Table etiquette and manners- A mother/daughter Relief Society Activity

First off, this dude is a life saver. Seriously. Gotta give him a shout out. When things weren't running as smoothly as I would have liked, aka the church printer jammed an hour before the activity, this man I call my husband came to my rescue. I need to do better at expecting things to go wrong; and plan for the worst, but I guess I am just too optimistic. : )

The activity was a mother/daughter activity focused on dining etiquette/manners. So, all women were invited, as well as any daughters/grandaughters, ect. ages 8 and older.

First, we had three quick classes that were on: table decorating (*note all of the cute themed centerpieces our speaker brought for examples), how to set a formal table properly, and table etiquette.

Next, we had a relay race. We divided everyone up into two groups. We had three stations set up on both sides of the gym. The girls were the main competitors, while the moms were there to help their daughters in any way possible.

The first station was just 'cause we are girls and usually get dolled up before we have a nice dinner. : ) The daughters had to quickly put on the items on the table. 

I brought a pair of shoes, a skirt, and the sister I work with brought some jewelry. They had to keep all of the attire on until they completed all of the other stations.

The second station was table setting. They had to properly set a formal dining table setting, napkin folding and all. : )

The next and final station was to match dining do's and don'ts.

Once the third station was completed, the mom and daughter team had to hurry back to the beginning and take off the dress-up clothes and leave them on the table for the next mother/daughter team.


We also had two "crafts" for the ladies to participate in if they wanted.

One craft was making a paper origami recipe book (aimed at the younger girls). Some simple kid-friendly recipes were printed off and available to be placed in the recipe book.

The second was really not even a craft. We asked the women to bring an empty picture frame that they would like to use in their kitchen for a dry-erase menu board. We then provided the menu inserts for the frames. Annnnd that was it for that one. : ) You could have them decorate their frames or the menu inserts if you have time. I got the idea off of pinterest, duh! This is the main example I used for our menu boards. Check out my relief society page for more of the ideas I used for this activity...

For refreshments, we had an ice cream bar. The team that won the relay race was the first group to hit up the refreshment table. It was a big hit! I am so bummed I forgot to take a picture of it. I thought it looked pretty cute, if I do say so myself. : )

For the ice cream bar we had:

Vanilla ice cream

Ice cream cones

Chocolate syrup

Caramel syrup

Strawberries

Bananas

Sprinkles

Whipped Cream

Chopped up cookies

Whole cookies

Toffee bits

Chocolate chips

M & Ms

Maraschino cherries

It was a fun night of learning and play! And dessert always makes activities a little better! : )

Fit n' Firm Friday: Bootcamp workout #3

Oh sweet Susie. DOMS has set in. I know I am alive, that is for sure. I am having a hard time walking today, and I love it. Although, being 8 months pregnant (and waddling), makes it all the more awkward to move when you are incredibly sore. : ) This is the workout I had for the bootcamp ladies Wednesday night.

12 x 4 Tabata series:
*A tabata is a 4 minute long workout. It is performing an exercise for 20 seconds, as hard as you can, with 10 seconds of rest immediately after. Continue alternating between the 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest until you have completed 8 rounds of work. It adds up to 4 minutes total.

*This workout has 12 exercises. Each exercise is performed for one tabata (4 minutes). Then, take about 30 seconds to a minute of rest after the 4 minutes are up. Move on to the next exercise and complete the new tabata. Continue until all 12 tabatas are completed. It is a total of 48 minutes of "tabata" time, with the additional rest periods in between tabatas.

*I did not use very many "cardio" exercises, but alternating between upper body and lower body exercises keeps your heart rate up to get the same effect.

1. Squats
2. Overhead tricep extension(5-8 lbs)
3. Deadlift(15-20 lbs)
4. Front row(5-10 lbs)
5. Forward lunge with calf raise
6. Shoulder press(5-10 lbs)
7. Glute bridges
8. Push-ups
9. Reverse lunges
10. Bicep curls(5-10 lbs)
11. Squat jumps
12. L raises(5 lbs)

Feel free to ask any questions on how to perform a certain exercise!

no cavities and lighters

I thought having a girl would ensure I have someone to hang out with when the boys start hunting with Ryan. I think I might be wrong... She loves bug hunting with that play gun. :-) I imagine she will want to go hunting with the guys in the future. And that is OK! I would love for her to at least try it out. I can see many quiet days in the future though!

I took the boys to the dentist on Monday. Last time I took them, Cole wouldn't let them do anything. On Monday though, he sat perfectly still. He had the cleaning, the exam, and xrays done! He is getting so big. :-) 

Neither of the boys had cavities! So for celebration, I took them to get brunch at the fancy golden arches. I have never taken them for breakfast there before. Well, maybe once on vacation? Anyway, by the time we would have gotten tuck to school, he would have missed lunch. I have lots of memories eating pancakes with my grandma at mcdonalds. She didn't have a lot of money, but she did like to take us there every once in a while. I miss that lady!

I thought it would be fun to do something out of the ordinary with the boys after their appointment. They were so excited when we pulled up. :-) I let them each pick what they wanted. 

We were all a little concerned with the "scrambled eggs" though. Tucker even said, "those are eggs?????" :-) 

Tucker got caught trying to use a lighter the other day with Cole and a neighbor boy. They were trying to start a fire in the backyard. Thankfully they didn't get it going! They found it somewhere in the camping stuff in the garage and thought it was the perfect time to try their fire-making skills. After he got caught in a lie trying to not get caught with the lighter (that's a mouthful), he came up with this note all by himself. He is a sweetie. A pyromaniac like his father, but a sweetie. :-) 

Maternity update: 34 weeks

6 WEEKS LEFT! What. in. the. world.

30 weeks

32 weeks

33 weeks

34 weeks

DOCTOR VISITS: I have had a few since I last updated. : ) So, baby's heart rate is perfect, at my appointment last week it was 156. My blood pressure is doing great, I had low iron so they put me on an iron supplement, and I tested negative to gestational diabetes-thank goodness! I wouldn't do too well with controlling my sugar intake. :-)  She has been measuring the fundal height of my uterus at my appointments, and last week at 33 weeks, I was measuring 33 cm. She hasn't really been telling me what I have been measuring, so I was glad when she finally told me the measurement that time. I really didn't get to talk to her much because the fire alarm went off in the building right when she came in. She was so funny, the alarm was going off, but she still wanted to quickly finish my appointment. She asked if I had any questions/concerns, and I told her about some wicked heartburn and nausea I have been having. She recommend pepcid for my bad heartburn.

CRAVINGS/AVERSIONS: Oh crap. Remember how I haven't had much of a sweet tooth this pregnancy? Well, I must be teething. Like bad. Like maybe even a few of those "sweet teeth." : ) I have been wanting sweet things like crazy lately. Meat still is kind of yucky, as well as most veggies. If someone else prepares it, they are not so bad. But if I am cooking, I usually have a hard time eating the meal. Chocolate covered cinnamon bears from BYU have probably been the biggest craving so far. : )

SICKNESS: I have been trying to deal with my anemia, which explains my fatigue. My heartburn has gotten pretty bad lately. And then I will get sick to my stomach at random times (which makes me lose my appetite). Doc says it is related to the acid from the heartburn. Not very many headaches lately. Braxton hicks are the new normal. I have them pretty much all day long, just off an on. I had one the other night that was so intense it woke me up from a dead sleep! Speaking of sleep, I am very uncomfortable with sleeping... I am dyyyyinng to sleep on my belly. I have a hard time getting comfortable to sleep. This is the first pregnancy that I have actually had to use pillows to place around my body to help me get comfortable. My back has been hurting a lot more this pregnancy, and so it is a good thing ry is awesome at popping my back, as well as giving massages. :-) 

EMOTIONS: Yippee skippee! I hate talking about it, but I want to at the same time. It took me the longest time to fully accept I had depression and anxiety after I had Cole. I don't like the fact that I have had to ask for help. But, I think it helps when people know that they aren't alone with depression and anxiety. I have always had very happy, normal pregnancies. However, I think since my post-partum depression/anxiety wasn't completely resolved after Mackenzie, it kind of carried on into this pregnancy. It hasn't been too bad, but I definately feel the presence of the depression and anxiety off and on. Anxiety being the biggest issue. It honestly is such a pain. Most days are amazing and I just feel completely normal, and other days, well, they are just other days that I would love to forget. Thankfully, I have amazing family and friends.

I do think some of my emotional problems are just related to pregnancy hormones running wild though... a few random weepy moments. : )

I am getting slightly more nervous for a FOURTH child to be responsible for. I am curious to see what she is like. All three of my kids so far are almost completely different personality wise, so it will be fun to see who this lil gal is. : )

WEIGHT GAIN: at 34 weeks, my morning weigh-in was up 23 pounds total.

EXERCISE: Man, I am missing my running. I cannot run more than .25 miles at a time. And that is even pushing it. Even with my belly band on, I am extremely uncomfortable with the bouncing of the belly. It is crazy because I was able to run up until the day before I had Mackenzie. I just keep telling myself that every pregnancy is different and I can't expect my body to be able to do the same exact thing every time. Over the last several weeks, I have been walking, jogging (and I say that very loosely, aka 5.0 is about as fast as I can go, and it is only for a short amount of time.) intervals every once in a while, elliptical, indoor cycling, denise austin and the firm workout dvds, free weights, weight machines, yard work, and I am still teaching bootcamp two times a week at church. I am needing to modify a lot more at bootcamp, but I feel like I am in good company because my sister-in-law that comes is only a few weeks behind me. We modify together. : ) Overall, I am still moving, just much slower. :-) 

I try to get 4-5 workouts in a week. At the very least, I am alright with doing three days. My goal is to do a couple days of cardio and at a couple of resistance training.

NAME GAME: Darn it, still no names I like. I have looked so much over the last couple of months, I got burned out. I finally started looking again, and I spent forever looking yesterday. Nothin. But Ryan still wants Audrey. He told me I can pick the middle name, so I might just have to take him up on that!

A new experience for muah...

I don't know what I was/am thinking... but I signed up to be Tucker's home room mom. And by golly, I got picked. I am a little nervous, but I am super excited to be more involved in his classroom this year! I went to a meeting last night that went over all of the expectations of a room mom and how the class parties are handled. A fall festival, winter festival, and valentine's party are the main events on my schedule. I might not be at the fall party, because it is around my due date... but I will try my darndest to be there! ; ) Pinterest, we will become even better best friends this year. : ) Let the preparations begin!!!

A surprise party!

Ryan turned 30!!!!

On September 1st!

It took a lot of effort and self-constraint, but I was able to pull off a surprise party for him! It was a Christmas miracle that I didn't spill the beans. : ) Not to mention, for the duration of the entire week before the party, I had to keep lying about everything to him. It was all just lie on top of lie, story upon story, just to make things workout. I am an honest person, so that was very difficult for me. I even had to lie to the kids about why I was buying all of the stuff and what we were doing that night! It was such a relief when we finally got to the party. : ) I felt as free as a bird!!!!

He kind of hates being the center of attention, so I knew I was taking a risk by throwing a party just for him, and a surprise one at that.

On a recent business trip to visit a plant (where he can't wear his wedding ring), he left his (second) ring in the rental car and turned it in. He didn't realize it till it was too late and they had already re-rented the car. Third time's a charm?

Anyway, so I used that to my advantage for a date night. We were "planning" on getting him a new ring that night, as well as hitting up one of his favorite places, Bass Pro.

We had borrowed an air mattress from his parents when my sister and her hubby came to visit a few weeks ago. We used this mattress for a reason to get over to his parent's house that night. His dad is the Bishop for the Young Single Adults ward in our stake, so I had his mom call to ask us to bring it back the night of his party for a "young single adult's parents who were in town." Yet another tale we had to tell! We had family and some friends show up 20 minutes early, and park at the nearby elementary school. A brother-in-law "shuttled" people over to the house so there wouldn't be a ton of cars at the house when we got there. I had two of my sisters-in-law take pictures to capture the surprise...

I love this picture, Ryan is SO confused!!!!! And I love his mom's face, the anticipation!!!

Even more confused!

After they yelled surprise and he realized it all was for him. He decided to hide behind the mattress. : )

He is so studly. : ) His dad is to the left, and our neighbor is the one standing by him. Ryan quickly befriended them once we moved in to our current house. They are often the recipients of ryan's cowboy cookies! : )

I LOOOVE his body language here. So embarrassed. : ) and that is totally the way Cole acts when he is embarrassed. : )

We had a night full of goodies that Ryan loves. We had a nacho bar with nacho cheese,  tortilla chips, sliced olives, sliced jalapenos, salsa, sour cream, green onions, and guacamole.

We also had a candy bar filled with mixed fun-sized candy bars, reese's pieces, skittles, and mike and ikes.

I didn't get a before picture, but we had a boat load of candy. Let's just say we are still eating candy from the party and it has been a week and a half. : )

Instead of cake and ice cream, we did root beer floats, one of his favorites. I just stuck the "30" candles in the ice cream tub. : )

I couldn't have gotten everything done without the help of my awesome mother and father-in-law, sister-in-laws, and really all of Ryan's family. They all helped so much!

Since I knew Ryan wouldn't be a super huge fan of a surprise party, I didn't want to make the party super busy. He is not super into games or activities. I just wanted to have the food and treats, read a few memories, and then just hang out.

For all of the people I invited, I asked them to send a favorite memory of Ryan, and one word used to describe him. I made a poster that displayed all of the words to describe him, and then I read out loud all of the memories people had sent to me. It was fun to celebrate this awesome man and his 30 years of existence! He is the best.

Maybe I will post some of those memories and words another time. : )

Happy Birthday babe!!!!!! We all love you like crazy!

Mackenzie's 2nd Bee-day

 I can't believe my baby girl is 2!! Her birthday was August 21st.

I had a 2nd "Bee-day" party for her with some family and friends a few days after her birthday.

For food, we went along with the bee theme. My mother-in-law made some awesome cupcakes! Not only were they super cute, but they were also so delicious. She made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate filling, and a raspberry buttercream (or maybe it was cream cheese?) icing. I don't know, all I know was they were divine. Some had fondant flowers and bees, and some were beehives with bees. We also had lemonade to drink with sliced lemons for looks, lemonade flavored jolly ranchers, an icecream cake (found here) and a "honeycomb" trail mix with Honeycomb cereal, dried blueberries, dried pineapple, and dried mangoes. It was quite the sugar overload. : )

Looooove her beautiful eyes.

Cheeeeseeee!

The kids playing the "find the bee" game. I decorated a lemon to look like a bumblebee, with googly eyes and all. Then I hid it somewhere in our backyard. Whoever found it got to hide it next. We played a few rounds of that then had the cake and icecream. It was wayyy too hot outside.

I love the little sign Tucker made for Kenz in the background. : ) Not only did the bees have wings, they had fingers on the end of their wings too!

Cutie pie.

I made this poster for a quick game. I just made "stingers" out of  black construction paper. I tied a bandana around their head to cover their eyes, gave them a spin, and let them try to pin the stinger on the bee!

Fooooood!!!

Handsome Colie-bear. He was super excited for the lemonade. Tucker was busy playing in his room and outside with his cousins during the party. I don't have much evidence that he was even at the party!

Lots of cute kids (mostly nieces and nephews).

I had Ryan print off some bee coloring pages from the internet to let the kids color outside.

She is such a wonderful part of our life! She is SO funny, energetic, loving, cuddly, kind, goofy, loves to help, and quite the tease.

She can say a ton of words now! A lot of them in sentence form too. Sometimes it is hard to understand her though, but I can usually figure out what she is trying to say. 

She loves for me to paint her nails and toe nails. She loves to play in my make up while I attempt to get ready. 

She loves to play with her brothers, and she is getting pretty good at defending herself when they get too rough with her. : ) Her fingers are like little razor-like tweezers. She has mastered the art of pinching.

She still uses her binky, mostly for nap/bed time. But I am trying to get her off of that darn thing soon! She is sleeping in her toddler bed at night, and sometimes sleeps on the love seat couch in her room for her naps. 

She definately knows how to eat when she chooses to. Sometimes she can be picky, but when she does like something, she goes for the gold.

She loves babies and all animals. Her popular phrase when she sees one or the other is, "so cute!"

She loves to read books and would have me read them to her

all day long. She loves to color like crazy, even if it is on stuff that is not supposed to be colored on!

She loves to make messes, and usually on purpose. She is a stinker sometimes, so I just have to breathe deep.

Right now, she is into throwing fits when I change her diaper, wash her in the bath, or try to buckle her in her carseat.

She loves to cuddle-when she is the one initiating it. And I love it. She will just lay limp and let me hold her like a baby.

The only time she uses sign language is to say "more." And it is only used in situations where candy or ice cream is being given.

She is SO adorable when we say prayers. She is almost always the first one now to kneel, fold her arms, bow her head, and close her eyes.  It is the sweetest thing. I try to point out her reverence to Tucker and Cole, who are usually hanging from the light fixtures.

She love, love, LOVES to sing. It is so funny because Tucker and Cole were never super into singing, but she can be found making up her own songs anytime, any place.

She loves to clean. She loves to clean herself with baby wipes, so if the wipes are visible, you better believe she is busting into those things and giving herself a sponge "bath." She also loves to help with doing the laundry, the dishes, and picking things up (like toys).

She has a shoe fetish and will put on any shoes that she finds. I keep my shoes in my room, and she will just take shoe after shoe after shoe off of the shelves, and try them all on.

She is such a goofball. I sometimes question if Chris Farley is actually her biological father. She can make the funniest faces that make us laugh so hard.

I can't believe that when I was pregnant with her, I was worried I wouldn't know how to be with a girl. I thought I was more cut-out for mothering boys. But let me tell you what, this little girl is the best. I love her so stinkin' much. We all love her to pieces. Everyone who meets her falls in love with her. Tucker and Cole often get in fights because they want to be with her and be her favorite. I love seeing Ryan love his precious daughter. It is a sweet thing to see a father's love for his little girl! I will never forget Ryan singing to her when she was first born. Their relationship is just that much deeper now. It has been a wonderful two years with her, and I can't wait for many, many more! Happy second Birthday Mackenzie Leigh!!! We love you!!

These pictures were from her actual birthday.

: ) my sweet girl