Happenings

We have a kitty that comes and visits our house now and then. Sometimes she stays the night, comes to gymnastics, goes to the store with us, and plays at the park. We like these kinds of kitties. She likes to meow and lick and crawl anytime she can.

There is a pond not TOO far from us that is FULL of small frogs. They are super loud during the daytime and I've heard from people that live near them, that they are insanely loud at night. However, each time the kids started venturing over to the sounds of 'ribbit' they would quiet down until they left. Basically the kids did circles around the marsh never catching a single frog. It was great fun though. They got to be boys and get dirty dirty dirty.

Penny chose her outfit and was not impressed with stomping around. She lasted about 2 minutes and then came and sat on my lap. She's not a boy.

The night before this picture, Penny took a bath and put tons of Johnson's shampoo in her hair. She was one bubbly head when I discovered how much she had used. We didn't comb her hair when she got out because it was bed time. THIS is what her hair looked like the next morning AFTER her nap as well.....without me DOING it. It was seriously, the most beautiful and bouncy I have ever seen her hair. I could not bring myself to wet and comb it all day long. The curls were absolutely amazing.

I kept staring at her curls and saying, "Penny, you have pretty curls." and she'd just SMIIIIIILE. We love her curls.

Dominic was cold when he went to bed. In the morning he asked me, "Mom, why did you take off my gloves?" To which I responded, "Dominic, I didn't."

He's so funny and took them off sometime in his sleep.

Baby #3 (no name yet) was kicking like crazy the other night and the kids got to see my belly wiggling all over the place. It was the best sound ever hearing them giggle and squeal with each movement they saw and felt. The baby responds completely to these two whenever they touch or talk to him.

And here I am. This was on Monday, Feb 22nd. I was 27 1/2 weeks along and already feeling huge. I'm measuring right on...and have gained 26 pounds so far. I usually have a huge surge of weight gain between 4 and 6 months and then taper off from there. I'll probably end up gaining 35 this pregnancy. That's my guess. Sean wants a 14 pound baby though, so he's rooting me on! I told him he's crazy and that unless he wants a wife to die in childbirth to stop wishing such crazy things. Babies can bulk up after they are born.

2nd PLACE

Dominic wrestled in the last tournament of the season today and got second place and came home with an awesome silver medal. We were very proud of him.

His matches were as follows:

1st match: 3:1 win
2nd match 7:0 loss
3rd match 9:5 win

When asked what his favorite thing about wrestling this years was he said:

"that I won a silver medal! I'm very proud of myself for being a good wrestler. My favorite parts of practicing were learning new wrestling moves. I do not like running for 10 minutes. I loved putting away the wrestling mats and rolling them up and pushing them outside to put them away. Sometimes I got to ride on them."

He weighed in at a whopping 53.7 pounds.

We were so proud of Dominic! I recorded all his matches today since Sean didn't get to be there and we watched them on the TV after dinner. Sean's eyes got a little misty watching him. He was so proud of his little guy and how well he applied everything he learned this year. We're excited for next year.

After wrestling today, Dominic had tennis practice. One of the local gyms here does a free 1.5 hour class every Saturday for all kids elementary through high school. Dominic has been really enjoying Tennis.....a sport I probably wouldn't bother seeking out but have really enjoyed watching him learn. He's getting pretty good and could probably kick my trash at it.

My favorite outfit

This was my favorite outfit when I was 6 and 7. Recently, I found out that my mom would wash it almost everynight so that I could wear it again the next day. Now that I have little kids that MISS the clothes that are in the dirty laundry, I can see the sacrifice she made to put a smile on my face. Thanks mom. =)

I just LOVED those colors.

Does Ah Sah Wahn still have the chuck-e-cheese carpet?

Valentine's Crown

Grandma Penny send Penny a card with a crown to assemble and decorate. It was an instant hit on Saturday morning when we got our package in the mail. It was kinda late in the morning...but we were still in our Pj's. =)

Very concentrated on getting the stickers off:

Her Cheeser grin

Showing off her finished crown. Not very many stickers actually ended up on her crown. Instead, they ended up.........

on my right arm.

Thanks Gma for a great card. She's still enjoying her crown and I'll be finding these stickers around the house for weeks. Thats okay though...it just makes Valentine's day last longer.

This Valentine's day I made the boys (Sean and Dominic) cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, and bacon to eat in bed. Dominic woke up late this morning so it worked very much to my advantage. I woke up Penny during the finishing stages of cooking. She helped me serve them and had the great idea to read them a story while they ate. She picked out "Potty Time with Joe," and commented that, "They'll love this one." I carried a sleepy Dominic to my bed and woke him up to eat breakfast with Daddy and Penny sandwiched in between them reading. Dominic had never actually had a breakfast in bed before so today was his first. He was quite proud to be served in such a way. It was the perfect morning.


Dominic and Sean surprised me with some roses they had gotten the day before. At church we handed out some of our Valentine's that we had made to friends. Penny loved giving them to her teachers and a few of the girls that love to huddle around her. She was so proud. Dominic was excited to give one to the Bishop. We had brownies together as our Valentine's treat in the evening around a nice and cozy fire (because I guess the suckers, candy, donuts, cinnamon rolls and jello weren't enough come evening). It was a GREAT day. =)

How did you spend your Valentine's?

Notes

We came home from going out the other night to find this taped to the front door. Mind you, this is a TEENY envelope and a HUGE piece of paper. It was over an inch thick after it was all folded and stuffed inside.

Not Mom and Dad....but Katie and Sean. Love him. Usually when he does this it means he was upset about something enough to use our first names instead of Mom and Dad....not today. Today, it was just random.

No explanation, just pictures. I love him.

EQ Valentine's Party

Oh my, we had a great time. We love our new ward and have gotten to know a lot of really fun people. I planned this game for the party and it did not disappoint. I ALMOST peed my pants a few times.

The first group lined up and listening to directions.

All the ladies were given a DARK tube of lipstick. They had 30 seconds to make as many full kiss marks on their spouse as they could before the time was up. They could re-apply as often as they needed.

Hilarious.

Even the bishop and his wife joined in (far left). I did not get a picture



The men didn't seem to mind the game one bit. =) For the women, it was trying to focus and not laugh.

Matteson's won.... =) What can I say? lol

Bill was showing off that he even had some on his eyelids. Genious.

Proud Dan.

The Hammond's were our gracious hosts. =) It was a great party with great food, company and fun laughs (doesn't he look like Sam?!).

Happy Valentines Day!

Kids Room

I'm organized, but not fancy. I keep it simple but try to make the room look asthetically pleasing. I don't have trendy baskets and patterns everywhere.....just practicality. Most of our toys are very accessible for the kids, but there are some that I have out in the garage that I bring out only now and then. It cuts down on the clutter in their room.

The shelving and things on the wall were all painted and or crafted in some way by me to match their colors in the room. Red, blue and cream with light wood accents. Again, nothing fancy....just completely practical and educational. My friend did a post on her blog about using rain gutters as book shelving and it looked marvelous. I have been debating putting some up in their room but don't know that they have a PERFECT spot like she did. Its an idea I may have to store for our next house. I loved it.

I find most important in the kids room is lots of BOOKS. I learned this from my sister Julia. She has TONS OF BOOKS and making them accessible....and because she does, her kids look at them and read them. Its genious...lol Dominic loves having his own "library" and is very proud that its full to capacity and we'll be needing more bookshelves in the near future.

Dominic's toys are up high where he can reach (his Bakugan, Pokemon, Yu-Ghi-Oh and other randoms that he frequently plays with). Penny's toys are down low. This keeps her little fingers out of his things.

The kids room is mostly toys and sleeping. I've not put dressers in their room as to maximize their play area. Instead I have the plastic dressers at the bottom of their closet, space that would just get wasted anyways.

Window treatments throughout the house are up and coming this April. I can't wait to see my rooms with their new blinds and moulding. =)

Again....nothing fancy...nothing amazing (there are even fingerprints all over the mirror) but completely practical and it works. =)

Penny exercising

Penny has been watching Sean workout. She has learned how to do and breathe each exercise and we will often catch her WORKING OUT. She's quite the muscle woman you know.

She also does, pull-ups, ab roller, and push-ups...all complete with breathing technique.

These are swings and you do them with a kettlebell....she's found her own version of a kettlebell that doesn't weigh 30 pounds. =) What a hoot.

Photo shoot

These are from our Valentines photo shoot.
I love them.
He could not stop laughing because Dad was making funny noises from the kitchen.

I love the strain in this face....the "its so funny it hurts" look.

And he always has to make a crazy face.

Last week

Penny got some bottles and sippy cups that someone didn't want anymore and LOVES THEM (understatement). She's so excited for the baby to come, though I don't think she understands how it will change our lives as we know them now. I'm not worried though, she's such a mother hen that I'm pretty sure she'll adjust just fine!

I love her 'gentle touch' in this picture. She's completely engulfed in feeding her baby and thats it. =)

Penny and Daddy were hiding under that table and Dominic popped in just for the photo opp....I LOVE his smile in this picture and the adoring, "my brother is so silly" look that Penny is giving him. Sean squished under the table is pretty priceless too. =) Aaaahhhh, the memories we are making. =)

Penny figured out how to draw a big circle and was all excited about it. She told me to come look. She got a big "Wow, Penny. That is so great! You did it! You made a circle!" She was so proud of herself. Then I gave her the idea to draw a happy face inside the circle and she went at it with much concentration. She was so proud to have drawn a "WHOLE HAPPY FACE."

We left it up all day and first thing when Daddy came home, she remembered to show him. ...thats how proud she was.

She has been LOVING (another understatement) her gymnastics class. Its really brought out some great qualities in Penny over the last month-and-a-half that we've been attending. To name a few:

-She will try something new when asked by her teacher instead of shy away and run to mommy embarrassed that someone is talking to her.
- She learned to JUMP! Even if only a few inches, hey...we'll take it
- She's great at waiting her turn
- Ta-Da!
- Sense of accomplishment shooting through the roof. I hear so many "I did it Mom!" 's that it makes me smile.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to put her in Gymnastics. It didn't seem like a need to me,....and I don't think it is still (meaning I still see it as a luxury and not a NECESSITY for a child)....and just one more thing to add into our schedule.... but its been so much fun that I don't regret it one bit.

Our Valentines Cards

I've been wanting to make these cards for a few years now but my mom always buys us Valentines cards for the Grandkids and so its been on the backburner; as when given the choice, the super cool Valentines that this one place carried won over home made. =)

So here they are, finally!!

A sucker will be positioned through a hole in the top and bottom of their fisted hand.

I'm off to the store tomorrow to get suckers and pick up the photos. Can't wait.
I just hope that one lady at Costco that develops horrible pictures has the day off. I always seem to get her.

Here is the finished product....seriously so easy.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Help with a boy name please

Please cast your vote on boy names to the right..........

You are not allowed to vote for nerfherder unless you vote for something else as well.

Sleeping Angels

This picture makes me smile. I can smell my kids sleeping looking at it and that is the best smell in the world (next to newborn baby breath). They love to snuggle up and fall asleep with eachother sometimes and would do it every night if we let them, but it takes them forever to actually fall asleep this way, that we just can't let them do it as often as they would like
.
They giggle too much and we don't have a garden to tell them to go weed until they are done talking (love you gpa Hirt). Under the blankets, their arms were overlapped. I love it.

Dominic's Book of Stories

Penny Draws a HAPPY FACE

Penny has been drawing happy faces for the last couple weeks and is absolutely thrilled with it. Lately she's been trying to manipulate that dang mouth to make the faces she wants. Little deviations in the angle elicit silly giggles from the drawing board even though they mostly all just look the same. Its fun to hear.

She had some great laughs with this one.... these were mostly silly faces and one sad blue face.

Annie, you wanted to know how the kitchen fit into the living room. It IS a large kitchen, and meant to be used from both sides. However...for now, this is perfect. I could put it in her bedroom so that she could use both of the sides, but I really missed her playing with her kitchen in the living room. She makes us treats and cooks all the day long when its downstairs. Where, when it was upstairs, she didn't play with it as often.

Someday we'll have just a huge playroom completely seperate from sleeping where great big toys like this can be put and fully appreciated on all sides. =) There's even a little nook to the right of it where her shopping cart usually gets parked. But today, it was in the kitchen delivering groceries to me while I was cleaning and hadn't made it back yet.

So, there you have it.

Playdate

I do a swap with my friend Suzy so that she and I can go in to our sons' 2nd grade classrooms and help out once a week. So once a week she watches Penny while I go in..... and then I watch Addie once a week so she can do the same. Our 2nd graders go to different schools now, but it still works just fine for us.

Today was our turn to have Addie over. They play VERY WELL together and rarely argue over toys....which is really a rare thing at this age. It was hilarious to see them interact especially today for some reason. Penny had some serious energy and was very intense the whole time (see video coming soon below).

It was also nice enough to play outside so we busted out the tricycle and the scooter today too. The tricycle has a little storage bin in the back and Penny and Addie made sure to fill it with tons of lava rocks from the yard (have I ever mentioned how much I hate lava rocks)? It was pretty heavy when they were done.

Thanks for a great afternoon Addie!



This video was just after we had finished a gymnastics class just 30 minutes earlier. She has learned to jump finally (she is a little vertically challenged) and gets excited when she actually does it.......so do I though.