Embarrassing? Not this time

On the day before my birthday I was surprised with an email from my hubby. It said I should pack my bags w/ a nice outfit and be ready at 3:00. My mom showed up to babysit (surprise!) and we headed to Salt Lake. We checked in to the Hilton (thanks priceline!) and walked around town so I could get hungry since I just had an early birthday lunch w/ friends. We ate at the Blue Iguana (yummy). At this time I still didn't know what we were going to do until I looked at the sign on the Capital Theatre and saw that Stomp was there.

Eight years ago, Eric surprised me with tickets to Phantom of the Opera there. I borrowed a white floor length stretchy beautiful dress from my neighbor. I didn't have shoes to wear with it so we stopped at Nordstrom Rack to pick up a pair. Not realizing how slick new shoes can be, I got up before the play began to run to the restroom. We were up on the balcony about 15 rows up (we sat in almost the exact seats for Stomp). I slipped and went sliding down 13-14 rows. I landed at the bottom with my stretchy dress up around my waist. I was so embarrassed I told all that was running to help that I was fine and headed to the restroom. By the time I got there, my ankle was swollen. I couldn't even walk. Thank goodness Eric came to see how I was because he basically had to carry me back. I was pampered by those hoping not to get sued for the rest of the night.

Stomp was wonderful and I was careful not to leave my seat until the end of the performance.

Young Entreprenuers

Just a few surprises I found out of the 20-30 that these two took. I could hear them laughing and when I went in to investigate I discovered they had my camera. It wasn't until much later that I discovered what they were up to. I guess Benny is the model and Adam the photographer. But in some shots, I just can't tell.

Emily the Eliminator

Emily came home from school and told us she is the strongest in her class. After inquiring how she came to this conclusion this was what she said. Since it was raining they had indoor recess. They started having arm wrestling contests. She soon became the champ which is pretty amazing since she is a lefty. The boys that dared go against her didn't stand a chance. The ones that were tough, she just waited until the tired and then WHAM! down they came. There was one other girl that held her ground but Emily would just wait it out.

When she came home both of her arms were tired but she still held me forever. We finally just called it because we are both too stubborn to give in but the pains were shooting up our arms. Alicia and Richie are equally as strong. When we have the arm wrestling contest in our home, they go on forever. I guess all those tumbling classes are paying off.

CELEBRATE!

The Twins Are Potty Trained! Hip Hip Horray! I never thought this day would come. It is so embarrassing to say but this is the main reason I didn't want more kids after #4. But now that it is done, I am thrilled & I know I would have been so lost without these two little balls of life.

My terms of when it is official is;

#1- They have less than two accidents a day (combined)

#2- They can sleep through the night in their little undies w/o an accident for 3 nights in a row

#3- You can take them out & about without switching back to a diaper or pull-up

#4- When they do have an accident (#1) they deal with it themselves

I took this potty-training very slowing and didn't stress about it. I encouraged them and just kept reminding them. I thought I was confusing them by putting them in a diaper whenever I didn't want to deal with it but it didn't. More times than not they went potty in the toilet even when they had on a diaper. Lets just say, they were ready.

Our little mer-mans

Another reason to celebrate... SOCCER IS OVER!

When you have 2 in soccer and 3 in baseball and they overlap for weeks it is very easy to go crazy. But we did it and we finally have our Saturdays back (other than Eric is working most of them for the next few months until soccer starts up again).
Richie bored as goalie, decided to get a good stretch in
Tommy has control of the ball. He finally started to love soccer and decided he could actually play the last couple of games of the season. (he is the top right head)

The girls when it was all over.

Yum! Mint Brownies! Mom & Robin never should have sent me to get them. They should have known I would come back with as much as I dared, plus I was starving & we all know we shouldn't shop on an empty stomach!

President Monson: I don't have a great camera but had to take a picture. You should have seen all the flashes, it was better than the cell phones for Eclipse. When the Prophet walked into the room, the spirit brought instant tears and peace to my heart.

Ok, we had a blast. We picked up Robin at 3 on Wed. & found out Sandee missed her connecting flight and wouldn't get in until 11 PM. So we headed to Provo thinking we would come back to get her. We pulled into Helaman Halls. After registering we realized we had locked the keys in the car. Thank goodness for road side assistance. But while waiting, we found out a shuttle could bring Sandee to Provo. Other than Sandee not getting her luggage until 3 a.m. friday morning, everything else went perfect. Since we were 1 year veterans, we knew all the ins and outs. This is what we learned....

1.We learned one must do service to fully enjoy the concert on Thursday night. We got tickets on the 14th row. We laughed, screamed, sang, danced and relaxed with all our quilting buddies.

2. Staying in the MC all day Friday so we could get great seats for the Prophet was essential.

3. Once you park, never leave. We pulled in Wed. and didn't move the car until we headed for dinner Friday night. That was even risky since parking right by our dorm filled up very fast.

4. Always use the women's restrooms even though all male restrooms were converted over except one. More stalls equals quicker lines.

5. Red hot shoes from the BYU bookstore do not hurt you feet but will squeak in quiet dorms. Always carry moleskin just in case. That stuff rocks!

The BYU bookstore lived up to our expectations. Our dorm was very close to the MC which was heaven. We also learned it is impossible to go into IKEA in 15 minutes just to look at tables. Also, Thanksgiving Point has the best restaurant and one store is enough for shopping until the legs start to burn. The tulips were beautiful.

Women's Conference is now a Roe Girls regular get-away. I feel so uplifted when I get home. I can handle it better when my 3 year old Adam tells me, "You're Fired!" or when potty training isn't going quite like I planned. I came away with so much love in my heart this year for my family, a stronger conviction that President Monson is our living Prophet today, a better understanding to help my family, and a new determination to be the best mom I can be.

Thanks Eric for being so supportive. You know you have a great husband when the kids want him to stay at home. Thanks Mom, Robin & Sandee for making it great!

Chop! Chop!

"Before"
(this was 6 months ago after her last hair cut)

"After "
Our very brave Alicia had hair down to her lower back but decided to go dramatic. We told the girl to cut 4-5 inches but it ended up being more like 6-7 inches. She loves it although it was very hard for her to see it fall. I think it just shows off how dang cute she is!! She says she loves it because she can do so many fun things with it. No more pony tails day after day!

The Real Quicker Picker Upper!

This week helped me remember that I was going to do a review on my new cleaning machine. I tended 3 boys for my friend (who took a much needed vacation with her mom) for a day, I watched my cute nephew Daniel (while his little brother is in the hospital) and I actually baked lots of cookies and banana bread this week (which made extra messes for me). This morning I heard Benny get up around 6:30. I waited for him to come get in bed with me but he never came. I heard him come back upstairs and then there was silence. Finally, I got up to go run at 6:45 and peeked into his room. I had to muffle a laugh as I watched him down chocolate chip cookies in bed while he read books.

Electrolux Pronto 2 in 1

I got this for Christmas because I was sick of bending over and sweeping into a dust pan all day long. For those that know me very well, know that I can't stop cleaning. (I'm not a deep cleaner but just like things looking nice) With the twins and after installing new floors last year I was sick of sweeping and not getting all of the dust in the pan. I use this great machine on my wood floors and tile. I LOVE IT! There is a dust buster that comes off that I used to vacuum out Benny's bed this morning(I also use it for my stairs for a quick clean). It sits on a charger when I'm not using it and is very easy to clean. I just dump out the little container every 3 days or so and clean it out and let it air dry over night every couple of weeks. It even sweeps under the cabinets. It sweeps up rice! It has enough power to clean my whole kitchen & dining area & the portion of the living room that isn't covered by my rug.

For the negatives: You have to push on the button constantly when using the dust buster portion. Not a big deal but it would be nice if it was a switch. Also, it doesn't pick up bigger pieces but if it's a big chip or fruit loop, I just step on it and up it goes. You also need to make sure the little rubber wheels don't get stuff on them(like little rocks) or they could scratch your floor.

So I give this machine 41/2 stars!! It is a life saver. I got mine from Sam's after Christmas for around $70. They are $99 in Target and you can get them on Amazon for around $80 but after shipping it is about $94. I haven't looked for them in Sam's since so I don't know if they were just a Christmas item. Happy Cleaning!