it snowed the other day. i was so sad.

i am soooOOOO sick of winter.

thankfully, the snow is melting really fast.

and now we are left with giant puddles to jump in!

this is the card matt picked out for me for valentines day..

it was not what i was expecting when i ripped open the envelope!
but what he wrote inside was very sweet.
i really liked my valentine this year :)


for our sake, i wanted to document a few things about the competition matt was involved in last week.
and lots of people have asked me what it was and i have been brutal at explaining it.
"matt will be competing in a...competition.."
so, for anyone who is curious, i am going to attempt to give a better explanation..


the whole event is hosted by 50 of the most successful construction companies in the US.
and they do the majority of their recruiting at these events, so it's a huge perk to be a part of them.


there are several different categories of competitions. matt's was called 'design-build'.
him and his team of 6 was given a TON of documents describing the requirements for a pretend medical building that they had to design and estimate the cost of.
they had one day to to work and then they had to present their plan to a panel to be scored.
they had to think about every little detail. seriously EVERY detail. 
it boggles my mind how they figured it all out. but somehow they did.
and they ended up scoring really well in the end. yay! 
matt's team met for {what seemed like} a billion hours a week to prepare for this. so i am thrilled that they did so well.


after the competition part of the weekend was over, there was a huge job fair where students had the opportunity to meet/interview with the hosting companies.
our fingers are crossed that matts' charming personality won him an internship for this fall.

this is matt's snazzy trophy:

and this is chet sporting the dragon tattoo matt brought him as a souvenir of reno:

i wasn't thrilled about chet having a dragon tattoo, but i figured that it didn't really matter since no one else would see it.
but.. of course, this had to be the weekend we decide to go swimming!
bad timing.

i need to stop giving chet cereal for breakfast. it's not good for my sanity.

honestly, if i have to clean up one more mess of milk and soggy cheerios off my table/chair/floor/kid, i think i might lose my mind!
if chet wasn't so lovable, i might have already lost it.


this morning, when chet ranked up our living room, we had a 'lovable' moment...
pam: chet are you stinky?
chet: no.
pam: are you sure? it's pretty stinky in here.
chet: bear.
pam: bear pooped?
chet: {handing me bear} poop!


what a silly boy!
it sure is a good thing chet suggested that bear wear a diaper the other day, or that could have been messy.

this is my 200th post!
i wish i had something magical to say for such a monumental post. but i don't.

shoot.

here's to 200 more :)


my mom came down to visit chet and i while matt was away for his competition.
the FIRST thing she said when she arrived was 'chet, you need a haircut!'.
i knew she would say that.
so.. chet got a haircut the very next day.
and it was our most successful haircut yet. chet sat still. and i didn't cry!

my mom kept us busy while she was here. it was just what i needed.
we played lots, shopped lots, and packed my freezer with tasty meals.
chet and i were definitely spoiled while she was here.
thanks for coming, mom. we miss you already. (chet especially misses your ipad!).

soo.. who's our next visitor??

snow.

CHET NEWS..

chet was a total champ with nursery again this week. 2 weeks in a row with out any tears.
yay! we looove nursery.

we officially took away chet's binky on thursday. i have been wanting to get rid of it since...well...the first time we put it in his mouth! i would be lying if i said it wasn't a huge blessing over the past 23 months, but i still couldn't wait to get rid of it. chet is definitely confused when we tuck him in without it, but i really don't think it will be long before he forgets about it completely.
the worst part is that he seems so much less like my baby without it. oh no!

PAM NEWS..

last sunday i was called to be a relief society pianist. matt and i both laughed when the calling was extended. i used to be a good piano player back in high school, but i honestly haven't touched a piano in years. the thought of playing in front on 40 girls is terrifying. i accepted the challenge though, and i have been sneaking my way into the church to practice a bunch this week. today was my debut. it wasn't flawless, but i never stopped playing. stopping is my biggest fear.. it would be so awkward!

it turns out it is really nice to have a talent that i need to work on, so i am actually kind of looking forward to this opportunity now.

MATT NEWS..

despite the fact that he is enrolled in 19.5 credits right now, matt has managed to maintain A's in every one of his classes. i am VERY proud of him. he has been crazy busy with school and with preparing for a competition that he is participating in this weekend. supposedly this competition looks really great on a resume, and there are lots of opportunities to interview with giant construction companies while he is there, so we are hoping that all his hard work will pay off. the competition is in reno. wish him luck!

{while matt is competing his little hiney off, my mom will be here to keep me company. i am very excited to have a visitor.}

TANK NEWS..

tank still thinks of chet as a nuisance. it breaks my heart because chet tries to be so sweet to him. for example, chet is the best dog food re-filler i know. as soon as chet notices that tanks bowl is empty he loves to fill it right back up. sometimes chet will even carry food to tank - one piece at a time - as tank lounges on the couch. it's ridiculous.

this is a picture of tank after chet tucked him in while he was napping.

chet was so please with himself. tank was not!

we met another chet on monday night. for the first time.
he was 4. and was dressed like a country boy. i think he really suited his name.
but it was the weirdest thing hearing people talk to another chet.
they even called him chetters.
they can't do that! chetters is my kids nickname.


chet has really started to become friends with his bear this past month.
the bears name is bear.
why, you ask? well, because he's a bear.
oh yes, now you understand...
chet sleeps with bear. eats with bear. goes on walks with bear.
runs errands with bear. prays with bear. and watches shows with bear.
i like it.

when i was little i had a stuffed dog that i loved to bits. his name was pogo.
matt thinks pogo is a stupid name.
but do you want to hear what matt named his favorite stuffed gorilla?
normal. normal the gorilla.
that's not even a name!