Shark Grooving

All my life, I have heard songs on the radio or some other random place and I think to myself, if I ever make a mixed CD for myself... I want this song on it.

Well, now I have it! And the beautiful thing is... when I find another song I want to add to it... I just do it! The only catch... it's on the computer. But since I pretty much never leave my house... I'm set!



Jason introduced this great site to me. It's called Grooveshark. (listen.grooveshark.com)
You can create different playlists for your different moods. (So far my playlists are church, fun stuff for Sam, and my faves.)

Any ways, it's super great since it has a massive selection of songs. Just this morning I remembered a tape my family used to listen to in the car by Raffi. And they had most of his songs. (I couldn't find Biscuits in the Oven though, so that made me sad.) But type in any song name, or singer, or album/soundtrack, and you have lots of options to choose from.

So, basically I love it! I can listen to exactly the songs I want to!!
Check it out and create your very own huge-as-you-want-it-to-be mixed 'CD' for your very own... and for very FREE!

So come... and groove some sharks with me.

the fooling continues

Apparently Nature thinks its April Fool's Joke is pretty funny... and I thought it was almost spring. Guess I'm the fool!

Hopefully this is the last snowman of the season.


It's a pretty hefty snowman too! And this snow was all just from this morning.


It wouldn't be daddy-son time if there wasn't a sword involved...




Livi was content to stay inside with mommy and just watch from the window.

time for dinner

here's a meal that BOTH jason and i can agree on!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

BBQ sauce
2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
1 pkg bacon, cooked and chopped
mozzarella cheese

pizza dough:
1 1/2 C warm water
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 Tb yeast
1 1/2 t oil
1 1/2 Tb honey/sugar
3 1/4 C flour

For the dough, combine the ingredients. Allow 15 minutes to rise. Form dough into desired shape. Push it into the pan or I like to put it on my baking stone. Spread on BBQ sauce. Throw on the chicken (I cook up the chicken using Italian dressing instead of oil for a little added yummy seasoning.) On with the bacon. And top it with all the cheese you can handle. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Yumminess then comes out of the oven and into your happy mouth. The end.

memorizing scriptures

Daddy: If ye
Sammy: If ye
Daddy: love me,
Sammy: you wuv me,
Daddy: no, if ye
Sammy: if ye
Daddy: love me,
Sammy: you wuv me,
Daddy: if
Sammy: if
Daddy: ye
Sammy: ye
Daddy: love
Sammy: wuv
Daddy: me
Sammy: me
Daddy: keep my
Sammy: keep my
Daddy: commandments
Sammy: kee-da-mamds
Daddy: good job!
Sammy: yeah!

a fishin' we will go

On Saturday we were able to have a little family time. We went to a little fish and duck pond in Springville. Jason decided it was high time Sammy learned to fish. (or get she-shoos if you're speaking Sammish.)

Step 1: Stop and get Sam his very own fishing pole.


Step 2: Show him what a fishing pole is for:




Step 3: Bask in the after-moments of a succesful fishing trip.


Step 4: Brag to the little one that you got one... and she didn't.

Step 5: Deal with the fact that she didn't really care that much.


Another fun Sam moment to add to the list of memories: After Sam caught about 3 fish in 2 minutes, he put his line back in and caught another... something... quack! freaking-out-quack!
Jason just quickly cut the line.... oops, sorry there, Daffy.

Doh! (Play, that is.)

Last night for Family Home Evening, Jason thought it would be a great idea to make some homemade play dough.
As you can see, Sam thought it was a great idea too.

Here are a couple of scenes of the snake vs. the bear.


The snake won.


If you want to make your own snakes and bears, here's how to do it:

Play dough:
2 C flour
1 C salt
2 Tb cream of tartar
2 C water
2 Tb baby oil
liquid food coloring

Combine dry ingredients. Add water and oil. Stir well. Microwave on high 4 - 5 minutes. Stir again. Microwave another minute. Stir. Continue to microwave one minute, then stir, until dough is the consistency of mashed potatoes. Cool it enough to touch. Knead in food coloring until dough is desired color. Store dough in air tight container or a zip-lock bag.

Ooops

You know when little kids find a scissors and give themselves a lovely haircut?


I desperately wish I could use that excuse. But alas, I cannot.

I admit it, I forgot to put the shield on the clippers before I began.

I'm just glad he's only two. So, he doesn't really care. Oops.

I'm a lucky girl

I'm so lucky to be Sammy's mommy. Today as I was feeding Livia, he was trying to climb onto my lap too. I was worried about him squishing Livia, so I was about to scold him... until I realized he was puckering out his lips to give me a kiss. It was so sweet that I couldn't resist getting his kiss... even though he was a little bit slobbery already.


After his kiss, he gave me a big hug. I got a little emotional with his sweetness. I even got tears in my eyes. I told him that I loved him, and he, still hugging me tight, said, "I wuv you too, mommy."


I just feel so blessed to have him in my life. He makes me a better person.



I love my sweet little Sammy boy!

Why so serious?

All he needs is longer green hair.... ha ha ha ha ha ha.
(It looked more joker-like in real life.)

Part I: To CA we go

A couple of Saturdays ago, we started our little journey. We've been wanting to visit Jason's sister, Holly and her husband, Scott, and their family in California for a while now. We talked about going out in the summer. Then they bought a house. They were telling us about all the work they would need to do before moving in. We decided we wanted to be the first family members to see their house, so off we went.

This was when Sam was still in a good mood. It was an 11 hour drive on the way there. (And about 12 1/2 on the way back... Livia didn't make it easy on us.)


This was one of the bad mood moments. He got ticked off at the sun for being in his eyes... and he screamed at the sun multiple times because of it.



Ahh, that's much better. Pullovers make great curtains. He called his head phones his 'hears.' He's so practical.



Yeah, finally, welcome to California!


After a long drive, Sam needed some good rest. Nothing like sleeping as stiff as a board, and only staying on the bed because a dresser is jammed into your back. When we first found him like that, his feet were hanging off the end. I don't know how he can sleep like that!


The rest of the week was really enjoyable. We went to bed tired every night! It's always nice to get some hard work into your week. Jason helped fill a lot of the holes in the walls, and we both did quite a lot of painting. We also got to help tear down some walls... messy, but fun.

We were mostly excited about spending time with Scott and Holly. We don't get to see them much because of the distance, but we enjoyed the time we had to be with them, work along side them, and learn from them. There are several things we are hoping to incorporate into our family and home that we learned from them. They are great examples, and we feel blessed to have them in our family.

What were they thinking? (the previous owners)

From the outside, the house looks amazing. There are lots of windows, an incredible open 2nd floor loft you can see from the front door, a super cute balcony above the garage, and you can't see from the front, but a great looking pool in the back yard.

And then you enter...

I'm so impressed with Scott and Holly and the fact that they could see the potential of this house. I know that after they are done with their fix-ups, this house is going to be AMAZING!!

But for now, they first have to deal with the remains of the previous owners. You know the phrase, "everything but the kitchen sink" well, these people took it literally. That means they took the entire kitchen... everything but the kitchen sink! (They took the cabinets and countertops and all appliances.) So they really are starting from scratch! At least they get to pick what they like!

There are lots of bedrooms... but the problem is, these people DID NOT know how to paint. I'm not even sure they tried to do a nice job. In fact, I'm wondering if the painters were all under the age of 10! With the exception of a gothic, psycho teenage boy.

Here's where the gothic kid comes in:
Yes, even the shower was spray-painted black. And who needs to waste time with a toilet seat? Nah, let's just rip the whole thing off.

And I'm pretty sure this was his bedroom. How proud his parents must have been.



And then there is a brainiac. Or maybe a cult member.... I'm not that familiar with either... take your pick.


I'm sure this little girl was really sweet... perhaps even a princess. However, she should not have been trusted with a paint brush!


I'm so excited to see the house when they finish! I know it will look incredible! They accomplished so much in just the week we were there, I can't wait to see it again.

It was so fun to be a part of this with them.

Part II: San Francisco

On Thursday we took the day off and went to San Francisco. Jason's brother, Jared, was in San Francisco most of that week on a business trip. He talked his wife, Allyson, into coming along. So when we went into SF we met up with Allyson and Brigham (their little boy) and spent the day with her, and then met up with Jared after his meetings for dinner.

This is the bridge we came in on. I think it was called the Oakland Bridge.



This is a distant photo of the Golden Gate Bridge. We hoped to make it over there, but we ran out of time and energy.


But it's beautiful, even from a distance.