MNKL

The $23,000 Surgery...and then some

2012-01-12T15:12:00.000-08:00

A week before Christmas I had my gall bladder removed. I had been having pain below my shoulder blade and under my rib cage on and off for about a year. Around August I started having pain when I ate certain foods and by Thanksgiving I had pain when I exercised or sat for long. I went to the doctor who did an ultra-sound and found several gall stones.

Ten days before Christmas I met with the surgeon who said my gall bladder needed to come out. I could either do it a week before Christmas or two days before. I opted for a week before hoping I would be in good shape for the holiday season. I spent the following week getting everything done before my surgery. I wrapped gifts, made and mailed Christmas cards, baked 12 loaves of dill bread and delivered them to our friends, cleaned the house from top to bottom, did the laundry, bought food for the family and my post-operation, and packed bags for myself and our girls who went to bahmah's for a few days during the surgery.

The surgery was scheduled for 1pm on a Friday, not my ideal choice but what I had to do. We arrived at the hospital at 11am for check-in and blood work. I had to do it at the hospital instead of the out-patient clinic because our family has a history of bad reactions to anesthesia. My grandmother died on the operating table at 35 due to anesthesia and my mom's heart stopped beating the first time she had anesthesia. Every since then she always has a hard time waking up and throws up for hours after.

The surgery went well and the doctor told M I had a large healthy liver. He also said my fascia was very strong and didn't look at all like he would expect for someone diagnosed with Marfan's. I was supposed to be awake 30 minutes later but it took over two hours for me to wake up from the anesthesia and when I did I was VERY nauseous. We finally were able to leave the hospital about 9pm.

The surgery was done laparoscopically. They went in through my belly button and made three other incisions on my belly. I was in a lot of pain and had a hard time moving after the surgery so I took the pain meds they gave me for a few days. My aunt picked up our girls from bahmah on day two after my surgery and brought them down. She stayed with us for five days which was an amazing help. She played with the girls, made crafts with them, fed me and entertained me when I was up for it. M was a great help too, except for when he was making me laugh, which was very painful!

By the time a week went by, I was feeling good enough to go to Bahmah's for Christmas. We had a wonderful time visiting and I got to spend most of it on the couch putting puzzles together. My mom-in-law made a wonderful dinner Christmas Eve and my sis-in-law made a tasty dinner on Christmas Day. We all got lots of great gifts and the boys helped Bahmah move the wood stove from her old shop into her new wood-working shop. Ignore the face my hubby is making in this picture. It's the only one that had everyone all together in it.
The day after Christmas we headed to my aunts house to have Christmas with them. We had a wonderful time and got great gifts. I don't have a picture of all of us together so here is a picture of what M made for my cousin. It was so cool. I bet you wish you had one, right?
Then we came home to celebrate our own Christmas. The girls loved their gifts from Santa Claus and from us. I will have to post a video of K with her gift from Santa, it's very cute.

K made these for us at school. One is a camping list for M and one is a
grocery list for me. She made the animals for M to use as target
practice with his gun. Both the girls made me these pretty bracelets.

L got new bedding for her big girl bed (a post to come)
and a lamp which she has been begging for.

K got the Magic Tree House series, which she loves, and some games.

I recently went in for my post-op appointment with the doctor who said all looks good. He took off my steri-strips and the incisions look really good. I am guessing in a couple more weeks you won't even know I had surgery. He told me I only have 6 more weeks of a low-fat diet and no lifting over 15 pounds or exercising. Eating low-fat has been hard and annoying. All tasty food has fat in it and I get none, so sad. But I did get back a couple of the gall stones that were removed.
These were the small ones he took out; I had much larger ones. He said I should be proud. I received the hospital bill this past week and it was a doozie! Makes me glad we have medical insurance, though we still will have to pay 30% of it. I haven't even gotten the bill for the surgeon yet; I'm sure it won't be cheap. I definitely don't like how much they charge for medical procedures but it beats Obama-care. I'd still be on the waiting list if we had that kind of system.

So that's what we have been up to for the past month. Now I am counting down the days until I can start enjoying food again. I'll let you know when the big day arrives:)

Gingerbread Houses

2011-12-13T15:40:00.000-08:00

Before we had kids we had all the time in the world. With that time we were able to create this master piece one year during Christmas. It took us about two weeks to do, working several hours each night. M and I had a lot of fun doing it and thought it would be fun to make a lighthouse one year. However, I was 6 months pregnant when we made this house and we have not had the time to make another in the past 7 years.

M put a hole in the bottom of the board and wired up a light
so our stained glass windows would shine at night.

Our snowman family.

Which brings us to this little beauty. M and I helped the girls to create this house last night. We all had a lot of fun and the girls ate WAY too much candy but it turned out pretty cute. M and I still have dreams of making a lighthouse one day, but it will probably have to wait until our girls are much older and can help out in a different way. Until then, it's fun to make things like this with them.

Do You Believe?

2011-12-12T11:05:00.001-08:00

Auntie and I took the girls on a magical journey aboard the Polar Express to see Santa and his elves at his workshop. On our way to the station the girls watched the movie Polar Express so it would be fresh in their minds. When we arrived at the train station we didn't have to wait long before the conductor checked our tickets and loaded us into our car.

We sat in the Upper Dome so we could see everything and we received a special mug we got to keep. Once the train got going, everyone received hot chocolate and a ginger cookie. The ride was very pretty twisting through trees and over rivers. At one point we had to stop because there were caribou on the tracks. We ended up taking a switch-back to get to our destination.

Here is the conductor punching the girls tickets.

We finally made it to Santa's workshop; I was on the wrong side of the train so I didn't get any pictures. We saw Santa's elves and the train stopped so they could come aboard along with Santa.
K was very concerned that there was no snow at the North Pole. She kept asking where it was and if we were really at the North Pole. I told her to talk to Santa about it but she decided to ask the elf instead. The elf told her it was a little warm that day but it would snow by Christmas. That girl is too smart for her own good sometimes. I have a feeling she won't be a believer for much longer.

Here is K telling Santa she wants a T-rex toy that can
open it's mouth and walk around by pushing buttons on it's back.

L told Santa she wanted a Strawberry Shortcake Toy.
I was impressed that girls were so open and comfortable with
Santa. That has never happened before.

Santa gave each child a special bell.
The girls love their bells and rang them most of the day.

Here is the tramp who joined us on the train.
He was quite funny. He talked very fast and slurred his words.

All of us on our magical journey.
It was a lot of fun and the girls were well behaved.

When we got off the train we got a photo with all the elves and another one with Santa. It was so much fun. I definitely recommend doing this with your young kids. Don't wait until they are too old, they may spend more time questioning it then experiencing it:)

A Sad Sight

2011-12-05T10:52:00.000-08:00

I went downstairs this morning to make the girls breakfast and this is the sight that greeted me. It was much worse than this picture looks; there was glass strewn more than five feet out from the tree. In my distraught state, I didn't think to take a picture until after we had picked up most of the glass and fallen ornaments. Even my acrylic snowman broke. The only things that survived were the stuffed ornaments, the plastic candy canes, and the metal ornaments.
Here is a picture of my favorite glass nativity ornament shattered into many pieces along with some glass from the hand blown ornaments I got our family the year before last.

What's left of the hand blown ornaments that were destroyed beyond repair. One for each of us that I bought the year before last. We had hung them up high on the tree so curious hands wouldn't break them, which only insured their shattered fate when the tree fell and they took the hardest impact.

I know it's just a tree but every year we pick out special ornaments for our girls that signify something they really like or an accomplishment for that year and give it to the them. My parents do this too. So to see them broken is very upsetting for me, they are ones I can't replace. Luckily the ornaments from my parents were able to be repaired by my husband as were most of my snowmen.

To end this post on a happy note, here are some pictures of the girls decorating our tree last night. I never did get a picture of the completed tree. Guess we will have to try again tonight after the glue dries.

K and L in their new jammies.

L putting on one of her ornaments.

K carefully hanging one of her ornaments.

Almost done with the tree.

L trying to put on the angel.

K tried to put on the angel too, but it was tricky.

Giving Thanks

2011-11-29T21:52:00.001-08:00

We got double the dinner this year. We started off at Bahmah's house on Monday night where we were greeted with a very tasty dinner. I forgot to bring in the camera so I missed the layout:( But it was wonderful. After dinner we indulged in some Italian Cream Cake and pumpkin pie. Oh, so yummy.
On Wednesday I went to my aunt's house to help create our Thanksgiving feast. M and the girls met us there Thanksgiving morning and we ate about 1pm. I ate entirely too much food but it was equally delicious!
Here are some pictures of the family and the tasty spread. Sorry for the blurriness. I still haven't gotten the hang of our new camera.

The sideboard had deviled eggs, rolls, and fruit salad.
We also set Tommy Turkey there that the girls made.

On the main table we had turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, tex mex corn, jellied cranberry sauce, and candied yams (which aren't really yams at all).
What we call yams are really sweet potatoes. Yams grow in Africa and grow to be 7 feet long and weigh 150 pounds. They have a dark brown bark-like skin and are grainy on the inside. Sweet potatoes range from white to yellow and orange skinned and are potato-like inside. Did you learn something new?

Pictures of my wonderful family. We had a great time stuffing ourselves
and talking about all the things we are thankful for.

After dinner the menfolk cleaned dishes while the womenfolk
packed up the leftovers. Then we enjoyed some pumpkin and apple pie.

My aunt sent us home with lots of leftovers but they only lasted a day. Anyone else ready to do Thanksgiving again? I sure do love those tasty dishes!

Breaking Dawn with the Girls

2011-11-19T10:04:00.000-08:00

So Thursday night was the Breaking Dawn Part 1 opening night at the box office. I joined 16 of my friends for a pre-Breaking Dawn party. One of our sweetest friends even flew in for a 16 hour layover on her way home from Nashville to surprise us and join the festivities. We were so excited to see her. We had a taco bar and ice cream bar for dinner while enjoying each others company before heading over to the theater.
We stood in line outside in the pouring rain for about 45 minutes before the line moved enough forward that we could stand inside. Luckily some of us brought huge umbrellas that kept all of us dry. Once inside we stood in the hallway for another hour and a half before being seated in the third row from the front of the theater. It was so close but we were happy to finally be sitting down. We visited and got snacks while waiting the final hour before the movie started.
This was by far the best movie in the series. They did a great job and the actors have improved immensely. I didn't find myself laughing or poking fun at any of the movie this time. It left me wanting more but we have to wait a full year before the final movie is released.
All of us moms drug out of the theater and arrived home by 3:30 am. Friday was a very hard day. I was planning on going back to bed after getting the kids off to school but by then I was no longer tired. Running all day on barely four hours of sleep was hard but I made it. K had a practice at church this morning for our Primary Program and all the moms that went still look exhausted but we all agree it was totally worth it and so much fun. Gotta love Girls Night Out!

Here is a picture of some of us girls.

Here's our whole group. I love these girls!

End of Another Season

2011-11-07T19:47:00.000-08:00

Wednesday was K's soccer party at Putter's where they kids received their trophies. Her coach, McKenzie, said K was the Princess of Strategy when it came to defense. She got out there and blocked the other team from making goals.

Saturday was our final game of the season. Thank goodness! It has been a very long season this time around and the last few games have been chilly to sit through. It was 47 degrees and raining on Saturday. Bahmah came to see the game which pleased K greatly.

K made a great block at the end of the

game when the other team tried to score.

Here is a picture of Coach McKenzie, Coach Garrett
and the team. It was a HUGE team this season.

Now that soccer is over the girls are taking swim lessons. It should get us through the winter before starting up the spring session of soccer once again. At least we will be inside and warm:)

Halloween Festivities

2011-11-02T09:45:00.001-07:00

Every year my wonderful mother-in-law makes adorable costumes for my girls to wear at Halloween. This year she made gypsy costumes and they are awesome! The girls wore them to school parties, our ward trunk or treat, and out trick or treating too. Now they will head into our beautiful dress up wardrobe, also made by my m-i-l.
Here are some pictures of L modeling the costume front, side and back. Isn't it adorable?

And here she is heading out the door to her preschool Fall Harvest party on Friday. They had cookies and juice after going trick or treating through the school house. They also painted bats and pumpkins.
Here is K in her costume before heading to Trunk or Treat at our ward. This year we had hot dogs for the kids and chili for the adults outside in the parking lot. There was also ice cream cones for everyone. Inside the building were a couple of activities for the kids. They could put their hands inside of jack-o-lanterns and guess what was inside. One had guts (spaghetti) and the other one had eyeballs (olives). There was also musical chairs set up but the youth weren't ready to do it when we were there. After eating we went around to each trunk and got candy. The girls got a ton. When we go home I had them pick out 10 of their favorite pieces and put the rest in the candy bowl for trick or treaters Monday night.

On Saturday we went downtown to see all the pumpkins people set up along Broadway. There were hundreds of pumpkins and a lot of them were pretty cool. There was a guy with a HUGE pumpkin carving it. He said it would only take a few hours to carve his masterpiece but if he carved the same thing out of wood it would take months.

K is really into dinosaurs so she loved
this pumpkin with the Stegosaurus.

I would have loved to see the end product.

We thought this display from our local hospital was quite ingenious.
I love the open skull showing the brain and the one with the skull wound.

Anyone remember the California Raisins?

After looking at the display, we stopped at VooDoo Donuts.
I wasn't very impressed with their donuts but it was fun for the girls.

On Halloween we invited our good friends over for dinner and
trick or treating. I think it has become a tradition by now.
This is our fourth year doing it together. Aren't those kids adorable?
Two Gypsies, Rapunzel, and Cap'n Jack Sparrow.

Here is one of the houses in our neighborhood.
You can barely make out the girls at the door.
This was another cool house in the neighborhood.
It was a little spooky for L but she was fine with Daddy by her side.

Gymnastics

2011-10-31T12:32:00.001-07:00

L finished her gymnastics class last week. She was in it with seven other 3 year old children and had a wonderful time. She did a good job of listening to Ms Katia and staying on task. She really enjoyed it so we plan to sign her up through a local gymnastics place. Here are some videos of her over the weeks.

A Quiet Birthday

2011-10-29T12:25:00.001-07:00

Thursday was M's birthday. He hates to make a big deal out of his birthday and would prefer we treat it like any other day. I have a hard time with that so I always find some way to celebrate it. This year we went more low-key. The girls made cards for him and we wrapped his gifts in a blanket and a shopping bag. He seemed happy with it.
We got him some target clays and a bluing kit. After opening his gifts we headed to Roadhouse for a nice dinner using a great coupon ($10 off an order of $20 or more). No dessert though because earlier in the day I dropped off a dozen donuts at his work and he had three. He was still over-sugared by dinner time.

Dance Recital

2011-10-28T16:29:00.000-07:00

I signed L up for dance class through our local parks and rec center. She attended classes once a week for 5 weeks lasting 30 minutes and learned both tap and ballet. Here are a couple of videos at her dance recital last week.

At the end of their last dance they were to go get their daddy or mommy and dance with them. Here are a few pictures with her daddy.

Here she is with her teach.

Here she is doing some ballet pose.
Not sure which one.

She enjoyed the dance class but said she liked gymnastics better. I think she does better at free style dance than at choreographed dancing. I will have to find the video of her dancing to music in our living room, it's really cute.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-20T16:00:00.000-07:00

My girls each got to go on a field trip to the pumpkin patch at school. L went with her preschool and picked out a cute little pumpkin after going on a bumpy hay ride. I was unable to go with her because of a conflicting appointment, so I took some pictures of her with her prize pumpkin when she got home.

K's trip was this week and I was able to chaperon. There were three first grade classes with a total of 90 kids on this trip but it was pretty well organized. We went to a local farm where they taught us about apples before getting to sample one off the tree. We had Golden Delicious and they were tasty.

After eating our apples we put the cores into wooden boxes which are later fed to the cows and then we went in search of the perfect pumpkin. K found hers pretty quickly and then helped her friend, Hannah find one for herself.

The teachers had a little schedule all made up that told the classes where to go and for how long so it wasn't so chaotic. Our agenda was a class picture followed by apple cider and then playing in the hay maze. It was a fun afternoon but I was happy to get back to the school after riding on the bus. It always makes me so sick when I ride on that thing, I don't know how I survived when I was a kid.

Facebook Junkie

2011-10-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

Hello, my name is N and I am an addict. I first joined facebook three years ago when a friend invited me to play a game on it with her. It was a fun way to waste time while my three year old had quite time and my baby slept. From there it slowly bloomed into a way to stay connected with far away friends and family as well as close ones. Then I started adding pages. Coupon website pages, crafting blog pages, scrapbooking pages, etc. It's a great way to stay updated on things I am interested in, but the time it takes is incredible!

Lately I have realized that I am a total junkie. There are times when I want to look up something or send off a quick email but I stop off at facebook first. After realizing an hour has passed since I sat down, I quickly power off the computer forgetting to take care of the item I originally got online to do. There are days when I am checking facebook all day long, only leaving my seat to feed the kids or run them to school. It has become completely ridiculous and I definitely don't have the extra time for this these days. On the days where I don't even pull out my laptop, I get so much done. However, when I get online the next day it takes twice as long to catch up on all the posts.

My husband recommended only going online for 10 minutes at a time, but COME ON!! I can barely get through the first page of posts in that time. So then I tried just looking at my close friends posts and the coupon posts. That has been better but I feel guilty for not reading all of my "friends" comments. I have thought of deleting people who aren't really my friends, but everyone on my account is someone I deal with at church or an old friend whom I like to keep updated with on their life. There are some of my friends who are seldom on facebook or not at all and they get along fine. I hear all about how they are doing when I see them at church or on girls nights out.

So now I wonder if I should just get off facebook altogether. The new layout helps push me in that direction because I really don't like it. It was much easier and more simple to navigate the old way, but alas, there is nothing I can do about that. So tell me, am I the only one that feels like a junkie? What are your thoughts?

Free Time? What's That?!!?

2011-10-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

I thought for sure once school started and we got on a schedule I would have more time to get things done. However, now I am busier than ever and have had no time to update my blog or any of the other things I wanted to get done. Here are a few of the things we have been busy doing in the past month or so.

My hubby and I got away for an afternoon to do some target shooting. It has been way too long since I went and we ended up staying out for four hours having a great time.

We shot shotgun shells off of bowling pins.

And shot other target.

K has started up the fall season of soccer and has had four games so far. She started out kind of rough but is getting the hang of it again and is really going for the ball at times. Other times she seems happy just to chase the ball down but doesn't kick it once she is there. She has great potential and is a fast runner but isn't as driven as some of the kids on her team. As long as she is having a good time, I try not to care. I don't want her playing soccer in high school anyway, so I'm not pushing her too hard in this sport. It's just a way for her to get out and learn to play as a team and have fun. Here are some of our best shots of her during the games.

We have been canning fruits and veggies from our garden and the local farms. We love canning stuff to stock up for the winter months. We canned 15 quarts of salsa, 5 quarts of tomato juice which we use as a base in soups, and 7 quarts of homemade spaghetti sauce all of which came from our garden. We also canned 9 quarts of homemade chili and 9 quarts of peach pie filling. After all that, we dehydrated 24 pounds of pears which filled 6 quart jars. My girls eat the pears like candy. It's a healthy and tasty treat.

Our first crop of tomatoes.

Our second and third crops.

We also bought 30 pounds of bacon from Zaycon foods for $2.89 per pound. If you haven't heard of them, you need to check them out. They have amazing deals on meat and produce. We also have ordered 120 pounds of 100% natural chicken with no added hormones, additives, or artificial ingredients for $1.49 a pound. All of their meat comes to you fresh from the processor. You just divide it up the way you want and then freeze it. We will can 40 pounds and freeze the rest. MMM, look at all that bacon...

We also took a trip to Bahmah's house last weekend. The girls go pretty much once a month but we seldom do it any more and thought it would be fun for a weekend getaway. We listened to Uncle Luke play football online at Pamona College. He is their quarterback and he was amazing! We also played games and rode bikes. It was nice to hang out with my wonderful mom-in-law and relax.

These are just the things that have been filling our weekends. During the week I am running my girls to school, dance class, gymnastics, and soccer practice. I go to the gym while my youngest is at preschool on Mondays and Wednesdays, while on Tuesdays I just take her with me while I attend a power class. On Fridays I help out in K's classroom at school while L is in preschool.
I have about 2 hours every afternoon after L's preschool and extra curricular activities to play with her, plan dinner and get chores around the house done. Then I am off to school to pick up 6 kids and drive them home. We eat dinner around 4 and then it's family time, baths, homework and bedtime rituals.
This doesn't include the time I use to do my very busy calling at church or the weekly church meetings I attend. I have been falling into bed exhausted every night at 9 or 10 for the past month. It's great that I am sleeping better, but not so great that I am unable to get everything done I want to get done. I keep hearing there is a time and season for everything. Unfortunately, I want to get it all done RIGHT NOW!! But hey, at least I am finally updating my blog, right?

A Body of Power

2011-09-13T18:21:00.000-07:00

I have never been good at going to the gym. In years past I have joined a gym on two separate occasions. Each time I showed up to sign a contract, pay my year's dues, have a walk through with a trainer and was never seen again. Even when I worked at Curves I seldom used the equipment, usually only when I was training a new member whom typically never came back. The gym seems to be quite the money racket.

Anyway, my neighbor has been hounding me for over a year to join her gym promising me she would make me go and I would have fun. I finally decided to give it a chance and got a three month trial membership in August. I have been going three to four days a week ever since, which is amazing since the trainer tried to kill me on my first day there. Not really, it just felt like it since I was in total body pain for five days following the work out. Seriously, I could hardly move any of my appendages and my muscles hurt to even touch them.

But go back I did and I'm grateful for it. They have a Power class that I LOVE! It is an all over workout and you feel great after you finish the class... because you survived! I have also been using the treadmill, elliptical machine and various other weight machines on my off days.

I am hoping with all this extra exercise the last of my baby weight I want to come off will do so quickly. According to my trainer it would happen sooner if I cut out all sweets but that is NOT going to happen. I have cut out sweets before and found myself eating a whole container of ice cream followed by a baker's dozen of donuts. Not exactly the best way to lose and keep off the fat. I see nothing wrong with eating, in moderation, the things that I like to eat.

My trainer says I don't have a lot to lose. However what I do have to lose is all centrally located in my mid-section. Once I get that area in shape I just need keep it that way. I am hoping to cut back on my exercise once I get to the size I am shooting for, but we will see. I am just glad I joined the gym and have great friends who push to keep me there. It's amazing the things we can accomplish with just a little bit of encouragement from our friends.

First Day of Preschool

2011-09-09T12:14:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday L met her teachers at preschool. She was a little nervous at first but when it was time to go she gave them each a huge hug goodbye. Today she went back for her first day and she loved it. She went straight to the play-dough table and played happily there until I was ready to leave. She was fine letting me go and happy to see me when I returned to pick her up. Her only complaint was that she couldn't play on the big kids playground. I completely understand her frustration since she is the size of a first grader but I explained that the other kids were too little to safely play on it so she would have to be content playing on the small playground. She wasn't happy with that answer so we will see if this is a source of contention in the future.

As you can tell from this picture, L is very animated. She has quite the personality to go along with it. I love her to pieces and can hardly believe she is in preschool already. I hope it is as good of an experience as it was for her older sister. Her class is huge! She generally has a hard time with large groups of kids around. It will be interesting to see how she grows and changes through the coming year.

First of First

2011-09-06T19:48:00.000-07:00

K started her first day of first grade today. She started at a new school this year from last year after our transfer request got approved. We are both so excited! This is a newer and better school with lots of advanced classes for reading and math. She is already reading at a third grade level so this will help her to continue improving in this area. She also knows three of the kids in her class already. One from church, one from preschool, and one from her soccer team. Here are a few pictures we took before school started.

When we got to school, we put all of her supplies in a sack with her name on them and then she found her seat. She was excited to see the workbook on her desk. It was one similar to the ones she did at her old school.

When she came home from school she was so excited to tell me all about how great her first day was. She said there are toys to play with when it is rainy outside. She gets to go to the library and check out books every week. She gets to have time each day to talk to her desk neighbors and get to know them.
She ate lunch today and thought it was so cool she could pick out whatever she wanted to eat. She chose macaroni, kidney beans, carrots, cucumbers, orange slices, and chocolate milk. She made a some new friends and likes this school much better than her old one. I think it's going to be a great year!

Labor Day BBQ

2011-09-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

Every year at this time we invite a few of our closest friends over for a BBQ. We all used to be in the same ward but are now in three different ones. We seldom see each other any more, but when we do, we always pick up where we left off before. What more could you ask for in true friends? It is so fun to hear what has happened since we last met and see how much the kids have grown. I am always amazed how well they play together and how they also pick up their friendships as if they had just seen each other last week. I hope we are able to continue this tradition well into the future.
This year it was hot, sunny, and the day before school started. M decided to go hunting with some guys from our ward that morning and when he got back he started up the grill. We had hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, fruit salad, chips, and snicker brownie trifle.
As usual, I didn't get any pictures of the food or us eating it but M got some pictures of the kids playing in the back yard. We had a great time and ate way too much food. Here's to another great BBQ!

Me relaxing and visiting while enjoying the a/c.

Liz and Jeff

Becky, Randy, and their baby girl.

Kiddos laying in the sun after playing in the pool.

Playing with the teeter-totter.

A Weekend with Family

2011-09-04T18:44:00.000-07:00

We have been so busy around here which is why there have been no posts for a couple of weeks. I am hoping with school starting I will have more time. Looking at the calendar in the coming weeks it's doubtful but I am going to try to catch up so stop by back by to see what has been keeping us so busy. Until then, here is our trip to the coast the last weekend in August.

My in-laws, my sister-in-law and her family, my other sister-in-law, and my family all went to Newport for the weekend. It was great seeing all the family, especially M's sister and her family who flew in from Connecticut. We stayed in an amazing house right on the beach in Newport. It used to be a bed and breakfast so there were three master bedrooms, one regular bedroom with a bathroom outside the door, two kitchens and three living rooms. There was lots of space for us to spread out. Grandma played hide and seek with the kids for a couple hours the first night we arrived. Here is a picture of the back of the house from the beach.
On Saturday we headed down to Otter Rock so the boys could do some boogie boarding. Tom's 49th birthday was that day and to celebrate he boogie boarded for the first time ever. He did a great job! His son, Quinn also gave it a try. I am always amazed that people surf in this frigid water.

K and Quinn were inseparable the entire weekend. They are two years apart in age and are very similar in intelligence and personality.
There was a paddle board race that morning from Otter Rock to Nye Beach. Here is a picture of some of those participating in the race.
Later in the afternoon, Grandma made a fire and roasted wienies for the kids. They loved the dogs and each had two or three.

Here is Quinn, K, L, and Nate. Nate is two years older than L. They also tagged along together and have similar personalities.

Here is M with his big sister Corina.
It was great seeing her and catching up. It's been three
years since the last time we saw each other.

We went out to dinner at The Chowder Bowl and they had very tasty
fish and chips. L was so tired she slept through most of dinner.
Grandpa was giddy with excitement because we didn't have to wait for
a table but not 10 minutes after we were seated there was a line
out the door and down the sidewalk to get in for dinner.

After dinner we went for a walk down to the bay front.
There were a lot of sea lions in the harbor. Apparently they try to
get them to go into the cage which they then take out to sea to drop
off the sea lions. They always end up back in the harbor though.

Aren't these two cute? K really missed him after we left.

On Sunday we went to the aquarium. I am not going to show a lot of pictures of this since I have already posted some this year. I will only show you the super cute or interesting ones.

I liked this one of Kendra with the fish.

L looking super grown up.

Here is a picture of the whole family, minus Luke, my brother-in-law.
He was at college for football practice, we missed him.

Saying our final goodbyes before heading our separate ways.
Hopefully we won't wait another three years before we get to see
each other again. Thanks for a wonderful weekend!

A Day at the Fair

2011-08-21T19:59:00.000-07:00

K and I met up with some friends at the county fair this Saturday. We were going to go as a family but after L through a huge tantrum we decided to leave her at home with dad. It was probably for the best anyway, M hates crowds and we had a great time together.
We started out watching freestyle motor cross. It was similar to the one we saw at the rodeo, but the riders were working in a much smaller area. Some of the things they did scared us and we were surprised they were able to pull them off. At the end of the show they did a train of back flips. If one of them messed up, they all would have crashed. It was amazing! We could have stuck around to get autographs and pictures, but the kids were anxious to go on some rides.
K and I went on the Ferris wheel first. I am so afraid of heights, but I did it for her and she loved it. There was a pretty good view from the top and she kept commenting on how pretty it was. After that she went on some kiddie rides with her friends.

When our tickets were all gone for rides, we let the kids play one game. The game they chose was simple. You pick a duck out of a pool of water and you get the size prize that is written on the bottom of the duck. K was lucky and pulled out a duck with L on the bottom. She picked out this cute lemur which she named Lemey the Lemur.
There was a kiddie area we took them to so we could rest while they played. There were musical instruments, hula hoops, bean bag toss, golf, ring toss, building blocks, a huge puzzle map, and a tunnel to crawl through. G and K had fun trying to hula hoop. There was one boy there who kept three hoops going at once, I was quite impressed. I have never been able to hula hoop, not even on Wii Sports.

I loved how they took old items and turned them into instruments. The water jugs made great sounding drums and so did the tubes. Have you ever thought of doing something like this Sue?

This year there was a jungle to explore. It was dark, hot and humid inside with lots of animals from the rain forest to look at. There was also a show for the kids. The parrot was entertaining as was the capuchin monkey, though after hearing about their traits I would never want either for a pet. Apparently parrots screech for an hour every morning when they wake up and monkeys like to pee on anything they like to mark it as their own. Not endearing traits of an in house pet.
There was also a tarantula that they let two little kids hold. I was horrified and had a hard time not fleeing the scene. Before she brought it out she asked for volunteers to hold a cute furry animal. Apparently tarantulas are light as a feather and have soft furry legs. But you could never EVER get me to hold one. I was so glad it wasn't my daughter, though she was disappointed she wasn't called on stage to hold it. I suppose it's good my arachnophobia isn't rubbing off on her.

In the afternoon after checking out the farm animals and having an elephant ear, we watched the BMX bike show. These guys were amazing! I think I have more respect for them then the motor cross dudes because they have only their muscles to get them up a ramp fast enough to do flips and stunts in the air, still landing safely on the other side.
The guy on the left rode a bike up a 5 foot ramp and was able to do tricks at the top before landing on the other side. At one point they asked for a tall volunteer from the audience to stand on top of the ramp and let Jared ride over him. Liz looked at me and I said, NO WAY!! Some guy volunteered and I watched in amazement as he stood there like a statue staring down this guy riding his bike toward and over him. It was AWESOME! We got autographs and a picture with the kids afterward. The guy in the middle did stunts on a skate board and the guy on the end is 39 and was doing great stunts on the half pike.
Before we left the kids participated in a pedal tractor pull. K had to pull 15 pounds across the stage. She was able to pull it 13 feet, she did amazing!
We had a great day at the fair. Thanks for inviting us, Liz. Maybe next year the WHOLE family can participate. By the way, this was much cheaper than Old Fashioned Days. It was only $5 dollars a person to get into the fair, but we had two free passes from a friend. The only other thing we paid to do was rides and food. The rides were .50 cents a ticket and only 5-7 tickets a ride as opposed to 1.25 per ticket and 5 tickets to ride. We paid 20 dollars for 40 tickets which gave us 5 rides and a game to play. The food was pretty inexpensive and there was an abundance to choose from. Definitely more bang for you buck.

Water, Animals, and Glass with a View

2011-08-16T12:33:00.001-07:00

We went on vacation to Washington this year to play and see some sites. I haven't really been to Washington before unless you count the KISS concert I went to when I was 20, which I don't. So after talking about it for the past year with M, we finally decided to take a trip up there.
I asked some friends on FB about things to do and we made travel plans. Our first stop was Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound. If we knew it was going to be so fun, we would have made it our last stop on the trip instead of the first. I definitely recommend taking a trip here, the resort is nice and only guests of the lodge can go to the water park, which means short or no lines for the rides. Plus, it's an indoor park so it is warm all day and you don't need sunscreen.
The girls were both tall enough to go on all the rides except one, which was one I didn't want to go on anyway. There is a kiddie area, some water slides, some water tubes, a swimming pool, and a HUGE wave pool.

The Lodge has lots of other things to do,
but we only left the water park to sleep and eat.

Here is the outside part of the park. The water is really hot so you
don't get cold playing. The girls liked the
water coming out of the ground and played in it for an hour.

Here we are coming down the water slides. They were fast and the water was less than 6 inches deep so little kids could go down without any problem.

L going down the slide in the kiddie pool area. She loved this area and spent most of her time here with one of us. She really liked the "water bikes" and spent hours playing on them.

We all enjoyed the big water slides. You were required to take a raft down the tubes and they could hold 2-6 people depending on the slide. They went super fast and the girls screamed with excitement every time we went down, me included:)

In the middle of the park is a tower with a huge bucket on top. When it fills up, it pours out and soaks anyone standing near by. It empties about every 10 minutes.

We were able to up grade our room to a Kiddie Cabin for cheap.
It was really cute and the girls thought the bunk beds were cool.

Olympia, Washtington
On our way to Tacoma, we stopped in Olympia when I saw the capital building peeking through some trees. I love architecture and am always willing to stop and get a closer look. I have never been interested in Oregon's capital because I don't find it appealing. I guess I should get over my snobbishness but when you come from a state that has gorgeous capital buildings, it's hard to do.

Here is a miniature model of the Washington Monument.

I really liked this piece. It was erected in memory of all those
soldiers captured or lost during war times.

This is a great picture of the state capital. This building is
very similar to the capital building in Missouri.

I believe this was the court house.

Here we are on the top step of the capital.

The amazing view from the side of the capital building.

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
On Friday we took the girls to the zoo in Tacoma. The day started out cloudy and chilly but the clouds burned off by lunchtime and the day was beautiful.

There were some new Clouded Leopard cubs
at the zoo on display. They were very cute.

One of K's favorite things, feeding the little birds.
There were times when she had 4-5 birds climbing on her.

L didn't like all those birds on her stick, it
freaked her out a bit. I didn't care for it much either.

We payed to let the girls ride a camel. They thought it
was great. Their camel's name was Harry.

The tiger was L's favorite animal this time.

My favorite animals were the Polar Bears. At one point two of
the boys were wrestling in the water together.
They are such massive and amazing creatures, I love watching them.

This bird was K's favorite animal at the zoo.

After looking at all the animals in the zoo, we stopped by the carousel on the way out. It was fun for the girls to ride on. We went around two times and they were begging to go a third.

Chihuly Bridge of Glass
After the zoo, we stopped by the bridge of glass. I had heard from a reliable source that it was a beautiful piece of art. We didn't stay for long, I didn't like being on a bridge that crossed a busy highway with rushing traffic below.
The glass was very pretty and I think if we had come in the morning instead of the evening the view would have been even more breath-taking. We also looked at the glass on water near the bridge. Water suspended in air, lovely and shiny. It reminded me of a frozen water fountain I saw in my early twenties.

Thrill of the Grill
After our busy day of sight-seeing, we stopped at a place I had Googled called Thrill of the Grill. It had good reviews and it was cheap. We were very impressed with the food. It was tasty and very filling. I got a HUGE strawberry shake for 3.50; we could barely finish it. The girls wolfed down their burgers and fries, as did we. We were stuffed when we left and the bill was less than 30 dollars (would have been cheaper than 25 without the sales tax). I totally recommend this place if you are in town.

My huge strawberry shake. The glass was filled to the brim
and the metal cup was better than half way filled.

Great food with a great view of Mt. Rainier out the front door.

We were so in love with Great Wolf Lodge that we headed back there for an extra night instead of heading to Seattle like we originally planned. Here are a couple of vidoes of the girls from our stay.

Clay Creek and Sweet Creek Falls

2011-08-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we took the girls to Clay Creek to play in the water. It was really busy and the water wasn't very clean looking so we didn't stay for long. While we were there the girls built a castle with a moat around it.

After cleaning up from the creek and having a picnic lunch, we headed to Sweet Creek Falls. It was a beautiful hike in the woods along the creek. There were so many falls on this trail, each unique in it's own way. We spent a large part of our afternoon there and didn't end up leaving until 6:30. There were a few more falls up the road from this one but we decided to save them for another time. M is amazing at photographing the falls we see. I had a hard time narrowing down the pictures, so just sit back and enjoy the serenity of these photos.

A Funfilled Saturday Afternoon

2011-08-01T15:07:00.000-07:00

We headed to Lebanon on Saturday to hike up to McDowell Creek Waterfalls. It was a short hike but super hot. Usually it is refreshingly cool along the creek in the shade of the trees but it was stiflingly hot. We didn't have very good directions so we only saw two of the four falls. It was a nice hike though, and the waterfalls were pretty.

Here is Royal Terrace Falls.

Here is the top cascade of Royal Terrace Falls.

In front of Crystal Pool Falls.

After our hike, we headed to Newberg for their Old Fashion Festival. Every year this little town puts on a fun weekend filled with parades, fireworks, music, games, rides, and wares for sale. Our girls have never been to a fair before so we thought it would be fun to take them to this activity.
The vendor booths were right next to the park so M let the girls play while I checked out the items for sale. There was an area set up at the park with "old time" kiddie activities. The girls enjoyed walking across the rope bridge.

We headed to the ride area and were astonished to find that it was $1.25 per ticket with a minimum of 3 tickets per ride per person. You got a slight discount if you bought a book of 20 tickets; it only cost $22 dollars. Or you could pay $27 dollars for a bracelet and ride all day.
I don't want to date myself, but when I was 15 years old, tickets were 50 cents each or you could get a ride bracelet for 10 dollars and ride from open until close. We decided to let the girls ride on three rides and I would ride with them because the rides they wanted required an adult. M isn't a ride person so he stayed on the sidelines taking pictures.
While we were choosing which three rides to go on, we ran into my cousin Mikaelas and her friends. They went on our first ride with us, The Ali Baba. It is one of my favorites and the girls loved it. After that we grabbed a snow cone for the girls to share, it was HOT! The day not the snow cone. Wouldn't really make sense for the snow cone to be hot, but I ramble.
On to a roller coaster for lit'luns. I was EXTREMELY too tall for this ride but the girls could go by themselves. They said this was their favorite ride. Don't they look deliriously happy?
Our final ride was called the Tornado. I was nervous about putting the girls on this one but they insisted it was the ride for them. We got into our carriage and waited for the ride to begin. I made double share the girls were securely belted in and then we started going in a circle. The girls wanted me to spin our carriage too. I knew it would make me sick if I spun us too much so I spun us slowly and only a couple of times. It was fun and the girls didn't throw up, which is a plus when you are on a rapidly moving ride. We grabbed an elephant ear before we left because a fair just isn't complete without a super sugary piece of dough. M had the girls thinking it was a real elephant ear for a few minutes. He's always teasing them. We had a great time and the girls want to do it again. We will have to see how the county fair compares for ride prices.

Jammin' at the Beach House

2011-08-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

While we were at the beach house, Nathan and Jace showed K how to play their guitars. K really enjoyed doing it. Here she is playing Nathan's guitar.
Here she is playing Jace's bass. She really enjoyed it and is now asking when she can take guitar lessons. I think first we need to get her set up with piano lessons and move on from there. However, I do think this year she will be getting a guitar for Christmas. We have two of them we have been hanging on to for a few years until just such a time as this.

Sand Castle King

2011-07-28T17:24:00.000-07:00

We went down to the beach today to soak up some rays and play. When we got there I got the van stuck in the sand. I was able to get it out and move to more compacted ground. Not long after we got out, another car got stuck in the sand and they had to dig it out.
The wind was fierce today and thought it tried to blow us away, we endured for a couple hours. The girls helped cousin Nathan and his friend Jace build a huge sand castle compound. Nathan is the sand castle king!

It has been fun hanging out with Auntie and the boys at the beach house the past couple of days. We are kind of sad we have to go home tomorrow.

Tooth Fairy Visit

2011-07-27T19:51:00.000-07:00

K was so excited to find a half dollar from the tooth fairy under her pillow the night after her tooth was lost.

A Tearful Tooth Loss

2011-07-26T19:29:00.001-07:00

K came home from Bahmah's with a loose tooth. I was excited to see it but kind of grossed out. She has been wiggling it a lot the past few days; I was the same way when I was a kid.
This evening while eating peas from our garden, she lost her tooth. Unfortunately, she lost it. She either swallowed it or dropped it through the cracks in our deck. She and I were both very upset about it. I was upset because it was her first tooth and I was so looking forward to documenting it. She was upset because she had nothing to leave for the tooth fairy.
After looking on the deck, the table, and in her pea left on her plate, M got his tools and pulled up a board off the deck. We both took turns looking under the deck with a flashlight. We didn't see it, but there is a lot of pea gravel under the deck so it could blend in easily.

M screwed the board back down and K decided to write a note to the tooth fairy about her tooth. Hopefully her next tooth will be able to go under her pillow.

Belated Birthday Bliss

2011-07-25T19:09:00.000-07:00

We celebrated my birthday on Sunday since I had been gone all week. M made me a very tasty cinnamon roll cake and some chocolate ice cream. We invited our friends, the Johnston's over to share it with us.
M and the girls got me some pretty earrings and a matching necklace. I can't wait to wear them together. My mom-in-law gave me a card with some spending money. I will be using it to buy some new jeans.

My beautiful girls and me.

I was dreading turning thirty-five, only because I filled out a survey recently and saw that I am now in a new bracket for age groups. It was kind of depressing to see the 35-44 check box. But at least I am at the lower end of the bracket and I look pretty good for my age, if I do say so myself;)

Kountry Kim's

2011-07-25T11:08:00.000-07:00

While I was away at Girls Camp, our girls went up to Bahmah's house for a few days. They had a wonderful time as always.

They picked lots of berries and cherries.

They rode the ATV.

The made darling daisy crowns.

They rode Bahmah's horse, Spud.

They went to a friends house and pet the goats.

K made breakfast one morning all by herself. She made scrambled eggs and cut up some fruit. She is always learning great things at Bahmah's. I would think she was too young to do it, but obviously she is very capable. Guess I need to use her more in the kitchen duties:)

They had a great time but L was very happy to see daddy when he came to get them. I think it was harder on her than usual since she has been very whiny and clingy since her return home. Guess she wasn't ready for such a long stay away from mom. They both really enjoyed their time at Kountry Kim's though. Thanks for taking them for the week, Mel!

Good Works Pirates

2011-07-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

I spent this last week in a tent at Camp Alpine surrounded by at least 75 young women and 25 or more leaders. It was our annual Girls Camp week and I was excited to be a leader with my friend and YW's counselor, Kristan. We had seven beautiful and amazing girls in our unit. This years motto was Seek Him and pirate themed so our unit's name was The Good Works Pirates.

Kristan and I showed up on Monday to set up our tent and decorate our camp site. We had a treasure chest, rope net, treasure map, banners, signs and other items to spiff up our site. Our tent was set back in the trees with a babbling brook right behind it. Our tent looks quite small but it was HUGE! We had a large queen size mattress in the back and ten feet by 12 feet in the front for all our food and belongings.

Here is our assignment board and list of activities
for the day along with our drinking water and dish water.

Our picnic table with map and tents around.

The first day we went to the confidence course which was a lot of fun. We worked together as a team to accomplish different activities. Climbing up a wooden wall, walking across a rope bridge with our eyes closed, trustingly falling into the arms of our comm rads, holding hands while crossing stumps without falling, and other exercises. It was a lot of fun.

Here some of our girls were trying to start a fire. I say trying because we were unsuccessful at fire starting until the third day at camp. The wood and pine cones were so damp we just couldn't get it going. We even made up a jingle about it to the song We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel.
I celebrated my birthday while at camp. My roomie gave me some body butter and lip gloss. Some of the leaders brought me a cake and sang to me. Our YCL's made a birthday card which they all signed for me. It was really sweet; I had a great birthday!
On Thursday we went on a nature hike and learned about poison plants and edible plants. We had the longest hike at 5 miles. It was a lot of fun and very interesting. Here is a picture of all the second years, our YCL's, the leaders, and our nature guide.
Sitting around the campfire that we FINALLY started on Thursday night. We roasted marshmallows and star-burst. I had never roasted star-burst before, but it was pretty good. All liquidy on the inside and caramelized on the outside. We also had Reese's Peanut Butter Cup s'mores. They were SO tasty!

We had a wonderful time at camp. Besides all the fun, we became certified in lots of survival areas like: using knives, cloud identification, fire starting, emergency first aid, etc. We had amazing Devotionals each night, crafts, archery and swimming during the day. We even had a polar dip, which I did NOT participate in but Kristan did. There were so many great things each day and night I can't really pick one I loved. I was sad to go back into the world at the end of the week but excited to see my family and have some flushing toilets once again. Not to mention being warm at night. It rained the first couple days we were there and got so cold at night. But we got through it and I look forward to going again next year.

Tour of Autzen Stadium

2011-07-13T16:07:00.000-07:00

Let me start off by saying that we are not duck fans in this family. But don't despair, we aren't football fans in general. If I had to pick a college team, it would be the Mizzou Tigers since I grew up in Missouri; M could care less about any team.
But when I heard a group from church was going to take the kids on a tour, I thought we should go along. I mean, we do live here and it is a huge obsession with Eugenians. It's part of the culture and would be fun for the kids to see in person.
I was amazed at how cool it was. Here is the eternal flame outside the stadium. The three pillars represent the past, present, and future players. Before every game the team walks beneath the flame and touches each pillar for good luck.
Here is their indoor field. It was awesome! It is exactly the same as the real field but they are able to adjust the conditions inside to those they will be playing in. They can make it super hot for when they are playing in Arizona. They can push air in through tubes making a wind up to 20 miles per hour to prepare the kickers for such weather. There are even speakers that simulate the noise of the crowd on game day to prepare the newbies.

One of their billboards with the air ducts above.

The kids loved running around on the turf.

A picture of most of the kids on the indoor training field.

Right outside the stadium.
The kids running down the tunnel onto the field.

Look at them running to the end zone.

Another picture of the kids up in the stands.

The tour guide said that Phil Knight has a bathroom right near section 31
and under the toilet seat there is a Nike swoosh with the words
Just Do It!. We all thought that was quite amusing.

Weekend Camping Trip

2011-07-11T12:24:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to Loon Lake for camping this weekend along with four other families, a total of ten adults and fifteen kids 9 and under. We had a fabulous time playing, swimming, hiking, and hanging out together.
We showed up about noon on Friday and went to our group campsite which was HUGE! We fed the kids lunch and then went to work setting up the tents. All the husbands but mine had to work and showed up around dinner time along with the last family. M set up our tent and bed while the rest of us worked on the other tents. When it was all said and done, there were 7 tents and one mosquito tent set up. One of the tents was a mammoth of a tent and took us a while to figure out, but we got 'er done.

Here are most of the tents set up. This shows about 1/3 of our site.

In the late afternoon we headed down to the "beach" to play in the water. It wasn't very big or very nice looking but the kids had some fun splashing in the water. None of us brought a camera so no pictures of the yucky beach.
After playing for an hour or so, we headed back to camp for dinner. M was in charge of getting the fires started. We had one fire pit and one grill going for cooking hot dogs and foil dinners. The kids had a blast cooking dogs over the fire.

My fireman:)

Don't they look cute?

Enjoying the tasty dinner they made.

After dinner we made s'mores which are a camping must. Kristan said she makes her s'mores with reeses peanut butter cups, so I tried it and it was very tasty! I definitely will have to remember that one for girls camp next week.
After eating dessert the kids ran around playing while the parents ate their dinners. Then we got the kids ready for bed and put them down. We got the girls new sleeping bags for this trip and they really liked them. I was surprised that the girls went down as easily as they did. It went a lot better than it usually does at home and they slept like logs. I on the other hand, couldn't get much sleep the first night and I was freezing all night.
On Saturday we made a communal breakfast and then went for a hike to Loon Lake Falls. It was an easy hike but we were so glad we did it. The falls are near a beautiful, spacious swimming beach and it was only $5 per car to get in to the park to do both.
The kids enjoyed going to see the falls. It made our family miss all those weekends last year when we hiked to falls. I think we will be doing that again in the weeks to come.

Below the falls.

On the rocks right by the falls.

After the hike we headed back to our campsite for lunch and then changed into our swimsuits. We drove back to the park and headed to an area on the sand and claimed it as our own. We stayed at the beach for about four hours playing and swimming. M and I have two blow up rafts we have had since we were first married. This was the second time out of their box and they were fun to play with. All the parents took turns taking their kids out in the water. I think we will be taking our kids on a floating trip soon. They really enjoyed sitting with us on the boat.

Burying J in the sand.

Hanging out in the shade.
All the adults got burned but none of the kids did.
Guess we did a better job lathering the sunscreen on them.

K doing a great job swimming around in the deep lake.

L playing with a water gun.

We all agreed we had a wonderful time and it wouldn't have been nearly as fun if we had done it by ourselves. There is just something about having friends around that makes camping more fun and easier to do. The girls are already asking when we can do this again. Definitely a weekend worth repeating.

July 4th Festivities

2011-07-05T12:34:00.000-07:00

We took the girls to a near by small town to watch a parade. We thought we left early enough to get there on time, but we just barely made it. The traffic on I-5 stopped about a mile from the exit we wanted and it took us nearly 40 minutes to drive that one mile and get onto the main road. We were able to find a parking spot near our destination and walked to meet our friends who had already saved us seats at the front of the parade. The parade started two minutes after we sat down.
This was the first time either of the girls had been to a parade and they really enjoyed it. When asked what their favorite thing about the parade was, they both said The CANDY!! What a silly question to ask two little girls holding a huge bag of candy in their laps.

Here are the kids waiting for the parade to start.

Running out to get the candy. They made out like bandits.
More candy then going down around the block at Halloween.
They even got otter pops! Such a great haul.

I loved the lawn mowers coming down the street.
Get a load of the blue one with cars attached.

So many, many gorgeous classic cars in the parade.
I love classics and dream of the day when I can have one
of my very own. This is one of my favorites, a T-bird.

Lots of princesses in this parade.
Again, an old classic fire engine.

Got a kick out of these dyed poodles.

The horse club all glitzed up; the girls oohed and aahed over the horses.
Wouldn't it be fun for K to be on a horse in a parade one day?

Later in the day we headed over to our friends' house for our annual 4th of July Barbecue. Everyone brings an item and we visit while the kids run around in the backyard playing in the water. This year we invited a new family and we are hoping they will continue to join us at future bbq's.

Kids playing on the slip and slide and with water guns.

When it started getting dark, we headed outside to shoot off fireworks. This is always the highlight of the night. The wives and kids sit back to enjoy the show while the hubby's try not to blow off any body parts. We had one moment of panic when a firework misfired and one of the mom's had to dive out of her chair to get away. She and baby were okay, but it was scary and heart-pounding for everyone. We moved our chairs much further back after that.
When our fireworks were over, we had a lovely view of the rodeo fireworks. It was a wonderful night shared with our loving friends. Can't wait until our next bbq.

A Night at the Rodeo

2011-07-02T11:18:00.000-07:00

We took our family to the rodeo last night with our good friends the V's. Here are us girls heading out the door to get Randy and the kids. Aren't we cute? We need to get a cowgirl hat for K, the pink one doesn't quite cut it.
We took a hay ride to the gates. This was more for the kids benefit than ours, as we could have walked faster, but they enjoyed the ride.

I must say that we were non too pleased when we got to the gate and were asked if we were carrying any knives or guns. WHAT?!!? Are you serious? This is a rodeo. You know, where cowboys come to watch events involving cowboys. Of course we are carrying guns and knives! Unfortunately, there was a man with a wand checking everyone and if you had either you were not allowed in the gate.
I remember a time when all they asked was if you had any alcohol on you. I can understand that, they want you to pay their prices for drinks. But we all felt it was highly unconstitutional, UNAMERICAN, and weird to have cowboys tell you not to bring weapons into a rodeo. That being said, I will carry on with the nights events.

Oh, here is a picture of the cowboys and cowgirls using REAL guns with blanks to SHOOT balloons horseback. No one told them they couldn't have guns. It was fun to see how accurate they could be riding fast on a horse. I thought it was funny when the girls were asking why they could have guns when we couldn't. They also wanted to know why the riders didn't know you shouldn't point guns at people. We have taught them well, right?
The first event of the night was free-style motor cross by Metal Mulisha. These guys were AMAZING! The things they did on their bikes got my heart thumpin'. One guy did flips with his bike and they both were doing tricks involving steering with their feet lying down or grabbing onto the back of their bike with their feet straight out like superman then getting back on the bike before landing. We all thought it was awesome! Click on the pictures to get a better look at these tricks. I could have watched them for a lot longer.

After Metal Mulisha, they brought out the Monster Truck to drive around and throw out t-shirts. B and L really got a kick out of the huge truck.
I was so enthralled with the rodeo I didn't get any pictures after this one of the Eugene Emerald's mascot riding a bull. He did a pretty good job staying on in that big costume; I was impressed.
All in all we had a pretty good time at the rodeo. The girls LOVED seeing all the cowboys and cowgirls riding horses and bulls. They didn't quite understand the steer wrestling or the calf tying events but still enjoyed seeing the animals. All of them wanted a ride in the Monster Truck and on the mechanical bull. M was ready to leave after the fireworks, so maybe next time.
I definitely have missed going to the rodeo these past 8 years. I think we may need to make this a yearly event for the family. M really enjoyed the bikes but felt the rest of the rodeo lasted entirely too long. I may be able to talk him into going again next year. Maybe we will try out the St. Paul rodeo. I LOVE that one!

Anniversary #9

2011-06-22T10:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our ninth anniversary and I found a yummy truffle waiting for me in the fridge at breakfast. Later in the day the doorbell rang and I opened the door to find roses and donuts sitting on the welcome mat. A wonderful welcome indeed.

M has been working long hours for the past week and a half so we decided to stay home instead of heading out on the town. We took the girls to a local school playground and had fun running around. After a dinner of left over pizza, we watched some Burn Notice off the dvd that came from Netflix this week. We opened our gifts in bed before dropping instantly off to sleep.
M has been experimenting with donut making lately, so I got him a donut cutter and a recipe book. It looks like there will be some tasty treats coming out of it. He got me a book light for my kindle so I can read in bed at night and not disturb his sleep.
We had a very relaxing evening together. I can't believe we have been married for nine years, but it has been the best nine years of my life. I wouldn't give up what we have for anything. I am truly blessed to have such an amazing man in my life. Happy Anniversary, babe. I love you!

Father's Day Weekend

2011-06-19T18:32:00.000-07:00

I went out of town this weekend to enjoy some spa time with my aunt and our friend Sue. While I was gone, M spent some fun quality time with the girls. On Thursday evening they camped out in our new tent in the back yard. M said that they didn't get to sleep until quite late because they kept touching each other and whining about it. But they did sleep in the next morning.

M took the girls on lots of bike rides, one of which was a 4 mile ride. K is getting really good at riding her bike, however she did fall off once this weekend. She ended up with a bloody nose and a busted lip. After crying for a while she was able to get back on her bike and go home to get cleaned up. I am happy to report that she is still enamored with her bike and has gone on a few rides since then.
On Sunday the girls enjoyed playing with daddy and goofing around. They made pigs in blankets for lunch to go with fruit salad and fresh veggies. We gave daddy his father's day gifts: two nice t-shirts that the girls picked out, new tongs to replace our broken ones, and a framed picture of their hands for our bedroom. My aunt helped me with the vinyl and I think it turned out very cute.

It was a wonderful day full of love and fun. M is an amazing father who has great patience and love for his girls. He's always willing to take them for walks, bike rides and to play with them at the park. We are so lucky to have such an amazing father and husband in our lives. Happy Father's Day, babe. You are the rock our family clings to and we love you.

Kindergarten Celebration

2011-06-14T16:09:00.000-07:00

K had her last day as a kindergartner today. The parents were invited to a musical program put on by the a.m. and p.m. classes. They have been learning about the ocean and it's inhabitants during the last six weeks of school and all their songs were fishy songs. They also had a slide show of pictures taken throughout the year. We will be getting one of those in the mail for our keepsake.

K had a speaking part and she did very well; she spoke clear and loud.

At the end of the performance they handed out wrapped gifts for the kids. They were books with pictures of them throughout the year. There was also a class picture with a place on the back for autographs.

Here is K with her teacher Mrs. R, she loved her teacher.

With her favorite class assistant Mrs. B.

And with the other assistant, Mrs. M.

This has been a wonderful year for K. She has made lots of friends and enjoyed being in a classroom setting again. She is looking forward to being in first grade next year and going all day long. I have really liked getting to know her teachers and hope her teacher next year is just as great. I am excited to help out in the classroom again, too. It was fun to help out the teachers and get to know the students in K's class. If you are able to, I definitely recommend it.

Congratulations, K! You are officially a first grader!

A Field Trip and Jog-a-thon

2011-06-07T10:54:00.000-07:00

K got to go to the aquarium with her kindergarten class on Thursday. I volunteered, along with 10 others, as a chaperon for the 47 kindergartners going on the trip. We arrived at the school at 7 in the morning for debriefing and organizing. We loaded up the bus and headed for the coast at 8 am. It was a long, loud trip and I forgot that I get carsick on buses. Luckily I wasn't the only one and we were able to open up some windows for fresh air.

We arrived at the aquarium at 11am and split off into our groups to explore the animals. I had K and two of her friends from school. They were well-behaved and so excited to see all the different types of animals. I was surprised to learn that a lot of the kids in her class had never been to the aquarium before. My group's favorite thing was the tide pool. They got to touch sea stars, sea anemone and sea urchins.

At 12:15 we all met at the bus to get our lunches and eat under a covered area near the parking lot. I was shocked by some of the lunches the kids had, others looked pretty good. After lunch we packed back into the bus and headed to a spot on the beach where the kids could play in the sand. Since it was such a cold and rainy day, we only stayed for 45 minutes before heading back to the school. We arrived safely back to the lot at 4:30 and I was very happy to get off the bus and head to my relatively quiet home. I went to bed early that evening.
Here are the craft projects K has been working on at school. Each week they would learn about different types of marine life and then make one with paper and paint. She made a sea star, a sting ray, a sea urchin, a crab, a sea otter, a jelly fish and an underwater scene with chalk and stamps. She also made a shark. She asked her teacher if she could make a leopard shark. I think she did a wonderful job on it.
On Friday K had her very first jog-a-thon for school. She did a great job running 9 laps around a 1/8 mile track in 20 minutes. She was sponsored by both grandmas, auntie and her parents. She had a fun time raising the money for her school.

A Trip to Bahmah's and a Relaxing Weekend

2011-06-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

The girls always love going for a visit to Bahmah's house; it's like going to camp. They ride horses and ATV's, go for walks around the property, play on the swing-set, entertain the cats and dogs, play games with uncle Luke, and help cook meals.

Going for a walk.

Playing with Uncle Luke and his girlfriend Hannah.

Piggyback rides are the best!

L has been learning how to steer the ATV the past few times
she's gone to visit. Looks like she is getting pretty good.

Watering and petting Red.

L got to have her first horseback ride on Red this weekend.
Bahmah said, "She wasn't at all frightened.
She rode with flair and had a good time."

K loves riding her horse. I think at some point we may need
to get her riding lessons on a regular basis.
She said she got to brush her when they were done.

While the girls were at Bahmah's we had a nice weekend together. We went shopping on Friday afternoon and got M some new boots, which I think he looks hot in. We also got some summer clothes on clearance at the outlet mall for the girls.
On Saturday we got up at 5:30 and went for a jog together. We sanded and stained our deck chairs in an attempt to get ready for summer weather which should be arriving any day now. M also mowed the lawn while I pulled weeds in our front yard.
After feeling like we met our work quota for the day, we headed to Saturday market where M bought me these sparkly earrings. If you are needing pretty earrings, it's the place to be. There were at least five booths dedicated to earrings which made it so hard to choose one set.
We bummed around the rest of the afternoon and went to The Vintage for dinner. I have been there before and thought it was amazing. Now I am wondering if it was because it took 90 minutes for us to get a table and I was famished. I wasn't as impressed the second time around. We got the Pepper Jack fondue and were very unsatisfied, which is hard for M since he is such a cheese lover. We paid our inflated bill and headed to Chili's for appetizers which were much more filling and tasty. Guess that kind of tells where our taste buds are on food. Anyway, we ended our night with watching I Am Number Four Blue-Ray edition from Redbox. We both really liked the movie and are hoping for a sequel.

Self Portrait

2011-05-31T15:37:00.001-07:00

L is getting the hang of drawing now. She still scribbles a lot and gets frustrated, but I think this is a wonderful self portrait. She has hair, eyes, a mouth, a neck, a body, two arms and two legs. She even has a bum, which is what she told me the middle part of her stomach is in this drawing.
K used bendy sticks to create a tree with a bird in a nest sitting on an egg and a hole in the trunk for a squirrel to live. She also made herself in the tree standing on a branch. I think she did a lovely job with her creation.

Kindergarten Music Program

2011-05-27T12:09:00.000-07:00

K had her music program at school yesterday. It was called E-I-E-I OOPS! and was done by the kindergarten and first grade classes. It was so cute and all the kids did a great job!

K after she finally spotted us.

Singing a song.

K's farmer outfit, and a HUGE thanks to our wonderful
neighbor, Kristy, who loaned us her cowgirl hat.

Singing The Whole Barnyard is Singin'!

Soccer Highlights

2011-05-26T11:35:00.000-07:00

It has been a great six weeks in soccer. We have had fun watching the kids get better and learn more each week. Here are some highlights from each of the games.

Pregame pep talk.

K going for the ball.

Playing in the rain.

Soaked through and through at game three
and loving every minute of it (the kids not the parents).

K was usually pretty good at getting into the thick of it.

K throwing in the ball.

K taking control of the ball and heading for the goal.

Soccer season award party. We had juice boxes and cookies.
K loved having her best friend Kaitlin on her team.

K with her favorite teammates after getting their medals.
M made them at work. We were the dragons so it's a dragon
with a soccer ball on his chest; the kids loved them.
On a side note, it was cute watching Cooper and K play soccer
while holding hands running down the field. A little soccer romance.

Soccer Spring 2011

2011-05-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

We are wrapping up another season of soccer this week. It has been different for K this season. Last fall she was one of the best on her team and she loved it. This year there are three boys, Franco, Emiliano, and Sam, who were miniature pro soccer players. They keep the ball to themselves pretty much every game. They are amazing, but it is hard for K not to have more action this time around.

Here is her team minus one player.
Coach Garrett, Coach Smith,
Zoe, Jake, Katie, Cadence, Cooper,
Franco, K, Emiliano, and Sam.
Hannah is not pictured.

Her coaches did a great job this year; K loves Coach Garrett. We are hoping he will continue coaching her team. This Saturday is the final set. She has three 30 minute games to play. Hopefully she gets out there and is aggressive with the ball. She still loves it and we plan on putting her back in the game this fall.

Snappy

2011-05-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

L wanted to show off for the camera today. So here is a little sample of the things she can do now at age three. I think she may be following in her sisters footsteps.

Singing her ABC's.

Counting to 100.

Naming letters.

L learned how to snap recently and she is
very proud of her accomplishment.

Dance Recital

2011-05-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

The girls had their dance recital today. They were so cute and did a great job. Here are a few pictures of them. They did some creative movements to music, a dance to You are my Sunshine, The Hokey Pokey, The Car Wash, and a few others.

Aren't the three of them precious together?

Dancing with ribbons.

Ballerina pose.

The girls with their teacher. She was a lot of fun
and really good with the girls.

Here are a couple of videos we took. The Car Wash song was fun to watch. The girls definitely each have their own style.

Here is a video of L dancing; so cute.

Here is K dancing; so sweet.

Bouncing's What L's Do Best

2011-04-29T10:22:00.000-07:00

During K's last soccer game there was a bouncy house set up near the field. M took L over to play in the house and she had a blast. She spent almost an hour bouncing around.

Easter Weekend

2011-04-26T14:26:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter weekend. On Friday afternoon a large group of us got together for an egg hunt at our park. We had a ton of kids show up and they had so much fun looking for plastic eggs. Afterward, Auntie and the kids showed up to go to Wicked with us. They gave the girls Easter pillow pets before we left.

On Saturday K had another soccer game and she scored 4 goals. After the game the girls opened their box from Granny and Papa they received in the mail. K got a book and L got a lamb; they both love their gifts.

On Sunday the girls woke up early and ran downstairs to find baskets filled with sidewalk chalk, bubbles, coloring pencils, sand shovels and a chocolate bunny. After going through their baskets they searched for plastic Easter eggs lightly filled with candy.

After eating some candy, we had french toast with strawberries and homemade whipped cream. Then we read My First Easter together and talked about what Easter really means. Before we headed off to church they watched Veggie Tales: Twas the Night Before Easter.

After church we had tacos and nachos. Not your traditional Easter dinner but it's what M asked for and I was happy to oblige, though he ended up cooking it for us. For dessert we had strawberry shortcake. It wasn't a hugely spiritual day, but better than past years. Hope you had a great Easter weekend too.

Wicked!

2011-04-25T10:14:00.001-07:00

I was able to talk my hubby into going to see Wicked the musical when it came to town. I got tickets along with my aunt, two cousins and their significant others. We went out for dinner before heading to the show.

Here we are all dressed up and ready to go.

I didn't think to bring my camera and we weren't allowed to take photos once the show started anyway. So, the pictures I have of us were taken with Mika's and my cell phone camera. The others I found online.

I was impressed with the backdrops, props, and costumes; they were amazing. I especially loved the dresses of Glinda and her personality. She really did a great job on her character. The acting was really good and there were some very funny lines. I also really enjoyed the singing although it was pretty loud where we were sitting.

Elphaba and her professor.

Elphaba flying before leaving Oz.

The face-off after the death of Nessarose.

I have read this book but it was a whole new experience seeing it acted out. They did an excellent job turning it into a musical. I was very impressed and entertained. I definitely recommend going to see this show.

An Gathering of Mothers

2011-04-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

Our close friends are expecting another baby and I volunteered to throw a shower for the triple blessed mom. I made a chocolate carriage cake with ganache and cream cheese frosting. It turned out pretty cute.
Because you can never have too many diapers, I also made a diaper cake with goodies hidden inside and socks balled up like roses to decorate the tiers. I love the little turtle toy on top. My girls loved their car seat toys when they were little.
Here are the yummy treats we enjoyed with the cake. We had chocolate sticks, hot artichoke dip with pita chips and bread, Reeces Peanut Butter Cups, and strawberry lemonade.

The gift table with her prettily wrapped goodies waiting to be opened.

The guests with the mom of honor. It was a great night of laughing,
eating and showering Becky with our love.

Brain Candy

2011-04-21T17:55:00.001-07:00

I have read a lot of very serious books in the past six months:
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Night
The Glass Castle
Left to Tell
In Defense of Food
Wuthering Heights
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Just to name a few, so lately I have been reading total brain candy. Books that are quick and easy and leave nothing to ponder over. My latest book is Heat Wave written by Richard Castle. Now, not only is this total brain candy, but the author is fictional. Those who watch Castle will recognize the name and the book title. I think it is funny that they actually paid someone to ghost write a book as the main character on a fictional television series. Although, for some reality-challenged people, this may add to their delirium that the show and people on it are actually real.
So far the book is very much like the television show but I am only three chapters in. I don't recommend reading this book unless you are going on an exotic trip to a tropical paradise and want to relax, but I totally recommend the show. It is funny and I love the characters interaction. I am going to go veg on my book now.

Sunshine

2011-04-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

My girls are taking a dance class together and are loving it. They have been learning the song, You Are My Sunshine and moves to go along with it. Their instructor told them if they sing it loud enough maybe the sun will come out. So, my 6 year old has been singing it a lot lately when she is playing outside and the sun goes behind clouds or it's a cloudy day.

Amazingly enough, almost every time the sun comes back out which just reinforces what her teacher told her. Plus it gives her a sense of control in a world where she doesn't have much. I find it adorable that she continues to belt out the song with her face tilted high to face the sky.

And here is a video of them singing. I don't have any pictures of them in dance yet. The parents were banned from the room until their recital in a couple more weeks. It's okay, though, it gives me a chance to read in the car while they are practicing. I can't wait to see their new moves.

Youth Pizza Cook Off

2011-03-31T13:10:00.000-07:00

For our combined youth activity at church this month we had a Pizza Cook-off. We had each class and quorum go to their leaders homes and make a delicious pizza then take it to the church to be taste tested. Our judges were the Bishop and his first counselor.

Ally was the only girl at my house and she made a
very yummy veggie pie. We used a homemade pizza
sauce and covered it with a layer of cheese, olives,
mushrooms, pineapple, red bell pepper and more cheese.

Here is group 1 with our Veggie pizza.

Group 2 with their Asian BBQ Chicken pizza
They won first place, by the way, and I want the recipe!

Group 3 with their tasty pizza.
Pepperoni and Black Olive with a stuffed crust.

Group 4 with their Mango Tango pizza.
It was surprisingly delicious and they got 3rd place.

Group 5 with their half Meat-lovers
and half Chicken Alfredo pizza.

Group 6 with their Taco Pizza.
It was very tasty and they got 2nd place.

Here are our wonderful judges: Bishop Hansen and Brother Nash.

They got to taste six scrumptious pizzas.
I must say I totally agree with the pizzas they picked. They were
definitely the best ones in the bunch. I hope we do another cook off next year.

Building Forts

2011-03-24T11:07:00.001-07:00

I vaguely remember my babysitter making forts in her basement when I was in elementary school. It would take up almost the whole area and most of the kids enjoyed it. I don't remember if I liked it or not.
As an adult I haven't enjoyed making forts because it is cluttered and chaotic looking. There are times when the kids will build a small tunnel between the couch and ottoman but nothing much bigger. Yesterday they were trying to build a fort and I thought I would surprise them by making a HUGE fort for them to play in. Well, they played in it for about 10 minutes then went outside to play.
After an hour of playing outside, they came back in and played in the fort for another five minutes and went to another area of the house. Every time I mentioned taking it down they would beg me to leave it up but wouldn't actually play in it. I left it up until M came home and then he took it down. What is so appealing about a fort? I guess it might be fun to hide in and read to yourself or take a nap in, but my kids don't do anything but build them and walk away. Maybe they fancy themselves construction workers. Build it up for someone else and leave when the job is done. I thought my fort was quite impressive, especially since it's only the second time I have ever tried to make one.

L crawling inside.

L waving from under the chair.

K waving from their skylight.

There were lots of tunnels and cubbys to hide in.

Learning to Swim

2011-03-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

K has been taking swim lessons through our local Parks and Rec since December. She started in Tots class and moved on to Tots Advanced. Her teacher said she was a natural fish in the water. Most of the kids have to take Advanced Tots a few times before they can move onto Flippers but it only took K one time. She did pretty well in Flippers but needed to take that class twice. In Flippers you learn how to do ice cream scoops which is the breast stroke. It's hard for the kids to learn to move their arms without moving their whole body. She just finished that class for the second time and will be taking advanced flippers after soccer is over. We are very proud of how well she is doing and she loves being in the water. Who knows, maybe someday she will be on the swim team.

Here she is in Advanced Tots going for a ride on a floatie.

Advanced Tots again, learning how to swim with her
arms in a point out in front of her.

In Flippers she started wearing goggles.
She loves going underwater and looking around.

In Flippers using a kick board.

Swimming underwater.

Learning how to swim with a life preserver on.

At the end of each Flippers class she got to jump into the
water from the side of the pool. Once she got to jump
from the racing boards at the end of the pool.

K swimming with kick board.

K swimming.

K jumping into the pool.

Couch to 5K

2011-03-19T16:40:00.000-07:00

I have always thought people who run for fun were crazy. I mean, who runs for fun? You run to get away from your pursuer or maybe in basketball or football though, those kind of fall under the same heading. But for fun? What are these people thinking?
Then, as I got older and saw all the dedication and work it took to do these fun races I was in awe of these people. I could never run just to run, let alone put in all those hours and energy to run in a race with really fast people so I could maybe come in 50th or better but never first place. But kudos to those who did.
I have been in my ward for almost 3 years now and so many people run in this ward. My neighbor runs religiously and has been encouraging me to take it up. I have always laughed it off and thought never in a million years will that happen!
So, I guess a million years goes by much quicker than I thought it would. This week I started doing the Couch to 5K program. I ran three days this week and it wasn't so bad. The first day I had a very hard time catching my breath towards the end of the session, but I made it through. I skipped a day and on the next day my hip joints and calves hurt so bad I could barely make it up the stairs.
My neighbor, Kristy, told me I had to run again; I would feel so much better if I did. I didn't believe her, but I went anyway. She was right, I felt much better after my second run and I didn't have as hard of a time breathing like I had the first day.
That brings us to today. I just got back from my third day of running. I was able to do the whole session but I had a hard time catching my breath again. I also felt really jell-0ie. Is that word? It felt like I was running on sponges. I don't know if any of this is normal, but I will keep up the program and see where it takes me. Next week I am starting week two, obviously, and I am a little nervous about doing it since I had a hard time today. But I guess if it is too hard I can always do week one again.
When I am a little more comfortable with my outfit, maybe I will post a picture of myself in my running clothes. Until then, any advice from you runners out there would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and what is this about stretching? I never stretch. Why do you do it and how? Happy Running:)

A Frog Lullabye

2011-03-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

When we bought our house, we were happy to learn that there would never be any houses built behind our home. There are electrical lines running beyond some trees past our back fence and the city is unable to use the land to build on. We have some tall pretty trees and a creek to enjoy while in our backyard and the trees give off great shade in the summer time.
We also have tons of frogs along the creek bed that sing us to sleep every night. It is very relaxing and pleasurable to drift off to their croaks and peeps. However, M found a frog in our kitchen last week and earlier this week he found a flattened frog in the laundry room. He thinks it came in on the bottom of someone's shoe.
Though I enjoy listening to nature, I HATE when nature invades my home. Spiders, ants, frogs, birds, and the like have no business in my house. When I was little I enjoyed playing with bugs, frogs, lizards, and daddy long legs (because I wouldn't acknowledge them as spiders and I could relate to their long legs and small body), but now I can't stand any of those things. They are creepy and crawly. I was grateful that M was the one to find these frogs and get rid of them without me knowing about them.
What about you? How do you feel about frogs, bugs and the like?

Happy Sixth Birthday!

2011-03-16T14:33:00.000-07:00

K turned six today and we celebrated on two days. On Monday she picked Road House Grill to eat at for dinner. I was disappointed that no one sang to her, but she did get her meal for free. After dinner we came home and she opened her gifts from the family. She got a fisher price microscope, some books, and a notebook for her boogie board she got for Christmas which also has a place for a notepad and coloring pencils. From Bahmah she got a music player like her sister's only it is pink. I like the pink one better. She also got some money from her Grandma and a cute card from her little buddy, Clara.

K ready for her birthday dinner.
Doesn't she look adorable in her pink hat?

Eating fish sticks and apple sauce.

Her ice cream sundae.

Standing with her presents.

All the gifts she got from her family.

K was one of three children in her kindergarten class celebrating her birthday today. They all got a birthday crown, a pencil and a book. After school K wanted to go to Sonic for lunch. She also got to play with her friends who live next door.
For dinner we ate meatloaf sandwiches with french fries followed by The Dolphin movie. During the movie we had intermission so K could blow out the candles on her doughnut cake. We gave the girls a small piece of each kind of doughnut. After the movie the girls opened their gifts from auntie and Mikaelas.

Doughnut cake.

K blowing out her candles.
Gifts from Auntie and Mikaelas.
A cute denim outfit, littlest pet shops, and a cute jacket.

L also got to open her birthday presents from Auntie and Mikaelas. She got an adorable jacket just like K's from Mika. From auntie she got a pretty church dress and some legos. L really liked her legos and couldn't wait to play with them. I love all the faces she is making in these photos. She is a crack up.

Guns and Legos

2011-03-11T10:41:00.000-08:00

L really enjoys playing the shooting game on Wii Play. She isn't very good yet, but she seems to be getting the form down.

K put together this cool lego guy with some help from daddy. She did a great job. He now resides on her window shelf as a lookout while she sleeps.

Project Chalkboard

2011-03-08T12:51:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to put a chalkboard up in the girls playroom but they are VERY expensive. After talking to my husband, we came up with a cheaper plan. We bought some chalkboard contact paper on Amazon and attached it to some metal M brought home from work. Our walls are bumpy so we had to put it on something smooth first. We attached some decorative baseboard to the finished chalkboards and hung them on the wall. The kids even helped us hang them up. We ended up having two boards that are three feet square. They really like having their own boards and I think they look pretty too.

K hammering in a drywall anchor.

L putting in a screw.

K also had a turn to put in a screw.

Enjoying the fruits of their labor.

I was gone this weekend and K drew a picture for
me. It is me on a hill at the park with a creek nearby.
There is an apple tree, flowers and birds in the sky.

An Answer, an Author & a Crush

2011-03-02T12:37:00.001-08:00

So the answer to yesterday's post is:
K-a fire breathing dragon.
M & N-Penny Hen gathering grain to make her cake.
I think it is amazing she was able to draw something that looks like two different pictures in one.

Today is Dr. Suess's birthday and the kids got to celebrate it by wearing pajamas to school and read The Cat in the Hat. They also made the signature hat with rhyming words on them and then we made their faces up to look like the Cat in the Hat.
You see the HUGE heart ring on her finger? She got that yesterday from Kyle and today he gave her this toy lizard.
At the beginning of the year she complained that Kyle was always kicking her and picking on her. I told her he probably liked her but didn't know how to show it. She didn't believe me. I think these gifts he has started to shower her with is proof that Mommy was right.

Optical Illusion

2011-03-01T10:59:00.000-08:00

K drew this picture on the doodle and showed it to us. We were very impressed with what we thought it was. Then she told us what it really was and we were more impressed. What do you think this is a picture of?
The answer will come tomorrow.

My Little Pony Birthday

2011-02-26T15:08:00.000-08:00

We decided to have a joint birthday party for the girls at Pappy's Pizza this year. They provided balloons, a table clothe, paper products, 2 slices of pizza, drinks, suckers and ice cream for each child for a very reasonable price. They also have a great play structure for the kids to play in.
There ended up being 13 kids in all, so it was much nicer doing the party somewhere other than my living room. We were there for 2 hours and had a great time.

The Birthday Girls.

The decorations.

Here are all the guests.

The cake I made for the girls.

Blowing out the candles.

L eating with her friends.

K enjoying her cake.

All their gifts.
They got lots of My Little Pony and
Littlest Pet Shop toys.

Happy Birthday, Snowman!

2011-02-24T10:00:00.001-08:00

We woke to a world of white this morning. It was a beautiful sight to see. The girls were so excited to see the snow and wanted to go out immediately to build a snowman. I checked the school closures and sure enough, one inch was enough to shut them all down. I still chuckle every time they close the schools here.
So, I got the girls dressed and we ate some oatmeal to keep us warm while we played in the snow. We bundled up in hats, coats and gloves and ventured out into the snowy world of our backyard. The girls started off by eating some of the fresh clean snow. Then K made a snow angel; I loved doing that as a kid. Then we started rolling a ball for the bottom of our snowman. We took turns rolling it around in the snow.
Now, one of the bad things about there only being one inch of snow is that the snowman gets dirty pretty fast. However, we trudged on and were able to make a three part snowman while still leaving some patches of snow in our yard.
By the time we were done, L was very cold so we came inside and I made homemade hot chocolate while K tried to make a snow turtle. When the hot chocolate was done, I took L back outside so we could put a hat and arms on the snowman. I thought it was cute that L said "Happy Birthday, Snowman!" when we put the hat on his head. Then we went inside and enjoyed our yummy treat.

Still snowing in this picture.

K's snow angel.

L eating snow.

K rolling the snowman head.

Putting on "Daddy's" hat.

The girls named our snowman Daddy.
Guess they really missed him not being home to
play with them today. Do you see a resemblance?

MMM, hot chocolate.

L with her chocolate.

K with her marshmallows and chocolate.

Puzzle Girl

2011-02-17T09:57:00.000-08:00

When I was younger, I loved putting puzzles together. My mom would set up a folding table for me to work on and give me pie pans to separate all my pieces into. I would spend days putting together a thousand piece puzzle and enjoy every minute of it. The process of finding the right shaped piece and watching the image start to unfold was so relaxing and fulfilling for me. I still enjoy putting puzzles together and have kept all the puzzles from my childhood. However, I don't really have a place I can do them where they can be left up without interference from the kiddos.
L has recently discovered the wonderful world of puzzle making. She sits several times a day and puts together the same puzzle. I really should get her some more like this one she loves. I hope she will continue to enjoy them as she gets older. What a fun mother/daughter activity we could do together.

Surf n' Turf

2011-02-15T11:06:00.000-08:00

M and K surprised me a week early with a bouquet of flowers and a balloon. M also gave me a Kindle, which I was shocked to get. I had been thinking it would be nice to get one but had not mentioned it to M. It will make reading books for book club so much easier. I got M tickets to see Wicked in April.

K made some adorable Valentines with her Bahmah for her class party on Monday. They decorated cookies, made valentine bags, and handed out their valentines. K got lots of stickers and suckers. She had a great time.

The Valentine K made.

Her Valentine Bag.

All the Valentines from her classmates.

For dinner, M made shrimp, zucchini, and steak
with mushrooms and onions. It was very tasty.

Three New Years Resolutions

2011-02-13T18:43:00.000-08:00

My final resolution for 2011 is:

3. Complete my unfinished projects.
I have so many projects from past Super Saturday's, scrapbook retreats, and... well, just crafts in general that have been sitting around collecting dust over the past 6 years. Some are even older than that. My final goal for this year is to get them finished or give them away.
How am I going to do that after my last post about spending more time with my kids? Well, I plan on spending less time in front of the computer and Hulu after the kids go to bed and more time working on crafts. Plus, my ward has just started up a craft night that meets once a month after the kiddos go to bed. This will be a perfect time for me to catch up on my seriously behind scrapbooking too.

Here is a cupcake tray I finished in the past week.

I saw it at a scrapbook store at the beach 2 years ago and
fell in love with it. I also made some paper cupcakes.

You can fill them with goodies. I did this for a treat
for my YW at church. I figure the tray will come in handy
for the many treats we bring them on Wednesday nights.

2011-02-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

Okay so here is my second resolution and it is going to be a very hard one for me:

2. Spend more time with my girls and less time on my "to do" list.
Whether it be to clean the house, make projects, work on my calling, improve the house, peruse the internet or any myriad of other things, there is always something that has to be done NOW and my kids suffer for it.
I realized recently that my "list" will always be here; my girls won't be. K will be going to school full time in just six months. I used to think I would be happy about that because it meant more time for me to do what I wanted and needed to get done. But about a month ago it hit me really hard that she wouldn't be around much any more. We wouldn't have much time to visit, play, or just cuddle together any more.
So my most important and hardest resolution is to spend more time with my girls and let everything else take a back seat. Now if you know me, you know how hard it will be for me to let my house be untidy, my projects go undone and ...well...to be unselfish.
Being a mom really is about looking outside of yourself and giving everything you have to your kids. You don't get to do what you want when you want any more. And really, that's okay because what you get in return is so much better. I will make great memories with my kids and hopefully build a wonderful relationship with them. One where they feel safe, secure, and are willing and happy to share their innermost thoughts and dreams with me.
What more could a mother want or ask for? What more could a child ask for from their mother than to know they are the center of their world, they are loved and they are cherished? I wish I had come to this conclusion when K was littler, but I guess better now than not at all. Now, I just need to put my desires into action. Wish me luck and I will keep you posted.

2011-02-10T11:48:00.000-08:00

We are a month and a half into the new year and I am finally posting my resolutions. I have three this year. I thought about making it an odd five but decided that was too many to focus on. Better odds of reaching my goals if I stick to a few good ones. I will make a separate post for each so I can explain my reasoning but not bore you to death all at once. So, here is the first one:

1. Stop drinking coke.
Seems like a pretty easy and benign thing to focus on but really it isn't. I used to be a coke fiend years ago before I had kids. I would drink 64 oz cokes from Dairy Mart like they were going out of style.
When I got pregnant with K, I stopped drinking coke and after my pregnancy I couldn't stand the taste of soda. I tried a sip once in a while from my hubbies glass and it was always so nasty. But eventually, after I had my last daughter, I forced myself to drink it and started liking it again. That was such a stupid thing for me to do. Not only is coke full of sugar and calories you don't need, but we are always telling our girls they can't have it because it's bad for them.
Lately I have realized I use it as a crutch to deal with anger and frustration. The kids irritate me, I go down a coke. Something isn't going as well as I would like, I go down a coke. Now, I realize there are worse things I can be doing, but this seems like a bad habit to get into. So I have decided to stop drinking coke by the end of this year.
I have done pretty well so far. We don't have any in the house, which helps, but occasionally when we are out to dinner I get a coke. I feel guilty about it, as I should since it isn't fulfilling my resolution, but I WILL STOP before December. Besides, water is better for you and I find that I am drinking more of it lately. I will keep you posted on my progress.

Who Shall I be Today?

2011-02-08T08:43:00.001-08:00

An Indian or a 50's girl?

A Japanese Princess.

A ballerina?

How about a Dancer?

Or a Genie?

I love all the cute costumes the girls have. I'd like to get a doctor, a policeman, a fireman, and a baker costume, too. They love their dress up box and so do I.

Dress Up, Anyone?

2011-02-05T14:27:00.000-08:00

My mother-in-law is amazing at many things, one of them is wood working. Last year I mentioned to her that I would love a box for the girls dress up clothes and she offered to make one for me. I never imaged it would be such a lovely work of art. She has been working on it since December and brought the finished piece to us on Thursday. We filled it up with all the Halloween costumes Mel has made for the girls plus some cute items I found at a garage sale. The girls had a jolly ole time dressing up for over an hour and have gone back for more everyday since. I will post those pictures tomorrow.

Mel carved a different picture for each
of the corners of the doors.

I love the heart rooftop.

Don't you just love this gorgeous wardrobe?
Thanks again, Mel, we love this box!

The Wonderful World of Three

2011-02-04T20:07:00.000-08:00

Today my youngest, my baby, turns three. I can hardly believe it has been that long since she was lying in my arms, a cute little bundle of joy. Well, not so little, but a bundle of joy none the less.

She is:
An amazing girl with such personality and attitude.
Really good at riding her two-wheeler with training wheels.
As tall as most the kids in her sister's kindergarten class.
Loving and caring to kids smaller than her, very nurturing.
Often counting to ten and likes to count objects.
Knows what she wants and will fight tooth and nail to get it.

She loves:
Her sister and emulates her in most things.
Coloring and does so outside the lines.
Her stuffed puppy which she can't sleep without.
Bears, dogs, and horses.
Games and she's really good at Memory.
Having books read to her.
Crawling in bed with me in the early morning hours to cuddle.
Being outside playing on the swing set, digging in the dirt, and going for walks.

Her Favorites:
Making the FUNNIEST faces.
The color pink.
The movie How to Train Your Dragon.
Cheeseburgers, Macaroni and Cheese, and Pizza.
Riding on the ATV at Bahmah's.

Though we frustrate each other and butt heads at times, you are the apple of my eye. I am so happy you are a part of our family. You are an amazing little girl and I look forward to seeing you change and grow in the coming year. Happy Birthday my sweet baby.

How We Celebrate Three

2011-02-04T19:04:00.000-08:00

L's birthday started out with butterfly pancakes and then she had a play date with her friend Lanie while I went to an appointment.
During the day she got to watch a Sesame Street DVD and then we took her out to dinner. She picked the restaurant we went to and she got a free meal plus a sundae for dessert.

When we got home she opened her gifts from the family. She got a game, a view master with lots of reels to look at, a megablocks race track, and a cute sticker book her sister made for her.

The sticker book is really cute, I am only showing the
back because her name is on the front of it.

After opening all of her presents the girls played with the race track for about an hour. I think this might be her favorite gift. I am so glad I was able to find it on ebay. They don't sell these any more which is quite a bummer.

After playing for a while, we talked her into blowing out the candles on her birthday donut. She blew them all out in three tries. An extinguished flame for each year of her life, seems appropriate.

School Options

2011-02-03T12:26:00.000-08:00

Every day after my oldest comes home from school we have lunch and then sit down for an hour to do school work. Mondays she always has homework, which she breezes through quickly. The rest of the week she works on workbooks I have gotten at Costco and The Learning Palace in town.
K is much farther ahead of the other kids in her class. When she started Kindergarten, her teacher told me she was already at the level the kids are expected to be at when the year is over. Not surprising after I spent some time in the classroom helping out and I saw they were working on the things K learned her first year in a private preschool.
K has always been very smart and eager to learn. But I fear she is going to loose that ambition if she isn't challenged. She has already come home many times this year telling me that she is bored at school and learned more in preschool.
We thought about skipping her to first grade, but she doesn't have very good social skills so we were concerned she would have a hard time fitting in. Plus we don't want to get her burned out in school at an early age.
I thought about home schooling her, but it sounds like a lot of hard work and tons of hoops you have to jump though with the government. I hear the tests are much harder for home schooled kids than the ones public school kids have to pass. Plus, I don't have good teaching skills or much patience. I fear I would go insane while making my daughters life at home miserable.
There is always private school, but they are so ridiculously expensive. I can't see spending as much for a year in elementary school as you would for a year of college. It doesn't seem very feasible.
So this puts us back to where we are now. K is already half way through a first grade workbook and is challenged, but not overly so. She can tell time on a digital clock and sometimes on a regular clock. She can do addition up to 20 and some subtraction. She reads at a first grade level and can spell pretty well. Plus she knows what a noun, verb and adjective are. When I talk to other parents they say she is very advanced for her age. I have nothing to compare to, so I really don't know. But I fear that public school is not going to challenge her enough.
So what do we do? Should we just keep schooling her at home while putting her through public school even though she learns nothing other than social skills there? Do we try to home school her and hope we both survive? Private school is out of the question. Or do we have her skip a grade and hope it works out? These are the questions we have been pondering for a few months now. Any suggestions?

K working on her math paper attached to
the dish washer. Keeps it interesting, right?

Animals on Display

2011-02-02T13:15:00.000-08:00

When I was little I loved stuffed animals and I had tons of them. There were a few I particularly loved which you could tell by their well-worn appearance. I would arrange most of them around my bed during the day and at night I would sleep with them all around me as sentinels to protect me from the boogie man.
The other day we walked into L's room and saw all her animals arranged around her bed in a similar fashion. It brought back memories of my childhood, though I had easily twice as many. Guess we need to get her some more stuffed animals.