A Great Night!

Last night, Kristy and I went to the Home Depot free clinic for ladies to learn about our gardens, lawns, potting plants, all that fun stuff. They had 59 people sign up....

Kristy and I were the ONLY ONES THERE!

It was actually very nice. We got some one-on-one advice and got to ask lots of questions. They had a drawing for the pot that they planted to show us how to do it. Kristy won!! The super sweet friend that she is, she gave it to me! Thanks a million Kristy!! We also each got a watering can, new gardening gloves, and a nozzle for the hose. We had a great time and I am so grateful that Kristy could go with me!!

Now It's My Turn!

I have LIVED at the doctor's office this last week. Jayce had croup over the weekend. I thought she was getting better, but then on Monday she woke up with gross goupy eyes! I took her in AGAIN and the doctor gave us some drops and also told me that her throat looked horrible. He tested her for strep. Luckily it came back negative, but still, poor thing. Emily has been sick also. She mostly just has an icky runny nose and a horrible cough. I hate coughs. They sound horrible, but I know that they are doing their job to keep the congestion out of their lungs.

Anyway, now it is my turn. I have been sick since last Saturday and hoped that it was just allergies or a cold that would go away in a couple of days. Well, last night I was HORRIBLE. I remember sleeping and thinking, Les, take it easy and breath slow so that you can keep breathing. Isn't that horrible! Ick. Anyway, it is my turn to head into the doctor. Why is it so much easier to take your kids in then head in yourself?

On a little side note, I am headed to a gardening class at Home Depot tonight to learn how to take care of our lawn, plant some pretty baskets, and grow a garden. I don't have much of a green thumb, although I would like to think that I do!!! I am going to get my veggies planted this weekend. I want to plant zucchini (and only 2 plants this year instead of the 6 I planted last year!!!), squash, tomatoes, jalapeno peppers (great for pepper jelly, YUMMO!!), and I want to try some green beans this year and cucumbers. I want to make my own pickles and fresh green beans from your garden are the BEST!! Anyway, wish me luck! I am going to plant my garden while Jared works on our new swing set! We are supposed to pick it up Saturday morning and then it is of to Work Work Work for ol Jar!!! He finished a basement, he can put together a swing set!

Happy Mother's Day!

I wanted to tell my mom, my mother-in-law, grandmothers, sister, sisters-in-law, and friends that are mothers

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

You all are such an example to me and I am so grateful to know all of you! I hope you all have a wonderful day and enjoy this time that we have to be mothers!

For Mother's Day, Jared and the kids gave me some cake decorating classes. I am so excited. I love to make and decorate cakes for my girls' birthdays, I just don't have any technique whatsoever, so I am really excited for these classes. I went to my first class last night and although I felt miserable because I am so deathly sick, I really enjoyed the class and think I am going to have a great time!!

1ST RACE OF THE YEAR!

Today I ran my first race of the year! Payson had a stake run, well, there were 11 stakes involved. Jared and I were going to run it together, but last night Jayce came down with the croup and I just hurried and went, ran, and then came right home! I ran the 5k in 30:20, which is about a 9:49 min/mile! That is pretty good for me! I was really happy and had a great time! I passed a BUNCH of people and that made my adrenaline kick in! YAHOO!!

Does It Ever End?

Tuesday afternoon, Jared and I finally went to the toy store to look at swing sets. Our kids are loving the outdoors and have outgrown (or become bored) with our little slide. Kylee is forever constantly asking me to go in the front and ride her bikes! I would love to have a swing set for the kids in the back so that I don't have to worry about them so much.We decided on this swing set. It might take us a little while to put it together, but I think that it will be so worth it in the end, to see the kids play on it and have a blast!

was so excited to get it that day and start laying it out for Jared and getting it ready to be put together, but oh no! Even though they said they had one in the store, when they went to bring it out to us, they didn't have one, so we have to wait until next week to get it and then next weekend to put it together!

I have anticipation anxiety disorder!! Once I get something in my head, it is VERY hard to get it out!!! I have to do many things to distract myself. So, what am I doing to distract myself from not wanting the swing set here NOW? Taking the dirt out of my garden so that I can lay newspaper down to prevent weeds and grass from coming up! And then planting my garden!!

I Love Spring!

I absolutely love Spring. I love letting my kids go outside and play, I love seeing my flowers come up and give some color to my front yard, I love listening to music with the windows open in my car and singing at the top of my lungs!

Kylee loves my flowers. She loves to pick them and pretend they are her flower for her wedding. One of her little friends was over and they picked a bouquet of flowers for their wedding! I get so angry at her for picking my flowers. She tells me not to pick the dandelions because then we won't have anymore flowers left!!! :)

This morning, I was cleaning the house and both Jayce and Kylee were outside riding their bikes. I came out to put some stuff in the car and she gave me another bouquet of flowers! Actually, I didn't realize I had so many flowers to make so many bouquets!! Anyway, she gave the bouquet to me and told me they were for me. Again, I was angry inside wondering if she was ever going to not pick them. Then it hit me! I LOVE getting flowers from Jared, so why not use my own flowers to make a cute centerpiece! I have lots of champagne glasses from my wedding that we NEVER use and I decided to put them to use and look at what I got.

HAPPY STAR WARS DAY!

May the Fourth Be With You!

Happy Green Week!

This year, I decided to help the Earth and do some "green" things. I had read this blog sharing some ideas on how to go green. Here are the things that I tried this week!

I made some reusable grocery bags (I am still working on them, I have put them off hoping that I can finish them in my NEW craft room!!) to take to the grocery store. They turned out pretty darn cute!

I would leave the lights off in the morning and just open the blinds to let the sun come in! I really like this. The only time I really used the light was when I would get up and read in the morning, and in the late evening hours as the girls were going to bed!

It was also National Turn Off TV week! I told Kylee that it was National Turn Off TV week and that we would not be watching TV or getting on the computer this week. I have loved this because the girls have gotten into the habit of asking to watch TV first thing in the morning. We spend time together getting breakfast ready, getting dressed, getting the house straightened up! I might just have to keep this one going! :)

Happy Green Week!!

IT'S FINISHED!!! (Almost)

THE BASEMENT IS DONE!!! We had the carpet installed yesterday and had to hurry and finish baseboards the night before. Jared is working on the electrical today, just finishing up mounting the outlets and putting face plates on. We still have a few things to do such as paint the doors, get lights, put in the faucet for the kitchen, and shelves in all the closets. The bathroom isn't done, it just needs the vanity and the toilet, but at least once the electrical is done, we can move the kids down there. We are getting the couches and TV today!! WHOOHOO!! Here are some pictures.

Here are the girls helping Jared!
A view of the Kitchen area
The unfinished bathroom!! :)
My favorite! The girls playroom. I got the picket fence finished Thursday night!
The exercise room, another favorite. We put some of that rubber matting down where the treadmill will go. Where the carpet is is where I will put my sewing machine and table to do crafts and projects!
Another favorite, the blue room! This might become Jared and I's bedroom during the hot summer months!
Under the stairs!

MILESTONE IN OUR LIVES!

We, here at the Keisel household, have hit another milestone!!! It has been quite the chore to have 3 little girls and getting anywhere on time! One of the things that has been hard for me is that I have to buckle all 3 of them in their car seats! WHOWEEE!! We have hit a milestone. We got a new car seat for Kylee a few months back. It is just one of those car seats that uses the car's seatbelt. It was hard for her to buckle, because the seatbelt was so far down into the seat. Well, she learned a few days ago to do it by herself. And my little Jayce is Miss Independent and has to do EVERYTHING herself! They both can now get in by themselves and get buckled in so I have to only worry about little Miss Emily! What a lovely thing!

This just makes me Smile!

I saw this video and just LOVE it! I love the piano. I have gone to a concert of Paul Cardall and another piano player, but for the love of all I CANNOT remember his name. I feel horrible. Anyway, I just love to listen to the piano and could listen to it forever. I really need to get a piano so that I can somewhat practice!

Anyway, I found this video and could listen to this forever!!

Basement Update with PICTURES!!!!

Kim, this is for you!!! I finally got to taking some pictures. We still have a big mess down there, but the carpet is coming next Wednesday or Thursday so we have got to bust our butts this week! I might be asking for some babysitters to help while I get to some more painting (gotta do the baseboards and windowsills and door casings once they are put up!)

Anyway, it is starting to look good down there. Here is a picture of MY BLUE ROOM!! I absolutely love this room and might end up sleeping some nights down here! This will be our guest room for anyone wanting to come for a visit!! I just love the calming blue color.
This is another shot of the blue room. Jar doesn't have the lights hooked up yet so I couldn't get a REAL great picture, but it works right!! Hopefully you get the idea!
This is a picture of the exercise room that is just west of the blue room. We are going to put our treadmill and weights in here at one end and then at the other end, I get my craft room. Can I tell you how excited I am for this room. Right now my sewing machine is in the closet in Emily's room because I keep having to get it out. I am excited to put it somewhere and just keep it out and use it! Oh how fun. I plan to put a pegboard up on the wall above a countertop to put all my trinkets and things! YAHOO!! So, when it is time to craft, I will be ready!!Here is a shot from standing over by the kitchen area looking towards the TV room. You can see the doorway to the blue bedroom. I am in love with color of this wall too. The brown turned out so great! Jared was a little nervous about it and wanted me to get a can, paint a little on the wall, let it dry and see if it was really what I wanted. I felt comfortable enough that it was the color I wanted and it turned out great. I am going to be painting the baseboards, windowsills, window frames, and door frames a dark chocolate brown. I am so excited to see it all put together.Here is a picture of the countertop that will go on the cabinets in the kitchen area. The countertop we had originally decided upon was more of a bunch of different browns. Jared went to Home Depot and they had discontinued it, but they had this one, the last one and got it. I think he was a little nervous that it would look good and that I would like it. I LOVE it. I has some texture on it and it has some greens in it which makes me so happy becuase we already have lots of brown going on downstairs!

Here is a picture of the cabinets with the tile in the Kitchen area. I can not hide my excitetment anymore!
Another faraway picture of the cabinet area. Don't mind the mess! I tell you, we still have lots to do, but it coming right along!
Here is the bathroom with the shower that Jared is working on! He is tileing the bathroom tomorrow night!
And I think my other favorite room. The girls' playroom for a few months and then their bedroom! I am not done with the picket fence, I need to paint the white that does horizontal behind the fence slaps, but I just love how the picket fence turned out!

Happy Easter!

We had a really great Easter weekend. Most of it was spent in the basement. In the girls' room, I painted it green and then was waiting to paint a white picket fence on the wall. I got that done on Saturday and it looks so fun! Don't you all fret, picture are coming. Hopefully I can get down there tomorrow and get some pictures of things coming right along! We still have lots to do, but the carpet is coming either the 25th of April or the first Saturday in May, so we need to get things going!!!

My in-laws stopped by on Saturday morning to give the girls their Easter gifts. It was so nice to visit with them and the girls were SOO excited that Grandma Judy was coming.

I had to teach on Sunday and it was awful! NOTHING, I mean nothing went right. I cried the whole time and actually left my class while they were writing some things down to gather myself together! It was so awful and I just felt HORRIBLE!!! We then spend a quiet afternoon at home and then went down that evening to visit Jared's grandparents. It was nice to get down there and see them! My girls love to visit Grandma Lund! I think Kylee wants to have her party down there!!

We hope you all had a great Easter! Here are some pictures of the girls in the dresses! I can still buy them all matching dresses. How long with that last before I can't find one girl a dress they same style!

Sunny, But Not so Warm St. George

We headed off to St. George this weekend. My mom, my girls, and I headed out Thursday morning. Jared took off Thursday, but stayed at home and worked on the tile in the basement. He got it all done!!! It looks fabulous!!!! He did an excellent job. Jared and my dad came down Friday morning and then my mom and I headed out and got manicures and pedicure! Such a nice little treat for us! Kevin, Tyler, and Christine came down that night. It was so nice in St. George. It wasn't real warm, but it wasn't cold either. Just a nice trip. Everyone left Sunday afternoon, and my mom, my girls, and I came home yesterday afternoon. We need to get down there again! I think I would really like to live in St. George!

Happy April Fools Day!

I have never been one that was good at playing jokes on April Fool's Day. Last night we had Young Women's and Kim played a GREAT trick on the girls!! We made Easter Baskets, live Easter Baskets.

I have planted Easter Baskets for about 3 years now and have just gone to the nurseries to buy the wheat grass seed. I decided to do an activity with the girls and plant baskets. I did some calling around to find out how much the seed would be and if we could do it within our budget. I called Good Earth and they sell it in bulk. It is $.89 a pound and the lady told me it was just whole wheat. I called Cynthia because she grows her own for her juices and she said she just uses her food storage whole wheat. I guess I never made the connection that it was whole wheat, wheat grass, see the connection!!!

You soak the wheat in water for one day and then drain the water. For the next couple of days you put it in water and then drain the wheat, don't leave it sitting in the water. When the wheat seeds start to get some sprouts on the ends of them, it is time to plant. Put about 2 to 3 inches of soil in the bottom of your saran wrap lined baskets, place a single layer of wheat seed on tope, and then put a skiff of dirt on top. The next day you will see the sprouts coming up! Such a fun thing to do this time of year when all the flowers are coming up and to get us out of the winter dulldrums!!

After we planted our baskets with the girls, we had treats, brownies! Or so the girls thought! Kim had bought some sponges, cut them into squares and then frosted them with chocolate frostine. They looked like the real deal!! It was HILARIOUS to see the girls try and chew through the sponge!! I am laughing my head off right now thinking about it! They were good sports! We then really gave them real cake!

Date Night with Jar!

Last night Jared and I got to go on a date to the temple. I am so embarrassed to say that it has been a long time! It was SOO VERY nice to be able to go to the temple. With all the chaos going on around in the economy, trying to raise 3 little girls, and trying to magnify my calling, I always am feeling a little pulled! At the temple last night, I was able to let go of all of those things and just go and enjoy the peace and to enjoy some great time with Jar! I am so grateful for the gospel and the joy that it brings to my life!!

Movie Night

Jar and I haven't watched a movie together in a long time. We usually do the Redbox thing, but they really haven't had that great of a selection! Last night I was checking to see what they had and saw the movie Fireproof. Has anyone seenit? Redbox gave it a rating of A-. I thought it looked good. It was a good movie. A couple of times during the movie, I thought that it was a church movie. The acting wasn't THAT great, but it had a great message. Anyway, it was nice to sit with Jar and watch a movie!!

Great Deal!

I am so in love with GREAT DEALS!!!! I have a few blogs that I am checking daily for great deals! I got an awesome Mother's Day gift. If you are looking for something, I can email you what I got, but I am not saying on my blog. Don't want to give away the surprise!!!! Bath and Body Works has their soaps on sale, 5 for $15.00. I LOVE the fun soaps and smells. They have some really great new summer smells out! Here is a picture of the stuff that I got. If you love them, get out and get some for yourself or to give for gifts!!

Where Have I Been?

It has been almost a full week since I posted. We have been busy here! I finished painting all of the rooms downstairs, Jared got the cabinets and the countertop (which I am in love with!!), and he has hung almost all of the doors! Next week, he is going to be working on the tile and I need to paint windowsills, and the insides of the windows. It is almost done. Our couches are being delivered around April 11, so we are kind of in crunch mode!

I also got the girls hair cut. Jayce's hair needed to be cut. She has super fine hair and it was always a rat's nest at the back in the morning. Here is my best attempt at a picture of her! Kylee wouldn't get in the picture. She was too interested in watching me take a picture of Jayce. Jayce has a cute a-line cut and with her curly hair, it is super easy to do! The dress Jayce is wearing Jared brought back from Korea! They are adorable. All 3 girls got one, but I just couldn't get them in the picture. That will come later!

Almost There!

This weekend, we got lots painted. My parents came down to help paint the basement. I painted the ceilings and closets in both bedrooms and the walls in the bathroom. My parents made it down to help my paint the main room. I got all the painting done that I wanted during the weekend. The basement is getting there! Jared is picking up our cabinets tonight for the bathroom and the kitchenette.

I finally got around to cleaning my bathrooms. They were so disgusting and really needed a good cleaning. Here is what I did.

Wash shower curtain in washing machine
Dust doors, door frames
Wash inside cupboards and cupboard surfaces
Wash mirrors
Wash counters
Wash toilet
Dust and wash baseboards
Wash floors
Clean rugs

Back to the Grind

So, today I got back to my spring cleaning. This is what I did today! I am almost done. I just have bathrooms and the garage left to do. This weekend is sort of busy with us trying to finish painting the basement so that we are ready for the cabinets next week and then tile after that!! I have to put off the last few things on Spring Cleaning until next week!

3 Bedrooms

pick up clothes
tidy up dresser and table tops
flip and rotate mattress
change linens and fluff pillows
wash curtain/blinds
Dust above doors and door frames
Dust shelves
Dust window sills
Dust furniture
Dust baseboards
Vacuum every corner
Vacuum window sills
Vacuum carpet
Closet organize items (clothing, toys, linens) into categories
Discard broken toys
Donate old clothing and toys

No Spring Cleaning Yesterday!

Yesterday I took a break from the spring cleaning. It was such a fun filled day anyway, that I decided I didn't need to overdo myself and add that on top! (I think some of you think I overdo it anyway!!!! LOL HAAAAAHAAAAA!)

Yesterday, Kylee had her school. We have been just going once a month to make sure she is keeping up on her progressing in speech. She has done so well! After we did the initial testing last May, there were only 3 sounds that she wasn't doing so well. J, Z, and R. Today, when we went in, we worked on the letter R and her teacher was really impressed with her and how she said her R's. She then just talked to Kylee to see how she talks in normal conversation. She told me that she would talk to the other speech therapist to decide what to do next with Kylee, which will probably be to test her and then graduate her from the program. Kylee has come along way in 1 1/2 years, from not being understood, to talking and making all her sounds correctly.

We also had speech playgroup for Jayce. Jayce also has been doing so well with talking. She has started to put 2 and 3 words together and TRY to make sentences. The OT at her playgroup talked about moving her to the toddler and mom class that is similar to what Kylee has been doing at the school. They work more on letters and their sounds. Then in October she will be tested to see if she qualifies to get some help at the school, which is what Kylee has been doing. I love these programs that help teach me how to help my kids progress!

I then had to get ready for Young Women's last night. We had a talent show that the Beehive Class Presidency did planned EVERYTHING. They were pretty darn amazing. They called all the girls, they decorated, they put on a show, they cleaned up! It was wonderful and we had a great time.

My talent was........

CREAM PUFFS

If you remember, at the first of the year I decided to make a New Year's Resolution to learn to make the best cream puffs. Well, I think this batch was about it! They looked so stinking good, I just had to take a picture of them and show you all! The girls all said they were good too. I even had a couple left over to bring home for Jared and the girls.

2nd Day of Spring Cleaning

Today was my second day of spring cleaning. Yesterday was pretty intense. Today wasn't too bad. I even had time to go to the park with the kids. Kylee has been wanting to go for a very long time so I thought it was about time to let them run around!

Here is what I did today.

Family room
Dust shelves
Dust items on the mantel
Dust tv and electronics
Dust baseboards
Vacuum every corner
Wipe down window sills
Vacuum upholstery
Vacuum carpet

Office
Organize desk, file bills, user manuals, warranties, and receipts
Throw out old papers from files and counter tops
Dust desktop
Dust computer, monitor, keyboard, etc.
Dust baseboards
Vacuum every corner

Entry Way
Dust above the door and doorframes
Scrub floor

1st Day of Spring Cleaning

So, here is what I did today for my spring cleaning. Most of the cleaning, I don't think anyone would really notice, but I sure do and it feels so good too.

Kitchen, Dining Room, and Mud Room

Dust above the doors and door frames
Wipe down counter tops and clear them off (I like a little bit of things on my counters)
Wipe down chairs and stools
Wipe down window sills
Wipe down baseboards
Dust off lighting fixtures
Vacuum under stove
Vacuum refrigerator coils
Wash stove top
Wash microwave
Wash washer and dryer
Wash dishwasher
Wash garbage can
Wash windows
Throw away unwanted leftovers out of fridge
Clean in refrigerator with baking soda solution
Throw out expired products
Wipe down outside of refrigerator
Sink let cleaning products sit, then wash and rinse
Wipe down cabinets
Toss expired items
Clean out junk drawer
Mop floor (Every 6 months or so, I get down on my hands and knees and scrub my floors. They feel so nice afterwards. I have also heard that scrubbing floors is good if you are having PMS cramps! My girls will clean my floors when they are hurting :) Oh, we will see!)

It feels great to start going on the cleaning!! Tomorrow is the family room, entry way, and office!

Here We Come Spring

I have LOVED the weather the last few days! On Friday, I gave up on folding sheets to go outside with my kids. All of the girls were have a great time. Emily and I got on the wiggle cars with the kids. We would have races down the driveway and laugh! Emily got into it too. She would laugh the whole way down. I think it boosted our spirits!

Since it is Spring, I am ready to get spring cleaning. I did this last year and loved have a clean house. I have a VERY detailed list that I use to clean my whole house. It takes me about a week to do all of it, but in the end, we have a very clean house ready for spring! I love a clean house! I feel so much more together when my house is together. I think I have become a little OCD about the whole thing.

Fun in Orlando

Jared has been traveling A LOT for work the last 3 weeks. First to Japan, then Thailand, and then to Florida. I got to meet him out in Florida when his conference was over and we went on a little vacation!

It was so much fun. I was anxious about leaving my girls hoping that they would be good for my parents and in-laws! They can be such a handful! Jared I went to Magic Kingdom on Friday and then hit MGM Studios on Saturday. We had such a blast being able to go do things just the two of us. Even though I was anxious about leaving my girls, they were great for the grandparents (at least that is what they tell us!)

Here is a slideshow of some of our pictures. I loved being with Jar and just relaxing so that I can come home and have MORE patience with my children!

My Little Girl

Emily is starting to walk. She will take a few steps and then fall. She will only walk a few times and then she starts being silly. I have tried to get her on video, and this is the best that I can do! I got the best one where Emily was walking, the kids were not bugging her, the kids were not bugging me, and I wasn't yelling at my kids to let Emily walk by herself and to not touch the camera! Wow! It was hard to find a good one! :)

My New Workout DVD

I am starting training for a triathlon today! I have a schedule that is 12 weeks, but they have a low intensity and a high intensity. I have started running faster, still not REAL fast, but it is faster for me! I just want to kick butt at this triathlon this year. I decided that I need to pump up my workouts and do some more weight training. Jared and I have been watching The Biggest Loser this season. That show gives me such motivation to work hard. Those people are amazing (well, some of them are not, Joelle!). Anyway, I love Jilliam Michaels. She is such an amazing trainer. I would love to have a trainer like her to get in my face and just tell me to keep going. I think sometimes I need that! I have this mind that thinks I can't do a lot of things and if I say them out loud, yup, my body shuts down and WON'T do it!! Anyway, I ordered these tapes and am so excited to use them and kick my pants!

How the Girls Spend their Saturday

Yesterday was such a great day! Jared got home from his trip to Japan and Thailand on Friday and spent most of the day recuperating!! I was busy cleaning house and getting a few things done. My girls LOVE to make themselves beds from my couch cushions. It urks me because of the mess it makes, but I let them do it because they are pretty quiet and get along! Here is a picture of the fun beds they make!

Kylee's New Robe

I have a very comfy, delicious, yummy, cozy robe that I wear in the morning and evening. Lately, I have been keeping our house cooler. We have our thermostat set at 69 during the day and 65 at night. I decided to make Kylee a robe. She picked out the material. Out of all the cute stuff, Dora, princess, and all that fun girly stuff, she decided to pick Winnie the Pooh! It turned out real cute! Thanks mom for your help with the collar.

New Swimsuits

Today the girls and I did a few errands. I wanted to get a new swimsuit. Then I just had to get a new one for the girls, they were so stinking cute!! Here are some pictures of the girls posing in the new suits. The girls just got home and put them on, you can see Kylee is still wearing her underwear, Jayce still has her tag on. I had the girl try them on to make sure they fit and they liked them. Sorry, no pictures of me! I am not that daring!! You will just have to wait for the pool I guess!

I am Ready for Spring!!!

Yesterday was such a beautiful day! The girls and I went outside in the morning and worked in the yard. I took down the Christmas lights we had in our tree and then cleaned out our garage! Oh man was it dirty from all the snow and dirt coming in! I sure do love a clean garage. I know it is crazy, but it just feels nice!!! The girls had a blast riding their plasma cars outside FINALLY! They got them for Christmas and have been riding them inside, but we took them outside yesterday! Today I am going to go clean my backyard, pull out all the dead flowers from last year and just straighten up out there. It better not snow anymore! I am getting ready for spring!


Sunday morning, Jayce woke up and her scab on her nose from her biff in the road was gone! Yahoo! Well, Sunday morning, little missy fell off the kitchen chair and got a nice fat lip! Oh dear!! Done with one sore and onto another! Poor girl. I find myself getting upset at her for not listening to me when I say "Sit down or you are going to fall." I need to be more of a mother and comfort her. I am sure she knows or at least I hope she knows that she needs to sit down or she will fall.


My mom made some cupcakes with the girls while I took Kylee to her doctor's appoinment the other day. Yesterday, I was talking with a friend at the door and the girls were bugging me for a cupcake. I told them they could have one but to eat it in the kitchen. All three of the girls were sure quiet and good in the kitchen while I chatted away. After I was done chatting, I went to check on them and guess what I found!




Jayce had decided to share her cupcake with Emily and Emily was just loving it! Such cute little messy girls!!

Last night I decided to give the girls a trim. I gave them a trim a little while ago and ended up cutting WAY too much hair off and they both looked crooked. It has been driving me nuts, so last night I decided it was time to fix them up. Kylee's hair is a little trickier to cut because it is a little shorter and I get nervous cutting short hair. I think they turned out a lot better than the last time I cut their hair.

Here is an after shot of Jayce.

An after shot of Jayce!
Here is Kylee before.

and after!

Kylee's Allergy

I took Kylee to the allergist yesterday. I have been wanting to get her checked again to see if she is also allergic to other nuts and I had a few questions. Will her reactions ever stop or will they continue progressing and getting worse? The allergist that we went to was MUCH more helpful than the first one we went too. The first allergist we went to didn't even really tell us much, didn't tell us what to do if she has a reaction, didn't give us an epipen, was just not helpful at all.

This new allergist that we went to said that when they do the skin test, they give us a level. 1-5 is allergic, but not life threatening (those were his words) and it is on a scale of 1-20. Kylee's peanut allergy is a 16-17. That is really bad, life threatening. To hear those words, life threatening, while you are watching your little girl color a cute picture, just breaks my heart. It brings tears to my eyes. As a parent, you don't want to even think about that EVER! This is so hard, I have this pit in my stomach and heart wanting to protect her and keep her safe from anything. When I am with her, I can watch and keep an eye on her, but what do we do when she goes to school? We have to trust those teachers. That is a hard thing for a parent to do, put the life of their children in their hands.

Kylee is also allergic to walnuts, so we have to stay away from ALL nuts. Sometimes you can be allergic to peanuts and not other nuts. She is allergic to all of it. The allergist also told us what to do if she has had nuts. She did have some peanuts last year and we just watched her. He said that if she has nuts, we give her the epipen and go to the hospital. We want to stay on top of it and not let her reaction get too bad. If we get to the hospital and she is doing better, we can just wait in the parking lot for at least an hour. The epipen only lasts for about 15-30 minutes. If that wears off and she gets worse, we go into the hospital and let them give her another shot of epinephrine. I am so grateful that the allergist was so helpful. It is a scary thing, but as parents we need those scary things so that we know what to do when a reaction happens.

The allergist did say there is some research going on and he is really hoping they have some sort of cure or vaccine or shot in the next 5 years. Penicillin and milk allergies go away in 5 years, so he suggested that maybe we get her tested again in 5 years. If her peanut allergy does go away (about 10-15 percent of kids lose the allergy) he said they still don't even know what to do with them because some were given more nuts and had a reaction later.

I know that Heavenly Father never gives us something that we cannot handle and even though I am scared to death, I know that I can rely on Him and we can handle this trial. I am also very grateful for our family that are there for us and love us!

I Am Mine!

Funny post title huh! Well, let me explain. I am done nursing Emily and I was thinking back to the last time that I wasn't pregnant or nursing. OH MY HECK!!! So, Emily and Jayce are 15 months apart. I have been either pregnant or nursing for 3 YEARS STRAIGHT! Do you get that? Crazy I know. I was pregnant with Jayce in February of 2006. I had Jayce and when Jayce was 6 months old, I was pregnant with Emily. I nursed Jayce until she was 1, so I was pregnant and nursing at the SAME TIME! Talk about draining. I finished nursing Jayce and 2 months later I had Emily. And like I said, I just finished nursing Emily! WOW!! I am not sure what to do with myself!

Like Mother Like Daughter

Jayce has turned out to be like me in the coordination category! I was never very graceful in high school. I think every dance, game, outing, whatever it was, I came home with some bruise or cut. And they were not small bruises. Most of them were HUGE!!! The month before I went on my mission, I was cleaning out my grandpa's boat. We had the cover laying in the middle of the floor of the boat. I was in the back of the boat and needed to get to the front. I didn't want to step on the cover and decided to take a leaping jump! Well, the front window was closed and I hit the front of my head on the window and went down on my back! It had to have looked hilarious from the outside. Can you just picture it!!! Anyway, here is a picture of my battle wound. I had a pretty good headache.



I was visiting teaching the other day and Jayce ran into the road behind me. She tripped and fell flat on her face in the road. She got a little road rash. This picture doesn't do her battlewounds much justice. They got worse the next day! Poor girl!

Yummy Snack

Since the Biggest Loser Competition is in full swing with the Jeffs', I have been eating sooo much better!! I lost 4.5% of my weight in January! I was SCREAMING when I weighed myself. I thought I might lose some, but not that much!! WHOO HOO. Jared and I have been trying to find things to eat for snacks that are healthier, but good. Healthy sometimes means no taste and just not satisfying!

I found this yummy granola bar recipe. I tried it this morning and just ate one and I really like it! We will see if Jared likes it. Anyway, try it out!!

Oatmeal-Peanut Butter Trail Bars

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup natural-style smooth peanut butter (I hear Smart Balance is the Best according to Bob Greene, Oprah's trainer)
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup dried cranberries (or raisins)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or almonds
1/2 cup bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with nonstick spray. Whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the peanut butter, sugar, and honey in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer until blended. Blend egg and egg whites with a fork in a small bowl. Add to the peanut butter mixture, along with oil and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Add reserved flour mixture and mix with a rubber spatula. Mix in oats, dried cranberries (or raisins), walnuts (or almonds), and chocolate chips. Scrape batter into the prepared baking dish. Bake the bars until lightly browned and firm to the touch, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan on a rack before cutting into 24 bars. One serving is one 2 x 2-inch bar.

Per serving (1 bar)
175 calories
4 g protein
24 g carbohydrates
2 g fiber
8 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat
9 mg cholesterol
68 mg sodium