Wise Guy

This morning Amberlyn's primary teacher called to say that they would be learning about the Word of Wisdom today. They would be having a healthy snack of pineapple, grapes, apples, strawberries, and carrot sticks, and asked if Amberlyn had any food allergies. (Very thoughful, thank you Sister Freeman!)

We went to church, and when I picked up Amberlyn from class at the end, she was excited to show me her yummy bowl of fruit! In the car on the way home, I asked her what she learned in Primary today. She told me they are learning a new song for Mother's Day! (I love the Mother's Day Primary singing time!) I asked what she had learned in Sister Freeman's class. She said she didn't know. Trying to refresh her memory, I asked what she was eating that she had gotten in class. She named all the things in her bowl. I asked her what all those things were. She paused and then slowly replied, "Umm... fruit." The inflection in her voice was like, 'duh mom'. Still trying to prod her memory, I asked if those were all healthy things. She asked with amazment, "How did you know that mom!?"

She's been asking me that latley, and evey time, I give her one of two answers. Either "I'm magic," or "mom's know everything". This time I went with "I'm magic." Still claiming she didn't know what her lesson was about, I tried to get her to recall the theme.

Me: "Did you learn about the Word........of........"

Her: silence

Me: "Amberlyn, the Word of what? What did you learn today? The Word........of.....?"

Her: "I don't know. You're magic, you tell me."

I guess she gets away with saying things like that because she's five.

Beauty and the Beast!

Last night we had a mommy daughter date! I heard that Beauty and the Beast was going to be playing at our local community theater, and I thought Amberlyn would love it! We got all dressed up!
We went to the theater and picked up our tickets at will call. We explored the lobby, got a drink, and Amberlyn got to give the usher our tickets and get a program, then we headed to our seats!
We waited for the play to start, and soon a tall man sat 2 rows in front of us. I saw another mom with a good idea, and ran out to the car to get Amberlyn's booster seat. Soon lights dimmed and we were transported to a small village in France! A few times I had to put her up on my lap so she could see a little better, and some of the microphones weren't working very well, but other that that we had a wonderful time! The cast was great! Belle was beautiful, Gaston played his part very well, with a perfectly pompous walk, arrogant shoulders and all! We ran into Amberlyn's swim teacher, and it turns out her son, the swim helper, was playing Maurice! After it was over, we got to go up and meet Belle! Amberlyn was thrilled!
We also saw a few of the other cast members, then headed to the lobby where I bought her a glowing rose, like the one in the story. We headed home, reminiscing our favorite parts. When I asked her what her favorite part was, she said, "The end." I thought she meant it was glad to be over, but after further prodding, it was because she liked all the singing and dancing at the finale! We got home, where she put on her Disney Princess jammies, complete with Belle, showed daddy her special rose, and drifted off to sleep.

I remember going to see plays with my mom, and I hope Amberlyn will remember the same!

So, she DOES pay attention!

Yesterday I bought a bunch of strawberries that were on sale. Today was jam making day! I had one batch done and was working on another. The strawberries were cut up, ready to go in the pot. Amberlyn asked if she could help. She held up the pectin that was in the measuring jar, and asked what it was. I told her that it was pectin, and that it helped to make the jam, jam. I said it makes the strawberries firm. She said, "You mean like a firm foundation?"

Our Easter!

We had a good Easter! We went down to Tucson on Saturday morning to see gramma & grampa. The kids dyed Easter eggs. Then they hunted the plastic ones in the back yard. Each kid had their own assigned color of egg so there were no fights. Every one had the same number of eggs, with the same stuff inside. (Thank you Gramma!)

After the hunt, they all sat and examined their precious finds. It was like Halloween!

We got a great picture of all the grandkids!

Then we ate. And ate. And ate. Yummy ham, potatoes, all the yummy Easter stuff! We sat and played games, and I fed Tommy chocolate!

Amberlyn helped gramma decorate some cookies!

Then she got to try on her dress for Aunt Amy's wedding! She totally got into it! I love her poses!

Then the rest of the clan headed off to a wedding, so we went to the mall and got Amberlyn some new earrings. We stopped for dinner at Little Anthony's. We left at 7:30, and the kids were both asleep at 7:41.

Matt had to work Easter Sunday, but the kids still woke up to a prize from the Easter Bunny! We got ready for church, they looked Fantastic!

After church we headed to Nana's house for more Easter food! Then the kids played while the rest of us played cards. We headed home and sang songs and went to bed. It was a nice Easter, with the exception of Matt having to work. We hope you all enjoyed your day too!

Grocery Sales

So I decided it was lame to pay SisterSavings for information I could get for FREE just by making a few clicks on my computer. SisterSavings is still a great place for menu ideas and such, but to get the best grocery sales, (which she now charges for) go here to get them for FREE! It's not the complete ads, but just the best deals, or things you may use the most. ENJOY! ValleyGrocerySales.blogspot.com

Camping trip!

We took a camping trip this weekend!

(For all those out there condemning me for not staying home to watch conference, I have 4 words: DVR, radio, internet, Ensign.)

We left Saturday about 10:30, and found a camping spot at 2:30. We went to Payson and drove around for a while, checking out different sites, trying to determine the one we wanted. A few were closed, some we're too busy for our liking, one wasn't far enough from "town". We finally settled on a campground called Ponderosa. They had sites with a fire ring, a table, and a camp grill. They had a bathroom a little ways away, (by bathroom, I mean a glorified porta-potty) but I still taught Amberlyn how to pee in the woods. (For any men out there who think peeing in the woods isn't something that needs "teaching", I disagree. Girls required certain rules. Like finding a tree to lean against that has little or no bark on it. Or making sure your feet are either "upstream" or well protected.) Sorry, probably too much information. Anyway, there was also a water spigot pump thingie for drinking water, lots of tall pines, and other campers that were not too close.

We set up our tent, Matt and the kids chopped and collected firewood.

(Matt, my hunter and gatherer)

The kids had a snack,

Something about being camping turns them into crazy children, especially Denver.

We made dinner. We were going to do foil dinners, but time ran short, so we cooked on the stove. Potatoes, carrots, onions, and meat, and barbecue sauce... great camping food! We made a dutch oven peach cobbler too!

I helped the kids make S'Mores,

which they enjoyed thoroughly.

Finally it was bed time! It was going to be a VERY cold night, so they got all bundled up in sleeper jammies, sleeping bags, and LOTS of blankets both on top and underneath.

After a good night's sleep, we got up to make breakfast. (Yes, Matt is wearing shorts. I packed his long pants for him, but anyone who knows Matt, knows he is ALWAYS wearing shorts.)

We made some hot chocolate and sat by the fire. The kids constantly fought over the stool, which Denver seems to have claimed victory over for the moment.

Exploring, running, climbing...

all a necessary part of camping.

By the time we packed up and drove home, they were both exhausted, and tuckered out on the way home!

It was a fun weekend and hopefully we'll do it again soon, or as soon as the night time temperature is a little warmer. It was COLD!