little plug

Head over to my toddler activity blog this week for an new and entertaining

"hypoglycemic rage" (clink on the link at the top of blog)

and for some activity ideas for Mother's Day!

p.s. thanks for your support and encouragement on the new blog. love your commments!

Living Planet Aquarium

We went with our friends Paige and Brooklyn to the Living Planet Aquarium.
We've been once before, but this time they had a new penguin exhibit!








The penguins were in constant motion, diving through the water, passing us down at the bottom of the tank, and then jumping back up onto their rocks. We had so much fun!
(Well, even more fun for Paige and I was the trip to IKEA that followed).

Happy April 5th

Easter

Our Easter tradition is to go up to the Phipps' house with the family and have an indoor AND outdoor easter egg hunt, eat delicious home-made food, and let Gram take the kids in the morning so we can gain a precious hour or two of sleep. It's so nice.

This year we had Tyson and Amber and their three kids, Collin and Tiffany and their two, and Tiffany's sister and her family. We had a crowd which made for a good time.

Easter morning, the Easter bunny left some goodies outside for the kiddos (we had to forego the outside hunt due to very cold weather).

We had our indoor easter egg hunt. Each egg has clues (which my dad helped me write a few years ago) which eventually leads everyone to personalized chocolate eggs with a toy inside. This hunt is very exciting for the big kids who can run the fastest and find each egg, while the little ones trail behind, confused and frustrated, like Hazel. Of course David was jumping over everyone to try and get her there first, but she still felt cheated.

Dad finally beat the crowd and she found an egg.

Charlotte didn't care much about anything but that final prize with her name on it.

Then we had our outdoor hunt for candy-filled eggs inside which was a big hit because there were plenty for everyone. This was Charlotte's favorite part.

The grandparents and Collin with Danica.



At one point, we totally forgot that Charlotte was awake because she disappeared quietly for like twenty minutes (great parents, I know). We found her in the hallway spreading this plastic grass all over the floor, contentedly. Once we caught her, she grabbed her basket and ran.

Tyson & Amber

I put together this calendar for Vicki's birthday with pics of the grand kids under each day of her birthday month. I found the idea here.

The girls with Grandma & Grandpa Phipps' sixteen year old dog. Literally. The poor thing lost a few of her teeth so her tongue hangs out.

Some things to remember:

Listening to conference on a tiny radio in Gram's room
while leafing through the Friend with Hazel.

Seeing Charlotte run faster than ever
when she was caught sneaking a chocolate egg
after eating bazillion jelly beans.

Sleeping in. (Gram, thank you).

Happy Easter! Thank you all for a fantastic Easter.

finally

I started a toddler activity blog! Please check it out here:

www.wherearemymaryjanes.blogspot.com

Let me know what you think!

Love, Janelle

p.s. this blog was designed by the amazing Camille Garrison. Check her out.

Grandma Grimshaw

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, this past Monday I decided to escape to my mom's house down in Cedar City with the girls. I have to admit that I was pleasantly impressed with how easy the five hour drive was on the way down. I have Thumbelina memorized now, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

We stayed the entire week and came back yesterday, Saturday. It was such a nice break from the norm. I have laundry up to my eyebrows, but my husband cleaned the house for me which made coming home much easier.

Some highlights of the trip:

Taking a field trip to a neighbor's farm
and petting the BIGGEST pigs I've ever seen.

Dominating everyone in Ticket to Ride & Scrabble.
Okay, except for that last game; Bradley destroyed us.
(I didn't make it to Wilno?)

Good food and uh, good food.

Hazel and I getting the giggles at bedtime like never before. She'd try to be serious for a quick second as she told me that Lottie's favorite part of the day were "pink signing time pickles."
Of course we'd both crack up as soon as she started saying it,
so that's what I thought she was saying.

Hitting up Robert's 50% off sale (did you know they're going out of business?).
My mom took the kids so I could shop and Hazel fell asleep in the cart
with her head resting on the diaper bag.

Bowling!
Except for that part where Hazel sneaked up behind me
and I nailed her in the cheek with my bowling ball.
Then that night I was carrying her to bed and I turned around too quickly
and smacked her head on the wall. Good thing they're resilient.
Happy Hazel before my bowling ball made contact with her face.


So I know this is an exaggerated pose, but my mom really is an amazing bowler.
No really, I'm trying to talk her into joining the local Cedar City ladies' league.
We actually call her BOWLINDA (her name is Belinda) because she's earned it.
She was throwing strikes left and right.
Amazing.
Bailey, working the alley.
Bradmeister
I, on the other hand, can't bowl. It actually really frustrates me because it seems like such a simple thing to throw a ball down a straight path to knock over some pins.
I didn't earn a cool nickname.

Hazel got this cool ramp to get her ball down the middle.
Her score wasn't too much below mine.

AND
Listening to Bailey play her cello and trying it out myself for the first time.
I got goosebumps when Bradley played "Amazing Grace" on his saxophone.
Hazel had to get her little hands on it as soon as he was done.


Thanks all for a great week!

Temple Square

March 20, 2010

David was out of town for a few days so we decided to meet him in Salt Lake the day he came home. We took the girls to Temple Square and it was simply beautiful. We have a picture from our wedding in front of the Salt Lake temple and Hazel calls it a castle. It was exciting to take her there and show her the statues of Joseph Smith receiving the priesthood and feel the peace that surrounds that place.

I was most excited about showing her the Christus in the Visitor's Center. Lately she's been asking a lot about stars, so when we walked up the curvy ramp to the statue of Christ, she had to reach up and touch one of the stars.

The first thing she said when she saw the Christus was "hi" and then "He's not talking."
We realized right after this family picture that Hazel had peed her pants in the car and was very...damp. David took her to the bathroom while I guided Charlotte down the ramp to the main floor. I soon realized my mistake with her choice of shoes for such a quiet and resonating locale. She was wearing these loud and obnoxious (but very cute) shoes that squeak with each step. It always makes me laugh because she has no idea that she is the one making those noises when she walks. She echoed all the way down that ramp,
"Squeak, squeak. Squeak, squeak."
As we were leaving (after 42 trips up and down the escalators), a group of kids going to prom walked in and Hazel's eyes lit up. She thought they were princesses. She wanted to go to the ball with them so badly. I don't blame her; a ball vs. going to bed at home? No brainer.