I Looked Out the Window...

Kasidee looked out our window the other day and practically yelled, "Mommy - look! There's popcorn on our trees!" So I had to grab the camera and I took a few pictures over the course of about a week. I love these trees - they're pretty every time of year, but I especially love them during their brief "popcorn time!"

#14

Today is Quentin's and my (is that how you say it?) 14th anniversary! I can't believe I'm so old, and I can't believe how fast the time has gone! We also met each other 17 years ago on this day - which means I've known Quentin almost exactly HALF of my life!

If you don't like cheese...then you can stop reading here. But I just have to document for future generations that
I
Love
My
Husband!

When we were dating and first married, of course I knew how very much we loved each other, and we looked forward to spending our lives (and eternity!) with each other. But I think I've realized through the years just how very lucky I really am. Quentin is so thoughtful, so genuine, so wise, so hard-working, so sentimental, so involved with our little family. He is just the best husband and daddy! My life is so blessed because of him, and I am so grateful for him. He's my best friend, the one I always want to be around, and he makes my life so happy and comfortable and sweet.

(Okay, the cheese is done.)

Funnies

The other day Kiera asked me why she has never seen a dust bunny. She wondered where they live and how big they are. I think she thought they were real bunnies.

Kasidee and I were looking at some of her baby pictures. We came across one of her with her sisters. She asked where Daddy was in the picture - I told her he wasn't there. She said, "Oh - he wasn't born yet?"

Staycation

Now that we're back from our little jaunt to Lava Hot Springs, we've declared the rest of the week a "Staycation." This morning we slept in, played and puttered around the house. Then early this afternoon we went to Temple Square and got some pictures of the girls in their Easter dresses (I'll make you wait for those though.) Then we went to Banbury Cross, where they make the
Best
Donuts
Ever.

Real healthy, I know. But don't these just look so good?

Lava Hot Springs

Spring Break is this whole week (no school for Kiera and Makenna, no preschool for Kasidee and me, and Quentin even took the whole week off of work.) Yippee!

We left Monday for Lava Hot Springs. Quentin's brother's family joined us and we all had a good time making lots of good memories! I had never been there before and wasn't quite sure what to expect. But I really enjoyed it - the air was cold and crisp, and it felt so good soaking in crystal clear, hot mineral water. We stayed for a couple of hours, got some dinner, then went back after dark. So fun!

We came home yesterday via Logan and stopped off at the Pepperidge Farm outlet, Gossner Cheese Factory, a couple of antique stores, and Cox Honeyland. It was a fun little trip!







When we went to a nearby grocery store, Makenna begged for a little plastic turtle to be her souvenir. The other kids all ended up getting one, and they had fun playing with them in the water and taking them for walks.

Conference

I love General Conference. Not only because we get to hear uplifting, inspiring talks by our leaders, but also because it's a good excuse to stay in our jammies all day and relax. I actually have a very hard time just sitting in front of the TV and watching for 4+ hours (times 2 days.) It makes me tired and I can't concentrate. So our rule is that we have the TV on and anyone can do anything while they listen, as long as it's a quiet activity. So the girls pulled out their My Little Ponies, which they haven't played with for a long time, and set up houses and stores - basically a whole town. It kept them entertained for a few hours.



But in the middle of the last session, we could hear it hailing outside. The girls were so excited and wanted to check it out. They ran around, screaming like banshees - until they got muddy. At least they got some fresh air today and could stretch their legs for a bit!




As for me, I was content organizing pictures on the computer and getting ready to catch up the girls' scrapbooks. Again. It never ends. But it was nice having 4 hours of uninterrupted time where I didn't feel guilty for sitting down!

AF Day

I think April Fool's Day is a dumb "holiday." Who came up with that idea, and why in the world has it stuck around for so long? But.... I've realized that no matter how dumb I think a holiday or a tradition is, I usually go along with it because kids make anything fun.

I usually don't do a whole lot (or anything, really) for April Fool's Day. But last night I was looking online and Parenting magazine had some pretty fun (easy!) ideas. So last night after the girls fell asleep, I tried to switch them in their beds. I successfully moved Makenna over to Kiera's bed but when I moved Kiera to Makenna's bed she woke up and got mad. So that didn't work.

Also last night I filled the girls' hot chocolate mugs half full of water and stuck them in the freezer. This morning I filled them up with hot chocolate - they were baffled when they couldn't stick their straws in all the way.

They also thought it was funny that I had stuck toilet paper in the toes of their shoes before school this morning.

But the funnest part was an idea that my mom had done to me when I was little. I glued a few coins on the garage floor by the door where we come in. When the girls got home from school they were excited to find that someone had dropped their change and raced to grab it. It was hard not to laugh as they tried and tried to pick them up before they realized they couldn't!!

So...this April Fools Day wasn't so bad. Kind of fun, in fact. But I've been on guard all day and nothing happened. I guess that's good!

Park Day

Kasidee and I joined some of our neighbors for a group playdate at the park this morning. What. A. Perfect. Day. We enjoyed our 7 minute walk to "Our Park" - the birds were singing, the air was perfect, and the trees were beginning to get a touch of green on them. I sometimes grumble about Spring because I honestly like "hibernation weather," but once Spring comes I realize how much I've missed it and how wonderful it really is. Welcome Spring!

Doll-ee Part 2

I posted a couple of weeks ago about the cute dolls Kiera has been making out of fabric, holey socks, staples and tape.... Well last Saturday Quentin pulled out the sewing machine that Kiera got for Christmas and the 2 of them figured it out together. It had to take Quentin to do that because I am just not interested in / patient with those kinds of things. So they watched the DVD about the machine and got to work. See how cute our little seamstress is?


After about 5 hours, the two of them had made a doll, exactly how Kiera had imagined in her mind. Not bad, eh?

Peace (I love this thought!!)

peace.
it does not mean to be in a place
where there is no noise, trouble
or hard work. it means to be in
the midst of those things and still
be calm in your heart.
(unknown)

Changes

(Beware this is a long - and potentially boring - post. But it's for my records. Feel free to peek if you dare.)

So…I hate moving furniture. Not because it’s heavy, but because I just hate changes. I like things “just so,” and it takes me a long time to decide on the right spot to put things (furniture or otherwise). Once it’s there I plan on it being there forever – pretty much. I realize that every once in awhile things must change. But I have to gear up for it, and I know I’ll feel unsettled until I find a “new perfect.”

Anyway, that was a lengthy introduction hinting that something has changed at our house. It freaked me out and yet I looked forward to it. It was something I had to think about and plan in my head, but now we're all very happy with it.

For over half of a year, Kiera has been saying she wants her own room. Kiera and Makenna shared bunk beds....




...and had a reading bench and bookshelves on the other side of their room.



Kasidee had her own room...



...with a cute little reading chair and bookshelf as well.


The problem was that Kiera and Makenna's room didn't have a closet. So they had a dresser full of jammies, underwear and socks in their room but their clothes were hung up in Kasidee's room. And for some reason when Kasidee was born, we hung up her clothes on an extra rod in our room but her jammies, underwear and socks were in her room. Confusing, huh?

Anyway, so we began discussing in earnest about Kiera having her own room. But suddenly she timidly said that she might be scared and/or lonely being all alone. She said she wasn't quite ready yet. So we began discussing other options, and somehow we got on the idea of having all 3 girls together. Kind of crazy, but it suddenly seemed to be the best option, and an exciting one too.

So are you reading for the BIG REVEAL? (Sorry the pics are kind of bad - I wish I had a wide-angle lens - and you have to realize that it makes more sense when you can see the whole thing in "real life"....)

So in the room with no closet, we have the girls' 3 beds. That's it. Oh, and a little bookshelf of special things.




And in Kasidee's old room (we call it the Reading Room now) we have the reading bench, Kasidee's reading chair, and all of the books. Oh, and everybody's clothes. Each girl gets 2 drawers (the dresser is now inside the closet) and everything else is hung up.




This set-up just seems to make so much more sense. It functions a whole lot better, and the girls are thrilled to share a room (at least for now.) It's nice having Kiera on ground level instead of way up high on the top bunk - it's easier to kiss her good night, plus it's easier for her to make her bed.

Anyway, I'm just waiting for a few more little things to make the rooms complete: a nightstand ordered from Target, the canopy to be hung above the reading bench, and (maybe) a little door between the 2 rooms - how cool would that be?! Who knows if it will really happen, but that would be so cool!

I thought it seemed funny that, out of 6 bedrooms in the house, 5 people took up just 2 of them at night. But I've always been intrigued by "Kids Suites," and I feel like we almost have one. The girls have a bedroom, a reading room, and their own bathroom - all in one corner of our house. Kind of fun. But I'm sure things will change again down the road and we'll be rearranging again!

Breath

Do you ever just glance at your child, not even thinking, and their sweetness just takes your breath away?

Ice Skating

Don't ask me what "Professional Day" in the school system is, but I was grateful the girls had the day off school today. Perhaps Quentin was jealous because at the last minute he decided to take a vacation day. We took the girls ice skating - something none of them had ever done before, and something they've been begging us to do since their cousins went a few weeks ago. Anyway, they all did surprisingly well and we all had a blast! Kiera was a natural, probably because she rollerblades a lot. Makenna was a little hesitant at first and insisted on holding the side rail and/or our hands. But after a little practice, she was going around all by herself - and pretty fast! Kasidee had fun holding Quentin's or my hands, and her feet were soon steady. She loved doing tricks like holding up one foot or only holding one hand. The session was a little over 2 hours and we stayed the whole time - we even stayed to watch the Zamboni smooth the ice. We were all tired and achy - but happy!

(P.S. Don't laugh about the helmets. We would have wrapped them in bubble wrap too if we could have!!)

St. Patty's

I guess I don't get why St. Patrick's Day is such a big deal here - most Americans are not Irish or Catholic. I guess it's fun for kids, and I've always kind of gone along with it. But for some reason, St. Patty's Day was sort of a big deal at our house this year - mainly because of Kiera. As the girls were getting ready for bed the night before, Kiera made sure everyone was wearing green. Quentin doesn't have green pajamas, so Kiera brought him one of our green hot pad gloves to wear on his hand all night long! The girls gave themselves new names (Green Girl Grace, Green Girl Greta and Green Girl Gertrude.) And Kiera made green necklaces for all of the stuffed animals that sleep on her bed and Makenna and Kasidee put green stickers on their stuffed animals. Before they went to bed, Kiera left a cookie and a note for any leprechauns that might drop by.



The next morning, the girls saw that someone had sprinkled glitter in their bedroom and left 3 little green glass rocks with a glittery shamrock sticker on them. How cool is that?! The cookie was gone, except for a few crumbs, and a picture of "Patrick and Megan" was left behind. Our milk was mysteriously turned green, and while Kiera was mixing the waffle batter (for shamrock waffles, of course - I think I posted a pic last year), the batter began turning green as well!



My preschoolers were excited to get a lucky green glass rock too, but they were spooked when our bubble gum clock hanging on the wall crashed to the ground! I was surprised about that one too, and just so thankful that everyone was on the other side of the room! What a strange day it was!

Silly

The other day, Kasidee had a treat that she usually doesn't have - Cheetos. She picked a small bag and I said, "Kasidee, that bag is just your size!" Her brows furrowed as she looked at the bag. She held the bag up to her chest and said, "No - I'm bigger!"



And this is a picture of Kasidee's grilled cheese sandwich - she wouldn't eat any more because "the rest is crust."



(Now you can see how well my kids eat sometimes!)

Friends

For reasons I just can't figure out, Makenna has a hard time with friends. When someone wants to play with her and be her friend, she doesn't want to. But then she laments about others who don't play with her, or who already have a different friend over when she calls. She says she doesn't have any friends, but I spy on her at school and she has tons of friends that like to be with her. Go figure.

Anyway, lately she and a cute girl in her class have become quite good friends and they play often. Makenna was telling me how nice this girl is. She said, "It's like if she was a human, which she is, and I was a caterpillar - well, she just takes good care of me."

Aren't those the best kind of friends?

Erg.

Why is it that when the clock says 9:00 p.m. it should only feel like 8:00 but instead it feels like 10:00...?
I
Hate
Daylight
Savings.

No Tooting

This morning Kiera decided she wanted to wear a skirt to school, but she couldn't find her tights anywhere. She asked Makenna if she could borrow hers (which, by the way, are still in the package from last Fall because she never, ever wears tights). Makenna said no. So Kiera kept looking for her own tights but kept coming up empty-handed. Again, she asked Makenna. No. After awhile, Kiera began begging. Makenna looked like she was pondering something. She turned to Kiera and said very seriously, "Okay, I'll let you wear my tights. But you have to promise not to toot in them."

Sleeping Beauties

The girls love to fall asleep in our bed. They get excited when Quentin has a late meeting or "game night" because I usually let them fall asleep in my bed. I sit by them and read and glance over at their sweet faces every once in awhile. I took this pic about a week ago. This is exactly how they fell asleep....



And isn't this a sweet pic of Kasidee taking a nap? I. love. these. girls.

Cutie Patootie

Kasidee did her own hair for church yesterday!

New Look

For over a month, Kiera has been asking for bangs. I know it's not a big deal, but I was very hesitant. I wondered if she only wanted them because one of her friends at school just got them. And I worried that she would get them and end up hating them. And well, to be honest, I like how Kiera looks just the way she is and I didn't want her cute face covered up with bangs. But I began to look at this as a learning opportunity - for her and for me. So...we agreed to let her get them, but she had to pay for half. We made an appointment with her friend's mom who has a salon in her home and Kiera began counting down the days. Today was the day!

Here's Cute Kiera before:


And here's Cute Kiera after:


She's very happy with her haircut - but it's going to be a long weekend until she can show her friends at school!

Doll-eee

This past week, Kiera has gotten up about an hour earlier than normal (without me having to wake her up!) and has worked on a project in our craft room. With scraps of fabric, glue, tape, and staples, check out what she created:



She stuffed them with her old holey socks, and even painted one of the faces. The one on the left is Strawberry Shortcake, and the one on the right is Lola, one of the characters she and her friend Ashley made up - they've developed a whole village of people on paper, and now Kiera made the first "real" one. She's very proud!