House Rules

First, I have to say that Kylie & Matthew are really good kids. They are naturally sweet and kind and loving. I'm sure most parents think that about their own kids :). But, sometimes they push the limits with their behavior, like they are seeing just how much they can get away with. So, tonight we had a family night to establish some house rules. We talked about the 10 commandments (notice my little drawing on the posterboard?) and why we need rules. Then we all came up with our house rules together.

And now the reason I am telling you about this.....tonight when Matthew said his bedtime prayers, he said, "and bless us not to hit Kylie with a shoe." Apparently he was paying attention.

We also came up with a list of consequences. I would love any new suggestions any of you might have for this one. Time-outs are starting to get old - they don't seem to phase them at all anymore. Do you have anything that works wonders? Oh, and we don't spank - I personally think it is psychologically damaging - just my opinion, so I choose not to do it.

Primary Adventure Day

The kids went to a Book of Mormon Adventure at church this morning. They had a blast. Here Matthew is demonstrating some kind of B.O.M. gang sign maybe? Haha.

They went to 5 different rooms where they learned a different Book Of Mormon story in each one, and then did something fun. Here they learned about Nephi hunting in the wilderness. Then they went "hunting" with bean bags.

They learned about the 2000 warriors in this room, but I wasn't paying attention, so I don't know what on earth that has to do with a parachute - but they had fun doing it :) They also built a wall in another room and put on a play in another room, then movie and snacks in the last room. It went surprisingly well for about 100 little kids being there. Oh, and if you're not Mormon, sorry, this post probably won't make much sense - It is similar to acting out Bible stories.

Easter Bunnies

We survived the flu! Even though they were sick, the kids were still excited that the Easter Bunny came, and they had a good Easter egg hunt.

wah

Dr: Sounds like the flu, let's do a flu test.
Me: (In my best teacher's pet voice) Oh, that's not necessary, I had a flu shot.
Dr: blah, blah, blah, something about different strains, yada, yada.

What good is a stinkin' flu shot if I get the stinkin' flu?!?! I had a fun Easter weekend planned. Excuse me, I'm off to cry into my pillow now. I will be less whiney when I return.

Happy St. Paddy's!

I hope you're all wearing green and doing something fun to celebrate. And Happy Birthday to my adorable niece Aubreana - she is officially a teenager today. I thought I would share my super easy stew recipe as my little St. Paddy's gift to you :) It's not really traditional Irish stew - no lamb's meat or bacon - but when John asked if it was Irish stew I said, "Well, it's stew, and I'm Irish, so I guess that makes it Irish Stew." He loves it anyway.

1 lb. cubed stew meat

8 red potatoes, quartered

1 lb carrots, chopped into big pieces, or whole baby carrots

1 onion, large slices

1 can low-sodium beef broth

1 large can/jar beef gravy

1 can stewed tomatoes (I like Del Monte original)

Season All

Whisk together broth and gravy in a large crock-pot. Add tomatoes, stir. Add meat and season with Season All and pepper. Let cook on low for an hour or two. Add potatoes, carrots and onion and season with Season All. Cook for another 4-7 hours on low. Stir once, an hour or two before serving. It is supposed to be served on a plate, not in a bowl - it's stew, not soup :)

Celebrity Sightings

It's weird to bump into a celebrity in real life. Maybe I'm weird. I don't get all excited and giddy like a 6th grade girl with a crush. Maybe that's just because I've never bumped into Joaquin Phoenix...mmmm. Oh sorry. Anyway, I've spotted celebrities like Tony Danza while shopping at Albertsons in Park City. We both looked up from the same produce bin at the same time and he had that scared deer-in-the-headlights look. I just smiled and walked on to my next grocery item. I'm too much of a social retard socially challenged individual to start a conversation with a stranger in a grocery store. Anyway, you're wondering where this is going aren't you? Every Wednesday the kids and I drive down to Provo to pick up John's dad from dialysis. Today I walked into the dialysis center and saw what I thought was a little kid having dialysis. I thought, oh how terribly sad. Then he spoke, and I thought hey I know that voice. It was Gary Coleman. Yep, it's true. I saw Gary Coleman today. Exciting stuff. Ok, this is the dumbest post ever...sorry...I will throw in a couple kid pictures to make up for it.

My kids love to sing in the car. They really belt it out too. Unfortunately, John & I are both terrible singers and have passed that onto our children. I still love to hear them sing though. Our drive to Provo & back on Wednesdays gives us almost 2 hours of singing. As a result, the kids know every single word to almost every single song on my ipod. I realized today, that might not be a good thing.

Sing it Mattie.

Goodbye Snow

Remember all the snow we had last month? Here is the last of it...

The kids have been using it as a biking hill. They are strange like that. Today was sooo nice, we had to be out in the sunshine...

The snow hill is now too small, and they are bored with it. Instead they played bumper cars...

This is the first time our lawn has not been covered in snow this winter. It's such a lovely shade of brown, don't you think?

Silly Sunday

Look at my two sillies.

Sundays have become dress-up days. They can sit in front of the mirror making silly faces for an amazingly long time.

Just look at that face - I fear the teenage years.

And who knew spiderman could be so glamorous? You can't help but smile with these two around.