Home & Reflections of a Good Trip

So much to write about, so much that I feel a little overwhelmed and the procrastination bug starts itching. We all know where that'll get me, in deeper or hotter water, not a good place. So here goes...

We are back home in Washington the girls and I. We had great time in Utah as we were able to see my family and a few friends. The only down-side was my mother got sick on Tuesday and then disappeared...meaning she didn't want to get anyone sick and so she locked herself in her bedroom and would only open the door for food when no one was around. It sounds kind of funny, but it was really sweet of her. Too bad Tyler also got sick at the same time with what I think is the same crappy illness. I was not as sweet as I didn't know how I would be able to lock Tyler in a room and instead I selfishly took her out on our last day in Utah. I did try and keep her at bay from all other children, adults, and things... in a nutshell here are the highlights from the last few days there.

Grandma chasin T Tyler n Cousin Kierra
Tuesday morning while my sister and I ran to Wal-Mart and our 1-yr olds took naps my sweet Brother-in-Law Gregg took his daughter Maddie (age 2-1/2) & McKenna to the park. The sun was shining it was beautiful, and it was FREEZING! He was such a trooper! I had to laugh when my sister called to ask him a question and found out that the girls had convinced him they were hot and needed to take off their coats. I don't know that they lasted too much longer after that, although maybe that was his strategy. :)

That afternoon my dear friend Ashlee Dorius took me shopping. Ashlee cracks me up! She's always so happy, positive and full of energy despite having 4 kids...yep 4; 3 boys and 1 girl! She tells me she's going crazy and with some of the stories she has to tell I almost believe her. We stopped at Rumbi's for lunch and then headed to the mall to look for jeans. She'd found this place called Skinz in the Layton Hills Mall that only sells levi's. They had every brand imaginable...brands I'd never heard of although I think Big Star is a common name. They even had jeans that were $200-$300. Really? People pay that much for levi's? I went through a LOT of levi's to find some long enough and that were comfortable and I have to say I'm THRILLED with my purchases. Ashlee actually bought me a pair of Silvers and I bought a pair of Joe's. Never heard of them, but they are really comfortable and almost worth the insane amount of $$ I spent on them. My sister Shelly had been nice enough to keep an ear out for my sleeping children, unfortunately I think they have radar on me because both of them woke up unusually early. Murphy's Law right?

Symptoms of a cold began to appear with Tyler Tuesday night and come Wednesday morning she wasn't doing too well...which left me with a delima. I had made plans to see my old roommate & dear friend Tiffany and last minute plans to see some high school friends. I called and chatted with them about Tyler and after talking it over we decided we'd keep the kids in a public place with lot of air and space between them.

Tiffany & I didn't do much mostly ran errands (bank, Target, beauty Supply, of Course McDonald's for the kids), but it's what we do...even as roommates we used to go grocery shopping together and clean the apartment and we always had a great time doing it, although Wednesday we had too good of a time as we lost track of time and I found myself late for lunch with my high school friends. I was very excited as during our errands I got a new flat iron (Thanks Tiffany!) and a plethora of new shirts due to arrive just in time for my birthday!

Matthew, Tiffany & Faith Kirkham

Between already running a lil late, a last minute diaper change and the commute to the restaurant being longer than expected I was an embarrassing 45 minutes late. Sadly I'm usually about 5-15 minutes late, something I thought I was working on but 45 minutes? I think I learned a lesson that day...about rudeness!

Blogging really has been a wonderful experience for me as I've had an outlet for my rantings and through it I have been able to catch up with friends I haven't seen or talked to in 15 years. I can't believe I'm old enough to say that...but it was fun to meet up with Jelina (McIntire) Petzinger, Kristy (Rigby) Major, and Susan (Allen) Mooney, we definitely missed Carrie (Gale) Cooper who we also hung out with in High School but is currently living in CO.

We got together at TGIF with our kids, 2 a piece (with the exception of Kristi who has 3, her oldest was in school). It was a lil chaotic but the waitor's were really nice! I couldn't believe how great the girls looked. I think we've all echo'd the same thought that everyone of those girls hasn't aged and looks as good as they did when they graduated. Even Jelina who's pregnant, her baby being due in June, her belly was a bit rounder and bigger but other than that she looked fantastic. The kids were adorable...see for yourselves:

Mel, Jelina, Susan, Kristy

Pry not even 10 minutes after my last post requesting snow, my wish was granted. I got snow, a LOT of snow. I Love watching the snow fall especially in big storms and if I had my snow boots, pants, gloves, coat etc...well I like to play in the snow almost as much I like looking at it. Warmth is a big issue for me. McKenna on the other hand doesn't need all that fancy gear, she just wants to be IN and AMONG the snow. I thought I liked it but she shows me what passion really is. She loves to sit in it, make tracks, and just be apart of the snow, and the cold! Tyler isn't too far behind her, she just LOVES to be outdoors. Can't say I blame her, but it always amazes me how much babies and children love nature and the outdoors. They just can't seem to get enough of it, like it's something they remember? Hmmm...

The time is passing all too quickly for me despite my single parenthoodness...which isn't as bad as I expected it to be. Saturday night my older sister Shelly declared since both of our husbands were gone we were going to have a life and so after we got the kids in bed we headed to the movies with my younger sister Amber and her "friend" Brent. We saw August Rush which I thought was really quite good. Shelly said it best, "not all believable but very enjoyable."

Yesterday was a blurr...I do remember sunshine, a small glimpse of church, I made it to Sacrament meeting but McKenna very tired as she woke up at 4 am, and as much as she loves to sing in Primary and it was naptime therefore I skipped out, put the kids down and took a nap myself. I had promised McKenna that we would go back outside after naps and she doesn't forget a thing, so true to my word we all bundled up and headed back outside. (I have a bunch of pictures but since this isn't my computer these are the only ones that are horizontal and I can use...if that makes any sense.)


Today Shelly and Maddie, her 2 yr old and I with McKenna had a lil mommy daughter date. We took the girls to the Treehouse Children's Museum in Ogden and then we went to Artic Circle for lunch. It's been so long since I've been able to spend one-on-one time with McKenna and fun to watch her run around exploring the place.

John's brother Steven and his wife Silvia and cute lil Nicholas stopped by today to say Hi. It was soo good to see them and I can't believe how big Nicholas is getting. I forget he's only a few months older than Tyler he's soo advanced running and talking! I'm kicking myself for not getting a picture of them since it will be Thanksgiving before we get to see them again but I'm realizing how quickly the time continues to fly.

Last but not least the girls have been getting along pretty well. There is still lots of refereeing going on meaning between McKenna and all the other lil kids in the family (Maddie, Kierra & Tyler) but today McKenna did something that shocked the socks off of me. McKenna and Maddie had come in from the deck where they had been playing in the snow/ice. McKenna took Maddie's coat off and gave it to her Mom and then Maddie who'd sat on the floor was pushed down where McKenna proceeded to sit on her and then Fling her arms back and forth almost as if she were beating the crap out of her. The only thing missing was the actual contact between McKenna's hands and Maddie's face. I was horrified as I tried to think of where she could have learned something like that. Funny enough it didn't phase Maddie, her mom said due to her younger sister beating on her so often. Time out did proceed as I quickly grabbed her off her, but seriously...is this really my kid? One day I'll look back and laugh...at least I hope so.

Made it...

We're back! In UTAH that is, greatest snow on earth right? Well um I really expected more or maybe I was hoping for more snow but sadly in Davis county it's almost gone. I also forgot how brown it can be here in the Winter. Makes me appreciate the green, tall trees I left in Washington. It's a short trip as we are only here until Thursday morning but nonetheless...happy to be here! McKenna is so funny she's been more excited than I have been to come. She's asked me several times over the last few days if it was time to go to the airplane yet. All day yesterday she'd say, 'Come on Mom, car...airplane." After explaining to her that we had to go to bed first and we'd go in the morning she finally asked to go to bed. In the past week I think she's really grown up as she gets things and communicates so much better.

I've had anxiety for days about traveling with 2 young children by myself and yesterday I did start to panic, you should see the stash of DVD's and treats I had packed. Airports have gotten better as the Seattle airport had the best lil play place for the girls and since no one was there at 7:30 this morning the girls had free reigh.

We were lucky enought to get the 2nd to last row in the plane, the only one with 3 seats together. When Tyler wasn't playing Peek-a-boo with the guy behind us or smiling at the flight attendants then she was looking for food. I think I spent almost the whole 2 hrs feeding her. The flight overall was really good. The girls were better behaved than I could've imagined. There were only a few screams when Tyler was stealing McKenna's pretzels...

Once we got here well I have to mention we kind of got stuck on the elevator. Talk about weird...the door closed and then the elevator wouldn't move, and then the door wouldn't open and then it would only open about 4 inches and it was moving really slowly. After yelling help and not getting any I was finally able to push the door open enough to get ourselves out. Last place I want to be stuck with my kids, my husband maybe...but definitely not kids.

Leap Year & Sadie Hawkins 2008- FIRE!

My cute sister-in-law sent this lil explanation out to the family of Feb 29, Leap Year/Sadie Hawkins day. I found it quite interesting and thought I'd post it. (after all this is also my journal. :))

"The original Roman 355 calendar had an extra 22-day month every few years to maintain the correct seasonal changes. By the time Julius Caesar took reign, the seasons no longer occurred during the same months they once had. Panicking, he remedied this by 44 B.C. by tossing the extra month and adding the extra days to a few months instead. He threw in a month in honor of himself (Julius - July) and died a happy man. However, still creating seasonal confusion, the calendar was changed once again first from an extra day every 3 years, to one every 4 years in 8 A.D. It was then finally perfected with some complicated logic by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. He determined that Leap day should fall on any year divisible by 4 but not 100 (except when the year is divisible by 400), setting up the calendar nearly identical to Mother Nature. Thus, today
our year is 365.2425 days, off from our solar year by .00031, or one day's error over 4,000 years."

"If you are a woman, wait no longer for that engagement ring - today, Sadie Hawkins day, is your day to propose marriage. This tradition originates in Ireland in the 5th Century, when St.Bridget convinced St.Patrick to allow one day that a woman could propose. If the man refused, he was fined (incidentally, St.Bridget proposed to St.Patrick that day, he said no). 1,600 years later, the fine has been ousted, but women still have only this one day every four years set aside to profess their love and commitment for the men in their lives. Again, just how far we have come?"
http://www.mystro.com/leap.htm

On a more personal note already at 9:45 this morning it's been busy. As McKenna was getting on the bus the driver pointed out to some very thick black smoke at the top of the hill, not too far away. As the bus drove away with Tyler on my hip, my pajamas still on and having not touched my hair or face yet that morning (it was only 9 am all focus being on the kids thus far) and a video camera in hand (at John's request ) I decided to just walk part of the way up the hill. As I got closer I realized that it was very close to if not a friend of our's home, who also happens to be my kids pediatrician. A lil freaked out I kept moving, it is actually a beautiful morning with the sun shining and already 50 degrees. Every once in a while you'd hear a lil explosion and our quiet little hill became quite busy at those who were as curious as I was. Nothing like a disaster to bring the people out...and together, everyone being quite friendly to one another. A nice man stopped his car and I asked him which house it was, he offered me a ride up the rest of the hill and being paniked and obviously not thinking I got in. It wasn't until we were moving and he was chatting to Tyler and telling her how pretty she was that I realized how dumb I was. I had just done the very thing I tell my kids NOT to do, get in the car with a stranger. We only rode about 1/4th of a mile before I jumped out to run across the field. A lil relieved it was not our friends house but his next door neighbor which is still very sad. House fires are awful for anyone (despite the value of the property around here we almost wish our house would burn so we could start over) and this is actually the 2nd one I have seen close enough to see flames in the last 6 months. I'll download the footage and try to figure out how to post it...but I'm still learning how to do this whole blogging thing.

PS-There is now a VERY LOUD Helicopter hovering just above us, I think we might have made the noontime news. Wish it were happier news that was being spread!

Happy February 29th, 2008- LEAP YEAR!

June Cleaver...Almost

Yesterday I had visions of a clean house, a wonderful looking and smelling dinner cooking on the stove , children playing sweetly besides each other all as my sweet husband came walking in the door. You know the kind of vision June Cleaver is usually involved in, something I thought my husband might appreciate. Not that he wants to be married to June Cleaver but coming home to peace, love and happiness would probably be nice every once in a while.

As the day wore on I did start to feel better flu-like symptoms slowly dissipating, so at the suggestion of my sweet husband :) I decided to start get moving. I started preparations for a recipe I had found on the Internet, something that sounded quite yummy- Turkey Croquette and Mushroom Cream Sauce. Everything started out pretty good the meat was mixed and chilling but then...the kids woke up. This actually wasn't really all that bad especially since John had called to tell me he was getting off early. Things were looking good, we all went to visit the goats and then I ducked out early to start cooking...things just kind of didn't work out as I had thought. I am not a gourmet cook. I try and I try, but it just never works out for me. I'm good with Macaroni & Cheese, Pizza, Chinese Haystacks, and an occassional enchilida but really I'm in the Blue Collar cooking category. Desserts...well that's another story for another day.

As I was trying to put a pound of ground turkey meat (trying to be healthier) into little Tbs size balls, I asked myself what is a croquette anyway? 10 min later I decided to scrap the meatballs and try browning the meat , like Hamburger because meatballs are NOT supposed to be mushy even after being cooked. I thought it would ultimately be some kind of stroganoff, which I think it was supposed to be. Sweet, sweet John could tell I was a lil frustrated (I even toyed with the idea of just throwing the meat away) and so he took the girls to the library to give me some time to get dinner done. Maybe it was my lack of appetite from being sick still lingering but honestly after finishing the recipe well I thought it was pretty gross... John said the meat was good, the sauce was so/so and that recipe went quickly into the trash. I think I'll be sticking with my Deliciously Deceptive Recipes. A lil odd, but most of which are pretty good.

Side note of the kids...I've been trying to limit the amount of movies and tv that is being watched, mostly because I've noticed more tv, more bad behavior and it's the only motivation I can find sometimes. McKenna got tired around 11:30 and started begging for a movie, which I told her not until after naps. So she asked for her nap, I thought Great! So by noon she was asleep...and by 1 she was awake after her nice power nap...arrr. Note to self... and so by 7 pm we had to whiney and very tired kids so we decided McKenna would be going to bed with Tyler. It was only a half hour early but holy cow, that half hour made such a difference. I had both my kids in bed by 8, my kitchen cleaned and a lil more organized by 9 and I even got started on my next project that is due by Friday. Wow, I felt like a new woman...or maybe it was the flu was finally gone. Either way it was a fabulous way to end the night!

Wiped Out!

I was way too confident when I wrote I didn't think John and I would get the flu. Yep I'm still talking about the flu...but hopefully this is the last time for a while. After a pretty good, but low key weekend I woke up yesterday to a queasy stomach, and the flu. McKenna had school that morning and so I knew I really only had to make it a couple of hours with the kids before I could go back to bed so I sent John to work. McKenna, in all her 3 yr old glory didn't want to get her hair done, get dressed and she definitely didn't want to get on the bus. Miraculously in the 10 min before the bus came she finally relented...then crying as usual climbed on the bus. I miss those days when she liked getting on the bus. I'm actually thinking about putting a tape recorder in her backpack to find out what happens on the bus between here and the next stop.

Anyway after putting Tyler down for her morning nap I went down for mine. I realized I wasn't in very good shape when I couldn't get warm and the only time I was comfortable was when I didn't move. I HATE the Flu! So awful, so draining. John was sweet enough to come home get Tyler and go pick up McKenna from School. He also stopped by Fred Meyer's on the way home for a few groceries. He was the ultimate Mr. Mom! He did a great job! I have to say I was also very impressed with the girls. I fully expected them to put up more of a fight for their Mom, but John explained to McKenna I was sick and when she got home she came up to see me and we chatted about it. She's so funny! "Oh, No...sick, all better? Come one Mom let's play". After telling her I was going to stay in bed she replied, "ok" and got down and ran off for lunch with Dad. She even let him read her story to her at naptime without a fit. She was such a good girl! Tyler actually did pretty good until 6:30 and then John said she'd had enough and she kept sneaking, very literally, off to the stairs to tryand find me.

It's good to be loved, but it's even better to know your kids can be a lil independent without you. Today I'm still quite achy, i'm starting to wonder if I have the actualy flu and not just the 24-hr stomach flu. I'm opting for the latter, but we'll see.

Tag, I'm it...again!

This kind of tag is always a lil difficult for me...If you haven't noticed writing about the kids or John is always a bit easier! Here goes:

5 interesting things that you May or May Not know about Me?

1-Somewhere inside this girl is a creative persona. One who can write, draw and sing. I used to consider myself a short story writer...Now I'm a short order cook. :)

2-Along the lines of music, I like to consider myself a country music Guru. Love it, old, new, twangy, or even with a lil bit of rock'n roll. Even the stuff I don't like eventually in time may grow on me if I give it a chance. One of my favorite things to do is driving in the car to the store blasting my music.

2003 Buk, Kelli D, Tim, Mel n Ashlee

3-I Love Breakfast food! Breakfast was a big deal, Every week day we had Oatmeal (not the instant kind) or Wheat Mush! We looked forward to every Saturday morning when my Dad would make us (This may make a few of you sick, especially those who are pregnant.) Spaghettio's on Eggs (over easy) on top of Toast. It was our favorite, and still is to this day. We didn't know that Spaghettio's wasn't a breakfast food. Sunday morning we got cold cereal and Sunday night was Pancakes/waffle night, another Harris Tradition that still carries on at my parents to this day!

Dad makin' his specialty Spaghettio's Eggs & Toast

4- I love my Old lil house. It's not very big, and it's not very fancy but it's homey and it's mine. We have plans to remodel in the next year. The plans keep getting more and more elaborate and I'm still not sure what we are going to do. I'm excited, but I'm very nolthalgic (sp?) so I'll struggle saying good-bye but change is always good.

5-I am my Mother's Daughter. Growing up I thought to myself I'll never be my mom or do things the same way-something we all tell ourselves when we are 14-16 and in the height of teenage confusion. But I laugh at some of the things I find myself telling my kids, stuff my Mom said to me as a kid. I can honestly say that I hope to be like my Mom-she's an angel...Now that she's not yelling at us anymore and hopefully my kids will say the same thing.

1975 Mom, Shelly & baby Melanie

I can't really bring myself to tag anyone but if you're looking for a topic this one isn't too shabby, gets you thinking...

As far as the flu goes, it has come and gone...well hopefully. McKenna woke up her happy playful self running circles and dancing as soon as she got downstairs. I don't even think she remembers being sick or milking it for all it was worth. John asked the question if he thought either of us would get it. My answer? Nope, I was able to escape it last year I'm thinking I might get lucky again, so yes I think we're good. Flu be GONE! (Way too confident- Pry the reason one of us will wake up sick tomorrow.)

Photos-1 yr and counting

Here are a few of the photos we took of Tyler the other day...

Kisses for you!

Here Looking at You Kid!

Rocks? So Sweet to Share!

Day 2-Take 2

Wow, what a day! Tyler's bout with the flu came and went so quickly I wondered whether she had the flu at all. Despite vomiting and not eating she played around like it was any other day.

This morning McKenna woke up pretty happy-she wanted to start dancing as soon as she got out of bed. When we were finally able to talk her into going downstairs to use the potty, well it just wasn't like her to take one lick of her chocolate (yes I'm still bribing) and then throw it away. I caught her holding her stomach a few times and she didn't eat anything for breakfast but she seemed ok when I left for a morning run. When I got home she was sitting on Dad's lap and John reported she wasn't feeling well. I had saved some old Gallon Ice Cream buckets for such a day as this and boy did they come in handy. I'll spare you the details... All I can say is Drama, Drama, Drama! It was a movie day to say the least but by the time she went to bed this evening she was at least holding down her hot chocolate but she had a fever of 102 and she was asking to go to sleep. So odd, it's usually such a fight. Thank goodness John had the day off and was kind enough to cancel his evening visits to stay home to help-McKenna is a cuddler and all she wanted all evening was to sit on her Mom's lap, wrapped in a blanket watching movies. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it.

On a side note-my run this morning was fabulous. I think I only did a couple of miles but I've never done it talking on the phone the whole time. My cell phone is also my MP3/Radio and my Mom called to see how Tyler was doing and we started chatting and 30 minutes later I was home and still talkin. Must have really been pushing myself aye? It was quite chilly and VERY Foggy and so between the phone and the fog I only almost got hit once...by a double dump truck. Keeps things exciting around here.

It's Here...the Dreaded Flu

Flu? Do my kids have the flu? The stomach flu to be more precise. It's been going around the neighborhood/ward for the last month or so and I've considered us to be quite lucky to not have had it...yet. I know our turn will come inevitably, although I've tried to have a good positive attitude maybe it wouldn't visit our home. Alas when Tyler woke up from her nap crying I knew that something was awry. I found the poor girl confused as she was sitting there covered in...her lunch. I do believe this is the 1st time she's been sick enough to throw up...stuff. I feel bad for her she's so confused. Luckily she only has 3 episodes and she chugged the Pedialyte and water I gave her this evening. I'm still not positive that's what she has, but not sure what else it could be.
I did notice that Tyler's 7th tooth, bottom left has cut through. That would explain the irritability and overly clinginess over the last week.

Oh yeah my neighbor got a couple of goats yesterday. I'll have to take pictures and post them. Visiting Holly (who has horns) and Molly are McKenna's new favorite past time, and actually Tyler gets pretty excited as well. We went to see them 3 times today. Anything to get out in the sun. Our neighbor bought them to get rid of the Blackberry bushes that are taking over his property, but sadly last night a neighbor's dog got in and attacked them. The poor girls are pretty beat and shook up. Mike, our neighbor said they are actually really friendly, I feel bad and hope they recover quickly.

Twilight & Stephenie Meyer

I have a soft spot in my heart for Stephenie Meyer and her series of books that started out with Twilight. Mostly due to being the first book in years that I have not only been able to read but couldn't put down until it was finished. Reading in Leslie's blog she linked this page from Stephenie Meyer's website that tells the process and birth of her characters and the story. I know a few friends who also like the books so I thought I'd post the link so you could take a gander.

Other than that John is home and we've had a pretty good time. The sun is shining, yeah! and we attempted to do our own version of Tyler's 1-yr old photoshoot. I'm not sure how it turned out. Neither Tyler or McKenna were very cooperative but I've got a backup plan if things don't quite work out.

Hope you all have a great President's Day weekend.

L-O-V-E

I subscribe to ScreamFree Parenting's Newsletter and I read an article where Hal Runkel the author talked about his disapproval of and the commercialization of Valentine's day. I linked the article incase you wanted to read it but basically his reasonings being you shouldn't have one day set aside to show people how much you love them. He continued on to almost laugh at how it started as a couple's holiday and has been turned to focus on the children. I agree with him in that random acts of kindness throughout the year are a better than a once a yr "forced" effort, but I love decorating my house in pink and red for a month, buying Valentine's Day candy and I look forward to having an excuse to show my kids what love and service are by recognizing others with a valentine or a treat.

With McKenna in preschool they invited the parents to come for the Valentine's Day party. I was so excited because I haven't been to McKenna's class and although I was nervous as to how she would react with me there I wanted to visit and see her in her environment. It was such a fun day! The parents were invited to come at snack time and the kids gave us Valentine's Day cookies and McKenna even poured me some juice. She's so funny, they only pour to the count of 3 and let me tell you, I was proud and excited to drink my 3 Tbs of juice. Then the kids got to look at their Valentine's for a few minutes. After putting them away they gathered in a circle on the mats for singing time. They sang "You are My Sunshine" and "I'm Stuck on My Family..." and then they did the bear hunt song. That was hilarious, and so cute! I was sad not to have my camcorder, but took footage on my Digital camera, which doesn't have sound, but it'll be cute nonetheless. McKenna was soo well behaved, which shouldn't come as a surprise because I've heard that she is, and like to think that most of the time she is at home too. It was very refreshing and pry one of the highlight of my Valentine's Day.

"I'm goin on a Bear Hunt"

Time to go home

The Valentine's Day Loot!

John and I really didn't have anything planned for Valentine's Day. We had talked about skipping presents and just doing a nice Date on Valentine's and our Anniversary but we hadn't set anything up. I am currently the Beehive Teacher at church and I have a couple of cute girls in my class who spent the night a few weeks ago and declared at Mutual on Wednesday Night that since they didn't have school on Friday they would be spending the night at my house on Thursday (which was Valentine's). I didn't really even think much of it until one of their mother's called and told my husband they would be happy to watch our kids so that we could go out to dinner. Wow, the stars must have aligned or something because it was so unexpected and so nice. So yesterday after school as promised they came to our house, picked out my shirt :) and sent us on our way. We didn't actually go to dinner, we pretty much figured every place would be busy and we didn't know where we wanted to go anyway so we went to a movie. Romantic huh? or maybe not, but we NEVER get to go to movies so we were happy. We saw The Bucket List, which we really liked. I don't know what I was thinking, I've realized I'm one of those people who doesn't deal with death very well at all, especially when Cancer is linked to it so I knew there was going to be crying. It had a wonderful message and we both really liked it, reminding us why we are parents and the joy of it all.

Valentine's Day Breakfast of Course, Pink Pancakes!

On the Topic of Love I forgot to mention/document the sweetest thing that happened the other night. McKenna who is always full of surprises, the other night she came to me and John in turn and gave us both a big hug and said, "I love you Mommy" and then "I love you Daddy". It's the first time she has ever told either of us that she loved you and probably one of the 1st real sentences she has ever said. Made my heart melt!

About my Valentine!

I've been tagged by Tiffany... This Might be more information then you ever wanted from me!! Here we go... Couple Questionaire

How long have you been married? 4-1/2 yrs wonderful Years...

How long did you date? Which time? Almost famous joke between the 2 of us. Really John & I dated From Feb 2-July4 when we got engaged, so 5 months?

How old is he? 34- Sept 25, 1974

Who eats more? I'd like to say John, but honestly it's all me.

Who is taller? Definitely John, anyone who knows me knows I had height issues

Who said "I Love You" first? That would be John. I was having a hard day and sometimes that's when knowing someone loves you helps you through it...unfortunately at the time I wasn't sure of my feelings and so something I learned from Tiffany, you wait til you're ready and then you tell them and they know it was genuinely said too. :)

Who sings better? Once again John-he's got a great voice. Someone has even suggested he join the choir, my brothers have told me to keep my day job. Nuff said?

Who is smarter? Definitely John! He's got his Master's in PT, but also in every way- book smart, finances, spiritual-he's way ahead of the game, but then he loves reading, and watching educational shows and all that.

Who does the dishes? Mostly John, we have an understanding that if you cook you don't really have to clean, plus I don't have a dishwasher and he promised he'd do dishes. But really we take turns...it's gotta be love.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? John-are you seeing a trend here?

Who pays the bills? Yep you guessed it, John. I don't like finances, makes my stomach tie up in knots!

Who cooks dinner? Finally- ME!!! John hates to cook, although he will make the famous Payne Taco's once a week to give me a break.

Who is more stubborn? Definitely John...no question! at least not for me.

Who kissed who first? That's a good one...I think it was mutual. So romantic, I was dropping John off at his house after an evening out with my family-Dad's bday party Feb 13th actually. He took advantage of the late hour and my defenses being down. :) - I believe he was the only one who didn't give me something for Valentine's that year. :) JK

Who asked who out? This would be a good one for the Which time question-1st actual date, John to a Motorcycle...whatchamacallit. A yr later...me asking him to my Dad's bday party.

Who proposed? Definitely John-we'd talked about it but I really had NO idea it was coming. When he moved to WA he put all "talks" aside to focus on moving. He almost didn't Propose as he constantly brings up how I talked of breaking up at the moment he was planning on popping the question...Oops!

Who has more friends? I don't know. Our friends are kind of both of our friends now, but I want to go with me. :) I'm surrounded by wonderful friends.

Who has more siblings? John does. Both big families, but he has 8 kids in the family- 3 brothers and 4 sister.

Who will I tag....How about anyone who reads this...Leslie? Laura? Teandra? Susan?

Happy Birthday Tyler!

Before we get to the birthday celebrations...I just want to report, very excitedly that Tyler waved "bye-bye" for the 1st time this morning. As the bus was leaving, carrying a screaming McKenna Tyler's lil hand began waving. I guess her declaration to the beginning of her 2nd year of life.

I was chatting with my Mom and I'm sure this discovery has been made by many, but the 1st Bithday celebration is not for the baby, but for the parents. A celebration that she survived her 1st year of life and if you can survive all that happens, especially in the 1st 3 months well the rest should be easy, or at least bearable right? Sure.... Anyway I don't believe Tyler had a clue what was going on, but I think she liked it nonetheless.

Saturday she received a card from Grandma & Granpa Payne and as she opened it, it began playing Sleeping Beauty's music. Her legs started kicking the ground excitedly and then she proceeded to spin herself around in circles.

I think she liked it.
Breakfast with Dad

Birthday Kisses from McKenna

Sunday morning she found lots of balloons and had a great time in the ball pit with McKenna, are you seeing a theme here? We had Stake Conference in the morning, but as soon as we got home and naps were taken the festivities began. In true baby birthday party fashion with Pizza, fruit & choc fondue and cake.

Pizza!

During the song she looked around and smiled politely, a lil confused and then McKenna was nice enough to blow out the candle for her. Funny enough she didn't eat the cake, had no interest in it actually. She played with it, mashed it, and then smelled the plate to make sure she's gotten it all.

Round 2, found Jack's leftovers after the party. :) The presents I think were equally confusing. She loved the wrapping paper so much she got a little distracted. The kids were going crazy waiting so they were nice enough to help her open them up and assemble and play with the train and the lil car dashboard she got. She picked these paer cups out herself at the party store.It's still the little things in life that can make you happy! Paper cups and new best friends!

Thought of the Day

Good morning! How is everyone today? In the way of news: I heard the Utah Jazz played quite a game last night. I can't believe we missed it and the Superbowl Sunday night. I understand both games were great, too bad New England lost after such a great season! Things up here in Washington are a lil wet and windy, but nothing like the snow drifts I keep hearing about in Utah. Wow. :) Our dear late Uncle Stan's wife's funeral is today. Please keep his family and Mom in our prayers today. Tyler's teething which is good times for everyone...good times when it's all done. We'll be heading to the church this morning for a playgroup where the theme is tents. They are planning on making tents out of tables and blankets and having snacks. Should be a lot of fun!

Today's thought comes from one of my favorite books "Our Search For Happiness" by M. Russell Ballard,

"Consider for a moment the word understanding.

It's really a simple word, really-one that most of us use every day. But it means something that is quite remarkable. With understanding we can strengthen relationships, rviatlize neighborhoods, unify nations, and even bring peace to a troubled word. Without it chaos, intolerance, hate, and war are often the result.
In other words, misunderstanding."

Yesterday I think there was a patch of ice somewhere on a road and so school was postponed for 2 hrs and therefore am preschool was canceled...again. I was somewhat annoyed, only because McKenna is dying to get back to school. It's been over 2 weeks now. She did find a project for us to do, as she came across the paints and so we did some Fingerpaintings, or rather hand. Painted her hands and let her make some cute lil art work.

She's also really into her shapes so she practiced making circles and then we found some Mickey Mouse Stickers with shapes on them and had a great time plalying with those. I almost felt like a teacher...The other day I actually taught her the song "You are my Sunshine." Wish you could all hear it.

The one with all the different colored hands is my favorite!

She wanted to wear her Cinderella dress but the rule being she has to use the potty, anyway she ended up running around in her underwears for a while and at one point jumped in the toy bin. It's pry encouraging the wrong behavior but it was crackin me up so I had to grab a picture.

Everything they do at this age is cute isn't?

Randomness...Happy February 1st!

My family plays a game each month, that starts at the stroke of Midnight where it's a race to see who is the 1st to wish the rest of the family a Happy 1st of the Month. It started when I was young when My Dad would come to the basement where our rooms and bathroom was with well wishes. I don't even remember how it got started or turned into a competition. As we've gotten older it soon turned into phonecalls as we moved out of the house and as technology has progressed so has the game to emails and now Text Messaging. At the stroke of midnight and sometimes a minute or 2 before text messages come pouring in and go out as we try and be the first. It's gotten a little out of hand, but It's a fun family tradition that I LOVE!

Going through my folder of January photos there were a few that made me chuckle as we watch McKenna continue her saga from playing the Mommy Role to being the baby. We rejoice more in the Mommy role and try to forget the other.

Mommy Moment #1- Time out

Time out for the doll?
Yep McKenna even knows how to set the timer, Funny T/O worked better for her than for me.

Mommy Moment #2-Bathtime Baby

She's a natural! Even brushes her teeth!
Yes, McKenna's in her Princess dress & Apron! She cracks me up!

I love the outfits that only a 3 yr old could put together. It's the accessories...check out the gloves!
While John & I were at Alderbrook, Ashley, John's sister came up to play with/take care of the girls. Robin a friend of the family took Ashley and the girls to Club Libby Lou's for a makeover. A lil hesitant she did manage to get her nails done. Pink and glittery it's right up her alley!
As always you can't forget Tyler. I can't believe she's almost 1. the year has flown by way too quickly!