My Handy Little Brothers

I just wanted to say thanks to my brothers Mathew and McKay. They have the unfortunate task of being the Handymen in our family. Therefore they are generally stuck with all my weird requests. Last year McKay built Landry a nice big toy box. It is big enough to hold most of her toys and then we can just shut the lid and not have toys scattered all over the place. After making Landry's he helped Mathew make one for Paityn. This year after Ashley and I started doing bows we found we needed a display. Mathew had the great misfortune of building that for us. It is great - it suits our needs perfectly. And most recently I asked McKay to build me a garbage can cover. I don't have a good place in my kitchen for my garbage can and I refuse to have one of those small ones under the sink - I don't want to take out the garbage 3 times a day! I guess I'm lazy. I knew he didn't really want to do it but I requested it for my Birthday - because I knew he was too nice to tell me no! He and Mathew did it together and it is FABULOUS! I love it! It looks so nice and now you can't see or smell my stupid garbage can. Thanks very much you two - I'm sure I'll have another request soon!

Things that make me happy....

I can't believe that tomorrow it will be May and it snowed today. I have been trying to remind myself that there are many things to be thankful for even with this yucky weather. This week there have been several things that have made me happy and laugh. Here are just a few.

1. My wonderful husband spoiling me on my Birthday
2. Hearing Landry tell her dad that she loves him all the way up to Heaven, where Heavenly Father and Jesus live, and back
3. Getting a manicure and pedicure - spoiling myself on my Birthday
4. Landry telling me that she's going to have a Yard Sale because she has too much stuff - this of course was after I made her clean her room
5. Hearing Landry yell 'Mommy' and come running when I walk through the door
6. Tanning - I know it's bad for you but it sure felt good
7. Landry in her fancy new dress up shoes and sunglasses
8. Seeing some Tulips and Daffodils coming up - despite the cold weather
9. Landry asking me if she can wear goggles when she get's baptized
10. Great Friends and Family
11. Reading a good book
12. Landry begging me to tell her how old I am and says 'I promise I won't laugh if you tell me' and then when I do tell her she says 'WOW Mom - you are really old. I thought you were sixteen'

What we've been up to...

As you can see it's been a few weeks since the last post. I've had good intentions but the weeks have just slipped by. So here is what we have been up to:

New Nightgowns:

Landry has always had the pants or short sets for PJ's but since she discovered that her cousin has a nightgown that she can 'twirl in' she decided that she must get some too. She picked out her baseball one because she knew that her dad would love it. She could hardly wait to put on her new PJ's and show her dad. After bathtime she got herself ready - do you love the matching socks?

Baby Animal Days:

Every Spring we have Baby Animal Days at the American West Heritage Center in Logan. They have all kinds of baby animals that the kids can pet and hold. I have never taken Landry until this year. Growing up in Rockland I have taken it for granted that I've seen all of these things and it's not that big of deal to me. But Landry, as much as I hate to admit it, is a city girl. I didn't realize how much she would love all of that. It was really fun to see her and all the other kids holding the chicks, ducks and rabbits. She had a great time and can't wait to go back again next year.

School Days:

This last week Landry was on Spring Break at her pre-school and you would have thought it was the worst thing possible. She couldn't wait to go back and see all her friends. Her new favorite thing to do at home is to play 'school'. She loves playing with dad the best, then with her stuffed animals and mom last - I must not be a good teacher! I'm glad that she loves it so much. When I told her that Kindergarten would be every day she jumped up and down she was so excited. I know I need to enjoy this now because I'm sure there will come a day when she's not that thrilled with school.

Donut Holes

Today Jeff and Landry picked up a dozen and a half of donut holes. My little munchkin that doesn't eat more that 2-3 bites of anything ate FIFTEEN donut holes. (Please note that mom was not around). She was kind enough to share the other three with the ladies at Jeff's work. Unbelievably she didn't get sick and this is her showing of her "big" belly after eating them.

Easter

I love Easter. When I was little I loved wearing my new dress to church and as I've grown up it has become a time of gratitude for our Savior and remembering what a blessing the meaning of Easter is. The one thing that has always been a constant in my life at Easter time is the Ralphs Easter Picnic. We have had it every year, rain, snow, or shine on the Saturday before Easter. This year marked the 44th year. It started out with my Grandma and 4 of my older cousins and has grown every year since. With the entire family - the 6 kids, the grandchildren and great grandchildren there are more than a 150 of us. It is amazing to me every year how many of us make the trek home to Rockland to celebrate Easter. This year there were over 100 of us there. Even now after my Grandparents have passed I couldn't imagine Easter without our family picinic. My Grandma would always have a Golden Egg for the egg hunt and the treat that she would hand out to the grandkids were Peeps - she loved those things. We loved the malted eggs so that we could have lipstick! Now as a mother I look forward to taking Landry each year and watching her going on the Egg Hunt and having fun with her cousins. I'm sure on that day my Grandma had no idea the tradition she would start and how dear it would become to our hearts. My love for my Grandparents is beyond measure. I will always be grateful to them for teaching us the importance of family and for starting this wonderful tradition. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa - I love you and miss you!

Landry and Paityn after the Egg Hunt with their fancy new sunglasses!

The 6 kids (now the Grandma's and Grandpa's) and one of their grandkids had a footrace against the others. You will notice how badly my aunts cheated - neither one had their leg in the bag!

Landry and Jeff after the Egg Hunt

Our Fun Weekend

On Friday Landry and I went with my sister-in-law Ashley and my niece Paityn to Disney on Ice - Princesses. It was so much fun. The girls got to wear their princess costumes and they had a blast. It was so fun to watch them watch the show. They were so excited to see each princess and of course to see Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy. When Cinderella came out in her coach Landry squealed so loud - I thought she was going to die from excitement. She was in HEAVEN! When it was over we walked over to the Gateway and took the girls to the Build a Bear Workshop. It was a first for all of us. What a fun place! Landry picked a pink bear, even though mom tried to persuade her otherwise. For her outfit she picked the Sleeping Beauty costume and when she got to name her it was Princess, of course. After dinner it was off to the hotel for some swimming. It was a non-stop day and the girls (and moms) were exhausted. It didn't take long to fall asleep after hitting the pillow. We had such a fun time. It was nice to just have some playtime with Landry. No laundry, no grocery shopping, no cleaning, just having fun together. I love you Bug!

Then there was the craft show - our first attempt was a DISASTER! It was 3 full days and I'm pretty sure that we will be lucky to earn back the entrance fee of $75. Everything is paid through a central cash register and then the host sends you your portion - I can't wait to get our 50 cent check! This is set up so that you don't have to be at your booth all day long each day. Each person has to work a 2 hour shift and then you are in charge of making sure your booth is stocked - this was actually never a problem! This part worked out great because it ended up being the same weekend we had tickets to Disney on Ice. So Ashley worked her shift on Thursday night then we met up on Friday and then I drove from SLC to Pocatello on Saturday to work my 2 hour shift and to help take down our display. Landry lucked out, we met Jeff in Brigham City and he took her home and they had French Toast (YUCK!) and camped out. She really did think it was the best weekend ever. Anyway, it was a total blizzard by the time I reached Pocatello. People were sliding off the road right and left. I was so happy to finally get there and then almost had a heart attack when I walked in and there wasn't a single customer in sight. It was me, the lady in charge and two other vendors. During my shift ONE person came and she didn't buy a bow! So needless to say this was a learning experience for us. Hopefully we will have better luck next time!

Bows and bike riding...

My sister-in-law Ashley and I started making bows for little girls about 6 months ago. We had a couple of open houses before Christmas to see how we would do. Both went really well and we were both suprised and relieved. This week we are entering our first craft show. So this last weekend was spent trying to get everything done. We are selling bows, flowers, korkers, hats - knit and baseball (they are the cutest things you have ever seen!) bow holders, headbands, bags, and vinyl signs. It was a lot of work. On Saturday I got up, showered, got into my grubby sweats, my USU Aggie t-shirt and let the hair air dry - which means very very fuzzy, big, and not pretty! I knew that I was going to be spending the entire day working on this stuff so I wasn't too worried about the fashion statement I was making. Later on in the day Landry asked if we would be going to the store and I told her that mom couldn't go out looking like the Wicked Witch with wild hair and sweat pants on. She gave me the once over and kindly said 'Well, I like your Aggie shirt.' I cracked up laughing. Kids are so honest. I sent all of our product with Ashley so I can't show you our fun stuff. Here is a picture of a few bows and flowers I have done for Landry, in the middle the pink one has ballet shoes on the ribbon and the green one has Hello Kitty - her favorite, she can't wait to wear it on St. Patricks Day.

Today was the first day that was nice enough to ride bikes. Landry was so excited. It was still a little chilly and there is still some snow but at least the driveway and sidewalks were clear. I figured that was as good a time as any to try and organize the garage - yes it still looks ridiculous even after living here for 8 months. Anyway, she was so happy to be outside and playing. We were out there for 2 hours. Our noses were pink and hands a little cold when we came in but it was worth it. I love March because it is the beginning of the end of Winter!