As You Wish...The Results

So, here you have it! The results of our hard working MLK day at As You Wish. I was actually quite pleased with mine. I'm going to take it to school to show it off properly. :) Troy loved his (notice the blood on the front of the shark's mouth? Nice touch, babe). Cooper wasn't totally pleased with his (not surprisingly), but didn't complain too much. Surprisingly it was Carter who was unhappy with his because he didn't feel like he painted it well enough. I think it looks great! He's currently keeping change in its mouth. Brooklyn was thrilled with her poo-green colored flower. Yep, when you mix all the colors, that's what you get! It's the most beautiful flower ever! She's taking a nap with it right now...

On a totally unrelated note, I took Brooklyn to run errands with me this afternoon, and can we just say TRAUMATIC?? Ya, first we went to Sport's Authority to buy compasses for science camp. After I paid and was ready to leave she was NOWHERE to be found. Nowhere. I searched that store up and down, yelling her name, had her paged a couple times, had a worker helping me look. I finally panicked so much I called Troy to tell him I'd lost our child and could he come help me look, and that's when I found her...in the weights section in the very farthest corner of the store. Hiding from me. With a big smile on her face. Thinking this was cute, and funny, and a really great game. AAAAAHHHHHHH!!! I was NOT happy. Got my adrenaline pumping for sure. I gave her a good talking to and hugged her tight and spanked her bum, and then we headed off to our next store.

"I stay right by you right Mommy?" she says. "Yes you do. RIGHT by me. Hold my hand." Second store, success! We picked up our As You Wish items, and as we were leaving I saw the 90% clearance sale at Bath and Body and remembered that I HAD to stop there. I stock up every year at this amazing event. So, we stop. As soon as we walk in, what does Brooklyn do? She picks up a large candle and drops it, shattering glass all over the floor! YEP...she did. I'm embarrassed and offer to pay for it, blah blah. They tell me not to worry about it. I keep a much closer eye on Brooklyn. But at this point she is 1) tired, and 2) in heaven because it's all this yummy smelling girl stuff that she HAS to touch and smell! I keep telling her no. I grab her hand. She starts throwing fits. Lots of them. I finally decide, "trip over, let's pay." But the line? LONG, of course. I have to end up holding her (building muscles the whole time because of serious fit throwing and body clenching she's doing) while in line, the whole time listening to her scream and watching people watch me.

We finally make it to the line and to try and get her to shut the H up at this point I ask her if she wants to help hand the lotions to the lady. She of course does. But she basically just throws every single one at her. Luckily, everyone was nice, but I was very happy to get her out of there and back home for her nap. So that picture you see of her holding the flower? She's still ticked about having to go to bed and was STILL throwing fits. Which tells me she definitely needed the nap.

Moral of the story? DON'T take Brooklyn to stores with me EVER AGAIN!!! Or at least not if she hasn't napped...

Thank You, MLK!

So, I just want to publicly thank MLK for all he did for us. I realize he was a great man who helped bring about civil rights for all...but I really just want to thank him for giving us a holiday! :) Seriously, I so needed Monday off. I got through all my mail (piled to the ceiling) paid my bills, started laundry, straightened up the house, and got water and milk (which we were in desperate need of) all before 12:00.
After 12 we decided it was a family day, and doggone it, we wanted to spend it together doing something fun! We were going to try out the Wildlife World Zoo...but it's so far away and closes rather early, so by the time we were ready it was not an option. Then we thought we'd take the lightrail to Phoenix and check out the science museum. (They do have a Star Trek exhibit there right now. I mean, come on, how cool is that?? :) But, again, with the time--it wasn't going to be worth the money and effort. So...we searched through our coupon book and found: 50% off for up to 4 people at As You Wish!

We've been wanting to try this out for a while, because my brother Eric and his family swear by it. It's a bit pricey, so we thought it would be worth it since we had the coupon. Well, it turns out it was a BLAST! Everyone had a great time (including Troy, which is weird, cuz he usually only wants to go to dinner and a movie. Ever.) But, he really loved it.
Brooklyn painted a little flower. Well, she painted it all different colors and had a wonderful time. I'm not sure what it will look like when we get it back, but she was happy! Cooper and Carter both chose different fish, Troy chose a shark (which he embellished with "blood" all over the teeth. Nice.), and I chose a cup that I could use at school for pencils/scissors/etc.

The painting and being creative was really quite satisfying, I must say! I don't know that any of us will win awards for our artsy-ness, but who cares?? There was no fighting or arguing or complaining for a whole hour, and we left there feeling good about what we'd accomplished. We also left there a LOT lighter in the wallet, because that 50% off for up to 4 people? That's just on the time spent painting, not the pieces...so it still cost us $80! But it was worth it!
Just look at our faces: What fun! (Well, don't look too closely at mine. I look terrible and old, but whatever).





After our fun time at As You Wish, we went to the store to buy Cooper hiking boots for 5th grade science camp that's coming up in 2 weeks (Yep, I'm a teacher of 5th graders, and this year he gets to come with me!) We actually had to go to 3 different stores, and Troy was a great sport about it.

We then went to Mi Amigo's for dinner, which turned out to be delicious! I've never been there before, but I'm sure I will be going again. After dinner, though, was my very favorite part of the day. We went to the park by our house because Brooklyn had been begging all day. I thought we'd stop for a while and just push her on the swings and be done, but thankfully I was wrong.

First, TROY GOT ON THE SWINGS (yep, weird, huh??) and I pushed Brooklyn while the boys ran around. Then I got on the swings for a while. After that, somehow, we all started playing tag and it was SO MUCH FUN!! Troy was carrying Brooklyn around and we were all running around chasing each other, or running away from each other, having a blast! After a while, Brooklyn got down and was totally part of the action. I'd say we played tag for about 20 minutes or more. We laughed so hard, and really had the best time ever. I don't think we've ever done that before, but I can bet you we will be doing it again. (However, any of you who have had kids will know what I'm saying...be sure you go potty before running around and laughing with your kids...yep, motherhood has its sacrifices and it's blessings, for sure. The bladder issues? Not a blessing!) :)

The payoff? My boys were happy and helpful the rest of the night, and when my sister Allyson asked them about Monday Carter said: "Monday? That was probably the best day of my life!" And he meant it. Isn't it crazy? Just a little together time goes such a long way. I love my kids, and right now...I love Martin Luther King, Jr. for bringing us closer to each other. Thanks MLK!

Our Family Pictures

Well, here is just a sampling of our recent family photo shoot. Click on it to see the pictures better. Can you help me decide which pictures are the best to have printed? I need to know which family picture to choose. (We have 134 pictures to choose from...I just posted a few of my favorites). I know some of you saw this in our "New Year's" card, but those were really small pictures. Hopefully you can see these better.

Family Fun Bowling Night

So the other night I wanted to go out and do something fun because I had such a busy day ahead of me, and I needed something to look forward to. I asked Troy if he wanted to go out, and then I called my brother to see if they wanted to join us. He told me they were going bowling with Dixie and her family, so we decided we'd tag along with them. It was so much fun!

This was Brooklyn's first bowling experience, and they had a really cool thingy that the little kids could roll the ball down so that it would go straight down the lanes and hit the pins. They also had the bumpers up so there were no "gutter balls."

It turned out to be a very fun evening! Troy won and Brooklyn (due to that contraption...or pure beginner's luck) took second, I got 3rd, Cooper got 4th, and Carter came in last...but really, we all stunk it up! :) Troy did OK, but I didn't get even one strike, and only one spare...and usually I do much better than that!

All in all I think this was better than a movie, and it was fun to have the kids with us for an evening out.

(If you click on the collage you can see the pictures bigger-cuz I know you want to!) :)

HYSTERICAL!

A friend of mine just emailed this to me, and I thought it was too funny not to share. Hope you get a good laugh! (Actually, I have another one that I'm going to borrow from another friends blog to share here, too. It's teacher humor, but I think it's funny for all.  Am I wrong?)

(It says: When I grow up, I want to be like my Mommy!)

(Here's the reply the teacher received the following day)

 

Dear Mrs. Jones,

I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer. 

I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit.  I told her we sold out every single shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and that several people were fighting over who would get it.    Her picture doesn't show me dancing around a pole.  It's supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Home Depot.

From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in.

Sincerely,

Mrs.  Smith

You gotta love kids and their amazing spelling!

I was tagged!

I was awarder the "I love your blog" by my friend Kimberley Smith (who taught Carter 1st grade--one of the best ever!) But with the award goes a tag, so, here goes:

1. Where is your phone? next to me on the table

2. Where is your significant other? driving home from work

3 .Your hair color? auburn

4. Your Mother? amazing and BUSY

5. Your Father? faithful and WISE

6. Your favorite thing? Family

7. Your dream last night? Dream? That would mean I actually sleep...

8. Your goal? Stay-at-home-mom in a nicer/bigger house

9. The room you're in? Kitchen

10. Your hobby? Reading

11. Your fear? Something happening to my family 

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? In Arizona in that nice/big house... 

13. Where were you last night? The gym, swimming

14. What you're not? a good homemaker

15. One of your wish-list items? A house in an actual neighborhood

16. Where you grew up? Mesa, AZ

17. The last thing you ate? cookie dough....I know...but it was GOOD!

18. What are you wearing? jeans and a long sleeved shirt

19. Your TV? on while Brooklyn watched "Little Mermaid 2"

20. Your pet? 2 dogs (want them??)

21. Your computer? Toshiba laptop

22. Your mood? content

23. Missing someone? not really

24. Your car? Honda Odyssey

25. Something you're not wearing? jewelry (which is weird)

26. Favorite store? The Red Dot Boutique (Target)

27. Your Summer? GREER!!

28. Love someone? Family

29. Your favorite color? Green

30. When was the last time you laughed? Today

31. Last time you cried? Tuesday, while watching The Biggest Loser

32.Something you crave? Sweets (esp. cookies and brownies)

33. Why you blog? Memories

I now award the "I Love Your Blog" Award to:

Allyson Van Patten

Dixie Dixon

Lana Shumway

Tammy Adams

Wendy Daw

Julie Fischbeck

Happy New Year!

So, I realize this is a little late, but HAPPY NEW YEAR! Troy and I took our kids as well as my brother Eric's kids over to Porter and Lana's house for a fun New Year's party, and we had a great time! Thanks Porter and Lana! There was lots of yummy food, fun games, great company, and it was a nice way to ring in the new year. Dixie and Shane, Porter and Lana, Troy and I, and Russell & Monica Kay were there. Porter had created a fun quiz for us to do when we got there, and had counted a candy jar for us to guess (which I WON!!), and there were movies for the kids to watch so that the adults could enjoy their time together. We played Buzz Word (fun game! the women totally rocked it), and the Newlywed Game.

Brooklyn was a trooper and totally stayed up til midnight. Cooper was zonked on the couch, but Carter and the other kids (minus the little ones) made it through and partied hard until the ball dropped. We had party hats, horns, poppers, and streamers to help us ring in the new year. Overall it was a great time!

I've already been doing great on my new year's resolution, which is to train 100% for the SheROX all women's triathalon on May 9, 2009 at the Tempe Town Lake. I've run, biked, and swam everyday (except Wed. and Sun.) and I feel great! I'm getting so excited for this event and know that in 4 1/2 months I will be in way better shape than I have been in a while, and I'll be able to finish this thing.

Hope you're all doing great! Make it a great 2009!

Day One of My New Life...

OK, so it's official. My traithalon training has begun.  I woke up bright and early at 9:30 :) and set off to do my 19 minute run. Dixie has created a schedule for me for every single day of training for the next 4 1/2 months until the May 9th triathalon. I get Wednesdays and Sundays off (for my Young Women calling, and for the Sabbath). 

I thought 19 minutes would be fine. Just so you know, the run scares me the very most.  I'm a pretty good swimmer, and I've been doing the biking classes at the gym for a while now, so those 2 don't scare me too much. (However, combining them all together is much different than just doing them by themselves...and it terrifies me a bit right now).  

I started my ipod, stretched, and then left the comfort of my front room. All I could feel for the first few minutes was my butt (and every other place with fat on me) jiggling. Embarrassing. I was sure that everyone (all 2 cars that were out and about) could see my jiggliness, and I was mortified. I decided to just ignore it. After 2 minutes I was ready for my first "interval training" so I walked for 2 minutes. :) Yea, I have a ways to go!

This was how it went: Run for 2, walk for 2, run for 3, walk for 2, run for 4, walk for 3, run for 3, then I walked all the way home. So I actually did more than my 19 minutes... Seriously, though--it felt good! I know I will be so much better in 4 1/2 months, and I can't wait to see those results, but I was proud of myself for being on schedule and getting my new life started. 

Tomorrow I swim for 24 minutes, and Saturday I bike for 48 minutes. I'll probably just do the bike class at the gym, which is actually 60! :) Starting Monday I will be doing both swimming and running in the same day...yikes! 

Happy New Year to me!