Top 10 Flem-tastic things this fall (so far)

1. I wrecked my car. And when I say wrecked, I mean wRRRRecked it. I rear ended someone on my way to pick up Avery from preschool. Make that two someones.... But, you see, it's not my fault. My friend Amanda was the one that called me on my cell phone and distracted me. Anywho, I've turned over a new leaf, and no more cell phone talking while driving for me.

Doesn't look SO bad, right?

Here's where it gets bad:

Apparently, those airbags cost about $1500 just for the airbags. To put them back IN the car is even more. So, since my car was only worth roughly twice that, they declared it totalled. No biggie, see #2:

2. I got a minivan! I know, it's such a dorky mom thing to do, but hey - guess what, Scott - I'm a MOM and let's be honest, motherhood isn't all that glamorous, so who was I fooling anyway? I really do love my car. So does Scott, although he pretends to totally hate it. But what's not to love? I mean, it's a Silver Toyota Sienna, one of about 20 identical cars at the preschool. But now, I see why. I looooooove it.

And for those with an untrained minivan mom eye, I must tell you that this here door opens at the push of a button. The push of a button, people! Perfect for the lazy parent!

And, it has a back seat. Now we can fill it up with 3 more babies, right? Well, at least I can drive one of Avery's friends home from school for a playdate without taking 10 mintues to wrestle three kids into the backseat of my car.

3. My kids made their first trip to the Krispy Kreme. This doesn't mean that it is the first time they have had Krispy Kreme donuts (who do you think you're talking to?), just the first time they went in to the store/factory and watched the donuts being made. It was a huge hit, especially for Avery.

4. My kids helped me vote. I let them push the button and everything. After watching the news and seeing people waiting in line for hours to "vote early," I came prepared. I decided that it would be too much trouble to find parking and pushed 80 pounds of kids + a 30 pound stroller roughly 2 miles round trip. I armed myself with snacks, activities and a portable dvd player, preparing to be in line for hours. I walked straight into the booth and voted - no waiting at all. My kids helped me push the button, and even though our candidate didn't win (well, Avery's won, but I'm convinced that she only liked Barack Obama because she thought his name was Rock Obama), we had a great time!

5. I had the unfortunate double whammy of being diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome and hypothyroidism. Unfortunately for me, symptoms of each disease include difficulty losing weight and ease of putting on weight. So I am hereby throwing in the towel and going to consist only on a steady diet of hamburgers and donuts so I can get really fat and blame it on the bad thyroid and handicapped ovaries. Just kidding. Kind of. Maybe. We'll see....

6. I went to the "So You Think You Can Dance" tour in Baltimore with a bunch of my girlfriends. I love this show more than maybe any other, and this was definitely a highlight of my year. I secretly wish I could go on myself, and although I think I would be super-awesome, deep down, I really that I would look like that mom from American Fork, Utah. You know which one I'm talking about, and you know it's true.

7. Donovan's curls came back. Yay! In June, I mentioned to Scott that Dono needed a haircut, meaning a TRIM! I jumped into the shower, and minutes later, got out to see my baby buzzed. It was cute, but I really love those curly locks. So I'm glad that after a mere 5 months, his super slow growing hair is back!

8. Bepa came to visit! It was a short visit, but we packed it as full as we could, with fun trips to Chuck E. Cheese and the pink pizza place (Generous George's). We love Bepa!

9. Scott and I had a great temple trip. We don't get to the temple as often as we'd like, so it was nice to be able to go this month. We had intended to go to our Ward Temple night, but got the times mixed up, and ended up missing our Ward members. Still a great temple trip.

10. As I'm writing this, we're supposed to be in the Outer Banks, NC for our annual Thanksgiving getaway. We go every year with a bunch of our friends, and it is something we look forward to all year long. Unfortuantely, Avery came down with the stomach flu early this morning, and we had to postpone our trip. Thanksgiving illnesses are nothing new for us though. Our kids have been sick EVERY single Thanksgiving since Avery's very first one six years ago. We are very familiar with the urgent care place in the Outer Banks. I'm trying to look on the bright side and be thankful that at least she got sick while we were still home and not at the beach house, or worse, in the car. I'm also crossing my fingers that Donovan doesn't come down with the same sickness in 3 days. He usually does ok avoiding stomach bugs, so we're hoping that holds true this time around too.