Snow Camping

Dropped kids at school, walked at the mall, picked up two more gift cards at the dentist office, family phone calls with Annette and Mom & Amy and family history names, worked on Sacrament meeting talk, picked up kids, looked at shoe store (Allen found a pair), dropped Allen to the church for the snow campout, back to two stores for shoes, date night prep, macaroni, Jack Urban Eats, temple for sealings, home to put kids in bed, bedtime and calendar planning.

ALL Out on Friday

Today we're ALL (because school is out for teacher training day) at Jill's dance class. Then we're going to a (new to us) library in Granite Bay for storytime and checking out books for the weekend. We'll pick up a pizza and then head to the park play group. In the afternoon we'll catch a movie on TV, I'll check and print Temple cards, finish up chores, make dinner, and leave the kids (A&A babysitting) for date night: Bunz Sports Grill and Temple! ❤️

  

Double Date With My Parents

We had a double date. We had dinner at The Habit and then went to the Sacramento Temple. Allen went to a birthday party and Alanna came to babysit the girls.

Catcher Jane

It was pretty cute seeing Jane wear all the catcher hear today! The attend had a game@9 and then I had camp certification at the church 9:30-12. After the game the family went to Roseville's Earth Day event and tonight Allen is going to a birthday party, I'm getting a sitter and the adults are going on a temple date.

Lunch Date With Mr. Pickles

We spent Saturday packing for our Spring Break trip. Ross ran in the morning, over ten miles and I slept in and then worked on my lesson and young women email and board meeting agenda. Ross and I did a lunch date to Mr. Pickles. Allen babysat and we left the extra cell phone with the kids. Abby sent a text telling us they were fine and asked how we were doing. Softball games were cancelled because of the rain. After we checked everybody's suitcase and made sure they had the right amount of things, the kids watched the first Harry Potter movie.

King Day

Some people celebrate Three Kings Day? My sister leaves up all her Christmas stuff b until then. How did we celebrate? I put up all of the Christmas cards. Then I saw the girls Barbie set up in the toy room. That night Ross and I went to see the Kings (NBA) play the Clippers. They stomped all first half and lost at the end. The new stadium was cool. Two blocks from the courthouse and parking. We stopped at Dad's on J for a sandwich. We got a Kind poster when we arrived at the game. We tried to grown like Cousins.

Pictures from Friday's Date

Five Guys, Temple and Two Double Scooped waffle cones. What a way to end five years of judicial clerking!

First Date versus Today

Thirteen years ago Ross and I went on our first date to the Utah Symphony! Last night we got burgers and fries at The Habit and went to the temple. This morning I'm sitting in the dentist's chair--X-rays and cleaning, but no cavities. Then I'm off to an all day family history conference in Sacramento. The kids will be excited to play with Dad. Allen made call to Uncle Jake to ask him about past construction career for scouts. Ross is going to attend stake conference tonight and take notes for me.

Double Date Week

It's a double date week. Last night we went to the temple for stake temple week. Gaby, one of my beehives, volunteered to babysit. We grabbed a thickburger and met our ward for sealings. Nice to see familiar faces. Tonight (after I pick up Sami to tend) we're going out to eat and doing laser tag with a group of friends.

Online shopping rocks. I just bought October birthday gifts for three birthday girls.

How do you confuse everyone in the house? Make apple crisp, put it in the oven and call everyone to a grilled cheese sandwich lunch. Everyone came to the table, confused when they saw what we were having, and asked where the cinnamon toast was.

I'm crazy. I trimmed my own hair yesterday. Beats 20 minutes and 20 bucks at the salon when I can trim an inch myself.

Maidu this morning -- storytime, computers and park. Going out to jog soon.

New Backpack and Baptism

This morning Abby and I went to Trevor's baptism (a boy in her church class--Abby's baptism is only two months away and is scheduled for May 30th) and then did some shopping at Walmart. She was most excited about a new backpack she picked out that she will be working to earn. I got some new jeans (because doing mom-work I easily wear holes in the knee), some picture clothes for Jill's birthday, a new curtain rod for the twins' room, and we plenty of groceries. Ross took care of the kids and made lunch. I noticed the pile of shoes by the door when we got home. He said they played soccer outside, built with blocks and Rambo Allen and sisters too flattened out the big brick block box and the vacuum box. Never underestimate the fun kids can have with a box.

Ross is working now. Kids did quiet activities while Jill slept and now are watching fairytale stories acted out by real dogs-)-oh the interesting things you can find at the library!

Tonight is our date dinner with food from Deli Delicious. I'm getting the turkey, bacon avocado sub. Love avocados!

Room 17's Scrambled Eggs

This morning I'm making scrambled eggs for Room 17's (Abby's class) Christmas party brunch. All the kids signed up to bring something and Abby chose scrambled eggs. I said, "Couldn't you have picked something that didn't need to be warm or cooked? Something I could have just bought and put in your bag, like napkins, cups, juice, or forks?" Apparently Abby likes my eggs. Still trying to decide how many to do. I'll get the skillet out and my 5 dozen egg carton and go to town.

The basketball game last night was fun! And exciting all the way to the end. Tonight Ross and I are going to a Christmas Party with a white elephant gift and taking holiday kiss cookies. Our white elephant is a Simon game. Ross said we might have to steal our own gift back. :)

I've got a sore throat this morning and runny nose. Looks like the holiday stress of the month has finally got to me. Hope it doesn't stay long. I'm singing in a quartet in two numbers on Sunday and sharing a Christmas message with the Young Women. I see lots of hot chocolate and soup in my future.

So that's where they went!

• Went to the dentist last night and had my crown prep work done on my back molar on the bottom, right side. Temporary put on. New tooth in two weeks. I'll have to chew carefully. (The year we went to Bentonville for Thanksgiving in 2012 I also had a temporary crown put on right before Thanksgiving and it came out! Had to wait several days to get into the dentist's chair again.)
• Allen went to bed early last night because he wasn't feeling well. Wonder if he'll make it to school.
• We have storytime today.
• Excited for smashburger and a movie for tonight's date at home.
• Already thinking of which pies to have for Sunday. Mmm.
• Abby said her and Stella were friends again. What caused the falling out? Stella said she had a boyfriend or wanted one and Abby told her you can't have a boyfriend until college. (I don't remember telling her that but she's very wise.)
• We've been enjoying some rain the last two days.
• I have been working on my YW combined lesson for December. I'm using Elder Bednar's talk "Come and See" and started putting together DVD gifts for girls to distribute.
• While I was running the train set with Jared and Jill yesterday in the toy room I noticed four Willow Tree figurine sets in the Little People house. So that's where they went! Makes me laugh as I think of Jane and Emma carrying them down the stairs. I was probably sitting with Allen while he did his homework while they did their rearranging.

Soup and Volleyball at the Church

We had fun last night! The kids loved hanging out at the church playing while the adults ate soup and bread and dessert and visited. We heard great reviews for the differing redwood parks and played a game of Ticket to Ride. Ross wamped the group (he had longest train and completed the most routes and I had 2nd place), we brought the most kids to be watched, we were given all the extra bread to take home, our kids were never brought to us by the YW (everyone cooperated), and we were the last car in the parking lot--we locked the door behind us. When we got home kids were hungry for soup and bread, ate up, and then were in bed about 10pm.

Today Ross needs to get a lot of work done. The kids and I have cleaning to do and I need to go to two YW volleyball games at the church. Some of the kids are excited to go back to the church with me.

It's Friday!

It's Friday! That means no homework after school (and we did piano "recitals" and lessons before school so we don't have that either) and it's been a LONG week of homework.

I just practiced "O Holy Night". I will be accompanying a solo at church in two months. Excited about Ross's date night tonight: food from taqueria and School of Rock. I'm ordering a Chimichanga.

Allen reminded me he's going to index after school. He said he even wants to write a blog post.

Abby keeps passing off reading tests at school. I get an email about each one. Seems like it's been at least 15 this week.

Girls are excited about library storytime today with Miss Karen.

Seattle Sights

Here's what we did today: breakfast, packed up, left bags with hotel, picked up rental car (blue Nissan Versa), went to the Seattle Temple and did sealings, had chicken stix/rice and taco salad in the cafeteria, stopped for souvenirs at Walmart, drove to West Seattle to find my dad's childhood house (at 3233 Belvidere--many fond memories of visiting each summer as a kid), my grandparents grave, Alki Beach, received call that flight was delayed, finding Bonair Dr, filling up car at gas station across the street from Space Needle, sitting in traffic, Mod pizza and milkshake, picking up bags and saying goodbye to Fairmont Hotel, taxi to the airport, desserts from Starbucks, and now waiting at airport with two more hours to go.

 It's been an awesome trip and so nice spending time together. It's gorgeous here. There has been no rain, some sunshine and some fog. We've really gotten around too--by plane, train, foot, ferry, car, monorail, and taxi. And the report I hear from home is kids are having fun with Grandma and Grandpa. Stay tuned tuned for pictures.

Choir Party

I'm taking magic cookie bars to the choir party tonight. That's right. Ross and I are going to a ward choir dinner party as our Friday night date. I've got a babysitter lined up (which kids are excited about) and we can go mingle with fellow singers in the ward. Our choir isn't that big, but it should be a good way to get to know people a little better.

The kids had their jog-a-thon make-up activity today. The girls and I are off to the library, with fingers crossed to see Miss Karen and get Disney stamps on hands following storytime.

Finished a mystery novel last night, Birds of a Feather. It was a little slow, but well-written. I must be getting good because this is the second mystery novel in a row I've guessed the killer right off the bat.

Calcutta Hike, Hairdo and Weekend Report

Lots and lots to report from the past few days...

Storytime
The girls and I enjoyed our regular storytime with Miss Karen. Halfway through a story another librarian came in and said a woman REALLY needed to see Miss Karen right then and the librarian offered to read the rest of the story. I looked back and noticed the lady waiting had a badge and looked kind of like an under-cover cop. Karen returned about 10 minutes later and then left right after the storytime with the lady (who I noticed hid her badge and possibly gun under her blouse). Made me curious for the rest of the day.

Date
It was Ross's turn to decide the fun for the night. We ordered garlic bread and a pasta dish at The Place, an Italian restaurant, and watched NPR's This American Life live music show. The musical section was our favorite. The opera part was weird but funny.

Calcutta Falls Hike
We heard good things (family friendly) about this hike in Auburn area which ends at a waterfall. It was nice and level--we could use the triple stroller for most of it. We crossed over the Mountain Quarry Bridge or "No Hands Bridge" which was an old railroad bed that was used to haul rock from the quarry but the rails were removed decades ago and sold for scrap metal during WW2. You can tell that California is in a drought because the instructions to "ford a small stream" were not needed (because there was no stream) and the waterfall ("The Black Hole of Calcutta Falls"--reminded me a little of waterfalls in Hawaii) was pretty small. In fact, we passed it and after about 5 minutes we realized that was probably the "waterfall". We saw four horses on our hike as well as other hikers and dogs on walks. It was a beautiful walk along the American River.

Tacos and Air Show
After our hike we used our State Fair Jack in the Box taco coupons and got 14 free tacos and a milkshake to split. As we came out we watched a tad of the local airshow.

Windshield and Other Errands
A huge rock cracked our windshield and the crack was rapidly spreading. Ross took older two with him to get it replaced. Other errands we had to do included stop at Learning Express (toy store for kids to use their free coupons), library, and Payless (for twins to get new shoes). Abby was SO excited to get Safari, her new Beanie Boo giraffe. She had been asking to go to Learning Express all week. And Emma got some cute black (with a thin pink stripe) Airwalk slip-ons. Perfect for her tomboy personality.

Elsa and Anna
Guess who was in the back of Learning Express? Jane was the only one that really talked to them. Emma and Abby wanted to see them but didn't want to get that close.

Women's Conference
This is first broadcast that I've been late too. I loved all the messages. Words that stood out were "patterns", "preparedness", "reflect", "glow", and "showering blessings" and an image of an umbrella. Very inspiring and I cried when they sang Aunt Naomi's 4th verse (which isn't in the Hymnbook) to the song "I Am a Child of God".

New Haircut
Right after the meeting I headed to Walmart to use my salon coupon. I cut 8 inches off and will donate it to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. In the morning the kids didn't even notice for over an hour! When we mentioned something was different in the room, they asked if it was the couch which had been moved a little or the kitchen cupboard door that was open.

Choir Singing
Talk about a supportive husband. I sang in the choir today (we sang the closing song) and Ross dealt with a twin screaming and then during the prayer high-tailed it out of the chapel with a twin in one arm and toddler Jill in the other. We got a few comments after the meeting! :)

Jane's Talk
Jane gave her talk today. She was so cute and already wants to do it again. We had three pictures to go with this talk: 1. "In primary we learn about Jesus. He was a good example. He taught us to be kind and help others." (Picture of Jesus with kids), 2. "Our prophet teaches us to love. He will speak next week. I love President Monson!" (Picture of President Monson and heart), 3. "When I live the gospel I am a good example. I am happy. Others will see me and want to be happy too. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." (Picture of giant smiley face).

Allen's Museum
Allen has created his own museum (he's got a timeline made and his school yearbooks out...), a newspaper for Allenia (his own country), and a musical code. If you cut out the ad in his newspaper and bring it to the front desk of his museum you can join the AIA (Allen Intelligence Agency). Guess who wants to be a spy for Halloween?

Jill's Candy Necklace
In nursery today they celebrated all the birthdays for the year. They did special activities and every kid brought home a candy necklace. All Tucker siblings were eyeing Jill's necklace and Jill doesn't realize how cool it is.