taste test

With Melissa McCarthy's amazing hosting gig on Saturday, I'm hoping this sets the tone for the rest of the season. A lot of the skits last year were lackluster. This skit from Saturday night was reminiscent of the good ol' days when Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, David Spade, Will Farrell, Molly Shannon, Cheri Oteri and Kevin Nealon ruled on SNL. Enjoy!



i see pictures

Moi: "Omi, you have to close your eyes during the prayer."

Omi: "But then I can't see."

Mase: "Yes you can. See!"

(Mase closes his eyes)

Mase: "I can see dinosaurs and a T. Rex and a soccer ball..."

peppa pig

We are big fans of Peppa Pig. Never heard of it? We hadn't either until big sis came for a visit with her kids from London. With them they brought these giant activity books with all the popular British TV characters for kids. Peppa Pig was included in the book. I saw it and didn't think much of it. We then noticed it was coming on Nick Jr. and started to record it. The rest, as they say, is history.

The very cool thing about the show is it is something both Mase and Omi will watch together.
Plus, they talk with a British accent. Omi asks me all the time, "Do they have an accent?"
I will then notice her walking around the house trying to talk like them:
"Mummy, may I have some more please?"
"Tuck in!"
Makes for a lively and very entertaining day.

We have thought for a while we were the only ones watching the show. Or had ever heard of Peppa.
Then we were at the lake one day and saw a little girl wearing a Peppa Pig swimming suit.
We all were giddy realizing we had a fellow Peppa Pig lover in our midst.
Like the total unabashed loser that I am, I made a beeline to the mother and excitedly asked where she had bought the Peppa Pig swim suit.
Oh. Of course.
They had just returned from London and bought it there.
Should've known.
We will just patiently wait for the rest of the world to catch on.

 

not a mundane monday

                             A weekend full of fun. That is usually how a holiday weekend goes.

This one was no exception.

Orange rolls on Friday and a stop at grandma-great's house for a fun afternoon with the cousins:


A sparkly pedicure with my sis-in-law Saturday morning and college football in the afternoon.
A recipe for a fabulous Saturday.
Baby blessing on Sunday + heaps of food = good family fun.
Leesie Mae with her favorite cousin (they are a month apart):

And all of this leads up to the main event: Labor Day. And labor we did not.

A day of swimming and a dollar movie in the afternoon. Though I guess we can't call it the dollar movie

anymore since it is now $3. But still cheap. Especially when the kids want to use their saved pennies and pay for the movie themselves.
And while I'm on the subject, could the cashier have been more rude?
Would it hurt to be nice to my cute kids for wanting to take only one bill out at a time and slowly hand it to you like they are 92? If anything BE excited FOR them. They are KIDS paying for their OWN tickets!

Moving on.

It was Leesie Mae's first time swimming.

Can you tell she loved it?


A dull weekend, it was not (thank you, Yoda).
A mundane Monday? Not in a long shot.

fanatical friday

Can you guess what I'm fanatical about today?


* Time is up. Orange rolls would be the correct answer. And yes, I realize now that you can't really see the pans under those towels. But the rolls were rising under those nifty Martha kitchen towels. Sorry if I mislead you...or whomever still reads my blog. :p *

sleepy head



Super cute, I know.

Only problem is this was taken at 3am.

Yeah.

Other problem? She had been sleeping through the night since she was 2 1/2 months old.

This sudden change in schedule is definitely not welcomed.

But this smile always is. 

first day

Success!

The first day of first grade was a success! Mase had tons of fun and had so much to tell me after his first day at school. He loves his teacher and even knew a couple of kids in his class. That really put him at ease. He was so excited to wear his new outfit, shoes and take his new backpack and lunch box to school:

Omi wanted to get in on the picture action:



She missed Mase so much today. She even cried at the school when we dropped him off. I think it was also partly because she wants to be a big kid like Mase and go to big kid school as well.





I must mention that my two sisters had Ms. Anderson when they were in elementary school. How cool is it that we have come full circle? I'm so grateful she still enjoys teaching. We are lucky to have her!



Omi's sadness crept in at this point. She was not happy to be leaving Mase at school and her not be included. Her day will come and I'm afraid it will be too soon! Ugh. I keep telling them to stop growing but they just. don't. listen.



Of course, these were waiting for Mase when he came in the door:



This was something my mom always had waiting for us after our first day of school. This is a tradition I don't want stop. Besides, I needed a couple after a big day like today.

And....
guess who got invited to Taco Thursday?? As in tomorrow, Thursday?!?
Here's to hoping those tacos taste as good as they did when I was 8.  

hip happenings

You would think I have had my fill of hot dogs and the usual summer fare but as I take another bite of a cheddar-wurst (yes, something Jamie Oliver would definitely cringe at) I'm realizing I am not ready for the summer fun to be over. With a new school year beginning tomorrow, I feel a sudden rush to squeeze everything in to this last summer day. Much like the feeling of realizing a major project or paper is due the next day and, of course, page one merely consists of my name, subject, professor and date. Yikes.

This movie quote has been playing over and over in my brain,

"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly-sharpened pencils..."

The difference is I don't live in NY and I am in the business of buying school supplies. 

(Whomever can name this movie quote gets a pat on the back and the official "Nell-O Seal of Approval")

 

I catch myself reminiscing about my school days (it is much too easy since Mase attends the same elementary school I went to). The best school days are the elementary years. Aren't they? That is when it was fun to go to school. Pre-locker years and, heaven forbid, forgetting your locker combination!

This is why autumn is my favorite season. I loved the excitement of going back to school, having new clothes, new backpack, new supplies, new teacher.

Can you imagine my joy when I found out parents can come to the school and have lunch with their child? I was ecstatic to find this out. Mase, on the other hand, not so much.

Moi: "What do you think about me coming to your school on the first day and having lunch with you?"
Of course I am smiling ear-to-ear.
Mase: "Hmmmm. Um.." Long pause. "How about I tell you when I'm ready."
Admittedly, I was crushed but at the same time proud that Mase was so honest.
Taco Tuesday and French Dip Friday will just have to wait.

We have had a busy summer. We have been to the lake more times this year than the last two years combined! This past weekend the whole of the husband's family descended on the valley. We spent nights up the canyon, spent the day up at the lake. The kids loved being with their cousins and enjoyed their first tin foil dinner, roasted hot dogs and made ourselves sick of s'mores. Unfortunately, the only pics I snapped were while at the beach.






It was a great last summer hoorah.

fanatical friday

Not sure why but these two music videos popped in my head today. I like Elton John. I like these songs. But the fact that he used Robert Downey Jr. (pre Iron Man and giant Hollywood comeback) and Justin Timberlake to star in the videos was a bold, smart choice. Of course, I would much rather look at these two than Elton John. That goes without saying. Looks like he realized that too and decided to use the same format for these two videos (i.e. hire a handsome, young actor to play me and sing my song in a music video = pure genius). It's too bad he stopped. I wonder who was next on his list.
 
It's also kind of fun that Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman) has a small part. See if you can
spot him next to JT.

Enjoy.

santo jorge

What do St. George, outlets, swimming, eating out, non-stop laughing and Captain America all have in common?

Girl's weekend with Leesie Mae as our model.



P.S. This guy is just asking for it. He knows that, right?
I am assuming it belongs to a boy. Girls aren't that tacky.

fanatical friday

This girl absolutely brightens our day.

She loves loves loves to play with the straw in my water bottle.



One day she will learn how to use it and I will have to fight her off just to get a drink.

Her little quirks are so fun and cute! We cannot get enough of her.

herrrrrrrcut

This is her first official haircut at an actual salon:

She was over the moon and felt super special with the extra treatment. We even splurged and fashioned her hair with a pink feather. You know they are all the rage and she has been begging for one since seeing her cousins and friends with one. We had a fun time just being together.



cousins

The cousins came for a visit. It was a blast! The kids had so much fun being together. They rode bikes, played at the park, ate Aggie Ice Cream:




Our friends were super nice and invited us over to see their Bearded Dragons:


Can you tell the boys liked this the best?

We ate pizza with grandma and grandpa, had a movie night and made caramel popcorn:


We were all exhausted by the end of the weekend. But the kids made some lasting memories and, I dare say, truly enjoyed themselves.

pieces

Yes, so much has happened that I need to post but, most importantly, I must document this:

I have never in my life made anything. Actually, let me re-phrase that. I have never made anything outside of 7th grade home-ec class. I made a cow pillow. The stitching was atrocious, the stuffing lumpy. Absolutely awful! Our dog Annie wasn't above such amateur creations though. She bonded with the horrid thing and made it her numero uno sleeping buddy.

Still, I was very proud of the ugly thing. I held on to it up until I left home at 19 to be a nanny in NJ. I mainly hung on to it for the sole purpose of showing off my creativity to others (though it was completely copied from a design and its pieces already cut, ready for me to do the dirty work of putting it all together). I still remember it like it was yesterday, working in what could've been considered a sweat shop for middle schoolers: sewing machines set up in neatly, measured rows; the room being slightly warmer than what would be considered kosher; Mrs. Rasmussen guiding us through the laborious task of sorting the pieces properly and placing them exactly as shown in the photo. More of a color-by-number sewing kit. So, so hard. ;)

The point being: I am not crafty. I envy those who are; those whom can look at a PotteryBarn Kids magazine and bring to life what they see.

In order to fulfill my daughter's wish of having a princess blanket made in time for her birthday (and to cross off an item from my bucket list), I enlisted the help of my mom-in-law. She willingly obliged and this is what we have done thus far:

You could say she has done most of the work. You could possibly be right. But really I am proud to say she allowed me to take the reins and organize the majority of the quilt. Two things: she too is learning as we go (piecing is not her forte) and she hates the green fabric I chose. And since she was a good sport for helping me in the first place, I let her add some fabric she really wanted to use (i.e. the "primary" colored flowers...not my fave). So we both win...or lose. Or whatever. Just the fact we are working together to make Omi's dream a reality is quite something. I am more than ecstatic.

Finished product soon to make its debut...

weekend round-up

Like many other states in our wonderful nation, Utah has a state holiday. July 24, or Pioneer Day,  symbolizes the day the state was settled. I like that Utah's state holiday is at the end of July. Thus an extra holiday before school starts and summer is officially *gasp* over. Besides, it is fun to have an extra excuse to get together with family and chill. We love it. 

The weekend started off with a mile fun run Saturday morning.

It was really cute how the Primary presidency had it set up. They registered each person entering the race and gave everyone a race number. There were different divisions of registration: a bike group, a stroller group, an over 60 group, etc. The kids in the primary also got to decorate signs that were set up along the race route. This is the one Mase and Omi did:


Very Picasso-esque...don't you think?


The kids loved crossing the finish line and having people cheer them on. There was even a water/fruit snack station halfway through the race set up by the Relief Society. Mase said the water helped his legs go faster.

Apparently the water really helped! At the pancake breakfast afterward, prizes were given and Mase was awarded first place in the bike division. Grandpa won first place in the 60 and over division. Both were very proud:

Next on the agenda: Bear Lake. The weather was perfectly hot for a day at the lake. We had fun chilling on the beach while the kids played in the water:


Apparently all of northern Utah and southern Idaho had the same idea:



Leesie was smart and stayed under the tent/umbrella with me:


And, of course, we had to stop at LaBeau's after our time at the beach for a burger, fries and a raspberry shake. I pity anyone who has never eaten at LaBeau's. Yes, I pity you. And your little dog too.
We ended the night with a movie (Despicable Me) at the park and then a fireworks show after.

Even though July 24 (the official holi-day) was Sunday, Monday was officially recognized as the day of celebration. Yes, Sunday is even recognized as sacred in Utah by the state government, a "day of rest", and any holiday that falls on a Sunday is not celebrated until the day after. Local and state businesses even get to shut down to par-tay. It works out though because a day off from work is much more fun than not.

We started out the day with a parade (can you tell we can't get enough of parades??):


The best thing about small town parades is the loads and loads of candy that is thrown/chucked/aimed at us. We got away with a bag full of loot that even Garfield would be proud of. And a parade is not a parade without  the floats and everything else considered "parade-worthy" (i.e. Model-T Fords and other classic cars, flat-bed trucks, tractors, Firetrucks). Here is a group dressed like pioneers:


Parade floats like these remind me I am home:





A BBQ after and a ukulele sing-along topped off the day:


And last, but certainly not least: