Update

So last week was kind of a mess, but I think that my life is slowly coming back together. I did not get my house cleaned before I left for the movie, and I really regretted that decision because Nick got home earlier than he said he was going to on Saturday. So it was still a mess when he got home. I hate it when that happens. It always makes him super grumpy.
So the movie was amazing. I'm usually disappointed with movies written about books, but not this time. It was great. Except that there was some stupid giggly girls in the theatre who were laughing at all the wrong things. Like things that were supposed to be serious! How rude. I felt like chucking one of my cookies at them, then I remembered that I brought them from home and decided that wouldn't be such a great idea. Stupid giggly girls.
The ward family movie night was a huge success. We borrowed a projector and showed the movie on the big screen in the gym. I had no idea because I hadn't ever seen the thing, but that screen is as big across as the stage! It felt like a real theatre! It was awesome. And there were so many people there! Oh, and Nick did get home in time, which is a really good thing, because he is such a good helper. I think my head would have exploded if he hadn't been there.
I didn't go to the State football game on Friday night. I do believe, however, that had I been there, they definitely would have won. How could I have been so selfish? So I'm sending out a formal apology to those boys. I'll be there next time. I promise.
Okay, so here is my favorite part. On Sunday I was talking to Brother Marostica on Sunday about the Giving Tree. Evidently the list is complete, so all I have to do is set up the tree and make the tags to hang on it! So Brother Marostica was like, "let's just get the tree out right now!" So we went into the clerk's office and he got the box down off of the top of the cabinet and it was definitely EMPTY! So the Christmas tree is AWOL and nobody knows where it could be. We checked all of the likely places, and even some of the unlikely places, but no dice. So we were thinking that somebody took the title "Giving Tree" a little to literally and took the thing home. (?) Who would do that? I have no idea. But when we were looking for the tree, we did find a garland, so I suggested that I wouldn't be opposed to having a "Giving Garland" instead. Everybody laughed. It wasn't a joke. I guess that's what I get for joking so often. Silly me. But I really do think that a Giving Garland is a good idea. Oh well… So the hunt is still on. I'm going to make some phone calls and try to find out if anybody knows where our little tree is. Oh, but funny thing: when we were looking for the tree, another lady from the other ward was searching around for their Eagle Scout plaque. Evidently somebody took it right off the wall! Stinkin Mormon thieves! I said that perhaps the plaque and the tree ran off together. Silly plaque and tree.

So much to do, so little time!

So it seems like whenever I have a few beautiful days off, everybody notices all at once and thinks, wow! Melissa doesn't have anything better to do, let her do it! What a whiner I am, I know. But I think that I might just blow up. And let me just preface this whole post with: I know that more than half of this crap is my own doing.
a. I've been working hard and long (a whole two days) on a Christmas project that I am not even close to being finished with. But I'm not worried. I have a whole month right? Riiiiiiight.
b. My house is a horrible mess because I have totally neglected it for the past two days.
c. Today some friends want me to go see Twilight with them. Which I wanted to do anyway, but if I don't make a serious dent is this hole I'm not going to be able to forgive myself for leaving it to go see a movie.
d. We're having a ward family movie night tomorrow. I don't think that I have anything more to do for this, but Nick isn't going to be home and I'm going to have to go to the church and run the whole thing without my best helper guy. Which I hate because he really is amazing.
e. Nick's not home and that makes me sad. I even woke up at 2:30 last night and couldn't go back to sleep until 4:00. I'm a little tired. I hope that I can stay awake for the movie. Oh, who am I kidding. Of course I can stay awake.
f. The ward Christmas party is coming up and I'm having some conflicts with my committee about it. I think that it would be great if they just didn't have any opinions about anything so they could all just see me for the true genius that I am.
g. I want to go to Fruitland's State football game tonight, but it doesn't look too promising since it's in Boise and Nick and his parents are away.
h. How could I forget the thing that's stressing me out the most?!? I'm getting a Christmas craft together for all of my sisters in law and cousins and what not and I still need to get most of the wood and all of the vinyl lettering for the whole mess. I'm sure that they are going to turn out really cute and everything, but this project is definitely bigger than I thought it was going to be. Gross.
i. I just found out (and when I say, "I just found out", I mean I found out three weeks ago, but it was so horrible a thought that I blocked it out completely and only just remembered the whole thing two days ago) that I have to organize the Giving Tree for our ward at church. I really don't have a problem organizing it, it's just the knowing where all that stuff is going that is going to bother me. I've been so happy to just pick a wish off the tree, buy it, wrap it, and bring it to church. Never knowing where the thing is going. But now I have to know where everthing is going, and I don't know why, but that bothers me.

Oh, man. I'm tired. I need a nap. Maybe 20 minutes won't kill me. Then I can tidy the house and go to my movie! And make my calls about the vinyl. Ugh. I do not want to do that.

My Amazing Children

So I think that I should take a moment to brag about how amazing my children are. Everyday I'm finding that more and more they are little people who can do incredible things.
Today Peter, my 1st grader, brought home an excellerated math packet. He said that one of the teachers at school took him out of class and tested him and now he is in a group that is doing higher math! I am so proud of my boy. He says that it is hard work, but that he enjoys it. He also brought home a Halloween poem to memorize and did it, no sweat. What a cool kid! He is so smart... and I'm his mom!
Whitney is turning out to be quite the little heart throb. She has boyfriends all over the map. I'm not sure if I should necessarily be proud of this, but at least the girl is cute, right? Besides being cute, she is also really good at memorization. Today she brought home her part for the Thanksgiving program (she is going to be a pilgram girl) and had that thing memorized in only a few minutes. What a doll!
Lucas has just turned 18 months and is starting to talk like nobody's business. A few of the words that he can pronounce are: ball (bah), bike, blankie (bayntee), drink (deek!), ma-ma (he calls me and Nick ma-ma), ba-ba, bed, bye-bye, kiss, and the list goes on and on. And whenever he feels like it, he copies words that I say to him. I am so excited that he is not afraid to say new words. A lot of times, children are afraid to start speaking, but not this child! (I just know I'm going to be regretting this later)
What amazing kids I have!

Syringa Springs Ladies' Brunch

So, in the spirit of wanting to know my neighbors, I decided that I was going to have a brunch at my house and invite all the women in the subdivision to it. Crazy? Maybe. So much fun? Probably! I love a good get together. So, said brunch is tomorrow morning! I am soooo excited! I have tables and lace tablecloths all ready to put on THE FRONT LAWN (how fun is that) and I have several girls from the neighborhood bringing various dishes and drinks (yea, I'm a delegator). I even have Michelle bringing roses to float in glasses for the centerpieces. I really hope that this goes well, and it's not going to go anywhere if I don't get my head on my pillow. I am so tired. Oh, and since it's outside Nick and I have been doing yard work like crazy. It looks so nice now. I'm so happy. Nick is awesome. Nothing like a front yard party to finally get the landscaping done! Yay! So, nighty, nighty. I'll let you know how it all turns out. ;0)

More Princess Results...

Sarah turned out to be a Sleeping Beauty. Which is totally wrong. She is such a Cinderella. I'm starting to wonder if this quiz is so accurate. I should probably not put so much stock in something that calls me "charming and witty". Hilarious!

So I'm Meg...

Yea, I guess that Megara or "Meg" is from Hurcules (Thanks Hannah and Taylor). So I was at Enrichment last night and I told the girls (Sarah, Holli, ShaRee and April) that I scored a Meg and they were like, yea, that makes sense. I think that ShaRee even used the word "sassy". Thanks, girls. Glad I have such good friends. Just kidding. I'm probably a lot more like Meg than I realize. Yay! Let's hear it for the princesses! Just an update: ShaRee and Holli are both Pocahontas, April is Ariel and I didn't ever hear Sarah's results. Prediction: I think that she will be Cinderella. Let's see.

Which Disney Princess are You?

You Are Megara!

Charming and witty. You are always the first person to come up with a wisecrack. Sure, you have an attitude, but that's why people love you. You keep them on their toes. Sometimes you can be misleading, but always end up doing the right thing for the people you love.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Okay, so evidently I'm Megara. Yea, I don't know who this is. Anybody? What movie is she from? I could look it up, but I don't want to.

So, I've been a little busy...

What have I been busy with? Just let me tell you.
Friday, May 2nd- Lucas' birthday and that same day my nephew came home from his mission. We gave Lucas a pancake with a candle in it. Yay! Then we went and got Guy (my nephew) from the airport and then spent the day in Nampa at my sister’s house.
Saturday, May 3rd- Ward service day and Stake Enrichment meeting followed by our little neighbor Morgan's birthday party.
Sunday, May 4th- Nick's nephew Jameson's baby blessing and of course potluck dinner following.
Monday, May 5th- 2:00 Enrichment Committee meeting which I didn't go to because Lucas was so, so sick. (That reminds me-- I should probably call somebody to see what I missed...)
Wednesday, May 7th- I had a precamp planning meeting at the stake center.
Thursday May 8th- in the morning I went to a special "tea party" that the preschool and library put on for the mom's of the preschoolers.
Saturday May 10th- Spring Fair. Peter sang in the program and marched in the parade. He was so excited and so cute! Becca and Jaci (Nick's sisters) rode in the back of the truck and threw out goodies and Nick rode with his dad in the newly refurbished candy apple ORANGE '49 Chevy that was his dad's first car when he was a teenager. (Props to Nick's mom for letting Robert hold on to that thing for so long. Nick wouldn't be so lucky...) After the parade, Peter and I hurried home so he could make it to two simultaneous birthday parties. Both boys, both turning 7, both in the same subdivision, neither one knows the other. But they both knew Peter. And they both invited him to their parties. What a day!
Monday May 12th- Ethan Coleman's birthday party. The boys (Ethan, Peter, Ben and Dillon) were supposed to go swimming at the Ontario Pool, but it was closed. They went to Carl's Jr. instead and had ice cream and played. Then we all went to their house that night for cake and ice cream.
Tuesday, May 13th- I went and had lunch at the school with Peter. The note that Peter brought home said that it started at 10:30 a.m. I got there at that time, but found out that they put the wrong time on HALF of the notes, and I was 15 minutes late. I felt kinda silly, but I wasn't the only one. I didn't eat, though, because Peter was nearly finished when I got there. His teacher told me that Peter was completely heart broken and he was crying before I came. He thought that I wasn't coming. I was so sad. He was happy that I got there, though.
Wednesday, May 14th- I went to the High School to listen to Lauren Farmer's speech. She invited me to come. It made me feel so loved, and she did such a great job! Yay, good job, Lauren! Then I had to dash off to Sarah Hardy's house for a Visiting Teaching Luncheon (we have these periodically). Then I left there and went to the Farmer's. We all (Kaitlin, Joslin, Jami, Lauren, Karli and myself) drove to Boise. We (of course) went to the mall, dinner at Red Robin yummm... (Kaitlin bought me dinner for my birthday, thanks, Kaitlin), Ross, and Target. All in four hours. Those girls are a crack up. They totally wore me out!
Thursday, May 15th- Then of course it was my birthday. That morning Peter went on his class field trip to the Ontario Pool. Don't worry. They were open. It was so funny when he got home. When I asked him if he had a good time, I was totally expecting to hear all about it. Instead, he said, "It was only nine inches deep. " Ungrateful little... For my birthday, I filled my day with some of the things that I enjoy, including reading and needlepoint in the sunshine. I even went to WalMart and got some strawberries that I dipped in chocolate. Yumm! Every year for my birthday I buy strawberries and dip them and eat them all. Love it! 9 years now! Ah, traditions. I also got plenty of phone calls from a couple of friends and even a few presents. Thanks, friends. And Mom. Nick took me out for a very romantic dinner at Wingers. With the kids. There were so many people in there, you would have thought that it was a Saturday night!
Friday, May 16th- I took Whitney to Honey Bears (a program that the school puts on to get incoming Kindergarteners ready for school). When we got back, my dear friend Sonya came to visit me. We went to lunch at Brewskey's (all hail the king of all hamburgers: The Bacon Avocado Burger. With ranch, of course. Delicious!) Then later that night Michelle and Courtney went with me to the middle school play. It was a riot. Hannah Farmer was in it. She was brilliant. She played this narcoleptic teenager. She kept falling over "asleep" in the middle of all of her lines. She was soooo good! Watch out, Hollywood! Then after the play we went to Denny's for dessert. Hanna Winegar met us there. Michelle got a tip that ShaRee and her family was sleeping on their trampoline that night. So Hanna and I decided that it was our duty as neighbors and as friends to scare them. So after we left Denny's we went to my house and got a fork and knife for each of us. We snuck into the Hymas' back yard (which was easy because it was past 11 and everyone was already asleep.) We went right under ShaRee’s head and started scraping the knives and forks together. It made such an eerie sound. When we didn't get a reaction, I started running the back of the fork up and down ShaRee's back. She flipped over and popped her head under the tramp so fast. Then when she saw that it was us, she yelled, "you dirtbags!" We were laughing soooo hard. It was hilarious! We talked a while about how funny we were, then we went home. Oh, good times. That night, Nick and Peter went to the Father and Son's outing.
Saturday, May 17th- Whitney and I had a good mom and girl's day. We went to the parade in Payette. (Possibly the longest parade in the world). Then we went to Primo's for lunch and back to the carnival so Whitney could ride a couple of the rides there. When we got home, Nick and Peter were there. They both got sunburned so badly.
Sunday May 18th- after church we had fish and chips for dinner. It was sooo good. I made homemade french fries and breaded and fried the fish that Nick and Peter caught the day before. Mmmm...
Monday, May 18th- Fruitland's High School graduation. We went over to the Jangula's for a potluck dinner for Dave. All of the brothers and sisters were talking about how old they felt because the baby of the family was graduating. Then Nick had a double-header for softball. I love watching him play. He has so much fun. Today- (Wednesday, May 21st) I went on Whitney's field trip to the dairy. I don't know about the kids, but I learned so much! I just got finished typing up the program for the Preschool graduation.
Tomorrow is Peter and Whitney's graduations. Peter's is at 10:30 a.m. and Whitney's is a t 6:30 p.m. It looks like it's going to be another long day...
Saturday Nick's brother Tom is going to the temple to receive his endowment, and is speaking at church on Sunday. And Dave (the youngest brother who just graduated) is getting his Eagle Scout award. I imagine there will somehow be a potluck involved...
Yes, my life is busy. There was probably a lot more that I missed. I just wrote about the things that were sitting here in front of me on my calendar. I think I need a nap now. But it's time to start making dinner. Crap! I forgot about kickboxing again! I haven't been to class all month because I keep forgetting. I need some help. At least I haven't forgotten anything else. I hope. Yea, I probably have forgotten a lot. I think that I need to simplify my life. Summer is going to be so nice. No where to run the kids, oh, it's going to be so sweet. Maybe then I will remember to go exercise. Heaven knows I need it...

Florences at the PCC

I'm sure that you will all agree that this is such a cute picture! I love, love, love it! My parents are having such a great time on their mission! I miss them so much, but I know that they are being taken care of, and are doing such an amazing job! For all of you who do not know, Brother and Sister Florence are currently serving a mission in Laie, Hawaii at the Polynesian Cultural Center. They love it and are doing many great things! They have lots of friends (obviously) and my mom has even found a substitute daughter to take care of. Believe it or not, her name is Melissa as well, and she is a BYUH student from Austrailia. I have talked on the phone with her and I think that she is a very capable and worthy replacement.

Here is a picture of Melissa and her husband Scott. Aren't they cute!?

Vids, Pics, and why I have none.

I have officially been informed twice today that I don't have enough pictures and videos on my blog. I know people! Get off my back, okay? Just kidding. ;o) I'm a little computer dumb. I'm really trying to figure out how this whole downloading thing works, but it takes a little more time than I have lately. I'm really going to try. Don't worry. I think that I'm going to take the whole setup to my Website Wizard, Master of the Mouse, Conquerer of Computers (yes, that needed to be capatalized) cousin Nate. He'll hook me up right. Then I'll have so many pictures and videos you won't know what to do with yourself... Watch out!

Cute Backgrounds

I added a link on my favorites list for the place that I got my backgrounds from. If you want to use one of these backgrounds, go to "Layout", then "Pick New Template" and chose "minima" template. This is the first template available and is all white. Next, go to http://www.cutestblogontheblock.blogspot.com/ (also the link on the side of this page titled "Cute Backgrounds"). Choose the background that you want and copy the url. Next, go back to your layout page and click on "Edit HTML". Scroll down about 1/4 inch on the scroll bar and find the part that looks like this:

body {
background:$bgcolor;background-image:url(direct link: center; background-repeat:no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed;

Then cut out the part that is the direct link (probably something with "minima" and paste the link for your background there.

It's that easy!

My Trip to Utah

So a few weeks ago my big sister Heidi called me. She said that she was going to be having surgery and wondered if I could come and babysit her and her two children, Emma (4) and Ethan (2). So of course I said, "yes!" Her surgery was scheduled for Tuesday, so I left Monday morning.
I stopped at my other sister Holly's house, in Nampa. She breads Scottish Terriers and had a puppy that needed to go to Burley. I loaded up and left, but not before I noticed how hot that Holly is these days! She is on this amazing diet and has lost 30 pounds in six weeks! Holy cow... She looks incredible.
So off I went to Burley. I met that puppy's new mommy, got a wad of cash for him (breading puppies might be my calling in life) and then got back on the road. I borrowed a few books on tape from my friend Amy and I was listening to one called "Being the Mom". It is so funny. So I was really absorbed in this and didn't notice that my fuel was getting low. Thank goodness for the little *ding* that the car gave me as a warning of a nearly empty tank... At this point I knew that I had about twenty miles to get to a gas station before the car would stop. So, I knew that I had just gone past Snowville. What I didn't know is that there would be a dozen exits ahead, all with "NO SERVICES". Don't even worry. I prayed a lot. And I cried a lot. I was making plans of what I would do when the car finally sputtered to a stop. I never went over 60 mph because my dad said that you get better gas milage when you go slower. There were a few places that were so up hill I had scary visions of running out of gas and actually rolling back down the hill. Then having to walk back up the hill. In the wind. With Whitney and Lucas in tow. I thought of one time that I ran out of gas and some kind of emergency responce vehicle came and gave me gas. I tried to figure out how I could get one of those trucks to come and rescue me, but I didn't know how without actually calling 911 and looking like a complete idiot.
911 Operator: "911- what is your emergency?"
Me: "Um, hi. I'm running out of gas."
911 Operator: "I'm sorry, ma'am, did you say that you are out of gas?"
Me: "Uh, no... I'm running out of gas."
911 Operator: "I'm sorry, what is your emergency?"
Yea, I definitely was not going to call 911 until I was actually out of gas, and was completely sure that I was really stranded. So I was back to praying. A lot. Everytime I could see a sign up in the distance, I would get a little excited, but then my hopes were swiftly dashed by another "NO SEVICES". Aggrivation! So enough suspense: I did not run out of gas, though I should have. I pulled into the gas station in Tremonton 37 miles later (remember I was supposed to run out of gas 17 miles before that) and filled up my 18 gallon tank with 18.09 gallons of gas. Yikes. I think that was a little bit of a close one. I said lots of prayers of thanks.
So I got to Heidi's house a little before 7:00 p.m. Her surgery was scheduled for 10:30 the next morning. At 9:00 a.m., she got a call from the hospital. They told her that her appointment was being changed to 11:30 a.m. Irritating, mostly because the poor girl couldn't eat anything past midnight the night before. So we got her there on time. She called me 15 minutes after I dropped her off and said that they were going to start the surgery for two more hours! I felt so bad for her.
I went to the hospital at 4:30 and had to wait a little while for her to wake up, then I took her home. So here I am at Heidi's house. It has been a little bit of a zoo with 4 kids who are all under 5 years old, but they are having fun. Heidi keeps telling me how happy she is that I am here. I love her so much. I wish that she would move back to Idaho so that I could take care of her all of the time.
Today I am going to try to go see Kaitlin BYU. I don't know if I will be able to, though. Heidi has been feeling a lot better, but Kaitlin has a lot to do today. I would feel pretty bad if I got this far and didn't get to spend some time with her.
I'm going to be going home tomorrow. I miss Nick and Peter so much. Peter calls me occasionally, but I can tell that he would rather be running or playing the wii when he is supposed to be talking to me, but what can you expect from a 6 year old? Oh, I love that little boy.
Lucas doesn't crawl much anymore. I got a few really cute videos. I'm going to try to figure out how to put a one on this thing. (I'm kind of computer dumb.)

Lucas, getting his move on

Lucas is a walker! Most of the time. Wow, it's just so cute. I always think, 'why do babies need to learn how to walk so soon? Where do they have to go and what do they have to do?' But, oh, they find lots of places to go and lots of things to do when they get there. One of Lucas' favorite things to do is play in the kitchen drawers. He takes it as a personal insult if you stop him from emptying every dang reachable drawer in the place. Serenity now! I think that I fill all of the bottom drawers back up at least fifteen times a day. Oh, but I love that little monster!

Tricky, tricky! What a foolish day!

So yesterday morning I was rushing around, trying to get out the door by 9:00 (it was 9:05) to go to the store to get something for Peter's class when the phone rang. It was my good friend and neighbor ShaRee calling.
"Hey, Melissa. Did you get that notice from the trash service on Saturday?"
"Um, no. What notice?"
"Oh, Nick must have gotten it and forgot to tell you."
"Tell me what?"
"They left a note in our mailbox on Saturday that said that they were going to pick up the trash on our street a this morning at 9:15!"
"Oh, shoot. I've godda go. Thanks, ShaRee..."
"No problem."
*Click*
Remember: it's 9:05. So I raced around the house collecting all of the trash, silently cursing my husband. I get it all outside in record time and notice that our other neighbor doesn't have their trash out either. Just as I'm thinking that I should run over there and tell her, a thought occured to me. I should look to see if ShaRee has her trash out. Nope. Jerk. I had fallen for it. She had fooled me. I should have seen it coming, but who remembers at 9:00 in the morning what day it is? Not me. Heck. Sometimes I can't even remember what month it is!
So I made it to the store and to Peter's class a little late, but it was okay. The class (kindergarteners) were just sitting having their snack when I ran in the room with all of my clothes on inside out. I started shouting about how the president of the United States of America had called me this morning and said that everyone had to wear their clothes inside out, or else they would go to jail! You should have seen the looks on those kids faces. It was awesome. Some of them were totally ready to change, and their teacher was trying not to lose it. So funny!
Then when I got home I emptied out a bunch of soda cans by poking holes in the bottom and refilling them with water. Then I took them over to ShaRee for her to trick her husband with. She said that it was really funny. I gave one to Peter to drink with his lunch, then to Whitney and Nick to have with their dinner. Nick was so funny. He totally couldn't figure out how I got the soda out, the water in, and resealed the can to look like I didn't open it. Awesome. I also called my mom and dad who are on their mission in Hawaii and told them that I was pregnant. With twins. Maybe a little below the belt, but my mom thought that it was funny.
It was such a fun day yesterday. I'm going to have to do some more planning next year to get ShaRee... watch your back, my friend. Watch your back.

My Great Workout

So yesterday my good friend Noelle called me at 9 a.m. and asked me if I was ready to go to the gym where we are both members. Yea, I forgot that I had told her that I was going to go with her. So I told her that I would meet her there. We planned on running on the treadmill and then doing some weights. Well, I'm not going to lie-- (Are you ready for this?) I'm really afraid of treadmills. Laugh all you want, but they really frighten me. So I decided that I would run to the gym instead. K, let me tell you that the weather guy said that Saturday was going to be nice. Sunny even. Now let me tell you another thing: the weather guy meant later in the afternoon. Not at 9:30 in the morning. Yea, I definitely froze my poor fingers off. They actually got far beyond the numb stage. I could feel them throbbing, like they thought that the blood that was sloooowly running through them was never coming back. I think that they were sad. Mourning the loss of their good friend, blood. Sounds pathetic? Well, I'm not exaggerating here. So when I got to the gym (almost 4 miles away with a pretty stiff head wind) I had spots! My body was red and I had white SPOTS! Weird. So I think that if I ever decide to run to the gym again, I will be wearing some gloves. Oh, so when I got there, Noelle was just finishing up her run and then we worked our legs. She was so good. She made up a track sheet and everything for me. K, let me tell you that this workout is not for sissies. I worked my legs so hard that they were in complete protest when I was finished. I had to take a soak when I got home. I do feel good, though and I am definitely doing the whole thing again next Saturday! Yay!

Typing Test vs. Geography Test

Okay, so I just read my dear friend Kaitlin Farmer's blog and she has a link posted for a site where you can see how fast you can type. That's really great, but I went on there and it turns out that I can type a little less than half the speed as sweet Kaitlin (I hope that her fingers fall off.) So for any of you who want to take a real test, here is the 3rd grade geography test that I can finish in half the time allotted. You just try to beat me at that one, smartie boots fast typer girl! :o) haha.
Here's the link: http://www.pibmug.com/files/map_test.swf

New Olympic Event: Extreme Easter Egg Hunting

Well, the Easter egg hunt was a success. I'm exhausted. For all of you who don't know the precise madness that is the Annual Jangula Family Easter Egg Hunt, I will explain. All of the Jangula’s extended family (there has got to be close to 200 people) come to Nick’s parents’ house and first we have a potluck lunch. Everybody who comes brings a dozen eggs for each person in their family. Inside each egg is marked somehow so that everybody knows to which family that egg originated (I draw flowers on mine.) Inside the egg is a slip of paper that says what prize you get from the person who set that egg out. (Some of the prizes include: full size candy bars, cans of soda, juice boxes, cookies, dipped strawberries- yum- games, notebooks, journals, trinkets, bags of chips, the list goes on and on. I set out some boxes of cereal. Everyone thought that I was the coolest. Last year Peter even got a halloween costume!) Everybody gathers on the lawn (huge lawn) and divides their eggs into the separate boxes. Each box is labeled with the age group for the separate hunts. The age groups are: 1-5, 6-12, 13-25, men, and women. Yes, the adults have their own egg hunts, too. You should see it. It's incredible. After each age group has their hunt, they open up the eggs, go to the appropriate families, and collect their prizes. Yes, we go all out. It is the most extreme and involved Easter Egg Hunt that I have ever heard of, or been involved in. AND IT’S OVER! (Until next year…)

Easter Egg Hunt

Whitney had her Preschool Easter egg Hunt yesterday. At 9:30 am, we went and picked up her best friend, Dillon, and took him to the store with us. I had my own shopping list and made a shopping list for each of the three kids. Peter was in charge of finding and putting into the cart: Easter eggs, milk, vitamins, bologna and lettuce. Whitney was in charge of candy to fill the eggs, baby formula, apples and bread. Since Dillon came with us as a last minute decision, he had 1/2 of Whitney's list- one bag of candy, 4 apples and a loaf of bread. It worked out so spectacularly! The kids stayed right beside me and didn't get grumpy the whole time. I definitely recommend this method of shopping! It was awesome. So when we got home, the kids filled all of the eggs while I packed us a lunch and made guacamole (of course- delicious!). I learned how to make this guacamole from Joslin Farmer. It is amazing. I'll put the recipe at the bottom of my post. So we went to the park, ate our lunches and the kids had their egg hunt. After the hunt, there were games to play and of course the jungle gym and slides. When we were all ready to leave, I went to the car and realized that I didn't have my keys (story of my life). So I called Laurie Farmer because I was sitting on her blanket and that was the last place I remember having them. She, luckily, was not yet out of town, so I stayed on the phone with her while she emptied her van looking for the keys. Too bad, not there. So then I talked to one of the preschool teachers and she said that I could use her car to go home (5 blocks away) and get my spare set. When I got home, I called Holly Raab (another mom) because Laurie's blanket was right beside hers. She said that it was nowhere in her things, but she remembered Lisa Tessnohlidek's little girl carrying around her Easter basket with some keys inside. So I called Lisa. OI! Yes. That is where the keys were: victim to grand theft by a little girl with an Easter basket. So Lisa brought them over later, and I have my keys back! YAY!
Tomorrow is the big- did I say big, because what I meant was COLOSSAL- Easter egg hunt and potluck lunch at Nick’s mom’s house. I am sooooo not ready, so today I have to make my salad and get all my eggs and prizes organized. OH! So I went to Albertson’s the other day and I am happy to report that I am the proud new owner of 96 boxes of Kellogg’s cereal! (My total was $33.) I know that we have a year to eat this cereal before it expires, but 96 boxes? Get real! Cereal is definitely going to be the bulk of our family’s Easter egg hunt prizes. Well, I’d better get busy. Time for Easter madness again!

Here is the guacamole recipe:
Mash 2 ripe avocadoes on a plate with the back of a fork. Add ¼ c. mayonnaise, 1 tsp. lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. If you want to, add a little dash of onion powder and/or Tabasco sauce. Eat with corn chips. YUM!

p.s. If anybody needs cereal, I've got some. Seriously.

My life, as of late...

At this moment, Lucas is 10 months old, sitting on the floor by my chair, sucking on a lincoln log, and quietly singing to himself. I imagine that within three and one half minutes he will be standing up beside me, grasping at my leg, throwing his head back and wailing for me to pick him up. That gives me very little time to tell you all about our life, but I'm going to give it a good shot.

Nick

Behold, the mighty hunter! Nick drew a big horn sheep tag and went on his hunt in October. He got his sheep on the first day of hunting! How incredible is that? I think he's amazing! Nick has just turned the big 3-0 and is plugging away at work. He is an electrician by day, general contractor by night, and SUPER DAD all of the time! Nick will be starting on a league softball team soon. That is one of his favorite pastimes. Oh, let’s face it: he loves to play any sport. Whatever sport he is doing is his favorite pastime (as he is so good at them all!) YAY! GO NICK!

Peter

Peter is in Kindergarten and loving it. When I asked him what his favorite part about school was, he said it was recess and writing. That's my boy! He did also mention that there was a girl at recess that always sends kids from her class to chase Peter and beat him up. Not so good. I told him to tell her not to do that anymore. We'll see how that one works... Peter has just started soccer. He has four (yes, I did say four) practices in addition to one game a week. That's enough to just about drive me cra~z! But I guess that it's totally worth it because Peter's first game was on Saturday, and when he was dribbling the ball down the field, words just cannot describe the jubilance I saw in him. I was in fact surprised that a smile that big could fit on his little face! He has another game today. I hope that he always stays that happy playing sports.

Whitney

Whitney is in preschool and is totally in her element there. She is now a reader and loves to read the Dick and Jane books (which makes me laugh because they are the same stories that I remember reading when I was little). Two weeks ago, our darling little girl took a pair of scissors to her ponytails. And the kicker? She did it in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT! So I took her in and got it fixed in the morning. She now has a new shorter doo. Although it is really very cute, it broke her daddy's heart that she doesn't have long beautiful hair anymore. No more scissors for that girl... Whiney is also in soccer. She isn't on a team, but has a clinic every Saturday where she and 11 other kids work on learning the fundamentals from 2 teenage coaches. Whitney had so much fun at her first clinic on Saturday. She was oh, so cute. Since her hair is short, it will only stay up in two ponytails, which is just adorable! So she was standing there face to face with her coach and Whitney kicked the ball to her. When it came to her, her coach put her hands on her hips and stopped the ball by putting her foot on top of it. Then she kicked it back to Whitney. When the ball came to Whitney, she did the same thing and put her hands on her hips and stopped the ball by putting her foot on top of it. Oh! CUTE! Then for the rest of the practice if there was a time that the coaches had the kids stop to listen for directions, Whitney put her hands on her hips and stood with her foot on top of the ball. She is something else.

Lucas

Lucas is getting so big and is right on the verge of standing on his own. He has been using the coffee table a lot, but is just starting to let go for longer and longer. He just cut his SIXTH tooth and unfortunately for me, is starting to bite. He bit me on the inside of my arm this morning and a few minutes later it was a bruise! Those are some fierce chompers!

Melissa

I have turned over a new leaf, and have decided that it was time to get fit. I go to a pilates class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and on Mondays and Wednesdays, I go to a kick boxing class, which I love, love, LOVE! It is sooooo much fun! I am ridiculously close to losing my love handles (don't even worry- I'm ecstatic!) and I have noticed such a difference in my energy level. And trust me I need energy. People have also started asking me what I am doing to make me get skinny because they have noticed that my face is thinner! YAY!

Yesterday I had my Visiting Teaching companion and the ladies that we visit over for lunch. It was soooo much fun. Plus it was so cute because I saw this really adorable thing in a magazine, which I totally copied. I went and got some little pansies and planted them in teacups and put them on saucers. Then I tied a tag with each name on it to each of the handles of the teacups and put them on each of the places for place cards. It was amazing. And lunch was so tasty! I made margarita pizzas (delicious) and Sarah made a scrumptious salad, heavenly virgin pina coladas, and a really rich and incredible layered chocolate dessert. She is so talented! I love doing things with my friends. It makes me feel so happy to spend time with people that I love.

Speaking of people that I love: Last weekend Joslin Farmer invited me over to their house for a game night (my favorite thing to do ever in the whole wide world). So it was me, Jos, Jami, Lauren, Karli and their friend Anne and we played games for like 3 hours. And we had so much fun that we decided that we would do it again the next night, and it was definitely not as much fun because the game that we loved, we made it longer and it was waaaaaaaaaaay too long and nobody wanted a game to be over more than that game on that night. We stuck it out, though, and I don't even remember who won (nobody probably does because everybody was so happy for it to finally be over). But it was a fun couple of nights. I just do not recommend playing the same games two nights in a row. It doesn't matter how fun the game is, you've godda take a rest from it sometimes.

Nick and I went to the temple last Thursday. It was so wonderful. I know that there was a special spirit with me that day, and I am soooo happy that I was able to do the work for her that she wasn't able to do for herself.

In a nutshell

Okay, so that’s our life in a nutshell (Look! It’s me! In a nutshell!) And for all of you who are worrying about the baby, he actually didn’t ever get sad or even mad, but simply crawled away and is now happily taking part in his favorite pastime: emptying out all of the bottom drawers in the kitchen. Lucky me!