If you want to be really obsessive about knowing where people are, you can download the GeoZilla app and invite people into your circle. Every time they go to a location they can "check in" and then you can see where they are and where they have been. Courtney has felt bad that her old ipod doesn't getting the apps that her friend's phones can. So she looked for one that would track people like "Find my Friends" app would. She found GeoZilla.
We downloaded it and then she invited me into her circle. She went to dance and I took Ethan to the college to take a test. On my way home I ran to the bank on my way back to Ivins. When I got home I got a text from Courtney saying "What are you doing? I noticed you were moving." So I told her that I was running errands. She said "That makes sense. I wondered what you were doing and why you weren't at home like I thought you would be."
Yup. I now have a tracker on me. This is why Bryan took so long to get a cell phone. I miss the days when you could hide. Every time Courtney checks the app and sees that I am in a different place, I will get a text saying "Please check in." I just roll my eyes. She is hilarious.
The nice thing about the app is that I can set it to send me an alert if she leaves a certain location. So I have it set to alert me when she leaves school. Then I know if she is running late or will be on time. Handy!
Friday, February 17, 2017
Honor Roll
I never know about these things until Ethan cleans out his back pack and I find the certificate lying around. Oh well.
Ethan was, once again, on the high honor roll!
Ethan was, once again, on the high honor roll!
New Beginnings
It is that time of year again...when I am running all over the Stake to attend New Beginnings. Courtney usually goes with me (I think it's for the treats at the end of each one) but this year it was really special because it was HER TURN to have New Beginnings! She was so excited.
Our ward did a great job. We have an amazing YW presidency and they really made her feel special. There are 4 girls coming in to YW this year and they are all friends. So that makes it even more fun for them.
This is the invitation:
The program:
This is the intro sheet they had us fill out beforehand. One of the laurels introduced Courtney and it was so fun. She got a lot of laughs when she said Courtney's favorite scripture. ;)
Our ward did a great job. We have an amazing YW presidency and they really made her feel special. There are 4 girls coming in to YW this year and they are all friends. So that makes it even more fun for them.
This is the invitation:
The program:
This is the intro sheet they had us fill out beforehand. One of the laurels introduced Courtney and it was so fun. She got a lot of laughs when she said Courtney's favorite scripture. ;)
Valentine's Day Doors
I love the Valentine's Day tradition we have to decorate the kid's doors with hearts. We have been doing this for quite a few years now. Each morning from February 1st to the 14th they have a new heart on their door and a small candy by their door. I love doing it and I spend time watching them for something nice I can say the next morning. Bryan does even days and I do odd days.
This is what their doors ended up looking like this year.
Courtney decided that she needed to do it for Bryan and I. So we found this on our door Sunday afternoon. She told us very sweet things and she even signed it from "Ethan and Courtney." He had no idea about it but she was sweet to try and win him brownie points too.
We are so blessed to have the family we do!!
This is what their doors ended up looking like this year.
Courtney decided that she needed to do it for Bryan and I. So we found this on our door Sunday afternoon. She told us very sweet things and she even signed it from "Ethan and Courtney." He had no idea about it but she was sweet to try and win him brownie points too.
We are so blessed to have the family we do!!
Para cord bracelet
Ethan loves wearing para cord bracelets. He lost his favorite one while playing football at lunch time. So we got online and found some kits to buy. They came on Valentine's Day so the kids got to make bracelets when they got home from school. I was surprised at how easy they are to make. Ethan has made 3 or 4 so far and Courtney made one. I even got into it but mine ended up Courtney-sized so she got it.
Haircut
Courtney really needed a haircut. The place I usually take her to closed its doors so I took her to Great Clips. She wanted to get quite a few inches cut off the bottom so it would be healthier. I was happy to help her get this done.
There's all her hair. It was about 6 inches they cut off in some places.
We went home, used the blow drier and got it all styled. She loves it and it is so much healthier looking. She wants to keep it this length from now on. Yeah!
Cute girl!
There's all her hair. It was about 6 inches they cut off in some places.
We went home, used the blow drier and got it all styled. She loves it and it is so much healthier looking. She wants to keep it this length from now on. Yeah!
Cute girl!
Bored
Courtney was bored the other day so she went outside and cleaned up the side yard! I love it!
We would love to cement in the side yard but that is just low on the priority list. She and her friends decided to use some old wood and make a club house but it didn't work out too well. Courtney got tired of seeing their "sad club house" that was falling down, so she cleaned it up. NICE!!!
We would love to cement in the side yard but that is just low on the priority list. She and her friends decided to use some old wood and make a club house but it didn't work out too well. Courtney got tired of seeing their "sad club house" that was falling down, so she cleaned it up. NICE!!!
Ethan
I had a mom text me this picture the other day when Ethan was out doing fast offerings. She said "They are going to make great missionaries!" I agree!
Braids
Courtney likes having wavy hair but she doesn't like to take forever to crimp it. So she will have me braid her wet hair at night so she can sleep on it. It's worked out pretty well. It takes a while to do the braids but it saves so much time in the morning when things are crazy and early!
Pies and Presidents
I invited all the ward YW presidents in the Stake to my house so they could all chat about their callings and get help from each other. It didn't end up being as much of a chat as I wanted because I needed to pass on information about an upcoming event in our area. But it was good to have them all here.
I was worried about making pies that they wouldn't eat and then we would have tons of leftover of. So I made a chocolate (because who doesn't like chocolate cream pie?!) and then I borrowed my mom's pie cutter and filled three sections with banana cream and the other three with coconut cream.
It worked great. I was right to do it that way because I only had 3 woman who ate anything. Luckily, my family loves chocolate cream pie so they took care of that one.
I was worried about making pies that they wouldn't eat and then we would have tons of leftover of. So I made a chocolate (because who doesn't like chocolate cream pie?!) and then I borrowed my mom's pie cutter and filled three sections with banana cream and the other three with coconut cream.
Why I sunburn...
If there were any questions about why I sunburn so easily....please consult my DNA.
I asked my parents for a DNA test for Christmas...as did a ton of other people. It took a bit longer than the 4-6 weeks because of how many people sent in tests after Christmas. But I finally got my results. I was hoping for a fun surprise but it was pretty much what I thought...I am really fair skinned.
It's fascinating. I want my whole family to have theirs done because two siblings won't have exactly the same DNA. You get half from your dad and half from your mom. So there may be something that you didn't inherit that your sibling did.
See this article for more info http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask166:
I asked my parents for a DNA test for Christmas...as did a ton of other people. It took a bit longer than the 4-6 weeks because of how many people sent in tests after Christmas. But I finally got my results. I was hoping for a fun surprise but it was pretty much what I thought...I am really fair skinned.
It's fascinating. I want my whole family to have theirs done because two siblings won't have exactly the same DNA. You get half from your dad and half from your mom. So there may be something that you didn't inherit that your sibling did.
See this article for more info http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask166:
"You get 50% of your genes from your mom and 50% of your genes from your dad.
Essentially you have two copies of each gene -- one copy from your mom and one copy from your dad. Here is the strange part, the copy that you get from your mom may or not be the same copy that your sibling gets from your mom.
Remember each of your parents has two copies of most of their genes too. When the egg or sperm that made you got made, only one copy of each gene was put in.
The copy that gets put in is chosen randomly through a process called meiosis. What this means is that you have a 50% chance of getting one of their two copies.
That probability doesn't seem impressive until you consider that you have around 25,000 genes. Throw in a 50% chance of getting one copy versus your sibling getting another copy and that makes meiosis a serious gene scrambler.
So, because of this scrambling you and your siblings are 50% genetically identical and are not 100% biochemically identical."
3D Printing
Ethan has a technology/design class that is really cool. He got to do a 3D printing of an object of his choice. He chose a chess pawn. I got a text in the middle of the day from him asking me to measure a pawn and send the height and width to him. I did and a few days later he brought this home...
He is doing really well in the class. His teacher told me at parent teacher conferences that Ethan is teaching him things about the design programs they are learning in class. I told the teacher that he gets that from me because I majored in graphic design. Finally! Something good my genes passed on to Ethan! 😀
He is doing really well in the class. His teacher told me at parent teacher conferences that Ethan is teaching him things about the design programs they are learning in class. I told the teacher that he gets that from me because I majored in graphic design. Finally! Something good my genes passed on to Ethan! 😀
T-shirt t-shirt
Ethan needed a shirt to do a silk screen on for one of his classes. He grabbed an old pajama shirt and went with it. He did a silk screen t-shirt on his t-shirt. Hahaha!! It turned out great. They have a completely different silk screening technique from when I went to college and did silk screening. It's so much easier now.
Looking good!
Looking good!
Dance season
It's that time of year...half-time show season. Courtney has performed a few times. They have been mixing it up this year. Courtney is on the Jr. All Starzz team and also the 6-12th team. The first performance was just the Jr. All Starzz. The next performance was just the 6-12th team. The last performance was everyone. This makes it a bit tough because she has one costume for Jr. All Starzz and another one for the 6-12th class. So she climbs under the bleachers and changes clothes in the 3 minutes between her dances. It has worked so far but she is a bit stressed each time she has to change.
This is their 6-12th dance.
Here are the videos of both dances:
This is their 6-12th dance.
Here are the videos of both dances:
She won!
We play a family game on Sunday and Bryan usually chooses one that has a map. This isn't the favorite of the kids but when we vote they are always outvoted (parents votes count for 2 each while kid votes only count for 1 each, that's fair, right?!).
This particular Sunday, Courtney won!!! She was so excited because she "never, ever wins!" We had to take a picture for posterity.
This particular Sunday, Courtney won!!! She was so excited because she "never, ever wins!" We had to take a picture for posterity.
Progress
We have been very slowly making progress on the remodeling. Here is the new door in the hallway. Eventually, the plan is to make this a toilet room but we are going to work on the downstairs before doing that.
This is the view from inside the doorway just before we put the door on.
This is after we hung the door.
We have a couple of coats of mud on the joints. We need to do another coat, texturize and then paint. It's coming along.
This is the view from inside the doorway just before we put the door on.
This is after we hung the door.
We have a couple of coats of mud on the joints. We need to do another coat, texturize and then paint. It's coming along.
Magic Popcorn Box
I bet you don't have one of these...
It may look like a plain old Quarter Oats, Flavor Variety box of instant oatmeal but it is really the "magic popcorn box!" Yup, most nights at around 8 p.m., microwave popcorn will magically appear inside this box. Just ask the kids! They will look in the box at 7:45 and there won't be any popcorn. When they check it at 8:15...BAM...popcorn! The kids can't figure it out. They watch Bryan and I like hawks but it still remains a mystery.
Yup, our house is magic.
It may look like a plain old Quarter Oats, Flavor Variety box of instant oatmeal but it is really the "magic popcorn box!" Yup, most nights at around 8 p.m., microwave popcorn will magically appear inside this box. Just ask the kids! They will look in the box at 7:45 and there won't be any popcorn. When they check it at 8:15...BAM...popcorn! The kids can't figure it out. They watch Bryan and I like hawks but it still remains a mystery.
Yup, our house is magic.
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