The Best Gift

This little note was laying on Brandon's bedside table for a couple of weeks. I saw it several times, but respected that it was private, and so I didn't peek, even though I was so tempted.

After my birthday, the note wasn't so private any more and I was priveleged to see it. My 40 year old heart melted.


For weeks he had been planning my present. He wrote out and illustrated exactly how he was going to accomplish it.

He was so excited to give it to me when I got home from my trip. It was carefully wrapped and gently handed to me. I have worn it proudly several times.

It was by far, one of my best presents of all time, from one of the best boys

a mother could ask for!

Thanks Brandon, I love you!

An Old Lady

My birthday was wonderful, despite that fact that I turned the big 4-0!

I celebrated early with a wonderful lunch at the Blue Lemon Bistro with a group of amazing ladies and true friends who inspire me every day.
And then my wonderful husband, despite his very hectic work schedule, whisked me away to my beloved Monterey, where I spent my actual birthday. Roses were waiting at the hotel for me as was a spectacular view and gourmet chocolate covered strawberries.
What more could a 40 year old lady want?

We ate out 3 meals a day, (except for one morning where we enjoyed room service breakfast in bed). The restaurants were so great with delicious food and fantastic ocean views. During my birthday dinner we actually watched otters swimming around and eating their dinner right below us.

We spent our days going to the world famous Monterey Bay Aquarium, strolling down Historic Cannery Row, shopping in the beautiful and quaint Carmel by the Sea, driving along 17 mile drive, seeing and smelling all of the sea lions on Fisherman's Wharf and visiting all of the places that are so dear to my heart, my old house, my high school, my ward building and

good ole Denace the Menace Park.

He spoiled me.... a lot.

And I let him, because I needed it,

after all I am an old old lady,

who on her dreaded 40th birthday felt very very loved!

It's Official!

While we were driving one early morning, trying to log the 40 required hours to get a licence, we came upon a stop sign before a railroad track. Kara slowed down a little, but showed no signs of actually stopping. I yelled, "Kara, STOP!" She did stop abruptly, and then said, "Sorry, I thought that was an optional stop sign."

WHAT?! Um, excuse me,

THERE ARE NO OPTIONAL STOP SIGNS!

In spite of that little incident here we are....

...signing her life away, or as she claims, signing her way into the beginning of a new life!


It is official.
She has her licence.
She has new freedom.
She's ready to travel the world (or at least Utah County)
And I have a new intensity to my prayers every time she gets behind that wheel!


Wish us luck!

My Favorite Things-closet organziers

My kids closets can get so messy and cluttered-and I hate clutter! At an enrichment meeting someone mentioned these shoe holders to help with organization. I immediately thought of my boys room with their millions of bionicles and Lego creations. My problem was solved. I bought these organizers at Wal-mart for about $6-8. I bought one for every one of my kids rooms. I do not use the fasteners that come with them though because they will ruin the top of the closet. So I buy those hooks that you put on with the sticky strip that you can pull off when you want without tearing off the paint (I can't remember what they are called, but they come in a pack) I just measure those hooks up with the holes on the shoe organizer and up they go!
My boys actually have three of these hanging up in their rooms, one inside each closet door. They are filled with bionicles and Lego sets that they don't want to take apart. I love them for getting these toys off of the floor and dressers, and I also love that when I shut the closet the room can look pretty tidy (most of the time!)

In my girls room it just holds all of the little treasures that my girls collect. They hold microphones, pads of paper, barbies, costume jewelry, books, little notes, trinkets and all kinds of other stuff that doesn't really have a place, but thanks to these organizers now they do! They could also be used in the bathroom for headbands, flowers, bows etc and I have also seen them used inside a pantry door for gravy packets, small food items, pasta etc. These have been a lifesaver to me in my quest for a more clutter free home and are definitely some of my favorite things!

Why I couldn't get anything done!

"Mom, I haven't scored a goal in my whole life!" He may not have scored a goal, but Ethan had a great season and he came close many times. He was a great goalie, loved practices, and was just happy to be running around out in the cold!

Go Green Monsters!

This was Alyssa's very first year in soccer. I still think dance is more her thing, but you have never seen any soccer player more happy to be out on the field than Alyssa. She skipped, hopped, ran, kicked the ball a few times all with the biggest smile on her face. This kid truly finds joy in every thing she does.

Go Black Widows!

Bryson had a great season also, despite asking every week if he could skip practice and just go to the games. He was a huge asset to his team and even scored three goals in his last game. He is good at soccer and likes it, but I still think he would prefer to be home reading a book!

Go Green Dragons!

This was Brandon's last season with his competitive team in this division. It has been a great experience. He was the leading scorer. You gotta love that left foot, which he can kick (and score) with as well as his right. He is so fun to watch!

Go Warriors!

Brandon also made the Majors in baseball this year. It is his first year with the big boys and he is holding his own. He has even pitched a couple of innings and done great (even though I have a heart attack each time he pitches!) This boy hardly has any spare time with all of his games and practices.

Go Giants!

And that is why I couldn't get anything done this spring. I was at game after game after game. I am still amazed we survived. We only have about 6 more baseball games to go before the end of the Spring sport season, and because of the snack shack which keeps my kids busy, I think we're going to make it!

Tradition Tuesday-Last day of school sno-cone party

About 10 years ago I had a little sno-cone party for the 5 kids that were in our carpool on the last day of school. Since then it has snow-balled (literally) into a full blown tradition.

Every year on the last day of school we host the annual neighborhood sno-cone party. It is a fun party that everyone looks forward to. The whole neighborhood is invited (even if they aren't in school yet) and we have a great time.

We have a few sno-cone machines going and a whole lot of flavors to choose from. The kids usually eat 2-3 sno-cones each. All of the kids play and all of the moms visit and talk about our summer plans.

We made a CD of fun summer songs that we blast during the party and I also make the kids yell "NO MORE SCHOOL!" before I will hand them their sno-cone.

It's a great way to start off the summer with neighbors and friends and a little sugary syrup. It's our tradition to kick off the summer and celebrate the season. I'm looking forward to working that sno-cone magic again this Friday with a bunch of very excited kids.

Summer-Here We Come!

ALL YOU NEED IS....

FANCY (but cheap) DECORATIONS

A FEW GAMES (just dance)


(guitar hero)

FOOD

(nachos with all the fixings and a ton of soda and treats)

A FEW MORE PARKING SPACES

FREE THROWS!

FORTY FRIENDS!


FIRE PIT!

FLASHBACK SLIDE SHOW

And a FABULOUS GIRL...

For a successful sweet sixteen party!

Book it!

It is an understatement to say that Ashlyn loves books. She loves loves loves books! She can literally sit and look at books for hours at a time....and she does, almost every day. So, when I was trying to decide what type of birthday party to have for her, I knew it had to involve books. And so I threw together this little book party that actually turned out pretty cute. And it only cost me about $10-15! You can't beat that!

When the kids arrived I gave them each an empty goody bag that they put stickers on. I explained to them that this was a book party because Ashlyn loved books and that we would be reading a lot of books. I then told them that for each book we read they would get a little surprise to go in their goody bags that would remind them of the book we read.

We went from room to room reading books and getting goodies. These were the books and their goodies:

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble-a special shiny rock

(from the dollar store)

The Crayon Box that Talked-a box of crayons

Who Stole the Cookie From The Cookie Jar-a package of cookies

Ten Apples Up on Top-an apple (we also had to try to balance the apples ourselves)

Jellybean Adventure-a bag of jellybeans

And we finished up with Pinkalicious where we got to eat very pink cupcakes with pink ice cream. In the middle of reading books we also had a little book hunt where I had my boys hide all of Ashlyn's little board books in the basement. The kids had to run around and collect all of the books and put them back in the basket.

It was so simple, but they all seemed to enjoy it. As a parting gift they also received a little book from Ashlyn to complete their goody bags. And of coarse, they all lived happily ever after!

Tradition Tuesday-Sunday Night Manner Lesson

When Trevor and I were house hunting we had some specific things we knew we wanted. One thing we wanted was to find a home with a dining room. It took us 2 years to find the right home for us, one with everything we wanted, including a dining room.

We have lived in this home for over 6 years now and have had almost every Sunday dinner in our dining room. It is a special occasion. We get out the fancy dishes, cloth napkins, goblets and candles. We go around the table and talk about what we learned in church. And then we go over manners.

Our goal is to teach our kids good table manners. Our hope is that by going over and over and over these manners our kids, especially the boys, will really learn and will be able to demonstrate these manners on their missions. (And the way things are going, it could possibly take 19 years to teach them) They are hopefully learning how to pass food, what is appropriate conversation, where to put their napkins, how to show respect for the hostess, how to be excused, gratitude, and how to eat all kinds of food, even if they don't like it.

How is it going? Most Sundays, not well. Often we wonder why we are even doing this. Is anything sinking in? But every once in a while we will get a glimpse of some manners that have become second nature to them and that gives us the will to keep going.

Now watch, they will all go on missions where they squat around a grass mat to eat bugs and roots with their hands. Oh well!

It's NOT Potty Time!

We had the Princess and Minnie Mouse undies!

We had the treats, incentives and rewards!

We even had a singing potty!

(A luxury none of my other kids had)

What we didn't have was the cooperation of this girl with attitude!

So our potty day was a complete failure. We tried to say how awful it would be to peep on Aurora or Belle-didn't work, they got peed on. We tried to bribe with candy and yummy drinks-didn't work, and by 3 in the afternoon all of those treats were gone thanks to the older kids.

And that fancy potty, well he never got to sing even one song!

How SWEET it is!

When did this happen? When did this beautiful brown eyed baby.....

... grow up into an even more beautiful brown eyed 16 year old?

Sixteen words that describe Kara as she turns the oh so sweet 16:

Confident, Mature, Talented, Creative, Artistic, Beautiful, Modest, Happy, Outgoing, Talkative, Nurturing, Night Owl, Smart, Charming, Flirty, Ready to be 16!

I don't know if we (mom and dad) are ready for the boys with flowers and cards and 3 dates already lined up for this week.

("Mom, I didn't even know you could go on a date on a weeknight!")

(And we are definitely not ready for this!)

The last 16 years have been delightful and have gone by too fast. It has been an honor to have this wonderful young lady as our daughter. She constantly amazes me with her talents and choices. I can't wait to see what this year holds!

Watch out World--Here She Comes!

Happy Golden Birthday Kara. We love you so much!

Tradition Tuesday-Easter Sunday

About 8 years ago we adopted a new tradition for Easter Sunday. I had always struggled with the Easter Bunny, the big hunt and all the candy being the focus of the day for my kids. So we switched things all up and moved these aspects of Easter to the Saturday before and named that day "Bunny Day." ( I was not ready to give these fun traditions up altogether.) Having these things on Saturday has been great for our family. It is less stressful, fun and exciting and a whole lot of candy gets eaten by us all.


But the tradition I want to document is what we now do on Easter Sunday. When the kids wake up in the morning there is a white basket sitting on the table with a gift inside it. The gift is from us, mom and dad, and it is always something that will help the children think about or remember Jesus. This year it was a beautifully illustrated book about Easter and Christ, and bookmarks for the kids each with a different picture of Christ on it for their scriptures. In past years it has been a church produced video about Christ or framed pictures of the temple for each of their rooms, or other books. We will then read the book and books they have gotten on previous years and have a great discussion about the true meaning of Easter. It has been nice and has helped us feel closer as a family, to share our testimonies and to truly celebrate the great Easter season.

The Funniest Day

Last month Ethan had his very anticipated Kindergarten check-up. Our pediatricians office has what they call kindergarten days, where they try to make it fun. They have a certificate with stickers, they serve cookies and milk, they take pictures and the kids seem to enjoy it (at least most of it) In the morning before the check-up I told Ethan about the urine test. His response was "This is the funniest day of my life, because I have to pee in a cup!" And pee in a cup he did-it was very exciting!


It wasn't too fun for him during the finger poke and 5 shots, but he was very brave and didn't even cry. Dr Arnold asked Ethan alot of questions throughout the exam. One was, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Ethan, without hesitation, said, "I'm going to be in a band!" (I had no idea) When asked what instrument he would play, he quickly replied, "The drums!"

At one point the doctor asked Ethan, "If you could have anything you wanted for dinner tonight what would it be?" Ethan thought for a second and replied, "Cake!" "anything else?" the Dr. asked. "And Ice Cream!" Dr. Arnold said, "Well, that sounds good for dessert, but what would you have for dinner?" Ethan thought again and said, "I guess I'd have meat." (I'm not sure what the purpose of this question was other than to see if I was a good mom who fed her kids nutritious meals, um I think I failed.)

The Dr. also talked to Ethan about what he liked to do outside. When they started talking about riding bikes, the Dr asked Ethan what he wore on his head when he rode his bike. Ethan replied, "Nothing!" Dr. Arnold told him he needed to wear a helmet to which Ethan said "I don't need one because I am really good at riding my bike, I don't fall!" (Another mom test.....failed again!)

After all of the poking and prodding and extensive questioning Ethan was given a goody bag filled with cheap plastic prizes. He was thrilled and those toys made everything worth it. He was especially happy with the Captain America figure and the sticky lizard.

Yep, it was a pretty funny day because I have a pretty cute and funny kid, who is now totally ready for kindergarten and for his future life in a rock band, eating nothing but sweets, and driving to and from each of his concerts on a bike with his hair whipping in the wind because he just doesn't need a helmet:)