The DREADED yearly check up

I must say I really don't like going to the OB. It seems like I wait an eternity in the waiting room and then even longer in the actual room. NAKED, I might add! And why is it always so COLD? I don't know anyone but me who packs an extra pair of socks in my purse to put on while waiting. The sweaty armpits are also another thing I so don't look forward to. Know what I mean? This time I was actually dressed when the Dr. came in because I was LEAVING! A 1 hr 20 min wait is way too long. I was a human popsicle. At least my yearly exam is done even though it took a total of 1 hr 40 minutes.

Not so reverent?

Our church time has changed to later in the day but that doesn't slow down Valerie during sacrament meeting. She was quite vocal today. Of course she seemed louder than ever after we had just discussed how to prepare for the sacrament in Relief Society. (Talking out loud was not suggested) Anyway, Cade is now a deacon and passes the sacrament. Valerie must have just figured this out because she saw Cade and yelled, "there's my CADE!" A little while later the Young Women all got up to do a special musical number. The prelude piano was playing and Valerie kept telling me to go up there and DANCE!

Where did she go?

Almost every night Valerie wakes up and sneaks in bed with me. I woke up the other morning shocked because Valerie was not in my bed. I became alarmed when I peeked in her room and saw an empty bed. After searching, I found her tucked in bed with Mikayla. They are all so sweet when they are sleeping!

Wise words from the kiddos

My kids sometimes say the cutest things (even if I only think its cute) but I forget to write them down. Be prepared because I am going to start writing them down. Since I don't really have a journal and can't find the time to scrapbook the blog will have to do.



Hailey: Your head is big like Dora's, huh Dad?









Ever since I watched a friend's baby last week, Valerie has been having some difficulties. First off, she kicked the binki habit a few months ago. But as soon as she saw the baby she started crying for a binki and a bottle. She wanted me to hold her and she even wet her pants 3 times in 1 day! (She has been potty trained for 6 months). I realized we all call her "baby" not Valerie. "Baby come here" "Where is the baby" "Is the baby buckled?" In fact Ashley asked her what her name was and she responded, "baby." I decided to start making an effort to call her Valerie.

Last night Valerie and I were alone driving in the car and she said out of nowhere, "Mom, my name is Valerie Elle." She said it in the sweetest little voice. I didn't even know she knew her middle name was Elle.

A while back Ashley asked me if she could have a sleepover. I reminded her of our rule of no sleepovers. She said, "remember when Cade had a sleepover 3 years ago?" I told her I remembered and that we were experimenting with Cade back then and since then we have had this new rule. A few nights later she asked if she could be an experiment and have a sleep over.

Puzzlemania!

Okay so our family has never tried doing puzzles but that has now changed. I think we are all addicted. This all started thanks to our friend Emma. I was able to spend a little time with Emma and we started doing puzzles. She let me borrow a puzzle to take home and one by one everyone got drawn in. I can't tell you how good it feels to get a match! My kids soon adopted Emma's saying when you get a match and hollered out "Ty Ty!" Emma is in 3rd grade and has leukemia. Her brother Ty is a perfect match for a bone marrow transplant.

It took Cade a little longer to get involved. In fact, everyone had gone to bed except for Dave and I before he sat down and got his first match. After that first match he was on fire and couldn't stop. I even turned back on Mama Mia for him to listen to. I did catch him singing along a few times.

The next morning the kids were up finishing the puzzle instead of practicing or getting ready for school. We only had 2 pieces left and we couldn't find them. Later on that day I told Emma and Lana that I thought we lost 2 pieces. After school was over I looked at the puzzle and it was all complete. Come to find out Ashley hid the last 2 pieces because she wanted to be the last one to finish the puzzle.

Back to real life

School has started today! I was wondering if it would really begin when I woke up and saw that it has just started snowing and of course blowing. We have really enjoyed taking time off from homework and practicing. We have been staying up way too late and sleeping in. Now it is time for me to become NAZI mom again. Good luck kiddos.

Back to making food way to often. Do we really need to eat 3 meals a day and snacks?

I was trying really hard to get Dave to dance with me while the kids ate. He wasn't going for it so I had to put on my own show. We have been jammin nonstop to ABBA/Mama Mia. (thanks to Mel) After my performance I was going to make brownies. The kids grabbed the box out of my hands and told me I must have been eating way too much sugar. For once they were wrong. No sugar, just happiness!

Mikayla lost one of her front teeth right before Christmas. She also has started taking her own pictures with her new camera. I thought she took a lot of pics when we were at Grandma & Grandpa Shirleys but I found out they were mostly videos and pics of weird items. I did find a few to share though.

We white knuckled it and headed to Utah the day after Christmas. The roads were closed Christmas so we waited until the day after. We ended up still having to go around the long way and having and extra long trip. We had a progressive dinner along the way as we stopped at 3 McDonalds and at least 3 gas stations. When you drink that much it has to come out! We were so glad to get there even though it was a short time. The kids loved hanging out with their cousins and going to Jump On It! Cade and Grandpa Shirley were inseperable as they tinkered with their new ipods.

We are still alive!

Wow! How time does fly! We have had a wonderful Holiday season filled with fun, love, family, and lets not forget a few fights. We were able to do a few activities this Christmas that involved service. Not always an easy thing but definitely something I want my kids to learn. My sister in law tries to get all of her shopping done before Thanksgiving so she can have time to focus on the Savior and be able to do fun activities with her kids. I thought that was a great idea seems how I don't even start shopping until the day after Thanksgiving. (There are a lot of pics, mostly for you to see Mom and Dad)

We had many outings to the festival of trees for different performances in December. Mikayla and Hailey enjoyed seeing Santa. By the end of the week, Valerie would still not sit on his lap but she knew where to find him and would go hide behind a tree so she could get a good look at him.


Acting out the Nativity on Christmas Eve. Our little "angels" were just beaming. Hailey had been counting down the sleeps for this night for a long time. We had our traditional candle light dinner with frape and calzones. Our dishwasher went out on Christmas Eve so Dave was busy installing a new dishwasher while we were trying to make dinner.

The kids in their new fuzzy pajamas. We sure needed these with the cold weather outside. I thought our house might blow down Christmas Eve night because it was so windy and snowy. Santa still mangaged to find us okay though.

Christmas morning was filled with excitement. I decided I will be borrowing all of the kids stuff seems how they are nicer than anything I own - ipods, camera, video camera.

Oh yes, the famous cupcake maker Mikayla just had to have! (you know the kind you only use once)