Ballet West Field Trip

Last wed. we went on a fun field trip with our homeschool group to Ballet West's Cinderella. Hailee and Aubrie weren't old enough to attend. I didn't know that until after I'd arranged for our homeschool group to attend. I was so sad when I found out that Aubrie couldn't go because she was the whole reason I wanted us to go on this field trip. I had also already told her that she was going. I then had to tell her she couldn't go. She took it better than I thought she would. She just said, "O.K. I'll go next year when I'm older". Sterling took Hailee and Aubrie to the Children's museum while we were at the ballet. The Capitol Theater was full of kids and teens from grades K-12. It was really noisy in there. We were so lucky and got a box seat right next to the stage. It was so much fun being that close. We could even hear their shoes squeaking. Emilee LOVED it. Christian on the other hand wanted to leave after they had been dancing for about 10 min. After the ballet Sterling and the two youngest girls picked us up and we went to lunch at Subway. We then all went back to Discovery Gateway. The kids had so much fun there.

Hailee checking out groceries.

The kids driving the farm truck.



Aubrie and Hailee playing house.

The girls putting the groceries away.



Hailee in the Tree House.

Aubrie on the horse.

Hailee, Aubrie, and Emilee driving the car.

Hailee at the Deli.

We were at the Children's Museum for a very long 6 hours. We had dinner with Sterling's family that night at Sage's Cafe (my favorite!) to celebrate my in-laws 49th Anniversary. It was great to see everyone. Wish we could have stayed and visited longer but all of the kids were done. The younger girls didn't have naps that day and to be honest mommy and daddy were exhausted too!

Tagged

I was tagged by Tahnie.

What were you doing 10 years ago? My alarm would have gone off at 5:30 AM. I would have pushed the snooze button a couple of times until the last possible second and then I would have jumped out of bed, grabbed a cereal bar, scraped off my windshield and hurried to Drill Team practice. I would have been late (was I ever on time?) so I'd have to run extra laps around the gym. We would have been working really hard getting ready for Drill Team State. Half way through practice we'd get a 10 min. breakfast break and I would have headed to the caffeteria and bought a donut with white icing and walnuts for $0.75. We got ready for the day during first period. I hated those showers. You had to push the knob in or it would turn off. Then at lunch my friends and I would have headed to Dick's Drive In, Summit Inn, or Food Town. After school I would have watched about 45 min. of Oprah before going to my job at Food Town. I would have gotten off work at about 9:15 PM and then I'd head home to do my homework until midnight and then I'd go to bed just to start the whole cycle over again the next day.



5 things on my to do list today:

1.Take Christian to Karate

2. Do homeschool with Christian

3. Make dinner

4. Fold Laundry

5. Watch Ocean's 13 while folding laundry



Things I would do if I suddenly became a billionaire: I would travel around the world. Then I would build houses in Oregon (so beautiful!), Hawaii (so warm), Florida (close to DisneyWorld) and Utah (to be close to family). All of my houses would have renewable energy and be a sustainable design. I would get two new hybrid cars. I would also give yearly to charity and to inventors to help get their inventions off the ground. I would pay off my siblings/parents mortgages and car payments. I would pay for my whole family to have a yearly trip together. I would do a lot of shopping and give friends and family presents often. I would have a blast decorating all of my houses. I would hire a gardener because I love being in beautiful gardens I just don't really like to garden. I'd have a raw/vegan chef and maids that live at all my houses.



2 of my bad habits are:Procrastination and always being late. They pretty much tie into one another.



5 places I have lived:

1. Woodland, UT

2. Oakley, UT

3. Manti, UT

4. Ephraim, UT

5. Eagle Mountain, UT



Jobs I have had: I've only had three jobs in my life. Food Town (my teen years), Yardley Inn Bed and Breakfast (college), and homeschool mother!





5 things people don't know about me:

I just posted 100 Cheri Facts now I have to come up with 5 more? Hmmm......lets see.

1. I got my first ticket at 27 years old

2. I've never had a brand new car.

3. I've had a brand new house though!

4. I love using Mr. Sketch scented markers! They just smell so darn yummy!

5. I once thought my contact had slipped to the side of my eyeball. I tried for over an hour to get it out. Sterling finally drove me to an eye doctor (40 min. away) and as it turns out I didn't actually have a contact in my eye. I'd been pinching and scratching my bare eye for over an hour. Gross, I know! When I got home I finally found my lost contact stuck to my bathroom wall.

I tag Alisha, Amanda, and Beau!

Valentines Day

We had a very busy Valentines Day. I thought I was going to get to sleep in seeing that Emilee's school didn't start until 11 AM (because of the crazy snowstorm we had the night before). I realized at 7:30 AM I didn't have a V-Day present for Emilee's teacher. I got up and scrounged around my craft stuff hoping to be inspired about what to make. Finally I thought of making them (teacher, two aides, and speech therapist) flower pens. I hot glued cute V-Day ribbon and buttons on some terra cotta pots and stuck the flower pens in them. They turned out really cute.

I then made some pancakes from scratch while I helped the kids decorate their V-Day bags to put all of their valentines in. After hurrying the kids through breakfast I got the girls dressed and did their hair. I then jumped in the shower and had a whole 20 minutes to get ready.

I then hurried Emilee out to the car. We pulled on the road right behind Emilee's bus which made me so happy because I was running a little behind. I took her to school that day because I was doing the Valentines party for her class. When we got two blocks from her school we got stuck in rush hour type traffic. I barely left with enough time to get her to school (if I sped) so I knew we'd be late for sure. I was so stressed! It turned out that most of the buses weren't running that day due to weather the night before. Which ment that some 600 students were being dropped off at school. At least hundreds of others were late right along with me and I could just blame the traffic! When we finally got to school we were 20 minutes late. It took me half an hour to get somewhere 10 min. away! I then hurried (do you notice a theme for the day?) and set up the party. First we decorated sugar cookies then we did a treasure hunt. They then exchanged Valentines and it was time to go home. Yes, they went to school that day for one hour just to have a party! Emilee and I went home to eat lunch (that my honey was sweet enough to make).

Then we left (all six of us) to go to Utah Counties Homeschool Valentines Party ( I homeschool Christian and Aubrie). It was at Classic Skating this year. We had close to 200 hundred people there this year! None of the kids had ever been skating before. Classic skating allows strollers on the rink so I planned on just holding on to that seeing I don't know how to actually skate. Yeah, I couldn't even get the (double) stroller to move. It was so sad. I then went and took off my skates and just pushed the stroller while Christian hung on to the side. Sterling would take one kid at a time and skate around with them. If you're wondering if I felt like a complete dork walking around a skating rink the answer is Yes!!! It was better than just standing with my stroller going nowhere though! Poor Emilee was so scared. She would stick both feet out in front of her and she was as stiff as a board (while Sterling held her under her arms and pushed her around the rink). Then all of the kids wanted there skates off. They had their fill (after something like 15 min.). We spent more time getting their skates on and taking their skates off then they actually spent skating. We then went and got snacks from the three tables of food. After that we did the Valentine exchange. We had to leave early so I was glad we were there for the Valentine exchange part of the party. We got home 15 min. before my mom was due to come and baby-sit our kids. I tried cleaning up the huge mess on the kitchen table from the flower pen project. I was torn should I get ready (seeing I'd only had 20 min. to shower and get ready that morning) or should I clean up the craft and lunch mess seeing my mom was coming? I decided to split my time in half and do both. Great plan right? After my cleaning time was up I went to our bathroom and guess what? It was locked. Sterling was in there AHHH!!! I was trying to get him to hurry up but by the time he got out I had 2 min. Which equals some powder and lipstick. I wanted to look better for our V-Day date but we had to leave then. We had bought some theater tickets which were non refundable.

We ran into some rush hour traffic (what was it with traffic that day). We did barely make it to our seats before the show started. Speaking of shows why is that people feel the need to text during a movie? Do they think nobody notices the really bright screen in a pitch black theater? Or do they honestly think that nobody can hear the click, click, click. Is a movie in itself not entertaining enough? If you're wondering, Yes, the person sitting right next to me was texting threw out the whole darn movie. Was she texting someone the whole movie dialog? Soooo Annoying!! My new pet peeve. The movie was cute at least. We saw Definitely, Maybe. Sterling really didn't want to see it but he let me pick cuz V-Day is "my" day! So I made sure I picked a total chickflick! Was that mean of me? Sterling was surprised that he actually liked it! After the movie we went to Yapona-a new Japanese restaurant in American Fork. We had a really long wait of 45 min. of standing room only. When we finally got to sit on the only bench in the waiting room the little kid next to us was loudly telling his mommy that we were crowding him and he wanted us to move (I think I had a whole two inches of bench). Luckily we were seated far from this family! It wasn't so bad though (the waiting) cuz we enjoyed visiting with each other (uninterrupted) for 45 min!!! That NEVER happens. Even if I was practically falling off the bench! The food was yummy and we had a great time! We then headed home and watched the last half of Serendipity with my mom. I LOVE that show! After my mom left Sterling and I exchanged presents. I got Sterling three shirts and he gave me the most beautiful necklace made by our friend-Karen(http://www.oceandreamersjewelry.com/). It was a very busy day but it was tons of fun!

100 Cheri Facts

1. I love planning parties. I always go all out for my kids b-day parties. My kids start planning their next birthday the day after their b-day.
2.Starting Nov. 6th is the start of "birthday season" in my family. My family has 5 out of 6 b-days in Nov. and Dec. (not to mention Christmas) .
3. My right leg is 1 1/2 inches shorter than my left leg. I have to wear a "lift" in my right shoe.
4. I've only had four jobs in my life. I work at places for long periods of time.
5. The top of my closet needs to be cleaned out. I stash stuff there and then forget it's up there.
6. I love the Twilight book series. I'm so mad at who they cast to play Edward for the movie!
7. I wanted to be an Architect when I was little
8. I have a bad habit of reading a book I'm really into all day instead of cleaning my house.
9.I liked all of the Harry Potter books
10. I HATED how Dawson's Creek ended
11. I love reading books about World War ll/concentration camps. It's amazing what people can go through and still survive.
12. I love Ron Paul. He'd make an awesome President.
13. I wash my hair every day. I can't stand it if I have dirty hair, but I only give my kids baths every third day.
14. I'm obsessed with all of Jane Austen's novels.
15. I've been Vegan for 8 years now. For those of you who don't know what that is I don't eat any meat or dairy of any kind. Why do people think it's gross to eat a dog but OK to eat a cow???
16. I dream of touring Europe some day!
17. I don't really like to talk on the phone.
18. I'd rather cook than clean up after someone has cooked any day.
19. I love to watch The Office. It always puts me in the best mood!
20. I didn't like how Gilmore Girls ended. It left so many unanswered questions.
21. I've never lived outside of Utah.
22. Florida is the the furthest I've been away from home.
23. I've had three of my four kids at home. I've had all four babies natural! I now believe that I can endure just about anything.
24. I was going to college to get a degree in Interior Design. Someday I want to finish my degree.
25. I read one-two books a week.
26. I just finished reading Escape. It's about a woman who escaped an abusive polygamist relationship. The FLDS treat their women worse than the Taliban.
27. I shave my legs (including my knees) every day.
28. I homeschool my kids.
29. I get SO sick of people asking me, "But what about socialization?". No my kids aren't social retards.
30. I got a ton of stretch marks with all of my pregnancies.
31. I have to put on chapstick right before I go to bed every night. If I don't I can't fall asleep.
32. I like summer the best!
33. I HATE swimming. It's makes me itchy and I hate smelling like chlorine all day.
34. I don't like getting water on my face.
35. I only drink about three cans of soda pop a year.
36. I'd rather have something sweet than salty anyday.
37. It took me forever to get a blog because I thought it would be hard to figure out.
38. I can't stand when people pop their knuckles.
39.My husband is 16 years older than me. I really don't even notice except when it comes to our different taste in music!
40. I can say no to any salesperson. My husband has such a hard time saying no!.
41. I love fruit snacks.
42. My favorite junk cereal is Lucky Charms. I eat it only about once every other year.
43. I try not to shop at Wal-Mart.
44. My favorite days are when I don't have to go anywhere.
45. I love Indian Food.
46.I have scoliosis (S curve in the spine). I go to a Chriopracter twice a week.
47. I really like spinach smoothies.
48. I'm a night owl. I go to bed at about 2 AM.
49. I've saved my husbands life many times. He's diabetic and his blood sugar has dropped to seriously dangerous levels quite a few times.
50. Even though I'm vegan I'm not a huge salad fan.
51. When I was 10 I LOVED New Kids On The Block (what was I thinking?).
52.I like to sew.
53.I really like to watch Big Love
54. I'm left handed.
55. I've watched Pride and Prejudice more than any other movie. The new one. Though I really love the BBC version.
56. I love Brownies.
57. I HATE tomatoes.
58. I love decorating my house in my head. I always have more ideas than money!
59. I enjoy cake decorating.
60. I do not like being tickled
61. I think Costco is so much better than Sam's Club.
62. I keep chocolate in the top of my closet and have one almost everyday.
63. I once ate just one chip from a bag just cuz it said, "Bet you can't have just one". It was a car trip to CA. That took self discipline!
64.I'm more of cat person though we don't have any pets right now.
65. My kids are so cute that I grit my teeth.
66.I love to scrapbook but never do it cuz I can't stand having little "helpers". By the time they go to bed I have no energy for it.
67. I was getting a 4.0 in college before I got engaged. Then my GPA went down to a 3.5.
68. Eating grapes make my teeth hurt.
69. I get mad whenever I listen to Dr. Laura. She jumps to conclusions and is so rude.
70. We don't get TV on purpose. We just watch movies.
71.My husband gets to work from home.
72. Weight: 116 pounds.
73. Shoe size: 7 1/2
74. Height: 5 ft. 4 1/2 inches
75. I love going around looking at houses that are for sale even though I'm not going to move.
76. I'm glad I have more girls than boys. I love my boy but I relate to the girls so much easier.
77. I'm a really bad skier. Last time I went a group of four years olds were passing me!
78. I used to follow celebrities lives and one day I decided that it was such a waste of time. I haven't paid much attention since.
79. Most disgusting celebrity: Gene Simmons
80. I'm really blind without my glasses or contacts. I can only see about 6 inches in front of me if I don't have my glasses/contacts on.
81. I get cold really easy. My fingers will start to go numb on a summer night.
82. I've never dyed my hair. I went once to get it dyed and the stylist talked me out of it saying people dye their hair to get my natural color.
83. I wear the same size I wore in high school (after four kids).
84. I get embarrassed easily, but I get REALLY embarrassed when my face turns red from mild embarrassment.
85. I've had three root canals.
86. I'm a health nut. I'm into natural, healthy eating.
87. I forget to clean my car. I really don't think about it until I'm hurrying to go somewhere and jump in the car.
88. I sleep on the left side of the bed. When I was single I slept on the right side of the bed, but I gave it up to my honey when we got married!
89. Sterling and I went to Disney World for our honeymoon!
90. I love to eat hard marshmallows. I open a new bag and leave it open so they'll go hard faster.
91.Swimming in the ocean kind of freaks me out cuz I think that everything that bumps against me is a jellyfish or a shark.
92. I use to be able to remember everything about every movie I've ever watched. Now I can't remember if I watched the movie or just the trailer. Sometimes it takes me 10 min. into a movie to realize that I've watched it before.
93. I won't watch scary movies. I actually do remember these.
94. I never balance our checkbook. I always use the check card and I keep track of where we are by going online.
95. I never snuck out of the house when I was a teenager.
96. My favorite holiday is Christmas. I'm also glad when it's over though. Nothing is as magical now that I have to make it all happen. Watching my kids on Christmas morning makes it all worth it though.
97. One of my favorite memories of my Grandpa Moon is that he used to write tiny letters and hide them in a hole in a tree. He told us that a fairy lived there. We really believed it and would write letters to the fairy and the "fairy" would always write us back!
98. My favorite way to relax is to take a bubble bath surrounded by candles.
99. I'd love to go to Hawaii or get a new diamond ring for my 10th Anniversary! Only a little over one year away! Can you believe it?
100. I tend to be more of a pack rat than I'd like to be. I'm working on it and I am getting better!

Baby Shower

Last Sat. Alayna and I hosted a Baby Shower for Alisha (Dewey) Cartier! Alayna and I love planning parties so we had a great time getting everything all ready (we should really start a business since we both have so much spare time!). We did a Winnie the Pooh Theme because Alisha is decorating her baby room with Pooh. We had a fun time and Alisha got some really cute stuff!

Alayna, Alisha and I have been getting together every month for almost three years now. We each take turns hosting and planning what we'll do. Some of the things we've done include going out to eat, making vinyl lettering signs, making hair bows, going to a swap meet, working on our Control Journals, having a spa day, hosting a favorite things party for the whole high school gang, watching the last episode of Gilmore Girls (it's our favorite show) together (complete with tons of candy and lunch from Luke's) and making story sacks just to name a few! Alayna and Alisha had been getting together for two years before I joined the group and Beau Dee just joined us at the beginning of the year. I look forward to these get togethers. It's great to know that no matter what I'll get some girl time at least once a month!

Voting

Last Tuesday I went and voted for the primaries. I had the kids with me and on the drive there Christian was asking all kinds of questions about voting and all that it means. I was answering all of his questions and describing all about how voting works. I was so proud of myself for explaining all of this to him and went in to vote. The kids stayed with Sterling in the car. When I was done I came out and as soon as I got in the car Christian asked me excitedly, "Mom, Did you win?". O-well I guess I didn't explain it so well after all.

Bubbles

So yesterday I came home from taking Christian to Karate and started to make lunch. I opened the dishwasher and it was chuck full of bubbles. Appartenly the maids put dishsoap not dishwashing detergent in my dishwasher. I put the dishwasher on the rinse cycle and left the kitchen. When I came back three minutes later half of my kitchen floor was covered in bubbles and water. What a mess! I had no idea how to get all of it cleaned up. So I mopped the floor (which took FOREVER) and then put the dishwasher on the drain cycle. I then preceded to alternate between the rinse and the drain cycle every three minutes for the next half hour. So much for maids making my life eaiser!