Bummer Mifflin

All I can say is, what a letdown.  And to think Jaime and Tyler got Costa Vida in honor of the occasion.  Even Jim and Pam couldn't save things tonight!  Better luck next week?  Somebody let me know.

What are You Watching Tonight??

All in a Day's Work

Today I spent several hours in the yard, trying to get things under control and ready to plant our garden. I was totally amazed at how much I was able to get done. In one day, our Mittleider beds were cleaned out, soil turned and raked. We love the Mittleider method!

Above, you will see last year's garden sitting by the street, ready to be hauled away by the city of Logan. And below, a magnificent sight: the beds, all cleaned out and ready for it to warm up enough to plant. Most of the neighborhood was out today, working in their yards. This meant that all the kids on the street played together, running from yard to yard for hours, but mostly hanging out on the trampoline a few doors up. I think Bennett and Owen played on the trampoline for at least 2 hours straight!

*A special thanks to Julie, who helped me cut down all the twine from last year's trellises, a job that required squatting down low, which can be very painful for a woman of my size.
Here's this year's garden...
Hello, little jalapenos!
These are the beans, Cinderella pumpkins, watermelon, cantaloupe, etc...

Good Patient

Here's a photo Jason permitted me to take with his phone in the recovery room at the hospital after his tonsilectomy last Friday. He actually looked great. It might have just been because of the nice tan he got while visiting Jules in Florida last week, but he looked good. He was munching on ice chips and drinking grape juice. I was highly impressed. He continues to be a good patient at home, except that he is working too much. I knew he was going to be okay when he ate one of my Mom's chocolate chip cookies Saturday night.

For those interested, I have photos of his tonsils, both before and after they were removed if you would like to see more. And for those of you who are REALLY interested, like my brother and sis-in-law, Andy and Kate, come on over to watch the MOVIE of the procedure. Eeeew.

Jason really surprised me by wanting to go with me into Wal-Mart to pick up his prescriptions on our way home from the hospital. His reason: to drive a Jazzy in the store. Keep in mind this was just a few hours after his surgery. We stocked up on popsicles and ice cream-type items, along with a jug- no really- a jug of Oxycodone.

Soccer Mom

Today was Bennett's first day of real soccer, as opposed to the insane indoor soccer frenzy we exposed him to when he was 3 and 4 years old, where he would cry and cry the whole time as dozens of kids chased the ball around the gym and never really got to kick it. I'm amazed that he wanted to play again, but I don't remember when I have seen him as happy as he was today running around the field with his good friend, Kyler. We told him if he really liked it we would go buy him some cleats... looks like we'll be heading back to Al's this week to buy some! His brothers were very proud/frozen on the sidelines; it was sooo cold!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to everyone! We were pretty low-key this year, since we got home from our trip on Saturday night. But the kids didn't notice or care. Color a few Star Wars eggs and you're all set, I've discovered. May the force be with you!

California Dreamin'

Hey, everyone! We're back from the land of fun in the sun. We had the most dreamy vacation in Southern California with Jason's brother, Jules, and his family. We were gone for 13 days! It's pretty difficult to sum up a 2-week vacation in just one blog entry, but I'm going to try. To start out, here are some photos of the loooong drive down in our sweet rental van (white, 15-passenger van full of ProBars and kid toys strewn about). Lets just say, after being strapped in for so long, tears were shed. But, we were able to stay with our fabulous friends Jenn, Jeff, and Sammy Keyes in St. George, which was a wonderful break. Thanks, guys! And say hello (and goodbye) to Jason's law-enforcement-inspired moustache. Listen up, kids! Dad means business when he's rocking the stash.

The kids were soooo excited to spend time with their cousins doing the city pass thing: Disneyland, Sea World, California Adventure, San Diego Zoo, and Legoland!

We spent three days at Disneyland & California Adventure... So fun! Jake surprised me by LOVING the characters there. And Bennett surprised me by being scared of most of the rides at the parks, but not being afraid to battle Darth Maul at the Jedi Training Academy!

Here are the boys' favorite things:
First, Bennett. His dreams all came true after being chosen to participate in the aforementioned Jedi Training Academy in Disneyland. He also celebrated his sixth birthday at Legoland and Chuck-E-Cheese with his cousins. It just doesn't get any better than that, does it?

Owen was an instant beach bum. This was his first time at the ocean!! It was so exciting for him, and so much fun to watch him dive into the water with no thought of cold or salt in the eyes. He loved to tell us, "Surf's up, dude!"

Jake was so much fun. He loved it all, and was constantly on the lookout for Mickey. He loved Sea World, and the penguins in particular. He wanted to watch them endlessly.

Oh, and he slept in all kinds of weird places, including on the floor at the hotel, where he would migrate around during the night and end up under chairs or tables. I was pretty disturbed, knowing how very unclean hotels can be. But, he refused to sleep in a crib or with us, so what can you do?

I'm with Owen. My favorite part of the trip was watching the boys at the beach. We spent 3 days there enjoying the sun, chasing seagulls, playing in the water and the sand. I'm still finding sand in our house.

Kiddie Kandids

Yesterday we had the good fortune of using all 3 birthday club cards to get our boys' free birthday pix from Kiddie Kandids.  Aside from Bennett's MASSIVE tantrum about having to wear church clothes on a Wednesday, things went exceptionally well.  You can check out the pix here!!  I wish we were millionaires and could get prints of these for everyone.  Oh well.  Kiddie Kandids is a total rip-off, but we always get cute photos there, and the photographer this time was excellent.  We were only there for about 3 minutes. Nice.

Blast from the Past

This one is mostly for my siblings, and all others in my age category who may appreciate some classic television. 

Jason and I had so much fun the other night watching... YouTube.  We were checking out shows from our childhoods and were laughing so hard.  Ahhh, they just don't make television like they used to.  However... some of the stuff we watched was rather risque!!  I don't even think people would allow Solid Gold to be shown on network TV these days, but maybe I'm wrong.  Even Dancing With the Stars (which I have seen exactly once) seems tame in comparison.   I know Solid Gold was frowned upon by my parents, and now I know why.  At the time I loved watching those Solid Gold dancers, but knew that some of their "choreography" was a little wild, i.e. writhing around on the floor.  But watching them on YouTube the other night made me cringe (and laugh)!  I know that some of these shows I only watched at my friends' houses, i.e. Miami Vice:  only to be watched at Natalie's.  Anyway, let me know if I have forgotten any other sweet shows.  I realized that perhaps my favorite part of this whole trip down memory lane is just hearing the shows' theme music.  I can still remember lots of the words, even on the ones I hardly ever watched.

These are in no particular order, and I'm not even sure which ones I watched at different times in my life... I will say that I remember my Mom loving Magnum P.I, Simon and Simon and Hill Street Blues.  I remember watching those with her.

Important Note: If you decide to visit these YouTube links, just watch the clips and DO NOT read the comments that accompany them.  I tried to find mostly clean ones, but it's hard.  People can be so crude.  So there's your warning.

Gilligan's Island, I Dream of Genie, Brady Bunch, Bewitched, Three's Company, Charles in Charge, The Facts of Life, The Cosby Show, Diff'rent Strokes, Family Ties, Eight is Enough, Mork and Mindy, Who's the Boss, Growing Pains, The Jeffersons, Laverne and Shirley, Gimme a Break, Silver Spoons, Small Wonder, Smurfs, Miami Vice, Moonlighting, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, The Muppets Show, Little House on the Prairie, Punky Brewster, The Bloodhound Gang, Reading Rainbow, 3,2,1 Contact, Chips, Simon and Simon, Magnum P.I, Knight Rider, Greatest American Hero, Solid Gold, Jem and the Holograms (This one's for you, Cami!), Fame, Hill Street Blues.

Jake's Fine Art Gallery

"I am so busted."
(Note from this Mom to every other Mom in the world: Never say these words out loud or in your head: "I'm sure glad my kids don't draw on the walls and furniture.")

Li'l Sweetie

Is there anything in the world sweeter than putting your baby in bed, laying a blanket over him and having him say, "Nanks, Mommy,"  (Thanks, Mommy) as he snuggles down for a snooze???  Surely there is not.  Little Jake makes me smile every time I put him down to sleep for this reason.

Sick Days

Okay, I know I have little to complain about here. This is really our first time getting sick this year, so we've been lucky, and it's about our turn. Right now my sister, Jaime, is very sick, and so was her little boy, and Kate & Andy's kids have all been sick, and out neighbors... So it's not just us. It's everywhere! But here's our pity party anyway. We decided to all get sick together, which has actually been a good thing. We can all just get this out of the way, right? In a couple of weeks we are leaving for Disneyland, so I'm glad we're sick now in the comforts of our own home rather than miserable in a hotel room or in the car. Everyone has been feverish/coughing/runny nose/sore throatish since about Thursday. I cried several times on Friday, sure I was going to end up with pneumonia again. I know it scared Jason, who had to be out of town. I was telling him "We're fine, we're really fine...." except I was totally bawling while I said it, and my voice was gone. I don't think he believed that we were really fine. We were, of course, but emotions were running amok. Feverish kids are so sad, and being up all night can make anyone a little nuts.

BUT! My Mom saved the day. In fact, she just left. :( She came up on Saturday when she found out we'd all been sick, and absolutely went to work doing everything for us, and insuring that I would rest as much as possible. She shopped, cooked, cleaned and ironed all the clothes that have been piling up for months. Jason asked, while we were eating real mashed potatoes at dinner last night, if I could please get sick more often. I guess I could at least fake it. Really, we have been so well cared for. I love having her around, and it seems like we haven't been able to see each other much lately, so it was extra nice. (Even though I was sleeping a lot of the time.) We even sat up and watched the final installment of Pride and Prejudice together last night. I love my mom. She is the epitome of selfless service. Thank you, Mom. We all love you so much!!!

Owen is the only one of the kids who seems to be still suffering. The other two are still coughing, but that can go on infinitely. I seem to be the slowest recovery of the bunch, but that's just because I'm old. I really do think I have some separated ribs from coughing fits. Ouch.

Jason and I went to see Dr. Wood about his chronic sore throats. Looks like he'll be getting his tonsils out when we return from our trip to California. Lots of fun!