Winter Fun...

We were so excited when the parks baseball diamond suddenly turned into an ice skating rink! It was the first time in about 9 years that we had the "perfect" winter to make this happen. The past couple of years the city has done the "prep" work only to have January warm-up just enough to make the foundation for the rink melt. So you can imagine all our excitment when we realized for the first time that it was ice! (It takes many weeks of city employees working through the night to compact the "base" down with trucks and then many more nights of spraying it down with water from a fire hose.) I think we pulled off the road and just stared at the big slab of ice in a state of shock and disbelief that it was really there! That started our race to find ice skates (since the city no longer rents them), we called everywhere in the valley and nobody sold them or rented them, we were totally bummed. After no luck at our local DI, Eric stopped at every DI between our home and SLC on his way home from work. He was able to find skates for me and the kids (and plenty to share with friends) but none for himself. I feel so bad, I think he was the most excited about the rink, and the only one who hasn't had a chance to skate. He has taken Riley down everyday that he is home, and boy has Riley loved it! He has gone from being a little nervous and a little wobbly to racing anyone willing around the rink. Katelyn has enjoyed doing her "ballet" on the ice... I think that she would really enjoy figure skating lessons. Hailey thought that it was fun for the first minute and was then ready to head home where it was warm, if she would have agreed to wear gloves and a hat maybe she would have lasted longer. The ice rink in the park has definatly brought a little magical winter fun for our family this year!

Our Copycat!

Every day Riley comes home from school with a new book to read that night for his "reading group" homework. He reads the book to us and then our job is to sign a paper that tells the teacher that he read the book, if he doesn't return the paper with parent signature on it then he has to stay in from first recess and read the book. So last night I was on my own, Eric was at work, and oops I forgot to sign his paper before I went to bed! Riley noticed that is wasn't signed when he was handing it in. He didn't want to stay in from recess because he knew he had read the book, so he decided to sign Erics name for him, hoping it would fool his teacher. Well it worked (notice the smiley face) he was very happy to tell us that he went to first recess. The top signature is really Erics, the second one is Rileys... He told us tonight after he was done reading, so we wouldn't get mad when we noticed what he had done. Riley said that he chose Erics signature because mine was too hard, he knew that he could copy Erics! Though he is right... anyone could forge Erics name. The ironic thing about it is the name of the book he read that night was The Copycat! We better watch out, or he is going to be writting his own excuse notes for skipping school by the fourth grade!

A little about me!

Hello everyone... I am back!
Okay, so I really got this as an e-mail but I figured that if I took and hour to fill it out then I needed to make it a blog post too! Besides I have too many friends that I only keep in touch with on my blog... So I am going to TAG: Angie B., Christina U., Danielle A., Melody R., Sarah S., Brandi B., Tessa E., and Kim B. I hope to see your answers on your blogs soon! And sorry Suzie that this is a repeat for you but I hope to make a post with photos soon!

1. What time did you get up this morning?
7:45, that is with my alarm... I am not a morning person!
2. Diamonds or pearls
Diamonds!
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Bolt
4. What is your favorite TV show?
Lost, The Bachelor (only the past few seasons, I suprised myself with this one!), CSI Vegas & New York, Law & Order, Medium, Cold Case, With out a Trace... can you see a trend here? Pretty much anything with a morg or a court room!
5. What do you usually have for breakfast?
usually nothing, sometimes an instant Breakfast or cereal
6. What is your middle name?
I don't have one! Neither does my mom or grandmothers
7 . What food do you dislike?
I hate coconut! Most chinese food and most seafood!
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment?
Mine or the kids? I rarely get to listen to "my" music anymore... If I do I turn on itunes on the computer and listen to anything catagorized as "90's music". Suz, who are the ting tings?
9. What kind of car do you drive?
My AWESOME Mini Van... It has allwheel drive and I don't know how we would ever make it through Sardine Canyon with out it!
10. Favorite sandwich?
I LOVE the Turkey Bacon Guacamole at Quiznos or the Bridge Hampton at Gandolfos (Turkey, bacon & Avacado) or just a good old homemade Turkey Sandwhich.
11. What characteristic do you despise?
liars, and people who think that they are better than everyone else!
12. Favorite item of clothing?
Shoes, a good pair of jeans and a great jacket.
3. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?
Europe, Caribean, Australia, Hawaii, or anywhere historical on the east coast!
14. Favorite brand of clothing?
I don't know, I guess anything on sale... I havn't shopped much but Target and OldNavy's clearance racks since the kids started coming. But I have always loved anything I bought at GAP.
15. Where would you retire to?
I have no idea! warm would be nice though!
16. What was your most recent memorable birthday?
I can't think of just one, but it has been really fun with the kids getting older because they get so darn excited to celebrate. They always act suprised that parents have birthdays too!
17. Favorite sport to watch?
Anything little league!
18. Farthest place you are sending this?
Australia
19. Person you expect to send it back first?
Monica, Olivia and Suzie (don't let me down girls!) I do want to see it on everyones blog or e-mail that I read! Including Linda and Diana!
20. When is your birthday?
July 22 - I turn 30 this year
21. Are you a morning person or a night person?
NIGHT! I am filling this out at midnight! I have a terrible habit of hitting the snooze button, but I am trying to get better! But why get up if the house is cold and the kids are asleep? It drives Eric crazy because he is totally a morning person.
22. What is your shoe size?
a 7.5 - 8 depending on the shoe.
23. Pets?
A dog who has a serious case of old age GAS! Yuck, and he won't stay outside!
24. Anything new and exciting you'd like to share with us?
Riley made the only basket at his Jr. Jazz game on saturday! And may I add that it was a 3-point shot... I think he does have a little of his dad in him! And after years of the girls sleeping in Rileys old blue room, I finally bought some "almost amethyst" purple paint to transform it into a "princess" room. I hope to have it done in the next week or so, I will blog photos when it is done!
25. What did you want to be when you were little?
a mom, and then a school teacher so I could be home when my kids were home. I had some pretty awesome elementary teachers!
26. What are you doing today?
I took down the crib! It's the first time it has been down since Katelyn was born, And it was only down for a few months between Riley and Katelyn... It made me sad.
27. What is your favorite candy?
Mini Snickers, that's my dad shining through!
28. What is your favorite flower?
Gerber Daisies if they are in a vase, black eyed susans & African Daisies if they are in the ground.
29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to?
Any day that doesn't have "A" platoon scheduled and the kids are home. March 9th for Brett & Jen. And the month of May will be great, thats when my mom ends her cancer treatments!
30. What is your full name?
Anyone reading this should know... I am not listing it for privacy reasons.
31. What are you listening to right now?
Hailey crying... she just woke up! The poor thing just can't make it through the night anymore!
32. What was the last thing you ate?
a oatmeal chocolate chip cookie
33. Do you wish on stars?
Sometimes... when it's a really dark night and we are driving through Sardine Canyon or on the trampoline in the back yard.
34. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Dandelion... it was the only one in the box with a cool name besides yellow-green or green-yellow.
35. How is the weather right now?
In the single didgets, and snowing!
36. The first person you spoke to on the phone today?
Brady Garrick, our neighbor/friend, he wanted me to watch their kids.
37. Favorite soft drink?
Dr. Pepper! A bad habit I am trying to stop... I once cracked open a can at 10am and Eric looked at me and said "it's a good thing you don't drink alcohol!"
38. Favorite restaurant?
Chilis, but only for their Queso dip!
39. Real hair color?
Brown, but I am afraid that grey is taking over quickly!
40. What was your favorite toy as a child?
My kitchen and my "Jenny" doll... she had her own roller skates!
41. Summer or winter?
Both, however I do wish winter was shorter!
42. Hugs or kisses?
Both
43. Chocolate or Vanilla?
Both, it depends on my mood and if it has toppings!
44. Coffee or tea?
Neither
45. Do you want your friends to email you back?
Yes, all of you!
46. When was the last time you cried?
After Christmas... when my mother in-law got back from Australia. But not meant the way it sounds, I wans't crying because she returned. Did I just put my foot right in my mouth or what?
47. What is under your bed?
Pictures frames that broke when we moved to Logan that have never been fixed. And usually Erics dirty socks get lost under there too.
48. What did you do last night?
Totally put the kids to bed early and watched TV with Eric. We had been up late the night before preparing talks for sacrament meeting, and we were happy it was over!
49. What are you afraid of?
Spiders, the crawl space under our house, snakes, mean dogs, scary old men and the fact that Hailey might forever be our baby!
52. How many years at your current job?
almost 8 years, and I never want it to end!
53. Favorite day of the week?
Anyday that Eric doens't work!
54. How many towns have you lived in?
1. West Valley 2. Riverton 3. Salt Lake 4. Murray 5. Taylorsville 6. Logan
55. Do you make friends easily?
It depends, I think I do but some people just really intimidate me and I don't know why.
56. How many people will you send this to?
maybe 12?

Squish a Boob, Save a Life!

We have all seen the extra PINK in the stores this month... cereal boxes, detergent, paper towels, measuring cups, even Kitchen Aid mixers! It's everywhere! I thought that I had always understood why as women we need to support the cause and find a cure. Tonight I realized just how important it is... My mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer! She goes in for a Lumpectomy on Tuesday to have the tumor and tissue removed and then will begin 6 weeks of radiation. I am shocked...

The doctors were shocked that she found the lump by doing a self exam, I guess most women rely on a mammogram to detect breast cancer (my mom had one just last February). She also told me that with her diagnosis it also doubles my chance of developing breast cancer. And if you also have a family history of ovarian cancer (which I do) your chances are even greater. However, my point in saying all this is that when your family has these histories you can go into your doctor and be checked to see if you are a carrier of two different genes BRCG1 and BRCG2 (BReast Cancer Gene 1&2) if you are a carrier on one of these genes then your chances of developing breast cancer is 40 -85% according to then Susan G Koman website. That way you know and can start checking at an earlier age and more frequently to aid an early detection for a better survival rate! So get checked, have your mom and sisters get checked... squish a boob and save a life!

Broadway, Here he comes...

Riley will make his big debuet as Winthrop this Thursday, Friday and Saturday (October 23, 24 & 25) in THE MUSIC MAN! You are all invited... if you would like to come please leave me a comment with your e-mail address and I will send you the details of the location, etc. I just feel better about the saftey of my family by sending the info out that way. Thanks, I hope you see you there!

This is Riley practicing his solo, Gary Indiana.

P.S. I am also making my big break backstage as the curtain opener & closer!

SLC 2 Alarm Fire

I thought I would post this just for fun and so Eric's family that does not live in Utah could see their little brother at work. This was Erics first fire while on the job with SLCFD... he was so excited! The following is a link to channel 4's coverage of the fire. Luckily the houses were abandoned and nobody was hurt!

There will be a short commercial before the video will start!

http://www.kutv.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=60744@kutv.dayport.com&navCatId=5&articleID=60744

Campbell Soup and the PTA

So at the beginning of the school year I was asked to sell popcorn at the schools annual "skate night". I said sure, how hard can it be to sell popcorn. That night I was asked to help count Campbell Soup Labels for the school fundraiser, I was told that it only takes an hour every couple of months and if there were a couple of moms helping it would take even less time. So again I said that I would be happy to help, and the nice PTA lady said that she would get back to me on a time to meet and show me how to count and enter the info into the computer. A few weeks have gone by since then and I was just thinking to myself one night that they must not have needed my help after all.
So this morning while getting Riley ready for school, the nice PTA lady called and asked if we could meet this afternoon if I was still interested. I told her that I was still happy to help and said I would be there. So I get to the school and walk into the teacher lounge where she asked me to meet her and I see her and the PTA Pres. and the Principal and 2 other ladies I don't know sitting around a table getting ready to start their big important PTA meeting. They had there palm pilots, agendas and Diet Coke out and ready for and afternoon of serious PTA planning for this school year. I felt way out of my comfort zone (our elementary boundaries cover the wealthiest and poorest communities of our town, and as you can imagine the PTA board comes from the money side of the line. I however don't, our first time home buyer fixer upper is in the poor side of the school boundaries, so I felt way under "blinged") and sat through the whole meeting wondering if they gave me an agenda just to be nice or should I be taking mad notes like the rest of them for a reason I didn't know about. At the end of the meeting I was introduced and asked for all my phone numbers, e-mail, etc. so they would all know how to get in touch with me. The meeting ended and I was handed a big fat 3 ring binder, taken on a tour of the PTA room and shown where they keep everything. Then the nice PTA lady looked at me and said WELCOME TO THE PTA BOARD!!! I was so shocked I didn't know what to say, then she turned and said that she better get back to the classroom she was helping in and walked away. PTA BOARD? Counting a few Campbell Soup labels welcomes you to the PTA BOARD? I now have meetings to attend, activities to plan and not to mention, Campbell soup labels to count!