Today I killed a bird

Let it first be said that I am innocent. I did kill the bird, but he (or she) flew into my car. I was driving on the road first, and it just popped out of nowhere, flew right into the van, hitting the front-right side, then spun/fell back into the grass. It all happened so fast, it scared me! I have been thinking about it all day; the thump, and the bird spiraling backwards off the road. I feel really bad about it. Kenny's surprised I have made it this far in my life without killing a bird on the road. But he must remember, I didn't grow up in Rockland, Idaho, where cars are much less frequent than animals. I had never even considered the possibility of hitting a bird that was in flight, until we started dating. Making drives back to his house on those old country roads in the middle of nowhere, I understood when we had a lot of close calls. Thanks to living here, I now know what it feels like to actually hit and run over a small animal on the road, and hit a flying bird.

Gross.

Tender Mercy (in the form of rabbits)

A lot of days, dinner can be somewhat stressful. But yesterday, I was really going crazy. Brynlee was really hungry so she wouldn't stop whining and crying, and they both think my legs are really fun to play on. Peek-a-boo, get away from the other, or just ram into me repeatedly for no reason. Sometimes keeping my balance is the hardest part of making dinner haha. I all of the sudden was saved when inspiration hit me, "take them to the window". Bryn and Ty (but mostly Bryn) love to stand on the couch and watch the birds and stuff out our front window. One mommy bird has built her nest on top of our porch light, so sometimes she'll fly really close to the window. Anyway, a few minutes after I put them there, these two little rabbits hopped onto our porch!! THANK YOU! It kept them entertained long enough for me to finish up dinner. Oh the simple joys in life. :)

Rub-a-dub-dub. Two kids in the tub. (and my random notes)

Bubble baths are a hit around here.

Other thoughts:

--5 weeks until Bryn can go to nursery!!

--As of late, Tyler puts up a fight every single night because he "hates going to bed"

--We had a major storm last night, and I loved it

--Earlier this week, Tyler woke up at 6 a.m. and wanted nothing else but to play Candy Land. That boy is obsessed. But he also hates to lose. Yes, we're in that stage and sometimes I'm not sure the best way to handle it.

--Last night Kenny and I stayed up playing Rummikub together and had a blast. He beats me every time, but it's still fun :)

--I've been feeling the baby kick this past week and it's so exciting! It's not hard enough to feel from the outside (or to be uncomfortable). I love it.

--Sometimes Ty embarrasses me. Like the other day in The Quilted Garden, he told the lady cutting my fabric that sometimes he makes mistakes. And sometimes mommy and daddy make mistakes too. Like how I never buckle him in the car!!!!

WHAT?! I was mortified, because anything I said after that would have sounded like a cover-up. What the little punk didn't tell her, was that it happened one time and I told him how I made a mistake. It really stuck with him, and he exaggerated, and now she thinks I never buckle my kids. Awesome.

--Sometimes Brynlee embarrasses me too by making me chase her around very public place we visit. She's pretty quick.

--But more often than not, I'm proud to have these two little rascals as my kids. They sure are cute, huh?

Her smile melts my heart

I love my girl

Sad Morning

So this morning hasn't been going very well. Kenny realized before he left for work, that he had left the water on all night, trying to fill up the pool for the duck and goose. Big Oops. But thankfully, because of that, he went outside to turn it off. That's when he found Donald, in the pool, all bloody and not in very good condition. In the corner of our yard was Mother Goose; dead, and all torn up into pieces. I didn't dare go look for fear of losing my breakfast, Donald was hard enough for me. So Kenny was a little late to work this morning taking care of business. He buried Mother Goose, and took Donald down to the lake. If we had a gun, we probably could have just put him out of his obvious misery. But all we had was a shovel...so the lake was where he went. I doubt he will survive there--he was in really bad shape--but at least we won't find him in the corner of our yard tomorrow morning. Plus I really didn't want the kids to see him like that. I'm just glad that Kenny found them first and took care of it all. What would I have done all day waiting for him to get home?
So we are officially pet-less. What a sad way to end our pet ownership, though. It was easier when we didn't know what exactly happened to them. Seeing them is no fun.

These pictures were taken last night, before these 3 took them down to the lake for what ended up being their last time.

Happenings

Monday I spent the morning cleaning out our room completely, (as in it was totally empty) and our new bedroom set came a little before 1 p.m. When Kenny got home we spent the rest of the evening setting it up in our room. It sort of took the place of FHE. It was definitely a family activity, but we neglected the lesson. I can't even explain how much I love walking into my room now. I wish I could spend all my time in there because it looks so beautiful and smells like new wood furniture. I only wish our room was bigger to accommodate furniture, or anything for that matter. It's all pretty crammed in there, and the chest will have to go in the kids' room until we move. (Our room is not even 10 x 10...it's small) but I love having a dresser. It's been great to sort through junk and get rid of things we never use. Also unpacked and cleaned the van out from our trip. Coming home from vacation is a lot of work I've decided.

Tuesday we did some major grocery/misc. items shopping and the kids were troopers. That afternoon I took them to my doctor's appt. with me!! That was a big step for me haha. I get nervous about those kinds of things, and usually with good reason.

Everything was going great until they called us out of the waiting room. Then came the urine sample, and so of course the kids came with me. I was trying to get Tyler to stand by the door, or in the corner, or anywhere but directly in front of me, staring. He was so fascinated that I was peeing into a cup, and I was trying to be serious and not laugh at his genuine curiosity. Brynlee, on the other hand, wanted to play with the permanent marker (that happened to be in a glass bowl...bad idea). Then she stuck her hands in the toilet when I was trying to wash mine...anyways. We all made it, and the kids got to hear the baby's heart beat which was fun. It really wasn't so bad after all.

Wednesday morning was going great. We had been having fun, blowing bubbles, had a picnic on the living room floor, and I was busy making zucchini bread when Brynlee tripped just while walking (nothing new) and hit her head on the corner of the wall. She started SCREAMING and her I saw the gash and it immediately started swelling up really big. I quickly got a bag of ice and put it on her head. I began wishing there was someone around to help me. Help me get her a drink to calm her down, and some ibuprofen for the headache I'm sure she had, tell me what to do, and even put Tyler down for a nap as he had become exceptionally ornery by this point. But it was just me, and my little girl was hurting real bad. I started to pray out loud right there on the rocking chair. Tyler just watched me, a little bewildered. But I know it helped, at least me to be calmer and handle it well. I don't know if her head would have been any worse injury wise, but it didn't split open or bleed, she didn't get a concussion, and she was back to her happy self an hour or two later.

Today we made these fun little snakes out of a couple of Kenny's old ties.

This one's Tyler's and he's very proud of it.

Brynlee saying cheese and playing with her snake. If you want the tutorial, go here. It's fun.

Funny story from today. We were having a snack this morning (the zucchini bread muffins from yesterday, actually) and when we were almost done Tyler says, "we need to pray". We never pray over our morning snack, but I wasn't about to tell him not to, so I said go ahead and say it. I don't think he ever mentioned the food, but he did pray for all of the animals that we have lost, one by one, by name, and asked that they would "go back to life". It was the sweetest thing I've ever heard haha. I forgot to mention that we came home from the reunion and our friends had watched our animals for us. The turtle escaped, and Father Goose is gone too. So now are down to Mother Goose and Donald Duck, who has turned all white and very beautiful I think. Kenny says as soon as their fur grows out completely we can let them go in the lake. I say that either that, or if their food runs out. Whichever happens first haha.

Brynlee jibber jabbers all the time and I have no idea what she's ever saying, but it sure is cute to listen to her. She's also picking up a lot of new words, real ones. I love this stage because you never know what they're going to just say every day. It's really fun to watch these kids learn and grow.

Tyler can also write his name now, which is a big deal for us haha. He also said a funny thing the other day when I was telling him that Father's day was coming up.

T: No, it's mother's day.

me: It was mother's day a while ago, but now it's father's day.

T: Thinks about it and then says, when can it be son's day?

Oh the things he comes up with. :)

Andersen Family Reunion June 2010

Sunday night we got back after another long drive from our wonderful family reunion. We had a fabulous time and I just posted a series of "how to" posts with some fun pictures from the week. I flew down with the kids on Monday the 14th, and everything went fairly smoothly. We had kind of a pre-reunion with just all the girls. Then our husbands came on Wed. night/Thurs. morning and that's when the real reunion began. Other things we did that were not pictured...

ATE a lot of food
played tennis--one of my most favorite sports, and I only get to play when I go down for things like this
played volleyball
went swimming, a lot
made tapes for my brother Jeff
watched old family videos
got our hair done. All us girls love my mom's hairdresser, Trang Flingpaugh (sp?) and so whenever we go to Houston we get our hair cut and/or highlighted. I am very happy with mine now that I'm learning how to do it.
played really fun games like Minute to Win It, A to Z, Buzz Word, and bocce ball
crafted
sang together
talked a lot
Had a blast!!

Looking forward to next year's reunion already :)

How to take a lot of family pictures

Is there anything better than sisters?

My parents and all 5 grandkids...2 more will be here before the end of this year!

My awesome parents who started it all

The whole family, minus my brother Jeff (serving a mission in Prague) and brother-in-law, Andrew

We're all a bit off, but that's what makes it fun :)

How to post more random pictures

How to go down the frog slide-- Brynlee style

Uncle Tim's the best

How to jump off the diving board--Lindsay style

How to jump off the diving board--Kenny style

How to have fun with water

Never a dull moment

It's been a good and busy week. I've been working hard at re-doing the kids' room and I'm really excited for the finished product. I'll post pics when it's completed, but I'm already so much happier with it, I don't know why I didn't do it a long time ago.

Friday we went furniture shopping for a new bedroom set. I fell in love with one, but it was way too expensive, so we (mostly Kenny) decided against it :). We ate out and Kenny took the kids to the pet store while I went to my piano lesson. After that we went to the Route 66 Festival they were having next to the library. We ran into the Porters which was fun and Tyler and Ashlynn jumped on some of those big blow-up toys. We didn't stay long cuz the kids were tired and it was hot, and I'm not a fan of mosquitos.

Saturday was regular yard work and house cleaning. We also drove out to St. Peters, MO (first time I'd ever been there) and went to some kind Mid-West Clearance Furniture store where we bought a new bedroom set! I'm SOO excited about it, and although it's not my beloved Martini Suite set, I think it was a really good compromise. For the first time in our married life we will own a dresser, not just crappy white/clear bins from Wal-mart and I'm just can't wait till it gets here. We stopped at Jo-Ann's on the way back (since there are no stores like that anywhere near us) and their store happened to be closing so I got some great deals. Love that. We got back a little later than we planned, hurried and had whatever we could find for dinner, then went to our neighbor's house, the Richies. Josh and Becky have 3 kids that get along well with our kids and we had fun playing Pictionary and eating ice cream cake.

Today Kenny and I got to speak in church which is always nerve-racking. I think it went well though, and Terra was kind enough to offer for our kids to sit with them. I spoke on Mothers Teaching Children in the Home (Elder Perry's conference talk) and Kenny spoke on Patience (Pres. Uchtdorf's conference talk). Now I'm making a bum load of cookies, and our home teachers will be here soon.

Update on our pets: We only have 2 geese and 1 duck left. The rest have been eaten (or at least chased far away) by the neighbors' dogs. But don't worry, Kenny found a turtle on the road on Saturday and brought it home as his new pet. Tyler named it Walter haha. I think this whole pet thing is getting out of hand. Kenny said that he always wanted a turtle when he was a kid and he never got one. Whatever makes him happy I guess.

Bean Bag

I finished! I have been working on this bean bag for Brynlee off and on for a while now. Yesterday the filling finally came in the mail and I was able to put it all together! I am in love with the fabric, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It has a velcro closure, and inside I made another one out of cheap muslin, and sewed all the polyester balls shut in there. This way I can take off the cover and wash it as needed.

I sat Bryn on it and she laid back in it haha. I hope that she gets good use out of it. We'll probably keep it in their room.

Last night Kenny came home a little early and I got to sneak off and go to the temple by myself. (I also desperately needed some new garments so I'm really glad I got to go.) It was wonderful, and Kenny takes care of everything so well while I'm gone that I never worry. We sure loved being in Rexburg where we could just walk to the temple it was so close. Now it's hard to get to go together unless we pay for a babysitter. But that's alright, it's still better to go alone than not at all.

This week has been flying by and I'm so glad! Come Monday, I will fly down to Houston with the kids for our Andersen Reunion. I get to spend a few extra days with my sisters and then our husbands will join us for the actual reunion, Thurs.-Sat. I can't wait!!

Another weekend gone by

On Friday we all went to Edwardsville together and Ken played with the kids in a park while I had my piano lesson. Then we all went to the park for what we hoped would be a fun family evening. But the playground would burn your skin if you touched it, and it was just so ridiculously hot that we didn't last long. I really can't remember right now the rest of the evening, so it must have not been too eventful.

Saturday a.m. we got up early (we woke the kids up early too) and went to the annual Holiday Shores Yard Sale!! We scored on some good stuff, and I just love yard sales. It was crazy, but lots of fun. Later that day after mowing the lawn and doing some house chores, we went on a family run. So basically Kenny and I went on a run together, and pushed the kids in our jogging trailer thing. Tyler got out a few times to run with us, but never for too long. It ended up being longer and HOTTER than we planned, and by the end they were both really upset and Bryn was screaming and crying the last mile or so, but we made it!! After that the boys quickly changed into their swimsuits and we took the ducks and geese down to the lake again. We really want them to get used to it because we're planning on that being their permanent home once they are full-grown. Tyler sure had a good time swimming with them! Brynlee enjoyed swinging and playing in the sand.

We came home, showered, and had a yummy dinner. Then we headed down to the church so I could put up stuff for Relief society on our bulletin board. (Be honest, have any of you actually ever looked at the bulletin boards in your building? I never do...)

Sunday was great. That evening we had the Porter family over for peanut butter bars and played a game called, Ticket to Ride. I had never heard of it before, but it was really fun.

Today was really good too, one of those days where I get done everything on my list. Only, I'm exhuasted. When I'm pregnant, I feel like I have a certain amount of energy allotted to me each day. The problem with this is when Brynlee won't sleep in past 6, and when I work out, I'm pretty much done for well before lunch time. Before it was like I loved working out because I felt more energized for the rest of the day. Now I get done working out and say, that felt good. Now I need a long nap!!

This morning on my way home from the gym, I asked Tyler if he'd like to help me grind wheat when we get home so we could make some bread. He said, "Yeah, just like the Little Red Hen!" haha. I consider myself much luckier than the little red hen though. Because I always have two little helpers to share in the work (kind of) and in the eating of the bread.

Tonight for FHE Kenny gave a great lesson on being a leader, not just a follower, and always standing up for what's right.

Now I would really like to get a free-pass on the dishes tonight and just go to bed.

Hahaha, yeah right.

"Feed the birds, tuppence a bag"

We are definitely feeding some birds. I know that our pets eat a lot, but the ducks and geese also graze on the weeds and grass stuff. So I was wondering how we are going through food so fast. Lately I have been noticing how many other birds just swoop in and help themselves to the feast. We have become the neighborhood bird feeders. I know there's really nothing to do about it, so eat up little birds. I hope you are enjoying it. It costs more than a tuppence a bag, but that's okay :).

My little Bryn is feeling better now, thank goodness. I was getting pretty worried there for a bit. She had bad diarrhea and a really bad rash on her bottom, and the fever for 3 days too. On the third day I took her in to see our doc. and they tested her for strep. She said she knows she's got a sore throat because it was really red and had white patches on it. Poor girl! The test came back negative, so it was just a bad virus that had to run its course. So we've been making lots of fruit smoothies, and eating popsicles, and slushies, etc. to help soothe her throat (that and lots of ibuprofen which I learned is better for sore throats than tylenol). We've also gone through almost an entire bottle of desitin and A&D Ointment, and they gave us some antibiotic cream for her rash. But she is definitely on the mend now, which I am grateful for.

This week has been so much better for me as far as allergies because I can take Zyrtec D now that I'm out of the first trimester. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!!
We've also had some pretty intense storms the past two nights that keep me up a lot. I wake up to everything, but especially when there's lightning flashing like strobe lights through our window, and thunder splitting the sky open and rain pounding on our house. I only wish they'd happen like that during the day so I can see them!

Kenny's been working late every night this week, like really late. Last night he didn't get home until 10:03, which meant that not only did he not get to see the kids at all again, but I missed my recipe club with relief society! It was a bummer. I guess Kenny and I will be eating a rather fancy salad for dinner tonight.

Well this post is getting more and more lame, and it doesn't have a point, or pictures. So, until next time.

It's Great to Be Their Mom

I love being Brynlee's mom because she always has a smile and a big hug for me. She wraps her little arms around me and lays her head on my shoulder and just loves a good snuggle. She's always playing games, giggling, and being silly.

Every morning I say "Brynlee, should we go do your pretty hair?" And no matter what she's doing, she stops and goes straight to the bathroom and stands up on the stool. She loves to "brush her teeth" (and even pretends to spit in the sink several times) while I do her hair. She loves to be dressed up and wear my jewelry, and hands me every pair of shoes she finds, even if it's from my closet.

I love the rolls on her arms and the curls in her hair. I love how she starts dancing as soon as she hears music. Every time a song ends, she starts clapping and says "Yay!" She folds her arms for the prayer (but never for the whole prayer) and says Amen at the beginning and end. :)

I love being Tyler's mom because of his unique and strong personality. He's very particular, honest, and orderly, and knows right from wrong. He is getting into the stage where he's very gender specific and always divides things up as to what the girls like, and what boys like. Right now his favorite color is blue, and you can only say he's cool and awesome, NOT cute.

I love how Tyler makes up crazy stories to tell me about when "I left him in the jungle when he was a baby and he got bit on the head by a coyote and a wolf and a lion and a tiger and a fox!" He also likes to make up games. When we drive in the car he has us sing the ABC's song really loud and right after sing it really quietly, and then really loud again, and then really quiet.

He inherited his father's sense of humor; he is always cracking jokes and saying ridiculous things, then grins from ear to ear because he thinks he's hilarious.

I love his handsome face and how he loves to be such a big boy. He helps me with everything, and loves to feel important. He really does clean, too. His favorite chores to do are putting the silverware away from the dishwasher, washing mirrors or our big glass door, cleaning the toilet (with my assistance) and holding the dust pan while I sweep.

It sure is great to be their mom. I can't wait to see what this next little baby is like.

Memorial Day Weekend

Saturday we had something sad happen (depending on who you ask I guess). The black chicken below, Squeak, got eaten by a neighbor's dog. Well we assume he was eaten. He got carried off and we haven't seen him since. The darn dogs keep coming back and so Tyler's always worried about the rest of his birds. But he tells the story very matter-of-factly, not really like he's sad. So I guess that's a good thing. This was the most recent picture taken of him.

They weren't caged up at the time, so I'm sure that as long as we keep them in their little pen, the dogs will stay away (although the bigger one could just step on it, and the smaller dog could jump over it...) But we're all over it, and it's really not that big of a deal haha.

Saturday night we had our friends, the Pearsons, over for dinner. The kids all loved to play with the birds and we had a great time with them. The sweetest thing happened on Saturday after Tyler woke up from his nap, Brynlee was already up. They were so excited to see each other and they just hugged, and stayed in this hug for like a whole minute! It was definitely the sweetest mommy moment! :) I love that they're such good buddies.

Sunday after church Brynlee woke up with a fever and has had a hard time keeping it down ever since. That's no fun. But another cute picture with Tyler...

He got his pants a little wet when he was out with the birds after church. So he took his pants and shoes off, slipped on his flip flops and came strutting in the house. He looked just like James Bond, or the guy on Mr and Mrs. Smith! It was so funny :)

Sunday evening we took the ducks and geese down to the lake to try to get them used to it. This is how Kenny brought them down...in the stroller!! I thought it was so funny.

They really didn't like it at all and would get out as soon as Kenny let them.

Monday: HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY. It was so nice to have Kenny home from work. I was able to make an apron with him home, and it turned out really cute. I forgot to take a picture of it before I gave it to Rochelle (I was supposed to have it done like 2 months ago from a service auction for Relief Society) but I really liked it and wished I could've kept it for myself :). We tried to take the ducks and geese to the beach and let them swim again. They still hated it, but we had fun.

She still wasn't feeling well, which was kidn of nice because she's normally jumping in the water, but she wasn't very excited about it at all so I got a little break :)

My most favorite picture. Kenny rolled up his shorts to take the geese out a little farther. Woot! Woot!!

That night we went over to our friends, the Kraudes, for a swim and bbq. The Pearsons were there too and we all had a fabulous time. It was so nice to celebrate Memorial Day with friends, since we can't do it with family.