Oh So Much Fun!!

   Tonight we had a Mother/Daughter Enrichment activity with a Beach Party theme (I am the Enrichment Leader in our ward). Mothers and Daughters of all ages joined in the fun of Hula Hooping and Surfboarding and Hula Dancing and Beachball Volleyball and just hanging out on beach towels. It was so much fun, a riot really. Most likely one of the funnest Enrichment activities I have ever been too. Pictures speak louder than words, so here, you can see for yourself.

Hula Hooping

More Hula Hooping

Hula Dancing...of sorts

Hanging out in the Sun

Surfing

Happy Family

Kathryn that Hula Queen

Tansley playing in the ocean

Watching the Crazy Kids

more Beach Ball Volleyball

Beach Ball Volleyball

and More Beach Ball Volley ball

still more Beach Ball Volleyball

Sun Bathing

Mother's Day Spectacular

My darling daughters spoiled me rotten for Mother's Day. Kathryn has been excited about Mother's Day for two weeks and has been creating and wrapping presents for just as long. I was looking forward to Sunday to see just what kind of things she and Tansley had been creating. Sunday came, and brought with it a sick baby and a sick 3 year old, so the three of us stayed home from church and slept all morning. That was nice for me because I had been up numerous times in the night with one child or the other. When Kathryn and Daddy returned from church. Kathryn couldn't wait to give me all her presents, so I dutifully sat in the chair and was brought fabulous present after fabulous present. Here are pictures of their fabulous creations. Each one of them I will treasure, because I know that they were made with tremendous love and excitement. If I remember correctly, Kathryn's poem goes as follows, "Roses are red, Violets are blue, You are as sweet as blueberries because they are blue too." Kathryn made my key chain burgundy because she knew that it was my favorite colour.

Kathryn's poem and Picture Frame

Key chain made at Kindergarten

Kindergarten Card and Key Chain

Butterfly created at Kindergarten

Kathryn's(left) and Tansley's(right) tissue paper flowers

Inside of card

Card made at primary

Because Krista doesn't think I read her blog :)

1. Do you like blue cheese? I like blue cheese salad dressing on the right salad.

2. Have you ever smoked?  Not a chance

3.
Do you own a gun? Nope, But I used to shoot my dads at gophers and targets when I was a kid, I was a pretty good shot.

4. What flavor Kool Aid is your favorite?  The invisible watermelon kiwi, looks like water, tastes like Kool Aid.

5.
Do you get nervous before doctor appointment? Nope, I've known my doctor to long to be nervous.

6.
What do you think of hot dogs? They taste the best cooked over an open fire.

7. Favorite Christmas movie? Muppet Christmas Carol, How the Grinch stole Christmas

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Milk, if I am ambitious I'll make a smoothy...doesn't happen often.

9. Can you do push ups? ummm.... the girly kind, kinda

10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? I don't have much jewelry, so it would have to be my wedding ring and anniversary set.

11. Favorite hobby? Being creative, whether that is sewing, cross stitching, creating B-day cakes, cooking, crafty thing with my kids, or even working in my gardens and canning delicious foods.

12. Do you have A.D.D.? No. I agree with Krista, that is a weird question.

13. What's your weight? More than I want it to be, by about 30 lbs

14.
Middle name? Kim, simple, plain, normal, nothing to be embarrassed about.

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment.

I wonder what time my husband will get home tonight.

I can't wait to open all the little gifts that Kathryn and Tansley have been wrapping for Mother's day all week.

Why can't I lose this stupid baby fat?

16.
Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Water, Milk, Ginger Ale once in awhile (more often if it is diet)

17. Current worry? Is my baby going to be up all night with a fever again tonight?

18.
Current hate right now? Doing dishes by hand. I WANT A DISHWASHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

19. Favorite place to be? In my new Beautiful yard.

20. How did you bring in the New Year? Playing a stock market game with Daniel's family.

21.
Where would you like to go? Camping anywhere in the mountains. I love summer time, I can't wait to get into it!

22. Name three people who will complete this? Hmmmm, Jaime, Amy and Krista, but she tagged me first.

23.
Do you own slippers? I do, they are cheap comfy ones, not much to them but the do the job.

24. What color shirt are you wearing right now? Burgundy fading into a brightish pink.

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? I don't know, never tried them,

26. Can you whistle? Nope, pretty pathetic I know.

27. Favorite color? Burgundy.

28. Would you be a pirate? ummm...I don't think so, I'd likely be sea sick all the time.

29.
What songs do you sing in the shower? I don't. I just stand there and let the water run over me just let things shut down for a while.

30. Favorite Girl's Name? Kathryn Love, Tansley Kaye, and Kymberly Lenae

31. Favorite boy's name? Hatch

32. What's in your pocket right now? Nothing

33.
Last thing that made you laugh? We were at the Library and Tansley had to go to the bathroom, when she was all done she grabbed a tissue and said "mom I need to take a sneeze wiper". What a great name for a tissue.

34. Best bed sheets as a child? What ever was on my bed, I didn't care.

35.
Worst injury you've ever had? When I was eight years old, on the day that I was baptized, I got my middle finger smashed in the door. I had to go to the hospital and get a big huge bandage put on my finger. It hurt like crazy, and put a bit of a damper on summer fun for a while.

36. Do you love where you live? I love everything about where I live. My house, my yard, Kathryn's school, the little grocery store that delivers, our ward.

37. How many TVs do you have in your house? Just 2.

38.
Who is your loudest friend? In University it would have been me, Recently, there is a group of us from my ward that when we get together for girls night out, we are all very loud.

39. How many dogs do you have? None, two cats though.

40.
Does someone have a crush on you? yep, my Sexy Husband

41.
What is your favorite book? Through out grade school it would have been Agatha Christies "Ten Little Indians" (also titled as "And Then There Were None"), oh and of course "The Princess Bride". But more recently I read a book by Diane Nobel called "The Last Story Teller". My favorite books change from time to time these days.

42. What is your favorite candy? I am so with Krista on the Twizzlers issue, it is simply not possible to just eat a few. After reading Krista's entry, I remember that Daniel had bought a bag the other day that we had not yet broke into. I fixed that pretty quickly. But as much as I love Twizzlers, I love chocolate more, rich, creamy chocolate.

43.
Favorite Sports Team?  I was converted to hockey and thus to the Oilers by a man who would not even pick up the phone to talk to me and have his mom tell me that he was busy when he was watching an Oilers Hockey game. I decided then that I would have to have him teach me about hockey so that this relationship of ours could continue in some normal fashion.....I married him three years later and we went to Three Oilers Hockey games on our honey moon, yes I went willingly and enjoyed every minute of it.

44. What song do you want played at your funeral? Anything that will make my family smile.

I tag, Amy, Jaimi, Heather, Daniel and Denise, and whoever else wants to play along and answer these interesting questions.

Pleasant Surprise

I just went downstairs to read a story to the girls and tuck them into bed, and when I walked into their room, they had picked up all the clothes that had been all over their floor. I hadn't even asked them to do it. There are still a few small toys on the floor, but they did it with out being asked, at least by me, I believe Daddy asked them to tidy up this morning before he left for work. But regardless, I did not have to nag them to get it done and It has completely changed my mood.

Thank you my beautiful children. You brightened my evening.

Nothing

BLAH! that's how I feel for no real reason at all. I was sick for about 3 days this week, and Kymberly was up many times through out the night with a fever, and has been sick all day, and so my house is a disaster. There is a huge pile of dishes in the kitchen, not likely to have anything to eat off of or with for breakfast in the morning.I really want a dishwasher!!! But I used the money I made from cresting jersey's last month to buy us(really my husband) a lawn mower, another necessity that just happened to present it's case as a need a little more strongly this time of year. It is 8:24pm and I should have Kathryn and Tansley in bed, but they are actually playing nicely together so I use that as my excuse to not put them to bed just yet. The truth is I don't feel like doing anything. All I want to do is curl up in my bed and pretend that the day is over and the new week is beginning. I'm not to sure why suddenly I feel so BLAH, I had a fairly good day, we were able to go and visit with the Reese Family (Daniel's mom's side of the family), His cousin's son, who has downs syndrome, graduated from High School this weekend, so we went to celebrate with them, and I really enjoyed visiting with the family I didn't know I had until moving here to Milk River. But despite this pleasant event, I feel BLAH. Maybe it's just because I am so stinking tired because I did not get a good nights sleep last night.

I am also frustrated because I am tired of asking people to do something for me and then having them not follow through on it. It doesn't happen often to me, but that is more to do with the fact that I don't ask many people to do things for me because I hate it when it doesn't get done, and I would have been better off just figuring out how to do it on my own with three kids(one of the sick), no husband(because he's at work), and no van(because it is at work with my husband).Yeah, it might not have been easier, but at least I would have got it done. So, more often than not, I just find a way to do it myself, because then I know it will get done and no need to be disappointed or frustrated.

Oh, and while I'm complaining, I might as well complain about the one thing that is really getting to me. I really wanted to lose a good amount of weight by my birthday in July. I have really been trying to work at it. I have drastically changed my eating habits, in a good way, cutting back the carbs and increasing the vegetables. This has been what I call my Nazi diet, because I LOVE carbs! I love fresh veggies to, but come on,home made fresh baked bread with honey vs salad? Sorry, but the bread and honey will win every time. With the change in eating I have also tried to ride my bike or go for a walk or jog when ever I can. However, I have discovered that I hate riding my bike....It is my old bike set up on a trainer in my basement. It is as boring as watching paint dry, I have nothing to really challenge me or motivate me. I need a little computer in front of me telling me how fast I am going and encouraging me to go faster or pedal harder. I try watching TV, Specifically the Price is Right and trying to make myself ride harder in between pricing games, but, it just isn't cutting it. And not only is it boring, but it is incredibly uncomfortable. I simply hate every minute that I spend on it, which isn't a good way to keep yourself doing it. As for the walk or jog, well as you know, Tansley now insists on riding her trike when ever I want to go somewhere. And no matter what I can not convince her to get into the jogging stroller. I once bribed her with chocolate, but what am I teaching her if I always bribe her with chocolate? But then again, she's already addicted to chocolate, so what if I am feeding her addiction, at least I would get my exercise in. What is frustrating is that I really have been trying, and I am just not seeing the results that I would like to see. I take off 3 pounds, and then I put on 2 pounds, I take of 2 pounds and then put on 3 pounds...and the darn cycle just keeps going, and I hate myself for failing once again. And then think that I could just be happy with how I am. But then I see pictures of me from my Bridal shower, and oh how I wish that I could look like that again. And so I keep trying, and keep working at being positive and trying to just find enough desire and energy to keep at it. My husband is fabulous through all of this, he constantly tells me that I am beautiful, gorgeous, sexy and the best looking woman in the room. And because he does, I keep trying, he fills up my desire, and strengthens my energy to keep me going.

OK that is it, I'm done complaining.

The Perfect Birthday Party for Our 3 Year Old.

Could the weather have been any nicer today? I've been a bit obsessed about the weather for the past week. Last Sunday I did a count of how many people might be coming to Tansley's birthday party today, I needed to know how many hotdogs to buy, and to my slight astonishment I had invited 44 people (and three babies), add the 4 of us (and one baby), a total of 48 people (and 4 babies). I suddenly became concerned about the weather because we had planned to have the party out side in our nice large yard, if it was cold or raining we would have to move it inside, and although my house isn't tiny, it isn't big enough for 48 people (and 4 babies). So I've watched the weather forecast all week, and for most of the week it did not look very hopeful, and then yesterday it started to look up with a forecast of 18 degrees and a chance of showers. This morning before church the forecast was still 18 degrees but partly cloudy! That looked good to me. And sure enough, we got that beautiful weather.

For church today, Tansley had found a new dress in her closet that she called her Birthday dress and I pulled out some pretty white sandals to go with it, she was so excited and she thought she looked very beautiful, and she really did. After church she opened her presents, and then asked where her birthday cake was. I explained that we were going to have the cake when everybody got here for the party. She looked like she was going to cry, lucky for me I had made some cupcakes with the leftover batter so I offered her some of her special cupcakes, and again lucky for me that satisfied her. We then blew up balloons and put the out on our deck. Then we started getting things set up outside, by 4pm our guests started arriving. The party had begun.

Tansley was so excited when Grandma, Grandpa and van full of Forsyth's arrived first, followed shortly by more Forsyth family. Then Aunt Jane Reese arrived, and then some Courts, who were then shortly followed by even more Courts and then by Toni and Evan Reese. In the end we had 13 people (and a baby) from the Forsyth side and 15 people (and one baby) from the Court/Reese side and two of Tansley's "big" friends from church (the ones she prefers to sit with during sacrament meeting). In total we had 30 people (and two babies). We had good food to eat and lots of it. Daniel was BBQing hotdogs while Uncle Neil was cooking them over the fire. the kids were all over the yard playing various types of games. The adults sat around and visited and just enjoyed the company. It was glorious! I love our families, I love being with them, I love the incredible friendship that we have. I love that we always have so much fun together. It was just all so perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Kathryn and Tansley have been practicing musical chairs all week, because Kathryn told Tansley that it was a birthday game. They would set up a bunch of chairs and set their babies and stuffed animals on them and then turn the music on and circle around the chairs. When the music went off, inevitably one of the stuffed toys was out of the game. So the birthday party could not be complete with out a round of musical chairs. Much fun was had watching 7 children under the age of 6 trying to play musical chairs. Some how, the number of kids playing never diminished even though the number of chairs did. It became more like a game of "How many kids can we fit on a chair". But it was fun, and everyone got a prize.

Musical Chairs

Six dozen hotdogs, numerous salads, two cakes and a handful of presents later the day came to an end and our wonderful guests started to head back to where ever they had come from. Tansley was truly worn out and completely filthy, a good sign of a perfect birthday I think.

It was cousin Ethan's 6th Birthday too.

Tansley's Flower Cake

The Not So Quick Trip to the Grocery Store.

This morning after breakfast, I planned to make the Birthday cakes for Tansley's Birthday party (I say cakes because we have A LOT of family coming). I started getting things out and putting the cake together only to discover that I didn't have enough cocoa. No problem, we'll just make a quick trip to the grocery store. I get Kymberly out of her bed, I had just laid her down for a nap, but she wasn't sleeping, she was playing and I could hear her. Kathryn declares that she wants to ride her bike, which is fine with me cause then I could put the two other kids in my jogger stroller and we could really make a fast trip to the grocery store, because you know, the yellow stroller is really fast...according to Tansley.

However that plan was thwarted when I got outside and Tansley was already on her trike and determined to ride it. I have already been successful in the past at convincing her that it was too far to ride her trike and that she would get tired. But that was not the case today. So my quick trip to the grocery store went from a quick trip, to a really quick trip to a extremely NOT quick trip in about 60 seconds. So we headed off to the store, Kathryn in front, then me and Kymberly and Tansley somewhere behind bringing up the rear. We live on the corner of 4th Street NE and 2nd Ave NE. The grocery store is down on Center Ave and 1st Street SE, a total of 5 and a half blocks (normal size) away. It's really not that far, but then you are not 3yrs old and riding a trike.

But to give Tansley credit, she did not complain all the way there. She made one comment at the corner of 2nd Ave and 2nd Street NE, "Mom, I not ride fast anymore, my legs are tired. I have to ride slow." and she did. But it was a beautiful day and I enjoyed the walk. Kathryn stopped frequently to collect rocks for her "Rock Sale" she is determined to have some day and Tansley stopped and picked dandelions for me.

Kymberly just enjoyed the ride. We eventually made it to the grocery store and got what we needed.

When it was time to go Tansley announced that she wanted to ride in the stroller. I had to tell her that if she rode in the stroller we would have to leave her trike at the store. She did not like that idea, but she still did not want to ride her trike...so she walked it. This lasted about two blocks.

Then she sat on it but pushed it with her feet for about two and a half blocks(mostly uphill) and cried cause she was tired and just squawked at me when I tried to tell her that she was doing a great job. She finally gave in and rode it the rest of the way home. There was a little uphill part, very tiny uphill, just enough to make it really difficult for her to get going, she'd push with her feet and then quickly put her feet on the pedals but by the time she did she didn't have enough umph to keep going, she did this repeatedly all the way up the tiny rise. When she caught up with me she said "Mom, my bike is broken." She eventually made it all the way home, and with a smile on her face.

I told her that I was so proud of her, and I really was because she didn't ever give up. I guess we'll see if she ever insists on riding her trike to the grocery store again. It was a beautiful walk, even if it meant that I didn't get the cakes in the oven until 11:30am instead of 9am.

At least Kymberly was ready for a nap, so that I didn't have to worry about her while I made the cakes. And I do now have a wonderful collection of rocks and dandelions that I didn't have before.