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.