Caught in the crossfire

Eli got some Nerf guns for his birthday. No matter how careful you are, there are always accidents. Unfortunately, Noah was the first casualty.

Eli is 6!!!

Yesterday was Eli's birthday. He was so excited. It was a great day. Here are the pictures to prove it!

The day started with donuts and orange juice.

Later in the morning, Eli had a little party at McDonald's with his 3 best buddies. Normally, I don't like the place, but it does have a few things going for it: It has a great play-place; it's cheap; the kids can be pretty much as loud and crazy as they want to be; my place doesn't get trashed. I just bought each boy a fruit and yogurt parfait and a drink. We also had goody bags, of course. The entire party only cost about $13 and I didn't have to do any cleaning for it. I will definitely do this again!






Here's the cake we had for the family party in the evening. This has been the funnest one to make so far! The "sand" is just brown sugar. I iced the tray it was sitting on to look like water and made the rest of the icing tan to match the sand. Everything else was provided by Eli's toy box.


Ooo, and there were apple slices and caramel toffee fruit dip for them. It was really good.


Everyone had a good day, especially Eli. It's crazy how big he's gotten. He's completely lost any trace of the little boy he was, except that he still loves sticks and rocks.

All dressed up and nowhere to go

Mike hates it when Noah does stuff like this. I think it's funny!

Eli the trickster

This is a conversation that took place this morning in the car between Eli and Leah:

E: Hey Leah, I bet I can make you say your name.....What's your name?

L: Leah.

E: Ha! See? I made you say your name!

Wow. That was clever.

The chocolate worked!

I never really thought it would fail. Chocolate always comes through for me in a pinch!

This past Sunday, I taught my lesson in Relief Society. It went really well. I felt so good afterward! That's how it's supposed to be. I think it's all because I handed out 2 bags of Hershey's Kisses at the beginning. There was lots of participation, which is always (almost always) a good thing. I didn't see anyone falling asleep. It was great. I also did my hair curly that day (that's known as a crazy hair day). I think that helped too!

Of course, the good lesson had nothing to do with a month's worth of preparation, prayer, and the Spirit helping me out. Well, maybe those things helped a little.

Happy V-Day

This is what the giant Valentine says:

Special Delivery

There's a Valentine,

Standing at your door.

I'm one of a kind,

You can't buy me at a store.

I have something for you,

That you won't want to miss.

Just pucker up and give me,

A GREAT BIG KISS!

I bet you wish you got these Valentines today!

Can you find Noah in this picture?

I didn't think I was getting old...

Yesterday when Eli came home from school and showed me all the Valentines he had received, I used a phrase I never thought I would. Here's how it went:

"When I was your age, I didn't get all kinds of candy with the Valentines. I just got the cards."

Crap, I think this means I might be getting old. But honestly, when you had your V-Day party at school, did you get a piece of candy with EVERY card that was passed out? No?! Well, Eli did.

It's about time Elmo got a taste of his own medicine

I think Elmo is super annoying. That's why I love this sketch from Sesame Street. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtYuzE01E1A

Chocolate is never a bad thing, right?

I'm a teacher for our Relief Society. My turn to teach just happens to come up this week, on Valentine's Day. Do you think it would be bad to bring a couple of bags of V-Day chocolates to share? Back in November, I made a bunch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and brought them. They were all eaten and I had tons of participation from the ladies. I figure, by the end of three hours of church, blood sugar levels are starting to drop and people are getting tired and hungry. Why not stimulate the brain with a little bit of sugar?

What do you think? And don't tell me not to just because you're jealous that you won't have chocolate at your Relief Society Meeting.

It's amazing what two doughnuts and some chocolate milk can do for the soul

Eli has been sick since last Tuesday. Noah and Leah have been sick since Friday. Eli is finally getting better and has started going back to school this week (he only went Monday of last week, AAAAAAAAAAAAAA). None of them have been sleeping well. All of them have been whiny, cranky, tired, and super irritating. Eli was bouncing off the walls today because he's so tired. I don't understand how that's possible, but it is. Any time he even looked at Leah, she would start to whine and cry and yell at him. Noah just wanted to be held and would whine until I picked him up. Then after I picked him up, he would whine some more. By noon today, I was pretty much at the end of my sanity. Fortunately, my mother-in-law came over so I could go to Eli's school to help the teacher and then run some errands.

I just so happened to have enough time to stop at the grocery store to pick up some frozen pizza because there was NO way I was going to make a real dinner tonight. As I walked in, I could smell the bakery items and that's when I knew what I needed to make myself feel better.

After selecting some pizza and passing by the dairy section for a bottle of chocolate milk, I made my way to the bakery and selected a glazed, old fashion doughnut and a chocolate-frosted, big doughnut. After I paid, I made my way back to the car where I sat listening to Dave Matthew's Band, eating my treat, and regaining the sanity I needed to make it through the rest of the day. I even made it home in time for a little nap. (another thing I need to not go crazy)

I am so proud of myself. I managed to avoid yelling at and beating my children. And I owe it all to the massive amounts of sugar, chocolate, and fat I ingested this afternoon. Who needs meditation, Prozac, or good-parenting skills when you have those things?

Holy Awesome Movie Batman!

This past Friday, during popcorn-movie-night, we chose the 60's version of Batman to watch. We weren't too sure what the kids would think about it. We were pleasantly surprised when they LOVED it!! It's one of our favorites too and it makes me feel a bit nostalgic. Did you ever watch the show after school? I sure did..."Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!" Remember?

If you think about it, you can clearly see what a good, wholesome movie choice this was. Batman and Robin are simply good, pure characters. They risk their lives to fight crime and evil in any form, be it cat form, penguin form, riddle form, etc. It also encourages children to read! Aside from all the BIFFs and POWs that pop up on screen, all the Bat-inventions are clearly labeled for easy reading. Not only are Batman and Robin pro-justice, they are also pro-literacy.

Ah, it does my heart good when my children show signs of well-rounded, refined taste. Since that showing and another one on Monday, I have heard Eli quote the movie many times, "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb!" So true, so true.

If you haven't seen it or it's been a while, check it out. It's well worth your time! And you just may come away from it a better person.