The Mall Dare Date!

A couple of weekends ago, some friends invited us to go out to dinner with them. We ended up at the Fudruckers at the mall and chatted the hours away. Trav thought the night was going to end there, little did he know what I had in store! After our friend's parted ways, I pulled out {Part 2} of our date. 

The Mall Dare Card. 

I had gotten this idea from that website, the Dating Divas. I'm doing a segment on fun date ideas for our February Relief Society Activity, so I thought it'd be fun to try some out ahead of time. 

But what really spurred me on, was looking at some pictures we had taken on a date, right after we got married. We had gone to a Diamondback's game and sat through 11 innings with no runs! Bloody! Obviously, we got stupid bored and pulled out my camera, making all manner of ugly and silly faces. It made me smile, remembering how much fun it is to be completely goofy with each other and not care what anyone around you thinks. 

OK, enter the Mall Dares. 

I will give you a sampling of a few.....

*Point at the ceiling for 3 min. and see how many people you can get to look up.

*Find a yoga book at a bookstore and practice doing the poses in the aisle.

*Find a baby shoe and ask the store clerk if it comes in your size.

*Pretend to work at a store and ask shoppers if you can help them find anything.

*Ask for change for a nickle and emphasize that you want it in pennies.

*Go to a crowded area and do your best, fake marriage proposal.

*Ask a stranger to take a picture of you posing with a store mannequin.

*Get in a crowded elevator, then turn around and say, "I gathered you here today because....."

Clearly, some of these would take major guts! We both grimaced at the marriage proposal one. Yikes! And our mall didn't have an elevator, or a book store, but we did manage to do most of the other ones. I guess it's supposed to be like a game, where you get points for each dare, but we basically just agreed on the ones we thought would be funny, then pushed each other into doing them!

We started out small.... trying to get people to look up at the ceiling. I kept pointing and saying things like, "Oh man, how did that get there?!" But honestly, we kept cracking up or the blood would drain from our faces from looking up too long. We definitely got people staring at US, but I don't think anyone ever looked at the ceiling! BUST! But it did get our bravery up.

Next one, was probably my favorite! I walked into a Payless and Trav kept his distance, acting like he didn't know me. I went to the baby section and found a tiny, pink shoe, with Disney Princesses on it. I walked right up to the cashier where an older lady and foreign gentlemen were working. With a completely straight face (I t was so hard!) I said, "Um, I was just wondering if you carried this shoe in my size?" 

The lady's face seriously lit up and she gushed, "I know, right?!" I kid you not!

The man, on the other hand, peered at me cautiously and said, "That's a water sock shoe. They only make those in toddler sizes."

"Oh, darn. I understand. Thanks anyway!"

Then I spun on my heels, glancing at Trav, trying not to look too elated! It went perfectly!

 I'm pretty sure the hubs was not one bit excited about this, until I pulled off the shoe stunt. Then he got a little more into the spirit of things. 

Next, we went into Famous Footwear and he snagged this Spiderman beauty.

I kind of tagged along behind him as he found an older lady working in the aisle. He showed her the shoe then popped the same question. She kind of looked skeptical and chuckled, saying, "No that only goes up to size 13". 

"Size 13 in boys, then?" Trav clarified. :)

Now she smiled, and said, "You know, my brother in law was in her just last week and asked about that exact same shoe, with the webbing on the top and everything! He was really bummed we didn't have it in his size, either!" 
Dead serious.

We just played along, "Ah man, I know! Why don't they think adults wouldn't like them too?!" Shaking our heads like, those shoe designers need to get a clue! I was dying inside. Maybe it would have been a little more embarrassing for us if we had found slightly more "normal" employees. :)

We managed to get away without cracking up. Then the best part was, Trav found a pair of tennis shoes he needed on clearance, which meant we could get a second pair for 50% off! I was was debating between some sandals and wedges and went with the sandals. When we were checking out, the sandals rang up for $2.50!! Which meant they were $5 on clearance anyway. So Trav, gave me a push and said to go get the wedges too, and we'd take the 50% off those and just pay the $5 for the sandals. Ka-ching!!!! Wha wha! I wasn't even planning on getting new shoes that night and I walked away with TWO. My husband is the best!

That same lady from before, was checking us out and watching the whole {two shoe} thing unfold. Now she was our best friend, and nudged Trav saying, "Oh ho! Making her happy will probably make you happy later on!" 
Ahhhh!!! Famous Footwear lady implying Trav was going to get lucky only made the night that much better! Hysterical! 

We also split up to ask store clerks to take our picture with a mannequin. I told the girl in Aero that I wanted to see if I would look good next to this outfit, so I'd know whether to get it for my husband. Haha! I'm so lame, but couldn't think of any other reason I'd need a picture with a mannequin. She must have thought I was nuts!

 And hopefully the lady in Motherhood Maternity didn't think Trav was a perv! I love that he did it though. What a good sport!

My next favorite was probably asking for change for my nickel. I went up to the smoothie place in the food court and some misfit teenager just looked at me strangely then held out his hand. When I emphasized that I really needed it in pennies, he raised an eyebrow and kind of muttered, "I don't think there's anything smaller..." Haha. Unfortunately, I don't think many of the other food court employees thought it was very weird! They were more than happy to make the change, and almost didn't give us a second glance! Hmmm, I'm not going to judge IQ here.

By then, we had run out of time and needed to get the babysitter home. But even as we were leaving, we were coming up with other dares. For example, at Fudruckers, there are always random employees coming up to your table to ask  if you want a refill on your drink. It would be hysterical to go up to a table and do that and see their face. Better yet, their walls are all made of glass, so the other person watching would get to see all of if without going inside. We were cracking up just imagining it. 

So it wasn't anything spectacular, but it turned just a regular dinner date, into something a little more fun. I'm glad Trav finally caught the vision and was willing to be goofy with me for just a bit! No matter what we do, he's always my favorite date. :)

Because....

Because standing wet and naked on the edge of the tub and jumping, always sounds like a good idea.

Because I might be willing to give up everything I own for a pan of homemade rolls.

Because taking self portraits on Mom's phone is the best entertainment.  

Nice close up of those spikes too!

(But taking one with Mom only sounds fun until she follows through with it.)

Because forts are way better to sleep in, than just play in!

Collin came home from a friends house PUMPED about a fort they had built. Thus, he needed one of his own. And then insisted he be able to sleep in it. I really thought he'd fall asleep, then wake up in the middle of the night, uncomfortable, and crawl into his bed. Nope. He slept the whole night on the floor. THEN, slept 5 more nights on the floor. We had finally force him back into his bed. Kids are funny!

Because just hoping that there isn't pee in the toilet when you lift the lid to clean, isn't enough.

 The boys did me one better. Batman met an unfortunate fate. 

Because waiting every Tues. and Thurs. for Collin to finish his shower after swim lessons gets boring. 

Because eating just the butter off the roll is really more appetizing.

Because even when you're 3 you can enjoy the smell of coffee. :)

We were doing the craft at the Children's Museum yesterday and they had coffee grounds to sprinkle over the bears. Collin didn't know what it was, but after he was done, he looked up at me and said, "Mom... this stuff smells good!" Must be MY child. :)

Because after swimming for a couple of hours, a warm Little Caesar's pizza always tastes good!

 No need to wait until you get home!

Because hearing a Tim Horton's commercial on Pandora is all the motivation I need to stop in for a donut... or two!

What's funny is, we were driving home from swim lesson when the commercial came on. I heard it and had already decided in my head that we were headed for Dunkin' Donuts. Collin also listened, then said, "Mom, can we go get a donut like the ones that man was just talking about?" Immediately, I said, "Yup!" His eyes got big and he gushed, "Wow! You're the best Mommy ever!!" Sure thing, Collin. Anything for you. :)

9 Lives

This car must be kin to a cat or something, because it won't die!! Not that I guess we terribly want it to, but it sure is causing a lot of problems. 

With a couple thousand dollars of repairs needed on it, it was still good to drive Trav back and forth the 2 miles to work every day. EXCEPT when it's snowing. The tires are bald, and the engine is shot and it sees a snow covered hill as more of a slip 'n slide. Honestly, I don't know how we didn't get in any accidents our last winter in Buffalo. Definitely some close calls. 

But one Friday morning, at the beginning of the month, with snow covered roads, Trav must have gotten a surge of confidence in Ol' Dirtay. I subsequently got a call from him, 4 minutes after he left for work. 

"Hi babe. *pause* Um, would you mind coming to pick me up?"

There is a right hand turn, going down a hill, on his way to work. Thankfully, there is also a cement, median that lines the outer edge of that curve. Sliding into that, is what messed up the car. But if it wasn't there, he would have slid into other traffic. Bless that slab of cement. 

He called our roadside assistance the next day to get a tow. 6 hours later, no one has called back. After a lot of calling, hassling and confusion, we are told that they don't service the area we live in. We have been paying for this service through Allstate for the last 9 months! Good to know, Allstate, that you offer services that can't be used. But thanks for taking our money. It will be AAA from here on out. Just thankful we learned of it now, instead of when I'm on the side of the road outside Holbrook, by myself with 2 kids!

Trav finally managed to get it down to the dealership, where we speculated they'd tell us it was either totaled or cost more to repair than it was worth. Nope, just $380. 

Looks like Ol' Dirtay rides again!

(And after three weeks of having only one car, I'm pretty happy to have him. :) 

Rachel Comes to Town!

For months now, I've been looking forward with special interest to Jan. 17! The day that Rachel was coming to visit! She was able to find a killer deal on flights and had planned a little weekend away to come see me! We were sad we didn't get to see Doug or the boys, but I'm not going to lie, a girl's trip was just what I needed. I drove down to Albuquerque to pick her up at the airport at 7pm. I parked and stood at the end of the terminal, completely giddy. I swear, I might as well have been waiting for my missionary. I probably looked pretty ridiculous, all fidgety and craning my neck to see over people. When she finally did come into sight, I had to remember not to completly shriek or jump up and down. :)

We were able to meet Crescent and Megan at a little restaurant close to the airport, called The Standard Diner. Yum! It's even been featured on that show, Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. It was so fun to have us 4 back together again! After dinner we went back to Crescent's to spend the night and had no end of things to talk about. Poor Rach, who was 2 hours ahead of us, was probably dying from exhaustion as we finally went to bed at 3:30am... her time. 

 The next morning we had to pack up and head back to Farmington right away, so I could relieve the babysitter. I have to say, the drive back went WAY faster with her to talk to! We could talk about anything and everything and never get bored.

 We mostly hung out at the house that afternoon so Weston could take his nap, then hit up Target and Trav's office so she could look around. I had gotten another sitter that night so the three of us could go out. Maybe that seems weird to some people, but I love that it completely isn't for us. In fact, one of my favorite memories in Buffalo was the week before we were moving. I was over at the Shaw's house late, watching the boys for them, but I was in the middle of a movie when they got back. Their furniture was already packed away, but there was a blow up mattress in their living room to lay on while you watched TV. Rach had brought me my favorite Ben and Jerry's, then her and Doug plopped down next to me on the mattress with their ice cream, and we all finished the movie together, laughing our heads off. I loved it. 

That night, Rach surprised us by being game for some sushi! You wouldn't think in Farmington, there was any good sushi, but Mikasa proves otherwise! Then we topped it off with some fro yo and V-day crafting back at the house. Well, Trav opted out of the crafting. :)

I'm completely sad that I have no pictures of Saturday!!!! What was I thinking?! It was the best day. We started off with some yummy banana pancakes, courtesy of Rachel. Then we got our Zumba on at the Rec Center. Grabbed a couple of fruit smoothies at Mickey D's, then it was off to Durango! I had heard about the natural hot springs in Colorado, but have never been to one. Well, Trimble Hot Springs changed that! I didn't quite know what to expect, but I certainly didn't expect what we got! It was a very cabinish, low key kind of place. The hot springs actually looked like a big, rectangular, shallow pool, with a step running around the sides so you could sit and soak. It was outside of course, so we froze our tushes off, walking out to it. At least we weren't like some of the crazy old dudes and did snow angels, before getting in! It wasn't super crowded, but there was a good amount of people there. People, I've learned the term, that fit in the "granola" category. Teva sandal wearing, never touched a plastic water bottle, only eat organic food type people. There was even one lady about our age with full armpit hair. Excuse me, but *gag*! A couple younger guys had long hair down their back. As we huddled together and immaturely whispered about the unique crowd we had just joined, we suddenly realized that for how strange they all seemed, we were in fact the "outcast" ones! Wonder what they were silently thinking about us! Haha. 

It was pretty relaxing, I just wished I could somehow lay down and sleep while soaking. We stayed an hour and half, then got dressed to go window shop downtown. A lot of sporting goods stores, that's for sure! We did browse some cute clothing and home stores, then got dinner at the Palace Grill, before heading home. I'm so glad Durango is close to Farmington! Makes for a nice little getaway.

The next day was church. Doug text Rachel a pic of her boys at church, so she sent him one back of this guy. :)

  We have 9am church now, so we had the rest of the day to chill after that. Rach and I finished our V-day wreaths and watched 7 Brides for 7 Brothers. 

Then we took a little walk around the neighborhood. After riding their scooters inside all winter, the boys were loving having them outside!

 Collin was more than excited to have Rach in on a game of Candyland!

It being our last night together, we all chatted until the early morning hours. Felt like the old days!

 Her flight was Monday at 2:30pm, so we all drove down to Albuquerque first thing in the morning. We had about 2 hours until her flight left, once we got there, so we grabbed lunch at the mall and did some shopping. I hated dropping her off at the airport. The weekend went by way too fast. She really is the best friend a girl could ask for! We were already trying to plan out the next time we could see each other. Dang New Mexico being so far from Florida! Thanks for coming, Rach! We missed you before you could get out of the car. :)

Since we were all the way in Albuquerque, we tried to find something fun to do with the boys. Gravity Park was so busy, they weren't even letting people in, so we tried the Children's Science Museum. I love a place that is hands on for kids! The boys kept busy for a couple of hours here.

 Have you ever seen such a big elevator?!

 We happened to drive by a Firehouse Subs, so we knew what we wanted for dinner! We drove out around 6pm, and it didn't take long for both boys to conk out. Right after we got home, I was off to a friend's house to watch Bachelor. The fun never ends! I have to say, this was one of the better Martin Luther King day's I've had. :)

New Year's Day

On New Year's Day, we went to see Wreck it Ralph in the theaters with the boys. I thought it was super cute and really entertaining, even for adults. 

We even went all crazy and bought popcorn and drinks. (Mostly with the hopes that it would keep the boys in their seats for an hour and a half!)

Weston was LOVING the previews!

But as soon as the movie started, this kid was outtie! Luckily, there was only one other family in the auditorium, so we just let him run wild. 

 Collin was perfect, and watched the whole thing, slowly bringing one handful of popcorn to his mouth at a time. (It worked!)

Alas, it might be a while before we take little Mr. Run Amok to a featured film.

Nursery Graduate!

Two weeks ago, it was time for this crazy boy to graduate from nursery!!

He seriously hit the jackpot with his nursery leaders. Erin Lambson was amazing and took the time to prepare new activities, crafts, games and lessons for each Sunday. And talk about deluxe snacks! The time I substituted, they had HandiSnacks, raisins, pretzels, and GoldFish crackers. And their own sippy cups. No wonder he didn't want any dinner when we got home!

On the last day, they made them graduation caps and had all the parents come in for a Polaroid picture with their child. 

I looooove this picture. Something about a Polaroid gives it that oldish quality. Like a moment in time. Such a big boy! Let's hope he's ready for Sunbeams! 

January 2013

Just some pictures from my phone the past couple of weeks...

Well, I guess this one was technically the week before we Christmas. Man, this kid gets me! What a cutie.

Snow, snow go away... don't come again another day!!!

Boo hiss on snow. This was from the first week of January. And now here we are with freezing temperatures a couple of weeks later. I'm SO OVER IT! 

Collin is constantly killing witches and vampires around our house. I was in the kitchen and he raced in with his gun to report, "Princess! Princess! I got the goblins and witches, but there are still more!" *Pant, pant.* Then he waits for me to tell him where they are and off he races to kill them and save the day.

He's pretty good with the Charlie's Angles poses too.

These sunglasses surfaced and they haven't left his face much.

This picture doesn't do his {Oompa Loompa} look justice after finishing off a bowl of lasagna, but it was pretty darn cute. Then I had to show Collin a clip of the Oompa Loompas on YouTube so he knew what I was talking about. I don't think it phased him, but I was regretting my decision later! Those guys are creepy! 

Bath time. Probably their favorite time of day. 

Last week was monumental. So monumental that I posted on Facebook... and I rarely do that anymore. For the record, here is what I said:

"A year and a half ago, I lost ALL of the pictures on my blog... all thanks to a glitch in Google + (insert curse words). Three years worth of pictures- gone. I sobbed for an entire afternoon. There was no way to get them back. And I had only printed 6 months in a blog book. I still had all of the pictures on my computer, so thus began my year and half process of manually going into every single post I had done, to re-upload them. Looking in the HTML format, writing down the location and name of each picture. Finding them (which was often way harder than it should have been), uploading them, and placing them in the right spots. Roughly 300 posts and well over a thousand pictures. I literally can't count the hours I've spent doing this!! It's been mind numbing and felt endless. (As well as keeping my blog updated with current posts) And been the constant burden on my shoulders. Well today.... I FINISHED!!!!! My blog is complete and I could cry I'm so happy!!!!!!!! It's seriously the BEST DAY EVER!!! And while I'd NEVER wish to do this again, reviewing all of my pictures and posts has created some of the sweetest moments of happiness. I am so blessed and have such amazing friends and family! I am truly so lucky and grateful for all the experiences Heavenly Father has given me. Blogging may have bit me in the behind, but I'm still so grateful for a great way to keep my family journal!"

It really was an emotional moment. It felt like the insurmountable task. I can't put into words how good it felt to BE DONE. The last few posts I did were of a Diamondbacks game we went to and the time we were a Ma and Pa on a trek. They were like the icing on the cake. We've only been married 6 years, and yet it feels like we've already had a lifetime of experiences together. My heart was so full of gratitude for my wonderful husband. I seriously could not have gotten luckier. He is loving, caring, sensitive, a goofball, a fun father, a selfless husband, and my best friend. I don't even know what I did to deserve him. I really won the husband lottery.

Presents in Action!

Over the following week, there was no preschool, no swimming lessons, no nothing! Except cold and sick kids. I was going stark raving mad by Wednesday!

I was glad that at least we had some Christmas presents for entertainment.

My mom gave the boys this gigantic cardboard space ship that they could color on and play inside.

Candyland became Collin's new obsession.

I got my own Christmas present to love! Casey made a huge frame to go above our fireplace. Trav somehow squished himself onto the 5 inch ledge to hang it.

This picture does not do it justice! I LOVE it. It is so perfect and exactly what I wanted! Thank you Casey and Shelley!! Now to print a picture!

My mom always puts DVD's in our stockings. We got to pick this year. I chose 7 Brides for 7 Brothers. Trav did a throwback and picked 3 Ninjas. It's one of my all time childhood favorites too. Sitting down on a weekend to a French Silk Pie Blizzard and 3 Ninjas was mighty fine!

Blast from the past hearing, "Rocky loves Emily!" and "We don't wanna hurt you, we just wanna KIDNAP YOU!"

Ice cream shop play-do. Good thing they make it non-toxic... Weston ate a fair share!

This kid....

Walking around in my heels is one thing. So is pushing his pink stroller. 

But together? Haha, it's quite the combination! :)

Not to be left out.... Collin fighting the forces of evil with his favorite shield!