Make Up Your Mind, Woman!

Ha ha!

So, you thought I wasn't into doing the two blog thing, right? WELL........ I wasn't.  BUT, then I thought of something I could do that wouldn't take up a lot of time.  Click here to find out what it is. 


AND, there's going to be a GIVE-AWAY there OH-SO-SOON, so better keep your eye on it.  ;)

Happy (late) Anniversary to me!

Quite a while ago, like back in August (I think), my husband was doing something on the computer that he said I couldn't see, but someday would be able to.


I had forgotten about it until a couple days ago.



First, a tour of some pictures in my home:

The Denver temple, where we were married:

The Billings temple, which is closest to where we live:

And the Nauvoo temple:

I've been to the Denver and the Billings temples, but not Nauvoo. And I've been to the Manti temple, and I have a picture of that, but it's just a small film-developed picture.

There's one temple I've been to that I don't have a picture of - the Seattle temple.

This is what Matt got me for my anniversary gift:

I guess he has a friend at work who does wood burning art.

Here it is up close:

Here it is next to the thing I wasn't supposed to see on the computer:

I love it!! I got an easel for it tonight and it's going to sit on top of my desk. :)

It's here! It's here!

Quin woke up with his second tooth this morning!!


While I was looking for a cute something to post with this, I came across this picture:

My first thought? "What the...?!"




It took me a minute to figure out this was a pacifier and not a sad, sad case of "that's a face only a mother could love". I'm going to have to get me one of those! LOL

Book Review - The Thirteenth Tale

I just finished reading a book my mom gave me....... IT WAS SO GOOD!

And when I Googled it, the awesomest website came up! Click HERE if you want to read it ONLINE!!!

It starts with a letter from an author to a biographer, only she does biographies of deceased people, so this live one she's about to turn down. But the author mentions a story about twins and she's captivated - she has a twin, herself, only the twin died at birth. This famous author is known for giving several different accounts of her life story, but never the real one. Now that she is old and ill, she's chosen this biographer to tell her final story to. One of her previous books was, at first, entitled, "Thirteen Tales", only there were 12 tales and the whole world is kept wondering about this 13th tale... Could this be it?? As the story is told to her, the biographer isn't sure if what she's being told is the truth, until she finds bits and pieces of evidence showing her that what she's being told, really happened. Then, at the end, just when the pieces are not quite fitting into the perfect picture, there's a twist, a new detail that solves the puzzle of puzzles, and everything becomes clear. It's a story full of unforgettable characters, plots that make you want to go back and reread because they're so shocking, you can't possibly have read it right, and as you read, you find yourself unlocking the mystery - only to find at the end you were wrong all along. Then, when you're done, you want to go back and reread the whole thing because you've had the ah-ha moment the author intended you to have. (Kind of like The Sixth Sense, if you ever saw that!)

I love books that wait till the very end for the climax, but keep you wanting to keep climbing and climbing until you get there. I highly recommend this very good read!

I'm starting another book today, and if my schedule allows, I'll have it finished in a few days to a week. I'll do a review on it when I'm finished.

I love reading and try to fit it in whenever possible... sometimes late, late at night when I should be sleeping, but can't because the book's just too darn good! (That didn't happen last night, I swear.)

Keep watching for more reviews! ;)

SD Trip - On the way home...

Natalie swore she didn't sleep.

"Delete"

I've decided two blogs takes up too much time... I'd like to think my life does not revolve around the computer. So, I'm deleting it. :)

SD Trip - Part Two: Rushmore

Just a few pics from our Mt. Rushmore trip. I first saw it when I was on my honeymoon. I was in awe! It's just incredible that someone saw this in his head, then was able to (in great detail) carve it out of a mountain. Wow!

My kids checking it out up close:

In this one, they were being impatient about joining the tour that was about to start:

This is how fascinating the tour was: (See the old guy behind Andur? Yeah, we ditched the tour early.)

And Mr. Happiness:

We wanted to go to Reptile Gardens, but ran out of day. Oh, well... next time!

Evidence

Around here, the seasons are very extreme. Well, winter and summer are. If we're lucky, spring might stick around for a bit. I think the reason for this is because there's us aaaand then there's the sky... nothing in between. Here, fall lasts for about 3 days. Then it snows. So today I took a picture of the leaves on one of the trees in my backyard as proof that we really do have an autumnal season here. It's supposed to snow Thursday. (dumb snow)

Introducing...

...the sippee cup and the new tooth!

First the tooth:

(If you click on the picture, it enlarges and you can see the tooth better.)

And the sippee cup!

Getting a feel for it:

He was banging in on the side of his seat where the mobile connects and managed to dislodge the stopper... I thought it was a poor leak-proof system until I realized what had happened.

I don't know if by clicking on the pics if you can see how wet he is, but that was my first clue... lol

He left little toothy marks on the sipper, already, the silly!

SIX

Six things that have changed in the past six months:

1. My baby. He's not a crabby patty any more! He's quite happy and smiley all the time now!

2. My stinkin' weight. I've gone up a few pounds (six, actually, lol), but am still less than before I got pregnant.

3. My living quarters. We are so loving our new house!!

4. The way I view certain things. Humility is a good teacher.

5. The weather. It went from freezing cold, to pleasant, to hottish nice, to chilly. I love fall!

6. Quin's wardrobe. People who change their wardrobe constantly are nuts. Babies are the exception.


Six things that haven't changed in the past six months:

1. I still miss my in-laws terribly when they leave us. At least this time I'm not hormonal.

2. My love for reading. I crave it. Literally.

3. The Miracle Whip in my fridge. That stuff lasts forever.

4. My husband's job. Thank the Maker for that. Well, it's improved, but he still has it!

5. My testimony. Well, it's stronger, but you know what I mean.

6. The blanket I was knitting for Quin. LOL Haven't worked on it since he was born!


So, Quin is 6 months! Last Saturday, actually... Anyway, I took him to the doctor today for his well baby visit and he's now 18 lbs. (75th percentile) and 28 inches (95th percentile). I thought he'd be heavier, but nope. I think his height makes up for it. He eats solids twice a day, 32 oz. of formula and loves pears and applesauce. He's had peaches, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, bananas and cereal, of course. He likes the greens, too. Not so much peaches and bananas, which I thought was funny. Well, he's also had teething biscuits, ice cream, pudding, toast, health shake (Isagenix), and some other random "here, try this!" sorts of things. He has one tooth and is so close to getting a second. He's sitting up (still a little bit-o-wobble) and still hates tummy time. Ha! He'd rather be sitting up and with people. He is right on with all he should be doing at this stage, according to the doctor and is so happy all the time now! It's awesome! He's doing better at sleeping through the night, due to an oil treatment from his Grandma, and we don't use the bink except for sleeping. It's all good!

South Dakota Trip - Part One - Air and Space Museum

Well, my in-laws are home, safe and sound. And we miss them already! It's so quiet and lonely here when they leave. We had an awesome time with them, though! Last weekend, we went to the Black Hills for a little day trip. First, we went to the Air and Space Museum they have there. Here are some of the pics I took:

Quin was a happy, happy baby the whole time we were there, and he even skipped a nap!

This is Matt, Andur and Natalie walking to a really big airplane. It sort of has a "We're off to see the Wizard" feel to it:

My little Hercules:

I thought these next two were funny.

Natalie's teasing her cousin is this one:

And he's chasing her in this one:

My kids were "taking turns" sitting in a cockpit. And by "taking turns", I mean fighting over who got to get in first and "her turn was longer" and such.

Here are some random no-people pics:

And I thought this was fun:

This first one is from 3 or 4 years ago, our first trip to the Black Hills with our kids:

And here they are today: (Well, last Sunday.)

I think they may have grown a little!

There were more, but I thought these were the most interesting. Whether or not you find them interesting is totally up to you. ;)

Stay tuned for Part Two: Mt. Rushmore, and Part Three: Going Home. Blogger's being retardedly slow, so I'm doing one post at a time.

New Blog!!!

I'm starting a new blog! I think it could be fun! But it'll take more than me, so check it out!

Chillin' with the IN-LAWS

I miss blogging!

But we've been having fun with Grandma K and Papa D, so I'll get over it! ;)

No pics yet - I actually took some this time! - but I'll do that later.... and with something OH-SO-GRAND, I just can't wait to show you!!

We went to Rapid City over the past weekend, did Mt. Rushmore and the Air and Space Museum... we wanted to do Reptile Gardens but didn't plan our day well enough... oh well.

Quin's been going without a bink during the day for two days and is doing super fantabulous!! I haven't ever done a bink baby before (my daughter had one but got rid of it herself before I even thought to) so I never realized how much more of a habit it was for me than it was for him. My super-genius MIL said "just don't give it to him". Huh. Yeah, never would've thought of that! So, we didn't. Well, we do for naps and bedtime, but that's it. Soon, I'll do away with naptime bink, then bedtime will follow soon thereafter. He's been doing great! And today, he was sitting up for a while a couple times all by himself!! Yay for progress! He goes in Monday for his 6 month visit... I'm so curious how big he's gotten! He's been wearing 6-9 month clothes and some 12 month clothes.

Anyway... had to blog about something. I feel better now. :)

Another Fantastic Give-Away!

Hopefully the link works this time!

Click HERE for a great DINO give-away on a fun blog!

Fantastic Give-Away!!!

Click here, friends, for something great!

A Not-So-Subtle Reminder

So, I was babysitting today, right? My house is clean - like really clean - for the in-laws coming (in T minus ONE hour) and everything's peachy. I even dusted - and I don't dust. (That's how much we love you K and D!)

My girls were playing and "helping" me put new sheets on my bed and just being so sweet... I had to pay some bills on my computer, which is downstairs, away from my TV. They got tired of playing by me and wanted to watch a movie so I thought "No biggie, I'm almost done, anyway." So I put a movie on and go back down to finish my bills. It's not really even a downstairs, more like five stairs away from the upstairs (we live in a tri-level), so well within ear shot of the girls.

Well, one of them is two. For some reason, when I thought about there being nothing for her to get into upstairs, I wasn't thinking AT ALL. There's always something for a two year old to get into.

Her sister came to me and said R's hands were messy. Messy? With what?? I go up there to find her hands full of this:




And even more on the carpet. And in piles on the wipes she tore out of her diaper bag. And even more in her diaper bag. *sigh*

So, after a little bit of vacuuming, my house will be oh-so-perfect for the in-laws visit. I have to thank her for the reminder since I'll have a little toddler in the near future who, I'm sure, will keep me on my toes in more ways than one.

Who needs exercise when you've got kids (and bum powder) around? ;)

My Little Helper

Quin is so excited to see his Grandma K and Papa D, he insisted on helping me get our house ready.



First, he helped me with the laundry:

Then, he helped me with the dishes (sorry about the dumb fuzziness):

Thank goodness for little helpers, or I'd never get anything done. ;)

Cleaning Frenzy

My in-laws are coming tomorrow! We're very excited!

They're coming for my husband's work's Open House this Saturday due to the addition that was built onto his building. And it's his company's 40th Anniversary.

Also, they've decided to stay an extra week because on the 27th, my sweet Sunshine (Andur) is singing a solo at church for his Primary program! He's also singing a duet because the girl that was supposed to sing the other solo didn't want to do it by herself. I'm so excited! I only wish I could use a video camera in the chapel!!

AND, Matt's brother's bringing his family up Friday night so we can all go to Rapid City on Sunday! Yay!

I got most of my cleaning done yesterday, and really there wasn't much because I like to keep up on such things, so today I have the dumb little details (like dusting - bleh!) to do today. My charges were supposed to come but their mom said she didn't have to work after all and won't be bringing them today which means I can squeeze my grocery shopping in today, too. (I dread grocery shopping, for obvious reasons.)

Now that Quin's tooth is here, he's not as needy (watch, I just jinxed myself) and I can get more accomplished during the day. Here I thought I could get so much done with just him here, but he's used to having my other two entertain him while I do stuff. He misses them! Yesterday he would NOT take his afternoon nap (around 3:30pm when the kids get out of school) but finally fell asleep after I sent the kids up to say hi when they got home. He's so loved and loves us in return! :)

Anyway, off to fold laundry and *shudder* dust.

A tooth! A tooth!

Quin's first tooth is finally through!!! Woohoo!!!! The one next to it isn't far behind... thankfully he just has a day here and there when he needs to snuggle because of it and isn't totally affected by it everyday.

A Yard Full of Potential

Today, we were to have a service project at our house done by the Elder's Quorum in our ward... a whopping two guys showed up. I blame the weather. (Rosa, only you could get that! LOL)

There was tree chopping:


Timber! (Or as my kids would say, "Timberdale!" I really don't know where they got this.)


Lot's of helping:


Brother Teo and our good friend Trent (Well, our good friend Brandon dropped off his very handy dump trailor... he would've stayed but he and his wife decided they need to move to ND and are fixing up their house.):

More, uh, "helping":

Helping or fighting? You decide:

Helpers helping the "helpers":

Tying her down (This was only load one. There were three trailors full of "fun yard stuff". And by "fun yard stuff", I mean annoying Russian Olive trees. Big bunch of weeds, if you ask me.):

Had to throw this in. Trent helped Matt clear this sweet little court on the side of our house. But this wasn't today, it's just part of our YARD POTENTIAL theme. When we moved in, it was full of things like bricks, a bush, rotted out wood, a dryer, a horrible beaten up patio swing w/equally beaten up awning, an old basket ball pole, a tarp, and trash. Lots and lots of trash. Nice of the people we bought the house from to leave all that, huh? Well, this is what it looks like now (Thanks again, Trent!):

This is only part of what was left in my now garden:

And this is my garden (notice the fixed fence...lol!):

The other half of my garden (next to my son's window with the smashing homemade Thomas curtains). Needs weeded, I know, but at least I have one!:

Wanna know where they got all that dirt? Come on, you know you want to find out:

This is the left over dead spot where all that dirt used to be. Yep, they left that, too. Nice, huh? Although, it did come in handy for my gardens. ;)

This is the front of my house where my flower garden is, although, you can only see part of it. It runs along the side of the sidewalk up to the front door, too, in an "L" shape. I love it!

Thanks to Matt, Brother Teo, Trent and Brandon for doing this! (Our neighbor, Matt, helped for a short minute, too.)