Yum-O Dinner

One of mine and Kennedy's favorite things to do during Hudson's afternoon nap is watch a cooking show together. We don't really have a favorite, just whatever's on, and she gets so completely engrossed, I love it. Yesterday we caught a 30-Minute Meals, and Rachel made this dish: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_151603,00.html

We tried it tonight, and man, it was AWESOME! We all loved it, and we are not onion loving people...you gotta try it!

Some bad news, Kennedy woke up this morning with a very hoarse little voice, so we had her checked out and she has strep. She was so funny at the doctor; Dustin was in a couple of weeks ago, for a lingering cold, and the doctor told Kennedy today that she is way sicker than her Dad was. Naturally, as soon as we left the office she had to call him and rub it in his face, and then call my mom to get some sympathy. I cannot believe how fast she is growing up, working the system, learning how to tease...Crazy.

I walked into Hudson's room this afternoon and stumbled upon this little scene...

Talk about melt a mom's heart. They had three blankets on their laps, and Hudson had about 4 lovies. They sat like this for about 15 minutes, and if you know Hudson at all you know what a big deal that is. I made sure they had a nice little stack of books and then sprinted for the camera. Hudson loves to look at story books so much, and Kennedy is so cute to help him. She worries she doesn't know all the words, but he obviously does not care. Love it!

Swingset!

This weekend, since we had some decent weather, we tackled the big job of getting the swingset looking good again. As you can tell, this is no ordinary swingset. It has a glider that seats between 4-6 adults (depends on how comfortable you are with each other), places for 4 swings, and a teeter-totter. It is a monster of a thing, dating way back to the '80's, when Jeff, Garret and I first enjoyed it's pristine paint and the first of many under-dogs.... It has since endured MANY kids, several moves, and lots of wear and tear. I was lucky enough to get it when my parents moved to Ogden, so we have decided to be good swingset owners and fix it up a bit. We have big plans to replace all the wood with Trex, but until that happens, it's paint for now. We spent all day Saturday sanding and painting, and it's almost ready to erect. Kennedy was a so excited to help, she has missed playing on it since we took it down late last summer to move. Despite new work gloves, the work soon lost it's appeal, however. After about 3 minutes of "sanding," she says, "what am I, Cinderella? This is hard!" She noticed my incredulous look, and the sanding block in my hand, and then said, "I mean, what are we, Cinderellas?" She is quite the diva... As soon as Dustin lines up a loader tractor, we'll be swingin'. Hopefully, it will only be a few days and I'll post pics of it in all of it's shiny new splendor.

The "Cinderellas"...

Too funny not to share...

Best weekend ever!

I know I say that every time, but come on! This weekend I went to an overnight scrapbooking get-a-way on Friday, and then on Saturday had my house FILLED with family! It does not get better than that!
My darling, handsome, sweet, amazing husband held down the fort while my mom, Jenna, Trulie and I cropped to our hearts content at an overnighter in Idaho Falls. You know, after being slightly obsessed with digital over the past year, it was really fun to get back to my "roots" and create with paper, plus being surrounded by such awesome gals really inspires. We headed back to Rexburg on Saturday evening, where the boys (and kids) were waiting with dinner on the table, courtesy of Dustin. Now, get ready to drool: Made from scratch Alfredo sauce with fettuccine, chicken, and shrimp, garlic bread, with and without tomatoes, and - the frosting on the cake - BTS cake with HOME MADE whipped cream. Well, doesn't he know the way to a girl's heart???


After dinner, we had a little party for Garret and Trulie's little guy, Jace, who turned 1 on Wednesday. He had his own little cake to destroy, and he held up his end of the bargain. Of course, Jenna's little Preslie couldn't just stand by and watch, she helped too. It was adorable! She will be ready for her turn in about 4 months! Luckily, my little sugar fiend had gone to bed early and missed out on the frosting festival - or else I'm sure he's still be bouncing off the walls. I was sad to have him miss out on that funny photo op, but I know if he were to find out it was acceptable to have an entire cake to yourself to do what you please with, I'd never get him to eat real food again!





Sunday was fun for me as well, I made pretty much every one pose for pictures for me. I love having cute pics of everyone on hand, and I was glad they turned out cute - although with these subjects, no picture is a bad picture!











Kennedy, with one of her very favorite people, my beautiful baby sister Jami





I know Dustin had a good weekend, too, he is such a great Dad and loves spending time one-on-one with the kiddos. He had some play time, as well; he borrowed and tractor and tiller and got the pasture and garden spot whipped into shape, and let Kennedy help him plant some new trees. I hope he knows how much I love him, he is the best! He didn't even bat an eye about taking over at home so I could go play with the girls, and it is so nice to be able to go and relax, and not worry one little bit about what is going on back at the ranch...XOXO Dustin!


PS - We missed you, Nate... I mean "Joe" :)

Mama's Boy...

I know you all think Hudson is great. But you don't really understand. He is AMAZING. He is hilarious, and smart, and loving. And you know what the best part is? He loves me probably as much as I love him. He is a big 'ole mama's boy, and it just melts my heart! He gives me the best little hugs and kisses all day long, and would sit and read stories for hours on my lap. I love to watch him try to put a rider on a toy horse, or study the pictures in a book. You can watch his little face and just about hear him learning, it is amazing to watch. When he get the rider to stay on the horse, or stacks some blocks, he'll clap his hands and say "buh-BOY!" (good boy) It is so cute, I love that he knows when to be proud of himself. He is trying so hard to talk, and it's coming along. I love it when I understand something he is trying to say, and getting it for him, and knowing that I am reinforcing his love of learning. Being a mom is so incredible! He is also really really naughty, which just makes it better. Even thought everyone says he looks like Dustin, he has a little bit of me in him! He is wild and destructive and messy and impossible to take shopping, and the second best part of my day is putting him down for a nap. But you know what the very best part is? Him waking up from one.

Kennedy's Talk, weekend update

Kennedy had to give a talk in Primary yesterday, and she did such a good job. She was so cute, she picked a little poem out of the Friend, and then bore her testimony. I held a big picture of Joseph Smith for her, and was planning on giving her prompts, but when it was actually time, she pretty much had the whole thing memorized, it was adorable. She can't really read, but she recognized enough of the words in the poem that she wanted to hold the page to help her. I thought she looks so old! She took it so seriously, I was proud of her.

We had a really nice weekend. On Saturday, I took senior pictures for my cousin, Vicki, here at my house and around Rexburg. She is so beautiful and photogenic, it was really fun for me, to do the photos and to spend time with her. I found a couple of more great picture taking places, and I was excited to experiment. Luckily, it was the nicest day we've had so far this year, (like 60 degrees!) and a patch of grass emerged from the snow big enough to put up our new trampoline. Grandpa Jay got new home-owners insurance that required him to get rid of his tramp, so we lucked out...It was a beautiful day and we were able to spend some time outside playing. The kids had an absolute ball jumping, and, actually, so did I. It's been a long winter, it was so fun to have some sun!

We went down to Idaho Falls on Sunday afternoon, and I did a few more shots with Vicki around the falls, and the kids and Dustin explored. One thing about the warm weather, it sure brings out the wierdos. There was plenty of interesting people-watching yesterday. Fun, fun!

Here are some of my favorites from the photo shoot...I know, she is serious diet inspiration!!!

Lucky Me

Ok, isn't she gorgeous? I was tucking her in last night and couldn't resist taking her picture, she looked so cute in her rollers and jammies, all snuggled up with her favorite stuffed animal of the moment. We have been reading "Ramona and Beezus", by Beverly Cleary. I was thinking she might relate to having an annoying younger sibling, since Hudson is so into everything right now, but last night we read a part where Beezus is really frustrated with Ramona's antics, and Kennedy was pretty much horrified by Beezus thinking, " I really don't like my sister!" I was so proud of what a sweet, sensitive girl she is. I really am so lucky to be her mom, and I'm sorry to say I take her for granted a lot of the time. She is such a happy girl, and genuinely tries to be good all the time. She understands reason and really doesn't get worked up hardly ever. She tries so hard to be a good big sister to Hudson, always rushing to get him a toy/treat when he is crying. On Sunday morning, I heard Hudson start talking, letting us know he was awake. I layed in bed, hoping for just a few more minutes of rest, and after a minute, I heard him laughing. I went into his room, and there was Kennedy, in his crib with him, both of them just giggling. What a joyful moment for me. I love that they love each other so much. I was worried about that, seeing how Kennedy was queen of the castle for four years before he came along and stole a lot of her thunder, but she has never once been anything but understanding of his needs and loving and protective of him. And she is so smart! Her preschool teacher told me she got the best score ever on her kindergarten screening test last week, and she loves learning. Last night she wanted to watch Conference again for family home evening. We settled on elder Bednar's talk...gotta love DVR - I've always thought it was a gift from Heaven - that is proof. Anyway, my heart is bursting over Kennedy right now, so I thought I'd share. Last night she told me she loves me all the way to space. Lucky me, indeed.