Princesses Night Out

Last week Maggie and I were able to go to Disney Princesses On Ice with some of our friends. It was so fun and exciting and amazing! It was ALMOST as exciting as seeing the princesses at Disneyland. We had excellent seats and I wish I had pictures of the awe on Maggie's face as she sat at the edge of her seat! Most of the little girls were dressed up in their pretty princess dresses and Maggie was amazed that I let her leave the house in her dress-up and let her wear her special tiara out to dinner and to the show! She loved it and next time we know that Josie will love it too. It was a special night and I'm glad we got to share it together!

Dr. Livingstone, I presume??

I can't tell you how many times people have said this to either John or I, and now it is TRUE! One of the greatest milestones in the last 10 years was accomplished today, by our very own Dr. Livingstone! John defended his dissertation today and his committee accepted it and passed him and now we have a Doctor in our family! He has gone as far in his educational career as he can go and we are so proud of him for his hard work and determination. Although he has now completed everything he can for school, he will officially graduate in April and we're excited to experience that and have a BIG celebration! CONGRATULATIONS, DR. LIVINGSTONE!

Dance Party!

We love spending time with the Barclay's, and we were lucky to have them come over on Sunday and play our Dance, Dance Revolution. It was a big hit! The kids had a great time, and Jeannie and Brent weren't so bad themselves. It was great to have the company-- we could use more visitors!

A JOYFUL Life ...

I had the amazing opportunity to go to Time Out For Women this weekend with my Mom in Idaho Falls. I'd heard a little about it before, but at Christmas time when I saw that it was coming we quickly got tickets. I have to thank my Dad becuase he ordered the tickets for my Mom and I and paid for a chunk of my ticket (they are pretty expensive!). We had a hard time getting away Friday night, we felt like there were so many other things we'd rather be doing together, but once we were there we knew it was the right place for us to be. It was so uplifting and inspiring! There was beautiful music by the group Mercy River, and I felt so inspired to learn to play the violin after hearing from Jenny Oaks Baker, and on Saturday we were lucky enough to get to hear from Kenneth Cope, he is AmAZinG! There were people that came as far away as Texas, and ladies that sat behind us Friday from Montana and after being there I knew why! We got to hear from authors: Chris Stewart & Jason Wright (Christmas Jars) and we were uplited and taught by Wendy Watson Nelson (Elder Nelson's wife), Sheri Dew, S. Michael Wilcox, and MANY others that were wonderful. I'm sad because I know I'm going to forget a lot of what I heard, but hope I never forget the happiness I felt to be there. The theme was A Joyful Life, and we really learned that we don't have to be perfect to be happy, but that the Lord loves us anyway and we need to find joy in the life we're living RIGHT NOW and we were given great ways to learn to do that. I strongly encourage anyone that has the opportunity to go that it is worth every penny spent for tickets! Here is link so you can read more about it and see the cities it is visiting this year:

www.deseretbook.com/tofw

Playlist

Guaranteed 5 Miles Running Playlist:

1) Move Along - All American Rejects
2) Because I'm Awesome - The Dollyrots
3) Stronger (edited) - Kanye West
4) Live to Win - Paul Stanley
5) The Way You Move - Outkast
6) Song 2 - Plain White T's
7) The Distance - Cake
8) Survivor - Destiny's Child
9) Hey Ya! - Outkast
10) Eye of the Tiger - Survivor
11) Faster - Plain White T's
12) Motivation - Sheryl Crow

How could you not be motivated just by the titles of these songs?

Our Basketball Star

Johnny had his last basketball game this past Thursday night. I could kick myself for not getting better pictures and waiting until the last game to even take any! What we really needed were before and after videos because he greatly improved his skills and he may even have a little talent for the game! He had a great time and we're looking forward to next season! He's #20 in the pictures.

Dance, Dance Revolution!

Last Saturday while I was standing in line to pay at the Disney Store I saw John walk in with a box. I instantly put the thought out of my mind that it couldn't be what I thought it was, but after noticing the grin on his face, I knew it really was! The impossible is never too impossible for the Livingstone Family! We heard from Santa Claus himself that we would never get a Wii, but we did. Last week we heard from the guy at Game Crazy that he'd only seen one Dance, Dance Revloution for the Wii only once since he'd worked there. The guy at Target said, "yeah right, it's harder to find than a Wii." But ALAS, thank you Game Stop-- We got it!! I have to say that it's been worth every penny, I'm sure we've already gotten our money's worth out of this game. Yesterday we even bought another mat for it so that we can COMPETE. Keep in mind that this game is harder for the Wii because not only do you have foot motions, there are also hand motions, and, John will kill me for admitting this, he loves this game and is better at it than I am! We've had a great time playing together and I'm sure it's really great for our relationship because we've spent so much time together playing it this past week and loving every minute of it! So, invitations are open to all who want to come have a DANCE-OFF!

Keeping Josie Busy

We had our playgroup Valentine's Party on Thursday. It was great to have it a week after the rest of the candy had been eaten, the Valentine's cleaned up, and then we get to do it again! The girls had a great time and I knew I should've gotten off my duff and taken some pictures, but I didn't. After we got home Josie sat up and opened all her valentines, all the candy, and some playdough. It kept her busy for about a half an hour, which was awesome! So, I did catch a picture of her with all her half-eaten candy, some wrappers, and attempting to make some hearts from pink playdough.

Happy Valentine's Day

Is there any day better than Valentine's Day? You get one day a year to celebrate love and happiness and get all decked out in pink and red and it usually involves balloons, flowers, chocolates, romance, and love. For Family Home Evening this past Monday we talked about Love and how Jesus first loved us and how we can show others that we love them, it was really sweet. For our activity we made hearts out of pink, red, and white paper and decorated them and then we stuck them on our neighbors' doors (and the Kyle's-- but they weren't very surprised that it was us), and left pink frosted heart cookies and rang the doorbell and ran. When we went to our next store neighbors the day after--the kids were thrilled to show us the hearts they got on their door and that they had left them up. It was really sweet and made my kids smile to know how much their friends loved them! We love celebrating Valentine's Day and I'm happy the kids are learning to love doing things for others and that they're finding that it really can make them happy. We hope that everyone enjoyed their holiday and that it was full of love and happiness! John was so sweet, he knows me so well. He brought me home a red carnation and had it wrapped in money in place of the money he would have spent on a big boquet of flowers, so smart! We are so grateful for our good friends and family that live far and wide and thank you for all the cards and packages, they made our days and holiday wonderful!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

On February 6th the Big Man of the House turned 31! We love birthdays and we love having them all right in a row. We made sure we added in some boyish balloons to balance out Josie's pink, purple, and red princess birthday decorations that we left up. He'll be having "pink" birthdays the rest of his life! The kids love celebrating birthdays and end up being very thoughtful. Happy Birthday to my Boyfriend!

Thanks, Grandma!

Josie got her birthday package in the mail from her Grandma Peterson, and this is what she did with it. The packaging was so exciting, that it took awhile for the excitement of the real gift to sink in. After the mean mom cleaned up the packing peanuts she fell in love wih her Barbie phone that calls her and says her name and leaves her fun messages. Thanks Grandma!

My Baby is TWO!

We celebrated Josie's birthday on Saturday (heaven forbid it interferes with the Super Bowl!), so she was lucky to have it drawn out for two days. She had lots of good practice at Christmas for opening presents and had it mastered! She was very excited with all her new things, amazing that she could find so many new things to love when Christmas was just 6 weeks ago! Her favorite has to be the Fur Real duck that quacks and flaps it's wings when you give it a bottle. She says, "Quack quack, baba". But I think she made a good haul. I really love having a February birthday-- besides John's. He doesn't think it's that great to decorate in pink and red and have a new Valentine's outfit for some reason! Barbie is Josie's favorite so we decorated with a little pink and red and a little Barbie. Sorry John, it's all staying up for your birthday 3 days later! Josie is our little sweetheart and we love her to peices!

LOST

Since the writer's strike I've noticed that I haven't watched as much TV as I used to. So, I admit that I am SOOOOO excited for Lost to start tonight. Lost is such an intriguing show, and I look forward the twists and turns and all the exciting things this new season will bring. If you've never seen it, but you'd like to become a faithful watcher, you can watch all 3 seasons on abc.com. Just be aware that it may be addicting, and you may find yourself with a lot less time on your hands because you won't want to stop watching!

Playing Indoors ...

Today we discovered a new activity that can be done indoors. We had a playgroup at the church this morning where a wonderful mother of a lady in our ward has decided to host once a week. There were many activities for the kids to choose from, some songs, and some stories to keep all the kids busy. Josie's absolute favorite was a clear storage bin full of rice and white lima beans with all kinds of spoons and cups to dig and fill. I was absolutely amazed that it was the one thing she sat and played in the whole time! Anyone that knows my sweet Josie knows what a curious little handful she is, so it is absolutely wonderful to find anything that will keep her from getting into things she shouldn't, stop her from teasing Maggie, and keep her sitting still for longer than 5 minutes! So, my next trip after play group was to Walmart, ready to reinvent the rice box! We made it home at about noon, and I just barely put her to bed and it is about 1:45 p.m. She even ate her lunch while she played! I cannot believe how long she sat there and played, and that her and Maggie played nicely. So, if you need a wonderful indoor activity-- here is my recommendation. Clean up wasn't so bad either, I bought a plastic tablecloth to go underneath and so all the rice and beans just dumped right back in the bucket, and for the rest-- just get out your broom!

Random things ...

So, here are a few pictures of some random things as of late. I was at Target a couple weeks ago and got the girls these cute pink cowboy boots for $4 each! They were so excited and Josie wants to wear hers everyday, they are on her feet right after she gets out of bed in the morning-- I should have posted a picture of her wearing them with her pj's! I also wanted to post a picture of the cute little newborn maryjanes that I made for my friend's new baby (sorry Amber if you see this before I get them to you!). I had so much fun making them and I bought the pattern from one of my favorite new websites, http://www.etsy.com/ , it's all homemade items for sale. The last thing is that we got new bedroom furniture this weekend. It's the first time we've ever had a real bed set and we are so excited! We get a hefty tax-refund this year so we splurged a little and we're so thrilled!

Milestone!

I am so excited! We got a new treadmill for Christmas and after using it for a few weeks I've finally hit my 5 mile mark today! It took me an hour, but after my surgery my doctor really discouraged any running, but I've been having an itch-- so with my expensive shoes, and treadmill with good shocks, I ran as far as he said it would be okay to go. I may try to do the Rex Lee 10K, anyone want to do it with me? Charisse, want to come up and run with me for old times' sake??

Happy Birthday Cheerio!

I've been waiting for Grandma to post these pictures, but decided I'd go ahead. Cheerio is Grandma Livingstone's first webkin-- it is the reason the rest of the kids are addicted, which is okay by me, but drives John crazy! What makes John even more crazy is the fact that his mother decided to have a birthday party for her Webkin, Cheerio and made invitations to invite all of the other Webkinz in her family! What he doesn't realize is the true joy that they bring, not only to my kids (and me), but all my neices and nephews that are singlehandedly supporting the Webkinz business! These are pictures from Cheerio's birthday and all of Cheerio's "family".

Tagged ... again!

Okay, I'm going to be a good sport and do my part. BUT I'm not that interesting and I can never think of anything interesting until I've already posted. So, I'm going to copy some things from Kendra (who tagged me), because there's a reason why we're friends-- we're so much alike! Okay,
1) I don't like water. I don't like the taste, or non-taste, or whatever-- but I don't like to drink it. I LOVE Diet Coke, and if I have to drink it, sugar-free, flavored water is the best thing that's ever been invented!
2) I love music. I, like Kendra, revolve my day around music. How did I ever live without my I-Pod? I have a speaker that I dock it into and it is constantly going. What's playing depends a lot on my mood.
3) I am a little OCD about my closet. Not that it's always the cleanest, or most organized, but I like to have all my clothes hanging organized by color, all on white hangers, facing the same direction. Same with my kids' clothes in their closets.
4) The first thing I do every day is brush my teeth. The second is make my bed. There is NEVER a day that goes by that my bed does not get made. I'm not sure what would happen to me if I did not start my day this way!
5) I have a passion for Webkinz. I know they are a kids toy, but I truly enjoy logging in and taking care of them and playing the little games in the arcade. I know it is really dorky, but I really like them!
6) I love to read. How amazing is it to be able to disappear into a book? After inquiring into different people's reading habits, I realize that I read different than most other people do. When I read a book I see it happening in my head like a movie. I don't hear my own voice saying the words, it all takes place in my head as if I was watching and hearing other people, I love it!
7) One interesting thing is that I miss Tucson more than I thought I would. I miss my friends, I miss the church there, I miss the desert, and I miss the weather! We've been here about half the time we were there, and I feel like it all went too fast! I look back and it all seems like just a memory.
8) I love to watch TV. At night I watch way more TV than I need. The other night I went and laid down on the bed while John was working and my hand instantly grabbed for the remote and he asked if I could just leave it off. I said, "I don't know how to lay here without the TV on!" I will watch most anything. I'm really anticipating LOST and sad that there are no new Grey's Anatomy and the Office , but I'm excited about The Amazing Race.
9) I also love to play video games. It may be that I am the only mother that gets into them, but I have to fight for my time to play on John's new Nintendo DS. It was my idea for Valentine's Day before we even had kids to buy a Nintendo 64, and I beat the Lego Star Wars Game before Johnny did. I get a kick out of figuring things out, and I like the competitiveness of it. I love our Wii, I was all for buying it, and I will compete with John at games until I win. We bought our X-Box because I love playing Tiger Woods golf on it. John would come home from work and there I would be, sitting there playing it-- trying to get an edge on him!
10) The last thing I do at the end of the day is clean the kitchen. I CANNOT go to bed without my dishes being done and having the kitchen in ready mode for the next day. I'm not sure I'd even be able to sleep if I hadn't been able to clean it up and know it was ready. It's a little crazy, but it makes me happy!
So, I'm going to pass this on to:
Allison, Honey, Cindy, Mauri, Melissa, Diana, Lexie, Jennifer, Marcie, & Allie.
Have fun!

Easy Bake Oven

After Josie went down for her nap today, Maggie and I got out her Easy Bake Oven she got for Christmas. We previously made sugar cookies in it from a mix, but today we decided to try something new, so we downloaded a couple of recipes online made just for the miniature oven and decided to try the Pink Barbie Double Layer Cake. We were pleased at how excellent it turned out! Her friend, Kylie came over just in time to make frosting, lick the spoons, and cover the cake in sprinkles. After it cooled and Johnny got home from school we all shared the little, pink cake and it was surprisingly yummy! We had a lot of fun and we're looking forward to trying more recipes. After all, a little mini cake has way less calories than a great big cake, and it's always more fun to do it together in Maggie's little oven!

We are Barbie Girls, in a Barbie World ...

This Christmas was all about Barbie! Maggie and Josie both received many barbies this year. They are both really into Barbie, Josie more so than Maggie, but they've actually shared and played together really well so far. Maggie loved the movie Enchanted, and was so excited when Aunt Jessica brought her the Giselle barbie for Christmas. Jessica is so smart and brought Josie the ballerina barbie, which she carried around with her and pretended it was dancing! Maggie also got the 12 Dancing Princess Barbie that really dances. It has sensors you wear and it will follow your moves, teach you new dances, and dance for you. Josie gets such a kick out of watching it twirl and dance. Maggie is definitely High School Musical's biggest fan, and she was so,so happy to get the Sharpay barbie that has a microphone and she really sings Maggie's favorite song, Fabulous! Josie has really been into the Barbie movies and she was lucky enough to get the Island Princess Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses Barbie. She loves them both, but loves to hear the Island Princess Barbie sing. Such girls, when there's Barbie, what else could you possibly need to be happy??