Sweater Party Results

First Place went to Misty:



2nd Place to Julie and Jordan:



3rd Place to Aaron:


4th Place to Luke and Shelley:


and not even an Honorable Mention, me:

I won't be getting that plane ticket this year, I'm too naughty

My husband sent me this email tonight:


Dear Emily

Your friend Gabriel Gunderson has sent you the following news story from Channel 6 News: "Search on for Emily Gunderson: Naughtiest Person in the World"


Watch it here.

Funny Kids

Plastic Mary visits the Olive Wood baby Jesus.

Christmastime

I just discovered this song by Hilary Weeks. I've been singing it in my head for days. I love it!

Here is the link.

Dear Santa

Since I couldn't get tickets to the SLC showing, please send me a plane ticket to LA so I can see it there (before Jan 11th, when it wraps).

Thank you,
EMILY


Works for the kids, right?

Funny Kids

Another episode of "My baby is smarter than your baby":

GT#4 figured out how to play with her toy while still in her crib.


Another episode of "My 5year old is more creative than your 5 year old":
GT#2's "Nutcracker"


Another episode of "My 3 year says cuter things than your 3 year old":
Me to GT#3- Hey, do you know where GT#4's dolly is?
GT#3- It's in her cage.

Funny Kids

No matter how many times I put the angel back in its spot atop the stable, it keeps getting replaced.

Good Ramblings, Milestones to Note, and Funny Kids

Some things I've wanted the world to know:
1. I got some new glasses...my last pair was purchased before I went to Ricks College, more than 12 years ago. I keep meaning to show you a picture. Stay tuned.
2. I have 98 miles to go until my treadmill odometer resets. This will be the 2nd time it has happened. That's exciting, right?
3. I am finally at my pre-pregnancy weight, you know from my baby who is now 15 months old. It has been more than a week, so I say it's official. And I know, you're all thinking, "But you're still fat!" I say, "Come on, give a girl a break."
4. I didn't eat candy for 24 days in November. I know, "What am I like 9?" You see I have a bit of a candy problem. This was a significant accomplishment.
5. I don't bake bread and until I do I am standing by this product: Harper's Homemade Bran Bread which costs just $1.59 at Macey's. It has just 80 calories a slice, with 0 fat, 5g of fiber, and doesn't taste like crap. You should definitely try it.



I missed some important news in November.
1. GT#4 started officially walking full time on November 14.
2. About November 28 she looked at the picture of a lion in her room, pointed and said, "rrrr."
3. By the end of November she was proficient at climbing onto the table and joined her brother in taking one bite out of each apples in the fruit basket. (The basket has since been moved).
4. She discovered "dress ups"


Another episode of "Funny Kids"
1. GT#3's use of language has been interesting. His new word is "willn't." You know, as in, "I willn't do that, mom."
2. DH was trying to help him pronouce his words correctly, like "funny" instead of "punny" and "sorry" instead of "chorry," and after a bit of practice, GT#3 said, "I can't do it, my mouth is too small."
3. Another favorite from GT#3 is, "Ah, dang." Usually it is said after a toy has fallen, he can't find his shoes, or when his sister takes something from him.
4. GT#3 asked me today what lions eat. I said, "animals." He then said, "Animal crackers?"

Funny Kids

GT#1's first song: Old McDonald had a Farm
GT#2's first song: Twinkle Twinkle
GT#3's first song: Twinkle Twinkle

GT#4's first song: Indiana Jones Theme Song

Christmas Sweater Party

Hey Friends near and far...
Do any of you have an awesome Christmas sweater Gabe or I could borrow? You know something real pretty like one of these:

or a Christmas costume of some sort, like this:


There is always fierce competition at a family Sweater party that we go to, and I would like something fun to wear. Let me know. THANKS!!

Good Photos

Here are some good photos of GT #4. I'm sorry, but she is one cute little girl. These photos were taken by Julie Harman-Azares (Priscilla's sister). She also took the picture of the boys in the previous post. I don't have her number but her e-mail is: julizphoto@gmail.com . I know she is looking for work, so if you need some pictures taken you should contact her to see what her rates are.

Good Christmas Greetings

My choice for the family Christmas card:


Gabe's choice:

Draper Temple Open House Reservations

The Draper Temple open house starts January 2009. You can easily request tickets starting today at this link.

Good Thanksgiving

Ok, there were some definite highlights to the day....
-Great food at the Gundersons
-Good conversation with the fam
-Keeping my promise to GT#2 that we would make an oreo turkey


-GT#4, in a rare moment of happiness, carrying around the toy whip and Indiana Jones satchel singing, "dat,dat,dat"
-Reflecting on the many things I am thankful for


Ok, there were some not so great things, too...
-GT#4 being sick from both ends all day
-DH not feeling well
-Having to leave the party early

Fingers crossed that we can bump that "good" to a "great" next year.

Good Records

I use to be really good at keeping a journal. Sure, the details were scarce, but I documented for history what I did most days for a lot of my life. In the middle of 2005 I stopped writing, as my heart was broken over something that had happened. I was just too sad to document my feelings, and then I got out of the habit. My record keeping has been sporadic since then. Yesterday, an old journal actually came in handy and it inspired me again to get back in the habit.

My nephew is ready to be ordained as a deacon, but his baptismal record is lost. Though, many of us remembered being at the baptism, others could recall who spoke, and some could say what was served at the brunch afterwards, no one knew the date of the baptism. My MIL was here yesterday and asked me again if I could remember the date. She mentioned that it happened in 2002. Suddenly, I remembered my journals. I told her, "I might have something about that in my journal." I went out to our storage unit (the garage) dug through a pile and found my old journal. Sure enough, I had recorded that on August 31,2002 we went to Eli's baptism.

It felt nice to have saved the day somewhat, as I think they can make a record for him now. Most of all, I was glad that I had kept a journal. I'm determined to do it again.

Ever Wonder what my husband does?

My awesome and ambitious husband is always up to something. He and his brother have had a business idea brewing for a long time, but turned it on high a couple of months ago, and have been working way hard to get it off the ground. Anyway, they are proud to announce to the world Izeni.

Jordan and Gabe both talk about it on their blogs.

Cross your fingers for many interested clients with big wallets and for paychecks soon.

Funny Kids

This is what happens when I leave the produce out. GT#3 is the culprit here. My best guess is that when the first one didn't taste quite right he had to try another one, then when that one also wasn't to his liking he had another. Obviously, they didn't meet his high expectations and so he threw them all away (yes, I fished them out of the garbage, I am that frugal) and went for a banana, the peel, of which was left on the table.

Another Four Eyes

Though the Baugh/Gunderson gene pool produces fairly cute kids, it doesn't produce very good corneas (or pinky toenails, but that is another post for another day).

GT#1 got his first pair of glasses yesterday and just 24 hours later he lost them for an hour.

This is going to be a fun ride.

Good Art Work

I cleaned out the boys art drawers the other day when they were at school and came across the following gems:
From GT #1-
The first is his idea for a new galaxy on "Super Mario Galaxy"

The next one is just one example of something "special" he made for me. (He does this often using less than desirable media, at least the tissue was clean)


From GT#2-
The first is a picture he copied from the following Magazine cover-



This, of course, is a ninja turtle-


The last is an example of his most common theme. I'm not exactly sure what the theme is, but it is recurring.


And Finally from GT#3-
He has discovered colors-

More Flashback Friday, Thursday Edition

Here are some pictures from 2005:

Flashback Friday, on Tuesday

My family history records have been incomplete. I'm not talking ancestors, I'm talking my own. The photos from 2004-2005 were archived somewhere on the deep dark file system (whatever that is), and I hadn't seen them for a couple of years. I'm so happy to report that last night DH was able to find the copies for me. Here are some highlights:

Funny Kids

I know many of you have gone through/are going through a variation of this phase:



He is currently obsessed with Indiana Jones, he's actually downstairs right now playing Indiana Jones with his Fisher Price Little People. He has been singing the theme song non stop for the last 30 minutes during this play.

The boys have watched the first 3 Indiana Jones movies over the last month (with some editing by us). They are anxiously awaiting movie night so they can watch the 4th one (again with some editing). Fun times at the Gunderson's.

Kid Tag

I've wanted to do this tag for awhile.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
#2 My name
#1 Don't pester my brother
My Answer: Be nice, quieter please, turn that down, eat your food...

2. What makes mom happy?
#2 Surprises
#1 When I obey
My Answer: When everything works out well....

3. What makes mom sad?
#2 When we're being rude
#1 when I'm being a meanie to people
My Answer: Contention in the family, contention among friends, contention in the world

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
#2 nothing
#1 Seriously, I don't know
My Answer: My funny jokes, of course.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
#2 shrugs shoulders
#1 I don't know, I haven't been in the past
My Answer: Probably a bit nerdy, between the paper route and dutifully completing my homework there wasn't time for much else...

6. How old is your mom?
#2 33
#1 32
My Answer: 31

7. How tall is your mom?
#2 I do not know
#1 about 3 of my brothers
My Answer: 5'7"

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
#2 washing dishes or doing stuff on the computer
#1 work around the house
My Answer: Spend time with people I love

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
#2 Go to the store
#1 Do chores around the house
My Answer: Sometimes I read, most of the time I catch up on computer stuff

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
#2 spending time doing 10 of the same jobs every week
#1 Being a mom
My Answer: Hmm, there are so many possibilities I can't narrow it down...

11. What is your mom really good at?
#2 Maybe shopping at the store
#1 Working around the house
My Answer: I'm fairly good at a lot of things, I'm not REALLY good at anything (another post for another day).

12. What is your mom not very good at?
#2 maybe drawing ninja turtles
#1 Lifting the whole world
My Answer: Using my time wisely (Case in point, I'm on the computer rather than doing the million other things I need to do).

13. What does your mom do for her job?
#2 watch the kids
#1 Watch the kids
My Answer: Happy Homemaker

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
#2 eggs
#1 Pizza
My Answer: Just about anything served at a decent restaurant...but of course, awesome pizza.

15. What makes your mom proud?
#2 When we are doing good things
#1 When I don't pester my brother
My Answer: Like #2 said, when they do good things

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
#2 Sponge bob
#1 I can't think of any
My Answer: Sleeping Beauty

17. What do you and your mom do together?
#2 drive to school
#1 Ok, this is tough...type on the computer together
My Answer: A bunch of not fun stuff, but some fun stuff like going to the library or park...

18. How are you and your mom the same?
#2 can you give me some hints?
#1 We both have bodies
My Answer: We all like the dad in our home the best

19. How are you and your mom different?
#2 You're a girl I'm a boy
#1 Different sizes
My Answer: Um, I don't horde things like #2 and I don't collect stuffed animals like #1


20. How do you know your mom loves you?
#2 You make things for us
#1 Going to church (not sure what he was going for with this answer)

By the way, #3 did not want to participate and I gave up after he said, "I don't know" to the first 4 questions.

Half full or Half Empty

Some Things I've been thinking about:

Good: Getting to see a bit how a local election works, and helping somewhat by knocking on doors, hanging signs, and making phone calls.
Bad: Feeling disappointed that my Dad didn't win. Results here.

Good: Getting 90 minutes of exercise in today
Bad: Falling 25 minutes short of my weekly goal

Good: Good Thing #4 walking a bit more
Bad: Hurting her nogging when she falls

Good: Having a stranger dog as a running partner for the last 3 miles of my run this morning
Bad: Hoping the dog knows how to get home

Good: Having a cell phone for the first time in my life
Bad: The cost...oh and not knowing how to add applications on it

Good: Having not eaten any candy for 5 days
Bad: Replacing them with misc other treats

Good: Good Thing #3's imaginative play as Indiana Jones
Bad: Constant humming of, "dum ta dum ta, dum ta dum, dum ta dum tam, dum ta dum dum dum"

Good: Nurses recognizing a vision problem with Good Thing #1
Bad: Buying glasses for him

Good: My neighbor letting me use her dryer and duct tape this week
Bad: no bad, just grateful to have clean clothes

Hey, only took me 8 complaints to get to something I couldn't complain about. Not bad.

A Cry for HELP!!! I Can't Take it Anymore!!!

I just wanted to get everyone's attention. I need my dryer repaired. The door doesn't stay closed so we have been taping it shut for the last 3 months. Well, that little trick is not working anymore. Now it pops open but still heats threatening to catch fire and burn us all to death.

Does anyone have a recommendation for an appliance repairman? My last experience, cold calling, didn't end up so well (I was without a dishwasher for MONTHS!).

Thanks!

Milestones to Note

Good thing #4 has decided that walking at times can be fun. She walked back and forth from my DH to me over and over again on Oct 24, and then again on Oct 31. She has not done it since, or between those dates.

I'm mentioned before that she loves books. My boys were not this way. When we get her out of her crib, her new thing is to point to her blanket and then point to the book she wants to look at. I found her the other day trying to climb into the chair in the picture. She had climbed onto GT#3's toddler bed and was stretched from the bed to the chair. I'm not sure how long she was hanging there before I came. I'm not that good of a mommy.

She also likes to point out the pictures around our house. My DH indulges her in this activity more than I do. He walks around and points out all the people. She joins in by saying, "sa,sa,sa." She can also say "shoes, socks" and "Jesus." They all sound like, "sa." She is so smart. Oh, she can also make car sounds. She learned those from her brothers.