Recently...

#1: Our family has seen the flu, a nasty cold and, most recently, pink eye. This is what I get for telling someone a week ago that none of our kids have had pink eye. Emmett got it first last Friday. And then Molly came down with it Sunday. I'm expecting to have goopy eyes any day now.

#2: One of our sons, who will remain nameless because he didn't want me to post about this, made this confession last night...

"Mom, I wanted to catch pink eye so I didn't have to go to school so I licked Molly's leftover banana."

Yes. I couldn't help it. I started giggling.

He'll probably wake up with pink eye on Saturday morning and then be find to return to school by Monday.

#3: Molly doesn't like me to get her dressed lately. On Sunday I asked her what she wanted to wear. She ended up in three skirts and a clashing purple tunic. It was a lovely look. I wanted to get a picture, but she wasn't being cooperative. At all.

#4: We were reading scriptures the other night and Ryan read the phrase, "a great noise" which was followed by the sound of one of the boys passing gas. Needless to say, this was followed by another great noise...loads of laughing!

#5: We had to zip to St. George yesterday to sign some papers for our refinancing. The girls came with us and the boys were in school. My parents took us out to lunch at Golden Corral. Zoe tried and liked fried okra. She said they tasted like popcorn chicken. Ok. Really? I don't think so. I've tried fried okra and...um....

Seeing grandma and grandpa was the highlight for Zoe. Also, the chocolate fountain...

And Molly was excited about the corn. She is nuts about corn.

#6: Sam's teacher made him Author of the Week for doing such a great job on the story he wrote. How cool is that? I'll have to share his story when he brings it home.  It is all kinds of awesome.

#7: We took the kids through the luxury car wash Saturday night, called the Color Wash. I'd gotten some half off vouchers. It was amazing just how entertaining that car wash was. Seriously. I think they'd want to do that everyday if they could.  I loved it.

#8: On the way to St. George I bounced some magical world-building ideas off of Ryan. He said, "And why don't you think this will sell?" He's the best. It's crazy amazing how he believes in this book-writing dream of mine. I sure do love that handsome cowboy of mine.

#9: Grandma Margaret left a pack of Special Grandma Juice on our front porch when we were gone Saturday night. She said if we all drank one, we wouldn't get sick the rest of the year. The kids were very excited  about their special juice. Now let's hope it works!

#10: Weston is getting tall. And I mean....Tall. With a capitol T. How did that happen? Some days, I still feel like a little girl myself. How do I have this cute grown up kid walking around my house calling me mom? I don't know. But I love it.

Look! Sam is famous!

I expect the news crew any minute.





Two of my ideas appeared in Disney's Family Fun Magazine this month. And how cool is it that they used a picture of cute  Sam modeling his own Pet Rock Monster Necklace?


I told him he could take one of my copies of the magazine to show his class, but he said, "I'd be kind of embarrassed."


Wha? You don't want to show your class how awesomely awesome you are? Ok. Whatev.

ETA: He decided he wanted to show everyone. :)

They also used my idea for these fun and easy toilet paper tube robots...

Cute, right? 

A Puddle Walk

I took Molly for a walk today.

We found puddles.

And more puddles.

And then a really big puddle.

We stepped in snow.

And more puddles.

Then Daddy drove by.

Molly said, "Daddy!"

She wanted to walk home.

And the fastest way to get there, of course, is through more puddles.

Her daddy found a sled, popped her inside and pulled her around the yard.

Our walk took us about a half a block from home.

But it was still perfect.

Valentine's Day

I love Love Day.

We put streamers in the kid's doorways the night before and hung heart love notes from them. We wrote about the things we love about each child. And we included candy. As you can see, Molly enjoyed the candy...

Pink heart pancakes for breakfast...

A sweet valentine for my sweet man...

And you can use it like a white board. We've been writing sweet love notes back and forth (cue the "Awwww.")

Helping with Sam's class Valentine's party...

Yay! One of the kids shared a sucker with Molly. Lucky girl!

Our family Valentine's Party included heart pizzas, pink punch and cards for each other...

And a heart cake...

Zoe had been planning on this Love Party for almost a month! 

Yep. I love that Love Day.

Hot Valentine's Date

My handsome cowboy (with a beard...dear, tell me again why you grew a beard?)

And me

Mexican food

And card games

Blink and Wig Out

Ryan creamed me at Blink on one of our last dates.

But this time...

I won.

And getting to eat dinner and laugh and chat and play card games (and win!) with this wonderful man who loves me?

Yep. I won again.

Welcome to Her Castle

Molly got the Little People Dance and Twirl Castle for Christmas from Santa.

She loves it. And that is a huge understatement.

She likes to ask us, "Pay? Cassle?"

How could we ever refuse?

An Evening with Ella Enchanted

We started reading Ella Enchanted as a family last fall on a car trip up north (I think that was when it was....)  And we finally finished it last Saturday! It was fun sharing a story together, especially this story. I love this book!

For the most part, everyone enjoyed it (even my rough & tough handsome cowboy) although Zoe didn't pay too much attention....she did the best she could for being 4. And Molly....well, she was merely a distraction when we tried to read it!

To mark the occasion, we had an Ella Enchanted Dinner Party Saturday night.

I put up a royal invitation (on the fridge) to let the Shakespear kingdom know of the upcoming festivities. This was met with much anticipation throughout the land. Each of the invitees were encouraged to arrive in fancy party attire.

And they did not disappoint.

Ryan arrived in a lovely suit coat two sizes too small and a ruffly pink boutonniere. And you have to give him props. The poor man had the flu, but he still wouldn't miss the royal party!

 Zoe was a beautiful fairy.

 Emmett was an elf in a blue hat (can you tell that was a last minute costume?)

Sam and Weston wore their Dad's clothes and said they were sleepy giants!

On the menu we had....

Torlin Kerru (Garlic & Butter sauteed mushrooms)
Areida's Rolls
Giant Potatoes from Uaaxee's farm (with chili, cheese, ranch and ham )
Quail Eggs (Deviled eggs)
Tonic (The BEST Party Punch)
Roly Poly Pudding (Oreo Pudding Poke Cake)

Before we sat down to dine on our luxurious feast, we had a rousing game of Ella Says (instead of Simon Says). Since Ella is cursed to do as she's told I thought it was a fitting game.  The kids loved it. And I kept getting out! Ack! Need to pay attention better....

At dinner I asked some Ella Enchanted trivia questions....they got almost all of them right!

We had the kids try No Thank You bites of the Torlin Kerru. They gagged on it. But at least they tried the mushrooms! Needless to say, we didn't get any mushroom converts.

And then we got into our jammies, grabbed some blankets and pillows and snuggled up to watch the movie Ella Enchanted.

And I know, I know, people. The movie is NOTHING like the book.  Just about the only thing they have in common is that they're both about a girl named Ella who is cursed with obedience. It's crazy how much the stories differ.

But it was still fun to watch. And the kids hadn't seen it before. I wonder why the producers, writers, the powers that be, decided to change the story so much. If you haven't read the book and you've only seen the movie, you're doing yourself a serious disservice. Read the book! It's grand.

Now we're reading Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George. It stars a castle that grows new rooms when it gets bored....so fun, right? I read the first chapter to the family tonight. Weston said, "Can you please read one more chapter?" Don't you just love that question?

Alright, now what are you reading?