Amazing Pictures

So I have a brother in law, R-Jay Ruiz, who is fantastic at drawing. When Marquis was between 18 months and 2yrs he drew a sketch of him and gave it to us for Christmas. This year he did it again, only this time of Kaitlyn. They are amazing and this picture just doesn't do them justice. Thank you R-Jay for all of your hard work. We think you are awesome!!

Full Heart

Please beware that right now I am completely full of emotions so this post is going to be intense. I just got a swift kick in the pants emotionally. I'm wasting precious time with my children worrying about getting my house in order and the things that I need to do. I've forgotten how to take a day and just spend it entirely with my children. I recently came across a blog of a mother who lost her child. How humbling. I am so incredibly thankful to, at least not yet and hopefully never, have not been faced with such a challenge and unbelievable struggle. I'm still crying now writing this entry. I feel ashamed at how much time I have wasted. My children are my world and there is nothing wrong with that. It's okay for me to spend all day with them and neglect other things once in a while. I've had this perfect housewife scenario in my head and since I haven't been able to accomplish it I've felt as though I have failed so miserably. Yet I look into my children's eyes and I know I haven't failed. I love them so much. My time is best spent with them. They won't be small very much longer and I want to just cherish every minute with them. I will not allow distractions to the most important part of my life, my family.

Cookin' with Rachel...

When I was growing up my parent's had a really sensitive smoke detector. That thing went off with heat not just smoke.We always teased that the smoke detector was our "dinner's ready" call. Well, apparently I'm trying to keep that tradition. (Only my smoke detector isn't that sensitive:) ) Tonight, while I was broiling steak for our delicious steak sandwiches, our smoke detector went off. If you could have seen the craziness that was happening at that moment you would have been laughing along with me. It's not unusual for the smoke detector to go off when I make this meal because it does smoke a lot but this time when I opened the oven I saw flames...yeah, for future reference don't put aluminum foil on the bottom of the pan...not a good idea....but I was just trying to save clean up time later...anyway, my first thought was get water...but then of course I remembered that it was grease on fire and water would be VERY bad...so I grabbed the baking soda and shook a bunch on the flames...and incidentally our meat too...:(....that worked....now imagine in the background Marquis holding two pillows up to his ears screaming "Mommy, turn it off! Turn it off!! Kaitlyn is screaming because Marquis is screaming and somehow Mike is still napping through this whole mess. I tried to run out to the garage to grab our floor fan I'm yelling to Marquis to please turn on the living room fan...but his pillows are blocking the sound and he will not put them down for a second to turn the switch. (He is incredibly sensitive to sounds.) Anyway, I was able to salvage the meat and our sandwiches turned out fine. Thank goodness!! All's under control in the Zobell kitchen....for now! :)

Super Saturday

This past Saturday our Ward had the annual Super Saturday. This is the only time of year that I do any sort of craft projects. I think I did pretty good, especially considering my severe lack for craft talent. :)

The Biggest Loser

I'm not usually a huge fan of reality shows...most of the time they are pointless...however, I love the Biggest Loser. Almost two weeks ago I was watching the Biggest Loser I'm so impressed with how much the contestants are able to accomplish. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to do those work outs let alone doing them in front of millions of people. I was motivated to do something about my own health and weight. I've thought about it for a long time. I've begun a "diet" and then within a few days given up. I'm a big emotional eater so I'm almost doomed from the start. I decided to join the Biggest Loser Club. I thought that maybe if I have money invested in my losing weight and eating healthy that I might actually stick to it. Well, I'm proud to say that last week I lost 4 pounds. That's HUGE! I'm so proud of myself. I can't believe I have done it. I have made a chart that goes in my kitchen with my goals on it and when I accomplish my goals for each day I get to put a sticker on my chart. (I'm such a kid at heart :) ) On a side note, Marquis saw my chart and smiled really big and said..."Mommy, is that your potty chart?" I had to laugh. He is so sweet...I explained that this is my exercise chart. He even told me good job for my stickers...aren't kids the greatest?

Halloween :)

Isn't he getting big? Such a cute little boy! :)

Kaitlyn loves to smile for the camera! :)

Aren't they adorable! Kaitlyn is such a ham for the camera! :)

Band Aids...

Marquis loves band aids. He is always asking for one. Yesterday morning he wanted one on his face so to humor him I gave him one. I took it off around dinner last night and there was this horrible mark where the band aid had been. It was a perfect outline of the band aid with raised bumps all over. I guess he is allergic to that particular adhesive. I had no idea you could be allergic to adhesive! Oh well! The picture was taken this morning...it looks a lot better in the picture than it did last night.

Sticky situation...

One of our magnets fell apart and I thought I would fix it. Really easy just needed some super glue. I was very careful, I even made a mental note not to touch the glue so I wouldn't get it on my fingers.....Well, I put too much glue inside the magnet and it seeped out. I didn't realize this and put my finger on it and without thinking I used my thumb against that finger to rub it off....Yes, instantly bonding my fingers....I had to laugh I mean come on my fingers were stuck together. I tried olive oil...I don't know why I just thought I had read something about using it if you get glue on yourself. Yeah, that didn't work. So, I went to the internet...I love the internet. If you find yourself in this same situation use finger nail polish remover. I soaked my fingers for like five minutes or so and they came right apart. Go me!

Hair Cut

Yesterday, Molly came over and helped me cut Marquis' hair. He really doesn't like to get his hair cut so it's quite an ordeal at times. Overall I think he did fairly well. This morning I found Marquis with a pair of scissors...yes that's right he was trying to cut his hair. Luckily, I found him in time. He had cut one patch out of the front of his hair but I don't think you can tell....I hope not anyway.

Our Pumpkin

Marquis loves Halloween. He loves all the decorations and the costumes and of course the candy. He was so excited when we bought our pumpkin a week ago and he wanted to "dig" it right away. I tried to explain to him that it was too early to carve the pumpkin it might rot if we did it now. He didn't like that answer much and continued to be persistent asking every day for about three days or so. Finally, we came to a compromise. I told him we could draw the face on paper and then cut it out and tape it to the pumpkin he loved the idea and here is our "masterpiece".

You Win

I'm giving in. I want a place to kinda journal what happens with my family. I want a project, not that I need another thing to add to my already very busy life...but this is something for me. I think I really need my place and this is going to be it. :)