Saturday was about the hottest day we had all year and we celebrated by working out in the heat!! :P We had our fun first though.
In the morning GM and I went down the street to an open house of a new model home village they opened over the weekend in our neighborhood. They made a big deal out of it by having free food being cooked in many of the homes (by local restaurants), prize drawings, cupcake decorating, a few live bands, and free movie tickets to see WALL-E for the whole family. We had fun looking through the homes for a while (while our kids stayed home and played wii) then we picked up our kids, grabbed some lunch and went down to the theater to see the movie. We all loved it. BR can't stop laughing about WALL-E picking up the bra and covering his eyes with it and then making some exclamation. :)
After the movie we came home, and in honor of the hottest part of the day, we decided to weed our yard and work in our garage and the loft above it. (I think it was hotter in the loft than it was outside!! It felt like a sauna up there. :P) Despite the heat we were able to get all the weeds pulled, the loft organized and some things taken care of in the garage and loft. After that, GM took a little break and then went to the loft to clean his guns (he got most of them done but it's so stinkin' hot up there he almost passed out...in spite of the window air conditioner we put up there) while I did some organizing in the house. We really got a lot accomplished and I felt super (I love that sort of thing, minus the heat).
For dinner I decided to make breakfast and BR offered me his services. He's really turning into quite a good little cook! He made waffles and I made an omelet. (The other night he made spaghetti and spaghetti sauce from scratch with minimal help from me!! Sunday night he and I made fajitas together, but he helped tremendously, he ran the salad shooter himself until we both broke down in tears from the onions.)
Showing posts with label wii. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wii. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
Let The Vacations Begin
There seems to be lots of things to do in the summer time, and lots of fun to be had.
My kids and I have gone to the park the past few days. (We have so many amazing parks within walking distance of our house. One we went to tonight has built in skate boards attached to a curved rail and you hold onto some handrails to swing back and forth on the skate boards. Another one we went to tonight has some spinners that you stand in and they spin just by the physics of leaning slightly forward or backward...they go a bit too fast for me to like them, but BR loves them!!) :P MC and BR also played in a kiddie pool at my sister's house with her kids for a few hours today. They are just so excited about summer vacation....sleeping in, more wii, more fun activities (we're planning on doing "Fun Fridays" with cousins every week), more free time, and more vacations!! (Plus no homework! I think I'm about as excited about that as they are!!) :)
So the first vacation this summer was to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Denver for Memorial Day Weekend. Then the first week of June we went on my family's annual trip to East Canyon. (It's just a short 30/45 minute drive from SLC). We all wish we could be in NY with "Daddy" this week...but no such luck. :P The ones we are still looking forward to are the Family Reunion in Nauvoo and hopefully a camping trip to Moab. I plan to post vacation reports and pictures of all...now to catch up on blogging the ones that have already occurred....
My kids and I have gone to the park the past few days. (We have so many amazing parks within walking distance of our house. One we went to tonight has built in skate boards attached to a curved rail and you hold onto some handrails to swing back and forth on the skate boards. Another one we went to tonight has some spinners that you stand in and they spin just by the physics of leaning slightly forward or backward...they go a bit too fast for me to like them, but BR loves them!!) :P MC and BR also played in a kiddie pool at my sister's house with her kids for a few hours today. They are just so excited about summer vacation....sleeping in, more wii, more fun activities (we're planning on doing "Fun Fridays" with cousins every week), more free time, and more vacations!! (Plus no homework! I think I'm about as excited about that as they are!!) :)
So the first vacation this summer was to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Denver for Memorial Day Weekend. Then the first week of June we went on my family's annual trip to East Canyon. (It's just a short 30/45 minute drive from SLC). We all wish we could be in NY with "Daddy" this week...but no such luck. :P The ones we are still looking forward to are the Family Reunion in Nauvoo and hopefully a camping trip to Moab. I plan to post vacation reports and pictures of all...now to catch up on blogging the ones that have already occurred....
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Spring Break
Spring Break started last Thursday for my kids so we started out the weekend with a sleepover. (My sis and her husband had stake temple night so we paid them back some of our babysitting debt).
MC often plays under our countertop height kitchen table. This evening she and her cousin were playing under there but they got shy and ran upstairs anytime they felt anybody watching them. So I offered to make a fort out of the table and sheets so that they could play undisturbed. :P They were all over that idea. Well, just as I finished with their fort and start walking up the stairs, the boys, BR and his cousin, walked over, took one look at the girls' fort and said in unison, "No fair!!" They then came and asked me if they could have a fort too. Well...okay. :) (Forts were one of my favorite things when I was a kid....and apparently I'm still a sucker for them). :P
I started to build the boys a fort in the living room but it wasn't so easy (no pre-maid support structure like a table over which I can drape sheets). I went out to the loft to grab some string and more blankets and then started constructing. GM finished his homework shortly after I got the string so he came down and helped me. It ended up taking up our whole living room. (We had to include the TV in it so they could still watch their movie (The Seeker) and play the Wii. They wanted to sleep in the forts (all except my niece that's BR's age, she was happy to have a bedroom all to herself) :). They also wanted to stay up late playing the Wii. In the end MC went to sleep before anybody (probably around 11 or 11:30. She went to her table fort and fell fast asleep before anybody knew it. At this point, her little cousin decided she wanted to sleep in the big fort with the boys so she went and lay down in there waiting for them to get tired too. At 12:30 I called lights out so they all went to bed.
The next morning the house was quiet and peaceful till almost eleven o’clock!! MC woke up just before ten when my visiting teachers came. I chatted with them on the porch so the rest wouldn’t be disturbed. (I was shocked that they slept so late, usually when they have late sleepovers their back up again at the crack of dawn!)
The kids played in the forts all day and then we went over to dinner and a movie at my sister’s house. (We left her kids there this time) :P.
When we got home BR and MC asked if they could sleep in the forts again. We said they could with the condition that they help clean them all up in the morning. After a lazy morning of reading and playing in the forts, we finally cleaned them all up.
MC often plays under our countertop height kitchen table. This evening she and her cousin were playing under there but they got shy and ran upstairs anytime they felt anybody watching them. So I offered to make a fort out of the table and sheets so that they could play undisturbed. :P They were all over that idea. Well, just as I finished with their fort and start walking up the stairs, the boys, BR and his cousin, walked over, took one look at the girls' fort and said in unison, "No fair!!" They then came and asked me if they could have a fort too. Well...okay. :) (Forts were one of my favorite things when I was a kid....and apparently I'm still a sucker for them). :P
I started to build the boys a fort in the living room but it wasn't so easy (no pre-maid support structure like a table over which I can drape sheets). I went out to the loft to grab some string and more blankets and then started constructing. GM finished his homework shortly after I got the string so he came down and helped me. It ended up taking up our whole living room. (We had to include the TV in it so they could still watch their movie (The Seeker) and play the Wii. They wanted to sleep in the forts (all except my niece that's BR's age, she was happy to have a bedroom all to herself) :). They also wanted to stay up late playing the Wii. In the end MC went to sleep before anybody (probably around 11 or 11:30. She went to her table fort and fell fast asleep before anybody knew it. At this point, her little cousin decided she wanted to sleep in the big fort with the boys so she went and lay down in there waiting for them to get tired too. At 12:30 I called lights out so they all went to bed.
The next morning the house was quiet and peaceful till almost eleven o’clock!! MC woke up just before ten when my visiting teachers came. I chatted with them on the porch so the rest wouldn’t be disturbed. (I was shocked that they slept so late, usually when they have late sleepovers their back up again at the crack of dawn!)
The kids played in the forts all day and then we went over to dinner and a movie at my sister’s house. (We left her kids there this time) :P.
When we got home BR and MC asked if they could sleep in the forts again. We said they could with the condition that they help clean them all up in the morning. After a lazy morning of reading and playing in the forts, we finally cleaned them all up.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Home alone again
We left BR and MC home alone again today. We went to the world wide leadership training at the church (on strengthening families/parenting, I needed something after my performance as a mom yesterday!! :P) We decided to try a longer period of time (2 hours) since we were just going down the street to the church and we could come right home if need be. I was slightly anxious the whole time (don't know when we'll be completely used to the idea) but after the first hour it got worse and I asked ML to go call and check on them. They were fine and just playing the wii. About 15 minutes later they called us saying somebody is at the door and it's not a relative, but it's a man with a bag. Well we remind them of the strict instructions that they are not to open the door for ANYBODY unless the house is on fire and then they're to go to one of our trusted neighbors and make calls there. After this phone call I could hardly concentrate on the rest of the meeting. I got bits out of it, but the main thing I kept thinking was that our kids were home alone and there was a man with a "bag" (??) knocking on the door. (I can have quite the vivid imagination...after we got home and were assured our kids were safe I jokingly said to ML "That man with the bag could have stuffed our kids in it and carried them off!!", but it wasn't joke material until then.) :/
Once we were home, we found out it was the "water softener/purifier" guy that we'd scheduled to come at 3:00. He'd gotten confused and come an hour early.
Once we were home, we found out it was the "water softener/purifier" guy that we'd scheduled to come at 3:00. He'd gotten confused and come an hour early.
Is there an OPPOSITE to the mom of the year award??: Confessions of a poor, pitiful mom
I think I would get that after yesterday!!!
Yesterday, being Friday, I really needed a break and decided to just veg and do something completely non-productive and pointless. :) So after cleaning up a bit and then blogging for a while I decided to get out the wii and play a game that ML got for me a while ago. I've been thinking of this game lately and wanting to get it out because of all the talk about wii's and such. It's called "My Word Coach".
(A game that my kids (and probably my nephews) wouldn't look twice at, but since I love words and language so much, I get a kick out of it.) :) Anyway, so I start playing this game and then my phone alarm goes off to remind me that I need to go pick up my kids from school. Yes, I need an alarm to remind me to pick up my kids (most days I don't, but some days I get so distracted that I lose all track of time). Well, my kids are currently participating in an 8 week "Fun Friday" after school program where they stay until the normal let out time (Let out time: 3:15 pm. Pick up window: 3:15 to 3:30.) (MC chose dance and PE and BR chose Art and PE.) So when my alarm goes off I look at it, remember the later pick up time, shut off the alarm and resume playing the game. I played a little of everything but I got playing this tetrus-like game (but with a word twist) and got so engrossed that I lost all track of time :/ and when I suddenly came to my senses and looked at the clock it was 3:37!! I start panicking and frantically running through the house trying to gather my purse, shoes and coat and get out the door (worrying the whole time what's happened to my kids...it was so late I was sure they'd have called from the office wondering where I was...so I'm going through all the possible senarios (good and bad) in my head). Just before I scoot out the door I get a call from the office saying that my daughter is there wondering if I was picking her up or, tactfully trying to give me a plausible excuse, if I'd made other arrangements. I tell them that I'm on my way and how dreadfully sorry I am and that I'd lost track of time and how I'm off because I forgot to set a reminder for the unusual Friday pick-up time. I'm sure this lady is thinking "What kind of mom needs a reminder to pick up her poor kids!?!? Yeah, exactly!! My poor kids! Who forgets to pick up their kids?? Because they were playing a lousy game?! Like I say, I'm the prime candidate for the Non-mom of the year award. I wish I could chalk it up to being only a dream where I forgot about my kids, but then wake up and realize I'm not such a bad mom after all.
Yesterday, being Friday, I really needed a break and decided to just veg and do something completely non-productive and pointless. :) So after cleaning up a bit and then blogging for a while I decided to get out the wii and play a game that ML got for me a while ago. I've been thinking of this game lately and wanting to get it out because of all the talk about wii's and such. It's called "My Word Coach".
(A game that my kids (and probably my nephews) wouldn't look twice at, but since I love words and language so much, I get a kick out of it.) :) Anyway, so I start playing this game and then my phone alarm goes off to remind me that I need to go pick up my kids from school. Yes, I need an alarm to remind me to pick up my kids (most days I don't, but some days I get so distracted that I lose all track of time). Well, my kids are currently participating in an 8 week "Fun Friday" after school program where they stay until the normal let out time (Let out time: 3:15 pm. Pick up window: 3:15 to 3:30.) (MC chose dance and PE and BR chose Art and PE.) So when my alarm goes off I look at it, remember the later pick up time, shut off the alarm and resume playing the game. I played a little of everything but I got playing this tetrus-like game (but with a word twist) and got so engrossed that I lost all track of time :/ and when I suddenly came to my senses and looked at the clock it was 3:37!! I start panicking and frantically running through the house trying to gather my purse, shoes and coat and get out the door (worrying the whole time what's happened to my kids...it was so late I was sure they'd have called from the office wondering where I was...so I'm going through all the possible senarios (good and bad) in my head). Just before I scoot out the door I get a call from the office saying that my daughter is there wondering if I was picking her up or, tactfully trying to give me a plausible excuse, if I'd made other arrangements. I tell them that I'm on my way and how dreadfully sorry I am and that I'd lost track of time and how I'm off because I forgot to set a reminder for the unusual Friday pick-up time. I'm sure this lady is thinking "What kind of mom needs a reminder to pick up her poor kids!?!? Yeah, exactly!! My poor kids! Who forgets to pick up their kids?? Because they were playing a lousy game?! Like I say, I'm the prime candidate for the Non-mom of the year award. I wish I could chalk it up to being only a dream where I forgot about my kids, but then wake up and realize I'm not such a bad mom after all.
Monday, January 28, 2008
"I'm the boss grandpa"
So, for a few months now, we've been leaving BR and MC home alone for short periods of time(much like Wayne and Ashley) and they've done really well so far, but I still feel the need to rehash with them all the do's and don'ts so they'll be safe. And I've learned with BR that he takes things very specifically and doesn't have a great knack at generalizing everything yet. He'll follow instructions to the "T" as long as he feels like they apply to a situation, but doesn't really extrapolate how they fit in with any other circumstance. Because of this I try to think of every possible scenario that might arise so that he can know how to handle it. Well, I forgot one this past week. My MIL and I decided to leave the kids home for a few minutes while we ran to the post office and a store. We left the kids doing their chores and plans to play the wii afterward. (Which they did!! Once again I'm reminded that they don't posses any of my genes...discipline?? when parents are gone?? the FIRST thing I would have done was turn on the TV or wii (if we'd had those back then)!!) We reminded them not to open the door for anybody, what to do in case of emergency, etc. etc. and we even taught them a new one that I hadn't thought of before,(thanks to the inspiration of Wayne's blog) we made sure MC knew what to do and who to call in case BR was hurt. Well about 20 minutes after we leave MIL gets a call from FIL (or Grandpa). He's just gotten home and the first words out of BR's mouth are, "Grandpa, I'm in charge." Lol. I guess grandpa doesn't rank high enough to relieve him of his "authority". :)
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Back to Christmas 2007:
Warning: All the lists are not highly entertaining...mostly for journaling purposes, but pictures are always fun. :)
We started out the morning with opening our stockings:
MC’s:• a baby ballerina doll that MIL
got because it looked just like her
• scrapbook paper (cut into various smaller sheets/to make small pages)
• glue
• scrapbook kit (embellishments and paper)
• card making kit
• a paint your own mini tea set
• chapstick
• chocolate bar
• mini embosser
• mini stamp set with four color stamp pad
• lotion
• angel necklace
• mechanical pencils
• gel pens
BR’s:
• book on how to draw dc comics with markers, pencils, eraser
and drawing pages
• chocolate bar
• chapstick
• a paint your own race car night light
(it sounds too immature for him…but it was free when I got MC’s paint your own tea set…he liked it well enough) :P
• mechanical pencils
• gel pens
• wii steering wheel
ML’s:
• brass collar stays
• 1 pair smart wool socks
• chocolate bar
• chapstick
• drawing pencil set
• 2 DVD’s (Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3)
• tooth brush heads for his sonicare tooth brush
• massage lotion
Mine:• love spell lotion
• 2 other lotions (massage)
• chocolate bar
• Mac makeup
MIL’s:• coconut bar
• Mac makeup
• 2 pairs of Christmas socks
FIL’s:
• cashews
• mandarin oranges
• chocolate bar
• Benchmade knife sharpener
• Handkerchiefs
• I'm not sure what else...MIL and I kind of had fun finding random things and sticking them in. :P
Then we moved on to opening gifts. We start with one person (I can’t remember who it was this time) and then that person gets to pick the next gift from under the tree for the next person.
Family:
From IMITIMUINC: Wonderful
and soft knitted throw that everybody loves to cuddle up with
From my parents: A game called "LIEbrary" it's like balderdash except you have to make up the first line of real books and try to sound convincing all the while trying to determine which one is the real first line. (I got duped every time!!)
From "Santa":
• Portable DVD player
• Game called “Pop Belly”. You have to try NOT to pop the belly of various pigs as you fill them up with discs piggybank style.
MC:
From us:
• ½ a bike
• pants
From MIL and FIL:
• ballerina outfit
• create your own ballerina doll
From Grandpa and Grandma in AZ:
• the other ½ of the bike :P (in case anyone is like Amelia Bedelia and needs clarification: The bike was not really in 2 pieces, it was just from 2 parties.) ;)
• Christmas tree ornament
• some books
From my parents:
• Tinkerbell watch
• calendar
• CYO hoola hoop
BR:
From us:
• Mater National Championship wii game
• 2 lego sets
From MIL and FIL:
• 2 MORE lego sets :P
From Grandpa and Grandma in AZ:
• VTech game system
• some games for VTech
• books
• Christmas tree ornament
From my parents:
• Superman watch
• calendar
• noise making slime
• CYO character hat
ML:
From me:
• Patagonia long underwear (top and bottom)
• tie
• sweater and dress pants
• tracing paper
• 2 pair dress smart wool socks
From the kids:
• $50 megaplex gift card
From MIL and FIL (his parents):
• the latest and greatest titanium Leatherman
From my parents:
• calendar
• cruise/trip to the Mediterranean!! :P
Me:
From ML:
• new quilt for the new king size bed!! Yay
• king size sheet set (I got to open it early though because I got the bed on the 21st) :P
From MIL and FIL:
• blender
From my parents:
• calendar
• CRUISE!!
MIL:
From FIL:
• crystal Eiffel Tower
From us:
• red sweater
FIL:
From MIL:
• vehicle back up camera
• noise canceling headphones
From us:
• 5.11 tactical pants
• knee pads to go in tactical pants
After the melee of gift opening
was over MIL and I made a brunch and the kids and ML and FIL played Mater National Championship for several hours!!
(Breaking, of course, to eat!) After the brunch, MIL and I went up to her room and did ear candles in her ear that 
gives her troubles once in a while. It all went well until we set off the fire alarm. :P 
BR and FIL played more "Mater National Championship on the wii while MC and ML made MC's CYO Ballerina that she got from MIL and FIL (whew, is that enough acronyms for one sentence??!!?)
Then ML, my kids and I went over to my parent’s house, opened gifts and ate leftovers (we missed the main Christmas dinner). :P I and my kids also got to talk to my little brother on his mission in CT. ;)
We started out the morning with opening our stockings:
MC’s:• a baby ballerina doll that MIL
got because it looked just like her• scrapbook paper (cut into various smaller sheets/to make small pages)
• glue
• scrapbook kit (embellishments and paper)
• card making kit
• a paint your own mini tea set
• chapstick
• chocolate bar
• mini embosser
• mini stamp set with four color stamp pad
• lotion
• angel necklace
• mechanical pencils
• gel pens
BR’s:
• book on how to draw dc comics with markers, pencils, eraser
and drawing pages
• chocolate bar
• chapstick
• a paint your own race car night light
(it sounds too immature for him…but it was free when I got MC’s paint your own tea set…he liked it well enough) :P
• mechanical pencils
• gel pens
• wii steering wheel
ML’s:
• brass collar stays
• 1 pair smart wool socks
• chocolate bar
• chapstick
• drawing pencil set
• 2 DVD’s (Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3)
• tooth brush heads for his sonicare tooth brush
• massage lotion
Mine:• love spell lotion
• 2 other lotions (massage)
• chocolate bar
• Mac makeup
MIL’s:• coconut bar
• Mac makeup
• 2 pairs of Christmas socks
FIL’s:
• cashews
• mandarin oranges
• chocolate bar
• Benchmade knife sharpener
• Handkerchiefs
• I'm not sure what else...MIL and I kind of had fun finding random things and sticking them in. :P
Then we moved on to opening gifts. We start with one person (I can’t remember who it was this time) and then that person gets to pick the next gift from under the tree for the next person.
Family:
From IMITIMUINC: Wonderful
and soft knitted throw that everybody loves to cuddle up withFrom my parents: A game called "LIEbrary" it's like balderdash except you have to make up the first line of real books and try to sound convincing all the while trying to determine which one is the real first line. (I got duped every time!!)
From "Santa":
• Portable DVD player
• Game called “Pop Belly”. You have to try NOT to pop the belly of various pigs as you fill them up with discs piggybank style.
MC:
From us:
• ½ a bike
• pants
From MIL and FIL:• ballerina outfit
• create your own ballerina doll
From Grandpa and Grandma in AZ:
• the other ½ of the bike :P (in case anyone is like Amelia Bedelia and needs clarification: The bike was not really in 2 pieces, it was just from 2 parties.) ;)
• Christmas tree ornament
• some books
From my parents:
• Tinkerbell watch
• calendar
• CYO hoola hoop
BR:
From us:
• Mater National Championship wii game
• 2 lego sets
From MIL and FIL:
• 2 MORE lego sets :P
From Grandpa and Grandma in AZ:
• VTech game system
• some games for VTech
• books
• Christmas tree ornament
From my parents:
• Superman watch
• calendar
• noise making slime
• CYO character hat
ML:
From me:
• Patagonia long underwear (top and bottom)
• tie
• sweater and dress pants
• tracing paper
• 2 pair dress smart wool socks
From the kids:
• $50 megaplex gift card
From MIL and FIL (his parents):
• the latest and greatest titanium Leatherman
From my parents:
• calendar
• cruise/trip to the Mediterranean!! :P
Me:
From ML:
• new quilt for the new king size bed!! Yay • king size sheet set (I got to open it early though because I got the bed on the 21st) :P
From MIL and FIL:
• blender
From my parents:
• calendar
• CRUISE!!
MIL:
From FIL:
• crystal Eiffel Tower
From us:
• red sweater
FIL:
From MIL:
• vehicle back up camera
• noise canceling headphones
From us:
• 5.11 tactical pants
• knee pads to go in tactical pants
After the melee of gift opening
was over MIL and I made a brunch and the kids and ML and FIL played Mater National Championship for several hours!! 
(Breaking, of course, to eat!) After the brunch, MIL and I went up to her room and did ear candles in her ear that 
gives her troubles once in a while. It all went well until we set off the fire alarm. :P 
BR and FIL played more "Mater National Championship on the wii while MC and ML made MC's CYO Ballerina that she got from MIL and FIL (whew, is that enough acronyms for one sentence??!!?)
Then ML, my kids and I went over to my parent’s house, opened gifts and ate leftovers (we missed the main Christmas dinner). :P I and my kids also got to talk to my little brother on his mission in CT. ;)
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