35/365

Date night at Home Depot and IKEA only can mean one thing.........

WE ARE STARTING OUR BASEMENT!!!!!
                                         (again)


Thank you. Thank you. Thank you dad for always being there to help and get us motivated.  I love you.
I hope I will be like you when I grow up.

34/365

I will be sad when the day comes when they don't want to have sleepovers together... hopefully it won't be anytime soon.

and I gotta admit... I'm going to be even more sad when I don't get a sleepy little boy coming in to cuddle and fall back asleep at 6 am every morning

(What a good little actor he is... we had to re-create the moment.  I didn't think Brian would be too happy with me if I woke him up in the wee hours to take a picture)

33/365

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!!

4 Kids.  

ALL have gone skiing before they were 4 months old. 

I think dad's more happy than the babies, but it's the very beginning of wonderful special memories hanging out with dad.  

As a side note........ Check this out.  (My kids look NOTHING like eachother) :)    What do you think?

Connor 2011

Kaden 2004

 

Here's how the others are doing:



Kaden is becoming the "big man on the slopes".  Today was the first day Brian took Avery and Kaden up together.  Well... maybe I shouldn't say together because Kade decided Brian and Avery were too slow for his style.  He ditched them and skied all day long on his own.  (look at that toothless smile)

Avery is doing awesome! This is her 3rd year doing the ski's on her own. She's figured out how to stop and turn, and can go down the hill all on her own.  She loves to race Brian down the hill and is a little mad that she's not quite tall enough to get on the lift herself so she can go alone. (I am very happy she is too short.  My 4 year old does NOT have to go on the ski lift alone!!! Ahhhhh!!! and you know Brian would totally let her do it)

 

And then there's Bright.... 

He thinks he's as big as the other two and was fighting for his turn.  He was only up there for a couple runs, so he didn't have ski's.  He kept telling us his ski's were "lost" and we needed to go get some in the "room over there" (the lodge).  When we left for the day, he saw the lifts had shut down and he told Brian to go fix it.  Then he gave Brian some batteries he had brought with him in the car (weird, I know) and told him the lift needed new batteries. (could this kid be any cuter?)

32/365

Went to dance today to watch these cute little girls.....

But the real show were these two!! 

Posing for the camera, giving hugs, playing ball and sipping water out of the drinking fountain! McKinley and Bright have been coming to dance with us for months now and they finally realized they could have fun together! 

31/365

Wow.. last day of January! I did it!! Actually have 31 posts for 31 days.  I'm really loving this blog.  I look back at previous posts all the time and smile at the pictures.  Just imagine how fun it is going to be in a few months to look back on all the things I would have other wise forgotten.

Today I got into my "list mode" and went a little "chart happy".   I get this way every couple months where I feel like I can't do anything good enough unless I make lists and charts and plans and goals.  I literally sat down and wrote 7 different things I needed to make a chart for...

   ** Weight Chart (gotta lose the weight. I hate how I look/feel right now)
   ** Daily Job Chart  (for me and my kids)
  **  Daily Schedule  (of course it's scheduled to the minute of every moment.. why do I even think this        
                                    is going to work?  It never does...yet, i still make a chart)
  **  A video game/computer game schedule where the kids have to earn coins to play their games
  **  Paying Bills Chart
  **  Getting out of Debt Chart
  **  Goal Chart
   Oh, AND  I decided I needed to start couponing, so I'm meeting Jenni tomorrow so she can give me all the inside scoops on how to get a box of cereal for 25 cents and maalox for free.  Ya this is something I'm really going to have time for in between making all my charts! :)

hmmmmm.... looking at this all in one place makes it me realize one of two things:
     Either I'm a little obsessive .... uhhh... you think????  (I'm so not going to be able to sleep tonight.. I'm going to be thinking of my charts and what else I need to work on)  

                                       or
  
     I've bit off more than I can chew for one week.

Maybe a better plan would be to work on these a little at a time

31/365 part 2

funny...

as I ended my previous post, I "published" it and an ad on blogger popped up for "free children's job charts"

hmmmmmmm.  My computer is pretty sneaky.

30/365

Most Sundays we get the privilege to have Kaden's Famous Brownies

 today was no exception.

If you haven't had the opportunity to try these famous brownies... well your missing out.  He uses "secret ingredients" to make them "extra rich" (kaden's words... not mine)



This time he made them ALL BY HIMSELF with no help from mom or dad.  He's becoming quite the pro.  His brownies are oh so good!

29/365

Oh the joys of potty training.
He came up with this pose all on his own.  Pretty cute I might say....

and he's a pretty good shot too! 

28/365

It's my turn for late over!!!!!

Kids. Kids. Kids Everywhere!!!

10 kids under the age of 8

Boys playing the Wii..

 Girls having a makeup party and listening to an ipod... an ipod?? Really?? Do you SEE how old they are?

 Toddlers watching Team Umizumi upstairs and playing on the lovesac

 Baby asleep (finally)

The beauty of it is that they are all pre occupied and I can actually get online and blog about it.

Some late over nights are better than others... this one is not so bad.

I love that my kids best friends are their cousins.  

27/365

I love my little helpers.

Avery is such a great big sister. She LOVES to help me with Connor. Especially at bath time.

26/365

Today we stopped in to say hi to Grandma and Grandpa K

I feel so blessed that my kids have the opportunity to get to know their great grandparents.  

5 out of 8 of them are still with us.  

I love you both. 

You have brought so much joy and happiness into my life.  I am better because of you.

(more great pix of other great grandparents to come!)

25/365

This didn't happen today, but I wanted to take a sec and say how much I love my wild, stubborn, sweet, funny, adventurous, spunky, confident, beautiful little girl....who has the cutest belly laugh you have ever heard.
It's contagious.

24/365

Had an amazing conversation with this little guy today......

and he laughed... actually laughed! 

(moments like this that I'm glad I'm posting something everyday... how would I ever remember this moment if I weren't doing this?)

23/365

Best part of morning church.......

is having all afternoon to feed the ducks.

We LOVE our lazy Sundays.

22/365

I have the  most amazing husband.  What would I do without him?

All night sleeping outside in the mountains in January just to come home fast enough to take a shower and take care of the kids all day while I did consultations.  Not only did he have to take care of them, but he had to keep them out of the house...

1st Activity:  Lunch at Del Taco and having to deal with Brighton pooping in his pull-up in the playground slide.  (Ahhhhhhh!!! parents worst nightmare)
  He had no extra clothes and could only find a swimmer diaper in the car.  So on went the swimmer diaper and found a pair of Kaden's jeans in the car left in there from late over.
  Then got home to change him and put him to bed just to see that my consult wasn't over.
  He was sweet enough not to want to interrupt, so he chilled out in the car for 20 minutes with all the kids in the car.

2nd Activity:  Chucky Cheeses  
That makes him automatically #1 dad to deal with that place all alone and on a Saturday to beat. That might be worse than a winter scout camp.

I love you bri- Thank you for supporting me in everything I do without even the smallest complaint.
You really are the greatest.

21/365

Found out last week that Kaden has 6 cavitities.  Yes, 6!! Today we went and got them filled.  He was pretty loopy. He kept raising his hand up in the air and dropping it down over and over again.  When he tried to walk he just slumped over for a couple hours after.  His voice was low and slurred and he kept saying, "This is fuuunnnnny mom".  He also kept snorting like a pig.  It was pretty entertaining to watch him.  The bad news is that his mouth was so numb, he kept chewing on his lip.  Here's what he looks like now.

Poor Guy.

Missed out on a date night because Brian is one of those crazy guys who actually enjoy Winter Scout Camps.  What is it with men and their camping??? I just don't understand camping in a snow cave.  I just don't get it.  Can I say it again?? I JUST DON'T GET IT!!  Why is that fun?

So... here's the huge confession.
A night without hubby led me to realizing that if I don't start my blog now, I never will. So I have stayed up past 2 am and posted 21 posts.  I'm caught up. I'm super excited about this blog idea. I don't feel overwhelmed anymore. My head is killing me. My eyes are blurry.

 Goodnight.

20/365

Today I'm just happy to be a mom, and that I can laugh at what my kids say.

I was sitting at the computer and happened to let one rip (yes.. I know, very lady like)

Brighton said, "Mom, you need a diaper change?  Do you need to go poop on the potty?"

19/365

Let the Cake Consultations begin!!!
Now that the show is over.. it's consultation time! For the next month and a half my house is a cake design studio...  cakes. cakes. everywhere.

18/365

Soccer Mom Day minus the soccer

Avery dance this morning.
Kaden Karate this evening  (he's a very proud yellow belt)

Mom freikin out a bit that he came home with a mouth guard, boxing gloves and a cup...
Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!
I guess I shouldn't worry too much about his teeth... he's pretty toothless these days anyway :)
Gotta love 7 year olds.

17/365

Martin Luther King Day = Kids are out of School.  What Will We Do??

Play with cousins
Help Mom Clean the house
Ride the Roller Coaster
Make more cakes (sheez.. I know... getting sick of cake posts)
And the best surprise of all.... Dad came home early from work!

Good.. no stress..fun day