Birthdays, balls, business fair, and busyness

I cant even begin to tell you what we were busy with this week. I really should post a picture of our color coded calendar. It looks like a rainbow.

The 10 “happenin’s of the week:

10. We made almost 50 baby cakes (“petit fours”) for Tyler’s business fair and he sold out (see previous post)!

9. Kayla started tennis this week. Its been pretty windy but at least the sun has been out and she has been able to play.

8. We got to go to see Marisa play her electric violin in the final showchoir concert. We saw 7 show choirs perform. I was amazed at how great the high school groups were. Marisa looked beautiful on a stand perched above the performing group. She did a great job and we are proud of her. I suck and forgot the camera and video camera!

7. I was reminded of a funny comment Tyler made last spring and figured I would share again just for fun:

“Wouldn’t it suck if every Spring you knew you would get fat?” Tyler asked one day. You can only imagine what type of look crossed my face and thought crossed my mind (Oh my heck! Does he think I get fatter every spring??) When I asked what he meant he launched into a huge explanation about the fat robins in our yard and how huge their tummies are. When I said that it’s because they are having babies, Tyler said “I KNOW that, but wouldn’t it suck?” Man! I died laughing. What a funny kid!

6. Alayna graced us with a special “birthday jig of joy” for Kayla this week. She wore her special sparkling red Dorothy shoes.

5. We had the primary quarterly this week. Tyler got to present a neat talk about Uchtdorf. The kids went from room to room to make a ring with apostle cards on it to prepare them for general conference. Alayna said Elder Hales is her favorite because his birthday is 3 days before hers.

4. Kayla made cupcakes and decorated them to take to school this week to celebrate for her birthday.

3. We had family fun night at Linn Grove this week. Tyler ran the pachinko game and Alayna got to go around and play all the carnival games. We had dinner there too.

2. Marisa officially started tennis this week and continued rehearsals for Fiddle on the Roof.

And the number 1 thing from this week is…

1. HAPPY 14^th BIRTHDAY TO KAYLA!!!!! Now she can go to youth conference, EFY, stake dances, etc. Whoo hoo! She chose not to have a huge friend party, but instead take the money I would have spent on the party, and use it to go shopping. So, we got her a few small gifts and made her a giant cookie. She bought a new digital camera to take with her to EFY and last night we watched New Moon to celebrate her birthday as a family. Happy Birthday Kayla! We love you!

Plan B worked!!

Well, our Plan B for the business fair worked.  Here are some pics of our success.  The business fair is tomorrow so I will let you know how much Tyler sells.  Wish him luck!

(Using these really cool new silicone baking cups, we made cupcakes and turned them upside down on doilies.  Tyler freaked out saying doilies are “way too girly”, but I convinced him it serves as a plate.  He fell for it!)

(These are some of the cakes we made.  Dark chocolate fudge cake)

(These are red velvet cake.  The “L-M” is for Linn-Mar (our school district)

(Final product.  Wrapped in saran wrap and tied with a black ribbon)

Can you say “tired”? 

Florida!

Spring Break Day 5-7

Snow? Are you kidding me??

How can we go from playing tennis in 65 degrees one day to waking up to 2 inches of snow the next morning! Psycho city! No one can say the weather here is boring.

“Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go shopping.”

Kayla, Marisa and I got to spend a day out shopping! We had huge success. This was the first time I have been shopping in years where I didn’t think the stores had put in special mirrors to make you look like a hippo stuffed in a shoe box. Its also the first time clothes fit, I looked good, and had to go down a size! Whoo-hoo!!! I almost ran out of the dressing room prancing around the store screaming “Look at me! Swim suits fit!” And if I had been triple dog dared, I would have done it!

Finally learning what relaxation really is:

So, I wanted to make sure to live it up the last day of Spring break. I grabbed my computer, hunkered down in my super soft bed, and watched 8 episodes of Gilmore Girls and I didn’t even feel guilty! I know, some of you may be feeling the world is coming to an end, but maybe its just a sign that I am finally finding what works (like puzzles). It was heavenly and it was watched completely uninterrupted! How does that even happen? I MUST schedule that again. I bet my kids thought I was sick.

(Soaking up the sun while eating cookie dough- It doesnt get better than this!)

Other exciting happenin’s

*Marisa had her 1^st tennis practice in 32 degrees, but she kicked butt and impressed the new coaches!

*Kayla and Marisa went to Nauvoo for a temple trip yesterday. They brought home fudge from the Nauvoo fudge factory (their ticket back into our home) and they got to all go out to a Chinese Restaurant to try some new foods. Then Marisa went to a Luau themed Stake Dance.

*We are back to normal schedule tomorrow. YUCK!! Our schedule is hideous until May.

(Soaking up the sun)

Spring Break Day 4

Spring Break Day 4:

We started out our day again with the daily hour workout. I was bookin’ it today and we finally have Marisa with us! . Marisa brought us some sweet souvenirs from Florida. It was super sweet of her to think of us.

Then Tyler went to his friends house, I deep cleaned the house, Marisa unpacked, and Kayla and Alayna practiced their cake decorating skills. They made some beautiful mini cakes.

Tennis finally!

The weather was GORGOUS today!! So, we went and played tennis for an hour and it was so invigorating. Marisa starts official team practices tomorrow. Kayla starts Monday.

Movie Recommendation:

We saw the movie “Martian Child” as a family. It was such a sweet touching movie and we HIGHLY recommend it!

Spring Break Day 3

Another beautiful sunny day!

We started out with our hour walk/bike. Actually the kids ride their bikes while I walk and jog. It works great. We found a perfect route around the neighborhood that is exactly an hour.

Then Kayla and I went to do the grocery shopping. How come we always spend too much at Wal-Mart? We did notice though that my tulips are coming in! Spring is on its way! Hoorah!

Me being trendy?

Then I went to get my hair cut. I am including the picture, but keep in mind that I can never get it to look the way it does when my hair stylist does it. So, I have to try it out on my own this week. It takes a while to straighten it to look like this, so I may alternate with it being curly. Apparently this is me being “trendy”…lol!

Petit Four Practice:

Then, we spent the evening practicing and experimenting with Petit Fours for Tyler’s business fair next week. Um, we found that we are not so good at it. I trying to frost the edges with a knife. After several hours and many flops, we came up with a plan B. I pray it works. We will post pics of that plan next week.

Take 1: Flipping a cake over right when it comes out doesnt work…lol!

Take 2: Success

Final products

Marisa came home!

Almost midnight and just picked her up. She had a fabulous time and will post pics this weekend. She is super tan and super tired. That’s when you know its been a great vacation!! We are happy to have her back home!

Alayna texting Marisa wondering when she will be home.