I have a teenager!

Nate just turned 13. I don't know what makes me sadder, that he is now officially a teenager, or that I can never find size 28/34 jeans. We just had family pictures taken and Nate was excited because even in the picture he looks taller than me. I said it was because I was slouching

A huge thanks to our friend Rachel, who used her mad skills to take all of these pictures. If you live in Logan she can also take cute pictures of you. She is so good that she could probably photoshop a child to appear shorter than you as well. To see more of them go here. . http://photosbyratch.wordpress.com/

Changes

My favorite little grocery store has been sold to a bigger chain.
Positives: We now can get "Western Family."
Negatives: They took the frozen rabbit out of the freezer section.
Positive: At the lab Dave got a text saying "when you come upstairs bring rabbit serum." So if all else fails, I guess Dave can bring dinner home from work.

Some Lady Went Postal at K-Mart...Oh wait that was me.

I have a love-hate relationship with K-mart. Unfortunately, it leaned more towards the hate last night. I feel like I have started to adjust to not having any shopping except for when I have to plan some event. I started out yesterday, optimistically, searching for Wilton candy melts and pink ribbon. A couple of hours later, I was giving everyone I saw a dirty look- like somehow they were contributing to the fact that I can't buy any ribbon here. I finally ended up at K-mart where they didn't have a single thing I was looking for but I did pick up some new pens.

Assistant Manager checking me out: "Good Evening, find everything you were looking for?"

Me: "Yea, thanks"
Him: "That's great."
Me: (Realization of what I just said) "WAIT! NO, I didn't find a single bloody thing I was looking for. It is so hard to have pink ribbon."
Him: "uhhhhhh, I am sorry."
Me: "I came in for 5 simple things and you did not have one of them."
Him: (Looking uncomfortable and glancing at the people behind me in line) "Ahhh, I can give you a hug."
Me: "I hang my head in shame, say it's o.k. and walk out."

CATCH-UP not to be confused with Ketsup

I have been a blogging loser lately. Here are some of the reasons.

1. New Years. I had an Epic New Years Eve party. O.K. it wasn't epic, and all my guest were gone by 10:30 p.m. so we had to have a fake ball dropping ceremony at 10:00 just so I could use all my noise-makers and fake champagne. (It was still better than our first year of marriage where Dave fell asleep at 10:15p.m. and I cried and drank Martinelli's by myself... He has learned his lesson since then.)

2. I turned 35.
1. A new Cake Cricut machine. If you don't know what this is, Google it and then be jealous of me.
2. New Mickey mouse cooking utensils. Ahhhhh now my toast and eggs will be happy every morning.
3. My Gas station party. Oh yes, some of my friends wanted to take me out for ice-cream but at 9:15 p.m the entire town was shut down except for my trusty gas station. I had a fur-real shake. ( Not to be confused with the Fureal toy pets)

3. Tax Season
I don't even do Hatch Patch taxes, but just getting the stuff ready for my accountant makes me want to drink Drano.

4. Our ward split. O.K. this has nothing to do with blogging but it is BIG news in our little valley so I thought I should mention it.

5. Guy's celebrity cook-off. I know what you are thinking. The Revelli's need Food Network therapy. I would have to agree since Jonny has decided to be a Sugar Artist when he grows up.

Mid-Life Crises through Cereal

Our grocery store had a fantastic sale this week on cereal. Not the lame "Tootie Fruties", but the good stuff like "Fruity Pebbles", "Cookie Crisp", and "S'mores". I naturally started filling my cart. I then spotted my friend Travis down the aisle. He was buying "Cheerios", "Honey bunches of stuff", and "Oatmeal" ( He is also the kind of guy who runs marathons). After being slightly embarrassed that he saw the 22 boxes of happy cereal that was in my cart, I decided that since I was turning the big 35 this week I would expand my horizons. I threw a couple of "Not so happy cereals" into my cart for good measure. Yesterday I decided instead of "Fruity Pebbles" I would eat "Frosted Flakes" ( I know it's not shredded wheat... baby steps my friends) anyway after the first bite I realized something was wrong with my "Adult" cereal. I looked at the box and it said in very small writing. "Now with 1/2 of the sugar." They were basically CORN FLAKES. Which we all know the only reason you buy corn flakes is to bread something and fry it. So my mid life crises was short lived, I have now gone back to all my happy cereal. After all, it IS fortified.

Christmas Re-cap

There are so many things to catch up on from the holidays it's hard to know where to start.

1. My friend Kristy sent me "Garden Gnome Head Christmas ornaments." When Ben saw them on the tree he said, "Why is Jesus wearing a big red hat?"

2. I started another "Cute home business." My only problem was when the nice lady at the Hamilton City building asked me for the name of my new rock star company, I had to ask her for suggestions.

3. Dave signed a contract with the University of Montana to teach a few classes. Go Bobcats!! Ha ha, seriously don't paint my house maroon. I know they are the Grizz.

4. Christmas Eve night was not so silent as I screamed at the top of my lungs when I thought I was going to die. (This story really needs it's own blog entry)

5. Dave did not surprise me with a snow cone machine this year. Huh, well my birthday is next week so maybe Dave is saving it. However, he did announce from the pulpit yesterday that I was not getting one.

6. I did eat lots of Candy Cane Oreos. (shhhhhh I still have about 16 cookies left. I change their hiding place every day just in case Ben finds them.) Don't you wish I was your mother?

Do temple workers swear?

I am not a big swearer. I think the last time I swore was in my sophomore year in high school. It was #18 from Rock Springs. hmm. Sheryl something. ( If you think this might be you, know that I still don't like you.) Last night, I came close. Ben and I were putting lights on our tree. I know it is less than a week away, I know that I already have 7 trees up, but I have been busier than normal lately. Anyway, all of a sudden, half of the trees lights went out. I ended up ripping out a couple hundred lights and throwing them. (It was one of my more stellar moments. I am glad that Ben is the only one who witnessed it.)

This is before the tantrum.

Last week when I wasn't searching for Oreo's, we took our family to see the lights at Temple Square. We haven't been there at Christmas for over a decade so we really wanted our kids to see it. It was beautiful as always, but it made me wonder if the workers ever swear and throw the temple lights at the nearest statue. I kind of doubt it, which means I will never get a Christmas Job putting up lights at the temple.

Nabisco, Why do you hate me?

Everyone knows that I have a small obsession with Candy Cane Oreos. So starting in Early November I started my watch. My heart would skip a beat when I saw the Nabisco truck. (Ok, just kidding I have never seen a Nabisco truck and since I don’t see Wal-mart trucks anymore this was a total lie.) Anyway, I waited and waited but no happy Candy Cane Oreos came to our little valley. So when I traveled to Utah this last week finding Oreos was my main quest. Besides the whole Grandma’s 90th birthday party. So you can guess how excited I was when my brother Jason called me on my cell and said that the Target in Centerville had them. I naturally rushed to Centerville and promptly bought 5 boxes of Peppermint Oreos.

Not the Candy cane Oreos of my dreams, but they had a candy cane on the label so they had to be close right?
Problem: I ate two of the boxes on my 9 hour drive home. (I did share a few of these with my family)
That only left me with 3 boxes; I ate one yesterday leaving me with only 2 boxes.
Never Fear, my friend Kristy sent me 3 boxes of the actual happy “Candy Cane Oreos”

Ohhhhhhhh, delightful little chunks of candy cane goodness in every bite. So I have discovered if you want the almost perfect “Peppermint” Oreos, you can move to Utah. For the ultimate “Candy Cane Oreos” you will have to move to Colorado, or become friends with Kristy so she can send you some.

32,872

32,872 Days ago:



Gas cost .10 cents a gallon


Warren Harding was president. (Who? obviously they didn't cover him in the 5th grade at Aspen Elementary)


Al Capone was on the loose.



Everyone was dancing the Charleston ( I actually taught the youth this dance last week)


Last but not least my Grandma Hatch was born.


Yes, for all of you who are not math majors that makes her 90 years old today. My grandma still drives around, makes yummy breakfasts, and remembers every single grand kid and great grand kids birthdays. I pray I get her genes. Even if my bad eating habits knock 5 years off, 85 is still really good. So Happy Birthday to my Grandma Hatch.


(Ok, she was only 89 in this photo, but you get the point)

All those years of Monopoly have paid off

Ben's favorite game is Monopoly. He owns numerous versions, and would play every day something bigger.

Ben: "Hey mom, I made 8 starbucks today" (remember the whole fake money thing at school. This earns them extra time for assignments, extra recess, prizes, etc. Also on a good day you might get one or two.
Me: "Oh my Nellie! That is awesome! How did you get so many?"
Ben " Huuuhh, hmmmm, I kind of started a new program"
Me: (starting to doubt)”Huh, what kind of program?"
Ben: “I got a few people to invest their starbucks and then I opened a bank"
Me: "What?"
Ben: (Again, looking at me like I'm a little slow today) When someone needs star bucks for an assignment or other thing, I loan them some and they pay me back with 1 star buck interest."

Now due to his skills at Monopoly, Ben will not have to do any homework for the rest of the year.
is someone was willing. I now realize that these years of playing have trained him for