Ouch.

Fourteen years and four kids later, the inevitable finally happened.

Our first broken bone. Poor Kimberly.

How did my ever-so-cautious 11-year-old break her finger you ask?

sigh.

Goofing off with her best friend during drama practice at school.

You gotta' love those phone calls from the school:

8:40 a.m.
"Mom?" "Can you come pick me up?"
"Why, what's up - didn't I just drop you off?"
"I broke my finger."
"WHAT!?!?!? Are you sure?"
"Um,...yah...the finger is facing a different direction from the other fingers."
"I'll be right there."

March - In Like a Lion and Still Going.

March has wooshed in like a lion for us, though as March comes to a close, there doesn't seem to be a lamb anywhere in sight as we're getting pounded with yet another storm.

The month started out with Kimberly's 11th Birthday. We celebrated as a family at Chuck E Cheese - her choice, not ours by any means. Afterwards, we dug into this yummy looking cake with mounds of flowered frosting.


She is getting older as we inhale. In fact, one of those boxes holds a couple new t-shirts for her, and sadly, I did not buy them in the kids section. yes, that's right folks, she has moved into the older girls section. yikes! (notice I can't say the T word. t_ _ n _ _ _ r )

As for the rest of the month, we spent a healthy amount of time in Salt Lake City at the Energy Solutions Arena for these two events (guess which one John enjoyed more) -

Grandma Lynn treated us to Disney on Ice. The girls were in heaven.

Disney Princess Heaven that is.
(you can't see Alicia - she is on the other side of Grandma)

A couple weeks later, Rock 'n' Roll Heaven for the parental side of the family -

Bon Jovi is John's absolute favorite singer and band, so when he came to SLC on tour about 8 years ago, of course we went. Having never been to a real rock concert before, I learned really quick that rock concerts are very, Very, VERY loud. I came prepared this time around with my magical earplugs - the very thing that allowed me to actually make it to the end of the concert without ringing ears like the first time around. Don't worry, I only put them in for about 4 songs, but trust me, it helped immensely.


Interestingly, Bon Jovi has been rocking for 27 years, so there was a wide range of people at the concert - from teens, to twentysomethings, to us thirtyish ones, even couples in their 40s and 50s.


It was a very good concert indeed, especially since we got to enjoy a night out without kidlets (thanks grandma rimington) and attempt to feel younger again. We sat next to another couple that looked just like us - in their thirties, married, probably had kids - they rocked out about as much as we did.


and Lastly, what would a blog post be without a few snippets of Megan's latest (mis) adventures?

We enjoyed a trip out to one of the local frozen yogurt shops where Megan Really enjoyed hers.

...and here are the more civilized of the natives. well, maybe just a little more civilized.

I think that's it for the month. Until next time, I'll keep singing with Bon Jovi,
It's My Life -
It's now or never - wo, ooh,
I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive,
It's My Life!

Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful

So John and I have a problem.

A problem with this particular family member -


I am not kidding you - she is an accident magnet, and we've only owned her for 8 months! You've heard of lemon cars. Well, we seem to have the exact opposite problem. She keeps garnering the attention of other cars who just can't seem to stay out of her personal space.

Another car sideswiped her frontal region in January. Sadly, the other car didn't even stay long enough to apologize. He simply sped off with only his mark on her front bumper as a witness (actually, to be more specific, her bra. I can't even begin to share with you her feelings of violation). Ever onward to court next month to remedy that situation.

In the interim while waiting for that unpleasant event so we can recoop the funds from the other car owner to pay for her repairs, another car just couldn't withstand her pull. An Oldsmobile Alero could not resist the temptation of giving her a love tap in the rear end at the church parking lot tonight where a 16-year-old driver backed up into our too-beautiful-for-her-own good set of wheels. I mean really, Really?? Why can't the other cars just keep their bumpers to themselves because this is getting really tiresome.

Now if we can just keep the other gawkers away from our baby. I guess we're just getting a little advance preparation for our girls' dating years coming just around the corner.

Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Mom

I have a confession to make. Something I have been too ashamed to do anything about for some time. Okay, if we're being honest here, which I am, I will confess that it has actually been a problem for the last 10 years (did I really just write that out loud?).

I can't be too hard on myself because really, it happens to the best of us.

In fact, a few of you might be experiencing the same problem as I. Come on now, join with me as we proceed to count all of the t-shirts in our closets. That's right, my everyday wardrobe consists solely of t-shirts and jeans. I have become the classical stay-at-home mom in whatever is comfiest. I may venture out and buy a different color, or even - gasp - a v-neck or two, but really, my shirts are all the same.

I have decided my current clothing status has not been due to lack of interest - trust me, every time John and I have a hot date, I stare at my less-than-impressive choices and wish I had something a little more classy to wear. It really boils down to two things: cost and wearability (you know, comfyness). First off, boring t-shirts frankly cost less than their fancy counterparts. When I only get claim to our clothing budget every few months - now that four girls seem to have taken over that budget category - I am usually trying to get the most for my buck, so enter a few t-shirts into the equation and I'm good to go.

My friend suggested I try shopping at Ross, where they have a lot of designer shirts (aka more fancy) for a fraction of their normal cost. I reluctantly drove by my favorite clothing stores to give Ross a try last night since this month I finally had access to the clothing budget - all of it - which is due cause for celebration because miraculously, nary a girl is in immediate need of tights, pants, or shoes. I figured I better run as fast as I could to use my budget before someone even sounded the ouch word when it came to their digits getting scunched in too-small shoes or unwittingly getting a a hole in yet another pair of pants.

Upon entering the store, I retrieved a cart and proceeded to the women's shirt section, where to my surprise I found quite a few options I liked, all for around $10 a piece! I began filling my cart with options because I decided I was going to be bold and try on stylish pieces I may not have normally considered. Before I knew it, I had about 40 shirts in the cart (no really, I'm not kidding). I decided I better go try them on and widdle my selection down to a more manageable number (you know, like 5, so I wouldn't have to obliterate the grocery budget for the month too while I was at it).

Surprisingly, I fell in love with 6 very stylish shirts, all within my budget (a few of the shirts were even priced at $7, money savings to my happy wallet) and they are NOT t-shirts! At first, I was a little unsure if this find -

- would even look good on, but wa-la, it looks very stylin', don't you think?

and this one...

and these ...


okay, so maybe this one looks more t-shirty than the others, but see the cool design on the bodice? Hard to tell in the picture, but definitely un-t-shirt like.

and sadly, I may be regretting this shirt choice because every time I have put it on since coming home, it feels strangely like a maternity shirt with the flowing front area. I may have to rethink my decision on this one - good thing the tag is still on.

and for my hot date on Friday night with my fabulously hot husband, this sexy number...

(okay, so the date only consists of dinner out, but still, a hot date nonetheless).

Now it is on to buying new swimming suits and spring clothes for the girls in the upcoming months. By the time John and I catch a glimpse of the the clothing budget again, which given summer clothes and new school clothes and shoes after that, probably won't be until November, perhaps it will have been long enough for me to talk John into getting a purple tie and shirt. Not counting my eggs before they hatch though.

Some Snippets of Randomness

I had to snap this shot of Natalie in action last week - This describes our Rimington girls to a T. The epitome of girliness, while still doing boy-type things. and no, this was not right after church. She wanted to wear a dress and her fancy shoes on a Saturday.

--------------------------------

I may have rubbed off a little on Kimberly with my new hobby -

While I was working on Easter skirt #2 last week, Kimberly started sewing her own Barbie clothes. Guess I won't have to worry about sewing any, huh.

--------------------------------

And here you get a brief glimpse into daddy/daughter time at the Rimington household -

--------------------------

I saved the best for last. I think John's had a nice and relaxingly long break since his last home improvement project, so he's set out to work on the next one. Once he picked up the freshly minted business license from Layton City, I set to work clearing this space aside in the basement.

With this space now cleared, we can start moving the items from the corner of the other side of the basement (see below) so John can start building Kimberly's bedroom. Current plans are to be done by the summer. Kimberly is more than anxious to move into her own pad and be able to stop sharing her things with her 17-month-old sister.

As you can see, we have our work cut out for us.

Thank You Mr. President.

Specifically, President Roosevelt for setting aside a ton of national forest areas for us to enjoy.

We decided to honor his legacy and all other Presidents on Monday (since remember, John now gets every famous and unfamous government holiday off - woo-hoo) by enjoying those national forests with a bit of adventure -

Snow mobiling up Logan Canyon. We dropped off the two youngest girls at Grandma's house (thank you very much mom rimington) and sped on up to the lodge where we rented two snowmobiles and the fresh layers of powder from the weekend snow falls were just calling our name.

That is until 5 minutes into the adventure when I got my snowmobile stuck. oops. and then John got his snowmobile stuck trying to get mine unstuck. enter gps thingy the lodge gave us if we needed rescuing.

At this point I was wondering how many more times we would need the rescue beacon and $20 each time they had to come rescue us.

Anyway, after we were thus rescued, we forged ahead on some beautiful trails just laden with fluffy snow, and beautiful trees and valleys lining each side of the trail. I was thinking as I sped along with my speedster and Alicia behind me how much I love, love, love living in Utah with all of the magnificent snow activities just minutes from our house, then when we hit warmer months, beautiful hiking trails, then of course in the summer, camping, campfires, smores, beach fun at the lakes. I need to stop there. Now I'm getting all giddy for summertime. Reigning myself back in for the wintertime fun. Isn't it nice to have seasons?

So, we were all the way in the deep forests of Idaho, having crossed the border about halfway through the trek when we decided to turn around. Before doing so, John found a nice meadow where he could power his way through the thigh-deep snow. He did encounter one minor problem - a tree . To his credit, he was trying to turn, but with the deep snow, was having slight technical trouble. Kimberly and I watched as the tree shuddered when John and Alicia ran into it. Poor tree. Poor us having to dig ourselves out. No, we didn't have to page the rescue squad that time.

We actually discovered this place 12 years ago when we were still going to school up in Logan.

When we were finished on Monday, John asked me why we hadn't thought to do this sooner since we had so much fun. I had to remind him of the many years I spent either pregnant or nursing a baby. Now that we've had our last and she is well past nursing, we are excited about being in this next stage of life when we can enjoy such adventures.

Three Generations

Who knew when my mom learned to ski on the slopes at Brighton Ski Resort up Little Cottonwood Canyon that she would be skiing in that exact location down the road with her daughter and her granddaughter.

My mom came to visit this last weekend, so we decided to take advantage of all the Utah snow they keep hyping about in the TV ads. Trust me, the hype is well-justified. Nothing sweeter than a luscious trail of powdery fluff for us ski bums to plow our way through (okay, literally, Kimberly plowed, while my mom carved beautiful parallel patterns - and me, somewhere in between).

In other news on the Rimington front, I am currently on a loaner computer because our hard drive completely failed. Yup. Kapoot. No workee. Adios computer files. Sigh. New computer parts, here we come - in about a week. And it's only a 50 percent chance we'll be able to recover our data from said failed hard drive. Technology is a beautiful thing, ain't it?