Just an Update...

First of all-

Happy 5th Birthday Miriam!!!

Yesterday I got a chance to sub a 5th grade class and decided to take it since Andy was home. So I have to give a shout out to Andy because while I was subbing he took both kids, by himself, to the dentist (something I don't think even I would do). Neither of my kids particularly like the dentist. Ever since the spit sucker got stuck to the back of Maddie's mouth once, she's been terrified of the place. And well Garen just doesn't like strangers, let alone a stranger close to his face looking in his mouth. So I have to give my dear husband credit for doing such a great job dealing with both kids at the dentist!

And I thoroughly enjoyed my day of subbing. The class was so much fun and it being April Fools day, I got plenty of tricks played on me, including being zapped by a gag pen!

After subbing Andy's parents babysat the kids and me and Andy went out. First we picked up my new bike-more bonus points to my husband for buying me a new bike!

Then we headed to the temple. It was so nice to have that quiet, spiritual, uplifting time!

And before heading home we had a nice dinner together at the Olive Garden.

Also this week we got some new neighbors! Maddie loves that she has 3 new girls to play with next door. They are a cute little family, but I cannot pronounce any of their names!

Saturday Happenings

Maddie's soccer started on Saturday-well kind of. We had a big old blowing snow storm right at soccer practice time. I was all pumped to start since I get to be the coach of these 10 little 5 and 6 year olds! Even though it was snowing every parent showed up but one, so I'm glad to know I have some good parents behind these kids. All we did is pass out jerseys and schedules-I was afraid if I took the kids out on the field they would be blown away. So hopefully the weather is nicer for next weeks practice and game!

After soccer we were planning to go to Bear Lake, but were advised not to because of the weather conditions. So instead we met Andy's family for lunch then me and Maddie got to go enjoy Horton together.

The movie was very funny and had such a good moral to it. Maddie had a great time and she was excited to bring the stuffed Horton I gave her.

After the movie Andy and I had just enough time to take turns going to the gym for an hour each before we headed to Brenda's house for her little boy, Danny's birthday.
Happy 3rd Birthday Danny!-

Garen enjoyed his cake very much-

Brenda made Danny some ninja turtle masks that the kids loved-

The parents liked them too-

We got Danny a mitt and t-ball bat so Brenda can watch her boys smack each other! :)

Good Thing I married a Pugmire!

There are to many people with my maiden name. Good thing there is just one of me now! :)

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 610 people with the name Emily Young in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

HowManyOfMe.com

There is 1 person with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Bathtime with Garen

What City do you belong in?

You Belong in New York City

You're the energetic, ambitious type. And only NYC is fast enough for you. Maybe you'll set yourself up with a killer career Or simply take in all the city has to offer.

What City Do You Belong In?

Fun Easter Weekend

We had an enjoyable Easter Sunday. The kids woke up to find their Easter baskets waiting for them. They were so excited about their new movies, candy and other fun toys. Maddie loved her Hannah Montana socks and stickers and she couldn't wait to watch Enchanted-okay I was the one who wanted to watch Enchanted. :)
It was fun to teach our little sunbeam class about the resurrection. These little kids always surprise me by how well they grasp these complex subjects.
After church we gave Garen a little nap and finished making the Easter desserts; then headed out to Clarkston (Andy's parents house) for Easter dinner. Garen and Maddie enjoyed 3 sets of grandparents and their aunt and uncle. We had our egg hunt our in Clarkston and the kids loved finding their eggs, even though some where hidden in the snow! Garen caught on very quickly-he would find an egg, shake it, and if it didn't make a sound he would chuck it. (some of the eggs had questions about Christ in them, but Garen just wanted the ones that made the candy sound).

Also this weekend Andy and I enjoyed a beautiful Salmon and garlic fries candle light dinner. We put the kids to bed, made dinner together, and just enjoyed each others company for once. Very fun!
And this weekend the kids got reintroduced to their sandbox, slide, and bubbles. It was finally warm enough and dry enough to play in the backyard. I hope it continues to stay warm!

Easter Eggs

I can't believe it's almost Easter!!! Where does the time go?

Last night we dyed eggs. Maddie loved it. She loved the finished product so much that she tried to bring all her egg friends into the family room to watch a movie with her and they ended up with the same fate as Humpty Dumpty. So only two eggs remain in tact today. At least we got a picture. :)

This is Maddie pulling the same face as the egg-

Some of Maddie's egg friends-

Garen using the egg dipper as a magnifying glass-

This picture was taken before she plopped and egg in the dye an turned her whole shirt pink-

First encounter with Ear Infections

Garen has had a small cough and runny nose for about a week. But last night he was in obvious pain. He was so tired and kept trying to sleep, but would just whine and rub his ear. So I got him into the doctor first thing this morning and sure enough a very red ear! Poor kid. Hopefully the antibiotic kicks in quickly and we get a little more sleep tonight.

This is the first I've had to deal with ear infections. Maddie is almost 5 and has never had one. And Garen is almost 2 and this is his first.

Alisha, what is the stuff you buy to help the pain?
If anyone has any helpful remedies to help with pain or preventing ear infections please share!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Tonight we went to our friends house for a St. Patrick's Day dinner. All the food was green and the kids had a blast! Thanks Brenda!
Andy even got in on the fun-

Jacob and Maddie haveing a green treat-

Danny and Garen-

Everyone show your clover shaped jigglers-


Garen all in green, complete with green boogers!-

Maddie enjoying her treat-

Me and Brenda-(the kids took the picture, so it's a bit blurry)

Also this week, Maddie is the Student of the Week at Preschool! She got to bring her poster we made that tells all about her. She was very excited to show it to the class.
Maddie's poster showing her family, and some of her favorite activities-

The back of her poster shows her as a baby, her being silly, and shows some of her favorite things like Hannah Montana, blueberries, her 7 grandmas and 6 grandpas and so on-

And I just have to add that Maddie did a wonderful job on her talk in primary yesterday! She talked about Jesus Christ being our Savior and she smiled the whole time and spoke very clearly and confidently the whole time. I'm proud of you Maddie!

Princess Fun!

Last night Sara and I took our daughters to Disney's Princesses on Ice. We dressed the girls up in princess dresses and had a wonderful evening. The girls were so excited, they could hardly hold still. They loved guessing what princess would come out next. The show was awesome, but definitely didn't wear the girls out-they were still ready to party when we got back to Sara's house at almost 10pm. The girls stayed up and watched The 12 Dancing Princesses and ate popcorn. In the morning Maddie and Abby got to color their princess pictures with their princess crayons (thanks Brenda). And then we played Princess Memory. It was fun to have this mommy/daughter time. I was glad Andy was able to work his schedule out so he could have Garen!
Here's a few clips of some of the show-

As soon as we got back from Sara's house Andy and Maddie headed up to Beaver Mountain to try out skiing. This was Maddie's first time, and she loved it! They only did a few runs because it was later and it was snowing and blowing a bit. Andy said Maddie had a great time and was not afraid of going by herself even though she didn't know how to stop.

Andy told Maddie to stop there for a picture, and next thing he knew she was skiing down the mountain on her own. She said "look dad, I'm skiing." Andy tried to catch up and finally Maddie just kinda fell back to stop when she heard her dad yelling. She can't wait to go again!

having a snack in the lodge-

Skiing

Thanks to 2 wonderful babysiters (Brenda and Jann), Andy and I were able to go skiing yesterday. And thanks to Sports Authority for the free ski rentals and free Beaver Mt. passes!

Both of us have been snowboarding since Jr. High, so skiing was kinda new. Andy caught on much quicker then I did, of course. But we had a great time. We wanted to try out skiing so Andy could practice a bit before taking Maddie.
It was a beautiful day-we have the sunburns to prove it! :l

Andy on the lift-

Me going on my favorite run "Easy Street"

This morning my dear friend and neighbor, Kelsie moved away. :( She was the neighbor that you could knock on her door just to chat-day or night. She was always the one I went to for an egg or flour or to watch my kids at the last minute when something had come up. I miss you already Kelsie!!!

This afternoon, I went to my sister's house in Syracuse for her boy, Colton's birthday. It was fun to see both my sisters and my mom. The cousins had a great time playing together and eating cake.

Joren and Garen giving hugs-

Kaisa, Maddie, Abby (if you are wondering about Maddie's hair due, she did it herself and insisted in stay as is)-

Colton's blues clues cake-

the gang ready to sing-

Grandma Sue and Garen-

Cute little Colton trying so hard to blow his candles out-

Garen the falling boy...

I'm afraid this kid is going to have permanent damage. Like I posted before, Garen got stitches on Sunday. On Monday he fell down the front outside steps and got a big goose egg and scraped it up pretty good. Then Tuesday, I pulled him out of the bath and he took off running and slipped and hit the back of his head on the tile. And then today, I caught it on tape. Garen gets his stitches out on Friday and hopefully we can avoid the ER for awhile. Crazy kids!!! :)

Maddie's Artwork

Maddie made this picture this morning and asked me to put it on the blog so Alisha, Carrol, Grandma Sue, and Grandma Jann could see it. Those are the people she picked out on her own that she wanted to show it to.
It may look like a scribbled mess. But it is our family as kangaroos (that's why we have lines coming out of our heads-they are the ears). Starting on the left is mom looking surprised, dad looking very happy, Maddie looking angry, and Garen looking sad. Every person has numbers above their head. They represent how old the person is and how old they will be on their next birthday. (Maybe I should work on teaching her how to draw a body ;))

Maddie's ballet class-


Maddie's favorite part of ballet is the freestyle dancing they do at the end-

Sunday Morning Chaos

We have the hardest time getting out to our church in Amalga by 9 AM on Sundays. But today I was up by 7:30 and by 8:15 everyone was dressed and we were close to being ready. Then it happened!...

Garen hit his head on a corner in the bathroom, leaving a nice little gash in his head. We decided it was wide enough we better get it checked out. Andy volunteered to take Garen to the ER while Maddie and I go to church, so I could teach the Sunbeams.

As I was gathering the last of our stuff together Maddie got sick. No throw up, just the other end. She said she was fine, but with one accident and her being on the toilet 3 times in 20 minutes, there was no way I was taking her to church.

So we were all dressed up for church and ended up in the ER and on the toilet! What a spiritual experience! :(

Garen's first stitch- At least it wasn't as bad as Maddie's! They didn't have to sedate Garen, just strap him down and sew it up.

He was not a happy camper! Poor kid-

A relaxed couple of days

On Thursday, Andy and Maddie went on a daddy-daughter date and went to see Alvin and the chipmunks.

Garen and I played at home.

Then Friday evening Andy's parents took both Maddie and Garen for a sleepover. So Andy and I had the whole evening to ourselves. We had a lovely dinner and then decided at the last minute to catch a movie, just because we could. We saw Jumper-it was pretty good! Thanks for the recommendation Sara.

When we got home it was nice to just chill and have the night together. This morning Andy had to go to work, but I got to sleep in a bit and then lay around and read my book in silence until the kids got home.

Then today with most of the cleaning caught up and my errands done, the kids and I just hung out all day long. The new snow storm kept us from playing outside, but it was an enjoyable, uneventful, relaxing day!