Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Girl Time

We had a lot of GIRL TIME this month. Luke went on a business trip to Anaheim, California for a trade show.  While he was gone we did lots of girlie things like have nail painting parties, making sugar cookies with lots and lots of pink frosting, and preparing for Tianna's school party.   We also hung out a lot with our friend Melissa and her cute girl, Sophie while her husband as in Cali with Luke. 



Adelia and Linaya watched a movie together :) for a minute... 
Snuggling with Mommhy
See! there's that concerned look she gets whenever the camera comes out. She WAS smiling before
So sweet! 
Linaya thinks she needs to start rolling over already. She gets very close but then ends up back on her back
It was so nice to be able to talk to Luke every morning and night on Google+ so we could see his cute face.  It was also nice that he was just 1 time zone away and not many hours time difference like when he was in Japan last year.  

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Finishing up Random January stuff

Luke had a boys over-nighter and ice-fishing excursion with his friends on Jan 18-19th, so the girlies and I took off to Price to attend cousin, Jocelyn's princess tea-party birthday! Added bonus, we were able to celebrate cousin, Aden's birthday the night before at McDonalds play-place since we weren't able to attend his actual party the Sunday prior.  (wish we could make it to every family event!) 

But we knew well in advance about Jocelyn's party, and so luckily could make it. Tianna wanted to dress up as Rapunzel and Adelia wanted to dress like Minnie Mouse. She INSISTED she have her face painted like Minnie too. And if you know Adelia, you KNOW how persistent she can be. 
It was a really cute party. The kids loved it. 

Sweet Linaya dear turned 3 MONTHS OLD on the 23rd.
And she discovered her HANDS! Now that is alllllll that child wants to do! It was quite the task to get a picture of her without her fists shoved into her mouth. Silly girl. 
It is SO hard to get a picture of her smiling. She always stops smiling as soon as I take the picture and makes an "ooooooooooo what is that?" face instead.  Finally I got one, but I had to be looking at her and not through the lens to get it! 



So.... our cat has a crush. It's on the little Rapunzel polly pocket doll. This video shows him on the hunt for her. He bypasses all other dolls in search of his beloved. Whenever he does find her, he takes off and will defend his prize at all costs.. 

Unfortunately, my camera ran out of disk space RIGHT when he found her so you miss that part. In the end you miss him grabbing her in this mouth and running off to hide with his Rapunzel.  He captured the poor poor princess. 


And last on my January stuff.......... Winter. 
This has been a crazy winter. Between the continual snow fall, the COLD! and the inversion............ ug. After a few really nice days that melted much of the snow, winter showed her face again and blew really really hard, leaving these crazy drifts outside our house. 
That black thing is our barbecue! 

Now, a month later, it's still snowing and that drift is still present. I.Am.Ready.For.Spring! 



Tianna's INSPIRATION

In public school it's known as "Reflections" but at a Charter school, like the one Tianna attends, they refer to it as, "INSPIRATIONS." 
There are various categories like: Visual Art, Literature, Music, Photography, Dance, Film... etc.
And this year's theme was "Beauty Is..." 
Tianna decides she wanted to enter the photography category. She took a picture of a sunset (taken on my b-day!) and titled it:
"Beauty is.... At the Close of Every Day"  
 I thought it turned out pretty well! It was just with our point and shoot camera with absolutely no editing..... just enlarged and then printed at Costco.

She ended up winning 2nd place at her school in the K-2 division! 
I've never seen a child more proud of winning a ribbon! She told everyone she saw that day. 

ps- don't mind her ragged appearance. Her mother was really busy that morning and didn't leave enough time to make her cute for the assembly :) 
Her photo ended up moving on to the regional competition and the awards assembly was last Friday, February 22nd. 
Turns out SHE WON FIRST PLACE at the REGION level! GO TIANNA! 
 I love how Luke captured the pink-coat girl admiring the piece :) 
Now her photo is headed off to the State competition. Keep ya'all posted on that now :) 

_______________________________________________________________
And just because it's funny------- this is how I caught Tianna sitting while watching a movie. Seriously, how can that be comfortable? 

28 is GREAT

I turned 28 in January.  We celebrated by going to a DIVINELY yummy restaurant in Provo, called Bombay House. I discovered last summer, when I rather unwillingly, tried Indian food, that I am in love with this dish called Chicken Tikka Masalla. Ohhh it's soooooooooooooooo so good!

It may not look all that great, but trust me. It is. My mouth is watering just seeing this picture! 
 Tianna made me a birthday badge in which I was instructed to wear ALL DAY LONG :)
 For dessert the waiter brought me MANGO ICECREAM! oh, yeah!!!!!!!
 The cake, and my fun surprise from Luke----- my very own tablet! Unfortunately, we had to send it back.. it had issues. But.......it was awesome anyway!
 It's a sad day when you require more candles than the box holds. 
 Sweet Linaya gave me a wonderful gift. She slept all the way through dinner! And THAT, my friends, is a beautiful thing!

A few days later, Luke and I went on a double date with our wonderful friends, Janelle and Ed Robinson and of course, Miss Ellie :)
Janelle's birthday is just before Christmas and mine is a few weeks after, so in lieu of Christmas and Bday presents, we prefer to go out to dinner together (or something like that.)
This time we met up at Tucanos for Brazillian bbq, which means food, food, and more food! 
 the Robinsons's
It was a great birthday! Can't wait to enjoy the rest of my 29th year (wow that sounds so much worse than 28!) 
Why is it that I still feel like I should be 20? 

Life in January

First thing that comes to mind when I think back on January, is SMOG. OH it was so bad this year.  This picture does NOT do it justice. In fact, this was one of the first days that seemed "clear!" 
 One day in early Jan. we made snowflakes to decorate the sliding glass doors.
 Adelia took a super cute picture of Tianna. Look at Miss Toothless! Before long she lost the one next to the front teeth so she had 3 in a row missing and the 1 directly under it. 
 Linaya discovered her tongue. 
The kids were playing "Wedding Reception" and I just had to laugh and laugh (silently of course. Wedding's are serious business!)  This was the sign in book
This was their receiving line. They pretended to welcome guest after guest and instruct them where to place their gift. I was honored to attend the wedding celebration of such a cute couple! 
The cat's favorite place is in the sunlight that shines into the girl's bedroom closet. 



Our Goals for 2013

I am so behind! I really wanted to post our goals, and I know it's long and boring (like the last post)
But I still want to post our New Years goals for record keeping's sake.  Then I can start on all the normal picture filled posts for January and February! YAY!

If you don't care to read, I totally get it, but at least scroll down and see the cute pictures of our beautiful daughters :)

Tianna 6, Adelia 3.5, Linaya 3 months

Our  2013 Family Goals

  •  Review goals more often. 

Food Storage/Self Reliance:

  • Keep cars gassed up (so we can go HOME to our families)
  • Make and review a fire escape plan
  • build a rotation system for food storage
  • live within our budget better
  • stock up on ammo (this one just PAINS Luke........... uh huh.)
Church

  • Read Pearl of Great Price and Old Testament
    •  Read everyday and pay more attention
    • Spend time explaining and discussing 
  • Temple
    • Plan ahead and follow through once a month
  • Be to Church 10 minutes early
  • Put more effort in planning Family Home Evenings
Family Life

  • Renew Pass of All Passes for fun, cheap entertainment
  • Eat healthy dinners together
  • Travel less, spend more time as our own family
House Projects
  • Organize storage rooms
  • Move Laundry room downstairs
  • FINISH BASEMENT!
  • keep house cleaned up
  • tidy garage
Yard
  • Get the grass out of the garden boxes
  • power rake the lawn
  • plant flowers
  • move the rosebush
Financial
  • pay off credit card each month
  • move money to IRA and Savings Account
  • Save, Save Save

    • price match groceries
    • eat at home more often
    • stay home more often
    • determine needs, not wants better
  • Pay tithing and offerings whenever get paid and not pile it up
Luke's 2013 Goals
Home/Family
  • Spend more FOCUSED time with family
  • train Copper
  • Watch the tone of voice used with family
  • have more patience with the children
Physical
  • Lose 30 Pounds
    • track calories on Myfitnesspal.com, 
    • exercise with Blake 2 x a week, 
    • fun family activities
    • Drink less soda
Church/Spiritual
  • Study church lessons each week
  • read Book of Mormon
    • 30 minutes of daily study time
  • Home teaching 
  • Home teaching reports each month
  • attend Temple monthly
  • Improve personal prayer
Work
  • go earlier, come home earlier
  • continue to improve skills and contribute to the company
Misc. 
  • Go to Front Sight
    • save money up
Mary's 2013 Goals
Home and Family
  • Stop yelling at kids so easily
  • have more patience
  • get ready to go places earlier, lessen stress and anger
  • have better schedule
Physical
  • Lose 20 lbs
    • use myfitnesspal.com to track calories
    • attend work out 3 x a week or exercise at home
    • start running again
    • floss
    • wear my contacts
Spiritual/Church
  • 30 minutes of daily study
  • read Ensign each month
  • 1 conference talk a week
  • Get Primary songlist done by last Sunday of each month
    • prepare Primary stuff ahead of time
  • Visit teach each month
  • Pray for my sister's I teach
  • improve on morning prayers
Misc. 
  • Fine a play to be in
  • do more crafts

Tianna's Goals
Family/Home
  • Be quiet in the morning so not to wake everyone
  • do what asked the first time
  • be a kinder sister
  • be a peacemaker--be like Jesus
  • Keep room/toys cleaned up
  • Keep Bathroom clean
Physical
  • Take medicine without complaining
  • brush teeth every morning
  • get glasses on every day
  • practice riding bike
  • continue doing well in dancing
School
  • work on reading (20 minutes a day)
  • Straight A's or at least DO YOUR BEST
  • Be a good student in all areas
  • Recognize numbers, write them correctly
  • stop writing letters and numbers backwards
Church
  • be more reverent
  • learn all the songs for the Primary program
  • choose the right
  • don't cry when can't bare testimony EVERY month
  • Support Dad in his calling and not whine when he does his meetings
Adelia's Goals
Home/Family
  • Do what told the first time
  • stop fighting with Tianna
  • Clean up after self
  • Be quiet when Linaya is sleeping
Physical
  • eat more fruits and vegetables
  • eat dinner quickly, even when you don't like it
  • stop having accidents-- no more pull-ups required
School
  • Practice counting
  • recognize letters and their sounds
  • get into preschool
Church
  • Be a good Sunbeam
  • stay with teacher, sit down and be a big girl
  • Don't come to Mommy while she is leading singing time
  • be more reverent during Sacrament meeting and scripture study at home
WEAR SEAT BELT-- Keep it on, wear it right, not throw a fit or complain about it

Linaya's goals
  • Continue to grow and stay cute
  • sleep through the night
  • Get on a schedule

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Tying a Ribbon on 2012

Some people hate New Years Resolutions, but I love them. The past few years we have sat down for a family home evening and set up family goals, and individual goals.  It's been neat to follow up each year and see how well we did at improving ourselves.

This is long, but I want a list of our 2012 goals and the outcome for our family's journal. Someday I'll be grateful for typing this up so in 30 years from now we can see what was important to us and how far we have come over the years. (hopefully)

2012 Goal Recap
FAMILY GOALS:
Food storage and Emergency preparedness-- Work on the Year Supply, finish 72 hour kits, Water storage, fire escape plan, keep cars gassed up, go camping to practice self reliance, organize what we have, make a rotation system.
How we did:  We worked on our year supply but there is always improvement and additions. We have our 72 hour kits put together and organized them into the garage by our camping gear for quick and easy GRAB AND GO.  We bought a huge water storage container, but we definitely need more than that.  We do need to keep the cars gassed better. and we did not get the food storage organized (but we did do it THIS month and Luke built a rotation system for the cans too)
We did succeed in going on quite a few camping trips. Each one helps us be more comfortable with roughing it and knowing what we have and what we need.

Buy a Truck-- Set money aside each pay check, possibly use tax return, shop around for the best deal.
results: We shopped around a bit and ended up with the best deal of all-- buying my sister Jana's truck. They had a sweet set up with a car dealer from their ward. They traded it in on a new truck, and he turned around and sold it to us at cost. Basically, it just helped Jana and Casey and helped us with the taxes and paperwork stuff.  We bought it out right with our tax return and some savings. All in all, a great investment!

Temple Each Month Schedule it, First FHE of each month set aside as planning night and schedule it in.
results: Not as great as we hoped. But most months at least one of us made it. We def need to improve in this area.

Yard-  Weed and feed the lawn, plant grass seed, build planter boxes, garden, move rose bush, paint front door, clean out window wells.
results:  Our lawn improved a lot! But the grass seed did not take. There are still weeds in the lawn, but much less. We built planter boxes and made a garden. It wasn't the most fruitful of gardens, but they say it takes several years.  WE did not pain the front door or move the rose bush.

House-- organize the garage. Finish basement: sand/texture walls, paint, molding and trim, carpet, door. Get carpet upstairs cleaned.
results:  We did organize the garage (mainly camp gear) and built shelves etc for tools. We did nothing on the basement (need $$) and we cleaned our carpets upstairs... it needs it again. *sigh*

Tianna's Goals
Family and Home Life---  
Be a good sister: help Adelia and be a good example to her and be more patient.
 Help mom and dad with: Laundry, keeping room clean, doing things quicker, and helping with dishes.
Go to bed on time and without complaint.
Results?  Pretty good! There's always room for improvement :)
Physical--- try new foods, take medicine without complaining, do her physical therapy without complaining, brush teeth morning and night.  Gain weight
Results: She truly expanded her variety of foods a lot this year. And gained enough weight to not be "under weight" now. However she still whines incessantly about her medicine each night.. we are working on that! and the morning brushing needs some help.
School---- practice reading, be brave for kindergarten shots, tour schools and decide which she will attend (guess this goal was mostly for her parents) improve in writing letters
Results:  Excellently! She is doing so great in school. She even survived Kindergarten shots and is half way done with her first year of school and has had straight A's all year. We are so proud of her. 
Church-- No whining about Scripture study. Be good in Primary. Choose the Right. and be more reverent in church.
Results: Still room for improvement but overall, she did pretty well

Adelia's Goals
Family and Home-- Stop throwing fits, talk nicely, listen more. Be a good sister: share, be nicer, show love.  Go to bed when we say. AND GET POTTY TRAINED!
Results-- She throws many less fits now and has become a lot easier and nicer. Thank heavens! she might live to see 4 after all ;) and she is potty trained..... nights are still difficult for her but she rarely has accidents in the day time.
Physical Eat more fruits and vegetables, get more sleep, exercise (let MOMMY exercise!)
Results she eats a lot more variety of foods now-a-days. She definitely sleeps more and usually lets me exercise without too many interuptions now.
School Count to 20 and learn ABC's
Results Funny thing, the MORNING after writing these goals she sang the ABC's almost completely by herself. for the first time! and she counts to 20 but mixes things up after about 14
Church Go to nursery nicely and be more reverent.
Results: Nursery was a battle.... but once she was there she did well. Reverence well........ needs improving. But hey, she's 3 so it's not too bad.

Mary's Goals: 
For home and family

  • Organize the filing and actually file more frequently.
  • Pay bills and write tithing checks when they come 
  • Cook dinner more, eat out less
  • Keep house picked up every day
  • plant the garden, weed often, and utilize what's grown. (the garden wasn't very successful as mentioned previously.)
  • Paint bedroom 
  • Be kinder and more loving
  • Have more patience
Results: Seeings as how my list for 2013 looks just about the same.... I'd say I still need to work on things here :)
Physical: Attend the work out group at the local church as often as possible (3 x a week) and train for a  half marathon.
Results: I did not run a half marathon. Why? I got pregnant :) and running 13 miles at 6 months preggo is NOT my idea of fun. But I did work out at the church clear up until September so I count this one a success! 
Church: read the Book of Mormon again
Results: I did and I ended around November sometime. 
Misc: Make friends and feel more at home in Santaquin
Results: I joined a book club that met each month and made a lot of friends that way. Bonus? Read some awesome books too! I made some wonderful friends from our ward and from my exercise group. Also Luke and I became really good friends with the people he works with, and their families. We have been very blessed in the friend department here. :)

Luke's Goals 
I think by the time we got to writing down Luke's we were burnt out. So........ his page was blank! hahaha. But I'm sure he accomplished many things (especially the yard and house projects)
Also, he finalized his Thesis and got it printed, bound and turned in.............. thus officially receiving his Masters of Science degree. Go Luke!!

I'm grateful for our goals, and I am glad we can look back and see how much we accomplished this past year.