Family Activities

I got my wish. We've been getting out a lot more lately. It all started about two weeks ago when my girls ran over to the neighbors to see if they could play. They were just on their way out the door to a University of Utah gymnastics meet, but they had an extra voucher for a family to get in free and gave it to us. The girls came running back over so excited, telling us all about it. I couldn't tell them "no," and it was just the excuse I needed to get out of the house. So, even though it was a school night and we literally had 30 minutes before it started, I got on the computer and looked up directions. I didn't expect Brandon to come along, but he did! Parking was insane, but we were only about 10 minutes late. Brandon and Chloe even wore the right colors :) It's times like this that I don't want to lug my huge camera around. Brandon's talked me in to using my camera phone (which I honestly forget I have most of the time). Not great, but it works. Well, not so good in low light -- but you get my point. Oh, and don't worry -- Chloe hasn't forgotten her roots. Everyone at school divides up into BYU or Utah fans, but Chloe always tells them she likes the Wyoming Cowboys.



And for two Saturdays in a row we were able to go hiking. We had a short spell of nice weather. We went up on the hill just east of our house, nice and close. There's a waterfall up there. The first week we ended up on top of the waterfall. We took our GPS along and found a geocache. The weather was perfect. The second week we figured out how to get to the bottom of the waterfall. It was a better view, but a more difficult hike. And we didn't find the geocache we were looking for. Again, just toted my camera phone along:



I guess this one doesn't technically qualify as a "family" activity, since we left Brandon out, but Ross joined us for a little jaunt to Park City last Friday. Chloe needed some pants, so we took a trip. The shopping is only half the fun, then we stopped for frozen yogurt at TCBY, and then they always have to play on the playground. Again, it was such a nice day outside, but we've been shoved back inside by a week of cold, snow and rain.



Last, but not least, last night we hauled Ross with us to a production of Seussical Jr. I had taken Sophie to "Seussical the Musical" a while back, but it was fun for us all to go to this children's production. There were a couple kids in our ward in it, so it was fun to watch them. Brandon confessed that he has a hard time understanding Dr. Seuss, so I'm talking him into renting "Horton Hears a Who" for a date night real soon. I think it will help him make some sense of it. And he'll have such a fun time hanging out with me.

Matching Outfits

Even though Chloe and Sophie may not always show how much they love each other, we know they do. It's not a secret; it just doesn't reveal itself all that often so it's easy to forget. One way we know is that Chloe likes to dress them alike. Isn't that affectionate? Definite love there. One morning she went and picked out their clothes and laid them out on the floor. I liked the extra care she took to also pick out matching ponytail holders, and then wrote notes on them to specify (one braid Sophie/Chloe) so I knew how to do their hair -- matching. I should have taken a photograph of it, but I shot the wrong one (or should I say Chloe mixed the notes up) -- but if you look closely on Sophie's shirt there's also a dime. Chloe was trying to bribe her to wear the outfit she had picked out for her! I don't think Sophie needed the dime, because she loves her sister too and would have done it for free. The only problem with this whole plan (this particular morning) was that Sophie was sick and I had to take her to the doctor that morning. She didn't get dressed in her special outfit until afterwards, and then right after school Chloe was playing outside and got really messy so she came in and changed her clothes. I never had a chance to photograph them together in their matching outfits, but I know this won't be the last opportunity. They like to do it every now and then.

Shawl

I don't think they're alone, but have you noticed how my kids have a way of getting their grandmas to do pretty much anything they want? This time Sophie wanted a shawl. I'm not sure where she got the idea, other than she knows I have one (that I've worn a whole one time), but I guess she thinks it's cool. So, she emailed my mom and asked her to make one. Unlike me, Grandma seems to know how to make anything the girls want. Grandma had to call me to find out what kind of shawl Sophie wanted. I really didn't know, so I told her to make the easiest one she could. Well, I made a big mistake by telling Sophie about this conversation, because the next thing I know Sophie has emailed Grandma to tell her that she wants the HARD kind. So that's what Sophie got. And if I'm not mistaken, I think there's one in the works for Chloe. At least she jumped on board and sent the appropriate emails to grandma requesting one.

Sophie has been in love with her shawl. The first few days she wouldn't take it off. Even slept in it. That's when I got a little worried. I thought the thing might get a little gross and smelly. I convinced Soph to stop sleeping in it. It's a little cold to be wearing as a coat (which was her plan), so she hasn't worn it this cold week. She told me this morning she can't wait for it to warm back up so she can wear it again.

2009 Legislative Session

The Utah legislative session ended Thursday night. There were several bills this year that grabbed my attention, but due to time and other responsibilites I felt like I had to choose the ones that really meant a lot to me to get involoved with. I was busy writing to congressmen all week. I had a nice email conversation with one of our representatives about charter schools. He actually seemed interested in my opinion, and I promised to keep him updated as I gain more experience. Then there's a Michigan representative who introduced a parental rights amendment into the house. I noticed my Utah Rep., Rob Bishop, had signed up to support him, so I simply sent him a thank you note for doing so. I got the standard, automated-reply email back from him. Then tonight in the middle of family home evening my phone rang. I usually don't answer my phone during FHE, not to mention it was an out of state number I didn't recognize so I REALLY shouldn't have answered, but I went ahead anyway. It was Rob Bishop! He personally called me to thank ME. He didn't seem too happy about the way the bill was being treated, though, so that was a little depressing. I wish I'd had more time to talk to him about it, and been more prepared with some questions. But this is not just a Utah issue -- it affects all parents, everywhere. So, if you care in the least bit hop on over to the parental rights website and see how you can get involved!

Sophie's Lucky Day

Just to follow up on my last post, Brandon took the girls to the family reading night (while I went to book club) and Sophie not only won a prize, but TWO! Then she came home from school today with another poster and said it was ANOTHER prize from the reading night, but I'm not sure why she got it today?? I just realized I should have taken a picture of her with her prizes. That might have made this post a little more exicting. Maybe I'll update it later.

Lucky Day!

My radio alarm clock woke me up this morning with the grand announcement that Keith Urban is coming to Salt Lake City on September 9th. Tickets go on sale next Saturday, but as DJs like to do they decided to give away tickets right then. We'll just cut to the chase and say "I WON!" Yup, I'm the very first person to get tickets (that is when they're available). I have to call back in a couple weeks to see if they have my tickets. The hard part now is trying to decide who to take with me. I may have to milk this a little, and I've got six months to do it. But you know where to find me on 9-9-09.



After starting my morning off on the right track, I went and got a massage (thanks to my hubby -- my vday present), and then since I was in such a good mood I decided to treat my hair to a cut. Then I went and picked up the girls from school. Chloe had a big AR party today so she was trying to tell me about all the stuff she had gotten when her teacher walked by and pointed out a jar of taffy Chloe was holding. She asked me if Chloe had told me about it. I hadn't even noticed it till then, so Chloe told me they had to guess how many pieces were in the jar. There were 57. She guessed 55 and another kid had guessed 59, so she got it because she didn't go over.



Yesterday Brandon got a promotion at work, so we're just waiting to see what's in store for Sophie. The PTA was sponsoring a special reading week at school, so Sophie told me she couldn't miss any days. Well, yesterday she was STILL sick. She had been up early in the morning, but had fallen back to sleep at about 7:00, so I didn't bother to wake her up for school. I thought it would do her some good, but just like before she was very upset when she woke up and realized she was missing school. I told her if she felt well enough I would take her right after lunch, then she could go listen to this story and get a stamp on her card. She turned that in today, along with the family trivia sheet so she may have a shot at winning something.

Patriotic Program

You may have received an email from Sophie a couple weeks ago. She emailed everyone in her contacts to invite them to her first grade program, only she was being sly and wouldn't divulge any information. She simply asked, "can you come here on the 26th?" She told me she wasn't going to tell anyone why so they would have to write her back, and then she'd get more emails! Isn't she a tricky one? So, I was left with a mess of confused people trying to set everyone straight about what was going on.

If you recall, the last time I wrote I left trying to figure out what to do about our wheat. We actually made a decision, and I went and placed an order with Walton Feed in Montpelier, Idaho. That very morning my dad emailed me and asked if we had looked at getting our wheat from Walton and said he could pick it up on his way to see Sophie on the 26th. WHAT? You're seriously going to drive all the way here just for Sophie's program? He sure did. Is that not one supportive grandpa? So, I called Walton and had them change my order from a delivery to a local pickup.

Amongst all the phone calls I was receiving trying to sort things out, Sheri decided since she's just sitting at home on maternity leave she could pack up little James (3 weeks old) and throw him in the truck with Grandpa. And Ross hitched a ride home with Brandon like he does every Thursday, only they left a bit earlier. We got all the food unloaded and then headed to the school. We did not leave early enough to get front row seats like Sophie had requested, but I did bring my camera and video camera like I was told to -- even had batteries charged. The biggest problems were that Sophie was on the front row so it was hard to see her, and they turned the lights off for parts of the program so the video is hard see. It had nothing to do with the person operating the camera. ;) But here is the video for those who were not able to make it:

After the program we came home and did a little photo shoot with James and ate cheesecake. Sophie was coming down with a cold, but there was no way she could miss her program so the show went on; however, Friday she was home in bed. She slept until 9:30. When she woke up and realized she was not only missing school but also they were having an AR party that day she was pretty sad. She was awake for an hour before she finally cried herself to sleep and slept 4 more hours! She needed the rest. She was doing a little better on Saturday, but Sunday she slept in until 1:30!! That would be PM. I don't think she should have gone to school yesterday, but I also didn't want to spend the day at home with a child who would just cry about not being at school so I let her go. When it was time for dinner Brandon found her asleep in her room. She's definitely getting enough rest. But I got her germs, and I'm not improving as quickly as she is. That's my excuse for taking so long getting this posted. A great big thank you goes out to Grandpa, Sheri, James, and Ross for coming to support Sophie. You sure made one little girl very happy!