Out of their MOUTHS. . .

SCENE ONE:

We are busy packing the car for our Donner Lake Camping Trip.

Kelly has come over to get one of our camp boxes - I ask her to take the cheese that I have and put in the coolers that they are packing at Grandma and Grandpas - so I ask Kale - 

MOM:

"Kale, come here I need you to do something for me."

(Kale running around the front yard with a star wars gun shooting at pretend who knows what)

"Kale, look at me so I don't have to ask you twice. In the fridge, on the door, is a packet of yellow cheese. . . Kale you're not looking at me - you are going to come back and ask me what I said so listen please . . . In the fridge, on the door, is a a packet of yellow cheese - please go bring it to me."

KALE:

"So is it in the fridge?"

SCENE TWO:

I am cutting up zucchini to make for dinner. Kristopher says he wants to help. As much as I want to say no because I just want to get it done - I tell him to pull the stool up and get a knife. As he is cutting up the zucchini I tell him he is doing a great job. . .

MOM:

"Kris who knew you were so good at this?"

KRIS:

"Heavenly Father."

SIX MONTHS OLD

When Karalyn was about 2 weeks old we as a family

NICKNAMED her "KAR-BEAR"

because she grunts louder than her brothers

when going about her business. . .

A few days later we were in Target (shocker)

and Kale saw the CareBears and announced that

Kara needed one. . .

So I bought one and then decided that each month

on her birthday we would take a picture of her

with her CareBear

so we could see how much she grew each month. . .

HERE ARE THE RESULTS!

March 7, 2008

April 7, 2008

May 7, 2008

June 7, 2008

July 7, 2008

August 7, 2008

But the really important thing about today is. . .

WE ARE GRADUATING FROM THIS

TO THIS

TONIGHT!!!!!

I finally finished her room. . .

and I guess I'm brave enough that if she wakes up in the night I can walk across the entire house and climb a flight of stairs instead of just standing up and getting her out of her cradle - 

WE'LL SEE!

Here's the rest of her room . . . (I kinda like it) 

DONNER PARTY

CAMPING again . . .

This time we headed up to Donner Lake for the

KENNAN FAMILY REUNION!

I wish I had pictures of all the memories we made

and all the fun the kids had - 

but being by myself (for 3 of the days)

I was pretty busy just surviving. . .

But I did pull the camera out 

(and handed it to Aunt Kasey)

to capture the BATH IN THE BIG METAL TUB!!!

She's not too sure. . .

Now she really doesn't know what to think . . .

She finally relaxed a little

(hidden MICKEY - anyone see it?)

Then she started to LOVE it . . .

And by the end she couldn't get enough of it!!!!!

I want to know who needed a bath more - her or ME?

Who didn't tell me I had dirt all over my face?

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT CAMPING?

Kale - THE ROCKS

Kris - THE NOODLE WAR WITH UNCLE JOHN

Mom - Seeing how much fun my kids could have being soooo dirty - 

and Kyle finally getting there on Friday night!

SUNDAY STRUGGLES

So I just have to talk about my day at church today because it was WONDERFUL. . .

Now I'm a mom with three kids so notice I didn't say PERFECT just WONDERFUL!!!!

First of all Saturday nights are my favorite because Kyle gets up with Kara on these nights (now she only gets up once somewhere between 4 am and 5 am) but still to sleep until 7:00 am - it's already a good day.

Somehow this morning just went smooth - no major struggles - the boys got dressed - we got breakfast (cold cereal - but what do you expect with 9:00 am church?) - the dress I had anticipated wearing actually fit and I think looked decent - I even got to try on 2 separate outfits on Kara and then decide which one looked best (totally remembering doing that with my Barbies) - so I'm waiting for the bomb to drop. . . I'm waiting for a meltdown - I'm waiting for the car to break down on the way to church - I'm waiting for a blowout before we leave the house (on Kara everyone - Kris is doing much better) - I don't know what I'm waiting for but Sunday mornings cannot go this smooth. . .

So we get to church (early) and we pile onto our bench - Kara falls asleep (yeah) - I realize it is High Council Sunday - could this be the bomb (boring sacrament meeting?) NO! It is actually interesting - The talk was on the Articles of Faith and as the speaker begins talking about the Articles of Faith I notice my 8 year old unzipping his scripture case, pulling out his scriptures, and turning to the Articles of Faith to follow along. (Believe me I did a double take - I swear it was yesterday he was bringing Star Wars Coloring Books to church and now all he brings is his simple scripture bag) So could the day get any better?

YES! Kristopher did Amazing at church (notice again that I did not say he was perfect) but believe me I will take Amazing!!!!  He looked at church books - leaned all over me a little which is where the not perfect part comes in - do we as mothers have signs all over us that say "We like to have as many bodies as possible draped all over us especially while sitting down?" Maybe it's just me. He didn't fight me about waiting for his snack until after the Sacrament was done being passed. AND. . .when he asked me to get a drink - he asked please - walked (with his arms folded) out of the chapel - and came right back (arms still folded). I was a very content mother.

I couldn't stop thinking about it all day - I'm so thankful for all the times I was consistent on the snack thing and consistent on what I expect during sacrament meeting because today every struggle paid off - It was just a little while ago I had this conversation with Kristopher:

THE SCENE:

We are driving to church after a stressful morning of getting ready for church - the past few weeks Kristopher had spent much of church in the car with Dad for as he puts it "being a pill" (We even had to fix the rear view mirror of the van - because after Kyle strapped him into his car seat Kris was so mad he took his shoes off and threw them as hard as could up to the front seat breaking the rear view mirror) 

Are you starting to see why today was so AMAZING?

So here's how the conversation goes:

ME:  Kris - we are going to have a good day at church today - do you understand?

KRIS:  (grumbling) yes

ME:  Kris - I mean it Sacrament meeting is a time when we think about Jesus and we are reverent. I brought a snack for you but if you even ask me once for it before we take the sacrament I will walk out in the hallway and throw it away in the garbage - do you understand?

KRIS: (grumbling even more) yes

ME: So what are we going to do today during sacrament?

KRIS: silence

ME:  Are we going to look quietly at our books?

KRIS: (grumbling and I can tell getting a little annoyed) yes

I decide to wrap the conversation up before I get him to annoyed. . .

ME: So I'm going to think about Jesus today during sacrament and all that he did for us and how much he loves us. What are you going to think about during sacrament today?

KRIS: (In a deceitful little voice I wish I could explain in writing) MICKEY MOUSE!

Maybe now you can understand why today meant so much to me - do I expect it to happen every Sunday - NOPE - I'm realistic. But today was one of those . . .

IT'S WORTH IT DAYS!

KEEPING IT REAL WEEK (Thanks Sheena)

So most of you who read my blog are aware of

my Sister in Law Sheena's Blog!

(Way fun if you haven't checked it out)

She is having

KEEPING IT REAL WEEK

and you can't get more real than this meal!!!!

YES - this was a real meal I fixed for my Family!

HELP! HELP! HELP! HELP!

Now in my defense. . .

I didn't realize what was happening until I saw it all put together.

We had just returned home from vacation so there was nothing in the fridge.

Those are the Tyson (real chicken right) nuggets (not the dinosaur one's they get for lunch).

I did have broccoli in the freezer but without realizing what was happening 

decided to change it up and have corn.

We didn't have milk so I made up orange juice - 

and it was a choice between canned peaches and cantaloupe 

(like the cantaloupe would have made the color palette any better)!

So there you have it!

Isn't my family lucky?

Please share recipes with me so my family doesn't have to suffer any longer!

"DIRT"CATION

SERIOUSLY . . .

Have you ever seen such DIRTY FEET

AND FACES????

Who can blame them when you spend 3 days having this much FUN!!!!

Thank you Kjerstin for the Flyswatter Bubbles. . .

They were a hit!!!

Thank goodness for Baseball (and an empty campsite next door)

We had a blast on the lake. . .

Who needs a boat - when you have a raft?

Kris even got some Fishin' in!

These two were inseparable

They were definitely made from the same mold.

KARA is the only one who managed to stay clean

because she "hung out" in here all weekend!

Even took a nap. . .

(look close there's a fly taking a nap on her too)

We had a GREAT TIME with these two Families. . .

It's a Tradition. . .

JIBSON, TIRONE, and LENCIONI Families

We will see you next year!!!

We have to now - Kris marked our territory!!!!

DAY 4 - FINAL DAY

SIX FLAGS DISCOVERY KINGDOM

(on the hottest day of the summer so far)

Kale's first priority was to measure himself to see after 3 summers of waiting if he was finally tall enough to ride the BIG rides. . .

AND HE WAS!!!!!

However

Kris wasn't quite so fortunate -

he was pretty bummed, but Six Flags has plenty of

rides just his size so we rode. . .

and rode . . .

and rode. . .

and rode. . .

and rode . . .

and rode. . .

This is Me congratulating Kale on his first BIG ride!!

I will admit there were tears of anticipation (by him - not me)

and even some attempts at running out of line. . .

But after one rotation and us hanging in midair

Kale was loving it

(Loving it so much in fact it's all he talked about the rest of the day)

THEN WE WATCHED SOME SHOWS

And saw some animals . . .

I took a picture of this guy because it was so HOT that I felt like I  was moving this slow the entire day!

Now normally we are that family who never buys souvenirs, but today we made an exception because it really was so hot - we bought the kids some squirt gun misters!

As you can guess here's what happened. . .

We even got Kara one and rigged it up to the stroller - 

she had her own air conditioning the whole day!

We had a great day! The heat kept the crowds away and we walked on every ride!

What a great ending to a great vacation  - I mean stay-cation!!!

I'm so glad we took this trip. As disappointed as I was at having to change our plans I look back now and realize this is what our family really needed.

Just to be with each other having fun - just the 5 of us!

(Wow did I just say 5 of us - CRAZY)