Like Mother Like Daughter

Dad sent this to me last night and it warmed my heart. I am just now in my mid 30's realizing how much I look like my angel Mother. We are SO cute. :) We even laugh exactly the same! Now if only I could grow up to be just like her.

Fresh Flowers Make You Feel Like a Rock Star

I'm so proud of myself! I never have anyone over for dinner but I signed up to host dinner group. I say, if you're afraid of heights, you better bungee jump! So it is for me with cooking and cleaning up for other people. I'm afraid of it, so I have to do it. And yes, I burned the soup...but at least it was after everyone was done eating (I left the burner on)!

The couples were amazing, admirable, and genuine people. We played the game 2 Truths 1 Lie (you have to guess which of the 3 facts the person says about themselves is not true). We learned incredible stuff about each other we never would have known otherwise! We had a doctor that was a lead singer of a rock band who was also a world champion clogger, a person who has no sense of smell (her husband likes it that way!), and someone that toured Europe as a folk dancer among us. My 3 things about myself...1) I lost the bonus round on Wheel of Fortune, 2) I can't hear my own burps, 3) I went to college at age 16. The lie...number 1. And yes, I can't hear my own burps! I know...weird, but true. I have to ask, "Was that a loud one?" And I really have no idea if it is or isn't.

It's amazing I was able to pull off a clean house because this is what Ava was doing while I was cooking dinner:

Dreams Really Do Come True

Look at me making homemade bread for the first time since my efforts flopped in college 15 years ago! I've always dreamed this day would come and knew Mom was the woman for the job.

Thank you, Mom! You are a great teacher. Bread is a lot of work mixed with a lot of love. I have now achieved one of my New Year's resolutions. My next on the list...taking a nice family photo for the first time in 10 years! If I publicly declare it, it will happen. It happened with my dream of Hawaii and helicopters. You've got to name it to claim it.

The weekend was a blast at Mom and Dad's (or as my kids already call it...Uncle Ben's house). My little bro moved in last week from Vegas and it's the first time I've lived near him in 17 years. I'm a happy girl.

Russ and Chad went snowboarding while I was baking bread. He has yet to take a single picture in the 14 years we've been married unless I make him...so no super cute snowboarding pictures.

Just for comparison's sake...here is the photo I took on my way to get my haircut. As you can see in the bread pics...I got 4 inches chopped!

This is how Ava makes her own cheese sandwich. Do you want some bread with that mayo?

And this is how she makes sugar cookies. It's been a week full of baking fun! And yes, we are potty training.

Thank You Notes: A Window to His Soul

Reasons to Celebrate

Chad turned 12! It has been a week filled with milestones and heart warming events. He opened his presents and couldn't believe we had bought him anything (hello...that's what you do on birthdays!). He kept saying, "Awww, mom, you shouldn't have." He was so very grateful. I love this kid! He bore a sweet testimony on Sunday. And when we were delivering his Bday invites, he said, "Wow, mom. I can't believe how much people care about me." He was so touched that everyone was so excited to come!

At Laser Quest, Chad got 3rd place out of 34 people!!! The only 2 people that beat him were the 2 marksmen dads that were there. Chad has got some mad skills! He creamed all of his friends.

When Chad made his wish before he blew out the candles, he made a speech instead that was SO touching. It was about how much he appreciated all of his friends and wanted to be friends with them forever. What a sentimental guy he's been lately!

At his court of honor where Chad got his First Class ranking, we were both laughing SO hard because he was having trouble pinning on the mother's pin. I had laughing tears because I felt like we were at the prom and it was like he was having trouble pinning a corsage on his date!

Ava was up to the usual.

8 packets in one cup = sweet sludge

I got to watch Russ be sexy on the basketball court. He's still got mad skills even if he isn't dunking like he did in his 20's.

And I am getting my annual haircut in 3 days!

On a different note, we found out this weekend that we will most likely be laid off in the near future. Merck is buying Schering-Plough (Russ' company). When it is finalized in a few months, Merck will wipe out the Schering employees. We're buttoning down the hatches. We are prepared, but we never expected to be laid off during the Great Recession so only time will tell if our preparations are adequate. I have perfect faith in Russ' interviewing abilities being that he has gotten every single job/promotion he has applied for. It will be different this time, but he is my man and will get us through this with the courage I've always admired in him! So far we are all very upbeat but pensive.

Despite that lame news, we still have so many reasons to celebrate. And that will be our journey over the next year: Finding the joy when chaos surrounds. We're pretty good at that around here!

Traditions Old and New...

For V-day the kids got heart socks and heart peeps.

Sarah, of course, laid out her V-day outfit long in advance.
Every holiday we microwave peeps. One minute just about does it.
While hot we dig in with a fork and stretch like this.
It instantly cools and crystallizes into a spindly airy crunch. Delish! Surprisingly they even taste a thousand times better this way. The ONLY way to eat a peep. The kids laugh as the Peeps quintuple in size and love to stretch and play with them as they cool. The texture change is a trip!
At the pizza place downtown on our way to feed ducks and rock the Laser Quest world.

Laser Quest is my new favorite cold weather tradition. Even Ava and Alyssa TOTALLY got it and were hiding behind corners and hunting people down. No fear.

My Charlie's Angels!

Out of 28 people in our game, Ava came in 24th! What? She beat 4 people?! I wore the target harness thing and she carried the gun.

He may look innocent in this picture, but Chad came in 4th and even beat Russ who was 6th. That was a shocker!
We came home giddy and happy and laughed the whole way home. I love un-bored kids!

At the packed stake family skate night Tues., I totally won the 12 and up ladies speed skate and rocked the backwards skate! I also did a lot of jumping forwards and backwards, pirouetted, and raced the roller hockey boys. I may not sew or be a fabulous chef, but thank goodness I can roller blade, eh? It's been 13 years or so since I've last skated and I had the time of my life.

Hello!