#saturday

mostly he doesn't have an ounce of aggression in his entire body,

so this is his shining moment of the entire game.

every time.

and one time he scored a goal when the ball bounced off of his shinguard.

go blue fire megladawns:)

spring break BEGIN:)

10 straight days of not having to get people off to school.

HOORAY!!!

wait, 10 days of people being out of school...

SWIM KIDS $10 OFF Coupon Code!!!

SwimKids

801.944.8811

...

Last week I woke up and thought,

"swim school. it's time to be thinking about swim school."

then i wiped someone's nose and loaded my dishwasher 

or pried two fighting children off of each other and forgot about it.

then again today while two rowdy kindergarteners were climbing over the baby 

into the back seat of my van yelling about easter eggs and tarantulas in the boys bathroom,

and one of them had a shaved head for hot summer heat on its way this week,

i thought

"swim school. i need to check out swim school."

are you thinking about swim school?

'cause i'm thinking about swim school.

ATTENTION! ATTENTION!

i have swim school figured out for you this year:)

FORGET THE REC CENTER!

reasons to forget the rec center:

1. sweaty

2. steamy

3. rowdy

4. crowded

5. and mostly you're just paying 

for you kid to splash on the 

steps with friends.

yep, i've been there.

i've done that.

i spent over $200 for Brennan to take lessons at our local REC CENTER three summers ago.

after 3 straight months, 4 days a week, and over $200,

he never learned a thing.

ok,

that's a lie,

he did in fact learn how to blow bubbles and splash the other kids in his over sized class.

for over $200.

{did i mention i spent over $200 for this?}

AND HE LEARNED NOTHING.

i sat in the humid confines of a noisy indoor REC CENTER pool,

lined with moms and strollers,

plastic white benches,

and the sounds of screaming children in over sized classes bouncing off of the indoor pool walls.

i'm breaking out into a cold sweat right now remembering it.

being the frugal mama that i am, 

i of course thought that the REC CENTER lessons were good enough.

WRONG.

REC CENTER lessons are a waste of time AND money!

AND

you have to wake up at the crack of dawn {or force your husbands to do so} 

to get the times and days you want.

as far as i'm concerned,

if one of my kids or the dog i don't have aren't the ones getting me up, 

then i have no business being awake when it is dark out.

especially not for rec center swimming lessons.

so here is your answer folks.

SwimKids

it's simple.

here

you 

go.

i've made a comparison for your viewing pleasure.

you're welcome in advance.

3 MONTHS of REC CENTER lessons 

FOUR DAYS A WEEK=

1. ZERO

2. ZILCH

3. NADA swimming skills

4. no floating by himself

5. no swimming by himself

HOWEVER...

AFTER 3 LESSONS with SwimKids last summer, 

only going ONCE A WEEK=

1. floating by himself

2. swimming toward his teacher by himself 

3. rolling onto his back by himself while swimming toward his teacher by himself

4. swimming half of the pool length by himself

5. rolling from back to tummy and tummy to back by himself

AND 

you get to sit in the great outdoors of the infamous "family yard" 

that you've all become so fond of hearing about over the years.

YOU HAVE TO SEE WHAT DAVE HAS DONE TO THE YARD THIS YEAR!

DOUBLED!

TRIPLED!

it's bigger.

LOTS bigger.

no humid confines of a rec center's stuffy indoor pool.

no masses of moms and strollers.

no screaming over sized classes.

instead you will be pampered with a gorgeous pavilion,

unlimited padded patio chairs in the shade or sunshine {whichever you fancy}.

lush horticulture and the sweet chirping sounds of birds that come to feed themselves 

out of variety of bird feeder houses that sit along the creek that runs through the yard.

and best of all...

private lessons 

with teachers who not only KNOW your child's name, 

but also know who their favorite super hero and disney princess are.

can't

be

beat.

SwimKids

GUYS!!!!!

today is your lucky day.

when you woke up this morning and you stubbed your toe, 

while pouring milk into a sippy cup,

onto the floor you just mopped {or not},

you didn't think it was that lucky.

BUT NOW

it's lucky.

L-U-C-K-Y.

lucky.

SwimKids 

{my favorite swimming school establishment} 

is offering an EXCLUSIVE COUPON CODE to my beloved favorites 

in other words: YOU.

readers, friends, and family.

see what i mean?!

L

U

C

K

Y

day.

here are the details:

$10 OFF YOUR TOTAL REGISTRATION.

{this is HUGE my friends. UNHEARD OF.}

enter the

COUPON CODE "EM10"

in the comments section of your registration request.

CLICK HERE 

to begin 

your registration.

You will receive a call back confirmation, at which point you will pay with a Visa or MasterCard.

Don't forget to sign the waiver:)

......

LESSONS BEGIN JUNE 9TH, 2014

{they are also flexible with your schedule and vacation plans!}

OFFER ONLY VALID AT MIDVALE LOCATION

PRIVATE LESSON SPOTS AVAILABLE M-F 8AM-1PM THROUGH AUGUST 8, 2014

PRIVATE LESSONS AGES 2-7.

PARENT TOT CLASS WEDNESDAYS AT 10:30AM 

FOR AGES 4 MONTHS-2 YEARS

{or form your own class time with a minimum of 3 people who want the same day and time.}

WATER KEPT AT 90 DEGREES!

{8 lesson minimum recommended for new beginners.}

{max learning to float by herself on her 2nd swimming lesson last year. 

she was confidently floating by herself by her 3rd lesson.}

...

SIGN UP TODAY!

Don't forget, you get an exclusive

$10 OFF YOUR TOTAL REGISTRATION!!!

enter the

COUPON CODE "EM10"

in the comments section of your registration form.

CLICK HERE 

to begin 

your registration.

anyone can use the code.

share the code.

LOVE THE CODE!

expires August 8th, 2014

you're welcome:)

and then all of a sudden they remembered there was a dress up bin.

the tale of a forgotten dress up bin...{a photo gallery}

the end.

an hour later...

the story of how our garage shelves 

were successfully delivered last thursday:

me: i'll be in the basement. 

don't let anyone in except for linsey.

brennan: mom, WE KNOOOOW. only linsey.

nobody else!

an hour later...

me: brennan, where did these boxes come from?

brennan: the guy in the truck.

me: how did they get in the garage.

brennan: i opened it for him.

me: brennan, "NO ONE BUT LINSEY." i said "NO ONE BUT LINSEY."

brennan: yeah but i've seen that truck in our neighborhood a millions of 70 times! we know him. {insert hand gestures here} 

i opened the garage, he left them, and i closed the garage. 

it was fiiiiine.

me: didn't your mother tell you 

NOT to answer the door for strangers?

brennan: the brown trucked man is NOT a stranger.

...

GOOD GRIEF.

the UPS man must have had himself a good laugh 

as the 6 year old opened and closed the garage door for him so he could get on his way.

oh the mind of a 6 yr old.

crap.

i'll never admit it to him,

but i was secretly so glad he let that UPS man in,

so he could haul everything right into the garage all neat and tidy for me,

instead of leaving it on my front porch or not delivering it at all.

so handy really.

god bless that the UPS man didn't steal or harm anything in my house.

especially not my babes.

shudder.

we're gonna need to work some more on "NO ONE BUT LINSEY."

the time i puked when grandpa joe pulled my snaggle tooth out with pliers.

brennan at the dentist:

"i have lots of teeth.

can you see my teeth?

my friend christian just lost his tooth.

and maddie's tooth is loose.

she sits next to me in centers.

am i close to loosing a tooth?

i really want to loose a tooth.

which one is the looseth?

have you seen frozen?

blue is my favorite color."

max at the dentist:

crying

more crying

gagging on her spit from sobbing

dry heaving while they clean her teeth

making the dental hygienist and the dentist believe that she might actually puke on them if they make her lay back on their dentist chair for one more minute

more crying

more sobbing

sobbing so hard she can't talk

and almost barfed in my lap

because of how hard she was crying.

...

i am happy to report that all gibson's are cavity free:)

go us.

then i spent the rest of the day telling my kids the story 

about the time my grandpa joe pulled my snaggle tooth out with pliers 

in his dentist office in downtown ottumwa, iowa,

with the rubber animals perched in the windowsills.

because i had two teeth hanging there at once when one came in behind the other,

and when your grandpa's a dentist and you visit him in the summer you get extra perks like getting your teeth cleaned and having your snaggle tooth pulled for free.

except the minute he yanked that snaggle tooth out i puked.

like i barfed right into the little dentist sink that was so conveniently sitting right beside me.

because it hurt.

and all of a sudden there was my tooth in a pair of pliers my grandpa was holding.

my bloody tooth.

and i've never been good with blood.

i mostly blame the blood.

and grandpa and i both just sat there staring at each other for a few seconds.

because i'm pretty sure it surprised both grandpa joe and me.

and then i remember i took my tooth home in my pocket.

and woke up with a 2 silver dollars under my pillow the next morning.

memories:)

PB Cookie PB Cup S'MORE COOKIE Recipe {yep, ya heard me}

PB Cookie PB Cup S'MORE 

Cookie

{yep, ya heard me}

...

ingredients:

1/2 c butter

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c peanut butter 

{i like the creamy peanut butter}

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 c flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

24 reese's pb mini cups

{unwrap while cookies are baking}

12 marshmallows

directions:

1. cream the butter, sugars, pb, and egg together.

2. add dry ingredients until mixed well.

3. roll into balls, smoosh down flat, use knife to make tops look like basketballs on top. 

{i prefer this method over the traditional fork smoosh, 

even though my way takes longer, your choice.}

4. bake 375* for about 10 min.

5. let cool for about 5 minutes after baking,

and then flip cookies over upsidedown.

6. place two pb cups on one cookie {picture below only shows 1pb cup, but the second time i made them i used TWO and it was perfect}, 

and one marshmallow on the other cookie.

do this to all cookies.

7. broil low 2-3 minutes until pb cups are melting and mashmallow is toasted. 

8. take them out, smoosh the two sides together 

{sometimes the pb cups slip off of the sides, just smoosh them back into place},

9. serve hot and melty:)

{above: use TWO pb cups per cookie instead of 1 shown in pics}

milk,

you're gonna need lots of milk.

...

'cause your friday just got REALLY exciting:)

xoxo

E

i didn't know they were going to be pink:)

look what my peach tree is doing!

"if anyone has a black tie, i'm gonna be wearing one." -brennan

conference weekend:

mission reunion

garage shelves

seed starting

soccer game

birthday party

floor mopping {goodbye leprechaun footprints}

daily napping {we're gonna need to watch conf again}

rain

snow

wind

sun

tie and dress arts and crafts

stool slipping {man down, chase}

raspberry butter

honey

scones

hot chocolate

more scones

more raspberry butter

out of honey, send reinforcements.

haircuts.

THE END.

{above: sean and "presidente" aka elder alonso}

{and then the stool slipped out from underneath him.}

{he came right back for more.}

"If anyone has a black tie, I'm gonna be wearing one!" -brennan

{of course i can't get him to ever wear a tie in real life.}

and then sometimes you can actually tell that they really love each other.