Oh Canada! Part 1

Disclaimer:  This post is LONG overdue ... but here it is nonetheless.  It's one of those posts that's so big and important, that it's overwhelming.  So overdue - yes, but better late than never right?

 

Before my parents opened their mission call, we told them Derek and I would go visit them wherever they got called.  If it was somewhere we could drive to, the kids would also get to come along.  So when we read "Winnipeg", a major family road trip was booked!

This was definitely the longest, most ambitious road trip we'd tackled.  Up until this trip, our longest road trip was a 2 day drive, maybe 15 hours.  This was going to be 24 hours.  One way.  But we were pumped and ready to take on this massive trip. 

Not too bad considering it was 6 people for 2 weeks!

Mango, the monkey, hanging from the handle is my personal fave of this picture.

 

 

4 happy kids 5 minutes into this adventure

 

We decided to drive to John and Sandy's the night before we officially began our trip to get a bit of a head start.  The next morning we got up early to hit the road - Rapid City, SD was our destination for day 1.



 

  John told us about a shortcut to get there - love his map!  Completely foolproof! 

Except that we couldn't read his writing. 

 



Montana - 1st state

 

 

Wyoming (trust me) - 2nd state

 

South Dakota - 3rd state

 



We had planned on getting close to Mount Rushmore on our first day.  We thought the 13 hour drive would prove to be enough for one day, so we were planning on seeing Mount Rushmore the next morning.  As we got closer and closer, and the kids were doing so awesome, we thought we might be able to visit Mount Rushmore that night and attend the nightly program.  We had heard that every night they do this awesome program.  We had ruled it out, thinking there was no way we could be there in the evening.  But our 13 hour car drive was no problem, the kids were doing great, and we were rolling through Keystone, SD about 30 minutes before the program was about to start. 

  We were so excited that we were able to go the program!  We told the kids, who hadn't had dinner yet, this program would be WAY better than eating, and we would eat as soon as were done paying homage to the presidents.

  So we went to Mount Rushmore, all amped up that we were going to be there after such a long car ride and see the program.  Let me just say, Mount Rushmore was incredible.  It was a million times better than I expected.  I thought the carving would be awesome, but envisioned a little wooden boardwalk that takes you to the best view and that's it.  I was not expecting a great, state-of-the-art, total techy facility.  From the parking garages, to the Avenue of Flags, to the amphitheater, to the Visitor's Centers, to the Presidential Trail, that let you see the carvings from different angles - this blew me away.  We got there in time to explore everything before the program started.

The Avenue of Flags

Do you love how I'm taking a picture of Derek taking a picture?

See how much we loved it?  :)

The main attraction!

Amazing.

 



Almost as amazing, these smiles after 13 hours in the car!

Maybe the smiles are because they're out of the car....

 



  The program was in the outdoor amphitheater which seats 3000.  They say that it's full most nights through the summer.   They showed this awesome video of how the carving was done, how the presidents were chosen, and why America is the best country in the world.  It certainly has you singing "I'm proud to be an American" by the end of that video!  At the end they call up any current military or veterans.  I was amazed at how many veterans were in a group of 3,000.  I would guess about 100 people went up.  Some were able to participate in the lowering of the flag ceremony.  It was awesome.  By the end of the program, it's dark enough that they light up the mountain.  It was awesome.  We loved every second.

 

 

I have become Mount Rushmore's biggest fan.  Everyone should go - it's incredible.  And it will make you really proud to live in America.

So I mentioned how we hadn't fed our kids any dinner - that was necessary for the upcoming story - when the night took a major turn south.  So our awesome night at Rushmore was over, the kids were starving, and we pacified them by telling them we were going to check into our hotel, and then we'd get dinner from somewhere non fast-food (our first day on the road and we were already sick of fast-food, that's unfortunate).  So on the road we go to our hotel that we had already booked. Already booked, not knowing the geography of South Dakota mind you.  We booked a hotel in Custer, thinking it was close to Mount Rushmore - yeah, it's not.  It's 45 minutes away.  Just so ya know.  So we just keep driving and driving, and we're starving and starving.  "But we're almost there!" we keep promising.  Now mind you, we left Mount Rushmore at 10:00.  To drive 45 minutes.  At 11:00 we get to Custer, get checked in, and the kids are about to eat each other.  So Derek decides that he will go out and "hunt and gather" us some dinner.  Off he goes, to the very, very quiet streets of Custer, South Dakota.  Nothing is open.  Nothing.  So Derek does his best "hunting and gathering" he can under the circumstances - the Common Cents gas station.  Derek came back with the best he could do - 3 hot dogs, 3 Hot Pockets, and a bag of chips.  Poor Logan fell asleep before Derek even came back.  When we saw his poor offering, all we could do is laugh.  To make it worse, the microwave in our room didn't work, so we had to nuke the Hot Pockets in the lobby.  I took one look at the hot dog and said, "no way.  Who knows how long that was sitting out."  Tyler took his chances with the hot dog, took one bite, and said, "That is not food.".  Miraculously, no one got food poisoning. 

    The next day we headed off again - first stop, Wall SD.  Wall is famous for the Wall Drug Store.  This thing is a tourist's souvenir paradise.  It's 76,000 square feet of all the cheap junk you can handle.  They also have a "backyard" for the kids to play on.   I wouldn't go out of my way to stop here, but if you're passing through it's worth walking through.

 

Their café served buffalo burgers - which Tyler really wanted to get once he knew we were going through South Dakota.  This makes up for the mysterious hot dog the night before right?

Our next stop that day was going through Badlands National Park.  Neither Derek or I had ever been there, so it was fun to drive through.  It's like no place else.  When I go through Yellowstone, or Arches, or Badlands, it amazes me how these type of places exist.

 

 

The best part of the Badlands happened to Derek.  On the drive there, Derek told us how much he wanted to see a bighorn sheep.  It had been on his Bucket List for a long time, and considering what an outdoorsman he was, he was shocked he'd never seen one in the wild.  He then regaled us with tale after tale of times when people promised he'd see a bighorn sheep if he went to this certain place, at this certain time, or people who had just seen one minutes before Derek showed up - only to be disappointed.  So he had really high hopes of seeing a bighorn sheep while we were in the Badlands.

   On our first stop out of our car, we were out walking around, when Bailey said, "What's that?"  I look over and see some animal.  I didn't know if it was an antelope or what, but I was really hoping it was bighorn sheep.  I overheard people talking, and they were saying it was a bighorn sheep.  So I run and get Derek - and tell him there's a bighorn sheep.  He starts running over to it, but all the while telling us there's no way it's a bighorn sheep.  As we get closer we see it definitely is a bighorn sheep.  We're all so happy that Derek finally got to see his bighorn sheep.  Check it off the list!

  Then, from across the road, comes 5 more bighorn sheep!  They meander across the road, on to our side, and walk RIGHT in front of us!  They just stood there, some even laid down.  There was a big crowd of people, all of us with our jaws hanging open.  It was so awesome to see them so up close.

 





 

 

  After the Badlands, we hit the road again.  Destination:  Bismarck, North Dakota.

 North Dakota, our 4th state

  

 Now here is why Derek is such a fun dad.  After driving and driving we pull into Bismarck, tired, hungry (again!) and super sick of the car.  We start calling around for hotels, and everyone we call we make Derek asks if they have a pool and what time they close.  I'm so tired, I couldn't care less if there's a pool - but Derek is a man on a mission.  And it turned out to be harder than we thought.  One closed really early and one was closed for maintenance.  But Derek was not to be denied his pool time.  We kept driving around to different hotels until we found one that had a pool.  We checked in, and the 5 of them hit the pool.  I did a pizza run.  But it did turn out to be an awesome pool, and just what the kids needed after such a long day.

 

 

 The next day we were Canada bound!  We were super excited - this was the day we got to see my mom and dad!  We stopped for lunch in Grand Forks, ND and realized we were only across the river from Minnesota.  Of course we popped across the river to add another state to our trip.  Logan was the proudest - he didn't say one word the entire time we were in Minnesota!  A full 3 minutes!

 

 

Minnesota - 5th state

 

Next stop - the Canadian border!!  As we pulled up to the border crossing, my kids were nervous as cats!  I don't know what they thought might happen, but they were worried!  We pulled up, answered a few questions, showed our ID's, and were happily on our way. 

 

Back on the road again .... but this time in Canada!!

2nd Country!!




And ... Manitoba - 1st Province

 

 

 

 

 

Emmy's E-mail

I got this email from Emily today (yes, she emailed me from our kitchen table, while I was in the kitchen).  Made me smile, so here it is:

It was hard walking home from school today. I had to walk by myself in 88 degrees,  too. It was like a volcano! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Tyler wasn't being a great help either. He said, and I quote, "Beep, beep, Emily!!!!! ha ha ha ha "  Man, I wished that kid had pegs on his bike so I could ride on them. That would be nice. .          

                                                                    Love ,

                                                                                 Emmy

School Year Themes

Last year our family had a theme for the school year.  It came from the Family Proclamation.  We used the paragraph that said that successful families are built upon faith, prayer, love, compassion, service, repentance, forgiveness, respect, and wholesome recreational activities.  We focused on one each month of the school year in our FHE's.  Loved it, loved it.

So this year as school was coming I started thinking about what our family school year theme should be.  I hadn't found anything I loved before FHE last night, so I thought maybe we could brainstorm one together.  And therein lies the problem ... we brainstormed some good ones, we brainstormed some bad ones.

 

Here's a list of the good ones the kids came up with (some took some coaching):

Be Courageous

I'm Trying to be Like Jesus

Golden Rule

Do a good deed every day

Try your best

Don't be greedy, be grateful

Be kind, Work hard

Be Kinder than Necessary

Go the Extra Mile

We say and do kind things

Kindness Matters

 

And here's the not so-good ones:

Don't hurt anyone

No plagiarizing

Kindness begins with you

If you're not sick, try your hardest

And our best of the worst ... drum roll please:

No burping or smoking

 

 

Needless to say, I'm going to pick our school year theme, without help from the peanut gallery!  I'm going with President Hinckley's 9 Be's.  9 Be's ... 9 months in the school year - it's definitely meant to be.  And definitely better than we could come up with on our own.  

 

 

 

 

 



Temple Groundbreaking

    Today our family went the groundbreaking ceremony of the new temple.  "Went to the groundbreaking" is a tad misleading ... we went to the church and watched it broadcast to us.  Our ward got 3 tickets ... as in 1, 2, 3 tickets.  So needless to say Derek and I weren't at the top of that list to get tickets.  Unlike my sister, who got tickets!!!  Unbelievable, I say.  Neener, Neener is what Jen says.
    On to the good stuff though ... the groundbreaking ceremony was so awesome.  Apparently I'm still on my Education Week high because there I was taking notes!  But it was awesome.  Elder Bednar spoke and gave the best talk.  He told us that when deciding where to build a temple the number of wards or stakes or any other metric isn't taken into account.  It is based on the hearts of the people. 
    He told us that he knew when the temple was announced we cheered, when the location was announced we were excited, when the groundbreaking was announced we made plans to be there, when the dedication is given we'll be there, when the temple opens we'll flood it.  But ... he said the real test of our gratitude is how often we'll go to the temple in one year, 2 years, 3 years.  Will we take it for granted?  Will it be too easy to put off?  We're so thankful for the temple now, but the real test is how much we use it in the years to come.
    He also said that as he was here he noticed the affluence of the community.  But he wanted to remind us of the saints in Africa.  He said these saints aren't starving, they get one meal a day.  But their tithing is helping to build this temple.
   Another speaker, Elder Richardson, told us how it would take 3 years to build this temple.  He said that in these 3 years a lot of work will be done to build this beautiful temple.  In that same time frame, we should be doing a lot of work on our personal lives, to be ready for this temple.
      It was such an awesome ceremony.  I was thrilled to have my family with me as we prepare for this temple.  The next few years will be exciting to watch this being built.

First Day of School Duds

I told Tyler I needed to take him shopping to buy clothes for the new school year.  He didn't really need anything, but I did want him to wear something new on the first day of school.  I told him we needed to go to Walmart to buy him a bike lock, then we could go to Fred Meyer's to get him a new shirt for school.  No, I'm not proud that I wasn't willing to take him to the mall, or even a store that only sells clothes, but Fred Meyer was close to the other errands we were running.  Here's our conversation:

  Tyler:  So we're only going to Fred Meyer's to get me a shirt?

Me:  yes

Tyler:  Can't I just get a shirt while we're at Walmart?

Me:  Well, I want to get you something nicer than Walmart.

Tyler:  Oh no, I'm happy to get something at Walmart if we don't have to go another store.

Me:  Ok, we'll see if there's anything there.

Needless to say, he walked into Walmart, grabbed the first shirt he could get his hands on, and was pleased as punch to not have to step foot in one more store than necessary. 

Kindness Matters

    I just finished reading the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio  It was such a fun, quick, uplifting, inspiring book.  The premise is about this boy named August who was born with severe facial deformities, who decides to go to 5th grade at a traditional school, instead of being homeschooled.  At the end of the book there is a 5th grade graduation where the principal speaks of kindness.
Here are a few of my favorite lines:

Quoting the book The Little White Bird, "Shall we make a new rule of life ... always to try to be a little kinder than is necessary?"  The principal then goes on to say, "What a marvelous line isn't it?  Kinder than necessary?  Because it's not enough to be kind.  One should be kinder than needed.  Why I love that line, that concept, is that it reminds me that we carry with us, as human beings, not just the capacity to be kind, but the very choice of kindness." 

 

Throughout the book one teacher has a Precept for each month that the kids focus on, here are my favorites:

When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind. - Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

 

Your deeds are your monuments. -Inscription on an Egyptian tomb

 

Kind words do not cost much.  Yet they accomplish much. -Blaise Pascal

 

Do all the good you can,

By all the means you can,

In allthe ways you can,

In all the places you can,

At all the times you can,

As long as you ever can.

John Wesley

 

 

   I love these thoughts on kindness, because kindness most definitely does matter.  This book has given me a desire to be kinder than necessary.

Spring

Bailey wrote this poem in school, and it sums up Bailey to a T. No editing added. 

Spring spring spring

Spring is so green. 

In the green spring

You can sing sing sing

Sing on the swing

Swing swing so you

Sing on the swing 

And stay outside all day

Ok I love spring

Because it is green

Spring Break 2014

  We just had the most fun Spring Break.  It started by thinking it would be fun to go see Ryan's family in Seattle - the last time we were there I was pregnant with Logan!  And he's 6!  It turned out that their kids weren't on Spring Break that week, so we decided to spend some time on the Oregon Coast during the week and then get to Seattle by Friday afternoon to see them.  John and Sandy came along for the ride with our crazy family, along with my nephew Zack.  We packed up some cars, kids, and a ton of snacks and hit the road!

  We left Tuesday morning and drove to Portland.  We stopped at the awesome Multnomah Falls.  It was raining, letting us know we were going to be wet for the next 5 days.

 

Multnomah Falls

 

    Next, we drove into downtown Portland and I attempted to take us all on a self-guided walking tour of the fountains in Portland.  The rain was coming down in buckets, but we were not to be discouraged.   First fountain, no water (beside the standing water in the bottom from the downpour),  but no water coming from the fountain.  On we went to the next, and the next, and the next.  Apparently they don't turn on the fountains in March - now we know.

 

Self-guided walking tour of fountains:  fail

 

 

   Next we promised the kids an awesome tram ride that goes over Portland.  They were so excited - it was the number 1 thing they wanted to do in Portland.  So we find it, hop on, and quickly realize this is more of a public transport system, than a sight seeing tram.  We even figured that out before it stopped at the hospital and a ton of doctors and nurses got on!  Definitely public transport, but still fun. 

On the tram

 

    The next morning we left rainy Portland to head to the rainy coast. 

Our happy kids!  We logged some serious hours in the car!

 

  When we got close to the coast, it was raining and raining, so we decided to go to the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  Us and our closest million other friends.  We did the self-guided tour (that place is awesome!) and of course ended the tour with some Tillamook ice cream.

YUM!

 

   We stopped by Fred Meyer's, picked up some poncho's, and were off for some wet fun.  We went to the Cape Meares Lighthouse, and saw the famous Octopus Tree.   Next, our friends had told us about this great hike south of Tillamook.  We parked the cars, and headed off hiking in the pouring rain.  It was a 1/4 of mile hike, through the greenest forest, and ended at this amazing waterfall.  I LOVED this hike - it was awesome.

  Then we headed to Lincoln City where we had rented a house. The house was awesome - always a gamble when you rent online.  But this one did not disappoint.  It was fantastic.  The next morning we were off to the beach.  In coats and swim suits.  Yes, coats and swim suits.  The kids wanted to wade, but knew it was too cold to go all in.  It was 50 degrees, so yeah, too cold.  I was there wearing a hat and gloves!

  Bailey was trying to outrun one of the waves, and tripped.  The wave just rolled right over her - she was soaked.  She was most disappointed that she had to go back to the house to change, and miss more time in the waves.

Luckily her dad showed a lot of sympathy.

 

The lowlight of the trip was getting a ticket for Derek driving while on his cell phone - put up some signs saying that's illegal Oregon!!  I'm sure they make a killing during Spring Break with drivers who don't know, $170 ticket at a time.  Lame.

Busted

I told the girls to give me their best worried looks - not hard for Emmy!

We went into Newport, and went on a whale watching tour.  The swells were too high to go far enough out to see whales, so no whales for us. 

On the boat

  The captain, who has been on The Deadliest Catch (!), let the kids drive the boat.  They loved it. 

 

Captains Bailey and Emmy

 

The coolest part of the tour was when they let the kids help set a crab pot.  They showed them the pot, the bait, and how it trapped crabs. 

Emmy throwing over the pot.

On the boat

 

After driving around a while, we came back for our pot.  Hoping we caught some crabs!

Pulling up the pot!

 

 

And oh yes, did we get crabs!

Friday morning we left the coast and headed north - on to Ryan's house!  The best part of the timing of this trip was that Friday night was Mitchell's Eagle Court of Honor.  It was awesome to be there for it.  For his Eagle project he built a huge firepit  on their church's property.  So his Court of Honor was outside, right at the firepit.  It was so great!  Brenda had done such a great job of decorating and food.  For refreshments everyone got to cook s'mores - how perfect!

  Saturday we went into Seattle for the day.  We went to Pike's Place Market - and the kids were draw-dropped at the crowds and fish throwing!  Then we did the Duck Tour.  I LOVE a duck tour - we did one in Boston and this one was just as great.  You get this great tour of the city, on road and water, with all of this great info - and all of the cheesiest humor you can handle.  Our kids loved our tour guide, with his silly hats, wigs, and music. 

After the Duck Tour we got on a ferry and headed to Bainbridge Island.  We drove to Paulsbo - a Norwegian town that Derek served in on his mission. We can't go to Seattle without going to Paulsbo, and getting donuts (or Viking Cups - a must) from Sluy's Bakery. 
  Then we headed back to Ryan's for games all night. The next morning we loaded up the kids (again!) and headed home.  It was such a great trip.  Just wishing Spring Break was longer ...

Wronged by Science

Today Emmy came home with Science homework.  She's been learning about Pangea - ya know, the idea that all of the continents were once one solid land, then they broke up, and spread out.  So for her homework she had to cut out the continents and then glue them on a piece of paper all together like a puzzle.   Here's how our conversation went:

 

Me:  Emmy, what homework do you have today?

Emmy:  I have a Pangea thing I have to do.

Me:  ok

Tyler:  Pangea??  I hate Pangea!

Me:  uh... what'd Pangea do to you?  How does someone hate Pangea?

Tyler:  Because Pangea is this big secret!  No one told me about Pangea until I was in 5th grade!!

 

Pangea .... world's best kept secret.

April's Fool's

   I'm sad to report there were no good pranks played at or house this year.   I'm really quite disappointed in myself - nothing done. No funny foods, no good jokes, nothing. 
   Our best came from Logan.  This morning I was explaining April Fool's to Logan.  I didn't want him to go to school and have everyone talking about it, and him not knowing what they're talking about.  I also didn't want him to be one the wrong end of jokes.  So I was telling him all about the day, and he said he had an April Fool's joke to play on his friend Erich.  Here it is: 

Logan:  Mom, I'm going to tell Erich that I'm going to touch his coat. 

And then I'm not ... I'm not gonna touch his coat.  And then I'll tell him "April Fool's!".

 

Next year these kids better watch out ... I'm redeeming myself!

Ty, Ty the Piano Guy

  Tyler played the piano a few weeks ago in Sacrament Meeting.  He was talked into it (read: forced)  by his parents.  He emailed the girl who schedules the music and volunteered to play.  She happily took him up on his offer and we were set.  He practiced it for months, and played and played it.  He went to the chapel twice before to practice on the piano there.  He practiced walking from the bench to the piano.  He was completely ready.  As the date got closer and closer, both Tyler and I got more and more nervous.  And more than ready for it to come and go. 
  The morning of we were both thrilled it was simply here and we could be done with it.  Allyson's whole family came to hear him.  It was finally his turn to play, he walked up there, sat down, played it AMAZINGLY, and walked back.  He did such a great job!  I recorded him playing it tonight so my parents could hear him - you'll love it mom!  (And again, my phone won't let me email a video this long in one email, so you get to enjoy it in thirds!)

 

 

 

Wardrobe Malfunction

  Yesterday I was volunteering in Logan's classroom. After I'd been there for over an hour he came up to me with this confession:

Logan: (whispering) Mom, I made a mistake. 

Me:  (whispering) What was it?

Logan:  I accidentally left my pajamas on.  

Me:  (looking him over from head to toe - I see a boy dressed in jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt. No pajamas in sight)  Logan, you're dressed. 

Logan:  No, I have my pajamas on underneath my clothes. (He then pulls up his shirt to show me his pajama shorts coming out the top of his pants). 

Me:  Well, school's almost over. We'll deal with it when we get home. 

When we got home I asked him how he finally noticed and he said he'd gone to the bathroom and found a surprise. Then he told me that he'd told his friend Jose what he'd done. "What did Jose say" I asked. Apparently Jose said, "I have my pajamas on under my clothes too.  No, I don't, I'm just kidding."  I thought Jose's response was so cute - didn't embarrass Logan or make fun of him, and made Logan laugh over the situation. Love good friends!

Happy Valentine's Day

  Valentine's Day is so fun with kids - and we had a great Valentines Day this year.  The night before I started cutting out hearts by the dozen to Heart Attack the kids' doors.  Derek's such a good sport - I said, "Here ... starting writing nice things about the kids on each of these hearts."  And all he said was he needed a pen.  :)  So we cranked out the hearts and Heart Attacked them.  They were so surprised - I mean, paper hearts can really blow one's mind.

 

 

  Then we got to breakfast - I tried to kick up my pink pancakes up a notch and make some pink, some white, and switch the inside hearts.  The ones on Pintrest were much, much cuter.  Much like all of my Pintrest endeavors.  

 

 

 

  Then I was off to the school.  For the day.  Days like this just make me laugh - how I can spend the whole day at the school ... but I do it regularly.  First on the docket was Logan's class party.  Picture booth, fishing pond, Valentine's Bingo - pure cuteness.  When it was over at noon we headed home to have a quick lunch before we headed back for more partying.  We had to be back at 1:30 for Bailey's class party.  Minute to Win It 2nd Grade style = great party.  So fun watching these kids play those games. 

 

 

  We wrapped up the day hitting Emmy's class, with sugar cookies for all in tow.  I definitely am going to miss this next year when I only have 2 kids in elementary school.
  Derek and I are going out tonight to celebrate Valentine's Day with our friends, Kristie and Tony, so we decided to make Valentines night all about the kids.  We sent the kids upstairs and turned our kitchen in Cupid's Crazy Café - complete with candles, goblets, classical music, and Derek and I dressed up.  When we called the kids down they were shocked to see they'd been transported to such a swanky restaurant.  I was the hostess, seated them, and gave them their menus.  We did the mystery menu idea - where all the items are Valentines words, and you have no idea what they are, but you have to order them any way for your appetizer, entrée, and dessert.

   Then Derek came in and was their waiter.  He took their order from them and we got busy putting together all of their orders.  We had to move all the food into our living room to keep everything a secret - it definitely added to the fun. 

   The kids all ordered, not knowing at all what they were ordering.  Logan seemed to order best - getting dessert and pizza for his appetizer.  He unfortunately didn't get a fork until dessert - but he handled that like a pro.  Each course kids got something - either a fork, napkin, drink, pizza, French bread, green beans, strawberries, and dessert.   As each course was brought out, the kids doubled over with laughter. 

 Emmy, enjoying her ice cream fork-less - she should have ordered utensils

 

earlier!

 Happy customers and staff at Cupid's Crazy Café. 

 

 

 

Derek gave Tyler the bill - for $217.48.  Luckily for Ty - he had $217.48 bill on him!

 

It was the funnest Valentines - hope yours was just as fun and full of love.

 

Victim of a Hate Crime

Rainie, this post is for you - now you owe me one.  ;)

 

  So I recently was the victim of a hate crime ... I'm sad to say, but it's true.  I went to the grocery store, bought a cart full of groceries, like I feel like I do every day.  On my list was minced onion.  I grabbed the onion, a hundred other things, checked out and headed home.  I unloaded all the groceries, and put half of them away before I had to run the school to pick up Logan.  I picked up Logan, came home and unloaded the rest of the groceries.  As I was unpacking everything I took out the minced onion and was shocked to see the minced onion was full of popcorn.  Shocked. 

 

 

I couldn't believe it.  I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed when I picked it up, when I checked out, that the clerk didn't notice - nothing.  Shocking.  When I saw Derek I told him all about my tale of woe.  He said it was probably a mix up at the minced onion factory, and asked if you can return groceries.  No, I insisted, it was some prank pulled by punk teenagers who went to the store, dumped out the onion (who knows where!), filled up the bottle with popcorn, put it back on the shelf, and was waiting to see what schmuck bought it!  And I was the schmuck!  I told Derek it was a hate crime, pure and simple, a hate crime against me.  Derek pretty much ignored most of my theories/rantings and went back to work. As I put away the groceries I remained shocked that someone would tamper with minced onion.

   Hours later Derek was leaving the house and his parting words were, "I put the popcorn in.", and out the door he went.  For the second time that day, I was shocked.

Humility Problem?

Emmy and I had a note conversation today in church - here it is in all it's glory:

Emmy:  Mom, do you think I'll do good on my 5th grade project?

Me:  Yes Emmy.   You are so smart, responsible and organized.  You'll do great.

Emmy:  YOU GOT THAT RIGHT!

One Despicably Good Party

   My little Logan is six!  How can it be? He got to have his first friend party, and he was so excited!  We decided to have all of his friends over for cake and ice cream and then take them all to the movie.  Logan invited  his 7 best pals (we have 8 boys in our ward in kindergarten - crazy!) over for our party. 

    The best part of this party was that it was on a Wednesday afternoon - at 1:00!  With all these boys in half day kindergarten - I know they're all free on Wednesday afternoon!  They've got nothing else going on! I loved that it didn't take up mine, or anyone else's, Saturday or evening.  The worst part of this party was that I had to wait until the movie times were up for that week before I could send out invitations.  I knew the movie would either be Despicable Me 2 or Planes - we were going to whatever movie had a matinee.  Despicable Me showed at 1:45 - perfect.  We got invites out and started planning our Minion Party.  Then entered Pintrest ... curse you Pintrest, curse you.  For some reason I searched for Despicable Me party ideas, and only 10,000 showed up.  And they were all so cute!  So I started pinning, and shopping, and making ... all totally last minute because I didn't know if we were doing Despicable Me or Planes until the last minute.  As I was burning the midnight oil making a minion party, Derek said, "Ya know what's funny ...  you're only doing a minion party because it was showing at the time you wanted."  That's exactly right.   

 

 

Off with the Minion party ...



 

We had this guy on the front door greeting guests.

 

 

We enjoyed some Minion cupcakes.

 

 

Emmy and Bay turned our cups into Minions too.

 

We ripped into some presents.

I will say this about kids - I love how excited they are for the birthday person to open their gift. 

I love that they're so excited to give a gift to their friend. 

 

Then we were off to the movies.  Derek and I both had to drive because we had so many boys.  The theater was practically empty - who goes to a 1:45 matinee of a movie that 's been out since July??  So we let the boys pick where we sit - not the front row (thank heavens), but the back row for us.  The boys had their popcorn and drinks and we were set.  We saw the movie, and then we dropped off all the boys on our way home.  That's the easiest party that's ever be done.  Ever. 

 

Emmy and Bay turned their goody bags into minions:  

Their thank you:  Thanks a minion for coming to my party!  Hope you had a despicably good time! 

I hooked the thank you to a minion water bottle.

It was the easiest party ever - and despicably fun!  Happy birthday to my Logo Boy!

Gem of the Day

Today's parenting moment of the day, brought to us by Emmy. 

Setting:  practicing the piano, where I told her she had to play a certain measure over, since she played it wrong.

Emmy:  I can't wait until I'm the mom and I get everything I want!

Missionary Moment

Last night for FHE Derek and I had the kids explain the Plan of Salvation to us.  We were the clueless investigators, and they were the missionaries.  Here's a glimpse:

Derek:  So why do I need to go to church?

Emmy:  Because that's where we learn about Jesus.

Logan:  Because that's where we learn about choosing the right.

Bailey:  Because your kids will get recognized in Primary.  They will ask if they are new, or visitors.  They will sing a Hello song.  They might get sung to in a different language.

 

Really good reason, Bay.  Sign me up.

13 in 2013!

Here it is, my second (and last!) New Year's resolution is done!  I wanted to go to the temple 13 times in 2013.  And today was #13.  I kept this card in my temple bag (to the mocking of some!) and wrote down the date every time I went, to keep track of how many times I'd gone.  I wish I would have written who'd I'd gone with - that would be fun to look back and see who all I've gone to the temple with, but didn't think of that until about August.  For the next 6 weeks, I'm completely goal-free!

Oh Georgia...

    Last week I was at the school volunteering for Logan's class.  I was in the work room giving the ol' die cut machine a workout when Emmy's teacher walked in.  She looked at me and said, "Oh I'm so glad to see you!  Emmy said the funniest thing today!"  Now normally when I hear that, I cringe.  Emmy doesn't run a tight ship on what she says - she pretty loose lipped, and I have heard that comment many times - sometimes it's funny, and sometimes it horrifying.  I guess it's the 'one man's junk...' philosophy.  So I braced myself for her to tell me what Emmy said.
  She told me that they were studying the Revolutionary War and each kid was assigned a different committee to study.  Emmy was assigned the Committee of Communications.  Emmy realized that only 12 of the colonies were there and Emmy went to her teacher to ask why there weren't 13.  Emmy's teacher said, "Oh Georgia didn't go."  Emmy's teacher told me that she turned around, and under her breath muttered, "...Traitors...".  Her teacher was still laughing at Emmy's utter disdain for the traitors of Georgia.