Sprouts

 My goodness, the weather here has been FABULOUS.  Yesterday it was 88°!!!  It's so nice that every time I see gardening seeds on sale, I have to buy them.  I'm pretty sure we've got about $20 worth of seeds hanging out in various stashes throughout the house.  But guess what, SOME OF THEM HAVE SPROUTED!!!  I am easily impressed, I know, but MAN that's cool!  We're going to have cosmos all over our front beds.  I think cosmos are my most favorite summertime flower.  Even the foliage is light and pretty.  But we'll see what happens with our white pumpkins, 3 types of sunflowers, pickling cucumbers, yellow and red tomatos.  And dill.  And rosemary.  And lavender...  And spinach.  Oh yeah, and carrots...  Ok, maybe we have $30 in seeds...

My friends, our house STINKS right now.  I don't know what it is, but I just wanted to let you know.  Lest you read our little family blog and think everything is wonderful in our lives.....  I think it's a combination of GG's new mattress (which we did air out, according to their instructions) and our stinky dog and maybe the skinky kitchen trash.  I can do something about the trash.  But instead I'm sitting here.

On Wednesday we met a friend at Legends, the outdoor mall down the road.  The have a cool rock water feature that I'm pretty sure is not supposed to be a splash park, but that's what we made it into. Because we're resourceful and we like to walk the line.  On our way there, we were talking about the baby we were going to meet up with, and how we just need to give him space because we don't want to give him any germs.  (She was healthy, just as a precaution). 
She said, "Is he a cute baby?  I love babies.  I love ALL babies.  Except for the ugly ones who cry and have snot." 
I think 70% of airplane passengers would agree with you on that one.  (Public Service Announcement:  BE NICE TO MOTHERS OF CRYING BABIES!!!  Airplanes are PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION!  If you cannot handle crying babies, MAKE PREPARATIONS.  Seriously, there's a huge chance that a baby will be crying on your flight.  NOISE CANCELLING HEADPHONES.  Invest in some.  And realize the world does not revolve around you.  The end.)

 Red Bighorn sculptures.  I want to touch them too, but I'm not five, so I don't think Security would be as forgiving.

 Adrianne send me the picture of the saddest baby in the world.  BABY VERONICA, it's like you know that you're going to get shots in 8.3 minutes!  How did you know?

 And we are all SUPER DUPER excited about Auntie Autumn's new book!  SUPER DUPER DUPER EXCITED.  Just in case you can't tell, it's about girls who fight with swords.  But we can't decide which pose we like the best!  What's your vote? (And before you judge my design skillz too harshly, this is just the rough layout.  I know, I know...)

#1 - HeYAAAAH Pose

#2 - Oh No You Didn't Pose

#3 - In Yo FACE Pose

#4 - Low Down Fighting Ladies Pose

#5 - My Sword Is Bigger Than Your Sword Pose

We anxiously await your opinion!

Pickled

 Oh my heck, some exciting things happened this week. Mostly this:


WE GOT A NEW BUNKBED!!!  Unfortunately, we haven't gotten the new full-size lower bunk mattress.  So we threw GG's toddler-bed mattress on the floor in what-will-be her bed space and she's been happy as a clam.  Except for when she jumped up from bed too fast and totally smacked her head on the top bunk.  Sorry babe.  That sucked. 

She's going to upgrade from her crib/toddler bed mattress this week when our friend Amazon delivers the new memory foam full size mattress ($208, tax free, free shipping, since I must overshare about all my shopping adventures...)  That's right, she's going from her hand-me-down-from Ella cracked plastic 4" crib mattress that we bought at the Dreaded Walmart EIGHT YEARS AGO.  The sad little mattress that Hannah now sneaks on to as soon as Gretchen vacates her bed.  (Hannah is too fat to jump onto Ella's bed.  And no WAY is she jumping on me & Colby's bed.  It's kidproofed to keep small sneaking children out.  You practically need a stepstool to get into our bed.)  The point is, our dog is gross.  She stinks.  Even right after the groomer she stinks.  She's a fat stinkey bulldog that NO ONE wants to share a bed with.  And now GG won't have to!!!  Woo hoo!!!!!!

I will never have to hear "Hannah, GET OFF!!!  GET OFF MY BED!!!!  HANNAH, ARE YOU DEAF?  GET OFF MY BED!!!!" again. 

(For the record, yes, Hannah is deaf.  And stubborn.  So we suspect that even if she could hear and understand your 5 year old tirade, she would just look you in the eye, blink, fart, and go right back to sleep.)



Most of you probably already know, but we have a less-than-slight pickle obsession at our house (note the toy kitchen pickle in GG's mouth above.  That's not her tongue.  That's a plastic pickle).  I think I've mentioned before that Ella's been restricted to one pickle a day, not till after 10am.  (Because yes, she wants one as soon as she wakes up).  Gretchen has been ho-hum about it.  Pickles are fine, but not a daily staple.  Except for this week at the grocery store when she saw BABY DILL PICKLES.  OMG, seriously?  BABY PICKLES?  Yes.  It rocked her world.  She was delighted.  And because I am nice, and also worn down, I bought it for her.  She called them "Sweetish Pickles" (though they were dill) and held them in the crook of her arm through the store crooning, "Oh, my little sweetish pickles!  Are you ready to come home with me?"  And, because I didn't place any restrictions on her pickle consumption, she ate the whole jar that afternoon.  THE WHOLE JAR.  This is what happens when you try to unload groceries while helping with homework while getting dinner going while cleaning the bathroom. 

And in the soap-opera world of preschool, Gretchen has found a new best friend. 
GG:  Can we go somewhere?
Me:  Where?
GG: Some place fun.
Me:  Um, maybe... (sense my level of commitment and excitement)
GG:  Can I invite my Best Friend?
Me:  Uh, which best friend?  (She has about 4 options)
GG:  Ummmm...I forgot her name.
Me:  You sound really close.
GG:  HAILEY!  Her name is Hailey.
Me: We'll see.

We'll see is my answer to everything.  Can we get this song on the radio so we can listen to it ALL THE TIME?  Sure, we'll see.  Can we go to Old McDonalds and get ice cream?  Sure, we'll see. 

But can we spend the afternoon in the hammock and set my pastels out (only to be knocked over, "But that's ok, they still work," I say with gritted teeth because that's what happens when you share your precious things with small people.)  YES WE CAN.

 Ella wanted me to show you that she can jump through the hula-hoop like a jump rope.  She's really good at it. 

Ella also wants to share NOTHING.  When asked, she said, "NOTHING."  Then giggled. 

And More Spring Breakin'

HEY GUYS!!!  I had to break this post up into deux so that I could keep your attention.  ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION?  Good.

I know you're super most favorite thing in the world is to look at what my kids draw.  So here's some more for you!  You're welcome!  The top is Ella.  She said she stylized it on purpose.  I think that's a flying narwhal in the sky.

And here's Gretchen's.  I'm guessing Ella helped fill in the names.  GG sure loves her friends.  Awww, for cute.  This is how we stay busy during General Conference.

And this is how Baby Veronica grows up and makes us laugh and cringe at the same time!  SO CUTE!  AND GROSS!!!

Oh Baby Veronica, we can't believe you're 6 months old!  And french kissing dogs!  Awwww!!!!

My friend Katherine had the sweetest idea for her anniversary.  They had a family picnic at the park to celebrate their family.  Awwwww!  Here we are celebrating that and Subway Sandwiches (mmmmm, sandwiches...)  Ella, you're so pretty!

 The Girl Scouts went to the state capitol on Wednesday.  I love Sweet Home Nevada.  Seriously.  Only in Nevada will the State Treasurer stop what she's doing to talk to 7 girls about their plans for the future and saving for college.  She invited us all into her office and one by one and asked what they wanted to be when they grow up (Ella wants to be an Illustrator, GG wants to be a babysitter ;)

A super nice law clerk took us around the State Supreme Court and explained some stuff that mostly went over all our heads.

 We learned about the history of the capitol building.  That desk belonged to a governor!  That giant press on the left was for putting seals on official documents!  (We didn't get a governor with a college degree for a while.  And he wasn't even from the US, he was an immigrant from...Prussia?  Poland?  I don't know.  Wikipedia it.  The point is, that's crazy. Geesh.)

Good times.

To round out Spring Break, I found an awesome deal on expedia & we booked a room at the Peppermill Resort for a night!  Woo hoo!!!  And even better, we had some friends join us for our stay-cation.  We spent all night and all day swimming at the fabulous pool.  I want to go there EVERY MONTH!  It's cheaper than swim lessons, and Gretchen figured out how to doggy-paddle in just a few hours.

But things aren't all rosy and wonderful, we can't get Gretchen to stop picking her nose and eating it.  Even when we cry out with gross-ness, it does no good.  Last week, Ella asked, "WHY?  WHY DO YOU PICK YOUR NOSE WITH YOUR FINGERS AND EAT IT?"  And Gretchen replied, as if it's so obvious, "Because!  My tongue can't reach!"

BLECH.

Kids are funny, but man, they're super gross.

Pre Spring Breakin'

We had the most fantastic thing happen over Spring Break.  LISMARIE AND FAMILY CAME TO VISIT!!!  We love love LOVE when people come to visit, especially Lismarie.  They stayed at a hotel literally 5 minutes from our house, so we got to go swim with them too!  Woo hoo!!!

Not just swimming in the tub you guys, swimming in a REAL pool too. (Though Lismarie & I were super excited that we got to re-create the infamous BYU Freshman Year Vegas Tub Incident with the next generation. Stupid 90's Circus Circus hot tub hours + Stupid 19 year olds = hilarity.  Still waiting for photographic evidence to show up on Facebook.)

How much fun can you squeeze into 2 days?  Oh, let me tell you.  SERIOUS FUN.  It wasn't actually our Spring Break, so I let Ella pick a day to stay home from school.  She opted for Monday, which was Virginia City Day.  The gigantic old-timey candy shop may have been the deciding factor.

We spent many minutes trying to talk GG into getting a bubblegum cigar.  Because this picture NEEDED to happen.

The Virginia City graveyard!  Pretty AND creepy!  My favorite combination!

The churches are almost as plentiful as the bars & whorehouses!

The next day Lismarie & I popped some tags at Savers.  OMG you guys, I spent $56 at Savers.  Do you know how much awesome junk you can get at a thrift store for $56?  Let me tell you:

-2 fabulous t-shirts

-1 super lovely black top that I'm wearing RIGHT NOW and will wear to church today

-2 AMAZING (no seriously!  AMAZING) sweaters.  One bright red vintage one with big white buttons, one grey angora.  Both FABULOUS

-COWBOY BOOTS!!!  My 4 year search for cowboy boots is over!!!

-A blue tin for storing treasures (immediately confiscated by Ella.  Followed by Gretchen's displeasure.)

-2 crystal lamps (which made the Macklemore Video Extra we ran into on our way out SUPER jealous).  They'll look amazing flanking our fireplace.

Lismarie & I have some serious Thrift Store luck when we're together.  

To follow up that shopping high we stopped by the pawn shop where Colby & I found my beloved wedding ring.  (I love my wedding ring.  It's the most perfect ring in the world.)  Lismarie was specifically looking for turquoise jewelry, but alas, we didn't have $400 to spend on a cuff bracelet.  But she DID find a new wedding ring for herself!!!  FOR $200!!!!  We're now wedding ring twins!!!  Of course they're not the same ring, but her's is really really lovely.  She & Mike had talked about replacing their wedding rings.  Little did they know they'd be able to do it for that cheap!  Dude!  HOORAY FOR RENO PAWN SHOPS!!!

And then, like the day couldn't get any better, we drove up to Lake Tahoe.  It was heavenly.  The kids climbed on the rocks and played on the beach.  And then we got T's Rotisserie, the best food in Tahoe.  OMG SIGH.  Awesome.

 

I was so sad when they left on Wednesday morning.  I almost cried, but I pulled it together.  Sniff.  Then I got to go make lunch for 40 missionaries for a zone conference.  With a super tired Gretchen in tow.  Hooray.  (Note sarcasm).

SO YOU SHOULD ALL COME VISIT.  We'll make it worth your while.  ;)