Reynolds R Us

We're Moving!

2011-01-19T23:30:00.000-07:00

Not sure if you heard or not but we're moving up to Highland UT and I'm going to go to school at UVU starting the summer semester. We are SO excited! Kurt still doesn't have a job yet, but we have a place to live and we know this is the right thing for us to do and we know something will come up. If you live in the area, lets get together soon!

Ice Woman

2010-11-03T15:50:00.000-06:00

This blog has kinda become a dumping ground and I'm sorry, for those of you still reading (I totally would've deleted me by now!)

Who is Ice Woman?

Ice Woman is the name my sister has come up with for my other personality. My Mr. Hyde if you will. Ice Woman is harsh, cold, she's thick skinned, insensitive, irritable, bored, tired, impatient. She slumps her shoulders, creases her brow, walks slowly and stubbornly, head towards the floor and there may even be some eye rolling involved.

Where did Ice Woman come from?

She was born, I'm pretty sure, around the time my dad passed away. After my dad passed away I didn't stay home and grieve like any normal person did, Ice Woman made me run. She went to school for me, interacted for me, although I know I was partly there too at the time. But that was the start and I've noticed Ice Woman making more and more appearances lately.

When was the last time Ice Woman came?

She's here now. I just went shopping with Drew and saw something on a muffin box that made her come. This said Something is everywhere at the moment. And I don't know why it bugs her so. I think she's just tired of it. She's tired of a lot of things very quickly. She's not naive about how serious things are. No. She knows first hand how serious it is, she's just insensitive. Because she knows first hand she's become bored of it. Bored of it being talked about. Bored that it's everywhere. Again don't get her wrong! She knows what everyone's trying to do and it's a good thing. But sometimes things get old quickly for her. Then things in the news. Why should people have to cater to others? Again, just old and tired of people and certain situations. Ice Woman is very unsympathetic. So she came at the grocery store and when Drew got lost Ice Woman stayed. Did I go running around looking for my lost child like any good mother should? No Ice Woman was just annoyed. Annoyed because Noelle had told Drew to stay be me because she'll turn herself around and end up with her back to me and start to freak out that I left her, when actuality I'll be right be right behind her. If you can't tell it's happened before. No Ice Woman was annoyed and kept shopping. She waited as she picked her cheese. She waited, although hoped it wouldn't happen as she scoured the aisles around her in hopes she'd spot Drew, and while she was waiting for her turkey to be cut, her waiting finally ended.

"Attention Walmart customers. We have a lost Mom. Could Noelle please come to the service desk? Could Noelle please come to the service desk?"

Ice Woman waited nonchalantly for her turkey to be done. Then slowly with slumped shoulders and a crease on her brow, walked over to the service desk. Ice Woman only gave an irritated scowl as she rounded the corner to the service desk. She didn't run up to her daughter and give her a great big hug and say things like, "I'm SO glad you're safe." Nope. She just picked her up, gave a half smile to the lady behind the counter, and said to her beloved daughter, "You're never coming with me to the store again." Ice Woman meant it too.

Ice Woman doesn't sound like a good mom.

Nope. She's not. And she's not a good wife either. Instead of holding her husband with loving arms, she looks over his shoulder and looks at the mess he could've cleaned up while she was gone. She doesn't hug him back and is only irritated that husband was trying to pick a freaking shirt, instead of just throwing one on and coming out to help bring the groceries in.

Would Ice Woman receive help?

Maybe. I think she's so far gone, so much has happened to her that I'm not sure what could be done. Really? She doesn't come THAT often. She takes jabs to the stomach a little at least every day, but she doesn't stay very long, very often. I don't think anything will help with her thick skin. There's been times where she tried to break free. She wanted to cry, and there's been a couple of success stories. Last night I cried for my dear friend Megan battling cancer. I cried for my friends getting a divorce. I cried for a friend close to me in his goal to be the person he wants to be. But sometimes I don't show up like when she was photographing the babies who passed away. She tried crying because she felt like she needed to. She was sad but nothing broke her thick skin. She became immune and showed her husband the slideshow, not thinking he'd be affected by it. Then something weird happened. She saw something leak from his eye. What was that? Oh, he was crying! He asked Ice Woman to turn it off and she was dumbfounded. Again don't get me wrong. If it had been her child she wouldn't be here. The real human would be here. But she's not human and she has little feeling unless it's negative. At that moment she was somewhat envious of her husband. He had a soul.

Why couldn't Ice Woman have a soul?

She wants one and every time there's a chunk of ice chiseled off she's ecstatic! But it's slow going. There's a lot of hammering involved. She has to let go of the ice. She doesn't like it when her head is hot and bursting and is close to exploding. She doesn't like that pit in her stomach and the heavy weight in her chest. She hates being insensitive and soulless but I think sometimes she's worried what a blubbering idiot she'll become if she was sensitive to everyone and everything. So for right now it's slow going. Maybe one day, when her kids are older and more crap has happened to her to make things more personal, she'll melt. Then again she could become stronger.

Update like a Christmas card

2010-07-01T19:24:00.000-06:00

ALOHA!

It's been so long since I've posted on this blog. I've really missed it and the connections I had with you guys that I haven't had since starting my other one. We've been doing good and keeping buys with everyday life. I'm really excited for this weekend. After this weekend we would've attended 3 BBQ's. That's how you do summer!

Drew is getting ready for Kindergarten next year. Every day she wakes up and asks me if she's going to her big school yet. I have to tell her not yet! She turns 5 this month and I cannot believe how fast she's grown. I also have to remember that she is still a little kid and needs to be treated as such. I've seen too many people expect too much out of their oldest child. It's SO sad and I know I'm guilty of doing this myself but when we expect our oldest to help us take care of their siblings I think we're asking them to grow up too fast. Yes it's great when they do help, and nothing is wrong with them getting a diaper for us or helping capture a stray sibling but it's when we expect too much from them that I think can they can be really effected by things. I dunno. What do you think? Other than that tangent she is doing great, singing up a storm in church and having a blast playing with friend EVERYDAY!

Brody is 3 and he is a boy. He is finally potty trained and it's going really good! That took a lot of stress out of us and now he has the cutest Paul Frank BBD's ever! One mistake we made during potty training is also the best thing we did to help him potty train. Teaching him to pee outside. Now where ever he goes he thinks he can pull down his drawers and go. Oops! Not only #1 but #2! Thank goodness he's only done #2 in our yard but still, YUCK! Brody is finally able to keep up with Drew and even take her down sometimes. They fight quite often which is junk, I can't stand whining, but they get along really good when they do!

Alia is SO fun and SO busy right now! She is climbing on everything, pushing all the buttons, opening drawers, pulling out clothes, books down, playing in the toilet, eating everything she can get her hands on but she is SO cute while doing it! She absolutely loves her family! She tries to talk but the only thing she's saying is Mom, that, please, and hello. Everything else she just screams for. She is 15. 5 months and I can't wait till she goes in the nursery. She is the biggest distraction in our primary class but also our mascot. Hahaha!

Kurt and I are doing good. In late September it will be our 8th anniversary! CRAZY! We've been watching Avatar The Last Airbender for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I don't know how the movie is going to level up to the tv show but I think it'll be fun to shave Brody's head, paint a blue arrow on it, and go see it anyways. Is it totally against my nature to be more excited for that than for Eclipse? Kurt is still a supervisor at the bucket factory, as we call it. He has a weird schedule: He works 2 days ,off 2 days, on 3 days. Then the next week, 2 days off, 2 days on, 3 days off and repeat. We actually like it but he still works the night shift and I'm not totally crazy about that. Cedar is hot but treating us well. We absolutely LOVE our ward which is good but I always wish I we lived closer to my sisters up north.
Well other than that SO much more but I just wanted to relay the basics.

Yes, it's me.

2010-04-02T18:37:00.000-06:00

Wow I make it a point to be a better mommy blogger and actually update my family blog but it only lasts for one or two posts. So not really. For those of you who don't know I got a new professional blog, Studionoelle.com/blog! I LOVE it and I'm super excited about the whole thing. Well just wanted to let you know that my new blog is going to become my professional AND family blog. I'm going to keep this one as well, in case there is anything too personal I don't want other people reading but if you want family updates follow my other blog. I hope you stop on by because I'm going to be better updating and saying hello to you guys again. See you soon!

Happy Birthday Brody Boy!

2010-03-05T08:15:00.000-07:00

Brody had an awesome party with friends, balloons, streamers, cake, presents, and airplanes. More on another post soon but for right now I want to spend quality time with my kids before I leave for Vegas for 6 days. I love my boy to death and I can't believe he's 3!

Happy Birthday Brody!

I can glue it so can you!

2010-03-04T18:18:00.001-07:00

Over on The Salty Pineapple Nikki is having a "You Can Glue It" week March 8th to the 12th, where you make a project with a hot glue gun. Brody just had his 3rd birthday party, more to come on that soon, and his theme was airplanes. So I thought it fitting to make him a runway, entirely glued. To participate, make a project and post about it on your blog then add a button to your glue gun post!

Happy glueing!

TMI

2010-02-26T22:37:00.000-07:00

Drew had her first ever field trip and they went to Cedar City's Iron Mission Museum. I was in town and met her class there to help chaperone. I surprised her and she was SO incredibly happy that her mommy was there. The kids learned how the pioneers made string into twine and twine to rope.

And even had a hand in making it.

Then we Round Robined over to the candle making station where the kids were able to make their own candles by dipping a wick into wax and then water.

Then we went over to the ... other station where the kids where told the story about the mormon crickets and California Gulls. In short the Pioneers planted crops and thousands upon thousands of crickets started eating all their crops. They prayed and the Lord sent Seagulls to come eat all the crickets. So the kids learned that the California Gull is Utah's State bird and they were able to color some birds and hear the different calls of birds native to Utah. My favorite is the Meadowlark!

The last station the kids learned that the pioneers had not running toilet, no running water, and every time they moved they had to build a new house! YUCK to all of the above! I seriously would've died!

Drew had so much fun with her class and I was so happy I was able to go!

I can't believe how big she is getting and how much more she understands and how much more I need to teach her. She has been asking very adult questions lately and I have no idea how in depth I should answer her or not. I wish there was a book for these types of things. So for a little prelude we've been watching Heroes and she's been awed by these peoples powers and abilities and also we attended a funeral today of a mom of one of Drew's classmates that decided she wanted to return home to Heavenly Father. So our convoy's have been going something like this lately:

"Mom P (her friend at school) said her mommy killed herself."

"Oh she told you that?"

"Yeah she said she didn't like herself. How did she kill herself?"

"I'm not going to tell you Drew."

"Did she put fire on her?"

"No don't ask!"

"Did she cut herself?"

"No!"

Etc. till I finally told her. And AMAZINGLY she came up with a lot of realistic things that I had no idea she even knew about but surprisingly she didn't guess the one till I told her. Don't think I'm a bad mom but when she was guessing these things and wouldn't stop I figured she was old enough to know. More Convoy's

"Mom how are we going to die?"

"I don't know Drew."

"Who is going to put something in us to make us die?"

"NO ONE!"

"Well when are we going to die?"

"I don't know. Not till we're old!"

"But you're old!"

"No I'm not old. Grandma's are old!"

"When you're a grandma are you going to die?"

"Probably but that's a long ways away. Don't worry because we'll be with Heavenly Father!"

She thought for a second

"Where's heaven? Is it in the sky?"

"Sure!"

"When we die how do we get there?"

"Um... we float there?"

"Like with powers?"

"Yeah!"

"Does Heavenly Father have powers?"

"Yes!"

"I want powers!"

"Then you have to be a good girl."

"Is that how Heavenly Father has powers?"

"Yup! He was good when he was like you and so now he has powers."

"I'm going to be good so I can have powers! I want to make things dance like the stove and the fridge."

"Mom does P's mom have powers?"

"I don't know Drew."

"When I see P's mom again I'm going to give her a big hug!"

I was holding back the tears then. At the funeral we started singing the opening song and Drew asked me if we were singing for P's mom. I told her yes and she started bawling. Music really moves her. I don't know why it surprises me how much she understands. It's not just that she understands what's going on but she understands the emotions of everything. She then saw her friend P come in and they gave each other a big hug. P sat with us for a couple of minutes. Asked if her mom was up by the pulpit then she made her way up to her family. Drew wanted to go with her but I wouldn't let her. She then started throwing a fit and became like a lip noodle. We ended up leaving during the eulogy because Drew was being so irreverent but I think it was her emotions that caused her to act the way she did. Drew is only 4 and that was her 3rd funeral she's been to. How sad.

This post started happy and I'm sorry it got sad and serious but I felt compelled to write our conversations down for memory purpose. I hate not know what I should and shouldn't tell her so don't judge. I'm still learning!

Previously on Reynolds...

2010-02-22T18:48:00.000-07:00

Long time no see! I have been so diligent taking photos of other people that I've become relaxed when it came to taking photos of my own family. I told myself I would never do that but here I am, blogging after almost a month hiatus. Oh well! Please excuse the low quality pictures. I don't have to think on this blog which I love.

Alia turned 11 months a couple of days ago and will be turning 1 year old on March 19!! I cannot believe it! This first photo was taken in the shopping cart. We would shake it lightly and Alia would get these huge eyes, making us laugh hysterically!

Our niece Shawnie made Alia a hat out of a Styrofoam bowl and she didn't even try to take it off. It was so funny!

We finally took Brody to get a haircut when Great Clips was having a huge sale. I didn't realize how much he needed one till I look back at these photos and realize how long and nappy Brody's hair had gotten. At first he didn't want to get a haircut because he thought only girls did that but then he was convinced boys got haircuts too when his dad got in the chair opposite him.

He was still pretty distraught with the whole process.

And so was Drew.

He was a lot happier after when he and dad looked alike. Since then he's been walking around telling people about his haircut and won't stop telling them till they compliment him.

And Drew was happier too.

As for Kurt and I, we've been busy me, taking photos and Kurt with work. We recently got into Heroes, streaming all the season's from Netflix. Our nightly decision is : Sleep or Heroes? Heroes! YATTA! (I know I know 4 years too late) Now we go about our daily life wishing we had abilities and looking at different situations if we had certain ones. Pathetically fun! And we've officially become the worst parents, letting Drew watch with us. There have been a couple episodes that are truly gory even for me. We'll pause it and make Drew leave for a minute and the entire time she's throwing a fit saying, "I want to watch him kill her!" Like I said: Officially the worst parents!

till next month... ;)

My first bridal shoot!

2010-01-27T00:32:00.000-07:00

Check out the Photoblog to see more!

Brusha, brusha, brusha

2010-01-26T08:13:00.001-07:00

Last Friday Drew had a dentist appointment where she had to get six, yes six, cavities filled. Our dentist explained that Drew's teeth are very close together, that they usually don't get this close till they're almost six. Why does that sound familiar? Oh yeah because I had the same problem when I was her age. Her teeth are screwed!

We get to the dentist office and while we wait this little boy who just had work done comes out and looks like he's in Lala land. Top right hand corner.

She plays a little longer

in this awesome pediatric dental office that has this log home, country, ranch feel. As we are watching the movie Spirit about a wild horse getting captured they come out and bring her, her sedative drink.

She became VERY happy.

Then VERY loopy. And then she started getting emotional as she kept watching Spirit. The receptionist had to change the movie because Drew was on the verge of tears when the soldiers were capturing Spirit.

Why don't they have a sedative like this for adults?

They ask the parents to remain in the waiting room so the kids don't freak out and try to get to their mom. When the doctor came to get me he said that every child reacts differently to the sedative. Most of them become calm and happy. Drew became very talkative and kept asking the dentist if he was putting shinny teeth in. They had to tell her not to talk a couple of times. Before we went to the dentist Drew asked what they were going to do to her and I told her that she had ugly cavities and that they were going to take out the ugly spots and make her teeth shinny. She was obviously worried about her shinny teeth. I had to carry her and the assistant had to support her because she couldn't walk straight. If the kids do good in the chair they get a prize.

When we got out to the car she wanted to see her shinny teeth and was so upset she couldn't see them. She was weird for the first two hours after and then she became ornery! She called her numb lips squishy and she kept hitting them. As we were driving home she was complaining that she was talking funny, that her lip was squishy and then she said she was bitting something. I looked back and she was chomping on her lower lip, hard. She didn't break the skin but she left a huge impression. She seriously wasn't herself till the next day.

But it was a funny experience and don't want to do that again for a while.

I shot a bald eagle

2010-01-24T13:56:00.000-07:00

I like birds. I love to watch birds and listen to them sing when they come back in full force in the spring. Thursday's carpool called and said they couldn't take Drew to school. As I was driving home wishing I could've slept in a little longer I quickly woke up when I realized what this big bird was in the tree. It was a Bald Eagle and the first one I'd ever seen in real life AKA not on TV. I raced home got my camera and luckily it was still there until I drove it off acting like the

"papa, paparazzi."

Ballerina

2010-01-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

My very good friend, Cheryl, decided to teach a ballet class for a bunch of her friends' girls. We were lucky to be one of them. A year ago we did a couple of trial mommy and me ballet classes and it didn't work out too well. I was pregnant with Alia and not patient with a three year old girl who all she wanted to do was look in the mirror. She is now four and I am not pregnant.

She did SO well! She was the most attentive. Look she's pointing her toes!

She really wanted to dress up like a ballerina and we were lucky enough to find her black 3T onesie - I know, too big to still be wearing a onesie, but it actually was perfect for this - her black tights she just got for Christmas and her tutu that her Aunty Nikki made for her. Then I had to do her hair like a ballerina.

She had so much fun and can't wait for next time.

2010-01-20T08:36:00.000-07:00

Did I mention we had a good Christmas as a family?

Well we did.

And then we went to my sister's house.

And then we came back home to a popsicle house.

Our house had literally frozen.

It took hours to heat it up.

So we went to bed kind a cold.

And woke up to gushing water at 3 am.

The pipes had finally thawed.

And had bursted.

In three different locations of our house.

We had to shut off our water for three days.

We were dirty.

Our house was dirty.

I was depressed.

Our house is finally clean.

Our water has been on for awhile now.

And everything runs smoothly.

I am happy.

Update on the Goose: She did great for her surgery. Woke up cranky and was screaming for 15 min straight but now she's doing great and she can hear!

YAY!

Rasmussen Family visit

2010-01-19T20:58:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we were so lucky to have our friends the Rasmussen Family, visit us. It was a quick visit on their way to and from Logan visiting family but we'll take what we can get. We knew the Rasmussen's from BYUH. The first couple of times we hung out were pretty rough. Drew was a teething baby and made it a chore to do anything but finally the third time we hung out together we had a ton of fun and they became one of our best friends there.

This, now big boy Jonah was their only child they had in Hawaii and since they moved they have multiplied

and had adorable Ryker

and sweet Evva!

Jonah and Drew were best friends in Hawaii and although they didn't remember each other very well they hit it off like they were never apart.

It was so fun seeing my good friend Laura again. It had been too long. I'm seriously so grateful for all the friendships we made in Hawaii.

Alia was asleep, missing out on all the fun at Cafe Rio, which we introduced Mike and Laura to (you have to in Utah), so we woke her up for pictures. She was a little out of it but Evva was eating the camera up as you can tell.

Then we went through another timer shot which never turn out quite as well as I would like but I'm just glad we are all in the picture, blurry or not. We love you Rasmussen Family!

They live in California only 8 hours away so when we said bye we said we were going to drive some time soon to see them. Drew thought we were going with them to California right then. When we headed home she got very confused that we weren't following their car. When I told her we meant another day she started crying. A song came on the radio and she asked if it was a sad song. I said no, it's a happy song and started dancing. She then asked if I would find a sad song. Is it because you're sad Drew. All she could do was nod and cry. I had to take a picture of this momentous occasion because this was her first sad song experience. One of many she's going to have throughout the years. Boy, she started young!

I guess sad songs and waltzes ARE selling this year.

Grinning from Ear to Ear

2010-01-06T17:27:00.000-07:00

I went in to an ENT (Aka Ear Nose and Throat) Doctor and finally found out what was wrong. After looking in her ear for two seconds he knew what was wrong. Two seconds! It irritates me that there can be such a run around having to work with both an ENT and audiologist. I understand they have different roles and you need to work with both of them but... why? Enough venting! She has fluid in her middle ear and needs a tube. It's also only in her left ear, nothing wrong with her right, and we go in on Wednesday morning. They say it only takes 5 minutes... really? That quick? And they put her down with gas for only those 5 quick minutes. They say after she wakes up she'll be fussy because they aren't used to surround sound and it makes them disoriented and takes a little getting used to. They also have the tube in until it falls out on it's own anywhere between 12-18 months. Hmm... And we can't lay her down in a tub, and have to be super careful while giving her baths or taking her swimming so as not to get water in her ear. That STINKS! But hey, do I sacrifice my child's hearing just because I like to humptey dumptey her in the water? Of course not. I'm actually excited to get her hearing on the right track and I guess we don't go swimming as much as we did in Hawaii. That kind of thing has got to be devastating for any child near the water. As for it being anything else besides fluid the doc can find out when he suctions it out and sees things clearly. So I'm glad we finally know what's up and that it's only in one ear. Hopefully it's nothing more. I'll let you know how everything goes Wednesday and wish me luck because Kurt leaves on Monday for training in Ohio and I'll be a single parent till Friday. YIKES!

Photobooth Fun

2010-01-04T20:28:00.000-07:00

What can be more fun than a bunch of girls and Photobooth?

We R Family

2010-01-03T13:36:00.000-07:00

After we had our own family Christmas in Cedar we drove up and spent the rest of the Christmas weekend with my family. My mom and Joe had flown in from Hawaii that morning and it was the first time we were all together since last year for Breana and Mack's wedding. Let me say through all the chaos with the stomach flu, 6 kids, work, eating, sleeping, movies, and the wii, we had a BLAST!! Santa brought Nikki and her family the wii with rock band and steering wheels for mario kart and we decided to have a battle of the bands. We split up in groups of three, with Kurt being the judge, and each group had to perform three different songs with each team member playing a different instrument each time. There was a point system Kurt was judging by and also on enthusiasm/dancing... you get the picture. It started simple enough with a few moves like the rubber band, jumping, guitar throws and marching. Then on the next round everybody kicked it up a notch and by the end the last group was in full costumes with moves like the cockroach and a few other ones that I can't mention on my family blog! ;) The other team won by two points but if we were to combine forces I know we would go platinum!

We all had SO much fun! I sincerely love my family. I'm SO grateful that we are all in good places with our lives and that we are all doing what we are supposed to be doing.

Happy Christmas!

2009-12-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

We had our ward Christmas party last night and Santa made an appearance. I had no idea he was going to be there but I'm so grateful I brought my camera or else I, and a lot of other parents, wouldn't have had their children's pictures taken with the big man. Our ward did a great job from food to decorations. I was even able to take a plate home for Kurt who had to work.

Some updates about us:

After having Christmas morning at our house we are driving up to Salt Lake to be with my family and especially my mom who is flying in from Hawaii that morning. Alia signed her first sign which was "milk" and now uses it constantly for all the right reasons. She also turned 9 months today. YAY! It's so sad how fast they grow! :( She's also semi crawling, semi scooting on her belly, but she's so mobile! She can go from her belly into a kneeling position. She also pulls herself up on everything, including just the wall and she's starting to cruise and get around. I tell you it doesn't get old! Drew is on her Christmas break from preschool and every morning she asks if she has school. She likes being home and playing with her brother but I think she's not as challenged with us and misses her friends. Brody is just being a boy. He loves to go out into the snow, cold, you name it, with a beanie, gloves, and boots. Sometimes a shirt but I have to make him come in to get more clothes on. He's also talking a lot more and is getting his colors down. He also tries to read and to recognize letters like his bigger sister whom he loves! Kurt is liking work and is doing great at it. He is definitely kept busy juggling his work, family and sleep but he does a great job at it. I also have been keeping busy with the kids and starting my own business but it as been fun and is so worth the hustle. We also gave away our family dog, Leonidas. It was a bitter sweet moment but I know he's doing good with his new family. That's pretty much us in a nutshell. This started out as just a post but now it is kind of our family yearly update. If I don't post again by Christmas we hope every one has a merry one!

Jump!

2009-12-18T02:17:00.001-07:00

Check out my Photo blog for more of this!

Failed!

2009-12-09T17:25:00.000-07:00

So Alia failed her hearing test. :( Both ears this time... hmm... I'm going to take her to an Ear Nose & Throat Doctor to get some answers because I just don't believe it. I'll keep you posted!

Baby Tyson

2009-12-09T00:04:00.000-07:00

Check out my photo blog for more photos of baby Tyson.

Wish Us Luck!

2009-12-03T10:31:00.000-07:00

When Alia was born she failed her hearing test three times in her left ear. After seeing an Audiologist we found out that she can hear in her left ear, you just have to be speaking loud. These tests were a lot more involved than yelling in each ear like I'm making it sound. However, she took these tests when she was weeks old and the ear canal is still flexible at this age, causing an unreliable test. We go back to the Audiologist tomorrow to get the same test done now that her ear canals are more reliable. We are keeping our fingers crossed that she'll hold still for the tests and that she'll pass with flying colors!

Update

2009-11-25T11:39:00.000-07:00

Yes, we're still alive even though the cow that was in our yard is not. I haven't blogged in a while so here's to catching up!

Drew's swimming lessons ended and both Drew and Brody are very sad.

Alia is now 8 months and she is getting to be a handful just because no place in the house is safe anymore. She is scooting/army crawling. She'll get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth, maybe crawl for a second but she still gets around mostly on her stomach, pulling with her arms and pushing with her toes. She really is as fun as ever. She still only has the two teeth but she can still cut your skin if you stick your fingers in there, trying to get out what she just ate off the ground. She is only bottle fed now and is drinking more than I would've thought possible. I don't know how much she weighs but since feeding her formula and regular table food she has filled out a little more.

Oh, and she's also pulling herself up on things

It's gotten significantly colder here but that does not deter Brody from going outside naked. Yup, this is what he wanted to wear outside the other day. I tried to get him to get dressed but he wouldn't.

On Monday for FHE we went to the college's planetarium. This is the sunset we saw on our way there.

The planetarium was super fun. First they had a slide show to inform us about some of the things we could see and then we headed upstairs to actually look through the big telescope. The kids liked looking at the moon and Jupiter.

Earlier that day I got a nice surprise in the mail.

My business cards! YAY!

And to end this post, last night Brody came in to show me what he had drawn. He pointed to it and said Brody! It was a self portrait. I LOVE these kinds of drawings. When he does stuff like this I know he's getting older, bigger and smarter. He's actually drawing things that look like what he's trying to draw. And of course Drew's picture is amazing too! I really love my kids!

Open For Business

2009-11-12T19:41:00.001-07:00

Okay. So I am the biggest loser but I'm too excited to care that I only have one post and it happens to be my husband and my blog is not up to par. Check out

NoelleReynoldsPhoto.com

and get the full post of the hottest model alive!

Photography Workshop

2009-11-09T13:58:00.017-07:00

Kurt gave me a Canon SLR for my very early birthday and Christmas present. I LOVE it!!! Right before I ordered it my friend Anna, which is also Kurt's cousins wife, emailed me and asked if I wanted to go to a photography workshop with her down in St. George. We had a blast and learned a lot. So here are some of my pictures from the workshop.

Our host, and pro photographer was Kevin Hulett. He was awesome to answer all of our stupid questions and to take the time with everyone that needed technical help with their cameras.

This was my last photo in JPEG. Right after I shot this he told us that if we were shooting in JPEG we needed to STOP NOW! So we all did.

First picture in RAW.

He taught us how to spot meter and how to hold our AE lock when we were shooting in aperture priority. (I cheated and shot in manual) He was cool with it though.

This is Cassidy. A cute girl that was also in the class that had cool orange shoes.

One fun thing about the class is that Kevin hired a model for us to shoot. So we walked a little ways to this art labyrinth place.

This was our model Cassy.

And her mom Christy. I think we had more fun photographing everybody else!

This my good friend Anna, who I went with. I'm so glad she asked me to come!

We seriously had so much fun. Everybody was nice and easy to talk to. Kevin was a great teacher and really put together a good class.

Well, I'm jumping on the photography bandwagon...FINALLY! So look out for more photos coming from moi!

Love Hurts!

2009-11-04T23:45:00.007-07:00

This is a story about a little girl and her brother who loves her SO much.

Halloween!

2009-11-03T12:07:00.008-07:00

I got a message from my mom saying she was waiting for Halloween pictures. Sorry these are late. I was having fun with photoshop.

Two days before Halloween it snowed. YUCK! It always snows at least once before Halloween and this year was looking really nice like it wasn't going to, but it did. The day after it snowed the weather was warmer and by Halloween it was like it never even happened. It was gorgeous!

Alia was a giraffe

$8 costume at walmart

We went to see Where the Wild Things Are a little bit ago and while Kurt, Drew and I LOVED it Brody could only stand the first 30 min. He especially loved when Max put on his costume and was chasing the dog around the house, the very beginning, and every time they howled. I don't know if Brody knew what he was doing but when he got dressed for Halloween he was literally a wild thing. Growling and being defiant, but oh so cute still!

Brody was Max from Where the Wild Things are

Momade-$10

I'm kind of a mean mom and wouldn't let Drew be lots of things that she had listed she wanted to be months ago. She was already Cinderella two years ago so I wouldn't let her be another princess or fairy this year. I don't know where she got the idea but she had suggested Strawberry Shortcake and I agreed. When I pulled up the picture to show her she looked at Strawberry with disgust. "Not THAT girl! The pretty one!" After some google searching I found out that there has been three different looking Strawberries since I grew up. All becoming... less homely? Well this one that she wanted to be was what I considered a princessy Strawberry Shortcake. You have to check out those tights though. I had to take a stretchy adult sized night shirt and sew it into those tights because we couldn't find any like that anywhere.

Drew was Strawberry Shortcake

Hat:Children's Place-$7

Momade-$7

I pretty much had no idea what I was going to be until the day before Halloween. We went to Walmart and grabbed a bunch of fun things to glue on and fabric to sew a skirt, into what became this. My main point was to stay modest and warm.

I was a gothic school girl

Memade-$12

I have to save the best for last. Kurt didn't think about what he was going to be for Halloween until the night before. Yes, 24 hours till trick or treat time! He found horns at a local store and knew what he had to do to be done in time. From the minute he woke up to the time we were heading out the door he and I were working on his costume. I think Kurt forgets Halloween is for the kids and not for him. Then again you only get one time a year to live out your fantasy right?

Kurt was the guy from Fable

Kurtmade-$30

Alia At Seven Months

2009-10-26T22:25:00.005-06:00

Alia is now seven months old and it's going by too fast. I can't believe my third child is closer to one than she is to being a new born. It makes talking about having our fourth that much closer. NO we are not getting pregnant and having another one till 2011 but you know what I mean! The year 2011 is creeping closer.

Alia is bringing so much joy in our lives. She has the sweetest personality. She LOVES to give her mommy nice wet kisses and she's a very aggressive. She'll grab my hair, ears, face, and use her kung fu grip on my skin and pull me towards her. It hurts that crazy but makes me smile at the same time. She'll follow me wherever I go. I have to hide for her to pay attention to other people. Almost two weeks ago she started to army crawl and she will crawl in circles if that means keeping an eye on me. She'll get up on her knees every once in a while and maybe crawl with a knee or two, rock back and forth, but she mostly pushes with her feet and pulls with her arms to get where she needs to go. And boy is she fast! Drew and Brody get a huge kick out of her crawling. They'll stop whatever they are doing to watch her and giggle. We also got her ears pierced a couple of weeks ago. She was a real trooper and looks so cute with her purple earrings. Alia LOVES to eat! She will eat whatever we are eating and what she's allowed to eat. Whenever she sees us eating she'll start smacking her lips and eyeing your food. She'll even go the extra mile to steal if from your plate or fork. We have to be quick! If only her teeth could keep up with her appetite. She finally got her first two teeth and on the same day. She woke up from her worthless 10 min nap and I knew she was fussy because of her teeth. I rubbed my finger along her bottom gums and while doing so her left tooth popped through and then a couple of hours later her second. So far she's been my latest bloomer when it comes to her teeth but I am not complaining!

Alia really is such a good baby. She'll sit in her car seat the whole half an hour at Drew's swimming lessons and not pitch a fit once. She love to talk and use her tongue. She's still constantly sticking it out and chomping on it like it was gum. Twisting it in her mouth, blowing raspberries, and trying to talk. She still can't sit up on her own for more than ten seconds. We always joke that she'll be able to walk before she can sit up. She loves to stand and work her legs even though they are still so thin not to be mistaken for short. She's still long, skinny, small head and big feet.

I'll have to post better pictures soon but for now...

Happy Birthday Collin!

2009-10-20T21:55:00.008-06:00

Friday night, midnight more like it, we set off for a four hour drive to celebrate Collin's 1st birthday. We didn't get in till 4:30 am but it was SO worth it!

The theme was a Fall Fest Carnival. Aren't these decorations amazing? Kurt made that balloon arch.

A lot of people who attended didn't expect a 1st birthday party to look and be this big of a deal. In Hawaii 1st birthday parties are a big deal because back in the old days not every baby survived to see their 1st birthday. So it's become a tradition to go all out for babies first birthdays.

Breana and Cherie getting things ready!

FOOD!

The kids were given tickets that they could play the games with.

We had donut on a string,

a fishing pond,

ring toss, wiffle ball toss,

and bean bag toss.

A carnival is not complete without cotton candy!

Singing Happy Birthday to the big boy!

Nikki made this AWESOME carmel apple cake

which collin found intresting. After digging his hands into it he tried to wipe the frosting on his cousins. It was so funny!

Blake holding Alia. One of the many pairs of hands holding her that day since I was busy helping. Thanks for taking care of her guys!

Some of the HI crew that lives up here now.

A real carmel apple for everyone for party favors. They were SO good covered in delicious, buttery carmel!

After Collin's party the McBride and Reynolds clans went to Thansgiving Point for the Scarecrow Festival that Mike's work sponsors every year.

The kids LOVED it. They had free games, like the ones we played earlier,

a ton of bounce houses, train rides, junior spook house, movie on a big screen,

pumpkin patch if you wanted to buy pumpkins,

and peddle cars.

It was a fun day filled with fun activities!

These pictures were taken on Sunday, hanging out before church.

Davis loved ths picture because it looks like the ball was his head when really he was throwing the ball trying to make it in the cauldron.

Thanks for letting us share the weekend with you Collin!

How Fun Would That Be?

2009-10-11T16:56:00.003-06:00

These sound like fun!

And they're all not scrapbooking. There's even a photography one!

If anybody wants to go in the future let me know and we'll do it!

They even have payment plans available!

Annyong Haseyo!

2009-10-08T21:18:00.007-06:00

Why hello! It's been a while. Here's what's been going on with the Reynolds gang.

Drew learned how to ride her bike without training wheels! This was a video taken a couple of weeks ago and now she can ride forever and nobody has to start her off either. I was 10 when I learned how to ride a two wheeled bike. Things like this, her learning to ride a 'big girl bike' really makes me want to slow down time.

Aila was cheering Drew on from the stroller. You can see her legs kicking in the video above.

One of my favorite habits babies posses is eating their toes. LOVE IT!

Drew presented Brody to me like this saying, "Isn't he stylish?" We get these free stickers in the mail from Disney every once in a while and I have to say thank you Disney for keeping my kids occupied with free stickers for 5 whole minutes.

September 28th was the last time I posted and it was our wedding anniversary. Kurt had to work so I took the kids to the Korean Festival. When Kurt got back from his mission in Korea he brought this hanbok back for his niece. She's outgrown it and has giving it to Drew. She was SO proud that she was able to wear it.

The food was SO good and oh so free!

After we ate they had a Korean fashion show and traditional dance. It was so fun to go and have the kids behave really well. Alia did let us know when she was tired and headed home.

When Kurt got home he gave me these and Photoshop CS4! I'm SO excited to start playing on it but our computers optical drive is being dumb so we have to get that fixed first.

Drew had her last soccer game on the 29th of September. She wanted to score SO bad she was getting incredibly frustrated and she was being aggressive and trying her hardest too. Even though she didn't score a goal it was the best I've ever seen her play! She did an amazing job this season and I can't wait for next year!

I just have to capture moments like this so I don't forget. Forget her first time noticing fish? Kinda but more her first time noticing things in general. It's just so cute to see Alia grow and develop. I tell you it doesn't get old no matter how many kids you have.

With soccer done swim lessons started. We love Headstart! They have a free swim lesson program to all headstart students. The last time we went swimming Drew ripped her suit. Huge whole. No suit. The day of her first lesson I found this suit on the clearance rack, because swim suits are not in season here all year long -what's up with that?- at Christensen's. The last and only place I had left to look. $10!

Drew did awesome! This is her first formal swim class and I was a little worried with how she would act, because shes like a firecracker now days, but she did great!

"Our love is rock steady" {Take 2}

2009-09-28T17:49:00.011-06:00

The first time I posted this the pictures didn't show. So here is another post with more pictures. Leave me comment to let me know it worked!

Here's a question for you.

What were you doing 7 years ago?

Think about it.

Here's another one.

What were you doing when you were 18 years old?

For me they were one in the same and I was doing this.

I have to say when you are 18 you aren't really that mature or make the best decisions but I'm going to toot my own horn here for a second and say this was the most mature thing I've ever done and the best choice I've ever made.

Now to take you down our memory lane.

If you have not heard our fairy tale I'll give you the brief version. We met at Walmart the day before Halloween in 2001. Kurt was playing dumb, hitting on me and I thought he just wanted to introduce me to his friend. Turned out it was Kurt that liked me and we exchanged numbers. The next day, Halloween, I went to a party and my only thought was the guy I met at Walmart. I decided if he wasn't going to call me I was going to call him. Something I would never have done.

Girls are not supposed to call boys!

But he called and we were literally inseparable after that.

And now for some pictures that tells some more of our story before we had kids.

We went on a double date with Kurt's brother Jon and his then girlfriend Angela who is now his wife. This was in January or February and the water was frozen on the edges.

Before our first date Kurt took his car to get washed and while he was there he met another interesting girl. He got her number just incase I didn't work out.

True story.

I TRUELY hope this does not offend anyone.

If it makes any difference Alia might be deaf in one ear.

Kurt taught me how to shoot although I look L.A.M.E in this picture.

Our first concert.

We went with my sister, and her in-laws to an olympic event. I left my camera at the metal detectors on accident and didn't get any pictures of the event. When we went back they still had my camera but this was our only picture at the Olympics.

Another fun story is that when I met Kurt he was dating somebody else just so that he could hunt on her property. While they were hunting she saw a deer and was about to shoot it but her gun jammed. So Kurt gave her his brothers gun to shoot and the gun had a huge kick. She wasn't prepared and when she pulled the trigger the scope blasted into her face and made a half moon gash around her eye. He had to wait in the waiting room at the hospital for a couple of hours.

It was like a week later he met me and stopped returning her phone calls.

When my sister Nikki and her husband Mike we're having their reception in Hawaii and I was able to bring Kurtis. At the reception Kurt caught the garter,

and I caught the bouquet.

My sister and her husband, and Kurt's brother and his wife and us, all got married in the same year.

We went hiking Maunawili Falls and Kurt HAD to pick some bananas. Only after he ate them did he believe that they weren't ripe.

When Kurt asked me to marry him he took me up the mountain and said we were looking for deer. He was going too fast and it was getting too dark to see them. I thought he was crazy! He drove us up to his Aunt and Uncles' property and led me to a tent with this display. After realizing what was going on he poured us glasses of sparkling grape juice. He said after I finished my drink he had something he wanted to ask me. I downed that drink in a shot and it burned. But I didn't care!

These next pictures are after we got married, eleven months after we met.

On our first date we went to this park.

Our first apartment together. The rent was only $350!

Our first Christmas together.

Kurt worked for a company called White Wave where he made Silk soy milk.

Remember these?

These were the days when you could get hurt and you didn't have to think of the consequences.

Kurt had forgotten to get me something our first Valentines Day together so he made up for it on St. Patrick's Day.

When we were still dating Kurt decided we would spend our day at this open lot. He would be BMXing on dirt jumps and I would watch him. As he was jumping this kid no older than eight, comes running out from a nearby house. He started throwing huge, hard, dirt clods at me and yelling, "This is my dirt you get away from here." I yelled at him to stop and he wouldn't. I had to start running away from him because he was literally hitting me. I started yelling for Kurt like a damsel in distress, to come and help me. He went over to the kid and warned him that if he didn't stop he was going to be sorry.

The boy didn't stop and he was sorry.

Kurt grabbed him and started shovel piles of dirt, rocks, weeds, anything loose he could get his hands on, into this kids' pants and undies. He was screaming! When Kurt let him up it looked like he had layers of pants on and he was a big dust bubble. He started screaming and waddling home with dust trailing behind him saying he was going to tell his mom. That was when we decided it was time to leave.

My hero!

My first and so far the only time I've ever been ice fishing.

When you don't have kids you're able to get in the car and drive somewhere without a forethought.

The Grand Staircase.

On our way,

to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

For the first two years of our marriage, the weekend before Thanksgiving we'd drive to Colorado for a mini vacation. The last time we went we were able to go to the Temple.

Just found out we were pregnant.

My Birthday

We want to go to as many different temples as possible.

St. George Temple with Kurts Grandma Kay

Hawaii Temple

SLC Temple

I realized I didn't take as many pictures before we had kids. Now I look back and wish I did. I seriously can't believe it's been seven years since getting married and almost eight since meeting Kurt. When we met I was going to school at Southern Utah University and Kurt had just gotten off his mission. Before I started the school year the family that I was living with were great family friends that had lived in Hawaii previously. The dad of the house, Joel, gave all of his kids blessings before the first day of school. I was lucky to be considered one of his children and he gave me a blessing. In that blessing he said I would meet life long friends at school. I distinctly remember that because I thought it would be fun to meet a girl that I would be friends with forever. I didn't realize then, because I hadn't met him, that that meant Kurt.

Happy 7th Anniversary Kurt!

September 28th 20o2

6 months old already?

2009-09-23T18:51:00.003-06:00

This Little Girl, Goosabean, Booshana, Baby Alia, brings the biggest smile to our faces. She turned 6 months old this month. That's half a year old already!

This was the first time I put shoes on her and she was so interested in those things I put on her feet.

Right now she rolls around like crazy. None of my other kids rolled to get anywhere or anything but she does. Kurt put her in the living room and walked out. When he came back in a couple of minutes later she was on the opposite end of the room.

"Wow! She gets around!"

She loves to be held and go where we go. She loves hanging out outside. She could totally be bawling and the second I walk outside she's happy. She's finally eating more. After the novelty of rice cereal wore off she started gaging on her food. Now she can and likes to eat more. Alia's still this petite baby with little rolls on her thighs but no where else. She wants to sit up so bad but pushes back when we try to sit her up. That's just fine by me. The sooner she sits the sooner she'll be walking and the sooner I'll have to chase after another kiddo. She really has this personality with a punch that fits right in with her looks. Instead of a sweet coo she's graduated to a yell. She's still happy but she realized that if she wants to be heard in this house she has to yell. I LOVE it. Especially in church! This past Sunday our class had sharing time and I think Alia stole the show with her yelling. But even so our boys were awesome! I'm SO grateful for her and her little spirt!

Oh and we have a cow in our back yard just waiting to be eaten by Kurt's brother.

GO MEAT!

Photo Box

2009-09-22T12:59:00.007-06:00

To make this photo box you'll need at least 5 sheets of cardstock and any embellishments you want. I'd recommend getting patterned cardstock but you could also use plain colored cardstock and glue colored paper on it.

While making this tutorial it was only my second time making the cube and I made a mistake by folding my paper the wrong way. I took apart my first lid and figured out what I did wrong. So these pictures consist of two different lids. Some pictures my paper has lines that shouldn't be there and the other pictures the paper is cut before it should be because that's the one that I had to take apart. But nevertheless my instructions are accurate and you should be able to get it. :)

The lid:

First you find the center of your 12 x 12 inch paper and mark it. The side that you mark will not be shown.

Then you fold all four corners to the center dot to make a square.

After you've made a square fold the east and west sides into the center line to make a vertical rectangle.

Open it back up to the square and fold the north and south sides to the center line to make a horizontal rectangle.

Unfold your paper and position it so a corner is towards you. Now cut on the line up to the center square on each side of the corner facing you and the one facing away. NOT on the corners facing east and west.

So it looks like this. Remember I made a mistake and some of those line you see in my pictures are not supposed to be there so don't freak out!

Fold east and west corners to the center dot.

Now bend the east and west sides up. These are two out of the four sides of you box lid.

As you fold the sides up turn the flappy triangles that are connected to these sides, inwards.

Now you have a swinging gate on the north and south sides.

Next you fold the last flaps, north and south, up and over your swinging gates.

The final lid should look like this but a lot less blurry.

The box:

The first piece of cardstock you use for the box will be the outside of it. Whatever color or pattern you want for the outside of your box face downwards. So this picture my outside of the box would be white. Fold each side of your 12 x 12 paper four inches all around.

After you folded all the sides and opened it up your paper should look lined exactly like this.

This is when you start getting creative. With each corner you cut and fold to create your pages. This example I cut the horizontal east and west lines, and folded them over the north and south middle squares. Now you can put eyelets on the flaps and tie a ribbon through it, you could cut the corners at an angle and glue the sides down. It took me some trial and error but the most important thing is that you don't cut off or through the middle north south east or west squares.

With your next paper you want to cut two sides down a quarter of an inch. But when you fold the paper you still fold each side four inches. You want the page leafs to stay the same size and the middle square to get smaller. With the third piece of paper you cut a half inch on two sides, and the fourth, three quarters of an inch and so forth. So you cut a quarter inch smaller than the previous paper. Again only cut two sides of the paper and you still fold four inches on every paper.

Here are some of my pages. You can probably imagine how I cut the corner square to get a flap over the middle one.

Another thing is that you will see the back side of every page except for the center square. The only center square you'll see is the top one which is your smallest.

When you have all of your pages decorated you glue all your pages together in the middle.

Then you fold all the sides in.

And put your lovely decorated lid on top.

The finished product.

On all the paper and in all the pockets you made you can put a picture on or in. You can put pictures, or embellishments on the the backs, under the lid, on the sides, or on the top. Also on your pictures that are in the pockets you can but string or tags on them to be easily pulled out. This was not my idea. I'm not that creative. We did this at a Relief Society activity

"Just like a rainbow you know you set me free..."

2009-09-21T21:23:00.007-06:00

I just can't get enough, I just can't get enough!

This past weekend was Cedar City's Skyfest. We woke up early Friday morning and watched hot air balloons being blown up and launched. I had no idea seeing a balloon being blown open and away with gas was going to cause me to be emotional. But it really made me tear up. Of course that isn't saying much coming from somebody who cries watching every Disney movie. My younger sisters and I would always tease my older sister, Nikki, for getting so emotional over the smallest things. Now I have no room to talk.

My camera battery died in the middle of the launch on Friday morning so I went by myself again Saturday morning. These pictures consist of the two days.

I have to say that the pilots and crews were SO nice. I was totally in their way trying to get the best shots and instead of yelling at me they took of a picture of Drew and I and told me that I could go closer.

They first test their gas and then they blow open the balloons with an industrial fan. Then when the balloon is open they fire up the gas and it makes the balloon right itself.

All together there was around 20 balloons. How many can you see in this picture?

After the balloons were up, up, and away we watched rc airplanes being flown.

On my drive home.

After the team gets the balloon off of the ground they have to follow it until it lands. They call them chasers. I noticed this one landed on my way home.

The pilot can only really control the ballon going up or down and they let the wind do the rest of the work. The wind was blowing towards our house.

This was taken in our front yard. I loved that this balloon flew right over our house. That's not our house but a shed right next to it. :)

"Let the wild rumpus start!"

2009-09-18T23:31:00.005-06:00

Lately I've been staying up till Kurt gets home, not because I'm a good wife and waiting up for him, but because I have a million things I want to do and I want to do them all! One project I have finished is sewing Brody's costume. He's going to be Max from Where The Wild Things Are. I have to give myself the biggest pat on the back because his costume has turned out how I had pictured it in my head. Since sewing Brody's costume I've been on a sewing frenzy and have been altering any of our clothes that need it. Drew had a pair of leggings that were a couple sizes too big and I cut and sewed them to make it how it's supposed to fit.

More of my projects when I get done with them!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2009-09-14T22:44:00.009-06:00

I haven't had much time to blog lately. Kurt has started his regular shift working from 2:30 pm to 11:30 pm. When he's home we like to do things together and when he's at work I've been busy being taxi driver, cook, and putting the kids to bed all by myself. It's fun but tiring. Lately I've been reading instead of blogging once the kids are in bed and I have time to myself.

So an update since the last time I posted! We went to the Iron County Fair where they had a petting zoo,

and rides. I quite possibly think this is the first time Drew and Brody have ever been on a carousel. Not too long ago I read Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury and I must say these rides and the people managing the rides REALLY freaked me out and reminded me of the book.

There was a height limit for most of the rides and I definitely thought/hoped that Drew wouldn't make the minimum for the swings. Now for those of you who've been to the Punahou carnival, the swings are no where near that big, but still I imagined her slipping out and falling to her death. She lived. And loved it.

Brody HAD to ride the Choo Choo Train ride. He is BIG into trains right now which I love just hope our house doesn't turn into a station.

After the fair while the hunt was still going we went with Kurt hunting. We pretty much just wait in the car while Kurt walks through some fields and hope that he comes running back yelling he's got one. While we were waiting Drew looked out the window and saw this cloud. She said it looked like an alligator with it's mouth open. I had to document it because I think it was the first time she found an image from a cloud and had it actually look like what she described.

Have you ever said you would NEVER do something pertaining to your kids. I have and it had to deal with a mom giving her 5 month old licorice. I'm a hypocrite.

I'm sorry for judging you other mom.

With the Iron County fair comes the Labor Day parade. I think next year we are going to bypass ALL of the Cedar City parades and just go to this one parade. It was the best of them all!

See the people giving away balloons in the background? Brody didn't get one.

So the family sitting next to us, the Wilcock's, gave Brody theirs. And he was happy.

Then we went back to the creepy fair to use the last of the ride tickets

where Kurt had to take a picture of a boy puking in the garbage after riding the stupidest ride that spins you around and around. Moving on...

My mom came to Utah to visit her daughters and spent a couple days down in Cedar with us. We went to the Daughters of the Utah Pioneer Museum. It was a small DUP sector but oh so fascinating!

Drew was scared of these dolls.

Ever wonder why people always looked so unhappy in pictures like this?

It was because it took around half an hour to take a picture. Try holding a smile that long!

We drove a little way up Cedar Canyon

and went down to St. George to jump at Jumpin Jacks, shop,

and eat.

While my mom, Stephanie was here she also sold her house.

Don't worry she's still going to live in Hawaii but I never thought I was going to be as sad as I was. I lived here through high school and with Kurt as a family for a while. Drew learned to swim in this pool. We'll miss you house.

P.S. Drew scored two goals in her game today! :)

Read this!

2009-09-04T10:21:00.000-06:00

It's HILARIOUS!! It's got some colorful language but it's a good book. The author, Bill Bryson decides to hike the Appalachian Trail that runs from Georgia to Maine. A 2,100 mile stretch across 14 states. You will die laughing!

Never A Dull Moment

2009-09-03T09:59:00.000-06:00

Remember Brodini?

He's back!

And he's brought

Drewetta

and baby Hitler. We'll call her Alianna.

These are my Italian Bambinos!

I have this little pool of water to give the birds, dogs, and any other animals who are thirsty, a place to drink. I came out one fine day to see Brody using it as his own jacuzzi.

Eww!

Drew got this cute baby doll for her Birthday from Kurt's cousin Keisha. I looked over and saw Alia holding it like this. I still don't know how it got there.

The other day we went to take soccer pictures for Drew. She did OK when she took her individual picture. All the other girls took pictures sitting Indian style with the ball in their lap. For some reason Drew couldn't grasp the concept to sit up straight. After five minutes of trying that position the photographer made her lay on her stomach and I fingered the ball on her criss crossed legs behind her head. It worked and everybody was happy. After we move on to the team photos. When all the girls were getting into their places Drew was no where to be found. Another mom spied her hiding behind a nearby tree. She didn't want to take pictures. We threatened, bribed, pleaded, and (insert another verb here cause I couldn't think of one) but she still didn't take. So they took a team picture without her.

I was FURIOUS!

Moving on...

We had to say goodbye to this trusted beauty. While Cherie was in Hawaii for the summer we watched her car for her/used it as our primary car because ours had serious issues. Thank you Cherie for letting us watch/use your car!

What has the weather been like in Cedar do you ask? Windy with a side of smoke. A mountain in New Harmony, a little town south of Cedar, caught on fire when there was this amazing lightning storm. The fire department had it under control and decided to continue to let the mountain burn as a controlled fire. They have controlled fires every year so that they burn all the dry stuff and let the new fresh foliage grow so that it is less likely to burn and start a raging forest fire later. Well this fire with the help of the wind got out of hand and made the whole atmosphere into the lungs of a chain smoker. There was ash falling from the sky like a light snow fall.

It made the sun look a crazy neon yellow

but made the sunset gorgeous porgeous.

That is all!

Growing Up

2009-09-02T12:47:00.006-06:00

Last Friday we went to Drew's school for an orientation. When we first got there Drew took an eye exam which she passed with flying colors. I was really worried about it because Kurtis had his first pair of glasses when he was three. In a period of a couple of months Kurt went through three pairs of glasses which he mysteriously lost, broke, and lost again. He hated wearing them, could you guess? Then she also did a shape test where she had to match the identical shapes together. She didn't miss a beat! While the aid went over the boring stuff with the parents Raelynn, Drew's teacher, went through a normal day with the kids. First they had circle time.

Brody was playing with the blocks, keeping out of trouble.

Then they had a little snack. Drew starts school at 8:45 and it goes till 12:45 so they actually feed them breakfast and lunch.

After they ate they played with playdoh,

then went outside for some exercise.

Brody keeping out of trouble playing under the playground.

Alia getting into trouble playing on the circle mat.

After Drew cleaned up the blocks we headed home. This orientation got her really excited for school.

This is the morning of her first real day!

As you can see in this picture she didn't bring a back pack because you don't have to. When we got in half of the kids had them. She started freaking out because she didn't have her back pack. I had to drive home and get it so she would be okay. The things you do for your kids! Then the next day she said she peed in her clothes just so she could wear the extra pair of clothes that I bought especially to keep in her class. She really didn't pee. We're excited to see what other things she comes up with the rest of the year.

They also sign in every day when they get there. I think it'll be fun to see the progression. Already after the third day of school I've seen her interest in words a lot more. I've tried to teach her her letters before and she did not of the patience for me. So when I could teach Drew for 20 min. without her getting frustrated I see it as a breakthrough!

I'm SO excited that she's in preschool and loving it. It gives her a chance to get a heads up for kindergarten next year and it gives me a chance to focus on Brody a little more.

A Sister, A Sally, and A Secret

2009-08-22T21:26:00.004-06:00

Alia turned 5 months on the 19th and like always I'm late in posting about it. Here are a couple of off the wall pictures that shows her fun little personality.

This is a really blurry picture but I wanted to show you how much hair she has lost. She really looks like a baby that has a toupee on top and still bald around the sides and back.

She has been doing this for a couple of weeks now. I think she has stronger abs than I do. She seriously want to be able to sit up all by herself.

Brody LOVES his sister,

and isn't so gentle with her,

and makes her apprehensive every time he's around.

Today we went over to Kurt's aunt and uncles house where their boy, Brendan, had showed us Salamander's he caught. I was very intrigued so I had to blog about it.

I recently read The Secret. Ever read it? I've always wanted to read it because there was a big to do about it but didn't get around to it till just barely. If you've never read it basically is about how you can control your destiny by radiating brain waves into the universe, telling it what you want. Sounds weird but the just of the book was actually good. It said that you need to be thankful for what you have, give a little to charity, and think positively. If you wake up and say it's going to be a bad day, then you're going to have a bad day and instead of saying, "Don't get wet" you would say "Stay dry" Is that a bad example? Anyways I didn't fully believe it could work but I didn't think it would hurt to try and what's the worst that could happen thinking positively?

Well after being positive for a couple of days, and trying to change my thinking, this came in the mail. A flyer for Robert's Crafts Customer Appreciation Day.

With a grand prize of a screen printing machine priced at $250. I sent positive brain waves into the air, saying that I was going to win instead of I want to win, and I knew, SERIOUSLY KNEW, I was going to win. We went to Robert's I put my name in for the drawing along with Kurt's and guess who won? KURT!! Hahahaha!!

As we were driving there I kept telling him I was going to win. I just knew it! He thought I was a loony so when his name was called he was in shock! My screaming in the store, amongst all the people, there was a lot, kinda woke him up. He was still dumbfounded when we left but I was so excited I kept punching the air, too excited to contain myself.

So now I'm a believer of most of that stupid book. I still don't believe in some things it says like thinking positively can get me the perfect parking stall but hey maybe that's why I never get it!

;)

Home Run!!

2009-08-20T13:18:00.011-06:00

This morning I woke up by Kurtis' alarm clock going off. Another day where I have to step up to the plate. Kurt leaves for work around 7:30 am and gets home around 7:30 pm. When he gets home we run around like chickens with their heads cut off, with things to do before we go to bed.

I have been loving it!

I think it's because I have to... be all that I can be? No but really like I said I have to step up. Yesterday Drew had soccer practice so I needed to get up with Kurt, we also needed to take our car into the shop so we he drove our car while I followed in Cherie's, which we have been borrowing all summer, picked him up after dropping off our car and then took him to work. Then we went to Drew's soccer practice, dropped a book of at a friends, went and did a little shopping at Walmart, made dinner, and then went and picked Kurt back up from work. Now I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but when you have three kids, one still in an infant car seat that you have to lug around, it's not the easiest thing to do. That was the first time I've been to the store with three kids by myself. I felt very good about myself after that! Then we came home, ate dinner had our nightly rituals and still the kids didn't get in bed till 9:30 just because we were crunched for time.

But it feels good to be busy!

While Kurt and I had our small measure of quiet time he was telling me about his day. Like I said Kurt is learning to make buckets. He will technically be training for a year because there is so much he has to learn. Look under your plastic cups or some plastic container. Go ahead and look. You'll see a bunch of pictures, maybe clocks, numbers, symbols, Kurt is learning what all that stuff means. Then look in the middle of the underside of the cup. Is there like a little indentation? He knows what makes that and way. I actually don't remember so I can't tell you but it's interesting all the things he is learning. He has to take nine different buckets at one time and measure the width, length, circumference, amount of dye in the bucket. Then he has take take it and fill it up with water, drop it and see if it leaks, breaks, shatters, then takes a machine that puts pressure on it to see if it withstands a certain amount of pressure. Then he pokes holes in it to see if it'll crack or just pour water out of the wound. If it cracks, how far does it crack down. He was telling me SO much more that I can't remember but it's amazing how much one person has to put in just to make one bucket. With all that said, so far he likes his job and I'm really enjoying mine more!

But who knows? It's only the first week and for some reason we have been and will remain to be super busy for a little while. Kurt started work, the deer hunt started, get the car fixed, we had friends come and visit, friends leaving, friends moving back, Drew playing soccer and starting Head Start soon, sister's coming back, appointments, wedding, birthday, friends having a baby, needing to order things, fulfilling our callings, getting the dog fixed - that may not be HUGE but the line for the discounted clinic starts lining up at 5:00 am! - and in the mix of all this we have to remember to eat healthy, take naps, keep the house clean, get exercise, have fun, and wipe our butts!

I couldn't have asked for more!

It Was A Boydful Day!

2009-08-18T10:57:00.008-06:00

We had one of the best Sunday nights in a long time because the Boyd Family came to visit!! We lived in TVA together while Mary and Kurtis went to school at BYUH. They dropped in Sunday night, stayed in a hotel, and we were able to have them the entire day on Monday.

The kids had so much fun playing in the yard, playing hide-and-go-seek, catching grass hoppers and just being kids. Drew and Brody were so happy to have good friends to play with. It was so cute seeing Drew and Jacob play and Drew laughing so hard. Then Brody and Jacob be little boys together. Seth, Eli, and Jacob are such big boys now! It amazes me how much kids grow in a year.

Alia was being such a good baby. I think she was grateful to have other faces looking at her besides her mom.

After lazily passing the time in our front yard we went to the Boyd's hotel and swam in the indoor pool and jacuzzi. The kids had so much fun they didn't want to get out. We hung out in the hotel room waiting for Kurtis to get off of his first day of work so we could go eat dinner. The kids were getting restless so Shane got them food to hold them over and make them happy.

It worked.

As soon as Kurtis got home we went to eat at Wingers! These two had a little connection going on. When we were swimming Shane sat out, held Alia the entire time and got her to sleep. Something she doesn't do very often without a swing or car.

Elijah

Seth and Drew

Mary and Jacob

an idiot I picked off the street

and Brody

Not pictured: Noelle

After we were done eating we weren't ready to say goodbye yet so we went back to the Boyd's hotel to hang out for a little bit longer. We had the kids sit in pictures for us and here Mary had asked who wanted to hold the baby.

Eli was the lucky winner

Look how cute these kids are!

but Seth

and Jacob got a chance. I swear it was like he was holding his girlfriend here.

After we left and as we were driving home I was fighting back the tears, complaining how we need friends like the Boyd's here. Where you don't need to be doing a lot, just hanging out and enough is said. Kurt and I started talking and laughing about our sleepover we had with them while living in TVA and the nights out I had with the girls... we miss it all. So anytime we have a chance to see someone from BYUH we take it. Now that I think about it we don't want friends like the Boyd's, we want them! We had SO much fun guys and we were so happy you stopped to say hi!

Who knew Kurt's first day of work, an 11 hour shift, could be this fun for me?

Go Blue Lightning and Black Thunder!

2009-08-15T18:28:00.004-06:00

Drew had her first soccer game today. Her team name is Blue Lightning and her cousin Case's team is Black Thunder who's game we saw after Drew's.

The first half of the game consisted of girls making goals for the opposite team, the ball being dribbled the wrong way and a lot of confused faces. Drew, I have to say, had the biggest confused face of them all. Instead of looking at the ball she would look at us. A couple of times she just ran around where the other girls were, not knowing where the ball was.

We didn't get it. We had been practicing with her since we signed her up. Kurt's motto that he taught her was,

"BE MEAN!"

but everything we had said and coached her on previously had gone to the back of her head.

It was then her turn to sit out and let her other team members play. As she sat on my lap on the side lines she could see from a different perspective what she was supposed to do. As soon as it was her turn to go back in she dominated!

And scored a goal!!

We stayed after Drew's game to watch Case's. He was having a hard time. He cried for a little bit and sat out for a little more and then as soon as he was able to hold him mom's hand he did great!

And scored a goal!!

I think they are now ready for their next game!

A Date With My Deer

2009-08-15T17:23:00.007-06:00

Yesterday a friend of ours offered to watch Drew and Brody while Kurt and I went on a lunch date to celebrate him getting a job. I think we've stretched this job celebration as far as it can go. We stopped to get gas.

Then we headed over to DI to look for something Kurt could rig into an arrow holder of sorts for the archery hunt. It was nice not having all of our kids because that meant I could go in the store too instead of having to wait in the car.

I'm always interested by all this knick knack crap. Who did it belong to? Who would actually have had this in their house? This pig though was cute.

I love when we take Alia places in her car seat with a blanket over her to block the sun, she always seems to peak out and find me.

After smelling the dust off of ancient junk that should just be thrown away, we went to eat at

A Cafe Rio knock off, if you didn't know.

When we got home Kurt wanted to get in his gettup and practice once more before the hunt started. The archery deer and spike elk hunt started today. Can you find him?

I bet you can't find Drew either! She loves doing everything her dad does. She ran up to me yesterday and said, "Daddy's gonna get a deer and we're going to EAT HIM!" The last part was seriously savaged. Disgusting. I don't know what we're going to do with her!

60 yards away

I'm amazed how accurate he is. I can't even see his target deer.

And while we're on the subject of hunting for survival check this book out. Saw this movie edited and loved it and I just finished reading it for my book club.

It Was Good

2009-08-13T16:56:00.001-06:00

Truffle Shuffle

2009-08-12T21:52:00.000-06:00

I made these delicious truffles for my book group since we just read the book Chocolat.

Ingredients:

12 ounces bitter sweet or semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup heavy cream

pinch of salt

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Toppings:

Andes mint baking chips

toffee,

macadamia nuts

sifted cocoa powder

Put chocolate chips in a medium size bowl and let it hang out. Next heat cream and salt in a medium sauce pan until it simmers. Take it off the heat, stir in vanilla then add your cream mixture to the chocolate chips. Wisk until smooth. Refrigerate covered for about 4 hours till it's thick.

When it's thickened up, ready plates or bowls with spoons with your chosen toppings. Take a spoon and scoop out a section of the chocolate and roll it into a ball in your hands. Use spoons to help you roll the ball in your toppings so as not to mix them together. Put the covered truffles on a lined cookie sheet with parchment paper and back in the fridge to set up over night. Then enjoy!

WA HOOOOO!!!

2009-08-11T15:52:00.002-06:00

We have had one of the biggest roller coaster rides in our life and finally, finally the ride is over!! Kurt got a job!! Since moving here Kurt has helped his brother, Jon, with his Masonry company but he has had slim to no work these last couple of months. Kurt also has been substitute teaching in Iron county but since the summer started he hasn't been doing that. So Kurt had a full time job trying to find work. It was been really hard and there has been a couple of frustrating moments applying for jobs. First of all he had put in too many applications to count. Whenever he turned in an application the receptionist would always put it right on top of all the other 50 applications. He actually came close to getting a job at State Bank but after the interview process we heard they pretty much did an ini mini miney mo between Kurt and another guy. The other guy prevailed. Then we heard of a security position at the iron mines. Kurt went applied, had to take a test and write a mock security report. Kurt worked security for Turtle Bay in Hawaii while going to school so he knew exactly what he was doing. Kurt called for a follow up on his application and the receptionist told him he got the highest score they've ever had on the test and mock scenario and that they were going to give him a call on Monday. Monday rolled by and no call. Kurt called them again on Tuesday and the HR guy answered. He told Kurt that the position had been filled a month ago and was sorry the other lady told us it was still open. We were SO frustrated by these two incidents. We were praying, and everyone, except me, was fasting, nursing you know, for us to get a job. We've had some high high's, Kurt being a stay at home dad, and some low low's. But even through everything we knew that there was something better out there for us and we just had to learn patience. Kurt just so happened to do a round of calling one day to see if anybody was hiring and this place called Nampac aka "the bucket factory" was. So he went in filled out an application and a week later they had him do a phone interview with a lady from corporate. The word corporate always reminds us of The Office. So he thought the interview went great but nobody called when they said they were going to. They finally called again a whole week after they said they were going to call. For those who have never done this interview process it seemed like months to us. Anyways, the second interview was at the actual plant with the plant manager, one of the shift supervisors, Kurt was applying for the other shift supervisory position and I can't remember what the other guy does. Again he felt like he did well but at the end of the interview the plant manager let Kurt know that out of 300 applications only 38 people had phone interview and only 3 people got a second interview. They still had the other two people to interview. We were supposed to hear something from them by the end of the week. After two whole miserable weeks they finally called for a third, yes really a third interview. This time a conference call with the Vice President of the company. We were peeing in our pants. We had emotions from being excited to being scared and nervous. We were wrecks!! We were hoping the third interview was more of a welcome/you got the job type of thing. It wasn't! The V.P. came out with swinging questions and Kurt did his best to hit him back. Since it was a conference call the plant manager would write the answers to some of the questions on a pad of paper so Kurt could give the right answer. That made Kurt feel good. After the interview the V.P said that was a great interview, apparently something he has never said before, and the HR rep said she was really impressed by him. But still nothing final like, "When can you start?" Kurt had to get a physical, drug screen, and a background check and then we were expected to get a letter in the mail letting us know if he got the job. Today we were so giddy going to the mail, hoping The Letter was going to be there, but nothing. We walked in the house, sat down for no more than ten minutes when Nampac called. Kurt had got the job!! The letter is in the mail but instead of starting on August 22nd like the letter will say they need him on the 17th!! So yes, Kurt is the Night Shift Supervisor, but it's actually more like the swing shift, for North AMerican PACkaging that makes and sells buckets all over the US.

AHHHHHH!!!

We knew things were going to have to start to pick up for us. They really couldn't get any lower. This was a real testimony booster for us. There were times when one of us would get depressed, start wondering what we were doing wrong, and then the other one would be there to pick you up. We heard stories of other people who went through the same exact situation and they said that when they got their job, they knew then that the Lord was just waiting to give them the perfect job. We seriously will never forget this time in our life. With Kurt being home it has been so much fun! The timing on everything was perfect with Alia being born and him being there to help me. You really learn how to count your blessings when that's all you have. It's also amazing how much you learn and how much you are blessed through your trials. A concept I've always been sad to think about but none the less amazes me when I look back at all the blessings that really come from trials.

So now a time for celebration! We're going out for ice cream. A couple of weeks ago Drew wanted to get some ice cream at Maggie Moo's, a Cold Stone knock off that tastes just as good, but we told her we couldn't because we don't have money because Daddy doesn't have a job. Drew has faithfully been keeping track of our situation.

"Mommy, can we get ice cream?"

"Nope."

"Because Daddy doesn't have a job?"

"Yup."

Ice cream has never sounded SO good!

Look Who's 29!

2009-08-10T16:36:00.006-06:00

This big boy!

Kurt's birthday was on the 8th. We started the morning off by hitting some good garage sales and then we journeyed down to Sand Hollow in St. George with most of Kurt's family.

We found this little Crawdad on the sand.

I was a little worried that Brody wasn't going to swim or would want one of us to hold him in the water the entire time but he took to the water like a natural. He wanted to go as deep as he could and only when he would start inhaling water did he want me to help him.

While I was watching the kids, Kurt and some of the fam swam to these rocks to cliff dive. I wasn't able to see them but Kurt was telling me that he was doing back flips and dives into the water while by standers watched in awe. I don't feel we normally brag about ourselves but I'm making an exception because it's his birthday!

Drew has been a fish out of water since moving to Utah. As soon as we got to the water she jumped in like she was home. She had so much fun swimming with her brother and cousins.

They both look like they've eaten something gross.

Kurt's sister, Rene, and Alia

See the tattoo on Brody's arm? We put these tats on the kids a couple of weeks ago when Drew got them in the mail for her birthday. Those are some serious fake tattoo's Bre! ;)

Kurt took this picture. Doesn't it look like these guys are sitting on my head? Hahaha!

We all had so much fun. It was so nice being in the sun again in a sorta of like beach setting. I have been missing my tan since moving here and it was nice to say hello to it again. Alia did great! She slept most of the time and I didn't take her in the water. Maybe next time. I hope you had a good birthday Kurty! One more year and you're 30!!

Raining Cats and Dogs

2009-08-07T14:24:00.000-06:00

The other day it was raining so hard and the drops were huge! Alia was napping and Drew and Brody were playing in the rain.

When Brody came in Kurt remembered that the window above our bed, where Alia was napping, was open.

We went in the room to find a soaked bed and baby.

She must've thought it to be a refreshing way to wake up because she was SO happy!

Cakes and Things

2009-08-06T14:33:00.000-06:00

For Drew's birthday she wanted a Polka Dot theme. Unfortunately the only place we could incorporate the theme was in the food, particularly the cake. I made a simple box cake, the funfetti one to be exact, because it looked like polka dots when you cut it, covered it with a simple buttercream icing, mixed my marshmallow fondant, colored it, then cut and applied the dots by brushing the tiniest bit of water on the back to make it glue together.

Have you read this?

If not get this book, make this cake and eat it while you read it. The book is great and the cake will take care of your chocolate cravings you get from reading it.

Death by Chocolate! A flour less chocolate cake with ganache.

The only thing I did differently was make two cakes each in a 9 inch round spring form pan. Layered a cake, ganache, cake, ganache and frosted the outside as well and put it in the fridge to let the ganache set. It tasted better the day after so let it sit in the fridge overnight and take it out as soon as you're ready to serve it. This cake is SO rich that each person only needs a sliver and a glassful of milk! I really only had to do one cake but I love the layered look and didn't want to chance cutting it in half and having the whole cake fall apart on me. Also to get your cakes, brownies, bread loafs anything you bake in a pan to come out nice and clean make pan release. It has a long shelf life so save the leftovers of your pan release in an air tight container in your cupboard and use it till it's gone.

Red Card!

2009-08-06T14:08:00.003-06:00

Drew had her first soccer practice yesterday! The practices are only 30 min. long and we were running late so I wanted Drew to run out to her team as soon as we got there. She got scared, shy, embarrassed and wanted me to go with her. I turned into "that mom" that forces her kid, makes them do something they don't want to do. I finally walked her out in the field by her team and then she was okay. She even got excited and was sad when it was time to go. That whole experience made me realize I'm going to be "that mom" during games. The one who yells at their kids to take out the other players. Seriously, I'm not joking! I am going to have to try my hardest to be positive and encouraging. When I used to play soccer I couldn't stand "that mom" and now I know I'm one of them. And Drew is only 4!

Gourmet Rice Cereal

2009-08-06T13:44:00.002-06:00

Immediately after Alia's four month visit Kurt had to feed her rice cereal. He was SO excited.

She was a little concerned what was going on

Still wondering what was happening

Curious about what this strange taste was

Then excited with a new flavor

And finally tired of dad shoveling this crap down her throat.

Since her first feeding we've introduced prune juice to her diet, doctors orders, to help with regulation with much success! I've also fed her a couple of smashed grains of cooked rice when we had it for dinner and she loved it! She kept pulling my finger with the rice on it towards her mouth. Now she's a pro and we can't shovel it in fast enough.

Has it really been four months?

2009-07-30T15:47:00.003-06:00

Alia turned four months on the 19th but since we didn't go to the doctors till today here are her stats:

Length - 25.5 inches, 77%

Weight - 13 pounds, 22%

Head circumference - 8%

Hahaha! So pretty much she's really long, not too chubby with a tiny head. She can roll both ways, grab and hold on to toys, loves the snugglie, talks gibberish, and loves to stick her tongue out like a lizard.

I have to say she has been a great learning lesson/blessing for me. She taught me that things don't happen on my time but on the Lords time. I was TERRIFIED of having three kids all three and under. But of course the Lord wouldn't give me something I couldn't handle. Although there are some days where she's a lot more fussy than others, and I don't know what to do for her, the great days out weigh the hard days by a lot. I LOVE walking into our room to pick her up after she's woken up from a nap and she's so excited to see me. She has a huge toothless grin and kicks and flails her arms because that is the only way to show her excitement. I'm so grateful I pushed through those two, yes two, agonizing months of painful nursing so I can see her now, look up at me cross-eyed and grinning while trying to still eat. I LOVE that she has two older siblings that are close in age to her so they'll be able to know her better and stay in school with each other longer. I'm so thankful I stay home with my kids because I would much rather have them have memories of me than with some random person or relative. Even though I should probably be out there looking for a job along with Kurt I know he was meant to be jobless right now. Maybe to make our family grow stronger, to teach us humility, or maybe just to help out with our third child, I don't know but I'm grateful that we have been able to learn and grow as a family from this experience. I know I'm a much happier mom of a four month old because he's been here to help out. I now have no fear of more kids. It has become the more the merrier. I'm not about to go and get pregnant right now but I'm finally comfortable where we are and the rate things are going. And that's what this little girl has taught me. Thank you Alia!

Contest Giveaway

2009-07-29T18:24:00.003-06:00

My sister Nikki, needs a fabulous name for this birdie. If you suggest a name and her family votes on yours, you get a custom made birdie.

thesaltypineapple.blogspot.com

Thunder...

2009-07-28T13:23:00.003-06:00

...Lightning!

We had THE coolest lightning show the other night. There was virtually no thunder and it went on forever!

I'm So Sick of Parades!

2009-07-27T13:08:00.006-06:00

Last week we had our friends Ethan and Kayla over to play with us. The kids made bird feeders out of pine cones. First you put peanut butter on the pine cone.

Make sure you concentrate REALLY hard,

then you press bird food to the peanut butter and string it up. I haven't seen a bird eat from it yet but it was still a fun activity.

After the kids made kites.

Drew had her first soccer meeting last week where she got her uniform. She had to try it on as soon as we got home. When I played soccer I always wanted the number 6. But the smaller the number the smaller the jersey so I would always be stuck with number 2 or 3 because they didn't have a number 0 or 1. I was SO excited she didn't have number 2 or 3!

I always wanted one of these cars when I was little but they are too expensive. Our former next door neighbors had this broken down car that Kurt took and hooked up a car battery to. Now the kids have one that runs. They love it just as much as I think I would have loved one as a kid.

Friday was the 24th of July. What does that mean do you ask? Why, it's Pioneer Day in Utah! Yay!! So there was a parade. This is my Bishop in the blue shirt. He is a Junior High band teacher. Seriously he's an amazing Bishop!

What other kinds of things are in the Utah Pioneer Day parade? Jello of course!

and a castle made entirely up of food storage!

After the Parade we let the kids cool off in this water fountain area. It's like a mini Belagio.

And just for kicks, Alia's lower lip curl. It took me forever to get this picture but I love it!

Happy Birthday Drew!!

2009-07-26T10:31:00.008-06:00

Last year for Drew's birthday we go her these polka dot shoes. She loves them so much, she started calling them her polkies.

One year later they look like this.

Drew turned four yesterday and I have to say it's about time. She has seemed four to me for a couple of months now.

This past week we got a package from Grandma Steph and in it was this cute Princess tote and a singing card for Drew. She immediately started stuffing as many toys in the bag as possible and was carrying every where she went.

Brody's having a tough time seeing his sister get all these presents. As you can see as I was taking this picture of Drew and her new camera, Brody thought he would tackle her.

She got a bike from Grandma Karla and riding it was all she wanted to do yesterday.

We went to Maggie Moo's for some ice cream to celebrate.

Then she said she wanted to play at the park. She was posing for the camera every time I went to take a picture. Some of the poses were not appropriate and I had to tell her to stop. I have no idea where she gets this!

The kids ran off into the fields and found a good old mud hole.

When we got home we found a package from Auntie Breana and Uncle Mack at our door step. They gave Drew a tattoo set and some coloring/activity books. We've had to hide the tattoo stuff so she wouldn't use it all in one day. She was so excited to get a package! Thank you Mack and Bre!

More festivities to come!!

Fonts and Things

2009-07-22T22:19:00.002-06:00

If you haven't guessed, I love changing my fonts every time I find a new website with free stuff. Here is a website called Fontsquirrel with 350 different fonts all 100% free.

To change your font on Blogger you'll want to go to:

1. Customize

2. Edit HTML

3. Look down your HTML. After the accordion shaped lines under *Variable definitions you'll come across a % size and then the name of your font

type="font" default="normal normal 200% 'Little Trouble Girl BV, Serif' value="normal normal 155% Little Trouble Girl BV,

The font I downloaded is Little Trouble Girl BV. If I wanted to change it, I would first have to download the font I want, then change all the names of the fonts that are after a percentage sign and type in the downloaded font. When you get to the end of your HTML paragraph and come to a symbol that looks like

you're done!

4. Click 'Preview' to make sure it's what you want

5. Click 'Save Template' and you're done!

Hope it works for you!

"Oh no! Not again!"

2009-07-20T21:27:00.006-06:00

As Drew would say.

This time Kurt is embarking on this adventure alone. After ending P90X last year Kurt weighed in at 195. He had lost 35 lbs. The following months after P90X he gained all of it back. In the past few months Kurt has changed his diet and dropped 14 lbs. Today before his first workout Kurt weighed in at 216.

Wish him luck!!

In no particular order

2009-07-20T20:34:00.005-06:00

We've had a lot of events going on lately and these are photo's in between the events.

Alia's grabbing more and discovering her hands more. It keeps her entertained longer and I love it!

Kurt, getting ready for the archery hunt.

His two little helpers.

Not much to say as usual but I hope my pictures say more than I do.

To Satchiejawea

2009-07-17T21:20:00.006-06:00

Canyon View High School 1998

hhhhhhhhhhh - From Brody

gpip8gbmugugkfssa - From Drew

We love and miss you Satchie!!

A Harry Situation

2009-07-16T17:02:00.004-06:00

Last night Kurt and I had our first date without ANY of our kids. We went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Now I'm not going to give my opinion on the movie as you may have thought. I am just going to say that we loved it even though it may have omitted something I was expecting and added something that wasn't in the book. It was also more funny than the other Potter movies. But moving on, as I had said we didn't have ANY of our kids with us. And right before the movie started I noticed that there were two babies in the theater. A theater employee did his little speech and in it asked that if anybody had crying babies to take them out to the lobby until they have quieted down. Being a mother of three we've never shied away from taking our children to the movies. They have MOSTLY always been good. During the movie one of the babies started to fuss. It didn't bother me because I always hear kids fussing and I've learned to tune them out if they are not my child. When it started to get bad somebody got up with the baby and stood with him/her in the hallway. The fussing turned into cute baby talk and really wasn't distracting... to me. After five minutes of the baby talk a lady from the audience yelled, "Will you please quiet down that baby!"

THIS is was bugged me! The other couple that had the quiet baby started yelling at the lady to leave if she couldn't hear, the whole audience had a, "Ohh!" moment and it distracted A LOT more than that baby ever did. I do believe though that it had to be pretty annoying for the people who were sitting by the talking baby but the lady who yelled was further away. And I do believe that if your baby is a big disturbance to take it out but I personally wasn't disturbed. So my question to you is what would do, say, who would you be? The yelling mom or the yelling lady?

one year older and wiser too!

2009-07-14T08:21:00.001-06:00

HAPPY birthday Tessers!! We love you!!