Geocaching

We gave our family a GPS toy for Christmas and until today, we hadn't even taken it out farther than our back deck! Since it was a balmy 50 degrees, I took the boys out to find a cache this afternoon. It was an easy one and we found it pretty quick, but I think it was enough to get us started. There are tons to find just within 10 miles of our house! The boys were pretty excited and now maybe we will make our own cache for other people to find.
Before that, we cleaned the house & did laundry and got haircuts. Later, we had dinner at KFC, then did some home improvement shopping - I have plans! We played some Wii games and had ice cream before the boys went to bed. What a great day!

Harlem Globetrotters!

Since Ryan & Justin just finished their basketball season, our whole family has been playing ball and shooting hoops. Last night I took the boys to see the Harlem Globetrotters! I had only seen them do tricks on TV but I knew the boys would have fun watching the game. It was cool. Ryan really got into it and wants a new basketball so he can work on some moves. (I don't know why the 6 balls we already have won't work!) It was a fun night with my boys!

Happy Easter!

We've had a pretty normal Sunday except for the huge dinner requested by my family. Fortunately for them, I love to cook! We had ham, scalloped potatoes, deviled egg chicks, and rolls. We'll be having leftovers all week. Yesterday Ryan was a baking ninja! We made waffles from scratch, then the rolls for today, then this awesome bunny cake. Ryan really likes to cook and it was fun to have someone helping in the kitchen! Now we have to work on the cleaning up... The Easter Bunny hid tons of candy-filled eggs and brought bucket of treats for the boys. I think this is the first year I didn't get a picture of each of them with their stuff - does that mean I'm getting older and don't care, or are the boys just not as cute as they were? I'm sure it's me. We did have a very nice Easter Sacrament Meeting today and I am grateful for the chance to spend a little time thinking about the Savior and the Atonement and Resurrection. Seems like we almost skipped over all the important stuff this year. I learned a few things though, and I am so thankful to have the gospel and a little bit of understanding about Heavenly Father's plan for us. Todd also spoke and he did a really good job. Hope your Easter was full of nice things too!
Happy Easter Everyone!

More of our Texas Spring Break

We did a lot of stuff but only took a few pictures. We were just having too much fun to mess with the camera. We drove to Texas on Friday afternoon. Saturday we went to Six Flags Over Texas all day - too much fun! Sunday we went to the Stockyards - an old-style cowboy area of town where they still have a cattle drive every day right down the middle of the street. From there, we went to an art museum where they were showing a really great collection of Biblical art from the early Christian times. It was so interesting! Then we saw Horton Hears a Who! On Monday (we thought it was going to rain) we went to a neat bakery/cafe for breakfast then the Dallas Museum of Science & Natural History, and an I-max show (I fell asleep) and a planetarium show (I fell asleep again). Then we gave into the boys whining and went back to the hotel so they could swim. Tuesday it really was raining so we went to the Federal Bureau of Engraving and Printing and saw BILLIONS of dollars! (They don't let you get very close to it though!) Then we went to the Dallas World Aquarium - along with everyone else in Texas who wanted to stay out of the rain - it was packed! Wednesday we drove back home and just enjoyed the quiet. It sounds like we did a lot of things, but our days weren't so crammed that we couldn't relax. We like taking trips together but it's always nice to come back home and have a little more space to move around, "real" not restaurant food, and sleep in our own beds.

Texas Spring Break Slide Show

My Piano Men

I love that my boys are taking piano lessons! They had a recital on Sunday & I'm so proud of them! This was Justin's first performance and he was so relaxed and comfortable. He's a ham. Ryan doesn't like to play in front of other people, but he had practiced his song to death so he did great. Tyler picks up new songs very easily, then he likes to move on to another one, but he spent a long time perfecting and polishing his piece.
AAAAAAAARRRHRHHRHRGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!
That is the sound of me screaming in frustration at this marvel of modern life (my computer)! I've tried and tried and the video won't upload - don't know what I'm doing wrong.
So, if you call our house when the kids are practicing, you can hear them making beautiful music!

Pinewood Derby Day!

Friday was Justin's very first Pinewood Derby in Cub Scouts. After watching his big brothers build and race cars, he was so excited to have the chance to do it himself, he could hardly stand it. He designed the car, helped shape it with the Dremel, sanded it smooth, painted it green with a black lightning bolt on top, sanded the wheels and advised me on grinding the axels smooth, lubed the wheels, and glued on the weights! I am proud of how much of the actual work he really did! I only helped some and nailed in the axels for him (which I did wrong). But Justin's car did great! He got 3rd place in a group of about 10 although there were some kids there who had very spiffy cars - there's no way the kids did all that work! I was worried that Justin would be upset about not winning 1st since that's all he talked about, but he is a good sport and is already planning improvements to his design for next year. Watch out, scouts!

Trying Something New

So I've been trying to get a blog layout that fits all the stuff I want. This works, but I'm still working on the details. Tell me what you think!

All Better! (mostly)

After my last post so many people called to see how the boys & I are now. Thanks everybody! We are better. Ryan's dog bite is healing, but he's still very careful with his arm. Ryan & Justin both stayed home from school sick yesterday & I had a sore throat. Today Ryan went to school, Justin stayed home one more day, and I'm fine. I'm so thankful - I hate to be sick. Tyler's been taking good care of us and hopefully he'll stay healthy.

So I thought I should post something more cheerful today. I started some projects when my mom was here and I got them done so I want to show off! They're both Valentinesy but I'm going to celebrate all month so I can leave them out. The table runner is my take on a pattern that I saw a picture of.

Tyler just came home from school very excited about band. He got 1st chair trumpet in band!! He's been 2nd for awhile but working hard so he's really heppy that he made it! I'm so proud of him! Yaaayy Tyler!!

President's Day Trauma

The boys had today off school and Todd is in China again so I thought we'd have a pretty calm day at home. Wrong. Justin woke up with a sore throat, head ache and stomach ache. As I was reminding him to throw up in the toilet, not on the floor, bed, or couch, he ran to the bathroom and threw up (barely making it). He was in and out of sickyness all day.

Ryan went to his friend's house and I think they had a good time together until the mom called to tell me that one of their big dogs had just bitten Ryan! I ran over and got him and took him to the "urgent" care clinic where we waited 2 HOURS for the Dr. who basically put on a band-aid and gave him a prescription for some antibiotics. Ryan is OK. He has 1 deep puncture and a few smaller ones on his left wrist but he will be fine. It was just really scary for him. The friend and his mom feel really bad about it and I know accidents happen, but I'm sad that it happened to Ryan. He didn't want me to take pictures or blog about it, but tonight he wrapped his arm in a 6" ace bandage and has hardly moved it. He's a tough kid, but he sure knows how to milk it when he's hurt! Tyler thought we should just use Grandpa Ashby's medicine - pour hydrogen peroxide over Ryan's wounds and watch them fizz.

We talked to Todd as we left the pharmacy. He said he had just talked to Tyler & Justin at home. Justin was missing Todd and missing me (gone for 3 hours) so I got McDonald's for dinner and brought it home for the boys. I showed Justin his favorite shake - M&M McFlurry - and he THREW UP all over the floor, the chair, my pants... AAAAAGH!!! He said Todd told him to eat some cheese - that it would help his tummy feel better. NO. (tip: do not medicate or feed sick chilren from the other side of the world!!) So I mopped the floor and did laundry before eating my cold burger and fries. Justin said he felt better and ended up having his shake and I spent the rest of the night waiting for it to come up too. Don't know yet if he's going to school tomorrow.