I've made some different turkeys, but this one takes the cake! Cute, huh?
After reading the following quote:
"The noblest yearning of the human heart is for a marriage that can endure beyond death. Fidelity to a temple marriage does that. It allows families to be together forever."
-Russell M. Nelson
I just had to tell Bart:
No, silly, I am not claiming divine inspiration! I have been wanting to make a "Made To Match Gymboree" bow/ flower line, so for advice on the latest & greatest Gymboree stuff I called my siter-in-law, Angel.
Angel is always up to date on the best fashions and said that she had just used some Gymboree bucks to buy this darling number for her girls:
Inspiration hit! but I am still not sure; feathers, or no feathers, feathers of no feathers?
Bart loves the feathers; What do you think?
Yesterday I heard Chelsea screaming so ran to see what was wrong. She had tried to clean the toilet and was TICKED that the lid to the toilet had fallen on her cleaning brush & was hindering her ability to get a good scrubbing motion. 
As you can see, we start training our children early to take care of messes. Here Chelsea isn't even potty trained and she is learning to clean the toilet! Doesn't she know that she can wait until she is 18 months before we make her get her hands dirty? I totally think she should milk the baby thing a bit more, but I suppose what we have here is a self- appointed Cinderella!
You go girl!
I am pretty sure that Brian will be a class clown. I can see his little brain thinking up things that will make people laugh. Sometimes it is intentional and sometimes he just says the cutest little 3 year old things. A few casses in point:
1. The other day Brian and I had the following conversation:
Brian: I like you!
Me: I like you!
Brian: I like you!
Me: I like you!
Brian: (After thinking a minute) I like your style!
2. "Cutie's here!"
3. One of Brian's favorite phrases to passionately say is, "Hmmm. I love that!" This is usually said after asking a question, any question. For example the other day Brian asked, "Where are we going?" "To Walmart," I replied. Enthusiastically he said, "Hm. I love that!"
Besides the obvious (taking care of children, chauffering, cleaning- cleaning & cleaning!) I have been starting a bow making business. At some recent fairs I have noticed that everyone was selling the same basic things so I have been on the hunt for something unique to make and sell. What do you think about some of my new creations?
I am thrilled that my bows will be for sale in our local boutique in just a few days! After stocking that store (a much larger project than I anticipated!) I plan to add inventory to my Etsy store . Life is sure fun!
I picture bedtime stories being calm, relaxing and peaceful. The purpose of a bedtime story is to help someone fall asleep... right?
My brother Josh has, um, a different idea. To see a sample of the type of bedtime story Josh would tell, watch the following clip:
Case in point: Josh has told his sweet little daughter stories of "Barbie and the Giant" for years now. Sweet little Katie, who was raised on said stories does not know better and actually enjoys her daddy calmly relating some rather twisted info. These stories usually involve Barbie's head being removed by the giant.
In honor of such imaginings, I have decided to write my own story titled "Josh and the Giant."
Once upon a time in a far away land there lived a funny little man named Josh. Even though Josh was only 30 years old he already had TONS of gray hair so he appeared much older than he was. (Author's Note: This has nothing to do with the actual story, it was simply for descriptive purposes.) Josh recognized that I, his sister Jeni with no gray hair (see previous note), was 2.75 years wiser than he was so he came to me for some advice.
As it happened, Josh had this miserable giant in his life whom he wanted to pull a prank on.
"What about giving him a swirly?" I suggested.
While rolling his eyes Josh replied, "He'll be expecting that. Besides, I am famous for that manuever."
"Right," I contemplatively replied. "Well, what about putting a live, fully fed chicken in his bedroom? Or when he is taking a bath you could sneak in and put a live frog in his tub."
"I've already tried those ideas," Josh replied, then in a mad scientist sort of way said, "I need something new, something fresh!"
"Hmmm," I thought. "What about posting on your blog that his wife is pregnant?"
"That's a tired old idea. I used that one last month."
"You could photo shop that picture of him holding the fish he caught to make it look super teeny tiny and then post it on the bulletin board at work," I suggested.
At this suggestion Josh glared at me and pulled out his wallet to show me the completed copy of my suggestion.
All of a sudden, a stroke of genius hit me. "I've got it!" I declared. "What if you took the tires off of his car and hid them all around town! Wouldn't that be tricky?"
"Jeni! I need some amazing idea, not some 'Boring; done that,' notion!"
With one last grasp I thought up a real doozy. "What if you stripped him naked and tied him to the trampoline?"
After such a "has been" suggestion, Josh threw up his hands in disgust and stormed out of the room, leaving me to contemplate my great luck that I was NOT the giant! Or was I.......?
Readers, some form of these jokes (typically a more diabolical form) were actually perfomed. Josh, may this be a rather terrific b-day & may your children continue to give you many a gray hair!
Love,
Jeni
Posted by Bart.
(In the voice of Hakim, from Aladdin)
May the fleas of 10,000 camels infest the crotch of the person who fouls up your day, and may their arms be too short to scratch.
I wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on Eric. Now Eric has been as close to me as my brothers have throughout the years and we have spent much of our lives living together, from spending summer at each others houses to living with Grandma and Grandpa Hunt during high school.
Over the years I have come to respect Eric for all that he has to offer; he is smart, he has a great sense of humor, he is willing to stand up for what is right, and he is a great friend. Eric is amazing with cars, not only being able to fix them but in knowing about them also, he can tell you information about almost any car on the market today. Now although Eric is great at fixing cars I know first hand that he, by which I mean WE are very expert at breaking them.
I remember a time when we were out looking for a place to go rock climbing and we ended up stuck in a mud hole that rivaled any I have seen since. We worked for hours to get through that mess and eventually did. The problem that we were faced with then was the issue of getting back to the other side since there was no way to get the truck turned around while in it, and there was only one way back to town from that side of the river. We decided that our only chance to make it through was to get a running start and plow through the muck and the mud. With Eric driving we pulled down the road a couple hundred yards and gunned it. We hit the mud at about 35-40 mph; we slid all over the place and slung mud 30feet in all directions. About the time we got to the center of the mud hole we heard a lour KERTHUD to which we both looked behind the truck to see the Monster rock that we had used for leverage tumbling end over end now in pursuit of its assailants. We made it “safely” to the other side and stopped to assess the damage. We climbed under the truck and looked everything over and there was not any immediate damage (shoo! we were off the hook), or so we thought.
"Dude you know that this would be the sweatestA few weeks ago my friend gave us a bunch of peaches. Due to being very ripe and my schedule the following couple of days, they had to be processed that evening. I was pretty positive that I would be up until the wee hours of the morning, but, as it happened, I was sent some angels.
Unfortunately the fresh peach pies (TONS of work!) did not turn out so great, BUT next year I plan to shock everyone regarding my delish, award winning (by then) peach pie.
