Six Things To Always Say To Your Spouse

Last night, Jared and I had date night.  Okay, it might be a bit of a stretch to call grocery shopping at Costco and dinner in the food court at the mall a date, but hey, we didn't have kids with us so I consider it a date.  We were standing in line to order our dinner when I noticed an older couple sitting at a table.  I'm not sure what originally drew my eye to them.  Once they caught my attention though, I couldn't quit staring.  (Staring is rude, I know.)  Anyway, they both had their dinner and they were eating it without looking at or speaking to one another.  I don't know why, but this fascinated me.  We got our food and sat down just a few tables over from them.  Jared could tell I was distracted and asked me what was up.  I pointed out the couple and wondered aloud why they didn't speak to each other.  Once they finished eating, they continued to sit there without ever exchanging a single word.  A few more minutes passed before they got up and walking arm in arm left the food court.  Jared turned to me and said, "There, see they are just fine".

We eventually left and wandered around the mall for a few minutes.  Imagine my surprise when we saw them a few minutes later sitting on a bench together.  They were still arm in arm, her head was resting on his shoulder and they were chatting together.  I don't know why, but I was so relieved to see them again.  Something in me wanted them to be happy to be together, I was so pleased to see that they really were in love.

Interestingly enough, I stumbled upon a blog a couple of weeks ago.  It's called "A Blog About Love".  Other than my food blog that I adore, (Our Best Bites) I'm really not a blog junkie.  I'm a typical busy mom and wife and I find I rarely have time to surf the web reading a bunch of blogs.  With that said, I love this blog.  They have so much great advice for couples and really lots of other things.  You should totally check it out!  Last night when we came home, I pulled up the site on my phone.  Mara had posted a picture of the back of a book.  The picture was a list of six things to always say to your spouse.  I read them and smiled.  Do yourself a favor, go check out the blog.  You'll be glad you did.  In the meantime, take some great advice and remember to always say these things to your spouse.
(1) You look great.
(2) Can I help?
(3) Let's eat out.
(4) I was wrong.
(5) I am sorry.
(6) I love you.

Funny For The Day!

We were watching the afternoon session of General Conference today.  Jenna was doing some knitting and the other three were playing General Conference Bingo.  At some point Abby felt like Ethan was "copying her".  I'm not really sure why she felt that way, seeing as how we were all listening to the same talk.  However, perception is reality, right?  After complaining at him about it for a couple of minutes, she turns to him in typical, dramatic Abby fashion and screams, "Stop stealing my brain cells!"  As a parent, I'm sure there should have been some scolding or lesson about being kind to your siblings that I could have given her.  Perhaps, I should have broken out in a rousing rendition of Love At Home.  However, I busted up laughing, it was seriously that funny!  Needless to say, she was not impressed with me.

Disneyland #1

Our Disneyland trip was, of course, fabulous.  How could it not be?  After all we're talking about a family vacation at the happiest place on earth.  I'm going to start with my little man, Ethan.  I'm not sure when it started, but somewhere along the way Ethan fell in love with Goofy.  Goofy is his all time favorite Disney character.  The first morning we entered the park Goofy walked out onto Main Street.  Jared and I had turned to help the girls with something.  When we turned back around this is what we saw.

 

Poor Goofy!  I wonder who that obnoxious kid is, and where are his parents!?!  It must be hard to be a celebrity with all the paparazzi after you all the time.  After we pried Ethan off of Goofy we were able to get a couple of cute shots.

 

 Aren't the two boys in my life so handsome?  Jared is especially hot, but we'll get into that on another post.  ;) They look adorable together standing next to Goofy.

Later that day we went to Jedi Training Academy.  Ethan really wanted to participate in this activity.  They come out onto the stage and with the benefit of "The Force" they choose which kids should be chosen to train to fight Darth Vader.  Ethan had been looking forward to this since we had planned our trip.  The girls were screaming up and down in order to ensure that "The Force" chose him.  Luckily, it all turned out well because he was chosen.  He participated in a little training before the big guy, Darth Vader, made his appearance.  He stayed true to his Jedi training and was able to survive his dual with Darth Vader.  Thank heaven he had that light saber because it was pretty dicey there for a minute.          

 

I should tell you that Ethan was totally sick this day.  He had a sore throat, cough and a fever.  Did that get in the way of his plans?  Of course not!  When Darth Vader is there, threatening the lives of all those people at Disneyland, a Jedi has to do what a Jedi has to do.  Regardless, I think he's darling in his little padawan robe.  He had a fabulous time and still talks about the day he took out Darth Vader.  At the end of the day, he crashed big time.  He slept 13 hours and felt much better the next day. 

Newport Beach...A Perfect Afternoon

After being home from our fabulous trip for over a month, I decided it's finally time to begin blogging.  I always love a good family vacation.  Few things are as wonderful as having my little family all to myself without any distractions from the rest of the world.  At least, no distractions that we don't want, if you know what I mean.  Our trip began with a weekend in Las Vegas visiting some of our extended family.  We had a great time shopping, eating and enjoying the beautiful sunshine of Las Vegas.  Thanks for all the awesome treats and ice cream, Aunt Carol.  You always spoil us and we love it!

On Monday morning we hit the road for sunny California!  After lunch at In-N-Out in Barstow we headed for our hotel in Anaheim.  We checked in and then the kids couldn't trade their clothes for their swimsuits fast enough.   We went straight to Newport Beach for an awesome afternoon playing in the surf.  It was January so the water was super cold.  But, that didn't stop anyone from having an incredible time.  Don't they look like they're having the time of their lives?

I absolutely love this picture.  If I could freeze this moment in time forever, I probably would.  The beach was practically empty except for us.  The kids were so happy.  The air was filled with sunshine, the sound of the waves crashing into the shore and my beautiful children laughing and exploring all they could see.  It was perfect! 

Jenna felt something in the water by her feet.  When she looked down to see what it was she found this starfish.  She was thrilled.  Can't you tell by her big smile?  She brought that starfish home with her and it's currently drying so she can put it in a shadowbox to remember this trip always.  I know I'm her mom, but you have to admit this is a beautiful picture of her.





Abby loves seashells.  When she wasn't playing in the surf she was scouring the sand for the perfect seashells to take home.  As usual, she has that big smile on her face.  She has to be the happiest kid on earth.  She loves the ocean so this afternoon at Newport Beach was a highlight for her.

The last time Ethan was at the beach he was 18 months old.  So, this was basically a first for him.  He loved everything about the ocean.  Once Jenna found the starfish he was determined to find his own form of sea life.  It didn't take long for that determined little guy to find this sea turtle.  It was small, but he insisted on having his picture taken with it.  You can kind of see it down by his feet.  He wanted to bring it home, but I couldn't let that thing in my car, let alone in my house.  We finally agreed that he would miss his family if we took him away from the ocean.  That didn't ruin his fun though, he still said it was the best day ever!

This was Sadie's first time at the beach and she wasn't really sure what to expect.  The water was cold, but she loved it.  She loved the sand on her toes, the water splashing on her feet and trying to jump over the waves.  At one point, she found a shell that she wanted to bring home.  As she reached to pick up the shell it moved.  That's when she realized there was a little crab inside.  It scared her and she screamed.  After that she wouldn't touch a shell until one of us checked to make sure "nothing is living in it, right?"  She giggled, squealed and ran for as far as we could see.  It was so amazing watching her discover the beauty of the beach and ocean. 



Sadly, our perfect afternoon had to come to an end.  It turns out the sun doesn't shine all day and night in California, too bad.  The sun went down and that water got even colder than it already was.  Even with all the protests, we had to say good bye to the beach.  It was a fabulous day though and one we will always remember as the the thing that perfect afternoons are made of. 

P.S.  It turns out it's harder than you think to take a picture of six people by yourself.  You can kind of see Ethan and Sadie...   :)





Good News!!!

Last week was fabulous!  All four kids have some great news to share:

Jenna:  Tried out for Studio Art at the junior high and was accepted.  This involved her drawing 5 different pictures and interviewing with the art teacher.  I was impressed with her drawings and apparently the teacher was as well because next year she will be in Studio Art.  She's hoping this will give her a good start to her dream of being an interior designer. 

Abby:  After weeks and weeks of piano practicing she had piano festival.  If you aren't familiar with how piano festival works, she plays her two songs in front of a panel of three judges who look at the music to see how correctly she does or does not play it.  She played beautifully and scored 36 out of 40 points.  We celebrated at The Chocolate where she took 10 minutes trying to choose which cupcake she wanted.  You can see that she takes her celebrating seriously. 

Ethan:  Was asked to be the farmer in the second grade play.  In case you're wondering, I'm going to brag for just a minute here and tell you that the farmer is the main part.  He's excited and his expression while he's practicing his lines is priceless.  I sure do love that little guy.

Sadie:  This is a funny one.  About a month ago, I came home from errands to find a completely hysterical and distraught Sadie.  She had just realized that she had her first loose tooth.  Through her tear stained face she said, "I don't want to loose my baby teeth, I like them so much.  And this loose one is my favorite tooth!"  This was followed by another complete breakdown.  I've been through three other children loosing their first tooth, this reaction was completely new for me.  My dad and brother were laughing, Jared was rolling his eyes at the dramatics and I was at a total loss.  She wouldn't eat anything but soup for dinner that night because she didn't want the tooth to fall out.  Keep in mind that this thing was barely moving.  Somebody could have hit her in the face and it still wouldn't have fallen out.  She eventually decided that it was okay and that she could, indeed, allow this baby tooth, her favorite no less, to fall out.  So, tonight after dinner my baby lost her first baby tooth.  Now, she's really excited.  "That cute, tiny fairy will come tonight.  It's so tiny it's smaller than my eye."  I sure love seeing the world through her eyes.