where's waldo

 sweet baby bottom

hiding from the diaper after bath time.

we'll always have Hunter Douglas

So we had, what I at first, lovingly labeled the date from H***.

Expectation: Drive out to remote location, lay on top of car and look at stars bundled in blankets and drinking hot cocoa.

Reality: Lay on top of car in Hunter Douglas Parking lot in West valley to look at clouds.

We headed out and realized it was cloudy. Somehow neither of us remembered that clouds were a key detail of star gazing. Decided we didn't care, lowered our expectations significantly and kept on going. Got lost and ended up in Tooele...??? Could find NO WHERE to stop in Tooele....??? We started to worry because our gas gauge is broken and only has two settings: full and empty. We turned around to go get gas and realized we had no money with us...??? Crossed our fingers and started home. We pulled off at Saltaire but the roads were closed and Saltaire is CREEPY at night so that was a bust. After several stops on several different exits that had zero options for star gazing except in people's driveways, we had reached the city again. So, once again, we lowered expectations significantly and found this Hunter Douglas parking lot. We hopped out and snuggled up, laughed our heads off harder than we had in a long time, and left because it started to rain.

 

 

check.

 magnet board and magnetic US map for jack's room.

 3 different church bags to be rotated around. 

I made picture books with pictures from Ensigns, scripture color pages that he colors on with dry erase crayons, lacing cards that I made out of cereal boxes and ensign pictures, popsicle stick puzzles and a bunch of other things.

 I finally got my BLOG BOOK!!!

Valentine's

There is so much sadness in our lives and we go through so much that is tough

so I say to the world today

CELEBRATE Valentine's day and the chance to enjoy something that is good: LOVE.

Choose to show those around you that you love them to pieces. 

We work hard on our marriages, our relationships with kids, friends, parents, siblings, etc. 

So just take a day to enjoy your success and blessings!!

I am enjoying my two Valentine's

(although I am going to ditch the shorter one tonight so I can sneak Chinese food into a movie with the taller one)

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!

date night in a jar

so...

we decided to make a date night jar.

It's an old jar from DI that I filled with ideas for cheep (or free), no babysitter needed, unique dates.
now on friday night all we have to do is choose the date for the night and we are set.
no hassle.
that works really well for me right now.

anyway, these are some of the dates that we put in our jar.

i though someone out there might benefit from a few of the ideas but I also wondered if anyone else had any good ones. I will take any help I can get.

Thanks!!

Drive-In in the garage: Get blankets, popcorn, etc. and with a lap top or a projector if you have one go to the drive-in in your garage. (this could be done in the backyard, too)

Book Store (or library): browse the store for your favorite books. write funny notes on scratch paper and leave them inside the books for future, unsuspecting readers.

Rent a movie you have never seen before. Set it on mute and improvise dialog.

Wishing: Get a roll of pennies from the bank and go around to all of the fountains in the area and make wishes.

Photo Booth: go to the dollar store and secretly pick out 3 items for the other person to wear. Go to the mall and take pictures in outfits at the photo booth.

Roller Rink: I found out we have a roller rink in Lehi.  (I think that perhaps sequins and spandex would be an excellent choice of attire for this activity.)

Flash light hide and go seek: wait until it is dark and play hide and go seek in your house with flashlights.

With a camera and a pair of books, make a photolog of a day in the life of the invisible man.

Pajama Game: go to walmart or a dollar store and find cheep, ugly, matching pajamas. Put the pajamas on and wear them while you go out to get a movie at redbox, go get dinner, etc. Come home and play board games.

Star Gazing: Put baby to sleep in the car. Drive out to where you can see the stars. Put blankets and pillows on top of the car and look at the stars.

We have the old school sega and mario cart so that is one of our date nights.

Book store: 1. Find the funniest joke. 2. find names for your next 10 children. 3. Find a new hobby to do together some day.

**this one actually does require a babysitter** Fake engagement: Go out to dinner somewhere kind of nice and give hubs the wedding ring. Let him propose and pretend like it is for the first time.

Secret agent night: Go out with everything you need to be a secret agent. Mission Impossible music, a notepad, binoculars. Dress in all black and get in the car. Pick another car on the road and follow it to see where they are going. Don't follow it too long or they will call the cops, though. Not good.

Side walk chalk: walk around the city and draw on things with sidewalk chalk.

Dress like French artists. Go outside to a cafe. Write a book of fiction together. When you get stuck, ask strangers for inspiration.

Psychiatrist Date: put glasses on and dress the part. Ask each other questions to get to know things about each other. We re ask each other the basics like favorite color and favorite foods because those things tend to change after a while.

Word night: eat alphabet soup, do mad libs, and play boggle.

a foot or two.

 

m and d have grown a foot or two 

and are leaving on their mission to Canada.

they got set apart as mission presidents the other day so we did some family pictures.

And now I am off to girls camp!!

wish me luck!!!

fake camping, real hiking

 

tin foil dinners in the oven

camping in the backyard

p.s. can I just brag that I found this tent at DI?? i love it.