The Near-Tragedy of the Birthday Cake

J-Boy's B-day!

We celebrated J-boys' birthday a little while ago. We just had a quiet party with the 4 (and a half) of us -- it was so fun to see him so excited about it all!

K was happy to help him -- we have a tradition of hiding the presents, then the b-day kid has to find them. K hid them all while J-boy took a nap. When he woke up, they snuck around together when I wasn't looking and she showed him where each gift was hidden. :) I'd told them we had to wait till Daddy got home to open presents, so the SECOND Joseph walked through the door the kids were racing around the room ripping presents from their hiding spots. So much for cake and ice cream first! Or dinner or anything else for that matter.

J-boy wanted a Lightning McQueen birthday (and was adamant about a Lightning McQueen cake -- the birthday boy gets to pick what we eat for dinner, and he was quite upset when I told him he needed something IN ADDITION to Lightning McQueen cake for dinner). Anyway, I spent about 2 hours the weekend before looking at fancy marshmallow fondant sculpted car cakes online. Then I decided to keep it simple. :) He liked the result at first....

Until we told him he couldn't take the cars off till after we sang him Happy Birthday. This is classic J-boy pout. He's a champion with the eyebrows and lower lip. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Bringing home the silver

Here's the footage of the final race that brought us home the silver (figuratively - the Elders' like to keep things simple - no centerpieces, no planned program, no napkins/plates for the 7-layer dip, and no medals!) :)

Derby's and Dancin'

We've had some fun the past few weekends with some unusual activities (for us, at least). Last week the Elders' Quorum hosted a no-rules pinewood derby -- the only restriction on the cars was no open flames. :) Joseph and his buddies worked on their car long and hard, and ended up taking 2nd place after a few modifications mid-race. You'll have to email him for the specifics of how it all worked, because I'm just the cheerleader.

Then this last Saturday we got together with some of Joseph's family for a night of fancy footwork -- Joseph's parents' ward was hosting a Luau fundraiser for the youth. They had lovely lei's and funky food and heavenly hulas, and for some reason they invited our family to swing dance as part of the floor show to top it all off (odd combo, but it was fun all the same). So mom & dad broke out the newsies hats, and we cut a rug. :) At 4 months pregnant we weren't too ambitious with crazy dance moves. But the others' expertise more than made up for it - I think everyone had fun in the end.

Yes, for those of you who are long distance, I cut my hair again. Hey, why not? :)

Playing tag

I thought my days of being "it" had morphed into days of "I'm-not-base," but apparently this chain mail is having a hard time dying down among my family!
Anyway, it's taken me about a week to get to this, but my piano student this morning just canceled, so I find myself with an unassigned hour! So here you have it!

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves
C. At the end of the post, the player tags 4 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they are tagged

10 years ago I was: In my senior year of high school, I was probably quitting my job right about now to be in the spring musical and still have time to practice piano - getting ready for college music department auditions, etc. (The only time through all of middle school and high school that I didn't have a job - my final fling!).

5 things on my 'to do' list today:
1. Finish sewing 4 pillow cases for K's bed (or at least 1!)
2. Drive the car pool for K's school
3. Work on my business finances/taxes.... (ugh)
4. Fold laundry
5. Get a babysitter and go to a b-day party tonight

Things I would do if I became a billionaire: Pay off all our student loans and buy Joseph a practice (maybe two....), buy at least 2 homes - one in the Pacific Northwest and one in the Midwest, buy a 2008 Toyota mini van (oh yeah, we're dreamin' now...), college funds for my kids.... Lots of vacations to visit family, the beach, the mountains, the world (Europe!!)....

3 of my bad habits:
1. Throwing things in the pantry closet, and closing the door really fast so it won't all fall out on me (this doesn't work out so well for the next person who wants a snack).
2. I'm not good with money/checkbook, etc. (taxes has been on my daily to-do list since December....)
3. I hate taking drugs/vitamins (especially pre-natals), so usually I don't. It's amazing my children have brains at all.

5 places I've lived:
1. Salt Lake/Hyde Park/North Logan, Utah
2. Burke, Virginia
3. Lacey, Washington
4. Provo, Utah
5. Leeds/St. George, Utah
6. Here!

5 jobs I've had:
1. Computer Lab Attendant (less technical than it sounds - it was for a piano studio)
2. Piano Teacher
3. Day-Care for YMCA
(piano teacher)
4. Hostess, Waitress, Catering (at three or four different places in college)
(piano teacher)
5. MOM
(piano teacher)

Something most people don't know about me:
I'm really not very mysterious... I can't stand the smell of ketchup. (could be a pregnant thing).

And I'm going to tag:
1. Julie W. C.
2. Calli
3. Andrea
4. Heather (my neighbor, not sister - welcome to blogdom!)