Conference Day 1

It felt good to watch conference with the family today. Last night the kids helped me put together a poster board game to use for conference. I happened to be on a friend's blog (thanks April!) and saw that she had made this awesome board to play during conference. I LOVE to copy good things! It was a little different from the old conference books I put together for the kids every conference. So I gave them some variety this year. They were so excited to have a new game to play. And I was excited that they were looking forward to a tradition that hopefully has stuck with them.

I got small steno books (one each for all of us that could write), a sketch pad for Allie and Collin and made this conference chase board. Allie and Collin stayed up with me to cut out the pictures and glue them on the board. The result: not perfect but perfectly cool. They both liked the visual, and being able to move their little game piece on the board until they got to the Savior's picture. Then they got a prize. Ours were boxes of theater candy. Hey, whatever works!

Here's how to play:
You will need a game piece for each player. Line the game pieces up on the left side of the board and as you listen to conference listen for the words represented by each picture. When you hear that word, advance your piece to that game space--one space at a time. You may not skip over spaces! You can move vertically, horizontally or diagonally. The winner is the person who reaches the largest picture, or "Win Space" at the right side of the board first.

The first session was great they all took copious notes on that one. I like Collin's condensed version: "sperit" "profit" "hoole gowst" "ubedience" and other things that made me smile. He told me he noticed all those talks had at least 4 spirit and Jesus words in them. All of them. Yeah, he was listening. Allie remembered Elder Bednar's talk on expressing love, bearing testimony and being consistent. So did Kevin and I.

So the kids ate their winnings and built a fort in the theater room right before it was over. For the p.m. session Maddie napped, and we watched conference upstairs.

Extra Notes for today (for me mostly):

Maddie gobbled up a bunch of sweet tarts during conference. She likes her bed all cushy and soft. She went right to sleep when I put her down for a nap!

Kevin and Allie do NOT like candy corn kisses. Collin and I do.

Collin missed his soccer game in favor of conference. I missed a shower. Collin told me he was glad I was home to watch conference with him. I love that boy! He also told me his favorite holidays were first, Christmas, then Easter. He also asked me if he was nice this week would he get the "NICE" award to stick on his door?

Family awards given out this last week were: Neat As a Pin - Collin for keeping his room neat the last two weeks. He got so into it that he took his legos to our bedroom because he didn't want to mess his up. Allie snatched the "Sweet Heart" award - for writing us lots of little love notes the last month.

22 months!

Madz is 22 months.

She likes to say all the forms of "YES" you can imagine - yah, yes, uh-huh, mm..hmm, yeah.

She also likes to say NO. To just about everything she doesn't agree with. Like going to bed in her crib. She knows that all too well. So when I say "Time for bed Maddie, " she says "NOOOO".

She says her name funny. It sounds like Mandie or Money.

She calls everyone in the house by their name when she needs to. If I go missing, she will call out "Mom! Mom!" and she sounds just like Allie.

She doesn't do the paci anymore, except when I found it in my purse the day I was canning peaches. The only way I could get her out of the kitchen. :)

She likes to write/scribble on anything, including herself. It's always the most fun with the markers. Especially Sharpies. That's why she loves our school room. She wrecked it an hour before preschool started this morning.

Her favorite song on CD is "Brush your Teeth". She knows just what CD to pop into the CD player, presses the play button and waits for the song to start.

She likes to be outside. In fact if you want to be best friends with her, just say you're leaving and you want her to come with you. She'll go and never look back. And cry if you leave.

She disses me when Grandma is around. I don't mind though - she can take her anytime! :)

She loves to dance. "Ashes, ashes" is a favorite, and like I said, she'll usually just pop in a CD and press play.

She still loves that little dotted blanket. Hope it holds up because Nordstrom doesn't carry this (see below) pattern anymore. Actually, Maddie's is the same fabric, but with a heart instead of a flower. Out of stock at the main Taggies online store.
So there you have it. My girl in a nutshell. We love her!

Happy Birthday Kevin!

Today Kevin turns 35! We invited all the Harris' and Merrills over for dinner yesterday to celebrate. Kevin and Collin were in UT this Saturday to watch the BYU-Colorado State game and came home in time to go to the last 2 hours of church and then dinner. They were originally not coming home until 10 p.m. but was able to get on an earlier flight.

Here are the top 10 things about Kevin that I love:

10. Clean - He always smells fresh!, clean and neat. and isn't messy. The only pile he leaves on the floor are socks and jeans. But always in the same spot. I just move them. Seems such a little thing. But I like things uncluttered, and he makes it easy for me to do that.

9. The most loyal person I know - In the almost 12 years we've been married, he hasn't said anything bad about anyone. He keeps confidences. You can be assured that if you tell him something, it stays with him.

8. Patient - It takes a long time to get him to ever be mad, and doesn't ever raise his voice to prove a point. He's patient with me and my weaknesses, which I really appreciate.

7. Good listener - he listens when I talk. And bears with me when our "discussions" take too long. I think I need to work on making them a little shorter.

6. Content - I so love this about Kevin. I can be critical of things and people, and he is the complete opposite. I wish I could be more like him in this department. He doesn't complain about anything, or anyone, including me.

5. Helps me at home- He does the laundry! and folds them too. Every week. It is a huge help because I don't enjoy folding laundry as much as putting them in the wash. He does the dishes without me asking. He washes my car for me (never had to do it in all my life). He does some grocery shopping too (no coupons though!), but he doesn't mind running to Walmart.

4. Hard worker and leaves work at work. He likes to work, and is good at it. He provides well for our family, and I know he will always take care of us. He doesn't complain about work, or discuss negative work issues at home. He leaves work stress at work.

3. Humble. One of the most humble people I know. Never boasts and always modest about everything. When asked what he does for work, he says I work for a construction company. Never says he's corporate counsel. Doesn't also feel a need to outdo anyone, or have the latest or most expensive anything. He's humble as can be.


2. Loves the kids and me- he plays with them, changes diapers and loves them to pieces. He is a good father to them, and I'm glad he married me. The kids love to give him handwritten notes. Because he leaves us those in the mornings, just because, sometimes. I look forward to many more years together!

Allie made this fun pencil holder for Kevin - it says "#1 Dad, #2 pencils".

and last but not least...

1. Faithful and true - He exceeds mine when it comes to this. He is a straight arrow and I can count on him being true and faithful, because he honors the Priesthood. I love when he bears his testimony to us and gives blessings. He will take us to church even on vacation and goes to the temple often (with me or by himself). He has deep reverence for the these things, and I have ALWAYS loved this about him.

Happy Birthday Kev! Hope I didn't embarrass too much. I can see his face is all flushed.

Newport Beach 2

Newport Beach

New favorites of the kids in Newport Beach last weekend. More to come!

1st Soccer Game of the Season

Collin's 1st soccer game was today. It was blazing hot out there! His AZ Soccer Club - U7 team is called "Lightning" (because they're lightning fast, he said), and he wears a #4 jersey. His team won 2-0 against the Dragons. One funny thing was that Collin noticed his shirt was untucked in the middle of the game - so he tucked his shirt in as the ball came his way! He had lots of fun, and enjoyed the "special" game day snacks after. Go Lightning!!!

Before the game

Hustle!

Listening to coach

Keep going!

After the game

Snacks

Purple Ribbon

On the way home from school, I noticed Allie had a purple ribbon pinned on her shirt. I asked her what it was for? And she told me that in school they celebrated Patriot Day and a teacher made purple ribbons for all the kids to pin on their shirt to remember the fallen and living heroes of September 11th.

So she asked me where she was that day? I told her that that day in 2001, we were in New Mexico. She and I had slept in late (usual) and Kevin had left for work earlier. We turned on the TV to watch some cartoons and discovered the devastating news -- that our nation was attacked by our enemies. I sat there and cried, while she toddled around. She was 1. (I couldn't believe I was getting all teary when I was telling her all this!) Yes, she said, their director told them a lot of them weren't even alive when it happened, so he encouraged them to ask their parents about it. Thank you! I am glad they teach this at school. They also celebrated Constitution Week last week and Allie wrote an essay on the 2nd Amendment.

Why purple? Red, white and blue are colors of the day, but some people wear purple ribbons to remember 9/11 because it combines the strength of red and the tranquility of blue and also because it reminds people of The Purple Heart military commendation.

Allie Needed a "New" Profile Photo

Miss Kewl Kreative Brain comes to me one day and says "I need a new profile photo for my blog." She is dressed in black and white, and her hair is curled and all. I couldn't refuse. So I did a quick photo shoot in our school room. Here are a few of my favorites. Not bad for a 10 minute shoot, she's a great model. I think I just need to brush up on the photography skills :) - haven't had a lot of practice lately. Good thing we've got someone in the house needing A NEW PROFILE PHOTO. She's hilarious.

Our New Child

At 21 months and a half, Miss Maddie, I think, has turned into a little silly, "I think I can do it so I will even though you don't want me to" kid overnight. Sweet isn't the word to describe her recent actions. Last night we put her to bed at a rather later time than normal (we have Grandma Beth and Pappi in town from the Bahamas). She apparently did not want to go to bed quite yet, so she kept screaming for a while (really loud, which she usually does not do even when she doesn't want to go to bed) and then the screaming stopped. I thought she finally went to bed - only to hear from Allie that she had CLIMBED OUT of her crib *with the rails still up* and went thru the jack-and-jill bath and knocked on Allie's door. Allie went to check the door out - and Maddie is standing there with a big grin on her face and a book in her hand. She wanted a story. So Allie read her the book.

After that she decided she wanted to go in our bedroom and talk in a really loud voice. She got a kick out of me telling her "Shh". Then she went in my bathtub with her blanket and pretended to sleep IN there and talking loudly *I could tell she was doing it on purpose, as she made her voice louder when I looked at her* (she's never done that before!). All this while I was ironing Kevin's shirt for work.

When I was done ironing and was washing my face she pulled the ironed shirt off the hanger and mashed it all up in a ball, and that's when I stopped brushing my teeth and put her in time out. She cried and cried but thankfully stayed in the same spot until time-out was done. She arched her back as I carried her to her room (another new thing she does when she's mad), and soon quieted down to "Rock a Bye Baby". She's loved that lullaby ever since she was a little baby. A little crying and she was out. Poor girl was so tired she probably didn't know how to quiet down. Especially without her pacifier, which I am proud to say is GONE. It got lost one day and Maddie had to let go cold-turkey. She hasn't asked for it though. She has been PACI-FREE for over a week now.

It used to frazzle me when this type thing used to happen (with Allie) but this time, it didn't. I was somewhat curious to know what she's thinking and somewhat sad that she's growing and now entering a new phase - and my inner teacher wants to teach her new things. Hope that was just a one-time show. Or it may be time to move to a toddler bed.

Loving the Coupons

I got awesome deals at Fry's today. I only spent a total of $30 and got the following:

14 Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, Grands Biscuits, Orange Sweet Rolls
2 packs of Go-gurt
6 Yoplait yogurt
4 2-liter Mug rootbeer
1 dozen eggs
3 lbs Organic red grapes
2 tomato and avocado ($2.00)
1 pkg rolls ($2.50)
8 pkgs Betty Crocker cookie mixes
6 pkgs Reese's peanut butter cups (2-pack and 8-pack)
2 gals milk
1 big bag Nana's chips

I kept adding in my head how much I would have paid at Walmart with the coupons, and the total didn't even come close to beating my Fry's price (Fry's is currently quadrupling and accepting competitor's coupons on top of the buy 10 get $5 off promo). So 50 items for $30, that is an average of 60 cents per item or lb. A very good deal no matter how you look at it.