Thankful Thursday

1. Alone Time-The best thing after a hard day is a nice hot bubble bath in my soaker tub. I relish the feeling of all my muscles relaxing and the complete silence that belongs all to me. A good book makes it even better. Such a rare treat but so worth it when I am able to pull it off. Aaaaahhh!

2. Mosquito Spray-When these pesky little bugs are flying all around I am so glad that I zap them with this handy spray. Little itchy bumps all over my children's limbs is not my idea of fun so I love this spray and it's very distinct stench! :)

3. Crossword/Sudoku-I love these puzzles. I love the challenge. I feel like I am doing a mental workout that is at my level. They make me feel grownup and smart, what a great release sometimes from the struggle of dealing with young minds all day. I love my children to death but these puzzles are my escape back to adulthood. Almost every night you can find me in my pj's snuggled in a blanket working on my puzzles. Hmmm...maybe I should try this in the hot tub......

Thankful Thursday

1. Family Time-I love time to reconnect with my husband and kids. 3 days and nights of nothing but family time is heaven. We had a blast together and I wish it never would have ended. Seriously, is there any better way to spend your time than with the ones you love the most?

2. Clubs-Lexi and her friends started a club today. It is called the "Best Friends Forever Club." That right there just makes me smile all over but the list of activities makes me smile and warms my heart. They have to go for bike rides together, have a barbecue with their families, color, and have pb&J sandwiches for snacks. They made a list of everyone who is invited to the club and they made sure to include all friends who weren't at the first meeting. I am very proud to say I made the list! Bring on the BBQ! :)

3. Pioneers-This only seems fitting that I mention these amazing people as tomorrow is Pioneer Day. I once talked in church on this subject and I remember panicking because they wanted me to talk about my pioneers. I didn't have ancestors who walked across the plains so I wasn't sure how to take this subject. I ended up doing all sorts of research on my family and learning a lot. I talked about the pioneers in my family and how they found the church and the hardships in their lives. I learned a lot about them and my love and appreciation is very strong. Tomorrow I will definitely be thinking of them and how their sacrifices differ from the pioneers that commonly celebrated but how those sacrifices made all the difference to my life and my family.

Harry Potter Premiere

I am a Harry Potter fan. I love the books and I love the movies. I have a standing "date" with Dirk's cousin for each premiere. The last couple of times though I think Dirk has gotten a little jealous and decided to "chaperone." He got into it though and even decided to dress up.....as a muggle. :) Actually Dirk loves going just to see all the people who really do dress up.
We went with our normal group of buddies.
Dirk wasn't real excited that I wanted to leave at 8:00 for the theater when the movie didn't start until midnight but he dealt with it. We only had to sit outside for about 20 minutes before they let us into the theater. We got some good seats and were even treated to a double feature. They had the 5th Harry Potter playing before midnight. It was a lot of fun. I remembered my camera this year so I took some picture of our favorite costumed people.

Some of the Weasley familly graced us with their presence.
Dumbledore came back from the dead.
And here is my favorite Death Eater costume. There were other ones but this guy's mask was the best. He kind of freaks ya out when you are in a dark theater!
It was an awesome night. I loved the movie! It was really well done and I will probably be back at the theater again for a second go around. I won't say anything about my favorite/least favorite parts for those who haven't seen it yet but I am sure you will all love it too!

She's Got Skills

Last year Dirk started teaching Lexi how to ride her bike. She was doing pretty good by the time it was too cold to ride. I guess all those months of winter thinking about it and not getting to practice scared her. She hadn't gotten on her bike all summer until last week. She wasn't so sure she could ride it anymore no matter what Dirk and I told her so I went for drastic measures. We bribed her. I know it isn't the best solution but it worked this time. She has been dying to get a new zebra Webkinz and I told her she could get it when she proved to me that she wasn't afraid of her bike anymore. So on Sunday Lexi pulled her bike out of the garage and had her Dad help her out. (Both my kids refuse to let me help them. They don't have much confidence in my 'holding upright' abilities.) Dirk never really had to help her. She was off and he just jogged along beside. Lexi told me later that she didn't know Daddy wasn't helping her until she looked sideways and saw him running. Next she said, "I was doing so good, huh, mom?" She's too cute.


I wish this picture wasn't so blurry but you deal with what you get. All of Lexi's friends were on the side of the road cheering her on, literally. They kept shouting, "Rah rah ree, Go Lexi!" I just love it. Lexi has been on her bike everyday this week. She even rides it across the street to her friends' houses. Monday night she even road her bike with Dad down to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Rayden is seeing how much fun she is having and he is now practicing so he can be just as good. You gotta love the sibling rivalry!

Thankful Thursday

Dark Green Carpet-I had a bunch of neighborhood kids over the other day to fingerpaint. (I know, you can see where this is going already.) They had so much fun with their pictures. They used straws to blow the paint around. While I was upstairs the boys thought it would be great to blow the paint other places as well. I got it off the walls, cabinets and furniture. I love the basement carpet! You can't see paint anywhere, though I know it has to be on the carpet as well. It will just have to wait until I can shampoo the carpets.

Turning something ugly, beautiful-I have a bathroom cabinet in my basement that Dirk built 6 years ago with his brother. It is a really solid cabinet but they only put one coat of clear stain on it and it has become really, really ugly. I've been debating on what to do with it and finally came to a conclusion. I decided to paint it a nice chocolate brown. Dirk was shocked how nice it looked when he saw it. It was the first thing he noticed and I didn't even tell him what I was doing. I love getting results like that! :)

Accomplishment-Lexi learned to ride her bike without training wheels. I love seeing the confidence it has brought her this week. Just one more step to growing up done and it has made her that much better of a person. I hope she finds as much joy in all of her accomplishments as she has in this one.

4th of July '09

Aaahhh...the Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays! I think it ties with Christmas. We had a great holiday this year. Friday night we had the pleasure of going to watch the Logan fireworks with Dirk's parents and some cousins.


Lexi was in heaven to get spend time with Mady. They don't get to get together too much and Lexi just adores her older cousin. Simon thought Mady was pretty fun too. I love this video of her making him laugh!

Saturday we got up bright and early so we could go to the parade in Lewiston. It was just Dirk, me, and the kids but we had a blast anyway! Simon found a puddle on someone's driveway and played in it for forever! He has the cutest little toes!


We ended up sitting near a friend of Lexi's from school and they played while they waited for the parade to start. Here they are playing Bubble Gum in a Dish...some games never go out of style!

The kids came home loaded with candy. You've got to love the sugar rush on holidays!
Dirk and I hosted a bbq at our house for our families. It was so much fun and the afternoon was nice and overcast so it didn't get too hot outside. Even if had we were prepared with water balloons to cool everyone off. Dirk and I didn't want to do hamburgers and hot dogs again so we decided to make shish kabobs. They were really good....go Dirk!

I'm not sure why but I got a creative bug in me after the parade so I went and bought some supplies and made a few decorations for the serving table. I think they turned out pretty cute and the kids loved it when they opened their firecrackers and found Rolos.

We ended our terrific holiday with our own firework display in the backyard. We had TONS of fountains!
Lexi and Simon just couldn't take anymore and fell asleep on my lap. I'm pretty sure they had a great day though! After Dirk carried the kids to bed we just laid on the lawn and watched the neighbors "oh so illegal fireworks." We had a great view of them. It was the perfect ending to a great holiday!

Quite Creative!

The other day Lexi's cousin called her and wanted to talk on the phone. Lexi wandered to a different room to talk. This is where I found her.....


If you can't tell this is the shelf in my closet. She is one crazy kid! At least it was quiet in there.

Another Great Camping Trip

We love camping and Franklin Basin is one of our favorite spots! A couple weekends ago we headed up for a couple of nights and the kids had a blast. Brett and Britney brought their four wheeler and gave the kids rides on it. They were in heaven. Simon looked so cute with the helmet on. He wasn't sure what to make of it, but rules are rules.

Rayden took his dump truck up and pushed it all over camp. Simon thought that it looked like fun so he climbed on in!
Saturday we went to Bear Lake for the day. I left my camera in the camper so I didn't get any pictures. The kids had a great time for a few hours than Lexi kept asking when we could go shopping. The child loves the stores! The shopping is pretty limited there though. You can't go to Bear Lake without getting a raspberry shake so Lexi was happy in the end. She got to buy something.
I think my favorite part of camping is the fire at night. We all sit around and gab and roast mallows and let the kids poke the fire with sticks. Simon just sat on my lap and stared at the fire until he saw the marshmallows being passed around. I'm not quite sure....but I think we have another smore lover in the family!

It was a great couple of days. I can't wait until we get to go again!

AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I can't find my camera so I can't post!

As soon as I find it I have all sorts of stuff to post about.

Thankful Thursday

1. Service-We had an awesome lesson in Relief Society on Sunday. It was a great reminder of the joy of service. The part that touched me the most was the reminder that when you are down you should look around you and see who needs your help, then go do it! Through the entire lesson I kept thinking of the advice President Hinckley's father gave him on his mission, "Forget yourself and go to work." I know that helping others can be the best pick me up for anyone!

2. Paint-Remember the clean smells I was thankful for a while back? Paint definitely falls into that catergory. I love to paint! Seriously, if you want to paint a room in your house and need help call me! I was able to enjoy painting for the last couple of days and it can really rejuvenate you!

3. Godsends-It is kind of funny when sometimes you start feeling blue and you try to hide it that there is always one person who notices and takes action. I call them Godsends because I truly believe they are acting on a prompting from the spirit whether they know it or not. I have had many throughout my life and I am sure there will be many more. Just knowing that someone cares helps more than we realize sometimes, even if it is for silly reasons!