Adventures in IKEA

Alright...so has anyone seen the Movie "Adventures in Babysitting?" That was one of my favorite movies growing up! Anyway, we spent Wednesday evening trying our darnedest to get kicked out of IKEA...SERIOUSLY. Ok - you caught me - it wasn't that we had that intention from the beginning to be officially kicked out...but as we progressed through the store, it definitely could have happened.

So we started off the tour by checking out the weirdest seat thingy. Becky...who will be in many more pictures to come...modeled the various ways to sit on it...this is my favorite one.

We then moved further into the maze and came across an ENTIRE bin of corpses. They were looking really bored and "lifeless" so we thought we would bring a little sunshine into their day!

We were thinking...."It's fun to stay at the YMCA." Now, are you thinking that too??

(We were in need of a model for our models...so that is where Jennie comes in.)

Now Chris got in with the action. You must know that this poor fellow was surrounded by some major estrogen! Me, my mom, Grandmother, sister Jennie & friend Becky...not to mention Victoria & Christianna! He certainly was a trooper. So when we told him to "Hey, climb into that cabinet so we can take a picture." He said..."Ok...just don't lock me in." (He knows us way too well....so we didn't lock him in. Come on - he could have us arrested for some lame "assaulting a cop" charge or something.)

(From top: 1. Removing all the shelves for maximum leg room. 2. "Ok..I am going in..." 3. "Ummm...you are not locking me in...right? Because I drank all this soda & may have to use the restroom sometime soon." 4. Oh yeah - he is really in there!)

(The little wifey to the rescue. I think he was seriously afraid of us ditching him.)

Oh! Maybe I should tell you that the girls were technically at the cool kid play area so they did not see all of our insane behavior. Good thing too - they would have been in SOOOOO much trouble had they done it! j/k (I actually put them both in this toolbox thing in Sam's once so they could jump out at Chris when he came around the corner. He actually found it funny as well as the other passers-by.)

Back to business:

FYI: The beds are really comfy.

Later on, I was checking out some random bag holder and all of a sudden, this mitt appeared at my face. It was trying to mack out with me! But I had to explain that I was already in a serious relationship.

I guess I wasn't too sensitive to it's evil advances...

He just went elsewhere. Becky's hubby was way back in Ohio...so she was a little lonely.

She had to take evasive measures to escape it's evil clutches.

Here are Chris & Becky teetering away! Word of advice: Make sure this toy is on a non slick surface...the little sucker was all over the place!

Does this need an introduction?

Maybe a warning: "Do not buy this toy. Because this could happen to your child!" Could you imagine? Decapitation by dangly toy thingy!!

We laughed so hard throughout the store that we cried! Not to mention that our stomachs and faces were so very sore from all the hysterical laughing. I bet, if you could view the security tapes, you would be laughing too! Who knows, it may end up on some video show and someone else will be winning $10,000 for submitting evidence of our "peculiar" ways.

In case you were wondering...no people were arrested or escorted from the premises and no little stuffed rats were harmed during the making of this post. (Too bad we can't say that about the crocodile, huh?)

Strawberry Jelly

Today I lost my canning virginity. I mean, I had "helped" my mom when she canned. ("Helped" being a very loose word.) So I never did it on my own.

I had a fridge of strawberries and I decided to not let them go to waste, plus - we are dangerously low on strawberry jelly right now. With how often we make strawberry & peanut butter sandwiches in this house, that is dangerously close to a nuclear meltdown!

Christianna started out helping me and then started taking pictures again...sorry, no dog nose close-ups this time!

My flexible silicon funnels really came in handy! I hardly made a mess. THAT is truly a remarkable thing for me. AND the small mess I did make is actually already cleaned up & all the dishes have been washed! YAY ME!

Yummy....

Now we just have to wait until it cools completely for a day to try out my latest experiment! Maybe I will really get industrious and make some fresh baked bread to slather it on??

Hear ye, hear ye....

Christianna has finally figured out how to ride her bike ALL BY HERSELF!!!

She has had the help of neighbors...thank you Kathy & Heather!! Really, it has taken a village to get Christianna to ride her bike. She has been able to balance for a while, but she kept doubting that she could ride by herself.

So, officially,she mastered it yesterday! Well, she is still working out some kinks & the way she balances sometimes is pretty funny...but...

Three cheers for Christianna;

HIP HIP HOORAY, HIP HIP HOORAY, HIP HIP HOORAY!!

Bring on the family bike rides once again...this time without the loud annoying sound of those training wheels!

Pulling Teeth 101

First, start out with a VERY loose tooth....preferabley one that can practically be pushed horizontal but is hanging on by a little skin. Then take a nice long piece of dental floss in both your hands.

Then, take the floss and wrap it around said loose tooth. Tie it once around the tooth. You do not want to knot it here...you need to be able to pull it through, literally cutting it out of their mouth.

Next, since you will mostly have a freaked out kid who is deathly afraid of pain, reassure them. Tell them that it is ok, you will not REALLY hurt them TOO BADLY...

Oh, and tell them "Don't cry." That always works. (Yeah right!)

Encourage the child to be independent. "Go on...pull it yourself!" But do not get too discouraged when they can't bring themself to do it and proceed to cry...I mean water works here, so have a poncho on hand.

No matter what: DO NOT GET UPSET WITH THE CHILD. It will cause an emotional breakdown and all the work you have done will be wasted. Let them walk away, with the floss hanging from their face. After they have been comforted by Mom, sneak up to them...stealthily, like a cat....and YANK it out of their face.

The child may sputter a little, in shock of course...but after they spit that little sucker out into their hand...they will be so proud of their bravery!

It's just WEIRD!

Seriously!

On our way home from school Christianna spotted this on a neighbors roof and asked..."What is that?" I told her that it looked like little pet iguana - she then asked, "Is it real?" To tell you the truth...I wasn't exactly sure. It just looked funny to me. Lizards are not a common item found out and about in Salt Lake City! We went to the house and came back with the camera. You tell me, does it look real to you??

(Upon further examination of the close up pics - it really looks like a toy alligator. We will know when we pick up Victoria from school at 3 - if it is still there or not.)

The last Spring Fling

Apparently every year, the Young Women in our ward have a Spring Fling fundraiser for summer girls' camp. This one marked the very last one. We had a fabulous time, a night with the stars...or so it was supposed to be. We had fun stand-ups and this was Christianna's favorite! This is why she dressed up like a witch.There were a few different EVENTS: a cake auction. There were so many cakes! This one was the one I made. A very yummy rum cake with fresh strawberries & homemade whipped topping. It was kinda funny - someone said to one of the Young Women - "Who brings a rum cake to a Mormon gathering?" Are you kidding me? Have you ever TRIED my rum cake - it is super fantastic! Besides, it wasn't like I was swigging it back as I was baking. I used extract. Geez!

These were 2 other homemade cakes that were simply awesome:

The TANK

The Mayan Village

The other highlight of the evening was our Bishop saying "Goodbye" to his mustache. There was a donation jar and if it reached $50, he would shave it off. Turns out, he has had a mustache since 1980! None of their kids have seen him without one!
Of course, that jar got 50 in it.

So long, farewell!

We had such a fun evening. Then, as we got home...Christianna reminded me that she had a talk in Primary the next morning & I remembered that I still hadn't finalized the lesson I had to do in Young Women's! Well, I should have prepared it then...but I came home and CRASHED!! So is another day in the life of Nicole Fairall.

Day 2 - no school

Today had a nice start. I woke up around 7:00 am to the sound of Minnie hacking - AGAIN! Too bad too - the girls were at a sleepover last night! I figured as much would happen anyway...so I wasn't too disappointed.

The girls returned a little after 9 am. They have been after me to dye the eggs in the fridge. SO WHAT - I boiled them like...Friday & we never got to the coloring! Sue me! Anyway, I figured we might as well get them done...since it is Tuesday. I found a neat tie-dying method online so we gave it a try. It was amazingly easy and fast! We are going to do it again next year - a little earlier of course.

In case you are wanting to know how we did them here is the link:
http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=11413

(You know, if you also have hardboiled eggs waiting in your fridge to color - or you could just save it for next year.)

It is now raining and we have nothing really left on our agenda today. Well, unless you count the need to get laundry done. So we are washing bedsheets, clothes, towels and anything else that I can throw into the machine.

I am also taking the opportunity to catch my blog up from the weekend, the girls are watching TV and Minnie is curled up by my feet while I sit at the computer.

We may head up to the Museum of Natural History tomorrow. That should be fun!

Day 1 - no school...

...when there normally is!

So, what to do with a gorgeous day? We started it a little later than usual - which is always nice. After breakfast, the girls headed out to play and I decided to work a little on the garden. I packed the girls up into the car and we headed to the hardware store. We searched the aisles for fencing and after a worker showed us that we had passed it - actually it was on the very opposite of the store that we were currently standing...we got the needed supplies and headed back. I started to work. I now have a lovely 2 foot high wire fence surrounding our garden. I didn't want to even try to see if Minnie would stay away from our veggies this year. I figured I would spare myself the "most likely to happen" aggravation.

I then decided that we needed to do something. We got ready and headed up to the Red Butte Gardens. I was picture taking like crazy! SO I will share a few of them...ok...more than a few.