SUPERCROSS

In April, Elliott exposed me to my first Supercross race. I have seen parts of them on TV but have never been to one in person. Much to my surprise it was a lot of fun. First off going anywhere without kids is fun. We were lucky because it had stopped raining that evening so we didn't have to sit in any rain. It was really cold but we layered and were fine. It was a good race between Chad Reed and James Stewart. I didn't really care who won but it was fun seeing them passing each other up (alright maybe I wanted Chad Reed to win a little). It is pretty amazing seeing them ride those bikes. They make it look so easy when in reality it is not and would be scary to go over those jumps. And the start of the race where they all head towards the same corner at the same time...eeeeeekkk. . . .s-c-a-r-y!

Reverence...What?

I teach in RS on the fourth Sunday every month. This coming Sunday my lesson is on Respect and Reverence. I just can't get past the thought of "yeah right...ME teach about REVERENCE!! Have they not seen MY girls during Sacrament Meeting?" Sacrament Meeting is the most painful 1 1/2 hours EVER! Some weeks are definitely better than others. On those really bad days it seriously takes everything out of me to not just walk out and go home. I have had older mothers tell me that they were frustrated when they had little ones but now miss it...WHATEVER! It is their way of trying to make you feel better but NO one in their right mind will miss non stop talking, fighting, crying, having to go to the bathroom...really really bad, need to get a drink or they will die, crackers smashing in the carpet,...need I go on? Even if they are being "good" they still may be playing with their toy or coloring loud or decide they just feel like singing a song or in our case laughing really loud (even if it is Addy's cute laugh). To sit in a Sacrament Meeting a be able to just sit there and listen...What would that be like?

10 Reasons Why Alyssa Loves Me

One thing you can always expect as a mother every Mother's Day is the homemade gifts your children make in preschool/school. They are always so proud of their work and as a mother it leaves you guilt ridden on what in the world do you do with the gift. This year Alyssa gave me a coupon book (of things she will do and don't you know I will take full advantage of ALL of them). She also gave me a book that was bound with all of the stitchery she did over this past year in school, and finally a paper that had the top ten reasons why she loved me. It goes as follows with her spelling:

10 I love my Mom because she reads me books.

9 I love my Mom because she helps me do my homework.

8 I love my Mom when she makes me laugh by tickleing me.

7 I love my Mom because she taught me how to take a shower.

6 I love to hear my Mom sing songs.

5 I love my Mom because she finds time to play a game.

4 I know my Mom cares because she loves me and my family.

3 I know my Mom is smart because she knows Math.

2 I love my Mom because she works so hard at keeping the house clean.

1 I love my Mom because she's the best MOM EVER!


My favorite are numbers 7 and 3. #2 is sweet because at least someone is taking notice. I haven't decided to find a small box that I stash it all in or just take pictures of the gifts and chuck the stuff. If I have to keep it in a box for 20 year all so I don't hurt their feelings then I will.


The one reason I look forward for Mother's Day is because Elliott gives it to me as a complete day off. No cooking, no changing diapers, no putting the kids to bed, no dealing with whining kids, no nothing. For the most part Mother's Day was good despite my shower, with the water going from freezing cold to scalding hot every 1-2 minutes (this was annoying because the shower is my only place I can go to get away, for the most part) and not being able to sleep in because of early church, and that Elliott completly charred/burned the ribs (he got an A for effort). He/we made dinner for his Mom. I helped him the night before with all the prep work so all he had to do the next day was assemble and cook. Leaving less for me to do on the actual "day". I did make a four layer German Chocolate cake from scratch for desert that was YUM. I also find it hard to enjoy the day for me when we also have mothers that we feel should be taken care of as well.

Funny Faces

One day in the summer of 2005, Elliott went out to the motocross track when we lived in Casper. Kylee and Alyssa wanted to go and play while he rode around. About a week later he was going through his pictures on his cell phone. Apparently for entertainment the girls took pictures of each other making funny faces. This one of Alyssa took the prize. It brought nothing but tears to the eyes. It is amazing that she is in fact a very normal child but for some reason can fool people in this picture. She had recently mastered the ability to cross her eyes and was very proud of this ability. When ever Elliott needed a good laugh...Alyssa's picture it was. Elliott leaves tomorrow and will be gone for a month but will come home for the weekend two weeks out. I figured he can look at this picture of Alyssa when he needs a laugh because every time I see it I can't help but laugh and I have seen it many times.

BOB

Addy's new favorite thing is "BOOOOOOB" as in "Bob the Builder". When she gets sad she will ask for her "gankie" (blankie) and "BOB". She loves to watch Bob the Builder and frankly it is the cutest thing that she loves BOB of all shows. We have a DVD that has a bunch of different kids shows, Bob the Builder, Barney, etc and for some reason she has become attached to Bob. It isn't very long but hey if that guarantees me 15 minute I take it because nothing else on TV catches her attention. I am not a big fan of letting the TV entertain your kids but it is amazing what a mom can do with 15 minute WITHOUT interruptions (and I have a lot to do right now).

Armpits

Ryann told me that she couldn't wear a certain shirt because people would see her armpits.

Yesterday we had dinner at the park. I was the last to get in the car and failed to notice Ryann's "outfit". She will change her clothes too many times to keep up. She was wearing capris with Kylee's nylons (that are too big for her) underneath with white sandals. She looked like an old lady. Her shirt didn't match her capris either. Lovely, I love it when they look homely in public.

Saving BIG on Groceries!

I am so excited I just had my first experience going grocery shopping and using coupons! I know this may sound dumb but really it can be so exhilarating to save a bunch of money at the store. A month ago a friend of mine invited me to this class that taught you how to use coupons. It is so easy!! I get 5 Sunday newspaper coupons plus my in-laws. You get one Sunday paper per person in your family. They I take the coupon inserts date them and place them in a file. Then I go to a free website that will let you click on what ever store you want to shop at. It will pull up what is on sale that week and what items you can use coupons for to get the great deal! It will rate them for you so you know if it is a good deal and it will tell you what Sunday paper the coupon is found. You can highlight and print your list of the site. EASY AND GREAT! It gets you to buy ahead on items so you can wait to buy when they come on sale again later. It is a great way to build up your food storage. It is when you combine the coupon with the sale item that helps. It takes a couple of weeks until you can start using the coupons but so worth it and it does not take a lot of time! I took the older girls with me to Albertsons and we went coupon shopping! We got 19 boxes of cereal! They were in heaven. At the end of the trip they were so amazed by how much money we saved! When the checker ask me for my coupons...oh did I have some coupons...I handed her 42 coupons! I spent $98.77 and saved $168.83 plus earned two free movie tickets and got more money off for their gas reward program. We later that week filled up our tank at Albertsons with $1.30 off per gallon! It feels so great to save some money! This week I was on and saw with a coupon you could get Suave Shampoo for 31 cents! I personally don't use Suave but it is great for my girls and 31 cents...hello you can't even buy a pack of gum for that! The website I use is GrocerySmarts.com. As far as I know it only provides service for Utah and Nevada. You can also print coupons off from their site and it is not a long painful process. I felt like the lady on the Ikea commercial that sees how much money she saved and ran out telling her hubby to start the car because she got such a good deal.

Unloading the goods.

I even used a coupon to get the reusable bags. Now if only I can remember to bring them..

Alyssa was so amazed how long the receipt ended up.