Charles' Open House, Mom's Group, and Cooking Bras?

Thursday night was Charles' open house at school. We had the opportunity to see all of the work he's been doing and talk to his teacher for a bit. It was exciting for all of us! I was interested because this is the first year I haven't helped in the classroom. Charles' teacher, Mrs. Lamb, has a dear friend that just retired and she helps out a lot. So, everything was new and exciting to see! The PTA approved a huge budget for the Meet the Masters art program this year. The kids get to study different artists and learn to emulate their different styles. I was so impressed with all of the kid's work! Maryn was excited to tour the kindergarten classrooms to see where she might be next year!

The next day, I took Maryn to Chuck E. Cheese for the mom's group. We had a lot of fun seeing all of our church friends! (A.J. was scared of Chuck E. so she wouldn't get in the picture.)

Today is Charles' Birthday and I'll do a post later about it, but I wanted to let you know that all day Maryn has been excited to help with the cake. Charles wants a white cake with the rainbow chip frosting. This morning Maryn got up and told me, "We've gotta put on our cooking bras to make the cake, ha mom?"

Glenn and I laughed a little bit and then corrected her and told her that we wear "aprons". This afternoon, she and I started making the cake and again I heard, "Oh, no mom! I forgot to put on my cooking bra! I don't want to get my dress dirty!"

A Week Packed With Fun!

This past week has been rather busy, but so much fun!

Wednesday, my brother Slade called us and invited us to the dollar theater to see "Bolt". It was cute and the kids loved the hamster!

Thursday, before pre-school, I met my friend Rachael at McDonald's for lunch. Maryn and Carter had a blast just playing together. After school, I took Charles to get a karate outfit for his Build-a-Bear. When Maryn got her new bear, she gave her old one to Charles. That was fun. It was another rainy day!

Friday, we stayed home and made mini pizzas and watched movies. Glenn was sick and just needed to sleep. This was after he had to get his truck fixed to pass smog.

Saturday, Glenn had to work a double shift and I really wanted to hang out with friends and make it a fun day! No one could come with me to the park- it seems that everyone else has a life! So, I took the kids by myself and we had a wonderful day! Maryn made lots of little friends because there were lots of birthdays going on. Charles had a good time playing, but got bored because there weren't any kids his age. I promised him that he could spend his birthday money that he got that day from my mom and Chad at Target after the park. He loved that idea! So, we went to the store and he got a new game for his DS and bought himself and Maryn some candy.

That night, still nobody called me back to go out. I fed the kids dinner and called Ronda. She had been gone all day at a conference and hadn't gotten my message. I invited her over for a "Mamma Mia" night and brownie sundaes. Then LuPrele called me back and she wanted to come over, too! So we all got the kids settled and I threw some brownies in the oven! I was so happy to have some "girl" time! It really helps me cope with Glenn's crazy shifts. We stayed up and talked for hours after the movie. I really enjoy spending time with good friends.

Yesterday, we took Charles to get his first set of scriptures! He chose black with gold embossing for his name. They are beautiful! Glenn and I both went and I have to tell you, I got a little teary-eyed in the store. I kept thinking about our beautiful boy that's going to turn 8 on Saturday. Time goes so quickly.

After Deseret Book, we took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese for family night. Maryn had taken the class pet home from pre-school that day and we were supposed to take a picture of her doing an activity with it. So, I got the picture! Then, we saw the Rall's walk in and had a great time visiting with them.

That's about all that we've been up to recently. I'll have more fun stuff to write about later this week!

Maryn and "A's" Annual Disneyland Day!

Yesterday my friend, "R", invited Maryn and me to Disneyland. For the past couple of years, we've loved having a "girl's" trip to the park. It is always so much fun to be together and let the girls decide what they want to do.

The day was so rainy! But, we braved it! I packed extra clothes for Maryn and scarves and ponchos. We still ended up pretty wet. The second half of the day, the rain finally stopped. We all love rainy days, so we had our fun anyway!

We got there and had to do Toy Story first because it's little "A's" favorite! She was so happy! Then we got the sourdough bread bowls with soup for lunch. On a cold day, they were even better than usual!

After lunch, we went to Disneyland and spent some time there doing rides. We got some hot chocolate on our way back to the California park. We made it just in time for the last Playhouse Disney show! The girls both got so excited and Maryn was dancing around the whole time!

After we were done with the parks and the girls were tired, we took them to the Grand Californian hotel to relax in the lobby. The huge fireplace was too crowded for us, but they had a TV with cartoons going and little padded rocking chairs for the kids, so we let the girls sit and watch while "R" and I got to visit. It was a wonderful day. Very relaxing- which is unusual for a Disneyland day! Spending the day with good friends is the best! Thanks for inviting us "R" and "A"!! We love you both!

Valentine's Day at the L.A. Zoo!!

A Whole Gorilla Family

So Sweet!

Today we decided to spend the day as a family at the LA Zoo! We took the money that we would have spent on flowers, candy, dinner, and cards, and spent it on a really fun family day!! We haven't been to the zoo in over a year and we've been so excited to see the new gorilla camp. We had such a great time! The animals were very active today. The large animals were enjoying the sunshine and the smaller animals were running around and making so much noise! We ate lunch there and watched the bird show. On the way out, Glenn upgraded our tickets to a family pass!! Now we can come back all year and I can take friends! Woo-Hoo!

Rainy Day Fun With the Kids!

Yesterday the kids had the day off from school so I decided to take them out for a fun day! We went to Downtown Disney to the Build-A-Bear Workshop. I've had a $10 off coupon in my purse for the past 18 months and it was going to expire soon. Charles has wanted a code so that he can go on bearville.com and play. The perfect compromise was to let Maryn make a bear and give Charles the code.

Well, we got to the shop and Maryn immediately found the bear she wanted! It's cream-colored and so soft! Then, when we went to dress it, they had two really cute Valentine's dresses. She picked one and went to the register. Imagine my surprise when after the coupon and my annual pass discount, the bear was only $7.46 total!! Charles then made the birth certificate to get the code and we were all happy!

Since it was raining, there weren't a lot of people at Downtown, so I decided it would be fun to eat lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. We ordered a couple of appetizers to share and enjoyed the animals and waterfall. I ordered the lettuce wraps and the kids got nachos. We left with two boxes of leftovers!

I wish that I had gotten pictures of our day, but with the rain and 3 umbrellas, the camera didn't have priority!

Unexpected Fun!!

Today we went to get our taxes done and then came home for a quiet day. I've had a sore throat all week so I took a nap with the kids. When I woke up, we had visitors!!

Glenn's friend from work came over with his daughter for a visit! His wife was out of town and he was on the way to take his daughter to the movies when he called Glenn. Our kids had never met and his daughter wanted to come play instead of going to the movie. So, the guys played the Wii and the girls played dolls and Candyland. We had so much fun with them that we decided to go out to dinner together! The girls got along so well together and had a great time talking and making up games. They both have creative imaginations!

Kaydence's Visit!

This week we had the opportunity to babysit for my brother and sister-in-law! For three days we had Kaydence with us! She was such a joy to have around. Her sweetness and gentle spirit really added a special love to our home. She was so much fun! We went to Chuck E Cheese's and Disneyland together. She became my shopping buddy and did all the carpooling with me, too. We all miss her already!

Kaydence LOVES Glenn!