Week(s) in iPhotos 8 - A Big Announcement

The weather has been fantastic lately.

I've been going on lots of walks.

Almost everyday.

(I'm determined to stay active this time around, no matter how sick I am.)

I've been trying to finish lots of projects around the house before the sickness hits.

Jeff and I planted about 50 shrubs and trees in our yard.

I have been so hungry lately and have gone absolutely nuts in the kitchen.

Fast food makes me gag now and I want home cooked meals with lots of vegetables.

(I mean, come on!  Look at this meal.  I am so proud of myself.)

Homemade peanut butter granola bars.

I did something I've never, EVER done before:

bought, cut up, and used jicama in a salad.

Be amazed.

More vegetables.

Can't get enough.

Man!  I love this kid.  We spend a LOT of time together while the kids are in school all day.

This is his favorite hat and he wears it everywhere.

He's recently outgrown his afternoon naps and frequently falls asleep in the late afternoon.

In fact, so do I.  I need a nap every afternoon these days.  I'm sooooo tired.

I am dog sitting my sister's dog while she is in Chicago.

Here she is sleeping on my bed.  She's a good little doggy except when I accidentally overfeed her (I had no idea that she won't stop eating even when she's full) and she had diarrhea the whole first night.  

Lesson learned.

I came home from one of my walks to find this.

All the walking,

finishing up projects,

cooking, cravings, and exhaustion because........

I am 6 weeks pregnant!!!!

Morning sickness will hit sometime this week.

It lasts all. day. long.

Last pregnancy it lasted the entire 9 months--and that was the least of my problems.

I am praying and praying that it will be somewhat easier this time around.

We are all very excited at our house, especially Lucy.

Baby will be here in December.

Our Easter Weekend

Saturday Easter egg hunt with the Droubay cousins

Lucy and Maddy

Jake, Josh, and Cooper

 Jeff and I decided a few years ago that, since our kids already get TWO Easter egg hunts with each side of the family, that we would not do Easter baskets, or eggs, or candy.  We would focus more on Christ's atonement, crucifixion, and resurrection.

We have a traditional Passover Seder meal on Saturday night.  The kids honestly love this more than anything.

After the meal, we watch the Ten Commandments on TV.

Sunday Easter egg hunt with the Holland cousins.

I wish I had pictures but one of the highlights of my year

(It may be second only to our Disneyland trip),

is the ADULT EASTER EGG HUNT that my mom does.

Why do kids get all the fun?

This is the one time where we get to run around as fast as we can and shriek at the tops of our lungs just like the kids.

The best part is that my mom puts money and gift cards into some of the eggs.

I hit the jackpot this year with $27.00 in cash and $80.00 in gift cards to the Disney Store and Target.

Nicole found this egg from last year's egg hunt.

If you look closely you can see the mold forming on the chocolate.

P.S.

Jeff pretty much got nuthin'

Hahahahaha!

Green Pants Birthday

So, I'm calling this my green pants birthday because I am in total denial about getting older, so I bought these bright green pants and I don't care if you all think I'm getting too old to wear them.

I'm sure I'll be one of those 75 year old grandmas walking around in pink pants with purple heels and lots of gold necklaces and rings.  Ha!

I forgot to take pictures but my dad took Sam and me to lunch at Cafe Rio.

Can't let a birthday (or a week, for that matter) go by without a trip to the Rio.

 Sam and I did some shopping up at Gardner Village.

Remember my birthday curse?

Well, this year wasn't so bad except for two things:

1 - I woke up from a terrible nightmare at 5:00 a.m. where my kids were drowning in a pool and I couldn't run there fast enough to save them.  I woke up in a terrified sweat and couldn't go back to sleep.

and

2 - Jeff was out of town.

Boo!

He got home late on my birthday and when I woke up the next morning, I found these Mickey and Minnie plates and bowls on the counter.

They made me so happy!

And my mom made me Mickey and Minnie cupcakes for my birthday dinner on Sunday.

Wow!

Here's to 37 years!

Blah.

Sammy Sammers Turns Four

Opening presents

He loves soccer and baseball.

Getting ready for the party.

Sam's favorite food is chocolate so we had a chocolate fountain.

It was a hit with the kids.

We went to lunch with my dad.

Sam loves Grandpa Holland.

I love that they are making the same face in this picture.

I had some time before I needed to pick up the kids from school so Sam and I went to his FAVORITE place in the world:  The Dinosaur Museum

Soooo tired from all the celebrating.

Happy birthday my sweet little Sam.

I may or may not have cried off and on ALL DAY.

The Cleaning Bug--Pantry

I caught the cleaning bug over the weekend.

I LOVE when that happens.

It happens so infrequently that I need to document.

I was in the middle of preparing for a small party for Sam when it hit--so unexpectedly!

I decided I was going to clean out and organize my pantry.

(Which I haven't done since I moved in the house over three years ago.)

The before:

And AFTER!!!

I had these two baskets left over from my closet-makeover-that-never-was,

so I filled them with all the miscellaneous pantry items like granola bars, sunflower seeds, sauce and seasoning packets, etc.

Left side of the pantry

Bottom: drinks and large cans

Second shelf: cereal

Third Shelf: snack and crackers

Top shelf: cleaning supplies

Right side of the pantry

Top shelf: Large jars/bottles and paint supplies

Third shelf: Sauces, syrups, cocoa, garbage bags

Second shelf: bread, rice, pasta

 Bottom shelf: paper products, cutlery and cookbooks

In the corner I put the baskets on the third shelf,

Canned food on the second shelf,

More drinks on the bottom.

This picture has nothing to do with anything except that I can't get over how cute this picture is.

Sam's birthday was yesterday and mine is tomorrow.

Lots of birthday fun around here.

Except...

Have I mentioned that I have a birthday curse?

I have not had a good birthday for the last 5 years.

Kinda nervous to see what happens tomorrow.

Week in iPhotos 7 - Conference Weekend

I started the weekend off right by finding these at my local gas station.

They are Japanese candy.

I discovered them last year in California and I've never seen them in Utah until last week.

I was so excited that I bought one of each flavor and quizzed the gas station attendant about them and excitedly told her how happy I was to find them.

(I know I am sooo nerdy--and Lucy, who was with me, was a little bit embarrassed.)

I teach a combined class with the Seniors and Teens on Friday after school.

This girl

(she gave me permission to take this picture)

forgot her ballet clothes--or rather, her mom forgot them.

I'm pretty strict about clothing--tights, leotard, shoes, hair back, no skirts, shorts, leg warmers, etc.

But she explained what happened and I totally understand--these things happen--not a big deal.

I thought she would just wait for her mom, change, and then join us for class.

After I got my music going, ballet shoes on, and the class started, I looked over and saw her in her concert dress (from a school orchestra performance?) and burst out laughing!!!

Barre in concert gown.

This is a first for me.

In between conference sessions on Saturday, some of Lucy's friends came over to play and color.

Jeff and Josh all dressed and ready for the Priesthood session of conference

(For more info about our church and conference go to:  www.mormon.org)

Jeff's grandpa, dad, uncle, cousin, and 4 brothers always attend the Priesthood session up at the Conference Center in SLC.

I always take my kids to the Gateway mall.

Our first stop is frozen yogurt.

 The lights on the ceiling are so cool.

They change colors.

My kids love it.

We usually do some shopping for Spring clothes.

Jake's only request this year was that we find a bright pink shirt.

I love this kid's sense of style.

We had some time to kill and the weather was fantastic so we played in a grassy area for about an hour.

Lucy's handstand.

Lucy was on a mission to do 100 cartwheels

Seriously.

Can you believe this girl's hair?

 Here she is about to do her 100th cartwheel.

She made sure I was watching and documenting.

I'm throwing these two pictures in here because I think they are so funny.

These are Josh's photos I found on the computer.

Let's just say he is working to improve in the area of not procrastinating his homework each. and. every. single. day.

I think he is trying to motivate himself......

.....by procrastinating just a little bit more.

Happy Monday!

I really do love Mondays.

I love making all my to-do lists and cleaning up after the weekend.

One more week until Spring Break!

And for us this year, that means some serious Spring cleaning inside and out.