Laundress

You know you need to step up the laundry chores when your five-year-old daughter says in a grateful tone, "Thank you mom for my clothes.  It's been so, so long since I've had clothes in my drawers.  I love it.  Thank you for washing my clothes!"  In my defense, they've been clean and ready to be put away and hung up, it's just taken a few hours days weeks to get it done:)
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While riding to the swimming pool yesterday, I was quizzing Caden on his Dog Care merit badge.  He was telling me how important it is to not only have life jackets for humans, but for your dogs as well.  Shelby piped up from the back seat, "Nuh Uh, Caden.  Once a dog gets in water it turns into a dog fish!"

Quiet

During Sacrament Meeting on Sunday, Ty wanted to sit on my lap.  He was playing "puppy" and was getting louder than I like, so  I grabbed his cute little cheeks, covered his mouth and told him to quiet down.  He sucked in a huge lung-full of air and spit directly in my face.  Instead of getting incredibly angry, which is what I usually do, I instantly started to laugh.  Not the right example, but it was just so funny.  I noticed that the Bishop and 1st Counselor were laughing as well:)  Man, that kid is such a handful.  He's the one that screams, "NO, I DON'T WANT TO BE QUIET" after you've just asked my nicely to be quiet!  Love him!!  Even when he spits in my face!

Stinged

During one of the many wind storms here in Casper, a playset just like ours was blown over.  The people had just moved in and hadn't secured the set to the ground yet.  So, it pushed the thing right over and ruined it pretty good.  We drove by it the other day and saw that they'd tried to set it upright again, but it still looked pretty damaged- as in probably just need to make it into firewood and start again.  Shelby noticed it and said, "I know what happened to that swingset.  It was a storm.  The lightning came down and stinged it!"  That reminded me of a story my parents told me of when Ashlee was little and prayed, "Thank you for the scream doors so the bees won't come in and steam us!"

Beds X2

I'm starting to wonder if my youngest boys had some rewiring done in the womb!  Remember the big fiasco I had trying to get Brennon to stay in his bed?  Which was escalated by the news we found out from the allergist that the dust found in carpet was something that he was severely allergic to?!?  Well, for the past 4 days I've found Tyson on the floor after both nap and bedtime!  Come on kids?  This is also something that I can't guilt them into like when we as parents say, "Do you know that there are many kids starving in BeAfra?"  I said, "Ty, some kids would love to sleep on a bed.  Some kids have to sleep on the cement with no pillow."  After nap time, he asked if he could go sleep on the driveway!  Backfired right in my face!  Why?!  Don't they think it's incredibly uncomfortable on the floor?  Apparently not!

Teeth

With Randy returning from Scout Camp, we were both pretty excited to tell the other all that happened in our week.  Randy had some CRAZY stuff happen to him, stuff you'd only believe if you heard them told by him, and was super glad to be home.  I had a great week, but was most excited to tell him about Keilie and her tooth.  It still is such a shock when she pulls her teeth.  She'll either ask Randy to help her, or she'll just do it herself.  One time she even said she "saw black" and was starting to teeter on her feet.  But, she held strong and let him pull her tooth!  He told me I had to for sure blog about her.  She is just such a work horse when it comes to pulling teeth.  It reminded me of one of my own experiences.  I was about 10 or 11 years old and thought I could be just like my dad!  He would take an Otter Pop and just bite/rip off the tip for us.  He made it look so easy, so I decided to try it for myself.  BAD idea.  I ended up pulling my incisor loose!  It wasn't even close to being ready to be pulled.  So, for the rest of the day, that tooth was aching!  I spent the whole day trying to wiggle that tooth loose and pull it out.  It hurt so bad.  There were many tears!  I couldn't even get myself to eat dinner, it hurt so bad.  I look back now- since I have Keilie- and see what a whiner I was, but man, I remember that pain!  It makes me respect Keilie even more for her courage:)  Man, I love that little girl so much!!!

Summers

As we were driving home from Denver, Keilie thanked me repeatedly for our adventure.  She told me it was fun to do fun stuff together and asked if my mom ever took me to Elitch Gardens.  I told her nope, but told her that my mom did fun stuff with us in the summer's.  One of my favorite memories of my mom was actually a hard day for her.  She had been having trouble at work with her bosses giving a new girl seniority over her own schedule, even though my mom had given years of dedicated service.  So, after the straw broke the camels back, my mom up and quit.  I remember sitting downstairs, watching TV (another favorite summer memory) and seeing my mom walk in.  We were all shocked to have her home, since we didn't expect her until later.  So, we ran up the stairs to greet her, excited to have her home, only to have her break down in tears, telling us how she'd quit.  Then, she dried her eyes, looked at us with such excitement and said, "Let's play!"  She took us to Layton Surf & Swim and just played with us that day.  She also took us to the movies a few times that summer, and made meal times fun by having our favorite cereal for dinner in HUGE bowls while using different utensils from the kitchen.  Including a ladle!  We all laughed so hard that night.  I also enjoy the memories of sitting down to a new movie.  We did this often, which is probably why I LOVE doing the same thing with my own kids.  We're HUGE movie watchers.  Redbox makes a killing off of us:)  I love getting movies and having my own kids' watch them, remembering my own childhood memories of that show.  Not all of my summers were this exciting, but maybe that's what makes this one stand out so much in my mind.  We actually got my mom's undivided attention for an entire summer.  She played with us.  She had fun with us.  What a good example she set for my own family.  I love my mom so much!  She's helped mold me into the mom I am today.  Whether that's a good or bad thing is still undecided:)

Three

Keilie left this morning down to Utah to spend a few days with Grandma Burrell.  She was SO excited.  Especially since she sat down last night and pulled out a baby tooth.  Literally.  Sat down, said she wanted to pull it out, and yanked.  Still amazes me how tough that little girl is!  Not to worry, we made sure to take the tooth to show Grandma!  Caden has been at Scout Camp since Sunday night, so that leaves me with only three kids. It seems weird to get only three meals.  It seems weird to only have to buckle three kids.  It seems weird to have no fighting- since the younger ones get along SO well!  This is going to be a quiet few days.  I'm kind of excited.  I remember a time when I thought two was SUPER hard:)  It worked out perfect as well since Raquel and her family were headed down to a wedding this weekend.  They had an extra seat which saved both my mom and I a trip to Rock Springs to make the switch.  This weekend has started out perfect!  The possibilities are endless!  I might even take the kids swimming.  Something I haven't attempted since Shelby was about 1 month old!  Wish me luck:)

Favorite Rides!

The kids are still on a high from going to Elitch Garden's Amusement Park on Monday.  To tell you the truth, so am I.  One day I'll wonder how I did it all alone, but for now, I'm still saying it was pretty easy.  Today, they were talking about all of the rides that they loved.  Keilie started organizing her favorites into numbers.  Her number one was the Roller Coaster, her number two was the one that took you up to the top and dropped you multiple times, and her number three was the Ferris Wheel.  So, naturally, the other kids started to number their favorites as well.  And guess what?  They all had the same favorites- imagine that.  The funny thing is, Brennon CRIED on the Roller Coaster, had a sheer look of TERROR on the one that took you up to the top and dropped you multiple times, and said he didn't want to ride the Ferris Wheel after it had just gotten started.  When I asked him how he could possible say that the Roller Coaster was his favorite, his answer was simple, "Because it went so fast it made me cry!"  OK?!  I guess that's ground for "Best Ride Ever" in his book:)  In my opinion, their favorite should have been the Bumper Cars.  They rode that one the most.  It was cool to see that Keilie was just short enough to qualify for the "Kid" rides and Ty was just tall enough.  So, I got to see all four laugh their heads off while bashing into other cars.  Ty was a natural at that driving thing.  Let's just hope that when the time comes, he doesn't find it as fun to crash his real car!  As for me, I enjoyed just watching.  I made sure to point out to the kids that I didn't get to go on any of the rides that I wanted to.  In fact, I was only allowed on three of the rides at all!  Shelby made sure to point out that I should feel lucky they let me ride "The Crazy Bus."  I told her, "That's no big deal.  I drive it every day of my life!  Mine just doesn't go up and down and all around!"

11:00 Hour

I found out last night that I was getting Bella back from Sit Means Sit at 9:00AM.  I could barely sleep.  I stayed up until Midnight cleaning my house so I'd have the whole day to be with her without needing to do anything but love on her.  I also called a friend to watch the kids so I could have 100% focus on what the trainer had to tell me.  Remember, we paid for him to jumpstart her training so it'd be easier for me.  Didn't want to waste money on distractions from kids!  He got her at exactly 9:00 (my kind of punctual!) and we got started on all he had to teach me.  I could barely wait to see her.  We went through a couple of scenarios, (me getting more and more nervous about screwing this up) and finally went out to get her.  I almost ran like a child to open his truck, but I refrained- barely.  As soon as she saw me she started whimpering with affection and came for some belly rubs.  I was so excited.  He went through some real-life scenarios with me, made sure I understood how to do it, gave me some "homework" for this week, and was on his way.  Since I had a few minutes before I went to pick up the kids, I practiced as much as I could.  I couldn't do the "come" command since she didn't leave my leg for nothing!  She's been a bit clingy since, but is slowly getting more relaxed.  I've even been able to take her on a couple walks tonight.  And let me tell you, walking is a whole knew thing.  My arm isn't even worked!  Perfect!  Anyway, I got the kids and brought them home for some Bella time.  And let me just say, the 11:00 hour became "Bella-Adoration Hour!"  She was back and the kids were in heaven.  There were even tears if one got to pet her more.  Yep, it's just like the day we got her.  And you know what, I LOVED it!  She's doing great.  They said it took them four days to get her out of her "shell" and get her to trust others.  Then, she did AWESOME!  She's such a smart dog. So, now I'm working her as much as I can so that when Garrett comes back next week, he'll give me an "A!!"  Funny story... when he walked in, he asked me how I keep my kids so quiet.  He said that he told his wife he was amazed that the kids hadn't come to disrupt me once while he was there the first hour and how quiet they were- and I had like 10 of them:)  And now he's walking in and it's silent.  I told him my secret- I just ship them off!  It's good to have her home!!!

Filter

I decided that since Randy and Caden got to take a week off for a fun vacation (Scout Camp), I wanted to do something more than sit at home.  So, since Bella is still at the trainer's, I decided to take the other kids to Elitch Garden's Amusement Park in Denver for the day.  I got many stares from ride operators and other guests when I sent my four kids on the rides, but for the most part, it was SUPER easy!  Just go from ride to ride and let them play.  The only hard thing was trying to keep them cool when it was ONE HUNDRED NINE degrees out!  Shelby even threw up!!  She claims it was the ride, but she'd been on it a couple other times during the day with no such result.  We left after that.  And just in time for rush-hour traffic where it took us 15 minutes to go 1 mile to our exit.  Of course!  Next time we'll arrive earlier and leave before the hottest part of the day.  Anyway, Shelby decided that this was going to be her trip without her mouth "filter."  Here are a few of her "choice" comments...

Man, she has a small head and a huge body!
Mom, LOOK!, those two men are holding hands.  We're not supposed to do that, huh!!
   (In her defense, there were many "men" holding hands there!!)
Mom, why does that girl have such weird clothes?
Mom, why does she wear that swimming suit (bikini) with such a big belly?
Mom, that man is in a wheel chair because he has such little legs, huh!

I loved every minute of our adventure without Dad and Caden- although I missed them terribly.  I just wish she'd have kept her comments to herself sometimes:)

Kiss Mommy

This morning Keilie gave Randy a Father's Day card that listed all the reasons why she loves him.  One of her reasons was...

"You Kiss Mommy!"
Randy truly is a great dad!

Happy Father's Day!!

Skirt

Keilie's skirt.  

I'm almost done with Shelby's, but needed a break from the stress.  Jamie told me it was therapeutic to sew.  Not so for me!  I think my own mind gets in my way.  I don't feel like I have much talent, so I try too hard.  Don't look too close at the stitches.  Blur your eyes and it looks pretty good.  I need to learn how to applique.  I'll use a green flower for Keilie's shirt and the blue flower for Shelby's.  I admit I like the fabric more than anything I've seen at Target recently, and it does give me a sense of pride knowing I made this for her, but man, it's STRESSFUL!

The Brady Bunch

While in Utah this last time, we got together with my Cousin, Jamie, and her family for a Memorial Day party.  She had her girls dressed in matching skirts and shirts that she'd made.  She was the inspiration I needed to try again at this sewing stuff.  So, this morning I took Keilie to tutoring and took the other four to Hobby Lobby to buy the material.  I found the exact fabric (remember I love copying) and a pattern and headed home to pick Keilie up.  The kids needed something to do while I was stressing sewing, so we all headed back to Hobby Lobby to choose an activity for them to do.  It must have been about 30 minutes from the time I checked out the first time till I checked out the second time.  Same line, same lady.  The first time she asked if I was going to use the fabric to make those skirts (Yep!) and told me they were going to turn out great.  She commented on how beautiful Shelby is (I couldn't agree more!) and sent us on our way.  The second time (again, only 30 minutes) she was FLOORED to see me with five kids.  Remember, this is only one more kid than I had before.  Same kids, same clothes.  She counted them with fanfare, making sure that everyone else in line knew how many I had.  She asked if she'd gotten her count right, as if I had 50 kids instead of just 5.  She told me that I was SUPER busy and how crazy it must be at our house.  Then she made the comment that I was one "girl" short of being the Brady Bunch.  The funny thing to me is that I never get comments from people if I have just four kids.  NEVER!  However, whenever I have the one extra kid, we get looks, stares, comments, and even pointing as if they are flabbergasted that we have so many.  Come on people, it's just five kids!  I made the comment back to her that we weren't a blended family, that we'd chosen to have these five kids, and that we never view them as anything other than a blessing.  She gave me a "God Bless You" and sent me on my way.  Sorry to disappoint folks, we're not going to try for a girl:)  We'll always be one person short of the Brady Bunch.  Do you think that's the same as one sandwich short of a picnic?!

Sit Means Sit

Bella left for a week-long training today with Sit Means Sit.  It was super hard to see her go.  I can't wait to get her back and see what she's learned.  Knowing that she was going, I just had to get a few pictures:)  I know, I know.  It's a disease.  I just can't help myself!

 Love the flipped ear!

 Yep, that's a "rolling my eyes at you" look.  Funny story, after I attempted to give her her first bath, this was the look she gave me the whole night.  If she'd look at me at all!  She is so stubborn:)  You know for sure if she's not happy with you.

 Posing for Randy.  She sat until she heard the click.  Then she was up trying to lick the lens:)

 I love that she extends her back legs out so much.  She does this all. the. time.  Also, notice the blue bow on her collar?  She went to a groomer this morning!  She also got her nails painted.  Sparkles!  Yep, she's my dog:)  She'd be in ruffle britches if Randy would let me.  Not really!  Well, maybe.

She has been so fun to have.  She loves the kids and is showered with lovin all over the place.  I sure hope we're happy with her training.  It would be nice if she didn't tug our arm off every walk trying to get to the millions of bunnies around here!  In fact, she's brought home two "trophies" and left them on our porch.  Not. My. Favorite!  More updates on this little cutie coming next week when they bring her home.  Are you on the edge of your seats?

Brooke's Baby Shower

If you know me, you know I LOVE planning parties.  The moment Brooke told me she was pregnant, I asked to throw the shower for her.  The Burrell girls' got together and threw one for her on the 2nd.  Since Kenyan was here already, it was fun to be able to display some fun pics of the little warrior.

 The theme was Jungle.  

 We did cupcakes that were a leftover from the wedding the night before.  There weren't too many blue or green ones, but that's ok.  There was a little pink on the napkins:)  We also did fruit with a dip from my recipe book.  Super easy... Jet-Puffed 7 oz mallow cream and 8 oz cream cheese... and Super good!

 It's fun to see how much his ultrasound picture look exactly like his baby pic.  I've never been able to tell what they look like before, but next to that other picture, you can tell for sure!

 I told Brooke that even though I don't like the situation she's in, there is silver lining... Doesn't she look sensational?  I always looked BLOATED, and PUFFY, and HUGE in my shower pics.  She's just so pretty!

A picture taken with my stolen camera.  Love these two!  Can't believe my baby sisters have babies!!!

Erin & Caden

 June 1, 2012 

Erin Kendall & Caden Rich's Sealing in the Salt Lake City, LDS Temple

 Brooke, Mom, Danielle, & Me.  Miss you, Ash!!!

 Beautiful Erin!  

It turns out that it was Brigham Young's 211th birthday.  This made me remember that we were also Sealed on a Prophet's birthday.  June 23rd is President Gordon B. Hinckley's birthday.  He would have been 102 this year!  I'm sure that means their marriage will be as magical as ours:)

May 31, 2012

Since it was my Golden Birthday this year- 31 on the 31st- I was excited to be with family.  It was such a good day.  Randy traveled 6 hours just to be there for me.  He loves me that much!

 The day started off with perfect weather!  Bella enjoyed staying out on the deck all day!  Then I got to go do lunch with my dad, a tradition that's carried over since childhood.  I haven't been able to do it for a few years (like 12) so it made it even more special to have him all to myself.  We went to Crown Burger and I tried the Jr.  Turns out, I like Pastrami:)

 My mom slaved while we were gone to make me Chicken Rolls and Chocolate Cake from scratch.  YUM!  Dinner was just as good, if not more, than lunch.  That's another tradition, Mom making you a dinner and dessert of your choice!  Told you my day was special!

 After putting the babes to bed, we headed outside for a game of Croquet.  With perfect windless weather!  I'd almost forgotten how that feels:)

 Randy and my Mom quickly took the lead while Caden, Keilie, and I struggled close to the starting point.  I've never been good at Croquet, but I love it just the same.  That's how it is with most sports for me! I look like a fool, but smile the whole time:)

 Had to protect my girl from runaway balls.  It was fun watching her chase the balls that rolled by.  She's so cute!

 The Referee (to keep us honest) and Photographer, respectively.  These two decided that they were simply going to watch.  I think the real reason they stayed out was because of my mad skills with the mallet!

 The winner!  It was a close game between him and my mom.  I think there was even a moment of nerves for him!  Not to worry, my man won the victory for me.  I'm pretty sure he even dedicated his win to me.  No?  Oh, it must have been the wind I heard... *cough* 

 The end of a perfect birthday!

 We later found out that someone had disable the flash.  No wonder these pictures are awful.  Don't worry Danielle, you're not fired!  I sure love this man!

The Winner of Croquet with the Winner of Randy Dirks!

Posterity

I love the memories that my kids will have of their Grandparents and Great-Grandparents.

 "Grandma Great" Fuller

 Grandma Burrell

"Grandpa Great" Kimber

We were supposed to have Grandpa Kimber come home with us this week, but due to a death in his family, we had to postpone.  You would have thought Bella had died with all the complaining in the car on the drive home.  They love him so much.  We can't wait until we get to have him for a week again.  Family time is PRICELESS!

Memorial Day 2012

Memorial Day 2012

Party at Aunt Jeannie & Uncle Dan's

 Shelby 

 Keilie & Payton

 Keilie, Jackson, Ty, Halle, & Shelby cooking their dinner.

 Brennon 

 Grandpa Burrell & Keilie

 

 Me & Danielle

 Ty & Reagan 

 Shelby and her SCORE!

 Payton and her attempts:) 

 This was my first try at this game.  I'm the orange.  See how the other two tries are WAY past the mark.  It only went downhill on the other tries.  I am HORRIBLE at this game.  It was still fun though.  Danielle won me 10-1!

The observers of our kickball tournament. 

I love their backyard.  There is so much to do, so much shade, and such good company.  Memorial Day 2012 was perfect!

Kenyan

On Tuesday I was able to go down to Primary Children's Medical Center to see my sweet nephew Kenyan for the first time.  It was an awesome time with just me & Brooke.  We don't get those times often enough!  It was a weird experience having to check-in with ID, get a visitor sticker, and travel to see him, but it was worth it.  I got to spend hours with this sweet little boy, fresh from Heaven and bursting with such a sweet spirit.

 I wanted to get a feel for how small he was.  Compared to Brooke's hand.  He's also grown in the last month!

 He can't even grasp around the whole finger.  Again, growth since he was born!

 Auntie in HEAVEN!!!

 Such a sweet face!

 Look how small his ears are.  Smaller than an inch!  And look at all of that hair!!!

 Stretching as he's waking up for a bottle.  Guess who got to feed him?  Me:)  I'm so lucky!

 His "room" (curtain around his bed) was decorated with cute little things from volunteers at the hospital.  Fun posters, and drawings, and name tags to make the stay a little easier.  There were 7 babies in one "room" so it was nice to see effort made for each child.  

 Since he was 7 weeks early, they told Brooke and Dustin to expect him to stay until his "due" date- June 17th.  It looks like he'll go home at the first of next week, though.  There was talk that he might have come home on my birthday, but his little body was fighting too much for that.  He was just too tired.  That would have been the best birthday present of all.  Especially since it was my Golden Birthday, 31 on the 31st:)  It was enough just to get to hold him!  Come home soon, Kenyan.  I'll see you at the end of the month!