It is great to be eight!

Toothsome #3 is now 8.  As we always do, the party starts when the kids wake up, still in pajamas.  

 Dentist husband said, "Toothsome #3 gets all of the hand me downs, so this year, I am buying him something cool."  Mission accomplished--the Riprider 360 trike with caster wheels.  There has been a child or parent on it non stop since he got it.

 For his birthday dinner, he chose Einstein's bagels.  He loves their Lox.  (The Swedish genes are coming through).

His birthday dessert was an ice cream pie.  I make a killer graham cracker crust and he chose Rocky Road and Mint chocolate chip ice cream.  

 He blew out his candles using his "Airzooka"--another birthday present.

 And, the greatest present of all, his own cub scout shirt and hat.  After watching scouts since he was born (I've been doing cub scouts/11 year old for 10 years now), he is finally old enough to do it himself.  He can't wait. 

All and all a great birthday.  He gets baptized next month.  

A snowy weekend

We got snow last weekend--twice.  

The first one was not a huge storm but we did head to the sledding hill.  This picture shows the mud puddle at the base of the hill.  My kids were soaked in--all of their layers--wet/muddy water.  

The next day, there was no school and a bigger snow storm had hit.  After participating in Piano Federation (all of my kids got 5's!), we again headed to the sledding hill.  This time, Toothsome #4 refused to wear winter clothes.  Here she is in the snow in her Crocks with no socks. . .

sleeveless summer dress and the winter coat, I insisted she wear.  Thankfully, this was self-limiting and she came and got in the warm car with me a short-while later.  

Saturday morning, we spent one last day on the sledding hill.  It was packed with people. 

FYI:  A boogie board with a broken wrist band makes a great sled.  

None of us were ready to come in yet, so, I helped my kids make a snow fort in our front yard. 

Later in the day, we made a balloon volleyball court in our basement.  We played some very intense games for over an hour.  (We played to seven and you had to win by two.  The winner stayed in.  We had two referees.  Trust me, don't argue with the referees.)

Also, after seeing these dishes a while ago, they came on sale and I purchased them.  I love them.  

It was a great weekend.  Also, if you live in Utah and haven't eaten at Settebello, you really must go there.  

Merry Leap Day Everyone!

If you don't watch 30 Rock, watch the above clip and you will understand.  

My kids watched this episode with us last week and ever since then, we have been singing the Leap Day William song in our house.  In a very spur of the moment decision, I decided to create Leap Day events at our house this morning.  

A quick trip to the grocery store made it so I could have these Leap Day baskets waiting for them.  

 Balloons and streamers in Leap Day colors--blue and yellow.

 Me, wearing Leap Day colors.  On a side note, I have been wearing my hair longer and straighter than usual and have received a lot of positive feed back.  

And, for food, I purchased Lox and Bagels from Einsteins for my kids.  No true Leap Day reason, just that my kids love lox.  

And, since I was at the grocery store, I decided to make these Baskets Full of Sunshine for my visiting teachers.  I copied this from my friend Lisa.  I will drop these off tomorrow.  Gray Utah winters require fake sun, since we don't see it much here.  

Happy Leap Day everyone!

Let there be snow . . .

Like most of the country, we in Utah have not had a very cold winter.  For a snow loving fool like me, it has made this winter no fun.  In my attempts to get snow to fall, I have resorted to opening my back door and hollering, "Let there be snow!" hoping to reach the snow gods and encourage them to grant my little spot on earth with snow.  

Anyway, a few Saturdays ago, we woke up to snow.  That meant, ignore breakfast, no showers and let's quickly grab our winter gear and go sledding.  (Before the snow melted).

 We were only the 2nd people on the sledding hill and we had a wonderful time.  (Dentist Husband and Toothsome #1 took advantage of the clear skies and went flying.)  

That same weekend, my brother and his youngest son came out to go skiing.  It sounds like they found some great snow too.  (His oldest son is here going to college and spent most of the weekend at our house too.) 

 As they were leaving, I realized I hadn't take any pictures and quickly had these two taken.  Not very flattering of any of us, but I think my brother looks fantastic at age 51.  

It was a great day (and great weekend with my brother and nephew here).  So, I will continue to holler, "Let there be snow!" daily and one of these days, it might just happen again. 

Valentine's Day at our House

 In the days leading up to Valentine's Day, Valentine's boxes were made.  Here is Toothsome #3 with his shark box.  He had help from Toothsome #2.  You pull the string and the mouth opens.  

 Toothsome #2 with her refrigerator box.  All of my kids handed out mini cans of Sprite (something started by my oldest several years ago) and she thought a refrigerator would be funny.  

Valentine's Day morning.  My kids wake up and I have cut out hearts all over our kitchen counter with a small gift from me.  This year it was Buckycubes for everyone.  

 Toothsome #4, on her own, made these for her pre-school party.  This was all her idea and I found her in the kitchen, drawing and cutting out brown paper hearts.  Again, I did NOTHING to help her with this except to have the toothbrushes, candy and Sprite's in the house.  She did the rest.  

 Every year, my parents and I mail each other heart-shaped boxes of Sees Candy.  The leftover box becomes part of my Valentine's decorations.  

Around 12:00, the doorbell rang, and a florist delivered two dozen roses from Dentist Husband.    12 lavender ones for Toothsome #4 and 12 red ones for me.  

 Toothsome #4 on the phone with Dentist Husband.  She was so thrilled!  

My flowers.

Dentist Husband had 12 pink roses sent up the school for Toothsome #2.  She was the celebrity of the school and I had a ton of moms and teachers stop me (I helped in two of my kids classrooms that day) and say what an amazing father Dentist husband is.  (FYI:  For years, I have asked Chris not to get me anything for Valentine's Day except to go out to dinner.  I have always viewed being able to be home with my kids as "gift enough."  Two years ago, he said, "I have to teach our boys how to treat their future wives, so just smile and happily accept anything I do for you on Valentine's Day.")  

That night, we had a family dinner at Five Guys Burger and Fries.  As everyone knows, nothing is more romantic to me than a good hamburger.  

It was a great day.  

Dentist Husband is 40!

Last week, Dentist Husband turned 40.  He didn't want a party, or really any special attention brought his way.  I believed him.  And then, one of his high school friend's wife asked him to make a "roast" video for her husband and post it on YouTube.  And, my best friend from college, told me about this amazing surprise party she was doing for her husband's 40th and I started to feel a little sheepish about not doing anything.  So, my kids and I sat down and made a list of many of Dentist Husband's favorite things.  Then, we decided to buy him 40 of each item.  

In the above mentioned "roast video", Dentist Husband mentions black balloons.  My kids thought he needed 40 of those.  (Notice my Carl Larsson prints in the back.  I still need to hang them . . .) 

Dentist Husband loves Haribo gummy bears.  Toothsome #2 made a 40 out of 40 of those.  (I had to go 5 stores to get 40 of them.)  Also, notice the 40 bottles of NON-alcoholic beer.  Let me remind you of this blog post.   Dentist Husband loves the stuff even though he has never tasted the real deal.  

On the sofa:  40 packages of gum, $40 gift cards to:  McDonalds, SushiYa, our favorite movie theatre, and gas.  There are also 40 quarters for pinball.  

Toothsome #2 showing that one of the 40 balloons popped.

Below: Dentist Husband's reaction.  We told him he had to come in the front door.  

And, since I am married to 40 year old man (and I am the young age of 39), I purchased myself a new dress in honor of the occasion.  Years ago, my mom taught me to stand with my feet like this in photos.  From now on, you will notice that I always stand like that in photos.  

Happy 40th Dentist Husband!

Happy 200th Birthday Charles!

Today is Charles Dickens 200th birthday.  Several years ago, I set out to read all of his works.  But, I have learned after reading all of Jane Austen in about a month period, that reading the same author back to back is not as good as savoring their works with breaks in between.  When I set out on my quest about 14 years ago, I finished A Tale of Two Cities and was so moved by it, that I said, "For now, I rest with this work of Dicken's in my heart. "  Honestly, that book changed me.

Well, the time has come again to revisit Charles Dickens.  This past December I did read, "A Christmas Carol", "The Chimes" and "A Cricket on the Hearth"  and "The Life our Lord".  "The Life of Our Lord" is absolutely wonderful and really shows Dickens in a unique light.  It is a fast read and I highly recommend it.  For various reasons, that book is often not included with his works.  (If you buy the book, the forward explains it).

Anyway, below is a list of his novels.  I hope to read most of these this year.  I have already read about 1/2 on the list, so I think this is doable.

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (Monthly serial, April 1836 to November 1837)[92] The Adventures of Oliver Twist (Monthly serial in Bentley's Miscellany, February 1837 to April 1839) The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (Monthly serial, April 1838 to October 1839) The Old Curiosity Shop (Weekly serial in Master Humphrey's Clock, 25 April 1840, to 6 February 1841) Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty (Weekly serial in Master Humphrey's Clock, 13 February 1841, to 27 November 1841) The Christmas books: A Christmas Carol (1843) The Chimes (1844) The Cricket on the Hearth (1845) The Battle of Life (1846) The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain (1848) The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit (Monthly serial, January 1843 to July 1844)

Dombey and Son (Monthly serial, October 1846 to April 1848) David Copperfield (Monthly serial, May 1849 to November 1850) Bleak House (Monthly serial, March 1852 to September 1853) Hard Times: For These Times (Weekly serial in Household Words, 1 April 1854, to 12 August 1854) Little Dorrit (Monthly serial, December 1855 to June 1857) A Tale of Two Cities (Weekly serial in All the Year Round, 30 April 1859, to 26 November 1859) Great Expectations (Weekly serial in All the Year Round, 1 December 1860 to 3 August 1861) Our Mutual Friend (Monthly serial, May 1864 to November 1865) The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Monthly serial, April 1870 to September 1870. Only six of twelve planned numbers completed)