Gage Goes Skiing

Doesn't Gage just look adorable? Yesterday, Mike took him skiing for the first time at Nordic or is it called Wolf Mountain now? Anyway, I so wanted to go and watch but I didn't want to interfere and I thought Gage would do better without me there. Mike and I had been asking Gage this year if he wanted to try skiing. To our surprise he said yes. I don't even know if Gage really even knew what skiing was. It is amazing what a year does to a kid. For the past couple of years, I have been trying to get Gage to try anything from soccer (most of us know what a mistake that was because I think making him play is what traumatized him into saying no to everything else) to tumbling, basketball etc. Well, last year he finally agreed to T-ball and loved it and now he and Landen are enjoying tumbling.

Anyway, Mike took half the day off and rented skis and a helmet for Gage. Mike borrowed special short skis from a neighbor so he could help Gage more easily. Well, they arrived at the ski resort and purchased their tickets and what do you know? Mike set the tickets and coats in the truck and was helping Gage put his gear on and somehow locked his keys in the car. Seriously? Mike calls me telling me I need to drive up there (I didn't have a clue where Nordic was) and unlock them. The worst part was the tickets and coats were locked in the truck so they couldn't even start skiing while they waited. Well, as luck has it some guy heard Mike talking and said that he had a Chevy truck and sometimes the same keys work. What do you know? That guys own truck keys unlocked ours. Kinda scary if you think about it.

So, they finally got to start skiing. Mike bought $10 passes that only allowed them to stay on their "Magic Carpet" hill. Well, they were having so much fun they upgraded to normal lift tickets so they could go down a real mountain! I couldn't believe it. Mike said Gage did awesome and loved it! I guess Gage would just take off down the mountain with Mike shouting behind him "Lean on your left!" or "Lean on your right" or "Slow down Gage! Make a big pizza!" I guess Gage crashed into the orange safety net a few times taking it down with him occasionally. Overall, they had a great time and we have plans to go again next Friday. I am going to go this time and get some real footage.

Reach For The Toothbrush

Ok, I really need to start letting my kids do things for themselves but it is so much easier and faster if I do it. I still brush Gage's teeth for him (he is 6 1/2 years old). I just feel like if I do it, I know it is getting done properly. No cavities thus far. Anyway, I always have to tell Gage to close his mouth because it lets me get in the back. So Gage and I had the following conversation:

Me, "Gage, close your mouth a little so I can get in the back."
Gage, "Mommy, you need to get the ankle toothbrush."
Me, "What?" (I couldn't understand what he was saying because he had a mouth full of toothpaste.)
Gage replied as he shoves the toothbrush out of his mouth, "You know mommy, the ankle reach toothbrush because it reaches your teeth all the way in the back."
At this point I realize he is trying to say 'Angle Reach'. Me, "Do you mean Angle Reach?"
Gage, "That's what I said, ankle reach toothbrush."
Me, "Where did you see that?"
Gage, "On a commercial while I was watching Scooby Doo. It said the Ankle Reach Toothbrush is bent so it helps you brush your teeth that are all the way in the back."

Gage will make a great salesman one day.

Side note: Gage is currently in Speech Therapy for some articulation problems he is having. It's a long story that hopefully I will get around to blogging one day.

Maybe A Little Too Cheap

Growing up my parents (my dad mainly) would always remind us that we weren't paying the electric bill so we needed to make sure to turn lights, tvs off etc when we left a room. With money being kinda tight right now (I haven't worked a full pay period since October), I am trying to tighten the belt. It is also a pet peeve of mine to have lights on upstairs when we are downstairs and vice versa. Anyway, this morning the kids were dancing in the living room with the blinds closed and the lights on. Well, kinda the same idea. You don't really need the lights on if the blinds are open with plenty of light. I said to Gage and Landen, "You guys don't need the lights on. You are wasting electricity and that is wasting money. Let's turn off the lights and open the blinds." As I am sitting down here in the computer room a few hours later, the boys are upstairs in their room playing. I heard Gage say, "Turn off the light Landen. You are wasting money!" Ok, maybe I'm being a little too cheap. I busted out laughing!

Cousin Sleepover

Gage is off track along with his cousins Maddison and Brayden. We had a cousin sleepover the other night. I thought having 5 kids in the house would make things a little hectic but I actually got a lot done. It might have been due to the fact that 4 out of the 5 kids (Tanner being number 5) have a Nintendo DS.




They were all playing Super Mario Brothers. Ok, so maybe I let them play with the DS a little too long. These games are sooo addicting!

Boys Will Be Boys

Many of you know of Landen's obsession with cars. He spends countless hours driving his hot wheels cars around on the carpet of his bedroom floor. For his birthday, he received many nice tracks and city type buildings to drive his cars around in. However, Landen continued to prefer to drive his hot wheels and line them up on the floor in his room. For Christmas, I picked out the cutest hot wheel rug for Landen's room so he could at least drive his cars on the rug. It has race tracks and parking stalls. Landen loves the rug, but he drives his cars around the rug instead of on the rug. All of this kneeling on the floor has taken a toll on Landen's pants. The other day I realized he has ruined 6 pairs of pants since school started in September. Only 2 of the 6 were Gage's and the rest are brand new from school starting or from his birthday in November! I also noticed today he has ruined a pair of sweat pants. Mike and I have started making him change into shorts when he going to play with his cars.

Go Steelers!

Baltimore Ravens 14 Pittsburgh Steelers 23

My dad is a huge Pittsburgh Steeler football fan. Growing up, I was a daddy's girl so in turn I became a Steeler fan as well. So, I am super excited they are going to the Super Bowl. The only downside is that I am scheduled to work that night. I will get to see the first half of the game before I have to leave for work. Hopefully, one of my patients is a Steeler fan. They better win or it will be one long night at work!

Go Coach Mommy Go!

So I have a new church calling. I have slipped through the cracks for awhile because I work a lot of Sundays, but they finally got me. I am the Young Women's athletic coach. I almost busted out laughing when the Bishop told me the calling. I asked if this was a made up calling just for me, but apparently it is really a calling. I actually was excited because I had another motive in mind. I thought this would be a great way to get to know some of the teenagers in the neighborhood in order to see who would want to babysit my kids. Since we have moved here, I haven't known who to ask to babysit my precious, calm, children.

Well, we had our first basketball game last week and forfeited. I felt bad because we still scrimmaged and we are good. I am bribing the girls with a pack of gum every time they come to a game. Thank heavens for an awesome dad with perks. Hopefully it works.

I was telling Gage and Landen yesterday that we were having basketball practice at the church gym and they could come and run around. Landen said, "I am going to cheer for you mommy." I replied, "Landen, I'm not going to play. I'm the coach." Landen instantly said, "I'll cheer for the coach then." Sure enough as I was shouting words of encouragement to the girls during practice I could hear Landen saying, "Go coach mommy go!"

How Much Did I Spend?

So I am trying a new way of buying groceries in order to help cut costs as well as hopefully build up a little food storage. The idea is to collect coupons and only use them when an item is on sale. Hopefully, you have a few coupons for each item on sale and you stock up on the item. So, Albertsons (I never have shopped at Albertsons before, I am usually Walmart through and through) had a big sale last week and this is what I got.

Here's a list in case you can't see everything:

2 Boxes Instant Potatoes

9 Boxes of Tuna/Chicken/Hamburger Helper

2 Boxes frozen vegetables

3 Boxes Brownie Mix

1 Pantene Shampoo

1 Pantene Conditioner

Dozen Eggs

4 Bags Malt O Meal Cereal

20 Yoplait Yogurts

1 3 lb Tub of Butter

1 Bag Baked Lays Chips

1 2 lb Block Cheese

1 5 lb Bag Potatoes

9 Rolls Toilet Paper

3 10 packs of Minute Maid Juice Boxes

3 Boxes Toaster Strudels

24 Bottles Dasani Water

16 20 oz Bottles of Powerade

And I have a $15 in store credit on my next purchase!

I only spent $60 which I thought was a pretty good deal and I still have that $15 when I go back. It was definitely a lot of work. I spent about 2 hrs the night before cutting coupons and getting my list organized. Then, I spent roughly 2-3 hours at the store because you had to buy it a certain way. Anyway, I think I am going to try this for a few months and see how it goes. There is a whole other world out there of coupon people. I had no idea so many people did this. I guess people lined up outside of Albertsons at 6 am on the 1st day of the sale. I don't think it's quite worth that much effort, but I'll see how things go.

Just Another Stage

All boys like to dress up like girls and princesses right? I remember with Gage it started out by wearing my shoes and progressed to wanting to wear my shirts because he thought they were dresses. This stage lasted a few years if I do remember correctly. Now, Landen loves wearing any shoes with high heels. He has also made a best friend in Ava because she lets Landen wear her lipstick and apparently is now sharing her dress up clothes. No, Mike and I weren't present while the below event occurred.


Hopefully, this won't last very long. Unfortunately, I have caught Tanner trying to put on my shoes a few times. I think they like to hear the sound across the tile.

Happy New Years!

Ok, I know I'm a little late wishing everyone a Happy New Year. I'm obviously already not doing well on some of my New Year's Resolutions such as getting organized, , exercising everyday, blah, blah, blah. I guess I am in a lazy mode lately. With Mike being on holiday for two weeks along with the kids being out of school, and me not having to work due to low census, I really need to get back on track.

On New Year's Eve I worked! I didn't have to work, but I volunteered since Mike and I didn't have plans and the holiday pay is very nice. I was so busy! So much for being nice and volunteering to work. I took care of 4 amazing kids. I was so excited when I found out that one of them was old enough and well enough to want to stay up until midnight and watch the ball drop. Well, I was so busy that I was late getting into her room and missed it. I felt so bad. Thankfully, her family was there. New Year's Day, I slept while Mike did who knows what with the kids.

I hope everyone is having a good start to 2009! Hopefully I can get things back on track in my crazy life. Stay tuned!