Man*richment

My husband has coined the phrase, which he thinks should spread through the church like wildfire: MAN*richment. I think the next EQ activity, excuse me, man*richment is going to be playing video games.

ANYWAYS, I have a new definition of man*richment. It's the husbandly help to his wife's enrichment stuff. Look at him go....

Don't you love the line up all around him, like he's proud and showing them off!?!
I guess technically it's not enrichment stuff, sadly they are centerpieces for a funeral luncheon tomorrow. Brother Coleman use to be a basketball coach, so this was a sweet idea... not my idea (I can't take the credit), but I offered to help. And I would've done it, but I would have gotten dirty. And that's just not my style, especially when I have a husband to do that kind of stuff. So thank you dear! :)

Thankful Thursday

I couldn't decide on 5, so we went for 6 this week:

1. Kindess of a Child, in her own special way.... To preface: when I shower in the morning, I put Kylie and Kacey in Kacey's room to play. I put the gate up to keep Kacey in there and safe and Kylie can come and go as she pleases because she can climb over it. Yesterday, I shut my shower water and I hear the vacuum on (?) I immediately think something happened and Kylie's trying to cover up. I don't hear anyone crying (good sign). I walk out and Kylie's vacuuming the steps. Super sweet, I totally didn't even ask her to. She went into the spare bedroom, into the bathroom, into the closet, pulled out the right vacuum- there are a few to choose from, set it all up, plugged it in... all by herself... and she proceeded to vacuum and totally put it all away all by herself. And when she was done she asked me if that made me happy. Of course it did, so I made a big deal about it and felt badly that I assumed the worst. -- Story's not over--- an hour later, she's been on her best behavior and I think I've got the best kid ever and she goes, "Mom, I'm sorry I broke the bench." Then her face must have reacted to my face as I saw her face say something along the lines of, "oh crap, she still doesn't know." As I rush into Kacey's bedroom, and the little white Amish bench she had was in a few pieces. Hmmm, she said she was sorry although she blames her sister. Too late to get too bad, I think wood glue will fix it.... it was a cute little story although now I know to trust my Mom's instincts!


2. It's mine again- I'll preface again, having a baby is wonderful and I'm grateful for all 3 of my little ladies. However, it's so nice to just be me again. And I'm not referring to baby weight at all. From the moment of pregnancy to quiet a while after the baby is born, you feel different. Like you've subletted your body and someone else is living in it. It just doesn't feel right or the same, I now feel the same... my body is mine again and that's awesome!


3. Safety and Security- we've had too many "incidents" lately with crime in some surrounding areas. And it really doesn't matter where you live, crime is everywhere- that's how Matthew stays in business and he'll vouch that it's everywhere. Especially when the economy is down, unemployment is high... crime rate increases. But I'm thankful because I do feel safe and secure regardless of what's going on around me.


4. Husbandly help- one time this week, I was out for a while. And Matthew ended up doing all the laundry (I mean like folding it and putting it away too), unloaded the dishwasher, put the girls to bed, spoonfed the baby and gave her a bottle and put her to bed... now here's the kicker, he did all this WITHOUT being asked. I never even said anything, it was awesome and I didn't expect it. And while all you ladies understand, I'll spell it out to anyone else who might not be married, I'm making a huge deal about it so maybe he'll do it again! :) ---The funniest part was that when I talked to my mom the next day, she said that Matthew called her like 4 times: "can white tights go in the dryer?" or "do i mix the rice cereal with formula, and how much?" :)


5. Kacey's Anticipation for Goofy's Kitchen- our next disneyland trip is coming up again and this time we decided to go to Goofy's Kitchen. The last time we went Kacey was Kadyn's age, so we figured it was time... so Kacey's doesn't even remember it and she hasn't even seen pictures, but I think she's put 2 and 2 together and realized that all her favorite characters are going to be there and there's going to be food. Every morning, she asks if we are going today. Every night, she asks if we are going tomorrow. It's really cute. I can't wait to see her face when we're there. She LOVES Goofy and his son Max.

6. Maggie had a bad case of the runs, w/o being graphic, it was not pretty. But a quick trip to the Vet, $150 bucks later, and she's better. I'm thankful for that and my carpet is thankful for that!

Sunday Afternoon Pictures

Pretty in Pink

I love this one- it's like Where's Waldo with the same print everywhere :)Alot of time you miss how cute our shoes are, so we took one of our shoes!

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Thank you to Grandma Boyd for the dresses, we (I) appreciate her efforts as she indulges my obsession to dress all my girls the same!

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PS- Must not have learned my lesson the first time, as (in the ward prior to this one) I was -what seemed like an eternity- the enrichment counselor... as the new enrichment leader, please, Please, PLEASE feel free to pass along any fun ideas!

My Sweet Little Kacey

So we had a fun night last night, some friends came over and the girls were able to play their little hearts out. It got late, we did baths... and (long story short) she ended up hurting her arm (yes, the same arm) really, really bad. She wouldn't stop crying. She was holding her arm and wouldn't let it go... wouldn't let me go near it. So, I'm freaking out. Called my mom who heard Kacey's blood curdling screams and said, yeah ER now. Called my husband (who was in a movie with a friend- Dark Knight, in IMAX one day and one day only!) who had to leave the movie early and drag poor Steve with him since Matthew drove.

So after an hour of her horror movie type screaming, crocodile tears, nearly hyperventilating, the whole 9 yards. She decides she's all better. You don't understand, it's 9 pm, I'm offering her lollipops, coke, cookies, anything to get her to just calm down- nothing worked. Matthew and my mom come over... she's fine. Completely over it.

Matthew's thinks it was psychological, fear setting in from the last time. I don't know what it was, I'm so happy we don't have to do all that again. But I just don't understand (?) there's no way, NO WAY she was faking it, she was in severe pain and then it all vanished. (?)

Thankful Thursday

1. Slobbery, wet baby kisses. Along with the times that Kadyn just finds any piece of my skin and starts sucking away. She's actually doing it right now to my arm while I type, it's so cute.

2. I'm going to jinx myself, I dare not mention it... I'll say it in a whisper, so read it softly... no car troubles. We haven't replaced the brakes in my van in a while -I go through those things. I know, I've completely jinxed myself.

3. My girls have been giving me longer spurts to sleep. I usually only get 3 hours at at time. Nighttime can be busy in our house, Kacey talks in her sleep... she can have full-blown out conversations and sometimes she even gets mad and yells (at first it freaked Matthew and I out, now we're used to it)... Kadyn, well she's still a baby so it's expected for her to wake up... but they all have been sleeping so well! I've been sleeping ALL night for quite a few days in a row!

4. Enrichment tonight, fun girl's night out!!!

5. Warmer weather, specifically because it lessens the laundry loads. With the cold, my girls have on undershirts, long sleeve shirts with sweaters or hoodies on top, socks for the day, socks for nighttime, big jammies... all that stuff day by day adds up to a massive laundry pile. With warmer weather, flip flops, shirt and shorts... no big bulky jeans to wash. As I'm folding all my many loads of laundry, I'm anticipating that warmer weather right around the corner!!!!

Sunday Afternoon Pictures

Is today almost over yet? I don't mean that badly, but I think we're just off in our house. The girls were having WW3 in our row during Sacrament Meeting. Don't know if you heard them, you ALL probably did! Then for more fun times, my sweet little angel face decided to wet her diaper so much that it got me nice and wet. Needless to say, we left RS a little early. Seriously, bed time please.

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Back to Sunday Afternoon PicturesKacey's upset because Kylie got to use the camera (to take this picture) and Kacey wanted to take it but it was Kylie's turn. Kacey got to take another picture, all was fair. I love this though, she is such a cutie. She's pouting, face in her hands on the couch.

And Kacey's over it, she forgets very easily... unlike her dramatic sister (the older one) ~~~and don't say I pick on her Mom (my mom says I pick on Kylie but I say it's my attempt to discipline the wild child--- Kylie's more stubborn than me, I didn't think that was possible) :)

Breakfast time, this was too cute... the little ones and their computers, we're busy women- not a minute to waste!!!

** Bed time is close now thank goodness, not sure how many more times Kylie will sit on time- out. During dinner, I was telling her that she needed to stop misbehaving and act like a good girl. And apparently, she began mimicking me behind my back. Matthew saw it... not good times for Kylie.

Oh Boy!

Yesterday Matthew and I went out for lunch and a movie (we saw Bride Wars, he lost rock/paper/scissors in the ticket line)... Anyway, my mom stayed with the girls and apparently they had a VERY interesting conversation...

Kylie told Yaya that she's going to have little brother. My mom prodded her with some questions, so Kylie spilled her "knowledge." Apparently, he's going to grow in my tummy when Kadyn is able to walk. He's going to have yellow hair like her and blue eyes. She's very troubled though because she doesn't know what his name should be. Yaya told her not to worry about that yet... we have some time (because I'm not even close to being pregnant). So my mom told me about it, and I've been asking Kylie questions. She gives me the exact same answers although she added that I'll have him when Kadyn's 2 years old. Somebody should have explained to her that I am quite done thank you!

* I just realized something. Has nothing to do with Kylie's little epiphany. Kacey will have nearly the exact same wardrobe for the next 3+ years. Because everything Kacey has now, Kylie has and Kacey will soon grow into. I knew that in a round-about way, but it never fully dawned on me. Kinda funny. Poor girl's gonna get sick of her clothes. It's rough being the middle child.

Thankful Thursday

Short and Sweet!

I'm thankful for
1. Peanut Butter... yummy, give me a jar of Jif and a spoon!
2. Vacuums
3. Husbands who stay at home with the kiddos so their wives can go shopping!
4. Warm Vegas Winters... I love this 65 degree weather.
5. Little girls that wash their hands vigilantly!

The Finance Lady

I've launched it!

http://thefinancelady.blogspot.com/

Sunday Afternoon Pictures

And we're all back for Sunday Pictures!

(you don't need to adjust your screens, it's a lot of hot pink!)

The colds and fevers have subsided (fingers crossed it stays that way), although we think Kadyn might be teething.. here's a cute picture of her in her bumbo, too bad Kacey's in it more than Kadyn is.

I really think I'm liking 1 pm church. We've created quite a good routine... I switch Kacey's nap to 10 am, we have time in the morning to get organized, we do a big meal right before church... and our new thing is breakfast when we come home from church. (Waffles!) I made some dang good scrapple today, I know you PA people would appreciate that! I didn't eat it, the girls wouldn't touch it, so it was a feast for Matthew. I was just proud because it didn't fall apart in the pan (that usually happens to me, I flip too soon) If you don't know what scrapple is, don't ask... it really tastes quite good, but the actual ingredients are gross.

***Weekly Round-Up***

Us today baking and decorating cupcakes for a fun Saturday night with friends. Surprisingly, we have 18 cupcakes... I thought we'd have more casualties with the amount of eating we did compared to the amount of decorating.

It's been a while since I did a weekly round-up... big events this week: new beds for the big girls and Kadyn started baby cereal!

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This was before we even started, she's already not too thrilled.

Now she gets it!!!Happy Mommy, food's all gone!

Bedtime has become super fun in our house!!! Kacey LOVES her new bed, which is wonderful. She ditched her toddler bed, refused to sleep on it, and would only sleep on the floor. Matthew and I figured it was time for a new bed.

This is Kylie's new bed, she loves it so much she's gone back to napping. Well, she doesn't fall asleep... but when Kacey goes down for her nap, Kylie goes in her room, under her covers and watches a movie.

We do naptime the right way... tea and cookies by our bed (although the tea is really water and our tea set is really a combination of 3 different tea sets) but it's FUN!

This is what Matthew and Kadyn were doing during Kacey and Kylie's naptime. They're all asleep, I should make a run for it!!!Here are some other cute pictures from this week :)

We got a bumbo for Kadyn... Kacey loves it!

This one cracks me up!

Happy Taxes season!!!

I am seriously debating starting a finances blog to share all my pearls, so to speak. We'll see, it's all I can do to keep this blog current much less start a new one. :)

Thankful Thursday

There is MUCH to be thankful for!!!

I've had a cloud hanging over me, at least it's felt like that. Just waiting. My mom had some blood work done (twice) and some of her levels came back quite strange. We were concerned that she might have a tumor in her pancreas, we found this out just before Thanksgiving. It's seemed like forever. She had a CT scan, and with persistence (it's nearly impossible for anyone can give you results promptly) NO tumor... she still has to go to an endocrinologist and figure out why some of her levels are off (--hello, losing 80 pounds in a year and half will throw your body a little out of whack...)

But I am so happy and so thankful!

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On a lighter note, I am thankful for:

1. Surprise Cafe Rio dinner brought home by my hubby, he even asked for the shredded lettuce... good man!

2. Smooth transitions. We're giving Kacey Kylie's daybed, and we bought Kylie a new bed. (Kacey loves Kylie's daybed and Kylie was willing to give it to her for a new bed that matches her furniture collection!!!) The transition is going great, no meltdowns at bedtime. I was worried how this all would blow over.

3. Taxes. Call me crazy, I've got a degree in Econ for a reason I guess... but I LOVE doing our taxes. Love it, love it, love it. I look forward to it all year, just ask my husband. I get positively giddy, not sure why... we always put our refund in the savings, we never spend it. But I love it, maybe I love using my brain... I don't know. That and a small sidenote: today Obama's talking about lower the effective tax rate not only for '09, but for '08 too. Meaning higher refunds for last year and less $$$ being taken out of paychecks now. There's even talk of another stimulus package. Last year, people were in denial about us being in a recession. Ask my husband, I've been saying all along... it's not a recession, we're mimicking some of the key characteristics of the Great Depression! And if you doubt that, go compare some vital factors like increase in unemployment rates, lack of consumer confidence, spending trends just for Christmas alone, tremendous daily drops in the stock market, bankruptcies/foreclosures. And the housing market speaks for itself. (anyway, this isn't an economic blog... I've rambled) Not that we will ever get as bad as the Great Depression, because we've learned too much... But anyway, the solution to an upward boom is more money to the common people like stimulus packages... not free money being given to the big fancy companies. I'm done, off my little pedestal. Moving on.

4. I'm thankful that Maggie had her yearly tests done- she's epileptic and is on meds that damage her liver but keep her seizures under control- and we have to do yearly tests to monitor everything. All her levels came back in the normal range. Good, good.

5. I am thankful for a fun phone call from a fabulous friend the other night. (you know who you are!) It was so nice to hear your voice, I miss you... we need to do that more often.

Ballet

Kylie had her first ballet/tap class today! I think we label her as "athletic," because she loves to run fast and play against the boys... I didn't want her to miss out on something just because that's what Matthew and I think she is... so we figured we'd try ballet for something different. And if she didn't like it, her ballet and tap shoes would definitely get good use with my younger girls.

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AND.......

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She loved it!!!!! She had so much fun and can't wait for next week's class!!!

She was so excited not only for the pretty outfits and fun shoes, but also because her good buddy Riley was in her class.

The best part for me was Kacey being able to play with Riley's little sister Chloe. Kacey and Chloe shared snacks and toys, and made life much eaiser for me and Missy- the hour flew by!!! (bummer, I should have gotten a picture of the babies too!!!)

Sunday Afternoon Pictures

And we're still missing people for this week's Sunday pictures.

(I think Kylie's trying to wink here)

While Kacey is better, she did manage to breath all over little Kadyn. As hard as I tried to separate them, it just wasn't good enough. We took Kadyn into the Dr. on Friday, he said she's got the beginnings of RSV and she would get worse. Oh fun! And he was right... she is worse, but I don't think it's as bad because I'm anticipating it. Luckily, I haven't gotten sick yet... which is really fortunate because Mommies don't get sick days off- I'm on call 24/7 ready and waiting at my little munchkins' service. So far so good for Kylie and Matthew too. Kylie's got the immunity strength of Superman, nothing can bring her down.

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Love these little pigtails!!!

Rose Bowl Pictures

A little late, but here are Matthew's pictures from the Rose Bowl on Thursday. As he was pulling in to park, he called me informing me how awesome it was to be there and how I was "the best wife ever!" Needless to say, I think I dug myself in a hole because now he'd like to go every year!

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I have no clue what pictures to post (I've got 60+ to choose from) and not sure what exactly to comment on since I wasn't there and didn't watch the game, I do know that they got clobbered.... but here are the pictures I liked.

He did say one of the neat things was if he wanted to he could just walk onto the field-- not that he was allowed to or had a wish to go to jail, but the stadium was set up that way that it was all just "right there." He said that was really cool.