Cute Cakes!

Brynne found some cupcake papers with Dora on them yesterday. She wanted to make cupcakes all day but I was out of cake mix and everything else for that matter. Finally I got out to the store and we were ready to get started. Brynne said mom I have a great idea, I can be the little chef and you can be the big chef. We put on our matching aprons and got to work. (yes I should have taken pics of that, but of course didn't think of it) Today she asked if we could share them with her friends in her preschool class. She has been so excited to share them all morning and she is bursting with pride. She is so much fun!

Freedom!

Last Thursday was a BIG day at our house. Garrett was getting his cast off. It was a topic of discussion all day in his class as his friends helped him count down the hours and then minutes until I was to pick him up from school. I think they were looking forward to his favorite weapon for torture to be removed. I could tell he was a bit nervous by all the questions he asked. Mostly in regard to the electric saw a friend told him they would use to saw the cast off. Brynne joined us on the trip to the doctors office. The nurse was so nice and tried to make light of the saw and joked with Garrett but you can see the fear on his face.

As soon as his cast was off and the nurse had gone to get the doctor and check the x rays,Brynne came up to Garrett and told him excitedly,"Garrett hey, you're not broken any more!" She was so happy she figured we ought to do just what Dora does when there is good news. Celebrate by singing and dancing, and since I had my camera she insisted I take some pictures of her and Garrett dancing. Of course she didn't let me off the hook either and she actually got a shot of me doing the happy dance. So here is our Celebration Dance!

Friday Games

No, I promise I will not be posting game pictures every week, but I didn't get any good ones of Garrett last week and I got such a cute one of Wes I just thought I'd share...

President Pouter... Yours Truly

Guess who...? Yep that is definitely one of my nicknames, it just hasn't been used for a long time. Probably since college. Well, it suits me once again. I am so so mad! I can't run! Last week on one of my good running days I decided since I was feeling really good I would work on my speed. At the end of the run I was really pushing it and I started to feel what I knew was the beginnings of shin splints. Sure enough by the next morning I was pretty stiff walking around the house. I knew I shouldn't run that day and was okay with it, but at about 9:45 that night I got a little stir crazy and headed off to the gym vowing to just walk and take it easy. Well three miles in at a 7 incline I wasn't even noticing my leg so I thought maybe just one mile of a run...yeah right. I thought I could do one hard mile and that would be enough, so I ran it fast and at the 7 incline. Bad news, my impatience coupled with my crazy addiction to running has had me literally hobbling for 4 days now. By the end of the day I look a little more normal, but I'm starting to think I may actually have a stress fracture...ugh! It's not really fitting into my schedule right now...Tonight I went to the gym and rode the bike and lifted weights. It is so not the same thing as a good run and I know it isn't even close in burning calories. I came back from the Gym looking like this...I am sooooo not happy about this!

Donuts with Dad

Hands down, no questions asked Jeff is the best Dad ever. His favorite thing is to play with our kids. He always calls Wes on his way home from work to get the inside scoop on football practice that day. Each night after family prayers I put the house back together for the last time knowing it will stay clean until the morning at least, and Jeff "snuggles" with each of the boys. They always have competitions to see who will get first snuggles. Snuggles entails Jeff squeezing into each of their twin beds, even Garrett's top bunk, and lays there and asks each one questions about their day, their friends, teachers, sports etc. When he is done then that child gets to ask him questions or request a favorite story.

The two favorites are "Little Boy Stories" where the kids ask him to tell a story about a time when he was their age. They will say little boy stories, scared est you have ever been...or most embarrassing thing, craziest thing you ever did, when your mom got mad at you. You get the picture.

The other favorite story is the Ancient Squirrel Stories. These evolved out of some random conversation Jeff and Garrett had once and are now adventures of squirrels traveling around the world in and out of sticky situations and each of the kids and even the cousins has a squirrel named after them. I had never realized quite how creative Jeff is, but these stories have put any doubts to rest. Who else could make a bunch of old squirrels so hilarious? My husband, that's who!

So this last Friday the elementary school had their annual "Donuts with Dad" event. All the dads are invited to come with their kids to school an hour early and they have a fun breakfast of donuts and juice and hang out together. My boys were so excited to bring their dad to school all week. They were all good about getting up early and thrilled when they finally headed out the door. I sure love my crazy guys!

This is my song...

One of my top 3 favorite sundays is the Primary Program. I was so proud of the boys as they worked to memorize their parts. Wes was so cool as he came up to the podium in his white shirt, tie he had tied himself (a little too long...), and hands in his pockets and delivered his lines like they were his own words. Garrett who had tied his own tie for the very first time by himself, had his lines in his pocket. As he came up to the podium he paused, turned to the side read them through once more and finally came up to the mic and recited his lines from memory. Way to go Gar! Little Drew didn't dare risk messing up his lines, he just read them with confidence and walked back to his seat, hands in his pockets, pride sneaking out from his little smirk . The whole time Brynne kept saying to me, "I wish I could be up there. I wish I was singing with them." Every time the kids would stand to sing she would stand on Jeffs lap and say, "Dad show me where our guys are..?" The best was when they began to sing I am a Child of God. When Brynne was a little younger I would sing all three verses to her as I rocked her to sleep every night. As soon as the primary kids started to sing her face lit up and she said,"Mommy this is MY song!" Of all the songs that she knows, I'm glad this one's hers! She is one spunky little girl!

Another Saturday...Another Dance

So last weekend was another one of our quad stake dances. It has been so fun for us as our stake has hosted the dances this year becuase when else does a married mother of 4 get to go dancing? Okay so we don't really just go and dance we do have responsibilities and it is actually a ton of work, but all worth it. I am actually going to miss these dances next year when another stake hosts them! Here are some fun pics from this months sports themed dance.

Heather, Chris and Wendee

Our not so busy chaperones...

This is the respect we get...
These costumes didn't last much past the front door!

I Like Your Shirt

Conversation between Brynne and Kristen last week

Kristen "Brynne I like your shirt"

Brynne, "Thanks Kristen. You should get one just like it, you want one?"

Kristen," Yeah, I do. It's so cute!'

Brynne,"You should tell your mom to buy you one"

Kristen,"Okay I will"

Brynne,"Actually Kristen, my shirt cost a lot of money. Maybe my mom should give your mom some money so she could buy you one."

Kristen, "Thats a good idea Brynne."

Brynne,"Yeah, but Kristen my shirt is really small you should get a really really big one."

I'm Lovin' It!

Have I mentioned that I have the BEST calling in the church? I love, love, love, working with the youth of our stake! They are the best group of kids and I am impressed by them, and learn from them often. The other great thing is that I LOVE the ladies I am serving with and the Young Men's Presidency too. They are such talented people and so hard working. We spend so much time together with all the activities we do, that I am so grateful for the friendship that is shared there. This last weekend we had our annual senior retreat. We went up to Millerton Lake and played in the water and on the boats. Then we headed up to the pavilion where we ate dinner and listed to one of our youth leaders and a member of the Stake Presidency. The kids all got to know each other better and I am hearing they all had a great time. I know we did!

We finished up Sunday evening meeting in the backyard at the Kelloggs house. We heard talks from two more of our youth leaders and then we broke up into groups to begin planning for a theme for our Stake EFY to be held during spring break. The theme will be based on the Mutual Theme for the year"Be thou and example of the believers..." from 1 Timothy. They had the best ideas and great conversations regarding the scripture. We had homemade ice cream and a testimony meeting to finish things off. The spirit was so strong there and we are all building relationships with each other and with our Father in Heaven that will change our lives. I just feel so blessed to be serving where I am and wish I could serve here forever!

Game Day

Friday was game day! Wes and Austin had Football scrimmages and Garrett had his first cross country race. It was incredibly hot, but we had a blast watching our guys! Brynne was ready to go once she found out the snack bar wasn't open. She kept telling us "It's all over! There is nobody here! Time to go home!" The boys did such a great job! Wes sacked the quarter back twice, and Garrett came in 15th place with 6 schools of 4th grade boys competeing.

We were back at the school for more football on Saturday for the Football carnival. All the ementary schools that feed into the one High school came to compete in quick 12 minute games and it was quite the scene!

Of Course...

Of course it didn't work out like that, it never does! Garrett's arm is broken so I knew we were going to have to hold off on sports for him this fall, we didn't have a choice anyway. Well that is until Garrett told his teacher that he was so disappointed that he couldn't run Cross Country for the school. His sweet teacher talked to the coaches and eventually the director of athletics for the school district. As long as we were okay with it, the school was okay with it. So of course, Garrett joined the team. Then we got the call from the soccer teams. Tryouts took place before the arm broke so Garrett had already gone through tryouts. He had been placed on a team with 2 incredible coaches and a bunch of his good friends. They and called of course Garrett could just sit out until his cast was off, and of course we said yes. He and Wes came home drenched in all their boyish sweaty glory all last week, and my Thursdays just became impossible. With sports ending at 4:30 for both boys, followed by soccer practice for G and piano lessons for Wes, both beginning at 5. Jeff has a radio show Thursdays at 7, so he doesn't come home until 8:30 ever. All of my stake meetings and activities are Thursday nights. So of course, here we are back to our norm...BUSY!

I also said I wasn't going to volunteer for anything at the school this year since my fall calendar with Young Womens is jam packed and the spring will be even busier. I stuck to it and sent in all of the info you get on the first day of school without checking any of the boxes saying I could help with this program or that project. Then I got a call from the PTC. No one had signed up to be the room mom for Wes' 6th grade class. They found a lady who agreed to do it but only if I would do it with her. Was there any way I could do that? Of course I would! I am now up to my eyeballs in planning for the school fundraiser carnival and letters home for the parents and organizing a class directory.


I knew I was going to have to hunker down and give up my love for late night reading when school started. I have to get up earlier with the kids and learn to be in bed before 12am (which is pretty early for me) I was doing okay until I started The Host. Of course, I got all wrapped up in the story and stayed up until my sprinklers turned on and then until my newspaper was delivered...I hate it when that happens! Of course I loved the book. Then of course I didn't stop there I read these three books too. And so, no rest for the weary. I was up past 3 am 4 days last week. But of course, its all my own dumb fault. I should have known better. It's just the way I am!

Ruth's Chris...?

Ruth's Chris, Rods Chris, My Chris...it's all so confusing! Two of those are even the same thing! Date night this weekend was all about Chris! I knew it was going to be a great day when I had the opportunity not only to sleep in after a late night of reading, which I LOVE, by the way, but then it was followed by lunch with my dear friend Chris.

Chris is one of my very favorite people on the planet. Chris is quick to make anyone and everyone feel at ease. Chris is classy. Chris is probably the most compassionate listener I know. Chris is patient...so patient that when I showed up 20 minutes late and could not apologise more sincerely, she waved me off and knowingly said,"Oh friend, get over it! You gave me the "late" disclaimer way back when I met you!" Chris has a talent for making everything beautiful. Decorating her house, setting up for an event, or just finishing off an outfit, she always knows just what is needed to pull it all together. Chris is generous with everything. Chris can keep a secret. While this list is by no means complete, I'll add just one more. Chris is just plain fun! In fact my cheeks usually are sore from laughing and smiling after lunch with her and Stephanie.

So back to all these Chris'...Rod wanted to bring his wife Chris, the previously mentioned amazing friend, out to dinner and invited us to join them. We decided to try out the new steak house in town, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. What's that all about you ask? Some old lady Ruth, bought Chris' Steak house and after it was doing so well decided to open a few more, but she didn't want this Chris getting all the credit for the great place so she decided to tack her name on to the beginning to show them who was really calling the shots. Okay so they didn't say it in exactly those same words but you get the idea. Turns out the food is pretty dang good and the company was even better! There's just never enough Chris to go around...

Fancy That!

If you are a girl and have never read this book or others like it... you are missing out! Nancy is the Queen of all things girly, frilly and fancy. My introduction to these books was by one of my favorite people on the planet! Stephanie gave me the one titled Bonjour Butterfly for my birthday this last year because she said the girls reminded her of us! What a great gift!

My Brynne was invited to a Fancy Nancy Birthday party this week and if you are a girl between the ages of 3 and 5 years old and you didn't go to this party...you are missing out! Check out all this fancy fun!








There is only so much fancy fun a girl can have before she really needs a nap! And if you are a girl or a boy of any age and you didn't already know that...you are REALLY missing out!