All Mixed Up

Don't think I am not going to post my spring/Easter stuff, because I am.  BUT...since I am a little behind I am going to start with today and then sneak the old stuff in sometime.

My friend, Andrea, took these great pictures of Bear for me.  He turned eight this week.  Can you believe that?  Wow!  What a handsome boy he has grown into.  It makes me miss him already, if that makes any sense.

He had this little snaggletooth (AKA Noah McPhee).  It was just hanging by a tiny corner, but he would NOT let me pull it out.  That is why they mostly have him smiling without teeth.  :)

His GQ look...

Thanks Andrea!  I LOVE them!

New Blog

So...I started a new blog!  Yeah me!  I know what you are thinking.  I can't even stay caught up on this one.  Which is true.  But this one is different.  It is more my personal journalings, not the family happenings.  Things I love, random thoughts, epiphanies and other insights.  I think of it as my own large and small plates.  Get it?

It may be too much information for some of you, but if you think you can take it and actually want to, leave me a comment or send me an email and I'll add you to the list.  Sorry, it's private....and rightfully so.  ;)

Green Day!

By now I am sure that you have figured out that I LOVE St. Patrick's day!  (It's a green thing, I'm sure.)  Here is a look into our "green" day:

Green Shamrock Pancakes and Hot Chocolate

J's obviously still excited to be four!

Then, of course, we have our St. Paddy's lunch:

Shamrock PB sandwich, green apples, apple juice and string cheese with green wrappers, and a couple of green marshmallows for dessert!

Then the wearing of the green...

Next I had the priviledge of teaching preschool....on green day!  I know!

We made green shamrock cookies (with green sprinkles), colored a picture of a leprechaun, then took turns searching for the leprechaun's "gold" which included coins and necklaces.

Katelyn & Evan

(She was being so funny and trying not to smile!)

Riser and J

McKenna & Ryan

Yes, we did use the entire bottle of sprinkles.

The day ended with the traditional corned beef and cabbage.

Yummy (minus the cabbage...that's just for Chris)!

Hope yours was as green as mine!

I know, it's April...

But I am catching up so you have to look at things from March right now.  With our neighborhood preschool group and friends we took a fieldtrip to Firestation 83.  It is brand new and just up the road from us.  The firefighters were really cute with the kids!

They had a great time, but we were cut just a little short because they had to go out on a call.  It was kind of humorous as they were trying to shuffle us out the door, but we were being moms and trying to get all of our pictures in.  Priorities people!  Here are some photos:

Stacy & J

Off they go.....

Trying to get a "group" photo....lol!

GIRL TIME!!!

My friend, Arlette, approached me about taking a "girls trip".  We have been lifelong friends since Kindergarten, lived together after high school (some of my funnest memories), and even got married the same year.  Sadly though, we realized that we have not had a girls trip together since we've been married...that's 15 years!! Yikes!  This streak had to be put to an end.  Immediately.  After a nearly impossible feat of coordinating our schedules and finding a weekend that would work for all of us (probably why we have not done this earlier), Arlette, Colette and I set off for sunny St. George and Las Vegas.

We left Thursday night after Book Club, so we didn't make it to St. George until 2:30 am or so.  A friend of mine let us use her brand-new house in Ivins.  Wow!  Nice digs!  Definitely no complaints there.  We crashed and even slept in a little (rare treat for me). 

After we got up and beautified ourselves we headed out for breakfast.  We had no destination in mind, but just turned in a place we drove by (Eggs & I??).  Pretty good stuff!  Then we were off to VEGAS!  Colette's good friend Carolyn was celebrating her 40th so we went down to her party.  We went straight to her house to check in, the hit the outlets (shopping baby!), and then back to her parent's house for the par-tay.  We had sloppy joes, bacon and all of her favorite things.

Next we headed to the strip.  They opened up Serendipity 3 at Caesar's Palace so, of course, we had to go.  The Frrrozen Hot Chocolate was definitely the favorite over the Deep Fried Oreo Sundae.  We met another friend there.  Lori came with her son and we were telling them that we were starting to dread our drive back to St. George and were wishing a little that we had thought ahead and reserved a hotel room.  Her finace took a break from working at Caesar's and came over to meet us.  She passed on our story and told him that she told us to give them a call next time to see what they could do.  Next thing you know he is on the phone, taking our information, and hangs us telling us we have a room at Caesar's for the night.  We ask, "How much do we owe you?"  He just waves his hand and woohoo...we are spending the night in Vegas!

How could we resist?  The only downside was that all our our things were back at the house in St. George.  Hmmm...what to do?  I know, let's just head over to the Forum and buy some sweats/pjs to sleep in!  And that is exactly what we did.  We had an awesome room (which even had two full bathrooms for some reason) and after checking in the hunger for some real food kicked in.  Arlette had the itch to go to Toby Keith's "I Love This Bar".  The reviews actually said the food was pretty good so we figured we would head there for dinner and kill two birds with one stone.

This was a good plan, except for the fact that I was not wearing walking shoes.  Quite the opposite actually.  Not to mention that "right across the street" is a lot farther than you think in Vegas.  On top of that, when we arrived at our destination the Grill part of Bar & Grill was closed (it was after midnight by then, but who watches the clock in Vegas?).  So...after deciding we were too cheap to pay for the tram, I shuffled my way back to Caesar's.  Of course, by then everything there was closed too.  We bagged room service, ate a brownie and just hit the hay.

Next morning I decided to go for comfort and just put my wedgies on with my short sweats.  Cute hu?  But hey, I was in Vegas and it worked for me!  We went to Blueberry Hill for breakfast, consumed a weeks worth of calories in one sitting, and then got back on the road to St. George.  Driving by Mesquite, well, we just had to stop for 20 minutes and let Colette flush $40 away.  Random and completely fitting for this trip.

Coming into St. George we decided we didn't want to go all the way back to the house and get ready, so let's just go straight to the outlets.  In my sweats.  And wedge sandals.  It was hot.  That led to a trip to Target, then Down East.  The rest of the afternoon/evening went a little like this:  Oh, there's a movie theater...let's go.  Few more minutes to kill before it starts so let's go to In-n-Out Burger.  Terribly depressing movie (Remember Me).  Let's get some cupcakes to take back to the house (Twentyfive Main).  Okay.  Look!  There is Baskin Robbins, let's go.  Are you serious?  Yes...I haven't had it forever.  U turn.  Ice cream.  Look!  There is another movie theater.  We could go to another movie that is not so depressing.  Okay!  U turn.  Eat ice cream until movie starts (Valentine's Day).  That was more of the chick-flick we were looking for.  Everything random and so funny.

Another late night, slept in and then headed home after picking up my neice, Stacy to bring back with us.  Needless to say, I gained a few pounds on this trip, but it was SO MUCH FUN I cannot even tell you!  My favorite things about this trip:

1. Being completely spontaneous.  We had no plan and just did whatever, whenever.
2. Lauging myself to tears.
3. Remembering that the best of friends last a lifetime, and then some.

Thank you for a trip I'll never forget!  Can't wait for the next one!  Love you guys!!