Bitter Sweet

Today Randy was released as the 2nd counselor in the bishopric. It has been bitter sweet for me today. Everyone that has come up to me has said "I bet you are so happy!" I was surprised to get this phrase from multiple people. I really don't feel 'happy' about it. I am glad that I won't have to deal with the children all by myself (or with sister Kidman who has been helping me out but recently moved) anymore during sacrament meeting. It will be nice to have Randy home more often. But, I will miss hearing stories of how his life is being blessed and hearing of others lives being blessed through him and I will miss the blessings Heavenly Father has given us for his stalwart service to the lord in this capacity. But no, I'm not 'happy' for this release. I have learned a lot since Randy started serving in the bishopric. I have come closer to the Lord as I have needed to rely more on Him and less on Randy. My testimony has also grown more than I ever thought it could. I have grown so much through this calling and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it being over...for now. It was wonderful to hear Randy's testimony today in Sacrament meeting albeit I did wear the wrong mascara and paid for it dearly. But I digress, He is such a great example to me of unfailing love and determination to do what the Lord would have him do no matter the cost. His testimony was/is amazing. I am thankful to have married such a wonderful man. I have a feeling this wont be the last time he serves in a bishopric, but for now I will enjoy having him around a little bit more often.

Dental oddity

We took the kiddos to the dentist yesterday for a family check up. Fortunately for all of us, we are each cavity free! Unfortunately, we found out some interesting things about Tyler's mouth/teeth. I'll start by saying that it is ridiculous when they try to get him to bite down on the things to take the x-rays. He can't do it. He gags, coughs, and spits. Tyler is seven and until yesterday we have been unable to take an x-ray of his teeth because of these problems. Luckily, our dentist has the dental x-ray scanner thingy that just rotates around your head. Tyler was able to do this.
It looks something like this:

When Dr. Stobbe came into the room, he just stared at Ty's x-ray for a while without saying a word. Then, he said "This is something I have never seen before. Well, Tyler has a LOT of interesting things going on here." he then proceeded to tell me about Tyler's top row of teeth pointing things out on the x-ray image. For some reason the front permanent tooth is coming in diagonally. Then, his lateral incisor on the opposite side looks rather large. But on the other lateral incisor looks abnormally small. Dr. Stobbe is hoping that the small tooth is just sideways, but it could be a peg tooth (peg lateral).

This is an example of a peg tooth. It is kinda small and "peg" shaped.

Great. So then, after talking about treatments for things that may or may not happen with this odd top row, he says "OK, so on to the bottom teeth, which are REALLY weird." I'm thinking "Oh great, that's not all?!" He points out on the x-ray that we can see all the permanent teeth below his baby teeth. Yeah, I got that. Then, he shows me that underneath his central incisors on the bottom row, Tyler doesn't have any permanent teeth underneath the baby teeth. So now I know why he hasn't lost the two teeth everyone loses first. He doesn't have any permanent teeth to replace them! Dr. Stobbe said he has never seen this before. I know that it is relatively common to have missing permanent teeth. It is the fact that it is the front teeth and both of them that makes it unusual. He talked to me about how long baby teeth can last and that they may or may not last into adulthood, but that they will look abnormally small compared to all his other teeth (which they already do). BUT, that around 18 when all his other teeth are in, we can pull them and or put in some implants. I bet you can hear the super enthusiastic "wonderful" in my head. Sigh, well, he then asked if I have any questions. I looked at him and said "Nope, no questions I just need to start saving my money huh." he laughed and said that yes, Tyler would need some work done for sure. The funny thing was as Dr. Stobbe was talking to me, Tyler was oblivious to everything staring up at the TV. Dr. Stobbe kept saying things like "Now THIS is weird, I, uh, mean "special." He was constantly saying this and that was weird and then substituting the word "weird" for "special" and then looking down at Tyler to see if he heard. He makes me laugh. So now, we play a wait and see game until we can actually do something to correct the problems.

I, for one, TOTALLY blame Randy's side of the family for this one. ;)

I know a couple of you may be interested in seeing the x-ray. Here is a scanned copy of Tyler's x-ray printout we asked for. (He has lost 3 baby teeth his bottom lateral incisors and his front right tooth.)

FYI, by hour two and a half at the dentist, it was finally my turn. Dr. Stobbe told me "You are the last patient of the day and you have the healthiest gums we have seen today. Yeah, that's right, all my hard work is finally paying off! Lol.

Rock Rewards Program

We have an awesome yard. We have worked really hard on it for the past couple of years. Unbeknown to us, when we purchased the house and yard, we signed on for a rock rewards program. Here is how it works: every time you dig a hole in the yard, you are rewarded with a rock. Sometimes, if you are really lucky you are rewarded with two or three! I know you are jealous and are thinking "well, how big does the hole have to be to earn such a fantastic find?" Well, truth be known, the hole doesn't have to be big at all!

Starting out working in the yard, we weren't quite sure if the rock rewards program was the right thing for us. I know, I know, who wouldn't love getting FREE rocks all the time? Well, we sure didn't like the idea of breaking our backs each and every time we wanted to add a plant or shrub into our yard. But, unfortunately, once you sign on for the rock rewards program, you are in it for life...or the duration of your yard work.

If you know Randy and I, you know that we are savers. And I'm not just talking money. We have been saving our rocks for a really long time. This weekend we were finally able to put our saved rocks to some use. Most of the rocks we have been saving are around this size. Some are bigger, some are smaller, but most rewards were right about this big.Not too shabby right? Rock rewards at its best I always say! Anyway, Randy and I worked on our parking strips for two days this weekend. I planted some plants and he put down some weed barrier in the parking strips.

Here are some of the new plants I planted. I also planted 6 new plants into the parking strips.

We got 5 yards of bark and shoveled and raked it into the parking strips over the weed barrier. Then, wait for it, wait for it...we added the ROCKS! I know I know it is super exciting after all the waiting and saving. It was hard to hold onto all those rocks sometimes especially when you have so many and you feel like you wouldn't miss one or two. But saving prevailed and our patience paid off and voila! There you have it. Finished rock, bark and plant parking strips.

Here is a peak at what it looks like. I'll even give you a before and after sort of behind the scenes look. Hold on to your hats...

Before

After

Before

After
FYI: These are only the large rocks we have saved. We still have an emergency rock pile of the small rocks just in case. Whew, I don't know if I would feel as secure using the big rocks without having the small rocks as a back up.

Needless to say, our new motto is:"Rock rewards worked for us!" -wink and smile.

Wow, That's a Lot Of Cake!

I was asked in January if I would help make a cake for the stake Sunday school fireside on May 1st. So this past weekend I was busy busy baking and making a cake for the occasion. My friend Justin had me copy the design of the cake he used on the invitation to the event. I think it turned out pretty good.

The cake with the invitation.
The fireside was all about "how do you serve the gospel" He asked for a volunteer and asked if they wanted a piece of cake and then cut him a piece and smashed it all over the guys shirt. Then he asked for another volunteer and gave them a slice of cake on fine china with a fork and napkin. He then proceeded to ask us how we serve the gospel. Do we shove it in other peoples faces or do we hand it to them on a silver platter and wait for them to receive it?The cake.
Yes I know "the Gospel" is messed up; the more I touched it the worse it got. Yes I know that saying "the gospel is messed up" is funny in and of itself and I couldn't stifle a giggle as I typed it.

I loved the edible pearls I bought on Etsy. They are really cool. FYI the bottom layer is about 4 cake mixes and 16 inches wide. It was huge and very difficult for me to work with/carry. The bottom and top layer were french vanilla cake with almond butter-cream frosting and the middle layer was lemon cake with almond butter-cream frosting as well. I have to say, they turned out to be pretty tasty. I received many compliments on the flavor/moistness of the cake.

The front and back of the cute program for the fireside/workshop. It was wonderful and I learned a lot about teaching.

Another view of the cake.

I had my fair share of problems while I made it that's for sure. I had fondant cracking (I had to re-do two of the cakes fondant after failed attempts), I had letters peeling, swag falling off, an unsteady hand, my wrist still hurts today from all the kneading I did. I also had no place to put a cake that feeds 80 people! It also took me over 15 hours to finish the cake. That doesn't include the planning/preparing. But all in all it was an interesting experience. I am glad I had the opportunity to make it, and more importantly, I'm very glad that it is finished!

Easter Festivities

We have had a fun Spring break this week. We went to the park often, slept in, went to the Zoo with some friends, and yesterday we visited my sister Michelle and her family in Layton. We had an Easter egg hunt in her backyard and made some treats. The kids had a wonderful time and did not want to leave.

Lily playing with baby Sarah's toys.

Savannah helping Lily find the eggs

Tyler finding an egg
The kids couldn't see that pink egg on top of the porch roof. I told them if they stood there, they should be able to see it...it took them a while before they actually saw it.
Enjoying the bounty.
Jake with his candy
Michelle and I made rice crispy treat eggs with M&M's inside that shook like a rattle. The kids loved them. Yes...we saw the commercial.inside the egg.

On Saturday morning while Randy and the kids were at the city Easter egg hunt, the actual Easter Bunny visited our house! It left us a note saying that he came a day early just for us. The bunny left us a dozen eggs and an egg coloring kit. It also filled up the kids Easter baskets with all kinds of goodies and then hid the baskets all around the house for us to find.

The eggs and note The Easter bunny left behind

Videos of the kids with their baskets.

We are so glad that we had a fun time this spring break. I am especially glad that the Easter bunny could come a day early so that we can celebrate what Easter is really about on Sunday. Happy Easter Everybody!

For Grandma

I was talking on the phone with my Grandma yesterday while I made cookies for my relief society lesson. She asked me to post them on the blog so she could see them. So, here are photos I took yesterday Grandma.

I taught my lesson today on "Tithes and Offerings" and I used these cookies for my object lesson. They are supposed to look like money (if you couldn't tell).

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I lined up 10 cookies on the table and asked for 10 volunteers. I had each volunteer hold a sign that represented part of a monthly budget. These are the signs I had them hold.

1. Mortgage

2. Utilities

3. Gasoline

4. School

5. Grocery

6. SALE (at Bath and body works or whatever store)

7. Birthday

8. Doctor

9. Insurance

10. Tithing/Phone

I gave each woman a cookie/money for the budget item they represent. When you get to the last person say “Oh, shoot, the phone bill is due”…and take a bite of the cookie and say “I can just take a little bit of the tithing money right? The Lord will understand I still have bills to pay and could pay only part of his tithing this month. I even took it a step further and took another chunk off of the tithing cookie because "the kids were texting too much this month"

So, what is the moral of the story? What better choices could we have made? When we choose to pay the lord first it not only is easier to pay, but it changes the way the whole monthly budget flows. I have read a lot of financial books and they always say “pay yourself first” because at the end of the month you won’t have enough money left over (or very little money) to pay yourself. When writing a budget, you make a list of expected expenditures in order of priority. When you choose to pay the lord first, it shows him that He is our first priority. In doing so, we will surely be blessed.

Anyway, that was just part of my lesson and everyone got a cookie. who doesn't like cookies in the shape of money? Two good things are better than one any day.

I gave some extra cookies to my little cookie monsters as well. Here are way to many photos of them eating them outside last evening.

Love AND cookies.

Cookie Cutie

Beautiful Me

Sometimes we look better than others. The awkward Jr high and teen years are called awkward for a reason. my friend Catie put a photo of herself on her blog. A photo she deems "hideous." She challenged her readers to beat that photo and post theirs for a good laugh. here is one of my less than fine moments caught on camera.note the hair falling out of the 1/2 ponytail, the unruly main straightened and then curled again. I tried and failed. The bangs...oh the bangs.. The EYEBROWS! The gray shirt that looks like long-johns At LEAST my two front teeth had been taken care of by this time. I had to add a photo of the teeth/ hair/ shirt/eyebrows of this next photo. I'll let you guys decide which is worse.

There you go Catie! I think I look much worse in both of these than you do in your photo. At least my bra isn't showing though...:) I'll also challenge MY friends to beat me in finding the most hideous photo and share it with the world.

It's a Hair Thing

I decided to buy this online for 5 bucks.

It's the topsy tail tool.

I remember using it as a kid. So yes it is a very old product. BUT if you want to flip hair through itself in a ponytail, there is no better way to do it. So stinking easy to use. Look what I did with it today.
Yes, I'm totally impressed with myself. (and her for sitting. Thank goodness for "Super Why") She sat so patiently and hardly noticed any pulling. So much easier than flipping it by hand. I highly recommend buying it for little girls' hair. The package came written in Chinese I think, so...there is a downside there, but I can look up instructions right?

Oh, while I'm posting about hair...I attempted a french braid the other day..

Girls are SO much more fun than boys!

Conference Breakfast Pictures

I didn't attempt a prophet pancake but opted instead for my previous plan. Lily with a yummy strawberry

We had pull-aparts, hard boiled eggs and a fruit plate with oranges, strawberries and pineapple with yogurt to dip the fruit in. It was a lot less stressful than a prophet pancake would be. Maybe someday I'll attempt it though. No, Tyler wasn't upset at all. :)

Conference Breakfast

Tyler says: "Mom? are we going to have a special Conference breakfast again?" I say "yes." He says: "OK, can you make pancakes in the shape of the Prophet please?" ...uh...we'll see...