Treasured Weekend

In celebration of the DVD release of National Treasure Two we had a treasured weekend. I ended up being sick most of the weekend so it wasn't quite as exciting as I had envisioned it as I stood at Wal-mart making my purchase, but it turned out okay.
Saturday we went to see my dad's grave and my grandparents and great grandparents as well as D's grandparents. Driving around took up most of the day, but we did come across a pond with a swan family in it and the kids loved that!
Mama swan was a little protective and hissed at L when he came too close, but he did not care. He ran around yelling Duckie! and Quack Quack!
The rest of the weekend was spent watching National Treasure One and Two. Going on a drive up in the Uintas. Our usual pass by Mirror lake was closed so we went over Wolf Creek instead.
And yes, it did start snowing on us at the top. Man they still have a ton of snow up there. But it is so pretty. Utah rocks for "National Treasures"
My treasure for the weekend was that D cooked all three nights. (Well one night he ordered pizza with a gift card his sister sent him. Thanks E!) But he did Benihanna night with yummy shrimp fried rice. The other night we got ribs and home made fries!
The one thing that didn't quite turn out is that I wanted to take the kids on a treasure hunt of their own, but with me not feeling well and C not being very obedient, that went bust. D managed to do one of his own and took L and M to Jamba Juice, making M tell him the way to go. He says they went a fairly round about way, but she had a great time. And they brought home my favorite...Pomegranate Heart Defender with an Immunity Boost. Now that was a treasure!

Great Year Orange Flames

Well the soccer season is officially over, and to celebrate M invited all of the Orange Flames over for an end of the season party. She had a great team this year. It was fun to have her best friend on the team and several other close friends. In addition she made new friends. Each of the girls played their best, and we had a great coach in Dr. Cornish.
For the party we celebrated orange style. We put up orange streamers, and orange balloons. We had an all orange dinner which consisted of Mac and Cheese, Cheetos, Mandarin orange cups, and orange soda. Each girl brought a favorite treat and so we had a table full of candy and someone even brought orange ice cream cups.
Before dinner we had a big sign for the girls to sign and give to Coach Cornish, took turns seeing who could bounce a balloon on their head the most times without it hitting the floor, then we did a soccer word search.
After dinner we played: Don't Forget the Lyrics (A game which took me 7 hours to make, and has been a huge success), we painted orange fingernails, we played a musical version of hot potato with a small soccer ball, then each girl took a turn dancing for our "so you think you can dance" competition, then onto freeze frame, sardines and 20 questions.
We wrapped up three hours of fun with the ice cream cups! The girls seemed to have a blast and it is always nice to have your daughter tell you that you are the coolest mom in the world for letting her have a party. I think that makes all the mess I have to go clean up worth the time and effort put into it.
I am so proud of M for her achievements this year in soccer, she learned to be fast and was a top scorer. Having an Oma from Germany, soccer seems to run in our blood. I am glad M is following in the family passion. Go M and Go Orange Flames!

Adventures in Babysitting

Well I survived my day of babysitting! Now granted no one was chasing me and the kids through the streets of Chicago. Our car did not break down (I couldn't have even driven one because there would not have been enough room for car seats for everyone!), and no one named THOR was involved. But still we had a day full of our own adventures!
The day started at 7 am with the arrival of two 3 year old boys and a 6 year old
boy. At that time my own girls (7 & 5) woke up. So I made breakfast (Cereal with fresh Strawberries and OJ, I know not very creative, but it worked) after we had eaten and got all cleaned up I had the task of keeping them quiet until my own 3 year old son woke up. So they played Basketball and watched SUPERWHY while I worked on getting my 7 year old ready for school, piano practicing done, 30 minutes of reading in. During this L decided to wake and playing moved into the play area.
Cry #1 came from one of the 3 year olds right before 9. After several minutes of trying to figure out the problem I realized severe constipation was to blame. The poor little guy was in so much pain. SO I Yoga'd him, rubbed his tummy and after about 30 minutes, well lets just say everything came out finally.
Cry #2 There is no use crying over spilled milk. Well in this case if it is an entire glass of chocolate milk spilled all over your clothes I guess it was alright to cry. Lucky I had some of L's clothes which fit and so it was a quick change and a load of wash that fixed this danger!
Cry #3 at 11:30 my regulars showed up (ages 4 and 1) And we had the usual "Where is my mommy" moment. This one was fixed by everyone sticking Cheese Puffs out of our mouths like we were each a walrus. The tears turned to laughter pretty quick.
Cry #4 This one Could have been a lot worse. I was almost crying for her myself. By 12:35 I realized no one was coming to get the 6 year old for school (Don't fret, you know who you are, I forget all the time even if it IS written on my calender) :). Well I put the baby and 1 3 year old in the stroller and off I walked with 7 children 6 and under to school. I had to go in and check him in since we were about 15 minutes late. While holding doors open for the stroller, the 4 year old got her fingers smashed. It was bad. I thought they might be broken it was that bad. SO there I am in the middle of the hall with a scream child, 2 wannabe runaways and 1 kid who "just wants to go to his class". And then children start flowing into the hall like school is done or something (There was a play in the lunchroom) I am in sweats with bleach stains, hair in a not combed ponytail and no makeup whatsoever. Lets just say I felt like a circus performer the way everyone was staring. But we got ice for the fingers and they ended up being Okay. We got the 6 year old checked in, and we made it home by putting the runaways both in the stroller with the baby and carrying the other 3 year old on my back.
Cry#5&6 Actually happened within minutes of each other. The first involved a broken cookie it was fixed by the promise of a drink. The second involved "I want sprite, not milk" it was fixed by my giving up and saying NAPTIME. So then I got L down for a nap while everyone else watched KBYU. Then the 1 year old went down. Then I sent the girls upstairs to grandma's playroom and the twins went down. Finally at 2:30 peace and quiet! But there were kids sleeping in every area but the bathroom and that was the room that had stayed clean. So I ended up going upstairs and reading, until the two 7 year olds got home from school and I had to make snacks and clean up grandma's play room. Finally at 4:30 everyone was gone and L was still asleep and I was able to get my wordcount in for the day.
All in all, I think things went rather well considering 1 had 9 different kids to care for at different times during the day.

In Joss I Trust...

So for those of you who don't know I am obsessed when it comes to FireFly and Serenity. The best Sci-Fi series and movie ever made in the whole universe ever! Now Joss Whedon is at it again. If you are not familiar with FireFly, he also did the Buffy series. The man has talent and now Fox has bought 7 episodes for fall of his newest endeavor DOLLHOUSE. I think it looks good, but then again we are talking about the man who gave us Jayne, Malcom, Simon and Waah! The characters are bound to be amazing! Or should I say shiny? Here is a sneak peak at what I will be waiting for this fall.

I Went...

This past week has actually been filled with more than just house cleaning and playing barbies! Here are just a few of the things I have done.

I went...last Saturday to authorpalooza with my kids. It was so much fun. Luckily I didn't have a Brandon Mull book to get signed or I would have been in line forever! As it was I got to skip ahead to the front and got 2 books signed by auhtor favorite Jessica Day George. M. had drawn her a picture and we got to talk to her for awhile. Then James Dashner signed my book and he was sitting right next to Brandon Sanderson so M. got to tell Brandon how much she loved Alcataz versus the Evil Librarians. Next it was over to see Mette Ivie Harrison and get a book signed for C. Mette is a former Orson Scott Card bootcamper and said that she thought that was the best writing advice an author could get (glad I got to go). She told me that I must be doing something right, so that made me feel good since the wait to hear back on my partial is about killing me! All in all it was a good day, and I got Coney's Frozen Custard!

I went...on Thursday down to Clevland, UT. A good friend of mine moved down to the area about 4 years ago and she just built a new home so my mom and I packed the kids into her car (small, but better gas milage) and we drove down. We took the kids to the dinosaur museum in price and they had a blast. Then we went to McDonalds for Playland fun. Then off to Lynae's new house. It was so fun to see you Nae! Your girls are darling!
Here we are.









I went...GREEN!
Thanks to Kami's advice on doing something for the environment I purchased these awesome bags at Harmons. 5 for $5. It was so fun to do my grocery shopping (Ironically at Albertsons) and use my bags. They are sturdy, can be washed, and just left in the car until my next shopping trip.










I went...Today to go and see Stephenie Meyer speak. I took my 14 year old niece and it was a lot of fun. I ran into a friend of mine that also went to OSC bootcamp and we sat together. I love Stephenie's new book THE HOST. It is so fun. I was such an outcast there though since I did not have a shirt that said Bite Me! or something like that. 1000 moms or grandmothers all piled into a high school auditorium. It was crazy. Poor Stephenie had to sign I think close to 4000 books. Her signature this time around looks more like initals, unlike last year where she actually had time to write her name. Ah the life of an author. I wonder what it would be like...sigh.

Old Friends

Monday night I ran into my good friend from High School/College Roommate at M's singing recital. It was so fun to see her and she was there with her 4 kids since her sister who is 16 was in the older kids group. Her second son and M were born on the same day in the rooms right next to each other. I remember the nurse coming in and telling me that one of my best friends was in the room next door. Being in labor I could not think of who it would be (She was early)But when I found out it was Stacia I was so excited. Our Husbands kept bringin us reports from the hall. I beat her by an hour!
She really is the reason I went on a mission. Having her as a roommate at SUU was so good for me. I would not have been prepared to go had it not been for her. I would not have met D if I did not move home to get ready to go on a mission. So she really changed my life! Thanks Stacia. You rock!
Oh and also her little sister has a cute online store called Little Pretties. I was amazed at the cute stuff there for kids! She is having a fun giveaway so go check it out on her blog.

Commercials We Love

We spent Mother's Day with my mom, sisters and brother-in-law watching everyone's favorite commercials. These were my two favorite. What is yours?


OR

Good Sport

I just read this article that was posted on a thread at one of my writing forums and I thought I would share.
Incredible moment at softball game stuns crowd
This is what sports should be about. That they other team would give up their victory to help this girl achieve her dream makes them winners in my book. Wouldn't it be great if we could all be this selfless? I know I would want my kids to learn from these girls example.

GO CENTRAL WASHINGTON!

I Love Reading!

Today I drove to SLC and picked up my copy of Stephenie Meyer's new book THE HOST. I also got my tickets to see her speak next week. I also picked up Jessica Day George's new book DRAGON FLIGHT. I am excited to read that since I loved the first one DRAGON SLIPPERS. Both of her books are great for moms and kids alike. When I opened it up I found out that it was a signed copy. That is cool, but I am so excited to go this weekend to Authorpalooza. 16 authors and illustrators from the area will be there including: Brandon Mull (Fablehaven books) Jessica Day George, Mettie Ivie Harrison (The Princess and the Hound), James Dashner (The 13th Reality), and Brandon Sanderson (Elantris, Alcatrz vrs the Evil Librarians). Thanks to upcoming mother's day and the kidness of a good friend. I get to take my copies of Mira Mirror, 13th Reality, Sun and moon Ice and Snow, and Dragon Flight in to get signed by the authors. I know I'm a nerd.
The thing is, I am addicted to reading. I love it. I can't go a day without reading at least a chapter of something. I find myself checking out too many books at the library (I really should take a bag). I love Book Club. I love finding books that I would have never heard of or picked up myself. My list of books on Goddreads is growing and growing. I have so many on there that I need to read, that I don't know what to do. I love to read, but I have a problem.
There is not enough time. I love to write. I have a goal this month to do at least 500 words a day. That has me up at 6 and takes two hours. I have to clean. That takes another hour or so a day. I have three kids. They take up 10+ hours. I have a husband. He gets another 2 hours. I have to work out and get ready for the day which takes up another hour. So when do I have time to read? Well my solution is this...I read in the Bathroom, I read in the car waiting for kids to come from games, from school, from drama, from friends. I read while watching the kids play on their bikes. If the book is good enough I deprive myself sleep for it. I love reading. So if your outside and see someone on my front yard with a book in front of her just think...There's Sabine, lost in her own world again. You can call me a book worm. I admit it gladly!

Stargate Revisited

So last night I watched Ark of Truth. The full length Stargate movie they made. It was good, but I wanted so much more. We have not gotten into another show since we finished Stargate and I am missing it. We watch The Office every week and we are slowly watching Chips, the A-team and Highlander, but I miss having a show to look forward to. Now it is just like we are hanging out watching TV for something to do. Not that I don't love TV time with my husband, but Stargate was something we both got into. I need another good TV series for us to get into. I was thinking about the new BattleStar Galactica, has anyone seen that. Does anyone have any good TV series we could try? We like TV series because by the time we get the kids to bed and talk about our day and stuff there is just not enough time for a whole movie. Sadly the Stargate movie did not meet my expectations, but it was still fun to watch it with D. and remember some of the reasons we loved this series.

Oooo, I wanna be like you!!!

So for those of you who don't know, I live in the perfect neighborhood. (Yes, all my neighbors you are perfect). At times it can be a little overwhelming. Everyone is skinny. (I'm not.) They all run marathons. (I can't run down the street after my kids without getting winded.) They have clean houses. (I live in fear of someone showing up unannounced between the hours of say 8 am and 11:30 pm) They all are stylish and cute. (I live in PJ's) and they all are wonderful moms who do fun activities with their kids (My kids think fun is a box of crayons and blank paper). So yes, to all you perfect moms out there, I say thank you. I wanna be like you!
May 1st is my new begginings. I have spent the last week cleaning, dejunking the kids toys and clothes closet, folding the mound of laundry that was my washroom floor, having freeflowing cherry coke and donuts, all in preperation for this day. So my may goals are to...Pick up after the kids immediatly. Get up in the morning and excercise before I write. Spend at least 1 hour with each kid doing something fun for them. Try to get dressed and ready for the day before 9 am at least 4 days a week (I don't want to stretch myself too far!!!) And hopefully with a whole neighborhoodful of good examples I can try to be a better balanced person. So we will see, but so far so good. I did workout this morning (Still in my workout clothes, so this will be one of my scrounge days!) Oh and I am trying to give up coke, so if I am grumpy for say the next year or two, please understand!!!