Things that excite Aaron

I'm surfing the internet and this picture of an ad comes up

Aaron who is close by emptying and playing in a drawer with electrical cords immediately spots it and becomes interested and demands I click on the picture.  Somehow through a link of a link I end up on a YouTube video of some man's review of the snow blower.    Basically the video is a guy snow blowing his driveway and stopping ever so often to comment.  Aaron is glued to the screen.  I leave him to his boring video do some laundry wash the dishes and come back a while later and he is watching video after video of  men snow blowing their driveways.    He announces that we need one of those and I tell him "Dad already has a snow blower it's out in the garage. "  His eyes get bigger and he says "We do?"  I reply "Yeah  don't you remember you lost the key so he can't use it".  Aaron looks at me and says "Well its OK because the key will show up.  Keys always show up".   Since then he randomly brings up how he needs one with arguments like "dad's is big and this one is little so we need this one so I can have one too."

Powerball

Ally calls me up and asks me since I live in Utah if I want her to go down and purchase me some powerball tickets.  Hmm  1.5 Billion dollars very tempting and than the realist in me takes over.  I tell her no thanks that would just ruin my kids and beside I'm the most unluckiest person when it comes to these things so I'll just keep my couple bucks.

Raquel would tell you I just need the "The Secret"  There could be some truth to that.  In fact I've only ever won 1 drawing in my entire life.  I was very pregnant and I attended a Speech Conference down at BYU.  When we registered they put our names in a bowl for some door prizes.  In the middle of the conference a lady stood up holding a plastic cup with a note pad and a pencil in it.    Sitting near the top of a stadium seating conference room I had this thought. "I bet they call my name and then I have to stand up in front of these 200 or so people and waddle all the way down there to claim that stupid cup.  Sure enough within seconds my name was called.  I guess the secret works.

It is rather tempting to fantasize about what I'd do with all that money.  Well I'd hire someone to do all of my yard care.  I'm sure Bart would buy a fancy speed boat but other than that we are good.  So for now my poor kids can keep weeding our yard.  It's good for them anyway.

Game night for FHE

Last summer when I was helping my mom clean out her family room I came across this gem.  

During my book worm obsession reading Sweet Valley High I got this game for Christmas.  I was amazed that all of the pieces were still there.   I played this a lot with my friends and sisters.  So I brought it home just waiting for the opportunity to play it again with my girls.  

The weeks leading up to Sundance are crazy busy for Bart as he tries to balance his busy work schedule with getting photos ready for Sundance.  Last night for Family Night I could tell Bart really didn't have time to join us so I suggested we do the activity first and then dad could join us later for a quick song, prayer and lesson.    I knew this was the chance I had to play this game with the kids without torturing Bart.  The girls had fun just like they always do with any game.  Aaron tried really hard to like it but all the girly stuff it just couldn't keep his attention.  I loved reminising with the characters Elizabeth and Jessica as they fought to find their boyfriend first before the big date.   

In case your wondering I checked eBay and this treasured no longer produced game with all the pieces is worth a whopping $25.

My Jane

My Jane turned 7 the day after Christmas but we had a birthday party yesterday which makes my life easier around the holidays and is the perfect way to delay those winter blues.

When I asked Jane what the theme of the birthday party should be she immediately said "I want a minion party".  My first thought is alway the cake.  A minion= yellow guy with a big eye ball.  I can decorate that so a minion party it was.  When I asked her who to invite she said "everyone".  I tried to focus it in on one group but she really didn't want to exclude anyone.    I decided if Jane wants to be inclusive than I should encourage that.  So we invited her entire school class of 20, her primary class of 5 and her cousins that life close by.  Luckily After looking on line for party ideas a lot of big group game ideas game up so we decided to do her party in the cultural hall at church and do a bunch of big group games.

First came the invite made by my talented sister Ally

Then I bought some minion kid trinket stuff and assembled the treat bag.

Next up was the making of the cake.  In the past I always liked to surprise the birthday kid with the cake but this time Jane wanted to help.  So she rolled out the fondant for me and I showed her how to use the tip that made stars for the eye.

For the party we had the kids come in and find a balloon on the ground and draw a minion face on it and then they played around with it while the other guests arrived.

Once everyone was there we "Assembled the minions" and took a group picture.

Then we divided up into 3 groups to play games.  We had a shoot the rocket to the moon game   A shoot the spaceship i.e. 2 liter pop bottle  off the table with a freeze gun and a pin the party hat on the minion.    All the kids then played the game "Night at the Museum" which Emily and Jane renamed Night in Gru's lab.  Here are a few pictures.   It's hard to keep things going and take good pictures.

After they rotated through the games we then opened presents.  Jane loved each and every one of the presents she got.

Then we ate the cake.

With a few minutes to spare it was back to a couple of the games and playing with the balloons before the kids went home.  I asked Jane what she thought of the party and she said it was perfect.  

I'm so grateful I have my Jane.  I'm proud that she's the first to see that something needs to be done and is so willing to help out.  She once out of the blue came into Ally's kitchen and asked her "how can I help"  Ally noted she hopes her kids can be that observant one day.  I've noticed how attentive she is whenever a toddler is around.  She takes over following them around and is a perfect little mother.  I think she'll be a life saver when  this little guy comes along in a few months.  She's also very particular.  She keeps her room spotless and has an opinion when she thinks something is out of place like which nail each of our Christmas stockings should be, whether or not she thinks my outfit matches or like today she told me "It's time to take the Christmas cards down from being taped to the fridge.  She loves, loves, loves her footy purple pajamas and has would prefer to where the same 2 outfits everyday.  She has so many barely worn clothes in her drawers it's a shame the closest younger cousins are boys and can't be worn again before they go out of style.  

I love my Jane, even the angry I didn't win the game girl, and wouldn't change a thing about her.  Great things are in store for her I can't wait to see what they are!!!

Emi's world

Here's a look into Emily's mind.

After I called for her she came down the stairs writing on this notepad.  She then told me she had been writing her New Years resolution  list.  Here it is... I give a 2 thumbs up to #1

She also has created what she calls her Emily's wall of fame in her bedroom.  I love that she's proud of herself

If you came into her room she'd also like to show you the beginning of her ABC gum lamp.  I think she read about it in a Judy Moody book.   So gross but a little funny

Big sis, little sis

My girls are really the best of friends.

On Christmas it melted my heart when Jane opened a gift from Emily and immediately gave her a hug of appreciation.

After we got the girls dolls ears pierced we had some time to kill while we waited for Bart to get off of work so we could meet him for dinner.  We casually stroll into "Justice for Girls" and both of the girls spot the rack of best friend  charm necklaces.  As they were looking through them they found this charm necklace where one is the milk and the other is the cereal.  They both start begging for it but I wasn't impressed.  Then Emily spots a mood necklace that one side says Big Sis  and the other says Lil Sis.  They look at me and say "We really are best friends and sisters can't we have it please".  I couldn't resist knowing full well they really are.  So a few minutes later they walked out of the store happily sporting these new charm necklaces.

As I saw how happy they were gratitude swept my heart.  More often than not when I tell someone I'm having another boy I get comments like how perfect is that 2 girls than 2 boys.  I feel almost guilty because it's not like I had any control over it.   I didn't really expect the "perfect" arrangement when I set out on the parenthood journey. Walking through the mall seeing my girls giggle and enjoy each other  and someday hopefully observing that same friendship with Aaron and this new little guy, I said a simple prayer of gratitude that Heavenly Father  set it up for my kids to each have a best friend for life.

New do for the New Year

Since Emily started growing her hair out I've been suggesting she cut it short.   You see she has this really thick hair that just falls into a perfect A line.  Emily so politely (hahaha) declined.  

Emily on the other hand has been suggesting that it's time to get her ears pierced for a couple of years.  I've declined her suggestion knowing what problems I had with my ears as a child.    My ears are very sensitive and become infected very easily.  I finally let them grow back in. After my mission I heard President Hinkley give his famous talk about how women should only have 1 earring in each ear.  While others were taking out their 2 and 3rd holes I went down to the mall with a roommate and got my ears pierced again.

So we've each been holding out until Emily came home from her Class Christmas party gift exchange with these dangling snowman earrings.  She commented how nice it would be to have her ears pierced and I suggested a bargain.  I told Emily I would take her to get her ears pierced if she cut her hair short.  I was shocked when she agreed to the arrangement.   She even went so far as to write up a contract for each of us to sign.  I added a clause that she would allow me to blow dry her hair as often as I wanted.

We agreed that after the hustle of Christmas we would complete the agreement.  So on New Year's Eve all 3 of us went over to the neighbors and got our hair cut.  Emily  wanted it to her shoulder's but luckily the beautician stepped in and said "People will see your cute earrings if you go a little shorter."  That did it and Emily went back to her old bob.  

We then set out for the mall to get Emily's ear's pierced along with both of their American Girl Dolls. (I gave them a gift card for Christmas to have it done at temporary store in the mall).  Lucky for me Raquel called just in time and from experience said Wal mart pierces ears for 1/2 the price of the mall.  We detoured and got Emily's ears pierced then set out to get the dolls pierced.

The best part of all is Emily loves her new hair and I love the earrings she picked as well as she isn't showing any signs of ear problems.