Skydiving Through Life

Daddy Daughter Date Night!

2012-02-13T15:07:00.004-07:00

Miss Piggy asked her Daddy out on a date! There was a dinner and dance this last weekend and Miss Piggy was so excited about it! Truth be told, Master Chief was excited too! Master Chief got Miss Piggy a corsage to match her dress!A kiss for a special Daddy!That night they went to dinner at a church that was sponsoring the Boys and Girls club. They ate pasta and cookies! Then they went off to the dance. They were a bit early, so Master Chief set Miss Piggy on his lap and let her drive in the parking lot!!! Once they got into the dance, they got their picture taken, faces painted and then it was time to dance!!!

The local Newspaper was there taking pictures and this picture made it up on their website! Looks like both Miss Piggy and Master Chief were having a great time.

Miss Piggy won a prize and was the very first to win a prize that night for her awesome dance moves. She won a cute stuffed bunny! Later she won a necklace for being inside a hoola hoop when the music stopped.

What a great memory for both Daddy and Daughter!

Kermit Wins An Award For His Story!

2012-02-13T14:54:00.003-07:00

It seems we have writers in our house! Kermit won "Writer of the Week" in his class at school! Here is his story, the exact way he wrote it.

I have a big house at home. We are going to make a buk bed in my room, and my sistrs room. It dus not have a big grog. (garage) But we have anuf spase to park to cars. I love my house.

Way to go, Kermit!!!

Miss Piggy's Story!

2012-02-13T14:47:00.006-07:00

I wish I knew how to make this bigger! Miss Piggy wrote this story all on her own. I'll type it out exactly as she has written it.

Mery and the cats
Mery had cats and she had fun with her cats. She woud play with her cats and sleep with her cats and she rusld (wrestled) with her cats and reed storees to her cats and she pet her cats. But she had chorse to do but her cats helped Mery with her chorse and then they wer all don and so Mery got to play with her cats and play gamse and after that the cats purrd and then they lade dawn and then they went to sleep. And then they went out side.

Such a cutie!!!

Kermit Lost Another Tooth!!!

2012-02-13T14:42:00.005-07:00

We are losing teeth left and right at our house! Kermit lost his second tooth January 24!!! He worked hard at it before heading to school and finally gave in and let Mama pull it out! It was very ready and an easy job for Mama! Mama actually quite enjoyed it! Kermit was so excited to go to school and show everyone his missing tooth! The Tooth Fairy brought him $5. She pays so well, Master Chief and I have thought about losing teeth to see how much she'd pay us!!!

Miss Piggy Turned 7!

2012-02-13T11:12:00.008-07:00

I'm rather behind in my blogging! Miss Piggy celebrated her 7th birthday last month!!! I can't believe she's this old! I can't believe I have two 7 year olds preparing for baptism!!!

On Miss Piggy's birthday she got lots of fun art things. The one thing she kept asking for was a Password Journal, and her Grandma Great got that for her!!! She is so excited to play with it and record her secrets in it!Miss Piggy is such a good sister. Baby Girl was dying to open presents, so Miss Piggy let her open half of her presents!!! The next weekend we celebrated her birthday with her friends. She especially wanted her Grandma Great to come with Gram-Gram. We were excited that it worked out for her to attend.

Miss Piggy wanted an "Upside Down Backwards" Birthday Party. So that's just what we did. People wore their clothes backwards, they wore upside down name tags that were written backwards and we started with presents! After that we had cake and ice cream. We turned the table upside down and ate our backwards cake upside down on plates that were upside down!

Miss Piggy is 7 going on 17. Which means Baby Girl is 2 going on 7, going on 17!!! Baby Girl adores her big sister. Each day after school, Baby Girl runs to give Miss Piggy a hug, nearly knocking her over!

Miss Piggy is doing very well in school and loves to play school when she comes home. She is enjoying her gymnastics class. Each week she tries to do one thing new or hard and currently she is working on being more comfortable with the balance beam. She also enjoys collecting rocks. We think she inherited that from her Grandpa Great!

Miss Piggy is such a good sister to her brother and little sister. We love her with all our hearts! Happy Birthday, Miss Piggy!

A Journal Entry I Guess - Christmas and my Grandpa's

2012-01-17T11:23:00.001-07:00

So I have neglected my family blog for a month now. So much has happened in this last month, it is unbelievable. So, should I start with the good, the bad or the ugly? Okay, the good it is then!

Christmas
Christmas Eve and Day was great. My favorite day of the season is Christmas Eve. The excitement is in full force and it is the day we reflect on our Savior. Our family watches the Nativity, we look at Christmas lights, we eat a yummy meal, we open sibling gifts and pj's. Christmas morning was unique in that we got to attend church and that was wonderful!!! We truly enjoyed hearing the beautiful music and listening to the Christmas message.

Christmas Break
This is where it gets bad and ugly. We learned that my grandpa T was battling more cancer and sadly, this time his battle wasn't going to be won. We had planned a trip to see him over New Years but we decided that I couldn't wait and on the first day that the kids were out of school, Kermit and I ran down to visit. Kermit stayed with his cousins, which was so much fun for him, and I stayed out with my grandparents.

I will cherish those days with my grandparents. Sure, Grandpa was sick, but he made the most of those days. I was able to just talk with him, asking him his favorite memory of me, and me sharing mine with him. We took a special day for just Grandpa and I many years ago to go fishing. We found a perfect fishing hole and we made it our secret spot! We fished for hours, talking about everything. I don't remember how many fish we caught, or what we talked about, it was just the special time we spent together. Then we stopped at Dairy Queen on the way home for a blizzard! We both shared the same favorite memory! I gave him special requests, to tell my sweet Angel Baby that I love her. I got to hug on him, kiss him, tease him, pamper him and just be with him.

At this time we suddenly found out that my grandpa D was not going to be with us much longer, so before I went home, I was able to stop and see him. He was sleeping and not able to be aroused, but I was able to tell him that I loved him and that I was thankful for him and that he was the most fun in the water, playing submarine with my cousins and I.

December 23rd, my Grandpa D returned home to our Heavenly Father. He was surrounded by several of his kids, a few grand kids and lots of love. He was 84 years old.

So 2 days after Christmas we made the return trip and buried my Grandpa D. He served in the Navy and was given a 3 gun salute and taps were played at the grave. It was beautiful. He had battled Alzheimer's and while I'm sad that he's gone, I truly lost him years ago and I am so thankful to know he is out of his state of confusion and he knows who I am once again. We took the time after the funeral to visit my Grandpa T again. The kids were so happy to see him. They are very close to their Grandpa-Great! We visited on Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday, my kids climbed up on his lap and played with him. What a sweet memory we have of them playing and having fun together.
Friday we continued on with our trip to Master Chief's parents house. The kids were excited to be there, helping collect eggs, feed the cows and play games!

Saturday morning, December 31st, my Grandpa T made his journey home to our Heavenly Father, he was 75 years old. This was bittersweet. I'm so glad he's not suffering and hurting, but I miss one of my best friends. He was a hero in my life and loved me so unconditionally. My heart is broken.
I was asked to give his life sketch with my cousin at his funeral. I am so glad I had my cousin with me. I'm not quite sure how we got through it, or how we buried him. It was next to one of the hardest things I've ever done. The funeral and visitation with family (closed casket viewing) was packed. Because of his service in the military he was given the honor of the 3 gun salute as well as having taps played. In addition to this, because of his service in law enforcement, he had guards standing at the head and the foot of his casket during the visitation and then these guards escorted him to his final resting place. It was very touching, grandpa would have been proud. I'm so thankful for my knowledge of our Heavenly Father's plan of Salvation. I know I will see my grandpas again. I miss them with all my heart, but I know they are with my sweet Angel Baby, telling her I love her.

Happy 34th Birthday, Master Chief!

2011-12-07T09:33:00.003-07:00

This week we celebrated our Daddy's 34th Birthday!!! Here are 34 things about our dad.
1- He likes to tease
2- He loves to listen to music
3- He sings in the shower
4- He is a hard worker
5- He loves to play X Box (suprise there, huh!)
6- He prefers Mayo over Miracle Whip
7- He loves to fish
8- He wishes he could hunt more
9- He likes to keep things clean and organized
10- He likes to get the mail like Mama does, and he'll race her to the mailbox
11-He is a farm boy
12- He loves to play board games
13- He hates to run
14- His dream is to design something and get a patent
15- He loves cheesecake
16- He hates rollercoasters
17- He has a firm testimony of our Savior
18- He has a soft spot in his heart for his girls
19- He loves to have one on one time with Kermit
20- There isn't much in the way of food that he doesn't like
21- He doesn't like breakfast for dinner
22- Mt Dew is his favorite drink
23- He likes to take things apart and fix them, especially electronics
24- He is working very hard to earn a 2nd degree in Engineering
25- He loves to be outdoors
26- He always puts his family first
27- He is extremely generous and giving to others
28- He loves to just play with his kids, soccer in the street, games at the table, takes them to the movies
29- He would love to take Mama to Europe
30- He loves to sleep in
31- He loves jerky
32- He loves it when the kids ask to rub his feet with lotion
33- He tells some hilarious stories of growing up with his brothers and sisters. (I'm not sure how any of them survived each other's 'ideas')
34- He would love a pet skunk

I could go on and on! Master Chief is the most amazing man. He is the world's best father, most supportive husband and a dedicated worker. We love him with all our hearts and are so thankful to have him as our Dad.

Kermit FINALLY lost a tooth!

2011-12-02T11:53:00.002-07:00

Kermit has been so patient in waiting to even have a loose tooth! The funny thing is that he didn't even know he had a loose tooth. I think he gave up the thought of ever loosing a tooth! Then one night we asked him how his tooth was doing and he tried it out and the look of excitement that came across his face was incredible, he finally had not only a loose tooth, but a VERY loose one at that! He played around with it that night and finally Master Chief asked if he could wiggle it. Master Chief barely touched it and it fell right out. Kermit had no idea it came out even! He was so excited to put it under his pillow. He woke up to $5 the next day!!! Way to go, Kermit!!!

Miss Piggy has 2 loose teeth and Kermit has 1 right now. The Tooth Fairy might go broke soon! Mama is so behind in blogging, for her own records... this momentous event happened on November 13, 2011.

Happy Belated Halloween!

2011-11-15T19:38:00.006-07:00

Since it's a belated Halloween, let's look at pictures BACKWARDS!!!
Our adorable pumpkins... Mama's, made for Baby Girl! Kermit - who traced and carved his pumpkin by himself this year for the first time!

Mama made this one for Angel Baby! She'd be 9 and we bet she'd like witches!

Miss Piggy and her amazing Rapunzel pumpkin which she helped carve a little bit of!

Gram Gram was here and we got a wild 'hair' (no pun intended) and decided to suprise the kids with green hairThe kids couldn't figure out why we'd do such a thing!

Our family and the pumpkins before heading out to the neighborhood! Kermit and his amazing pumpkin. Miss Piggy and her beautiful pumpkin. Baby Girl LOVED her pumpkin and just wanted to look at her pumpkin! Trick or Treat!!! Kermit.... Black Spider Man! Miss Piggy.... Rapunzel! Baby Girl... Ariel!!!Kermit prepping his pumpkin!

Miss Piggy drawing her Rapunzel on her pumpkin.

Say Cheese! It's pumpkin carving time!Baby Girl LOVED the pumpkin guts! We had a fantastic halloween this year! Happy belated Halloween!!!

Happy Birthday to Kermit!!!

2011-11-09T11:32:00.004-07:00

Kermit has turned 7 years old and is taller because of it.... at least that's what he thinks! Kermit wanted this lovely cake for his birthday, a boy after his mother's heart!!! We had a fun birthday party with all of his friends and he brought in some pretty great gifts. Among his favorites are his DC shirts and heel socks! This kid has a thing for clothes... (takes after his mom!)

Kermit is excelling in school. He is extremely fast with his math facts, understands how to tell time with the "hands" clock, can count his money very well and reads like a rock star. He is enthusiastic as his teacher puts it, lol!

Kermit loves to play the Wii and outside with his friends. He is such a good helper for his sisters and is the hardest worker you can find when it comes to outside work and helping Master Chief with wood. Kermit can out work a grown man, running circles while they rest, after a long days work!

Kermit is eager to learn new things and wants to do anything his dad does. He is his Daddy's pal, working and playing side by side. One day I heard the car start and massive giggling (I know, boys don't giggle, but it's the best word I can come up with!) from the garage. I went out to find Kermit and Master Chief running the car back and forth over pop cans to smash them up. These two boys were having the time of their life destroying these cans with smiles ear to ear. They like to find trouble together!

Kermit is quite the cook. He is an expert hamburger browner and I can't make a meal without him asking to help me. He is good at anything he tries in the kitchen. He made Key Lime Tarts with his Gram Gram a few weeks ago and they were heaven!

We are SO blessed to have Kermit in our family. We love him with all our hearts. Happy Happy 7th Birthday sweet Kermit!

What We Dreaded Most... Became A Piece Of Cake!

2011-10-28T09:22:00.004-06:00

Baby Girl with a mouth full of GUM she earned!!! Potty Training that is.....

Whenever Mama got baby hungry before Baby Girl was on her way, all she had to do was think about sleepless nights and potty training and the baby hunger went away immediately!!!

When we were blessed with this little bundle of joy, the sleepless nights were hard!!! She didn't sleep through the night until 9 or 10 months... Mama was too tired to remember! And we still had potty training to get through! Ugh!

And then the time came. Mama had tried a couple of times... "Should we go potty?" "Let's go try the potty." And she refused!!! She would hold her pee until nap time when Mama put a diaper on her and then she'd pee her pants and not even care. We finally gave up.

And then Mama's cousin introduced her to 3 day potty training. BEST THING EVER. We did everything the same EXCEPT we changed our wording to her. Baby Girl is very much a child who likes to do things HER way! We started asking her to remind us when she needed to go. Then it was up to her. She pee trained in an hour!!! ONE HOUR!!! Easiest thing Mama has ever done!!! We even made a last minute, but absolutely necessary 5 hour trip on day 2. NO ACCIDENTS!!!

But we hadn't pooped yet. We tried cold baths, bribery, taking things away. And may we mention that the bribery was HUGE. Chuck E Cheese, a trip in grandma's convertible to the store to get a treat... just her and grandma, gum, Pepsi, ect. And she would poop her pants. NOTHING would convince her to poop in the potty! She'd take her panties off and dump the poop herself in the potty, but there was no way she'd do it IN the actual potty!

One of Mama's cousins told her that with her daughter they just had to be patient. And that is what we did. We just supported her when she had a poop accident.

And then she did it. All on her own, she went in and pooped on the potty!!!! Boy was she proud of herself!!! WHAT A RELIEF for all of us!!!

And now we have a fully potty trained 29 month old!!! She even night trained from the first day!

So glad that part is over with! Now she can stop growing up too quickly! It's crazy to think that 3 years ago we were just going through the early stages of pregnancy with her!

All About Me - 1st Grade

2011-09-22T09:31:00.009-06:00

1st grade has been extremely fun for the kids. At the beginning of the year carnival, the kids sang and did a fabulous job. Then we joined them outside and we played carnival type games. Kermit had a great time playing toss the chicken in the pot. The prize was a package of ramen noodles and that is one of Kermit's favorite things!!! Then Kermit went over to the dunk tank and hit the target, dunking a teacher!!! Miss Piggy spent her tickets getting face paint and cotton candy!

The kids are doing so much at school this year. Math, spelling, reading ect. They are learning so much and having a blast. Each day they are sent home with tons of papers that they've done in class. One day, these fabulous packets came home and I couldn't resist sharing them!

Miss Piggy's packet....
Miss Piggy at the templeWhen I grow up I want to be a doctor I have blue eyes. My hair is blonde. The best looking part of my face is my mouth. My favorite animal is dog. My favorite television show Spongebob. My favorite movie is princesses. My favorite color is pink. My favorite toy is Barbie. My favorite thing about school is I have a desk. I like myself because I have pretty. (She forgot to finish this line!)My favorite color is pink.

My favorite zoo animal is horse.

My favorite story is princess.

My favorite tv program is ??? (Even she doesn't remember what she was trying to write.) My birthday is January

On my next birthday, my cake should have princess candles. (This makes me giggle)

The present I want for mynext birthday is princesses.I like to eat candy.

I like to drink water.
Andrew's packet...When I grow up, I want to be a cop. (The colored people are our family)I have blue eyes. My hair is brown. The best looking part of my face is my hair. My favorite animal is dog. My favorite television show is batman. (This was news to us, lol) My favorite movie is Kung Fu Panda 2. My favorite color is red. My favorite toy is batman. (Again, this is a suprise - especially since I don't think he has any!) I like school because cade. ??? I like myself because hair. (He loves his Justin Bieber hair!)
My favorite color is purple.

My favorite zoo animal is snake.

My favorite story is Batman.

My favorite tv program is football.On my next birthday, my cake should have 7 candles.

The present I want for my next birthday is a basket hoop.I like to eat pizza.

I like to drink cocoa.

Going Backwards... Swimming Lessons!

2011-08-19T09:04:00.013-06:00

This summer we were able to enroll all 3 kids in swimming lessons. Mama was in a class with Baby Girl! Kermit and Miss Piggy were in level 1 together and they both passed and moved onto level 2! The last 2 days of class Master Chief was able to come watch. So for the grandparents.... because I know you love to see pictures of your cute grandkids!!!! Here are some pictures of your little fishy grandkids!

In An Instant.... Summer is Over and School Has Begun!

2011-08-11T12:13:00.003-06:00

Good thing we are on the ball! We had been preparing for school to begin August 22nd at the local elementary school. We'd entered our awesome kids into the charter school lottery in hopes of getting them in last year. Their names didn't get drawn but were added again this year. Miss Piggy came up on the wait list as #4 and Kermit was #7 at one school and they were #8 and #9 at another school. So we knew there was a chance, but we figured it might be sometime in the middle of the school year that they might get a spot in one of these schools.

So Tuesday afternoon we got a phone call asking if Miss Piggy would still like a spot at a charter school and of course we took it! This moved Kermit up on the wait list to #1 because siblings get first priority. An hour later we got the call that Kermit was also invited to join this new school!

So what did that mean? Well, school had started on Monday, so we were already 2 days into the school year! We went out that night and finished up our school shopping, bought more supplies and went to bed early! This new school is more of a year round type schedule, so there will be lots of breaks, which we are looking forward to! It also means more homework and more challenging experiences. We are so excited to see where this new adventure takes the kids.

Here are our 2 first graders! They've had their outfits planned for the first day of school for weeks! They are happy to be in the same class again! Charter schools only have one class per grade, so they will be together forever now!

Angels Baby's 9th Birthday

2011-08-01T14:35:00.007-06:00

Today we celebrate our littlest, big sister! Angel Baby would be 9 years old today. We can't believe she'd be 9 already!!! We were invited to a friends house last night for what we thought was their 8 year olds birthday dinner and instead, we were surprised with a huge party for Angel Baby!!! This sweet 8 year old planned this party for Angel Baby on her 8th birthday! All the kids got purple taffy ropes, and cotton candy and there were frogs all over the walls that they colored! We had a wonderful dinner! And then we went outside to hit the pinata!!! Princess and the Frog. How perfect!!!

Baby girl taking her turn!Miss Piggy taking her turn!Kermit taking a whack at it! (on his second time around, he busted it open!) Then we we had cake. Isn't this cake adorable!!!

Then it was time to release balloons!!! There she goes!!!

Here she comes!!!

They also made us the most wonderful blanket. It's a fleece blanket that is purple with green frogs and white daisies. It couldn't be more perfect! It was the last bit of fabric at the store, the perfect match, the perfect size and this sweet 8 year old said, "It's because Heavenly Father really wanted you to have it so He saved it for you."

We are so thankful for our friends. We are so thankful for our sweet Angel Baby. What a sweet child to come to this earth and come into our family. As I've pondered her life, 9 years ago, I'm reminded of her sweet little tongue and her beautiful eye lashes! That little tongue would explore her little world and was so cute! Her squeaky, high pitched cry would make you giggle the first time you heard it! She was fiesty. She was a fighter. She is an angel, a true angel. She makes me so happy. What I would give to hold her one last time, to kiss her forehead one last time and to whisper stories in her ear one last time. This morning I was going through my "Angel Baby" things and I came across a card Master Chief wrote to me. At the end of this wonderful card he wrote these words, "This is not the end!!!" And it brought peace to my soul. This is not the end!!! I will see my sweet daughter again. I will get to hold her, to kiss her, to whisper to her and so much more!!! Heavenly Father knew what He was doing when He gave us the Plan of Salvation. I can't wait for the day to come where we can be reunited with our sweet Angel Baby, for Kermit, Miss Piggy and Baby Girl to meet her!

Angel Baby, Mommy loves you. I think of you every single day. My heart breaks at the thought of not being able to hold you every single day. Instead, I give extra squeezes to your brother and sisters. I'm so thankful you are a part of my life. You make me a better person!

Love, Mommy

Saturday Sweetness!!!

2011-07-23T19:01:00.002-06:00

Our sweet Baby Girl is in love with strawberries. She just runs herself into the kitchen and gets her cute little hands on these beautiful strawberries and devours them before anyone else gets a chance to eat them! We think she may have had some help picking out her hat from her big brother! Both are such characters!

Summer Swimming Lessons!

2011-07-20T14:56:00.005-06:00

We are in the middle of our Summer Swimming Lessons and I wanted to take pics of the kids in their new suits! We didn't do it at the pool because.... Baby Girl is faster than lightening and I didn't want to chase after her with a camera in my hand!

Kermit and Miss Piggy are in a Level 1 after completing their pre swim class last year. They are doing very well! They are actually swimming which in the few little moments I get a chance to see them, they are amazing!!!

Baby Girl is in a parent/toddler class which means I get to jump in and get wet too!!! Of all the kids in the class, Baby Girl is the most comfortable in the water and she is probably the youngest! I'm very proud of her! However she would prefer if I didn't hold on to her, but since we are in 3-4ft deep water I'm going to ignore her request! Her favorite part seems to be jumping into the water to me! We work on using cue's so she doesn't just jump in without someone's attention. So I say, "Ready, Set" and she says, "JUMP!!!" And today she tried taking a few steps back and running to jump in the pool. She's a little dare devil!

We can't take any picture without Kermit being silly...

Our 4th of July Celebrations!

2011-07-12T14:27:00.008-06:00

This year was so much fun for our family. We actually went out and participated in the world! In the past it seems that we do one or two things or Master Chief is working and Mama doesn't want to attempt all the festivities alone with 3 kids! However with Master Chief's awesome new position we were able to have him home so we could party, and that's just what we did!

We started our day in festive colors! Not really 4th of July clothing, but still red, white and blue! We got our pockets full of plastic bags so we could collect candy at a local parade!!! And off we went. We got to the parade about an hour and a half early so we could get a good spot. Master Chief was a genius and planned a lunch for us and we sat there in the heat and waited. Now, one might think that sitting in the heat waiting for a parade to start might be boring. But not for us!!! We giggled, we played and Mama took pics! Her lips crack us up in this one! She was caught in the middle of eating her chips!We did find a small rock to sit on for shade, and took turns sitting in the shade!!!And then there was silly Kermit. Kermit decided Mama had enough pics and he made it a game to try to hide from the camera. Gotcha!!! You can't hide from me!Mama's cousins joined us just as the parade began and since it was a water parade she put her camera away.

The parade was fantastic. They would spray you from their floats and toss out candy. We couldn't ask for a better experience. That is until Kermit decided to retaliate! A gentleman handed us all a COLD bottle of water and then a group of girls from a local softball team were
on the next float. Kermit saw this as a golden opportunity. He opened his bottle of water and ran up to the girls on the float and started splashing his water out at them. Well they came prepared and they all had super soakers and they aimed right for him!!! It was so funny! Leave it to our little Casanova to get the girls!

After the parade we went straight over to our little town water park. They have a splash pad which Baby Girl enjoyed when she wasn't trying to run away in the water where Kermit and Miss Piggy were playing. She's fast! She doesn't want to be held in the water and in true Baby Girl fashion, she thinks she's 6 1/2 and can go where her older siblings are. EEKS!!!

In the mean time, Miss Piggy quickly got cold and sat out in the sun with Master Chief and Kermit wanted to go down the water slide. Thank goodness for Mama's cousins to be there... we were out numbered! They took Baby Girl while I stood at the bottom of the slide to catch Kermit. It didn't take too long before Kermit didn't even need me at the bottom. He'd fly off the slide, go under water, pop up and swim over to me!!!

Once we finally decided we'd had enough water fun we headed back to our house for dinner. Master Chief had been preparing ribs for us and man were they good!!! We had ribs, corn on the cob, garlic and rosemary potatoes, rolls and homemade pumpkin cheesecake (that Master Chief claims is better than The Cheesecake Factory!!! Thank you sweetie, that made my day!) Baby girl thought the ribs were so good! Uncle Paul, this one is for you. Master Chief thought you might like these pics.After our feast we went over to our extremely awesome home teachers house and partied with them. They had bounce house water slides and Kermit was in heaven!!! Miss Piggy didn't want to get wet and be cold but Baby Girl... well there was no stopping her!

Once we got them dried off they did a few fireworks, the poppers and sparklers. Mama was trying to learn some new things with her camera and this was the best shot she got... She has a lot to learn, lol! We all went home exhausted and happy! Happy 4th of July to our family and friends!

The Tooth Fairy Finally Got To Make Her First Appearance!!!

2011-07-09T19:25:00.012-06:00

After what seemed like F.O.R.E.V.E.R. we finally had a loose tooth at our house! The Dentist had told us that Miss Piggy would be the first to lose her tooth and he was right! We've had the cute little loose tooth since the middle of May.

Mama took this picture as a "Last picture with all our baby teeth" June 9th. And finally nearly a month later.... Miss Piggy lost her first tooth!!! July 3, 2011 (thanks to some major wiggling from Master Chief and one last tug from Mama!) When Mama was a little girl she used this use pouch to hold her tooth for the Tooth Fairy! Miss Piggy gets to use it now!And of course the Tooth Fairy came that night! She spoiled Miss Piggy! Miss Piggy squealed that it was exactly what she wanted. $5.00 But the Tooth Fairy folded all her money up in cute little creations... A ring, a butterfly, a t-shirt, a puppy dog and a bow!And the Tooth Fairy left a cute "Little" note. (and for the life of me I can't get it flipped straight)And Miss Piggy promptly went to the store and bought herself a pair of sunglasses with her cash!

Random Thoughts

2011-06-06T14:18:00.002-06:00

A few fun, yet totally random thoughts... But it's a Monday, so it's okay!

-Miss Piggy loves to wear skirts and dresses. I am not sure where she gets this from because I hate to wear a dress! Today I told her that she would be best to wear shorts since I was planning a trip to the park with the kids. A few minutes later I found her curled up in her bed in tears because she just really wanted to wear a skirt. Luckily I found a skirt with shorts attached and we were both happy!

-Kermit cracked me up today. We were at Michaels and he wanted to push Baby Girl in the cart. As we were leaving, there was a lady right in the middle of the doorway who was not paying attention to the fact that nobody could get around her. So Kermit kindly said, "Excuse me." I was relieved that he used his manners and didn't just plow through her!!! So I complimented him in using his manners. Once we got to the car he went to put the cart away and once again said, "Excuse me" because he wanted around me. As we were backing out of our parking spot I had my head turned so I could see behind me and I caught Kermit's eye. So I stuck my tongue out at him. (we are always teasing each other and I thought I was being funny) Kermit said, "Mom, that's not using your manners." I thought to myself, 'dang, he's right!' And then Kermit said in a very reflective tone, "I used my manners once..... NO, I've used them twice!!!" and it sounded like in his whole life he's only used them once... no twice! It made me laugh!!!

-Baby Girl. I can't post random things without mentioning something about her, but I don't have anything huge to mention this time. But I will make note that she likes to strip down naked. She was taking her pants off at the book store a month ago. Last night she was butt naked when Miss Piggy called me to come in and dress her. This was after a few days ago I caught her tearing clothes off to make it to the potty. Too bad she didn't do anything on the potty... I really need to potty train her, I just don't want to! That's what the month of July is going to be for!

-Master Chief. He's my geek. Currently at work he's training a robot. A real robot. Pretty cool, huh! Pretty geeky too!

-Me. I'm up to no good. Housework, laundry, dreaming of my upcoming vacation, teaching the kids piano, housework, laundry, dreaming of my upcoming vacation, weeding the yard, ect. Nothing new here! I am looking very forward to a week of scrapbooking with my mother in law and sisters in law at a condo for a week!!! Miss Piggy will be coming up for a day and a half and she's giddy with excitement! We can't wait.

Kermit and Miss Piggy... 1st Grade Here They Come!!!

2011-05-31T14:23:00.004-06:00

Kermit and Miss Piggy are officially Kindergarten graduates! They had the most fantastic year with 2 wonderful teachers. Their first teacher went on maternity leave toward the end of the year and they were blessed with another wonderful teacher as her substitute. Kermit and Miss Piggy truly graduated at the top of their class. No, really! Mama went in and helped out each week and tested all the kids. They were among the top 4 kids in their class. They are very ready for 1st grade, excited to attend every day, and get their very own desk! We are looking forward to a fantastic summer!!!Kermit and Miss Piggy with their teacher who came back for the last week! Miss Piggy with her best friend in class.Kermit and his best friend in class. These two boys are also known as the class clowns. And here are our two graduates! They've helped each other out throughout the entire year, kept each other in line, and created memories that will last their entire lives!!!

Baby Girl Turns 2

2011-05-26T11:40:00.006-06:00

A week or so ago Baby Girl celebrated her 2nd birthday. She's such a big girl now, but she'll always be our baby, lol! We went to a place called Bounce with Gram-Gram, Mama's cousins and each of the kids got to invite one friend. We all had a great time!

Baby Girl is 22 lbs 15 oz, which is the 10%, which is HUGE for our family!!!

She is 33 1/4in for height, which is 27%, which is another HUGE for our family!!!

Baby Girl thinks she's as old as Kermit and Miss Piggy though. She has to be involved in whatever they are doing and she is never to little for their big activities. She now has a scooter to ride with the big kids and thinks she's pretty hot stuff out there!

Baby Girl is very picky about which fork/spoon she eats with. She loves to color, play with babies and ponies, she loves to play outside, and she loves all things Tinkerbell!

Baby Girl is putting 4 word sentences together, which is awesome since the dr told us she should be putting 2 words together. She is good to tell you... "I sorry Mommy", "thank you" (sounds like tank you), "I love you", "Mommy, I do it", and many more things. She called Kermit "Son" and it makes everyone laugh when she does.

Baby Girl loves to get her hair done and have her teeth brushed. However the first thing she does in the car is take her shoes and socks off, then pull out the hair Mama just put in place. Mama now carries rubber bands and a comb in her purse every where we go.

Baby Girl is such a sweetheart, even if she has entered her terrificable 2's! We adore her and are so thankful for the sunshine she is to us.

Camping.....Just the boys!!

2011-05-25T21:18:00.010-06:00

This last weekend just the boys went camping. I being dad was thrilled to have my bestest buddy going with me to the father and sons campout. We packed all we could think of to have a good time.

We started out writing every thing down on a list that we needed but that got old and dad got too impatient as Kermit is still figuring out how to spell all of those big words. It became easier to just gather things and stack them in a "to go pile".

Kermit enjoyed making up a menu and we planned for snacks!! We made it to the sight and pitched our tent. Then it was dinner. I don't know a boy there who enjoyed their hotdog more than mine. He had catsup and mustard all over his face.

After our campfire devotional, Kermit told me it was time for bed. I asked him if he was sure he didn't want to play with the others for a while.
Nope he said, I just wanna go to the tent sit in there and talk, eat chips, drink soda, and fart.
So with a smile I asked what are we gonna talk about?
He replied, what we wanna be when we grow up! I told him I had no idea but would like to hear his.
He then told me he would be a cop and arrest me for speeding.
I asked if he would really do that to his own dad?
He just chuckled!!

I appreciated the time I got to spend with him. He said he had a great time too. Who knows how long he will enjoy his one on one time with me in the future.

31 Things About Mama

2011-05-04T13:24:00.004-06:00

In celebration of Mama's 31st birthday yesterday I thought it would be fun to share a little about myself. I've seen this done before and always thought it would be fun to do myself, so here we go...
1. I hate celery
2. I hate coconut
3. I am deathly afraid of snakes
4. I could out eat anyone in an ice cream eating contest, I promise
5. My favorite number is 5
6. I plan to visit France again before I get old
7. Nothing makes me happier than cuddling with my kids
8. I have a secret stash of chocolate
9. I am reading the Old Testament... and enjoying it!
10. I love to eat pizza
11. I love getting the mail everyday, it's like waiting for a surpise to come
12. I love Chick Flick movies
13. I enjoy cool weather, specifically the 70's
14. I wish I lived closer to family
15. I love staying up late at night, reading or playing games
16. I love the feel of clean sheets
17. I used to be called the class Dentist in 2nd grade because I pulled many teeth out for classmates
18. I've never had a bloody nose
19. I used to play the piano, I'm so rusty now it's really sad
20. If I could go back to school I would be a psychiatric nurse practitioner
21. I might be tempted to become a nephrologist (kidney doctor)
22. I love to learn about kidneys, they are amazing
23. I refuse to drive a mini van
24. I like the rain, it feels so refreshing
25. I wish I were a better at decorating my home
26. I am in love with Diet Pepsi
27. I adore purses
28. I love all things to do with snowmen
29. I think my dad and I would make a great team on The Amazing Race
30. If I could be any animal, I would be a monkey
31. I feel like the luckiest girl alive with the most wonderful family

I'm A Mormon!

2011-04-16T18:21:00.003-06:00

How many times do you come across a friend who isn't a member and they ask you a question about the LDS faith? Perhaps it's that they heard we are a cult. Maybe they heard we have a year supply of Spam. Or what about a comment on how many kids you have. A great friend of mine has written the most fabulous book about all these wonderful questions. It's a fast, fun and informative read and I highly recommend it to all my friends. Go here to read more about this awesome book and order your copy today! http://www.pdbookstore.com/comfiles/pages/JenniRoseMaiava.shtml

Not Quite 2 But Full of Trouble!!!

2011-04-14T10:43:00.004-06:00

Daddy's Notes: Who would have thought Daddy's little sweetheart could be so naughty. Baby girl has always had her daddy's heart. Daddy tends to cave on just about anything. A snack just before lunch, a bite of his sandwich, a sip of his soda, he's even been known to take her out of bed at bed time, per her request, and hold her while rocking her to sleep. I just can't turn down that little face. I can see I am in trouble because baby girl has hit the terrific-able two's........She is into EVERYTHING!!! If there is a girl version of Dennis the Menace, baby girl would be just that. Whatever you are doing, she wants to be your little helper and a lot of help she is too! She can be found in the most unexpected places doing the most unexpected things.A few examples........ Baby girl decides when she is hungry she will eat. Most anything goes really in this case, sour cream is a delectable treat.

Baby girl insists on doing things by herself without telling anyone! You will notice she can put on her own lipstick.

Of course when you catch her in trouble we get her world famous snarl.

Learning how to react is half the battle. I sure do love my baby girl!

Monster Jam Truck Show!

2011-04-06T12:03:00.004-06:00

We decided that it would be fun to take the older two kiddos out for a date with mom and dad without Baby Girl. So we hired our favorite babysitters and off we went! We stopped at Subway for dinner to begin with because that is one of Kermit and Miss Piggy's favorite places to eat. After that we were off! The questions were coming left and right, "How big are these trucks?" "Can they run over our car?" "Could they run over our house?" "Is the truck bigger than dad?" It was so exciting! We arrived, found our seats and the fun began!Kermit liked all of them. He sat there just taken by the whole thing and of course being a boy and destroying the Grave Digger hat we bought him. But I think he really liked El Toro Loco, the winner of the night!Mama's favorite was Captain America. He wasn't afraid to play a little and have some fun, take some risks!Miss Piggy's favorite was Monster Mutt. His ears would flap in the air and he had a cute tail!Master Chiefs favorite was Jurassic Attack. It was so much fun to go out and have a little big kid fun. We all missed Baby Girl though!

Introducing.... Bandit!!!

2011-03-07T16:03:00.004-07:00

I never thought we'd see this day, lol! I never wanted an inside dog since we just got brand new carpet!!! I never wanted to have to clean up after a puppy while I had kids to clean up after! But yet I've always wanted a puppy!

Miss Piggy is terrified of dogs. So when a neighbor stopped us last week and asked us if we wanted a puppy, my first response was "No!" But then I mentioned it to Master Chief and he thought it would help Miss Piggy and he thought that every boy needed a dog. So, we went and took a look at him. I instantly liked him! We brought the kids over and they fell in love... even Miss Piggy did!

So we are now the proud owners of a 4 month of Shih Tzo named Bandit, who is already house broke!!! We took him to get his hair cut, bought him a traveling box, a collar, leash, dog bowl and doggie treats. I guess it's official, we are a dog family now!

The best part, Miss Piggy isn't afraid anymore! Kermit thinks it is so cool to have a dog! And Baby Girl thinks he is her own personal play toy!!! Secretly, I think Master Chief is loving having a dog and I'm pretty happy about it too!

And The WINNER Is....

2011-02-15T20:08:00.002-07:00

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:10
Timestamp: 2011-02-15 08:06:54

And since I obviously didn't write the directions out right... I've listed the number the entry is.
1-Jenni
2-Jenni
3-Jenni
4-Nicole
5-Nicole
6-Gram-Gram
7-Deanna
8-Deanna
9-Ari Anna
10-Benjamin
11-Benjamin
12-Kate
13-Kate
14-Kate
15-Kate
16-Sonja
17-Sonja
18-Heidi
19-Misty

Congrats to Benjamin, entry number 10. Please contact me to receive your earrings!!!

Didn't I Mention A BLOG GIVEAWAY!!! Sassy Jewels Giveaway!!!

2011-02-08T14:12:00.003-07:00

This is a HUGE giveaway!!! One you won't want to miss out on! I am giving away a free pair of the coveted Alaina Earrings made with sterling silver and swarovski crystals!!! I have so many people tell me they love these earrings, so why not offer them for free! Who doesn't like free!

4 Ways to enter and increase your chances of being the winner... (you may enter 4 times)

1-go to my website http://www.sassyjewelsbyjami.com/ browse around, find your favorite item and then come back here and leave me a comment telling me which piece is your favorite.

2-"Like" Sassy Jewels on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Sassy-Jewels/280931474655, then come back here and tell me you liked my page.

3-Tell your friends on Facebook about my page and ask them to like it, then come back here and tell me you did it. When you do this, be sure to leave me a comment on my Facebook page telling me you did it.

4-Link my giveaway on your blog and then come back and tell me about it here!

I also have a Facebook challenge going on. For every new 30 likes I get, I'm offering a free pair of earrings, I'm drawing names from those people who tell me on Facebook that they sent my page to their friends to like. So check it out!!!

This blog giveaway will run for 1 week. I will close my giveaway on Tuesday February 15th at 8pm MST. I will announce a winner by 9pm MST on the 15th!

One Difference Between Kermit and Miss Piggy

2011-01-28T16:01:00.004-07:00

My two, nearly twins, kids are similar in many ways. But there are a few things where they are total opposites! Here is one example...
Miss Piggy's backpack after school each day -
Kermit's backpack after school each day.

Now, I would have guessed it to be the other way around, the girl being more organized and the boy in a hurry. Nope! This is even true with their things at school. They have a fabric pocket that hangs over their chairs at school to hold their pencil boxes and supplies. Miss Piggy's is bulging with crumpled up papers and Kermit's is not. I just thought this was kinda funny and had to document it!

Our Fantastic Weekend

2011-01-26T16:21:00.003-07:00

There are perks to having a father who travels a ton for work... frequent flyer miles! For Christmas Mama's parents used their miles to fly the kids and Mama out for a weekend of fun. We arrived on a Friday night and Mama and her little brother promptly left to go to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then we went bowling! On the way to the bowling alley, Little Brother directed Mama to a favorite place of his... the dump! Yes, my little brother took me to the dump on a date! Ha, ha! Bowling.... let's just say Little Brother got lucky... 5 times! Mama only won 2 of the 7 games we played! We had a ton of fun, we even tried bowling left handed for one game. I wouldn't try this again, lol!

Saturday was a day for the kids! Gram Gram and Papa took Miss Piggy out first. They went to the American Girl Doll store. Here you get to choose your doll. Do you want freckles, brown hair, green eyes, earrings? You can have any type of doll you want, with any feature you want. Miss Piggy is very particular and when she has an idea in her mind, she knows what it is and doesn't stray from her choice. This store is HUGE. You could spend hours there. It only took Miss Piggy 10 minutes. She'd like the blue eyes, no freckles, caramel colored hair with earrings please!

Then they take the dolls over to the hair salon and you can pick any hairstyle you'd like. Miss Piggy wanted straight down so she could play with it. So simple!

Miss Piggy got to choose an extra outfit for her doll, several sets of earrings and a pic comb. She had so much fun! Afterwards she got to choose a place for lunch... McDonalds! Gram Gram and Papa didn't want to leave Baby Girl out, so they also picked up a baby for her.

Kermit's activity was at night. He got to go to dinner at his place of choice... Wendy's! Then it was off to see the Harlem Globetrotters!!! They got special passes to go early and Kermit got to go down on the court to get to know the players! He raised his hand and was picked to come out and learn some of their tricks even!! He had an amazing time and is perfecting his tricks everyday here at home. His Jersey is now his favorite shirt and his ball is his best friend!

Thanks for such an amazing weekend!!! We all had a blast. We missed Master Chief, but he had to work and couldn't come. Bummer. We had an adventure getting back home too! We were delayed by 12 hours... with 3 kids... YIKES!!! But the kids were fabulous and were very pleasant travelers.... at 12am!

Baby Girl is 20 Months

2011-01-21T11:22:00.004-07:00

I just love my baby! She's just being so cute today, so I thought I'd do an update on her. She's a talker! She says anything you ask her to and is now talking in sentences of 3 words. "Love you Mom", "Stop that Anwew", "Shh baby seep (sleep)" and such sayings like that! She loves to dance and listen to music. She even asked me in the car this morning, "Song pease."

She recently decided that she does not need her high chair and will eat at the table with everyone else, thank you very much. So she now sits in a big girl chair at the table. She's also trying to tell me about going potty, just yesterday she said, "Big girl potty" and ran to the bathroom, pulling down her pants. She's yet to do anything in the potty even though she's been talking about the potty for a while and I've offered bribery of candy, but I haven't done any training with her as I'm waiting until we've got nothing big planned and we've got one more trip planned in a few weeks. Then if she is still trying to tell me about the potty, I'll train her I guess! Might as well get it over with.

Baby Girl loves puzzles. Oh my goodness, she's good at them too! After she puts a piece in her puzzle, she'll clap her hands and say, "Good job Taitwin". My house is never clean until she goes to bed because only then can I pick up all the puzzles and have them stay put away! She loves baby dolls. For christmas she got a stroller, crib, high chair and baby swing set. She is quite the little mommy to her baby.

Baby Girl loves to have her hair done, clean up her toys (I know, I'm lucky! But don't worry, she pulls them right back out) and get into the fridge. Just this last week she started following in Kermit's footsteps and tried to play in the eggs.... on my new carpet!!!

Baby Girl is the sweetest baby ever. She loves offering kisses, asks for hugs, and hardly ever cries. If she cries, you know she's hurt pretty bad and then it's only for a few seconds after she gets a kiss on her "Owie".

Baby Girl is learning the game of, 'If I drop my blanket and bear out of my crib, my sister will get out of bed and get it for me'. This has led to a few long nights for Miss Piggy as she thinks she needs to take care of Baby Girl! Luckily after a few hours of this game, they both fall asleep.

Baby Girl loves to rub your feet. She'll get some lotion, come to your feet and say, "Toes". Then she'll rip your sock off and kinda scratch/rub your feet. Aren't we lucky!

Baby Girl loves to call Mama (grandma) on the phone and will squeal until she gets her way! She loves to eat. She'd eat string cheese, apples and gogurts for all snacks if you'd let her. And she loves to put on "lips" (lipstick/lipgloss/chapstick) with her 'sisser'.

She is probably around 22lbs (only 11lbs lighter than her big sister) and still rear facing in her carseat!!!! Horray for being safe! She sits in between Kermit and Miss Piggy in the car and takes advantage of having them right there holding her hands everywhere they go!

We are so thankful for our sweet baby!

Lessons I've Learned with Miss Piggy's Cake!

2011-01-15T10:23:00.003-07:00

I always like to try to attempt cute birthday cakes for all of my kids. Some years are better than others and most of the time I remind myself that I don't enjoy doing it! This year started out great and ended up as a FAIL!!!

Miss Piggy wanted a cute princess castle she found in the Family Fun Magazine. I attempted to build one of my own and she was delighted.... until we were in route to the party.... and it fell apart into 3 pieces! I have no pictures of this mess, it was too embarrassing!

The things I learned
-If you want pink sprinkles in the actual cake, get the right kind of pink sprinkles! I decided to take a white cake and add pink sugar in the batter to make pink dots... but sugar dissolves when wet! Duh! We got a lovely pink shaded cake though!

-After decorating, place cake in the fridge! Then your icing stays firm. Otherwise, your cream filing between layers won't squish out and allow the cake to slide all over the place.

-Don't put the candles in until you are ready!!! After taking these pictures I placed 6 candles down the center of the cake. Then it sat at room temperature and gravity started to happen! I gave the cake a natural place to split in half!

-Don't assemble the towers until it's show time! With soft frosting and a breaking point down the middle, the heaviness of the towers was just too much! While in transit, we constantly had to push the towers back up on top of the cake.

In the end as I was walking in the door of Chuck E. Cheese, the east wing detached from the castle, taking the tower down into the moat around the outside of the cake! I prayed for us to make it to the party and that we did. Next time I'll pray for the cake to make it THROUGH the party, lol!

It still tasted good!

Happy 6th Birthday, Miss Piggy!

2011-01-13T12:56:00.004-07:00

Our sweet Miss Piggy recently celebrated her 6th birthday. She has always been such a small thing and has finally hit 30lbs and has been able to move up to a booster seat! Wahoo!!!! We were thinking we'd be sending her to college in a car seat! So that was her first birthday gift!!! She got it early as we prepared for a trip to CO for her second birthday gift... a trip to the American Girl Doll store. I'll blog about that later!

On her actual birthday she was less than excited about new pants (lol) and tickled pink to find a new Kinectimals game for the Kinect and Zhu Zhu Princess castle. She was such a great big sister and invited Baby Girl to come open up all her presents.

That evening we headed off to Chuck E. Cheese. She decided to have a family birthday party and was able to invite one friend. She came away excitedly telling us that it was the best birthday party she'd ever had! And as much as Mama and Master Chief were dreading a Chuck E. Cheese party, it turned out to be fantastic! Miss Piggy and Uncle K celebrate their birthdays on the same day! What fun it is to find someone as special as Uncle K to share something so fun. Uncle K pretty much ROCKS and found these pretty butterfly earrings and sent them to Miss Piggy. She's not wanted to change her earrings since getting these!

Miss Piggy is doing fantastic at school, learning to read, excelling in gymnastics (being moved up to the next class this week!) and loves to play kindergarten teacher, draw (she is sure she is better than mom at art, and she's right) and she loves all things Hanna Montana and Taylor Swift! It's common to catch her singing and dancing in our living room or putting make up on in her room!

Miss Piggy is such a sweetheart. To think of her early start to life, born at 32 weeks, weighing 3lbs, 13oz and just 17 1/2 inches long. She was a fighter from the beginning! She's growing up into such a lovely young woman and we are so thankful for her each day!

A New Year!!!

2011-01-03T17:33:00.005-07:00

Please forgive our lack of posts. We've been so busy we didn't even send out Christmas cards this year. We have new family pictures, taken in May and we've not even printed them since we've had to do our own editing on them and that's been a 'learn as we go' type method! So very soon we'll have them all up, but here is a taste..And since we are updating... I've changed my hair color... and the only reason I mention this is because I have gotten more comments about my hair this time around then ever before when I've colored it red. I'm not sure what this means, lol! What else... Christmas!!! Christmas 2010 was an experience to say the least. Master Chief had to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. What a bummer! Luckily a guy at work who had Christmas Day off, offered to come in and work until 8am, so Master Chief could be home in the morning with the kids. That was great and we were so excited to be able to share the mornings activities with Daddy. However, all good plans don't always work out the way we expect them to! We got the kids up at 6am, thinking the kids would be dying to get up and come out to see what Santa brought them. Instead they were sleepy eyed, half dead, very tired children. They've been dying to fly on an airplane, so we arranged to have them fly to Mama's parents house so that Kermit could go see the Harlem Globetrotters and so Miss Piggy could go to the American Girl Doll store. Baby Girl gets to come along for the ride to eat all of Gram Gram's chocolate! Seeing that this gift is awesome and exciting, we expected them to jump for joy, scream in excitement and go crazy!!! Mama got the video going on her phone so she could capture this fabulous moment and the reaction was about as exciting as a dead fish. Both kids were so tired, they didn't understand what they were doing, and their words were, "oh". Wait!!! Where were my screams of excitement? My squeals of joy? They were just not awake.

After all the presents were unwrapped, it was time for Master Chief to go to work and it was time for Mama to clean up all the mess, assemble all the toys and make breakfast. However, the kids and I worked together, we played with toys and we had a great day! I offered them a nap, and they quickly refused, finally excited to play with their toys!

2011 was rung in with 2 delighted kids that got to stay up late to see the new year in! Master Chief had to sleep since he was once again going to work the holiday and Mama had a nasty cold! It was so fun to see the older kids so excited to see the fireworks and festivities.

This year will be an exciting year. Master Chief's little brother comes home from his mission for our church in February and Mama's little brother will be leaving for his mission sometime after his 19th birthday in June.

This year, if Kermit has his way, he'll be learning to drive. Miss Piggy will become a kindergarten teacher, specializing in art and Baby Girl will be taking care of babies all day. Master Chief will be conquering all things Halo, and Mama will be hiring a maid! We can all dream, right!

Happy New Year to all our friends and family. Stay tuned for a blog giveaway soon!!!

Master Chief - The Fisherman!

2010-11-27T16:09:00.003-07:00

Master Chief is about to celebrate a birthday. He got his present early!!! He invited his dad and some friends out to a canyon a few hours away from here, hired a boat, and went steelhead fishing. In years past he's not been extremely successful. (read between they lines, he didn't get much) This year was totally different. They pulled in several HUGE cat fish and quite a few nice steelhead. Between him and his dad, they brought home 4 cats and 2 steelheads, leaving several back at the river. Way to go!!!!

Master Chief's Dad
Master Chief and his fishy.

Isn't he cute! (I can say that, I'm the Mama.)

Baby Girl is 18 Months

2010-11-20T16:47:00.004-07:00

Baby Girl has grown up way too fast. She's now a nursery loving little girl! What a joy she is in our lives.

Here are her current stats as of Wednesday... She's grown!!! We think it's from all the halloween candy!

Weight 20lbs 5oz - 4% (Up from 2%)

Height 32 inches - 53% (Up from 26%)

Head 47cm - 72% (Up from 25%)

I'm wondering if they measured her correctly. But, she is head heavy. We have to watch her very carefully in the bathroom because she loves the toilet and the bathtub. Infact, just last night after she got out of her own bath, Master Chief got her dressed and she went in the bathroom and jumped in Kermit's bath... clothes and all.

Baby girl is an amazing talker. But don't give her the phone unless you don't plan to get it back any time soon. She'll take the phone and run, talking people's ears off. Her list of words would take forever to list. I'm sure she quadruples Kermit and Miss Piggy's at this age, plus she's putting words together. We think it's because of having older siblings around.

Wuv You
Tandy (Candy)

What's that?

Read a book

Tank you.

Go Out

Get Down

Yay

Hi
Bye

Mom

Daddy

Papa

Gampa (Grandpa)

Gamma (Grandma)

Brubber

Siser

ball

eye

ear

nose

mouth

shoes
socks

and then anything you ask her to say, as long as she doesn't have an audience, she repeats.

Baby Girl has an love for shoes. Oh my goodness does this little girl love shoes. I had no idea a baby could love them this much. She will wear anybody's shoes, no matter the size.

And can she ever give kisses. She freely gives kisses away left and right. She's very compasionate. If someone is hurt, she is right there giving hugs and kisses. She loves to say her prayers, folding her arms and bowing her head.

Baby girl also has a love for all things sweet. She is almost worse than me when it comes to chocolate. And she could eat you out of ice cream any day. (Like mother, like daughter) Then there's the halloween candy, excuse me... "tandy". A word I hear all day long as she grabs my hand and leads me to the pantry. She's an eater. She will only feed herself though. A little independent already. She eats more than her big sister (though that's not hard to do, lol). And she is not picky about anything she eats.

She's also started to climb. Just today she scared me to death with her 'simba truck' (long story, but it's a princess ride truck). She pushed it over to a wall, climbed up the seat, then on the steering wheel just so she could reach the light switch.

She keeps us busy! We adore her and are so thankful for her and the special place she has in our family.

Halloween 2011

2010-11-20T16:32:00.003-07:00

My pics are rotten - blury and just yukky, from my phone. We trick or treated on Kermit's birthday since Halloween fell on a Sunday this year. Kermit was a ghost, Miss Piggy was a ballerina and Baby Girl was Piglet. We drove from house to house because not everybody was handing out candy. As we'd drive Baby Girl would fight to get in the drivers seat (we were driving house to house in my quiet neighborhood, getting out at each house). Then once we'd stop she'd make a beeline for the door to my arms so she could go get some candy. She is a candy girl and thought halloween was a pretty cool idea! Hopefully my mom has some good pics on her camera from the event and I will post them later.

Kermit Turned 6!

2010-11-20T15:32:00.002-07:00

Isn't he cute! I wish I had pics from his party, but my camera is not working and the pics are on my mom's camera and she's been just as busy as I've been.

We had a fun swimming party at the rec center, shared with a friend in their class. It was a halloween party and we had a blast until I stepped on something rather squishy in the pool and found out it was poop. So the pool got cleared and I got to scrub my foot down.

Kermit has had a great year. He's started kindergarden and loves going to school to play with his friends. His favorite part of school is recess and lunch. He has a girl friend. She's a 2nd grader and very cute. We've had to have a talk with him to make sure he knows he can't kiss her, lol! I have caught him carrying her bag after school though! He's a sweetheart. He loves food and will come home from school with a full lunch box and when we ask him why he didn't eat it, it is because he wanted to either spend time with his girlfriend on the playground or with one of his buddies.

Kermit lives to be outside playing with his friends. Since school has started I've learned that he and his sister are pretty popular kids. They are constantly having friends come to the door to invite them out to play.

Kermit is reading very well and is ahead in his class. He and Miss Piggy get taken out during class time to a special class to teach them reading and writing while the other kids work on their alphabet.

Kermit's favorite things lately are Star Wars. If you know me, you'll know that I HATE Star Wars and this has been quite the adjustment for me. I'm constantly asked questions about characters on there and I haven't got the first clue. But I support him in his interests, so I am invaded by all things Star Wars.

Kermit is an awesome big brother. He is always helping Miss Piggy with things and constantly playing with Baby Girl. He loves to go get Baby Girl out of her crib in the morning and giving her candy.

We love our Kermit with all our hearts and are so thankful for him and for the blessing he is in our lives.

The End of our House Project... Carpet!

2010-11-20T15:24:00.004-07:00

We finally got everything moved back in and things gone through and put in their place. Here is the living room carpet. We have this carpet throughout our house in each room. We love it. It is so much softer and CLEANER than the old carpet! Now that we have that done, I have time to do 1,000 other things!

Happy 10th Anniversary! Our Kitchen is Complete!

2010-10-14T11:08:00.003-06:00

Our renovations are to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary!!! Yesterday was our special day, Master Chief, Mama and Baby Girl went to lunch while Kermit and Miss Piggy were in school! Then we came home and finished our kitchen!!! We LOVE it!
BEFORE AFTER

Pictures As We Go! Kitchen Cabinets

2010-10-09T00:41:00.003-06:00

The kitchen cabinets are done! Well, almost... those doors need their fronts done but I'm waiting until the backs are totally dry before flipping them over to do the finish coat of paint! I feel like I'm in a mess! I can't wait to get it put back together.... in about a week. We need to let the paint set for a good 5 days to dry so we don't ruin my lovely paint job! But that's okay... we have other projects starting next week while the cabinets dry.... stay tuned!

We Are Alive!

2010-10-06T17:38:00.004-06:00

Alright, so my laptop has been in the shop for what seemed like FOREVER! It is back home with me now and that makes all of us happy here at our house!

So it would seem an update is in store....

Sorry! No updates. But very soon! We are in the process of playing around with our house and I've taken on a painting project! Here is a sneak peak.. Check back soon for updates on our projects!

A Conversation With Kermit

2010-09-12T21:31:00.003-06:00

Today during sacrament meeting Kermit leaned over to me and whispered in my ear...

K: "I want to be the bishop when I grow up."
M: "Really?"
K: "Yep, I really want to be the bishop."

I guess there could be worse things to want in life!

Baby Girl is 15 1/2 Months... Time to Update!

2010-09-02T16:41:00.006-06:00

Baby Girl is a hard kid to take a picture of! She is too interested in other things than slowing down to look at me and of course not smile!

Baby Girl just likes to run with the big kids. If Kermit and Miss Piggy are doing anything, she's got to be right there involved with them! She loves to go pick them up from school. As we walk onto the school grounds she starts saying "Brower, Brower" (Brother, Brother) She just adores her brother and sister!

Baby Girl is cutting her 1 year molars, she's got 2 prongs of 1 molar broke through and we hope the others come VERY quickly. She's miserable with them. We are hoping she likes to use her molars... it seems everything she eats she just swallows!

Baby Girl is talking a lot. She's putting words together even. When we were visiting with the dr for her 15 month check up she grabbed a book, sat down and said, "read a book." The Dr asked us if that's what she said because she was shocked to hear her so clearly and with combining words! She can tell you where her nose, ears, belly button, mouth and feet are. She knows what a doggie and cow says. She is just very aware of what is happening and what the right things to do are. If she wants to go outside, she'll grab her shoes, back up to you, sit on you and give you her shoes! Today she even said "Shoe". She loves to bring you bottle of lotion or hand sanitizer and have you put some on her hands to rub in by herself.

As for her stats... she's still a small one! But the Dr is pleased with her growth and says she doesn't look scrawny! And she doesn't, Baby Girl has a little pot belly that we love to blow raspberries on! Okay, the details...

Weight: 18lbs, 7oz - 2%
Height: 30 inches - 26%
Head: 45cm - 25%

We simply adore Baby Girl. To think that we never imagined we'd have another baby, we can't imgine life without her! She's so kissable!!!

1st Day of Kindergarten!

2010-08-26T15:30:00.003-06:00

The first day of school was fantastic! Mama and Master Chief got to attend with Kermit and Miss Piggy to help them get to know the school rules and the way the lunch room works. The kids quickly recognized a girl from their preschool class as well as a friend in the neighborhood! The kids are going to have so much fun this year at school together in the same class! It's an all day long, every other day schedule, so they are long days, but the kids are adjusting very well. Their favorite times of the day are lunch time and recess! Mama didn't even cry the first day of school! (the second day she did though)

Angel Baby's 8th Birthday

2010-08-06T11:15:00.006-06:00

Angel Baby August 1, 2002 - August 10, 2002 We celebrated Angel Baby's 8th birthday with many of Master Chief's family. It was a special day for us! Her cake was so much fun to make!Kermit and Miss Piggy got to blow out her candles.Purple balloons for our purple loving Angel Baby!We wrote messages on our balloons.Then we went outside....Mama, Master Chief and the kids released our balloons first.Then everybody else released theirs! There she goes....Here she comes!!!We all had a great time. We miss our Angel Baby so much, and this year was extra hard. She would be baptized this month because she turned 8, the age of accountability. We know where she is, we know she is busy and happy, and we know we will be with her again someday! We can't wait for that day to arrive, but until then we are going to be the very best people we know how to be. We are striving to become more like our Savior everyday and be an example of Him.

We love you, Angel Baby!

Cute Kiddie Updates!

2010-07-30T10:58:00.003-06:00

I've slacked off in my blogging! So here's a catch up...

Kermit is doing great with basketball. Last night he had a game and he made the first basket for his team! He blocked a shot from the other team and had a lot more ball time. He was on fire! And then he found a girl from his preschool class and he was smitten with her and I think the feeling was mutual. One time the ball even hit him in the head when a teammate passed to him but he was too busy watching this little girl! Of course he had a few dance moves out there as well even though he tried to get them all out in the parking lot. There was tons of improvement in his game though! He rocked it!

Miss Piggy is super awesome in her gymnastics class. She's been working on the beam a lot, learning to climb up on it, stand up on it, walk across it and jump off. Plus she's been working on the uneven parallel bars. This is strengthening her muscles so much! She's actually able to pull herself on a bar and flip over it now without any help! We got her a new leotard and she thinks it's the best thing ever!

Baby Girl is getting too big and is way too much of a helper! She is 14 1/2 months old and says many words now. Her vocabulary includes Mama, Mom, Dad, Dada, Doggie, Woof, Papa, Cheese, Wow, Uh oh, Woah, and we've heard her say buber (brother) and wub woo (love you) one time. Her favorite thing is the toilet. Gross, I know. I've caught her scrubbing it with the brush, and I've found my fingernail polish, her sippy cup and my belt inside of it. This morning Kermit was cleaning the bathroom and Baby Girl was helping him by scrubbing the toilet with Miss Piggy's toothbrush. We leave the lid down and she lifts it up. We shut the door and one of the other kids opens it and forgets to shut it. What are we going to do with her!!!

And Angel Baby... we are celebrating her 8th birthday on Sunday. We will be with Master Chief's family. I'm making a gorgeous cake, we will have a party and we will release balloons for her because 8 is such a special birthday.

Kermit Plays Basketball!

2010-07-23T13:02:00.003-06:00

Kermit is enjoying his basketball season. It is by far the funniest and cutest thing we've ever seen. The first game the kids had no idea what to do and were running in circles! Here is Kermit's second game, he's in blue.

Miss Piggy Can Do It!!!

2010-06-28T15:55:00.002-06:00

Miss Piggy has been so excited to get her training wheels off. Today we took them off and she just took off! She starts and stops on her own as if she's been doing it her whole life!

Way to go, Miss Piggy!

Videos of The Kids at Swim Lessons

2010-06-26T14:43:00.004-06:00

Kermit and Miss Piggy have really done well with their swimming lessons this summer. They still have Monday -Thursday next week and I'm sure they'll learn even more! The first time they did swim lessons we wondered if they'd ever pick it up. 2 years later we're trying again and the age difference is HUGE! They are truly swimming now! I know the videos are blurry, but that's okay! These are mainly for Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts and Uncles! The first is of Kermit swimming... he's the kid not staying with the group, to the left! The one where they are floating, the teacher is counting while her arms are there, they aren't touching the kids, so they are doing it by themselves. Kermit made it 7 seconds that time (usually he goes longer) and Miss Piggy made it 18 seconds!

Baby Girl, The Walking Chocolate Thief!

2010-06-20T18:15:00.003-06:00

Baby Girl took off walking on Friday, at 13 months old! Kermit and Miss Piggy both walked at 16 months, so we were surprised she rushed to it so quickly. She's so much fun!!!

Today at church they gave all the men a Mr. Goodbar. During our Sunday School one of the men had left his bar behind his chair, Baby Girl found it and tried to steal it from him. Then another guy passed his candy bar around and shared with Baby Girl. There was one piece left and she darted over to it, stealing this guy's last piece of chocolate.

The next hour Master Chief takes her with him to Priesthood but I couldn't find Master Chief so I sent her with a friend. When Master Chief got to her, she was scarfing down this friends candy bar! The little stinker stole 2 men's candy bars today!

We got home from church and she hit her dad up for his candy bar. And of course he shared! She put her 8 little teeth to work on that chocolate and had some fun!

Happy Fathers Day to Master Chief and to our fathers! You 3 men are the greatest men in our lives!

Our Vacation in Picture... Many Pictures!

2010-06-11T18:02:00.013-06:00

We traveled to Mama's house for our vacation this year. Her little brother was graduating from High School, receiving his Eagle award and his Duty to God. We drove long enough that we were able to get a hotel each way and swim, which of course made the kids excited!

On our first day there, we took the plunge and got both of the girls' ears pierced!!! They both did really good and we are happy with the outcome! Miss Piggy also got her hair cut. This pic also shows a lovely rash that came with us due to immunizations on Baby Girl!We visited a local zoo. It is hands down the best zoo we've ever been to. Gram-Gram took them on the carousel! The pics of Kermit and Miss Piggy didn't turn out.The kids got to pet a baby wallaby.The kids rode in style... convertible style!We attended the Children's Museum and everyone had a ball! Baby Girl had her own huge play area and loved every minute of it!Kermit had some fun assembling a tractor with his uncle made out of recycled goods.The kids had an art studio with aprons and all!There was a fun dance studio with costumes.A bubble lab where they put on scientist clothing and went to work.There was a grocery story where you could either buy food or be a cashier along with a restaurant they got to cook at!A vet clinic where some poor kitty cat of Mama's had a bazillion shots!It was so much fun!!! We of course went skydiving as well... but you've already seen those awesome pics and my video!!! Mama wants to go again!

My Skydiving Video... Finally!

2010-06-06T22:12:00.006-06:00

So we had to convert it and in the conversion it became grainy, sorry! And yes, I'm a dork! And no, I wasn't scared! Be sure to go down and mute the music on my blog otherwise you won't be able to hear the video.

Mama's Skydiving in Picture!!!

2010-05-29T06:53:00.005-06:00

Mama did it!!! Video will come, we are having issues with saving it to my computer. Here are a few pics though!Walking to the plane with my tandem jumper.Flying to our jump point. Right before we jumped I sat up on his lap and he buckled me to him and told me to cross my arms, arch my body like a banana and look up!This is it... walking to the back of the plane!And we jumped! I didn't dare look down when we jumped. I looked out at the sky and let him jump! It was a feeling like I've never experienced before. I wasn't scared, it was just unbelievable!Flipping around in freefall at 140mph for 1 full minute!!!Here the parachute is starting to open!And here we are SAFELY landing!We landed on our butts and I didn't even really feel it.
I got nauseated while we were coming down in the parachute, but it was so worth it!!! It was so much fun. There is nothing like this feeling! The freefall was my favorite by far!

A Ride on a Motorcycle

2010-05-22T11:29:00.005-06:00

Kermit has been DYING to ride our friend's motorcycle. Mama arranged a day for him to ride and Kermit was so excited! He got to ride around the block a couple of times and when he got back home, he got off quietly and walked away.

Miss Piggy wasted no time in jumping right up on the motorcycle, she wanted her ride. Mama was a little nervous because she's so small, but Miss Piggy was insistent upon riding. She went around the block a couple of times and came back with her arms out like she was flying, grinning ear to ear. Our generous motorcycle driver told me, "Man, she sure is your little dare devil isn't she!" Um, yes... she takes after her mother!

Miss Piggy was so excited about it, she talked non stop about the ride. Kermit however was quiet and didn't want to talk about it. Finally he told us that it scared him to lean when he went around the corners and didn't like putting his arms out like he was flying because that scared him too. I asked if they wanted another ride someday and Miss Piggy was a for sure yes, while Kermit was a for sure no. Kinda made me giggle because I thought it would be the other way around!

Kermit and Miss Piggy Graduate from Preschool

2010-05-20T22:23:00.003-06:00

I can't believe they are old enough to be done with Preschool! They've had such a great year and learned so much. At graduation they started out with the Pledge the Kermit led the group in it. Then they sang a cute song, naming each person in class, and they waved when their name came up! They showed off their rhyming, their days of the week in English and Spanish, the colors in English and Spanish and syllables. That was cute. The teacher would give each child a word like 'Montana' and they'd count it out with their fingers. Each child took a few seconds to think it through and count it out. When the teacher got to Kermit his word was 'Mississippi' and without a second to even think about it he smiled and said, "4". Everyone laughed because he was so cute!

Then the kids left the room and got their caps on and they announced each child to come to the front of the room, shook their hand and then they waited for everyone else to come up. They all linked hands and sang a song about being friends forever. It was all Mama could do to hold back the tears! After that, they handed out diplomas individually.Our little preschool graduates!Their teacher Miss Kamryn (Kermit's girlfriend).Their teacher Mrs. Des (she's married to Shrek, so Kermit can't have a crush on her, lol)

We are so very proud of our graduates. They are very ready for Kindergarten and so excited to go to school. Summer is going to be long!

Baby Girl Turns 1

2010-05-18T13:48:00.005-06:00

One year has gone by and it's been one of the best years of our lives. Baby Girl has brought us such joy and happiness. She loves to play right along with her big brother and big sister. She enjoys standing at the window or screen door watching them, reading with them or playing 'where's your belly button'. She is very pleasant and happy all the time. She's also very quick! She's faster than Kermit and Miss Piggy were at this age! And she LOVES to get into anything and everything. The wet wipes, the dish towels, the garbage, the movies... you name it she finds a way to get to it! She is still nursing in the morning, but loves her sippy cup of whole milk now! She also loves Reeses Pieces! Actually Baby Girl loves most any food as long as it's not too chunky. She still thinks she needs to swallow everything whole and not use her 6 teeth! Baby Girl is quick to give kisses, but doesn't offer hugs very often. She jabbers up a storm, but we only understand Mama and Dada. Oh, and Mama has trained her well... Baby Girl loves chocolate and ice cream, like mother, like daughter!!!

Here are her stats.

Weight: 16lbs 9.5 - 1%
Length: 27 3/4 inches - 15%
Head: 45cm - 50%

So, she's got a normal head size but for her, it's big! She's progressing with her weight, gaining nearly a pound in the last 6 weeks (since our last weight check), but she's also increased her activity, so the dr is not worried at all.

Alright, her birthday party... what a hoot! She loved it, all of it! Kermit and Miss Piggy thought it was great as well... sometimes helping Baby Girl too much, lol! And since pictures speak louder than words.... here we go!

Her "bestie" came to her birthday party! Baby Girl loves to play with her!Daddy's favorite thing to do is have Baby Girl sit on his lap and eat, so he bought her a BIG candy bar!

Mama's Skydive Jump is Scheduled!

2010-05-10T10:21:00.003-06:00

I made the call this morning. It's official. I am jumping out of an airplane on Friday May 28th at 11:00am! I did ask the gal on the phone if anyone had ever barfed before jumping and she said that occasionally it does happen, but not often! I might need to borrow one of Baby Girl's diapers though because I just might pee my pants!

Our Blog Title Comes to Life!!! Happy Birthday, Mama!

2010-05-03T16:22:00.004-06:00

Mama's life long dream has always been to skydive with her dad. She watched her father jump from an airplane twice as a young child and since then has dreamt of the day.

Master Chief pampers Mama all the time, but she NEVER thought he'd let her live out her dream! Mama turned the big 30 today and as a suprise, he purchased a skydiving trip for her and her father in Colorado!!! We will be there in 3 weeks!!!

Mama will free fall for 1 full minute at 130 mph!!!!! Then it will be a 5 minute ride to the ground. She will jump tandem with an instructor, while her dad does the same.

Mama is "flying" high today!!!!!!! She doesn't think turning 30 is quite so bad after all!

The Fart Family

2010-04-28T22:34:00.004-06:00

On Monday night we were working on our garden for Family Home Evening. Somehow we got on the topic of Miss Piggy changing her last name when she gets married. A little while later Kermit out of the blue says, "I'm glad our last name isn't Fart, because we fart a lot and I wouldn't like our last name to be Fart. We'd be the Fart family." Um, okay! Master Chief and I were rolling in laughter and Kermit said, "I knew that would make you laugh, that's why I said it." What a stinker! (No pun intended!)

Miss Piggy Has a Bad Day

2010-04-24T13:51:00.003-06:00

Poor girl! Yesterday was one of those no good, terrible, horrible, very bad days for Miss Piggy. She's very tender anyway, but she was at the end of her rope by 7pm last night!

The morning went by just fine, afternoon came and she was out playing with Kermit and a friend in the neighborhood. Kermit had mentioned something about climbing our fence and I told them they can't do that. Of course mom is not always listened to! Miss Piggy came in half crying because she'd scraped her knuckle on the fence and it was bleeding. After looking it over, I saw 3 slivers in it. So as I'm doing surgery to pull the slivers out, she confessed to climbing the fence even though she knew she wasn't supposed to.

I sent her back out and she raced across the street (we live on a corner, but it's almost a cul de sac) to Kermit and tripped on the street and scrapped off half of her elbow. Poor girl came back screaming, blood starting to run down her elbow. We patched that up for her and sent her back out with the boys. She's now up to 5 bandaids between her knuckle and her elbow.

About 30 minutes later she's crying AGAIN! Kermit in his excitement to play with his friend and knowing we like our gate shut, slammed the gate upon entering the yard, right in Miss Piggy's face. Luckily we had no slivers this time. Kermit felt so bad.

And finally the kids have devised this game of basketball where they shoot a ball into Baby Girl's swing (on the swing set). Miss Piggy was swinging next to it and someone shot a basket and totally missed, hitting Miss Piggy right in the belly. Not such a bad thing, but after the whole day of 'owies' it was too much!

Today is much better though! Her elbow looks rough, it still hurts, but so far, so good!

One of Those Special Moments with Kermit

2010-04-21T20:21:00.004-06:00

Tonight as I was putting the kids to bed, I helped the girls with their prayers and then went into Kermit's room. After his prayers, I laid down next to Kermit. He likes our night time talks and loves to tell me his favorite part of the day (tonight was going to get ice cream and watching Full House). Tonight he told me that I was so beautiful, as beautiful as the pretty pink flower trees outside. Talk about making a mom happy! I told him I was glad he was my son, he told me he was glad I was his mom (this is a pretty normal routine we share). Then I told him that he fixed my broken heart. I had to copy this conversation down, because he is so cute! (sorry for 2 posts in one day, but I couldn't pass this up or I'd forget!)

Mama: When Angel Baby died my heart broke in a million pieces and I was so very sad. But when MJ (Our birthmom) told us that she wanted Master Chief and I to be your parents I was so very happy. Then when you were born and I held you in my arms, you fixed my heart so it wasn't broken anymore.

Kermit: So I'm like duct tape!

Then he grabbed me and pulled me close, planted a kiss on my lips and said,

Kermit: We're stuck together forever! Or maybe I'm glue, we'd stick then! Or maybe you have nails in your heart that I hammered in there.

After tons of hugs and kisses I finally pulled myself away so he could sleep. Once again, I'm so very thankful for my sweet son and so grateful to our birthmom MJ. Kermit has been one of the biggest things to ever heal my heart. I love to look at life through his eyes, a million miles a minute, but so simply and fun. I love you, Kermit.

11 Months Old Already!

2010-04-21T09:40:00.003-06:00

Can you even believe it! Baby Girl is 11 months and I have no idea where the time went. I'm in denial that my baby will be 1 soon. Here are 11 fun facts about her.

Baby Girl is attempting to stand on her own now, gasp!

She loves wet wipes. LOVES to pull them out and play with them!

She says Mama and Dada.

She just has to be involved with whatever her big brother and sister are doing.

She nurses morning and night.
She eats like a horse and screams if she doesn't get fed when food is in front of her!

She has 4 teeth.

She naps two times a day, first nap for up to 4 hours, second nap about an hour.

She sleeps through the night!!!

She can take her socks off faster than we can put them on.

She loves animals, our new bunny Pepper makes her so excited!

We are beyond truly blessed to have such a happy and fun Baby Girl! I think all of our worlds here revolve around her!

Easter - Better Than Christmas

2010-04-12T12:55:00.006-06:00

Easter was so much fun this year. The kids were anxious for the Easter Bunny to come visit them. They couldn't wait to find eggs filled with candy! Miss Piggy went to bed a little sad because she thought the Easter Bunny didn't bring toys.

Easter morning arrived and Miss Piggy quickly found out that the Easter Bunny does bring toys! Kermit and Miss Piggy got new scooters!!! They also got new church clothes, dresses Mama made for the girls, dress pants and socks for Kermit. They also got a new summer outfit and plants of their own.The fun part was finding the eggs. Miss Piggy would squeal when she found one. Kermit found eggs left and right, scooping up as many as he could! Baby Girl would then go crawl over to Kermit's basket and empty out those eggs, squealing and enjoying herself as well.

Baby Girl was hilarious. She knew something big was happening and she wasn't about to miss out on any of it. We put her down next to her basket and she was pulling things out and examining them faster than her big brother and big sister! She also got some new jammies! The funniest part though was when she found a Snickers Egg. She grabbed it, crawled over to Master Chief, into his lap and gave him the egg and said her little "uh uh" meaning, I want this! Master Chief opened it up and she went to town on it! We went to take it from her and she screamed and yanked it back, straight to her mouth! She was determined to eat that thing! Of course then we realized it had peanut butter in it and we should wait to give that to her, so we had to pull it away, she screamed and got pretty mad, but was soon distracted with her brother and sister's baskets!I've waited to post this until the girls wore their dresses to church, and that finally happened yesterday! So here are all our Easter pics!!!

Easter Egg Madness!

2010-03-31T18:15:00.003-06:00

We had a little too much fun with Easter Eggs this year!

Here is the "Monster's" Home.Please meet FrankMikeSandyHorace
JoshWallyJessicaMonicaAnd Clark

Happy Easter to all our friends!

Way To Go, Baby Girl! Weight Update

2010-03-30T22:47:00.003-06:00

Baby Girl is tiny! At her 9 month check up she was 13lbs, 10oz. Not even on the charts. We had to come back for a weight check at 10.5 months. We went in on Monday and all Mama was hoping for was 14lbs. Baby Girl weighs 15lbs 11oz!!!!! She's on the charts now with a 2lb 1oz weight gain in a matter of 6 weeks. I guess all the yogurt and cheese is helping pack on the pounds! She is also starting to cut her 3rd tooth, her first top one!

And a cute thing, tonight the kids hurried to get in the car to run to the store. Mama was in the garage putting her shoes on and Master Chief was in the bathroom. Baby Girl was left in the living room until Master Chief could get her in her carseat. But Baby Girl sensed that she was supposed to be going with us and crawled over to her carseat, climbed in and waited for Master Chief to buckle her! What a smarty pants!

Kermit and Miss Piggy Get Married

2010-03-25T23:47:00.004-06:00

First, go turn off the music. Scroll to the bottom of the blog and pause it. Then make sure your speakers are on! Sorry it's sideways. I'm not sure how to fix that! The kids decided to get married after church one day. They made one movie of it, and then decided that they needed to "Kiss the bride" at the end, so we made another one.

The funny thing was watching these two get ready for their wedding. Kermit put his church clothes back on and spent a lot of time on his hair! Miss Piggy put on her favorite princess dress and new shoes!

Be sure to listen close to the end... cracks me up each time I watch it!

Baby Girl is 10 Months!

2010-03-24T20:50:00.005-06:00

Okay so she turned 10 months a week ago! Baby Girl is a fast crawler and loves to get into things. She goes from the movie cabinet, to the kids rooms, to the papers on the fridge! She says Mama and Dada, but she doesn't know what she's saying, plus she babbles a lot. She loves cheese, yogurt and fruits but has decided that veggies are no good anymore. Oh, and Oreo cookies... Master Chief has been sneaking some to her! Baby Girl has to be involved in everything going on. She will growl at you until you put her in the middle of the activity. She loves to watch Kermit and Miss Piggy playing outside! She has her two bottom teeth but she usually just swallows her food without chewing! She's pulling herself up to her knees and occasionally to her feet even. She's getting way to big! We go visit the Dr next week for a weight check, so hopefully she's gained a bit. We adore Baby Girl so much and can't imagine what we did before she was born!

Mama's Race Report!!!

2010-03-13T13:05:00.004-07:00

Mama ran her first 5K today!!! The short story, my stop watch said I did it in 37 minutes. I'll know my official time later I think!

The long story...

3 years ago some friends started running and I decided I wanted to run as well. They were training for a 5K and I thought they were crazy, but I wanted to try. Master Chief was working nights, so as soon as the kids went to sleep, I'd run in my back yard. Really cool, huh! I think I ran 7 minutes without stopping and about died. DIED. My friends were going longer and progressing. I was not! I gave up. I hated it.

2 years ago I had another group of friends (I'm seeing where my problem is, I choose running friends) that decided we should exercise together. We ran every day it seemed. They killed me. I just couldn't keep up with them and felt like I was dragging them down. I had two goals that summer. 1- to look good for my 10 year High School Reunion and 2- to run a 5K. I felt like I looked good for my reunion, but I never ran my 5K. The most I could run was 1.3 miles without stopping.

Last year I had a baby and did not run!

This year, it's not even spring yet and I've RAN A 5K!!! Without stopping!!!

I have 2 new friends and guess what, they are runners! They've told me it's okay to go slow. Snails pace to be exact. The first time I ran, I ran 1 mile without stopping. Then I ran 2 miles without stopping. I ended up hurting my knee on a run and have had to take it easy, ice and wear a lovely band on my knee and I'd never ran 3 miles during my training. My training did take me up hill for .5 miles and most of the time I ran into the wind. But it was dry outside, never snowy!

Race day I was SO excited. I wasn't nervous. I wasn't in it for time, I wasn't in it for anything but the satisfaction that I did it! I woke up and guess what, it snowed!!! Ack! It was windy. Ack!!! I got to the race, checked in, got my number, my time chip thingy (what are they called?) and then froze to death! The little kids had a mile run to start out with. They were adorable! The big racers started their 5 mile race. Then it was time to line up! Then before we knew it, it was time to go!

People passed me like crazy! It didn't discourage me though. I just ran. I listened to my MP3 player and just ran. I was hoping there would be markers along our trail telling us .5 mile, 1 mile and such. After a while I checked my time and I was at 12 minutes. I figured I had to be around a mile. Wooh hoo! 1/3 done! I kept going. I was running into the wind and had little hills here and there. But I had trained this way, so I knew I could do it!!! Then I started wondering why people do this for fun. It wasn't fun. My right leg was hurting, my toes were frozen, and I had no idea where the heck I was and how far I'd gone. I looked at my clock, it said 24 minutes. I imagined I was around 2 miles or so. I looked over and there was a marker... 2 miles! I thought, I can do this!!!

I had in my mind that I needed to pass someone. Anyone. I think I passed like 7 people. Left them in my dust... or splatters! I was feeling pretty sore in my leg though and started thinking again, why do people do this!!! I knew where the finish line was, and I thought I knew how to get there, but then people would turn and go the other direction. I wondered if I'd ever see the finish line! I wasn't winded or anything it was just my sore leg. And then I saw how it would all come together!!! I could see where the end was and I could see one of my running friends, who spanked us and ran lots faster! I could feel that victory!!! I gave everything I had left in me and did a sprint to the end!!! My legs didn't want to stop, but since we were cattle herded into these lines I had to and that stunk!The clock was timing the 5 mile run, so pay no attention to that! I'll get my official race time soon.I'm proud of myself. I rocked it. I did as good as I wanted to. Half way through the race I told myself to be happy with 45 minutes. Originally my goal was 35-40 minutes. 37 was my final time and I am SO proud of myself!!! I ran the whole way and it was awesome!!!

Kermit's Hair - As requested!

2010-03-12T12:10:00.003-07:00

He would only allow me to take his picture if he closed his eyes. What a dork! Anyway, I put an arrow where he did it. But you really can't tell. He's got more hair that the rest of us combined!

What To Title This... I've Had a Mommy Moment... OR... All Kids Do This, RIGHT?

2010-03-11T15:36:00.003-07:00

I figured I'd encounter this Mommy moment sometime in my life and I'm just glad it's my son, all my son and does not include my daughters in any way.

Kermit cut his hair today.

I was visiting with a friend on the phone about our upcoming race this weekend while the kids were coloring and cutting out their school flash cards. Kermit came in to me and this is the conversation we had.

K: "Mom, my hair is falling out."
M: "Why is it falling out, did you cut your hair?"
K: "If I tell you, will you not be mad at me?"
M: (taking a deep breath while frantically looking from Kermit to Miss Piggy's hair) "Yes, I promise to not be mad at you if you tell me the truth."
K: "Yep, I cut my hair."

Luckily it was HIS hair and not one of his sisters hair. (I think I remember cutting some OTHER little girls hair when I was in preschool) Plus he needs a hair cut, and it was only a little bit. You can't really tell unless you are really looking.

So no, he didn't get in trouble, but they both got a little talk on how we DON'T CUT OUR HAIR!!!

Mommy Moment Survived!!!

Be Careful How You Pick Your Shoes

2010-03-10T16:31:00.003-07:00

Monday we bought the kids some new shoes. Kermit was in great need of new shoes. He was so excited to get some, as he is a shoe lover. We went to the store and picked out a couple of pairs that would fit him and look nice, told him to try them on and see how they feel. Master Chief helped him get one pair on and told him to run down the aisle to the table at the end of the store and back to see how they feel when he runs. When he got back he told Master Chief,

"Dad, these shoes run really fast."

He proceeded to try on the next pair and then did the same run down the aisle. When he got back he said,

"Dad these shoes run faster than my feet can."

Then his eyes lit up with a bright idea.

He said, "Dad, if I put one shoe on one foot and the other type of shoe on the other foot, then my one leg would run faster than they other!"

Master Chief just laughed and told him he could only pick one pair.

Hungry? Try Kermit's Food Gun

2010-03-06T09:16:00.003-07:00

Want enchiladas? That's easy... open your mouth. Want ice cream? Simple... open your mouth! Craving pizza? Coming right up... open your mouth. And the one food that perplexes all of us is "spicy hot wheel candy". When asked what it tastes like Kermit says, "It's hot. I don't know, something that's real hot." There is also milk, chocolate, beans, cheese and olives. There's a food for everyone!

So there you have it. Run to your local toy store and get a set of tinker toys for this special food gun. Assembly required!

She Said it Went BOOM!

2010-03-04T09:29:00.004-07:00

Miss Piggy came running through the garage door yesterday yelling, "Mom, it went BOOM!!!" Confused I asked "What went boom?" "Come and see, it's my tire" she said.

She wasn't kidding. There is a hole in her tire. And do you kinda get the feeling that she wore that tire right out? Guess we're in the market for a new tire.

So while she couldn't ride her bike, she decided to draw a turkey on the driveway!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-03T08:26:00.001-07:00

Kermit's Activity Choices for the Summer

2010-02-28T21:13:00.003-07:00

We sat the kids down and told them we'd like them to take swimming lessons and that they could pick one other thing... gymnastics, soccer, baseball, anything.

Kermit thought about it for a bit and then very seriously said, "I'd like to take driving lessons."

After we picked ourselves up off the floor from silent giggles, Master Chief and I told him he'd have to wait a few more years for that. I guess we'll have to list some restrictions when we say they can do "anything".

5 Years Ago Today!!! Kermit became officially ours!

2010-02-24T21:21:00.003-07:00

This was one of the best days of our lives. The day Kermit was officially adopted! We can't thank his birth mom enough.

Kermit is 3 months and 3 weeks old and Miss Piggy is 1 month and 2 weeks old in this picture!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-24T08:36:00.003-07:00

Off to the Laundry Races

2010-02-22T10:54:00.003-07:00

The kids and I have a fun game we play... we laundry race.

While I was on bedrest I couldn't fold laundry or put it away because I was flat down and not able to be sitting up for long periods of time. I had to teach my then 4 year olds to do their own laundry. They were very good at it and I figured, why stop a good thing when I recovered! So my kids do their own laundry. After I wash and dry it, they pile it in the living room and get started. Who likes to fold laundry though? And putting it away is even worse! These laundry folding sessions became pains in our sides until I came up with laundry races. Okay, it's bribery, but it works!

While the kids fold their laundry I fold Baby Girls laundry and we race. Laundry has to be folded and put away to win. It's Mama against Kermit and Miss Piggy. Mama also has to hang their shirts after they put them on the hangers.

I have never won. I've tried, honestly! Usually I have an extra load to fold, making it easier for them to win, but the one time I had only Baby Girls clothes, I still lost.

So what do they win? Usually lunch out with Mama or half price Happy Meals at McDonalds on Tuesday nights.

This morning Master Chief and Mama raced the kids. We still lost. Guess what we get for dinner tomorrow!

Celebrate With Me!!!!!!!

2010-02-20T09:24:00.002-07:00

We have three reasons to celebrate!!!

1- The kids are back to healthy again... They've all battled a fever and rotten cold and are on the mend. Kermit has pink eye now, but at least it's not a fever! Let's hope we don't share this though!

2- Baby Girl's Dr told us to try this lotion called Vanicream for her dry excema filled skin. We put it on her twice a day and WOW, her skin is beautiful!!! We are thrilled.

3- After 9 months of what Mama calls "No Sleep for Mom" Baby Girl is sleeping through the night finally!!!!!!! She goes to bed at 8:30 and sleeps until 9 the next morning! Now if Mama would stop getting up to go check on her, she might get a full nights sleep too!

Guess Who's 9 Months?!?!

2010-02-15T17:27:00.007-07:00

I've said it before and I'll say it again, TIME FLIES!!! I just can't believe my baby is 9 months old already. Baby Girl is the sweetest addition to our family and is such a blessing in our home.

Here are her stats as of her appt today.

Weight - 13lbs 10oz - 1%

Height - 26 1/2inches - 20%

Head - 43cm - 25%

So, she's tiny still. In fact she only gained 2.5oz since her weight check last month. We've determined that we just grow really small kids. Master Chief and I were both small children, as were our siblings. Strangely enough, Miss Piggy, who started out smaller, was actually almost 2lbs bigger by 9 months, so Baby Girl is really quite small! But, dynamite comes in small packages!

Here are some fun things about Baby Girl.

-She has one tooth, she got it 2 weeks ago

-She started army crawling almost 2 weeks ago and is now on her knees rocking back and forth

-She will only eat baby food if it is off of an adult spoon

-If you are eating, she must eat what you're eating

-She is still nursing!!!!!!!

-She is sleeping through the night as of last week, FINALLY

-She is starting to just take 2 naps a day now
-She loves to be tickled - everywhere! Her neck is the most ticklish spot
-Because she's so small, she can still wear some of her 0-3 month clothes. 6-9 month pants are pretty big on her, but shirts fit okay.

-She pulls her socks off within seconds of anyone putting them on

-She loves to eat pizza when we share with her

-She says MAMA!!!!!!!

We adore her! Kermit and Miss Piggy get so excited when she wakes up from her naps and love to play with her. They are the best brother and sister ever!

This is the face she most often pulls, it cracks us up! This is how we find her sleeping at night!

I tried to get a cute picture of her in her Valentines Day outfit yesterday, but didn't do very well! Once we took her clothes off she was all smiles though!

There's that scrunch nose face again!There's a happy girl!She's got excema, and that's no fun. She's still cute though!

Catching Up! Miss Piggy's Birthday... One Month Late!

2010-02-12T12:04:00.005-07:00

Miss Piggy has celebrated her 5th birthday, finally! The 10.5 weeks she has to wait between her birthday and Kermits is so hard! But the day came and there was lots of fun.

Miss Piggy couldn't decide what kind of party to have. A tea party, a swim party, a bowling party, somewhere special with just the family, a dress up party. The list went on and on! Finally she decided and was pretty excited to have a Princess Pizza Party. Miss Piggy is very helpful around the house, doing her chores and what we ask of her. She loves to clean things up and make big messes! She loves school and specifically enjoys art. She creates things at home all the time. Miss Piggy loves to dance and sings often. She is blessed with the talent of hearing a song one time and knowing all the words. She loves all things pink, hearts, and girly! She loves her little sister and is so good to her, taking care of her with toys and picking out her clothes to wear. Her best friend is her brother and they can play all day long together!!! Miss Piggy doesn't really like boys, but she says she is going to marry her daddy!

Miss Piggy is one of our little miracle babies and we are so proud of her and love to have her as part of our family.

8 Month Cutie!

2010-01-23T16:07:00.005-07:00

Baby Girl is a little over 8 months old now and is rolling all over the place, sitting very well and is almost going from tummy to sitting and is starting to push off with her knees and feet to get places. She's feeding herself little finger food puffs and love french fries. She's also figured out how to drink out of a straw and can clap her hands! She loves to scrunch up her nose and almost snort! She's just so much fun. Kermit and Miss Piggy just can't get enough of her. They shower her with kisses and hugs, they race to get her jammies and fight over who gets to give her a rice puff to eat! We sure do love her! We did take her in for a weight check last week. She is now 13lbs 7.5oz! We are happy she is back to growing. (She was 12lbs 8oz at 6 months, 12lbs 10oz at 7 months, so almost a full pound gained!)

Look at the belly buttons!

2010-01-16T18:12:00.006-07:00

Miss Piggy got the movie Snow White for Christmas and they've watched it a few times now. Dopey is their favorite dwarf. But this afternoon I found Kermit drawing Snow White and all 7 Dwarfs. I LOVE their belly buttons and missing arms!

What Mama has been up to

2010-01-15T12:19:00.004-07:00

I got a new sewing machine for Christmas and I've been having some fun!

My first project was an apron for Miss Piggy's birthday.And my second project was a new purse/bag. This was a little more challenging as the directions are wrong on the pattern! My mom and I made these 2 bags but we feel like we've made about 12 after having to unpick a zillion times!

As a note, somehow my mom and I always end up with projects where directions are not right. A few years ago we decided to paint her living room wall. We did a belagio faux. SEVEN coats later I called the Behr people and they confirmed that you can not do it on a textured wall and agreed that they should put that somewhere in their directions.

At least we have fun creating these memories!

Kermitisms - A Note About Ham and Eggs

2010-01-02T11:23:00.005-07:00

I must record these things. Kermit has a love affair with food. Here are a few of his fun food facts...

We went to the deli a year or so ago and got some ham freshly sliced and Master Chief snuck some out of the bag and gave it to Kermit. Kermit popped it into his mouth and excitedly exclaimed, "Oh man, that's some good ham." He said it with such feeling, it was so funny! You'd think he'd never had ham before. And so his love affair with ham began.

This morning at breakfast we had ham and eggs. He made a 'double ham sandwich' and devoured it! He's a ham head.

His favorite thing to do with eggs though makes me gag a little. He loves to drown his eggs in syrup. He says it makes it taste SO good!

So there you have it, go try some syrup on your eggs today!

So, Catching Up!

2009-12-28T17:01:00.005-07:00

I feel like it's been a long time since I've updated our blog. Shame on me!

Let's see, Miss Piggy got a cold that lasted for 4 weeks! Poor girl was just not feeling well. Usually when one kid gets sick, they pass it to another... right? I've never had my kids do this. They are usually both sick together, but it's always been sick with different things. Miss Piggy's cold included a fever and a cough followed by a runny nose. Kermit came down with a stuffy nose. That's it. (and thank goodness because with his asthma colds are so hard on his body) Then Baby Girl got sick and for the first time, I had two kids sick with the same thing. Kind of. Baby Girl got the fever and the cough, but then she got this crap streaming out of her eyes. Lovely. We took her in and she had double pink eye and an ear infection. Miss Piggy also had her ears checked because she was really having a hard time hearing. Her ears were stuck full of wax. Fun! So, everyone is better now life can go on!

Christmas was fantastic. The kids had a blast! We had our nice dinner on Christmas Eve and ate on our China. We wanted to eat on our nicest plates for our Saviors birthday. Then we watched Joy To The World and talked about Jesus. Finally we went for a ride to see all the lights. Master Chief and I enjoyed it. The kids were just DYING to get home to open up a few presents. Our Christmas tradition is to have the kids open a present from us (jammies)and for the kids to exchange ornaments they've purchased for each other. This year Kermit gave to Miss Piggy and she got Tinker Bell and Fairies. Miss Piggy gave to Baby Girl and she got a moon with a baby sleeping on it. Baby Girl gave to Kermit and he got a Shrek and Donkey one. The kids made ornaments at school for Master Chief and I. They were so cute! Christmas morning was great. Kermit tore through all his gifts and then was searching for more to open! Miss Piggy just read the first letter on the tags and since she and Baby Girl have the same first letter, she opened a few of Baby Girls presents. Baby Girl was totally LOVING the whole thing! She loved all the new toys but her favorite was her Water Baby from Gram Gram, Papa, and Uncle Nino. She took that baby and automatically put the bottle in her mouth. Where she learned this, we have no idea as she has never seen a bottle in her life! We spent the day playing games and just enjoying each other.Baby Girl is nearly 7 1/2 months. She's tiny still. When we took her in, she was 7 months 3 days old and she weighed 12lbs 10oz. Only 2oz more than a month ago, so we will be taking her in at 8 months for a weight check just to make sure she's gaining. But I suspect she is as she's feeling heavier! She is now sitting up and getting more and more vocal! She also started to eat baby biscuits and loves to feed herself!Master Chief will be promoted this next week. No pay increase yet though. If the economy can get better we will cross our fingers for a raise! The good news is that he will be switching work schedules and will be working the back end of the week making it so he can go to church with us!!! He's such a hard worker and it's nice to see that his company can see it too.

As for me, I got a new sewing machine for Christmas and my time is spent sewing and dreaming up new things to sew! My first project is an apron for Miss Piggy's birthday. I've taken a pattern I found online and I'm chaning it up and making it my own. I'm having so much fun, but it's frustrating to only be able to work on it at night when the kids are asleep so I don't ruin her present!

So there's the updates. We feel extremely blessed and joyful. I wonder what 2010 will have in store for everyone!

Merry Christmas... Dear Everyone!

2009-12-18T23:43:00.002-07:00

Dear Everybody, December 2009

I’m not sure how I got this job; something about being the youngest and having no responsibilities. I don’t know what they’re talking about. I’m super busy. I have to learn all sorts of important things. Like, why does everyone get so excited about that fat guy in the red suit? I’m also busy rolling all over the floor and starting to sit up all by myself…. I think I’m busier than the rest of the family put together. I am the only one that gets so exhausted that I need several naps every day. Oh, and don't forget I have to keep practicing the things I learn, too. Mom thinks I’m really cute when I talk but her favorite thing I do is when I see her I squeal and get really excited.

Anyway, mom says I should talk about everyone in this thing. So how about my dad. I think he’s the greatest. He goes to work and then he comes home and scoops me up in his arms and wants to play. Sometimes when I wake up in the night I see him up playing that x box and talking to the TV. Mom tells me he’s playing Halo with his buddies but I think he’s just weird. He also loves to rub his whiskers on my feet and it makes me laugh so much.

Mom is with me all day long and we play a lot. Sometimes she is working with small shiny things that she calls beads. I’d love to get my hands on them, but mom says no because I’ll just put them in my mouth. Mom also plays in the kitchen with food. My favorite is when she makes me rice cereal and sweet potatoes.

My big brother Kermit is 5 years old and he makes me smile. He’s just so silly. He likes to hold me and let me play with his cars. He says he’ll help me to play baseball someday or teach me all about (insert our college football team here) football. He loves to go out and ride his bike. I wish I could go with him, but mom says I’m too little. He can write him name now and he likes to tell me all about the letters he’s learning in school. He’s so smart. I hope I’m as smart as he is when I grow up.

My big sister Miss Piggy is 4 years old but is counting down the days until she turns 5 in January. She has the coolest toys and she’s great about sharing them with me. Her ponies are my favorite so far, but her babies are also fun. She helps me to hold her babies. She can also write her own name and draws me all sorts of pictures of princesses and then tells me about the stories she reads in school. She pretends she’s a princess all the time and wears such pretty dress up clothes. I can’t wait to wear her dress ups and look just like her.

Well, this wore me out. I need to go have some lunch and take another nap. Merry Christmas and don’t touch the tree. (that’s what Mommy tells me all the time)

Love, Baby Girl (7 months)

Miss Piggyness

2009-12-04T22:26:00.003-07:00

Miss Piggy has said a couple funny things, so I had to share.

Master Chief overheard her singing the song Teach Me To Walk in the Light. And this is how she ended it...

Teach me,
Teach me,
To not have head lice.

And the other funny is that I've trained her to answer people when they ask "How come you're so cute?" with "Because I look like my Mommy." And she's very good to use this answer each time. Then last night as she was walking away from us to go to bed I said,

M - "You're so cute."
MP - "Yep, that's cause I'm cuter than you are."

Then she turned around and left the room.

Master Chief and I about died laughing!

How To Cook A Turkey, By Kermit and Miss Piggy

2009-11-24T16:36:00.003-07:00

The kids came home from school today with a paper telling how to cook a turkey in their own words. They crack me up.

Kermit - "Put it in the oven...Cook for 30 minutes...Cut it with a big knife, then I eat a bone."

Miss Piggy - "Put it in the oven...Put turkey on it...Eat it with the bone up."

So, good luck cooking your turkey's this year!

Thought I'd Share Our Adoption Story!

2009-11-23T13:57:00.003-07:00

November is Adoption Awareness month, so with that in mind I wanted to share our adoption adventure with you. I recently shared our adoption story on another blog, and this is what I wrote.

My husband and I were excited to find out we were pregnant with our first baby. Then, at 25 weeks along, I became sick with severe pre-eclampsia and HELLP Syndrome. I was hospitalized, the baby was given steroids to help develop her lungs, and I delivered my baby at 26 weeks. Severely premature, she weighed 1lb, 12oz and was 13 ¼ inches long. She was beautiful. Angel Baby broke all the rules in the hospital for premature babies, breathing on her own so early, not needing blood transfusions. My husband and I got to hold her three different times by the time she was eight days old! Then on her 9th day of life, she contracted an infection from the bacteria in the air, and she passed away on her tenth day of life. We were devastated, heartbroken and so empty. We have a blessed knowledge of where she is and that there is a special plan for her, but our arms were extremely empty, and our hearts were shattered.

As soon as my doctor gave me the ok six months later, we tried to get pregnant again, but there was a bit of a wait; it took eight months but we were excited to be pregnant again! We went into this new pregnancy with hopes that things would go better this time. However, after our daughter passed away, we learned that I have three different blood clotting disorders that make it inevitable that I would have pre-eclampsia again. At 11 ½ weeks along, I miscarried. We were so confused. Why should anyone have to suffer so much? All we wanted was to raise a child, to cuddle them in our arms, to teach them to tie their shoe, to help them with their homework, teach them to play baseball, teach them to drive a car and watch them get married and have their own children. Doctors told me that it was not a good thing for me to be pregnant. I was completely hopeless.

My thoughts turned to adoption, which had been in our minds from years before. Growing up, I always believed being adopted would be cool. A few times, I even asked my mom if I was adopted! When my husband and I were first married, we often talked about adoption and how neat it would be to adopt a child; though we didn't plan to adopt until we were done having children of our own. After much thought, my husband and I talked about our dream to adopt, and after prayer we knew that the time had come for us to proceed with adoption. We received the paperwork two days after my miscarriage, on October 17, 2003, and I was feeling hope once again. I just knew that we would be blessed with a beautiful child that would be just right for our family.

In February 2004, we became certified through the state to adopt. Wahoo!!!!! We posted our profile and were so excited at the idea of adoption finally becoming real. I happened to meet a young woman in Florida who was expecting. We became friends through communicating online, and she asked me if I could send her my profile, and that she and her boyfriend wanted to place their child for adoption. “I’d rather wait until I can afford to buy my baby Nike’s, and not worry about where we are going to live and how we will survive,” she told me.

On Mothers' Day 2004, the young woman and her boyfriend contacted our family and asked us to raise their child. We were overjoyed! Of course we would! The baby was due at the end of July 2004. Then, one month before he was born, the birth mom changed her mind and chose to raise him herself. I expected to be devastated once again. I expected to be heartbroken. And while my husband and I were upset over this, we also felt a peace about it. We had faith that there was a baby who needed us.

Two weeks later (July 2004), our case worker called and told us that he had a letter for us from a birth mom. We rushed over to his office and opened up a sweet letter from a birth mom. “Congratulations, you’re having a boy!” the letter said. Oh wow! The birth mom had found our profile and felt like we were the family her son needed. Things just felt so right. Our birth mom also included her picture. She was so pretty! My husband and I were overwhelmed with gratitude for her. We couldn’t wait to meet her. We were so lucky, our birth mom lived in our state, 45 minutes away from us, and we shared the same case worker. Our meeting day came. I had butterflies in my stomach. Would she like us in person? Would she still want to place her baby after he was born? She brought her parents, her sister and her niece with her to our meeting, and after introductions, both my husband and I felt such a love for each member of her family and to our birth mom. Not only did we feel love, but we felt like we were a part of each others' heart.

MJ(our birth mom) and I communicated daily through emails, getting to know each other and sharing our days with each other. As an adoptive mom, I cherished this as it was a way that I could get to know her, so someday I could share things about her with my soon-to-be son. MJ was very open with us and welcomed us right into her life. We are so blessed to have her in our lives. Before MJ gave birth, we met for dinner one more time. It was so much fun to see her again, to laugh with her and truly enjoy her and her family.

The day my husband I had been waiting for finally came. Kermit was born on a Saturday evening October 2004, one year and two weeks after receiving our initial paperwork. I remember his birthday day so clearly. We bought a dresser for his room and had our car seat checked to make sure it was installed properly. Kermit was born at 8:08 p.m., and we received a phone call around 8:30 p.m. from our case worker. “All, I know is that the baby is here, MJ is asking for you to come, but she’s in tears.” We hurried--I’m not sure if hurried is the right word, rather, we raced to the hospital. We entered MJ’s room and I just wanted to cry for her. I imagined she’d been through so much. As it turned out, MJ was in tears because Kermit couldn’t be in her room; he needed to be monitored in the nursery for some medical concerns due to his birth. After all we’d been through with our children; she wanted to give us the perfect baby. Oh my gosh, she did give us the perfect baby! My heart was overwhelmed once again with gratitude and love for MJ. She was the most selfless and charitable person I’d ever met. We are so thankful to her.

We got to meet our little boy soon after that. Oh my goodness, he was so cute! He was so precious to us. When the nurse placed Kermit in my arms, I wept. It felt so good to have not just any baby in my arms, but my baby in my arms. Words just can’t express all that went on in my heart. Joy, healing, relief, humble, peaceful, ecstatic… the list goes on.

I had the privilege of staying in the hospital with MJ, and then due to the minor medical issues when he was born, MJ and I, as his two moms, sent him off to another hospital. We were able to join Kermit very shortly and the next day he was released and able to come home. I asked MJ if she would like to help me dress him, and we worked together to get him ready to go. Then it was time to leave. At this point I could no longer hold in the tears. This sweet and selfless mother was giving her son the best gift ever-- a mother and a father, a family, and that family was mine! I’ve thanked MJ before, but I’m not sure that I will ever be able to express my most sincere thanks to her for her sacrifice. This birth mom changed my life. She changed my husband’s life. She filled a hole that nobody else could fill. We will love her forever.

Birthday's, Halloween, Dr's appts, Rice Cereal and Baby Girl, but not all at once!

2009-11-22T23:13:00.007-07:00

Birthday
Kermit had a birthday! Our little boy is 5 years old!!! He is such a sweetheart. We got him Toy Story toys, Woody, Buzz and Jessie. He's been asking for them for weeks now! Then we got him a bigger bike! The picture of course shows training wheels, but we took those off right away! His birthday party was that same day. It was a bowling party! We had 9 kids there and only one injury... lovely blood running down a friends neck... ya we felt like great people! The little boy tripped over a step while holding a bowling ball, and cracked his chin open. Aside from that, it was an awesome experience. Kermit is a really good bowler and scored 94 points! He's got a mean arm on him, but he is naturally athletically talented.
After we got home from the party he was suprised with Gram-Gram, Papa and Uncle Nino showing up and then we went out to Chinese, one of Andrew's favorites! He's got a love for spicy food, and thinks orange chicken is fantastic! Oh, he's a cutie!

Halloween

Halloween was fun this year. Kermit took to the streets in a run while Miss Piggy walked very princess like from house to house. About 20 minutes into it, Kermit was pooped and ready to go home. Miss Piggy was not about to stop as she was not tired at all! Kermit's Pumpkin, Uncle Nino's Pumpkin and Miss Piggy's Pumpkin - complete with a bow on top!

Miss Piggy was the most beautiful Ariel Princess, all decked out in make up even.Baby Girl was the best smelling skunk around!

Kermit was the most active Luigi ever!Aren't the kids cute!Dr's Appointments

We scheduled all three kids for their well checks at the same time. Never do that! It was way too much information to take in all at once! All three kids were fantastic until shot time came! Baby Girl and Miss Piggy each got 4 shots, Miss Piggy also got the flu mist, while Kermit had to get 5 shots, since he can't have the mist due to his asthma. Oh my goodness, you'd have thought the world was coming to an end. The kids were prepared for the shots, well I should say, shot, not shotS. We thought they'd only get one. We thought Miss Piggy was going to break the table with her heels when she kicked so hard! Kermit was so strong he lifted the nurse off the floor with his legs! But when it came down to it, Miss Piggy was able to count to 10 and be calm about it, while Baby Girl and Kermit screamed. Poor kids. Here's their stats though...

Kermit
43.6lbs 70%
44 1/2 inches 80%

Miss Piggy

30lbs 3% (can you believe she finally hit 30lbs!!!)

39 1/2 inches 10%

Baby Girl
12lbs 8oz 3% (dropped from 10%, but the dr is not worried)
24 3/4 inches 20%

Kermit and Miss Piggy both had their vision checked out, they are both 20/30. All together it was a good appointment, but long... 2 1/2 hours long!

Rice Cereal and 6 months old!

We finally started Baby Girl on rice cereal. That first night she loved it and went for a second bowl. She's not been a fan of it since. Master Chief gave her some green beans the other night and that first night was okay, but once again is not a fan anymore. We had to include the pics though! Oh, and she's still not sleeping through the night the little stinker! She is 6 months 1 week old. She is still the happiest baby ever, but she doesn't get a chance to be upset, her big brother and sister don't let her make more than a half a peep before they are at her side playing with her!

First Rice Cereal! 6 months 1 day old.Finger licking good, I'll have more please!Green Beans has been all three kids first veggie!Baby Girl LOVES to play in her ExerSaucer, much more than big brother and big sister ever did! Of course her time would not be complete without Kermit sharing his hat with her!Baby girl is also rolling over both ways and that is her new mode of transportation. She starts at one end of the room and ends up in the next in a matter of minutes! She's also found her feet and thinks they are quite tasty! She of course learned all this new stuff in one week. She is growing up way too fast!

WINNERS to the Sassy Jewels Giveaway!!!

2009-11-17T11:19:00.006-07:00

I can't figure out how to put the picture of the Random.org numbers that were selected,so I'm going to just announce the winners!

Stacy and Aimee!!! Aimee is the winner of the Taffi EarringsAnd Stacy is the winner of the Nikki EarringsI will be mailing out your earrings very soon! Congrats and Merry Christmas!

SASSY JEWELS GIVEAWAY!!!!!!! 2 WINNERS

2009-11-12T14:37:00.005-07:00

Alright, the time has come for my first blog giveaway. Many of you know that I have my own jewelry business, so it's time for me to share some fun with you!

I am giving away any pair of earrings you choose. Go visit my website http://sassyjewelsbyjami.com/ and pick a pair out!

Here is a fun pair... What about these? You may enter my contest 3 different ways.

1. Enter here which earrings you want, include your name and email address please!

2. Link my blog giveaway on your blog, then come back here and post your blog, name your favorite earrings, and include your name and email address.

3. Post my giveaway on your Facebook status, then come back here and tell me you did that, including your favorite earrings, your name and your email address.

It's that easy. Winners will be chosen using random.org and winners will be posted here on Tuesday November 17, 2009.

Earrings are a perfect stocking stuffer, or what about spoiling yourself?!!!

Getting Caught up

2009-11-12T14:35:00.002-07:00

So things have been busy here. Visitors coming and going, a birthday, halloween, new tricks, and jewelry giveaways. So stay tuned... I'm almost ready to blog all about it!

Fire Trucks, Piggy Banks and a Career Change

2009-10-17T16:51:00.005-06:00

Another fun Saturday experience at Home Depot! This month is Fire Safety Awareness Month and we had such a cold and fun time! We made fire station piggy banks, one fire man was really into helping Kermit out with his piggy bank and then he gave us a really fun tour of the fire truck. So here we are, with the Home Depot Guy and then with the fire truck!

Kermit used to want to be a Police Man when he grew up. Today he wants to be a Fire Man!

Guess Who's 5 Months Already!

2009-10-15T11:38:00.003-06:00

Baby Girl is already 5 months! We just can't believe how fast times flies now that we're not pregnant! Baby Girl is 12 1/2lbs per Mama's grandma's scale last week! She's doing better with her sleeping, going about 6 hours at night. We are gradually getting back to our full nights sleep since starting her Prevacid for her silent reflux. The good news is that the Prevacid is working and she's doing so much better with eating!!! Baby Girl is not rolling over yet, per Mama. Master Chief did have her on her tummy on our bed and with the downward slope towards him, she rolled, and while he calls that the official first time Mama is waiting for her to do it on a flat surface!

Kermit and Miss Piggy would tell you that Baby Girl talks your ear off. She loves to babble, it's just so cute. She gets too interested in looking at the phone so she doesn't babble to grandparents very much yet! Baby Girl has a pretty consistant schedule of being awake for 1 1/2 hours before taking a nap for 1-2 hours. We haven't started her on cereal yet, Mama is not ready for her to grow up and wants to wait until 6 months. She's not been acting interested in foods yet so we figure she'll be just fine to wait 1 more month.

Mama has decided that Baby Girl has been one of the key pieces in healing her broken heart (Adopting Kermit being the other). To go full term and have a baby that looks and sounds like her big sister Angel Baby is something that words can not describe. Perhaps comforting, peaceful, exciting, and bittersweet covers a portion of what she feels.

Baby Girl is such a bright spot in our family. The kids can not pass her without kissing her, talking to her or tickling her. Baby Girl shows each of us that she loves us with her big smiles. Happy 5 month birthday Baby Girl! We sure do love you.

9 Years Ago Yesterday I Married My Best Friend

2009-10-14T10:46:00.007-06:00

Sorry, this is the only picture on my computer.

I just wanted to make note that Master Chief and Mama celebrated 9 fantastic years of wedded bliss yesterday! Here's a short timeline of our lives...

Sept 1999 - Met in college

April 2000 - Started dating

July 2000 - Master Chief proposed by waking Mama in the middle of the night to suprise her with the ring!

Oct 13, 2000 - Sealed for Time and All Eternity in the Logan LDS Temple.

Honeymooned in Bear Lake, Las Vegas, Disneyland and Universal Studios.

May 2001 - Moved to a bigger apartment

March 2002 - Found out we were going to have a baby!!!

May 2002 - Moved to a new apartment

August 1, 2002 - Had our first Baby, Angel Baby

August 10, 2002 - Angel Baby passed away

May 2003 - Vacation in Nauvoo

September 2003 - Found out we were expecting again

October 15, 2003 - Miscarried

October 17, 2003 - Had adoption paper work in our hands

October 2003 - Master Chief Graduated from college!!!!!!!

October 2003 - Bought our first new car together

July 2004 - Found out we were pregnant with Miss Piggy

July 2004 - Moved closer to Master Chiefs job

July 2004 - Found out we were adopting Kermit!!!!!!!

October 30, 2004 - Kermit was born!!!!!!

January 11, 2005 - Miss Piggy was born!!!!!!

February 11, 2005 - Miss Piggy came home from the hospital!

February 24, 2005 - Legally adopted Kermit!!!!!!

March 26, 2005 - All of us went to the temple and sealed Kermit to our forever family!!!!!!

March 26, 2005 - Blessed Kermit and Miss Piggy

November 18, 2005 - Moved to our current city for Master Chiefs new job

December 8, 2005 - Closed on our first house

July 2006 - Attended Master Chiefs 10 year High School Reunion - won award for most kids!

August 2006 - Vacation in Flaming Gorge

November 2007 - Officially launched Sassy Jewels http://sassyjewelsbyjami.com/

July 2008 - Attended Mama's 10 year High School Reunion

October 4, 2008 - Suprisingly found we were expecting Baby Girl

October 9, 2008 - We were told the pregnancy wouldn't last due to blood work, thought it was eptopic.

October 9, 2008 - Found a beautiful heartbeat right where it was supposed to be!

May 15, 2009 - Baby Girl is born full term!!!!!

We've been through a lot together, but it's only made us stronger. We have the very best family and couldn't be any happier!