Louise Meadow Days

Fast and Furious Summer

2011-09-11T23:13:00.000-07:00

Kourtney and Nichole with Santa at Girls' Camp.

Ashley with her Valentine's Day tree she and Cassidy made.

Kevin and I on our hike at Steawart Falls.

Biking at Bear Lake

Grace as a mermaid at Bear Lake.

Grandma, Grandpa and the little blonde cousins at Old Faithful.

Grandpa and Grace heading to Old Faithful.

Carson, Hallie, Ashley and Josie at Mesa Falls - so beautiful.

Growing girls at Mesa Falls.

The girls and I at Old Faithful.

Our summer flew this year. We had Girls' Camp in July, a couple trips to Idaho to see family, a trip to Yellowstone, a family reunion in Bear Lake, etc. I'm still trying to pull my house back together and find some solid footing. It feels like lift is sort of dragging me along. It was a great and fun time though.

Grace's 6th Birthday

2011-09-11T22:52:00.000-07:00

Our baby turned six. She requested mostly Justin Bieber and Barbie gifts. We sure love you, Grace!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

First Days

2011-09-11T22:48:00.000-07:00

This is getting a bit ridiculous. Time is flying at a much more rapid pace than I can keep up with right now. Summer is over and we are all back in school - Kourt is in high school, Ash is in middle school, Grace is in first grade.

Happy 15th, Kourt!

2011-04-10T19:37:00.000-07:00

My baby is now 15 and I'm surprisingly okay with that. She is funny, she is smart, she is growing into a great person. The downside - driving permit, one year away from dating, growing taller than me, going to high school next year. Happy Birthday, Kourtney!!

New very cool phone

Kerry sent Kourt a pearl necklace - you pull the pearl out of an oyster

Some gfts - for some reason ended up sideways and can't be corrected

Happy St Patty's Day

2011-03-17T22:29:00.000-07:00

Ashley's Birthday Party

2011-03-09T21:47:00.000-08:00

Ashley had her birthday party tonight at our house - she had pink and black decorations. The girls played Minute to Win It games, ate pizza and junk food galore. They stayed late and watched a movie after the party ended. My neighbor Heather gave each girl Glitter Toes. It was a hit!

Girly Bathroom

2011-03-07T22:06:00.000-08:00

We even jazzed up the bathroom with pink and brown polka dots, a Pretty as a Princess sign above the door, polka dot clock, cute picture frame (that still needs to be filled), rug, and a really cute earring holder that Kourt made at Girls' Camp last year.

Ashley's Room

2011-03-07T22:03:00.000-08:00

Ashley went with bright blue with damask accents. It turned out really bright and cute. Of course the focal point is a giant chandelier over her bed that is oversized for her room, yet somehow so fitting. We still need a few black bins and of course some irridescent beads to hang down the inside of her closet. Very cute, very Ashley.

Fixing the Girls' Rooms

2011-03-07T22:00:00.000-08:00

We've been working on the girls' rooms. Kourt is still a bit undecided about what she wants, so her room hasn't been done yet, but Ashley and Grace both decked their rooms out. Grace went for Pink - bright fun colors, butterflies and flowers. So very Grace. There's a big wooden sign on on side of the room that says "Princess" and another small sign above her closet (with boas and dress-up beads) that says "Princess of Everything." That about sums it up.

There's a young woman in the family

2011-03-07T21:50:00.000-08:00

Well, Ashley turned 12 - yikes! She is so excited to be so grown up, in young women's, graduating from elementary school soon, shaving her legs, wearing dangly earrings, etc.

We did baptisms for the dead this week - Kevin baptized both of us. So neat. It was cold and rainy, so I didn't pause for great pics, just the idea that we were there.

My Funny Valentine

2011-03-07T21:44:00.000-08:00

Ashley left Kev and I cute Valentines Day goodies. She made roses for Kevin out of giant Snickers bars and she bought a basket of sweet things for me and the dollar store. When Kevin came home from work, he had a bouquet as big as a rosebush - beautiful - so as not to be outdone by Ash :)

Christmas 2011

2011-03-07T21:28:00.000-08:00

Ashley's dance - Ash is really becoming an accomplished little dancer. She takes 4 classes 6 hours a week and she got her point shoes this year. This is her Jazz company and ballet recital.

Family Christmas photos

New Time-Consuming Hobby

2011-03-07T21:06:00.000-08:00

One of my new hobbies: My friend, Amy, and I made jewelry and did a couple of boutiques over the holidays. It would be really fun to have time to make it into an actual business.

Flashback to Fall

2011-03-07T20:44:00.000-08:00

I feel like I've let life get ahead of me this year. I've been picking up some side projects and part-time work, which means my social networking and blogging have fallen by the wayside. I miss the fun of documenting our year on the blog, so here are a few updates in a nutshell:

Pumpkins from our garden, a few neighborhood kids, Ashley as a Halloween gypsy, Grace as a fairy princess.

You can click on the collage to see the actual photos better.

Kourtney is 14. No really. FOURTEEN.

2010-05-05T21:03:00.000-07:00

Ashley is 11

2010-03-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

Hot Chocolate Talk

2010-03-23T20:57:00.000-07:00

These are the pics Kev snapped of my friend Kim and I participating in our annual neighborhood Valentine's dinner. The theme this year was SNL. We have some funny people in our ward who did some great skits. Kim and I somehow agreed to do our own version of "Coffee Talk"--making it of course "Hot Chocolate Talk." Here we are feeling verklempt.

Um, I don't know what we're doing here, except for showcasing our fabulous nails.

Here we are admiring Barbra. I worked on my New York accent by watching Youtube and Cake Boss.

Recipe for Exploding Eggs

2010-02-09T15:21:00.000-08:00

Here is my favorite new recipe for exploding hard-boiled eggs.
Place two eggs in saucepan with egg timer. Fill pan with water and place on stovetop at medium-high heat. Now go upstairs for about 45 minutes, forgetting eggs completely.
Let eggs continue boiling until the water all evaporates and the bottom of the pan begins to burn. At this point, Kevin will say to Grace: Did you hear that popping sound? Is somebody downstairs?
Cry: Oh, my eggs! I completely forgot.
Be sure to time this exclaimation precisely as the smoke detector goes off. Voila! Your eggs are done. Now run downstairs to see the results. Note the nice hole burned through your egg timer and the charred black layer burned into the bottom of your pan. For an added touch, try to get the force of the exploding eggs to knock the pan off the burner so a large clump of hard-boiled yolk lands on the burner, sending sulfery smoke bombs throughout your kitchen.
After making certain that no permenant damage has been done, laugh and take pictures.

The stovetop with the burner off and the smoke bomb put out.
A view of the underside of the microwave. There was a one-foot radius of egg explosion covering every surface.
Close-up of charred egg bits. I had to get the vacuum out to remove all the bits after spending twenty minutes wiping everything off.

Preschool Christmas footage

2010-01-06T18:15:00.000-08:00

Gracie was so excited to see Santa at school. They sang jingle bells before he came. When he walked in the door, she rushed him and threw her arms around him before he knew what hit him. They all led Santa over to a special chair and sat in a circle around him. He started to ask for a little volunteer to come sit up on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas, but Grace was already there. A couple of clips: one of Jingle Bells and the other of Grace sitting on Santa's knee.

I can't seem to get Blogger to load my videos, so I've given up and just loaded them onto youtube.

Christmas was fun

2010-01-06T17:47:00.000-08:00

And fast!!!

Usually I am anxious to get all my Christmas decore down because I'm tired of it and ready for a clean, fresh look. This year, I'm reluctant to move any of it at all. 1, because, it took so darned long to put everything up. 2, because I don't think I ever paused to enjoy it, and now it's over. Sigh.

We had fun being together. Kevin actually had Christmas eve off, which never happens. Kevin's parents were in town, and it's always fun to go to Spanish Fork and have Christmas with family.
Grace in her new dress-ups with her Ariel phone.

Kourtney with her I-touch.
Kevin with a basketball.
Ash with a little pink camcorder.
Kenny, Amber, Grace, Kourtney and Izzie all stuffed into the sleeping bag Kenny got from his parents.
The puzzle I finally finished, only to realize a piece is missing!!!

2009-12-28T13:27:00.000-08:00

Kourtney had her Christmas band concert. They are getting so good. She plays Tenor Sax this year with one other boy she calls Spock. My disc got full and cut out right as they were beginning their best song, but I got the first two. Feel free to listen in for a few seconds. If it's a bit wobbly, that's because I'm not the greatest with a video camera and because Grace keeps grabbing my arm :0

Nutcracker

2009-12-19T21:09:00.000-08:00

Ashley's little ballet studio did their own Nutcracker production again this year. So much fun. Ashley added a jazz class, and so she had to do a hair and costume change. She did a great job!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2009-12-19T20:55:00.000-08:00

HAPPY HAUNTING!!

2009-11-02T19:44:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

(Be sure to click "Full Screen" for best images)

The girls had a fun Halloween. We went to Nise and Mike's to see family and eat sushi, then we rushed the girls off to their trick or treating events. Ash wore her fancy schmancy vampire costume (for which she had to earn some serious cash) to Tessa's, Kourt went to her friend's birthday party where they all dressed as princesses (except Anna, who was a banana). Grace had her preschool parade on Friday and went trick or treating with Summer and Jansson.

This is it--Michael Jackson's final show

2009-11-02T18:57:00.000-08:00

Went with my girlfriends to the Michael Jackson movie. I was a little reluctant to go at first, but I figured I'd I would like to see it, and what better way than with friends? Kelly got us all advance tickets early, and as time progressed we got more and more into it.

We decided to wear MJ shirts (6.99 at Rue21) and meet for shakes before the show. Then we decided to dress 80s, which involved a crimper, some leg warmers, an impulse silver glove buy at the register.

Then Voila! We had ourselves a fun-filled evening tribute to Michael Jackson. Except when I got in the car, I was the only one who had gone all out with the super poofy hair and big earrings, lotsa blue eyeshadow-the works. Boo, I was reluctant to get outta the car and only swallowed my pride cuz it was nearly Halloween.

When we got to Red Robin, however, there was Trista in her cute crimped ponytail on toppa her head, rolled pants w/white socks n loafers--a white glove too. After that it was just fun.

The movie was really great--Michael was an amazing, creepy, sad little man. What a tremendous amount of talent packed into one teeny, tiny 80 pound body. He looked about the size of Ashley. His dancers were sooo talented, but looked actually looked choppy and second-rate compared to Michael. The concert would have been spectacular.

I LOVED the addition to Thriller!! All the video footage and set designs were so much fun.

Two Weddings and a Funeral (plus a Reunion)

2009-10-26T21:23:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

(Click on the play button, wait for it to load and then flip through the scrapbook.It's kinda small because I did the free version)

This summer we went to my Uncle Thayne's funeral, our Burtenshaw Reunion in Logan, Lindsey's wedding and Shallie's wedding.

Lil punkins

2009-10-26T16:52:00.001-07:00

Ashley and I had fun at the pumpkin patch with Grace's preschool class.

A Knight of Murder

2009-10-19T18:55:00.000-07:00

Our friends Trista and Heather pulled together an amazing murder mystery party on Saturday. Everone came dressed to the nines (we had friends who rented from Hale theater for the occasion). Kev and I came in more of the Kmart 30% off attire--which worked just fine. Kev looked kinda like Joseph Smith. My platinum hair and two-inch eyelashes looked like Barbie swallowed Cher. We had a great time.

King Randy stood around demanding more ale, Maid Medusa reminded me all night that I'd ruined her happiness, Sir Rufus died gallantly and had his outline taped to Trista's floor. The jester bounced around the room and under the table. We were served an entire rotissoire chicken per couple! The sherrif looked like Lord Farquardt from Shrek!

We will have to make it an annual tradition.

Wyatt Worker and Maid Victoria
The good citizens of Fernwood

Pretty Projects

2009-10-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

Amy and I also decided we could make our own watch bands and keychains. Kind of an expensive hobby. I thought they all turned out cute, and they were really easy. The silver/crystal is really versatile, and the dark green/black is just fun. Besides, I needed the dark green because it matches my Aragon (click on it to see how fun) nail polish. And everyone knows if you're going to buy vampy green nail polish, you're eventually going to need a matching watch band and keychain :) I know, right?!

Ashley made herself a silver/crystal watch band too, and I still have enough to make another dangly charm set for my laptop bag. So really the beads yielded quite a lot of things.

Of peaches and tomatoes

2009-10-11T21:38:00.001-07:00

My friend Amy and I have been busy with some projects. First we thought we'd do some canning. After two weeks of bottling, freezing, and juicing peaches and tomatoes and jalapenos for salsa, bottles of produce, and flash frozen individual peaches and jalapenos, I'm so over the garden. It is nice to see beautiful jars of hard work lined up on the counter. There's peach nectar and peach freezer jam too.

Grace's first Dentist Visit

2009-10-11T21:16:00.000-07:00

Grace was so excited to go to the dentist. She marked the occasion by wearing her favorite yellow sundress. She giggled through her x-ray.

She giggled through her chair ride while wearing the sunglasses.

She opened wide for her cleaning.

She did really well until the end when she needed flouride. The hygienist said she was going to paint Grace's teeth with flouride, and Grace was worried her teeth would permenantly be some other color.

We all (Grace included) got a clean report-no cavities. I celebrated by taking the girls to Cold Stone. Hmm.

Back to the Routine

2009-10-01T22:26:00.000-07:00

It' s fall and back to school, back to the regular routine. Ashley was actually the first to go back. She started 4th grade at the end of July, but I failed to take pictures. I wasn't really thinking about school then because Ashley also finished up 3rd grade at the beginning of July. So we'll begin with Kourtney.
Kourtney is now in 8th grade. She catches the bus around 7:20--except on Fridays when she catches the bus at 9:20. She's cheerfully letting me take multiple pictures.

Kourt gets off the bus at 3:15 every day.

She's now tired of the pictures.
She started school toward the end of August.
Ashley, as I mentioned, both finished 3rd grade and started 4th grade in July. We drive carpool with neighbors (I only have to drive every three weeks) and get her to school at 8:50. She gets home around 4:00, except on Fridays when she gets home early around 2:00.
We staged these photos on the same day we did Grace's. She's getting a water bottle because her classroom is in a portable this year.
Gracie goes to Miss Heidi's preschool around the corner 3 days a week: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 12-2:30. She started school after Labor Day.

We've also added to the mix: soccer practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30-6:00. Soccer games are occasionally on Monday evenings and always on Saturdays. Dance is now Tuesday and Thursday from 6:30-7:30 and on Wednesday from 4:30-5:30.

Now, did anybody understand this new "routine" schedule of ours? If so, please email me detailed instructions of how to follow it cuz I'm a bit lost.

Gracie turns four

2009-09-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

Grace has been anxiously awaiting her birthday since December. She's been patiently cheerful to celebrate other people's birthdays as we've told her each month "Not yet."

Because I'm apparantly out of blogging practice, the following photos are of Grace's birthday in reverse:
And she loved riding her new Barbie scooter at the end of the day with her big sisters!

She blew out that number 4 candle with gusto!

Thanks to everyone who sent and gave presents!!!

She was thrilled with her princess cake with light-up skirts.

Grace really wanted to go to Wendy's for lunch, so off we went together. We snapped pics but could never get both our faces quite in the center of the screen.

First thing in the morning, Kevin called Grace downstairs and gave her the purple Disney princess bike and her new Sketchers high tops (because he had to work late). She was thrilled. This is the close-up of the high tops and Grace pedaling her new bike through the KITCHEN!

Stuck in my throat: a tale of woe involving Prilosec, Mylanta and Zytrec

2009-08-11T13:04:00.001-07:00

Boys be warned: This story involves girl talk.

SOOOO, I went to my lady doctor last Monday to have my IUD removed. After asking me if I wanted to keep said IUD for my wall (I politely declined--she was kidding), she prescribed an antibiotic for me as a precaution. I didn't even fill the prescription for another day because I thought it was unnecessary. Finally, guilt told me it was better to be safe than show up back at the office with some unwanted something or other that could have been prevented if I'd just played it safe.

Fine, I filled the prescription last Tuesday and took one blue pill that night (the bottle said twice a day for five days). Wednesday morning, it felt like the pill had dissolved in my throat, and I had some heartburn off and on. My friend said heartburn is common with antibiotics. The next day, I choked on most everything I ate and had more heartburn. I remember the choking being just another form of heartburn from being pregnant with Grace.

I was out of town on Thursday, so the next time I took the stuff was on Friday. More heartburn. On Saturday morning, before I even took a pill, I drank a glass of water and felt stabbing pain shoot down my arms, back and chest. Same with breakfast. I quit taking the antibiotic and looked it up online.

Doxycycline, (click here for more info.) it turns out, commonly causes heartburn. The more serious side effects are "difficulty swallowing or throat pain." In less than 1 percent of people, it causes esophagus damage and ulcers of the esophagus.

My neighbor/doctor told me to get on a strict regimen of Prilosec, Zyrtec and Mylanta. He told me to call him if I didn't start feeling better within a few days, and he'd probably have to put me on Prednisone, a steroid that makes your face swell. NICE!

SO, I'm now slowly starting to feel the effects reverse. Sunday was terrible, Monday about the same. I could feel each bite go down my throat just fine and then shoot spasms of pain everywhere once it hit about my chest area. Mashed potatoes and banana smoothies, ironically, were the worst. Tuesday was a little better, today the pain is occasionally, and hopefully tomorrow I'll be back to choking heartburn.

Oh, and Dr. Danes said chances of me getting anything from my IUD removal (the reason why I took the antibiotic in the first place) were very slim. There you have it . As a result of being precautious, I caused myself a week's worth (hope that's all) of stupid, unnecessary, over-the-top pain.

Pet snuggie

2009-08-04T16:01:00.000-07:00

Kevin HATES the Snuggie. After the presidential election, he was thoroughly irritated that Snuggie sales increased substantially. I sent him this link I saw today on MSN. Thought I'd share.

Favorite new quote

2009-07-31T10:19:00.000-07:00

Just got this from my friend, Jen. Love it.

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractively and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, screaming "WOO HOO! What a Ride!"

Summer pics

2009-07-31T08:30:00.000-07:00

Pics from Idaho in the gardens. My sister Kerry bought the cousins red, white n blue shirts and orchestrated some cute cousin pics.
And some not so cute.

Kourtney--cute braids.

Ashley--cute Ashley.

Cousins in the veggie garden.

Cousins on a corral. I love how Baby Wyatt is kinda perched up there on the far right and Hallie is looking down at him like she's kinda worried (or like she's gonna kiss his little head).

Grace and her favorite McKay on haybales. Kerry did this trip much more justice on her blog :) http://www.kjudy24.blogspot.com/

Lazy Days of Summer ?!!!

2009-07-31T08:03:00.000-07:00

Oh, I wish!! Summer is already over for Ashley. She went back to school on Monday--the same day we sent Kourtney off to Oakcrest. Something is terribly wrong when one daughter goes to girls' camp and another goes back to school on the SAME day!!
Here are a few things I did photograph in this last month: We went to the Oquirrh Mountain temple openhouse with Kevin's family last week. This is the best shot we could get. It was scorching hot and we were ready to leave. And we were staring into the sun ;)
The whole Knudsen clan at the open house. Notice my niece and nephew, Abbie and Brandon front and center to the left of Ashley. They're brother and sister. Abbie's wearing her long white baptism dress (she wanted to wear it to the temple) and Brandon is wearing a black suit. As we were walking toward our tour, an old man stopped the two of them and jokingly said, "Hey, are you two getting married today?" Brandon didn't even crack a smile. He just said, "Yes. Yes we are" and kept walking. Twas funny!

Veggies from my garden!!! We have tomatoes now too!!! This is the first year we've done more than a salsa garden. It's like magic--put the little seeds in the ground and a few months later, there are veggies out there among the forest of weeds (Once the heat hit, I gave up dilligently weeding and the weeds happily ran rampant))

Cute Grace and Macie at Wheeler Farms.

Ashley's June dance recital.

Girls' getaway to St. George.

There's a super quick recap.

Notice there's nothing in there about Father's Day. Sigh. Not one word about Kevin.

Or how much I appreciate his patience.

Or how I love his humor.

Or his superb! cooking.

Or how I love that he takes the girls shopping.

Or how he never complains about running errands.

Or how he laughs so hard at funny movies that I find him just as humorous as the movie.

Or how he loves me more than anyone I've ever known.

Or how he works so hard at a job he doesn't love to take care of the family he does love.

Maybe next year.

Is it June already?

2009-07-03T17:57:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid I've been cheating on my blog with Facebook (blush!)

Such a fast-paced mistress with instant comment gratification on the cute photos I've taken of my girls recently.

I do however love the cozy, personalized, finished look and joy of blogging, and I have finally updated my background.

I can't believe an entire month is gone. I've got some cute June pics to post.

New haircut

2009-05-22T20:40:00.001-07:00

Ashley snapped this lil photo of my new hairs. I'm experimenting with how to style it--this was a bit of a flippy version. It's kind of a Carol Brady style, but I kinda like it.

Rain Dance

2009-05-21T16:39:00.000-07:00

The other day it rained really hard. Kourtney and Grace decided to dance in it.

Kourtney's concert

2009-05-21T16:11:00.001-07:00

Kourtney is in the beginning band at school. She plays saxaphone--really well. Her band had its Spring Concert last week and they sounded so good. Grace liked the theme song to Harry Potter the best. Kourt's the one below in pink.

Preschool Program

2009-05-21T16:08:00.001-07:00

This is Olivia the pig. She envisions herself doing everything in life while wearing a red ball gown. When I asked Grace to find a casual summer skirt and shirt for her preschool program, she ran right to her formal red Christmas dress.

The program was really cute and Grace was super giggly. I think everyone with a camcorder got a shot of Grace repeatedly flashing her mermaid undies--there's always one flasher in a preschool crowd.

Gracie adores Miss Heidi and Miss MariAnne. They compiled a detailed scrapbook for each child. Love Them!

Happy to be a Mother!

2009-05-14T13:35:00.001-07:00

On Mother's Day, Ashley woke me with breakfast. She made (really good!!) scrambled eggs, toast, juice and granola. She also made me cards and helped Grace make things and was really helpful for about two days. It was wonderful.

This is Kevin's homemade lemon bunt cake. Yum!

This is a cute little bouquet Kev made out of the ward's leftover Mother's Day gifts. Love all the little ribbons. I had to go get all these flowers from Harmon's for the ward on Saturday. I got quite a few stares pushing around a cart-full of carnations in a bucket.
I am making plans to retire as the family cook. Kevin made the greatest dinner--scallops, halibut, steak, red potates and asparagus--all grilled to perfection.

Such a happy day to be a Mother!

Fabric fashion show

2009-05-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

Ashley and I went to her activity days Mother-Daughter social. The girls put on an improptu fashion show, complete with a runway. We helped them find various fabrics and drape them around to create fun new fashions. The girls were pretty creative. They added scarves, necklaces, hats, high heels and strutted their stuff down the runway.

This is Ashley in a long, polka-dot dress ensemble.

Sarah, Victoria and Ashley posed together as the ten year old girls.

Grace in a Hat

2009-05-01T20:12:00.000-07:00

The Honorable Kourtney

2009-05-01T20:06:00.000-07:00

Kourtney was inducted into the National Jr. Honor Society (on account of her solid 7th grader 4.0 smarty pants gpa) They had a candle-lighting ceremony and a nice, short, sweet event to induct in the new members.

Kourtney and her friend Rachel.

Ashley's walking field trip

2009-05-01T10:43:00.000-07:00

I volunteered to go on Ashley's 4th grade walking field trip to the Gale History museum. It turned out to be much cooler than I had expected.

It had all sorts of replicas and hands-on things for the kids to do. There were cute old-timer South Jordan residents there to tell you about the town's history. I learned that this area was once called Gale because it was mercilessly windy when people first settled here (Thus the name Gale Center. I thought it was somebody's last name.) Ashley's teacher, Miss Bailey's ancestors were the first settlers in the Gale area.

On the way home the kids motioned for every passing car to honk. They counted up at least fifty cars who responded, so they thought the walk was great.

Great Expectations

2009-04-22T15:59:00.000-07:00

Last week I confronted my back flower beds. Holy yikes!! In the Fall I wasn't sure how far to chop down my plants so I decided to just wait until Spring. Well, the plants are much bigger now and they were completely hidden under colossal heaps of deadness.
So nasty. Miss Havisham's wedding cake could be hidden under there!!

I'm not even going to tell you how long it took me to trim and weed this much. The good news, however, is that there really are cute little Spring plants growing under all that mess. Hooray for Spring (and for my new electric hedge trimmer)!

Ulta-mate Bargain Shopper

2009-04-21T18:41:00.000-07:00

I've wanted to try Bare Minerals and have been pricing starter kits. Across the board, the price for all the products in the left box (2 foundations, a warmth powder, a finishing powder, three brushes and a dvd) is $60. I found the best deal at ulta.com. http://www.ulta.com/store/bare-escentuals/getstarted.html
For my $60 I got the products in the left box, two free Bare Minerals gifts (vitamin moisturizer and lip gloss) and five free samples. Plus free shipping.

And, if you're lucky, they'll forget to include the five samples you chose, so you can email a complaint and receive six free samples instead! That way your $60 gets you everything in both boxes. Bargain!

Laptop Love

2009-04-21T18:39:00.000-07:00

This black bag is my new laptop case. Cute, huh? Kev volunteered to pick me up a case while he was running errands and I told him, NO Thanks!! He looked kinda surprised until I informed him I wanted a nice, girly bag and not a generic-manly-backpack-lunchbox case. When I found the above little beauty I asked Kevin, Kenny, Amen and the male sales clerk if they would enjoy carrying this bag around. They each said they wouldn't be caught dead with such a girly purse case. That's how I knew it was the one!! Now it just needs some cute little dangly, blingy charms to clip onto the zipper and it will be perfect. It also has other compartments and little zippered pouches just like a real girl bag.

The bag of course is so I can easily transport my new laptop. Didn't realize how much I would really love it.

Which nail polish dries fastest?

2009-04-21T18:38:00.000-07:00

Ashley made it to the second round of the science fair with her nail polish science exhibit. She chose this project based on her interest in acquiring five new bottles of nail polish and taking pictures of her nails. I think this just goes to show if you choose something you're truly interested in, the science part will just come to you. Ash really did a great job putting together her presentation and trying to understand the chemistry behind watching nail polish dry. Way to go, Ash!

Oops--Easter!

2009-04-21T18:34:00.000-07:00

These are our brightly dyed eggs.
We celebrated Easter. I forgot to get pictures of the girls in dresses before church and afterward they tossed those dresses aside before I was even in the door. Nobody would dress back up for me, so I told them we'd reenact the Easter dress scene the following Sunday--but I forgot.

Kev is helping Grace with her long-awaited "snapping mermaid" doll. It took the Easter Bunny a couple of stores to find it and when the Easter Bunny's teenage helper noticed it was ten dollars more than anticipated, the Easter Bunny was forced to bump everybody else's basket up by another ten dollars. Now that's the true spirit of Easter for ya.

Ashley with her lovely body butter.

Grace with her Bratz mermaid--that swims in the tub and has interchangeable snap-on fashions.

Cute easter baskets. Guess which one is Kourt's :)

Viva Las Vegas!

2009-04-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

Last week's girls trip to Vegas was great! Thanks to Cynthia for wanting to get out of town before she has her baby and to Sunny for putting the whole thing in motion. 13 of us went and it felt like the entire weekend flew by. It was great to see Dianne, who flew up from California to meet us. Phantom was amazing--although it felt like it played in fast-forward because they shortened it and played around with the plot a little.

The weather was perfect, as was the 45 min. or so I spent out by the pool taking a little nap :) Shopping was fun. I dragged everyone to Sephora twice and ended up buying nothing--sorry, girls. The outlets, however yielded two cute shirts, a pair of shorts, a new little wallet and a cute pair of ballet flats!

The crepes, pastries and $3 bottles of Diet Coke were totally worth it; the Bellagio water shows at 11:30 at night were so much fun, especially because Cynthia loves them. I got some great shots of the water and some cute ones of the girls all staring at it. It felt very Oceans 11.
I also learned a few things on this trip:

Allow sleeping Connies their own space.
You can never out-last two pregnant sisters in Vegas no matter how hard you try.
Make sure the makeup lady who watched you smudge the lipgloss and the eyeshadow has actually left for the day before you walk back into Sephora again.
Cheesecake Factory salads are a whopping bowl of lettuce--enough for at least four people.
Never wear your comfy heels for a two mile stroll down the strip; you'll end up buying flip-flops.
Next time, make it a four-day trip so you can vege by the pool with all your girlfriends for a relaxing day.

Signs of the leprechaun

2009-03-18T22:05:00.000-07:00

Ah, the leprechaun came this year, leaving gold coins and a goblet full of pennies for the girls. Ashley failed to trap him again with her latest contraption. Grace kicked off the morning with her Lucky Charms breakfast and then made a glitter shamrock at preschool. Ashley wore her green Pinch Me shirt, but she said nobody at school appreciated the shirt's ironic humor as much as I do. (Actually she said I'm still the only one who thinks that shirt is funny on St. Patrick's day) That's a shame. We finished up the day with green spaghetti noodles.

Kourtney--Lucky number 13!

2009-03-13T17:12:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official. My little girl is a teenager--choke! As if the calendar weren't evidence enough, Kourtney and I are mysteriously now the same height, she asked for a cell phone and clothes for her birthday and she wanted to make sure we didn't get her some sort of a character cake. Wow~that's a little much.

Kourt had a great birthday. She did in fact get her cell phone--after much begging, writing an official persusasive essay and agreeing to pay for all her minutes. Kev and I feel pretty good about this because it gives Kourtney the cell phone she wants (not needs), makes her responsible and accountable for it and keeps Ashley at bay. We'll let you know how this little experiment in parenting goes. Wish us luck.

Kourt and I went shopping for new clothes at Aeropostale on her birthday. She got some great books from her grandmas, gift certificates and money from her aunts and yummy cookies from Kylene. Her young women leaders also posted a really cute birthday sign on the front lawn.

We love ya, Kourtney!

What the @#(bleepsie) kinda TURKEY is that?

2009-03-07T17:33:00.001-08:00

Hooray! I finally figured out I could bake my giant squash in the oven. The shell turned nice and soft and then just peeled away.

This is what a whole baked hubbard squash looks like after it's been baked, peeled and sliced. I just scooped out the inside and bagged the rest.

Here's the empty shell and about 11 bags of squash. Fascinating, huh? Thanks to the enormous "Facebook" trend, I feel free to ramble on about hubbard squash with little fear of borring too many of my friends and family :)

What does one do with 11 bags of squash? So far, I've found two great recipes: one for bread--which I made. My girls love it. And one for soup, which looks really good too.

http://www.starchefs.com/thanksgiving/2001/html/recipe_14.shtml --for soup

http://www.seasonalrecipes.com/rec/recipe196.butternutsquashbread.html -- for bread

And now for the latest squash news. Here's a little update about how my five friends reacted to finding a hubbard on their doorstep: So far I've had two threats of retalliation, one wonderful bottle of pearsauce left on my doorstep (favorite reaction), several rumors of regifting the squash around the neighborhood, a couple of questions about recipes and one friend who was afraid of the squash and suspected teenage hooligans--oops (I set her straight, and then everything was fine). Aah, who would have thought a few big squash could bring so much joy?! I am a little afraid for April Fools' Day though--I'm not gonna lie.

So not worth it

2009-03-04T14:47:00.000-08:00

My friend Julie gave me a couple of her leftover squash plants last spring and I tossed them in the ground. They resulted in one or two nice zucchini plants and two scraggly-looking hubbard squash plants that looked like they weren't going to produce anything.

By mid-August, however, the hubbard plant exploded all over the garden. The vines were thigh-high and creeping out the fence. We had Little Shop of Horrors in our back yard; I would go out and hack the vines back occasionally. The squash they produced looked like giant alien pods--and I do mean giant. I could barely heft them out of the garden and down to the storage room.

My dad told me hubbards are a great winter squash because they have a super-hard shell. The internet said they have a really mild, sweet taste--perfect for soups, pies and breads. Sounded delicious. Last night I figured I should probably start eating them and pulled one out to cook for dinner. After using two big, sturdy knives, a hammer and a screwdriver I had made a two inch hack line. I gave up. I decided I really didn't want to put this much effort into the remaining five squash down in my food storage so I put nice big bows on them so they'd look festive, taped on little anonymous notes, and Kourtney and I hauled them into the car. We dropped them off on the doorsteps of five neighbors around 9:00 pm. I chose friends who I thought could appreciate giant squash humor and who might have access to better tools. We didn't even ring the doorbell; I was taking no chances of rejection. Here they are in all their odd glory.

DT-R.I.P.

2009-03-02T15:25:00.000-08:00

I haven't been near BYU for a long time. Kev told me Deseret Towers, my old freshman dorms, were torn down about a year ago. Yesterday I saw it for myself. Sure enough, driving past the old DT field, I could look out and see--nothing. No high-rising, old brown dorms blocking my view. I could see straight across the street to Heritage Halls and the bell tower. It was so surreal; I had to have pictures. This was my old hall-U right behind these trees. It looks like some sort of a little memorial on the peaceful, grassy knoll--an homage to the 5th floor and all my favorite girls. No more cramped little cubicles with two roomates inside, no more floor-shared bathrooms. Just memories of Emily, my adorable roomate, cartwheeling down the hall while the boys were allowed to visit and having not only her shirt but also her bra fly up. Also of Emily freaking out because I hadn't come home yet at 3 am our second week of school and notifying our floor monitor Lori-who was waiting for me with the campus police. Emily always left me little cute notes and made me a "quillow" for Christmas, which I still have. Lori introduced us to Abba. Liza and Amy loved NKOTB and kept black bananas in their room, hoping to get the ambition to make banana bread. My girls Katie, Andrea, Eliza and Amy all roomed together after that until we got married, went on missions, etc.

We always invented our own food in the cafeteria because the entrees were often kinda yucky--carrot sticks and A-1 were not a bad combination. We always got ice cream at the Cougar Cove at nights--mint chocolate chip and cookie dough were my faves.

Now I kinda know how Kevin felt when we went to Disneyland and a big part of his mission area had been leveled to create the California Adventureland parking lot. Very surreal.

Ashley and Utah

2009-03-01T17:10:00.000-08:00

These pictures are so horrible, I almost hate posting them. The lighting is all wrong, I'm not a photographer and I have a pretty basic camera. It also didn't help at the time that Gracie was pulling on my arm and jumping around. They ended up looking like pictures I used to take of my friends with the little camera I earned out of a catalogue selling greeting cards and wrapping paper when I was in elementary school.

All excuses aside, however, Ashley's 4th grade class gave a cute little Utah program. They recited Utah history, named the counties, played songs on the recorder and square danced. Very cute!

Happy February to YOU!!

2009-02-26T17:05:00.000-08:00

In case I missed you personally, Happy February Birthday to each and every one of you. Our family has attempted to wish 7 lucky family members a happy birthday this month--starting with new baby Ethan on the 1st. Then there's Kenny, my Dad, Ashley, Brandon, Kevin's mom, Amber and my sister Kerry.

And they call it puppy love

2009-02-25T21:59:00.000-08:00

We are not getting a puppy :)

Grace has recently declared that Diego (cousin of Dora the Explorer) is her boyfriend. She loves to watch his show and tells us he's cute.
She has also noticed a certain young phantom boy from Nickelodeon called Danny Phantom. This is the best picture I could find. When he's not so angry and phantomy, this character also has dark hair and dark eyes.

Notice a theme here? There's one more little boy in Grace's collection of crushes. His name's Spencer and he's in her preschool class. He's got--you guessed it--dark hair, dark eyes and is a cute little outgoing guy. She asks me after nearly every class if we can invite Spencer over. (I don't know Spencer's mom, and I didn't want to be creepy and ask if I could take a picture of her child and post it on my blog because my daughter has a crush on him. She might think it's cute. She really might not). I'm thinking maybe we can take them to the park when it gets warmer.

Gracie gets a little giddy and giggly whenever we mention any of these boys. Who would have thought that at three, my baby would notice boys and have a definite "type." Tall (used loosely), dark and active.

Happy Birthday Ashley!

2009-02-20T15:10:00.001-08:00

Ashley is ten. She wasn't very happy I had my lithotrispy scheduled on the same day, but she managed to have a fun birthday anyway. She got a ripstick that Kourtney rides every day, a new Justice outfit, Webkins, a Hannah Montana cake, etc. We had a quiet little family birthday and promised to take her and a friend out to a movie next week. This is the off-year for parties (yay!)

Ash is our creative, dancing society girl. She makes friends with everyone, is a good friend to everyone and loves everything girly. She gives Gracie makeovers and embellishes every surface with pictures of flowers, high school musical and pink. We love Ashley and her ever-changing wardrobe ensembles and nail polishes. Happy Birthday, Ash!

Valentine

2009-02-20T14:30:00.000-08:00

Kevin knows how to treat his ladies. On Feb. 13 around 11:30 pm I heard him puttering around the kitchen. He was putting flowers in vases and arranging them on the counter.

Here is our candy-overloaded cake.

Ashley loves to get creative for every holiday and birthday. I plan to turn over all scrapbooking and blogging projects to her some day.

Skating weather

2009-02-20T14:12:00.001-08:00

Last week right after a snowstorm Grace decided to pull on pads, a helmet and roller skates. She headed out the door and went roller skating. This was her face when we told her nobody else wanted to roller skate in the snow with her and that she should come in.

It was just for show. Both Kourt and Ash went out for a minute. Then we gladly put the skates away until spring.

Between a Rock and a Stony Place

2009-02-11T15:09:00.000-08:00

I've been putting off having lithotripsy done on my three large clusters of kidney stones for about three years now. I've finally gotten brave and have decided it really needs to be done (especially if we're going to try to have one more baby before I'm too over the hill, etc.) Anyhoo, I finally worked up the nerve, called my doctor and I'm having the procedure this Tuesday--which also happens to be Ashley's birthday. Ashley is not happy with me, but that's the only available date for at least a couple of months. My doctor happens to be getting shoulder surgery in a couple of weeks, and Tuesday is the only date I could schedule my procedure before he's gone. Blech. SO--drink your fluids, friends; drink your fluids.

Ps. The lame girl with the lame smile on the table makes it all look rather glamorous. Don't be fooled. Besides, I'm fairly confident I won't be asked to wear a sports bra or get a tan for this.

Adventures of Henry Hippo

2009-02-06T13:23:00.000-08:00

Gracie got to bring home Henry Hippo from preschool for the week. The kids each get a turn to take Henry all around with them for a week, then take pictures and write about what they and Henry did together. Grace wanted Henry to do her new trick, back bends. Henry also got to visit baby Ethan with Aunt Kylene's help.

New baby Ethan

2009-02-06T13:12:00.001-08:00

Kirsten and Anthony had their baby Ethan on Sunday, Feb. 1. He's adorable--little soft dark hair. cute little lips. Grace wanted proof she was big enough to hold him, so Aunt Amber helped her.

The highlight of Sunday's hospital visit was of course the masks we found available to the general public placed around the main floor. Here are Uncle Amen, Grace and Kourtney modeling the latest in hospital-wear.

American Idol in SL

2009-01-28T13:42:00.000-08:00

HEY, THERE'S CHRIS!!

Most of you who follow American Idol have probably seen this pink bunny teaser for the Salt Lake auditions tonight. I paused this frame at the end of the show last night and took a picture--why, you might ask? Well, when you look at this you probably think to yourself, 'Hey, there's a giant pink bunny running to hug Simon!' Which the bunny does, rather tightly, I might add. I look at this picture and think, 'Hey, there's Chris!'

My cute nephew Chris is on the right side of the screen wearing the black tee. He's a great artist, and that's Simon's picture he drew on the front. Chris and his pink bunny friend Greg got some camera time backstage and in front of the judges. Our family is hoping to see him tonight during the SL auditions. Chris' charimsa, engaging personality and multi-talents should warrant a piece of the fifteen minute fame pie. So look closely at tonight's auditions for nephew Chris and his Energizer friend. Woot, woot, Chris!

Delicious

2009-01-26T18:09:00.001-08:00

This is my new favorite salad dressing, Lighthouse Spinach Salad dressing. It's so good, I plan to eat a spinach salad every day until I get sick of the dressing--or the spinach. I never plan to make homemade dressing for spinach salad ever again. It would also be great as a dipping sauce for chicken nuggets. Thought I'd share the love.

Some people's mothers

2009-01-22T19:16:00.000-08:00

THAT'S SO ASHLEY!

(This is the look Ashley wants for her room-except in aqua accents, not pink)
Ashley's chandelier

Last week we went to Ikea and started redoing Ashley's room. We pulled everything out and got her a new bed. We also bought her the beginnings of some new bedding and a chandelier she really wanted. When we got home I discovered the chandelier was going to be much too big for her room.

Most decor-conscious mothers, I'm sure would pack up the chandelier and try again. We, however, put it on up. It's directly over her bed, so nobody can bump into it until unless they try.

It's just so Ashley to have an oversized chandelier focal point in her room, and I must admit, it's growing on me. She wants to do a black, white and aqua room.Her new bedding is black and white. We're going to paint the room a super light aqua, do one wall of damask black and white wallpaper behind her bed and then do bright aqua accents. Once we get it done it will be really cute, and maybe the chandelier won't look quite so ginormous.

Aquarium

2009-01-20T17:58:00.001-08:00

The aquarium's always fun. We went today with cousins. Petting the stingrays, watching the little sharks zoom around their tank and getting creeped out by the octopus are generally the highlights.

Grace's favorite are the jellyfish because they glow pink and purple (I didn't tell her it was actually the background lights changing color, not the jellies).

WARNING: Graphic ... and ugly

2009-01-19T19:53:00.000-08:00

BRING ON THE UGLY!! My injured finger is healing fine but is now uglier than ever. The nail's been black since day one, and I accidentally discovered this weekend that the black part is soft and can peel off. There's a new nail underneath, but now I'm left with a thick, injured nail on top and a soft new nail underneath. I'm afraid to paint it and prematurely injure the new nail. So I am left with no other choice than to fly my ugly bird finger as best I can. Sad. Any suggestions?

The Little Naughty Sunbeam

2009-01-11T21:35:00.000-08:00

"Jesus wants me for a sunbeam"--?--I hope that still applies to Grace. She just turned three in September, and today was her first day in Sunbeams. She was pretty good--I lead the music in sharing time so I was there as a witness. She chatted loudly to everyone, gave big answers and sang I Love to See the Temple with zest--informing everyone that is her favorite song. So far, still cute.

She did not want to go with her teacher. Susan Burton goes above and beyond her teacher callings. I know she prepared for at least a week in advance. She had crowns, googly-eyed paper dolls with real lace bows that the kids made for themselves, personalized pictures of Jesus. I was in Young Women's with Susan, and she was frustrated if we ever changed the lesson schedule around because she already had her hand-outs done a month in advance. And she's a sweet grandma. Susan told me she came over twice yesterday to visit Grace, but we were gone both times.

She tried very hard with Grace--Grace wanted to have nothing to do with her--wild little pest! She actually made it through 2/3 of the class though, and then she was returned by a member of the primary presidency. Susan brought Grace her bag of adorable handouts and treasures after class. A minute later Kevin caught Grace throwing them on the floor and stomping on them.
:( So naughty--please don't tell Susan. I would be mortified. SO, we're gonna give it another run next week. Heaven help sweet Sister Burton and the sunbeams.

Highlights

2009-01-08T19:02:00.000-08:00

Some Holiday highlights include:

*Gingerbread houses
*Christmas cookies at Kenny and Amber's
*Santa

*Ashley's Nutcracker performance

*Kourtney's saxaphone concert

*Guitar Hero World Tour, Ipod Nano and Princess kitchen

*Rob and Jolene's wedding open house

Merry Christmas/Happy New Year

2009-01-08T18:14:00.000-08:00

I didn't realize I had zero posts for the entire month of December. I'm surprised I remembered my password. Anyhoo, I'm probably back. I ate my weight in chocolate and all things creamy. We had a fabulous Christmas--Kev's parents were in town. It's fun to celebrate with imported family in their own home--they bought a house here a couple of years ago. As for the rest of the holiday highlights:

Dec. 27--Kevin and I celebrated our 14th anniversary.
Dec. 30--Kevin's birthday.
Dec. 31--Year's Eve party/family b-day party for Kev.
Jan. 1--The girls and I went to Idaho on New Year's day for my nephew Rob's wedding and the Burtenshaw family Christmas party--all within 10 days.

So NOW we're home, and the HOLIDAYS ARE OFFICIALLY OVER, and I'm not even sure I knew at what point they'd begun. They were a good, family-filled blurr.

Of course there were a couple of horrific moments, such as Kevin had to speak on Christmas day(actually Kevin's was pretty nice), and I had to speak the next Sunday--just the stake presidency and me. Kevin and Grace were home w/a stomache virus. Best to block that one back out and move on.

Twi-light budget

2008-11-29T16:23:00.001-08:00

Loved getting together with the girls for the much-anticipated movie. If you tell anyone I went twice I will deny it--once with my bookclub girls. Connie arranged for us to drive up to Ogden and stay overnight in their condo. So much fun. Then again with the bunco girls and Amber. Amber snapped this, and I stole it just now from Kelly's blog.

The movie was fun. Way low budget--the vampires' necks were still pink. Finish your makeup, people!! Not a fan of the unnecessary obsession with trees or the monkey comments. Weird. I also thought they should have left Bella and her dad at home instead of eating out every meal in the diner. I thought that diverted from her character. And other things. A good first draft, but not Hollywood polished enough for all the hype. I heard on the radio the next one will start filming in March and that now they have enough money to actually go to Italy!!

Robert Pattinson, however, did a much better job than I had hoped. I think he could be an Edward. Kudos to Robert.

Oh, Christmas Tree!!

2008-11-29T15:57:00.001-08:00

Ashley, Grace and I put up our living room tree today. Kourtney refused to help on principle because she said it looks too much like a Utes tree. I told her it's the same tree we put up every year and she's never thrown a fit before. She said that was because BYU had won in the past few years, but now this tree is just too red and white for her taste. I said it's just Christmas--it's fun!! She said it's not Christmas yet--it's not even December. Almost December. Bah humbug to Kourtney.

It took a few hours to put up because I made a Black Friday run to Tai Pan with Amber yesterday. I had to regroup and rethink some of the decorations. But it is up, and as I sat back in the lovely glittery glow I felt like "all is calm, all is bright." (The flash lit the room up a bit too much for the right effect, sorry) That is, until I looked around at the rest of the house. Good grief!!

Merry Blog-mas

2008-11-28T09:13:00.000-08:00

Well, my blog is now all decorated and ready for Christmas--my house, however, is a bit of a disaster. Isn't virtual decor great?!!

Congratulations, Kerri and Brett

2008-11-28T08:59:00.000-08:00

We've been waiting two long years to officially welcome Isabelle Allison Reynolds into our family!!
Kevin's sister Kerri and her husband Brett took Izzie into their lives when she was six weeks old, and she was finally adopted and sealed this week. By the time we made it down to the atrium the kids were beyond ready to go home. These were the best candid shots I could manage, but they don't do justice to the beautiful sealing dresses. AND they leave out the rest of the family. I'll take them though and get more from Kev's family later.
Beautiful Izzie

Grouchy Izzie and Kerri

Sweet Izzie

2008-11-28T08:56:00.000-08:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
(Gracie's paperbag outfit from the preschool feast)

Tea Party Girls

2008-11-13T14:59:00.000-08:00

Here's to long, lost friends--the kind you had themed, dress-up tea parties with in high school (our senior year we came as our future selves) and swore you would never forget, no matter what people said. Well it's been fifteen years, and I admit I let my friends kinda slip away just a little--okay, completely. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

It took a bit of effort, and Carol had to drive all the way down from Idaho, but we finally got together. Holy blast from the past!! We were a bit on the quiet side at first, but then the old yearbooks and home movies (of Jeanette, Carol and Christina performing Grease) came out. The ice melted, we reminisced about "remember when" and "Ooh, he was so cuute!" and "whatever happened to"...

Christina had us all over to her new house she's only been living in for two weeks--one of which she spent on vacation. It was immaculate and decorated. Nobody was shocked :) Hooray! Some things never change.

I stole these great pictures from Chris's blog--she was the only one with a timer on her camera. I don't even know when or how this little beauty was taken, but it's great. That is a classic Christina grin, and I have got a fabulous fan of eyelashes, plus a shot up the nose going for me.

Happy Nov. 4

2008-11-04T11:26:00.000-08:00

Got my sticker. Went to the polls around 11:45, and luckily I beat the lunch crowd. Walked in, walked out, thanks to Charity. We did an election day kid-swap, and we were both done within an hour!

HALLOWEEN!!!

2008-10-31T19:12:00.000-07:00

Suzanne and I went to Ashley's school parade today and saw some of our neighbors dressed to the hilt--so much fun. Karen, Trista, Jessica and Heather looked great!! Heather Mecham was decked out all punk goth. She said it was her alter ego and that she was having a ton of fun. Ooo, alter ego--intriguing. For those of you who know me--or thought you did, I just had to try. So here are the before and afters!

Before--helped out at Ashely's school party;

After--went to the mall and asked the helpful, friendly pierced kids where I could buy faux body jewelry. They were super nice (btw, the answer is: you can just buy the real stuff and pull out the ball). Unfortunately, you can't even see the faux piercings in this photo unless you click on it. And you thought Halloween was all about the kids!

Well okay, here they are.

Grace is Snow White.

Ashley is a devil.

Kourtney is a vampire.

Happy Halloween!!!

Preschool parade

2008-10-31T19:07:00.001-07:00

The preschool parade, led my Miss Heidi as Dorothy.

WARNING: Highly Flammable

2008-10-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

The girls carved their pumpkins on Monday; they did a great job. As an after thought we added some spray paint I had lying around for special effect. Now their pumpkins look extra cool and are highly flammable. No candles inside for us this year. I was thinking I might string orange lights through the older girls' and through the basket they sit in front of, or else I can just put flashlights or those elecric tea lights in them.

Grace wanted to hold hers. It's a sparkly black kitty, and we just had to poke on the costume. That's my favorite way to carve a pumpkin. Ashley's is the black witch with gold sparkles, and Kourtney's is the pearly white pumpkin face.

A love for all time--KEVIN and MINDY

2008-10-14T21:07:00.000-07:00

Kevin and Mindy in 1994--the year they were married.
Kevin and Mindy in 1990.

Kevin and Mindy in 1984/1982.

Kevin and Mindy in 1978.

Kevin and Mindy in their afro stages in 1976.

Kevin and Mindy in 1964.

Kevin and Mindy in 1952.

No new skin off Grace's nose

2008-10-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

Holy cow, look at the improvement to Gracie's face after just one week! That's the miracle of Neosporine at work right there :) A doctor in our neighborhood once told me he's encountered two kinds of mothers in his years of practice. Mother 1. Rushes her child to the doctor for every tiny thing. Mother 2. Assumes all is well and believes that a little Neosporine will cure anything.

I must say, I'm a bit jealous of that beautiful baby skin. No way do I heal that quickly. I'm thinking there's definitely something to these human growth hormone treatments.

Anyway, we're just glad she's doing so great. Thanks for all your sweet notes and calls about her.

Just a few bumps and bruises

2008-09-29T14:21:00.000-07:00

Poor Gracie fell off the trampoline Saturday evening at her friend's house. She bit the cement in a sad little line up her cute face. So sad. Aside from two slightly scraped knuckles, there's no other injury on her. She took it all on her face!! She's doing great though--she's a good little trooper. She's pretty banged up, but she only injured her skin--which is healing nicely!

As an extra disaster sidenote, I got stung by a bee earlier at Kourtney's soccer game, and the girls shattered our rotating microwave plate all over the kitchen floor, all in less than 24 hours. Not my favorite weekend.

Hair, hair, it's everywhere!!

2008-09-23T18:59:00.001-07:00

The girls and I got new haircuts--our neighbor Jeanette did a beautiuful job, and I think everyone is happy with her new hairs. We figure between the four of us we cut off about three feet of hair. Big change!! Here we all are, lookin sassy!

Quirky

2008-09-12T21:11:00.001-07:00

The Rules: Link the person who TAGGED you. That would be Amber at http://www.kennyandamber.blogspot.com/
Mention rules on your blog.
Tell about six quirks of yours.
Tag six fellow bloggers to do the same.

1. I hate knuckle-popping.

2. I say I don't want food, and then I eat bites of yours.

3. I apparantly don't consider tuna to be seafood.

4. I file my nails really short, square and even--if one gets a little lower than the others, they all must be filed to match.

5. This is a repeat, but I HATE feet. Ooh, (add-on )I'm also a chapstick addict.

6. People tell me I walk really straight; I've never noticed, and I don't know how to fix it or how to teach you to instill it in your children.

My favorite stalker

2008-09-04T21:09:00.000-07:00

I just discovered I've been blog-stalked by my cute little bride friend, Christine, who found the slideshow about "Seven Brides"!! It's been so much fun catching up with her and finding out that she's still cute, but not so little anymore. When we did the play she was sixteen and silly and giggly. Now she's a law student at BYU and married. This is a pic of Christine and I at a Riverton parade. This is Christine with her new hubby--David Beck--looking grown-up and beautiful, but I'm sure she's still giggly and fun. Congrats, Christine!!

BLOG ISSUES

2008-09-04T14:20:00.000-07:00

This blog is temporarily under construction.

I'm not sure what the problem is, but I can't put a new, cute background on it.

I'll continue working on it, and keep you "posted." :0

Update: I thought I was going crazy because I've never had such issues with TCBOTB before, but I just went to the website and found this notice on the homepage:

"We're running some tests with a new server so please be aware that you may experience issues with the site such as:-problems logging in.-updated information not showing.-backgrounds not loading correctly.Thanks for your patience. Please try back tomorrow! No need to send an email regarding these issues as we are working on fixing them as soon as possible. :)

Thanks!
Ashley - TCBOTB"

These, by the way, are my exact issues, and I did send an email. SO, I'll try again tomorrow.

All About Grace

2008-09-04T13:56:00.001-07:00

Gracie's first day of preschool was Tuesday. She barely makes the cut--Sept. 1 is the cut-off date for the three-year old class, even though Grace looks like she's 4 1/2. She did pretty well. She'd had so much fun on her birthday that 9:00 a.m. class time came pretty early for her;(uh, me too--I had to call Suzanne to drive car pool for me) she was a little tired and nervous. She absolutely refused to wear the perfect first day of school outfit I'd laid out. The outfit she picked out, however, suited her. She looked like a bright little ray of sunshine with her "Smile" shirt and bright yellow shoes from Grandma and Grandpa.
I loved the project they did; that is in fact Gracie's signature at the bottom.
Right before bed on Tuesday night I snapped a pic of the perfect first day of school outfit, (it says "I got an A+ in school) and Grace was more than willing to lay next to it in jammies and smile away.

Grace is 3

2008-09-04T12:28:00.000-07:00

Grace's birthday was Mon, Sept. 1--Labor Day. She was thrilled. She's been anticipating her very own birthday since Christmas; we even had to put candles on our Easter cake and sing "Happy Easter to Grace."

Ashley started the big day at 7:45 a.m. with a treasure hunt and a makeover. She got Gracie dressed, did her hair in braid-buns and painted her nails. Here's Grace, happy to get $$ and a singing stuffed animal from Aunt Kerry.

She loved wearing her princess birthday hat and opening her Barbie Mariposa.
We had a birthday party at Grandma Knudsen's for everyone who'd had an August birthday, and Grace got her own mini Belle cake. She of course dressed for the occasion in her new Snow White dress-up and had her hair redone in curls.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACE!!

Kourtney out-takes

2008-08-25T10:48:00.000-07:00

Kourtney cracks me up. On occasion she does some really ridiculous things, and lucky for her, I have captured many of them on film. I thought I'd take a moment and give tribute to all the silly moments Kourtney has provided for us this summer.
Let's begin:

Two weeks ago Kourtney stuck her face in this chocolate cake.
A month or so ago she snipped off a segment of her eyebrow.
And of course, earlier this summer Kourt picked a giant tulip, snapped it in half and then stuck the stems up her nose.
Thank you, Kourtney; we look forward to more entertainment from you in the fall.

Another Week in Review

2008-08-25T10:28:00.001-07:00

Thanks for tuning in for another Knudsen weekly update.

Last Friday, Ashley and I went to the Activity Day's Mother/Daughter night. It was a great little spa-themed evening. We gave each other pedicures. I had to really pursuade Ashley to give me my pedi--apparantly I've passed on my foot-phobia. We also did hand massages and facials. Ashley and her friend Victoria.
Ashley and I covered in cucumbers.
The girls and I also went to Kev and Cecy's summer play at the Sandy amphitheater--South Pacific. It's become our annual tradition, and I really love taking the girls to see Kevin perform. They both gave a great performance. This is the second time I've seen Kevin play Emil de Becque. The music was gorgeous, and I must say Kev's French accent was very good.
Kourtney's first official day at South Jordan Middle School began this morning. Sigh.

STILL HERE!!

2008-08-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

I know I've fallen out of the blogger community this last month. Here's a quick recap:

Girls' Camp was so much fun. Our ward went to St. George the last week of July. Sounds crazy, huh? I posted the pics on our Young Women's blog. http://www.ywriver9.blogspot.com.

Ashley's first day of 4th grade was the same week as Camp. My mom was here helping the whole time. She was wonderful. She even cleaned out my basement.

The Burtenshaw family reunion. I didn't get any pictures, but Deb and Ashley did. They should post some on the family web site. The new babies were so cute, and it was great to see Tammie and Angela again.

The Brian Regan show. Trista, Heather, Cori (we miss you) and I went last Wednesday. I should have brought tissues. It was great. Thanks for letting me steal this pic, Trista.

Also I read the new Twilight book through twice. Oops, that'll cut into my blogging time. I had to read it once for the initial shock of things, and then once again to enjoy it with a new perspective--such a nerd, I know.

Don't know what went wrong

2008-07-27T21:13:00.000-07:00

Kev would like me to issue the following warning: I know most of you probably thought this day would never come, but Kevin is convinced the time is upon us. Now, you'll need to go get a handbasket, jump inside and strap yourselves down real tight. Kev's pretty certain you will soon be experiencing a scorching, downward plunge. I myself think Kevin is exaggerating and that everything will be fine.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, Kevin was just called into the Bishopric today, and he's more than a little nervous. His family came out in full support; it was very cool. Kevin's parents drove here from Oklahoma so his Dad could ordain him. Kevin wanted them all to sit in the very back so we wouldn't cause a big scene. I told him that was ridiculous.

Kev still can't figure out what he did wrong. He always sat in the back of Sunday school, never made eye contact, tried not to be too social--and now this.

I haven't seen him this nervous since March 12, 1996 around 4:30 am. when my water broke, signaling that Kourtney was about to be born. He was dazed and confused; he kept running around asking me what we were supposed to do. It was almost like that last Tuesday when we got called into the stake president's office.

Actually, during the stake presidency interview I was enjoying a pretty cavalier attitude about the whole thing (because I know Kevin--he may feel uncertain, but he's definitely going to rise to the challenge and be just fine) until Pres. Sohm suddenly turns to me and says something like, 'Now you know we consider the wives of our bishopric members just as much as we consider the husbands. You'll have to not only support Kevin, but also accept this calling just as much as he does.'

Huh? what? So what exactly has everyone in this room been saying for about the last ten minutes, cuz I don't think I was paying very close attention. Isn't there some sort of school for this? Is there at least like a book called "Bishropric Wives for Dummies Named Mindy"? Argh!--Move over people. There's gotta be room for at least one more in that handbasket!

Honestly, I think Kevin will be wonderful. He's patient, goes out of his way to help people, has a really big heart (etc.). He's pretty cool. I fell in love with him 13 years ago, and now more people will get a chance to get to know him. I'm so glad his family could come; even both his grandmas made it. It meant so much to him--and no, we didn't make them sit alone in the back (again, ridiculous). They sat right next to us, and we took up two whole "hey look, Kevin Knudsen is getting called into the bishopric today" rows.

My favorite brides

2008-07-27T20:39:00.000-07:00

On Friday the girls and I saw my friends Emily and Sean in Footloose at the Murray Amphitheater. They put on a great show! Emily was the lead; she has an amazing voice, and she put on a fabulous peroformance. Grace was kinda restless at the end so I only got to snap one quick picture of Emily. It definitely, however, brought back some fun memories.

My brother Kevin perfoms in musicals every summer--this Summer is South Pacific. One year I auditioned with him for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. It was a blast. Kevin and his very own wife Cecy were the leads, and I got to be a bride. The brides consisted of one other young married girl named Becca, five cute high school girls and me. Did I mention I was pushing thirty? We cartwheeled off boys' shoulders, did barrel roles and flew all over the stage for that performance. I was paired with a sixteen year old kid--he's in the orange on the slide show.

Those cute girls and I were inseparable all summer. We had slumber parties, stayed up all night fashioning eighties outfits to wear to practice one morning and had a great time. I still blog with Meredith and Becca. Hi, GIRLS, if you read this. I hope Emily has time to stop by and visit this summer, and Aubrey just became my Facebook friend. So this is for all my favorite brides!!