Sidebar Links

Since our options are limited when it comes to the things we can online lately, I have spent some time playing around with the sidebar on our blog. I've added links to some websites that I've come across that I'm really enjoying.

If you have the time, check them out! Mormon Mommy Blogs is having a fun contest right now! I downloaded (before the dreaded "grounding") a wonderful Food Storage oragnization notebook from Food Storage Made Easy. I'm new to the Obsessive Shopper, but hope to learn ways to pinch pennies. And FlyLady...*sigh*...if nothing else, she keeps my sink clean!

I hope to add others in the near future - for now, enjoy these!

So here's "the problem"...

The ONLY downside of living where we do is that "high speed" just isn't an option when it comes to internet connections. We have a satellite connection, which for the most part keeps us happy...but our contract agreement has a "fair usage" clause - which basically means that we are allowed to download a certain amount of "stuff" from the internet each month...if we go over, we get "grounded" and our connection becomes worse than dial-up.

We went over.

This is just painful for us - worst case, we stay with our current provider and drag like this until the middle of May - there is a chance we will be switching providers and be back up and running soon. Either way, just know we're doing great!

Happy Birthday Joseph!!! (Technical Difficulties!)

Today is Joseph's 3rd Birthday! He had a great day! He received phone calls from Grandma Janet and from Grandpa Gary. Jason stayed home from school to spend the day with him...(I'm sure Jason thinks he pulled a fast one over on his mom - he didn't.) Great Grandma Margaret sent a card. Friends from church called him. And the receptionist at the dentist gave him a case of Kraft Easy Mac (I'm not exactly sure WHY the dentist office had a case of Easy Mac to give away, but they did and Joe loved it!)

It has just been wonderful seeing our little man have such a special day and being loved by so many people! Thank you all for making his day great!

As soon as I can figure out what our computer's problem is I'll upload pictures...until then, you're stuck with this! (Figured out the problem...Mid May before it's resolved!)

Started the day with a trip to the Grocery where Joseph and Meredi got to drive the cart...



Mail-Call!



Presents!



3! 3! 3!



When I asked Joseph what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, he ordered "Green!" So GREEN it was!

Britain's Got Talent

I'm not a fan of the TV show "America's Got Talent". I'm not even a huge fan of American Idol (I will admit I will watch the first few episodes of a season just to see Simon - he always says what I'm thinking but would never have the never to say out loud!)

This video is amazing! The contestant's name is Susan Boyle - she really stuck it to Simon and the other judges...and the entire audience for that matter...who had decided before she even opened her mouth to sing that she was going to stink!

I laughed, I cried, and I've watched this video countless times. To the point where Joseph will come up beside me at the computer and say "Noooooooo!" when I start it. LOL

You'll have to follow the link, sorry - the embedding has been disabled by YouTube. But take the extra minute to click - it's so WORTH IT!! Such a great lesson on not judging a book by it's cover!


CLICK HERE! Britain's Got Talent - Susan Boyle -
I Dreamed A Dream, Les Miserables.

This video makes me smile for so many reasons! And the shock of seeing Simon genuinely SMILE is priceless!

Easter Dinner

We had a wonderful Easter Sunday. We broke out the China and Crystal for dinner...and even a bottle of Sparkling Cider (that apparently mom and dad forgot abt from Valentine's Day). This has become one of my favorite family traditions! (1. Yes, we're still cramming around our itty-bitty-kitchen-table. 2. Marilyn, we need one more girl Easter Egg placemat...pretty please!)



And with out a doubt, Elder Holland's talk in the most recent General Conference was my favorite, ever...of anyone's. Happy Easter everyone!

Lots And Lots And Lots And Lots of EASTER Pictures!!

Yesterday was our annual family Easter Potluck and candy hunt!



We had been there approximately 20 minutes when Jared cracked his melon on the merry-go-round. (Looking back, we probably should have taken him for a stitch or two...)



The hunt begins...



The younger kids hunted for all the colored eggs they could find...



...they hunted and hunted...



...and boy did they find a lot!



Showing off their loot to grandpa!



Dad took the older kids to hunt for "name eggs" (larger eggs that had their names on them)...



...they stopped and played around with the camera on their way back from their hunting. (You'll need to click on this picture to really appreciate the "genius" of it!)



Megan sifted through her bag for the best candies...



Joseph was more than willing to help Jacob pick out the best in his bag!



Throughout the day, Meredi made her rounds visiting family...



...auntie Lindsay...



...grandma Janet...



...she also had other randomly cute moments.




Pinata...or "Yadda" as Joseph calls it.






A quick check of Jared's injury -



And then it was time to head back to the van for the drive home!

Extended Family-Family Night

This week was our extended family family night - and our family's turn to host it! We had great fun with James & Lisa's family. (Courtney & Alicia couldn't make it.) We fired up the BBQ for the first official cook out of the season!



It never seems the cousins have enough time to catch up and get all of the playing out of their system!



For our activity, Brandon made a wonderful General Conference Jeopardy game. (Which was very impressive considering General Conference had ended only one day prior to our family night!)



This was another "surprise picture" that I found when I uploaded pictures. Every now and then the kids will sneak into the camera and take pictures that I know nothing about until I look at the memory card. This was a wonderful surprise...

Spring Break

We started Spring Vacation with a family game night and potluck dinner at the church. I'm not a huge fan of large gatherings...nothing at all to do with the activity...everything to do with my anti-social tendencies! But this turned out to be so much fun.



And leave it to Aunt Jane to introduce a new game that we will soon own in our home! Quite possibly the funnest game I've ever...EVER...played! Wackee-6



We spent a couple of days at Grandma Janet and Grandpa Gary's house and had a lot of fun there. Grandma thought she was pretty funny making this doll for Meredi with a picture of Meredi ironed on for it's face!



Of course the kids LOVED the part where they got to go swimming!







In case anyone thinks Joseph doesn't have Grandma Janet around his little finger...here he talked her in to one more trip in to the pool after it was time to leave.



Later in the week, Meredi received a birthday card from Grandma Lee.



Mom & Meredi had some fun with the camera!