My S.I.L.

My fantastic sister-in-law, Kate and her husband Jed are going to Romania at the end of October. Kate has been working with kids there since back in 2001. She is now collecting donations to provide some much needed help to those children. You can donate, find out more about her past trips and learn the reason(s) she keeps going back at:

www.k8sallgood.blogspot.com

She has paypal set up and you can make donations directly from her blog if you are able. Thanks!

7th Birthday!

Well Dee turned 7! I used to always think when parents would say, "oh that makes me feel so old" that they were just making small talk. Well, now that I have a 7 year old in first grade- it makes me feel old. When I asked her a month ago what she wanted to do for her birthday, she said she wanted to go on a hike with her friends. So, we did! No princess party, no fairy themes here. No gymnastics or cooking. This 7 year old wanted to take her friends to do something that she loves to do. So, we took six 6 and 7 year olds plus our own kids plus one other and another couple, the Richards (THANK YOU!) up to the trail. We ended up getting on the wrong trail but it turned out perfectly. Afterward, we came back to our house for....

....and presents and ice cream. I was SHOCKED at how good the cookie-cake was. I will post more pictures tomorrow of the big day but I just wanted to comment that we had a FANTASTIC time! Happy Birthday Dee! We can't believe how big you are, how smart you are, how responsible you are, how healthy you are. We love you so very much...I love you so very much. Thank you for being one of my very best friends. -Mom

I jinxed 'em

So, my ode to BYU yesterday jinxed the team I am just sure of it! And, we were sad to see that our loud-mouthed buddy from last year was gone...but then THRILLED to see him just across the aisle from us. My heart skipped a beat when I saw him a little while into the game because even though BYU was getting DOMINATED by FSU, all would end up right with the world. Our friend across the aisle has taught us that even if BYU gets worked by the opposing team, it really isn't BYU's fault. It is ALWAYS the fault of the officials no matter what! So, thank you Neighbor because you continue to renew my faith in our team and lay sole blame not on Max Hall's inefficiencies or on the defensive line for grossly underestimating the speed at which FSU's offense ran but we can blame the OFFICIALS! Those officials fall short and neglect every area of their job. Thank you Neighbor- I am so glad we found you again!

B-Y-U

ODE to BYU

Max Hall, Max Hall, so far we have been impressed
Your game against Tulane was more than your best
Last year got ugly especially when playing U of U
But Coach Mendenhall and team we're glad you made it thru
A winning season you had indeed
But this season really is just what we need
To put Mountain West Conference onto the map
And make sure the BCS stops giving us cra_!!
So to BYU- hang on to the ball
Get out of the pocket and RUN MAX HALL!
WIN WIN WIN WIN is the last thing I'll say
Cheers to you BYU and have fun today!

Now for the record, know that I am not really THAT into college football but I AM into odes so since we are going to the first home game of the season today, I had to write a special ode to my friends on the BYU football team. I don't really have any friends on the team but I feel like I know them because of the guy who sits behind us yelling full paragraphs at each of the players. When someone has done something wrong he yells several consecutive paragraphs (it is almost like he thinks they can ACTUALLY hear him!) When they have done something right- we get a full history on all the players who made similar plays in the past 45 years. We love him. We haven't come up with a nickname for him yet but hopefully- if he is there this year- we will come up with one. I will keep you posted. Anyhow, GO BYU!

20 to go!

As a 30 year old mother of four who only weights 5 pounds less than I did full term pregnant with 4th that I had 4 months ago- I knew I needed to make a change. After 2 and a half weeks- I have lost 10 pounds, I feel fantastic, I feel strong and I only have 20 more pounds to go! ;-) Check out the video and click on the link to the website. It is a 12 week fitness/nutrition program. I am NEVER hungry and I don't need a gym membership. Let me know if you decide to try it out, then we can be accountable to eachother!

I tried to embed the video into my blog but for some reason it isn't working so check out the link and click on "success stories"

www.kristiapproved.com

On the edge of your seats??

Here we are- back from a blogging hiatus- actually, it was blogging laziness but hiatus sounds so much more professional. Several things have happened since the pre-hiatus post. MJ started Kindergarten, Rebs started preschool, Peapod is laughing and sitting and is getting drunk off his formula (hence his size). So here's what the hiatus brought...
(I am going to try to use the word hiatus as many times as I possibly can in this post.)

Kindergarten!!This is the "deciding what to wear" pose

This is the "I've Decided" pose and I am wearing my pack now

This is the "I don't really need you mom, I got it by myself" pose
The "see mom, I told you I didn't need you!" pose (after I followed her to school)
The "courtesy kiss blow"
The "HERE COMES THE BUS WITH MY KIDS ON IT!" pose
MJ coming off the bus with her entourage
The "I have reached 'rockstar status', I even have a crown" pose
Big sister Dee who already has a week of this under her belt
MJ and crew- she has roped many of the big girls into helping her carry her pack

Here is the BIG preschooler!
The basket is bigger than she is
She is SO excited about going to "PEEKSKOOL"
The "HAH, I roped MJ into carrying my basket for me!" pose
The "Nah, Sister's got it" pose (this was in response to asking if she wanted me to help her down to her class)

So my three big girls are in school now, and so what do Peapod and I do all day?
We have photoshoots and we...Play in the Bumbo seat and eat eat eat! And we...
....go out in the garage and look at our new minivan. Sometimes we may even get inside and sit in it. ;-) Peapod likes it a lot!

This front door looks like a different color from the back door but it's not- it's the stellar lighting in the garage. Now normally I wouldn't post pictures of a new minivan on here but for family far away who know what we went through in Winnemucca, we wanted you to rejoice with us! ;-)

Red Pines

NOTICE: You don't have to read this unless you are REALLY committed to knowing ALL about our family.

We set out for a hike yesterday. It was a bit ambitious. 6.4 miles roundtrip with four kids? What were we thinking? Needless to say, we didn't make it to Red Pines Lake- we just endured a whole bunch of misery trying. When we got about a mile into the hike- we stopped for a snack. Dee had to go to the bathroom and Rebs wanted to walk. Nice. MJ fell about 29 times. We made it about 1 3/4 mile further- we could taste Red Pines Lake- and we had a meltdown. MJ and Rebs lost it. Peapod was fussy. Jared was not his usual chipper self. Kim had had enough of the whining. Dee was complaining almost constantly about having to go the bathroom. MJ wanted Dee to hold her hand, Dee was mad she had to hold MJ's hand and was dragging her. MJ was mad she was being dragged. It was lovely. We turned around and went back home with Dee whining the entire way that we didn't finish.

We didn't succeed because....
1. We started at 2pm instead of 9 am. It would have been dark or close to it by the time we finished the hike had we done the whole thing. As it was, we finished around 5:45pm.
2. The potty issue
3. The uncomcomfortable kids shoes
4. The unusually large number of times MJ fell
5. Peapods sling was getting stretched out because of how much I was sweating so I was wearing him down at my hip bones instead of my belly button.
6. Jared has the flu (he was kinda grumpy on the hike- we didn't know it was flu until we got home though- poor guy.)
7. Low on food (because I am on day two of a pretty strict nutrition plan, I packed foods for Jared and I but didn't bring near enough calories for the kiddos. I have lost four pounds already though. SAWEET!)
8. It was just too long. But it was beautiful.
9. Lastly, we didn't succeed because our camera battery was dead. I was thrown into a deep depression when I realized I wouldn't be able to post photos on the blog!!! ;-)

My Rating for the Red Pines Lake hike

2/5 for family hike- don't do it with small kids. Since we didn't make it to the lake- I don't know what I would rate it having made it to the end. But the scenery was very beautiful on the way up. I am guessing I would have rated it a 4.5/5 had we made it to the end because the pictures of the lake are pretty beautiful. Everyone we passed on the hike was looking at us like we were crazy. We saw one little boy on the trail and thats it for kids so I am proud we made it as far as we did.

This is a really long post to not say a whole lot but I want to remember this experience and someday down the road when Dee and MJ climb Everest. Then we can say, "we knew you when...."