Trip to Cinci

During the girls "Fall Break" we decided to head up to Cincinnati (about 1 1/2 hour drive) for an over-nighter. We stayed in a great hotel and enjoyed swimming and a bar-b-que dinner.

Yes, that is Campbell and no, he did not break his head on the ceiling (but he was close).

Hallie was ready to scare the crap out of Campbell with this mask on.

Then the next day we went to the Newport Aquarium which we have heard so much about.

Everyone was right... it was great! The kids loved it!

Hallie and Megan especially loved feeding the Lorakeets. Campbell liked pestering the Lorakeets (one finally had had enough and bit him ;O)

The sharks were another favorite. We actually got to pet some of the sharks... seriously. They had a whole pond full of them, it was awesome!

They had some workers cleaning inside the tank while we were there. The guy in the back with the stick is supposed to protect the other guy from the sharks. Can you see the shark coming right at him?... I wouldn't want that job!

Keeping it in a safe place

I was getting some crushed ice out of our refrigerator when all of the sudden there were brown chunks of stuff coming out with the ice... gross!

I didn't know what it was so I emptied the cup and filled it up again but this time there was a big brown square... and then instantly I remembered where I hid my chocolate bar from the kids.

Need a reason to smile? You can borrow mine.

Just Clowning Around

The girls got these noses at a recent birthday party and had lot's of fun being clowns... that is until Campbell grabbed them and tore them into pieces... baby brothers are so fun!

Camping...Priceless

I had a chance to take the girls camping last week. It was a short trip, but it was such a great experience. I do not know if it was just being able to spend time with the kids or the memories of being together camping as a kid, but it was very meaningful to me. It was so fun and was a beautiful area.

When we found this turtle, Miss Shelly Sandy Tortoise Grubbs, Hallie said it was a blessing that my bike tire popped or we would not have seen the turtle.

I hope we don't kill this little turtle, but it has already been a blessing to us. It has been so much fun to have a new pet.

We don't even have to let it out at night.

Camping with Dad- Surprise for Mom

Trevor found out yesterday that he got today off so he took the girls camping last night. They had a great trip and came home with a new friend.

Any Biggest Loser Fans out there?

Last nights Biggest Loser was AWESOME! I was screaming when Kelly and Ali got the highest % of weight lost! They rock!

I can't help but be a little sad that Dan was kicked off, he was fun to watch but I rolled my eyes (yet again) as they did their "pride shout". It makes me laugh that these 4 guys think they are so cool and yet they are attacking these 2 now-little girls, how macho is that? They are a bunch of bullies if you ask me and I really hope a woman wins!! PLEASE!!

So Kelly and Ali, I'm rooting for you! Don't let those boys get to you and don't let me down!

Conversations over dinner

Hallie is an animal lover. She is not currently a vegetarian but she has considered it. This was our conversation tonight over dinner.


Hallie- "Megan this is an animal."
Megan- "What kind of animal?"
Hallie- "It is a chicken, you know, like a hen."
Megan- "Oooh... but, I like chickens."
Hallie- "The chicken wants a life, it wants to learn. It doesn't want to 'peep, peep'... KILL!"
Megan- "... How does Heavenly Father kill the chickens?"


This conversation reminded me of many conversations we had a few years ago when Hallie first discovered that we eat animals. We were eating steak and she asked me what it was and where it came from. I made the mistake of being totally honest and she was horrified. She still will not eat steak. Megan witnessed all of these conversations and I remember one day at preschool Megan and I were playing in the little kitchen with the plastic food and I said, "Megan will you make me a hamburger?" She said, "That is not a hamburger. It's dead cow."

Last weeks snowstorm

Last week we had record snow here (everyone we talked to said it had been 10 years since they last saw this much snow)
School was cancelled (for the 5th time this year) and the kids had a blast playing in the fresh powdery snow. They built this snow fort and a snowman and went sledding with the neighbors which I hear was awesome (I stayed home with Cam). It was fun to get a good snowstorm. Now, it is time for Spring!

Yummy

Megan must be growing because she is constantly eating lately. The other day she asked me if she could look under the stairs (where we keep our food storage) for something to eat. I turned on the light for her and went about doing other things. A few minutes later I walked in the kitchen to find Megan with a huge bottle of canola oil on the table. She said, "Mom, I want to have this." I said, "Megan, that isn't something you drink, it's oil." "YUM" she said.

Another tag

Whoops, I've been tagged two more times and just found out. Luckily for you they were the same thing so here it is...

A- Attached or single: Attached
B- Best Friend: That's a tricky one. Definitely my hubby and my sis at the top of the list.
C-Cake or Pie: Pie, pumpkin pie to be exact.
D- Day of Choice: I love friday! Spin class with the girls! And I get to go to bed without setting my alarm clock and dreading the early morning.
E- Essential Item (s): Wet wipes, chapstick, hand cream, and stretchy pants.
F- Favorite Color: green, any shade except forest green (it's so 90's)
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: Gummy bears
H- Hometown: West Point, Utah but I also grew up in Indiana, Germany and Texas.
I- Indulgence(s): Almond dipped chocolate ice cream bar at Costco, Mmmmmm.
J- January or July: Depends on where I live.... But, if I must choose, then July.
K-Kids: 6 year-old girl, 4 year-old girl and 1 year-old boy
M- Marriage Date: December 29,1999
N- Number of Siblings: 3 brothers and 1 sista
O- Oranges or Apples: gala apples
P- Phobias or Fears: stage fright, snakes, stomach flu (yep, I'm scared of it)
Q- Quote(s): "Chill out" is a quote I like to use daily ;)
R- Reason To Smile: Campbell's giggle (which cannot be duplicated no matter how hard you try), Hallie's sweet tenderness, Megan's humor (that girl makes me laugh!), and Trevor's desire to make me happy.
S- Season: Fall
T- Tag Six: Melissa, Mom (dad can't do it for you ;)), Marlene, Noelle, Emily, Adrienne
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I still wear a retainer at night... 15 years now. My teeth were so crooked I'm scared NOT to where it!
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: Where's the beef?
W- Worst Habit: I can't think of even one bad habit ... ;)
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: ultrasounds (I worked in Labor and Delivery when I was pregnant with Hallie and when it was slow I would pull out the ultrasound machine and ultrasound myself! I could just sit and watch my baby forever.)
Y- Your Favorite Food: anything pumpkin
Z: Zodiac: Virgo

Book Tag

Okay, I've been tagged and this is my assignment.

1. Pick up the nearest book (with at least 123 pages)

2. Turn to page 123

3. Find the 5th sentence

4. Post the next three sentences

5. Tag 5 people

(borrowed this book from Lacey, sooo good!!!)

"They were almost dying from walking so long,"the mother told our cameras. "We will share our very last piece of bread with them." That morning , even the children joined in the greeting. The villagers donned their best outfits and danced to the sound of one violin.

"Such an arrangement will give the child access to a talking partner on a far more regular basis than most outside professionals are able to provide. It will be helpful to agree and prioritise the range of people and places to be included in the treatment programme."

I know... sounds boring. This is a big part of my life right now... trying to help Megan.

"After tracing the "u" several times, child is to make 3-5 "u"s. Help child if necessary. For each acceptable letter say- good writing uuuuu."

Wow, this post says a lot about my life right now. I'm consumed with being a mom and I need all the help (and good books) I can get my hands on.

It's only cute when you're two.

Life as we know it

-Megan is learning how to read and write the letters. She loves to color and lately when she is done with her picture she adds some of the letters she has been practicing ex. "LMRGOLH" etc. The letters never spell a word; they are just a bunch of letters. The other day she finished her picture and then wrote "DANG". I got all excited and told Megan that she had made a real word! She thought that was great. For the next few days all of her drawings were signed with "DANG", as in -DANG I'm good!

-We recently joined the YMCA. (As a side note, up until a few months ago I thought the YMCA was a community center for the hoodlums in the area.) Anyway, it was a cold morning and I ran in the front door with Cam on my hip and Megan at my side. There were people in front of me and people coming up behind me and I was digging around in my exercise bag for my keys, which have my card. I finally found them at the very bottom so I yanked them out -with force- and out they came along with a maxi pad, which flew into the air and landed about 5 feet away from me on the floor... whoops

-Yesterday it was 68 degrees. Today it is 72 degrees. Megan is running around the house in a swimsuit with a winter scarf around her neck. So confusing.

- Campbell finally figured out how to get the muffin tin out of the drawer (it took 10 very frustrating minutes- with lots of grunting. He is a very determined little boy). He was carrying the tin in front of him when Megan saw him. She laughed and said, "Look at Campbell, he looks like a Lamanite!"

-Trevor and I have decided to build a room over the garage. We have never built a room before... we have never built a wall before... what are we thinking?

There I was sitting on the bench of the chapel in my underwear looking around and noticing that everyone else is fully clothed.
I think to myself- why didn't I get dressed before I came to church?
I silently answer myself- because I would have been late!
Then the thought hits me- Next time I think I will come fully dressed, even if that means being a little late to church...

...good thinking Kathryn.

Am I the only one that has crazy dreams like this? This one has been making me laugh for several days now. Does the fact that I was in my underwear mean I have self-esteem issues? (Any dream interpreters out there? ;)).

Please pass the Tylenol

I promise I don't beat him.

He does this to himself. It's like he has a huge magnet in his forehead that is attracted to any hard or pointy object that is sure to leave a bruise or puncture wound.

Seriously, what is the deal with boys?!? If we even say the word danger Campbell's head pops up like "where?"

His favorite things are cords, electrical outlets, stairs, sharp objects, and anything he might possibly be able to choke on. I'm serious! I can put a pile of brightly colored, brand-new, fun toys in front of him and he will climb right over them (probably trip on them and smack his head on the coffee table) and head for the newly sharpened pencil or electrical outlet 4 feet away.

I have a feeling Campbell's grandmas are feeling a little worried right about now...sorry grandmas ;).

Campbell's other favorite thing to do (at least twice a day) is find each an every cabinet in our house and open the cabinet then slam the cabinet on his fingers and scream. This is a really fun game.

Trevor is trying to come up with a bungee cord system. Maybe attach the bungee to the ceiling fan in our family room and clip it onto a harness for Cam with like an 8 ft radius.

I think it just might work.

SNOW DAY!!

The phone was ringing at 6:20 this morning (way too early!) It was a recorded message telling me that school was cancelled on account of all the snow (approximately 2-3 inches, I know, I know, but this is Kentucky not Utah! ;)).

YA, SNOW DAY! I felt like a kid, I couldn't wait to tell Hallie that school was cancelled and that there was enough snow to build a snowman! We spent the morning sledding, building a snowman with the neighbors, coloring, and playing checkers- we don't have checkers so we weaved a board out of black and red paper... I felt like such the creative mom :) It was a fun morning.

I remember my best snow day. I was in high school and we were already in class but it was snowing heavily and the snow just kept piling up until the power eventually went out in the whole school. It was awesome! The teachers tried to keep control but eventually gave up and everyone left their classes and were running around the school acting like crazy people (we were teenagers after all). I found some of my friends and we jumped in a car and took off to the nearest church parking lot to do some doughnuts and have a snowball fight. Then we were off to another friends home to raid their kitchen and gather our others friends to hang out.

I just remember wishing everyday could be a snow day!

FUN! FUN! FUN!

We got Ticket to Ride for Christmas from my sis. Have you played it? It is really fun! I played it with Melissa about 6-10 times (I lost track) while she was here.

She won every single time and I still love the game! I think that says a lot... and not just that I am terrible at games. ;)

If you want to play let me know and we will have a game night soon... If you live somewhere other than Kentucky it won't be as soon. :)

Christmas 2008

We had a great Christmas!

Christmas Eve we went to our friend's home for a party. We had a yummy dinner and then we tied some blankets for a sick little girl and her siblings. I thought it was such a great idea to do a service project at the party. It really helped our family focus on the true meaning of Christmas and count our blessings. I want it to be a new tradition for us to do some sort of service every Christmas Eve. Even with the kids running around and the chaos of a big party, I really felt a sense of peace as we worked on that project together.The kids performed the nativity (notice the beautiful angels in the back).
It was a really nice nativity, until one of the shepherds decided to use his shepherd's cane as a weapon and beat up one of the beautiful angels. ;)It was fun to spend the evening with great friends and after some karaoke and pool we called it a night and headed home to get ready for Santa's visit. On the way home we thought about all of you at the Burton Christmas Eve party and we chanted "rubber chicken" in memory of you... hope you had a great party. We miss all of you so much.

I was worried that Hallie and Megan wouldn't be able to sleep that night from the excitement of Santa coming but thanks to the party they were beat and

were fast asleep minutes after their heads hit the pillows.

More on Christmas soon... as soon as

I figure out why I can't get to my other Christmas pictures, ugh!

Kid Quotes

***(Hallie in the playroom with Meg) "Megan, you are the best sister!! It's true! Friends ARE for now and sisters are forever...(pause)... and dogs."
***Megan- "Mom, when is Hallie going to be an old lady?"
Hallie- "Megan, when you say that it hurts my feelings."
Me (trying not to laugh)- "I will be an old lady long before Hallie."
Megan- "Then will we get a new mom?"
Hallie- "No, Megan"
Megan- "Oh yeah, then daddy will take care of us"