Photo Contest

West Jordan, the city were we live, is having a photography contest, and I want your help. I am going to post ten of my favorite pictures that I took for it and I want you to vote on the ones that you like the best, you can vote for more than one. The top three will win. I can submit up to three pictures. Be honest and if you do not think any of them are good be sure to keep it to yourself, I'm just kidding I really want to know what you think. You only have one day to vote since I need to get them developed soon.

Big Green Spring Clean

Every year you hear about people all over the place doing their “spring cleaning.” As the days slowly start to draw nearer to spring I want to know if you will be participating in the annual ritual of a Spring Clean. Now I do not normally do this because I tend to find it a little tedious. Last year I did “spring clean” and finally finished I think in October. Now why did it take so long you ask? Well mostly because I really was not sure what to do and well there was just so much to do. I wanted to make sure the house was extra clean for when family and friends came over for the holidays so I set about cleaning. Window blinds, fan blades, the non-carpeted part of the stairs and the base boards. There were other parts of the house I tried to clean, like the crayon on the walls, except for the basement; I figure I can clean that when we move out. The basement is really a free for all in the art on the walls department. While I do try to discourage the coloring on the walls, I find that I do not really harp on them to not color down in the basement. Mostly just upstairs where more people would see it. I think I even took the magic eraser to the tile grout in a few choice places.

Now this year I think I will actually try to spring clean, but possible try to get it done in the spring instead of early fall. We have so many boxes in the garage that I think we might just need to have a yard sale. Why keep moving the stuff around if you do not see it at every stop. Now I will say that some of the stuff is in boxes because we just do not have the room to put it all away. Another sad fact that leads me to think that maybe, just maybe we have accumulated too much crap. Now the idea here is to be more green and clean with products that will not harm the environment, but where should I start? I’m pretty sure that I should drop the magic eraser and opt for a different type of product. The only bad thing about that is they work so well on the crayon. My current cleaner is supposed to be environmentally friendly, such as biodegradable, but I’m not sure how well I trust it.

With that in mind how will you or will you do any spring cleaning? What would be your target cleaning locations, or do you just plan to be more organized and open those last few boxes that you have not touched since you moved in?

Stranger Danger

At our MOM’s Club meeting today we had a Detective of one of the wives come in and talk to the kids about stranger danger. It was great, the kids had fun, they got to hold some of his safer tools and even turn the sirens on in the car. I was not sure how much information Isabelle retained in her little brain but she did a great job. We get back in the car to go home and she starts talking about what we discussed and how important it is to stay away from strangers. I was amazing because she kept moving around the room and playing, so it did not seem like she was really paying very close attention. She never ceases to amaze me! Bear really liked the car, and wanted to spend some quality time up front playing with and pushing the buttons.

The Dreaded Car Cart

I have never really felt like a Utah mom before until today. I have always used a regular shopping cart when getting groceries because I think Isabelle is old enough to walk and why would I want to attempt to navigate one of those big bulking car carts around the store. Well I gave in the other day and it did make shopping a little easier, Bear was not trying to steal all the food from in the cart to see what he could eat. And Isabelle was not climbing on the cart every five minutes because she did not want to walk at that particual point. After going to the store on Monday for some reason I really felt like a Utah Mom. Maybe it was because school was out still for “Spring Break” or maybe it was the time I went. I’m pretty sure that I am going to either change my shopping day or be sure to get just the regular cart. I would hate for people to get the wrong impression. I can not even fully express in words the "feeling" but it was there, oh well hopefully not again.

Happy Easter

I hope that everyone had a really good Easter holiday. We enjoyed going to church, I know amazing, right. Both Ben and I got to stay in the room through most of mass, which in it self is pretty unusual. Bear did really well, he played with the little boy in front of him, which did not do well for the little boy but hey. We were pleased. Isabelle did great; she sat very well and was very proud of her dress.



Then we joined Missy and Jory at their house for a little Egg Hunt. Isabelle definitely had the advantage on that one. Maybe one day she can hunt eggs with her cousins and then she will not be so domineering. At least they had fun. Bear had to check out all his eggs before moving on to the next one. And was not really a big fan of the hard boiled eggs, I’m sure he thought they should have something special inside. Overall it was a pretty good day, the kids had fun and so did we.

Girls Night Out

An impromptu night out with the girls is always fun. And last night was that. After a long day filled with all sorts of excitement, I received a call from a friend saying hey lets go out. So I said ok, lets. And so the evening began. After rounding up another party member we headed out to the local Irish Pub for some drinks, food and chatting. It was fabulous to go out with out having to worry about the kids, and just have some fun. I think we all agreed that we will have to do that a little more often. Most of the husbands were home playing the games, except for Ben, he was probably flipping between CNN and ESPN, I did not ask. I did remember to bring him home something to eat, which he’ll have to enjoy today since he was asleep. I just wanted to say thanks for the invite, it was great, and we will have to do this again soon, and be sure to invite more girlfriends.

A Sleeping Bear

Bear must have been very tired today. He screamed all through Target, after I told him he was not going to get a coco, milk or juice. I said you can get some on Friday. Well that completely set him off. And of course I pick the one cart where the seat belt does not work so I’m left with a screaming child who is trying to climb out. Fortunately I did not have much to pick up, just something for Girl Scouts today and a few shorts to round out Bear’s summer wardrobe. I picked up said items quickly and left. You would think that by now Bear would have stopped crying, well just for a few seconds while we checked out and then it started all over again. He had a Target bag in his lap which I took away to put in the car and there he went again. The continual cries for “Dada, Dada,” even though Daddy is at work and cannot come to the rescue. What a mean Mommy. So we get home and he is still crying, walking into the house, lying on the floor, still crying. I take a shower, (since I was just at the gym) and he is still crying. Finally while I am changing my clothes he stops. I figure he fell asleep but where was the mystery. Until I walked downstairs I was not sure where he was, and there he is laid out on the tile floor sound asleep. Now why couldn’t he of made his way up the stairs to lye down on his bed? Or at least made his way over to the carpet in the dining room? Nobody will know, but at least the crying has stopped. Until I pick him to go get Isabelle from school, one can only hope it won’t start again.

Easter Eggs

It’s that time a year again when we gather round a pot of boiling water to ready the die for Easter eggs. Fortunately a friend here in Salt Lake opens her doors to several families to come over and die our eggs together. It is so much more fun for the kids and mom’s alike. Bear was much more into egg dying this year than last. He really had fun dropping the egg in and pulling it out. Isabelle did much better this year and used a multiple range of colors. Last year I think most of our eggs were blue and turned turquoise later. It’s always nice to visit with friends and do projects together.

Baylor!

Baylor’s Women Basketball team has also made it to the playoffs as a number three (3) seed in their division. While they have a better record then the men’s team, they just do not seem to receive the same notoriety as men. Maybe they will go all the way again to win the NCAA Championship game. That would make two championships in a single decade. Go Bears!!

Happy St. Paddy's Day

On Saturday we watched the looooongest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the history of parades. But the kids loved it, or at least Isabelle did. Bear was not up to top form and even fell asleep. I’m not sure what Isabelle liked the most but let me tell you there were a lot of Irish Dance groups for kids. I could hardly believe it. And I think they all wore wigs. I mean really how every girl could have had that tightly curled hair that bounced so well, there is just no other way. Plus it looked like all of the churches that have schools had a float. Unfortunately our church did not, but I guess that is because we have not started school yet. Although I think it would have been good advertisement, but nobody asked me. There were even a good amount of animals in the parade, Irish Wolfhounds, horses, and bloodhounds. My favorite part was the group set up as the Wyoming state line of the Idaho state line, and their counter parts, beer bottles that are “real.” All the beer imported into Utah has a lower percentage of alcohol than all other states.

Go Baylor

Today is an exciting day for all Baylor Alumni and students. It was announced this afternoon that the Baylor Men’s Basketball team will be going to the playoffs. A feat that has not been accomplished since 1988, go Bears! There are six teams from the Big XII that made it into the playoffs; others include Texas, A&M, and Kansas. We will be excitedly awaiting the playoff games this year, as Ben’s school, University of Texas at Arlington, also made the playoffs and will be playing Memphis. So tune in this week as the first round of playoffs begin. Baylor will be playing Purdue.

Golf Light Savings Time . . . duh

Welcome to Golf Light Savings time. We knew it was coming but soon discovered that we were not ready for it. I woke up this morning at “8:00 am” or so I thought. I fed the kids breakfast and figured that we still had a little time left before we had to start getting ready for Church. So I thought I would check e-mail and see what was going on in the world. As I was sending a note out to some friends, I discovered that the clock read 9:47 am, how could this be I just woke up there was no way that I spent that much time eating. Then it hit me, GLST has come. Even Ben forgot all about it, when he asked me what we were going to do today. Which is funny since he even put a note about it in his paygram at work. Oh well I like to look at that I got an extra hour of sleep, and in my world that is pretty big, since my kids get up pretty early. So I hope that you made it through the first day of GLST without any problems like us.

Thank You

Thanks Auntie Penny for all the great clothes. I am so happy to get some new clothes for the spring, because otherwise I would have been naked. Not really, I’m sure Mom would have eventually gotten around buying some clothes for me. Anyway, I really love everything, and even wore one of my new outfits today. Mom said it was ok, since we did not have anywhere to go; it’s still kind of cold outside. I can’t wait to come to your house to go swimming, it will be great.

How Safe are Safety Scissors?

Last Thursday Isabelle was downstairs working on a project and the next thing I know she is crying. As I further investigate the issue, she is spewing blood all over the place. At first I could not tell if her hand was cut or if her face was cut. It turns out she tried to do something around her mouth and cut her lip. Once I got her washed off and calmed down, I phoned the doctors office to have them take a look and to make sure we would not need stitches. Now I know you are probably thinking this could have been prevented if I was there. But at some point kids have to work by themselves, while you get something else done.

We get to the doctors office and they take a look, no need to stitches. Fortunately the lip heals very quickly, you can almost not even tell that something happened. As I am talking with the doctor she makes mention of another “safety scissor” incident where a boy cut his finger tip. He was playing with Mom’s scissors, so Mom switches them out and he still ends up being cut with some sort of scissors. So that begs my question of how safe are safety scissors?

Family Pictures

It is so much easier to have someone else take family pictures than doing it myself. Our Christmas card is evidence of this. So here a few highlights from our lastest picture taking adventure.

Mod Mom Give away

All you readers out there who love Whole Foods, should take a look at modmom.blogspot.com she is giving away a ton of great stuff, and some gift cards from Whole Foods. Who would not want that. Thanks Anjie for the heads up. Mod Mom has a great blog, how do you find them?

Happy Valentine's Day

While we don’t usually do anything special on V-day the kids did have a chance to exchange valentine’s with their friends. And of course this should really read candy and some note that your child will discard on the way to getting said candy. Well these two kids were no exception. Although I did not plan to pass out candy, Ben came home with these chocolate pops from a customer that I had to get rid of. There were not enough for Isabelle’s class so Bear got to hand them out instead. They were a big hit, and will probably keep those kids going for a good amount of time. I will have to say though I made Isabelle’s cards this year; I really don’t like the sayings on the cards they have these days, so cheesy. And I thought they were cute but nothing really special, we taped a stamp to them and what do you know a healthy valentine. But one of the cards she got was too cute, it was a dog face made out of hearts, with, you guessed it, a candy nose. I liked them enough to take a picture and I might just make them next year, unless I can come up with something more creative.

Peoa, UT

In our travels last weekend we went to go visit a fish hatchery in Springville, UT which is not too far away, but something new. Well needless to say they were not open, which my book did not indicate but hey we’ll go on to the next location. So we made our way up to Sundance, and it was packed. Lots of people up there skiing. I’m sure we could have gotten out, but I did not want to look like a dork and not be skiing. On to the next spot on our tour, we made our way to Heber to check the railroad and have lunch. Well the railroad was closed too, is nothing in this state open on Sunday? Since Bear had fallen asleep we decided to check out some of the small towns out on the outskirts. While driving around we saw lots of wildlife. And by we I mean, me. Ben was driving and every time I would point something out he would miss it. On our way through Peoa, UT we saw some Elk, it was pretty cool. Now having never seen an elk before I was not sure and made Ben turn around and go back to make sure I was correct. While swinging back by I did take some pictures, since the elk decided to look right at me pretty cool. Once we made it back to the freeway off to Park City, to visit the outlets. Somebody had to having a good deal on something.

Alphabet Crown

I am so proud of Isabelle; she has been working very hard at learning all her letters and their sounds. And as of today, her school has officially recognized that she knows them all. She is doing really well with picking up what she is learning at school and I’m sure she will be ready to read in no time. She figured she just got to wear another birthday crown, not really understanding the importance but I made a big deal about it so hopefully she will think it is pretty cool. I’m just so excited, I think I almost cried today when she got in the car with her crown and I read what it said. (and of course she is wearing her favorite outfit.)

It's Ben's Birthday

Happy Birthday Ben!

We are all very excited today as that it is Ben’s birthday. Isabelle was very excited to bring Dad breakfast in bed and sing him happy birthday. So much so that she wanted to do it again, and again. Ben enjoyed a pretty relaxing day, fun time with the kids, a nap, dinner and later on in the week a massage. I figured that he was asking for one at the church auction that he might enjoy one for his birthday. So Happy Birthday Ben we hope that this year will be great.

Groundhog Day

Well that fat useless groundhog says were going to have six more weeks of winter for 2008. What a bummer, I am really getting tired of all that snow. The novelty is starting to wear off. Oh well what are you going to do. Who decided that we have to follow what a fat rodent has to say anyway, I think he really just wants to sleep some more and the celebration woke him up. So he is giving payback for that in the form of more winter

Circus??

I know that I have been talking a little bit about things that bother me, so here is one more. We were offered an opportunity to go to the circus and by circus I mean three small rings where there were mostly people and hardly any animals. Not what I would have thought of as the circus but hey. First off, I have never been to the circus before and I figured that since the kids got in free what the heck lets go. Well first off it was freezing, and we had to stand in line to purchase my ticket, and of course Isabelle had to go to the bathroom. Fortunately a very nice lady understood my plight and let me go in and have my spot back in line. Once we were in I was afraid I would not find my group, there were quite a few people there. But we lucked out in the end, snacks called part of our group away from their seats. Now why didn’t I think to bring my own snacks, Bear will sometimes sit to eat food!!

The show got started late and Barrett did not want to sit down to watch the show and only really settled down once the animals were out. And since they “tried” to break the show up with animals and humans, this was hard for the 18 month old. He was fascinated by the horses and kept singing horse, horse, horse, which was pretty cool. But the people who have amazing strength and could hang by their teeth while holding onto another person, did not hold is interest for long if at all. Even the trick poodles had a hard time keeping this kid interested. I should have left him at home with Dad.


Then to top it all off they did a 20 (twenty) minute intermission, at which point it was 6pm in the evening and I said ok we are going home. We did not get to see the elephants, and that is what Isabelle really wanted to do. Which I guess was ok, because I have an issue with the way people treat animals in the circus, zoo, etc. Maybe the big circus would be better but who knows, it’s just hard all around to keep Bear still when he just really wants to go. Overall our circus excursion was not that good. Plus I did not get any good pictures because I forgot my long lens and we were sitting at the very top of the stands. What an afternoon.

Half-Staffed Flags

I was very disappointed today as I drove around town and noticed that the flags were being flown at half-staff most likely all over the state of Utah in remembrance of a non-government official or military person. The Governor ordered that all flags could be flow at half-staff in remembrance of Gordon B. Hinckley the former President of the LDS church. While I understand that this is a terrible loss for the members of the LDS faith I do not think that it is appropriate to lower the flag.

Section 7m of the Flag Code now reads (in part), emphasis ours on added text:
By order of the President, the flag shall be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, as a mark of respect to their memory. In the event of the death of other officials or foreign dignitaries, the flag is to be displayed at half-staff according to Presidential instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law. In the event of the death of a present or former official of the government of any State, territory, or possession of the United States, or the death of a member of the Armed Forces from any State, territory, or possession who dies while serving on active duty, the Governor of that State, territory, or possession may proclaim that the National flag shall be flown at half-staff, and the same authority is provided to the Mayor of the District of Columbia with respect to present or former officials of the District of Columbia and members of the Armed Forces from the District of Columbia.

I feel that this is form of remembrance for Mr. Hinckley is unnecessary and a over the top. I doubt that other people around the U.S. will find themselves looking at a flag flown half-staffed do to this loss. . I understand that the state of Utah is 63% LDS but that should not sway the officials in our state to make such a decision. What other decisions are they making based on the ideology of their faith or persons involved in a particular faith? Since our government is supposed to have a separation of Church and State, where does this lead us to?

Surgery

Ben survived his sleep apnea surgery and is now home recovering. Hopefully this means that he will no longer snore, or you know stop breathing at night. He had three things done, a tonsillectomy, and two other operations. I can’t pronounce one of the so I’m not even going to try and the other I just don’t remember, maybe it was an upper hyord suspension. So other than being tired and a little sore in his throat he is doing well. Lots of liquid nourishment, which I don’t think he minds. And I think that he feels like CNN will help him get better as well, because it seems like that is all he ever really watches.

Princess Bear???

The apple of every father's eye is to come home and see his only son dressed as a princess. Shoes and all, Barrett wanted to wear the princess dress, it was pretty funny and cute.

The Chronicles of Flat Stanley

Ben’s oldest sister asked us to take Flat Stanley around and show him the sights of Utah for a former student of hers, who is working on a school project. We were more than happy to take Stanley around and introduce him to Utah. Here is where he traveled:




Stop One: Bingham Canyon Mine – home to Kennecott Copper, the largest open pit cooper mining operation in the world; can be seen from outer space.



Stop Two: The Olympic Oval – home to the speed skating, curling, and ice skating competitions during the 2002 Winter Olympics.



Stop Three: The Great Salt Lake – a large lake just West of Salt Lake City, giving the city it’s name and which is made up of 15% salinity



Stop Four: Temple Square – What would a trip to Salt Lake City be if you did not visit Temple Square home to World Headquarters of the Church of Later-Day Saints.



Stop Five: The State Capital Building – Salt Lake City is the capital of Utah, so it is home to the governing state bodies. The current Governor is Republican Jon Huntsman.



Stop Six: Rice Eccles Stadium – Home to the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 Olympic Games

That concludes our Flat Stanley tour, if we had more time I think Stanley would have enjoyed Southern Utah and the red rocks of Moab and Zion. Until next time I hope that you will find a Flat Stanley close to your home.