Duck, Duck, Goose

One of the things I love most about Rich is that he's such a fun dad. He loves to get down on the floor and play with the kids- and of course they love it too. Tonight I was helping Karter get ready for bed and I heard Zachary yelling GOOSE! It went back and forth for a while and they sounded like they were having so much fun so Karter and I decided to join them. We all sat on the couch while the IT walked circles around it saying Duck, Duck, GOOSE! Man, the kids had a blast and Rich and I enjoyed ourselves too. At one point Zachary decided that all three of us were gooses (geese?), so we all got up and ran a lap around the couch. It was all good fun until Zachary stubbed his toe- it's bound to happen. But he got over it pretty quick and we had to talk them into going to bed. Whew! Now I'm beat. Hopping up and down off the couch and running laps around it wore me out! But we had fun and I had to promise the kids we could play it tomorrow for family night. I highly recommend it! :)

Great Ropes

So I haven't written about a major thing going on in our lives. Richard has been doing this thing called Great Life (which I affectionately call "The Cult"). It's been a topic of tension for a while. I'm not big on the whole "finding yourself, be happy, hug everybody" stuff that costs a lot of money. But Rich has pretty much always done what he wants, so he's been gone for weeknights and weekends for about 2 months now. It's been tough on the family and really tough on me. But as of next weekend, he'll be done and I'm so glad. But I will say (despite a few bumps along the way) I have noticed a difference in him. He's been much more helpful around the house (which is a HUGE thing to me), he's been sweeter to me and he spends a lot more time on the phone and on Facebook. That last one is not really a good thing, but he's made a ton of good friends and seems genuinely happy- happier than he was, which was pretty happy anyway. He talks about how he's not as passive as he was and he's learning to be a better communicator.
Anyway, today was "guest day". We hiked up the mountains in Bountiful (right above some of the BIGGEST houses I have ever seen) and did what they call the ropes course. We divided into groups and did these obstacles with each other. Most of them were blindfolded! So, as if crossing a log 10 feet off the ground wasn't scary enough, we did it blindfolded!! I should point out that we were wearing harnesses, but still! There was another one where we had to cross a rope from one tree to another holding onto a rope for half of it, then a foot or two with no rope until you can grab onto the next rope. There were a few others and the point is to learn about each other and learn to work together and whatever else you can take from it.... if you're one of those deep people. I am not, but it was fun and there were a few times where I had to trust Rich and that was pretty tough when I was blindfolded and not sure if he knew what he was doing. But apparently he did, because we made it. It was a lot of fun and even though I really didn't want to go, I'm glad I did.
I'm not saying I would recommend you write a check and pretty much abandon your family for two months but I will admit that I'm not as bitterly against it as I was. I could totally see all the friendships that were made and the encouragement that was given by everyone as some of them overcame things that were very much outside their comfort zone. It was pretty awesome- don't tell Rich. :)

An art show, pizza and a bucked-tooth boy...

We went to an art show last night in SLC to support my sister-in-law's boyfriend. It was pretty cool, there was another artist there that had some really cool paintings. She did a lot of women figures that morphed into trees and a lot of butterflies and fish. My kids had fun looking at all the different pieces but got bored after a while and started, well you know, being kids. It wasn't terrible until Zachary decided to turn off the lights in the front and this guy came storming back demanding to know who was playing with the lights. It was so embarrassing. So we finally left and went back to Jennifer and Clarence's house (Rich's sister and her boyfriend) and had the best pizza I've had in a long time- it was so good! I can't remember the name of the place- I'll have to find out. It was yummy. Anyway they don't have kids but they have this great big bin full of random toys for the kids and they love to go through it and pull everything out. Zachary found some bunny teeth or something and these nerd glasses. He looked so funny! I was exhausted so I was giggly and this had me on the floor for a few minutes. I only had my cell phone but I had to get a picture. Now it's on my phone wallpaper. It cracks me up every time I see it.

Play date at the Stephenson's

We went to play at Liz's house last Friday night (since Ryan was working and Rich was "camping"). Liz was a little worried that my kids might get bored since all she had was little girl toys. Well, that was certainly not the case. I haven't seen my kids have as much fun in a long time as they had with Sarah's new kitchen set. They played chef for a long time and made Liz and I some delectable dishes. :)
Aside from that we also had a good time watching Enchanted and eating yummy pizza! And after Zachary spilled his regular cup on the table, he proceeded to take the lid off his sippy and dump orange soda all over Liz's couch! Arrrggghhh!!! That kid never fails to make a big mess wherever we go. Luckily, Liz is laid back and was cool about it even though I felt totally stupid (at least she played it cool- she may have told Ryan that we're not allowed to come over ever again when he got home). But we had lots of fun and don't they look adorable in the pink, polka dot chef's hat? :)

a V-Day first

So for the 6 years that we've been married, Rich and I have never done anything for Valentine's Day- not even gifts. Part of the reason is because we've always been sorta broke and partly because I too, kind of feel like it's a Hallmark holiday. So this year I made tentative plans with my sister who was going to be in town and Rich seemed down, but then our plans got cancelled due to the weather. So Rich and I took the kids out to eat and for ice cream on Friday and Rich gave me my Valentine's present- a gift certificate to Massage Envy! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE massages and haven't had one forever. What a nice surprise! I can't wait to use it, now I just need to find time and a sitter....

V-day party

I really do feel like I have one of the best group of girlfriends ever. I love that we plan fun things for just us girls and fun things for the kiddies. (I also love that Liz gets pictures up so fast!) Today we made the trek all the way out to Tooele to have a little Valentine party for the kids at Val's house. They had so much fun. I'm so glad that they all get along so well and play so good together. We could have let them play downstairs forever and they would've been just fine. But they did come up to pass out valentines and decorate the yummy cookies Ash made. And of course us girls like to just sit and chat and have fun with the camera and the timer. This picture of us on the couch was my favorite because I totally caught Ash off guard with the fish hook. I just love that we can get together and have so much fun!

I need some pants

So, I have a really hard time keeping both of my children in pants. They are growing like weeds and are really, really hard on clothes! I found some of Karter's old pants for Zachary that amazingly didn't have holes in the knees already, although they did have the little scissor clip at the bottom so that they would go over the shoes (remember doing that?). So yesterday when I got to the daycare the director stopped to let me know that they caught Zachary and his girlfriend ripping his pants a little. When I saw him, this is what I found:

The first thing he said when he saw me was "Sorry Mom, it was an accident."