Bath Time

I love this picture. Weston looks all well-groomed and upstanding. Davin not so much. His hair is mussed, and check out that dirty face! In my defense he played outside today and had just eaten the head of his chocolate bunny before he got in the bath. Davin loves his baths. Weston enjoys bathing too, but isn't quite as enthusiastic about it as Dav. When Davin hears the word bath he starts trying to pull off his shirt and run to the bathroom simultaneously. If he's crabby we try to plan a long bath.

Weston's finally old enough to think bathroom humor is hilarious. We have played letter games for years in the tub because of the foam letter toys. Well now he wants me to do the letters that have funny words. Like P is for poop. Or G is for gross. N is for nasty is his favorite because I make a face with it. I know that maybe I shouldn't encourage him to laugh at stuff like that, but I just think it's funny that he's such a boy about it.
Davin doesn't get what's so funny, but soon enough I'll be kicking myself because they will play this game in public. Speaking of Davin, poor kid is not feeling well. I did finally get him to hold down his double dose of antibiotic this morning. He has always had sensitive skin, but it's been mostly under control for about a year. Today he was itching and fussing. I took off his shirt during a diaper change and his back was splotchy and rashy. I slathered him with Cortaid after his bath. Any other sensitive skin suggestions? We are back to the doctor's tomorrow, so I will be sure to ask Dr. Sally (yes, we are on a first name basis with our pediatrician) about it. My fingers are crossed that Weston will get a clean bill of health at that appointment.

Incidentally, today was easier because I was feeling quite a bit better. Not 100%, but almost. I had energy to take the boys to story time at the library. It was a good day because the topic was bubbles. I had said that afterward we could go to the park. That was before I felt the chill factor in the wind. We still went to the park, but only stayed about 20 minutes. I also cleaned the house today. That hasn't happened lately, but it sure felt good to get it done. Go me! Tomorrow I will tackle grocery shopping.

What's Up

This week has been a little bit rough. I have spent time in at least one doctor's office every day this week so far. I might get a day off tomorrow, but will be back on Friday re-checking Weston's ears. I took Davin back in today to get his re-checked because he was coughing a ton last night. Turns out he now has a double ear infection rather than just one ear. Sheesh. Poor kid can't catch a break. I haven't been feeling well either. I've been having really pesky abdominal pain for a week. Boo. Hopefully we will all be feeling better for the warm weekend we have coming up.

Ian has had a busy week at work too. He came home last night for dinner and to help with baths and bedtime then went back into the office until about 1am. He is supposed to get home by kids bedtime tonight, so I'm expecting him soon. We have a Lost to watch tonight.

I'm reading The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. It's really just so inspiring. It's making me not whine so much about the hard things in my own life. It also just is chock full of good advice and wisdom. If you are looking for a short read I recommend it.

I made shepherd's pie for the first time. I thought it was yummy. A bit too salty, but that is my fault. I put in too much Johnny's seasoning salt. Oops. It just worked out really well for using up the Easter dinner leftovers and was super easy.

Weston went back to school today and was very tired when he got home. He took a 3 hour nap this afternoon. Too bad Davin only managed an hour before his coughing woke him up.

I am loving my new Spring purse. It's fabric. It holds a lot. It has just the right length of strap. And it's kelly green. Bonus: my cell phone actually stays in the interior cell phone pocket.

I want In N Out, but I don't think it would make me feel better.

Clearance pricing+15% off entire purchase coupon+$10 off purchase coupon+tax rebate=total savings of $192.48 at Kohl's last weekend. It was fun.

I listened to the 30 second previews of almost every song from the Glee soundtracks and singles on itunes today. I gotta get me those songs. Such great car music. Plus the show returns next Tuesday. Can't wait!

I've had a few items on my to-do list for the last 3 weeks. Why can't I just get them done?!?

I've been on a Shirley Temple kick. I watched A Little Princess the other day. Then I found one I had never seen before, called Stowaway, at the library. It was pretty cute. Black and white. Davin watched it with me this afternoon. I sure love old movies.

What's up with you???

Easter Weekend

We kicked off the weekend with some egg coloring on Friday night. Weston was really excited about it. He did really well with gently putting the eggs in and didn't crack a single one. Davin just wanted to hold eggs the whole time. He also wanted to drink the dye. It wasn't his best year.

Saturday we had a yummy pancake and bacon breakfast followed by some Conference. I wasn't feeling great so I was laying down for the second half of the morning session. The kiddos both napped during the afternoon session, which was great. Ian and I got to watch the whole thing without interruption.

After the afternoon session our friends came over to do an Easter egg hunt. Weston was way excited for this. He had practically filled his entire basket before the little ones knew what was going on. He was very nice about it when I told him he was done and to let the little kids find the rest of the eggs.
Saturday night I took the kids to play at Arctic Circle while Ian went to the priesthood session of Conference. After Ian got home we had more friends over to hang out and we played Guesstures. It was a fun day.

We had a lovely Easter Sunday. Weston was up early, but I made him wait until Davin was up to hunt for his Easter basket. This was the first year that Weston's basket was hidden a little harder (not in plain sight). He still found it pretty quickly. The boys both dug into their candy, but Weston said his favorite thing from his basket was his two new books. I think Davin liked his Cars coloring book the best.

The boys both sat and watched the morning session of Conference with us. They played quietly with their new things and sort of did some Conference bingo. After the session we all went for a walk. It was good to get some fresh air. The kids napped through most of the afternoon session again. I loved Conference! So many great talks. It seemed like so much of it was just for me. I can't wait to re-read some of the talks when they come out in the Ensign.

I didn't want to make a ham for Easter dinner, so instead we had yummy grilled chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, grated baked carrots, deviled eggs, and canteloupe, with Martinelli's. It was a good meal. I think we all enjoyed the Easter weekend and the time together.

Enough.

Ok, enough griping about the weather. I'm done whining. The sun is out today (even though it's still cold!) and it is doing it's best to melt the snow. Yesterday I had good intentions of taking the kids on an outing, but the prospect of digging the van out of the snow did not sound good, so we ended up staying home.

Late in the afternoon I found out that my Aunt Joyce and my cousin Lance were in SLC for General Conference. I had already decided I didn't want to cook, so Ian was going to pick up some Olive Garden soup that I had been craving. It worked out perfectly that we went out to Olive Garden instead with Aunt Joyce and Lance! We had a nice time visiting and they came over to the house afterward for a little bit more of a visit. I always love to see my family when they come to Utah (so if you're my family, or friend, please call me when you are in town!).

Today we went to the mall to see the Easter Bunny. When we got there, there was no bunny in sight. Turns out the Easter Bunny likes to sleep in late and doesn't show up until 11. We passed the time browsing and playing at the dinosaur playground. When we were done playing we walked back to where the Easter Bunny visits kids. The line was really long. I almost reneged on my promises of sitting on the Easter Bunny's lap, but then I realized that I had nothing else to do today, so we waited. I had a nice chat with the girl in line behind me while she chased around her almost-1-year-old. Surprisingly, Davin seemed to like the Easter Bunny. I was worried since he was not a fan of Santa. The kids got bunny ears too.
We popped into Children's Place to get Weston a pair of sunglasses. He has outgrown all the pairs of baby ones that we have. You can't beat the deal on sunglasses there. His were $3.50, which is cheaper than Walmart and Target. The outing was completed with a stop at the gumball machines. This afternoon I have been cleaning the house and getting things ready for the weekend's festivities. I have to make one more quickie run to the grocery store when Davin wakes up, then let the fun begin!

April Fools!

Hardy har har. Day 2 of "Spring" break.

Can I just say I'm over living in Utah with it's never-ending winter?

Spring Break!

That's right. Today is Weston's first day of his Spring Break and that's what it looks like outside. It's still coming down too. Blah.

Now that the travel log posts are done I don't have much to blog about. Normal life around here isn't all that exciting. I did Davin's birthday post before he had his birthday cupcake, so here's the picture from that. He loves to blow out candles. As soon as I lit them across the room he started blowing.
This past Saturday we all went to the aquarium to see the new penguin exhibit. It was pretty crowded since it was the opening weekend of the new exhibit, but we still had a good time and the boys loved watching the penguins zoom around.

I decided to be extra ambitious on Monday. After dropping Weston off at preschool Davin and I went grocery shopping at Walmart. We came home, put groceries away, rotated the laundry, and had a quick snack. Then we went to story time at the library. Davin had fun. We read books until it was time to go pick Weston up.

After the kids napped we went to Gardner Village. It was super windy and I didn't exactly find what I was looking for. I did find a really cute dress that I had tried on back in December while looking for something to wear for Ian's company Christmas party. It was now on clearance for $9.75. Yeah, I bought it. Hopefully I will have occasion to wear it before December. :) Unfortunately for the kiddos the ducks were not interested in bread at all. We did get some candy buttons at the candy shop though and they thought those were the coolest.

Finally we went to Winco to use our super awesome coupons. Winco won't let you stack store coupons with manufacturers coupons, but I still got some pretty great deals. (3 cans of tuna, 3 boxes of pop tarts, 2 bottles of ketchup, 2 boxes of Cheerios, a case of root beer, 2 packages of bacon, and 2 pounds of cheese for $15)

We didn't get home until almost 6pm, but did I stop for fast food? Heck no! I came home and whipped up some Roasted Red Pepper pasta. It was yum. Seriously it tasted like a dish from Macaroni Grill. You can find the recipe HERE. I just served it with a green salad. Even Weston said he wouldn't mind eating it next time (this time he requested regular jarred red sauce). The evening ended with baths and a great Easter FHE by Ian. Whew! What a day. I never said normal life around here wasn't busy.

Yesterday I took the kids to Target to get Davin's 2 year old pictures done. I dressed them both though and was hoping to get some of them together too. They were on their game and we got adorable pictures in about 15 minutes. I was just so tickled that they turned out so cute. Can't wait to get them back so you can all see them!

Davin had a Target gift card from his birthday, so after pics we browsed the toy aisles. I told Weston he could pick out something little since he shared his birthday money with Davin. Weston didn't quite get what I meant by little, but eventually we all agreed on what to get. Weston picked out a squishy green tree frog. Davin got a 4 pack of Cars cars, a new bubble gun, and a GI Joe guy who makes sounds and can karate chop. I don't think Davin has put down his new Lightning McQueen car since we took it out of the box yesterday. So cute.

I sure hope the weather improves for the Easter weekend, but in the meantime I plan on snuggling in to read Love, Stargirl. Happy Spring Break!

Last Few Days

We spent a lot of time outside enjoying the 80 degree weather the last few days of our California trip. On Friday we drove out to Palmdale to spend the day with the Williams family and Ian's parents. The drive was pretty smooth and we got there just in time for lunch. We spent the day just relaxing and visiting. The boys got to play with their cousin, Preston, and we all got to hold Todd and Jenni's new baby girl, Brooke. She is adorable. I didn't do a great job taking pictures while we were there so I don't have any of us holding her.
Ian spent part of the day on his computer putting together the beautiful program for Lynne's memorial service. I know that was a sacrifice for him to have to take time out of his day with his family to do that. I hope he knows how much it was appreciated. It looked lovely. Both the kids were tired, so we tucked them in to sleep and got to stay a little later visiting. Good times.

Saturday morning Joy and Rachel came back down for Lynne's funeral. It wasn't until the afternoon, so we took the kids to the park before lunch. Joy and I went to grab In N Out for lunch then we got ready for the funeral. Lynne was such a unique and loving woman. She made everyone feel special. It was a gift. She was the YW president when I was a teenager and we were friends. I was so blessed to have such wonderful leaders. Even in the last few years she was checking up on me on Facebook, making sure she got to see me when she was in Utah, and she always held my kids at church when I was visiting in CA. I am so grateful that I got a chance to go visit with her before she passed away. And that it worked out that I could attend, and sing at, her funeral. There was so much love and true celebration of her life there.

I had to run as soon as the funeral was over so I could pack and get to the airport. It was kind of a close call with catching our plane because the line at the JetBlue counter was out of control. Luckily they made a call for passengers going to Salt Lake and we got to go to the front of the line. The flight home was uneventful, but we didn't get in until late, so we were all pretty wiped. It was nice to be back in our own beds.

Weston came down with a cough/fever thing the last day or two we were in CA. Davin caught it too, so we went to the doctor on Friday and found out both the boys had ear infections in their left ears. Now we are on antibiotics. Hopefully we'll all be healthy again soon! Life has mostly returned to normal. I always have a little bit of "back to real life" depression after a vacation, so last week was a little rough, but I'm determined to make this week better. So far so good. Weston finally went to school today, but this was the last day before his Spring Break, so it doesn't really feel like he's back. It's supposed to be pretty nasty weather here for the rest of the week, but I'm crossing my fingers that it will clear up for the weekend so we can have an outdoor Easter egg hunt on Saturday. I'm missing the warm weather, but I have to admit I still enjoy getting to wear my fuzzy socks for a couple more months. :)