New Year Resolutions?

I think they are highly overrated.  Will I make some, of course

1 - Cleaner house.  This means I am making a huge trip to the DI and dumping a lot of stuff

2 - Cook more.  I am famous for finding an excuse to not cook dinner.

3 - Get rid of a lot of scrapbooking crap!

4 - Laugh with my kids more.

5 - Be on time to work . . . wait scratch that, I am trying to make resolutions I will actually keep.

6 - Be a better blogger

7 - Take a photoshop class

8 - Buy the person behind me in the drive-thru breakfast one day

9- Take a photography class

10 - Get a family picture

Our Snowmen

Johns grandma sent us some fun friends for the holidays.  Kenzi and Korbin have played them at least 10 times everyday.  They really are cute, and it was a fun surprise for them to get in the mail.  Thanks Grandma Maxine!

Christmas Traditions

I love Christmas and everything about it.  One of my favorite things to do during the Christmas season is visit the Ogden Christmas Village.  It was something that we always did when I was a little girl, and something I want to pass on to my family as one of our traditions, so far we have made it for 2 years in a row!  

Kenzi loved the little houses, and Korbin was very excited to see Santa and whisper in his ear just what he wanted for Christmas.  

I have also being playing around with photoshop.  So thanks Jessica for the mini lesson you gave me last week.  Jessica has a great blog, and she always has her pictures in different shapes and color blocks, so I gave it a try!  I must confess . . . I am loving it!!!

The Best Nativity

We went to a fun Nativity play with my moms sweet friend Cooky.  Cooky has a friend who puts on a Nativity play with her children and has chili and hot chocolate for everyone in her neighborhood. It was so amazing.  I have seen a million of these, but this one was different.  Her children had practiced their lines, and the stable was adorable.  She had hay bails to sit on in her front yard, and boxes to donate coats and food.  It really put us all in the Christmas spirit.  I wish I had taken my camera with me, it was just so dang cute.  

Getting Ready for the Holidays.

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend.  It was nice to have John  home and not at work.

I hit the Black Friday sales of course, it is tradition for my family.  Although it is not quite the same without Carey . . . oh the memories!  Wendi & I both said that we would only  be out until 9 MAYBE 10, but there is some kind of sick adrenaline that we have.  We ended up staying out until 6:00!!!!  CRAZY LADIES!!!! 

We then went to see Bolt because I did not want Korbin to call me a liar!  John had the kids ready and we were back out the door with the kids to see the movie.  The movie was great, then I heard Kenzi crying, and then Korbin, and then, yes I will admit it ME!!!  But then again I cry at the parades when the high school band, football players and cheerleaders walk by . . . 

Saturday was by far the craziest day, we went with my Uncle Rick and his family to get a Christmas tree.  This was something that I have always wanted to do.  I had no idea though that we were heading up into the mountains, I don't know why that didn't click, but it didn't.  We found our tree, cut it down, and took it home.  Now the funny thing is, when you get home and cut the tree to the right height for your house, well . . . it just isn't as pretty or full as you thought.  Yes, we have the Charlie Brown Christmas tree.  Now the question is will we do this again next year??? OF COURSE!!!!  It was great hiking through the snow and sliding down the hill to find our not so perfect tree, but the perfect tree with lot's of memories.  

 

Daddy's In Charge

Look what happens when daddy's in charge . . .

I had to run out for 1 hour, and in that time, Kenzi decided to get creative with the Halloween makeup she found, and Korbin decided to build a pyramid with the cups. The cups were fine; what wasn't fine, is if you look in the picture you can see that everything that is supposed to be on the coffee table is on the floor or pushed to the side, tote bags everywhere, and my pillows to my NEW couch on the floor!!!  My clean house was now a MESS, but you gotta love creativity!

Kenzi, Taylor Swift on itunes & Photo Booth . . .

Kenzi loves my computer!  Not because of the reasons I love it, but because she discovered the "photo booth" application.  She loves that she can take pictures of herself and this last weekend she discovered you could also record video.  Today I discovered that she took 51 pictures of herself, and recorded 23 videos, 13 of them were music videos to her teen idol, Taylor Swift.  She loves Taylor Swift, she wants to be Taylor Swift. the other 10 were about her money on the floor that the sea monster that was going to get her or get her money, her cheerleading doll, and her drinking her drink . . . I love this girl!

Too Much Fun!

Kenzi and I went to see High School Musical 3 Saturday night.  We decided that we needed a girls night out, so Korbin went to my moms house.  I had so much fun with her.  For some reason every time I have gone to the movies with Korbin or Kenzi, we always dump the popcorn, this time was no exception.  It is always nice when the person in front of you looks at you like you are a complete idiot.  Kenzi danced in her seat the entire movie, that kid loves music.  

Kenzi was not ready to go home after the movie, she wanted to go shopping, but all the stores were closed, so she decided that she wanted ice cream.  It made me so happy when she looked over at me and said, "mom I don't want to go home, we are having too much fun!"  It was one of those moments that make the frustrating times of motherhood all worth it!

Pre-Halloween Activities

We had a  very busy filled weekend to get in the Halloween spirit. We went to the Treehouse on Friday with some friends to visit the "Enchanted Woods".  It is something that is not scary for little ones, but they get to wear their costumes and go and listen to stories throughout the museum and then get a fun treat from each one.  They had a lot of fun listening to all of the stories.  On Saturday we went to the Fronks Haunted Woods (at the non scary time).  2 years ago I made the mistake of going at the scary time, not knowing it was scary. . . Kenzi was only 2 years old, and Korbin was 4 . . . it was not good!!!!!!  

Tagged!

Apparently I have been tagged!  This is a first for this . . .well I can't say new blogger, but maybe a better word would be slacker blogger!  You know you are a bad blogger when your cousin thinks you won't get the message until December, or maybe she just knows me better than I thought.  :-)

So, I have to list 6 things that are quirky about me, and pass it on to 6 other people I know, as well as tell the thoughtful person that tagged me.  Well my tagger was my cousin Val, and she had better be impressed cause it is still October!

1- I have a thing about light switches being down, you know those double light switches where you can turn on or off a light in 2 different places, well it drives me crazy when one is up and one is down - I try to hide this but I really wish they could all just stay down!!!  We had a light switch in our hall that was installed upside down and I finally told John how much it bugged me (after living that way for 5 years) he laughed and said he could fix it.  I promise I sleep better now.  I think the reason for this is because my dad had a huge issue with lights being on.  It did not matter if you were running out of your bedroom to go grab something in your sisters bedroom, you HAD to turn off your light.

2- I can quit anytime - NO really I can't, I love Diet Coke, it makes me happy.  I have to have it every morning, I am grouchy without it.  I can now say I understand those coffee addicts.

3 - Back to the Diet Coke - yeah it can't come in a can or bottle.  FOUNTAIN or nothing.  If you can add a shot of cherry to it, it is even better, but it can't be those shots that you see attached to the fountain machine, it has to be the shots from Hoagies Corner.  Linda and Karen now me and they know my drink.  I can pull around the drive thru, and my drink is ready, just the way I like it.  I pass by 4 other convenient stores on my way to Hoagies, but it is the best.  

4 - I don't have a lot of carpet in my house, but one of my favorite things is the vacume pattern that you get in the carpet when you vacume.  It is kind of like the pattern you get when you mow your lawn, I love that.  

5- Organizational stuff, I LOVE IT!!!!  I love rubbermaid totes, and I LOVE IKEA because it is all about organization.  Now you would think that someone that loves organizational stuff as much as I do, that everything would have its place and my house would look like my mothers, but that is where the quirk comes in to play.  I buy a ton of it, but as hard as I try don't use it like I should.  For instance, I bought over $500 worth of scrapbooking storage stuff, and you would think I would know where everything was, but no; that is not the case.  My friend came over to scrapbook and I spent the whole time looking for stuff.  My room is clean, but I can't find anything in it.  She has promised me that she is going to come over and teach me how to use all of my organizational supplies, and be organized.

6 - I love office supplies.  I don't know why, but I get excited and think of reasons to go to an office supply store.  I love Office Max. I could spend an hour on the pen aisle alone.  I don't know why, it is just one of those "quirky" things.  After the pen aisle, get me out of the store before I go down the paper aisle, the envelopes, the paper clips . . .

I didn't think I had this many quirks but apparently once you start thinking about them, the list goes on and on.

New Pictures of our Zoo

Honestly we do have a Zoo at our house,  you know it is bad when the animals out number the people that live there!  
Last night my sister came over and we took pictures of all of the kittens and the new puppies. We were able to get some pretty good pictures of them this time.  

We stayed up way too late just listening to them and watching them, who knew you could blow 2 hours just looking at something so small.

OHHH, would you like to see the proud Daddy of the puppies???  This is Tiger, the proud daddy.

First Day of Pre-School

Today was Kenzingtons first day of pre-school. She loves it. She ran out of the car and right into the classroom, she quickly said goodbye and was gone. Her teacher is awesome and Kenzington loves to learn. She is very excited that her friend is in her class again this year, but I think she is even more excited that this is her last year, and next year she gets to ride the bus with her big brother!

PUPPIES!!!!

They are here!!!! Bailey had her puppies this morning . . . this morning meaning 4AM!!!! I awoke to what sounded like a baby crying! I never knew that puppies sounded like that. I got out of bed and took the puppy to her whelping box (which is a kiddie swimming pool) and then got Bailey back in so that she could deliever the rest of them. She only had 5 puppies which is a pretty small litter and unforunatley 2 of them did not make it, so we only have 3. BUT they are so cute!!! She is a good little mommy and she is still trying to take care of the kittens when she hears them crying, like today when Kenzi and Korbin squished one between the bed and the wall . . . but that is a whole other subject! The pictures are not the best, Bailey isn't like the movie stars, she prefers not to have her babies posted to the world wide web just yet, but I will keep trying. :-)

Goodbye Summer

Labor Day always seems to be the final goodbye to summer. My favorite place to go every summer is Tony Grove. It is beautiful, and I have so many memories of the place. Some bad, like the time my oldest brother threw my Curious George book into the lake, or the other time when my brother and I ran into a moose 10 feet away; YIKES! The good ones though, those are what I remember the most. Sitting out by the campfire with my cousins or fishing with my grandpa, byt the spillway of course cause it is the best, or at least that is what he always told me . . . and he was right. There is a log up there that my grandma would always walk with me on. I can remember it so well. Yes Tony Grove has many memories so it seemed like the right place for me and my little family to go to over the weekend, even if it did rain.

Chatty Korbin

Bless his heart, he can't keep his mouth quiet!!!!  Korbin got off the bus today and told me he got in trouble again today, and sent to his desk because he was TALKING!!!!  I sat down with him and tried my best to explain that I was so happy that he liked to meet new friends, but that when it is teacher time the lips need to stay zipped!

Kenzi has decided that she is going to be a singer and is writing songs with the neighbor girl,  I think Santa is going to have to bring her Rockband for Christmas.  Her newest saying is "ya got a little dirt in your skirt"  I don't know why but the way she says it makes me giggle!

I love those 2!

First Grade - First Day!

I can't believe that Korbin is in FIRST GRADE!  His best friend is in his class, and they already got a warning on their first day for talking.  Now, as a mom I should have probably been a little bit upset but deep down I was happy that he wasn't like me.  I was so shy in school that I hated it, and it took forever for me to get the guts to say Hi to someone.  Korbin is completely opposite, he loves school and looks forward to each day.  He even does his homework without a fight. (Although I am not the happiest that he has 4 pages of homework and a new little book to read EVERYDAY!!!) My neighbor and I discuss it every night like it will disappear if we just complain about it enough.  

The Rainstorm

A teacher of mine once said to me when it rains it pours!  I remember looking at her and asking what she meant, now I know!  

On Tuesday Korbins bunny died, I wanted it to disappear, but I didn't wish for its death!  We let it out that morning and he would not let us pick him up, he would thump his back feet and run, he bit Korbin and after that, I was done with him.  Later that afternoon I needed to let our dog in the back yard and so I had to get the bunny in the cage, and that is when I found poor Thumper dead in the grass, the oddest thing is I just don't know how he died. Korbin cried and I held him, but later all was fine . . . WHY????  The cat that I thought was a boy cat had it's kittens under our bed!  5 of them, or so we thought.  Now there are only 4, John swears he picked up 5 when he originally put them in the box.  Bailey (our dog) loves them, she picked one up and took it out to the living room in the middle of the night when they were about 5 hours old . . . I am still wondering if that was number 5?????  Then the rainstorm really hit; my mom went in for her chest pains that she has been having and found out that 2 of her valves to her heart were 90% clogged!  We are so lucky that she is still with us. I love her to death and I don' know what I would do without her.  She now has 2 metal shank things in her valves to keep them clear.

In the coming weeks Bailey (the dog) will have her first litter of Golden Retrievers, this I am very excited about. Kenzi will go back to pre-school, and Korbin will start first grade tomorrow.  I just hope that our rainstorm will soon pass, and things can go back to our semi normal ciaos.  Oh and I started a new job.  I no longer work in Logan, but I am back in Salt Lake City working for Rastar.  It is a fun and challenging job!

My Saturday Promise

Korbin does not forget ANYTHING!!!! I told him when I went out of town last month that when I got back if he was good for his Grandma and helped her with Kenzi that I would take him on the Front Runner and we would go to the Gateway Mall to play in the fountain and visit the Childrens Museum on Saturday. Last Saturday he asked if we were going and I told him we were too busy, but could go next Saturday. So . . . he woke up came in my room bright eyed and asked me, "When are were leaving!?!?"

We had a lot of fun, we got to the Front Runner station a little bit late because I had to have a Diet Coke, but after we left the station we had fun on the train. We went to the Museum first, and then to the fountain to cool down. We had dinner at Costa Vida, and topped it off with a Bens Cookie . . . oh they are so good, and I can feel the extra pound they put on me.

Kenzi Shopping at the store

Korbin building at the construction site.

Korbin loved the marble game.

AND THEY BOTH LOVED THE FOUNTAIN!

24th of July Pool Party

We had a great time at Brett & Heidi's house on the 24th of July. They invited us out to their place for swimming and a barbecue. I think when there is a pool around it is the one time that Korbin and Kenzington forget about anything but the water, they are a couple of fish! Korbin had fun jumping off the diving board once he realized that he would not sink, and Kenzington was content to paddle around in the shallow end with the duck.

I think Brett's dogs love the pool more than anyone, they always (and I mean always) want the ball thrown in the water and they JUMP in the pool after it . . . they are AMAZING! Now I have seen dogs start at a shallow end of a pool and gently wade their way in, but not Harley and Daisy; they leap over heads and belly flop right in the deep end to get that ball and take it out. Harley will even dive, yes DIVE into the bottom of the pool for rings and other things. We always have a blast at Brett and Heidi's; they are the best!!!

Not the best at blogging . . . .

I have a lot to learn. I am going to start with remembering my password and account name. It isn't that I have forgotten to post, it is just that I have not been able to get in to my blog since MARCH!!!!

I am going to be better.

Summer has been so busy and I can't believe it is almost time to start shopping for school. So to catch you up here is a summary of what has happend since March:

Korbin Graduated from Kindergarten!

Kenzi graduated from Pre-school, (although she still has one more year of it)

We went south to grandpas house. They loved visiting their grandpa, he could tell them anything and everything about a rock, and when you are 4 and a rock collector . . . THAT ROCKS!

Korbin played T-ball and Soccer.

The kids rode their bikes in the bike parade with their friends on the 4th of July. We had a lot of fun.

Happy Easter

We colored Easter Eggs, and as you will see not one egg is orange . . . the orange was the first color to be spilled. :-) And I would like to know what is the trick to get a pink egg? In all of my Easter egg coloring days has the pink dye ever worked. WHAT IS THE TRICK???



I think Korbin thought for sure that the Easter Bunny had skipped his house, but when he came home from church he was so excited! He was a great big brother and helped his little sister find the eggs, and to my surprise they even shared!

Utah Weather

You can tell that it is March. This morning we woke up to the sun, and this afternoon we said hello to the snow falling fast from the sky. CRAZY, Utah weather!

I decided to start a blog not because there is a lot to say, but because there isn't. Everyday something happens that isn't a milestone or something that the news channel would want to do a story on, but they are moments that just happen.

Some of our friends and family don't live close and the shorties are growing up so fast that soon I won't be able to call them shorties.

I got a new job working for a great company out of Logan, I am going to be operating the Miss Paper Jane website and it has already been fun. I have learned this year that change will happen no matter how much I fear it, or deny it; but in the end it all works out.