100 Truths

1. Real name: Kendra Lee (Balmanno) Frampton
2. Nickname: I don't think I have ever had a real nickname...
3. Status: married
4. Zodiac sign: Taurus
5. Male or female: Female
6. Elementary: Indian Hills Elementary (most memorable out of the 4 that I went to.)
7. Middle School : Kaiserslautern Middle School
8. High School: SHAPE American High School, Gaithersburg High School, James I. O'Neil High School (Yeah I am lucky! 3 high schools!)
9. College: U of NY and SVC
10. Hair color: Brown and gray (for now)
11. Long or short: Long (for now)
12. Loud or Quiet: LOUD!!!
13. Sweats or Jeans : Jeans
14. Phone or Camera: Always have both!
15. Health freak: I always imagine the heath code violations in restaurants... That's not serve safe!!
16. Drink or Smoke: Cherry Coke Zero
17. Do you have a crush on someone: Yes
18. Eat or Drink: I do both...
19. Piercings: 2 in ears (used to have a couple more....)
20. Tattoos: ummm... is my mom gonna read this? I guess she has seen 1...
21. Music: IPod
22. Comedies or Horror: Comedy

FIRSTS:
23. First piercing: first one was age 12
24. First best friend: Amanda Dawn Dunn
25. First award: Best behaved child
26. First crush: Kindergarten, James was his name and we used to hold hands during nap time
27. First Boyfriend/Girlfriend: Some strange kid in Charlottesville
28. First pet: Midnight
29. First big vacation: When I was little.. maybe driving to California???
30. First big birthday: HA!! My parents do not believe in big parties. I was 11 and had 15 girls stay the night.
31. First Car: Oh my wonderful car! White Dodge Spirit. She lived only a week after she was mine. Cris crashed her.
32. First Favorite Song: I Think We're Alone Now....
33. First phone: Sprint?
34. First Surgery: Wisdom Teeth when I was 15
35. First time on an Airplane: Age 11 from Iowa to DC (all alone)

LASTS:
36. Phone Call: Lewis
37. Instant Message: Katie, from like a year ago
38. Text Message: From: Jessica To: Lewis
39. Song you listened to: Tangerine by the Flaming Lips
40. Time you cried: Sunday while watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition (I sat trying to pretend that my nose was stuffy because Adam was looking at me like I was CRAZY!!)

CURRENTLY:
41. Getting on your nerves: Too many to name
42. TV: It is off! Believe it or not it is off!
43. Drinking: H2O
44. Hair: In a bun
45. Wearing: Workout clothes
46. Eating: I just had dinner
47. With: Kids are all in bed and Lewis is next to me on the computer too
48. I'm about to: finish answering these questions and then fold laundry
49. Listening to: Lewis breathing
50. Plans for today: Get to bed before tomorrow

YOUR FUTURE:
51. Want kids: Have 4 already
52. Want to get married: I would love to have a real wedding
53. Careers in mind: I would love to be a SAHM
54. Place of Residency: Draper
55. Car or Truck: I call it a car, the dealership calls it a truck

WHICH IS BETTER WITH
56. Shorter or taller: Shorter, duh!
57. Romantic or spontaneous: I will take what I can get at this point
58. Sensitive or loud: loud
59. Hook-up or relationship: Relationship
60. Trouble maker or hesitant: Depends on who I am with ;), mostly trouble maker
61. The boss in a relationship: Do you have to ask?

HAVE YOU EVER:
62. Lost glasses/contacts: No
63. Ran away from home: No
64. Hold a gun/knife for self defense: ....
65. Killed somebody: Not that I know of
66. Broken someones heart: Oh yes.
67. Been arrested: Define arrested.... I work at a school and I do not want them to know EVERYTHING!
68. Cried when someone died: Absolutely
69. Kissed a stranger: Ewwww, germs
70. Had someone ask you out and you said no: Yes
71. Laughed until you cried: Yes
72. Met someone who changed your life: Of course.
73. Fallen in Love: Over and over
74. Found out someone was talking about you: Yes and loved it!
75. Been Cheated on: If I have been they kept it secret
76. Cheated on anyone: Define cheated....
77. Lost someone special: Yeah
78. Broken a bone: Never

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
79. Yourself: Sometimes
80. Miracles: Yes
81. Love at first sight: Lewis
82. Heaven: Yes
83. Santa Claus: HO HO HO!
84. Sex on the first date: Ewww!
85. Kiss on the first date: Lewis

RANDOMNESS:
86. Righty or Lefty: Righty
87. Last time you saw your Dad: About a week ago
88. Do you like the snow: Yes, in moderation
89. Whats your favorite season: Spring and Fall
90. Can you swim: Yes
91. Ridden a horse: Yes, RANCH!!!
92. Ridden a bike: Yes
93. Photogenic: Not anymore
94. Have siblings: 3 bro, 1 sis
95. Beach or Mountains: Depends on the season
96. Hot or Cold: I would take hot over cold anytime!

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
97. Is there one person you want to be with right now: Yes
98. Are you seriously happy with where you are in life: No, but I am working on it
99. Do you believe in God: Yes
100. Post as 100 truths and tag at least 10 people.
*Sharon, Skyler, Jessica, Connie, Lyndie, and anyone else who reads this blog...

Turbo Jam!!

Here is our workout schedule. I think that if I am proactive and exercise and eat right things will work out. I have been encouraging everyone to eat healthy and it is paying off. My friend Karen started eating healthy soup (even Jess ate ZERO point soup for dinner!!) and using FAT FREE sour cream. I try to eat ZERO point soup once a day for one of my meals with salad. It fills me up but keeps me going.

Mondays-4:30-5:15
Tuesdays-4 (unless we have a faculty meeting, then it is 7:30 am)
Wednesdays- 4
Thursdays- 4:30-5:15
Fridays (as soon as school is over)
Saturdays 2:00

Jennifer bought Turbo Jam workout videos and we are doing them everyday at school. (I did miss today because it was at 7:30 and I am not bringing all 4 of my kids to do a workout. I brought 2 of them yesterday and it ended in me "dropping the F bomb" so I will not be doing that again.) The videos are fun and a good workout too. Plus it is so much easier to workout with FRIENDS then by myself.

Drop The Bomb (Not for younger readers)

This post may not be appropriate for younger readers. Please ask your parents to screen this before viewing for yourselves.

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Today I dropped the bomb. What bomb you ask? The big one. The "F" bomb.

Ha!

I was so irritated that I said it. We were working out at school and I realised that I was late getting the boys to basketball practice. I called Lewis and told him that he would have to take the boys last minute, he was so not happy with that. I got off the phone and was just so frustrated that it just slipped out. Then I went to the car and turned to Haley and Abi, who happen to be in the room when I said it, and apologised.

ME: "Sorry sisters. I said a naughty word. I am sorry. It is a mean word and I should have never said it. We don't talk like that. There are many more words that are better to use if we are mad."

HALEY:"You said a bad word? What word was it?"

ABI: "Yeah, what was it? Did you say stupid?"

ME: "The bad one, the really bad one. It is a really bad word. I will try not to get so mad."

HALEY: "Hmmmm... Yeah, I did not hear you, plus I don't know what that word is."

Moral of the story: Don't drop the "F" bomb around kids, but if you have to do it, do it around Haley and Abigail because they are clueless.

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A few months ago Jason (age 7 at the time) had a friend over and for some reason the "F" word came up. I think they were playing a video game and it said "damn" and so they were discussing cussing.

JASON'S FRIEND: "The "F" word is bad. But I have heard it before."

ME: "You should not say that word. Did you know that whenever you say the "F" word a baby bird dies?" (I only said this jokingly because I had just been talking to the girls about fairies and how they die if you say, "I don't believe in fairies." And then you have to clap to bring them back to life.)

JASON'S FRIEND: "Yeah well, then my mom has killed like a ton a baby birds."

ME: "Yeah, don't worry about it, so have I."

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So my point. It is just a word. It is a crass word that the majority of the time is unneeded. That is until you are late getting the boys and your husband has to take them for you, and he is so unhappy about that, so you need to release the anger that is building up inside so that you do not go and throw the janitor's power saw off of the table in the lunchroom that you have asked him to move twice now and is still sitting there because he either 1. doesn't understand that I NEED it moved NOW or 2. doesn't care what you are saying and he has decided to move it when he feels good and ready to move it, or when he is done with the project that is ruining, yes ruining, did I mention that it is ruining my lunch tables, but the project is taking much longer then expected, like all of his other projects usually do to spite the fact that they are projects that might take someone else 20 minutes to finish, they take hours if not days to finish and meanwhile a kid is going to play with that saw while I am the one in the lunch room supervising and so I am going to be to blame for the missing hand and the blood, oh the blood all over the floor, oh I am so not cleaning that up, it is definitely not in my contract.

Anyway, sometimes the word is needed. Even if it said just in my head.

*Whens my vacation?*

Haley's Ear

Why? Why is it always Sunday night? Haley is screaming that her ear hurts. She says that she can't hear and it is "watery". I am sure that her cold is clogging her ear. So I give her some medicine that the doctor recommended to help dry up the congestion and to clear her ear. Then we decide to give her the drops that they prescribed last time she had an ear infection to numb the ear drum so that they pain goes away. As soon as she sees the drops she throws a fit! Lewis had to physically pin her down with his legs and hold her arms while I took the 3 seconds to put 2 drops in her left ear. She is laying down on my bed watching a show now. The crying has stopped and she is going to fall asleep soon. 

My question is: Why does she have to scream like that? She has had these drops before. She knows that they do not hurt. So what's the deal? I get so mad when she is throwing the fit and then I feel bad for yelling at her as soon as she stops the fit, but I am still mad. I dread ear infections for this reason!! I hope her ear feels better and doesn't keep her, or me, up all night.

Haley on the bus to go tour the Draper Temple

A List

A LIST: Thanks Skyler Again!!

Instructions: Take the following list and bold the items you have completed or experienced.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked (under safe circumstances)
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (don't tell)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping (don't tell my dad)
27. Run a Marathon (yeah right!!)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (short 1 day cruise)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (some of them)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke (so fun, huh, Katie?)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight (beautiful wasn't it Katie?)
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been on television
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving (I wish!)
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check (It was an honest mistake...)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (blanket)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job (NEVER!)
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (NO FREAKING WAY!!)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (long time ago, like 20 years)
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone's blog to your own (Pretty sure I just did :)

8 Things About Me!!

Thanks Skyler!!

Here are the Rules:
1) Post rules on your blog
2) Answer the six '8' items

PS... these are not in order.

8 FAVORITE TV SHOWS
(I do not know how you expect me to choose just 8!!)
1. Biggest Loser
2. Greys Anatomy
3. Private Practice
4. Secret Life of the American Teenager
5. Numb3rs
6. LOST!!!
7. CSI (I watch all of them even though Miami bugs me big time, and Vegas is sad now that Grissom is gone.)
8. All of the MTV reality crap shows that we all watch and are embarrassed to admit to watching (Real World, The Hills, RW/RR Challenges)

8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY
1. Went to Adam's basketball game
2. Went out to lunch with Lewis, Adam, Abigail and our friends the Ewells
3. Dishes
4. Laundry
5. Watched t.v.
6. Went to Sheila (Ewell)'s house and worked on the yearbook pictures and chatted for oh, 4 hours
7. Went to bed early and watched more t.v.
8. Took Adam to get a haircut

8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO
1. Summer
2. Going on a family vacation
3. Trip to St. George
4. Tuesday
5. Having Abigail in school
6. My birthday
7. My interview fir SNA Magazine
8. Trip to DC

8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS
(Utah has limited restaurants so here are my Utah favs...)
1. CPK
2. P.F. Changs
3. Cafe Rio
4. The Cheesecake Factory
5. Chipolte
6. Red Robin (well I eat there a lot, if I like it, that is a different story)
7. Tucanos Grill
8. Goodwood

8 THINGS ON MY WISH-LIST
1. House
2. Losing weight
3. Vacation to Hawaii
4. Paris
5. New clothes
6. Enough money to buy whatever we need
7. To see the New Moon movie!
8. Lunch program to make money this year

8 PEOPLE I TAG
1. Marlo B.
2. Sharon C.
3. Sheila E.
4. Shannon H.
5. Katie St. P.
6. Jessica M.
7. Cockroach
8. Bear

Jason

Jason's Birthday Gift

Please note that he has lost ANOTHER tooth since his birthday. He is now missing 4 teeth, and the top middle right tooth is VERY loose. Th kid looks like he got into a fight and had his teeth knocked out! But he is getting very rich thanks to the tooth fairy!! I love this picture because you can see that the teeth are gone. And he is smiling all by himself, without me asking him to!

I know he needs a haircut, and I need do a birthday post for him. They will both happen, eventually!

Ice Skating

Haley and I went with Mary Ruth and Sage to the ice skating rink over the holiday break. Both of the little girls had been before, but not for a long time. It was very fun, and a good workout. I had to hold Haley's hand the whole time, so it was good that none of the boys wanted to come. I would not have been able to help anyone else. I just would not have had enough hands. After and hour and a half both of the girls had spaghetti legs. We all had a great time.

Enjoy this picture of me, you do not get many of them on here....

The Cutest Ornament

We got the CUTEST ornament from Allison and Marty for Christmas. I meant to post this before we left for Disney but the pictures were still on the camera so I did not get it done. I don't know where they found this ornament but it matches our tree perfectly and it has the exact amount of elves on it! The kids love looking at it and reading all of the names. It was the only new ornament that we added this year, and it is the favorite one on the tree.

Thanks!!

New Years Eve

We tried something new this year, and stayed home for New Years Eve. Usually Lewis and I go out. In years past we have gone downtown for the night, gone to dinner and movie with friends or family, but this year we were so tired from being gone all week to California that we decided to stay home for the night with the kids. We got a babysitter for the afternoon so we could go to the movies. We went to see a matinee of The Day the Earth Stood Still. It was very "green". It was the third movie that we have seen this fall/winter that is all about being environmentally friendly.

When we got back from the movie we played Monopoly with the kids. Then they ate a late dinner/snack of cereal (that is when Abigail had regular milk and vomited for the last time; another post on this later). Abi fell right to sleep, as did Lewis (boo!). Jason and Haley had a slumber party in the living room until midnight and Adam watch television in the basement. I managed to reread the 3rd book in the Twilight series and went to bed afterward. All in all a very quiet and nice way to start the year.

Lewis and Seven sleeping at 11:00 pm

Grosgrain: The Lunch Date Blouse GIVEAWAY!!!!

Grosgrain: The Lunch Date Blouse GIVEAWAY!!!!

Check this out. I love her stuff, and to win a top like this would be great too!

http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/2009/01/lunch-date-blouse-giveaway_13.html

To Whom It May Concern:

Dear M.R.,

You do know that if I had a picture of the vomit I would post it. Alas, when my child is violently ill my hands are usually otherwise occupied holding hair, blocking splash back, or rubbing their back. Next time I will be sure to set the camera on the bathroom sink to catch these wonderful moments.*

Sincerely,

The V.V.V.**



*I know this was a gross post. But I thought it was too funny not to post. I laughed the whole way through.

**Voluptuous Vomit Vixen :)

Got Milk?

Tomorrow morning I am taking Abigail to see an allergy specialist from her pediatrician's practice. Abigail has, what we think, is a severe allergy to milk. When we got home from Disneyland we noticed that her nose was still runny (she had been sick for over a month), she was almost not breathing at night because of congestion and phlegm, her cough was horrible, she still had a low grade fever, bad cramps, and she was VIOLENTLY vomiting everyday. (The rest of us had colds but by the time we got back everyone was better, except for Abi.) Once she vomited she would be fine... usually. We finally figured out the trigger to the vomit. On New Year's Eve she was having a bowl of cereal at about 10 pm before she went to bed, and half way through she got the bad cramps and ran to the bathroom and violently vomited. We were like "THE MILK!!!!" Milk was the only common denominator, she drinks milk or has milk products everyday. Since then we have not let her have any milk and she is better. Until.... Monday was Jason's birthday and we went out to eat. She got ice cream for dessert. Her phlegm came back immediately, she coughed, and ran a low grade fever all night. She is better now that it has been 24 hours, sleeping now without the struggles.

Tomorrow is the preliminary visit. They want to know what we know. They will meet with her and see what she has to say. The doctors did tell me that this can happen. Since she was a preemie she is more likely to develop allergies and develop other problems as she gets older. This is unlike the rest of us that usually out grow allergies and problems as we get older. Hopefully we are on track with this, and will be able to figure this out. Wish me luck. I will update tomorrow with the results.

Picture Problem

As you can see I fixed the picture problem... temporarily. I had to go on and delete some photos so that I could load more on. I need to just pay the $20 for the year and upgrade to the ton of storage. I am sure that is what I will do. My other option is to have the first year of my blog bound into a book, which I wanted to do anyway, but have not gotten around to doing. Most likely I will do both, but maybe not until summer time, when I have more "free" time. (But as we all know, when you have 4 kids, your times is never free.) But until then, I will have to try and refrain from using pictures on each post, even though I am morally opposed to it.

Happy Birthday Jason!!

I know that I have not posted much lately, except for the vacation posts, but my space on Blogger is full so I can't put anymore pictures on. I am working on a solution as I type, so that I can keep blogging.

I feel like a post without a picture, is like a wedding without a groom, or a junkie without his drugs, or a suit without a button (get where I got those??).

Anyways I am trying to fix it.

Movies, Movies, Movies

So this weekend all I did was watch movies and do laundry. No exaggeration.

Friday Night: Went to dinner and a movie with Jessica. First we went to Red Robin... Yummmmm. We always go there because it is next door to the theater. It was fine, as usual. Then we went to see Bride Wars. It was a movie that neither of our macho wonderful men would want to go and see, so we went together. To spite the HORRIBLE reviews, and the chatty ladies sitting next to us, we had a great time laughing at the bridezillaesque antics of the main characters. Perfect chick flick.

Saturday Night: Lewis rented Pineapple Express. Let me put it this way; if you liked Dazed and Confused then you would love this movie. It had some laugh out loud lines, but it was a very inappropriate movie. Which is why we watched it I suppose.

Sunday Afternoon: I was channel surfing, which as you know I do often, and found Underworld was just coming on. I am NOT into sci-fi usually but this one is about vampires and (likens) werewolves and the ungodly creature that they make when they both bite someone who is immune to the poison in their blood.... Anyways! You know how I am with vampires, and these werewolves looked good, so I watched it, and LOVED it. Yes I told Lewis to go and rent me the 2nd one. I have seen parts of it before, but not for a long time. And there is a prequel coming out in theaters soon. Lewis will have to take me to see that one.

Sunday Night: Jessica (again!) and I went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Very long, and very worth it. Yes, it is basically a love story but it keeps you busy watching and wondering what will happen for the whole 3 hours. I will not ruin this one, just in case any of you want to see it. I will tell you though that Brad looked hotter then hot as a young man. And they did a good job making everyone grow older. Worth your $5.50 for a matinee.

I do have to say a thanks to Jessica, for without her I may only go out to see one movie a month. That is about all of the time Lewis and I have for movies together.

If Danny is now Wolf, and Cris is now Bear, then who is Sam? Cockroach???

Friday Night

After dinner on Friday night Adam, Haley and I went back to California Adventure with my dad, and Cris, Marlo, and Ti to ride a ride and watch the light parade. This is the same parade that we used to watch when we came to Disneyland when we were young.

Pete said hello at Haley and she was thrilled!

The last thing that we did before we left for good was get a Mickey pretzel. They are delicious and they come with cheese sauce for dipping.

Bowling

On Friday afternoon we needed a break from the "parks" and decided to go bowling. There was a great shopping center right next to our hotel with a bowling alley inside. It was a plush bowling alley to say the least. We had a great couple of hours, and my dad joined us in the fun.

Lewis actually won, but everyone did really well.

December 27th (Friday)

The sun came out. It was warm and wonderful, except for the wind. We let the kids sleep in and went to Disneyland later in the morning after having a big breakfast.

Teacups!!!


Abigail trying to look like Indiana Jones.


Grandma and the younger cousins. All of these kids were too short to go on the Indiana Jones ride. So they went on Winnie the Pooh instead.

Abigail with Aladdin and Jasmin. They told her that she looked like a ballerina. Then they asked to see her moves and she danced for them. It was the sweetest moment. She was so happy.

Christmas Dinner

We ate at the hotel restaurant. We took up half of the tables. It was so funny. Everyone had a great dinner. The kids were exhausted. Jason even decided not to go back to Disneyland after dinner and stayed at the hotel with his grandma.

Everything you see, even in the background was our group.

Abigail got this phone from Santa and was going around taking hundreds of "pictures" during the meal.

Disneyland on Christmas Day

Merry Christmas!!

Here we are Christmas morning at 8am. Standing under the bridge, right inside of Disneyland, trying not to get soaked while waiting for my brother Cris to get to the park. Don't they all look so happy??? As you can guess, it rained on Christmas. It rained off and on all morning. Lots. That is until about lunchtime. Around lunch it stopped. Just as I was being to get very irritated and want to go home, it stopped. And it did not rain again.

Haley in front of the castle!!

Adam trying to budge the sword.

Everyone trying to budge the sword.

Lewis on the carousel.

All of the cousins on a sleigh, in the pouring rain, right after seeing Santa and the reindeer. About 3 minutes later the rain stopped and only had a few drizzles afterward for the rest of the day.

One of Haley's (and my) favorite rides at Disneyland. Somethings up with Jack!!

Happy New Year!!