B is for...

I don't post these quiz-things on Facebook bc then I can't just Blurb it into a book at the end of the year, but I have been tagged (if that is what you call it) to do so many of these that I'll just post them here. B doesn't like too much publicity, but he deserves some, so there. The real challenge is to see how right I really am!

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?
ESPN, some game, a movie with the fam, Guitar Hero, or Madden on Playstation. Not very often mind you.

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?
Honey Mustard, (in Hungary- oil and vinegar)

3. What's one food he doesn't like?
Tuna (in Russia- Cabbage)

4. You go out to eat and have a drink.
Sprite

5. Where did he go to high school?
Rampart

6. What size shoe does he wear?
10

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be?
Legos and Music

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich?
Salami, Pepper Jack cheese, and Dijon mustard, on my homemade bread grilled with butter and seasonings on the outside. We need a Panini maker... did I just say need?

9. What would this person do every day if he could?
Laudry, jk. :) Play a piano, Madden, Rollerblade, and eat ice cream...

10.What is his favorite cereal?
Chex and Fruity Pebbles (Hungary- Musli)

11. What would he never wear?
capris - it's just WRONG! (You heard me Brian.) ;)

12. What are his favorite sports teams?
Boston Celtics, Braves, BYU, and Cowboys

13. Why does he love his wife? (I changed this one. I didn't like the original q)
She blogs about him though he doesn't want her to. Her articulation skills, baking skills, driving skills, tying balloons in a knot skills, internet shopping skills... oh the list goes on! :) right?

14. Who is his best friend?
Duh. Me :) But, he really has a lot of awesome guy friends who happen to have some stellar wives, too! Lucky me. But his college best friends are: (oldest ones) Clint Kofford, Mark Gardner, Joe Wright, Joe Witters, Todd Millar, JR Thulin, BRuss, and Tyler Barnes. Then there are his Provo Best Friends, then his East Coast Best Friends, and Hungary Best Friends . . . really. Blessed with good friends all around.

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do?
Lose stuff. :) And for the record, it's not really" lost", because we find it every time. When I say "we" I mostly mean him.

16. What is his heritage?
English, Scottish, Irish, etc.... your everyday mutt. Just like me! But if we go back far enough, he is directly related to a Russain Czar! Royalty! (Who cares that it's like 20+ generations back?)

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday, what kind does he like?
none. He prefers pie.

18. Did he play sports in high school?
yes- ran track and volleyball

19. What could he spend hours doing?
video games, watching sports, fantasy football, and researching about what music he's going to buy

20. What is one unique talent he has?
He is a peacemaker which I think goes along with being SUPER modest/humble.
Dang it. Sometimes I just want to pick a fight.

So I had to find the most incriminating photo of him. I'm not sure why, but I think it might stem from the jealously that I have that he can find things better than I can. Who knows? But this is a self-taken-photo back in the US on a Saturday that I was teaching my Scrapbook class while he was playing with the kiddos. Hey, you could have deleted it from the camera, buddy.

"What a man, what a man, what a man, what a mighty fine man."

Homemade by Yours Truly!

Homemade and Great. Oh, it will be cool.

I really want to try something new, not that I will DO something new, but I will see what my heart desires to do... you never know what will come out of me. I'm wild I tell you! (psst. it's an altered scrapbook project that I have been meaning to do... All you have to do is add your own pictures!)

Well, all you have to do is be one of the first FIVE people to comment on this post and offer the same thing on your blog! Easy, right? Well, of course there are rules.

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year.

The catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

***So now I have this and the pass it 4ward as my projects... BTW, the pass it 4ward is underway... ye be warned!

Nutrition Unit

This week was a success. And you know me and parties... I LOVE THEM! So the Homemade Pizza Party was so fun. Thanks for helping out so much... and it was fun to have Abby and Nicolas here! They just fit in.

These are a few things this week that we discussed:

Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?

**Botanically, a tomato is the ovary, together with its seeds, of a flowering plant: therefore it is a fruit or, more precisely, a berry. **By U.S. tariff laws, a tomato is a vegetable.
**From a culinary point of view, a tomato is a vegetable.
**But, due to the scientific definition of a fruit, the tomato remains a fruit when not dealing with U.S. tariffs.

We just put it in the middle and said it's considered both. Though Steven was very certain that it was a fruit and Mimi was absolutely sure that it was a vegetable. Who says we can't have some healthy educated discussion? Next week we will start our "Debate Time" in preschool. :) jk.

Then we discussed Popped corn...

and I found this:

Did you know that unpopped kernels in the bottom of your popcorn bag, box or bowl are called "old maids?" Popcorn is another fun, audience food, another of those "bet-you-can’t-eat-just-one-mouthful" treats. Carelessly, we think of it as "junk food," however, popcorn is a thorough-going vegetable which supplies your body with more iron than eggs, peanuts, spinach or roast beef. It contains more phosphorous and fiber than potato chips, ice cream cones or pretzels!

Then this:
Popcorn or popping corn is a type of corn, which explodes from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Corn popping was originally discovered by Native Americans, but became popular as a snack food during the United States Great Depression.
Corn is able to pop because, unlike other grains, its kernels have a hard moistureproof hull and a dense starchy filling. This allows pressure to build inside the kernel until an explosive "pop" results. Some strains of corn are now cultivated specifically as popping corns.
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So one place said it was a veggie, which makes sense to me, but then others say it's a grain, which also makes sense to be when it's dried..... discuss. Who says you can't learn anything in Preschool???

So the funny parts were seriously the songs that we sung. We learned all about vowels this week so you can say, "A-E-I-O-U . . . . are the vowels just for YOU!" and they should chant along. Then we sang "I like to eat apples and bananas" with all the vowel sounds (using both sounds for each vowel) and they just laughed and laughed. Here are the words if you want

I Like to Eat Apples and Bananas

I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas

I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas

(then change every vowel to the appropriate vowel sound-not "to & and")

ex. Aye lake to ate ate ate ayples and banaynays

A' lak to at at at apples and bananas

(remember that every vowel has TWO sounds)

But the best song BY FAR is the Vegetable Rap. Oh they LOOOOOVED it. Here it goes...

Vegetable Rap

(spit in your hand like the rappers do a few beats)

Broccoli, Tomatoes,

Zucchini, Peas.

Pass the Carrots,

More Veggies Please!

Squash and Potatoes,

Green Beans that Snap! (clap when you say snap)

Now you're doing the Vegetable Rap!

(spit in your hand like the rappers do a few more beats)

(cross your arms around your chest and yell) YO-YO!!

So, if your 4 year old mentioned that we were listening to Rap music in preschool, they were right. :)

Love it. See you next week for Pet week. Would it be possible to have kids with pets able to bring their pets in? Maybe 1 or 2 on Wed and 1 or 2 on Thursday? If it works out, we can have one at the beginning of class on Wednesday and another at the end of class on Wednesday if the pets are skittish around other pets. When you respond, would you please CC the whole group so we can plan this please? Are there any kids that are afraid of pets?

And I told the kids that they will be eating dog food next week, but it is really a chocolate covered trail mix that is called dog food, so if they mention that, you will know. :) heehee!

My Little Fish

So my girls have spent a total of 5 hours in water today! We went to Aquaworld since B had Pres. Day off, then they had their swim lessons, then bath time... I told them that they might turn into fish and Maleia chimes in, "Well that's better than turning into a raisin!" Then she sits for a while, runs up to me and says, "How do you become a Mermaid?"

Let's get a play-by-play shall we?

Aquaworld:
It was snowing this morning and we REALLY wanted to get out of the house, so off we went to Aquaworld for almost 3 hours for under $20. A steal, I know. This place is a water park on crack, and indoors!! This was Haley's first time and she was hooked at the wave pool, I was hooked at the surfing center, B was hooked at the indoor/outdoor water slides, Maleia was hooked at the Rainbow slide, and Dylan at the Dragon Slide. We are wondering if they have yearly passes. I have never seen so many guys in speedos in my life. I had to keep reminding my girls that they weren't wearing bikinis and to get them to stop saying, "That guy's not modest either!" really loud.

Sad story: The kid area was closed for cleaning today, I didn't take any pictures, and Dylan got his thumb shut in a door. :( I can't wait for a day at Aquaworld when poor Dylan isn't in pain. Teething one time. Then we went the day after he got a zillion shots.

Swim lessons:
Can I be in love with a swim instructor?? We got to a Hungarian swim center and no one spoke English, BUT someone spoke Spanish!!! I haven't been this happy to communicate with a Hungarian since the lazy-eyed lady that spoke 6 languages at the Sports store! So both of my kids got into a beginning Swim class and as we walked down to the lockers, Haley started to get really nervous. We were about to walk up the stairs to the pools when she hugged herself and started to cry. I was so sad for her, so I told her that we would go up the stairs and tell her what we saw. It was Maleia that told her, "I see a slide, lots of toys, and a pool that goes up to here! (pointing to her belly)" Haley's face lit up and she never looked back.

Then there was a glitch. I didn't have swim caps for my girls. Dang Europe and their "cleanliness." I should have known this since Haley had to have one for swim class at school, but I totally didn't think of it. But my man Gabor rescued us. I. LOVE. GABOR!!! And so do my girls. They were putty in his hands and they did EVERYTHING he told them to do. And they loved it.

Though the speedos seemed to just come out of nowhere. You think they were wearing a swim suit, then they would just drop their "outer suit" and WHAM another speedo.

So the entire time I had this goofy, blissful smile on my face, not because of the speedos, but because my kids were giddy to put thier faces in the water and ride on the big floaty thing while kicking, and go down the slide into a 2 foot drop off. This might sound really lame, but it was magical to me. You have to know Haley and her fears. They seem so irrational, but to her they are so real, so to say that putting her face in the water makes her scared is an understatement. She totally whigs out! Ballistic! Insanely annoying screamfest! She took a 8 week swimming class at school and everyday I would ask her how it was and she would reply, "I didn't let go of the side once, but I sure kicked well." or "I let go of the side one time, but it was on the stairs." I would just keep saying, "Good! That's okay about not letting go. Maybe next time. But you had fun right?" Then I'd get this head down, eyebrows raised, look that would answer, "If you think for one second that I was having 'fun' then you must think stubbing your toe on a razorblade is fun."

That is where it left off and since I knew it was time for her to learn how to swim, I shelled out the dough to pay for private lessons... a whole $80 a month for 2 kids!!!! For private lessons 3 times a week! Again, I love Gabor. I did not love his green Speedo, but he worked wonders on my kiddos, so he gets an A in my book.

Sorry for the excessive butt-cheeks in Speedos, but I wanted to give a full shot. Gabor is sitting in the water by the way.

Fun big floating thing and happy swimming faces.

They loved every minute.. the lighting wasn't great so I couldn't get a great shot, but just look at thier fuzzy looking giddy faces!! Water skiing here they come!

Kick my little darlings! Kick! And sorry (again) for those wedgies in the background. Just pick 'em already! It's like I was waiting for them to do it. ... but they wouldn't!

Do you know how many times we had tried this with our kids? Good ole Gabor had those girls wrapped around his little finger! I think I even see a grin there. . . yup. There's the dimple.

All by herself!

Next class: Sychronized swimming! :)

Bath time:

Who can resist a cute naked baby?! I dare you!

I realized that I don't have many naked Maleia bath pics, so I will get on that. I can totally see Harmony shaking her head in disgust.

How old are you again?

Click on the song in my playlist called "Blink" and this is how I feel right now. My little 5 year old is seriously 5 going on 15.

She came home from school and I asked her how it was and she responded, "It was a disaster! My pants got wet, not from pee, but I turned on the water and it squirted everywhere. I had to borrow Angelica's gym pants. I was so embarrassed I wanted to die! Hugh!" (flop on the couch with arm over her eyes.) Huh? What did she just say? I don't think I have ever said anything even remotely close to this when I was little. . . or big for that matter. I am so not ready for teenage agnst! Especially at 5.

I was on the phone and was laughing and joking around a little with a friend and when I got off the phone, Haley turned to me and said, "Mommy, that was hilarious! Do you want to hear something else hilarious? Have you ever got a wedgie and tried to pick it so no one would notice? I did at school and didn't want the boys to notice, so I went into the hall and my friends wanted to know why I was out in the hall, so I told them. We laughed so hard!" We were laughing together like old friends.

Then tonight I suggested that we invite some friends over to go sledding on our hills tomorrow. (We just went tonight while it was still snowing and it was really fun!) I suggested a boy that is in her class that she has a crush on and his family and she literally jumped for joy. (They have a little boy Maeia's age too.) I asked her if she wanted to invite him, so she called and did. Then something really scary happened... She turned into a different person on the phone. I don't get it? She got all giddy and told him that he was crazy and so silly like 20 times. She giggled through the whole conversation. ??? Where is my little baby Haley?

And here is the cute smothered boy... at his birthday party. And Yes, that is a gross, disease infested ball pit behind them.

QOTD:
Maleia: "Hey dad, you're gonna get smoked!" (Talking trash while playing Old Maid with daddy.)

To Love or not To Love...

I love it when...

1. I tell my kids, "I'm gonna to get you!" And they giggle, run away, and hold their bums. (Of course I pinch them!)
2. B gets home from work and he wraps me in his arms and gives me a great big kiss. It's Electrifying! (sappy, I know.)
3. I get a close parking space at the grocery store. Especially when I have any number of my 3 kiddos with me and it is butt cold outside. And you know me. Any kind of weather when you have to wear a coat is butt cold.
4. B lets me sleep in on Saturdays. . . until 9ish.
5. I get a package. Even if it's something I ordered and I know what it is.
6. I get comments on my blog. I know people read it. They tell me they do, but the comments are just fun. I don't know why. ???
7. My house is clean!
8. My kids listen and obey... the first time!
9. I workout and I have that after running dizzy spell.
10. Someone calls for a spontaneous game night, dinner, run, invite to chill, movie, ballet, casino... jk. :)
11. My calendar is full and my to-do list is long.
12. I complete and check off everything on my calendar and to-do list. This rarely happens. Oh wait... maybe even never. But I like to see a lot of crossed out stuff... (psst. I even write the things down on my list that I have already done just so I can cross them off. Is that scary to anyone else?)
13. My cupboard is packed.
14. I know that I am on the right path in life.
15. I have that Eternal Perspective. This can be hard sometimes. Especially when my child drops a full bowl of cereal on the ground and it splatters on everything within a 10 foot radius and everyone has to change their clothes, the bowl shatters into a million pieces, and we were supposed to leave in a few minutes. I don't like the saying, "Don't cry over spilled milk." It makes me feel guilty. Oh, and no temple for 8 hours to reclaim that perspective with ease.
16. I don't have to write "Choice Spirit" with a thick, black Sharpee on my kids' or husband's forehead that day. :)
17. I get to see a 'Cinderella Story' in real life.

I DON'T love it when...

1. It's bedtime... ug. The hour long process! But hey, I do love that we have nighttime devotional, sing, read, and cuddle. The other stuff drives me crazy after a long day, but what am I to do?
2. We get calls at inhumane hours of the night from people thinking it's lunch or dinner time. The time different kills me sometimes.
3. People don't have cell phones and I need to reach them.
4. I have to do the dishes... double blah
5. I sound like a broken record. "talk nice, talk nice, talk nice" "try again, try again, try again" "please come here, please come here"
6. I have to talk about why I have the standards that I have. Why I don't drink, why we don't go to parties on Sunday, etc. I don't like making people feel bad or make them feel like I am looking down on them. I know that's a lame excuse, but I just avoid it at all costs.
7. I have to get in a cold car after relaxing in a warm place.
8. You can't find what you are looking for in the grocery store or miss it and have to backtrack 10 miles to get it.
9. Dogs slobber on me. ew.
10. Parents let their really sick kids loose at school, church, or bring them along on their many errands. Leave. Them. Home. They. Are. Sick!
11. I have to shave or pluck my eyebrows.
12. My kids freak out. aka: Have a nuclear meltdown. It makes me want to pull out all my hair and show them what THEY made ME do.
13. I forget something important and I don't have pregnancy to blame it on.
14. Life throws you curve balls.

Pay It 4ward!

So I did a Pay it Forward once and it was fun.
This one is a little different.

All you do is comment and then 4 of those who comment get 4 of somethings that are special to me in the mail... Every 4th person. (And 4 all you cheaters out there: You can only comment once!) :) You do nothing, but when you receive (and you will know that this is the reason you received something) you have to Pay it 4ward.

It might not be this month, but I have to send it within FOUR months. Fun huh? This has been around 4 years and years, but I kind of made this particular one up myself because I thought it would be fun. And challenging... 4 me!

Kenna. Typical. Pie. Liver. Slides.

I wrote this last week, but I'm posting this today. . .

Can they get any cuter? Maybe just with eyes open. :)

Miss. Kenna

Haley is into playing school at home. She is the teacher with B, Me, Maleia and Dylan as her students and basically she gets to play "bossy pants" and actually really enjoys teaching us. But mostly she just gets a right of way to be bossy. Hmmmm, is that why I enjoy teaching so much?? Nah, I LOVE acting like a goof ball, wiping snotty noses, and getting my tablecloth cut up. So Haley, aka Miss Kenna, is currently telling me that I am at computers. Yessss! My favorite subject and she is singing 5 Little Speckled Frogs with Maleia, while Dylan is in nap time. He's been there for 2 hours so far. I think he gets an A. But for some reason she insists on being Miss Kenna. I called her Haley once and got my name on the board. Dang it. She is right now telling me that I am her next "special helper" so I must get off and "help" with "alphabet on the white board" time. Then we are off to a field trip to see piggies. I can't wait!!

Not your typical Relief Society President

So I am back from my GNO (Girl's Night Out) and it was really fun. Bunch of non-drinking ladies (I'm sure the waiter LOVED that) stuffed in a little room eating yummy questionable food. We were all chatting away when I overheard a comment, "Well, Monique is not your typical Relief Society President." I turned and happened to have a knife in my hand and said loudly with the knife up, "Huh? What makes you say that?" When I turned, my neighbor turned towards me as well and the knife almost cut her. So does your RS Pres try to kill people at dinner? I thought I was just being typical. And that was the end of the conversation. laugh laugh blah blah blah. But I wonder what she really meant.... because it's a two edge sword when you say that. Either you are making fun of the "typical RS Presidents" whatever that means, or me. Good thing she loves me most of the time and what's so bad about being typical?

Strawberry Pie

So I do have a sweet hubby. I am going out for a girl's night goodbye dinner for two ladies who are leaving the Branch, which is a BIG deal since that is 12.3% of our RS, and I decide to make two desserts for after dinner. Well, hubby gets home and I don't have eggs, he goes and gets eggs, comes home to this:

"Nope the Brownies are NOT for you, babe, but the pie is." Awwww. (I decided one dessert would be plenty.) I'm still far behind for wife of the year, but I'm up against the winners from last year, Desiray and Sarah (whose hubbies have been deployed mucho and they are just amazing), and they are a tough act to follow.

Date Night

What??? GNO and Date Night on the same weekend?! We went to a Bulgarian Restaurant with 7 other couples and it was a fun night out. . . . AND I ATE GOOSE LIVER!! yummo. (It's better than you think.) It came with the Steak. How could I refuse! This is a Hungarian delicacy.



Aquaworld

Instead of Playgroup this week, we all decided to go to the brand new indoor water slides that just opened up this winter. Who would have thought to build an indoor water park? Genius! During the winter you can still play in the pool and be warm, and in the summer ... NO SUNBLOCK. That, my friends, is only the tip of the iceberg of why this place is so cool. They have baby slides, toddler slides, big slides, tiolet bowl slides, tube slides, and slides that you can go on in tubes. They even have a slide that goes through the window and goes outside for a little bit, then comes back inside! Cooooooool! They have a body surfing area, hot tubs galore, sauna, massages, cafe, and a wave pool as well. So if you ever come visit us, guess where we will take you? Parliment, The Castle (Var), Hero's square, Gellert Hill, and Aquaworld!!! Best part is that for Me and my two little ones cost me $10 for almost 3 hours. Ta Da! We might go back sooner than later...

They did not want to leave.

This thing was one of two floating rafts that they have here and it was already well worn only after a few months of this place being open.

Look at Dylan. Poor guy. He had two teeth come in this week with two more on their way. One year molars are toughies. He even had a slight fever, so the pool was great to keep it down. We also only had three hours of sleep the night before, so the water kept me awake!

These two are the best of friends. The just LOVE being together.

Another tired picture of this poor boy. PLUS cleavage!! Yesss. I didn't even know I still had some. Hopefully it detracts from the bags under my eyes and the redness of my face. . .

There's a part smile!
We went home and we ALL took a nap after a long day at the pool.

***See how useful that "Random" post was while reading this? Of course I was monolouging while baking (French accent this time, sounding like the peas on Veggie tales), and of course I love to teach. Tablecloth or no tablecloth.

Happy Groundhog day!

Of course I chose the picture where my child has the biggest cutest smile.
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I showed my preschool kids the video of Groundhog's Day in Pennsylvania (http://www.groundhog.org/video/). And afterward I asked, "So what do you think about that?"

Steven - What a boring holiday.

Mimi- So those people came to see him come out of a hole? heeheehee. That's funny!

Maleia- Why does the growhog have fangs? Does he have claws? Was that guy scared of HIM?

Ava- So why is a groundhog scared of his shadow? Is he tall?

Sky- What? No presents? Does someone give the groundhog presents at least?

Jenny- awww. He's so cute! I bet Roxy (her dog) and that gobhog would be good friends.

Carlitos- I want a gobhog. sigh. (head in hands) I don't even have a pet.

Also, Ava was extra hilarious today. They seem to take turns. :)

We were talking about the calendar for this month and I told them about pet week and Ava yells. "I have a yucky pet!" Huh? "Yes. I have a cat named yucky." (I'm assuming it's Lucky?)

Then I was having them cover their eyes while I hide things and Ava said, "Miss Monique? I am getting scared. It's too dark in here. Can you hurry?"

Then I had their names written on cardstock around the room and they were supposed to do something while going to their name (like jump, twirl, etc), read their name, spell their name, yell out their name, then do the same thing back. They each took turns telling the kids to do some sort of action. My favorites were what Sky, Jenny, and Ava told us to do. Sky wanted us to "watch TV" while going to our name, so I just had them face the TV while shuffling to their names, and Ava wanted them to do kisses. So they made kissing noises the whole way. Mimi kissed her arm the whole way and Jenny blew kisses. :) Maleia kissed the whole way and then when she got to her name, she started kissing her name. Carlitos didn't care what they did, as long as they were fast! He was always the first one to his name. When Steven said to walk in slow motion, some kids complained that Carlitos walked normally and I defended him saying, "That IS his slow motion!" Jenny wanted to act like a princess, so I had the girls curtsie and the boys bow the whole way there. Jenny and Maleia kept saying, "How do you do?" every time they curtsied.

I love these kids. They crack me up. They are becoming such great friends.

Sorry for the old pictures. These are the most recent ones. Nice finger covering some of the pic, too. nice. :)