Marvelous Musings

We've been so busy having fun that I haven't blogged at all. This is an attempt to catch up with everything we've been doing.


Aubrey had her elementary school Hoe Down a couple weeks ago. She decided the night before that she needed a cowboy hat and boots, neither of which we had, but thanks to my friends, a couple of phone calls later, I located some. She was so excited to sing the songs and do the dances her P.E. teacher taught them. I really enjoyed watching her, and I even got to join in and do the Texas Macarena and Hokey Pokey. I did have a slightly awkward moment during the chicken dance... I happened to be standing right between Aubrey and her male P.E. coach, so when it came time to dance in a circle, I grabbed one of Aubrey's hands, and one of his. I wanted to turn to him and ask to make sure he knew we were just friends. I was glad when a little kindergarten boy came to join our circle and I got to hold his hand instead. The whole afternoon was so fun, I'm looking forward to next year's hoe down.




Later that day, we went to the rodeo with the kids and my parents. With Andrew really loving farm animals these days, it was a hit for him. We went to the kid's area, which I've never been to before, but it was so fun. They had a petting zoo and besides having a flamingo and a deer there, which was unusual, we found several other fun animals, and Andrew made friends with a goat that was just his size. After having its ears pulled and eyes poked, it was probably glad to see us go. Petting zoos are fun, but I always feel like washing my hands ten times after I leave.



Also in the kid's area they had all kinds of baby animals at different stations that had just been born. Aubrey really liked going from station to station and collecting a little card from each place as well as seeing all the animals. Aubrey had heard about pizza on a stick from another time we'd gone to the rodeo, so that's what she got. And it was as big as her head. She was happy to share it. We also enjoyed watching the rodeo, Aubrey was interested in it too for the first time ever, so that was fun. Andrew was happy during most of it, thanks to his interest in cows and horses, and also because he had his own seat most of the time.

We had an awesome Spring Break with Chad at home with us for a whole week! We got a lot of yard work done, which was good, because our yard was in serious need of a makeover. I also started a container garden, which hopefully works out. You can click here for the last gardening attempt I made. Long story short, I don't have a green thumb, I have a black thumb and the nice word for me is horticulturally challenged. This time around, I am still starting small, so let's hope we get better results.

And every good Mormon family needs a trampoline right? So, we hopped on the bandwagon. I had a family finance professor at BYU that had a soapbox about not having a trampoline (as it becomes a financial liability if someone sues you) so I think of her every time I'm jumping on it. Aubrey and Andrew both love it, and, I love it too. You can never be too old for jumping on a trampoline. Every summer when I was a little girl, when we went to Utah, we visited my great aunt and uncle's trampoline, and that was an event we always looked forward to. Now, I have my own trampoline in my own backyard. Man, I love the American Dream.








The front yard was returned to its former glory during Spring Break, and these Jasmine, which have come back from the brink. (Yet another well-intentioned gardening project). They're really taking off this Spring, so hopefully, they'll keep growing, because I love Jasmine, they're so pretty and fragrant.

This is what happens when you cross a little boy with chocolate pudding. In our attempts to help little Drew gain weight, we have fed him all kinds of fabulous yummy food, but I've never tried pudding. Well, we tried it. It was cold at the time so at first, he didn't like it, but when I put a little blob on his tray, it became edible fingerpaint. It was all over the place. He had a good time with it and it was fun to watch him. Whose bearded baby is this anyway?

This picture was just a random one I took but afterwards, I thought it looked like he was praying. "please bless my pudding to help me gain weight..."

It was even up his nose and in his ears. He styled his hair with it. It was all over.

Easter came sort of as an afterthought this year... it came so soon! It was lucky that I already had stuff for Easter baskets stashed away and had plenty of eggs and candy for an Easter egg hunt. Normally, our family does a String Hunt, which basically takes the guess work out of where the eggs are... you just roll your ball of string up around the house and it takes you to your various eggs and treats. We didn't do that this year, because Aubrey just loves searching for eggs so much, the String was going to slow her down.

Andrew was less than thrilled on Easter morning...

And this is why... his older sister got all the eggs, except for about five. Like I was saying, she was not going to be slowed down for anything.





He was happier later when his mouth was full of chocolate. I think he has made a small stash of M&Ms somewhere in the house because since last Sunday, I keep finding him with some kind of candy in his mouth and I have no idea where he got it. Speaking of, I think there's a smudge of chocolate on his chin in this picture. He's a boy after my own heart, that one is.





These shoes... I love these Easter shoes. They are SOOO Aubrey. If I had to pick a pair of shoes that best described her, I would pick these. They are happy, flashy, and fun, and ready to go anywhere. Not to mention they are the most sparkly shade of Perfect Princess Pink.






Chad is hoping this picture never sees the light of day... this is what happens when Andrew finds my makeup. Yes, Andrew, I always have trouble opening that compact also. I actually did not post a couple nicer ones, with Andrew using several makeup brushes on his face. Ah, yes, we're just a stone's throw away from Andrew carrying around a purse while wearing my shoes.

Remember that container garden? Well, welcome to Our (Not So) Bountiful Harvest. I am happy to report we are making baby steps in the right direction. And I say baby steps because, we recently picked some strawberries, here they are in all their minute glory:

Just so you get the right idea on the scale on these babies:



So, we had only two, and they were both only the size of a plain M&M, but boy oh boy, were they delicious. They were sweet and juicy and just the right size for getting stuck in your teeth. I'm hoping for a lot more of those. Hopefully, a little bit bigger next time. I've got a few ideas to make them grow bigger, but truthfully, I'm just glad the plants haven't died yet. I am wondering how the vegetables will do, but we'll just have to see. At the very least, I could serve a feast to an army of Lilliputians.

This small child has found himself so many different places lately. This is what happens when taking toys out of your toybox just doesn't quite do it for you. Andrew just climbed right into his one day last week. In retrospect, I think he's a genius... instead of taking his toys out one by one, to play with them, it so much more efficient to climb in with them. Then you're only putting one thing in, as opposed to taking several dozens out.


And lastly, Andrew is finally walking. And I mentioned it before, but it's different finally because he prefers walking... as in, when he falls down, he doesn't crawl, he gets back up and keeps walking. I am so excited for him... but excited in that cautious sort of way, because he's already discovered the benefits of being two feet tall. We're going to have to remove our stove knobs, among other things. Andrew demonstrates an unusual way of getting to standing position, which I have named "The Popper." He starts out with one knee down and one foot ready to stand, and then he just pops up on his other foot. I don't know how he decided that was going to work, but it cracks me up every time I see it.

(Yes, I did bribe him with chocolate, so, yes, I know I shouldn't be complaining that he likes candy so much, since I am sort of fostering that relationship.)

In other news, I recently downloaded the complete Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants and October General Conference onto my iPod. It makes doing chores so much easier when I am listening to something, and figured this was a good option to listen to. I think I end up listening to more than I would sit down and read, so that is a good thing. I also have been enjoying my little stints at the bookstore. I really thought I wouldn't like going back, but I actually do and I look forward to it. I guess we'll see if that still holds true when we do the same thousands of embossings that we did last summer. I don't think I blogged about it, but it was awful... 8 hour days at the bookstore doing nothing but embossing. So, anyway, that should be interesting.

And now I think we're all caught up!