Thursday, January 27, 2011

Day 27 (1/27/11) Marathon Kids and Protesting Kids


Once a month, the school sponsors a "run" right after school as part of the Marathon Kids program. They have cones set up and healthy snacks for after their walk/run. They have a journal to keep track of all their walking and running to make sure they make their marathon goal. Kendall, being a girl, loves the social aspect of it. It is always more fun to run with a friend.





Jared's junior high school, Dwyer, is soon getting solar panels. Because of the age of the building and other factors, they are unable to place the panels on the roof. There is an option of putting the panels up carport style in the bus parking lot, however, the decision was made to place them right in front of the school. Yes, right in front of the school which is a historical landmark. Right in front of the school that just had two beautiful murals painted on the front. Right in front of the school where the field is that is used for p.e. classes and other forms of recreation. And right in front of the school where it is tradition to walk down to the steps for graduation. Should make for some lovely graduation pictures, eh? Well the students (and some parents with a lot of money) decided to lead a protest. They have been out in front of the school all week with t-shirts and signs. Today was the big protest day, but it had to be moved to Lake Park. The picture of the protest is courtesy of my guest photographer, Jared. I was hoping he would take an active role in this, but he is quite apathetic. I gave him the "Stand for Something" speech, but he just scoffed. The other day when he told me he decided to go to the protest, I was thrilled. (P.S. I am choosing to ignore the reason he was going was for free Super Mex tacos.) On the way home, he told me he feels bad because they are blaming Chevron and Chevron was just hired to do the job. The District is really at fault here. So I am happy at the very least he is educating himself on the situation.

Day 26 (1/26/11) My New Iron



Has it really come to this? Has my life become so boring and mundane that I am posting about how much I love my iron?? Poor me. I have been searching for an iron for a while now and I came across this one at Macy's for $34.99. Seriously? A Rowenta for $35.99? Seemed like a dream come true. When I was walking out of the store, I noticed I had been charged $45.99 instead. The saleslady gave me an additional $10 off for my troubles so my iron ended up being only $24.99! Yeah for Macy's and yeah for Rowenta! I must admit that I hate ironing with a passion, however, this iron has made me enjoy it just a wee bit.

Day 25 (1/25/11) FINISHED!!


Ok...well at least the piecing and the quilting are finished. Now I just need to finish it off. I love making quilts however, I wish I was better at it. The best part is that they give me, my mom and my sister Vicki an excuse to get together and chat while we quilt.

Day 24 (1/24/11) Icee


Sam's Club day. That always means a giant Icee for the kids for a measly $1.08. They only have two choices of flavors, but that's ok because they are huge and inexpensive. Maelen is not able to drink from a straw because of her wisdom teeth being extracted so this is what happens when you drink an Icee out of the cup. Bee-you-ti-ful.

Day 23 (1/23/11) The Babies!!


I have a guest photographer today. I forgot to bring my camera so I had Matt take a picture of our cute twins. Graham and Simone are Mandy and Rob's adorable twins. We just can't get enough of them. I think we wore Graham out, but he found a cozy napping place on his Daddy's shoulder.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Day 22 (1/22/11) Family Night Out


Saturday night we went to get dinner at Chili's. Maelen was looking forward to some real food. Matt says he is not addicted to his Droid, however, this is a common scene while waiting for food at restaurants.


This is what Kendall does.

Day 21 (1/21/11) Robeks Run - AGAIN!


Grandpa and Grandma brought Maelen a smoothie the day she had her wisdom teeth out. Aunt Vicki also gave the kids each a gift card to Robeks not to mention the gift cards Maelen received during field hockey season. This was the third day in a row for Mae, but luckily there are many flavors to be tried. Smoothies are a lifesaver when you have a soft food diet!

Day 20 (1/20/11) Knifty Knitter


Maelen is not one to sit around. Having her wisdom teeth and the flu on top of that is just killing her. She wanted a project so I had her make Kendall a beanie. The one Maelen made her years ago is too small for her head now. Kendall was thrilled. Maelen enjoyed it so much that she is making herself one now.

Day 19 (1/19/11) - Lunch with my Girls


I finally went to my lunch with my girls. We had been trying to set this up since last August. I am truly blessed because not only did I have these ladies as my counselors in Relief Society, but they are two of the best friends I have ever had. I think because of all we went through (8 or 9 deaths in the first two months of the calling, a year of about 20 babies being born, etc.)we will always be bonded together.

Day 18 (1/18/11) - Wisdom Teeth


Today was the day Maelen had been dreading. She had her wisdom teeth removed. She didn't swell too badly...this picture was when she still had gauze in her mouth. Later that night she had an allergic reaction possibly to the anesthesia. She turned bright red and puffy and had a temperature of 104º. The on call doctor didn't have any good advice really. Luckily, after we gave her some aspirin, the temp went down and the redness started going away. Unfortunately, it came back the next day, but only briefly. Another day, she blacked out in the shower. Poor little girl had a very tough week after I told her it would not be a bad experience.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Day 17 (1/17/11) Family Home Evening


We have been doing well with our Family Home Evening challenge and have become much more organized. Kendall planned a great lesson on Ruth. I think we all learned something and it is always fun to be together.

Day 16 (1/16/11) Sickies


Ugh!! I have two sickies at home - Maelen and Kendall. My mother-in-law introduced me to the wonder drug, Zicam, and amazingly enough it is not even a drug! Unfortunately Maelen was beyond Zicam and had a temperature of 104º. Poor little girl. She came home from church miserable and was so worried that after having her mind set on getting her wisdom teeth out the following Tuesday, that we would have to cancel.

Day 15 (1/15/11) Quilt!


I cannot put up a quilt with out my girls - mom and Vicki. Every time we wonder why we are doing this again and have to reinvent the wheel just to get it up. It always ends up great regardless of our struggles and we have a fun time doing it. The best part apart quilts is getting together to quilt them. It gives us an excuse to get together and talk and laugh.

Day 14 (1/14/11) Piano Lessons


Piano lessons day! Sometimes this is the only day our piano sees Jared's fingers. I'm not sure how to motivate him. I keep telling him the problem is that he has a talent.

Day 13 (1/13/11) Emergency Preparedness


Our Tuesday night Relief Society we had a presentation by CERT. These things always give me the kick in the pants I need to restock and replenish. This is a sampling of some things I bought after the meeting. My new purchase was the power failure lights. I bought these at Home Depot for $9.98!! They can be used as nightlights and continually charge. In case of a power outage, they can be used as flashlights for 7 hours and they are pretty dang bright!

Day 12 (1/12/11) Jillian


I have a love hate relationship with Jillian Michaels. Her 30 day shred is a killer, but it makes a noticeable difference quickly. Matt gave me the Yoga Meltdown for Christmas. It is evil.

Day 10 (1/10/11) Socks


Maelen came downstairs before she was awake to tell me some very important information. When she was done, she looked down and realized one of her socks had not made it out of the bed with her. If only I had a picture with her hair too...naturally curly hair can get quite big overnight. Yes...I'm jealous.

Day 9 (1/9/11) Goals


This one is hard to see, but Maelen made some goals for the new year. She put them on her mirror and then decided to move the mirror to the outside of the door so she can see them every time she enters her room. The only thing she regrets is not having a mirror anymore.

Day 8 (1/8/11) Roller Blades



So today is a four picture day. Matt was cleaning out the garage and found Jared's old roller blades. He thought Kendall might have fun learning how to use them. She thought differently. Maelen wondered why she ended up with more bruises and scrapes than Kendall and she was just helping!

Day 7 (1/7/11) Projects


Now that Christmas is over, it's time to get back to some of my projects. I have plenty to keep me busy, so now it's just a matter of finishing before I start the next. Sounds like a good goal.

Day 6 (1/6/11) Bargain of the Day


Bargain time! We found this duvet cover with matching pillow case at Ikea for $9.99! So maybe it wasn't the thread count I would want, but it looks very cute in Kendall's room. I was proud of myself because I went to Ikea without my guide, Maelen, and didn't get lost!

Day 5 (1/5/11) XBox


Typical scene at our home - Jared playing Xbox. He is on live with his cousin Scotty and best buddy, Colby.

Day 4 (1/4/11) Maelen's Home!


Maelen's home! When we left Utah, we left Maelen behind to help her "bestie" move into her new apartment in Provo. She came home a few days later, but we sure missed her while she was gone.

Day 3 (1/3/11) Hot Chocolate


Nothing is better on a cold Family Home Evening than a nice cup of hot chocolate. We love these new travel mugs we received for Christmas.

Day 2 (1/2/11) Dirty Car


This is what our poor car looked like after one week in the snow. Only problem is, when we returned home, it was raining so we couldn't wash it for another week.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Day 1 (1/1/11) St. George

So I decided to take the photo a day challenge to journal a year in the life of our family. Unfortunately, either my vision is worse than I thought, or my camera is worse than I thought because the pictures so far are blurry! Ugh! I can already tell my issues will be with posting the pictures.

Day 1 (1/1/11): Traveled from Matt's parents house in South Jordan to St. George, Utah. View from our hotel room at the Marriott and Matt & Jared relaxing after being cooped up in the car for hours.