Kylie Jean

My how the years have gone so fast! I just had her yesterday, right???? Okay so my big girl had a fabulous birthday. We took her bowling in the morning and we were able to enjoy it with some extra people (even though this year was not supposed to be a "friend" party). It just so happened that our friends were in town from Ohio, so they joined up with us at the bowling alley. Also, Melinda was at youth conference and Dave had to work, so we had Bethany and Maddie for most of the day. Kylie loved having her friends over! We all had a great time bowling and I am happy to announce that Kylie scored a 100. I came in second place with a 129, Dalen in third place with a 125. Ty, our friend took the cake, I think with a 145. In my defense, we calculated that it has been about 6 years since Dalen and I have been bowling. Kylie got a very pretty necklace from Lia Sophia for her birthday. Most of you have probably heard the jewelry story that involved Kylie giving 5 or 6 of my expensive necklaces away to her friends at school. Anyway, I was really proud of her for getting all but 1 back, so I thought it would be great for her to get her own piece of jewelry. She LOVED it. All in all I think she had a fun day. She was a little sad that I had to go to work, but Daddy took them out to eat for dinner and then to the park.

I am so slow at posting, so I am going to have to catch up. I was on my own last week, so computer time for me was short and not so sweet, with kids whining that they wanted to play on the computer, screaming kids, messed up house and all that comes with going it alone. Last Thursday we had our cousin over for a fun day in the backyard. We played imagination games and just talked. It was a lot of fun... thanks Tiff for coming over! While Tiffany was here Malia got her grubby little paws on an apple Jacob had started to eat (but had obviously lost interest in). She kept dropping it on the ground. Her face is priceless when she got a mouth full of dirt and not apple.


Also on Thursday Kylie and Jacob had their last tee-ball game. It was a lot of fun. They did well and I can definitely see improvement from the beginning of the season. They are already looking forward to soccer season. These pictures are of their last at-bats for the season. I was just so proud of them for doing such a great job.


Lastly, after we got home from the game we had a FUN activity. The kids got to learn about keeping a car clean. Going along with our theme of family cleaning (as I showed in a previous post of cleaning the kitchen) I decided that my mess hole of a van needed a little TLC from my kids. They have spilled, colored and just plain trashed my car and I had had enough! We busted out the shop vac, the paper towels, and the cleaners and went to work. It took us an hour and a half, but I was actually quite pleased with the finished product. I still haven't cleaned the outside of the car (thanks, Shauna for the little message in my back window).

Malia was the main supervisor of this endeavor. She did a great job in her "throne." And, in Britin's true style, she was caught relaxing on the job.

Summertime

Are we going to survive? I woke up this morning and my house was already over 80 degrees. Right now we are at a balmy 87 degrees. Dalen is at Home Depot getting the a new hose for the swamp cooler (our dog Shadow chewed the other one to death). I don't know how much help a swamp cooler is going to be- maybe one day an air conditioner might be a possibility. The kids ran through the sprinklers this evening just to cool off. We have been trying to go places that are cooler than our house, but with gas prices the way they are it is hard to go anywhere. We jaunted over to the church this morning for humanitarian. Tomorrow I take the kids to the dentist. We might linger there a while. I know that sounds weird! Actually wanting to stay a while at the dentist's office. If anyone has any other ideas of how to stay cool this summer let me know. The air conditioner is NOT in our budget for now. Hope you all can stay cool!

Happy Father's Day!

I was actually able to get off work early and spend the last few hours of Father's Day with my family. We had a lot of fun. Earlier in the day (actually the morning) the kids and I made breakfast for Dalen while he slept in. I had to run over to the Lassen's to pick up Dalen's present because there wasn't anywhere I could hide it that he wouldn't notice it. (Thanks Melinda for letting me drop it at your house. Hopefully it didn't give Dave too many ideas). Dalen has been wanting another tv so he doesn't have to compete with the kids for the one and only one we have. I got him one that is a flat screen with wall mount, so mommy can enjoy it too. During the time I was at work Dalen got it mounted and set up- I knew he would. I haven't taken a picture of his handy work yet. Maybe sometime soon. Anyway, when I got home I saw our neighbor, Edith outside so the kids and I went to say hello. The kids ended up going next door and played with the duck, named Mickey. It was a lot of fun watching them play. They even braved the sprinklers to get to the duck, who thought that maybe the kids wouldn't follow him into the cold water.


A little late, but I wanted everyone to know what a wonderful husband I have. He is such a great father to our children. He is talented in so many ways. I love that he can fix just about anything, that he is inventive with our kids, that he loves our family and he loves the gospel. I am truly blessed. I love you!

I also wanted to honor my Dad today. He is a great man. I was blessed to be raised by wonderful parents who taught me so much. Some of my greatest memories of my dad- when he taught me how to shoot, and then when we competed together in shooting matches; his famous quote (which I am only now beginning to truly appreciate) "peace and tranquility"; and most of all, a few years ago when we celebrated his 60th birthday by surprising him with everyone meeting down in California for a big bash, I was the lucky one to do his personal history and secretly interviewed him. I had to be creative with the "lies" so he wouldn't suspect why I was asking him so many personal questions. But I have to say, I loved getting to know more about my dad. Thanks for all you have done and still do for me. I love you!

Whistle While You Work

I have had enough of not getting help from the kids cleaning up, so last night we had the most exciting FHE lesson- EVER! We learned about work. We talked about what work is, why we do it, and that we ALL need to do it. I asked the kids what Mommy does that is work. The kids told me things like laundry and dishes. Then I asked what would happen if I stopped working, specifically doing laundry. Jacob said I would just have to do the laundry. Apparently he didn't understand the question. I don't want my kids to be the dirty, stinky kids at school. So, we now have a list of chores that they are all to help with. We have always had them help with various things, but now they are actually going to be assigned to do stuff.

The activity after the lesson was even better. We all got on our hands and knees and scrubbed the kitchen floor. I would show you a before picture, but I didn't take one, I was too embarrassed by how bad it looked. (just picture in your head, the night before when I got home from work the lights were off in the kitchen and I couldn't see anything- I was sticking to the floor as I walked through) We did get pictures, however of our family working together, and the finished product. The kids are even being careful not to spill stuff today. Kinda funny.

I'm not sure what my hand is doing in this picture. Sorry it is a weird one. We played music while we were cleaning. We actually did have a lot of fun.





I thought this was a cute shot of Dalen's behind. Actually, I took this one because I loved watching Dalen help the kids. You don't see it very much, but they are scrubbing behind the table.







Here is the finished product. LOVE IT!

SUMMERTIME!

If we all survive this summer it will be a miracle. We are only 2 days into it and I am ready for school to start. I know a lot of people love the summer for vacations, but since we are not going to enjoy that particular activity I am scrounging to keep the kids busy. They love to tell me they are bored. This is the time when I wish Aunt Grandma (my Aunt Ann) was here to teach them about bored. I remember living with her before my mission- there was no such thing as bored!

Last night we were getting the kids ready for bed. I thought that if I had a little leverage I could convince them to hurry up and get into bed and not mess around. So, Dalen and I said that if they didn't go to bed they couldn't go to the movies in the morning. Well, Kylie was obedient and went to bed. However, Jacob and Britin didn't think we were serious. They got into snacks (Skittles to be precise) and dumped them all over the downstairs. I don't know what made me more mad...that my kids were disobedient or that they wasted a perfectly good bag of my treats. Anyway, they had to pick them all up and then go to bed. We told them no movie.

This morning I was getting Kylie ready for the movie, she went with a friend instead. She asked me if Jacob and Britin were going, too. I said "no." She told me, "You mean when you promised we wouldn't go to the movie if we didn't go to bed you really meant it?" OUCH! Okay, I really have to make sure I follow through on everything. Apparently I have taught my kids that I don't always mean it. Not a good thing to teach them. I need to be consistent!