my lips hurt REAL BAD.

(does she look like an addict who's just hit a 'BIG SCORE'??? that's cuz she is. and cuz she did.)

i knew the first night i met russ that i was supposed to marry him--that's because he pulled out mentholatum chapstick about 30 minutes into the date. the only people i knew who carried mentolatum chapstick were my dad and his twin brother, my uncle dale.

so it goes that we have a serious "lip chap" addiction at our house. i've always said that if i were stranded on a deserted island and could only bring one toiletry item it would be carmex. even over toothpaste. (YES) 

our addiction manifests itself in chandler--the girl will NOT leave the house without her "chappy", and often picks out clothing with pockets only so that she has a place for it. if her mean mother forces her to wear a dress, she tucks it down in her bra (sorry, love--part of the story) or convinces kristin to sew her a "chappy pocket" like this:

thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:

1. for going away with my girl's club for a night and coming back to a clean house--my man is the BOMB~

2. watching my girls play with a huge tv box. they cut and drew and taped and transformed it into a "house". it always amazes me how many hours a cardboard box can entertain kids. (thank goodness because that's ALL they are getting from santa this year!)

(mia and hadley--homeless orphans)

3. mia's excitement for preschool to start--that ginormous backpack is gonna tip her over, but she's positively in love with it.

4. an unexpected phone call--an old high-school friend ,nicole c.l. ,called me out of the blue this week. she called just to say that she had run across my blog and that it made her laugh. it was that simple. and it made my whole entire decade!! thanks nicole--you are too cool for school! (thank goodness they let us graduate.)

5. haircuts from jody--she hooks us up and my girls look supa-fly. thanks, master-beautician!

i wish i had invented redbox

there's been a red box located in our harmon's neighborhood grocery store for about 2 years. every time i walk into or out of the store, there is a person at the machine and about 3 people standing behind them, waiting their turn.

now they have installed red boxes in front of two of the maverick stores we frequent, and i don't think there's ever, EVER been a time that i've pulled up where somebody is not using that blasted contraption, and others are waiting in the wings. whoever owns red box is laughing all the way to the bank.

i bought a fake louis vuitton purse and wallet in tijuana

i just saw these photos and read that louis vuitton is now the "world's most counterfeited fashion brand", and i had to chuckle....

when i was a senior in high school, louis wallets and purses started creeping up in st. george. we were strangely fascinated by them, and when i was a senior and we went to tijuana on our senior class trip (high class--that's how we rolled in stg.) we wanted ONE thing, and one thing only: fake louis purses.

i bought a purse and a wallet from a mexican woman who assured me that the 40 dollars i was paying was for "the real thing--NOT a knock-off!!" i knew that was a straight up lie but didn't care because HELLO 20 DOLLARS and invested in some sweet faux-happiness. 

my friend kris anne and i even took photos of ourselves with nicole carter's mom's REAL louis purse--we were so lame, but easily impressed like all 18 year olds:

i will spend some fairly unhealthy money on a pair of jeans right now but i refuse to pay a lot of money for a purse.  good thing i'm happy with a cheap fake.

mia's big girl jammies

good news: mia is big enough to fit into the "big girl" jammies that we heart from target:

bad news: mia is big enough to fit into the "big girl" jammies we heart from target.......dangit. how do we get our babies to stop growing? if any of you have that secret, please let me in on it.

kaitlyn's musical obsessions

this is my kaitlyn at 4 years old--she had just discovered at this age that she realized the movies she liked best were dramas & musicals. she liked the disney movies okay, but what really got her excited would generally be a movie she could obsess over, and something usually not quite age appropriate--her first love was "titanic"--yes, i know.  but DAMMIT it was the only movie we could put on and have her watch during our sunday afternoon nap! where she wouldn't come up and bother us! don't judge me please as sunday quality naptime is highly important.

her big 3 were

phantom of the opera--

mature theme? CHECK.

masked monsters? CHECK.

domestic and emotional abuse?  CHECKCHECK.

i rationalized this one, of course, by focusing on the incredible musical score. 
to see the katie's favorite song/scene in the entire movie, clickity HERE

moulin rouge was, again, not a movie that an 8 year old should want to watch over and over, but we hoped that she concentrated on the music and that most of the content went over her head (i know.  i KNOW dammit) because she LOVED this movie.

the particular part she would watch and re-watch and watch again was the "elephant love song" which was a really cool mix of popular love songs, and i must say, ewan mcgregor's voice was pretty dang impressive.  he jumped quite a few hot points in this movie imo.

to see the love song (about elephants?) clickity here

we all love the donny osmond version of "joseph"--katie had many of the songs and lines from the movie memorized like it was her full time job. she loved to turn the volume WAAYYY up and invite all the neighborhood children from the town home complex that we used to live in over to bust a move to some almost christian/mormon(ish) like.
her dad loved "close every door" the very best, so katie watched that song over and over and over and over......and russ would literally watch it over and over again with her.  pretty sweet.

to hear donny osmond at his vocal pinnacle (oh, and did i mention? SHIRTLESS.), clickity HERE

i bought a semi-slutty pair of shoes for vegas and my girls love them

i bought these at target because they met all of my requirements for a "going to vegas" shoe: shiny, gaudy, glittery, a teensy bit slutty, and CHEAP.

so, OF COURSE, my girls are all over wearing these completely age-inappropriate shoes and of course mia is the one who wants them the worst.  she spent the good part of an entire afternoon teetering around on them (and nearly twisting her ankle in the process):

of everyone got a turn with the questionably immoralish shoes

(note to reader: notice the placement of the feet)

startin' em out young.

5 words i hate

MOIST: this word gives me the creeps. it always ends in tears when the word "moist" is used.

FART: my mom hated this word, and so i have tried to continue her legacy. unfortunately, i would rather cuss a blue streak than hear this word, so i think my priorities are a bit....skewed. yikes.

SLUGGISH: yuck. it doesn't sound very good rolling off the tongue.

OKEY DOKEY: just sounds so backwoods, toothless, & hillbilly. makes me want to drop out of high school and search the freeway for fresh road kill.

FLACCID: okay, this is probably the winner of ALL the words i hate. i don't know more than the one definition for it (ewwwwwhhhhhhh, btw) but i just hate the sound of the word. ick.


  

derrill and lana larkin family reunion 2008

we had our family reunion for all of my brothers and sisters up in pine valley at my parent's cabin last weekend, and we had such a great time! family is what makes the world turn round......

what would our reunion be without putting together the u.s.a. puzzle and being timed??? some things we never tire of:

sharing a giggle with grizzly adams:

madi liked the chapstick from uncle russ's pocket--she must have asked for it twenty times:

"it puts the chapstick on it's lips...."

grandma put together an awesome game of "let's make a deal"--i got the old "sex ed" books that she used with us kids--i have a feeling they are going to come in extremely handy.

grandpa paying up to loni, who beat his puzzle-record time. btw, if you know my dad, then you would know that him paying up on a bet that is not golf-related is a RARE THING:

here's the real reason we do this--12 grandchildren!!

i went to park city and all i have to show for it is this ROOTS HOODIE

every single year that we've taken our kiddies up there (since 2001) i have walked into the "roots" store on main street and ooohed and ahhhed over their jackets and sweatshirts and hats. then the olympics came along, and roots came out with even cooler and hipper stuff.

every single year i would also walk OUT of roots, empty-handed, because i couldn't seem to justify paying nearly 100 dollars for a hoodie.  but this year the gods smiled upon me:

today i feel "bitchy".

my friend sent me this mood swing chart where you can put the frame around whatever you are currently "feeling".

katie keeps moving the "i feel magnet" around this one for her mother:

no shock and surprise there, i guess.

this prize makes me feel:

and:

OH, and:

i'm a freak about white church shoes for girls and it's a problem.

i am a little fanatical about some things, others, i just shrug off and say, "eh." i've also always maintained that, with kids, you have to pick your battles--some are worth fighting, others--not so much.

one battle that i've always been willing to fight is the one about my girl's shoes. i have managed, in my 14 years of mothering, to hold tight to my "no cartoon characters" rule with the exception of 1 pair of blues clues flip-flops purchased for chandi because.....she said "pweeeeeese" so many times.  truly a rare moment of weakness. for some extremely ocd reason it brings me joy to not have a single pair of  flashing-lights,  heelies, or disney princess in our possession.

i am even more fanatical about their church shoes--we don't do white in this house. i just can't. it was painful for me even to get the one token pair that went with their baptism dresses, and then they went up into the top of the closet. i don't know if i was ruined as a teenager when i heard amy's mom, viv, talk about no white after labor day, but white church shoes on my girls make me break out into a nervous sweat. and i think they look a little white trash if i'm being completely transparent about such a ridiculous issue but, yeah......the only color shoes my girls wear are black.

 

what i REALLY should have, however, is an aversion to green toenail polish for church........guess that one slipped by me.


and, yes: for the record, i am one of THOSE MOMS who like to dress my kids in matching dresses when they are younger.  but honestly how can you possibly go wrong when you look as cute as these three little ladies:

my heart could just burst looking at this photo.  these girls are amazing.

MOM SUMMER IS HERE or it's the most wonderful time of the year!

(yay!!!!!)