School House Rock, and camping fun! (Warning!!! Picture Overload!!)

What a busy week we have had! First we had Alison and Tyler's play, they made it into a play for Herriman City for School House Rock Live JR! They tried out in mid July, made the cut and practiced twice a week for a month! They worked hard and I watched Trevin and Carli during the practices. They had 3 groups of kids in the 3 casts, ours was red, and the whole cast combined made up 118 kids!! The experience was so much fun! They even got to be on the channel 2 news and had to be there at 5:30 am!! Lucky for me Jarin took them and I sat home and recorded it! Each cast performed 3 songs, ours were Interplanet Janet, Adjectives, and Circulation, then all three groups at the end performed Interjections. Even their cousin Amber (she and Deven told them about the tryouts when we went to see them in Sound of Music) got to be in the backstage crew helping it all run smoothly! All the grandparents came, cousins and Uncle Jed and Aunt Laura and some friends which made it even more exciting! I am going to add the links to video in the side bar but here are a few pictures.....

A shot of all the groups together at the dress rehearsal practicing the last song.

Tyler had fun shooting squirt guns in the Adjective song when they talked about rain! The second picture I thought was great of Tyler Showing his "scared" face as part of the song actions.

In the song Interplanet Janet when Janet visits Earth she finds the people are a little weird, so the kids got to put on glasses with noses!

A picture with their cousin Amber and of course signing autographs!

I love my kids! They did a great job!

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Then on Friday we went camping with the ward, I'll admit we weren't to excited to go, we had to wait till Jarin got home from work to go and then didn't get up there till 8:30, but I had to be there for the activity committee, I had the smore's and the cheese for the next morning breakfast. We got there and had a hard time finding a spot for our tent but our friend Adam helped Jarin and they got it set up in time for bed. But we did get to roast a few marshmallows so not all was lost!!

Carli cried going to bed but eventually settled down while I sang to her, but she would only sleep with me holding her so I didn't get much sleep. Jarin got up early to help cook breakfast, build your own breakfast burritos and cold cereal or the kids! Then while things were getting cleaned up and I kept running after kids, a few of the grown were kind enough and very patient to help the kids on the rope swing, this was another Stakes property and we were allowed to borrow it.

The kids had so much fun on the swing, they took turns going several times, some getting wet since they were swimming over a little water that probably came up to the ankles. I had fun taking tons of pictures and I put them all up on Photobucket for the ward to have access to them.

There was also a bridge that the kids liked to walk across. I got a cute picture of CarliAnn. We were the second to last to leave and really had fun that Saturday, we are glad now that we went. Hopefully though next time we can camp for more than one night!

First Day of School!

The first day of school is bittersweet! I hate to see the summer end and the kids gone all day again, but I do like getting all the things done that I have been putting off all summer since it is harder to do with all the kids. Although only 2 went off to school, I still have 2 more at home, plus one baby I watch everyday and one more that I watch a couple times a week, although he will start kindergarten in another week so I won't get him in the mornings.

Ali starts 3rd grade this year and has a new teacher, she is from India and Alison is excited to learn about that country! She seems like a great teacher.

Ty is in 2nd grade and his teacher we already know is good! She has been at the school a few years already.

They are both excited and as per tradition we walk to and from school on the first day and after school have milk and cookies, it's the best way to get them to relax and spill the beans all about their first day!!

Let's go to Grandma's House!

Yesterday I finally got to go and visit my Grandma, it has been such a crazy few months I have been planning this for a while now. The original plan was to take all the kids an my mom before the kids start school next week, but Jarin's sister wanted to take the oler 3 kids to her house for a couple days to be with their cousins. I let them go and I took only CarliAnn and my mom down to Gunnison to visit my Grandma. (the little guy I babysit was home with his mom for the day!)

We stopped on the way to visit a couple farm stands to find out when the Pears were going to be ready, we bought some fresh sweet corn, tomatoes, cukes (that's what my mom called cucumbers, I had to ask her what she was talking about lol!) and a hot pepper for Jarin. Then we went a little further to the bbig Red Barn and bought 2 boxes of apricots for Jarin's sister and some great icce cream!! I stuck with normal chocolate flavors, a brownie one and a chocolate oreo, and then added a scoop of Cookie Dough since it was white for Carli. Mom got Cinimamon and a scoop of licorice. I didn't think I would like them but they were great, the cinnamon tastes like cinnamon taffy.

When we got to grandma's her sister in law was there an we visited, a neighbor brought over some banana bread and then we just enjoyed eachother. After a while we decided to eat some dinner. I love eating at grandma's, you pull out everything you can and throw it all on the table, always to much to eat! We of course boiled up some of the corn, and cut up fresh tomatoes and cucumber, then added bread, a little Turkey, some noodles and viola a great meal! Carli had never eaten corn before, we tried to show her how to hold it and she quickly put her mouth over the end of it, we laughed and then showed her again and she got it and loved it. I wish I had a picture of her first attempt though! Then Grandma had some wildflowers that needed to be thinned out, so we all went outside. immediately we were attacked by mosqiutos!! Carli cried as one got her and I got one to, I got two more before I could get to the car and find the bug spray, after that I only got one more. Carli loved being outside and running all over, she was running a nd playing the whole day with out stopping. Including crawling around on the grass and driveway then rolling around in the dead patch of grass grandma had, just one patch in her entire beautiful yard and CarliAnn found it! Then she found a piece of curbing cement and sat down, no clue why but she was cute!

After the weeding work was done mom and grandma took a seat to relax and called Carli over to join them, she was so cute, when we first arrived she was quiet, but all it took was asking her to give great grandma a piece of candy and then grandma sharing it with her, they are best of friends now. She also was playing peek a boo with my mom. It was so nice to go down for the visit and as much as the other kids would have loved to go and I would have loved that too, it was nice a quiet with only one child there, peaceful! And since CarliAnn's middle name is named after my great grandma, it was a special time for her to have her undivided attention! She has an amazing line of women to learn from!

Fathers and Sons campout = Girls night!

So Jarin took the boys on a Fathers and sons overnighter so the girls had fun too! We went out to dinner, I wanted to show Alison a nicer Italian restaurant than we usually take the kids to, she still ordered pizza though!! LOL! We went to Johnny Carino's and just like last month for my birthday I got the Chicken Milano, So yummy!!! And we had Italian soda with cream, she loved that! And also tried the Italian nachos which I thought I wouldn't like but it was good too!

Of course we went shopping and finally found Ali a new pair of shoes for school, and then rented a movie to go home and watch. We put Carli to bed then watched the Spiderwick Chronicles. We liked it, I liked that Alison was scared of it at first but then it resolved itself in the end and she liked it alot. Then she got to sleep in my bed with me and we got up to have an omelet in the morning with tons of cheese!

The guys had fun too, they tried to cook hot dogs on the fire but they were full of others cooking so they sent our friend Erik, who went with them, to get a pizza around the corner, gotta love a campground in the middle of the city!! They watched Incredibles with the group from the stake, and then went to bed late. Trevin kept getting up to go potty, so poor daddy had to keep taking him, it's one thing to take him at home but camping means getting shoes and more layers then getting out of the tent to walk to a far off bathroom. They still had fun and can't wait til next year!

I love couponing!

I finally got out today, been watching so many kids I can't get out much!! One more week til school starts! I thought I would share, this wasn't my best shopping trip so I won't share all the prices but it was a fun day.
I went to WAGs and did the cereal deal (4 for$2) and Nutrigrain bars (4 for $2) and pop tarts (5 for $3), did the deals twice! Got $5 Register Rewards for each set!!! $30 to spend later!

Also hit Smiths and not only did I get my free 4 bags of Malt-o-meal cereal, cheap .50 cent Crest toothpaste and a few other things, but they were celebrating Harvest Days and having drawings every 15 min for stuff and sample tables all over. Oh wow, Reese's did it this time, new Reese's select clusters! Think a soft turtle with nuts, chocolate, carmel and Reese's PB filing!!! So good! Way better than Nutrageous (that's what I thought it would taste like) After sampling those I took two bags and their BOGO coupon! Then I won a drawing and got a yummy Pumpkin pie! The kids loved it for dessert. Then an employee handed me a coupon booklet he said "since you have a full cart" and it was full of FREE coupons for Kroger brand stuff, like Apple Juice, already cooked bacon, mustard, popcorn, frozen veggies, hamburger buns and tons more! So just when I thought I was done, I was wandering the store again searching for these items, heck they were FREE!

Lastly I made it to Macey's to get some powdered milk and other Emergency Preparedness stuff, got cheap lunch meat, bread, and hamburger. The register rang up the one box of can rotator shelf I needed as $299.99! Yikes, it was only $29.99.

Not my best deals, but a good and fun shopping day! I'll have to post my deals on an awesome day, hopefully a Quaker sale is coming soon!!

CarliAnn Turns 2!

I can't believe my baby is 2! She is so big! She is wearing 2T-3T clothes, loves to eat, play with the big kids, and talk! Yep she's my daughter!! I love it when she is running next me while I exercises and repeatedly says "I'm running" She also amazed us that she is the first of our kids at this age who can say her "L"s and "R"s perfectly although she does have an adorable lisp. I love to hear her say "I'm finithed" when she is done eating.
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For her birthday we had a little party with Grandma's and Grandpa's and our friends the Hansen's. Jarin's parents got her a new baby doll that babbles and moves and sucks a bottle, she loves it and tries to share her fruit snacks with it. My parents got her new books and a fishy toy, she loves book and even carried the Elmo one with her to exercising over at the church, she wouldn't put it down. The Hansen's got her Blue's Clue's dolls that play hide and go seek, she loves them! She doesn't seem to favor any gift over another, she goes from one to the next all day long.

We got her an alphabet fridge toy, and a new trike that even we can steer, unfortunately it is a little big for her still and she fell of the first night, luckily it was on the carpet. For now though it won't be going outside to the cement though, don't want to see her fall out there!

We got some video of her and her cake, so cute, she was enjoying tasting it but then we put candles on it and lit them up, she didn't like that at all!! Then when I tried to show her how to blow out the candles she was scared by the smoke!

And lastly, when she first went to open her presents instead of opening them she walked around bowing with a huge fake laugh! We tried to get it on video but it didn't work, I did at least get these pictures, none of us could figure out what she was doing, it was really funny.

Then before Uncle Karl left he was playing the piano, she loves to play and so she climbed up next to him to play too.

Breaking Dawn

So I finally started to read the Twilight series around the first of July, they are interesting. Stephenie Meyer keeps you turning the pages with new and unexpected things one after the other. I started reading because everyone keeps telling me to, and because the movie is coming out in December and I have never read a book before the movie and once I see the movie I have no desire to read the book, like the Harry Potter books. I know it's hard to believe, but most of the books I read are LDS authors.

I love a book that stretches beyond what is normal reality but explains it in a way that it could be true and happen today. Such as time travel, Angels, etc. Not usually Aliens but if it's not gross and gory then I'll give it a shot, I love E.T. These books definitely do that with Vampires and Werewolves, you really start to think there could possibly be Vampires living among us in secret!

So once I read the first book, I went onto the next which wasn't as good, harder to get through the middle although I liked how she put the name of each month on each page, as you turned you felt like the time really passed, instead of just saying, "6 months later..." She does a few things like this in her books that are new and refreshing. The second book New Moon picked up at the end and finally I had to read the next one!

The 3rd book was Eclipse, also a good fast read, I had it read in less than a week over 600 pages. By then it was Wednesday and the last book was coming out on Friday! I picked the perfect time, no waiting months for the next one. So then I decided to do something else I have never done, go to a midnight release party for the book. I pre ordered it and the day of the party you were supposed to go to Barnes and Noble to get a bracelet for your place in line to get your copy. I had to many kids to fit in my car that day so Jarin was sweet and decided to go get one for me before work. He got there and couldn't believe how long the line was, it was from the Barnes and Noble on the corner past the TJ Max, Lane Bryant, Old Navy, Dress Barn, Payless shoes, Maytag, Famous Footwear, Bath and Body and down to the Roberts!!! It was to long for him to wait so he went back at lunch and got one, #700-725! It was only my back up plan, I planned to go to the party then run up to Walmart when they kicked everyone out at 11:00 and wait in a much shorter line and pay less, which is what I did, it was great!

Before the line up at the party there would be games, and Edward and Bella characters ( the main characters of the books) dressed in wedding clothes that you could take pictures with. I just took a picture of them though.

Not like I pictured them at all but he has a good devilish grin!

I couldn't believe how many people were there and how many I knew! After I got my book at Walmart by 12:01AM and then check out a few minutes later, i decided to get myself a Wendy's Frosty and really quick run down to check out how much longer I would have waited, they were still lined up to the Old Navy at 12:35AM!! I talked to a friend and from what she said I would have gotten my book about 1:20 AM!

I stayed up reading til 5:00 AM!

*****Update*****

I finished the book on Wednesday afternoon, probably would have been sooner but I had to clean the house and make a birthday cake for CarliAnn, I wish it would have lasted longer though. Aside from a few parts that were a bit drawn out I really enjoyed the read!!