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Our Trip to Duck Creek, UT

For Memorial Day we headed to Duck Creek (outside of Cedar City) with Sean's family. We had a great time playing games, riding 4-wheelers, staying warm in the cabin (yep - it was snowy weather the whole weekend), eating and enjoying time together. We can't wait to do it again.

The Price of a Full Time Mom

For all the Mothers out there:
I came across this article a couple of days ago. Here are a full snipits that I thought were interesting.

"What's a mom worth? According to one new report, $138,095 a year. That's the figure in a report by Salary.com, which calculates the wages that would have been paid a stay-at-home mom in 2007 if she were compensated for all the elements of her 'job.' That total is up 3% from 2006's salary of $134,121.The job descriptions that Salary.com used to determine a mom's salary includes 10 jobs that moms do on an average day: housekeeper, day care center teacher, cook, computer operator, laundry machine operator, janitor, facilities manager, van driver, CEO and psychologist. In calculating a mom's wages, Salary.com looked at the "overtime" that both working and stay-at-home moms put in each week. 'Mom works multiple jobs and rarely gets a break from the action, working an average of 52 hours of overtime,' said Bill Coleman, senior vice president at Salary.com, in a statement.According to the Salary.com survey, stay-at-home moms work a 92-hour week, with more than half the workweek spent in overtime." (From MSN online)

Our First Graduation Ceremony

Caelan had a little preschool graduation program this week. What a cute little event. Caelan was very excited to be able to sit in the front of the room with a special graduation hat (made from construction paper and a paper plate). The kids sang a few songs, and then they had awards and read a story. Caelan received the "Super Singer" award. The kids also showed the parents around in the preschool room (no wonder she loves it so much).

American Idol

So, I have only watched one episode of American Idol this entire season (and that was while I was visiting my family in CA), but Sean and I watched the final competition show last night (between the two Davids). Both are very talented (in their very distinct styles), but I have to say that the younger David (Mr. Archuletta) shined last night - he was really in a zone. And he was just so humble about every comment made about him (very cute). I didn't vote, but I am rooting for the 17 year old David Archuletta to win. David Cook will get some kind of record deal no matter what - he is very impressive, but David A's vocals just kicked some trash last night. We shall see.

Early Summer Surprise

YIKES! We had a serious heat wave this past weekend. It broke the 100 degree mark (actually by 4 degrees). We were HOT! I had a goal not to turn on the air conditioner before June, but with a spike like that, I just couldn't resist (I only had to run it for 2 and a half days, so that's not too bad). The first day it didn't seem to be working very well. But after running the fan all night long, I turned the AC on again the next day, and fabulous cold air was pouring out. Maybe it just needed a day or two to warm up (it probably hasn't been run in a year or so). One of our favorite treats in the summer is watermelon (seriously, the entire fan is almost obsessive)....and I must admit, I am a pretty good watermelon picker. I picked a DELICIOUS one this week; crisp and sweet and juicy. Oh, I couldn't stop putting pieces into my mouth. The temperature dropped 20+ degrees today into the 70's (PERFECTION) and is supposed to get even cooler this weekend. We are heading out of town to Duck Creek Village, UT (outside of Cedar City) where the highs are supposed to be in the 40's. I guess I'll be hunting down the winter and snow clothes before we leave. I'll post some pictures on our return. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend.

Happy Mother's Day to Me

I had a wonderful Mother's Day. My husband made me a fancy breakfast in bed (including a delicious fruit and sweet cheese trifle dish), and also made a tasty lasagna from scratch for dinner. He got me a gift certificate to a Spa here in town (enough to do a couple of things - I'm pretty excited to go and use it up). Caelan and Ben got me a Snow Cone Maker for the summer (they were as excited as I was to try it out). And Megan gave me her first day in Nursery. Yes, on Sunday she was officially 18 months old. She went right in - no crying and whining. When Sean went to pick her up, she was just playing around with Ben. I was pretty sure we wouldn't have any problems sending her to Nursery - she's been ready to go for a while now. It was an awesome Mother's Day present to me.


This is how we found Megan later that day (her brother had been helping her to get dressed). HE HE HE

Childhood Accomplishment

Well, I think we have finally made it - Ben is potty trained. He has had only a couple of accidents in the past few weeks. Even when we were in CA for 4 days (only one accident, and that was first thing in the morning). He still wears Pull-Ups to bed, but he really doesn't need them (he is dry every morning and goes potty very first thing). He basically decided that he was ready, and that was that. Oh, it's so nice! YEAH!

Some Fun Pictures

I haven't posted many pictures of the kids lately, so here are a few recent ones.





Making cookies is one of their favorite things to do (actually, it's eating the dough - they must take after their Mom).

GRRRRR!

Sean and I have been renters now for the past 9 years (individually and then together as a couple). We have NEVER felt so taken advantage of as we have with our rental company here. I could name off several incidences that have gotten our blood boiling (all of which we have taken care of calmly and cooperatively)....UNTIL NOW! We just got our security deposit back (well, sort of) - a total of $13 was our check. I went in to ask about some of the charges, but I really didn't want to get into an anger match with the property manager (and I knew it really wouldn't do any good anyway). It's not only about the money - it's the fact that we have been good renters and yet they feel like they can just suck every last penny from us (regardless of how unreasonable it may seem). So, I am taking action. I have researched the AZ Residential Tenant and Landlord Act, and have taken a look into landlord obligations (a couple of which have NOT been complied with). It makes me sad that I have to be so picky, but if that's the way they want to play - bring it on. I have written a good, long, professional letter (with very minimal emotion) which I am sending to the owner of the company. We'll see what happens. This experience has made me so happy to be done with renting.