Well - our little family has been M.I.A. for the past couple of weeks! At least where blogging is concerned! I can't even give a good excuse! Just haven't been in the mood. I've got lots of boring little things to talk about - the kinds of things that will no doubt bore you to death - but as this is my journal of sorts I wanna get it down so that I don't forget! =) Where to start, where to start...

SPRING BREAK

Well - you know that mini trip we were going to take? That pretty much didn't happen. It's okay though. We really enjoyed just relaxing and being together. It didn't happen because of poor planning, lack of funds and my rickety back. I did something to my back again. I was looking pretty crotchety. You'd have thought I was 90! Anyway - the good thing was that I got to go to the chiropractor. I do enjoy a good back adjustment! This time was a little weird. The Dr. had a drop table so every time she would do an adjustment all I would hear was the sound of the table "dropping" instead of the fabulous CRACKING!! Am I weird or would you agree that there is something supremely satisfying about hearing that cracking noise? Anyway - she wanted me to come back again this week - but I'm feeling so much better and it's $50 a visit! Apparently I just need to drink more water. *sigh* That's the answer to everything isn't it? It seems like it should be so easy - but I just forget. Here I am - such the hypochondriac - and I can't even get myself to drink a few quarts of water a day so that I will avoid these ailments. Nathan swears it will prevent cancer and all sorts of other things. SO - on to other things. We did have SOME fun over the break. We went to a little birthday party for one of Anika's little friends. Then Tuesday and Wednesday were shot because of my back and on Thursday we went out to eat at Red Robin with Sumer, Richard and kids. I TOTALLY packed a dinner for the girls! Poor Anika was pining after their corndogs! We felt a little cheap but it made the bill much easier to look at. Afterwards, we played a good game of Scattergories. I do love that game. Well - most of the time. There was this one night we played with our friends out here and I totally cried! But that story is for another time. Weird that I cried though - I'm not really one to just burst into tears over a game. =) Then Nathan and I played a mean game of Settlers online. By the way, Afton and Cam - we totally need to have an online double date and play against eachother!! What do you think?? =) Saturday was glorious mainly because Nathan and I each got our OWN pint of Ben and Jerry's and then we settled in and watched STRANGER THAN FICTION. OH, AND we went to a St. Patricks day parade with JJ and Lewis. That was loads of fun. Anika had a grand time catching the candy and beads that the people in the parade were throwing. Afterwards she fell and conked her face pretty good on the pavement. She had a swollen lip for a couple days. So - that was our spring break. Pretty lame, but we enjoyed it.

I was pretty much a MONSTER on Monday and Tuesday. Monday night was bad. Keslie woke up at around 12:30 and I was up with her for a couple hours and I'm just not good at that anymore. Around 1:30 after I had done everything I possibly could for her - fed her, drugged her, snuggled her and all she wanted to do was play - I thought ENOUGH IS ENOUGH and put her in her crib and let her cry. She cried for a good hour on and off. I just laid there in my bed, plugging my ears and thinking over and over 'please let her stop crying, please let her stop crying'. After she finally quit I prayed that I would be a really nice mom the next day - that I'd be patient and that I wouldn't lose my temper. I think the devil heard my prayer because the girls were HORRID and I was HORRID the next day. Wednesday was much better and now are all happy and back to normal! My friend called and invited us to go to KidCity and out to lunch on Wednesday and I think that's just what the doctor ordered. It was great to get out and KidCity is so much fun for the kids. We had a great time!

I always tell the cute things that the girls are doing. I have a couple not so cute things to share. =) Well - I guess even the naughty things they do are cute to some degree (especially once it's over!).

SO - Anika has been having some obedience issues. I'm sure this is normal for her age - but I've had to raise my voice a bit more lately and then we have little chats about who is the boss. Um - that would be ME or DADDY. =) Anyway, I was doing her hair the other day and she was pretty unhappy about that and she said to me "I want a different mommy. One that isn't the boss." I told her that all mommy's are the boss and she said that "Connor and Jenn aren't the boss". (Jenn - I thought you'd get a kick out of that!) Luckily, I'm pretty secure in her love for me or else I'd be nervous that she really did want a different mommy!

A few cute things now:

* The other day she was running in the livingroom and totally fell. She stood up and was dying laughing and said "Did I biff? I TOTALLY hurt myself!!" Um - do ya think I say totally a little too much?

* She's gotten to where when she's giving me hugs or when she sees me looking at her she'll say "I love you too, mom." before I even say anything. I'm glad we say I LOVE YOU a lot in our home. I think it's so important to hear that. I remember talking to someone a while back who thought that if you say it too much it loses it's meaning. I TOTALLY disagree!

* She's always saying "Were best friends, huh mom?" and "daddy's best friends with Keslie" or "Daddy loves Keslie and Mommy loves Anika". Sometimes she switches it up and she'll be best friends with Daddy or Keslie. Pretty funny.

* She played house for the first time last night with her friend's Richard Scott and David. We could hear them playing and it was so funny! Richard Scott and Anika got married and I imagine that David was their son. It was pretty cute.

I don't know what I would do without her. She really is my little best friend. I can't believe she's getting so big.

Keslie is a ball of fun! She is ALWAYS on the kitchen table. If I turn my head for a second that's where she goes! She is suddenly very into dressing up and playing with dollies and dishes in her kitchen. She is getting quite the vocabulary. She says all sorts of little phrases like "get down" or "more juice" or "help me". She has a HUGE mouth. I didn't realize how big it is until I watched that video of her saying some words. The other night we gave her some grapes with dinner and she stuffed every single one of them in her mouth. Now we have to give them to her one and a time.

Her not so cute thing - She throws things at the kitchen table. Her food, her silverware, her cup. Everything. RARRRR!! And she has a good little arm too! She has also learned the words - NO and MINE. That's just great. And just in time for nursery! By the way - last week was her first week and she did great! We are so proud of her! YAY!

Tonight I went to a Relief Society thing. I had a good time visiting with friends and holding a couple sweet babies. Oh - I just love babies! SPEAKING OF BABIES!!

CONGRATULATIONS to my MANDI!! She just had her first little girl yesterday! 8 lbs 3 or was it 4? ounces. Katherine Ann (Katie). I am so UNBELIEVABLY sad I can't hold her! Anyway - I can't wait to meet her! I sure love her mama!

I'm trying to tackle this digital scrapbooking stuff - but MAN ALIVE! Photoshop 7 is a little difficult to grasp and I learn my doing. Anybody out there have any advice?

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment - whoever you may be! Hasta!

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We had such a FUN weekend! I don't know why but Nathan took almost the entire day off on Saturday and played with us. It was the best! We went to a little going away party for some friends and got to experience real IRISH food - corned beef and cabbage! Nathan loves that stuff. I don't know - for some reason the uncooked look gets to me. =) On the way back to the car the girls had SO much fun squishing there feet in the slush. We ran to Lowes and we LOVE that place. Oh - to have money! We did buy a little plastic shelf to give me more food storage room. I'm really wanting to tackle that!
When we got home we took the girls outside to build a snowman. I HAD to take advantage of having Nathan! Who knows! This could be our last snow of the season!Anika was in HEAVEN. I couldn't get her to hold still for very many pictures she - was WAY to busy! I'll post some pictures below.
We had our friends Richard, Sumer, and JJ and their kids over for dinner tonight. We love them and had a blast! We are so SAD that Sumer and Richard and JJ and Lewis won't be here much longer! =( We will definitely miss them.
And NOW we are just relaxing. Well actually - I'm writing this and Nathan is dozing on the chair next to me. I love him. He can sleep ANYWHERE and I think it's so cute! This promises to be a great week! Nathan is on spring break and even though he will still be studying I know we'll get to see him more! Hooray! We might even go on a mini trip this weekend!

The girls being silly

I wish I had caught more of this - they were laughing like crazy back and forth for about 5 minutes!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Hope you are all wearing GREEN today! I'd hate for you to get pinched! We got to sleep in until 7:30! It's already a lucky day. Then we had green, shamrock shaped pancakes! I couldn't bring myself to make the eggs green. YUCK. But, we did have green plates and cups and even a couple forks. Were working on it. =)
The weather was great all week and then we had a huge snow storm yesterday and through the night. It's very pretty outside though!

Last night we read a story about honesty in "The Friend" magazine. This morning I heard Anika in the bathroom talking to Nathan. She had been saying that she needed to go potty but wanted us to help her. We told her to hold it for just a couple minutes and by the time Nathan got up to help her she was saying that she didn't want to go. He asked her if she went potty in her pull-up and she was bawling and saying NOOOO! Anyway, all of the sudden she said "I want to tell the trufe (truth)." Then she told him she HAD gone potty in her pull-up and said "That was a good trufe huh?!"I guess the story sunk in! Yay!

Anyway - I hope all of you have a great day!

Malcolm in the middle-Hal skating

Here's a little bit of Hal from Malcolm in the Middle to satisfy that funny bone!

Hal on the dance machine!

Here's a little bit of Hal from Malcolm in the Middle to satisfy that funny bone!

This has been such a fun week!! The weather has been absolutely GLORIOUS!! On Tuesday we went to singing time and TARGET. Keslie loves singing time. She's got the moves and danged if she's not going to show them off! I love going to Target when I HAVE to buy things. I really think it's fun to buy deoderant and diapers and q-tips. AND of course, I HAD to buy THE HOLIDAY. Such a cute movie! Anyway - after naps we whipped out our new bubble blower and went OUTSIDE!! YAY! The girls loved catching bubbles and running around. I tried to get a bunch of pictures but only a few turned out cute. They were much to busy to hold still and smile! Then that night I went over to my friend JJ's and we watched The Holiday and ate caramel corn. =)
On Wednesday we walked with some friends to the Science Center. We loved that! It's just nice to be able to be outside! Today we all dressed in sunny colors! Anika wore spring green, Kes wore BRIGHT yellow and I was in orange. We had a children's book playgroup today. The focus was on BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR WHAT DO YOU SEE? The kids LOVED it!
Here are some pictures of the girls playing outside and one of Keslie in her yellow shirt:







Anika does and says so many things I want to remember! Today she was in the livingroom doing her crazy giggle (like the one on the happy birthday video) and then she said "I have tickle bumps!" I think she meant goosebumps!
Today I was showing her some pictures that my mom sent and she said "OH! There's Papa and Brownie!!" It was actually a picture of my dad and GRAMMY! Anyway, I thought Grammy would get a kick out of that one!

Keslie is getting really good at saying sorry and then giving a hug. I don't know if that's a good thing though!! This means that she is getting really good at DOING things that make her have to say sorry! She is all of the sudden quite the little hitter! Hopefully we can put a stop to that before she is in nursery!

Well - I'm off to dreamland! I love dreaming. It's like watching a movie all night long! Tomorrow is going to be hectic. I am watching kids galore. Anika will be in heaven! See ya!

Happy Birthday Mom and Alyssa!!

We love you! Hope that you both had an INCREDIBLE day!!! By the way, I did finally get Keslie to say Happy Birthday after I quit recording. Thanks a lot Kes!! =) Anyway , Happy day!

Today

* I was 100% sure I had appendicitis for about an hour this morning.
* As a result of this, I dropped Nathan off at school. I was sure I was going to have to go to the ER. =)
* I woke up my mom in Idaho @ 6:00 AM to talk to her about my symptoms. She talked me out of my panic. Thanks mom!
* So - YAY - I'm not in the hospital!! Instead I went to Burlington Coat Factory. I had a bone to pick with them - plus I wanted to look at Easter dresses for the girls.
* The weather was AMAZING!! We rolled down the windows in the car! It was GLORIOUS!!
* I broke out my BACKSTREET BOYS MILLENIUM CD - and my girlfriends (Anika and Keslie) and I danced like crazy! Seriously, the girls were really getting into it. So was I! Oh - I do love the Backstreet Boys. =)
* I talked my sister, Brittney, into setting up her own blog. Welcome to the blogging world Britt!!
* I got to watch 24. Is it me or is this season just inching along? Don't get me wrong! I love it - I just wish they would pick up the pace!!

Anyway,I know!! Pretty lame day! But it was a nice one for us! Beautiful weather, healthy kids, an in-tact appendix. Who could ask for more? =)

Here is some footage of Kes saying some of her words. I know - there's chocolate on her face! She's a cutie though!

Jennaloo's Baby Shower

Hey all! I've got some pictures to post! My friend Jenn T. had a baby boy a month ago and he is absolutely adorable! Anyway - they wanted the sex to be a surprise, so we waited until after he was born to have the baby shower. It was so fun! I love having people over and I just love all of these fabulous women. I'm so proud that I actually remembered to take pictures at this shower! I always forget and it makes me so sad afterwards!! I regret to say that I missed a couple cute faces that slipped out early and I definitely didn't take as many as I would have liked - but hey! I'm making progress! So, here they are:

Here she is!! The fabulous Jennaloo! That's her nickname given by yours truly. I just know it brings joy to her heart everytime she hears it. =)


AND - here I am snuggling her sweet baby boy - Haydn. This is the best thing about doing showers after the baby is born! It was so fun to love on him!! Anika is looking on, begging for a turn.

Finally!! Her turn and she was done after about two seconds! =)

We had a crazy arm wrestling tournament between Jenn (nickname=Jennalen) and April. This was meant to be a tie breaker - but it ended up being a draw because they are both so strong. Would ya check out those mucsles?!!

From left to right - Three of my favorite people - Amanda, Natalie, and Sumer.

Gorgeous June and her new baby Coltin.

Andrea - 8 months pregnant and just cute as can be (as always)!

Relaxin' and chattin'. Left to right: Half of Jennalen =, Rachel, Avelina, Emma, and Kelly.

Darling picture of Kelly, Jenn, Nancy, and April.

I LOVE these girls! Natalie, Jennaloo, Me, and April.

Congratulations Jenn! She is such an wonderful mommy!

How lucky am I to be surrounded by such amazing women?

Well - I finally took Keslie to the doctor today. On the coldest day of the year. Around the time I left my house weather.com said it was 6 degrees but feels like negative 18. Holy Moly!! Not my cup of tea!! Anyway - we braved the cold. Keslie had an ear infection - which was exactly what I thought it was! Poor baby! That's her 3rd this winter. The doctor said that if she has another one in the next 2 months she will refer me to an ENT (ear, nose, and throat) Dr. I assume to discuss tubes. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

I thought it was funny - I was just channel surfing in the car and ended up on a station that was playing Justin Timberlake's song (if you can call it a song) "What goes around comes back around". Anyway - there is one part in the song when he is saying around a lot and I looked back and both girls were twirling their arms around and around and dying laughing. The laughing is what got my attention in the first place. Such cuties!

Well - that's all I've got for today! Happy naptime!

ON A ROLL!!!

Good grief! I think I've posted more this week than ever before! I hope that everyone enjoyed their Sundays. We had a nice one. This was the first Sunday that we've all taken a nap in a long time! It was glorious! Church went well - for the most part. We were kind of short staffed in Primary so I ended up doing music time! Conducting is not my forte, that's for sure! I know the kids were thinking I was totally loco. Thankfully, one of the teachers in the back was helping me out with the hand motions. =) Then this evening we went over to some friends home for dessert. Lots of fun and good company. I always think back to some of the things I say after evenings like this and just shake my head in embarrasment. Why can't I keep my mouth shut sometimes? Oh well - no use dwelling on things I can't change. I am who I am and if that means that I will ALWAYS say something to make myself look like a DITZ, and inevitably spill something, and more than likely eat WAY more than anyone else - then so be it. =)

Anyway - here are the pictures:

Keslie brought these to me and then kept them on for the better part of the morning. She was so pleased.











Little pills!! Istead of busting them for climbing up on the table and eating out of the cereal boxes, Nathan took a picture. =)









Nathan took Anika on a little date last night. Actually, it was just to run some errands, but we called it a date and she was in HEAVEN!! He took her Toys R Us and just let her play. Dads are so cool. I never do that - I confine them to the cart whenever we go to that store. He also bought her purple peeps and gummi bears and I've never seen anyone be so excited about something. She talked and talked about their date and has been asking all day to go on a another date with Daddy.

Well - off to bed! I am CLEANING tomorrow. Woohoo!! G'nite!

FYI - Book Club is up and running

Okay - I started my book club blog months ago and then just never did anything with it. I finally tackled it today and by golly, this time I'll keep on it! YAY!!

A Sampling of Anika's Artwork

Click on the picture for a much better view. =)
In Anika's words - this first one is a Happy Face

2nd one is also a happy face

3rd one is spiders

4th is "An elephant or supping" (something)

This last one is a baby.

Ode to my stroller...and Forrest Gump

Hi all! I know! I'm on a roll with posting this week! I just HAD to give my stroller a big hurrah! When I was pregnant with Keslie I looked long and hard for the perfect stroller so when I found my sit and stand stroller I was thrilled!! It's not as long as most and it's so lightweight and easy to steer. Anyway - today just reconfirmed that I made the right choice. I decided to take advantage of the sunshine and go on a walk with the girls. I have 3 girls on Thursday mornings so we bundled up and headed downstairs. I put Marri in the front seat and then Keslie climbed onto the bench seat facing forward with her feet in the basket and Anika stood on the step leaning against the strap. I wish I had gotten a picture - it was so cute! My stroller is AWESOME. I'm so excited that it works so well with 3 kids!! YAY!
Anyway - we set off for our walk. I was going to just go around the block but the girls were loving it so much that I decided to walk up to CVS pharmacy and by the time I got there I had talked myself into walking to Wendy's for lunch and on the way to Wendy's I decided that I had better go to Stop and Shop and rent THE PRESIGE. So I just kept on going!! (that's where the Forrest Gump thing comes from). =) By the time I got to Stop and Shop I sincerely regretted my decision. At this point the girls were DONE with the walk and we still had a good half hour. We did stop at Wendy's on the way home so that was a nice little break. The bummer about the whole thing is that I had the car today. For some reason I felt like it would be easier to walk to the grocery store than to load 3 kids up then unload them and then reload them again. I don't know what I was thinking!! Here's to all you marathon runners out there! I thought I'd die after my 3 and a half miles today!

I need to get some video footage of Keslie talking! It's just so darn cute! Her voice is so husky and she holds the last syllable for as long as she can. When Nathan is leaving for school she chases him to the door saying byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyouuuuuuuuuuuu. It sounds like bye eee you. It's her attempt at bye, love you. She's also doing very well at being polite - she says please and thank you.

Anika is in the kitchen busily coloring on her new easel from Nana and Papa West. She's quite the little artist. I think I will scan some of her drawings and post them. She's an artist, a singer, and an aspiring dancer (I'm afraid she got the Kivett dancing genes - so she's REALLY going to have to work at that one!!).

Poor Nathan thinks he might be coming down with the flu. Please no please no please no. He carpools with a friend and on the way to school yesterday morning his son threw up in the car. They've had the flu at their house all week and it is a MONSTER flu bug. Everybody that gets it out here has had a hard time getting rid of it. It just keeps coming back. And it's SO contagious. We've managed to avoid it so far so wish us luck!! Anyway - happy National Anthem Day! G'bye!