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1 Ballet dancer in training

Allie had her first dance class last week.  She was so excited.  The first words out of her mouth Thursday morning were, “is it time to go to ballet now?”  I have to admit I was very excited to sign her up since I loved dance so much, but she really wants to do it.  We borrowed some tap shoes from the neighbors, but she ‘needed’ her very own first pair of ballet flats, just like my pair that we pulled out of my cedar chest to see how close to the same size they were.  During the last 5 min of their class the teacher opened up the door and I was able to peak in.  Allie was participating, but watching and absorbing more than anything.  Knowing her, she will be leading the class in a few weeks. 

The last song that the teacher played was “See Me Run” from Brite’s ‘Watch Me Sing’ album.  I know this because I grew up dancing to it as a child and later used it when I taught the preschool ballet class as a senior in High School.  Two thoughts came to me as I watched my daughter run, spin, and twirl: 1) she is growing up and o-so-cute  & 2) I am soooooooooooo old!

 

Here she is with her buddy ‘Lou’ after their first class.  I think they had a great time and are both asking when they can go back. 

2 Goose bumps, chills, oh my!

0 If nobody is here...

In an effort to keep in touch with my nephew and nieces, I finally set up a FaceBook account. Ya know what? BIG Surprise, its addicting. So if I don't post on my blog for a while, look for me over there. I'm posting self-edited home movies for my peeps.

PS - click on the FaceBook 'badge' box at the top of the middle column to the right to check out my new obsession.

1 Can you believe it!

Happy 10th anniversary to us! To celebrate we went out to dinner at a new restaurant in Logan, "the Elements". It was about the best meal I've had out. I got the house salad with various breads, a turkey chop (wrapped in bacon), steamed green beans, and whipped sweet potatoes. YUM! Nate got the short ribs, steamed carrots, and buttermilk whipped potatoes. This was definitely NOT the kind of place I'd ever take my kid-o's. We'll go agian, but not often due to price. If you get a chance I highly suggest it!

4 Not to brag, but....

I've just spent the better part of 24 hours on this shopping trip, so I had to brag! I started out at Albertson's at 6am (running a major sale plus 3 double coupons per trip) and then slipped over to Smiths (doubling all coupons up to $2, no limit) before heading back to Albies once their truck was unloaded. I spent hours yesterday cutting my coupons, putting the new ones in my binder and throwing out the expired ones, and then more hours planning my transactions. I left home at 5:30am and after 10 transactions, between the two stores, I didn't get home till about 11am. You are probably asking, is it worth it? To tell the truth, I'm not really sure. Lots of people say 'I want to do that', but it is a LOT of work and tons of stress. I'm not going to go into any real details, but here's my recap:

Full RETAIL price of all of the below: $851.51
I paid: $100.93
That's 12% of full price!

...PLUS next time I fill up my gas tank...
I get $0.15 off PER GALLON *AND* $5 off the total!!!
you better bet I'll be taking in the Blazer instead of my grocery car

Here are some general prices, since I don't want to go into any detail. This was on complex day!!! A good share of what I paid was sales tax, since that is applied on the pre-coupon price.

2 gallons white Milk *FREE*
2 half gallons Chocolate milk *FREE*

6 packages of Turkey lunch meat ($1 each)

57 boxes of cereal, including: (all under $0.40 each)

26 Honey Nut Cheerios
5 Honey KIX
6 Honey Bunches of Oats
2 Reeses Puffs
18 Cookie Crisp

5 boxes Macaroni Grill dinners ($0.65 each )
8 cans Camkpbell’s Cream of Chicken soup ($0.09 each)
4 cans Ortago chillies ($0.29 each)
1 bag Crasins dried cranberries ($1.00)
8 boxes BC instant garlic mashed potatoes ($0.75 each)

9 boxes BC yellow cake mix ($0.50 each)
4 pouches BC cookie mix ($0.44 each)
8 microwave BC warm delights ($0.33 each)
8 boxes BC fruit snacks ($0.60 each)
7 boxes Chex mix Bars ($0.50 each)
18 boxes BC Gushers ($0.45 each, Nate’s fav, but no cash cards)
8 bags NV nut clusters ($0.25 each)
4 bags Chex MIX ($0.40 each)
2 jars Smuckers Ice cream topping ($0.65 each)
5 3-pack of Extra/Wrigley’s gum *FREE*
12 bottles of Mento’s gum *FREE*

6 bottles ALL small-n-mighty 32 load laundry detergent *FREE*
6 pair Playtex handsaver gloves *FREE*

8 sticks Old Spice deodorant (Nate’s fav, $0.33 each)
4 sticks Secret ladies deododrant (my fav) *FREE*
5 tubes Crest toothpaste *FREE*
1 bottle Summer’s Eve woman wash ($0.79)

6 4-pack Duracell AA batteries ($1 each)

6 bottles Aussie mouse *FREE*
3 bottles Aussie shampoo *FREE*
4 pack CoverGirl makeup sponges *FREE*
1 CoverGril makeup brush *FREE*
4 CoverGril eye shadow *FREE*
1 CoverGirl nail polish *FREE*
1 CoverGirl lip gloss ($0.14)

4 Our First Family Photos

It really is sad that this is the first time we’ve had family pictures taken.  And it took my in-law’s 50th wedding anniversary to get them done at that!    

 

 

3 Finally!

We are avid wakeboarders who have usually logged dozen trips to the lake by now, but due to all the rain we just made it out for the first time.  It was a great day and felt so good to be out in the water and sun.  Bring on summer!

   

   

 

Our girls loved being on the boat and were so well behaved.  It is so much nicer than the past 4 years when we’ve always had a tiny baby or crawling toddler.  Allie loved hanging with her older cousins and Kylie was all bout holding the flag and eating…that kid sure does have a sweet tooth!

 

Here I am on the wakeboard and Nate on the surf board.

I AM going to get the 180 across the entire wake trick this year.  I AM! 

Nate’s sprained ankle still isn’t healed enough to wakeboard – he tried.

0 a Family Celebration

Last weekend we celebrated Nate’s parent’s 50th wedding anniversary.  Saturday included a temple sealing session for the adults, a lovely catered lunch at the Copper Mill, family photos at Mack park, and an open house for all friends and family in the evening.  I am so excited to get the pictures back, as they will be our family’s first!  We are so lame.  We only have a handful of snapshots with all 4 of us in them and even worse, we are usually dress in swim suits or Halloween costumes.  I’m so excited to have something to hang on our wall!  I’ll post them as soon as we get the CD!

 

1 Terrible Two’s

 

 

Kylie has definitely hit the terrible-two’s.

Here she is clinging to my leg as I attempt to go to a work meeting.  She seems to cry about just about anything.  Even if I give her the very thing she has just asked for.  The fits are really getting old.  About the only thing Nate and I have found that sometimes helps is to tell her to “go to your room to cry”.  Its crazy because most of the time she will wonder to her room (bawling the whole way) and shut the door behind herself.  Usually with in a few minutes she emerges all smiles and is back to old happy self.  So Weird!

0 Pumpkin Patch update

All the rain we’ve gotten has been great for the pumpkin patch.  Too bad the weeds have been drinking it up too. 

0 Growing Garden Update

Just look at my garden grow! 

It is amazing to watch. 

I spent about 6 hours tending to it last weekend though.

  

Above: corn & tomatoes

Below: Squash-types & tubers 

 

I researched online and decided to try out Ferrandino’s  pruning techniques.  I took me from 9am till 1pm to trim and tie up all 40 tomato plants.  I was so tired I didn’t take a picture till I went out later that evening to finish watering.  I sure hope that I get a good yield!  Right now I have about a half dozen small fruits, but I knocked a few of them off trying to prune.  Drat!

0 Thought of the day

Church News on May 23, 2009

President Hinckley said he enjoyed the words of Jenkins Lloyd Jones written in a June 12, 1973, Deseret News column (Click HERE for the entire article):

Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he's been robbed.

Most putts don't drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise.

Life is like an old-time rail journey---delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.

2 Happy Day?

Things to cheer about:

1. My ModBe swimsuits came in the mail today! I was totally surprised since they were shipped '7-10 day mail' yesterday!
2. I purchased 8 'Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince' movie tickets for opening night, 3 weeks from today!
3. My niece Maddie will now be helping me out by playing with my girls a few mornings a week so I can get my work done in the day instead of the wee hours of the night.
4. I cleaned behind and under my fridge and stove. I've been wanting to do it for a long time now.
   

All that happiness was almost canceled out by moving Kylie out of her crib today. Nap time included much screaming and repeatedly putting her back in bed, but not much sleep (wee hours of the morning here I come). I'm having second thoughts about the transition, but now that I've started I can't go back. Plus, it has to happen soon anyway. The reason for doing it now: in July we will be camping and tripping around. I don't want to have to haul a playpen everywhere we go. Oh, in other negativeness - I killed the car 3 times on the way to get said tickets.

0 Acustical Tears

I love this station I created on Pandora. Click HERE to listen yourself.

If you didn't know: Pandora is a free music service that helps you listen to and discover new music.

0 Too smart

Last night when I took the babysitter home I found out how the girls' dinner went down. I had left the kids some frozen dinners (I never buy such things, but these were a hot coupon buy for $0.20 each so I splurged). I made the mistake of getting one chicken nugget and the other corn dog. Well, Allie polished of her chosen nuggets and then eyed down Kylie's corn dog. Turns out 'Kylie is allergic to hot dogs,' at least that's what Allie convinced Kenzie. Don't worry though, Allie might have gotten both main courses, but I'm sure that Kylie thought she was getting the better end of the stick when she got to eat both chocolate puddings. What characters.

P.S. - don't get used to all these posts. I'm sure the sun will have to come out sometime and then I'll be off my butt instead of just sitting here, letting my rear end grow.

0 ***buzz**buzz**buzz**buzz**

I interrupt this irregularly scheduled blog to bring you this nerd moment.

Click HERE for:

Harry Potter Exclusive - A Retrospective

This 9-minute trailer takes audiences back through the first 5 Harry Potter films, reviewing key plot points and ultimately building up to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

click HERE for:

Harry Potter Exclusive - Extended Trailer

This clip features Harry's plunge into the pensieve in order to explore Dumbledore's first memories of the young Tom Riddle aka Lord Voldemort.

Thank you - now go about the next 25 days waiting till the midnight release.

4 My blog’s new look

I bet you've noticed that my blog has a new look.  I followed some instructions I found on a blog through Google to make it have three columns.  I like how that turned out.  Also, I've been using a new program to make posts: Windows Live Writer.  Click HERE to read more about it and download it for free.  You do have to sign up for a live account, but it didn’t take long at all. 

Windows Live Writer lets you do all kinds of fancy things to your photos (see below for a taste) and it gives you more control over photo alignment (something that drives me crazy about blogger).  When you add a photo to your post you can do basic edits, like crop, straighten, add boarder, sepia, black-n-white, ect.  I hear that you can also create your posts offline and then have them posted when you get back online.  As you can tell from my proliferation of posts, it is fun and easy.  I highly suggest it!  (oh, all credit for finding this jewel go to my friend Julie!)

2 a batch of berries

I guess the strawberry plants are recovering because this is what i picked this afternoon.  Kylie didn’t mind that they weren’t washed yet.  She is a big fan!

  

 

1 Personality snapshots

Here are a pair of pics I took at the ward pool party last night.  {Yes, the rain held off for a few hours and it was actually almost warm enough to enjoy.}  I just thought it was interesting to see the girls’ personalities come out in each of their photos.  Yep, that’s my girls!

 

Here is another pair of pictures I took this afternoon in the backyard.  Although Allie may be a wild woman outside and in the water, she is a great helper and likes to chat up a storm.  Kylie looks innocent enough here, but that’s only when she’s not throwing a screaming tantrum.  It is so interesting to experience the difference in these two little women.