Why Don't Boys Have Any Sense?

Out of the mouth of twins:

Ari: Mom, why don't boys have any sense?

Me: Which boys do you think don't have any sense?

Ari: Dad and D don't have any. Mr. T has some though.

Me: Well hmmm, I can see how you might think that with some of the things they do and say. I mean girls tend to have more common sense sometimes. Boys think totally different than girls. Sometimes they are daredevils and do dumb things. Especially as they get bigger they have a bigger ego and think they can do things that they maybe shouldn't. What did they do to make you think that and maybe I can explain better?

Ari: I asked for a quarter and they only had dollars.

D Finally gets his Court of Honor

Having finished his Eagle project almost 2 years ago and being a card carrying Eagle Scout for months (did you know they send you a real card?), we finally had the ceremony and he got his day in 'court'. Since he did everything in our old ward, we waited to do his Court of Honor with 3 other boys. 2 of them are Cherie's sons, so it was fun to do them all together. It made me very nostalgic for my old ward though. (sigh...)

I came up with the incentive for my kids (after Aub passed this age and I no longer had any power) that in order to get their drivers license they need to get their Eagle Scout or Young Women's medallion. It worked quite well for D. And I am so proud of him, because I can honestly say he did it mostly himself with just a little prodding from us and a lot of help from his great scout leaders. He's a great kid!

All of the mom's made treats for after the program. I decided to make snickerdoodles, since they are Mr. T's favorite and he's been begging me to make them. I only made enough for the thing and they fit perfectly on the platter, I wouldn't let the kids have any until after the program. Apparently they went really fast because Mr. T. ran over to me and said "Holy crap, mom you're the MOST FAMOUS!" If only....

B's got his Athlete!

Of course, she did awesome! This was running in the hills on a dirt trail too. One of my friends ran it too and said "it kicked her trash". There was 22 women who ran this race, the one who came in 2nd was 22 years old. Geez, Lelu never ceases to amaze me!

Sidewalk Chalk Saturday

By Brie (the babysitter) and the twins

Another year goes by & I learned something new about my hubby!

This week I took the kids to the aquarium. Sandy city has a pretty sorry excuse for an aquarium - but when it's pouring, what else can we do? We lasted an hour there, 45 minutes of it petting sting rays. They have a gift shop in there and I have never been able to get out of there without dropping some cash. I preempted the gift shop purchases by telling them we'd get a puzzle and go home and continue to increase our brain cell activity by working on it for the afternoon. The biggest puzzle the gift shop had was 50 pieces, which would have taken up maybe an additional 15 minutes of our day. The first of my lucky breaks, not a dime dropped in said gift shop! We left the aquarium in search of a hard puzzle. Score! this baby has 1000 pieces and it's aquatic themed. The kids helped me get the perimeter done in about an hour and then disappeared. B came home from work and I was sitting at the table working on it and he sat down to work on it with me. To be honest, I really expected him to be irritated that I had it spread across the table. He does not like to play board games and I thought a puzzle would get the same reaction. NOT! B was like a dog with a bone on that thing. 6 hours one night, then a warning for me not to work on it without him, and then 6 hours the next night, 2 hours in the morning and we're done! B explained that he used to sit and do puzzles with Mimi at night. Happy childhood memories, ahhh. 20 years of marriage and I never knew. I guess we'll be on the lookout for some more good puzzles.

Friday was my b-day and D took the little kids shopping and they all spent their own money and bought wooden frames. They painted the frames and then each picked a picture of themselves to put in them. They are so PERFECTLY chosen to fit their personalities. Now I just need to get Aub to do one too. Aub came up and brought me jordan almonds from the BYU bookstore. In case you didn't know, that's where the best ones are! B, Aub, me and Mom & Dad all went out to dinner. It was a great day - even if my salmon was dehydrated - at least it was free. 40 is the end of the 30's, did you know that? so now I am IN my 40's....bummer

Once upon a Mattress - The Story of the Princess & the Pea

This is D's first big part. He plays the part of 'court jester' at Draper Theatre's production. He even sings a solo & 2 duets and does an excellent job at it! So far he's sprained his big toe and scraped the skin off his back doing his comedic stunts, which seem to be his favorite part of the whole show. I worry about future injuries as the stunts get bigger and the laughs get louder. He's not too fond of his costume as he thinks he looks a little like Tinkerbell at Christmas. Good thing he's confident in his masculinity. I may be biased but I swear he is a natural and he is totally dedicated and loves every minute of it. Shows run through June every Mon, Fri and Sat night at 7:30.

School Ends with a Literal Bang courtesy of Thunder & Lightening

I signed up to help with "water fun field day" and then Mother Nature decided to join in on the fun. It was pouring - but see Ari in her swimsuit - she wasn't fazed in the least. My activity was sidewalk chalk and as you can see the sidewalks weren't available to draw on. Mr. T and all the kids shivered while having a snow cones. Schools out and now we've got to find things to keep us busy but with daily thunder storms and it hasn't got past 72 degrees for the last week, we're all still pale.

A Day for Music

Last Saturday we had tickets to go see 38 Special, Styx and REO Speedwagon with 3 other couples. I remembered liking Styx in 7th and 8th grade so I thought it would be fun. B thought otherwise. He was still jetlagged with thunder clouds in the sky he was praying for rain so he wouldn't have to be tortured.

We missed 38 special getting there late. Before Styx came on, David Archuletta walked by with his girlfriend and a body guard, so Sharon & I decided to stalk him for autographs for our girls. No such luck, he was right in the middle of a row and then they snuck him out. We just couldn't get to him. And seriously, this concert was the meeting ground for WT Utah. There were so many dudes with mullets, wife beaters and beer guts with their seriously wasted girlfriends dressed like they stepped straight out of 1981 (not a good year for fashion). I haven't had such good people watching opportunities! It was awesome.

Earlier in the day, the girls had a little voice recital. They both sang some Miley. I had to do some major bribing with Ari. She's such a little spunky thing when not in front of people - but she does not like being in front of a crowd. If she could tune them out - watch out Britney, you'd have competition! Ari saw her on an old SNL shaking her stuff a couple years ago and jumped up dancing with her saying she's going to be just like her when she grows up. My worst nightmare - maybe I should rethink the bribing???????

Lelu was the best out of the 8 performers and I promise I am not biased! Ari was 2nd, of course. I do have video but can't figure out how to load it without putting it on YouTube first. I don't want it on YouTube. You'll just have to take my word for it.