Sunday, April 19, 2009

Easter! Kind Of....




If you happen to frequent Facebook, you may already know about this. I hosted Bunco at my house on Thursday the ninth, and was a little preoccupied. So I neglected to shop for Easter dresses for my FOUR girls. I went out last minute on Saturday to see what I could find. In the end I decided to not try to match all four of them. Rachael is twelve, you know, and so OVER matching her siblings. So I let her wear whatever she wanted. It had some pink in it. So it's all good.

Kindyl just bought a fancy pink dress for the talent show with her BFF Tangee. They wanted to match each other for Easter, so that's what they did. Mitchell is a boy, and wore his Sunday Uniform of white shirt and Khakis to church, as usual.

Brenley and Abbers went with a polka dotted theme. I thought it turned out lovely. I lucked out with some ribbon that matched Abigail's dress almost exactly. But then I didn't take their picture before church. Or after. I kind of took a few at family dinner. And those will have to suffice...

(A cute one of Abs and the Ginge)



These pics are of Brenley basically running around at the Evan's and Rachael trying to catch her with a camera. We are that fancy and put together! I DID put a cute flower on Bren's dress. With a jewel. And coordinating flowers for her hair.

(Bren and Sammy doing some kind of happy spring dance)

We had an Easter egg hunt at the church. It was pouring rain, so we did it indoors. Bren liked it anyway. Some pics:

And she got to frost an Easter egg cookie. Yum!

After the sugar rush of Saturday we focused on the Savior and his resurrection and atonement on Sunday, which is the most important part anyway.

It was a pretty low key no frills Easter. Just what I needed!

She's 6 Months Old!


(on her 6 month birthday)
Where has the time gone? Miss Abigail turned 6 months old on April 9th.

She is still my tiny baby. She is hangin' strong in the 10th percentile for weight, and 25th percentile for head circumference. And somehow she went from the 10th percentile to the 25th in height. Which, combined, kind of makes her sound like a lollipop. Long and skinny with a big head. She was pretty squirmy when they measured her though, and I wouldn't be surprised if next time she is back down to the tenth percentile for height again.

I must say that when I am not waking up with her in the middle of the night, she is delightful.

Some of my favorite things about this baby stage:

1.The finding of the toes. This happens around 4 months old, and it never fails to make me smile. My favorite is when she bites them and laughs, because it tickles a little:)

(I know. Don't talk to me about the bow/outfit mismatch. Unless you want to get into a lengthy discussion about how a baby blow up can necessitate an ugly outfit change. But not necessarily a bow change. Get it?)

(she does, obviously;)
Which leads me to...

2.The loving of the baths.


(What, you never noticed how bald she was before? Amazing how that works!)

3. Her interest in her new toys. (or my new toys. However you want to say it;)


Like the jumperoo. Yes, my infamously frugal self decided to spend $20.00 extra for the pink one. Worth it? Yes.

I love how she is staring down the flower in this one. I think she is trying to get it to back down first...

4. The ability to entertain herself with a little snacky snacky (said with the hint of a lisp if you are talking about the baby in our house. Say it with me: Thnacky thnacky. There you go.)

Eatin' lunch with the cousins and Grandma after M's baptism. Just one of the girls.

yummm...graham cracker.
This is endlessly useful, as the child still refuses to take a bottle. And I stubbornly refuse to give up nursing.

5. The lovin' of the smooches. Which has proven IMPOSSIBLE to catch on film! Probably because I am the only one who takes pictures, and the one who is most often seen smoochin' on the baby. Try smoochin and snappin' at the same time. Try it!

Usually, when you smooch her little cheek, she smiles, closes her little eyes, and pats your cheek with the other hand. Unless you have the camera out. You will have to take my word on how amazingly endearing it is.

We might just keep her...

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Paying Attention to Conference...

I LOVE conference weekends! For many reasons. Being in Spring and Fall, the relaxed atmosphere of watching church on T.V, and of course, being able to listen to our Prophet. I know, I have talked about this before.

Sometimes we try different things to get our kids to pay attention to conference, or at least not bug us while we are trying to listen. One of the staples we have used is conference bingo. The kids have bingo cards with different topics. When they hear the topic discussed they place a cheerio on it. When they fill a row, they get a bingo.

This time it back fired a little. You see, Mitchell is a very involved kid. When he is doing something, he does it whole heartedly.



He was thus engaged while President Monson was speaking. He was telling a very sad story. He was talking about a woman and her family traveling from Prussia to Germany at the end of World War 2. Her husband had died in battle. Then her 3 year old was first to die on the arduous journey. Then her 7 year old. Next her 5 year old. Finally when she had nearly reached her destination she lost her baby. Just picture this.

As President monson was speaking about how horrible she felt after losing her whole family (and the rest of us are close to tears) :

You hear Mitchell yell, "YES! he said family!"

You see, he had finally gotten a bingo. But was he really paying attention to conference?I wonder.....

The Sound of Music

You may want to take a few minutes to watch this, I thought it was awesome. I love how it started out with one person and gradually turned into 200 people rockin' out in the middle of the station. I loved how it has kids all the way up to old people. I love how it looks like people are spontaneously joining in. It is like those musicals where people magically burst into perfectly choreographed song and dance, only in real life. I watched it about 5 times in a row, and will probably watch it a few more times;) It helps that I love the sound of Music...



Thanks to my brother in law Bryce who found this on twitter, and e mailed it to us. Thanks Bryce!

Happy Keester!

Friday, April 10, 2009

Wendell's Text Scare

Wendell got a text this morning from his mother. This is what he read:

"Grandpa died while in surgery. Will tell more later."


What! He didn't even know Grandpa was having surgery! What happened? Was it emergency surgery?

So he tries to call me but I don't answer. Because I never answer my cell phone when I am at home. That is why I have a house phone.

He calls his dad, who seems to be unperturbed. Nothing was bothering him at all. Who was this cold man?

He told his Dad about the text. He said, "Mom told me it went just fine." What? So they try to figure out who had heard from Wendell's mom most recently.

He looks at the text again. This is what it actually said:

" Grandpa did well in surgery. will tel more later"

He was driving. And read died for did. And thought "well" must have been "while" misspelled. Because died well doesn't make any sense. And she DID spell "tell" wrong. It must have been because she was so distraught!

And let's face it, Grandpa Gailey IS in his nineties. So it's not that far fetched.

Now that we all know Grandpa is just fine, we can all have agood belly laugh. And the moral? If this can happen with one little misspelled word, think of the havoc you kids could create with all of your texting shorthand nonsense. Spell it out!

Let's review:

"Grandpa did well in surgery. Will tel more later."
not:
"Grandpa died while in surgery . Will tell more later."

:)

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Oh I Can't Wait Until I'm 8!


For then I'll be baptised you see ! Mitchell's baptism was lovely. His birthday was in January, but we put it off until March so my mother could be here. She was still in Germany on her mission in January.

And this way he and his cousin Andria could get baptised at the same time. Fun! Not to mention awfully convenient. My family is a huge group,and it was nice to get a twofer.



My mom was able to give a beautiful talk, and Wendell's dad gave a scripture. It's not often your family gets to do two things at a stake baptism. And technically we didn't;)

It was also convenient for Wendell's family to not have to drive down from Utah just one month after Abigail's blessing. It was nice for them to get a three-four month break.



We are so proud of Mitchell for deciding to get baptised into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He got a really nice CTR ring from Grandma and Grandpa Macnab, and a brand new leather quad from us. He is such a good kid. He already remembers to choose the right and read the scriptures, and now it will be even easier!

It is always nice to have the Macnabs here from Utah, Payson, and Gilbert. We just don't get to see them often enough! We all came back to our house for a barbeque, and even some swimming! Crazy kids. I have pictures. That post coming next!

Friday, April 3, 2009

I Got Carded Yesterday...

No, I was not buying booze. Or cigarettes. Or even nitrous oxide or spray paint or something.

I was buying an earring set for Abagail. To pierce her ears. Apparently you have to be 18.

"How old are you?"

"What?" (because really, how often do people ask you how old you are)

"How old are you?"

"I'm 32"

She went on to say she didn't really think I was under 18. She thought early 20's. But you have to ask if you look under 25 or something like that.

I'll take early 20s. My inner voice reminds me that the chubbier I get the younger people think I am. I tell my inner voice to shut it.;)

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Baby Face Off

When we get around my family, things get a little competitive. This is what happens when babies face off:

First up- Abigail and Teichert, going after the paci clip from Germany. Things get tense...Teichert wins! He is trying not to look too smug. He IS 6 weeks older, after all;)

Then we throw Riley into the mix:

They are going after Abigail's pacifier. The toddlers are cheering from the sidelines.


Abigail,"You want a piece of me? Do you feel lucky, punk?Do ya?"

You really don't want to mess with this chick.

The girls get sneaky. They try to throw Teichert off by putting Ab's bow on Riley:

She looks awefully cute,but Teichert is too smart to fall for that. He wins again!


Don't worry. Abigail and Riley are in training for the next time they face off at Family Dinner. But for now, Booker and Trigg decide to have a little competition of their own:

You guys are looking pretty intimidating in the jammies. I love it!

Stay tuned for the next time that Babies Face Off!

I Finally Did It...

I've been thinking about it for about a year. I've been talking about it for months. I have been curious. Wondered if it would work.

I finally took the plunge and went dark

before:


And after:


(my best "twelve year old 'tude" look;)


I know it is kind of hard to tell with the self portraits.

I was a tow head at birth and have been blonde ever since. So I have been wondering about a change. My natural hair color has gotten darker with my last two babies. It is still blonde but "dishwater" blonde. Who wants hair the color of dishwater? SO I decided to go a little darker than my natural color, with a less ashy tone. And I still have my highlights of course.

I kinda like it. It's growing on me. I've been needing a change but couldn't get myself to cut it short. In my head, the long hair takes the emphasis off of the double chin. Can't mess with that. When I lose the "baby weight" I may think about cutting it shorter. Until then, I will continue to change it up in different ways...

Thanks Callie!