This is what my kids do with their spare time...

From 2009

As I'm running around, packing carry-ons, printing out tickets, doing boring mommy stuff, this is what I see in the kitchen. What is not captured in the 

picture is the large pile of baby wipes and hand 

towels they have used to clean the stove and front 

of all of the cabinets. They were so proud! Why does

Naomi look like "Oh no! I've been caught!"?

Would you want to fly in this??

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090128/ap_on_re_us/winter_storm

So I'm flying home tomorrow to NJ. I HATE flying! Hate it! I'm flying alone this time with the girls. So that has mostly taken my mind off of how much I hate flying. However, reports such as the one in the link above make me a bit nervous! Plus about a week or two ago there was the plane that crash landed in New York. I mean things just aren't going well as it is! And then you have to put me on a plane. Sometimes I tell myself that the New York crash was good because it takes away the likeliness that my  plane will crash. But it actually just says to me that someone was not being careful enough and doing all of the proper de-icing crap. I've had repetitive dreams that the plane crashes or gets taken over by terrorists (cause you know terrorists all originate in UT to fly to Philly).  Of course, each time the plane crashes we crash into water so obviously that points out that it is not this flight that is crashing because we don't fly over water. Plus the fact that I am dreaming out it also shows that we are safe because everyone in a  plane crash is completely taken by surprise. Right? =o) So we shall see how tomorrow goes. Hopefully we'll make it past security with all of our babies supplies!

Learning about the Solar System

We do a Mom's preschool in our complex. There are 4-5 kids in our class. Today was my turn to teach, and we learned about the solar system. Well, mostly we just played around. Here is what I did! 

The kids entered and went directly to Naomi's room which was our Sunshine Preschool NASA Space Training Facility. There they received their special edition personalized helmets and jet packs. After we discussed what we were going to do, we then boarded the space shuttle to prepare for blast off. Pictured below is Naomi in her gear in front of our space shuttle. (A card table turned upside down with a sheet rubbered banded on top.) Robin and I pushed them down the hallway on their journey to the moon!

From 2009

From 2009

From 2009

From 2009

From 2009

Gwen and Julia were our junior cadets!

It was all really easy to do! I used 

empty water jugs, cut off the handle 

and top areas then duct taped like mad!

The flag and NASA symbol I found on

the internet and printed on regular

paper. Then I used packing tape to stick

them on. The jet packs were soda bottles.

Thanks to Tim and Tracy and roommates

for emptying those for us!! 2 soda bottles

per child once again duct taped like mad!

The straps were just duct tape that I

folded in half on itself and taped under

the mad duct taping!

So once they finished their journey to the

moon they got out and jumped on my bed

that I had pushed into the living room to

"walk on the moon". I hung all the planets

in our living room so we could discuss each

planet.

From 2009

Simply printed the planets on paper and then

glued them onto both sides of a paper plate.

For our snack, we had Uncrustables PB&J

because they are shaped like flying saucers.

Then some of the remaining orange soda,

which should have been TANG. And each 

kid had a pudding in a Ziploc. We cut off a

corner so they had to squeeze it into their

mouths like those freeze dried ice creams.

It was quite the fun day!!! Now do any of them

remember anything about the planets?

Probably not!

Natalie's Bridal Shower

I think Natalie's shower went quite well! I had a lot of fun at least! I, naturally, had too much food, but who complains about that? And I only got a few pictures before my camera ran out of batteries! Blah! So here is what I have.

The Food

From Natalie's Bridal Shower

Check it, I made my own Strawberry Lemonade

from scratch! I think it was a hit!

We did a quiz about Natalie and Wes and had all of 

the guests fill out advice for the bride and groom!

From Natalie's Bridal Shower

Natalie's booty and the favors.

From Natalie's Bridal Shower

Pretty Natalie, isn't Wes lucky?

From Natalie's Bridal Shower

I can't wait to have a nice big house to do stuff 

like this is so that we don't have to do it in the 

blah church rooms! If had enough money I would 

have covered the wall entirely!

Ya know what I did not get a picture of is Natalie 

and Wes's new Volkswagon GTI with 

the plaid seats! So jealous! They had a cute 

little vinyl lettering on the back that said

"Today I married my best friend!" So cute!

JoAnn getting her Toilet Paper Wedding Dress on.

From Natalie's Bridal Shower

Working on more Toilet Paper Dresses - 

my girls were there and I think next 

time we should do Toilet Paper Flower girl dresses

From Natalie's Bridal Shower

I love this one! That is Wes's sister Hollie 

in the dress with Wes's Mom up on the 

chair fixing her bow! They really went all out! It was fun!

At some point before they got this far along,

Wes's mom said something about having some

boobage showing. I loved that she said boobage!!

From Natalie's Bridal Shower

Jennifer's Wedding Dress

From Natalie's Bridal Shower

JoAnn's Pretty Wedding Dress

From Natalie's Bridal Shower

I made them walk in their dresses! haha! 

I was nice enough to give them tape, but 

then they had to walk!

From Natalie's Bridal Shower

Natalie's choice for winner!

From Natalie's Bridal Shower

JoAnn walking down the "aisle"

From Natalie's Bridal Shower

Wes's sister Laney

From Natalie's Bridal Shower

So after I ran out of camera, we opened her presents and

made her cute & mandatory bow hat! They got lots of Legos!

While Natalie opened the presents I kept a record of 

everything she said so we could read it back as if it 

were her honeymoon night!

Mine and Alison's favorite was "That could take us probably

hours." Speaking of her legos! =O)

I'm so excited for Wes and Natalie! I think they make a cute

couple. I like Wes a lot! and so does Brian!! (Wes is a car guy)

It was really fun to see Uncle Tim and JoAnn and their family!

So glad that Alison was there to help out with the foods!

And it was so nice to meet Wes's family - who I like a lot!

Another new bear!

So we got the girls some bears. Naomi's has to go with her everywhere and has to change clothes 3 times a day! It wears the 0-3 month clothes we have. I have been asking her forever what the bear's name is. Today she tells me that she named the bear Zola!! My great grandmother's name was Janet Izola and a lot of people called her Zola! Isn't that crazy?? Children are very intuitive!

I just got another present!

My friend Michaelle, who's kids I babysat,  just gave me this gorgeous mask! She is from Haiti, and her parents came to visit for Christmas! It is made of leather! I can't get over how beautiful it is! It really makes me want to start collecting authentic cultural masks. I have visions of them hanging all over my house. Behind the mask you can see the awesome bowl my sis-in-law Jess got for me! 

I keep forgetting to post a picture of the bracelet Brian made for me! Its really neat! I like how it looks industrial. I couldn't get a great picture of it on me because of the flash.

Snow Snow and More Snow

This is the entrance to our apartment.

From 2008

THat pile of snow is up to my eyeballs at least!

From 2008

This is all piled along the sidewalk in front of our 

place.

From 2008

Things That I'd Like to Learn

I am a list maker, like I know a lot of you who read this are as well. My lists are written and rewritten. I like my lists to be pretty and organized so I will make the initial list and then copy it onto pretty paper or a nice journal and then toss the original. I'll do that several times as things get crossed off so the list stays pretty. I wanted to share with you some of the joy of my new iPod touch! I can put lists on there!!! They are typed and pretty and I don't have to throw away so much paper. Anyway, once of my recent lists that I made was things I'd like to learn. These aren't book-y things, because my book list is 3 pages long! These are things I'd most likely have to take a class or a few classes in. Probably like  at a community college sometime. I guess some of them (after looking over the list) could be done by obtaining a book. So here is my list. Let me know if I'm forgetting anything really cool! You'll learn from this that I am a real dork!

Speed reading - this will enhance my book reading list

Photography

Sewing/Quilting

Cooking

Cake decorating as well as baking them (I am in love with cute cupcakes)

Sign Language

Napkin folding (sort of like origami except that it can be used at parties more often)

I just now thought Origami might be good too

Mortgage/home buying course

Organizing skills/systems (did you know there was a society of professional organizers??)

Interior decorating course (maybe a whole major)

- Specifically use of color

Parenting course specifically targeting discipline techniques - I need more creative ideas

Some business-y type courses - this one deserves another list to decide which ones specifically

(I want to be an event planner!!)

What do you want to learn?

Oh What To Do...

So I am planning my cousin Natalie's Utah Bridal shower. I've got everything in order! Its so exciting! Anyway, I need help with the menu. Particularly, I think, reining things in. Its a brunch so its going to be breakfast-y type foods. Here is what I got...

Fruit Tray with that yummy yogurt dip

Bagels

Croissants

Mini Cinnamon buns

Mini Muffins

Pigs in a blanket

Mini quiche

Mini Cheesecake

Mini cream puffs

Now all of these things with exception to the bagels and mini cinnamon buns I have found in bulk at Sams. I'm aware that not all of these items are necessary so what should I cut out? If anything? 

If I should keep all of these items should I serve mustard to go with the pigs? And what do people like to put on bagels and croissants? Of course the typical cream cheese for bagels, but what else? And what are the best kinds of cream cheeses I should provide? Thanks a bunch!