EARTH DAY 2010!

So Earth Day was last week. The kids all learn about it in school every year, they get pumped up about it, want to rush home and recycle, etc. This year was no different. Emma's class even made an Earth Day shirt to wear to school that day.When I opened the door after school to greet Emma she had a certain kind of look about her face where you just know something is bothering her. "Emma, what's the matter?" "I don't want to talk about it," she says very hastily. "Em, just tell me what's wrong." Here is where the flood gates open and the tears just come pouring out of her eyes and trying to control her uncontrollable voice she says, "no adults I know care about earth day. We are all going to wake up one day and the whole earth is going to covered in a big brown cloud or we will all be dead!" (ok so a laughed out loud just a bit - cause let's admit - a little drama here) "Emma, that's not true, adults care, we aren't going to die and we won't wake up to a big brown clouds covering us."

She takes off to her room to change for dance. She came out a little bit more calm and asked for a snack, I offered her a banana but she needed to know if they were organic! Well, no they weren't because that cost more money but being the good mom that I am, "yes, of course they are organic!" That cheered her up and made her happier.

Since then she has been quick to point out when we waste water, when we ask her to take garbage out to the trash can she makes sure to double check with us that nothing in there can be recycled and I make sure to point out anything in my house that says organic on it. I look forward to next year what Earth Day will bring us.

(My new favorite word that Elias says is "Gatorater" for Gatorade. Man I could eat that boy up!)

"LISTEN TO THE COUNSEL OF YOUR WIFE!"

This is my new favorite saying. One time a Bishop came up to Jared thanking him for doing something and Jared explained how it was actually his wife who made him do it and then the Bishop said, "its always good to listen to the counsel of your wife!"

Recently Jared and I have been joking about that saying back and forth, but then one day we were getting ready to play games with the older 2 kids until it was time to get ready for church and we read and email reminding us of a sad day in our family history. I looked at Jared and basically said, "this is so sad, we have no choice, you must take Em and Eli and go visit them and take some of the cookies I just made." Then our conversation went like this:
"No, I am to tired right now, let's go after church."
"no, we are busy after church doing something"
"ok, then we can go tomorrow night for FHE"
"no, we are going to dinner tomorrow night...it really needs to be today, it won't mean anything if you go another day."
"please, I just need a little nap..."
"Jared, LISTEN TO THE COUNSEL OF YOUR WIFE, you need to go now please."
"Fine."

I should have used that phrase at the beginning of our conversation. That saying really is the final say in everything. They are very magical words when used at the right time. You must be careful when using this phrase, you can not waste it's goodness when asking for the dishes to be washed, your hair to be brushed or your back to be scratched. It must be used in a time of up-most importance, when you can tell that your husband really isn't going to budge and you are right and he is wrong :)

AND THE WINNER IS....

Me, I mean Jared, oh wait I mean Brian.

Jared sent me an email from work the other day saying:

SUNSermania!

(his company) has 100 tickets to fill up all four suites above Section 117/118 at the Suns first play­off game April 17-19^th (schedule to be announced). Each participant will receive one suite game ticket, custom Suns shirt, foam finger, and enough food and drink to kill your ability to dunk. Plans are to start off the evening early at 5 p.m. down court side while the players warm up, while we take pictures with the Suns Dancers and Gorilla. Prepare your game face for an Intel shout-out on the JumboTron during the game!

Here’s how to enter:

Register before April 12^th (meaning by Sunday night) no exceptions. You are solely responsible for the data accuracy of your entry.

To increase your odds of selection, include a <50>

Upload supporting photo, news article or blog post proving your fanatical SUNS pride!

We are looking for cool creativity in your entries. Show us your super awesomeness. Think big! Be bold!

So we talked about him entering and he said, "no point, I never win anything anyways" and I let him know, I would do the work and get him the ticket.

It said you could show them a blog post, so I took it a step further and created a blog...see here http://jaredfantaticalsunsprideblog.blogspot.com. I have to say, I had quite a bit of fun with it and giggled the whole time I was doing it. So he entered it, waited until Monday and I had him check a couple of times and he never received an email so he thought once again, he lost.

As soon as he got to work on Tuesday morning there was an email congratulating him on his big win. He had won the ticket, and not only had he won the ticket but he made the top 10...top 10 out of several hundred entries, now he even got a free parking pass to go with his ticket. The closer it got to the weekend, the more excited he became. He kept his fingers crossed that the game would either be Saturday or Monday...just not on Sunday.

Well, as Jared's luck would have it, the game ended up being on Sunday. He struggled a bit as to what to do but in the end he decided to give the ticket to his friend and co-worker (if you passed on your ticket it needed to go to a co-worker) Brian. He was happy to give it to him and Brian was thrilled to accept.

I was impressed that Jared decided not to go on Sunday but bummed out my winnings were for nothing. At least he got to go to his brother's house to watch the game.

Here are 2 pictures from his friend Brian...

PIGGY-BACK TIME!

Today when Eli left for preschool the twins decided to make a mess of the movies and jam them into the dvd player. After we got that all cleaned up and a firm scolding from their mother they found something else to do that was a lot more pleasing to her...piggy back rides!

USERY PASS HIKE!

In between everyone's dental appointments on Monday we took the kiddos on a hike, we have never taken the kiddos hiking, I always assumed they were to young but we actually had a great time.When Emma grows up she says she wants to be a dance teacher and a photographer so she took around 70 pictures during the hike for us. Here are some highlights:Eli loved seeing all the "Cactin" (cactus) and all the "Cauks" (hawks) flying in the sky. He even was able to chase a few lizards.Then Emma would have us stop every few minutes and pose for more photos (I believe it took us 45 minutes to walk 0.9 miles)Finally when we finished the twin friendly version of a hike, Emma begged us to go on a tougher one so Jared took the twins to play at a park and I took Emma and Eli on a real hike. I was pretty impressed with Eli. It required you to walk single file, sometimes he would have to use his hands to help him up and he led the way the whole time telling us how he was a big boy and could do it by himself.Half way up they spotted their dad down below and gave him a friendly wave.They were quite impressed how high they had hiked and Emma was so proud of herself for going on a real hike up a mountain she said. When we were all done they flexed their muscles to show how strong they were to finish :)

DISNEY ON ICE!

The Parry girls got 6 free tickets in a suite to watch Disney on Ice and since their twins were free - 2 hours before the show started they gave us a call and luckily it was a random Saturday we had nothing going on so Emma and I tagged along for the fun!

EASTER TIMES 4!

We had 4 Easter egg hunts this year. The twins got better and better with each one. By the time we had the last one they finally waited until very the end to eat their candy instead of just grabbing one egg and plopping down and piggy out. A few quick highlights: The first hunt was with the Jensens.After they found all the eggs they went on a treasure hunt and then they had a silly string war
Then we had a water balloon fightAs soon as the fight started, chicken Tyler booked it for the doorthen he just held on to the handle for dear life until the fight was over.
On the way home Eli kept cracking up and remembering how much fun he had and how he got dad with the "funny string".

We dyed Easter Eggs with the Parrys.
Then we had a picnic with our ward and an Easter Egg hunt there too.

Then it was on to the traditional Rodgers Easter Egg Hunt. Tyler wouldn't do it without help from daddy.Tyson grabbed his basket and was off.Eli ran around as fast as he could getting as many as possible.Emma being a dork on purpose for the camera.As long as the twins would pay attention to Grandma Joyce she would keep giving them eggs!

Easter morning the kiddos woke up and this time the Easter Bunny or "Mr. Rabbit" as Elias calls him, left the baskets in our bedroom so we would know when the kiddos woke up - we didn't want to miss out. They opened up their baskets and then we had homemade waffles, homemade whipped cream and strawberries on top - Em's favorite. Then they did the final Easter Egg hunt outside.

Eli was so nice and shared his new Big Wheel with his brothers all day long.

After Conference was over we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Rodgers house and ate Easter dinner over there with everyone including Grandma Mason, Grandma Joyce and Grandma Jensen. (Next Sunday I will try and post a pic of the new Easter Sunday clothes).

2nd ROUND OF APPLES TO ZEBRAS!

Here we go, our second and last round of Apples to Zebras! Elias and Allie go together and love it. Hopefully this time the teachers can say his name right :)