Belated St. George Post

I just got finished IM"ing" with my good friend Steph, and thought I'd catch up on the little trip Me, Frank, and the kids took a couple weeks ago. We woke up on a Monday morning, got the kids off to school, and Frank was leaving on a business trip to Cedar City later that afternoon. He joked that I should come too. I didn't think it was funny at all so I bailed on ballet, ditched reading to 2nd graders, passed on the Relief Society talent show, packed our bags, kids, and left for Cedar with Frank. We took the kids out of school for 2 days. It was the most spontaneous thing I've done in a long time - so liberating!

It took us double the time it should have because of a nasty snow storm - but we made it. The two weeks before were "no screen" weeks at school, so the boys were SILENT the entire trip trying their darndest to make up for lost DS time...

Carly would be upset if I didn't include a "car picture" of her, so here it is...

We spent the night with Frank in Cedar City, and had breakfast with him in the morning. I drove him to work, then we went back to the hotel to swim...

Then, we went back to the room so I could get ready, and the kids of course...

got re-acquatinted with thier DS's again. Then, we headed to St. George to spend the remainder of the trip with my BFF! It was so relaxing to just hang out there. The weather was AMAZING, and we got to talk a lot of decorating. We even wallpapered her bathroom - yes, I said WALLPAPER. Here's a picture of the finished product I stole from her blog. The bead board is actually wallpaper :) Look'n good Steph!

The kids were in heaven with their long lost friends. Logan and Ethan jammed to Rock Band, and Chase and Grant...

ef-fi-cien-cy

efficiency/i-fish-uhn-see/adj./

1.ability to accomplish a job with a minimum expenditure of time and energy. 2.the concurrent execution of two or more jobs by a single unit.

That's my boy! Our nightly routine begins at about 7:15. The boys get in their pj's, clean up, brush teeth, say prayers, and then they read in bed until I turn out the lights at 8:00. While they are reading, I put out clothes for the next day (per Logan's request, I arrange the articles of clothing in the order they are to be put on(socks, underwear, under shirt, top shirt, pants)...

You will note that Logan's clothes are missing from this picture because after they have gone to bed, he will often get OUT of his pajama's, and INTO his clothes for the next day, so he doesn't have to do it when he wakes up. He re-makes his bed, and sleeps on top of the covers so he doesn't even have to do THAT in the morning!

So this morning, when asking the usual questions: Did you get dressed? Did you make your bed? "YES!" was his proud reply:)

TiMe FoR a ChAnGe

Tonight, we FINALLY decided to cut the boys hair. We've been growing it out for a while (I have a major crush on Zac Efron!) Sometimes I absolutely LOVED it long, and other times, I absolutely HATED it long. So, we've decided to play it safe, and go back to short:) So, what do you think! Long, or short?? Here's some before and afters...

Logan really liked the long hair, and gave us a fight when we wanted to cut it...UNTIL, I offered him 6 cadbury mini eggs - he's so EASY! I totally understand his reconsideration - mini eggs are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

Chase is my easy goin kid. He just sat the whole time making faces in the mirror. It's apparent in the "after" picture that he feels pretty HOT in his new "do"!

Since I won't let Frank near Carly's hair, we practice our "kissy face" in the mirror. It's an expression I mastered in high school (seriously, EVERY picture). I was then, and still am mocked by all family members for this - why not pass it on? Looks like Carly's a natural :)

Lover or Fighter?

This is the question I had to ask Logan last week. Here's the scoop...

Last Thursday, Logan came home from school with his friend Payton. They played until dinner time. Later I put the kids to bed, and Payton's mom called and asked if I heard what happened on the playground that day. She went on to tell me that Logan, Payton, and Jackson got in a brawl, were sent to the principals office, and have to miss 5 recesses. There would be a letter sent to the parents about the incident - LOGAN TOLD ME NOTHING!

I of course called Logan in to talk to me. Here's how the conversation went..

S-Logan, is there anything you think you should tell me about school today?

L-Mom, I don't think that's neccessary. (did he really say neccessary?)

S-I'm pretty sure it is. Tell me what happened.

L-Will I be punished if I tell you?

S-That depends on how honest you are.

L-Well, we were playing tether-ball...wait...I don't need to tell you, because they are sending a letter to you.

S-Logan, I need YOU to tell me.

L-No, but mom, I had to tell them, so it is MY words. You can just read the letter.

S-You'll tell me what happened NOW. I want to hear it from your mouth.

L-OK. We were playing tether-ball, and Payton ran away. Me and Jackson followed him because we didn't know what was wrong. He ran to the bathroom, and when we got there, Jackson and Payton started kicking and hitting eachother in the privates. I could see that Payton was coming to kick me in the privates, so I started to run, and then I surrendered, and then...

S-wait a minute. You surrendered?

L-Yes.

S-How do you "surrender"? (sounds like everyone knows, but me.)

L-I put both of my hands in the air, so he didn't kick me. He told me to run up and get Jackson, so I ran up the hill, and punched Jackson in the privates, and then he kicked me in the stomach, and then we had to go to the principals.

S-Is that everything?

L-No. Jackson said that he accidently kicked me in the stomach. He MEANT to kick me in the leg since he is already baptized.

L-Am I going to be punished?

S-I don't know. I still need to think about it. I'll let you know tomorrow.

I proceeded to lecture him, and then sent him to bed. They are best of friends, and the cutest boys. I guess a little play yard brawl is inevitable?

The funny thing I found out later was that Jackson went to get the playground advisor to tell her that his friend Logan was hurt and crying. When she asked Logan why he was crying, he said it was because Jackson punched him in the stomach. Bless their hearts! They try so hard to do the right thing.

Although, this is his 2ND OFFENSE. Here's the copy of his 1st offense in Kindergarten...

Yes, I'm sure it was "hanging out"! This is for sure going to end up in the middle of his wedding video...PRICELESS:)

Can you say Cha-Ching?

So, a couple weeks ago my sister Julie, and her husband Shane invited me and Frank to go to the Jazz game. They had tickets for an executive suite hosted by O.C. Tanner. We didn't know it was a networking thing, so when they asked us what company we worked for (for the name tags), we just said "Zion's Bank", which is where Shane works. Anyone that came up to us would say, "so, you work for Zion's Bank". We felt kind of stupid - like the only "nobody's" there. There were about 45 people in the suite. We had fun hangin out with Julie and Shane anyway, and savor every kid-free moment we get.


Anyway, at half time, they had a drawing for a couple door prizes. The first was an O.C. Tanner Jacket. They called out a number, and no one answered for it, so they drew another. It was Frank! We called out a litte whoo-whoo, and collected his prize. They next door prize was a $2,500 Omega watch. They made a big to do about it, and rambled off all the amazing features - 007 even wore it! It's water resistant up to 1000 feet! Titanium! Self-winding! Scratch-resistant, ect., etc. Then they drew my number! Yes. Me and Frank won the only two door prizes. So, now I have this amazing MEN's watch (my friend Dawn says the only good reason to wear a $2,500 watch is if it's covered in diamonds, and you are in a rap video!).

It was an extra score for me because exactly one week earlier, I ran into Frank's car, and I had been in the dog house ever since. Who doesn't believe in HAPPY ENDINGS??

THE END!

Lots-o-Lava!

To ring in the new year, we decided to visit the place where sparks first flew - LAVA HOT SPRINGS! This was where Frank told me 12 years ago the he thought he could "maybe like me". Now look where we are...

Frank has been going there since he was just a baby, so he was very much in his element. It rubbed off onto the kids too. They had a great time! After soaking in the hot springs for a couple hours, we had dinner at our favorite little pizza place (love the jukebox), picked up some treats at the local market, and had a PARTAY in the motel! Ok, I had a party in the motel. Frank and the kids went to the hot springs again, and I stayed at the motel to stuff my face, watch HGTV, and just enjoy being without kids.

My mom and dad had decided (independently) to go to Lava too, so we ran into them (just a few rooms down from us). We were delighted to have the "ninja turtle" grandma and grandpa there with us. I'm afraid their romantic get away wasn't as romantic as they had hoped with my three kids around the whole time! Mom and dad were good sports anyway :)

We finished our road trip with a stroll down memory lane in Logan. No trip to Logan is complete without the purchase of squeaky cheese! It was the perfect start to our new year:) Here's to 2009!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, etc...

Here's a letter Logan wrote to Santa, and left it for him next the cookies on Christmas Eve...

anser next to them.

Dear Santa,

I have some questions to ask you.

Will you anser them please?

1. Do you like children?

2. Do you like the cookies?

3. Do you like giving presents?

4. do you like are family?

5. Do you give evreybodey what they want?

6. Was I very good last year?

7. Do you sometimes give children fruit?

8. Does every person give you cookies?

9. Do you work all year?

10. Are you nice?

11. Do you have elfs?

12. Do you deliver all the presents in one minute?

We had a great Christmas this year! We spent Christmas Eve with the Seeley cousins. Here is a picture of all the rugrats in their christmas pj's that the elves left on the porch! My sister Stacy read them the gift of the Magi, we watched the nativity DVD, and had a yummy dinner of French Dip Sandwiches. During dinner Carly fell backwards off her chair, and hit her head. After that, she wanted to go to bed, but we made her stay up. She then puked all over. She wasn't sick, so I'm pretty sure it was a result of a little concusion. She's fine now!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This N That

Logan's been through a lot of changes this year. He started second grade, but a month ago I transferred him to another class. It was quite traumatic for him at first (he was sad to leave his friends) He got braces, he started speech, and just a lot of other little things that have pulled him out of his "comfort zone". I decided to go on the field trip with his class just to kind of see how things are going.

Well, it was the LONGEST field trip - 6 hours - to be exact. The bus left Bountiful at 9am. We went to Kingsbury Hall at the U of U to watch a Pirate musical. Then, they ate lunch on the bus, and headed to the Kaysville Sportsplex where they played soccer, basketball, tag, and had smoothies. Despite the duration, it was actually a pretty pleasant trip. 2nd grade field trips are ALOT different than Kindergarten ones. I was thankful for that. I thought that Logan would want his friends more, but he was really happy to have me there. We played the dot game on the bus with his friends, and had a real good time. And thanks to MY friends, I was able to leave Carly and Chase behind!

The next day we headed to Chase's Kindergarten program - cute as ever! His teacher plays the guitar, and they sing the funniets little songs. Chase's favorite went something like this..."Williby, Wallaby, Woo, and elephant sat on you, Willibly, Wallaby, wase, an elephant sat on Chase"! He couldn't keep a straight face :)

AND...since we can't leave Carly out...

Here's Carly and "cousin Hannah" trying on the latest swim fashions (at the end of November), while Stacy and I try to work on Pretty Petal stuff. I need to find out what Carly does to get those super ripped thighs! I don't know why she looks so buff in that picture :)

Halloween Past 2 Present

Since I don't have any new pictures, I thought I'd share some Halloween's from "days gone by"...

This was our first halloween after Chase was born, and the first "digital" halloween! The only reason they didn't match was because the matching costumes didn't come in newborn sizes!

I was so excited to have matching cowboys, we even made belt buckles from cardboard, and tinfoil. Two is ALWAYS cuter than one - what can I say?

This year I was just lucky. I went to Old Navy on Halloween Day, and found these "regular" clothes on clearance! Chase and Logan freaked out about the make-up, so I had to secretly put some on my hands, and just hold their face while I talked to them. They never even knew! I usually don't dress up, but that year, I found the little ears at Target, and put something together - believe it or not, I already had the leather pants :)

This was Carly Paige's first Halloween (that's what they called her until she was 2). Again, the matching firemen were just too cute, and the flower - EVEN CUTER! sorry boys :(


I know - why aren't they matching? This was our first year in Bountiful, and our house was under construction. I was so pre-occupied that I had a short stint of "I don't care". At least I kept a theme - right? Don't worry, we were back to normal by the next year.

Frank went on a business trip and scored some Green Bay season opener tickets at Lambeau Stadium, so he brought back these little beauties. We duck taped strips of styrofoam for shoulder pads! I even got all three to match that time!

Baby Sienna

This is my new niece - SIENNA (Brad & Kalisa's). She's got the cutest little beanie head, so Stacy, and I, of course couldn't keep our grubby hands to ourselves. We had to try on our new line of infant accessories. She's the most adorable little model. Thanks for humoring us Kalisa :)

We started trying on the beanies ourselves, and it looks like Sienna's good beanie head was inherited by Kalisa. Doesn't she look great!

Happy Hauntings!

Happy Halloween! Our festivities began the on the 30th with class parties. I was in charge of the game (hallo-bingo) in Chase's class, and Carly just joined right in - she's so ready for kindergarten! Frank was out of town, so I took the kids to the halloween carnival at the church. Me and Carly were witches (not a strech - I know), and the boys were vampires. Here's the individual pics...

Carly, of course, L-O-V-E-D the purple hair - thanks dad!

Chase loved the fangs, but since signigicantly reduced his productivity in eating halloween candy, they were ditched within 5 minutes! (I would do the same thing- smart kid that Chase:))

Logans favorite was his cape, and hair. Since we're growing it out - we were able to get quite the widow's peak (even though it's a little lopsided).

Sports Wrap Up

The boys just finished their fall soccer season last week. Here are some highlights...

Logan was really into soccer this season. He was the "Golden Eagles", and their team won almost every game. There were some really competitive kids on his team - he is not one of them. Logan really enjoyed it, but he's just not as aggressive as the other boys. Logan loved being the goalee, and he was really good at it! We had a lot of fun going to his games, but glad it's over now - it was getting toooo cold :)

Chase was Chase. Sure, he loved going to the games, but he was such a goof ball the whole time. He was always sitting on the coaches lap, and saying funny things to all the kids on his team - and the other. He's funny to watch, but there's not much soccer going on. There was one game that he "accidently" made a goal, and his whole attitude changed. For the rest of the game he was a machine - so focused. I couldn't believe it. I'm glad to see he has some fire in him!

Carly was the ADORABLE spectator. She spent her game times playing with her friend "Maddy" at the playground, sitting with grandma, and rolling down the grass hill.

So, with soccer behind us, it's on to basketball. This is Logan's first time playing. He's still a little young, so Jr. Jazz has him in a little workshop where they just do drills, and practice for the first three weeks, then they play against some other teams. He's really liking it so far.

Dot Dress

I ordered a nightgown from Gymboree. When I showed it to Carly, she was DELIGHTED! She said, "It's my dot dress". I kept telling her that it was a nightgown, but she insisted that it's her dot dress. She has been wearing it for three days now. She changes accessories to get a different look (alternating hair flowers, pink snow boots, etc.), but it's still the same dress (or nightgown). This morning's conversation with dad...

Frank: Bye, Princess Carly

Carly: My not a pwincess, my Cawy Paige Wancastow

(pause for thought)

Carly: Oh, my weawing my dot dwess, so my AM a pwincess! Bye dad.

We have these conversations all the time. Last night, she was watching Dancing With The Stars with me. Here's the conversation...

Carly: Mom, that giwls not cute. Wanna know why?

Mom: Yes, why isn't she cute?

Carly: Because she's not weawing a dwess.

Mom: Ya, but she has sparkles on her pants.

Carly: Oh ya, she's cute.

Frightmares!

For Chase's B-day party, we went to LAGOON! We hadn't been yet this year, so we were really excited to go. My kids only get "friend birthday parties when they're 3,5,8,12,16... Since Chase just turned 6, it was a family party. My sister Stacy tended Carly, so we could just take Logan and Chase on the fun rides - well, that was the plan. Turns out, Chase is still about 1 inch short of going on most of the big rides, and Logan has no interest in thrills! I kept telling Chase that next year, I am taking him alone, and me and him will ride the big rides all day long. Logan gets his fear of fun from Frank. That said, we still managed to have a great time! I paid Logan $1 to go on wicked with me (which he hated - I loved!). The favorite was probably the rattlesnake rapids. They went on that 5 times in a row. It was fun to be there with my big boys. I never thought I would see the day!