Surprise Date

For Christmas, Wade gave me a gift of 12 Surprise Dates, one for each month of the year. He even scheduled it in my planner for every third Saturday, so I knew he wouldn't forget. It's awesome because I genuinely don't have any idea what we're going to do for the date, which is half the fun!
This last Saturday, we picked up sandwiches from Subway and a slurpee from 7-11, and we headed up the mountain to hike Ensign Peek. What a gorgeous view!
Then we walked around Temple Square, which is amazing this time of year with the flowers in bloom, particularly the tulips. When Wade went to use the restroom for a minute, I played a joke on him by having a complete stranger walk up to him, pretending to know him. I picked the right stranger to play along in my little joke because Wade was SO confused and just couldn't figure out how he knew this guy. It was hilarious, and then he saw me laughing from around the corner and finally figured it out. Afterwards, he wanted to take some pictures of me...
But for the most part, I wasn't cooperating and was just being a goof! Is that a surprise to anyone? ;)

We ended the evening by attending an orchestra performance at Temple Square. The music was beautiful, and we were both in awe of the talent of the young performers.

SNL High School Musical 4

I saw this on a friend's blog and thought it was hilarious!

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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