Utah Flash

Tonight we went to the Utah Flash Basketball game. Parker called me and asked me if we would take them because his parents are too lazy (his words, not mine). So me, Rich, Max, Alex, Alex's friend Ethan, Parker Harrison and their 2 friends all piled in the van and we headed to Orem.
As soon as we sat down the boys disappeared (to play basketball behind the bleachers) and we didn't see much of them during the game. So, Rich, Max and I watched the game. I enjoy these games, they are very fast paced and the quarters are a little shorter so it's perfect! Max had fun with his balloon clapper things. I love getting out of the house and doing something different!!

Weekend Visitors

This weekend we got some visitors!! YAY!! No one has come to visit since Halloween and I love having house guests. Friday night the Harris's came and an hour or so later the Summer's and Amberly showed up too! It was late by the time they all got here so we just sat around and chatted and caught up on what's been going on. Rich put himself to bed early, but we stayed up til about 2am.

Saturday Alexa had to work from 10-2pm so Jason and Steve dropped her off and the went to a "guy store" in Payson. I made German pancakes for breakfast. We got an early start because Harper and Nixon both woke up pretty early! Me, Amy, Melissa, Steve and Alex went to visit Alexa at work for a bit and then got Taco Bell for lunch and ate it at our house! We were trying to think of something to do, we played Nertz and ate treats and then just sat around talking about what we could do. With two little ones the choices are more limited and we could not really come up with anything that everyone could do. Finally The Summer's just couldn't take it anymore and they decided to leave. Later, we all went to the food court at the mall for dinner and rented The Skulls. We didn't start it til 12:30am (and we had to rip Rich out of bed so he would watch it with us). The plan was to just fall asleep during it and finish it after church but NO ONE fell asleep (not even Amy, which is a shock)!!!

We had Stake Conference at 10am and we were a little late but not too bad. After church we all just snacked on pigs in a blanket and lil' smokies in BBQ sauce. We played Scattegories and Apples to Apples (while Rich took a nap). Then we cooked up the pizza's and watched the Super Bowl. The Harris's left after half time.

We didn't really do anything fun, but it is always great to have family around and I miss them already!! Thanks for coming...and come again SOON!!

My pick...

I picked Alex. He has been complaining about school lunch lately but says he never has time to make lunch so...
I did it for him!! I made his favorite, peanut butter, butter. Yes, I know that sounds so gross but it's my dad's favorite and he got Alex hooked too! I think he should eat 2 everyday just to get some fat on his bones!!

I also snuck a note inside his lunch saying that I was going to check him out of school a little early for a surprise!!
I told him we could go to Yogurt Bliss or Artic Circle for a quick treat. He picked Artic Circle for a shake (which surprised me because he always begs me to take him to Yogurt Bliss). I guess he saw the surprise in my eyes and changed his mind. I told him that it didn't matter to me where he chose!
He got french vanilla with oreos and I got lemon custard (YUMMY)!! We had to rush a little since we had to pick Alexa up from school!

Now Alex gets to spread the love to someone!!!

Alexa Chose...

ME!! YAY, I woke up and Lenny was on the floor by my bed!! I can't wait to get spoiled today!!!

I got a text from Alexa saying "come pick me up so I can take you to lunch." Well, a girl after my own heart (I love when you can do something special for someone and also benefit from it too!! Oh my, that sounded really selfish but I am not taking it back because it is true)!!

I picked her up and then we went to Subway, her treat!! It was yummy (minus her pizza supreme Doritos...she was way excited to eat them but they were NOT GOOD)! I took her back to school and went back to work.

She also made me this lovely picture...she claims that she can only draw pickles!! What a funny girl.


Now it is my turn to put Lenny in someones room!!! Who to Choose, who to choose???

Yummy Cookies!!

My friend Chelsey posted a recipe for sugar cookies the other day on Facebook and I really wanted to try it out. I made the dough after work and then after dinner started cooking them (man, I am glad I took her advice and only made 1/2 batch or I would still be baking them now)!!
They turned out really delicious...Alex helped me frost for a little bit but then gave up because he said mine looked "professional" and he just couldn't compete so he was in charge of the sprinkles.
When you have that many cookies the best thing to do is SHARE THEM. So I plated some up and will make some deliveries tomorrow (the plan was to doorbell ditch them around the neighborhood last night but of course it was too late by the time they were all frosted)!

Rich's Pick...

ALEXA was the lucky one!!!

Rich bought her favorite candy bar and gum and wrote her a note!!



Now Alexa gets to decide who gets Lenny next!!!


P.S. It was 1 degree when I took Alexa to school this morning @ 7:30am. It warmed up to 10 degrees by the time I went to work!!!

Lenny the LOVEBUG

Just as we were all getting ready for family prayer I heard something at the door. No one else heard it but Alex went to see who it was and there was a box sitting on our porch.

We opened it up and this is what we found...
There was a note enclosed and here is what it said...

Hello Family,

I am Lenny the LOVEBUG and I have chosen your home for my new experiment. There is something special about me that will make you want to be extra nice to everyone, especially your family members!!

Here is how it works:
I want the oldest person in the family (mom’s and dad’s included) to start the fun. They will pick a member of the family, and make their day “extra” special. The sky is the limit but I will give you some ideas about what you can do! Leave me in their room so they will know that it is “their” special day!!

*Make them breakfast
*Write them a note or draw them a picture
*Help them with their chores
*Play a game with them
*Help them clean their room
*Write them a poem
*Buy them a special gift

Like I said, the sky is the limit. I know you will think of the perfect ideas!! I will spend all day with whoever is chosen and then it is that persons turn to pass me along to the next person of their choosing.

There are some days when I might bring you all a special surprise and make you all feel very special. And watch out because Valentine’s Day is my Birthday and I like to spoil everyone on my special day!!!

I hope that you will give me a nice home for the next 2 weeks, one that is filled up with love and kindness!!!

Love,
Lenny

P.S. If you are all really nice to me and each other, I might come back and visit every year for my Birthday!!!



Since Rich is the oldest...he gets to go first!! He gets to choose whoever he wants, I kept asking him who he was going to choose and he wouldn't tell me!!
I made him pose with "Lenny" and of course he made it harder than it needed to be and I warned him that the picture was going up (even if it was terrible, which it's not)!!

I can't wait to see if Lenny really does have "magical" powers and if our home will be more loving for the next few weeks!! I will keep you posted!!!

"Summer in Winter" Photo Shoot

Yesterday Alexa's friend Caitlyn took some pictures of her, Josie and Paige.

It's funny beacuase at first glance I would think they were at a beach somewhere...but oh no, they are in beach attire standing in the snow!!!



This girl is very talented at photography and photoshop. Maybe she will have to do some family pictures for us!!

Aren't teenagers CRAZY??? Really, who does this???

Midway Ice Castles

We have been in kind of a "rut" when it comes to our weekly dates. Dinner and a movie, dinner and a movie and Target, dinner and a movie etc. You get the picture. I saw this on facebook a few weeks ago and it looked like the perfect way to get us out of our rut!!!

We went to Subway for dinner and then headed up to Midway. There is a man that "grows" these ice castles at the park and they were amazing. The pictures don't quite do it justice and if you get a chance I would recommend taking the quick drive up there and checking it out for yourself. In fact, I think the kids would have really enjoyed it too so that would be a great family night activity! If you want more info go here.

I ended up taking like 70 pictures because I was so amazed at the creations and the different ways ice could form, am I a nerd??
It was FREEZING cold, Rich borrowed a pair of earmuffs (yes they had gloves, earmuffs, ski poles and even sold hot chocolate and homemade cinnamon rolls). We walked around until our toes were frozen.

 

 

It took a long time in the warm car before we were finally able to warm back up. We looked for somewhere in Heber to get some hot chocolate and maybe some dessert but couldn't find anything.

We ended up back in Orem at The Chocolate.
If you haven't tried it GO!!! It was yummy and a fun atmosphere. We were lucky to get a table, it was packed. We shared a cazookie and mint hot chocolate. We stayed and talked for a while and really had a great time!
I felt kind of guilty because Alexa has mentioned that she wanted to go there. I bought some sugar cookies to take home to the kids (they were honestly THE BEST sugar cookies I have EVER tasted)!!! We will be back for sure!!!

My Funny Max

It has been a wile since I posted Max's funnies.
The other day we were driving somewhere in the car and the song "Jar of Hearts" came on. You know the one, "who do you think are, running 'round leaving scars, collecting you jar of hearts, tearing love apart..." anyway the conversation went like this:

Max: "mom, will you change the song?"
Me: "why, you don't like it?"
Max: "well I do, but it makes me sad."
Me: "what?"
Max: "well, Mom, it IS a pretty sad song!"

I don't know why but I thought it was so funny. Last night Rich and I were driving home and I was telling him the story and he was like: "who told him it was sad?" I am pretty sure no one had said anything to him about it but as I listened to the song, it is a pretty sad song. What a perceptive 4 year old!!

Max got into the habit of sleeping on our floor during Christmas break. He would start downstairs on the couch with Alex but he always ended up in our room. It has been hard to get him sleeping in his bed again.
I have to be honest...I haven't tried too hard because he never wets himself during the night when he sleeps on our floor and I am pretty sick and tired of washing his sheets. I threatened to buy him pull-ups again and he got really mad and said he wouldn't wear them. Hopefully this is something he will grow out of soon.

A few weeks ago Max had a stuffy nose. He said to me, "mom, my nose is wrong." And I didn't really understand what he was talking about. I asked him what he was talking about and he said, "this nose (pointing to the left nostril) won't breath." For the next few days when he would wake up he would tell me again that his nose was wrong. Finally one morning he came running in my room and said, "mom, my nose isn't wrong anymore!"

15 Weeks

I have had 3 babies and have never journaled about any of the pregnancies or taken pictures to document the experience. Since this is my last baby (I hope), I thought it would be a good idea to make some memories. Now as you know, Rich is not the best cameraman and Alexa just gets impatient with me so these are self portraits. I did the best I could!!

 

I am feeling more like myself the past week or so, that is good news! I can't really remember feeling to bad with any of my other pregnancies but the first part of this one kicked my butt!! I can't complain too much because the record still stands (the last time I threw up was 6th grade). I just really hate being pregnant, I hate to sound like a brat and a complainer but there is really nothing about the experience that I even remotely enjoy. It is cool to feel the first movements of the baby but after that it is just plain annoying! I am being honest here so don't judge me. My oldest sister LOVES being pregnant and I have not been able to figure out why. I am going to try my hardest this time around to find the "joy" in this experience.
I have been trying to figure out why it's been so different this time around, maybe it's because I am so much older now (34) or I am not as tough as I used to be...who knows?? I have always felt really tired the first trimester but this is ridiculous! I was dizzy and had headaches and just felt like I was living in someone else's body. Sometimes I had 2 naps in one day!!
Hopefully it's all uphill from here. I go back to the Dr the first part of February. I am sure there won't be much to report, he will listen to the heartbeat, I will pee on a stick and get weighed (and NO I will not be journaling about that)!!
Why can't it be JULY YET???

Pinewood Derby

This is Alex's last Pinewood Derby. He worked really hard on his car this year and was really hoping to win a trophy. He got 3rd place last year and was really wanting 1st or 2nd.

His scout leader brought his saw to scouts to help the boys cut out their cars, which was really nice because we don't have a saw. Rich and Alex sanded it down and got it all painted.
Here he is with his car "heavy metal." Each car gets to race 4 times and then they average your time to pick the top 3.
Alex's fastest time was 191.8. There were a few cars that went 194 to 197 so I knew he wasn't going to win. He ended up in 6th place but considering there were 31 cars that is pretty dang awesome!!! He was disappointed but that is just part of life, you win some you loose some!! I am proud of him for being a good sport because that is what matters the most!

Art Work

When I was taking pictures of Alexa's art on the fridge, I figured I might as well show you Alex's too!!
Alex loves drawing and creating. He is very good at art and very creative! He drew me these pictures the other night while Rich and I were on our date. He is a very thoughtful child and I know he will do great things in the future!

Who's Kid Is She??

I hate to admit this but I did not get the best grades in school. I probably could have if I would have cared enough to try harder. I wonder sometimes if Alexa is really my child, she is nothing like me (in all the good ways).
I am so proud of her ability to do well in school. She is really the best daughter one could wish for.
When I checked her grades the last day of the term there was a B+ and I texted her to see if that was really her grade. She said it was and I was sort of disappointed that she was going to get her FIRST B. She has never had a B on a report card. She got kind of mad at me and told me that a B was still good. I said if that was really her best then it was, but I know that it isn't. Well, obviously the teacher didn't upgrade the results until the last minute because I got a great surprise when she showed me her grades and they were all A's!!
On a side note, here is what the art work of a straight A student looks like!!! Yes, she is in 9th grade and she is OBSESSED with pickles. We ran out a few days ago and I have not bought any more and I think she is going through withdrawals (at least that is my explanation for the weird picture)!!!

5th Grade Science Fair

This morning Max and I went to the school to Alex's Science Fair.
His project was the reaction baking soda has in vinegar...it bubbles and foams. It wasn't much of a project, he did the experiment last weekend and I took pictures of him doing it. Then I had to go to Macey's to get them printed and then I had to type up his stuff (our printer is not working) so I feel like I did most the work!! I did make him glue all the stuff on the poster!!

5th grade is hard work for a mom!!!