David Archuleta is coming to Idaho Falls on March 20, and guess who all got tickets for the show!
That is right! The Simper girls are gonna be Archuleta groupies for the night! It was a close one. The tickets sold out in minutes on line, and we weren't able to get them, so Awesome Joanna stood in line at a local record store in order to get them. THANKS JO!!
What an AWESOME way to begin spring break! (which begins that day)
Thursday, Jan. 22 was the night of Sarah's dance recital!
Although I loved being her dance teacher, Sarah seemed to take advantage of the "I don't have to do it because my mom is the teacher" clause - but all-in-all, she did well and picked things up quickly. And though things were looking shaky the night of the rehearsal (stage fright began to kick in), with the loving incentive of lunch at McDonalds if she did her dances for the recital, she performed perfectly! :)
This was also my last term of teaching dance. I have loved teaching, especially the fun of watching the girls all perform when each recital rolls around. With school, family, and everything else that we have going on, I have to make sure that I am spending my time where it is most needed. I will definately miss it. The rec. center has been such a great place to work, and the people there are great! (I owe their daycare SO BIG for watching my children at no charge while I was teaching)
***There will be a movie to come. I just have to find the time to get it all together! :)
Looking to get great deals on food, and save a TON of money on your grocery bills? If you havn't yet, definately check this website out! http://www.thegrocerygame.com/ I LOVE it!
I have been using this system of grocery shopping for about the last month - and I will always use it! It is basically shopping with coupons on steroids. :)
With this system, I spend at least half if not less than we did before, and my shelves/food storage is fuller than it has ever been! So with half the money, I am able to buy a TON more!
There is a bit of a learning curve - but don't give up! I was a bit discouraged after my first week because I did not save as much as I was expecting. Now that I am getting the hang of it, the total taken off my receipt in savings each week keeps getting higher and higher!
My sister Miriam and I have been trying it out together, and each time we go grocery shopping we will call eachother joyously proclaiming the amount we saved vs. the smaller amount we actually paid. That is correct, we are beginning to SAVE MORE than we actually pay! It has become a game that we are both determined to win. :) Just to prove the point - This week Albertsons took $119.34 off my bill, so that in the end I only paid $105.22! (and with 5 children, we were getting close to about $200.00 or more a week for groceries). As a side note, I used to NEVER shop at Albertons because their prices are so high, but with this system, Albertsons has become the cheapest place for me to shop. I even continue to check prices at Wal-Mart to be sure I am getting a good deal, and I come in even under Wal-Mart prices!
Miriam and I are beginning to feel so guilty about the fun we are having that others may not know about, and we feel like we need to tell everyone we know about it! Sort of "Share The Wealth" I guess. :) For a better explaination, check out the website as well as these videos below. It takes a little bit of organization and preparation, but it is completely worth it! :) Have Fun! You will laugh with joy everytime you leave the store - I do! :)
To view the first video, just visit this MSNBC site. (It was a story on the Today Show)
This weekend Jonathan kindly let me know that Ethan's diaper needed to be changed (The fact that his diaper was hanging down to his knees might have been the tip off). I teasingly told him to go grab a diaper and the wipes and to go ahead and change it.
Much to my suprise, Jonathan began to laugh and asked in an excited tone if I was seriouse. (Jonathan has always been very kind to help out with the kids, and seems to feel a great sense of accomplishment when he is able to do "Grown Up" things around the house.)
So the lessons began... I held Ethan still and kept his body in position while Jonathan did the wiping and put the clean diaper on. He did great, and we all thought it was pretty funny. As long as the diaper is not "Stinky", I told him he is welcome to help me out.
This weekend was a nice treat for Chris and I. We spent the weekend in Salt Lake while the children were with Chris's parents in Idaho Falls! It was our Christmas gift to eachother. We definately needed some time to get away from things for a while. We haven't left all of our children with a babysitter for an over night trip since the boys were born 5 1/2 years ago (so pretty much never)! We were thrilled to be able to go on a vacation without having to pack along a package of diapers or wipes - IT WAS GREAT! :) So, Chris was in charge of all the plans - and boy did he get a great trip put together! All of this was Chris's idea - I did not suggest any of this - Chris is just such a GREAT guy!
First we had dinner reservations at a very nice and quiet local restaurant that served European food (Chris likes that kind of food a lot - I think he picked it up while he was on his mission in Spain.)
Then Chris reserved tickets for the Utah Symphony. It was beautiful (hence the music playing right now.) The symphony was amazing, and they had a guest concert pianist from Norway that was absolutley amazing as well. The whole concert was beautiful.
Next, we stayed at the same hotel where we stayed for part of our honeymoon.
The next morning, the plan was to go to a museum exhibit in Salt Lake called "The Leonardo" that was all about the human body from more of a medical point of view. It was supposed to be FANTASTIC - but we had no idea the museum would be sold out with a HUGE line waiting to get in. The next open time for tickets was too late for us - we had to get back to Idaho to pick up our sweet children - so instead we ate lunch and got back on the road again.
I really am SO LUCKY to be married to such a good guy!
We had such a nice time. Chris did a wonderful job of putting it all together. It was definately a nice break - and now we are ready to get back to reality and for the new semester to start.
THANK YOU so much to Chris's parents for watching the children. They all had a wonderful time, and keep telling us that we need to go on another trip so they can stay the night in Idaho Falls without mom and dad again. :)
This is what Chris and I found Sunday night as we had sent all the kids to bed. The other children were asleep, but little Ethan had high hopes that he could charm his way back out of bed - it didn't work. :)
