Surprise Party

I received a text on Friday regarding a surprise birthday party for one of Ben's work buddies, Ron. His wife had invited us to his Bowling party. I was excited because it sounded like a lot of fun and we haven't hung out with them in a while. I asked Ben if he wanted to go and luckily for me, he did. He and Ron are good friends at work.

We were asked to be at the bowling alley by 7:15 and they were to planning on being there at 7:30. When we got there, they had balloons tied to all the alleys we would be occupying. Amanda's sister brought a giant card for everyone to sign and then we waited for them to arrive.

When they got there we all yelled surprise and Ron had a big smile on his face. We visited with Ron and Amanda for a few minutes and then things were arranged for those who wanted to bowl.

The kids were so excited. They loved bowling with Nana and Papa and couldn't wait to do it again. They went and got some shoes and then went to find the perfect ball.

Everyone had a great time bowling, especially the kids. They all did pretty good as well. Gabbi had a score of 75 and Owen had a score of 72. They both had a spare in their scores as well. When they got their spares they jumped up and down with excitement.

While Owen and Gabbi bowled, William took a nap. He fell asleep on my shoulder. Cute little guy.

When the black lights turned on, I couldn't help but take a picture

We all had a blast and it was fun hanging out with Amanda, Ron, and their families.

When our time for bowling was over, we were given some token to play in the arcade. Both of the kids first tried ski ball. They didn't really understand that game. Ben and I ended up throwing most of their balls. Then they tried a wheel of treasure game. Together they earned 14 tickets, not much, but enough to get a few pieces of candy.

Reading

I was getting Williams bottle ready today and saw a precious moment. Gabbi was reading to William. He was making cute noises and smiling at her. She loved it and kept reading him book after book. This went on for a good 20 minutes. It was sad to make her stop so I could feed William and she could get ready for school.

Butting Heads

Gabbi and I have been in this constant battle struggle. She finds one way or another each day to get into trouble. She must really love getting into trouble, why else would she continue to break the rules. I know what your thinking, it comes with the age, but there are limits to her stupidity.

Lately she has refused to follow any rules, back talking like crazy, throwing attitude, and doing just about anything she can to anger us both.

In the last few weeks she has written on the walls, had accidents that she has refused to tell us about (in other words hiding it from us), with those accident she has tried to clean them up with barbie clothes, blankets, etc, and even has gone to wiping her "crap" on the wall. I'm hoping that last one was an accident, but you never know with that girl.

I honestly have no idea what goes through that girls head. We ask her constantly why she does what she does and she has never given us a straight answer. Most times she just says, "It was on purpose!" I think she means "It was an accident" but sometimes it really does seem that she does what she does on purpose. Ben thinks that she acts this way to get negative attention, in other words we don't give her enough positive attention. I'm trying, but its really hard when she doing something naughty every time I turn the corner.

I just don't know anymore.

4 month check-up

Our cute baby boy is now 4 month old. It really is going by fast. 

We waited what seemed like forever, but that's becoming normal for the office. When we were finally taken back and seen his Pediatrician was great. He apologized for the long wait and got right to examining William.

He said we were doing a great job with him. He's a strong, healthy, growing baby boy. He had no concerns and we had no concerns. The visit went great.

Weight: 14 lbs 3 oz     39%

Height: 24 1/2 inches     35%

William, being 4 months old now loves to talk (make noises), smile, loves playing with his toys and putting them in his mouth, and absolutely loves his big sister and big brother. He is eating rice cereal in his nighttime bottle, which he loves and will occasionally sleep through the night. I call it teasing. Some nights he will go all night and others he needs to be fed at least once. We have started making a more secure schedule and putting him to bed closer to the other kids. So far he's done great with it.

He still takes plenty of naps, which is nice for me, I can actually get things done. He's not a fan of tummy time and I hate to make him, but its the only way he'll learn or at least that's what they tell me.

At this appointment he had to get some of his vaccinations done. Last time he did really well with very little side effects. This time was a little different. He didn't cry as much as last time, but he hated it when you touched his legs. It was hard to hold him without making him cry. He also wouldn't eat much at all. The day after his appointment he only drank about 16 oz. He normally drinks 30+ oz. Now three days after he's finally getting back to normal, well what's normal for him.

FHE Shark Tale

Gabbi has come into the habit of lying. I don't think a day has gone by when she hasn't told a lie that we haven't found out about. When asking her why she lies all she has said was so she didn't get into trouble. Apparently she didn't realize that finding out that she had lied is worse then the lying itself.

We have talked her ears off over and over and she still doesn't seem to care. So we thought that maybe a movie could do a better job then us. 

For family home evening we decided to watch Shark Tale. We wanted to watch Pinocchio, but we didn't have it. Anyhow, Shark Tale is a story of a fish that tells a lie that gets out of hand. We would stop the movie periodically to ask her questions to see if she was understanding why we were watching it. She answered each question with the right answer, we were hopefully that she was getting the message. 

They both loved the movie as they proved wanting to watch it over and over since, but I don't think she got the intended message. Never fails, she lied again the following day. Hopefully she'll catch on one way or another because I'm sick of having to punish her. I guess I should get use to it.

Show and Tell

At her parent teacher conference in January her teacher told us that they would be starting Show and Tell. Each student would get a turn to bring home the bag, put something inside, and bring it back to school. They were also supposed to write three clues that they would share with the class to see if they could guess what they brought. Gabbi's turn was Monday. 

Gabbi decided to bring a piggy bank that she had got from Nana and Papa from their trip to Washington and Oregon.

The three clues she choose to share were

1. A special gift from my Nana and Papa

2. It sits on my dresser in my room

3. It holds money

She never said whether or not they guessed what she brought, but I'm assuming by the easiness of the last clue they would guess it. 

Don't you just love her facial expression. She got in trouble right before school and refused to smile for me.

Potty

We have been working with Owen for some time now trying to get him interested in going potty. He has shown interest from time to time, but not really wanting to do much with it. When we ask him if he wants to go potty on the toilet, sometimes he would say yes and sometimes he would say no. 

This last weekend we thought we had made a break though. He had requested some Lighting McQueen underwear which he wears all the time and loves it. 

On Sunday night while the kids were getting ready for bed he ran into the kitchen and said that he needed to go potty. We dropped what we were doing and took him to the bathroom. The second he sat down on the toilet he went potty. We were all so excited for him. Then again Monday night we asked him if he wanted to try he said yes and he went again.

We had promised him a prize once he had gone potty, so needless to say that come Tuesday we went and got his prize, a Lighting McQueen book that he has seen multiple times when we have gone to Lowes. We even got a putty chart and some sports balls stickers. He has been really excited and hopefully it sticks. 

Logan Temple

After J.D.'s basketball game we had some errands to run. Once we were done with our errands we went home to relax and wait for the time to pass. 

When it came time to leave we got ready, we got the kids ready, and then headed to drop the kids off at Jeff and Tiffany's so we could go to the Temple.

Our ward Temple night was at the Logan Temple. It has been such a long time since we have been to the Temple. We were both really excited to go. I have never been through a session there either, which made me ever more excited.

When we got there we attended the session with our fellow ward members, which was nice. When we were done, we visited for a little bit and then we all went our own ways. 

I really do love going to the Temple. The feelings felt there are really en-explainable. We are truly blessed to have so many Temple so close and its a shame that we don't take better advantage of it. On the way home Ben and I talked about how we had gone all the time when we were first married and how we have let a very busy life get in the way.

After talking about it, we have decided that we are going to make a goal of going more often. At least once a month. I hope we can keep that goal. I really do miss it and the feelings of the Spirit that are at the Temple.

J.D.'s basketball game

J.D. did Junior Jazz basketball this year. He has loved it. Jeff even went and got a basketball hoop which he installed in the garage so he could practice. Jeff worked with him and he did a great job. He had I think 10 games and I'm sad to say that we were only able to make it to 1. His last game of the season. 

They all did a great job. It was a lot of fun to watch too. J.D. got some good steals and really good assists. At this age they don't keep score, they just let them play for fun and the practice. 

 If he keeps it up, he will be a star.

Rodeo

We went to the Rodeo this last weekend, we love the winter series. We got there early in order to get our favorite seats. Luckily we were able to get them. They really are the best seats. Front row action with enough leg room for the kids to walk around and not get restless.

After we got our seats we decided to go for a walk to by the time. We ran into some old friends and visited for a while. Once we were done visiting with them we continued our walk. We went to check out the horses and bulls. Owen was mesmerized by them. After a while Owen, William, and I headed back to our seats while Gabbi and Ben continued to walk around. When Owen and I got back to our seats I realized that our little walk had put William to sleep. Despite all of the noise, he slept until the Rodeo started.

While sitting in our seats waiting for the Rodeo to start, the Rodeo clown was walking around getting things ready for the show. When seeing the clown Owen walked over there to say hi. When he got over there, he became shy. He just stood there and stared. It was pretty funny. As the clown walked away, he did wave to Owen and he thought that was pretty cool.

The Rodeo clown did a great job that night. I couldn't tell if he was the same one from last year or not, but he was hilarious. He had new props and side acts. When the bull riding was in play he had brought out this giant air bubble ball. He would get inside and when there were an unruly bulls he would chase them from his ball. It was funny to watch the bulls, they were scared of his bubble.

His half time show was even better. He had his son help him. He dressed up as a Matador and his son was the bull. He came out on a small 4 wheeler dressed in black and on his head he wore a helmet with horns. He charged the Matador. They ran around the arena for a few minutes, the bull chasing the Matador. Then they all of a sudden stopped. When they stopped the bull jumped off his 4 wheeler and started to dance. The Matador joined him and they did a synchronized dance together. It was so cute.

When the Rodeo had finally started the kids were very good. They sat and watched the entire Rodeo with excitement. Every time a new event started they were glued to the arena. There were a few times when they began to get restless, but we brought some treats to draw them back in. We all had a great time.

The events that they love the most is the bull riding. When the bulls come out they jump and cheer for the riders. Sadly not many of them scored any points. It just wasn't their night. But it was still entertaining to watch.

I loved the picture perfect moment. William began to fuss. We started to feed him, but he wasn't cooperating. Ben has the magic touch with him. He'll stand and walk him around and he will drink his bottle. The connection those two have makes up for Owen being a Mama's boy. 

After Ben was done feeding William I took him and changed him, but when I came back and sat down William again began to fuss. He wanted to stand, so Ben offered to take him and walk him around. Owen wanted to be where Ben and William were so I let him walk over there. When I turned around I saw the cutest thing. All the boys were captivated watching the Rodeo. Ironically enough, they were watching the bull riding when I took this picture.

While the boys were standing on the sidelines watching, Gabbi and I stayed in our seats. She came over and sat next to me despite the fact that there are many moments when I am her worst enemy. She laid her head on my shoulder and looked at me and said "I Love you!" I just smiled and we went back to watching the Rodeo.

At one point I talked to her about how the barrel racing was my favorite event to watch. She said she agreed with me. A funny side story, on the way home that night she said that when she grew up she wanted to be a cowboy and race horses like in my favorite event. I smiled. It made me feel like I'm not the enemy she thinks I am.

Nap Time

After getting things finished in Owen's room it was nice because it was now time for his nap. After he was all done eating we took him downstairs to lay down in his new room.

A few hours later when I went down to check on him, this was how I found him.

We made Gabbi lay down when she got out of school. She complained about having quiet time, but finally stopped arguing. This is how I found her.

Our kids are funny when they sleep.

Owen's new room

Owen and Gabbi have always had separate rooms, but they were adjoined rooms. They have constantly bickered back and forth about each others toys etc., etc., etc. It got to the point where I was sick of hearing it. So Ben and I decided to move Owen into the spare bedroom and move all of our random junk into Owen's old room. 

While moving everything around, Owen was having a blast. He wanted to help move things and it seemed like every few minutes he would ask if we were done yet. When we were finally finished, he ran and jumped around his room so excitedly. He loves his new room.

School

Ben's current class is driving him crazy, not to mention the Financial aid department and their accounting sucks.

First things first, their accounting. Ben had been dealing with phone call after phone call every month, them telling him that he owes money. We get Tuition assistance and we have a Pell Grant. We haven't had to pay for any of his schooling, which had been a blessing. We have also been lucky enough to receive what is left over from his Pell Grant.

Each time they call, Ben tells them that we don't owe them any money, that TA and the Pell Grant take care of all of it. He has asked them multiple times for an audit or an inquiry to be done on his account to prove from when and why he owes then money. Finally after 6 months of phone calls they have finally called him back to let him know that they sent us one to many Pell Grant checks and that we owe them that money back from their mistake. The killer is they said that it happened in 2011. 2 1/2 years down the road and their barely noticing this "mysterious" extra check.

When Ben first told me I blew up at him. I shouldn't have, it wasn't his fault. But I wasn't allowed to call the school and yell at them myself, so he ended up getting the brunt of my anger. Why would a University employ idiot accountants and a screwed up system that they don't even know or understand.

Anyhow, they told Ben that we owed them over 600 dollars. I still was angry and he said he would call them back and try to get a better explanation. Apparently the first guy he talked to had no clue what he was talking about and this other guy did. Their accounting system still doesn't make since to me and they couldn't prove to Ben that they had actually sent us too many checks, but he was able to explain to Ben how to read and understand their financial system a little better. Sadly after arguing with both the school and each other, we ended up having to pay the stupid money.

It was their mistake, we shouldn't have had to fix what they screwed up.

As for his class: this was supposed to be an easy class. All the review said so. Many of the students, not just Ben, have realized how wrong they all were. The University gives a rubric, syllabus, and outline to the Professor and the Professor does their best to teach what is required with their own little spin. Well this Professor he has now isn't following the rubric at all or even the outline of the course. The items that were provided for him to teach the class. Some of the questions/discussions Ben has been asked to answer haven't even been in that weeks reading assignment.

Along with all that, the Professors grading system is whacked. In Ben's first assignment he had to find a sources for his research question. Ben found good scholarly sources and was docked points because the sources weren't "up to date" sources. He wanted un-scholarly crap that pretty much anyone can put on the internet, (magazine articles, trending articles, etc.) It didn't make since to Ben or me, so he asked his teacher and didn't much as to a response.

Also some of the research assignments he has been given haven't made since and when comparing the examples that the Professor gives and the examples that are provided by the University, it just doesn't add up. Like his last assignment. The Professor wanted it one way, the example and rubric (from the University) wanted it another way. Ben ended up e-mailing the Professor to get clarification and he responded back with an "duh" answer to follow the rubric.

It's driving him crazy. I watch him sit at the computer hours on ends trying to make sense of what exactly he his supposed to do and then once he turns in his assignments, the torment in his eyes when he contemplates over and over if he even did it right. Ben is a great student and he cares about his work. He had received great grade, a 4.0 by the University standards, but he's really afraid that this class with change that.

Poor guy, he works so hard.

Valentines bowling

As a fun treat for all the grand kids my Mom and Dad took all the kids bowling.

Both Dad and Mom had Monday off and planned to do lunch and bowling with the kids. My Dad came around and picked everyone up. Once they were all picked up, they had lunch with Nana and Papa. They had bought them all hamburgers. Gabbi said she loved having the "salad" on her cheese burger. It was funny. She said from now on she wanted "salad" on her burgers.

After lunch they went bowling. Mom and Dad said they all had so much fun. We tried to go to the alley to sneak some pictures, but by the time we were done with our errands they were done.

When we picked them up they were having so much fun and sad that they had to leave. They were drinking soda and eating treats. While waiting for the kids to clean up I was talking to Mom and Dad. They said all the kids had a blast. Cameron came in first with 114 and Owen came in second with 98. It was funny when Kayden was asked where he came in. He was second to last with a 34. He just laughed and smiled. Jenny had made the comment that with him being the oldest he should have had the best score. We all just laughed.

When leaving the kids gave big hugs to Nana and Papa and said a big thanks for the fun afternoon.

Pictures to come soon once my Mom texts them to me.

Smiles

I love this little guy, he has the cutest smile.

While we were at Brian and Karen's William had all sorts of smiles. He was just watching us talk and had ear to ear smiles.

Cami turns 2

Cute little Cami Sue turned two and her party was this last weekend. We weren't able to go to her party because we had family dinner at our house to celebrate Jeff's birthday, so we made arrangements to stop by before the party.

When we got there the kids were so happy to see each other. They ran into the girls room and started playing. They were having so much fun. My kids got a little carried away and practically took out every toy they had. I felt bad when we left because they didn't clean it up either. I tired to help somewhat, but they told me not to worry about it.

Anyhow, while the kids played we visited with Brian and Karen. It was so nice to sit and visit with them, we don't get to see them very often. Brian is so busy with work and Karen is busy with her kids and her niece. It really was a nice to visit.

After a while, they called Cami over to open her present. We got her some Minnie Mouse books and a Minnie Mouse coloring book. Cami was so cute when she saw who was on the books. With a giant smile and in her cute voice, she said "Minnie Mouse." She walked around with the box of books for a little while. She's such a doll, love that little girl.

Pirate

While we were on our date, Jenny sent me a text to check out a groupme message she had posted. It was a picture of William. They had "dressed" him up as a pirate with some of Jenny's eyeliner. Ben and I laughed for what seemed like forever.

When we went to pick the kids up, she told us how much fun they had, but that William didn't like it at all. They had planned on doing Harry Potter, Jack Sparrow, and a few others. William, after the first "costume" was not as cooperative anymore.

On Facebook Jenny posted his picture with the caption of "Always fun when Uncle Brian and Aunt Jenny watch the baby." So funny.

Valentines Date

We were planning on going to the Stake's Valentines dinner and dance. Jenny offered to take our kids so we could. After dropping them off at Jenny's, Ben had decided to do something else instead.

He took us to Maddox for dinner. We haven't eaten there in a long time and I remember why it had been so long, it was expensive. It's one of those places you only go on a special occasion. Don't get me wrong the dinner was amazingly wonderful, but it was the most we have spent eating out in our whole marriage.

Ben ordered the Prime-rib and I got a New York Strip. We hardly ever eat stakes generally because they are so expensive, but these were worth the money. They were both served with very yummy steamed vegetables, rolls, salad, and a baked potato. We each shared our "meat" with each other so we could get a taste of both kinds. We both agreed that the Prime-rib was the better of the two. It was so good that there was nothing left over to take home.

After we were done eating we went to Walkers Cinema to watch a movie. We decided to see Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit. In light of the movie pack Ben got for Valentines day. We had watched a few of them before that night.

The movie was really good. I really like the Jack Ryan series. It's an unusual take on the spies life seeing how he's just an analyst.

Valentines Dinner

Normally for Valentines day dinner we'll do the heart breaker pizza from Papa Murphy's. This year we were invited to go to the Pizza Pie Cafe with our friends, the Long's. They had a coupon that allows kids to eat free. That place it very yummy, so we jumped on the offer.

When we got there, I was expecting we would have to wait because the parking lot was full. Surprisingly enough we were able to get right in and seated. The kids quickly made requests as to what they wanted to eat. The always eat very well when we go there. While eating we were able to visit with the Long's which is always nice to have adult conversations.

When we were done eating we went home and enjoyed some of our treats, watched a movie and then put the kids to bed.

Cupid

The kids received a visit from Cupid. They were both very excited by what they got.

They each got a treat and toy.

Daddy got a Jack Ryan movie pack and a box of chocolates.

William got a toy to hang from his car seat along with some skittles, which daddy and I will take advantage of.

  Owen got some chocolate covered sports balls and some character cars from the movie Cars.

Gabbi got conversation hearts and a toy play mat for her dolls.

Valentines activity

As a surprise, Ben got off work an hour early on Friday and when he got home he filled the counter with lots of different treats. The treats he brought home, he had planned to dip them in chocolate. We loved his last attempt of chocolate covered treats, so decided to do it again with a few extras. He had bought cinnamon bears, pretzels, marshmallows, and strawberries.

To make it more fun, we asked the kids to help. They had so much fun dipping these treats in chocolate and even more so tasting them. They were all very yummy. Even better then last time. He bought the good Ghiradelli chocolate to dip the treats in.

They were so yummy. Yummy enough to share with some friends for Valentines and with my sister as a thank you for watching the kids so we could go on a Valentines date.