Naptime well spent....

I bought this big collage frame from Wal-Mart a couple of years ago and had a great time picking out pictures to put in it! Since it's been a few years and we now have millions of pictures of baby Robby I decided it was time to update it!

I LOVE projects like this!!!! Love them! Wish I could do them everyday. I had lots of fun picking out some of our best pictures, editing them in Picasa (making them all black & white), uploading them to Costco, picking them up, and then spending 2 hours during Robby's naptime today putting it all together!

Here's the final result, minus the frame (I figured there'd be a glare if it was inside the plasticy frame but it's just a thin black border):

Electricity....

So the last two months of living in our new place our electricity bill has doubled... at least! We now have an electric stove instead of gas which I'm sure is a factor but wow!!!! I just was not expecting it to be so high.

On our electric company's website, Rocky Mountain Power, they give this little illustration to show the cost to operate some typical household items....


Since getting last month's bill I've been way more conscious of how much electricity I'm using.... turning all the lights off... trying to remember to turn the dvd player off! (Rob gives me a hard time cause I ALWAYS leave it on!)

Anyways, this has just been on my mind and I liked this little illustration - maybe we need to air dry our clothes.... so.... THERE YOU GO!

Kellie Pickler Concert!

Last night we went to a Kellie Pickler concert! Malea was kind enough to pass on tickets she got from work! She knew we've liked her ever since American Idol and saw her when she went on tour with Rascal Flatts. We took Andrew & Becca with us and together we celebrated their 9 year wedding anniversary, the day Rob left on his mission 7 years ago, and Pioneer Day! Happy July 24th!!

First I have to mention that we ate at Pei Wei off 106 south and it was so yummy! It's basically PF Changs but cheaper, kind of cafeteria style... and to be honest, I like their version of Mongolian Beef even more!! They even have the same delicious lettuce wraps! Now we're just wondering if the 25 minute drive is worth the price difference.... I just need another excuse to go to Sandy. Or there's also one in Sugarhouse near Taba!

Back to the concert...

It was such a blast! We had great seats, enjoyed the opening acts - the Star of the West competition and a guy named Charley Jenkins. Charley Jenkins was a really fun performer - at one point he was running around the whole place singing Elvis songs and giving high fives and we cheered and he came and held my hand for a sec! Rob's response was, "wait till Kellie comes out!" Ha ha ha.... Then he asked for people to come down to dance in the front and Becca really wanted to go and Andrew was not budging so I sent Rob to dance with his sister. It was so funny! See:

Kellie was so fun! She's just so sweet and ditzy and cute! Lots of angry songs about ex boyfriends but a couple songs that brought tears to your eyes too! At one point I was cheering really loud and she waved right at me! Becca caught a picture right after that moment that I might have to post later!

This was the view from our seats w/no zooming in - we were really close!

And it looked like there was a special musical guest, Jeremy Dodge! Does this guy not look so much like him? I couldn't get over it! Couldn't get a great pic of him but hopefully you can tell!

And a not great picture of Kellie... but she was standing right in front of me basically!

After the concert it looked like people were waiting outside for fireworks, camping chairs and all! We stopped the car and waited... and watched... a couple of sparklers going off 20 miles away was pretty much all we saw! Hence the pitch black background in the picture!

It was a super fun date night! Since A&B have moved here we've done lots of hanging out and watching movies at home but it was great to get out and have that "freedom" of being without any kids! Wahoo! Thanks, Malea, for thinking of us and giving us the tickets!!!!!

Random Robby-ness

I was trying to get some things done around the house and to distract/entertain Robby I gave him this little shopping bag - I could never have imagined it would make for such a good time for him! He carried it around and went around filling it with books, then taking them out... filling it with balls... taking them out.... he was very focused and it was so cute!

this video is pretty much sideways and not awesome but it's SHORT and kind of captured the moment!

Robby loves to hide behind our clothes in the closet whenever I'm in there getting dressed or putting clothes away. He's great at peek a boo!

Robby hates wearing bibs! He'll wear them for about 3/4 of the way through his "meal" before he takes it off. I know it's partly my fault since I didn't consistently use them much when I was the one feeding him and not making a huge mess in the process... now that he wants to feed himself they seem more... necessary? Here's how it goes....

...notice the stern no and the camera goes off as soon as he starts emptying the contents of his bowl....

Love this face...

Rock the Reception

Has anyone watched this show, Rock the Reception? It's new on TLC.

So one of my FAVORITE shows is So You Think You Can Dance - I haven't blogged about it really cause I feel like everyone else does but my favorite choreographers on the show are Tabitha and Napoleon! They are a married couple and they are just too cute and their routines are the best!

And on Rock the Reception they help choreograph "first dance" routines for engaged couples to perform at their wedding reception. I think they might rotate the choreographers but last week it was Tabitha & Napoleon....

The couple they did a routine for last week was so cute! Let me recap their story: they dated for six months and then the guy went off to Iraq for a year and became closer through that experience and then he comes home, they dated for a while longer and then she got diagnosed with breast cancer! They wanted to do a crazy fun dance for their reception to shock their guests and get everyone's minds off of her condition because they felt like people would just be focusing on that and it would be kind of a sad day.... and their dance was to Can't Touch This and it was amazing! So hilarious! Just a great story, great show!

Stay Put bowls

I was about to buy this suction put bowl thing from Ikea but it came in a pack with one bowl, bib, and cup. Since I didn't really want the bib and cup and what I wanted was several bowls I didn't get it.

At Wal-Mart the other day I spotted this pack of Munchkin Stay Put Suction Bowls and they are great! The suction part is permanently attached to the bowl and they even come with lids.

The goal is for Robby to learn how to self feed and while the bowls aren't magic they are helping make less of a mess in the process!

P.S. He's eating cottage cheese which he loves! Not much of it made it from the bowl, on the spoon, in the mouth, but that's ok! Robby did get curious and kept trying to pull the bowl off and eventually he could do it but it was way better than a non stay put bowl!

Ikea Trip

I mentioned that Saturday we spent all day running errands - we spent 3 hours at IKEA. We went with Andrew and Becca and had a lot of fun. The big boys played in the play area for an hour while we strolled through the showroom and then we ate lunch and then shopped some more!

Annie & Quattro were playing so cute together in their carts, listening to Rob's phone (playing O.A.R. of course)....

Towards the end of the trip the Pincock kids were kind of falling apart so Andrew had to take control of his kids while Becca & I ran as fast as we could through the rest of the store... there's so much to look at! And so many things you see and think, "hmm... I want that!"

Then going on "rides" while we picked out our piececs kept the kids entertained a few more minutes. Quattro HAD to be holding onto both sides of the cart even though his little arms barely spread that far. It was pretty cute.

Summer fun

We've been trying to do some different activities to enjoy the summer! These long days where the dads are at work till late it helps to kind of break up the day with an outing. Last week Cindy, Liv, and I went to the Scera Pool. It was fun but a little stressful.... the shallow area just kind of meshes in with the deeper part so our little toddlers were just walking and walking farther into the deep end... and there were TONS of other kids, bigger kids, bumpin us around... Robby's favorite part was the water spraying up out of the ground.

After navigating the pool we hit the sno cone place right next to the pool which was awesome! I had something that was strawberry & vanilla mix with ice cream at the bottom.... YUM!

It was a fun day but I think going to our own pool is a 1000 times easier! And free!

Lots of random updates....

The days have just been flying by lately! Whew!

Friday Robby had his 15 month apt (couple weeks late, whatever). He's growing up so fast and he feels so heavy lately! For record purposes here are his "stats"- and you can look at his one year post here:

12 month apt....
weight: 21 lbs 4 oz - 25th %
length: 30 in - 60th %
head: 46.5 - 50th %

15 month apt....
weight: 25 lbs 6 oz - 60th %
length: 32 in - 75th %
head: 47 cm - 50th %

So yes, he is considerably heavier! I love his little chunky torso and thick legs! He's so squishable and kissable! I love it!

Robby had a fever all day Friday and then had a weird crying fit in the middle of the night Saturday - it was scary, he cried for about an hour and would NOT calm down! I was about ready to go to the emergency room but then he settled down and did ok till morning.

Saturday we spent the entire day running errands - literally from 10 am - 3 pm - and we now have one more bookshelf, a desk for my sewing machine, and we have ORDERED our entertainment center from All the Great Rooms. Ok. We are making SOME progress in that department. They said three weeks.... we shall see....

I joined Gold's Gym a few weeks ago and have been trying to get Robby used to the daycare there so I can actually use my membership. The first two times he was miserable and they had to come get me and I didn't really work out much. Today we went (Liv is such a champ, coming to the Gold's closer to me with her 2 kids so Robby will be more comfortable in daycare) and he did much better! I'll go almost every day this week and hopefully he'll realize mom really does come back! I think he has lots of fun and would like it once he figures that out. But hello! I'm working out! This is a big accomplishment for me!

In other news... I've been trying to make an effort to cook some more interesting meals and in the last week I've made lasagna and spaghetti squash. I'm pretty proud of myself! Here's the recipes....

Spaghetti Squash

1 squash
1 onion
2 tomatoes
salt & pepper
mozzarella & parmesan cheese
pam or butter spray
Cut & remove seeds from squash. Cut tomatoes and onions in small pieces. Place them in squash (pack 'em in!) and then salt & pepper. Cover in cheese. Spray w/pam or butter (I didn't do this mainly because I didn't read that part of the recipe but it tasted fine with out it). Cook in oven covered at 350 for at least an hour - we did an hour and a half! Just start scraping the edges and see if it's tender enough for you. Wish I had a picture of the finished product but I forgot!!! But it was really yummy! I got this recipe from Noelle Hendrix from my old ward.

Easy Lasagne - you don't have to boil the noodles and it turned out great!

This one comes from the Kentlands Ward cookbok which is amazing! Too bad it's not for sale.

Ok and one last thing that's worth mentioning is Spinach Smoothies!

When we stayed at cousin Kristin's for... forever?... she would make spinach smoothies daily and we loved them! Then Tutus and Turtles posted a recipe for one as well. Liv and I have really taken to these puppies!

There's lots of variations but this is how I do mine:

First blend:

1 C. orange juice

2 C. fresh spinach (not the frozen kind)

1 C. fresh kale (cut out the thick center stem) or subsitute extra spinach - sometimes I don't use kale if I don't have any

Blend until smooth and green

Add:
1 banana

1/4 C. frozen raspberries

1/2 C. frozen strawberries
couple spoonfuls of vanilla yogurt

YUM! I love them and so does baby Robby! And while I know they have lots of sugar in them from all the fruit they still feel healthy and at least we're getting spinach somehow! :)

This is a long random post that I probably should've split into about six separate ones but oh well. I'll try to keep more on top of things!

All Sides

O.A.R.'s new album All Sides is now in stores. The official release was yesterday Tuesday July 15th, 2008. You can now go to the store and pick it up for yourselves or get it on iTunes where it was the number 3 Top Album today. Get your copy today :) Or you can get your limited edition copy here--actually it looks like they may be sold out of them. There were only 1000 made. And on my way home from work yesterday I heard Shattered on the radio for the first time on My 99.5!!

It's the beginning of a revolution!!

Trip down memory lane........

Sorry but I was going through some old pictures and thought it'd be fun to scan these and funny for you all to see some really old pictures of us!

For those who don't know Rob and I met a long, long time ago! We were in 6th grade and just 12 years old. Oh, that fateful night at the roller skating rink where our older siblings helped me get to "couple skate" with him and he didn't say a single word to me. He looked so "cool" in his red bandanna and black roller blades. Believe it or not it was love at first sight for me. You might not think that is possible for kids who look as ridiculous together as these:
Oh boy!!!! Can we talk about my Sailor Moon shirt and huge baggy pants? So, I don't know the date we met at the Stake rollerskating activity but this is shortly after (in my skewed memory) at Rob's sister, Lizzie's, surprise 16th birthday party! My first time dancing with Rob. We danced to 3 songs that night - I Will Remember You by Sarah McLaughlin, You're My Inspiration by Chicago, and No Woman No Cry by Bob Marley.

After that I started tagging along with my older brother Andrew while he "courted" Rob's older sister, Becca. This meant I was able to go to lots and lots of Rob's football games from 7th - 9th grade! I went to as many as I could. I even went to some Football awards night thing with him and his family which now seems a little funny but I'm glad I got to tag along! And I know you like my leather flower choker here, really cute, huh?

And then all the times we made our parents drive us back and forth between Potomac and Kensington (a 20 - 30 minute drive) so we could hang out! Here's us at John Sabin's house. Rob and the boys were all playing basketball so he was all sweaty but that didn't stop me from wanting to sit next to him! Gotta love the giant Pooh Bear in the middle. One of my first gifts ever from Rob was a Pooh Bear holding felt roses. I slept with it every night for years. Just while we're on the embarrassing admissions in my life! :)

This is when we got a teeny bit older - more like the summer after 8th grade I think. I'd just come back from a Trunnell reunion in Sandpoint, Idaho and thought I looked so good with my tan and my colorful tank top and Army jacket! This was the first night seeing him after weeks and weeks! Note the Nike shirt Rob has on - he was obsessed with Nike....

One reason I married Rob is simply because I have always have been in love with him and really believe I would be for the rest of my life and that'd just be awkward to be married to someone else and still be weak in the knees in love with HIM. This is getting cheesy. It's just really funny to me to think that this strong bond was formed at such a young age when we both looked totally awkward and were so immature. I look at my younger brother in laws and think about the way Rob and I were and can not imagine them having feelings for someone like that. It just seems impossible!

Sorry if this was totally boring but at least you probably had a good laugh, huh??

Poll Results July 12, 2008

PC or MAC?

PC: 10
MAC: 6





Microsoft still (slightly) rules the world. I've been curious about trying a mac but that's a big step to take on a computer. If I don't like it or if it doesn't fit my style your kinda stuck with an expensive piece of technology that you still have to use. Maybe some day I'll take the plunge, but for now I'm sticking with what I'm used to.

New look!

Getting my hair done is such a treat! Today it was even more of a treat because my cousin, Stacy, did it and we had a great time chatting!

I'd been wanting a change but didn't want to cut my hair off so I decided I wanted to try BANGS! I was thinking something like this:

I didn't get a before shot today but here's one from my weekend in Vegas a few weeks ago:


And look how great Stacy made me look:

She also touched up my highlights and did some lowlights! The color is perfect and the bangs are so fun - I think I look totally different which will take a little getting used to but I like it so far! :)

Stacy started her own little blog about her hair dos - check it out!

Farm Country

Liv & I took our kiddos to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point yesterday morning which was a lot of fun and very inexpensive! It was $3.50/adult and the kids were free. Our tickets included a pony ride too for the kids!


We did the pony ride first in case the kids melted later on which I think was wise... Robby thought it was pretty awesome!


These kids were so cute running around - or Robby, running away - so excited to see all the animals!


Syd was much braver with feeding the animals and although Robby was dying to he just was a little too scared. He did enjoy trying to poke them in the nose or touch their soft skin...