Snapshot at 7:00pm

Misty -- Sitting at the computer in the kitchen, admiring my lovely new curtain over the window.  I needed a pop of color there.  Who would have guessed that it's actually a shower curtain? :)

Still sporting an apron, to keep from getting oil splattered on my shirt.  Oil from the first ever scones that I have made.  Seriously yummy dinner.  I also made chili to go with the scones but there was much more scone consumption than chili consumption.

Mike -- Finally relaxing with remote in hand after a long day at work.  He also acted in a mini-movie Christian made tonight with his phone, which starred his little sisters and a neighbor.  I have to get it on youtube to share it.  Made me laugh out loud.

Christian -- Went to a Teen Writers' Camp at UVU and was totally inspired to keep writing.  It's his forte anyway but he loved all of the advice.  I laughed when I saw that one of the workshops was literally called "Rewrite the crap out of it."  Definitely geared to teens.  He's always in search of the iPad to watch back episodes of Merlin - his favorite show as of late.  Loving the feel of a braces-less mouth.  Looks good, too.

Haley -- Fresh back from 7th grade orientation.  She's nervous and yet not, if that's possible.  I remember going to orientation with Christian a couple of years ago and knowing that I was more nervous than he was.  Now, we know the school, know the teachers, know more what to expect.  She'll be fine.  And hopefully big brother will be nice to her in the halls.

Paige -- Home from 2 hours of dance, sitting with me at the island having a late dinner.  She's showing me funny little chanty poems that she and her friends do at school.  Something about "Happy llama, sad llama, Mama Llama, Moose!"  Cracking herself up. :)

Noelle -- Gone are the days when Elle was content to just hang out with mommy.  From the minute she is out of school, she is constantly asking me if she can play with a friend.  Any friend.  She's also very into sounding words out and spelling things herself.  This is my fave lately (accessories) ...

She also finally mastered the art of riding a 2-wheeled bike and can usually be found in the circle riding around and around.  Kudos to Mike for helping to get her going.  Good daddy. :)

Smarty pants

A couple of months ago, Haley took a math test along with the rest of the 6th grade at her school.  It was an international test, actually, and tested the kids on things they'd never learned to see how they'd figure it out.  Haley took 3rd in her school.  She, of course, never even told me about it.  I received a text later from my friend, Bev, congratulating us on Haley's achievement.  Good thing she did, 'cause I might not have known otherwise.  Haley was likewise surprised, actually.  She knows she's smart but doesn't usually think of math as one of her strong points.  It was good for her to think of herself differently.

As part of their achievement, the top scorers in her school were invited to BYU to an awards ceremony with lots of other uber-smart kids.  I could tell that my very UofU daughter was slightly conflicted about going to BYU to be honored.   That kind of conflict is good for her. :)  I'm a fan of both schools.

They got a bit of free swag from the math department (woohoo) and heard talks about becoming engineers or scientists in the future.  When they showed graphs of how much $$ engineers make, Haley perked up considerably.  Haley's love of $$ will help her take her education seriously.

I'm sure that Haley's favorite part of the night, though, was getting a mini-tour of the BYU campus from her mom, who was having flashbacks of fun college times.  She saw for herself the sidewalk that I drove my car over and was given a ticket by a bike cop.  Good times.  She can't wait, I'm sure.

Random thoughts ...

* So much snow lately.  I don't mind it, though.  'Cause when I look in the backyard at the giant garden and fruit trees that are all buried in snow, I realize how much easier they are to take care of that way than when they are all in full bloom.  Snow-covered is ok by me for now.

Ice has definitely been an issue this year ...

My 2 boys trying to remove said ice from the rain gutters.

* Sitting by my teenage son during a youth fireside last night, sneaking glances at him to see if he was really hearing the fantastic advice from the speaker and praying that he was feeling something -- made my heart happy to see him definitely paying attention and smiling or laughing at the right parts.  Small 'pay day' for a mom.

* My 'Super Bowl' was on last night ... the Oscars.  As Mike will definitely tell you, I'm not a sports kind-of-girl.  But I am a movies kind-of-girl, and the Oscars are my kind of event.  I dvr'd about 5 hours of pre- and post-shows, as well as the actual Oscars.  Good times.  Until my cute husband tried to talk fashion with me, analyzing each actress's dress as they walked the red carpet.  Cute boy.  Stick to sports, babe. :)

* Had a fun date night with my honey and some of his high school friends.  We stopped by their old high school for a walk down Memory Lane, since it will be torn down soon.  His senior year locker ...

I think it's funny that he even remembers which locker he had.  I can't remember which hall my locker was in during my senior year, let alone which number it was.

In the gym where he was quite the legend.  Or so he tells me.

One last shot ...

* Being a grammar nazi myself, this cracked me up.

* My Haley did it again.  She finished in the top of her 6th grade class spelling bee, and then went on to compete in the school spelling bee.  Smarty pants. :)

* My ballerina.  Love their monarch butterfly costumes this year.  And better yet, both Elle & Paige are in the same cast this year so they'll dance the same night.  Hallelujah! Sure love the studio where they dance.

* Saw a fantastic film with my indie-film buddy, Rachel.  Quartet had amazing music, funny old people and Maggie Smith.  How can you go wrong with that combination?

* Missing my mom who is off taking care of her ailing sister.  So glad she's there to help but we miss grandma, too.

* Listening to little voices coming up from the basement.  Elle is happiest when she has friends over to play, and today we have Luke & Tessa.  Their mom is home with full-blown morning sickness.  Yeah for a future baby. :) Boo for morning sickness.

* Just plugging along with life, ya know?  The day-in/day-out of homework, piano, lessons, PTA, etc., etc. keeps us busy, but life is good so I'm not complaining at all.  Being a taxi driver/sideline cheerer/piano teacher/classroom volunteer/homework helper/cook/professional maid/young women's leader/grocery shopper/reader/out to lunch'er/kid cuddler makes me happy.  I love this stage of life where the kids are all home and we're busy.  I'm not wishing it away at all.

Heart day '13

This years' Valentine's ....

I'm loving the picture Valentines.  So easy to do and far cheaper than the boxed stuff.

After a red'ish dinner of shrimp with cocktail sauce, chips & salsa, cran-apple sparkling drink, chocolate-covered strawberries and heart-shaped steak ....

Elle treated us to a visit to her restaurant (or 'restrot' as she so cutely spelled it)....

"Welcome to Elle's Restaurant"

... complete with "restaurant menus: bananas, string cheese, crackers, jello and yogurt."  Then we ate at the individual tables she had set up in the hall.  She took our orders, which proved to be comical since she could only find a few of each item.  We ended up breaking crackers and splitting string cheese to share with each other.  It was a perfect Valentine's night with the kids.

Mike & I celebrated a more grown-up night out the next night.  Can't go wrong with lobster fettucine, I promise.

Throw-back Valentine's

http://mayfieldmayhem.blogspot.com/2011/02/they-totally-love-her.html

Elle had to give a talk in church recently and she told this story from earlier Valentine's days.  Reminded me of how cool the whole experience was, for the girls and for me - standing by watching it all happen.

This year, Valentine's will mean helping with a kindergarten school party and a Jr. Jazz game in the evening.  Whatev, as Haley would say.  I've already eaten my weight in Dove chocolate hearts so it's all good.  :)

Kodak Moments

We finally made our way to Scheels to check it all out.  It's a full-on field trip, I tell you.  Next time we'll know better than to visit on a Saturday when the rest of the valley is there, too.  But still ... it'll be worth a visit back.  We'll have to go back, since we never got a chance to use our ferris wheel tokens.  The line was over an hour wait.  No thanks.

Instagram part 2

For Christmas this year, I had 2 blog books made.  I started this blog in 2008 so I combined 2 years per book and voila ....  2 hard copy books of our family's history for the past 4 years.  Pretty fun.  That's why I started this blog in the first place -- to replace scrapbooking and keep a family journal.  It's been fun to look back through the past few years about our family's adventures.

To continue adding to that history, here's the next installment of Instagram pictures....

Sooo much cooler than Guitar Hero.  A video game that teaches him real skillz.  #rockinonhisownguitar

What's wrong with this picture?  #onehappylittlelittleperson

Oh. My. Gosh.  Laughing so hard! #wishthiswasnttrue

"I like being the youngest kid because I get all of the detention." #ummmm...

Power outage seems fun until you remember that it's like 10 degrees outside. #mightbeheadingtothegrandparentshouse

Unable to get the snow to roll into a ball, grandpa settled instead for a Snow Jabba the Hut. #jollyjabba

Photography by Elle #mymrmayfield

A spur-of-the-moment attempt at a Christmas card picture #endedupnotsendingcardsafterall

Rite of passage #firsttimelesson #freakingmeoutalittle

Ginormous ice cream sundae shared between friends #blastfromthepastatleatherby's

Love her! #headingouttocheerwithdaddyattheUtahgame

Haley found a little friend at Costco.  She walked around just like this the whole time. #nomoregiantanimalsplease

Elle has learned how to text Mike without me knowing. #hopeshedoesntstarttextingrandompeople

Made a little snack for themselves #nothinglikereheatedfrenchtoastandmarshmallows

Super colorful but interesting salad at a work dinner recently.  #thosewouldbeflowerpetalsinthesalad #canyoureallyeatpansies?

Creme brulee done right. #oneofmyfavoritekitchentools