Girl time

The girls had an extra day off from school over President's Day weekend, so we decided to start off the four day weekend by going bowling.  The girls invited some friends and we headed to a bowling alley.  We decided to go try out a bowling alley that we had not been to before.  It was a pretty nice place, clean, smoke-free, uncrowded, and cheap!  I took 5 girls bowling, including shoes and soda for just over $20, can't beat that.

The girls had lots of fun, bowling with the bumpers, eating nachos and cheese fries, and just goofing around with their friends.

On Monday, we continued our girl time.  The girls and I went to a little accessory and jewelry shop to stock up on clearance jewelry.  Then we made a quick stop at IKEA, before seeing the movie "Gnomo and Juliet."  After the movie, I convinced the girls to go with me while I did a little coupon shopping---even Ashley was surprised how, "cheap all that stuff was."  As a reward for their patience while shopping we went to Five Guys for dinner---pretty convenient that there happened to be a restaurant sharing a parking lot with Target.

It was nice to have a little fun with girls considering how busy I, we, our family has been lately.  It seems like I am always going to some kind of meeting or event, or else we are heading out the door to one of the girls' activities or working on a project.  Ahh, the joys of family life!

Women's Conference

One of my recent projects was being a committee member for our church's Women's Conference.  Whew, it was a pretty big project...sure makes me appreciate all the work that the ladies on previous committees have done.

Our theme was based around the "Wizard of Oz" and always having the power to find your way home.  I only got to attend one workshop because I was busy "working" the rest of the time but the workshop I went to was amazing!

Here are some pictures of our handiwork.  Had to share because it's just so colorful.  I was basically in charge of the luncheon.  The table decorations were my partly my idea, but fortunately I got out of making the centerpieces because I had to go buy all the food.

For dessert, we had a gourmet cupcake buffet, over 300 cupcakes!  It was pretty awesome...definitely not my idea, I was just the labor, as part of the cupcake making, filling, and decorating crew.

Our committee chairwoman was a very creative and hard working lady.  She basically made the whole cupcake thing happen, pretty impressive. 

Overall, it was a good experience, but I am glad to have it behind me.  Now onto the next project!

You Never Know

Half way through her first year of middle school and there have been some expected and unexpected outcomes for Ashley.  By far her best subjects are math and science.  She's been placed in AT (academically talented) math as well as accelerated science.  I would have guessed her strongest subject would have been English as she is such a good and avid reader, but you never know.  I'm very proud of her especially because girls excelling in math and science is an issue near and dear to my heart.

Another area that we didn't anticipate her success in is keyboarding.  Yeah, I know, who gives much thought to keyboarding?  Actually, this whole story has just made Dave and I smile and shake our heads.  In our school district they held an online keyboarding competition among the four junior high schools.  Every day for a couple weeks or so, all the kids in the school would log into a keyboarding program that would test their skills and record their scores.  At the end of the competition the school with the highest total score would win the "keyboarding trophy."

Anyway, the first week of the competition Ashley scored the highest in her school.  In fact, one day during the competition she stayed home sick and when the principal saw the day's score, she came to the keyboarding teacher and asked, "what happened?  Why is our score so low today?"  The teacher said, "it's because, Ashley, my best student is absent today."  Of course, as a result of this Ashley became a minor celebrity among the keyboarding students as everyone waited to see how high Ashley would score each day.

In the end, Ashley's school won the trophy.  Her computer teacher, searched the whole 6th grade lunchroom asking for Ashley so that she could show Ash the trophy!  So funny.

Of course, not everything has come easy.  Sewing for example has involved a lot of picking stitches, re-threading the needle, and being frustrated.  Now, that is a little more expected.  Of course, Ashley is just beginning her sewing class so hopefully by the end it will be a lot easier.  She is also doing an after school cooking and sewing club so that will give her extra practice---because it's not like her mom is going to be much help with sewing homework.

Valentine's Day

Last year, the days before Valentine's Day were hectic with making cards, boxes, cookies, etc.  This year it was very different everything was relatively peaceful.  We only had to do one set of Valentine's cards as Ashley is too old now.  On top of that, Paige's teacher planned for the kids to make a collection bag in class, which meant no laborious crafting at home...YA!!!

So as Valentine's Day approached I thought I had everything under control, but I was wrong!!  I still don't really know how the day got away from me, but I ended running around like a crazy lady, delivering fudge, making pie, stopping at the store, etc.  I barely squeezed a shower in at 1:30 about 15 minutes before I was supposed to be at Paige's school for her class Valentine's party. 

We also had planned to have a "fancy family" dinner at home which did turn out very nice, but man was I dead tired by the time it was all over.  Whew! 

But overall, it was a great day.  Paige's party was lots of fun.  I was in charge of the ice cream sundaes, which were a big hit.  One of the little boys in Paige's class came up to me and with a sweet little face said, "thank you, I never had ice cream at school before."  Awww.

Here are some pictures from the day:

Dave and I got little love presents for the girls:

Ashley in her new, red "Chuck Taylor's"

 

Paige in her frilly, pink dress


I also got a present from Dave.  It was a big surprise, I didn't realize he knew I wanted these:


New shoes!  Nike Free to be exact.  So comfy, love them!

 Later that evening after everyone was home.  Dave went out to the grill and cooked sea scallops and New York steaks.  I made pie---fresh strawberry and almond peanut butter chocolate chip cookie pie.  It was all very yummy.

Our table was adorned with the carnations that Ashley got from some boys! at school.  Oh my.

Then I gave everyone my Valentine's cards.  (I had to sneak off to sign them because I literally had not had a free moment to do it all day.)  The girls got cards and teddy bears.  Dave got a gift certificate to the movie theater.





The girls were so surprised by their bears.  For some reason they both love stuffed animals. 
(Don't tell them that I got these bears for free as part of my couponing exploits!)

We also had mailbox full of cards and Valentines from the grandparents and our cousins.  It was so sweet, thanks for thinking of us.





"It's not a tu-mah!"

No one can say it better than Arnold, but in my case, surprise, it was a tumor!  A little fatty one on the side of my head that was pretending to be cyst.  It's gone now, a short outpatient surgery took care of that.  And Paige isn't scared of me anymore.  Let's just say that when you have surgery on your head, you can't wash your hair for over 24 hours and a little girl with sensitive sensitivities doesn't like to see her mom's matted hair chunky with blood, surgical goo, and other really gross stuff. 

Honestly, if I was going to have fat surgically removed from my body, I wouldn't have chosen 0.1 ounces off my right temporal lobe, but I am happy to be tumor-free!

A Tale of Two Cities

It was my turn to host Book Group.  Our book selection for this month was "A Tale of Two Cities."  I read this in high school and did remember the story, but really appreciated Dickens more this time.  It was harder reading than I remembered, but once I settled into the rhythm and style of the book it was easy to finish.  I love the imagery and symbolism in this book, it's so powerful. 

Oh, Sydney!

We had some very good discussion about revolution, oppression, poverty, redemption, etc.

We also had some thematic treats:  French (Parisian) bread with assorted cheeses and spreads and red wine (okay, sparkling grape juice.)  Sorry, but red wine was one of the main symbols in the book---had to have it! 

(Also thanks to Dave who worked from home, but who basically was my "right-hand" on this super busy day taking the girls to the dentist appts., soccer games, school activities, etc. and then made himself scarce during book group!  Love ya!)

Busy weekend

What happened to the weekend?  It just blew by. 

First thing Saturday morning I co-taught a couponing class to some of the ladies from church.  I can't believe I forgot to get a picture.  We had power point presentation, with a projector, a lace tablecloth, donuts and everything:)  I am not really an expert on couponing and probably should not be teaching a class on how-to do it, but hey I'm good at pretending!  Thank goodness I had an excellent teaching partner, who was very organized, wise and happens to be married to a tech guy---thanks Angela!

After the class, Ashley had the girls in her Primary class come over to work on a scrapbook present for their teacher.  They have been working on it for over month and just needed to put the finishing touches on.  We also made and packaged heart-shaped brownies to give along with the scrapbook.

What a good group of girls.  They are all different in personalities, but are so kind and accepting of each other.  It is a very good peer group, I'm glad they get along so well.

While Ashley was hanging out at our house, Paige went over to a friend's and spent the whole day sledding.  She had a blast and didn't even have to play the role of pesty little sister with Ashley.

On Sunday, we all enjoyed our church meetings and then headed home to settle in for the Super Bowl.  We filled out our annual prediction sheet.  (Ashley and I tied for the most points, but I was the only one to pick the Packers to win.)  Honestly, it was a little anti-climatic without the Bears to root for.  We did however, have some yummy treats:  sliders (with guacamole), sweet potato fries, and fresh fruit.  I even got to pull out my cute restaurant-style baskets to use.

Sock Hop

The annual Sock Hop at our elementary school is becoming a favorite event around our house.  This year, it was all just for Paige, as she is the only elementary student we have.

The cutest first grade friends!

She was very happy to meet up with her friends, run, dance, jump and slide all over the dance floor.

At first Paige was little shy and timid dancing:

But after a little while, she really started to let loose:

Another Hula Performance

Paige is continuing her hula lessons.  Along with other performances, the hula dance company will perform every other month at a retirement home.  This month the kids did a few dances and then helped the residents to make flower leis.  The next time the kids come to dance, all the residents should have their very own leis to wear.

Paige and I helped a sweet lady named Lola make a lei.  Paige was a little shy and Lola was a little forgetful, but by the end they were hugging each other.  It was very sweet.

Overheard...

Sometimes I just don't know where they get this stuff:

1-Near Halloween, the topic of zombies came up between the girls.  (I know, what?)  Anyways, Ashley says, "how can they walk around if they are dead?"

To which Paige replies, in her best I can't believe you don't know this tone, "it's because they are the LIVING dead, Ashley."

2-Paige said, "I don't want to live in Utah, I'll get dry skin."

3-Paige said, "I will only watch Hoarders if there are no dead cats in it."

4-Ashley said, "I miss it sooo bad," referring to real bacon after I made the switch to turkey bacon.

5-Dave told Ashley, "we aren't going to freak out if the Bears don't win."
   Ashley replies, "Okay Dad, I'm going to try not to, but I probably will."

6-Dave took a double whammy from the girls on the night of Paige's dance recital:
Dave reminded Paige that she was performing at an "old folks home" to which Paige seriously replied, "Dad it's not an old folks home!  It's an INDEPENDENT LIVING FACILITY!"

Later while at the said Independent Living Facility, some of the dads who were a little bored after the dancing was finished, moved to the corner of the room and turned to their Star Wars Light Saber app on their iPhones for entertainment.  Seeing this Ashley came up to me and said, "mom, look at dad: he's in the nerd gang."

2011 Blizzard

High and swirling wind, thundersnow, freezing temperatures, and about 20 inches of snow was the Blizzard of 2011.  Schools were closed, businesses closed, roads closed, just about anything that could be cancelled or closed was.

Fortunately for us, Dave has worked from home all week so we were all in the house, safe and sound as the worst of the storm hit.  By morning, this is what we woke up to:

This is our backdoor.  Our backyard took the brunt of the drifting snow--4 ft.



The snow is up to the top of the fence and in some places you can't even see the fence.

Fortunately for us we only had about 2-3 feet to shovel off our driveway.  It took us a while to dig out.

 I started shoveling in the morning while Dave was on conference calls he couldn't reschedule for work.  About halfway through, our kind neighbor came over and helped me finish with his snowblower.  Besides, being a good person, I figured that he helped me because of my charming good looks or because I looked so pathetically sad out there shoveling by myself.

About two hours later the snowplows came by to clear the streets.  This left about a three foot wall of snow blocking our driveway.  This time it was Dave's turn.  It was like a block party as everyone was out trying to clear driveways. 

Our neighbor across the street got the worst of the snow drifts in his front yard.  By the time he finished clearing his driveway he was surrounded by huge walls of snow over his head.



While Dave was working on our driveway, one of the trucks with a snowplow stopped and cleared about three-quarters of the huge mound of snow for him.  Funny thing was that there were about 10 other people doing the same thing and the snowplow guy only stopped to help Dave.  So did this guy help because of Dave's charming good looks or because Dave looked so pathetic?  I guess I got my answer and I sure am thankful for such good people willing to help others!