love/hate relationship

I love spring and I hate spring at the same time. Tuesday and Wednesday we went for walks and played outside. I even got a little sunburn on my cheeks and nose. I have a couple of flowers blooming too! It's a good thing I took a picture of them when I did because the next time Sekoya went outside she picked them! Today was windy and chilly. The rest of the weekend is supposed to be rainy/snowy and cold. I love spring for the mild temperatures when it's warm. I hate spring for the unpredictable changes from warm to cold in one day.

Tuesday we went into town and got Wendy's for dinner. We took that up to the softball fields and watched my niece McKenzi play ball. Sekoya didn't stay by me for one minute. She started to wander and make friends from the second we got there. Katera would wander, but not too far. She always stayed where she could see me. Then she would come back every once in a while and hug my legs. I guess she just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to leave her.

I really miss highschool sports! If I could go back and do highschool again that would be the only reason I would. It was so fun to be part of a team and compete. It was also nice when that was your biggest care in the world- who you were playing and if you were going to win.

Wednesday I dropped Sekoya at school and ran to get my hair colored. Cortney was nice enough to tend Katera so I could have an hour to myself. I decided to go back to just blonde. Kirk will be happy. He is never too sure about all my adventures with my hair. I made it back to get Sekoya off the bus this time. I had a couple of errands to run, but didn't get the chance so I wasn't late and miss her.

Today we did absolutely nothing. The wind really deters me from going outside. I have heard it said that the wind carries negative ions that can put you in a bad mood. I totally believe that. I always end up grouchy when I've been in the wind for a while. I did let Sekoya paint some little ceramic animals. She ended up painting herself instead. She also spilled about 1/2 of a jug of orange juice on my living room carpet this week and a bunch of milk on the kitchen floor. She is really trying to be self sufficient and pour her own drinks, so I am REALLY trying to be calm and understanding. The carpet is the only thing that made me mad. Especially since I just had it cleaned about two weeks ago. I guess I'll just have to have them come back. I tried to get it out with water and our shop vac, but you can still see a faint orange stain.

Tomorrow we are taking the girls to see Disney Princesses on Ice in Salt Lake. I will take a bunch of pictures to post.

Welcome home Mommy!

I am not really complaining, it is just funny the things that happened on my first day back at being Mommy. First Katera spilled a whole cup of apple juice right in front of the fridge-after I had just mopped the floor. Then I spilled half a yogurt down the front of the dishwasher and on the floor-still after the floor had been mopped. Right after lunch Sekoya decides she needs some gold fish and Katera dumps the whole package on the living room floor- after I had vacuumed for the day. So, I got to mop and vacuum twice today! Sekoya was a very good girl and picked up all the gold fish when I asked her to. She surpises me sometimes! My weekend really paid off because I probably would have completely lost it over these things last week. Besides, life would be pretty boring without these little mishaps-right? That is what I keep telling myself!

Dogs next door

It is such a nice day today!!! Katera and I went for a walk. While we walked Sekoya 'helped' our neighbor Kamelle with her outside projects. She just idolizes Kamelle. We stopped to play with our other neighbor's two puppies. Katera gets so excited and wants to see them, but when they get right up close to her she turns away and gets a little nervous. They are a couple months old and very playful. I think they are just adorable. They even jumped on top of Katera and had her stuck on the ground for a minute. Our neighbor said we could have one if we wanted so that would be an easy way to get Sekoya her pet this summer. She doesn't want one of them though. She wants a poodle. I can tell you that isn't happening!

No kids weekend

Well, our weeked away was very fun and relaxing. We ate out, got massages, shopped, and saw two movies- Jumper and Fools Gold. And I never once had to scold or reprimand any kids! Only when we went to dinner on Friday they sat us at a hibachi with eight kids around us. What irony! We ate whenever we felt like it and didn't have to keep any type of schedule. We even had a dinner of junk one night---popcorn at the early movie, nachos at Chilis, and molten chocolate cake for dessert. I wasn't too worried because I didn't have my kids nutrition to worry about. It was fun to be able to carry on a conversation with Jason and not get interrupted by Sekoya. We missed our girls very much, but a little break like that is much neeeded every once in a while. Thanks to loving grandparents that were so willing to tend for us.

Jason even found a new "have to have" item- Rock Band game on the xbox. My sister Kacey has it and we spent about an hour playing it and laughing when Jason sucked! He did finally get the hang of it and decided he has to have one. I told him he could have it if he would give up DISH TV. We'll see who wins this one!

Sekoya looks like. . . .

I don't know if I agree with this one. I have always thought she was either a good mix or a little more like me. What's your opionions?

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Katera looks like. . . .

I have always thought Katera looked more like her Dad! But this says she is a pretty good mix of both of us. I don't know, what do you think?

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Excitement

Sekoya is so excited about her sleepovers with her Grandma's this weekend. She was packed and ready to go at ten o'clock this morning. She had packed everything- books, gloves, slippers, coloring books, she even got their toothbrushes and toothpaste!

I am excited about our weekend away!! Jason and I haven't had a weekend just for us since last August. I really had a hard time deciding where to go! I knew I wanted somewhere warm! I would really like to go to San Diego, but I like the car just about as much as Katera does. I couldn't bring myself to make the 8 hour drive. So we have settled on St. George. We will drop the girls off with my mom tonight so we can get an early start in the morning. The girls will spend the day with Granmda Sindy tomorrow and then Grandma Maridon will have them Saturday and Sunday until we get home.

Moment of Truth

Has anyone caught that show that comes on after American Idol? It is so intense!! They strap people to a lie detector machine and proceed to ask them questions about their life and people in their life. Each question they answer truthfully wins them money. The more money- the harder the question. I just can't believe the secrets and the ways that the people have misled their families! I'm sure a lot of them end up with broken marriages from the show.

I thought about the questions that they could possibly ask me - about my parents, siblings, husband, ex-boyfriends, mistakes in my life, etc. I can't think of anything that would be hard for me to answer. I think everyone in my life knows everything I would answer to any of those questions and it wouldn't come as a shock to anyone. I am so glad that I don't have big secrets to keep from anyone. I don't know how people live their lives like that. I guess that is why I would never be picked as a contestant on that show. I would break the bank!!!

When mommy works....

. . . . the kids make mischief. It never fails that when I have to go down to the office to do some work the girls get into things they shouldn't. Today while I was on my computer I heard commotion and things falling on the ground above me- in my bathroom. Sekoya had just come down to find me so I told her to hurry upstairs and make sure Katera wasn't pulling the flat iron down on her. Sekoya did that once and has a great scar along her forearm to show for it. I don't need that to happen twice! So Sekoya disappeared for a while and came back down with her face all made up with my make up. She actually did a great job. Mascara, eye shadow, and lipstick. She said she did Katera's too-didn't do so well on her. I really hate when they play in my makeup and try to keep my bathroom door closed. I kept asking Katera "What did you do?" and she kept pulling really great uh-oh faces, but I was too slow to catch them. My camera decided to be tempermental and didn't work to get a picture of Sekoya's glamorous makeover. No harm was really done and Sekoya was very proud of herself. She was a little worried when I told her that she can't cry now or else her mascara will run. We did not make it through the day without her crying and it was really funny when she asked through her tears, "Is mascara all over my face?"

Today was a pretty normal day except I didn't even make it to the bath until 6PM!! Gross, I know. I always get my girls ready for the day first and then me. Well, my beauty got trumped today. I did get my bathrooms cleaned, sold two insurance policies, made my kids cute, got Sekoya to school, and made brownies. The brownies weren't a succes though. I used a recipe that I had never tried before and it didn't call for flour. I knew it probably needed flour, but I followed the recipe. They turned out all gooey and too hard to eat. To top it off -it overflowed in my oven and made a burned mess.

I was chillin out for a minute with Sekoya while we waited for pork chops to cook------

Sekoya: You're still in your cleaning clothes?

me: Yep

Sekoya: You didn't shower?

me: Nope

Sekoya: No make up?

me: no

Sekoya: Did you brush your teeth?

me: yes, I did brush my teeth

Sekoya: You look ugly

Wow!! Thanks sweetie. I knew I probably did, but I didn't need to hear it spoken out loud!

Future cheerleaders??????

I seriously hope not!!! I would rather them not be cheerleaders, but if that is what they decide they like then I guess I will have to live with it. I think the reason I don't like the idea of my girls being cheerleaders is because of the bad reputation many of the cheerleaders had when I was in school.

We went to a cheerleading performance with Grandma Sindy to watch Kirsten tonight. I was in town running a couple of errands and fed the girls McDonalds. I called my mom to drop off a movie for her to watch and that is where she was headed. Sekoya absolutely loves to dance and cheer with the cheerleaders at ball games so I knew she would enjoy this. Katera loves it too. Hopefully when Sekoya gets to play sports she will decide that is better!!! Yes it is wishful thinking!

Martian Child

We watched this movie last night. It must have been divine intervention that I even rented this because it had two of my least favorite actresses- Amanda Peet and Joan Cusack. It was actually a pretty good movie at the end, it just took a while to get there. It was definitely a slow mover-not to watch late at night or when you're sleepy. It really made me think about my kids and raising them to be who they want to be-not who I want them to be. That is really a struggle for me right now with Sekoya and I think it will just get even more difficult as she gets older. I interpreted it as telling us to love our kids no matter how difficult they are and let them be their own person.

New Calling

Yes, you are probably thinking Jason got a calling today since I already had one.....WRONG!! They asked me to be the junior primary chorister. I accepted with one condition- they release me from Achievement Days. I am also on the enrichment committee. So I figured three callings would be a little much. I am relieved to released from Achievement Days because I was having some major frustration with the lack of funding for that program in our ward. I kept praying that I would find some way to accept the budget and work within it, or know the right things to say to discuss the subject. I guess my prayers were answered, just not the way I was expecting. I filled in for the chorister a couple of weeks ago and thought it would be kind of fun to be in the primary. I got my wish! I am really excited and hope I can do a good job with these little ones. Any helpful suggestions anyone has would be greatly appreciated.

They said they had something "special" in mind for Jason for the near future!

Scrappin' fun

I took Sekoya to open workshop at Aunt Cortney's scrapbook store Saturday night. I didn't really have much to do so this was as good as time as any to take her with. She also had a new scrapbook kit that Jason bought her as a surprise this week. She completely enjoyed herself. She started right out picking stickers and paper she wanted to buy. I had to slow her down or she would have had one of everything. She wasn't the best at sticking to her project! She kept getting up to wander and ask what everything was. I think she just liked feeling big and being included with me. It was a good thing I didn't have much to work on because I didn't get any of it done. Needless to say, I probably won't be taking her for another scrap night very soon. But it was some very good one on one time with my big girl. I love her very much and can't wait until she is big enough to do this with me!!

Our little dipper

Katera is already a poser. Whenever I get the camera out she immediately says "Cheese". We went to Little Caesers for pizza on Saturday. Once she saw the ranch dip she had to have some. She loves to dip!! Anything and everything. She likes ranch, cocktail sauce, sour cream, salsa, ketchup, cheese dip, chocolate pudding, --any kind of dip.

Yes, notice the Bronco outfit! Enjoy because this is the only time you will see her in it. It is already too small, but I wanted her to wear it at least once. Get a little bit of the $30 worth that Jason spent on the ridiculous outfit for Sekoya. Hopefully we don't have any more girls that will need to wear this.

Theme night: Circus

Tonight was a very welcome theme night. Sekoya squealed with delight when I told her we were doing a theme night. I have kind-of been on break since the holidays with these. This one wasn't too complicated. I just made some chicken cordon blue (from the freezer), jello jigglers in several colors, and a fun carousel cake. Then of course we had the clown costumes to go along with it. It is funny, in the pictures you can see Katera's feelings about the costumes. All while Sekoya poses wonderfully for the camera.

OK, this is kind-of fun.

You've got to be kidding me Dad!

Get this stuff off of me!

Spring is in the air

With temperatures being around 70 degrees today who could resist the urge to get outside and enjoy!! We started out with coats, then realized how warm it actually was and shed them. Sekoya is such a good big sister when she wants to be. She was lovingly helping Katera walk across our very bumpy, uneven grass. Katera isn't too sure about the uneven ground outside. This is one of her first adventures outside as a walker.

Katera really enjoys the swing set and the baby slide. She mostly just likes to follow big sister around and try to do what she does. After Sekoya helped her onto the slide she saw a spider that she proceded to squish with her shoe with sound effects and all. Katera really got a kick out of it and couldn't keep from giggling. Oh, the simple things that amuse kids.

I am afraid to say that Katera is going to be a mud lover too. I took her out to throw rocks and she dug through the rocks to the mud. She would get mud on her finger and come show me. She even tried tasting it. What kid hasn't right?

Jason also took advantage of the weather to get some more gravel spread in our driveway. That will help with my mud loving kids. He had Hales bring in the gravel and borrowed Morgan's bobcat to spread it out. He was just like a kid in a sandbox. Sekoya was amazed at the "tractor" and insisted on riding on it. She rode on our neighbor's real tractor this week when I thought she was out playing with the neighborhood kids.

Dentist

I took Sekoya to the dentist today. She complained this week that something was poking her gums and when I looked it was really red and irritated. I didn't want her to have something stuck in her gums and cause infection so we just went to the dentist. They probably thought I was a retarded paranoid mom, but that's my perogative!! They said it looked just like something she ate irritated it a little bit and to just make sure it doesn't get worse. She did really good today, but we have an appointment to go back for a cleaning. That will be the real test to see if she is brave. I think I will have them look at Katera too. That should be interesting!

Beauty Products are amazing!!!

The things I am thankful for today are beauty products!! Hairspray and makeup can do wonders when you use them. Every Thursday I go through the transformation from frumpy cavewoman to "beautiful" wife. (beautiful according to my husband) I start by shaving my legs which usually hasn't been done since Sunday, wash my hair and style it too, put on makeup-including eyebrows, and finish with putting on actual clothes- not sweats and a t-shirt. All so I look feminine and girly when Jason gets home from his work week. I don't want him to turn around and run back out the door! I don't do any of this during the week because my kids don't care what I look like. And I usually don't have anywhere to go except dropping Sekoya off at school. So why waste the time and money?

Mud calls her name

Sekoya just can't stay out of the mud!!! I am beyond getting mad anymore. It doesn't do any good. It just beckons her and she can't resist. Even when it is only 45 degrees outside she still ended up bare foot in the mud. And right after I had the carpets cleaned today of course!! I didn't let her walk on the carpet. I carried her right to the bathtub where she washed up. She really does not like shoes. She takes them off the second she gets home from anywhere. She had a partner in crime, but she was innocent. It was one of our neighbors, Sydney, and she kept her shoes on and stayed out of the mud. Why is it always my kid that causes trouble?

The rest of this week has been pretty calm. Monday was a bad day with me, Sekoya, and Katera butting heads all day. I guess they were just readjusting to Mom's rules after a Daddy weekend that was pretty relaxed I'm sure. I am not complaining...it's just that there is definitely a difference between Mommy and Daddy. I didn't have much to catch up on at home since Jason had all my laundry and dishes done and the house was pretty clean. I was very impressed. I ran to town while Sekoya was in school yesterday and almost didn't make it home to get her off the bus!! They were just pulling away from the house when I drove up the street. Sekoya was a little upset at me that I was late. I was a little upset at me that I was late. I don't ever want her to have to come home to an empty house. We got to play outside since the weather is warming up slightly. It is still pretty nippy after about 1/2 hour so me and Katera didn't last long. She was so funny. I could tell she was very excited to be outside. She was walking around and dancing at the same time so she almost tipped over! I can't wait until it is really warm and I can send them both out in the back yard to play. That is if we ever get our fence fixed. The guy who built it really had his head screwed on backwards when he did it. It is not straight, he didn't use three rails so the boards are warping, the gate is falling apart, and it is about six inches off the ground in some places. So that makes getting a dog almost impossible until we fix it. Anyone handy and willing to come help????

I was trying to cut out breads from my diet this week, but I failed!! I did really good on Monday and Tuesday, but I gave up today. I made muffins for the girls for breakfast and I didn't know what to have for myself. So I figured a couple of mini muffins couldn't hurt. Then it just got worse from there. I opened a bag of Mother's Animal Cookies with the intent of only having one or two..... half the bag is gone! And I also ate a package of M&Ms. So I guess you could say I went on a binge today. I just have a really bad sweet tooth! I am NOT a good dieter. I just like to eat what I want and work it off later. So when I do diet I end up with a binge day like today. I guess I'll just go back to what works for me.

Girls Weekend in St. George

We just spent a whole weekend in St. George with all the "Rappleye" girls. It was really fun to be away from the kids and build relationships. We saw some amazing houses, shopped til we dropped, and then had a very much needed pedicure. We got to eat at our favorite restaurants- Pasta Factory for Melissa and Samaurai 21 for me. JaLee was just too easy and didn't have a favorite craving. It was a good thing we ended up taking my Yukon. We would have never fit all our shopping bags in a car. We could have had better weather-- it rained and the wind blew all weekend. But other than that it was great!! Thanks to Maridon and Kirk for footing the bill for a very fun weekend.

Samurai 21

Filled to the top!!