A Powerful Noise

My friend, Nicole, and I attended the movie "A Powerful Noise" a while back and I must say, it was very eye opening. I have a strong desire to help others, especially to empower women in this world. Here is a trailer of the movie:

Pour some sugar on me...

It's lemonade time, baby! With summertime on it's way (I can hope, right?), this award has me dreaming of sunshine and summer vacations! A huge THANK YOU to Nicole, Nancy, & Jennifer for nominating me. I appreciate your encouragement as I try to make lemonade.

Here are 10 nominations for the Lemonade award. To accept this award, post the above picture on your sidebar and nominate another 10 people on your blog!

World's Greatest Mommy? - I met her in college and with her 5 kids and frank humor about life - she adds lemonade to my life. Many of her posts help me poke fun at myself - which is hard to do on my own!

Alabama Apples - friend from college. Her husband is in the Coast Guard. With her husband working and her 3 active boys, she makes lemonade and shares it freely on her blog. She always has a positive attitude - which is contagious!

From My Window - Kathey brings sunshine to others despite her difficult health conditions. Her blog is inspiring with lots of beautiful pictures. Plus she loves me and encourages me, which I appreciate!

Hendren Family - Misti inspires me with fun family ideas and activities and she knows how to host fun parties with amazing recipes and themes!

Keeping up with the Lutz’s - Mamalutz is a wonderful mama to 5 kids and she makes missionary work a huge priority which inspires me to be better and do better!

Our favorite people in our favorite place - My cousin, Karin, has 6 busy kids and works hard to teach them and love on them. Plus I just think she's amazing!

Hangin' With The Millers - Ashley has a lot on her plate with her daughter's surgery and one baby girl on the way! She has a super great attitude about it all.

RedsDirt - Annie has a great attitude and is a super mom to her 3 busy boys. She's been down under and is happy to share spiritual gems she learns along the way. Thanks Annie!

Just Another Day in Paradise: Shannon has been a huge help to me in our adoption process. She helped organize fundraising events and has supported me from the beginning. And she's done all that plus take care of her 5 boys and be a doctor's wife! Amazing!

Stef's Spot: Stef has been having a hard time juggling work, fixing up a house, health issues, keeping up with her adorable daughter and more! And yet, every time I see her she is smiling and plugging along. With so many difficulties in life, one important thing that Stef has taught me is to keep on keepin' on!

Bed and Breakfast

Tyler & I stole away to this bed and breakfast last night. If you're in Ohio, I highly recommend it to you. We were wanting someplace with a country feel and this B&B totally fit the bill. There was a whirlpool tub in the room and a hot tub outside. For dinner we went to a local Mexican restaurant, called Acapulco, which was amazing. We watched FIREPROOF (Thanks Nicole!) and I bawled through it. Can I just say that it's nice to watch a movie that focuses on strengthening marriage? SO AWESOME! It was the perfect night to go because we were the only tenants there. It was nice and quiet and very romantic. There was also an amazing sunset - it felt like it was made just for us - and sitting in the hot tub outside while the stars shone above while snuggling with my husband - it doesn't get any better than that! We stayed in The Honeymoon Suite (click here for a virtual tour). The breakfast was wonderful and we had a hard time leaving after such fabulous relaxation! Enjoy the pictures!

Happy Birthday Tyler!

Today my handsome husband turned 31 years old. It's amazing to think we're in our THIRTIES!

Since we're getting older, I thought a return to the old days might help us feel younger. Anyone remember wearing this kind of hat?




That's right - my husband chose a birthday party at Burger King this year! We invited our friends: Ben & Sarah and Jon & Nicole to join us! We dined on gourmet whoppers and chicken sandwiches (provided by BK) and I made a German Chocolate Cake*, per Tyler's request.



My two blue-eyed cuties!

Jon, Nicole, Jill, & Tyler - in front of the play area!

A nice closeup! Aren't friends awesome? (Sarah - I wished that you & Ben had been able to stay for the pictures!)

And for your viewing pleasure - singing the Happy Birthday Song!

*German Chocolate Cake:
4 eggs, separated
1 package (4 ounces) German sweet chocolate
1/2 cup water
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk

COCONUT-PECAN FROSTING
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/2 cup butter
1-1/3 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions: Let eggs stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Line a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan with waxed paper. Grease and flour the paper; set aside.

In a microwave, melt chocolate and water; stir until smooth. Cool. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in chocolate mixture and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition. In a small bowl with clean beaters, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into batter.

Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely. Remove waxed paper.

For frosting, in a small saucepan, heat the milk, sugar, egg yolks, and butter over medium-low heat until mixture is thickened and golden brown, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Stir in the coconut, pecans and vanilla. Beat on high until frosting is cool and achieves spreading consistency. Place cake on a serving platter; frost top and sides. Yield: 12-15 servings.

Happy Birthday Tyler!!!

The latest trend

I don't know if you can see it or not - but Kristina's latest trend is hanging a necklace from her ponytail on her head. You should see the expression she has when she puts it on - she feels SO beautiful! And beautiful she certainly is.

All you need is love

when you have a cold. Today I started feeling awful: sore throat, runny nose, headache, etc. Anna came to my rescue and brought me a glass of water and then began reading to me the Dr. Seuss book she got at the library today. How could I not be feeling better with such a sensitive, caring daughter? What a sweetheart! Thanks Anna! I sure do love you!

4 months later...

In Ukraine:

Yesterday:

Can you see a difference?

Warming up

The weather has been warmer, which means that the kids can be outside! Kristina & Anna frequently go out to play on the swingset. It does my heart good to see Anna bonding with her little sister. They play together a lot more now. Kristina wants desperately to do anything and everything that Anna is doing. She'll ask for Anna during the day (while she's at school) and is so excited when we pick her up after school. They have a special relationship that I hope will only grow as time goes on.

Keith is still obsessed with doors - opening them and swinging them open and shut. Lately he has focused his time on the kitchen cabinets, one cabinet in particular. Now he is lifting himself up into the cabinet and closing the door. You can imagine my panic the first time he did this - when I couldn't see him ANYWHERE in the house, only to discover him open up the cabinet door.

Kristina loves the signing times videos. She comes to me with signs that I didn't learn from the videos, especially the individual letters. Her favorite letter to sign is "a."

Keith has been initiating activity with me more lately. He will scoot over to me, pull himself up to standing and begin playing with me. It's very fun and nearly impossible to resist him when he's in a playful mood.

Kristina is still my snugglebug. If I lay down on the couch or on the bed, she snuggles right up to me, sucks on two of her fingers and loves on me. She is a little angel, sent by God to show His love for me. I am certain of that.

Musical Opportunity

I've been the ward choir director basically since I went to college at age 17 (in other words, going on almost 14 years...) and whereas I have enjoyed this calling - I've never felt especially confident in my ability to do it. Sure I can read music. Sure I can choose choral music. Sure I can teach parts. Sure I can sing. But my hands have never had any formal training. I don't own a baton. I just kind of figured that I know more about music than your average molly mormon, so I always got the calling. This is how I see it - and it's not a bad thing. To be honest, I truly enjoy music. I love to sing. And I like leading the ward choir - I just don't see it as a huge talent or ability that I have. Well, yesterday I had the opportunity to lead our Stake choir practice. Here's some perspective: our ward choir averages 6-10 people per week. The Stake choir? 80-100. Yes, there's a little difference there. I was nervous about the idea of doing it - and even wondered what on earth the real stake choir director was thinking in asking me to substitute for him - but once the practice got started, it went smoothly. In fact, I enjoyed it. It was amazing to be a part of such lovely music-making. I felt like I was spreading my little choir-director-wings for that hour and a half last night. It's fun to see how God helps us to stretch ourselves when we might not think we're able. It was wonderful.

The Lemonade Award

Hooray! Many thanks to Diana for this award, especially since she offers me so much "lemonade" from her own life!

Here are the rules...

1. Copy the above logo and put it on blog or post.

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs that show attitude and/or gratitude (Those who add sweetness to life and/or inspire you by making lemonade.)

3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.

4. Let them know they have received this award by commenting on a post.

5. Nominate your favorites and link to this blog.

From the Trenches of Motherhood - Valerie is my lifesaver! She introduced us to Keith and helped me through the entire process of the adoption. (I'm so amazed at how much you remembered after a year!) She is busy with her family of 5 kids under the age of 4 and she is always making lemonade and freely shares it with everyone.

Smiling All The Way Back - Christine is a huge example of spreading the love she has for all her kids. I'm very impressed with her happy outlook on life and her desire to share her blessings with others less fortunate.

Our adoption journey and beyond! - Courtney is on her second journey to Ukraine to adopt two beautiful little girls! She works hard and tries to see the positive outlook when things are tough. She mades some tasty lemonade.

Sarahbear - My childhood friend, Sarah! She is a single woman who volunteered to be the guardian of her two adorable nieces, because their mom couldn't do it. She's also a social worker who works hard to help other children find their forever family while she balances becoming a mom without a husband to help! You're an inspiration, Sarah!

MRS. OKLAHOMA COUNTY HEATHER ROUBA - Heather is an advocate of helping children who come from divorced parents. Through her title she is striving to help these precious children through this rising epidemic of divorce. I support her for taking a stand to help children and for making a powerful noise in her community.

Hidden Treasures - Karen went to Ukraine shortly before we did. In fact, she carried our precious dossier to the SDA for us! She is an amazing mom to her 5 kids and her two newly adopted DS Ukrainian daughters! Her drive to keep going to stay on top of everything is amazing. She has no doubt found treasure in her family.

Jones Family - Resa is a huge example of me of how to continue onward when tragedy strikes and how adoption can be sweet, indeed. Her blog is a breath of fresh air and you can see lemonade in every post.

Seedpod Books and Art - Jessica is an amazing example of how to juggle 5 kids while doing homeschooling, music, arts, and crafts! She has taught me how to not sweat the little things and how to encourage teaching my children life-skills while they're young.

Cornish Adoption Journey - Meredith works hard to help others go through Ukrainian adoptions. She is a wealth of knowledge and helps us stay connected with other adoptive families. She brings lemonade to families and those precious Ukrainian angels.

More Cowbell - No Cool Story's blog makes me laugh when I'm feeling overwhelmed with the stress and lemons of life. When I laugh, I'm happy. When I'm happy, it's easier to make lemonade. Everyone wins! Thanks for the laughs, No Cool Story!

What did you spend your tax refund on?

We're making a tradition in our family that when we receive our tax refund that we will stock up on food storage items. Tonight we had our FHE on food storage. We then went down to our local ALDI and bought items to update our 72 hour kits and to add to our food storage. It's such a great feeling to be following the counsel of our church leaders on being prepared.

This would be a good time to introduce to you our new addition (Tyler is modeling - isn't he cute?). Please welcome Bonnie Blueberry!


And let me tell you, Bonnie has a lot of space for this yearly tradition!



Tyler actually volunteered to put it all away while I put the kids down for bed. No, really, he did.


How do you like these shelves? Tyler built them himself. That's my man!

Here are our four 72 hour kits. We don't have any idea how Kristina will be able to carry her backpack and Keith can't even walk yet - but it's the being prepared that counts, right?

Here are the items that are now outdated or will shortly be outdated from our 72 hour kits and from the food storage in the garage. Anyone have any idea what I can do with 12 cans of evaporated milk, 6 bottles of barbecue sauce, and 6 cans of chef boyardee?

Recipes from the weekend

I made some yummy recipes while hosting my grandparents. If you like to host, then give these a try!

Biscuit-Topped Chicken Pie:
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
6 - 8 hard boiled eggs, sliced
1 can corn, drained
dash of salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 2/3 cups chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 recipe angel biscuit dough*

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place chicken in baking dish; cover with sliced eggs and drained corn. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix broth and soup; pour over chicken.

Angel Biscuits*:
2 ½ cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
½ cup shortening
1 cup milk
1 tbsp yeast dissolved in ¼ cup warm water

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Add shortening and cut in until mixture is crumbly. In separate bowl whisk together milk & yeast. Pour over dry ingredients. Roll dough into ball and knead on floured surface 20-25 times. Pat into ½ inch thickness.

Cut Angel Biscuit Dough into rounds with a biscuit cutter; arrange over chicken. Bake for 30 minutes; serve hot. Yield: 6-10 minutes.

The Best Chocolate Chip/Oatmeal Cookies:
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
2 cups real butter, softened
4 eggs
4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla
5 cups oats
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Mix together adding oats & chocolate chips last. Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes. Can divide recipe in half.

Spiced Oatmeal Mix:
8 cups quick-cooking oatmeal
1 1/2 cups chopped mixed dry fruit
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Store in an airtight container for up to a month. Contents of mix may settle during storage. When preparing recipe, spoon mix into measuring cup. In a deep microwave-safe bowl, combine 1/2 cup oatmeal mix and 1 cup water. Microwave, uncovered, on high for 1-2 minutes or until bubbly, stirring every 30 seconds. Let stand for 1-2 minutes before serving. Yield: 18 servings.

Texas Flank Steak:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar or cider vinegar
3 tbsp barbecue sauce
3 tbsp steak sauce
2 tbsp dried minced onion
1 tbsp liquid smoke flavoring
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 (1 1/2 lb) beef flank steak

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine first 8 ingredients. Add the steak; seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Drain and discard marinade. Grill steak, covered, over medium-hot heat for 6-8 minutes on each side or until meat reaches desired doneness. Yum!

Slow-cooked Mac-n-cheese:
16 oz elbow macaroni or rotelle or shells or bowtie, etc.
½ cup butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 can (12 oz) evap milk
1 can (10 ¾ oz) condensed Chedder cheese soup
1 cup milk
4 cups shredded cheese, divided

1/8 tsp paprikaCook macaroni according to pkg directions, drain. Place in 5 qt crockpot; add butter. In a bowl, combine eggs, evap milk, soup, milk, & 3 cups cheese. Blend together. Pour over macaroni mixture; stir to combine. Cover & cook on low for 1-2 hours. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cook 15 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with paprika.

Peach Crisp:1 cup flour
½ cup brown sugar
¼ tsp salt
½ cup butter

Pat into greased 9 inch square pan. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes.

2 16oz sliced peaches
1 cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch

Drain peaches; reserve juice in saucepan-add sugar & cornstarch. Bring to a boil stirring constantly for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in peaches, pour into crust.

Mix 1 ½ cups quick oats, ½ cups brown sugar, ¼ cup flour, cut into 5 tbsp butter. Mix & sprinkle over filling. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

And then for St. Patrick's Day, I made a family favorite recipe:

Color-vision Cake:
1 cake mix prepared according to box instructions
1 small box lime jello (you can use any flavor, we just used lime because of St. Patrick's Day)

Mix 3 tbsp of dry lime jello into cake batter. Bake the cake according to box instructions.

Frosting:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cold water
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla

In the top of a double boiler combine sugar, cold water, egg whites, and cream of tartar. Add remaining dry lime jello. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds.

Place over boiling water (upper pan should not touch water). Cook, beating constantly with the electric mixer on high speed, about 7 minutes or till frosting forms stiff peaks. Remove from the heat; add vanilla. Beat 2 to 3 minutes more or till it reaches spreading consistency. This frosts the tops and sides of two 8 or 9 inch cake layers or one 10 inch tube cake.

Happy Hosting!

Cute kids = cute videos

Here are some videos from the past couple of days. Also, we took some family pictures!

Keith having fun in his high chair.

Kristina showing off some moves outside on the swingset.

Keith's first time swinging - loving it.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I had hoped to have a day full of St. Patrick's Day activities, but it didn't quite turn out that way. Instead, I managed to make a lime green cake with light green frosting for dessert. Oh, and I played The Irish Tenors all day - that counts, too, right? What did you do today to celebrate? I hope to be more prepared next year, since I'm celebrating this holiday now. ha ha.

Here is Anna's artwork:


Kristina's artwork:

Picture of us all eating the green cake:

Over the river and through the woods...

From Grandmother's house they came! My grandparents arrived this past friday and spent 3 glorious days with us before flying home this morning very early. On Saturday morning we went and took family pictures, then ate lunch at Chick-Fil-A (my favorite place lately), and then came home to relax. On Sunday they went to visit some friends from waaaaaaaay-back-when that they knew while in the Air Force - my grandpa is a retired Lieutenant Colonel. Monday my Grandma and I took off to the BX for some shopping and lunch in the food court - just like old times, Grandma! Then Tyler & Grandpa went to the AF Museum where Grandpa showed Tyler which planes he flew in during the 3 wars he served while in the AF. Then yesterday, Grandma started to teach me to play BRIDGE. She said it took her 2 weeks to learn it - playing every day. It was a lot of fun and then we played with Grandpa & Tyler after the kids went to bed. It was a wonderful time. I love my grandparents. They've been involved in my whole upbringing and love to know what we're doing and to see us when we're in town. They are wonderful, kind people - they drove all the way here to give us their van. I miss being near them. Since I know that my Grandpa reads this blog, I should probably stop writing such mushy stuff, eh, Grandpa? So, on with the pictures:

Planes my Grandpa flew.

My Grandpa flew this BIG plane in Vietnam. He said it's the plane that he flew the most.

Our pets loved having two people to snuggle and pet them constantly. I'm sure they were very sad to see my grandparents leave!

My Grandma and I. Isn't she beautiful? Oh, how I love this woman. She is such an example to me of what a woman should be. She never shirks her responsibilities and is very generous and thoughtful of others. Plus, I'm her favorite. :o) I love you, Grandma!

My Grandpa has served his country for many years. It is an honor for me that my husband could follow in his footsteps in serving in the Air Force. My Grandpa was able to swear Tyler into the AF - that was a wonderful experience. My grandparents drove all the way to Alabama for that - they are so supportive of us! Thank you, Grandpa, for serving our country and for marking the path for others to follow. You are a great American. I love you!

Ahem. This is what spending time with a family of 5 will do to my grandparents. Please note how Maggie and Jasper are taking full advantage of their nap. I have wonderful grandparents - come again, soon!

Another sibling?

Tyler was reading some of our papers from the adoption today and found the parental termination rights for Keith's mom. Apparantly, 2 years after Keith was born, his mom had another child (a boy, we think). I'm amazed that we never heard anything about this while we were there. I wonder where that child is? Orphanage? With the mom? Already adopted? We're hoping to find out more information, if it's possible. Anyone else experience this?

What's in a name?

So! My grandparents are coming to visit us this weekend! We are very excited to have them all to ourselves for 3 whole days. In addition to their visit, they are bringing (and giving us) their van! We are so blessed! It is a 1999 Plymouth Voyager, which looks like this:

We are quite grateful to have the extra space (and fewer mileage) that this van will offer us. I am sure that Anna is most grateful, as she has been competing for space in the backseat of our honda accord with 2 carseats! Since Kristina is afraid of big vehicles, we thought we would name our van. I am open to suggestions.

Kristina's first day of pre-k

Talk about pure excitement! Kristina was thrilled about going to school today. Or, at least, she knew that SOMETHING exciting was going on and she was excited about it. She got on the bus without any problems and came home with a note saying that she had a great first day! Here are some pictures of my beautiful little schoolgirl, Kristina:

Pre-school

Keith had his OT and PT evaluation for in-home pre-school services this morning. He wasn't near as excited about it as Kristina was and fussed whenever the instructors wanted him to do ANYTHING that differed from his agenda. They had him use a walker and he walked 10 steps all by himself! That's my boy! He will receive 1-2 hours per week from the school. I'm looking forward to the progress that he will make and is already making.

Kristina will begin pre-school this week. She is going to go 3x each week for 2 1/2 hours per day. She doesn't know/understand it yet - but has absolutely LOVED going for her evaluations at the school and didn't want to leave. I am hopeful that she will find me as much fun after going to school and coloring all day!

My pirate boy

Keith has been eye patching for 2 hours a day. He does really well with it - but I'm pretty sure it's because he wears glasses over the patch. He has also been pulling himself up to stand a lot. He used to be afraid of standing up, in that he couldn't figure out how to sit down. This is no longer a problem. :o)

Clean sweep

Tyler has been very busy and not home much this past week which has made things rough on me tending 3 kiddos ALONE. *ahem* For FHE I thought it would be good to review the basic roles of what a Dad & Mom do. We talked about how the Dad goes out to work to earn the money for the house, food, etc. The Mom takes care of the children and runs the household. Then I asked how the children could help the Mom in her role of running the household...then "we" came up with the 10 minute CLEAN SWEEP! Every evening just before bed we clean the house for 10 minutes - mainly the living room and kitchen/dining room area. I have to say that it's been fantastic! Anna is such a great helper in cleaning. And Kristina will clean as long as she is specifically directed in what to do - put the shoes away, etc. And Keith, well, he just sits there and looks adorable. :o)

Tonight we did our 10 minute clean sweep and then I put the twins to bed. I told Anna that she could work on her bedroom (since it's a disaster) while I was putting the kids down. A few minutes later she came in to Keith's room and informed me that she had swept and mopped the kitchen, cleaned the counters and the chairs at the table (things she's never done by herself up to this point). She was SO satisfied with this and I must admit, I was thrilled at her excitement for cleaning! We hurried to the kitchen to investigate her work. I smiled as I saw standing water on the chairs, counters and the HUGE puddle of water on the tile floor in the kitchen. Anna was SO excited about all her cleaning, how could I not smile and compliment her? I asked her, though, how she got so much water onto the floor. She pointed to the sink sprayer. Ha ha! I certainly love my little Anna Belle. What a lucky mom I am to have her.

Let her eat ice cream?

At a recent trip to Chick-fila, I took some video of Kristina eating ice cream. Enjoy her facial expressions. Priceless.

Things that make you say "MOO"

At Chick-fila there was a DISNEY night just for kids. I decided to deck out the girls in some princess dresses and check it out. It turns out that they were the only kids who dressed up.

Therefore, they got a special picture taken with "Cow" which we were told will be uploaded to the local Chick-fila website. I wasn't sure how Kristina would react to a giant cow walking around, but she loved it! In fact, anytime the cow the passed by she would yell "MOO!" at it.

They had tons of disney papers to color and free balloons for the kids. Plus when you buy a combo meal you get a kids meal free (which the girls split) and free ice cream. You can't beat that! After 2 hours of fun, we left one satisfied family! Thanks Chick-fila!

My Favorite Things

Thanks Glittersmama!

Random stuff

The last time I took Kristina to gymnastics she bit a sweet little girl on the arm. Hard. You could see the teeth marks. *sigh*

Keith is initiating more contact with me. He will scoot up to me and have this look on his face, like "please pick me up and snuggle me." I can't resist it. Who could?

Kristina has a fascination of being naked. I find her often with her clothes off. Yesterday she stripped down and even took off her diaper, which, at the time, was full of poop.

Keith is definitely a boy, (not that that was in question or anything), as he loves loud noises. Our dog, Maggie, and cat, Jasper, like to play together often. Keith especially enjoys it when they squabble LOUDLY. Keith also loves to be present when I am blow drying my hair. He loves the vacuum cleaner when it's turned on. He loves the loud garage door opening and closing, you get the idea.

Kristina loves to be doing whatever Anna is doing. This can be good and bad. It depends on if Anna is sharing "the" toy or not. We're working on it, yet I'm not too eager to solve every problem as I think it's important that they learn how to work together.

Whenever I say we're going "bye bye", Keith scoots to the door. He definitely understands that phrase.

Several times a day, Kristina will approach me and snuggle up with me and give me lots of kisses and hugs. When I fix my hair and make-up she will say "Mama pretty!" And lately if she catches me using the restroom, she will say "Mama, good job!" and give me a huge THUMBS UP! You have to love her enthusiasm, even if it's while you're on the potty. :o)

Dear Anna

My firstborn in the wilderness, Anna, colored this picture for me:

And then wrote this letter to me:

Not wanting to pass up an opportunity to let my darling daughter know how much I love her, I composed this letter and sent it in her lunchbox to school today:

Dear Anna,

I want to write you a note to say that I love you. There are many things that I love about you! You have beautiful blue eyes just like your Daddy. You have long brown hair like Rapunzel. You are tall like your Mama and Daddy and Opa Dahle. You have a gorgeous smile. You write wonderful books. You can read very well! You have a testimony of Jesus Christ. You are a great big sister to Kristina. You can figure things out on your own. You are smart. You are a good dancer. You are good at sports. You are good at dancing. You are good at gymnastics. You are a great big sister to Keith. You are fun to take on dates. You are my best helper! You sing pretty just like your Mama. You cook yummy breakfasts! You pray wonderful prayers. You are kind to others. You are a good friend. You can clean your room all by yourself. You give the best hugs. You give the best kisses. You make me proud of you everyday.

I love you! Love, Mama

MP3 player

We are looking to buy an MP3 player. What kind do you have? Do you like it? Was it brand new or used? Where did you buy it? How much was it? How much space does it have? I have an old model that is CREATIVE brand that Tyler wants to start using. What I want is an MP3 player that can hold a lot of songs AND will keep them in separate files, such as a file for exercise music and another for church music. Is this possible - does anyone know?