Welcome Home James!!!

Paul is obsessed with Barack Obama! He is constantly pointing him out on TV and the computer, and every time he sights Obama, he lets us all know it very enthusiastically! James couldn't resist bringing home this "action figure" of Obama, and of course, it was like Christmas for Paul. It's really funny how Obama has become so celebritized. We aren't even Democrats, but our kids have seen so much of him that they know exactly who he his. They even include him in their prayers - and that's a very good thing!


James got to go back to VA, where we used to live, for a training meeting last week. He was gone for 5 days and had the opportunity to see some old friends, play soccer, and enjoy familiar surroundings. We missed him lots and were ready for him to come home. The boys had fun coloring this welcome home sign, and James was very excited about his surprise! This is only the second time in 6 1/2 years that James has been asked to travel, but I wish it would happen more often. He really missed us too, and was very expressive about how much he loves us :)










Alanna got all dressed up for Daddy's homecoming. Of course, she was the most missed! She actually wrote her dad a distress email while he was gone. It went something like "Please help me! I haven't had ice cream or chocolate for days! I have had to eat baby cereal and pureed vegetables! Mom is torturing me! Please come home soon!"

Saving Money????

I was so excited to find recipes for Girl Scout cookies online. I love the Samoas and Thin Mints, and Tagalongs...all of them actually :) James would highly disapprove of me spending $4 on a box of them, and I like to bake, so I wanted to try out these copy cat recipes. Theoretically, I could save a considerable amount of money too. Unless... I skewered my finger in the process!


I was trying to use a fondue fork to dip the thin mint cookies into the chocolate mixture, which wasn't the best idea since they are thin and crunchy, but I wanted them to look good. I was doing the typical mom thing (doing 20 things at once and listening to three kids blabber), and all of the sudden I looked down to see the fondue fork going in one side of the fleshy part of my middle finger and out the other! I wish I had taken a picture of the mess, but I of course panicked and pulled it out right away. It didn't hurt one bit, there was very little blood, but that made the whole accident seem even more gross to me! It was as if I skewered some chicken for a kabob or something. Anyhow, after several phone calls to inquire if I needed a tetanus shot, I finally got one. Apparently, they are giving mothers of newborns a DPT shot in the hospitals now to prevent transmission of the whooping cough. I didn't get one of those 8 months ago, maybe because Alanna was born in the summer, or maybe they hadn't started them yet.


So, this batch of thin mints I made ended up costing me over $20 (co-pay to see the Dr. plus ingredients), and for some reason they just aren't so appetizing to me anymore. I doubt my family will want to eat them because of the association they now have with my punctured finger!

Visit with Great Grandma

My Grandma, my kid's great grandma Perkins visited us today. She is here from KY, and her first stop was our house to see the grandkids. It was difficult to get a picture with all of them looking, but Paul and Alanna are really cute in this one. Jackson has his dad and Grandpa Joe's "picture smile" down pretty good! Anyway, this is the kid's only living great-grandparent, and they are lucky to be able to play with her and build some memories with her.

My Big Boy...

I had a parent-teacher conference for Jackson this past Friday to go over his Kindergarten readiness. I just can't believe that he will be starting Kindergarten so soon, and he's really learned everything he needs to be prepared! It's so cool to see Jackson reading to Paul! He started with easy reader books and is moving on to more difficult levels know. His preschool teacher does sight word flashcards with the kids, and she said Jackson always knows the words right away. It's so much fun to have a child who is so eager to learn! I'm so proud of him. Paul, on the other hand, would rather be running around the house or climbing and getting into mischief! He is definitely more motivated by fun! It's funny how different the boys are, but we really love watching them both grow and develop their unique personality.

It's FINALLY coming...

Spring!!!!! Now in UT, we usually get teasers, meaning one week of warm weather, and then the next week it snows. And it goes back and forth, back and forth, and then on to really hot weather. So, although I can't get too excited, this week has been one of those warm teasers. I have been so jealous reading comments on Facebook from friends around the country who are playing at the park and taking walks with their kids. It was finally my turn!!!! I have to admit, part of the reason that I am so excited for summer weather is dressing Alanna in her adorable hats and summer clothes I've been collecting for her since before she was born! I LOVE it!!!!

Kids these days...

James and I teach the 9 year old class in Primary for our ward. This past Sunday, one of the boys announced that it was his birthday, and he was now 10 years old. I wished him a Happy Birthday, and the kids all asked if he had a party and who was invited etc. I asked him the obvious, "So what did you get for your birthday?" He said "nothing yet". I said "your parent's didn't get you anything? What did you ask them for?" He said he didn't know what to ask for. Another girl in the class, very matter- of- factly explained to me: "You know, when we were kids, we wanted tons of stuff. It was easy to tell our parent's what we wanted. But, now we are grown up, and it's like we have everything." I tried really hard not to laugh because by this point the other kids were agreeing with her very seriously. I am a grown up, and I have a very long list of things that I want!

A Pot of Gold!

The Uncles took Paul and Jackson on a Leprechaun hunt to find their pot of gold.










Here are our cute little Leprechauns with their festive "Leprechaun catchers!" We had a fun time explaining what Leprechauns are - little green Irish men who are tricky and hide their pot of gold for us to find. Little did they know that the Pot of Gold they found was hidden by their 6'6" uncle who doesn't look a bit Irish! He is pretty tricky though, and the boys never caught on to the "secret."






Alanna must have talked her dad into giving her a taste of chocolate! I think she loved it. James will cave into to her every whimper! She's got him wrapped around her little finger already! We are probably the worst parents ever. The boys never had half of the treats that Alanna gets at her age.





The fun scavenger hunt led them to a "Pot of Gold" filled with candy, animal crackers, and a soccer ball! Thanks to the Leprechaun Uncles for putting it all together. The boys had so much fun - they are so lucky to have such fun and involved Uncles! The fun scavenger hunt led them to a "Pot of Gold" filled with candy, animal crackers, and a soccer ball! Thanks to the Leprechaun Uncles for putting it all together. The boys had so much fun - they are so lucky to have such fun and involved Uncles!

Temple Open House...

We were privileged to visit the Draper Temple this afternoon. It was so exciting for our boys to be able to see the inside of the temple, since they have waited outside of it for so many of their aunts and uncles weddings this past year! They were most intrigued by the baptismal fount full of water. An old man stopped and asked Jackson, "Are you going to always remember this?" I hope that he will remember the beauty and peace the temple offers, and strive to live worthy to enter it someday!

FINALLY...

My little Alanna ate sweet potatoes two nights in a row! She opened her mouth for them, and she swallowed them and didn't even spit them out! Amazingly, she has never done that before. Table foods are okay, but she just must not like the texture and bland taste of the baby food - but maybe sweet potatoes are OK!

The Sun...

Yesterday at the breakfast table (we are a family who eats breakfast all together, because since James sets his own schedule, he generally goes into work late, and gets home well after the kids eat dinner!) Jackson started asking questions about the sun (for example: what is it made of, how do we know it is made of gases, why hasn't anyone ever been there, etc.) James LOVES to get into long winded lectures about every detail of these types of questions, while I was just trying to remember the words to the "Sun" song from Jr. High Ecology (remember: "The sun is a mass of incandescent gas, a nuclear furnace burning..." Ang, Melinda, or Tanya, if you remember the rest, let me know!) Anyhow, Paul was listening to all of this, and later on started asking his own questions about the sun. Finally, he told me, and I quote, "You MUST take it out of the sky, NOW! I don't like it!" He's a pretty funny kid!