Merry Christmas 2008

Hi Family & Friends!

Welcome to our blog. We want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas! We've had fun tracking some of you down from coast-to-coast, but now that we've found you we hope you'll drop us a line (email us at paul -dot- lacey -at- gmail -dot- com) and fill us in on what's happening in your neck of the woods.

In the meantime, here's a brief update of our family:

We've been living in Las Vegas for almost three years. We just celebrated our 10-year anniversary in Hawaii (It was a wonderful trip - check out our pics below!).

Paul works at TRIRIGA (sorry about the ALL-CAPS - it's a marketing thing), as the Training Manager where he keeps busy teaching classes about TRIRIGA's software. He also keeps busy helping coach Aaron and Jacob's baseball and soccer teams.

Amy is a busy mother of three who is now an official soccer/baseball/PTA mom. In her spare time (i.e., when the kids are busy getting their daily dose of Fetch/Thomas the Tank/Strawberry Shortcake) she likes to compose music. Check out news about her latest project here and other stuff at amybensonlacey.com.







Aaron (7) is in second grade and just finished his first season of baseball. He loves Star Wars, losing teeth, and winning at everything else! He looks forward to getting baptized in March.











Jacob (4) loves preschool, electric guitars, and trains. He's very imaginative and will turn anything into either a fast-moving vehicle or a musical instrument.











Anna (2) is our little whirlwind. She loves princesses, talking, chasing her Bubbas (brothers), and anything PINK. She changes her clothes at least four times per day, requesting everything from a pirate costume, her favorite PJs, one of her dresses, or nothing at all!









At this Christmas season, we're grateful for the birth of our Savior. Christmas also makes us think of our great families and the wonderful friends we've made over the years. We haven't talked to some of you in a while, but we still consider you some of our greatest blessings! Hope to hear from you soon. :-)

The Laceys

Aloha! Pictures from Hawaii

Amy and I decided to celebrate our 10-year anniversary by going to Hawaii. I had never been so I was excited to go see Paradise. We had such a great time! We took the kids, but we couldn't have done it without my darling sister, Natalie. Thanks Nat! We were also hooked up with awesome travel arrangements and accommodations by Aunt Joanne at Cruise and Travel Masters. Thank you!! Check out the slideshow of pictures below.


Some of the highlights:

• Natalie guiding us around the island after she got the tour before we got there
• Lei greeting at the airport
  
• Turtle Bay and watching the surfers ride the HUGE waves on the North Shore
• Shave ice - yum!
• Snorkeling in Hanauma Bay
• Pearl Harbor
• Waikiki on Halloween (VERY interesting people about!)
• Trick-or-Treating with Natalie's friends
• Parasailing!
• Polynesian Cultural Center
• ABC Stores
• Dole Plantation and the Pineapple Express
• The Macadamia nut place
  
• The Rain-that-was-really-just-a-mist
• Playing in the sand
• The Halona Blow Hole
• Sunset on the beach
• Our romantic dinner at sunset at the Hilton Rainbow Lanai
• Hanging out on the deck of our condo listening to Jacob play his Ukelele
• Cheeseburger in Paradise
• Dropping my BlackBerry (yes, AGAIN! But the salt water really did it in this time) in the ocean on the first day so I couldn't be bothered by work the entire week!
  

Up Kind of Day on iTunes and Amazon!

Just an update to the previous post about the new Up Kind of Day album: you can also download the songs from iTunes (http://budurl.com/FLYUPI) or from Amazon (http://budurl.com/FLYUPA), in addition to getting the actual CD from the FlyLady site (http://budurl.com/FLY4).

Also, check out some of the reviews that have been put up so far:

The Finest Children's CD you'll ever hear

... is "Up Kind of Day"! This very talented band of merry muscians
wont fail to enchant kids and their older relatives with every track
of this lively compilation, whose irresistible genres range from samba
to tango... blues to lullaby! Their diverse tempos and the happy,
sometimes touching vocals will charm every little boy and girl, making
magic of what used to be "chores." Don't be surprised if you find
yourself FLYing to them too! A true essential- and a soon-to-be
classic - of children's music.

Susanonymous

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My Favorite Kids' CD

My favorite kids CD! We listen to "Up Kind of Day" every weekday
morning to start our day in a positive, fun way. We listen to the 2
slow songs at the end of the CD every night while starting our bedtime
routine. Great way to start & end your day with your kids. Wonderful
variety of music for kids & adults. Buy this CD for kids 0-12 years -
it will become a new favorite!

J. Molloy

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Up kind of day!

This is just wonderful from the first note to the last! I bought it
for my three year old granddaughter and found out we all LOVE it! It
has a very diverse mix of music. You won't get tired of hearing this CD!

J. Morgan

**************************************

Wonderful tool to help your children (and you fly!)

My daughters and I LOVE this CD. It is fun and upbeat, not cheesy at
all. The music is of the best quality! My daughters love being "flykids!"

Amy H

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Fantastic CD for kids and adults!!,

I got several CD's as Christmas gifts for my nieces and nephews. I
loved the CD so much after hearing the songs that I bought one for
myself! Amy Lacey and crew did such a fantastic job with the up
lifting lyrics.

Emily G.

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For Children of All Ages

I originally bought this for my daughter, who loves the first cd
created by Amy Benson and Marla Cilley, aka Flylady.
Now I've bought one for me and two more for christmas gifts because
the message behind this music is so powerful and true. House and room
BLESSINGS and planning ahead makes life easier and much more FUN!
Don't believe me? Just listen to ToyBox Tango and I bet you will be
cleaning up and "posing like fancy dancers do"!

"FlyBabyM"

*******************************************

Positive, upbeat

My kids are grown and in their twenties. I had heard snippets of this
cd and enjoyed the positive messages and various song genres. None of
the tunes are condescending or babyish. I bought this cd for ME. It
helps me get my chores done without resorting to a "poor me, I have to
do some housework" attitude. I plan to purchase a cd for my niece and
nephew. As a second grade teacher, I give this cd an A+.

Sharyn

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Positive Music with a Great Message!

Honestly I think everyone should buy a copy of this cd adult or child,
but I'm a kid at heart. It's a fantastic cd about life, loving
yourself, helping others and most of all cleaning. You can't place it
in any particular genre, but if you love music you won't be able to
help letting this music set your feet to tapping and your mouth to
singing, or at least humming along. I think it's the best cd I've
purchased in forever!

-M

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A Wonderful Way to Bless your Family

These songs will inspire you as they will your children. I am so glad
these songs are on iTunes so I can pick the appropriate song for the
activity we are doing... it will be so much fun to just click on "Room
Patrol" while we are cleaning for "So Long Dust Samba" while dusting.
I have heard all of these song and they cover all genres of music, I
can't wait to see how my 3 year old reacts to them. If you are like me
and can't stand most music geared toward kids, this one is a winner.

Jackie from Rogersville

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Great job girls!!!

It's Done!!!

After a long 12 months in the works, the Up Kind of Day (formerly known as FlyKids) CD is finally done! Wahoo!! We are SO excited (can you tell?) and extremely happy with how it turned out. Marla has it up for sale on her site at FlyLady.net.

From Up Kind of Day Graphics

Here is the list of songs:

1. Up Kind of Day
2. FLY Kid
3. Rockin' Routines
4. So Long Dust Samba
5. Camp GonnaWannaFLY
6. Boogie
7. Clean Up
8. Room Patrol
9. Toy Box Tango
10. Launch Pad
11. Veggie Blues
12. Good Deed Doer
13. Time to Dream (Mairin's Song)
14. Wings to Fly

Congrats and thanks to Ali, Val, John, and everyone else who did so much to get this put together. We feel like we've just birthed another child. We wish we could send you each a free copy but we're not the ones paying for this one. :-) Hopefully they'll be up on iTunes here shortly where you can download them if you'd prefer.

FlyKids Countdown

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3...

OK, we'll stop there for now, but we ARE getting closer to getting this FlyKids CD done! It feels like we've been running a marathon at a sprinter's pace for over a month but we are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. We're supposed to have all the editing on the vocals wrapped up tomorrow and then they'll be shipped off to Nashville for the final editing. For a preview of the Camp Gonnawannafly song visit the FlyLady MySpace page (be patient, it takes forever for the page to load). Fun stuff!

We're still working on the graphics and will be frantically trying to get them pulled together this week so we can get them ready for the printer about the same time the CDs go for duplication. Here's an early beta of an idea for the logo to be used on the cover:



I just realized that the link I sent to the Lacey side of the family I don't think made it to anyone when we posted the audio site after the first demos were finished back in April. Not sure what happened there, but I'll re-email it to you after we get the site updated with the new MP3s tomorrow.

In the meantime, check out some of the pictures of what we've been up to for the past month or so. They include pictures from here in Vegas, some from our recording session with Eric and Andy Dodge in St. George, and from when we were up in Logan when Amy was working on the vocals up there. Sorry they're not all labeled, but it's way past my bedtime and I need to get some sleep. Click through the slideshow below for a closer look.



Off to bed now...

BlackBerry Float

Next time you go swimming, make sure your cell phone/PDA is NOT on your person when you enter the water. I thought I was going to be footing the bill for a new BlackBerry after what happened a few weeks ago. We were getting ready to go swimming in St. George with the kids and I specifically clipped my phone to the OUTSIDE of my shorts so I wouldn't forget to take it off when we got down to the pool. But Anna was anxious to get in and I was excited to start an early weekend with the fam so the last thing on my mind was to check for some little black gadget hanging from my pocket.

So...after about 2 or 3 minutes I felt this incessant buzzing coming from my left hip. UH OH! I took it out and it was just freaking out: BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ...



Sad, huh? Notice the water level about 1/3 of the way up the screen!

[I should have taken a shot of Amy. I think she was really having a hard time keeping the grin off her face once she realized it was dead. I think she was jealous, though, that she couldn't have been the one to chuck that $%^&@! BlackBerry in the water!]

A closer shot here:



So I took the battery out and left it for dead to dry out. Come Monday morning I stuffed it in my pocket to take to work and see how much I owed. When I pulled it out at my office I noticed the water had drained out. I put the battery back and and much to my surprise it started to boot up!



That T-Mobile logo never looked so good! I guess it wasn't completely dry, though - notice the white/gray shape that somewhat resembles Greenland? That's moisture that was still in the display. It eventually went away after another couple days.

And here it was after it finished booting.



Notice all my data was still in place - look at all the email that I wasn't able to get to over the weekend! And the battery even still had about 30% charge left!!

[When I called Amy she said she was happy that it was working (and that we didn't have to cough up some cash for a new one), but I think deep-down - or maybe just under the surface - I think she was mad that the Berry would be returning home with me that afternoon. :-) ]

Summer home in Alaska, anyone?

Whoo boy! When did someone remove the second half of May and June from the calendar?!? It was 105 - yes One-Oh-Five - degrees here in Vegas today!! Egad. Kristy, you better make room on your couch, 'cause I'm heading up for the summer. :-D You wouldn't mind good 'ole Uncle Paul for a little extended stay, now, would you? It's 11:00 at night and the A/C is blaring full blast - ugh, I don't want to see the power bill. But it looks like "relief" is in sight...


Check out more below for news on last week's fun adventures!

Weekend in Nashville!

Last weekend Amy, Ali, and Valerie got to head to Nashville for the recording of the FlyKids album. Marla Cilley (a.k.a FlyLady) flew them out, along with Eric and Andy Dodge, for a few days of seeing the sights of Music City and a full, long day of recording their follow-up to their first album.



They got there Thursday night and their session wasn't until Saturday so they got to spend much of Friday checking out the Nashville scene, including the Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame, etc. After their session Saturday night they got to see Dierks Bentley (yes BOTH of him!) and Vince Gill perform, as well as Garth Brooks induct Carrie Underwood as a member of the Opry - what a night!

Amy said the recording session was just AMAZING! The session was held at Omni Studios, along with an "A" list of professional musicians. They had listened to the versions of the songs Amy had worked on in Logan back in March and, along with some pages of what would look like chicken scratches to me, they were able to record perfect tracks in pretty much one full take per song. The songs sound SO GOOD! I can't wait for y'all to hear them. They only got the instrumentals done so it'll be back to the studios in Logan, St. George, and probably here in Vegas to get the vocals all finished. Should be fun!

Father & Sons (+ Daughter & Uncle) Outing

This is a week late, but better late than never...

We decided to not feel too sorry for ourselves while Amy was in Nashville last week by heading to the hills. Our ward had our Father & Sons outing up near Mt. Charleston, just about 30 minutes outside of Las Vegas. It was nice to get out away from the busy city life and let the kids get some fresh air. I called Brent last week to see if he would want to come join us and he was great to sacrifice a free flight - and a weekend with Allison - to hang out with us. The kids loved playing and hanging out with Uncle Brent. They even got to go to a baseball game with him, courtesy of Daddy's work!

Phamily Photos

Here are some photos we recently took of the kids, some of which we shared with our Moms on Mother's Day. For those that didn't get some in the mail feel free to click through the slideshow below and look at the individual pics.

Anchovies, anyone?

Confession time: I know we've been a little slack in the blogging department lately. Sorry. I got my sisters going and they're making me look bad! I hear Great Grandma Lacey (Grandma Great, as our kids call her) got a new computer - I'm sure she'll probably be out-posting us here in no time!

We have REALLY enjoyed the weather here the last few weeks. It's been just perfect! I know everyone north of us is probably sick of us rubbing it in (especially a particular sister after getting 17 inches of snow last week - yikes!), but summer will be here soon when Alaska, Idaho, and Montana will be sounding pretty darned good. And if you really are sick of the cold weather I hear that the housing situation down here makes for a great buyer's market. We'd LOVE to have some family join us here in Sin City!

We had a great day yesterday, just enjoying time outside and the chance to get some things done on some of our projects. We took the kids over to the District - an upscale shopping center down the road just a few miles. They just installed a new carousel that the kids have been excited to go ride. There are some pictures in the slide show here:



As for the title of this post...Jacob, for whatever reason, has had an ongoing fascination with anchovies for the past 6 months or so. Not sure where it originated but he's been bugging Amy to get him some for quite awhile now. So during a recent trip to the dollar store, Amy came across some anchovies, just like you'd envision them - in a little tin (or whatever they use now) can. So I'm at work, getting ready to come home from lunch, when I get a call from Jacob: "Dad, WE FOUND SOME ANCHOVIES AT THE STORE!!!" Amy says I better hurry quick - Jacob's ready to break them out.

So I get home and Jacob is ready to go. Of course we have to savor the moment by capturing the moment on film whatever-digital-term-we-use-now-instead.

Anna was game...

From Anchovies!

Jacob couldn't wait to open them.


The Grand Opening:


Once we had them open we thought he'd chicken out and say, "Uh, no thanks!" I could have sworn they had fine little hair all over them. Ugh. :-p


OK, here's where Amy wasn't about to let her precious little 4 year-old dive in and eat some eel without an assurance that it wouldn't kill him - so she made me try one first!


"Hmmm, now THAT'S an interesting gustatory experience!"


I needed to gather every ounce of acting skill that I had so expertly honed during my high school plays to not pull a face and ruin it for Jacob! This is definitely one thing that won't get mistaken for tasting like chicken!


Alright, so now it's Jacob's turn. I'm sure at this point he was thinking, "Now, what did I just get myself into?!"


Here goes!


Down the hatch!


Jacob absolutely loved them!! So much so that he INSISTED that Amy try one, too (much to her dismay). What a sport!


But the GAG REFLEX triumphs!


Undeterred, Jacob downed the entire tin! Mmmmmm.


The dimple doesn't lie! (and if you look closely you'll see the new line of Spaghetti-O's that Jacob developed in the process!)

From Anchovies!, a Picasa album from the Laceys

OK, I think I've officially lost my appetite now. So...on to other things!

Amy is excited to head to Nashville with Ali and Val on Thursday to record the FlyKids album. They'll spend Friday meeting with the session producer and FlyLady, et. al., to discuss their plan. Then they'll do the recording on Saturday and fly back Sunday morning. I'm sure they'll also have opportunities to go see & hear some of the sights and sounds of the Nashville scene while they're there. I'm jealous! But I get a fun consolation prize of being able to take the kids on the Father and Sons (we'll be smuggling Anna in, too - Ssssh, don't tell!) outing this weekend. I reckon next week's post should be fun. :-)

Happy Birthday Jacob!

First of all, Happy Birthday to Jacob - our sweet, fun four year-old!!! Jacob had such a great day, eating gumballs from his new gumball machine, playing with his new Thomas the Tank Engine trains, and going to Red Robin (his favorite place to eat). He had his big party with friends at Chuck E. Cheese's on Saturday, and then a smaller one with our family and a couple friends tonight. He just had a great big grin that showed off his dimple all day long.





Dad Benson and Nate just showed up so we're excited to have them here while they're in town cheering on the Cougars in the Mountain West basketball tournament. We're also excited to have Natalie and Jared (I sure HOPE I got his name right!) come visit this weekend, too. He's definitely scoring initial points by being a big Cougar fan!

Amy's been frantically working on arrangements for the new FlyLady "FlyKids" CD that she, Ali, and Valerie have been putting together. She just got the go-ahead from Marla (the FlyLady), who is very excited about it. You'll have to hear how excited Marla was about it by downloading yesterday's episode of the "Now is the Time" radio show at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nowisthetime/feed (if you have iTunes installed clicking on the link will subscribe to the radio blog). It's going to be SO fun. We're heading up to Logan next week so Amy can start putting together some arrangements, etc. for the songs.

We're loving the weather here right now: sunny and 70 degrees - aahhh! Wish you were all here to enjoy it!

Here are some pictures from Aaron's Robin Hood play he was in two weeks ago with the Missoula Children's Theater. He was a skunk and had a lot of fun.



We hope you are all doing well. Tammy, sorry about the mice - that's crazy! Take care all!

Love,
The Las Vegas Laceys

Calling Obi Wan

OK, just had to share this. I just found the cool Star Wars hologram effect for our camera on our computer. Aaron and Jacob tested it out while acting out a scene from Episode II or III (I can't remember, Aaron remembered it from playing Lego Star Wars).

Fun at Legoland!

Here are some pictures we took while at Legoland. We had a fun time and were so glad Aunt Natalie could join us. Thanks Nat!

Raining in Vegas

Hi Family and Friends,


It's actually been RAINING here in Las Vegas - Amazing! It was nice to fall asleep the other night to the melodic sound of rain on the roof.

The boys had a good time last Saturday riding their bikes at the park. Aaron was excited to ditch the training wheels that he had loathed for the past few months on his bike (we just hadn't taken the time to get him to an open space to try it out). He took like a duck to water, after after just a few "splashes," was up and going on his own. Jacob was keeping right up with him on his little bike. He's about worn it out riding it in the house across the tile floor. Anna's still spunky as ever and won't let her "bubbas" do anything without her jumping right in, too.






We were sad to hear of President Hinckley's passing, but we're sure he's enjoying his happy reunion with his dear Marjorie on the other side.

We hope you are all doing well. Take care and write back!

The Las Vegas Laceys