Picture Tag!

I love a good tag. This one was pretty fun and easy and I was happy to do it so I could get a quick, new post up. Make sure you scroll down to see if you're "IT" for picture tag next! (P.S. NO party poopers allowed)!

The only rule with this tag is you have to take the pictures of everything AS-IS. Luckily, I found out about this tag just after some company left our house, so my house wasn't a total sty and whatever debri is out and about, I can blame it on the company-right? Okay, here goes. . .

Picture #1- Self Portrait

This is what I am looking like this very second after the days' makeup has worn off and the tiredness is setting in.This is also proof that I did not do my hair AGAIN today. I really hate doing my hair:(

Picture #2- Kitchen Sink

I just loaded the dishwasher and these were the leftovers that did not fit. This is proof that I did actually cook a meal today. We had chicken, salad, watermelon, corn on the cob, fresh veggies, rolls and squash. Plenty of food, just not enough room in the dishwasher, exhibit A.

Picture #3- Favorite Room

My favorite room is probably my preschool room since it is one of the few rooms in the house that is actually fully decorated and organized to my liking and has had the most thought put into it. My friend Wendy helped me paint the clouds on the light blue ceiling (which I am just now realizing I forgot to snap a picture of). We also pasted little wooden stars around on the ceiling and it is pretty cute I must say! Sarah sewed up the curtains for me and Megan made the cute star pegs that kids hang sweaters and backpacks on. A lot of the furniture was donated by my awesome mother-in-law who used to own her own Montessori preschool. I am lucky to have all that I have in this room. I love how every thing has a place and it is easy to keep clean. It took me a few years to get it this way, lots of trial and error, but it is now fully functional and just a fun room to be in. It has been such a magical little place, the backdrop for lots of fun with my kids and many of my friends' kids too. I look forward to spending more time in it next year with more sweet little preschoolers!

There's even a cute little bathroom for those little tike's and I love the green color of the walls in there. It's called "Rosemary."

Picture #4- The Laundry Room

Not much to say about this tiny little closet of a room. When we built this house, we were only envisioning about five years tops. If we'd have known the housing market would have been so crummy and we would be here a few years longer, this would have been one of the first rooms we would have added square footage to. It is very hard to keep up on the laundry in such a tiny space, but-at least it is something. It could be worse. One of those closet door situations like our last house. I guess this is a bit of a step up.

Picture #5- The Fridge

I really am OCD about the fridge. It has been hard to train my husband to keep things in the proper lo-cal of the fridge. The main rule is there has to be a "beverage only" shelf. I don't want to see any bottles of ketchup or pickles stacked up next to the milk or juice or other items that are in and out of the fridge so often throughout the day. I also like things to be stacked neatly and the shelves have to be clean. I clean out my fridge EVERY time I go grocery shopping. I like to know everything that is in there, no mystery left overs please.

Picture #6- Master Bath

We do not have a luxurious master bedroom/bathroom situation. It is functional, but not very beautiful. In fact, Steve and I were laughing the other day about the ceiling in the toilet room. It still has painters tape around the ceiling edge from FIVE years ago when we first painted this house! How completely pathetic is THAT? We have never really finished our master bath. I am getting the bug to do it though. I really want to tile half way up the wall and repaint the whole thing. Sure wish money grew on trees!

Picture #7- Closet

These are some very sad pictures for me. I love an organized, clutter free closet. Seeings how this was the first week back at school, it is not possible for my closet to look any better than this. Most of the laundry is on my bed ready to be folded and put away and therefore, most of my hangers are empty. This also shows signs of a manic mornings looking for something to wear, tossing things to and fro. It's chaos. Our closet is small too. I am not a huge clothes horse so it really makes no difference to me. Steve actually has more clothes than I do. Too bad he could care less about how his closet looks. No matter how hard I try, I can't keep his stuff contained. While my side usually is more put together than this, I must say, Steve's side pretty much always looks like this:(

Picture #8-Favorite Shoes

Okay. This is another sign that I am really not much of a girly girl. Aside from the fact that I hate to fuss with hair and makeup, I also don't have the huge shoe fetish that many of my girlfriends suffer from. In fact, I actually keep my shoes out in the garage! I know-Laura would never treat her shoes in this way! I don't even stack them neatly on a shelf (I tried), I just toss them in a laundry basket before I walk in the house. I'd rather have a clean floor than an organized shoe rack-I know, it's wrong on so many levels. Anyway, seeings how I really don't have a favorite pair of shoes, I will snap a picture of the ones I wore today. I like these ones. I'm not sure if wedges are really in style anymore? but these fit my criteria for a good Sunday shoe. They are quick and easy, painless, closed toe so I don't have to fuss with a pedicure and they have a bit of a heel so my legs look a little bit leaner. I also like the denim and brown color combo. I think they're cute?!?!

Picture #9-Favorite part of my house.

Hands down my favorite thing are the plantation shutters. Our house is not big and elaborate and these shutters just add so much to make it cozy and complete. My favorite thing about them though is how easy they are to clean. I can wipe them down as often as I dust my coffee table rather than two or three times a year (that's about all I could tolerate with blinds). I'll never be able to go back to just any old window treatment after having the shutters. I love, love, LOVE them! (I like my light fixtures too).

Picture #10-Dream Vacation

Since I've never really been on my dream vaycay yet, I'll have to hop on over to the good ol' internet and find a picture of Fiji. A friend of mine went witha huge group of people a while back and she has just raved and raved about it. It is now tops on my list of places I want to go. Someday. . .again, if only money grew on trees!

OKAY! I am "Picture Tagging" Jen Statham (I've always wanted to see your Pennsylvania house), Jessica N., Sunnie and Sandi, Erika, Sunny R. (make sure you tag your mom and Allison) and anyone else who wants to participate! Have fun!

It's not about the firsts.

It's not about the FIRST time you get to wear your new clothes on the first day of school. . .

It's more about the LAST time you get to frolic around in bare feet and not much else.

It's not about the FIRST time you sit down with that fresh page of new homework
and something for your brain to do. . .

It's more about the LAST time you get to stay out past your bedtime because there isn't anything but playing to do the next day.

It's not about the FIRST day jitters and the worrying about all the new people and rules and assignments. . .

It's more about the LAST day you get to feel those lazy and relaxing summer moments

of no worries and no stress.

This time of year, it isn't so much about all the firsts. It is more about all those LAST moments of precious summer that we hope will come back to us again VERY SOON!

Goin' for the GOLD this school year!

I know! It has been a WHILE since I've posted. To say I have been "busy" is a HUGE understatement. This time of year is always crazy. I love it and hate it at the same time. On the plus side, I have been working my tail off and I'm fitting into some of my smaller jeans again (I always lose weight this time of year. No worries though, by December, I'll have to haul out my bigger sizes again). On the down side, I have been drowning in a sea of work, work and more work. But, I have been enjoying it! Watching the Olympians compete has given me the extra push to keep on going! If they can do it, so can I! My goals this year include:

1. Keep my desk cleaned off
2. File all paper work immediately
3. Stay three weeks ahead in planning
4. Keep all laundry out of the baskets
5. No dirty dishes in the sink ALLOWED!

I know these sound silly, but they are my goals for a happy school year. Let's face it, without all the prep, it would be hard to get the job done. I'm hoping to stay the course and keep it all flowing and going smoothly this year. Last year, I felt like everything was just thrown together and I could never quite "function" the way I wanted to. I spent the last two weeks going through every nook and cranny of my room and organizing it all. I LOVE the feeling of knowing where everything is. I just finished off the last of it today. AHHHHHH. I wish I'd have thought to take some pictures. Posterity needs to see the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into my kindergarten room. It is no small task to try and pull it all together. But, seeing this sweet new batch of kids makes it all worth it!I am STOKED for this school year. It is going to be the best year ever!

Continued. . .

So, it's hard to believe that a week from today I will be in my classroom with 20 or so new little kindergarten faces ready to take on another crazy year. I seriously don't know if I'm ready?! Last Thursday, I mentioned we were in Lagoon having the time of our lives. Here's a peek at how we spent the rest of that weekend, our last summer vay-cay of this year.
Friday-
We woke up and just sort of took it easy. Honestly, I think I slept in until 9:30. That is unheard of here at home! The boys rose earlier than that, but went off on one of their many explorations and so I took advantage! I finally woke to the smell of real food wafting through the ceiling vents. Lisa is an amazing hostess and cook and really pulled out all the stops with her elaborate breakfasts. This morning I think was the day she made a pancake variety. Some with blueberries, some with COCONUT (yes, that's right-they were unbelievable!) and of course, lots of fruit and an assortment of beverages to go with it. Delicious! After breakfast, we got dressed and ready to have a "downtown" day. We started off at "Little Italy" (a part of Salt lake has been dubbed this name because of the many Italian businesses in this section of town). Chris and Lisa lived in the REAL Italy for awhile and so they appreciate, long for, understand Italian fare very well. We went to this Deli called Tony Coputo's and it was amazing! I can't remember the name of the sandwich I had, but it was the best sandwich of my life! Awesome!
On one side of this place is the restaurant, but on the other half, is an Italian market. Now, I am a girl who really appreciates a little culture so Lisa indulged me and walked me through the market. It ended up being so much fun to taste test the olive oils, cheeses and huge variety of olives! There was one young man working there who was really in his element explaining all the different flavors of the oils and olives. He used phrases like, "woody texture that ends with a little more bite. . " etc. It was amusing. Of course, the boys would never have tolerated such a tour so they were outside doing acrobatics on the stairwells while they waited for us. It was a lot of fun. Lisa is one of my most "culture-y" friends. She appreciates theatre and art and things like that. I always feel like I've had an enriching education after spending time with her. Before they moved, she took me out "to tea" one day! I have never been to a tea shop before and it was such a fun experience. This little time at Tony Cupoto's will be another fun memory like that for me to look back upon and smile. It was loads of fun!
Just up the street a ways from "Little Italy" is The Gateway. It is a really fun shopping, museum, restaraunt experience. We started off at the Clark planetarium. My kids have never been to a planetarium before and I wanted them to have this experience. They loved it. There was so much to do and explore. They spent a lot of their time running around acting out elaborate alien invasions and space explorations on the moon and Mars landscapes, but we also caught the 3D movie which was excellent! Later on, the boys got to experience what it feels like to be astronauts in space by hooking up on the anti-gravity simulator (basically just a harness that lifts them up in the sky and somehow they counter the weight with this contraption thingy by fifty pounds so you can bounce and spin and basically fly)! The boys were in heaven. It was really dark, so my pictures did not pan out too well, but they can still looks at them and remember this experience. I was actually a little jealous and wanted to try it too, but a 70 year old grandma decided quicker than me and she looked so unbelievably silly, I was really glad I missed the boat. Maybe if a crowd of people were not sitting around staring and giggling and commenting, I might have done it! (Right now I'm wishing I would have at least snapped a picture of that lady, it was hilarious!)

So after the planetarium, we decided to walk around the beautiful streets of the Gateway and take in some shopping and relaxing by the fun water feature. Steve was probably just as thrilled as the boys (if not more) to cool off in his street clothes and relax without dying of heat. He wanted nothing to do with the shopping so he chilled while the boys and I found some great deals on school shoes (buy one get one half off at Famous Footwear), woo hoo!

As it started getting late, we decided to eat some dinner at Z (something or other? Help me out people, I can't remember?). It is a fun metro, mexican-y grill place. Very fun atmosphere and a great meal! As we were walking out of the gateway, we saw (and heard) a really great street musician and we stopped for a few songs. Steve absolutely LOVES outdoor, live, music entertainment. He could have sat there all night, but the kids would not allow it. He did a few really great renditions of some sweet tunes (particularly Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours") and it was a fun and festive way to end our day at Gateway. Good times!

A Mid Summer Night's Dream

Saturday-
We just sort of CHILLED this day. We needed a little R and R after all the running around at Lagoon and Gateway so we let the kids play and did a bit more shopping (the first day of school shirts for the boys) and then caught a movie in the afternoon (we saw Space Chimps and it was actually pretty funny). The best part about Saturday though, was the play at Sundance we were able to sneak away to. Lisa grabbed a sitter for the five kids and we headed up. Chris is in advertising for Utah Valley University and somehow they are helping to sponsor the revival of the Sundance summer plays. This was opening night for A Mid Summer Nights Dream and we got to be exclusive, V.I.P. guests at the back stage reception, pre-show. I had never experienced something like this before so it was really fun for me. We got to feast on yummy eats surrounded by the players and the BEAUTIFUL Sundance landscape. Chris and Lisa took us on a little walking tour of some of the fun parts of Sundance and then we sat down to an evening of Shakespeare. I have to say, this was my favorite version of Midsummer Night's Dream I have seen. I have seen it live twice and I've seen the Michelle Pfeiffer movie, but I actually liked this Sundance version the best. I think the director did a really great job and it was just so lively and entertaining! A fantastic evening!

Sunday

We left the Taylor house early to catch a sacrament meeting and then head to Tooele to visit my sweet grandma. Before we left, I snapped a few final pics so the boys could remember the fun they had at the "Taylor Fun House"(that is what we call it). They bought the best little house. The entire downstairs is nothing but a party zone! So much fun. They have a large theatre room with the projection screen and the works, a fun game room with the pool table, foozball combo and a really fun play room as well. The kids could have spent the entire four days just hanging out in this space and they would have been happy campers!

In front of the GIANT fish tank!

One thing I thought was funny is that the Taylor boys sleep shirtless at night, so my boys thought they needed to do that as well. When we got back from the play, I went in to check on them and all four of them were sleeping without their shirts. I know this might seem like a normal thing to most people, but I am a a huge pajama freak. I LOVE kids in jammies. I love looking at my boys fast asleep in their little scooby doo or space jammies, anything like that, so the boys had never heard of this shirtless sleeping before! Anyway, I've talked them back into wearing both the tops and bottoms of their pajamas since we've been home (Lewis got some sort of bug bite on his chest and that sealed the deal) but I took these pictures to remember how funny I thought those boys looked as they were playing in their fun NEW pajamas Sunday morning.


The rest of our Sunday was a little depressing. We stopped to see my 96 year old Grandma at the rest home in Tooele. She is not doing well at all. The last time we went she was still her lively, fun, happy self! Just 9 months have passed and she couldn't even stay awake for our visit. She really didn't have a clue who we were and after we left, when my mom got there, she asked if 'Stephanie and the boys had come to visit' and she said, "No. No one ever comes to visit me." We had brought her a beautiful bouquet of flowers for her birthday and kept trying to get her to smell them (she loves flowers) and she would comment and say how much she liked them, but then fall right back to sleep. Each time we would wake her up (the nurses persisted that we do this to "stimulate" her), she would say, "Well for heaven's sake!" One of her cute little phrases and we would be so excited that she would chat with us but then her eyes would glaze over and she would stare off and then fall asleep. Finally we just sat and held her hand for a little bit. It was sooooo heart wrenching to see this decline in her spirit. She really wants to just go. The sad thing about it is, being at a nursing home, those nurses will be able to keep her alive much longer than if she were just at home. What kind of life is it to be stuck in such a miserable place? Oh, if only we lived closer to her. I would like to think that we could visit her at least a few times a week, be something for her to look forward to. I think she is just too far gone now. It was a very sad event and I hope that she will soon get her wish to be with our grandpa again very soon. We didn't take any pictures this time, it didn't seem appropriate. Here are some photos of the last time we were there (in November) and how her sweet personality and vigor was still with her. Had I known that would be the last time to get a glimpse of that grandma, the one I knew and adored all of my growing up, I would have snapped a million more pictures. I miss this lady!

One Last Hoo-Raw!

We sort of fell off the blogging planet this past week. With my first day to report back to school being tomorrow, we decided to spend last Wednesday through Sunday with friends in Salt Lake City for ONE LAST HOO-RAW! I have heard a lot of people use this expression lately. It is definitely that time of the season. Bittersweet, when we realize the sunset is closing in on our summer fun. We definitely made the right choice when we decided to spend our last vacation of the summer with Chris and Lisa and their family. They were AWESOME! Our agenda included fun things like: Lagoon, The Gateway, movies, a play at Sundance, shopping and dining out at some of the BEST restaurants Salt Lake has to offer. Hanging out at the Taylor house was a blast too. My boys and their boys get along like peas in the pod-not one fight, argument or disagreement the entire four days! Just pure fun and excitement. Here is a little breakdown of our good time:

Thursday at Lagoon:
The last time we were at Lagoon was about 3 years ago and we spent most of the time on the kiddie rides which was just fine with me! It was such a blast and I took a million pictures of my sweet little boys riding things like The Flying Aces, Kiddie Boats and Puff the Magic Dragon kiddie roller coaster. This year, they were all about being TALL enough to ride the major stuff! We started off the morning waiting in the 30 minute line for WICKED! It was just that-wicked! Conner was terrified. Last year at Disneyland, he was fearless. This ride really freaked him out! Luckily, it doesn't last too long so he survived. He was back to his fearless self on all the other rides of the day and although he didn't want to admit it-he really did want to ride some of those 'baby rides.' We could tell by the way he was eying them when we walked by. Steve and Chris decided to send Lisa and me and the two older boys to do some of the scarier rides near the kiddie rides so that Roman and Conner could be indulged a little without having to try and fake not liking those baby rides. It worked out pretty good. We met up with them later at the kiddie bumper cars (which Lewis and Christian really looked intrigued by, but wouldn't admit it). Steve said something that made a lot of sense. He said, "They are trying to grow up too fast. They won't be small enough to fit on these rides for much longer." We tried to make the kiddie rides seem just as cool as the others, but Lewis and Christian weren't buying it so it was back to the scary rides for us all. After lunch and just when it was getting a little too hot, we took advantage of Lagoon-a-Beach, the water park within the amusement park. I really didn't want to (my phobia of public showers and how I loathe what I look like in a swimsuit were major factors)but it was so blasted hot, it actually ended up being quite nice. Steve's favorite rides of the day were actually the water slides at Lagoon-a-Beach. My favorite ride was the Tidal Wave. Conner really liked the Collasus and Lewis claims that the "Cliffhanger" is his favorite! It is a crazy ride that suspends you upside down (for longer than I can tolerate) and then once it flips you back up, you're blasted in the face with a huge spray of water. When I saw my little Lewis on this ride, I seriously got nervous for him. I didn't think he would like it, but it ended up being his favorite and he waited in line for it twice. Overall, this Lagoon day was awesome. It couldn't have been any better actually. Just a relaxing, fun and thrilling day! Check out our pics below.
SIDE NOTE: I am having some technical difficulties with getting this slide show to work with my post so I had to do it as a seperate post below. I have wasted so much time fiddling with this problemo that now I'm going to have to finish this little re-cap of our vacation the next time I sit down to blog, so stay tuned! I know you will all be on the EDGE of your seat!:)

Our Lagoon Day