I realised something funny tonight

Tonight we took the kids to Red Robin for dinner. Casey had earned a certificate for a free kids meal and so, genius marketing, we had to take him out to use it or suffer the pain of (in his eyes) telling him we didn't care about his accomplishment.
funny thing - It was the end of our meal and our waitress comes by to take a few plates, Tyler looks at me and said "is that really our waitress because she had makeup on" I ,rather flabbergasted that he would notice such a thing and sure he is mistaken wait for her to return so that I can get a look at her. Sure enough when she returns she has apparently (and Chad confirmed this) put on some lipstick. Why is this funny? Well it just goes to show he is Chad's kids. Chad always notices things that I never do. This is handy in his line of work and maybe it is because of his work that he notices details while I skate through life in an oblivious fog. Heaven help me if I ever need to describe a person or event to the police or someone, it would be very vague. Well back to Tyler I had to laugh and laugh because you couldn't have a more like father like son moment. We have started to notice how perceptive he is and how curios he is, but I never attributed it to Chad before tonight.
Dinner was a little hard with Aiden clinging to us out of fear of the big red bird visiting tables throughout the dinning area. It didn't help that sister would squeal and hide under the table when he came within five tables of us. Aiden wouldn't eat our leave first Chad's then my lap because he had to keep a close eye on Red. When we were leaving Chad told Court that if she would give Red a hug he would buy her a princess crown for Disneyland. What a sucker! After squealing and whimpering all trough dinner she went back in with me and gave him a hug and hand five as she would put it. I guess fear has has a price.
Thanks Casey for being student of the week so that we could all enjoy dinner at a restaurant and giving me an excuse to not have to cook tonight :)

I never would have thaught I would say these words..

I have to explain the pictures first. I got home form work and had not changed except to remove my shoes. I didn't want to go outside in my socks so I grabbed to closest shoes available which happened to be two different flip flops, don't ask me why I didn't remove my socks I guess I was being lazy. Then before I went out I remembered that Chad had gotten a real bad sun burn the other day at work, so I grabbed my hat to keep the sun off my neck. Now I as I walked out back after enduring a very curios look from my husband I thought...I wouldn't be surprised if he came out here with the camera. Sure enough... he came. Yes I look Like a dork, don't judge to harshly. Now onto my real reason for this post.

I never thought in a million years I would say it, but I really enjoy weeding my garden! If you will remember that when we planted the garden I went about it rather half hazardly and unorganised. So as things started to sprout I was unsure of where exactly I had planted the seeds and thus unsure of what was vegetable plant and what was weed. My solution, wait and see how they developed. Things finally grew to where I could determine what they were but unfortunately this means the weeds got pretty big and they were everywhere. I'm proud to say that after at least a week of taking it a little at a time I have rid the garden of weeds and I enjoyed every minute of it! It was strangely therapeutic and peaceful. I found great joy in pulling up large weeds and having the root system come up intact. I enjoyed following some rather stubborn roots and the sound they made as they came free of the dirt. Well I will not go on much further because now I am sounding crazy. I will say though that Bermuda grass is horrible hideous stuff when it strays from its intended area.

I have been waiting ten years!

When I moved to Arizona 10 tears ago I heard about a restaurant called The Melting Pot. It is a fondue restaurant and I always heard it was pretty expensive so I never actually went. Finally ten years later I finally got to go! I told Chad he was taking me on a date and that was where I wanted to go. It is in Scottsdale so it was an hour away, but I waited long enough!
It was sooo yummy and so fun! I considered this a special date. Chad would tell you it was because he was spending lots of money, but I say it was because we usually go "let's go out, where do you want to go? " then we consider the five or so places we like to eat in town and then go to one of them. This date we had to plan and get reservations and dress up and it actually took some effort! When he tried to get me to help plan it I said NO! how about you ask me out on a date and tell me what time you're picking me up!

First course: cheese course and you dip bread, apple and veggies.

Second course: Salad

Third course :The entree we had Fillet Mignon, pork and two kinds of Chicken with a variety of yummy sauces.

Then the dessert!

It was all so yummy! The salad was even really good. We decided that next time we go and oh yes we will go again! that we will skip the cheese course and the salad and go straight for the entree and then probably two desserts. Chad was worried about me using the flash so some of the shots are dark, sorry.

We went with the chocolate and peanut butter desert. Chad was in Heaven!

And it was oh so yummy! it's funny how we all of the sudden had room for dessert. They also have a turtle selection that has chocolate, caramel and pecans, hence the two desserts next time. They are opening one closer to us so when it open we go and support the new location.

What can I say...he was hungry

We were a my sister house and when she came into her pantry here is what she found.
He climbed all by himself and when she came upon him he had a smile on his face. When he wants food, nothing is going to stop him. I think he is on the third shelf!

When mommy refuses to put curlers in her hair...

Court wanted curls in her hair. I put them in (yes I realise now If I use the smaller ones it may work better) They didn't stay in and she refused to accept that so she took matters into her own hands

Our first Pinewood Derby

It's pinewood derby time! Our first race with many more to come. Here is what we started with. The boys drew some designs of their ideas.

Add some time with daddy and his fun tools. Casey enjoyed using Chad's air brush. Our troop also had a family race for any one else in the family who wanted to race. Tyler got o make one. Casey's is the #10 and Tyler's is the #9

Yes I got pictures of Tyler's race too, but since this was Casey's event I figured the post should be about him.

Casey consistently came in 2nd in 3 of the 4 races he ran and first of the last one, beating his best friend Joey. I loved when he turned to me and said "I keep getting second mom! That's real good to be second place."

In the final standing he was fourth with his fasted estimated MPH of 188.6. We had lots of fun and look forward to next year. I've been getting tips from one of the racing veterans in our troop. Next year I'm going to try my hand at it too. Here is a little video of one of his races.

Casey Kitchen - T-shirt designer

The kids just finished doing AIMS testing last week. I guess that in Casey's grade each class had team shirts. They had a t-shirt design contest and Casey won. I of course didn't hear about it till about a week after he won, he never tells us anything! His class is called the Sunset Surfers. His design was drawn onto each of his classmates t-shirt and then they each got to decorate it. Here is our little artist in his.

Side note: Notice the scratch on his cheek, he got scratched with a stick by a girl at school.

In the end...he's just a big baby

We watched some friends kids the other day and I had to pull out the cabana and I have not gotten around to putting it away yet. I went up stairs to check on the kids before I went to bed and this is where I found Tyler. Snug as a bug in a rug. I don't know how many pillows and blankets are in there, but he sure looks cozy.

Easter Day

This Easter Chad and I had the privilege of speaking in church. We of course were nervous and scared, but it was so great to spend the week studying our savior as we came up on this Ester Sunday. I spoke on "The life of Jesus Christ" and Chad spoke on "The Atonement". At dinner we talked to the kids about what they learned in class which was of course the Atonement and resurrection of Christ. I feel like this was a great Easter and we got to focus on the true meaning of the holiday like we never have. I am so grateful for our Savior and his love. I have a greater testimony of his sacrifice for all of mankind. In the last couple of months I have really gained a better understanding of the love our Father in Heaven and his son Jesus Christ have for us. I just want my kids to know that I know that Jesus Christ came to be our savior and that through him and only through him we can return to our Father in Heaven. I hope as my kids grow and progress in there lives that they will gain an understanding for themselves of the atonement and they will accept that great gift and build a great relationship with Christ. I hope that if they ever find themselves in despair they know they can turn to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ to get them through whatever pain or trial they are going through. Well I feel like I am rambling now and I am having a hard time expressing all my feelings, so I will leave it at that.

On a Easter morning I was a little disappointed to find that I am inept at buying Clothes for my kids. Tyler had to wear a white shirt instead of the green shirt I bought him because it was to small. His tie was still to short.
Casey's clothes were just right :) 1 out of 4 ...not too bad.

Court helped pick her dress out. I had to make her bow/ribbon real quick that morning.

Aiden's clothes were so huge on him, we had to roll his pants a couple times.

Aiden would NOT sit still for a group shot, this is the best I could get.

Here are a couple shots of my efforts.

Her is a cute one of Court that I just loved.

Chad took one of me and Court and I was very pleased with it. So here is a rare shot of mommy.

We stayed home this year and had a quiet Easter. Here is a shot of our dinner.

Hunting Eggs

Much to their upset I made the kids hunt in their Easter clothes. Yes our back yard is dead and ugly. Yes I realise I need to start cropping my pictures.

Easter morning

The Easter Bunny came! He left the kids candy and pop corn eggs (balls)

Court got a pony set.

Aiden got a ball that squishes flat and pops back up when you throw it

Tyler and Casey each got a small video game.

Time for a hair cut or two

Our boys were in dire need of hair cuts. I didn't want them looking shaggy for my Easter pictures, so after dying the eggs I cut their hair. here are some before and after shots.

Dying Easter Eggs

It was about 7:30 on Saturday night, but we fit it in. Easter really snuck up on me but I went out and got some egg dye, boiled some eggs and much to my husbands exasperation I insisted on dying eggs.

We started with some eggs. I learned last year to do a lot because even if it takes forever to eat them, there is never to many when it comes to dying them.

We had plenty of color choices. Another thing that there can never be to many of.

and here is what we got. The kids had so much fun getting to this point.

I do have to say Aiden really stole the show this year. as soon as we said they could start Aiden plopped an egg in a cup. He immediately grabbed another egg and plopped it in another cup. He kept going back for more till every cup within reach of him had 2 to 3 eggs in each one. The other kids had to quickly grab their share if they were going to get any done. I got a little video to share. I'm loving this video thing :).

Tyler's first report

He had a lot of fun putting this together and was very proud to show it off to us at his school on Animal night. His class went on a field trip to the zoo (while we were in Disneyland) so they had to choose from a list of animals that they would see at the zoo. Tyler chose Grant's Zebra. The most interesting fact we learned about the zebra is that they have an extra layer of fat under their black stripes and the this makes a significant difference in temperature for the zebra. Good job buddy.