Last day as an 11 year old

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25th - 2009

Today was officially Joseph's last day as an 11 year old.  And believe me, that is all I heard about all day.  He was so excited for his birthday to come he could hardly stand it.  All day he kept telling me that he was going to go to bed extra early so his birthday would be here faster.

When it actually came down to it, he was WAY too excited to calm down and go to sleep.  Yeah, it was nearly 11:00 before he was actually asleep.  

Joe's last picture as an 11 year old:

An apple a day....

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24th - 2009

It seems I did a lousy job of taking photo's today.  This was my only one on the camera, so this is what you get:

Whenever I go to my mom's, Joshua begs to look at the pictures on my camera.  I had just uploaded them onto the computer, so there were no pictures on there.  I had to take this picture so he would have something to look at.

Catch a wave

MONDAY FEBRUARY 23rd - 2009

This is the time of year when the boys spend A LOT of time outside.  They have to get as much outside play as possible because in a couple of months it will be too hot to even go outside.

Joe's favorite activity of late is riding his wave:

Dallin's got one too.  They ride them outside at grandma's house.
Even Alex gave it a try:

It's not as easy as it looks.  You have to have great balance just to get started.  I tried it once and came close to really hurting myself.  It's not as easy as a skateboard.  I won't be trying it again.  I'll leave the waving to the boys.  

It does my heart good to see them outside instead of indoors playing video games.

cookies and trivial pursuit

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22nd - 2009

Another lazy Sunday.   Today Joe decided he wanted to play Trivial Pursuit.  I was surprised.  He has NEVER played before.  It happens to be one of my favorite games, so I was more than happy.   I like this version because it has easy/medium/hard questions.  It makes me feel smarter because I can actually answer questions.  Except for History.  I am lame-o at history.  It's because I have a bad memory and can't remember when ANYTHING happened.   Also, how am I supposed to know who the first minister of Scotland was.  Really?  Does ANYONE know the answer to that?

Anyway, we each were our own team.  We decided ahead of time that Brian and I could give hints to Joe to help him out.  I guess we helped too  much because he totally beat us.  Brian and I both still needed 2 pies when he won.  Oh well.

Today we also made cookies.  I had bought the stuff for Brian's moms sugar cookie recipe (our absolute favorite) to make for valentines day.  We finally got around to making them today.  It is a LONG process, but totally worth it.  Brian helped me mix the dough, and Joe helped me cut out the cookies and make the frosting.  

Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.  What did you do?

Hangin' with the girls

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21st - 2009

So, two of my friends from church are having their babies soon, so a bunch of us got together today for a final girls day before the babies come.  We met at The Olive Garden for lunch at noon and then went to see this:

I'll admit, this movie was not on my list of movies that I was interested in seeing.  I'd seen the commercials, and I really don't relate to it at all.  I am SO not a girly girl and I don't really enjoy shopping.  However, a day out with the girls at the movies is always a good time, so of course I went.  Maybe it was because I was totally expecting to not like it, but I was surprised.  It wasn't horrible.  I still don't get the shopping thing, but I thought Isla Fisher was cute and there were a couple of parts that made me laugh out loud.  Not the best movie in the world, but I didn't hate it either.  

I did however, develop a minor crush on this guy:

I kind of thought he was adorable.  

Have any of you seen the movie?  What did you think?

babysitting

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20th - 2009

Today is my fabulous sister Sheri's birthday (the day I took these photo's, not the day I posted them - you know what I mean).  Tonight Joe, Brian and I went to her house to babysit so she and Ian could go out and celebrate.

This is what it looks like when I babysit:

Just kidding.  That was just some fake fighting going on there (at least at first it was).

This is what we really did:
Joe helped watch Evan and Max.  Alex kept Joe company.  Max told us about all of the new Spongebob episodes he's seen lately.  Evan played with this boat.  He carried it around the entire time - about 3 hours.  And Ben behaved like an angel:

He taught me how to play a game on the computer.  And then we all watched a movie on the couch.  It was pretty fun.

Happy Birthday Sheri.  I wonder, did you get your present from Max?  Did he mind for half a day?

breakthrough

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19th - 2009

After consistently exercising for nearly 6 weeks, I FINALLY had a breakthrough today.  Every day going to the gym is HARD for me!  So far I have not enjoyed it.  My muscles are sore and when I'm on the treadmill, my legs feel heavy like stones.  I don't want to take another step.  I have to force myself to do it.  Thank goodness for ipod's or I would have probably quit a long time ago.

However, today was different.  I got to the gym, started up the treadmill at my usual speed and started walking.  It felt strange, like I was going really slow or something.  Instead of feeling like stones my legs felt as light as feathers.  It was a really strange feeling.  And, when it came time to run, I could actually do it without feeling like I was killing myself.  It was awesome.  I actually turned the speed up and went faster.  I hope this is some kind of breakthrough and not a one time thing.  

Also I learned today that "Ned Atomic Dustbin" is a good band to listen to  while you are trying to run.  

American Idol

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18th - 2009

Tonight was the results show for American Idol where they picked the first 3 finalists.  Does anyone else hate the new format for the way they are picking the contestants this year?  And what's with letting America pick the top 12?  I have a love/hate relationship with this show.  It drives me crazy.  

Anyway.  These 2 were my favorite from the first group of 12 and I was happy they made it through.

But what was with that 3rd guy?  I know he sounded better during Hollywood week, but he kind of sucked on Tuesday night.  I don't care how nice of a guy he is, he didn't deserve to be the 3rd pick.  It's just my opinion.  What did you guys think?  Who were your favorites?

laundry cat

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17th - 2009

After I took some clothes out of the dryer and set them on the bed, I went back to get the rest of the load.  When I made it back into my room this is what I found:

I was gone maybe a minute.  How did he burrow in there so fast?  It's irritating.  The last thing I want on my clean towels is cat hair.  

I kind of don't blame him.  The laundry is nice and warm when it first comes out.

Addy,Ro and Joe

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16th - 2009

Addy and Ro are back from their trip.  They came over today and hung out for a while.  We watched Madagascar 2 and had popcorn and m&m's.

Ro was totally into the movie, at least for a little while.
Joe was sad he missed them.  He was off at scouts.  They earned their Emergency Preparedness Merit Badge today.  We spent the morning checking the entire house to make sure it was safe.

As a reward for spending 2 hours of his day off of school working on scouts, he got to have a friend come over this afternoon.  I think it was a fair trade.

lazy Sundays

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15th - 2009

By noon on Sunday's church is over and we have the rest of the day with nothing to do.  It's absolutely great.  I love that we are all home together and there is nothing pressing us for our time, no errands, no work or school.  We have time to hang out and be together.  

My two favorite guys:

Sundays = family time.  

How do you spend your Sundays?

happy valentine's day

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14th - 2009

Happy Valentines Day!  As per our valentine tradition, Brian and I stayed up late last night and "heart attacked" Joseph's room.  We've done it every year for as long as I can remember.  I cut out hearts and attach the tape, Brian sneaks in and plasters them all over Joseph's walls.  Then we fill the room with red heart balloons and he wakes up to a "heart attack".  

I hope you all had a happy day.

For MORE valentine pictures, and Joe's take on valentines day, visit his blog.  He just updated and he LOVES comments.

a sweet surprise

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13th - 2009

I had lots of errands to run today and was gone all morning.  When I came back these were on the table waiting for me.

Isn't my valentine a sweetie?

valentines box

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12th - 2009

This year Joe's class had a contest for best decorated valentine boxes.  He had one last year too, but we are talking about THIS year people.  He really wanted to win.  He mentioned it to me early on in the week and I totally spaced it.  So, today after school he mentioned it again.  Oh, NO!  It would have been fine, except Brian had gotten free passes to the IMAX to see some underwater 3-D movie with Joe, and they wouldn't be home until 8:30.  

Yeah, this meant that we didn't even start on it until almost 9:00.  While he was gone I was frantically going through all of my craft supplies to see what valentines stuff I had.  Thankfully I had A LOT - paints, ribbon, paper and all kind of cute add on's.  The one thing I didn't have was a box, so while he was at the movie, I ran to Michael's and picked up a box.  I got all the supplies out and laid them out on the table so he could pick and choose what he wanted to do.   He likes to have complete creative control.   I was trying to hurry the process along as much as I could because I know how SLOW Joe is.  

Actually it was all I could do to keep myself from just doing the dang thing for him.

So around 9:00 we sat down and made a plan.  He looked through all of the options, he picked out all the colors, paper and add on's that he wanted and then FINALLY he started painting.

I had to stop him around 11:oo and make him go to bed.  Most of what was left was gluing things on, so I told him I would finish.

I think it turned out pretty good.  

Here's the front:
Here's the back:
Here's a side view:

He was happy with how it turned out, and guess what - He won for best valentine spirit.

A lot of the kids said it was "too good" and that he didn't do it.  His reply was "How hard is it to paint and glue, people?"  

The box is now sitting in his room  - filled with all of his valentines and candy.

music merit badge

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11th - 2009

Wednesday is scouts for Joe.  This week was a little different.  Instead of meeting with just his troop, there was an activity for the scouts of 3 different stakes at the Cooper building where they could earn a merit badge in one night.  They had the choice of doing leather working, fingerprinting, or music.

Joe chose music, of course.  He was pretty happy because he got to bring his guitar and show off his skills.  The teacher of the class turned out to be my elementary school music teacher Mrs. Crandall.  She's  still around teaching music.  She's awesome, I told Joe that she would be fun.  

He had a good time, and we ran into an old friend from our ward - Christian Nienstedt.  We really miss him.  Also, he earned a merit badge in one night - woo hoo!  One more down, a million more to go (it seems like).

how do you spell "ok"?

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10th - 2009

When I pulled up at my mom's today, this is the first thing I noticed:

Her pretty flowers are in bloom.  They cheered me up, so I took a picture of them.  I especially love the dark purple ones.

My favorite thing that happened today:

Joe was sitting at the table in the family room doing homework while I was cooking dinner.  He was working on a paragraph that he was supposed to write using his vocabulary words.  He shouts at me, "mom, how do you spell ok"?  My reply: "um...O,... K."

Now that I think about it, you also spell it "okay".  Hmm... I wonder which is right.  How do you spell "ok"?

A go to the park kind of day

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9th - 2009

Today is what Joe and I used to call a "go to the park" kind of day.  It's cool, the clouds are out in full force, it's gorgeous.  Also, I knew that Addy and Ro would be leaving town for a few days and this would be my last chance to see them.

I know all my "pictures of the day" are of the kiddo's, but I can't help it - that's who I hang with.  These are my peeps.

So, my mom and I walked to the park with Evan, Addy and Ro.

Evan was awesome.  As soon as we got outside, he started running and giggling and shouting "outside, outside."  I think he was happy to be outside.

There was lots of running and chasing of tumbleweeds.  The wind was blowing them everywhere.  The kids spent more time chasing the tumbleweeds than they did on any of the playground equipment at the park.
Ro was happy with his stick.  What is it about little boys and sticks?  When Joe was little (and even still sometimes now) whenever we went anywhere outside, he'd immediately start looking for a good stick.

The outing was short lived.  The wind kicked up a lot and Addy decided that she was cold and had to go to the bathroom, so we left.

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

Priesthood Preview

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8th - 2009

Joe will turn 12 at the end of this month.  That means he will be getting the priesthood soon.  Tonight was the priesthood preview for all of the 11 year old boys.  Both Brian and Joe had to give talks at it.  Neither of them were excited about that.  But they both did a good job.  The funniest thing was that Brian and Joe somehow both used the same quote in their talks, but did not know that the other was using it.  Brian went first in his talk, and when he started reading the quote, Joe recognized it and he let out this huge sigh, rolled is eyes and said "Daaaad".  Brian stopped speaking and said, "what is it Joe".  He replies "You stole my quote."  Then, Joe gets up to give his talk.  When he gets to the part with the quote, he looks up from the paper and shoots Brian a dirty look while shaking his head, and then slowly, reads the quote.  It was pretty funny.

Also, he finally got to wear his panda tie that grandma got for him in China.  He was pretty happy about that.  It is one sweet tie.

I couldn't get him to be serious for a moment so I could take his picture.  Instead you get him being silly. Isn't that one snazzy tie?

Sleepover

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7th - 2009

Somehow I got suckered into letting Joe have a sleepover last night.  Alex, Michael and Dallin were all here.  They had fun playing rock band (of course), watching movies, watching you tube and just hangin' out.  

The boys had to have a jam session on their guitars (of course)

Dallin liked this toy of Joseph's.  I forget what it's called but he was playing some game and trying to break Alex's record.  He finally did.

This morning my mom picked them all up and took them to the pancake breakfast that their ward was having.  Any day that I don't have to make breakfast is great.  Thanks mom!

Max the monkey

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6th - 2009

Today I helped my mom babysit Evan and Max.  Isn't Evan such a cutie?

Max and Evan are climbers.  We had to follow them around everywhere.  
I told Max that they were like little monkeys.  He thought that was hilarious.  He also decided to show me all of his climbing skills.  We had a little monkey photo shoot.  He would run around the back yard and climb on something and then yell: "did you get it?  Did you get that picture?"
"Kimmy, look, do you see me?"

"It goes faster if you close your eyes."

"Look how tall I am."

"Did you get it?  Do I need to do it  again?"

Here's the monkey holding on for dear life:

What cute little monkeys they are.  I am glad I got to see them today.

I can't think of a title for this post

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5th - 2009

After a VERY long and crappy visit to the doctors office this morning, I went to my mom's to see the kiddo's.  Sadly, Addy and Ro were just leaving.  But, Stacy, my mom, Joshua and I decided to walk down to the park.  It was fun to see how excited Joshua was to get out of the house.  I love kids.  It sure doesn't take very much to make them happy.  

This afternoon I somehow got suckered into playing laser tag with the boys.   The first game wasn't so bad.  I was on a team, and my team won.  Then, we played every man for himself (or herself).  I think I was out within 5 minutes.  Dallin, Joe and Alex all went for me.  I guess when you are the oldest and the slowest, you make an easy target.  Oh well, it was fun.  

Doesn't Joe's shirt look a lot like my "art" photo?

Maybe I was inspired by it.  

Inkspell

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4th - 2009

After seeing Inkheart and reading the book again, I decided to move onto book 2.  I've only read it once before, and it seems I've forgotten a lot of it.  I got sucked in today and read too much. 

I didn't get anything important accomplished, but it sure was a great day.  I forgot how much I love this series.  It's definitely in my top 5 of all time.  Gotta go, the Magpie just shot Mo and I've got to see if he'll be ok.  

sick AGAIN

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3rd - 2009

I didn't take a picture of the day today.  I was too busy doing this:

Joe took the picture for me.  I've decided I need to hide my camera from him.

guitar lessons

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd - 2009

Tonight when I walked into the family room, I saw Joe giving Brian a guitar lesson.  It was cute.  Joe was the teacher and was showing Brian what to play.

I'm thinking maybe Joe has a cheat sheet written on his hand.