It was bound to happen

It was bound to happen sooner or later. When you're first time parent sometimes bodily functions of your children can embarrass you. When it's the second time around it's just plain funny. We were sitting in church and of course we were in the middle of passing the sacrament (I think kids plan for times like these) when all of a sudden an eruption like no other echoed and I mean echoed throughout the chapel. I think every kid within a mile radius turned their head and from what I can remember a few parents just smiled probably glad that it wasn't their kid or reminiscing about when that happen to them. Matt was holding Macey and Maryn yelled, "Macey had a blow out!" With Maryn if you don't validate her responses right away she just keeps repeating them over and over again until you give her some sort of approval that you heard her. Mind you we're in the middle of sacrament so she kept repeating that phrase over and over again...quite loudly in fact. I looked over at Macey and she was expressionless like what just happened why is everyone looking at me. Ah the innocence of a baby!

Ode to Mr. Potato

Oh Mr. Potato scrubber why can’t you see
Your eyes have seemed to escaped thee
If only I knew where your eyes popped out
We’d be able to replace them without any doubt
Are you still functional, can you still do the task
These and so many other questions I have to ask
Still you stand there so proud with a smile

Holding no contempt, having no guile

Even though your eyes are rightfully now gone

Mr. Potato your scrubbing legacy lives on

HE'S HEALED!!! Nothing a little super glue can't fix!! I really need to get a life...I think I'm losing it (LOL)!

Double Header

During an engaging game of "Go Fish" and "Old Maid"


So Maryn came up with two funnies yesterday. One I'm wishing the person next to me in the market would've heard because it struck me as really funny.

First, we were driving to the "cookie store" (Macey's Supermarket) and just previous to that we were practicing her reading before we left on the computer except the blasted internet connection kept crashing. In the car Miss Maryn said, "Mom, we're gonna have to put some elbow grease into it."

HUH??? Elbow grease into what???

We're gonna have to put some monkey elbow grease into the computer so it will work again.

AHHH!!! I understand now.

Then we got to the store and first stop go to the deli to get her a cookie. Ten steps down the aisle and she said, "These cookies are much better than yours Mom." Me hearing what I wanted to hear said, "Oh you like my cookies better...(Maryn)no, no, no Mom I like these cookies much better."

I know my punctuation is wrong but OH WELL! At least you get the drift!

Don't forget to eat your veggies

In the past few months I've had to make some changes in my life yet again and one of being the food I consume...still working on coping with the stress part. My body has always been whacky when it comes to food but this time it's an effort of trying to eat the right foods to help something not working in my body work better. I'm a border line natural health nut but love my goodies too! Anyway...I had a list of foods that were supposed to be helpful and half of them I've never even tried before. What the heck lets try them all...ya only live once, might as well try everything. A lot of them are veggies. And might I say Brussel Sprouts are not as bad as people make them out to be. Sure I added brown sugar to the veggie mixture then simmered it in chicken broth but on their own they taste and smell like Broccoli minus the little green things that get stuck in your teeth. So why this mental block to Brussel Sprouts all these years? I think maybe my tastes are changing as I grow older because I used to not like Lasagna but then my sister made it for me and my view of that changed. My eyes have been opened. Try something new this week you may find that you actually like it.

Bed Buddies

Yesterday Matt woke me up in the morning and asked me if I knew where my daughter was. I said no of course because I was sleeping. He told me to look in Macey's crib. I jumped out of bed and ran in her room and low and behold this is what I found.

My first initial thought was to get mad but then I saw the look on Macey's face and that thought kind of faded. So, instead of getting mad I just snapped some pictures for posterity. Macey will never have to doubt how much her sister loves her.

Snow Party

Look at this rugged Hottie!!! Sorry girls he's taken.

I'm a little sad because I didn't get a lot of pictures from Maryn's Birthday Snow Party but then again Matt videotaped the whole party inside so at least we have something. For Maryn's 4th birthday we had a snow themed party. Matt was pretty dead set against having anything princess or character type themes so I had to become creative. I decided on a snow party. On the side of our house we have this nice little sledding run perfect for kids...the only problem was it had been sunny all week and the snow was rapidly melting. Don't laugh but all week I was praying for snow so she could have a special day and the night before her party there was about 5 inches of fresh snow that dumped. That morning couldn't have been more perfect. The sun was shining and the air was crisp. We had 7 kids eventually show up.

The first hour we sledded and thank you to all the parents who helped out. I couldn't have done this alone. My friend's husband was there and he was a lifesaver. He packed all the snow at the bottom to make a bank for the kids so they wouldn't run into the fence. Imagine little girls squealing down the hill on their sleds. It was so hilarious. We had 3 to 4 foot snow drifts in the back and some of the kids would get lost when they went to play in the snow. Maryn's little friend Porter(the only boy...lucky him) was there and he was practically swimming through the snow.

After about an hour they were cold and came in for hot chocolate. After they warmed themselves up they played pin the carrot on the snowman. Four of the Kids put the carrot in the same spot and I know they couldn't see. What are the odds of that? I asked them what was missing on the snowman and they all yelled at his nose. Then I asked what we should name him and they all yelled Frosty.

I had a little cake but instead of having cake for all the kids I had them make their own personal snowman cupcakes. They had marshmallows, licorice rope, gumdrops, gummy lifesavers, mini chocolate chips and pretzels to decorate. They turned out really cute. We sang happy birthday to Maryn and on the way over I accidentally blew out her candles. Thank goodness the lighting stick was close by so I hurried and re lit them only to have Maryn blow them out before everyone could finish the song. Might have to explain the wish thing to her.

People were more than gracious to bring presents. Matt and I always feel a little weird about receiving gifts but this was Maryn's party and she was super excited. I think she got more for her party than she got for Christmas. What's up with that Santa?!?!

Maryn was exhausted after her party. She could barely hold her head up. Matt popped in a movie that Maryn got for her birthday and she fell asleep but Matt kept watching the Barbie movie. I told him we had to go somewhere and he didn't want to leave because he was really getting into the movie. It's a good thing Matt doesn't mind having all girls.

FHE Faux Pas

Last week for Family Home Evening I got a lesson ready regarding Obedience because the obey/respect factor has been non-existant with our child. Repetition is the best teacher so we keep teaching this lesson over and over and over again. I had a little video clip to show so we were all gathered upstairs to view the clip. After the cartoon clip of Esther from the Living Scriptures was over Matt was trying to get Maryn to guess what we were going to talk about and she said I don't know? So Daddy started to give a hint O-o-o-o-o. Then all of a sudden Maryn shouts out OBAMA. Matt's jaw hit the floor and he was speechless. My husband is a very political guy(I'll just say more on the conservative end) so it was funny to see Matt's reaction.

Pure Genius

My brother is a genius. For Christmas my family exchanged gifts and my sister in law and brother got Matt this game for the family to play "games" at the dinner table with your kids. Majority of the games is to help them to eat. Now why didn't I think of this??? Usually Maryn is a great eater but today she was fighting me and one of my goals this year was to try resolve problems without losing it. She has a way of testing me to my breaking point. Soooo...she wouldn't eat and bribery wouldn't even work this time. I broke open the box of the dinner table game and quickly went through the cards and found one about picking numbers. So I adjusted it to Maryn's needs and told her we were going to play a game. I keep having to remind myself everything is a game to a 4 year old. I let her know in this game I'm going to pick a number 1 through 10 and wrote them down on a piece of paper so she could visually see it. If she got the number wrong she would have to take 1 bite of her sandwich but if she was right then it would be my turn to guess the number. So this went on for 30 minutes and a half eaten sandwich later I was more than satisfied everything she ate. She started losing interest and I was starving so I ate the rest of my sandwich. I'm excited to maybe have another family come over and try some of these dinner table games out. Who said it was wrong to play with your food. If it means my children eating I'm all for it.

Happy Birthday Maryn!

Maryn Elizabeth was born January 3, 2005. She has literally an odd birthday 1-3-05. Maryn is finally four and I just wanted to tell you what makes my baby girl special. One distinct feature of Maryn is that she has always had a very full head of hair. Since she was little has always been very smart. At 4 and 5 months she could repeat and copy words that we would say. She has always had a smile on her face and always asks if we are happy. That is important to her. She's is very aware of how people are feeling around her. Maryn has the ability to make friends wherever she goes. She loves to learn and has such an understanding about the things around her and if it doesn't make sense she'll ask. She loves the outdoors and loves her bike. During the summer she learned to love camping and hiking. Maryn is a definite talker and has the gift of gab. She has an amazing memory and never forgets a thing you tell her. She will tell you in detail events that happened to her when she was 2 years old. Maryn loves to be Matt's right hand girl and will follow him wherever he is. If Daddy has a screwdriver Maryn has to have one too. Maryn loves to sing and has a sweet voice and she's on tune. Her favorite princess is Ariel. She has a special place in her heart for Macey and loves her little sister. She has a very strong will and sense of being. She's a girl who knows what she wants and has a very competitive spirit. She cracks us up with all her little sayings and the way she views the world. We love you Maryn and glad that you came to our family!!! Here are a few pictures of Maryn over the years.