CONFERENCE WEEKEND

Conference weekend started with Jeremy going to the priesthood session and the kids and I headed over to Jeremy's sister's house for some fun. Here is a picture of the crafts the kids made. They had sooo much fun making them and it went really well given we had 9 kids trying to do them. The kids started either making the craft or making homemade pizzas, then they would switch on and off. Allie didn't enjoy the messiness of the pizza dough and was wondering why it was so sticky. See we actually had them roll their dough out and put all the toppings on themselves. I really wish I would have taken a picture. The kids were quite impressed that the pizzas tasted so good. Allie says" wow these are really pretty good. I don't usually like homemade stuff". Boy take about throwing mommy under the bus.

lights on lights off

After all the kids made their craft and ate their pizza they all went outside to play. Two of Jeremy's sisters and I made about 5 dozen cinnamon rolls. Then we all headed home. Thanks Kim for letting us use your house it was super fun.

Sunday started by Allie and I sleeping in till 9. Just in time to pop in the yummy cinnamon rolls and watch conference. We promised the kids if they could be quiet during conference, so we could not only watch it but be able to hear it, we would let them go fly their kites before the next session came on. They did it and what a perfect day for them to do so, it was super windy.

Overall, it was a great family weekend. The kids actually sat and listened for about 20 minutes which is double from last conference. If you do the math by the time they are about 16 maybe they will be able to sit and watch a whole session. Just kidding.

Hive Achiever goes to...

Allie was chosen as the hive achiever for the month of September in her class. This months theme was Be Respectful. We are very proud of her and that she is such a good example to her classmates. I had one of those mom moments on Friday. I knew a week before she got the award , because I am in charge of making the awards up for the PTO, but I kept it a surprise for her. This was a tough week for her at school because she is feeling out of place and lonely having to have a cast on her foot. So when she came around the corner on Friday to the principals office to get her award she just had this smile on her face and it brought tears to my eyes. I actually started crying. Boy I had to dry those tears up right away. WAY TO GO ALLIE GIRL KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!

Playing catch up

So here are some post that I have been meaning to post but haven't. Our life has been pretty hectic lately. I know like who's hasn't. Here are some of the details.

Jeremy quit his job back in April but luckily it only took 9 weeks to find a new job (trying to see the positive in this decision)

Allie has lost 3 teeth so now we are at 5 total.

I lost all but 2 of my daycare kids for a month or so and now have 5, still looking for more..

Brody still loves fishing. He and my dad are planning a boys trip to Roosevelt lake for a couple of days over fall break to try and catch some more fish.

We had to end up short selling our house and now are in a rental house that we really like. This was a very hard decision. We are trying to get ourselves out of this dark hole we are in.

Brody is in 2nd grade and Allie is in first. The both still cry at least once a week that they hate school and want to stay at home with mom.

Jeremy is still the Elders Quorum secretary and I the 8 year old primary teacher and on the enrichment committee.

Brody turns 8 this year and is super excited about getting baptized.

Im May Jeremy and I celebrated our 11 year wedding anniversary.

So now I think I am updated I will try and be better about doing this. My only free time is when my little ones are taking a nap and that is usually my time to pick up and rest.

Ohh no not another Kelly in the world...

Pink cast and purple toe nail polish. Gotta love it

Yes oh Yes. I was about this same age when I broke my first bone. I have not kept count of how many bones and/or times I have broken and rebroke these bones. Well Allie fell off the monkey bars last Thursday at school. She says she started crying and her friend went and told

the lunch aide who wold her friend to go play. So Allie walked back to class and a couple hours later told the teacher her leg hurt. Yeah you think so silly girl. We are assuming she hurt it about 10:45ish I was called shortly after 1pm. Well 5 yes 5 days later she has a cast on it. The result is an injured growth plate. They are hoping that after having the cast on for 4 weeks that the growth plate would have healed enough that she won't need surgery or another cast. So we will see. Allie was wanting a cast sooooo bad. Once she got it on she asks the dr if he could take it off now. It is to hot and to heavy she says. He asked her I thought you wanted a cast and she says I did but now I take back my words. Oh well in 4 weeks Allie girl it will come off.

Stickers really do stick. Gotta love TV

So here is Allie trying out her new snack. The commercial shows kids putting these on their face
so of course one of my children would have to try it out.

Knott's Berry Farm pt 2

For the next 3 days we were at the park. That was the best part. Allie had no fear what so ever. She was so brave to go on everything. Brody on the other hand well, you know. You can never have all of the kids ready to go at the same time. They both loved the swings and after coaxing Brody a couple of times we got them to go on just about everything. Allie would have to go on most of the roller coaster with Jeremy or I first then he would go on. Overall it was a great bonding trip. Allie still writes about it in her journals and writes thank you notes to me her on a trip on her b-day.

Not my best picture by a long shot I just love B's smile in this one.

~ Happy 6th B-day Allie~

For Allie's birthday we decided to go to Knotts Berry Farm and the beach. This was the first year we did something as a family instead of a party. It was such a blast. This post will be about the hotel and the beach. After the long drive to the California the kids just wanted to go get their swim suits on and hit the beach. Well the room was not available when we arrived. They say the had such a full house last night the maids were having a hard time getting the rooms ready for the next guests. Jeremy was telling the hostess lady that it was Allies' 6th birthday. Then Allie started talking with the lady. While we were waiting the lady had the restaurant come and bring Allie a special dessert for her b-day. Then we all sang to her. This is the dessert. The picture really does not do justice, it was super cute.

Then it was off to the beach. The kids loved the water even though it was pretty cold. They really did not care a bit. Yes Jeremy and I even went in and had a blast. Brody did ask "Who and why would anyone put that much salt in the water" We just left subject alone. Here are a couple pics of the kids. Brody loved finding seaweed. This was a pic of this huge one that kept following him around. We did also see 2 dead baby seals. Brody was more interested in how it died and it we think a shark got them. BOYS...

After we got back from the beach we were going to try and hit the park for awhile before it closed. And look who we meet in the lobby. SNOOPY!!

All caught up

This is my 9th posting for today, but I am now all caught up. Life has been pretty hectic for the last couple of months. Just to catch you up, Jeremy broke his leg and at almost 2 weeks out he is doing pretty good. I keep telling him he needs to start trying to walk with the walking boot so his hands don't hurt so much from the crutches. I have broken and re-broken my little toe, dumb thing.
Jeremy's job is pretty stable and I am still watching kids, though that has died down some.
One more day of spring break and the kids go back to school on Monday, yeah!! It is amazing how once kids go to school how quickly they get bored being at home.
OUR SPRING BREAK: Monday and Tuesday we pretty much were locked in the house, too many kids to take anywhere. Wednesday we met my parents up at Costco and they asked if the kids could sleep over and go fishing on Thursday(today). So today I steam cleaned the family room and am trying to get the house organized. Friday (tomorrow) Brody, not for sure on Allie, will be heading out fishing again with my dad.
Jeremy and I have been able to use his b-day gift cards from my parents to go out to eat without kids, NICE.
Now I can sit back and mark one more item off my to do list. I am hoping one day that list will disappear from my brain.

Brodys new FAVORITE thing to do.... FISHING

Yuck. That's all I can say about those slimy things. Brody and my dad have been going out a couple times a month to some local lakes that the city stocks with fish. The first 2 times they stayed out there for about4 hours with no luck. Today my mom (the good luck charm) and Allie went with the boys. And guess what... Brody caught his first fish. He was so excited that he called me on my dads cell phone to tell me the good news. He is quite the fisherman. The got to talk to the people stocking the lake and they said the just put a couple hundred catfish and tomorrow morning will be the best time to catch them. I guess I will have a willing boy ready for bed tonight so first thing in the morning he, grandpa and grandma are going fishing again. Allie has yet to decide if she wants to go again, she says it is pretty boring. Allie did enjoy pulling the worms apart to make them smaller for the boy's bait. Here are some pics from today.

just starting out the day

caught it all by himself

Look at that smile. Mission accomplished

Learning how to clean the fish

Allie taking a try. She got a couple of nibbles but no fish.

Ostrich Carnival

For the last couple of years my parents have had the kids sleep over and in the morning go to the Ostrich Carnival. This year was no different. Here are some pics from their fun filled day
The kids started out on some easy rides. The slide was their favorite.


Then came the Ferris wheel, which Allie decided was more fun when it was rocking. PaPa didn't quite agree on the rocking. Next Brody spun his sister as fast as he could.
This year Allie was finally tall enough to go on some bigger rides. They loved this one so much, only MaMa would only allow them one time. Much more scarier for the adult sitting on the sidelines.


Look who the kids found....SPONGEBOB
THANKS GRANDMA AND GRANDPA FOR ANOTHER WONDERFUL DAY!!!

Loving the Weather

This time of year is about the only reason I see to live in Arizona. The cool 70-80 degrees make for nice trips to the park. My kids love exploring new neighborhoods and finding new parks to play at. This was a really cool park. They have some web looking climbing thing that Brody loved to climb on. Of course we have to play some baseball with the kids. I really need to get Brody into baseball the kid hits about 8 out of 10 balls thrown to him. The kids then decided it was time to wrestle some with dad. I can't say Jeremy loves it but this is the funniest thing to watch and the kids love it so much. We are planning many more trips before the dreaded 90's and 100 degree weather starts rolling our way.

Pics of loving the weather

I would like to take a moment and

tell everyone how wonderful my parents have been. They have been there for us SO many times. I want them to know how much we love them and how grateful we are to them. My kids can't even go a week without seeing them. We try and get together once during the week for dinner and 9 times out of 10 the kids will be over there during the weekend. Brody even calls my mom to tell her to ask me to stop being mean to him. The kids will pick the phone up at random times and call to tell their MaMa and PaPa that they love them. I never had grandparents around me growing up and seeing the joy that my kids have with theirs I am so jealous. My dad has started to take Brody fishing a couple times a month and Brody has enjoyed every minute of it. When I started investigating the church my parents stood by me the whole time and never once judge me. When Brody was in soccer my parents never once missed one of his games. They come to every birthday party and my mom has been by my side during all the kids surgeries from tubes to tonsils.

Thanks again mom and dad, I couldn't have picked two better grandparents for my kids to be raised with. We ALL love you soooo much.

Brody's class field trip

Thanks again to my oh so wonderful mom who was one of the volunteers to go on the field trip. I know one of these days I will just have to tell my daycare families that I have to take a day off for MY kiddos. Anyways, Brody had an awesome time at the zoo. He and another boy were the "official" tour guides. The lead all the girls ALL around the zoo. The cool t-shirts that all the kids have on were made in science class. The used sharpie markers and alcohol, just in case you ever wanted to try. I asked Brody if grandma behaved herself and he said she was kind of bossy. Coming to find out the boys got so tired out that by the end they were dragging pretty far behind the rest of the group. What can you say it was perfect weather and they walked for 3 hours.

I just love this face.

Brody and Kacey

Brody and his group

The hundred plus year old turtle

Not invited, Who cares...

Brody has been invited to birthday parties left and right lately so poor Allie feels left out. When one of the parties was at Chuck E Cheese I told her I would let her come along and we would just hang out together until Brody was done with his party. I got us some pizza and tokens and here is Allies favorite ride..

Yes she loved the Chuck E Cheese ride. I kept telling her she was a little to big to ride on it and she insisted that I let her. She loved posing waiting for the machine to take her picture. I had so much fun laughing watching her.

A little work never hurt anyone right?...

The kids spent the night at my parents a couple weeks ago and were so happy to some yard work with PaPa. He is way much nicer than I am to let the kids use the hedge trimmer. The had a blast with the leaf blower. And for all of their hard work the each got $5 and were treated to some ice cream at Dairy Queen. This has my mind thinking about some chores my kids can start doing around my house now. Only I have a feeling it wouldn't be much fun having it as a chore. We'll see..

Allie at the Dairy Farm

Allie's class had a field trip to a local dairy farm in town. Allie was so excited to go plus Grandma was going with her. She lucked out and had two of her best friends in her group. Allie says her favorite parts were the bus ride, feeding the goats and holding the chickens. Thanks grandma for volunteering to go with her. Here are a couple of pics from the day.

New creation

This was my first attempt at making a diaper cake. I think it turned out pretty cute. The pictures really don't do it justice, it looks better in person.. What do you think?

The finished project.

Close-up to show the detail.