Work Frog

For Christmas I gave Rusty a t-shirt with TheBlogFrog logo on it. He was wearing it today, and here is his conversation with Josh.

Rusty: What's this? (pointing to the frog)
Josh: A Frog!
Rusty: What kind of frog? (hoping he'll say Blog Frog)
Josh: It's a Work Frog!

Rusty has a blog!

Update by Rusty:
I wasn't quite ready to launch this yet but apparently Tara couldn't stand to see my brilliant insights going unread ;) Anyway, check it out and be sure to link your own blog to http://blog.rustinbanks.com and then click "Become a VIP Reader" so I can fill up that community widget. Thanks!!!
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Tara:
So FINALLY TheBlogFrog man decided to get a blog. Go check it out, then join his "VIP" community! http://blog.rustinbanks.com/

Tiny Dancer

Halle's very first dance recital was on Friday and she did great! I stuck her in dance only about 6 weeks ago, and she just LOVES it. I think her favorite part is the shoes. She does Ballet and Jazz and especially loves that she is in the same class as her good little friend Jenna. I am going to try and post video so if you only watch one, watch the Jazz dance--it's my favorite. There were 30 (no,that is not a typo) dances in her recital, but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and got more than one good chuckle out of the evening. Halle got an Outstanding Dancer trophy (everyone did) and flowers from her dad, so her night was complete. We are proud of you Halle girl!

Tongue Tied??

We have been having a hard time coming up with a name for this baby! Our front runner at the moment is Blake. But then I was at dinner with some friends last night, and Kari kept getting tongue tied when she tried to say "Blake Banks." So everyone take a moment and say it with me, "Blake Banks." And now go answer my anonymous poll as to whether you think this name is a tongue twister. He will, of course, have a middle name, but obviously most people won't call him by all three names. AND--if you have any other suggestions for cute boy names, please post them here! Oh yea--I know if you say it 10 times fast it's for sure a twister, but we're just looking for saying it once (which would be the most common, right?)

Easter Festivities

Easter weekend was just one fun thing after another! On Friday Sara and the kids came over and we made and decorated Easter Sugar Cookies. Bree was the only one who stuck around for the whole process, but they all sure did have fun eating them!



Then on Saturday, a family in our ward, the Clarks, hosted a GIANT Easter Egg hunt. Seriously--it rivaled the Ellison annual hunt. (Without the Golden Egg of course). Each kid got almost 30 eggs! And then we had a very yummy potluck lunch. Both of the kids came home with their baskets stuffed and their mom wondering why in the world she had bothered to buy any Easter candy at all!





Later that day Uncle Cole, Aunt Carlie and Uncle Danny arrived from Utah. Cole is going to be living with us for a little while, and Carlie and Danny drove out with him for a quick one day visit. The kids were in Heaven with all the attention--they miss their Utah family so much. When we dropped Carlie and Danny at the airport on Sunday Halle said, "Make sure you tell Chloe (their dog) hi from me and give her a kiss!" Not Grandma, not Grandpa, but the dog. Typical Halle. While they were here we ate pizza, decorated Easter Eggs, and played games on the Wii and Rusty's iPhone.




Easter morning was a whirl wind because we have 9am church. We opted to do Easter baskets after church so that we could all enjoy it a little more. In Primary they asked the kids who got Easter baskets that morning, and all the kids were jumping up and down raising their hands. Poor little Halle looked around at everyone else, and not wanting to be left out, tentatively put her hand in the air, and then put it right back down again. But the Easter bunny was more than generous and we still have enough candy to last through the summer!
One more special thing--the Bishop challenged our ward in January to read the Book of Mormon by May. As a family we decided to read The Book of Mormon Stories (you know--the picture book you can get at the distribution center) together. Halle is always so excited to read and learn the stories. Well, on Easter night we finished! It was so neat to teach her about Moroni's Promise and hear her little prayer. We are so thankful for our Savior and the chance to celebrate his resurrection that we all might live with him someday!

Snowy Spring Break

Just a few cute pics of our very cold, very snowy spring break.

Disney on Ice!

We got to take the kids to Disney on Ice this weekend. The show was about the Incredible's trip to Disneyland. Both of the kids had a blast, and were mesmerized the whole time. Halle says her favorite part was when Snow White and Cinderella came out in the Disney Parade. Josh's favorite part was anything Micky Mouse. In one part Micky is kidnapped, and Josh about had a heart attack!

The other exciting news at our house is that Rusty is taking a 6 week "personal leave of absence" from Ball to see if he can make a go of TheBlogFrog. He's been talking to a lot of people/enterprenuers/venture capitalist and lots of people are really excited about his ideas. We are really excited to give it a go and just see what happens! His job has been so awesome, we couldn't ask for a better situation. So, hopefully everything just goes marvelously and he will be a full-time BlogFrog man by May or June. Wish us luck!

Thoughts on Turning 30

Not me, but the baby! I am 30 weeks--yipee! Next week brings single digits, which I always look forward to with great anticipation. I thought I'd share with you the greatest discovery that I have made this pregnancy--Motherhood Secret Fit Maternity pants. If you haven't tried them, you gotta! They are full panel pants, which I have NEVER EVER worn before, but they are the most comfortable things ever. Every preggo should have a pair.

I also had the very fortunate experience (dripping sarcasm here) of taking the 3 hour glucose tolerance test because I failed my 1 hour test. (meaning my blood sugar levels were too high) I "passed" the 3 hour test, but just barley. I was only 1 point away from being diagnosed with gestational diabetes. So, I'm glad that I was under, but it still makes me a little nervous that I was so close. One of the side effects (is that the right term?) of gestational diabetes is BIG babies, and I'd really like to avoid having another 9 pounder if I can, so I've been trying to follow the diabetic diet. I have a Dr. appt in a few days and hopefully she'll be able to give me a little more guidance. But other than that things are great and we are excited for this little one to get here!

Best Friends

My children have NOT been acting very nice to each other lately, so we decided to have an FHE on why it was important to treat your siblings kindly.  The result.....