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Day 70

Tori can be quite vicious at times. Mess with her whens he is in one of her moods and this is what you get.

Day 71

We had been debating whether or not to go to Vegas this spring, just Ken and I. It’s so hard with the kids busy schedules to get away for any amount of time. The last time we went somewhere just the two of us was in 2006. After waking up to this crap again, I booked the trip. Can’t wait for some adult time =)

Day 72

My favorite show for the past couple of years has been Parenthood. Guaranteed to make you cry. Every single time.

Day 73

Is it possible for a dog to be so cute and scraggly at the same time? Apparently so!

Day 74

Off to Karli’s second dance competition!

Day 75

Karli is always asking to take Tori with us everywhere we go. Of course she has to have clothes on first.

Day 76

I seriously can not believe that Andrew is going to be graduating in a little over 2 months!! Where has time gone?

Day 64

I love listening to Jason and Molly Mesnick’s Podcast when I’m driving in the car or waiting at Karli’s dance class. Lately they have been talking about this season of The Bachelor. Good stuff!

Day 65

It has become tradition these past few months for me to relax on Thursday evenings. So much that the kids will often remind me. I look forward to my quiet time each week.

Day 66

Meet my little penguin pillow pet that lights up. He was a birthday gift last year from Andrew. Chase constantly tried to steal him from me all the time so we bought him his own light up pillow pet for Christmas.

Day 67

Andrew will be spending Spring Break in San Diego! I won’t be worried at all. {lie!}

Day 68

Shaggy waiting for Blake to get home. He whines too…it’s quite adorable.

Day 69

My favorite Chinese food here lately…General Tso’s Chicken and Almond Boneless Chicken. Yum!

Day 57

Karli did so great at her first dance competition. They are supposed to take turns bringing the awards home and somehow she ended up with a whole bunch of them. Unfortunately they have to be taken to the dance studio except for all the pins they get for their jackets.

Day 58

My all time favorite fast food Tortilla Soup…from Chick-Fil-A. Yummy!

Day 59

Chase made the front page of our local newspaper. The 5th graders dissected hearts and lungs…eww! I teased him and called him future “Doctor Chase”.

Day 60

Blake is on his way to being a confirmed Catholic. He participated in the Rite of Enrollment for all of the soon to be Catholics.

Day 61

Karli and I loved the Shrek production we went to see at the high school. The lead roles were played by some great future actors. Shrek sounded just like the real Shrek and the guy who played Lord Farquaad was so hilarious and played the part perfectly (on his knees I might add!).

Day 62

Flappy Bird drives me crazy! Karli is amazing at it =) I can’t get past level 6.

Day 63

Can’t wait to dive into Lauren Oliver’s new book Panic. I can only hope they are half as good as the Delirium Series!

Day 50

Karli’s made a poster for her big buddy for her competition dance team. Of course I helped a
little =) She has been dying to use some of the crafts supplies she got for Christmas.

Day 51

My love got me my favorite bagel for lunch…tuna on a garlic bagel. I can’t wait until our favorite bagel place opens up nearby…any day now.

Day 52

Karli thought she could sneak Tori into her suitcase. We are off to her very first dance competition.

Day 53

Karli and one of her besties showing off their awards.

Day 54

These four beauties were amazing in their lyrical dance routine. Their costumes were handmade…gorgeous!

Day 55

While Karli was competing for dance…Chase was being Mr ToughGuy and kicking some butt at a wrestling state competition.

Day 56

Snow, snow, and more snow. Good thing the dogs love it! When Tori came in with a snowy beard it made me think of the song in Frozen, “Do you wanna build a snowman?” Like she was asking me to come out in play in the snow with her. Ummm, no Tori. You know your mom hates snow!

Day 43

I tried out this banana poke cake and while I was finishing it up the kids were yelling for me to not put the crushed vanilla wafers on the whole thing. Crazy kids! Recipe here.

Day 44

Karli is always cuddling with one of the dogs. Today it was Shaggy’s turn! Such a sweetie.

Day 45

Ken and I spent Valentine’s day together…first we ate at Sakura (a Japanese hibachi grill place), then we went to see the movie Endless Love, and lastly he got this lock for our bedroom door. If you watch Modern Family, you know what this is all about. =) Even if you don’t, it’s pretty easy to figure out.

Day 46

Girl’s night…we went to dinner and went to see Vampire Academy. Yes that was two movies in two days! I’m an addict.

Day 47

Blake and his darn science projects. Andrew didn’t have to do these crazy projects in 8th grade. Watch I will probably have to help Chase and Karli do the same ones. Too bad the two previous projects that teacher has asked Blake to keep his projects to use as samples for next year so we can’t recycle them!

Day 48

Thank goodness there was no school today so Blake could finish this model up. The project was based on the layers of the earth. Not sure why a 3d model and a poster was necessary. It’s like – we got it the first time. LOL

Day 49

Karli has her first dance competition coming up this weekend. I told her we would pack Thursday night, but of course she took it upon herself to pack without me. At least she doesn’t procrastinate. Of course I had to go back through and make sure she packed everything. She actually did a good job!

Day 36

We have had so many snow days I pretty much don’t even know what a school day feels like anymore. At least every once in awhile Chase and Karli manage to get a long for at least a couple of hours.

Day 37

Even though the kids didn’t have school again I was able to take a break from it all and go get my hair done. Afterwards I stopped by the craft store and book store. I picked up the latest Maya Banks book for myself (which I read in 2 days!) And then I walked through the kids area taking pictures of books and texting them to Chase and Karli to see what they wanted. Much easier than bringing them with me.

Day 38

Love seeing the kids doing things other than playing with electronics. Oh wait…Chase is still playing that darn game! They had the two Pomeranians in there as well. Cuddle time!

Day 39

Addicted to this darn show. Love where this half of the season is headed.

Day 40

Finally! Kids are in school and look at that clean kitchen. Love having it like this even if it only lasts for 6 hours a day.

Day 41

Blake is now taller than me! Two down and two to go! He isn’t even in high school yet and is getting so tall.

Day 42

Spent the day cleaning out all my files and organizing everything for our taxes. I bought this new file folder thing to try and keep things more organized for 2014 so I don’t have as much work to do at the end of the year.

Day 29

I don’t really enjoy grocery shopping with coupons because it’s hard enough walking through the aisles trying to find everything I need and checking it off my list, let alone trying to keep coupons organized too. I find it easiest to make a “coupon only” shopping day other than maybe a few other things that I might need that day. Love saving money on groceries especially because we spend so much on food with a family of 6.

Day 30

Karli’s competition jazz costume skirt needed some major alterations. The skirt needed to be taken in a good 5 inches and it was tricky because the feathers come to a point in the front and back. I had to take it apart and cut it and resew and reglue one side and then the other side I had to tear out velcro and sew it back on as well. It was a challenge, but I enjoyed it and it turned out perfectly!

Day 31

Shaggy went from sleeping in our bed many years ago, to sleeping in Andrew’s bed for a few years, and now he is Blake’s full time buddy. He follows him every where. When he hears the bus he will sit at the door and cry until Blake walks in the door. He sleeps with him every single night, it the sweetest thing.

Day 32

Karli is such a stinker! Every time we go to Kroger she begs me for this darn caterpillar. It’s huge and way too big for her to put anywhere in her room so the answer is always absolutely no, but she still insists on seeing if it is there every time we go to Kroger. At least it will be gone soon.

Day 33

Karli and her friends look so stinking adorable in their hip hop costumes. I can’t wait for their first competition coming up later this month.

Day 34

Oh goodness, the life of a dog must be so hard. Lay around chewing bones all day. Phew, that’s gotta be rough.

Day 35

Another snow day, another day of letting the kids stay up late. Karli and Chase were playing hide and seek so I was helping them find different places to hide. Karli had a hard time finding Chase when I had him in a laundry basket with clean clothes piled on top. Then Chase couldn’t find Karli when she was in the bathroom vanity. Only my little stinkers can fit in these small places.