Need A Good Movie To Rent?

I'm not a big chick flick fan...well, unless it's Steel Magnolias, then I'll be crying like a baby.  I prefer the 'based on a true story sports movie.'  I love:  Remember The Titans, We Are Marshall, Invincible, The Rookie, Coach Carter, Rudy, Hoosiers, Radio, Glory Road, Facing The Giants(although not based on a true story, still offers a fantastic message), The Express and of course, my all time favorite, Miracle.  Tonight I watched Forever Strong and now have to include that in the ranks of the movies listed above.

This movie is based on a high school rugby team located here in Salt Lake City, Ut.  The coach, Larry Gelwix is known as the "Getaway Guru" on the radio and local t.v. stations but also as a legendary coach.  Their win/loss (98% win) record and national championships are above outstanding.  It is so refreshing to see other coaches teach character and integrity through athletics and be portrayed on the big screen for all to see.  These were high school kids but they were not playing for a school-sanctioned team.  They were a club team who had to fundraise for all their expenses.  The coaches were volunteers - receiving no financial compensation for their time.  It's a LDS story, but unless you were paying attention, you wouldn't know it.  It's inspiring for all denominations.

If you are looking for a feel good, watch with your family type movie, check out "Forever Strong."  It was released in 2008 so it's been out for a while, but I don't remember ever hearing about it...Some of our local t.v. personalities have roles in this movie.  The local CBS sportscaster and a Fox reporter both play roles in this movie.  How fun to see local celebrities on the big screen!

Dave Fox from KUTV CBS Sports

Plays a sportscaster in the movie

Big Budah from Fox 13 News

Plays the assistant at the juvenile detention center

Our Own Little Dancing Queen

A friend of mine suggested we join them for a 2 yr. old dance class today.  She thought Kendall might enjoy it...boy was she right on the mark!  Kendall had no problems showing off her dance moves today.  She was all decked out in her "dancing dress" as she calls it and ready to shake her booty!

Here is the evidence of today's adventure:

In her "dancing dress" for today's class

Marching right along

She loved dancing with the teddy bear

Look how attentively she's listening to her teacher

With her friend Bailey - showing us the flamingos they were dancing with

Eating their yummy skittles treats after class

Here's the video evidence of her enjoyment (ignore the mom talk in the background...you know how us moms are when we get together...yak, yak, yak!):

So you can see why I had to sign her up for this class today!  She was telling her brother all about it when he came home from school...too cute!  I'm going to have a busy schedule with this one:  Little Gym class, MOPS, Dance class, and MOMS Club play dates...It makes me tired just thinking about all of it!

Preserving Memories

I have to admit that with child #2 and all the moving around since she was born, I've been more than lax in my documentation of her life...Not so with pictures and video, but I haven't made the effort to record the sayings, funny pronunciations, etc.  So, here is my attempt to preserve some of those memories:

"Feese" = Please
"I pay doll house Momma.  Be right back." = I'm going to play with my doll house Momma.  I'll be right back.
"Ra Ra" = Riley
"Raree" = Riley
"Bankie" = Blanket
"Chocky Donees" = Chocolate Donuts
"Chocky Booies" = Chocolate Covered Blueberries
"Chocky Cream" = Chocolate Ice Cream
Noticing a pattern here?  She's a chocoholic like her Momma!
"Ride cooter Momma" = I want to ride my scooter Momma!
"Sickle" = Motorcycle
"Payground" = Playground
"Duckie Water" = started with a stream near our house but went on to include the ocean, ponds, lakes, basically any body of water other than a swimming pool
"Moo" = what horses and cows say
"Moo Moo's" = Horses and Cows
"Drawberries" = Strawberries
"Matoes" = Tomatoes
"Fwing" = Swing
"I poopy Momma.  Yucky!  Doan eat it."  = Change my diaper
"Ba Ba" = Bottle/Sippy Cup/Milk
"Tubby" = Bath
"Licious" = Pinkalicious (her favorite book)
"Ra Ra's ghoul" = Riley's school
"Ga Ga" = Doggy
"Fophies" = Flip flops
"Soup Sacks" = Fruit snacks
"Baby Shoup" = Bathing suit
"No beddie!" = I'm tired but refusing to admit it so I'm letting you know I need a nap

I hope to add to this list and keep up on her lingo!  If you have any good ones you've heard over the past year or so, feel free to add it in the comments section!

Family Date Night

So Andy's been traveling A LOT to say the least.  So mom decided that a "family date night" was in order.  I took the kids to Boondocks (which is an entertainment center w/ an arcade, go-karts, bumper boats, mini-golf, batting cages and a kiddie play area) to play at Kiddie Kove the other day.  Both loved climbing, sliding and swinging like little monkeys.  Ever since then, Riley had been bugging me to take them back to try the go-karts and bumper boats.  I had to explain that we needed Daddy along to do that because he wasn't tall enough to drive the cars solo and someone had to watch Sissy.

So, Friday Andy was able to come home early...I mean like 1:30 pm early.  It was great because I could leave Kendall home and finish her nap while I went to pick up Riley alone.  The ride home was so much fun because he could tell me about his day without her screaming "Ra Ra!  Don't talk to my Momma!" the whole trip!

He was thrilled that Daddy was home early.  After an early dinner, we headed over to Boondocks to play some golf and ride the go-karts.  Both kids loved playing mini-golf.  Sissy would hit the ball and chase it down and pick it up before it stopped rolling!  I guess she missed the point of the game, but she had so much fun we didn't care.  Riley had a blast too - lost his golf ball 3 times within 18 holes, but we were lucky to find it each time.

After mini-golf, the boys decided to ride the go-karts.  Andy LOVES go-karts and now Riley does too!

This is them at the start...Look at Riley's smile!

This is a lap before they spun out the girls in the red car in front of them...Riley scolded his Dad, but it fell on deaf ears.

Cheering on Daddy and Ra Ra

Waiting for the boys - they decided to ride it again instead of the bumper boats...Poor Sissy.  She was too small for all the "fun" stuff.

It was a great way for us to spend some quality time together before Andy headed out this week.  He left this morning for a trip and will return on Wednesday night and turn around and leave again on Thursday morning and return on Saturday night...It's the weekends that make it the hardest on me...I count on the weekends to catch my breath and gear up for the upcoming week...Not so lucky this time.  

I am thankful to the Wiegands who invited us to see Toy Story 3 with them today...Tristam and Riley enjoyed hanging out and Sissy loved watching "Story" with everyone.  I'm trying to stay busy this week to make time go by faster!  There is something going on each day this week!  Yay!

One Year Ago Today...

The kids and I packed our bags and headed to the BWI airport after a week of visiting friends and family in Lancaster.  We boarded a Southwest jet and headed to Utah.  Andy met us at the airport and drove us to his temporary housing in American Fork.  I remember Riley asking where the snow was when we arrived!  Here we are 365 days later and so much has happened.  We built a house, Riley started school #2, Kendall has hair and speaks in full sentences, and I'm finally feeling at home here...I hesitate to even say that because every time I start to get comfortable some place, I usually get uprooted and moved somewhere else!

Here are a few pics of what has happened over the past year:

What a blessed year we've had!