Photo Friday #13 - 2 year olds

Here are my kids at the age of 2. Do you see any similarities?

Jill

Dax

Jace

X-wing Rides

My brother was 3 when the first Star Wars movie came out. I remember being pretty jealous that he was so small because my dad would give him X-wing rides around the house. My dad has given all my kids, even Jill when she was small X-wing rides... and I am still jealous!

Dax getting an x-wing ride from grandpa.

Jace getting an x-wing ride from daddy.

Who's in my business?

Tonight I was able to enjoy a nice evening with my best buddy, Melissa. We did our usual, which involved closing a restaurant and a little window shopping. I challenged her to blog for 365 days to which she replied, "I don't want people into my business."

Mmmm, I had never thought of it that way.

Are you into my business?

The Wind

So I was unable to blog last night because our cable went out due to the wind. I am posting this morning about my night and hopefully can make it post for yesterday.

9:30 pm - power cuts out for a split second, cannot log on to the internet

10:00 pm - went to bed (this is a record time)

11:30 pm - woke up by the wind

12:10 am - outside rounding up my perennials (those I haven't planted yet), can't find most of them because they have blown away. Watching the trees blow and securing my garage door

12:30 am - cannot sleep, wind is very strong, thinking about what ifs...

Things I was thinking about...

• what if my roof blows off
• what if mom's big trees crash down on her house
• what if something flies off the neighbors house and breaks one of our windows
• how can my family sleep through this
• what if the power goes out and I don't wake up in time for work
  
• what are we going to have for dinner tomorrow
• I wish all my kids would come crawl into bed with me
• are my friends and family safe
• is it really going to snow tomorrow
• maybe I should do a golf blog (I am the historian this year)
• what crafty thing am I going to make for my soon-to-be-niece
• I am excited to see my best buddy Melissa tomorrow night
• what if I get knocked out by a flying object in the yard and it takes 'til morning for my family to find me
  

Baby Blankets

I was lucky enough to receive a baby blanket for Jill and Dax from my Grandma Anhder. Because I was a new mom, I really didn't let Jill use hers because I didn't want her to ruin it. My bad... Dax used his every night and now Jace has the pleasure of using it too. Jace is my blanket baby. He cannot and will not go to sleep without his blankets.

Finally-a-Wheeling

We took the wheelers out for the first ride of the year. We went up to Hardware Ranch and it was a lot of fun. Jace didn't care much for wearing his helmet this year which was a bit of a surprise considering he didn't want to take it off last year.

Dax spotted a "dinosaur" bone and we also saw some deer on our way back to the truck.

When we were driving home, I saw what I thought was a bronze statue of a moose but it turned out to be a real one. That was cool.

Photo Friday #12 - For the Birds

As I was leaving for work Thursday morning, Dax said that there was a bird in our garage. Sure enough, it was a robin. She had built a nest on top of our garage light and she must have done it in the middle of the night because the nest was not there Wednesday when I locked up the house around 10pm.

Later, when I got home from work, the nest was even bigger and more amazing...

I tried to see if the robin had laid any eggs, but I wasn't tall enough to get any pictures from above. I didn't see her today at all and I wonder if she has abandoned her little penthouse. If this is the case and there aren't any eggs in the nest, Justin is going to get rid of it this weekend. If she does come back and there are eggs in the nest, we are just going to leave it alone. I think it will be fun for my kids in a few weeks to see and hear the little ones...

Thursday morning

Thursday night

Bike Riding Fool

Dax learned to ride his bike on Tuesday! He was so proud of himself and mom and dad are just as excited. He still needs a little work on mastering his steering (he makes very sharp turns right before he gets to the curb and then wobbles a bit) but overall he got the hang of it quite quickly.

I tried to teach him on Sunday...

but he didn't appreciate me holding on to his shirt.

Justin borrowed a special bike from a guy at work. The bike doesn't have any pedals and teaches the kids to learn to balance themselves. Well, after only a couple of hours riding that bike he was able to get on his own and pretty much take off.

Making the turn...

taking off down the road.

He only managed to scrape his knee a couple of times, but it was nothing a kiss and band-aid couldn't fix! Now I just have to get him a sturdier bike AND get used to him begging me to go outside and watch how cool he rides.

Goodwill Hunting Wednesday - Drinks

This week I decided to do something different. I went to LW's to get a fountain drink and paid for another 5 drinks. I told the lady at the counter not to charge the next 5 customers for their sodas, that someone had already taken care of it and to remember this the next time they bought their own drink... maybe it will catch on?

Happy Birthday Leslee!

Leslee with Jace

I find the hardest blogs for me to write are those that have to do with family members, especially ones that I adore. Sometimes I lack the words to do justice about my feelings toward them. This is one of those times.

Here are some things I love about Les...

• she is kind
  
• she is fun to hang out with (we don't even have to be doing anything)
• she is patient with my kids and loves them
  
• she is a great mom
• she makes my brother-in-law happy
• she isn't a snot
• she can laugh at herself
• she knows she can just pop in anytime AND
  
• she doesn't expect my house to be spotless
• she keeps confidences
  

Leslee and I have had a lot of good times together and we never lack of things to talk about. Our teenagers, family, golf, food, fat...

Leslee loves her family and would do anything for them. She really goes above and beyond making sure everyone in her life has what they need to be happy.

Who's the dude?

I hope you had a great day today Les,
thanks for letting me share it.
Thank you also for being the sister I never had,
I couldn't have hand picked anyone better!

Pet Peeve #11 - Sick Kids

It's been a few Mondays without a Pet Peeve. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is...

Pet Peeve #11 - Sick Kids

Beautiful weather = sick kids.

Time off = sick kids.

1 kid well = 2 kids sick.

2 kids with a cold = 1 kid with the pukes.

Pollen = kids with cough and runny noses.

0 kids sick = mom gets sick!

Springtime

One thing I love besides the warm weather? Watching things begin to bud and bloom...

Driving Range

Well, to celebrate yesterday's fine weather, I pulled my clubs out of the garage and went to the driving range. I went during my lunch with a friend from work. It was so nice to be out in the fresh air and much nicer to be swinging my clubs.

Right out of the gate, I hit a couple of nice straight drives, which of course makes any golfer feel so, so good. I even managed to hit my nine iron pretty nicely too. I hate my nine iron, so that was a big plus for me.

Today, I am sore. Seriously?

You always miss 100% of the shots you don't take,
and statistically speaking, 99.9% of the shots you do.

Photo Friday #12 - The Fro

It was a great night tonight visiting with my mom. I haven't seen her in over a week and we had a fun time catching up on things. Talk, talk, talk... Thanks mom, you are the best!

People look at my littlest guy, Jace, and wonder where his curly hair comes from. When I get my scanner up and running, I will post a picture of my mom when she was little and a picture of Justin when he was little and there will be no more questions. I am so envious of his hair since mine is poker straight. I am letting it just grow and probably won't cut it until people tell me what a cute little girl I have. I think the time is coming soon because I have this urge to put it in clips and pony tails...

Goodwill Hunting Wednesday - Doors

OK, truthfully I didn't have much opportunity this week to spread the goodwill. My kids were sick and I didn't get out much. The only thing I can think of is after baby animal days on Saturday (I drugged my kids up so they could at least enjoy one thing during spring break), we went to Angie's for lunch. We were entering the restaurant as an elderly couple were leaving and I held the door open for them. The lady thanked me and said, "God bless you". I remember thinking that you don't hear that very often anymore...

I was able to talk to Dax about how simple it is to hold the door open for someone, even if they have the ability to do it for themselves. He is pretty good at this anyway and seems to enjoy doing it when he thinks of it. I hope our talk makes him think about it more often.

Did you goodwill hunt this week?

Beans & Wieners

Here's proof that sh** rolls downhill... Even my 2 year old has the hang of it!



OVER BEANS & WIENERS





Me: Jace, did you poop?

Jace: No... dog... farted...

Me: The dog farted?

Jace: Yah

It's Just a Virus

My boys have been sick for what has seemed like an eternity.
Croupy coughs, runny noses, goopy eyes, etc...

.

And through it all they managed to just keep smiling.

Baby Animal Days - Photos

Petting furry critters...

Cute bears, they were just playing with each other and seemed oblivious that anyone was there watching them.

Reptile world, yuck!

Dax wanted to know if the guy standing behind them was Santa Claus. I told him I didn't think so because Santa isn't from Warshington. Jace loved painting his rock and then had to carry the dang thing back to the car himself. Needless to say, it was a long walk back.

We had a great time and it is something I would definitely do next year. I was really happy it was something the whole family could go and do together. It's tough sometimes to be able to please the teenage girl and the 2 little guys at the same time.

B.A.D.

Saturday, Justin and I took the kids to Baby Animal Day at the American West Heritage Center. They have a lot of fun activities throughout the year, but this is a favorite of many. You can check out their website here http://www.americanwestcenter.org/.

The weather was perfect and I think all 3 kids had a good time.

Since I am having a little stress with my pictures AND my kids are sick AND I am very tired AND it is almost midnight, I am going to post my favorite picture of the day and hopefully post a few more tomorrow.

I've Been Tagged

I was tagged by my brother, who was tagged by another fellow blogger.

Here are 7 things about me, and 5 things that make me smile. At the end of this blog I will choose a couple (or a few) of my fellow bloggers, or to make things interesting, I think I will choose a couple fellow bloggers AND someone I would like to see start a blog!

7 Things About Me...

1. I have always wished I was anything but white.
2. I hate, hate, hate spiders and have already called the "grass man" to make sure I don't have any in my yard or house this year.
3. I cannot get massages because I am too ticklish.
4. I would love to perform in an orchestra or do anything on stage...
5. I could eat chips and salsa everyday.
6. I wish Han Solo, well you know...
   
7. I have a secret.
   

5 Things That Make Me Smile...

1. My husband and kids.
2. Hearing someone unusual say "the queen-mother of all dirty words".
3. Someone smiling at me.
4. When the dog runs into things or looks 2 different directions with his bug eyes.
5. Fresh, wrinkly babies.

WOW, it was really hard to stop at 5! Anyway, I am tagging Kristy, Holly, Heidi, Melissa & Leslee.

Photo Friday #11 - Hey Harry

Or should I say, hairy? In July of '06, we went and stayed at the Inn at Harbor Village in Bear Lake, UT with Justin's father and family. I just happened to be outside on the 2nd floor patio with my camera when this guy got out of the pool...

Buzz the Dog

Halloween 2005

We were home handing out candy and one of the trick-or-treaters decided they were just going to walk in and make themselves at home.

Seriously, this dog (which we later named Buzz), just walked right into our home. We looked outside and found no owner, no nothing. Jill took him door to door looking for his owner, but came back empty handed, so to speak. We kept Buzz for almost a week and then found him a family. A family with another Jack Russell terrier named Belle. Looking back, we should have just kept him, but I have little patience for puppies, especially when I had just put new carpet in my basement.

I wonder how Buzz is doing...

Goodwill Hunting Wednesday

I had an idea thanks to one of my fellow bloggers...

Every Wednesday I am going to report on some goodwill I did during the week and how it affected me and my family. Maybe service, a smile, or an act of kindness to a stranger. I am going to try to involve my kids each week in an effort to teach them the simplicity of making someone's day and making your own day better as a result.

I would like to extend this challenge to all my readers and then give each of you a chance to comment on my post each Wednesday. So, let's "pay it forward" and see what happens.

Pokeman, Wolves & the Weather

I was at a loss for a blog topic tonight so I asked my family what they thought I ought to talk about. Justin said his dream about wolves and Jill said Pokeman. I shall not disappoint...

Apparently Justin had a bad dream last night about being chased by wolves. He was at the ranch and the only weapons he had on him were a couple of swords. I think it has to do with the type of books he likes to read and the fact we got dumped on by a ton of snow last night. Snow reminds me of wolves...

Run Justin, run!

Jill has been playing her old Pokemon game this week. My kid is such a nerd, but I guess it beats some of the stuff she could be doing right now. She had this huge Pikachu pillow that she just loved to sleep with. I remember telling her it was time to get rid of it because it smelled bad and it wasn't going to survive another wash. She was so sad last week... Haha. Maybe this picture will bring back good memories for her.

It is spring break for me and the kids this week. Wouldn't you know it, it snowed, and not just a little. The only thing good about this snowstorm was the drive home from my dad's house last night. I was able to take my car into "light speed" and think about Han Solo. Thankfully, it is supposed to warm up and we might get to play outside later in the week! I stole this picture from my sister-in-law.

Easter, Easter and More Easter

Aside from the crazy weather, this Easter was an awesome time spent with family. Thursday we dyed eggs with Grandma Platis. Saturday we spent some time at Grandpa & Grandma Millers. Sunday we got together with Grandma Marie and Grandpa Dave and Monday afternoon was spent at Grandpa Poo and Grandma Pauline's house. Great food, great company and great times...

Christos Anesti!

Movie Review - Stand and Deliver

I missed watching this with students Friday afternoon at school. It was a pretty decent movie, especially seeing eighties hair-dos and men with their pants pulled up too high. Takes me back to the good old days...

How to Train Your Dragon

Our family went to see How to Train Your Dragon on Tuesday. It was awesome and will be a nice addition to our movie collection.

We saw it in 3D and I have to say it was pretty intense. Jace did not wear his glasses throughout the whole movie and I worried that he would have a big headache when it ended, but he seemed fine. It was fun to hear him oooh and aaah through the whole thing.

My nephew, Logan, went with us and it was too funny to see him and Dax sitting there wearing their large 3D glasses. At one point when the story got real loud and action-packed, I looked over and Logan was chewing his popcorn really fast. It was too cute. Justin, who was sitting by them said that they were full of commentary...

It was a great night!