Relay for life

This week I was able to participate in a relay for life for the American Cancer Society. This was a great experience and I walked 9 miles. I did not walk as many as I had hoped for, but I had the kids while Troy walked, then he took them home and I stayed until 3ish the next morning. I got a bad stomach ache around midnight and I had to take a break. My goal was 13 miles, but did not make it. Next year! It was great. Troy's sis Heidi suffered from thyroid cancer when she was only 13. It was so hard to watch her go through everything...radiation, surgeries, and just not knowing what the outcome would be. She has been cancer free now for about five years and we are all so proud of her. I dedicated laps to her and to every other member of my family that had cancer. Together, we raised quite a lot of money. We were teamed up with Benchmark Potato and another company. We had a blast, and the kids were not happy when we made them leave at 11 p.m. Kayla and Kaden walked over 26 miles, Troy walked about nine and Daeson ran two whole miles! We were so proud of him! I am not sure how the others panned out, but we all did a great job! Kent made a giant chess set and that was one of the fund raisers. Benchmark also had a potato bar to raise money. Thanks for the opportunity to participate and we will see everyone next year!!!!

Happy Father's Day! and Happy Birthday, Grandma

Today we celebrated Father's Day and my Grandma Lish's birthday. I was a neat day. My parents came to stay at our house. Daeson sang in Sacrament mtg and mom helped me get things ready for the BBQ. I had sharing time and it turned out pretty well. I gave Troy an impact driver and drill set. Thank you mom and dad for picking it up for me!!! He got some socks and a shirt and golf balls. It was a nice morning and after noon! We got ready to go south for a family bbq. My aunt Lindy, Uncle Ron, cousins Shane and Ally and kids, and Heidi and Tyler and Hudson were there. Justin, Hailey, Jaxon, Jess, Brooke, Carson and Carlie, Ron's mom and sister, and of course, Grandpa and Grandma Lish. It was great to spend time with all these great people. It is not enough that we see each other! We had a ton of food and luckily the missionaries stopped by for a bite to eat. I am grateful for my family. Daeson had a great time playing with his cousins and so did Tevan once he decided to wake up!

My Grandpa Smith who died 12 years ago was a man who would help anyone in need. My Grandpa Lish has taught me respect and hard work. My dad has taught me that patience is a necessary quality. He has also taught me that it is sometimes better not to say anything at all. Troy has taught me that love will conquer all. He is a great daddy and a wonderful husband. We have been through a lot and I am glad that we have gone through it together. He keeps me level headed and he encourages me. He makes me want to be a better person. I also have a wonderful father-in-law who is there for me when I need him. He would do anything for us and I really appreciate that! My brothers and brother-in-laws are also great people whom I have learned a lot from (good and bad :) ) It is amazing though to see my brothers grow into men and fathers. Who would have thought?

The finished product:

This is the semi-finished product. We still need our bedroom furniture, but that will come over the next few months. The other night stand has been back-ordered for months now. We have a poster bed and a lowboy with a mirror picked out, too. Like I said, that will take some time! I am so happy with the way it turned out. I made the pillows on the bed, with the exception of the brown, cream and green rectangle and I have one more that needs sewn. My dad built my closet for me and Troy finished all the trim except the bathroom. I think it turned out so well. I love it and I feel so at home in it. This is the first thing I have attempted to decorate. I quite liked doing so!

My baby is three!

Tevan is three today. He is such a fun and spontaneous boy. He is a joy and I just love him. I cannot believe he is already three. The past three years have flown by. For months now I have asked him what he wanted for his birthday and he kept saying, "Super Why party". When I asked him what he wanted to eat he told me he did NOT want hot-dogs and hamburgers! He wanted a spaghetti dinner. So, that is what we did. We had our family over for a spaghetti dinner. It turned out well...only four pounds of spaghetti burned ;) and the sauce turned out really nicely. We also had fruit salad and a veggie tray (thank you mom) and we had corn, garlic bread, and a big tossed salad. His cakes were chocolate and raspberry. He thought is was great to have two cakes. He has waited a LONG time for his birthday. It is hard to see everyone else having a party. He is such a stinker and I just love him! Happy birthday, Sugar Booger!!!! Those who came: Grandpa and grandma Blue, Heidi, Adam, Kayla, girls, Dee, Tucker, Mik, Gramma Tom, Papa Ty and Gramma Cindy, Justin, Hailey, and Jaxon. It was a lot of fun! Thank you everyone!!!!

Kelsey's wedding cake..finally done!

So, this is the cake I was worried about. The sheet cakes are not perfect, but they worked out and tasted good they said. They loved the wedding cake and I was so happy about that!! It makes me feel good when people like the cakes I make. I can breathe now and start Tevan's cake! The cake was raspberry cream with a raspberry filling. The frosting was buttercream.

T ball

Tonight was Daeson's first T-ball game. He had fun and I think it will be a great opportunity for him to meet some new friends this summer! Jaime is their coach and she does a great job. She coached his soccer, too.

Getting better

Things around here are looking a bit better. Troy and Brett just installed the floor and it looks great. The walls look great after a bit of a husband malfunction. The ceiling fan is installed and it works well. Troy has changed out all the outlets and covered them with new covers. The new vanity light has been installed and we just need to tile the trim in the bathroom and replace the toilet and medicine cabinet. The trim in the bedroom needs painted and installed and I need to get a closet organizer found and purchased. I am trying to get everything put back into place before Tev's b-day on Saturday. My parents are coming!!! I am stoked. I have Tev's cake mostly figured out and I just need to decorate it. His party is ready...I just have to throw the food together on Sat. I got the four sheet cakes for the wedding done. I just have to bake six more cakes and decorate them. Laundry is finally caught up and I am ready to get it all put away. Things in the Grover house are looking much brighter. Tomorrow I will be decorating cakes all day so that Friday I can get things cleaned and in order. Whew. This week is almost done and I am nothing but pleased about that! It has been a trial. Wedding cakes definitely stress me out!!! I think I will hold off on major cakes until I get a little more time on my hands. And a bit more practice. Well, bed is calling me. I was going to stay up to bake, but I think I will get a good nights rest, get up early and bake away. I need to be all done by 5:00 tomorrow. Daeson starts Tball and has his first practice and game. I love peewee teams...so relaxed and there is no pressure! Good luck, Bug!

Progress

Here is a progress report on the bedroom. Troy and Brett worked really hard on the room! Thanks a million, boys!!! Notice the paint and the new ceiling fan.

Happy Birthday, Mom

Today, 29 years ago ;) , my mom was born. She plays a very important roll in our family. My boys love her and want to be with her all the time. She is a great mother and grandmother. She is the one who taught me how to: make lasagna, clean, iron, be creative, accept things the way they are. She showed me Primary really can be fun, Family Home Evening is important, rely on the Lord, and serve others. She also reminds me that being a mother is one of the best things we can do in life. She reminds me that it is a blessing to be a stay at home mom. She was there for us when we got home from school. She taught me that budgeting is essential. She used to let me write the check out at the grocery store and then she would show me how to balance a check book. She has taught me a lot. I have seen her struggle. I have seen her overcome problems. I have seen her discouraged and I have seen her filled with joy. She was with me when both of my children were born. She has been at every important event in my life. She is my mother. She is my friend. She is one who will always be there for me. Happy birthday, mom. I love you!!

A mile long...

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed right now. I tried to paint my room, but realized we have no regular rollers. I have the kind that fits onto our paint pump thing, but no regular rollers. I was hoping that I could get the primer on tonight so that I could paint tomorrow morning. No such luck I guess. Mondays are my clean-the-whole-house-and-do-all-the-laundry days. Tomorrow it is going to be the clean-the-whole-house-and-do-all-the-laundry-paint-the-bedroom-AND-decorate-four-cakes day. I thought I would get a head start on the laundry tonight. I know that it is not the most appropriate thing to do on Sunday, but I have to catch up somewhere. This is going to be a very busy week. I have eight cakes to do, four of them are baked and frozen and just need frosted. I have six more to bake and decorate for a double layer three tiered wedding cake, and I need to bake and decorate Tevan's and my Grandma's. The bedroom is all ready to prime and paint as well as the bathroom. I just need Troy to take the toilet out and remove the ceiling fan. It should only take me a day to get everything painted. Then we should be able to install the wood flooring and the trim. Then we can put the curtain rod up and I will be able to start moving things back in and start decorating. I am very excited for that.

Today I was able to make dinner for the fam. I made lasagna, salad, homemade crescent rolls, a lemon meringue pie and a butterscotch pie...both from scratch. Troy does not like lemon meringue but he decided I should have squeezed the lemons myself for the recipe. Yeah right. I thought I was pretty good not using a pudding mix let alone squeeze the stinking lemons!

Today Daeson rode his bike without training wheels. He has been doing this for about a week, however, tonight he really rode it. He was turning circles and riding really fast. He even learned how to stop well. Most of the time he was even able to stop without crashing. I am so proud of him.

He starts T-ball on Thursday. He is so excited about that. Grandpa and Grandma Lish gave him a T-ball mitt for his birthday. He is set and ready to go! He is playing with the kids he played soccer with. It will be fun to see them again.

Tevan's birthday is Saturday and I still have no idea what to do for it. I am very excited because my mom and dad will be here. I also get to see my dad on father's day this year. Daeson is excited to sing in Sacrament mtg to Troy and Papa Ty. He got to sing to me and Gramma Cindy on Mother's Day. It will be great to see them and by then my list of a million things will be done and I will be able to have some FUN. I am putting things on hold until after I get done with girls camp.

The buzzer on the dryer just beeped and I must go. I have some pics to post, but all of that might have to wait until I have five extra minutes. Most of what I am posting now is for my own benefit and is probably not that much fun to read. For now, good night.

Butterflies...

For Daeson's graduation, my mom and dad bought Daeson a butterfly hatching kit. It is from Insect Lore. It came with five little tiny caterpillars. They grew over a week or two and made cocoons. After a week or so we had five healthy and beautiful butterflies. It was the coolest thing and we loved watching them. Every time something changed, the boys would let me know with enthusiasm. What a neat learning opportunity!

Thirty...

Today I turned thirty.

I am not sure how I feel about this. I had a lot I wanted to do before the dreaded thirty, but the list remains unfinished. I am not sure how I feel about this, either.

Yesterday Troy had a surprise family party for me. There were a lot of people here and I am so glad I cleaned my house yesterday morning...especially the bathrooms. My Uncle Kip and his fam came, Aunt D and her fam, Nick and Jenny (cousins), my brothers Jess and Just and families, Gram Tom, Ma and Pa Grover :), Kaden, cousin Jaedyn, Grandma Grover, Aunt Lindy, Uncle Ron, cousin Heidi, and her baby, Hudson, Jaimen and Kara and girls, and last but not least, Adam, KLa and girls. I am really hoping I did not miss anyone. It is late and I am trying to concentrate. We had a nice BBQ and a fun time. Thanks, Troy, for giving me a 30 bash. I missed some of my family members, but I understand that we cannot be at everything all the time. I am grateful for those who came and brought food to share. I was impressed Troy assigned out all that he did. I had no idea he was the party animal he proved to be!

This morning I had a nice visit with Nick and Jenny. They spent the night with us and it was super fun to see them. They had a wedding to attend to at the IF Temple so it was great to have them over. After Troy got home, we headed to Bubba's BBQ for breakfast. It was really good. We came home to get some measurements and headed back out. This time we visited Lowe's and Home Depot. Yup...I finally get the bedroom I have wanted for 7 years. We tore in to it today and boy do I have a mess on my hands. Lets just say, we ate out EVERY meal today. I really would like to stay at home the rest of the week and eat cereal. No more restaurants, please. At least for a while. Troy had some errands to run, so I tore out the closet organizer, the outlet covers, the blinds, the bathroom door, (I even figured out how to remove a doorknob!), and some left over nails. Then I sanded all the yucky patch jobs from the previous owners. I tried wearing a mask, but the goggles kept fogging up, so now my lungs are filled with sheet rock dust. I cannot quit coughing. It may be that I am thirty now, this old age is kicking in! But, I would like to think it is from the dust. We tore out our carpet and pad. That was gross! I really think the people before us were not very clean. Yuck! And everything they "fixed" was done very half heartedly! And WRONG! I guess it just gives me something to look forward to with each room...a new surprise! But I am so very excited for the new bedroom. Stay tuned for some before and after pics. Our flooring should be in next week...I hope. We are ordering from a great floor place in Pocatello...RugRat Flooring. It is on Chubbuck Road. My Uncle Ron owns it :). I am very excited for the wood floors, pretty paint and beautiful bedspread, pillows and decor. This is the first room I have done completely and I cannot wait to finally make this house my OWN! We are also buying our first bedroom furniture set. I cannot to get it all here. Some of it is on back order and the other pieces we are buying one at a time.

However, now, I am going to bed. It is getting late and I have a big day ahead of me. Lots of sanding, painting, wall patching, and floor sweeping to do. Wish me luck. I am not as young as I used to be...hahaha.

Thanks again for a wonderful Bday, Troy, Daeson and Tevan. I love you all! Thanks again for a fabulous Bday celebration!!! I really appreciate everyone!

The construction has begun...

As promised, I get a new room for my birthday and we started the construction. I am so excited!!!! I have had the bed spread and accessories for a while now and I am finally ready to put it all together. Troy told me I could have a new floor for my birthday, too!! Happy day! The top is the ripped out closet. It had an organizer in it but I hated it. Ironically, it didn't organize very well. I was glad to see it go. The second picture is of the bathroom window. Paint and new trim will make this room look fabulous. Oh, and new tile along the floor to match the tile we laid last year. The third picture is of the wall that will soon be Gulf Winds blue. I am so excited. The last picture is of the window in out bedroom. The carpet that you see will be ripped out, too. And the brass ceiling fan will be replaced with an oiled bronze fan. I. cannot. wait.

Brooker's fifth bday

This is my niece. She turned five today and I am so lucky to have a cute girl like her as my niece. She is spunky and so fun. Happy birthday, Brookie! and thanks for the super-fun party.

Two words...Bountiful Baskets

I have two words for you. Bountiful Baskets. This is so amazing!! Got to BountifulBaskets.org for more information on it. I have been participating for a while now and I have never been disappointed. I was a little overwhelmed by the 19 bok choy I got, but pleased none the less. Here is what I got for $16.50.

Farmer's Market

We love the farmer's market. We try to go once or twice a month. It always costs us WAY too much, but it is a fun family activity. This week the boys got their faces painted like spider-man. We also let the boys jump in the big jumpy thing. After all was said and done, we indulged ourselves in Mexican corn on the cob and tamales. Delicious! It was a fun morning!

Attempt

My attempt at potty training this morning was not too great. I wasn't feeling well, so I laid on the couch for a minute. In the mean time, Tevan took off his poopy diaper and put it in the kitchen garbage...or attempted to. Troy stopped in for a minute to get his breakfast and found poop all over the kitchen. So, the diaper went back on and Tevan got a spanking for taking off his own diaper. The technique was to let him go without a diaper. I have heard several success stories with this method. However, I learned today that if I'm upset in the stomach, cleaning up poop doesn't help that situation. We are not giving up, I am just going to put it on hold until my tummy feels better. And, no. I am not pregnant. Why is it that every time a woman in the child bearing years gets sick it is automatically assumed she is prego? I think I am getting ulcers or something. I worry way too much about things!!!!

Tev an

Me: Are you pooping?

Tevan: Yeah

Me: Wanna go sit on the potty?

Tevan: No, mommy change mine diaper.

Lucky me!

Memorial Day weekend 2010

I have no pictures, but I have to write this down before I forget. Troy, surprisingly, had a day off, so we headed to SLC. Adam and Kayla (thank you a million times, again) took our kids while we were away. Saturday after we arrived in SLC, we met Danielli-o, Toddly, and kids, Bart and Annaleen for dinner at MacCool's Irish restaurant. It was great food and wonderful company. Our friends, Annaleen and Bart were here from Belgium and hung out with us the whole weekend. After dinner, we headed to the Off Broadway Theater in downtown. It was so funny. We were able to Priceline our tickets and stayed at the Hilton. I love staying there. It is very roomy and clean. However, the room service tag was written on, so I threw it away. I was very disturbed when I found it out of the trash can and back on my bed the next day!!! I was not happy about it and if you know how germy I am, you know it grossed me out knowing that, first, someone else touched it and second, they took it out of the trash and put it back on the BED. Yuck. However, the rest of the stay was great.

Sunday morning we met Dani, Bart and Annaleen at Temple Square and went to Music and the Spoken Word. They did a memorial theme and it was great. We walked around a bit and headed to Park City to scope out the Olympic park. It was neat to see and I think Bart and Annaleen liked it. We also went to the outlet and had a good time there. I stopped at Gap and found some capris, camis, and a couple of shirts. I also found a cute pair of flip flops and casual shoes at the Sketchers store. Danielle departed and the rest of us headed to Lagoon. I rode Wicked. It was so exhilarating! It is definitely a love-hate relationship there. I could not quit shaking when the ride stopped and I felt like my head was going to explode, but it was amazing. We stayed for a while and we ran into my bro, Jesse and his wife, Carlie and Tucker and Carlie's nephew. They were with my Uncle Kip and Aunt Mitzi and their fam: Shade, Shawntel, Shalese, and Shad. Jess and Shalese rode mouse trap with us. It was fun seeing them. Honestly, if Shad hadn't gone on Wicked, I probably wouldn't have. My uncle Kip rode it 2x's and liked it, too. After Lagoon, we headed for SLC once again. Troy and I ate at Rodizio Grill. He had been there before but I thought I would try it. I really like it and their Flan is to die for. Amazing.

Monday morning we went to Village Inn for breakfast and headed to IKEA. This is one store I always spend way too much money in and I think I need to buy everything. We got the boys some very cute creative toys. We also had to try the meatballs everyone tells us about. They were tasty, but we were still full from breakfast so we had little tastes. We were going to stop at Tai Pan, but we missed the exit. I begged Troy to stop in Malad so I could say hi to those at the store, but they are all new faces there. I did run into the Ray's and it was nice to catch up with my friend Bob's parents. We then did a surprise visit to the Jeppsen's. I was worried I had the wrong house, but relieved to see Anita. Brian (aka Jacob's dad) and Anita look exactly how they did 10 yrs ago. Very youthful. It was so nice to catch up with them. It made me very reminiscent of high school. It also made me sad that I have no roots there anymore. However, I was so happy they were home!!! They are super great people and I am glad to know that after 10 yrs of not seeing them, they still welcome me into their home as if it were yesterday. I miss my friends from High School. It is crazy to think I have been graduated for 12 years!!!!

We picked up the boys and I think Adam and Kayla were very glad to see us. Or maybe just to see my kids leave :). They gave up their weekend to watch our kids and I am glad they were willing to do it. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

I am hoping that Bart and Annaleen email me some pics so I can post them. I wish you all could meet these wonderful people. They are so kind and thoughtful. One day I hope to be able to visit them in Belgium. Thank you, Bart and Annaleen, for all that you did for us! You two are so neat! I was so sad to see you go.

Now we are home and life has started once again. Sigh....