"If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly." - Pres. Thomas Monson

Monday, May 19, 2008

McKenna is Mobile

I finished changing McKenna's blowout diaper and went to wash my hands and her clothes. I asked Derek to watch her while I was gone, I came back and found Derek playing on the floor with Taylor and McKenna like this... Thank heavens for guardrails!! My baby is rolling over!!! McKenna is mobile. She was so cute to watch. She'd start on her back, give a big smile (as if to say "watch me, watch me"), and then quickly roll onto her belly. I will definitely not be leaving her alone on the changing table from now on.
She's 3 1/2 months old now and on the move. Look out!

Here she is in action, if you are interested. :)

Saturday, May 17, 2008

You Are Hereby Called

Derek and Taylor had a Primary activity today. The theme was missionary work and each child received a "mission call" in the mail. Both of my boys were called to the Berlin Germany Mission. Taylor's eyes lit up when they put the name tag on him. It was adorable.
They divided the kids up by the mission that they were called to. Then they rotated through several different activities. Derek's favorite was the relay race where they had to dress into a suit and pull their luggage to one end of the room and then put the suit back in the suitcase and run back with it to where they started. He was giggling and laughing hysterically, especially when he tried walking in the huge shoes. I wish I'd had my camera.

We'll be interested to see where they are actually called on their missions. Dave had a similar activity when he was in Primary and they called him to the exact mission that he would later serve in for real. Amazing! So, are my boys destined for Germany??

Friday, May 16, 2008

I Am a Mother!

This was a wonderful Mother's Day. I woke up and found this set-up in the kitchen. Dave woke up at 3:30 in the morning and spent 3 hours making it. He handcrafted the flowers out of a pages from a notepad complete with spaghetti noodle stems, and placed in empty plastic juice bottles. That is ingenuity (or recycling) at it's best! I loved them better than real flowers, because these took time and thought. (However, Dave, you can't get away with this every year. :) ) He also bought my favorite vanilla sandwich cookies and yummy donuts a week in advance. Apparently they were hiding all week with our pots and pans. He's lucky that I didn't need our large pot for any dinners this week. The Propel water is meant to replace my other water bottle that I've been using since June of last year. How thoughtful! He also tucked a wonderful love note under my placemat. He is so so sweet. I am so so blessed to have him!!
Derek and Taylor made cards and flowers in Primary. The "flower" was a fudge striped cookie held onto a bendy straw with gumdrops. Apparently Taylor ate his at church. It was cute how he described what happened to it. I tried to recreate his description in this video....

Anyway, their cards were cute. The teacher wrote "Mother I Love You..." and Derek told her to write "because she lets me go to my cousins' house." Hmm...Does he love me or his cousins' house better??? :) Taylor's said "because she gets my church clothes out for me." What a thoughtful 3 year old!! Our bishopric gave all the women a long-stemed red rose. Got to love that!

After church we went to my parents' house for a bbq. I love spending time up there with my family. It was a fun end to a great day. Really though, every day feels like Mother's Day around here...well, most days anyway. :)

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Happy Birthday, Laurel!


Happy Birthday!!! You are a wonderful sister!
I love you!

Monday, May 12, 2008

D-Man's School Carnival

Derek's PTA hosted a school carnival on Friday. It was small and simple but we had a fun time. The boys are still young enough that they are very easy to please. It's fun watching them get so excited about little things.
This is a picture of the boys talking with one of Derek's friends from school. We'd say that he has a crush on her, but we don't believe in encouraging that sort of thing at such a young age. So we'll just say that they are friends. :)
How cute is a man wearing a Snugli with a PINK blanket?!
Here's another ride with Abby. Derek was very brave for her. :)
After riding a couple rides and playing a few games the boys were done, and just wanted to play on the playground.


Yes, McKenna is under that blanket....she will be a very adventurous girl!

The Many Faces of McKenna

A couple Sundays ago I tried getting a cute picture of McKenna to frame. It took quite a bit of persistance to get a good shot and here are the many faces/moods I captured along the way.

Happy
Bored
Silly
Hungry
Annoyed

Scared
Mad
And... Loving...
the way she is the majority of her waking hours.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Bargain Shopping is My Addiction

I know, I know...this is a lame thing to post. But I'll tell you, I got a total adrenaline rush! Yesterday I saw the Albertson's ad in the paper and it had a 10 for $10 sale. Yes!! I seriously had a hard time getting to sleep last night. I couldn't stop thinking about what I was going to buy and stressing that it would all be gone by the time I got there. I'm surprised that I didn't dream about it. I got Derek off to school this morning and we were out the door at 8:05 AM. My heart started racing when I saw people coming out of the store. I peeked at their bags to see what they had (no one had the sale items... crazies). Needless to say, there was plenty of everything on hand. So, here's what I bought this morning.


17 Boxes of Cereal (the only kind the kids will eat)

9 Boxes of Sweet and Salty Granola Bars (the best ever!)

7 Boxes of Fruit Roll-ups

4 Boxes of Fruit by the Foot

2 Boxes of Fruit Snacks

1 Bag of Chex Mix






Guess what my total came to after tax and coupons????

...... Only $30.45

That averages to 76 cents a box. I could have done better if I was one of those women that get multiple copies of the paper, but oh well. So who needs the rush of sky diving when there is a sweet sale to be had??!!! :) The sad thing is...I want to go back and get more. Hee hee hee.