just in an empty "surgical recovery" room that nobody was using, but it turned out to be our old room-WEIRD! I got a little freaked out at first, but I soon got into character (which was myself so that was easy). It was a long day and I felt bad for my sister watching her Caleb play a sick baby, I think that was weird for her. She and Caleb were awesome! I love them! Our doctor was great too, he was a better actor than me for sure. Everyone did so good. Leann, James, and Jessie got to be in the show too. James did a lot of different parts.

At one point they made James play the doctor, it was funny. We kept cracking up! He had to pretend like he was doing a spinal tap, he had no clue what he was doing. Our show is so unrealistic, but it will be so spliced up nobody will know the difference. It was an interesting day, better than day 2 for sure. I am so glad that it is all over, we are all exhausted. I am never doing another television show again!

During all of this, I was driving along thinking to myself that I was mad I didn't "thin down" before this show. Then it dawned on me that I needed to be chubby to look the part of a new mom, so in my subconscious I was just trying to "fit" the part. Yeah, poor excuse, but it will maybe work this time! I decided that I have "reverse anorexia"! I think I look pretty normal in the mirror, and then I see pictures of myself and I realize that I am in denial. I don't know why I don't see the extra fat rolls in the mirror and then they show up like magic in pictures! My brain is so weird! I can't even imagine what television will make magically appear! YIKES!

I am so exhausted right now! I want to write more but I am having writers block. I will come back after I have had some caffeine and recover from the "self induced sugar coma" I am currently in. We had a lot of treats! Sorry!

P.S.--I need to thank my Mom and Jenni and Mike again for their help! I love ya!

TTFN (ta ta for now) We used to use this in high school in our "hand written notes". It is like an old version of today's text language. Yes, I am old!

Break a leg?!?

This is my nephew Caleb, and neice Emily-cute!

Wish us luck! We are off to the big city for our 15 min. of fame! I am freaked out about this whole thing. I didn't lose my 10 lbs. because I've been stress eating all week! YIKES! Just remember that objects on the t.v. are smaller than they appear! James reminded me that not everyone gets the chance to have a part of their lives professionally produced, so we are lucky! He is right, it is a unique opportunity. It is just nerve racking, that's for sure.

I am just so thankful to all of my friends and family who are helping. I am excited to have my sister's kids play the role of Averi (by Caleb) and Taylor (by Emily) and a neighbor of Leann's play Christian. It is going to be funny dressing my blond nephew up in disguise as a girl. His dad won't be happy, we are avoiding telling him that part for now (evil laugh :0)). I also want to specifically thank my mom Barbara, my sister Jessie (and Ben), my sister and brother- in- law Mike and Jenni for the help with all of the kids, my" in-laws" Roger and Leann for their house and all of the work they have done, and last but not least one of my very best friends Gen for her help too. I love ya all! (This will be my acceptance speech for winning the of worst actor in history award)

Well, I am sorry to inform you that you won't be hearing from me for a few days. I'm sure nobody will be crying in their pillow over that little bit of good news! James thinks I'm a "blog hog" anyway.

Have a great week!

Yes, I am crazy!

O.K., so this should seem pretty much ridiculous to most normal people in the world. However, we all know that I am not normal, so this is a big deal to me today.

I woke up this morning and took one look at my house and thought that I should be fired immediately from my job. I was embarrassed for myself to see it, let alone anyone from the "outside". I decided that I had to skip my gym class (even though I am supposed to be losing 10 lbs. by Tuesday for our "show") and clean the hole I was trying to live in. I worked and worked! James is gone to Utah today for meetings. I decided to make a journal entry to prove that I did indeed clean our house today and I have pictures to prove it! I sacrificed at least 2 lbs. today (well maybe not because I kept eating candy) so that we can live like normal "semi-clean" people. I know that by the time James gets home tonight, it will look like I did nothing.

The bad thing is, I haven't even made it back to my bedroom yet! I will post a before and after picture to prove how hard I've worked for my money! I am just trying to help other people feel better about themselves. I need to have a messy house so that other people can come over and realize that they are wonderful housekeepers, it is my special mission in life. :0)

May all your lives be blessed with a messy friend!

P.S.-If you are wondering if I have finally gone crazy, the answer is "duh"! This is what happens to me when I have very limited adult interaction! Sorry you have to be an innocent victim of my insanity today.

I LOVE JAMES!

I felt like James wasn't being represented on this blog! He doesn't let me take many pictures, so I had to do some digging! He won't like this at all, but I think he is so cute! I just love him so much! He is the best husband and dad.

Here he is in his many roles as a husband/dad. He is in jail at Alcatraz, in jail in bed after his knee surgery,awesome soccer coach, sporty fisher guy, awesome hiker, clumsy hiker, fireman, and last but not least, our sprinkler system. He works hard every day!

Something to do if you are bored

1) Go to the top of this screen
2) Find the words next blog
3) click on those words

-It is really cool to see what happens. It is like "cyber snooping". I have learned that I am quite boring, and I can't do exotic things with 3 kids. (it is more exciting than watching my neighbors)

-Good luck. I hope you don't encounter any nudity, I haven't yet. I still like to believe that most people have some morals in this world.

Have Fun!

Incoherent thoughts by Amber

So...I keep talking about this crazy Mystery Diagnosis show! I put a brief description at the bottom of our blog page on Averi and her bone disorder. I assume everyone that knows me has had to listen to me blabber on about Osteopetrosis, but if you haven't been lucky enough, you can read it! Anyway, we are all set for this show to go on. I will post the dates so you can all watch and make fun of us! I just talked to the lady on the phone and she told me I had to try to be serious and not giggle so much or people won't take me seriously. I just giggled and said I will try my hardest!

The next few weeks are going to be crazy, James has to travel out of town for work twice. In between both of those times we have to film this show. Christian is so mad because he has to miss his pinewood derby! I think he will be damaged for life for sure!

I have been so busy that Averi has resorted to watching T.V.! She has taken a liking to a show on Boomerang called Gerald McBoing Boing. It is a show about a boy who doesn't talk, all he does is make sounds (kind of like Averi). It is funny, she is obsessed with it. This is the first show she has ever been very interested in. Christian and Taylor stay busy enough with sports, friends and homework that they don't feel too neglected. Averi also plays piano when she is bored, I am trying to help her learn some classical songs. I can't play them really, I mostly just put a CD on and let her hear it, and then she can play it by ear. It is amazing.

I just have to say that I am so glad that my kids got James' smart genes. My kids are tons smarter than I ever was at their ages. Christian (who is in 3rd grade) reads at a 7th grade level and has already read almost 3 Harry Potter books this year, Taylor (who is in 1st grade) reads at a 5th grade level and she is the smartest one in her class, she has to go to the gifted and talented class to be challenged. I know I am being a bragger, but I am dang proud of my kids. They have had some hard times in their lives! I just love my family!

I need a word limit on this thing! I will stop the madness! Have a great one!

T.G.I.F.!!!!!

Well folks, I am soooooo glad this week is over. Our kids started sports this week, and I am already losing it! Luckily I think I am getting released from my Young Women calling this weekend, and that will free up a night for me to go watch my kids' games.

Christian started little league and Taylor started soccer. James is Taylor's coach, so that is convenient, but little league is very busy. We will be busy about 4 or 5 days a week between them both. It is very hard to bring Averi to anything because she doesn't understand field boundaries or flying objects. It really stresses me out.

Also, we have a pretty definite filming schedule for our Mystery Diagnosis show. They want to do it on the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th of this month. We are going to film it at Roger and Leann's (James' parents) house in South Jordan. I feel really imposing! It is really funny because we have to do a lot of reenactments and I have to find babies, kids and bring maternity clothes to reenact me being pregnant. I will not be able to keep a straight face through this thing. Neither James nor I have any prior acting experience, so I am going to feel like such a dork! Sometimes I feel like I am in a strange twilight zone dream and right now I am hoping I will wake up soon! It is interesting to get the story told, but I don't want to be on national television.

I also cut my hair off this week! Since Dec. I have cut 14 inches of hair off of my head! I actually cut Averi and Taylor's hair off too. We are all sportin' the summer hair now! It is fun. I put a new play list on here. It has some of our household favorites on it. We love music here.

Well...I have some recorded Ghost Hunter episodes I need to catch up on. I wish I could be a ghost hunter, wouldn't that be so freaky! I love that show! So...have a great weekend!

Stabbers, ghosts and aliens OH MY!

I am really getting carried away with this blogging stuff! But...I have to share a funny follow up story to the fugitive thing.

Last night James and I were in bed listening to Coast to Coast A.M. with George Noory. Yes, we are very weird! It is a show about totally weird stuff for those of you who have never heard of it. For instance; last night he got a call from a guy who was from the future and he traveled back in time to send some sort of message to someone. Also, there was a guy from SLC who said that he was being haunted by the ghost of Carlos Castinova (?) and that Carlos and his witches were trying to convince him that people were food products to be eaten (don't worry, he said he never tries to eat anyone). Well...there were other scary stories and James and I got talking about scary things. I reminded him that we never checked the basement for the stabber. He got freaked out and made me go downstairs with him. I was laughing because he grabbed a broom stick for protection (like that would do us a lot of good). We made sure it was clear and then we headed upstairs and he turned off all the lights and ran as fast as he could up the stairs. I was left at the bottom, and I was not scared! He told me that he would have never forgiven me if I had done that to him!

I was teasing him so much because he ran to bed and started to get scared because we were talking about aliens (which is one of his biggest fears). I was laughing so hard I was crying! He is so funny. I had better work on my self defense skills because I think I would play a huge role in protecting our family if stabbers or aliens were hiding out in our house.

What the heck?

I got an interesting call this afternoon from my neighbor saying that there had been a stabbing at a bus stop near my kids' school. He is a fireman and he suggested that I pick up my kids instead of letting them walk home like usual. I guess that the stabber guy was still on the loose.

Then I got freaked out because while I was at the gym this morning I forgot to lock my front door. I was sure that the stabber had an "unlocked door" radar and was hiding in my basement. I am kind of paranoid sometimes. I thought about searching my basement, but I figured I would wait for James to get home and check. So...for all I know I have some fugitive hiding in my basement right now. I did however go and pick up Christian and Taylor and they are safe and sound.

It sounds like the guy was targeting a specific person, so I am not going to lose sleep over it. It makes me nuts to think about little punk kids running around stabbing each other over a dumb fight they had. I guess the stabee is o.k., but still...give me a break! What the heck are people thinking?

May all of your basements be free of fugitives today! (I sure hope mine is!)

Oldies but goodies

I'm ba-ack...You are all going to curse blogging when you see how much fun I can have just writing my crazy thoughts!

O.K., it is a well known fact that I am not organized! I get an "A" for effort though. The other day I found about 8 old disposable cameras and some film from who knows when and I headed to Walgreens.

Developing film is kind of like Christmas when you have no idea what you might find when you open that envelope. I am posting some cute pictures of what I found. It is so funny!

I'm a blogger now!

We finally figured this blog page out. I need to learn how to put cutsie little touches now! I don't know what to write about! Our life is pretty much on auto-pilot most of the time!

Oh! I guess we have a little interesting news to share. Discovery Health Channel wants to do a story on Averi on the show Mystery Diagnosis. We don't know when they will start filming yet, but the casting producer has kept me very busy trying to gather info.! They said they need to find someone to produce it here or something and then they will make plans to come to Idaho soon. I don't think they are paying us to do it, I don't really want to ask! We aren't that interesting! I just want to raise awareness for Osteopetrosis.

James and I aren't looking forward to being on T.V., I wish they could call some hot blond girl to fill in for me. I am not into the "camera adds 10 lbs." idea! This should be interesting!

To be continued...