Safety First

We had quite the family home evening tonight . You know, the kind that you laugh at, scratch your head in bewilderment and wonder if the kids really got anything out of it in the first place. Hallee asked if we could talk about our family emergency plan so I turned it over to Troy to lead the discussion. We quickly discovered that Hope had a LOT to say about the topics. All of them. Most of her thoughts were somewhat off base but deep to say the least.

First Topic - FIRE
Troy quickly gave the basics. Hallee chimed in with her info. Then Hope took over. "Ya, and when you get to the door, you don't want to open it, cause you don't have gloves. So you just need to yell outside the door, "Hey put on some gloves so you can open the door and then the guys will put on gloves and let you out." Hmmm.....

Next we discussed the whole stop-drop-and-roll thing. Hope had a different idea...."OR", she says, "You can just wait for someone to turn on their sprinklers and wash you off." Maybe not.

Next Topic - STRANGER DANGER
Next we went over possible scenarios of a stranger trying to get them to come with them. We gave out the usual enticements. Things like, "what if they ask you to help them find someone/something." Hallee immediately said you should never do it and Hope agreed. But then we added candy to the equation. Hope got a huge smile just thinking about it. Eeeekkk. Would it really be that easy?

WHAT IF YOU GET LOST IN A PUBLIC PLACE?
Hallee said to find a mom with kids or go to the counter. We said she was absolutely correct. Hope said, "Ya, cause people without kids are bad and they might take you!" Ok, we had some explaining to do. We tried to explain that a mom with kids was simply a safer choice which obviously cleared it right up for her. "Ya. And you wouldn't want to go live with "them" (meaning people without kids). So apparently you find a mom in the store with kids because they would be fun to live with since you have "lost" your mom?

EARTHQUAKE SAFTEY
Troy tried to show them what an earthquake might feel like and that things would probably fall off the walls and break. Then he turned to me to make sure I knew where the water and gas valves were located. I had no clue. He explains where the gas valve is located. Hope was even more helpful. "Or you could just go to the gas station mom."

We covered other topics like what do you do if you find a gun at school, or a friend wants to show you their dads gun, matches and other fire hazards and so forth. Honestly, Hope had a "rationale" answer to everything. She said them with such conviction that I'm sure she could get almost anyone to believe them. At first Troy and I did our best not to burst out laughing and give her an alternative solution but she seemed happy with her own solution. By the end we were both exhausted and wondered if anybody had gotten ANYTHING out of our little safety talk. Whew. Glad that talk is over. And after the way this one went I can't WAIT to see how the birds and the bees talk is gonna go. Now THAT should be fun.

Spring Break Run Down

After taking over 200 pictures this weekend here is my attempt to record all of the fun memories and mayhem!!

1. Hallee and cousin Olivia. Such a cute little friendship. They were able to have a sleepover on Thursday night and spent most of the night giggling.

2. Caymbree with Grandma and Grandpa. These two are amazing!! Their house gets turned upside down with all of us around!

3. A special hug with Great Grandma Larsen.

4. Cute baby Becca - My sister Adree's baby. Gotta love that smile!

5. Hope with Great Grandpa and Grandma Smith.

6. Sweet baby Lila - My brother Rob's new baby.

7. All the grandkids minus Lila and the baby girl still in my sister-in-law's belly. (Arriving soon) All of them under the age of 8.

Rob and Rachel blessed baby Lila on Sunday. They actually attend the same ward that Troy and I did before we moved to Riverton.

While at church I got to see my dear friend Brooke and her cute family. Brooke and I served in the YW presidency almost the entire time we lived in the neighborhood. We both had our first and second babies during this time period. I LOVED LOVED LOVED serving with her. She is amazing, talented and inspiring. Now her husband is serving as the Bishop and this amazing woman juggles FOUR boys BY HERSELF each Sunday.

Looks like my girls won't have to look far to find the perfect spouses :) Brooke actually has one more baby boy who was asleep during the photo shoot.

After the baby blessing we went to a luncheon where Rob and Rachel had planned a fun Easter Egg hunt for all the kids. Afterwards we went back to my parents house where my parents did an Easter Egg hunt as well. Between the two hunts my kids got more candy than they did at Halloween!!! Ironically, yesterday the kids had dentist appointments where the dentist asked the kids to throw away all the "sticky" candy (starbursts, skittles, laffy taffy...) Hallee (too afraid to say anything else) said "Ok." When he asked Hope, "Will you do that for me too?" She looked at him like he was crazy and said, "Um....NO!" Well, at least she is honest.

Caymbree spent the entire weekend stealing anyone and every one's shoes. One morning I found her outside in my mom's high heels mowing the lawn half naked. Oh Caymbree.

WICKED

The highlight of our spring break was going to the Broadway musical WICKED at the Capital Theatre in Salt Lake. We gave Hallee tickets for her birthday back in December so it was a long time coming but worth the wait!!! It is amazing!! Watching Hallee's face was priceless.

Introducing our newest additions....

We are SO not pet people. Well, actually TROY is SO not a pet person and I am just not willing to put in the time required. But I've always wanted my girls to experience having a pet. So this Easter we broke down and decided to get the girls a bunny for Easter. I knew we would be headed to Logan for Spring Break/Easter so I called my dad and asked him to buy a bunny that we could surprise the girls with. Of course, one just wasn't enough for him so he bought TWO bunnies. The night before we left for Logan we told the girls we had a surprise for them and started giving them some clues. Hope was convinced it was a plant. Yep Hope, we bought you a plant for Easter. Seriously, she is funny.

The girls were SOOOOOOO excited when they saw their surprise. When I asked what we should name them Hope immediately came up with Diamond for the gray one and surprisingly Hallee agreed. I said the black one looked like a skunk and so for a minute the girls started calling him Skunk. Later that day Hope informed us that the gray one shall officially be known as DIAMOND LESHA . And "Skunk" ended up being such a little stinker (not in smelly kind of way but in a mischievous kind) so he became STINKER. And there you have it.

All the cousins had SO much fun playing with them over the weekend and I was a little worried they may not survive long enough for us to get them home. They have two completely different personalities. Diamond Lesha is very mellow sweet and lets Hope carry it around like a baby. Stinker has spunk and loves to run!!! You have to keep your eye on it because it loves to make a break for it the first chance it gets. (Be prepared for "Have you seen me?" signs).

And now the million dollar dollar answer to your question....NO, we don't know if they are girls or boys or one of each. The salesperson didn't know. I guess we'll find out in approximately 21 days from now. And then we will be dropping a bunny off on your front door step.

Hard work pays off!!!

Some of you may remember THIS post. Well, Hallee's hard work finally paid off. Way to go Hal's. We are so proud of you!

SPRING OPEN HOUSE

SPRING OPEN HOUSE

(Just in time for Mother's Day!!!)

Tuesday April 7th 6:00-9:00pm

My House 12452 South Black Foot St.

Paisley Lane by Nicole: Little girl and toddler TUTU'S for a screaming deal! All the latest in flower clips, headbands, crochet hats, bows and more! Come see the spring collection of colors and styles. Bring outfits and/or Easter dresses to match.

Absolutely Charmed by Josie and Krista: Lots of new styles to choose from! Soldered pendants, glass lockets, little girl necklaces, bracelets and more!

Layers Clothing: Need a modest swimsuit?? Layers clothing can help!

Make sure to stop by Heather Gillis' WATCH PARTY the same night!!!

A little crafting...

I did a little "crafting" yesterday....And today Caymbree decided to do a little "crafting" of her own...Ah crud.

SnOw DaYS

At least SOMEONE is enjoying the recent snow storms in MARCH.... Which reminds me that I forgot to post some cute snow pictures from a few weekends ago.

It was fun while it lasted but time to go.... SO LONG SNOW!!! (

Jekyll and Hyde

I swear sometimes Caymbree has two personalities. One minute she is so sweet and cute and the next she is defiant and mischievous. Oh, ya. The Terrible Two's are on their way!

Jekyll: Love her cheesy little grin. Truly. (Photo courtesy of Hope).

Hyde: Really? Is it necessary to make THIS big of mess at dinner? (Still hard to resist that cheesy grin though).

Jekyll: Caymbree LOVES this rocking chair in her room. If I can't find her, this is usually where she is. She will sit and rock herself for up to ten minutes.

Hyde: She is ALWAYS climbing up on the counters. This is how I found her the other day. Fully dressed, soaking wet, playing in the sink. Notice the empty container and the spilled cookies all over the counter. I'm still wondering just how many cookies she ate that morning.

Jekyll: I'd say she has the best manners in the house and is always the first to say "na-nu mommy." Seriously melts my heart.

Hyde: Stubborn as a mule. May be my worst one yet.

Jekyll: Loves to play in her room alone. First one ever.

Hyde: Determined. When she want something, good luck talking her out of it.

Jekyll: Loves to sing. Almost as much as Hope. Nothing makes me smile more than riding in the car, listening to music and hearing her sing the chorus. Today while listening to "Hey, there Delilah...." she broke out with "Ohhhhhh, dooooo me, Ohhhhh doooo me. (Oh, it's what you do to me, Oh, it's what you do to me). Ab-so-lute-ly priceless.

Hyde: Obsessed with coloring on walls. Sorry if she has got yours.

Jekyll: Loves her blankie. Key to her heart. She will cuddle with you forever as long as she has her blankie.

Hyde: Loves to empty drawers, cupboards, and toy boxes.

Jekyll: Sing the clean-up song and she is ALL over it.

Hyde: Caymbree's moto: "If it's mine....it's mine.

"If it's yours....it's mine.

"If I looked at it, touched it, or am thinking about it...it's mine."

Jekyll: She is learning new words every day. Is there anything better than hearing the new words of a toddler. Love it. Especially when she walks through the house yelling "Hopppeeeeeeeeee???" (I swore we would never let anyone call Hope "Hopeeeee" but it is too cute when Caymbree says it.)

Jekyll: She makes me smile EVERY SINGLE DAY. And what could be better than that?

No "Luck of the Irish" here....

So I thought today was supposed to be LUCKY. No I'm not Irish but you'd think a little bit of LUCK could rub off on me. Not the case.

While bathing Hope and Caymbee this morning Caymbree started throwing a fit and wanted to get out of the tub. I knew I still had to wash Hope's hair so I tried to stall her but she wanted OUT! No big deal other than Caymbree has a habit of pooping on the floor every time we let her run wild without a diaper. She had already had a messy diaper just about a half hour earlier so I figured I was safe. I wrapped her in a towel put her on my bed and then went back to wash Hope's hair. It took me about two and half minutes and I realized Caymbree was gone. I started calling for her and walked towards my door. That's when I saw it. Not only saw it, but smelled it.

I followed the trail of poop to her room where it all began. Apparently, she put on a pair of Hope's shoes, went in her room, pooped on the floor and then decided to have her own little mosh pit on it. After trampling on it she then walked all the way down the hall tracking poop with her. LOVELY!!!

The blank spot in the middle is where a pile of freshly laundered clothes sat. Yep, poop on the clothes as well.
Here's the trail down the hallway after I started scrubbing. There was A LOT of scrubbing.

Hope was traumatized when she saw her shoes...and well, so was I.

The best part is that Caymbree watched me and the entire time kept saying "Ewe. Goss (gross)Goss Mom." Oh, YA THINK?

My next UNLUCKY moment came when I tried to make a mad dash to the grocery store to get eggs for tonight's dinner. I had about 15 minutes before I was supposed to pick up Hope and her friends from school so I was in a big rush.

I went in the grocery store, up one isle, grabbed the eggs, down another isle and straight to the checkout stand. Paid, grabbed my bags and then went for my keys. NO KEYS. I distinctly remembered putting them in my pocket and quickly realized they must have fallen out. I went to Customer Service and asked if any keys had been turned in in the past few minutes and the guy said NO. At this point I knew I was in trouble and had to call a friend to pick up the kids from school.

Now I start thinking about all the cars that have been stolen in the area lately and think I better go out and check on my car. Still there. Search purse. Back to CS. No keys. Re-trace my steps through the store. No keys. Search purse again. Back to Customer Service. I ask if he (the same guy every time) can ask through the "PA" if anyone has found some keys and ask them to bring them to customer service. His reply. "Um....I can't." My irritated response. "You can't?" Then he says, what did you keys look like? I describe them as he walks to a drawer, opens it and pulls out my keys. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? I am so bugged but late to pick up the kids so I leave thinking about how I should really find a manager and tell him about his LESS than helpful associate.

I tried to salvage the day with an ALL GREEN dinner. In the past I have done green fettuccine noodles with green alfredo sauce, green beans and a green salad but this year I tried something a little different. (It's french toast and scrambled eggs just in case you couldn't tell from the picture).

Dressed in green and excited for dinner.

A leprechaun stopped by and left green treats on the girls pillows.

And after a fun dinner with the family, a night outside enjoying the unbelievable weather and now sitting here watching American Idol with the hubby I guess I don't feel so UNLUCKY after all.

P.S - Should I be worried that I had to go look at Hallee's spelling words for the week to know how to spell "leprechaun". It's a bonus word but sheesshhh!

Hope Moments

We've had some great HOPE MOMENTS around here lately. The problem is, without seeing her little attitude, facial expressions and body language it's just not the same. Oh well, I want to document them nonetheless.

SICK AND TIRED OF CLEANING
I've really been on the girls cases lately about keeping their rooms clean. Apparently, Hope is getting the message. I happened to overhear a conversation take place with her little friend Elle.
Elle: "Hope, let's go play in your room."
Hope: "No, I don't think that's a good idea."
E: "Oh, come on Hope. "
H: "Oh, fine. But you better listen. You can get out ONE toy at a time. When you are done playing with it, you have to put it away WHERE it goes. CAUSE I AM SICK AND TIRED OF CLEANING MY ROOM!"
Oh, brother.

SNAPPY PANTS
A few weeks ago Hope went with my dad to run errands. My dad was talking to her as they walked towards the car. Out of nowhere Hope says to my dad, "Get in the car snappy pants!"
WHAT?????

WARM HEART
Yesterday we took the kids to Artic Circle for shakes and to play in the playland. Hope comes off the slide, runs to us and says "When I was standing at the top of the slide a kid said, "you can go first." Hope pauses, rubs her heart and says "that just, (rubbing her heart still) (another pause), that just makes my heart feel so sweet."

A NEW KIND OF TALENT
This is one you have to hear to believe. Hope has developed an amazing (and absolutely annoying) talent. She will be in the middle of a conversation and will just switch to talking jibrish midstream. Not the typical jibrish that is obviously made-up. She keeps talking with complete composure, voice influctuations and facial expressions of a normal conversation. It usually takes me two or three sentences before I realize what she is doing. It is hysterical but maddening at the same time. She loves to hear me say, "What?" and gets a huge kick out of frustrating me.

Growing up

Our little Caymbree is growing up. She is a clone of her big sisters and mimics EVERYTHING they say and do. This morning during breakfast Caymbree copied everything Hope did including having to have her sleeves rolled up after watching Hope roll up hers.

I said to Hope, " Hope, Caymbree just loves you so much she wants to be just like you. She think's you're pretty COOL." Hope's response, "I'm not cool!" Me: "What are you then?" Hope: "I'm just difficult!" Hard to argue with that most days.

Back to Caymbree. She now thinks that she is old enough to go play at friends house just like her sisters and everytime one of them leaves for a play date she grabs her shoes and says "I GO MOM!?" So cute.


Just a cute video of Caymbree and her friend Jovie rocking it out to music. Probably only of interest to the grandparents but cute nonetheless. (pause my playlist first)

Cooking Contest

I'm not quite sure how it happened. One second Hallee and her friend Trinity are talking about having some cooking contest and the next thing we know they have invited (by hand made invitations) half of the neighborhood kids to make a treat and come to a cooking contest at Trinity's house.

It was so cute to see them plan for their party. And plan they did. Hours and HOURS of planning and preparation. They made cooking bingo boards for each guest.

They even made medals for each kid. However, we talked them out of using them. We just weren't sure giving kids "a" "b" "c" "d" medals would be good on the old self esteem :). Instead Tara, Steve and I "the judges" gave out awards like "BEST PRESENTATION", "MOST CREATIVE", "MOST UNIQUE", and so forth.




Other preparations included making all the decorations for the party. I wish I would have taken a close-up picture because they were pretty cute. They drew and colored things like a pizza slice, broccoli, cookies, and root beer.
The kids loved it and I think everyone had a great time. The greatest memory for me is when Hallee came home from one of her planning meetings with Trinity worried that she had cheated. When I asked her how she had cheated she said, "Well, I know that Steve is going to be one of the judges so I asked Trinity what his favorite food is. She said chocolate covered stawberries. Now, if I make that I will automatically win but I think that's kind of cheating." Oh, how I love Hallee.

Do you suppose...

it's time to take down my Valentine decorations??? Okay, okay already. I'm on it.

These are a few of my favorite things....

Last night was our Relief Society birthday party. Our theme was "These are a few of my favorite things". We asked each sister to write one of their favorite things about Relief Society on this board as they came in. We also had each sister bring a wrapped gift under $5.00 that represented one of their favorite things. I gave a gift certificate to SONIC with a list of my favorite drinks from there.

* Diet Coke with fresh limes

* Cherry Limade

* Orange Cream slushie

And I didn't put it on the list but one of my other favorites is a diet dr. pepper with 1/4th regular dr. pepper and FIVE maraschino cherries. Yep. Five. One for Hallee, one for Hope, and three for the drink. Oh how I would love to see the employees roll their eyes when I order this one!
We read a story about Relief Society and passed the gifts left and right when certain words were said.

This is my amazing enrichment committee. They are awesome and always do a great job.