Just a quick post...

(Let me apologize in advance for those of you who don't like obnoxious music on blogs, but this one actually serves a purpose.) Because I love reading new posts on all of your blogs so much, I though I would write a quick one about what I have been doing the last few days. To give you a hint, when I wake up in the morning, my hands and wrists ache - like I have advanced rheumatoid arthritis. Any ideas? OK, how about this - I have songs like "Barracuda" and "Black Magic Woman" continuously playing in my head. Let's see who is the first one to guess correctly!

Spa Night

Emmy and I played day spa again last night with some facial masks that Santa put in our stockings. Emmy's was kind of funny because it hardened and then she had to peel it off. We got some great pics...

Christmas Review

Ahhh, what is Christmas without a sick child? I don't think we've ever experienced one, and with more children, you increase your chances. But even with Simon's stomach bug which involved multiple washings of car seat upholstery (including a good hosing down of the car seat itself), high chair, bedding, and many outfit changes, we still managed to have a great holiday. Here's a little slide show....

Introducing Spence Blake...

Check out my nephew, Spence (15 years old)...

An Eventful Weekend

This weekend started out great, but quickly went downhill when Simon got a stomach bug on Saturday. He threw up in his car seat on our way to Bountiful. He soaked himself and the car seat pretty bad, so we had to stop and buy him an outfit since we weren't going home anytime soon. He acted just fine after that, so I convinced myself it was just a one-time thing and he probably just gagged himself with the keys he was playing with. We went ahead with our plans to go see Alvin and the Chipmunks with Connor and Emmy Sat. night while my mom babysat. That was so much fun to be with just the older kids for a while. I realized how much freer my hands used to be about a year ago! But when we brought Simon home, he threw up 3 times during the night, the kind where you have to stick him in the bath to get the throw up out of his hair and wash all the bedding and blankies multiple times. It was a long night.

Needless to say, he and I didn't go to church today which is too bad because Emmy and I were supposed to sing "Mary, Did You Know?" in Young Womens that we had been practicing all week for. Zach went to church alone since he was teaching in Elders Quorum. Despite being sick, Simon still looks and acts normal. Here are some pictures I took of him this weekend. He loves to pull himself up behind the baby gate and rattle the bars. I'm trying to teach him to make monkey sounds at the same time but so far he isn't catching on. I thought that would be pretty funny. Connor, Emmy and I did manage to get out in the snow this afternoon which we haven't really done this year. I keep forgetting my kids feet continue to grow every year and don't get them boots that fit them in time for winter. But they both squeezed their feet into last year's boots long enough to play in the snow and let me take pictures.



Tonight Zach had secretly planned an "Eve before Christmas Eve" present opening session, I think to help cheer me up from my day of solitary confinement with the baby. He had gotten Emmy some Littlest Pet Shop toys (her favorite), Connor a GameBoy game, Simon an airplane (his favorite thing in the world right now), and me.... well let's just say that I will be immersed in Jane Austen for the next few days. I'm in the middle of reading my second book about Jane Austen stuff (Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict - not sure I would recommend it yet) and I mentioned to him yesterday that sometime I would like to see the BBC version of "Pride and Predjudice" with Colin Firth because both books had mentioned it. So apparently he went on a hunt to find it, and I guess it is VERY popular because he looked and looked, and was laughed at by several F.Y.E. employees for even trying to get it. He found another version of it, bought it instead, then decided to keep looking, and finally found it. So not only do I have 1 version of Pride and Predjudice to watch, I have 2! I started watching the BBC version tonight and I do really like it, although it doesn't compare with Hollywood's version with Kiera Knightly. Nothing can top that one.

On a sad note, a family member lost his job this weekend and another family member was in a car accident this weekend (luckily no one was hurt but the car is pretty badly damaged). Bad timing for both to happen. Our prayers are with you guys.

My Family - Part 3

I figured I'd better hurry and post about my third family - my in-laws - before someone thought I didn't love them or something! I married into an incredibly fun and supportive family - the Sharples. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of my mom-in-law and dad-in-law together for some strange reason, but I assure you they are happily married and have been for many years. This picture is when Vicki got her new Mustang, much to Zach's delight. It's white with pink racing stripes - a special edition breast cancer awareness Mustang. It's the only one of its kind in Utah, so if you see it, you'll know it's my mother-in-law! Zach is the eldest of 6 kids, 2 boys and 4 girls. Two years after Zach came the twins, Adrienne and Audrey. This picture was taken when they went to see Justin Timberlake in concert in Las Vegas. Adri is married to Brett and they have 2 darling girls, Evelyn and Lydia. Audrey has a daughter, Mikayla, who is the queen of the monkey bars at Grant Elementary.

Next in line is Heather. She is married to Jesse Griffin, and they have 2 kids, Ayana and Zeke. They are expecting another boy in about 4 months. Then we have Aaron, Zach's only brother. He is engaged to Michelle Jensen (Paul Jensen's sister for those of you who know Paul). She has a little girl named Hailey who is almost 2. And the baby of the family is Melissa. She is a professional ballet dancer in Las Vegas. We get to see her every few months when she comes here for a holiday or we go there to see her perform. Let me just say a few things about this family. 1) They are SO SO SO supportive of eachother. Whenever there is an event - a school program, a performance, a sporting event - that one of the family is involved in, usually everybody comes out to support them. Grandparents, siblings, spouses, cousins, everyone. 2) They throw great parties. Vicki is the master party planner. She usually has door prizes for everyone and incredible food. 3) Speaking of food, they make great meals. They never doing anything halfway. For example, soup night usually includes 3 or more kinds of soup, several different kinds of breads, and side dishes. Holiday meals are the best - bacon wrapped water chesnuts are everyone's favorite. 3) There is never a dull moment. There is usually some excitement going on. Sometimes when Zach and I go out on a date, we end up at their house just to talk or to see what's going on.

My Family - Part 2

Back in November, I wrote a post titled "My Family - Part 1" and promised a follow up on other important members of my family. But because they are 2 separate groups, it only made sense to write about them separately. This is my Dad - Mr. Mike Farley - and his "bride" (that's his affectionate term for her) Shirlee. They have been married since I was .... well, so young that I don't even know how old I was! I think about 2 or 3. They currently live in Red Lodge, Montana (gorgeous country for those of you who don't know), where they have lived for about 13 years on a beautiful piece of land named Remington Ranch. Dad has been battling colon cancer for the last year and a half, and has come out on top for now, it seems. He has been through a lot during this time, as has Mom and we all applaud her as well for taking such great care of "the ol' man in Red Lodge". This is David, my step-brother, and his wife, Toni. They live in Edinburgh, Scotland. This is a picture from David's graduation day from the Edinburgh College of Art in furniture and product design. And that is NOT a backdrop - that is actually where they live! Well, not the castle, but the town. Isn't is beautiful? I am sad to say I have not personally met Toni as they live half way around the world, but hope to someday! My best memory of David is when he carried me in his arms, injured and bleeding, about 5 blocks back home. I was riding on the back of his bicycle to the park, and my foot somehow got caught in the spokes of the wheel.And last but not least, my baby brother Thomas. He is 27 and living in Hollywood, CA pursuing his dream of acting on the big screen. He has had some great breaks, most recently being in Pirates of the Caribbean III as a british soldier. He currently has a girlfriend, Dani, who has the greatest smile in the world and a gorgeous singing voice. I got to see them just 2 months ago when I went to LA to see Wicked.

And there they are - Dad, Mom, Dave and Tom - my family away from Utah. They are an important part of my life, even if I don't see them very often. I love them so much. Merry Christmas, you guys!

Dr. Sinusitis

If you go to a certain pediatrics clinic here in Murray (won't name names), there is a doctor who 9 times out of 10 will diagnose your kid with a sinus infection, no matter what you went in for. Natalie and I have joked about this on more than 1 occasion because she goes to the same clinic and has had the same experience numerous times. This doctors reasoning is that if he presses on your kid's face in the different sinus areas and they *flinch* in the slightest, then it's definitely a sinus infection! The problem is that he presses so dang hard on their face that EVERYONE flinches. Case in point, I took Connor and Emmy in today because Connor had a sore throat and headache that I was sure was strep. You know how you can hear strep in their voice and smell it on their breath? He has no congestion, no runny nose that would cause a sore throat, so I was almost positive. But the doctor had a way of explaining that it had to be the sinuses - just not a typical presentation. And the rapid strep was negative, to my surprise. But then - and here's where I laugh - I had him check Emmy for a rash she has had on her stomach for a few months. He says its eczema, which can sometimes be caused by ..... a sinus infection! She has NO symptoms of a sinus infection at all. But when he pressed hard enough on her head to leave indents and white marks for a few minutes, of course she winced in pain. Needless to say, I will not be filling the antibiotics prescription he so willingly wrote out for her.

I'm trying to make up for everyone else's lack of posting the last week!

Scattergories - tagged

SCATTERGORIES...

Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following... they have to be real places, names, things... nothing made-up. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

What's your name? Kelly
4 letter word: Kink
Vehicle: King Cobra Mustang - Zach would be so proud of me, if he ever read my blog
City: Katmandu, Nepal
Boy Name: Karl
Girl Name: Kandy (porn star, of course)
Occupation: Karate Instructor
Something you wear: Knickers (I had a bunch when I was in like 3rd grade)
Celebrity: Kelly Clarkson
Food: Kashi cereal
Reason for being late: Koala projectile vomited on me at the zoo
Cartoon Character: Kenny from South Park
Something You Shout: King me!

Hey Julie, Jennica, Jenn P., Jenn B. and Jesi - good luck with "J"!

Good dinner last night

I made a recipe that I found on a blog of someone I don't know, but to give her credit, she is Natalie D.'s friend and her website can be found at http://brookie-wookie.blogspot.com. Her blog, to begin with, makes me sad when I look at my blog. She is one of those digital scrapbookers who has applied her skill to her blog template. But she also has created the cutest little recipe cards (look in her November posts that is titled something like "take a poll, grab a recipe). So I grabbed this one and it was really good...

Let me take a breather...

If your weekend was anything like ours, you need to sit down and rest a bit. From Friday evening to Sunday evening, there was something going on every hour.

Friday was Think Tank's (Zach's company) Christmas Party. We held it at Bonsai - our favorite restaurant. Zach and Allen now have 4 employees, so with wives and owners/wives, we had 12 people. There was a lot of rah rah rah stuff with awards and pats on the back for a good year. It's so weird to be sitting in this position of the boss' wife instead of employee's wife waiting patiently for his bonus check so I can go finish my Christmas shopping. But we have a good group of people who help make Think Tank a success and we are glad for their friendship.

Saturday was pretty much devoted to Emmy's Clayton Productions concert that night. She had a 4 HOUR dress rehearsal at Juan Diego High School. After I took her there and dropped her off, I had to go pick up Connor and 2 of his friends and take them to see Alvin and the Chipmunks, which he loved. It's nice to have him at the age where I can just drop him off and I don't have to go see these kinds of movies much anymore unless I want to. After I dropped him off, I had about an hour before I had to go pick him up again (short movie), take his friends home, then back to pick up Emmy. Two hours later we were back at the high school. She did fabulous and even brought me to tears when the whole group sang a beautiful song called "Angelic Christmas" that Kim Clayton wrote. I love to hear songs with a religious message this time of year amidst all the Frosty and Santa songs.

Sunday morning I had to get up early to prepare my Young Womens lesson on Financial Responsibility since I had been busy the whole weekend. I also had to practice a song that I was accompanying the Young Women in Sacrament Meeting. Church was great but difficult since Simon is still not too happy as he is cutting his first tooth. He sure rules our world these days, but we love him and love his little solitary tooth. As soon as we got home from church, I had to start making stuffed mushrooms for the Farley Family Christmas party that night at my sister Erin's house in Bountiful. They were a hit - thanks for the recipe Jenn! Each of the cousins displayed a talent they had been working on through the year. Below is a long video for those of you interested showcasing most but not all of my neices and nephews.

This was just emailed to me... wow....

"Logan is a 13 year-old boy who lives on a ranch in a very small town in Nebraska. Logan listens to Christian Radio station 89.3FM KSBJ which broadcasts from Houston, TX. Logan called the radio station distraught because he had to take down a calf . His words have wisdom beyond his years."

Dontcha just love Colonoscopy Eve?

What? You've never had a Colonoscopy Eve before? Well, let me tell you, it's full of anticipation and waiting just like those other fun holidays with "eve's" attached to their names, only there's one more component thrown in there - DREAD. Yes, I am being a responsible adult and doing a screening colonoscopy tomorrow because of my incredibly strong family history of colon cancer. I described the process to Emmy and she had to stop me because she was getting too grossed out. The camera part made her giggle though. I'll keep you posted. So far I've had nothing to eat today and I am looking forward to my "GI Cocktail" at about 7:30 tonight!

UPDATE: It's 9:37 p.m. and the prep definitely lived up to its reputation. I came home from Connor's band concert dragging my feet in the door, knowing what was waiting for me. The stuff is nasty nasty nasty. It is like drinking straight saltwater, no matter what you mix with it. I mixed grapefruit juice at the recommendation of the nurse who scheduled me. I got 90% of it down without throwing it up, but there was plenty of gagging, believe me. I've decided that I never want to do this again, unless they come up with some alternative way of cleansing.

UPDATE UPDATE: It's the next day and I've successfully had the procedure. This morning's dose of the Phospho-Soda wasn't so bad, because I figured out if you take a drink, then immediately take a drink of something you like to get the taste out of your mouth, it's not nearly as bad. The actual colonoscopy is a chunk of memory I can't seem to find, thanks to the Versed. I remember everything before and after, but as soon as the nurse administered the meds into my IV, I was out. And I've been a little loopy ever since. It's 4 hours later, and I still feel all warm and lovey-dovey, a strange effect that I seem to get on these kind of drugs. So I love you all, and I love that you read my blog. We should all do lunch. Oh yeah - the whole reason for doing this - I have a clean bill of health. :)

Simon the Red-Nosed Baby

Doesn't have quite the same ring to it as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, does it? Last night Simon was on the bed with Emmy who was reading him a book. I had a momentary lapse of sound judgement and thought to myself, "If I RUN into the bathroom to hang this wet towel, he probably won't fall off the bed, especially with Emmy sitting right there". My biggest mistake was not telling Emmy to watch him. I just assumed that she would while she was reading. So I did RUN to hang up the towel, and RAN back to the bedroom (all of like 10 steps) and saw him just as he did a nosedive off the bed. It's one of those moments when you scream but can't move, like in a dream. I scooped him up and held him close while he cried and cried. I cried a little, too. The ironic part is that Zach had watched him all night while I went to Emmy's performance at Hogle Zoo, and nothing bad happened then. But within 2 minutes of me being home and being responsible for him, this happens. I guess sometimes I get too comfortable with safety rules thinking "what are the odds that it will happen"?

Weekend Update

* Simon officially became mobile by actually crawling forward. He can now go great distances (for a newly crawling baby). We had to buy a baby gate to block him from the front room and stairs. It's kind of a pain, though, since the dog can't get through it, and it's hard for me to get through it with laundry and such, but I know it's temporary and hopefully will keep him from getting hurt.

* On Saturday morning, Connor, Emmy and I ventured out in the snow to go see Enchanted with all of Zach's family while Zach stayed home with Simon. My kids had already seen it, but I totally enjoyed it. I'm so glad that Disney made another princess movie. And I was excited to see Idina Menzel (played Elphaba in "Wicked" on Broadway) as a supporting role (Nancy). But she didn't get to sing!

* Went to a fun neighborhood Christmas party with some people who I have been wanting to get to know better. We played games, much to Zach's dismay, including a Christmas spin on Charades (3 rounds - really painful for my non-game loving hubby), and then we had to guess who's Santa wish lists belonged to who. There were some awesome desserts and appetizers there. My favorites were the incredible wassail with huge chunks of ginger root floating in it and stuffed mushrooms.

* I taught my Young Women's lesson yesterday on "Participating in the Cultural Arts". It was fun because I played part of Handel's Messiah for them, and then we watched a video of me when I played Hope Harcourt in "Anything Goes" my senior year in high school. Two totally different ends of the cultural arts spectrum, but the girls totally got a kick out of seeing me at 17.

This was Zach and I last week...

"I am away from my desk at the moment, but will return when I have had my fill of Mr. Darcy"

I just wanted to let you all know that I am leaving you. Well, not really leaving, just putting you aside for a few days while I devour a book meant for Jane Austen junkies, which I most certainly profess to be. So if you REALLY need to know what's going on my life, you can call or come over, but I still can't guarantee that I will answer the phone or door depending on how good this book is. I'll letcha know....

A busy day for Emmy...and all of us!

This morning started bright and early as we struggled to get out of the house to Emmy's performance at Valley Fair Mall. With the snow, that doubled the time of the trip, so we barely made it there. She did really good, still a little hesitant on her solo but getting better with each performance. I just love that she has something like this - it's so good for her. She is a performer at heart.


Tonight was the Murray City Christmas tree lighting ceremony. This was Emmy's first official duty as Little Miss Murray. She arrived at City Hall via a Murray City fire truck along with Heidi (Miss Murray), Santa and Mrs. Claus. After a lighting ceremony outside (it was cold, so they kept it brief thankfully!), we headed indoors to hang out with Santa and Mrs. C. for all the kids to come sit on his lap. It was so cute to see Emmy and Heidi together. Emmy just loves her and looks up to her a lot.








Two hours later, we were finally able to go eat at Bonsai with our friends, the Dansie's. We were super hungry so it tasted SO good. It was a long day, but lots of memories and pictures came of it, so it was worth it!

Memories from Christmas Past

Christmast 2004


Emmy with cousins Ayana and Mikayla

Christmas 2005


This is what I looked like last Christmas


Me making our traditional "Baby Jesus Cookies", a secret Sharples family recipe - so good!

Simon's first visit with the Big Guy in Red

While at the mall today for one of Emmy's singing performances, Zach took Simon to visit Santa. Sorry for the blurry photo - this is a picture taken from my phone of the real picture.