Life As We Know It

5 years old!

2011-08-15T20:49:00.000-07:00

On the 8th, one week ago today, Katelyn turned 5 years old! She has been waiting for this birthday to come forever (well I think it seemed like forever in her mind). She now loves to tell everyone that she is 5. She will be a young kindergartner, but is so excited to go to school with Luke.
This was Katelyn's off year for a big party with friends, but instead she got to pick something fun to do and invite a friend to come along. She had some great ideas in store for this day.

We started off with breakfast at McDonalds.

Then throughout the day she opened presents. She got new pjs, more play doh toys, some princesses, a microphone, some fun coloring books, and stuffed animals.
Before lunch she decided she wanted to go to the Butterfly park and play in the water areas. So we loaded up and hit both water parks. She LOVED it!
She really wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese to play and invited her friend Anneliese to come along. But instead of eating at Chuck E. Cheese (thank goodness) we ate at Taco Bell (one of Katelyn's favorite places to eat). Katelyn wasn't so into playing the games, but she did love riding all the little rides they had.

I really like to make my kids' birthday cakes, but for some reason it did not work this year. Here's the proof. I have never had this happen to me. Katelyn was very understanding and had fun picking at the mess and eating it. It actually tasted really good, but didn't look so great.
Kevin saved the day by picking up an ice cream cake on his way home from work.
And here is the birthday girl in front of our traditional birthday signs.

5 things about Katelyn:

1. She loves to color, paint, and draw.

2. She loves to be active and doing something. She usually asks the night before what we will be doing the next day. When she is bored at home, she will often run around inside the house.

3. She loves music! She really likes for Kevin or I to sit at the piano to play and sing for her.

4. She loves playing on the computer.

5. She has a love/hate relationship with her little sister. I think it has something to do with Ashley being kind of bossy. But that is just my guess. :) They can play really well together and they can fight really well together. She usually gets along well with Luke and enjoys playing with him.

We really love this cute, 5 year old! She is a blessing in our family and usually just goes with the flow. Heavenly Father knew we needed someone like her in our family.

We Love Our Silly Katelyn!

Our weekend

2011-06-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

So much for my goal to catch up on posts by Memorial Day. Instead I will just post about our weekend. Our 3 day weekends usually consist of projects and cleaning, but we wanted to make sure we did something different this time. Don't worry we still worked on a project and cleaned like crazy, but we managed to fit in a couple fun things.

Friday night Kevin and I were able to go to the temple and out to dinner. I love date nights! It was a great way to start off the weekend.

Saturday morning we left our house around 8:15 in the morning and headed to Valley of Fire. Kevin had been there with the scouts, but our family had never been there. It was so much fun and we did the perfect hike for our little family. Lots of pictures to follow from our adventure.

How could we not take pictures in these cool holes in the rocks?

The hiking begins. We hiked Mouse's Tank. It felt like we were walking on the beach. I am still finding this red sand in shoes, the van, and our laundry room.

We saw lots of different animal tracks and several areas with petroglyphs. The kids thought the writing was so cool.

The sandy part ended and there was some fun rock climbing.

I was there too. :)

Ashley worked so hard she popped the elastic in one of her pony tails. But that didn't stop her from wanting to carry the backpack that was her size.

The weather was a little warm in the sun, but perfect in the shade. There was a nice breeze to keep it from being too hot. We did one other short hike to see some petrified wood. They had several of them surrounded by fences. Doesn't sound too exciting, but it was actually interesting to see.
Valley of Fire was so cool! I would love to go back and spend more time exploring.

Monday we had some friends over to barbecue. The weather was amazing on Monday. We had so much fun eating and visiting. Sorry no pictures, I was only good about taking them on the hike.

On Sunday we explained to our kids the reason for Memorial Day. I loved being able to tell them how grateful I am for the men and women who so bravely defend our freedoms.

3 on the 3rd!

2011-04-08T15:47:00.001-07:00

My baby...

grew up too fast and is now a big 3 year old.

Some things about Ashley at 3...

-she talks really well and loves to boss us all around
-she has a great imagination and loves be a mommy to her dolls
-she still favors mom over dad, but will give us both the best hugs
-loves to play on the computer and has mastered using the mouse by herself
-likes to sing and dance
-has been potty trained for several months now and caught on fairly quick
-LOVES nursery and joy school
-can play really well with Katelyn and can argue really well with Katelyn
-says "scritchpures" for "scriptures, and "skabetty" for "spaghetti"
-favorite shows are Olivia, Little Bear, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates
-very afraid of bugs, our tortoises, and dogs
-favorite foods: most fruits and veggies (yea!), beef jerky, waffles, hot dogs, pizza, and pudding

Her birthday was on a Sunday so we had a quiet family party with cinnamon rolls for breakfast.
Opened presents(her one request for a present was a pink chair with her name on it, you can see it in the background). She also got the Tangled movie, which has been watched every day since her birthday, a cookie play set, and a doctor's kit.
She has wanted bunny cupcakes for her birthday since her last birthday. When she was 2, our friends had a big Easter party and it happened to be on her birthday. She thought the party was for her and has talked about it often throughout the year. So she wanted to have bunny cupcakes this year because she thought she had a bunny party last year. :)
My attempt at bunny cupcakes...
We spent the rest of the day watching General Conference and playing with her new toys. She seemed to have a great day and kept saying "thanks" to all of us.

We love our cute girl and are so grateful she is part of our family!

(I realize that I have been a horrible blogger lately and birthdays are about my only motivation to blog. I need to go all the way back to October and document some things, but it seems so overwhelming. But it needs to be done so I have some journaling done for that time of my family's life. Hopefully I can catch up before Easter or maybe I should say Memorial Day. :) )

4 Days of Celebrating

2011-01-18T09:32:00.000-08:00

At our house we just do big birthday parties every other year starting at age 4. On their odd birthdays they get to choose a fun activity and invite 1 or 2 friends. So this was Luke's off year for a big party, but I think he still had a fabulous birthday, if I don't say so myself. :)

FRIDAY
The girls and I took Krispy Kreme donuts into Luke's class. I have not had one of those donuts in forever and forgot that they were so yummy.

SATURDAY

We let Luke take 2 friends to FlipNOut (an indoor trampoline place). They had a great time and were all red in the face from jumping around for an hour. McDonald's ice cream sundaes were the treat after the fun at FlipNOut.
Later that night we went to Red Robin as a family. Luke was so surprised when they came out with his free sundae (that's right two sundaes in one day :) ) and started singing to him.

SUNDAY (His actual birthday.)

It has become a tradition for the kids to come down in the morning on their birthday and see how the kitchen is decorated. I love the "right after you wake up" pictures.Opening presents...money from grandma & grandpa, double sided light saber, kinex, and a remote control dune buggy from us. A lego game and Star Wars lego vehicle from friends.

My attempt at a double sided light saber cake. This was Luke's request for a cake. I'm not sure I met his expectations. :)

We had Luke's boy cousins and his aunt and uncle come for dinner, cake, & ice cream. Tacos were the requested dinner by the birthday boy. I love this group shot of the cousins for many reasons...the placement of the blue balloon, Katelyn's fruit punch moustache stain, Ashley's helmet along with her ladybug Halloween costume.

MONDAY

There was no school on Monday and that was probably the best birthday present for Luke. He loves a day off from school and it works out that he usually gets a day off close to his birthday.

Seven

2011-01-16T22:40:00.000-08:00

That's how old my oldest turned today!

Happy Birthday Luke!

Has it really been 7 years since I held this sweet baby in my arms and kissed those chubby cheeks?

It is hard for me to believe it's been 7 years. Now I have a handsome, fun, smart, and good 7 year old boy who will sometimes still let me give him hugs and kisses.
(7 years old, holding his newest Star Wars lego vehicle)

7 things about Luke
1. Loves legos and puts them together so quickly.
2. Loves to play the Wii (favorite games right now Lego Batman, Lego Star Wars)
3. Still a picky eater, but loves pizza, tacos, quesadillas, and jello.
4. Tries really hard to do what is right
5. Great student (enjoys math & science the most)
6. Likes Star Wars & Tron
7. Really likes practicing karate moves with his Dad

I love my Luke who is so patient with me and teaches me so much!

We can't forget Ashley!

2010-09-23T13:22:00.001-07:00

Once a week Ashley goes to joy school/play group with 5 other kids for a couple of hours. I had them at my house last week and they are all so cute! Ashley loves talking about joy school and thinks she is really important that she has a "school" to go to each week.

(Do you love that couch in the background? It is up in our playroom and someday it will have a nice slipcover. Someday!)

While all the kids were playing upstairs Ashley put on her apron and "cooked dinner" in her play kitchen. Then she decided she would read a book to the "class". It didn't matter that no one was listening. She just loves being a "little momma".

Katelyn's turn

2010-09-08T19:17:00.001-07:00

Preschool has started and she is sooooo excited!
I might be a little excited too! She goes to preschool in the afternoon and Ashley still takes a nap. I am looking forward to some quiet afternoons until Ashley decides to give up on her naps. I will enjoy it while I can. :)

About 3 weeks...

2010-09-02T20:32:00.000-07:00

is all that separated Luke's kindergarten school year and the beginning of 1st grade. I guess that's what happens when you are in year round school and you get the track that takes a couple weeks break in June and then you are in school until August. (That was a really long sentence, but I don't feel like fixing it. :) ) So here is Luke graduating from Kindergarten...
We loved Luke's kindergarten teacher! She was an amazing teacher and so fun. The graduation was so cute, complete with walking in one at a time, singing some fun songs, and then receiving their kindergarten completion certificates. My mom happened to be here visiting during this time so she was able to attend and that made it extra special for Luke.

And now here he is on the first day of school as a first grader!

This week has felt like the longest week ever. Katelyn really misses Luke. The afternoon is especially long for her because that was when she and Luke would play while Ashley naps. I'm sure it will be easier next week when she starts afternoon preschool twice a week. But despite the long week, Luke has had a smile on his face everyday after school and says things are going well. He likes his teacher and says that lunch, recess, and PE are his favorite parts so far.

Crayon/Color Party

2010-08-13T19:17:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in my previous post that Katelyn loves to color, paint, and draw, so I thought it would be fun to do a crayon/color themed birthday party. It turned out to be such a fun theme!

the invitations

the front door sign
(it bugs me that the crayons and the "happy birthday" are crooked, but I didn't have the time or energy to go back and fix it)

the cake
(got the idea off the internet)

the take home "bags": little bucket, pack of crayons, coloring book, a little candy, and a crayon eraser
(this is a great time of year to do this theme because all the school supplies are such a great deal)

Katelyn added her own little touch and drew a picture for all her friends that came and then I wrote a little thank you note at the top and helped Katelyn write her name.

The Activities:

While everyone was arriving the kids did some coloring.

After everyone arrived I read the book "The Crayon Box That Talked".
Then we played a few games. I didn't get pictures of the first two games which were running relays while holding a large inflatable crayon and throwing the inflatable crayons through a hula hoop. These next two pictures are from our made up version of freeze dance. On the invitation I had asked the kids to wear their favorite color shirt. So we put on some music and let them dance, when the music stopped they ran to the color of card stock that matched their shirt. Then we mixed it up a little and had them run to a color that didn't match their shirt. They had so much fun with this game. Ashley felt like she should run to pink because she was wearing a pink skirt.

Then Katelyn opened her presents and loved everything she got.
We finished off the party with some cake and ice cream. Then they just played with toys until it was time to go. All of the kids were so good and Katelyn was a happy birthday girl!

I just had to add this last picture of Katelyn in her princess dress. She has been asking for a Sleeping Beauty dress for a long time. She finally got her wish and has worn it almost everyday since. She had a great weekend full of celebrating with her party on Saturday and then her actual birthday on Sunday. My mom was able to be here for Katelyn's birthday and that made it extra special.

Our 4 year old princess!

On August 8th

2010-08-12T18:35:00.000-07:00

(photo taken by my brother, Eric)

Katelyn turned 4 years old!!!

4 things about Katelyn:

1. She loves to color, paint, draw, and create.

2. She loves to dance and just started taking ballet and tap.

3. She is very coordinated and can kick, throw, hit, and catch a ball really well.

4. She has a great imagination.

1 day old

1 year old

2 years old

3 years old (I am loving how she posed for this one.)

4 years old (She was not in the mood for a picture. So no smile, but I did get a little smirk.)

Some other things I want to remember about Katelyn now that she is four:
loves to be a helper, very good at folding towels and wash cloths, likes to do the dishes (just mainly playing in the water), loves having painted toenails, can identify her letters and knows the sounds, likes princesses, likes girly things but can get her hands dirty and play rough and tumble with Luke and daddy, enjoys doing puzzles, favorite shows: Hi-5, Ni-Hao Kai-lan, Yo Gabba Gabba, and Sesame Street, likes to play games on the computer, can be quite moody ;), likes to go shopping with me, loves preschool, LOVES popsicles and likes to eat, says the "c" and "k" sound like a "t" sound (so "cake" sounds like "tate"), likes playing with play-doh, loves music and will often make up songs using instruments she creates from toys, plays really well with Luke and sometimes plays well with Ashley ;)

I Love My Katelyn!

Just Because...

2010-07-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

I think they are cute and I needed to finally put something up for my 100th post. Sorry no giveaway or amazing news, I'm just amazed I made it to 100.
Let's not talk about the fact that I started this blog over 3 years ago and I am just on my 100th post. :)

Loved this and needed this...

2010-07-06T14:22:00.000-07:00

Make time stop!

2010-06-28T13:59:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken last October (10/2009)

and this one was taken in May.

That is just seven months apart and I can't believe how much they have grown. I need to figure out how to put the pictures side by side for a good comparison. Luke and Katelyn's pants don't need to be cuffed, Luke could barely button up his pants, Ashley's pants are now waiting for a flood. That blue stripe ended up being a good measurement. Luke's ears are now at the top of the line, Katelyn's head almost reaches the top and Ashley's whole head is in the blue. And it only took 7 months for all those changes. My babies are growing up and I want them to stop!

Two!

2010-04-12T19:28:00.000-07:00

My baby went from this...

to this...

to this...in just two years!

How can it be? Those 2 years flew!

Ashley's birthday was on April 3rd. She woke up to balloons and streamers decorating the kitchen. Her day continued with a fun Easter egg hunt at a friend's house,

a Hi-5 cake (this is my lifesaver show when I have had enough of the whining and crying, Katelyn also loves this show and had a hi-5 cake on her 2nd b-day too),

a couple of presents with the crawling, talking baby being her favorite,
and then for dinner we headed out for McDonald's to get her favorite fries! :)
Here are some things about Ashley at 2 years old:

talks really well
loves to sing songs
loves her baby dolls and loves real babies
cries HARD when she doesn't get what she wants
the whiniest(is that a word?) 2 year old
loves to eat snacks all day
tries really hard to be like the big kids
loves gum
still a big time mama's girl
says "I hold you" when she wants me to hold her (I hear this all day long :) )
likes to do things herself...put on her shoes, take off her clothes, pour her cereal, brush her teeth, get a drink of water, etc. She usually likes to do these things by herself when I need her to hurry, but when I have the time to let her try it she doesn't want to do it.
we think she is pretty cute and that is what helps us get through the whining and crying:)
she would swing outside all day if someone was willing to stand outside and listen to her say "higher" over and over again while pushing her higher and higher
she has an opinion about what she wears, but mommy's choice in clothes still wins at this point
she loves to read stories

We love our Ashley!!!

"The princess knows who's boss, and it's not the king and queen."
(There could not be a truer statement when it comes to Ashley).
We love this girl and all her spunk!

8 years ago today...

2010-03-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple.

It is hard to believe it has been 8 years. It has flown by and I am so grateful to have had Kevin by my side.

What has happened in the past 8 years? (here's just a few things)
-Kevin has worked for the same company.
-We have lived in the same state.
-Lived in an apartment, a house, a condo, and another house.
-Had 3 cute kids.
-Owned 6 cars/trucks
-Painted lots of walls and completed many projects.
-Went on fun family vacations
-Had our car stolen once and our house broken into once.
-Enjoyed many moments of happiness, some sadness, and have learned so much together.

I am one lucky girl to have a husband who works so hard for his family, is fun to be around, can fix anything, so talented, smart, takes good care of me, loves me, an amazing father, has so much patience, loves the gospel, and is my best friend.

Valentine Overload

2010-02-22T14:26:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure why I got so into Valentine's this year, but I did and I was done with the holiday by the time it actually came.

We had a FHE at the beginning of the month and wrote on hearts what we loved about each other. Got the idea from here.

One of Luke's hearts.

One of Katelyn's hearts.

Ashley's contribution which I'm sure says I love my mom so much that I need her to hold me all the time. ;)

We peeled the paper off a bunch of crayons to make a Valentine for all of Luke's kindergarten class and Katelyn's preschool class.

This was the result. Idea found here.

We did some heart braids.

Made some easy teacher gifts.
Made some yummy heart treats that got me off of my trying to eat better plan.

These were for a Valentine party at a friends house where all my kids were invited.

Ashley enjoyed licking the spoon and eating all the chocolate that was around the house. She was also heard saying, "I need chockit (chocolate)." Just like her mother. :)

These were for my Laurels because they needed a heart treat on Valentine's day. :)

Valentine's day finally came and I was burned out. So Kevin and I just gave each other a card and he was sweet and gave me some pretty flowers. Kevin also made the kids heart waffles in the morning, but Luke wanted Honey Nut Cheerios instead. At least Kevin tried.

Katelyn loved her waffles. Can't you tell by the cheesy smile?

And I attempted to get a picture of the kids for a Valentine to send to the grandparents. I didn't end up using this picture but did make some Valentines that I still need to send. If it makes it there before the end of Feb. I will be happy.

I was practically standing on my head trying to get them to all look, all smile, and to all have their eyes open. It didn't work. Oh well!

p.s. I just had to add(so that I have record of it :) ) that Kevin and I did go out to a nice dinner on Friday night and saw the water show at the Bellagio. We had a great time! So I guess we did celebrate Valentine's day, just not on the actual day.

Sometimes I Like to be Crafty

2010-02-17T14:44:00.000-08:00

I have not done anything crafty in forever. I usually see cute ideas, go buy the stuff to make it, and then it sits in my spare bedroom waiting for the perfect opportunity to make it. That perfect opportunity rarely comes.
Well, I finally saw a cute Valentine craft, went and bought the materials, and actually came home and made it.

Got the idea here

Robot Birthday Party

2010-02-04T13:06:00.000-08:00

Growing up my parents did a friend party for us every other year and so I decided to continue with that birthday tradition in my own family. So my kids get a friend party on their even birthdays starting when they are 4. This was Luke's year for a friend party and he was so excited. I had so much fun planning and making everything for this party, but in the end was so exhausted. It was worth it for my Luke. I will admit that some of these things were not necessary, but I loved how they went along with the theme so I had to make or try them. :)

None of these ideas were my original ideas except for one of the games. I love how you can get so many ideas from other blogs and sites on the internet. I will link to the places I got the ideas as I talk about them.

Luke had an all boy party this year. There are so many boys his age in his church and school classes. So I had to limit it to the boys that are currently in his church class or were just in his class, a few friends from school, and cousins. That was 13 boys already and I was wondering if we could handle it. It turned out great and all the boys were so good!

The boys were greeted with this friendly robot that I made. I got good use out of dollar store aluminum pans. :) The front door robot idea came from here.

When the boys came in the house we gave them all an "on/off button", which was a sticker that looked like a button. Luke is wearing the button in this picture. The idea for the button came from here (this is my cousin's wife's blog, she is super funny and super creative). This came in really handy when we wanted to get the attention of all the boys. We would just say, "Ok robots, press your off button." Then they would all pretend to power down and were quiet. I really wish I had a video of it because it was pretty cute. Then we would have them press it again to power up.
We played a couple of games. I found some robot arms that have the pincher on the end and we had a relay. The boys would run down with the arm, pick up a candy or small wind up robot and bring it back and put it in their take home robot. They had three chances to run in the relay. I forgot to take pictures of this game. The second game was build a robot relay. The boys were in two teams and each boy had a robot part. They ran down individually and put their part on the robot. I took a couple of pictures of one of the robots, but didn't get the other one.

Then the boys just wanted to run around and be boys. They had fun playing outside and wrestling the giant robot (Kevin) to the ground.

We had pizza for lunch, opened presents and then had cake and ice cream.
The invitations, cake idea, and take home treat were from this blog.

I got the idea for the robot head take home "bags" from several blogs and I believe they got the idea from Family Fun. The ideas were from here , and here

I probably went a little overboard, but Luke loved it and everyone had fun! Now I get a little breather until August when Katelyn celebrates her 4th birthday and gets her first friend party.

Birthday Boy!

2010-01-31T14:18:00.000-08:00

Luke turned 6 on January 16th!

6 Things about Luke:

1. He is a smart boy and can figure things out so easily.
2. He loves playing the Wii.
3. He loves playing with friends and asks everyday for a friend to come over.
4. He is reading really well and writes the cutest stories.
5. He is such a good big brother and has so much patience with his 2 little sisters.
6. He always tries to choose the right.

I was so blessed 6 years ago when Luke entered my life and made me a mother. I am proud of him and the person he is becoming. It is crazy for me to look at pictures of him over the past 6 years and see how much he has changed. He is growing up too fast for me. :)

Birthday Party Post coming soon!

I know, I know...

2010-01-26T20:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas was a month ago, but I still want to post a few things so I won't forget Christmas 2009.

We had a nice Christmas here at home. We spent Christmas Eve with Kevin's side of the family where we had yummy food, did a white elephant gift exchange, had the kids act out the Nativity, sung around the piano, and visited. It was a nice way to spend Christmas Eve.
It was nice to have Kevin's mom was with us on Christmas morning. The kids were really into Christmas this year so it was fun to see them get excited about their gifts. The family got a Wii and we have enjoyed playing it, especially the new Super Mario brothers.

One of the many attempts to get a decent picture of the kids all dressed up. We never got a decent one.

The cousins who participated in the Nativity. (Katelyn was a wiseman wearing her Aunt Holly's tiara. She is cracking me up in this picture at the way she is looking at her cousin.)

New pjs from my parents opened on Christmas Eve. Isn't that tutu adorable? I didn't think she would wear the tutu because of previous experience, but she loved it and still loves these pjs today. She even wants to wear the tutu with her regular clothes.

Katelyn's new nightgown came with a matching doll nightgown. Too cute!

Luke's new pjs were Star Wars Lego themed. Perfect for him and here he is with his favorite Christmas present. A power ranger transformer thingy.

Time to Catch Up

2010-01-26T19:59:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my last post was Halloween. I don't know what my problem is but I have not wanted to blog. I think it is because I am so far behind.

Here is a quick recap of Thanksgiving...

We spent it in Utah with my family. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time!

We took the kids to see...

"reindeer" not far from my parent's house.

Kevin and I were able to go to Salt Lake for a night without the kids. It was so much fun and thanks to my parents we didn't worry about the kids. How was that for a quick recap?

A Halloween to Remember

2009-11-05T21:03:00.001-08:00

You take Obi Wan Kenobi

a tall witch

and a small witch

and you take them to the church a week before Halloween for the Trunk or Treat. There you will find Obi Wan Kenobi working on his Jedi skills,

the tall witch taking a break and eating corn bread,and the small witch chillin' beside daddy to help pass out candy or to eat all the candy.At the trunk or treat they will score lots of good candy and their mom is thinking they don't really need to go trick or treating in a week. But of course she gives in.

Obi Wan Kenobi, the tall witch, and the small witch all wanted to carve pumpkins (okay, maybe the small witch had no idea that she wanted to carve pumpkins). So for Family Home Evening we did just that.

(It looks like I'm the only one having fun in this picture.)

And this is what resulted from that fun carving party...
(These pumpkins barely made it to Halloween before they turned all yucky inside. Next year we better carve them closer to Halloween.)

The Jedi and the witches were looking forward to Halloween day but little did they(and their mom) know that a special trick or treater would show up a day early. Around 11:40 on Friday morning there was a knock at the door and it was Grandma Cottrell. She woke up early that morning and drove to our house by herself to surprise us and spend the Halloween weekend with us. We were thrilled!!!!

The mom and dad of the Jedi and witches decided to try the Treat Street put on by Mix 94.1. Little did they know that it was so far away and that the small witch would scream for half of the ride there and for half of the ride home. The screaming and the long ride proved to be worth it for the great amounts of good chocolate candy they were giving out and

for the chance to see Jim from The Office.

Who could ask for more? It was definitely a Halloween to remember.

Treat Street Pros and Cons:
Pros: one designated area, free stuff, great candy, perfect for little kids
Cons: far away, you come home with way too much candy (I guess this is only a con if you have no self discipline like me and end up eating most of the candy.), it was only about 7 or 8 houses (but you could go around as many times as you wanted)

Before the Halloween Post...

2009-11-02T15:40:00.000-08:00

I thought I would share something that I found that would be fun to do for the month of November. Luke just started his track break and I have been thinking of things to do to keep him busy. I thought some of these ideas were cute and fun.

P.S. We are now on day 4 and having fun with the ideas. My kids are really enjoying it and it makes me feel like I am doing something worthwhile with them at least once during the day. :)

18 Months Old

2009-10-15T21:07:00.001-07:00

Ashley turned 18 months old on the 3rd of October. This is a big deal at church because now she can go to nursery and we no longer have to walk the halls during the second and third hour.

Looking at that cute face and smile you would think she would be excited about nursery...

but the following picture truly describes her first day in nursery. Even though she was crying to go outside this is exactly what she did in nursery. We let her cry it out for a little bit and then Kevin stayed with her the rest of the time. Luke and Katelyn went to nursery so easily, but we knew Ashley would have a hard time. She is still such a momma's girl.

This is an image I see all day long. :) It's a good thing she is cute!

Ashley's highlights and maybe a few lowlights ;) at 18 months...

talks a ton and will copy almost any word we say to her (Luke loves to have her repeat words after he says them. He loves to tell everyone he taught her how to talk.)
she can say some short phrases
just started saying "thank you" and it sounds so cute
she can be very polite and says "scuse me" after she burps (she has been doing this for awhile and it still makes me smile each time she says it)
mimics everything we do
loves purses and putting things inside them
loves to be outside
she's a climber (This is new to me because Luke and Katelyn were never climbers. It is a whole other ball game trying to keep track of her and what she might be standing on.)
wants to do everything Katelyn does (which doesn't always make Katelyn happy) and gets mad if she can't do it
likes to hit and scratch :( and it hurts
knows what to do for timeout
likes to shut doors
likes to pretend to go potty on the toilet (because she sees Katelyn doing it)
LOVES to color and will often say "I color"
still learning to color only on paper
sings "Happy Birthday", "Popcorn Popping", and "Ring around the Rosies"
cries whenever I leave even if she is with daddy
sleeps well at night and most days will take a good afternoon nap
loves to play in the toy kitchen and "help" me in the real kitchen
likes to watch Hi-5 with Katelyn and dance
doesn't like sitting in the cart at the grocery store anymore
sometimes has an opinion about what she wears-i finally made her a cute tutu and was hoping to get a picture of her in it, but no such luck. I'm still determined to try and get a picture and it may just have to be a crying picture.

She is still very attached to her "dinky" and asks for it all the time. I need to get brave and take it away during the day.

She calls Luke "wuke" and Katelyn "Ka-ten"

She definitely keeps us on our toes with her spunky personality. We love our Ashley and have had fun watching her change so much in the last 18 months.

Her stats:
23 lbs. 14 oz.
32 inches tall

Yes, it's that post!

2009-09-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

The first day of school pictures and a little more!

Luke is getting used to the idea of going to Kindergarten everyday, but is loving it! However, he had to miss today because he got sick with a bad cold and fever. Here's hoping he recovers quickly.

Katelyn started a 3 year old preschool this week and feels like such a big girl! I think she might be the youngest in the class, but looks like the oldest. :) She was beyond excited about getting a new backpack.
(I think it's kind of funny how both Luke and Katelyn have the same smile and pose in their pictures. I didn't even take them on the same day.)
I had to post this one too because I actually got a real smile from Katelyn without a fuss!

And this little one who is now 17 months old is loving her alone time with mommy on Tues and Thurs mornings. However, the extra attention does not stop her from being mean to Luke and Katelyn. She loves to hit and pull hair. It drives me crazy and I am having a hard time figuring out how to get her to realize it isn't funny. She has seen Luke and Katelyn go to "timeout" on the stairs. So the other day she was being mean and I told her "no, you need to be nice" in a stern voice. She gave me her look that you see in the above picture and said "I sit" and ran over and sat on the stairs. Of course, I had to take a picture and she got up about 10 seconds after sitting down. It took a lot for me to not start laughing at that face she gives me and seeing her little body sitting in a timeout. Now she probably thinks "timeout" is a game. Oh well, we will figure it out somehow. What a stinker, she definitely keeps things exciting around our house!

Establishing Traditions

2009-08-23T20:32:00.001-07:00

With my first one going to kindergarten I wanted to start some back to school traditions. Here's hoping I can keep it up throughout the years. To start off, Luke and I went on a "date".
(not sure why blogger feels like it needs to underline everything, i can't turn it off)

Despite the look on Luke's face, he was really excited to just go out with mommy.

We went out for pizza, Luke's favorite thing to eat. He was so cute while we were waiting for our pizza. After we finished talking about kindergarten it was quiet for a minute. He started fidgeting in his chair and then leaned back and said, "So, what's going on?" It was so cute because he was trying to keep the conversation going on our little "date".

I didn't take pictures of the next parts of our date, but after pizza we went to see the movie G-Force. He LOVED it and I thought it was pretty cute! When we were walking into the movie I was commenting on how hot it was outside. Luke then said, "I think I know why it doesn't snow and get really cold in Las Vegas. I think Heavenly Father forgot about Las Vegas because he was too busy making other places cold." I said, "hmmm, that's an interesting idea" The kid cracks me up with his ideas and his never ending questions.

After the movie we quickly ran and bought him some new shoes for school and then got some ice cream. It was so much fun hanging out with my little man! I can't believe he is going to kindergarten tomorrow. Here's hoping I can hold it together. :)

I got my next idea from nie nie's blog. I love her blog and am so inspired by her and her story. If you have not heard of her or read her blog, you are definitely missing out. She was in a horrible airplane crash along with her husband and another man that did not make it. She and her husband have endured many hard things since this crash, but have amazing faith. I am so inspired by her, her family, her faith, creativity, courage, and strength.
I loved her back to school feast idea so I implemented my own version. Mine was definitely not as fancy and with picky eaters the menu was quite simple.

The table was dressed up "fancy" in our terms of the word "fancy". Real plates versus paper plates is fancy at my house. The kids thought the candles and the "fancy" glasses were the best thing ever.

We ate chicken rolls w/gravy, cooked carrots, fruit salad, and had some sparkling juice.

Luke saying "kindergarten".

Katelyn saying "pre-school".

Ashley was supposed to be saying "mommy" because that is all she cares about right now.

We ate and then Kevin gave Luke and Katelyn father's blessings and we finished the night off with the best chocolate cake.

Katelyn turned 3 on August 8th

2009-08-11T20:36:00.000-07:00

One of Katelyn's birthday requests was to have a "cone shaped party hat"! So she found one on the table right when she came downstairs in the morning and put it on. I think she is pretty pleased in this picture.

Katelyn had two birthday parties to go to on Saturday and none of them were her own party, but she still loved it. This was her year for a small family party. So we went out to breakfast at the Pancake House, then she went to a friend's birthday party, opened a few presents, had lunch, opened a few more presents, had cake, watched a movie, went to dinner at Taco Bell (her choice), and then went to her uncle's 30th birthday party! Quite the day for a new 3 year old I think!
Eating breakfast at the Pancake House. Party hats and all!

She has wanted pom poms forever and so she finally got some for her birthday. Here she is doing a birthday cheer for us.

Her favorite present was a princess castle. She has been into the whole princess thing lately so we kind of went with that theme for her "party".

My super easy version of a princess cake. Katelyn loved it and now she has some princesses for toys.

Enjoying some cake!

Really enjoying her cake now! So much easier than using a fork.

This is my Katelyn over the past 3 years. I like to take a picture by their birthday sign each year. This year Katelyn was so wiggly and would not stand still. If I knew how to do a small collage I would show you the many different photos I got of her. The last one here was the best one and it is still blurry.

Looking back at these pictures makes me miss my kids as babies and I can't believe how much she has changed from a year ago.

Three things about my Katelyn:
1. She has so much spunk and amazes me with her energy.
2. She loves to draw and color. Usually on paper, but sometimes on herself.
3. She loves to line things up... like her toys, her crayons, or anything she is playing with at the time.

Another Interview about Daddy

2009-06-22T14:32:00.000-07:00

Two years ago I interviewed Luke about his Dad for Father's Day. I thought it would be fun to do again and include Katelyn this time. I used the same questions and it was fun to see which ones Luke answered the same and which ones he changed.

Luke's answers at 5 years old...

What's your daddy's name? Kevin
How old is your daddy? 35
How tall is your daddy? ummm...I don't know... ummm... maybe 20 feet
What color are his eyes? blue
Is your daddy strong? Yes How strong? he can lift up the couch
Where does your daddy work? at his work What does he do? builds stuff and gets money
Does your dad ever get mad at you? Yes
Why does he get mad? because sometimes I hit or push
What does he do when he gets mad? he sends me to my bed or puts me in time out
What do you like to do for fun with daddy? wrestle, got to fun stores, go to the playground...lots of fun stuff
What is he good at doing? playing What do you like to play? ninja warrior
Is your daddy smart? yes, he knows what 100+100 is and he teaches me lots of stuff
If your daddy was a superhero who would he be? Wolverine
Is your daddy your best friend? Yep!

Katelyn's answers at 2 1/2 years old... (it took us three different sessions to answer all these questions)
What's your daddy's name? uhhh...Daddy
How old is your daddy? maybe 2
How tall is your daddy? big
What color are his eyes? brown
Is your daddy strong? Yah How strong? he does push ups
Where does your daddy work? far away What does he do? push ups
Does your dad ever get mad at you? uh huh
Why does he get mad? "I make him happy." What do you do that makes him mad? "because I'm not happy"
What does he do when he gets mad? maybe he puts me on the stairs in time out
What do you like to do for fun with daddy? wrestle and go to Depot, Depot (this is what she calls Home Depot)
What is your favorite thing to do with daddy? go to Disneyland
What is he good at doing? work
Is your daddy smart? yes, he rides in a truck
If your daddy was a superhero who would he be? a man What kind of man? spiderman
Is your daddy your best friend? Yes

My kids are so lucky to have such a fun, smart, hard working daddy. He is always involved and helps me out so much. We love him!!!!

I also want to give a shout out to my Dad.

My dad has always been my number one fan. I have fond memories of seeing my dad in the stands at all my high school basketball games cheering me on and sometimes giving the refs a hard time. :) Many times he was there in a suit having just come from work or a church meeting. He has always been a support and strength to me. Not only has he been a wonderful father, but he is a super grandfather. My kids love to go to grandpa's house and help him in his garden or play in his fun backyard. He is always willing to take them to the park and have fun with them. Thank you for your great example Dad! I love you!

Creativity At Its Best or Worst

2009-06-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

Katelyn loves to color, draw, and paint. She has really progressed a lot in her coloring and drawing. She can now draw a circle face with the eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and hair in the proper place. She wanted to try painting and did really well the first couple of times. No big messes and she was occupied and I was happy.

Well, I guess regular painting on the paper was not creative enough for her. She started painting her hands and trying to make hand prints on the paper. Of course she was using watercolor paints so the hand prints weren't really working, but she did have a mess on her hands and down her arms. I let it slide the first and second time, but by the third time I told her no more painting for awhile. That made her so mad and the tantrums began. Even though it wiped off easy it left a dark stain on her hands for the rest of the day.

On Saturday I decided to give her another chance. She hadn't painted for a few days and she was needing something to keep her busy. I told her that if she painted on her hands we would put the paint away and she couldn't paint for a long time. I got her all set up and then left her to do a few things around the house (this was my mistake). Each time I would check on her she was quietly painting and the last time I checked she was done and sitting on the couch(with her back to me) watching TV with Luke.

I cleaned up the paints and then a few minutes later I heard Luke saying, "Katelyn has paint all over her face!" What?!?!.................

She was just sitting there like it was no big deal and I guess it wasn't a big deal to her. I guess I need to be more specific with her. No paint on your hands, face, knees, legs, feet, ears, etc. Luckily it wiped off pretty easy and there weren't any dark stains left.

Preschool Graduate

2009-06-03T15:22:00.001-07:00

Preschool has been soooo good for Luke. He has come a long way from the beginning of the school year. His behavior has improved so much and he is now reading and writing. He would sound out words and write words all day if I could be there to help him with the ones he doesn't know and be able to give him my attention all day.
His preschool experience was a little different because he had Miss Kathy from the beginning of the school year until the first week of April and then went to Miss Heather's preschool until the end of May. Miss Kathy had to stop because her son was sick. I was worried how Luke would transition, but he surprised me and did really well.

(Signing the ABCs. I was cracking up because the teacher was going a little fast and Luke couldn't keep up. He said really loudly, "you are going too fast!" That's my boy, not afraid to say what's on his mind.)

(The fam minus dad in Luke's first preschool room.)

(Miss Kathy-she was so patient with Luke)

(Miss Heather-(not a great picture of Luke)she had a dog that Luke learned to love. This is pretty amazing considering how terrified Luke is of dogs.)

Disneyland Fun

2009-05-13T15:15:00.000-07:00

We decided to brave Disneyland for our family vacation this year. We thought it would be a great time to go because Katelyn and Ashley were still free. We did have a great time and came home exhausted!

Highlights and lessons learned from the trip:

Stayed in a suite for the first time and it was so worth the little bit of extra money
Ashley had her meltdowns in the hotel before heading to the park
Katelyn only had one major meltdown
Luke was braver than I thought and loved the roller coasters. Katelyn also loved the little roller coaster in toontown.
(This was Luke right after riding a roller coaster at CA adventure.)
Katelyn did not like the characters and would not take a picture with any of them.
The weather was hot on Thursday, but there were hardly any lines.
The weather was nice on Friday, but the lines were longer.
Never spend the money on pizza at CA adventure again
Don't go on the swinging carts on the ferris wheel again. They scared Ashley and I, Katelyn thought it was so funny to be swinging back and forth.
Favorite Rides: Buzz Lightyear, Toontown Roller Coaster, It's a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, Monsters Inc., and Toy Story
Katelyn and Luke were pulled out in the Celebrate parade to dance and they loved it. Katelyn kept wanting to go the "party" again.
Ashley thought she was such a big girl and would walk in the lines like everyone else.
Frozen strawberry lemonade is the best treat on a hot day.
The water and snacks we brought were lifesavers.
Hand sanitizer is a must!
Time together at a fun place with family is the BEST!
Our double jogging stroller was so nice and at times would hold all three kids.

(Video of Luke and Katelyn dancing in the parade.)

Mother's Day

2009-05-10T20:35:00.000-07:00

I am blessed with a wonderful mother and mother-in law. I am in awe of these two amazing woman.

My mom had six kids in 8 1/2 years. She gave birth to 3 of the 6 kids in the Middle East while we were living over there. She gave birth to 1 child in Salt Lake while my dad had to stay overseas and had two small children already. Along with my dad, she traveled the world with 5 small children ( I seriously don't know how she did that. I can barely drive to Utah and keep my sanity.) She has served faithfully in all of her church callings and has always been an example of trusting in the Lord and serving others. She is one of my heroes.

(This picture was taken a couple of years ago, but I love it so I decided to post it.)
My mother-in-law has raised 9 children, yep that's right 9. I seriously don't know how she has done it. She has been through a lot in her life and remains so strong and faithful. She is a kindergarten teacher with this being her last year of teaching. I wish my kids could have had her as a teacher. She is someone I look up to and admire.

I am so grateful to be a mother to these three cuties. Motherhood is not easy and I struggle most days to be a good mom. It is because of the great examples of mothers in my life that I keep plugging along and try to do my best in this most important job. Thank you to them for their help, support, and encouragement.

1 Year Check Up a Month Late

2009-05-02T15:39:00.000-07:00

STATS:
20 lbs 20z
Almost 31 inches long

Walking all over the place
Starting to say more words
Loves to play outside
Getting more hair, had to cut the back because she was getting a mullet.
Still only has two teeth
She is our little puppy and begs for food whenever someone is eating something. It doesn't matter if she just finished eating a whole bunch of food herself.
Likes to hit us to see our reaction.
Cries a lot when she doesn't get her way.
She is afraid of my exercise ball. Big tears when she sees that ball. That probably means I should start using it more so she gets used to seeing it around. :}

Easter Fun

2009-04-15T13:21:00.000-07:00

Easter Egg Decorating

Easter Egg Hunting or Rock Throwing

Easter Outfit Picture Taking

A Perfect Easter Message

2009-04-12T16:24:00.000-07:00

I LOVED Elder Holland's talk from this past General Conference. I wish I would have had a copy of this for my young women lesson today. This is too good not to share.

Today...

2009-04-03T14:12:00.000-07:00

My Baby Turns 1

At one years old:

loves her binky
understands what we are saying to her
says "ball", "mo"=more, "wuz dat"=what's that, "wuz dis"=what's this, "mom", "yah"
makes a "ruff, ruff" sound for any animal
loves to eat
doesn't love cow's milk
not the best napper and it is killing me (my other two kids took the best naps)
she stands by herself & will take a couple of steps
uses a stool or anything else she can push to walk around the house
loves to "talk" on the phone and will say her version of "hello"
loves to play with a ball
loves to pull everything out of drawers or buckets
finally sleeps through the night
only has two teeth, the second one still isn't all the way through
likes to wear necklaces and sunglasses

she puts her hands up in the air when she is looking for something (see video below, it is towards the end of the video)

She is such a joy to our family!
We love our Ashley!

I Found This Treasure at Target...

2009-03-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

For Just 5 Dollars!!!!

This is one of my favorite movies and about the only movie I can watch over and over again. So imagine my excitement to see it on DVD for so cheap. Now I own it on VHS and DVD!

Why is this so hard for me?

2009-03-19T21:14:00.000-07:00

I love reading other peoples' blogs, but have such a hard time posting on my own blog. I wait too long to post and then I am overwhelmed by all the things I haven't posted. Then I feel guilty because I should be documenting things better because this is like a journal for me and my family. I can't say that I will be better, but I can say that this is a random post of all the latest happenings of my kids.

Luke's Random Happenings

He loves preschool and enjoys showing us all the things he makes.

His preschool teacher sends home "responsibility papers" for homework and you work at your own pace. Luke loves the "homework" and has done really well. He is now reading very simple sentences and his first little book his teacher sent home. He was so excited that he read it to me right when he got home from preschool and then wanted to read it to Katelyn. She was so good to sit and listen.

I thought this was cute. Katelyn wasn't feeling well one day so Luke decided to make her a picture. The "klin" is his way of sounding out Katelyn.

This is Luke at 6 months old when he got his first tooth. I don't have any pictures where you can see the beginning of a tooth so I just put a picture of what he looked like at the age he got the tooth. :)

This is Luke a week ago at 5 years old when he lost his first tooth. My baby has officially grown up. I noticed it was loose about 2 weeks ago and then just last week he was eating dinner and bit down right on it. It made him cry(the picture shows his teary eyes and red forehead from crying) because it hurt, but he kept on eating and it just fell out. He was so excited for the tooth fairy to come and woke up the next day with a dollar under his pillow. Our tooth fairy is cheap, but Luke didn't care.

Katelyn's Random Happenings

She loves helping mommy, especially with the laundry. She likes to discipline Luke and often copies whatever I say to Luke. She loves to play in her toy kitchen and sometimes says things exactly how I would say them. I better be careful what I say.

Her hair is getting long.

She LOVES to play outside. We have had beautiful weather lately and she asks to go out everyday. I am so grateful for a backyard to send her out in and play. She especially loves it when Luke is out there and they play together. She is learning to ride Luke's scooter and likes wearing Luke's hat.

She is a great big sister and loves playing with Ashley. She thinks it's funny when Ashley tries to pull her hair.

Other things: She loves pink and used to only wear something if it had pink on it. She has surprised me in the last week when she has not put up a fight if the outfit I pick out does not have any pink.
We are in the beginning stages of potty training. I am not pushing it hard core right now, but just introducing it. She is not super excited, but we have to start sometime. She is 2 1/2 but looks like she is 4.

Ashley's Random Happenings

Ashley at 10 months old.

Ashley at 11 months old. She has been cruising all over the place for several months and will now stand by herself for short periods of time. She walks behind her push toy, but has not taken any steps on her own.

She loves to be outside. She likes the swing, but her favorite thing is the slide. She has no fear and would go over and over and over again. She lets us know that she isn't done even when we are done.

This stance kind of shows how she crawls. She uses one knee and pushes with her other foot. We have yet to have a normal crawler in our family. Luke and Katelyn both scooted on their bums instead of crawling. So I guess Ashley's version is closer to the norm.

Her new favorite past time is to throw all her blankets and binkies out of her crib and then play around until she wants them back and starts crying. We go through this routine several times before she actually settles down and takes a nap. She thinks she is pretty funny.

Other things: she says "ruff, ruff" for any animal, she points to what she wants, she makes sounds that sound like she is saying "what's this?" in her cute baby voice, she only has one tooth and I can see another one ready to pop through, she loves to eat and would eat food all day long, she is petite compared to how Luke and Katelyn were as babies, she is a momma's girl through and through.

Okay, now I feel a little better having those things documented.

Fun Giveaway!

2009-02-25T13:09:00.000-08:00

This skirt is so adorable! Check out this cute giveaway. I would love to see Katelyn or Ashley wearing it.
Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Feeling Blessed

2009-01-31T10:53:00.000-08:00

Life has not been easy over the past month, but despite the challenges we have been so blessed.

These are just a couple of our most recent experiences...

My dad had open heart surgery almost a week ago to replace a valve. This is the first major surgery our family has experienced and it was an emotional week for me. The fasting and prayers by so many family members and friends were felt. The surgery went well and now he is dealing with the long, painful recovery. I know the recovery will not be easy for him or my mom but we truly feel so blessed that there were not any complications during the surgery. He will be coming home this afternoon. It is so amazing that he had major surgery less than a week ago and he is coming home today. We are so blessed to have the technology and medicines we have now.

This past Thursday our house was broken into about 11:45am. I left my house at 11:00am, ran an errand, picked up Luke from preschool, dropped him off at a friend's house to play and then came home. When I got home there was a strange car in front of my house, but I didn't think too much about it. I drove down to the mailbox got my mail and drove by the car again. This time I saw what looked like a male teenager sitting in the driver's seat, he smiled at me, and I pulled my van into my driveway. I pulled into the garage and started unloading my girls. Katelyn was getting ready to go out to the driveway to get the newspaper and then I heard that car honk. I immediately felt sick to my stomach and grabbed Katelyn and put her back in the van and put Ashley back in her seat. Then I ran out to the driveway to see the back of what looked like a girl getting into the car and the car driving off. I went around my garage and saw that my front door was open. I was scared now and ran to my van and drove out of my driveway. I called Kevin and of course he said to call the police. The police arrived about 10 minutes later and searched my house with their guns out.
A rock had been thrown through my kitchen window and glass was shattered everywhere. They dented my refrigerator, stole my camera, and most of my jewelry. They tore apart my bedroom. Kevin had some guns up high in his closet and they had taken two of them but dropped them downstairs before running out. They stole a few other little things. CSI came and got some fingerprints and after about an hour and a half we were able to go back in our house and clean up all the mess.
It was scary and left me feeling so violated and really nervous that first night to fall asleep. However, we were really blessed. I am so grateful Luke was at a friend's house because it would have really scared him. They didn't take anything too valuable. (They were probably really disappointed with what they found.) The biggest blessing of all was that no one was hurt and the damages to the house were minimal.

Life can be crazy sometimes!

I Have a 5 Year Old Now

2009-01-19T14:10:00.001-08:00

Turned 5 on January 16th

Really? How can he already be five? Five just sounds so grown up to me and I am having a hard time with it. :)

5 Things about Luke
1. He is such a good big brother.
2. He helps me out so much and usually does it without complaining.
3. He loves to ask hard questions and many times I don't have the answers.
4. He is very creative when it comes to playing.
5. He is so picky when it comes to eating.

We have decided to just have a birthday party for our kids on their even birthdays so this was Luke's year to just have a family party, but I don't think he was disappointed. He was so excited about his presents and got to go to Chuck E Cheese to eat and play. He wanted a Bolt (the disney movie) cake so I just made a chocolate cake and put a lighting bolt on it with icing. Nothing fancy, but he thought it was pretty cool.

(Opening a birthday present)

(Playing a game at Chuck E. Cheese)

Through The Years
This is for me and the grandparents. :) I love seeing how much he has changed.

I love my Luke!

Christmas Eve & Christmas Morning

2009-01-06T21:03:00.000-08:00

Once again I am very late in posting about the holidays, but I wanted to get this documented anyway. I actually started this about a week ago and I am just now finishing it up.

Christmas Eve
We had a great time with Kevin's family on Christmas Eve! We did miss Sue and Wendy's families.

The kids decorated gingerbread men. Some were very careful about placing the candy while others couldn't get enough icing and candy on their cookie.

(If you look closely you can see the gobs of candy on Katelyn's cookie and the pile of icing on her cousin's cookie. )

We ate yummy food!

(The kids table)

(Enjoying some yummy food.)

We had a fun gift exchange with the cousins and the adults. I took some pictures but my camera was on a weird setting and they all came out blurry.

We acted out the Nativity. Most of those pictures were blurry also.

(A shepherd and a wise man)

(the other 2 wise men)

Before going to bed the kids opened new pjs from Grandma and Grandpa and wore them to bed.

Christmas Morning
This was such a fun year because both Luke and Katelyn were so excited. When Luke ran downstairs and saw the presents from Santa he said, "He really did come!! Mom, Dad, Santa really came." Later he had opened all his presents except one. I could tell he was looking around for another present. At the beginning of December he sat on Santa's lap at the primary activity and had asked him for a set of Bakugans. After opening most of his presents he still didn't have those Bakugans and he was concerned. Well, the last present he opened was the set of Bakugans from Santa and he was thrilled. I'm glad Santa remembered to get those. :)

Ashley was so happy with the balls she got from Luke and Katelyn. We could have just stopped with those, but she did get a couple other little toys.

It was a dress up Christmas for Katelyn. She got a Cinderella dress, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, a ring, shoes, and a tiara (sp?).

(Is that a smile?)

Luke got the Bakugans, a Transformer, and a Leapster.

(This is how he spent most of Christmas Day.)

I loved the rainy, cold weather on Christmas day,staying in my PJs all day, and the kids happily playing with their new toys. The kids were also spoiled with fun gifts from their grandparents. It was a wonderful Christmas with fun memories.

Well, it's about time!

2008-12-19T13:15:00.000-08:00

I don't know what my problem is, but I am having such a hard time keeping up with this blog. I know I haven't been very good in the past, but this is pretty bad. Christmas is next week and I still haven't blogged about Thanksgiving. So here it goes...

We had a fun and adventurous Thanksgiving. It started Wednesday with most of my family coming into Vegas that afternoon (one brother stayed in Ohio with his family and their brand new baby and my other brother was in CA) and then another brother and his family arrived Thanksgiving morning. Wednesday night Luke and his cousin learned some ballroom dance moves and I think we might be looking at the next junior Dancing with the Stars champions. :) I have a video of it, but blogger isn't letting me post it. I will have to try again later.

We had Thanksgiving dinner at our house

(An idea of what Thanksgiving dinner looked like and a nice picture of my youngest brother. )

and then Friday morning we loaded up two vans and headed to CA for my brother's wedding.

(this is the brother that got married holding Ashley)

The drive down went well except for Katelyn throwing up after lunch because she was carsick. Sorry, no pictures, but I can assure you it was very gross and it was everywhere.

Friday morning we attended the wedding in the Newport Beach Temple. The weather was beautiful and so was the temple.
(Here's my brother with his beautiful bride)

Katelyn was a flower girl with her cousin Evie and Luke sported the plaid vest.

(I'm not really sure what Luke is doing and of course Katelyn is not smiling. It is a rare thing to get her to smile for a picture.)

Ashley just looked cute.

The fam!

The highlight of the day for Luke was the dancing at the reception. He said his favorite part was when everyone cheered for him and Evie as they danced down the middle. This kid is not shy.
I wish I had a picture of him dancing, but instead I got one of grandpa and Katelyn on the dance floor.
(Once again Katelyn looks like she is really enjoying herself.)

I Think the New Hairdo is Working for Her

2008-11-09T20:19:00.000-08:00

We love her little mohawk.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN from...

2008-10-30T21:26:00.001-07:00

Optimus Prime

Super Girl

and a Little Baby Horse.

Already?

2008-10-04T21:30:00.000-07:00

Ashley is 6 months old now and I am having a hard time believing it has already been six months.

She is sitting up and playing with toys.
Just starting to like baby cereal mixed w/fruit.
Loves drinking out of a sippy cup with some help.
Still not sleeping through the night. (Lately she has been waking up screaming during the night. I think it is a combination of teething and her tummy hurting. She is having a hard time transitioning to solid foods.)
Loves when we do Patty Cake, Patty Cake with her.
Is a momma's girl and whines for me when she sees me in the room.
Is now aware of strangers.
Loves to hear herself make noises and can get quite loud when she is laying on her back.
She is the best baby to take on errands and loves just looking around at everything.

She weighs 17 lbs. 4 oz.
She is 26.5 inches tall.
She is my smallest baby and she still isn't very small. :) My other two were off the charts in weight and height as babies and still are off the charts.

She loves to stick her tongue out. Here are several examples...

We love this baby girl and are so grateful she is part of our family!

Let's Pretend...

2008-09-29T17:17:00.001-07:00

this picture was taken on the first day of preschool instead of the sixth day of preschool. I did manage to take a quick one on the first day of school, but it didn't turn out like I wanted. So this is what we got on the sixth day after he had already gone to preschool. :)

Hallelujah! Mom is finally done taking pictures.

Favorites and Not So Favorites

2008-09-29T15:07:00.001-07:00

Some favorites...

my baby's sweet laugh
that my 2 year old will pretty much eat whatever I make for dinner
how much my 4 year old loves preschool
the funny things my 2 year old says
my husband taking Friday off and then spending the day working in the yard and watching the kids (he really is the BEST)
after my 4 year old made his baby sister laugh, he said, "I love being a big brother."
girls night out
lunch w/my sister in law for her birthday
the way my baby cuddles under my chin right before I lay her in bed
homemade oreo cookies (not good to have around when trying to lose weight, but they are a favorite still)

Some not so favorites...

my 4 year old scowling through most of the primary program on Sunday
my 2 year old's ear piercing scream (it happens when she's mad and when she is having fun and playing w/her brother)
that my baby is growing up so fast
that my 4 year old complains about everything I make for dinner

Labor Day

2008-09-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

We finally did something fun on a holiday instead of doing yard work or house work. We went up to Mt. Charleston and had so much fun. The weather was so beautiful, 70 degrees! We had a way too expensive lunch at the lodge and then went on a little walk. (We will definitely bring our own lunch next time.)

Luke wanted to climb a mountain. They made it about a third of the way and then Luke was done. I think they had more fun walking back to the van and seeing some lizards running around.

This is just to show that I do sometimes have my picture taken with my children.

To Shop or Not to Shop with My Kids

2008-08-20T22:15:00.000-07:00

I think after my experience at the grocery store this week I would like to opt not to shop with my 3 kids. (Now I know many of you take 3 or more kids to the store, but for some reason I have a hard time w/MY 3, well one in particular.)

The play by play of my grocery shopping experience. Sorry, this could be long.

We are out the door and in the van by 9:30am. (We are starting off great because I rarely have everyone ready and out the door this early.)
The diaper bag is loaded with fruit snacks, pretzels, water, and all the other necessary items.
We go to Smith's because I can put the two older kids in the car part of the cart and the baby in her car seat on the cart. (There is also two seats in the front part of the cart which can come in handy and will play a major part in this particular shopping experience.)
Everyone is happy, we get the green car, we give it a good wipe down with the handy cleaning wipes they have available.
The older kids are ready to drive, so I thought. I put some nectarines in a bag and Katelyn is already wanting out of the car. (The nectarines are at the very front of the store, she did not even last 2 minutes in the car.)
I quickly pull out the fruit snacks and tell her she can have some if she sits in the cart up front with Ashley. She is happy with that idea. (Phew, we avoided a major melt down.)
Now we are in the meat section. Katelyn ate those fruit snacks way too fast and is already wanting out of the cart. (It has only been about 3 minutes since I put her in the seat.) She was starting to get frustrated and the whining and crying started.
I decided to let her out for a minute and told her if she did not stay by me she would have to get back in the cart.
To my surprise she stayed with me while shopping down one aisle of food. But the next aisle was not good. She decided she wanted to take food off the shelves and stack the food. When I told her to stop she ran to the florist area and started pulling flowers off the stems. AAAAAH! (okay, now I am starting to sweat because I am pushing the enormous car cart and trying to stop Katelyn from destroying the store)
On a positive note, Luke and Ashley were being very good. Thank goodness!
I finally capture the flower thief and tell her she has to get back in the cart by Ashley.
She was not wanting that and the screaming began. She is not shy when it comes to screaming and she is so strong. I am trying to lift her into the seat and get her to bend her legs to go through the holes. She is fighting me, but I finally win. (now I am not only sweating, but my back is hurting from wrestling her)
This is probably when I should have just left the cart and loaded everyone back in the van and headed home. But we needed milk and I only had a few more things to get so I endured and everyone else in the store had to endure also.
She screamed and kept telling me she wanted to get down. Major tears!
I tried giving her the pretzels or any other treats I could find, but that wasn't going to stop her. I tried to make her my helper by having her hold the coupons and grocery list. That lasted about 10 seconds and then I ended up picking them up off the floor.
We got those last few items as fast as I could push that humongous cart.
It is finally time to pay for the groceries and she decides to reach for all the goodies that are at the checkout stand. No matter how I put the cart she could still reach them. I put the groceries on the belt as fast as I could and then picked up all the candy bars off the floor.
The cashier distracted Katelyn for a few minutes and gave her some stickers. (I know, she got stickers for all that misbehavior.) I was just wishing I had packed some magic stickers in the diaper bag because they made her day and she was happy as could be sitting in the cart. You would have never known what a "fun" experience we just had throughout the store.

I bet you are all wondering if I kept my cool throughout this experience. Yes and No! I will leave that to your imaginations.
I think I may start waiting to do my shopping after Kevin gets home from work. But if I do decide to brave the grocery store again with all 3 and you see me there, I'm sorry. I thought I should apologize in advance. :)

4 months and 24 months

2008-08-07T13:43:00.000-07:00

Ashley turned 4 months old on the 3rd of August.
4 month stats...
Weight: 15lbs. 6oz.
Height: 25 inches

She is doing really well with tummy time.

She is starting to teethe(sp?) and loves to chomp on her fingers.

She is grabbing her toes now.

Katelyn turned 2 on August 8th.
2 year old stats...
Weight:32 lbs
Height:361/2 inches
(The doctor said she is the size of a 3 year old/almost 4 year old. We have tall kids!)

Katelyn's expression when she saw her birthday balloons on the table right after waking up in the morning.

My attempt at a HI-5 cake. She LOVES, LOVES, LOVES this TV show so it was only appropriate that she got a HI-5 cake. She was pretty excited about it.

Enjoying a cookie before church. It was the only way I could get her to stand still for a minute so I could take a picture. Luckily she did not get any chocolate on her white shirt. I think that may be a first. Turning 2 made her more careful while eating. :)

You Know What's Gross?

2008-07-30T11:23:00.000-07:00

Stepping on a spider and then a hundred little baby spiders running all over the place.
It gives me the chills just thinking about it.
Luckily it happened outside and not in my house.
Sorry, no pictures. I know you are all disappointed.

The Little Things-Ashley at 3 months old

2008-07-08T15:17:00.000-07:00

She smiles a lot especially when I am talking to her.
She is very vocal and makes all sort of fun sounds. Some of the sounds are like a hum.
She rolls to her side and has rolled over once from her back to her tummy and once from her tummy to her back.She is starting to grab on to her hanging toys and tries to pull them to her mouth.
She likes to stand up on your lap with support.
She loves her binky.
She puts her hands in her mouth and chomps.
She is starting to drool.
She likes to pull her head up when in her car seat.
She would rather sit up(w/help) then lean back.
She likes to be rocked to sleep.
She will giggle when you tickle her under her neck and sometimes laughs when the kids are jumping around.
She doesn't take very long naps during the day.
She still wakes up once in the night and then pretty early in the morning.
She has a cold right now and is having a harder time sleeping.
She likes to stick her tongue out.
She likes to wiggle and move.
She loves to watch Luke and Katelyn play.
I Love My Ashley!

The Little Things-Katelyn at almost 2

2008-07-07T18:50:00.000-07:00

She has been talking so much more lately. Here are her latest words and phrases...

"here you go" whenever she gives you something
"he's sad" when she sees someone crying
"I sticky" after eating anything that gets her hands dirty
"you wan a kiss"
"you wan a hug"
"i dun know" when you ask her where something might be
"I wan brush teeth"
"I wan a tookie" (cookie)
"uh oh she pooed" when Ashley has a stinky diaper

The other day she was singing Ring Around The Rosies by herself and when it got to the part "ashes, ashes" she said "Ashley, Ashley".
She has been a good big sister and nice to Ashley until today. She decided to hit and poke. She felt bad after when Ashley cried hard and she got a time out. She has been nice since then.
She is a momma's girl especially when I need to pay attention to Ashley.
If I sit next to her she always wants my arm around her. If I don't put it around her she lifts my arm and tries to do it herself.
She loves to sing and dance. She can sing and do the actions to Popcorn Popping, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Wheels on the Bus, and Book of Mormon Stories.
She also loves to sing I Am A Child of God; Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star; and the ABCs.
She is starting to figure out the concept of sharing.
(She was sharing her dolls with her sleeping sister.)
She loves the TV show Hi-5 because there is lots of singing and dancing.
She could watch Hi-5 all day long and cries for more when it ends.
She sat and watched Hi-5 and let me french braid her hair in two braids.
She can count to 10.
When you ask her the color of something her first response is usually purple then blue.
She knows the sign language for mommy, daddy, baby, cereal, milk, bath, story, ball, drink, friend, and eat. She learned all of these from the Baby Einstein Sign language DVD.
She likes to mimic me...brushing teeth, putting on makeup, changing a diaper, putting on deodorant.(Here she is using her play doh tool like deodorant.)
She stills sleeps with a binky and her little pink bear blanket. She is only supposed to get it in her crib, but often sneaks upstairs and gets it out of her crib.
She has the highest pitched scream and usually lets it loose when I am not expecting it. Like in church!
She used to eat everything, but has become more picky these days.
She likes to be a helper.
She has just started giving the best hugs.
She loves to color and has decorated a few of our walls. She wants to use markers and gets upset when I won't let her.
She loves to make messes.
She loves to read books and has just started "reading" them to herself.

I Love My Katelyn!

The Little Things-Luke at 4 1/2 years old

2008-07-07T13:36:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what character he will be from day to day. Today he was a Transformer right after breakfast and then decided he wanted to be a "Superhero kid". He could pretend all day long.(I think he may have been a Transformer on the day I took this picture or maybe it was a Superhero.)

He wants to do what is right, but sometimes has a hard time controlling himself.
He loves to play computer games with his dad.
The other day we both said "yea" at the same time and he thought it was great. He later came up to me and said, "Mom, that was a coincidence (I don't even know how to spell it.) that we both said "yea"."
He still sleeps with his blue blanket.
In the past year he likes to have a big pillow next to him when he is sleeping.
He loves Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast and "honey nut sandwiches" (peanut butter and honey) for lunch.
He never likes what I fix for dinner and will usually complain.

(This is the type of face I get when I tell him what we are having for dinner.)

He LOVES his baby sister and always wants to have a picture taken with her.
He is great at entertaining his sisters and is a big help that way.
He can memorize really well and memorized the theme for primary.
He wishes he could talk in the microphone every Sunday in primary or have it be his turn ALL the time.
He loves having books read to him. He will usually pick a long book and will sit through the whole thing.
He loves playing with friends and hates when it is time to go home.
He loves to swing and would swing all day on the glider if it wasn't so hot outside.

He is into Star Wars right now and wants to watch the movies every day. (This makes his dad proud.)
He likes writing the letters of the alphabet and wants to know how to spell everything.
All day long I hear "Mom, watch this move. Watch me do this."
He is curious about everything and asks lots of questions. He listens to my conversations with other people and then wants to know details. I need to be careful what I say around him. :)
He loves to earn his good boy tickets and gets so excited when he gets 10. Then he can't wait to do something extra fun or pick a new toy under $10. Recently he picked a new Transformer and has played with it a ton and even took it to bed with him.
He is working on controlling his emotions and not whining and crying when things don't go his way.
He likes to tell people that Katelyn is not a baby, she is a "tot-ler".

I Love My Luke!

Learning from Others

2008-07-06T21:51:00.000-07:00

I can't remember how I came across this blog, but I have seen it linked on several other blogs recently. Every time I read it I am so amazed at this mother's faith, strength and the way she expresses herself. I am usually in tears after reading it.
I am learning so much from her about not taking my children for granted and to focus on the little things. In one of her posts she encouraged the readers to record the little things our children are doing right now. So over the next couple of days that is exactly what I want to do. Take the time to write down the little things, not always the cute things, but the little things each of my kids are doing. She also said to "cherish the little things." I want to do just that.

Blessing

2008-06-17T21:37:00.000-07:00

Ashley was blessed at my parent's home while we were up in Utah. We decided to bless her in Utah at my family's reunion because all of my brothers would be there to participate. I have five brothers and I am the only girl. I realized that this was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity for all of my brothers to be there since we don't all live close to each other. Kevin's mom and his youngest brother were also able to be there. It was a special experience and Kevin gave Ashley a beautiful blessing.
And of course, I have to post some pictures...

If anyone knows how to get an almost 2 year old to smile, let me know. I do have to give Katelyn the benefit of the doubt because she was tired and sick, but I don't think she smiled in any of the pictures I took while we were in Utah.

The grandparents.

My brothers.

The uncles and grandpa.

Family Reunion in Pictures

2008-06-17T20:39:00.001-07:00

The kids were great in the car, both to and from Utah. The older two watched movies and this sweet baby stared and smiled at her toys and slept most of the time.

We went to Hogle Zoo and the weather was in the 60s with a little rainstorm. It was crazy wearing sweatshirts and jeans in June. The kids loved the animals, but I think they loved the playground the most. My brother thought it might be fun to see what a turtle feels like and Katelyn wasn't sure about the twisty slide.
(Plus we ran into a blogging celebrity(my sister-in-law)and her family. It was a great surprise.)

This little one figured out how to suck her thumb (with a little help from grandma). I'm not so sure about this. I am pushing for the binky instead.

We had so much fun playing in grandma and grandpa's backyard. We played baseball, drew pictures with sidewalk chalk, played with bubbles, jumped on the trampoline, ate dry cereal out of a cup (Katelyn thought that was so fun), and played on the swing set. There were also some basketball games and several rounds of horse shoes. Luke and his little cousin would swing on this glider forever. Luke called him "little brother" or "little bro." for short.

We also toured the Sweets Candy Factory in Salt Lake and sported some cool hairnets. I didn't have my camera with me, but if someone in my family wants to email me one, that would be great. :) It was a fun thing to see and we loaded up on the candy, especially the salt water taffy.

The kids had a fun time (even though Katelyn doesn't appear to being having fun in the picture) playing with their cousins. Katelyn is 10 days older than her cousin she is sitting with in the stroller. Luke and his two girl cousins were all born in the same year.

Yo Gabba Gabba and Almost a Smile

2008-05-15T17:04:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of this show? Definitely not my favorite, but every now and then we come across it and my kids love to watch it. Well, today we came across it and I let them watch while I was feeding Ashley. (Katelyn actually sat and watched and didn't get into any trouble.) Anyway, there is this green, striped monster thing with really long arms that sings a song about a party in his tummy. When he is done eating his lunch the vegetables are left on his plate crying. (I know, it is a weird show.)
Okay, step away from the show for a minute. I have really been trying to get Luke to eat more fruits and veggies. He will basically only eat bananas(sometimes), carrots, and green beans(sometimes). I always put a little of the veggie on his plate at dinner hoping he will someday like them.
So last night we had peas. I made him eat two hidden in his mashed potatoes. It was torture for him, but he finally did it. But that was it, no more peas were eaten.
Return to the show. After the party in the tummy song I thought maybe I could use this song to my advantage. This is how the conversation with Luke went...
Me: Why are the veggies crying?
Luke: Because they want to go the party in his tummy.
Me: Why do they want to go to the party?
Luke: Because they are healthy and good for us. (He definitely knows the right answer.)
Me: Do you think the peas that you didn't eat last night were sad?
Luke: Yeah
Me: Will you try to eat more veggies next time?
Luke: I don't know.
Me: Why?
Luke: Because they do not have an invitation to the party.
Me: (laughing so hard)
My plan was foiled.

She was smiling at me, but I kept missing it. This was the closest I could get, a little half-smile.

What spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E?

2008-05-07T17:28:00.000-07:00

KATELYN!

I love this little girl, but she is giving me a run for my money.
Friday night while watching a movie she decided the popcorn would taste better dumped all over the couch. She also thought she should eat the whole bowl of popcorn and almost did.
She knows that when I am feeding the baby I can't get to her as fast or at all. So, this is what has happened over the past week...

coloring with crayon on the tile in my bathroom
water spilled all over the kitchen floor and laughing while she is doing it
climbing up on the chairs and then screaming for help to get down even though she can get down herself
pulling all the kleenex out of the box to "blow" her nose
using several wipes to also blow her nose (I don't mind if she uses one or two, but when she goes through 3 or more it bugs me because we go through wipes so fast at our house.)
playing in the bathroom sink and coming away soaking wet
I have tried giving her something to do like playing with playdoh or coloring, but that usually ends up with her throwing everything on the floor.

I realize that some of these things I can prevent by thinking ahead, but when I am sleep deprived and the baby is crying, all I can think to do is feed the baby. I have started locking the bathroom door and putting on a show for her or having her get some books and that has helped a little. I also realize that she is doing this because she needs more attention, I'm working on it.

A couple days ago I painted her toenails and she just loved it. It was so cute! Then on Sunday she wanted to have curlers in her hair like mom. I love these girly moments and she does too!
(She wanted the curlers, but she didn't want to take a picture with me. I'm pretty much holding her down on my lap. Anything for a picture!)

One Month Old

2008-05-07T17:17:00.000-07:00

Ashley weighs 11lbs. 2.5 oz. and is 22 inches long.
She is now sleeping a 4 hour stretch at least once during the night. I know that doesn't sound like much, but it is so much better than just a 2 hour stretch.
She is starting to smile and really follow us with her eyes.
She gets tons of attention from her brother and sister. Sometimes a little too much attention. :)

I can't believe how big she is getting. They grow so fast! I love her chubby cheeks in this picture. They are so much fun to kiss!

Feeling Very Grateful

2008-04-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

I am so grateful for all the help we have received from friends and family since Ashley was born.
Thank you for...

the visits
the yummy dinners
the cute outfits and blankets
inviting my kids over to play
the phone calls
the yummy treats
helping me with my calling
the nice comments on my blog
fun cards and gifts in the mail

It is overwhelming to me how much people have helped. I hope to be as helpful and kind in return.

I am also so grateful for my three kids who keep me going every day. They wear me out most days, but what a blessing they are in my life. I have come across a few blogs lately where the mothers of very sick babies have been documenting their experiences. The daily hospital visits, the ups and downs of their baby's progress, the surgeries, the yearning to hold their babies, etc. It makes me teary just thinking about it. I am amazed at the strength of these mothers and families. It makes me want to be more patient and loving to my children and to cherish them.

I don't even know if what I have said makes sense, but I just wanted to express my gratitude and type out some of the things I have felt lately.

Three Kids

2008-04-19T21:16:00.000-07:00

Life with three kids is definitely an adjustment, but one I am very grateful to be working through on most days. :) This week will be the real test for me. The first ten days I had my mom here and then a couple of trial days by myself until Kevin's mom came for a few days this past week. So far Ashley has been a very good, sweet baby. Luke had a couple hard days adjusting at the beginning, but has really turned into a great helper for me. Katelyn was fine when we first brought Ashley home, but now is showing major signs of jealousy. She wants me to do everything for her or wants me to hold her right when Ashley needs to eat. If things don't happen Katelyn's way then the crying begins and lasts for a long time. It is hard to reason with a 20 month old little girl. :)

Here are some recent pictures...

My good friend gave the kids these cute "big brother", "big sister", and "little sister" shirts. I really wanted a picture of all three of them wearing their shirts to possibly use for a baby announcement, but not everyone was cooperating. This was one of the better ones. :) This was taken when Ashley was 9 days old.

Ashley at 11 days old.

I took this picture today. She is now 16 days old. At her first doctor's visit at one week old she only weighed 8lbs 14 oz (still not back to her birth weight). But at her two week visit she was up to 9lbs 10 oz. That's my girl!

We are so excited...

2008-04-07T11:52:00.000-07:00

to welcome
Ashley Ann Hutchings
to our family!!!

Weighing in at a "small" 9pounds 2 ounces
and 20 inches long.
She was born on April 3rd at 12:50pm.

(I'm not sure why blogger is making the font so big. That was not how I typed it. Oh well, the easier to read, I guess.)

A Whole Bunch of Random Stuff

2008-04-01T07:25:00.000-07:00

This is to catch up on all the latest happenings in our home. So be prepared for randomness...

Luke earned all his "good boy" tickets and got to choose something fun to do. Last time he chose to go to Chuck E Cheese. This time he wanted me to take him to a movie. So Luke and I went on a date to see Horton Hears a Who. It was a cute movie and Luke loved it. It was fun for me to have the much needed one on one time with Luke.

We purchased a Toyota Sienna minivan from the car auction and got a great deal!!! I never thought I would be so excited about a minivan, but I really do love it. I love the easiness of getting in and out and all the room. We are still trying to sell our Toyota Camry, so if you are interested, let us know. :)

Katelyn has discovered she loves climbing. She is still not the best at it, but isn't afraid to try. Yesterday I heard her awake after her nap and was getting ready to go get her when I heard a loud THUD and then screams. I have never made it that fast up our stairs in the last month as I did yesterday. She was just sitting on the floor screaming. I don't think she was hurt, but was pretty scared. Hopefully she won't try that again.

We have loved the beautiful weather and enjoyed some great outside time.

Easter outfits for 2008. I tried to get one of Luke and Katelyn together, but the separate ones came out a little better. Katelyn is in the middle of saying "CHEESE" in the middle picture. I thought it was pretty funny.

We had a little Easter Egg hunt in our backyard. Luke was very into it and Katelyn was more excited about the fake grass in her basket.

Thank you for all your suggestions and help with finding a new digital camera. We ended up purchasing a Sony Cyber-shot DSC/H3 at Costco. It was a pretty good deal and I liked the features. And by buying it at Costco I have 90 days to try it out and return it if I don't like it. I will let you know how it goes.

My next post will be pictures of our new baby girl. I am scheduled to be induced at 2am Thursday morning if she doesn't decide to come before then. I know, I know 2 am is a crazy time and is probably all for the convenience of the doctor. My husband is not too excited and I can't blame him. I am just ready to have her so it isn't bugging me as much. I went in at the same time w/Katelyn and it worked out fine.

Pregnancy pictures as requested, I told you I was huge and the first one is from Feb. and the last one from early March. So just use your imagination to picture how big I look right now. I can't go anywhere without people giving me the sympathy look. I even had a guy in the elevator on the way to my doctor's appt. ask, "Does your back really hurt?" That is how he started the conversation. I guess he figured it had to hurt with how far out I am carry this baby. Oh well, hopefully it won't be hurting in a couple of days.

Help!

2008-03-16T19:18:00.001-07:00

We are in need of a new digital camera. I was just wondering if anybody had some suggestions. We have had a Kodak Easyshare c743. It takes good pictures, but goes through batteries so fast. I am spending way too much money on batteries. I am not a photographer, but would like a camera that takes nice pictures, doesn't eat the batteries, and doesn't cost a fortune.
So, if you have any ideas, I would love to hear them.
Thanks!

I knew it wouldn't be long before they found the...

2008-03-06T15:52:00.000-08:00

MUD in the backyard. Several weeks ago, I sent them out to play while I finished fixing dinner. They were playing so well together and it was quiet, so I knew something was up. I went outside and found them playing in the portion of the yard that is waiting for some kind of pavers or flagstone. I think the grass had just been watered so there was some fresh mud.
Usually, I would have stopped them right away and been upset that I had to clean up a muddy mess. (Yes, I am that kind of mom, but working on trying to relax more.) But then I realized they were already muddy and having so much fun. Why should I ruin it? So I let them continue to play and go crazy with the mud.

It finally came to a stop when the mud was in their hair and on their face. I'm sure Katelyn tried to eat some too. I think they were also done at this point and happily undressed and came in to be cleaned up. I love how happy they look in this picture and that I relaxed and let them have this kind of fun. I must have been in a really good mood this day, because if it happened today, the outcome may have been different. :) Yes, I have been a grouch today and woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

Almost Done

2008-02-27T14:31:00.000-08:00

Our backyard is almost done and I love looking out the windows and seeing green grass and some plants instead of dirt. I have to give a big 'shout out' to my husband for ALL his hard work. With the exception of help loading cement and top soil (thank you to friends and family for help w/those things) to the backyard he has done it all himself. I told him he should have kept a count of how many wheelbarrow loads he made to the back yard w/blocks for the wall, dirt for the hill, sand for the sandbox, wood chips, and sod. I have been pregnant the whole time he has worked on it so I had a good excuse not to help. :) He has never once complained, but just got things done. Sometimes working at night w/flood lights and sometimes working with some little "helpers". So a big THANK YOU to my husband!!!!!
With the beautiful weather we have had this week it has been so much fun to go in the backyard and play. We are still trying to decide on an outdoor play set/swing set, some more plants, and what to do with a few spots.
Here are some pictures of the process:

Rented a Bobcat to pull back some of the dirt from the hill.
Luke loved riding along for a few minutes.

Picking away at the hill to get it ready for a retaining wall.

Katelyn watching the workers smooth out the concrete for the patio. You can see a little of the retaining wall in the background.

Enjoying the new patio.

Top soil is down, another little retaining wall, and plants and dirt are starting to go in on the hill. All those orange buckets are what Kevin would use to haul dirt up to the top of the hill.

Sod is in and most of the plants are in on the hill. We still want to put some trees and bushes at the top, but have not decided what exactly to put in yet. The wood chips Katelyn is playing in are where we are going to put a play set.

The grass has done really well and looks so pretty. I hope we can get it to stay that way. :)
To the right of the patio, when you are facing the yard, Kevin put in a sandbox that has gotten a lot of use already. We just need to teach Katelyn not to throw the sand.

In Honor of Valentine's Day (A day early)

2008-02-13T14:40:00.000-08:00

I have seen this on several other blogs and thought it was kind of fun. I can't remember if I have been tagged to do it, but I'm going to anyway.

About my Valentine...

What is his name? Kevin

How long have you been together? We will be married for six years at the end of March. We dated for 9 months before getting married, with a short break at about the 3rd or 4th month of dating. :{ (I take full responsibility for that break. It was hard, but now looking back it was something I needed to do.)

How old is he? 34

Who eats more? I probably do right now being pregnant, but that has got to change as soon as this baby comes. :) We both have a major weakness for chocolate and sweets. He can usually eat more in that department, although I can put up some pretty good competition.

Who said I love you first? He did. He knew pretty fast. I was a little scared so it took me awhile to say it back. Poor guy. I can't believe how patient he was with me, but I am sure grateful.

Who is taller? He is.

Who sings better? He does. He has a great voice. I love to hear him play the piano and sing.

Who does the laundry? I usually do the laundry. He will put a load in every once in awhile and will help me fold the clothes on occasion.

Who pays the bills? He earns the money, but I make sure the bills are paid on time.

Who sleeps on the right side? If you are in the bed, he sleeps on the right side

Who mows the lawn? He does, but I wouldn't mind doing it every once in awhile. I grew up helping my brothers mow the lawn so it would not be a big deal to me.

Who cooks? I usually do, but he can cook really well. He is usually the one to make breakfast if we have pancakes, waffles, or french toast on the weekends. And he can make some great chocolate chip cookies.

Who drives? He usually does the driving. I prefer it that way, even though I think he would like me to drive every once in awhile.

Who is more stubborn? I would have to say I am definitely more stubborn.

Who kissed who first? He kissed me first.

Who has more friends? I would say we are pretty equal on this one.

Who has more siblings? He does. He has 8 siblings and I have 5.

Who wears the pants? I think it depends on the situation, but I'm sure he would say that I wear the pants. But I think we work pretty well together.

I tag whoever thinks this would be fun to do on their blog. (I'm not sure why some of my answers are in bold. I tried fixing it but it wouldn't change to normal.)

Funny Kids

2008-01-23T15:10:00.000-08:00

(Are you all shocked? A post one day after another. I think that might be a record for me.)

Today while we were doing our grocery shopping, Luke was sitting in the shopping cart car watching me get some bananas. When I was walking back to the cart he said, "When are you going to take that tummy off?" It made me laugh. If only it were that easy. I would love to take it off on some of the days and just get a little break from the lower back pains.

Here are two pictures of Katelyn and the adventures of feeding yourself.
Apparently, it is important to wear goggles while feeding yourself yogurt especially if you are still in the learning stage. (She wanted the goggles on before her snack and then insisted on having them on during her snack.)

This is why you don't leave your child for even a second while ketchup is involved w/the meal. I got the ketchup away from her right before it became hair gel.

He is FOUR!

2008-01-22T20:50:00.000-08:00

It is hard for me to believe that I now have a four year old. In some ways it is finally nice for him to say he is four because he has looked like he was four for the past year. So now he will just look like he is five. :)

Four things about my Four year old
1. He is so into Transformers right now that he can hardly think of anything else. He also still loves Spiderman and Superman too!
2. He has the best imagination and can get pretty creative while playing with his toys.
3. He loves to use big words and most of the time he can use them correctly. It always surprises me!
4. He loves to talk and ask questions. He has a very curious mind.

He really knows how to test me and we go the rounds many times. But he also knows how to make me laugh, can be a good helper, is a good big brother, and still loves to cuddle.
I LOVE MY LUKE!

It's Been Almost a Month...

2008-01-01T20:19:00.001-08:00

since I have posted anything. I have wanted to post throughout December the fun things we did to get in the mood for Christmas and just other fun things, but then I never felt like actually sitting down and doing it. Now it is seems too overwhelming to post it all, but I am going to try and do little snippets (is that a word?). So here is a rundown for "journaling" purposes:

went on the Santa train ride in Boulder City-it was windy and cold, but fun-Luke loved it
made gingerbread houses out of graham crackers
went to Ethel M Factory and saw their light display
I attended a great Relief Society Enrichment at the church
celebrated Kevin's birthday
went on a date with my husband
attended the Ward Christmas party
went to a babysitting co-op Christmas party for the kids
celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas day with Kevin's side of the family
Luke's favorite Christmas present was his Transformers and Katelyn's favorite was the play kitchen
ate way too many sweets, but loved it
celebrated New Year's Eve quietly as a family with a fun movie night

That is all I can remember right now. Here are some random pictures from the month:

Spent the majorit y of the month keeping Katelyn away from the decorations. She only managed to break a few. (I can't figure out why blogger is underlining this and I can't turn it off.)

Luke and I made a gingerbread house together and this is how it turned out.

I am glad they had Santa at the ward Christmas party because I didn't have the energy to take them to the mall to see Santa. Katelyn was crying before she sat on Santa's lap because she wanted a candy cane. She stopped crying as soon as she sat on his lap. The picture doesn't show it, but Luke was so excited to see Santa.

Christmas Sunday attire.

The kids were shepherds in the nativity we did with Kevin's family on Christmas Eve. Luke looks like a scared shepherd and this was as far as we got with Katelyn. I think she was pretty tired at this point.

Christmas morning!

I Can't Handle It!

2007-12-06T15:43:00.000-08:00

(Warning: If you can't handle throw up talk, then do not read.)

My poor 3 almost 4 year old is sick with a yucky cough again and sometimes the phlegm builds up and it makes him throw up. I have always had a very sensitive gag reflex. It is so sensitive that even just hearing the sound of someone throwing up makes me gag and I almost throw up myself.
I was hoping that being a mom would give me some extra strength in this department, especially when my own child is throwing up. No such luck!
For the most part I have been lucky enough to have my husband home when these episodes occur. But the last two times I have had to "deal" with it myself. When I say "deal with it" I am really not saying much.
For example, today my son started coughing and he had the "look" in his eyes. I asked him if he needed to throw up and he just nodded. So I helped him run as fast as he could to the bathroom and had him lean over the toilet. I was going to try and stay there to help him, but as soon as I heard him I immediately started gagging and had to leave the room and cover my ears. My sweet, sick boy just stayed there and did what he needed to do in the toilet and told me when he was done. He just took care of everything himself. I am definitely not going to get the mother of the year award for this one (not that I was getting it anyway). I am just grateful that he has figured out what to do. I did help him wash his hands really well and rinse out his mouth (does that count for something) :(.
I hope my daughter can be as independent in this department as my son. But who is going to hold her hair back when she gets sick. AAAAAH, I guess I will just have to figure it out when the time comes.

Well it's about time!

2007-11-29T14:15:00.000-08:00

We finally had our ultrasound today. I am 21 weeks along and this is the longest I have had to wait to find out what I'm having. Well, it's a.......

GIRL!!!!!

Even though I already had a boy name and Luke's room is big enough for two, we are super excited to be having another girl. Now I need to start thinking about girl names. I had a hard enough time coming up with Katelyn's name so this should be another challenge.
My due date is still April 10th. The baby looked great on the ultrasound and is weighing about 14 ounces right now.
We just pray that she will not be colicky like Katelyn was as a newborn!

Flu Shots

2007-11-26T10:13:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday I took my kids to the doctor for their flu shots. Katelyn also had to get some of her vaccinations done at the same time. Luke did not want a flu shot and kept telling me he didn't need one. But he didn't give me a hard time going to the doctors.
While we were in the room waiting for the nurse, he started to get upset. I told him it would be really quick and would just pinch. The nurse told him the same thing, but he didn't want to hear it. Finally, she just gave him the shot and he got so mad. He said while crying/yelling, "I told you I didn't want a flu shot. My arm didn't say it needed a flu shot." He continued to go on and on and at the same time Katelyn was starting to get upset because Luke was crying so loud. So she got her FOUR shots (poor thing!) and cried for a few minutes and then stopped. Meanwhile Luke is continuing to go on and on about not wanting a flu shot. I tried to explain to him that it was over and he could stop crying now. But he didn't want to stop. He wasn't crying from pain, but was crying because he was so mad at me for being "mean"(that is what he told me) and making him get a flu shot.

Guess what? We have to go back in a month for another flu shot. I guess he has to have two this year. YIPEEE! It will be right after Christmas so I am hoping he can bring one of his new toys to distract him.

Who would have thought...

2007-11-09T13:21:00.000-08:00

that I would still be dressing my kids in shorts and t-shirts at the beginning of November? (not to mention that their shorts and t-shirts are starting to get to small, but I have to make them work)
that the innocent runny noses we all had last Saturday would turn into horrible colds and coughs accompanied with throwing up and lack of sleep?
that this would feel like the longest week of my life? (I will blame this feeling on being sick and confined to the house.)
that brownies make you feel better when you are sick? Luke knew this when he asked if we could make brownies. He said, "I think brownies will help us feel better." Boy, was he right, at least for the moment while I was eating the brownie.
that Katelyn would be such a good helper with the laundry? I didn't and I am usually trying to shoo her away as she pulls all the folded clothes off the couch and puts them back in the basket. This time I had her hand me the clothes out of the basket. She even took the time to shake the wrinkles out of the clothes before handing them to me. I hope her love for doing laundry stays with her and she can take over for me. :)

Halloween Past and Present

2007-11-01T21:01:00.000-07:00

It has been fun to look back on Luke's Halloween costumes and see what he was interested in at the time. Of course, he didn't care his first Halloween.

Our chunky, cute frog.
2004

Bob the Builder
2005

Mr. Incredible
2006

Homemade Robot Costume
(Luke insisted on this one.)
2007

I was lucky enough to borrow Katelyn's costumes for the past two Halloweens. It has been great and free! Thank you Melissa!

Katelyn as a Sweet Baby Cow
2006

Front and Back view of the Ladybug
2007

Not a Baby Anymore

2007-10-22T13:24:00.000-07:00

Over the past month Katelyn has been doing things that make me realize she really isn't a baby anymore. Now some of the things she has learned to do are a little late compared to other children, but I'm just happy she finally figured it out. Here are some of her latest things...

I can put her hair in pigtails!!!

She loves the computer and has figured out the mouse is an important part and loves to click away.

She loves to empty out any cupboard that has yet to have a safety lock on it

(The important cabinets already have locks but I am ready to put them on every cupboard.)

She loves to wear "bracelets" and thinks she is so pretty when I help her put them on her wrists.

She is climbing the stairs and would do it all day if I let her. We are still working on how to come down the stairs.

And finally...
(please ignore my not so patient way of telling Luke he is in the way. :) )

The SUPERS

2007-10-09T22:05:00.001-07:00

(pictures taken a year and a half ago)

Luke loves the new PBS cartoon Super Why. With Luke's great imagination and creativity he often pretends he is a superhero. After seeing this cartoon a few times he has decided he is Super Kid. He has also made me Super Mommy(don't I wish) and Katelyn, Super Baby. I guess Daddy doesn't get to be a Super because he is usually at work when this pretending is going on.
Along with being Super we also have powers. These are the powers Luke thought of all by himself...(just imagine Luke saying these in an announcer's voice while progressively getting louder)
"Super Kid has the power to move his brain." (Huh?)
"Super Mommy has the power to eat." (No kidding!)
"Super Baby has the power to scoot." (I wish that power would turn into a walk.)

Did you see...

2007-10-09T21:47:00.000-07:00

Monday's Oprah with Jessica Seinfeld talking about her new cookbook? I am too tired to figure out how to do the link, but the book is called Deceptively Delicious. If you didn't see it, she uses pureed veggies and fruit and puts them in foods her kids like. I love the idea of getting Luke to eat more fruits and veggies without the fight. I'm thinking about trying it out. "Thinking" is the key word, let's see if I actually do it. I wonder if the recipes are really as good as Oprah said they were when she was trying the food on her show.
If you saw the show or have tried this method before, what do you think?

Letting Out Some Frustrations

2007-10-01T20:15:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday and Friday it was so beautiful outside in the mornings. So after I put Katelyn down for her morning nap Luke and I went out into the backyard. We don't have much of a backyard to play in yet, but this hill of dirt was all he needed. He loved pounding away at that hill and I couldn't help but think that it probably felt good to him to pound away his frustrations. He probably wasn't thinking that, but he was a much happier kid when we came back inside. Maybe I should have been the one on the hill pounding away. :)

We had a good day today. No major problems. I am trying to be more calm, consistent, and focus on the positive. AAAAH, it's not easy, but it worked today. Here's hoping tomorrow is a good day too!

Power Struggles

2007-09-26T12:20:00.000-07:00

Power struggles have been my life the last three days with a certain 3 1/2 year old. I am not sure what has gotten into him, but it is wearing me out.
There has been many crying, screaming, hitting, etc. sessions with this boy of mine. Some of those things he was doing and some of them I was doing. :) I promise you don't need to call CPS, but it has been hard to keep my patience.
Sometimes I get so frustrated because nothing seems to work to get him to listen and obey. I feel like I have tried many things... talking to him, giving him choices, having a fun FHE about listening and obeying, time outs, alone time, ignoring him, etc.
I just received a little bit of hope reading through a random person's blog. They were talking about their teenager and what a sweet person she has become. But that wasn't always the case. I guess she was a very difficult toddler and child. The writer of the blog commented that she feels like the strongest personalities are being sent to the earth, she referred to them as "powerhouses." She continued to say that she felt when they get older and learn how to handle their strong spirits, you will be amazed by who they become. I am going to hold onto that hope and advice for now and pray that it is the case for my child. Because at this point, I am not sure how to handle it.
Any advice? Please share!!!

This Party of Four...

2007-09-13T13:08:00.001-07:00

will be a party of five in April! Baby number three is due April 10th. I am 10 weeks along and we are so excited!

I have been very tired and more sick with this pregnancy than my others, but I am very grateful that everything is going well so far.

I apologize that this isn't a very personal way to let everyone know the news. I would have loved to call all my friends and family personally, but this was the easiest way. And I am all about the easy way these days. :)

San Diego Family Vacation

2007-09-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

We got back yesterday from San Diego. We had a great time, the weather was the BEST, it was beautiful, and we are exhausted. We went to the beach twice and spent a full day and half day at Sea World. It is always fun to go to Sea World and see the shows and amazing animals. But I think the kids loved the beach more.
Luke never wanted to leave and Katelyn was way into it. Scooting around and playing in the water. She even managed to eat a few handfuls of dirt (it grossed me out, but she was too quick to stop) and came away with a diaper full of sand. Thank goodness for the warm outdoor showers to clean the kids off before getting back into the car.

Free MySpace slideshows, photo a nd video editing a t www.OneTrueMedia.com

(I am so glad I was able to get that couple in the last picture behind Kevin & Katelyn.)

HELP! How do I get this slideshow to fit correctly on the page? I am so dumb when it comes to stuff like this. It is amazing I even figured out the slideshow thing. If anyone can help me that would be great.

This Is One Way to Get Around

2007-09-04T13:28:00.000-07:00

For those who haven't seen Katelyn's scooting abilities, here she is...
(Ignore the first 15 to 20 seconds of her playing and my lovely voice. She will eventually start to scoot in the video.)

She used to pull both legs in at the same time, but has recently started using one leg than the other. (I think she is getting too big and tall to do it the other way anymore.) This past weekend she decided to try some crawling on her own and can totally do it, but I guess she thinks scooting is better for her.
If you come to my house you will usually find Katelyn in a shirt and diaper. This became necessary after wearing holes in several of her cute shorts and pants.

I'm not sure this...

2007-08-18T08:56:00.001-07:00

is very comfortable. Katelyn decided to wake up at 5:30 this morning and that was too early for me. So I let her fuss for awhile and she fell asleep again. This is how I found her at 7:00 am.

Water Cheetos Anyone?

2007-08-18T08:46:00.000-07:00

Luke has been "cooking" with water, bowls, and a spoon for the last couple of days. Here he is making some water cheetos. You should try them, they taste just like water.

The Proper Way to Eat Cake

2007-08-08T20:56:00.001-07:00

Step 1: Pick up the whole piece of cake with one hand.

Step 2: Close your eyes and use two hands to stuff as much cake as you can in your mouth.

Step 3: Check to see if you made a big mess.

Step 4: After the first round, beg for more
cake and ice cream.

Step 5: When the begging doesn't work, crying usually does.

Last Step: After your mom gives in and gives you another tiny piece, eat it and than lick the spatula that she accidentally left on your high chair tray.

Numero Uno!

2007-08-08T20:41:00.001-07:00

From this little baby so sweet and cuddly in grandma's arms tothis one year old who is so full of energy

loves feeding herself cake, and is still sweet.

It really is hard to believe a year has gone by already. I was working on Katelyn's baby book last night ( I know, I am quite behind, but I am determined to finish it before she starts school.) and seeing all her baby pictures brings back so many memories. Some memories that I am glad are over, like the colic stage, but most of them I really miss. But that's life and there are so many more fun and exciting memories and milestones to come.

This is what has been goin' on...

2007-08-07T16:34:00.000-07:00

Playing in the rain!

Painting wooden airplanes.

Replacing dead plants with new plants in the front yard.

Celebrating Katelyn's and Nathan's birthdays.
(They are a week apart, Nathan was one on the 1st and Katelyn will be one tomorrow!)

Devouring cake! It is what we do best!

Emptying all the kitchen cupboards.