Randomness

Just a few random things and some random pictures on a Thursday...

--Libby is loving all her birthday presents, but she has really enjoyed Cariboo. It's a Cranium game, where you find colored balls ("treasures") and use them to open the treasure box. It's a fun game for kids. They have played it numerous times since she got it on Monday.

--Eliza had her "meet the teacher" tonight for preschool. She is excited and asked, "Can I start tomorrow?" (It doesn't start until next Wednesday). :(

--Libby wanted me to get down the "Life" game from the closet. I tried to discourage her because it's not really a little kids' game. Well, she persisted and I gave in. So I had a blast from the past and played a couple games. The girls kind of played (they liked filling their cars with kids), but I had way too much fun playing. I forgot how much I loved that game. We have game night with Brian's siblings tomorrow night and I think I'll bring that game. I don't think I'll have any takers, but you never know!

--Found out my brother and sister-in-law are expecting their third baby in April. Eliza is already bugging to know if it'll be a boy or a girl.

--Can't believe it's already September tomorrow. Before I know it, it'll be Halloween, Thanksgiving, then Christmas! Yay!

--A new month also means a new garden at 2 Peas.

--I came across a quote I loved the other day. It made me think about my friend Leslie. It's by Lisa Brennan-Jobs: "Friendship must be an exchange of wisdom, not just company. That goes against what a lot of people think. But I like being alone, so any friendships have to be meaningful and not just a way to pass the hours." I am grateful for her meaningful friendship! I don't really like to be alone, and I like being able to have great company, but I like the gist of the quote.

--Libby is really getting what prayers are all about. She has for a while, but tonight while she got her bath, she was playing with the bar of soap and she got some in her eyes. I tried to wash them out and dry them, but it hurt her for a little bit after. Well, when I was getting her to bed tonight, she said her prayers and in part of it she said, "Glad my eye could feel better." How cute!

--It's almost the weekend. Then next week is Creative Escape! I am so excited and need the "me time!"

Happy weekend.

She's 3!

Today was Libby's third birthday! And I think she had a really fun day and enjoyed being the center of attention. This morning Brian took the girls swimming, then after he went to work, I took the girls to the mall. We had pretzels for lunch and then they got to play in the play center there. We also spent some time in the puppy store looking at the puppies. (no--we are NOT getting one!) But that was a really fun time. Then tonight after dinner and family home evening, she got to open her presents from us and from my parents. She loved everything and had fun playing with it. It was hard to pull her away for bed.

She enjoyed looking at her vanilla cake, but she didn't eat any. She said, "I don't want the frosting on it." Strange! We scraped the frosting off, but she still didn't want any. And I bought Neapolitan ice cream and she liked all but the "pink", so we had to scrap around that part. So funny and picky at age three!

Need a Realtor?

I'm putting a plug in for my brother, Brian, who is growing his real estate business. If you or someone you know is going to be buying or selling a house or land, give him a call. He is very friendly and a great people person and will work for you to sell or buy a home. Here is his website: http://bmabee.com/. Give him a call!!!

In other news...it rained this morning and I loved it! We got a lot of rain and it was so nice to have it overcast and cloudy for a while. The lightening and thunder were a nice change, too! I could handle every morning like that. The girls are excited today to go to the pajama party that the kids' center is having at Frys'.

Weekend

This weekend was pretty busy. On Friday night Brian and I went out. We went to dinner at Abuelos, then did a little running around. On Saturday morning, I went to the Preparedness Fair that our stake put on. It was excellent and I learned some new things. I want to start bottling ground beef. If I could have that like I have my bottled chicken, I would be in heaven! That way we wouldn't lose all our meat like we did a couple of weeks ago when the freezer in the garage stopped working. Ugh! Chrystalyn also inspired me to want to make bread. Hopefully when Eliza starts school I can get another hands-on lesson from her and have success.

That afternoon Brian took the girls swimming, then he helped out with a move in the ward. That night I had a young women/young men activity at Sunrise Mountain pool. Woosh! It was a busy day.

Then Snnday was a good busy with a meeting and church and dinner at my parents' house. For young women's, our class is in charge of the fireside in October, so if anyone has any good ideas, send them to me! We can't think of what to do!

In an unrelated note, I came across and interesting recipe that I'd never heard of before. It's from this blog, (we are of no relation even though we have the same first and middle name) but you simply take two heaping spoonfuls of creamy peanut butter and plop them into a tub of Cool Whip. Mix it all together and you can either just eat it or use it to frost a cake or something. Doesn't that sound so good!?!?!? I think I'll have to try that sometime.

Here's to a great week.

Service Auction Update

The service auction was a success. We had a real auctioneer, and it was so amazing to hear him do his work. Wow--something I don't think I could ever do. I don't know how he gets his mouth to go that fast. There were a lot of great things to bid on, but I ended up winning a swimming lesson session for next summer from Sarah Updike. She has done Eliza and Libby's swim lessons for the past 2 years, so it'll be great to have one free next summer! It was a great service to give. Donise Price won my photo session. All her daughters will be in town in a couple of weeks, so we are going to do their photos. I am excited since they ought to be easy subjects and will hold still! Kristi Rogers and Leslie Wright won scrapbooking with Becky and me. I told her she already knows what to do, but I think she has some plans for us (like produce as many layouts as possible that night). It will be a blast hanging out and chatting. Oh wait--Kristi said there won't be any socializing that night--just working!!!

But it was a fun night and the cupcakes were yum. I also LOVED Leslie's caramel bars. I brought one home for Brian, but it didn't make it to him. Oops! I ate it while he was at basketball. I need some more or at least the recipe! So good.

Service Auction

Tonight for our Enrichment, we are having a service auction. This is one of the best nights each year. I can't wait to see who gets my service and what service I win. I decided to donate two things. I am donating one photo shoot and then Becky Higgins and I are doing a "Learn How to Scrapbook" night with Becky and Erin. We will do an evening of instruction, inspiration and treats. The winner can bring up to four friends and she also gets a selection of our books. I think it will be fun!

And for my treat, I am bringing "Cupcake Surprise". I've included the recipe if you want to make them. I actually haven't tried them, but I'll let you know tonight how they are.

Happy eating!

Cupcake Surprise

1 (8oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (18.25 oz) pkg. chocolate cake mix

Preheat oven to 350° or to the temperature recommended on the cake mix.
Prepare chocolate cake mix according to package directions, but do not bake. In separate bowl, cream together cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg until well blended, then stir in chocolate chips.
Line cupcake tins with cupcake papers. Fill 2/3 full with chocolate cake batter. Add 1 teaspoon cream cheese mixture to the center, and top with more cake batter.
Bake according to package direction for cupcake. Cool and frost with chocolate or cream cheese frosting.

Jet Lag and a "Home Helper"

We only went to Florida which is just a 3 hour time difference, but I am STILL feeling the jet lag from it. I think I might be over it today, but for the past week, it has been to bed early and up early. One night I went to be at 8 PM, which if you know me, is totally unlike me! But when 6:30 came, I was up and at 'em and not really tired. So that was nice. We were home late last night from my aunt's house so everyone slept a little longer, so maybe we are finally over it, but wow--I can't imagine what will happen when we go overseas and have a major time difference.

Item #2:
This afternoon I took the girls to Frys, then we stopped at McDonald's and I got them an ice cream in a cup instead of a cone. As we were driving home, I heard a snap, followed by a cry from Eliza and one from Libby. I was like what is going on?!?! Eliza was crying because Libby had bitten and broke the spoon and her lip was bleeding. And Libby was crying because it probably hurt. Once I pulled over and got her cleaned, up, Eliza talked to Libby the whole way, trying to help her to feel better. When we got home, Eliza laid out a blanket in the playroom, put a pillow down and put a blanket on top of Libby. She put her doll by her, along with some books. She even put in a movie for her and got her a snack.

I told Eliza that she was so compassionate and explained what it meant. She said, "That's what I want to do when I get older." I said, "Oh, be a doctor?" She said, "No, I want to be a 'home helper.'" I asked her what that was and she said, someone who helps kids who are sick or hurt and brings them toys and books and Polly Pockets and makes them laugh." Well, I think she'll be a darn good "homehelper." It was really cute to see her do that.

Item #3: I've included more pictures from our trip.

More Pictures from the Trip

I will post more in days to come.

Lots to Update

We are home now from our trip and it was a great time. True, it was so, so hot in Florida was miserable humidity, but we survived, thanks to the spray bottle/fan combo my dad bought in the park. That was a lifesaver. The girls had a fun time it seemed. Eliza loved all the rides she went on except for maybe Splash Mountain that I took her on. :) It probably didn't help that I screamed the whole way down on the big drop. It was fun to visit MGM and Epcot for the first time. I wish we would've had more time in both of those parks as there were some things we didn't have time to see. But we saw and did a lot.

Libby was such a turkey though and didn't want to ride on any rides or watch any shows. If we tried to get her to do it, she would let out a blood-curdling scream and we had to take her out. It was really weird. She did enjoy the tea cups and the carousel...she rode it at least 30 times--once going about 8 in a row without having to get off. She was in heaven.

Ellie did great considering the lack of sleep. She was so happy to be in her bed when we got home though and has been taking 3 hour naps.

My mom made the girls autograph books and they were all over those the whole time. They loved meeting the characters and getting their books signed and getting a picture. Libby would have to have someone go up with her and she would stretch really far to give her book to the character, but she really enjoyed it.


Here are some more highlights:
**We (minus Libby) really enjoyed Mickey's Philharmagic show. It's a 3-D show where you can reach out and try to touch the things. They also blew puffs of air at you at certain times and little blasts of water. At a couple of times, there were some sweet scents put into the air. Eliza LOVED it. She was reaching in front of her the whole time. Libby on the other hand, cried and my dad eventually took her out.

**Downtown Disney was fun. We did a little shopping and ate lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe. Every ½ hour they have thunderstorms in the restaurant. Libby did not like the place at all!!! She was so scared of the atmosphere and especially of the thunderstorm. So we took some trips out every so often. After lunch we went to Goofy's Candy Shop and had a hilarious time looking in the funny mirrors they have that distort your body. We could not stop laughing.

**the girls, especially Libby (strangely enough) LOVED the slide at the hotel. She probably went down over 40 times. She went over and over again and had a great time.

**The boardwalk at the hotel was a lot of fun. At night, there is a lot going on--little shows and attractions and kiosks. Eliza got her hair wrapped one day and it looks cute.

**AT MGM, the girls like playing on the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. Eliza got soaked and Libby ran all around.

**We also saw a Beauty and the Beast show—that was awesome—a live musical show.

**ELiza like "Soarin" in Epcot...it's just like the one in California Adventure.

**Libby was also afraid of the fireworks (big surprise), but I feel bad because after that, I told Libby she had better get to bed or the fireworks would come on. Well, she buried her head in the pillow and went right to sleep. It was nice though not to have to fight her on going to bed.

Overall, we had a fun time, but it is great to be home! Now it's back to reality. I have three books going big right now, so my entryway is starting to stack high with boxes. Gotta go!