Working Woman!

I just had to do a quick post because it is official! I am now a working woman! I got my first paycheck today and I am so excited. Okay so I have only been working for two days and a total of probably two hours but STILL! I think that this job is going to work out so well with me and my schedule and the kids. It really couldn't be more perfect for me and honestly I LOVE having something to occupy my mind during the day and something to do besides clean and play with the kids. I adore my kids and I love being here with them but all you stay-at-home moms know that it can get very repetative and like my sister has said, "It is like I live the movie Groundhog Day". I think this job is going to allow me to use more of my adult brain during the day. But it still allows me to get a snack for Maddy when she comes in the door, decorate the Valentines box with Josey in the middle of the day and make sure Lilly isn't ingesting anything dangerous and still earn some money. GREAT! Dustin and I agreed that we wouldn't go out and celebrate my new job until I actually got a paycheck. Tomorrow night we are going to paint the town red! Okay probably dinner and a movie we are really exciting in our old age.

BB

I had to include a picture of our newest family member BB. I finally got around to cleaning out her nasty cage and we had a moment her and me. Please excuse the chipping fingernail polish (Sunni).

Snow Days!

So the past few days we have actually gotten a little more snow! It has been very fun and they even cancelled school one day so the girls thought that was pretty cool. They have been out making snowmen and sledding and watching the snow fall. Here is Josey with her favorite baby snowman. We have a little hill in our backyard but it turned out to be perfect for sledding with Lilly. Maddy took her over and over again. As you can tell the snow is melting and giving way to the mud underneath.....
....as proven by the mud on Lilly's lips!
This was after a lot of the snow had started to melt. This is Josey's snowman family.

The girls played outside sledding down the hill for hours one day.


This is them coming in to warm up. Look at those rosey cheeks.

Does this look like the love child of Jay Leno or is it just me?
Lilly's new attempt at smiling.

Star Wars Mania

So call us overprotective but my girls had never seen Star Wars (or Harry Potter or SpiderMan or etc etc) They have never really really pushed to see them and I really try to go by the rating system and I always tell Maddy that if a movie is rated PG-13 then she has to be 13 to see it (whether I stick to this over the next five years I don't know yet but for now it works). Anyway, she was recently invited to a Star Wars birthday party. She came to me one day asking me if there were any girls in Star Wars. So I explained all the characters in the movie and the basic plot line and she was enthralled. So I started to feel bad, like maybe I had deprived my kids of something that they would really enjoy and have a lot of fun with. So Dustin and I decided to let them see Star Wars. I am still not going to let them see a couple of the movies but I think the older ones are good for them. So we watched one the other night and Josey fell asleep but after it was over Maddy sat up and said, "THAT WAS AWESOME!" So this is the light saber that she made at the party and she has been playing with it constantly. She asked me to take a picture and she posed for it. And as a side note they both have crushes on Luke Skywalker apparently. Please disregard the crazy midget girl in the picture.

Nacho Night

So Dustin decided to do dinner on Saturday, which was great with me! So he got all the makings for nachos. He told the girls that they could all make their very own nacho concoctions. So they all got up to the counter and started creating. I just kinda stayed out of the way and made sure Lilly didn't fall off her chair and let daddy take the lead. The girls had tons of fun and we had a repeat performance the next night because they had so much fun. Maddy was VERY particular about how she wanted hers.
Josey spent more time caressing the cheese and making sure each chip had just the right amount of cheese (meaning basically it is cheese and chips not chips and cheese).
I don't even know what to say about this picture. Anything that anyone had Lilly had to have as well. Even if she already had some in her bowl as soon as someone touched an ingredient you had to pass it to Lilly next.
Maddy ended up making nacho sandwiches. She is my creative eater. She is constantly trying to come up with new things to eat in new ways. Her proudest creation is sandwiches with chips added in. It is actually pretty good.

creepy

Is there anything worse than sitting on your bed and suddenly from under the pillow crawls out a big brown spider and it quickly creeps all the way down the length of the bed?

Gordon B. Hinckley

June 23, 1910 - January 27, 2008

I just felt the need to acknowledge the passing of our prophet today. We found out last night as I know many of you did as well. I felt a little in shock because I think that I have taken for granted the fact that he has been with us for so long. We all watched as he has gotten older and older over the last 12 years but I guess I just didn't want to really think about him actually leaving us here. When Dustin's mom called to tell us the news I started to cry. It was honestly a reaction I didn't expect. It wasn't like this was completely unexpected given his age and frailty. But, like my friend Heidi, all I could think about was his reunion with his wife Marjorie. They weren't seperated for very long but I could only imagine how happy they were to see each other. We talked to our girls about what happened and they asked me why I was crying. I told them that I wasn't crying because I was sad, even though he will be greatly missed by many, but I was crying because I was so happy for him. He had finally completely his great mission on this earth and was reunited with his loved ones and we can only imagine our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ there to welcome him home. Dustin told the girls that there was probably a big party in heaven last night as such a great man was welcomed home. I can't stop thinking about him today. I am also very thankful for the way that our church is set up. It is such a comfort to know that the leadership of this church is set up as it should be so that this time of transition is smooth and not full of chaos. I will miss seeing him in conference. I loved President Hinckley.

6 habits

Okay I was tagged to list 6 habits I have, I am assuming good or bad. So here goes. I am going to try and think of 6........

1. This one is kinda gross and my husband HATES it but I got it from my dad. I blow bubbles with my tongue. I know I shouldn't even admit it but when I am bored I find myself doing it unconciously. I remember watching my dad do it when I was a kid and thinking that was so cool so I worked and worked on it until I could finally do it and now it has become a very bad habit. Thanks dad.

2. I rarely finish my drinks. I always leave just a little bit at the bottom. I don't know why and it drives Dustin insane! I think I am planning on drinking the rest.....just a little bit later.

3. I never zip up my jackets and coats. I don't know if it is from growing up in California where you really didn't have to wear a coat very often and you could get away with not zipping it up. But for the longest time Dustin has had to remind me to zip up my coat when I am complaining that I am cold.

4. I don't untie my shoes when I take them off. I just slide them off. Isn't that supposed to say something about my personality?

5. I got this one from my mom. I wear my sunglasses as a headband. If I am wearing sunglasses on a sunny day when I go into a store or back home I forget to take them off and it will be like hours before I realize that they are still on my head like a headband.

6. I don't like to be ready early. I guess I feel like I look my best RIGHT after I have gotten ready and that if I get ready too early I will not look as good anymore. My hair will be flat, my make-up worn off and I will inevitably end up pulling my hair back. If I can just get ready and walk out the door I will look my best. So I tend to run on the late side especially now that I have three girls that I have to get ready as well. I always want them to be ready before me so I can take those last few minutes to finish up myself.

So those are 6 things that I could think of off the top of my head. I tag Liz, Amanda, Andrea and Alli. What are your habits?

Random silly pictures

Here are the girls getting busy one night. They wanted to make crafts. If you look closely at Maddy's feather (which is taped to her head) she has a big red jewel underneath (also taped to her head). Maddy's smile is so funny! When she saw this picture she was really happy because she told me that she tries to smile like this. When I asked her why she told me that she just likes it. ????
Lilly had to get in the picture of course!
As Lilly is getting older the girls are having more and more fun playing together. Dustin caught them playing together quietly with the teeniest tiniest pet shop. Lilly loves these and plays with them all the time.

Lilly was going crazy one night rolling around on the floor. It was quite entertaining. She was just laughing hysterically rolling around and around.

This is like the only picture I have of Lilly in her crib. It seems that I have tons of the other two sleeping and in their cribs but for whatever reason I have never taken a picture of Lilly. This was actually Maddy's idea and she brought the camera up otherwise there would probably be NO pictures of Lilly in her bed.
Lilly loves loves loves to dress up. She begs to put on a dress every morning and most days she is running around in one of grandma's famous home made dresses. But she brought Daddy's basketball shorts to me the other night saying, "dwess! dwess!" So I had to try and put it on her so it would stay. They were still a little wet from the laundry but she didn't care and even said, "nice and warm" when I put it on her! I thought that was pretty funny.
And here is the symbol for tofu that is flavored and texturized to simulate human flesh, or Hufu. I kid you not it is out there in case anyone wanted to know what cannibalism was like.

well well well?

So Dustin sent this link to me today.( He says it doesn't mean anything for us but I think that the fact he noticed this article says SOMETHING.) I added this link in just to let you all know. They are just two reasons to try and convince all our friends and family to move to Portland!

Her First Prayer

This is the cutest little prayer. Mom you are going to have to go and listen to it at Kinko because it it SO cute!

Ward Choir

I had a member of the bishopric visit me yesterday and I got handed some VERY bad news! I figured they wanted to give me a new calling but I wasn't sure what it was. I know they got it right because all I said to Dustin is please anything but ward choir! He came in and asked me to be the new ward choir director! I think he could feel the air leave the room as Dustin and I both couldn't breath. I of course said I would do it but I was about on the verge of tears for the rest of the day and completely depressed. I have sang in many choirs but A) this was over ten years ago and B) singing in a choir and directing a choir are two very different things. I have NEVER directed a choir. I think that Heavenly Father is teaching me a lesson though (as many callings do) because I have never been a consistent member of any ward choir......ever. I never go. And people always are trying to get me to go and I never show up. So now I am the one that is going to look stupid with no one singing in the choir! It only serves me right. I had our first practice today though and shockingly it went a lot better than I thought it was going to to go. I actually did a better job than I thought I would do. I guess after all those years of hearing a choir director it all came back to me. And I enjoyed it more that I thought I would. I was mourning the fact that I wasn't going to get to go home and take a nap like Dustin and I always do but it was really okay because I kinda enjoyed myself. I have this weird thing about ward choirs as well because one of the reasons I had never gone was because I never thought we sounded very good and it would drive me nuts. I think maybe as the director Heavenly Father has given me a different ear because I thought we even sounded pretty good! Anyway I am still upset that I have to stand backwards to the entire congregation once a month, so everyone can see my booty, and lead the choir.

We love you grandpa!

We got a call early this morning from Dustin's sister to tell us that Dustin's dad had a mild heart attack and was in the hospital. He is okay as far as we have heard and had to undergo a surgical procedure to unblock an artery but that he will be fine and that he seems to be doing okay. In fact he wants to go snowmobiling when he is let out of the hospital! We just wanted him to know that we are thinking about him and that we all love him. We know you are going to be just fine and home soon! Love you grandpa!

Arizona

Well let me start this post with saying I am a TOTAL loser. This weekend my sisters Rebekah and Alli ran the Phoenix marathon. I was supposed to be doing it with them and that is why I am a loser. I could go on about my excuses and stuff of why it didn't work out for me but really what is the point. Anyway let me just get out of the way that I still want to do it and it is still a goal for me to do it one of these days.
ANYWAY my mom surprised me with a ticket to come and join them down in Arizona and help cheer on my sisters. No one knew I was coming so it was really fun to surprise everyone at the airport and at the hotel. It was a really busy weekend and a fast one but we had lots of fun. Beck's husband surprised her by driving down from Sacramento with all the kids to support her. So I got to see all my little nephews and nieces and that was fun. I hadn't even seen my brothers baby yet and he is four months old! My brother now works for a company called Ragnar. They run relay type marathons all over the country and it is a really fun company. We are trying to put together an all girls team this summer in June to run the Wasatch Back, their biggest race they do. So I think that will be my first accomplished running thing and I am going to start training for that soon. It isn't nearly as rigorous as a marathon and I think it will be a good starting point for me. Anyway he had to work at the expo they had going on so we spent the first day there looking at all the running booths. It was pretty fun.
Beck and Alli wanted matching running outfits so they got these really cute tank tops and jackets. This is obviously Alli practicing what she is going to look like at the race the next morning! I am sure that she will love that I posted this picture.

The next day I drove them to the drop of point to start the race. This is the funniest story though. So at like 10:00 the night before the race I ask them where they need to go in the morning and neither of them have any clue! I asked them who was taking them and they said they weren't sure yet. So we spent the next half hour going through all their pamphlets and stuff figuring out where they needed to go and it was just funny to me that they didn't know. So we get up super early to get them where they need to go and Alli realizes that she had left her chip that goes on their shoe to track her start and finish and her number back at her house that is like a half hour away from the hotel. So needless to say she was getting fairly upset and she calls her husband who has to come and rush it up to her at the race. So we sat in a parking lot for about forty-five minutes just trying to give Tanner directions to where we were so that they could get going. We finally meet up and they head over to where everyone had been walking but by this time it was 7:40 which was the time the race was supposed to begin and they weren't even at the start line. So we found out later that they stood around with some people for about ten minutes before they realized they were the half marathoners that weren't starting until later. All the full marathon runners had already left and started the race! SO the were THEE LAST people to start the marathon! How funny is that? Maybe it wasn't the best idea to let Alli and Becky run this together? jk

We finally made it over to mile 19 to catch up with them in the race and cheer them on. We waited there for quite a while and it was very fun and inspiring to watch all the different people running the race and to cheer them on. I had to take a picture of this man as he ran by BAREFOOT! I secretly hoped he stepped on a piece of glass or something because I just thought that was really stupid to run on streets through Phoenix with no shoes on! But whatever! Maybe his shoe broke or something and he was just really tough I don't know.
They finally came around the corner and we were so excited! They looked pretty good I think for going almost twenty miles!They were cracking me up before the race because in true Reber fashion they weren't going anywhere without their makeup on. So the night before they were getting self tanner on because heaven forbid they looked white while they were running! And then in the morning my sister asked me if she needed more makeup. She already had a full face on! I laughed and said, "You are running a marathon!" But they wanted to make sure they were the cutest girls out there and they succeeded! They looked hot even running 26 miles!

And then they were off to see Becky's husband a few miles down and my brother and his wife a few miles past that.Now you are probably wondering where the pictures are of them actually finishing the race. I am happy to report that they finished the race! BUT WE MISSED IT! We weren't there for the finish line! Isn't that the saddest thing you ever heard? There were something like 35000 people running the race and everyones car was on the road to the finish line. So we got stuck in traffic! I called Becky and she said they were on their last mile and I quickly hung up the phone because I didn't want her to know we weren't there yet! We were still trying to make it there. Finally Missy came and drove Ryan's car and Ryan, me and all the kids jumped out and started running to the finish line that was like a mile away still! I was carrying Georgia who is almost three and I had flip flops on so you can imagine how fast I was going. So I my phone rings and Becky is like, "WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?" I felt so bad. So they went back and reenacted their finish line stances and faces but I didn't have my camera there I only had hers. So they did get pictures of it but it wasn't in real time! Anyway it was a fun weekend and I started crying when I left because it was too short and too fast and I HATE living so far away from my sisters and my mom. But I am so proud of my sisters and they are my inspiration and my aspiration! I love you guys and already miss you!

just for laughs......

Okay I know this is completely random and my post about why I am a nerd is SO last week! But I had to add one more story that I was thinking about last night and I couldn't stop laughing. I think maybe you will get a chuckle out of it as well. When I was in college I once went out to dinner with a friend and when we went in the restaurant I realized that I had forgot my wallet out in the car. (For those of you that have ever lived in Provo it was the Olive Garden there, jsut so you can visualize better). Anyway it was raining outside and so I quickly darted out into the parking lot. As I was nearing the first row of cars I slipped on the wet asphalt and I started to trip. I was trying to save myself from falling completely flat on my face and I ended up head butting the bumper of the car in front of me! I slammed into the car with my head and then was propelled backward, flat on my back in the parking lot, with the rain coming down in my face. The funniest part of the story though is that a couple had walked out of the restaurant right behind me and saw the whole thing. They came walking towards me and I thought that they were going to ask me if I was okay and it turned out that it was THEIR car! They first checked their car for any damage and then asked if I was okay! I wish that someone had videotaped the human car crash because I think I could have won a Funniest Home Video's episode.

Okay also when I was looking for a funny picture to put with this post (I couldn't find one) I found a car for me. For those of you that don't know I have a weakness for red heels. I don't know what it is but I am always drawn to some sort of variation in a red heel in a shoe store. I don't know what that says about my personality but I just love them. Anyway here is my future car.......

Big Girl Lilly

Lilly is so funny lately, she just has to be involved with whatever her sisters are doing. She follows them around when they are home and just thinks that she should be included in their games. So the other night Maddy and Josey were playing littlest pet shop at the table and Lilly came to me just crying and crying about a "big girl chair". She kept telling me she wanted to "pay" (play). So I brought her over and tried to just give her a few of the girls toys and hoped that that would appease her but of course she had to be up at the table with the girls. So I finally brought a chair over and she was so ecstatic that she got to stand there with the girls and play. Maddy and Josey were very good to include her as well. Another year or two and she will be right there imagining things with them. If you look at Josey in this picture you will see that she still hasn't grown out of her "making really wierd faces "phase. Whenever she is pretending or excited she makes odd faces. She is doing it here in this picture. We sure hope she grows out of that before she hits college or she may be living with us for a lot longer than we would like.

I'm it!

Okay so I was tagged by my sister-in-law, Liz, to tell six interesting things about myself. I was having a hard time thinking of interesting things about myself but I could think of a lot of things that proved that I was the nerdiest person alive! I thought I would let you know how nerdy I have been in my life. Here is a list of 20 things, in no particular order, that I like or have done, that will convince you that I am the nerdiest person ever (Alli might be able to give me run for my money though).....if you didn't already know that! (Honestly it wasn't very hard for me to think of 20 things. This is pretty much off the top of my head.)

1. I like science fiction......A LOT. I would pick a science fiction movie over a romance or comedy any day. There was a time in my life that I might have actually been characterized as a trekky.
2. The only crushes I can remember having as a kid were on Will Wheaton (I know many of you probably don't even know who that is. He was on Star Trek.) and........Bill Murry. Apparently I have always been attracted to thin, balding, funny men (Dustin).
2. I like video games. I like to play them. I have been known to play computer games as well.
3. I played the clarinet and I was actually pretty good.
4. I once had a leadership campaign that said "Catch the fever, vote for Reber".
5. I asked for a barbie doll for a birthday.....but it was my fourteenth birthday!
6. I once cried to my photography teacher to change my grade from a B to an A because, as I so eloquently screamed at him through my tears, "I would NEVER get into college with a B in photography".
7. I once on the spur of the moment made up a gymnastics floor routine that I had to perform in front of many people.
8. I drank someone elses urine in my Biology class at BYU just because I was curious about how you would detect if someone had diabetes.
9. I didn't get my first kiss until I was 16 (that is a story in and of itself. Let's just say it involves a graveyard and Kenny G.) Now it wasn't that I didn't have opportunities, I was just to nervous to actually do it. I honestly have about five REALLY REALLY awkward stories of boys trying to kiss me and I just couldn't do it.
10. In high school I drove a gold Toyota minivan, circa 1985. It would overheat about every ten miles so I constantly had to pull over and add stuff to the engine so that I could actually drive from one place to another.
11. In college my car wouldn't go in reverse (it is a long story). So I had to strategically park so that I never had to go in reverse. If this wasn't possible I would actually have to get out of the car and push it out of the parking stall.
12. I once got caught in my apartment, by myself, in college trying to mimic a dance move I saw on MTV.
13. I clogged in a talent show.
14. Once on a first date I was carrying a tray of food back to my table following my date and I tripped and ketchup flew off my tray and landed on the couple eating at the table in front of me.
15. Once someone asked me "Who's your daddy?" and I seriously told her that his name was Jeff Reber. I didn't know that statement.
16. When I was a kid I used to pretend that I was deaf when I would go to the mall with my mom, and I would only talk in sign language. Then sometimes I would practice doing interviews with different accents in front of the mirror. I do a MEAN deaf French woman.
17. In junior high a friend and I performed a song in the talent show. That isn't so bad except that it was a show tune called "I Enjoy Being a Girl". Wow....bad decisions.
18. In high school I was in the Jazz Ensemble (nerdy). We had to perform all the time in very "flattering" dresses. But once we had to perform in a rally and our teacher made us do a show choir routine entitled "Keepers of the Groove" (that says it all). But if you don't know what that is, think Napoleon Dynamite and his sign language song except there was dancing involved, cheesy singing, lame poses and hundreds of my peers watching.
19. Once my sister actually let me tag along with some of her older friends when I was like 13 or 14. We were at a park and I sat in DOG POO!
AND if those didn't convince you here is the best reason,
20. When I wear my glasses they are ALWAYS crooked on my face.....always.


So there you go TWENTY things to show that I might be the nerdiest person out there! I am not going to tag anyone because I don't know who else out there wants to share how nerdy they are. But I would love to hear it if you are!

Zoo Lights

I know this is really late considering I am putting Christmas lights but I never got around to getting them up here. But this is what we did on New Years Eve. It was the last day of the Portland Zoo lights and they were free! We had wanted to take the kids to see them before Christmas but with the size of our family now it was just going to be too much. So I was excited when I saw it was free. So we met Dustin at work and headed over to the zoo at about 6:30. However it was BITTER cold! Oh my goodness it was SOOOOO cold! But we had a good time.

Josey with her favorite color light, blue. I told them to find where they wanted their picture taken with their favorite lights and these were Joseys.

This is where Maddy wanted her picture taken . She looks so old in this picture it kinda freaks me out.
Dustin was trying to warm up with the lights. I don't think he got very warm.
I love Lilly's face in this picture. She loved Rudolph.

Maddy wanted to pose like this. It kinda cracks me up.

Honestly the light were amazing and they really do a good job. The girls loved it and Dustin and I tried to stay warm!