Getting Fit!

This past weekend was the Grand Opening of the JL Sorensen Rec Center which is located in Herriman. We are so lucky because it is so close and is only about a mile from our home. We decided back in November that we would take advantage of the nice facility and get a year pass. Our pass includes unlimited fitness classes, use of the courts and swimming pool. We have been looking forward to this for awhile now and have been counting down the days til its opening. It will be so nice to have someplace to take the kids and get out of the house, especially during the winter months!

Today was our maiden voyage and I got the kids dressed in their new swim wear and took them swimming in the new Pool. Kaleb and Karmindy had a lot of fun on the water slides; and thoroughly enjoyed hanging onto mom while going around and around in the lazy river. I am sure I was quite the sight having one kid on my back and one latched around my neck- Let me just say I got my work out for the day! We had a lot of fun and are looking forward to spending many afternoons at the pool as well as enjoying all of the fitness classes!!

Luck of the Irish

 Last year I started a new little tradition in our family. The night before St. Patrick's Day, my kids leave their shoes out for the Leprechauns in hopes that they will visit our home and leave little treasures inside their shoes. This year the Leprechauns did not let Karmindy and Kaleb down. In fact, those little green wearing men with orange beards were actually very kind to the kids. The brought gold coins, St. Patricks Day shirts for them to wear and a small toy for each of them. Kaleb had a tough time going to bed the night before but didn't not forget about them when he awoke the next morning. He came right in and had to tell us bright and early that the Leprechauns found us! The kids were thrilled with their treasures and are already talking about when those tricky little men will visit us next year.

Karmindy wearing her St. Patty's Day shirt and playing with her dolly that the Leprechauns left her!

Kaleb's Stash that the Leprechauns left him!

Karmindy's Stash!

That night I made my traditional St. Patty's Day dinner- Corned Beef and Cabbage & Carrots with Horseradish sauce, Bread, Lime poke cake and Sprite with a Scoop of Lime Sherbet. It was a wonderful holiday spent celebrating with my little family!

Once There was a Snowman...

Spring weather in Northern Utah is extremely unpredictable. One day it can be sunny and warm and the next day it can be chilly and snowy. Several Saturdays ago we had such weather. When we woke up there was several inches of snow on the ground and since it was that good fluffy snow we bundled up the kids and Mark and the kids went right to work building their perfect snowman while I watched and took pictures. The kids were really proud of the snowman that they built with their dad! The next few days the remainder of the snow melted but our perfect snowman graced our front lawn for over a week!

My cute wee ones and their snowman!

My handsome men and their snowman!

Celebrating Dr.Seuss & 100 Days of School...

A couple of weeks ago, Kaleb had a very busy week at school. First, his class celebrated Dr. Seuss birthday. All the kids were encouraged to dress as their favorite Dr. Seuss character or wear a Dr. Seuss hat. I ran out of time to sew Kaleb a hat but I found a hat that fit the part at Wal-Mart. Kaleb looked so cute in his Dr. Seuss hat, even though it was the wrong colors. :D During class Kaleb said they talked about Dr. Seuss, read several of his books and also made their own Dr. Seuss hats. They even played Green Eggs and Ham tic tac toe!

Kaleb favorite part of the day was coloring and assembling his own Dr. Seuss hat- he wore it home proudly!

Kaleb wearing the Dr. Seuss Hat that he made in class.

The following day they celebrated 100 days of Kindergarten. Kaleb was very excited for this party with his class and has been talking about it since Kindergarten began. Each child brought 100 things for show and tell. Luckily it wasn't supposed to be anything big. Kaleb decided on taking 100 elbow macaroni for his portion of show and tell. He was very excited to show his 100 macaroni to his class. During his 100 day party they played games, and did activities that involved 100. Kaleb came home wearing his 100 day hat that they made that day.

Kaleb and his 100 Macaroni!! He counted them all out by himself! Hence that big cheesy smile!

Kaleb is really loving kindergarten and is excited to attend each day. He loves his teacher and enjoys the kids in his class. Some of his favorite things to do in Kindergarten are coloring, playing on the "big" playground (where the BIG kids play), reading and going to centers. He also really enjoys when I help out in his class. Lately, I have been fortunate to be able to help out weekly and I am thoroughly enjoying it. It is so hard for me to believe as his mom that Kindergarten is almost over for my Big kid. A couple of weeks ago, Kaleb came home with his form to fill out for 1st Grade. I can't believe it is already time to start thinking about the next year, I feel like Kindergarten just started for my little man!

Loffy Toffy=Walkie Talkies

A few weeks ago Kaleb came home from one of his friends birthday parties and kept talking about his friend and how he received some Loffy Toffys for his birthday. I asked him if he meant Laffy Taffy (candy) he said no and tried to explain them to me. I had no idea what he was talking about. I thought he kept referring to Laffy Taffy candy because he kept saying that you talk with them with your mouth. Several days later, Kaleb was still talking about them and I still didn't know what the heck he was referring to so I finally called my friend to ask he what her son had received for his birthday. After both trying to figure out what it was we came to the conclusion that it was walkie talkies. Apparently all the boys that were at the birthday party were calling the walkie talkies, loffy toffys. Glad we got that little mix up figured out. Kaleb has been earning money from me by cleaning his room and doing little jobs for me so he can earn his own loffy toffys=walkie talkies!

February Crafts & Love Day Celebration

For all those that know me I LOVE the holidays and I love to make the holidays fun for my kids, so they will have something to look forward to and also have good memories. Kaleb frequently asks what holiday is coming up next. I love to see his enthusiasm for holidays!

Holidays also give me something to look forward to! I love finding new traditions and incorporating them into our family festivities. During the winter months up here in Riverton, I try to keep myself distracted from the dreary weather that we have, so I give myself craft projects to do while I wait for the winter to end. Since I have a very limited supply of Valentine Decorations to decorate my house with for February, I decided that this year I would make a few myself. I found both of these ideas on other blogs! I love the results.

My first craft project was making a Valentine Garland out of paper. I used an old book from college along with red ribbon, colored cardstock, ink pad to antique the edges, a stapler and glue. I have a very talented friend who came up with the idea. Go here to see her tutorial!

It was a little bit of work with all the folding but it was worth it and I am very proud of the results! Here is my Valentine Garland that I made for my Fireplace mantel!

The next craft project was inspired by fabric envelopes sold at Pottery Barn. I wish I had the money to shop at Pottery Barn because they have the most darling things but I don't because I find that a lot of there merchandise is highly overpriced. I am also about saving a buck or two when I can. Luckily, I came across this blog and they had a very simple tutorial. Instead of using fabric you use giant piece of very stiff felt to assemble the envelopes. Even though I love to sew, this project can either be sewn or assembled with a glue gun. I went the glue gun route. I made two envelopes and I am thrilled with how they turned out. This year since I was working on them until right up until Valentines Day I didn't get a chance to fill them with Love notes leading up to Valentines day but next year I plan to. I did however fill them the night before Valentines Day so the kids had a surprise to wake up to in the morning. I filled their Envelopes with a chocolate heart and a Leapster game for Kaleb and a Little Einsteins DVD for Karmindy. The kids were thrilled with their presents from cupid (mom and dad).

I was glad that Valentines Day fell on a Weekday this year because Kaleb got to celebrate the holiday at school and experience the fun that I had when I was a kid. I loved decorating boxes and taking them to school and waiting in anticipation if your secret crush would give you a valentine. For Kaleb's Valentines Day party they decorated bags and then the kids filled them with their goodies. Kaleb chose Toy Story 3 Valentines this year that came with blue suckers. He was so excited to deliver them to his classmates and took such care in writing his name on each valentine. When I picked him up from school that day he had a huge grin on his face and was beaming. He was wearing a cute headband with heart antenna and held up his bag of treats. When we got home he showed me his stash of valentine candy. He made a haul. It is now the last day of February and he is still eating on it!

Kaleb with some of his Valentine Stash!

To celebrate Valentines Day this year, we celebrated as a family. We invited friends over the Friday before and had a fondue party. My friend Emily and I divided up the ingredients and put together quite a spread. We did a broth, cheese and chocolate fondue. We were pretty proud of ourselves. Everything was very yummy and it was nice to celebrate with friends!

Mark and I had agreed to not get anything for each other and in return go out to dinner together to celebrate. We went to Joe's Crab shack were we enjoyed shrimp and crab. Nothing says, "I love you" then enjoying a Little Seafood dinner together! Much to my chagrin, Mark didn't listen to the not getting anything for each other agreement and came home with a beautiful arrangement of hot pink roses. I truly appreciate them and admired them for about a week before they went to plant heaven.

Also to do something nice for Kaleb and Karmindy's Grandpa and Grandma's and Aunts and Uncles, I made these cute little Valentines Day Cards to send to them. I got the kids dressed in Valentine Day colored clothing and we had a photo shoot one afternoon to get that right picture to send to our extended family. The kids were very excited and cooperated well. Here is our 2011 Valentines day Card. I think they turned out pretty dang cute:

Happy Belated Valentine's Day to all of our family and friends!

We are so lucky to have all of you in our lives!

Beating the Winter Time Blues

Kaleb and Karmindy Playing the xlyophone!

The winter hasn't been kind to me this year. In fact the snowy and hazy days have really gotten to me. I think I get seasonal depression during this time of year which makes for very long days. The sun rarely shines and when it does it is hazy. Blah! I like to blame my unproductive self on the weather. We as a family have done a lot of hibernating this year and haven't been up to too much, needless to say our little family blog has been sparse with new posts. At the end of January, one of my friends called me to see if the kids and I would like to accompany her and her daughter to Discovery Gateway in Downtown SLC. My kids and I love Discovery Gateway, so we jumped at the chance to tag along. My friend has a pass so it was nice because she was able to get us in free.

Kaleb the New's Anchor!

Karmindy the swan princess!

The kids had a really fun time playing with all the fun stations. The Market, Farm Country area and riding the dump trucks around were a favorite. My kids literal can spend the whole day in the farm area. I love that they love the great outdoors and I really think that stems from having a Grandpa that likes to raise chickens, and cows. Both Kaleb and Karmindy loved sitting on the life like horse, planting and collecting veggies and fruit from the garden and loading it into the make believe truck.

Kaleb enjoys the Market and being the Grocery Guru!

Kaleb shopping at the market looking for good deals!

Giddy Up Horsey!

Kaleb loading the veggies into the truck!

It was a nice little outing and it is really fun as a mom see their imaginations at work during our little excursion!

Dinosaur Museum

Mark had Martin Luther Kind day off this past Monday so we decided to do something fun as a family and get our rambunctious kids out of the house. January is not one of my favorite months living in Northern Utah. It is COLD, the inversion is YUCKY, and the snow ISN'T PRETTY anymore!

We have a season pass at Thanksgiving Point so we decided to head down to the Dinosaur Museum where walked around and let the kids look at all the cool Dinosaur exhibits. My kids love Dinosaurs and also love watching, "Dinosaur Train" on KBYU kids in the mornings, so this was a welcomed treat for them. It was so fun to spend time with the kids and watch them get so excited about looking at the Dinosaur bones! We asked Kaleb what his favorite dinosaur was after the outing was over and he said the T-Rex's. Karmindy's response, "Dinosaur Bones!"

After the museum we head over to JCW's Burger Joint for dinner. It was so nice to get out as a family!

The Dancing Queen was NOT meant to Be!

Two of my friends and I decided to enroll our girls in a little Dance Class called the Twinkle Toes at the Black Diamond Dance/Gymnastics Studio in South Jordan. I was so excited to get Karmindy into dance. She dances here at home but not on command. I didn't let this deter me from putting her in the class but it should have been my first indication that she might not be quite ready. Anyone that knows my daughter, knows she is a free spirit, feisty, spunky and has her own agenda! If you are not apart of her agenda then she won't give you the time of day. That is just who she is and she has been like this since birth! :D

My little Dancing Queen was NOT meant to be. When we first got to the studio we were greeted by the nice instructor. She took us back to the classroom and asked the girls to sit on circle plastic disks on the floor. Karmindy didn't want to have anything to do with it. As the class progressed things got continually worse. While the teacher was teaching, Karmindy was in "Butterfly Mode:" She busied herself with other things. She was collecting the plastic circles on the floor and took them over to the window, sat on the window sill staring out at what was going on outside and raced around the room. Whenever the teacher would ask her to join the other two girls, she would answer with a defiant "NO" and would lay on the floor and roll her eyes at the teacher! I was so humiliated! I know that she is a sassy 2 1/2 year old but she never acts like this at home. I am sure the instructor thought I was MOTHER OF THE YEAR!

After the class, we went into the Gymnastics room where the girls were encouraged to walk along the balance beam, jump on a trampoline and slide into a pit of square spongey cubes. As the girls were doing all this, Karmindy was running around checking out all the equipment and would have nothing to do with the teacher or the other two girls. She finally did like going down the slide into the pit but that only occupied her attention for a couple of tries. Then she was off running around the room again.

After we left the studio to go home, we went to go pick up Kaleb at School. As I was headed down the road I heard my tire blow. My tire must have been flat or gone flat while in the studio and while driving down the street to go pick up Kaleb it had blown. To make matters worse, I was late picking him up! I didn't know what to do. I ended up driving slowly on my flat tire the rest of the way to the school(maybe 1/2 mile). As I rolled into the parking lot, My tire and rim were smoking AND a little on fire! It was the icing on the cake! Teachers and parents were gawking at me wondering what the heck I was doing and who the nut was driving on a bare tire/rim.

It was NOT ONE OF MY PROUDEST MOMENTS AS A MOTHER!

After getting the car taken care of and getting back home, I called the studio and pulled Karmindy out of the class. I think I will wait till fall to try again!.... Maybe! :D

Kaleb's Birthday Party

The Birthday Boy!

Kaleb's Guests!

Mom, Karmindy, Melodie, Jaxon, Cadence, Kaleb, Addilyne, and Caleb. A few of the kiddos didn't want their pictures taken!

The day after Kaleb's actual birthday we had a party for him at McDonalds up at the District. My kids love McDonalds; especially Kaleb! We thought it would be the perfect place to throw his 6th birthday party. McDonalds provides the happy meals, balloons, cake, and takes care of the cleanup for a small fee! It was under $70 bucks! What mom doesn't love that?

Kaleb invited 10 kids! 9 of them showed up! ( I know, I don't know what I got myself into!) Luckily, Mark was able to be there and also one of my good friends volunteered to come and help wrangle the kids. When the kids arrived we took their orders for lunch and then let them go play while it was being prepared. We then all sat down and ate our lunches, sang to the birthday boy and ate cake and opened presents. The kids then went and played on the playground equipment until the parents arrived to pick up their kids. The kids had a blast and so did the birthday boy! It all turned out great! Next year though, I think we will keep the numbers limited to 5! :D

The birthday boy blowing out his candles

Jaxon T., Matthew P., Addi H., Kaleb and Caleb B. helping the birthday boy open his presents!

The birthday boy with some of his friends!

Kaleb's VIP

Mr. VIP himself showing off his poster!

The Poster that Kaleb and I made together!

The day after Kalebs birthday (Friday), I headed to Kaleb's kindergarten class for Kaleb's VIP day! For VIP's the mom's of the students go into the classroom and share a few things about their children with the rest of their classmates. I made Kaleb a poster (Kaleb helped) with his darling baby pictures, star stickers and baseballs (his favorite). I also took Kaleb's fish, "Captain Nemo" in as an added show and tell bonus. Kaleb loved being the center of attention and got to come up to the front of the room with me and talk about himself. The kids loved learning more about Kaleb and asking him questions about his favorite things. They also got a big kick out of Kalebs fish! I heard several of the boys in his class tell him his fish was cool and to come and sit by them. Too funny. I think his fish was a hit! After his VIP was over we shared one of his favorite treats, M&M's.

Here are a few Facts that I shared with Kaleb's Classmates:

1. Favorite Colors: Orange and Yellow

2. Favorite Food: Macaroni and Cheese, Curry, Chocolate Milk, Chocolate Donuts, candy (skittles, m&ms, & starbursts), PB & J's, yogurt.

3. Favorite place to go: Boondocks and eat out with his family.

4. Favorite Activities: Play baseball, ride his bike, play with friend and his little sister, be outside, play in the sand box, play his leapster and wii games, go out to eat, and play with his playmobil pirates.

5. Favorite things about school: recess, going to centers, doing art projects.

6. Favorite Friends: Karmindy, Matthew, Adilynne, Jaxon, Cadence and Emma.

7. Favorite Movie: Toy story 3, Pirates of the Caribbean.

8. Pet: "Captain Nemo" his Beta Fish.

Some things I didn't share with his class but want to record. . .

Kaleb is a very good brother to his little sister and such a good son! He is always very considerate of me and Karmindy and will often ask me what he can do to help me out. Kaleb is very patient with others and is a tender heart. He loves to make friends and does so easily. There isn't a single person I know that he can't get along with. Kaleb is very mellow and easy going. He doesn't get his feathers ruffled very often. Kaleb is really very smart and catches on quickly to things. He loves to learn new things, read books and has an interest in music. I often hear him singing or humming a tune while he is playing in his room during afternoon quiet times. Kaleb is a self motivator, if there is something that interests him he will seek it out and try and learn about it. He is very analytical and loves to sort things out. He is very good at building things and can follow instructions with out getting frustrated. Kaleb has a love for the "Great Outdoors," and would be outside all day if i would let him. It doesn't matter if it is rain or shine. Kaleb loves going to church and singing primary songs. He recently was challenged in Primary to read the scriptures for at least 3 minutes a day. I have actually found him looking at our scripture picture book by himself with reminding him.

I truly am so grateful for Kaleb! I am honored to be his mother and be given the chance to raise him. I hope I am doing an ok job, for he truly is a good boy! I fill a little inadequate at times because he is such a good little boy. I hope Kaleb always knows how much I love him!

Kaleb turns 6!

Kaleb gets his excitement for birthdays from his mom! He talked about his birthday weeks in advance! On his birthday he woke up very early (6:45 am) and requested his traditional bowl of cereal. I would have made him a special breakfast but he LOVES his cereal and after all that is what he requested. After breakfast, we opened presents. Kaleb got a lot of fun things. We gave Kaleb a dog pillow pet. He has been wanting one since before Christmas. He now sleeps on him every night! We also got him another Leapster Explorer game and some swim trunks

and shirt for him to wear to the rec center pool when it opens in February. Kaleb was also spoiled by his grandparents: a bowling ball game, pirate ship, Christmas collection DVD and clothes.

He also was so excited to go to school where he said he couldn't wait for his classmates to sing to him. After school when I went to go and pick him up I found him beaming from ear to ear. His class had sung to him and his teacher had made him a crown and had given him a treat sack with a notebook, wiggly straw, some candy and a pencil.

Kaleb loved his gift from his teacher and was very excited about his present from her. He also loved the balloons and chocolate donuts that we got for him and put by his chair in the kitchen while he was away at school!

It is a tradition in our family to let the birthday boy or girl choose their dinner and dessert of their Choice. Kaleb requested his Dad's famous curry (potatoes, carrots, chicken and onions in a savory gravy and served over rice) and wanted apple pie for dessert!

Just a little added memory: As his parents we got a kick out of the fact that Kaleb wore his crown hat the whole day on his birthday! I guess he just wanted to make sure everyone knew it was his special day and expected everyone to treat him like royalty! Isn't that what birthday's are about??

I can't believe my little boy is 6! Where is the time going?

Kaleb seemed to enjoy his special day and loved that everyone made a fuss over him!

Christmas 2010

Christmas this year was a magical one with the kids. We took them to see Santa at the mall in November right before Thanksgiving and they could hardly wait for him to come and leave presents for them on Christmas Eve. This year I made a candy countdown and every morning Kaleb enjoyed getting his and Karmindy's Christmas treat (two m&m's) out for them to eat. They also enjoyed having Jingles (Elf on the Shelf) stay with us. Each morning the kids (mostly Kaleb) would run out of his room and search the house top to bottom looking for Jingles. Jingles loved the kitchen and was often found riding on my wire mesh rooster and chicken. The kids thought it was hilarious that Jingles must have been riding the rooster and chicken around the house while they were asleep.

Several weeks before Christmas, we took the kids down to Thanksgiving point to see their Christmas light display. I have a membership there and we got in for a total of $4. The kids loved the light display and loved driving around looking at all their lights.

Our Christmas Eve was a quiet one, but it was really nice.

Early on in the day the kids and I made sugar cookies together and then for dinner that night, I made a Honey Ham, with patriotic salad, Cherry Cheesecake, stuffed mushrooms, rolls, and shrimp cocktail served over Cream Cheese with chips to dip in it. We also drank our weight in Sparkling Apple Cider. The kids loved the Bubbly. After dinner, we let the kids open up a gift from us (new pj's and slippers). Kaleb and Karmindy loved their new Santa PJ's and their 1st pair of slippers. Karmindy really loved her princess fur trimmed slippers. She calls them, "Slip-a-dees." She has worn them every day since. Kaleb also loves his slippers and also wears his daily. The newness hasn't worn off almost two weeks later!!

Christmas morning was a wonderful one! It was a nice one especially since we didn't have any sickness. Last year the kids were sick with the flu on Christmas morning, so it was nice to not wake up to, "Mom, I threw up on my new pjs!"

Karmindy was the first one up and came and jumped in bed with us. That was around 5:45. I kept telling her to go wake up Kaleb so we could open presents but she wasn't too interested. We both fell back asleep. Around 8 am, Kaleb came in with excitement in his voice. Santa had come!!

The look on their faces was priceless when we walked into the living room. Kaleb was the most excited of him and his sister. Karmindy was still not quite sure what all the hype was about. Kaleb enjoyed opening all his presents. Karmindy opened a few but opted out and let her brother open most of hers. Karmindy tends to get overwhelmed by new things we have noticed. She doesn't like busy places with lots of people and doesn't like new experience. All in all the kids loved their gifts. Kaleb got the Playmobil Pirate ship that he asked Santa for and also got a Leapster Explorer from us. He has been playing his Leapster Day in and Day out. We got it for him in hopes of curing him of his Mario obsession. We figured we were ok with him playing computer games as long as they were educational and so far we have hit the jack pot. Karmindy got a doll house and Princess tent from Santa. She also got two La la Loopsy Dolls from us and Kaleb. She really loves all her gifts!

We really enjoyed our Holiday weekend and are looking forward to Christmas next year!!