Church History Road Trip

For the last two months, Ryan and I had been researching out our family and church history, deciding where we wanted to stop on our road trip. We decided on a few major stops. We spent more time in some places than in others, because we wanted to visit so many.

Our first stopover was in Winter Quarters, NE and Council Bluffs, IA. After reading the histories and then actually visiting these cold and windy places (in April, no less) it helps bring perspective to the plight of those pioneers of long ago. Many of them didn't even have a cabin for shelter in these hostile conditions!

Easter Celebrations

Our Easter was filled with lots of fun for the kiddos. We hunted candy-filled eggs with the cousins and dyed and sparkled hard-boiled eggs.

We left lettuce and carrots for the Easter Bunny
and he rewarded us with jelly beans and chocolate bunnies!

Trying to get up to date!

It has been quite a while since I last posted. We have been so busy. During the next little while I hope to post blogs on Easter, Nauvoo trip, Emily's birthday, Mother's Day, my garden, etc...!

April Fool's Surprise!

Ryan wanted to play a little trick on the girls for April Fool's Day. So we got up early and taped newspaper to Bri and Lynds's door. Then we called in to them and told them that we had a surprise for them. Of course they weren't expecting a wall of newspaper, they really got a kick out of it! The prank got them ready for a silly day of foolin' around. This kind of behavior does make me a little nervous...They may grow up and try to pull a prank on me. Hmmm.

Conference Kid's Packet

2009 April Conference Packet

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Puzzles Puzzles & Games 2009 april general c general conference p

I was hoping to be able to find a cute packet to keep my kids interested during conference and I stumbled on this one. It is 14 pages long, that'll keep 'em busy! Check it out.

Celebrations!

Last week we celebrated the safe return and successful service of my nephew Kyle. He served his mission in Italy, teaching the gospel to many great people on the other side of the world.

It was awesome to see him after an absence of two whole years. We are so proud! Kyle, you rock!

Enrichment Night

We had a totally fun Enrichment night at our ward last week. The Relief Society set up the night's theme as the mall. They had the cultural hall set up as a food court with a Teriyaki Stix, a Salad Place, Orange Julius, and Cinnabon. That was our fabulous dinner! We took time to get silly pictures taken in the food court.

Then we went shopping in the stores:

Things Remembered: we discussed keeping a record and legacy of our daily lives;

Famous Footwear: we discussed not judging others until we've "walked a mile in their shoes";

GNC: we discussed keeping our bodies fit and healthy, eating good food and exercising;

Dyan's Jewelry: we discussed recognizing and letting our talents sparkle like diamonds;

Journey's: we discussed how our lives don't always take the path we intend, but that we can make the most of our journey.

The night as a whole was so fun and each store gave us a sample to remember what we learned. So here is my record of the night, if I don't get it in my journal.

A Blonde Moment!

I have "blonde moments" a little too often. Here is one from two nights ago. Apparently I was in a hurry to get the kids ready for bed and be done for the night. I took Jo's clothes and diaper off and plunked her in the bath when her sister exclaims: "Josie still has her socks on!" Then everyone is called in to see Mom's smooth move. "Dad...BriAnna! Mom put Josie in the bath with her socks still on!" Josie starts realizing the humor of it and kicks her little feet and laughs (note all the ripples in the water). Everyone got a good laugh out of it. I don't know what I would use for an excuse if I wasn't a real blonde...thank heavens!

Blankets!

There is so much fun to be had on a Saturday morning! Cheap fun, too. All that is required is a few blankets! Bri and Lynds took turns sliding their sisters around on the kitchen floor. And of course, no blanket has lived a full life without being used for a tent house.

We Love Dr. Seuss!

So Dr. Seuss' birthday was a few days ago and it would be appropriate to honor such an awesome man. We love Dr. Seuss at our house! We read him daily. The big girls read to the little girls when mom and dad are busy. My favorite is the Cat in the Hat. ["You sank our toy ship, sank it deep in the cake. You shook up our house and you bent our new rake. You shouldn't be here when our mother is not. You get out of this house!" Said the fish in the pot.] It's just too funny!

Here is a pic of Lynds and Bri with the hats they made at school today!

The Riddle

1. Put your music library on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG TITLE DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag 10 friends who might enjoy doing this. Post a comment on their blog that says "You've been tagged! See my blog for details."

1) IF SOMEONE SAYS, "IS THIS OKAY," YOU SAY? At My Most Beautiful, R.E.M.
2) WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY? All The Good Ones Are Gone, Pam Tillis (Apparently, I am a WHINER! Lol!)
3) WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL? The Animal Song, Savage Garden
4)HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY? C'mon N' Ride It (The Train), Quad City DJ's (LOL!!!!! I am totally blushing!)
5) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE? Yahweh, U2 (My life's purpose is to figure out what that word means, then I can die!)
6) WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO? The Best of My Love, Eagles
7) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS? Live Those Songs, Kenny Chesney (Do my parents sing songs or just live them?)
8) WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN? Don't Tell Me What To Do, Pam Tillis (perhaps that is why it took me so long to do this shuffle and post!)
9) WHAT IS 2+2? Mud on the Tires, Brad Paisley
10) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND? Dreams, Van Halen
11) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE? Teardrops on My Guitar, Taylor Swift
12) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY? There's Your Trouble, Dixie Chicks (LOL!!!!)
13) WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP? Don't Stop Believin', Journey
14) WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE? Animal, Def Leopard
15) WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU? Open Arms, Collin Raye
16) WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING? You Had Me from Hello, Kenny Chesney (How chiche, everyone had that song!)
17) WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL? I Don't Know You Anymore, Savage Garden (No you don't, I'm gone!)
18) WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST? Stay Beautiful, Taylor Swift (Yeah, right! Big hobby of mine! Refer to my post three back! Lol!)
19) WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET? Hole in the World Tonight, Eagles (Play this one at my funeral instead, that will have them bawling!)
20) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS? Keep On Loving You, REO Speedwagon
21) WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS? The Riddle, Five For Fighting

I am posting this very late, with headphones on . My husband has been asleep on the couch behind me and I could not help laughing out loud at how funny this has been!
Oddly, two of my songs had the word Beautiful and two had the word Animal!
I tag anyone who would like to play. Post on mine, so I can check it out.

The Tooth Book

This is a pic of Lyndsay after her bath the other night. She insisted that she wanted me to pull out both of her extra teeth. (Zoom in to see that she has double teeth, on the left and right of her front two. BriAnna had her convinced that if she lost two teeth in one day the Tooth Fairy left double...$2 per tooth instead of $1. So here it is nine o'clock and this kid won't go to bed because she insists on my pulling both of these stubborn teeth. Keep in mind that she hasn't let me touch these wiggly teeth for the past year. We let her permanent ones keep coming, thinking they would crowd out the roots of the baby teeth and they would fall out...No, they have not, and would not...Finally Lyndsay got sick of me yanking on her mouth and went to bed. Last night, at bedtime, it started again. Thankfully, I had loosened it the night before and Ryan suggested I use a piece of floss and POP...out it came. Then her mouth bled profusely for like 15 minutes. That little bugger tooth did not want to give up. But the dentist said we should get them out soon. One down, one to go. Lynds got her $1 last night, but no bonus for double. Sorry about that, kiddo. But not nearly as sorry as I am that we will have to invest in braces for both BriAnna and Lyndsay! Ugh! Hopefully the others won't need braces, expensive!

Oh yes, the reason I titled this post 'the Tooth Book' is because it is Josie's favorite book. We read it...every...single...day! Jo points to her teeth and says "tee." And of course, I packed that book to read to Josie when the girls all went to the dentist. Josie likes looking at everyone's teeth. The girls all smile and point to their teeth, so Josie will say "tee." Perhaps Jocelyn will grow up to be a dentist, like her Uncle Justin.

p.s. to Justin, we joked about you continuing school to be an orthodontist, now the joke is less funny and more practical ;)

Great Clip!

You gotta check out this funny little clip. This just cracks me up. It's great fun, but strangely, it reminds me of that annoying show "The Wiggles."


Can you imagine being an innocent bystander to witness this...Hilarious!?!

Bad Hair Day!

My sister, Jeri, was slightly disappointed (she called me "evil" over the phone and via e-mail) that I posted a not so flattering picture of her back in November. So this one is deditcated to her. Here is picture of me after a bad hair day. This is what happens to moms who lay on their belly to read their kids books...My kids sat on my back and messed with my hair. I had no make-up on and had worn sweats all day, so here is what I looked like after a long day of being walked all over and sat upon.

Mom Goes Ice Skating!

Mom got to chaperone BriAnna's 3rd grade class on their winter field trip. First we went to the Seven Peaks Ice Arena, the cool thing about there was they held Olympic events there in 2oo2! The first pic is of our group together, Mariah, Sadie, BriAnna, Joy, Keana, Chloe!
The next is a picture of Miss Harris' class. The teacher, on the far left, isn't much bigger than the kids.

This was the first time ice skating for both mother and daughter. We fell a few times, but had so much fun! Anyone wearing ankle socks (Joy included) discovered that was a poor choice for ice skating. Thankfully neither Marsh came home with blisters.

Here's our little group at BYU's Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum. Everyone calls it "The Bean Museum", but of course there aren't any beans there, so that can be deceiving!

Lyndsay's School Program

Lyndsay was in a program at school, they danced and sang songs, it was a toe tapping fun time. All my pictures were dark and blurry in the auditorium except for this close-up of Lynds when she was one of the kids that circled the audience to sing. We loved it Lynds, thanks for the great performance!

Harry Potter Helps with Housework

My favorite way to work around the house nowadays is listening to my books on tape. I just love Harry Potter, but I don't have time to sit down to read. I have a house to run and people to feed! The books help with all those boring tasks like mopping up baby made food splatters and scrubbing sticky dining room chairs. Over the fall when I had so much canning to do, Harry helped with that. Right now I'm listening to the Order of the Phoenix.
Blogging friends, leave a comment about how you pass the time or perhaps your favorite books to reread.

My kids have been marketed to!

I am truly opposed to commercials. I love TiVo because you can skip right past the marketing. But recently I discovered, with a slight frown, a good use for one of those TV ads. I purchased some name brand toilet paper for a great price and my children noticed the difference.

"Mom, is this Charmin?"

"Yeah, let's make it last. Just use a little bit to do the job."

"Okay, you don't have to use as much if it's Charmin."

All these years I have been trying to make the TP last! To think all I had to do was advertise to my children and buy Charmin. I'm glad I got that figured out. Now we won't run out of TP so soon!

Mixed Media

I recently introduced my kids to the classic "The Princess Bride." Naturally they thought it a smash hit right off. After only watching it once they were trying to quote Inigo Montoya. But that's a tricky name so BriAnna threw in Skippy Jon Jones. "Hello, My name is Skippy Jon Jones. You killed my father, prepare to die." The affect was hilarious, perhaps Count Rhogan would have laughed too. So it must be, Inigo is more serious sounding, so good can prevail against evil six fingered men!

Can't Let Go of Christmas

My little Emily is so funny, she just loved Christmas. Everyday she gives me a hug and smiles and says "a Christmas hug." Last week she sneezed and I said "bless you" and she laughed and said "that was a Christmas sneeze." She was so mad when the radio stopped playing Christmas songs and I put away our CD's. I love Christmas, but am happy to put it away, and reclaim my house.