Owen's Curls

Owen has such fantastic curly hair. He gets it from his dad/Nana. Matt and I constantly debate about how long it should be. I like it longer, he likes it shorter. So ultimately we let Owen decide- each pleading our cause. Today he finally sided with his dad and this is the sad, sad result.

Andrew's first talk

April 18th Andrew gave his first talk in primary. His subject was that Christ restored the fullness of the gospel through Joseph Smith. For 5 years old, he was really specific about what he wanted to do. He really wanted to open with a joke (with no encouragement from us- he must take after his Grandpa). The hardest part of preparing for the talk was coming up with a joke that Drew liked. Then he helped us come up with the rest. He memorized most of it for Sunday and did a really great job. Owen was in the audience and helped out with the knock knock joke. Here is his talk-

Andrew- Knock knock.
Audience/Owen- Who's there?
Drew- Saturn.
Audience/Owen- Saturn who?
Drew- Saturnday I wrote this talk!

Drew- When Joseph Smith was a boy he had a question. He wanted to know which church to choose. He said a prayer. Jesus and Heavenly Father visited Joseph Smith. They told him to join none of them. None of them had all of the gospel. Later Joseph became a prophet. He helped restore the whole gospel and the church of Jesus.

Then he bore his testimony. Great job Drew!

Easter

This year for Easter we focus more on the Savior. We tried to talk with the kids about what Christ was doing each day of His last week. The Monday after we also dyed eggs and found eggs as part of family home evening. The kids didn't even miss the Easter Bunny. They really enjoyed acting out the story of Christ's resurrection. We also watched a church movie about Christ's life and resurrection. I think we will do this again next year, and maybe even have a dinner that is similar to what Christ would have eaten. Family traditions are so important- sometimes it just takes a while to form some good ones. We are working on it!

The Nashville Zoo

Suzette was nice enough to invite us to go to the Zoo with her and her girls twice in the last month. The weather has been great and the zoo has a lot of great stuff to do. My boys really liked the atrium where the birds fly all around you, the snake/spider/frogs section with the giant anaconda, petting the goats (our kids were basically the only kids petting the goats with the big horns), and the huge playground. Thanks Suzette!

Quilts for Haiti

Recently our church, along with some other local quilters, came together to make some quilts for the people in Haiti. It was a great chance for me to go and learn a little about quilting, while being able to do some fun service. The boys came with me once during the day and I went on my own at night to help tie them. They turned out so great and I learned a lot about quilting!

Valentine's Day 2010 and a Blanket fort

This year for VDay we made a yummy breakfast (complete with heart and lip shaped eggs) and gave the kids stuffed animals (instead of candy). Owen got a frog, Andrew a lion, and Matthew got a red dog. Our kids love to play in piles of blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals- so they loved their VDay presents. Just a couple of days later they built a giant blanket fort and slept in it with their new "friends."

Date Night

Here is Savannah Jack. Mike (from our ward) is on the left.































The last couple of months we've had two really fun date nights. One was to a Savannah Jack single release party. (Mike from Savannah Jack and his wife Alli are in our ward, and I see Alli at the gym almost every day so she was nice enough to invite us.) It was so much fun to go and listen to them play some of their music. We don't know a lot about country music, but we did think these guys were good! Their first single, "I Know" is supposed to drop on May 3 in case anyone is interested, and I know they are playing at something in UT this summer- maybe Draper? Check their website/facebook if you are interested!

We also went with Suzette and Matt Pence to a popular spot in Nashville called the Wildhorse Saloon. We ate their BBQ and fried pickles, listened to the live band, and even did some line dancing. We had such a fun time. Yeehaw!

Oops

Something is missing below...










What can I say? With three boys, these things happen. Let's just say that when I'm in the other room and I hear a loud SMASH and shattering of glass, I already know to yell, "Nobody move!" And the kids already know to hold still!

Olympics

Winston- the Winstead Wildcat is always fun to see.





































One of the ten at-home olymic games was bob sledding (thanks to really slick winter coats). I think it was all the kids favorite, even though Matthew's time could not be beat.


















These are supposed to be olympic rings!














Now I'm going to play a little catch-up on things that I've missed, like the Olympics! We loved the winter olympics. We made olympic treats and had our own at-home olympic events (with medals and medal ceremonies, everything!) The kids went around singing the olympic song for a month afterwards. We watched some of the events on TV, which the kids loved, and kept a running medal count on a USA poster we made together. Matthew's school even did an olymic inspired family night. The boys wish the olympics were every year!

Bon Jovi

Tuesday night, Matt told me he had a dinner for work to go to. Our friend Suzzette came over to babysit and we headed out. When we got to the downtown area there was special event parking everywhere. I told Matt something must be going on so I was bummed we would have to pay extra for parking. He was like, "Yea, looks like something is going on. I think the hockey team is in the finals. They must have a game." As we are walking toward where he said we were eating I noticed some girls dressed really nicely. So I told Matt it couldn't be a hockey game, and maybe it was a concert. He agreed. As we are walking by the arena I say something like, "If you are gonna go to a concert, you better see someone really cool like Bon Jovi." (I've told him this before.) Unbelievably, when we get to the front there are all these Bon Jovi tents selling shirts and stuff. I couldn't believe it! I told Matt that was so funny I just said I would like to see Bon Jovi and we were walking by their concert on our way to dinner. He's like, "Maybe we could skip dinner and go." I tell him no because we couldn't skip his work thing and besides getting tickets would be so expensive from a scalper. He's like, "I know, but you want to go." I tell him it's ok the at we can't. He's like, "But I already have to tickets," as he pulled two tickets out of his pocket. I couldn't believe it. I was so shocked. He apparently got the tickets the beginning of Jan and never hinted about it this whole time! Later he asked me why I hadn't screamed with excitement because I was so shocked (I was saving it for Jon of course!) It was such a fun time. I loved it. Matt is so great. I couldn't have been more surprised. And my voice was actually a little off the next day from screaming and singing along. Some might think we are too old to be screaming like crazy at concerts, but hey, it's my life, it's now or never, I ain't gonna live for ever! I just wanna live like I'm alive (Sing it Jon!)

Boys at home

Sometimes when the boys get bored they think of really random things to do. Strangely, Matthew really liked being a chair.

The Bball party

Our Carnton Ward team B did really well at bball this year. They made it to the final game, only to loose by a few points after a great run at the end. It was so exciting. I loved being able to help out with the girls, and actually learn a little about basketball. Another highlight was getting to spend more time with Suzette Pence who is A LOT of fun. We had the end-of-season-team party on April 1 (my bday- because that was the only day they could). We had a lot of fun coming up with the awards for each of the girls, with a candy to go along with it in their gift bags. It a lot of time, but I have to say I'm gonna miss basketball!

My birthday- 29 really?

I had a great birthday this year. I actually love getting older. I can't wait to be in my 30's! Matt and the kids did a great job this year. They had donuts for breakfast and I opened one present- the last Percy Jackson book. So, after hitting the gym, I read that for a good chunk of the day. Latter some girls from our church youth bball team came over for the team party (it was the only day they could do it), and when they left Matt and the kids gave me a great party with more presents. I also got calls from family (I missed some of them- sorry!) and like a million emails/facebook messages. I was feeling the love- thanks everyone!

Butternut squash and stitches risotto for dinner

Let's just say it was a mom moment. And let me add, if you are easily grossed out, you probably shouldn't read this post.

If you are still reading, don't say I didn't warn you. So, I was making dinner as usual a couple weeks ago, cutting the butternut squash with my very nice knife from my mother-in-law. There was chaos in the background as usual and somehow while mediating between Andrew and Owen and cutting the squash, I sliced through my finger. I quickly pulled it back (seeing the bone, by the way), spraying blood all across the kitchen floor. Owen saw it and started crying, saying, "Mommy's gonna die, mommies gonna die!" I grabbed a kitchen towel, applied pressure, and asked Matthew to come and call Matt to see when he'd be home. While Matthew made the call (leaving a message), I calmed down Owen, and Anubis (dogs really are disgusting) cleaned up the blood (I warned you it was gross). Anyway, Matt made it home about an hour later and finished the risotto while I went to get 6 stitches on the really deep part of the cut that went down to the bone. I did slice all the way across my finger, but not all of it needed the stitches. The really weird part has been getting used to the fact that I have feeling on the whole pad of that finger. It feels like it is asleep. It makes it hard to pick up things with that hand now because I can't tell if I'm touching with that finger or not! I have noticed some feeling return in the last couple of weeks, so hopefully it will be back to normal eventually. One final note though, that knife has been making my life easier for about three years now, and if I have to get stitches once every three years, let me just say- it is totally worth it!