February 26 - Snow Day!

This morning, Saturday Morning!, we woke up to SNOW! (Quite a bit of snow, I might add!) Which is not my favorite thing in the world at this time of year. I am ready for Spring!! I was trying my best to find something happy about it. Let's see . . . . . it made everything look clean. It covered up the dead grass. It sort of looked like a white sandy beach. (Okay, that one was too much of a stretch even for me! LOL)

So, when the Peterson's called and asked if we wanted to go sledding, I decided that would do it. That would make this snow day, fun and happy. We, of course, said yes. However, little did I know that wet snow does not make for great sledding. I guess it has to be colder? But, we didn't let that take away the fun. We ended up having a snow ball fight instead, well really, when I looked back through the pictures, it really was the older group snow ball fighting and the younger group still trying to make the best of sledding. The best thing is, we all had fun and we were glad we went.

Can you see it?  If you look really hard you can see that I caught that snowball in mid-air :D

February 25 - Hey Can I See That Ring?

So I wore this ring to work today and as I was handing this guy his receipt for paying his bill he almost grabbed my hand and said, "Hey can I see that ring?" I was surprised and felt a little awkward but I said, "Sure :D"  He didn't hold my hand but proceeded to get really close to my hand and pour over it.  He said, man, do you know what the weight of this ring is? I was simply thinking literally of how heavy it was (for a few seconds) and then realized he meant the karat weight. LOL - I smiled really big and said, it's just costume jewelry - I have no clue. LOL

He smiled and said, can I ask you where you got it? I told him. It's online at http://www.boxed-gifts.com/womensrings.aspx. Actually Jeff's mom got it for me for Christmas. I love it!!  It's my bling ring :D

February 24 - Little Pleasures :)

This is what I saw when I came home from work today. Jeffrey set this out for me. It made me smile. You know when you put a smile on your face it makes you feel happier. Try it!  The next time you are having "one of those days." The next time you are down or feeling a bit blue or just plain old blah - - SMILE!! An action as simple as that just may improve your spirits. It is most certainly not a cure-all, but in the struggle with the gloomies, everything that helps in even a small way is worth a try! 

Thanks for my smile Jeffrey - it made me feel happy!

February 23 - Exercise is fun!

While we went for a walk tonight the kids had their own form of exercise. Playing video games. I didn't capture them while they were ALL jumping up and down but when we got home the kids were playing a video game. It's Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party. It's crazy, it's silly, and it's way fun!! The kids love it and it gets them up and moving. I think its more fun to watch them play this. They laugh and giggle and get crazy. It make me feel happy. I can't keep from smiling and laughing right along with them.

So, here's a shout out for Raving Rabbids!!

February 22 - Going to Bed!

After a stressful and busy day at work. Then coming home to an ornery, sad and frustrated husband. (By the way, you know that phrase they say "If Momma ain't happy ain't nobody happy?" Well it's true if you change Momma to Daddy too :}) Then dealing with an even ornerier and sassy face teenager right before going to bed.

This is a picture of the only thing that brought me happiness today. 

Going to bed!

February 21 - Dippy Eggs!

Does anybody else eat these things?  I have to admit that the first time Jeff made one of these I thought to myself, 'you have got to be kidding me!' 


'Hmmmm, that looks very interesting!?!?' 


'Well I guess it does sort of look good.' 


'Maybe I could try it.'


Now, it's one of my favorite ways to eat an egg and it's also my kids favorite too. The kids feel a little spoiled whenever I make dippy eggs for them. It's got a trick to it I must say. I can't always make them very well. Most of the time Jeffrey makes the dippy eggs and we all enjoy eating them.

How do you like your eggs?

February 20 - Snow. . .

I know that it usually snows in Utah clear up until May sometimes, but I thought we were actually going to have a Spring this year. When I went to bed last night it was raining. This morning when I woke up, it was snowing. I guess I really shouldn't have been surprised, but I was! Boo! I Need Spring.


I quickly searched for something good, because it was really getting me down. I decided that if it was going to snow, that it was great having the snow only on the grass and not on the sidewalks or the street. That was a bonus! Then I discovered this checkerboard pattern on our back patio, and it made me smile. How funny that the redder bricks hold the heat more than the orangey bricks.

That's pretty cool! Anyone want to play checkers with me?

February 19 - Didn't Take Long :)

Today I decided it was time to work on the "junk room" downstairs again. Well as soon as I got in there I realized I'd need to get rid of the TV box. That thing is huge. It would have to be cut into pieces, bagged and put in the garbage. Well I began cutting it, right where Josh and Hayden could see. I couldn't believe there was no begging, "Mom can we make a house out of that?" There was no, "What are you doing mom?! Don't cut that up!" So I proceeded to make a door in the side of the box.

And . . . . . . . . . . . . . it didn't take long :)

February 18 - Wisdom Teeth Out!

A couple of weeks ago I took all three boys to the dentist for a check-up. No Cavities!! Wahoo!! Then they specified that well, Josh didn't have any NEW cavities. AND that Zac should have his wisdom teeth out. . . . .like yesterday! So that's what we did today. I think I was more nervous than he was. 


They put him completely out. You know when you hear that they ask you to count backwards from 10? Well Zac didn't get even one number out. Nothing. . . he was OUT!!  LOL :)


He did awesome. It took him about 35 minutes to wake up all the way after the surgery. And right now he's doing awesome. I'm so relieved it went well. Hope that Monday brings brighter moments and that he's feeling like a champ.

Love him so much!

February 17 - Full Moon

So this is the ONLY picture I took today. Should have tried posing in the windows again :) My cell phone camera doesn't do it justice.  This moon was so HUGE last night right at the horizon like this. In my cell phone picture it looks all puny and little, but just trust me. . .it was HUGE. 

I need a better camera :)

February 16 - A&W Root Beer Float Syrup!!

Lookie what Jeffrey found at the store tonight? Are you kidding me?!!  I love this idea! You could put it on  an ice-cream sundae or you could mix it up with vanilla ice-cream for a killer shake. Or you could mix it up with vanilla ice-cream and root beer float!! Yum, Yum, Yum!! Can't wait to try it out this weekend!

Wanna try it with me?

February 15 - Rainbow Roses

Look at these roses!!  Have you ever seen anything like them?  I know I have never seen anything quite like these flowers before. 


They are called Rainbow Roses. The process to create them is crazy. Found a little article about them here rainbow roses. 


Lynda's daughter got these for Valentines Day. She told Lynda that she could bring them to work for all of us to enjoy. The guy that gave these flowers to Lynda's daughter said everyone else was like the rainbow roses and she was the white one - very unique. Awwww! Cute :)

Rainbow Roses - hmmm, I think that I would call them tye-dyed.

February 14 - Lesson Learned with a Valentine Box.

Okay, I admit it, I really blew it. I was not a good mom. Josh wanted some help with his Valentine Box the other day. I was right in the middle of something when he asked and told him that I would be glad to help him once I was finished with whatever I was doing. He, on the other hand had ants in his pants about doing it right NOW! So I proceeded to tell him that I would be glad to help him once I was finished but if he HAD to do it RIGHT NOW that he would have to do it by himself.

Well. . . . he opted to do it by himself. He asked me where a shoe box was and what paper he could use to cover it. I thought, okay, this should be good. I was naaaaaauuuuughtyyyyyyyy :( what a mean mom. I should have been thrilled that he was doing it by himself.

Well I finished with whatever I was doing and went out to see about helping him.  He had already covered the box with paper.  The top half of the shoe box was taped every so often around the sides. The bottom was covered too and was taped underneath the top sheet. I thought it looked pretty messy and he was just about to cut a hole in the top, right close to the side of the box. I was freaking out a bit and made some sort of a gasping sound as he poked the knife into the box. I said something like are you really ready to cut a hole in it right now? I made some sort of a disapproving face too.  I know, mom of the year!!  Right?>!>?  WRONG!

Right then and there Josh began to lose it. I've seen this scene before and knew I had to do some back pedaling and FAST. I tried really fast to tell him I was sorry. I told him I thought it was neat that he was figuring out how to do it all by himself. I then had to add that it didn't look like he was finished yet though and he blurted out, "Well, I'm not!!" I told him I'd be patient and let him finish. I told him I was sorry again and I wouldn't say anything else until he was done, it was probably going to turn out great!!

Well, I decided to go shopping and when I came back he sheepishly came into my bedroom holding the box behind his back. Then he showed it to me with his face hiding behind the box. WOW Josh!! was my first reaction. Josh I LOVE it! It did turn out GREAT!! I am sorry for acting like a brat. I think you did a GREAT job!! I am very impressed.

I knew I had to take a picture of the finished product today. Complete with all the valentines he'd received at school today, stuffed inside. Look at that smile!!

For me, this was a great lesson learned. I learned I need to be more patient. I learned that I need to put more "trust" in my son and what he can do; his abilities and his passions. When he puts a great effort into something like this, I should be ECSTATIC and will be. I was glad Josh forgave me for being such a pooh. I love him very much! and I LOVE that smile!!

February 13 - Ice-cream

Today right after church, Hayden asked me, "Mom can we have a quick,but good dinner?" I thought that was so funny, because he knows often a "quick" dinner is cereal or a tuna fish sandwich. I'm guessing that's not what he wanted tonight for dinner. He had to specify that he wanted a quick dinner but he wanted it to be good too.  LOL :)


Anyway, we ended up having cheese stuffed tortellini pasta with a garlic cream sauce and salad.  Hayden LOVES these new (at least to our family) little discoveries Jeffrey found at Costco. He had two bowls and afterwards he was stuffed. So stuffed he didn't want the dessert we were all having. . . . . . . . . .YET.

So he waited about an hour and then asked if he could have ice-cream for dessert too. Of course :) This is one of my favorite ice-creams. You can't tell by the picture but it's a peppermint ice-cream. YUM, YUM! Love it :)

February 12 - Dreaming of Kauai ☺✈✲

Okay so I totally blew it today ☹ I didn't take a picture - not one, single, solitary picture ☹  Boo for me. So, I tried to think about what the theme of the day was. Cleaning (not fun - no pictures even in my head). Shopping (I have pictures in my head of the produce section at reams). But, most of the day was spent in dreaming AND actual planning to get to Kauai this year. So I not only have pictures in my head but there are all sorts of pictures on the internet.  Most of our the pictures we looked at were at the Condos at "Plantation at Princeville."  It's a new condo development. They are beautiful and cheaper than the North Shore of Oahu. Wow!  It's hard to believe, except that we kept seeing it over and over again.  Wish I was the one that took this picture, but I did find it ☹ and it did represent most of my day. It brought us a great deal of HaPpInEsS ☺☺

Take a look at this website http://www.alohacondos.com/kauai/plantation-at-princeville/1221 It's so pretty isn't it? Do I have any takers? This condo has 3 bedrooms!! That means two other couples could come with us. We could split the cost and it would only be $53 a NIGHT!!!  WAHOO ☺

February 11 - Middle School Shots ☹

Poor Josh, he's had a week full of doctor visits.  First the dentist, which ended up being so much easier then both of us thought. However, this doctor appointment was for SHOTS!! He has to have them to register for Middle School!!  Holy Cow!!  Josh is starting Middle School in 6 more months. (I think, in September right?)

I took a picture of Josh right before he got his shots.  Doesn't he look thrilled? LOL He humored me. I thought that was nice of him. My Josh is growing up.  I love him.

February 10 - Window Shopping!!

Today I went walking at the mall. For a little "in door" exercise. I think it's a great way to get a walk in without freezing yo' but off! Plus it's a fun way to window shop. I haven't been to the mall in ages it seems. It's kind of fun to see the "trends" in fashion. Glad to know I'm not totally out fashion yet, I still got it. Today, however, we took window shopping to a whole new level. LOL  Ü Ü Ü  This is a big shout out to My 365!! Never would have thought to do this one, unless I still needed a picture for today. Acting silly brought us lot's of HaPpiNeSs!!

And, hey, we figured that laughing burns just as many calories as walking does Ü Ü Ü

February 9 - People of Wal*mart

We went shopping at Wal*mart today and I saw a lot of fun things. So. . . .I had to take pictures. Jeff was so embarrassed he had to walk away and pretend like he didn't know me. But secretly he thought I was so cool :) He wanted to take my picture and post it on the People of Wal*mart blog.  LOL

This picture won out!! Why? I never drink Mountain Dew. I've tasted it - the caffeine free kind - and I didn't even like it!! (sorry Steve) but I just love this look. It's so retro!! 

AND It made me happy! Really! :) 

February 8 - Open Wide!!

Today I had to take Josh back to the dentist to get a cavity fixed. Last night as Josh thought about going today he went into panic mode.  During the "operation calm down" I discovered something that Josh and I have in common.  We are both Big Ol' Worry-Warts!! Especially, when it comes to going to the dentist. I discovered long ago that I have a "special power" that makes Nitrous Oxide and Novocaine Null and Void!! 


Dr. David Johnson is so awesome.  He is very gentle with the kids and he's very fast, plus he's so cool :) He promised Josh that this cavity would be a fast fix. And it was.  He didn't even have to give Josh any Nitrous Oxide or Novocaine.  He told Josh it was going to feel cold for five seconds and proceeded to count to five and he was done with the drill. Then he buffed it. Then he filled it and wahlah - cavity fixed!!  I think it literally took in 5 minutes!!  Josh was like - really? That's it?!!  He was so relieved!!

So, the next time Dr. Johnson tells Josh it's a fast fix - he said he'd just take a deep breath and Open Wide :)  I love that kid :)

February 7 - Sleepy Boy

Ummmm. . . I just realized I never took a picture today and it's 9:15 pm. *YIKES!* So I ran and snapped this one. Oh dear I woke him up. Hmmm thinkin' that wasn't such a great idea, but I know these moments will go by too quickly. Want a picture of my sleeping boy before he isn't a little boy anymore.

Sweet dreams :)

February 6 - Super Bowl Sunday!!

Never been to a Super Bowl Party before. So, this year was a first for me. Secretly, I'm not a big fan of football. I can enjoy watching it though. What's not to like really? Tight Ends, Defensive Ends, Man in Motion, and don't forget the commercials. I must admit, though, the commercials are probably still my favorite part.

This party had everything you need, lots of people, lots of food and lots of football. So glad we were invited :) Thanks again Peterson's!

February 5 - Pizza Night

Tonight at about 7:00p we all got hungry real fast.  I was planning on making hamburgers tonight, but didn't really feel like it. So, decided it was Pizza Night. Can I just tell you that I love when the kids jump up and want to help. That's something I really enjoy. It's happening less and less now.

When I was visiting with Mandy her kids were begging to help with breakfast one morning. They wanted to help with everything!! I remember feeling a little overwhelmed, when my kids were little and wanted to help. . . with EVERYTHING! It was tricky to figure out how to let them help. It seemed easier to say I gotta do this one myself but you can help with "this." I saw Mandy going through the same thing.  She was good to let them help and I think she was a little overwhelmed too.  I got all teary-eyed and told her how I actually missed that. I missed this stage of life.  Now I almost have to bribe my kids to help out. I realized, at that moment, that I need to make more opportunities for my kids to want to help and LOVE it.

Anywho. . . tonight when I proclaimed that it was Pizza Night, Josh and Hayden both said, I wanna help, I'm going to go wash my hands. Putting together their "own pizza"is always fun. Zac, on the other hand was just fine with me making his. Oh boy he's already a teenager!

Love these SMILES! :)

February 4 - Guitar Hero . . . . . LIVE!! :D

Zachary LOVES, LOVES, LOVES the wii game Guitar Hero!!  

So much so, in fact, that he asked us if he could learn how to really play the guitar.  He asked for a guitar for his birthday and then for Christmas too.  Well, let's just say that Santa had some major sticker shock but somehow he pulled it off in the end :) 

Zac got a sweet guitar for Christmas!!

I finally got around to scheduling a time for "Guitar Hero LIVE!!" (a.k.a. Guitar Lessons). He'll be rockin' out every Friday afternoon. Zac was so thrilled to finally get some learnin' in. 

Lucky for Zac, his Uncle Jon teaches guitar and agreed to take on Zac as a student. Thanks Jon, YOU TOTALLY ROCK!!  

Jon is the owner/operator of 

Starchild Music Productions 

Learn to Play - Live the Dream.  

How cool is that?!!  We think it's totally awesome!!  

Just look at those two smile. They are both in Heaven!!

ROCK ON DUDES!! :D

February 3 - Dinner List provided by Paula

Made out a dinner list today on this cute paper that Momma Quick gave me for Christmas and thought what a cute picture that would make.  Made Hayden take my picture and wahlah!! Picture for the day :)

Thanks Momma Quick :) Now I plan our of week's worth of dinners in style :)

February 2 - It's Groundhog Day

For the last 4 years we've made a point to celebrate Groundhog Day.  We have just happened to be in Hawaii. We always took Groundhog Day, the Bill Murray movie with us and watched it and had a great dinner.  Well, this year would be no exception, except that we aren't in Hawaii this year :(  So, I had to pretend really hard, especially because it was 9.5 degrees tonight when we started the movie!! But, I wore my flip flops and invited the Peterson's over and had a great Groundhog Day.

The kids made these darling little groundhog cupcakes after a dinner of chicken pot pies and then we all watched the Groundhog Day movie together.  It was a fun night.

February 1 - Welcome Home Gifts :)

Today was back to work and back to reality.  However, when I showed up at work, I saw this laying on my desk with a welcome back note from Lynda again.  How nice of her.  She said she's cleaning out her closet and thought that this necklace looked like me :)

Thank you Lynda :) Again!!

January 31 - Home Again

Home again and vacation is over. It's freezing here today. It was hard to come from 65 & 72 degree weather to 24 degree weather, but none the less we're home.  It's always nice to be home after you've been gone. I do miss the nicer weather though.

I was such a good girl and cleaned out my suitcase. So, that's the picture today - my empty suitcase.

I left my flip flops in there just for fun :)

January 30 - Houston Temple

Today we went with Mandy to church.  She has 1:00pm church (just like we do).  I'm not loving that time of church so far.  But, I have to admit, it was nice to have a little extra time to sleep in and get ready while we were visiting with her and on vacation.

After church we were all starving - we put in a chicken pot pie that we got at Costco the day before and while it was cooking we ran over to the Houston Texas Temple to take the picture of the day.

It's a beautiful temple and the grounds (as always with any temple) were beautiful and immaculate.

Thanks so much Nichol's!!  We had a FABULOUS time.  It was so much fun to come for a visit.  You made it so nice, easy, relaxing and FUN!!  Hope to do lots more of these when you are in Nevada.  Love you so much :)

January 29 - Don't Feed the Alligators!!

Today, our wonderful hostess, Mandy suggested we go to the alligator park. She said something like, "Ya, some of the alligator's come out of the water and bask in the sunshine right on the bank of the river!" She said this with great enthusiasm as if it was WONDERFUL information.  I told her, "That actually sounds a little scary to me.  Are you kidding me - you just walk around in big open park - no gates, no fences?"  She explained that the alligators aren't aggressive and so off we went to Brazos Bend State Park Home of the American Alligator :)

It actually turned out really neat!!  It wasn't scary either.  Well . . . . . except for the time when we saw an alligator that was on the bank CLOSEST to us and Jeff tried to push me on top of it to see if it really was alive.

LOL :) Just Kidding :)

January 28 - JP Morgan Chase Tower Observatory

Wow!! was all I could say when I stepped out on the 60th floor of the JP Morgan Chase Tower Observatory.  We were so high up that we could see that the earth is in fact round!!  It was pretty awe striking and felt a little dizzying.  

JPMorgan Chase Tower offers the highest public view of Houston from the Sky Lobby on the 60^th floor. This floor serves as an observation floor as well as a transfer point to shuttle tenants to floors 49-59 and 61-75. The Sky Lobby is open to the public.
JPMorgan Chase Tower is also connected to Houston's downtown tunnel system. This system forms a net- work of subterranean, climate-controlled, pedestrian walkways that link twenty-five full city blocks.


The tunnel system was AWESOME.  It was hard to choose between the two of them for the picture of the day, but the observatory won out :D

January 27 - Captain Nichol

Today we arrived in Houston around 12:00 noon. The whole Nichol family picked us up at the airport. Then took us straight to lunch. We ate at a place I've never even seen before.  It was delicious and reminded me of Kneader's. I had a yummy sandwich and delicious soup. The kids seemed older to me this time. How did that happen?  We just saw them at Thanksgiving time. We only had a few more hours and then Steve was off on a 4-day trip. Which we quickly found out that he just HATES!!  The 4-day ones are hard.  He likes 2-day trips much better.

So. . .today the picture had to be of Steve. So we could remember him while he was gone :) and I told him that was going to be my picture today.

So here he is, Captain Steve Nichol on his way to work.