April 5

One of the things I have loved about my kids getting older, is that I get to read bigger books with them! Yahoo!!!! This is the last book that Cade and I read together. It is called the Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brain Selznick. I absolutely adored it. A few stats on this book: 511 PAGES! (Yes that is correct.) It is 26,159 WORDS.....and it has 158 PICTURES. It looks like a massively huge Harry Potter novel. It is a much easier read, though. It is very loosely a historical fiction (with lots of liberty taken) about a French filmmaker namedGeorges Mieles and two new invented sidekicks. The book starts out with 45 pages of pictures, and then you get to the first text. The art is simple, engaging, and delightful black and white sketch art. It made me feel like I was watching an old black and white movie. I enjoyed reading this book, and it even appealed to the five year old of the house. It was such a fun read! My favorite part was the Credits in the back of the book with links to websites and books to learn more about the history and research the author did for this book. Thanks to Eric for randomly picking this book up from the library and giving us all a delightful little family read.

April 4

Happy Easter! So I didn't actually take any pictures on Easter. I wanted to be going outside all weekend long. Eric had arranged to take time off work so we could do yard work. The weather - freezing and snowing and everything else kept us trapped inside. We also didn't go anywhere because we had planned to stay home to yarden. So, we spent Easter quietly at home watching conference and enjoying each other's company. I didn't do Easter baskets or anything, but we did watch The Lamb of God and talked a lot about the Ressurection. My kids got an Easter hunt at grandma's house a few weeks ago, and a candy hunt at Smith's the day before...and I think they are spoiled enough. I didn't get Easter baskets very many years growing up, and I didn't really miss them. I don't think my kids will either.....I hope. Anyhow, here is a pic of the sky about 4 days later when I finally got my Easter walk that I wanted to do so badly, but couldn't.

April 3

Another free Home Depot workshop completed- Build a butterfly house. I only bent and ruined three nails and two screws this time! Better luck next month for me!

April 2

I actually dyed some Easter Eggs this year! Sad to say, but this might be the first time I have actually done that with my kids. It is always just seems too messy, but I broke down and did it this year. Eric boiled the eggs about a week ago, and I finally got around to dying them. The kids were going crazy, and so we did something fun. I let them color the eggs, and then pick which colors to dip them into, but I did all the dipping. It went off smoothly. Not a spill of vinegar staining dye anywhere, and 12 beautiful eggs we later cracked open and ate with salt. I might just have to try dying the eggs again.

April 1

It's raining, no it's snowing, no it's hailing, no that's lightning, no that's thunder. No April Fool's Day jokes here - these are pictures taken on April 1st. We got some crazy weather for April Fool's Day. Eric had planned to take off some work to reseed our yard, and I wanted to plant some stuff in our garden. Well, our April showers are keeping me from planting any May flowers. I think I am officially sick of the snow. Cade did tell me an April Fool's Day joke, "If you sleep too long, your hair will fall out." And, we did play a trick on David. We stuffed his socks in his shoes so that he couldn't get them on. I did also serve up breakfast toast with giant spoons. So, a mild April Fools covered in snow/rain/hail/sleet/all of the above rounded out our day.

March 31, 2010

HAPPY EASTER FROM THE ROCK PEOPLE!

March 30, 2010

Holy Smokes! I can't believe it is time already. I had to register Cade for Kindergarten this week. Yikes! We enjoyed the short walk to Bluffridge to turn in half the paperwork. (Mom still hasn't got the immunizations done, yet....those come next Tuesday.) The Kindergarten here is year round. I'm not sure how I feel about that. There are four tracks, and three of them start mid-July! There goes half the summer camp enrichments I had planned to send Cade to. There is a chance he might go to another school. I entered him in a lottery for a charter school equidistant from our house. I love the idea that it has uniforms and traditional school year, but we probably won't get in. I am excited for Cade. I'm afraid I won't shed a tear when he goes to Kindergarten. I'm one of those cold-hearted moms, I guess. I love my children, but I honestly love watching them grow and mature and become hopefully more independent. Anyhow, when we went to register Cade I saw this huge welcome sign and the mascot of the buffalo greeted us. I thought he'd love the buffalo. Instead - he turns around and looks on the wall behind us at some pictures of George Washington and Ben Franklin and just can't contain himself. He was so excited about the pictures of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, etc. etc. etc. So while the ten or so other kids registering oogled over the Buffalo, Cade delved into his money talk inspired by the pictures. My little money man is obsessed with coins and bills and who is on what bill and I think I may have a little accountant on my hand. I suppose it isn't all bad, he is learning a lot about history and numbers, but I'm afraid if I get asked one more time, "What do 13 nickels and 4 dimes and 2 half dollars make? And which President is on the Silver Dollar? And How many weeks will it take me to earn a Ben Franklin dollar bill?" I just might lose it!

March 29, 2010

This is a new preschool/music/tumbling/dance/daycare/etc/etc/etc school they are opening up not too far from me. It should be open in August. They offer group and private piano lessons amongst a plethora of other things. From what I know about them, I am highy impressed. I first heard of them because I got some transfer piano students who were trained there, and just didn't want to drive that distance anymore. So I interviewed for a position there. I was pretty much told I could have as many students, classes, days, etc. that I wanted. Yay! The only problem is that I couldn't teach privately anymore. It would be written in my contract as a conflict of interest. So now I am at a crossroads and have to decide what to do. I wouldn't make nearly as much per student as I do privately teaching, but I would surely have more students....and my kids could take music/karate/tumbling classes or go to the daycare while I taught until Eric got off work. It would solve the babysitter issue. Right now I give out exchanges for babysitting, and I only am getting paid for five private students. That is after a year of referrals and advertising. So.....I just might take the lesser paying job. I think I'd love having all my students found for me, having all the recitals taken care of, not having my kids to distract me, and I get to pursue an outlet that I simply must have in my life - regardless of financial benefits/etc. I'm still waffling though. I wouldn't have as much freedom, and probably not as many advanced students to start with. Decisions. Decisions. Decisions. I'm just glad that I have the option. I was an HOUR and A HALF late to my interview! YIKES!!! To my rescue, I-15 was closed that day due to a fuel spill and it took me 2 hours to drive somewhere that has never taken me more than 30 minutes. Grrr. So the jury is still out, but it might be a great thing for me.

March 28, 2010

Here are my cute Hoodlum Children who are so often sleepless. Their escapade for this day was to play with shoes. Cade put on Eric's and David put on mine. They waltzed and jumped and skidded across the floor pretending to be mommy and daddy. They were pretty funny imitating us actually. Eric commented that some of his earliest memories are waltzing around in his Dad's shoes. I tried to remember doing that as a little kid, and frankly, though I'm sure I did do it, I don't remember it. However, I do remember waltzing around in my dad's shoes all the time as a teenager. My dad and I actually have the exact same size foot! I would borrow his shoes to get the mail, I would mow the lawn on his shoes, much to his shagrin. Those are my wearing my daddy's shoes memories.

March 27, 2010

Saturdays are never laid back for me. They always seem to be busy. This Sat. was no exception. I started at the gym, then came home, ran Cade to a preschool special Saturday Class Drums around the World. Then, I went to Staples to spend a gift card thing that expired in March, and then I went home briefly. Then I drove to West Haven for a reshearsal for Popera - our latest musical performance coming up next month. It should be interesting.....I'm singing baritone on many songs, and the songs are things like Living On A Prayer, Can't Buy Me Love, and Bohemian Rhapsody all sung madrigally/operatically. Anyhow - then I had to teach piano and then we had a baptism in our ward for some older children. After all this, I was getting ready to hunker down and watch some TV and eat a big bowl of popcorn. Instead, my friend Suzie kidnapped me and took me out on a much needed girl's night out. I was exhausted, but it was fun all the same. We ate pizza and watched the Blind Side. I'm not a big fan of sports feel good movies, but this one was okay. I'll give it that much. When I got home at 11:30 I found we were out of TeePee. So....I made a mad dash to Smiths. Grocery stores crack me up at 11:45 p.m. on a Saturday night around here. I walked into a bustling store where everyone was hurrying and scurrying. At 11:55 there were at LEAST a dozen people in front of me in the only open checkstand. I broke the Sabbath by checking out at 12:01. (For Shame!) I was the last person, and the store was now a ghost town. At least we got our TeePee.

March 26, 2010

Eyebrow Threading. On impulse, I was at the mall spending a birthday gift certificate and I saw this lady in a booth wearing her country's traditional outfit, and a sign advertising eyebrow threading. I stopped and got this massive handout paper touting the benefits of eyebrow threading vs. waxing. Now, I could really care less about all the supposed "benefits." I've had my brows sugared, plucked, waxed.  I will use anything - whatever works - as long as it takes the hair away. The biggest benefit that I saw to threading  is that I was somewhere without my kids for a few minutes. There was a big comfy chair in front of me, a lady willing to pamper me, the price wasn't too exhorbitant, and I didn't have to wait in any line or make any appointment. I decided to have my eyebrows threaded.
Never again. If you are wondering if you should try it - I will save you the pain and the money. It was supposed to be less painful than waxing. Okay....no! I practically fall asleep getting my brows waxed. I don't wince hardly at all with waxing and plucking. I've even bled and had red lids for hours afterwards and that didn't bother me that much. Threading nearly brought me to tears. It was pretty painful. Especially when I added the upper lip to the mix. It hurt. It was supposed to last longer than waxing. Well, it has been a week and I already look worse than I do a month after a wax job. Grrr. So in case anyone was contemplating eyebrow threading - go ahead and try it, but I'd recommend just staying at home and trying it yourself with some dental floss. Much cheaper - and probably just as effective.

March 25, 2010

Seasons change, and with that, I have this weird cutout that I can't decide if I loathe or like. I have been swapping out the contents every month or so. This is incredibly unusual for me. I am the kind of person who puts a picture up, and puts the couch in the corner, and it could stay that way for 12 years and I would be perfectly happy. I don't do change very well, but I do like to celebrate or recognize holidays. So, I spent the bulk of this day tracking down Easter decorations. I pulled the lillies from the basement and put them in my Christmas vase. I found this Charlton Heston Bible Book at Savers (thrift shop) for a dollar, and opened it to this Raphael painting of the Savior talking to his apostles. I found a cup that says Redeemer and has the tomb and the weeping women on it for 80 cents at Hobby Lobby. Then, I splurged. I spent ten bucks for a vinyl sign that says "He Lives." I've had all these vinyl signs I got for a dollar or less at garage sales this summer, but none of them had Eastery sayings, so I splurged. I went to the mall and twenty minutes later I got my sign. So whalllaaa. Happy Easter. I'm afraid I'm decora-bored out. I don't know if I'll be changing this up until the Fourth of July.

March 24, 2010

It's beginning to look a lot like....Easter. So we have been decorating the loft upstairs with holiday stuff for the boys to play with. They have had fun with it, and the loft actually gets used this way. I put out all the Easter decorations, and now Easter can come. Next week we plan on celebrating the last week of Christ's life and doing some fun activities to go along with that to learn more about it. This is our first go at that....wish me luck. (Thanks mom for the book of ideas - it should be great!)

March 23, 2010

There is a produce co-op I've done for a while that I loved, except it was on the news, and now I can never reserve my food in time. So I have given up on Bountiful Baskets and instead am trying out other co-ops. The first one I've tried is Green Bee Produce. It is actually a fundraiser that supports the Syracuse Arts Council so I was all for that! Anyhow, they have a contest going on that is right down my alley. You are supposed to create your own produce Superhero. So Cade and I created and submitted this Superhero. Check out the link and if you would be so kind vote for our superhero #3 The Breadinator - the one with the most votes wins a free box of fruits and veggies....yummmmy!!!!!!! http://www.greenbeeproduce.com/superhero.php

March 22

This is what my laptop cable looks like compliments of David most likely playing tug of war with it. I'm resigned to the super slow and super unreliable old school computer upstairs. Maybe it has been a good thing though, it has practically put a kabosh on my facebooking. Tuning out sometimes isn't all that bad I've decided.

March 20, 2010

We went for a quick trip to IF on Saturday. It was my nephew Spencer's 7th Birthday Party. We went up for a fun party that my mom put on for him. The kids got an Easter basket, and got to go on an easter egg hunt in the backyard, filled carrot bags with sugared popcorn, made bunny cupcakes, bird's nests (out of chocolate and coconut), and then they made bunnies with beans and baby socks. They had a great time. We had a great time visiting with family, too! there are many benefits of living closer to our families. We just don't take advantage of those benefits often enough.....I guess we should do something about that.

March 19, 2010

We had such a fun family night at the Layton City Family Recreation Circus Night. Every month Layton city puts on a free fun activity for the family. We have loved them thus far, all the ones that we have been lucky to attend. Last March we went to their Luck o the Irish Party, and this year it was their Circus Night. We played carnival games, listened to stories, morphed ourselves into lions and tigers, watched clowns chase each other hysterically with library book carts and horns, and waited in the balloon line for an HOUR AND A HALF. That was so not worth it to me, but the boys were sure happy with their balloons. I survived the line waiting by browsing books and periodicals the whole time. Random comment I just heard from Cade to David, "Do you want to play the ocarina with me?" Okay now.........

March 18, 2010

After I got the boys dressed this morning, I went on a David hunt. Of course, Cade and I were loaded in the car waiting to jet to preschool. David was MIA. I finally found him. Upstairs in his boat in his bedroom. I thought the little man was so darn cute, I ran and grabbed my camera to savor the Kodak moment. He told me he was going to "The Wibrary to get Boooks!!!!" He was so excited. I let him finish out his adventure and I went camera happy. It was only just now that I realized he has on two different socks :) Ha Ha - what kind of crazy mom dresses her boy in mismatched socks?

March 17, 2010

St. Patrick's Day! Happy Green man Day! We started our day off reading several books we checked out from the library about St. Patrick's Day. Then, we went and had our breakfast - homemade Banana Bread (compliments of Chef Eric) that we doused in green sprinkles. Capping off our exquisite cousine was green Yoda Fruit Snacks - oh and lime green Crystal Light.....yum. We would've had key lime yogurt to boot, but I ate that all up much before the St. Patty's Day. We had a small "parade" around the block. We put on our crazy hats, had chattering teeth thanks to the cold spell, and we went home. We also got carnations that were white and we put them in water with green food coloring. They did eventually turn green - a few days later......We watched our free redbox movie and it was a great green day.