More updates

We are still on a borrowed computer, but I wanted to document our activities this weekend. As I was laying down with Brandon to get him to sleep tonight at 11:15pm (he had come to our bedroom saying his tummy was growling...true...he didn't eat dinner at all), I started thinking about how much I enjoyed this weekend! I love having Mikey home. I love going everywhere together as a family!

I can't remember where I left off, but we went to the zoo with the Gibby cousins on Wednesday. It was really fun and not too crowded for a free day at the zoo! No pictures, because again....no computer!

Thursday we had Thanksgiving dinner with my family. It was so fun to have everyone there. The past 2 years we have been on our own for Thanksgiving because both sets of parents have been traveling. But, that made for a fun change of tradition. The first year, we had my bros and their fams up for dinner at our house! We even had the little kid table! It felt a little weird to be hosting, but it was great fun. Last year, we headed south and Kay & Bud took pity on us. It was really fun for the kids to be swimming on Thanksgiving!

This year the food was fabulous as always. Evan, Jamie & kids are here visiting which makes it extra special. We all headed out for a walk around the block after dinner. Quite the adventure with 9 kids 4 and under! Then, the girls spent time looking through the ads and planning any shopping. From what I hear, Kat was the only one to venture out on black Friday!

Friday, Mike & I decided to take the kids to see the movie BOLT. We didn't realize, but we got tickets for a 3-D show. It's a cute show and kept the kids busy. We were late getting there because we were waiting for Mike's boss, Kevin, to come to our house and pick up some tickets from Mike. Since he and his family live in Denver, we visited for awhile and they wanted to see our house. After the movie, we decided we should stay downtown to see the lights go on for the Christmas season. This gave us some time to kill. So, we went to the Planetarium again. The kids love to go there! Then, we rode Traxx to Temple Square. The kids also love that! When we lived in Murray, the girls and I would ride the train frequently, but we couldn't remember if Brandon has even been on the train!

We walked around Temple Square a bit, saw the Christus and then it was finally time for the lights! Very beautiful, although I think they used to put lights in more trees between the Tabernacle and the Temple....now there are tons on the Plaza. We didn't get to the Plaza because the kids were starving at this point-only having had popcorn for lunch!

We went to The Dodo for dinner! Yea! About this time, Roger called to let us know my family was at Temple Square. We didn't go meet them, however, because the kids were tired by then. We had been downtown for 6 hours by that time. We also felt bad again when Steven called to see if we were still downtown because they were going to walk down and meet us since they live near the Temple.

Saturday, we all went to Abi's birthday party! They had a bounce house in the social room of their apartment building. How cool is that! We were excited to see Cath & their girls for the first time since they became Utahns again! We had a great time visiting and watching the kids bounce and go crazy. It was also fun to watch Steven and Mike in the bounce house playing together!

We ran to the U after that and got some new t-shirts! Brandon and Syd ended up getting stuffed animals....so much has changed up there since we graduated! Buildings where there used to be grass....new parking lots....pretty crazy.

We ran Amanda to a birthday party when we got home and then eventually put up the rest of the Christmas lights and outdoor decor. This turned into a small nightmare as we ran out of clips and Mike & Amanda ran to 4 stores to find some more! Amanda was a great help to her Dad and stayed until the job was finished!

Mike & I did some shopping later and then met our friends, Darin & Elise for sushi! We love hanging with these guys. They are great fun and always up for sushi!

I'm kind of dreading the weekend ending. I really do love it when Mikey is home, and when we are able to visit family and friends without worrying about getting home to put kids to bed on a school night, etc. Although, I do need to get to bed sooner (right now it's 12:20am!)

We have really concentrated on counting our blessings and feeling gratitude this month with our children. We have listed out our blessings and things we are grateful for and taped them to the back door. It was fun to see the kids, especially Sydney, come up with different things each day. I will be sad to take down our display tomorrow as we make way for the Christmas season!

Whaaaaaaa!

Can I just cry for a minute? I miss my computer! I don't have my pictures, my normal e-mail, and I am grateful that Mike set me up with a temporary fix, but I can't make it work half the time (could be operator error....so what?). Whaaaa!



Anyway, a little update from my last post. Brandon did poop for Elise. I owe you big time! We had a great time at the ballet. Amanda did great and we are so proud of her! Friday, Mike & Sydney attended and then Mike took the girls to sushi. Thanks to Emily & Scott for keeping B that night so I could go to Twilight! Had a great time with Kat, Coze, Hillary and Cozette's sisters, etc. I'll have to update with pictures later. But, we did get sparkley....



Saturday, we had the ward party and it went really well! Lots of people, horrible renditions of the fights songs and a BEAUTIFUL outcome of the game! Mike went to the game with his Dad and was happy for 3 days straight. Syd & I went to the ballet and afterward went to McD's with Makell & Eva. Thanks for coming girls! And thanks to Mom & Dad for watching Brandon all day!



Sunday, I just wanted to rest, but between getting things ready for church, such as kids, us, the posters for the upcoming Christmas party, etc, it didn't work. We ran to the grandparents after church and were so excited to see Evan & Jamie!



Monday, we decided to hang with the Gibby cousins at Clark Planetarium. We had a great time and we weren't sure who had more fun...the kiddos or Evan! We had lunch with D, Rog, and Mom & Dad. I got home in time to start teaching lessons and Mike called me to say he had his company's Jazz tickets for the game that night. So, we loaded up the kids and headed south. We had to drive around for awhile since we only had $3 in cash for parking. Mike pulled into the lot just north of the arena because he thought we could use the debit card. When we couldn't and Mike told the guy we only had $3, the guy said, just go in and it will be our secret! Blessings to that guy!



The kids were hard in the game, however. Tired as could be. Amanda was doing homework and Sydney & Brandon had to share a chair. When Amanda & B had to potty in the 4th quarter, I told Mike we would just wait outside for them. He came out not much longer to hear Brandon crying his eyes out because we wouldn't buy him a foam #1 finger! That was enough for Mikey...and we ran home!



So, there is the update....for journaling purposes anyway. The kids are out of school tomorrow, so we are going to the free zoo day with the Gibby's. I'm having a hard time comprehending that Thanksgiving is in less than 2 days. I'll be glad to sit and reflect and relax! And I will be extra Thankful when I get my computer back!

Coming up for air!

So, our computer is sick.....so sick with a virus that we got from cougar board, that it had to go to the hospital. I love my computer and spend a lot of time with it each day, writing to friends and family, managing our finances, organizing piano, downloading pictures and blogging!

I am not doing well without my dear computer and hope it's better soon. Mike did hook me up with a substitute so I could do some things, but I don't have all my old programs, etc. But, thanks to Mikey, I can e-mail a little, blog and surf the web. I have tried to download some pictures and I'm not sure where they are going!

Just an update on this week because it is BUSY! Monday night, I had my piano recital. It went great! My students did really well and it was fun and relaxed. I had 27 kids participate in this recital. Our girls played as we did some cramming to get them songs to play. My new goal is to teach them on a regular basis. It's like the hair dresser whose kids always need a haircut, or the cobbler whose kids never have shoes or the tax accountant who never gets his taxes in on time!

Tuesday started Nutcracker week. I went and chaperoned for the dress rehearsal. Let me tell you, it is quite the production! Amanda is having a BLAST! She is loving everything about it! Thanks to my friends who are stepping in and taking Brandon for us while we attend performances this week. Wednesday was also a dress rehearsal. I took Sydney up with me and we watched the first half. Sydney was a little bored, which surprised me. Maybe when she gets to see the second half tonight, she'll enjoy it more. This is the first time I have seen Amanda do her part and she was so cute! We are proud of you, Amanda! We are happy you are enjoy this so much!

Tonight is the first performance. She and two of her friends who are also in the show, wore their Nutcracker sweats to school today. We have the grandparents coming to see the show with us tonight. I have a couple of cute pictures of her in her make-up before she had her costume on, but I don't know how to download them without my program. I'll add them in at another time.

Amidst all this, we have also, shopped like crazy for recital favors, shopped for ward Christmas party stuff, shopped for Ward rivalry party stuff, done visiting teaching, had visiting teachers over, shopped with Grandma Arv for Christmas, shopped for Nutcracker presents (I guess the girls all give each other a little gift closing night), taught piano lessons, volunteered at the school, drove carpools, shopped for a potty-training prize race track, made cookies, done laundry and gone to lunch. I can't tell you how many times I have been to WalMart, Walgreens, Costco and Albertsons this week. I am kind of losing it at this point!

Today, I didn't have anywhere to go, but ended up at Albertsons again because Brandon who is doing much better at the potty training thing has discovered how to hold #2 until you are constipated and I needed to get some Miralax. Just waiting for that storm! Elise, I hope you don't get the brunt of that tonight! I'll never be able to pay you back enough!

So, don't miss me if you don't hear from me for a bit. Just know that I'm not fully wired! And I'm missing it!

I've been tagged by Hill!

All right....like Hill I have other posts to do, but I will stop to enlighten you on my Crazy 8's (so very important:)

Crazy 8s Tag

8 favorite TV shows: I don't know if I can get 8....
~The Office
~The Amazing Race
~I watch the news....
~Sometimes I watch Days of Our Lives if I'm home
~I watch Jay Leno, but I can't say he's my favorite
~I love Tom & Jerry because Brandon sits and watches it for a half hour straight!
(I guess I should watch more tv! :)

8 favorite restaurants
~The Dodo
~Market Street Grill
~Tepanyaki - sushi
~Flemings
~Kyoto
~Mama's Fish House on Maui
~Litza's Pizza
~Chipotle

8 things that happened yesterday:
~Christmas shopped for kids alone
~Clothing shopped with the kids to help Grandma's Christmas list get complete
~Tended Brandon's friend, Matthew
~Talked with Nicole
~Sent Amanda on her first official babysitting job!
~Did laundry-lots of laundry and lots of dishes
~Changed poopy underwear twice
~Made a photo book

8 things I look forward to:
~Thanksgiving and seeing Evan, Jamie & Kids
~Christmas
~going out to dinner with my hubby
~Brandon being potty trained
~Seeing Amanda in the Nutcracker
~The BYU/Utah football game (and our ward breakfast that day)
~The "Twilight" movie premiere next Friday
~Having a lot more energy than I have now!

8 things on my To-Do list today:
~Vacuum
~drive girls all over today for birthday parties and ballet practice
~Help Mike put up Christmas lights
~Make treat bags for my piano students because of our recital on Monday
~Come up with a dinner option
~Clean my bathroom
~Work on stuff for the Ward Christmas Party
~Watch the Utah v San Diego game tonight!

Ok, I tag anyone who reads this and hasn't already been tagged! Have fun!

More Brandon says:

We are having a hard time getting Brandon potty trained. He was doing great with #1 for awhile, but now he's back to peeing his pants. So, when this happens, we take away his bike. The other day, he pee'd his pants when Dad was at work.

Mom: Ok, Brandon, I have to take away your bike until you pee in the potty again.

Brandon: But Mom, Dad will never know!

Honestly! Three years old and he's already trying to play his parents against each other!

btw: We are taking suggestions on potty training.....We've tried everything!

Brandon says:

Brandon was saying the prayer (right now he says all the family prayers), and it was pretty much the same as all the prayers he says. So, Mike decided to help him:

Brandon: Dear Heavenly Father, Thank yee for this day. Bless us to be healthfy....

Mike: Wait, say Thank Thee for this food

Brandon: No, don't teach me how to do it! In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

Pie Girl!

Amanda's activity days group made pies this last week! I had to pick her up a little early to get to a doc appointment (by the way, she is in the 99% for height!), so her leader brought the pie by after we got home and said to me, "Boy, is she indoctrinated or what?"

Can you see the U she carved into her very first pie?

(I don't know where she gets it!)

It was really yummy, too!

We are proud of you, Amanda!

Knock please....

Ok, time to go private! So, if you would like an invite, please e-mail me and I'll include you! Thanks! mjarvy@msn.com

Happy Halloween (for reals)

Darling kiddos!

It is finally here! Time to trick or treat! We headed to Hollingsworths for the pre-trick-or-treat dinner party (yep, for reals). We brought Cheri W.'s famous chicken and wild rice soup that gets requested every year! Plenty of warm and yummy food, even though the temperature was a balmy 70 degrees!

back row: Amanda, Susie E., Maddy L., Hanalee H., Ellie B., then Sydney & Brandon! The back row girls all went together and Sydney and Brandon went with Daddy. Brandon HAD to find his friend, Matthew, before he would go, so Mike hung out with Chad B and at one point got together with Sydney's friend, Abby, and her Dad Rick and sister, Lucy. We tried to get hooked up with our neighbors, but they never caught each other!

I sat outside and passed out candy from the front porch! I took my camera out and snapped a few pictures of some of our friends. Mike & our little ones came home after about an hour and a half and Brandon was DONE! Hit the wall. Party overload. I did take him over to our neighbors, especially Chris the dentist, to get a toothbrush! Then, traded places with Mike so I could take Sydney down the next street. It took Sydney and I about another hour to go down one street! But, it was fun to hang out with her. She is so cute and very sweet at each door when she says thank you and bye!Friends, Maya, Darin & Nash J

When we got home, we had another surprise! Rog, Coze and their kiddos were at our house! Mike said when he opened the door to Kate & Elyse trick-or-treating, it took a minute to register who they were! We decided they needed to get a tootbrush from Dentist Chris and took them around to our neighbors. We also jumped in the car to go see the Wilson's scary house and they were already outside taking down their elaborate Halloween display! We also went to the Elliotts to see their awesome display inside their entry. They had a wizard playing the piano and a guy in a coffin! Very fun!

Action shot of Amanda & Susie trick-or-treating...ok, I know you can't see them

After Mike stuffed Kate & Elyse's trick-or-treat bags with our leftover candy, and Rog & Cozette threw their leftover candy bag at us, and Brandon falling off a pumpkin on the porch and banging his head on the house, they were off and we were ready to settle the kids in, hoping that they were on the crash side of that sugar high they have been riding all day!

Our friends, Taylor F and Joshua H

The girls went right to sleep....Bubba took a couple more hours!

Can we say that although it was lots of fun, it's good to have Halloween in the past!

Brando says:

Time: 9:12AM on November 1st

Brandon: "I just want to eat my candy right now.....because I love candy!"

Dad: "Brandon where's my candy?"

Brandon: "You didn't go trick or treating!"

Dad: "Yes, I did. I went with you."

Brandon: Just shrugs

Brandon: "Mom, I have too much candy!"