All Work No Play!?

Ashlyn came to work with me today. For some reason, she loves it! I think it's because she has been coming to work with me since she was 3 days old! She came with me every day until she was 6 months old....she was crawling around, eating door stops and pulling plugs from computers. Ever since then, she has come to work with me here and there depending on the day. The other weird thing is that she loves to lay down under my desk...could that be habit from when she was younger too?

She loves to sit on the computer and play games and go next door to Iceberg....maybe that's the reason she likes to come to work with me!

We are counting down the time until we leave the office today to go join our friends in Vegas. Vegas isn't really that special, considering it's only 1.5 hrs away, and I make frequent trips there.....but it is nice to just get away. We are staying with my friends at their time share, Tahiti Village. Ashlyn is looking forward to the lazy river and I'm looking forward to the sandy beach and pool area. I just want a tan!

Hopefully, we will leave around 4 to get there in time to do something.....probably eat at Cheesecake Factory (Ash loves!) even tho, I am craving PF Changs. Of course, Ashlyn has to visit the M&M factory to buy overpriced m&m's with her hard earned money!

I'm sure we will post some pictures when we get back......

Love the Spring Break Weather!

This is the time of year that I am so happy to be in St. George! I love to be in the warm weather! This week is especially nice because I am housesitting for my friend, Julie, and I am able to enjoy St. George without the commute.....so I get more time in the sun this week. Laying out by her pool in the middle of the day is especially wonderful!

Ashlyn is so upset....she thinks we are the only ones not going anywhere for Spring Break! The thing is, we never, ever do. We usually go to Disneyland on her birthday which isn't til next month....so where did she get the idea that we have to go somewhere for Spring Break?? We are taking a day trip to Vegas this week though. Julie and her family are there at their time share and we are crashing the party! Ashlyn could care less! All of a sudden, she hates Vegas. She is becoming a teenager and hasn't even hit 8!

Speaking of 8.......Last Sunday, I found out Ashlyn's baptism will be on April 25th. I was thinking it wouldn't be 'til May! Ashlyn is obsessing over her white dress! She freaks out daily that we don't have one yet. I keep telling her there is plenty of time, but I guess I better start looking before there is a major melt down!

Happy Spring!

Catching Up!!

Seriously, I can't believe how time flies! It has been so long since I updated my blog!! I get constant reminders from Ashlyn who gets them from Raelie to get this updated....so here I am. I'll just post a few pics and some verbage...then I promise to keep it updated in the future!

Last Thursday, we ended up in the InstaCare for Ashlyn. She had a dancing accident and hurt her knee badly. Luckily, it only ended up being deep tissue bruising. So just a litte sore. She thought it was awesome that she got to have her knee wrapped. The doctor also printed out her x-rays for her to take to school for Show & Tell.

Friday, February 20th, Ashlyn got to dance with her team for the girls and boys basketball half time shows for Dixie College. She had a lot of fun...mostly excited that it was televised. After the games, Deja got to come to Enterprise for the weekend. The girls had tons of fun. We still had plenty of snow up here, so they spend some time playing outside.

On Sunday, February 22nd, we met Deja's mom and went through one of the Parade of Homes. Ashlyn is now begging me for her own nail salon!!

February has been a hectic month!!

Weekend Fun

Everything went as planned yesterday, with the exception of the tumbling class. Apparently the class was canceled, but only the coach knew about it! So instead of tumbling, Ashlyn & Deja went to the daycare so I could still get my workout in. I haven't been able to go to the gym all week! It was so hard to get in the zone. I don't know what it is, but I was dreading it....just counting the minutes til I was done. I pushed through it, and after an hour, I was finally finished. The girls wanted to hurry home to play before having to get ready for their dance recital....but I had another plan. Well, I had to buy a new pair of pants for the recital. Most of my clothes are too big for me to wear. Happy about that :), but just don't want to spend the money buying "in-between" clothes! The girls were a little sad it might take a half hour out of play time, but after I explained to them that I'd have to go the recital with my pants around my ankles, they quickly went along with my shopping trip! They found lots of shirts in the juniors section that they thought would make cute dresses so it kept them distracted and kept their minds of playing bratz.

We made it to the recital rehearsal right on time, which was surprising! Since I work for the studio, I should be there early.....but hey, I had an extra child to get ready. It was easier than I thought so it worked out well. I usually end up doing make up for lots of girls at performances, but this time I only had 4. The whole rehearsal and recital ran smoothly this year.

After the recital we had our annual Stars Christmas party at the Sand Hollow swimming pool. We had a potluck and a toy drive. It was fun, especially for the kids. I didn't see Ashlyn & Deja all night....they just swam away. Nate was able to come too and I think he had just as much fun. The party ended at 8 and after we cleaned up, we headed for the car. Holy Moly! It was snowing! Being in St. George, this is a very, very odd occurrence. I had no coat on, and Deja & Ashlyn were in their robes. The weather changed so drastically! The girls wore shorts earlier in the day and by night it was snowing! Wow!

After we got home, the girls quickly changed into their warm PJ's. Deja wore her footed jammies and Ashlyn wore two layers of jammies. They were freezing! They begged me for hot chocolate, so I agreed to make it for them. I told them to go ahead downstairs and get under the covers and start watching their movie while I changed into my jammies. By the time I got downstairs, 20 minutes later, they were already fast asleep. (They talked all day about how they were staying up til 2 am!) Guess the day completely wore them out! It was nice to have some peace and quiet for some "me time."

This morning I got up around 9:30 and could hear the girls giggling. This wasn't too much of a surprise considering how early they fell asleep. What was so surprising is the fact that when I got downstairs, I found piles and piles of candy wrappers! The had been up for a couple of hours and managed to eat almost all of the treats they bought. I'm not saying they ate a few pieces of candy. I'm saying they each ate about 8 candy bars, gummy bears, gummy worms, a cookie and some crackers and cheese! How in the world? They were both pretty wound up. We cleaned up their mess, and then I headed upstairs to fold laundry (but really writing on the blog). They finally calmed down and now they are in the playroom having a good time. Still no fighting. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the rest of day.

All in all, this was a fun weekend for all of us. It was very eventful, yet so not stressful! I planned on taking pictures throughout the weekend of all these events...I packed my camera for the recital but never found it! Still can't find it....hoping it didn't fall out of the dance bag somewhere.

Doritos & Butterfingers

This weekend we get to have Deja all to ourselves! Deja is one of Ashlyn's best friends, but act mostly like sisters. Deja and Ashlyn go to school together, Deja and Ashlyn spend after school together til into the evening, they dance together, spend time with each other pretty much every day....so you can see how this friendship turned into being siblings! They have a love/hate relationship. Some days they absolutely love each other and well, other days, they bicker non stop. While they have their moments (like any other sibling group), tonight they are especially good. Deja's mom Holly and I were both a little nervous, wondering how spending the entire weekend together at my house would turn out. So far so good. Actually, this is the best I've seen them!

Right now they are downstairs, in the bed they made (on the floor) watching Barbie and the 12 dancing princesses with their treats. Yes, It's almost 11 pm and they just started watching a movie. I took them to Walmart and gave them each their own cart. They thought they were going to buy the whole store, but I quickly set them straight. They ended up with Doritos, Lays BBQ chips, Butterfingers, Hershey's Chocolate Bars, Kit Kats, Sour Worms, Gummy Bears, Mike & Ikes, and two Kid Cuisines! So it was almost the whole store....... I think they will have after school treats for months! Since I'm on this crazy diet, I'm staying upstairs, away from all junk food. I will just have to resist while I'm cleaning up!

Tomorrow will be a busy day for us, so I figure the girls can have some fun time to relax. We have to go print recital programs first thing in the morning, girls have tumbling from 10-noon (I'll be on the elliptical!), then we have the dance recital (which I have to be there at 3:30 even tho it starts at 5:00), then we have the Stars Dance Studio Christmas party at the Sand Hollow Pool til 8. I'm sure I will write again tomorrow, but for now, I'm off to pack dance bags!

Whoever Throws Up, Cleans It Up!!

So we have this rule in our house.....whoever throws up, cleans it up! Ashlyn knows this rule so well, that if she is on the verge of throwing up, she will run as fast as she can to the toilet or else she swallows it...I know totally disgusting! Well, I guess she forgot the rule at 1 am this morning. I finally had just gotten in my bed about 12:45 and right around 1 I thought I heard a noise. After a couple of minutes in bed, I decided to get up to check on Ashlyn. Well, there she was, throw up everywhere including in her hair. On her comforter, on her sheets, the side of her nightstand, the garbage can, the carpet....a trail in the hall........it was everywhere!! So everyone who knows me, knows how bad my gag reflex is. I can't even change a dirty diaper without gagging. Niece spits up while I'm holding her, I quickly pass her back. I definately can't deal with throw up!! So as I'm gagging and heading for my own bathroom, Ashlyn's in her bathroom continuing what she had started. What an awful night! I managed to get her bedding off the bed and part of the carpet cleaned up. After getting Ash cleaned up enough to get into my bed, it was 3 am. My alarm went off at 5 and well, I'm exhausted. I got up and shampooed the carpets upstairs twice, washed the bedding twice with the exception of the comforter. That is in a giant garbage bag waiting to be taken to the laundromat. Ashlyn is finally asleep and I should be taking a nap while she is sleeping, but I figured I'd take advantage of the situation and get some housework done. My house might actually get cleaned before Saturday! I guess there really is a positive to every negative!

First Performance of the Season

Saturday, Ashlyn had her first dance performance this season. She danced at the Dicken's Festival and Tuachan with her smalls team and a some of our other teams from our studio. She performed a nutcracker ballet dance and their jazz dance for competition. She did such a good job! I was able to snap this picture before she went on stage. While she wasn't too thrilled about wearing the hat, she loved her ballet dance. She loves performing!

Ashlyn's cousin Hannah also performed on Saturday. This is her first year dancing and she did such a good job. I could tell she was a little nervous once she got on stage, but by the second performance at Tuachan, she was comfortable up there! I was able to snap this picture of Hannah and Ashlyn before going back stage.