Blackburn6

Ahhhh....to be two again

2011-11-02T15:37:00.000-07:00

Just a random post about my wonderful little terror, who seems to think she runs the place. Let me list some of the reasons I love this child
She makes me thankful that I have cupboards to keep my containers in.

She teaches me that smiling makes everything better

That two is better than one or ummm, lets see.... or six like the number of suckers I found unwrapped, licked, and discarded all over the house.

Thank You, Penny, for driving me crazy so I could enjoy the sweetness that you bring everyday!

Happy 6 years!

2011-11-02T12:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday my Lily ladybug. She picked Famous Dave's for lunch and got this big bowl of ice cream.

Penny also likes ice cream!

Kate too!

Birthday breakfast. Pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes and sausage in the shape of an "L"

Her sisters gave her a kitty cat helmet!

to go with her new bike!!!

it's a ladybug if you were wondering. Kinda sloppy

She loved it! 6 years have been good to this fun and wonderful kid!

11 years and I finally got a real honeymoon

2011-01-23T14:29:00.000-08:00

So I married this wonderful man, and we didn't have much money or time so our "honeymoon" was spent in Vegas for a couple of days, two weeks after we got married. As it turned out I was also pregnant, 20, and tired. Vegas wasn't much fun. Move ahead 11 years, four children, graduate from college, and big move to Arizona and we are going to Disney World! Actually Ben had a conference for his work there and I must have learned from my mom to take advantage of someone else paying the bill. ( Our family vacations consisted of going around with my dad while he worked, we played).

Epcot was by far our favorite. They were having their annual culinary festival and lots of good food. Since I might never get to England I had to take a picture here.

I was still using these in college.

That massive tree at Animal Kingdom had carving all over it. This one was my favorite.

How many animals can you find?

A week later, we survived and were to go home to happy children and are ready for another 11 years.

Fun Summer Times

2011-01-16T16:33:00.000-08:00

Catching up on the time I have missed. I found these pictures from a community activity. They have International Peace Day where they have a parade, and activities, and paint murals. There are quite a bit of artists around and they always want to do things to include children so they had a day where families could come and help paint these boards to hang around the plaza. IT was like a 110 outside, but I guess after a few years you don't notice it anymore. We had a blast.

I added this one on accident, but it was really cute so I left it in.

Their masterpiece!

Christmas

2011-01-02T14:27:00.000-08:00

So it has only been 5 months but I figured I would try again. Hopefully this way stay my Sunday activity until I have caught up. Christmas was great. We stayed home and the big hit was the doll house. I even got cards out this year. If you keep up with facebook then you have seen those pictures. This last year was full of fun times and moments when I felt I would collapse under the stress and anxiety of everything. Good thing I love to laugh and had lots of hugs from wonderful little girls. The trip with Ben to Disney world was a breath of fresh air and I found I still like him. Here's to 2011 and another year for living and growing.

Thanks for the jammies Grandma Vicki

good times...goood times

2010-07-10T06:45:00.000-07:00

Daphne loved Mesa Falls

All my little chicks

Rexburg Splash Park

Cousins

Isaiah and Penelope

with that shirt on..we had to take this pic

We have been having a blast visiting family this summer. I have pictures from Colorado but I can't seem to get the computer to read the card so I have borrowed some pictures from Wendi's camera and have some pictures from out time in Idaho.

It's about time!

2010-06-13T18:02:00.000-07:00

Just the last few days she has decided that she wants to walk. She also climbs anything low enough to get on. We also learned not to leave little chairs by the couch. Yesterday we found her on the couch with the Wii remote waving it in the air.

Penny = 1 !

2010-06-06T16:42:00.000-07:00

My baby was one last Monday. We decided to have a party the Friday before so daddy could be there. The girls and I spent the day decorating and wrapping presents and making a cake. Buying gifts was easy.

Step one: go to garage
Step two: rummage through old toys and select a few
Step three: wash and sanitize
Step four: let girls wrap and present to baby who doesn't

care that her gifts just came from the garage!

regift

regift

regift

is it a regift?

One new toy!( I do have a heart)

Just so you know the cupcakes represent water

Don't you love our decor! Chelsea would be proud!

messy face! we had a great year and are so glad she decided to come down and join us!

Busy Bees

2010-05-15T21:13:00.000-07:00

This has been one of the busiest springs we have had. This last week we have had every evening filled. Monday=T Ball practice( yours truly is coach and I actually like it), Tuesday=TBall game, Wednesday=TBall practice, Thursday=Tots graduation for Lily and a grand finale to Daphne's outdoor adventure group, Friday= Carne Asada dinner at the park, and today I went with Kate Rose to Build A Bear with her Daisy Troop. It was my first full day without my Penny and some one on one time with Kate. We also topped of the trip with a lunch at Peter Piper Pizza.

Lauren, Kate, Lauren

Making sure her bear has just enough stuffin'

You can tell Lauren is very excited

Groomin' their bears. ( I gave them matchy-match hair)

Dressin them up

Meet Daisy Moore and Beary Kate
This is her troop and they sure did a great job because that was one busy store. Great day and all thanks to wonderful girls, parents, and troop leaders!

My little squash!

2010-05-13T15:31:00.000-07:00

So we just harvested our first zucchini and yellow squash. So of course I had to take pictures of my baby with them. She is so cute.

Look at those chompers!

Ocho de Mayo

2010-05-08T19:46:00.000-07:00

They decided to have Cinco De Mayo on Ocho instead. So my girls thought it would be fun to wear their dresses that Aunt Darby bought them in L.A. Down at the Plaza they have Folklorico dancing, food vendors and activities for the kids. Ben also wanted to take some pictures with his camera so he took them over to the Curley School for some shots in their dresses.

Lily just had surgery on her eyes so they are a bit red.

This is the Curley School. It is very pretty and fun to walk around.

Lily had to pose in her glasses.

This is a Tarantula Hawk. They are huge. They don't bother you but are a little unnerving to watch fly around.

Lucky Number Seven

2010-04-24T21:26:00.001-07:00

Isn't she the cutest seven year old you have ever seen? Well she is. And look at that beautiful cake that their dad told them it was decorated with playdough so Kate started to pull them off. My first attempt at fondant. It wasn't terribly hard to make, just tiring. It was a little too sweet but it looked cute for my first attempt.

For her birthday Ben took Kate and her friend Lauren to the Phoenix Zoo. They had a great time.

Kate got on the camel and quickly got off. Lauren was a natural. Must be from riding horses.

They came back sun kissed ( of course not burned because of course sun screen was remembered) and tired. They had a great time and even got to eat at Chili's. I stayed home with poor little sick Lily and Daphne got to go ice skating for the first time with her friend Seliah. She took lots of pictures but then accidentally erased them. She was bummed about that. I remember the thinking I couldn't love another kid after having one, because I had a whole lotta love for Daphne. Then they placed that Kate Rose in my arms and I realized it wasn't the same love, it was a completely different love for my second child. Good natured, quiet, and loving are the 3 perfect words for my Katie Roo.

Tea Parties and Spring Concerts

2010-04-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

Kate had her annual Girl Scout Tea Party. She and her fellow girl scouts made a lovely spread of PBJ and quesadillas with fruit and veggies on the side. They were able to invite two guests; mom and teddy bear. It was lots of fun and we even ate the food that had been touched by lots of little hands and survived.

They learned about different types of painting over this last month. So during the party we could meander around and view their art. Kate received 2ND place for her water color.

Last night was the Spring Concert. Kate's class sang "It's a Small World After All". Daphne sang "I've Got No Strings". Daphne also performed 3 song with the 4Th grade band. Here is Kate and Lauren after they finished . We loved their expressions so much us moms tried to imitate it.

I don't think it turned out as cute.

Since we don't get dolled up too much I need a picture of my cute little performers.

There is a time and season...

2010-04-14T16:34:00.000-07:00

When in our lives do we finally realize that what we really want is going to take time and effort then just getting it now and paying way more than we should. I bought Ben this beautiful Canon Rebel 12 mega pixel camera for his birthday. We have no debt except for our house and a student loan which will be paid off in August. We have a little savings but I felt that he deserved this camera because he works hard and has been talking about it for years. SO I did it. I actually totally surprised him and he loved it.
Now I am not sure who is the money obsessor in your family, but it's me in ours. I must have rubbed off on him because he suggested we wait a little while longer for this wonderful camera and he returned it and for half the price got a nice Canon point and shoot and a GPS unit for Geo Caching with the girls. We feel so good about it. We are actually really glad that we did this.
Our next dilemma was a car. We drive a 2001 Chevy Lumina and if you have lived by us in the last 5 years then you have seen this car. It seats six and we have been squeezing into it since last July since our 2 month old van was demolished. We went to buy another car and after a day of sitting in a dealership while some guy tried to convince me that he was doing his best to give me a "deal" even though his interest rate was higher than my preapproved one and he wanted me to pay 60 bucks more a month than I wanted. We walked away and do not want to do that again for a long time. My dilemma is do we continually sit on the edge where we have no debt, but a few things go wrong and I am right back into it. I want to get as far away from that line as I can. So we decided( well Ben is almost there) that if we put away that car payment for another year (sigh) and wait til next year we will have a lot to put down and have more pull at that dealership.
I just wrote a mouth full but I just want to remember this time where my view has shifted. I am learning what needs and wants are. I have gone almost a year with one car and have survived. I have received a lot of help and we have just had to suck it up and not travel a lot. It is a little easier here because it is a small town and there is nothing to do. I am grateful that I have a wonderful family and our focus is to do more things together. Which brings me to our pictures. We have joined the local community garden and I took some pics with our 2nd new camera. I thought they turned out pretty well and they girls love going and "helping". Our GPS as also been a hit except that Kate thinks dad bought it to find rattlesnakes ( not a good experience, lots of crying).

This is our plot

I had to throw in a cute picture of this girl. She just learned to clap!

Hillbilly Kateroo!

2010-03-24T15:56:00.000-07:00

I'm sure glad I stopped making them brush. Those teeth are gonna fall out anyway.

Isn't she adorable!

Roxaboxen

2010-03-13T17:25:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite childhood memories was helping to build a city out of mud in the backyard. My oldest brother started it and we came along and tried to help. We probably messed more up by helping but I thought it was the best thing ever created.
We have this lovely Palo Verde tree in the back corner of our house(Palo Verde are those green trees with lots of thorns and they blossom beautiful yellow flowers that make me sneeze) and since I have been in the back raking and cleaning to make a compost pile, my girls are out more and have taken over this back corner where the Palo Verde branches make a nice little secluded spot. They have cleaned up all the weeds and dead branches and created a playhouse. When I asked them what they were doing they told me they were making roxaboxen. If you aren't familiar with that book then go check it out at the library. For the past few days they walk in from school and walk straight out the back and I call them in to dinner. Isn't that how it is supposed to be?
Best thing I ever did was get rid of TV and get the girls bikes and gardening tools. I guess moving some where warm year around helps. I will have to post pictures but I needed to write it down so I would remember. Daphne and her friend are the original creators of this place but they did try to charge Kate money to come in. I found out because Kate was walking outside with two dollars and I asked what was going on. Daphne was told if she started charging an entrance fee then her dad was going to charge her rent. My poor Penny watches all this through the screen. It is so cute.
Today they had the annual Ajo Shindig at the park and they do a coyote call contest. I took Lily over to watch and asked if she wanted to do it and she actually said yes went up and did her best impression of a coyote into the microphone. It was adorable. She didn't win but received a little purple ceramic coyote that she will never put down again.

3 Months

2010-03-01T11:26:00.000-08:00

This is my goal dress. Cute, simple, and very nice for summer.( Well any time here cause it's always warm). I have til May 31st which is Penelope's 1st birthday. I am half way there from my post prego weight and making it public will hopefully give me that extra push to get there. Of course I am going to need new shoes, jewelry, hair cut, and to be taken out on a date by my husband to complete the outfit.

Spa Days

2010-03-01T11:16:00.000-08:00

Daphne is always finding wonderful new ways of playing with her sisters. Friday Daphne came home from school with a fever and we all know the second the Tylenol kicks in they feel better and need something to do. So Daphne and Kate decided to play spa. They set the whole room up including "background music" They also had a waiting room. I had my toenails done later. It is so much fun when they play and not make a big mess. They also ate their eye wear.

Biker Kate

2010-03-01T11:07:00.000-08:00

We have been working on this bike thing with Kate for a while. Ben took her out about a month ago and she was getting it but was too scared for him to let go. I tried once but it was hard for me to run next to her on the sidewalk so I gave up for a while. She was becoming frustrated because Daphne took over her bike the second we took off the training wheels since her other bike was stolen. So the other day I took her out in the street and started running behind her. It took me about 3 strides and she was off on her own and mission complete. She has told Daphne repeatedly that she is not to touch her bike anymore cause it's hers! Now Kate lives outside and always tries to sneak out without her helmet.

Valentines

2010-02-14T16:20:00.000-08:00

We have had a very nice Valentine's Day. It started when we received early Valentines from both grandmas. The girls enjoyed their socks and Lily decided that she needed to dress up like a fairy ballerina for her Tot's party.

Then late Friday night the FedEx guy shows up with these beautiful roses that one great husband/dad got for all his girls

Sunday morning I turned into super terrific mom and made pink heart shaped pancakes with whipped cream and raspberries. Kate is my only bright eyed bushy tailed one.

Finally I continued me super terrific momness by actually making their hair look pretty for church. Daphne insisted on having a flower in hers.

I really wanted a nice picture with all my girls with the beautiful flowers my husband gave us but....I settled for this. It was a great holiday.

P.S. My wonderful friend took Kate and Lily to a horseless rodeo on Saturday they won some ribbons in a few of the contest. For pictures of this go to my wonderfully friendly friend Dennis Moore Or mooreplease blog to see these cute pics!

8 Months already?????

2010-01-30T17:22:00.000-08:00

I don't know who this baby is but she is trying to grow up and doesn't realize I still want to snuggle her.

Lily actually insisted on being in this picture and was pushing Penny out of the way.

Tis the season to be jolly?

2009-12-20T00:19:00.000-08:00

So we made our 2ND annual Christmas shopping trip to the Valley of the Sun. It was a beautiful day in the 70's. I didn't have my camera so these are pictures I took with my phone. Not the best, but I am not complaining. The lights are always beautiful at The Mesa Temple and the girls love running like crazy and almost knocking over small children and those a little bit wobbly on their feet.

Lily refused to be in a picture ( her new thing now) I had one with me and the girls but it was so blurry I left it out. It was funny because I was holding Lily by the back of her coat as she tried to run away. The pictures are dark because my phone does not have a flash. (it's the thought that counts..right?)

Ben so graciously took the older girls to The Princess and the Frog while I did some last minute shopping child-free. After the long hour in WalMart Penny and I hung out in the car.

She really love the seat belt. I don't know why they say kids love bright colors because this one wants anything that is black or gray. Mostly if mom pulls it away she knows it must have tasted good or was fun to chew on.

I am sorry I kind of skipped all of November and I have lots of videos of Penny I need to stick on cause she doesn't seem to want to stop growing. I will try to work backwards for awhile until I felt that I have caught up. Between the girls getting sick and being sick this week, I have no energy for anything.

Ten Years have flown by

2009-11-11T06:57:00.000-08:00

As most of you who know us, we have been married for 10 year today. You also will know that I am not normal a emotional crying kind of person, but as I was scanning these pictures and as I am writing I can not believe how lucky I am that this man is still here. He has seen all my craziness and hasn't run for the hills. All I can say is I know God loves me and he shows that through this wonderful person everyday. I remember before I got married I heard a talk about how we should look at all the things that we like about people we date and find someone that has all those. I had me list and Ben had a good selection. What is amazing is as the years have gone by he has so many more that I didn't even think I wanted but have been wonderful. I am also not one for writing and since I have a four year old yelling and crying at me this will have to do. I know that I will be married for eternity and it is such a great comfort to me. Thanks Ben for the best ten years so far and maybe we'll get more sleep this next ten.

Neewollah Yppah!!!!

2009-10-31T20:27:00.000-07:00

Lily didn't want any pictures taken tonight so I added this from the other night.
I did the one with the stars. It took me way too long.

Bellatrix and Hermione. I guess Bellatrix lost her owl!

Hermione

last years costume + wings=cheap mom

1st Halloween and 5 months today!

Someone give that cutie a Scooby snack

Happy Birthdayweeen Lily!!!

2009-10-31T19:56:00.000-07:00

Those are Lily eyes

Kate is yelling at Lily. I love the eyes

My silly birthday girl!

I added these first bunch to my original post below.

on this night 4 years ago I sat on my rump and handing out candy. Later that evening I went to the hospital and gave birth the next morning. It was in the 80's today, but the wind and bees were a challenge.

I was only up til 2 am

We played monster eyeball on a spoon relay and make a mummy. Lily and I made her friend Alena a wonderful little mummy.

Vampires and monster cupcakes

Mummy Alena!

Mummy Lauren!!!!

Then we played run after all the toilet paper before it blew away.

I got it lit just long enough for her to blow it out!

As long as they are outta my hair!

2009-10-18T22:01:00.000-07:00

I guess since I really didn't have any idea that they had taken so many pictures and since it doesn't really matter when it's on a digital camera aannddd they weren't in my hair and I was getting stuff done these are great pictures!!!

Very artistic!

Ode to a fish!

I love those blue eyes

This one is interesting because her head is so close to the ceiling and they aren't supposed to be standing on this part of their bed. Their pictures turn out so much more candid then the ones I attempt to take. They are just having fun and aren't looking for a certain kind of shot. There were about 50 more pictures but you have to throw out the really blurred, pictures of soap, messy room or house, she had like 5 of her feet, and ones of nothing. They brightened my day when I discovered them! (but I won't tell them that.)

Super Duper Saturday!!!

2009-10-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

I took my lovely daughters up to Phoenix this weekend to spend "Girl Time". Ben was supposed to go, but he thought it was cooler to get sick and sleep all day. We stopped by this park so I could refill Penny and gave Daphne the camera to keep her busy and so she could keep an eye on her sisters. Here are her pictures.

I love 'em and I think she did a great job!

I love talking nonsense

2009-10-06T12:22:00.000-07:00

As you know I blog for family (as I am sure we all do) So I just post a video from time to time. THis one is a blabbermouth but I love her. Must have a little of her aunt( I am not naming names) in her.

My goofy girls are so camera shy

2009-09-22T17:48:00.000-07:00

They should really go to school, they have too much time on their hands when they are home all day.

Granny Penny!

You talk about Build a Bear We have build a baby!

My Smiley Penny!

2009-09-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

Happy.....

Happier!....

Happiest!!!!!

How can you have a bad day when there is a face like that around!

Video Cameras are great!

2009-09-03T12:29:00.001-07:00

My baby is three months! She is a rolling queen and I am posting videos since we have zero money to go anywhere.

Are you happy mother.

School Time!

2009-08-17T08:07:00.000-07:00

My cute and adorable school girls! I was so excited for school to start this year. The summer flew. My friend Trish loaned me her camera so I got these so I could post them. Kate actually told me she wanted to walk to her class by herself. Such a change from last year when I had to sneak out a half hour after school started. They grow up so fast. They both put their own outfits together.

IDAHO!!!!/ BIRTHDAY!!!!

2009-08-15T22:20:00.000-07:00

We have been back for almost a week from our trip to Idaho. It was great visiting with old friends and anyone we didn't get around to seeing we'll have to next time. We were lucky enough to have both families up there for the blessing of Penelope and also her cousin Isaiah. I have lots of pictures that other people have taken and hopefully I can post them in the next couple of days. I did finally get a updates family photo though I tried to hide as best I could behind my children. The weather was great and I missed it the second I stepped off the plane.
Daphne celebrated her 9th birthday today and we let her choose a restaurant to eat at. Luckily I convinced her that Famous Dave's was better than Chik fil A. Her present from us was a pair of Converse All Stars ( you can tell she is growing up) They are awesome and I would actually wear them. I left my camera in Idaho so I will post more pictures soon. We had a great day all crammed in our Lumina and probably won't do another family trip for a while.

A Tooth for a Tooth

2009-07-05T10:58:00.001-07:00

We were visiting our wonderful Grandma Harden who is famous for beating our children. As you can see Kate was especially naughty and granny checked her in the face. Of course she made up for it with a dollar from the Tooth Fairy. So all is well. Hopefully Lily keeps her nose clean because she is too young to lose teeth and Daphne has too many permanent teeth to lose again. Luckily since this event my children have been the most well behaved children and even Ben has been more helpful. Penelope at this time isn't afraid but give her a few months until those teeth come in.

Miss Penelope and the Doctor

2009-06-28T02:28:00.001-07:00

Since having Penelope I have begun to enjoy my late nights but I decided the scenery was getting a bit old so Friday night Penelope decided to switch things up and we spent our late night at Phoenix Children's Hospital. We also invited dad to go with us. Now Penelope is a healthy little girl who eats well, isn't too fussy and does her business properly but Friday she had a little blood in her diaper so we thought it best to go up and just make sure everything was OK since we live so far away. After spending a long evening and early morning in the ER we know that she is healthy and the blood isn't from me and there wasn't any indication of her having a fissure ( or tear) in her bowel. Her blood work came back fine also. She isn't in any discomfort so we are just in the wait and see mode. She has her one month appointment on Monday so hopefully whatever it is passes or we will probably go to a GI specialist in Phoenix for more tests.

They look so small in the hospital beds
I also learned that The Waffle House has pretty good waffles and that they taste even better at
3 AM

Just for my mom

2009-06-26T07:02:00.001-07:00

These pictures are for my mom so she can download them. Remember my camera stinks and she was not really listening to my directions. I put this one in sepia cause I like the look but the original is also there. I hope some of these work for you.

She Loves Me

2009-06-23T04:52:00.000-07:00

Penelope is so thoughtful. This morning she woke me up so that we could watch the sunrise. I can't believe I have been blessed with such a sweet girl. Now she wasn't quite sure of the time so every couple of hours( or half hours) she would check with me so I could tell her if it was time yet. Here is some picks of the sky just barely starting to lighten.

I know the pictures aren't the best but you can imagine how much I want to go retake them and go through this process again with a baby screaming( I mean expressing her individuality)

Sisterly Love

2009-06-14T06:44:00.000-07:00

There is no shortage of love in this house. I hope Penelope survives it all.

She's Here!

2009-06-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

The girls were a little sick

Home at last!

Everyone meet Penelope Anne Blackburn! She was born Sunday, May 31st at 5:33 AM. Ben did everything he could Saturday to put me in labor and I think the rocky road did it. I started having contractions 15 mins apart and called since we live 2 hours from the hospital and he told us to come in. I found out my water had been broken and was leaking so it was good we came in. Luckily my mom had been home about two hours from her trip to England and jumped in the car and was with me through the delivery and had to hurry back home for work and she was a little tired. I had a few complications but am fine and she is fine. The girls were really excited and hopefully all will adjust well to the change.

Rambling thoughts of a 38 week pregnant woman

2009-05-29T15:13:00.000-07:00

Time passes more quickly as we get older. It seems only 8 years and 10 1/2 months ago I was awaiting the birth of my eldest child. I am now with a week of having my fourth. As I mentioned in my last blog that I had my "To Do" list and was quite successful in getting about 75% of it accomplished and now have a short "What really needs to get done before this kid gets here" list almost done I am nesting quite nicely. Well I would be if that laundry would stop piling up and those darn dished would stop getting dirty.( I won't even get into the stinky hamster cage)

I did have the opportunity of taking my girls to my last appointment so that they could partake in the experience of hearing their baby sister's heartbeat. They smiled and seemed to enjoy it. I took the advice of my husband and brought a long a delightful babysitter known as Ellie to help herd the children from my appointment to Kate's eye doctor to getting the car fixed. She was my salvation well worth any amount of money even though she tried to turn me down. They were for the most part well behaved but it makes such a difference to have someone sit with them while you pay bills and talk about what's wrong with a car or getting checked by the doctor( very important not to let them stay for that).

I am not sitting with all eyes on me and hoping that I will soon pop. I am glad Ben is more anxious than I for her to arrive and I finally had a baby dream last night and it was nice( by the way she a good eater and I was so content with just that so I hope it is true). It will be nice to move on pass the phone calls that begin with "Are you in labor?" thanks for all those who had read this far I just needed to ramble because it's more fun than ironing or cleaning the bathrooms (both on my list) Hopefully I will not have time to ramble again before the baby comes.

My babies

Realization

2009-05-18T15:22:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday I received a wonderful surprised baby shower from the Young Women in my ward. It was wonderfully weird since I haven't had a baby shower since Daphne. It was fun and the cake was really cute. My friend Crystal decorated it( she also did Kate's). I didn't have very many flattering pictures, so I went with the least worst.

Aren't we adorable!

There is no dignity when you are pregnant

I also was thrown a shower by the lovely women that Ben works with. Another girl who works there and I are due about the same time. They had good food and I nice lady named Celia made this cake and frosted booties for me. The girl had a great time and Ben enjoyed running after them the whole time.
I went to the doctor today and am dilated to 3. I'm not too concerned about going into labor since with my last two I was a 4 for a couple of weeks. It is starting to sink in that we are really adding one more to this crazy bunch, I haven't even had any dreams or thought much about her, but she is coming. I just hope a name comes to us when we see her and all will fall in place. I didn't get my list done, but I am at peace with it an just want her here and to move on with life. I feel extremely blessed and thankful for this opportunity.

Curse Murphy's Law

2009-05-09T23:09:00.000-07:00

Those who have known us for a while we have had older, modest vehicles. Nothing fancy but we didn't mind because they were affordable and got us from here to there. Well our van's A/C went out for the third time and with the fourth child on the way we decided to find a new car. We did our research and stayed in a modest price range, but this was our first experience buying a car on our own and we wanted something nice. Well we found a 2006 Nissan Quest online, did full check of it and went in to drive it and liked it so we purchased it. I love just having something new (with A/C) and have been treating it very well. So of course when Ben went for a drive a dog had to run out in front of him. He tried to swerve, but got one of them.

Big Black Lab!

We have only had it a week!

If you notice the dusty imprint that he left you can kind of make out his back end and where his tail was. Ben drove around trying to find the dog but no luck.

Happy Hamster Happenings

2009-04-27T16:05:00.001-07:00

My Kate Rose is semi-attached to this Hamster. I'm pretty sure if we had little clothes they would be on this girl. They also like to push her in a stroller.

It has bit Daphne and Kate. Daphne cried, but I didn't know it bit Kate until she told me later. She loves it and it seems to tolerate Kate the most. I always feel like it is going to bite me each time I touch it.

2009-04-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

We are all grateful for the wonderful lasting memory our children have when they have a party with their friends. We try to forget all the planning and prep work not to mention everything you forgot or should have done differently once you get there, but we do it regardless. All those who know me know that I don't like to over do things but at the same time throw in a few cute things to make it cute.
Miss Kate Rose wanted a Jasmine party so I of course went to Disney printed up a free Jasmine greeting card which I left blank and wrote in the info myself. Then my other Jasmine was the cake. I have a wonderful friend Crystal who free handed the Jasmine and decorated it with 5 little kids watching( one was actually crying and hanging on her leg). Kate loved it and though I got to the park late and we didn't get the grill started as soon as planned I had a lot of help and group of very patient friends who just happened to be fun to sit around and talk to while we waited for those darn coals to warm up. (we also had a good breeze going which made for a lovely evening, just not great for coals)
All went well and we ended just as it was getting dark. I hope all those kids slept well after being loaded with sugar. I was exhausted, but again we come to the conclusion that it was worth it for the kids.
I'd also like to add a comment to my last post. That stinking little hamster bit me last night when I tried to get her out. I WAS BLEEDING! I won't be extracting it anymore. New job for dad.

Meet the new addition!

2009-04-24T11:23:00.000-07:00

I think pregnancy does crazy things to your mind and you have these moments when something seems like a wonderful idea and later you usually are freaking out cause you realize how much more it is going to cost in time, money, and fighting. Well meet Missy ( that is her name for the time being, this is the third name they came up with). She is a Russian Dwarf Hamster. My Katie Roo love anything fuzzy so for her birthday we are testing the waters with a pet. Daphne has been very generous to offer her time and room for the hamster. Usually it is us telling her that it is Kate's hamster and to let her take care of it more. Daphne is now going to earn money for her own. Ben suggested Daphne get a boy hamster then we would have plenty, but he also suggested a snake in addition and then we would have food for it. ( I don't think the girls appreciated his humor). Tonight we are having a party at the park with friends so we will have more pictures tomorrow. The cutest thing is when Lily holds her and squeals cause it tickles her hand.

2009-04-12T17:01:00.000-07:00

Easter! As you can see Ben loves decorating eggs more than the girls so I leave it to him. They were excited to find eggs this morning and Daphne was such a good big sister that she let Lily and Kate find more eggs. She probably regretted it a bit when she found out there was money in some and lily got the most money. I found them some cute summer dresses and I visited the little girl hair do blog to get some ideas for hair. ( we were only ten minutes late for church) We are looking forward to deviled eggs and ham and my favorite potato casserole. Hope everyone has a wonderful day. I love this holiday because it is simple and it fill me with gratitude for my Savior and his sacrifice for my family and myself. I hope I can always get that across to my girls so they can build their little testimonies.

Too much to do!!!!!!!

2009-04-08T19:07:00.000-07:00

Let me just start off by thanking my wonderful friend Mother Teresa. I call her mother because her knowledge is never-ending and because she is awesome just like the other with the same name (a saint). So I got this entertainment center in August (free). It sat in my hallway until October then it moved to my dining room until My saint called and said, "Let's do thing thing!" We sanded, stained, and polyurethaned it ( refer to the Willis Family bloggy blog for step by step photos and to see how lovely pregnancy looks on me) and today we moved it in. I am glad because it is one more thing to check off on my to do list before the baby comes. I will shortly post pictures of the two rooms I painted and have two more paintning jobs to get done. Why is it we get this way before a baby comes? Oh well. 2 months to go and then I can relax ( Ha Ha)

This one is for Aunt Krista

2009-03-21T07:49:00.001-07:00

We had a lovely 2 day visit to Idaho a few weeks ago and Aunt Krista gave the girls some very cute sweater vests to wear. When we got home I realized that I only had a little more time before the weather was too warm to wear them. So I dressed them up for church and made sure I took pictures so everyone could see how cute they were.

I made the mistake of taking their picture in the sun and poor Lily just couldn't open her eyes. So we moved to the shade for our last shot.

Friday the 13th- great day

2009-02-13T15:35:00.000-08:00

Today I planned on going to Phoenix and go to lunch and a movie with my friend Tricia. Her husband was going to stay with her kids but called into work in the early morning. so we decided to make the most of the day and took our little ones with us and at least have lunch. Well she has three who did well on the way and my one (Lily) screamed until Maricopa (about 70 mins from home).
We decided to stop and get a few things to help entertain and when I came out of the store Lily puked. It wasn't much and we just figured that it was car sickness from the curvy road we were on. So we cleaned her up and kept going. Now I have learned that the first puke was just beginning, because not ten minutes later, her whole hash brown, lemonade, and oatmeal was everywhere. On the plus side she was much more chipper afterwards.
Next stop was target where I spent a good fifteen minutes and half of Tricia's wipes cleaning her and her car seat up. Luckily I had brought extra underwear and another skirt but no shirt ( we are potty training). She refused to wear Evan shirt because it was a boy's shirt so we entered Target with no shirt and jacket buttoned all the way up.
The rest of the day went better except for the constant fear of another session of spew. Also finding a table near the edge of the food court and collecting four high chairs while each holding a child and bag and making sure the other two child are still near by should be an Olympic sport. We were rewarded for our efforts by having about a half hour in the car with all four napping.
I know I am not alone in these experiences, but it's always nice to read others and commiserate with our fellow mothers. I blame Friday the 13Th. It's the only sensible answer.

6th file 6th picture

2009-02-11T16:06:00.000-08:00

When I saw my tag on Gina's page I did a double take. This is a picture of Kate at the Hadren annual Thankmas. She is extremely cute and loves presents. At our own Christmas morning she was jumping up and down at the presents.

Not too exciting. Now I tag Becky, Denise, Lisa, Trish, Teresa, Candice. 6th file, 6th picture

2009-02-07T08:13:00.000-08:00

This is yesterday morning. Kate is avoiding my stare as I remind her to brush her teeth. Then I look down at her leg.

Do I sigh again, or laugh, crying seems like a good choice. At least I'll always know what belongs to her.

It's a good thing she's cute

2009-02-05T09:42:00.000-08:00

I am really glad Kate knows how to spell her name.

sigh............................

Do I Need to Repeat Myself?

2009-01-29T14:18:00.000-08:00

Didn't I just have this discussion? Like yesterday? Well I guess I wasn't clear. Today the girls stayed home with the sniffles, but of course within a few hours they are feeling great. Actually the day has been going pretty smooth and after a nice lunch I dosed off on the couch. ( first time I have done that) Well Kate and Lily come running out of the room and they had decorated each other with a green permanent marker. They also made sure to give each other a pedicure.

We did have a casualty...Daphne's Hannah Montana sheets

YEAH FOR MOTHERHOOD!!!!

A Proud Moment

2009-01-28T13:02:00.000-08:00

We have these dear children and we try to teach them and hope that they do well in school. Personally one of my favorite moments is when they learn to spell their names. The first time they do it you are overwhelmed that this tiny baby that came from your loins can now write and read their own name and your joy is full. Then you get into the car one day and you see this....

This is not the first time this has happened. The other time it was a portable DVD player and a safety pin. Needless to say she enjoys her name and has a bright future as a tagger. I'm glad that I could laugh this one off and no matter how many times I say " Kate, what's the only thing we write on?" it hasn't sunk in yet.

Surprise!!!

2009-01-22T07:20:00.000-08:00

Unless I had slipped you the news we are expecting again. Yesterday Ben and I went to the doctor and found out that we are going to be joined by a fourth girl! Yes... Poor Ben is outnumbered. I told him we could get him a boy dog. My only problem is trying to think of another name.
My morning sickness is pretty much over even though I am still taking my medicine. Daphne and Kate wanted a boy, but they are happy to welcome another sister. Lily was sure that it was a girl though she probably doesn't completely understand all of it. She does kiss and hug my belly.

It's over?

2008-12-26T08:07:00.000-08:00

I didn't think my kids were old enough for the early morning Christmas, before 5 am is not good. Gone are the good old days of me being so exited that I wake them up, but no this year Ben telling them to go back until after 6. They had fun and everything was greatly appreciated. Ben loved his Guitar Hero and played half the morning.

Daphne loved her MP3 player

Since we had such an early morning and lots of candy the inevitable passing out on the floor happened. Of course I'd rather have this reaction than the crying and fitting throwing from tiredness reaction that the other one had. The day was lovely and I really enjoyed just having our family here.

Christmas Eve

2008-12-26T07:09:00.000-08:00

I have come to the realization that my children get restless in a house all day especially on Christmas Eve with a mother who is trying to get everything done. We were going out that evening and Ben was keeping the girls busy while I got Daphne and myself ready. I was told I was in the room when Ben took these pictures but I didn't discover them until I was check the camera for pictures to blog. He claims he was just trying out the sports mode.

In Ajo every year they have Christmas Eve in the Plaza and since we decided to stay home this holiday (our very first without any extended family) we had to experience this town tradition. Also Daphne our cheerleader was marching with her squad in front of Santa's sleigh. So at dusk these fireworks go off (scared Kate and Lily too death) and Santa apears in the bell tower of this old school. Then he comes out and rides in his sleigh to the Plaza where the kids can sit on his lap.

Lily decided that she didn't want to wait in line for a goodie bag, so of course mom gets to hold her. It's fun struggling with a kid and your husbands first thought is to take a picture.

Christmas Lights

2008-12-17T11:03:00.000-08:00

We took a femily trip to town this past weekend to shop for Christmas. We decided it would be fun to see the lights around the temple while we were there. It wasn't Temple Square, but it was still beautiful. I especially like the palm tree lights. Of course we had our coats on because it was in the 50's. I think Kate was running around so much she took off her coat. It was a wonderful time.

We also stopped at a Bass Pro shop and the girls made reindeercandy canes. They lasted til the car and the girls ate them.

Lily's Party

2008-12-12T09:03:00.000-08:00

Lily went to her first party by herself. It was her friend Jillian's 3rd birthday. She loved decorating her cookies except icing them. Her icing job was not meeting her level of excellence so I was told to do it. After that she painstakingly places each flavor of chip on top then proceeded to dump skittles and sprinkles over the rest. Every child there seemed to be sampling the various icing by sucking on the same knives, but luckily we avoided any major sickness. After returning home she ate half the sprinkles, picked off random chocolate chips then kindly shared the remains with her sisters. If Ben had seen all this I think he might have been sick. I found it all funny and glad I could witness all of it.

I'm Bored

2008-12-08T09:08:00.000-08:00

It's December and I really don't have much to blog for a while so I am posting this collage my sister made from the pictures she took at Ben's sister's wedding. The wedding photographers are so busy taking pictures of the bride and groom they forget all the really cute nieces and nephew.

We are all enlisted til the conflict is over

2008-11-09T09:29:00.000-08:00

As most of you are aware I live in Az, but originate from Ca. I still have a lot of family there and was kept up to speed with Prop 8. Arizona decided to pass their own amendment before the judges overturned the existing law. Sadly we haven't received the same backlash that Ca has. My sister lives just a stones throw from the LA Temple. She went down to where they were protesting and took these pictures.

Ben as been telling me about the the bad things that are being said about the church and while it is sad to see one group that makes up a very small percentage of the voters being singled out and picked on. It also is a testimony builder to see that Satan is out there and contorting everything pure and sacred so that it no long is to main stream. Well that is it for me. Just felt like blogging about it. It just reminds me to do those simple but important things everyday to keep myself and my family safe.

Happy Birthday Lily

2008-11-03T08:59:00.001-08:00

So I learned that you should add your pictures in the opposite order that you want them to display. My baby is 3! She had a fun birthday and got lots of toys that her sisters immediately took. Kate's reasoning for taking her mermaid was because she never got one for her birthday. She loves this ballerina outfit and the new dress up shoes. When she opened them she exclaimed "Oh my gosh!". Instead of a cake we did cupcakes and put a Dora candle on one. It think she liked the frosting off of three of them. Thanks to Halloween and a birthday next to each other we are extremely over sugared here.

Too much frosting!

She wants dad to stop taking her picture.

Halloween

2008-11-03T08:39:00.000-08:00

So this year I decided I wasn't paying 15 dollars per outfit and that wew were just going to make due with what we have. I did buy a 5 dollar Hanna Montana wig for Daphne, but unfortunetly she took off early to do makeup and nails with friends and I didn't get a picture of her. By the time she got home she looked like Hanna strung out on drugs. So I convinced Kate and Lily that ballerinas were great and I had the stuff. It also helped that Kate's friend Lauren was also going to be a ballerina. I just told Daphne to talk it up so they wouldn't change their minds.

This is our scary monster LILIZILLA. Kate gave her a cupcake with black frosting. I think she resembles her grandpa Harden a bit. I love this picture.

Our Little Cheerleader

2008-10-18T18:40:00.000-07:00

I gave Daphne the option of soccer or cheerleading. I still love her though she chose the later. She is having a lot of fun and since the high school doesn't have cheerleading these girls get a lot of attention. What I love about Daphne is she likes to perform and the smile she gets when you give her thumbs up after the performance makes the time and money worth it. She has great coaches and lots of girls her age. Kate wasn't quite up to joining, maybe next year.

I am not a good video taper. Daphne is the one in the upper right corner. My camera is also my recorder so it isn't perfect. Enjoy

Eggciting Morning

2008-10-09T11:04:00.001-07:00

Daphne asked if she could make eggs this morning. She has already mastered grilled cheese so I supervised her egg making. She did a great job and even added garlic salt and cheese. They tasted great and even Kate had some. And I know my stove is avocado green. We love retro.

My girls love weddings

2008-09-26T15:37:00.000-07:00

Could not drag them off the dance floor

We love Aunt Darby
My self portrait

Daphne loves Berlyn!

Finally grew up
My girls did not catch the bouquet

So last weekend we attended my cousin Donavon's wedding. It was a great time and I saw a lot pof old friends. It felt like a giant stake dance reunion. My girls had a blast especially hanging with all my cousins and wearing their pretty dresses. They are so girly sometimes.

1st day of school

2008-09-17T10:06:00.000-07:00

So here are first day pictures. Daphne was really excited, but Kate clung to me. I walked them in and walked around kate's class talking up everything about the room, but she wasn't buying it. I stayed for about a half hour and while the teacher took them out on a tour of the playground I slipped away. After school Kate was like, "MOm did you sneak away when I went to the playground?" She had a good day and I only had to leave her once in the classroom screaming.

Daphne's Baptism

2008-08-30T16:13:00.000-07:00

Daphne was baptised August 16th. It was a wonderful day and we had a great turn out family wise. They were brave enough to suffer through Arizona monsoon season. We actually had fairly cool weather and enjoyed the pool. Daphne had a wonderful few days and we don't expect to see any of those realtives anytime soon. They learned.

2008-01-29T09:51:00.000-08:00

Well this is my first blog. It seems like the new thing to do and I don't want to be left out so here we go. I mostly stay home and babysit and all that is fine. Thankfully I do appreciate the fact that I can go outside in winter here and we go to the park. Christmas was great and Idaho had wonderful snow that I don't really miss, but we had a good time. Here are our Christmas pictures.