I can't wait until I'm 8

FINALLY! Today is the day! Happy Birthday to my Amelia Elizabeth who, so far, is spending her special day making zhu zhu pet magazines for the zhu zhu pets to read when they go potty. *
Amelia is the most thoughtful and unselfish girl ever! I am so lucky to have her be the example for her younger brother and sisters- she's practically perfect! I ♥ you Amelia!

*For the record, I am NOT the one who taught her that you should read magazines on the pot.

Summer Break

Today Grady asked,

"When will church be out for the summer like school?"

AMEN Grady.

Today I share your feelings.

Beautiful Milly Sings

Amelia joined the Wilson School choir this year, they let her in a little early because she is just plain fabulous, plus we know Miss Diana really well and Diana loves our Milly.
Some kids just mouthed the words watermelon and potato, but our Milly memorized all of the words to all of the songs.

Syd loves her big sis, she is her biggest fan!

Grandma & Papa Strong joined us for the concert, and for a ice cream sunday afterwards.

Amelia & Miss Diana

PURE JOY, Grady & Amelia eating ice cream.

Veggie burger anyone?

Since the beginning of Sydnie I remember her being a picky eater. She has always loved every single vegetable I've ever put in front of her. Yes, even brussel sprouts. The pickiness comes in the meat department. Even when she was tiny she wanted to look at the packaged meat in the grocery store. My Dad calls her 'DOC' because she is very interested in muscles, blood, & watching him gut dead animals. Her interest in blood, muscles, and guts stops at just looking. Sydnie does not eat those things... well... knowingly.

In the Hungry Lion cookbook (The Wilson Elementary cookbook that you really have to buy if you ever attended Wilson Elementary) Sydnie is quoted as saying about the food she can't stand, "Shrimp and any kind of meat. Meat has blood in it! Yucky!". She won't drink milk because it comes out of a cow. Sometimes her dinner goes untouched because she found some cheese in it.

How do you deal with your picky eater?

We lie.

So here is some information that you will need to know if you will ever be eating at our home or with us at a BBQ.

1. Hot dogs grow on trees! Just like bananas. You never see a hot dog tree here because they grow in South America... just like bananas. Uncle Dan recently asked if cheese hot dogs grow on trees too. OF COARSE! It is just a different variety of hot dog tree. They are more rare, therefor more expensive. Cheese hot dogs are Sydnies FAVORITE because the cheese grows in the hot dog and doesn't come from the cow.

2. Pork is a vegetable that grows in the ground like potatoes. Not all pork though. Ham, bacon and pork chops on the bone all come from a pig (even a pigs bum) and therefor are inedible. Pork is really only boneless ribs cooked in the crock pot so it is very flavored and tender. No sign of fat or bones are allowed at the table.

3. Chicken is our neighbor Valarie's pet, not food. They start as tiny fluff balls that are so fun to play with! Chicken is totally off the menu! However Burger king sells these little princess crowns they call nuggets that she will eat only when dipped in honey mustard sauce. I really don't know why she will eat these. I don't know what she thinks they are made out of.... Princess?

4. Patty Sandwiches. These are new and only sold at a couple of places. They are just a bun, some ketchup and a patty! You have to be very careful when ordering at the drive-thru you should turn up the radio really loud just in the back. Ask quietly for a plain hamburger with nothing but ketchup, and then order everyone else a cheeseburger so that the wrapper will look different.

So, if you are ever eating with us and we ask Sydnie if she wants the casserole with cow in it or the casserole with pretend meat in it, please just GO WITH IT! Her mental well being and general health are depending on it.

PS, this lying is absolutely worth going to hell over.

Memories of March Madness

***I would like to begin by thanking Jamie for blogging about February this morning. You made me feel a little better about finally getting around to March, that I am not alone in my constantly feeling behind. Anyone who appreciates this update can thank Jamie.***

Now, here is a little peek into a week in March...

The kids got free tickets to the Utah Flash game at UVU from school and Amelia went around begging tickets from her friends who weren't going. Before I knew it she had our night planned! We dropped off Ainsley with Grandma and headed to IN-N-OUT for burgers, fries & shakes. I would have been happy to go home at that point! I love IN-N-OUT shakes, just like the kind you make at home in the blender, but for 3 times the price and none of the mess.

It was mascot night at the Flash game so we had more entertainment than usual. The mascots were dancing, jumping, flirting, riding motorcycles, and dunking basketballs. Here is Bumble playing baseball.
I think Amelia enjoyed the night, Sydnie however has a very fake smile on her face. The only time she was truly entertained was during the halftime dance routines. She wanted to watch the Flash dancers and then go home, "This is so boring Mom"!!!

Jason and Grady were in a trance the entire time. Grady can watch ANY sport for hours and never tire of it. Jason says he was like that when he was little, If he hadn't grown out of it we would have never married.... I think I'm a bit like Sydnie.

♣♣♣♣♣♣♣

Saint Patricks day is our holiday. Jason served his mission in Ireland so we claim to be Irish. I feel obligated to bake treats for the entire neighborhood and boil a pot of corned beef and cabbage every year. Lucky for me I couldn't find any corned beef this year. We just ate regular food colored green instead.

But- I couldn't get out of the treat tradition. Every year we make shamrock sugar cookies, I am SO SICK of sugar cookies!!! Why does everyone always want sugar cookies??? So we found a new idea on familyfun.com for rainbow cupcakes and we added the pots of gold on top. The cupcakes were so pretty (but since my surgery I hate frosting, it tastes like garlic salt to me) and so messy. I think next year we will try sugar cookies again.

STAY TUNED! I am promising (in writing) that I will do an Easter update this week. I know that you don't believe me. Two posts in one week? NO WAY!

My greasy baby and other notable events

Last night after tub time I guess we lost track of number four for a few too many minutes. She likes lotion, I mean, she likes TO EAT lotion. I still haven't checked the jar to see if it isn't good to eat. Ainslers was ok, so I am guessing it's fine to have a few tablespoons each day. My real problem is that cetaphil cream is expensive! I might as well let her eat spoonfuls of caviar daily, but I guess that would make her smell fishy.

Jason tried to rub an entire cup of cetaphil cream into Ainsley's tiny bird legs, huge malnourished Ethiopian belly, his arms, Amelia's cracked and bleeding dry hands and a few globs of it got into the carpet too. Ainsley loved it and posed for a whole bunch of really cute nudey baby pictures that I am not going to share. Oh, and YES her nostrils were packed with the cream too, yummy boogies to pick later!

*************

It's been a while since I posted. Having my guts cut out took a lot more out of me than I expected, it also cost a lot more than I had planned. Jason has been working extra hard to pay the extra bills. I've been working extra hard as a single mom while Jason works all of his days off away. I can officially say that I am caught up now! There are only 3 loads of dirty laundry downstairs, all of the clean stuff is folded and put away, and all of the beds in the house have been made everyday for at least a week. That all might not be so impressive, but listen to this (SARA) I have been cooking too! My kids even said my cinnamon rolls were better than Rhodes!

I've been able to catch up with a few friends the past month....

We had a sisters lunch with the gals from my mission. President & Sister Kohlert showed up and and surprised us. They are all amazing girls! We really need to do that more often, but with ALL of the girls!

A few friends and my sis Sara and I had a girls weekend in Saint George. We went to the parade of homes and skipped on down to Mesquite to play bingo with the senior citizens for the night. A couple grannies taught us how to play and told us about the free drinks (hot cocoa & diet coke) and helped us keep up with the old folks. It was highly entertaining, and cheaper than going to a movie. I will definitely do it again next time I'm in sin city... or at the senior citizens center.

My Ranch family who now lives in Hawaii came to the mainland to drop off one of their sons at the MTC. They joined us at our house for dinner and lots of memories and updates. We didn't have near enough time to catch up on the past way too many years. Maybe it is my turn to visit them? Hawaii here I come! Thanks for the love Todds!

There will be more catching up to do in the next couple of weeks! Em is coming up from Vegas for her Bday, and My Danielson is getting married! I really have the bestest friends! Even though sometimes we go years without seeing each other, SAD.

One more exciting event. Jason's mom retired! We thought about getting her gift cards that said stuff like, FREE SLEEPOVER WITH THE GRANDKIDS! and FREE NIGHT OF BABYSITTING YOUR GRANDKIDS! Instead we decided on surprising her with dinner with the family (minus the grandkids), flowers, and a couple of books to keep her busy with family history. Next week Amelia is putting her to work as a second grade field trip helper, good luck Pam!

I know there are lots of fun family activities that I missed. It's late, this post is long, and there will be no catching up for me, sorry you missed it.

Thanks Ainsley for motivating me to break out my camera, and inspiring me to blog again!

The rumor is TRUE!

This little plot of farm country that is four blocks West and five blocks South of my humble home, will within the next couple of years hold a TEMPLE of God.

I had heard the rumor and it had to be true! WE. NEED. A. TEMPLE. HERE!!! When I heard where this rumored temple would be my hopes were dashed. I knew there was no way that they would put a temple there, in this humble neighborhood! Today they officially announced that this rumor is true! It might just be worth it to stick around this scary neighborhood for a couple of years. I can't wait to look out my living room window and see Moroni glowing in the sky!