Leprechauns!

Leprechaun Day started off with the kids waking up way early. Reminded me alot of Christmas morning, the way Collin ran downstairs and back up again, whispering and waking Allie up because "the leprechauns came!" The night before they wrote these letters on teeny tiny postcards which were no larger than 4 postage stamps and left them on the stairs for the leprechauns to find.

Collin drew the middle picture; they both also crafted some "leprechaun plates" out of playdough, but Collin's broke.  The handmade envelope on the bottom left contained the mini postcards below:

Of course leprechauns don't take wish lists.  They just give what they want.

I was still in sleep mode and then a few minutes later Allie comes up asking me if they could go hunt for the treats (she knows how much I like to document stuff!).  I asked her to take some pictures or video tape so she did.  Then I couldn't keep to bed any longer and got up to take more photos while they were discovering the loot. This was the first photo she took:

Message made of green pixie stix.

The leprechauns made a huge mess of the kitchen, dumping a whole box of Cheerios all over the floor all the way to the laundry room.  Shamrocks marked the spots where there could be leprechaun (green) stuff.  They decided the leprechauns got mad we didn't have Lucky Charms, so they got in our pantry and spilled cereal all over.  And the oranges were in a bunch of random places - we assume they played a game of bowling or something from the looks of it.  The kids think they escaped thru the laundry room vents because the cereal trail stopped short of the laundry room.

Just a little peek at the mess the little creatures made

They left some awesome green stuff - green books, candy, frog movie, a leprechaun in a box, clovers to grow, shamrocks and some glitter.

Allie's leprechaun that she named Lucky O'Malley

Allie was so excited to find a dictionary (yeah, she loves to spell!)

Maddie was into all her "handies" (candies)

After we vacuumed the mess up I made some pancakes and eggs (they voted NO green this year), and mixed up some green milk (an unfamiliar small spoon made it to our silverware tray, which the kids think the leprechauns left behind).  The milk was spared this year, but when I went to fix the eggs, there was a wooden egg mixed in with the real eggs so I couldn't crack it open.  Collin figured out that that was why the fridge doors had shamrocks on it. 

For dinner I made some beef and broccoli and Grandma and Pop came to eat with us.  And then we ended the day with a special "green day" story.  We read a story the night before St Patrick's and then the end the actual day with another one.  This year we got two new stories to add to our St Patrick's book collection:

Note to self for next year: Watch Darby O'Gill and the Little People (my friend Jen and her family love this green day movie!)

Bounce, Bounce!

Last year, when we were drawing up plans for the backyard, we included an in-ground trampoline for the kids.  We've had the backyard now for a little while, but no trampoline! Kevin was a little leery about getting a trampoline -- safety, safety, but I know the man's heart :) so I went ahead and got a well-priced one from Sam's Club.  It was way way cheaper than an in-ground kind AND we have spring break for two weeks, so why not? 

I think he changed his mind quickly as soon as he saw the kids' excited faces and happy voices when they talked about the trampoline.  They woke up early on Saturday morning and didn't complain when I asked them to carry all the parts to the patio so we could start building it. The kids and I put together the legs, and all of them helped, including Maddie who was our "screw" girl.  Then Kevin assembled the rest, with Collin handing him springs in a wheelbarrow.

The kids couldn't wait to bounce on it and it's gotten a lot of use so far. Maddie likes to say "I go bounce, okay?". Today she needed some clothes on before going outside, and I asked Allie to dress her. When they came back down, Allie was so excited to announce that she "dressed up" her sissy. And really, little sissy was all dressed up!

Maddie had on a pink tutu and a big pink headband to match, and two pigtails!  Allie also decided she was going to "match" and put on a tutu.  It was so cute and funny at the same time, so I took some pictures.  All that dress-up to go bouncing. Cute girls.

New Look!

Losewithhcg.com has a new look!  Check it out - the screenshot is awful.

A Word on Fasting

Reading from the Why book has become a nice little treat for the kids.  Last night before bed we read Fasting" *Why do I have to fast?*.  I didn't realize how much the kids were listening to Kevin and I, until this morning at breakfast before Allie went to school.  She casually asked as she was putting out her breakfast, "Mom, can you do "breakfast and lunch" or "lunch and dinner", for fasting?" Yep.  I wonder if she's thinking of doing it next month?

Remember the post on allowance?

Last week, the post I did on allowance made it to the Gilbert Republic which comes with the AZ Republic on Wednesdays.  Brooke Romney made a good concise summary out of two posts.

Collin and his Legos

Collin loves his legos.  Last night, I was reading them "King Midas" for a bedtime story, and I asked if they would want the gift of being able to turn things into gold.  Collin promptly replied, "no thanks, I don't want my legos to turn into gold."  Funny!  You know he loves them when that's the first thing that comes to mind.

Anyway, I have neglected taking photos of his lego creations!  He always comes up with some original designs from scratch and no instructions, just his imagination.  They are so detailed that I don't think I even could come up with the designs he does.  Every little piece has a purpose.  So the other day he made a big moving truck with steps and moving back doors and such, and I was so impressed I wanted to take a picture, so I let him store it in my room to be safe.  Well, before I could take a photo, Maddie knocked it over!

The next thing I know he had re-modeled the truck into an extra-long garbage truck with moving arms (to pick up cans), a fork lift front to pick up dumpsters, a back door that flips open and of course, the whole dump part really lifts to get rid of all the trash "at the landfill".

He wanted to make sure I got one with him in it. :) This is the truck in its "dumping" position.

The truck with the "side-arm" down - in its "trash pick-up" position.

The back door opens to let the trash out.

Collin also likes going to his "Let's Play Music" class on Tuesdays. Here he is doing his homework.

3A's: Annie, ALA Carnival, and Allie's Music Concert

I'm behind on blogging again!  Anyway, this past weekend was such a fun and busy one!  I didn't take photos at the carnival or Annie - I can't believe I forgot to slip that chunky camera back in my purse.  So our past weekend started with a fun morning - the kids rushing to finish their chores so we could all go to their school's spring carnival (just like Provo Rock Canyon's Extravaganza!). Kevin started mowing the lawns and wasn't done, so he decided to stay home and finish all the yards, while I and the kids went.  They had big blow-up bounce houses and slides.  Maddie was just so excited to go on them, more than Allie and Collin even.  Maddie went on all 3 houses and slides.

One was the "Blue Crush", a 30-foot bouncy slide that Maddie wanted to try (just like the one above).  She was so excited about going on that (and I, a little nervous) so Allie went with her and was behind her the whole time.  That's when I should have had my camera snapping, or videotaping, because little Miss Maddie climbed the whole way up and then just went on the tall, tall slide all by herself.  She looked like a little doll coming down that slide (she looked too small!), but man, oh man, she was laughing the entire time and wanted to do it again.

The favorite was the long obstacle course with a slide.  Both Collin and Allie went on that 3 times each.   Collin was disappointed there wasn't a hot air balloon ride.  He was really looking forward to that.   After the bounce houses, we split up and Allie went with her friend Helen, and we went to get some yummy (but really laden with fat) chili and cheese fries (they were cooking them in cast iron dutch ovens and pots).  Anyway, the 3 of us ate lunch and spent the rest of our tickets on cookies and soft-serve ice cream.  Allie played the fish game two times hoping to get a real fish (they were prizes) but ended up with a rubber duckie and something else she didn't want instead.  She wasn't too happy about that!

Then it was time to go to Annie.  Collin decided he was going to stay home with Kevin, so we invited our good friends Carrie and Macey to go with us instead.  It was such a fun show!  and we had a couple kids from our ward perform in it too.   Again, too bad I didn't get a photo of us, or the girls!

I did Megan and Chad's photo shoot after that.  So, busy Saturday!!!

And the last of the 3A's: Allie's music concert.  I totally spaced this one out and didn't remember until my friend Alisyn asked me about it.  Yikes.  I have been fighting off allergies (so it doesn't turn into a full on head cold, which somehow always happens) and Kevin really ended up with an allergy turned flu - so needless to say,  I wasn't even thinking about it.  And as you know, Tuesdays are very busy at my house.  We had piano, music class, tennis, then the music concert, starting at 3 p.m. (all in a row!).  Anyway, we made it to the music concert, just Allie and I (Kevin was still sick).

What Maddie likes to do (get candy down - she knows where we keep them ).  Kevin caught her while Allie and I were gone to the concert

It was great! ALA has a new music teacher, Ms Walker, who was just really good with the kids, and was so professional. She had great control over the crowd, and expected concert etiquette so the kids were all behaved and the crowd was too. Anyway, Allie and the 4th graders sang "Yellow Rose of Texas" and "Waltzing Matilda". We left right after their last song (I was feeling a bit under the weather myself), and Allie decided to go to McDonalds (of all the places she could have picked!) for her treat after the concert.

Allie and Alexa

Realized I was taking a photo and so she flashes me a smile!

For Megster

I took these guys on a photo shoot today, and learned that waiting for good light was worth the wait.  I didn't actually get a bad case of "trigger finger" (sometimes I get antsy!).

 And one out-take, that's not technically perfect, but a perfect capture of Megs and Chad's family. Cute huh?

Lose With hCG!

As if life was not busy enough, I took on a fairly big project last month (that's why I've been EXTRA busy!)

I have been building an e-commerce web site and now it is finally LIVE!  I am pretty happy with the way it turned out (and so is my client!).  It is my first e-commerce web project since my stint as an Internet Technologies Consultant 10 years ago.   I did the web template (overall design and layout), graphic design (logos, etc), product photography and product literature/booklet, and all back-end setup and admin (a one-stop shop!).   The shopping cart features 256-bit SSL encryption, and will soon include a custom wordpress blog hosted on the site's own domain (not wordpress.com).  Be assured that you can shop the store safely online!

Technology has definitely gotten more robust (lots of changes!) since I worked professionally in the IT field.  I love working and dabbling in web programming and design, so if you need some help getting a small shop up online, email me! Also if something seems off or you come across a bug, shoot me an email.  I tested the look and feel on Firefox, IE, and Opera, so if you are using some other type of browser and it just looks off, I would appreciate the extra eyes - but most of all, check out the store and help spread the word!

Check out the Lose With HCG online store!
My other website project (html only)

Grandma and Pappi + Mary Poppins

My parents were in town for a short 3 days, and we had so much fun while they were here.  They only get to come 2 times a year, and have to divide their vacation time between all of us 6 kids who live in 3 different states.  They flew in from Utah (after being there only 3 days) on Wednesday night and flew out to California to see my other sister Abby and husband Jake.  From there they will fly in to Las Vegas and then head back to the Bahamas for another six months or so.  While they were here, they went shopping and we ate out at their favorite AZ restaurants (yep, not to be found in the Bahamas).

 Collin and Coach Tom

Today, they came with us to Collin's last basketball game of the season, which was a treat for them, because they never have that option where they live.  They were just so excited to see all the kids running around on the court.  Grandma and Pop came and watched too.  It was a fun game, and Collin was a great guard!  He was lucky to have both sets of grandparents there for his last game.  After that it was close enough to lunch, so we all went to Gecko Grill.  Yum!

Then it was time to head the Gammage to watch the Mary Poppins Broadway musical (minus Maddie).  It was the kids' first time to watch a Broadway musical on stage!  We left Maddie with my parents, then Grandma Lorraine after they left to go home.

This stage production had award-winning actors who performed the London production of Mary Poppins, so we have no other words to describe than it was such a great, spectacular show, with awesome light and stage effects. Collin and Allie were blown away with all the magical things Mary Poppins did on the stage.  I was impressed!  Every time Mary Poppins was on stage, I was watching really closely to see if anything "magical" would happen, and the show didn't disappoint!

We all liked the big purse Mary had, out of which she pulled out a coat rack/hanger, a 4-ft plant, a wall mirror, pillows, blankets, and a table lamp, of all things.  Then the kids liked how the drawers turned into a bed, Mary Poppins sliding up the stairs, flying around the stage, and the chimney sweep Bert walking around the perimeter of the stage, 90 degrees sideways, upside down, and then back upright again. 

It was the coolest thing I have ever seen (probably even more than Mary Poppins' flying).  Then there were little things like the cake frosting itself and growing twice its height, and shelves and kitchen table "un-breaking" and straightening themselves out.  Or the bird that flew out of Mary Poppins hand and into the audience, the stars flying out of the stage into the audience, simulated rain, or Corry's shop that had the magical jar of letters.  Of course, their rendition of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious was spectacular!  Collin wants to watch the movie again now that he's seen the real musical, and we all do too.   I think the next time the show comes on tour, we will all definitely watch it again!