Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Mother's Day 2014

I had a really nice Mother's Day this year. Really nice.
 
Of course I slept in. And then had a fancy breakfast:
 
 
Eric always goes the extra mile:
 
 
I then left the area while Eric and the kids cleaned up. Soon (since I woke up so late) it was time to head to church. There I got my next surprise of the day: Megan speaking about me in Sacrament meeting. She didn't even say anything mean. :)
 
After the primary kids sang in sacrament meeting I relinquished all of my chorister duties and was able to go Sunday school and Relief Society. It was seriously great. The Bishop taught our Relief Society class and decided to go around the room and tell each woman individually what he appreciated about her. I loved hearing his thoughts on everyone, and thinking to myself all of the great things I could say about each of them. I feel lucky to know so many awesome women. It was touching.

And we also had cheesecake.
 
After church it was present opening time!  
 
Jackson printed out his favorite poem (it is not sentimental), mounted it on paper and gave it to me:
 
 
Sadie wrote me an awesome letter. I love reading things in her cute handwriting with all of the misspelled words:
 
 
And then I opened her gift. I was thrilled to find that she had given me "Teddy Eddie"! She has been trying to get rid of him for years and found the perfect opportunity. (He was mine when I was little and I have been forcing Sade to keep him in her room). It was a hilarious gift.
 
 
Much to everyone's dismay I currently have him displayed in our living room for all to see.
 
My mom gave me such awesome gifts. An curling wand, my favorite soap and turkey steak sauce (you can't get it in Nevada). I was so excited about each of them.
 
 
Eric gave me a programmable thermostat that you can control from your phone. I don't mind receiving useful gifts for holidays, so I was very happy to receive it. It's a good thing he is married to a practical gal such as myself.
 
Taking selfies for Megan's Instagram:
 
 
Later that night I got one more surprise. One of my cute primary kids brought me cookies and a cute note!
 
 
Being the primary chorister is the best. I have been so lucky to get cute notes and treats from quite a few of them. And they have such awesome parents who encourage them to show appreciation.
 
Great day.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

12 X 12 - May 2014

Monday morning! I woke up late (no big surprise) so we were scurrying to get out the door on time. Jackson forgot his book (no big surprise) so while waiting for him to go back in the house to get it, I stood at the door with it wide open. Tucker was being extra good by just sitting by it, but I know that in his heart of hearts, he wanted to run out:
 
 
School drop-off. One of my favorite parts of the day. Not because I am excited about alone time (ok I am a little excited about alone time), but because it swells my heart to see them walking in together. I find it precious.
 
 
I went home to clean the house and get ready for the day. Soon it was time for Kinder pick-up. Another favorite part of my day. This year has been a big PAIN IN THE BUTT for pick ups and drop off, but I have LOVED picking Sade up everyday. We had errands to run, but Sade and I first stopped to have lunch at Great Harvest. While at lunch Sade told me she had a "GREAT DAY" at school. They have a new class rabbit which she got to hold. Someone brought in a snake, which she got to put around her neck (she was one of two kids who would do it). AND...Her job was pet control (hilarious) which means she was in charge of feeding crickets to the lizard, "Little Ricky", the birds (I can't remember their names) and the frogs (their names also escape me). She was thrilled!
 
 
I had a gift card to use (Thanks Rachael!), but ended up forgetting to use it until after I paid for our sandwiches. I hate when I do that! But it just meant that I was able to use it to buy bread instead. Woo-Hoo!
 
(And Rachael, my gift card didn't work either, but happily they just typed the amount in, and honored it. So crazy).
 
Our first stop was to pick-up Megan's registration packet from Northwest. We have to decide really, really soon what high school she is going to go to and I can't begin to describe the amount of stress it is causing me. It seems like one of those decisions that will have major effects and I am worried about making the wrong choice. She is choosing between Losee and Northwest. They both have major pros and cons, and those pros and cons are opposite each other. We really don't know what to do. So if you want to offer advice, please do!
 
 
After running to a few stores, Sade and I headed home. I checked the mail and discovered my Younique lashes had arrived. I was determined not to try them, but after everyone and their dog ordered them I found I wanted some too.  I haven't tried them yet, but do like how they look on other people. I hope I can figure them out.
 
 
And the case is fancy. I'm sure that's why their $30. Right?
 
We had a few minutes before picking up Meg from school, so Sade watched some T.V. She's cute:
 
 
Middle school pick-up!
 
 
Jackson was staying after school for track practice, so we went back home. Sometimes at this time of day tiredness overtakes me, and Monday was one of those days. So I went to do some reading in bed, which almost led to a short nap. I had to fight to keep my eyes open.
 
 
Track pick-up:
 
 
After basketball I determined that I would never, not ever, do another sport through the school. But Jackson is so good at track and loves it so much, I made an exception. Mistake. After collecting our money, they informed us they were changing track meets from Saturday mornings at nine, to Saturday afternoons between 2 and 7. Then they told us instead of having four meets, they were just going to do three. And then yesterday they told us they were probably going to just do one, if any! And they are not giving us our money back! I hate confrontation, but in this case I think I have to address it.
 
For dinner I picked up Pizza Hut:
 
 
FYI: On Monday's you can get 3 topping, Medium pizzas for $6 each! Carry out only.
 
After dinner Megan did some shadow hula-hooping:
 
 
And then we went to Craig Ranch park for some scootering, soccer playing and dog walking:
 
 
And then tragedy struck.
 
The kids and I decided to see who could make it around a certain circular area the fastest. On a scooter. The kids went first. They had somewhat respectable times of under a minute. But I KNEW I could beat them. So.......I went sort of crazy, broke the sound barrier, and then.....Lost complete control, fell, skidded, and became immobilized for at least 5 minutes. I couldn't get up. My elbow and wrist took the brunt of my fall.
 
Bonus picture:
 
 
By the amount of pain it caused I feel like this picture should have a bone sticking out of it, but alas it does not. Anyway....By the next day my elbow was swollen (like 3 times the size of my other elbow), bruised, and my hand and fingers were numb.
 
 I have an updated picture but it is on my phone and I don't want to download it. You're welcome.
 
So last night Eric took me to the Emergency Room. Where 4 1/2 hours later we discovered it wasn't broken! Hallelujah! I'm supposed to wear a sling (which I am not wearing), take antibiotics for infection from the contusion, and take pain pills. The numbness is apparently being caused by the trauma to the nerve endings in the elbow.
 
The Great Scooter Injury of 2014. Embarrassing.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Easter 2014

Our Easter festivities started with egg coloring!
 
 
We had two major spills within 5 minutes. This vinyl tablecloth from Wal-Mart ranks right at the top of the list of things I am thrilled I purchased (right next to the iPhone):
 
 
The center of attention:
 
 
Romantic egg:
 
 
Seahawks egg:
 
 
Finished product:
 
 
I was thinking the bunny would hide the Easter eggs outside this year, but Eric was concerned about candy meltage and Tucker, so he asked the bunny to hide them inside.
 
 
(By the way, I asked this on Instagram but if you don't have Instagram and didn't respond, I want to know how you envision the Easter Bunny? I think he is adult-human sized (and thereby freaky), while Eric thinks he is small like a little rabbit.)

The Easter Bunny came!
 
 
Checking out their baskets:
 
 
Sade might have been most excited by the snack sized Nutella and breadsticks:
 
 
Then it was time for the hunt. Meg deemed herself too old to participate this year. Downer.
 
 
Jackson had to break out the tools to get a couple of them:
 
 
Easter. The holiday you are allowed to climb all over the furniture:
 
 
Megan decided she was too old to collect the eggs, but not too old to split the candy and money with:
 
 
Eric then made us an Easter themed breakfast:
 
 
And the kids spent time lots of time outside playing with their new toys:
 
 
Just another reason to love one o'clock church!