Did you get yours?

Did you get your HSM Ice Tour tickets? We did!! Our kids are so excited! Well, they actually don't know yet, but I know they will be excited!! I am not sure if I should tell them or surprise them. I think I might just surprise them and tell them we are going on a day trip or something.

The tour will be in Spokane from November 19 - 23. I thought I would pass the info along because I know there are a lot of little (and big) HSM fans out there. I know they have other dates in Seattle, Wenatchee and Portland.

Hope to see you there!

While the BOYS are away the GIRLS will PLAY!!

It's officially a girls weekend!! My boys left early this morning to go on the Olson Boys' Hunting/Camping trip. I am not a huge fan of hunting or guns but Kevin grew up with it and I trust him completely to teach Jacob all the responsibilites and safety that go along with it. Jacob just got his first BB gun this week and is so excited to go try it out on the pop cans. I guess getting your first gun is a right of passage for some boys.

ANYWAY - while the boys are shooting up Bambi, the girls and I are going to have a great weekend full of make-overs and mani/pedi-cures, popcorn, watching High School Musical one and two in order to prepare for number three in theaters soon, we will be going to Barnes and Nobles to buy each of the girls a new book. They have both told me they want a spanish story book. We only have two spanish story books and they have them both memorized. Kayla says we need more so we will go and see what we can find.

All in all we are ALL in for a weekend of fun!! I hope you all have a fabulous weekend, too!!

2 Year Well-Check

This morning I had the "pleasure" of taking Kelsie to her two year well-check with her pediatrician. I am usually really on top of getting appointments scheduled, but it seems that with the third child it didn't seem that important to take her to the doctor seeing as how she is not sick. So I scheduled the appointment about a week ago knowing very well that she would probably be getting a few shots. This is where I will start to rant and rave. I feel as though I am a very responsible parent. I take my kids to all their check-ups both medical and dental. Take them in when they are sick, which thankfully is not very often at all. Give the the proper medication following all the directions. BUT - I do have to say that I REALLY hate it when my kids get immunized. I myself am not a fan of needles at all. The only needle that I "enjoyed" was the epidural. I am a very big weenie. I hate it even more when I willingly drive my children to the doctors office knowing that they will be poked any where from 2 -5 times depending on how old they are and what they are due for. Then you have to hold them down while the "nice nurse" with the FREEZING cold hands (why are nurses' hands ALWAYS so cold?) sticks them in the thigh and your child is looking at you like "HELP ME MOMMY!!! YOU ARE LETTING HER HURT ME!!" Afterwards they look at you like, "I trusted you and you let her do that to me, why?" I always feel so bad. When Jacob was a baby I used to make Kevin take him in. I just couldn't do it. Then when Kayla came a long we split the duty. Now with Kelsie I have been the one to do it each time.

My other complaint is that I am positive that with each child they add like 50 (slight exaggeration) new immunizations. Seriously, is that necessary? So we need to be super human and immunized against everything? Isn't it okay to let a few bugs get in from time to time? I mean c'mon. I was literally lectured today about the second chicken pox vaccine that they have now and the new and improved booster/tetanus shot that all adults need to get. I had the chicken pox when I was like thirteen and I am fine. Yeah I was really itchy for like a week but so what. Isn't it kind of a right of passage to get the chicken pox? Of course I am not saying that I wish any of these illnesses or diseases upon my children but I just feel like "they" are trying to make you immunize our kids against everything. If you look at my immunization record it looks practically empty. I am sure my moms' has way less and I doubt that my grandparents EVER got shots and my grandfather is alive and well at 82. I know there are those who choose not to immunize at all. I guess I am just lazy and just conformed to what I am "suppose" to do and never really looked into any other options. Isn't there a lot of red tape and paperwork when it comes time for school and sports and stuff?

I'm just saying . . . I am all for keeping everyone healthy and I understand the importance of it all but really sometimes I just get so annoyed.

So back to this morning . . . so "nice nurse with cold hands" sticks Kelsie twice in the thigh while she is sitting in my lap and I am holding her down and, of course, Kelsie is just screaming. I mean really screaming. Kayla was with me because she has afternoon Kindergarten, but she didn't want to be in the room so the nurse let her step out and pick a toy from the treasure chest for Kelsie. After the shots were administered and they nurse opened the door, Kelsie still screaming, Kayla walks in the room and hugs Kelsie and hands her the Dora Etch-a-Scetch toy that she picked out for Kelsie. Kayla says, "Here Kelsie, I picked this out for you." Kelsie INSTANTLY stops crying. No joke. Stops, just like that. "Thank you Tayla, " says Kelsie and hugs her back. She picks out a sticker from the sticker box and walks out the door like nothing ever happened. WHAT?! I guess mom gets all worked up about nothing. Go figure.

So now I want to know, how do you feel about the whole vaccines issue? I want to hear all your comments whether you agree or disagree with my little tale. What do you think?

Lights, Camera . . . No Smiles

Don't you just love it when your kids are being all cute and funny. They get all wound up and are just acting silly. So then Mom says to herself, "Oh, I should get out the camera." You know what happens next? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!! The second I bring out the camera to take some pictures or video, they stop doing whatever cute thing it was that they were doing. Or they try to reenact or "plan out their scene". I want natural action shots you know. Why do they torment me so?

On the flip side, today, and most of the time, Kelsie is all cheesy and smiley. She has the most amazing smile. We got her all dressed up curls in place to get her picture done today for her second birthday. All morning long she was being all cute and smiley and saying "cheese" and laughing. We get to the picture place, still happy and playing and smiling. We go into the photo room, Ms. Photographer Lady grabs the camera and . . . Kelsie starts CRYING!!! What! Are you kidding me. Seriously. So frustrating. I never thought I would be the mother with "that kid" who wouldn't cooperate during pictures at the studio. I was able to bribe her into three, yes a total of three, good shots. She does look completely cute, but I know we could have gotten better.

I need to figure out a way to capture all that cuteness. Any ideas?

Memorable Moments

Today, after I dropped Kayla off at school, Kelsie and I headed to the Temple. Kevin's cousin, Josh, is leaving for his mission and some of Kevin's family went to the Temple with him this morning. I wasn't able to arrange for a sitter for Kelsie so I could attend the session, so instead we went over there and walked the grounds together for a while until the family came out from the session. This was Kelsie's first time to the Temple.

When we pulled in to the parking this was our conversation:

Kelsie: "We go church mommy?'

Me: "No, we are going to the Temple."

Kelsie:" "Temple mommy?"

Me: "Yes, the Temple."

Kelsie: "Oh."

As we are walking towards the Temple and up the steps and around the grounds:

Kelsie: "Ooo Temple pitty mommy."

Me: "Yes, it is very beautiful isn't it."

Kelsie: "Yes, bootifuu."

Kelsie: "Flawers pitty mommy."

Me: "Yes, they are pretty. Just like you."

Kelsie: "Same like me mommy?"

Me: "Just like you Kelsie."

Kelsie: "Water nice mommy, it's told(cold). I like water."

Kelsie: "Nice door mommy. Me go inside."

Me: "No, we can't go inside today, but someday we can."

Kelsie: "You go wif me mommy."

Me: "Yes, Kelsie, I will go inside the Temple with you."

Kelsie: "Tank you mommy."

Me: "I love you Kelsie."

Kelsie: "Me love you too mommy."

Exhausting Summer Fun

As our summer ends and the splendor of fall begins, I begin to look back and reflect on the AWESOME fun we had as a family this summer. While searching through HUNDREDS of photos, I noticed a pattern at the end of each little adventure we had. Take a look.

A four hour drive to Mount Vernon would wear out any almost 2 year old!

The zoo was so much fun!! Lots of walking!

The Mariners ROCK even if they had a losing season. They won when I was there!

No body move and nobody gets hurt-when we get there.

Amy, your kids wear me out! Thanks for bringing me on vacation with you guys!

I am so thankful for great memories of exhausting summer fun!!

Happy Belated Birthday to my Monkey Doo!!!

On Friday, September 12, this little monkey turned 2!!! I didn't forget, I was just out of town and did not have time to post. So in honor of my sweet little angel and her second birthday, here are some pictures.

This is Kelsie before her birthday party standing next to the Dora pinata that she picked out herself. She LOVES Dora right now!

This is her taking a crack at her pinata. She had so much fun! She was so excited to get all of that candy out of there!!

This is her wearing part of her pinata.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONKEY DOO!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!

Happily Ever After and more to come

Do you know what today is? Yes, it is September 11. Yes, it has been 7 years since the tragic World Trade Center catastrophe. We should all remember this event and that it is Patriots Day. But . . . . It is also our 11 Year Anniversary. Yup, I said 11 years. I can't hardly believe it myself. Seriously, 11 years is a super long time. I can remember our wedding so clearly that it feels like just yesterday. Where has the time gone?

Well, lets see: three children, five cars, one apartment, one duplex, one home of our own, NO PETS, 4 trips to the ER, one trip to Disney World before the kids were born, 4 different Wards, an Olson Family bike trip in Montana with screaming babies, one Trip to Reno, three trips to Utah, one trip to Mexico - ELEVEN AMAZING YEARS.

I am so thankful to have the blessing of eternal companionship, especially with my best friend. No one knows me like Kevin. I am so grateful for the wonderful life that we have built together and for the knowledge that it doesn't end here.

Nothing explains how I feel better than our wedding song. Kevin's' twin brother and sister sang "Me and You" by Kenny Chesney at our wedding.

Ordinary No, Really don't think so, not a love this true
Common destiny, We were meant to be, Me and You

Like a perfect scene, from a movie screen, We're a dream come true
Suited perfectly, for eternity Me and You

Everyday, I need you even more, and the night time too
There's no way, I could ever let you go, even if I wanted to

Every day I live, Try my best to give, All I have to you
Thank the stars above, That we share this love, Me and You

Every day, I need you more and more, And the night time too
There's no way, I could ever let you go, Even if I wanted to

Ordinary no, Really don't think so, Just a precious few
Ever make it last, Get as lucky as, Me and You .

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY HONEY! I LOVE YOU!

Organize Everything

I have been thinking about this post a lot lately. I find that when I talk about something or "say" it out loud that I feel better and I can actually accomplish things. Back in November of last year, I officially became a full-time SAHM. I have been very happy about this change in our lives. I have had more time for my family and definitely more time for socializing with all of you wonderful women. I have been so thankful for that, you have no idea.

It's almost coming up on a full year with this new found freedom. We have made adjustments in schedules here and there and things are good, but I keep feeling like something is still missing. I finally came to the conclusion and realized that it's me. I need to get organized with EVERYTHING. I used to be an organized FREAK in my youth. I cleaned my room everyday, made my bed every morning. My dresser drawers were all properly neat and folded, my closet was organized, my school work was always done. That's just how it was. Remember, I grew up in Warden where there is nothing to do and no where to go, so I had A LOT of time on my hands. My mom kept our house CRAZY clean. You could take a white glove through our house and find not a speck of dust. She also worked outside the home very long hours, sometimes nights. She still always had the house perfect. She was always so tired.

When I got my first apartment, it was still the same nice neat tidy place of my own. After we got married, still very clean and tidy. Then came the kids. I can't believe how much CRAP you accumulate when you have kids. This is when things began to snowball I think. When Jacob was about a year old I went to work part-time and I did this until about a year ago. I was definitely not my mom. I had a hard time keeping up with the daily stuff like dishes and laundry that all of the extra deep cleaning always got put off. I learned to live in my house even if it wasn't perfectly clean. I learned to play with the kids instead of fold the laundry. Don't get me wrong, my house isn't like totally messy and unlivable, it's just not the way I would like it to be, completely clean and organized. I let all of the extra stuff go because I didn't feel like I had the time to do it all when I was working, now, I have no excuse. So I have been looking around the house and finding that I can throw out over half of the toys that are CLUTTERING all of the floor of both of the kids' bedrooms, I have bags of clothes that need to be given away or donated. We have been trying to paint and redecorate. I have always HATED the closet in my bedroom. It is so tiny. Someday, in my next house, I will have a HUGE, GRAND, master closet. Kayla and Kelsie are in one room and there is just no room. There's the catch. There COULD be room if it was clean and organized. Anytime I don't want something in the house or I want to get rid of something I just put it in the garage. Our garage is so scary right now. I feel bad for Kevin because he has no garage anymore. It has been taken over by nursery bassinets and car seats and old strollers and tubs and tubs of kids clothes and just CLUTTER. It has gotten way out of hand.

I also realized that if I had the house situated and organized the way I want it to be that I would have more time to organize the other things in my life, like scripture reading and exercising, and a better more efficient bed time and morning routine. The thing is that I KNOW all of this needs to be done. I NEED to get their rooms clean and organized and de-cluttered, I just get overwhelmed when I walk in the room. I'm like "Oh I'll just do it later." Um, it's been almost a year of me staying home and it's still not done, but I am determined that now that we are back to school and we are getting to some sort of normality after summer that I will be able to get all of this stuff done.

There I said it out loud so maybe now it'll get done. It might help if I wasn't blogging, huh.

If you have any ideas or suggestions for me on where to start or how to start or what works for you, I would love to hear it!

Joining THE Pack

Along with all of the many wonderful things that have happened to my little Jacob this past month, this has got to be one of his favorites.

It's official. Meet the newest member of Pack 149. How CUTE is he?!?! I didn't have so much fun ironing on all of the patches but after seeing him all dressed up it was SO worth it. Kayla couldn't resist getting in on the pictures. She is such a ham sometimes (I have no idea where she gets it from).

Kevin Richard has lots of fond memories of scouting. Kevin remembers most that his Grandpa Richard Cox was the Scout Master. He really loved scouting with his Grandpa. I hope that Jacob Richard will do his Great-Grandpa proud.

We are really looking forward to helping Jacob achieve all of his different rankings. I don't really know anything about the program so this will be a learning experience for me. He is growing up way too fast, I hope I can keep up with him.