Memory Grove

Have you ever just gone to the perfect place on the perfect day? Today is such a beautiful day and my sister, my mom, and I decided we should go do something with our kids since there was no school today. We decided to go up to Memory Grove I have been in love with Memory Grove ever since Ryan took me on a carriage ride through it the night he proposed to me. It always makes me smile to see this beautiful little place snuggled right into the heart of our city. Today was so amazing with all the fall leaves and the warm weather. I had so much fun just chasing the kids around and taking pictures. What a great way to spend the morning!

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Crazy Brain Twister

Tonight Ryan & I found this on the Internet. I thought it was so crazy. Try as I might, I couldn't do it. Ryan passed it perfectly on his very first try (and with some speed too) I must have tried half a dozen times, but I couldn't get it. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard at myself in my entire life. Why is this so challenging? You'll have to try it yourself. Please! Leave me a message and tell me how you did. Am I alone in my color ineptitude, or is it really as hard as it was for me? Maybe Ryan's just a genius!

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READ THROUGH THE FOLLOWING LIST OUT LOUD, BUT DO NOT SAY WHAT THE WORDS SPELL... INSTEAD, SAY THE COLOR THE WORD IS WRITTEN IN.

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YELLOW BLUE ORANGE

BLACK RED GREEN

PURPLE YELLOW RED

ORANGE GREEN BLACK

BLUE RED PURPLE

GREEN BLUE ORANGE

The Spontaneous Wednesday Night Date

My sweet husband, sensing that maybe I was just a wee bit burned out last night, set up a secret and spontaneous date. He called his sister Mindy to come watch the girls and off we went. We went to the Gateway and walked around in the warm October night and ended up at the movie theater where we watched this movie:It was very intense and quite entertaining, but I must say it had the same plot line as like 500 other movies. If there's anything I've learned from watching the movies, It's never, EVER build a super computer! It's just not a good idea! It will ALWAYS try to take over the world.
When we got home all of our girls were bed, so we asked Mindy & Mike to stick around and rock out with us for a while. (They hadn't ever played Rock Band before) We all stayed up way too late and I ended up having such a fun night.
Thanks so much Mindy & Mike for being willing to drive all the way up here and watch our kids for us on the spur of the moment. And thanks so much to Ryan for making this whole night happen. It was just what I needed. I love you!

Best Family Night Book Ever

Here's a quick little plug. My grandma gave me this book for Christmas a few years ago. Sadly, it just sat on my shelf until a couple of months ago. I finally got it down and dusted it off. I have since discovered that it's the most awesome family night book ever! It's so easy. All you do is draw a number out of a bag and it tells you which lesson you'll be teaching. There's no prep work involved. All you have to do is read the lesson (which are written so that you can easily dumb them down for little kids or go more in depth for older ones) and then it gives you discussion ideas, suggested scriptures, and primary songs. We've been using it every week for a couple of months and it's made the agony of trying to think up family home evening lessons a snap! I've been so terrible about family home evening and it feels good to know I'm finally doing it!

Pumpkin Carving, Trunk-or-Treating, & a Chili Cook-Off

We had a pretty busy day on Saturday. We started off our day by carving our pumpkins. The girls were so excited. In the past we've taken the easy way out and just painted them. This year we dove right in. Khursten was so funny. She didn't like the slimy feeling of the pumpkin guts so she decided to put plastic bags over her hands. The other girls jumped right on that bandwagon and got some baggies too. I was sure they'd lose interest after 5 minutes, but they stuck it out for the entire hour and a half that took to get them all carved up.
Right after pumpkins it was time for our ward Trunk-or-Treat. Tons of people showed up and the girls all had a blast running around with their friends and begging for candy. Can't beat 70 degree weather at the end of October.
As soon as the Trunk-or-Treat was over, we all went inside for a chili cook-off. I was happy because I had a chance to cook my very favorite thing - white chicken chili. Ryan hates it so I don't get to cook it that often. I didn't win the prize, but when I went back for seconds, my crock pot was scraped clean. That sure makes a girl feel good. Thanks to our awesome activities committee for putting together this fun, fun day.

Grandma's Halloween Party

Every year my mother-in-law throws a Halloween party for the kids. She spoils her grandkids with crafts, games, and treats. Here are a few pictures of the fun time we had last night.

I got a few shots of my girls before we left. (special thanks to my friend Audrey for lending us the most amazing costumes I have ever seen. We were such a hit!)

Here's our little monkey.

Our Scarecrow.

And our Halloween Spider Fairy.

Here are all the grandkids at Grandma & Grandpa's house. (Do you love Tinkerbell's pose as much as I do?)

Let the crafts begin! Grandma definitely outdid herself this year. The girls had so much fun making Halloween bags, Halloween door-hangers, witches, finger puppets, and more.

Thanks so much Grandma & Grandpa for the fun night. Have fun cleaning your house today. :)

It Was So Good!

Since I'm sure everyone is just dying to know... my show last night was AWESOME! It was well worth the wait. I love to watch people dance. I sometimes wish I had never given it up. To see such expression through movement makes me feel happy inside. I'm doing it again next year and I'm totally taking my girls. I may have to cover their eyes for a few scary parts, but I think they'd probably love it almost as much as I did. Anyone want to come with us? We could make it a big thing. Could be really fun.

Thanks little sis Kris for being my date. Thanks Ryan for being the world's best husband and letting me take off for the night. You're great and I had a lot of fun.

So Excited

I have been begging Ryan for years to take me to The Odyssey Dance Theatre's Thriller. I finally gave up on him and tonight I'm going with my little sister Kristy. I'm sooooo excited.

There will be some of this:

A little of this:

And hopefully a whole lot of this:

YAY! I'm so excited!!

Girls & Their Barbies

Last night after baths the girls begged to play for a bit. I had to take their picture. They remind me so much of my sisters and I when we were little. They crack me up with the way they think. Who knew such adventures could be had with 3 barbies and a tea set? My favorite part of all is that my girls (and my sisters and myself) are not girly girls, and their barbies definitely reflect that.

When I was a girl, our barbies were no strangers to the great outdoors. They were adventurous explorers who weren't afraid of a little mud. Rock climbing and repelling were everyday excursions. They were deep sea divers in our bath-tub, and fairies from Fern Gully in our shower. They loved to dive off the back of my dad's pick-up truck, and to fly up and get stuck in the trees. We hung them from ceiling fans and spun them off chairs. Each of them was an adored client of Salon Jill and Sarah's Piercing Shop and they had the high-fashion hair cuts and radical new piercings to prove it. Their poor feet got chewed off within days out of the box, and their knees got bent in such ways that their plastic insides came bursting out. Shoes were lost within seconds, and clothes within hours. Naked barbies were just as fun as those with clothes on. Naked Ken dolls were even funner. :) They had magic marker make-up and home-made clothes and we thought they were the most beautiful things in the whole, wide world.

It's fun for me to see my girls play in the same way we did as kids, and their barbies are already showing the wear from the love of some rough 'n tumble girls.

And She Was So Proud of Herself!

"Wow! Look at this cool stuff! I knew it was pretty neat when it was on my head, but who knew it had such fabulous potential?"

"Hey girls! Come look what I did! Isn't this great?"

"Wait... Mom, why aren't you smiling? I kinda thought maybe this was naughty, but it was so much fun that I just decided to go with it. You're not mad are you?"

"Oh Great! You're upset! Am I in trouble?"

"Maybe if I hide then you can't get mad at me."

"Don't worry mom. I'm sure no one will even notice."

Did I Just Get Duped?

I have been sick for the past week and it's been slightly miserable. It all ended in one fantastic and very lovely sinus infection which I finally broke down and went to a doctor for. This morning when Khursten woke up with a little cough and a stuffy nose, I wanted to be a good mom and remember just how terrible I felt last week. I felt her forehead and asked her if she felt too sick to go to school, which of course she did.

About 20 minutes after we had officially missed the bus, and as soon as I made the phone call to the school informing them of Khursten's absence, she was laughing and playing with her sisters. I told her that if she's really sick she needed to lay in bed and rest. She stomped upstairs and climbed into bed. I came in to check on her and she asked me if she could read a book. If any of you know Khursten, you know that she loves to read. She loves to read so much so that it's becoming a bit of a problem. She's gone to school hungry because she gets up and reads instead of getting dressed and eating breakfast, she's been grounded because she's supposed to be in her room cleaning but instead she's in there reading.

As soon as she asked if she could read a book, I was sure I'd been had. I'm really going to try and give her the benefit of the doubt, but I can't help but think that she planned this little sickness vacation. In all honesty, I think I'm just a bit jealous. Oh what I wouldn't give for a chance to lay in bed and read all day. Hope you feel better soon Miss Khurs.

Picking Pumpkins at Pack's Pumpkin Patch

Random Photo Tag

Here's a rather fun & easy tag to try. Here's what you do. Go to your "my pictures" and pick the 4th folder, then the 4th photo and upload it. It's fun to see what you get. Here's mine.

Some Random photo of my freaky-looking husband & my brother-in-law, Kent, at Boo at the Zoo '06.

Hmm... I tag... anyone who wants to play along.

The Painting Party

Here's proof that the Roundy Girls can have fun doing anything as long as we're together! This past Saturday my cutest Aunt Sharon asked my sisters & I to come over and help her paint her house. We spent the day singing show tunes, laughing hysterically, and painting away. (I wonder if the toxic fumes from 6 people painting had anything to do with the amount of fun that we were having?) I'm not quite sure dear Auntie Shay & cousin Nate knew quite what they were getting themselves into by inviting us over, but I think it's safe to say that we all had a blast!

The Wise Man Built His House Upon a Rock

This is the picture Nicole drew at church yesterday. She showed it to Ryan & I and was beaming with pride. She explained to us that it was the wise man's house, and he built it on a rock. We managed a pretty convincing "Nice job Nicole!" But when she walked out of the room we both had to chuckle. To us, her picture looked a little bit like something else. Any guesses what?

First Snow

It seems so crazy to me that it's snowing already. Last week it was in the 80's, but this is what we woke up to today.

The Do's & Don'ts of Insomnia

Do : Remind yourself that taking a pill to stay asleep isn't the worst thing in the world. (And if even a pill refuses to work..)
Do : Ignore your bladder. Getting up just makes you cold and cold wakes you right up even more.
Do : Close your eyes and repeat the following words, "There's nothing I'd rather be doing than sleeping. Sleeping is fun. Sleep is good."
Do : Ignore your rumbling tummy or keep a bottle of water on your nightstand. That usually works... well not really but it's so much better than what you'd find downstairs.
Do : Tell yourself that last week's episode of Grey's Anatomy that you had to miss will still be there tomorrow, and you don't need to get out of bed right now to watch it.
Do : Keep repeating your 'love-to-sleep' mantra
Do : Keep a notebook by your bed to write down your amazing, world-changing ideas that you're sure to come up with. In the morning you can read them and they will give you a good laugh. (They're never great, and they rarely even make sense, but they can be quite comical)

Don't : Decide that tonight you're tired enough that you could sleep through anything and opt not to take a sleeping pill.

Don't : Lay there concentrating on the sound of your husband's ever-constant snore. It will only infuriate you and bad things could happen.

Don't : Get up 5 times to pee because maybe, just maybe, if you're bladder is empty, you'll finally be able to go back to sleep.

Don't : Lay in bed thinking about all the things you would really like to be doing right now

Don't : Get out of bed and do them

Don't : Go downstairs and do the dishes

Don't : Think about IM'ing your dad because of course he's up too. By the way, thanks for the wonderful gift of insomnia, dad. Love it!

Don't : Watch last week's episode of Grey's Anatomy so you can 'catch up'

Don't : Snack (this is a big one)

Don't : Go back to bed and again start thinking about all the things you'd rather be doing

Don't : Come up with the world's best idea and then lay in bed thinking about how great your idea is and how big of a shame it would be to go back to sleep because then you'd forget all about it.

Don't : Seek out the nocturnal cat for a little company

Don't : Get mad at the cat when it turns out she's not really very nocturnal and she just wants to sleep and she keeps biting you when you try to put her on your lap and pet her.

Don't : Go in and lay with your sweet 2-year-old and watch her sleep (You'll wake her up and she'll cry!)

Don't : Lay on the couch and hope your latest book will put you right to sleep. (It won't. It's way too interesting)

Don't : Blog about your insomniac frustrations at 3:00 in the morning. (and then get back up at 3:48 because you thought of a few things you forgot to put on your list in the first place)

Well... It Was a Thought...

My little sister recently gave me her old bike. I was so thrilled. Since the girls started school, it's just Audrey & I for almost 4 hours in the afternoon. I have been wanting so badly to exercises and I thought this would be the perfect way. I hunted and hunted and I finally found a brand-new-in-box bike seat carrier for only $15. Hooray! After Ryan & struggled for way too long to assemble the seat, I thought I'd take the bike out today for a test run. Things didn't go so smoothly. In my one short little loop around the parkway, here's what I discovered about my wonderful new bike. The seat is set for a shortie and is apparently rusted shut so I can't raise it, the chain slips off if you try to change gears, the handlebars turn independently from the front tire, and the brakes apparently don't work at all. So a little dejected, I lowered my head and walked my bike back home. I'm one very sad girl right now.

Color IQ Test

I totally stole this off my sister's cousin's blog, but it was kinda fun. How good are you with color? Here's a little test to find out. Can you put these squares in order of color hue?

Zero is a perfect score. My score was 2! Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. Although, admittedly, I'm not sure what the ability to sort colors can do for me in my day-to-day life. Hey... maybe I can get a job as the gal who reorganizes all the paint samples at Home Depot at the end of the day. That's a skill!

If you have a few minutes, take the test yourself. Let me know how you score. (I'm curious to see how other people do) If your score is low too, maybe we can go into some sort of color-sorting business together! :)

Who Loose It?

Lately I haven't been able to talk on the phone without Audrey running in and yelling, "Who loose it? Who loose it? Who loose it, mommy?" Even after I tell her who 'loo' it is, she just keeps yelling, "Who loose it?" She will literally climb up my legs and try to grab the phone out of my hand so she can talk to 'looever' is on the phone. Although it cracks me up every time... I appologize to anyone who's tried to have a phone conversation with me lately.