Moms March Madness Begins

Why, why, why do I do this to myself. That is the question I keep asking myself about the 10th of March every year for the last 6 years. You see I have 2 kids that their birthdays are just 4 days apart from each other. And I love each of them so much that I go to all ends to make sure they know that. I know not the smartest way of doing it but I do it. Even though every year I tell myself okay it is one kid or the other that has a party and then we will swap the next year... But no it never works out that way. So here I am in the middle of my madness trying to stay sain and this year we get to through in a baptism in the middle of it as well. So this weekend we are hosting a "Late Night Movie Party" for Tia, and a "Mario Party 6" for Treg. Yes, they will both be great fun and I always love having their friends over to play. I just hope I can make it through them then recover my office which has been hit by a tornado.

Crew

Oh my hannah-banana this kid goat is so stinking cute. My brother is getting into pack goats for hiking and this is his first addition to the family. He is only 2 days old and has to drink from a bottle. It reminds me so much of when I was a kid myself having to feed our kid goats from a bottle. Oh and the cutest little sound he makes when he cries.... It just makes my heart go pitter patter. I would keep him if I could!

Hunters Ed!

Where did it go? Lets see we started the month out with Bowdee and I going every Tues and Wed to Lehi for our Hunters Ed class. It was 3 hours a night and we did that for 3 weeks. By the end of the course Bowdee and I were both ready to purposefully flunk our tests so we could do it again. We just loved the time that we had to go off together and learn some really cool things about guns and safety. I honestly feel like this is a course EVERYONE should take. Not just those who want to hunt but everyone I feel like there would be so many less gun accidents that it would be worth it. Anyway we both passed our written tests I got 100% and Bowdee got 94% we were both excited about that but nervous about the shooting test. The big day came and after a couple times going out practicing I felt like I could pass the test. However, Bowdee had a .22 that was way to big for him, so we were all nervous for him. But fear not he pulled through and passed the test by the skin of his teeth. I passed with 28/30 and felt I could have done better if I relaxed and went pee before the shooting began... Anyway both Bowdee and I now have our Hunters Safety! Ya Ya so cool. Last night Terry and I even put in for my first deer hunt. We will see how that goes, it should be a fun camping trip anyway.

Ice Fishing Again

I know I know we should learn there just isn't a whole lot of action when ice fishing... But it is just so nice to get out and enjoy the fresh air. Terry and his friend Rusty were going out so I talked Rusty into waiting until me and the kids got out of church and then we headed up to Deer Creek. The kids had fun pretending olympics on the hill next to us, Dash and Ziggy tormented each other, Terry and Rusty chatted and I caught all the fish.... Okay well I caught one and had like 4 other good bites. The boys couldnt stand the thought of me out fishing them so I took the kids home and they stayed to out fish me... I don't know how much they paid who for the fish the brought home but somehow "Right when I left the fishing got AMAZING!" Huh figure that one out. Well it was another nice memory created. Thanks Rusty and Terry for letting us tag along.

Valentine's Day

So this year since Valentine's Day was on Sunday we got to celebrate it all weekend long. Starting with all the class parties on Friday! I went and helped out with Tregs class and I have to say he has some really cute kids in his class. And Mrs. Bigler is always wonderful. Then after school we delivered all our valentine cookies to our loved ones. Then on Saturday Terry and the kis decorated my kitchen with these cute balloons and flowers. Then I made pink pancakes with powder sugar hearts on them. We went swimming and then practiced shooting. Sunday I just couldn't leave my sweetheart home alone so we skipped church and I sacrifice and took him ice fishing. Just the two of us out for a couple hours it was so nice to just be able to sit and talk without the fishing interupting our train of thoughts... So no we didn't catch any fish. But it was still fun! Happy Valentine's day Terry I hope you know how much you mean to me. I feel like we make a great team and there is nothing we can't conquer!

Boat Show 2010

This year we headed to the boat show on the opening day 2/11. Of course we hit subway first for our $5.00 footlongs that we all love. Tia goes for the Cold Cut Combo, Treg the Black Forest Ham, Bowdee LOVES the Subway Melt and Terry the Chicken. We also went with Troy and his 3 girls. It was lots of fun to have friends there with us. The best part was meeting all the pro wakeboarders having them sign our posters and then watching them board. Mom got sick of following the boys (a.k.a. Terry and Troy) around with a dry towel wiping off their drool off the boats. But it was all good there was plenty of my daydreaming moments as I would board a really cool boat.
There was a time we lost Matia... It almost made me panic but then I followed my motherly intuition and found her at the fish tank watching the fisher try to catch the bass. What a fun night for all of us.

Bowdee's Basketball

So we signed Bowdee up for Basketball and guess what they had no coach volunteer so Terry being the good man agreed to help the team out. Then he invited my dad to be the assistant coach. What fun have they had. At the first of the year they really struggled with every aspect of the game. But I tell you what Terry has started practices and reward points and they are really starting to enjoy the game. They even went to a BYU basketball game to enjoy the game from another view. I love going to watch them play. Bowdee plays with such an aggressive behavior it makes me wonder where he got that from. Yes, he is slightly competitive! But, like my dad says you can't teach that to a player!

Ice Fishing and Ice Castles

So last weekend we tried Deer Creek one more time. This time I caught 2 fish and was thinking I was pretty cool. Ya I know you really have to look hard to see the fish in this photo, but still IT IS A FISH! It was REALLY cold because of all the wind so the kids (including Terry) built this nice little wind breaker and kept warm by the heater. They really didn't seem to care if they even got a bite. After 2 hours of freezing our bahookies off we packed 'er up and headed for Midway.
We showed the kids the smurfs house and then headed to Zarmont Resort to check out the Ice Castles. They were awesome I highly recomend you taking a drive before they melt away. I just have to say it was fun to be with my family. We took this trip for Bowdee who is working on his Weblos badge.
He had to plan a trip and print off a map off the internet and give us all the directions of how to get there. I think that spiced things up for him and he learned when you drive you really have to watch where you are and pay attention. What a great day.

Midnight Snowman

So it was late one night when we were all ready for bed. On our way to bed one of the kids noticed how the snow was really coming down. Our whole family gets really excited about the snow and this year there hasn't been much of it. So Terry takes Tia in his arms and runs outside to take in the amazing view. They do a little dance and come back in. Well it wasn't long before the whole family was outside playing... Making prints, snowball fights, building snowmans you know the works well this is what we ended up with. For me it was a memory that will last a lifetime just watching my family play together and laugh till their bellies hurt! LOVE IT!

Ice Fishing Again

So Terry had this great idea to take the kids Ice Fishing at 6:00am to Strawberry then if we got skunked we would hit Jordenelle. Well, yes in this photo you see the sun just peaking over the mountains and we are on Strawberry we got there at 8:00 and left at 10:00 with no bites no action no nothing. I was kinda bummed because yes it is nice to get out of the house but seriously how many times can we really go fishing and get skunked so badly.

So we hit Jordenelle just to check it out and about 3 minutes after we put in Terry got a bite. So we all got excited it turned out we had 7 fish on our lines and only one came out of the hole so yes I was frustrated again not understanding how the fish just keep getting off right before we pull them onto the ice. Anyway it was fun to finally get some action.

Bowdee and Treg had fun sliding around and Matia of course stuck with her pole and kept trying for that fish. That girl is amazing when it comes to fishing she is our best fisher. Fun Fun just lovin the good life.

Shooting

We headed out west to practice shooting our guns. You see Bowdee and I am going to get our Hunters Saftey Cards soon (we hope) and so we just had to go practice shooting. It was great we called Troy and told him we were headed out past his house if he wanted to come. So here we are shooting our BB's and 22's it was just nice to get out of the house and feel the nice cold fresh air. I know this photo is kinda scary that many kid with guns at the same time, but I have to say they have been taught saftey by the best and only need a few reminders here and there.

Ya here is my hottie with the "NICE HOODIE" whenever he wears it he gets tons of women complimenting him on it so he thinks he is the bomb when he wears it. HAHA funny boy I tell ya.

Gin Blossoms

Terry suprised me with a telephone call one day saying "hey I can get great tickets to Gin Blossoms for cheap wanna go?" Well let me think about that for a minute... "Ya of course." So many people ask us what we go out to Wendover for and this is it... You see we have a nice 2 hour drive that is just him and me and the radio (if we choose). We talk about everything that is going on in our lives. We get to Wendover and we check into our Free Room and get our $5.00 Subway dinner. Then we head off to the concert some are better then others. Gin Blossoms was good if you just didn't watch them perform. After the show we spent our 20$ gambling and headed back to the room. It is just a nice cheap get away that Terry and I enjoy because we can spend so much time talking and catching up with each other. So another fun night in Wendover to be filed away in our memories together bank.

Technology

So I remember specifically going to see Braveheart at the movie theaters for New Years one year along time ago. And on the screen came this funny ad that said www.braveheart.com or something like that and my brother Colt leaned over to me and said. THAT IS THE FUTURE! If I had some money I would invest in the World Wide Web. I personally thought he was crazy at the time but nodded and said yep me too. Well I just have to say I don't know where we would be without it. I love the internet for so many things and I hate it for others. I love e-mail, LOVE IT! I mean today I just got a new home owners insurance and we did everything we needed to do through e-mail. Something that would have taken weeks to get done by sending me this form and then me payin 42cents to sign it and send it back and then send in another payment and then wait for the policy to be written and sent to me to veryify. Anyway you get the point. I LOVE THE Technology of these days. I love digital photos which my brother was also on the wagon before the wagon came around. I love editing my photos and creating with them. I admit it took me a couple years to convert but WOW! LOVE IT. So that is my little shout out today I love the ease that the computers bring to my house.

New Year 2010

So here we are sitting at the beginning of another new year. I don't know if I have ever mentioned this before but I really can't stand the first of the new year. I hate new beginnings because I always want to do so much better in my life. Such as I want to keep my house more organized. I feel the need to catch up from all my scrapbooks from the past year. I always try to do better at everything from eating, working out, to emotional control. Well then every year I let myself down. So this year I am not trying to change myself I am just going to try and make myself just a little bit finer. Just a little more pleasent to be around just a little more healthier. My house will not be perfect but it will be just a little bit more organized and I will destroy at least one dust bunny this year. So that is what I am going to do from getting myself frustrated and depressed. I figure a happier me is more important than being a perfect me. So anyway I wish you all a happy new year. I hope your Christmas was as magical as mine was. We created some great memories up in strawberry ice fishing and spending the night in the cabin there. Then we rocked in the new year with my brother Kye and his fun family. We all tore it up to Rockband then watched the ball fall in NY, in the comfort of Kyes home. Good times. Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving Lights

So I always wonder why it is that we have no couple friends you know friends that Terry can chill with the man and I can chill with the woman and the kids all have a good time together. Well we love to hang with the Callaways although I must say it never happens because they are so busy all the time with all their family and friend activities that it is about once a year that we set a date and actually follow through with it. And when we are done I always wonder why we don't do it more. We had a great time tonight going to dinner at JCW's (which I have to say I was amazed at how well the boys could watch a BYU game and communicate with us women at the same time, it was impressive)and then driving through the lights at Thanksgiving Point which was great because nobody else was there...

Well there were some but no line to get it. Then we went and saw the reindeer at the water tower. All the kids had so much fun together that they decided we were going to have late nights which is great because they get along so wonderfully. Of course I will be spending my late night with Terry;) Thanks Callaways for being able to handle Terry and I at the same time there are not many people that can do it by choice. Most people we chill with are family and they have to love us and be with us. Anyway thanks for a great night and we need to make it a new tradition.

Dad's Surgery

After a little chest pain and arm numbing my dad went in for a check up. They were sent home with no worries. A little later the Dr. called dad himself and said they had found a blockage and to take it easy for the weekend and Monday morning at 6:30 he was going to be in for surgery. Well this just stresses me out like crazy. Everything went well which I am so happy for. We took the kids last night to check in on him and make sure he wasn't just telling us a fib. If you know my dad he has been known to fib when playing cards or talking about his health. Well he was doing great I couldn't believe he had surgery that morning and a stint put in his heart and he was doing that great. Well I just hope he keeps being strong and takes care of that ol ticker because I would just lose it if I lost my dad. Love ya dad!

Covington Christmas

Sunday we had our Covington Family Christmas Party. It was fun to decorate the tables and make it all nice for dinner. I love to have our family over because it seems like all the kids are comfortable with my house and knows my rules. I really enjoy the time we spend together. I know I say that in all my posts.

Anyway we ate a nice dinner then had the nativity program which was put on by all the grandkids. It is so nice to have the teenageers, young adults join in even though they are older and probably wish they could just watch it. I love seeing them interact with the younger cousins.

Anyway it was a classic program fun to watch then some of the kids sang songs. Matia Box of Rocks, Tayla Jingle Bell Rock, and my boys sang I farted on Santas lap. It was hilarious. Then we played games and opened presents. What a good night thank you to everyone for coming and enjoying the moment with us. I must say we sure missed my older bros and their families and our little missionary A.J. Merry Christmas Fam.

Gingerbread Houses

Of course it wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't do our gingerbread houses with Troy and his family. So out to his house we went with our kits and happy hearts. We vowed we wouldn't fight at this gingerbread making event. So we ate pizza first to make sure everyone was nice and happy. Then the blessed event started and low and behold there was no fighting we had a great time.

Although I thought it would be fun to get a minature house village so everyone could do their own. Well lets just say it was a lot of work and the candy to decorate them were alot smaller.

It was fun though and Troys lady friend Jolynn came with her son Jackson. Bowdee thought that to be pretty cool since he is just a few months younger and they could get along so well. Anyway here is our final project.

Ice Fishing

So when we heard the Strawberry Reservior was frozen we just had to get up there. So as soon as Matia's dance performance was over we rushed up, set up our camp there on the frozen lake and off the kids ran sledding. Terry and I started fishing with no luck. I was convinced we were going to limit out because we had a fish finder that is a very special fish finder with great luck behind it. Well we didn't get a bite nothing. Of course we had fun bonding in the tent but it would have been funner if we caught some fish. AUGH so if any of you have any ice fishing tips let us know. I am sure one of these days we will get lucky and accidently snag one. Poor Matia is getting a little frustrated and she is our little fisher!

Christmas Dance Performance

I just look forward to this every Christmas season. This year Matia is taking Hip Hop with her 2 best friends Tayla and Daisy. They have loved the class and they did great up on stage as they all danced to Sleigh Ride. I just wish the dance would have been a little longer and showed a little more of what they have learned. But it was still cute and Matia did wonderful.

Right after the performance Ol' St. Nick was there to congratulat the dancers and wish them a Merry Christmas and Matia was sure to hurry right out to remind him of the camera she would like for Christmas if at all possible.