Suggestion Box?

Dear Mother Nature,

Please excuse me for this intrusion into your very busy life, but I have just a bit of a complaint I'd like to file. Just a small one really.

I think perhaps, sweet Mother Nature, that you are a bit confused this year about the date or season, and what the appropriate weather may be for said date/season. You see, it is April 15th.

Mid April.

Almost a month after the first day of SPRING.

You remember Spring.....warmer weather, flowers blooming, snow melting, trees leafing out, warmer weather, sunnier days, some rain storms, no more snow....warmer weather.

It's Spring Break for my kids this week. Monday was sunny and somewhat warm. They were able to play outside happily. It was dry. They wore shorts and t-shirts. We were looking forward to a fun week outside playing. All those plans were abandoned Tuesday when it got cold and really rainy. Now today.....THIS:


I had to turn THIS on in the Family Room:

And my kids are not wearing shorts and t-shirts. Instead, they are in the jeans, long sleeves, and fleece attire from January.


So really Mother Nature.....would you want to be cooped up in the house for Spring Break because of snow and cold?! Neither do I! It stinks that I put the snowpants away, the mittens have been lost, and the coats are all on the small side, because tomorrow would be a perfect day to take the kids for their first skiing lesson.

Maybe next year we'll give you a little "heads up" so we can actually celebrate Spring during our time off from school. Now.....where can I find the suggestion box to stick this letter into?!

Sincerely-

Crazy and Cooped-up in Utah.

PS....Do you like Ellie's toothbrush and stickers?! We ALL went to the dentist today for a check-up. The only cavity in the bunch? ME.

nice. :)

PPS....I hope Mother Nature doesn't strike me with lightning for registering this complaint. For you own safety, you may not want to stand too close to me for a few months....

Happy Birthday Ron!

Today is Ron's birthday!!!! Happy birthday to my husband, father of my kiddos, and best friend! :)

I hope he had a good day...hard to beat last year as we spent the day renting a speed boat and playing around on Lake Powell, but we can't do that every year!

He got his "big" gift a day early since I picked it up yesterday afternoon and needed help unloading it. A new BBQ grill. Our old one was, well, pathetic. :) So we fired up the new one tonight and grilled a yummy dinner of a chipotle marinated tri-tip roast. It was GREAT! Ron also got some new clothes, a book, DVD, and treats from the kids. We ended the evening with a cake, and letting the little kids blow out the candles 10-20 times on their own pieces of cake. Their daddy's birthday will be memorable for the kids at least. But I do know that we will enjoy his gift every time we fire it up this summer. :)

Coming Clean

Okay, okay. The picture below was photoshopped. :) Hard to tell though, huh? ;)

We went up the the kids favorite park in the foothills last week, and they were up playing around, and Ron was taking still pictures with his new toy video camera. When we got home, we saw that picture and laughed because both of the kids were looking over at the same spot with an odd look. I mentioned it looked like they were seeing something scary like a a bear or something so he photoshopped one in! I thought for fun I'd just put the picture up to see what the reactions were! :)

I bet you all thought this was another spring cleaning post, didn't you?! I wish. But not much of that is going on with it being spring break for the kids. Lot's of messing up of the house, with toys and junk everywhere, but very little picking up, as usual. I'll get back in the cleaning groove when I'm down a few kids on a daily basis.

On slate for today, celebrating Ron's birthday. We'll make it fun for him, as he's still feeling a bit shell shocked at how old it is this year....anyone care to guess?!

Our park in the foothills

Traditions

Our cute little city sponsors an Easter Egg hunt for the kids every year at the park near our home. This year was a bit iffy on timing for us, as Nicole had a dance practice at 9AM for her upcoming "Little Mermaid" show, Jared had a soccer game at 10AM at a school a few blocks from the park, and at 10:40AM, a mere 20 minutes before the Egg hunt, Ellie didn't quite make it to the bathroom and drenched herself. (That had to have been the fastest bath and clothes change in history!)

But despite the timing issues, and threats of rain, we made it just in time to join the mayhem fun! The kids always end up separated into different groups by age, so I only got pictures of Ellie "hunting" her eggs. But after hearing the descriptions of how Nicole and Jared take off at a full run to get their booty, I don't think I'd be all that successful at getting a picture of them! They came home, and consumed their sugar treasure instead of lunch, and now want to go to Wendy's and Little Caesar's to redeem the coupons they found in some of their eggs! Isn't Easter great?! :)

(I'm not quite sure what is up with Jared's expression....it sort of reminds me of Gollum, clutching "his precious".)

Coloring the Easter Eggs

I Believe.....

Anyone else have one of these?

My husband MUST have a secret identity and be doing this undercover.....because there couldn't be another kid like our Nicole to give ideas for material like this, could there?! :)


The only difference is, you don't even have to ask Nicole a question for her to go on, and on, and on, and on like this....

You gotta love her. ;)

Spring Cleaning - Day 3

Hmmm.....if I can even call it a whole day of cleaning....or even half a day. I realized yesterday that Easter is looming, and I didn't want to be in the mad scramble for basket stuff on Saturday, so I got some of it done yesterday. Of course, Ellie saw all of it, and being that she is old enough to remember, I don't think she is ever going to believe in the Easter bunny! Oops! That's okay, because I honestly don't like perpetuating the lie of imaginary people and creatures coming in the house when we are asleep. The other two littles have started asking anyway....and I just avoid giving them an answer. (That was a nice tangeant!)

Anyway, as for cleaning, I finished the master bedroom, and an working on the bathroom. Basically all that is left to do in there is clear out the magazine rack of Golf Digest that my husband doesn't look at anymore and then give it a good cleaning. Then I'll be into the kids bathroom. I have decided this is going to work much better for me if I set small goals. My kids are not the types that will let me get an entire days worth of work done. They can't leave me alone that long! Not to mention, the rest of my house would be destroyed if they were left to their own devices for that long. :)

Spring Cleaning - Day 2

Master bedroom. I would've gotten loads more done if my kids didn't HAVE to have their mommy RIGHT NOW! ;) So I have some dresser drawers to go through today, and then it's into the bathroom....looking forward to that..... :)

I got my retainers from the orthodontist yesterday. They are somewhat obnoxious, but trust me, they are 1000 times better than braces and I will be wearing them religiously. Even if I can't talk right with them in.