Back Up to February

Despite thinking that I don't get out and do much, its a good thing I have pictures to remind me that I'm not actually becoming a hermit. Here are some of the fun things we did during February and March.

First we went to Las Vegas for Valentine's Day weekend to see our friends the Stringham's. Treyden and Noelle made Valentine cookies while mom and dad went on a Valentine date. We don't usually make a big deal out of celebrating and it became apparent as to why when we went out to catch a movie and neither of us had a wallet. After our movie Treyden was very concerned about giving us a cookie and presented it with "Happy Valentine's Day, I love you." Shocked us all sweet boy.

This is the train "museum" in Boulder City - just outside Las Vegas. Treyden loves trains and Noelle thinks they're pretty neat too. We even got to ride on a real train.

Noelle and her little dog friend down the street. I think this is a funny picture mostly because the dog is oh so nice to let her carry her around. Noelle thought it was great to have a dog that would 1) let her and 2) wasn't too heavy.

I even got a quilt made and gifted in the month of February.

Then March rolled around. Grammy and Papa spent a week with us and while they were here we went to the McCormick Stillman Railroad Park. Grammy said she used to take Boo and uncl Justin there when they were kids, but it didn't look quite the same as it did back then. Noelle rode the carousel about ten times and mom and Grammy would take turns riding with her. Carousels are her favorite.

We also managed to go to a spring training baseball game between the Brewers and the Cubs. Noelle wasn't so interested in the baseball as she was fixated on finding some popcorn. She was a happy girl with her giant bag of kettle corn.

Then it was time for Dad to go and enjoy his man-cation with all the uncles while Auntie and Elizabeth came to Arizona to get their fix of vitamin D. We enjoyed some shopping, eating, beading, hiking, and Chihuly. If you're local I'd recommend checking out the Desert Botanical Gardens while the Chihuly exhibit is in town. The flowering desert plants aren't too bad either.

Noelle at Hole in the Rock in Papago Park.

The Youth of Today

I'm still trying to figure out how to raise my almost three year old. However as I go through the daily grind of timeouts, potty breaks, and scrubbing green highlighter masterpieces off my wall I am ever so frightened by what is to come.

Lately I've been observing some of the youth that I work with at church. I am appalled, shocked, absolutely flabbergasted at the things they do and things they deem to be acceptable.

One instance was a boy who thought it would be funny to eat as many desserts as he could by making a sandwich out of two pieces of chocolate bread with two cookies in the middle. That was only his first round. After I explained that it was time to sit back down and that the desserts were really for our "guests" (we were hosting the old folks for a talent show), he looked at me and said he was the guest. I think my eyeballs may have popped out of my head. Is back talking to adults okay now days?

Another thing I don't understand is cell phones. I guess I really missed this boat or am still missing this boat. Is it so hard to leave a cell phone home from church for three hours? Or in the car? I realize some people have super sophisticated phones that pull up all sorts of information which may be useful during certain meetings, I can adapt to that. However texting during sacrament meeting (yes, I've watched my own teenage siblings do this) or during a lesson, seriously? Am I just getting old?

Lastly, why do the youth of today agree to babysit if they aren't really willing to work? I'm paying good money, money that they probably could make at a fast-food restaurant only after being micromanaged and paying taxes. Is it really that hard to work when you're getting paid? Is money not a good motivation anymore? I recall hearing of one father telling his daughter who was just starting to get calls for babysitting gigs that she should find things to do even after those kids were asleep because she wasn't getting paid to sit there and watch TV. Isn't that the truth? I'm not asking for maid service, I'm just asking not to come home to a bigger mess than I might have left. To use common sense.

Am I being unreasonable?