Another Week

On Thursday, Jerry officiated two games......needless to say, he was exhausted. We shuttled him to his games and went to Landon's open house for his pre-school. He was so cute with his teacher. He kept calling her by name, "Mrs. Shakspear" and talking about all the things he would do. Lauren was well behaved and we stayed for a while filling out papers and learning about the cirriculum. Then we went shopping for lunch boxes. Landon picked a Spiderman lunch box and Lauren a Dora lunch box. It was quite the Wal-mart adventure. We picked Jerry up and headed home. One important detail about the day I forgot to mention was the period of time when Lauren locked Landon and I out of the house. It was really exciting....actually Lauren had a great time. She looked through the window and laughed every time we asked her to let us in. After she got tired of laughing, she began to meow like a kitten. It was great. Luckily, my friend Kendra was just leaving and I was able to call Jerry on her cell phone to come and rescue us. He had been doing interviews with the CEO of Jacobsen and luckily, they were on a lunch break. They are hiring a new project superintendent. When Jerry gave Lauren the lecture about not locking the door she just said, "Right." Like she knew all along it was the wrong thing to do. We spent Friday getting ready for company to come. We had a visit from Uncle Rod and his friend Jamie. During the preparation, I fell on the stairs and sprained my toe while trying to put Lauren in time out. We have now decided the timeout spot will have to be downstairs to protect my feet and anything else that may break or be sprained. Shortly after the fall, Lauren decided to drink bubble bath. I called poison control and they said she just needed to be monitored. She spit in a bowl for a while but that was it. She was really excited when they called back and wanted to talk to them. She is such a character. So Rod came on Friday and stayed until Saturday. We tried to convince him to stay longer but he did not cooperate. We had fun visiting with him. He and Jerry had a meeting on Friday night and we had Brad and Liz over for dinner as well. We left on Saturday and went to Las Vegas. Of course our first stop was In and Out for a healthy lunch and then to Dave and Rebecca's. They blessed their new baby Evelyn on Sunday. We had a nice time visiting with them and their family. Dave and Jerry were able to attend the temple together which I know they enjoyed. We came back on Sunday night ready to be home and grateful Jerry had Monday off of work.

Highlights

This was a good but fast week. Jerry has started officiating high school football which means he has meetings on Wednesday nights but also had his first game this week on Thursday. He really enjoyed it. He got an awesome workout and also had fun. He says some of the officials are pretty intense but I think he will like doing it. He was so dehydrated he had to get up through out the night to drink water. I ended up going to the girls night in our ward when he got home and enjoyed chatting with the girls in the ward. I always tell Jerry I will be home early......I am usually very tired on Friday. I had to work on Friday afternoon. Jerry usually comes home early but called about one and announced he was taking the kids to work with him. I quickly found the portable DVD player and put some movies in it. I had to go do a match with one of the people I work with. I work for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Mentoring agency and we went to a home to pair a little sister with a big sister. I called Jerry before he left work but was unable to reach him and ended up at the temple visitors center for a few hours. I actually had an awesome experience. I ended up finding a sister missionary whose ward I had served in back when I was on my mission. It was so fun to catch up with her and I am hoping to regain contact with some of the people who were in that ward through her. We also talked to another couple who were in St George from Freiburg, Germany. They were going to suprise their daughter who is serving as a missionary on temple square the next day. I had a great time. All the while, Jerry was doing errands with the kids and he didn't have a phone so I couldn't reach him. I am not sure if the grocery shopping experience was quite as pleasant for him. On Saturday we went to the What Kids Want Expo at the Dixie Center. Jerry whipped up a french toast breakfast which was amazing....he loves the food network website so that gave the day a great start. The kids ate lots of candy at the expo. I was able to get tickets through work. I have been more aware of the community activities which has really livened up our Saturdays. One more funny experience from church today.....I was very naseous in Sacrament meeting (this is very normal for me with pregnancy...I throw up with no warning which is so baffling to Jerry) so I left the meeting to go in the hall. The problem I have is I play the organ so I was running in and out to play the songs. Well, on my way back in to play the closing song, Jerry opens the door of the men's bathroom and I see Lauren standing on the counter in a diaper. Jerry says," She had a blowout you have to take her home right now!" He was a bit panicked because he teaches Sunday School and wanted to get in the room to prepare his lesson. I was a bit panicked because the speaker was winding down. So I inform him I can't do anything until I play the closing song. I ran in and played some version of a song I have never heard, ran into Jerry (who had placed Lauren in the car) and ran Lauren home to get a new dress. It was quite the Sunday.

Family Day in the Park

We went to the family day in the park on Saturday. It was really fun. They had a bounce house and other little play things for the kids. They also got to see a fire engine and other large city machines which Landon was really happy about. They went on one slide that had water at the bottom which bothered Landon. He didn't like being wet and touching other things. We also had snow cones and Landon was very angry because an ant ate some of his snow cone. It fell on the ground and then the ant just came and ate it without asking permission. I am not sure what to teach my kids about ants because when I see them, I usually just step on them but I don't know if that is the best strategy as far as killing things goes. I am working on this. We took the kids grocery shopping which was also fun. I don't mind taking them when Dad is there because I just have him push the cart and if things go awry, I can just run off and grab something in another aisle. It's pretty awesome. That night we went to a BBQ with Jerry's new officiating friends. He is officiating high school football and committed to baseball as well. He has been warned if he takes on anymore activities he is in big trouble. We now have something every night of the week plus he got me a "part-time" job so I have that to do in my off time. So we swam and ate a a club house of a housing development. The kids had a really good time. Jerry made an awesome German dinner yesterday. He made schneitzel, cucumber salad and baked potatoes. I love it when he cooks. He makes so much we have leftovers so I didn't have to cook tonight. He is the best.

County Fair

Wow. What can I say about the county fair? There is lots of grease, tons of opportunity for people watching, animals, sweet rides and lots of whining children. We had a good time. I actually had to work at the fair for several hours. I have taken a part-time job with the Big Brothers Big Sisters Mentoring agency and volunteered to sit at our booth at the fair. Jerry dropped me off and took the kids home for naps. When he came back, we let the kids go on a few rides. They were so excited. They chose two train rides.....obviously because they love TRAINS and a car ride. We ate some food.....a baked Idaho potato and some corn on the cob. It was very tasty. The kids also had fun at the other booths and rides which were available. I think they may have been experiencing some over stimulation issues or maybe it was me, but we didn't last that long. We saw the Rogers there which was fun and also ran into another missionary from my mission who had just moved here from Las Vegas who I had not seen since the mission. Besides the extreme heat I think we can consider it a successful family outing. The kids can't wait until next year!

Raise

One of the biggest events of the year happened on Thursday. Jerry had his annual review. We have been praying he would get a raise because the cost of living here is high and we are still recovering from our no income college days. Well, our prayers were answered. He ask for a raise and they doubled his offer. I am so proud of him. He has worked really hard and deserves all the praise and recognition he was given. Let's see....this week we have been busy. We went to Cedar City so Jerry could do his training for football officiating. The kids and I drove around for hours trying to find a Wal-mart. We finally found it and had time to purchase three items, use the "potty" and make it back to pick him up. Last night Jerry had his 14-15 year old Sunday School class over for pizza. I think they had a great time. We also received a gift back from them in the form of toilet papering. The funny thing is we yelled up to Landon to go to bed because he was leaning over the rail (which has a perfect view out front) and he said, "I can't because they are putting paper all over everywhere!" So we peeked out the window and Jerry was able to video his kids doing the dirty deed. He then opened the door (while filming) and suprised them. Landon also came down to tell them "That is a big No-N0 and what you did was very naughty!" I wonder where he learned those phrases? Well, it made for an interesting night anyway. The kids and I got to clean up this morning which we really enjoyed.

Blue Bunny

We were finally able to take a trip to Blue Bunny and get ice cream as a family. Lauren and Landon were able to fill up their sticker charts based on good behavior, using the potty and responding to things Mom and Dad say. We were proud of them. We didn't realize until we actually ordered the ice cream that the portions were rather large. The kids had a great time licking their purple bubble gum ice cream cones and also bringing them home to finish tomorrow. We had our friends over last night, the Bingham's and the Tollefson's. Jerry made his strawberry shortcake his Dad made growing up. We had a great time visiting with them and catching up. Things have been so crazy the past few months we have not spent much time with them. We ended up planning a date night for this weekend which should be really fun. We don't go on dates alone much but we never go out with anyone so this should be a real treat. Landon and Lauren are working on memorizing the family mission statement...a portion of the proclamation on the family. Their Dad has picked a short segment and is repeating it with the kids each night. It is amazing how quickly they catch on. They are wonderful kids and we are so blessed to have them.

Saturday

We had a great day today. We went to lunch at the Olive Garden so Jerry could start his fast and I could eat all the soup, salad and breadsticks I could manage. We do love that place. Then we went to the library where....luckily...we were able to rent "The Polar Express" for another three weeks since we found out after searching yesterday it is not available in stores until closer to Christmas (imagine that?). So we considered this video rental a blessing of sorts. We went to find Jerry an officiating outfit. He is planning to be an official for High School football this fall. When he came out in the outfit Landon said, "Dad, are you pretending to be a coach?" Jerry said," No, an official." Then Landon told the people working there his Dad was pretending to be an official. Kids are the best. We then went to the Brigham Young home since this is a site we have not yet visited here in St George. Landon and I made it through the whole tour, Jerry and Lauren through a portion. Lauren needed a nap. Jerry was determined to make the kids stay awake all day because yesterday they had a long nap and the bedtime routine was rather difficult. So Landon met a boy close to his age and they held hands for most of the tour. Landon kept saying, "Where is my boy?" if they were separated for any amount of time. He is such a friendly kid and loves everyone. We came home and I made homemade Minestrone soup for lunch tomorrow. I remember now why I don't make homemade soup very often....it's quite the time commitment but I am sure tomorrow after church we will be very happy.

Doctor

I took the kids with me to the doctor today. It was an experiment which actually worked quite well. I was amazed at how well they behaved. As we entered the office, Landon ran up to the receptionist's desk and said, "My Mommy has the throw ups!" She said, "Well, you are in the right place." He proceeded to tell her about "last year when he had an earache and went to the doctor (which was actually a few months ago). He is a very outgoing, friendly kid. It is amazing how perceptive your children are. We have never discussed "the throw ups" but apparently he is aware I throw up when I am expecting a baby. We met Jerry for lunch which was fun for us. It breaks up the day nicely. Then we attempted naptime (which didn't work at all) and finally gave in to letting the kids watch "The Polar Express." We checked this out from the library three weeks ago and finally came to our last renewal time. It was a sad day for the children and we may have to break down and purchase it. They absolutely love it. Which is amazing because Lauren will not sit still to watch ANY television and never has but this movie does something to her. She is so busy she doesn't like to stop for anything. We finished the movie, cleaned up (because during the movie the kids thought it would be a good idea to pour popcorn all over the floor...when confronted they just said...you can just vacuum it up Mom...what am I supposed to say to that? So we vacuumed it up and went to Costco. One of my favorite stores on earth besides Gap, Kohl's(I support the Pothier's :>) and Children's Place. We had an eventful trip and Landon enjoyed samples from the "cooker guys." We had fun.