LOVE IT!!!!!

Want to see a good movie? Want a movie that makes you think? Don't want bad language? This movie is for you. First off, you will like it if you like the Ocean's movies. You have to actually pay attention to this movie or you will not get it. It twists adn turns and it awesome. I must admit that I love Clive Owen and Scott enjoys Julia Roberts, so what better match, somthing for both of us to enjoy. So if you need a good date night movie I suggest this one. There are a few "bedroom" scenes, but I didn't really notice them, no nudity, but still great great movie. See it, then let me know, and if you need someone to see it with call me, I will try not to spoil it for you though. Now that I have seen the end watching the movie over would have a totally different meaning.

Scott

Well it is long past due since i have blogged about Scott. He graduated from his fire academy at BATC on 2/6/09 as the Class Officer (President) and with the best grades. He was chosen as BATC Student of the Month and had an add in the paper about how awesome he is. Since that time he has also turned 31. And before I get to far along, let me tell you all how much I love him. I couldn't be married to a better man. We may not be rich or even "well off" but we don't need anything to be happy but each other. Here are some pics of Scott's graduation.






The top one I took graduation night. Then there are 2 pictures of his entire class. Now you are probably thinking that being class officer with a class of 5 was easy, well not so. They started out as 10 i think and a different student was class officer. See the position of class officer is appointed by that group of men in the last photo. those are the various fire chief's and instructors from SLC, Ogden, Logan, North Logan and Smithfield Fire Departments. So after the first class officer was kicked out of the program Scott was appointed.

Now that class is out it was time for testing. The hiring process for Fire Fighters is long and ardous, and did I mention long? We have been testing at West Valley City and Ogden and it has been going on for almost 4 weeks now. I will briefly explain the process.

Round One: At both West Valley City and Ogden they administer a written exam. It is a difficult exam that covers everything they have learned as Fire Fighters and EMT's. The next hard part is that they only take a few of the applicants on to the next round. In West Valley City there were over 300 people who took the written test and they invited 80 to the next round, the physical test. In Ogden only 100 people took the written and they only took 25 on to the next round.

Round 2: If you have a high enough passing score on teh written test, which is pre-determined and they do not tell you what it is, then you get invited back for the physical portion. At West Valley City they administer the Fire Fighters CPAT test. This is an extremely physically demanding test. HEre is a link to a video of the test, this is almost exactly what he did at West Valley. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3thDKKLq5o I am very happy to say and Scott is very happy also that he scored the 2nd lowest time they have ever had. All of our time at the gym had paid off. Not only did he get the 2nd lowest score he wasn't even out of breath. Most men who take this test either vomit or pass out at the end, no I am not kidding. It is a very different kind of physical test and if you aren't ready for it then you won't pass it. Because of his time he was automatically given a time and date for the oral interview. Woo Hoo, this is the last step at West Vallye City. Then we headed to Ogden for their physical test the next day. Because of their lack of training facility theirs was to run a mile and a half, sit ups, push ups, sit and reach and bench pressing. He passed these tasks with no difficulty. There wasn't a time or anything, just a pass fail. So he passed and was given an interview time at Ogden also the same day as West Valley City. So now the interview at West Valley city was nerve wracking. He wore his best suit and wanted to make an impression, so he went to the Logan City Fire Chief and asked for some pointers. They helped a lot. He has an interview with some firefighters first and then an interview with the chief's next. Then he ran to Ogden for their interview. They were both intense but he felt confident that he did his best.

And the results are........

West Valley City ranked him 12 out of 300. THis is great. So now when there is an open position for the next 1 1/2 years they go to their list and call in the top group on the list and interview them all again for the position. 12 is great for a rookie and he is the highest ranked rookie at West Valley City. Even if he stopped testing, he would get a job at West Valley City with in the next year, but we are not waiting on that. As far as Ogden goes, they said they would send out ranking notices by April 1st. So every day we anxiously look in the mail for his letter. We are confident if he was ranked high in West Valley he will probably be ranked close to teh same at Ogden.

So now we wait. Logan will test when it comes closer to summer, and we are hoping our "connections" there will help him have a chance there. His main instructor was the fire chief at Logan and he really likes Scott. He calls him all the time asking for help and we take that as a good sign, at least he won't forget him.

Right now Scott is suppose to be taking the phlebotomy class at BATC in April, this is a pre-requisit for paramedic. Scott's main goal is to become a paramedic. So he is planning on starting school at Weber State this fall. Fire Departments higher fire fighters enrolled in paramedic school, so it won't stop the testing at all.

So that is our update on Scott. He is in great physical shape, he has lost over 40 pounds and he can out run most any other fire fighter. He is ready to go and I know he will be great.

Boys......Smelly......Annoying.....Gross

There has to be a greater purpose that would drive most girls to grow up and one day want to spend the rest of their lives with boys. I know it happened to me, but tonight I am up at 11 PM wondering why, just why do they have to be annoying, gross, stinky and all those other things boys are?

I had a good day today, but tonight I was very very tired after going out to the ranch to see the calves, so we put in Twilight (terrific) for me to watch. When it was over I was very tired adn the kids were asleep, so we went to bed. Well I TRIED to go to bed. Scott then proceeded to be loud and noisy in the bathroom. I was laying in bed then he crawled in and coughed and then cleared his nose AND throat while in bed (he is getting over a cold) and then he could tell I was getting irritated so he turned over towards me to be even louder THEN he decided he wanted to cuddle. So I am already irritated, I didn't want to be touched, I WAS tired and now I am annoyed and he wants to touch me, I am sure I can't say it loud enough, GO AWAY!!!! He would not leave me alone and the worst part was he was doing it ONLY to annoy me, no other reason. BOYS!!!! Just like Bowen teasin Rainee until she cries.

So now I am WIDE AWAKE at 11 PM tring to get tired again so I can go back to sleep. I am not going back into my bedroom until I am absolutely sure he is sleeping and can't annoy me wiht other "bodily sounds/smells" or won't touch me. We have a king size bed, so he has plenty of room to not touch me......

Don't get me wrong, I am not mad at him, just annoyed that tonight of all nights he is like a little boy teasing his sister.

BOYS!!!!!

Seriously Funny.....

A friend sent this to me and I laughed out loud. So instead of a mass email that no one reads, I am posting it here. i hope you like it as much as I did. I can totally see Bowen doing something like this. Read the entire thing!!!

A father passing by his son's bedroom was astonished to see that his bed was nicely made and everything was picked up. Then he saw an envelope, propped up prominently on the pillow that was addressed to 'Dad' With his worst premonition he opened the envelope with trembling hands and read this letter:

Dear Dad
It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you. I had to elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with Mom and you. I have been finding real passion with Stacy and she is so nice, but I knew you would not approve of her because of all her piercings, tattoos, tight motorcycle clothes and the fact that she is much older than I am. This is not only passion.....Dad....she's pregnant.

Stacy says that we will be very happy. She owns a trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood for the entire winter. We share a dream of having many more children. Stacy has opened my eyes to teh fact that marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone. We'll be growing it for ourselves and trading it with the other people that live nearby for other necessities like ecstacy. In the meantime we will pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so Stacy can get better, she deserves it!

Don't worry Dad, i'm 15 and I know how to take care of myself. Someday i'm sure that we will be back to visit so that you can get to know your grandchildren.

Love Your Son John.

PS Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over at Tommy's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than the report card that's in my center desk drawer.

I love you, call me when it's safe to come home.

Kidman Family Update

Update: Mason is a ton better, he is back to terrorizing everything he can. he is still refusing solid food, but he is drinking a lot and that is good. The down side is now I am coming down with it. Oh well.

So I started to blog yesterday about Scott, because Monday was his 32nd birthday BUT Mason had been getting sick since Sunday and yesterday he was really really bad. So I am putting off Scott's blog for a day or so to update you on Mason and then when he is well I can put the much needed and desereved attention on Scott.

Mason started with a fever on Sunday night and then proceeded to vomit every 20 minutes for 8 hours, and then it backed off to every hour all day Monday and into MOnday night. He was still vomiting on Tuesday, but only when he drank, and it didn't matter if it was a sip or a drink he threw it up. During this whole time his fever stayed at 102, and that was while on Ibuprophen and Tylenol every 3-4 hours. When the meds wore off it went higher. During this time also he refused to walk and had explosive diarreah. So on Tuesday I was starting to get worried because the 24 hour flu shouldn't last that long and I dont' really recall the fever with it. So at Scott's insitence I made a doctor appointment and gues what we had? Wait for it......wait for it......Ta Da......Influenza. Poor little Mason was sooo sick. So we got sent to the ER for IV fluids. We were there for 3 hours. He was so sad and didn't even care when they put the IV in. Seriously, they brought in 3 people to hold him down cause I am a baby, and he didn't even squirm. He laid there perfectly, and then they gave him Fox in Sox and he just hugged him and went to sleep while I read a book and watched teh fluids slowly, oh so slowly drip into his little arm. Then we got to go home.

I couldn't really tell if it was helping last night or not, but his eyes were no longer blodshot, so I took that as a positive. He slept through the night okay, but had a few blow-out diapers in his sleep, then I was all excited that he was feeling well enough to torment his siblings this morning, I was sure he was doing better UNTIL we ran the kids to school and he vomited AGAIN all over his car seat and the car. They left his IV in last night so that if we needed we could just hook him up and give him more, and I was thinking he was doing better, but his body is just rejecting any kind of food or drink in his stomach. So off we go to a follow up with the doctor and possible another round of IV treatment.

The influenza sucks

My Current Favorite Things

Okay, so I don't promote a lot of items on here, just every once in a while. So this favorite thing needs a little background info. Since I lost my job I now attend the gym with Scott 5-6 days a week. Because of this Scott just scored the 2nd best time in doing the CPAT test at West Valley City on Friday morning. I will post more about this on Sunday, I digress.....anyway, since I have nothing better to do I to attend teh gym with my hubby. We are now members of the Sports Academy and we love it. Mason gets to play with kids while we exercise. I must admit I have become a gym junkie and I like it, that is as long as I have something to distract me, which is music or the TV. Luckily for me the cardio room is full of 9 TV and you plug your ear phones in and pick which channel to watch. If I am properly distracted I usually do at least 60 minutes of cardio a day, this may be more if I am really into something or it may be less if Aunt Julie talkes me into a class. Last week it was Pilates adn I couldn't move for a few days, but I will go with her again this week.

So now I come to the dilema of my headphones. I can't wear ear buds, they actually hurt my ears. Wierd cause so many people swear by them but they are painful. So then I got these ones that clip on my ears, and they are fine but if I bounce around they don't stay put and then I miss half of what I am listening to and I am no longer distracted. SO yesterday I went and just got my first pair of SkullKandy. THEY ROCK.....I know it is old school to wear headphones BUT not only do they sound awesome but they stay on my head and that is key. They are also very fashion forward, they are marketed to the snowboarding crowd. So I feel very up to date in that end of things. SO while I may be sweating and gross, my ear phones are awesome.


So they can be very expensive but I got the Low Riders, which are the cheaper version for $39.99 BUT they were on sale at Al's for 40% off since snow season is over, so I paid a good price for them, the same price of a full price pair at Wal Mart. So I don't feel guilty. I choose the sea foam green version so that I could find them if they got lost, but they better not.

Cheering up an Uncle.....Let's send cards, make phone calls, and just remind him how much we love him!!!

UPDATE:Uncle DeLoy was in the hospital today to get an IV for dehydration and some pain control. While he was there it was discovere that his weight is down to 180 pounds. It appears as though all the food he is eating is just going right on through and out and he is not getting nutrution. Tonight he is "clensing" so that tomorrow he will see the GI again to check him out. They did another scan and will have the results tomorrow morning. Please pray for him. While I am sure he still has a lot of time left, he is very down and sad, as I am sure we all can imagine. I love Uncle DeLoy very much and I know he needs all of our support. Thanks for your prayers.


So you all know we have an uncle in common who is very, very sick. The last few months have been very hard on him physically, and so now is down emotionally also. Luckily he felt well enough to attend Dallas state basketball game, but that was teh last Hoorah for him it seems. Now he is unable to leave the house due to some "poop" problems. Now you may think this is to much informatino, but believe me I am being very vague, if you want all the "messy" details give him a call and he will tell you.

So here is my purpose, if you can, please, please send him a get well card, or a thinking of you card. They really cheer him up. Or a phone call works also. He called Amber on her birthday and they chatted for over half an hour. He is feeling left out because he can't attend functions and sometimes he doesn't even have the energy to chat on the phone. I have had the opportunity to assist him lately and do some errands for him and take him a few meals and spend time visiting with him and it has been great. I love him, I always have, even when he was doing his own thing. I am blessed that he calls me for help and I will always be there for him when his family can't help him. I know a lot of you don't live close enough to take dinner or run his errands, but a card or a phone call would be great.

If you don't have his address I can email it to you and his phone number also. Please keep all cards positive, and he really likes hearing about families and the everyday "boring" stuff since he no longer gets to participat in those activities. I am hoping I can get him to the temple again, but it seems to be getting harder physically for him to make it that long to do a session. Keep DeLoy and his family in your prayers.

Let's hear it for Scottie......He's on FIRE!!!

So for any of you who would admit to watching the Austin Powers movies you will recall a moment when they are making fun of Scott, Dr. Evil's son, and they say "Scottie's on Fire...." with a killer accent. So now this is the new saying in our house. I threatened to make a sign for his graduation that said it, but I was threatened with unmentionable things not to, so I didn't.

Scott graduted from BATC's Fire Academy. He managed to be Class Officer, which is the same as Class President, except instead of be elected to this position, he was appointed by the Joint Fire Chief's of Logan, North Logan, and Smithfield. They also named him Student of the month. For those of you who live in the Cache Valley area you will have an opportunity to see him on the front cover of the BATC catalog. He is also in there further to the back. He is embarrassed because all his buddies saw it and have been calling today to give him grief.



I am sooo proud of him. He is ver well liked by his class mates and they still meet to work out together. Now since I am jobless I get to go to the gym with him. Firefighters have very very strick physical standards, so now it to the gym 5 days a week so he can pass the tests. He loves working out, but he is not a runner. His biggest test is running 1 1/2 miles under 11:30. He is soooo close, and I know what you are all thinking, he has such long legs, yeah he does but he does not like to run. He likes lifting weights and such, so running is the one thing he has to be forced to do. OH well, he is doing great. By the end of this class he lost almost 40 pounds. I think he is on the fast track to being in a firefighter calendar, lol.

I love him so much and I am sooo proud of him. Not only that he graduated, but that he did so as class officer and with high grades. He did not have to re-take any book test or physical test, he passed them all the first time. He is now going out to teh North Logan and Smithfield Fire Departments trying to decide where he wants to volunteer, but it looks like Smithfield will win. He has tested so far for Unified Fire in SLC and for West Valley City. He hasn't made any of those because he doesn't have "preference" preference is given to those who live in teh are and Vets. So next week he tests in Ogden, so maybe there? IT is really hard and competative because 300-600 people test for 5 positiions, so it is hard. He has to get 100% on teh written tests and blow out the physical tests. He is on his way. Logan will test this spring sometime and we are just hoping and praying he has a chance there.

He is taking the phlebotomy course the end of this month and then he will try for a job at a hospital or doctor's office while volunteering at Smithfield, so that will add some preference points when he tests. Keep your fingers crossed and this will all work out the way we need it to. The Lord has a path for us and a plan, we are just waiting to see what it is.

Thanks for you support!!!!!

P.S. isn't he hot in his pic??? I love men in uniform, LOL

The mis-understood Artichoke

So both Scott and I have enjoyed artichokes for some time. We normally buy the hearts canned and use them in a variety of dishes. Up until this time our kids kind of shied away from them. Who can blame them, they look funny and have an interesting flavor. Well we were shopping at Macey's today and they had fresh artichokes on special. So we grabbed 4 of them. I did not know first off how our kids would react to them, so I did cook a normal meal of home made chicken potpie. That was a hit, it always is a good stand by. So here is how I prepared our artichokes. I cut off about 1/4 of the top. Then I went around to the leaves and snipped off the very tips. I cut the stem off as close to the vegetable as I could so it would stand up in the pot. One very important part of this is that artichokes discolor very very quickly, so I had to rub each one of them with lemon as soon as I cut them. I am not even joking about this part, they turn brown almost immediatley. So now take a larg soup pot and fill it with about 4-5 inches of water. To this water add a good handful of salt and about 4 lemons cut in half and 2 bay leaves. Now put your trimmed artichokes in so they are standing up. If they float you have to much water. Now cover and simmer for 45 - 60 minutes. Take them out and let them drain upside down, so that no water stays in the leaves. Now comes the good part, and here is why I think introducing artichokes this way work better than in a can. THEY ARE FUN TO EAT!!!!!

The kids looked at Scott and I tearing off the leaves and scraping them against our teeth and they all put the potpie aside and wanted to tear apart an artichoke. So what you so is just start removing leaves from the outside in and dip it in either some melted butter OR a mixture of some very good mayonaise mixed with some balsamic vinegar. OH MY GOSH!!!!! It rocked. The artichokes were good, the balsamic dipping sauce rocked and THE KIDS LOVED THEM!!! COlton ate a whole entire artichoke himself. All the kids, including Mason just chowed them down.

Now if you are thinking of eating artichokes let me tell you, when you get to the "heart" and you will see some "hair" you need to take a spoon and scrape this out. This is not edible and will make you sick. It just comes right out and leaves nothing behind. After removing the "choke" you can now eat the heart, and that is the best part. They are a lot of work if you just want the heart, but if you enjoy the entire process of eating down to the heart it is fun. I learned sometime ago that if new food is fun my kids will eat it. Like the chicken hearts they all at at Tucano's the other night, but that is a different story.

Let me know what you all think.

Sunday Again

So this week was nice I guess. I worked with Scott on finishing up some school stuff. I went to the gym 5 days this week with Scott. I am concentrating on cardio right now, and then will add weights later. Right now I am doing 45-60 minutes of hard cardio each day while Scott does his stuff. I can't quite handle the pounding of the running yet, but I can do the eliptical and bikes. Scott has to run and do push-ups and sit-ups for his physical tests for the fire departments so that is what he is concentrating on right now. He is especially learning how to pace himself while running to get his 1 1/2 miles down to under 11 minutes. He can do it on a treadmill, but a track is a totlly different thing.

We still have not found a house. We found one we LOVE in the mouth of Green Canyon. It is just perfect. 6 bedrooms and 2 offices and the master suite is to die for. The owners wanted to sell it, but it has been on the market for a year with no offers. The husband is ready to lease it, but the wife is still holding out. We met with both of them and are now waiting for the decision.

Scott tested for the fire department at West Valley City on Saturday morning, along with 300 applicants. We had a small stress to begin with becasue we forgot his birth certificate. They gave us 30 minutes to get it faxed down. So my mother ran up to our house and grabbed it and faxed it to us with 5 minutes left to go. THANKS MOM!!!!! Scott was very confident that he aced his test and now we are waiting to hear. They will inform us on Monday if he made it to the next part of the interview, the physical challenge. I know he can deffinately pass this part. The hardest part is just getting to that point. Then we went to Tamy's so that Scott could look at their yard and see what they want done to change it. We grabbed a quick lunch and then headed home. We wanted to stop to see Amber, BUT our babysitters (our mom's) needed us home. We also had to get home so that Rainee could go to her dance show that night. We made it home with just enough time for me to curl every little single piece of her hair and rat it up just to have it fall again, but she was super cute. She is a natural performer and a full audiance of people doesn't seem to phase her. Then while I was sitting wtih Aunt Julie and Misty she told me that Logan High School needs a new Cheerleader coach and that I should apply. I got a big laugh out of that.

I am still applying for jobs and going on interviews. Nothing promising yet.

The kids had parent-teacher conferences this week and they are all doing very well grade wise. Bowen needs to quit talking and work on "well timed humor" I would prefer no humor, but it appears I have a class clown on my hands, so his teacher is helping him to learn when it is appropriate or not. Colton is doing just great, his teacher had nothing bad to say about him except he is missing a library book. Rainee has great grades BUT she has not turned in any of her homework. It gets done every day at either After School Club or at home and it is in her backpack, BUT she does not turn it in. We are trying to push for this the last part of school.

That is us in a very large nutshell. I just wanted to say I am extremely blessed to be able to spend this much time with my husband. In our entire marrige we have not spent as much time together as this past year, and the amazing part is we don't get on each others' nerves. I look forward to either him or I (I am hoping him) gets a job and then this will end. No more going to the gym together and other simple things as going to bed and waking up together. I love him a lot and can't help but wonder if all this peaceful time together is preparing us for something in the future that would test this bond. I sincerely hope not. I love him and all my family, and believe it or not throughout this entire year we have both had an extreme sense of peace in our hearts. When we should be fighting or upset we are calm and let it go. Even when I lost my job, I was upset for about a day, then it didn't bother me anymore. I had other more important things to worry about, and that I see as a blessing, that I have not let these temporal things take over my life. We have a goal in sight and we are not straying from it.

I love you all.