Sesame Street Live

Thanks to Macaroni Kid - N. Phx, I won 4 tickets to see Sesame Street Live. I figured Savannah is a little old for it (although she said she wanted to go), so I invited one of Charlotte's BFFs Kennedy to come along too. We had fantastic seats on the 16th row. The kids all had fun dancing around and doing the cheers with the gang. They learned how to keep their body healthy from the Fabulous Five. It was fun to have a little outing and one on one time with Charlotte.

Keeping a lookout for Kennedy to come.

Loved that Cookie Monster was doing River Dance.
Charlotte, Kennedy & Cohen

Munchin on some Popcorn. Thanks Debbie!

If you haven't signed up for Macaroni Kid you are really missing out. It is free and has all sorts of great tips and places to go for families. They are all over the country so check out your local one.

Easter

Well the Easter Bunny found our house once again this year, although he didn't carry as much candy as years past. He did find some great things (at fantastically clearanced prices) to add and put to use instead.


The girls had a great time hunting for their baskets, on top of the hutch cabinet in the playroom (that bunny can jump) and under the sink in the bathroom.



They also had a blast hunting for all the eggs they colored with the Warmoths in the backyard. I forgot my camera so no pictures of the actual dying of eggs.



Again I neglected to take a picture of their adorably cute dresses that Grandma sent, but that's okay.

Easter has always been a holiday I have loved. As a kid we would always head down to St. George and stay with the Cieslewicz's. Between their 7 kids, our 4 kids and the occasional friend someone brought down it was a house full. But it made it so much fun. The part that I loved (and still do) the most is dying the eggs. We would usually end up dying quite a few flats of eggs and the number was usually around 250 at a minimum. With all these eggs they of course needed to be hidden. Paul, the dad, would hide all of them. He would even take into account if Maggie, the dalmatian had gotten any. He even hid some on the roof one year. Even when I was in high school he still hid the eggs. It was a lot of fun. Mymom the Easter Bunny thought I loved to hunt for my basket and I was always the last to find mine.

I also love the real meaning behind Easter. The past few years the sacrifices He has made for me and my family have really hit home. I know the Atonement is real and I have used it in my life. I have seen it truly at work, as a loved one was lost, found, forgiven and brought back to the fold. I am so thankful for our Savior and am grateful for his atoning sacrifice He made for all of us.

School..School and more School.

I think I am about done with school. I have a love hate relationship with Savannah being gone. She loves going (most of the time) and I love having her away (said in the most loving way), but we both hate getting up in the morning for it. Then I seem to be constantly helping Chad with his homework or nagging him to do it. Shesh, I shouldn't have to remind a 35 year old to do his homework, but then I realize he is a man and you have to remind them to do everything. Then comes MY homework. Wow being out of school for 10 years sure does make you second guess things. When I was in college before I just rambled off some gibberish at the last minute and still got a good grade. Now, I am busting my rear trying to research all this information and site correctly, so I can manage a good grade. I did get an A- in my first class and after 2 weeks in my upper division history class I am at an A- as well. So I guess all in all its not too bad. These classes are a bit intense and after the current one I am going to petition to take 2 at a time. Bring on the History. Hopefully I can plow through and be done by New Years with my Bachelors and Chad with his Associates. Hopefully....unless I go crazy by then.

Phoenix Temple

I was so excited to hear that work is starting on the Phx temple, seeing the picture of all the dirt being moved around made me do a little happy dance inside, until I read through the article and read the posts that followed on azcentral. I am appalled at the rude and hurtful things that people are saying. I guess I have never had such opposition in my face before, and it's not like they are in front of me saying it. I cannot believe the things people are writing and how much hate is behind their words against those that belong to the LDS church. I have tears streaming down my face and honestly feel like I want to vomit. How can people be so cruel? They bring up all these negative things that a few members have done. What about the Baseline Killer what was his religion or the guy who shot a kid not too long ago, huh? When is never a mention of what their faith was? Why do you not take their religion and run it through the gutter. There are people of every faith that sometimes do wild, weird, crazy and sometimes scary things. Everyone still has their agency to make choices on how to live their life. Does knowing their faith make the crimes more heinous? No, I don't think so.

We are a faith who has endured so much and turn the other cheek. We seem to be always be under constant fire of opposition, why? (Although deep down I do know why) I have no idea why this is hitting me so hard today. Having a temple only a few short miles from my home will bring countless blessings to not only my home and family but all those surrounding it. I cannot wait until that day! I look forward to the open house where I can bring my daughters in and also my non-member friends so they can experience its beauty and to know a little about what we do inside making them so sacred. It will be a beacon of beauty to this area.

I am proud to stand and say, that yes I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I know this makes me a little peculiar in the eyes of the world and I'm okay with this. I know that as the opposition is trying to pull us down and drag us in the mud, it will only make me stronger.

Rapunzel, Rapunzel..How long is your hair?!

Well we found out last night that it takes four people to hold Rapunzel's hair. How do I know this you ask? Well we had a special guest stop by our house after dinner last night. Here we are minding out own business when there is a knock at the door..who could it be? It was Rapunzel, making a special visit to deliver her new movie to our house. Wasn't that extra sweet of her.


The girls were so excited. I think Charlotte was in shock for the first bit, because she kept her distance a bit. After a bit I think she finally realized Rapunzel was IN HER HOUSE! And she got all excited. Savannah was bouncing off the walls. She as all giggles and smiles. Our neighbor Maiya was over as well, and was just as awestruck as my girls.

Rapunzel showed them her beautiful dress, and asked the girls what her name started with. They told her 'R' and she said there is an 'R' sewn into her dress and if they could find it. They found a bunch of them among the flowers. She even had a flower for each of their hair.

Pascal was going to come out and play but he seemed to have disappeared but left a stuffed one of himself behind in Flynn satchel. The girls had fun playing hide and go seek with him.


Charlotte wanted to sing Rapunzel her song so they sang a little song as well. When it was time to say goodbye they all gave her a big hug.


Once Rapunzel was gone, Savannah wanted to make sure I told her teacher Miss Fields about the visit and sent pictures. Charlotte told me that Rapunzel told her that Flynn Rider was coming over to our house tomorrow. We shall see about that one. She thinks she is going to marry Flynn. Look out Rapunzel... :)

Thank you Rapunzel for skipping over all the way from Germany ;) to come to visit us. It made for a very magical evening.

Diamond Backs Game

I won 4 free tickets to the Diamondbacks Exhibition game. They played some team from Mexico. It was a great night, the roof and side panels were open with a wonderful breeze. The ballpark was only probably 1/4 full and we were sitting right below the box seats so it was nice to have space for the girls. We were the only ones on our row so they kept moving around. Got to see a grand slam which was fun too. The game was actually really quick and was only about 2 hr 45 mins long. Perfect time with two little girlies.

Charlotte kept wanting me to take pictures of 'the boys running out there', in the outfield. She also thought the teenage girls in front of us were 'beautiful', but she wouldn't tell them.

Grandpa and Grandma

My dad and step mom come down every so often with their 5th wheel and stay for a while. We had a fun time with them being here for 2 whole months. We have gone down to visit in their 'little house' to go swimming and just hanging out. They also made the journey up to visit us for Sunday dinner a few times as well. They stayed down in Mesa just a few miles East of the Temple. We thought it was funny that the South side of Main Street there were RV and Motorhome dealers and the North side was all the retirement parks. lol

We also met up with them at the Botanical Gardens when they had their free Tuesday. The girls had fun showing grandma and grandpa all the plants and flowers they liked. And we got to go into the butterfly exhibit too. This is the second year in a row for us to go in the spring time and Savannah tried desperately to get a butterfly to land on her, and no such luck...TWO YEARS IN A ROW! She was very sad since they landed on everyone else. Next time we will have to squeeze an orange on her skin to attract them I guess.

All in all we had a great time and I wish I took more pictures. Grandpa and Grandma are gonna head back North to Idaho and hope that spring is on its way up there.

Hello from Rapunzel and Flynn Rider

When I was at Walt Disney World back in February I got a little message to send back to my girls from two of their favorite characters from the new movie Tangled.

They both LOVE it, and Charlotte was excited that they know her name!!

Follow the link to view the little video. I couldn't get it to post on here.

HELLO FROM TANGLED

Girl Scouts

Troop 1460 at their first meeting at the beginning of the year

I think a few people got extra sick of me posting things about girl scout cookies on Facebook, so I think I will come back to my blog to write things. Then it isn't jamming up peoples main feed there.

Savannah officially sold her last box of cookies today. Chad took the remaining 8 with him to the orthodontist and they bought them all. Hooray! She sold a total of 237. She really wanted to get to 250 to get the next prize but oh well. Maybe I should be a good mom and buy another 13 boxes to hit it, but I don't need the extra dimples and my waist line is getting thicker from the 10 I already bought.

Girl Scouts have all sorts of prizes they get from selling cookies. So she earned, a cookie patch for her vest, a bandana, a kangaroo stuffed animal (they do a different one each year), a little clutch type purse, a tee shirt and a reusable grocery type bag to deliver cookies in. The next prize she wanted was a journal set. I am okay with her not getting it since she already has 3 different journals.

Two weeks ago her troop had a daddy daughter dance. A few of the mom's pitched it to get two limos so the girls could ride in style there. She was so excited and the limo was a surprise to the girls. They had a great time. They had a dance contest with the dad's and they would get tapped out. Well Chad made it to the final 3, then they brought the girls to dance with them. Chad started to swing dance with Savannah and they were crowned King and Princess of the Night. They did a victory dance to 'Butterfly Kisses', which Chad said was hard to not get emotional dancing too. They also got free pictures too. (I don't have them back yet).

Then they did a raffle. The tickets were $.50 a piece so Chad bought 10. There were 7 baskets to be won. They won 2 of them! One had a variety of past years cookie prizes and the other was a love sort of one, with chocolates, candles, etc.

With her Bestie Alexis

Savannah thought it was the best night EVER! I think for her it was too.

We are alive

Well it has been FOREVER since I posted last. Savannah is in the 1st grade and loving it. She is also a a girl scout and just finishing up selling cookies. She sold 237! She has had so much fun. Charlotte keeps saying she wants to be a daisy scout too. All in good time she will be as well.

Chad started a new job last month with Wells Fargo. He is a business banker at the Scottsdale branch. So if you need a loan, new account or whatever go to him :) He just finished up 4 weeks of training and will do 2 more at the end of the month. Chad has been going back to school online for almost a year now. Time to get that degree to help out with the job market. Better late than never right?

I have been busy with making aprons and also doing glitter toes. And of course being a mom. Charlotte is such a funny kid and keeps me on my toes during the day. I am also going to start the journey of finishing my degree as well. I have always had a nagging feeling that I need to finish. With only 30 credits away, it is so close I can almost spit on it. lol. So since Chad is going, I can actually get a grant to finish off mine. I should be able to finish off in 9 months. Once I take the introductory class I will be able to take 2 classes at once. They are 6 weeks each so I will be busy.

Here are a few pics we had taken in January, you probably all saw them on FB but I love em so I will put them here too.