First Day of School

Love the first day of school. All the kids had a great time. Garret wouldn't let me take his pictue!

It's only 10:45am

This blog is not to brag however to give you an idea of what my life is like. I woke this morning at 4:45am without an alarm. Went to spinning class. Came home and realized the dishwasher did not run last night. Called Sears,made an appointment. Spent an hour washing the dishes. Figured out the disposal is not working either so, called a friend who said it's the outlet. Cancelled the appt and am graciously waiting for Eric Hansen to come and save my electrical problem. Fed the kids breakfast, made a pasta salad for dinner, took a shower, got the kids to tidy up rooms and make bed. Put together a baby blanket for one of my counselors, oh and I did Regan's hair REALLY cute today. So, here I sit on the porch eating carrots and peanut butter before the next wave of business begins. I think I'm ready for bed!

The Sound of Music

Not quite sure why but today after church I told the kids we were going to watch The Sound of Music. None of them remembers ever seeing it so the 5 of us sat down to watch. I was so excited to tell them about Maria and the Von Trapp family. The tears began to roll from the first song for me. I love it when Maria teaches the children Do Re Mi-probably one of my favorite scenes! And then, Captain Von Trapp discovers his children singing and joins in. Just hand me the whole Kleenex box at this point. I'm not quite sure why this musical moved me so much but I have a few ideas...1. I grew up with this stuff, Mom and Dad were musical and it's in my blood. 2. Deep down I'd love to be in the Von Trapp family, singing , performing, etc. but here I sit singing primary songs to my kids at night. 3. I'm 37 and old, I seem to cry more than I use to. Wish I could stop but it's kinda like my bladder and uncontrollable(oops, probably tmi). Anyway I love The Sound of Music, it makes me happy and I am better for having spent 3hours watching today!

Homemade Chipotle

Last night I made an awesome dinner(if I do say so myself). I thought I'd share in case anyone wants to try. I took frozen chicken breast and popped them in the crockpot. Poured my favorite salsa over the top and let them cook. When they were ready I had black beans, rice, and all the fixins to make your own chipotle/quedoba burrito. The chicken was so yummy and fell apart. You could make this hot or mild depending on your own taste. Happy cooking!

Garret's HOT!

My sweet 11yr old who is entering 6th grade made a funny comment this week that I thought was worth sharing. He said "I'm going to have lots of girlfriends because I'm Hot!" How's that for self esteem? Of course he knows we don't allow dating until he's 16. Lately he's been talking a lot about what he's going to do when he grows up. Whatever makes the most money is his idea of a good job. He actually talks a lot about following in his father's footsteps in medicine. We are trying to direct him other places that are easier and more family friendly. Anyway just thought you'd all like to know that Garret is HOT!

Mommy and Daddy Cancun trip!

So on occasion Todd and I have an opportunity to go away by ourselves. It refreshes our relationship and helps the kids appreciate us more. We decided to go to Cancun and risk the swine flu! After a few mishaps with flights at the airport we finally made our way to Mexico. We stayed at an all inclusive resort which means all the free food, virgin Pina Coladas and Diet Cokes we wanted. We spent our first day there relaxing by the pool, swimming and eating. We decided the other days we'd take small excursions. We went and saw Tulum(Todd now says this word for fun) anyway, these are Mayan ruins that are located right on the Caribbean sea. So amazing to see something thousands of years old still standing. We had lots of conversations about whether this was a Lamanite or Nephite spot. It was a smartly designed village and we even found an LDS tour guide who gave us some special LDS historical info! We also went on this same day to a place called XelHa. It's a natural coral reef that the mexicans are making a killing at. You can snorkel all over the place and then walk in the jungle which was infested with large Iguanas. There was a rope swing and cliff jumping as well.
We also did a boat tour where we actually drove our own boat and went out to the ocean to snorkel.
We had more mishaps at the airport, gave us a 16hour trip home. All in all a great trip. I love Todd, we have fun together and I am so glad to spend eternity with him.

Cousins and Mountains

Two weeks ago I packed up the kids, bikes, and lots of food and we headed to Estes Park, Co to meet up with our Bleak cousins from Utah. Phillip ask me to meet him there and I must say that this has been one of the highlights of our summer. Brenna is the same age as Phillip's youngest Summit. Garret is the same age as Phillip's Anders and then there was Boyce who Regan loves to death. He is a great teenager-he's 14 and as sweet as they come.

We spent a lot of time at the YMCA craft center tyedying shirts, painting, model airplane building and such. We went swimming and played put put golf and played on the playground.
I rented a cabin there so the nine of us could stay together and it was awesome! The kids just loved being together. We spent hours hiking on rocks, crossing waterfalls, and eating my famous monster cookies(Phillip and Boyce love those). All in all a great week. Planning to go again next year with the whole Bleak family!