Easter '09

Fun times! The kids looked really cute this year. Even Meg coordinated with the boys' outfits, so I was a happy mom! We always do Easter baskets on Saturday instead of Sunday. It always works out, 'cause the kids are so excited and anxious anyway, and then we can attempt(notice the attempt!) to show them that Easter Sunday is really all about Jesus and his atonement. Plus if you have 9 am church that really helps. On Sunday evening we went up to Grandma and Grandpa's for an Easter dinner and hunt. It was a nice evening. We headed home and packed 'til about 3 am. Disney pics and an update should follow soon. Let's just say we didn't want it to end. I was in the park until about 12:20(AM!!!) on the last day(well all three days!)...and WHO are these trips for anyway? LOL! The beach was lovely too. Sigh...back to the real world.

Just call me Ty Pennington...

We are getting the kids up to surprise them in the morning. They have no idea they are headed out for a week in Cali to Disneyland and the beach! Tanner thinks he is going to play basketball and jump on the trampoline all week. I'm getting out my Ty Pennington megaphone and getting them into the car in the morning. Hope everyone had a Happy Easter! I will post more Easter pictures and trip pictures later on.

Captain Who?

Is this what kind of a book it takes to encourage my son to crave reading? Yesterday, Brandon even caught him reading outside...yes, outside! That's where he usually can be seen playing sports almost everyday...mostly hoops right now. Today, he even took one to school. If it takes a book about underpants then so be it! Whatever it takes! ;)

Happiest Savings on Earth

The kids have been very eager to do jobs for me. I usually give them .50 each time they do something for me...i.e. help me clean a room, play with Gavin etc. They have no idea we have bought our tickets and are planning a trip. I just told them we need to start saving so they could have some money to spend at Disneyland...someday! We plan to get them up on the morning of with the car packed and say, "Get in!" I hope we can pull it off! Shhhhhh...don't tell!
P.S. I always think of this:
"Deep Thought" by Jack Handey(SNL)
click here
when I think of us surprising them! Enjoy!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

 

No pinching around here! Yesterday, Megan said to Tanner and I that her favorite holiday was St. Patrick's Day. Um...silence...crickets...Tanner had the, "What the?" look on his face. But Megan's favorite color is green(mine is too), so in a way it really IS one of her favorites. Probably not THE fave. I'm mean I just don't think the "wearin' o' the green" for a day can beat Santa, the Easter Bunny or trick-or-treating, but it's fun! Especially when the weather is to die for!

Draper Temple

Guess what we did today?
It was absolutely gorgeous. I found it interesting that the granite came from...China! No, not our little ole' mountains here, but China! It is so pretty though. I loved the color scheme and the style and the murals on the walls. Seriously gorgeous!

We were originally going to leave Gavin at home with my Mom(Munga) but she wanted to come too, so we all went!
Okay, not my favorite picture of me, but I thought it was so cute of Gavin. Brandon didn't get in any pictures. Usually it is me that doesn't. By the time we were done, and got some cookies, we had forgotten to take a group picture. Oops!
There were some wait times which were a bit hard with kids, but all in all a good experience. Tanner said, "I felt the spirit there, Mom." That made the trip worth it.
Brandon's favorite part: Murals on the walls, and stained glass windows
Jen's favorite part: Murals on the walls, and the granite
Tan's favorite part: Baptistry
Meg's favorite part: Celestial room with the chandelier
Zach's favorite part: The cookies after!
Gavin's favorite part: The bus ride...he sang Wheels on the Bus all the way to the temple.

BYU/UTAH Hoops

Tag of 8

I don't do these tags much or really never! They can be rather time consuming! But I decided to do it because I was officially tagged by cute Molly, and I think it's fun for the kids to read. What the heck, it's fun too! I won't tag anyone although feel free to do it if you so choose! Does anyone read this anymore with FB becoming so popular?
he he he
8 Favorite TV shows:
1. American Idol
2. Dancing with the Stars
3. John and Kate Plus 8 (Some may think Kate is a bit harsh but I think she is amazing, so organized and just real!)
4. Little People, Big World (Who doesn't love the amazing Amy Roloff?)
5. Burn Notice
6. The Office
7. Extreme Makeover, Home Edition
8. Food Network shows…Throwdown, Good Eats, Iron Chef

8 things I did yesterday:
(This won’t be too exciting. I was really sick yesterday!)
1.Helped get the kids off to school-sort of. Brandon went in late to help me. Phew!
2.Took a nap-basically dying on the bed!
3.Went to the Dr. (Anyone heard of “It’s just a virus!” Ug!)
4.Watched the clock for Brandon to come home…tick, tock…tick, tock…
5.Ate dinner.
6.Watched The Bachelor finale. Didn’t watch the entire season…just the finale.
7.Read to/with the kids.
8.Said prayers with Tanner.


8 favorite restaurants:
1. Brick Oven
2. Macaroni Grill
3. Bajio
4. El Azteca (you can’t find better Mexican through a drive-thru!)
5. The Italian Place
6. Chili's
7.Los Hermanos (This never used to be my fave place, but it has really grown on me, and my kids love it!)
8.Chick-fil-A. Yup Chick-fil-A. We never go there because for one there isn’t one close by with a drive-thru, and secondly they fry all their food in peanut oil (two of my kids are allergic) so when I eat it, it’s a real treat!

8 Things I'm looking forward to:
1.The next time I can take the kids to D-Land…they are dying to go again, asking everyday…and let’s face it, ME TOO! Hopefully for sure this year!
2. A.I. tonight
3. Summer!
4. Going back to Hawaii someday…I love that place.
5. Going to New York City. I‘ve been to the Statue of Liberty, and all over this great country, but would like to go into the city, shop and see a show or two.
6. Megan’s dance performance in May. She is adorable, a great little dancer and loves it!
7. Although I’m not one to wish time away, I will say this has been a rough year with the twins coming home at noon for the entire rest of the day! They play…and then fight….and then play…and then fight! Let’s hear it for 1st grade!
8.The Daylight Savings “spring forward”. I love daylight in the evening until way after 9:00! That’s the best!


8 things on my wish list:
(this is strictly a temporal list!)
1. One of those fancy schmancy front loading washer/ dryer sets.
2. A laundry room to use them in that isn’t in the basement of a 5 level home. To say it’s been a thorn in my side would be an understatement!
3. A new van or SUV with a DVD player. We’ve never had one in our van.
4. A big ole’ fancy wide flat screen TV.
5. A nice matching bedroom set.
6. A big garden jetted bathtub.
7. A nice home office.
8. A time-share condo type of a thing where we could travel more and stay in fun places.
A girl can dream!

Scout Newbies

Tanner and I are Scout newbies! I have been completely clueless about Scouting my entire life up until one month ago when I made my first trip to the Scouting office to get him outfitted! He has wanted to be a Cub Scout for a long time, and he had his first Blue and Gold Banquet last night where he received his Bobcat. He also made a cake(the theme was Scouts and/or America). His was a tent with a little campfire. That's a Cub Scout symbol and American flag on top. He got the "Most Outdoorsy Cake" award. We'll take it! :)

Tanner getting "branded" with a cornstarch W!

He pulled the string and...POP!

Tanner has had this tooth loose for...well...FOREVER! Let's just say I was hoping it would come out before Christmas so we could sing...yup...you guessed it..."All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth". It came to the point tonight where we could almost turn it sideways and we knew we couldn't send him to school with such a snaggle-tooth! After trying to coax him into different ways to try to get it out and a few tears, we did the ever famous string around the tooth and voila! Tanner is giving the credit to Gavin since I was actually trying to give Gavin the string when the tooth popped out. Great job Gavin!