We're Ward Snobs

I've heard from many that blogging can be a form of therapy. So I'm going to give it a try.

As many of you know, we're looking to move so that we're closer to Jeromy's work and so we can have a yard for the kids (okay, let's face it, a bigger house for all my stuff). We went looking at some houses on Saturday and fell in love with one. It's big, has a big yard, and a lot of extras. The kitchen is awesome, with black granite counters and cherry wood cabinets, brand new stainless steel appliances, and lots of storage. All of the bathrooms have gorgeous granite counters and beautiful brand new cabinets. The master bath even has a vanity. 2 closets (one of them a walk-in) in the master bedroom, a laundry shoot, brand new carpet, and a big food storage area for all my couponing trophies. But the best of all was the backyard. A huge deck with a built-in jacuzzi. On the other side of the deck, it's kind of circular with built-in seating, so it's perfect for a fire pit, with plenty of room for a grill also. Plus, a sandpit with a swing set, lots of trees, and a good-size lawn for the kids to run around. Ya, it was the wow factor throughout.


We can really picture ourselves in that house. So, we thought it would be wise if we went to that ward on Sunday to check it out before we went any further. That's what my parents always did when they were moving, so why not? In retrospect, it probably wasn't a great idea. First of all, what if the owners were there (luckily that house was vacant)? Or what if we offended somebody by saying that we were just checking out the ward, and then we moved in? Or what if we didn't like the ward but love the house? You can probably guess what happened. Our whole married lives (almost 7 years), we've been in wards that had mostly people our age, so we've gotten kind of used to it. This ward was an older ward; I didn't see anybody our age, which to me means that it would be harder (but not impossible) to make friends. I already don't look forward to starting over in that respect, and would just rather stay here so I don't have to go back to my comfort zone of insecurities. Anyway, we just weren't feeling it there. And now we feel like ward snobs, cuz the church is true everywhere, so what are we worrying about? And maybe the Lord could really use us there or something. Or maybe we could use a little humbling.

Maybe the best thing for my "therapy session" would be to list pros and cons:

Pros:
-15 minutes from Jeromy's work (instead of at LEAST 30 minutes- and his work is going to be getting more time intensive very soon)
-big yard with extras (did I mention the wrap around porch?)
-really nice kitchen
-2 stories with 4 bedrooms
-lots of storage
-room to grow in unfinished basement
-a garage!

Cons:
-Not in Utah County (so it has that bigger city feel- not a big feeling of community)
-Different kind of ward
-Older house
-No new furniture for awhile
-No toy room for the kids till we can save enough to finish basement
-Start over making friends (for me AND the kids)
-Oh, and the WHOLE house inside is painted PEACH, ilch
-No more babysitting group, i.e. no more dates for awhile :(

So I guess the question is would I rather have a bigger house, a husband, and no friends or a smaller house, no husband, and lots of friends. Jeromy will be uber busy both ways anyway. And if we stay we could afford to buy new furniture and finish the basement. Jeromy says I'll always have my virtual friends. Har har. He makes me sound like a video game fanatic. I love my husband dearly so the best way to support him would be to move as close to work as possible. So we're going to see a few more houses tomorrow to cover all the bases before we make any more decisions.

Sorry for sounding like such a whiner. I guess I need to just be grateful for this opportunity.

My Three-Month-Old

I've had some complaints that I don't post enough pictures of our little one. Sorry. When he's awake AND happy, I usually just want him all to myself and I don't think to get the camera out. Maybe that'll change when we get a brand spankin' new camera. I hope so, he's so adorable! This was taken on his 3-month birthday, on the 7th. Should we have a poll to see who everyone thinks he looks like? So far (and for the most part), my family thinks he looks like Jeromy and Jeromy's family thinks he looks like me. I'm the only one that will claim him by saying he looks like both of us! What does everyone else think?


This one was taken over a month ago, but I thought it was so cute that the girls were nice enough to share a toy with their little bro. I think what happened is that Kierra wanted to put Ariel down for a nap, and since Jacob was asleep in his chair, she thought he could use some company.

Twilight the Movie is Coming!!!!!!!!!!!

For any fans of the book Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, you need to check out her website. She just visited the set where they've just begun filming. She's just posted some pictures of the cast here. AWESOME (picture me singing the word)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I've got chills.

Food Storage Cookbook

For anyone interested in food storage recipes, this is the book to get! It's all about cooking yummy meals using things from your pantry (not including things from the freezer and fridge in case of electricity outages). The recipes actually look really good! I just need to figure out how to get a lot of dehydrated ingredients now. She also talks about how to make a 5 week menu to better plan and organize your year's supply. Anyway, it only costs $5 on bookcloseouts.com for anyone interested.

V-Day Cont.

I forgot to post this picture for Valentine's. We all got new throw blankets for Valentine's Day, and here we are breaking them in after dinner while watching a cartoon.

Haircut

I had so much fun getting my haircut today! I was there for 2 hours (while my wonderful babysitter put up with a very cranky Jacob. Thanks again Megan!) so she could show me how to do many things with my hair. Boy, I needed it cuz I am very hair-dumb. She showed me how to apply serum and other goop, and how to do my hair with a flat iron, and how to rat my hair. Yes, rat my hair. I was very nervous about that part, but she promised that I would not have American Fork hair and she was right (my apologies to anyone that is from there- just pick a random city near you and insert where appropriate). She was such a great hairdresser that even if we move up to Sandy or some such place, I'm thinking about coming down here for my haircuts. I could tell her anything that I didn't like about my hair and she would show me how to fix it, and then I'd tell her I wanted to learn how to do some sort of technique and she'd show me how to do it. She even had me do half of my hair the way she showed me to make sure I got it right. Can we say AWESOME!

ANYWAY, it was so much fun and I'm so excited to play around with my hair in the next few days. I've been meaning to take a picture of myself for my goodreads icon picture, and now I needed a picture of how my hairstylist did it so I have a reference point, so Jeromy jumped at the opportunity and had a little too much fun. Mind you, this is late at night so my hair has gone a little flat and my nose is shiny. Oh well. I think I like the last one the best for my icon picture. What do you think?



For those of you that can't tell, this is my "I'm frustrated with my funny, smart-alec husband" look. I am NOT hopped up on something-or-other looking at pretty unicorns in the sky!


This is my all-too-familiar "okay, Jeromy, enough already, just take the picture" look. I just threw it in for kicks and giggles.


I didn't know he was taking this one (just like half of the ones we took), but I think it's the best. Ugh, I still hate getting my picture taken.

The Jungle Book

My friend Megan invited us to see the play The Jungle Book at BYU on Saturday. Surprisingly, it was only 45 minutes long, just perfect for little ones. They even had a question-answer session afterwards geared towards bullying. Kierra was absolutely enthralled throughout the play, loving all of the actors "pretending to be animals." Audrey, on the other hand, was terrified the whole time. The opening scene was a little intense with Shere Khan chasing baby Mowgli and his mom, so she got a little scared and told me she wanted to leave. But she braved it and watched the rest so Kierra could stay and watch. I thought it was really well done. It was also very refreshing to have a girls day out.

Audrey Learned a New Word

Me: Audrey, could you please put your markers away so we can eat dinner?

Audrey: UGH! (Stomps away)

Me: Why are you being so mean to me today?

Audrey: (Angrily with furrowed brows) Why are you being so glamorous to me?

My Age

This happened a few nights ago and I thought it was hilarious.

Audrey: Daddy, how old are you?
Daddy: Why don't you tell me. You know how old I am.
Audrey: I think you're 29.
Daddy: You're right. How old is Mommy?
Audrey: Um, I don't know, 56?
Daddy: No, try again.
Audrey: 90? (Smiling)
Me: Ha, ha, you're getting closer.
Audrey: 94? (Laughing) 99? (Uncontrollable giggling)

Bike Ride

As you know, Audrey got a bike for her birthday. Right now it is an indoors bike, seeing as how it is still icy outside and we don't have a yard...yet ;). Audrey is starting to get sick of riding her bike from the kitchen to the living room, getting off to turn it around, going back to the kitchen, getting off again to turn it around, and so on. So Jeromy took the girls to the church on Saturday morning so she could ride it in the cultural hall. She caught on very fast, and can now turn by herself and she goes pretty fast!

Showing off.

They also got to play a little basketball with Daddy.

Jelly Beans on the Brain

The girls picked out the big 4 lb. tub of Jelly Belly's to give to their Daddy for Valentine's Day. I'm not sure if they were more excited to give it to him or to have him share with them. Jeromy and I thought it would be best if he took it to work the next day, and so he did. When the girls woke up the next morning and I was getting breakfast together, Audrey noticed that they were gone and asked where they were. I told her Daddy took them to work to share with his friends. She was sad about it, but nothing more was said about it.

Then at lunch, Audrey offered the lunch prayer. She said the usual stuff followed by:

"And please bless Dad to drive home safe with the jelly beans."

Candy on the mind for sure.

Potty

I went to the bathroom earlier today and Kierra asked what I was doing in the bathroom. I told her that I went potty. She said, "Good job, Mommy! Now you get a lady-pop (lollipop)!" and then gave me a high five. Me thinks we've been overdoing the treats a bit.

Beads

Kierra just walked up to me with the most forlorn face. I couldn't figure out what was wrong till she sadly admitted that she stuffed 2 beads up her nose!! I can't believe that she did that! I guess there's a first time for everything, and that was definitely a first. I'm ashamed to say that the blogging side of me wanted to take a picture before going fishing with the tweezers. But she was pretty distraught so I didn't think that was such a good/nice idea (my crappy camera probably wouldn't have been up to the job anyway). It's a good thing she can count, otherwise it would've been near impossible to tell how many were up there. Come to think of it, it's a good thing she could tell me what was wrong because I couldn't see the beads till I knew what I was looking for. Wow.

Tomato, Basil, and Cheese Baked Pasta

This pasta was absolutely delicious!! The only thing I'd change is mixing half of the mozzarella into the pasta with the pesto and parmesan, and then the other half on top like normal. We all loved it!


Okay, so the picture isn't that great. I definitely need a new camera (Jeromy would say it was user error. Pshaw!). I thought you'd be able to see the layers better, oh well. And I was kind of hoping that you couldn't see the burnt cheese on top, but I'm pretty sure that cheese is the only thing you can burn and it still tastes good. Actually, that was the best part of the dish. You can find the recipe here.

Valentine's Day

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: it is so much fun to have holidays with little ones!! My inner child comes out and we have so much fun making decorations and fun foods together. Valentine’s Day was no exception. The girls enjoyed making Valentines for grandparents and cousins. I figured it wasn’t truly Valentine’s Day unless there were heart sugar cookies to decorate. So we baked a ton of yummy goodies, the girls drew to their hearts content, and I made some fun meals. For breakfast we had heart-shaped muffins. For lunch we had PB&G cut into hearts with cookie cutters. And for dinner we had Rachael Ray's Tomato, Basil and Cheese Baked Pasta (sooo good), lemonade with heart shaped ice cubes, heart shaped red jello, and parmesan broccoli all on pink plates with pink forks and pink cups. The girls even made a Valentine tablecloth out of butcher paper. So fun.

Here's my cuties and my hottie, anxious to eat.




Here's the ice cubes (the molds for these were super cheap at Target. Love it!). Don't you love the elegant tablecloth?



This is what Mommy and Daddy got the girls for Valentine's Day, courtesy of the Dollar Spot at Target. I love that place!

Milestones

We've reached a lot of milestones in the last week or so.

Audrey had her 4th birthday last Sunday. Grandma and Grandpa Wilson were able to come down for the festivities, as well as some close friends. We had Winnie the Pooh cake and lots of fun. I regretfully didn't take any pictures because Jeromy had the video camera out most of the time and I figured I could just put that on here. Alas, after several hours of trying to figure it out, we don't know how to put videos from our camcorder onto our computer. Yuck. Anyway, Audrey had a great birthday, having fun with friends and grandparents, and getting many fun toys from friends and family, and her very own Disney Princess bike complete with training wheels from Mom and Dad. I just cannot believe how fast she's growing up! She is such a little kid now. No more baby. It's been so wonderful when she helps me with the baby or other things, and even nicer that she can do a lot of things for herself now.

Another milestone is that Audrey has been fully potty trained for over a month now. She's even been keeping her panties dry at night. It's been awesome!! Ya, I realize that she was almost 4 years old at the time, but oh well, every kid is different (as well as every mommy). And now Kierra is showing some interest in being potty trained. So we'll see how that goes.

Jacob turned 3 months old! He's smiling and cooing now, it's so much fun! Audrey and Kierra compete to see who can get him to smile the biggest. He was particularly adorable during church yesterday. It's so hard to pay attention when you're holding such a cute, smiling baby!!

We've also lived in this house for 4 years now. We have loved getting to know so many wonderful people in this neighborhood, but feel like our house is shrinking and getting farther away from work. We haven't totally ruled out staying here for a little while longer, but we've started looking at houses already. It's very bittersweet.

So there you have it. Lots of things have been going on and the kids just keep growing up!

Stake Enrichment

We had our stake Relief Society Enrichment meeting last week. It was really neat. They offered a bunch of really interesting classes, two of which I was able to attend. The first was about cooking with food storage. Did you know you can make cheese and sour cream out of powdered milk? (By the way, I didn't get the recipes for this one, so if you have ANY to share, please send them to me!) The second class had some great parenting tips, one of which was rewarding your children for good behavior during the passing of the sacrament with goodies. This actually worked really well on Sunday; I hope I don't get lax about it this Sunday.

Anyway, one sister gave some suggestions about how to create some excitement in our everyday lives with our families. She gave some excellent ideas, but unfortunately, I can only remember two of them: have just a normal dinner but with candlelights, and have a Cat in the Hat bath complete with cake. We've created one ourselves. The last few times we've ordered pizza, we have a picnic on the living room floor while watching a video. The girls love this! So now I want to know what ideas YOU have for creating simple fun activities at home. I want to hear!

Another Funny FHE Prayer

It can be so fun to hear prayers from children! Last night at Family Home Evening, we had Audrey give the opening prayer. The end of it went something like this:

"Please bless Jacob,
Please bless our silly families,
Please bless our houses,
Please bless our guns."

Trying not to laugh, Jeromy said, "That was a, um, pretty prayer, Audrey."

She replied, "Ya, pretty."

I have no idea what familIES our housES she's talking about, let alone what guns. Where does she come up with this stuff?

President Hinckley

We are definitely going to miss this great man, but we're so happy to know that he is with his sweetheart now. It's been interesting to see how the kids have reacted to this news. Whenever Kierra sees a picture of Pres. Hinckley, she says in her sweet voice, "That guy died-ed, huh Mommy. Oh, that's sad." And I was amazed at how much Audrey understands about the plan of salvation. When we were watching some clips of his life, Audrey said, "But Mommy, I think he's gonna live again." This produced a great conversation about, "when Jesus comes again."

But the funny remark came when we were watching the funeral on TV. Audrey kept asking about the casket. And just about every time they zoomed in on the casket, she would run out of the room. We thought she was just bored and wanted to play in the kitchen. Finally, she asked, "He's not going to pop out, is he, Mom?" No wonder why she kept leaving the room, she thought a dead body was going to move around. Where in the world did she get that idea? Scary.

Rude Awakening

The girls have been going to bed so well lately (knock on wood). It's been wonderful! Well, tonight they went to bed on time, and everything was going well. It was silent up there for about 20 minutes when all of a sudden, Audrey screamed bloody murder, immediately followed by the sound of her fast pitter-pattering feet going into our bedroom. "What in the world?" we both said as Jeromy ran to find out what happened. Well, apparently, Audrey was half asleep when she turned over and opened her eyes, and lo and behold, she saw a face looming RIGHT above hers. Kierra's face. It scared the wits out of Audrey, who thought an intruder was staring at her in her sleep. Kierra also got spooked due to the yelling and running, when all she wanted to know was whether or not her sister was still awake. What a crazy night!