My Righteous Son

Today I was giving Nathan and Alexandra a bath. After I washed them both, I left the door open and sat just outside the door in the hallway playing my Nintendo DS while they played in the tub. A little while later, Alexandra started crying frantically. I jumped up and got her out of the tub and then started drilling Nathan for answers as to why she was crying. I was asking him, did you bite her? No. Did you pinch her? No. Did you push her? No. Then WHAT???

He said, "I did baptize her." I asked how he did that. He said he did say some words to Heavenly Father and then put her face in the water.

Kids sure do learn by example! Thank goodness I was sitting right there. This might have to be the end of the fun, playful baths as they know it. What will he think of next?

What Luck!!

Do you remember this picture? You will NOT BELIEVE what Jeremy got with this photo! Leave it to him - he sent it in to the radio station to enter a contest for concert tickets and he WON!!!

The radio station asked for 80s and 90s pictures to be sent in and they would pick 3 lucky winners to go to the MC Hammer & Vanilla Ice concert. I'm sure you all know I've wanted to attend a concert like this my whole life. Well now's my chance!!! LOL, I don't think I even know what either of them sing.

This is the (revised) email Jeremy received today:

Congratulations! You have won 4 tickets to the MC Hammer & Vanilla Ice concert!
You can pick up your tickets at our studios. If you need detailed directions, call ###-####.
Congrats and rock it at the show! :)

That is so funny! We had plans to visit some friends of ours, so instead of going to their house, we are both getting babysitters and going to the show. Believe me, you'll get an update as to how it all goes!!

What's New?

Look closely at this pretty little girl . . . can you see what's new?
Not the teeth, she had those before. Not the clothes either. Oh, and she has always had hair.

The clip in her hair is actually quite old too. Do you see it?? She has earrings!!

Saturday night we went to the mall and got Alexandra's ears pierced. :) I think she looks so cute! She has been so interested in Athena's, Samantha's, and my earrings lately. When we would ask her where her earrings were she would feel her ears, then hold up her hands and say, "Donnow!" (Don't know)

I guess it's true that moms tend to spoil their last kids. I'm guilty of that now. I made Athena and Samantha wait until they were older to get their ears pierced so they were making the choice. I guess you could raise the question about Alexandra, what if she gets older and then doesn't want to wear earrings? Well, then, I guess she could just not wear earrings!

When we went to get her ears pierced, of course Athena and Samantha were SO excited. I held Alexandra in my lap and she sat so very still for the lady who was piercing. We had 2 women piercing - one on each ear so they could do it at the same time. After they pierced her ears, Alexandra whimpered for just a minute, and then was fine. I took her to the mirror and she touched her earrings, then gave me a great big smile. She still seems to be happy with her earrings. She doesn't like it when I clean them, but then she runs off and plays when I'm done.

The pictures below have nothing to do with earrings, or anything new for that matter. Nathan saw that I was taking pictures of Alexandra and he wanted his turn in the spotlight. He started striking poses for me. :)

What a cute boy! We had just returned from Walmart when I took these pictures. Nathan was at the drinking fountains there (as usual) and got his shirt all wet. He has a few more inches to grow before he can get a nice clean drink from the fountain all by himself.

REWIND!!!

OK, so I'm caving to the pressure put on me by my many friends and associates and I will post my latest interesting dream to my blog - much to Jeremy's dismay.

In my dream I was sitting in the family room with my family and we were watching home videos together. In the video we were swimming in a pool, and then I started to get out of the pool. I was wearing my bikini and walking up the pool stairs holding on to the railing. Just then Jeremy said, "Whoa! Did you see that?" "No, what?!!" I responded. Jeremy rewound the video a little ways to where I was just starting to come out of the pool. Then he paused it where I was on the steps and he said, "Right THERE!" He walked over to the TV and did a John Madden move with his finger outlining the back of my bum in an arch shape. Then he exclaimed, "BABY GOT BACK!"

I'm pretty sure I woke up mad that morning. Sorry, Jeremy. :)

A Happy Valentine's Day!

This year for Valentine's Day Jeremy and I got up early in the morning and met with our ward to go on a temple trip. We carpooled to Manti and went through the temple together. I had a very positive experience in the session and feel like it was definitely worth the trip. The temple inside is amazingly beautiful. That was mine and Jeremy's first time going inside that temple.

After the temple session we went to lunch with our ward members. I really enjoy the people in our ward and we are blessed to have many friends where we live. Before our food arrived we played games at our table with the people around us.
This is our group, minus a few people who didn't come to lunch.

We rode down with Mike and Kristi. We spend a lot of time with them and their family. :)

Once we got home from Manti, Jeremy and I left to pick up the kids from their sleepovers. Athena and Samantha stayed with Grandma and Grandpa. They were very good and had so much fun they didn't want to leave! I'm happy they enjoyed their stay. Nathan and Alexandra stayed with Lisa. Lisa is very kind to allow them to come over. Nathan is in a difficult stage right now where he tries to get attention by being in people's faces. He had several time outs while we were gone. Even with that, he quite enjoyed his sleepover and overall I think it turned out OK. Alexandra was fine while we were gone, but was sure happy to see us again!

For the evening we went to the mall and Jeremy got me a couple of nightgowns for Valentine's day. It probably doesn't sound really thrilling, but I'm really happy about getting nightgowns! I've never bought me a new nightgown and the ones I have are hand-me-downs from his mom. :) I really love them!

From the mall we went on a cheap date with the kids to Macey's for ice cream. You can't beat ice cream for the whole family for less than $4! At home I had the table decorated with Valentine's gifts and special notes for the kids.

This is what we gave them.

Jeremy and I gave Athena and Samantha a soft blanket with a matching pillow. Nathan received a giant plush ladybug, and Alexandra got a really soft, squishy teddy bear.

So, that's what we did with our day. I think it was one of the best Valentine's days for me. I got to spend my whole day with all the people I love the most!

Cookie Tradition

Every year for Valentine's Day we (meaning me) make a bunch of Valentine's cookies and bring them to our family members. This year was fun because everyone was able to help. Alexandra helped by eating, but everyone else got to decorate.
I frost and the kids put on the candies. We have a 5-candy limit per cookie to ensure that the eater can taste cookie with his/her candy. This rule was violated several times, but I think it all turned out OK.

When we decorate cookies, we have a "no licking" policy. If anyone licks their fingers they are done and don't get to decorate anymore. We wash our sticky hands when we are done with the project - NO LICKING! In the picture below, notice the ostracized cookie at the end of the table that doesn't get to be on the cookie sheet or the cooling rack? Nathan was decorating and was so excited that he decided to stick out his tongue and spit! That cookie was sitting on his plate at the time. He was removed from the table, his cookie was quarantined, and he had to sit in time out for a few minutes. After that he learned his lesson. We let him wash his hands and join in on the fun, but he didn't even hint at coughing, spitting, or licking. When everyone got to choose one cookie to eat, he had to eat the cookie that he had done wrong. I bet he sure learned his lesson!

This year I was quite proud of myself. I made exactly the right amount of frosting and had to scrape the bowl for the last few cookies. No waste!

I'm not sure how many cookies Alexandra ate while we were frosting, I just know she stayed busy. :)

The fun part comes once all the cookies are finished. We deliver them! Here are the kids at our first stop - Cathy's house. They were all very excited to share their creations with their cousins.

As we were giving the cookies to Cathy and her kids, I was telling her about our no licking rule and that the cookies were clean, so she didn't have to worry. Ashley posed nicely for this picture and right after I took the picture, she forgot to pay attention to what she was holding and spilled all the nice, clean cookies all over the porch! 10 SECONDS! I hurried and put them back on the plate and no harm done, right?

Next stop, Teresa's house. It was Nathan's turn to hand over the plate of cookies.

Teresa told me they had been looking forward to receiving our Valentine cookies this year because she didn't make any. Unfortunately Katelyn wasn't home when we arrived because she was babysitting. She was the one who brought it up to Teresa that we usually bring them.

Teresa told us where Katelyn was babysitting and we popped in on her at that house and surprised her with her own Valentine cookie!

We then drove over to Lisa's house and gave her a plate of cookies too. :)

Our other stops aren't pictured. We met Mike and Ronda at the mall and gave them a plate of cookies in JCPenney. They weren't home when we called to deliver their cookies. Sorry to those of you who live farther away. We have in years past brought you cookies but it didn't work out this year to drive up there. We will try to get you some next year!

The night we delivered cookies we also dropped off our kids for sleepovers. Jeremy and I had to get up early the next morning to go on a ward temple trip. We dropped off Nathan and Alexandra at Lisa's house and Athena and Samantha at Grandma and Grandpa's house. All the kids were so excited for their sleepovers after delivering cookies. It turned out to be a fun night for everyone. :)

Oh What Do You Do . . .

Oh what do you do in the wintertime, when all the world is BLAH! Do you play in the tub?

Nathan and Alexandra have had WAY TOO MUCH ENERGY to be stuck inside during all of this cold winter.
While I was getting ready for the day, Nathan discovered that my bathtub can also double as a great slide!

Alexandra quickly caught on and the 2 of them had a ball sliding down and climbing back up. Over and over and over again.

I'm happy they can find ways to entertain themselves. The warm weather won't be here soon enough for me.

News You are Itching to Know

A few little updates about our little family:

1. Jeremy shaved his beard!!! He actually shaved it more than a week ago because he said it was getting too itchy. Funny that it had it's own downfall.

2. We are night potty training Nathan and it has been quite the headache!! He has been waking us up once or twice every night for the past month with an accident. We then have to get up, clean him up, change his sheets, tuck him in, and try to fall back to sleep ourselves. The good news is that he has been dry the past 2 nights! I don't expect that it has suddenly changed, but I've appreciated not having to clean him up for 2 nights straight. Even though he is dry, he still wakes us up several times a night as he gets up to go potty (last night he got up 4 times to go potty! He must be trying to cover his bases.) He comes in to announce that he is dry and to ask if he can sleep with us. We then have to take him back down to his bed. He gets 4 gummy bears in the morning if he is dry, and Athena and Samantha each get a gummy bear from him if he is dry too. This morning he proudly handed out the gummy bears to his sisters to let them know he was dry. :)

3. I CAN'T WAIT FOR SPRING! I know I have to wait because I really don't have a choice, but I'm going out of my mind!! Oh how I long to wake up and look in my closet to decide which pair of shorts I should sport for the day.

4. Jeremy, Athena, Samantha, and I all finished reading 1 Nephi individually. The girls are so excited about it and now we qualify for our family reward. We are going to take the kids swimming. I'm so happy that we are sticking to our reading. Now we will move on to 2 Nephi. Wish us luck! The kids have loved being able to see each other's progress and have been really good about keeping the family in check with our reading.

5. I still hate spiders.

6. I have to give a talk in church in 2 weeks. YUCK! My topic is Saviors on Mount Zion. I'm baffled about how I'll make that last for 15 minutes. My hope is that once I start studying it I'll have so much information that I can't possibly cover it all and the 15 minutes will fly by in an inspired breeze.

Daddy Daughter Shopping

This is how Dad gets it done! LOL! I sent Jeremy into the store yesterday and had him take Alexandra in with him. This is how he came out. She seemed to be having a ball riding in her little spot!

I Survived Another One

I'm talking about the annual superbowl party - my least favorite get together of the year. We hosted the party again this year. I didn't know, but to start out the party Athena had her own little plan. She had taped a note to the door and she stayed in the living room until all the guests had arrived. I didn't even know she was in there! LOL
The note says:

"Read first!!!
When you get in give Athena your shoes. And sheel put them wear all the shoes go. Give her your coats and she will put them on the couch. Go downstairs for the superbowl party.

HAVE A FUN TIME!!!"

All of our kids were very excited for the party. Especially because their cousins were coming over. As you would expect, we had a ton of food that is extra fattening. I guess what this kind of party is all about, right? My consolation is that we don't have another party like this coming up for a LONG time and at least I don't eat like this every day. :)

Athena and Amber are filling their plates.

Here are Athena, Chelsea, and Kylie.

Typical . . . everyone sitting in front of the TV for the game. My consolation for the duration of this party was my Nintendo DS. What would I do without it? That and a cup of Dr. Pepper.

Jeremy's new crockpot was the talk of the town. Everyone loved it! He got it from our Christmas party gag gifts. He is so proud of it! We put little smokies in it and it worked great to keep them warm throughout the whole game. The pot has found it's true place in life - our superbowl parties!

Then, of course, everyone had to have the special 3D glasses for the little halftime show. Thanks Grandma for scoring these. :)

Even though football is pretty much my least favorite sport, and I like it even less when it's on TV, I think the party was a success. It seemed like everyone had fun. Grandma always goes out of her way to make the party more fun. She had everyone fill out questionnaires about the superbowl, and then guess the winning team and the score. Each family received prizes at the end of the party based on guessing stats and the correct team and score. She gave us gift certificates to Taco Amigo and movie passes! Very nice.

For me, I'm glad it's all over. It'll come up again next year, I know. I'll just make sure to have my own entertainment handy and enjoy a little of the food!

Sporting Event a Success!

Saturday afternoon we went to a BYU Basketball game with all the kids plus Amber (a cousin). To my pleasant surprise it turned out to be a fun experience for all.

In the past it's been a huge frustration to go to the games because it ends up being me watching uninterested kids who fight for my lap and want to climb up and down the stairs until I'm so super duper frustrated and I just take them for walks in the hall until the game is over while Jeremy sits in his spot and screams at the refs, completely oblivious to my plight. (That was a HUGE run-on sentence, but I think it fit the situation.)

HOWEVER, this time was different. Athena, Samantha, and Amber actually watched the game and cheered. Alexandra played happily within the confines of her space, and Nathan watched part of the game too. Jeremy took turns holding the little kids and helping them to have a good time. I only ended up in the hall 3 times and that was for bathroom trips!

Here are Samantha and Alexandra being happy to be there.
I had to take a separate one with Nathan because it was next to impossible to get a good, smiling shot of all 3 of them above. I think the people behind us were getting tired of the flashes while we tried to get a perfect shot of 3 smiling kids.

Samantha, Amber, and Athena

Athena took this of Jeremy and I. I did break down and wear my BYU sweatshirt and Jeremy was quite pleased.

I actually had fun at this game being with the kids and if I could guarantee it would happen like this again, I wouldn't mind trying this scene with the kids another time. It's nice that Athena and Samantha are getting older and able to behave themselves better. I have fun watching them adapting to the situations they are in and learning how to enjoy themselves. It sure makes it easier on the rest of us!