What's been going on

It was hot enough today to do some trampoline sprinklers!

The BEST picture I could get of Blake at the preschool graduation (he finished his first year, of course. One more year to go!) He was not happy because all his friends were already playing on the playground--he was the last one to be announced.

In other Blake news, Blake is excited to wear his first belt to church. But then halfway through sacrament meeting, he wanted me to take it off. Oh well.

And just because it was cool, I wanted to share pictures of eggs laid by a bird that we discovered in a rock pile at the park. Pretty clever place!

This is the bird that was standing over her eggs. Every time someone would come within 6 feet, she would squeak at us and fluff her feathers! Can anyone name that bird? I've never seen one like it.

So it's been 2 weeks again. Where did the time go? We just got new brakes and tires for my van--and it was long overdue! But it wasn't so bad spending hundreds of dollars when we also got 4 tickets each to Wild Rivers, Wild Animal Park, and the SD Zoo, FREE! We did it at Discount Tire. Look for the ad in the mail. We are so excited!

This past Thursday we held our co-op preschool graduation. It was so fun! The kids wore white t-shirts with their handprints, and they all had little caps with tassels. We sang the circle time songs with them and each mom announced their child. Then we had pizza and snacks. I'm so glad I started the co-op--it has turned out to be a really great experience for everyone, and I look forward to working with new (and some old) people next year!

Anyway, that's about it for now. Random post, I know.

Updates

So it's been almost 2 weeks since I last blogged. I guess it's been busy, or boring! Probably both--haha. Anyway, Blake went on his first Fathers & Sons campout with Joel last night. He was so excited to go! Every time Julianna asked, "Can I go, Blake?" He'd say, "No, it's just for boys." As they were walking out the door, Blake sounded so grown up and said, "Bye, Mommy!" and marched off. He is sounding so much older and mature these days. Joel said he did really well and had a lot of fun. While they were gone, Julianna got to pick a movie (Bee Movie) and we ate way too much chocolate ice cream (I had the worst stomachache the rest of the night). We're the only ones that like chocolate, so I thought we'd spoil ourselves! Then we made pancakes in the morning and watched episodes of Powerpuff Girls on the computer. She is currently obsessed with the Powerpuff girls--they're growing on me!

The other day, Blake was watching some TV. All of a sudden, he turned it off and said, "I don't want to watch TV. It's going to hurt my brain." Gee, I wonder where he heard that. At least he's taking my warning seriously. And he also recently said, in the middle of eating some Starbursts, "I don't want candy. It's not good for my teeth." See, kids really do listen!

I just finished my 9-week couch to 5K training program. I can now run 30 minutes without stopping. The furthest I've run in that time is 2.34 mi. I'm hoping to get to a 10-min mile or less. I am glad I am pushing myself to run--this is the first time I've ever done it! Now we are going to run 3 miles 3 times a week and hopefully improve our 3-mile time to be ready for the 5K on June 12th.

Joel got his master's!

Holding his diploma. It's bigger than the bachelor's one!

Joel accepting his surprise award! (This is him on the big TV screen).

Joel and his sister Briana.

I am so proud of Joel for graduating from the Master's in English program at California Baptist University on Friday the 30th. Not only did he get to walk in the procession carrying the banner for the College of Arts and Sciences, but he also won the outstanding graduate award for the English graduate program. The best part was, he didn't even know he was getting the award until the English professor started talking about his thesis! It was a wonderful graduation, and we're glad Briana and her roommate could be there to celebrate with us. Congratulations, Joel!

$200 a month for groceries?

In May I have decided to try this program I heard about at a recent Stake Relief Society workshop. One of the classes was about being frugal, and the teacher shared a link that I went home and looked at. It's an article about how to live off $200 a month for a family of 4. I thought that seemed impossible, but the teacher said she tried it and it works! So here's the link:

http://www.budget101.com/frugal/frugal-living-articles-3/

Here are some ways I'm going to save money:

1. Make my own bread (I have a breadmaker).
2. Make a different treat each week for school lunches, instead of buying prepackaged goodies. I'm really excited to try homemade granola bars!
3. Continue my once-a-month cooking (OAMC), of course!
4. ONLY shop once a week--no impulse buying!

OAMC is actually one of the chapters in the article, so I was already living somewhat frugally! But I still can't get a handle on the grocery budget--I ALWAYS exceed it and it drives me crazy! So if I can stay around $200 a month (which is what we lived off in our student days at BYU) then I will be so happy! Do you think I can do it? Any other ideas on how to save money? I will let you know how it goes...

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy birthday Mom! We love you! Thanks for being such a great Mom to me (and Grandma to my kids). Hope your big (should I say it? YES! 50th!) birthday is wonderful!

No fair!

Well, I didn't have much to blog about lately. Until today, when I got the official amount of my citation fine = $456!!! Why would the County of Riverside be charging me this insane amount of money? Well, when my sister Callie and her family were in town a few weeks ago, we were going to meet up at a park in Murrieta. I was driving, and went to turn right on a red light to get to the park. All of a sudden the stoplight takes a picture of me. At first, Joel and I thought, no big deal--I don't even have a front license plate (it got lost somehow) so they won't catch us. We were wrong. We got something in the mail last week with pictures of our car before the red light, after the light, me driving, the back of our van, closeup of license plate, everything! They are saying that I ran a red light, even though I was turning right. The first letter didn't say how much the fine was, so today I got the bill. I AM SO MAD! I feel like if I decide to fight it, it won't even matter, because California is so greedy and needs every dollar they can get to fix this budget crisis. But really, all I did was not make a COMPLETE stop on a red-light right turn. The funny thing is, until last October (when I had that little fender bender--my fault--in a Stater Bros parking lot) I had a perfect driving record (if you don't count the time I hit an open car door driving to seminary with Callie when I was 16). So in 6 months, I've managed to get in a accident, AND get a ticket. I've never even been pulled over! And the REALLY funny thing is, I failed my first driver's test because I didn't stop before the crosswalk line on a red-light right turn. And now, 12 years later, a camera catches me doing it and I get a ticket. That's life for you!

Should I fight it? Anyone else gotten a ticket lately? I'm not sure what to do.

Utah Trip

Our first snowman in Utah. The morning after we got there it was snowing. Blake wore one of Julianna's coats because I don't have a winter coat for him!

Sledding on April Fool's day! My mom found a great hill for us to use.

Blake had the most fun sledding. He even went by himself!

Playing in the snow as a family! There was about a foot of snow!

The first time this van has seen snow!

The view from outside the temple--gorgeous! It's set on a tall hill and overlooks the whole valley.

The BEAUTIFUL Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

Joel and I on my birthday before we went to the temple.

Our second snowman--this time it's life size!

The Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. It was so crowded, but very fun!

Easter egg hunt in the snow! This was a first. They loved the snow!

In the conference center before our session on Easter morning.

View from our line at the conference center. So cold and snowy!


We had so much fun on our trip to Utah! The snow was a huge bonus for the kids. It was nice to spend Easter with my mom and Dad, and to see my Aunt Jenny and Uncle Jeff, and cousin Rhonda and her husband Jordan for my birthday. And of course attending conference on Easter Sunday was such a special event. We're so glad we went.