Jul 29, 2008

Our visitor


Just moments ago I got called upstairs to witness a visitor to our house. Where this guy came from we aren't sure, but after trying to convince us to let him in, he gave up and left. Hope you find your home buddy!

Jul 22, 2008

Two teeth down

While at the McDonalds today Alex lost tooth number 2! Here are some shots of him. I just had to post them all! I was trying to get him to pose, and all he wanted to do was eat his cookie!




Crunchy Corn Bran


Ok, this sounds like the most disgusting cereal out there right? But it is SO delicious. I have been in love with this stuff since before I can remember. I was talking to my folks about it last night and that got me to remembering that somewhere in their albums is a shot of me. I had to have been like, 3 and I was in the middle of our family room chowing down right out of the box! Once I nearly choked on some and my brother saved me! Me and this cereal have a history.

So, what gets me into this whole thing? Meijers. I very much dislike going to this store, because it seems that every time we go they are all out of the sale items and because it is a one-stop shop, I always get stuck there for 2 hours. But, we were in the area and they had corn 8 for $2 so we went. While we were there just picking up a few odds and ends, we stopped in the cereal isle. (BTW I saw my friend Katie while we were there and she is looking fabulous!) So, here I am looking for the cheap cereal when I spot it. Crunchy Corn Bran. How had I ever forgotten that Meijers was the only store in Michigan that sold it?! Sweet goodness, at last I found you!!!! Of course I got a bag of cheap stuff, but I went all out and got me a box of pure deliciousness!! I highly recommend you go and get some!

Jul 21, 2008

Wanted: Missing Tooth

Alex and Jacob went to Aunt Mandy's house for a sleepover on Friday. We called to check up on them later in the evening and Alex told us that his tooth was all wobbly. By the time he came home the next day I had forgotten all about it, so I was surprised when Alex said he had pulled his tooth out later Saturday night. Yeah, Alex has done this before. He can't stand loose teeth, so they always come out fast. So folks, here he is in all his toothless glory!

The end of the season

Well folks, the season is over. Jake went to his last game on Thursday. At the end of the game they all received their trophy's for the season. The funny thing is we almost didn't go! The weather on Thursday was miserable. It was in the 90's and it had to be about 300% humidity! Who wants to send their kid out to have a heat stroke!? Well, I got to thinking that the season must be over soon so I checked the website and lo and behold, this was going to be the last game. Crap! Well, we did make it. Jake took a huge jug of ice water and Carl, Alex and I found the shadiest place we could fine and we braved it. No one ended up passing out, but Jacob didn't even want to stay after the game for the pizza. He was out of there! I don't blame him one bit.

Good job Jake, we are so proud of you!


Crazy Rabid Squirrel!

When we were at Jakes last game, there was this insane squirrel that kept coming over. It seems that the scent of Alex's cheese Nips was too much to bear. We had to keep throwing them at her to keep her from jumping in our laps! Carl put one of these photos he took on Caedes. There is a link on the side. You can view it by looking up our name, which is cncbell. Hooray! We are published!Really, there was little zoom on this. She was about 2-3 feet from us at all times!

Augh, they see me!!


Gimmie the cheese cracker, and no one gets hurt!

Jul 12, 2008

Tale of the Recycling Samaritan

Ok, this is embarrassing and hilarious all at the same time.

I went to go do our recycling today. We are really gung ho about this, and have managed to reduce our landfill contributions by half! Seriously folks, couldn't be easier! Anyway, I was at the Wayne recycling center (Wayne Rd. and Forest) doing my weekly drop off. I realized that I also had a bunch of stuff in the truck that had been there forever, random water bottles and such, so I got them out. Well, after I opened the trunk I kept the keys in my hand...can you see where this is going yet?...

Of course they go into the dumpster with all my bottles. AUGH!! Ok, don't panic, They didn't make the clang noise they would have had they reached the bottom. But of course they were nearly empty unlike every other time I have been there stuffing my plastic into any available nook and cranny. So I run back to the car and get my tote out that I keep all my recycling in and take it over to the dumpster to stand on. Totally breaks cause I am no ballerina, but this is a small price to pay folks! I began to gently prod away all the who knows what and finally discover my keys between a booze bottle and a can of pop. The problem was that they were 2 inches farther down than I could reach. NOOOOOOO!!

Luckily, another recycler had come during my mad hunt. I mean seriously, I have never seen more than 1 other person since I have been doing this! I told him that I had recycled my keys and asked if he could help me. I told him he could stand on my tote, it was broken already, when he looked down and saw the 3 inch metal lip coming out of the dumpster at the exact same height as my tote...yeah, now I felt really dumb. So I get up on the lip with him, direct him to the booze bottle and he was able to fetch them for me! Hooray. Of course this is the time to put the icing on the cake by making the comment

"Not only did you help save the Earth, but you also saved me!"

Was that not like, the most "Saved by the Bell" corny line ever?! Why, why do I do these things, I'll never know. Anyway, they guy totally stayed there until I got in my car and left, even though he had been done forever. Probably thought I would do it again after a remark like that.

Jul 11, 2008

Ummmm...I think you have the wrong address...

Ah the funny things that come in the mail when you are named Christina...

Also, the pleasures of once again having a camera to capture the odd moments of our life!

Jul 8, 2008

My latest idea

Yes folks, this is my idea...a composition book. Seriously! Ok, so it's not the book, but what is inside it.

Lately I have been bothered my faulty memory. Some of you are under the impression that I have a good memory, and well, that is just a load of bunk! Big things I can remember most times, smaller things, or appts. , not so well. I live by my calendar...if it's not on it, I don't do it! On the other hand, Alex it seems has been blessed with not only a vivid imagination, but a top-notch memory. It seems that every day he brings up something from long ago that I don't remember right away, and then he has to remind me. That, to me is kinda sad. How can I have forgotten when I slammed Alex's foot in the door?! (don't worry, no Alex's were harmed in the recreation of this memory) Also, Jacob, being who he is, is always concerned about what day something happened. What was the time and day you slammed his foot in the door mom? Beats me dude!

Anyway, the point of all this, is I am doing something to help both them and myself remember all of the silly things we do and say each day. Every night (or sometimes the next morning) I have been writing to the boys in their own composition book. They each have one, and that helps to make it more personal. I tell them about all the things they did that day, they funny phrases that came out of their mouth and just all of the little things that I seem to forget. That way, none of us forget, and my children will know that yes, I did pay attention, even when it seems that I am ignoring them.

I guess the reason why I am blogging about this, is that it is working! I am actually excited about doing this, and have been doing it faithfully. That is a rarity. I used to be an excellent journal keeper, but after I had kids that went down the drain. But I'm back baby, and perhaps I may even take some time to write something down about me one of these days. And yes, I am making sure that every entry has the date and day of the week in it, just for you Jacob.

Jul 5, 2008

Some photos of the picnic

These are compliments of my friend Tamara. So grateful to her for taking some shots of our family since we are STILL without a camera! (is everyone tired of me complaining about this yet? I'll be done soon...)
Here we are doing the watermelon seed spitting contest. Alex managed to get his about 2 feet away from him, but of course I didn't do much better!

Alex and Carl and Jake doing the water balloon toss. Alex and Carl were partners, and I was Jacob's.

Everyone gearing up for the "pie" eating contest. This was really 10 kissables buried under pudding and whipped cream. The first one to dig out all of their candies and spit them out onto the clean side of the plate won. The guy sitting next to Jake was the winner, but you wouldn't know it by Jakes reaction when he got all 10. :)

Alex attacking his pudding pile with a vengeance.


Jacob's celebratory victory whoop! Sorry for the weirdness of this picture, but I had to crop out the innocent adults who were just as messy and looked pretty ridiculous. I will let them embarrass themselves at their own discretion! ha ha

Jul 4, 2008

Happy Fourth of July!


What a fun day we have had! Again, wishing we had a camera, but it should be here tomorrow or Monday the store said. Anyway, we went to our Ward's picnic this afternoon and had a blast. Alex and I spit watermelon seeds, Jake and Alex did the "pie" eating contest and all of us did the water balloon toss. I KNOW that I have some pictures coming of us from some of these events due to our lovely friends and missionaries. Elder Nielsen got an AWESOME one of Jacob during the pie eating contest. Good stuff. Tonight the fun continues as Carl's parents come over for some steak, potatoes and fireworks. I hope that everyone is having a great holiday!

Jul 3, 2008

Pictures of an All Star

Jacob was able to receive his All Star Certificate at the end of Tuesdays game. Luckily Aunt Mandy has a camera on her phone and was able to snap a few shots. I REALLY miss my camera!!!