Close to my heart

The one where Marissa turns 5!

2010-11-04T10:39:00.007-06:00

March 31, 2010

The cake was a surprise for Miss M.....she loved it! Her dad did not love the price tag....but your little girl only turns 5 once, right?

My sweet little princess turned 5! I cant believe how fast time goes! Marissa is such a joy in our home and always has a smile on her face....we cannot help but kiss on her with those adorable dimples and my favorite....her death-grip hugs. No kidding, she will choke you to death with her hugs. She is intense and I love it! She is so kind to everyone, always sharing her treats, candy or whatever with everyone around her. Even her big brothers, who do not share with her (very often). Her friends mean a lot to her and so does her family. She loves to dress up, play babies and house, and LOVES to draw and color. She also loves to swim, go to Lagoon and ride all the scary rides, play outside and have movie parties every Friday night with her family. She adores her little sister and is always looking out for her.

Seriously this has to be one of my MOST favorite pictures of all time....why?
because one, my kids arent fighting and two, marissas pure love for her big brother and three, logan actually letting someone hug AND kiss him. If you know him at all you would know he does not love a lot of affection. (i wonder where he gets that from) :)

The cake from Baskin Robbins....LOVED IT!!! We dont do this every birthday but I could not resist this time. Marissa was set to have her first "friends party" ever but it was just not suppose to happen this year. We sent out invites and all that jazz....but we picked a bad weekend. Between Conference weekend and a lot of people being out of town, it just did not work. I tried to do it another weekend but it never worked out. So, next year I will for sure be making it up to her.

Marissa also got to have lunch with two of her most favorite people in the world....G&G Allen. We went to Chilis and it was a delight to have them spend the
day with Miss M.

Her loot: A leapster with 2 games, clothes, barbies, the movie Snow White and The new Tinkerbell movie. (cant remember what else) :)

The one where I brag about Paiges' booty.

2010-11-04T10:33:00.005-06:00

Yes, that is right I am giving her BOOTY a whole post if its own. Trust me, it deserves it. My baby girl has the cutest, biggest most squishable booty around! Check it out!

Now Shawn and I and the kids are used to her squishi-ness. But, everytime we see family or someone else that has not seen us in a long time...the comments are inevitable. Seriously, we love it!! My brother-in-law took this picture, saying we needed to get a shot of her roundness. cute, right??

and those thighs!! Love them!

(paige at 17 months)

The one where zakk gets his Arrow Of Light!

2010-11-04T09:54:00.005-06:00

February 16, 2010

We were so proud of Zakk! He worked so hard to get his Arrow Of Light! He always falls behind in scouts due to the 5 months of football, where he does not get to participate in the weekly scouting activities. So, we had to do some major catch-up before his b-day in February. I was serious that he get his A.O.L...and he did!!!
Good job bud!!

Of course, my wonderful mom and step-dad drove all the way down here from Idaho (a 3 hour drive) just be here for zakks ceremony. They ARE the best!!!

The one where ZAKK turns 11!!

2010-11-04T09:25:00.011-06:00

February 24, 2010

So, my first born turned the big ONE-ONE in February! WOW!!! That sure makes me feel old....and proud! I love my zakk-attak!!! He is the sweetest kid and is a huge help around the house lately! He is my go-to garbage man and always willing to babysit the girls when I need to just run a few close errands. He of course loves football, his #1 love in life, next to his mom that is. :):)We love zakk so much and feel so blessed to have him in our family!
The lucky boy got lots of new clothes and money this year....boring!!

Apparantly we had a little get-together at Scott and Nicloe's house (shawns brother) and Kristin and Jeff came and also Grandma and Grandpa Allen were there. (Forgive me, I am trying to remember what we did in February, that is a long time ago for my little brain)

Here are all the cousins together for a cute shot.
Zakk was lucky enough to have 2 cakes...one from Costco.....

and a YUMMY cake from a bakery from sweet Grandma!!

So, it looks like the events of the week were a breakfast of champions, dinner at chilis, swimming with G&G Allen at their hotel. Bowling with my side of the family on another night. I am so lame and cant remember every detail...but it looks like we partied it up!!!

The one where I catch up.....starting with Logan!

2010-11-02T13:25:00.008-06:00

December 12, 2009 my sweet Logan turned 8! It was a big day and as always we made it a special day! We love Logan so much and feel so lucky to have him in our life! He is the sweetest little blond boy around.....he loves to read, learn, play baseball, especially play with friends and of course tease his brother and sisters. He has a special place in his heart for his little sister Paige...always wanting to play with her and hug on her. He is so much fun! He always wants to play games, video and board. He especially loves spelling games, he is awesome at bananagrams, hangman and clue. He is the best on the WII also, should I be proud of this (?).I am so proud of him and his excellent report cards he brings home! He is really hard on himself if he does not get a perfect one. He is hard on himself in sports as well, always wanting to do his best!

We love you logan!!!

We went to to Texas Road House to eat....Logans favortie! Had a wonderful cake from Dairy Queen and took the kids to Classic Fun Center, one of our favorite places on earth!!!! Grandma and Grandpa Allen joined us. Good times!!

We also went swimming at the hotle G & G were staying at.

Of course I did not get a picture of our whole family...darnit!!!!

My wonderful father-in-law did the honors of baptizing Logan. He is the best!!

This is my favorite picture (logan is going to kill me)!! Logan got very emotional right before, we had to have a little chat about the spirit and why he was feeling this way...it was very sweet. I love this boy!!
Thank you for making the right decision Logan and making us proud! Thank you for being an example to your little sisters....LOVE YOU!!!!

The one where i blog

2009-11-09T17:53:00.001-07:00

A LOT! So, sorry to overload on the new posts....if you want just keep on reading! I updated a lot today and i did not go in order in case you are noticing a lot of things out of order. Enjoy!!!

The one where my BABY turns 1

2009-11-09T17:27:00.007-07:00

I was SO not wanting to celebrate this day at all. I cant believe Paige is already a year old....it is killing me!
What a joy she is in our home...such a sweet little spirit that we all adore and cant stop snuggling and smothering and kissing on! Thank you Paige for being such a doll...we love you so much!! We are so blessed to have you in our lives!

So, these next pictures are just me having fun with the camera and trying to catch some cute ones of Paigey-waigey!

Would you just look at those rolls....how can you not love that!?!?

I know i am not the greatest photographer but she sure is fun to take pictures of.

We love you paige!!!! Thank you for choosing us to be your family!

The one with the CRUISE that never was.

2009-11-09T15:27:00.006-07:00

So these first few pictures pretty much sum up the first day of our "cruise" we were supposed to be on. Jared, my brother-in-law on the phone ALL day long trying to get us on our ship that we missed due to the lovely people at United Airlines.
We missed the whole cruise due to "The Jones Law". Which meant since the airlines made us miss our flight and we could not catch another one in time to get on the cruise ship and the ship left out of Canada we could not get on at another port. Stupid canadians! :)
So, we spent the whole day flying, crying, arguing, on the phone,sitting in airport and/or fighting to get on our trip...yes, we did have security called on us in Denver.....we made it BACK to Utah the same day we left Utah. It was a fabulous time.
After a year of planning, getting time of for, finding babysitters, WEENING MY BABY WAY EARLIER THEN I EVER WOULD HAVE (this one probably irks me the most) and dealing with the fact that i have to leave my kids for 10 days in the care of others who in turn have to drive them to all their activities, not to mention i had a wonderful girl come all the way from missouri babysit for me AND the packing for a 10 day trip.......we did not get to go.
Seriously??? I still cant get over that...whenever i say the words it still kills me. Did that really happen to us? And on top of 3 couples...tiff and jared, eric and chelsea and shawn and i not making it on....the other half of our family made it on the ship. So, in a way it ruined their trip for the first few days...dealing with the fact that they had to try to enjoy the trip while we couldnt. It was hard on them too. Although i am sure eating all the delicious food, all the beautiful scenery helped a little. :):)

Anyways, Tiff and Jared talked us into going on a little trip to help ease the hurt of the "non-cruise".
So, off to Seattle it was! We stayed in a hotel that night we came back to Utah and flew out the next morning. It was fun...just not the cruise we thought we would be enjoying.

So, we went to Farmers Market.
And were lucky enough to see WICKED again.....as you can tell this was the highlight of the trip for shawn. (enter major sarcasm).

He did get to go to the Headquarters of Geo-caching. pretty cool!

We took a day trip over to Victoria, British Columbia. It was gorgeous!
It turns out we did get to go on a ship.....just a much smaller one. :)

We had the best crepes in the entire world...seriously....so good!! A fruit one and also one with ham and pineapple in it. trust me it was faulouso!!!

saw "plasterman"....he wanted a hug after i put money in his little cup. he totally freaked me out....and no i did not hug him.

Tiffany, Me and Chelsea in Victoria.

A HUGE thank you to my sister Tiffany and her amazing hubby Jared.....words cannot express the gratefulness i have for them. They were awesome!!!

The one where marissa gets her tonsils out.

2009-11-09T15:04:00.003-07:00

To say the least marissa has had a rough year. Since May she has had strep throat 5 times, 3 ear infections and 4 bladder infections. So, we decided to get her tonsils out....this happened October 6th. She was a trooper!!! You would have thought nothing happened....she was running around and playing like nothing even took place....she did awesome!
My sweet mom came down to help out with everything after the surgery and we wondered why she even came because marissa was so great! But, we still had fun with my mom. My bday was the day after the surgery and so after logans soccer game we went out to eat at Five Guys Burgers and Fries....such a fun place to eat!
Marissa is doing great and has been a different girl since the surgery. She was diagnosed with mono as well and we go in the Primary Childrens next week to have her kidneys checked to make sure nothing is wrong with them. The doctor is worried about that because she has had so many bladder infections.
All i know is she is one tough cookie!

2009-11-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

Ahhh the first day of school! Always a great day! Here is Logan going into 2nd grade and Zakk going into 5th grade....man they are growing so fast!!!!

The one where zakk changes schools

2009-11-09T14:23:00.002-07:00

So I was finally able to get zakk into a charter school! I have been trying to get him into one for the last 4 years. It finally happened September 28 and it has been an amazing thing for him. We absolutely LOVE Oquirrh Mountain Charter School! He is so much happier and has homework and learning the things he should be learning. There are no x-box days, texting contests or anything else of that nature. Just a great learning environment and fabulous teachers. We are loving it!!!!

The one where logan plays soccer

2009-11-09T14:13:00.002-07:00

He is such a boy!

for the first time and he ROCKED the field!! He did so great! You never would have known he had not played before....they ended the season undefeated!!! Logan had a blast and scored quite a few goals, stopped quite a few goals and man were we proud!! We cant wait until spring!

The one where we zakk has another football season

2009-11-09T13:50:00.003-07:00

#17 had a hard year this year! Zakk and only 4 other players on his team have played before. (this was their 3rd year) This was the first year for the rest of the 18 kids on the team and so it was ROUGH!!! They ended the season with no wins and only 2 touchdowns the whole year. Zakk was really frustrated to say the least. He had a great coach though and still had a good time and made some good friends!

The one where Marissa gets a haircut

2009-11-09T13:45:00.003-07:00

in May. Marissa had been asking for a bob haircut for quite a while. Two of her friends Charlotte and Kathryn had the haircut and she wanted it. I was more then thrilled...i was hoping it would thicken up her hair. It turned out really cute! We love it!

The one where we go to Bear Lake

2009-11-09T11:34:00.009-07:00

In July!

That is right...i am so behind! I hate being behind. So here is a re-cap of our fun trip to Bear Lake with Shawns family. We had a blast! It is my new favorite place.

Be sure to click on the pictures to make them bigger...they look way better when they are big.

Paige....our chunky-monkey! she loved the water and the sand!

Zakk was so happy! He learned how to wake-board!
I could not have been more PROUD!

My beauty QUEEN!

Paige with Grandpa Allen

Cutie-patootie Logan!!

Shawn and I actually in a picture together

Logan digging in the sand with cousins Cooper and Michael

Finally! A family picture!

the castle shawn, sam and logan made. pretty impressive!

seriously...the water was GORGEOUS!!!!! i cant wait to go back!

Shawn actually got on the tube and went for a CRAZY ride.

This is how Marissa spent the last part of the trip.....with a high fever and just basically feeling like poop.

Scott and Nicole just chillaxing!

zakk and uncle sam.....you know he is about to do something "uncle-ish" to him....like tackle him or push him over or something sweet like that. :)

Shawn and Logan playing catch...or peg-each-other-as-hard-as-you-can-with-the-wet-football.

We just happen to be there when it was Raspberry Days which made it even more fun! The craft show was so much fun and they had so many fun things to look at. The shakes did not disappoint! Thank you Allen clan for making it a fun time!!

2009-11-09T11:22:00.003-07:00

So on Halloween week Marissa was the beautiful Snow White! With the 10 times i had to dress her and get her make-up on and hair done she was loving it!! Because you know Halloween is not only just a day anymore....it takes a whole week to celebrate now.

Anyways, back to the point of this post.....she was laying in bed and i had not taken off the make-up because i was just too tired to deal with it one more night.

She rubs her eyes while i am singing her a song and says "mommy you forgot to take off my mozzerella!" with tears streaming down her face.
(a.k.a mascara)
I sure ended the night with a great laugh!

THE ONE WHERE I SUM UP OUR SIZZLING SUMMER SO FAR!!

2009-07-17T22:53:00.002-06:00

so.....i have been such a bad blogger lately!

this summer has been so crazy busy! i feel like we have been
out of town more then in town...but man we have had fun!

the best part is that shawn has been able to come on most of
the trips with us.....love that!!!!

*WARNING*
update overload and especially photo overload!!!!

I felt like i had go back and add all that we have done
for my own memory....thanks for letting me babble! :):)

2009-07-17T22:10:00.008-06:00

JUNE 2
My Grandpa Jensen passed away.....92 years old.
The funeral was in Driggs, Idaho.
The service was just perfect!!
it was very touching and such a great tribute
to such a wonderful man!!

This was the first funeral on my side of the family.
i feel pretty lucky to have had all 4 of my grandparents
in my life for so long!!

this was the house my grandpa built for he and my grandma. they lived in it for
almost their whole lives.
it brought back a lot of memories to see this home again...it had been quite a few years since i had been here.

I was lucky enough to have gone to visit my grandpa a few months before he passed away. i am so glad that i listened to the prompting i had to go see him for one last time....it had been far too long since i had seen him last.

My cute hubby also turned 35 on this day.....i feel horrible that i was so consumed with the funeral stuff that i did not even tell him happy b-day until 4pm.

yes....i know....i get the most horrible wife of the year award!!!

I do love shawn so much and am so glad that i married him!!!

2009-07-17T22:02:00.002-06:00

JUNE 5th

Last day of school!!!!!

this is always a bitter-sweet day for me.
i am always happy to have them home....but miss the quiet!

zakk came home just happy as a clam that another year was over.
i swear he only goes to school for the social part....just like me!

man...i love this kid!!

logan came home crying!!!! he was so sad...sad to not see his friends
everyday and not seeing his teacher everyday.....and mostly sad to not
be learning on an everyday basis.

man...i love this kid!

we had another great year!!!
the boys did great and came home with awesome report cards.

i cannot believe i will have a 5th grader next year.....oh man!!!

time is flying by!!

**can you believe it...no pictures????
i always take some of the last day....i must have forgotten. :)

2009-07-17T18:53:00.007-06:00

JUNE 10-13

HENRY'S LAKE, IDAHO

this is a tradition that goes way back to when i was a kid.
my mom's side of the family has been going here forever!!!
we camp and fish for four days.....tonz of memories!!!

this year was no exception...we had a blast!!

Uncle Terry....he would not quit until all the kids had caught a fish...he was so much fun!! thank you terry!

looks like paige is driving the boat

all the kids and uncle terry....one of the fishing outings

my brother...Lance

zakk and tayson....always good for a laugh!

my girls and I

Logan-berry

my mom...tayson...paige

elise and some of the kids

cousins

again...me and my girls

marissa and aubrey....scootering!

Laney and me....one of my favorite people in the world!

my uncles and the "teenagers" (my cousins) that logan hung around with most of the time and got into trouble with. :):)

tiff and hadley

my aunt angie and I

Marissa swinging

more of the cousins

my mom and paige

marissa and laney

Thank you mom and bruce for a FABULOUS time!!!

some of the highlights:

*fishing
*hanging out with family...or course
*the giant, dirty, tighty-wighties that were left in our cabin from the previous renter...YUCK!!! (made for a good laugh)
*playing games
*the playmill...we go see a play in west yellowstone every year
*spending time with my aunts and uncles and cousins
*4-wheelers getting pulled over and getting a serious talking-to about illegal trails

2009-07-17T18:24:00.003-06:00

JUNE 20

The end of baseball arrived!!!

bitter-sweet day.

bitter because i love watching logan play...he is so dang cute out there!
sweet because well lets face it....i was sick of spending our life savings
at the stinking snack-shack!! :):)

bitter also because they lost in the tournament...darnit!!!

Logan did great this year.....improving even more from last year.
most importantly...he had a really fun time!!

looking forward to next season!

2009-07-17T18:15:00.003-06:00

JUNE 29

My baby is 9 months old!!

she is killing me!!! she is so big and so chunky....love it!!!

*she still snorts
*scrunches up her nose and gives chinese eyes all the time
*laughs so hard at the kids....logan especially
*looks so much like logan....man he is proud of that
*adores her dad
*adores me too....i think just cuz she knows i have the "goods" (i.e. milk)
*is not crawling.....i think because someone always wants to hold her and she is too "healthy" to get herself moving around.
*sleeps through most nights
*says "dada" and "mama"
*loves baby food and snacks....ah lets be real...she loves anything that even resembles food.
*is so loved and absolutely adored by all!!

2009-07-17T17:35:00.005-06:00

JUNE 26-JULY 1

My brother Lance took his oldest daughter, Delaney on a 10 day trip out east and to canada. i was lucky enough to have tayson and emma come stay with me for a few days.

what we did:
*swam almost everyday
*lagoon
*played
*ate
*watched movies
*had a BLAST!!!!

man we had fun!!! i love these kids almost as much as i love my own
they are the most well behaved and wonderful kids i know!
thank you lance for trusting me with them!!

2009-07-17T17:03:00.005-06:00

4TH OF JULY WEEK.....

With the fourth being on a Saturday.....shawn had a 3day weekend. YIPEE!!!!
this doesnt happen very often.
so, we headed to burley to play!!!!

The festivities included:
*parade in rupert
*boating/playing on the river
*eating....my favorite part!!
*dinner and fireworks at Cordells....my step-dads friend,
an amazing show!!!!

My mom and Bruces' house is the greatest place on earth to my kids!
They just walk in the backyard and jump in the river and swim ALL DAY!
jump in the hot-tub to warm up....trampoline.....kitchen for a snack....river again and then start all over!!!

thank you mom and bruce for letting us come and make some unforgettable memories!

well....maybe we could forget the rupert parade next year ! :):):)

Burtenshaw Reunion!

2009-07-17T15:26:00.012-06:00

JULY 8-12

For the reunion of my mom and Bruces' kids we decided to keep it local and hang out in Burley, ID.

11 adults and 23 grandkids!!!

Thursday: Lava Hot Springs....so fun!!!!!

MY GIRLS!!

MY GIRLS AND I!!!

ZAKK AND JORDYN THNKING ABOUT GOING OFF THE HIGHEST PLATFORM!!!
it is ONLY 33 ft. high!!!

THINKING ABOUT IT.....

DOING IT!!!!!

UNBELIEVABLE......HE MADE ME SOOOOOO PROUD!!!

LOGAN THINKING ABOUT IT......

MY NEICE JORDYN....LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!! she is one tough chick!

FRIDAY.......Thompson Flats.
Dutch oven cooking and just hanging out in the mountains.

SATURDAY....played on the river all day in my mom's backyard. SO FUN!!!
so much fun apparantly that i did not take one photo.:):)
but i did venture out this year and did the surfboard behind the boat.
i dont remember the last time i did something on the boat...it was so fun!!!

thank you brek and emily for teaching me!!

and we ate and ate and ate A LOT!!!!

Thank you mom and bruce...as always, it was a PAR-TAY!!!!!!

****yes, my hubby was there, just not the first 2 days....hence, the
zero pictures of him. :):)

The one where i am speechless

2009-05-27T21:24:00.003-06:00

and so grateful!!!!

i honestly am at a loss for words! thank you so much for everyones wonderful support, love and advice!
i didn't think i even had this many readers of my lame old blog! :)
i am usually not this honest and open with my feelings unless i know you really well. so, i am still kind of shocked that i wrote this very candid post. for some reason though i just felt very compelled to be so honest and just get it all down where i would remember how i was feeling in this time of my life.

so, thank you for being so kind!

i feel so lucky to have such wonderful friends and such amazing family in my life! You guys will never know how much your words have helped me keep moving forward and
helped my spirits!

seriously, words cant even express how much i love all of you and how grateful i am for you comments...i am at a loss for words.

know that i love each one of you and i have read and re-read your comments over and over again.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!

The one where i would trade it all!

2009-04-20T23:38:00.003-06:00

So, i went running tonight!
it felt great!
3 miles to be exact...thats not too shabby if i do say so myself.
i am out of shape and it should be more.
one day at a time though!

i was running along and loving my music ( i CANT run without my ipod!) and especially the gorgeous almost 70 degree weather!

i rounded a corner and this song "one thing" by finger eleven (?) came on my ipod playlist.

i dont know how this song got on my ipod...i dont remember putting it there.

but i really liked it really fast.
i am one of those people who re-play a GREAT song over and over and over again until i have really annoyed all those around me.

so i played it over and over on the frontage road.
my view on this particular street was of the bountiful temple.
gorgeous!

i just kept staring at the temple.

i love having so many temples close by.
one of the few things i love about utah! :)

so this song is playing and the words go like this:

"restless tonight,cuz i wasted the light.
between both these times i drew a really thin line.
its nothing i planned and not that i can.
but you should be mine.
across that line.

if i traded it all, if i gave it all away for one thing, but just for one thing.
if i sorted it out, if i knew all about this one thing.....wouldnt that be something!

if i traded it all, if i gave it all away for one thing, but just for one thing.
if i sorted it out, if i knew all about this one thing....wouldnt that be something!!

even though i know...i dont want to know...yeah i gues i know, i just hate how it sounds!

if i traded it all, if i gave it all away for one thing, but just for one thing.
if i sorted it out, if i knew all about this one thing....wouldnt that be something!!"

those are not ALL of the lyrics...they do repeat that last chorus a few more times.

so you are probably wondering why i am telling you this....

most of you know that shawn and i were not married in the temple.
something that i am very ashamed and saddened about.
we had a goal to go soon after we were married.
obviously that has not happened.
i have gone on my own and have taken out my endowments.
amazing!!!

"but the one thing that i would trade it all for", and that one thing that is "across that thin line" for me is to be sealed to my husband and my 4 amazing kids for time and all eternity!

that is one thing "that should be mine!"

"wouldnt that be something!"
"wouldnt that be something!"
"wouldnt that be something!"

you all know that we live very modestly...on a very modest income for a family of 6.
we rent a small townhome.
we dont own a home.
we dont have much, in the worlds eyes.
no boats, no big toys, no fancy cars.
we dont go on fancy trips...ever!

and that is ok!

we do have the basics.

we have each other.

i have 4 amazing, wonderful, beautiful children!!!!

that is all anyone needs..right!?

i would give it all away....our modest home and whatever i had to
get that "one thing".

to see my 4 beautiful children dressed in all white become mine FOREVER!
to see my husband in all white, become mine the way we were suppose to become one.

to become a family forever.

yes.

i would give it all, i would trade it all for just that one thing!

now wouldnt that be something!!!!!!!!

The one where we go to temple square.....

2009-04-14T22:51:00.006-06:00

in the rain and cold.

Sunday was a great easter day. My stake presidents wife mentioned in R.S. the film on Joseph Smith that they are playing at the JSMB.
I made a mental note that i needed to go and take my family to see this.
Tonight was the night...we have not been to Temple Square in quite a while.
So, this was long overdue!!!

The kids came home from school and i got them all ready. Shawn, of course opted out and said he was going to stay home.

enter my anger! bear with me, this does have a point!

Paige had fallen asleep and so it was perfect for me to go and not worry about her needing to eat for a while. We were walking out the door...paige woke up!

Enter frustration!

i had to feed her, shawn would not come and i did not feel like taking all 4 kids by myself....the movie was starting in 30 minutes...i had to feed paige. so i decided we would go to the 6pm movie.

5:15 came and we had to leave....i needed to stop at costco on the way just to return something really quick. I pulled into the parking lot...found a spot...waited for the car to pull out...another car whips right in front of me. and actually takes the spot that i was clearly waiting for!

enter more anger!

ok, i tell myself it is ok...there is another spot right next to it...calm down nat....i wait for this one...another #$&@%@#, i mean man, pulled in front of me and took this one too.

I am not making this stuff up!!!!
I swore!
I was on my way to temple square and i swore.
I was not in the right mood to go there and feel the spirit.

enter my 3rd time of the night thinking that i should just turn around and call it a night and try another day.

I found another spot....nobody was going to take this one!!!!
i parked.

SO frustrated!!

I run in and return my item....run back out to the car.
leaving the stupid lot and a women runs a stop sign and i have to slam on my brakes!
seriously!!!!????

I swore!

Again....i should just go home!

i am thinking...is there some reason why i should not be going to temple square?

I turn right and head toward the freeway, of course after laying on my horn at this lady. yes, it did make me feel better!

we finally make it with 2 minutes to spare!

enter the spirit!

the movie was fabulous! the boys and i were both crying and it was so worth all the frustration....even though i swore, the spirit was still there. :)

we also went to the visitors center and that was great...and did a few of the other tours. it was so neat!

the kids loved it and thanked me for taking them and especially thanked me for the ice cream afterwards.

i am so glad i went and did not give up on my desire to have a spiritual experience.

here are some highlights!

I realize my pictures are not all that great quality....sorry!

at least i have them for the memory though, right?

sorry for the long post! :):)

The one where paige is 6 months old....

2009-04-14T12:58:00.004-06:00

STATS:
17.1 pounds
27 inches long

Surprise, surprise! If you can believe it Paige is 75th percentile across the board. I dont know the head size....i never pay attention to that. She looks great and i actually let them give her all of her shots....only because i promised shawn i would and because they are letting me do them slowly and spread out a little more.

I am not a fan of immunizations!!! that is another story though.

A few of our names for Paige:

*chub-a-wubs
*cheeks
*chubby bunny
*chunky monkey
*paigey-waigey
*chipmunk

Do you think she will remember this? Hopefully she has the Jensen gene and then it is all in good fun!

I also took Marissa in for her 4-year check-up and to talk about finally getting her some shots. (uggghhhhhh!!!!)

She did great!
Hearing: check
vision: check
balance: check
stranger talk: check
private part talk: check
sucker: check, check

height: 3 ft. 8 inches
weight: 40 pounds

Surprise surprise...she is 100% on height and 50th on weight.
Poor girl!!!!

She doesnt even have to be in a car seat anymore!
She can just be in a booster seat with a back and just use the seat belt!

WOW!!!

If only she would stay buckled i might consider doing this...she loves to unbuckle and roam around the car!

I cannot believe how big they are getting! Seriously makes me sad....i want them to stay like this forever!

Sunday after church Marissa was telling me what she learned in her class and she was telling me the song they sang.

Book of Mormon Stories.

The last line....."Giv'n the land if they lived righteously."

Marissa sings it like this...."giv'n the lamb if they live right to sleep"

Adorable!!

I love the stage they are both in right now...too fun!!!

The one where Marissa turns 4!

2009-04-01T00:00:00.006-06:00

Marissa was born on March 31, 2005.
in Blue Springs, MO.
at 1:30 pm
7 lbs. 14 oz.
21 inches long
absolutely gorgeous!!

My girl is the BIG 4 today! Wow! I cant believe it...i have been telling her all day that she has to go backwards instead of forward with her age...that today she is 3.

She is not buying into this idea at all!

Here are some highlights of her BIRTHday......

The epidural always makes me sleepy...and so groggy!

Our beautiful little girl...off the subject a bit, but isn't my hubby SO HOT!!

THE most amazing moment in all of life...holding your brand new beautiful baby for the first time...UNBELIEVABLE!!!

yes...marissa was bigger than her big brother, logan.

P.E.R.F.E.C.T!!! and love all that beautiful dark hair!

man she was such a gorgeous baby!!!

wide-eyed!!

first time meeting her amazing big brothers...they were so excited!

Today was great! Grandma Burtenshaw was even here this morning to help kick off the glorious day. Marissa woke up to the balloons, decorations and her brand new big girl bike! She was so happy!
We had to wait ALL DAY for shawn to get home from work to open the rest of the presents and man it was a long wait!

She asked every 20 minutes if she could just open one...please!

She picked the place for dinner...a tradition in our family.
The choice: Wendys!
Then off to the Rec Center to swim...her favorite thing!
Home for presents and cake....i have to hand it to her...she
made it until 8pm to open the rest of her presents!

thank you babe for being so patient!

The loot:
From my mom and bruce: Lagoon season pass and homemade skirt (ADORABLE!!)

From Grandma and Grandpa Allen: beach towel, movie, gift card, socks, headbands, color wonder book, book, and notepad. (spoiled!)

From mom and dad: bike, helmet, barbie head, barbie, barbie clothes, spongebob pjs, swimsuit,
cute pjs, earrings, and shoes.

My favorite things about my beautiful Marissa:

1. her sweet spirit
2. her cute dimples
3. she is so motherly
4. she is so complimentary
5. her tight, two-armed death hugs
6. her self-confidence
7. the love she has for her dad...she adores him!
8. her smile
9. that she is mine!!!

I love you baby girl!
may we always be the best of friends just like we are right now!
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

The one where Paige is 5 months old!

2009-03-29T23:29:00.003-06:00

Yes, again this post is also overdue! She was 5 months old 1 month ago. i am having a hard time staying on top of things but i guess later is better than never!

isn't she so cute???

look at those cheeks!!

that is what EVERYONE says when they look at her and i am a proud mamma to show them off...because she is healthy and happy and full.....always full.

yes, i think i do produce cream and dang proud of it...i would not have it any other way.

i LOVE my chunky babies!

i LOVE my Paige!

The one where paige is 4 months!!!

2009-03-29T22:58:00.003-06:00

This first picture is when paige had RSV. it wasn't as scary as i thought it would be...of course we were worried but she recovered so quickly! she was really bad for 4 days and then was over it. that's my big, strong, tough girl!

Ok so, paige was 4 months old 2 months ago...but i am trying to catch up...seriously SO behind!

STATS: Height: 24 3/4"
Weight: 14 lbs. 3 oz.

I am not sure where she is on the chart as in percentile...i will have to update later. but i have no doubt she is on the higher end.

The one where I find out I like to cook!

2009-03-24T11:01:00.003-06:00

So, those of you that know me well know that I have always hated to cook!
I have not been a regular cook for my family.
sure i would do the sloppy joes, tacos, pizza....stuff like that, but not an everyday thing like a good mom should.

Like my WONDERFUL mother who always made a big amazing delicious meal every night!

Well, with this new found love of being frugal, couponing and just not spending a lot of money anymore...i have found that cooking is actually fun!

The best part is that my kids are LOVING what i am making....shawn is still coming around....because if its not PB&J sandwiches, well then its not dinner.

Zakk, Logan and Marissa are so enjoying this and so am I.
I do not go to the store unless I ABSOLUTELY have to, I only shop the ads and if i have a coupon or its on sale that week...that is what our meals are based around.

I have to tell you how freeing this has been and how much better i feel about myself.

SO, if you are interested i would love to share some of our new favorite recipes i have been using....all of which my 3 kids have loved and most of them shawn has liked...i think...he doesnt say anything but he does usually eat them.

here is one i made last night and it was pretty good...sweet though...just to warn you.

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

6 tablespoons honey
5 tablespoons lime juice (1 large lime)
1 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded (I used 3 small chicken breasts)
8-10 flour tortillas
1 pound monterey jack cheese, shredded
16 ounces green enchilada sauce
1 cup heavy cream (to lighten them up, I have substituted sour cream with good results)

Mix the first four ingredients and toss with shredded chicken. Let it marinate for at least 1/2 hour (I tossed mine together in a ziploc bag in the morning and let it sit in the refrigerator all day). Pour about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9X13 baking pan. Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese, saving about 1 cup of cheese to sprinkle on top of enchiladas. Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the cream and leftover marinade. Pour sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until brown and crispy on top

i just used the mexican cheese from costco since i had that on hand and it tasted just fine. and i did not have cream...so i used half and half.

If you try this one let me know what you think!

Love to all!

The one where.....

2009-03-12T11:50:00.003-06:00

I THOUGHT I WAS BACK!!!

Ok....so for real i am so upset with myself! I was all excited to finally be running again and man it was feeling so good.

Enter stupid Utah weather! It is literally snowing like crazy one day and sunny and kind of warm the next. I cant stand it anymore....i am seriously considering moving to Arizona. I hate that you get all happy and hanging outside and the kids are running around and the sunshine.....OH THE SUNSHINE!!!

Then before you know it....snow!!! UGH!

So...i am hoping to BE BACK again soon!

On another note....i am sure most of you read NIENIE

I absolutely LOVE and ADMIRE this girl. She just amazes me and inspires me everyday! The last few posts i just cry after reading them. I cant imagine what she is going through...and I think I have problems!
that is my problem!

Wake up nat!

Are any of you affected by this blog and this amazing women and mother? and her husband....man he is awesome!

I also ADORE and LAUGH everytime I read cjane

She is so dang cute and writes so good! She is very entertaining!

If you are not reading these blogs for some strange reason....go read them now!!!
They will inspire you and brighten your day....2 wonderful sisters who are amazing!

The one where.....

2009-03-11T13:26:00.002-06:00

I AM TERRIFIED OF NINJAS!!!

SO...it was a few weeks ago and I was finally relaxing at night watching some tv. I found a new favorite show.

It is called "I SURVIVED".

It should really be called "TURN THIS SHOW OFF NOW UNLESS YOU LOVE HAVING TERRIBLE NIGHTMARES!"

It is about real people and the stories of how they survived the most terrible ordeal you can possibly imagine. Let me tell you...it scared the bageebers (i dont think that is a word but it sounded good) out of me.

I also could not turn it off!

This particular story was of a women who was attacked by a man dressed in a ninja suit....he was waiting for her when she got out of her shower...TERRIFYING!!

I will not tell you the rest of the story, seriously it affected me that much! Three weeks later and I am still leaving my shower curtain open just a little bit! So I will be prepared when a ninja attacks me....razor blade in hand.

The one where Marissa starts Preschool!

2009-03-04T16:50:00.004-07:00

Today was "THE DAY"! Marissa was so excited to start pre-k today. My friend Shelly called a few weeks ago to tell me she had a girl move to Brazil and wondered if Marissa wanted to try it one day a week for the last 2 months of school.
Sure! Even though she is only 3 and I really was not ready to send her off yet. I was loving the time with just my girls.
But, I decided to try it and give Marissa a change from boring old mom.

She loved it! She did not ask for me until the last 30 minutes, which Shelly said was pretty normal at this age.

Way exciting!

So, what did I do for those 2 precious hours you ask?! I scrapbooked and soaked up the quiet clean house!

When I picked her up she came running so fast up to me and gave me the biggest hug ever! It was so cute!

Then we went to a play date at Carls Jr. with our friends....it was a great day!

The one where I'm feeling the love!

2009-03-03T22:58:00.002-07:00

So, I am feeling so loved this week!

I was lucky enough to receive one of these on Sunday night and one on Monday night!
They came from two wonderful women whom I adore and admire so much! I feel very lucky
to be in the ward I am in and be friends with such wonderful women who inspire me to
want to do better everyday!
The notes these two special ladies wrote me just brightened my day so much! They will never know how much I appreciate this and how special their words made me feel!

Thank you ladies! I love you!

The one where......

2009-02-19T14:08:00.003-07:00

IM BACK BABY!!!

I am so happy!! I FINALLY went running!

It has only been like a flippin YEAR since my last
run and MAN it felt so GOOD!

Notice the snow in the picture.
I am a fair-weather runner.
But....I could not wait any longer and I am sick of
these LOVE handles! Why are they called LOVE handles
anyway?? I dont know anyone who loves them!

It is around 50 degrees today...not the perfect
weather but it was good enough!

IM BACK BABY!!!

The one where Paige is CHUNKY!!

2009-02-18T21:44:00.004-07:00

We are so happy that little Paige is no longer LITTLE Paige!
She is growing so fast...too fast! I cant believe she is already
4 1/2 months!! She is over her RSV...which ended up only being
really bad for 5 days. I feel like we were pretty lucky, especially
because as i type this the news is doing a story on RSV and the
rise of cases in UTAH right now. LUCKY PAIGE did not get worse.

We are so happy she is in our lives! The kids still want to kiss
and hug on her all day long (this would explain Paige getting RSV).
Honestly I have seriously given PAIGE 100 kisses today alone...she
is just so fun and smiley and kissable. We love her chubby cheeks
and just kiss on her all day long. I also think it is more apparent
to me that i will most likely not have a 4 month old again to hug
and kiss on (wow, that physically hurt to say that out loud!)since
we are 99.9% sure she will be our last! :(

Did you notice in the first picture her permanent and natural
MOHAWK?? Yep, thats right no matter what i do it just turns
into a mohawk...too cute, the boys especially love it!

Anyways, Paigey Waigey we love you so much and are so glad you are
in our lives and feel so blessed you chose us to be your family!

The one where shawn called my sweater a SNUGGIE....

2009-02-09T22:48:00.003-07:00

OK.....so by now you have all seen the commercial for the SNUGGIE. You know that ugly blue blanket that you wear to keep you warm and also so when you reach for your remote your arms wont fall out of your blanket.

SO, today i was actually feeling pretty cute (i dont remember the last time i felt cute, after having a baby it takes a while for me to feel cute and "myself" again)
anyway, i just had my hair done and went tanning and had on a new cute sweater that
i found at Target on clearance.
It is one of those sweaters that has the big, wide sleaves you know? Now, let me also say that i have been struggling with the fact that i am not in style lately. I used to think i was kind of on top of the latest styles....i went shopping after christmas and felt totally out of it. I could not find anything i liked or even knew how to wear! Crazy!

So, i bought this crazy sweater that i felt was cute and kind of "IN".

After we went out today to take Paige to the doctor shawn said to me (totally out of the blue)......"WHATS WITH THAT SHIRT?? IS IT A SNUGGIE?"

Now, granted i had a good laugh...a real belly laugh. Because one, it was funny and two, my husband is one of the last people to be saying anything about fashion! Honestly, i cant even believe he noticed what i was wearing!

I mean he still has some things from HS.....and you all know the only thing he ever wears is jeans and a gray shirt...no kidding!

So, will i stop wearing my "SNUGGIE"...heck no!!!

because you know what?!?!
it does keep me warm, and when I reach for for my remote my arms stay warm! and i
can even wear it to a football game and stay cozy....its a great thing!

*****so, i only posted this an hour ago...and no joke, marissa started crying in her bed. we went up and checked on her and she had a little accident and was quite upset! i changed her and layed her down, was looking for a blanket to replace her favorite nemo blanket. It took me a minute, but i found one and was tucking her in and telling her i love her....she gives me a kiss and says...serisouly, this is for real...."thank you mom, this feels like a snuggie!"
oh man! i love my kids!

The one where Marissa never wants to move out....

2009-02-07T19:44:00.002-07:00

So, Marissa and I just had the CUTEST conversation tonight!
It went like this:

MARISSA: Mom, why do Grandpa and Grandma not have any kids, why do they live alone?

ME: I am their kid and dad is one of their kids. I was your age once and then I grew up and I moved out. (i explained more about this and who was who's parents and
who lived with who...but you dont want to hear all that and i really dont want to
type all that either)

MARISSA: UUHHHHH?!?? You mean I have to move out!! I never want to leave you mom! I want to live with you forever and ever!

ME: I bet you will change your mind when you are 16....but you can live with me as long as you want!

MARISSA: I love you so much mom..i love you...i love you...you are my best girl and i never want to leave you!

ME: I love you too and I dont want you to leave either!

(SHe just kept telling me how she did not want to move out!)

ME: You get to grow up and go to college and live with your best girlfriends and then
go on a date and kiss a boy and then marry a boy.

MARISSA: EEWWW! I dont ever want to kiss a boy! I only love daddy and never
want to marry a boy! I dont want to move out mom!

ME: oh babe you are only 3 and you dont have to move out until you are 18.

LOGAN: yea and that will be in like a bazillion years marissa!

MARISSA: oh ok then mom! I love you so much mom....i love you....i love you....
i love you!

hugs...hugs.....hugs....hugs....snuggle...snuggle.....snuggle....hugs....kisses!

Please can she just stay this sweet forever and feeel this way towards me when she
is a teenager!?!?

i love her...i love her....i love her......i love her.......i love her....i love her!

The one where Paige gets RSV.....

2009-02-06T19:42:00.003-07:00

So my little baby has RSV! I cant believe it...my kids have always been really healthy. I mean they do get a good cold here or there but it only lasts a few days.

Last Wednesday Logan came down with a cough and cold, nothing too terrible. I did keep him home though so it would not get worse, then marissa came down with it. They slowly got better, logan quicker than marissa. We tried to keep them away from Paige....but you know how that goes!

Today paige was really miserable, took her in and sure enough...just what i was afraid of..RSV. So, i ask the doctor to check marissas ears...double ear infection.

UUGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

So, you know where we will be.....hunkered down at home trying to get the wee one better!

Wish us luck!!

what am i doing?

2009-01-31T23:50:00.002-07:00

ok, so it is almost midnight and i am exhausted! like, SOOOO beyond tired!! and knowing that i will be getting up at least twice in the next 7 hours to feed little paigey should make me want to go to sleep!! right? My eyes are bloodshot and i look like i have not had a good nights sleep in forever....i honestly cant stand to look at my ugly mug lately! I am one of those people who look AWFUL when they dont sleep.
anyways, back to my original thought....i cant seem to go to bed!
I love my quiet time at night when my kids have all (finally) gone to bed. i mean i love my kids to pieces but i love "MY TIME". is that so bad?

so, i WILL regret this tomorrow (like when i am trying to get all 4 of them ready for church...ughhh) but for now...i am so loving every minute of this!

kid cuties......

2009-01-27T23:24:00.002-07:00

Marissa tonight as I was putting her to bed..."mom please read to me, I will give you a dollar!"

Marissa is finally in sunbeams....she doesn't look like the GIANT that does not belong in nursery anymore. (her bday is in March so she was an old nursery goer!)

Marissa is very much into dressing up and playing with babies and dolls...i am so loving this!

Paige is totally cooing and "talking" to all of us! She is such a cute smiley girl, we cant get enough of her. Everyone comments now on how chunky she is getting....i cant tell you how happy this makes me!

Watching The Biggest Loser tonight Logan started bawling when the big guy Dan was voted off. (He and Zakk cried last week also.) I know this sounds weird but I am so grateful that my boys have a soft side and are sensitive!

While Zakk was studying his spelling words for his test and practicing the spelling bee words....Logan was able to spell them just as good and some even better than zakk. Unfortunately this causes problems between the two of them. (logan is in 1st grade and Z is in 4th)
Suggestions????

Zakk came home from school today telling me that someone told him one of the kids in their class had sex...turned out they think sex is kissing and laying on top of each other....oh my! We are having "THE TALK" soon....heaven help me!
HE IS IN THE 4TH GRADE...I know I did not ask about this until at least junior high...SCARY!

Again.....suggestions?

Has this ever happened to you?

2009-01-22T11:21:00.002-07:00

So 2 nights ago I was doing my 2nd round of checking on the kids before I go to bed. I have this horrible fear that someone has broken in and has kidnapped them or is molesting them or something horrible like that. I know, I know, I am getting therapy for this!

But tonight it paid off......

Marissa had started crying a little bit and I was calming her down, she said she had had a bad dream. I had her consoled and was just getting up to leave when she pulled her hand out of her blanket and her pointy finger was DARK purple!!!

I freaked out!!!

She had taken the rubber band out her hair and put it around her finger like 4 times and then fallen asleep. It had been on for 3 hours already! I thought we would for sure be making a trip to the ER....i picked her up and ran to find shawn (after i had obviously taken the thing off her finger) but by the time i reached shawn her finger was normal. And shawn just looked at me like i was crazy....he did not see how DARK purple her cute little finger was...it was so scary! Imagine if i had not checked on her and she left that on all night!
I hate to post without pictures and I always make sure to take pictures of crazy things like this....but, i think that would have definitely made me a horrible mom if i ran to get my camera...so you will just have to do without a picture.

How is everyone...i am so behind in blogging! A catch-up post is on its way!

I love jesus but I drink a little....

2009-01-09T12:58:00.002-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83JDXXKzOXg

Seriously...one of the funniest things you will see in a long time!
This made me laugh so hard....i love ellen. You must watch!

Enjoy!!

my poor baby

2008-12-11T21:33:00.002-07:00

My poor little Paigey Waigey, as Marissa calls her all day long, has been throwing up and had diarrhea for 3 days.
The worst part is that when she throws up there is so much that it comes out her nose and she cant breathe....for what seems like 5 minutes!
That stupid blue sucker thingy you get at the hospital doesn't even help, so I just wait for her little nose to clear and pat her back and hope she can get a good breath....breaks my heart and scares my other kids to death.
It was so bad one time, zakk and logan were crying and begging me to call 911.
Yep, that is the fun we have been up to for the past 3 days...what about you guys?

**seriously though isn't she just so yummy?!?

2008-12-08T11:05:00.006-07:00

Saturday was our special day for little Paige Elizabeth. We blessed our beautiful little girl out at a church in Cedar Hills with my sisters' baby Hadley. Tiffanys' oldest daughter Sam was baptized as well. It turned out wonderful!!
We had so many family members come out for the event....I so appreciate everyone driving all this way to support us!
Thank you family!

My amazing mother made both the blessing dresses.....a total labor of love! Tiff and I did not pick the simplest dresses to make, we both picked the same dress. My poor mom stayed up so late making them and got the buttons put on right before the blessing! You are so great mom....I love you so much!

I cant believe I did not get a picture of Samantha...she looked so beautiful in her white dress! We are so proud of Sam...love you!

My mom and Bruce and a lot of the grandkids:
(Seriously, you never see these two without one or more grandkid
hanging on to them)

My boys and their best buddy cousin Tayson:

Dont be too hard on me...I was crying a lot...so i look like poo:

My mom, Bruce, Shawn and I, Marissa and Paige, Ann and Alvin

Tiff and I, these pictures do not do the dresses justice:

No kidding, this is all Marissa did the whole time, eat one dessert after another and she had to show me each one:

I love this one!!!

All the Allen cousins..we are up to 9 now!

It was such a great day! Thank you Tiffany and Jared for sharing the day with me and for doing so much....you guys are so awesome and I love you so much!

OH Happy Day!!!

2008-11-24T16:25:00.004-07:00

Friday was the big day for Zakk! He got his braces off and he could not have been
happier...he was also so excited to see his retainer. The design he chose after much
deliberation between BSU or Chargers....neither, he changed his mind at the last minute and went with a skull. (ugh!)

The Before:

Last picture with the braces:

Getting them off:

The After:

So the retainer stays on all the time and he still wears his headgear at night.
i cant believe the difference a year makes!! This was just round 1, unfortunately down the road we may need to do round 2.

What makes me happy today!

2008-11-22T15:53:00.002-07:00

What is even better...i just called Shawn at work
and he said costco gas is $1.67!!!
I cant even believe this...AWESOME!!!

SHI*!!!!!

2008-11-18T10:55:00.003-07:00

The other night the kids and I went to Wendys.
While I was standing in line trying to remember
what everybody wanted to eat, zakk was at the
table with Paige, Logan and Marissa.
Of course, they were fighting! Over important
things like who gets to sit by Paige or
who is getting a bigger forsty, or what
have you.
I tell Marissa to come stand in line by me.
Usually when I remove her from the situation
it gets better.
On her way over to me, from the back of the
restaurant to the front, she was yelling something.
The boys mouths were wide open and saying "OOOHHH"
I finally turned and could hear what she was saying.

"Shi*, shi*, shi*... you get the picture.

I was mortified and bent down and asked her what she
was saying...her response..."I dont know"

I looked at the people she walked by, of course they
all looked appalled. Remember, we live in Utah...most
people around here have never even heard that word, right??

Later on, I asked my sweet little 3 year old, who has
already said her first swear word, where she heard that.
She said she did not know.

Later on.....I remembered! A few nights earlier, I had said
to my kids that have major selective listening
skills lately.....
"I AM SICK OF THIS NOT LISTENING SHI*!

Now, if that doesnt get me the mom-of-the-year-award
this year, I dont know what will.

2008-11-17T17:39:00.002-07:00

I just wanted to put up my boys school pictures! I love how they turned out!
i cant believe how big they are getting! Only 3 more years and I will have
a Junior-Higher!!!!
Now that is scary!

What do you do all day?

2008-11-13T21:44:00.002-07:00

This is a question that I have had MANY friends ask me over the years,
being a stay-at-home-mom. I have never understood it though...what do
you mean what do i do all day?
Well, let me just tell you:

1.3am and 6am nurse my baby
2.8am get my boys ready and off to school
3.eat breakfast with Marissa
4.bathe marissa and paige, dress and fix their hair
5.shower and get ready (i am lucky if this happens anymore)
6.go to my OB appointment. which by the way i had to take
the girls with me, no babysitter. If you have never taken your 3
yr old to this kind of appt. you should try it sometime. it
is great fun and the questions are great fun as well.
7.go to costco, with said girls to buy food and get a prescription
8.pick up the boys because it is early out all week (isn't that fun)
9.it is only 1:30!!!!
10.run the costco food home
11. grab a bite to eat for marissa and I
12.nurse screaming baby, who has been screaming for the past hour in the car(poor kid! i would have never let my first baby scream this long!)
13.take logan to a friends house
14.break up a fight between zakk and marissa
15.take zakk to orthodontist
16.convince zakk it is ok that he has to go one more week with STUPID
braces on, even though he was promised they would be taken off today.
17.come home, after-school-snack-time
18. get zakk to scouts
19.nurse screaming baby
20.clean and vaccum downstairs
21. do dishes
22.fix dinner
23.get zakk from scouts
24.change paiges clothes after throwing up like 5 times today
25.drop marissa off at babysitters
26.meet logans teacher for parent teacher conferences
27.meet zakks teacher for parent teacher conferences
28.homework
29.pick up marissa
30.get kids showered and in bed
31.have a 10 minute conversation with my husband who I have not seen all day
32.read and pray with kids
33.nurse paige

And tomorrow guess what i get to do?
I get to do it all over again!
Would I change what I do every day? Heck no!
I love my "job", my kids and my life.
Having 4 kids though has been a HUGE adjustment! I really
did not think it would be so hard...it is crazy!
I am sure you moms out there with more than 4 are
laughing at me, cuz it is ONLY 4!

Today was a pretty crazy day!

Bring on tomorrow!

6 weeks old

2008-11-10T21:24:00.004-07:00

I cant believe Paige is already 6 weeks old!!!
It really does break my heart that I will (most
likely)never have a newborn again! Since 0 to 6
months is my most favorite stage, i am especially having a
hard time with this. She is such a good baby, i
really cant complain too much.
I did take her into the doctor last week because
she throws up a lot and i was worried she was not gaining
any weight. After everyone telling me how little she
is and 2 strangers in the store asking me if she was
a preemie, i had a right to be worried!
The DR said she looked great and not to worry!
She weighed 8 lbs. 6 oz.

Yeah!!! good job baby girl!

That is still way too scrawny for me but she was a
scrawny thing to begin with...8'6 will have to do!
I had to laugh though because Zakk, was 8'13
when he was born....poor paige is not even as big as
Z was when he was born....too funny!

Scenes around my house

2008-10-18T15:49:00.006-06:00

This is kind of a catch up post. Obviously I have had a lot on my plate lately with a new baby and all, so blogging has taken a back seat to other things.
For example:
sleep
changing diapers
laundry (oh my!)
cleaning (yuck!)
homework
etc
etc
etc
the best part:
holding my baby , this is all i want to do all day long!

We are having so much fun having a new baby around again. THe kids fight over who gets to hold, change, and kiss her. They just smother her! Can you blame them?

Football, football and more football!
Including Zakk getting to go to a Utah Utes game with his team and meeting the players and hanging out on the field with them and getting autographs. He thought it was pretty cool. It turned out to be a great game too!
Zakks' last game is next Saturday, bitter sweet!
It has been a fun season, he has done awesome, but it is a HUGE commitment and
takes a lot of our time.
Go Vikings!

On the 7th I turned 33 (gasp!!!). It was an ok day...more on that later on.
Shawn stayed up until 2am trying to make me cupcakes. I say trying because our whole kitchen was packed, he dug through the whole garage for all the stuff to make them. This made them taste even better!
Thanks babe!

My mom sent me this BEAUTIFUL bouquet of flowers! Just what I needed on such a crappy day! Thank you mom, you are the best!

And finally pictures of our garage with so many boxes that still need to be unpacked. Yes, that is right, I said unpacked, into this townhouse. The same place that we packed them in, the same place we have been living in for 3 years.
The same place that barely fit 5 of us, the same place that we now have to find space for 6 and a whole lot of baby stuff. The same place that I hate, the same place that I was EXSTATIC to be leaving for good! The same place that I now have to be happy with and live in and make a home for my 4 kids.
Two days before my birthday, a week after having Paige (enter MAJOR hormones/emotional crap here) Shawn put the KIBOSH on the whole move thing.
Yes we have been waiting since JUNE to move in and the date kept getting pushed back and pushed back. I was ok with this, he was not. He decided it was not the right thing to do anymore and more importantly he was worried about the money and it being too tight.
SO, I cried, sobbed at some times, for 3 days. That is right I was crying almost all day on my birthday. Switched the boys BACK to Centerville Elementary, after Logan finally made a lot of friends at Knowlton Elementary and was adjusting so well. They had the most amazing teachers and the school was fabulous!!!
The boys, I must say, did well with the transition other than being upset about having a house and more room and all that.
Life is good....I dont mean to be so negative...it is a little easier now, knowing that we are still here. Life is good, Life is good!
We have our health, great kids and shawn and I have each other, a roof over our heads and food on the table, thats all anyone needs right!?!

This is after shawn already unpacked probably 30 boxes. Doesnt that look like fun? You wonder why I have not gotten to this yet, DEPRESSING!!!

That is the low down on our family lately! I hope everyone is doing well and I really appreciate all the well wishes lately! Thank you so much to everyone!

Our first adventure....

2008-10-18T15:26:00.004-06:00

Out with Paige!
And it went pretty good!
Tiffany, my sister, who had her baby girl the day after I did, called on Thursday and we decided we both had CABIN FEVER pretty bad. We also had all the kids home because of UEA, in Utah this means 2 days of no school for the whole state, I think.
Anyways, we decided to go to Gardner Village for their witches festival.
It was SO busy but way fun! I think everyone else had the same idea, but the kids had fun. Here are some pix of the day!

I love this picture of Marissa! Her painting turned out so cute!

Marissa and Logan...can you believe I paid $3 for that stupid bat on Logans face?? They did great ones for the girls, but the boys got jipped!

Logan, Marissa, and I. Tiffany, Sam, Kenzie and Aubrey. We left the babies to fend for themselves! :) My sister makes me sick, she just had a baby and can fit into her normal clothes and doesnt even look like she had a baby!

Love my kids!

Cute cousins!

IF you are wondering if Zakk was left home alone, no I am not that bad of a mom :)
Shawn and Zakk left Thursday to go to Boise for the BSU game. He was so excited!
He went to his first tailgate party and everything, great bonding time with Shawn!They will be back tonight.

Surprise Delivery!!

2008-10-01T17:32:00.003-06:00

And we could not be any happier!
My sweet beautiful LITTLE girl is here safe and sound and sweet smelling!
She is 10 days early and SO LITTLE but healthy and happy!
I was induced on Monday morning after having another test and my fluid levels were just barely over 5 cm, my doctor sent me right over to be induced.
She broke my water at 1pm and we had a baby at 5:15pm.
Things could not have gone smoother (unless of course there was no pain involved).

We just came home today and are loving life!
The kids are just smothering her and cant get enough and I dont blame them.
I just want to sit all day and hold her, which I think I will do.

She weighed in at 6 lbs. 6 oz. and 20.5 inches long.

A name you say?????
Yes, it was a big long drawn out battle and this time I did not win I am sad to say. (shawn thinks i did with the other 3, but they were all good compromises)
Harper was my #1 choice and I pleaded and begged and begged and pleaded.....to no avail.

Our compromise at the VERY last minute was.........

PAIGE ELIZABETH ALLEN

which I love also.

2008-09-26T14:58:00.002-06:00

The appointment went good this morning! They found 8 cm of fluid, the baby was moving around like crazy (which is just as important) and the heartbeat looked fabulous. Still taking it easy and drinking a lot. If I feel like she is not moving enough (10 kicks in an hour) then we will be off to the hospital again.
Any day now and we will be holding and kissing on our new precious little girl.
Now if we could just agree on a name! :)

Shawn's list:
Alexa
Halen

My list:
Harper Elizabeth
Riley
Sophie

I know there are more that I love, I just cant think of them at this exact moment....plus Harper has just stuck and that is all i want to use....we shall see.
Any suggestions?????

Update!

2008-09-26T07:32:00.002-06:00

So we are on our way to the hospital this morning to have a non-stress test done and to check my fluids.
I went in to my normal Doctors' appt. on Wednesday and for some reason she wanted to do an ultrasound (i think she said because i was measuring small) and she could only find 3 cm of fluid.....you should have at least 10.
She sent me right over to the hosptial to see if they could find more fluid. If it is under 5 they take the baby right away, i guess this can cause still-births and scary stuff like that....
i was pretty nervous.
This lady was able to find 7 cm, the babys movement was really good, so they sent me on my way to REST and NOT STRESS....yea right!
Well, i rested as much as i could, with 3 kids and still trying to figure out this STUPID move.
We will see what happens this morning.

UPDATE ON THE MOVE:
we thought we were moving next week, got most of our house packed up (including my whole kitchen) and then we were told that it would be another 3 weeks......madmadmad!so, we are here through October. trying to be ok with that.

I should have explained...

2008-09-17T09:47:00.002-06:00

on my last post what the DARLING aprons in the first picture are. I was in
such a hurry to update my blog, i forgot to mention this.
My uber-talented sister just whipped those 3 puppies up in a day and a half!
They are xmas gifts for her very lucky, very cute 3 little girls.
She is amazing!!! she just decides she wants to make something and does
it and does it FABULOUS!
The 2nd picture is of a baby quilt that she whipped up as a gift for me!
Are you kidding me???? I just love her and am amazed by her talent.
Since she is not a scrapbooker she brought sewing projects to sew on
for the weekend.
Anyways, i had to give props to my little sis!

Scrapaway....round 2!

2008-09-16T11:27:00.004-06:00

So we had another GIRLS TRIP the first weekend in September. My mom planned a fabulous weekend in Heber, UT. which is just past Park City and those fabulous outlets.
We started out shopping for a good part of the day on Thursday and then heading up to Heber for the scrapbooking retreat.
This thing is such a treat! If you ever have the chance, you should sign up for this one.
The cute lady Marci that runs it cooks all the meals for you which are just AMAZING!!!! I think that is my favorite part of this whole thing, the food is to die for! You just scrapbook the whole time, 3 days and you leave your stuff set up and sleep if you want, take a walk, watch a movie or just chat.
There were 12 of us up there and we had a great time! A lot better than the last time I went because I wasn't sick and throwing up this time.
Thank you Mom for the wonderful time and relaxing break I got from my kiddos! You are the best!

my mini cheerleader

2008-09-16T10:17:00.003-06:00

Viewmont High School cheerleaders have this fundraiser every year where your daughter goes to a mini-cheer camp and learns some cheers and a whole routine to perform at half-time of the football game. I decided to sign her up this year and man she loved it!
It was so much fun and seriously the cutest thing! Marissa still asks everyday if she gets to go to her cheerleading again. I am thinking I need to get her into some dance class soon, she defenitely loves to perform!
Lets just hope she has more rhythm than her sad, sad mother who cant dance to save her life! I am sitting here laughing at myself because I remember trying out for the cheer squad in JR. High and cant even believe how silly I must have looked. Can you imagine my long awkward body doing flips and kicks....funny funny!

Survival Mode......

2008-09-12T10:54:00.005-06:00

That is where I have been these last (almost) 2 months. (GASP!! has it really been that long?!?!)
I think it all started when Zakks' Football season began, in JUNE! Seriously, we have been doing football for OVER 2 full months now.
Let me remind you that he is only 9 years old. YOu must know that I have always had a major hatred for football, it takes over our house for months and that is all Shawn wants to watch, listen to, whatever, in the fall. Not to mention he is obsessed with Fantasy Football.
AARRGGHH!!!
Since Zakk has started playing I have been enjoying it quite a bit more. I think about my DARLING friend Kristin Sharp (i miss you terribly)who is like a guy when it comes to Football, she LOVES it and now I am beginning to LOVE it also.

Anyways, i am noticing that i ramble a lot, sorry! Zakk had 4 practices a week until school started then 3 a week with a team dinner on Fridays and a game every Saturday, which by the way is 40 minutes away from our house (with NO traffic). aarrggghh!

Zakk is loving it and doing so great this year! It is VERY intense (gotta love Utah)at a young age but he LOVES it! I have been so proud of him!

The cutest thing is that every night he has to show us his calf muscles and his biceps. He does actually have some strong muscles! SO CUTE!!!! He is WAY over the limit to carry the ball, so he is an X-MAN....he plays on the line (don't ask me what position) and really wants to be something else..maybe next year buddy!

I do have to say that my boy looks good on the football field!!!!

Seriously!!!! He looks so dang cute!! Sorry, proud mama moment.

I just asked zakk, he plays OFFENSIVE LINE or DEFENSIVE LINE and sometimes CENTER.
He wants to play.....RECEIVER.

Oh man, i just love him!!!

What else has been happening:

The GREATEST thing in the world happened about a month ago! That is right, Marissa is FULLY potty-trained, that includes night time! We came back from one of our Idaho trips and she was done with diapers! Can i get a HALLELUJAH!
She woke up dry from the first night on!
Way to go girl!!!!
Goodbye poop-filled Huggies, hello cute princess panties!

Which led to the BIG event of getting her ears pierced. Holy cow!!! She DID NOT enjoy this at all....she screamed for so long and everyone in the store just stared at me! It did not help that the silly girl who pierced them only did one ear at a time....what!?!?!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL:

Those of you that dont know, we are moving to Farmington. We were suppose to have moved in September 1st, the house is not ready so we had to push it back to October 1st. Yes, that is right 9 days before my due date!

So, the boys started school in Farmington at Knowlton Elementary. It was ROUGH to say the least!

ZAKK, 4th grade

LOGAN, 1st grade

MARISSA, wishes she was in a grade

ZACHARY is in the 4th grade now and he did just fine. He is my social butterfly and made lots of friends the first couple of days. His teacher, Mrs. Cosper is so nice and seems FABULOUS!

LOGAN is in the 1st grade. He is not as social as Zakk, he has more of Shawns' quiet, thoughtful and reserved personality in him. Which is not a bad thing, it just makes it harder for him to be outgoing and make friends quickly. The first few days he was so SAD! He would come home and just cry with me at night because he did not have anyone to play with, and when he asked boys if he could play with them they told him no. I have talked to his teacher about it, taken them to our new ward we will be in, I dont know what else to do!
I was just beside myself! I just sat there and held him and cried with him. We prayed a lot and talked a lot about what we could do to make it easier to make friends.

It has been 3 weeks now and a little easier, he does not cry about it anymore, just gets kind of down. He misses his friends at his old school terribly and talks about them all the time!
Sweet Zakk would go find him the first 2 weeks and get Logan to come play with him and his 4th grade friends. I was so proud of Zakk!

We are just taking it one day at a time!

Marissa and I are enjoying the quiet house all day, that is for sure! I do miss the boys when they are gone but it is nice to have some one-on-one time with my sweet little girl. She loves it too!

What else........
I have only 4 WEEKS to go!!!!! I cant tell you how HAPPY that makes me!!!! We are SOOOOOO anxiously awaiting her arrival!

Well, I have lots more that i want to update (for my own memory) but I think I have bored you to tears enough today!

Another fun week!

2008-07-20T21:49:00.007-06:00

Monday:

Monday nights is family night at the Salt Lake City Bees games (a local minor league team). It turned out to be so much fun! We sat on the grass out where the home runs are hit, which of course became a mission for the boys to catch a ball....sadly this did not happen.
They have a train that the kids can ride on, a playground and lots of yummy food to eat of course, which is always my favorite part!!
The kids lasted until about the 7th inning and then they just wanted to run around...it was a great night!

Tuesday:

We went swimming with my cute friend Holly, her girls and her sister and her kids.
Of course, we went to our favorite pool...Farmington Pool. It was a great day, super hot and not super crowded.
The kids always have a blast in a pool!

Later that night Zakk had his pack meeting for scouts. He has been working very hard with his fabulous leader, Sister Thacker. I have never met a scout leader so into her calling! This women is amazing and even does 2 activities a week sometimes. She is fabulous! Zakk earned quite a few badges and pins and belt loops this month. I was so proud of him!
They also had a boat regada, they made boats and raced them. Logan and Marissa even got to make one. They had these contraptions set up where you fill up a 2 liter pop bottle with water and then put in on upside down and pump the bike pump and it flies into the air! So much fun! I am going to try to make my own, they were so cool!

Wednesday and Thursday:

These days were not too exciting. The boys played with friends, rode bikes, watched movies and played video games.
I had to run some errands. Marissa and I spent some time alone together while the boys were off with friends.

Logan had his piano lesson....he is doing so great and picking it up so quickly. I am so proud of my little brainiac!

Friday:

July 18! This day was our anniversary.
What did we do, you say??
Absolutely NOTHING!
Shawn worked 13 hours, came home, ate and then
had to go to bed to wake up at 3am to go back to work.

Yes, our big 10 year anniversary was very depressing!
I think I got to see him for about 30 minutes.
I even made him dinner and he did not feel like eating what I made.
One of these years I hope we can finally celebrate our day the right way!

(My brother Lance stopped by to stay the night on his way
to a business trip. We had a great talk as always.)

Saturday:

Another lazy summer day.
The boys were at a friends house again for most of the day.
Marissa and I just hung out and played and cleaned.
I love my one-on-one time I get with her.
She is just so fun and I love talking with her.

After cleaning we went in the back and she ran through the sprinkler.
Sorry for all the pictures, I just can't ever pick one favorite,
especially when the subject is SO cute!:)

Sunday:
A great day at church, I even made it there on time!!!
The kids were great and then we had a fabulous nap afterwards.
Nice, relaxing day just hanging out and playing games.

**sorry for the way long boring post. I just needed to update for my own memory.

Grandma Day as a butt-rocker??????

2008-07-15T08:56:00.002-06:00

Ok, so this picture is of Shawns' 85 year old, YES, I SAID 85 YEAR OLD
Grandmother and her grandaughter-in-law Melanie.
So do you want to know what she is doing in this darling picture????

She is sitting at a SKID ROW concert of all things.

Is that too funny??? I just love Grandma Day!! She is so darling and as funny as can
be. She is a serious church-goer and very faithful and quiet and sweet as can be....I think that is what this so funny to me.
Apparantly her grandson, Billy Paige plays in a band in Burley, Idaho called Redline. Well, they were the openers for Skid Row at the Twin Falls Fair.

I put this on mainly for Shawns' family who I know would get a kick out of this.
The rest of you are probably not as amused as I.

(i did steal this picture off my step-sisters' blog, i really hope she does not mind)

YOU ROCK GRANDMA DAY!!!!

Simple Saturday

2008-07-12T22:02:00.007-06:00

That is what I love about summer, those simple days where you can do whatever you want, however simple they may be.
And if you dont do something huge and exciting today, you always have the next
day or the next!!!

My kids (especially Logan) are GAME FREAKS....board and card games.

So for a HUGE part of the day we played and played and played games
together.
Our new favorites are:

**WIG OUT (we got this one at a boutique in Burley, ID)
**MY WORD (you can get this one at Target)
**GOLD DIGGER (BURLEY)

If you love games that are quick and easy for your little ones, go
buy these....I promise you wont be disappointed!
(I actually just checked AMAZON.COM and you can get all 3 there)

We made a quick trip to Costco to buy ADOBE PHOTOSHOP, which I
have been dying to buy and play around with. way excited!

Then I took Logan to get his haircut at the funnest place!

COOKIE CUTTERS, in bountiful by Lowes.
http://www.haircutsarefun.com/

This place simply ROCKS!!!
It is one of those places that you sit in an airplane, car, fire truck
or whatever and watch a movie or play a video game. They also have a little
slide, climbing thing that the kids can play on.
I bought the CUTEST bows ever here as well.
They are from this local company called BOWS & BOBBIES
and they are so cute!!!!
If your kids are in the need for a haircut, check it out!
When they are done they get a balloon with a sucker and a
Cookie Cutter attached to it...DARLING!!!!

Well, I am off to finish my latest read

I am on a mission to read all of her novels, they are so so good!

Keepin' It Real TAG......

2008-07-11T16:51:00.014-06:00

Keepin' it real
The Rules are no straightening, cleaning, or wiping your child's nose! Right away, take pictures of the following things: 1) The Refrigerator-nothing too exciting in here, which makes me wonder "what am i fixing for dinner?"

2) My closet...dont be too hard on me, you have no idea how small this stupid thing is!

3) The kitchen sink...not too bad!

4) The toilet...i am impressed with this one, ecpecially with two boys:)

5) Your favorite shoes....I dont know if I really have any, I am not a huge shoe fan, more of a clothes fan!

6)Your favorite room..... I do not love any room in this too-small-of-a-dwelling-for-a-family-of-5-that-we-call-our-home, but I do get happy any time I go into my "scrapbook room".

7) What my kids are doing right now....
Marissa is eating the cookies we just made:

Logan is in time out for beating up his brother (lovely!)

Zakk is also in time out for beating up his brother....

8) Your laundry pile.... AARRGGHH!!

9) Self portrait....my least favorite one...i know, i look awful, this is what 6 months of pregnancy looks like..YUCK!

10)Your dream vacation...
If I had a picture of Hawaii that is what would be here...I am dying to go to Hawaii and hang out on a beach all day with just Shawn and just kiss him all week :):)

OK...so this was a fun tag...i now tag:
Holly, Jamie, my sister Tiffany (just so she will update her blog) Elise, Kristin Sharp and Kristin Sanchez.

Family Reunion Fun in Lava Hot Springs!

2008-07-10T22:15:00.007-06:00

June 26-28

So two,(yes 2, I am very behind in blogging)weeks ago my mom and step-dad had our annual Burtenshaw Reunion.
This year we decided to go camping, real camping, in tents and all!!
No showers, only a toilet in the 5th wheel that my mom borrowed from my grandparents. It turned out to be so much fun! I was a little nervous to do this on my own, (yes of course Shawn could not get this time off) without a hubbie. But my family was great to help out.
Like setting up and taking down my tent for me, which I could not have done on my own.
We went to Lava, Idaho and camped on my step-brothers' fathers land.
Only, one small problem, we could not get up into the area they usually camp because of all the run-off making a ditch that we could not drive our cars over.
WE spent 2 hours looking for a favorable place to set up camp, finally deciding on some land that was not Trav's dads.

Funny thing was, it already had some tenants, a herd of cows!
Cow pies all over the place....yes the kids thought it was so fun to play with these.
The smell, we got used to after a couple of hours. IT acutally turned out to be a fabulously beautiful place and we had a blast!
We four-wheeled, almost killed a few of us floating the river (that is a whole other post)and swam at the pool, which just happened to double as our showers for the week.
Ate and ate and ate YUMMY dutch-oven meals, sat by the campfire (which is always my favorite part) and roasted marshmallows.

My kids were champs! Mainly Marissa, I was not worried about the boys. I was worried about Marissa sleeping all night...she did fabulous!

href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_H-jhy3BbmV0/SHbk-x2J65I/AAAAAAAAAiA/S1lz-Azl8Jk/s1600-h/DSC00452.JPG">

Happy day!

2008-06-30T14:30:00.002-06:00

I am so excited!
Did you see my little "baby" over to the right???
I am down to less then 100 days..man that feels so great!
I am getting closer and closer!

We are spending some time in Idaho. My family had our reunion this past week in Lava, Idaho. We did some real camping! It was the first time for my kids and they did great! Shawn did not come with us so that was a bummer but we had a great time!

I am at my moms now for the week having some fun!
I will post pictures later.
Have a great week!

Rough night!

2008-06-25T22:15:00.003-06:00

So, last night was a very hard night for me as a mother. VERY HARD!.

The kids hamster, Ali passed away last night and holy cow it was a rough one!
The boys were getting in the shower and looked into her cage and saw ALI laying on her side and not breathing!

Zakk poked her and she still didn't move....I did not know what to do because first off I HATED this stupid smelly rodent the day after I agreed to buy it for the kids.
She did grow on me a little bit (only because they loved her so much) but I still am not a pet lover of any kind.
It was all for my kids.

The flood gates were open and my VERY SWEET and VERY SENSITIVE boys were an emotional wreck the rest of the night.

Apparantly the past 3 days when I reminded them to give her water and food, they were too busy and forgot.

Hard lesson to learn, but a good one.

We went out to bury the poor little thing (much to Shawns disgust, he thought this was ridiculous to bury her).
So, we all went outside and by this time I was crying because my kids were a mess and I was so sad for them.
Logan put her in the hole and then Shawn saw her move..."Wait, she is not even dead" he said. The boys got a little excited!

Nope! False alarm! More tears and even harder this time. OH MY!
So, Shawn buried her. The rest of the night was spent with me consoling, hugging and talking about how we should care for our pets.

The night ended with the boys asking "So when can we go buy another hamster??"

Marissa said "no I want a rabbit this time!"
Nice try!

*when Marissa woke up this morning she said we needed to go get her out the of hole now so we can play with her. SO sad!

The Host

2008-06-24T13:00:00.003-06:00

THE HOST by Stephanie Meyers

(of course i tried to get a pix of it on blogger but it would not let me..AARRGGHH!)

Is anyone else trying to read this book and having a hard time getting into it? Or is it just me????
I am so frustrated!!
I love Stephanie Meyer and was really excited about this one.
Shawn even surprised it with me on night when I was not expecting it. It has been a month and I still have not made it to the 3rd chapter.

I have been told it gets better and it is so worth the read but.....

I have even read another book in between trying to get through this one.
If you are interested, JODI PICCOULT is a fabulous author!!
Great reads of hers so far:
My Sisters Keeper
Nineteen Minutes
A Change of Heart

I am off today to find some more of her books.

We are ALMOST the Champions!!!

2008-06-23T11:05:00.004-06:00

**warning...a few posts in one day, sorry!**

So, last week was Zakks tournament for his kid-pitch team.
They were pretty excited because they ended up being 1st place at the end of the year. But, as it usually goes, tournament is a whole new season!

They did pretty good, only loosing once and making it to the Championship game. They played an amazing team with a pitcher, an 8 year old pitcher that could pitch 35 miles an hour!!!!
He was awesome!
Anyways, the boys did great and almost pulled it out in the end. They should not be upset though because they played a great game and lost to a really good team. They were so upset! I mean most of them were crying afterwards, we felt so bad!
Maybe next year!

Overall, Zakk did great this year! He learned a lot, with it being his first "real" season a real league with his own pitcher and all. It was really fun! We were so proud of Zakk!

GREAT JOB BUDDY!!!

on a side note, i am not too sad it is all over! Who knows how much money i spent at the snack bar bribbing Marissa to stay by me instead of running off to the park by herself. And fighting throughout the whole game with her so she would not get kidnapped.
Running to two different cities with two different players, with their games sometime being at the same time. (just a thought for next year so i will remember
how crazy b-ball season is.)

We are the Champions!!!

2008-06-23T10:27:00.004-06:00

Logans team, THE PADRES took 1st place this last week in their tournament!
It was so awesome!!
To give you a little background of this team, it is a league for 7 and 8 year olds.
A bunch of us families got our own team together and played in the Bountiful
league instead of Centerville league cuz the 6 year olds would have had to play
t-ball again in the Centerville League AGAIN. and they did not want any of that.

SO.......we had an awesome team and the 6 year olds totally held their own!
I mean these boys would get up, there were 4 of them, and they looked
TEENY up to bat. It was so cute, and they would nail the ball almost every
time! we were all so proud. The team ended up being in 1st place going into
the tournament.

The semi-final game came and we were all nervous and just wanted them to
win so bad! They played the Cubs and in true fashion the team was MUCH better
then the last time we played them.
So, they gave us a run for our money, we pulled through in the end and won.
The other team wanted to play another inning because there were 10 minutes
left to play (the rule is 3 innings or 50 minutes, whichever comes first).
We were ahead after 3 innings and took our win.

Well, the other team was QUITE UPSET and let our coaches know it....a fight
insued, YES, A FIGHT and f-bombs were dropped and shoving and yelling.
Over a little league game!!!!!
We could not believe it.....it was started by the other teams parents...crazy!
I mean I have seen this on tv, but holy cow I never thought I would actually
see it in real life. And all this was in front of the kids!

Anyways, we moved on to the championship game, and it was avery intense game
also, the Giants had also gotten a lot better, but so had we.
It went back and forth.
In the end this cute 7 year old who struck out almost all year long, hit a home run
in the end and won the game for us! That was the highlight.....This boy having the
best game of the year! He saved the day!

Logan was on cloud nine and felt so great about his season!!! And best of all, he had fun
playing the game.

These are the 6 year olds....Logan, Aidan, Gavin and Braden. SO PROUD!!!

what's been going on?

2008-06-23T10:09:00.002-06:00

Last Tuesday Shawn had the day off and we needed some FAMILY TIME really bad. So, I called the Sweets Candy Factory and set up a tour. It turned out so fun! The kids loved it just
as much as Shawn and I.....we got to see how they made all their candy and taffy(my favorite) and we also got some free samples. So fun! Unfortunately you are not allowed to take pix inside, oh well!

We also packed a picnic and drove up to Mueller Park and ate, hiked and played in the creek.
Logan was very brave and crossed the whole thing....it was going so fast and made me quite
nervous but I wanted to let him explore and not be a chicken like me.
It turned out to be a great day!
If you live in the area you should check out the Sweets Factory....very fun!

Friday Night Movie Party

2008-06-08T20:06:00.002-06:00

This is my kids favorite night of the week!
We rent movies and put lots of blankets and pillows
on the floor.
We eat popcorn and make sure we have lots of yummy
snacks to eat.
Good times!

2008-06-06T15:25:00.004-06:00

MEMORIAL DAY

So, we actually spent Memorial Day doing what you are suppose
to be doing...visiting cemetaries.

This was the first year we have done something like this, I am
embarrassed to say.
Shawn had the idea to find the sites of his relatives and planned
the whole day out for us. He also invited his sister and brother
and their families.
Shawns' 4th great grandpa (i think it is 4th) is Parley P. Pratt!!!
I think that is just really neat.

WE also got to visit President Hinckleys grave and that was so neat!
There were so many people there to visit and bring flowers.
The boys had fun finding other Prophets that were buried at the
Salt Lake cemetary.
Afterward we went to Red Robin to eat! My favorite thing to do!
It was so yummy!
It turned out to be a great day!
I really hope we make this a tradition each Memorial day now.

*isnt that the cutest picture of Kristin and Jeff and Michael?
I had to put that on because she has the cutest rain boots ever!
Major boot envy!

Happy Birthday Shawn!

2008-06-06T14:57:00.005-06:00

So, Monday June 2nd was Shawns' 34th birthday!
I know I am a few days late blogging about it...I'm horrible!

We did not do much of anything for the day. Other than he did
not have to go to work...it was a boring day!!!
I tried all day to get him to think of something FUN to do,
with no avail! His cute sister and brother-in-law Kristin
and Jeff came over with a treat...thanxs guys!

He got lots of phone calls from family...thats all he needs.
I actually made him dinner and a cake of course.
Shawn is not a big birthday fan at all, so I guess I should
not be surprised.

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my hubby! (on monday)

2008-06-06T14:06:00.005-06:00

So, I am VERY behind!!!!
I am warning you that you may just want to check out right now. :)

First off.....Logan graduated from Kindergarten!!
It is on to FIRST GRADE for my little cutie.
I am so sad, he is growing up so fast!

He put on a DARLING program, they were all so cute and
his amazing teacher did the best job.
He even had a speaking part and if you know Logan at all,
you know he does not like any attention on himself!
I was so proud of him!!! He said his part and sang all his songs.
(Even if it was with no enthusiasm.:))))

Zakk finished up his 3rd grade year!
I cant believe I will have a 4th grader....that is getting way too close to Junior High!!!
I cant stand it!
he did great this year and Mrs. Telford was a really neat teacher as well.

No, I am not playing favorites here, apparently after the 2nd grade, they don't do
any cute end of the year program or anything like that.

They do sign each others shirts...I did not know this and sent him in something that I would not have wanted him to ruin.....So, he thought his face was the next best thing.....

Their field day was so cool! I do not have any pictures of the day so you will
have to take my word for it.
Huge blow up slide, jumping things, dunk tank thingy, races, cotton candy, face painting,
a store to buy fun toys at, it was so fun!!!
I did get to watch them play for a little bit and they had a blast!
It is definitely a highlight of the school year.

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL:

The kids gave their teachers these little baskets with some fun things in them with a little note tied to each one of them.
*a soda-i was "soda-delighted" to have you as my teacher.
*gum-your words will "stick" with me.
*a note pad-as a teacher you have the "write"stuff

Those are just a few, I cant remember the rest of them now.

SO, another school year is over and the kids are getting
older...CRAZY!!

2008-05-23T15:41:00.003-06:00

So Marissa and I grabbed some lunch today on our way to picking up the boys from school. Marissa was doing great but after me talking to too many people apparantly she was DONE!
She decided to throw the fry box at me, hit me, yell at me and throw a shoe in Logans' face!
We got home and she was sent STRAIGHT to her room, kicking and screaming the whole way.
Which is not an unusual event at our house lately, being 3 and a GIRL. After not hearing her for a few minutes this is what I found when I checked on her.........

I cant believe........

2008-05-21T19:29:00.002-06:00

That I forgot to post about our other exciting news!!!

So, we had our ultrasound last Thursday.

ITS A GIRL!!!

Not a big surprise to me, i had a STRONG feeling
we were having a GIRL.
Being very emotional and down all the time and all that, is just how i was
with Marissa .
So, there you have it!

Yea for us!

Update, update, update!

2008-05-21T18:23:00.005-06:00

Spur of the moment Friday my mom called
and said they were coming down and
wanted to go to Lagoon with everyone....sure, why not!!

All day Saturday we had a ball!
The Smith clan, Anderson clan and the Pilling clan came as well.
The whole event was due to my niece Syd's dance competition at
Lagoon, she did great!!

The kids had a blast and boy are my boys brave!! They go on rides that
I would NEVER go on, even when I am not pregnant.

Logan's favorite is The Bat, he goes on that thing over and over
again.
Zakk's favorite ride was the Spider, he was going to do Colossass and Wicked,
but decided maybe next time. :)

Marissa loved all the kiddie rides except the Lady Bug drop.
You should have seen her face!

Shawn of course had to work and missed out on the festivities.
Thank goodness for my mom and my awesome brother-in-law
Jared who bravely took my kids on rides for me.
You guys ROCK!!!
Thank you mom and bruce for the fun day!

WEDNESDAY

So, big news at our house today!
Marissa had her first haircut!!!

She was so brave and did so great.
I think it looks so much better and she
looks so much older, not sure that is
a good thing!
Here are some shots:
***those pix DO NOT do it justice..she looks so cute!

The other big news is we have a new pet.
If you know me at all, you know that I like animals
only from a distance!
I dont like the thought of having another thing to
clean up after unless it is a kid, which i cannot even
keep up on.

SO, anyways the kids have wanted a dog or some sort
of pet for quite a while now(years)!

I broke down and went to pet store and bought........a hamster!
My kids are in HEAVEN!!!!
Now, i am already regretting because of the smell....not sure what
to do about that...

But, all that matters is my kids are happy!
And I am happy to say they are in charge
of cleaning out ALI'S cage every Saturday.

So, sorry for the long post, I am not on top of posting
on a regular basis lately.
Busy life and just exhausted!!!

I think that is all the news!
Hope you all are doing well and I am sorry
that I have not been better about keeping in touch with anyone,
my spare time is spent with my kids or cleaning!

Love ya'all!!

2008-05-11T19:08:00.004-06:00

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO MY WONDERFUL MOM!!!!

So, today is Mothers Day and instead of dwelling on the fact that I really do not enjoy this day, I thought that I would celebrate my sweet mom.

My mom has an amazing testimony of the gospel and an amazing relationship with her Father in Heaven and her Savior. It shows through her life and how kind and serving she is to others.
She has ALWAYS, throughout her entire life chosen to do what is right.
She has never strayed away from the path of righteousness.
What an example she has been to me in my life.
Now, I did not appreciate her when I was younger at all.
We did not get along at all ( my fault) and that makes me sad now.
We are close now and that makes me happy.

She has so much energy it is crazy!
She is always serving and doing so much.
I hope I have her energy when I am in my 50's.

She has a wonderful marriage now to an amazing man, my step-dad
that treats her like she should be treated, like a queen.
I am so happy for her and the fact that she is happy with Bruce.

She is a daughter to Kenneth and Lorna, who are amazing people.
Sister to 4 brothers.
She is a wife to Bruce.
A mother to 5 kids.
Step-mom to 4 kids.
Grandmother to 23 (by the end of the year).
Example and friend to many!

I love you so much and and feel so blessed that you are my mom!
I hope you have a fabulous day!

Friday Night

2008-05-10T18:19:00.004-06:00

Last night was a fun night!

I decided to take my kiddos on a date.
Just us four, I wanted to do it one-on-one but that is too hard with our
schedules. Shawn works nights.

So, off to Chilis we went. I was craving something really good and it was!

The kids thought it was pretty cool.

Zakk told me he thought it was really fun to just go out,
just the 4 of us.
He thanked me a few times for it. That made it all worth it!!

Afterward we went to Redbox and rented a few movies.

The boys picked out "Alvin and the Chipmunks"
It was actually pretty cute, I even made it through the whole thing.
(going back and forth between the Jazz game of course, which they actually
beat the Lakers. WHOA!!!)

Do you guys take your kids on dates?
How do you spend one-on-one time with your kids?

80 degrees and raining

2008-05-07T17:24:00.002-06:00

**80 degrees and beautiful and gorgeous and happy yesterday! Yea!
It actually felt like Spring, even though it is May and should be summer
weather.

**Raining, gloomy cold and sad today! What the heck??? How do people
live in UTah?
I am convinced that to live and love Utah you have to be an avid snow
skier. Everyone I know loves the snow and loves
to ski....me, not so much! I am a summer-loving kind of a girl.

How can the weather change so much?

I am not complaining, I am just saying!

Cant we just have a week of beautiful, sunny, warm weather????
I will even take 2 days in a row.

Although today was gloomy it makes me want to stay at home and snuggle
with my kids and read a good book or watch a movie.
Which is what we did after work and a good nap with Marissa.

Baseball was canceled tonight! I know this is bad, but man this just
makes my day.

I am feeling like I just cant do it all by myself anymore.
Those of you that know me well, know that I do most things
for my kids myself and just do it and dont complain much.
I feel like a tough chick (not bragging) usually.

aka. going to church for 3 hours myself every week, doing 2 baseball games a night
with an onry 3 year old that wants a new treat from the STUPID
snack shack every 10 minutes and runs off to the park alone, and DOES
NOT listen to me, driving, caropooling and homework, teaching, piano,
bed time, work, and the MANY household duties that my husband
doesnt like to do (normally).

No big deal right? We all do this as moms.
Most of you probably have more on your plate then I do.

Today is just one of those days when I jus dont want to do it
all myself anymore.
Am I the only one out there who has those days?

Please tell me no!

This is turning into a very depressing post and I am sorry.
I am not depressed, just venting because this is the place for
me to do that and to remember how i felt on this day at this
moment at this time in my life. Right?

Can you tell that pregnancy is just not my most pleasant time in life???

Yes, I am blaming it on the pregancy because my emotions are so up and down
ALL THE TIME!!!!

To end on a good note, this even more convinces me that we are having
a girl, because i was very emotional with my girl, not with my boys.

I was very emotional with my boys afterward.

Anyways, I really hope you are all having a great day!!!

Baseball, baseball and more baseball!

2008-04-30T12:11:00.004-06:00

So, baseball season has begun at our house.
Which means every night of the week is either a game
between the two boys or a practice.
Which also means that we live in the car, eat out
a lot and fighting Marissa at the field all night over
not buying one of everything at the snack shack.

I really hope i can make it through this season without
having a serious breakdown.

Zakk is doing kid-pitch this year and loving it and
doing great.
Logan got to play up this year and is doing machine-pitch.
The only problem is that all his games are in Bountiful
and zakk plays in Centerville. What was I thinking?

They are both doing amazing and loving it.
Last night Logan played 3rd base and got
the runner out and almost got a second one out.
He is doing great at hitting as well.

Zakk has only had one game because of the fabulous
weather here, one has been rained out. Lets hope
tonight that is not the case.

I tried to upload the pictures but it is not letting me.

On to the next update:

Logan and Marissa went to the dentist today.
Marissa's first official time with a cleaning and all
that.
She did ok, she gagged and cried bu tdid better then I thought
she would do.

Bad news: She has 4 cavities!!!! I am so embarrassed over this.
I am very good about making sure my kids brush at least 2
times a day.
She has to be sedated and all that in a couple of weeks.
So nervous about this!

Then we went geo-caching for just a little bit.
This was the coolest cache I have ever seen. The person that hid it
decorated it with fake leaves....it was so clever!!
Logan found it and had to come show me.
way cool!
Anyways, that is our day so far. I am off to take a nap...so tired, how can
that be when it is only noon.

what a wuss.
have a great day!

I have the best husband!

2008-04-21T17:14:00.004-06:00

So, you all know that I have not been feeling very good, to say the least.
Shawn has been so great on the nights he is here, which is not very many.

He makes me go lay down, he makes dinner, helps with the kids. Especially
ornery Marissa, she is on one lately!!!

When I was gone on my little trip he was with the kids for the most part,
getting them places and all that!

Well, this was the real treat.....
now, for some of you major OCDers out there (my mom), this may not be a big deal.
But, you should have seen this before! It was a joke!
I mean, Shawn is amazing!

He did such a great job and organized and threw away, etc.
THEN, he also cleaned out the fridge, probably the best it has have ever been.

I just love these kind of surprises.
Now, granted, I did ask him, but i honestly (love ya babe) did not think he really would.

Oh, How loved I feel.

I would show you a picture of the fridge but you really can't appreciate it unless
you saw the before.
Plus you would die if you saw how little food we have.
(cooking is not on the top of my priority list)

Anyways, my fridge is gorgeous!!! My pantry...WOW!

Thank you babe...I love you so much!

Back from a fabulous trip.

2008-04-20T19:17:00.006-06:00

My friend Melanie and I were lucky enough to go to Scrapaway.
(click on "scrapaway" if you want to see pictures)
This fantastic retreat in Heber, Ut. just to scrapbook for 3 days.
It was amazing! First of all it was at this adorable farmhouse that
was so stinking cute with everything that you could ever want.

Marci, the cute girl that runs it provides the most fabulous meals...I
mean fabulous!!! You eat like a queen, you don't clean anything up, you
scrapbook all day and all night if you want, you take a nap when you
want, watch movies, listen to music, go on a walk.
Whatever the heck you want!!
It was so great.....there are even two of those old time bathtubs
with the claw feet that you can bathe in, (which I did) she
even provides the bath salts for you.
I forgot my shampoo and conditioner, oh well, marci had some in
each shower for you, even soap.
I cannot say enough great things about it.

i would love to post pix, but if you can believe it, i forgot my
camera. i was so mad, i never do that.

I was sick all day on Friday, i did not have any kids to worry about, so
i pretty much slept all afternoon.

The company was fabulous! My sister-in-law Kim was the one who
invited us to come....her and her friends were so much fun and so nice
to us "outsiders".
We laughed, we cried and just had a great time!

I missed my kiddos and my hubby terribly.

My amazing mother-in-law Ann was kind enough to offer to
help watch my kids. Thank you so much Ann for always
being so kind and helpful with my kids.
They had so much fun, she took them to the park, a movie
and played and played with them.
When she left Marissa cried for a long time because she missed
Gramma.

I had some great friends also that helped with the kids.

Of course I could not have gone without the love and support of
my fabulous husband.
He was supportive and helpful. He even cleaned out my
horribly messy fridge and organized my pantry, better than
I would have done.
I love you babe!

Although I am ecstatic to be home, it was a very nice and much
needed break.

This is what I missed:

Last night we took showers and snuggled on my bed together. I love my kids and the
reason I do not go away a lot is because it is too hard on me and them.
Sometimes I just know that I really need a break though.

Thank you Ann, Katie, Shawn, Melanie and my friend Kim
who watched them for an afternoon as well.
Love you all!

P.S. Zakk wanted me to show everyone his dog bite he got from his friends
dog while i was gone. OUCH!

Happy, Happy Day!!

2008-04-10T18:34:00.002-06:00

So, I just got home from my doctors appointment and i was told the best news that you could get when you are pregnant.
I am 14 weeks instead of 12 weeks!!!!

How exciting is that?

VERY!!!!

The other very exciting news is that I am due on October 6th, which happens to be the same due date as my sisters'.

what are the chances????

Also, my birthday is October 7th.

SO FUN!!!

I was so excited when I left the office and it was defenitely a lift for the moment, which I have needed being so sick!

Just had to share this fabulous news.

We also got to see the perfect picture of the sweet little thing!

She (i say this just because that is what i have felt all along what i am having) was moving around and put her hand up to her mouth.
we saw her skinny little arm and skinny leg.
It was a great day!

I am grateful!

2008-04-07T10:37:00.002-06:00

So, i had so many plans today.
i do not have to work and so i was planning on getting so much done.
I ended up reading blogs (imagine that) and ended up here:
http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/

I have been reading and crying for 2 hours, going thru and reading all of this amazing womans' posts.
If you have time you should read it, it certainly changed my perspective on many things, especially my trials. I have NO trials compared to this sweet family.
My thoughts and prayers are with this family today.

Today she will give birth to her baby girl that will not live.
How do you do that?
I think it has hit me so hard because i am pregnant and cant imagine going thru this, and with all the grace and strength and FAITH she has.
I wonder, would i handle it has well as she has....i really know that i would not.
i am not as faithful as this women, this i know for sure.

So what if i am nauseous and don't want to clean my house or get out of bed.
so what if i have to go to work.
so what if my kids are bugging me for the moment.
so what if we live in a small apartment.

I am having a healthy baby that i know will be ok, and i will get to hold her/him and kiss on him/her.
I have 3 beautiful healthy children who are wonderful!
I am healthy and so is my dear husband.
I do have a lot to be grateful for.

I am trying to remember this every day, i really am.

I have a hard time remembering to be grateful for what i have, not worrying about all the things that we don't have.

I am amazed at the trials Heavenly Father gives people.
I look at people that have many struggles and always think: man Heavenly Father must have so much faith in them, they must be so strong to be able to handle that.
Heavenly Father would not give them that trial unless he knew they could handle that.
Does he think that i am not strong enough?
I have a lot of weaknesses, that i am trying to make strengths.
I learned a lot on this Monday morning that I was just expecting to be cleaning and stuff.

What are you grateful for?

My little girl turns 3!

2008-04-06T19:24:00.005-06:00

So, i feel awful that my sweet little girl had her birthday a week ago and i have not even blogged about it.

As you can probably guess I have not been feeling well, and when I do, I have to catch up on my pig-sty of a house.

My girl had a great b-day!

We did it all up with Dora decorations, a pinata and lots of presents and yummy cake!
She loved every minute of it!

Her loot included: (not to bore you all, i just do this so i wont forget)
1. adorable new clothes from gramma allen
2. $3 from gramma allen
3. a belle barbie
4. dora dance mat with video
5. pet shop coloring activity set
6. $10 dollars from grampa jensen
7. a beautiful new dress from gramma B.
8. a dora baseball set from gramma B.
9. princess bowl and cup set from gramma B.
10. a book and a church cd from gramma B.
11. coloring books and a tiara set from aunt kristin
12. easy links computer thing

So, it was a great day and she already seems a lot older to me.
I can remember having her yesterday and bringing my girl home from the
hospital....it all goes way too fast.

I dont know about you guys but my kids are not terrible twos so much as they are awful threes.

This is her pouty face when she does not get her way, which is a lot!

Her newest thing since we have been back from Twin is that she WILL NOT go to sleep when we put her in bed, she gets out of her bed and kicks the door so hard it sounds like she is going to break it down, throws her cup, etc. etc. and then she will not stay asleep all night either.
so, we have had some long nights this week.

last night i put my foot down and tried the Supernanny style.
you know, where you just keep going in and laying them back down and not saying anything to them and eventually they will just give up.(this has worked 2 other times)
NOT my 3 year old sweet stubborn thing.

she decided to throw up all over her room at 9:45 at night.
AHHHHHHH!!!!! (remember that the nights are my worst time, when I just want to throw up everywhere) this did not sit well with me. :)

my sweet hubby got out the carpet cleaner and cleaned it up for me, while i cleaned her up and did laundry.
shawn did not agree with my style to begin with and just said to me: "i thought your little plan was working"

NOPE!

HER plan worked, she got to sleep in my bed after her bath, and fall asleep and then carried into her bed.

so, now we get to keep her up until she is just way tired and put her to bed then.
what???
at this point i just want to to do what is easier for her and for me.

anyways, i have rambled on long enough....just wanted to tell everyone that i am still here, just a little under the weather and trying to catch up on things around the house.

Miss everyone!!

***I forgot to mention that the first two pictures were taken by my sweet sister-in-law Kristin.

I love my momma!!!!

2008-03-18T10:09:00.006-06:00

So, my mom, who lives in Burley, Idaho decided to come down for a few days.
Which was a big surprise because when she does come down it is just for a day.
So this was a big treat!!!!

It started out with my kids asking all day on SUnday (every half hour)
when is she coming????

They were so excited to see my sweet mom. She FINALLY
got here at 6:30, a half hour after she said she was going to be here.
The kids were so upset (just kidding mom).

The first thing they had to show her, after showering her with hugs and kisses
was GUITAR HERO.

Which is what my mom bought Zakk for his b-day.

My mom was NOT impressed!
Which I was not surprised but she did actually play it:

HERES THE PROOF:

Yes, it is very blurry, i was in a hurry to catch her MAD skills on the guitar!
Oh well!!

We played some games and just hung out on Sunday.

I had to go to work on MOnday.
My mom took Marissa and they went shopping all morning together.
Marissa is having a b-day in two weeks and so she needed some ideas.
They came into Target to see me and then we went to lunch when I got
off and shopped a little bit.
Then we got these done:

This is something that i have been wanting to do for quite some time, I have not had cute toes since i dropped a 65 lb. package on my toe a year ago.
This was LONG overdue!

We came home and she let me take a nap for an hour, while she picked zakk up from school
and then we hooked up with my sis TIFF and her girls, and step-sister chelsie.

We met at Jordan Commons and saw

HORTON HEARS A WHO

Such a cute movie!
the kids loved it!

We came home and played some more games and then hit the hay!

My mom and i slept in my bed and watched Hairspray.

So cute!

Thats all for now, off to another adventure.

(i am not yelling, i just cant figure out how to change the font back to normal.)

Better day

2008-03-06T12:59:00.002-07:00

Thank you all for the sweet comments! You are all so kind and I love you all
so much!

Today is better, emotionally.
I did have to stay home again from work, kind of stressing me out, but i
have to take care of myself first i guess.
Luckily shawn is off today and is totally taking care of me....i have layed
my lazy butt on the couch all day and feel so guilty for that.

He is cleaning, cleaning cleaning! I love it only because that is a
rare thing in our home. He is so sweet!

The major bummer of the day is that i have had this hair appointment
scheduled for a month (that is how long is takes me to get into my girl) and
i did not tell shawn until just now because i was just not going to have a
discussion about this. I WAS GOING!!!!

He refused to let me go (again).....very upset about this....i had to reschedule
and i cant get in until the 22nd.

AAHHH!!

All in the name of love i guess.

Last night the boys had so much fun!!!!
It was a blowout against the Timberwolves, the jazz actually won! :)

Shawn took a million pix for me and the boys including Zakks' best friend
Zach got to get something "Jazz" and then treats, treats treats.
Zakk even caught a t-shirt...supposedly for his awesome dancing.

They had so much fun and i am so glad that my hubby was willing
to still take them and make it fun for them.

Uncle Jeff met up with shawn at the game and the boys thought that
was SO COOL!!!
Thank you jeff for last minute spontaneity.

I will post some pix later, i need to go lay down.
Thank you for all your sweetness!!!!!!

rough day....

2008-03-05T19:00:00.002-07:00

first off, i am not wanting sympathy or hoping everyone calls me or whatever.

i am writing this for the next time i think having baby #5 is a good idea.
this is also my journal of sorts, i just want to remember this day.
today has been rough to say the least. The flood gates have opened up
and i cant seem to stop them.

I am so emotional, i was this bad with Marissa during the pregnancy and
after the pregnancy with the boys. Good news i hope, that this means it
could be a girl.
I have also never started showing this early with my other 3!!!
I know, i know, what you
are all thinking, but i REALLY am!!! Even the kids will agree.

So, i still have not gotten over the flu, it is just hanging on. it has been
a week:(
I left work early today to go get a throat culture, negative.

CRAP!

I just needed it to be positive so i could actually take some medicine
and feel like something was helping me get over this crap...whatever.

Tonight was THE BIG NIGHT for zakk.

All he wanted to do for his bday was go to a JAZZ game...shawn obliged
and got tickets. we were all so excited, i had the day planned.

I napped for 3 hours so i could last thru the game and woke up feeling much worse!!!
Marissa had a nap so she would be good for my neighbor until 10pm or
whenever the game gets over.

She was so excited to go to her friends house...how do i tell this without babbling??

I jsut broke down about an hour before we had to leave, i am just frustrated
that i cant be better and am wondering WHY pregnancy has to be SO HARD
on me....
i hate being sick...so much!!!!

Shawn put his foot down (which he very RARELY does) and said that i
could not go...he stayed in the bathroom longer than normal so i could not
get ready.....HE WAS SERIOUS!!!

Anyways, Logan got upset because he wanted me to go soooo bad.

HE refused to go...great! two tickets down the drain.

I tried to get ready, shawn was not having it, i could not stop crying...
marissa was worried, logan was crying and Zakk was sitting in the
car waiting to go.

CHAOS!!!

We literally had to carry logan to the car, hold him in while shawn started
to drive away...HORRIBLE!!!

I was so upset by now, and just sobbing.

I felt bad that i could not go, that logan was so upset and that i was sick...just
made me so upset. I refuse to miss out on watching my kids experience things
for the first time....this was one of those times.

Shawn was right and i was not..sometimes that is a hard pill for me to swallow.

I called shawn 5 minutes later and logan was fine......3 more phone calls and he was
totally over it and having fun.

I am still a mess and feel like poo.

Marissa and i are just cuddled up and watching Dora, for only the 500th time.

sorry for the bummer post, i just really wanted to remember how hard being
pregnant is on me....and that maybe 4 is a good number.

Have a better night!

Elmo world's, what was I thinking?? and SNOW!!!!????

2008-03-02T19:15:00.007-07:00

So, after being in bed for 2 days straight I couldn't stand it one more minute.
well, that is not true, i could not stand making my kids stay in the house all
day and do nothing...except get things for me.

So, I promised the boys we would go buy some shorts, because after the first day
of warm weather, they refuse to wear jeans.
(i wonder where they get that from)
So, off to the Gateway we went with my friend Melanie and her 3 girls.
It took all my energy just to get ready to go, but i was determined!

We had fun, getting clothes for the boys, they only had enough patience
to deal with shopping for them.
I will take Marissa another time so I can really focus on buying her ONLY
the cutest! :)

The deal with the Gateway shopping is that we get to go to the Discovery
Museum after they are good shoppers.

The line to get in took 20 minutes....what was I thinking???
It was the last weekend for the Sesame Street exhibit i think, that is the only
explanation i have for why it was ridiculously busy!!!

The kids did not even care, they had a blast.
The highlight:
Sesame Street...even Zakk and Logan loved it, and they hate SS now.

It talked all about the body and had so many fun activities. Marissa loved
the life-size ELMOS WORLD room. SO DANG CUTE!!!!!The hands-on displays were pretty cool but GROSS!! Logan loved them!
They showed how your poop comes out and man did it look real, how your
mucus works and it sprayed on you when you pushed a button, showed your
heart, lungs and stomach acid, just to name a few.

It was so worth it! Even though my throat felt like it was going to close up and
I was so weak and tired, it was way fun! But at the same time, I was saying
"what was i thinking, i do not feel good".

Melanie and her girls loved it as well and they were great company and our kids
get along so well, even though they are all girls.

Here are some more pix: (bear with me)

The pictures at the bottom are outside, where they get to sit in a real Helicopter
and play around in it. Really cool, but yes it was freaking SNOWING!!!!
what the H!!!

Seriously, are we done with the snow or what?!?!?!?

sick!!!

2008-03-01T07:01:00.002-07:00

SO, a few days ago we were watching TV and a commercial came on.
It was the one about Rogaine for men, you just rub it on and it helps
with new hair growth.....

zakk says to me:

"mom, i want some of that, i can put it on here (pointing to his chin
and all along the beard area) and i will look so cool!

I had a good laugh about that one.

On a not-so-funny note I have been so sick these last 2 days!

On top of feeling nauseous and throwing up because of the whole
pregnancy thing....
I have the flu or something like it.

I have a sore throat, headache, ear-ache, major body aches and chills.
I have been in bed for the most part since Wednesday night.
I missed 2 days of work, which wasn't so bad, but i would rather be at
work than in bed with this crap.

Shawn was not feeling too hot either....when he was home, we just layed
on the bed and rested.

We were a mess.

We are still not 100% but i think we are on the up and up.....the kids all have
coughs and not feeling great but they have not been sick enough to miss
school.
Marissa keeps waking up with her eyes glued shut and cries and says:
"mommy i have a runny nose in my eyes, will you wipe it!"

we will be so glad when this is over.

It was so warm yesterday and the boys played outside with friends and it
felt so good to get them out there.

YEAH FOR SPRING!!!!!!

Apparently the cats out of the bag

2008-02-26T15:58:00.005-07:00

The Allen Family has decided that 3 kids are not enough and we needed another baby!!!!!

We are in SHOCK still but very excited!

We found out on Saturday the 16th.
I had to take two tests because i was unable to determine what the results meant on the first one and i think i was in shock and couldnt believe what i was seeing.

Let me explain:

I buy the tests at Costco because they are cheaper and in bulk....i thought it was a good idea to throw away the directions a while ago, thinking that i would remember what the results would mean.

I forget that after 3 kids, i have no memory and can be very spacey most of the time....

I had to think about what to do, after much deliberation and still not able to figure out if i was prego or not, i went to the Dollar Store, yes the Dollar Store.

A friend told me they were just as effective as the expensive ones.

30 seconds later the results were in....POSITIVE!!!!!

I hadn't really told Shawn that i might be pregnant.

I left the test on the bathroom counter fro him to find....

the next day, this is what he left me on the mirror......

just to be a stinker, cuz he knows that i want a girl or TWIN girls.

THe kids are way excited and so are we!

My boy is 9!!!!

2008-02-24T19:25:00.006-07:00

So, today my baby turns 9 and i cant believe it.....it actually makes me kind of sad!!

(i wanted to put a pix of him as a baby on here, but way back then we only
had a 35mm camera, so sadly i do not have any on my comp. and our scanner
is too much work.)

Here is zakk at 3 years old. As you can see he looks exactly the same,
just taller and his baby fat is gone.

Zakk was born February 24, 1999 at 1:31 pm. He was born in Boise,
Idaho, the greatest place on earth! :) He weighed 8 lbs. 13 oz. and was 20 in. long.

He was such a good baby, ate like a pig and was very chunky and we loved it.
He was 19 pounds at 4 months.

People would stop me all the time and tell me how cute he was and that he
needed to be put on a diet!
(what are people thinking and who says stuff like that? what if i told them
they needed to go on a diet!?)

We were the proudest parents and could not get enough of Zakk.
When shawn would come home from work at 11:00pm, he would wake
him up to play with him.
i know, i know, we did not know what we were doing. we also took
many trips to Twin Falls at 11pm at night, keeping zakk up way too late.

He has grown up to be such a good kid! we love him so much and are so proud of him!

I LOVE YOU ZAKK!

9 things that I LOVE about my boy:

1. He is very sensitive and is very caring of others.

2. Very polite!

3. A great friend to everybody, always wanting to include everybody.

4.He is a Leader.

5.He is a good athlete and always willing to try new things.

6.A good helper around the house

7.He loves his Heavenly Father and always tries to do what is right.

8.He is so funny, always trying to make people laugh!

9.The best son and the most handsome son in the whole wide world!!!

So, we had a little family party of our own this year. We opened presents and ate cake.
In two weeks we are taking Zakk and his best friend Zach Ihler to a jazz game.
That is all he wanted to do for his b-day.

Here are some shots of the bday boy:

As you can see he was WAY EXCITED to get Guitar Hero III for the WII.
I was not ok with this game, too old and too 80's for him with the butt-rock,
but it turns out to be a way fun game. we have been playing it all day!

The other big hit was his I-POD. He has been asking for one of these for a
year, a lot of his friends have them.
I won one at work at Christmas time which is the only reason he owns one, so
we decided to give it to him, shawn did not want it and i already have one.

Summer clothes, football cards, money, tech-decks, movies and books is what
else he got.

It was a very fun day, shawn called in sick to work today and so we had the
whole day togehter as a family! (which rarely happens)

(As you can see I am still trying to figure out my new camera, these are not the best pix.
It is fun to play around with though.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACHARY TRENT ALLEN!!!

WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!

Monday....

2008-02-23T22:02:00.007-07:00

Monday of this week, my mom and step-dad called and said they were on their way down from Burley to see my brother Shane and his kids, my family and tiffany and her family.

he is divorced and his kids live in Seattle, they were here for their winter break for a week with Shane.
we were all very excited because Tait, 11 and Hallie, 8 are two of the sweetest kids in the entire world...i am not being biased, these kids are amazing. they always have been too.

My kids and tait and hallie are very close and have so much fun together....so naturally we had to go meet up with them.

Earlier in the day we had gone swimming with the Ihlers at the rec center, ran home showered and got out the door to go to THE BARN in draper, i think.

Met up with everyone, including my sis, Tiff, Jared and her 3 cute girls.
This place was so much fun, big blow up toys and slides, etc.

it was a total blast! here, of course, are some pix:
(warning: there are a lot, sorry)

After this we went to eat at GOODWOOD BBQ, one of my favs!!
It was yummy!
I had been up since 2:45 am and was EXHAUSTED! to say the least.
we left at 8:00 and got home and we all crashed.

very fun day!

catch up....

2008-02-23T21:26:00.003-07:00

So, after my "scrooge" of a post on valentines, i meant to put on here what I did for the kids.
time just passes by so fast these days that i cant even believe it was 10 days ago.

Anyways, here are some pix of the kiddos on V-day:

They of course had their parties at school and then came home and had so much fun looking thru their loot.

I had their bags of stuff and their stuffed animals on their beds.
they were pretty surprised....cute!

then we went to Papa Murphy's and got a heart shaped pizza....the kids loved it!

overall it was a good day for the kids...i guess i need to make it more special for them.
i read about all these people that make a special breakfast, lunch and dinner for their family and tonz of gifts.

maybe next year, or not:)