Tea For Two

Today was the annual Mother's Day Tea at Jackson's Pre-School. They sang to us, served us refreshments, and we played a very informative game called MYSTERY MOM. I learned quite a bit about myself. The kids were asked a series of questions about us mom's, and we had to guess which kid said what. Here is what Jackson thinks of me:

1. What is your Mom's favorite color? Red (He was right)
2. What does your Mom cook the very best? Macaroni & Cheese (Right again)
3. How old is your mom? 3 (Pretty close)
4. What color is your Mom's hair? Dark Gray (Is he trying to tell me something)
5. What is the funniest thing your mom does? Nothing (Apparently I am void of any funniness)
6. Why do you love your Mom? Because I like her
7. If you could give your Mom any gift what would it be? Jewelry (I can't wait until he is rich)

They gave us these cute tea towels with their hand prints on them, and we also had to draw pictures of each other. You may have to click on the picture to enlarge it. It may be hard to tell who drew what picture since I am severely lagging in artistic ability.

The kids were all so great and well behaved. They have a fantastic teacher, who also happened to be Megan's pre-school teacher when she was 3. See how calm they are listening to the book. Not bad for a bunch of 3 year olds.

SPT

This Week's Challenge:

May means "wedding month" to me. And no, this challenge is not going to be about weddings (unless you want it to be...). This months challenge is simply:

May 6th: Something Old
May 13th: Something New
May 20th: Something Borrowed
May 27th: Something Blue


I actually had something else in mind until this morning when I pulled out some stationary to write a note to a friend. I happened to pull out some that my mom gave to me probably 15 years ago. I admit that I have a habit of hording stationary and cards. I love to buy it, and receive it as gifts, but sometimes I put off using it because I realize once I use it, it will be gone. Obviously. This particular stationary came with 15 cards, and I have 4 left. After I wrote the note, I went to put it in an envelope and discovered that they were so old, the seals were already stuck to the envelopes. I truly have become better over the years, but admit that I have a long way to go. My friend Rachael and I bought the same box of multi-occasion cards at Costco a year ago, and while she has used almost all of hers, I still have at least 80 percent. They do all eventually get used, it may just take me 15 or 20 years!!

Special Olympics

"Let me win,but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt."

(Special Olympics Oath)

Today Megan was able to participate in a wonderful event. This year her school was chosen to participate in the Special Olympics track and field competition. Non-disabled peers were paired up with the Special Olympics athletes from their respective schools. Megan has been training since February with special needs kids from her school, and today was the big event. I was so thrilled when she was chosen. I always feel so lucky when my kids get to participate in activities that will make them better people. For those of you that don't know Megan, she does have arms, they were just inside her shirt because it was so cold.

She participated in the 50 meter run, the softball throw, and the standing long jump. They all looked so cute lining up.

As you can see it was very windy, which made it kind of cold outside. However, I think it was better than having it be too hot, which definitely could have been a possibility here in Las Vegas. Sadie is finally getting used to the wind, so she was quite content in her carrier.

Eric challenged Jackson to a race of their own, and Jackson was as fast as lightning.

Lastly, here is a picture of Megan at the 2nd trimester awards assembly at her school. She collected 3 awards yesterday (Academic Achievement, Excellent Attendance, and Citizenship). Megan is very conscientious of her school work and has worked hard to bring home all A's since she has been going to school. As soon as she gets home, she does her homework and practices her spelling words. I am always very proud of her. Of course I would still be proud of her even if she didn't do well in school, because all around she is a great girl.

Sadie, Sadie Pretty Lady

My little Sade is almost 4 months old, and I think gets cuter and cuter everyday. She has started grabbing everything in sight (her blanket, toys, and her toes (my personal favorite)). She is super close to rolling over, if her pesky arm would not get in the way. She has been a great nighttime sleeper since she was 6 weeks old, usually only waking up once around 3 a.m. And for the last 3 nights she has slept until 6 a.m., woken up to eat, and gone back to sleep until 8:30 a.m. Hooray. Let's hope she keeps it up. By the way, my 3 year old still does not sleep through the night, so no one out there can be too jealous.
She has big blue eyes, the fairest skin of any of my kids, and such kissable cheeks. She puts up with a lot of kissing, given that Jackson can't seem to keep his lips off of her. He always tells me that he has to kiss her so much because he loves her so much. We all talk to her in our highest voices and smile at her all day, in hopes that she will smile back at us (and she almost always does).

I had to post one picture of her screaming her little heart out, because she does like to do that quite a bit too. She is a baby, so she likes to be held (while standing up), and is definitely not patient when she wants to eat or is tired. But all in all we could not be luckier. I feel blessed every day that she is part of our family.

SPT

This Week's Challenge:

Find your last receipt from the gas station? How much did you spend? What if you could take that amount and spend it on something for you? What would you buy? This item must be within $5 of what you spent.

We were at the gas station last night and spent $72.26. I still had a few gallons left, so in reality it could have been even more. So if I had approximately $75 to spend, what would I spend it on?

I would maybe rent out a storage unit for my husband to keep all of his work stuff in. It would be amazing to have my garage back. OR,

I would hire someone to come clean my house. Oh wait, I forgot, I already have someone. (Isn't he a good sport). Or,

I would take that $75 and spend it on something impractical and just for me. I have always wanted to learn how to tap dance, so I could see me buying myself a really nice pair of high-heeled tap shoes. Even though I don't know how to tap dance, I would get so much enjoyment walking around the house with them on.

Flashback Friday-Graduation Edition

I grew up in Logan, Utah and graduated from High School in 1995. We were the home of the Grizzlies, and our school colors were red and gold. This is the only picture I have of me in my cap and gown. And if you are wondering, it wasn't even me who cut around this picture, it was my mom. Way to ruin the picture mom. Just kidding!!

Here I am after graduation with mom, my two grandma's, my dad, and Aron (my boyfriend at the time). As I go through old pictures I realize that in almost all of them from 15 on I am with a boyfriend. Could I not take a picture by myself?

Marty, me and my mom.

Here is my college graduation. I graduated from Utah State University in 1999. I truly hate the shoes I am wearing. I didn't even like them at the time, but for some unknown reason decided to wear them. I actually still had them up until a year ago when I finally decided to throw them away. They were Steve Madden (my brand of choice along with Doc Marten's in high school and college). Now my brand of choice is Target.

SPT

This Week's Challenge:

In honor of Earth Day. Do you consider yourself a part of "The Green Generation."

I definitely consider myself a part of "The Green Generation" in theory, but I don't always come through in practice. So for this Earth Day I decided to turn off my water, and let my grass die.

Ha, Ha, Just Kidding. There are parts of our yard that look like this, but it is mostly because of my inattention to it. However, if we move to a new house or suddenly come into a lot of money, I would replace our real grass with fake grass in a heartbeat. Not only would it be much easier to take care of in our climate, but we would save a lot of water.

The one thing I am definitely going to change this year is our use of water bottles. It is not unusual for me to clean 5 or 6 half empty water bottles out of our car. Last Friday I found these 4 barely used water bottles in my 7 year olds backpack. I bought these smaller bottles hoping that it would cause less waste, but she is still not drinking them. I am going to go out this week and buy her a reusable bottle for her lunch.

Lastly, I have considered switching to these new light bulbs. I have not made myself do it yet because I find them grossly unattractive. I realize this is ridiculous, and I am sure I will be able to talk myself into them soon.

Happy Earth Day!!!!

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

This weekend we said goodbye to Jackson's hair. As I was cutting it, it kept getting shorter and shorter, until Eric and I decided we would like to see him with a buzz cut. It has been a big adjustment. Jackson has always had quite a bit of hair, so I barely recognize him.

Before

After

Next we said goodbye to Las Vegas and headed out to Primm. I wanted to do some shopping at the outlet mall and we thought it would be fun to let the kids ride some rides.

Here they are on the frog hopper. I love to see Megan take over when it is just her and Jackson. She helped him get on the ride, made sure he was okay when he got scared, and helped him get off. I love to see them taking care of each other.

I think Jackson is going to be the dancer in the family. He would have been content to dance on this all night.
Last up was the log ride. I just realized there are no pictures of Sadie. But for the record, she was very good the whole trip, and slept all the way through dinner. What could be better.

Do they look worn out? Not even a movie could keep Jackson awake.

Flashback Friday-To Pioneer Times

For this Flashback Friday I am going all the way back to the Mid 1800's. I know the clothing choices are a bit outdated, but you have to remember this is what was in style at the time. We had to wear long skirts and of course bonnets to protect us from the harsh weather on the plains.

As you can see, they are all very happy in this picture. They just completed some quilts, and clothing for their entire families.

This picture was taken after they were told they were going to be traveling across thousands of miles of wilderness to the Salt Lake Valley.

I would like to thank everyone that participated in last nights program, and all of you who are on the committee that work so hard. THANK YOU!!!

SPT

This week's challenge:
Provide a photo for the following caption:

"What Was I Thinking?!?"

It all started more than two years ago when I walked into a friends house and fell in love. Not with her, but with her floors. She has stained concrete floors and I had never seen anything like them. I knew I had to have them for my own. So finally last April we decided to tackle the project. There are five reasons I ask myself "What Was I Thinking?"

1. We had a lot of family coming into town 2 weeks after we decided to start. Not a smart idea. Let's just say they had to negotiate a construction zone.

2. I was pregnant. When I am pregnant I am terribly sick the entire 9 months, so I wasn't really much help.

3. We were entering my husbands busy time of year so he did not have the proper time to spend to get it done in a timely fashion.

4. My husband and I have vastly different work styles. He is a perfectionist who takes a lot of time, and I am not. There is definitely a middle ground that we did not negotiate well.

5. It was really, really hard. The cleanup, staining, coating was a ridiculous amount of work.

So for a project I thought would take us no more than 2 weeks, 5 months later, yes 5 months, we were finally done . Our timing was not perfect, but now that it is done I couldn't be happier.

Flashback Friday

Three years ago this week we took an impromptu trip to San Diego. San Diego is one of my favorite places to go. We are so lucky that it is so close and there are so many fun things to do with kids.

Here's my little Jackson. He was 9 months old and was such a good baby. He is still a really good kid, but as a baby he was really, really good.

The next day we went to the beach. As you can see it was fairly cold, but the kids still had fun playing in the sand. I love impromptu trips.

SPT

This week's challenge:
We've all heard that mom-like expression "I've got eyes in the back of my head." Do you ever wonder what you would see if you actually did have eyes in the back of your head?"
If my kids did not know I was watching them, I am sure I would see Jackson smothering Sadie with kisses, and Megan singing and dancing to music in her room. But the first thing I thought of was this:


This is how I wake up at least 4 nights a week. With the eyes in the back of my head I would see my 3 year old climbing into bed with us at 4 or 5 in the morning. I usually wake up when he comes in, but I am just so tired at that time in the morning that I let him stay. The problem is that he is very easy to sleep with, so it does not annoy me to the point that I make him stay in his bed. I know it would just take a few nights of taking him back to his room, but I don't have the motivation yet. Plus I do really love cuddling with him.

Butterfly Park

The weather has been so gorgeous that I feel guilty if we don't take the kids to do something outside, so yesterday we went to the Butterfly Park. They are expanding it and making it even bigger than it currently is, which is good because it was pretty busy yesterday.

My little Sadie even had a good time. Her and I sat under a tree most of the time, so she was shaded from the sun and most of the wind.

Has anyone noticed that at parks these days they seem to have very few swings. It does not make sense to me since most of the kids I know love to swing and there is always a wait to use them.

Lastly, a picture of Eric and the kids. Megan is holding a piece of cardboard that she used not to slide down the many slides they have at the park, but to slide down the steep dirt area between the slides. I am truly surprised she did not break a bone, or at the very least skin her legs. But she didn't, and we all had fun.

Flashback Friday-Prom Edition

This was Junior Prom 1993. I was a Sophomore, but was asked by a Junior (hence my attendance at this dance). I was not really excited to go. I did not like this boy at all, but my mom and friends said it would be mean to say no. So I went. I loved my dress and my hair. My friend Sherene came over and curled it for me with a tiny curling iron. I still have the curling iron. I remember it was really awkward and when he dropped me off at home I jumped out of the car and walked quickly up to the doorstep, not giving him a chance to walk me to the door. He was a nice guy, but I guess I was just not into him. FYI the theme of this dance was "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You."

This was Homecoming. I was dating two people at this time and had to decide who I wanted to be my boyfriend. This is how I made my decision. Eric and Richie were the names of the boys I was dating. On a Friday I was scheduled to go to Lagoon (an amusement park) with Richie, but I got really sick with the stomach flu. Instead of him being nice to me, he asked me if I could take some medicine and come anyway. He seemed pretty upset I could not go. The next day I was scheduled to go to a Steve Miller Band concert with this boy Eric. I called him and let him know I was sick and might not be able to go. Instead of him getting upset, he brought me flowers. So I chose him, and we went to homecoming. FYI the theme of this dance was "A Time To Remember."

This dance was a Valentine's Dance I went to with a boy named Danny. Obviously it was not very exciting because I can't remember much about this dance. All I remember is that I had a giant fake red flower in my hair that I ended up taking out before this picture was taken. I must have come to my senses. FYI the theme of this dance was, "There's A Moon Out Tonight." Notice the giant moon attached to my head. After this picture was taken I started dating older "men." So I did not go to any more dances because they had already graduated from high school. I am sure they would have taken me if I wanted to go, but I really didn't at the time.

I also had to post a couple of pictures of Eric. He had a lot more to choose from than I did. He went to high school in the late 80's and apparently white tuxes were all the rage. He did not start wearing a black one until dances at Ricks College. Eric, I would like to point out that you are wearing a pink shirt in this picture. How sweet of you to match your dates dress.

Don't you just love this chair. Very 80's.

Excuses

Jackson really dislikes cleaning his room, and as you will see will come up with any excuse not to do it. The first time I went in to check on him this is what I found:

Excuse #1: "I am just too tired to clean."

Excuse #2: "I'm too hungry to clean my room." (This is a common excuse. He is always hungry.)

Excuse #3 (my personal favorite): "I can't clean my room because my hand is wrapped up on this ball".

Jackson's favorite excuse is that he just can't do it by himself and I need to help him. I usually do help him because I realize he is 3 years old and it can be overwhelming for him (even though I know he can do it, because he has done it before), but I was just too busy yesterday. However, when Eric came home Jackson asked him so nicely for help that I guess he couldn't resist and his room finally did get cleaned up.

Lastly, I had to post one more picture from last weekend so I don't forget it. We were out to eat and all talking about our favorite dogs. Megan's favorite was the Chihuahua and the Bulldog. I can't remember Eric's, but I won't forget Jackson's. Jackson looked at us and said his favorite was the French Poodle. WHAT. I don't even know what a French Poodle looks like. He cracks me up.