Modern-Day Miracles

Today alone I asked myself twice, "How did my mom ever live without this?" I cleaned pen and pencil scribbles and drawings off the walls and permanent sharpie marker off the newly painted toy box. And nothing rubbed off except for what was supposed to. And the paint in our house is not great - when I lysoled the light switches here for the first time, it ran down the wall and ate the paint away in some places! Oops. Anyway, I go through these Mr. Clean Magic Erasers like crazy and LOVE them. How DID my mom live without them? What modern-day product do you wonder the same thing about?

Church Ball

That's right, here in Utah, church ball is alive and kicking. Brandon has been able to participate as coach of the Young Men's team and as a star player on the men's team (I am not biased!) The Young Men's tream is undefeated and will play the regional (yes, region!) championship game next week. I know Brandon is a good coach and a good example of sportsmanship for them, but not sure he has a lot to do with the wins!
The men's team was just eliminated from the regional tournament, where they made it to the top six. Not bad! In Colorado there were a few chances for Brandon to play, but not many. So, this is really the first time I have watched him play ball. I have to admit that I was surprised at how good he was! Even for his old age! Too bad I couldn't have seen him on his high school team, huh? Not like I would have actually watched the game in high school...but, that's a whole other topic.

3 Board Chicks

Decorating has been different for me since we have been renting. I am not going to paint. I don't necessarily want to spend money on something so specific to this house or a spot in it (like the window bench, curtain rods and curtains). I don't want to hammer and drill a thousand holes in the walls. Etc. Etc. So, I have decorated the walls the bare minimum. Which has actually not been too bad since I don't like clutter at all. It keeps things kind of clean looking. But, I sometimes think that maybe I should do just a little more. I think of all the boxes stored away that contain pictures, wreaths, hooks, and other things that I have forgotten about, and I want to use them and enjoy them. I want to paint my kids' rooms to finish the looks of them, as well as a lot of the house. But, I can't, so my solution (and the point to this post) is vinyls. My sister-in-law Chenel has her own vinyl business called 3 Board Chicks. When the business was started it involved me and my other sister-in-law, Marcie (hence the name). But, Chenel was just better at it, she knew more about it, and she had more passion for it, so it is hers. I decided to order some vinyls from Chenel to help my decorating out a bit. I know vinyls are not new, and you have all seen them. But, I am going to share a few things that I have done with them...

Scroll over the bay window in the dining area...

My clock from Costa Rica needed a face lift (scrapbook paper and vinyl)...

Over our bed (vinyls on framed glass, in a plate holder)...

Koby and Spencer have a surf/beach room, hopefully this helps make that more obvious...

Visit the 3 Board Chicks website and find some inspiration for your home. Basically any font you have or can find online, Chenel can do for you. I emailed her exactly what I wanted and she made it happen!

My new learning opportunity...

This last week I got called to be the 1st counselor in the Primary Presidency! I am so excited about this, but have never served in Primary before (other than as a teacher right after high school). This is totally new territory for me and I couldn't be more thrilled to learn everything about it. I am definitely planning on using this calling to better myself as a mother. To be more patient, to take my teaching as a mom to a new and deeper level, to love my children more and truly see them as children of our Heavenly Father. I can't wait!

My parents are cooler than your parents!

Did I go too far in posting a video of my great parents for all to see? I love my parents and think they are fun and would never want to make them feel embarrassed or uncomfortable. Of course, this was a huge joke of a dance - including the costumes and bodies. My mom and dad both misled you and stuffed! Dad - his gut, and mom - well, you know! Thanks for being such great sports, I love you guys!

My embarrassing mom!

Actually, I do LOVE my mom and am not embarrassed at all by this (even though something tells me I should be!?) Or maybe just my 17 year old brother should be!
Last night our ward had a Variety Show that was so great. I totally forgot to take pictures of all that we did and all the acts, but, trust me, it was good! We had an awesome turnout and awesome performances - because we have an awesome ward! The last act of the night was from our bishopric and their wives (my dad being the bishop - so I guess I should be double embarrassed!) Look closely and you will notice the wives dancing the Macarena, Soulja boy, and Thriller! My parents are in the middle...

By the way, this was my last activity on the activities committee. I will post more on that in a bit...

Big Girls DO Cry

In the car today, the song "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie came on the radio. Throughout the song Koby was disagreeing, "Big girls do to cry!" Finally Spencer says, "Ya, they do because in church they always cry!" Sorry, Fergie, we can't argue with that one!

Another excuse to eat candy...

Every St. Patrick's day the boys wake up to see that the leprechaun has visited. He always leaves a trail of gold coins around the house and ends at a bucket full of candy! They love to follow the trail over and over and see where the leprechaun went and what he was up to (like jumping on the couches, running circles in the family room, using the bathroom, and sneaking a treat from the pantry!) Later, dinner is normally colored green - the boys especially enjoy the green mashed potatoes.

Following the trail...

If you can't grow a beard, but want one...

...just draw it on!

Chin up

With the weather warming up, the boys have spent a lot of time outside, which we all love. Papa and JuJu (my parents) set up their trampoline and Koby got a little brave and crazy the first time jumping. He jumped off the deck onto the trampoline (which was learned). Of course, that didn't end well...he hit his chin on the bar and was down for the night. The next day he woke up with this nasty bruise and a swollen chin that made him look like he gained weight. We were a little concerned about bones possibly being broken, but we checked him out ourselves and felt confident that he was fine. What other sorts of injuries will this spring and summer bring for my fearless children? (Don't answer that).

Adding to our family...

I am a little bit behind in my blogging. But, I can't leave out some exciting news for our family. (No, I am not pregnant) My little brother, Todd proposed to his beautiful girlfriend, Alexis Watson last week. We couldn't be more thrilled to add a new sister to the fam! We love Todd and love his choice for an eternal companion. They will be married May 16th in the Draper temple. A fun side note - Alexis' family lived just two doors down from us as we were growing up. So, we already go way back and love them. Congratulations!

Sign yes or no

Koby came upstairs today to tell me that there was a sign for me on the table. I went to check it out and found this note...Translation: Mom, please look on the desk (sad face) Can we buy a new one? Sign yes or no on the bottom.

(I am getting really good at reading phonetically spelled words.)

I turned and looked at the desk to find his broken umbrella. Of course I wrote "yes" on the bottom and he added an exciting mark (exclamation mark) after it.
My kids are all so hilarious to me.

Speaking of growing up...

I looked over at Spencer the other day and realized that he looked extra tall against the counter top. Knowing that all the bars stools were in his room supporting a very cool fort, I asked him what he was sitting on. He looked at me, smiled and then giggled. Oh no, what is he doing? Is he standing on the dishwasher door? I walked around to find nothing. Just Spencer's tall legs holding him up. Aaw man, he is growing and I can't stop it! By the way, my husband loves that my boys grow up and actually looks forward to it. What is wrong with dads?

I'm going there someday...

Brandon and I took Koby and Spencer to the Draper Temple open house last week. Everything went perfectly and the boys enjoyed it. I know they are young, but I hope they were able to feel the spirit and understand the importance of temples in our lives. This was a neat experience for us to be in the temple with the boys. Of course, I can't help but think of my responsibility to help these boys return to the temple as worthy young men to prepare for missions, and eventually to be sealed. I don't even like to type the words. I mean, I love the image of my boys growing up to accomplish these things, but I like to pretend they will be young boys forever. You moms all understand, right?