Tansley Kaye

Lest you think I am crazy and have posted the same picture as the one I did of Kathryn, I will assure you that this is indeed my Tansley. They both came home from the hospital in the same outfit, the blanket wasn't planned nor did I notice it until one day when I was looking at pictures. As babies, Tansley was a clone of Kathryn...in looks. They were basically the same size and weight. If the pictures weren't labeled I don't believe I'd be able to tell them apart. As a baby I called her "baby girl". She was content to just be. She preferred to just be wrapped up and left alone when she was tired. And would rather you just sit her on the floor to play than carry her around.

Where Kathryn was a rule keeper, Tansley tends to be immune to such things. One time when we were in a busy parking lot, I was busy getting the baby out of the van and she started out away from me(does this story sound familiar...well this is where the similarity ends). A car was coming and I called out with a bit of panic in my voice for her to stop. It was like I wasn't even there. She did not stop, she did not turn to see why I was calling her. She just kept on going.. I literally had to put the baby down so that I could run after her. From then on, every time we were in a parking lot or near a street I had to hold on tightly to her hand, because if I didn't she'd just keep on going.

Tansley is a artistic child...sometimes this gets out of hand. She had...and at times still has, an irresistible urge to draw, on something, ANYTHING when ever she gets a writing implement in her hand. Writing utensils of any kind needed to be kept under lock and key. Magic eraser was made for her. One time at my mom's house I walked in to the living room to find her tracing the pattern of light on the wall that was shining in from the etched window. Thankfully it was just with a pencil that she had found. But seriously, she is very artistic. She loves to paint. She has always been very good at colouring and concerned about staying with in the lines. She draws pictures that are far more descriptive than most of her kindergarten classmates. I love to see what art work she brings home from school.

Tansley is my girly girl. She loves dresses. At one point in time it was the only thing she would wear all summer long. I thought for sure when winter came she would agree to wear pants. This was not so. I would have to say to her when we were leaving the house "Tansley, please at least put some pants on under your dress to keep your legs warm".  As soon as we would get to our destination the pants would come off. However, her girly girl-ness stops there. Just because she is wearing a dress doesn't mean that she is afraid to play in the dirt. Nor does it mean that she was capable of sitting like a lady in that dress. She wore/wears her dresses every where. She has how ever taken to wearing pants, preferably skinny jeans, to school on occasion.

This is proper camping attire...isn't it?

Tansley has always been very motherly. She loves to play with dolls. She also loves to help take care of younger children. She is in her element with babies, especially because babies usually love to be mothered...where as her 3 year old sister HATES to be mothered by anyone except her mother. She has loved having James to mother. However I have to often remind her that he is not a doll but is indeed a really human being and that she must be more gentle with him.

Tansley is a girl after my own heart, she LOVES chocolate. From the very first time she tasted chocolate the girl has been in love. She is fairly particular about the sweets that she likes, but when it comes to chocolate, she will eat it in what ever form it might come in. This all started the day before her first birthday. One day she was playing awfully quietly in the living room. I went in to check on her and there she was sitting with a bucket of  chocolate Easter eggs, the ones wrapped in tinfoil. She was covered in chocolate and there were little tinfoil wrappers all over the floor. She had simply sucked the chocolate out of them. This was her very first experience with chocolate. For her birthday she had her very own chocolate cake...she new exactly what to do with it.

Tansley is fearless. That is, she is fearless if she feels like she has control of the situation. For example, while I was very pregnant with Kymberly, I decided, for some reason, to take the two girls swimming by myself. It was likely because it was a ridiculously hot summer and I just need to cool down. Anyways, while we were all swimming in the shallow end, Tansley(who was only 2) decided she needed more adventure and she got out of the pool and started running toward the deep end. I got out as quickly as I could, which wasn't all that quick, and went after her, but it was too late, she had already jumped into the deep end. Panic is not the word. Luckily, there was a lady from our ward there who had seen this all happening and had got to Tansley just as she jumped in, and she pulled her from the water. Tansley wasn't sure what all the fuss was about, because she felt like she had everything under control. However, if Daddy ever picks her up and tosses her into the water, she completely freaks out, and has a complete panic attack.  This holds true to everything she does. If it is her idea, and she feels like she has control, she can do anything! But if you force her into something, or if for some reason she feels like that control has been taken from her...you'd think the world was about to end.

high heel boots and a skirt are an obvious choice for climbing trees.

My Tansley is a delight and a keeper. She is strong willed, but I can't blame her for that...she may have got it from her dad...and maybe a little bit form her mom. She has a smile that will light up any room. She's growing up way to fast.

7 things about me

OK, So my SIL blogged about this on her blog and then invited all her readers to do the same thing. So I've accepted the challenge. I only hope I can think up 7 things that are as interesting as hers, complete with pictures.

Best friends

Paul Brandt and I are best friends. It's true. The proof is here. It's one thing for me to have a picture of him in my facebook album, but an entirely different thing for HIM to have a picture of me in HIS facebook album. So it is obvious to me that we must be best friends. Don't even try, you won't be able to convince me that it is anything less than that. Best friends we are, best friends we'll stay.

Don't you want to come try some of this??

 I love to cook for people...lots of people. I love having people come over and eat my food. I want to have people over more often. In fact I would love to have someone over for dinner every single Sunday. This is something I am going to work on. I'm terrible at planning ahead when it comes to inviting people over and because of this, it is at times hard to find someone to come over on Sunday afternoon to share a meal when it is already Sunday afternoon. I am not afraid of last minute plans. I handle it quite easily, so if you are in the area on a Sunday afternoon, feel free to drop by for a meal...if you don't mind that my house may not be in perfect order.

Since having children I have experienced what my Uncle Scott calls the "candle effect". Let me explain. At some point in time I must have been 5'10" or at least close enough to round up to that height. That is the height that is recorded on my drivers license and I haven't changed the stats on my drivers license since I first got it when I was 19(oh, to be 5'10" and 150lbs again). Imagine my shock when we measured everybody on our new measuring wall when we moved to this house and I was only 5'8"...rounding up! At the same time that I have apparently been losing height, my feet have been growing. For the longest time my feet were a size 9, 9 1/2 or 10. With every child, with the exception of the last one, my feet have grown. I know have to scout out shoes in size 10, 10 1/2, or 11 depending on the type of shoe and brand. Just like a candle, I am slowly shrinking and melting into a pool of "feet" at my base...I can't tell you how happy this makes me.


I am a genius. You may already know this. Maybe you've already seen my geniusness in action. Or maybe you have seen the end results of my geniusness. I love to create things, specifically by sewing them. At times when I have completed a project and I stand back and look at it I can't help but say to myself "you are a GENIUS!", because it is seriously that good. Com'mon admit it, you have all had those moments with what ever it is that you do...and if you haven't...you really should give it a try. I like to believe that I have started a genius revolution here in Milk River area.There is a group of us that frequently share our geniusness with each other. I believe we are simply following President Uchtdorf's council.

I am a proud and passionate member of the Milk River Municipal Library board, Vice Chair to be exact. I have held this position for nearly a full year, but I don't feel like I have actually done anything valuable. That is until recently. You'll all have to come check us out in the summer time. If all goes according to plan, we will have updated and renovated our children's area and it is going to be FAB-U-LOUS! I can promise you this, because, I am also the one that has been planning and researching(it's been on my brain nearly 24/7 for the past month) and as you'll recall, I am a genius. Soon we'll be getting started on this fabulous transformation and it's going to be grand.

 I had a sneaky suspicion that I would marry a certain somebody by the name of Dan Court, way back when we first became friends, long ago in grade 10. I spent a lot of time avoiding this and doing what was necessary to keep a safe distance. But there was just something about this boy that I couldn't get away from. We became good friends and hung out a lot. He had many other "girlfriends". We always remained friends. Then one day, about 7 years after we first became friends, he finally admitted to himself that I was cool enough to become his girlfriend and I admitted to myself that the arrangement would be safe and very likely to be a tonne of fun. We were both right, and after two years of dating, we "sealed" the deal and were married.

I married the first boy that I ever kissed. In fact he is the only boy that I have ever kissed. Not only that, but he is also the only boy that I ever dated. Sure I had been on a date here or there. But he was the only boy that I went "steady" with. He was enough. Twelve years(2 dating, almost 10 married) I am still kissing the same boy, who is now a man, MY man. And I wouldn't have it any other way.



So there you have it, seven random things about me. How about you? are you willing to share 7 things?

Kathryn Love

I thought she was going to be a boy. Not because of an ultrasound, but simply because when you look at the ratio of boys to girls on both sides of the family, boy truly wins out. When she was a baby, I called her sweet pea.This child was a momma's girl if there ever was one. Right from the very beginning she wanted only mom. She never took a soother or a bottle. I nursed her until she was 18 months.
Kathryn is my rule keeper. You lay out the rules, and she does her best to obey them. I remember one time when she was about 3yrs, we were in a busy parking lot and I was getting the baby out of the car, Kathryn started out away from me, I saw a car coming and with a bit of panic in my voice I yelled her name. She stopped, turned back and ran to me crying. She never did that again and I never had to worry about her running across the street. She will also do her best to make sure everyone else is obeying them too. Her sisters don't always appreciate this. 
Kathryn is a super helper. She has always loved to help with the baby. When Tansley was a baby she would jump at the chance to go and get what ever I or the baby needed. When Kymberly was the baby, she loved to feed her. With James now, I can always count on her to be willing to change his wet diapers. Not only does she help with the baby, but she is learning how to cook and loves to take on that responsibility when ever possible. However, because she is a rule keeper, she also feels that recipes have to be followed EXACTLY. If we don't have the exact ingredient or I suggest a different way of doing it, she nearly has a complete melt down. Before she can continue, I have to give her a lengthy explanation on why it is OK to do it a different way.
Kathryn has a tender heart. She is always very concerned about others feelings. One time when I was really sick and in lots of pain, she brought me her favorite teddy bear to cuddle with. If that teddy bear made her feel better, why wouldn't it also help mommy feel better? At school you can count on her to be a friend to the kids that is left out. At recess she will play with a younger kid if she notices that they have nobody else to play with. She is secure in herself and doesn't let what others think stop her from doing what she knows is right. She will go to nearly any length to make somebody else happy, even if that means she will have to go with out.
Kathryn is everybody's friend. Her teacher tells me that she is the cool kid, that everybody wants to be her friend.
Kathryn is smart and eager to learn. Learning comes easy to her. She loves school. When she is sick, you'd think it was the end of the world when I have to keep her home. She tends to remember every little detail and will remind me of the little things. Her teacher tells me that she does this at school as well.
Kathryn is interested in everything. She is always willing to try something new. Or learn about something new. This past week she got a book on the planet Saturn from the public library. She has read it and has started writing a report on it....just because. It isn't a class assignment. She just did it for fun.

All in all, she is a keeper. I love this big girl of mine, and marvel at time how much like me she is when I was her age, both in looks and in attitude. Sometimes that brings me to call my mother and apologize for my irrational behavior as a child.

We'll blame it on her dad

Today while driving home from Lethbridge Kathryn and I were talking about the possible activities that we could all engage in this Family Day Monday. She suggested that maybe if it wasn't too cold and the snow was "packy" we could build a snow fort and have a snow ball fight, kids against parents. And the she said, and I quote, "I know, we could go to the US and throw out our passports!"....she's never let me forget that. EVERY time we are in Shelby and we stop at the Town Pump she'll say, "Hey mom, isn't this where you threw out our passports?" It makes her daddy grin...Why? Because if she hadn't beat him too it, he would have had some similar smart remark. If you haven't heard the story, you'll have too read this post.

Cool vs Cooler.

I think that Daniel is on a quest to be cooler than me.

I have been taking the kids roller skating nearly every Friday for the past few months. We have fun every time. I love it because the kids can just run...or roll  around for a couple of hours and work off all kinds of energy. For the longest time, Kymberly refused to wear her roller skates on her feet. Every week I would ask her if she wanted to put them on her feet and she would say no. What? you might ask, did she do with her roller skates? Well, she wore them on her hands of course.

Then one day in January, on the one and only day that Daniel came roller skating with us, Kymberly decided that she was ready to wear them on her feet. I was busy nursing James so Daddy helped her get them on and then took her hand and led her around the gym. Before too long she was scooting around on her own. Then what does she declare???? Daddy is the best rollerskating teacher EVER! Daddy beamed. I think she may have said a bazillion times "thank you daddy, for teaching me how to roller skate!"Since then Kymberly will tell everyone and anyone and frequently remind me that Daddy is the best rollerskating teacher. Daddy loves to hear it, so he'll often ask her "who is the best rollerskating teacher?" and Kymberly will answer with an enthusiastic "YOU ARE DADDY!". I don't have pictures because I didn't think to take the camera that day....who knew it would be such an eventful evening?

Fast forward to Valentines day. The girls decided that they wanted our family to exchange valentines cards. They have been busy all weekend making valentines cards for everybody. I too got in on the fun and made some valentines cards AND a pretty cool cake.

These are pretty cool...don't ya think?

But then daddy comes home with these

I mean....who can compete with shiny, helium balloons?? Once again Kymberly said thank you a bazillion times for her balloon. Kymberly did say "Thank you mom for my beautiful card"...and then all was forgotten because dad brought out his balloons.

In all honesty, I think it's great. It's nice for daddy to feel like he is the coolest.

On the inside

Just so happens that the title to my post is also one of my (many) favorite Paul Brandt songs. Here, Have a listen...




But that is not the purpose of my post. No, my purpose is not quite so touching. I simply wanted to show off the inside of my cake. What do ya think?

It was supposed to look like this

I followed this tutorial. But I didn't want to make two, two layer cakes...who was going to eat all of that cake? So I just made two layers, one white one red velvet. And this is what I ended up with.

Just another note. The recipes I used were the ones that were provided on the blog. But I think that I prefer the recipe for red velvet cake that I used for Kymberly's birthday last summer.

Happy Valentines Day!

About a week ago my cousin posted this link on facebook. When I saw this cake I just had to try it.  I have never before tried to decorate a cake like this. My decorating skills are pretty limited, but the writer of the blog assured it's readers that it was really easy. Trusting in that, I seriously went out the next day and bought the decorating tip and all the other stuff to make it. All week I was thinking about making this cake for a Valentines Family Home Evening treat. Finally Saturday came along and I figured it would be a good day to spend baking and decorating. I really wanted to do the whole deal. So I used her recipes for  Red velvet cake and white cake and her butter cream frosting recipe. Then I followed her tutorial to make the vertical layer cake....kinda. I only wanted one cake instead of two, so mine isn't quite the same. In hindsight, I wish I would have just done it the way she did and then just found someone to give the other cake too. But I haven't cut into my cake yet, so it is possible that I might still love it nearly as much....but then does it really matter? We're just going to eat it.

So here it is.

I totally LOVE it and will be decorating cakes like this when ever I have a chance. Lucky for me I have three girls, and they all love this cake. They have all told me that they want a cake like this for their birthdays.

It really was easy, but I want to get better. I had it all decorated once and was trying to do some touch ups and ended up ruining it, so I scraped off all the icing and started over. I'll post pictures of the inside once we cut into it for dessert tonight....that is if I like the way it looks.