Johnson's corner

Photo Card

2011-12-06T06:55:00.001-08:00

Modern Christmas Christmas

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Jonas's Baptism

2011-11-20T23:17:00.000-08:00

I tell myself every week that I need to update my blog and now after 4 months of saying that I'm finally getting around to doing it. So I will start with the most exciting event in the last 4 months and that is Jonas got baptized on October 8.

One of my favorite pictures of him.

Either Jonas is really tall or they don't have very big sizes. Learned a few things for the next time when Bella gets baptized. First, have a pair of white underwear. Jonas doesn't own one pair, or at least at the time he got baptized. Next be more prepared. I'm sure there is a list of things that you need to have so next time I will find that list. I'm sure white underwear is on that list.

Jonas, Dad, and Grandpa Johnson

Jonas's cousins Dylan and Kodiak who he would love to play with everyday.

His baptism went very well. He wasn't too excited about being baptized and I was wondering if I made a bad choice by making him get baptized since they say it is suppose to be up to them to decide. A few days after he was talking to a friend about it, confirmed that I did make the right choice. Not sure how the whole conversation went but can tell he was happy about it. Not sure why I don't have more pictures probably because we were in a hurry to get the girls to a dance performance. The weather was freezing cold so my plans for having lunch at the park were ruined. Lucky for me the church was available because my house is not big enough to have 30 plus people in it. Besides not having white underwear for Jonas I thought the day went really well. I will try not to let another 4 months go by without updating this.

Birthday Week

2011-07-17T22:43:00.000-07:00

This is a month late but that's because it's been one crazy summer and can't believe it's more than half way through. For those that don't know but the third week in June is very crazy for us. It starts with Father's day, my birthday on the 21st, Jonas's on the 23, and Bella's on the 26. Jenna is the one left out and maybe that is why she is so crazy.

This year was a little more crazy than normal. Branon took that week off and took Jonas up to Ogden with a friend and his son. While they were gone I did a party for Bella. It was a little stressful since it was my first time doing a theme party. Of course it was a Little Pet Shop party and thank goodness for the Internet to get ideas. We did a craft, played games, then presents and cake. All the stress was worth it because I think all 14 girls had fun. It also helped when Bella said "It's my best day ever!"

The reason they went to Ogden was because Jonas and his friend went to Basketball camp with his friend at Weber State. So since he went there that took in place of his party. Although we took a couple of friends to a new place in St. George called Anti-Gravity. It's a place with a ton of trampolines. I think they had a lot of fun.

Are you wondering how old we are now? I turned 31 and feel good but saw a picture of me recently and thought, wow I do look older. I even found some gray hairs and know that's why I have to color my hair. Jonas turned the big 8. I'm hoping he will choose to get baptized but as right now he says no. I wish I could make the choice for him but I feel like it is his choice and he would be more upset if I forced it on him. Bella turned 6! She has been such a big help but she is starting to get more sassy but I think it's the age.

Scary Movie

2011-06-13T20:19:00.000-07:00

Every time I see this picture I have to laugh. I looked out the window to check on Jonas and this is what I saw. I wish I recorded it, it was much more entertaining. Branon couldn't figure out why I was laughing so hard because Jonas does things like this all the time. I guess it was the mask that reminded me of those dumb Scary Movie's or the memory I have as a child. My brother Steve would probably not like me to share of this but since I know he never reads this it will be okay. I remember when I was little Steve would sit in the bathroom forever and I would sit on the stairs and listen to him act out GI Joe. Eventually I would start laughing and then he would get real mad. Jonas a better sport because after I showed him the pictures all he said was "Oh, mom you were spying on me." Then he walked away and didn't seem to care where as I would have to go hide afraid of what Steve would do.

I just love Jonas so much. He is such a good big brother and has been helping me more with a better attitude. I can't believe he will be eight next week.

Bella's Dance

2011-06-02T14:18:00.001-07:00

Bella did two different dances this year, ballet and clogging. At the beginning of the year she hated clogging mostly the noise is what she told me. I had to fight her to go but I told her she can't give up and has to finish the year out. Now that the year is over she loves it and would rather do that then ballet. Jenna is excited that she will be able to do dance next year, or I should say in a few months. It was just as fun to watch Jenna dance at the dance recitals trying to do what the dancers were doing.

This is her clogging costume.

This is Bella's kindergarten graduation. I can't believe she will be in 1st grade. She did very well and it's nice to have a child that loves school. Although Jonas did so awesome this last year as well.

Easter!

2011-05-09T21:57:00.000-07:00

For Easter break me and the kids went to my sisters house in Vegas for a couple of days. Forgot my camera so couldn't take any pictures of her cute boys. We had lots of fun just hanging out and coloring eggs. Then we meet up with Branon at his brothers in St. George and spent the night we them. Vegas and St. George had beautiful weather, those are the times I wish I lived down there, especially I came home to rain/snow mix. Saturday morning the kids went on a little Easter egg hunt in the yard. It's so fun to watch them.

It doesn't take long for them to dive into the candy.

The Easter bunny hides the baskets at our house, and this is Jonas, Bella, Jenna posing after they found their baskets. This is first thing in the morning so the girls hair looks a little scary.

Like I said during Christmas I'm not a huge fan of holidays so was glad once Easter was over. I really think it's because I compare myself to my mom. She always made everything so fun and exciting but I was a kid and my memory isn't always good. She died when I was 9 and my father wasn't about making it as fun as mom. I do have to give myself credit for at least trying and hopefully my kids will look back and think it was not so bad.

The Ocean

2011-05-06T22:04:00.000-07:00

I know it's been forever and I was suppose to post these pictures way back in March and one day I will get on top of my blog since this is my only journal of my family. My last post was about our trip to California and did only pictures of Disneyland, and now here is our pictures of the Beach. We spent two different days there and I think they loved it as much as Disneyland. Okay maybe not as much but they still loved it.

The bottom picture of Bella is the first trip to the beach and she got sucked into one of the first waves. Scared her half to death not to mention her mother too. I know I'm a mean mom and took a picture of her afterwords. She spent the rest of the time in the car staying warm. As you can see from the above picture she didn't stay too scared because she did get back in the water the next trip to the beach.

Love this girl so much. She has the cutest facial expressions.

Again thanks to my wonderful Aunt Nancy that we got to take this trip. Looking back at these pictures makes me sometimes wish I lived close to the beach.

One of the Happiest Places

2011-03-20T20:44:00.001-07:00

Thanks to my wonderful aunt Nancy we were able to take a trip to Newport Beach and go to Disneyland for the first time. Nancy posted on facebook that she was giving her timeshare up and I was all over it. I've wanted to go to Disneyland for along time and with her letting us have her timeshare we were able to go. My friend and her daughter came with us. Our first day at Disneyland the girls went and had Breakfast with the princesses. Jenna was scared at first and she slowly warmed up. While we were at breakfast Branon and Jonas went on the rides. We never really had a plan when and where to meet, just figured we have cell phones. Problem is that Branon's phone died when we were trying to figure out where to meet. I was so stressed out that we were never going to meet up and finally after 3 hours he borrowed a cell phone. While I was stressed out waiting for him they kept riding rides so I'm glad they still had fun.
We went on a couple of scary rides and was surprised that Bella was the one that wasn't as scared. Jonas didn't care for them has much. Jenna all she really cared for was the princesses. We had so much fan and can't wait to go back. We also spent a couple of days at the beach, and a day at Sea World. Since it takes forever to add pictures and it is so late I will post those this next week.

My Baby is 3

2011-03-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my baby is 3. Although she no longer is a baby she will always be mine.

Jenna's birthday week was a crazy one. It was 1A state basketball so Branon was gone all week and then I had to get ready to go on Vacation right after basketball was over. I really wasn't in the mood to do much but I decided I need to at least give it a try so last minute I decided to tempt to make a castle cake. Tempt is the key word but what matters is she loved it.

Also last minute I invited our neighbors over and our friends to help celebrate.

I was hoping now that she was three she would be out of the terrible two's but she proved me wrong. She took her cone and crumbled into pieces over the floor before she could get ice cream in it. I thought Jonas always made a mess but I'm pretty sure she tops him. She can't be left alone unless you plan on cleaning up a mess.

Even though you make a mess you have the cutest personality.
Happy belated Birthday, love you tons.

Can you tell

2011-03-01T22:54:00.000-08:00

Can you tell that my kids hate taking pictures. I was just going through my pictures and my kids have some funny faces.

Jenna and I went to Bella's Valentine class party. Bella is in the back row and I don't think she once looked at the camera and I have 5 class pictures.

It's hard taking pictures of them individually but it's pretty much impossible to have them together especially the girls.

These last two pictures are random. I don't post much and probably part of it is the lack of taking pictures and it has been crazy busy since November. I told myself after the holidays is should slow down but that hasn't been the case at all. I do see the light at the tunnel though. Branon has been coaching basketball for Valley High School which requires him to be gone pretty much the whole week since November and sometimes the weekend depending on if they have games. This is the last week and then we are headed on a vacation to Southern California thanks to my wonderful Aunt Nancy.

This was on the first of January when we had a nice snow storm. The kids had a blast and I even went for a ride, and thank goodness we didn't get a picture of that. Of course Branon made me fall off the tube but it was a blast. Next time I need to get a bigger tube, since the kids accuse me for the hole in it.

Does anyone know how to write above the first picture??

Coolest Mom ever!

2011-02-13T21:23:00.000-08:00

Okay I know I haven't updated my blog in awhile, it's called laziness. For some reason I wanted to post how cool I am because I usually don't get into holidays, and want to show that I do try. The above picture is what I made for Jonas's class since he had to take treats. Click here where I got the idea. Took a little longer than planned but nothing I'm not used to.

Since Jonas has a male teacher I only made these for Bella's teachers. I also figured since I put more effort into Jonas's treat that it would be okay I didn't do anything for his teacher. Got this idea from Family Fun. Sometimes I really love the Internet. I love the people that are creative share it with those that are less fortunate when it comes to creativeness because I would be in trouble if I had to come up with my own ideas. I made sugar cookie dough, so tomorrow we will make cookies and pass them out to friends and neighbors. One of these days I will post pictures of what we have been up to. Hope everyone has a Happy Valentines!

My last post of the Year

2010-12-31T17:34:00.001-08:00

I can't believe there is only hours left in the year. I'm glad to hear that some have had a good year, but I'll be honest I'm still getting use to this move and I'm afraid it will for awhile. I keep telling myself that we both prayed about it and that we both felt like it was the right thing. I am thankful though that Branon is still working and hasn't lost his job in which we thought might happen back in August. I am hopeful for 2011.

December went by fast which I'm glad because I'm not huge into the holidays. Wish I was like my mom she always made everything so much fun but I'm so much more like my dad. I feel sorry for my kids but I know they will still survive. Here are some pictures of what we did. For Christmas eve we had Branon's brother Haldon and his family over. Our kids get along so well and had fun playing.

Jenna got into a lot of trouble this month. Here is a picture of her getting into my makeup but it could have been so much worse. About a month ago or so she got into my neighbors make up and totally destroyed it. Wish I had a picture of that one. The other day she got into the garbage that had the fireplace ashes and put them all over in the basement.

I went down to Tuacan in St. George with my friend Brandy and her kids. We were going to go see the nativity but they canceled due to the rain. However they still had Santa Clause which was one of the best I have ever seen. Jonas was a little confused as you can see in his picture because he said it wasn't the real Santa Clause. He told me "Mom, I've seen the real Santa clause in Alaska at the North Pole and that is not him." I think he was confused because this Santa could pull off being the real Santa. This year all my kids believe and I'm hoping that will be the same for next year but Jonas is a very smart kid and might figure that out next year, and it doesn't help if his friends know. I believe my sister told me around Jonas's age.

This is how good Santa was because he even got Jenna to sit on his lap without screaming.

Well off to my friends house to party and hope that 2011 is a good year!

Oh Jonas said something really funny a couple days after Christmas that I wanted to share. As you can see is two front teeth are missing and so I kept singing that song to him. He said, "I thought I was going to get my two front teeth for Christmas." He said it so seriously I want to die laughing!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-07T19:35:00.001-08:00

With Love Blue Christmas Card

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I'm headed for some major drama

2010-12-06T22:13:00.000-08:00

I have to admit when I was pregnant with Jonas I wanted him to be a girl really bad. After we found out that he was a boy a decided I could live with that and was excited when I looked at all the plus's of having a boy. No having to do hair, No cute cloths(I love t-shirts and jeans, don't have to worry about looking cute), and no drama. After 7 years I realize boys do have drama but after having two girls it's a little different. This morning I was dropping off Bella and Jonas at school, and Bella had one of her moments where she cries for no reason at all. On our way to school she found some sunglasses and put them on, mind you it was raining so she didn't need them. I should have said something but I let her keep them on and figured she would take them off when she went into class. Well right before she was about to walk into the school she runs back to the car to give me the sunglasses and starts crying. I asked her why she was crying and she said "I don't know." I told her to calm down and there is no reason to cry. Bella- "I can't stop crying" I look at her as calm as I can without laughing or yelling told her that I'm not getting out of the car and that she was holding up all the cars, and lucky she was able to pull herself together. Bella does a lot of crying and sometimes for no reason at all, and Jenna does a lot more screaming. I don't know how people do it with a family full of girls! I have been horrible at taking pictures lately but here is one of a few I have of her crying.

I should say I would never ever trade my girls. Even though they may cry and scream they tell me all the time how much they love me and gives the best hugs. It makes it all worth dealing with all the drama. I guess I should be able to handle it since they do learn from their mother!

Want 50 free Christmas cards from Shutterfly?

2010-11-27T22:22:00.000-08:00

I'm getting so excited for Christmas, and can't believe it's around the corner. Every year we have been taking family pictures and sending out cards since we have been married. It's fun to look back at those Christmas cards and to see how much we have changed and grown. This year I'm more excited because I think our pictures turned out really cute and can't wait to get cards out this year and share them with you. I usually use Shutterfly and came across this amazing deal which I'm excited to share with you. Everyone can use 50 free holiday cards, right? I know we could this year. I feel like Shutterfly every year comes up with the cutest cards and they make is so hard to decide. I love there colors and designs! Here are some of my favorite ones:

I love the concept of combining your Christmas card and family letter into one, and that is why the middle is one of my favorites!

Not have we only used Shutterfly for our Christmas cards but as well as Jenna's baby announcement. There are so many other fun ideas, check them out!!!

holiday cards click here
calendarsclick here
baby shower invitations click here

Shutterfly has so many great ideas, and these are just a few. Make sure you check it out because it is not just for Christmas. They have great things for year round.

If you want to get in on Shutterfly's craze and get 50 FREE Holiday/Christmas cards go HERE to sign up!!!

October Fun

2010-11-12T12:54:00.001-08:00

October was a busy month but a lot of fun! We were gone every weekend except Halloween. The first weekend we went and saw my oldest brother Eric run the St. George Marathon. He did it last year too and he makes me want to do it. I ran a half over the summer and decided that was enough for me but then seeing him again thinks I could do it. Although I'm glad I didn't do it this year because it was one of the hottest ever. Since he was so fast I don't think it effected him though. Next weekend we again went to St. George because Branon's mom had a Family Reunion/90Th Birthday party for Grandpa Trane. Branon's parents from Alaska were down so it was nice to see them and nice to get to know that side of the family a little better. The 3rd weekend we again went to St. George when all of my siblings got together besides my brother Eric and his family. We had a lot of fun! We went to Jumping Jacks, which is one of my kids favorite place. You get a nice work out chasing the kids all around. We also went hiking which is one of my favorite things to do. Fourth weekend we went to visit my brother Mark in Colorado which will get it's own post(when I get around to it because it's already taken me so long to do this post). Fifth weekend was Halloween in which we did the ward trunk-r-treat. Here are some pictures of our FUN!

My nephews Myles, Hunter, and Josh

Jenna taking a ride on Grandpa Rawlings on our hike.

The Rawlings Crew

This is one of my favorite pictures of Bella

Grandpa with the girls

My nephews who are the cutest two year old twins ever, and the my brother Mark as the cutest 4 year old twin boys.

Jenna loves Jumping Jacks and I love to watch her!

Grandpa Rawlings also had fun watching and playing with his grand kids.

Trane Reunion. We had a very yummy lunch at the Church. His brothers that live in Alaska are missing, but we still had fun.

This is at Branon's brother Haldon's house making Halloween sugar cookies. Whenever my kids can make a mess they are all about it.

I got to go with Bella's class to the pumpkin patch. It was fun to watch her pick out her pumpkin. There was this boy in her class that said, "look there is a Cinderella pumpkin", and then Bella spent a few minutes trying to find it. Then finally asked if they were all Cinderella pumpkins. Sure!

Jonas and his cousin Kodiak

Persistent

2010-09-30T21:42:00.000-07:00

That is how I describe Jonas, is persistent. When he has his mind on something he keeps persisting. For example when he wanted to catch frogs he wouldn't let it go. His dad tried a few times taking him up to the mountains and no such luck. He still wouldn't let it go. Finally I had enough, called a friend to ask if she knew where a good place to catch frogs around here. As you can see I was the coolest mom ever and we found that place. Once caught, he doesn't need to go hunting for frogs anymore. It's kind of like that with fishing too. Keeps persisting to go and once he catches a fish he doesn't bother us anymore. Sometimes it drives me crazy but I did have a lot of fun catching frogs with him, and watching Jenna getting muddy from head to toe.

With Jonas being the only boy he loves to be with his cousins. I have two brothers that have boys, and Branon's brothers that have boys around his age so he is in luck. However the girls aren't on my side they are surrounded by boys with my nieces being much older than them. The picture above his with my brother Marks boys and his only girl Lexie. Unfortunately they don't live close by but we will being seeing them in a couple of weeks that he can hardly wait.

Kindergarten and 1st grade was very hard to get him to school but I feel very blessed that he has a wonderful teacher Mr. Wilken that he loves, and it helps that he sits by his friend too. He had such a wonderful teacher last year too but I think it's helped him have a man teacher.

I love him so much, and couldn't imagine life without him. He for the most part his so good with his sisters. He is very kind, sweet, and loves to have fun!

Not afraid

2010-09-16T22:31:00.001-07:00

Jenna is not afraid to ......
get dirty
laugh
scream
touch insects
make me pull my hair out
make me love her

You know there are those kids who if they see an ant they scream, no not her. Jenna likes to squish them. This tomato worm that she is holding she would not stop squishing it at the parade. I finally had to take it away from her when she was scaring the other children with it by chasing them. I once found one of those in her mouth. I know disgusting. Bella's thing was dirt and I thought that was bad but worms gross! She is not even scared of bee's. Jenna has been stung a couple of times because she tried holding them. I can't turn my back on her for one second or she gets into trouble. She loves to make a mess. But as much trouble and mess she makes, she is so fun to have. She is so silly! When you told her to say "grandpa" forever she would say grandma. Now she can't stop saying "grandpa" and then laughs every time she says it. I finally got one that will eat my cooking where the other two have issues. I love her so much and am so glad to have her around even though there are those moments when she makes me want to pull my hair out.

Heart-breaker!

2010-09-13T20:59:00.001-07:00

She loves to dress up, not quite sure what she is suppose to be!

Bella was in the parade that we had on Labor day with her Dance team

After looking through my pictures there are so many things I need to blog about, but this post you can only guess is about Bella. Sometimes I have no idea where she comes from. She is very observant, which is nothing like her mother. We were in the car and there was this song was on the radio. I don't know what the song title is but it went something like this, "I'm just going to break your heart." This is how our little conversation went.

Bella: Does that mean you are going to die
Me: No it means you are sad
Bella: Does that mean they are going to rip your heart out.
Me: No it means when a guy is mean to a girl.
Bella: I don't understand
Me: It means when a prince is mean to a princess and he is going to break her heart. You know how when you are in love with some one and it means that the prince is going to break the princess heart.
Bella: Oh, so do I need to find a prince that will always me nice to me!
Me: Yes!

Okay I really wanted to say good luck in finding such a prince. She comes up with some things that I would never think of. Branon thinks I have turn her into a girlie girl but I don't think so. I tell him girls naturally like princesses and pink. Okay the Internet is acting weird so I'm going to try to post this before it is completely gone.

Bella's 1st day of Kindergarten

2010-09-13T05:25:00.001-07:00

Bella's teacher Mrs. Skougaard

Her class

Bella's friend Ashlynn

Some of her friends from Joy school

Bella's official 1st day of school was August 31. I meant to post this then but has been a slacker. She has morning Kindergarten which means we start at 8 am. For those that know me, you know I'm not a morning person, so I thought it would be brutal. I was really hoping for afternoon but now I'm glad she is in the morning. The first couple of mornings were wonderful there early but now it can be pretty hectic, but I don't think they have been late yet.

First day of School

2010-08-20T22:25:00.000-07:00

Here is Jonas with his craft that they made. They are going to put their picture in it and hang them around the school.

The first day of school was yesterday but I tried to post and of course the internet wanted to not work while trying to upload pictures. Summer went by way too fast and was not excited about school being here because I am not a planned/schedule person. Now that it's here I'm very excited and can't wait until Bella starts Kindergarten on August 31. Parowan elementary makes the first day really fun. They have the parents come the first 2 hours and have them help do a craft, teachers put on a kit, and then they go out on the football field and have all the kids put on a little skit. The theme this year is "Start your Engines" so they made it around Lightening McQueen. The teachers made their own cars and at the very end did a little race. I thought it was really cute.

Even though Bella doesn't start Kindergarten until later they still had them come to be part of the morning events.

Here are the teachers racing!

You can see how thrilled Jonas is to start school.

Happy Birthday to.......

2010-07-28T21:08:00.000-07:00

Branon!

For his birthday he really wanted to go camping and since he doesn't work on Wednesdays we were suppose to go camping last night but with the weather I decided that we should hold off. I know he was disappointed but I tried to make it up to him. I let him sleep in and it helped that Jonas slept in too. Then we went up to Yankee Meadow(it's a place up the mountain) for lunch. We went for a little walk, built a campfire, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Came home Jenna took a nap, then went to Cedar to have Chinese buffet, one of his favorites. All in all I thought Branon had a good birthday and if the weather is good we are going to go camping this weekend. Here are some pictures of the kids having fun!

Oh and we can't forget our new friend, Rascal. Yesterday I took the kids to the pet store thought it would be fun. They acted like it was a candy store! Ever since then Jonas has non-stop asked for a turtle. While we were at Yankee Meadows Jonas was able to catch Rascal and thought maybe he will stop harassing me for a turtle, but no such luck.

If you are wondering what is on his head, it's a grasshopper.

Summer Craziness

2010-07-27T22:18:00.000-07:00

Summer has been a little crazy since school got out. I never did post Bella's preschool graduations. I had her in two preschools, one that I had to pay and the other was called joy school. That's were the moms take turn teaching. It's weird to me that she will be starting Kindergarten soon. I don't think she will have a problem going because she loves school where as the other one every morning tells me that he doesn't want to go to school.

This is the one that I paid for and I loved the teacher she does such a great job. She did a very good job with the preschool grad. It was funny to see Bella really get into the songs, and of course I don't have it on video. It was one of those days with the cameras. My lens was broken so I had to borrow a camera from a friend and her battery was dead so I only got to take a few. Then I couldn't fine our video camera so borrowed that from a friend and her battery wasn't working. I since have found the video camera and have a lens that works. Yes I know I look a little drunk, that was from the stress of the cameras.

(this is the joy school group)

I just love this picture of Jenna

Summer started out with swim lessons. After that was over was the busy week of June were we(me, Jonas, and Bella) all had our birthdays with father's day thrown in there. I turned 3o and still don't feel that old. Then the next week was the Johnson reunion and right after that we went to Lake Tahoe for a week. We took Branon's parents from Alaska. The drive threw Neveda was so long and boring. One of our stops was Rachel NV where their are more aliens then people.

After we got back from Lake Tahoe his parents stayed with us another 4 days. Then that Saturday(July 17) I ran my half marathon that I thankfully finished but haven't run like I would like since then. Last weekend my sister and her twin boys came to stay with us for a couple of days. It wasn't very enjoyable for her since she was sick. School starts in 3 weeks which I am ready to start since the kids haven't been able to get along the last couple of days. That's why when I am home we like to be at the pool so we can all get along.

The joys of siblings

2010-05-20T21:51:00.000-07:00

Okay I know I'm not really good at blogging and I really hope one day that I can do at least a weekly post but I feel like there is nothing too exciting to share. With my memory I should be writing everyday so I can go back to something when my kids ask questions about their childhood.

For those that have more than two children maybe you can understand how I feel. Jonas was pretty easy child, Bella came along she was kind of a hard baby but when she turned one it got a lot easier. Jonas and Bella get along for the most part pretty well. Then came along Jenna and things changed drastically. Actually it was pretty easy at first, Jenna was probably the best baby but then it kind of changed when she started crawling. She would destroy Jonas and Bella's creations and that didn't go over so well. Jonas tells me that he doesn't want anymore siblings, and I am sure that has to do with having another kid to destroy his things, although he does that pretty well himself.

Jonas and Bella getting into trouble. Usually this is the influence of Jonas. Got into the Halloween make-up and got it on their entire face. They said "Look mom, we put on your make-up." I had to laugh or else I would ring their little necks.

This is a daily occurrence at our house, a lot of screaming. I would have to say my girls get along half the time, and I really wish it could be a little more. I do have hope though because my sister and I were probably the same way and now we are best friends. Funny story of these two little girls. A couple of weeks ago we were at Branon cousin's reception. It was in the backyard of his new wife's house and it was very very beautiful. When we got there I knew we were in trouble though because there was a swimming pool. Jenna has no fear of those and has no trouble just jumping in. They had the most amazing food and drinks, and we had just each gotten an Italian soda. I was talking to a friend, I look over and Jenna was standing next to the pool just watching it. I was trying to get her to come away a little, but she is like the other two and don't listen very well. Bella decided that she would take action and try to get Jenna herself. Of course that didn't go over so well. Bella was pulling on her cloths to move away from the pool, Jenna was screaming and pulling the other direction. Bella decides to let go of her, and there goes Jenna into the pool. I was right there so I got her out right away. She cried a little but got over it pretty fast. Then I have Bella who is screaming out of control. I thought wow she was really scared for Jenna and that is so nice that she is concern for Jenna, but I thought really she didn't need to scream out of control over here. Finally when I got her to talk and tell me what she is crying over, this is what she had to say, "Mom, you spilled my drink on purpose." Sorry I was running to go rescue Jenna who was drowning. Mine and Jenna's drink went in with her in the pool. We were able to replace those, and Bella's had to be replaced again after she spilled it on the table.

I just loved this picture of Bella. Yes I am a cool mom and we built a fort. It made a huge mess in the living room but it was a lot of fun.

What we have been up to

2010-04-14T01:10:00.000-07:00

Bella had her dance pictures a few weeks ago. I got them back this week and she is going to take after her mom when it comes to taking pictures. If I can ever learn how to scan in pictures I'll show you what I mean. I do love this picture of her in her dance costume. She really has loved it and will be sad that it's almost over. She is so funny when it comes to girls and boys. When we are in the car she always ask for a girl songs, and can get up set if a boy is singing. I didn't realize how many more men sing over women. Also we are going to be out of town and she will miss the fire sation trip at preschool and asked if she was sad about it. "No mom, it's a boy thing." She doesn't want to play any sports yet because that too is a boy thing. Branon is really hoping that she will grow out of that.

Day before Easter we went and visited Branon's brother and his family in St. George. We had a Easter egg hunt at there house. They had such a blast! There was a moment when Jenna had a freak out as you can tell. My sister in law's Dad lives across the street from them so when he came over to watch the kids she was horrified of him. It took her a few minutes and once she figured that there was candy in the eggs she had fun.

Do I need to say anything more? I have a tote of Halloween costumes even of those in the past. He kept bugging me about the fireman one. I told him that it wouldn't fit so don't even try. Of course the kid does not listen to his mom. I just about died laughing when I saw him. He thought he was pretty cool and even went outside to play.

Our friend Gabe from Loa came down and visited for a few hours so we decided that was a good time to color eggs. In Loa it is a tradition that you go roll them down a hill, but since we were not there we tried to go a few days after Easter and found out that it didn't work on any of the hills around here. The kids still had a blast attempting to do it.

Poor Fishy

2010-03-22T23:02:00.000-07:00

These pictures having nothing to do with the story I am about to tell but it shows how mischievous Jenna can look and things that she can do. And I have no idea why I'm blogging this story, probably because this is my only journaling. Last week I taught Bella's joy school and we did ocean animals. For some stupid reason I thought it would be cool to get some gold fish for demo even though they have nothing to do with ocean animals. I knew that the gold fish would not live for very long around here but how one died I could never imagine. We started out with 3 and we are now down to 1 as of tonight. The first one died the other day for who knows why and the other one died today because of Jenna. Today while I was vacuuming I found Jenna with her arm in the fish bowl and told her "NO". She seemed to listen so I went on with what I was doing. I come back and she had the fish in her hand. It must have only been a second or two. Put it back and the fish was fine. Well you would ask me why didn't you move the fish bowl so she can't put her arm in it. I ask myself that same question, didn't think about it at the time. I was gone tonight and when I came back Branon told me that Jenna got one of the fishes and it died. It was the same fish. I asked if Bella cried because that is what she usually does. Surprisingly no but he said she was sad. Jonas told me that Jenna squeezed it and that he was going to do the same to her. Sorry Jonas but it doesn't work that way. You can not leave that girl out of your sight or you know you are asking for trouble.

Nothing to do with the story but I took Jenna in last Friday for her 2 year check up. If you know my kids they are pretty tall. So when they gave me the paper with the precentile's I wasn't sure if it was a 95 or a 55 in length. The nurse told me 55 and I said are you sure. Bella has always been over 90 and Jonas over 100 so I was a little concern. They measured again and said she really hasn't grown since last September. Her length was 34" and her weight 29lbs. All three kids are 75% in their weight. If I am right I think Jonas was the length at 9 months I'll have to go back and check.

Yes I know I have tons of pictures of her and mostly blog about her but the other ones don't like to get there pictures taken. I guess she doesn't either.

Two years ago ....

2010-03-03T22:47:00.000-08:00

Two years ago I lay in a hospital bed holding this bundle of joy. It makes me sad that she is already two. Time goes by way too fast. She was such a good baby, and things started to change when she started crawling. She gets into everything, so my eye's have to be on her every waking moment. Lucky for me she likes to sleep. The other day she asked to take a nap and she usually sleeps for at least 2 hours. As soon as she started sleeping through the night at 6 months I can probably count on one hand how many times she has waken up during the night.

Jenna loves food. When I go get her out of the crib she has to go to her chair and she ask for food. She is my most messy eater, so all her cloths are stain since she won't were a bib anymore.

One thing she has always been good at is screaming. I have a friend that said she was the loudest child that she has ever heard. Then I was talking with my sister and of course Jenna was screaming. She ask is that Jenna. Yes! She has twin boys so I ask her doesn't yours scream that loud. No, of course not. It's very embarrassing when you are at the store and she is not getting what she wants, yea everyone at the store is looking at me. She scares other kids with her scream. At least I have one that will hold her own. Jonas could care less if you took something from him. Bella cried, still does. Jenna, of course screams. When my girls are playing and Jenna starts to scream, I know Bella is taking something away from her.

When she is not screaming she is the happiest kid. She loves to dance. The other thing she loves is her blanket, that my friends mom made. Bella has one too and they both can't sleep with out it. Her favorite phrase is "Stop it" We tell her that all the time when she is screaming.

Hopefully I will start blogging a little more now that I finally have Internet on my laptop in my home. This is the only kind of journal I have for my kids.

A conversation with Bella

2010-01-27T20:36:00.000-08:00

I have to post this so I won't forget. This is how the conversation went on my way to drop off Bella to pre-school.

Bella: "Mom why does Jesus keeping dying?"

Mom: "Jesus only died once, then he came back alive, and then went up to heaven and that's where he lives now."

Bella: "Where did he die?"

Mom: "Calvary"

Bella: "Is that where the bad guys are?"

Mom: "Yea, they did have some!"

Bella: "Does Dad have a gun?"

Mom: "Yes"

Bella: "So dad can shoot the bad guys, and save the family!"

Mom: "Yes, he can."

I love that girl, I have no idea where that came from.

Way overdue for an update!

2010-01-06T20:16:00.000-08:00

Okay I know it's been two months since I have done an update but with the holidays I did not have time to bring my lap top to the computer to update it. Hopefully this is my last time coming to the library sitting in my car to get on the Internet. As you can see my blog in serious need of help but we are suppose to be finally getting Internet at our house next week so I can work on it. There has been a lot but I will update Jonas. He lost his first tooth the week before Thanksgiving. He was funny because his tooth was loose forever and he didn't want anyone to touch it. One day he was doing homework and I was talking to my sister on the phone and I told him if it didn't come out the end of the day I was going to pull it out. Next thing I know he took it and pulled it out. His face was in complete shock. I asked if it hurt but he told me no. I think he was in shock because of the blood but it didn't last long.

Lucky for him the tooth fairy didn't forget to bring his dollar and he was so excited about getting money.

Happy Belated Halloween!

2009-11-03T19:42:00.000-08:00

Can't say it was the best Halloween ever but no Halloween is the best ever to me. I'm just glad it is over and I pretend I love the holiday for the kids. Although I do like the candy so I guess it's not the worst. We had a ward trunk or treat that night that was a lot of fun.

Jonas was a good boy and only went around once and then went and passed out candy. Bella probably went around the cars 5 times. By the end of it she said her bag was to heavy to carry. Bella had a dance performance for the retirement home. She did really good but we are always running late that I didn't get to paint her face but she was still cute.

We finally got around to carving pumpkins even though Branon and I weren't too excited about it but we had been promising them for days and finally got around to it on Halloween.

Jenna loved it and kept putting her head in her little pumpkin, and trying to eat it!

This is why it is good to have pets!

2009-10-22T13:10:00.000-07:00

The other day while Jenna was taking a nap, I too wanted to go lay down for a few minutes. Before I can Bella comes to me and says "Mom will you play dolls with me?" Bella mom wants to go lay down for a few. Bella says "but I have no one to play dolls with." I feeling a little gulity I really should go play with her but then I see the cat and I tell Bella, I bet Daisy would love to play dolls with you. Bella looks at Dasiy and says "Oh mom, she told me she wanted to play dolls with me." This made me so happy!

Here are a few recent pictures of Jenna. She has been nothing but trouble lately but very cute so it's all worth it. I would write more update but have to go pick up Jonas and we still don't have internet so I'm at the library doing this. I'm still hoping one day soon the interent will come soon.

Wondering where I have been?

2009-09-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

Me too. It's almost been 2 months since I've posted and let me tell you why. It's called dial-up. I no longer get on the Internet and I found out a couple of weeks ago when I was trying to get cable Internet that I won't be able to get anything different until October. At least I hope, the guy told me that my neighborhood should be getting new cables and I would have to wait. I'm crossing my fingers that is just a month away.

Let's see the last time I posted I was in Alaska. I had a blast up there and one day I will have to post pictures but that will have to wait until I get that Internet. We came home and did a week of swim lessons. I was lucky because I could go while they had their lessons and Jenna got to have fun in the kiddie pool. That girl has now fear. She kept trying to go into the big pool. Plus she had so much fun walking in the kiddie pool that she sometimes would go under since she would scream if you tried to put any kind of float device on her. Don't worry I was right there to grab her and she didn't mind at all going under. So you would think washing her hair in the tub wouldn't be so hard.

Then we went to Lake Tahoe for my family reunion. It was such a blast! I love that place. It's a lot of fun when your kids have other kids to play with. We stayed a couple days after everyone left and Jonas kept saying "I have no friends to play with." We did a lot of fun things while we were there but my kids favorite was playing at the beach. I was telling my aunt how we have bad luck with cars, and literally that afternoon a bear broke our driver's window and climbed right in and made a mess of our bag of pretzels. I should be lucky that the only damaged done is the broken window and the mess left behind. So if you are in Lake Tahoe make sure you don't leave any food in the car.

School in now in full swing. Jonas so far is doing much better than last year although this morning was a little rough but hopefully it was just one morning verses 180. Bella started dance today and of course she loves it. I also have her in two different pre-schools one that I will be teaching every 6 weeks. I figured it's only every 6 weeks. I thought I could never teach especially pre-school aged but I figured it probably is the easiest since they don't care if you mess up.

Jenna is getting bigger and into more trouble but is so cute. I knew as soon as she figured out how to walk it would be more trouble. She is now climbing on the couch and running and jumping on it. Her favorite thing to climb is the table. She can also reach the edge of the counter so I'm learning really fast to move things where she can't reach.

Hopefully you have survived this post and sorry that there are no pictures I will try to post those next time.

Guess who can walk finally?

2009-07-18T23:48:00.000-07:00

Jenna! She was my earliest crawler but my latest walker. I thought she would for sure beat Bella who didn't walk until she was 15 months. She was just like her as far a standing up in the middle of the room just waiting forever to take that first step. Could even move her legs up and down, and only take one tiny step and then fall down and start crawling. Jenna did that for a little while and all I wanted her to do was walk so she could stop getting all her cloths, hands, knees and feet all dirty. July 5(16 months) she just started to walk from one room to the other. It was so funny to see her do it, and she thought she was pretty cool. I wasn't sure how she was going to do with us going to Alaska(we have been up here since the 9 and go back tomorrow, that's why I have been able to post some. Once we get our Internet up and running I will have to post about our trip) but she is becoming a speed walker now and before long I'm sure she will be running, in fact she already has tried. Here are a few pictures of her taking more than one step.

I love her face, she really has the cutest expressions.

I'm doing it.

I finally made it.

Yes I can!

Birthdays!

2009-07-16T22:23:00.000-07:00

For those that don't know we have three birthdays within 5 days of each other and sometimes those birthdays fall on Father's day. It's one big party that week and I feel like it cost just as much as Christmas.

Mine came first, on June 21, which fell on Father's Day. You are probably wondering what kind of cake that is. Angel food cake and I just love to eat it plain. Branon had a Family Reunion that weekend in Tropic(it's close to Bryce Canyon) so we came home that day and had foil dinners in our backyard with Branons brother's family. I feel like my birthday is just another day and I don't make it that big of deal. It is more fun to spoil the kids on their day. They don't get the royal treatment like I did growing up. I remember for my birthdays we would get our special box of cereal which was usually Lucky Charms. My parents had red dishes that were only used on special occasions and so we would get those red dishes. My mom would also make our favorite dinner. Are you wondering how old I am? It's my last year in my twenties. I'm going to be living it up this year.
Jonas's birthday is a couple of days later on the 23. Branon had to end up working that night so instead of being alone we went up to Loa and stayed with some friends. We got pizza and a cake and went to the park. I didn't realize this until after he had is birthday at the same place and wore the same outfit. Oh-well! This year however was a lot more chill we made a bigger deal last year. He had more friends and did the whole Star Wars theme.
A friend asked him how old he was now and he said "I'm still 5, until I blow out my candles and then I will be 6." He says he wants to stay 6 forever and doesn't want to get older.

Finally there is Bella, whose birthday is the 26. I love this very cheesy look. As you can tell she was very excited about her birthday. When Jonas woke up that morning she told him "It's my turn to have a birthday now." I guess it works to have all our birthday's close. We didn't do to much for her birthday. She just had her new friend that lives down the street come over to have cake and ice cream. She is now 4!
When I went to do there well check ups the doctor asked if my husband was tall. Go figure, Jonas is still way over 100 percent in his height. Most people thinks he is 8. And Bella is 95 percent in her height.
Now in less then a couple of weeks we will be celebrating another birthday, Branons! Jenna is just the odd one in our family. I joke with Branon that we are going to have another baby so it could be close to Jenna's birthday. He just laughs, because he knows that will never happen!

Our New House

2009-07-13T09:15:00.000-07:00

I am finally updating this blog, and it will take a few post to update the month of June. It was a crazy month and am glad it's over. We had to be out of our Loa house May 29 since we had our renters that needed to move in that night. We closed on our new house June 3 so we had to move all our stuff in storage for a few weeks until we finished doing things to the house. We stayed with Branon's brother in St. George and just traveled up to Parowan everyday to do the work. You ask what we did? There was popcorn ceilings that we got rid of and that what so much work put glad we did it before we moved in since it made a huge mess. There was wall paper downstairs and that took a few days to get off, then we painted the whole house. We are replacing the whole downstairs floor. We have two rooms done, and we have the hall way and family room to still finish.

This is our backyard and one of the reasons why we liked this house we because of the trees.

Our front. I know you are thinking a split level, not my favorite but the appraiser told us that our house was the "deal of the year in Parowan" so we couldn't be too picky!

Jenna giving you one of many looks.

Bella got hold of scissors the day before we moved. She cut some hair on the top of her head really really short. It what you call unfix able. I took her in and had a few inches cut off and her bangs cut shorter. I think I like shorter hair, and she already needs to get it cut again.

We do not have Internet at the moment and that is one of the reason's why I haven't updated sooner but hopefully we will get it soon. That is something I can't live without!

To the best sister

2009-05-23T22:02:00.001-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE!

I know you are probably loving me for this picture but it's the only one I can find on this computer because the other one is packed away. We look fat because we are, but it's because we are pregnant. I have the best sister anyone could ask for. She is not only my sister but my best friend. After our mother died she took the roll as mother and of course I wasn't very nice about it at all, actually I was quite mean to her. Now that I'm older, not wiser but older I look back and appreciate everything she did for me and know that she was just looking out for me because she loved me. I think our relationship grew stronger after she had brain surgery. My dad came home from the hospital and told me that she wanted me to come visit her. I remember being touched by that because I said some pretty harsh things to her before her surgery and was surprised that she would even want to see me. She is such a wonderful example to me and look up to her so much. I don't think I could be as strong as she is for everything she has gone through. Thank you Katie for being a wonderful sister and hope that you had a wonderful Birthday!

Where did my brain go?

2009-05-20T20:09:00.001-07:00

Okay I wasn't born with a lot of brain, being the last kid I got all the crappy left overs that you would give to a pig. I know this because all my older siblings are very smart. Then what brain I do have I think after 3 pregnancy's I don't have any left. So tonight I had Jenna in the bathtub, and I was pulling my hair back, then I look over and she had pooped a whole lot in the bathtub. Not only did she poop in the bathtub but she apparently ate it. Seriously happen all within seconds. Got her out and it takes forever for the bathtub to drain so you would think "put a diaper on her". No didn't do that. Almost have the bathtub cleaned out before I hear a lot of cussing in the other room. Branon came in the kitchen and slid and almost feel on his face. Yea, slid on Jenna's poo. I'm still in the bathroom and here comes Jonas saying he has poo on his hands and on his socks. Really how much poop can there be? It was all over the kitchen floor, down the hall, and in Jonas and Bella's room. Apparently she has really bad diarrhea. Branon was so awesome and cleaned it all up. After it was all cleaned up we had a good laugh about it and will know next time to put a diaper on her, which I should have done in the first place.

Moving to the big town

2009-05-11T20:08:00.001-07:00

We are moving and some it may come to you as a surprise and others not so much. We are known to move a lot and let me tell you it's one of my favorite things to do! I really should be a pro at it by now but I hope I can be a little more organized this time and have it go smoothly. Right now we are living in Loa, a population of 500 people we are moving to

Parowan.

The population is 2700. Branon applied for a job in Panguitch called Silverado Ranch. It's somewhat similar. Right now he works for a wilderness program and only works with the kids for 6-8 weeks. This place is a Therapeutic Boarding school and the kids are their usually at least 12 months. Parowan is 15 minutes North of Cedar City so we will be a lot closer to convenience but still have the small town which I have grown to love.

I will miss Loa a lot. I have made some really good friends that I hate to leave behind but I still plan on coming back to visit. When we first told our children they were not too excited but know they have no choice. I don't think it really phases them until we actually move. Bella says she wants to move our house. Really! That is one thing I won't miss, our next house will have two bathrooms something I'm going to look forward to.

Bucket Head

2009-05-06T20:04:00.001-07:00

Here are some recent pictures of Jenna. It amazes me how different personality each kid comes with. I have to say Jenna is in one of my favorite stages. She doesn't walk yet but getting close, but she can speed crawl. She got tubes in her ears about a month ago, but that seemed to not work. The last few days have been extremely hard with her and finally yesterday I could no longer take her screaming. I held off a little thinking she couldn't have another ear infection but of course a double ear infection. My kids get there teeth a little later then normal, she has 4 on top and 3 on bottom and I noticed she is getting her molars in. I think that has to something to do with the extra fussiness and ear infection so I can't wait till they all break through.

The other day she put the bucket on her head and would talk and she thought she was so funny. Then she started to crawl and would run into the wall, the dog, and table. You would think I would have charged our video camera since I missed out on Jenna's birthday but that would have been another good video.

This is what Jenna loves to do most, go and pull Bella's hair. When I tell her "NO" she looks at me and starts to laugh and does it again. I think she also likes to get Bella's reaction. Bella has to put her toys up higher too because she starts to freak out when Jenna comes close to them. I can tell these two are going to get along very well!

I just loves this picture so I had to post it!

Popcorn Bead

2009-04-05T06:36:00.001-07:00

This is a $65 bead.

Last Monday I was looking in Bella's ear and noticed there is something wrong here. I asked "Bella did you put something in your ear?" "No" was her reply. I asked if her ear hurt and she said no. Then on Tuesday I decided to take her to the clinic since I needed to take Jenna in and see if she still had an ear infection. The Doctor looked in her ear and said yes there is definitely something in there. She tried to get it out while Bella screamed bloody murder, and no success. She told me that I will have to go down to Cedar City(2 hour drive one way) to go to a ENT specialist to get it out. I asked her again did you put something in your ear, again she said no. I asked her "Did Jonas put something in your ear?" Of course she said "Yes". I had Branon ask Jonas if he had put something in her ear. He told him that Bella put a popcorn seed(kernel) in her ear and that she tried to get him to put one in his ear. Then the next day(Wednesday) Branon, Me, Bella, and Jenna took the 2 hour drive and went to the ENT specialist and he had the right tools to pop it out. She didn't scream has hard thank goodness. I told them that they were going to have to strap her down because the way she was at the clinic. After we got home I asked her if she put that in her ear and she finally said "YES". I asked her if she is going to ever put something in her ear again. She is such a smart girl because she said "NO". Jonas wanted to see what was in her ear and I told him that it wasn't a popcorn seed it was a bead. Then he told me, "Mom I said popcorn bead not seed." Whatever it was, it was expensive. Jenna still had an ear infection so we at least made more of the trip and did her pre-check up to get tubes in her ear. So on Tuesday morning she will be getting tubes in her ear. Hopefully this will help the process to walking. She is now 13 months and isn't even close to walking. Bella didn't walk until she was 15 months old but she had to get tubes in her ear too. Two weeks after she had tubes in her ear she started walking.

It's funny that Bella is wanting to be the big sister now and want to hold her. Bella did not want to touch Jenna when she was a little baby. Now that Jenna is on the go she hates it when Bella tries to hold her down. I have hope that those two will get along.

I love this expression of Jenna. I love this age when they are showing more of their personality.

"I want this for Christmas"

2009-03-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

If I could go back 5 months and teach Bella that you don't get everything you want, and you have to work for things you do want, I would. Instead when we were in the toy aisle when she wanted something I said "maybe for Christmas". That would avoid the total melt town and she would agree to that. Now that it's March and we go down the toy aisle, all I hear is "I WANT THIS FOR CHRISTMAS! I WANT THIS FOR CHRISTMAS!" I get a lot of looks and laughs on that one. Oh and I love commercials on Nick, and she gets mad at me if I don't see what she wants for Christmas.

Picture this

2009-03-16T07:52:00.000-07:00

1 adult, 8 kids(5 and younger), 1 dog, 2 cats, many many toys, in a 900 square foot house. Yes I watched kids last week and survived. It actually went really well because all the kids got a long but it's something I couldn't do day in and day out. Two of the women that babysit weren't able to do it for a couple of days so I help out once in awhile for those that need help. It was hard on the second day though because Bella was really sick and wanted to be held. I finally took her to the doctor and she had a high fever and a really bad throat. I requested the magic shot since I have to hold her down to take medicine. The next day she was up and playing again.

The pictures are flip flop because I forgot that the last picture you add goes first. You can guess what one I took while I had all the kids.

Update on Jonas

2009-03-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to thank you for all the comments, it's really helped. I called the special ed teacher who works one on one with Jonas and told her what his teacher had said and was concerned that we should do more testing. She told me that she would talk to both teachers and then call me back. After a few days she called back and told me that both teachers weren't really concern and what Ms. Davies was telling me that she is more worried about Jonas socially( I guess I wasn't understanding her). If you know Jonas he gets in his own world and makes these noises(there hard to explain but it sounds like he is playing cars crashing) and doesn't care who is around. So she is worried that the other kids would make fun of him. He also has a hard time focusing but they don't seem to be concern about that right now. After reading that post it made it sound like I don't like his teachers or at least the morning one and I actually like both of them a lot. Ms. Davies the morning one I feel like she has helped him catch up tremendously in ways that I don't think any other teacher can do. I am doing much better since that post and am working more with Jonas one on one time.

Happy Birthday Jenna

2009-03-03T21:02:00.001-08:00

I can't believe you are 1! This year has definitely gone by too fast. The past month I have been dreading for this day because you are the last I don't want you to get bigger. You are not walking yet but that doesn't keep you from anything. You are a speed crawler, when you see something you want in eye view, you are there tearing it up. I think your favorite thing to do is scream and you love to hear yourself do it. When we were at a basketball game and in the bathroom you started screaming and thought it was funny to hear it because it made an echo. You love Bella and Jonas and love to play with them, Jonas especially loves to make you laugh but can be a little rough at times. Bella as well likes to make you laugh but she gets so mad at you when you start to go after her toys. You have been such a joy this last year and I'm looking forward to the next year.

Jenna had no problem digging into her cake. By far she was the funniest to watch and of course my video camera was dead. All the kids laughed so hard and I think she really liked being center of attention. Jenna would flare her arms all around and cake and icing would go all over. Of course she had to do her crazy loud scream. One day I will record it and post it.

Behind on blogging

2009-02-07T23:01:00.001-08:00

I really have gotten behind on blogging, the outside world, and cleaning of my house, and taking care of my kids. I have been busy reading, reading, and reading. January I spent too much time reading and so I'm going to take a little break from the books and start working on the stuff I told myself "there is always tomorrow". A few weeks ago, Branon was gone for the weekend at a basketball tournament so one of the other coaches wife decided to take the kids to Richfield and go bowling.(note to self never take the kids bowling unless husband is with and the kids have food in their tummy). Our plan was to get there early enough and do bowling before lunch and then do our ritual Walmart shopping. Of course we leave late and then we hit traffic. No it's not the traffic you think of when you are in the city, it's called cattle traffic. I have no idea why I didn't take a picture of it because I've never seen so much cattle on the highway before. Now that I've lived in the country for a few years I know how to handle it but the city folks they get scared and have no clue how to drive in it. So if you are ever in cattle traffic you just honk your horn over and over, and pray that they don't run you over. The kids surely enjoyed looking out the window at seeing them poop in their face. So that even made us more late and by the time we made it bowling our kids were very hungry and whiny, although the pictures really tell a different story. After bowling we went to pizza hut and once the kids had food in there belly's it made the Walmart trip not so bad.

(I think Jonas forgot he was bowling, and tried basketball instead)

Jenna wished she was big enough to go bowling

For some reason Bella is famous around here for her butt crack. I wonder why!

This is what happens when ..........

2009-02-01T22:33:00.001-08:00

I'm not watching my children. I heard laughter and thought, Wow Jonas and Bella are getting along, what a miracle. Knew I should of checked on them then but I didn't so I walked in on this. I don't know why Bella likes to ruin her toys by putting them in the water, but I thought it was funny when he got goggles and put his face in.

Now that Jenna is very mobile and fast it's hard to keep up with her. She loves to get into anything she can. Her favorite, the dishwasher and cat food.

Our trip to Captiol Reef

2009-01-18T06:32:00.000-08:00

I should say our drive instead of trip, because it's only 3o minutes from where we live. You would think I would go more in the summer time when it is not so cold but for some reason I take the drive more in the winter. This summer I'm really going to try harder to go more. It's paradise for Jonas but the problem with him that he goes a lot faster then I and Bella so I'm affraid he is not going to be careful and end up going off one of the cliffs.

The deer in park our very tame and they don't care if you drive right up to them.

Jenna's first Hair Do

2009-01-13T11:04:00.001-08:00

I know it's not a very good picture but I could not get her to smile or hold still so this was the best I could do. Branon comes from all boys he has 4 brothers so I thought for sure I would have all boys but I was sure wrong. I thought for sure Jonas was going to be a girl though because I thought the cycle would certainly have to end soon, he already had two nephews at the time and no nieces. When we found out Jonas was a boy I thought from that moment on I would just have boys, and I was okay with that. One of the positives I never have to worry about doing hair, and I loved that idea. For those that knew me when I was a little girl I hated more than anything having my hair brushed or done. I screamed bloody murder, well Bella is that same way so there are days where I just don't want to face it and let her go looking a little raggedy, I wonder if my mom ever did that with me? I really hate the stage where Jenna's hair is but yesterday I tried for the first time doing her hair, and wished I had all boys!

Goals for the Year

2009-01-07T10:05:00.000-08:00

I thought I would write my goals down so when I need help I can come back to this post. I'm glad 2008 is over all though it wasn't a bad year we added Jenna to the family and it's been a joy to have her but going to three has been a little harder for me. My goals for this year is to ...

1) Be happier

2) Love my children more, by doing this not yelling at my children(I already broke the one, but I'm trying harder). Spending more quality time with them.

3) Read my scriptures everyday

4) Exercise more(I still have a lot of baby fat to lose, for some reason I gain a lot of weight 50lbs with each pregnancy but it gets harder with each child to lose it).

5) Clean my house more, I wouldn't say I'm a dirty person but I just have a lot of clutter everywhere so my goal I should say is be more organized and put things where they go, maybe I won't lose so much stuff.

Those are it for now but I think it's a good start and I don't want to make a huge list because then I will be overwhelmed and won't do any of them.

I noticed I haven't blogged for awhile so here is a review of the last few weeks. Christmas was wonderful. Christmas Eve we had a ton of people over in our tiny house but I thought it was a lot of fun. Christmas was wonderful, it didn't take to long for the kids to rip open the presents. After they were all open Jonas said "Where are more?" Let's say we had to teach him how to be grateful for what we get. Plus he got his storm trooper helmet that he asked for. Bella got everything she wanted princesses and ponies. Jenna had fun watching Jonas and Bella open presents and she just went for the paper. I was very spoiled this year and got a nice Camera so I need to learn how to take better pictures and to use the camera. Branon's brother Haldon and his family and other brother Kellen came up a couple of days after Christmas to watch Branon's basketball games, it was a lot of fun to have them here. Then I and the girls went down to St. George for a few days and stayed with my parents for New Years Eve. I actually stayed up past midnight and played games with my dad, which was fun because I kicked his butt. Branon and Jonas went with his brother Haldon and his son Kodiak to Salt Lake to watch the Utah and Gonzaga basketball game. School started back up last Monday so we are trying to get back into a normal schedule what ever that may be. Here are some random pictures of the last month.

The kids thought it would be funny to put the cat up on Jenna's chair, as you can see she is really hungry!

Bella is still scared of Santa Clause and this is the closes she would come and that's because I forced her. Jonas was quite embarrassed by her when we went to visit the Santa Claus at the grocery store. Jenna did great and was very amused!

I just wanted to throw in this funny story of Bella. She has done a lot better then I expected to adjusting to Jenna but their are occasional moments where she doesn't and one being this morning. When I had to go nurse Jenna before I put her down for a nap Bella started to cry and tell me that I can't feed Jenna. Then she told me "mom I need to go pee" so I told her she is a big girl you can go in and do it. Her reply was "No, I need you to come squeeze me, so I can pee." I laughed and then she got mad and ended up going pee. Then she said "Maylynn come wipe me now" It just sounded funny having her say my name instead of Mom. Usually she doesn't want me to help her go to the bathroom and especially when she is going number 2 she tells me to go away.

Venting

2008-12-16T21:32:00.001-08:00

I don't even know where to begin. I'm horrible at trying to put my feelings down on writing and to think when I was younger I wanted to be a writer, until I realized how bad I was at English, so sorry for all those English professors! The idiot that I am went and got umbilical hernia surgery last Monday, yea that's right in December. It wasn't anything major but I had to do it before the end of the year due to insurance purposes. I never had been put out before so I was horrified. Let's just say I hope I never have to do that again. A couple of days later Branon had to be gone all day for Basketball but lucky to some really good friends I was able to survive. Then of course the next I had to be fine because Bella was now sick. She was up all night Tuesday and Wednesday and by Thursday she couldn't stop crying. Finally I took her to the Doctor because I couldn't take in any longer. I'm not suppose to lift more then 20lbs but that was thrown out now. She ended up having a really bad ear infection. I asked the doctor if I could have that miracle shot for her because trying to shove medicine down her throat is impossible especially when she is sick. Lets just say by that night she was doing much better and she finally was sleeping through the night again.

So we got hit with a pretty bad Snow Storm Saturday, then Sunday was freezing cold, and then Monday we got hit with another bad snowstorm. I don't mind it so much if I didn't have to go out in it but since we don't have a garage it really sucks. I've been trying to quit drinking soda and I think I learned my lesson on Monday. I got four packs of soda since they were on sale but never got them out of my car. Monday morning when I went to go start the car in the front passenger seat and dashboard there was ice with coloring. Thought that's strange. Look back and it's all over the place because 4 cans had exploded. Still haven't cleaned it up because I've been so busy trying to catch up plus it's too DAMN cold to go out there.

Tonight I had to go to when of those dreadful work party's. Actually there usually not that bad but Branon's work is Celebrating their 20th year so they went all out. First, we had to dress up and normally we just wear whatever. Second, we had to listen to this guy give some speech of how it all started. I thought he would never end so it made the party go that much longer. You know when your at those Fast Sunday meetings and when the Bishop has to get up there to tell the person to wrap it up. Yea, I was wishing someone would do that to him. The plus side of it they had really good food.

Because of this one I've been able to survive the last couple of weeks. She is at the most amazing age and would love to be able to freeze it. She by far as been the easiest of the three at this age. She went to my friend Sarah's house when I got my surgery done. She has a boy that is just a few days older than her and he is crawling all over and I'm sure will be walking way before he is one. I think watching him move all over gave her inspiration to start moving so she now can do the army crawl. She is happy 99.9 percent of the time and loves to pull this face(above), which I get a crack out of. When I put her in her highchair she starts getting all excited and yelling at me because I'm not getting the food fast enough. She eats 3 times as much as Jonas and Bella ever did.

Jonas is a pretty good boy for the most part but when he wants to throw a tantrum he can throw one. Last night he wanted to go to his friends house and when I told him that he couldn't he starting yelling and hitting me(have no idea where he got that one from). He ended up in his room for like an hour because he wouldn't stop. Every time he came out he would start back up. Finally I told him that he needed to get his pajamas on and if he didn't stop he will go to bed without any dinner. Finally he stopped and was a very very good boy the rest of the night.

Now for this one she gives me a run for my money. As soon as Jonas stopped his tantrum she started hers. Who ever thinks 2 is bad I think 3 is way way worse(the age, not how many kids you have). This girl cries over everything especially when she doesn't get her way, or when Jenna is playing with something that she doesn't want her too. I'm pretty sure there are going to be some nasty fights in the future between those two but I'll try not to think about it and deal with the problem that I have now. When she isn't crying she is so happy and sweet. As you can see she loves to help me cook, hopefully she will turn out better than her mother. She is so fun to watch her play with her toys and how she talks to them, I really need to get it on camera. She also hates having her toys picked up. The other day I was putting some of her toys away so I can vacuum in her room and she came unglued because she wanted them out even though she wasn't playing with them. Like I said she cries over everything. Oh, did I mention Branon is gone Monday nights so he missed out on the fun.

Now that I have most of my venting off my shoulders I only have one more. The Saturday before my surgery we went the the community festival of trees. This was the second year they did it and last year was so much fun. They had tons of trees and seemed to be a lot of people for a small town. This year was a disappointment. They had like 5 trees but I guess that's what happens when you live in a small town. I would like to also know where they got their Santa. Doesn't Santa usually have the kids come sit on your lap? He wasn't the most friendly Santa I've seen. Yeah, Bella is finally not screaming her head off either but she also didn't sit on his lap, and as you can see is holding tight to me.

One thing good that happen over the couple of last weeks was that I got to go with some good friends to see "Twilight" for the second time. I know can you believe it they have a theater here, and they are already showing twilight. It's only a one screen theater but at least they have one. The first time I went and saw it with some of the same people but we had to drive 3 hours to see it opening day. Although I thought it was a real disappointment the first time I had a lot of fun talking and laughing with friends on the long drive. Second time thought it was much better, probably because I knew all the cheesy parts like "you Spider Monkey"!

Total opposites

2008-12-05T18:55:00.000-08:00

Jonas and Bella play really well together(for the most part) but that's probably the fact that they are two very opposite kids. I have no idea where Jenna will fit in the picture yet. I'm pretty sure I'll be lucky if the girls get along since Bella does freak out when Jenna rolls over to all her toys and starts grabbing. Here are some of the things that Jonas and Bella do that are totally opposite. Jonas screams when he has to go to school, Bella screams because she wants to go to school. Jonas hates going to bed, Bella goes to bed when she is tired. Jonas will brush is teeth, Bella cries when brushing her teeth. When I get mad Jonas gets mad back, Bella starts to cry "Mom to be angry" it's harder to get after Bella without her crying. The list could go on and on but I'm hoping Jenna will be something in between to make for my perfect child!

Today this one drove me insane. It started at 10 in the morning and lasted until Branon came home at 5. She got her backpack on and cried all day to have me take her to school. When I told her that she didn't have school today she cried even harder. So I didn't get nearly as much as I wanted done today.

So after all my cleaning and making sure everything was off the floor in the living room it didn't take much for few peanut M&M's to make it on the floor. She was on the floor rolling all around and before long Branon looks down and sees that she has chocolate all over her mouth. As you can see it made a huge mess. Not long after this picture was taken she threw up all her dinner plus two peanuts. Hopefully she will be okay!

Sick, Sick, Sick

2008-11-15T14:42:00.001-08:00

Really how many times can you get sick in 2 in half months. It all started on our anniversary and it seems like I'm sick every other week. This time it was probably due to the lack of sleep I got last weekend on my Scrap booking weekend with my friends. Plus all my kids have a runny nose which probably contributed to being sick this time. A month ago I got strep and for those that have not had it pray that you never get it. I had a fever and could not swallow, and luckily to the miracle shot I was better in a couple of days. I have a sore throat now and I hope I don't get strep again.

Last weekend we went to Olive Garden and got horrible service. My friend Heidi is not afraid to say how she fells and got a free dinner out of it, plus a gift certificate for our next scrap booking weekend. Jenna did pretty good but she is at that age that she grabs everything in sight. Jenna dumbed water all over my friend Amy(who is pictured below). I wished she would have slept in since I was the idiot that I was and stayed up until wee hours in the morning. Oh yea ask me how much I got done? None! However I did get my digital programs working again.

8 months and counting

2008-11-05T05:17:00.000-08:00

Jenna was 8 months on Monday, it feels like I just had her. Besides not sleeping through the night she has been are best baby, also best nursing baby too. By now I'm done and dried up but since the fact that she doesn't take a bottle very well I'll be going until she is one. She doesn't have any teeth so it's not too bad. Jonas and Bella didn't get teeth until they were one so we should be fine. She doesn't crawl yet but that doesn't stop her from going one side of the room to the other(she doesn't have very far to go since the room is so small). I can see the future from this picture. Jenna will be trying to take things from Bella, then Bella crying. I might actually have a tough one, that would be weird since the others cry over spilled milk. When Bella is throwing a tantrum, Jenna laughing, it makes Bella even more mad, and I'm with Jenna laughing. Oh can I tell you this time change is killing me. I hate when people say "I'm so excited for that extra hour of sleep." It's more like I get up an hour earlier so this morning I'm up at 5:30.

My friend says Jenna is one of the loudest babies she's seen. She really isn't that bad but when she is hungry or tired then that's when she gets loud. She never really cries is more of yelling and once feed then she is quiet, either she is playing or asleep.

We had activities yesterday and the girls new more then I did about the presidents. I'm sure they will be very disappointed when they wake up and find out that Obama won, because everyone of them wanted McCain to win. The reason why was because he wants school to be year round. I will support Obama but please don't make school year round because I'm with the girls I do not like it.

We had our first Snow storm yesterday and woke up to a couple of inches of snow on the ground. This is just the start of the long winters here. Last winter was brutal and I heard we are in for another one. Winter also means basketball season so hopefully I will be able to survive. For those that don't know Branon is an assistant coach for the High School Boys Basket Ball team, so he is gone a lot.

Trick or Treat

2008-11-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

For some reason I wasn't too excited about Halloween this year, but I'm not a huge holiday person either. I've been quite down this last week thinking a lot about my mom. I remember she used to love the Holidays and make them so much fun. Then when she died and my dad took over they became depressing. I remember one Halloween my dad offered us money NOT to go trick or treating. Now having kids I try to get into it more but I'm afraid I'm more like my dad, but I did get my kids costumes and we did do the Trunk or Treating. Then we went to one friends house and as you can see Jonas played on the toys. We couldn't do trick or treating since the houses are too far apart where we live.

Jenna did alright but as you can see she's not to thrilled.

I was trying to get a good picture of Bella but she said she had enough.

Olive hands and Pumpkin Carving

2008-10-29T22:25:00.000-07:00

When Jonas started putting olives on his hands it reminded me how much I loved to do that when I was his age, oh wait I still do. Of course what he does, Bella has to follow.
Here's Jenna watching us carve pumpkins. She was quite amused.

Yea we finally carved our pumpkins! We usually do it the night before but it looks like we are ahead of the schedule my a night. Plus this is Branon's first time being with us because he is usually out working. I thought it went much smoother with him there.

I have to share a story that has nothing to do with carving pumpkins but it comes up every time I'm carving pumpkins because it has to do with a pumpkin knife. When I was little my cousins lived down the street so we did a lot with them. I apparently got mad at my cousin Allison and when she tried to come get something from our backyard I got a pumpkin knife and told her that if she didn't get out I would hurt her. Okay I probably said kill instead of hurt but I would like to think I wasn't that mean. You wonder where Jonas gets his anger problems.

How do you burn soup?

2008-10-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you, tonight was a nightmare. That is a understatement. I've been doing activity day's for a year in half, and tonight will go down as the worse activity for me. We did a Daddy, Daughter activity. Since there are a lot of girls we have two groups; a younger, and older. Lately there are way more older than younger. I've been doing the older group. So the other ladies wanted to get together and do a activity together. All of us together there are 6 of us(leaders) and only me and another lady came. Two ended up sick, one ended up getting surgery, and the other was going to be out of town, so it was things that really they couldn't do anything about. It would have gone a lot smoother if I was not the idiot that I am, and burn the soup. The lady that got surgery made a nice big taco soup and all we had to do is warm it up. There were also two smaller soups but it wasn't about to feed 40 people. I accidentally put it on high and totally forgot about it and the next thing I know, totally burnt the bottom and made the whole soup gross. Luckily two ladies came from the primary presidency to help so we had to run to the store and get some Bear Creek soup and hurry and make it. Let's just say the other soup would have tasted a whole lot better, and we ended up starting 30 minutes late. There are other details that I can put in that made the night a disaster but I'll keep those to myself, plus I'm sure you already are bored of this story.

Horrible Mother

2008-10-20T20:49:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of my kids that my friend took. Branon was gone for the weekend and the weather was wonderful so we went out to take these cute pictures. Branon went up to Salt Lake to take two test for his licensee. He got home late last night and then left this morning and won't be home until late tonight. Let me tell you I miss him so much! I don't realize how much he does until he is gone. Saturday night all three of these kids kept me up and only got over 3 hours of sleep. I wish he was here so I could take my Sunday nap to make up for the lost of sleep. Although, while the girls slept, Jonas let me sleep for 30 minutes which is really good for him since he is so loud. I was waken up from him climbing on the counter to eat all the chocolate. No wonder why he is so hyper.

I know, I say too many times I'm a bad mother, but I know I do the best that I can. I obviously am not that bad because my kids do love me, plus they are the biggest mama kids that I know. But what I did today was just horrible, but thank goodness kids forget. When Jonas came home from school today I thought I would be good and do homework instead of doing it right before bedtime. Jenna had fallen asleep in the car so I put her in her room. She had awaken before I was done with Jonas. Bella thought she would be a great sister and go play with her. Well while in there I heard her cry but didn't think nothing of it. Then I didn't hear her anymore but Jenna started to cry so I thought she went into her room and play. When we were done doing homework I got on the phone. Jonas kept saying "Where is Bella, I can't find her." I ignored him for awhile. Then Jonas wouldn't stop so I thought I better go find her. I went into Jenna's room and in the closet I found Bella asleep in there. Jonas said, "Mom is she alive or dead?" Luckily she was alive still but I felt so bad that I never went and checked on her. She ended up sleeping for 3 hours and that is why my kids just barely went to bed.

Almost peace

2008-10-13T22:22:00.001-07:00

So I know Jonas is probably to old to be taking a bath with his younger sisters and he will probably kill me later for this picture but at least I'm not showing is boy part. Branon and I got a little break from the two older crazy/wild children last weekend. Jonas and Bella went to my brother Steve's house. While they were running around crazy and waking up early we were staying at this place in Northern Idaho. Actually this place was in Western Montana at a Bed and Breakfast but we only stayed one night and then we were at a lodge in Sandpoint. It was our first experience at a Bed and Breakfast and it would have been so much more relaxing if Jenna wasn't there, but she did remarkably well. I just wish she would sleep through the night.

Here is Branon and Jenna hanging out. There was a picture of her and me but somehow got erased. I forgot how life was so much easier with just one kid. Although I have to say I did miss Jonas and Bella. As much as they drive me crazy I do love being there mother.

We had an awesome time, things went so much better then I thought, but the last few hours of the trip was living hell. The airplane ride back was a nightmare. Due to the weather the turbulence was horrible and the last 20 minutes Jenna screamed her head off and there was nothing I could do about it. Then we just wanted to get our car and go pick up the kids and get home. Branon went to go pick it up while I sat with Jenna and our luggage. I thought wow he is taking a long time. Jenna is starting to scream and my patience is gone, so I called Branon wondering where the hell he is. He said the battery is dead. Great! The jumper thing that we have in our car is dead too and we have no jumper cables. Apparently nobody as them in their car either. Branon decides to come pick us up but then we got on the employee bus and took the detour and Branon at this point it livid so we get off the last stop and walk in the freezing cold. I was getting mad but I guess it saved a little time instead of going back and getting on a whole new bus. By the time we were suppose to be at my brother's house we finally found someone with jumper cables to get us up and running. We found the source of our problem and it was one of the kids left the light on in the back. So make sure all your car lights are off when you leave you car at the airport.

Roll, Fly, Roll

2008-10-06T19:38:00.000-07:00

Right now I'm staring at the ceiling, trying to relax and I count 10 flies. I probably have another 20 in the kitchen. I have to say that is one thing I don't like about living right next to cows. There seems to be a million flies. I probably have tons of them in my van because it only took me 3 hours to clean it out today. Yes I know I had one really really dirty van. If you look at the picture really carefully, way back in the kitchen by the window there is one of those fly stripes. Had no idea what they were until we lived here but you have to have one unless you want to be killing flies all day long. I think they are quite disgusting.

Jenna's first time to roll was back in the end of July but she would only roll onto her stomach and be okay for a minute and then start crying, she hates to be on her stomach. Finally the last few days she has been rolling over and over. Jonas was quite amused by it all. Doesn't take much to get him excited. I've decided my kids take after their parents and are quite lazy(laid back is what we like to call it). My kids have been a little behind on their milestones which is okay with me. I still have lots of time before I have to start chasing another child. I have a friend that had a boy a few days before Jenna and he is crawling everywhere and is starting to pull himself up, before long she will be chasing him around.

Sometimes I have no idea why I have a blog and write. Since first I'm a horrible writer, never has been my strong point. And second hardly anybody really reads it, at least it looks that way. So for those that do read I'm really sorry about my writing skills and grammar. My spelling would be worse if it wasn't for spell check.

Bruised Ears

2008-10-01T12:26:00.000-07:00

As much as Jonas can drive me up the wall he is so cute with Jenna as you can see here. He has had a really hard time with reading so I thought this was priceless.

I don't get many pictures with Bella and Jenna since Bella doesn't play with her that much.

For those that don't know Jonas he can say some pretty off the wall things that make you laugh, but I'm sure all kids are like that. Soon after I had Jenna and told him that I had to hurry home so I could feed her. He said, "Dad can feed her with his boobs." Yea, I wished it worked that way. Then later that day he had said, "When I get older, I'm going to feed the baby with my boobs." Then I had to explain the whole boys can't feed baby's and why. He seemed pretty amused by it all.

Well the last month I have been sick on and off but more on. I'm hoping that there is and end but I don't see one. Anyway my patience with my children are totally gone, and it doesn't help when Jenna only sleeps a couple of hours in a night and Jonas and Bella get up at 5 in the morning. Let's just say that night was living hell and hopefully we don't have another night like that. Last night Branon was gone at work and I had just had enough and wished I could snap my fingers and my kids be in their pajamas and in bed. Since it doesn't work that way I resorted to yelling at Jonas for not listening which is nothing new. I must have yelled a little louder than normal because he started to cry and said, "you bruised my ears."

Branon is looking at a job in Northern Idaho and I haven't yet decided how I fell about the whole thing. You ask Jonas and he doesn't want to move at all. You ask Bella and she says "I want to live at McDonald's." You can tell where she likes to go.

Trying to be like Martha

2008-09-24T20:54:00.000-07:00

This is me trying to be like Martha Stewart. I'll be honest cooking is not my best talent but I thought I would give it a try. It was a pampered chef recipe and it didn't look anything like the picture but it turned out pretty good. Of course anything with chocolate is good.

Jenna's starving so a Jiffy box had to do while she had to wait for the real food. I watch 3 other kids the same ages as mine. Yes, it feels like I have twins, so for those that have twins I have no idea how you do it 24/7. I can barely do it a few hours a day. This picture of Jenna looks so much like Branon to me. No one has said she looks like me. Most people say she looks like Jonas who everyone said he looked like Branon. My brother Eric told me when Jonas was little there is no Rawlings in him. You decide for yourself who Jenna looks like, but baby pictures she does look more like Jonas.

Bella's real 1st haircut

2008-09-22T19:52:00.000-07:00

Here's the before picture, also her first day of Preschool.

Yes I finally did bangs, even though most people told me not to. I just was never able to have her hair down because it was always in her face and it drove me crazy. Plus she takes after me when it comes to getting her hair done. As a little girl I had to go down the street to have my aunts to have my hair done, because I wouldn't let my mom or older sister do it. Also, Branon prefers it down.

I had to add this picture because I loved her expression.

Since I don't have a updated pictures of Jenna, here are a couple. You can see why I love her still when she wakes up at night and I'm so dead tired. She is so worth it. Bella has done quite well with Jenna even though I think there is some jealousy there since she never plays with her. I ask her if she loves Jenna and she says "no mommy, I love you." Until the other night she was making Jenna laugh so hard and ever since then Bella has been a little more into her. A good laugh was all Bella needed.

I will post more picture of the last month since I finally got our laptop back and can upload my picture now. Maybe I will be blogging more.

Mama's Kids

2008-09-14T20:36:00.000-07:00

So my two other kids are big time mama's kids, and it drives me crazy. I had hope that Jenna would not turn into one but at her 6 month check up she apparently made me think she will end up like the other 2. I think she was really smart and new what was coming, those horrible shots. When the doctor was looking her over she was crying and kept reaching for me. I really wish I could post a picture of her and the other kids, it's driving me crazy not having our laptop. Everyone says she looks like Jonas and she is also like Jonas off the charts when it comes to height. Her length is 28 inches, and weighed in at 16.14 lbs. Tall and skinny just like Jonas. She still doesn't sleep through the night which is driving me crazy. Up until her appointment she was waking up twice, but since then it's only once which isn't too bad. That was only a few days ago so I'm not counting on it. I have a friend that has a boy just a few days older then Jenna and he is rolling all over getting up on is knees and getting ready to crawl. Not Jenna, she is so laid back just watching the older kids run around but as no desire to join in. The only thing she does is roll and that is just once right onto her belly and after a few minutes she starts crying. I let her cry for awhile hoping that she can learn to roll back over but no luck yet.

To my Love ......

2008-09-01T20:46:00.000-07:00

I love you. I know that doesn't come as any big surprise and that I've told you a thousand times before... But our Anniversary seems like a good time to tell you just how much you mean to me.... I love you even on days when the sun doesn't shine and the supper burns and our nerves are on edge.... when it's easy and when it takes all the patience in the world. I still love you, no matter what... And of all the people in the world, you're the only one I'd ever want to share my life.

author unknown

So our nine year anniversary was on August 28 but I got really sick that day and I'm finally feeling better. I'm sorry that you can't see these pictures but I can get my point across. If you notice our wedding picture he has lots of hair and I think I would like to say I look thin. Now if you see the other picture of us you can see he doesn't have much hair and I'm not quite so thin. That picture was also taken 3 years ago so you would hate to see what we look like now. I can't upload my pictures to this computer or else I would love to post one. So that's what 3 kids and nine years can do to you so I hate to see what I will look like at my 20 years.

It feels like the last nine years have gone by pretty fast and then we think of everything we have gone through and it seems like a lifetime. I wouldn't not have chosen anyone different to go through these experiences with. The poem puts it better then I would. Because this is how I would put it. He puts up a lot from me, and I put up a lot from him, and that's why we make such an awesome couple. I'm looking so forward to the next nine years.

Fourth day of school

2008-08-26T22:18:00.000-07:00

So first day of school for Jonas was last Thursday but I am now finally blogging it. This picture was taken on the first day but he wouldn't look at me and told me that he didn't want is picture taken. I think he was pretty embarrassed. Next time I will have to take the picture before we go to school. He started kindergarten and he qualified for all day. I know I shouldn't be bragging about it since those are the kids that need extra help but let me tell you the house is very quite from 8 to 3, and I love it!

Never been so excited about poop

2008-08-25T15:54:00.000-07:00

So I've been working on potty training Bella for about a month now and it took a few days to get where she would go pee but she would not go poo I tried bribing her but that never worked. So today I finally told her if you don't go poo in the toilet the monster is going to come get you. It might not have been the best according to the toilet training books but I don't care because it WORKED. I was jumping up and down with excitement and screaming. Lets just hope that she continues to do that.

Note: the picture of Bella is over a year old but that's the most recent picture I have of her on this computer.

Zucchini for baby food?

2008-08-18T19:54:00.001-07:00

So if you have never planted a garden before make sure you never plant 8 zucchini plants unless you are willing to eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. I didn't realize that one plant produces 10+ zucchini's. We were gone to Lake Tahoe for a week and we came back to see a ton of huge zucchini's. I'll have to post later about my trip to Lake Tahoe because I like to show pictures since I fell like the picture tells the story. My laptop is broken, it's getting fix, and that is what I put all my pictures on. I have no clue how to put pictures on my desktop. Anyway back to zucchini's. I was eating them raw for dinner so Jonas wanted to try and of course what Jonas does Bella has to do. Only if I had my camera to show you their faces, let's just say you could tell they didn't like them. After Jonas had a bite he said "Mom, is this baby food?"

If you have any great recipes that require Zucchini or have a great way in cooking them please let me know.

Tribute to my Mother

2008-08-06T21:53:00.001-07:00

The young mother set her foot on the path of life. "Is this the long way?" she asked. And the guide said: "Yes, and the way is hard. And you will be old before you reach the end of it. But the end will be better than the beginning." But the young mother was happy, and she could not believe that anything could be better than these years. So she played with her children, and gathered flowers for them along the way, and bathed them in the clear streams; and the sun shone on them, and the young Mother cried, "Nothing will ever be lovelier than this." Then the night came, and the storm, and the path was dark, and the children shook with fear and cold, and the mother drew them close and covered them with her mantle, and the children said, "Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come." And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead, and the children climbed and grew weary, and the mother was weary. But at all times she said to the children, "A little patience and we are there." So the children climbed, and when they reached the top they said, "Mother, we would not have done it without you." And the mother, when she lay down at night looked up at the stars and said, "This is a better day than the last, for my children have learned fortitude in the face of hardness. Yesterday I gave them courage. Today, I have given them strength. And the next day came strange clouds which darkened the earth, clouds of war and hate and evil, and the children groped and stumbled, and the mother said: "Look up. Lift your eyes to the light." And the children looked and saw above the clouds an everlasting glory, and it guided them beyond the darkness. And that night the Mother said, "This is the best day of all, for I have shown my children God." And the days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years, and the Mother grew old and she was little and bent. But her children were tall and strong, and walked with courage. And when the way was rough, they lifted her, for she was as light as a feather; and at last they came to a hill, and beyond they could see a shining road and golden gates flung wide. And Mother said: "I have reached the end of my journey. And now I know the end is better than the beginning, for my children can walk alone, and their children after them. And the children said, "You will always walk with us, Mother, even when you have gone through the gates." And they stood and watched her as she went on alone, and the gates closed after her. And they said: "We cannot see her, but she is with us still. A mother like ours is more than a memory. She is a living presence."
Author Unknown

Wow time goes by fast, 19 years ago today my mother past away from cancer. I was nine years of age. My memories are fade but I know I had the best mom in the whole world. Even though she is gone she left a wonderful example that I hope that I can become like her. I know she is watching over me and I hope that I can make her proud.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

2008-07-29T06:54:00.000-07:00

Son like father. We went to a car show on Saturday Jonas got to be so lucky to sit in this little version of a old car. For those that don't know Branon's second love is old classic cars.

Happy Birthday Branon!! So this is a day late but for some reason the Internet was not working yesterday. We didn't get to celebrate yesterday since he is gone all day and all night on Monday's so we got to celebrate it on Sunday. We had some friends come over and have pie, ice cream, and I had to have my favorite strawberry shortcake. He got a tree and chocolate for his birthday so not a whole lot but I got him a i pod for fathers day. He complains that we have no trees so that's why I got him one for his birthday.

The pictures are suppose to be swithced around but I couldn't figure that out.

Depressing

2008-07-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

I talked to my sister today and she said my blogs name is so depressing. Sorry if you take it that way but let me tell you the reason behind the name. I live around all these over achievers, they cook, sew, scrapbook, decorating, and in my eyes there houses our spotless, but I guess when you live in a small town there is not a whole lot to do in the first place. I have no problem sitting down watching a show, surfing the Internet(you have to shop on the Internet since there are no stores around), and my favorite playing solitaire. Which I know aren't bad things but I probably do them a little more then I should. So that's were lazy comes from. Crazy is because I have 3 kids and if you are a mom I'm sure you understand that sometimes your kids can drive you crazy.

Potty Training

2008-07-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

I need some major help. Bella who turned 3 in June is the most stubborn girl. She knows how to go pee in the toilet but she refuses. I try to bribe her with candy, toys, and even a bike. She said she doesn't want a bike, I guess I was hoping that would work since that worked for Jonas. They say girls are a lot easier but I would like to differ with that. So what do I do with this stubborn girl???

FINALLY

2008-07-21T14:54:00.000-07:00

After a couple of friends have been telling me that I need to blog, I finally am here and doing it. Of course I needed some help to get it started since yea I'm not very smart when it comes to stuff like this. So thanks Vanessa! I really don't have much to write about because I feel like my live is not very exciting so therefore it just will be this boring blog. So you will have to stay in tune to see how boring my life really is. Here are my recent pictures of my kids that were taken last month, and thanks to my friend Subrina they turned out so cute.