AMGEN Tour of California

Here they come!! What a day! The Amgen Tour ended one of it's days in our little town. We took the kids, Fly Guy's Dad & brother and biked to our new property and watched the cyclists as they entered into our town. They are about 4 km from the finish line. It was really fun to see them. Unfortunately, they are so quick that if you are not careful you will miss them.

Lance Armstrong is in the yellow and black helmet!!!

so amazing how close they ride together...

The guys... standing in front of our property waiting for the cyclists.

E2 & S enjoying the ride...

Goodbye Friend!

This weekend our friend Bill Lunt had a heartattack and passed away. His wife Suzie has been working with Fly Guy from the very beginning. Bill & Suzie are very much part of our family and we are very grateful to have them in our lives. Bill, we will miss your gigantic hugs, hilarious jokes, big heart and infectious smile. We thank you for your example as a loving husband and father. Suzie, our prayers and thoughts are with you at this time. We love you.

Happy Valentines!

As the kids are getting bigger Valentines is becoming a week long event. By the time we actually got to Valentine's Day we had been to three class parties, made treats for friends and events and attended a great Primary party and one birthday/valentine party. The kids loved all of these special events, but we were a little tired. So on Valentine's Day we stayed in with the kids, made pizza and played games. We felt a bit boring, but it was fun to play some new games with the kids and enjoy some Valentine treats. We love all of you and hope you enjoyed your Valentines too!!

Happy Birthday Fly Guy!

Fly Guy turned 36 on Friday! We went to dinner at his favorite restaurant with some friends. The next morning the kids and I brought him breakfast in bed. We made fresh squeezed orange juice (his favorite), eggs, fresh fruit and french breakfast puffs by Pioneer Woman. The puffs were sinful and truly amazing. If you have a chance you must try these! Beware they are not for those who are trying to watch the waistline. After, Fly Guy went wakeboarding (yes it is Winter & yes it is freezing & yes he is crazy!!) with his buddies Dan & Todd. When they get together they can't help but laugh the entire time. It is really good to see him happy!

Happy Birthday! You are an amazing husband, father and friend....We love You!

French Breakfast Puffs by Pioneer Woman...

What's for Dinner?

I have tried to have dinner on the table every night. The only way this works for me, is if I plan my meals before I (meaning Fly Guy) grocery shop and set a specific schedule. This way I don't have to ask the question "What is for Dinner?" a few hours before dinner time. To make this more interesting I try to make one or two new things each week. Last week I made a stew from Martha Stewart .... not good at all! This week I made Pasta e Fagioli by Giada (Fly Guy is always willing to try something from her, because he thinks she is HOT). The kids and I really liked it. It was super easy and had tons of flavor. Fly Guy didn't like it because the bacon was not crisp. It is so hard to please everyone.

The other dish I tried this week was the "The Simpliest Enchiladas" by Pioneer Woman. These were a big hit! They were easy to make and we had lots of leftovers. I even made them with turkey burger and they were great. Now I just have to figure out what to make next week!

crawling...well thinking about

E2 has shown no interest in crawling. Last night he finally showed interest. We put the most appealing thing in front of him...the phone (he loves it). He was so excited. I love when they want to crawl, but have no idea how. When they really try they look like they are swimming in place. He also tries then lays down to rest every two seconds...so funny. The best part of having several kids is watching all of them get excited for each other. All of the kids surrounded E2, cheering him on.

He did it!! Too bad he can't play with the phone...

Late AGAIN!!

Today I had very little patience with my kids. I kept thinking why am I being like this, the day is going well.....then I realize it's because we were once again LATE for school! I HATE being late. E of course has perfect attendance with no tardies(because he starts 15 min later) and K has too many late marks to count. I consider myself an organized person. The kids clothes are ready the night before along with their backpacks. All of my kids wake up extremely early leaving plenty of time for getting ready. Basically, I had realized I cannot control my kids (the little people that they are) and they are choosing to take forever to get ready. K, no lie takes up to 20 minutes to finish getting dressed. He must enjoy the process, but it drives me nuts!!!! The biggest problem is that when being late becomes a pattern I start the nagging and after asking over and over I lose my patience for the entire day. You know it is bad when the first thing you do is tell the kids to be quiet (when they are FINALLY in the car) so that you can play the church music (lately Hilary Weeks...love her) to calm you enough to tell the kids that you love them as you send them to school. The ten minutes of good music before I shove them out of the car does do wonders!!

This is why I am writing this post. I need some new ideas on how to motivate my three slow pokes. Please tell me what has worked for you. Thanks!!!

i'm losing it!!!

They say after you have a baby you can forget things......well it has been almost 10 months and I feel like I have lost all intelligence at times. For example, S's preschool sent home a note telling us to bring a box for her valentines party on Thursday. Of course, I did not and when I dropped S off the teacher reminded me again and I said sure I'll bring it when I pick S up. As I was pulling up to get S I realize that once again I forgot the box! How many times!!!! This seems silly until you add up how many times it happens. I have hope my memory will return to me some day!

sew fun!

I had left over fabric from a Young Women's project and I made my very first skirt ever!! I'm so excited for S, the sassy one, to wear it!! A few weeks ago I saw a tutorial that my friend made about making bandanna skirts and it inspired me.

Here are the Personal Progress folders we made in Young Womens. They hold their PP books, journals and especially for youth books. We had about 17 girls sewing these the other night. It was fun watching them accomplish a sewing project. It also required aloooooot of patience!!!!