Last week the kids had a great game. Every other team cancelled their games, but our coach and the opposing coach thought that we could still play. The photographers that are taking the team pictures actually belong to our ward, and our team. Since the pictures had been cancelled they were able to attend the game and took some fabulous shots of the kids. The last picture is of the kids' coach. They are having so much fun doing this. We are signing them up for soccer tomorrow. Soccer starts in the fall, so they will have something to do once tee-ball is over.

Field Day at Shelley Elementary

Kylie has field day today at her school. Each grade performs a fun dance for the parents and then they have a special day at school where they can get their faces painted, eat cotton candy and play games. It was fun to see their dances and watch them interact with the other kids. The kids had a great time together (not the school-aged ones). Jacob and Britin got to play with their friends while we waited for the festivities to start. I brought a huge bag of snacks to keep them occupied, but that didn't last very long. Most of the stuff ended up in the grass next to the blanket. We sat with some friends from our ward. This is a picture of the great gals I hung with this morning. Left to right- Carla Nielsen, Kathy Adamson, and Laina Lefler. There was also my friend, Jenny Jolley, but she was up taking a picture of her son when I snapped this picture.
Unfortunately the weather wasn't so wonderful, so we had to leave right after Kylie's grade performed. I felt bad leaving, but it was starting to sprinkle and I had the 3 kids, 2 camping chairs, a big blanket, the diaper bag and a bag of snacks. Luckily the camera was in the diaper bag or that would have been one more bag to carry. I was parked about a block away from the school (we would have walked, but I didn't like the way the sky looked). I didn't think I could make it to the car at the last minute in case of a downpour, so I packed everything up as soon as Kylie was done. She did great. The pictures of Kylie are when she was dancing. During the activities Kylie had her face painted. She got to choose what they did. I think she chose wisely! She was very proud of herself. I was also proud of her because I didn't have any change, so I had to give her a $10 bill so she could participate. I only wanted to give her $5, so I was secretly hoping she would be wise. She came home with $6.00. I was a proud mom! She said she had plenty of money and had a lot of fun.

Apparently we have not learned!

It is Friday, and Dalen is on his way home. I thought that we had made it through the week unscathed. I was wrong!
Apparently my daughter, Britin, has not learned. I ran up to the school to pick up Kylie after their field day (when they perform a dance for the parents and then get to play games the rest of the day). Malia was sleeping, and since we only live a couple blocks from the school I thought we would be safe. I tell the kids, every time I leave them home to get Kylie, that they are not to open the doors, answer the phone or get into mischief. Up until today they have done pretty well at following those instructions.
Today was different. When I returned home Malia was in the office with Jacob and Britin. That wasn't too bad, except I wasn't happy that Britin had gotten Malia out of bed. They were just in the office watching Jacob play his Star Wars Legos game. I picked up Malia to love her and noticed a lot of fuzzies all over her shirt. She has started in the family tradition of picking furry things, so at first I didn't think too much of it. Then, it dawned on me, this was too fine. It was her hair. Britin gave Malia her first haircut today. I am thinking that I wasn't specific enough in my instructions of what NOT to do while Mommy is gone.
Here are a few pics of Malia's haircut, along with a funny face. You may not notice much of a difference, but she used to be able to have a spout on the top of her head- no more. There also was a big, and close, straight cut, on the back of her head. Look closely at that one. I wasn't able to do much with that one.
Oh no, the story doesn't end there. Britin also decided to take a chunk out of her own hair. So, Britin had to have another haircut. Here are the results of her haircut (that I gave her to fix what she had done). How do I teach her to stop this? I told her the next time she does it she won't be a princess anymore because I will cut it all off. Maybe that is mean, but I can't seem to help her understand that haircutting is not for the underaged!

My Pink Girl

This morning we were in the car running an errand over to the school. We had to take Kylie's piano book to her. They were having a talent show in her music class and she wanted to play one of the songs from her book. Jacob asked on our way out why we went to Kylie's school. I told him that they were having a talent show in Kylie's class and she needed a book. Britin then told me, "I want a talent show. I love talent shows. I want a pink talent show for my birthday." Man that girl loves pink. Not a day goes by that she tells me at least once (an usually more like 4 or 5 times), "pink my favorite color." Sometimes if someone else tells their favorite color she will agree that she loves that color, too, but then is quick to also add pink to that list.

A Little Ray of Sunshine

Malia is my sunshine baby. She loves to smile, especially when she is getting into something she shouldn't and gets caught. Here are 2 photos in 2 different rooms that she was up to no good. Look at that smile. Can't help but love her.

What My Chocolate Preferences Say About Me.

Okay, so those who know me know I LOVE chocolate. I came across this quiz that asked some basic questions about my chocolate preferences and it told me what kind of person I am. Pretty accurate I think. Let me know what you think.

What Your Taste in Chocolate Says About You

You are sweet, mellow, and easily satisfied. You don't like anything too intense and dramatic. Deep down, you're a kid at heart... and you're nostalgic for the past. You are emotionally expressive and sensitive. You're effected by everything around you. Your friends appreciate your open heart, but they are afraid of hurting your feelings. You love being around people. Friendships are important to you. You feel lost when you're by yourself... so you tend to avoid being alone.

The Chocolate Oracle

On the Road ... Again

Okay, so as of this morning at 5:00am Dalen was on the road again, this time going to Montana. He is pretty close to the Canadian border. I doubt he will have a chance to see much of the scenery there. He is trying hard to finish up the last of the stretchers that need to be fixed so that next week will be his last week on the road. Yes, he has to be on the road next week. He is coming home for the weekend and will head out again on Monday. Man it is going to be a hard week with just the kids.

And, yet again, I have a sick child while Dalen is gone. The last time he headed out I told him he can't ever leave again because every time he has left one of the kids gets sick. Not just a cold kind of sick, I mean chucking kind of sick. This time was Britin's turn. She really isn't sick, she has a very sensitive stomach and she had something today that didn't agree with her. She lost her food coming home from a trip to the store. Kylie proceeded to freak out and cry. That added to the wonderfulness of the experience. Britin ate a full dinner (as much as I would allow her to have) and is now PLAYING in the shower. She is absolutely fine, but man, I don't like it when this happens. I am going to be worrying all night if she is okay. I don't sleep well when Dalen is gone and this is going to add to my restlessness.


I am adding a funny picture of Malia. A couple of weeks ago we went over to our friends' house and played. They have a trampoline, too. Malia went over to where the kids were (on the trampoline). There was a little plastic kids chair there that the older kids were using to get onto the trampoline. Malia climbed on and leaned forward (on the back of the chair) and face planted into the dirt. Being the worried mother that I am, I took her inside and asked my friend, Laina if she had her camera handy to snap a few pics. Nice, huh? I did clean her up after the photo-op and there weren't any scrapes. I love the pathetic look on her face.

Kylie gave her very first report in school yesterday. It was on Chimpanzees. I was so proud of her. She did a great job. Her teacher complimented her on her preparation. Her poster was the best one, I think, of all the students. Their recent field trip was to Hogle Zoo, so they each had to do a report on a different animal. Kylie, being at the end of the alphabet had to take whatever was left. She wasn't too excited about doing her report on Chimps, but at the end I think she was really glad she did. She even got to hand out "smarties" to her class because Chimpanzees are very smart. That made her really happy. All the kids were excited to get a treat, too.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

A friend of mine told me that this year is the 100th anniversary of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame." So appropriate for my kids to start tee ball this year. So here (finally) are some pictures at their practice. Enjoy!

Story about Tiffany

For those of you who don't know my cousin I thought I'd share a story with you that was done on KSL- a local television station. It is a heartbreaking story that everyone should read, so there can be help found somewhere! Check out Tiffany's Story and click on the video to see the segment that was done on the news.

Tiffany's Story

An account has been set up for Tiffany at our local Bank of American Fork to help the family offset the costs of all the medical expenses. There is also a link to a website set up just for Tiffany and there is a link to a paypal account. All proceeds go to help the family.

Thanks for checking out their story.

Funny Kids!

So I am thinking that I am going to start a new section on the bottom or side of my blog that is going to have all of the funny things that my kids say, because they crack me up. So look for it in the future. But for now, I am going to just put in a few things that they have been saying.

Jacob: "Mom, I want to watch the Vegitary of Star Wars."
Mom: "I don't know what they Vegitary is, son."
Jacob: "You know, where they talk about the movie."
Mom: (Oh, the commentary) "Yes, you can watch the Vegitary."

Britin: "Mom, there is a Transformer bug on the stairs."
Mom: "Really? What is a Transformer bug."
Britin: "Come on, mom, I'll show you."
(We went over to the stairs and she pointed to a dead bee on the stairs.)
Mom: "A bee?"
Britin: "Yes, a baby Transformer bug."
(For those who aren't making the connection- don't worry, it took me a long time, too. Bumble Bee- the yellow car. Apparently she heard us call it a bee and Daddy was supposed to pick it up, but hadn't yet. She made the connection by herself and called it a Transformer bug.)

Kids are too funny!

By the way, Kylie and Jacob had their first Tee-ball practice on Saturday. They also have one tonight, and their first game is on Thursday. They are on the Twins. YEAH!

New Round of Sickness

Okay, so I was pondering taking a picture of my throat and Dalen's throat, but then thought better of it. I don't think any of you want to gag. Dalen came home from work on Monday, running a fever of 103. I had him in bed and quarantined from the kids. He just slept mostly, trying to sweat it out, which he did multiple times, thinking he was getting better.

The next morning (Tuesday) he couldn't swallow, so we sent him off to the doctor to have his throat swabbed. Yup, his third round of Strep Throat in 5 months. (Actually, as I am typing this I am on hold with the dr's office to schedule another check to see if they will take his tonsils out.) The doctor he saw gave him 2 shots to jump start the healing because it was one of the worst cases of strep he has seen. The office is only about 1 mile from our house, and they didn't want him driving home. He convinced them he was okay enough to get home. When he walked through the door he fell into bed in a lot of pain. Two days later I found out why he was crying. He mostly slept and watched movies, staying away from everyone so as not to spread the strep.

Well, Wednesday morning I got up and went to Humanitarian, like always. Had fun visiting with the ladies. By noon I wasn't feeling so well. I was hurting everywhere and shaking. Dalen had been on the medicine for 24 hours at this point so he was doing somewhat better, so I headed to the doctor. After 2 attempts at swabbing my throat I told the very new nurse that I could hold my tongue down by myself if he will just hurry the swab. That one worked and the doctor came in shortly after to tell me my test came back positive- I had strep too. So exciting. I headed home (not needing the shots since I caught it early enough). I fell into bed and tried uselessly to sleep. My body ached, and my head started to pound. I don't remember having this kind of headache with any other case of strep I have ever had (and for those who know me well, know that I have had more than my share of strep in my life). I started to cry. Dalen took really good care of me and the kids, even though he wasn't completely better. Thursday I stayed in bed most of the day, trying still to get better.

This morning Dalen went to work and I got up with the kids. Neither of us is 100%, but we are adults, life doesn't stop. We have responsibilities to do, stinky! Thankfully the kids don't show any signs of getting this, and I pray that they don't. Jacob had his tonsils out just before Christmas last year (2007) and Britin had hers out when she was 18 months old, so both of them should be okay. But, we are watching Kylie and Malia to make sure that they are okay.