* Date-night-movie-of-the-month: Thanks to Lizzy for watching Ethan while she was up here visiting one weekend. It was so nice to get away for a little movie date. We learned that movie prices up here are the same as SoCal and a lot higher than Eugene/Springfield - $10 a ticket! Ugh. Luckily Costco has the 2/$15 deal, so we will be taking advantage of that in the future. Anyway... We decided to go see:
The Lovely Bones
It was pretty good. Very intense. Not quite what we expected. Very good cinematography. I have to say, Stanley Tucci did a very good job of being a sick creep-o because the whole movie I was saying not-so-nice things about his character, Mr. Harvey. I was more than ready for him to get his come-up-ins!! And the scene where the sister breaks into his house - holy intense! I didn't think I was going to make it. This is not a happy, feel-good movie and not really a murder mystery, but if you like a good suspense thriller I would recommend it.
* Potty training: We had just a hint of potty training last month! We're not really pushing it until Ethan is ready, but I think we're getting close. He has gone potty on the toilet several times and occasionally lets us know when he has to go. Nothing consistent yet. This week is pretty busy, but I'm hoping to push the issue a little more the next week and see if we can't get a little farther on this. I would love if he was potty-trained before his birthday!
* Stardust Diner:
* Potty training: We had just a hint of potty training last month! We're not really pushing it until Ethan is ready, but I think we're getting close. He has gone potty on the toilet several times and occasionally lets us know when he has to go. Nothing consistent yet. This week is pretty busy, but I'm hoping to push the issue a little more the next week and see if we can't get a little farther on this. I would love if he was potty-trained before his birthday!
* Stardust Diner:
Photo courtesy of William200549 at Flickr.com
What a fun place. Very cool diner atmosphere and pretty good food. I always like to try just a plain cheeseburger when we go to a new place like that. I have this theory that you can judge a lot about a diner based on their burgers and pancakes. Good burgers and pancakes should basically be a requirement! So I had a cheeseburger while Sean opted for the chili burger.
* Ethan and I went to the Portland, Oregon Zoo for $2 Tuesday, but that already has its own post.
* Valentine's Day: This holiday never gets too much attention in our house. Pretty much we acknowledge it with some decorations and maybe some special goodies, but that's about it.
Friday night, while Lizzy was visiting, we got one of the Papa Murphey's heart-shaped pizzas. 
For Ethan, we got the Mary Poppins DVD, which helped to break the Sleeping Beauty, errr, Dragon movie spell! This year I tried to get fancy with our sugar cookies, thanks to ideas from Our Best Bites. Here's the final results:
Wednesday, while Ethan and I were down for our weekly Oregon trip, we delivered them to some friends and family. They were very well received!
Ethan loved playing in the "kitchen"....
And pretending to talk on the phone.
Lizzy wishing she could do a whole room make-over.
Christine and I share similar tastes in home decorating. By the way, light grey walls with white cabinetry is one of my new favorite looks!
If we had a family room, this is the couch we would get - extra storage and it very easy converts to a full size bed.
What a fun place. Very cool diner atmosphere and pretty good food. I always like to try just a plain cheeseburger when we go to a new place like that. I have this theory that you can judge a lot about a diner based on their burgers and pancakes. Good burgers and pancakes should basically be a requirement! So I had a cheeseburger while Sean opted for the chili burger.
* Ethan and I went to the Portland, Oregon Zoo for $2 Tuesday, but that already has its own post.
* Valentine's Day: This holiday never gets too much attention in our house. Pretty much we acknowledge it with some decorations and maybe some special goodies, but that's about it.
Friday night, while Lizzy was visiting, we got one of the Papa Murphey's heart-shaped pizzas. 
For Ethan, we got the Mary Poppins DVD, which helped to break the Sleeping Beauty, errr, Dragon movie spell! This year I tried to get fancy with our sugar cookies, thanks to ideas from Our Best Bites. Here's the final results:
Wednesday, while Ethan and I were down for our weekly Oregon trip, we delivered them to some friends and family. They were very well received!* Ikea: We had our first Ikea experience this month. That place is a well-oiled machine! I think they must have talked with the Disney people. The first time we went we just browsed through everything - it was a bit overwhelming. The second time, though, we took Lizzy and Christine when they came up to visit. Christine especially wanted to go as she is getting ready to go off to BYU. Of course, we had to take some pics...
Ethan loved playing in the "kitchen"....
And pretending to talk on the phone.
Lizzy wishing she could do a whole room make-over.
Christine and I share similar tastes in home decorating. By the way, light grey walls with white cabinetry is one of my new favorite looks!
If we had a family room, this is the couch we would get - extra storage and it very easy converts to a full size bed.
* More from our new ward: They got to me fast.... I have already given my first talk! My topic was "An outward expression of an inward commitment" - in layman's terms basically practice what you preach. Interesting topic, but actually a lot harder than I thought it would be. Overall, I thought it went pretty well though. I received lots of positive feedback on it, so that's always good! Plus, I got to introduce us a little bit - another good thing since they never actually read our names into the ward. :) That same day, we received our new callings.... Valient 10 teachers in primary! Sean and I will actually be working together, which is cool. We have 12-13 kids in our class and 8-10 that come regularly, so big class! Time to dig out my church bag and our primary song book. Anyone who has worked more in primary - tips??
* Random pictures: As if there aren't already enough pictures in this post, but here's some other random one from the month....
One of Ethan's new favorite things is climbing up on one of the stools and playing with the bubbles in a sink full of dishes.... Now if I could just get him trained to do the dishes!
Lizzy's self-photo from one of her weekend visits. It's been so fun to have her come up - she comes home with me on Thursday nights sometimes when she doesn't have school on Friday.
* Random pictures: As if there aren't already enough pictures in this post, but here's some other random one from the month....
One of Ethan's new favorite things is climbing up on one of the stools and playing with the bubbles in a sink full of dishes.... Now if I could just get him trained to do the dishes!
Lizzy's self-photo from one of her weekend visits. It's been so fun to have her come up - she comes home with me on Thursday nights sometimes when she doesn't have school on Friday. 
5 comments:
That chili burger looks huge!!!! I am glad that you guys are liking Vancouver! Looks like good times. Good luck on the potty training!
Yay for Ikea! I was actually in Portland visiting my aunt when they had their grand opening- what a to-do! I can't go to the one in Burbank on the weekends because it's like Disneyland on a crowded summer day.
I liked the Lovely Bones too, but you're right, not really a "feel good" flick! I did read the book which was very well written, and spends a lot more time on the characters development and coping. We just saw Shutter Island, if you need a good thriller for the next movie night I recommend it!
Oh, and those cookies look delish!
I just wanted to say Welcome back to the blogosphere, we've missed you too!!
-Sara :)
What a fun calling. That is my dream calling to serve with my husband. The only advice I have is play a lot of games. Kids that age love competition.
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