Sick Day Fun and the Art Fair

We started off the week with Bailey and her fever. She got a fever on Sunday and it didn't go away until Wed. night. She had a nice cough to go along with it, the cough got a little old on her 3rd day home from school. I had to hang out in the pantry with the door closed for a little sanity. Ellie liked having her home and loved the fact that she could watch cartoons and movies for a good chunk of the day. We did try to do a few constructive things on these days. Monday we made cookies, Ellie wanted to make Somoas (you can tell its Girl Scout Cookie time), Bay wanted to make cinnamon cookies, the only thing I could think of was Snickerdoodles so that's what we did. They turned out good, we didn't share them with anyone, due to the sickness, so I of course ate quite a few.

The next day I had to take Ellie to school, she felt great so why not. I left Bailey here "to rest" the school is only a few minutes away. As I was leaving I realized we were out of Motrin, not good in a fever situation so I thought I would "hurry" and run to Wal-Mart to get more, well we all know that hurry and Wal-Mart don't go together. When I got back Bay had gotten up from her rest and met me in the garage to let me know that Kami had called. Lovely Bay, not only were you not resting, you were answering the phone and letting people know I had left you home alone. Thank goodness Kami won't judge me or turn me in. The rest of the day went pretty good, we painted pictures for Pops that will hopefully cheer him up after his surgery this week.

She did feel a little better on Wed. but still had a fever so we kept her home. Ellie had dance so I left Bailey here again, I know I am losing losing votes for mother of the year, but I found the balance of healthy kid vs. sick kid to be fairly difficult. Neither of them had ever really been that sick for so many days in a row, so I had to find a way to let Ellie do the stuff she was use to and keep Bailey away from people. Thank the heavens for TV. It all worked out and everyone was fine. Ellie liked having everyone here all day long, but started to get a little stir crazy towards the end (me too).

Ellie made Ryan be Raja (the tiger from Aladdin) to keep her entertained.

She is wearing the same outfit as the other photo, it is sad to admit I did let them wear the same clothes for like 2 days, they even slept in them. Whatever they were happy and comfy, sanitary...not so sure.

I know mother of the year!!

Thursday brought back the Bailey we know and love, fever gone, sassy mouth back in all its glory. I am glad that she is doing better and was able to go back to school. I think she started to miss the routine she is use to. We even managed to find time to complete her project for the school Art Fair. They had to find things from nature or outside and put them in a big can, fill it with water (add food coloring if desired) and then freeze it. They actually turned out really cool. Her class won an award for most original. It was fun to see what all of the kids came up with.

These are just of few of the sculptures. Bailey's is the first photo. Ryan says it looks like a hamburger. I think they are all pretty cool.

The week turned out well I am hoping we are through with all the cold and flu stuff. I am ready for spring, warm weather and healthy kids.

A Weekend With Some of my Very Favorite People....

On Thursday night we drove to Utah to enjoy the long weekend. Ryan went to the Utah Dental Conference in SLC on Friday. We got up early Friday morning so he could be in Salt Lake in time for the conference. We dropped him off and I got the girls dressed and ready for the day in the car. They thought this was weird and were afraid the people walking by were going to look at them, I told them they could see the people but the people couldn't see them. Tinted windows, partially true.

After they were ready we picked up my friend Natalie at her hotel and drove to Park City. My sister Jenn met us in Park City to take the girls. This was a convenient meeting spot and of course great for outlet shopping. It was so nice to shop without the kids. We had so much fun and pretty much bought more stuff for our kids than ourselves. It is still nice to be kid free even when shopping for them. Jenn took the girls to Chuck E. Cheese and then to my mom and dad's to spend the night. I appreciate her help in the weekend plans. Its nice to have some time away from the kids but even nicer to know they are in great hands. They love their aunts and uncles and cousin Drew, we are lucky to have a great family who is always willing to watch the kids.

After lunch, Park City, and a much needed stop at Nordstrom Rack we headed back to the city. The guys were done with their conference and our friends Sarah and Jon had made it into town. We checked into our hotel, which had a great view of the Conference center and the capital, and headed out for dinner. We ate at Rodzio Grill in Trolley Square. It is such a fun place and different from places we usually go, which is always great for a change. They had a great salad/fresh foods bar and then they come around to your table with every type of meat imaginable and cut it off the roasting stick for you. If you are still hungry which I was not, but chose to consume anyway, a very tasty banana chocolate sundae. It was a great night and so nice to be with such great friends.

Baby Max meet Baby....Logan(the name we are thinking of for now) Sarah is having her baby on April 2nd. I will still have 6+ weeks to go :(

After dinner we headed back the hotel and spent the rest of the night just chatting. It was great to catch up and just hang out. The guys love talking just as much as the girls.

This photo is a little dark but doesn't the captial look nice in the background?

Saturday morning we headed to IKEA for breakfast and shopping. Can you honestly beat breakfast for $1.99 I seriously love that store and their cinnamon rolls. The guys were good sports while we shopped. I have decided this is a good way to shop with men, make sure that they have a friend to talk to. You can greatly prolong your shopping time. We had a great time and of course found great deals. I wish this store was closer!! After our IKEA experience Nat and Jeremy headed home. Sarah and Jon had a few more hours to hang out so Sarah and I headed to Robert's and Tai Pan. The guys tagged along for a little bit and then went and drove around looking at trucks and dental practices. It was a great time, I miss living close to these friends and love when we can get together. Hopefully we can do it again soon!!!

Too bad I ate my yummy cheap breakfast without taking a picture

The guys enjoying the comfy seats after a few hours of IKEA love

We headed back to my parents house for the rest of the weekend. It was good to see the girls, they of course had a blast with grandma and pops and their aunts and uncles. There was so much snow for them to play in, they enjoyed it most of the day. Uncle Spencer made them a snow fort equipped with a bed, chairs and a TV all made of snow. They were quite proud of it and couldn't wait to show us.

Check out our awesome snow fort

Saturday night we went to Crown Burger (one of my moms fav. places) to celebrate my mom's b-day. Her birthday wasn't until Tuesday but she let us celebrate early since we were all around. Its always a good time to hang with the fam over good food. Sunday we had a little celebration for my mom and Drew (his b-day is on the 24th) they opened a few gifts and then we went to my aunts house for dinner and more fun family hang out time. The food was great and we had a family home evening all together. It was nice to be there, we miss these get togethers sometimes living the farthest away so we were happy that it worked out for this weekend.

Grandma and Drew opening presents

Ellie is pretty proud of the gifts she helped pick out for Drew

It was a great weekend and we had so much fun. We were able to see lots of people that we love. You will also note that we ate a lot of food, hence weighing in at the doctor on Tuesday was not a fun experience. Oh well....... good food...... and friends and family wouldn't change a thing!!

Happy Love Day!!

We had a good Valentines Day, the girls each day a party at school. I was able to help out with each of their parties. They both loved looking at all of their Valentines and of course all of the treats. They were also very excited about their new High School Musical 2 CD that Ryan and I gave them. After Ryan got home from work on Thursday we had heart shaped pizza and then got in the car to drive to Utah, not exactly the most ideal way to spend Valentine's Day, but it was worth it because we had a great weekend. Here are some photos of the girls with their Valentine's stuff.

ViVa Valentine

The night before Valentines Day Bailey had a singing concert with all of the first graders. They sang about 10 different Valentines Day songs. She did a really good job, she had been practicing the songs at school since before Christmas. She brought home a paper with all of the words to the songs on it and had been dilligently practicing them for us, so it was fun to see the final production. Viva Valentine was one of her favorites to sing and she did very well with the actions. It was a fun night, we enjoyed watching her and her class put on a great show.

Blessing the Babies

Last weekend we went to Utah to bless Aaron and Mindy's twins, Gracee and Brody. There was a break in the weather for us to get there but once we hit Logan the snow began to fall it snowed all night and didn't stop until Sunday night. They ended up cancelling church. They decided to just bless the babies at their house. It worked out well. They have an awesome new house and were still able to get a few friends from their ward and some family. The babies did great and looked so cute. The girls had fun playing with their cousins and getting to stay at cousin Allie's house. We headed for home about 2:00, thank the heavens for DVR if Ryan would have missed that SuperBowl I don't know what he would have done............ I was not allowed to answer the phone or get on the internet until we had watched the game in its entirety. Go Giants, and more importantly I am glad we got home safely.

I think Ellie has a pretty good hold on Gracee but this picture doesn't look so reassuring.

SNOW DAY

On Wednesday school got cancelled for a snow day. Of course all of the kids were ecstatic. This snow day seemed to follow the suit of snow days that I remember growing up. The day before the snow day had horrible weather, and the day following the snow day was horrible, but the actual snow day was pretty nice. I guess the roads were pretty bad, Ryan took my car that day so we were home bound. It was nice to not have to go anywhere and just hang out with the kids. They had a great time playing in the snow and sledding on this little hill by our house. Snow day was a hit, Bailey keeps hoping there will be another one soon. Since this is the worst winter our area has had in over 10 years, I guess there is a chance that snow day #2 could happen.

Sticky Fingers

I had to post this picture of Ellie digging out the remnants of the marshmallow popcorn. She looks so lovely in her outfit. She had been out in the snow and her pants were wet so she rolled them up, and she really wanted a side pony in her hair. Side pony and hat head make a lovely combination. Ellie loves a snack and is always into something, so I think this picture captures the essence of her pretty well.

Field Trip

Last week Bailey went on a field trip to the Art Muesum. I was able to go along for part of the time, I had to take off a little early to go pick up Ellie, but it was fun to be there with her and her class. They were able to learn about a few different cultures and then make an animal out of clay. She thought it was pretty great to learn somewhere besides school. Field trips are always so much fun.