What Type of Food Am I?

You Are Italian Food

Comforting yet overwhelming. People love you, but sometimes you're just too much.

What Kind of Food Are You?

Internet Shopping, Oh The Fun You Can Have!!!!!

I have been Internet shopping today. I love to shop the net. I find great things that I don't have to go to the store for. Today I bought shorts. Shorts, you say, so what, You can get shorts anywhere. I say not these shorts. I like to wear longer length shorts. I like them to be to my knee. I can't seem to find them around here anywhere except a few places and then they don't always fit right. Well I found this place on the net called Knee Length I was able to buy shorts that are to my knee and got a great price to boot. I then went onto to my favorite Signing Time! and bought the newest DVDs. I've been wanting them and have heard terrific things about them so now they are being processed and sent to my door as we speak. If you would like to order from Signing Time! just click on my Signing Time! banner and it will take you directly to the store. Isn't that just great. I know you might be saying, but what about the shipping? I feel that it is worth the shipping price to me so I don't have to back up the gang and fight them and the other people in the store. I'm much happier if I can get what I need and save the gang the hassle. Now all I have to do is find out how to buy the necessities on the web. I'm sure I could do that to. Just don't tell my husband how much I love web shopping. :)

Father & Son Campout

Our ward has an annual Father-Son Campout. Thomas and Tom have been going for years now, and this year a new Hay went to the event. Yes, you quessed it, Matthew went and had the time of his life. For those of you who are familiar with our little monkey, otherwise known as the terror of the west(Scotts Flat will never be the same), you can only imagine the fun he got into. Tom is now in the Young Mens orginization so he had some responsibilities he had to attend to. This almost kept us from letting Matthew go, but it is the Father-Son campout afterall, so he went. Tom spent most of his time chasing Matthew down, putting up and taking down a tent, changing diapers, changing wet clothes (Matthew and Thomas), wiping 16 tons of snot/boogers out of Matthew's nose, supervising the cooking of the camp breakfast, trying to sleep ( listening to a Stevie Ray Vaughn tribute from across the lake at 1:00a.m. he says he may have to buy that album), trying to stay awake, eating smores, watching Matthew burn marshmallows and drop them into the fire, watching Matthew juggle golf balls that came from the Farmer clan (thanks alot), kept track of Thomas' fishing, hideout making and golf ball throwing. At one point Matthew was unaccounted for so Tom went looking for him and found him sitting quietly in a tree. Turns out he was stuck in the tree. Matthew could also be found in various tents around the campsite. Tom thinks the men became good at zipping up their tents after he was found in a few. I'm hoping that next year will be just as fun and that Henry can be in a position to go. Maybe Matthew can teach him a few tricks of the trade. Never a dull moment with Hay Gang!!! :)

Thomas is Famous

Well we sent the pictures of Thomas' Antsy McClain birthday party to Antsy and he made a page on his website all about Thomas and his birthday party. Antsy sure liked that Thomas is a fan and would go to all the trouble of having an Antsy party. Anyway check out the Thomas Hay page on Antsy McClain's website. Go to unhitched.com by way of the title of this post and then click on the news link and the birthday party page is the top article. Way to go, Thomas. By the way, we are going to see Antsy sing at the Palms in Winters CA, on Friday night and Macie and Thomas are coming with us. What fun!

Edited on April 21, 2008

We took Macie and Thomas to see Antsy McClain on Friday night. We got to sit in the front row and Thomas was absolutley thrilled. The concert went until 12 midnight and the kids hung on. They loved his song about Larry getting the cooties. Antsy even announced to the audience about Thomas having an Antsy McClain birthday. Thomas has told me that he wants to be like Antsy when he is older. He wants to sing and play the guitar just like him. We couldn't think of a better role model for young kids. Thomas knew many of the songs and sang along. Macie was completly mortified when I got up to take Thomas to the bathroom and Antsy stopped playing and asked "Where you going?" as I walked out the door. Then he asked Macie if I usually take a long time in the bathroom or if I was going 1 or 2. She jsut laughed and pointed at Tom and said ask him. He then proceeded to play licks until I came back. I have watched him to theis bit before and thought how funny it was, well not anymore. :) I vow to never sit in the front row again, unless of course we have the kids with us. What we won't do for our children. :)

Swimming 101

As of April 1st I began swimming with the Masters Swim Program here in Rocklin. Even though as a girl I swam on many a team I am in way over my head. It has been 12days and I have gone to workout 6 times. Today (Sat.) I went to the special time they have to let new members get pointers for their stroke. Man, I know it's been a long time, but I had no idea I was that bad. :) Anyway I won't let the lack of a good stroke get me down. I'm going again Monday morning bright and early. My workouts are at 5:30 a.m. I know, I know, that's way too early, but if I'm going to get into shape and lose some weight I need to get out there and do it. So, I go. I do feel better and stronger. I just hope my stroke can get up to snuff. I did learn a lot this morning about how to move myself through the water. Anyway I'm off my soap box now and I will continue swimming and getting better. Oh, and one more thing I already smell like chlorine.

Favorite Mom Contest

I want to tell you about this contest. It is for America's favorite mom. One of my friends has been nominated and I would love to ask you to vote for her.
You all know how crazy we are at the Hay House for Signing Time! and Rachel Coleman. Well she is the mom nominated please go vote for her. Because of her we have the gift of communication with Julia.



This takes you to vote for her. You will need to register, but you can also vote once a day. Online voting ends April 25th. Have fun and go Rachel!!!!!

We have a new 8 year old in our house!

Thomas turned 8 last Friday the 21st. He had a birthday party with 9 friends on Friday. His birthday party theme was Antsy McClain. Thomas loves Antsy. He is the lead singer of the Trailor Park Troubadours. WE tried to build the party around the songs that Antsy sings. Antsy sings a song about Wienies and Beans so we had a flamingo pinata with candy wienies and beans in it. There is also a song about a croquet king so we played croquet. You get the idea. The guys at Tom's work put together a lifesize cutout of Antsy and the kids all posed with him. Great fun. One of the favored songs though is Going on a Field Trip. We bought plain lunch boxes and put a "sack lunch" in it for the food portion of the party and then the boys got to decorate their own lunch boxes. Here's a picture of Thomas and "Antsy".


Then on Saturday the 22nd Thomas got baptized and became an official member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He was baptized by his daddy. The picture shows all of us in the Hay Gang before his baptism. Oh, Happy Day!!!!


Now because Thomas is 8 he gets to join the cub scouts at church. He is now a member of Pack 220 wolf den. Last night we went to the pinewood derby, which happened to be Thomas' first activity as a cub scout. He looked so cute in his uniform. Well, we weren't expecting much from his car considering it is his first time building one with his dad. Can you believe it, Thomas' car, TRF (Thomas Rex Flier) took first place out of all the boys there. He was very happy and surprised. Way to go Thomas. Pictures are of his car winning a race or two and him with his winning TRF and his ribbons.

Signing 17 month old can read!

I know I am constantly telling all of you about signing and Signing Time!, but this is amazing. This little Texas girl can read and her parents, who are speech pathologists, credit her early reading with Signing Time!. I have talked about how my kids have known their letters at an early age and I think it is because of our using Signing Time!. Anyway read this story that was aired on NBC's Today Show. http://www.today.msnbc.msn.com/id/23556514
Also check out this video of her in action. I know you will be as impressed as I am. I just can't say enough about the value in signing with your kids.

I won 4th place!!!!!!!

I entered a contest from Wachovia called "Who Would You Thank". I wrote about wanting to thank Rachel Coleman, creator of the great Signing Time! DVD's I'm always talking about. I got a call at the beginning of January saying that I was one of 25 4th place winners. I was so excited. I won $250.00 to be used to thank Rachel in a special way. The $250.00 went to the Signing Time! Foundation's trip to Ghana, Africa. Rachel and the gang went to Ghana to teach the children and teachers at the deaf school there ASL. Anyway here is a copy of what I wrote and the letter that Wachovia sent to me.

I would like to thank Rachel Coleman. Through her children's ASL video series, Signing Time!, we have been able to communicate with our daughter who was born with a rare brain birth defect called Schizencephaly. Rachel created Signing Time! as a way for her friends and family to communicate with her daughter, Leah, who is deaf. Out of this need in her family came this incredible gift to so many other families. Signing Time! is a fun way to engage children into learning sign language. Our daughter, Julia, no longer screams in frustration because she can't be understood. She now confidently gets her needs and wants accross to us. We are thankful to be able to see Rachel daily, and would love to be able to personally say and sign Thank You, Rachel. You gave Julia the ability to "speak" with us, and for that we are eternally grateful.

Here is the letter that Wachovia sent along with the prize money:
Dear Stacey,

On behalf of Wachovia Corporation, we would like to congratulate you for being selected as a 4th Place winner in our "Who Would You Thank" contest! Your essay was one of thousands of entries from across the country to be judged, so we hope you take some pride in knowing that your story stood out among so many.

It is in the spirit of thanking customers like yourself that we created the contest. Your story captured that essence and has inspired all of us here at Wachovia.

Enclosed is your 4th Place prize check in the amount of $250.00. We hope the winnings help you find a very special way to say "thank you" to Rachel.

Thank you for sharing your story with us.
Congratulations!
Michael Sherck
Senior Vice Prsident
GVG Customer Experience Executive Leader

My cousin got married!

I went to Anaheim this last weekend because my cousin Jake got married. I flew down on Sat. morning with my sister and her husband, and met up with my parents. We then flew back home on Sunday afternoon. We had a great time visiting with family and celebrating Jake and Debbie. I loved being on my own for a few hours. I laughed at dinner because I didn't have to cut any food for anyone or tell people to settle down and eat. I have to say that Tom is a saint for staying at home with the gang and not once complaining. Jake was very happy that some of his family was there to support him. It was a beautiful wedding and Jake and Debbie are now in Maui on their honeymoon. Thanks Jake and Debbie for inviting me and letting me share in your special day.

The Ghana Challenge

Rachel Coleman and Signing Time! is going to Ghana, Africa to teach the deaf ASL. I would like to challenge all of you to support the Signing Time Foundation in going to Ghana by donating. Please "chip in". Every little bit helps. Just click on chip in. It's easy I even did it. :)




Leah is even going to Ghana check out this interview with her about her dream of going to Africa.

Christmas

The Hay Gang had a great Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with Gram and Pa. Gram always gives the Gang new PJ's to sleep in on Christmas Eve. This year she took the kids shopping for the PJ's. The Gang loved that because they could pick out the jammies that they wanted. This picture was taken at Grandma and Grandpa's house before we went home to sleep. We had pizza for dinner took baths and then on our way home we went looking at lights. Then everyone went home and settled in for a long sleep before Santa came and brought us wonderfrul gifts. The Gang had a hard time getting to sleep, but sleep did come and before we knew it we were up waiting for Grandma and Pa to come over for the unwrapping.
The gifts that Santa brought us. Wow were we surprised!
Santa brought us new stockings. The Gang was thrilled with their new stockings. We had to buy a special stocking holder because we use our fireplace and we can't put anything flamable near it. So, we had this stocking holder with our old Christmas Stockings on it. We had breakfast with Gram and Pa and then played with all our new stuff. We met up with family for dinner at the Sizzler. My neice works there and had to work Christmas so we all decided to have dinner there with her. It was fun. Tom's brother stopped by for a nice Christmas visit. He had never seen Henry so it was fun introducing the two. After dinner we went to Grandma and Pa's for another present unwrapping. Everyone had a magical Christmas and we were so happy to get to spend it with family. We love that we have a little Gang of people to celebrate our Saviors birth with. The season is very magical and it is such fun seeing it through the eyes of our children. We hope everyone had a great Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Donny Osmond sings Mary Did you know

This was sent to me by my friend Ali. I hope you enjoy it. As you're doing your last minute shopping think of him and keep his spirit within in your heart.

Happy Holidays from Signing Time!

Now we can wish our friends Merry Christmas in Sign Language. Check it out and learn some favorite Holiday words.

A van, 5 kids, 2 DVD players, lots of food, and 2 parents

Well I guess it is time I updated everyone on the Oregon Thanksgiving trip. First off we had a ball, and want to thank our Oregon relatives for a great time. We started off to Oregon on Tuesday night. I had packed lunches for eating in the car so we wouldn't have to stop. Everyone was very happy to start eating. Most of the gang wanted to eat about 10 min. into the trip. I said no not until we get to the airport at least. Julia and Henry went right to sleep and we had a pleasant drive. We stopped in Redding for gas and potty. The kids watched videos and the drive was very uneventful. We spent the night with my parents in Weed. That was a very good thing because I don't think we could've gone much further that night. The next day we woke up and there was ice on all the cars. Macie and I were wearing capris. I had forgotten to take into account how high we were. Macie rode with Grandma and Pa the rest of the way to the Oregon homestead. We only stopped once for a potty break and then to eat right before we went to the relatives.

There were so many relatives that people were staying in hotels, guesthouses, trailers, extra bedrooms, and bunking down with the kids.

On Thanksgiving we went to some friends of my Aunt. They have a building on their property that is like a grange. We had a fire, food, drinks, visiting, a gift exchange, and fireworks. We even had the traditional Mama and the Papa's CD while cleaning up. I usually help with all the clean up and am involved with the prepration, but with the Gang I have I was very busy keeping up with Matthew and everyone else.

We visited all day Friday and drove home Sat. The kids did really well. We only stopped for one meal, gas and potty. When we got gas in Ashland we got ripped off. You see, in Oregon they fill the tank for you. We asked the cheap gas, but somehow we got the $3.89 gas. ?????!!!!! We ened up getting 350 miles on that tank. So now Tom thinks maybe we need to buy the super expensive gas for better gas miliage. We are in the middle of the first tank about town experiment. I'll let you know how it goes. :)

Anyway here we are back at home getting ready for Christmas. We will be getting our tree on the 15th and our house is decorated for the season. Here are some pictures of the weekend.

Grandma and Henry

The kids waiting to open their gift

Great-Great Uncle Charles, Charolotte and Henry