We went for a little outing as a family today. We enjoy coming to this bridge and walking across. It was a beautiful afternoon and a nice break from the rain. After, we stopped by this great store for some more oranges. We can't seem to get enough of them!
B with his Dad
T&J
Mom with T&N. Yes, N is taller than me now. It was only a matter of time! 
T insisted on me taking his picture with a few of his Lego creations a couple of days ago. It drives his big brother crazy seeing T digging through the Legos, and taking some popular pieces. He loves to look through many of the Lego magazines, and points to almost every picture claiming that he's going to get each thing for his upcoming birthday. Boy, is he going to be surprised when he only gets 1 or 2, not all 50! Today, T is not feeling well. One of the ways I know he's not feeling well is that he's not playing with his Legos. He usually carries them all over the place with him and wants me to play, too. He's really bummed about missing speech class today, but there's no way he's going!
On Friday, I was able to go with B on his class field trip to the State Capitol for a quick tour. We went last year for a more in-depth tour, so much of it was familiar. Still, it was great to go inside again, especially the day after such a HUGE hurdle was passed with the state budget crisis. Still lots of buzz at the capitol. We saw a few media vans outside. Fun for the kids to see.
Because of a connection with one of the parents, the kids were able to go past the usual barrier and actually SIT in the senate desks. These desks are over 140 years old! The Historian gave us authorization to be in there. She was there finishing up all of the documentation of what did and didn't pass in the last session, which wrapped up LATE the night before. The kids couldn't come up to the main desk because much of the paper work was still out, but it was WAY COOL to be in there.
Here's B towards the front of the senate chambers. We also got to go into the Assembly, but not too far inside. The assembly room is a light green color, and very similar to the Senate chambers. Very cool!
Then we took a very short walk over to the IMax theater. The principal met us over there and we all watched a 45 minute 3-D movie about the ocean. VERY COOL! They gave each of us a nice pair of 3-D glasses to use, not the typical white cardboard red & blue glasses. It was so real looking. It almost felt like you were actually there! Amazing.
After the movie, B went with his class to the buses and I rode home with a couple other moms. I was glad to be there with B, and I'm so thankful that I was able to go. He'll be going to Middle School in August and I won't be able to do this with him anymore. Thanks, Raimi, for taking T for a bit on Friday. Much appreciated =) I was also so thankful for beautiful weather!
Here we are before the play began. We had 2nd row seats! We really enjoyed the play.
I also went into B's classroom to present another Art lesson on Wednesday. We used oil pastels and cut out pictures from wall paper or fabric to add texture and perspective. The theme was 'Artists Show Space' ... as in perspective.
I also made a quick appearance in J's class when I dropped off brownies for his Valentine's Day party. 
G took J out for a Daddy Day yesterday morning. They had breakfast together and went to a couple of stores together. When they returned, J made me close my eyes & hold out my hands. Then he placed these beautiful potted tulips in my hands. I love them! These are some of my favorite flowers. Soon after that, G and I went to see the movie "Taken". Great movie, but a scary premise ... It was nice to go on a date. Even though it was Valentine's Day, we still had to get chores done. It's just a fact of life! Our house needed some serious attention. Later, we had a yummy steak dinner with twice-baked potatoes and then enjoyed another movie together as a family.
Last night, the youth had a "Sock-Hop" for the joint activity. G busted out his leather jacket for N to wear along with a white t-shirt, jeans and loafers. We couldn't grease back his hair because it's too short! He really enjoyed wearing his dad's leather jacket. N said that they played around with hula-hoops most of the night.
We spent part of the morning cleaning up in the garage. It was a perfect time for T's bike to be upgraded. He had completely outgrown his bike. We pulled down the next size bike from a hook in our garage and fitted it with training wheels. T was SO excited about this. He couldn't wait to give it a try.
Below, I just HAD to get a couple of close-up shots of T.
I've been pulling double-duty these past several days because G had been gone to a National Conference in Florida. My hat's off to those women who do this all of the time! One of the things that saved me for a couple of days was the use of my slow-cooker. It was SO nice to come home from church on Sunday and have dinner ready. I walked in the door, put rice in the rice cooker, changed clothes, set the table and we were ready to eat. I got this recipe from my dear friend, Raimi, who got it from one of her good friends. I'm sharing it because my boys INHALED it! It had nothing to do with Fast Sunday because ... we forgot it was Fast Sunday until it was too late ... I'm telling you, with G gone, lots of our routines were challenged. One night, we forgot to do our family prayer together. It was T who reminded us. Very humbling. We're glad G's home safe. We sure missed him.
Here's the recipe:
Crock Pot Chicken
1 brick (8 oz.) of cream cheese
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 pkg. of Good Seasonings Dry Italian Dressing
4-5 boneless chicken breasts
Mix cream cheese (I soften mine in the microwave for @ 25-30 seconds), cream of chicken soup & Good Seasonings dry Italian dressing. (I spray the inside of my crock pot with PAM). Place chicken in crock pot & pour soup mixture over the top. Cook on LOW heat for 10-12 hours or on HIGH for 6-8 hours. Serve over rice.
We had the leftovers the next day too w/o complaints. We just served it with some fresh veggies on the side. My boys love baby carrots, peppers, and cucumbers.
Enjoy!!
While N was relaxing on the floor in the living room this morning before church, T decided to ...
... attack N with stickers. Both were very entertained. It was nice to have T occupied. I was busy with Primary things.
