Warm weekend fun!

This weekend was SO warm! We had 69 degrees on Saturday and Luke has been begging to jump on the trampoline with the sprinkler, so at 69 degrees - WHY NOT?! They all had a blast! Too bad it snowed a little bit again today! ARGH! I wish the weather would get warm, and STAY warm! One day snow, the next day 70 degrees! IT'S MADNESS! The photos I took just weren't that great, so you only get to see one. The trampoline is half shaded, half in the sun - and the sun was SOO bright! Luke's poor white skin looks even whiter with this light! Not the greatest photography conditions!

We definatly enjoyed the little "tease" we got with the warm weather. We're ready for more!

Idaho Bar

All the hard work has paid off! Steven passed the Idaho Bar!! He will be "sworn in" on the 24th, and then he can officially practice in Idaho (in addition to his Oregon Bar Membership!) Now the move to Boise is really official! HOORAY!

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY BRYNLEY!!

Today is Brynley's 2nd Birthday! We had strawberry shortcake and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. (YUM! she loves "strawberry shortcake" both the doll and the dessert!)

She loved opening presents too. I think her favorite present was her Pink Vaccuum from mom and dad. once she opened that, it was all she could think about! She also really likes her new pink/purple trike from grandma and grandpa though too.

(She got lots of really fun girly things! She got a cute cupcake outfit from grandma and right off had to put the sweater on!) We had the party at my mom and dad's house. All my siblings were there, my dad's sister brought over my grandparents and then Steven's mom and 2 sisters came as well. It was a full house for sure! And... of course I took a million photos and here a few.

Conference Weekend

I love being able to stay home and watch conference in my PJ's. It's so nice to be able to send the kids off to play, and actually get to listen to a little bit of what's being said. We found this cool conference packet to print out. It worked for about 5 minutes on my kids (Well, Michael worked on it for quite a while - but the other two scribbled for a couple minutes and were totally done!). I love our new Prophet - Thomas S. Monson and his stories. Hopefully tomorrow the kids will behave so we can get in a little more of conference - Thank goodness for our DVR!! Tomorrow is also Brynley's 2nd birthday so we'll head over to La Grande to mom and dad's for a party! She's finally learned how to do "2" on her fingers and has proudly been showing everyone. SO CUTE! I'll post pics of the festivities tomorrow eve.

More about me

Alright Maria... here it goes!


1. What time did you get up this morning? I think it was around 7:30 - basically we woke up late!

2. Diamonds or pearls? Well, I wear 3 diamonds on my wedding ring - but I'm not a fancy jewelry person!.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Probably Alvin & The Chipmunks

4. What is your favorite TV show? Greys Anatomy, ER, Anything on Discovery health

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? whatever I scrounge up for my kids.. I try to vary because they get sick of the same things.

6.What is your middle name? Michelle

7. What food do you dislike? Fresh Tomatoes

8. What is your favorite CD at moment? Hmmm... I don't know. I just downloaded some daughtry for my zune - he's not too bad!

9. What kind of car do you drive? Kia Sedona - and I hate it!

10. Favorite Sandwich ? Grilled turkey from Helaman Halls at BYU.. probably will never have one of those again, but I was totally hooked!

11. What characteristic do you despise? Tattling - there's been a lot of that lately and I can't stand it!

12. Favorite item of clothing? I also love my American Eagle Jeans.. but I'm hoping to LOVE my new modbe swimsuit. Is that ok to say you LOVE a swimsuit? We'll see when it arrives!

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? We want to take the kids to disneyland. Or just somewhere that doesn't have snow right now.

14. Favorite place to shop? I've been having fun at American Eagle lately, and I've actually found some pretty cute stuff at Maurices. YES.. Baker has a maurices (and that's all we have!)

15. Where would you retire to? Who knows! We are getting ready to move to Boise, so maybe if we like it there - we'll stay?!!

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? Well, last year we were in Portland and I went to the Body World Exhibit at Omsi. Nothing like looking at a bunch of dead plastinated bodies to kick off my 27th birthday! (Actually I was totally fascinated! Very cool exhibit!)

17. Favorite sport to watch? Well, i don't just sit down to watch sports on TV - but anything is real life is fun to go too. I just watch the kids' sports right now.

18. Did you graduate from college? Not yet.. still working on that!

19. Where did you meet your hubby? La Grande 5th Branch on FHE night.

20. Favorite hobby? Taking Pictures and Scrapbooking them (or displaying them) I love playing with Adobe. I wish I had more time to 'play' though!

21. When is your birthday? Sept. 21st

22. Are you a morning person or a night person? night - although I find it increasingly difficult to make it much past 10 or 10:30!

23. What is your shoe size? 7

24. Pets? No - I have 3 kids and a husband! Who needs a pet!

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? We're moving to Boise the first weekend of june.. not super exciting, but it will open some new doors.

26. What did you want to be when you were little? An OB or NICU nurse - and I still do!

27. How are you today? Pretty good actually - a little tired, but not stressed out like usual!

28. What is your favorite candy? Do Choc. covered strawberries count?

29. What is your favorite flower? Any flowers will do - I'd just like to be suprised with some! I would love a huge batch of gerber daisies in BRIGHT colors! I like tulips too.

30. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? April 6th - Brynley's 2nd birthday

31. What is the latest book you have read? I only read my texts for school.. not very exciting!

32. What is your full name? Brandy Michelle Fisher

33. What are you listening to right now? We recorded LOST on the DVR, so I'm listening and typing as Steven watches in the other room.

34. What was the last thing you ate? Banana Nilla Wafer Pudding. Today was my dad's 58th birthday.. mom put 58 candles and almosted melted the cool whip!

35. Do you wish on stars? I think I used too - that might be fun to start again!

36. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Blue or Pink

37. How is the weather right now? Well, it was nice and sunny, now it's dark.

38. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My sister - she couldn't figure out how to get her wireless to work on her laptop at Mom's house. I wasn't much help.

39. Favorite soft drink? Root Beer or Sierra Mist

40. Favorite restaurant? Anything Italian - Macaroni Grill, Olive Garden, Spaghetti Factory (just discovered there's a new one in downtown Boise! Whoo hoo!)

41. Hair color? brown, with lots of blonde highlights. I was really wishing for Summer last week! It did perk me up a little to go light!

42. What was your favorite toy as a child? I really don't remember

43. Summer or winter? SUMMER! We've been through so much snow I don't care if I ever see it again! (Ok.. maybe I would like to ski next winter.. so maybe a little snow is ok)

44. Hugs or kisses? hugs

45. Chocolate or Vanilla? vanilla

46. Coffee or tea? GROSS

47. How many sibling do you have? 3. 1 Sis, 2 Brothers

48. When was the last time you cried? I'm not much of a crier - maybe after Brynley was born. But that was the hormones crying - not me!

49. What is under your bed? some shoes, Brynley's birthday presents and hopefully that's it!

50. What did you do last night? microbiology homework

51. What are you afraid of? Losing one of my kids while they are young.. I hope I never have to go through that

52. Salty or sweet? salty - I'm a popcorn with "extra salt" addict

53. How many keys on your key ring? a lot

54. How many years at your current job? Mom: 7 years, student: forever!

55. Favorite day of the week? Monday, Wednesday & Friday (Luke has preschool)

56. How many towns have you lived in? 6

57. Do you make friends easily? I seem to be a little on the shy side when meeting new people and it takes me a while to warm up.

58. Who is most likely to post these on their blog? Lindsy and Lindsey (you know who you are!)

What is that?

luke: Look mom! Look what I made!

mom: What is that Luke?

luke: I dont' know. Just a thing with tape.

mom: What is it for?

luke: I don't know. I just made it.

mom: What can it do?

luke: It can do all kinds of things!

end of conversation.... (I wasn't really getting anywhere with this!) And if you can see in the photo (kind of hard to see) he wrapped up some paper clips in all that tape! What a goof!

Boise Weekend

This weekend we went to Boise and stayed with our friends the MILLER's. They are a fun family to hang out with! They have 5 girls and our kids love playing with them. We ran some of our errands, including a trip to kiddie kandids. (See new kid photos at right) We went mainly because it is Brynley's birthday on Sunday and I wanted to get new photos of her. Here are a couple cute ones from the sitting. (Besides the one at right). SHe LOVED posing for the camera and smiling. She thought it was great! I'm glad because last time she was scared of the photographer and didn't want anything to do with sitting for photos! We also spent some time looking around at places to live. I have to start class at Boise State on June 9th, so moving time will be coming quick!

Getting Crafty

It's been awhile since I've done anything really crafty (ie cards or scrapbooking) but since Brynley's birthday is coming up quick I decided to make her birthday invites. Here's how they turned out! The top of the cupcake is covered in glitter, I attempted to crinkle the cupcake bottom (although I wasn't thinking when I ran them through the xyron.. they flattened back out, so I re-crinkled them after.. still not as good as the original, but cute anyway) I also used rub-on's from pebbles for my "you're invited." I love my sewing machine! That little bit of stitching just added that little extra I was looking for! (Oh - in case you're wondering the paper is the new Shabby Princess BoBunny line (ELLA) that came out at CHA. (at least that's what I was told at the scrapbook store!) All this card making makes me want to do more! (scrapbooking that is!)

Lots to Say!

There has been lots to post about in the past week! We had Luke's Family party - he got a Nintendo DS from Grandma - so that has been his obsession since then! He got a lot of other neat stuff as well. Easter was fun this year. Except we had kids in 3 different age groups! Yikes! luckily michael is old enough to hang out with friends while Steven and I helped the other 2. Brynley thought she was "cleaning up" the park! It was cute.

We died Easter eggs and we also had a little easter hunt at grandma's in La Grande on Sunday.

Attempts at getting a good easter photo of all 3 kids failed, and here's what I got! I attempted to curl Brynley's hair but it was dead within an hour - OH the joys of super fine, straight, baby hair! Even with hairspray and a little styling foam it still went flat! Oh well, she looked cute for me anyway!

We'll be going to Kiddie kandids this weekend to have Brynley's 2 year pictures taken and a photo of all three of the kids. I have always been so pleased with my photos from kiddie kandids - so I'm excited to see how they are going to turn out!

Sitting on the Roof

Yes - Luke is on the Roof. I was inside cooking dinner and told them they could jump on the trampoline outside. Well, next thing I know Michael is running in to tell me that Luke is stuck on the roof. Only about half believing him I went outside - and sure enough.. There was luke - ON THE ROOF! He thought he needed to retreive a toy he threw up there a few days earlier. Still not really believe what I was seeing I asked him how he got up there and he said that Michael stood on our little 2 step-ladder and he "climbed" up Michael. (All while on the trampoline). Our roof is a little close to the trampoline - but NEVER did I think that one of the kids would try to climb up there! I guess the trampoline is getting moved tomorrow. Michael thought I needed to call 911.. Luckily steven was almost home so Luke got to just SIT there and not move until Steven got home. That kid has no fear.

For Dr. Schott!

This video is for you "Dr. Schott." After we got home from our Dr. Appointment today Brynley kept saying, "Dr. Schott, Ear hurts... pull it!" It was pretty funny. Here's a video clip of her attempting to say Dr. Schott. SO CUTE! She was very proud of herself (as you can see!)

Little Lady

She is growing up WAY too fast! Her vocabulary is getting HUGE and if she can't say it right, she gets so frustrated and keeps repeating until you figure out what she's trying to say! This morning I was cooking some blueberry muffins and she told me she was "hungy" so I asked her to look through the oven window and tell me what was inside. (I was expecting her to say "cocakes - for cupcakes" but she said "MUFFINS" and it was completely clear and perfect! I was shocked! Every day there are just so many new words! It's fun to hear her cute little voice!

Here's a couple pics I took the other day in her cute little demin dress with ladybugs. For some reason she actually likes the hat and loves to have it on! (Another shocker!) She was watching her "princesses" on TV (Barbie's Princess & the Pauper) so no smiles in these photos!

Party Chaos

There's nothing crazier than a 5 year old's birthday party! It was a lot of fun, but we were definately glad when it was over! We played some duck duck goose, (a favorite at this age) stick the spider on the web, a ball toss game, pinata, presents and cake/ice cream! We managed to get it all done in just a little over an hour! WHOO HOO! The lighting in our house is horrible, so I have to use a flash which is TOTALLy too bright.. but oh well! (Oh and did I mention it's really hard to get a picture of the birthday boy WITHOUT a million kids in the pic? Oh well, maybe on Saturday with our family party I'll get a better one! I knew I should have done it before the party, but you know how things go when you're scrambling to get ready!) Here's a few pics of the madness..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUKEY!

Today is Luke's 5th birthday! He is SOOO excited! He has been waiting for this day since Feb. 4th (Michael's Birthday). He has finally made it to the big day on his spiderman birthday calendar! I got his cake finished up last night and he LOVES it! His day will start off with preschool. Today they are going to visit their "grandfriends" at the nursing home and treat them to an easter egg hunt. Then I will take pizza to school and another mom is going to bring cupcakes since her son's birthday is tomorrow. Then at 3pm he'll have over a few too many friends and we'll party! I'll post pics of the festivities later! Here's a pic of his cake that I finished last night at 11pm! I'm by no means a cake decorator, but it turned out alright!

Red-Headed Bandit Strikes Again

So yes, He did it AGAIN! This time it was the same store (Albertson's) and it was a pack of Hubba Bubba Bubble gum. But this time he made it all the way home with it and kept it quiet until late at night when he was supposed to be asleep and decided to share some with his brother. Michael (being the BIGGEST tattle tale on the planet) announced the next morning, "Oh, by the way mom... Luke stole a pack of gum." So yesterday Luke and Dad went to Albertson's and spoke with the "woman in charge" and he got to pay for his gum, but didn't get to keep it. Maybe he gets it now? That's what we thought last time! I just hope he doesn't apply the 5-finger discount anymore, or we are going to be banned from grocery shopping at Albertson's!

He is getting so grown up though - his birthday is in just 1 wekk and he will be 5! He is so excited and loves marking a day off on his Spiderman Calendar to help him count down the days. He finally stopped asking me when his birthday was after he got his calendar. Now he can go and count the days himself!

Cute Girly Things

I found a cute shop on Etsy the other day - candyland beads, which makes cute little things out of clay. I made these cute little hair clippies for my niece Makayla. I thought they were so cute I just had to share!

I will work on Brynley's next. They even have a lot of beads to match the newest gymboree lines out now - my favorite is their little turtle with the bow! I got one and will make brynley a bracelet with it to match her turtle attire. Here's a photo of brynley all decked out in turtle. (she's getting quite good at saying "cheese") She has the purse, hair clips, shirt and socks. She loves her "turtle bag" from grandma! I can't wait to see how she likes the bracelet! (I have to wait until we hit michael's again to get the beads though). It's so much fun having a little girl!

What happened?

So we try to teach the kids right from wrong, and today Luke really pushed the limits. We ran into Albertston's to get milk and a couple other things and when we got out to the car, michael says "Luke stole a camera mom." I looked back and sure enough, he was proudly displaying a disposable camera he had stolen from the store. I had already gotten Brynley all buckled in her seat, but we got everyone out and marched Luke right back to the store. He had to take the camera and apologize to the lady at the checkstand. He was NOT very happy about this. I have caught him a coulple of other times trying to grab a piece of candy or gum when I've told him we weren't buying any. My friend's hubby is a cop, so maybe scare tactics will work... so far the little talks on why he can't take things (even though he wants them) aren't working.

Time for new suits ladies!

Ok.. so normally I don't really like swim suit shopping, but my friend is a modbe consultant and they have got the CUTEST swim suits ever in their 2008 swim line! I'm having a party on March 20th.. so if you want anything, let me know or come on over! CUTE STUFF! In the mean time - check out Erin's site @ http://www.erinjohns.mymodbe.com/

This is the suit I'm going to get.. I think!

Busy Week!

A few days a go I thought I would involve the kids in making Becky Higgin's Banana bread recipe (Yummy! See the recipe portion of her blog - link is on the side of my blog). There's some photos of them "helping" Michael was the only one strong enough to smash the banana's. Luke filled up all my muffin tins and Brynley cheered them on with a mouthful of banana! The muffins turned out yummy - althought I cooked them a little longer than I should have - but they never really did get brown on top .. they were just a little more dry than they should have been. Those mini-muffins cook quicker than I thought they would! Anyway - the chocolate chips we added made them SOOO yummy! The kids just ate them up!

As far as what's been going on this week - Michael and I had our picture in the paper. My face is still chubby from the meds I took last month (Oh ya.. did I ever post that I broke out in hives?? Anyway - the prednisone was awful, but did help with the hives. We probably won't really know what caused it... hopefully it stays away!) Anyway - here's a link to the story and photo. http://www.bakercityherald.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=6012 All this studying for the bar is making me crazy! I don't know who has it worse.. Steven who has to study, or me who has to pick up the slack while he's been gone so much! If I don't get some time out AWAY and ALONE soon I think I might just go crazy! But the end really is in sight. The exam is Monday afternoon and all day tuesday - he'll be back home by Tuesday evening. WHEW! Not to mention all the ear infections (Brynley & Luke) and just the normal cold's going around. Brynley's most frequently said words have been "HOLD YOU MOMMY!" and that's exactly all she wants. To "Hold you." That's sweet at times, but when I'm trying to do laundry or cook dinner.. or just anything I need 2 hands for, it's a little difficult with a 23 lb weight on the hip! Oh - and the other added stress for the week was the van. I did drive by today and saw that it was in the shop - rather than in the parking lot, so they must have gotten the new transmission in on friday! I hope it gets done soon!

Speaking of Brynley - I'm sitting here playing with my blog, trying to get my music and pictures all back on when I start smelling something. I turn around (because she's laying on my bed.. supposedly falling asleep...) and she says "LOTION MOMMY, EAT!" Well, not exactly lotion - but she had the vicks vapo-rub that was sitting on my dresser! She had rubbed some on her feet, neck and hands. What a greasy little girl she was! She is definately our "busiest" girl as far as getting into things and causing "mischief" (that's a new word michael learned at school a few weeks ago, and uses WAY too much!).

Sweet Strawberries

Well, I thought I would be sweet and make some chocolate covered strawberries to take to Steven and the others at his work. I got them all finished up and then ran to meet my mom who had forgotten something at my house. Right when I met with her, my "check engine" light went on and my transmission died. Thank goodness she was right there because she was able to take me and the kids back home so I could figure out what to do with our ONLY vehicle! The nice guy at the Transmission place loaned us a van for the next week and a half until he can get the new transmission in (he won't even receive it until next friday!). He was nice enough not to make us rent it from him. Now just to figure out where the $$ will come from to pay for a new transmission! Because of all the drama with the van I wasn't able to get the strawberries to work in time.. so I guess the one good thing that came out of valentine's day was that I got to eat way more Chocolate covered strawberries! YUM! Don't these look yummy! (PS... They were!!)

Happy 7th Birthday Michael!

I can't believe it! Michael turned 7 today! He is growing up so fast! He's doing very well in school - very smart in all subjects. I think Math is probably his favorite subject and his best. Today we took cupcakes & hawaiian punch to school. Michael wanted chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting.. and don't forget the sprinkles! He wanted a lego-themed birthday so I found some cute lego cupcake picks on ebay. The kids loved it! Here's a few pics from Saturday when we had his family party. Some of his aunts/cousin's were unable to come due to the bad weather, but hopefully we'll see them this week! He got a lot of legos for his birthday, some cash, a new Bionicle PS2 game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles DVD, Tennis racket & Balls... etc etc! He got a very embarrasing Hoops & Yoyo card from Grandma Pam.. when he opened it it i

says.. MMM MMM MMM YOu are looking Fine.. and then goes on and on about how they could just eat him up.. yum.. etc! It was so funny to watch him turn red! Oh - and in case you're wondering what that cake is supposed to be... it's a LEGO! It looked kinda funny when it was all done - but Michael said it was the BEST LEGO CAKE EVER! That's what is great about kids! They don't really care if it's a little crooked, or you can see some chocolate crumbs showing through the frosting.. it's a cake, and he was happy with it!

Strawberry Shortcake!

So grown up!

Look at these 3! They are growing up so fast! They are all so much more grown-up looking! Especially Brynley and Michael! I took this photo sunday before church . I love playing with photoshop and adding little splashes of color back to my black & white photos. It's very addicting!

OH SNOW!

We are getting pounded by more snow! Sunday night we got another 6 inches to add to our collection, last night another inch and a half and it's currently a blizzard out there! If only it weren't for the snow plows who feel the need to do our street at 4am! (they are as bad as the garbage man who comes by at 5!) I'm ready for the snow to go away!!! The kids are having fun though - here's a few pics from yesterday.