Life Goes On...

Life seems to go really fast when I see that it has been 2 months since the last post.  I was going to at least post something monthly this year.

The biggest news comes from Brian's corner of the world.  At the end of January he was asked to be 2nd counselor in the bishopric.  He was a little nervous but he has really stepped up to the task.  He has only nodded off briefly on the stand once. The final test is will be next Sunday when he has to conduct in Sacrament meeting for the first time.  I am not worried.  He is a natural when presenting and his testimony is strong and always comes out eloquently.

His other news came this past week.  He was asked to move from his corporate position at work to be president of the Utah division of Woodside Homes.  Again he is nervous but he is excited about this assignment.  I know he will knock it out of the park.  He is so talented and dedicated that he does well at everything he does.

I wish I had some funny stories.  I am sure there were some funny moments but nothing comes to mind.  I even downloaded pictures to try to jog my memory.  I guess they have been pushed out of my mind because I have felt a little overwhelmed lately, from my own doing.  Might be time to step back and try to re-prioritize.

At the end of January the kids were off-track so we did a couple of fun excursions.  We made a trip to the Provo City Center Temple open house.  We visited the ice castles in Midway.  They were cool but it was definitely freezing even with proper gear.  We met up with Emily at Ogden's Treehouse Museum.

Kelsey played volleyball and took ski lessons while off-track. Macy just finished up the last of her 3 cheer competitions.  I guess she is going to tryout for a competitive team next year. Brian took Macy, Kelsey and Braden up skiing twice.  They all seem to enjoy it.  Braden doesn't really last a full day yet so he might not get another trip this year.

Tanner found his bike from last year.  He decided to bring it in the house and prefers to ride it in here despite the nice weather and a fenced in backyard.  He has continued his antics.  He dumped a full bottle of shampoo in the tub for the bubbles.  He has continued to color on the walls with pen, crayons and pencils.  One pen drawing was so big and deep that the magic eraser wasn't working.  Brian had to paint over it this weekend.  He also thinks he is big enough to walk to school by himself.  One morning I heard the front door open.  I didn't rush to check on him because he usually digs in my front flower beds.  When I went to see and bring him back inside, he was gone.  I looked all around the house, in the house in the window wells and at the neighbor's house.  Nowhere.  I grabbed my cell and started to make my way to the busy street.  On my way my cell phone rang.  It was my neighbor that worked at the elementary school.  She informed me that Tanner was in the office at school.  I guess he had heard all the kids at recess and made a beeline for them.  Braden was at recess and found him.  He had walked the whole way barefoot and threw a tantrum when I brought him home.  The next day he told me he was going to go to school.  I told him no and watched him very closely that day.

 Tanner as a box troll.  Kelsey's creative idea.  She made a box for herself and Tanner.

 

As for me I spent our tax refund on new patio furniture.  The gas fire pit and the jumbo umbrella are not out yet.  But below is a picture of my new table. We lounged on it today in the beautiful sunshine. I got my vegetable garden ready and planted my peas, lettuce, spinach, carrots and onions.  I just looked and some are starting to sprout.  I hope to get raspberry plants in soon.  Brian and I spent a Saturday finishing up my front yard project.  I weeded everything, put Preen down and then we spread mulch over everything.  Hopefully the mulch is thick enough.  I have a few plants I need to buy and plant to finish the front and replace a couple from last fall that didn't make it.  If you can't tell I am excited for the nice weather.

 These are the kids Valentine boxes from this year.

Kelsey's - Sniffle's cage

Macy's - Valentine monster

Braden's - Monster sack he made in school

Last Week's Adventure

I may not have been the most amazing mom last week.  There were some good moments and times the kids hated.

I made Kelsey bawl for about 20 minutes about how she was starving.  And when I say bawl picture complete sobbing, coughing from crying to hard and red blotchy cheeks by the time it was all over with.  I had told her and Macy that their room had to be clean before I would fix them lunch.  They had 3 1/2 hours to take care of a 30 minute chore.

The girls lost coins for fighting (a lot of coins meaning a lot of fighting) which meant they couldn't go to Classic on Friday.  The coins are a reward/payment system.  So on Wednesday and Thursday they really had to work their butts off to get enough coins again.

And I forced them to practice piano and do some chores.

Braden got his first black eye running straight into his cousin Ellie.  She is 6 months younger so her forehead was right at his eye level.

We rode the frontrunner for the first time to downtown with my parents and sister.  On the way home we missed getting off our stop.  Not for any fault of our own.  We were up in the top section for the ride home.  When the train stopped at our parking lot we quickly made our way down the stairs.  Well the driver assumed that nobody was getting off at that stop and no one got on so he made it a really short stop.  When we pushed the button to open the door the driver was already making preparations to leave so the door wouldn't open.  The kids and I were stranded at the next stop (in Draper).  There is nothing out there.  Nothing is within walking distance.  It was 20 degrees outside and no place to wait inside.  And the next train heading north wasn't due for another hour.  We had just missed it.  Luckily my sister, Stef, works nearby and she saved us, but she got lost on the way over so we still had to wait in the freezing cold for 30 minutes.  The lesson from this story is if you are going to ride the frontrunner train for fun, do it in the warmer months just in case a rude driver doesn't let you off.  Maybe the driver had no control but I need someone to direct my anger at.

On to the good things.

The kids ate mini corn dogs for lunch on 3 different days.  I think Braden had 2 hot dog meals during the week.  Brian was out of town the end part of the week so we ate Café Rio one night and the leftovers the next.  We had Sonic for lunch once.  We took my dad to Archibald's for his birthday Friday night.  The kids and I ate popeye pancakes, aka German pancakes, the night Brian went to the Jazz game.  He doesn't really enjoy breakfast dinners.  Sunday I threw Rhodes cinnamon rolls in the oven for breakfast.  Overall, we did some good eating.

The biggest thanks goes out to my mom (and my sister Emily did a lot of helping too) for sewing with my children.  They made the cutest jumbo pillows while I went to a continuing education class for real estate.  I know they had more fun than me.

Macy was a third grade finalist for the spelling bee.  She had to go to school on her day off to participate.  I never got her to study the lists.  I didn't do too much pushing.  When the day came, according to her, it was my fault she didn't study.  She did okay.  There were 18 kids (maybe 21).  She went out in the third round in the fourth grade words.  There were a number of kids that went to the sixth grade word list.

The boy next to her looks really worried.

We rode the frontrunner train.

The girls did earn back all their coins so it was Classic for us on Friday.  It was 3 1/2 hours of fun for them and 3 1/2 hours of boredom/exhaustion for mom (I just wanted a nap while there).  They did everything but laser tag.  We even had meltdowns when I wouldn't buy anymore tokens for the arcade than what was given in the admission price.

Monday night Kelsey took us to Scales and Tails for our FHE.  It was so cold that night that we were the only people there so the kids didn't have to fight or wait for a chance to feed alligators and other reptiles.  They were a little shocked to see the reptiles were fed dead rats but they got over it.  They even fed the turtles all the carrots the turtles could get.  Kelsey held her snakes.  I think Macy even held a snake.  They all held the baby turtles.  I think they all had a good time.

Macy feeding Darth Gator

Braden feeding TNT

Kelsey feeding Gatorade

Giving Myself a Pat on the Back

I must be the coolest mom. My kids may not agree because they see way too many flaws but that is their opinion.  My kids are off-track, which is a crazy way to handle large student populations.  It is also one I am trying to get used to and enjoy.  I am still not to the enjoyment part because my house and routine get all out of whack every couple of months instead one big long break in the summer.  Nothing gets done around the place.  Somehow I did manage to clean up Christmas but it has been downhill since then.

I veered way off track so let me come back to why I am awesome.

I found this self portrait of Macy when downloading the other pictures.

So Macy isn't the reason why I was so awesome last week but the picture was too funny not to post.

I took the kids on several outings last week and we found some great places.  The first stop was the Gale Center. It had a little museum that completely trumped the Discovery Gateway's play area. First of all it was free and second of all no one was there so the kids didn't have to share anything with huge crowds of rowdy children. The museum gave the history of the South Jordan area.  It had a replica of one of the first homes, the old school house and one of the original stores.  All these exhibits were hands on and the kids could play house, school and pretend to shop.  They can't wait to go back.

 

 

 It also had an American Indian exhibit with a teepee and drum.

 There some other fun things to look at and a nice volunteer gives you a tour of the museum and tells you about everything.

Next it was off to the Sweet's Candy Factory.  This was a great tour with lots of candy.  Well worth the trip and the candy was delicious.

Sammi was the only one I could get a picture of with a hair net on. You couldn't take your cameras on the tour and everyone threw their hair nets away before I could get the camera back. But I can tell you we were all pretty hot.

One night we went back to the Gale Center because they have free art workshops. The night we went it was candy art.  The kids had fun and I had no mess to clean up or supplies to buy. We will be back another night.

 

To add to that excitement Brian took Macy and Kelsey to a University of Utah basketball game.  There were two games last week so each girl got to spend one on one time with her dad.  Braden's turn is coming up in a couple of weeks.

My coolness doesn't end there.  More fun will be coming this week and I am not counting the Costco trip we took today.