I've been a slacker blogger, sorry. Life happens though. I was released from Relief Society and am now the newest Nursery Teacher. Snacks, storytime and toys... what's not to love? I really do enjoy it and the time goes by fast and it's a good workout getting up and down all the time with those adorable toddlers.
I just realized I haven't even downloaded the pictures off my camera since my last post. Christmas was great in our new home. We stuck to 3 gifts because that's what the Savior received. Everyone was happy and it was enough.
I had a late start to my New Year's Resolutions. My 5 year old told me in a complimentary way and with his sweet, innocent smile that I was the fattest mommy ever (he seriously thought that was a good thing) which made me realize (again) that I needed to make some changes. So late January I signed up at the local gym and have been going almost every day. 20 pounds lighter now, I'm happier and eating healthier and praying I don't get injured again. So far so good. I'm doing a 25 mile bike race next week!
February my oldest turned 14 and started growing facial hair. Scary. :S But the rest of him is perfectly perfect so I'm not complaining, I just like to tease him about it. Our baby broke her arm falling from a padded ottoman onto padded carpet. Our first broken bone and it's the baby! Luckily it didn't require surgery but still cost us an arm and a leg. No pun intended. They day she got her cast off, she immediately wanted to swing on the monkey bars again. She's learning new words every day. I love her to pieces. I haven't been able to cut my hair because she loves to play with it and tickle her face with it. It's her pacifier. She just came in here and saw a freckle on my arm, called it an owie and kissed it better. See? She's adorable. I'm so lucky!
March we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary and went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse which was heavenly. They put rose petals on our table and gave us free dessert. Then I blindfolded my husband and drove him to a hotel for massages, more dessert and a restful night's sleep without little kids coming in at 5:00am. (Thanks to my parents for driving up and watching our kids) It was fabulous and I'm looking forward to next year for our Sweet Sixteen. Maybe if we start saving now we can go on our first cruise.
April we enjoyed LDS General Conference in a new way. It was a little pricey, took longer, required some work but everyone listened to all the sessions so it was a success. I'll share...
Darin Adams is a co-host of Studio 5, my favorite local morning show that I like to Tivo. He was featured on another show as to how they keep their family together for the 4 two-hour sessions of church that airs on TV semi-annually. I love watching it because it's like a vacation but a sprititual feast all at the same time. Anyway, he shared the idea that for each apostle that they listen to they have a snack that is somehow related to that person or their name. He gave a few suggestions but not a complete list so I had to do a little research. Here's what we came up with:
President Thomas S. Monson (Darin had the honor of meeting him in person and asked him what his favorite treat was and he said...) Orange Sherbet
Henry B. Eyring - airheads (he's a physics grad, a pretty smart guy, not an airhead)
Deiter F. Uchtdorf - German waffles (they're hard, thin and have a yummy caramel center)
Boyd K. Packer - a "pack" of gum. I know some of these are a stretch.
L. Tom Perry - raspberries because he's from Logan Utah and they grow them best there and we needed some healthy snacks in here.
Elder Oaks - reminded me of an Oak tree. Trees give us nuts so we had mixed nuts. Stretchy like spandex huh?
Elder Ballard - was president of the Canadian mission so we made Figgy Duff (like bread pudding but with molasses)
Elder Hales - yogurt covered raisins that look like HAIL because Walmart doesn't carry dippin dots which would've been much cooler.
Elder Nelson - carrots because heart surgeons like healthy options.
Elder Scott - pop rocks because he was a nuclear engineer.
Elder Holland - I found Holland mints! They're hard, round and peppermint flavored.
Elder Bednar (who unfortunately didn't speak in any of those 4 sessions but maybe he did at Priesthood session?) Pringles because he was president of BYU Idaho and they do potatoes best up there.
Elder Cook - we "cook"ed up some chocolate chip "cook"ies. :)
Elder Christoffereson - Snickers salad from the BYU cookbook since that's where he gradutated from. It's basically cool whip that has blue food coloring with cut up Snickers.
Elder Anderson - knows 4 languages and lived in Florida so we shared 4 oranges.
Hope you're enjoying a wonderful spring day! ~Karen