and last night I was...

...with MJW (the girls needed to get out) rockin to these guys:















If you want to see them, do it (this was my 2nd time:) - totally worth it!

Oh ya, and her:














If you want to see her, make sure she pays you to come, and be prepared. She'll be wearing a little more than underware with some stilts, she'll probably forget her lyrics (the ones she wrote herself), she'll talk a lot- about love, and god, and love, and breaking up. You'll feel like it's your 13 yr. old sister, oh yeah, and she'll dog herself during her own show!

Laex

We finally gave Laex a Haircut too. He looks all grown up now :(

Haircut

I finally got LeGrand to cut off the bush! (cell phone photos - not the best.)

Valentines

This year we got to start our Valentines on Friday the 13th. With our fun ward party. Of course I was in charge - it turned out wonderful. We have some great people in our ward who used to own a catering business and they did the food for us, it was fantastic - so many compliments. I asked a few ladies in the ward to help with deocrating the tables, each person was in charge of one table - turned out so cute. And we were lucky to have Brother Doug Brinley speak to us - the night was really enjoyable and Laex had a blast at the Dillons :)









































Valentines day Laex loved the "pens" - that's what he calls them- and coloring book he got along with some truck books. I had spent the week giving LeGrand little gifts with notes. We headed to get our hair cut (that's coming:) and then went to lunch at an Indian resturant (where it turns out I left my cell phone, ugh - LeGrand is picking it up today). Then LeGrand surprised me with an evening out. We dropped Laex off with Makenzie Harmon and headed to the mall for a bit - got some Cold Stone ice cream (Cake batter with oreos and raspberries:) and then went to the movie - we haven't been forever, it was fun! I love surprises! Fun day!

Lil Helper & Keepin Warm

Laex is a helper in so many ways. He's first to arrive when he hears the dishwasher opening - and weather the dishes are clean or not he is ready to unload. Once in a while he finds himself a rag and begins to wash EVERY.THING. down! Today he threw a fit until I gave him the swiffer mop/sweeper so he could do his job. So the other day we were outside and he found the shovel and felt it necessary to clear out the snow, off the grass that was :) What a kid!













































Yesterday morning we were eating breakfast and Laex seemed to be extra cold, so when we finished up LeGrand wrapped him up in his blanky and fixed him over the vent so he could catch all the warm air - he loved it, and isn't he irresistable?!



































Last week we were waiting for LeGrand to get home from school and Laex thought it was halarious that I would fix the blanket under LeGrands hat and put it on his head - did I mention he LOVES hats :). I love the picture of him by the entry window, this is typical of any day when he sees dad drive up - he waits by the window and yells "Da Da, Da Da"! So Cute!

Being a MOM

Can be the greatest Joy and biggest frustration all in a matter minuets.
I love being a Mom, most of the time. And I usually just can get enough of Laex. But it seems the past couple of days he has really tried my patience.
His new thing is "pens" he gets into the pen/pencil drawer and thinks he can write all over the tile -and every piece of paper he can get his hands on, which battle I have just learned to usually not pick. But he is now writing less on the paper and more on the floor - ahh. Then on Wed. he grabbed the spoon out of the very hot curry I had on the stove and flipped sauce everywhere - lucky to not get burned. He knows it is hot - but he just seems to need to get his hands on anything he can reach these days. Then on Thursday I blew, I was making a cake - using the hand mixer, set it up on it's end to spatuala down the sides of the dish and he reached up and turned it on --cake batter went EVERY.WHERE. - needless to say he had to sit in time out AND spend some time in his bedroom. Life gets really frustrating sometimes - I just wish he would listen a little better. I'm sure these aren't the last messes I'll be cleaning up and they certainly aren't the first.

Warnings

As we were abruptly awaken at 2:00 am by the very unpleasant screechy chirp of a fire alarm going dead (why does it always seem that it starts going dead in the middle of night?)

I couldn't help but think of the many warnings we encounter throughout life. Sometimes they're pleasant, sometimes they aren't, sometimes we heed them, sometimes we don't. Most of the time they are used for very important reasons, like to keep us safe. Here are a few everyday warnings I thought of at 2:00 am:
The fire Alarm. It was 1st on my mind, obviously. Lifesaver.
Car maintenance light or Gas gage. I'll admit, I'm the worst at checking the gas level, it's just not something I think about. As a first time mom with a sleeping baby in the backseat, I was oblivious to the gas level and found myself on the freeway with a chugging car - frightening - somehow, I made it to the next exit which just happened to have not one but TWO gas stations right there. Blessed.
Stove light, timer alarm. I love to cook but I can guarantee without the timer alarm, most dinners would be burnt to a crisp. And, as insignificant as that little red light seems, it warns that the stove top is still hot. Hazard for potential danger.
Caution label on household cleaners. Safety.

The last warning is for me.
As I'm plagued with migraines which have become worse lately (not in intensity, but in frequency) I know that I'm blessed. Each headache is preceded by "blind spots" which I have a Love/Hate relationship with. I Love that this warning lets me know what I'm about to be dealing with and gives me time to take medication. I Hate to experience the "blind spots" because then I know what I'm in for. I can't help but think that this is Heavenly Father's way of "giving me a break" from this ailment.

How many times in life does He "give us a break" through warnings.
I can think of a few: Word of Wisdom, Law of Chastity, Commandments, Preparedness.
If only we would heed them as quickly as the unpleasant chirp of the fire alarm, why don't we?

Temple

Yesterday was LeGrand's Monday off (I love it when he has Monday's off!) and the Mecums invited us to join them at the Draper Temple open house. What a beautiful temple!

The day finally came!

I'm happy to announce Sundays will now only consist of ONE hour of WWF rather than THREE!!! YAY! (am I a bad parent because I'm this excited?!) Laex is officially a Nursery-ite! He loves it and so do we :) We dropped him off cold turkey (we haven't even visited the nursery once), he watched us walk out the door then got busy playing - we checked once, he was still busy playing, I went to pick him up - he looked at me, turned around and walked the other way --I guess he didn't miss us! I'm so glad I don't have a cryer!

Here he is with his picture he colored or...didn't really color!
















And enjoying a Sunday afternoon Treat we made for Uncle Cade!