It's impossible to frown when eating a Frosty

I love teaching preschool. But this morning, it was more of a challenge because Emily was being so ornery! Before class started, she said with a scowl on her face, "I don't want my friends coming to my house." She usually gets so excited and tells me that "Etta's coming. Audrey's coming, Adam's coming...and I get to play with them!" But not today. She was sassy to them and to me, and I didn't appreciate it one bit! She just wasn't her usual sweet self. I think she was tired and in need of some good one-on-one time with mommy. (I think I'll take her on a date this weekend).

So after preschool, Jon, Emily and I snuggled up on the couch together to watch Sleeping Beauty. Em was still being a sour puss, and who wants to snuggle with a sour puss? It was making me ornery, too! So do you know what I did? While they were distracted with the movie, I tip-towed downstairs and snuck a Keebler Fudge chocolate, peanut butter cookie from my secret stash. Admit it, YOU also have a secret stash, am I right? ;) Oh my, to say it made my day would be an understatement. Like the Wendy's ad says, "It's impossible to frown when eating a frosty." Chocolate just makes ya happy, and this cookie was no different for me. So I grabbed two more cookies, a glass of milk, and watched Anne of Green Gables for 10 minutes in my room on our second TV (which rocks by the way-13 inch screen, baby).

Then the kids found me...so I look at my empty milk glass and the memory of the cookies, which were soooo well enjoyed, and I think, "Same time, same place, tomorrow." *sigh* something to look foward to...

Jon's Birthday Party

Saturday, March 28, we invited some friends over for a Thomas the Train birthday party for Jonathan.

I couldn't find any Thomas the Train cupcake toppers, so I made my own by gluing confetti to toothpicks, and of course I had to use red and blue frosting. Wade was a sweetheart and frosted them while I finished decorating.

There aren't a lot of games two year-olds can play by themselves, so I had to be creative. For one game, I taped a picture of Thomas the Train to a ball, and the kids bounced it up and down with the parachute. Then we had the kids climb onto the parachute, and we spun them around singing, "Little Red Caboose." (one of our favorites from music class)

Then they all lined up forming a train. And they were supposed to hang on for a while and "chuga, chuga, choo, choo" all around the backyard...but it didn't last long. ;) It was hilarious to watch them make the attempt, though!

Jonny was excited about his new surprises...and so was Emily. They've BOTH been playing with his new toys and puzzles all week. Hey, it's the benefit of being a sibling. I always got to play with my brothers and sister's stuff, too...until they caught me, that is.

Jon was a pro at blowing out the candle...

...and an even bigger pro at attacking his cupcake.

Emily enjoyed hers, too, of course. (After the party was over, while Wade and I were cleaning up, she snuck three more cupcakes. Little turkey!)

just chilin' with friends

Mom: Jonny, how old are you?
Jon: Free (while holding up 2 fingers)

He hears Emily say it so much that he can't get it in his head that he's two, not three, but at least he's got the finger count right! lol

BYU Women's Conference

I'm going to Women's Conference this year with my friend, Mardi, and her friend, Ryanne. And I wanted to see if anyone else was interested. It is so amazing! I've just been looking at the classes, and I'm getting so excited, especially that L. Tom Perry is the closing speaker. It is from Thurs. April 30th to Fri. May 1st. It is $40 if you register before April 3rd and $47 if you register after that. You could even come for just one day, which is $23.

Mardi has a hotel room reserved, which includes a continental breakfast. So we can stay there if there are enough of us to split the cost. But I know many of you live in the Salt Lake/Provo area, so you could always sleep at home and meet up with us during the day. :)

The link to check out the conference is womensconference.byu.edu

Call or email me to let me know if you are interested!

Spring Break

My sister-in-law, Diana, was planning a trip to Las Vegas to visit some friends. She asked me if I wanted to carpool together and have her drop me off in St. George for the week, on her way to Vegas. We thought it was a great idea and the perfect time to go since it was spring break at the U, and I didn't have my institute class and Emily didn't have preschool. So we went and had a fantastic time!

Because we left on St. Patrick's Day, I dressed the kids in green and gave them each a green fruit popsicle to eat while I finished up packing. (Really, I just needed to keep them entertained so I could actually get stuff done!) The car ride down was awesome, talking with Diana, and listening to some killer tunes. Diana's 2 year-old daughter, Ramsi, is so cute. She literally prefers to rock out as opposed to listening to those nursery rhyme type cd's. Her dance moves were cracking me up!
Here's Jonny happily greeting Beau, my parent's dog, after 3 long months of not seeing him. The girls chillin' at Cafe Rio: Kelly C, Kristal, Amber, Kelly N, and me. We had so much fun catching up with one another. I thought for sure they were going to have to kick us out after 2 hours, but we finally left, and then walked across the parking lot so we could continue talking at Nielsen's Frozen Custard. It was a great night.

After shopping with my mom on Wednesday, we spontaneously decided to stop by a golf course pond to watch the ducks and the geese. Then we had a nice visit with the Sonju's. Gosh, I love those little girls!

Because I didn't have a car, the kids and I mostly hung out at home with my parents and grandparents, who live next door. But Sarah was sweet enough to come visit me, and it was so good to see her! Here's Frankie and Jon giving a good-bye hug when it was time for them to go.
That night, the kids and I played at the water park, while we waited for my mom to finish up practicing with the Heritage Choir at the Tabernacle. It was too cold to play in the water, but Jon and Emily had fun running around and watching the kids who WERE crazy enough to get wet.

We celebrated Jon's 2nd birthday on Friday night with my parents and grandparents. Dinner was delicious....

...and so were the cake and ice-cream, of course!

My parents gave Jonny a wooden train set (thanks for the tip, Kelly). He was in love with it! He knew right away how to put the pieces together and for over an HOUR, he pushed the train around the tracks saying, "Chuga, chuga, choo, choo." It was the cutetst thing ever! And I was AMAZED that it held his attention so long.

Playing trains must have worn him out, though, because once "papa" had him on his lap and started reading a story, Jonny was nearly asleep. :)

It was a nice, relaxing trip, but we missed Wade so much that we decided next time we go, he'll have to come with us.

Happy Birthday Jonathan!

Jonathan turned 2 years old! I still can't believe when I was pregnant with him that we were crazy enough to want to be surprised about the gender of the baby. Even when the Ultrasound Technician asked me, "Are you sure you want to wait to find out?" I immediately said, "No!" But Wade laughed at my response and said, "Yes, we're sure." Because we HAD decided together, but at that moment, I was like, "Hey, we could change our mind and have him tell us right now." :) But I am so glad we were surprised because it was pretty special to finally find out we had a son.
Jonny has always been ALL BOY...until recently that is, when he discovered princesses. haha Kim says that just means he has a sensitive side. ;) He is crazy about trains, animals (especially horses), dinosaurs, cars, balls, and playing outside, usually in the dirt. He's our little monkey, climbing and getting into anything and everything. He's full of energy and joy, and amazes us everyday by how much he's learning. We love you Jonny. Happy Birthday buddy!

Random Fun

This post is so random, but filled with lots of fun memories we enjoyed over one weekend.

After we returned home from grocery shopping at Harmons, Jonny got carried away with the Bob and Randy stickers. He's such a character! I still don't know if he put them on himself, or if his big sister helped a little. What do you think?

On Friday and Saturday, I planned a Scrapbook Retreat at our house with some of my favorite girls-Kim, Becky, Christine, Alix, Jenica, and Kristal. Since it was Kristal's birthday, I made her a princess cake, and when she arrived, we all jumped out and yelled, "Surprise!" It was awesome! While we were partying away and working on our projects, Wade and the kids went to Tooele for the night. He was so happy to have that one-on-one time with his dad.
Saturday afternoon was the Zions Bank Bowl-A-Thon. So Wade and the kids bowled their little hearts out to raise money for youth programs. (more pictures coming soon!) I joined them for the last ten minutes after my Scrapbook Retreat was over. It was fun to see Emily so confident at bowling. With help from the bumpers, she scored over 100! :) Go Ems!

That night, Wade and I picked up my great uncle and aunt and took them to dinner to Cowboy Grub. I can't believe we have lived here for 4 years and have never been there before. It's got to be Salt Lake's best kept secret! The food was really good, but the best part was being there with my Uncle Roy and Aunt Arba. After almost 70 years of marriage, they're still so in love and show it. You can't help but want to be more loving to each other after watching their example.

Sunday afternoon, I drove Uncle Roy and Aunt Arba to Orem to visit my Grandpa Callister in his assisted living center. They were so happy to see each other! If anyone knows my grandpa, you can believe he was in tears throughout the entire visit. But so was Roy. It was neat to feel the love that exists between the three of them. They shared story after story with me about my grandma. Arba said that when she lived with my grandma and grandpa when they were newly married, that she NEVER once heard them speak unkindly to each other and that they showed greater love to one another than any other couple she knew. What a tribute!

Quick trip to Logan

Our family made a quick trip up to Logan last Saturday to attend the wedding of one of Wade's best friends from high school. Before we left, I had fun trying a new hairstyle on Emily.While we were in Logan, we stopped by to visit my good friend, Brittany Beasley. I love this girl! We served together in the Relief Society Presidency in the college married ward in St. George. Since Aiden and Emily are only months apart, it was so sweet to see them play together and for Britt and I to reminisce about how we were pregnant at the same time four years ago.Just for fun, here's a picture of Emily and Aiden from February 2006. Can you believe how much they have both changed?

After the wedding, oh man, we had the best time dancing! Wade and "the boys" busted out their dance moves. He really enjoyed being with his high school buddies again. I was glad we could be there to support Craig. And it was good to see Caleb and his girlfriend. But hands down, we had the best time with Tyler and Heather that night! There's just a cool bond that exists when you're parents. We were all busting up laughing at our crazy kids!

Here's Heather and Sophie on the dance floor. That little girl sure can groove!

Sophie taught Emily how to spin and they didn't want to stop...they just kept going and going and going for like a 1/2 hour. Too cute!

Wade and Jonny joined in on the fun and they were all spinning together. The girls were like, "Hey, that's our trick! Who taught you how to do that?" ;)