Cinderella

When I walked the boys to school on Friday morning,

the house on the corner looked like this:

Just before 5pm that evening, when I drove

Bentley to karate the house looked like this:

So when we woke up Saturday morning to more snow,

there was only one person who was excited about

shoveling. She put on a fancy gown, her boots, gloves,

and a sweatshirt and got to work.

Most of the snow melted off the sidewalk and street

as it fell, but up next to the car port there was

snow to shovel. She carried it over to make a big pile.

Before Church

watching this together while they wait for lunch

Week in Review

Some weeks are better for blogging than others.

This week was one of the others, it just didn't happen.

But, I realized tonight that there were

a few things that I wanted to report on.

So, here you go - the week in review.

First up - Milo decides that clothes are optional.

His parents, however, insisted on a diaper.

Jonah was really good before church on Sunday,

possibly because his older brothers were so bad.

On Monday, I decided to sort/organize ALL of the clothes

and shoes that I have in storage - newborn on up.

After a full afternoon of sorting (while watching 2

High School Musical movies with the kids) our

living room still looks pretty much the same as this.

I ran out of boxes, time, and motivation.

Maybe tomorrow will bring this project to a close.

For now.

Mikey is trying to find new glasses. This week,

he did a home try on with Warby Parker.

They sent him 5 frames and he had 5 days to try

them out and to get opinions on them.

These were the winning frames (it was close),

but he hasn't decided whether to buy them or not.

I think he should buy them.

Ruby went to dance, (along with her singing rat,

and her fairy wings) and Milo perfected his

original dance move - which has yet to be named,

but can be seen in the video here.

Also this week, Ruby taught herself to make

peanut butter, jelly, and honey sandwiches.

Now if we could just get her to eat them . . .

Bentley and I went with the Cub Scouts to

the BYU Bean Museum for a live reptile show.

It must have been good because the boys were

actually paying attention, and about 75% of their

comments were actually related to the topic at hand.

And to finish off the week in review, here's Maxwell.

This is how he might look if you suggest that

he has a girlfriend. Something I don't recommend,

but that his older brother hasn't figured out.

Hope you had a great week!

Now for the weekend and the Big Game.

An Aside

When I began this blog I decided that it was

about My Kids and my life with them.

It's fun for me to look back and see some of the

things that the kids have said or done,

and hopefully fun for family and friends to follow along.

I keep a journal, and have blogs for crafts and cooking,

so this blog usually doesn't get posts about

anything other than the kids or kid-related stuff.

However, I do believe that the following announcement

is worthy of a post on my MAIN blog.

So here it is . . .

I got a new hair dryer!!!

In February 2000, I bought my last hair dryer.

(I can remember because it was my roommate's birthday.

this photo might have been taken that night.)

11 years for a hair dryer is probably a world

record or something. Or close to it. :)

Last August, Heidi said she'd a new dryer for me, and the

one I wanted has been OUT OF STOCK for 6 months.

She was finally able to pick one up last week.

So far, Ruby and I are loving the new dryer.

Hopefully, her love for the hair dryer will

not shorten its lifespan.

Here's one more aside, while I'm already off topic.

Mikey gave me this awesome movie for Christmas

and John (who is not excited about it for some reason)

and I have yet to watch it. Maybe we'll get

the kids in bed early enough for the two of us to

watch and entire movie together tonight.

{fingers crossed}

edit 2 hours later: Milo is still awake. No movie for us.

Wanna go to Jonah's World?

Simply put on your sunglasses.

(forehead stickers are optional,

unsharpened pencils recommended)

GNO

Last night John dropped Ruby off at Elizabeth's

place for a sleepover. Ruby was super excited.

Here she is, all packed up with her pillow pet.

She said that Liz gave her hot chocolate!

with marshmallows that melted!!

For breakfast she got to eat cinnamon toast crunch!!!

And, she got to wear lipstick and mascara!!!!

Then, Ruby says that they went to a lot of stores.

One of the stores they visited was DI,

and Ruby picked out a awesome prize.

Milo slept in Ruby's bed last night.

I think he likes her bed, but he was still

happy to see his big sister come home.

Here they are with the DI prize.

And here's Ruby with her generous Aunt Liz.

Hey Liz, Ruby wants to know if she can sleep over

again tomorrow night. How does that sound?

ps - for everyone else - here's a short sample of the DI prize

It's Raining Men from jenny on Vimeo.

Happy Heart Day!

With my Valentine yesterday

- photo by Bentley

I didn't end up helping with any school parties today (!),

which was just as well because it was early out day,

the boys had piano lessons, and I am trying to

get ready for a Parent-Teacher Conferences dinner

tomorrow night. (I don't know why I keep signing

up for that thing, I turn into a nervous wreck every time.)

I will eventually get around to posting about

Valentine boxes and Valentine cards,

but it will most likely be over here in a day or two.

ps - When I said that I wanted 8 kids,

I did not take into consideration the amount

of time and effort required to help multiple

children get ready for Valentines Day.

Fries Optional

I Heart You - Take 4

My parents were here this weekend,

and were able to help with our annual

Valentine's Day heart project.

It was awesome to have two helpers!

I'm usually scrambling to find the right letters

for everyone to spell their names,

as well as helping with decorations here and there.

This time I hardly had to do anything!

Thanks Mom and Dad!

Here are the finished hearts:

Past years:

2010

2009

2008

2 Down, 8 to Go

We've survived a 2nd Pinewood Derby.

Bentley's car took 7th place again this year,

and his car was named "The Sharpest Car of All."

He seemed to have a lot of fun.

I think Maxwell did, too.

He got to race banana cars.

Here are some photos from the big night,

as well as a few of Bentley preparing his car.

Here's the link to last year's derby.

Bentley looks so young in those photos.

Next year: 2 racers!

Maxwell and Bentley will both be in Cubs.

Stuck Like Glue

"Hey Jonah, what's on your shirt?"

It's a badge, I made it at school.

I'm the only one who made one.

I glued it together, and then

I glued it to my shirt.

"Awesome."

Reminds me of this glue-related story from a

few years ago - only that time it was Maxwell.

Beaver Fever

Once upon a time, Mindy went on a mission to Canada.

While she was there, she did NOT find and teach

a woman named Pattie, and her son, Justin Bieber,

even though Pattie and Justin lived in Stratford,

one of Mindy's favorite areas.

Thanks to this oversight on my sister's part,

my children now sing "Baby" by Justin Bieber all the time.

Here is Ruby's version of Ludacris's rap,

and Milo's effort at singing the chorus, "baby, oh!"

Beaver Fever from jenny on Vimeo.

Play Dough

Bentley and Maxwell got to play with play dough

fairly often when they were little, but the

three younger kids really haven't had the chance.

(lazy parenting by their mother?)

Yesterday, while the other kids were off doing

other things, I got out some new play dough

for Jonah and Ruby. It was fun to see the

different ways that they played.

Jonah very carefully formed each tube of dough

into a snake and added stripes and eyes to each one.

Ruby, on the other hand, left her dough in tubes,

and had each thing of dough, each container,

and every lid be a different "person" in a game.

Eventually, they traded.

Jonah got all the dough, and Ruby got the containers.

Guys Night In

3 Guys

plus 1 movie (The Rocketeer)

plus video games

plus popcorn

plus soda

plus candy

plus staying up late (10pm!!!)

equals extreme silliness and lots of fun