Awe...
Iree was not feeling well today. It takes a lot to slow this girl down. Some of you see the shy, sweet little girl who wont leave her mom's side. Well, that is just an artificial Iree. She is unstoppable, constantly on the move, from one game to the next, get my drift. I spend most of my day keeping up with her. Today she laid on the couch and watched cartoons (which she never does) and she helped me pick pictures to put on the blog. In between reading her a few stories and doing only one puzzle today I was able to clean the house, do most of my laundry and catch up on blogging. So when I usually complain about a day with sick kids... this one was pretty nice.

And No... I don't have a leopard print couch... it's a blanket.

Tubing
Heather and Chuck built a jump for Jacob and his friends to go off. I love getting shots of the distorted faces as they hit the jump.

Jacob at the top of the hill.

Heather testing out her fine work.

Alexi going for a ride.

Spencer Upside Down.

And Chuck with a graceful landing

Spencer taking out Alexi.

Scott's Baptism
Last Weekend we took a little trip to Idaho for Scott's baptism. I only have one picture of the whole excursion because I snapped one shot and then the battery was dead.
We left early Saturday morning and made it to his basketball game. I was a little stunned by the crowd... 4 whole sets of bleachers were full and plenty of people standing around. I have to tease Michelle a little about living in the boonies. Not much going on in Idaho... funny thing is... plenty of people say the same thing about Utah.
After the basketball game we went to lunch at a hamburger joint with horse saddles as the chairs. Everyone thought that was pretty cool.
Then we made our way to the church for the baptism. Grandpa Kirby baptized Scott and it was wonderful as it always is. Kevin made me get all teary eyed as he talked to Scott about his special day. Afterward Michelle had great treats.

We went to Kevin and Michelle's house and the kids played in the snow and had a blast. We were planning on leaving after dinner to drive home. We were having such a good time we ended up spending the night and Me, Heather, Michelle and My Dad stayed up until 2:00 a.m. talking. I love doing that. We headed home after one of Michelle's awesome breakfasts. It was such a good trip I need to make it happen more often.

Snow, Snow and more Snow
On Super bowl Sunday we woke up to a lot of snow that the wind had blown into large drifts. We didn't have church until 1:00 p.m. So the kids headed out to help Mark shovel the walks. Mark would move a few shovel fulls and then have to leave to help dig out neighbors cars stuck in the snow. That morning he dug out at least 4 cars, shoveled all of our walks and driveway and all of the sidewalks at the church. We figured he was out shoveling for about 3 hours that day. Church ended up getting canceled because most people couldn't get out of their driveways. It ended up being a nice relaxing day. And to top it off a great Super bowl... exciting up until the last second.

Guitar Hero
So, I am (or was) 100% against video games. I didn't really like them as a kid and the thought of Jacob sitting on the couch hours at a time frying his brain wasn't too appealing. Mark and I debated this issue many times.

Well, The Wii made its way into our home... I LOVE IT!!! The Tennis, bowling and even Guitar Hero are so fun. We can play as a family and have a blast. Don't worry... we still have limits.

I am a little scared that I am creating a punk rocker out of Jacob but time will only tell. When I was his age the only music I ever listened to was primary songs, The Music Machine record and the Sound of Music 8track. Occasionally Jacob breaks out singing "Fire and Flames" by Dragonforce. He is getting pretty good and has come close to completing his first song.

Paint... I love paint
Iree and Jacob love to paint... I usually have them do it when Mason is napping but this night I let them paint while I was making dinner to avoid stepping on them. Iree asked me why Mason couldn't paint... I thought "Why not?" So I gave him a few splotches of paint and a brush and he went to town... He loved it. I got busy fixing dinner... Iree said, "Mom look!!" Mason was sucking on his paintbrush, dipping it back in the paint and then sucking on the brush again. I soon remembered why I don't let him paint.

Music

So I wanted to explain my taste when it comes to music... It is a little hard because I like every kind of music. Anything that makes me think, feel or get the chills.

The first CD I owned was Alanis Morissette. I soon joined the Columbia CD music club and ordered anything from Areo Smith to Chicago with Yaz in between. I have always loved good country music for the sappy stories they tell (I often get teary eyed) but until recently I didn't claim to like it. I love U2 and certain songs from Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, etc... My first year of college I went to a few local Skaw concerts and I liked the raw sound.

I had a friend who was obsessed with music and opened my eyes to my now favorite music. Acoustic Guitar... Dave Mathews, Grant Lee Buffalo, and Shawn Mullins and recently Mark has me hooked on Jack Johnson. When I listen to his music I remember that I need to slow down... It really doesn't matter if I don't get the house spotless each day or if Iree's hair is out of place. What matters is that I notice the things around me and enjoy them... My kids, nature and life...