Whew! I'm tired

Sorry this post has been a long time coming... finally worked out the pic kinks. I think...
So we went to Cali for the kids' birthdays. We drove, in a wind/sand storm. I don't like driving long distances, much less in adverse conditions. Ever since I became a mom I have an irrational fear that we are going to have a horrible crash, or go off a bridge into the water, or.... my mind gets the best of me. I can't relax, I cant sleep, it's not the best experience for me. We got there safely, coming home we almost died with some other car coming into our lane. I of course had just closed my eyes out of sheer exhaustion from 3 days at Disneyland! I don't know what me staying awake will accomplish but now my fears have been confirmed that something will happen if I don't stay up, whatever! I need a Xanax!
Ok enough about that,onto the fun stuff! 3 days at Disneyland. That should be enough right? It's so hard when they are little cause you want to do the rides but you also know how excited they are to meet all the characters. I think we did a pretty good job of both .Brody did pretty good as long as someone went with him. They had no idea where we were going when we got in the car. Last time we took Katelyn we flew so she was clueless until the shuttle pulled up to the front gate the next morning. Talk about excited! It was all decked out for Halloween. Totally cool looking! The first day we tried to go back to hotel to rest in the afternoon but he fell asleep waiting for the shuttle and that was the end of that. 5 min nap & ready to go again. So the rest of the time we just went until he dropped into the stroller. We went back in the evening to watch the fireworks but it was too windy, Katelyn's heart was broken of course.

Our 2nd day was spent at California Adventure. None of us had ever been there before so we didn't know what to expect. It's much mellower than Disneyland and they had some great rides. California Screamin' was my fave!!! Some pent up frustration went buh bye on that ride for sure! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! lol. We finally started seeing some characters to meet, and Snow White was the first biggie Katelyn saw. We stood in line for a bit and were still a few people away from it being our turn when it was time for Snow White to take a break and Dopey was available to take pics for a few minutes while she was gone. We decided to get back in line so we'd be there for when Snow White came right back. So there is always an employee that works with the character, and whomever scheduled this guy musta had a sense of humor because Snow White's handler was a dwarf. Literally. Of course Katelyn doesn't miss a thing... "Why are you so small?" she wanted to know. I AM DYING! He says "Well all people are different" and she agrees because we have talked about this before." Yes, some people have blue eyes and some people have brown" and the man had been answering some other little kids question at this point and he then says" Just like some children are quiet and polite while others are not". ok so I wanted to think he didn't mean anything against her, as her parent I wasn't sure. If he had said it to someone else I'da laughed my hinney off. Oh well he's gotta get tougher skin than that if he's gonna be a dwarf working with Snow White! I mean c'mon!

That night we stayed up late and went trick or treating at California Adventure, we boogied down with the Incredibles and Sully from Monsters, Inc. Brody met a girl and fell in love! The girls working at the dance party were dressed as witches and he stared at this one witch FOREVER. The DJ was even commenting on it to everyone. We got lots of candy, Mom & Dad, too. It was fun but crowded and Katelyn's poor feet were aching so we headed back to our home away from home.

The next day was our last day at Disney, but it was Friday and crowded. The fast pass tickets were already full until like 5 or 6 pm and it was only11 am. We rode some more rides, met some characters and watched the parade and mostly we were done. My bff Sam came along with us to celebrate her birthday too, it was so nice to have an extra set of hands and another grown-up to ride rides with while one stayed with the kids. She may never have any herself after our trip! ha! just kidding, I hope. : )
The next night was Halloween so we drove home so the kids could trick or treat with friends, they were too cute. Without realizing it my girl Amber's kids were also Peter Pan & Tinkerbell. Great minds think alike, right? We walked a few blocks and then headed over to a little block party going on with some of the members in our ward. Then home to bed, for like a week!
But no, just one week later Katelyn had a mock slumber party for her bday party with her friends. We had 10 screaming girls running around the house. The plan was for them to get their hair done up, make-up done and nails painted. Then time for jammies , chocolate, presents and High School Musical before everyone was picked up to go back home for the evening. That's the best kind of slumber party for the host parents, right? Oh the feathers! And the popcorn! My vacuum cleaner hasn't been the same since. They had such a good time running around being girls the movie/winding down part didn't work so much. Oh well, hopefully the birthday memories are good ones.
Then to top it all off because the girls were having so much fun and Brody had been put to bed he has now figured out how to crawl out of his crib, over the higher back side! We already had to turn it around so he couldn't go over the front side awhile ago. So guess who's in a big boy bed now?

Who's that?

How hot are we? lol, so if you can't tell Dave and I went to a couple's Halloween party as Octo-Mom and Lt. Jim Dangle from Reno 911. As this was a church group of friends Dave didn't embarrass me with shorts quite as short as the real guy wears, thank goodness. No manscaping required! We had a really great time and loved the other costume ideas people came up with. I will post more with the kids asap.

Getting into the spirit of things

A few weeks ago Katelyn was invited to a bday party where the theme was Fancy Nancy and it was a tea party so this was her take on tea party attire.

Not one to be left out, Brody wanted in on the act. This was the hat the girl's got to make at the party.

Of course we all know that making carmel apples isn't quite the same if you don't have the proper accesorries on. Apparently shirts aren't required at this establishment.


So since fall break pretty much sucked eggs for us, what with broken arms, colds, ear infection and don't forget pink eye, we decided to take advantage of the cooling weather this evening and ran down to Schnepf farms for a little pumpkin festival to celebrate everyone feeling better, finally!

The train ride was enjoyed by all. Check out the celebrity in the back, lol.


The sunflowers were taller than both kids, but too muddy and too tempting to get Brody in on this pic.

Katelyn and Brody both had a good time playing in the pumpkin patch and they got their faces painted too. Unfortunately, as usual, Katelyn couldn't "do" Halloween like everyone else so the guy was sweet enough to paint a terrifingly beautiful butterfly on her cheek, Brody got a spider.

They have a few farm animals that you can pet and feed, hence the name Schnepf's farm? Brody wanted no part in that! I guess he wanted to be sure to keep all his fingers attached.

And of course we can't pass up a carousel without taking a ride. The boys were trying out their scary faces.

I found the kettle corn stand and was extremely content, we also found a fire pit where the kids could roast marshmallows. Not a one was sacrificed to the fire gods this time.

And then on the way out they suckered us into homemade pies. Apple, Carmel Apple or Pumpkin? Well it was a pumpkin festival after all, right?

OOOOhhhh Soooo Good!

Not Again?

ok so those who've known us awhile may be horrified to see this picture. It is all too familiar trust me, and I swear CPS is gonna knock on my door and take us away,throwing away the key. But I promise we weren't even home (Grandma was) with her so how could we be to blame? The sad thing is she has broken this very same arm 3 times now! The other arm once as well! She is only 5!(yes, I am yelling!) At some point you'd think the doctor's would be concerned? Seems like she's just a clutz. She comes by it honestly, I was the same child... broken leg at 2, arm at 5, other arm around 7 or 8. "At least she's bracing and not hitting her head,i.e. concussion, when she falls". I guess,... is that supposed to make me feel better? So my plans for lots of park days and bike rides during our fall break are shot to he#@! If anyone wants to play quietly, give us a call???

Ode to my phone...

Seriously people why does it seem like when it rains it pours? I know I shouldn't complain, there are people in the world who have it far worse than I do. My family is relatively healthy, if you count 4-5 poopy diapers a day for three weeks as healthy(more on that later). I still have a job, Dave still has a job... life is pretty good overall, but sometimes it's just not fair. And generally I would have to say I don't have anyone to blame but myself!
This was what hit me when 2 days ago, once again, my poor phone winds up ruined, swimming in my sink full of dirty dishes. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhh! Are you kidding me? I watched it in slo-mo bounce off of the counter thru my not quick enough hands and splash! bottom of the sink- I quickly fished it out. Battery off immediately, drying with a towel, blowing water frantically out of all nooks and crannys. Straight into a bowl of rice! What you say? That's right, uncooked rice! Now the reason I say "once again" is this is not the first time for me. this year. Can you believe I dropped prettier version of same phone outside in the gutter, after the sprinklers had watered my lawn and half the street only this past February? I kicked it out,and Katelyn trying to help me fetch it, ran up and kicked it right back in the water. I did not know all of above tricks to try and when phone rang i answered it and talked until it crackled, sputtered and died. I really like my fancy keyboard, so ez to text, fun little phone and no free new phone until December they said when I called, too much money to justify buying new phone and so I had to go back to my "ghetto razor". It was soooo sad. Texting without keyboard? ugh.
Well a few months go by, I hate life a bit but make it work and then a friend of mine saves my poor texting life when she switches phone carriers and bequeths me her old phone (exact same as mine!). I am feeling all sassy again, life is grand. until splash, kerplunk, blubbbb blubbbb NOOOOOOOOOOO! 2 days go by, we put phone outside, we put phone in rice . We put phone outside in bowl of rice and don't touch it. Turn on sad little "ghetto razor" phone again. boo hoo hoo.

This morning I have hope in my heart again. I got up, took charger into kitchen and dug phone and battery out of rice,plugged phone in without battery and it came right on saying "battery required". They say the battery is usually fried for sure...but what the heck I give it a go. As of right now phone works! texting works! the only thing not working so great is the front outside keys get a little crazy and misdial a number here and there. Hallelujah!!! But maybe I should call and get some insurance????? or a waterproof phone...

busy summer

Wow! that was fast. Now that we have a kid in school we have had to adjust our travel and playdate schedule to a condensed 7 weeks while trying to relax somewhere in the mix. So these are some random pictures of what we did during that time. We traveled to Montana, or as Kate keeps calling it "Hannah". She's oh so close, right? We hung out with my bff and her Dad and Step-Mom in lovely cool weather, made friends with the little girls next door, set off fireworks on the 4th, and mom got an awesome facial!We even participated in a Tea Party march. Just don't fly standby on a holiday, plan on driving anyway... We played with our playgroup friends at a splashpad & went to a children's museum. We went to a few birthday parties and played at the pool at our gym to stay cool. We also had a Pioneer day celebration and parade. Then it was time to meet our 1st grade teacher and we found out lots of last years friends are in the same class,yay! First day of school was oh so exciting! She handled it like a pro, me not so much. "Does she know where to go?", "it's different playground from kindergarten" and "how will she find her teacher?" It's ok Mom, breathe ! lol :)
She has been talking about cutting off her hair "to the bottom of my neck" she says. I was resistant to this idea at first and then thought it's her hair, it will grow back. Why not? So yesterday off it went... She looks too grown up to me, all legs and ideas of her own. Man, where does the time go? I swear if some boy shows up for a date next week, I will lock her in the closet until she's 25. So I do like her hair and most importantly so does she. "But I'm never cutting it again and it will look like Rapunzel" she says. Maybe she heard that locked in the closet comment?

OUCH!

So Dave goes to the gym yesterday for his workout and comes home from the EMERGENCY ROOM with this! My sweet little man is in the childcare and gets his bell wrung by some bigger girl while I am out of town, and I get a phone call telling me "It's almost stopped bleeding now but his tooth went through his bottom lip and the fireman said we should have it looked at". My brain stopped working at that point and all I could do is fly right home, which probably was a bit of an overreaction but I am a bit dramatic if I do say so myself! No stitches were required even though it went through his actual lip and the skin underneath as well, it's big and fat and he's drooling like a fool but we are so glad he wasn't hurt any worse than that. Should I ask for a punch card? after 10 E.R. visits your next one is free? I hope we aren't seeing a sign of things to come...

Why don't I live here?

from 79 to 109 degrees just like that, just not right! I could be a commuter right? well when I find out we won the powerball you can put my smiling face right here!!!!!

New Post

I have been told I am slacking on my blog as of late. duh, I knew that! lol ;o) It has been sooo crazy. So to appease friends and family here it is in a nutshell. Started a playgroup with some ladies in the ward, Katelyn had her last week of kindergarten and all the fun that goes with that. We started soccer with Katelyn and Brody though he was too young so we took him out. We went camping with two other families from church and it was so fun. The boys were about the same age and so were all the girls and the miracle was they actually got along! The only missing ingredient to make it perfect was a campfire (no burn after memorial day). We'll go earlier next time! Then I went to hang out with my bff Sam at her Mom's place up in Oregon. I love it, loved them. It was beautiful weather, everything was green(why do I live in AZ again?).It was too cold to go jetskiing, imagine that? There was a hair facial involved- HEAVENLY! Then home just in time to have Father's Day breakfast with the family and off to work again...

Recital

So once again, bad blogger strikes. Katelyn's recital was a few weeks back although in my defense when I first downloaded the video it wasn't working right. So you can't post when it's not working, right? Well now it's fine, though I don't think I did anything to fix it. Hope you enjoy!
P.S. Katelyn is in the back on the right =)

My Mother's Day celebration

It's a darn good thing we did this trip early in the week, once again Dave has abandoned me on Mother's Day. He had an opportunity to go work on a fire in southern AZ so I sacrificed my breakfast in bed for a 2nd year in a row, what are the odds? Oh well I got to have a nice vacay with the family in San Diego and that's the important part. We took Katelyn out of school and decided to drive over to Cali for a mid week visit to Sea World before all the kids are out on summer break. It was great, not very busy and the weather was perfect. The kids really enjoyed themselves, Brody had no fear of the ocean. Katelyn picked up every seashell, piece of seashell she could find and a heck of a lot of sand. My car is in need of serious detailing :(
We had dinner with Shamu which was fabulous!! You could literally reach over and touch a whale you are so close. Of course they discourage this , but great photo ops for sure. Brody slept through most of the action but woke up just in time to not miss out on the buffet lunch. Highly recommend it !

tiny dancers

It's that time of year at the dance studio. Lots of excitement as the girls prepare for the annual recital, getting to try on their costumes and of course pictures of our cuties all dolled up.


This year they are attempting to perform 3 numbers, a tap, ballet and a jazz routine. I don't know the other two songs but the booty short outfit is to a Hannah Montana song. I'm sure they will do great whatever the song and I'm sure that I will have tears of laughter running down my face as they are so dang cute when they get up on stage. If they stop waving to the crowd and dance, that is!


Yes Mom, I'll make you a copy!

Brody Man!

My friend Megan is always laughing at Brody when he eats. She thinks he sounds manly. He is very noisy! Bordering on obnoxious! Especially if you are next to him and trying to have a conversation with someone, it's distracting to say the least. She tells me all the time I need to record it since one day he won't do it anymore, which is very true! So this is a post for Megan since he is eating one of her Vampire bloody cupcakes leftover from our Twilight viewing last night. Thanks girl, love ya!

Thou Shall Not Covet...

Thy neighbors food storage rack! Oh for sometime now I have been envious of my girl's food storage rack. I ran home and told Dave all about it, I drug him into her "secret room" to see how cool it was. Finally today I begged and pleaded for him to help me clean out one of our spare bedroom closets so we could buy some shelves to organize our year supply. Ya know just the metal wire racks, nothing fancy! I was happy just to have anything that wasn't under the kids beds,stuffed in hall closets... I think my exact words were " I promise we can be out in 20 minutes or less, let's go!" lol!!!! We find the racks I was looking for, but then we find oh so much more. : ) At Wally world no less! I am in love! It can not get put together fast enough, but wait. The only problem is I will actually see how much more food we still need. At least we'll have a great rotating rack to put it all on. Hurry up, babe!

Valentine's Day

We had such a great day, and it was jam packed let me tell ya! We started off bright and early with a little exercise. That's right! Nothing like a 5k to get the blood flowing on V-day. We have a family in our stake and also Katelyn's school that have beautiful twin girls. They are 2 years old and are a miracle to doctor's and family alike. They are conjoined and they share a heart and liver. Doctors are preparing to take on the daunting task of separating these girls and they each need a new heart since the one they share is diseased so the communtity reached out to support the Bailey family and help them raise money to take care of their needs. Their story has been on the Discovery Health Channel and if you want to find out more or help you can go to their blog at http://www.emmaandtaylorbailey.blogspot.com/ . So at the crack of dawn we drug everyone out of bed and off we went with my girl's and their kids! and Dave too! Did I mention it was 36 degrees that morning? Good times! I am so proud of myself number one, but also my sweet husband who really wanted to stay home, in our nice warm bed. Thanks for once again sacrificing to be together as a family. I am thankful to Megan for inviting me along and to both she and Amber for making it so enjoyable to do. I wont lie there was much more walking than running, but I did it and finished in 1:03 give or take. Remember we had 5 children with us, mouths to keep fed, body parts to keep tucked into blankets, arguments to referee...

After the race we enjoyed a yummy pancake breakfast and then proceeded to loose my children at least twice (Dave). Brody was not far off in the mud having a good time , Katelyn couldn't wait any longer to see the petting zoo and so off she went. In her defense she says she told a grown up, though no one recalls hearing her. We had balloon animals made, we bounced, we shopped (a little) and I got chewed on by a baby goat.

We all went home for a much needed nap and had a very romantic family dinner complete with homeade banana splits for desert. Not a bad day at all if ,ya ask meHope your's was just as great!