Joe, Kristen, Blake, Kalli and Lexie

Our little Kalli Bug

2012-02-10T10:30:00.004-07:00

I've been meaning to write a post about Kalli for so long but other things just keep coming up. I feel like that is what Kalli's life is like. It's probably very hard to be the middle child, I was never one but I feel pain for her all the time.

We were sitting in our tithing settlement in December and the bishop said I know Blake and I know Lexie but who are you. I felt so bad for Kalli because she lives this everyday. People always know Blake, he's outgoing, social and a friend to all. People all know Lexie because she's the baby and was born here so people feel a connection to her since they were present while I was pregnant. But poor Kalli is not as recognized. I feel that people don't get to know her very well because her brother and sister outshine her most days.

But if you do know Kalli you know that she's incredibly sweet and very kind hearted. She's the girliest girl I've ever met and I think it's so adorable. She loves having the foam curlers put in her hair at night and loves it even more when I take them out and her hair is so curly. Kalli is usually in a dress up princess dress all day long unless we need to go somewhere or she's eating. In fact, she has one fairy dress she loves that has little crystals on it and in the morning when the sun is really shining she likes to do the crystal dance, which is when the crystals catch the light and put little rainbows all over the room. I often find Kalli playing with her doll houses and having the best time with her imagination.

If you know Kalli you also know that she's not too fond of her little sister. In fact, she ignores her all day long and gets really upset if Lexie comes near her when she's playing. The other morning she was whining about Lexie and I told Kalli that she needs to be nice to Lexie because she is her sister. Kalli proceeds to tell me "no, she's my brother's sister". I couldn't help but laugh. I hope one day she will grow to love Lexie.

I am so happy that Kalli is part of our family. She's very unlike me or Joe, so that has been a challenge of sorts but we love her no matter what.

Midnight in Austenland

2012-02-02T07:40:00.004-07:00

If you've never read a Shannon Hale book you are seriously missing out. I like to joke with a good friend that all we want to do in this life is play miniature golf with her, she just seems like such a fun person to be around. I got the chance to read an advanced copy of her newest book Midnight in Austenland. I wasn't the biggest fan of the previous book, Austenland, but I was very excited for this one nonetheless.

This book didn't disappoint, it was sweet take on Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen). Never having read Northanger Abbey I had a few ideas of what to expect but this surpassed all expectations. Charlotte leaves behind her cheating ex-husband and kids to escape to the land of Austen to be transported to a different time of courting gentlemen and corsets. What Charlotte finds instead is a terrifying (in her mind) ghost story and what she thinks is a real life murder. While everyone is pretending to go along with the story, Charlotte is trying to figure out if there really was a murder or if it was just part of the story they're acting out. Amidst all of this, Charlotte finds herself falling in love and becoming a stronger woman than she ever thought she could be.

The story moves well and leaves you not only wanting more but rooting for Charlotte. If you're a Jane Austen fan, you will most certainly enjoy this read!

The little terror we call Lexie

2012-01-27T10:09:00.004-07:00

Meet Lexie. She's cute right? Well, she also has a habit of tearing our house apart. But sometimes it's hard to care when she's this cute.

Here is her recent destructions: Clean laundry all over my floor. Pulled out all of her diapers from the package. Pulled all of my pants out of my drawer. This one keeps happening and it's driving me nuts. Getting into the trash in the bathroom and tearing apart diapers and toilet paper. Oh lovely.

Kindle Help

2012-01-15T18:01:00.004-07:00

Ok, we know that I love books and I try anyway I can to get as many books into my life as possible. I discovered that while talking to people with digital devices for reading (kindle, nook, ipad) that they didn't know you can get books from your local library right on your reading device. I uploaded the Kindle app on Joe's Ipad (the app is free by the way). I figured since quite a few people didn't know you can borrow books on the kindle, I'd do a quick walk through to help you out. This also works for the kindle app on the ipod touch, iphone or ipad.

This is what my library page looks like. You can see a box that says "download" and has a picture of different reading devices. You would click on that link. From what I've seen, most of the libraries go through overdrive. So I'm hoping this will be helpful to as many people as possible. Once you've clicked on the link you'll be taken to a page with all the books offered through overdrive through your library. Some libraries carry a huge amount, others like mine are more modest. But I have the great luxury to get books from the Albuquerque library and the Rio Rancho library. You'll also notice there is an audiobook section. I will do another tutorial on how to get audiobooks to your ipod. So go on the site and find a book you want to read. Once you've found a book, make sure it's available. This one is, but there is a big audience out there so sometimes you have to wait. This book also has the option to be an epub book (this is the book I need for the nook). If you're downloading this to your kindle/kindle app, click on the "add to my cart" in the kindle section. You will then be led to this window. You can see that you have the book for 14 days, some libraries give you 3 weeks, mine does 2 weeks. All you need to do at this point is click "confirm check out". It will then take you to your amazon account. Your kindle/kindle app is connected to your amazon account. On the right side you will see that you can choose which kindle you want the book sent to. I have highlighted Joe's ipad, but I also have the option to send it to my ipod touch or my mom's kindle. Just make sure you register all your kindle/kindle apps to the same account. To finish, click the yellow button "Get library book".

At this point it will be automatically sent to your kindle/kindle app. That's it, it is now in your kindle library. It will automatically disappear after the allotted check out time.

I did this all on my computer which I find easier, but those with a kindle fire can do it on their system.

I want to do a post about getting library books on your nook/nook app and how to get audiobooks on your ipod.

I hope this was helpful. I found that the more uses for your kindle the better you feel about your reading device. If you have questions, I hope I can answer them!

My new best friend

2012-01-08T21:13:00.003-07:00

Meet my new best friend. Recently I purchased this bad boy and I am so glad I did it (got it from Costco.com with a coupon). I HATE sweeping my kitchen and I hate even more mopping. Being that I'm lazy and tired at night, this accounted in me very rarely doing either of these chores unless absolutely necessary. I thought the shark steamers look pretty cool but that still leaves one chore that I despise. Well this beauty does both the sweeping and mopping all at once. Win win for me and my floors. The plus side is that it also uses no cleaners, just good old water that steams my floor clean. I'm more apt to pull this out just to sweep really quick at night since it only takes me a minute and a half. Tonight Kalli spilled some non-diet soda and I very quickly swept and mopped my floors to make sure they were clean, this was all done in 5 minutes. Did I tell you I've mopped my floors twice this week, that may be an all time record for me!

Almost there...

2012-01-04T10:32:00.004-07:00

We've been on a painting marathon for the last couple of years. We saved our living room for the last as it was so large and it would take us a little bit. We are down to our last two rooms to paint (we have to wait to do the office/toy room until Joe finishes the desk he's building). But because of the money I won a couple of months ago, we decided to go ahead with our living room. This is what it looks like right now. We have 2 walls out of 5 done, so it'll take us some time. For now, we're living in organized chaos.

I told Joe I won't know what to do with myself when everything is painted, but then I thought of some other stuff I can do with the house (like adding hardware to our cabinets, getting a new light fixture in the kitchen). So I think I'll find stuff to keep me busy.

Top 5 Books in 2011

2011-12-30T13:38:00.003-07:00

This year I challenged myself to read 90 books and I exceeded my goal by 6. This year was a year of fantastic books and total flops. I will actually do a separate post on the awful (and by awful I mean mind numbing, want to erase memory from ever reading certain books). But these are not those books, these are the books I was really impressed with, my go to recommendations when people ask me for a good book to read.

My ultimate favorite this year was These Is My Words. This book is FANTASTIC! I actually read this in the first week of 2011 and was so thoroughly impressed by it. My mother in law had actually told me about this book years ago and when I finally got around to researching it and seeing if it would be something I'd be interested in I found how beloved this book is. People LOVE this book. If you don't think historical fiction is your thing and you write off this book, you'll be missing out on one of the best books I've ever read, and that's saying something. There is something so magical in this book that just works. Please, take my word for it, this book is fantastic. Who knows, you might even be receiving this as a gift this year! Ok, I love Stephanie Perkins and her books. I fell in love with Anna and the French Kiss and read her second novel entitled Lola and the Boy Next Door. These books are realistic fiction with a love story. But they are more than that. The characters are well developed and three dimensional. Perkins knows how to write a leading man that would make any girl swoon, but not because he's perfect but because he's real and he's what every girl wants. Perkins whisked me away and let me sample a world that is not mine but I wholeheartedly would love to have lived. She has another book coming out in 2012 and I just can't wait to get my hands on it. I will say these books are fairly clean so they're pretty suitable for teen girls (older teen girls). I think about this book often, especially of the leading man. This is a sequel to "If I Stay" which is fantastic too. But I felt that this book was better and more heart-wrenching. Forman knows how to write a flawed but incredibly lovable leading man. It was so interesting to read what had happened since the last book, to see where the characters had gone and where they were headed. I think I read this in about a day, I just couldn't get enough of her writing. You do need to read "If I Stay" first to understand the complicated past the main characters have, but be prepared you will probably cry. Who doesn't love a good Zombie book? I think this is the year of the zombies in my life. I read quite a few zombie books as well as some zombie shows (man, who else just LOVES The Walking Dead?). I received this book as a Christmas gift last year from a fellow zombie lover and couldn't put it down. It's just enough gore, action, back story and heart to make you love it. I actually received the prequel this year for Christmas, so back to the zombies I go. I had to add this one. As some know I work part time at Deseret Book. With that job I read a lot of the books we receive, so that I can confidently recommend books. There are some books I come across that are ok, some that are downright awful and some that are so remarkable that I can't contain my enthusiasm for them (Increase in Learning by Elder Bednar is one of those books, go pick it up!). "Letters in the Jade Dragon Box" stood out to me as one of the best fiction books we carry. I loved every minute I spent in this book. The writing is exquisite, the story line is enthralling and the imagery is beautiful. I was transported to 1970's Hong Kong rich with history, food and a beautiful story. This book doesn't have too much of the church in it but it does have incredible heart.

Here are some notable titles that didn't quite make the list but were quite great: Divergent by Veronica Roth (umm... Number 4, you are dreamy), The False Princess by Eilise O'Neal, Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson.

So did you read anything this year that you can't stop gushing about?

Magical

2011-12-18T17:28:00.003-07:00

There is something so magical about this picture.

Joe Norby, PE

2011-12-15T10:36:00.003-07:00

Joe has hit a huge milestone in his career and we couldn't wait to tell you all about it. Joe recently took the Professional Engineers exam in October. He studied every night for months preparing for this test. We found out yesterday that he passed. I couldn't be more proud of Joe and his accomplishments. There was never any doubt in my mind that he would pass, he's just an incredibly smart man.

I asked him last night what the pass rate is and he told me that it's about 60% pass, that's not too much. I am oh so very proud of my husband.

In May he'll be able to apply to be a professional engineer (he can't apply until he's been graduated for four years). We can't wait to see what the future holds for us. Thank you all for your support and prayers in our behalf, we sure felt that extra strength in our lives!

Snow Days

2011-12-07T10:06:00.005-07:00

Today we are celebrating our third snow day in a row. Sunday night the snows started coming and I told Joe I would give anything to have a snow day with the kids. Low and behold the phone rang at 5 am to let us know there was going to be a 2 hour delay of school; then 30 minutes later the phone rang again letting us know that school had been cancelled. We got between 6-8 inches of snow and it was glorious. I figured Tuesday we wouldn't have school either since the roads were complete sheets of ice so I got excited about that. But another surprise happened, we got the call Tuesday night that we had one more snow day as some of the back roads are still icy and some schools are having heating issues and the highs were in the teens. So Blake is home for his 3rd snow day in a row. We've been loving every minute and I'm a little sad to see Blake go back tomorrow. We've been trying to occupy ourselves:

There's been lots of playing in the snow. The kids have loved this part, but mostly Blake. Kalli would brave the outside for a few minutes at a time. She hates being cold and she's cold a lot. Blake's been playing with his sisters and they've all gotten along so well. It really has been a wonderful 3 days. We made sugar cookies and loved it. The kids are getting so big. In years past they help for a few minutes and are done but they lasted the entire time. Blake has been asking to write a letter to Santa so we also did that. I am impressed with how well he is doing with writing since being in school.

These last 3 days have been a tender mercy for me. I am working quite a few nights a week; Blake gets off the bus at 4:15 and we immediately leave so I can get to work. So most days I only see Blake for about 2 hours and that's been tough, especially during the Christmas season. I had been lamenting to myself that Christmas is going by way too fast and I hadn't had time to do anything with my children together. I think that this snow storm was a tender mercy for me to spend time with my children and get some of those precious moments in that I needed. I am very grateful this time of the year to be reminded how much our Heavenly Father loves us and knows what we need.

Crawling to the music

2011-11-28T10:47:00.004-07:00

Lexie loved music and she especially loves when her daddy gets home from work and starts playing the piano. No matter where she is, she'll crawl over to his feet on the pedals and start playing with him. She just loves when he plays. If she's lucky enough Joe will sit her on his lap and let her play her own song and that brings a certain amount of joy to this little girl.

Because she loves the piano and Joe's playing so much, he's dedicated a certain song to her. Lexie knows her song and as soon as Joe starts playing it she crawls as fast as she can to the piano. Her song is the Jaws theme and our kids think it's so funny that it's Lexie's song. But there is no denying that this little girl loves music, her daddy and especially the Jaw's theme song.

My (and Joe's) addiction to Pinterest

2011-11-19T08:38:00.003-07:00

Have you heard of pinterest? Have you used pinterest? I got an invite a couple months ago and am in love with this site. I have found that I only like to pin those things I actually think I'll make or get around to doing, otherwise I find it a little too overwhelming. Joe got in on the action when he found how cool it is. I assigned him his own board that I pin things to so that he gets an idea of the things I want him to make for our house, you know because he builds furniture for me and all. Recently I actually accomplished some pins I had my eye on and it felt quite good finishing them.

I had seen this cute shirt all over pinterest and figured it would be pretty simple to make. I actually had dreams of making this for all the nieces, even bought all the shirts for it, but then the dirty looks from Joe and my incredibly busy schedule told me I probably bit off too much. So instead I made them for my girls. They turned out super cute and can't wait for them to start wearing them next month. These are just made from ribbon that I sewed onto the shirt. One of the other pins was this Phineas pumpkin that I fell in love with. Because this show is popular in our house with not only the children we knew we had to make it. I printed it out for Joe to carve and I was able to mark off yet another item I had pinned on pinterest.

I also find quite a few recipes I would like to try and that I have tried. If you've never heard of pinterest and would like an invitation to join, just leave me your email and I'll send an invite your way. If you're on pinterest, I'd love to follow you, it's so fun to see what inspires people.

Have you accomplished your pins yet?

What we've been up to...

2011-11-05T21:29:00.006-07:00

My power cord for my Mac snapped three weeks ago. I ordered a replacement 3 weeks ago and it finally came. It's amazing how much I missed my computer and felt lost without it. Joe recently took his PE exam (professional engineering exam). This test is crucial for his career, so pray that he passed! We'll know the results in January. These are all the books Joe took with him as it was an open book test. But really, why would you want to take a test with all those books, yikes! They all fit nicely into a rolling suitcase. Joe has been studying for this exam every night for at least four months. It's nice to have him back! Joe went out of town for five days for work. He was here, Woodward, OK. All he said about it was that it was very green. We've never lived anywhere green, so that was a huge change for him. Plus, while he was out of town he ate so much better than me. We missed him terribly and are happy he's home again! We went trick or treating three times with these guys. Now we have way TOO much candy. Halloween I was on my own as Joe was out of town. I think I handled it pretty well, especially because Joe hardly ever goes out of town so I haven't had a chance to get good at doing it all by myself. We did our yearly tradition of carving pumpkins, and once again Joe and I did everything. I thought our two were terrific, I won't show you the other two we did.

All about our Skallywag...

2011-10-16T09:00:00.004-07:00

Our sweet little girl is three today! She started out as Kallibug but has quickly turned into our skallywag. Kalli is one of the sweetest people I know. She loves to tell you thank you and tell you how beautiful you are. She is definitely good for self esteem! Kalli is a very loving little girl and one that cares about the people around her.

She loves princesses and anything super girly! She wears princess dresses all day and loves to wear the crown that goes with them. Kalli is the typical middle child that gets bossed around by her brother, but I think she secretly likes it because when he's at school she just wanders around the house looking lost. She needs her brother to tell her what to do.

Kalli couldn't care less about her little sister and ignores her all day long. She tells me she loves Lexie, but she doesn't really care to be around her. I hope this changes as they get older.

We sure love our little Kalli girl. She's blessed our lives in so many ways and I couldn't love her more. She put us through a lot when she was a baby, with her skull surgery and all, but she's been worth every minute. We couldn't ask for a better daughter. We can't wait to see what amazing things she does with her life as she grows up.

Happy birthday our little skallywag!

Another year at the balloon fiesta...

2011-10-12T08:14:00.002-07:00

So once again we ventured to the balloon fiesta. Last year was a bust as they cancelled the event we bought tickets to because of high winds; but we did get to see the awesome fireworks show. But last year none of the morning sessions were cancelled so I thought I would change things up this year and have us attend a morning balloon session. That was a mistake. It was a rainy week and so for three mornings in a row they cancelled the morning sessions. Friday morning we woke up very early and got our family out the door by 5:30. We had hopes that even though it was raining that it would clear up and the balloons would be able to ascend. For two hours we walked around the balloon park and saw nothing. It was pretty miserable. By 8 they started inflating the balloons but wouldn't let them ascend. We saw about 10 balloons before we had to leave and get Lexie home to a warm bed. We'll have to see what disaster next year brings us for the balloon fiesta.

This pretty much sums up how Lexie felt about the whole thing. Although she was a very good baby and didn't fuss. These faces are very deceptive. They complained the WHOLE time until the balloons started inflating, which means they were quiet for a half hour out of the two and half hours we were there. We saw this balloon from the very start to the end. It was interesting watching them get it up. Usually this picture would show hundreds of balloons, as you can see that wasn't the case this morning. But we're glad we saw some balloons and we're also glad we didn't go back on Saturday morning because it was the most crowded I've ever seen the balloon fiesta.

Hopefully next year we have more luck, we're hoping to have some family here, so hopefully the balloon fiesta will have no hitches.

All about Lexie

2011-10-05T13:16:00.003-07:00

Lexie is a funny little girl that has funny little quirks we've never run into before. One of these quirks is that she doesn't laugh. By 3 months, our other 2 children were chuckling at every little thing, especially when they were tickled. At 6.5 months, this little girl still hasn't figured out how to laugh. She'll grunt pleasantly when you tickle her, but that's about all you're going to get. I find it odd but yet amusing that she does this. It also throws those people that we see out and about that try to get her to laugh (or even smile) through a loop. They can't figure it out and they leave feeling a bit resigned for trying to get this girl to laugh. She is also pretty stingy with her smiles. She has the biggest smiles for her mom and her brother; sometimes her dad can luck out. But for the most part, she doesn't smile all that often. This isn't because she's an unhappy child, quite the opposite really. She is just very particular about what requires a smile in her life.

Another quirk we've had to deal with is Lexie's hunger strikes. This has plagued our family for the last 4 months now, and just when we think she's outgrowing this, she pulls another hunger strike on us. In a nutshell, Lexie prefers me (her mom) to feed her. If somebody else tries to feed her (mostly her bottle) she just won't eat. Joe would try to feed her before bed and Lexie would squirm and wiggle around looking for me and would refuse to eat. Often he could get her to eat a few ounces and then hand her off to me to finish up the bottle. This weird phenomenon reared it's ugly head when we got Lexie a babysitter so we could take the older two kids to a late baseball game. I left two bottles for Lexie, totaling 11 ounces (her norm at the time). I expected her to eat all of them. We came home late and found that she had only had one bottle out of the two and that she had only eaten 2 ounces out of that bottle. Sure enough, I went and woke her up to give her a bottle and she ate 6 ounces. Although she pulls this on us, there is no crying or fussing. She just stages a quiet standoff to which she pretty much always gets her way.

We sure love this little girl and her funny little quirks.

It's that time again...

2011-10-01T07:55:00.003-07:00

It was that time again to get our family pictures done. This is something that I like to have on high priority. It's amazing seeing how much our family changes from year to year. We had our friend take them, she has also taken Kalli's one year pictures, family pictures last year and Lexie's newborn pictures. She's quite fantastic and I was incredibly happy with what she got this time.

Sky Mall Top 5 - 2011 Edition

2011-09-17T21:12:00.006-07:00

So a couple years ago I posted my Sky Mall Top 10. Since I am that bored when I fly, I guess I will do an updated list. Since the previous top 10 are still being sold on Sky Mall (surprisingly this stuff sales), I will give my new Top 5. If you want to see my previous Top 10, look at these links:

http://jkbnorby.blogspot.com/2009/07/best-of-sky-mall.html

http://jkbnorby.blogspot.com/2009/07/sky-mall-continues.html

#5 - Orbit Wheels - Only $99.99. I don't know how these are supposed to work without your shins rubbing against the wheels? For those still interested in seeing how these work, go to the sky mall website and see the video.

#4 - Cap/Sun Glass Combo - $24.99. Hat plus Sun Glasses, how could you go wrong? Yes, the glasses fit down through the visor.

#3 - The Peddler - $24.99. Gives new meaning to stationary bike. Hello new exercise program!

#2 - U-Watch Drain Cap - $9.99. Yes this is a bargain, but if your drains look like ours (all sorts of nasty) you will not be able to see in there to look for your ring, nor would you want to! Some things in life are better unseen, the funk in the drain is one of them!

And this years #1 pick - The Pillow Tie - $19.95. In case this flight turns into a cruise, your tie may be used as a floatation device! I am guessing it is not a comfortable pillow. Stick to the old fashion way of sleeping on your arm, or roll up your coat and sleep on that.

Bonus Item - Giraffe Toilet paper holder - $29.95. I knew they had long necks for a reason!

Disclaimer - I am not paid to poke fun at these products or any other sold in the Sky Mall magazine, although anyone willing to pay me for my thoughts, please feel free to make checks payable to.....

And, because Kristen always gets mad at me for not stating it, Joe is responsible for this post. I think she get embarrassed by my posts and doesn't want to be associated with them. I proudly accept responsibility for the above content.

I'll give you five dollars....

2011-09-10T11:43:00.003-07:00

Since we read to the kids every night we get pretty sick of some books and have found that we really enjoy reading others. If I have to read "Dogs Colorful Day" one more time, I might just cry (and in fact Joe has been known to hide that book from the kids). But when a book comes along that I look forward to reading with the kids and makes me laugh all the same, I get it often. We LOVE the pigeon books by Mo Willems. We recently just checked out "The Pigeon Wants a Puppy" and oh man did I laugh. I also find myself getting caught up in narrating the book and making it more fun. Blake often quotes from "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" which I find amazing. These books are just so fun, entertaining and overall a great read. Check them out if you haven't read these.

16 x 16 Creativity

2011-09-04T16:32:00.009-07:00

I recently figured out how to create my own Blogger Favicon (look up next to the web address if you do not know what a Favicon is).

This is how you do it. Try it out and see how creative you can be with your own 16x16 pixel design.

1.) Go to http://favicon-generator.org/editor/ and get started. (there are other free sites to use as well)

2.) Design your favicon in the 16x16 square or try to import a picture to create from.

3.) Save this design to your hard drive (no need to copy and paste the small piece of code as they instruct you to do).

4.) On Blogger, go to your blog design page. At the top you will see where you can edit the Favicon. Locate where you saved your favicon and choose this file.

5.) Unfortunately, Blogger takes about half a day or so for this setting to take affect. But when it does, you will see your new design next to your blogger site as will everyone else who visits your site.

As a Note: Unlike instructions from other pages, there is no need to copy or paste any code to the blogger to get the favicon to show up.

Hopefully these instructions are simple enough to follow. We look forward to seeing your wonderful designs. Let me know if you have any questions.

Hi Ho... off to school we go...

2011-08-23T08:05:00.003-07:00

Last week Blake started Kindergarten. He was so excited as was I. Joe and I took him to school that day to help him find his line and to feel comfortable. His teacher let the parents come in while she read a story and then we said our good-bye's. I won't lie, I teared up as I left and I couldn't stop feeling anxious all day. That afternoon Kalli and I walked up to the bus stop to meet him and he was so excited from his first day. He now rides the bus in the morning and afternoon, only because his friend rides it too and she's also a kindergartner. It works out well and he still loves school.

Lining up. So excited! Blake was chosen to be put in an inclusion class as a peer mentor. This means he only has 15 kids in his class which means Blake gets much more attention. I was talking to a friend of mine and her daughter is in a class of 28! That's insane for kindergarten. We love his teacher and her aide and have already seen a great improvement in Blake's behavior and learning. It's nice to have one in school now, but now we have to wait 3 years till Kalli can go!

All Hail Emperor Kang

2011-08-15T12:00:00.004-07:00

Where would Roswell be if it weren't for the famous UFO Incident of 1947. That's right, almost 65 years later, the town sure thrives on its short-lived fame and glory and the hundreds of hopeless tourist that come to visit. The town has really been taken over by aliens, such as this one, who guards the local KFC.

2011-08-12T06:53:00.003-07:00

Simply and utterly fantastic! Broke my heart multiple times while laughing all the while. Poignant, important and real. If you've read the book, you'll be very happy with the movie, it's as good as the book (which is hard as the book is one of the best books I've ever read!). If you haven't read this book, you'll still love it! Little Mo Mabley steals the scene every time she's on the screen. I fell even more in love with the characters after seeing them in the movie. I just wanted to give Cecilia a big hug and cry with her. And how great is her husband? Seriously, go see this movie! Now!

Ready to make your home/office smell amazing?

2011-08-08T12:25:00.002-07:00

I recently signed up to sell Scentsy. I was introduced to the product last year and quickly fell in love. I thought the best way to contain my obsession is by selling it myself. I started off slow with one warmer and a couple scents and my collection has grown rapidly. If you're interested, go to the website and browse around. It's a wonderful product and one that I love wholeheartedly. You can order online anytime. If you want to have a party we can do that too! Even if you live out of town we can still work out a party. Enjoy and tell me what you think!

https://kristennorby.scentsy.us/Home

During the month of August everything in the catalogue is 10% off. Stock up!

Our dilemma...

2011-07-28T10:56:00.004-07:00

Joe and I are having trouble with something, do you want to help us? When Kalli was 4 months old we had her ears pierced. There a couple reasons we did this: I had mine done when I was about the same age, Kalli had her helmet which meant I couldn't put bows and such on her head so I really wanted to do the earring thing to make her look more girly, and we also thought that if we got them done early on in her life we wouldn't have to worry about her pulling them out (we were wrong about that). So Lexie is now 4 months old and we still haven't figured out if we're going to pierce her ears this early. The good thing about Kalli's ears being pierced is that they're done and we don't have to worry about it now, but she went through a period where she always pulled out her earrings and made her ears bleed.

We thought maybe just do it now with Lexie to have them done. Also I see a potential fight in their future that we pierced Kalli's ears but not Lexie's. It's something we've been talking about a lot lately and we still haven't come to a conclusion. I will also say that I always got this feeling that Kalli is super girly, even early on, and she is! But I don't get that sense from Lexie. I put headbands on her and it just doesn't look right. So I just don't know if earrings are going to look funny on her like the headbands do. See, you can tell I've put way too much thought into this. Help, please...

In honor...

2011-07-23T10:24:00.003-07:00

In honor of my date with Joe today to see Harry Potter 7.2 I thought I would bring you this to look over. Every time I see Lucius Malfoy...

I think of Michael Bolton. Every. Time. I don't know why. I'm weird. Enjoy!

He's been waiting a whole year for this...

2011-07-15T07:49:00.003-07:00

Ever since his last birthday he's been asking to turn 5 years old. Well, it's finally here. We are celebrating his big day with birthday doughnuts, a trip with his dad to the driving range (thanks to papa Rick for his brand new golf clubs!) and dinner out at Red Robin. Tomorrow we will party hard with all our friends. I just love celebrating my kids' birthdays, being able to celebrate how much I love them and how grateful I am that they are a part of my life.

I would never be able to express how much I love this little boy. He has his quirks that can drive me nuts, but that makes him Blake. I've never seen a boy love his sister as much as Blake loves Lexie. Lexie and Blake have a special bond and sometimes I think Blake loves her as much as I do, and that is a lot! I'm so grateful for this little boy in our lives and all the joy and happiness that he brings his father and I.

Happy birthday Bubba boy, you stole my heart the moment I saw you!

2011-07-06T16:43:00.003-07:00

This is Kalli. Kalli LOVES corn. And when I say she loves corn, I mean she really, really loves corn. But as long as it's on the cob. In her book it's the only way to eat it. I know that when I plan to make corn on the cob I need to make sure Kalli will have enough. The other night I gave her half a cob, just because I didn't think she was hungry enough for a whole one. Boy was I wrong. She ate her half in about 2 minutes (and she eats every single kernel off) and was ready for another one. So Joe gave her the rest of his cob which she proceeded to demolish. Again, she got done and was ready for another one. After some pleading on her part I gave her a whole cob and she ate the entire thing. I think both Joe's and my jaws dropped to the floor with how much corn she had eaten. When I'm preparing my corn and she sees me, she does the corn happy dance.

Oh and I found a new better way to make corn. Instead of salting the water you put 2 T sugar and 2 T vinegar into the water. Let the water come to a boil again. Drop in the corn, turn off the heat, put the lid on and let it sit in the covered pot for 10 minutes. So yummy!

2011-07-01T10:17:00.003-07:00

Meet my new best friend in the kitchen. If you bake a lot, or even a few times a year, you need to buy this! One of the things I hate most about baking is buttering the pan and then flouring it. Which usually means that I don't do it and just spray it with Pam and then regret it afterwards. A very reliable food blogger turned me onto this product and I'll never go back. Baker's Joy is a greaser and flouring agent all in one. So when you spray it in your cake pan or bundt pan or any pan for that matter it is greasing it as well as flouring said pan. And it's been a heaven send in my kitchen ever since I found it. It also took me a couple trips to the store to find it. I did find it at Smith's (Kroger) but haven't looked anywhere else for it. Your cakes will thank you for buying this product...

More alike than I would have thought...

2011-06-27T08:54:00.003-07:00

I scream, you scream...

2011-06-22T20:18:00.003-07:00

For my birthday in March I decided I deserved an ice cream maker and I haven't looked back since. I bought this lovely maker which I LOVE! It doesn't make too much, just enough for all of us to have a bowl or enough for Joe and I to have two bowls. But, it's the perfect amount for our family right now.

After I bought said maker I went on a hunt for great ice cream recipes and boy have I made some amazing ones! Upon a very reliable source, I found a great cookbook all about ice cream. Most of his recipes are a bit sophisticated for our taste buds, but we love his strawberry frozen yogurt, chocolate peanut butter and I really liked his chocolate raspberry (although Joe did not).

I wasn't quite satisfied with all his recipes so I went in search of more. I found this delicious strawberry ice cream that I love with the mini chocolate chips. This cake batter ice cream was really good, but Joe thought it just tasted like a very vanilla flavor, I disagree (as did Blake, he loved it!). I made this cookies and cream and it was amazing! I seriously was in love with it and wouldn't remind Joe we had any so that I could have it all to myself. And I made this one tonight and am loving it! So yummy! But I would cut the cherries a bit smaller.

Overall, I think my ice cream maker is getting some great use. I can't wait to make some of these over and over again. I'm waiting for peach season to make a great peach ice cream a friend of mine gave me.

If you don't have an ice cream maker, get one! Seriously I LOVE mine. Or at least make friends with someone that has one, the benefits are superb!

3 months

2011-06-14T08:59:00.003-07:00

Lexie turned 3 months yesterday.

In celebration she found her fingers. It was a good day!

Another season down...

2011-06-12T06:33:00.004-07:00

Last year we put Blake in a little league for tee ball and he seemed to enjoy it and Joe and I enjoyed it. We decided to stick with the same coach and go out for spring ball, which is a bit more competitive and time intensive. Pretty much every week we had one practice and one to two games. It was fun always having something to do and Blake really looked forward to both practice and games. Joe was assistant coach again and he loved it. Kalli loved going to all the games and practices and playing with the other kids and wandering. It's crazy to think we started out the season with me being huge pregnant and ended it with an almost 3 month old!

Our family in their tee ball shirts. Super cute! He loved wearing his pants like this, because that's how the bigger boys wore them. Up to bat. The coaches pitch 3 balls to them and if they don't hit them then they hit off the tee. Blake would usually hit off the coach, only a few times did he have to hit off the tee. In the outfield. A tired ready position.

We had their awards ceremony last night and Blake was awarded the most improved player over all the other kids on the team. It's so fun to see how much tee ball has helped Blake work better with others and communicate better. Can't wait til fall ball starts!

She likes to sing along...

2011-06-06T09:32:00.001-07:00

our most exceptional trip to Vegas

2011-06-01T06:52:00.003-07:00

We spent our Memorial Day weekend in Vegas with my family. The main reason we went is because my brother Braeden was receiving the priesthood and Joe wanted to participate in his ordination. The first day we took our kids to the water park that I love there. You can't beat that it's free and fun! The kids had a blast. We then tried to go to Ethel M Chocolates factory, a place I loved as a kid. Unfortunately they had no workers in the factory, but the bright side is we still got our free chocolate. You will see the above pictures of what an empty factory looks like. I fell madly in love with the chocolate covered worms, their little eyes spoke to me. The second day Joe, Blake, Braeden and my dad went golfing while all the girls had pedicures and went shopping.

I also pretty much ate my way through Vegas, the only way to do it. We really only ate at home on Sunday. I love eating out and it was so nice to eat at the places I love that I can't get here in ABQ.

Overall we had such a great time and on our way home Joe and I were wishing we had stayed one more day. But then Joe bought ice cream cones in the middle of nowhere NM and we quickly got over our sadness.

Thank you to my family in Vegas for hosting us, we had such a great time!

Blake is moving on...

2011-05-23T18:50:00.005-07:00

This school year has flown by and Blake "bridged" into kindergarten on Friday. We were so lucky that Blake was able to attend the school district's free preschool. Blake went four days a week, three hours a day to an amazing preschool that is through the school district for free. It truly was a blessing in his life. We loved his amazing teacher and her assistant. It was amazing to watch him through the year and see how much he was growing, maturing and learning. I will be forever grateful he was able to attend.

Blake in his graduation robes. So cute! Right after he walked the bridge. They don't call it graduating, they called it bridging. They would come from the preschool side, walk over the bridge to the kindergarten side. It was really cute and Blake was so methodical as he walked over the bridge. Blake with Ms. Cunningham, his main teacher. I just loved her! She was strict but loving, exactly what Blake needed. Blake with Mrs. Knolla. She was an exceptional assistant and I so appreciated her. And this is what Lexie did while Blake was bridging.

I went and picked up Blake from his preschool for the last time today and I got teary eyed. In a few short months he will start all day kindergarten. He will be gone about eight hours a day. That's a lot to be gone, and I really am going to miss him. I also know that once he starts kindergarten, he will grow up at too fast of a pace. He's ready, I'm not sure I am. I also got sad because I made good friends with some of the moms that also pick up their kids. It was nice to be able to talk to them each day, I will miss them.

Our Lexie Claire...

2011-05-19T13:21:00.005-07:00

Lexie went in for her 2 month appointment. She is now 10 lbs. 11.5 oz (50%) and 23.5 inches (90%). No wonder she is long enough for her 3-6 month pants but not fat enough. She's our tall little baby. The doctor has us fill out a questionnaire each time we go in, and according to my answers he's worried about her development. He was pushing for me to take her to a specialist to get evaluated. I declined as she's only 2 months old. He told me we'd re-evaluate in 2 months and if he's still concerned he is going to send her to the specialist. He gave us some activities to work on with Lexie. So fingers crossed that nothing is wrong, I don't think I can go through another medical thing concerning another daughter. Those girls are just trouble!

Finishing up the girls' room...

2011-05-09T06:40:00.004-07:00

On Friday and Saturday Joe and I finished painting the girls' room. We painted the white on Friday night and then did the pink stripes on Saturday. It didn't take us nearly as long as we had thought. Luckily Joe and I work pretty well together. We think it turned out pretty cool. We still are planning on putting up a chair rail, but that will come later.

This is a shot of before we moved the furniture back. The colors really brighten up the room. Lexie's bed finally put together. Until she starts sleeping through the night, she'll only sleep here for naps. Kalli also keeps calling it her bed, even though she hasn't slept in the crib since December. Hopefully I don't walk in on her sleeping in there one morning. Another shot of before we moved the furniture. The wall with beds.

Now we just need to figure out what we're doing with our living room and then all the rooms we wanted to paint will be done. Joe thinks we should paint our bathroom now, so maybe we'll add that to the list.

Lexie's blessing day...

2011-05-02T09:06:00.003-07:00

Lexie was blessed yesterday. Joe gave her a beautiful blessing and Lexie looked beautiful. She whimpered a little during her blessing, but I think it was because she likes to be held close.

Lexie in her beautiful dress made by her grandma Norby. She is also laying on a beautiful blanket made by her grandma Sue. The dress in all it's glory. Our cute little family (although not so little anymore). Us with Lexie. The dress made by grandma Norby and the blanket made by grandma Sue. I love that she has something from each grandma with her. That was really special.

Another project under our belt

2011-04-27T14:46:00.004-07:00

Joe has successfully completed another one of the projects I set up for him. I've been wanting these made for awhile. Joe started on them months ago but life got in the way of him finishing them in a timely manner. Luckily the fire was lit under him lately and he cranked them out. I think they turned out really well. Joe didn't want to go buy new paint for these since we have so much in our garage so he painted Blake's the color of his room and the girls' shelf one of the colors of their room. I think they turned out great and they've really streamlined our play room.

What's our next project you ask? Joe emailed me just today with plans for a new desk. Can't wait!

The cost of having a baby...

2011-04-23T15:55:00.003-07:00

We have received all of our bills from having Lexie. I thought it was interesting how much they charged for each service... I thought you might find it interesting too!

Doctors charge for delivering baby- $3,313.00

Kristen's hospital stay- $9,219.00

Lexie's hospital stay- $1,168.00

Anesthesiologist bill- $4,510.00

Total- $18,210.00

I found it interesting that our anesthesiologist bill was more than a thousand dollars higher than my doctor's bill. As much as I love my epidural, not quite sure it was worth that much money. And after looking at all those bills, I am very grateful we have great insurance that we only had to pay a very small fraction of that total. Now I want to go in and look at an itemized bill and see how much they charged me for tylenol and other necessities.

Hunger Game lovers!

2011-04-14T18:28:00.003-07:00

They have been casting for the Hunger Games movie that is due out next year (on my birthday!!). They haven't cast Haymitch yet and I can't help but think Hugh Laurie would be a great person for this role. Have you seen the other cast members yet? No, then go here. And excitingly enough, Joe listened to all the books in this series recently, so we've had a lot to talk about. Is this proof enough that I have no life?

Want to see something cute?

2011-04-07T13:22:00.002-07:00

2011-04-05T11:51:00.002-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_lUnFjXg8

Listening to this after dropping Blake off at school, with Lexie crying in the back, crying my eyes out. It's way too close to home right now. Enjoy!

Just two and half weeks ago...

2011-03-31T20:14:00.004-07:00

Just two and half weeks ago Kalli was so small... how did she grow so much in just these last two weeks?

Well that's one way...

2011-03-28T07:42:00.005-07:00

Before Joe went back to work I asked him if would please sweep and mop the kitchen floor. Because he's such a great and helpful husband, he agreed. The next thing I knew he was bringing in his shop vac from the garage to get the job done. I couldn't help laughing at his style, but it worked really well! There is certainly a difference in how men do things compared to women. Because it worked so well, this might just be Joe's new chore! Joe's Notes: In my defense, there was a lot of dropped food on the floor from Ant Feeder #1 and #2 (Blake and Kalli) and some spilled pancake mix in the pantry. Sweeping just wasn't an option.

We're Streaking

2011-03-20T17:07:00.003-07:00

Our family has quite the streak going with dates.

Lexie - born the 13th of March

Our Anniversary - the 14th of August

Blake - born the 15th of July

Kalli - born the 16th of October

Now Kristen and my birthdays don't fall anywhere near this nice little run, but if we decide to try for #4 it better!

Introducing sweet baby Lexie Claire Norby

2011-03-15T15:07:00.004-07:00

We had our sweet little baby girl, Lexie Claire, on March 13, 2011 at 9:55 am. We were scheduled for an induction for March 12 but I had a feeling it wasn't going to work out. We got to the hospital at 7:30 and were informed they were slammed and had no room for us. They decided to monitor me for a little bit but while I was being monitored two more women came in that were in labor, so I was bumped. It wasn't looking good for us to have a baby that day. Luckily my doctor was on call that night and they said they'd do their best to get me in so he could deliver my baby. We tried to keep busy all day and by 5:30 they had called and told us to come on in. When we got there it was pretty quiet and we think they felt bad for sending us away because they gave us their best room with the best view (like I even cared).

We got settled in and I started getting some medicine that I needed. I needed to get one whole dose before we could start anything, just in case my labor was super fast. But at 10 pm my contractions started by themselves and were pretty consistent and painful. An hour and a half later they started me on pitocin because the doctor had ordered it for my induction, but because I went into labor on my own, my nurse was very stingy with how much she gave me. By 1:30 am my doctor came in to break my water. Apparently Lexie's bag of waters were "bullet proof" (doctor's words not mine), he couldn't get them to break. He left me to do my thing. Because it was daylight savings time starting that morning, I lost one hour of having my doctor there to help. At 7:30 he came in to break my water again, and finally got it to break by using a small needle. Things progressed pretty quick by this point. At 9:55, after 7 minutes of pushing, Lexie Claire was born. The on-call midwife delivered her and man is there a world of difference between how a midwife delivers a baby and a doctor. I am all for my doctor but it was pretty interesting what Joe and I noticed about how different this delivery was. I am quite obsessed with this picture. Seriously, love pouty faces! I had an ultrasound at 36 weeks that told me she was already 7 lbs and 19.5 inches long. I was told she was in the 85%, so we knew the likelihood of her being big was a good chance. Joe guessed she would be 8 lbs. 3 oz and he was so close! But she was only 19 inches, so the ultrasound was wrong on that. She is our shortest and fastest baby so far. Recovery has been really different with this one, mostly because I had an emergency after I had her that I'm not going to go into here. But she really is a sweet baby (everyone says that and I'm pretty sure there is no such thing as a non-sweet baby). Blake is really in love with her and Kalli couldn't really care less. One of the things that was really cool about this birth was the food at the hospital. They don't do meals at certain times, it's all room service. The nurses give you a menu and you order whenever you want all day. It was so fun! Because I knew I wouldn't be there for long, I made sure I ordered all the little extras I could, like strawberry shortcake and cookies and milk. I told my nurse that I was being quite gluttonous and she told me I deserved to be and I agreed with her and ordered another cookie.

It feels good to be home amongst my crazy children and sleepless nights.

Blake's not so fun Tuesday afternoon

2011-02-25T16:33:00.004-07:00

On Tuesday afternoon I got a call from Blake's school saying that he had gotten hurt on the playground. She told me he was bleeding pretty good and we'd need to take him to the dentist. I quickly woke Kalli up, called the dentist to warn them we were coming and went and got Blake. He was sitting fine on his teacher's lap in the nurse's office until he saw me and then he just started crying. There was blood all over his mouth and his clothes. The nurse said he was playing hide and seek with some friends and as he was running up the steps of the playground equipment he fell resulting in a gash in his lip and bleeding gums. I quickly took him to the dentist where he didn't cry once (shocking!). He let them take x-rays with no problem. We were so lucky he didn't break a tooth. He didn't have to have any stitches or anything. We have to go back in a week to check on his teeth, but I think everything will be fine. It was quite a close call.

There are his bleeding gums and you can see a bit of his cut lip. There's the lip again. This shows that he was a bit bloody. I think he was more traumatized seeing the blood and he jumped for joy when I got the blood out of his clothes. He's a bit anal about having his clothes clean. This was taken three days later. you can see that the bruising has really gone away and it doesn't look bad at all anymore. Smiling! His lip is healing well. I think it looks worse today than it did three days ago, but just because it's healing. Surprisingly I kept asking him if he was in pain that whole day and the next and he kept telling me no. I had him on tylenol that whole day but he didn't need it the next day. I'm just hoping this will be the last time I get that call from the nurse, but I wouldn't bet on it!

Painting accomplished (mostly)

2011-02-14T11:40:00.004-07:00

This last weekend we decided to tackle the kids' rooms with paint. Now it may have been a little crazy to try to do two, it also may have been a bit nuts to think I could do this while being 9 months pregnant. We survived apparently, but just barely.

Joe got to pick what we did with Blake's room. The original plan was to do all the walls this blue color with a silver stripe on top. Luckily he changed his mind when we couldn't find the right silver. Once we started on Blake's room we quickly discovered that the color we picked needed three coats to look good. To say we were exhausted is an understatement. I think it turned out wonderful! Plus, Blake loves it! Kalli's room is only half finished. We decided to only tackle the top half this weekend and then will be working on it again on President's Day since Joe has that day off. The bottom half will be pink and white stripes. Eventually we will also put up a chair rail. I love the green that we picked out, it just feels like spring every time I walk in her room. When Kalli's room gets finished in one week there will only be one room left in our house that we want to paint, and that is the living room. We're kind of dreading that one. So it may be put off awhile longer.

2011-02-09T16:29:00.003-07:00

A couple weeks ago we got to see our little girl again. We were checking her head out to see if she may have the same condition as Kalli had. While looking around the tech commented that she already has hair. This is quite significant to me seeing as my two others had no hair at birth. Although it doesn't look like a lot, I'm hoping that when she's born she'll resemble me more than her dad and siblings. It's only fair right. I have attached some pictures of all of us at birth. The odds are not in my favor but a girl can hope right?

Baby girl's "hair" Blake at birth. Looks like he has some hair, but not really Kalli at birth. She had more hair than Blake but nothing too significant. Joe as a bald little baby. And then you have me. I have a mohawk of hair! Somehow my genes must somehow become stronger than my husband's so that I can have at least one baby that resembles me! Come on genes, you can do it!

2011-02-05T12:19:00.003-07:00

We usually try to go to the library once every other week to pick up some new books for the kids (and me). Lately Kalli has been sitting much better for longer books so I have been trying to find good girl books for her. I don't mind getting regular books for her but I also want her to have some girly girl books that she'll enjoy (Blake has his construction and bug books). We've found Olivia, Fancy Nancy and Pinkalicious. Now we are on the search for more. Do you have suggestions for some fun girly girl books?

2011-01-20T08:48:00.003-07:00

So for the last couple months we have been trying to figure out a middle name for our little girl. It's not as easy as it sounds and a lot of people told me that she doesn't even need a middle name. But yes, she does need a middle name, at least in my world. My kid's middle names get used daily if not hourly. I like using my kids middle names to address them, not just when they're in trouble, but I like how it goes together with their first name. I'm crazy, I've never disputed this.

I was sick of not being able to think of names and Joe only tossing out names as a joke, so I went to the library and picked up four (yes I needed four) baby name books. The little one at the top has become my favorite because it's not just a big dictionary of names that is pretty worthless, but the authors make up lists of names. Now some of the lists are silly like rapper kid's names or rock star kid's names or names that no one is cool enough to have. Some of the lists are quite helpful like literary names, vowel names, and old lady cool. I've really enjoyed this book and looking at all the lists.

I'm pretty sure we've figured out her name, well at least I hope so. And no, I'm not telling you right now. You will find out in about a month and a half.

Kalli's new bed (or aptly put, Joe is amazing)

2011-01-04T08:31:00.004-07:00

Awhile ago Joe embarked on a request from me to build Kalli a bed. We figured we could build one for cheaper than we could buy one. That would have been true if Joe didn't then go out and buy $300 worth of new tools. Oh well, that just means he now has the tools to make me whatever my heart desires (or whatever I can find at anawhite.com). I challenged Joe to finish this bed by Christmas and he accomplished it with two days to spare. We put Kalli in the bed the day before Christmas eve and we haven't had one problem, which is quite shocking. I think because Kalli watched her dad make this bed, she was really excited about it. Every time she went into the garage she would point to her bed and say "my bed". We put her in the bed the first night and she stayed in her room and slept in her bed. Naptimes have been perfect. What's funny is Kalli stays in her bed until I come and get her, she doesn't get that she has the independence now to do it on her own, although I like that she just waits there for me. We're shocked by how well she has taken to her new bed, but we're so happy it was an easy transition.

Kalli's bed being put in her room. I did the painting, so I at least helped out in some way. The headboard and footboard are really beautiful. Joe did such an amazing job. All put together. I made a quilt for Kalli's bed and it turned out really well. I love it! Too bad it gets lost under her 8 other blankets she sleeps with. She looks so tiny in this bed, but I know this will be special for her because her amazing daddy built it for her.

So if you have a bed order for Joe put it in now.

Top Books of the Year

2010-12-30T17:09:00.004-07:00

I had a goal this year to read 100 books. I didn't think that would be too far fetched as I read 92 books last year. But sadly I only got to 86 books this year, but I blame my first trimester of pregnancy, I was way too sick and not feeling good to read very much. Looking at my list of books this year there were only a few that stood out to me as being really great. I hope to rectify that situation next year. I hope next year is the year of amazing books! Here are my top five books that I read this last year.

The Help is one of those books that will stick with me forever, it was just that good. I didn't know too much about it except that it had been the top selling book for quite a bit of the year when I picked it up. Even if you don't think this is one that you'll enjoy, just pick it up and read it; it's that amazing! I put it akin to "To Kill a Mockingbird", it's just such an important read. I really can't gush enough about this book, seriously go pick it up now and read it, you won't regret it! To say that I'm a Riordan fan is an understatement and to say that I liked this book is a drastic understatement. This book was clever, witty and just plain fun. The Percy Jackson series included gods from Greek mythology and this one included the gods from Egyptian mythology. I am not well versed in Egyptian mythology but this book sure helps you know who the major players are. I couldn't read this book fast enough, I just couldn't get enough of the two main characters. I caught myself laughing out loud at 1 in the morning, probably annoying Joe. One of my favorite series ended this year (his last book came out on my birthday, I'm pretty sure he did it as a personal birthday present for me). Mull knows how to end a series. There was plenty of fighting, reconciliation and revelations throughout this magnificent end of a magnificent series. I recommend this series to so many people and I really haven't had anybody tell me they didn't like it. Go pick it up and start reading it with your family, it's so much fun! Although this book follows a lot of what I read, dystopian society with a very courageous young heroine, it was different enough for me to really love. I also think I have an odd fascination with midwives which is what this young girl is studying to be. Sometimes I find myself thinking of this book as I'm letting my mind wander. I'm extremely happy that she wrote a sequel to this book. I might get some flack for putting this on my top 5 list but I just think Collins stuck to who she is and finished the series the way you know stays true to her writing. It was dark, much darker than the other ones, but seriously with all they go through how can it not be that dark? She kills off people, makes people pretty miserable, but really I didn't expect much different. I also think she ended with some hope which is a little unlike her writing, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I read this pretty slowly so I could savor everything and really take in the last of my favorite series. I thought she ended it perfectly and am completely and utterly happy with this final installment.

I am always looking for a good read so if you come across one you think I need to read, I would love to hear about it! Did you read any of these on the list? What did you think? I'm excited to see what the next year of books will entail. Happy reading!

Our Christmas in a few pictures

2010-12-26T15:58:00.005-07:00

Christmas was very relaxing this year (it usually is). The kids had a great time opening presents and an even greater time playing with said gifts. Although the windows look dark in the pictures the sun was well up by the time they got up. This year Blake was really into Santa, so we had to have a few talks about Santa. One of our endless discussions was that Santa brings one present and fills your stocking with candy. He was convinced that all the presents under the tree were from Santa, um no, I did not go through the crowds just for Santa to get all the credit. In the end he was excited that Santa visited, ate his cookies, drank his soda and left him and Kalli a present. Blake with his loot. He was very diplomatic and played with all his toys equally. Joe got Blake the 1700+ mega blocks set that literally he worked on all day (he had three more to build at 11 that night that he just left for the next day). It was really fun shopping for Kalli this year because as long as it's girly or princess she'll love it! Her little chest of dress up clothes was a huge hit. She had already done four costume changes in a very short time. Her kitchen was a huge hit this year also. She loves playing in it. Oddly enough, her favorite part of playing in the kitchen is washing her hands. She also asks us to go wash our hands. I'm not quite sure where she gets this stuff. I should have gotten a picture at the beginning of this project. This was the result of the 1700+ mega blocks set. It was a construction set that he put together for Blake. At least his work has been appreciated, Blake loves the new set.

It was nice to spend a quiet relaxing day with the family enjoying being together and playing together. We hope you each had a very Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas with Love!

2010-12-21T15:28:00.002-07:00

We wish you each a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Thanksgiving in Utah

2010-11-30T11:37:00.003-07:00

This year we decided to spend Thanksgiving in Utah with Joe's family. We had a great time even though we all got sick. Here is a little of what happened.

Kalli and Blake loved the snow. Kalli only got to go out one day because Blake used the snow boots all the other days. I wish I had gotten a picture of Blake in the snow but nonetheless he loved it. He went out every day multiple times a day. His favorite snow companions were his cousins and his little buddy Maestro. We had a bunch of cousin time! Blake loved having the big kids to hang around. That little girl on the end talked him into dressing as a princess a couple times. I think she may have a future as a public leader =) Kalli sitting nicely ready to eat Thanksgiving dinner. Little turkey didn't eat any of her dinner though, stinker! Uncle Ryan doing the carving. There were 30 people all together which meant a lot of food! And oh was it yummy! The adults sitting and eating. I'm not sure when we will go out of town for Thanksgiving again but it was a fun occasion to be around family and enjoy each other's company.

Another one down....

2010-11-15T09:18:00.003-07:00

We finally bit the dust and decided to get our painting done in our kitchen. It was a two day process. We did one big wall on a Saturday night and then the next week finished up all the other walls on a Friday night. We love it and it just makes it so much more homey!

Our next project to paint is the kids' rooms. I already know what I'm doing in the girls' room but Joe still needs to decide what to do in Blake's room. Hopefully that will be done sometime in January!

Woodworking man...

2010-11-10T16:29:00.004-07:00

Awhile back I did a post on a beautiful picnic table that Joe built for our kids off of a great website called knockoffwood.com. Since then I have shown Joe a lot of projects I want him to work on. Because of this, Joe said he needed a work bench before he could complete any more projects. I agreed if that meant I got to have my projects completed. So here is his new workbench in our garage.

Beginning stages. Here is the finished product. He did a great job and now he can start on my projects. You can see Kalli's new bed in the making, her headboard and footboard. I am so excited for that project to be completed! It's going to look so great! Joe is doing such a great job! And because Joe had some extra wood I found a project for us both to work on. He cut the blocks and sanded them for me. I painted them, mod podged scrapbook paper and added vinyl I cut. I think it's so cute and it only cost us a few dollars! I love when we work together.

I can't wait to show you the finished product of Kalli's big girl bed. It's going to be awesome!

2010-11-02T13:55:00.002-07:00

This year I took exactly 4 photos of my kids on Halloween... that's it. They all look identical to this one. Happy Halloween a couple days late from spiderman and a cute little puppy!

Carving Pumpkins

2010-10-28T08:29:00.004-07:00

Blake (and me) had been dying to carve pumpkins this season. Since Joe's parents were going to be in town we decided we should carve with them. Blake was so excited as were Scott and Paula =)

Blake and Kalli were so excited with their pumpkins. Blake helped pick out the pumpkins and I think we got some great picks! He even tried to carry them for me but alas they were too big. All of us at work! Joe got to work on Blake's and his own. We call him the master carver( or maybe I just do) Kalli picked out a kitty to do. This is us with our finished product. They had so much fun with this activity. Our finished products. Blake has the alien (that we also think resembles our little unborn girl's ultrasound pics), Paula and Scott did the skull pumpkin, Kalli and mine was the kitty and Joe did a cute face.

We had so much fun doing this, plus this year we moved the carving inside which was infinitely more comfortable!

2010-10-26T15:35:00.003-07:00

We found out this morning that Blake and Kalli will be getting a baby sister. We're so excited. Blake was stuck on having a boy but I think in time he'll warm up to the idea. Initially when we told Blake we were having another baby he told us it was going to be a girl, so I guess he knew from the beginning.

We're also excited because we get one more ultrasound at 32 weeks just to make sure her head looks good, since we want to be prepared in case she has the same condition as Kalli. Plus the ultrasound will be 3d, we've never had that done.

All in all, we would have been happy with either a boy or girl but we're so excited to welcome another little girl into the family. As my mother in law said, soon the granddaughters will outnumber the grandsons! Who knew that would happen?

2010-10-23T07:51:00.002-07:00

On Tuesday morning, bright and early, we are finding out what gender we will be having. We want to know what you think it might be! Vote in our poll and we'll see who was right!

Terrific Two Year Old

2010-10-20T17:27:00.005-07:00

We celebrated Kalli's 2nd birthday on Saturday. We had so much going on that day that our only goal was to make her feel special, we think we succeeded.

Kalli started by opening her presents. She didn't care about unwrapping them, just getting the present. So Blake got to open them for her and she got to play with them. It was a good system they had going. Kalli received a lot of princess stuff, pink stuff and baby stuff. Kalli is ALL girl. She has grown up in a house with no princesses or really anything pink and yet she is obsessed with these things. I'm pretty sure it's been hardwired into her brain. We decided to give into her girliness. Kalli enjoying her birthday doughnut. I must say that I love this tradition! Blowing out her birthday cupcake.

Although Kalli can be quite dramatic she is such a sweet girl. She loves to give hugs and loves and is pretty friendly. Now that she's getting older, Blake and Kalli enjoy playing together. It's hard to believe that it's already been two years and in other respects it feels like she's been in our family forever. We just love our little stinker bug!

Where are all the balloons?

2010-10-11T07:35:00.003-07:00

This year we set out again for another year of the ABQ balloon fiesta's glowdeo. Unfortunately it was a little too windy so they couldn't blow up the balloons. We decided to stay since they were still going to do the fireworks show and we didn't have time during the rest of the week to go back. The kids still had fun running around, eating and watching the fireworks. We stuffed our faces with hotdogs, fries, funnel cake and cotton candy. The fireworks are amazing every year, I've never seen a better fireworks show ever! Hopefully next year we'll get to see the balloons up close and personal.

No balloons but we're still happy! Every year they have a Darth Vader balloon. Even though they didn't blow it up, the storm troupers still came out. Blake was so scared of them but Kalli was willing to go right up and take a picture. I give her another year before she's frightened too. Enjoying the yummy food and waiting for those fireworks to start.

In all honesty, we still had such a great time even though there weren't any balloons. I guess it's what you take out of each situation. If you've never been to the ABQ balloon fiesta, you need to go! Plus, you can always stay with us!

2010-09-27T09:33:00.005-07:00

We signed Blake up for T-ball for the off season and he's loving it. He has a great coach and the team is pretty small, so they're pretty much equal. Blake loves going to his games and playing. It's so fun and cute to watch these little guys play. Blake is certainly not the only one that loves going, they are just so much fun to watch!

Growing by two feet

2010-09-10T09:11:00.003-07:00

We are excited to finally announce that we'll be adding two cute little feet to our family in March. We'll just say the middle of March as my doctor, ultrasound tech and I all have different dates. We are super excited. Blake is telling me he wants it to be a girl and name her Allissa, not sure where he got that from. Kalli keeps pointing to the pictures and saying "baby". So needless to say we are all very excited!

We need your help again...

2010-09-01T08:08:00.003-07:00

Once again we are looking to paint another room. And once again we can't decide so we're bringing the issue to you all! This will be in our kitchen which has a warm tone. Please, let us know what you think.

Here are all five of your choices. Please take into account the drapes that are next to the paint, they need to live cohesively together. Here are all of the paint samples except for #5 under our cabinets and you can catch a glimpse of our counters.

Please let us know what you think looks best. Thanks! (This is greatly appreciated!)

Some of our favorites...

2010-08-18T11:29:00.003-07:00

We recently took some family pictures since it's been over a year. Our family is so young that even a few months shows a great difference. We loved how they turned out. Here are some of our favorite pictures.

2010-08-14T09:21:00.004-07:00

We are celebrating our 6th anniversary today. Joe surprised me with this picture last night. It is incredibly gorgeous and totally unexpected! After 6 years he has learned a thing or two!

Six years ago I'm sure we would never had guessed where and what we would be doing. But I don't think we would have known we would be this happy with our lives. I feel eternally blessed that I married my best friend and the person I turn to first. Here's to many more years of wedded bliss!

2010-08-01T15:00:00.001-07:00

A little sneak peak at what we were up to yesterday...

(Click here)

A Whooping Good Time!

2010-07-20T08:38:00.003-07:00

On Friday we had Blake's birthday party. We invited some of his closest friends to play in his pool and generally have a good time. We pretty much locked the kids outside and the adults enjoyed our time inside childless. Blake is pretty funny to watch open presents. He got excited about every present and jumped up and down in excitement. It was fun to watch. He also got to pick out his own cake and was so excited to have a Transformers cake. He made out with great presents that he loves more than anything. In fact, all the new presents he received he takes back and forth in the house and sleeps with them every night.

Celebrating the big 4!

2010-07-15T06:08:00.004-07:00

Well today is the long anticipated (by Blake) day of Blake's birthday. He has been asking when his birthday is everyday for at least six months. I sure hope it lives up to all the excitement he has for this day. Although Blake has been quite trying at times he sure has become a great little boy. He's pretty thoughtful and loving but still extremely active. We sure do love this boy.

Fresh out of the oven. One year old. Celebrating his 2nd birthday. And I thought he was big then! Celebrating 3! And now he is 4! Yesterday I asked him a few questions so that I knew him better here were his answers:

Favorite color: yellow (this was a bit of a surprise)

Favorite food: mac and cheese

Favorite movie: Transformers (I think this one is in theory)

Favorite TV show: Phineas and Ferb

Favorite thing to do: Play outside

Favorite church song: I Am A Child of God

Blake got extra lucky this year as his birthday falls on Thursday, he gets to celebrate Thursday and Friday. We'll have a lot to live up to next year. Happy birthday our bubba boy!

Our 3rd of July festivities

2010-07-05T08:29:00.004-07:00

Since we have such a great view of our city's fireworks, we decided it was necessary to have a party at our house. We invited four other families over to eat, launch fireworks and watch the city fireworks from our backyard. It was so fun getting to know new families and hang with old ones (that is not a jab at your age Heather =). The kids just loved running around with each other and incidentally we had no fights, that may just be a miracle! The food was delicious! The kids loved the fireworks we did ourselves and the adults loved the city fireworks!

The kids sitting in the front yard watching our own fireworks. They kept yelling "fire"! What are we teaching these kids? Blake and mommy. He barely came close to us the whole night as he was having too much fun with his friends. And this is what Kalli did all night. Kissing her little boy toy. In actuality I think he was kissing her and she was just putting up with it. Oh, and she was also giving hugs to her friend Anna. She just loves Anna! Can you see how enthralled they are with the city fireworks?

We had such a great night, can't wait to do it next year.

Cutest story of the night. We were getting ready to eat and told the kids we would be saying prayer. We could hear them outside at the table arguing about who got to say the prayer. In the end each of the kids got to say a prayer. It took a long time but eventually everyone go their turn. At least we know we're teaching them right.

2010-06-14T16:56:00.003-07:00

We are so excited for this little boy! Our school district offers free pre-school for 200 of its students that will be going to kindergarten the next year. This year they had 230 applicants so our chances were pretty good. Blake was chosen in the lottery which means he got in! He will be going to school four days a week, three hours a day. We are so excited for him and have been told how great the school is. The best part is that it's free!! He starts in the middle of August and I don't know who's more excited, me or him!

Summer has sprung!

2010-06-08T09:33:00.004-07:00

So summer has officially begun in our home. In an effort to keep the kids busy every day we decided to run through the sprinklers one afternoon. The kids had just received their new bathing suits and were super excited. This is how we broke them in. I can see us doing this often this summer. As you can tell, they had a great time!

I forced Kalli out into the middle and she sure loved it! Although she liked being on the sidelines much better. Yea, he loved it! I bet you can't tell from this face that she was having fun! One of the few times they are getting along. This is what Kalli preferred.

We had so much fun and can't wait to get to the pool next!

We have our very own Handy Manny! errr Handy Joe!

2010-06-01T09:17:00.003-07:00

So I found a great kids picnic table on a great website that I asked Joe to make. We were waiting for a good weekend where we would have enough time to work on it. Last weekend was that weekend. Let me just warn you that when you go to this website, you may become addicted with all the projects you could have your husband or you do. It's a bit ridiculous how many of these projects I want done. Joe already has his assignment for the next project he's going to work on. You have been warned! The site is www.knockoffwood.blogspot.com and it's amazing! On to the project!

Just starting out! Happy guy getting to work with his hands. I think he loved every minute! My side of the garage was turned into his work area. All done, and can you tell how much the kids love it? I love it too! In fact, Blake loves it so much the first night we had it he had to go eat dinner out on the table in the garage. Silly boy. Now we are trying to decide what color to paint this beauty. Blake told me he wanted orange, I was thinking red. What do you think?

Blake is so random...

2010-05-28T13:56:00.004-07:00

So apparently I have been wearing Blake out every day. The other night I made pizza and sat Blake and Kalli down to eat while I finished up. It got very quiet after about five minutes, which is not normal in my house. So I looked over and saw that Blake had pulled the other chair close to him and lay down to fall asleep. He slept like this for an hour and a half. No amount of me prodding or making noise would wake him up. I thought this was a fluke and that he was just really tired that day. Nope, the very next day Blake was eating dinner and again fell asleep in the same position. Blake is such a boy and can fall asleep anywhere. It's not too abnormal for him to fall asleep at dinner although usually he just falls asleep sitting up.

My friend commented that he looked like he was in a cage, now that's an idea for the crazy Blake!

Reno calls to us...

2010-05-24T17:56:00.002-07:00

So after Disneyland we headed to Reno. We hadn't been back there for two years and missed some of our friends dearly, not to mention some of the restaurants. We stayed with our great friends the Smiths and had an amazing time. Because we were only there for two days we didn't get to see and do everything we had wanted to.

This is Linda getting ready to go play with the bees. My kids have a special bond with her and they just love her. Even though Kalli hasn't grown up around her she still loved her so much. I know Linda will always have a special place in my kid's hearts. So the Smiths have gotten into bee keeping. Carl wanted to show us what it's like so Joe was brave and went outside to be right there. I chose to take pictures from the house. Look how close Joe got, I give him major props. At one point Joe gave his net hat to the Smith's son, so Joe had no net hat for half of this. Now that's bravery my friends. Look at all those bees. So glad I was inside. Kayla was so good with Blake and Kalli and they just loved her. Kalli would run up to her when they got home from school and want to give her loves. It was so special.

We enjoyed seeing the friends that we could. Because of the wonderful world of blogging, I really felt like I knew my friend's children even though we either hadn't met before or because we had been gone for so long. That was pretty special. But now since we have gone there, it is our NV friends turn to come visit us out in NM! You'll always have a home to stay in when you come out!

Our Disneyland Trip

2010-05-18T11:43:00.004-07:00

We spent two days in Disneyland last week and it was amazing. We had such a great time and loved every minute. Surprisingly our kids did really well and really had no meltdowns, which is extraordinary. My favorite rides were the Toy Story one in California Adventures and Tower of Terror. Joe really liked the Toy story ride also and the Indiana Jones one is Disneyland. Blake loved Splash Mountain and the Toy story ride. We had such a great time and were very sad to have to leave. We're hoping to be going to Disney world in two years, we'll see. Here are some of the pictures of our trip.

Of course we had to get a picture in front of the N. I think it's required. Pluto! We also have pictures from Reno and Salt Lake that I'll get to this week. It was such a fun 10 days and we were VERY sad to come back home.

Kalli's Boyfriend

2010-05-05T14:44:00.004-07:00

Meet Kalli's boyfriend. Blake brought him home from school this week and she instantly fell in love. Whenever we are outside she insists on having full on conversations with him. Monday night she talked to him for 15 minutes. It was funny to watch. Now whenever nobody is watching she picks him up and walks him around the yard, probably showing him her digs. Today she brought him inside but he was instantly banished back outside which instantly made Kalli cry. She tries to be as gentle with him as possible but alas his nose has been pulled off and put back on. He's a great addition to our family Kalli just wishes he would respond back to her in her conversations with him!

Blake's prayer

2010-05-04T07:10:00.003-07:00

Blake's prayer last night at dinner went like this:

Heavenly Father

pledge allegiance to the flag

of the United States of America

and to the Republic

For which it stands

One nation

under God

indivisible

with liberty and justice for all

I proceeded to tell him that was great but needs to do a real prayer. The look he gave me was priceless. I think his pre-school teacher is making this little boy into a very patriotic little boy. I hear the pledge of allegiance and some flag song they sing at least 10 times a day.

The finished product.

2010-04-29T10:10:00.004-07:00

Awhile ago I posted about our almost finished kids bathroom. Well it is now done (although it's been done for almost a month). Here are the finished photos. We all really love it and think it turned out perfect. I am now officially obsessed with wainscoting. Our next project will be our kitchen but I don't think we'll tackle that until after summer.

2010-04-22T07:59:00.003-07:00

In just over two weeks we will be here:

I'm really excited for a few reasons:

1-Joe has never been here and I can't wait for him to go! I think he is going to have a blast and revert back to his kid years!

2- Blake is going to love every minute. We've really been hyping this trip up and telling him about the rides. He's especially excited about the Toy Story ride where you shoot things. I just can't wait for him to be there!

3- I haven't been since I met Joe and I can't wait to ride my favorite rides, including the Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones and Splash Mountain.

4- I get to go on all the scary rides with my awesome brother and sister because Joe refuses to!

5- At night when my kids are pooped but I'm still wanting to ride rides, my mom will take the kids back to the hotel and Joe and I can continue to have fun with my brother and sister. Does it get any better?

6- I get to spend time with my mom, brother and sister!

I just can't wait to GO!!!!

2010-04-06T17:27:00.002-07:00

What do you do to keep your kids quiet and still during conference? Apparently we wrap ours up in blankets so they are immobile. It worked pretty well for a couple of minutes, but at least they had fun doing it!

Kalli's hair looks this crazy pretty much every morning. Poor girl has the WORST morning hair!

Happy Easter

2010-04-03T07:50:00.003-07:00

Since Easter fell on General Conference this year I dressed up the kids in their Easter gear last week. Unfortunately Blake didn't want to wear his Easter garb and insisted that he only wears a white shirt and tie for church. Bummer. Kalli was cute in her cute little dress. At least they are getting better at taking pictures together.

Yea, I know it looks like she's in a strangle hold but you know, that's how brotherly love goes. So sweet. And you can really see how well her bangs turned out. They did not like taking pictures by themselves. This is the best I could do with my wild models. I just love these kids.

A New Kristen

2010-03-28T19:35:00.004-07:00

For the last couple years I have wanted to go dark with my hair. I finally bit the bullet and had it dyed on Friday. A good friend from my ward is a great hairstylist and told me she'd do it. I love the color and especially the cut, I think it's the best one I've ever had. Although I love the color I think we're going to be putting in some red highlights. I just love how it all turned out!

(These pictures were taken by Blake which I think is pretty impressive)

Kallis first haircut

2010-03-26T14:40:00.004-07:00

Joe and I finally got sick enough of Kalli's long front hair that we took action. We asked our friend to cut her hair so that she no longer looks like a boy when I don't do her hair. She cut some bangs for her and just evened it out in front. I was completely shocked at how well Kalli sat for her. She did a great job and I'm pretty happy with the results. Here are the pictures to document this momentous occasion.

She loves the water bottle because I use one on her everyday! The first cut is always the hardest right? I don't really get sad about my kid's first haircut, I guess I'm not all the sentimental but that shouldn't come off as a shock to anyone.

I think she was kind of proud of herself. Look at her smiling at Courtney! She looks a bit older with her hair cut in the front. Usually we reserve this momentous occasion for grandma Paula, but since we knew we wouldn't be seeing her anytime soon we needed to take action. Hopefully we'll get grandma Paula to cut her hair! It's tradition, right?

2010-03-22T10:18:00.003-07:00

When FHE treat is this good, how can you not shove it in your face, therefore getting it all over? My kids were big fans!

An incredibly thoughtful person in my life sent me these great ramekins that makes me want to make pizookies, lava cakes and creme brulee until I fall down in exhaustion. Thank you, you are AMAZING!

Painting again

2010-03-17T09:16:00.003-07:00

So this past weekend we decided to tackle the kids' bathroom. A couple of weeks ago I went and bought all new linens for their bathroom. I really loved the colors and was excited to put some nice color on the wall as well. It's a bit blue but we just love it! We're not quite done. In a couple of weeks we will be putting up some wainscoting and then we'll be done. Here is the journey of the bathroom.

Blake was ridiculously excited to paint so we let him help us a bit. He thought it was pretty cool but got pretty upset when we wouldn't let him do more. Joe hard at work. He was the only one able to tackle those really hard places. Finished product. I just love how it all goes together. I took this picture at night when we were all done so it's a bit darker. Kalli approves.

Just like Mommy

2010-03-13T14:59:00.004-07:00

(This was not posed)

Oh the possibilities...

2010-03-09T15:58:00.003-07:00

If you know me pretty well you know how much I love cookbooks. Joe usually just rolls his eyes when I discover a new cookbook, but to me its quite exciting. Last week I acquired another cookbook, one in which I am ridiculously excited about. I don't think I've been this excited since my last Paula Deen cookbook.

To me a cookbook is just chock full of possibility. I get anxious to try all the great new recipes and make them work in my kitchen. Not only does this cookbook have a ton of recipes that my ridiculously picky husband will eat but it also allows me the opportunity to buy new cookware, is there anything better?

I have also become a lover of food blogs and have found one that I check daily (ok maybe twice a day). I just love finding new recipes that I love and that will make my family moderately happy. Some of my favorites? This, this, oh and this, did I mention this, and lastly this.

I also have a lot of "I want to make these" recipes. That includes: funnel cake, shrimp pasta in a foil package, baked lemon pasta, and molten lava cakes.

Now it's your turn. Do you have a cookbook that you just absolutely love (please help my ever growing addiction spread)? Or do you have a food blog that you live by? I would love to know, if only to become more obsessed with food than I already am.

2010-03-01T13:04:00.003-07:00

This is what I see whenever I take a shower and both kids are awake. It makes me smile. It's become a game with them where I'll grab their hands. This has perpetuated the problem.

2010-02-23T09:26:00.002-07:00

This little boy started preschool yesterday and he couldn't be happier. Blake has been asking to go to school for at least a year. I finally lined things up for him to go for the last couple months before summer break. When I picked him up yesterday he was so excited to tell me about his morning. As we were leaving it was snowing/raining so it was quite wet. Blake took a nice spill and scraped up his hand, but instead of caring about his bleeding hand, he was distraught that his paper he colored from school had gotten dirty and was now blowing away. We ran after the paper through the parking lot and finally caught it. I had to clean it off to make Blake stop wailing. All in all, he is pretty excited to be big enough to go to school. Now I just have to keep explaining to him that he's not big enough to go to the high school behind our house. He's just growing up too fast!

2010-02-13T07:00:00.001-07:00

Monster

2010-02-10T13:59:00.003-07:00

Last night I thought it would be a good idea to play basketball until 11 pm. It seemed like a good idea, and then I had to wake up at 5 am to go to work. Needless to say, I am feeling the effects of lack of sleep. So my boss thought I needed a little pick-me-up to get me through the rest of the day. Apparently to him, a "little" pick me up is a 32 oz Monster, the "BFC!"

2010-02-07T19:07:00.001-07:00

This is my to read pile. It brings me ridiculous amounts of happiness to see this sight. All those good books just waiting to be discovered by me. Happiness!

Final Product (almost)

2010-01-29T10:58:00.004-07:00

Here are some pictures of our final product. We bought our temple picture and love it. Working at Deseret Book sure has its perks! The only thing left that I want in this room is a bookshelf. That will come eventually, but for now we are very happy. We love the color of the room; it is perfect!

Our next project is pending. We can't figure out if we want to work on our kitchen or kids bathroom. Both will probably be done this year, we just have to figure out which one comes first. I have found a love of finding the perfect color for each room. I don't know what I'll do when its all done!

2010-01-18T16:21:00.006-07:00

Yes, this little man is now a Sunbeam which is a little crazy for me. After a rough first week and being on the road last week, Blake really liked primary yesterday. I was out in the hall with Kalli and was looking in the window and he was singing and participating which made me proud. He even came home reciting the first article of faith, although he also added aliens and whatnot to it.

While we were in Sacrament meeting the woman was talking about following the prophet and Blake caught onto that and started singing the song "Follow the Prophet" over and over and over. At least I now know that he does listen to us even if we don't think he does.

Although we won't mention that Joe had to bribe Blake to wear a tie by not only giving him a dollar but also an unopened pez. He was very proud and kept telling me dad gave him cash to wear a tie (please tell me he didn't tell his teachers this).