March

 Siri is my favorite feature of the new iPhone 5.  (Stanton "gave this to me for Valentine's Day" - meaning, we don't usually give huge gifts like that for something like Valentine's Day, but since we were getting it anyway, we said that was what it was for).  Usually when I use Siri to send a text, it works out pretty well.  This time, it did not.  But I sent it anyway because it gave me the giggles.  It's the little things in life...

 I was reading my scriptures one morning when Charlie decided he needed a snuggle. 

 My sisters both happened to have kiddos in town for a visit to Stanton's office.  We ate at Pizza Pie Cafe before they headed home.  Happiness is being with my sisters!  I love them!  (Cindy on the left, Lori on the right).

 Cannon made up a story about Spider Man.  I was FLOORED when I saw the title page.  Ritin Bi Cannon.  (You can see he made a couple of attempts before he was satisfied).  I've never had a four year old who could sound spell like that.

 Henry with more fantastic bedhead.  The kid is a winner!

 

 I received one of my favorite missionary letters ever.  Nate Day (Henry's Day twin) sent a hilarious letter with the best closing line ever.  P.S. Don't have more kids that will ruin everything.  Hahahahahaha!  (meaning there aren't anymore Day twins for them!).  I love Joe and Nate and look forward to their letters.

 Proof that a 6 year old boy lives here.

 We took the kids to a USU gymnastics meet one Friday night.  The girls loved it.  Brigham was eh.  Cannon was ticked that we had to be there.  He wanted to be home in bed.  It was so cool to watch these fantastic gymnasts, though!

 Whoops.  Blurry picture.  Chloe and Cannon are the best at getting Henry to giggle.

 A sure sign of Spring.  Injuries.  Cannon (my truck of a kid) swung the baseball bat without paying attention and cracked Chloe right in the head.  She is NOT a freaker outer by nature and so when she came in screaming, "I can't breathe, I'm gonna die!!!"  We knew something was terribly wrong.  That and the fact that Stanton heard the crack through the open office window.  He hit her HARD.  We got ice on it right away and by the time I took this picture, the swelling had gone down by 2/3.  It was a HUGE knot when she first came in....like a golf ball stuck on her forehead.  Scary.  We watched for concussion, but she came through.  Within a day she was back to her normal self.

Cannon.  Registered.  For.  Kindergarten.
Someone please hold me. 
I can't accept that he is old enough to go to Kindergarten. 
I have to, though, because he is one bright little boy!  He scored 137 out of 140 points on his assessment.  And that was because his cutting and writing aren't quite up to snuff yet. 
He is going to enjoy Kindergarten so much.  And his teacher is going to love him.  He is such a great little guy!

Visiting Grandma J

I got a wild hair on Wednesday morning and decided to pack up the kiddos and visit my parents. My Grandma J has been staying with them while recovering from a pretty aggressive gall bladder surgery and I really wanted to get up there to see her. We had a break from swim lessons and didn't have to be back until Thursday afternoon (for swim lessons, of course...), so we threw a few things in the car and headed up. Oh, I am SO glad we did! Thanks, Mom, for having us last minute. :)

We got up in time to visit with Grandma J for a bit before she went to her "Beauty Operator" (LOVE) for a perm. She was gone for a few hours and the kids found plenty to entertain themselves...

Dress up, sandbox, toys, fruit snacks, candy. It was great. And that picture of Lily makes me a little sweaty. I don't believe she'll ever be that old. Ever. I will not allow it.

We spent the evening eating, visiting and dozing off. The kids were good little sleepers AFTER I threatened them that we we would be packing up and leaving the next time I heard a sound from them. Thank goodness they believed me because I did NOT want to follow through on that threat!

Next morning we hung out and lazed around...the kids played outside, my mom made a delicious breakfast, and I enjoyed some time with my grams. She is recovering pretty well, but is just so much more frail than she was before the surgery. All 4 of our grandmas have taken a pretty sharp turn into old age over the last few years and it makes my heart sad. I really sort of thought they'd just live and live well forever. Anyway, it was nice to spend some quality time with my gram.

The girls LOVED playing Badminton with my momma. They boys were loving the outside toys and Chloe had to spend some time in her favorite tree.

Chloe took this pic of the three of us. I love it and since I look like my mom and she looks like her mom, I get a fun glimpse 30 and 55 years down the road. I think I can handle it! They're some beautiful women - inside and out.

Love these pictures of Lily Virginia and her Great-Grandma Virginia.

I tried to get a good pic with Grandma and the kids --- haha. Well, I got A picture of grandma and the kids....and that's good enough for me. And hi, Mom in the Mirror! My grandma has a really spunky fun personality and I do think that came out in these photos even though she was more weak and frail than usual.

One last photo. I love this portrait of my Grandma J. She is a strong, confident, Christ-like woman. I love her and truly want to be just like her.

We topped off the trip with a lunch and root beer ice cream at Rupe's and a lovely speeding ticket in Inkom. I'll let Chloe's journal entry tell you about that experience....

Ahhahahahaha!!!! I am SO in love with that picture I can't even stand it.

My Favorite Picture Lately

I snapped this picture with my phone at Amy & Flint's wedding.  I just love it.

Also, do you ever stop to think how much technology has changed our lives?  I don't think my mother would ever have taken a picture of her grocery cart or shoes at the temple...but nowadays it's so easy to grab my phone and snap a picture.  Weird.

My version of Back to School Shopping....

Favorite Things Swap

My good friend and college roommate, Darci (I love the internet!!!!) and I have recently gotten back in touch with each other.  I have missed her and am so glad we've reconnected!

She had a swap on her blog recently (which I would link to, but it's private...sorry -- you're missing out!) and I got to join in.  We were supposed to send 5 of our favorite things to a randomly selected participant and we received something from someone else.  I sent out my favorite mascara, a set of handmade cards (which I didn't photograph.....grrr), my favorite candy bar, my favorite chapstick EVER, and oh my heavens, my brain is ridiculous.  I can't even remember the other things I sent!  I know there was something else handmade and some other thing I love.  I am experiencing serious mom brain lately. 

Anyway, I received a lovely package in the mail from a lovely gal who sent me this fun stuff:

Mango scented lotion
Fruit scented Blistex (the girls LOVE having their own chapstick now!)
Chips Ahoy STRAWS, people! (Awesome, and such a cool way to make that day's boring snack of graham crackers and milk appear to be rad.)
A package of notecards
and
Homemade Fudge...mmmm....fudge.  It was delish, by the way.

Thanks so much to my swap partner and to Darci!  This was a lot of fun and I think if I ever get my act together (which, being interpreted means probably never), I might do the same on my blog.  We'll see -- first I have to remember to make and send out my pay it forward gifts from seven hundred years ago.

Random Kid Pics from Early March

On one of those few nice days in March, Brigham, in his Superman costume, had to be outside painting rocks.  It rained not long after, but he sure enjoyed it while it lasted.

She knew she'd be in big trouble if she got caught out of bed, so Lily found a safe alternative.

Cannon Hat.  My kids all love this game.

 It's amazing to me sometimes just how easy it is to entertain children.  Just a little chocolate pudding, that's all.

Want to See Something Awesome?

That incredible igloo was built by three awesome teenage boys in our backyard. They hopped the fence and spent 4 1/2 sneaky hours building it. It's so tall, Stanton can stand up in it. The kids love it.

Thanks, Joe D, Nate D, and Jaden W!

Donny!!!!!

I'm not sure if I've confessed my love for Donny Osmond here, but I know I have elsewhere in the blogosphere. Well, when I found out he was doing a concert here in town, I had to get tickets. I have a neighbor-friend who loves him, too, so we went together. Stanton came with us and even he admitted that it was an awesome show.
I splurged at bought the good seats. We were on the 8th row and it was so worth it!!!
He sang with (well only very little with) our choral group here in town. What's their name? The American Festival Chorus or something like that. Craig Jessop directs it and they're excellent. Apparently Craig Jessop and Donny Osmond are friends/acquaintances/whatever those muckety mucks call it. So, Craig Jessop asked Donny to come do a fundraiser concert on Memorial Day with the choir (Jessop is also the music/theater head at USU). Donny agreed and he did his half of the Vegas show he does with Marie -- his half sort-of -- as shorter version, no special stage stuff, etc.

He put on a really great show! His voice was spot on and holy cow! can I just say that the dude can seriously dance?!!! He had a few of his backup dancers come out during Soldier of Love (!!!!!) and he was seriously holding his own and then some with those young guys! He chuckled afterwards about how fun it was but how it totally wore him out nowadays. It was so fun to watch him get into it. I love when performers are willing to "go there." Donny "went there."
He did a fun retrospective of his hits through the years -- One Bad Apple, Go Away Little Girl, Puppy Love, Soldier of Love (!!!!), Any Dream Will Do, 525,600 Minutes, and a few other songs throughout. And what Donny concert would be complete without screaming girls on the front row making total fools of themselves? Not this one. It made me feel better about my well under control admiration of him. Snicker.....
It was fun to go with Stanton, of course, and Janet was AWESOME! I just love her. Kiki, her daughter, our awesome go-to babysitter, tended the kids. It was a great night.

PhotoBooth: His and Hers

My friend, Autumn, does a cute continuing series on her blog showcasing the differences between she and her husband. Today I just had to document one of our own.

I was feeling all cute & sassy this morning, so I took a picture of myself using PhotoBooth --- I was going to use it to explain that the Wii Fit is really wrong when it says I am 7 years older than my actual age (7 or 5 or maybe 3, the point is, I'm bitter and want to prove it wrong).

While taking the photo, I discovered this gem made by Stanton -- he never told me about it and I think I might know why. But it's my blog, so I'm going to show it anyway.

So, His & Hers: PhotoBooth Edition

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Julie needs to update the blog already...

And today is the day. While I'm working on that, though, a fun little meme to occupy the space...

Type your name and the word "needs" into Google (ie: Julie needs). List the first 10 hits (clean...please!) that come up.

Julie needs:

1. Julie needs your help --- wait, isn't that what Google is for?
2. Julie needs high fiber content --- I wasn't going to mention it...but, well, I have been suffering a little in that region lately....
3. Julie needs boyfriend --- geesh, please don't tell Stanton
4. Julie needs paper pleasing ideas --- I am always looking for cool new card ideas....
5. Julie needs a new pair of shoes --- always.
6. Julie needs Facebook --- so true, it's creepy
7. Julie needs early start --- things do go better when I get up and showered before everyone comes crashing into the room...
8. Julie needs a(nother) new home --- not sure why the paren(thesis), but I'm pretty happy where I'm at.
9. Julie needs prayers and good vibes --- indeed.
10. Julie needs that hair, that voice, those kidneys --- wow, it's like Google can read my mind

Some other favorites from further down the page:
* Julie needs to work on her parenting --- well you don't have to go blabbing it to the universe, do ya?
* Julie needs a patient family --- yes, could someone ELSE exercise some patience sometimes...please?!
* Julie needs a life, apparently --- got one, thanks.
* Julie need sleepy --- yes, yes she do
* Julie needs to be deleted --- but please don't.

Julie also needs you to leave a comment with your results...

A Little Pay it Forward Ditty

My friend from forever, Camille, is having a fun little game on her blog. I'm playing along.

So this is how it works..... The first 3 people to leave a comment on this (my) post will receive a hand made gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise. There's a small catch...You knew there would be didn't you? Post this on your blog then come back and leave a comment, telling me you're in. Fun, huh? Remember, only the first 3 comments receive the gift.

Facebook Tag

I just did this tag on Facebook and wanted to post it here -- you know...because I'm just sure the kids will want to read it one day...ahem....

1. I usually have to be tagged for a thing like this a million times before I actually get around to doing it. And I'm always nervous to tag other people.
2. I spend way too much time on the computer. But I'll never admit it. I love Google, Facebook, blogging, following other people's blogs, and iTunes the best.
3. I love teaching and speaking in public.
4. I never finished college.
5. My political views have changed more than I ever thought they would.
6. I remember very little of my childhood or even teenage years. The things I do remember are very random and strange -- like singing "It's All Coming Back to Me" by Celine Dion in my bathroom and slamming the door shut when she says "Thought you were history with the slamming of the door"
7. When I drive with my kids, I constantly check the back seats to make sure I didn't forget any of them.
8. I love frozen anything: yogurt, candy, chocolate, vegetables, etc. Love. Them. I also love stale candy -- gummy bears, marshmallows, etc.
9. I am trying to become a recovering know-it-all.
10. I once did the first 14 days of the Atkin's Diet and celebrated its finish by going to Uno Pizzeria.
11. I enjoy crafts, but never stick with one thing for long. And I often buy craft supplies I never use.
12. I am convinced my 3 year old is the funniest 3 year old that ever lived. Also the most frustrating.
13. I am a quick learner and can fake being smart.
14. I love eating out because I don't have to do the dishes.
15. If I had someone who would clean up after meals, I would cook a lot more than I do.
16. I rarely make the same meal twice...unless you count pancakes for dinner. I make that a lot.
17. I had never been to a state that didn't touch Idaho or Utah until I was 20 years old.
18. I can never state that fact without clarifying that I went to California when I was 18 months old, but don't count it because I can't remember it.
19. I love to go on vacation without my kids and only feel guilty about it for about 10 minutes while waiting for the airplane.
20. I really truly look forward to the time when my kids are old enough to go on vacation with us.
20. I love to read to my kids, but find that I can't keep my eyes open for much longer than 2 or 3 books.
21. I can't wait to see what kind of teenagers my kids turn out to be. So much, in fact, that I have to remind myself to enjoy them now while they're still preschoolers. I think I will be a really fun mom of teenagers.
22. I can make my kids laugh really hard.
23. I don't get embarrassed very easily.
24. I. hate. to. scrapbook. But I love making handmade cards.
25. I wish I did more for/with other people instead of holing up in my own little world. But I am a total and complete homebody at heart and I find it very difficult to break out of that zone.

10 Photos, Yes, I realize there are 13 here...

I really need to get on here and update our Memorial Day weekend events. It's a daunting task I have to admit I've been putting off. In the meantime, Cheryl tagged me for this little photo game -- the rule is you have to take the pictures right then, no cleaning first. I've never been tagged before and to be honest, if this wasn't so easy, I probably wouldn't have done it. I am going to tag some others, but don't feel any pressure! I am the queen of deleting any forward that hits my inbox before it's even been opened, so I won't be offended! Okay, TaLaisa, Jill, Monica, Alysia, & Leah? Anyway, here goes...


#1: Your kitchen sink

I like the tomatoes & petunia growing in the window sill. I'll be sad to let them go outside.



#2: The inside of your fridge

It has taken every ounce of self-control I possess to refrain from drinking that orange bottle of gestational diabetes test sugary goodness on the top shelf--I finally get to tomorrow!!!!! And looking closely, I see an empty tupperware container...I guess that's what Stanton does when he finishes something and is closer to the fridge than the sink.


#3: Your favorite shoes

They go with everything. Or they go with nothing, so by default they go with everything. Regardless, I love both and live in either one or the other at all times.


#4: Your closet

This picture makes my closet look somewhat organized. It isn't.


#5: Your laundry pile

Yesterday was laundry day. I wonder when laundry folding and putting away day will be?


#6: What your kids are doing right now

Brigham gets into the fridge EVERY time it gets opened. Heaven help us when he learns how to open it himself...

Lily, apple, rug...if you know Lily, this doesn't surprise you...


And if you know Chloe, it doesn't surprise you that she got up from eating her apple at the counter to pose for this shot....


#7: Your favorite room in the house

The kitchen -- life happens here.


#8: Your toilet

I can't handle those small bathroom garbages...who doesn't fill one of those up in about 2 hours? And the lid is ALWAYS down -- I have a weird thing about that.


#9: Your fantasy vacation

Lately I've been wanting to go to Ireland. For no other reason than photos like this.


#10: Your Self-Portrait

Completely un-noteworthy, except that I got out of the shower Sunday morning and discovered my hair was curly. CURLY! This is a mystery, but one I am enjoying while it lasts.

Look, Spring, We Made You a Bouquet

We're begging...Pleeeeeeease come and stay!

When we woke up to snow on the ground we knew we had to take drastic measures. Believe me, at our house, pulling out the scissors, glue, and mod podge are drastic measures.

And check out that cool toilet paper roll vase Chloe's holding. It's pretty mosia-riffic.