Thanksgiving Day - round 1

Day took some pictures of Thanksgiving Day, with his camera. The only picture I got was with my blackberry - because I forgot my camera. We had a great day on Thursday. Brooklyn and I stayed the night with mom and dad on Wednesday night. Brooklyn was very excited to see the turkey stuffed on Thursday morning. She was so excited that she woke-up and woke me up at 6 am. Mimi had said that she had to stuff the turkey early in the morning and Brooklyn didn't want to miss a thing about stuffing that turkey. She was so excited that she even packed her chef's hat and apron. We had a fun filled day of cooking, making foam pilgrims, going on tons of turkey hunts, and coloring a big turkey. After the feast and clean-up, while the boys watched football - Mimi, Brooklyn, and I went to see the movie Bolt. It was such a cute movie. We had such a nice Turkey day, but we sure would have had more fun with 3 other little helpers - Kate, Clair, and Bowen. We missed you Brights. I will try to get the pictures from dad, so we can post them sometime.

The Hutch that Papa made

I've been wanting a hutch for my dining room, but I couldn't find one that I liked or could afford. Dad found a hutch at the Good Will. It was neither the color, nor style that I wanted, but dad saw something I couldn't see and created something fabulous that looks amazing in my dining room.

Here are the BEFORE pictures (well, actually the at the beginning of dad's work)


What you can't see in these pictures is that the top of the hutch had retro, goldish glass. That was the scariest part for me...but dad saw past it.
Here is the AFTER picture:


My china looks great in it. Dad did an awesome job and for a fraction of the price that I would've had to spend at some furniture store. Thanks dad you are way too nice to me, always willing to share your talents. You're the best.

BYU trip

Rise and Shout the Cougars are Out, along the trail to fame and glory! A couple of weeks ago I got to go to Provo to see BYU play San Diego State. The day started out with my friend Kristan and I meeting for brunch. My friend lived in New York, with me and brunch was a regular thing. It is something that I really miss, so going to brunch together was great. The game was also fun. I love BYU games. The weather was perfect too. It was a great day. I'm glad I got to go. The season would have been much better had BYU beat the U, but we can't have everything all the time...can we!

I know this is crazy...

but the primary president just called to talk about setting a date for Kate's baptism! So, mark your calenders...Kate is getting baptized, Oct 10, 2009 at 10:00 am! Hope you can all attend! :)

Kate's Piano Recital

DCA - Diet Coke Anonymous

Hello, my name is Emily Call and I'm a Diet Coke Aholic! (HELLO EMILY) I've been sober now for 1 week and boy do I need a Diet Coke!

Yes, I gave up "the Dark mistress" (a nickname I got from my cousin) a week ago today and this has been one of the toughest weeks of my life. I knew I had a problem when I actually dreamed about an enormous Diet Coke Fountain in the middle of a town square. The morning after that dream, while drinking a Diet Coke I made the decision to quit. It only took me about a month to get up the nerve to actually quit, but I've done it and man it's tough. It's tough when I need a little pick me up to make it through another boring meeting. It's tough when I walk down the drink aisle at the grocery store and you can hear the cans/bottles calling your name. The hardest thing is walking in from the garage and not grabbing one of these...

Yes, I still have 1/2 a 12 pack sitting by my door and let me tell you it takes a great deal of will power not to grab one and just get a little taste of that Diet Coke with a hint of lime goodness.

I have to ask...how did it ever come to this? Why have I been so weak and when will the cravings stop?

The worst is that I have chose the worst possible time to give up Diet Coke, because I had to replace it with something and what did I choose?

I gave up this:


For this:


Now tell me...which is worse?

For those of you who have never tasted or even know what a Mallowmar is (I feel very sorry for you!), please take the time to read this NY Times article (Note: I'm not a fan of the NY Times, but this is a fabulous article.)
The Cookie That Comes Out in the Cold
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/08/nyregion/08cookie.html

Hello, my name is Emily Call and I'm a Mallomar Aholic! I just can't help it, it's like a little bit of hot chocolate all wrapped up in a cookie. My only problem is that I can't get any after Christmas...I guess that's when I will give them up! :)

Bowen the Movie Theater Ham

Tonight I was very brave and took all three kids to the movie theater (by myself) to see High School Musical THREE. The girls loved every second and Bowen...thanks to a large quantity of Halloween candy...was pretty good too! However, several times he felt the need to shout out things that the whole theater could hear! First, any time he heard "getcha head in the game"...he had to repeat "head in the game"! Also, in the movie Troy shouts out "Yo!" to get the cafeteria to quiet down and so Bowen felt like he needed to shout our "Yo!" That got a few chuckles. Finally, (and this takes the cake!) when Troy and Gabriella finally kiss, Bowen said really loud, "Ewwwwww! Gross!" Everyone started to laugh and so then he thought he needed to say it over and over! It was funny...the first time, but then it just got irritating and so I had to open another pack of Smarties! Hurray for sugar!

Play me a song, your the piano kid!

Kate had her first piano recital last night!

(We missed Daddy, but hope he is having SOME fun in Europe!)Not to brag, but she was really good! I think she sounded the best...

she played very melodically! (Is that a word?)

Her sweet teacher, Emily Anderson!

Her friend from church, Grace, takes lessons too!

After Kate finished her first song, Bowen clapped and then shouted, "My turn! My turn! My turn!" I held him back but when it was all done, he made a beeline to the piano!

I took video of her playing her two songs with KT's (my sister-in-law) recorder...she said she'd help me put the clips on the blog, so look for it later!

Clair Birthday!

Here are some pics from Clair's actual birthday! She was SO happy all day long! It was cute. She had breakfast in bed...farm shaped waffles as requested! She got several thing she's always wanted...Kate got her a Webkinz (FINALLY)...a hippo she named Hippy! Bowen got her a dress up outfit...a wedding dress...after Halloween sale (GREAT DEAL)...that she LOVES! Stephen and I got her a recipe box for kids, apron, and MP3 player! She also got cards, money, and gifts from extended family! She was really on cloud nine all day! She even shared with her brother! We are happy Clair is part of our family! We love her!

Clair's Cafe

For Clair's birthday she wanted a cooking party! So, we decorated cooks hats, did a kitchen tools scavenger hunt (here is the checklist I made for each girl...WalMart had this stuff for cheap so they each got one of each thing listed), made personal pizzas with mini rolling pins, designed fruit kabobs, and decorated cupcakes! (Clair got a mini cake to decorate!)Then the kids played and Clair opened gifts. It was a great party. I have to give major props to my very dear friend Dorothy! VERY last minute she jumped in and saved the day by making these darling aprons! They looked a million times better than what I was planning to do! (I am sorry I didn't get a pic of all the kids wearing the aprons...I have a hard time taking pics and running everything!)

The party was a HUGE hit and several people who had been to lots of my birthday parties said this was the BEST! I might agree, the kids were so entertained with not much effort on my part...just lots of organization and some helpful adults!(Bowen made his cupcake into a lollipop by sticking his finger in it to eat it!)(Kate, Clair, and Brynlee...Clair best buddy in our hood!)

Clair is Five!

For some reason I am a little sad about Clair turning five...it just seems so much more grown up than 4! : ( I really dislike the fact that my kids are growing up! In no time they will be in HS and then going away to college...and then getting married! I need to stop, I will ruin the keyboard with my tears! : ( Anyways, here is a look back into Clair's life...a photo essay! : )Sleeping beauty!

Little Christmas Gift
My little Wildflower!
Just look at that face...and that smile!
Such a pretty little girl!
She loves to go to the park!
She can get into some trouble! (Here's her self make over with my eyeliner!)
But how can you stay mad at this sweet little face!
Clair is so funny!
Her expressions are priceless!
She's related to the Calls all right!
She's PURRRRfect!
Clair is the Princess of our hearts!
She's a hard worker!
She wants to be a cook when she grows up!

Who are you in the Twilight Series?

With only 12 days left until the 1st Twilight movie comes out...I thought I would see which female character I am most like. My friend sent me this great website about Twilight and then I saw that Britni had found it too. Britni is Esme and I'm Alice, although I see myself more as a mix between Esme and Alice. I sure was glad I wasn't Bella...she drives me nuts.

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