Addie's Gum Obsession

Addie is completely obsessed with gum.  She is always asking for it.  No matter where it is in the house, she can sniff it out and find it.  She'll often times appears smacking on a piece.  She goes through my purse, pulls chairs to the pantry and cabinets and will even go into the garage and opens the car to look for a some.  This morning while I was at the gym Scott realized he hadn't heard Addie for a while so he sent Parker to look for her.  When they came down, they saw a kitchen chair had been moved to the cabinet where we keep the gum.  Then they noticed the back door was opened.  Then Addie comes strolling in in her purple nightgown and crocs with a piece of gum in her mouth and her hand saying she was going over to E's (Emily our neighbor behind us) house to give her a piece of gum!  This all happened before 7:30am.  We decided we'd better set the alarm to beep each time a door is open so we'll know when Addie decides to take a stroll outside!  Also, last night we found this in one of our vents. Seven wrappers and chewed pieces of gum.  Apparently, she's been going behind the couch to chew in secret.  We've finally gotten her to not swallow it, at least that's a step in the right direction.

Owen's Trip to Minnesota

Scott had to go out to MN in February for a business trip and took Owen with him. It was his father son trip (he took Parker to the Notre Dame game last fall). It was also a trip to see his best buddy Calvin Baldwin. Carey was so kind and said Owen could stay with them while Scott was at work. Owen had a blast. More than any of the kids, Owen thinks of Minnesota as his home. He really misses it and especially his friends. Scott said he was telling everyone on the way there that "Minnesota is where I growed up".

They left Sunday morning and didn't get home until Friday night. His week consisted of Punch with Scott and then a Timberwolves game. Then to the Baldwins where he stayed Sunday-Wednesday evening. He had the best time there. The Baldwins are like his second family so he of course felt right at home. He and Cal played wii, played in the snow, wrestled, traded cards, and even had a fashion show headed up by Ella. She dressed them up and took a ton of pictures and then made a DVD out of it. It was so cute, she had fixed their hair and told them how to pose and everything. He also got to have playdates with some of his other buddies - Ben Cataldo, Lorelei Wilson, Miles and Collin Pollei and Gretchen Davis. We have such great friends in Minnesota. I'm so thankful for Carey. Not everyone one would be excited to watch your kid for 4 days but she was - she's the best!

On Wednesday evening Scott picked him up and took him to dinner and he spent the night in the hotel with Scott. Our kids LOVE to stay in a hotel. The next morning they went to breakfast and then picked up Cal for an action packed day. The went to lunch, Dave & Busters, a movie and then to the gym to play basketball. Then they met Scott Baldwin at Smashburger for dinner. Scott and Owen spent the night that night with the Baldwins and hung out the next morning before they went to the airport. It was a great trip. On his way to the airport Owen started tearing up and said he was going to be homesick. Scott told him he didn't need to be homesick because all his family was in Ohio and we'd all be together. Owen said but this is my home and I'm going to be homesick when I leave.

A week with one less kid seemed like such a break for me. I tried to spend lots of fun time with Addie. I don't feel like I get a lot of time with just Addie to have fun. We went to the Children's Museum, to a big indoor playground, a movie and to lunch. It was really great to have that time with her. Then on Friday night, I got a babysitter and had a date with Parker. We went bowling, played miniture golf, went for pizza then stopped on the way home and got a movie and stuff for ice cream sundaes. We had so much fun. Parker is growing up and it's sad for me to think he won't always think it's fun to hang out with me. We were walking in the grocery store and he grabbed my hand and it was so great. He rarely reaches to hold my hand anymore - I loved it. Then at the end of the night, he came over and said "I love you Mom". I hope we can do more dates!

Another Snow Day

I think this is our 4th or 5th this year. Coming from MN where there are no snow days, it's a treat to get a day off every now and then. It was made even better when the cleaning lady cancelled and Owen's b-ball class was cancelled due to snow. Nothing to do except hangout.

We made crepes - Owen's favorite. I've never seen anyone like crepes as much as he does. It makes his whole day when he finds out we're having them for breakfast. And the way he savors every bite it so funny. The kids played in the snow and played with the neighbors all day. And Addie took a nap! And Scott came home from work early aroung 2:45. He worked from home but it's still nice having him here. What a great day!

Iron Chef - Battle Smoothie

We watch a lot of foodnetwork shows around our house. The boys love Iron Chef so they wanted to do a Iron Chef competition. It was battle Smoothie. Scott was the chairman and went through the whole thing. Parker (aka A.J. Johnson) was the iron chef that Owen (aka Jonathan Rhino) chose to battle. The secret ingredients were frozen berries, kiwi and ground flax seed. I was Owen's assistant but Parker did everything himself. They could use anything they wanted and had 30 mins to finish.

Owen's smoothie had kiwi, frozen berries, banana, apple, apple sauce, oj, milk, 3 kinds of yogurt, flax, chocolate chips, crasins and mini marshmellows.

Parker's smoothie had kiwi, frozen berries, flax seed, apple sauce, 3 kinds of yogurt, oj, milk, gooey marshmellows (he put some marshmellows in the microwave ), and a spoonful of peanut butter swirled in at the end to finish it. I was skeptical about the peanut butter but it actually tasted pretty good.

Scott and Addie were the judges and were judged on taste, originality, and presentation. Shockingly they tied! They kids loved it and are already asking for a rematch!

Girls Trip to St. George

We had our second Grove Girls reunion trip in January. This is a reunion with friends that all met in Minnesota. Everyone was there this year me, Carey Baldwin, Jacey Davis, Chelsea Wood, Tricia Baird, Jane Anderson, Rebecca Vanden Akker and even Sarah Caine came over from Switzerland! It was the greatest!

I know as I look back on my life, some of my best memories will be of the time when we all lived in Minnesota together. We all came to Minnesota for our husbands jobs and didn't have any family. We quickly became each others family. We used to meet at the park for the kids to play and us to chat all the time. We did playgroups, Sunday walks on the trails, bike rides, dinner groups, babysitting swaps, General Conference breakfasts, celebrated many holidays, visits to the hospital when babies were born, girls nights, marathons, half-marathons, tri-athalons, many meetings at the gym, shopping trips, painting each others houses, taking each other dinners, serving each other and on and on.

This year we met and Rebecca's parents house in St. George. It was perfect we came in on Thursday and left on Sunday. We got facials, worked out, went on a hike, went to church, did a little shopping, ate some good food, and talked and talked and laughed and laughed and cried and laughed and talked some more. It is so rejuvinating because with these girls because I love and respect them all so much and it's such a great place to talk and get advice. I really hope we keep up this tradition! I love my Grove Girls!!