The Door

For a long time now we have struggled getting our kids to stay in their room when it is time for bed. We have threatened time after time that if they don't stay in their room that we would have to lock them in. The threat never even scared them and after a while we got a little desperate. Finally on one of those nights when Tate was being his usual self and testing us to the extreme, Matt finally pulled out a rope and tied Tate's door to another door holding it shut. It was quite the knot and Matt and I were finally able to go down stairs to get some time to ourselves. 30 min. later Tate yells "I got out"!

...So much for that Idea.

After that night we realized the rope wasn't going to keep Tate in his room. We had to go to the next level. Tate told us we would never be able to keep him in his room and so Matt switched Tate's door knob with another Door knob which couldn't be opened without a key. Not only, could it not be opened without a key, but we no longer had the key and we turned it around so it would be locked from the outside of the room rather than the inside....

Before I go on, I must mention that many of you are probably wanting to turn us in for child abuse or something. First off I never said that this was the best solution, it is just after a while we had to make are threats turn into reality so that Tater would realize how serious we were. I also do not claim to being the best mom. I realize I am far from being that...

Back to the story...

Now the lock was officially on and we told Tate we wouldn't lock his door unless he didn't stay in his room and go to bed. Tate's reply, "I can still get out"! Of course we asked him if that was a threat and of course Tate challenged us by continuing to go out of his room for the next while. That was it, Door LOCKED!

Back downstairs Matt and I were basically beaming with our success. We could finally relax! This time within 10 minutes Tate was above the stairs yelling "I got OUT" and was basically running around beaming with his own success. We were both chocked and when we went up to Tate's room we learned he had snuck a pair of kid scissors in his room and somehow managed to get the door opened with scissors that obviously weren't even close to the shape of the missing key.

From then on we had to make sure Tate wasn't hiding scissors or anything else that could open his locked door. Eventually Tate learned that we won and we no longer had to lock his door. However, during this struggle we soon found our ideas weren't all that great after all. Infact we quickly saw how pay back was in the making.

The first time we learned this I was down stairs when I suddenly heard Matt yelling to get him out. I ran up stairs to see what the problem was and the kids had locked Matt and themselves inside the room. Addie got a thrill out of this and soon saw it more as a game. Several times Tate would get locked in his room and we would see Addie quickly run away leaving him in his room screaming to let him out.

Each time this happened it seemed someone was always around to let the individuals locked in the room out. However that kind of luck doesn't last long. On this one particular night I had the kids choose a story and we all laid in Tate's bed to read it. Matt was gone and so it was just the kids and I. While reading the story Addie got up and begin wondering around the room. The next thing she did was close the door and start laughing. "I locked us in" laughed Addie. I ran to the door and of course we were locked in. I checked around Tate's room for anything that could open the door... NOTHING! I knew Matt wasn't going to be home until late and so I started sweating at wondering what we would do. Luckily I then realized my phone was in my pocket. I dialed a neighbors number and explained to him that we were locked in Tate's room. We were then saved by our neighbor who kindly came into our house and let us out of Tate's room. VERY EMBARRASSING!

This was not the only time this happened. Another day Addie kept playing with the door and locking everyone in. The day continued to not be her best and she was sent to her room. In her room she had a child proof door lock and that way she couldn't come out. I had promised Tate earlier that day that we would hang up his U of U football poster on his door so both of us went in there and I closed the door so that I could hang the poster up. As soon as I was done I went to open the door. Addie had locked it and never shut it. Tate and I were locked in the room. I yelled for Addie to let us out and it then dawned on me that she too was locked in her room. I checked my pockets and I did not have my cell phone. I wondered how long we would be in the room for.

My only option was to find someone who was outside to come in and help us. Four houses down was one of my close friends who just so happened to be getting in her car. I began yelling out Tate's bedroom window. It took a few tries but finally my friend noticed me yelling from afar. At first she just waved, but then realized I was yelling for her to come over. She came to our house and from the second floor window I asked her to run inside and let us out.

So that is the story about the door. Surprisingly we never got to switching it back and since we moved. I can only imagine what the new owner of the home is going to think when they move in and see the lock on the outside of Tates door. I am sure our neighbors will have some great stories to share with them.

Addie Turns 3

This is obviously way overdue however this was one of favorite things this last year. In September we celebrated Addie's birthday. I have tried to throw a special birthday for each of my kids once they turn three since they are starting to understand a little more about what's going on. From there we have a large birthday every 3-4 years.

Since this was Addie's first birthday party I went all out. Addie decided she wanted a princess birthday party and face painting was a must! We invited Addies friends in the neighborhood and I began to create a princess atmosphere in my home.







Everything started coming together and my art buddy was willing to face paint at the party. Then a couple of days before the party one of my cute neighbors offered to come as Snow White. I told Addie that a special guest would be coming to the party and she was so excited to find out who it would be.

I was so excited to see my Friend Kara (The Face Painter and artist) get all dressed up for her part as the princess face painter. After seeing her I decided I better get dressed up for Addie's Birthday Ball as well. So I ran in my room and squeezed into my wedding dress. Yes, I am sort of a dork, but Addie loved having her mom dressed up as a princess and I have to admit that I sort of enjoyed playing the part of a princess as well.

All of Addies Friends began to show up in their princess attire. They were first led to the kitchen to make crowns. After there crowns were made the girls got to visit the official "Princess Make-up Artist", Kara. She did a wonderful job face painting. I was able to do a couple of faces as well since she had more than enough work for her.




After face painting the girls got to get a picture taken at the carriage. They were all so cute!

At this time I asked the girls "what does every Princess need to have with her at the ball"? It took them a while to get the answer, but eventually someone said a prince. This is when I said i couldn't find a prince, but I had a frog they could all kiss. We then played "Kiss the Frog" which was basically like Pin the Tail on the Donkey.



This was when the Special Guest arrived, "Snow White". I have never seen such a perfect Snow White. My neighbor was seriusly better than the Snow White at Disneyland. She came in with an Apple and Birthday card to present to Addie. The kids then gathered around for a story.... Now for the best part. Snow White then took the girls to the back yard and gathered them around the fire pit which she called the "Wishing Well". Each girl was given a coin and told that they were to make a wish. Before they made a wish they all sang with Snow White her song "I'm Wishing". It was so darn cute! I was so bummed I didn't have my video camera, but I was able to get the end of the song recorded. MIchelle, you are the best!

After the song the girls each made a wish and threw their coin into the wishing well.



So just when you think the party is over.... it's not. Each girl got to have their picture taken with Snow White. Snow White then said her goodbyes and we ate cake and ice cream. Mission was accomplished and everyone had a blast!



Thanks to everyone who helped make the party a success. There were so many mom who helped out. Once again, "I have some of the greatest friends and neighbors"!

Paul McCartney Concert

For those of you who have known me for years I have always been a huge Beatle's fan. The best part was my dad is who introduced me to them and he is a fan as well. In 8th or 9th grade my dad surprised me and took me to the Ringo Starr and His All Star Band Concert. This was such an awesome night. My dad even snuck in his video camera and we got some video before someone came to worn us no videos allowed. I have the best dad.

Later in life my dad continued to surprise me by taking me to several different Beatle Tribute Band concerts. A few years ago I took my dad to the Oldiesfest which was also a great time.

Well when I heard Paul McCartney was coming I had to take my dad. I was starting to get it all planned when my dad, the great guy he is, had the same idea. We ended up each buying our own tickets so that we could get better seating and I took him out to dinner. I was in heaven at the concert. It was absolutely amazing.

First 1/2 Marathon!

This summer I accomplished my first half marathon! This has always been a goal of mine , but it just took me some motivation and a buddy to join me to do so. I didn't get any pics but I assure you I did it and I even finished.

During the summer I had ran two 10k's and ran them in under a 8 min mile. I was hoping to keep up that rate even though I knew the run would be much longer. However, there were things I had to take under consideration....

Anxiety Bladder
There has to be a real name for this somewhere but since I am unsure as to what it is called I will explain it to you. Everytime I know I am not going to be able to go to the bathroom for a while my bladder get an anxiety and has to go like every 5 min. Seriously! I knew this would happen but tried to go to the bathroom as soon as I could before the run as possible. The problem is with the run I did (Provo River 1/2 marathon) the lines are horrible. There was no way I would make it to the bathroom a second time before the run and so I went for it. At about the halfway mark my bladder couldn't hold it much longer. Luckily there was an porter potty and I went pee faster then I ever had in my whole life. This lost me some time... :0(

Down Hill Run NOT as easy as you'd think:
The Provo River 1/2 marathon is basically all downhill except for this one point at about the 6th or 7th mile were they have you back track on a slight up hill run for about a mile (at least that is how long it felt to me) and then back down....

I did some up hill running before the run but no down hill runs. I figured I was in good shape and my knees wouldn't give in, which they didn't, but my thighs and calves.... ugh! I don't know why I couldn't have figured it out on my own but running down hill uses so many more muscles. Muscles you rarely use so that you control yourself from tumbling down the hill on your head. At about mile 10 my legs felt like bricks. I swear I wasn't even running but I was sure trying...

Regardless of these challenges I still ran in 1:50:12 that is a 8.25 mile. Woohoo!

Cousin getting married...

My cute cousin finally tied the knot in Aug. She is such a beautiful girl and I couldn't be happier for her. She was kind enough to trust me with her custom made cake topper. Her now husband collected M&M figurines and so they wanted a unique M&M wedding cake topper that they could keep and add to their collection. They looked around but couldn't find what they wanted plus the prices were outrageous so she asked me if I would be willing to make one for them. I of course said yes, but had to admit I knew nothing about making a cake topper. I just went with it and with clay I created this....




Since this cousin and her family has always been super supportive to my family I wanted to make sure I did all I could to help so my mom and I got together and hosted a shower for her. My moms camera had more pics, but here are a couple of what was taken from my camera...






Congrats Gillian and Jon!!!

4th of July

The 4th of July is always a holiday my kids look forward to. I wish it was because they understood the main reason for the celebration, but it is actually because they look forward to our neighborhoods yearly 4th of July Block Party. This year my neighor Tami and I sort of took charge and then the craziness began....

My Sister, husband and their kids stayed the night before at our house. When we woke up, we all woke up to the strongest winds ever. The party is always held outside and we knew it had to go on, so we just went with it. It will probably be one of the mist memorable 4th of July block parties... We set up as much as possible but with the wind things weren't wanting to stay put.

First off we had the parade around the neighborhood.




Afterwards we plugged in all of the grills for the pancakes and as we were cooking them, the power we were using had an overload and quit on us. This left only half cooked pancakes. The only solution was bringing the grills to someone's house and cooking there. I took on the job as the runner who ran up and down a hill to Tami's house picked up the cooked pancakes, ran them back down the hill and onto the food table. Great WORKOUT, seriously.

Eventually everyone got fed and the games/activities were to begin, only problem was the wind and the cold. Luckily we have a very supportive neighborhood and several people opened up their garages to host the activities.

I did face painting again this year and was super excited to tryout my new face paints. I did face painting with a few other of my talented neighbors. It was crazy as usual but with the walls of the garage blocking the wind everything worked out.



Overall it was an exhausting event for the adults, but the kids loved it and hopefully next year we can get rid of the wind and plan ahead for the power overload which we should had already done since it happened the year before.... ;0)

Brother Visits

One of my favorite memories this summer was when my oldest brother came to visit. Since being on his own her has lived all over. Most recently him and his wife are living in Japan with my adorable niece, Parker. Since they have had her I have not seen her other than pictures and skype so this visit was a major deal.



It was so fun seeing my brother as a dad. Overall it was just great hanging out with him and his wife. The bonus was getting the WHOLE family together again. It has been a couple of years since his last visit.

Tate graduated Pre-School

Anderson Family Trip

Way back... when the summer began (in June) we had an Anderson family vacation. It has been a long time since we have been able to all get together and finally we did. We went up to Matt's family's cabin and spent a week there. We did tons of four wheeling, hiking and even horse riding. My brother in law had a buddy bring his horses to the cabin. There was even a pony for the smaller kids to enjoy.





Some other activities we did were decorate t-shirts and the girls all got to make their own dolls. It was defiantly a vacation to remember.

Valentines

(YUP, this is a bit old. I started it and never finished, but here you go.....)

We had the craziest Valentines week, but I absolutely loved it! I have sort of been on a kick lately of parties, so I thought it would be awesome to invite a few of Tate and Addie's friends over for a valentine party. Last minute my nieces and nephew joined too, so that their mom and dad could go out for their anniversary. There was defiantly going to be a party!

Tate really wanted to decorate the house for valentines and so I had him help me pull something together. It turned out pretty cute for it being cheap hand made decorations. I didn't even have to spend anything since we just collected things around the house. ...





Speaking of Tate helping me, I swear I know how to spell Valentines. I had Tate string the letters on and at some point they must have gotten mixed up. For some reason I didn't even notice until everything was all hung up. I wasn't about to pull the sign down and get the letters reorganized.


We had some cousins and a couple of friends come over. We ate heart shaped grilled cheese, decorated cookies and played a couple of games. Overall it was a success!!!