Oh Addison!

Ok, on Wednesday Grandma left. We are so thankful that she was able to come stay with us! It was a great help to have her here and Addison was her shadow!!! She didn't want me to do anything for her, it was always "No! Dramma do it!" Well, of course I cried like a baby when she left and then decided that it might be safe to do my make-up. So my make-up was sitting on the bathroom counter when the phone rang! I was so excited that someone called to talk to me! As I was chatting in the living room, Addison was in the bathroom. She came out once with her eye covered and hurried back into the bathroom. I didn't really think too much about it, and finished my call!

I should have figured she was up to something! Let's just say that this girl has talent with the mascara! She got all of her top lashes and most of the bottom! But what made it really lovely was how she also got it all over her top and bottom eyelid! ALL OVER! She must have reapplied a few times because it was quite thick! I just laughed and said I needed to take her picture. Then I went into the bathroom...

This was done with my liquid eyeliner on the bathroom counter, she also drew on the toilet lid with it! Then she dug in my eyeshadow with her fingers and wiped them down the wall. All in all, I think this proved that I can't handle 4 kids and Grandma went home too soon. But now that it's Friday and we've been without her for 2 days I think we'll survive. Although whenever she(or anyone else) wants to come and visit(help) I say the more the merrier!

He's here

We finally did it! Nathan Paul Nelson decided to be nice to me and join us on Dec. 6th! He took long enough to get here(a long night at the hospital waiting and waiting and waiting!), butI'm so thankful he's here! He weighed in at a whopping 7lbs even and was 19 1/2" long. He has more hair than any of his sisters did(not saying much) and at first had a reddish tint! But now that he's home and trying to turn yellow, his hair is blonde! I think that he resembles Emma the most, but then he still just looks kind of like a little old man to me right now! He still doesn't think night time is for sleeping without me, but then a few days ago he didn't think I should sleep much at night time either, only difference is that a few days ago I could ignore him and go back to sleep and he couldn't wake any of us up by screaming!

But we are all thankful for him and trying to adjust to having a baby boy in the house (diaper changes are a strange thing). His sisters are loving (and mostly ignoring) him and his biggest sister Kassidy just loves to hold him!

Pregnancy Update!

Here's the update....I'm STILL pregnant! Ta Da! I'm as big as a house(or an elephant depends on the day), I'm tired of waddling, and I miss seeing my toes. I went to the doctor yesterday and I told him that if I wasn't at least dilated to a 4 I just might cry. He told me that he couldn't handle when women cried, so I better not. I'm only to a 3...Woo Hoo! (Yes that is sarcasm)! I'm finished(if only baby Nate would agree all would be well), I'm ready for the next stage. Although when I really think about it, I do still sleep somewhat! So there is the update, I'm still gaining weight(I try to focus that this means he is growing), and he's in no hurry! My mother-in-law's compassionate words were "Just remember, boys are slower!"

Thanksgiving!

Ok, thanks to my oldest sister I started thinking about Thanksgiving traditions. My family has many. Our dinner was always eaten in Roosevelt at Grandma's house (ok, I think I can remember a couple of times when it was at Brent and Sue's). All of us filing through Grandma's kitchen to get the turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy(yuck), creamed peas(Yummmmmmmm), rolls(always Rhodes), frozen fruit salad, and lemon delight. In speaking with some of my in-laws, I've realized that my family has some really WEIRD food that we eat! Frozen fruit salad tops that list, carrot and apple salad(I think this is really good but my husband thinks it's gross so my kids have never had it), creamed peas(these must be eaten inside of a roll), chocolate cake w/white frosting in a glass w/milk poured over it, lemon delight, "dirty water" punch(this is actually good in small doses), and I'm sure that the list goes on. I look back on "traditions" and many I'm sad to say haven't followed me into my own home. I guess as moms we tend to fix what we know will be eaten! I hope that this Thanksgiving you will all enjoy and be thankful for your own traditions! Happy wishes from the land of turkeys!!!

I love that imagination!

Ok, one thing that my kids have NEVER lacked in is imagination! Kassidy had the best! She had a name (usually from the Disney princesses) for everyone and could keep them all straight! When Emma was born she became "Jasmine" and for quite a while this was the only name Kass would call her little sister. Well, Emma has had her turn and now the torch has been passed onto the littlest!

Here is Addi with her "baby"! She packed this sweet potato around for hours the other day! She rocked it and sang to it. She would "feed" it and love it! Then she found one for me!

Oh we had lots of fun with our "babies" she even wanted to take it to bed with her that night! I had to say "NO!!!!" And then a couple of days later, when I cooked it...sad times! But Emma came through and convinced her that the other one was really her baby and that mommy wouldn't really cook her baby.

Ahh, fall fun!

Today is the PTA fall carnival at our elementary school! So that also means today is the cake decorating contest. The PTA is really smart about this, they do a cake-walk during the carnival and this is how they get their cakes!!! All kids in the elementary are invited to participate in the cake contest, we just had to have the cakes there this morning at the beginning of the school day all ready to go. So...what do we think was happening at our house last night? That is right...cake decorating!!! And let me tell you, it was an adventure! Kassidy doesn't usually help with anything in the kitchen, so this was all pretty new to her! Everything was just, so fun to her! And let's just say that I think Emma knows more about things in the kitchen than Kass! But we pressed on and




eventually finished with Kassidy's "monster coffin cake" and if I do say so myself, it was very cute!

When it was Emma's turn, we took a different approach...CUPCAKES! I love cupcakes and these were fun for she and I to do! They were supposed to be slug cupcakes but I didn't have any black gel for the legs so they didn't turn out quite like they were supposed to. But alas, Emma and I had fun doing them! All I have to tell you is that circus peanuts are not as easy to find as one might think!

And here we have a finished product! See, kind of cute but I would definitely have to remove the "slug" in order to eat it!

And our finished coffin and monster! Last year Kassidy won first prize in the "I did it all by myself" category (she didn't do a thing on that cake...it was ALL me) so last night Paul kept asking me if I was planning on winning 1st prize again! I just know that the girls and I had lots of fun doing these together! Memories! While I am no Martha Stewart or even Sonja (although I can claim kinship here) I think that "our" cakes turned out quite cute!!!
****UPDATE Kassidy won 1st prize again this year. And it was NOT for the "I did it all by myself" category! She won 1st prize for "most creative cake" for 2nd grade. Thank you Paul!!**

Our fun weekend

This past weekend we went to Bountiful. It had been quite some time since we had all stayed in Bountiful! So of course we were excited! We started it out right, we (Grandma, Sonja, Me, Kassidy, Emma, and Addi) all got pedicures.(Thank you Grandma!) Yes, that is correct my 5 and 7 year old truly did get the full treatment.
Addi just got her toes painted, but she was so funny to watch. She sat on Sonja's lap the whole time and dunked her chubby little feet in Sonja's water and splashed and got nail polish all over Sonja. Sonja we love you so much for being such a good sport! The pedicure was wonderful for me, because I've reached the point of not being able to reach my toes very well! Then we all did a little shopping with our BEAU-tiful toes! Now baby Butch has some more clothes, it is so different shopping for boys!!! Of course Friday night was for scrapbooking, and my sister Jamie joined us! Woo Hoo! I got quite a few pages done, it was a productive time!! Then on Saturday Paul joined us and he got a new vehicle! To those of you who know Paul, this is a frequent occurance. When he asked Emma if he should get it she asked him, "What will we have to get rid of?" She knows him too well! Well, we didn't have to get rid of anything and we now have a 4th vehicle! Then the girls and I painted pumkins, thanks again Sonja!
They had so much fun getting to decorate their own pumpkins just how they wanted!
They also got to make pom-pom Halloween crafts, but Sonja and I made them and the girls got to play with them when they were finished! Kassidy's is a bat, Emma's a cat, and Addi's a witch! They turned out very cute, I must say! The day ended with a Grrrrrrreat dinner at Texas roadhouse (call at least 1 hour ahead!)! Over all we all enjoyed time away from home at our other homes! Thanks to Grandma and Sonja for taking such good care of us while we are visiting!

These stairs are jinxed!

Last night I fell down the stairs! I swear these stairs are cursed! A year and a half ago my sister-in-law slipped down them and broke her ankle. And I'm not sure if she's gone back down the stairs since. In the last month Addison has tumbled down them twice. Luckily she was laying on a stair and just tumbled down the remaining. No real harm done. Last night I was walking down stairs with Kass and Em,to put them to bed, and 3rd step from the bottom my foot went out from under me. I did the free fall thing and landed hard on my bum, then bounced down another stair. It was NOT fun! I banged and scraped my elbow on our genuine wood paneling on the wall, broke my toe, and bruised my back. Kassidy just looked at me with her mouth WIDE open and asked me what happened?! I asked her what she thought happened, and then tried really hard not to cry! We just looked at each other for a minute and then busted-up! I decided if I cried, she might cry too! I then went about my motherly duties of putting my kids to bed and then hobbled up the stairs. I told Paul "thanks" for coming to see if I was ok. He didn't even hear my less than graceful decent down the stairs. So I promptly brushed my teeth and went to bed to lick my respective wounds. In the middle of the night I awoke to a horrible pain in my toe, Paul had wandered onto my side of the bed (his theory is that I get 1/3 and he gets 2/3's, so most of the bed should be his) and had put is foot on top of my broken toe! O-U-C-H! I quickly pulled my injured foot away and justly kicked him for wandering. This morning he told me that he didn't think my toe was really broken since I could still kick him so hard! Needless to say, not much sympathy for the ailing mom!

Mommy, Where Are You?

This is a phrase I hear at least 50 times a day! Addison must know where I am. All day and night I hear "Mommy, whee ahh ooo?" Which in Addi-speak translates into "Mommy, where are you?" Sometimes she can go 1/2 hour without needing to know where I am, and sometimes it only lasts 5 minutes in between questions. At first I thought it was because Emma leaves her evryday now(kindergarten) and she didn't like being in the basement alone. Oh, no! She does this even when everyone is home. You might think that she's been abandoned..but alas, no! She just really loves her Mommy and wants to ALWAYS know where I am! Ahhhh, true love! Too bad it doesn't last, I don't think Kassidy ever wants to know where I am!

I've been tagged!

Thanks so much to Jodi Lemon!!!!

The Five
10 years ago I :
was newly married(less than a month) and living in Spanish Fork! I was working at Action title and looking for a different job! I think I was still in denial about what real life was.

5 things on today's "to do" list:
take a shower (I try to set attainable goals), go grocery shoping, get Emma ready and to school, vacuum(YUCK!), have a game night with the girls
5 snacks I enjoy:
Chocolate, nacho cheese doritos with crab dip, goldfish crackers, good-n-plenties, and chocolate (hey I'm pregnant)
5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
Build a new house, buy a new car, travel, take a disney cruise, hire someone to clean my new house
5 places I have lived:
Vernal, UT, Bountiful, UT, Ephraim, Ut, Spanish Fork, UT, Moroni,Ut
5 jobs I have had:
Stocker, bagger, and checker @ Winegars, AR/AP clerk @ MFC, Assistant office manager @ CDS, Line worker @ Orbit Irrigation, MOM
This is where I'm supposed to tag people, but I don't think that many people read my blog, so I'll just be nice and do this since I was tagged and hope you all (the 3 of you that read my blog) are all enlightened now that you know this random info about me!

LOOK OUT!!!

Crazy girls!

Last Saturday was Emma's family birthday party, that morning Paul and Emma took one of our 4wheelers to Gunnison. They returned with 2 kid 4wheelers. Emma now thinks that her daddy got her a 4wheeler for her birthday! This girl is CRAZY on this thing. She only knows one speed F-A-S-T! And she has NO fear. She loves riding it! She puts her helmet on and away she goes. I didn't like her riding on the road, so now she goes behind her nana & grandpa's house and rides in their dirt!

This is what we see mostly from Kassidy! A lot of brake lights! She is NOT fearless! She is VERY cautious! It takes her longer to be willing to try and then she goes much slower in having her fun! I'm just proud of her for trying!

And our Addi May would be just as crazy as Emma if we let her! She thinks that she needs to ride the little 4wheeler all by herself! Give the girl a helmet and she thinks she's on her way! But she is happy to ride the bigger 4wheeler with mommy, if she has to!

The First Day Of School!

School Days, School Days...

Ahhh, yes! They are finally here again! I absolutely L-O-V-E this time of year! Back to schedules, set times and places for my kids to be, and things to do! I am not a schedule maker, but if someone else does it and my kids have to be part of it...wonderful! I know some moms are happy to get rid of their kids again for the school year, that's not it for me! I miss them, but they now have a set "purpose" for the next 9 months! And they grow so much! I love every new school year! The excitement of the "new"! My children don't share my excitement! Kassidy was V-E-R-Y nervous for the first day (she's a worrier any way), and Emma didn't think that she wanted to leave her mommy EVERY day! I thought that I'd have a hard time with that too! But all is well! Kass started on 8/20 and Emma on 8/21(yes, the same day I turned 30 gulp)! And they survived the first week, except when Emma walked in after school Friday. The first thing out of her mouth was "I am so excited for tomorrow, there is no school!" That crazy girl! So here we are started on a new week and they still have Smiles!

Look out Park City!

Girls Weekend!

Well, last weekend (Aug. 15-17) we had a "girls only" weekend in Park City. There was my Mom, my two sisters (Sonja and Jamie), Breanna(Jamie's step-daughter), me, and my 3 girls. It was one last fun time before school started. And a good reason to shop! We stayed in a GREAT condo (about 1/8th of mile from the outlets) with 3 bathrooms. Bathrooms are a hot commodity at our house (only 1)!

This picture is from our balcony, and yep those are the outlets! We shopped, listened to Addison throw fits, and ate lots and lots! We got good deals on school clothes and just hung out. Definately a good time was had by all! Thanks to grandma for telling us we needed to do this and for Sonja or making it nice and comfortable!

Pioneer Day!

I know, I'm a bit late for this...I've had other exciting news to share! But I do want to share our fun we had on the 24th! We ALWAYS go to Bountiful for the 24th! It's fun for the girls and I (for some reason Paul skips out on us). We always start off with the parade on the 23rd. According to Emma, this year it was WAY too long. But thankfully Sonja brought umbrellas for shade and Mom got us a good spot to watch from. It also didn't hurt that we had lots of good food and water to help us make it through! Then on the 24th it was the carnival at Bountiful city park! I think I love taking my kids to this as much if not more than they like going! There are always fun things to do! Thankfully this year they brought back some rides! The girls

tried not to burn themselves on all the hot metal, but they had fun! Then there was rock painting(not sure I get the point of this), fish pond, yummy food, the pony ride, and of course the FACE PAINTING! This was the most exciting for these lovely ladies and of course the longest line! Kassidy got a spider and it's web, Aubree(my niece) got fireworks, Emma got a pony, and Addi got red, white, and blue stars. After the carnival we went back to Grandma's and relaxed for a while. Then we had a BBQ at Sonja and Frank's for dinner, for early evening entertainment the girls ran through the sprinklers. Addison was hilarious! She kept sitting on the sprinkler and then telling Frank that she was "really wet". Then we made smores and did fireworks! GREAT holiday celebration!

BIG News

Ok everyone, we have a BIG announcement.......we're expecting and it's gonna be a BOY!!!! Yes, for those of you that didn't know we are due (according to the doctor's calculations) on 12/25 and now according to the ultrasound 12/20. So, hopefully he will following in his sisters' footsteps and come at least 2 weeks early! I was stunned when the tech told me "it's going to be a boy"! I was fully expecting a girl. But now I'm not sure how a little boy will handle this house FULL of girls! Paul said he wanted a girl, but now that he's had a day he's getting more excited about a boy! Now he will have someone to go hunting with him (hopefully)! We still can't agree on a name, but Paul keeps telling me that we still have a while to decide. I just want it agreed upon! Any suggestions(not totally bizzar) I would love to hear them!

3 smiling girls

Here are my 3 smiling girls! We went to Orem on Saturday and met Grandma and Sonja(Songia) there. We had the girls' pictures taken at Kiddie Kandids (the best) and then had lunch. The next day (Sunday) was Sonja's birthday so we were excited to give her her gift. Then we shopped a little and left the mall! Grandma and Sonja went home, but not us. We pressed on, all girls out shopping for the day! We went on the Target! Emma and Kassidy each got a really cute outfit for school and then we all needed some popcorn! Then on to more stores and more shoe shopping! I have trained all of my girls to L-O-V-E shoes! And the most fun is shopping for them! In fact, we came home with 5 pairs of shoes! And we even made it home before daddy got home from work (8:45) A job well done!

I love pictures of them like this! They are so cute and clean and "put together"! They don't always look like this! We try, but they never stay this way! But then I love it when they have been playing hard and get all sweaty and rosy cheeked! I love these cute girls!

Little Fishies!

Well, swimming lessons are over...that's good and bad. Kass and Emma took them in Manti this year and absolutly loved them! But it wasn't the most fun driving to Manti each time (espically with the road construction between Ephraim and Manti) about a 2 hour round trip with lesson and travel time! But we carpooled with Holly Cook and so I only had to drive every other day! Those kids had so much fun! The girls learned sooo much and Emma is no longer afraid to put her face under the water and Kassidy learned to swim with her face in the water and when and how to bring it up to take breaths. They did awesome!

Addison, Kassidy, Cassi Cook, Emma

Here they all were "patiently" waiting for the cars to move through construction. It turned into a game for everyone to guess what time we would actually get to the pool. And here is one of the cutest boys ever, Kassidy's friend, Chandler Cook.

Here come the horses!

Where are the horses? On Thursday, July 10th 2008, Grandpa invited Kassidy and Emma to the horse parade in Nephi. Well, Addi decided that she wanted to go also...therefore Mom got to go too. They do this horse parade the day before the "Ute Stampede Parade", and you guessed it...it's a parade with just horses in it. Of course Nana brought cookies for the kids to eat while waiting. And with Grandpa in charge there was an hour wait. Big Daddy Kay is chronically VERY early. But the kids didn't mind!

If you look closely,that's Kassidy and Aubree (and a mystery girl) watching the parade! And look, horses!

Addi and Emma weren't as into the parade! But here and there they would look at the horses and Addi would tell us their colors!

But how can these kids complain?

They got Wendy's for dinner, Cookies for dessert, taffy from the parade, time with cousins, and tons of horses to see. A good time was had by all!

Emma and Tyler, best friends!

Singing the "Itsy bitsy spider"

Graduated!

Emma finally graduated from preschool! And to think, it only took her 2 years. Ha Ha! NO, here we send them when they are 3 and they go for two years. Then they are REALLY ready for kindergarten! Isn't she cute?