Free stuff at the park

On Saturday, a local park put on a Family Fun day. The kids had fun jumping in the jumping castles, getting free snow cones and cotton candy, and picking up the free little trinkets that the local vendors were handing out. We actually got some pretty fun stuff like mini aprons and squirt guns.

Sidewinders Game

On Friday we went to a Sidewinders baseball game. We went with the Jones family. Spencer grew up across the street from Johnny and now they both live in Tucson! We had a lot of fun, but we didn't end up staying for the whole game. The kids got tired when the game was in the top of the 4th inning. We signed Eli up for T-ball this summer so Spencer was explaining the game to him. I think that it helped to get him excited about playing!

The Baby

101 days left! 101 degrees outside. I've gained 22lbs. The baby is about 9 inches long and weighs about 2 of those pounds! Now that the end is in sight we need some suggestions for the baby's name. Feel free to send any boy names our way!

Cousin Quilts

We have a fun tradition in our family. Each time one the grandkids gets married, my Granny sends each of the cousins some fabric to make a quilt block for a cousin quilt. The couple getting married chooses two colors of fabric to be the solid squares and the cousins get to go to the fabric store and choose two other patterns of fabric for the other squares. Then we send the block back to Granny and she puts all of the blocks together to make one big beautiful cousin quilt. Spencer and I have been enjoying our cousin quilt for nearly 8 years! We enjoy cuddling with our family under the quilt and feeling all of the love that went into our quilt.

Our cousin quilt


These are the quilt squares that I made for my sister Mika and her fiance Jordan's cousin quilt.

Makenzi Graduates from Kindergarten!

Our graduate!


Makenzi & Mrs. Mikkelson
We are so proud of our precious girl! She has had a great time in Kindergarten and is looking forward to being a 1st grader.

Yesterday.....

Well yesterday was one of those days! I promise that the following was not intentional. I had been thinking to myself for awhile that I needed to document a day in the life of Eli and when yesterday started out the way it did I thought to myself, this is the day.......

First, this is almost a daily occurrence at our house. Luckily I usually hear Eli pulling the bar stool across the tile and run to stop him before he eats the whole bowl full of candy.

While I was trying to put together a photo key chain for Kenzi's teacher, Eli was content using my scrapbooking pop dots to decorate the TV armiore. I took this picture and then he took a picture of me trying to pick 100+ individual squares off of the carpet. I almost posted that picture but you don't want to see me in my pajamas!

Then when I thought that Eli was in the bathroom taking care of business, he was really emptying the toothpaste in the bathroom sink!

I had just finished ironing Kenzi's dress for graduation when...Eli decided that he needed to use some Vicks vapor rub for "his heartbeat". He had the greasy stuff on the front and back both hands. I was alerted to this one by the smell!

Finally, we were babysitting some friends kids, when Kenzi came in and told me that Eli had just peed outside on the back patio cement. What?? This is the picture of him wiping off his feet and legs in case of any over spray.

Oh yah, between the toothpaste incident and the Vicks fiasco, he decided that he needed to lie on the couch and take a nap. I don't think so buddy. If I don't get to take a nap, then you don't get to take a nap!!

You know those days when you look around before going to bed and think to yourself, what a mess, what did I get done today? I'll have this to look back at and remember what being a mom really means!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

This morning Eli and Kenzi were pretending that Eli was an elephant. I hadn't combed Eli's hair yet so I walked over to him to put gel in his hair. He said, "MOM, elephants don't need hair gel!"

The other day in the car Kenzi asked me, "Mom, how does Heavenly Father know if we are a boy or a girl spirit? Do they wear name tags?"
My answer: Well, our spirits look just like our bodies and since Heavenly Father made all of us, he knows who we are. He knows that you are Kenzi and he knows that Eli is Eli, etc.

Awhile back I was making dinner for our family. It was a family favorite called mandarin chicken. The recipe calls for ketchup, sugar, vinegar, chicken stalk, etc. Kenzi was watching me put in the ketchup and then the sugar. She kinda gave me a weird look and asked, "Mom, are you sure you are following the recipe?" I had to show her on the recipe card that the recipe really called for those ingredients before she would believe me!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope that everyone had a great Mother's Day! Here is a picture of my cute kids, me, and my Mother's Day gifts. Notice my beautiful necklace that Kenzi made? What kind of earrings would you recommend to go with it?
I don't know about you but every Mother's Day I am more and more grateful for my moms sacrifice, teaching, and example.

My Pappy sent this to me awhile back and I printed it out and have kept it in my journal. I thought that it would be a nice thing to share on Mother's Day. Sorry, I don't know who wrote it!

Why Women Cry
A little boy asked his mother, "Why are you crying?" "Because I'm a woman she told him."
"I don't understand,"he said. His Mom just hugged him and said, "And you never will."
Later the boy asked his father, "Why does mother seem to cry for no reason?"
"All women cry for no reason" was all his dad could say.
The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry.
Finally he put in a call to God. When God got on the phone, he asked,"God, why do women cry so easily?"
His reply was: "When I made the women she had to be special. I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world, yet gentle enough to give comfort. I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times comes from her children. I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up, and take care of their family through sickness and fatigue without complaining. I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under and and all circumstances, even when her child has hurt her very badly. I gave her strength to carry her husband through his faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart. I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfaltering. And finally, I gave her a tear to shed. This is hers exclusively to use whenever it is needed." "You see my son, the beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart- the place where love resides."

Horney Toad

Notice the heart sticker in the box.
Yes, that is my kitchen tile!
I also had a heart sticker on my arm!

On Thursday Spencer brought home a pet for the kids. This isn't the first time that he has brought one of these horney toads home! The first time we actually looked into keeping it but, after researching and discovering that one of these lizards needs to eat about 100 of a specific species of ants per day and that it would cost us about $40 per week to feed it, we decided to find it a good home out in the desert. This one's fate will be the same. The kids get so excited about taking care of a pet. The first thing Kenzi does when she wakes up is that she runs and looks outside to make sure that "Spike #2" is still there. She is always thinking about what Spike needs or how to improve his home. In fact that is why the pictures of the lizard are inside our house. I heard the kitchen faucet running and asked Kenzi what she was up to and she said that she was just getting Spike some water. Then the mom instinct kicked in and I asked her where Spike was. I wasn't surprised when I walked into the kitchen and the box was in the middle of the kitchen floor.
Eli's contributed the heart stickers. He found a sheet of heart stickers from my scrapbooking supplies and decided to put them on the people or in the lizard box, that he loved!

Sunday at the Park

On Sunday afternoon we took a picnic to Agua Caliente Park. We got home from church, loaded up our picnic basket and headed to this gorgeous park. We spent the afternoon exploring our surroundings after we ate our sandwiches. It has a green grassy area, beautiful palm trees and a pond with fish, ducks, and turtles. Speaking of that, I need to ask my dad about some of those ducks! Anyway, it is like an oasis in our desert environment. The park has been around since 1853 when it was used as an army encampment, then in the 1870's it was used as an orchard and cattle ranch. Later, it was advertised as a hot springs resort. Now, it is an oasis in our desert environment. We had a great time! We took the last picture after we exited the park. Kenzi and Eli are standing in front of a blooming saguaro cactus. Welcome to spring in the desert!

Kenzi's 1st report

Kenzi completed her very first report! She had her first experience with the grueling amount of effort (okay 30 minutes, it is only Kindergarten) that the research takes and then even more effort of planning the layout for the report. Being the parent I had to practice restraint and let her do her report. She put on all of the stickers and most of the pictures by herself. We did have a discussion on aesthetics and there were tears and talk of how tired her fingers were from writing the 5 sentences required, but the finished project gave her the great feeling of accomplishment!

Kindergarten Field Trip

We learned about the different animals diets in the kitchen.

Kenzi's first field trip was to the Reid Park Zoo. I went along as a chaperone for a group of three girls. We had a lot of fun exploring the zoo. We got to see the polar bears swimming, an elephant tooth, and all of the male peacocks were strutting their stuff! Then we had the opportunity to go behind the scenes at the zoo. First we went into the kitchen where hundreds of pounds of food are prepaired everyday. Then, we went into the hospital where we got to see some neat x-rays and hear about the different animals recovery stories. Kenzi and I had a lot of fun spending the day together!