Does this make me old?

The following YouTube video was posted by a friend and by a sister-in-law on facebook and I just had to share it.

Everything's amazing, nobody's happy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoGYx35ypus

I was wondering if having clear memories of those "simpler times" makes me old - maybe "retro" makes it sound cooler!
Or does it maybe just give me a slightly better grip on today's reality.

Flat Stanley

Flat Stanley has traveled around the world and has taken a pit stop in Watkinsville. While he was here we took him around town. Here are some shots of Flat Stanley's visit.

At the aquarium in Atlanta his favorite fishes were the flat faced ones. And he wasn't a bit scared of the spider crabs.

Athens is home to the University of Georgia and their mascot Uga, so around town they have different decorated Ugas. Chik-fil-A started in Georgia, so this picture tackled both local favorites.

The kids wanted to take him to their schools.

And we had to stop by our favorite ice cream shop.Flat Stanley asked specifically to see our river, but it is a still bit too cold to go swimming.The last stop was by Robert's work to see the chickens.

Flat Stanley will now return to Arizona, his trip here finished.
Natalie's class is just starting Flat Stanley and so she'll be sending her own off and we'll get a chance to see his further adventures.

Mud Pies

In Houston we were introduced to mud pies (it might have two d's). It's like a mini taco salad in a crunchy shell, named after our friend's grandma who made them.
We have had many mud pie parties - it's a favorite.

The shells are made by deep frying small corn tortillas, using a ladle to shape them. We haven't found any "ultra thin" corn tortillas since leaving Houston, but they still turn out well. The meat is seasoned with El Pato (we probably have our years supply), the refried beans are made from scratch, refried in a cast iron pan, and mashed with the "bean masher" (which I always thought was a potato masher), finely shredded cheddar cheese, julienned lettus, canned whole tomatoes - diced, a little salt and pepper and hot sauce . . .

and you're good to go!

It's best to have friends over to share - come hungry!

It's been a while since we've shared them with the makers of the original, so I hope we are keeping it real!
Whenever we have invited people for mud pies they always get really excited and then I say, "it's not the chocolatey dessert." So, this time I decided to try my hand at the chocolatey dessert as well. I found a recipe for T.G.I. Friday's Mocha Mud Pie and made some adjustments (I don't like mocha ice cream, so I used chocolate ice cream) . . .

- there were no complaints.

The Aquarium

The aquarium in Atlanta is billed as the "world's largest aquarium. " We got bounce back passes from some friends, so I took the kids there when they were off for President's Day. We headed out early and got there right when it opened. We had the touch pool, with sting rays and sharks, pretty much to ourselves.

Alyssa's friend come with us and everyone had a great time.

My nephew sent us Flat Stanley, so we took him to the aquarium with us. We were at the big wall, that's what I call it and there is a picture of it later, and I had Natalie hold up Flat Stanley for a picture. A man sitting behind me started laughing and said "is that Flat Stanley?" "Yes," I said, "all the way from Arizona!"

Logan was amazed at everything and would just stand with his face up to every glass. He would have spent his whole time at the first exhibit if we didn't move him along. The beluga whales were one of his favorites.

The big tunnel under the water was a favorite of everyone and we went through it a couple of times. They have a slow moving sidewalk that you can stand on and watch what is above and around you without having to try and physically walk as well.

At the end of the tunnel there is a room with a huge wall (as big as an IMAX screen). We were there when they were feeding the fish and stayed to watch them feed the whale sharks.

The jellyfish are always cool (when you're not actually in water with them!). Alyssa took some great pictures.

Moon jellies above, sea nettle below.

We got a chance to see everything and some things twice. The last half hour was spent at a more crowded touch pool - I'm glad we got there early and saw most of the exhibits before there were a TON of people. Logan, when he couldn't touch the sting rays started splashing them, then started getting cranky. After 3 hours Logan hit meltdown and it was time to go. Everyone had a fabulous time. A very fun day!

Valentine's Day

The kids have been getting excited for Valentine's Day ever since they got their assignment to make their boxes for their class Valentine's Day parties. Alyssa, being in middle school and having no class Valentine's Day party, "helped" Jake with his box.

Jake was super excited for his box because it was a robot who's mouth opened and you drop the Valentines in, they went down the neck to the bottom. Then the bottom opens so you could get them out. That dark "mole" to left (looking at the picture) of his nose is a remnant of the chocolate treats they had a school. :) He had a great day! And got sick that night from eating to much!

The week of Valentine's Day, the kids decided to run a stomach bug between them, and Natalie's turn came just in time for her to miss her Valentine's Day party at school. She cried that she couldn't go. To help her feel better, I dropped her Valentine "Caterpillar" box (it has googly eyes in the front) at school in the morning and picked it up at the end of the day. She was upset to have missed the party, but loved looking at all the cards and treats from her classmates.
Alyssa wanted to try her hand at sugar cookies. So, she made a batch, made part of it pink, then the kids took turns cutting out different size hearts. After the cookies baked and cooled, they were frosted and decorated and shared.
Valentine's Day is not one of Robert's favorite holidays, but he doesn't mind sharing it with ALL the people he loves and as indicated by Alyssa's comment today, "it's Valentine's Day, we should spend it together as a family," he has trained his children well.
The kids woke up to a Valentine's treat at the table and we had a special family dinner of a spiral ham, potato casserole and mandarin oranges.
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Friday the 13th

To many this is a superstitious day, one when something bad is bound to happen.

For me it is a reminder of my wedding anniversary. Robert and I got married August 13th - a Friday!
Today marks exactly 15 1/2 years of marriage - including day of the week.
I don't have a scanner, so no lovely pictures of us on that day - but one of the Manti Temple where we got married.

Sunshine

After a few cold fronts over the past while, we have been in a warming trend and had a beautiful weekend of near 70 degrees.
This morning, before church, Jake and Logan were playing together outside. Jake, as he rode by on his bike said, "mom, we're having a fun day today."
Natalie and Alyssa spent the morning together on a walk down to the river. After coming back Alyssa said how it has been the best weekend and Natalie went immediately upstairs to write in her journal about her walk with her sister. Alyssa was outside all day yesterday and was almost too tired for the friends we had over for dinner.
What a wonderful thing a little warmth and sunshine is!