Summer Shoes

My Mary Jane Trekkers finally arrived! (Remember them?)

Yeah, I know I said I was going with the Vintage Olive. And I really did like them when they arrived a couple of weeks ago. But they were about a half size too big. So I sent them back and was told that they were back ordered again until mid-May.

Fine, I could wait that long.

But then I got a postcard that said they were going to be back ordered until mid-July.

Um, summer would be half over by then!

So I decided to go with my second favorite color, which just happened to be available in my size right away.

Hooray! I really do like them. They're so... blue!

Welcome Spring!

Cake of the Month - Texas Sheet

You thought I had forgotten to make a cake this month, didn't you?

Well, I did.

Well, at least until about 11pm last night.

Dang.

But no worries. The Corkboard had recently been raving about some Texas Sheetcake recipe. I mean, really going crazy over it. And I happened to have all of the ingredients, so perfect.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that anyone can make a good sheetcake, and that it's kinda cheating to practice my cake making on something so simple. Well, you would be wrong.

Oh, I've made good sheetcakes in the past. But there was a period of time where I actually couldn't make a decent one. (Oh, the shame!) Something always went wrong: the oven didn't work right and the center never cooked. Or I forgot to put the icing on right away and the cake would be all crumbly and bumpy. Or I would do everything right and still get an ugly, crumbly mess. And, this is the weirdest thing, I once made a sheetcake that was dry. How I could do that with all the fat in there I'll never know.

Whatever.

I made the cake.

And it was good.

Spencer was upset when I wouldn't let him eat a THIRD piece.

And now I must be rid of it; I can't have it in my house! It is far more temptation than any one woman can handle. So the majority of it's trans and saturated fatty goodness (a.k.a. JOY) will be sent off to work with Lance tomorrow.

Begone, evil, deliciously scrumptious moist cake!

Help!

I hate fund raising. Seriously.

I hated doing it for school. I hated doing it for girls camp. I hated doing it for anything.

I'm going to be that mom who just pays the flat fee rather than make my kids do fund raising stuff.

I hate it.

Which is why I admire Christy and her goal so much. She is raising money for her Autism Speaks Walk. She's been talking it up all month on her blog, and she is sooooo close to reaching her goal! (Which, by the way, was only $500 at the beginning of the month but is now $1000 because she rocks!!)

So, go to her site. Check it out. And then follow me and make a donation.

Because just because I don't like fund raising doesn't mean I don't like helpin' a sister out!

Self-portrait Tuesday

Today was a big day for me: I made the last payment on our Camry! Woo-hoo!

The payments were usually automatically deducted from our bank account, but for some reason they needed the last one to be paid manually. Don't ask me why. They explained it over the phone, and it made sense then, but now I can't explain it. Whatever. What matters is that it's our last payment! Woo-hoo!

It feels great to be clear of that debt! I still remember buying the car and thinking that by the time we paid it off Spencer would be over four years old. It was hard to comprehend, seeing as how I was only four or five months pregnant with him. (Note to self: NEVER go car shopping while pregnant again. Who knew that the new car smell would make me want to vomit? Even more than normal?) Woo-hoo! (That was a woo-hoo for the payment, not for scent-induced pregnancy nausea, which will never get a woo-hoo.)

I can't wait to see the title in our name. (Even if it means a trip down to the BMV, which will most assuredly be more trouble than it's worth. But will probably make for good blog fodder, so there's your silver lining.) WOO-HOO!

Utah Trip - Children's Museum... or, Where Does Poop Come From?

My Dad and Susie were nice (and brave) enough to take us to the Children's Museum at the Gateway in Salt Lake. It was really fun and the boys had a great time.

There was even the mandatory melt-down during lunch by Spencer, which I think is the sign of a very good time. It involved sharing a pickle - oh, the humanity! No worries. A quick trip to the potty and a few severe threats took care of it. (I think one of the best pieces of parenting advice I could give a new parent is to never make threats you can't follow through on. Now go and use this information only for good.)

Anywho...

Here are a few of the best pics from the museum. Read on to learn about the poop. (And for once this poop had nothing to do with what my kids had been eating that day!)

They had an awesome Ball area, with a million plastic balls and all sorts of tubes and holes that sucked the balls in and spit them out. Josh was in heaven.

Isn't this the face you want to see when you call for a fireman?

Spencer's dream comes true - he gets to follow in uncle Kevin's footsteps and become a grocery store cashier! Joy! (Seriously, he was thrilled.)

Josh excitedly raced into Elmo's room, only to find that it was a little... creepy.

Finally - where does poop come from? First you chew your food...

...then your stomach digests it...

...and then it turns into poop! (The display was great - complete with realistic sound effects! Nice.)

Spencer working on his helicopter EMT skills, while mommy, grandpa & grandma freeze to death up on the roof.

(For those who have been to the Children's Museum in Indie: this was a good museum, but Indie is bigger and better.)

Happiness Is

Happiness is having your bleeding heart plants thrive after you thought they were dead.

Happiness!

Conversely...

Sadness is having a brand new swing set that's too wet to play on. Poor kiddos. It's tough when you have a mom who can't control the weather. (At least that was the common sentiment around here today.)

Sadness!

Only A Few More Days!

If you haven't already, be sure to check out my latest 'Guess The Number' giveaway. An entire pound of Hershey's Bliss chocolate could be yours! (Yum!) Go here to enter.

p.s. Even if you don't want the chocolate, you could always make someone's day and give it to them. Or take it to work or school. Or bribe your kids with it. So make a guess already!

Utah Trip - Random Pictures

Some things can't be put into categories. Like these random pictures from my trip.

Spencer and my dad take a break in their busy schedule Sunday afternoon to bond in a way that only Grandfathers and Grandsons can: watching the Masters. (Ooooh, the excitement of televised golf!)

Single file, ladies! There's enough of Kevin for everyone. (But wait, is he still single? There's no way to know for sure. Mainly because he won't say.)

Kevin and Susie. You know that evil stepmother in Cinderella? The mean, wicked one who made her step child do all the work, slave hand and foot around the house, and sleep in the fireplace ashes? Yeah, Susie is totally NOT like that.

She's like this! (One of the nicest people in the world!) ((But even the nicest person in the world can't get Kevin to admit to anything about his love life.))

Sunday evening after our big family dinner Josh got his second wind and entertained everyone with his antics. He discovered the joy in throwing cups. (Watch his face at the end - it's classic Josh!)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Josh flirted and laughed and cuddled. He even rolled on the floor, giggling and delighting in the attention. Kevin decided to get in on some of that action.

Utah Trp - Uncle Kevin

My little brother Kevin came home to visit while we were out in UT. (He was between semesters at BYU Idaho.)

I don't know what he's like while at school, but when home he has a backward schedule - he stays up all night and sleeps all day. More than once we had to send the boys in to get him out of bed at the unearthly hour of 11am. Spencer was especially gifted at whining and jumping on him.

And by gifted I mean he would keep up his futile efforts until he annoyed Kevin out of bed.

Josh had a different tactic. He would steal stuff off of Kevin's dresser and then run away. (Admittedly, sometimes with my help. Like with Kevin's wallet.) Here are the results of one of his favorite 'prizes'.

And here's a cute video of Spencer trying to get Kevin up.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Kevin, aren't you just aching for kiddos of your own?!?

Swing Set

Behold that which we have assembled!

In just nine and a half hours!

With two little boys to 'help' almost the entire time.

And only two trips to the hardware store. (For faulty hardware.)

And completed just 30 minutes after the boys went to bed. (Poor little guys.)

But that doesn't matter. What matters is that Spencer and Josh finally have their swing set. Wanna come over and play?

Utah Trip - The Great Outdoors

The weather was actually really nice most of our trip. It was the first time since last fall that the boys have been able to play outside without wearing eight inches of warm clothing. Their favorite activity was to run up and down the driveway and have races. Spencer would take off like a rocket and then zig zag halfway through (practicing for future sniper dodging, I'm sure), with Josh toddling behind him the whole way. It was really cute.

Ready, set, go!

Josh is close behind (I love it when toddlers run - it's so cute!)

Flying Joshie!

Popcorn popping on the apricot tree! (No really - it's an apricot tree.)

We also went to the infamous J-Dawgs for lunch one day. J-Dawgs is a little hot dog shack just south of BYU's campus. (Really - it's an 8x8' shack.) All they sell is hot dogs and sodas. Which is okay, because the hot dogs are really, really good! They come with a yummy secret sauce. It's made all the better by sitting on the ground and enjoying the sunshine. (I suspect it loses a bit of its charm mid-winter.)

Okay, could everyone in the picture look goofy please? Thank you.

Chocolate Party - Giveaway!

I had my Hershey's Bliss party tonight. (Through Houseparty.com. It's an interesting concept, especially to an old advertising veteran like myself. Check it out.) Basically, Hershey's sent me nine bags of their new Bliss line of chocolates. All I had to do was have a party and share the chocolate with my friends. Done and done. And yummy.

I of course forgot to take pictures during the party. We were too busy gabbing and eating all the yummy chocolate. But I did get a few good shots of the goodies before the guests arrived.

Fruit tray to go along with the chocolate dip (made from the Bliss chocolate, of course!)

The chocolate dip and another tray of goodies for dipping. (Mmmmm...)

Cowboy Caviar and Lime Tostitos (You know, something salty to cleanse the palate from all that chocolate!) There are Buckeyes in the background. Why Buckeyes? Because they are yummy and I lurve them.

Some of the decorations. I also had a vase of flowers on the table, but didn't get a picture. Oh well, you know what flowers look like.

Not a bad spread, right? (It was yummy, if I do say so myself. And I do.)

Well, despite our best efforts, I still have A LOT of chocolate left over. So, it's time for my second Guess The Number Contest! Woo-hoo! (You know you love it.)

But I thought I'd do things just a bit differently this time. Instead of guessing the number of chocolates in some jar, this time I want you to guess how many chocolates make one pound.

Yes, I am a geek. I got out my kitchen scale, plopped the pail on (and zeroed it out, of course, so it doesn't count as part of the weight) and added enough chocolates to make one pound.

Post a comment and let me know how many chocolates you think there are in a pound. The person with the closest number (over or under) will get all the chocolatey goodness. Mmmm...

You have until midnight Wednesday. Happy guessing!

p.s. No, Lance, you cannot enter this contest. The idea is to get the chocolates out of the house.

Utah Trip - Cabela's

Suppose you:

• Have previously lived in Utah for several years
• Visit Utah at least twice a year
• Visit with two little kids, which greatly limits your activity choices
• Visit when it's nice outside but still too cold to go play in the canyons

Then you would understand why our activity choices are sometimes a bit limited. I've either been there/done that a million times, the season is wrong for it, or it's not exactly a kid-friendly activity. But sometimes you just have to get out of the house.

What I'm trying to explain, in a very round-about way, is why we went to Cabela's. I'd never been, it sounded impressive, and we needed an outing.

It actually turned out to be pretty cool. It really is like a life science museum with a very large store wrapped around it. Lots of stuffed animals, an impressive aquarium full of trout, and acres of merchandise. Capitalism at its finest, my friends.

And because I'm a mom and a blogger, of course I took plenty of pictures.

Spencer and Grandma Susie enjoy the fish. (As we saw the other day, Josh did not.)

Feeding the fish in the pond. In the middle of the store. Right next to the large mountain. Covered in moose, bear cougars, antelope, and prairie dogs. In the middle of the store.
(Doesn't Spencer's hand look weird?)

Grandpa ElRay serves as the fish food buyer and holder. Because that's what grandpas do.

Josh began to love the fish - as all the store could tell with his Joshie shouts of "Hfish! Hfish!"

The fish in Cabela's are nothing if not well fed.

Josh decides that the only way to get over his fear of fish is to hug one. A very large, stuffed one. "Mine!"

Spencer cuddles up with a very large, very expensive moose. (Why would you want a huge stuffed animal moose in your home? I'm not judging, just asking.)

"But mommy, I need this $180 rocking bear. Need!"

Utah Trip - The Real Reason We Go

Here's the real reason we visit my fam:


The whirlpool tub. The boys ADORE it. Every night they go for a swim, and every night the bathroom gets soaked. I'm sure the floors are never as clean/wet as when we are there.


Doesn't it look like Spencer is punching Josh with the rubber duck? He could be... I wouldn't put it past him. (Haha! I just imagined him punching with the duck and the duck making that little duck squeaky sound when it hits Joshie's face. Haha! I mean, no hitting!)

Oh, and Punching Rubber Ducks would be a great name for a rock band. You know it would.

Utah Trip - You Can't Go Home Again

The boys and I got to spend a fun day with Lance's family. I'm pretty sure they like us better than Lance, so it was no problem that he wasn't there.

(Haha! Just kidding, hon! You know your parents love you. Just because they forgot your name twice, lost all of your baby photos, and said I was their favorite child doesn't mean a thing! Really!)

The Madsen's have been renovating a lot of their home lately. They have a great new kitchen and a lovely new deck. But my favorite new improvement is what they have done to Lance's old bedroom:


Love, Lance, love! They did this out of love for you!

Utah Trip - Great Rock Band Names

One of the highlights of the trip was playing Rock Band with my brother, Kevin.

I rocked.

American Idol, here I come!

Oh wait, I'm too old.

Dang.

Well, maybe I can live vicariously through my kids when they're older. Spencer lurrrvved playing the drums and singing. (Read: sitting on my lap while I helped him play the drums and holding the microphone while I sang.)

Here's Spencer sitting playing the drums. Yes, that's a giant green foot cushion he's sitting on.


Giant Green Foot Cushion would be a great name for a rock band.

Here's Kevin teaching the boys how to rock out. They started out with something sunny and cheerful: Creep by Radiohead. The boys kept fighting over the drumsticks, so we had to get some substitute chopsticks for Josh to use.


Substitute Chopsticks would be a great name for a rock band.

And here's a bunch of my younger cousins playing with Kevin while they were over for Sunday dinner. (These are actually just a fraction of my cousins: I have hoards of them!)


Hoards of Cousins would be a good name for a rock band.

Rock on!