Stake Womens' Conference

Our Stake did a Women's Conference this year. It was awesome! They really went all out. There were four mini-classes (we got to choose which to attend) as well as a main speaker and a luncheon. The tables for the lunch were all decorated around the theme of a book. There were over 50 tables and they all looked amazing! It was fun to see how many different interests there are. I got to decorate two of them. I chose French for one theme and "All Moms Go to Heaven" as the other. I wish I had a picture of the bathrooms to show you. One was decorated with the theme of "Where the Wild Things Are?" They carted in half a dozen silk trees and bunches of plants and printed up enlargements of scenes from the book to hang on the walls. The Men's room was converted for the event using a "Fancy Nancy" theme. It was over-the-top. Aubrey got to use it when she came to help me set up my tables and she went on and on about wanting to re-decorate her room like the bathroom! It was truly "Fancified." (There were even cute little rugs in front of each toilet ...don't worry, you wouldn't even know there were urinals somewhere in there; they were hidden somewhere behind the shower curtain and all the accessories.)

While I was there all day Saturday...


Adam took the kids to the zoo with another dad who'd been left to fend for himself all day. They had a good time. Adam's only question before I left, "How do I curl bangs?" :) He did a good job. He's a great dad to all these little girls. I got the royal treatment too...when I came home, the house was vaccumed, dishes were done, and the laundry was folded. I could get used to this sort of arrangement.

Shy Ballerina

A good friend of mine held a dance class for a handful of girls Aubrey's age over the past couple months. She did such a great job with them and they really enjoyed it. Last week was their Ballerina Party, where they performed for their moms and siblings. Aubrey had been really looking forward to it but when we got there, she wouldn't even stand with the group for a picture, let alone dance! About half-way through, she asked if I would dance with her and that got her feeling comfortable enough to finish the performance. They looked darling and the party was so cute. The room was all decorated and they had themed treats afterwards. Great job Mindy! Thanks for all your hard work with the girls!

March visit from Missy and Rhen

I am playing catch-up on my blog this morning. After a long night with a sick baby (who is almost two and I fear will call her my baby for years to come!), I was exhausted. Aubrey came in dancing around my room early this morning. About a half an hour after I turned a show on for her, she was back in my room to exclaim..."I don't even see my 'breakstast' cooking on the stove, Mom!" In other words, please get up and make my oatmeal now. (We are both in love with Quaker Oatmeal!) I finally got up, but decided to have a lazy morning...something I don't do often and it is great. (I just wish I were cleaned up, but if I were, I would probably be getting something else done so it's a give and take here.) Anyway, we have had an eventful couple of weeks. First, Adam and I went to Disneyland and left the kids with my mom for a weekend; next, Alexis had her surgery; then, Adam's sister and her hubby came to San Francisco, so we headed up there last weekend to spend a day with them. They have come out every March since we've been here and we look forward to our visits with them everytime. We had bread bowls at Boudin (oh, how I love Boudin!), ice cream at Ghiradelli (WAY overpriced, but it is a San Fran experience), and spent time goofing around at the Children's Museum. It was great to be together! The girls love Rhen and Missy and were in tears at parting...we hope for another visit with you soon!

The view is always breathtaking to me as you come over the Oakland Bridge into San Fransisco.


The poppies were out along the route to San Fran and they are stunning. This is such a beautiful time to drive through California. It is green and the trees are covered in blossoms.








Making clay creations for the animation studio. These are what Adam and I made:

Weekend Getaway - Just the Two of us!

My mom came to town a couple weekends back to watch the girls for Adam and me while we went to Disneyland...just the two of us. Well, actually we met our good friends, Jenn and Ryan, there but it was without the little ones. We all participated in Disney's "Give a Day, Get a Day" program to get vouchers for park admission. We had such a good time! (I want to go back!) We played hard at Disneyland and I think we lucked out on the day we picked. The weather was great and the crowds were very managable. We got to ride about everything we wanted to...including a record of four times on Space Mountain! I had so much fun screaming on that ride that I lost my voice the next day! It was great! We had a fantastic pizza in downtown Disney, and the next day went to our favorite spot in Venice Beach, C&O's (Jenn introduced it to us last year)for some garlic knots and Italian cuisine. We went to the Getty Museum in LA, which was fantastic. Adam and I haven't been to an art gallery in a long time and it is something we really love. (It inspired my goal for this month, which is to draw a picture after studying some books from the library...wish me luck!) We also took a walk by the La Brea tar pits to see where literally "tons" of fossils have been recovered in the middle of the city of LA. I can't say enough how much I enjoyed the weekend! Can't wait to do it again sometime. Thanks Jenn and Ryan for being our Disney buddies two years in a row! Someday perhaps we will all go together as families, but for now, it sure is great to be big kids!











La Brea Tar Pits


view from the Getty Museum

Thanks Grandma!

The girls had such a fantastic time with their Grandma while Adam and I went on our weekend getaway to Disneyland. They played and played and played. She brought fun craft projects for them to work on, went to the park, storytime, out for ice cream, baked treats, did some shopping and movie watching and they all had cute hair-dos every day. We felt truly spoiled to have her come and take such good care of the girls. I didn't worry about a thing with her here and that allowed me to truly relax and enjoy my time away; and then to focus on Alexis during her surgery, which was an ALL day afair. I felt spoiled too to have her surprise me by doing some laundry and fixing my broken towel rod...she has always been one to serve and I know of no one else who serves with love the way she does. It is the core of who she is to me. A person who loves to have fun and enjoys life; she works hard when it is time to work, plays hard when it is time to play, and, I think, loves more than anything to do good works for others. My life has been blessed by so many sweet somethings throughout the years...notes or a special treat in my lunchbox, a cute jar of M&Ms at work, a surprise special day together, a cute new outfit on my bed, little somethings in the mail to let me know she's been thinking of me... these are only to name a few. I know I am not the only recipient of her quiet works of love; either small or big. I love that when she comes, I still feel "taken care of" by her and nothing beats the feeling of having your mom take care of you! No one loves you like your mom does! And mom, no one loves you like I do! Thank you for all that you do!

First Surgery

Waiting for the surgery

The bump

Waking up

The ride to the car


Alexis had a minor surgery on Monday to remove a small mass that has been growing on her cheek for the past couple of years. The surgery was performed by a plastic surgeon at the local Children's Hospital. It was a long day but Alexis did very well. She actually seemed a little excited and left the nerves for her Dad and me. She was very sleepy all evening and had a weak stomach from the anethesia but woke up today feeling well again. She is happy to have the bump off her cheek and we are all anxious for the bandage to be removed to see what type of scar was left behind.

My kind of pet!

Aubrey received some birthday money in a card from her Grammie last week and promptly requested "to take a trip to Target to see exactly what she wanted." She had planned to make a "polly pocket" purchase but since Alexis came along with money burning a hole in her pocket that she had been earning from reading, she was pursuaded to make a different acquisition. The girls used their money to buy ZhuZhu pets, which are robotic hampsters. (They are actually quite cute.) They were so excited to care for their little pets and I am so excited they don't require any care on my part...that is, except for helping them with housing. I got the girls all excited about making houses out of shoe boxes for their pets. We got out ALL the craft stuff and spent a couple hours together on Saturday afternoon creating the coziest, prettiest rooms I've ever seen a fake pet hampster have. It was SO much fun for me to help them and it took me back to the days I used to do that sort of thing. (I distinctly remember making a similar dwelling for some type of caterpillar once. weird.) "Scoodles" and "Jilly" are happy to be a part of our family now and they appear to like their homes. They are the perfect pet for me. My hands are full enough with my three monkeys and the two extra kindergarteners I am taking care of every morning before school. Getting a real pet is far down the list of things I'd like to do!

Grinding Wheat

We had "Sample Sunday" at church this past week and I was asked to bring in homemade wheat bread. I was talking to my girlfriend about our upcoming getaway this weekend while I was getting ready to grind my wheat and she requested that I document the process...so this is for you, Jenn. :)






Sadly, I didn't get a picture of the bread, but this truly homemade honey wheat bread was delicious! More people should make bread. :) Send me a recipe if you have a favorite. This week I will attempt a braided cinnamon bread...I can hardly wait for the heavenly aroma!

Diapers!

I came across an awesome deal on diapers this past week at Diapers.com. I typically buy them from whichever store I can find the best deal using sales and coupons (which is usually one of the drug stores such as Walgreens or Rite Aid). The online deal this past week was better than any I had seen in the stores for awhile...and they delivered it the very next day to my doorstep -for free! That is what I call great service! I was very happy with my Diapers.com experience and will definately use them again and pass on my recommendation. They offer online discounts, free shipping with a minumum order, and they accept regular coupons from the newspaper, etc. All you have to do is mail them in and they will be posted to your account for your next order. Very cool. They have a lot more than just diapers, too. If you are a new customer, use my referral code: ALYS2395 to get $10 off your first order. Also, for a limited time, you can fill out the rebate form found here http://www.diapers.com/helpcenter/parenting.htm
to get an additional $14 off. Place an order of $50 or more to get the free shipping.(Combining these offers got me several packs of Pampers for just over $4 per pack.)
Happy Shopping!

Spring is here

This is a picture I took with my phone a week or so ago on our afternoon walk/bike ride around the neighborhood. Blossoms are out everywhere now! The neighborhood looks beautiful with the many flowers in bloom and leaves on the trees. Yesterday, it hit 70 degrees here! We wore t-shirts and played at the park. It was great. I've accepted the fact that it is time to get out in the yard again. We mowed the lawn and trimmed the shrubs (my least favorite yard chore) and I am anxious to plant some flowers. We are excited to say that spring is finally here!

Birthday Girl

Aubrey celebrated her fourth birthday this week!
We partied in "Princess and the Frog" style with a frog cake and lots of fun frog/princess games with a few friends. We also went for our traditional birthday photo shoot...and FYI, Kiddie Kandids is gone! They filed bankruptcy! Who will give us an adorable birthday 8x10 for free every year! Who will even take our pictures now? There are no Target photo studios near us, nor are there any "Picture People" that I am aware of. We gave Sears photo studio a try and they did a good job. Down side is that we have to wait two weeks to get our pictures since they don't print them on the spot like Kiddie Kandids. So much for instant gratification. Aubrey is thrilled to be four and is absolutely in love with polly pockets and barbie dolls. She is my "sugar and spice." She can be sweet as pie when she wants to be and can make me laugh so hard at times...but if you cross her the wrong way, watch out! She is a free spirit if I ever saw one. We love her to bits!

A little bit sentimental

Today, Adam and I sold the first tv we bought together! This was the TV we purchased with an accumulation of Target gift cards from our wedding eight years ago this month. It kind of looks like a Monster compared to all the newer "thin" tvs. When Adam hauled it into the house we were delivering it to, the lady there even commented "wow. That is a really big tv." (note that the screen was only 27 inches so it was the width she was referring too and not the massive viewing space. These people had a 72 inch or so flat screen hanging on their wall, so I have no idea what they wanted with our old tube set.) Anyway, while I am glad to have the tv off our bedroom floor, where it has resided for the past several months since our tv upgrade, I miss it...or rather the memories made with it. I remember how we broke the rear-view mirror off our little civic when we tried to stuff it in the passenger seat because it wouldn't fit in our trunk (we were so dumb!). I remember how we used to haul our mattress from our room into the family room to watch movies on the weekends. We'd get Chinese take-out or Cafe Rio and eat it "in bed" while we stayed up late watching movies in the family room and then sleep in on Saturday mornings. Those were the days! (At least the ones when we didn't have to be to work at Discover Card by 6am!) That tv has played hundreds of episodes of Elmo, got me through my labor with Allie, experienced the transition of analog to digital tv, aired numeous historical events such as the swearing in of the first African American President, and so much more. Who'd have thought I'd become sentimental over an old tv? Not me. Not that I'd prefer the old tv to the new one, but I'm just sayin'...
It turns out that it's true what they say about how sometimes the little things aren't so little after all.