Did you know rattlesnakes are out in DECEMBER?

Just a warning for all of you who think you are safe and rattlesnake season is over - IT'S NOT. Okay maybe I'm the only one who worries because we happen to live smack dab in the Little Happy World of Rattlesnakes or something...But we found NUMBER 5 a week ago off the side of the road on the way home from church. We only have a picture on Jay's phone so it may be a couple days before I actually get it on our blog. And speaking of wildlife, the Clark side of the family is known for our encounters with nature. If anybody knew my family growing up, we always had our window wells full of captured reptiles and other things (much to the displeasure of my mom). That's what happens when you have five brothers and a dad who loved to take us out hiking every Saturday. Since we all haven't grown out of that yet, we started a blog to show our findings to each other and anybody else who is interested. So if you want to see a lot of gross or just rarely seen creatures check out http://clarkwildlife.blogspot.com/
Here is yet another little creature who fell snare to Jay's animal killing spree... Jay knew this mouse has been back in our shop for a while and finally got it with a mouse trap. And that's not a rat, its just one huge fat mouse. The kids were pretty fascinated. Way to go dad!And it's that time of year again for Christmas cards, and this year was the biggest PAIN for us getting a normal picture of the kids. So I thought I'd share our different attempts, every time a disaster thanks to a wiggly two year old who is not much of a poser. Can you just feel my frustration behind the camera?See if I'll try all this all again next year. But here is a rare picture of Kate smiling at the camera.

Some things to be thankful for

We had a fun Thanksgiving at my parents house with some other family. Anna was so excited about all the food and ended up going back for seconds and then went back for thirds for mashed potatoes. She even licked the plate clean. She was so proud of herself! Our family has the tradition of weighing ourselves before and after (and yes, writing it down) to see who gains the most weight. My brother Nathan won a couple years ago by gaining 12-14 pounds! Anna was excited because she gained 1 pound and she also sang about 3-4 Thanksgiving songs for everyone, my favorite went something like this (to Oh My Darlin):
"Mr. Turkey, Mr. Turkey are you getting nice and fat? We are ready, we are ready, we are ready for Thanksgiving.
Mr. Turkey, Mr. Turkey do you ever wonder why? People eat you at Thanksgiving and not chicken pot pie?"
This year, Anna came up with the idea to make smoothies when we watch the parade on TV on Thanksgiving morning, something we'll do every year now. I LOVE everything about Thanksgiving, especially the tradition of decorating for Christmas the day after. I love getting out the Christmas boxes with the kids, I've never seen them so excited!

Anna's first missing tooth

I am so excited I finally lost my tooth, it has been wiggly for over a month now! I woke up at 6am yesterday morning and ran into my parents room saying, "My tooth is REALLY loose!!". So my dad got up with me and checked it out. He asked me if he could pull it out and surprisingly I said, "okay, I guess..." So he went ahead and just yanked it out, it bled a little bit but I was so brave. I left a decorated envelope with my tooth in it last night and sure enough, the TOOTH FAIRY came and left me another envelope with a dollar in it and man was I happy. I had my gingerbread house on my dresser next to my bed and I saw a few pieces missing this morning...I think the tooth fairy needed a little snack last night. I'm saving my money, and now I have over two dollars. I am starting to memorize The Articles of Faith and I just learned the second one (my Mommer gives me a dollar for every one I memorize). Growing up!

*****

Here are some pictures from this past weekend...

ASU Game - this was the kids first time and they had SO much fun, we sat by the alumni band and that kept them dancing and happy the whole time.

Jay's dad's birthday party - we had it at a church and had fun eating and playing in the cultural hall and making our annual Gingerbread houses. Jay's mom makes all the frosting and we bring the candy and go to town. The kids love doing this!

Our new two year old

*And a little about her...
1. She is so adorable, I can't get enough of her and her big personality.
2. The song "Back Down" comes to mind when she is in the middle of a screaming fit on the floor.
3. She NEVER stops jumping. This little girl seriously bounces everywhere she goes. I think we need a trampoline...
4. I LOVE her new words. She pretty much says (or tries to say) everything the kids say. She will stop and get a serious look on her face and say quietly, "Croc-a-dyy-ul" (crocodile). Or I love when she says, "eets high" or "eets told" (cold) or "eets harrd".
5. She is happy, smiling and giggling for most of her day.
*Not enough mom to go around...

...but if I had a picture to post at the moment you would see that there is plenty of me to "around". At 26 weeks...

1. I feel huge already!

2. David came up to me, rubbed my tummy and said, "Mommy I LIKE your tummy!!"

3. It feels so great to not be sick.

5. I still get really tired, especially at the end of the day. Poor Jay has a boring sleepy wife, he makes fun of me for falling asleep on the couch EVERY night.

4. This little boy is always hungry - I can't seem to stuff MY face enough to keep HIM growing (and me to actually feel full).

5. I crave ice.

6. I get out of breath so easy, especially in the mornings.

7. I'm not looking forward to the third trimester.
8. So I guess almost all these things are complaints.

9. And back to not enough mom to go around now...what am I going to do when the 4th kid comes? All I need is two extra arms, an extra hour of sleep, a maid...heck just another one of me.

*A few things I'm excited about...

1. CHRISTMAS!!! I love everything about it and I admit I can't ignore the Christmas station. Anna asks to listen to it every morning on the way to school

2. THE TWILIGHT MOVIE!!! yeah absolutely can't wait for this. I'm going with my sister in laws next week...

And just two more random candid pictures of David at my mom's house a couple weeks ago. He loves her desert tortoises, she has 3 that are actually kind of cute and really smart and is currently trying to breed them. This one is Minnie May Lemonada.

Vote for ME

Right when Anna came home from school, she snuck a door hanger on my bedroom door that she made at school. It was decorated and on it she wrote, "VOTE". She told me all about how that in some countries, people can't vote and that tomorrow I can go vote for the President of the United States. Then she said, "Mom, you can vote for ME to be president, but if I win I have to do it for FOUR years!" I am on a serious election overload at this point, but I still can't help but be obsessed with what's happening tomorrow and all that has gone on in the past few months. I've always been Republican (in my considerably short time as a voter) and probably always will be, but this is the first year I really took a long hard look at what I believe and have realized and loved the responsibilty that comes with being an American. So we'll see what (and who) goes down tomorrow...
This is the pre-Halloween candy pigout picture...on our way to our ward's trunk-or-treat.

Oh I just can't resist putting this picture up - this is one handsome little handy man.

I love Kate's silhouette and her chubby cheeks (don't you want to eat them?).

And finally a shout out to our sweet little princess...HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY tomorrow (voting day). Here's a look back at me on the way to the hospital 2 weeks early and 7'2 (I'm pretty sure I'm already that big now)...

crazy hair and big eyes from the beginning...

We love everything about you - your bubbly personality, your temper tantrums, your sweet cheesy smiles, your sassy glances, and of course your cuddly hugs and kisses. We can't imagine our family without you Kate.

This is what you call SCARY

Hideous. As you can see, Jay and I make great white trash and Kate was our white trash child...wild hair, diaper and all. We had our yearly Clark Halloween Party this past weekend - everyone dresses up, plays carnival games, eats tons of food and we all have a blast. Here are the kids in their costumes (I can't get David and Kate--costume #2--to hold still for ANYthing!)David would probably rather be a superhero for Halloween

What the kids have been up to...

Kate - Here is the face of an up-and-coming two year old...getting a mind of my own. Okay my hair is beautiful, shiny, curly, and soft - but it gets just CRAZY! After a couple hours of playing or sleeping it ends up about like this (no kidding):

David - I still manage to get in trouble sometimes and whether mom says, "What happened?!?!?" or not, it's always a "JUST NUP-PING!" from me. This picture is exactly what I do (notice the powdered sugar on my hands): But how can you resist this face

Anna - I love to assemble and write my own books lately. I draw the pictures then sound and spell out my words. I come up with sentances like these my mom loves, "mymomhelpstolovemeto", and "Ilovemymombcuzilovemymom". I could color and create ALL day! Here I am at the Lamb's house, rocking out on Cale's guitar. I am totally into the Diamond Castle Barbie movie and and I sing every single word to every single song. My mom and dad think I have a great voice!

Just us hanging out

What do you know about Jay?

I thought I would put down some facts that some of you may or may not know about Jay (31 for turning 31 a month ago). If you want to throw in a fact or memory you have about him, that would be great... Jay and I met in June of '99 on a blind date with a group of people but I wasn't his date...in fact he didn't even have a date. So a week later he called and asked me out and we were together after that (except a 2 month breakup). A funny thing is that only about a week after we started dating, he came over and met my dad who then decided (right then and there) to invite him to our big family reunion in Utah with us a week later. Jay, being a good sport, went and met everybody and their mom (literally), even people I had never met. So let's just say Jay got off on a good foot with my whole family, especially my dad (and mom) who loved him right away. We got married in May of '00 and have loved our life since. Okay here are 31 facts about Jay:

1. He knows every word to "Ice Ice Baby".2. He loves koolaid, Coke, and DP.

3. He hates milk.

4. He likes my cooking - or least puts up with it on the bad days. Even when I know it's bad, he still eats it without a complaint.

5. Jay owns his own business doing stainless steel fabrication and has a shop in Tempe. Before this business he installed and serviced fire suppression systems in restaurant kitchens but then sold that and moved on to this. He still does most of his work in restaurants, but does anything with stainless. He has been busy with Carl's Jr. remodels recently and has other projects going on. He has been in a variety of big and small restaurants all around the valley and the state. Just a few of his jobs...

6. The ultimate goal he is working up to is making cooking trailers to sell or rent. He has made a few already (we took one camping and loved it) and this was his latest one. He worked hard making this from beginning to end. This was for a guy in Nevada that requested a beer tap, a place for a keg, a sink, and a smoker in the background. Jay has plans for many different types of customized trailers and I am so proud and excited about this one!!! Here is one of his pieces of equipment (a press) that makes this all possible.7. He loves Breyers ice cream with chocolate syrup, Sunday roast, and his mom's cheescake.

8. He's quick with his jokes and comments and always gets a laugh. He also likes to tease.

9. When he was 6, his mom was outside with the neighbors and Jay came running out with a dress on and two canteloupes stuffed inside. He ran down the sidewalk to his mom with the canteloupes bouncing every which way...she will never forget that.

10. He is good with people and is always willing to serve and help others.

11. He has the most kind, down-to-earth, loving parents.

12. He is Mr. Handyman. He knows how to do anything and everything and has taught himself most of it.

13. He gets extra onions on everything.

14. He loves to hang out with us every chance he gets :)

15. He has a great contagious laugh.

16. I love when he doesn't shave his face for a couple days.

17. He didn't play sports in highschool, but he's good at basketball and beats me at raquetball.

18. He was in orchestra in highschool (something he doesn't always bring up) and is still really good at the violin.

19. He loves intense action shows/movies: 24 (gotta love Jack Bauer), Bourne Identity, etc.

20. Favorite TV shows: Seinfeld, King of Queens, Arrested Development and The Office.

21. He does not like Adam Sandler movies.

22. He was named after his Grandpa Jay and was really close to him. Because of that, he always wanted to name his boy after his dad, David.

23. He went to Mexico on his mission and still uses his Spanish every day.

24. He spent almost a week in a Mexican hospital with a parasite.

25. He's not a smelly or sweaty person. He always smells good.

26. He recently lost weight and went down one pant size (wish I could say the same).
27. He's a good driver.

28. When he was 16, he was the third wheel on a date with his friend and a girl to the movies. He held his friend's date's hand during the movie without his friend even knowing. Nothing ever came of that night, but he's always been a little proud of that since then.

29. I don't know if he even wants me to share that story but I thought it was pretty funny.

30. He loves to wrestle and play with his kids.

31. He is the best husband and daddy ever!