My Pretty Husband

Every Sunday I let my little girls bedeck themselves in my pot of loose glitter. (The kind they sell in the makeup aisle.) They usually sprinkle a bit on their cheeks and a smidgeon on their hair so they feel like Fairy Princesses in their beautiful dresses from their Fairy Grandmother....

Well, a couple of Sundays ago (our last Sunday in England to be exact) we were running around our hotel room like mad to get everyone dressed. So when my daughter asked if she could put the glitter on Chloe (2 yr old) I thought nothing of it... until she whispered, "Uh-oh!"

When I glanced over the baby's head was literally drenched in a sea of glitter--and the pot was half gone! LOL! --This pot will last us a good year, usually. Anyway, we were super late so I just brushed off what I could and we ran out the door, glitter streaming behind me.

Fast forward to church were my hubby is now holding said glitter pot baby and then zoom forward a little more where we are in our Sunday School class together and Chloe is playing happily in the nursery with the other 2 yr olds. With all the children gone, I can finally snuggle up to my hubby and hold his hand during the class. Which I do until I notice his suit is winking back at me.

At first I just brush off the offending glitter and giggle quietly to myself. Until I notice the glitter doesn't stop. As I pull back my eyes slowly travel up the sparkly suit to the sparkly white shirt and tie to the even sparklier cheeks and jaw line of my totally manly hubby.

I begin to laugh as I frantically wipe at his cheeks. Glitter is everywhere. Even his eyes, forehead and hair! --And my wiping was only making it worse! LOL! So after a few more laughing attempts I finally shrug and say, "Well, you'll just have to be my sparkly fairy princess today."

Then my hubby, without missing a beat, gasps affronted and says, "Excuse me? I'm your sparkly vampire, remember?"

LOL! So there you have it. Stephenie Meyer has officially made it cool for men to be sparkly. Who knew, glitter would bring out the vampire in my hubby? I sure didn't... but uh, ahem--just where did I put that pot at...?

Caught my sheepish hubby watching Twilight!

Yes, folks. My hubby is a Twilight fan!

I should've known something was up a couple of days before Easter when he unwrapped the new DVD from the store bag and handed it to me.

"Here, ya go. Happy Easter. I know it's early, but I thought you'd want to watch it."

He clearly had just bought it. But what surprised me more, is this man is ALL about gifts. So much so, he'll hord totally awesome presents for months--just so on the "ACTUAL DAY" I get bombarded with the perfect gifts. He loves the wait, because apparently it'll make the holiday much better.

So as he hands me Twilight, I instantly feel guilty. "What? No, don't give it to me now, just wait a couple of days and give it on Easter. If it's my Easter gift then I can't watch it now." Sheez.

"Oh--uh, ok, then this is just something for you and your sisters to watch then." (remember they were here visiting me?)

I smile and shrug at my sisters. "Ok, thanks!"

Uh, hello? Warning flag. How did I not catch it? Oh, I know! Maybe it was because when I had to forcefully drag this guy to the theater to watch Twilight, he grumbled about it the whole way home. "It was okay, not that great. we should've just waited till video. Dumb, chick flicks....Blah, blah, blah...."

Anyway, so here's my poor hubby desperate to watch Twilight and me oblivious. Instead, my sisters and I wait until the next night when hubby and the kids are in bed, and put it on. Of course, we LOVE it.

Now my hubby has a problem. I've already watched it. He can't just ask me if I want to watch it, because he knows I'll know something is up. So instead, he waits a whole week & a half, until I'm upstairs reading and all the kids are in bed, before he sneaks down and turns it on.

As it was, he'd already watched a third of it by the time I came downstairs to answer email. We both froze as I entered the family room doorway and saw the movie. "What are you doing?"

"Just watching a movie, why?"

"A movie?" I grin. His huge eyes are hilarious. "Just a movie? Mark, you're totally watching Twilight. MY Twilight. My Easter gift." I'm so shocked, I begin to laugh.

"So?"

"So? So? I thought you hated that movie. Now i'm coming downstairs and you're secretly watching it without me?"

"What's the deal? Can't I watch a movie before I go to bed?"

"You're so going down. You like that movie, admit it!"

"Aww, come on, Jenni. I'm tired, I needed something to help me fall asleep--you know how I always fall asleep on the couch if I watch a movie. You know that! I'm just using it to fall asleep." This is true, every action movie he watches at home--he crashes halfway through.

An hour later, the movie is finished and my hubby is wide awake.

So now I must ask, should I be slightly disturbed? Or just embrace the awesomeness that is my hubby? LOLOL!

Guess What! Guess What!

You'll never guess what i did last night!!! Okay, so maybe the picture gave me away... but i'm so excited I'm just gonna burst! My hubby bought me tickets to Wicked for Easter... and last night we rode the tube into London and had a blast!

I LOVED it!

So can I just say how awesome my hubby is? Can I? Can I? Little did I know when I married the guy that he loved musicals too! You should've seen my shock as I went through a small part of his CD collection on our way to our honeymoon. There I pulled out broadway versions of both Les Mes and Phantom. Wow! Let me tell you what, that hot redhead got a whole lot hotter!

Ever since we try and surprise each other with trips to the theater as gifts. It's the best gift EVER! Especially when we make a point to get AWESOME seats. Why settle for medicore seats when you can spend a little more and have the best? Besides, those type of presents make the best gifts anyway. Memories and experiences and magical dates.

I love my hubby.

FINALLY! Pics of my Enchanted Yuletide Ball!

So here it is! Proof that my hubby and I actually hosted our third annual ball! These are my two sister out-laws who came to help us celebrate! The best thing about living in Europe for me right now, is that half of my family lives over here too!

Meet, Domi--the left of me--my Dutch out-law, and Becky to the right of me--my American, living in England out-law! My lil' brothers live in Holland and England! LOL!

Here is my hunka, hunka, burnin' love! Isn't he hot ( i mean HAWT) in his tux??? Eeeh! And yes, my hubby really is as sweet as he looks. I'm the ornery one! LOL! Poor guy.

Here's me with two of my lil' brothers. We're the three oldest in the fam... LOL! So of course, we consider ourselves the coolest! Brendon is to the left of me--he lives in Holland! And Trent--the one i've posted about lots lately, lives in England.. and yeah, he only has half a face... guess that'll lead to more issues! Hehehee! (Oh! And both of these guys are super tall! you have no idea how far they're bending over to take this pic with me! LOL! I LOVE sibling torture!

Meet my oldest, Dalen (Scottish, pronounced Dallin) This was our "Bulter" for the evening. He took everyone's coats and kept clearing the trash! LOL! Over 150 people... we created a lot of trash! Poor guy! He got the most compliments out of everyone and people actually gave him gifts after the ball! Isn't he so cute--he's also my future photographer--and took most of these pics! Oh yeah, and in case you're wondering... I do believe in slave labor! LOL!

Here's Brendon and Dominique burning up the floor. All of my family LOVES to dance... that's why you won't find many pics of Mark and I, we were never still long enough! LOL! Oh! But there is proof that we did dance... if you look closely on the left... that is my hubby's hand and my hair! LOL!

Here's Bren and Domi again, I LOVE this photo so I had to post it! Look! Four kids later and they're still smiling!

This is a hilarious spoof, some of my singles put together! LOL! Just for the record, we're really boring... we don't drink! LOL! What they're holding is sparkling cider! LOL! It's all we had at the ball, oh and real American lemonade! The Brits idea of lemonade is diet Sprite. Not kidding! LOL! We had to show them how it's really done!

This is soon to be the Swepsons... they're getting married on New Year's Eve. Cute date for a anniversary, huh? We love these guys! They're soo cool!

Here are the Barrons! Some of the most funniest Brits ever! And our neighbors! Well, there you have it! Pics of my Enchanted Yuletide Ball! It was super fun! And we really had a blast! I can't wait until I move to Provo and get to host balls there! Wahoo!

School at Burghley!

Wow! Okay, so I'm so, so, so excited! Especially because I love school! I'm like a total school nerd! It's so awesome! And I haven't been to school for 13 years... awww.... poor, Jenni. That is until now...! Check out what my hubby got me for Christmas!! He is the sweetest guy ever! I've just got my acceptance letter in the mail today! I'm taking a writing course here starting in January! How cool is that? The best part is it's only like 15 minutes from my house! Wahoo!

And this my friends, is why you live in England. So that way, when you move back to the States and people visit you. You can have pics of these awesome buildings on your walls and you can say all posh like, "Oh, yes. The Burghley House! Such a beautiful place, isn't it? You should see inside. I went to school there."

Hehehe! And that's not all. You also get to brag about all of the great movies that have been filmed there like, Pride & Prejudice (2005), The Three Musketeers, the Da Vinci Code, Elizabeth the Golden Age...!

See what I mean? I'm a total nerd! But I LOVE school! And this is a college course! Wahoo! Thanks to my wonderful reality of motherhood, I've never been able to complete college... LOL! I still won't but at least I can say i went to school there! So it's only one class, but hey! It's a class! Eee! I can't wait!