Ew.

Tonight I was sitting in the dark, minding my own business, looking at pictures on my computer, when out of nowhere four crickets attacked me. FOUR. A blood curdling scream caught in my throat, but I somehow managed to hold in in so I wouldn't wake the kids.
Mike killed them of course (he stabbed them to death with our broom), but the question remains: Why? How?
Four crickets...how random is THAT???? Now I itch all over with the heebie jeebies.

(Shelly, if you are reading this...I think I may be living in Udeme's old house.)

My New Baby...

There is a DANGEROUS new addition to our house!!!

I worked my fanny off in Utah doing mini sessions so I could make this new purchase...and let me tell you- I LOVE IT!!! No more squinting while trying to edit photo sessions!!

But wait...that's not all. I made two more EQUALLY exciting purchases....


EEK! I am so thrilled I can barely contain myself!! My children are going to forget what I look like.

Cuteness and Deliciousness

Today I went and had Sarah's hand and footprints done. I did Rachel's when she was 6 weeks old, and Sarah is now 9 months so I thought I would maybe get it done...our next kid will probably be in highschool by the time I get around to doing it. Anyway, I just wanted to plug Child's Touch, because it is such a great company! Shelby was fantastic to squeeze me in at the last minute. If you haven't heard of this cuteness, you have to check them out!! Here is an example of what they do:

Afterwards, I headed over to Dippidee, which is just down the street. Talk about utter deliciousness. If you have not ever tried the 'Little Devil' cupcakes from Dippidee...you MUST. It is like heaven baked into one little treat. Trust me.

If You Haven't Tried These....

If you are like me, you probably go to the same places and order the same things because you are worried that branching out will lead to disappointment.
Lately I have been thinking about foods I like (perhaps that happens when you are on a diet...) and I thought I would share. I would also love (this is NOT a tag) to read on your blogs recommendations of things to try.
So, without further delay...

Cranberry Juice Slushies from Sonic. These are perfection on a hot summer day.




Forever Fruit gum by Stride. I am NOT a gum-brancher-outer, but I taste tested this at Costco and was hooked. It is de-lish!


Going out to Cheesecake Factory? I love that place but hate their huge menu. Decisions!!!
Try the Bistro Shrimp Pasta. Lightly breaded shrimp tossed with pasta, some complimentary vegis, and a lemon cream sauce. It is amazing.


Top it off with Lemoncello Torte. I am not a cheesecake fan, so I always get their cakes. The chocolate ones are to die for, as well.

Paradise Bakery: Three words: Chicken Artichoke Panini. It is so good. It has the yummiest medly of tastes, and I have never tried another that even holds a candle to it. (Sorry, no picture to be found of this delicious sandwich).
If you are not in the mood for chocolate chip cookies (like that would happen) try the Snickerdoodles. They are thick, shortbread-ish, and amazing.

On a diet? I am in love with Laughing Cow cheese wedges. Soooooo-o good!

I also make my 'sandwiches' on Wasa crackers when I am dieting. I buy the Multi grain kind and make them open-faced. I love the crunch. I don't know if I can go back to regular sandwiches.

Feeling really white trash? Try the sauceless spicy wings from KFC. They are crunchy and have a great kick to them. Yummmm.If you are in Utah, you have got to try the Nachos and the Fish and Chips at Porcupine Grill (located at the base of Big Cottonwood Canyon.) They are amazingly, amazingly good.

If you are in Arizona, you MUST try Bravi's Pear and Gorgonzola Salad along with the Fire Roasted Chicken Breast Pizza...or the Ravioli. Both so good. SOOOO good!!! (Bravi is on Union Hills and 59th Ave. in Glendale.)

POA

Last night (or very early this morning, depending on how you look at it), at 2:28 am, I was awakened by 3, no, make that 5 things:

Our burgler alarm going off,
a loud crashing sound,
the house shaking,
Sarah screaming,
and Mike jumping out of the bed.

(Did you see the first one? Our alarm going off? Probably the most disturbing of them all.)

I was so groggy and confused, I didn't know what to do first! Which brings me to my blog title... Now, I may be crazy, but I have a 'game plan' for if my alarm goes off. I have layed awake at night (especially nights when Mike is out of town) perfecting my Plan of Action, or POA, if you will. I am going to share it with you.

If the alarm is to go off in the middle of the night, I will leave it going, check to see which 'area' triggered it (the alarm shows this on it's face) grab a knife, and proceed to discover what is causing the alarm, if there is nothing there (please bless), procede to girl's rooms. Once I know they are secure, I will turn off the alarm and check every nook and cranny of the house. (In my 'plan', I leave the alarm going just in case there IS an intruder and then the police will come. Brilliant, right?)

Which brings me back to last night. So, the alarm is chiming, Sarah is screaming, our house is shaking, and a large crash brought Mike jumping out of the bed.
My whole POA went flying out the window.
I lept out of bed, turned off the alarm (before I even looked to see what had triggered it), ran across the house (ignoring the knife) to Sarah's room, picked her up, checked on Rachel, and during that time I happened to walk by the garage door, which was wide open. In my groggy state I wonder why it is open, and THEN I remember the alarm. Oh yeah!! So, I peeked into the garage and I heard the wooooosh of rain coming down in sheets. I walked back across the house as it shook from one loud thunderclap after another. The pressure from the storm must have made the door (which we left unlocked) fly open.

I felt better knowing this, but I did not ignore my precious POA completely. I proceded to check every corner of our house. All was well!!

So, what is your POA???

Something to be aware of...

I just wanted to follow up with some comments about THIS POST. I made a new batch, and this time I used unsweetened applesauce, which was maybe even better than when I used sweetened. They turned out moist and delicious, like little tubs of fudgy-ness. So good. And even less calories than the first time around! I just measured 15.5 ounces of the unsweetened applesauce and mixed it with a Devil's food mix. That's it. Anyway, the thing is....this time I didn't freeze them. And what do you know, they are already half gone. And I made them....yesterday. Portion control, people!! I have no self control. Freezer is definitely the way to go!!

Could You Hear It??

...the pitter-pat of all the tween girls' hearts in the world? Yeah, Camp Rock premiered tonight. Rachel was soooooooooo (could go on forever) excited about it. They had a commercial for it every 5 minutes during all the Hannah Montana episodes for the past, um, year??
They played this movie up so much, and tonight when we were at Target BEFORE it even premiered, we noticed that they were fully stocked with Camp Rock paraphernalia...shirts, barbies, CD's, etc. Talk about counting your chickens.... They were smart to do it, though, because some of it was already SOLD OUT!!
So. I admit it. I watched it. Okay, I watched about 20 minutes of it. I did get to see Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato sing together at the end, the song I have been jamming to on Radio Disney for the past month, This is Me. I must say that I was into it.

I am going to go ahead and write another post above this one so it gets buried. Don't tease me for long.