Wow! What a Great Weekend!

Awww!

Is that a SMILE?!!! (I"m talking about the big picture up above)

OK, maybe this one isn't quite a big of a 'cheeser' as you'd expect, but come on! These are hard to catch on film! :o) Yes, Taylor has been smiling for us--and she isn't asleep when she does it! Her smiles are still rare, so boy do we work for them! We sound pretty funny over here, with our high pitched voices squeaking, "You're such a pretty girl!" just hoping to get a cute, little, appreciative smile for our attention. :o) Come on, Taylor! We want more! (By the way, if you don't laugh at the third picture, I'll wonder what's wrong with your funny bone!)

We received a wonderful surprise in the mail the other day--it was a wonderful quilt from Bonnie, made special for Taylor! Bonnie has made quilts for each of my babies & does a great job. They are all still being used & loved! Thanks, Bonnie! She has quite the quilting business set up, offers great original patterns on her website, and is coming out with a book soon! I have her blog listed here on my website under "Other Good Blogs We Visit" if you're interested in checking out her Quiltville fun!

Kelli has some exciting news as well--she is about to lose a tooth! Hurrah! Her first! I didn't realize it until we tried having corn on the cob & had to cut off the corn for her. She's been 'about to' lose it all weekend, and actually complained out loud to no one in particular, "THIS STINKS!" She caught me off guard with this (was not thinking 'loose tooth'), & I wondered, Taylor's clean--is it Addie?.... No further outbursts from Kelli enlightened me, & I was beginning to worry! I asked, & she explained she's tired of having a loose tooth. Well, pull it out! She didn't like that idea, so for now, she still has a loose tooth. We'll give you the tooth-fairy update--hopefully before the end of the week! One can cut only so much corn!

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The picture on the right looks like she already lost the tooth, but it's really so loose that there's an extra big gap. Weird.

Friday was full of fun--last moment we decided it was a nice enough day to hit the Hogle Zoo, & start using the family membership Mark & the kids gave me for Mother's Day. Luckily Mark had the day off--as a part of a four day weekend!--it was great to have him home! We threw the stroller in the van, packed a few snacks & water bottles, picked up Mikey from school & headed out for fun & adventure! Here are a few pics from our first trip this year:


This is a great marble replica of the earth--it's 'floating' on this pedestal of water & is a lot of fun to look at & roll around. The whole thing gets wet & is great for cooling off the little ones.

The Ghost of the Bayou is a bit scarier than the crocodile of the play land area. :o) I just told those two hams to smile.



The first thing the kids wanted to see at the zoo was the playground. You'd think they'd want to visit some of the animals, but not today! Let them play! We'll see the animals next time, eh? The kids got to pet this super-soft chinchilla. "Just two fingers" is what the zoo-keeper said--and what I kept saying, hoping Addie would listen!


There are some great little cubby windows you can look through---with the hope of getting a 'close & personal' view of the animals in a few of the exhibits. The kids were popping out of the ground like little prairie dogs. :o) The one picture shows Addie from inside the cubby window--the other two shows an outside view.

This thing the kids are posing on is a giant elephant--complete with fun elephant sounds & water that squirts out of it's trunk (but only when it's hot weather).


We didn't see everything that day, but we have a whole year of unlimited visits to go enjoy the rest! Thanks for a wonderful Mother's day gift, Mark! I'm loving it! (and as you can see, the kids are loving it, too!)

Mark & I had a fun date on Saturday...no kids--not even a baby! It was the first date I've planned in a LONG time... I should do it more often! :o) Mark had never been to the Desert Star Playhouse in Murray, UT. I thought that was incredibly weird, since he grew up here--went through his 'dating' years here. Don't you think that's a bit strange? It was time he went & had a few laughs. So this is what we went to see!
It was a lot of fun! The Desert Star always does some kind of a spoof using some play, & putting a Utah twist on it. Always funny! I think I actually heard Mark laugh out loud. :o) --He does a lot of laughing "on the inside"--same with crying. :o) I would recommend a visit to this place for anyone! Coming up next is "Indiana Bones." Check it out! http://www.desertstar.biz/


Memorial Day brought lots of rain--sheets & sheets! I thought it was quite poetic--to have so many 'tears' on such a day. We had some great BBQ & 'fun in the park' plans, but ended up having 'fun in the backyard' at G-ma & G-pa Harker's home when the sun came out briefly. Although we weren't able to set up the volleyball net like planned, we still had a great time! All of Mark's sisters were there with their hubbies & all the cousins were there for the ultimate in grand-kid fun. I think that was the first time Addie & Brooke played together so well! They were quite chummy! We (meaning the adults & Mikey) played "Imaginif" and Mormon bridge (done with rook cards--I think it's a Harker favorite). Everyone who wanted to got a bunch of 'Taylor time'--it was nice to finally have some pictures of Grandma Harker holding Taylor!

Ambree's Wii was brought out with Mario Cart--You can't get much better than Mario Cart!!! Mikey was thrilled! I was, too. :o) Especially after I took first place on both of my races (then I quit while I was ahead!). Did I mention Mikey wants a Wii? So does Mark. I'm not so sure... :o)Addie was thrilled to see Grandma's new addition to her playroom...a Barbie Island Princess dress! Addie instantly threw her own clothes to the floor & donned this beautiful play-dress, never taking it off for the rest of the day--at least until we insisted it was time to go home. (We had already established earlier that the dress stays with the playroom, but only after Addie told Grandma that she could take it home & take care of it for her, if she wanted to.) :o)


When we had another small break in the rainfall, Grandpa kept the girls busy for a while with the stroller. Then Kelli took over for him when he was done!

We did finally go home & get the kids in bed...they had school the next day & needed some sleep! Thanks for such a fun day of family time everyone!

Monday night.... This girl looks a bit troubled! (This one made me laugh hard--couldn't help but include it!)

Kelli begged & begged to make her own lemonade stand--well yesterday, I finally gave in (the weather was warmer than it had been & we weren't going anywhere for a while--might as well!). I told her that the only way she could have a lemonade stand is if she didn't get any money for it--she was to give it to her friends for free. She agreed. Two hours later when it was time to come in from all the fun, Kelli had a plastic cup containing almost three dollars. Hmmm....did someone forget? That's her excuse. :o)

We also had a bit of excitement, soon after cleaning up the 'stand'... I got a knock on the door from my neighbor. She said there was a bunny on our lawn--of course being out in the desert, you'd expect a little wild bunny every once in a while, but we hadn't seen one yet...I was mistaken though. It was a big bunny. A big, brown, fluffy, floppy eared one! Definitely NOT wild. It reminded me of David's Leo-the-Lop, back in the good-ol'-growin'up-years, only with long fur. Do you all remember "Leo the Lop?" That Serendipity book? That was the bunny! Having grown up with a rabbit-raising brother, I decided someone would miss such a gentle & fluffy pet! I cornered him & picked him up--my neighbor luckily found the owner, and we delivered one sweet lost bunny to his front door! One thing--I forgot how much fur you get all over your shirt when holding rabbits...especially in the springtime! After taking 'Leo' back, I looked every bit as furry as the rabbit I held!


Here's another great moment for our family...it happened just this afternoon! Just when we thought they'd NEVER get it (we've been trying for years with no success!), Mikey and Kelli are riding bikes! Hurrah! It took a neighbor girl (Kelli's friend) learning to ride a two-wheeler before Kelli realized she could ride one, too. All Mikey needed was a bit of competition--if his sister could ride one, he was going to do it better! Well, it worked, and so far we haven't returned to the InstaCare for more stitches! (It's only been a couple hours. Give it time. We'll be back.) Goes to show that you can teach a kid how to do something, but until they really want to do it, it won't get done. :o) Didn't we do this before with potty training?....

Here's Kelli riding her friend's bike.

Here's Mikey riding his bike.

Boy, did we play this last week! Well, this is officially my longest blog. On Sunday in Relief Society, we discussed Elder M. Russell Ballard's talk from this last conference titled, "Daughters of God." You know how there's that story of the mother who rushed her kids through everything--was focused on the 'getting done' and not so much the 'doing?' (I picture myself, telling the kids, "hurry! hurry! hurry!!!") Well I want to be a mother who looks back on all these pictures and remember what we did that day, what the kids said, & how the kids sounded when they laughed. Hopefully this blog will help! (If not, I'm counting on all of you, since now you have enough information, that you might as well have been there!!!!) Have a wonderful day!

Joy

Happy 31st, Mark!

I know I just posted the other day (the date said Friday, but it was Sunday evening by the time I got around to finishing the post), but I just had to share a couple pics from Mark's Birthday yesterday! It was great fun to celebrate--the kids were totally wired--as if they had already eaten the cake! Congrats on getting older, Mark! Happy Birthday! I love you! He turned 31 years old yesterday, and I'm happy to announce he didn't get any extra gray hairs from it (although I think I may have, from prepping the party)!

We initially thought Mark was going to have to work late on his birthday, but I was pleasantly surprised when he called about 4:20 with the news that he would be able to celebrate with the family tonight! Huzzah! What a surprise! I was excited!

Then I realized the house was a mess with toys, dishes, shoes, dirt, etc. We still had to wrap presents. Dishes were piled in the sink, and dinner had not even been thought of--let alone the cake! Ack! Mark had at least given me some ideas before getting off the phone, so like a whirlwind, I enlisted the help of Mikey & Kelli in cleaning, wrapping, & cooking! They were troopers. Kelli picked up toys & Mikey wrapped presents while I stormed through the dishes. (Addie was conveniently taking a nap--as was Taylor).

Then we cooked together, baking a cake, washing strawberries, cutting up chicken to grill, stirring up some potatoes supreme, making fruit soup, making koolaid (which we completely forgot to drink at dinner)... The kids stirred & washed & opened cans & crushed cornflakes till they said their arms were falling off! :o)

Addie woke up and joined in the fun in time to pour most of the bottle of teriyaki sauce on top of the potatoes supreme instead of in the ziploc bag of chicken, but we were able to fix that problem quickly, though the bag of chicken had a few potato shreds in it. :o) She poured the rest of the bottle in the bag & squished the bag to 'help' the chicken marinate. (the perfect job for her level of curiosity!)

It was fun to see the kids realize making dinner was hard work. Mikey told Mark, "We made sooo much FOOD!" with the sound of one about to pass out. :o) I have to admit, I loved the help & wouldn't have made it work in time with out them. Thanks, Mikey, Kelli & Addie!

I also had a great day--with the kids back in school, I had extra motivation to get out & exercise! It was great to throw Addie & Taylor in the stroller & walk/jog to Kelli's school when she was done with Kindergarten. It's about a 3-3.5 mile round trip. It felt great! I have to say though, that stepping on the scale this morning, I have not lost any of the last 20 lbs of baby weight. :o) And I was sooo hoping to lose at least 3 with that trip! Ha! It'll come!

Just a quick thought/question...Why is it that no matter how many times you tell a three year old that a certain wrapped item on her Daddy's bedside table is NOT a candy, but a yucky cough drop, she will inevitably sneak it, try to chew it up, and then spit it out into a pool of gooey red mess on your carpet & not tell you until you've accidentally stepped on it? It's not like it was her first cough-drop offense, either. Did she think it would be different the next time? Hmm...Just a thought. :o) I do have to say that Mark enjoyed having some 'extra grip' on the bottom of his sock...very stylish and (kind of) functional! We do love our sweet Addilyn! Here's a picture of her 'dancing like a princess'--which is what she's been begging me to watch her do all day--then begging to take a picture of it so she can see. :o) Three is fun!

Thanks to everyone who have already responded to our last blog--we have a couple ideas & are still accepting more. We already have a motorized edger that takes an .080" line...I know there are thicker lines out there, and there are also more expensive edgers out there than the one we bought a couple summers ago... I did have another thought, though--how about just taking out the sidewalks? That would remove a lot of the edges we have to do! I'm sure the City of West Jordan wouldn't mind too much!

Have a great day everyone!

Question of the Day: How do you make edging your lawn easier?

Honestly. Any ideas would be great. I had this question because on Saturday.....well, let me tell you about the rest of the week first. It has been pretty uneventful—but not completely uneventful. :o) The kids were on their last week off track (which means they did not have school), so we stayed home as much as possible for some quiet family time. (Ha!)

It started out with Mother's Day on Sunday--which was wonderful, actually. Mark makes some great french toast! He went all out with cream cheese, raspberries, & peach syrup. And there was sausage. The kids were quite thrilled with that. :o) Apparently I don't make sausage often enough. Oh....and the grass grew.

Monday brought nothing out of the ordinary--except I had an overhaul on my teeth by the dentist. (Yikes!) Pregnancy always gives the cavity bugs the upper hand. Taylor also got her second bottle-feeding ever--it takes a while rebuilding teeth. :o) Thanks to Carrie for saving the day, filling in at the last moment to watch the kiddies! Yes, the grass was still growing.

Tuesday was Mikey's soccer practice--which of course we all look forward to. Mikey gets to kick a ball around & be crazy-silly with a bunch of other kids who also enjoy being crazy-silly. The girls get to play on the playground equipment a few yards away from the practice field. I get to have quiet time feeding Taylor while sitting in the van while keeping a close eye on the fun (she’s always hungry Tuesday evenings around 5:30-6:30). This practice was especially great--& I'm kicking myself for not bringing the camcorder. The kids were practicing some goalie techniques--like falling on an incoming ball. The coach had all the kids spread out (like little soldiers) and watch the ball in his hands. If the ball went to the right, the kids dove to the right. Ball up, kids up. Ball left, kids dove left. It was like a mini boot-camp! They had me cracked up! I'm bringing the camcorder next time. :o) Oh....and our grass...it was still growing.

Wednesday, Taylor became one month old! What a big girl! It’s fun to have her awake longer—I love how she stares so contentedly—she’s trying to figure everything out! The kids & I spent
the day taking pictures of Taylor, trying to get just the right lighting. No such luck.



Mark had a blast of a day, too—He was up about 4am to make a 5:30am flight to Houston for a 4 hour meeting and back again, then off to YM at the church. It was nice that he had YM to go to, actually--it gets him home by around 8:30-9pm--quite a bit earlier than usual. :o) (But not early enough to cut the grass.)

Thursday, the kids & I drove to Lehi to visit the Lowe's (good friends from Denver that moved out this direction about a month after we did--which was very exciting to us all--especially to Kelli! She loves her friend Hayley!) We had fun, as always! Mikey and Ashton played video games for almost 5 hours--Mikey had quite the famine of video game play-time the rest of this week, so I guess one day of indulgence wouldn't do much damage. :o) Kelli & Hayley were busy with quite a few activities & surprised us with some "books" they had made. Addie kept wandering around—as though she couldn’t make up her mind to whether to watch the big boys or play with the big girls.

Thursday evening, Mikey had his first ever Pack Meeting. He is officially a wolf scout—well kind of. He doesn’t have a shirt yet (Monday’s project for me), or a book. He seems excited to be a part of a group of boys—he’s too surrounded by girls! (The grass was getting longer!)

Friday was food shopping & soccer shoes for Mikey. No slipping on the field for him! I have realized juggling three kids & a baby can be interesting. Actually, the kids were easy—the baby was interesting. It’s so hard to just let her cry for those last few moments while driving home! I’m sure I’ll get more used to it, since the kids are going back to school & I’ll be doing a lot more driving. :o)

Friday evening ended up with a surprise ending. Kelli was brought to our front door by our neighbor (at the end of the cul-de-sac)...she was out riding her scooter when she hit an unexpected bump, and the scooter went flying out from her grasp & her chin went flying at the sidewalk. Two little stitches & a bit of road rash later, she emerged with smile & an icecream cone, compliments of a very nice nurse.




Thanks to all of Kelli's concerned friends who brought her stuffed animals, cards, & crayon-drawn pictures (and her scooter back home) to wish her well--most of it before we could even get out the door to the emergency kids-care facility! Oh--and thanks most of all to Bro. Shaw, who happened to be sitting on his front porch when Kelli's scooter took a turn for the worse & helped her home. Kelli rather enjoyed everything--once she got her blue bandaid on her chin, and we were on our way across the street to Arctic Circle to get her icecream. With a big grin on her face, she whispered to me, "I feel like a princess!" She beamed! What a trooper. (If the grass gets any longer, Mark will need to sharpen his machette!)


Saturday—the ‘highlights’ of our day were the sunburns on our necks, arms & legs! :o) It was a day for mowing, edging, weeding, fertilizing (ok--the grass, though long, could be greener), pruning, & watering. It feels good to be outside! A couple more Saturdays outside & we should have our home looking like someone actually lives in it. :o) And the grass got shorter.



Mark’s a real trooper. I know there are riding lawnmowers to make the job easier, but is there anything to make edging easier? Being on a corner lot makes edging a nightmare. It takes longer to edge our property than it takes to mow it. Please leave me any helpful comments—short of putting in gravel or concrete, of course! It would be appreciated!

Here's a picture of Addie holding Taylor, just because I realized she's the only one of my kids I didn't mention yet...poor girl. She's already started working overtime to get my attention..."Look at me, and listen to me, Mom!" That's her most repeated phrase lately. I'm hoping that will change with Mikey & Kelli going back to school...things will be back to 'normal.'

Ha!

Have a great day, everyone! Joy