Flashback Friday

My grandpa passed away almost 2 years ago and it was his birthday a few days ago. We sure do miss him!!

Kendall was lucky enough to go fishing with my grandpa twice--this was the only time we got pictures though.

My grandpa had a small boat and took Jon and Kendall out with him. They had a great time!! My grandpa loved to fish any time of the year, but this was in July of 2005--a few days before Kendall turned 7 . Grandpa even gutted the fish right there and you can see how much Kendall enjoyed that. :)

Kristen's 11th Birthday!!!

Kristen celebrated her 11th birthday last Friday (March 18). I cannot believe how quickly time goes by. It blows my mind daily. :)

She got a new spring outfit to wear and then we weren't able to celebrate any more until Jon got home from work--around 5:30 pm. We had the dinner of her choosing (cheesy potato soup, salad, and french bread) and then her best friend, Hannah, came over to help open gifts and have cake and ice cream.

I had a SUPER busy day, with teacher appreciation week wrapping up and everything else going on. She wanted a hamster cake, in honor of her pet, Maizie (or Mayzie--I forget how to spell it). It was literally a beast to make!! I did homemade frosting and it went on great at first, but then it got really goopy and melty and just wouldn't work. The face kept sliding off and I redid it 4 times before we finally declared it good enough. It's "eating" a "sunflower seed." It was good (triple chocolate cake mix with vanilla frosting). She got some fun things and was very excited. But...as I predicted...Jenna took one look at some of her stuff and ran off in tears because she wanted to have those things. We did the traditional clue in the balloon game. I write silly clues and put them in a balloon with numbers on it. Then she popped the balloons in numerical order and went on a hunt to find her gifts. It was hilarious--she would read a clue and then she and Hannah would run off to find the gift with Jarren closely behind and Jenna tagging along saying, "Wait for me!!" every single time. :)HAPPY 11th KRISTEN!!!!

Flashback Friday

Jenna LOVES anything sweet!!! It's kind of funny, because when I was pregnant with her, all I could hold down for months was old-fashioned (Hostess) donuts and fresh pineapple (yes, I had major canker sores in my mouth from that). And then in my last trimester, I had the biggest craving for sweets EVER!! Don't get me wrong, I have a major sweet tooth, but I haven't ever before or since craved sweets like I did then. It was insane! I'm guessing she was the cause of that. :)
In this picture, we were having some chocolate pudding, I believe. It was taken in July of '07, so she was about 14 months old. But you can see just how much she enjoyed (and still does enjoy) sweets.

A Favorite Author

One of my all-time favorite YA authors is Janette Rallison. Her books are kind of like a teen romantic comedy. I always say, "I would have LOVE this book when I was a teen," but the fact is, I love them as a 30-something year old as well. They are clean, FUNNY, and just plain cute.

Anyhoo--she is hosting a giveaway on her blog everyday for the next few weeks in preparation for the release of her newest book, "My Unfair Godmother." If you'd like a chance to win a cute book, stop by her site and enter. :)

http://janette-rallison.blogspot.com/2011/03/book-day-give-away-ex-boyfriend-twitter.html

Flashback Friday

Jarren was two in this picture. We found this book at the library called "Huggly Gets Dressed" by Tedd Arnold. It's about this monster (Huggly) who lives under a boy's bed. He's curious about all the things on the floor and what to do with them, so he starts to put them on. Pants on his arms, a shirt on his legs, socks on his hands, and underwear on his head. The boy's mom comes in, so Huggly has to hurriedly throw the clothes off to dive under the bed and they somehow end up on the boy in the same way that Huggly was wearing them. My kids thought this book was hilarious, especially the underwear on the head. Here's Jarren, dressing up like Huggly, with a pair of Kristen's princess underwear. S, hince he wasn't potty trained yet, he had none of his own. :)

Flashback Friday

Kristen was about 3 in this picture. She has always loved dancing and to dress up in dance clothes. She would always make up the silliest dances--usually involving a lot of jumps and spins. She loved to wear slips, especially if they were really twirly. My mom made her a couple to play in and she loved to wear my little sister's old tutu on top of them. We got this fun ribbon stick from somewhere and she loved to flip that around in her dances. She is still quite the dancer. :)

Update on Us

I was going to do a Monday Musing post, but got a little busy yesterday and it didn't happen. So...I'll just do an update on us.

Kendall--he is almost halfway done with his last semester of 7th grade! All year, his biggest challenge in school was Pre-Algebra. But this semester?? It's science. He's thinking of becoming a marine biologist or oceanographer when he grows up, but...he HATES science. They're studying chemistry stuff right now, so hopefully he'll enjoy the biology part of it. His teacher is very, very tough. He had all the work done, but turned his folder in one day late and she wouldn't accept it. She only accepts them once a week and if you miss out, too bad. You get a big, fat "F"--half credit. So he's not doing too well in there right now....

Kristen--she decided about 3 weeks ago to become a vegetarian and she has stuck to it so far!! She joked about becoming vegan, but I didn't think it was funny. The difference? Vegan's won't eat ANYTHING that comes from an animal--eggs, milk, etc. She's an animal lover and said that every time we have meat, she thinks about the poor little animal and it makes her sick to eat it. So she won't. It's tricky, trying to cook to everyone's desires. No meat for Kristen, no cheese for Jarren, etc.

Jarren--this cute boy goes through major obsessions. He was totally into Star Wars, then Indiana (Jiniana) Jones, then Mario. Now? The Titanic. We got a bunch of books and documentaries for him and he's very, very obsessed with it. He was watching a documentary last weekend and had to keep running up to his room to build a Lego Titanic.

Jenna--she hasn't been going to bed very well. She sits up reading in her bed for a long time. Not just looking at the pictures, but reading. I guess she's my daughter. :) I could read the night away too. She like preschool, but she often cries about not wanting to go because she wants to go to "real" school.

Jon--he's been keeping very busy with work and 11 year old scouts. He and Kendall have also gone on outings almost every weekend--long hikes, bird watching, etc.

Me--I FINALLY got released from Ward Activities Chair and was put in as Visiting Teaching Coordinator. I think it will be a fun "job."

Toby--he FINALLY got a haircut--5 1/2 months worth of fur. I can't decide if he likes being long and shaggy or not. He definitely follows me around even more than usual, trying to soak up my body heat. He just turned "8" last week. Or 56 in dog years. :)