Husband Tag

I got tagged to do this by my SIL Alicia. It's been fun getting to know her and my other SIL Amber by doing these tags. Especially since I don't get to see them very often. Let's hope I remember some of these questions!

1. What is his name? Anthony Frost Black
2. Who eats more? it depends...probably him at one sitting, but if you give me the right combination of things, I would probably eat more.
3. Who said I love you first? Not sure, but it had to have been him. In fact, if you want to get really technical, I know it was him...and he even said it WAY before we were dating.I remember that exactly. It was at the end of SPAC (Spring Performing Arts Company for Folk Dance)when he was leaving to go home to Blanding. I was sitting on the couch in the boys apartment (in Roman Gardens!) and he leaned over to hug me good-bye, and said "I love you Kerry". Of course at the time is was only as a friend, but still. I say it counts. It was subconscious! He actually said it more often throughout the period of time where were just friends, but hanging out more and more often. I will have to save that story for another day!
4. Who is taller? Tony
5. Who is smarter? Tony...he has a Master's AND Phd!
6. Who is more sensitive? Me, for sure! I cry at everything. It can't be helped. I inherited the crybaby gene from both parents...it was a double whammy.
7. Who does the laundry? No one. Ha ha! Mostly me, but Tony will definitely take charge if he is in need and I have slacked in that area.You would think I would have learned after almost 9 years of marriage that if I don't keep on top of the laundry, something is inevitably going to be ruined. Stains will get set into the children's clothes, or mine will shrink.Or get washed with a pen.True story...it's happened!
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? currently I do. We have switched off and on however. Thankfully Tony doesn't care too much, but it does throw things off when we go out of town, or stay at a hotel.He is never quite sure which side I will choose. In Provo, I slept on the left side closest to the door, furthest from the window. In Blanding, I slept also on the left side closest to the door. In our apartment in Indiana, I slept on the left side farthest from the door. In our house in Indiana, I slept on the right side, farthest from the door, until after Logan was born and I was recovering from a c-section. It was easier to get in and out on the left side. But then, I went back to the right side after a while. When e first moved to Kansas, I slept on the left, farthest from the door. We recently rearranged the furniture, and now I am on the right, farthest from the door. I have no idea my rhyme or reason. But it is always my say.
9. Who pays the bills? I do, but we have taken turns, and often do it together.
10. Who cooks more? Me, for sure.
11. What meals do you cook together? We used to cook together, but not so much lately.
12. Who is more stubborn? Probably both of us, because we would probably both accuse each other of being stubborn.
13. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Probably Tony.
14. Who is more clean? Not sure. Tony used to be, but now we are about equal.
15. Who has more siblings? Tony...he has 6 siblings, and I have 4.
16. Who wears the pants in the relationship? I like to think I do, but it is tony of course.
17. What do you like to do together? with kids, or without? We have a funny hobby of going for drives and looking at houses. We like to play games and watch movies. We used to enjoy hiking together, but haven't had mountains near us for 7 years.
18. Who eats more sweets? Me overall, but he can eat more at one sitting. Especially if they are mini snickers bars.
19. Guilty pleasures? I don't think he has any, to be honest. We are still trying to find him a hobby.He does enjoy watching "Are you smarter than a 5th grader"
20. How did you meet? Fok dance at BYU. We were on the same back-up team in the Fall of 1996. We were friends for two years before we started dating.
21. Who asked who out first? I don't know if we ever had an official date. We just hung out a lot, and went hiking a lot. I am sure it was him calling to ask though....
22. Who kissed who first? Tony kissed me first. It was on December 10, 1998 right after the Folk Dance Dinner Dance. He brought me home, and we spent a while in my living room in my cute little blue house, talking about us, and our relationship, and how we both knew it was right, and that we were going to get married. He kissed me after that, right before he left to go home, and it was very polite and gentleman-like. That was to be expected from him. He's just that kind of guy. (I should have done what you did with Andy,Alicia! That was awesome!)
23. Who proposed? Tony...I will save this for another post.
24. His best features? He has a cute little grin. When we got married, I kept telling him I married him for his muscles, and always wanted him to flex for me so I could feel his biceps! Man! 5 years of graduate school, and 1 1/2 years of the work force (sitting in an office all day) has sadly robbed him of this feature. I can't talk though. All my best features have gone out the window since kids came along. Wah!
25. What is his greatest quality? This list could get lengthy. He is physically,and spiritually strong, but gentle in nature. He is always concerned for the welfare of others. He is willing to serve in any way he can. He is a fantastic father. He is so faithful and diligent in doing the things he should be doing. He is very dependable and reliable. He is honest and trustworthy. He is a hard worker, and does so much for our home and family. He is a fantastic husband, and helps with the chores around the house as well. He knows how to fix almost anything, and is very handy.He gives good advice, and is very supportive of me and my endeavors. He puts up with me and all that comes with me. He is very patient and understanding, and forgiving. I will stop now, but could continue. I will save that for another post. or not. We'll see.

Happy Girl's Day!!!

I have been planning a "girl's get-away day" since February. I had been feeling a desire to "get away" and spend quality time with a good friend. My friend Christy happens to live only about 3 hours away from me, so I thought it would be fun to drive up to see her and spend a fun day doing girl things. She just had a birthday the middle of April, and mine is coming up this week-end, so it was a combined "birthday" celebration, sorta.

So the day came, bright and early! I left around 7 a.m. and after getting gas, and redeeming my coupon for a free chicken biscuit from Chik-fil-a for breakfast, I was on the road! I really enjoyed the drive, to be honest. It is such a pretty time of year right now...everything is so green, and there are blossoms on the trees, and flowers popping up here and there. It was very pretty.I was able to drive along with my radio turned up as loud as I wanted, and I could sing along as loud as I wanted too. It was great. And, funny thing, some of my very favorite songs came on, and that made me happy too.



I got to Christy's house around 10:30, and then we were off for our day of fun! We went downtown to a market area with shops and restaurants. The first stop was a Nebraska Gift Shop, where we wandered about and looked at all things corn. I saw a few things i thought Logan would like, and I finally settled on a popcorn on the cob thing. He LOVES popcorn, and I knew he would get a kick out of it. I was soooo right! He loved it! He carried that corn cob around with him all day Sunday, and even wanted to take it to church with him. I finally let him pop it Sunday evening before bed. It was fun to watch, but it ended up burning quite a bit, so we didn't get much out of it. Oh well.



One of the things I love about Christy is that she thinks I am funny, and laughs at me. I don't know why that makes me happy, but it does. When we were looking around the Nebraska store, I saw a book about tornados. I picked it up and started flipping through it and said "Oh, I should get this. I could put it on my coffee table" And then I said "but, I don't have a coffee table" and Christy started laughing so hard she snorted. It was great. Of course I was cracking up too by then, and she said "you made me snort and you haven't even been here an hour yet!" It was good times. A great start to a great day.

Our next stop was the licorice store. It was cool. They had all kinds of licorice from all over the world, and they would basically follow you along and ask if you wanted to try any samples. I am not usually a big black licorice fan, but I have had Finnish black licorice, and it was alright, so I was willing to try some. I even tried some salt licorice, which I didn't even know was such a thing! I bought some licorice to bring home for my family, and then we headed to our next stop.

We went in a really neat store called Ten Thousand Villages They had a lot of really pretty things, but the one item Christy and I both got really excited about was a super cute turquoise colored ring from India. We purchased them as a souvenir of our "Happy Girl's Day" and sported our bling proudly the rest of the day. I love it!



We finally had lunch at a yummy Mexican restaurant...I am always up for Mexican food, and stuffed ourselves silly. It was so yummy!





After our adventures out and about, we headed back to Christy's for her Hershey Bliss Chocolate party/and Open house to raise money for Autism Speaks. Her son has autism, and Caleb's Walk for Autism Team is a way for them to generate awareness and funds for Autism Speaks. She was selling cards and other handmade items as well as simply accepting donations. Visit her blog if you would like to help her reach her goal.

I finally headed home a little after 6 p.m. I was very tired, and decided to get a "beverage" to help with the 3 hour drive. I stopped at Sonic, and got a chocolate coke. I actually liked it! I made it home with only a slight mishap. I missed my exit to get on the right freeway home, and got confused in the meantime, and had to call Tony to help me figure out how to get home from where I was. I didn't want to drive around the loop, or else it would take me almost another hour of driving! In the end, it only took me about 30 minutes longer. Arrghhh! Oh well. It was a fun, adventurous day, and really needed.

When I got home, I checked my email before heading to bed, only to be faced with yet another drama, which made me want to get back in my van,turn around, and head back to where I was. That's life, I guess.

The good thing is that I have another girl's week-end planned for June 6-8 in KC with Christy and anyone else who wants to join us! And then, two weeks later,I am having another girl's reunion with some very good friends I haven't seen in a while out in Utah. Those events, combined with seeing family, will be a very much needed break from the craziness going on around me right now. I can't wait!

Thanks Christy, for the very great "Happy Girl's Day!"

Ants, woodpeckers, and other joys of homeownership!

Ok, this year we are being invaded by ants! It is driving me crazy! I finally called some exterminators to come, becuase I can't live with these creepy crawly things everywhere I turn! Last year at the end of summer, we had some start to come around the kitchen counter, but it wasn't much longer until the cold weather came along to stop them. This year they have started showing up WAY earlier than last year, and they are not just on the kitchen counter. They are in the dining room, the upstairs bathroom, the front entry and the kitchen counter, and eat-in kitchen area. It is really really getting annoying, especially while I am sitting here typing away on the computer and see an ant crawling acroos the screen. Nice. Apparently MANY people in the area are having ant problems as well, so it must be some crazy invasion of the ants. Yuck!

Another thing that has been driving me nuts lately is woodpeckers! I don't know if it just one, or if there are many, but they have been pecking at my deck, leaving a trail of holes in the side of the deck, and I have been hearing them pecking at the side of the house too! Right outside my 3rd story bedroom window! That's a nice sound to wake up to bright and early in the morning. Not to mention it is ruining our home. We need to start looking into woodpecker repellent or something. It can't be anything harmful however, because apparently woodpeckers are protected or something.Anyway...I just had to take a minute out of my afternoon to vent about my newest homeowner woes. Really...did I ever think I would have to look into a solution for woodpecker problems? It's crazy! I will have to take a picture next time I see it.

Cute bibs

Remember the cute bibs my SIL made for Avery? If not, you can see a post about them HERE.

Well, my SIL has started a BLOG to sell her darling creations!These bibs really are the greatest...for function AND appearance! You will love them, I promise! Go check out her blog,suzieqdesigns and bookmark it for the future when you need a super awesome, unique baby gift for someone, or yourself!

Here is a picture of Avery putting another one of Aunt Jody's bibs to good use!


Thanks for looking!

Beautiful Week-end!

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Spring has arrived and is here to stay! It was more apparent this week-end as I drove around seeing all the beautiful blossoms on the trees, the tulips and daffodils popping up here and there, and even the dandelions sprinkled across the very very green grass! Oh, and how can I forget to mention the very pleasant 70 degree weather? It all makes me happy. I love it!



So, it turned out that the awful start of my week, turned out not so bad after all. Logan had pink eye Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and woke up Saturday morning completely fine and dandy. I started off my Saturday morning by hitting up the treadmill in the basement, and then spent a few hours running some errands. When I came home, Avery was awake from her nap, so we all piled in the van and went to Lowe's for some extra garden essentials. Tony wanted to get our garden planted since the weather was so perfect. Let's hope it isn't too early, and we have a successful garden this year!





The kids had some fun playing outside as well. Avery sat on the lawn playing with a dandelion for quite a while. Logan rode his tricycle all over the place and had a grand time.He even got creative with a nice sterilite box, aka his train. He went as far as to get a purple crayola marker and draw a wheel on the "train" since it didn't have any wheels on it.Luckily mom found him so only one wheel was added instead of all 4. We only draw on paper!




To end the day, we went out to dinner at Olive Garden where I stuffed myself silly with the yummy salad and soup.Yummm. It was a really nice, enjoyable day. I was happy.

**Avery walking update: Ok, she isn't walking like I thought she would be. She has found an intermediate form of locomotion. She has taken to walking around on her knees instead. Silly girl. I guess that must make the most sense to be next after crawling in her mind. She is upright like walking, but still has more of a base to balance on. Kind of clever, really.

** Avery's latest accomplishments have been the following:
-- she can point to her head when you ask her where her head is



-- she can point to her belly when you ask her where her belly is. In fact, she has taken to lifting up her shirt or dress to find her belly button. It's really cute.



-- She will "ruff" when you ask her what a doggie says. It is so cute!
-- Her favorite word is still "snacks" and she says it to refer to anything to eat pretty much.
-- Her word for water sounds like " wa-ooh" with a cute little lift of her voice at the end
-- she has started clasping her hands together when you tell her to fold her arms for the prayer. It doesn't last long, but it is so cute that she does it!
-- lately she lets out a really loud scream before she starts laughing. It is almost funny, if it didn't make my heart stop first!

Today's Loganism:

Tonight I was laying by Logan at bedtime, and he asked me to scratch his back. I scratched it for a bit and when I stopped he informed me that I had missed a spot. He pointed to a spot on his back and informed me that the spot I had missed was on his ribbons. I immediately started laughing, and the more I laughed, the more insistent he got. He sat up in bed and kept saying "My ribbons is right here" and then showed me his ribs, and then had to show me on me where my "ribbons" were. It was priceless!I love that kid!He is so smart!

And...last but not least. For any Twilight Series fans out there,that are as excited about the movie as I am, you have got to see this.It is intense!It does show some spoilers from the movie, so if you don't want to know, don't watch.If you don't care about Twilight, feel free to pass on this cliparoo too.

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

It gets better!

As if my week didn't start off on the best note as it is, Logan came down with pink eye yesterday. Are you kidding me? I mean, seriously? An ER visit and pink eye all in the same week? Actually, all within 3 days. Am I being punished for something? Well, anyway. I did say having children was definitely an adventure!

On a better note, I underestimated Avery and her walking skills. She will probably be walking by the end of the week. She walked half-way across the room last night before she fell down. And she was doing it over and over again...it wasn't just a one time thing.It is so cute seeing such a tiny person walking like they are big! I love it! It also makes me a bit sad, because she is growing up so fast, and isn't a baby anymore. I was looking at her asleep in her crib last night and she is so long! I feel like it happened over night!

Emergency Room

Well, we had another first. We spent a very LONG evening in the emergency room last night with Logan. Having children is definitely an adventure!

It all started Sunday evening. We had our home teacher and his wife over and Logan was being silly and bouncing across the living room on his bouncy ball. At one point we were asking him questions while he was bouncing, and I think he turned his head while bouncing to look at us, and all of a sudden stopped and grabbed his head with both hands and cried. We of course assumed he had probably gotten a kinked neck, but he was holding his head and saying his head hurt. He wanted Tony to hold him and squeeze his head. So, after checking him over and rubbing his neck and shoulders, and looking over his head as much as possible with Tony holding and squeezing it, I gave Logan some Motrin and we layed him on the couch. Not much longer, he was sound asleep. I tried to carefully pick him up to take him up to bed, and when I did he grabbed his head and cried out again that it hurt. He managed to sleep fairly well, but would cry out in the night on occasion, probably when trying to roll over or something.

All day yesterday, he basically layed on the couch watching tv. I had to pick him up to carry him to the bathroom, and when I did that he would grab his head and cry.He felt better when laying down, but as soon as we tried to get him upright, he would scream and grab his head. I called his pediatrician, and they told me to bring him in. His appointment was at 4:20, so I called Tony and he came home at 4 so he could help me take Logan to the doctor. I dropped Avery off at my friend's house, and away we went. Tony had to carry Logan around, all the while Logan was holding his head and whimpering. Throughout the day, the location of where he said it hurt on his head changed too. First it was kind of behind his ear, then above his ear, then on his temple, then it was his ears that hurt, and then back to his temple. This was all so weird to us. He never once said his neck hurt at all, only his head. The doctor was perplexed as well about this, and of course suggested we take him to get a CT scan just to be safe. She really didn't think it was anything, but it is always better safe than sorry. It was almost 5 p.m. by this point, and the place that was near that did the CT scans closed at 4:30.Children's Mercy in Overland Park didn't do them in the evenings either, so we had to go downtown.

Wouldn't you know it that after we got to the ER, Logan started acting much better. He was able to sit up without screaming, and only occasionally grabbed his head, or cried out if he moved funny. He was even riding in the little wagons they had, and climbing in and out of them. The doctors there also checked him out and heard the story, and thought it was probably torticullis, which I guess is basically a strained neck, but felt he should get the CT scan due to his complaining of head pain. That was an experience! It took us at least 15-20 minutes to get him calmed down enough to hold still to do the scan. He was freaking out! It was crazy! The nurse told me that if he didn't calm down and hold still, they were going to have to give him an IV to sedate him. I told Logan quick that he better stop crying and hold still or else they were going to give him a shot to put him to sleep. He calmed down really fast and did great! They had a box of prizes that he got to choose from for being so good. He chose a yo-yo. Back in the room while we were waiting for the results, Tony was playing with the yo yo and broke it. When the nurse came back in, Logan told her daddy broke his yo yo, so she let him go choose another prize. He came back with another yo yo.Of course the results were normal, and by the time we left the hospital Logan was acting just fine. Isn't that the way it goes? By the time we got back to pick up AVery it was 9:30 p.m.! What a long evening! The doctor prescribed a few valium for Logan to help him sleep and to relax his neck, but he was acting so much better, that we didn't get the prescription filled.

Today he has been playing outside, on the swings, riding his tricycle and running around with his little friends!He dd try to bounce on his bouncy ball again, and I told him to be careful. After the first jump or two, he started saying "ow! Ow! ow!" so I told him he better get off! Crazy kid! I am very grateful that nothing was seriosuly wrong,even though I do feel a bit silly for taking him to the ER. Better safe than sorry I say! Tony was getting really annoyed and saying that he was fine and that we should leave the hospital before they even did anything. I just feel like you can never be too careful with the health and well-being of your children.The extra expense and inconvenience is worth it for my little buddy. It's so hard being a parent, and feeling so helpless about taking care of these little people! I just feel much better and more reassured that professionals were able to tell me that he was fine. It is a relief, and any small relief like that is a weight lifted off my shoulders. I love my children so much! I am very grateful that they are healthy and well. Hopefully we won't have another ER visit, and if so, I hope it is only a precaution and not due to a serious emergency.

It's a Miracle!

It has actually been an eventful last few weeks, in a way. I just haven't felt like sitting down to blog about it for some reason, but now it is time.

It is official folks.

After almost two years of battling the potty, we are FINALLY pull-up FREE! Woo-Hoo! I am seriously so excited there are no words to describe it. Logan has been working on potty training since he turned 2. Last summer, when we drove out to Utah he was actually very close to being completely trained. We did keep him in pull-ups still, but he managed to stay dry in between pit stops on the drive. We never had to make any special stops for him either. Of course we let our attention to the subject slip when visiting family, due to the many distractions and lack of our regular daily routine. Here we are, almost a year later, and about 1 month until the little dude turns 4 and we have reached a potty training success! Hallelujah!

Our most serious concern was the #2 part of potty business. Logan would not go in the potty for anything. He was fine to go #1 in the potty, but the other was a different story. After consulting with several fellow mothers in the matter, one solution to try was to put Logan in a cold shower/bath if he messed his pants. I decided I was tired of buying and changing pull-ups, so we went pull-up free except at bedtime, and I had about 2 weeks of poop everywhere, all day. I have never done so much laundry, and I don't think Logan has ever been so clean from all the showers!I did feel pretty awful making him have a cold shower and hearing him scream about it.I was really wondering if this method was doing any good, or just making the matter worse. We had a week where I think he was so afraid of getting a cold shower, that he held it in. Of course this caused serious problems, and it was a pretty rough week. I felt like we were in the bathroom all the time.The one good thing about this was that he actually started telling me he had to go, and wanted to sit on the potty! So, I guess it had to get worse before it got better. After his little system got cleaned out, and he figured out it really isn't so bad after all to go on the potty, he has been going on his own, with no help or coaxing from us!I am so happy with my little buddy, and very proud of him for finally trying to be grown up.

We had been telling Logan for a long time that if he went in the potty, he would get a prize. He wanted a "bouncy ball". You know those balls with the handle that you sit on and bounce around on? That's what he calls them. So I bought one, and kept it upstairs in the closet to persuade him to go. It didn't work. He knew he would get it if he went, but he still never went. I think I have had that bouncy ball since August!So of course, during our rough week, when he went on the potty for the first time, I got him his long awaited bouncy ball...hoping that would encourage him to keep going. I would take it away if he chose not to go in the potty, and then give it back when he did go. I really only had to take it away about twice I think.



When we were finally pull-up free, and sleeping in big boy underwear and going on the potty all the time, we decided to take Logan to Toys R Us and let him choose his "potty prize".It was really funny. We wandered around the store and looked at all the options. He got excitd about a few things, so we put them in the cart so he could have a few things to choose from. The very first thing he saw and got excited about was a stuffed, animated Pablo from the Backyardigans. He went right up to it and grabbed the box and said "Oh, here it is! I'll take it!" Ha ha! It was funny! Then daddy came and started showing him different options, so he changed his mind. In the end, he had it narrowed down to a set of musical instruments (a tambourine, triangle, and two shaker things with bells), and a magician's costume. After much deliberation, he chose the magician's costume. Funny, huh? But ok! If that's what you want! We told him he could put the instruments on his birthday list.




We have only had to take away the ball AND magician's costume once, otherwise he has been accident free for a week! Woo-Hoo! It's about darn time!We are so proud of our big boy! Happy Day!

So, the lesson I have learned from potty training our first child is this: I will NOT go the pull-up route the next time around. Avery is going straight from diapers to underpants and she will like it! Ha ha! I will let you know how that idea goes in about a year or so!

Speaking of Avery...she is really starting to work on walking! She should be walking on her own fairly soon!I am going to say in about a month she will be walking by herself. That's my guess. We'll see how that goes too! Logan was 14 months when he started walking, and Avery is almost 14 1/2 months old right now. She has been pretty close with Logan on other milestones...like crawling and first teeth too, so I am sure it will be any day now! I can't believe how fast she has grown!

50 Things about ME!

My sister-in-law Amber tagged me for this one! I am not sure I can think of 50 things about myself...that's a lot! But I will give it a shot!

1. I LOVE Jelly Belly jelly beans and salt water taffy.
2. I have a horrible habit of staying up WAY too late.
3. I took piano lessons for about 6 years and can't really play.
4. I also took french for 2 yrs. in HS and 3 semesters in college and can't speak it.
5. I thought about becoming lifeguard certified in HS.
6. I worked at Sea World during the summers in college.
7. I got a $500 tip.
8. I got a 73 page letter from a boy in HS. (It was on lined notebook paper too!)
9. I ran track for about 3 days my freshman year in HS.I was a sprinter.
10. My all-time favorite movies are Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea.
11. I wanted to be Anne.
12. I played Barbies until I was like 13. Stop laughing. I was very imaginative!
13. I have a fetish with good smelling things...lotion, perfume, candles, room fresheners, even good smelling laundry soap, dish soap and dryer sheets.
14. I also have a strange attraction to all things in the lip gloss family...chapstick, lip balm, gloss, lipstick. You can never have enough I say!
15. I love to perform on stage...dance, theater (although it's been a LONG time for that one) singing,etc. and I don't mind speaking in public.
16. I was very shy when I was growing up. Looking back now, I think I was more self-conscious than shy. I was always afraid of what people would think of me and what I said, so I didn't talk a lot to people I didn't know well.
17. If I knew you well, I talked a lot.
18. I love to socialize now, and I am always up for girl's night out!
19. I love to read.
20. I love to dance...although I really haven't since I graduated college, and it makes me sad. I feel like a part of me is missing.
21. I love to sing. I wish I was better. I would love to take voice lessons again.
22. Music makes me happy.
23. I have two children...a boy and a girl, and they are cuter than I ever imagined my children would be!
24. I have seen Les Miserables 5 times (San Diego twice, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, London)
25. I have been to an Oingo Boingo concert.
26. I loved unicorns and fairies when I was little.
27. My bedroom growing up was so pink, that you could see a pink glow coming from my room.
28. I have always had a cat at some point in my life.
29. I was attacked at BYU. Thankfully nothing really happened to me, but he did rape a girl a week later.That was the scariest thing to ever happen to me.
30. I hate mushrooms and seafood.
31. I like to read cookbooks and recipe blogs.
32. I love chips and salsa...and any mexican food for that matter.
33. I have a Bachelor's degree in Marriage,Family and Human Development from BYU with a Folk Dance minor.
34. I met my husband on the Folk Dance Team at BYU. We were friends for 2 years before we started dating.
35. Once we started dating, we were engaged in about a month and a half. When it's right, it is right!
36. I traveled to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales while on the Folk Dance Team.
37. I performed at Epcot at Disney World for 2 weeks also while on the Folk Dance Team.
38. I ran my cousins car off the road near McCammon Idaho with my roommate Sharon.We made my cousin a cake with toy cars to re-enact the scene!
39. I "stole" my best friend's (ex)boyfriend for HS prom, and she stole my (ex) boyfriend and married him, so we are even.
40. I lost my youngest brother in a four wheeler accident right after Logan was born.
41. My life hasn't been the same since. (maybe that combined with motherhood!)
42. I consider myself a California Girl, even though I am as pale as they come, and can't get a tan to save my life!)
43. I am very emotional and cry at everything.
44. I saw the movie Titanic in the movie theater about 8 times.
45. I plan to top that number when Twilight comes out in December, even if I have to go by myself!
46. Friendships are very important to me, and I miss all the wonderful friends I have made over the years.
47. I really like where I live in Kansas, but I miss my family horribly and wish I lived closer.
48. I like to make cards, and I host a monthly card exchange.If anyone wants to join, let me know!
49. My sweet husband mops the floors and cleans the bathrooms for me! He's the best!
50. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints...always have been, always will be.

Ok, now that I have spent all day coming up with these things, I still don't know if it is a true representation of who I am. I could probably keep going, now that I have been thinking about it! But I won't. If you need any further explanation or details, feel free to comment!

Avery's 1 year pictures

 

I finally got Avery's 1 year pictures taken...now that she just turned 14 months old!I can't believe how horrible I have gotten! With Logan, I practically took him ON his whatever month birthday to get his pictures taken. Poor Avery...if I am already slipping this much with my second child, I really feel bad for the rest to come along!

I am sooooo happy with how her pictures turned out! I made Tony and Logan come with me so they could help with getting her to smile. It worked like a charm! I sat on the floor near her to help her stay put, and then daddy and brother stood near the photographer and made faces, and stuff to get her to look at them and smile. So, if you see the pictures with her tongue out, it is because she was copying her daddy who was sticking his tongue out at her!

There were so many good ones this time, that I decided to share them all! Enjoy her cuteness!

Operation Raincoat

I need your help! I am on a mission to find a camouflage raincoat for Logan. I saw some camo raincoats in the infant/toddler section of my local Super Wal-Mart, but they only had one left in a size 2T, and I need either a 4 or 5T! I just bought Logan some camo galoshes at Target, so he really needs the coat to match! If any of you are planning on hitting your local Wal-Mart soon, would you be willing to check and see if they have any? They may be on clearance at this point.

Here is the info:

George camo raincoat
UPC # 6 60469 05614
$9.86
I need a size 4T or 5T!

I will totally pay you back for the cost as well as shipping as well as be eternally grateful forever and ever! And of course I will probably throw in a nice thank you something as well!

Oh the things a mother will do for her child!

Thank You all!

Photo update

This little blue couch was one of the best investments I made when Logan was little. It has gotten much use...not only from Logan, but from any other little kids who might be over. Even Avery has been taking advantage of it! The Easter Bunny did bring my little miss one of her own, but I don't have a picture of it yet. Anyway...it makes for a very good napping place, as you can see from the above pictures! It's so cute!



Logan is so silly these days! He came walking in to the kitchen the other day all proud of himself because he was wearing Avery's pajama pants.Crazy kid!I can't believe they fit him!



Logan was being creative one day and came downstairs wearing Avery's changing table pad on his back. He informed me that he was being a ninja turtle.



Hello there. Meet Farmer Buckethead everyone. And please tell me why the shirt is always MIA when Logan dons other costume paraphernalia? He cracks me up!

He also came up with a very creative/imaginative game the other day that I had to get on video. I can't figure out how to get the clip actually on my blog, but here is a link to watch it.





Avery has become very interested in feeding herself these days, and it isn't always pretty! Sometimes I am a good mom and let her enjoy herself and develop her fine motor skills, and sometimes the tyrannical, controlling mother steps in and insists on feeding her so there is no mess involved. Obviously this was oone of the good mom times. I just didn't want to hear her scream...it is NOT a pretty sound.

Last Saturday, we hosted an easter egg hunt at our house for some friends and their kids. We have a pretty good sized yard, and it seemed like the obvious way to put it to good use. We had 4 families over for a potluck lunch, and then had the kids go find their eggs. We had 11 kids and 10 adults. We had yummy food,good company, and the kids had a great time finding eggs. Two of the kids went hog wild and ended up with like 20 eggs. This was just fine though, because some of the younger kids were perfectly happy with the first few they had found, and had to be encouraged and helped to find more. I think on average each kid ended up with around 10 eggs each.I was too busy being a hostess to get tons of pictures...I always forget about taking them when I am caught up in the moment, but I did manage to get a few of my kids.





I am getting very excited for the spring to pop up and stick around for a while! I need some sunshine and warm days to get me out of my winter slump! I can tell it's right around the corner!

Rainy Day

So, yesterday I had many things planned for my Monday. I was going to run to the bank to deposit some checks, drop a check off at a friend's (for my ticket for the Stephenie Meyer Book tour in May!), go to Aldi's for milk, and take Avery to get her very belated 12 month pictures taken at Target.

I woke up to the sound of rain pouring on my roof, the rumble of thunder booming in the distance, and the occasional flash of lightning. That just sealed the lazy deal. I wasn't going anywhere or doing anything today. Nope, not a thing! Nada! Zippo! Or Zero, as Logan says lately. I stayed in my pj's until noon, only to change into something not much different...comfy pants and a hoodie! Logan is wearing sweats, and Avery, I am ashamed to say is still in her pj's. We have all had naps, and basically spent the day being ultra lazy. I have a really hard time being productive on days like this.

I have a few things I really like to do on rainy days. One is stay in bed, but that isn't much of an option with children. Another thing I enjoy doing is reading a book, but I just finished the book I was reading for book group, and don't have any others to start right now. I usually feel inspired to bake something, which I haven't done yet, but the day isn't over yet, either! I LOVE to light candles and listen to what I call "rainy day" music. My rainy day music of choice is the soundtrack for "The Last of the Mohicans".(scroll down for music clips) So, right now the kids are having an aftenoon snack of goldfish crackers and water, while I am listening to my "rainy day" music and blogging.

I am ashamed to say I have nothing planned for St. Patrick's Day. I am not even wearing green. I did buy Lucky Charms cereal for breakfast, which I didn't even get to eat since I ran out of milk. Logan had some, and Avery had a bowl of it dried for a snack, and quickly discovered she preferred the marshmallows! There was a game on the back of the cereal box that I cut out for Logan and I to play. It uses the marshmallow pieces for the game pieces. Anyway...we were playing on the floor, and had a hard time keeping our pieces from being devoured from Avery as she came crawling along to attack our markers! It was funny, and luckily, Logan got a kick out of it and laughed about it instead of having a fit.

So, I am off now to finish enjoying my rainy day music.

Do you have any fun "rainy day" things you like to do? If you have "rainy day" music too, let me know what it is! I might have to try something new!

Blanding trip

Well, now that I have been home a few days, and have gotten some things out of the way, I can finally post about our trip to Utah.

Tony's parents got called to serve a mission for our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). They got called to the Ghana Cape Coast Mission. The funny thing is, they won't ever be serving in Ghana. They will be in a little country called Benin.It is entirely french speaking, so Mom gets to learn french!Won't that be fun! Anyway,we were able to go home for their farewell. It was so fun to be with the family. Logan had a blast playing with his cousins. It is so hard when we have to leave. It makes me feel so sad for him that he has to come back home to live like a little hermit child. Logan has so many boy cousins, and they tend to get along really well. Here at home, Logan's closest friends are girls, so it was fun for him to get to be with the boys, and do boy things.



Here is a picture of almost all the grandkids. Avery was napping, so she missed out. And I think baby Garrett was missing as well as Megan. We were lucky to be there for Tony's sister Jody's baby's blessing as well.





One of Logan's favorite things to do is get teased by Uncle Andy. He found Logan a new time-out spot while we were there! All in fun, of course.I had to get pictures. Avery even let Uncle Andy carry her around everywhere, but of course I didn't get pictures of that! I am so glad Logan has Uncle Andy. It makes me sad that he doesn't have his Uncle Derrick too. My brother would have been just as fun as Uncle Andy, so he could have had 2 fun uncles! I miss my brother, especially in times like this when I realize my kids won't get to know him. He was a great brother, and a great uncle.




Of course, Logan spent time doing his faavorite thing...jumping...on the trampoline! He was out there for almost all afternoon after church and dinner. He was having a blast. He even was tolerant of the dog Ruby, jumping up on the picnic table to sit by him. He must have been really distracted by all the fun for that not to bother him! On Saturday night, while at a big extended family dinner, Logan had an accident. He was outside and got scared of the dogs, and while he was backing away in terror, he fell over the tricycle and hurt his ear pretty bad. It was all red and it was even bleeding a bit in one spot.Poor guy. I wish he would get over his fear of dogs. When you ask him why dogs are scary, he says "that because they lick you and I don't want to be licked." Okee dokee.




I can't forget pictures of Avery. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera out much, and when I tried to take her picture, she would come after me, so this is what I would get. I did manage to catch her stealing baby Garrett's bottle though!

Before I end my post, I must mention the friends I was able to sneak in visits with on our way to and from the airport. When we flew in on Friday, we were able to meet my friend Heidi and her family for lunch at Training Table. It's always fun to see her if only for an hour or so! On our way home Monday, we met Heather and her little girl Alexa, who is Logan's age for lunch at McDonald's. We met there so the kids could play. It was helpful for Logan to get some energy out after being in the car for almost 5 hours, and before we were to get on the airplane. The kids were very good on the plane. It was Avery's very first flight! Logan is a pretty seasoned traveler, and loves airplanes. Tony actually held Avery on both flights. That was a nice break for me. She is so wiggly, I think my arms would have been tired. I was able to get some reading in of the book I am reading for book group. Overall, the trip went very smoothly, and it was definitely nice to see and spend time with family. Again, it makes me sad when we have to come home. I really hate being so far away from family!

Enrichment night success!

I better write about my enrichment night last week. I haven't had a chance to do much since then, because we were in Utah for the week-end. I am home now, and trying to cross things off my list of things to do.


( By the time I got to the refreshment table, there wasn't as many cupcakes left, but you get the idea.)

I have to say that the evening was FANTASTIC! I am so proud of all the women who worked so hard and put in the time to practice for this program. We had a few rough spots along the way, and some frustrations too, but in the end it was perfect. The music was beautiful, the words were touching, and I know the spirit was there so strong. A friend of mine was so worried about her performance because she says she always botches it when she performs. The night of the program, she nailed it. It was perfect!I was so proud of her! All the songs were perfect, especially the choir numbers we were so worried about. It was the best they had ever been that night.

While I didn't have any major parts in the program, I did have a few chances to step in for people when needed. At our rehearsal the night before, I got to fill in for a girl who had to get home early. She was singing the song called "Hold On" with another girl, and I filled in for her so the other girl could get her practice, and so we could continue on with the timing of the program. It was really scary, but fun! I haven't had a solo like that for a long time! I also filled in for the first part of the program on the actual performance night for one of the narrators who had a last minute doctor appointment and was running late. And, I guess I also had my choir directing debut when the choir director had to be out of town for a funeral the week-end of a big practice. Boy that was an experience, and I really really appreciate choir directors now. What a tough job! Anyway...I did sing with the choir,so I sat up on the stand with everyone during the program. It was so neat to look out at the faces of everyone there, and not recognize a lot of them! We extended the invitation for this evening to the Young Women, Activity Day girls, and any other friends, neighbors and family. We had a great turnout!


( I know this picture is dark, but it really shows how great of a turnout we had!)

After the program, we moved into the cultural hall for refreshments of cupcakes, ice cream and punch. I made a really yummy recipe for Cookies and Cream cupcakes. Too bad I didn't get any! I will have to make them again another time. We had enough tables and chairs set up for 50 people, and had more than that, so people were sitting on the ground along the wall, standing in groups, or had extra chairs in circles to chat. It was so much fun to see everyone really visiting and enjoying themselves. I think the punch got refilled about 4 times, and we ended up with close to 2 dozen cupcakes left at the end of the night. The ice cream didn't last long however!

I was so truly appreciative of the women who participated in the program, from singing solos, to playing the piano, organ or cello, to narrating, or just being a choir member. It couldn't have happened without each and every one of them, and I am really so grateful! I will always be. I usually try to write thank you notes to everyone who helps with enrichment nights, but I felt like these women needed something more than just a note. I decided to be "crafty" and make them a nice gift that they can keep and hopefully remember the experience by. I made some vinyl lettered blocks. I couldn't think of a quote from the program that I liked enough, but I came across this other saying, and I really liked it. I made 24 of these blocks, and I also had yellow sunflowers and red gerber daisies as well as these pink and orange flowers. If I were to make something like this again, I have ideas of how to make them a bit better, but otherwise, I think they turned out really cute.



Overall, it was a great evening, but I am glad it is over! Now it's on to planning the next activity!

Dr. Pepper Cupcakes

For those of you who read my post a while back about my caffeinated beverage indulgence, you may find this amusing. I came across this recipe, and I might just have to make them! It might be a very good way to use this interesting drink. And, while I don't really have an occasion to make them for, I may just have to do it. Just because. It just seems like the right thing to do.Ha ha! And you may or may not also know about my latest cupcake obsession.So it just makes that much more sense. They do look kind of cute and tasty, don't they?



You can go HERE for the recipe.

I will post about my latest adventures soon!

Enrichment Program and nerves!

I have been unusually nervous and stressed about the enrichment program I am heading up for next week's Relief Society enrichment night. I took on the reasonably big task of putting together a program called "Sisters of Light" by Jenny Phillips. It is a really beautiful program consisting of 6 songs, and narration. Since March is the Relief Society's birthday, this program is perfect since it talks about the beginning of the RS program, and focuses on women in general. It really will be a beautiful program and I know the evening will go well, but I can't help worrying about little organizational details.

We have had a few rehearsals recently where I have been able to hear the solos, and they are all so pretty. I love how each woman singing has their own unique voice, and it just adds so much to the overall feel of the program.It really helps emphasize how we are all so different, yet we are all the same.

Anyway...I might just be dealing with a constant upset stomach until after next Wednesday. Hopefully once it is over I can relax! I am really looking forward to the evening, don't get me wrong. I guess I am just starting to feel the pressure! Ahhh!

I'm Cute, I'm Cute!

Ha! I finally found a super easy, really cute way to customize my blog! I am very happy! I love it! I hope you all enjoy it, and anyone with google reader better check it out for real to appreciate the change!

I have to thank Lindsay for asking for help on her own blog, which is where I learned what to do for mine! Thanks Linds!

Avery's 1st Birthday

I finally uploaded pictures from my camera so I can post them! I realized that I haven't taken many pictures lately. I took quite a few for Avery's birthday, but they didn't all turn out very well. I only took a few pictures of the kids in the car at the rest stop on our lovely trip through Wyoming. I never got my camera out while visiting my family! How lame is that? You know, sometimes there is just so much going on, that taking pictures is the last thing on my mind. Actually, I did take pictures with my mom's camera at the cemetary, but I am sure I will never see them. So, without further ado, let's talk about Avery's birthday!



Here is the birthday girl in her chair with her balloons and cupcake. I made banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Sadly, this girl hardly touched it! She stuck her fingers in the frosting and licked them, but wouldn't eat her cupcake. I think it is partly my fault. We ate dinner first, so she was probably full!

She is such a cute one year old. Here vocabulary these days consists of every variation of "daddy" there is...dada...da-ee, daddy, ah-da, etc. Mama has not made it into her day to day vocab yet. She has said it, but won't on a regular basis for some reason. The last few days she has started saying "uh-oh" as well. Usually in relation to dropping her binky. She has her two bottom teeth, and her four top teeth, and she is finally crawling like a normal baby, and pulls herself up on everything within reach. I think she really wants to walk, and she is starting to try, but it will probably be a while still. Logan didn't walk till he was 14 months, so if she is on a similar schedule, she has a few months to go! Logan helped Avery open all her presents, and both of them had a great time playing with them all for the evening. I think for a one year old, it was a fantastic birthday! We are so glad we have her sweet little self in our family! Happy Birthday little one!

The End-of our trip that is!

Ok, I better rap this up! It has stretched out long enough!

We left IF around 6 p.m. Sunday evening. Traveling was actually quite good, and we had no problems at all. We got really drowsy around 11 or so, and ended up stopping in Rawlins for the night. It was soooo windy! Yuck! we got a decent night's sleep, and got back on the road the next morning by around 8 a.m. Not too far outside of Rawlins, the weather turned cloudy and started to snow. I was hopeful it would only be for a bit, and that the rest of the trip wouldn't be like this! That would have been another miserable day in the car! We were lucky, and while we went throuogh the occasional snowy patch in Wyoming, once we hit Nebraska, the skies were clear as were the roads, so we made good time the rest of the day! I did have to drive for quite a while once we hit better weather. Tony needed a break, and he also had a conference call that he wanted to try to be on as long as we had cell phone coverage. After stopping for a potty break,we went through the drive-through at Wendy's, and I decided yet again, that another pick me was was required. I decided to get what I think seems to be the most popular caffeinated beverage among women anyhow...at least I knew that was what most people ordered when I worked in a restaurant...so I got a diet coke. So sorry again to all you fans. I just don't see what tastes good about it? I have decided I must really not be a cola fan at all.Sorry. I tried, I really did. It served its purpose however and kept me alert enough to keep driving!

We finally made it home around 8:30, only to walk in to the house and be greeted by a hideously high-pitched beeping, coming from all the smoke detectors in our house, it seemed. Sadly to say, we haven't changed the batteries in our alarms since we moved in, so it took some trial and error and quite a while of effort to finally figure out how to turn the horrendous noise off! I left the kids in the van in the garage, so it wouldn't hurt their ears. Once that was taken care of, the kidlets were put right to bed, and we were happy to be home, safe and sound!

Stay tuned for another travel adventure next month! Tony's parents got their mission call to Ghana, and so we will be heading out to Utah for the farewell in just a few more weeks. We will be flying this time into SLC, and then renting a car to drive the rest of the way. Fun times, fun times!

I will be sure to finally get my pictures from my camera, so i can post about Avery's birthday! Poor thing, getting pushed to the side by more important travel reports!