Spring Fever

These are my tulips popping up out of the ground. This can only mean one thing: spring is not too far off! Yay! The nice weather this past week has been very enjoyable and I'm not looking forward to another snowstorm this weekend.

Ryan's last basketball game

Ryan finished his basketball season last night. He had 9 points for the night and his team has gone undefeated this season! The game was tight up until the end, when Ryan's team finally got a solid lead. The other team had a lot of tall kids, but our team shared the ball well and waited for open shots. It made for an exciting game. He has had a lot of fun playing and his coach has been great! I have really enjoyed watching him play basketball, so I'm a little sad to see the season end. I hope Ryan and Jared will both want to play again next year.

boiling pots

I had to teach RS yesterday and my subject was Pres. Hinckley's Priesthood talk from conference -- Slow to Anger. It has been an interesting week as I have had that message swimming around in my head while our delightful children have probably pushed every button we have this week with their disobedience. Combine that with a Saturday afternoon of plumbing toilets and you've got a real winner of a week. I guess Sunday was another reminder to repent and try harder this week. As a side note, the RS lesson went well. I used a humungous, gargantuan pot from the church kitchen as a visual aid to remind us of the saying, "a watched pot never boils" changed to "a watched temper never boils" . I also asked several sisters to sing with me the hymn "School Thy Feelings" -- which is arranged for men's chorus, but it sounded really nice played in the normal treble clef with women's voices. The message I really liked from the song is that we will always have emotions of anger or frustration, but the key is to let "wisdom's voice control" our words and actions -- not letting our pots boil even though they are warm. Funny how daily life gives us all a chance to practice what we preach, or at least try to apply the lessons we learn on Sunday...

just a little behind

I just finished scrapbooking the following pictures from about a year and a half ago. Yes, back in the days when Jacob turned 3 and Laura was 22 (? I can't read the candles very well!) And yep, here's a photo from our family vacation to Yellowstone. Just look at those cute kids -- they've grown up a little since then! (not refering to Dave & Grandpa)
My goal is to get all the photos that I've printed into the scrapbooks so I can print some more photos. If I'm only a year and a half behind, maybe all hope is not lost -- think positive. Hmmm, I think I've still got a two inch stack for Jared and Ryan each -- this may take a little while, but Jacob's stack is down to 1/4 inch --wahoo for me!

Happy Valentines Day!

When I pulled open my sock drawer this morning, I found this valentine from Ryan: The heart has 2 pieces of gum taped on it for Mark & I. It was such a sweet surprise. Ryan really surprises me sometimes -- I love it!!

My valentines to Mark and the boys were these two fruit bouquets:

I may not be a pro, but I really liked the way they turned out. Not bad for a first timer. It was fun to do, and everyone thought they were really awesome! (They couldn't believe I actually made them!) I would have liked more strawberries, but Costco didn't have any and they are so ridiculously expensive at the grocery store these days! Mark brought home Chinese food for dinner and I made the boys homemade mac n' cheese, so we had a yummy dinner and no one complained about the food --now that's a valentine!) I think Jacob ate more today than he has all month!

Jacob came home from preschool yesterday wearing this silly valentine crown. I couldn't resist snapping a photo.

Hope everyone had a nice day!

coupla weeks in review

I've not been very good about blogging the last couple of weeks, so here's a few highlights or lowlights. Highlight: Mark & I went to St. George for an overnighter alone. Lowlight: I came down with stomach flu. Highlight: I didn't have to tend kids while being sick. Lowlight: I did have to ride in the car. Highlight: G & G stayed with the kids while we were gone. Lowlight: All the boys came down with the flu when we got home and to top it off Jacob developed a nasty cough that is taking forever to go away. Highlight: G&G didn't get sick. Lowlight: We haven't slept for what seems like years. Highlight: We get a tax rebate. Lowlight: It takes forever to get deposited. Highlight: Took Mark shopping for a new suit. Lowlight: Spent all his birthday money. Highlight: It has been sunny and warm for a couple of days. Lowlight: Its going to snow again and get cold. Highlight: Boys playing basketball outside. Lowlight: none. Highlight: Boys are doing fabulous in school and had great SEP conferences. Lowlight: none. Highlight: Blue and Gold banquet for cubscouts where Jared earned more awards and the food was tasty. Lowlight: Kids would only eat the chicken nuggets. Highlight: We all seem to be healthy again. Lowlight: none. Highlight: there's more highlights than lowlights, I can't ask for more than that!

Politics -- super duper Tuesday

I don't like politics and generally steer as far away as possible from them. Mark is the politically minded person in the family and enjoys getting involved occasionally. However, I must say that this presidential primary has had my attention for quite some time. My kids have been enjoying the political process as well. For the first time in a bazillion years, I think people in America are actually interested in the primary election and what the candidates stands are on the issues . I find all the candidates, their backgrounds, and positions on different issues interesting. No one candidate fits all my opinons, although I will admit I'm a Mitt fan and would rather put him in charge of the country for a few years, than anyone else who is running. On the demo side, I'd give my vote for Obama.

about to crash?

I think our computer is about to die. Sometimes I really hate this thing. Hopefully we'll be able to hang on long enough to get a new one on its way -- if that's really the step we have to take. I didn't really think our computer was that old, but... If anyone wants to send condolences or helpful advice, its much appreciated! (Maybe we just need a long conversation with David -- optimistic approach) I guess we'll just add the computer to the list of other things around here that aren't in tip top shape, i.e. the dishwasher, banister, and fridge. Quite frankly its discouraging. I don't usually take that attitude, but I guess I just need to vent a bit -- and it is fast sunday -- I'm hungry. Hungry equals grumpy.