"LOVE FEST"...Day 9

Rich: I love that he makes me want to be a better person!

Alexa & Alex: I love that they get themselves up in the morning and to school without me having to even get out of bed, what great kids!!!

Max: He cracks me up, he says the funniest stuff sometimes. Pieper was at our house playing with Max and they were doing something and I hear Max say to her, "do you understand what I am telling you?" It was so funny the way he said it to her like he was an adult and she was a kid, even though she is older than he is!!

"LOVE FEST"...Day 8

Rich: I love that he will go to any movie with me...even "chick flicks."

Alexa: I love that even though she pretends she doesn't like me...I know that she does!!!

Alex: I love that he can spend hours and hours looking at and building roller coasters on the computer.

Max: I love the way he comes to my bed in the morning and snuggles me!!

"LOVE FEST"...Day 7

Rich: I love that he is such a great example to me and the kids.

Alexa: I love that she has started wearing my old clothes...I LOVED wearing my mom's clothes and I think it is fun to see her wearing things that I used to wear!!!

Alex: I love that he still likes me to come down to his room and tuck him in!!

Max: I love that even though he has fits and tantrums sometimes about going to bed...and I have to sometimes yell and get mad at him, he still wants me to snuggle with him!!!

Rich's DAY OF FUN!!!

As you know Rich has been living at the Duvall's house for the past 9 days...I thought he could use a "mini vacation."
I wish I had the money to take him on a real vacation, but since I don't I had to get creative!!!
We left the house and headed to Provo. Now you have to keep in mind that we are on a budget and that I was really trying to give him a relaxing day without spending too much money!!! We both got massages at Provo College. It was only $30 for both of us to have a 50 minute massage. I will not lie, it was not the best massage I have had (and it felt like I was in a hospital triage area) but it was relaxing and I got what I paid for!! Rich actually really enjoyed his and that is all that matters!! He was not happy about my snapping pictures of him all day but he was a pretty good sport!!!
We headed to the Orem Fitness Center to relax in the hot tub and the steam room. We stayed there for a while and it was fun to sit there and talk. We both got ready and I kept having memories of high school (having to get ready in the locker room after Hi-Lo practice). It is not fun getting ready in a locker room and needless to say it was a bad hair day for me!!!
We were both pretty hungry so I gave him a few options for lunch and he picked "Noodles and Company." We have never eaten there and we both really liked it!!! We ate and talked and it really did feel like we were on vacation a little!!
We decided to head to the mall to kill some time while waiting for a movie. We walked around the Orem mall for a few hours. We window shopped and ate chocolates from See's Candy. We ended up missing our show time so we stayed a little longer!!!
We ended up going to Wendy's for a lite dinner because we both were still pretty full from our lunch. We ate and talked some more. Then we went and bought tickets to "Dear John." We had about an hour to kill before the movie so we walked around the Provo Mall.
The movie was really good and I cried my eyes out!!! I love going to movies and I am so glad that Rich does too. He is willing to go to any movie with me and I love that about him!!!

 

We ended up getting home around 11pm. We spent 13 hours together just the two of us and it was WONDERFUL!!! Who says you have to spend alot of money to have a great time!!! We ended up spending under $60 all day!!! Now that is budgeting!!!

"LOVE FEST"...Day 6

Rich: I love that Rich is my best friend!!!

Alexa: I love that Alexa is so responsible, I never have to worry about her because she is such a good girl!!

Alex: I love that Alex loves to sing, he has the sweetest voice and I hope that he will continue to enjoy it and practice!!

Max: I love to snuggle Max!!!

"LOVE FEST"...Day 5

Rich: I love that Rich is a clean freak. I really don't think I have cleaned the bathrooms since I married Rich. He loves a clean house and sometimes goes a little overboard and moves stuff off the counters etc. and then I have no idea where things are...but he is very helpful around the house and I really appreciate it!!!

Alexa: Loves to re-arrange her room. She usually keeps a pretty clean room and loves to change it around.

Alex: I love that Alex is so smart. He is doing so well in school and has really good handwriting.

Max: I love the way he is learning new things everyday. He draws the cutest people (see previous post)and he writes his name all by himself (although most the time it is backwards or the letters are out of order). He is a smart kid!!

Welcome Home

Since Jeff and Steph are going to be home tomorrow, I thought it would be fun to make them a "welcome home" sign. They were gone for a long time and their kids really missed them!!! My mom used to always make us signs for stuff and I remember it always made me feel special.
Alexa was in charge of the "welcome home" part and then I told all the kids to draw a picture or write a note on the sign. Parker and Alex got a little carried away and the sign ended up being a little bit obnoxious...but that is fitting right, 8 kids for 9 nine days can become pretty crazy!!!
I got some balloons from the dollar store because, who doesn't love balloons?? The kids were really excited about the sign and Adriana didn't want me to hang it up yet because she wanted to be there when her mom and dad saw it. We convinced her that it would be better for it to be all hung up and ready when they walked in the door!!!
I just had to take a picture of Max's contribution...I love the way he draws people!!!
The week went really smoothly and we didn't have any major meltdowns or problems!! But I have to say I will be glad to have Rich back home, I HAVE MISSED HIM!!!

"LOVE FEST"...Day 4

Rich: I love that he likes taking me on dates. We try to go on one every week and he is the one always making sure we go!!!

Alexa: I love that she is such a great friend. She makes friends so easily and is so nice to everyone!!

Alex: I love how silly he is...he loves to laugh and be crazy and he has such a great imagination!

Max: I love when he plays with his toys and makes Rich do the voices of his "guys." It is so fun to listen to them being "Hulk and Spiderman" or whoever they are playing!!

Blue and Gold Banquet

For pack night this month it is the Blue and Gold Banquet. All the boys were asked to decorate a cake with their dads for a contest. The theme was "100 years of scouting." Alex told me the theme after I had already decided on a cake. I saw a picture of this cake on my friends blog (thanks Jami) and I thought it would be fun to re-create it for this event!!!
I made the cake and took it over to the Duvall's house so Alex and Rich could frost and decorate it. I should have just left the room because watching them frost the cake made me crazy and I stepped in a few times!!! We decided to incorporate the "100" part by putting 100 gumballs on the cake!!! I think it turned out really cute. I cropped Rich out of the picture because he didn't look that great and this was the only photo I got...Alex doesn't look that great either but he wouldn't cooperate so he is going to have to live with it!!!
Jennifer offered to take the 3 girls and Max so me, Rich, Alexa, Alex, Harrison and Parker went. Dinner was good we had pulled pork sandwiches and carrots and potato chips. It went a little longer than I was expecting but it was fun. All the cakes got an award and Alex won "most colorful." It was a yummy cake and he had a fun time!!
We picked up the kids from Jennifer's and then it was bedtime. I stayed and helped Rich get the kids in bed. He took care of Madison and I read stories to Adriana and Pieper. They went to bed really good tonight!!! Rich and I watched the news and then I came home to take care of Alexa and Alex who were snoring away in their beds...what great kids!!!

"LOVE FEST"...Day 3

Rich: I love that he is such a great runner...I love running in races with him and I am so happy that we have common interests!!

Alexa: I love the way she has her own sense of style and can put together such unique outfits and wears what she wants with confidence!!

Alex: I love that he wants to learn how to cook and is always wanting to help me make dinner...he is going to score points with his wife for sure!!

Max: I love that he has so many cousins his age and loves playing with them. He and Pieper have been playing "Indiana Jones" all week. She calls him "Dr. Jones" and she is "his wife" it is the cutest!!!

"LOVE FEST"...Day 2

OK, so it is kinds weird to say I have a "crush" on my kids...but what do you do???


Rich: I love what a great dad you are, not only to our kids but to your nieces and nephews too. You are truly amazing!!!

Alexa: I love that you had to ask me who the "stuff in the basket" was for!!! You are such a DUH!!!

Alex: I love that you can make anyone laugh...and I love your laugh, it is contagious!!!

Max: I love that you love your dad SO MUCH that you don't even want to come home with me...it makes me a little sad but I am glad you love your dad so much!!

Let the "LOVE FEST" Begin...day 1

I got this idea from my sister in law and it sounded like fun so I am going to give it a try...
here's how it works: each morning when the kids get up they will find a note and a surprise!! I hope they enjoy their count down to Valentine's Day!!!

I thought it would be fun to include on my posts each day something that I love about each of them...

Rich: I love that he is such a great example. He has been going to the temple almost everyday since he has been unemployed, my testimony has grown so much through his example.

Alexa: I love that she is so responsible, she is a great student and she does her homework and assignments on her own without me constantly having to remind her.

Alex: I love his imagination. He is always wanting to experiment and try things, I am going to try harder to support his interests!

Max: I love that he always has a kiss for me!!!

"Go to HALE" 5K Race

When I saw an advertisement for this race I knew that we had to run it. It is called "Hale Freezes Over." They weren't kidding either...it was cold!!! I think it was about 24 degrees when we started running.
It was a great race though and I really enjoyed the course. The sun was out and that made it a little nicer!!! It was a fund raiser for the Hale Center Theater.
It was great that they let us in the theater after the race to warm up. I did really well and finished in just over 30 minutes. I am getting there, I want to do a 5k in 28 minutes so I have to keep training!!
Rich had a fantastic race and got 3rd place overall in the 5k. I really wanted him to finish in the top 3 because they had great prizes. He didn't think he could because he hasn't been training that hard and his ankle has been bothering him but...he did it!!! He finished in just under 20 minutes and got 3rd overall!!!
He got a really nice bronze medal that was engraved and the best part...season tickets to the Hale Center Theater!! I love going there to see plays and I am SO EXCITED that I get to benefit from his great skills at running!! He also got some passes to Thanksgiving Point and some free Yoga lessons!!! I am so proud of him!!!
My favorite part about the race was the running shirt we got...it says "Go to Hale" ha ha ha!! I think it's pretty funny!!!
We left the kids home under Alexa and Harrison's supervision. We brought them Krispy Kreme donuts for being such good kids while we were gone!!!

8 is MORE than ENOUGH

We have 8 kids for the next week!!! Rich agreed to watch the Duvall kids while Steph and Jeff go on a cruise! He is going to do most the work since I have to go to work and he is in for quite a week!!!
I took our kids over there after school, Rich made dinner and they did homework and stuff. Bedtime is a hard time at the Duvall house. It takes alot of trips to the bathroom and drinks of water etc. before everyone can settle in for the night. I am not sure what time they actually fell asleep but I think it is safe to say it was way after "bed time."
I took Alexa and Alex home to sleep so they could get to school in the morning but we will all sleep there this weekend.
I really admire people who have 5 kids or more...it is SO HARD!!!
Hopefully everyone will get along and we won't have any major problems...wish us luck!!!

Painter's Half Marathon

The race started at 9am and we were LATE!!! We were at the stop light waiting for it to change and saw all the runners starting the race. It took a few minutes for us to get parked and by the time we got to the starting line they had already turned off the clock!! The guy there told us to just go ahead and start and keep track of our own time. It was a little disappointing but it ended up being a great race!!!
The course was awesome, it was colder than I thought it would be but it didn't rain (like it was supposed to) so that was great!! It was fun running with Rich and Monica. Rich ran a little bit ahead of us to "pace" us and we ended up passing a lot of people!!!
It took us 2 hours and 17 minutes which is a PR for me. I haven't been training like I should, I have only run on the treadmill a couple of times so I was really happy with my time!! Rich's ankle was sore so he wasn't planning on running that fast anyway so it really worked out great because he pushed me and I ended up having a great race!! I ended up crossing the finish line first, then Monica and then Rich. Monica's knee was hurting her when we were done.
This was one of my favorite races so far! It was a great course, perfect weather, they had plenty of food and water at the end AND I got to run the whole time with Rich and Monica!!!