The Kindle

I've been wanting a Kindle since it came out a couple of years ago. I finally got one for my birthday last month (thanks mom & dad) and I love it! Basically a Kindle is a little computer where you can download books in seconds at reduced prices (usu. under $10 or FREE). You can also download newspapers, magazines, blogs, etc. It doesn't need to be plugged in and there's no need for wi-fi. You can read your books on the Kindle screen. It reads like paper without a glare (even in bright sunlight). You can highlight and look up the meaning of a word instantly, have the Kindle read your book to you and all kinds of other amazing things that I'm still figuring out. It's about as thin as a magazine and it holds up to 1500 books! I am very excited that I won't be clogging up shelf space with all the books I buy and no more carrying around a big heavy hardback. It's so ideal for traveling. I love it!

Spring Break

This spring break we headed south to sunny St. George. And I was so happy to have my good friend, June, and her family join us. We tried to make the most of our vacation so we did lots of hiking and exercising. We spent a day hiking in Zion National Park. This was Arabella's 1st experience hiking with us in a back pack and she loved it. Also a 1st for her was playing in sand... We hiked up to some big sand dunes in Snow Canyon and she got to play in the sand (picture above of her and Hudson, June's youngest). When I wasn't looking she ate some sand, which she immediately threw up. Hopefully, she's learned her lesson. Tony did lots of mountain biking and Jon (June's hubby) joined him for a ride. Tony taught Gavin how to fish. June and I even got to indulge in a little spa action in the form of mani-pedis. It was a wonderful getaway.

Sephora is coming!

I just found out that my all time favorite beauty supply store is finally coming to Utah! Sephora is coming to the Fashion Place Mall in June. Now I won't have to order all of my must have beauty products online anymore. If you have never been to Sephora you must go. My favorite thing about Sephora, besides the fact that it has an enormous selection of all the best beauty products, is that you can try out all the makeup yourself. There are people there to help you if you need it, but I love that I can play around with the products myself instead of having someone try stuff on me, me pretend to like it and then feel obligated to purchase something from them. I think it opens on June 4th. I can't wait!

Food Revolution

Have you heard of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution? (Jamie Oliver is a chef from the UK who cooks healthy, fresh food.) He's on a mission to change the way America eats (Lord knows we need it). His new TV show shows how he tries to teach people in America's "unhealthiest city", Huntington, West Virginia how to eat fresh, healthy food. He focuses on school lunches and you won't believe the crap that they are serving their kids (i.e. pizza for breakfast). Thankfully, our schools, here in Utah aren't quite as bad, but they're still bad. As a teacher who works in a public school, I know that the quality of food is not good. It certainly isn't up to my standards (processed foods, high sodium, high fat). I've tried it a handful of times in the 10 years I've been teaching and after doing so I would rather starve for a few hours than eat school lunch. The bottom line for me is that it tastes terrible. And I certainly wouldn't allow my kids to eat it. You can bet that I'll be making their school lunches for them every day. So, I fully support Jamie Oliver's efforts to try and improve the quality of food served in our schools. To find out more and to sign the petition that he's taking to the White House, click here.

* Apparently, Gweneth Paltrow is a big fan of Jamie Oliver and his food revolution too because her latest post (on 4/1/10) on her blog "GOOP" was devoted to him as well:-)

Ciao Bella!

"Hello beautiful!" It's been a while since I've posted pics of Arabella and she's growing and changing so much. She got her 1st haircut today! This post is dedicated to my mom who is really missing her grandkids. They miss you too (and so do I). By the way... I wish I knew how to put these pictures side by side. Can anybody tell me how to do that?

Peekaboo!

Arabella loves to pull down her crib bumper and play peekaboo. And since she can't quite pull herself up to look over the rail of her crib this is usually what I see when I walk through the door to get her up from a nap. I find her peeking through the crib looking to see when someone is coming to get her.

1st Ski Pass

Gavin is holding his first ski pass (to Snowbird).

FOOD, INC.

I just saw the film Food, Inc. (heard about it on Oprah). It was very enlightening. Basically, it traces the food we buy at the grocery store (in particular, meat) back to it's origin. It's appalling to learn of how "industrial food is making us sicker, fatter and poorer". The American meat industry is basically run by 5 major companies who control about 80% of the meat consumption in our country and how they engineer meat to make the animal grow bigger faster and the conditions in which the animals are raised and butchered are filthy, grotesque and inhumane. This film's main goal is not to promote vegetarianism, but to encourage consumers to purchase meat free of antibiotics and growth hormones. Even better... only purchase chickens that are cage free and beef that is grass fed instead of corn fed. Of course, that kind of meat is more expensive but here's how I think of it... I'm saving money in the long run in medical costs. There is so much more that this movie covers. I highly recommend it to everyone. I take my job of feeding my family very seriously. What I feed my kids now will help determine what foods they choose to eat later, as adults, and ultimately whether they will develop health issues like heart disease or diabetes (I realize genetics plays a role too). To learn more about the film Food, Inc. click here.

Mommy Earns a Sticker!

Today while cleaning the kitchen and hangin' with my kiddos I was listening to some music (quite loud I might add) and I was singing and dancing along. Gavin commanded that I turn it off and I simply told him "No." I explained that my beloved reggae music reminds me of the beach and it makes me happy to listen to it. I figured he'd understand because he loves the beach to. However, this answer was not satisfactory for him so our conversation continued as follows...

G: "PLEASE turn that off!"

Me: "If you don't like it you can go downstairs."

G: "I asked you very nicely to turn it off. If you don't turn it off I will."

Me thinking... This sounds awfully familiar. I'm a little perturbed that my 4 year old is talking to me this way, but I'm curious where this conversation will go.

pause

G: "If you turn the music off you can have a sticker!"

Me: Now he's really got my attention. This kid is using parenting techniques on ME. Mm, I wonder where he's heard that before. I want to see where he goes with this. "What kind of sticker?"

G: "You'll just have to turn the music off to find out."

I turn the music off

G: He brings me some stickers to choose from and I pick one. I place it on my shirt and ask him to take a picture (above).

Making the Bed

The other day Gavin spontaneously decided to make his bed (I usually do it). Quite frankly, it didn't even occur to me to ask my 4 1/2 year old to start making his bed. I was so delighted that he decided to help me out all on his own. Can you tell which one Gavin made and which one I made?

Avatar

Avatar was so cool! It was the best film I've seen in the last few years. The previews don't do it justice. If you haven't seen it yet... go. It should be seen on the big screen (IMAX 3D if possible). I never like to see movies in the theater more than once, but I would gladly go see this one again. Loved it!

Christmas

Here's a family picture that I love (taken on Christmas eve) and my latest favorite pic of my little muffin.

Merry Christmas!

Well, I'm embarrassed to say that I never made the time to put together a Christmas card. If I had I might have used a couple of these pictures. Our family definitely has a lot to be thankful for this year (especially our newest little angel, Arabella). Merry Christmas and happy new year!

Santa's Gone Digital!

Did you know that there is a website where kids can send Santa their Christmas wish list? On this website kids can tell Santa what they want and write (type) him a letter. He will even send a letter (email) in return! I did this with Gavin and I thought it was pretty cute; not nearly as cute as the wish list Gavin made, but honestly where am I supposed to send that. He wanted me to be sure and send it to Santa and I considered sending it to Grandma, but now I can assure him that Santa will know what he wants since we sent him an email. Kids can also play games and listen to a Christmas story on the website. If you have a child between the ages of 4 and 8 you should check this out.

Boots, Boots and More Boots!

I am LOVING skinny jeans and boots right now. I especially can't get enough of boots since they are so warm and cozy in the these cold fall and winter months. Not to mention, they are uber fashionable. Here are a few boots that I love... The first 3 styles are Miz Mooz which can be found at Nordstrom and the rain boot is from Piperlime. I already have some dark brown riding boots and black slouchy boots, but I think I will need to add one of these lovelies to my wardrobe.

Halloween

We had a great Halloween! Gavin had been anticipating it for over a month and was so excited when it finally arrived. For the past 2 years he has known exactly what he wanted to dress up as... Last year it was Buzz Lightyear and this year it was Lightning McQueen, the race car from the Disney movie Cars. Arabella was a white kitty and I was a bumblebee. First, Gavin celebrated Halloween with his preschool class on Thursday, complete with a parade and trick or treating around the school. Then, on Saturday, we went to Tony's parents house and celebrated with the Allred cousins (Hayden, Corbin & Libby). They had a treasure hunt for the kids around the yard and house. Then we trick or treated around our neighborhood and there were a ton of kids/families trick or treating which made it really fun. In the last picture Gavin is counting his candy. He counted 47 candies (yes, he can count to 47).

Halloween Meal

I found these cute recipes on http://thefoodnetwork.com/. I made them for dinner a couple nights before Halloween. Gavin did a great job helping me make the chocolate spider bites and they were yummers (chocolate, peanut butter and pretzels)! The Snake shaped baked sandwich was so good. I made it with ham, turkey, provolone & cheddar cheese, Spanish olives, roasted red peppers and Dijon mustard. You just roll them up in crescent roll dough and bake it. I served the sandwich with tomato bisque soup (A.K.A Dragon's Blood) and chips. We had the spider bites for dessert. Get the snake bite sandwich recipe here and the chocolate spider bite recipe here. Give it a try next Halloween.

Arabella at 6 Months

Arabella is 6 months old this week! Here are some of my favorite recent photos. She has started eating some solid foods (rice cereal & squash). She can roll over both ways. She can put her feet in her mouth. She's close to sitting up on her own, but not quite there yet. She smiles and laughs a lot, especially whenever big bro Gavin is around. And she still loves to stick her tongue out.

Jana's Wedding

Tony's sister, Jana, got married in St. George last weekend (at Entrada no less). So we drove down there, stayed at my parent's place and played around for about 6 days. We went to the pool several times, Tony and I mountain biked, and we did lots of family stuff with the Allreds. Jana's wedding was beautiful. She looked gorgeous. The ceremony and reception were outside with the breathtaking red rock background. We watched the sun set while we ate dinner. And there was even some dancing. Gavin was right in the middle of it shakin' his little bum bum. The last photo of Arabella was taken at about 10 pm when she very sleepy. It was a great wedding and a great weekend.