Author: Superpaige (Page 128 of 180)

Pepsi is on sale at Target right now.  4 -12 packs for $11.  Now, I’m really more of a diet coke drinker myself, but Ryan really likes the Cherry Vanilla Diet Dr. Pepper.  But the stock guy at the grocery store told me they are not making that anymore–can you believe it?  And there are some really cool new pepsi flavors.  Strawberries and Cream, Carmel Cream (it’s in the fridge cooling so I can enjoy it for lunch), and wild cherry.  Not a big cherry fan, but maybe Ryan would like that one.  Anyway, if that’s not a good enough deal for you, go to the  Target coupon generator  and print out as many $1 off coupons as you’d like.  I just went to Target, and they let me use 5 coupons in one transaction.  I wish I had printed more!  That makes a 12 pack only $1.75, which makes each can about 15 cents each.  And with summer coming and barbeques and parties and all, you can never have too many soft drinks around, right?
Thanks to Mir at wantnot.com for pointing out this great deal.  And check her website for new deals every day.

I think it’s cold enough, if I add ice.  I’m going to go and try the caramel flavor right now.

Well, I’m trying to plan ahead and stick to a menu plan, so this week, I’m actually planning.

Tonight, we’re having Easy Chicken Cordon Blue, which is a nummy recipe, if I do say so myself.

Tuesday we have softball and scouts, so dinner has to be something we can eat at different times, so I think I’ll make Taco soup.  Then I can just leave it in the crock pot and when people are home, they can eat.

Wednesday will be spaghetti.  Not very exciting, but deal with it.

Thursday…..I’m still thinking……hamburgers sound good, don’t you think?

And Friday I will be gone, so the family can and will heat up their own dinner.  Corndogs or chicken nuggets with a healthy side of leftovers.

What’s on your dinner menu?

Wow, it’s Sunday and we survived a very very busy week. Hooray for us! Some thoughts on the week:
–My concerts went well, and it we were pleased to see the Salt Lake Tabernacle mostly full both Friday and Saturday nights. We did well as a group. We made mistakes, and strangely enough, different mistakes each night (to keep it interesting, I guess), but overall I think it was an enjoyable concert for the audience. But being up there four nights in a week means other things don’t get done (like laundry). But the family survived.

–Since I had won a “7-11 prize pack” a while back, and the only 7-11 I even know exists anymore is downtown on 3rd west, I encouraged my carpool to stop after practice on Tuesday and use up some coupons. So, we all went in and got free slurpies. On Wednesday night, we all went in and got taquitos. We were going to stop and get hot dogs last night, but I forgot the coupons. I’m glad we could use them, as I can’t really go in and use all the coupons at once. They do say “one coupon per person” on them. I don’t think I’d had a slurpie in 20 years. Honestly.

–Cole’s band concert went well, too. Since they didn’t turn the house lights all the way down, I sat and read my book. It was the most enjoyable band concert I’ve been to yet!

–John is still sick. He’s got a cold, fever, and isn’t eating well. On Friday he was really complaining and said his neck hurt, so I took him to the doctor. Negative strep test, negative on the ear infections. Thanks a lot. I hate it when I waste my time and money on a dr visit and they just tell me it must be a virus. Meanwhile my little boy is still suffering, and I can’t do much for him. I’m hoping he feels better today, if not, maybe I’ll get to stay home from church.

–I took John and Cole to get haircuts on Thursday. They were both looking pretty scroungy and I had a coupon for Great clips. While we were there, Jenna decided she wanted her hair cut, too! She looks so darling in her new little bob, I can’t believe it. The funny thing is, I’ve suggested a hair cut before (many times) and she always says she wants long hair, but I guess she decided to give it a go now.

–Ryan’s company had a “park day” similar to the Office’s “beach day” last week. I don’t know if someone was looking for a replacement or what the deal was, but any day playing kickball beats a day at work, I guess. Anyway, Ryan’s been sore and complaining ever since. I guess typing all day doesn’t use the same muscles as kickball.

–I made two pans of the most awesome mint brownies on Friday. We gave a plate to Natalie’s soccer coach, and one to Megan’s soccer coach, and we now have two more pans to give out to music teachers, dance teachers, etc. But I don’t know if we can leave them alone long enough to deliver. Those are some good brownies!

–IKEA. That’s one huge place. Thanks to my friend Michelle, who smuggled a bunch of us in for the friends and family preview day. The employees all clapped and cheered when we walked in–like we had one something. That was kind of weird. Lisa, Sandra and I quickly rushed to the as-is department to see if we could find some goodies, and yes, we did. I got a cute mesh rolling cart with 3 drawers. I haven’t decided where it’s going and what it’s purpose in my home is yet, but I love it anyway. We purchased those things because Lisa didn’t want to be pushing a large floor lamp all over the store, and we were some of the cashiers’ first customers EVER. Then we went back in and bought some more things. I got some way cute little spatula sets with a 3 small utensils that are the perfect size for scooping brownies out of the pan (like those mini pampered chef spatulas, you know the ones?) but the set of 3 cost me 59 cents! I bought 10 sets of them, and I’m going to give them as teacher gifts with a brownie mix. How great is that? I am also enjoying my new pink dustpan and brush set that I got for 99 cents. No way you’ll get me there on grand opening day, but I’m sure I’ll enjoy shopping there again.

–If you’ll excuse me, the kids are fighting over the cute little stuffed animal hangers I bought at Ikea yesterday (I bought 5 of them, for heaven’s sake). So, I must end this long long epistle and go do my job as a mother and settle this.

Natalie had her Highland Children’s choir concert last night. She even sang with a small group, and did GREAT. Here’s a tiny picture of her and I’m sure you can’t even spot her, but you can try if you want.

Ryan is a wonderful dad, as he took the kids to the Provo tabernacle for this concert without me for the 3rd time. I don’t know how she does it, but this director always has her concerts on a Wednesday night right before one of my concerts, so I can never go. I know. I feel terrible about it. But such is life. (I had my own dress rehearsal in the Salt Lake Tabernacle for our bell choir concert, which went pretty well, despite a few mess ups, but I guess that’s to be expected.) At the last minute, we realized that John had a fever (could it have something to do with that unfortunate incident yesterday? I sure hope not!), so Cole and John stayed home. I’m proud of Natalie for singing her best. I don’t think she wants to do choir next year–she wants to take a cheer or dance class instead, she tells me.

Tonight Cole has a band concert (Thanks for the advanced warning, Cole. I think he told us on Monday, that he had a band concert), Megan has a Hope of America type program tomorrow at school, and then we’re almost done with all these concerts. Like I said, May is insanely busy for us, and we’re just trying to get through it!

1. YOUR REAL NAME: Paige

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME (first 3 letters of real name plus “izzle”): Paiizzle

3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME (fave color and fave animal): Green giraffe

3. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name and your street name): Jess Sampson

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 Letters of your first name, first 3 letters of mom’s maiden name): Eripagag

6. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favorite color, favorite drink): Red diet coke

7. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME (father’s middle name and mother’s middle name): Eloise Eugene

8. YOUR GOTH NAME (black, and the name of one of your pets): Black Zuzu

I must admit that I’m not the best soccer mom around.  I don’t go to every game for every kid.  I do my best to make sure that THEY are to most every game, and most every practice, but I’m not all that into it.  I don’t know all the rules, and am always asking the other parents things like “what is off-sides?” In fact, even when I’m there at the game, I’m really only paying attention about 1/2 of the time.  I’m either watching over or taking care of younger kids, chatting with other moms, or whatever.  But I must say, Saturday’s game with Megan was a bit different.  I got her there way early to find the field, and she and her teammates were pretty excited about the game.

   

This team has been together for two years, but this was their first year in a competitive or AAA league (whatever that means, right?) They’ve had a good season, but by no means did they win every game.  They’ve done pretty well in the past two weeks of tournament, though, so this was the championship game.  They were playing a team they had beat before, so that was a little bit of a comfort to them.  They started out great, and scored a goal in the first half.  In the second half, they scored two more, and shut out the other team.  Megan is a “sweeper”, so she’s the last line of defense before the goalie, and that girl can run!  She’s not a goal scorer, but she does her job well, and loves the game.  When the final whistle blew, it was very exciting!

 

Here they are right after the win, and then getting her trophy from her coach.

It was so great!  I was very proud of her! The guy who was awarding them their trophy was so cute.  He said, “In Region 5, Triple A division, 11 and under girls, there’s no team better than you!”   Here’s one last picture of her with her team, all proud with their shiny trophies!

In other weekend news, Jenna’s dance recital was very cute.  Need proof?  Well, here you are:

   

On Saturday night we attended the Butler Stake’s production of the Wizard of Oz, and it was very well done.  I had a few complaints about the boring character of Glinda, but then again, after seeing Wicked, I expect greatness, I guess.  It was a fun show, and the kids really enjoyed it.  John sat still and watched the whole thing, which was kind of surprising.

We had a lovely Mother’s day, too.  I bought myself the kids gave me some nice presents, including the new Donny Osmond CD (what a shock!) and a lovely new watch that I just LOVE.  They also made some cute cards, and Cole even made me a movie!  It should have been titled “a bunch of bad pictures of mom set to music”, but who am I to complain.  He made it with love.  Church was really great, with great youth speakers in Sacrament meeting and an awesome Sunday School lesson, and my lesson in RS went well.  We got some pretty pansies as our Mother’s day gift from the ward, and of course they had extras, so I let the kids choose some, so we’ll be planting those today.  We went to my mom and dad’s for a fun barbeque, and had a very nice day.  We should have Mother’s day more often than just once a year, don’t you think?

My mom taught me many great lessons and has given me some wonderful advice. In fact, she’s still teaching me things about how to be a better person and a better mom. But one lesson I remember wasn’t really something she taught me in words, but in her actions.

(Now my memories of this story may not be the most accurate, since this happened a long time ago, so, Mom, if you are reading this, feel free to add any details in or correct me if I’m wrong.)

My mom had been to visit a neighbor and I went along with her. I wasn’t very old, probably around 5. As she and this neighbor were talking in the front room, I wandered back to the kitchen, and spotted the two loaves of freshly baked banana bread that were cooling on the counter. That bread smelled so good and looked so pretty, I was drawn to it. I guess I thought if I just picked a piece out of the corner, no one would notice. It wasn’t like I was taking a piece off the very top or anything. That piece tasted so good, I broke off another little piece and ate that, too. I don’t remember how much of that bread I ate, but basically ruined both loaves. If they were meant to be a gift for someone else, they were no longer give-able. If they were meant for her own family, they were somewhat mangled, what with little nibbles picked out of the corner.

The ladies finished their visit and we went home. I’m sure it wasn’t long before my mom received a phone call from this woman letting her know what her daughter had done. When my mother asked me about the bread, I of course denied eating any of it and suggested that it must have been a mouse. My mother didn’t yell at me, but prompted me to tell the truth. She was teaching me patience and honesty right then. I guess I broke down and told her that yes, I had eaten it, and I was sorry. My mom must have made some bread or some other food to take to this neighbor, and when we took it over to her, I picked some flowers and gave them to her and told her I was sorry that I had eaten her bread. My mother was teaching me that it’s not enough to just say you’re sorry, but you have to make it up to them, if possible. Although I felt terrible from what I did, and my mother must have been so embarrassed by my hungry little actions, I was not punished. There was no spanking, no time-out, no yelling. She let me think about what I had done wrong, and I punished myself for my actions. Mom was teaching me to develop my own sense of right and wrong.

After we came home, my mom hugged me and told me that I had done the right thing in apologizing, and she hoped I had learned something. By her loving actions, I learned more than I would have if she lectured me for hours. How grateful I am for a mother who taught me important lessons in life. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom. I love you.

Congratulations to Megan, and her soccer team, the Tsunamis.  They won their game on Wednesday night, and they will play on Saturday to determine if they are the 1st place team or the 2nd place team in their division. Go, Megan!

And congratulations to all soccer moms out there, for surviving the soccer season.