School's out! (almost)

It's that time of year, when all the parents cram into the school gym to hear the kiddos sing their hearts out! Megan had her choir concert last week. It was short and sweet just the way we like it! She is so cute up there, you can tell how much she loves to sing.At the end of the performance, the choir sang Sing Sing and they did a swing dance and told the audience to listen for them to sing SKAT! How cute is that?
Luckily at the end of the night I didn't steal the show when I tripped over the bench leg and almost took out a lady in my ward. Nate thought it was hilarious. I'm not really known for my grace.
Tonight was the second grade program. It was a patriotic program with everyone wearing red, white, and blue. The kids did such a good job and I was in awe of the music teacher that had coordinated 5 classes of 7 year olds to sing together.



Not to take away from Sammy's program, but I was fortunate enough to sit next to the two crazy grandmas. I was 1/2 an hour early and had to make small talk. To a lady that couldn't hear me very well. The best part was when the audience sang the National Anthem with the kids. The music was way cheesy and too slow so no one knew what point of the song we were at. Then the two grandmas next to me thought they were singing a duet in church. Loud vibrato and soprano combo. My jaw was killing me trying not to laugh. Maybe you had to be there, but it was hilarious!

I did realize today that my baby is almost in third grade. One day these wonderful programs will be no more. Nate said that is what grandkids are for. I just hope they don't move far away. Right mom?

Runaway

Big surprise, Sammy is running away. Because, she has been through stuff and I don't even know. I'm going, yeah what have you been through? Hunger? Homelessness? And she tells me that it is because I won't even let her watch Clue. Remember that movie from 1984? Could I be a more dreadful mother? I asked her about 10 or 12 times to pick up her stuff, I know, I shouldn't have asked that much, I should have just taken it away. But I lost my temper and yelled, so she is running away. She rattles off all these houses she is going to stay at, and I give her reasons why she can't stay there. But she is all packed and ready to go. Until I let her know she can't take anything or her bike, since Nate and I bought it all. I also informed her that if she ran away I would call the police so that they could bring her back. (desperate move, I know)
I guess she changed her mind, she decided to make a secret room in her room that no one can go in. She informed me that guests can stay in her old room, since she has a new room. So if you are looking for a getaway, I have an extra guest bedroom. And a royally ticked off kid. You can take her back home with you when you go.
Here is the "secret room" Bless her heart. Hopefully she will get over this quick!

I might even be a Rock Star!

YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)
Callie Trailblazer
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
Mint Chocolate Sugar
3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)
J-Woo
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Green Dog
15. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
I don't have a middle name...Jeni Sandy?
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)
Wooje
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink)
The Red Pepper!
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)
Daniel Vern
9. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy)
Eternity Starburst Heehee!
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names )
Lee Vern
11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)
Can't remember his name....How about 4th grade? Bogenschutz Berlin
12. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower)
Autumn Dafodil
13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)
Grape Shortie
14. HIPPIE NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)
Pizza Elm
15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, weather element+ Tour")
The Blogging Sunny Tour

If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged

My apologies....

To everyone that has been in contact with my sweetie pie Megan. She has strep throat. So if you happened to be in contact with her at the primary or ward party on Saturday, I'm SORRY! But she wasn't showing symptoms then. And hey, some other kid had to give it to her, right? What a nasty cycle. The poor thing is so miserable. Lots of popsicles should fix it though. Right about now I'm regretting sharing that drink with her Saturday night...
Bundled up under two comforters. Check out how warm our house is at the same time! Poor little bunny.

Tid Bits n Crap

I know I am the last person in my ward, maybe even Arizona, but I am finally reading this:



So far I'm enjoying it. Thanks Kim for the lend!

Megan woke up with a sore throat and Nate was kind enough to offer to stay home from church with her. Yeah, generous right? I asked him to do some laundry while I was gone. During Sacrament Meeting I started a killer headache so I ran home after to take some ibuprofen. I walk in the door and realize Megan and Nate are in the backyard hanging up wet laundry. OH NO! Our dryer kicked the bucket. Nate did a hilarious post on it if you want to check it out. Of course we don't have any clothes pins, so we had to use chip clips! How ghetto is that? I will say, if a major appliance is going to die, I am all for the dishwasher or the dryer. You can still go on without those two. And living here the clothes dry in 42 seconds.

We went to the grocery store last night. Granted it has been a long time since we've done a big trip. Ye gads, it costs way too much to feed a family these days. When the checker tells you that you saved $75, you know you are in trouble. We spent more on groceries than we do on Nate's car payment.

Both the girls had their rooms clean at the same time this weekend. Unheard of. They both insisted that we move their furniture around. Good time to de-junk.

And finally, I saw Juno! Loved it! I've been waiting a long time to see it. The girls wanted to see it, but we told them we had to watch it first to see if it would be okay. No, they won't be watching it. Very well written, even Nate liked it.

Megan still has a sore throat, I'm seeing a day spent at home tomorrow. Sammy is finally Star Student. Blast the last name starting with W! We had fun coloring her poster this weekend.

Week 17

So thankful for......



I love Dr. Pepper. I love hearing the can open, love feeling the fizz! I love how happy it makes me! Yummy yummy yummy! No, I am not willing to seek help for my problem. I am happy with my addiction! What a wonderful way to start and end my day!

Orthodontist

This week the girls had a check up at the orthodontist. Megan just needed to see how she is doing after braces, Sammy is a thumb sucker. Yeah, we are finding that to be a hard habit to break. It is time to go the way of the thumb crib.
It doesn't look too fun does it? Her teeth are a lot worse since the last time she went to the ortho. I took her in kindergarten and they said not to worry about it, she would quit on her own. Now they are telling me it is time to do something about it. We told her she is welcome to try and quit on her own, Megan wanted to help her and be supportive. Megan is a nail biter, so she taped up her fingers and Sammy taped up her thumbs. She how happy she is?

Lo and behold, the tape didn't last too long. I wish them both good luck in quitting! If only there was a patch or a gum.

Any advice to help Sammy?
Were you a thumb sucker? How did you quit?

Ka Ka belly

I have been under the weather since Thursday night. Thought it was just indigestion, but it won't go away. Friday was busy, I had Webkinz shopping, volunteering, visiting teaching, then more volunteering. All while feeling like my stomach was being ripped open by knives. We didn't have either of our kids Friday night, but I felt too crappy to do anything fun. I pretty much spent all day today in bed with back ache, stomach ache and head ache. At least I didn't throw up or have any of the other stomach problems. Yucky. So I missed the fun ward party, but tonight I am doing better. Finally.

WebKinz Extravaganza

For all you WebKinz nerds out there (like me) Friday was a great day! Hallmark was giving out a free WebKinz for every $10 you spent. SWEET! Megan and Sammy both had some money saved up, plus Megan had a birthday party that night, so it was time to stock up. Hallmark was opening up at 9:00 for the occasion, so being the fun, hip, awesome mom that I am ;] I told my kids I would let them come with me to buy the WebKinz then I would check them into school. Sammy opted to take the bus to school since it was soft pretzel for breakfast. Megan headed out with me. So we get there half an hour early with the other 4 moms and wait. More and more moms start to show up. I'm sure as soon as they got their kids off to school. Finally the door opens and they give us $5 coupons as we walk in. YES! We hurry and pick out all the WebKinz we want, I may or may not have bought myself another one. The cocker spaniel is so cute I couldn't resist. We bought eight animals and only spent $55! For those of you not familiar, they are $15 each regularly.
So I am a hero, Megan was only 1/2 hour late for school, I was only 15 minutes late for volunteering in Sammy's class, Sammy loved her pretzel, and we all love our new pets. Plus, I have a stash for future birthday gifts. Win win win for everyone!

Ladies Luncheon

On Saturday I was invited to a very special lunch. For Sammy's activity day's, they planned a luncheon for their moms! I took her over an hour early and all the girls prepared lunch. Brave Nancy! They made chicken pot pie from scratch, including the crust. We also had a fruit salad. It was so yummy and fun! Thank you girls!

Desert Botanical Garden

Last week we loaded up on the school bus to head to the Botanical Garden. I got to the bus after the kids had been seated and found Megan right away. She saved me a spot next to the emergency exit. No big deal. Except that seat folds up and has about 8 inches less leg room than a normal seat. Have you seen how long my legs are? I was all scrunched up!
I was glad to go on this field trip because I have always wanted to go here. It is so beautiful! If I lived closer, I would buy a year pass and go walking there every day.
We had great fun. They tried to teach us how we would live off the land if we had too. The kids learned how to pick fruit off a cactus using wooden tweezers or a loooong stick.
Our tour guide took us in a wigwam type thing and a boy sat down and she said "Hey! You are sitting on the kitchen counter!" I glance over and see that the kitchen counter was a small flat rock. I'll never complain about my lack of counter space again! We learned that if you have a peanut allergy, you will for sure be allergic to mesquite. I didn't know that! Interesting. They took seed pods off mesquite trees and would grind them into flour. We learned how to make paint brushes by pounding the end of agave leaves. Sara said they used theirs to paint at home and they worked!

The kids made rope and learned about gardening in the desert. A lot of good tips for using the land. I learned that if I ever had to live off the land, I would die.
The landscape is so beautiful. I love the saguaro cactus and they had this really cool one there.

Hello Luvah!

So we are in the kitchen the other day and out of the blue, Sammy asks me if I have any Lovers Butter. Excuse me? What has she been watching on cable? Turns out she just wanted some butter lovers popcorn. Whew!

The other night my kids were fighting over the last Chicken Pot Pie in the freezer. I'm confused too. Megan had already had one, so I decided Sam should get it. Megan asked if she could have it and I replied, "Negative." Silence from the back seat. Then I hear, "so, does that mean yes?" Nice try sweetie.

Sunday Ramblings

I had an unhappy surprise while getting ready for church this morning. I stepped up to the bathroom sink to was my hands and I stepped on something with my bare feet. To my dismay, I realize that it is a dead roach. EWWWW! It hadn't been there a second ago, No idea where it came from. Anyway, I recover and continue getting ready. I glance at the sink, and there is a roach climbing out of the drain! Nate comes in and washes it down the drain for me. A minute later I about stab myself in the eye when I realize that it is back. Growdy! So I had Nate go around the house and spray Raid in all the drains. I had heard of them coming out of the pipes, but I hoped I would never see it. (Disclaimer: bugs are just a fact of life here in the desert; roaches, crickets, and HUGE spiders. My house isn't gross and dirty, we just get bugs every once in a while.)
Went to church and I taught the Beehives. I hadn't been set apart yet, so I mentioned it to a member of the bishopric and he said to swing by the bishops office after church. So we gather the kidlets up and tell them we need to go see the bishop. I told them the bishop wanted to talk to them about their behavior in Sacrament Meeting. Heehee. All the blood drained out of their faces. They didn't think that was funny.
Tonight we went and hit some golf balls, something we regularly do as a family. I hit awesome tonight! I haven't been for months, but I did really great, if I do say so myself. Downside, I am sitting on the couch with a jacked up back. But the girls gave me a foot rub, so that helped! The girls were hitting really well too. Once Sam hits about 6 balls, she gets bored and she likes to rake up the sand trap by the putting green. While we were there I heard the girls exclaim that there was an Owl! Sure enough, 20 yards right in front of us, an owl had landed. Pretty cool! Nate and I played golf a few months ago, I think at this point, I like going to the range far better than the golf course. Not as much pressure!


Now we have time to laze around and enjoy Napoleon Dynamite. This movie never stops being funny!

Week 16

Since I had to go to the dentist this week, I found myself feeling very grateful for nitrous oxide! I have extra nerves and they aren't in normal places. That being said, I don't get numb easily. I usually find out that I'm not numb once he has started drilling. My anxiety levels at the dentist are HIGH! But I have discovered happy gas and it makes the experience tolerable. I am a major tooth grinder, so I've had to have some major work done. Thank you nitrous oxide! I'm also grateful that I am almost done with all my work! One more follow up visit!

Choosing the Rolling Turd

Next month for Memorial Day we are heading up to Moab, Utah. We are lucky enough with Nate's job that they are letting us take one of the RVs off the lot for our trip! Way exciting. Tonight we headed into the dealership to get an idea of what would suit our needs and our family, so we got to go check out quite a few of the Rolling Turds. (Have you seen RV the movie?) Let me just say, after a while they start to look the same, I couldn't even imagine trying to buy one. Our kids reactions were too funny though. Heaven help the men they marry.
Sam:
It smells like corn.
I definitely don't want this one. It smells funny. (I told her the carpets had just been shampooed. "OOOOH gross!" she exclaimed. She pictured shampooing the carpet like we do her hair.)
I don't like the blue carpet.
It doesn't have a tub.
The toilet is too small.
Megan:
It doesn't make me feel cozy.
The couch sounds funny when you sit on it.
I like this one! It has a swivel chair!
It has too much wood in it. (You know, cabinets and stuff, heaven forbid!)

I know no matter what we end up taking, it will be fabulous. Nate took us into the $250,000 ones. They are absolutely amazing. (Yeah, for some reason they don't want us to take one of those!?!?) I bet they are bigger than my house. Pretty nice for retirement, I am thinking! I am so excited!

Espee Park

The weather was absolutely perfect today to go play in the water! Sara, Cara, Melody and I made it over to Espee park to splash around and have fun! We'll do it again soon, the kids had a ball!




I caught the little girls hiding in this sign. Hiding from the boys perhaps? I thought all those cute buns and long legs looked so cute!

Sorry if you missed it! Can't wait for next time!

Daily Mix-up

Okay, I'm confused. Saturday felt like Sunday because of the baptism. You know how it is, you dress up and head to the church, your mind and body are fooled into thinking you've taken care of worship for the week, right? I'm not sure what Sunday felt like, we only stayed for Sacrament Meeting since Nate's parents were leaving that afternoon. It was a nice afternoon spent with the grandparents! Sunday night my parents took the kids back to their hotel for a sleepover! Woo Hoo! Nate and I took advantage of the night off by doing what any long time married couple would do. Nate watched all the educational shows that he had DVR'd that week, and I blogged and finished a book :]. I kept the girls out of school Monday since they didn't have any testing to do that day. My dad had jacked up his back, so I took him to his massage appointment while we headed over to the mall for ice cream, Disney Store and WebKinz. We picked up grandpa, ate lunch and then headed out for pedicures! Ultimate pampering, right?


So Tuesday comes, it is Tuesday right? Blah blah blah. (By the way, I did get my laundry done!) Today comes and I call up Sara to see if she wants to take care of something with me. She didn't answer, so I left a message. She calls me back later, leaves me a message and informs me that she is on the 4th grade field trip, we'll get together after. GASP!! WHAAT? Fourth grade field trip was today?!?!?! But I was signed up to go on the field trip. I about poop my pants in panic. I have 1000 thoughts run through my mind in 12 seconds. Did I write it down on the wrong day of the calendar? Megan doesn't have lunch! Why didn't they call me? Is today Wednesday or Thursday? What the crap is going on? I call up her teacher, leave a message to call me ASAP and she calls me back a few minutes later chuckling at me. They split the fourth grade up, half went today, half tomorrow. Whew! So today is Wednesday, tomorrow is the field trip. Right?

Fun Friday

Hey, there is no school on Friday, is anyone interested in getting together at Espee Park in Chandler? They have a huge playground and splash pad. It will be HOT HOT HOT that day!



Espee Park Spray Pad
450 E. Knox

Location:
Knox Rd., between Arizona Ave. & McQueen Road.

Amenities:
1 water tower, 3 candy cane-shaped showers, spray rings, ground sprays.

Season Operational Hours:
March 26 - April 31 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Blah blah blah

Here I sit, blogging when I should be doing laundry, or cleaning the kitchen. Days of our Lives is on in the background, my face is trying to wake up from my morning at the dentist and I am pushing down down down the obligations that I should be working on. I had no idea how many towels we owned. They are clean and dry. And on my floor waiting to be folded and put away. Clean clothes in the dryer, wet clothes in the washer, but I just can't make myself get up and get to work.
For the first time in a week I am by myself. Nate's parents headed home on Sunday, and mine left this morning. It is kind of strange to be sitting here in the quiet. So......shall I get to the cat hair that is all over the wood floors? Perhaps, but I guess I will eat lunch first. Hopefully without drooling all over myself!

Wanna win?

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Art Show!

Every year Gilbert Public Schools has an art show that is hosted by Norwood Furniture. The art teachers pick two art pieces from each class from the whole year to display at the show. Tonight we were able to go see Sammy's art for the second year in a row! She is very proud of herself, and so is Megan. NOT! Oh well. Luckily it fit into my parents travel plans to be here for the special night so they could see her special presentation! Way to go Sam!






Megan was being a little pouty after the show, so I thought I would tease her out of it and I got these killer paparazzi shots. Yeah, she wasn't amused. But I was and that's important!

Week 15

So much to be grateful and thankful for this week! We've had an amazing week with family in town. I spent the week with my mother in law and really enjoyed the time I got to spend with her. I'm grateful that everyone was able to travel here safely.
I am grateful for the time we've been able to spend with both sets of parents. Yesterday after the baptism, Megan and Sammy went over to my friends house to play and it was just the six adults. We had a ball talking and sharing stories. We played Apples to Apples and had so much fun. I feel very blessed to have these families blend together and we all get along and enjoy each others company. I don't know of too many people that can boast that!
I'm grateful for the whisperings of the Spirit this week as I have readied Sammy for her big day. I'm grateful for the love of our Heavenly Father and I am so grateful when my kids recognize it in their own lives.
I am grateful for a husband who honors his priesthood. I am so happy he was able to baptize both of our girls.

Sammy's baptism

So, did you have money on whether or not she would go through with it? If you bet on her getting baptized, you win. She did it! After much thought, deliberation, and anxiety, Sammy was baptized yesterday by her dad. I had visions of chucking her into the water, but she went in on her own. (Just to clarify, getting baptized was entirely her decision, there was a time when she wasn't going to do it and I was fine with that. But once people traveled 700 miles to be here, I felt she should really follow through with it!)

It was a lovely day and a great program. Both grandmas gave talks, both grandpas were witnesses. Megan got to lead the music. We had a lot of support from the ward. How wonderful since we weren't able to have a lot of family here with us.
I wish I would have taken my camera in the dressing room right after. Sammy was so happy and felt so loved, that she wept in my arms. It was wonderful to witness her feeling the love of her Heavenly Father.
Thank you to all who came and supported our family. Thanks to our parents for traveling so far to be with us. Sammy, we love you so much and we are so proud of the decisions you are making!