Thursday, February 25, 2010

Anika Lost Her First Tooth!!

She was beyond excited! Nathan put a little lollicaine on and then popped it right out! I guess she ran around in circles for awhile and Keslie jumped up and down in excitement. Anika couldn't wait to tell her class and Keslie said "Certainly you will have to tell your dance class!!". Anika wasn't sure when the tooth fairy would be able to come because she only fake sleeps. She never actually falls asleep. =) Haha! What a happy ending to the night. =) Unfortunately, Kes developed a psycho fear of the tooth fairy and she was very concerned that she would get walked on in the night. Luckily, they both fell asleep and the tooth fairy left Anika 2 whole dollars and a pack of fruit stripe gum (it's the yummy, fruity fun!!).

Here she is right after it was pulled:

So excited about what the tooth fairy left!
And a cute, little video!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Come and Gone...

What a glorious year we've had so far! February has been a blast. =)

We made TONS of sugar cookies for Valentines day! The girls each got to decorate a plate of cookies and then I did the rest. Mine were very boring compared to their creations!

Anika decorated a "mailbox" so that all of her classmates could give her love notes.

Keslie came down stairs with the news that she is now a rockstar. She was all about striking a pose!
We spent a blissful weekend with the Soterpops! It was fabulous to see them. =) Our kids all get along great and we adults can tolerate each other. =) Haha - just kidding we love Mandi and Steve. We got a babysitter for all the kids on Saturday night and went to TEXAS ROADHOUSE!! We "lassoed our lovers" with the sweetheart special. Holy mercy. That was a lot of food. The rolls are to die for. If only our waiter hadn't completely mixed up our orders. We got a bunch of extras because of all the mix ups! An extra prime rib, baked potato and a basket of french fries. Good grief. STICK A FORK IN ME - I'M DONE! =) After dinner, we headed home for fondue and a rousing game of Phase 10. =) It was high time we played that with them again! Our last game of Phase 10 didn't end so well... Steve and I get pretty feisty around 2 am and the 9th phase. This time we only played to phase 5 so that there wouldn't be any risk of a repeat. =)

We somehow managed to stuff our faces even after our dinner feast. YUM!
w.o.w. <---that could mean "wow" or Why oh why?? Either one. Oh well. Here's to me being a psycho!
At least I have this picture of the Soters to offset my crazy. =)
Aren't our kids cute??
Brenan seems to be M.I.A. It was a great trip and we can't wait to see them again!!

This weekend we had Nana and Papa West here for a visit! AND that means that we also got to see Brooke, Scott, and the boys! We went to the Alamo. I thought it was really neat and really enjoyed seeing it.

Brenan was super excited to try on a coon skin hat just like Davy Crocket wore. =)
I don't like my nose so I was surprised when I saw this picture and it really hit my spot! I want to go skiing off that thing!
We went to Red Robin and then came home and watched Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (loved it!) and some 30 Rock. Then the weekend was over. It always goes way too fast! =(

This week I am looking forward to: getting my shipment from Amazon with my STEAM MOP and my TORTILLA PRESS, planting a garden with my girlies and seeing The Princess and the Frog. Gotta love 50 cent Monday at the dollar theater!! In 2 weeks we will be in Idaho to see my beautiful sister Amber marry her wonderful fiance, Kasey. I am SOOO excited! If only I could skip the drive. =)

Have a great week!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

A conversation...

Today I had a good little chuckle after a conversation I had with Anika. Here's the gist of it:

Anika: "Mom! Someone is in love with me."

Me: "Really?!! You have a secret admirer?"

Anika: "No, I know who it is. It's Carlos. We don't ever do anything together but he is always by me. He told me he is in love with me and that I'm beautiful. Then he tickled me!"

Me: "WHAT? (in a smiley voice) He told you he loves you?!!"

Anika: "Yes, and I told him I'm in love with him too and that he's very handsome."

So, Anika has her first boyfriend just in time for Valentines Day! =) I told her that she better not let him kiss her. She said that she wouldn't they just have tickle fights. Romantic. =)

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

I'm Dreaming...

We will actually get a tax refund this year!! It's nice to have an income - no matter how small. Realistically, all of the money we get will go toward bills and this years Christmas and the huge deficit we will have the last couple months of Nathan's residency. BUT, it's still fun to dream! If it were mine to spend however I wanted I would (actually our tax refunds wouldn't cover hardly any of this stuff - but like I said, it's still fun to dream!) buy:

1. One of these bad boys:
It's a Eureka Enviro Hard-Surface Steam mop and I want it bad. I've read up on the different steam mops and this one is my favorite. =) I'm tired of my twisty mop. It really stinks. Literally. My kitchen smells like a wet dog after mopping. I know, I should just buy a new mop head. =)

2. Bunk Beds for the girls. Sometime this year Brenan will move to a big boy bed. I think I would just like him to have the bed the girls are in since the bottom bunk is right on the floor. That was really nice when we moved Kes out of her crib. Or we can flip the bunk over and it becomes a one kid bed and it's still pretty low. I've been dreaming of fun bunk beds since I was in CT. It will probably be something simple like this:
But, oh my word. I came across this:
It's a playhouse loft bed. The bed is a full on top (plenty big enough for the girls to share!). Wouldn't that be a little girl's dream come true!! Here is the link to that website: http://www.sweetdreambed.com/gallery.htm.
Holy amazing beds.


3. New bedroom furniture for Nathan and me. Furniture like this:
Isn't it dreamy???

4. New COLOR new DECORATIONS new CURTAINS. I'm so tired of looking at my stuff. I need a total overhaul. Out with the old, in with the new!!

5. A hand grinder. What if something happened and there was no electricity? I'd want one of these handy little guys to grind up all that wheat I've got! I do NOT want to use a rock and a bowl. =)
6. FOOD FOOD FOOD. I want more food storage. We NEED more food storage. I've got the basics - wheat, rice, beans, flour, sugar, etc. - Now I want to order the super cool stuff. =) And then I want one of these to store all the cans. =) I'm really bad at rotating.
7. A Square Foot Garden. I really want to do this! But it's expensive to start out and it seems dumb when we will be moving in 18 months. I guess ALL of this is dumb since we are moving in 18 months!!

8. A bomb shelter. Wouldn't it be AWESOME to have a bomb shelter. I know I would feel more at ease. =)
Those are a few things that I dream about. =) Too bad Nathan dreams about electronics and man caves. =) Gotta love the differences between men and women. What are you dreaming about today? Well, Off to pick Anika up from school! Have a good one!

Monday, February 08, 2010

Hmmmm.

It's been a LONG TIME since I've done a totally random post! I think it's because I hardly ever blog anymore so when I do it's to catch up on everything! Well, I am caught up. I have a stuff on my brain and I'm actually in the mood to blog. That just doesn't happen very often!! So, I'm just going to roll with it and see where my brain takes me!

Today is my "New Year's Day". Things were just so darn crazy around New Years that I never sat down to think about resolutions. Okay - I did think about them but I didn't jump into action! I'm a month late and I feel totally okay about it.

Goal #1: Exercise and eat better. I have to. I just can't go to Idaho in a month feeling like I do and then have a family picture taken that will be on the wall for who knows how long!! =) I'm going to give this a try:
I've heard it's awesome. I'm not really a home worker outer but I'm committed. At least for 30 days! =)

Goal #2 - read one self-help/parenting/marriage book a month. When Kelyn was here we decided to start a mini long distance book club and we scheduled out the entire year. I'm super excited. =) By the end of this year I'm going to be the best mom/wife/friend ever. =)

Goal #3 - Read the Book of Mormon through again.

That's it - 3 goals! I think I can handle that!

In other news, we are finally the caretakers of the duck. We were victorious at the most recent game night!! WAHOOO - go us! We played Hand and Foot. Maybe I should have warned them that I pretty much ROCK at that game. =) I love it! Anyway, here it is - back where it belongs and will stay. Hahaha!

I've been compiling a list of songs for my next big road trip in March. I think last year was a great year for road trip music! I used to say that I like all music except for rap. Well, *gulp* as I was driving down the road I was listening to a song and really diggin' it. Folks - the singer was RAPPING. At least I think he was. What is happening to me??! It was AKON. Does he rap? Actually, I think it was this guy singing with Akon. "That girl is so dangerous...."
Anyway - what is your favorite road trip music? Right now, I love me some Jason Mraz, Taylor Swift, and Kelly Clarkson. AND I can't seem to get enough of Hey, Soul Sister by Train and Down by Jay Sean and Lil Wayne (yes, Lil Wayne. good grief.). Then there are the usual favorites that I always include. I don't want to leave anything out though- what do you love?

Okay here is a picture:

Sandy, Me, and Heather not watching the super bowl last night. The boys watched while we talked about all sorts of fun things. =)


Catch-up on the kids-

Anika: She is still loving Kindergarten! I don't know if there is a girl who has been to the nurse's office more that she has. Since the start of the year, I'm pretty sure she's been in there at least 10 times. She's had swollen ears, cuts, she was bitten by a little girl in her class (it was deep!), she ran into a wall while running from her comrades (she's her mother's child), and I can't even remember the other reasons. She is doing great with reading - she was put in the accelerated reader program at school! Go Anika! She is SO creative and artsy. The other day I asked her what I could do to be a better mom to her. Her response: "Hats." I said "Wha???" (yes, without the t!). She told me I could make them more hats, then I would be a better mom. =) I laughed. That's easy enough!

Keslie: She has become so laid back and easy! She still has claim to the cutest little voice in the world! She isn't near as emotional as Anika. I guess she's emotional, but she's more private about it. When she gets in trouble she quietly leaves the room and I usually find her curled up in a ball on her bed in tears. If I try to hold her or love on her she resists as much as she can. She just likes to be left alone. She and Brenan have become such good, little buddies. She loves to help me with chores. She loves to have her hair done in "princess hairdos" as she calls them. She still likes Dora but for some reason has taken a liking to The Fresh Beat Band. She has a crush on TWIST. She loves him!
Brenan: He is either teething or he's got another ear infection or maybe he has just decided that whining is a fun thing to do! I don't know. He isn't talking yet but there have been a few times where he's said something as clear as day! The one's I remember are boppy and hi daddy. For the most part he just grunts like a monkey! It's pretty cute. =) He loves to find his belly and play with his button. He's pretty much walking everywhere now. I think seeing Logan walking motivated him to do it! He's the pickiest eater we've ever had. It's driving me crazy! The kid won't eat! He is lots of fun though. I can't believe how big he's gotten!

This week I'm looking forward to Bachelor night, Lost, making Valentine's day cookies, a V-day party for me, a V-day party for Anika at school and a trip up to Mandi and Steve! I'll have lots to post next week!

I hope you all have a lovely Valentine's Day!!

Saturday, February 06, 2010

It's February Already??!

Good grief!! So much for blogging once a week! This, my friends, is why I don't make too many New Years resolutions. =) We have had such a fun month - I don't have very many pictures to prove it, but it was still great! Here is a quick recap:

We went to The Children's Museum with some of our favorite people. Here are the few pictures I have from that. And they don't even have said people in them. Lame. =)

We finally took our Christmas tree down on January 12th. I needed to get a picture of Brenan in front of it and I kept forgetting! Isn't he so handsome?

I was finally forced to take the picture and get the tree down when my cute, spontaneous sister up and decided to come for a visit! She decided on Monday and was here Tuesday night! I always love having her visit me! We definitely didn't DO as much as we did in CT. We have A LOT more kids and there just aren't as many fun, free (or cheap) things to do here. So, we made our own fun. We played a whole bunch of puzzles. I loved the puzzle races - even though I NEVER won. March = rematch time! We went to the park and watched movies. We went and saw Leap Year. It was lame but we had lots of good laughs while making fun of it later on. I have a hard time watching Amy Adams. She was good in Enchanted and that's it. Anyway - I am so glad she came! We had a blast! These are the two pictures we have of the entire 10 days she was here!
We took it easy for a few days. I read. The kids watched TV:

Played in the pack and play that I still haven't put away from when Kelyn was here:
and fed themselves! Hahaha! We had our second big game night! The O'Briens went home victorious! Behold, the WINNERS OF THE NIGHT and the caretakers of the duck:
Just you wait. We will be the next couple pictured as winners of the night!

Anika celebrated being in school for 100 days! Here is her hat!
And one for the road! Anika looks a little crazed in this picture. Was it dinner time? I don't know! I can't remember! ( All I can hear is Nathan's voice quoting that line from The Emporer's New Groove!)

Here's to posting more in February! =)