Science with Grandma

Last week grandma came home with some dry ice and Arden was ready for his science lesson.

After the experiments, Arden told me, "Mommy, I have to go to Grandma's class to take my science test." I think he would be one of Grandma's best students and would ace the test.

Valentine's Day

I think Valentine's Day is becoming such a fun holiday for our family. Before we had children, yes, there was the romantic aspect of it, where Newel got me flowers and we went out to dinner, etc. I remember our first Valentine's Day together after we were married, he cooked for me, my favorite food, shrimp...that was so sweet of him...since, he's pretty allergic to them, and just touching the shrimp makes him itchy.

As the years have gone by, we like Valentine's Day, but it's not a huge deal for our family. A couple of years ago, we had our first Valentine's Day party. We invited some of Arden's courtyard friends to come over and decorate cookies. It was fun...it was memorable. Especially, seeing the children devour their heavily iced cookies. From that day on, Valentine's Day has become a fun holiday for us...not just the romantic stuff, but also a day to celebrate the love we have for our children, and our friends.

This year, being in a new place and just getting over my issues of being here, blah blah, etc., I debated whether I wanted to host a Valentine's Day party...After all, it can be a lot of work. I figured, if I was going to do it, we might as well go all out...as much as we could. So we invited Arden's primary class, our primas, and Mayita's friends over and called it the White Children's Annual Valentine's Day Party...pretty official, huh? And the party was held at the White House...yes, cheese, but catchy.

Preparations started a few days earlier, where the children and I baked cookies, cupcakes, planned games, went shopping, etc. It was really nice including the kids on this project and spending that time together, planning for the party. We made this big heart to play "Pin the nose on the heart" game.

Friday afternoon, our guests started to arrive. We made an arts and crafts activity, followed by the pin the nose game, and finally, decorating cookies and cupcakes.

We had a lot of people over, but it was so much fun. There were a lot of great cookie artists, but even better cookie/cupcake eaters.

The following day, being the actual Valentine's Day, Newel had a father and son date, where they went out to lunch and to a basketball game.

Mayita and I hung out. When the boys came home, they brought their girls flowers. Mayita really liked her rose. Later, that evening, Newel and I enjoyed went out for a nice quiet dinner, without our children, and without interruptions. It was a good Valentine's Day.

Trip to Southern UT

This was a short, yet fun trip.
Newel had a 'nerd convention' aka engineering convention and was nice enough to invite us to join him.

So on Wednesday afternoon, a couple of weeks ago, we packed our bags, loaded the kids in the van (yes, I am now the owner of a mini van...I'll save that for another post), and headed to St. George, UT.

Funny thing about road trips, is that Arden always thinks we're no longer in UT. So, he'll ask me, "Mommy, when are going back to UT?" or "Are we in UT, yet?"

"Honey, we are in UT, it's just a different city." Not getting that concept, yet.

Anyways, while Newel was at his meetings, we decided to visit the Dinosaur tracks museum. It was fun, especially for a little boy who is into dinosaurs. After, we were done touring the museum and doing some dinosaur arts and crafts, we went outdoors to be 'scientists,' as Arden likes to say.

They had fun digging in the sand...boy, do we miss the EV playgrounds. This is the first time, in a long time, Arden has been able to play in sand. It's been too long for Mayita to even remember.

It was such a nice day. It was sunny and about 65 degrees. Just yummy. We didn't even need to wear our coats!

After our fun trip to the museum, we headed to this place called Fiesta something. It's like a Chuck e' Cheese. The kids and I had a blast. There was no one at the playland, so we had it all to ourselves. It was a lot of fun. No chaos!


The following morning we headed to one of Newel's favorite places in the world...Zion's National Park. It would have been a fun and awesome day, but it started to rain and was getting cold.
We went on a short hike, where we enjoyed the view. Then, we decided to cut our trip short and head home.

We were glad to head back home early, since the remainder of that weekend, it snowed and rained...it wouldn't have been too much fun. We were glad to be home also and let Arden get better, since, while traveling, he had the croup, again. Luckily, this time, we caught it on time and was able to get his medication before it got bad.

Pay It Forward!

Pay it forward...
So a friend of a friend is doing this pay it forward thing. This is how it works..... The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a hand made gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise. BUT, in order for you to leave a comment on my blog, you have to post this on your blog first. (That means that sometime during this year you will send a gift to 3 people as well.) Get it? So, the first 3 people to comment on this post will be the lucky ones! I can't promise something totally cute, but I'll promise that you'll get something...Sometimes, I wish I had some more skills, like computer hacking skills, numb chuck skills, etc. =)

Eating Ribs

A couple of Sundays ago, Newel made ribs for dinner. They were yummy, and here's the video to prove it. Maya loved chomping on that rib. She cracks me up.

A summary of the month of January

Get ready, this is a long one...I'll be surprised if anyone makes it through.

It feels like the month of January flew by. I would say it was a pretty good month for me. I finally feel like I've established a pretty good routine with the kids and I'm feeling more 'normal'. The idea of living in UT is finally sinking in...and I've come to terms that this is going to be our home for the next few years. I've known for a very long time we were going to live in UT, even though I didn't want to live here. But this is where we need to be and I'm okay with that...Still, I haven't changed my cell phone number to the 801 area code. I just can't do it. Don't ask me why. Instead, I've gone back to my roots the 941 area code. Good bye 650.

We've also adjusted somewhat to the snow. What I didn't like this month was this crazy thing called inversion...which is practically polluted air in the valley. Mm, that was great for our lungs.
I feel like our days were pretty much the same...I guess that's where the routine thing comes in. But it works for us. In the AM Arden has pre-school, while Maya and I hang out/clean the house. Most days after pre-school we go do something totally exciting, like grocery shopping. I say exciting because Arden likes going to our grocery store (they have a playland where he can stay and play while I shop), Maya is too young so she shops with me...which, she does not like. She's a handful...therefore, not a dull moment. Other days we'll go on other outings like story time at the library, last minute playgroup, etc. After that we'll have lunch, then, arts n' crafts. Usually, it consists of Arden's obsession with coloring and cutting out some type of sea creature. Maya tries to color, but usually ends up eating the crayons. I tried play dough the other day...big mistake.

I guess one of this month's highlight was going to the Utes parade. We missed most of it, but it was still fun for the family.
Another fun activity we did this month was feeding the ducks at a local park. It all started when we went grocery shopping, and while I was looking at the ingredients on bread (making sure a certain brand didn't have corn syrup and was made out of whole wheat, etc.), Maya grabbed a bag of white bread, poke a hole in it and started to eat it. I felt like I couldn't put the bread back on the shelf, since she opened it...so we bought it. We usually don't buy or eat white enriched crap bread... so, we decided to feed it to the ducks. That was a lot of fun for all of us.
On most days Maya can keep me pretty busy. It's cute, lately, when it's been time for her to go to bed, or she's caught doing something naughty, she'll run to her daddy. It's cute, since most of the time she follows me around the house.

On this picture, Maya didn't want to take a nap, so daddy, brought her into t he living room to watch a game and she fell asleep on his arms.

You know the life of a toddler is good when they're happy following mommy around the house, including the bathroom, sucking on a candy cane and holding her juice cup.

There's something about these photos I totally love. Perhaps it's the simplicity of it.

Part of our afternoon routine has been going to the local pool. Arden is taking swimming lessons. He really enjoys it. I enjoy as well, since it gives me one-on-one time with my girl, and both kids use up their energy.
After swimming class, we play for a while, shower, get dressed, and go home. By the time we get home, it's dinner time. After dinner, we hang out some more, and then it's bedtime.

We totally love the pool. I've been going swimming by myself in the AM. I love it! I used (well, I still have it, a little bit) have a fear of water, so our last quarter at Stanford, I took a swimming class. I loved it. I was just sad I didn't get a chance to learn to improve my strokes. But it was so worth it for me. I don't like running/walking outside when it's 20 degrees, so swimming has been a great work out for me. I feel so good when I come home...therefore, my children and I tend to have a better day. And I also get my spiritual uplift as well. Before I leave for the pool, I get a chance to read my scriptures and say my personal prayers. Wow, it feels amazing. I like having that one-on-one time with the Lord.

Another fun thing we did that didn't cost us a penny was going to the local art museum. It's free. I haven't done that in a long time. I wasn't sure how it would go. But for having a spirited four-year-old and a super active toddler...it went well. Arden and I even analyzed some of the paintings.

"Arden, what do you think of this painting?"

"Oh, I think it's funny?"

"How come?"

"It's a funny head."

Yep, that was very deep. But he paid attention and was well behaved.

On the other hand, my active toddler, just wanted to run around, push the stroller, or remove all items from the stroller basket.

Next painting..."I like this one mommy. It's my favorite. It has blue and circles."

On a lazy morning, Maya woke up with this cute little curl hanging side ways. Yes, this is totally trivial and cheesy, but I didn't want to forget her cute side way curl. I love her reddish curly hair. Anyways, we got camera happy, and just started snapping pictures.

At the end of the month, we went to Park City for a 2010 Winter Olympics qualifying competition. It was packed. I lost Newel, while he parked the car and I walked to the half pipe with the kids. It wasn't fun for me at first, but after Newel found us, it was a lot of fun. I love that man...my life is incomplete without him...especially walking uphill to the halfpipe. We found the prime spot to watch the competition. We were actually at the top of the halfpipe with the competitors! We had a lot of fun, even though it was hard for the kids to stay focused on the game. All Arden wanted to do was play in the snow...so he did, and Maya wanted to snack on goodies, so she did. We wanted to watch the cool moves, so we did.

It was also a nice sunny day, away from the inversion.













Arden sliding on the snow. I love how he has passion for everything. He loves the snow. He loves the water...he loves sea creatures, dinosaurs, etc.

If you made it through this congrats! The only one who probably read through all of this is my mother.

We had a great month and we're looking forward to this new month. Time is flying by. Sometimes I want it to stand still for a moment and appreciate those wonderful times.

Animal Parade

Just about every Monday night, our extended family gets together for Family Home Evening.

It's such a fun and crazy event. We love sharing that special time with our family.

On this particular night, the kids (and Grandma) decided to dress up and parade throughout the house. Mayita is the cute little orange pumpkin...you can barely see her. She can really get into playing with her cousins.

The parade was really cute. We love our family.

It's been great having family around.