THE HARWARD HOME

More Kennethisms

2010-10-05T14:23:00.002-04:00

Time to time my brother can be really clever.=) So as I am sure he won't add you as a friend, believe me I have tried, I thought I would post some of his facebook updates for you to enjoy:

Kenneth R Brinkman is your book of the month.

Kenneth R Brinkman should be a travel agent, because he's always canceling peoples ego trips.

Kenneth R Brinkman is constantly telling strangers, "I'm pretty sure I smell milk."

Kenneth R Brinkman is wondering so whatcha, whatcha, whatcha want. Got on the addidas warm up suit on kicking it straight old school.

Kenneth R Brinkman has a pretty good net, but just can't seem to catch a break.

Kenneth R Brinkman thinks that some good advice is to never start a land war in Asia, and never trust a Sicilian when death is on the line.

Kenneth R Brinkman can bench press a house, but only one rep, any more your asking for trouble. I knew a witch who I believe was from the north. She tried it more then once and was killed by a redneck, and her little dog too. Not so good times!

Nice ones Kenneth!

Where have you been all my life?

2010-09-01T10:23:00.008-04:00

Let me just preface this post with some words of wisdom that my BFF Mandi would say, "I am such a nerd." Or this sweet little ditty,"Don't you judge me!"

While perusing her blog today I stumbled on to a little piece of heaven. I am sure you are wondering what in the world would enlist such a response. This little gem http://www.graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/

Why am I just now finding out about this??!! OK I am calm...the important thing is now I do know about it so my life can begin.

So of course I can show you some goodies I found....

You may or may not know I have an unnatural affection for the Eiffel Tower. My goal is to have one in EVERY room of the house apparently. I am well on my way.

I love old pics like this. Isn't she a cutie.

Last but not least two of my FAV-O-RITES......

This was a cover for some sheet music. I think it is wonderful! Click on it so you can see the detail, the little bird, and the sea out the window. sigh. So pretty.

This one is actually three different pics that I put together. I love it. It is going in my bedroom. Oh yes, It will be mine.

I have others. Many, many, others, but you don't want to see mine. Go find your own!

13 and counting...or Lucky 13!

2010-07-26T12:27:00.014-04:00

Well here they are two crazy kids...who 13 years ago fell in love and decided to be together forever.(wow.. forever is a long time..Some days it is longer than others!=)

these are our engagement pics... the first picture taken of Mrs & Mr Nathan Harward

have to show a pic of the cake!! It ALL was gone by the end of the night. Oh yeah and each layer was a different flavor. The BEST cake EVER!!!!
Partied out!! "Can I go home now?"

I love ya Nathan! Thanks for being my best friend!

Nate the great is eight!!

2010-07-19T10:20:00.014-04:00

OK so my sweet Nate has been eight for a while now. I know I am a slacker. Anywho would ya like to see the pics? Alright then stop complaining...here they are...

birthday cupcakes...the kids helped me decorate.

So here is what he REALLY, REALLY wanted and asked me for about a million times. He finished the game in three days.

"What?! All the green stuff is for me? THANKS GRANDMA AND GRANDPA!!!!"

So these are from before his party... we spent the day at the zoo. Nana and Poppy enjoying their meal of dirt pizza, dirt soda, and for desert dirt cake. YUMMY!

Little Momma and JOJO!

What's up with the salute there partner? Well at least his tongue isn't sticking out.

the grand babies in the hole.=)

See he can be nice when he wants too.

Here is most of the clan. I really love Nick there in the front giving himself a little adjustment. I tried to find one that he didn't have his hands in his pants, but this was as close as it got.=)

Here he is dressed in white ready to get baptized.
This is my favorite. Just after he was baptized. I love my Nate. He really is a sweet kid!

(I would show you all the yummy food, but it got wiped out! ALL OF IT! It was some good

eats!=) It was a wonderful day!!!

I'm no He-Whore! by:Nathan Harward

2010-07-09T19:30:00.005-04:00

Had the best time with my girl tonight, we took the time to go see the new Twilight movie Eclipse, which I thought was very good. Yes, if you want to know I am totally team Jacob, hot, hairy and stinky! Although I am not a fan of tween age vampire movies because most are predictable and geared towards 12-17 year old girls. The one scene that threw me for a loop was when Bella and Edward had the house to themselves. Of course one way or another they end up in the bedroom. As Bella is contemplating being turned into a vampire by Edward she tells him there is one thing she would like to do in her human form, and of course you guessed it... bumping uglies. As they begin to get hot and heavy Edward pauses, and says,"No Bella...I can't take your Christmas until we are married." Needless to say my jaw hit the floor. What a breath of fresh air. I am sure it won't affect everyone like it affected me. It is nice to know there are still a few moral people in the world, even if they are the walking dead!

WARNINGThis post contains graphic pics!!

2010-06-30T15:30:00.015-04:00

OK so you have been warned...if you continue reading...send me the bill for your therapy....
For father's day this year we took a weekend to Raleigh. It is one of our fav-o-rite places. So here we go...
Doesn't this look like fun? Doesn't it make you want to chance getting stuck and having to call the fire dept to come and rescue a 35 year old women out of the McDonald's play area.....almost.=)

Of course when we go to Raleigh we always have to see the temple. (can't you hear the primary song playing in the background=)

OK Mandi... Nathan does take some pics, but due to my AWESOME editing they don't always make the cut.

Of course it wouldn't be any fun for the Harwards without some pool time...

here are my mermaids and mermen....

here is king Triton working on his tan lines...

(i am sorry=)

This is all you will see of me in my swimsuit!

If I had a better camera I could have got them in mid air...this is semi air...

can I just tell you how much I love life jackets.I could just kiss whoever invented them. Bravo, whoever,bravo.

Emma and her 360s. AWESOME air dude!=)

Have you seen these machines? We love them! We even planned a trip to the zoo just to get our squished pennies!

Again this is another tradition...I have a million pics of this guy and his little friends... but it wasn't until this trip did I learn he isn't a T-Rex....What is he you ask....

Acrocanthosaurus . The Terror of the South... I always thought it was rednecks, but whatever.

Oh what do you do in the summertime?

2010-06-29T12:41:00.025-04:00

You know what we do...well we celebrate the glorious day of my birth. I turned 35. People have asked me if it was time to have my mid life crisis yet...hah.. haa...haa..(that is a Woody from Toystory laugh by the way)I will have you know I was very happy to turn 35. I thought I was turning 36.. so see.. hahaa suckers I am a year younger than I thought I was! (I told my teachers I would never use math growing up and I am sticking to my guns!=)
Anywho, for my birthday Nathan won a weekend in the Queen city of Charlotte, NC. So here are some pics...
every trip we go on I take one of Nathan in the car. Here are the tickets for the baseball game.
the Queen City.
We were right at the SC/NC line. So of course we had to go to the welcome center.
As you can see welcome centers are another obsession of mine. I don't know maybe it is all the free pamphlets they give you, because I have about a million of them!
This is our room. Nice TV. (even though I read all weekend. Nathan liked it.)
At the stadium.
Throwing up gang signs. Word to your mother.
This is the meal that poisoned Nathan on Sat.
I know crappy pic, but we got to watch the game from our sky box. Leather couches, popcorn, peanuts, drinks, our own attendant. Nice!
Oh and they had these cute baseballs we took home for the kids. Don't worry they are foam.
Me chillin before the game.
Nathan and Sweet Caroline one of the mascots.
I titled this one...Dude what is in that drink? Or where can I get one?
The home team won 3 to 2. It was a good game.
Oh yeah it was a fireworks night.=)

So needless to say I had a AWESOME birthday!=)

Ahh.. the Good Ole Days....

2010-03-01T08:33:00.007-05:00

I changed the pic on my desktop and I don't know...it just took me back... So I thought I would share some pics from way back when.=)OK my fav thing about this pic is little Nate there in the middle. He is such a little boy.=)

I used to dress the girls in the same dresses all the time.I would still do it today if I could!

they still act like this, but it isn't as loving. More screaming is involved.

Look at those cute kids!=)I just can't believe my babies are growing so fast! Stop it guys you are making me depressed!=)

Oh well. Sigh... I guess they can't stay young forever. At least they still "kind of" like us...kind of.

Hey ya'll it's Emma!!!!

2010-02-25T14:51:00.006-05:00

Aren't we so cute? That's me in the purple coat. That's Lissette in the pink, and that leaves Sunshine!!!!!!

Ok now, this will be hard to explain...but you know who Lisette, and Sunshine are....So that leaves Kirmy, Ellis, and Kayla.

**side note**(this is Dena here...I just told Emma "why don't you tell something funny about school." She just gives me her bulldog look and says "Nothings funny about school." My bad, carry on.=)

**OK it's Dena again...I know, I know I said this was Emma's post...but she just told me a funny story.... from school no less...

So they were playing kickball today and her friend Lissette(pictured above) kicked the ball at Emma, and Emma caught it and got her out.This is how she tells it...

"So today Mom, Lissette kicked the ball and it went straight for my head! So of course I HAD to catch it! I didn't want to get my friend out, but I mean, come on Mom! It was life or DEATH!!! I had to get her out! Like it was fate!"=)

(Did I ever mention Emma can be a little....dramatic. I don't know where she gets it.Nathan, I suppose.=)

Comments.....

2010-02-22T12:41:00.002-05:00

So...I don't know if you have been looking at the comment section of my blogpost...if ya have you may have noticed something a little...different. My daughter has been leaving little comments here and there. So I think I will let her do the next post. You heard me right The Harward Home will be taken over by my 9yr old.=)
So stay tuned!

PS
it will be after tomm. I have to work tonight.=)

my life in 60 seconds..no minutes...whatever..

2010-02-08T06:19:00.008-05:00

I got a job at Books a million.
I like it a lot!

Nathan got this for his b-day.

I like it a lot too!

Some good ole redneck sledding!

I am such a mean Mom. That being said this is one of my fav pics.=) Emma's face plant in the snow.

My kids enjoying (cross your fingers)the only snow for the season!

**Side note**

They only went to school one day last week...ONE.....DAY! Sigh.The end.

Yeah! I finished it!

2010-01-25T06:56:00.002-05:00

I said that I was going to make one, and I did! I know what you are thinking...(yippey skippey,big deal...right?) Well it is a big deal to me!;)

It was a really EASY project! I got all the instructions from

Little Birdie Secrets

Now I feel the love....Ohhh yeah...I feel it.

On a side note this is the new hot chocolate color I painted my kitchen. Say all you want about it....it cost me $6.00. You heard me...I said $6.00. My new curtains are only going to be $12.50. That is if I don't screw them up. That will be a later post.=)

Wish me luck!

Long time, no see.....or The lo down on the Christmas ho down...

2010-01-05T08:52:00.010-05:00

I thought I would share some Christmas pics with ya... So here they go..

Let me explain this one. We(me and my siblings) got my Mom a camera for Christmas. When she saw the box she started crying.Then my ever so witty husband said, "Calm down Judy. It's only a box." Hence her reaction caught for posterity. Had I been clever I really would have switched out the camera and put socks in the box. heehhee. I am so mean.

Here is my fav Christmas treat. It is Almond sour cream pound cake w/ almond butter cream frosting. Paula Deen. YUMMY!(and pretty if I do say so myself=)

This is the Harward Clan. We got to see them on Christmas.

These pics are one of our fav. presents. A GIANT BAT AND BALL. Tons of fun!

No we didn't get the moon. Well OK we kind of did. Eliza got a telescope for Christmas. If I had a better camera you could see some really cool pics. This isn't even the closest lens.=) I love this present. If you want a nice telescope for a decent price, this is the one.

Well there are more trinkets, and goodies to be shown. That will have to be at a later date. I have bored you enough.=)

Scrabble

2009-12-20T12:11:00.002-05:00

Christmas came early to me this year. Nathan bought me this scrabble board and already gave it to me to enjoy. (It is an AWESOME board. It has the rollers on the bottom so you can move the board easy and it all fits like a suitcase. I LOVE IT!) This is not the reason for this post. The reason for this post is to share with you some of Nathan's words and his excuses for them....for example:

fauxpope- a fake pope.
souphut- a hut that sells soup.

Nathan said "There was a souphut in CA!" "OK fine so what about drugsoup!"He turns to Eliza and says,"They warn you guys about drugsoup in school, right?"

That brought on the next word:

dogsoup- "They eat it in Taiwan!"me:"OK honey fine."

Last but not least...

deafhug--a hug for a deaf person. This one brought on this conversation....

Nathan:"Sure if I would have put deafjam you would have taken it, but no not a hug for a deaf person! What is wrong with you?!!!!"

I can see that this present, will bring me YEARS and YEARS of enjoyment!=)

Year end letter...

2009-12-18T20:27:00.002-05:00

Dearest family and friends,
This past year has been pretty good, it's been kind of uneventful, but staying with the tradition of other people who can't seem to find enough to fill their time during this joyous season...I have decided to sit down and write a year end letter, and just hit some of the high spots.
The beginning of the year started out with me in the hospital getting my pus filled sinuses cut and drained.I know it sounds bad but it was quite a delightful experience.I told Dena to take lots of pictures but she said some how they were deleted.(I think she is lying but I was riding the pink elephant at the time, so I can't be sure.)
Feb. brought about the same challenges as every year...valentine's day. It seems at this time of year that Dena spends ALOT more time on the Twilight websites.Not to blame her that Taylor Lautner is one hot dude.(yes I will admit it...I've got a man crush.) Yeah the man has got an awesome six pack, but you should see the keg I have been working on the last few years!(www largeandlucious.com=) Check it out, it's only $5.95 for the first three months!
By the way, I started a new internet business. The money isn't great right now, but I'm sure it will pick up after this post.(hint..hint... ladies)
It's hard to make a profit, Guido who got me started with the website, said I owe him 90% royalties on ever thing I make. He said this was an offer I couldn't refuse, but with a name like that, how could you?
Summer was much the same, farmers tan, a little swimming. The only interesting thing I did was timing my morning pee to get into the Guinness Book. 37 seconds folks, and still not a record. You may say "that's not that long", but you stop and stare at a clock for that long and you'll say "WOW!" Tried my hand at another garden, but things besides my thumbs started to turn green. So I had to stop that.Hey man, I really want that record!
Here we are back at Christmas time. So Merry Christmas to all, and have a great new year.
Nathan

Just a quick peek....

2009-12-14T14:52:00.003-05:00

Just a peek at what we have been doing....

Thanksgiving with the bros and sis.

I love this one. My Mom looks tiny!=)Nate's cub scout thingy. He received his bobcat badge. He carried it around with him for 2 days.

My little elf. Her Christmas concert.

My other elf. Her first concert. We had to be there 2 hours early. Yep good times!

Holy cow! What a HOTTIE!=) Sorry this one is for me.

LOL! They look sooo much a like!

These are my "daughters." When we went on the field trip to Raleigh these were my girls.=)

This was the choir singing in the Capitols rotunda. It was heavenly!

Hopefully I will be able to post some more later.

Dear Grimm Reaper,

2009-12-12T08:02:00.005-05:00

During this time of year I like to sit back and reflect on all my favorite people you have taken this year. For example.....

~favorite dancer: Michael Jackson
~favorite TV personality: Billy Mays
~favorite comedian: Soupy Sales
~favorite fat guy sidekick(besides myself!): Ed McMahon

Though it's sad to see my favorites go, I understand that you must do your job.

Sincerely,
Nathan

PS
by the way my favorite politician is Barack Obama.

PSS
A bit much? yeah OK.

This will give you that Christmas spirit.

2009-12-07T14:19:00.002-05:00

Just make sure you have your hankies ready. I'm off to get mine.=)

2009-12-03T11:55:00.001-05:00

I don't know why it won't work on exployer. If you go on to mozilla it will work. I haveit on my facebook page as well.

2009-12-01T21:38:00.003-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Just a little something for all y'all to enjoy for Christmas.

Nathan said this hoe down made his bells jingle! Merry Christmas!

Cartmen's O holy Night...You're welcome.

2009-12-01T09:37:00.002-05:00

Just pause the other, and press play. Enjoy!

Tickets please...

2009-11-12T09:32:00.000-05:00

Yep I am set! You wanna to get up on this?

We came, we went, we par-tied!

2009-11-04T13:12:00.008-05:00

Here are some pics from the Johnson's Halloween hayride. We had a great time and partied like it was 1999!(heehee)
Special Agent Noah Harward

Nate the scarecrow.

Eliza the witch.

and Agent Emma Harward

This is Jonah the flying monkey.

this is at church. Emma was a vampire. (My favorite costume) and Noah was Indiana Jones.

The name game....

2009-10-22T10:52:00.005-04:00

I'm not saying I hate my name. That is not what this post is about. That being said...I hate my name. OK so not my name so much as people's lack to say it right. Let me clear this up for ya people....I AM NOT DANA HOWARD! It drives me crazy. I know I should just let it go, but....I can't! I have been Dana, Dee-anna, De-ann, and many, many, more.I know what you are thinking it could be worse right. Yeeah thanks. Haa, haa.

So knowing this about myself, why oh why did I name my daughter Eliza. Oh that poor girl. I guess being Mormon I never really thought of it as a odd name. Kind of old, yes, pioneery, yeah OK I get that, but hard to pronounce, not really. You may be thinking the same thing.
Well Eliza informed me the other day that since the first day of school the band teacher has called her E-lisa. She has corrected him several times, but he just can't get it.( He doesn't even try her last name.) So all I can say is," sorry kid."

Some of my fav songs are name songs. For example:
~Oh Sherry ( I l-o-v-ed this song growing up! I still do!)
~Mandy (classic Manilow, and I like Mandi too.=)
~Sweet Caroline (I mean Caroline is a really pretty name.)
~Annie's song (Nathan used to sing this all the time when we were dating. Annie, lovely name.)
~Jessie's Girl (I heart Rick Springfield. Really. I have the button to prove it. It is on my acid washed denim jacket.=)
~I almost forgot my fav. ROXANNE (this one can back fire though. Just ask Roxanne Miller. The poor women has to hear me sing it at her ALL the time. I am ashamed to say.)

There's more but I will spare you. All these choices and I picked Eliza. Oh well I guess she will just have to be E-lisa Howard with her Mom...Dana.sigh.

Looking at the past.....

2009-10-19T08:43:00.004-04:00

We got to visit the Montgomery House for Little Nate's cub scouts. Brother and Sister Johnson invited everyone out to see the living history. It was a lot of fun! Here are some pics....

This is our "sweet little knuckle heads."(That is Nathan's words not mine.=)This is the front of the house. It is still a work in progress. They are raising money to restore it. Outside they had a camp set up for the soldiers.

Nate enjoying the solder's campfire.

Hello handsome! (Sorry I put this one in for me.=)

Roger's rifles. Hee heee sounds like a store in Randolph county.

This was one of the coolest displays. It is the field medic. He had everything including a stained bloody tablecloth! COOL!

"I'll save you Nate!"(yeah right!)

Nate,. Noah and our tour guide Zada.

The troops. The General is standing with little Nate. Everyone was very nice to explain things to the boys and let them hold and see their things. For example they let the boys feel how heavy their rifles were. (To which Noah kept saying he wanted to shoot something. Which made the guy give a nervous little giggle and take back his rifle.=)

Nathan and Sheriff Johnson.

This is Little Nate's Den mother, Sister Johnson, and MaKorah.(Sorry Debbie I got you with your eyes closed.=)Oops.

Sigh.....

2009-10-13T09:12:00.002-04:00

How sick can one family get. I mean REALLY?! Yes, you guessed it we are sick AGAIN! I don't know what is going on! Yesterday I took Noah to the doctor and he has the flu. Not the pig one, just the regular one. So of course last night poor Eliza was coughing her lungs out...ALL NIGHT! Sigh. OK so I know it won't last, but man O man I am tired of being sick! We have hit our sick quota for this year! You hear me Natey and Emma! NO MORE SICKNESS!

Spreading the GLEE!

2009-10-10T11:06:00.004-04:00

Has anyone else seen the new show called GLEE? Me and Nathan love it! (It was actually Nathan who told me about it.) If you haven't seen it then I will tell you it is a lot like FAME. Only funnier. Check it out. It comes on WED. at 9:00 on Fox. I believe. Check your local listings.=)

Just look at my tree!

2009-10-08T06:49:00.008-04:00

I saw this at Hobby Lobby. Right as you walk into the store, and I loved it! So already having a
Christmas tree in my kitchen(It was on it's was to the building for storage) I thought,"Shoot Christmas is right around the corner(5 months away=) Why not put up a fall tree?!"
So I put it up in the corner of the kitchen. Of course if you wanted I am sure you could easily make it into a Halloween tree.

I bought some pie pumpkins from walmart.

Nathan helped me pick out my picks for the tree. I'm not sure who had more fun!

OK so I could have done better on the bow. All in all I like it!

The good stuff...

2009-10-07T14:35:00.009-04:00

This shout out goes to Sister Cecil. She gave me the BEST recipe for buttermilk biscuits, that I now feel it is my duty ,NAY privilege to share it with you....

1st you will need:
3 cups of SELF rising flour
1 stick of cold butter or margarine
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cup buttermilk (you have to get the good stuff. You can't add vinegar to milk.=)

add butter like this( I keep calling it butter but it is margarine. butter is easier to spell=) Mix it together. I put it in my stand mixer at a 2 speed.
till it looks like this...

roll it out on a lightly floured surface. and cut out your biscuits.

I like to do different shapes. These are supposed to be pumpkins, but I think I used the skull cookie cutter.

Bake at 425 for about 10 to 12 min. Oh yeah not pictured is me rubbing the tops with butter.

ENJOY! Throw in a little bacon, and you have one fine biscuit my friend! (yes drinking cranberry juice out of a martini glass makes me feel fancy!)

I love to laugh...haahaahaa...ha.

2009-09-25T20:55:00.002-04:00

Laughing is one of my favorite pass times. Any of you that know me, knows that I like to throw out a joke or two. Anywho this post isn't about me. I know of some undiscovered talent that I am sure you will love.

This is my brother Kenneth. (sorry ladies he is taken.=)

Kenneth is on facebook. As you may or may not know, you can put the" what you are doing now..." sayings for everyone to read. So here are a few things Kenneth has been up to:

Kenneth R Brinkman has a day off. Hope i dont get fired,
but then again i did take some boxes home. I dont think i'm
on videotape, but maybe I am. Oh well back to building a
clubhouse!

Kenneth R Brinkman is living on a prayer, and I think I'm
about halfway there!

Kenneth R Brinkman got the skies shined up, grabbed a
stick of Juicy Fruit, and ready for the taste to move me!

Kenneth R Brinkman has never knocked on wood, but I
know someone who has!

Kenneth R Brinkman really enjoys walking around, cautiously
whispering "Abort," into his collar, and holding 2 fingers
over his ear.

Kenneth R Brinkman is in the woods leg-sweeping deer as
they walk by.

Kenneth R Brinkman hates it when his chinese stars fall out
his sleeve's

Kenneth R Brinkman is trying to bring back CB lingo, Over!

Just some more pics...

2009-09-08T12:00:00.017-04:00

Pompey, Italy

Tower of London

Salisbury Cathedral

Shakespeare's birthplace

the school thing....

2009-08-31T07:53:00.002-04:00

So as many of you know Noah is in school now. Well to say he loves it is an understatement. Every morning he has something to say such as:

First day: While we were getting everyone ready for school he says, "UGH! Come on MOM! Can we just go already?! Just leave them they said they want to stay home today. They're sick."I guess they weren't moving fast enough for him.

Second day:I was walking Noah to his class and he is like 5 feet in front of me looking over his shoulder every few seconds. I thought he was checking to make sure I was with him, but alas he says,"Mom! What are you doing? This is my class you need to go home to your class!"

Today: I woke them up to early today, and Noah told me to leave him alone; he needed his beauty nap!

I am just glad so far we haven't had any problems! Knock on wood!

Europe pics

2009-08-21T20:19:00.003-04:00

Just after I graduated from Rick's College, I got to go to Europe with my sister Kelly. We went to England, France, and Italy. That was in 1996. Well I am finally doing something with the pictures we took there. Most I am blowing up to go in my kitchen(mostly the Paris one) and the rest we are putting throughout the house. I just thought you guys would like to see some. Here they are.....PS I threw in some from the gulf of Mexico too. Also I figured out how to put lettering on them and quotes and stuff. It is tons of fun! I hope you enjoy!

Quote: Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the staricase, just the first step.

Windsor Castle

Quote: Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the thing that you didn't do then by the ones that you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away fromthe safe harbor. Catch the tradewinds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.~Mark Twain

Pictures

2009-08-18T15:57:00.003-04:00

We took the kids and got their pictures taken today. I can't believe my babies are growing so fast!

Looking at these I just get all teary eyed. Sniff...sniff.

Up to speed...

2009-08-17T16:15:00.002-04:00

To say things around here have been crazy is well in all frankness a GROSS UNDERSTATEMENT! Everyday I get to hear the wonderful heart stopping sound of glass shattering on my kitchen floor.( I am serious we only have four "nice" plates left.) Noah and Nathan now are called the light bulb bandits. (They removed all the light bulbs from almost every light fixture and put them into a trash bag. Noah even removed the one from the front porch, thankfully without breaking the globe.I am still boggled about that one!) For the piece De resistance....they dosed our front porch in gasoline. To get rid of the ants. Sigh....I don't think I am going to make it until next Tues. Thankfully then they can entertain their teachers! Bless their little hearts!

Anybody want a kitten?

2009-07-25T19:56:00.001-04:00

We have seven more kittens. Yep you read that right.....7. I think I am going to go throw up.

Air quotes...

2009-07-20T15:42:00.002-04:00

For those of you who don't know; I think one of the funniest thing to me in the art of language is "air quotes." People use them all the time, shoot I use them "ALL" the time. It just cracks me up! Well today Noah was explaining something to me and used air quotes. I thought I would wet my pants I was laughing so hard. Anyway I want it to go down in the Harward history..... July 20Th Noah used air quotes for the first time!=)

Also as a side note,,I was talking to my dear big Nate and was telling him about a quiz you can take on facebook called...Finding out your native American name. Well I told him mine was Willow Moon and that he would have to call me that from now on. Well not wanting to be outdone he came up with his own name for himself, he picked....Chafes When Runs!LOL! I love my hubby!

I'm a little teapot....

2009-07-07T06:43:00.001-04:00

This is one of my FAVORITE birthday presents. I LOVE teapots and teacups.

You can't really tell with my camera, but it is navy on the top. I think it looks like something they would have in Biltmore house.

I have always wanted to have a teaparty and a book club night so now maybe I will! Thanks for the AWESOME present!(you know who you are!)

here is my 4th of July topperI really like it, but it still need to be quilted.

I don'tknow if you can see it but on the back of the topper it has the Pledge of Allegiance.The next one I will do is for my MIL. Then on to Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Fishing fun!

2009-07-06T11:41:00.012-04:00

My kids got to spend the weekend with their Nana and Poppy. For Nate's birthday Poppy got him a fishing pole. While he was at it he thought it would be fun for all the kids to have one, so he bought the rest the guy had.

Here is Poppy untangling yet another hook for the tree branch. My kids might not have caught any fish but they caught a TON of tree branches!

"That's right Lizzie. Work smarter not harder!"=)

Watch out Nate! Noah is behind you!!

"I've got the outfit and the accessories.Now where are the fish?"

After fishing they went to the park to play.

Here is Aaron, Emma, Lizzie, Natey. and Noah. (he is the monkey on the middle.=)

Poppy having a little nap time.

After they got home Noah and Nate decided they needed a bath.

Mom calls this one The Head in the Bubbles.

Thanks so much Mom and Dad for taking the kids with ya! They LOVED it!=)

Bringing you up to speed...

2009-06-26T07:13:00.005-04:00

A LOT of things have been going on around here lately. Some days I feel like a dog chasing my tail. Ever since the kids got out of school it has been one thing or another. We went on the pioneer trek.....

This is some of our girls on the very last part of the trek.The one in the middle had a bruised ankle from being run over by the hand cart on the first day, but she still wanted to walk the whole trail. "Way to go Monica!!!We are proud of ya!"

This is my beautiful niece Mary Katherine. We kidnapped her and took her with us to the store. Shhh...don't tell.=) Also don't tell her I put this picture up...she would KILL me!

You may have wondered what we got at the store. Well we got.....steaks , potatoes, corn on the cob, stuff for breakfast, eggs, bacon, sausage, and biscuits. You know camping food, since we were "ruffing it". It was SOOOOOO good!=)

Here is my Dad,Roger Johnson, and Nathan(and Debbie's legs and arms=) at the Johnson's sweet set up. They had everything you would ever need to be comfortable.They do re-enactments so they know how to camp!

Here's Debbie!=) Also my baby brother Aaron. I am glad he got to come too. He is an AWESOME brother! Love ya Aaron!

Here is the video of "Brigham's speech" for before the entered the Salt Lake Valley. Watch at your own risk. My camera skills are not good at all.It is REALLY shaky!The gun shots you here are a little early, some of the boys were trigger happy.(you know who you are Dalton.=)

No this isn't some furry animal. This is SOME of Nathan's hair after we got back from the trek. He wanted it all cut off!I turned 34 this year. Yeah!This is the party that the girls did for me and Mandi. Sorry I was kind of out of it.=)

Also we had a baby shower for Mandi. She left us to go home to Utah. Sigh. We...miss...ya ...girl.sniff...sniff.

So that is all I want to post for right now. It gives ya a good idea of the ramblings from the Harward Home.

My second attempt!

2009-06-06T13:08:00.002-04:00

This one if for my sister's b-day!

Obviously I hope her favorite colors are red, white, and black!

Shhh... don't tell her! (and if this is Kelly reading this well....SURPRISE!!!)

My first quilt project....

2009-06-04T12:45:00.005-04:00

Here it is in all it's glory. Let me explain what you are seeing... It ..is ...a... table topper. (I bet you could guess huh?)

I went to Lakefield's enrichment activity and this is what they were doing.

I have a confession though...My Mom did most of the work. She went around her house and mine to find fabric.(hence part of my kitchen curtain fabric. Scarlett would be proud!)So all this was made form scrapes. Pretty cool!

It was actually not that hard IF you have the right tools for the job. Like a quilters mat, a rotary cutter, a nice sewing machine, etc. I still have to back it with some fabric,and iron it.

It was a lot of fun! Next I am going to do a fourth of July one. All red white and blue!(and then a black and white one, and then Christmas, and Thanksgiving, the list goes on and on!) Anybody else want to give it a try?

I love this! Thanks Renee for putting on your blog!

2009-05-28T06:58:00.003-04:00

Congratulations!

2009-05-26T12:30:00.007-04:00

Today we got a surprise. The doorbell rings and Noah goes to answer it(in his underwear of course)with me yelling behind him, "Wait Noah! Let Mommy answer the door!" To which he replies,"I can do it Mom!"
Low and behold it was the UPS man, with this wonderful package for Nathan. Apparently Nathan had entered a contest to win a Harley motorcycle. He didn't win the bike but he did win all this cool stuff....

My favorites being this awesome leather tote bag, and the big fuzzy blanket.

A pewter pen set, a t-shirt, a suede baseball cap....

and these cool thermal glasses.

Pretty cool for a contest you forgot that you entered!=)

To One and all....

2009-05-25T13:31:00.001-04:00

Happy Memorial Day!

My favorite things...

2009-05-20T08:54:00.003-04:00

Have any of you read the book? Arnie the Doughnut by Lourie Keller . It is one of my all time favorite books! I know it is a kids book. But is it really...really? Anyway if you are looking for a little chuckle go ahead and order one for yourself. I am sure you will LOVE it! (and really if you don't...well something may be wrong with you.=)

I found this pic online. I thought it was a cute idea.Make your own Arnie, but my kids wouldn't want to eat it.

Little Nate's Mother Day Quiz

2009-05-12T08:01:00.003-04:00

This was Nate's worksheet he filled out for mother's Day. His answers cracked me up.

It starts out:

My Mom is Special

My Mom's name is:...Dena

I like it when my Mom.... help me do my homework

My Mom can do many things! I think she is best at ...Laundry

My Mom has a pretty smile! I like to make her smile by... doing funny stuf

My Mom is pretty as a....Mom can be.

My Mom is smart! She even knows....Math

I'd like to tell my Mom.... Jokes

I guess the laundry answer has to be my favorite! (you know how I feel about laundry!) Go ahead and have your kids take it also. See what they can come up with.=)

Happy Mother's Day to all..and to all a good night.

2009-05-11T10:05:00.002-04:00

So my Mother's day started on Sat. with Nathan making me this yummy salad. Trust me it was wonderful!
Then on Sunday I got cards, slim fast shakes, and the really cool homemade hand scrub.
Also I got an assortment of plants and seeds. Marigold plants, petunias, blackberry bushes, and seeds from Primary, and this plant from Little Nate but I don't know what it is. Anybody got any ideas?

Locks of Love.

2009-04-28T10:03:00.007-04:00

Emma needed a haircut so we decided to donate her hair to Locks of Love. So here she is getting her 13 inch ponytail cut off.(yes I said 13 inches.=)
(sorry these pics were taken with my phone.)

Emma is thinking,"Oh CRAP!What have I done!"

Too late now!

After we got her hair cut we went to the garden to water it, so this is it without being styled. Pretty cute huh? Emma loves her new do.

Don't worry Nathan will start talking to me eventually!=)

Just kidding!

To Those Who Have Ever......

2009-04-22T11:19:00.004-04:00

To Those Who Have Ever...... been locked out by your two year old as he yells,"HAHA..SUCKER!" ~you need this.

To Those Who Have Ever......locked themselves out and have to use a crowbar to pry off the deadbolt, thus ruining your metal door.~you need this

To Those Who Have Ever......locked their cell phone in the car which car keys were locked in the house, while you and your 6 month old have to walk a mile down the road to a pay phone, and get your husband to come and rescue you...~you need this.

Yep. We needed this....and I LOVE IT!=)

Ode to NyQuil....

2009-04-09T13:15:00.005-04:00

Need I say more?

I don't know nothin 'bout birthin no babies!

2009-04-05T10:21:00.009-04:00

Yep, this ball of fur is four of the cutest kittens you have ever seen!(OK I might be a little biased!=)

Momma with her babies.

Here is #1

and #2..#3

and the baby of the bunch #4.

We aren't sure which is boys and which are girls, I will check that later. We are just glad they are alright.=)

PS
Special thanks to Corliss and Meagan for helping me calm down when I panicked! Thanks for helping guys!

Oh what fun!

2009-03-25T11:07:00.017-04:00

You know what better way to spend a dreary, cold, morning, than planting some plants.Every year I get this urge to plant things and watch them grow. I don't know why, because I usually end up killing it in the end. Well I guess it always gives me a sense of renewed hope, I think,"Maybe this year will be different. Maybe, just maybe." So wish me luck.

This is Noah "helping."(you know I love my air quotes=)

This is the treasure trove of seeds that I found. I don't know why I was so surprised, this is where I keep all my seeds, but I was surprised none the less.

I had all kinds of goodies...peat pods for starting seeds, seeds from Jennifer that are going in the front area(thanks Jennifer!), plant food, bug dust, you name it!

Here is my Rosemary. Trust me it smells wonderful!

Here are my little peat pods.

Here is what I planted in the pods...

zinnias, bachelor buttons, sweet basil, dill.....

The Lemon cucumbers, and the Thai eggplant, came free when I ordered the long noodle beans and the pumpkins. I love free seeds!

Last but not least here are pictures of what they are going to look like....yeah right!=)

cucumbers

eggplant

Zinnias

Bachelor buttons

and Basil.

Wish me luck!

We have a man down.....

2009-03-25T07:06:00.004-04:00

OK so most of you know that on Monday my sweet and precious son Noah had a meltdown while playing on the Wii. Well and as you can probably guess we had a causality....the TV. Now I have to give a shout out to my sweet hubby. He didn't yell, he did cuss, the poor man just looked....defeated. I know sad, huh.

So I tried to take a picture so you could see the damage .If you look at the first 2 pictures it doesn't even look broken does it.

Here it is. Sigh.

The friday gems.

2009-03-20T13:40:00.002-04:00

For those of you who don't know Nathan gets every Friday off now. He works Mon-Thur 10hr days. I just learned today I need a tape recorder to remember the funny things he says.
For example:

"If your going to call me a three year old than you are going to treat me like one."(He wanted me to cut up his apple into little slices and serve it with peanut butter.)Then later I asked him to put a knife in the sink he said,"I'm not supposed to touch these."(still acting like a three year old.=)

My favorite one so far today came when he was helping me clean the bathroom.He was scrubbing the toilet and said,"I don't think some of this is even human!"

I love my hubby, he is sooo much fun!

the latest addition...

2009-03-19T09:49:00.003-04:00

Here it is. My(and when I say my I mean Nathan is letting me use it till I get mine.=) new phone. I love it! This isn't the 1st one mind you. The first phone I ordered sucked. It didn't come with a memory card, or a usb cord, so you couldn't even put music on it till you bought the mini card. OK if that was the only problem then I could have lived with it. The other major problem was it needed special headphones, and whenI tried to order them through at&t they didn't even have them listed! How lame is that?! Anywho Nathan took that one back yesterday, so I am using his till mine gets back in the computer.This is a weird post I know sorry. I just wanted to say...

I LOVE THIS PHONE!!

Everyones a critic.

2009-03-17T09:28:00.003-04:00

So Noah and I had a interesting conversation today on the way home from dropping off the kids.
It went like this:

Noah:" Mom lets go somewhere and get something to eat."

Me:"OK Noah. We can go home."

Noah:"BOOOOOO!"

**This has become the standard answer of all my children.**

Me: "How about I make some eggs Noah?"

Noah:"Boooring."

Me:"OK. we can have cheese grits and toast."

Noah:"BOOOO!"

Me:"OK what do you want?"

Noah:"Curly noodles."

I should have known.

I know it has been awhile.....

2009-03-11T08:45:00.018-04:00

Here are some things we have been doing.....
We are putting paneling up in the kitchen....

YEAH! Now all we have to do is paint it.

We are putting up crown molding in my room...

(and we have to repaint it too.shhh don't tell Nathan.=)
We went to the women's ACC game. (GT and Clemson)

I was pulling for Georgia Tech so of course they lost.=(

Here is J. J. Jumper.The ACC mascot.
Here is me showing off my photo skills. I know...great picture right.

I made it up to Nathan by taking this picture. Much better.

This is the Fanfest area. Really fun.

Me and my Eliza.(she doesn't want me to call her Lala.=)

Nathan sporting his hat I won him. Sexy!
Oh yeah....my cat is pregnant. Anyone want a kitten, or two?=)

Last but not least, we have had some BEAUTIFUL skies lately. (well not today.It has been raining for 2 days.)BTW Eliza took this picture.

All in all, I am pretty happy with the way things are going. They are busy, but fun times are just around the corner.=)

Snow day....Oh joy.

2009-03-02T21:53:00.005-05:00

So here it is... in all it's white wonder. Remember back when you were a kids, and that powdery white stuff was a good thing. Not like today when I know I get to play waitress, cook, maid, and referee. I don't know... maybe I can find that little child in here somewhere, because I get to do it all again tomorrow!!!! Yep they announced it ..... school's cancelled tomorrow too.
Yippy....Skippy.

Breakaway....

2009-02-25T08:30:00.018-05:00

Here is some pics from our beach trip...

The super sweet room.....with full kitchen, 2 queens beds in the bedroom....

and the living room with a pull out sofa and wall bed.

These are the only pics I got in the pool area, because it would start fogging up the lens.

Emma
Nate, with Mandi and Johnny's back.

Eliza..with the look I have come to love.

Last but not least, Noah and Jace.

This is the day we flew kites.(Big Nate was very excited.)

After they got tired of flying kites they decided to make a volcano.

This is after the volcano erupted... they were very proud.

Emma decided she wanted to be a mermaid. She did it all by herself. She is a nut.=)

These last pictures are just some of the view.....they are some of my favorites.

Sunrise

Natey

Sunset

(those last few pics reminded me of Fidler on the roof..."Is this the little boy I carried?......Sunrise...Sunset...Swiftly go the days..."OK if you haven't seen Fiddler go see it!I think I will add it to my playlist so you can hear it.=)

I love the beach!!!!!!I can't wait to go back!

I love this.....

2009-02-14T16:14:00.007-05:00

As always my goal is to lose weight. I have had this goal for about 10 years now.This time however it is working! I truly want to lose weight. These are my little gimmicks to help me...
1st and the most important:Denise Austin. I have done her workouts since college. Some people think she is annoying but I love her positive attitude, and she keeps telling me she is proud of me. I need that to keep up the torture. Oops I mean aerobics.=)

2-Not one, but 2 sets of weights. (really I am going to have 3 sets because I need some a little heavier.)

My fav-o-rite water bottle. My kids keep trying to steal it. Maybe I should get another one just in case.

4.this website is AWESOME!Thanks Jennifer.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

Try it it's free!

Keep your fingers crossed and say your prayers that I can keep it up.

Shoes... Glorious shoes!

2009-02-11T11:31:00.004-05:00

OK short and sweet, I went Walmart today and found these beauties:

Can you believe it!=) Since they were so cheap that means I get a new outfit to go with them right?!

I Wanna Be A Rock Star!

2009-01-27T13:18:00.004-05:00

Here is Nate's and Noah's new haircut.....

So Noah only needed a trim, but I got carried away with Nate's. He said that I "almost shaved him bald!" Oh well.=) I like it!

Football Party!

2009-01-19T11:43:00.015-05:00

On Sunday we had friends over to watch the playoff games. We really wanted to see the Cardinals go down but my jinxability meter being at 100% these days of course the Eagles lost.(Sorry guys) ANYwho it was still tons of fun! We had great food, Rock Band, Great friends, and more great food!Thanks guys for coming and hanging out with us! Unfortunately my crappy camera crapped out so I didn't get very many pics. Hope you like the ones I did get......

The guys rockin' out to Rock Band.

Mandi and Jeff. The lovebirds.So cute.=)

Yumm..tastes like chicken.

Nate you need to work on being more involved.

That's better.heehee

Some of the spread...roast beef or turkey sandwiches, chips and salsa, or cheese dip, taquitos. mini corn dogs, chicken nuggets, cheese ball and crackers, pretzels and dip, tons of drinks,
and last but not least......"DROP IT ON THE FLOOR AND EAT IT ANYWAY" Chocolate truffle cheesecake by Nathan. Now that was some good eats!

Ahhh...Nathan's partied out again man. If your gonna spew...spew into this.(LOL! Wayne's World Rocks!)

Ramblin Man "death"

2009-01-15T17:51:00.002-05:00

I had a few things I needed to get off my chest, so here it is.
My aunt Libby has been fighting hard with cancer the past few months and it looks like she soon will lose. Her family is moving her back home so she can die in her own house, which is how I want to go as well, in my bed beside my wife and with family and friends. Death to me has always been bitter-sweet, I know we will miss those who have passed, but I feel a sense of joy knowing that they have made one more step in their eternal progression. My mom also called on Tuesday to say one of my buds that I grew up with had lost his mom to a heart attack, she was only 58. This is on top of finding out that another friend growing up lost his dad on the first, he was my little league baseball coach for four years, he was only 54. I don't share this with you to get you down, but rather I am always grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the knowledge of the Priesthood and gifts it affords us as faithful members of Gods' church. I know as we close our eyes in death we open them again to even greater things which we can't understand fully while in our probation. I know God lives, I know Jesus Christ, His Son, died for me so that I might, through my faithfulness, return and live with them again. Christ knows us and loves us and has endured all things that he might know how calm us in the storms and how comfort us when in sorrow and pain(Alma 7: 10-13) The Church is TRUE, no matter what comes and what things we have to face, the Church is TRUE! Brother Joseph was and is a true prophet of God and ushered in the greatest time in the history of the world, and we have so much to be thankful for. His mission gave us the most important teachings of our time and he sealed his mission with his blood and I am grateful to know him. Dena I love you with all my heart and "more than words", no matter how many are uttered or written! I would happily lay down my life to know that you and the kids were safe and secure.
I love you, I love you, I love you!!!!!! I'm so thankful for family and friends that I can love and love me back, even with all my problems. God bless you all and keep you!!!!!! May His grace shine upon you in all you do. It's TRUE, It's TRUE, IT'S ALL TRUE!!!!!!!!

The Ramblin Man

p.s. thanks, and you know who you are, for the super sweet gift card!

Game day goodies.

2009-01-11T21:20:00.008-05:00

On sat. we decided to make some goodies for the game.(Carolina lost btw!!!Don't get me started!) So here is some of the things we had:

Spinach artichoke dip with bagel crisps. Yummy homemade bread for sandwiches.

Bean dip salsa with chips. It ain't a party without the heavenly elixir of the gods.Strawberry Sunny D.=)

Do you like barbecue flavor or spicy? Yumm, yumm!
So the game really sucked but at least the food didn't!

PS
I must be a jinx. After Carolina lost I thought OK I will pull for the giants. Well they lost today! I give up!

The Big 33!

2009-01-11T21:08:00.004-05:00

At the end of this month Nathan will be 33. Being the sweet and wonderful wife that I am, I am already giving him presents. Here he his with the latest....(if you can't tell they are spring form pans to make cheesecake.)

"Cheesecake as big as your head!"

"My sweet pans....I love you."

Nathan is trying out different flavors. Let me tell you folks it is some good stuff! Best present ever! Don't be surprised if the cheesecake fairy shows up on your doorstep.=)

Alright stop.....cookie time!

2009-01-11T20:34:00.011-05:00

Last wed. me and the "boys" got to hang out, so we decided to make some sugar cookies. Let me tell you these boys had me cracking up! Here are some of the pictures I took, I just wish they were videos .

All the boys having a good time.

Here is Ethan, just happy go lucky.
Nate was "sick" this day...can't you tell.
Good job Noah...ummm I think you are supposed to cut out the cookie, not mold the cookie

Notice the flour on Tanner's head. At one point he was using it to flatten out his dough.=)
When I saw Lucas' cookie I thought he had made his hand print, but come to find out he had used the holes in the spatula. Very clever.=)

Here's to a new year!

2009-01-07T07:07:00.002-05:00

I hate to say it, but I am kind of glad the tree is down. We took it down yesterday. Nathan keep saying how sad he was but I was just happy getting some help cleaning. I kind of go into spring cleaning mode after we take down the Christmas decor. You know start rearranging things, trying this over here, or that over there.So far I have the living room and the kitchen almost done.(my kitchen floor has white grout, need I say more.) Thankfully Nathan cleans the ceiling fans. That is just one job I hate! So today it is on to laundry!Ughhh! I hate laundry! Wish me luck!I will take pics and keep ya updated!=)

Merry Christmas to all....and to all a goodnight.

2008-12-24T07:43:00.006-05:00

I just wanted to take a minute and say Merry Christmas to everyone. I am so grateful for the blessing of Christmas time. I love the song playing, A baby Changes Everything. I can't even imagine what Mary went through. Also the faith that it took for Mary and Joseph. I am grateful to them.
I am grateful for that baby who came to earth and lived and died for mankind. I am grateful for my Savior and his gift of the Atonement. He gave to us what we could not do for ourselves. How blessed we are to have the things we do today. A nice home, cars that run, four beautiful healthy children, great friends, and many, many other things. I am grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is such a comfort to me to know that there is a true prophet leading this church. I am grateful for the sacrifice and service they do for all of us.
I wish I could tell even a small part of what I feel for my Savior, and for Christmas time. The Christmas feeling of joy, and for one small moment, peace on earth. In the Ensign article, The Best Christmas Ever, President Monson says this:

"If we are to have the very best Christmas ever, we must listen for the sound of sandaled feet. We must reach out for the Carpenter’s hand. With every step we take in His footsteps, we abandon a doubt and gain a truth.

It was said of Jesus of Nazareth that He “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.”7 Do we have the determination to do likewise? One line of holy writ contains a tribute to our Lord and Savior, of whom it was said, He “went about doing good … ; for God was with him.”8

My prayer is that at this Christmas season and all the Christmastimes to come, we may follow in His footsteps. Then each Christmas will be the best Christmas ever."

This is my prayer as well. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU!!!!!!!!

If you would like to read the whole article here it is.

Confession.

2008-12-18T18:46:00.003-05:00

I saw the funniest commercial today. Burger King is running new spots showing people who have never had a Whopper in their lives, crazy to think about huh!!! Well these people are from places like remote tops of mountains and have more goats than teeth if you know what I mean. The spot goes on to call these people "whopper virgins" well I'm just here to confess that I Nathan Harward, more affectionately known as BIG NATE to my homeboys, for obvious reasons, am a A-1, bona fide Whopper WHORE! There I said it, I step from the shadows and face the light. I'm a dirty, dirty boy!!!!!

P.S. I was eating one while I wrote this.

It's beguining to look alot like Christmas?

2008-12-16T06:51:00.003-05:00

Ummm...not really. OK yes there are beautiful decorations, but the weather is crazy! It is kind of hard to think about Christmas when you are running around in shorts! Don't get me wrong it was a wonderful day yesterday! I couldn't keep Noah inside for nothing. He played in the back and dug up the yard for hours! I guess the more outside he is the cleaner the inside stays. Alright I will stop complaining, but come on Jack Frost would one tiny little flurry kill ya!

10-3 BABY!!!!

2008-12-09T08:21:00.005-05:00

I just have to give my shout out to the Panthers!WOOOWHOOOOOOO!!!!!!! They played a great game last night!

We went to watch it over at Momma Brinkmans. (she has satellite we don't.) So the whole fam went to have a sleepover. Yep you read that right...all of us. It was a lot of fun. Me and the kids got there at about 6:30 or 7:00pm. Kelly was already there with her kids.(don't worry she didn't stay.) Nathan came after work, so he got there shortly after the kickoff. It was a great game!!! So Dena' MVP's of the game were....... Diangelo Williams #34 and Jonathon Stewart #28. Great game guys..sniff..sniff...it was beautiful....sigh....=)

Don't worry Peppers. You're still our #1.(teehee.)

Nathan working on a Saturday!

2008-12-06T18:47:00.013-05:00

Today Nathan had to go down to Charlotte for a annual drivers meeting. This year there was a little twist....they had it at Panthers Stadium! I am sooooo jealous!!!!! These are the pictures of Nathan hard at work! Poor Baby!

The Sign says, "Please stay off the field.

Nathan and Waseem testing Panthers security.=)
And here is Nathan ignoring said sign.Tempting the old security guard. Needless to say the next picture has Nathan being tackled by a 80 yr old security guard. just kidding.=)

Shot from the media box. Makes you want to become a journalist don't it!

Nathan and Waseem sitting at the commentators desk where Panthers do their broadcast from.

Waseem is the professional commentator, and Nathan looks like he had a little something to loosen him up before the show.

"Hey come on guys!I'll do better next time!"

Ahhh...beauty and the beast. You decide which is which!LOL!

He sees you when your sleeping.....

2008-12-04T08:15:00.004-05:00

He knows when you awake. Who am I talking about you say. Why Santa of course. Ever wonder how Santa sees everything? Introducing the Santa cam.

What?! It looks like a home security system. That's the beauty of it. It helps Santa keep up with your children, and keeps your home secure. It also is a great behavior modifier. Don't believe me? Well let me give you a few examples:

Ex#1- Noah and I were sitting at the computer yesterday, when he began to get... well let's just say a little rowdy. You know attacking me for no reason. Me, being the good Mother that I am and wanting Santa to see the very best from him, simply pointed out that the Santa Cam was on and that Santa could see everything he was doing. If he would stop fighting everyone, and tell us that he was sorry, then maybe Santa would bring him some presents this year. Noah looked apprehensively at he camera and tried to play it off like he was just joking around.He said,"Sorry Mom.heeehee(nervous laugh) I love you." Priceless.

Still not convinced?

Ex#2- Noah loves to flip over my rocking chair in the living room. I won't lie to ya folks it drives me crazy! So I simply informed him that he needed to sit in it the right way. Well after 3 tries of this I remembered the Santa Cam. Once again it came to my rescue. This is how it went....

Me:"OK Noah that is the third time I have told you to put up that rocking chair! Remember Santa can see you with his camera!"

Noah:"No he can't! The Christmas tree is in the way! (So not the best placement of the Santa Cam in the living room ..the tree IS in the way.=)

Me:"Well he can HEAR YOU, and me, and he heard me tell you TO STOP DOING THAT!"

Of course He immediately flipped the rocking chair over and sat in it the right way.

**A word of caution though folks. The Santa cam can backfire in certain instances.

Noah:"Mom you are NOT getting anything for Christmas! Santa saw you being very bad!"

(That was when I woke him up this morning. I guess it was to early for tickle torture.=)

Music

2008-12-03T08:51:00.003-05:00

I love music. I don't know what it is about it. I love almost any kinds of music. Lately I have been listening to the Twilight soundtrack. Well OK mostly one song from it. Can you guess what it is....I bet ya can. Flightless bird by Iron and Wine. You know the one when Bella and Edward are dancing at the prom. Emma is like, "Mom is that the only song on there?" and "Dude you have listened to that like 500 times already!" She cracks me up.=)

It's not that I don't like the whole thing, because I do. I just REALLY REALLY like that one. I am sure you guys do the same thing. (I know you do Renee! Remember Perhaps love.)

Anyway what are your favorite songs?

Nathan..Nathan..bonathan...bannafanna...

2008-12-01T08:27:00.006-05:00

I love this picture Mandi.

Classic Nathan.LOL!

This tag was fun! Everyone should do it!

The Husband Tag

What is your husband's name?Nathan Andrew

How long have you been married? 11 years.

How long did you date? That is kind of iffy, Nathan said it was about 3 weeks.=) We grew up together so it is kind of hard to say a time.

How old is he? 32

Who is older?I am by 6 months, and he doesn't let me forget it.

Who is taller? Nathan. I think I come up to his chin.

Who can sing best? Nathan has the prettier voice, but I sing more than him. Does that count?

Who is smarter? Him, definitely! I am better a Jeopardy though. You know the dumb stuff that doesn't help anyone!=)

Who does laundry? I do the laundry, but I hate it!!!!!!!

Who pays the bills? Nathan. He is better at it than me.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?Nathan does. That is where the alarm is.

Who mows the lawn? Nathan does, but sometimes I will cut the top of the yard just to have some alone time.=) It is pretty fun actually.

Who cooks dinner? Me, most of the time, but Nathan likes to cook. He cooks on the weekends.

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Me. Only because Nathan is NEVER wrong. wink...wink.

Who wears the pants?I think we both do. I know I pout until I get my way.

Favorite recent quote of his: Oh boy there are so many to choose from! Lately he just keeps repeating Kung Fu Panda...."There is no charge for awesomeness...or attractiveness."

It's FIXED!!!

2008-11-21T10:10:00.003-05:00

Sorry I took this picture with my phone, but as you can see Emma's tooth is fixed! It took almost two hours. She did great except for a lot of sighing. The kind that sounds like you just can't
stand it anymore! I guess it was more like huffing. Even the quiet, hardly says a word, dentist commented about it. I think her tooth looks wonderful!!!

Photo tag.

2008-11-19T09:14:00.002-05:00

The fourth picture of your fourth folder.

My house will never be this clean again. LOL!

I tag whoever wants to do it!=)

Like.A.Pit Bull.

2008-11-19T08:46:00.004-05:00

OK so most of you know that Emma got her tooth knocked out on sat by one of the girls friends who had come over to play that day. (Yeah don't get me started on that. Needless to say that kid is NEVER coming to our house again!) So yesterday we to the dentist to get it fixed. Well he sent us to an Endodontist(I think that is how it is spelled.) I won't go into too many details because it was not fun, but there are a few funny points of the visit that must be addressed.

#1- Emma hates to go to the dentist! With good reason. So to say she was a little stressed about this visit is a understatement. She went to the bathroom at least 7 times in a five minute wait in the lobby. She even had to go during the exam. Her words,"I HAVE TO GO NOW!!!!!!" yeah she yelled it.

#2-The doctor should have known better. When she was getting her shots to numb her mouth she grabbed his arm. When this didn't work she hit him. I was thinking "Hit him harder!!!" (He kept telling her not to scream out because he had other adult patients. Screw them!!)

#3- The doctor got his. As he was working on Emma I guess she had finally had enough. Her survival instincts kicked in.She clamped down on his finger and bit the crap out of him! Seriously folks, there was tears in his eyes! He kept flexing it the rest of the time. He told the nurse that he wasn't putting his finger back in there.Not only did she bite him, she did not want to let go! Hence the title like a pit bull.

Can you believe after all that I can say that he was a good doctor. Very nice man. After it was over he just kept patting Emma on the back telling her what a good job she did. The funny nurse just said, "Aw, he gets bit all the time." So now that is done she will go on Thursday and get the last part done. Then we can show you the after pictures.

Christmas comes early to the Harward Home.

2008-11-16T18:24:00.007-05:00

Yep this is what we did today! Can you believe it! The funny part is I was going to decorate last week. I don' t know what has gotten into me!=) This is part of my snowman collection. I love snowmen, snow women, snow babies, you name it!

Here is the tree. I could only find 2 strands of lights...so this is a work in progress.

As is the mantel. My grandmother made this little cuties. I should have gotten a close up for ya. Maybe next time.

Welcome to the Harward Home!!!

I forgot all about these snowflakes. I bought them last year, they were like a dollar. So it felt like Christmas finding all my good deals that I got at the end of the season.(placemats, cookie jars, trees, etc...)

Do I have to say it?LOL!!!

(I found this beauty at a thrift shop.25 cents.=)

Let's get this party started!

2008-11-10T08:26:00.004-05:00

So I wasn't able to go to church yesterday. Nothing serious just feeling a little under the weather. I had my Mom announce our home, family, and personal enrichment night for me and pass out handouts. So usually we have about 8 to 10 people come put to our activities. Well if everyone come that signed up to come we should have over 20 people! I know to some that might not sound like a lot but to me...well it has kind of made me nervous! All the goodies and things that I have are for 15 max. So now I(and when I say I, I mean you guys=) get to come up with games that I can give away things as door prizes. You are probably wondering what the picture of the martini glass has to do with anything. Well I have 15 of these and was going to use them so we can feel fancy. Don't worry ladies Momma Judy has already solved this problem. She has some glasses we can use. So what I need from you guys is some ideas!!! Please!!!! I do have one game already. It is a Christmas music quiz. So there is one. The idea of this activity is preholiday fun. We are going to be learning how to make wrapping paper stars.I got the idea from herehttp://familyfun.com

So if anyone has any help? I could use it!

It's Pie Time!!!!

2008-11-06T18:33:00.007-05:00

This is the recipe.

This is how you start.Bake for 1 hour.

Momma's little helper.

See the joy it brings!=)

It's all for you honey! Baked with love in every bite! (heehee)

I LOVE ME SOME PIE!

A picture says a thousand words.

2008-11-05T19:42:00.003-05:00

So what exactly are these two saying? Humm.....I know...I love this kid!!!=)

Voting.

2008-11-04T14:10:00.002-05:00

OK I am a voting jinx! Every time I have gone to vote since I was eighteen, something has gone wrong. They didn't have the right county, or not the right address, blah, blah, blah. So anyway I thought I was in the clear. I changed my address at the DMV the lady asked if I wanted to register to vote, I said"yes." I had to replace my license and the computer asked me if I wanted to register I said, "yes." So this morning I went in to vote thinking there was no problem. Well guess what...you guessed it they didn't have me in their little handy dandy folder. Sigh! They had Nathan, but not me. This is getting really old people! So I still got to vote ( I wasn't leaving until they let me!) Now I have a number to call after the election to see if my vote was counted. Which OK that is kind of cool!=)

What a fun day!

2008-10-27T18:15:00.002-04:00

"This room is clean."(I am saying like the little lady off of Poltergeist=) That is what cleaning the girls room felt like! An exorcism! I can not believe all that my girls can stuff in their room! It was crazy but now it is done. Thank heaven!!!!We will see how long this utopia can last. Cross your fingers, knock on wood, and anything else for luck! I will need all the help I can get!

Boo at the Harward House

2008-10-25T17:25:00.013-04:00

Today we had planned on going to Boo at the zoo, but unfortunately the rain prevented us from going this morning.So Nathan had the great idea of Boo at the Harward house. What is that you ask. Well let me tell ya.

#1. You have to get on your Halloween costume, and drive to Walmart. OK it can be any store of your choice. While there let the children pick out one snack to have with the family. OK let me explain.Little Nate wanted the whale chicken nuggets. Eliza picked the strawberries. Emma chose the General Tao's chicken, and Noah picked the Halloween cupcakes. Daddy chose the Bagel bites, and some cheesecake, and I chose the Hersey's kisses, pizza, and a bag of apples.(the sticks of butter are for tomm. choir practice.It's a surprise.=) The little pumpkins in the back are for pumpkin pie. It even came with instructions. Cool huh! But that is a another story for another day.

#2. Carve your pumpkin."I didn't know you were going to kill it!"~Linus from It's the great pumpkin Charlie Brown

Luckily for us the rain stopped so we did get to go to Boo at the zoo.Here is Emma and Nate.

Here is Noah and Eliza.Me and Nathan. It's not as easy as it looks.=)They had games with prizes.Face painting, and all kinds of fun stuff.Good times were had by all, but now I am ready for a nap!=)

Jokes of the day

2008-10-23T10:45:00.003-04:00

So Nathan called me this morning just a giggling. He had 2 jokes for me so I thought I would give everyone else a giggle too.

Here goes:

~What is blue and smells like red paint?

~blue paint

~What do you call a cow with a twitch?

~Beef jerky

I found this one on the Internet...

One day Gramma sent her grandson Johnny down to the water hole to get some water to cook dinner. As he was dipping the bucket in, he saw two big eyes looking back at him. He dropped the bucket and hightailed it for Gramma's kitchen. "Well now, where's my bucket and where's my water?" Gramma asked him. "I can't get any water from that water hole, Gramma" exclaimed Johnny. "There's a BIG ol' alligator down there!" "Now don't you mind that ol' alligator, Johnny. He's been there for a few years now, and he's never hurt no one. Why, he's probably as scared of you as you are of him!" "Well, Gramma," replied Johnny, "if he's as scared as I am, then that water ain't fit to drink!"

Hope this has made your day a little brighter.

Feel free to leave me any of your jokes, but remember folks let's keep it clean.=)

House Party

2008-10-17T13:36:00.008-04:00

Here are some pics from the house party last night. I think good times were had by all. Am I right ladies?

Here is the

Goodies in the kitchen. Not pictured is Mandi's caramel apple dip. YUMMY!

Jennifer, Ethan, and Mandi. I wish I would have gotten a pic of your cute signs Jennifer.=(

My favorite was "Don't be a goob....check your boobs!"(good one!) Thanks for the help with the decorations Jennifer.

Here is Nana with her key chain from Sister Cecil. Thanks Corneille!

Speak of the devil.(heehee j/k) Here she is with Johnny. Man I sure wish that kid would smile once and awhile.=)

Here is Amy sporting the Bob Marley look. Oops I mean the Jacob Marley.=)

I wanted to take more pictures but my camera was being fussy. Maybe Mandi has some more.

Thanks guys for coming out and hangin with me. When is the next one going to be?

One Ugly Woman!

2008-10-15T16:22:00.004-04:00

Today at work as I was driving I happened to see a political sticker on the back of a car, not unusual at all by this time in the election cycle, the sticker read Another Woman for Obama.
I'm not sure why it caught my eye but it did, it also peaked my interest I must admit.
Who was this woman, was she white, black or other, was she old,young etc. etc..
Then for some reason I wondered what she looked like, alot of great stereotypes can go through your head just by the way a person looks!! You know what I mean! So as I passed her I had to take a peak, as I began to pass I noticed a glimpse of a goat-tee and a mustache, my first thought, man that's a UGLY woman, my second thought, if that's the kind of woman voting for Obama, he sure won't have the same problems Bill Clinton had!!!!! wink, wink Anyway it turned out I guess this guy borrowed the car from his wife, girlfriend or mom. But still I wonder what she looks like?

Take care,

Big Hands

So many uses so little time!

2008-10-13T16:52:00.009-04:00

Oh the wonderful things you can do in a laundry basket. #1 well not so fun...Laundry. YUCK!

#2 Blast off into space with your faithful sidekick by your side.

Fun for Noah not so much for Oreo. (although she is purring.=)

And #3 Entertaining a 9 month old.

Don't look at me folks...this was his Mom's idea. As it turns out he loved it for the first 5 minutes. Who knew?

Who knows what we will come up with tomorrow!

2008-10-07T22:09:00.000-04:00

Isn't this a HOTTIE! good times!=)

Remember her?

2008-10-07T21:11:00.002-04:00

I just about wet my pants when I saw this pic on yearbookyourself.com.I could not believe it! This so just what I used to look like in high school! I am sad to say also in college. Maybe my hair wasn't as high, but it was close. I will try and find some pictures, but take my word for it folks...this is me!=) Thanks Mandi for the trip down memory lane.

Food for the soul and the tummy.

2008-10-06T09:20:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was a wonderful day. Nice weather, with beautiful Carolina blue skies.(because Carolina STOMPED Kansas City. GO PANTHERS!) Also it was General Conference. So to get ready we made banana bread, and peanut butter white chocolate chip cookies. (YUMMY!) As you can imagine they were a success. I think they lasted about through the opening song. I really thought it was a wonderful conference. I loved the all the talks, but it was President Monson's I remember the most. I am so grateful that we have a prophet here on the earth today to guide us on the path of happiness. What a blessing. He spoke about changes. Things change. Life changes. He read the quote, "The only constant in this world is change."(something like that.=) He said to cherish the time we have with our children. All too quickly do they grow up. (along with the piles of laundry.Did ya catch that one ladies,'cause I sure did.=) It was a wonderful day and I am grateful I got to be with my family, to hear the prophet and the Lord's apostles and servants bearing their testimonies of the Lord Jesus Christ . What a great blessing!!! I hope you guys had a great day too!

the harward home

2008-10-03T14:03:00.001-04:00

This is what happens when the kids get the camera.

2008-09-30T12:28:00.005-04:00

Poor Steve.=)

The Big TEN!

2008-09-30T09:38:00.014-04:00

I have been remiss in my responsibilities as a blogging mother. I haven't celebrated and shared Eliza's 10th birthday. I will do that now.=)

Ten years ago a joyous occasion occurred, and as I am sure you have already guessed, our eldest daughter was born.

Eliza AnnLouise (named after her Grandmothers)

She loved her bouncy seat, and I loved her passy.heehee

This is one of my favorites. She is 4yrs old.
Always loving on her sister. (even when Emma doesn't want her too.)

She loves animals. Oh yeah and also mud...and bugs...and pretty much anything that is alive.lol.
Eliza the supermodel.(At least to her Mom she is.=)
These are her baptism pics. I just love these two pics. They are classic Eliza.

Here she is...our little lady. I just can't believe it. Ten Years Old!!!!! Time just flies!!!!

She is a wonderful daughter, and a joy to this family. I am glad she was first. She has such a gentle spirit and a kind heart. She is a blessing.

WE LOVE YOU ELIZA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BTW the songs playing are her favorites. Well some of them. She had a hard time picking. She LOVES the Beatles.

Dena..The other white meat.

2008-09-19T10:20:00.002-04:00

So when exactly is summer officially over? I am being eaten alive! One day it is mosquitoes the next it's fire ants. Who knows what tomm. brings. I know I know it's because I am so sweet. Yeah yeah whatever. I don't feel very "sweet". I feel like ripping each and every little one of their heads off. ARGGGG... so anyway...anyone got the secret of keeping the little critters off of ya? I could really use some help here!

This kid makes my day!

2008-09-12T14:59:00.004-04:00

As in the title...this kid makes my day. He just cracks me up. So here I am I finally remember to get conditioner at the store today, and what does Noah do? Yep you guessed it, he wastes it. Every bit of it . So well it was the straw that broke the dam. I had a meltdown. Shocking I know! Luckily for me though I have this sweet little guy to cheer me up. Thank Heaven For You Nate!!!!! btw he is saying, "I love you Mother."

Sorry am I boring you?

2008-09-08T17:27:00.007-04:00

You know, I really thought I was a fun gal to be around. I wouldn't call me the life of the party, but hey I know how to have a good time. You know what I'm saying? (ok I got carried away.=) Anywho, last Wednesday I had a rude awaking...I'm boring. No really I am. I know you are as shocked as I am, but I have the pics to prove it. So our day(as in Noah and I ) started out the usual. Trying to see who much stuffed dino we could stuff in the printer. You know at first you are like, "no I don't think that is a good idea Noah" but then you start wondering "how much can fit in there?"

here is Noah "helping me fold towels and laundry.Jonah was the first one out. He fell asleep in mid giggle.

And then we have the "nail in the coffin" so to speak.I bored Nick so much he couldn't even wait to lay down on a bed. He just passed out!

What can I say? It's a gift!