Toddler Logic.

The other day I let Collin outside to go play, he came in really muddy so I put him in the tub. I forgot to drain the tub when I took him out and was on to something else. 

Well like 2 hours later Collin comes up missing so I went to go find him. This is what I found.  

He probably was messing around in the bathroom and saw the water and got all excited. He stripped down, took off his diaper all by himself. I'm imagining he got in and found out that the water was super cold at that point... and well, as you can see, this is his solution. I love it! I was laughing so hard when I found him! He was totally shivering trying to get under his soaked blanky!

Those are crumbs of... something on his face. Ya never know what he is into.

Grandpa Larry's 75th birthday.

On February 20th Randy's dad turned 75. That was the same weekend I was in Logan for my sisters' getaway, so we had planned on Randy coming up after work on Friday and we would celebrate with them. Well, they took it a step (or 20) further and rented a "cabin" in Bear Lake for the family to enjoy for the weekend. I say "cabin" because it was really the nicest house I've ever been in. We all had our own HUGE rooms with flat screen tv's mounted in the wall and our own very nice private bath. It was amazing!!

Anyway, if you haven't noticed by now, birthdays are kind of my thing. I love to make the person feel special and loved on their big day. And 75, that's a huge milestone! I decided to do something big for Larry. He is such a softy and sweetheart, he is so sentimental and I love it. So I came up with the idea of doing "75 things we love about you" and getting 4-5 reasons from each person in the family about why we love Larry! I typed them up all nice and printed each reason with a number on it on a 3x5 card and then bound them with rings so he could flip them. It turned out so great, I'm so mad I didn't get a picture of it! Because SERIOUSLY, I will never do it again. ; ) My world was turned upside down while I was trying to get that project done, focus on school, pack for my sisters getaway, and take care of the kids and house. Good grief. I think I put in about 20 hours to make it. Larry, if you're reading... it was worth it. :D I knew Bonnie had the cake covered, but I decided to get some party accessories too. I just got the birthday blower things and some balloons. Y'know, stuff you hate at parties when you're old and hate noise. ; ) Oh yeah and I bought him a birthday hat. He wore it all night. Such a good sport, he is.

It was a nice relaxing weekend where we played lots of NERTZ- a family favorite, Phase 10, and dominoes. After we had cake and ice cream Larry talked to us about his memories. It was so cool watching the grandkids just drink it all in. I was, too. He has lived such an interesting life and is one of the best men I know! We love you Grandpa Larry!

Faces have been smudged to protect the innocent. ;) Mariah may or may not have threatened me with my life if I posted this picture of her! She was pulling a funny face. :) Let the record show the Dr. Pepper's in the room. We like to stay up LATE and play.

Beautiful living room!

Macey all ready to go sledding!

My favorite picture of Larry ever. This is so him. Such the entertainer!

He was supposed to blow out his candles but instead put a balloon on top of the fire and it burst the balloon and blew the candles out for him! It was hilarious.

Playin' some games.

Sisters' getaway.

I've always had a good relationship with my sisters. I think we've always been close and have had functional relationships. But over the past few years our relationships have grown. We've needed each other. It's hard to describe, and really, not something you can describe. My sisters have helped fill an incredible void I've felt in my life since my Mom passed away. There is no replacing her, but my sisters have helped me cope. I think I have leaned on them more than I've realized because I find myself yearning for this weekend. I just need it. Not even for the getaway, just to be around them. They know exactly what I am feeling. They feel it, too. We grieve the same. None of us live close so we never get the opportunity to just hang out whenever we want. So, we make it happen, once a year.

This year we heard Brian Regan -our favorite comedian ever- was coming to Logan so we decided to hit him up! Seriously, if you've never heard of him, google him. Watch and listen. You can thank me later. ; ) I'm not usually a big fan of comedians, they're either dirty or just stupid, so when my brother introduced me to that which is Brian Regan I was skeptical to say the least. It took about 30 seconds for me to be rolling on the floor in laughter, watching one of his dvd's. He is always hilarious, his jokes don't miss.

I was lucky that he was coming to Logan because that just so happens to be where my in-laws live! They make the perfect babysitters! : ) They were good sports and let me dump the kids off on them so Randy didn't have to take any work off.

So I dropped the kids off and my sisters came and picked me up. We had booked the new Marriott in town (for $45 a night! Priceline, people!) so we went to check in, got changed, and went to a temple session together. That was the first time we've all been in a session together since I received my endowments over 6 years ago. I won't lie, it was more emotional than I thought it would be- looking down the row at us in white. I teared up right away, it was so special being there with them. That is a tradition I would love to carry on with our sister getaways.

In front of the Logan temple.

After the temple we went and ate at the Coppermill, where I'm pretty sure our waiter just told the back to keep on cookin' them rolls.... this table'll eat 'em all up! : ) It hit the spot(s), to say the least. All on my gut. That night we went and soaked in the hot tub. Ahhhhh, it was so nice.

The next day was spent shopping. All. Day. Long. My feet were on fire! Us Judy girls don't mess around. We ate lunch at my favorite, The Old Grist Mill and sat in our booth for like 2 hours gabbing and laughing away. We knew it was time to go when the old man in the next booth over started turning sideways and was acting really interested in our conversation. Sorry dude, this is girl talk. ; ) Then came more shopping and unstoppable laughing. We ate dinner at Cafe Rio and then headed back to the hotel to get all gussied up for Brian Regan. His show didn't start until 10:30 pm! That is LATE for us old farts! I didn't know how I was going to stay up. Dr. Pepper, of course, came to the rescue.

FINALLY it was time to head over to the show. We parked in the back of the building and about died when we saw Brian Regan's BUS parked right there... and it was RUNNING! We just had to take a picture in front of it! I'm not kidding, this picture is blurry because right as Natalie clicked the picture the DOOR OPENED on the bus! You should have seen Nat's face. She was ghost white, mouth open, silver dollar sized eyes, frozen. .... and then walks out Brian Regan's bus driver, chuckling at us. HAHA. That was a dirty trick! I thought we were going to get to meet him! The show did not disappoint. He was hilarious, as always. I loved his new material!

Brian Regan's bus and "concert sign" (inside joke)

YAY-YUH!

 

 

He looked sharp!

The next morning we parted ways. There was a storm coming so everyone wanted to get an early start on it. To say it was fun was an understatement. It was just something I needed, and it did not disappoint! My sister's teenaged daughter told her that when we get together we act like teenagers. HAHA. Kayla, you have no idea. ; )

Ta-da!

Oh my gosh. This just happened about 10 minutes ago and I am still dying. I already called Randy and we had a good laugh about it, but that's still not enough. I need to share. I was thinking... well, it's not really appropriate to put on Facebook.... so I'll put it on my blog. :P ;)

I was just getting ready to put Collin down for naps and told him to come in his room and I'll change his bum. He got a huge smile on his face and went tearing down the hall into his room yelling "chanch ee bum!" Usually he's not that ecstatic about getting his diaper changed, so I was a little curious. Well, when I took off his pants I could see why. There was a poopy. And I didn't even smell it! That is very rare. I swear, I can smell it before he even poops.

Anyway, so I saw the poop at the bottom of his very wet dipe and was kind of mystified as to how I didn't notice, and was undoing the straps on his diaper and taking the front part down when Collin thrusts up his "front bum" as Macey calls it and yells "TA-DA!"


HAHAHAHAHA. He was so proud. Of what exactly, I'm not sure. The poop that I didn't smell, or his little boy parts. Either way, it was hilarious. Immediately I called Randy, and after a long laugh he says... "that's my boy". Not sure what to think about that exactly. ;)

Valentine's!

Growing up, Valentine's Day was always one of my favorite holidays. My mom would bring home a bouquet of helium balloons and a small gift for us. I love making the little holidays fun for my kids. I've carried on the tradition of the helium balloons and small gifts, too.

The night before Valentine's I was complaining that the house wasn't as clean as I would like because I had put a lot of time and effort into a project I was working on (my father-in-law's 75th birthday present) and had kind of neglected the housework. Well, the next morning I woke up to the sweet smell of PINE SOL! I looove the smell of Pine Sol. I got up and walked out in the kitchen. I couldn't believe my eyes. The piles of dishes were no longer on the counter and in the sink, the counters were spotless, and my feet were not sticking to the floor. ;) Randy had gotten up in the middle of the night to clean for me. Bless him! I couldn't have asked for a better gift. I was so exhausted and was not looking forward to cleaning up. While I was admiring, I noticed the bag of pancake mix on the counter along with some juice thawing. Hahaha. It didn't take me long to figure out that he had also planned on getting up early to make breakfast... but was too tired from cleaning to get up (welcome to my life). :) I thought it was so cute that I just HAD to make breakfast for him. I ended up making heart shaped waffles and the juice he had sitting out. I had the table set up all pretty, and had wrapped little presents in tissue paper for the kids and Randy to open. Macey got a new Pinkie Pie (My Little Pony), Collin got some Little People cars, and Randy got a Cabela's shooting game for the Wii. Wish I would have taken a picture.


During the day, I took the kids to the grocery store to pick out some balloons and to get some stuff to dip in chocolate. :) Macey and I had fun making a heart shaped cake, colored heart ice cubes, and decorating the table for when Daddy got home. Randy doesn't like making me cook on Valentine's Day, and I'm not going to lie, it's nice to have an excuse not to. So we decided he would bring Pei Wei (amazing Chinese food, it's my favorite!) home and we would eat by candle light. It was so fun. The kids LOVE Pei Wei too and were looking forward to it as much as I was. We were just waiting for the garage door to open! :) We ate dinner by candle light, and enjoyed our drinks with the colored ice cubes. Macey was so excited, she said "this is the best day ever!" Afterward we had the cake that Macey and I made and some ice cream. Usually after the kids are in bed, Randy and I will do a chocolate fondu by candle light, but we were so tuckered that we decided to do it the next day. I also burned a cd of all of our "songs" (so corny) from when we were dating and engaged. I made him dance with me. :)

Anyway, here are some pictures of our day!

Right before Randy got home, getting the table ready. 

 You can kind of see the ice cubes. They were the favorite.

 Hi Randy.

 Macey loved that I let her be in charge of the sprinkles. Usually I don't allow her that much power. ;)

Macey's outfit I made for her preschool Valentine's Day party. I had so much fun making it. I'm sad I didn't get a picture of Collin, though. He was wearing a "Heartbreaker" tee from Carter's.

And, of course, I can't do a holiday post without posting my decorations. ;)

Macey and I made a bunch of hearts to hang from the ceiling in her room. She LOVED it. She literally will go on her bed and stare at her ceiling. She was sad when I took them down today. 

 These are the crayon wax hearts from Martha Stewart's site. They're so pretty!

 My buffet. I made the rosette ball from crepe paper and printed off the subway art for free. I *love* that tree! A total score from Tai Pan. I have been looking for a small one like that since last year (for cheap)!

 Our heart tree.

Word of the day.

Bugged face.

I don't even remember what Macey was trying to do, but she was having a hard time. Finally she got really upset and yelled in frustration, "I'm like, so untarded!"

2010 Breakdown.

 Wow, I thought I posted this a while ago. Woops!

What a year 2010 was! Here's what happened with us:

Collin

• turned 1, had a small family party. The theme was monkey for the monkey!
• started talking
• started walking at 14 months
• got lots of teef
• started nursery in October
• loved to go to the day care and play with the other kids and toys at the rec center while I ran on the treadmill
• total outside boy
• developed a fascination/obsession with trucks, trains, and shapes
• looooooves his Grandpa's and Grandma!
• his favorite show was Yo Gabba Gabba, but has since discovered Team Umizoomi ("ZOOOMI"), but nothing can trump Baby Signing Time ("BEEBEE?!")
• finally, loves books. His favorite right now is There's a Wocket in my Pocket. He goes around the house saying "Wockeet? Pockeet! Neek? Seek! (Nink? Sink!)"
• finally, has a big enough attention span to sit down and do puzzles
• starting to say sentences, this morning he was surprised to see Daddy cause he's usually on his way to work when Collin wakes up, so when he saw him he looked at me and pointed at Randy and said "Wook! Da-ee!" He's also said "Dote chuch" (don't touch) and "I wuss ewe" (I love you). 
• Can count to 10! He thinks he can count to 20, though. After he says ten he says "can-ee!" (twenty! and also how he says candy)

Macey

•  started and graduated from Sunbeams! She loved her teachers.
• turned 4, had a princess birthday party with friends and had a castle cake!
• loves having friends over to play
• graduated from her 1st year of preschool from Miss Camalee's class! 
• developed a fascination with Scooby Doo, the only thing in her life that is not all girly
• obsessed over "decoraysh" and helping me decorate for the holidays 
• realized that she genuinely loves being a big sister and playing/sharing with her little brother (seriously, it's amazing how nice she is to him)
•  discovered her affinity for "sleepovers" (footed pajamas); she had serious 'tude when I had to box up her old ones from last winter. She kept trying to wear them during the SUMMER.
• gave swimming an actual try. Before we couldn't even get her to step foot into the water without her screaming, but we went a few times and she loved it.
• loves her Daddy-daughter and Mommy-daughter dates. We usually go to the dollar theater ("futer") and she eats it up!
• started talking with an accent, like, all the taam.
• started her last year of preschool (sniff sniff) and loves it with Mrs. Rose and Mrs. Rawlings and of course, all of her neighborhood friends! So far she's learned
• how to write her name correctly
• how to write and recognize the letters in the abc's, both capital and lowercase
• can sight read about 10 words and can sound words out, she is on the brink of reading! She is sooo close!
• counts time in sleeps. "how many sleeps until...."
• loooooves her Grandpa's and Grandma. I have to be careful when I tell her we're going to visit one of them because she literally cannot handle the wait. 
• Obsessed with drawing/coloring. She loves writing "thank you cards" to everyone she knows. 
• Her favorite shows right now are Scooby Doo, but will watch anything. She also loves Tangled (has seen it 3 times in "futers") and "Respectable Me"(Despicable Me)
• Is totally a cuddler, and I love it.  
• Is a total ham

DaNae 

• had a very hard time trying to control my stress and anxiety over the job search situation and the loss of our stocks
• started running again, finally. That helped my stress levels and anxiety a little.
• trained to run my first 5 miler!
• completed my first 5 miler! 
• ran in two other races, they were both 5k's that benefited cancer
• LOVED training outside on the trails by my house that are right next to the mountain 
• started  to count calories
• decided to go back to school and started in October
• when it got too cold outside to run, I started taking Collin to the rec center while Macey was at preschool so I could run on the treadmill and he could play at their day care
• have been kept very busy with taking care of the chillins, trying to keep a clean house, making dinners, doing laundry, carpooling, being a wife, exercising, oh yeah and SCHOOL. 
• at the end of the year, I had lost 33 lbs. I know, it sounds like a monstrous amount of weight, and you can kind of tell the difference, but I have more to go for sure before you can REALLY tell. I went from not being able to fit into my jeans to being able to fit in my jeans and almost ready to go down a size. I was hoping 30 lbs would make me look like I did in high school. Darn. ;) Yeah I don't think that can ever happen thanks to my awesome birthing hips.
• got 97%'s in both of my classes that I completed in December. Go me! 
• enjoyed being in charge of the monthly ward newsletter. That calling is right up my alley, I love it!

Randy

• had a hard time with stress about the job search situation, as well (but didn't show it as much as I did, he's good like that)
• his stress reliever has been fly fishing, it's his passion!
•  spent hours a day exhausting every lead, every job opening, etc. 
• worked the Census, that was.... interesting
• had his 10 year high school reunion in Logan, it was fun catching up with old friends and meeting new people! 
• had a job interview in Indiana (thank heavens he wasn't offered the job, because we would have had a REALLLLY hard time saying no. It was actually a blessing in disguise because he was offered the job in SLC 2 weeks later)
• finally, after 10 months of desperately searching, landed a job that has potential and he couldn't be happier! He loves going to work everyday!
•  has fun playing 'pick up basketball games' at the church twice a week
• liked trying to keep up with our yard and all the work it entails! He also made a new garden plot for us.
•  helped his brother build a monster skate ramp at his cabin
• built speaker stands and bookshelves for the kids' rooms
• also started watching his caloric intake and exercised more, he lost 20 lbs
• loved spending time with the fam outside, we went to a lot of parks for picnics and walks 
• sports, sports, and more sports. He is a big Jazz and BYU fan. We both are, but he is a die hard. 
• oh, and games. :) We went on a scrabble binge for a few weeks where that's what we would play every night. 
• enjoyed working with the 11 year old scouts and going on camp outs with them.  
 

2010 was a really challenging year for us, but we weathered the storms together and are looking forward to a bright 2011! Even though it was tough, we still managed to make a lot of good memories as a family and continued to have faith. And we accomplished a lot! We feel like we are where we are supposed to be in life and that is a great feeling!