Thursdays Thawing

Mar 04

Everyone,

Today the weather was beautiful.  Sunny, warm (ish) and the roads were soaked.  The snow is melting big time.  There are big fields of grass and even the snow beneath the trees is melting.  What is making the roads so wet is the huge 9+ feet of snow that have been piled up on the corners and in parking lots.  That is still hanging around.  Oh, and all the snow in our front yard.  Since we have a northern exposure, that stuff will be there until the boys birthday.  You watch.

Today we were able to go to the PRC for some play time.  We met Lolli and AJ and another friend for some serious playing/mommy talking time.  (Although I never get in enough Mommy Talking Time.  It’s just not a good idea with toddler twins.)  The kids love the gravel table.  I hate it because I have to sweep up the gravel that they spill.  And you know they do.  I also watched the boys pretend in the little kitchen they have there.  They washed their hands, put things in pots, sat at the table, said a blessing on their food, and ate it with gusto.  It was so cute.  I imagine we’ll be in for another round of colds because there was a fair amount of licking the food that I couldn’t stop.

Butterfly was determined to paint today.  She also got paint all over her pants.  Thank goodness she has resource center clothes and I could care less if these pants get ruined.  She has taken to drawing hearts for mouths and it’s very cute. 

I was very brave and let Pirate paint as well today.  He takes his art so seriously!  I’m not sure if he ran his fingers through his hair or if he leaned on his painting but his hair was green from forehead to mid head.  I ran my fingers through it once and Lolli caught this great picture.  I can’t get enough of this boy lately.  He is growing up so fast and acts like such a little boy.

Professor came over begging to paint once he saw his siblings doing it so we made room for him too.  He also got paint in his hair but I didn’t notice until I got home.  He had the white paint today and I honestly don’t think I would have noticed that in his hair unless it had been sunny.  I’m excited to go back next week and pick up their first master pieces.

Sadly, no Easter Egg Roll for us this year.  Did anyone else get tickets?

Safire

SafireLolli, Pirate, resource center

What to Say…

Nov 12

Everyone,

Normal craziness was had by all today. We went to the PRC and Butterfly fell in the mud running to the door. That girl has some serious enthusiasm. It’s great! The boys painted for the first time and wiped their paint covered hands on their clothes because they REFUSED to wear smocks. Luckily the paint came out. The mud, not yet.

They all took a 4 hour nap today (I know!) and I took an hour one. I vacuumed, did laundry, finished a library book, earned a few swagbucks. (BTW, I have earned enough for yet another amazon gift card. That makes $20 I’ve earned this month alone. Sign up, you won’t be sorry!)

Juice came home, we had dinner (which I almost burned but saved just in time) and we played. The boys have discovered that Daddy makes a good horse and Mommy also makes one. They went around tonight pushing us over so they could climb on our backs. Man they are cute!

Butterfly almost has her talk memorized for Sunday and I’m really excited to see how she does with it. We also have a visiting young women’s leader on Sunday. All the young women will be attending for 2nd and 3rd hours. This means I don’t have to teach Sunday school because my class is all girls. I like having weeks off sometimes! And with the boys in nursery now, I might actually be able to sit next to Juice in church and just sit. It’s going to be so different but so needed.

Speaking of being needed, my bed is calling me from the other room.

Safire

Safiredaily stuff, naps, resource center

Busy Today!

Apr 29

Everyone,

This morning, instead of staying home and doing laundry like a good girl should, I went out with my friend Lolli and her son AJ. I thought Butterfly could use some play time so we made plans to go to the resource center. It is so much fun there! They have play dough, paints, toys we don’t have, gravel, lots of blocks, games, puzzles…you name it they have it.

Before we went to the resource center though, we stopped off at the pizza place for free pasta in a bread bowl. Yeah, it’s just what it sounds like. Pasta wrapped in a pizza dough like bowl. It was pretty good. I enjoyed mine. Butterfly wouldn’t touch it but I liked it.

After some good play dough play (Butterfly built a forest with animals in it, very convincing too) and some dot painting, we came home with tired kids. Butterfly’s swim lessons were going to start in a little over an hour so I decided to not make her have a nap. I knew she would nap if I put her in her room and she is cross when she wakes up under 1 hour. So no nap for her.

But, she was good enough to get ready for swimming lessons and very happy to be in the pool. As I was picking her up after her class, her teacher was letting the kids “jump” in the pool. The teacher would tell the kids to get ready, and then basically lift them high and bring them down into the pool. Butterfly surprised her teacher by doing a mini cannon ball into the water all by herself. She actually went all the way under and popped back up by herself. Way to go Butterfly!

I wanted to go take advantage of baskin Robbins 31 cent ice cream today but our local baskin Robbins has closed. I couldn’t think of another one close by so we went with our old stand by, Bruster’s. Plus it was raining so we got our second scoop for free. Yum!

Everyone went to bed tired and happy, which is where I’m off to as well.

Safire

Safireice cream, resource center, swimming

Jazzed Up!

Mar 19

Everyone,

My friend Lala (not to be confused with Lolli, or maybe you do…either way, different people) came over today to exercise. We typically get together twice a week, once at her house and once at mine. She has a fascination with Belly dancing for fitness so that is what we have been doing. It’s been a lot of fun.

Today she mentioned she wanted to do some deep stretching so I convinced her we should do my post-natal yoga tape. Well, she consented to watch it, I did the yoga. She made funny comments about the ladies and their babies, I worked on stretching out my back and shoulders. She left feeling a little better, and I ended feeling A TON better. I do so love to do my yoga.

Also today, we went to the resource center with Lolli and AJ. And although we didn’t have the chance to talk a ton, the kids all had a great time. My 3 even took a 2 hour nap when we got home! Yay! (That was when I did my yoga.)

Butterfly insists lately on playing surprise. She makes up these elaborate “sets” full of her toys she has hidden underneath blankets and buckets. We are then to say, word for word, her script and she acts totally surprised. It’s very cute and fun the first 3 or 4 times. After that, I get bored and tell her to either change the toys or change the words. She opts for neither and changes the people involved. In other words, she lets me go do something else while she acts out all the parts, word for word.

Today she insisted on playing surprise at the resource center and I had to flat out tell her to play something else. We probably spent a good half hour playing surprise with the lamb, pig, chicken nesting toy. Pirate spent most of his visit slack jawed and having a great time. And Professor got himself stuck in the play house while trying to go through the door. What a fun family I have!

Book club tonight! I’m going to be tired tomorrow.

Safire

Safirebook club, Butterfly, exercising, Lala and Vinny, Lolli, P and P, resource center

Rain Rain Rain

Dec 11

Everyone,

It seems like it has been raining non stop today. But we were adventurous (after a very lazy morning) and were able to go out to the resource center to play with Chef and Al. They were both into the cars first thing, and then Butterfly moved on to the barn and all the animals. There were only 3 other kids there (not counting the boys) so she had the entire play area to herself. She used it too! The boys were able to get down on the carpet and play a little bit even. We all had a really nice time. Chef even gave me some of her candy that she made yesterday. Oh. So. Yummy. I did not share. If you’d like to see what she did, go here.

Butterfly, ever the enthusiastic learner, basically ordered Al around during circle time and was enraptured by the book on spiders. She told me all the way home about them. “Mama, did you know that spiders have eight legs and two body part, not three like bugs. Spiders are not bugs. They are a very big word.”

“Arachnids?”

“Yes, a very big A word. I can draw A! Spider starts with A!”

She learns so much so fast. Pretty soon she is going to be telling me about all sorts of things and I will be happy for my college degree to keep up with her. Smarty pants.

She had a late nap and a rushed dinner so we could make it to the church for activities tonight. Juice is still working with the 12-13 year old boys in scouting (they did concealed weapons, I mean, pocket knife certification tonight) and I am working with the 8-11 year old girls. We made no bake cookies tonight and frosted sugar cookies. Yum and yum! They each got to take a plate home to share with their family and we gave a plate to each member of the bishopbric. There was lots of giggling, lots of sneaky cookie tasting and then lots of running after. I had Pirate, Juice had Professor. Butterfly and another little girl in the ward (5 years old) totally hit it off and played so nicely in the classroom next door to the kitchen so I could keep an eye on them as well. It was a good night. If a little bit sticky night.

Recipe for the No Bake Cookies:

Saving Cookies (no idea why they call it that, it’s just the title)

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light karo syrup
4 cups corn flake cereal
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows

Combine sugar and karo syrup in a pot over low heat. Stir and cook until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Fold in (quickly) the cereal, peanut butter, marshmallows, and chocolate chips. Drop in teaspoons onto wax paper. Cool for 10 minutes and enjoy!

The girls used their (clean) hands to make the cookies. I also made a batch with peanut butter and without and they worked out just fine. I also ran out of karo syrup for the peanut butter batch so it’s a bit rich. But very forgiving. They girls had a great time and we got to talk about filling the measuring cups to the brim and working as a team.

Juice just walked in and looks exhausted. I feel the way he looks. Bed time!

Safire

SafireChef, church, recipes, resource center

Tagged

Nov 18

Everyone,

So I’ve been tagged by my friend Marisa and since I can’t think of anything better to write about today, I’ll do it. But I refuse to perpetuate the tag. Do it if you’d like.

8 Favorite TV Shows: (I watch most of these either online or by dvd)
1- Ugly Betty
2- Grey’s Anatomy
3- Private Practice
4- Northern Exposure
5- Gilmore Girls
6- Pushing Up Daisies
7- The Dog Whisperer
9- Animal Planet (yes I used to watch that station all the time.)

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1- Freaked out over a mouse.
2- Screamed and watched said mouse jump into the air.
3- Cleaned till I dropped.
4- Changed several diapers (around 9).
5- Blogged.
6- Set up my Christmas cards.
7- Walked to the post office.
8- Watched Professor and Pirate fight over Professor’s binky.

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1- Seeing my family again.
2- Having my own mailbox near my house.
3- Having a garage.
4- Not having to worry about mice.
5- Seeing the boys and Butterfly grow up, along with any other siblings.
6- My 10 year anniversary (and hopefully accompanying cruise to Alaska)
7- Having a bigger kitchen table.
8- Having a horse and miles of near by trails to explore.

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1- Red Rock Canyon Grill
2- Canton Delight (Chinese take out)
3- Pizza Hut
4- Chipotle
5- Cheeburger, Cheeburger
6- Baja Fresh
7- Chick-Fil-A
8- Bajio (in Utah)

8 Things on my Wish List:
1- A horse and all accompanying stuff.
2- A bigger mouse free house.
3- A little trip by myself with my Mom and/or BFF Mink to some random place we’ve never been. (sans kids)
4- An itunes gift card.
5- Awesome lenses for my camera, with image stabilizer.
6- A work out partner.
7- Fios
8- Horseback riding lessons.

There you go Marisa!

A mouse update: no mice in traps today, but we are starting to find droppings around. Juice is thrilled that Soot was so helpful and plans to have her just as helpful if we need her to be. I am freaked over every little movement out of the corner of my eye. I am making plans to try and plug up some more likely holes and we are not leaving dog food out overnight anymore. We need to go get some different traps because I think they are running under the cupboards and the snap traps we have won’t spring under there. I am never moving to NYC because apparently they have lots of mice there. (Every single website I read on it was geared towards New Yorkers. Sorry.)

We went to the resource center with friends from my moms group today and that was fun! They had shaving cream out for the craft and Butterfly managed to get it all over. My friend made mention about how Butterfly just really spreads herself out and boy does she ever. She is a boisterous little girl, but happy and friendly. They had a great time together and I had a nice chat. Seriously loving the resource center more this year than last. And I loved it lots last year!

Safire

Safirememes, NaBloPoMo, pests and critters, resource center

Summer Smiling

May 29

Everyone,

Yesterday I got two very small half smiles from Pirate. You could tell he was thinking about it both times. Today, he gave me a HUGE toothless grin! He looked so happy and pleased to see me. Wow, it’s amazing how much these smiles make everything worth it. They can’t come at a more needed time!

Professor gave a small half smile to Juice yesterday too so we’re hopeful that the smiley phase is coming for both of them. It’s my favorite stage. I love these little smiles.

Juice played hooky today and we all went to the recourse center and showed Daddy around. We did a craft, enjoyed circle time, and played with dolls. Well, Juice did all of that with Butterfly, I sat and talked to my friend Laura while the boys slept. A fun morning!

We then stopped by a fast food place for lunch (why not make a day of it?) and as we were leaving, we saw a semi hit a bright yellow convertible in the intersection. The convertible was going very fast, and I think the semi thought the convertible was not going to go through the light so he started to go. They met right in the middle. The yellow convertible spun around, hit a van right behind the semi’s trailer, and skidded to a stop. Ouch. And who should step out of the convertible but a cop in all her gear. Ooohhh…not good for the semi driver.

We are getting ready for the boys’ blessing this weekend. I will be making the great chicken salad tomorrow, and we have a bunch of tables and chairs being delivered so we can have ourselves some food outside. I love having spring babies so we can have all their parties outside. It also helps that we are right next to a park! I’m excited to see these guys in their blessing outfits. And of course, pictures will be coming!

Safire

Safireblessing, Pirate Firsts, resource center

Fun with Paint

Nov 20

Everyone,

My friend Lolli introduced me to a place called the resource center. We went once, Butterfly loved it, and so I joined. It’s like a small preschool that the parents need to participate in. They have toys, books, puzzles, blocks, legos, dress up stuff, a big bin with fish tank rocks and funnels and spoons etc., a toy house with a kitchen and laundry and baby dolls and toy couches, play dough, paint, and a different craft project every week. They also have circle time with songs and books and little hand games. You don’t drop your kids off, but they encourage you to play and enjoy the time you spend there. They do have 2 teachers that do circle time, help out, and answer any questions the parents have. They also have an extensive library of parenting books for the adults, and different parenting tips up on the wall. It really is a lot of fun. We’ve only gone a few times because Ed invaded our house right after we joined. But it’s still so much fun and they do things that I refuse to do at my house. Like paint.

SafireNaBloPoMo, resource center