Easter Weekend

After a small Easter egg hunt at Leah's birthday party on Friday afternoon, the 2 year olds (Isabelle, Jon, Leah, and Addie) put their baskets aside for some real fun playing at the sand/water table.

Emily and Jonah, on the other hand, found a great hide-out spot where they could devour their candy without their moms noticing. Yeah right! I knew what she was up to, even though she kept shouting, "You can't find me, mom!" lol

After the birthday party, we went to Warren and Elaine's house for a hunt and picnic with friends. It was wonderful, and I realized more than ever how much I am going to miss them when they move.
Jonny and Lydia climbed into the red wagon and just sat there, waiting for someone to start pulling them. It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen!
Aunt Ruthanne and Uncle Austin came over Saturday morning to dye eggs with Emily and Jon. They even brought candy because they wanted to have an Easter egg hunt with the kids afterwards.

I think my kids felt pretty special that Ruthanne and Austin had set up this hunt just for them. Thanks you guys!

That afternoon, we spent time with Wade's family, which we really enjoyed. Mom and Keith had hidden baskets around the house, which were filled with fun little toys.
Then the kids hunted for eggs in the basement. Jon received a picture of Christ when he was the lucky one to find the empty Easter egg, which symbolized the empty tomb, from which Christ arose on the third day.
Here are all the Stoney cousins, minus Taylor and Hayden. Emily couldn't have been more excited to have the same shirt as Ramsi and Ashtyn. She kept saying, "We're twins! We're twins!"

While I was dying Easter eggs that morning with Ruthanne, Austin, and the kids, Wade made an amazing chocolate Texas sheet cake for the family to share. We put 11 candles on one side for Kaylee, 2 candles in the middle for Jon, and 10 candles on the other side for Jo Jo. I kept telling Jo Jo she didn't have to carry Jon everywhere, but she wanted to, and heck, he loved the attention!

Here's Jo Jo, Emily, Kaylee, and Jon chasing each other in the backyard. As we were leaving, Jon said, "Jo Jo my friend. Jo Jo nice."
On the way home, the kids dumped the eggs out, so they could put their buckets on their heads and over their faces so they could make funny echo sounds. So silly!

The second we got home, Jonny ran to the nearest mud puddle and practially gave himself a mud bath. Aren't you proud of me for not stopping him? He had never been so happy!

Last, but not least, I just want to express why this holiday means so much to me. I feel so indebted to my Savior for His atoning sacrifice for us all. It's humbling to think of the great love He has for each one of us. It makes me want to be better everyday, so I don't cause him additional pain. I love Him and I love each of you, and am so grateful for the examples you are to me.

dance the night away

Friday night, the Institute had a Red Carpet Formal Dance. We were excited to attend because we love dancing together, it was free, and we found a good babysitter. We laughed at ourselves the entire evening as we realized we were out of practice and stumbled a little with our swing dancing and waltzing. And it was pretty much hilarious how we faked our way through the line dance moves. Oh. My. Goodness. But it was a blast, and we can't wait to go dancing again.

The best part was after the dance when Wade surprised me by pulling into Pizza Hut for pick-up. He knew that I had been craving Pizza Hut for months (no, I'm not pregnant), but we rarely eat pizza because we've been trying to eat heathier. But it's still one of our favorites, so we picked up our pizza, and then ate it at home while we watched Just Like Heaven. Good times.

Here's Your Sign...

Last week, since I was teaching my preschool class about oceans and ocean animals, I wanted to serve blue jello to represent the ocean with Swedish Fish on top for the snack. But they didn't have blueberry jellow at Wal-Mart, so I had to buy lime jello. I knew they sold blueberry jello at Harmons, but I wasn't thrilled about making a second stop on the way home WITH my two kids in tow. So I decided I would just add some food coloring to the green jello to change the color to blue.

When I got home, I made the lime jello, adding blue food coloring to it, but it just made it a darker green. So then I added YELLOW food coloring, knowing that GREEN and YELLOW make BLUE. What? It doesn't? Yeah, I soon figured that out when the jello became even GREENER. Idiot wake up call here! I teach preschool...you think I would remember it correctly--YELLOW and BLUE make GREEN! What the heck was I thinking? So as Bill Engvall says, "Here's your sign!" haha
I figured the kids wouldn't mind eating green jello because all they really cared about were the Swedish Fish anyway!

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.