Sounds heard recently from our neighbors:
-music with an impressively loud bass beat
-firecrackers, nearly every day at around 3:10 pm, signalling the return of our Jr. high neighbors from school
-lots of shovelling (one family is making their own basement entrance, we thought at first it might be a bomb shelter)
-young roosters trying to learn how to crow ( Eric says they sound like a 13-year-old boy crying)
-a horn honking at 30-45 second intervals for 10 minutes at 4:45 am ( I actually stormed out of the house finally and asked a very surprized man to please stop- seriously, just go up to the door, they're not coming out)
and lastly, the one we enjoy
-Scotland the Brave on the bagpipes! Our backyard neighbor plays, it's very cool.
And we thought Santaquin was so quiet and peaceful! The last couple of weeks have proven us wrong, it's been funny.
Monday, September 15, 2008
future artist
I have to issue a ***brag alert*** on this post! but I think my daughter is a gifted artist at the age of two :) We tried watercolor painting for the first time this weekend and not only did she LOVE it, she created some masterpieces.
She's been attempting to draw people with crayons for a while, but I guess she had more control with the paintbrush and she painted two pictures of our family!
in the one on the left she had asked me to draw dad, so I started with a circle head and then she took the paintbrush back and filled in "eyebrows, cheeks, mouth, ears, eyes" (that all got blended together!) and then legs and arms sprouted out of his head too. I painted head circles for me, her and Whitney on that page, but then the one on the right she did everything herself. I was just so amazed and proud :) And yes you might be able to spot Lightning McQueen in the picture on the left. He is part of our family, and yes, I painted him. But she did the wheels.
In other news Katelyn REALLY wanted to carry Whitney down to the toy room Saturday night. Whitney was a good sport.
And lastly, Katelyn's new favorite word is "chilly" as in "I think I need to put on a jacket, it's a little bit chilly out there." Fall is here, whether we like it or not!
She's been attempting to draw people with crayons for a while, but I guess she had more control with the paintbrush and she painted two pictures of our family!
in the one on the left she had asked me to draw dad, so I started with a circle head and then she took the paintbrush back and filled in "eyebrows, cheeks, mouth, ears, eyes" (that all got blended together!) and then legs and arms sprouted out of his head too. I painted head circles for me, her and Whitney on that page, but then the one on the right she did everything herself. I was just so amazed and proud :) And yes you might be able to spot Lightning McQueen in the picture on the left. He is part of our family, and yes, I painted him. But she did the wheels. 
In other news Katelyn REALLY wanted to carry Whitney down to the toy room Saturday night. Whitney was a good sport.
And lastly, Katelyn's new favorite word is "chilly" as in "I think I need to put on a jacket, it's a little bit chilly out there." Fall is here, whether we like it or not!Tuesday, September 2, 2008
4 months!!!
So our little Whitney will be 4 MONTHS OLD on Thursday, I can't believe it! Does it keep going by faster with each child?? You moms of more than 2 kids will have to let me know, cause I swear Kate's first 4 months were forever, people were like "savor this special time" and was like "yeah right, this is taking forever, I want her to grow up and do the next thing!" But now with Whitney it's flying by.
So here's what you need to know about Whitney. She's SO CUTE and smiley. Even when she's crying if you look at her and talk to her she'll try to smile.
She did her first 360 on her back yesterday, she kept half rolling and scooting until after about 5 minutes she had turned in a full circle!
She's starting to play with toys, she likes to suck on everything and stick out her tongue, and she sleeps great at night.
Oh yeah, and she has partial facial paralysis from when she was born, so the right side of her mouth hangs down a little when she opens it really wide, like in a big smile or when she cries. The doctors say it should go away by itself... so we're not worried about it yet.
The other thing about Whitney is that she LOVES Katelyn. It's the cutest thing ever.
So there they are. Our girls. We love 'em. Happy four months Whitney! We love you so much!
So here's what you need to know about Whitney. She's SO CUTE and smiley. Even when she's crying if you look at her and talk to her she'll try to smile. 
She did her first 360 on her back yesterday, she kept half rolling and scooting until after about 5 minutes she had turned in a full circle!
She's starting to play with toys, she likes to suck on everything and stick out her tongue, and she sleeps great at night. 
Oh yeah, and she has partial facial paralysis from when she was born, so the right side of her mouth hangs down a little when she opens it really wide, like in a big smile or when she cries. The doctors say it should go away by itself... so we're not worried about it yet. 
The other thing about Whitney is that she LOVES Katelyn. It's the cutest thing ever.I took all these pictures of them because we didn't feel like going to a professional photographer until Whitney can sit up in a couple of months hopefully.
So there they are. Our girls. We love 'em. Happy four months Whitney! We love you so much!I Heart....
Here are a few things I have loved this last week. Turns out I didn't miss the Olympics too much after all.
1. I heart the Harveys! Kristi, James and Matt came for a visit! Once Katelyn got over her posessiveness the kids had a great time, and Kristi and I got to talk for hours. Wonderful!
2. I heart our backyard! This is what Eric and Katelyn have been doing every night since LONG before the summer began and it was actually warm enough to be out there:
they race and swing and wrestle and laugh and it's just as fun for me to watch!
3. I heart BYU Football! Okay so we did watch like 4 football games this weekend, and we did pay extra to get the Mountain channel when we didn't think we would have to... but BYU football is the best! Go Cougars! I need to get a video of Katelyn singing the fight song...
4. I heart city celebrations! This weekend was Payson Onion Days. So Saturday we went to Payson City Park to the free kids' fair, they had all these fun activities and games and Kate got to play on the playground and see the fire engines' house and it was great fun. Here she is with her prizes.
Then Monday was the parade- it rained all night Sunday but we decided to go since it was "clearing up"... here's Eric and the girls waiting for the parade to start. Once Katelyn could see it coming she kept jumping up and down and saying "oh my goodness gracious!"
Whitney was happy even though it was cold.
Sadly 5 minutes after the parade started it started POURING rain and we retreated to the overhang of the building behind us.
Many parade float riders just piled into their trucks, or huddled under tarps shivering, we saw some poor little girl dancers who looked miserable! But the high school bands and the bagpipers, pictured below, went on playing! It was so fun, they kept going even when it hailed for a minute, everyone was cheering.
Maybe you can't tell, but it was raining REALLY hard!
Anyway it was fun! So that's what we've been up to lately.
1. I heart the Harveys! Kristi, James and Matt came for a visit! Once Katelyn got over her posessiveness the kids had a great time, and Kristi and I got to talk for hours. Wonderful!
2. I heart our backyard! This is what Eric and Katelyn have been doing every night since LONG before the summer began and it was actually warm enough to be out there:
they race and swing and wrestle and laugh and it's just as fun for me to watch!
3. I heart BYU Football! Okay so we did watch like 4 football games this weekend, and we did pay extra to get the Mountain channel when we didn't think we would have to... but BYU football is the best! Go Cougars! I need to get a video of Katelyn singing the fight song...
4. I heart city celebrations! This weekend was Payson Onion Days. So Saturday we went to Payson City Park to the free kids' fair, they had all these fun activities and games and Kate got to play on the playground and see the fire engines' house and it was great fun. Here she is with her prizes.Then Monday was the parade- it rained all night Sunday but we decided to go since it was "clearing up"... here's Eric and the girls waiting for the parade to start. Once Katelyn could see it coming she kept jumping up and down and saying "oh my goodness gracious!"
Whitney was happy even though it was cold.
Sadly 5 minutes after the parade started it started POURING rain and we retreated to the overhang of the building behind us.
Many parade float riders just piled into their trucks, or huddled under tarps shivering, we saw some poor little girl dancers who looked miserable! But the high school bands and the bagpipers, pictured below, went on playing! It was so fun, they kept going even when it hailed for a minute, everyone was cheering.
Maybe you can't tell, but it was raining REALLY hard!
Anyway it was fun! So that's what we've been up to lately.Monday, August 25, 2008
Olympic Quiz
Please decide if each of the following statements is True or False for you, in order to determine the similarity or difference of my Olympic experience from yours:
1. I stayed up WAY too late every night for the past two weeks watching the Olympics.
2. I got up too early several times to watch the Olympics.
3. I watched three or more Olympic events online.
4. I got angry when someone who had already seen who won an event spoiled it for me while I was watching it on primetime.
5. I almost cried/actually cried EVERY time an American won a gold medal and they played our national anthem, and I can't even blame pregnancy/postpartum hormones anymore.
6. I enjoyed synchronized swimming more than I thought I would.
7. I gave my husband a 10 minute lesson on how pass a baton when both American 4x100 teams dropped theirs.
8. I became an even bigger Kerri Walsh/Misti May-Traener fan when I found out they are both dying to have babies.
9. I now consider myself an expert on gymnastics scoring.
10. I was/am tempted to buy the Opening Ceremonies on DVD.
11. My child watched so much Olympics that she started having her cars and animals do flips on the couch and her bath toys jump off the bathtub faucet and flip and splash into the water, followed by thunderous applause.
12. My child had numerous learning opportunities from the Olympics, such as pointing out the "K" on the marathon gold medalist from Kenya's chest, and recognizing the "grand old flag" everywhere (I sang her that song once and it stuck- that's what she calls the American flag).
13. I loved watching handball and badminton, two sports I'd never seen before, very cool!
14. I am going to have Olympics withdrawals, it's a good thing football season starts this week or I don't know what I'd do!
Yay for the Summer Olympics, see you in London in four long years!
1. I stayed up WAY too late every night for the past two weeks watching the Olympics.
2. I got up too early several times to watch the Olympics.
3. I watched three or more Olympic events online.
4. I got angry when someone who had already seen who won an event spoiled it for me while I was watching it on primetime.
5. I almost cried/actually cried EVERY time an American won a gold medal and they played our national anthem, and I can't even blame pregnancy/postpartum hormones anymore.
6. I enjoyed synchronized swimming more than I thought I would.
7. I gave my husband a 10 minute lesson on how pass a baton when both American 4x100 teams dropped theirs.
8. I became an even bigger Kerri Walsh/Misti May-Traener fan when I found out they are both dying to have babies.
9. I now consider myself an expert on gymnastics scoring.
10. I was/am tempted to buy the Opening Ceremonies on DVD.
11. My child watched so much Olympics that she started having her cars and animals do flips on the couch and her bath toys jump off the bathtub faucet and flip and splash into the water, followed by thunderous applause.
12. My child had numerous learning opportunities from the Olympics, such as pointing out the "K" on the marathon gold medalist from Kenya's chest, and recognizing the "grand old flag" everywhere (I sang her that song once and it stuck- that's what she calls the American flag).
13. I loved watching handball and badminton, two sports I'd never seen before, very cool!
14. I am going to have Olympics withdrawals, it's a good thing football season starts this week or I don't know what I'd do!
Yay for the Summer Olympics, see you in London in four long years!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Grocery Store Review
So I went to Macey's the other day and was reminded again how much I hate shopping at Wal-Mart, my usual grocery store. Here is a side-by-side comparison of my local grocery stores that will tell you exactly why. I've given each store a score on a scale of 1 to 10 in several categories: Location, Prices, Selection, Quality/Overall Feel, Checkout experience, and Service.
#1 Location
Wal-Mart- 8 this is the main reason why I shop here. It's only 5 miles from my house, right off the freeway in Payson.
Macey's- 3 the closest one is in Spanish Fork, this is why I never get to go there. :( I save myself at least $16.50 in gas per month by not driving all the way there to shop.
Smith's- 7 it's a couple miles farther than Wal-Mart.
Payson Market- 6 it's a couple of miles farther than Smith's.
#2 Prices
Wal-Mart- 8 they are cheap in general, and Wal-Mart brand stuff is usually a few cents cheaper than generic brand anywhere else. But they have NO SALES! Or fake sales, like "look these Oreo's are 17 cents on sale and they have been for the last 8 months!!"
Macey's- 9 cheap prices and great sales all the time.
Smith's- 5 definitely more expensive, but they do have some good sales. I HATE having to be a "member" though.
Payson Market- 8 they're pretty cheap.
#3 Selection
Here they're all about the same, except Payson Market has less. and Wal-Mart's candy selection stinks.
#4 Quality/Overall Feel
Wal-Mart- 5 We all know Wal-Mart is ghetto. Payson's isn't too bad, but I've still had a cashier tell me a dirty joke, and it's not always real clean in there. Mainly I have a problem with service there(we'll get to that category!!) and the very low quality produce at Wal-Mart. You have to pick through the fruit and vegetables to find good ones. Not cool.
Maceys- 10!!! First of all, they have car carts, big shopping carts that look like cars and your child can sit facing forward and drive them... the coolest thing ever! They have GREAT quality produce and the store is clean and organized... ahhhh, I love Maceys... Also at our old Macey's in Provo I lost things in the store several times (wallet, shoes, etc.) (we used to go there like every day) and they were always at the service desk by the time I got there to ask for them.
Smith's 7 It's pretty nice, no car carts though :)
Payson Market- 5 a little dingy and ghetto.
#5 Checkout experience
Wal-Mart- 1 this is the main reason I hate shopping here. Every time, EVERY time I go there I end up waiting for like 5 hours in the checkout line. Why do they even have all those other lanes if they NEVER use them?? But the problem isn't that the store's so busy, usually there's only one, maybe two people in front of me in line, but the cashiers are purposely trained to be slow, I swear. They take their sweet time, chatting away about their lives (always), or one time I got this kid who was getting ready to leave on a mission and he was practicing his "building a relationship of trust" or something, he would ask a question and then stop checking items to listen and respond! Ridiculous. So finally it's your turn, and you have to watch the screen for each item because somehting is ALWAYS the wrong price, seriously Kristi warned me about this and she was RIGHT. So you have to correct them, and then you have to be trying to hurry and put your own bags in your cart, while you pay, oh my. Terrible. And don't even get me started on self-checkout.
Macey's- 10!! completely opposite experience. They always have plenty of lanes open, the checkers are FAST and so nice, they actually have baggers, who will run and switch something for you if you accidently got the wrong thing, put your bags in a new cart if yours is full of a baby carrier, and push that extra cart out to your car for you!! And they give your child a free piece of candy, so nice.
Smith's 6- they're not super fast or helpful, just okay.
Payson Market- 6- fine.
#6 Service
Wal-Mart- 2 Boo. I have waited way too long at numerous counters in that store for an employee to show up. And when they do, half the time they're incompetent. And most employees (except the nice greeters) treat you like a nuissance. Not helpful or friendly. The Pharmacy's decent, that's what the 2 points are for.
Maceys- 9 All of their many employees are helpful and friendly. There's ALWAYS at least one person stocking produce, and everywhere you look there are employees around checking on things, ready and willing to assist you. And THEY ask if you need help! Also, a couple of Macey's trips ago, Katelyn was crying for some reason when we were in the produce section, and the nice man there gave her some smarties and a banana for free and talked to her so nicely and she was happy the rest of the trip.
SMith's and Payson Market get a 5. Average.
So there you go. Maceys, please PLEASE come build a store in Santaquin! We will all shop there, no one likes Wal-Mart! Please.....
#1 Location
Wal-Mart- 8 this is the main reason why I shop here. It's only 5 miles from my house, right off the freeway in Payson.
Macey's- 3 the closest one is in Spanish Fork, this is why I never get to go there. :( I save myself at least $16.50 in gas per month by not driving all the way there to shop.
Smith's- 7 it's a couple miles farther than Wal-Mart.
Payson Market- 6 it's a couple of miles farther than Smith's.
#2 Prices
Wal-Mart- 8 they are cheap in general, and Wal-Mart brand stuff is usually a few cents cheaper than generic brand anywhere else. But they have NO SALES! Or fake sales, like "look these Oreo's are 17 cents on sale and they have been for the last 8 months!!"
Macey's- 9 cheap prices and great sales all the time.
Smith's- 5 definitely more expensive, but they do have some good sales. I HATE having to be a "member" though.
Payson Market- 8 they're pretty cheap.
#3 Selection
Here they're all about the same, except Payson Market has less. and Wal-Mart's candy selection stinks.
#4 Quality/Overall Feel
Wal-Mart- 5 We all know Wal-Mart is ghetto. Payson's isn't too bad, but I've still had a cashier tell me a dirty joke, and it's not always real clean in there. Mainly I have a problem with service there(we'll get to that category!!) and the very low quality produce at Wal-Mart. You have to pick through the fruit and vegetables to find good ones. Not cool.
Maceys- 10!!! First of all, they have car carts, big shopping carts that look like cars and your child can sit facing forward and drive them... the coolest thing ever! They have GREAT quality produce and the store is clean and organized... ahhhh, I love Maceys... Also at our old Macey's in Provo I lost things in the store several times (wallet, shoes, etc.) (we used to go there like every day) and they were always at the service desk by the time I got there to ask for them.
Smith's 7 It's pretty nice, no car carts though :)
Payson Market- 5 a little dingy and ghetto.
#5 Checkout experience
Wal-Mart- 1 this is the main reason I hate shopping here. Every time, EVERY time I go there I end up waiting for like 5 hours in the checkout line. Why do they even have all those other lanes if they NEVER use them?? But the problem isn't that the store's so busy, usually there's only one, maybe two people in front of me in line, but the cashiers are purposely trained to be slow, I swear. They take their sweet time, chatting away about their lives (always), or one time I got this kid who was getting ready to leave on a mission and he was practicing his "building a relationship of trust" or something, he would ask a question and then stop checking items to listen and respond! Ridiculous. So finally it's your turn, and you have to watch the screen for each item because somehting is ALWAYS the wrong price, seriously Kristi warned me about this and she was RIGHT. So you have to correct them, and then you have to be trying to hurry and put your own bags in your cart, while you pay, oh my. Terrible. And don't even get me started on self-checkout.
Macey's- 10!! completely opposite experience. They always have plenty of lanes open, the checkers are FAST and so nice, they actually have baggers, who will run and switch something for you if you accidently got the wrong thing, put your bags in a new cart if yours is full of a baby carrier, and push that extra cart out to your car for you!! And they give your child a free piece of candy, so nice.
Smith's 6- they're not super fast or helpful, just okay.
Payson Market- 6- fine.
#6 Service
Wal-Mart- 2 Boo. I have waited way too long at numerous counters in that store for an employee to show up. And when they do, half the time they're incompetent. And most employees (except the nice greeters) treat you like a nuissance. Not helpful or friendly. The Pharmacy's decent, that's what the 2 points are for.
Maceys- 9 All of their many employees are helpful and friendly. There's ALWAYS at least one person stocking produce, and everywhere you look there are employees around checking on things, ready and willing to assist you. And THEY ask if you need help! Also, a couple of Macey's trips ago, Katelyn was crying for some reason when we were in the produce section, and the nice man there gave her some smarties and a banana for free and talked to her so nicely and she was happy the rest of the trip.
SMith's and Payson Market get a 5. Average.
So there you go. Maceys, please PLEASE come build a store in Santaquin! We will all shop there, no one likes Wal-Mart! Please.....
Sunday, August 17, 2008
$2 Deals!!
We were up at Eric's parents' house yesterday and a couple of things at their neighbor's yard sale caught my eye. I went over to check these out, thinking about how much I would be willing to pay for them.
The tags said TWO DOLLARS each and I was like you've got to be kidding- sweet! So we bought them, and Kate loves them both, but especially her car. She has spent hours in it already! The best $4 I've ever spent. :)
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