Bee's Game

In the summer (2017) West's work received tickets for a suite at the Bee's game. 

Generally West and I are sport's supporters when we can sit in a suite and, you know, it's all about the food.

Though really, I don't mind watching a sports game live, here and there, if it's one I care to follow. 

Like baseball or basketball.

But definitely not football.

We headed down to the concourse for some ice cream.

Turns out the ice cream dude thought I was cuter than West.

He got jipped.

Who's Line is it Anyway?

The Man, La Frontera, rainbow, sunset, and watching Brad Sheffield and Collin Mochrie from Whose Line is it Anyway.

Perfect date night.

Time with The Man

My view when I'm curled up in the office reading...

It's not too shabby of a view, even if I do say so myself.

And that one time The Man and I went to a movie and ended up with the entire theater to ourselves.  That's not something we're going to complain about.

Ultimately, I love the endless amounts of things that we take the time to go and do together. 

The Man Takes On The Enduro Challenge

A few months ago The Man and went to an enduro challenge in Herriman City.  It wasn't something we'd ever seen before, but I had found the event on Facebook and it seemed to be up The Man's alley, so we went and checked it out on a date night.

Turns out it was very up The Man's alley.

So much so, that he started searching to find the next one, and signed himself up to be in it.

I just need to say that I was so excited to be in the stands cheering my man on.  I was so full of pride and love for him and had nervous energy eeking out.


And he nailed it.  He took home the 1st prize, which we found out right before the race contained cash money.  That made it that much better for The Man to want to play.

Waiting for The Man's turn to ride.

Cas joined us after our "date night" dinner and helped me cheer him on.  Mike was there as well, and so were some of West's riding buddies.  It was incredibly awesome to see people there cheering him on.

While we waited for his turn we watched the different classes of dirt bikes.  The Ameteur riders (one step above beginner, one step below pro) had some awesome outfits going on.

He's already itching to get signed up for the next one.

And I can't wait either.

The Enduro Challenge And Zombies. Not At The Same Time.

Over the weekend The Man headed over to Herriman City's Enduro Challenge.

Which overall was pretty cool to watch, especially when they put teeny, tiny 5 and 6 year olds on itty bitty dirt bikes that could barely clear (and in some cases not even) the first small log.

The four wheeler and rzr rounds have given The Man ideas, so we'll see what happens with that.

Also, over the weekend Fear Factory was cranking out makeups for the Salt Lake City Zombie walk.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I'm no fan of zombies.  Ever.  At all.  Unless it's a little bit in Warm Bodies, but even then the whole brain eating thing gave me the willies.

I can't take the garbage out in the dark after The Man has watched an episode of The Walking Dead.

And I walked out of the room when the first time he rented World War Z.

I just have no love for zombies.

But, that being said, they kind of come with the territory of doing makeup with a haunted house.

And so I often find myself surround by zombies.

The pictures are grainy because I stole them from a fellow makeup artists facebook post.  Thanks to her for actually attending the walk and getting some pictures.  As you know, I hightailed it home as soon as the makeup fun was finished, because there was no way I was going to hang out downtown with the lot of them.

These makeups are mine.

And this one was featured on the Salt Lake Tribune's website.  Which, if you ask me, is pretty dang cool. (Again, a grainy steal).

Haunting season is just around the corner.

My goals for this year are to get a better handle on a shallow cheek shade, figure out what I can do with my new air brush, and get faster at the prostetics so I can use them more often.

Mountain Mike's Utah.

When it comes to feeding the masses that is my family, I have two options that work well.

The first being pizza.

Because, pizza.

And the second being a buffet restaurant.

Because, kids serving themselves and being able to get up from the table regularly.  It's a recipe for success when eating out with kids.

So when we find a pizza buffet, that tends to bring out some excitement for us.

Recently we've discovered Mountain Mike's.  They offered a variety of pizzas, garlic bread, pasta, and a salad bar.  We've been to another pizza buffet before and it seemed we were always waiting for them to bring out fresh pizza.  That wasn't the case at Mountain Mike's.  The pizza never ran low, and the dessert pizza (because let's face it, dessert pizza is the best part of a pizza buffet) never ran out.  The Man and I have been there twice this week already.

Mountain Mike's in Utah is celebrating it's 7 year anniversary.

7 years!

How am I just now hearing about them?

So I'm spreading the word.

They also do take out and delivery, like a regular pizza joint.

Check out their website here.  Sign up for their coupon club while you're there.

And give them a like on their facebook page here.

Take your kids there and let them know The Circus sent you.  It won't mean anything to the employees, but it would be funny thing to tell them.

Let us know when you're heading over there, we'll go with you.

We did receive compensation in the form of pizza for writing this post, but the words and opinions are completely my own.

Mommy Daughter Date Night.

The post was originally written and posted on August 23, 2008.

It's hard to fit five people in a "self" shot!

It kept coming at me over and over and over, "I'm bored... I'm bored." 

And it wasn't even the kids saying it! 

I was utterly and uselessly bored out of my mind. Our house was spotless, the errands were done, I'd already read most of the day away, and I could think of nothing to do.

"Alright girls get some nice clothes on we're going on a date to a restaurant!" 

This is the fun part of having all girls. Matching cute clothes, doing hair, and since it was a very special occasion, we all put on perfume and lip gloss. To Applebee's we went in all our girl glory.

 And then, being as it was just we girls we went shoe shopping, and of course, topped the night off with Baskin Robbins. 

What would I do with out those girls to keep me sane? 

Though in the same breath, by the time we got home and I was ushering them into pajamas, they were completely driving me insane! 

Casidee put it best, though, when she declared, "this was the best night ever!"

I couldn't agree more.  Where would I be without those girls in my life right now?

Over The Weekend.

The summer is coming to a close with school starting for a couple of my kids, and myself, tomorrow, and for the rest of the kids on Wednesday.

The plan over the weekend was to get everything ready for school, which is no small task when you have half a dozen kids, but we got it done.  Done enough, anyway.  There's still a few straggling things I'll have to pick up with the next paycheck, but for the most part we did it.

We got the haircuts done and got the kool-aid dye jobs done.

Tell you what, I can't wait for that fad to be over with.

The kids are excited, and that's a good thing.  We have our first high schooler this year, four middle schoolers, and only one in elementary.

This school year is going to be busy with three different schedules, and who knows what activities, but I have a feeling it's going to be a good one.

Over the weekend The Man and I attended a sushi making class at Rice Basil.  I bought a groupon for the class back in February and had given it to The Man for Valentine's Day.

If you have a spare afternoon, and a groupon, we would highly suggest the class.  We learned a lot about not only the art of making different kinds of rolls, but the art of eating raw fish and not getting sick.

Did you know wasabi counters the raw fish?

I didn't.

I think I should stop skipping it.

Granny Suzann called and invited us to see Footloose at the amphitheater.  So we grabbed the kids who were home and went with her.

"Now we are like Kevin Bacon!" Guardians of the Galaxy Reference.  And also, I can't keep myself from calling it Fooxloose in my mind.  Youth Conference reference (here).

We've taken to rearranging the basement.  We had the three older girls sharing a bigger room, but the bed situation was a little tight on the top bunk.

We also had an issue of keeping the bedroom clean and how exactly to monitor that.

So we've spread the girls out in the larger basement area (pictures to come later) and took all the storage and craft items from the larger area and put it into the room.

I'm claiming it as a craft room.

So this was my project on Sunday morning.  And probably every evening for the rest of the week.  Cleaning out all the junk we piled in there to make room for the girls in the big area, and organizing everything else so I can have my own space.

It's been really frustrating having all my craft stuff out where the kids could get into it whenever they wanted. Things have been lost and broken so many times.  I'm looking forward to having it out of reach.

And I can paint the room whatever color I want.

Coming up this week:
School starts for 7 of the 8 of us
My mom goes through surgery for her breast cancer
Another follow up on my lasik (seeing 20/15!)
Dentist appointments times 6

Also, this week I'm back on my schedule of being a better me:
Running before work (ugh, so early!)
Purposeful study of the gospel every night before bed (starting Talmage's Jesus the Christ (here), I can't wait!)
Flylady routines (here) are back on for cleaning/organinzing

I got thrown off with youth conference but I'm back on it.  I do so much better in life when I have a schedule to follow.  Otherwise, I just get lazy and procrastinate and get nothing done.

Okay, Monday, let's do this.

The One Where I Meet Groot. And Weeknight Movies Just Became A Thing.

On a day filled with final philosophy papers, or the procrastination thereof, I received a text from The Man.

Dinner and a movie tonight?

The answer is always yes.  Dinner and a movie is my most favorite kind of invite, albeit a little unusual on a Thursday evening.

As it turns out this wasn't just an ordinary invite.  This was a celebration for those who had participated in the building of the homes for Salt Lake City's Parade of Homes.  A VIP event put on by the Home Builders Association.

The Man happened to build a playhouse for the parade for McArthur Homes.

The playhouse happens to be sitting right smack in front of the movie theater.

The evening began in an upstairs room of the theater with food and drinks.

And Groot.

Which might have excited me more than it should have.

We got to be a part of the awards ceremony for the builders of the homes (sadly, there was no category for playhouse) and afterward, we got to watch Guardians of the Galaxy.

Which for the record, is completely worth it.

And also for the record, Groot was by far my favorite character.  And I'm not just saying that because I met him.

I've decided if there's one thing I like better than dinner and a movie date night, it's dinner and a movie date night on a week night.

The exciting thing about dinner and a movie on a week night is Megaplex has just made it even more sweet.

Beginning Tuesday, August 5th.  I don't know about you, but I know what I'm doing next Tuesday.

Who knows, maybe I'll run into my old pal Groot again.

Bits and Pieces of Life.

Somewhere I'm losing my vibe for life.  Mostly, if I had to put a finger on it, exactly, I would have to say... I'm bored.  The days and weekends are full to the max with bits and pieces, and those are fun, but generally speaking...  I could sum it up by saying the alarm went of this morning and I had no thought of rolling out of bed and facing that daily grind.  Again.  An hour later I finally did.  Of course I did.  How can I not?  I can't.  So I do.  I'd like to say a change is in order, but frankly, where do I even go?  I still can't pinpoint what I want to do with my life, and the ever frustrating fact remains: the things I try for fall flat so where does that really leave me?

It leaves me bored.

And over-sleeping by an hour.  Which turns out to be no big deal because I still made it to work on time.  Professionally dressed and pulled together, I might add.

But if we look at the bits and pieces it turns out okay.  The daily grind isn't a bad place.  It's actually one I'm very grateful for.

Saturday was filled to the max with bits and pieces and by the time we cried "uncle" and crawled into bed, I was declaring it, out loud to The Man even, the perfect day.

Even if Saturday started with an alarm clock ringing at 5:45 am, which generally is absurd and unconstitutional.  A baseball cap and some flip flops later I was driving my butt up to the church to set up the gigantic yard sale we were calling the youth fundraiser.

At least I brushed my teeth.  To my neighbors, you're welcome.

And to my neighbors who also drove their butts up the church at the awful hour of 6:00 am on a Saturday morning, thank you.

And to my neighbors who got to sleep in and show up around 9:00, or even 10:00 to buy the wares we had spread across the lawn and parking lot of the church, thank you.

Because honestly, who wouldn't want to spend a Saturday morning surround by neighbors, who are truly friends, raising money for the youth that we get to spend so much of our time with?  Plus, a McD's Coke might have helped my attitude quite a bit.

From the yardsale, where I scored a treadmill (be still my heart!), and an argyle scarf (be still my heart!), I fixed my hair from the 6 hour hat hair of the yard sale, and drove downtown for the Five-o Fest with The Man.

The Five-o Fest which debuted in its first year, this year, as a trial effort.  The new Public Safety Building giving the Salt Lake City Police Department a place to host such an event.  Five-o standing for Hawaii Five-o, where participants sang out the Hawaii Five-o theme song for Boondocks passes.

Filve-o Fest which promoted anti-bullying and was supported by companies and organizations that promote as much.  Bullying is never cool.  Not in any form, or at any age.  Life is hard enough, without us making it harder for each other on top of it.

Throw in a mixture of Batman with the Batmobile, The Drum Bus, Fantasy Con, SWAT Team, Bomb Squad, The Jazz Bear, free face-painting, several food trucks, and, our personal favorite, Beyond 5, you have yourself a pretty fun time with a good, uplifting message.  Also, what does it say that every song Beyond 5 sings can be used to fight against bullying and promote self-worth?  Chew on that one for a bit and then go check them out if you haven't yet.

The Man and I topped the evening off with Huhot for dinner and then Maleficent for a late movie.  Oh Disney Villains, you are part of my bits and pieces.  And this movie?  Yes.  I'm certain I'm going to have to make a Maleficent costume now.  Right after I make my Sanderson Sisters costumes.  What?  I haven't made those yet?  I know.  I have no excuse for this.

It's the bits and pieces that make life flow.  That make me smile.  That make life... life.

What are your bits and pieces?

Chalk Art Festival

Every once in a while The Man and I break out of our comfortable spot of dinner and a movie (oh how I just really love dinner and a movie with that man) and we do something a little bit different.

We still had dinner.

And we still saw a movie (Man of Steel on opening night!).

But we also added this in between:

The Chalk Art Festival was being held downtown at Gateway in support for Foster children.

We even ran into our neighbors who were participating.  He's a crazy good artist.  He did all the artwork on the Haunted Circus:

Andalin and Russ!

We have a couple of artsy girls in our house and it's got me to thinking with summer being here and all...

I think I'm going to have an chalk art day at our house.

Seriously.  (Update:  We did it here)

Once upon a time I was really into taking art classes and I learned a thing or two that I can teach to the kids who want to do this.  We have squares on the sidewalk already...

I'm going to hit the art store, buy some chalk, have the kids pick out the pictures they want to draw and teach them how to grid it out to draw it.

I think that sounds pretty splendid for a summer's day activity.

If they like doing it, maybe our family can sign up for the festival next year.

I like making plans :).