12/13/2011

We, w.e., wii Party


WE (the us and the Carvajal's)









Had W.E. (white elephants)

Thankfully, no one wanted to trade me for my silk arrangement, so I get to keep it.














They watched a Christmas flick and then started Just Dance 2 on the Wii.  When we said it was time to go they invited us to take a turn, clever children.  Knowing we couldn't stop after just one song. 

Party like it's 2009!

Louis Settles In


It took the kids a little longer to find Louis this morning.  He was downstairs for the first time.  Watching the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, eating a sugar cookie and sipping eggnog.

Louis Uno, but not Solo

Louis Strikes Again...




12/09/2011

Now it's Personal

Equivalent to a horse head in your bed?  This time he got Noah.  Must've been naughty.

Clothes strewn from the drawers...






The ultimate dis- sneakers hanging






Diaper cannonball





Cups thrown about.







I get my own morning surprise before leaving for the holidays! 

How lucky am I?!

P.S. Liv's b-day is in June.  Her class was celebrating her 1/2 birthday, lest you be confused.

Louis Takes Time Out

12/08/2011

Louis

12/07/2011

Louis Hates My Diet

No soup for you Louis...


12/05/2011

Louis Day 5

He was dirty from his lack of water discipline during the chocolate making the evening before, so Louis bathed...

12/04/2011

Elf on a Shelf...Louis Day 3

Thirsty?


He's messier than Mae.

Louis Day 2

Tonite Louis decided he wanted some new digs.  He got a gift box and created it. 


Maters

I passed the bread for the sacrament last Sunday to Mae.  She held her hand up like a traffic cop and shook her head.  "Nah.  I'm good."

I snuck Jason's birthday present into her room and hid it behind the coats.  "Mae, I'm hiding Daddy's birthday present here.  It's a secret."
Five minutes later, "Daddy, you got a present?"
"SHHH!  Mae, it's a secret."
whispering, "It's in my room."

She always pops up singing, "Divaaaa Las Megas!  DEEEEVA Las Megas!" *lisp.  Don't forget the lithp*

Now she loves coming up with ways to say our names.  "Mama, you name Brandy?"
"Yup Mae."
"You name not Mama, you Brandy?"
"What do YOU call me?"
"You name Brandy but I call you Mama and Daddy name's Jason."

After my Grandma's funeral Noah, Mae, and I were driving home.  She had a glow-in-the-dark necklace and she chewed a hole in it.  She started hacking behind me so I turned around just in time to see her puke up her funeral potatoes on her new dress.  She sobbed big crocodile tears. 

Couldn't get Google for poison control in Payson and so we pushed on.  She'd finally calmed down and I turned to tell her we could clean her up as soon as we got home.  There she was rubbing glow gunk into her eye.
"I wanna new eye!  I wanna new eye!  Oh my hebbens!  Good gracious!  I wanna new eye!"
I pulled over at a gas station.  What do I do?  Take in a naked baby or one with puke all over her.  I chose naked and wrapped in a jacket.  And Noah?  He had to hang by himself (nice), while I shoved (literally), Mae's head under the faucet to rinse out her eye. 
"Oh my goodness!  I wanna die!  Oh good hebbens!"  The rinse was unsucessful. 

Finally got some service and called poison control with Mae still expressing herself in the back seat.  She'd just settled down when she rubbed her other eye.  Still more exclamations. 

About the edge of Springville she cried herself to sleep but woke for a moment to say, "Tell the people on the phone I o.k.  I all better."

As I write she's playing with her siblings something that has to do with, "I break you into jail." 

12/02/2011

Louis

Meet Louis, the mischevious Elf on a Shelf.  He's naughty at night.  Liv said, of all things, she went to sleep on one side of the bed (and Mae), and woke up on the other!  Silly elf.  To have something like that happen in the middle of the night, especially to Liv is quite shocking

We also found this when we woke.


Liv and Isaac are all over this.  Mae is creeped out by him.  She wouldn't go shut the front door because he was still sitting there with his marker.  Georgia keeps threatening to touch him because his book says he'll lose his magic if you touch him. 

11/02/2011

Noah's Big Day











 Could you just squeeeeeze those cheeks?!!!

















 GASP!







































This means smurf poop for 3 days.



































Could we keep this between us?






So that's it?

11/01/2011

All Hallow's Eve












Big night, Halloween, at our house.  It's the best holiday of the year.  Noah hates Halloween.  He's decided to skip it twice in two years, and he's only 1!  Shaolin Warrior costume was out.  Even if I did stay up until 3 on Saturday to make it.  Quick, think of something we can make from a too small Shaolin Warrior costume next year.

Mother Nature



Mae, on the other hand, who'd refused Halloween last year was ALL for it in '11.  She nearly ruined my bid for better Halloween costumes with her crazy stubborn insistence on being "Tangled" this year.  BUT, we saw some fairy wings at Joann's and her tune changed, thank goodness.  Even if fairy is just above "Tangled" on hierarchy of better Halloween costumes.

I had a "hippy" dress picked out for Liv to wear with an apron including everything Mother Nature would need for creation.  Then Jason told me she looked like Paula Dean and we went with "mystical" rather than "nurturing".








We visited our old haunts.  The kids were insistant on knocking on our old door.  I couldn't do it.  But we saw fabulous Miss Mary, our neighbor "The Cook", Claudia, and RevaBeth, the BEST conversationalist this side of anywhere.  We miss the old 'hood.
We did a few houses in our neighborhood (thanks Sierra for letting us pit stop at your house!), and found out from Georgia's classmate that her nose had taken a swim in the toilet earlier in the day and that she and a buddy had flushed it to see what would happen but she chickened out and rescued it at the last minute.  TMI.

When I told Isaac we were going to visit the Uncles to show them our costumes he got huffy.  "That's 20 minutes just driving."  Meanwhile, Mae's bag handle was breaking under the pressure.  Heaven forbid we miss 20 minutes of candy collection.




Now Georgia's turn to puke.  Noah's won't sit on his fanny because of his diaper rash, and Mae is unfortunately much too thoughtful and has shared her candy with me all day.  I can't resist a fresh milk dud.  Which reminds me of one more Halloween "trick".  Sonic had on their sign last night, "Halloween Special Fresh Corn Dogs $.50"

10/27/2011

Voting YES for Recreation Center Bond

This is what I know...




-The current pool is well past life expectancy and one small problem away from meltdown.



-The current pool costs over $300,000 to maintain every year. The new recreation center will be around $350,000 to operate.



-A pool pass now is $368/year/family. It has not been finalized but to use all of the facilities in the new recreation center will be around $400/year/family. Similiarly priced to other city recreation centers.



-Many people will not go to the current pool because it's icky.



-I spend about $75.00 each time I go to Lehi to visit the Legacy Center between gas, non-resident admission, and food.



-85% of the citizens surveyed in 2011 said they would be moderately, highly, or very highly willing to pay $10/month more in taxes to get a new recreation center. The average works out to $9.33 per household. It's been said that “local taxes” will raise by 50%. THAT IS NOT TRUE. CITY taxes will go up 50.63%. This is a very small portion of your total tax bill (Nebo School District is 80% of my tax bill). This number will likely go down as our tax base broadens with new residential and commercial building.



-I do not believe that $9.00 will break the bank for anyone. Even those on fixed incomes.



-I believe Springville City has been fiscally responsible. I don't like the monstrous city building they built a couple of years ago, but the library has come in $3 million under budget and is 10,000 square feet larger than promised. Our roads and other common properties are well maintained and my family enjoys numerous parks and recreational activities provided by the city.



-Interest rates and construction costs are at historic lows.



-Spanish Fork has been stealing our thunder for years. I would hate to go there to use their recreation center and pay non-resident fees when we could have had a local one. ;0)



These are the reasons I am voting FOR the recreation center bond. The major reasons I've heard in opposition are

1. The debt (bond) to the city for building it

2.The enormity of the proposed building/ammenities



The citizens have spoken. I've taken 3 surveys in the last year and a half myself in order to help the city and the committee gather information about what I want. This didn't appear out of nowhere, on the whim of a city councilman or anyone else from the city. An average of every 2 years a survey has been sent to residents beginning in 2003 and the smallest amount in favor of a new recreation center has been 73.7%. I'm cheap. I dislike debt. I have learned over the years that the wisest way to spend money is in a way to bring you a better quality of life. Our city is large enough (and growing) to support this new infrastructure and I believe it will be another good reason to live in WONDERFUL Springville.



As I mentioned above, the committee took the most requested ammenities and put them into a building of reasonable size and space for them. In visiting other facilities the committee has learned from other recreation centers what they would have done differently had they been given the chance. (For example, at the Payson Rec Center they learned not to skimp on storage because they are now storing tables in hallways).



This is what I've gathered in my wanderings and wonderings about which way to vote.



YES!



This is not an open forum for comments. I drew my conclusion through research and soul search and I believe that's the best way for it.

10/11/2011

Good-bye Skullet!

No more skullet on the little man of the house!  Shout hooray!  A little string cheese, an uncle/barber and an audience...




Almost there....




ta da!!


10/03/2011

Fall Sports Pt. 2

I coached Liv's soccer team this year.  I haven't played since South Cache Middle School so it was a mighty flashback. 

I practiced with them and I'm better than a 9 year old.  I know that much.  My mom reminded me just before our first practice, "Colton's second grade soccer coach didn't know the first thing about soccer, but she taught them team work."  So I made some goofy hair ties to further the cause of unification.

One thing is for sure, I'm not an "everyone is a winner" type person.  You are a winner if you win.  You are a loser if you didn't and that means you've got work to do.  The girls were right there with me (mostly), so we had a fantastic season.

Happiest was I, that there were multiple girls who enjoyed playing goalie.  I have a healthy respect for anyone who would put themselves in such a perilous position. 

Most of the Evil Bulldogs U10 soccer team

We had a winning record and a winning attitude (right up until the last game when the little buggers threw it).

9/18/2011

Fall Sports pt.1

Isaac plays flag football, Liv plays soccer.   It makes our week crazy busy.  For example...Liv practice Monday at 4, Isaac at 6:30, Tuesday Isaac practice at 5:30, Wednesday Liv game at 5:30, Isaac practice 5:30, Thursday Isaac game at 6:30, Saturday Liv game at 9. Phew!  On top of Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, church activities, and 15 trillion homework assignments it gets rough. 


This is how we make it through practices...










Mae and Noah are cool as long as we have snacks.













Georgia's on Chloe duty until the first time she sees another dog and George ends up face down on the turf.  Then I'm on Chloe duty.






Georgia knows every "squat spot" at every field in Springville. She is currently studying grasshoppers.

At this particular practice the sprinklers came on.  I squealed like a 9 year old girl and grabbed my camera, leaving Noah to fend for himself.  One more vote for mother of the year.