Finally!!

The cover for Breaking Dawn is FINALLY here! I love it! Only 2 more months.......and what I have waited this long for will only take a couple days to read. I love the covers to all of Stephenie Meyer's books. Very creative and makes you want to know what is inside. I finished The Host a couple weeks ago and loved it. It was hard to get into at first, but ended up being great and I really hope she writes a sequel. I now like Melanie and Wanda as much as I like Edward and Bella! Oh, and being the dork that I am, I saw this a while back while reading The Host and happened to have my camera in the car.......


I just happened to be in front of a store that had a trailer park next door, and, there it was! My friend Heather who had not read the book yet thought I was being a little strange, but I am sure she thinks I am anyway! Well, after knowing me for what seems like 1/2 our lives she must be used to it by now, right Heather?
Anyway, not much has been going on around here lately except for A LOT of yardwork, and A LOT of playing outside. Why can't it be summer all year? And why can't summer officially start here in Utah? It seems like right when it starts to get warm, we have a cold, rainy day. I love being outside with the kids and having an excuse to not clean the house. =)
A couple quick things about the kids........Jake has decided he loves "superheros" now. A couple weeks ago he went to a "Batman" birthday party for his friend Jackson, and Jackson's mom made these capes for all the kids. He wears it non-stop, even to bed sometimes.

Kenzie and I took a quick trip to Dallas with my mom and my sister last week to see my Grandma. I only took a couple pics of sis, but I like this one even though it is a little blurry. She LOVED my Aunt and Uncle's porch swing and their porch door(that also swings). Kenzie loves anything that she can get her hands on, which, is anything. My neighbor Liz said the other day that one thing she has learned about Kenzie is that she is a very independent woman and very brave. I second to that! Liz said that after going to Jump On It, a place with lots of tramps and bounce houses. Sis scaled a gate there with her hands and toes - it was interesting. We need to get her into gymnastics.



Mike and Jake went to the Father and Sons outing for church a few weeks ago and had a great time. About 400 people were there! Jake enjoyed all the frogs down by good ol' Utah Lake. While they were gone, my friend Mackenzie and I had an all nighter scrapbooking and I mean all nighter. Like til 4:30am. I was out of commission for about 3 days after that. Yes, I know I am not 21 anymore!
I tried to get the kids together for a pic on Saturday morning, yes in their PJ's. I thought Sis might be better at photos than Jake, but lately not so much. When Jake sees the camera now he asks me to "Put it away Mom, please." Yea, nice face Kenzie. A couple funny things the kids did this week that I DID NOT teach them were.......
Jake told my friend Shelby that "All the water just came out of my pepe, is all gone now Shelby, all gone out of my pepe." Neither of us could talk for a few minutes we were laughing so hard.
Last night Kenzie decided to moon our next door neighbor washing his car. Now, if you know our sweet little girl this is not a surprise. The funny thing is, I wouldn't be surprised if she knew exactly what she was doing.

Summertime(kind of) and the Livin's Easy

We had lots of fun last Saturday. The weather was nice so I went to Depot and bought a bunch of new plants and flowers for the front yard. This also includes what I thought was a tree and after planting it found out it will be a "large shrub".(A large shrub in the front lawn ~ yea, interesting I know). Oh well, it probably won't grow out here anyway so I'll give it some time!
I have found that I LOVE working in the yard. Digging in the dirt and planting new things has become something I really enjoy and look forward to. So Mike did all the other yard work while I planted and the kids played. I recently took the kids to Toys R Us and let them pick out their first car so they played on those mostly all day. Jake got a 3-wheeled scooter and Kenzie got a Barbie bigwheel. Oh yea, they have turned into a big deal. Jake wants to ride the bigwheel and Sis loves the scooter. After a while it warmed up more so the kids got in their swimsuits and we turned on the ever so large owl-head sprinkler. Jake always talks about "running through the sprinklers" so we thought we'd give it a try. This is the scenario:

Intently watching the small sprinkler. Testing out the water drops.

Lounging....Tanning.....kind of watching the sprinkler.....just being a girl

Testing it out with an empty plant box. Kenzie enjoys filling various containers with various things all day long around the house.......food, toys, food, shoes, food, etc.

Running in circles around the sprinkler. I had to jump through the first time with him but we won't show those pictures. Believe me, you would rather see the kids do it.

Finally, a test run. Sis never did run through but she enjoyed watching from the sidelines.
And finally, is it ok to be jealous of my little sweet baby girl? She was born with great skin that tans well, like her grandma. Why didn't I get that from my mom?

My Obsession

So like many of you, I have an obsession with Stephenie Meyer books. I am not a big reader, though I would like to be, but I loved the Twilight series. I can't wait for Breaking Dawn to come out in August. I am excited to see what will happen in the book and what it will be like reuniting with Edward and Bella. So I found this picture which I love, but I do not love the Edward they chose. Everyone else looks somewhat like I pictured them, but not him. I pictured him much bigger with lighter hair. Alice looks exactly like I pictured her! So that is a little disappointing but still excited for the movie. My hubby is going to be home in a few minutes and we are going to Costco to pick up her latest, The Host. Though it is not from the Twilight series, I have heard good reviews and am just excited to be reading another of her books again. I know Mike thinks I am crazy, but I would hope he is used to that by now!
Most people put pics of their family on their blog title, but for now I will have to keep the picture of my Obsession!

Picnic in the Park and a Day with the Ducks

Daddy and his girlfriend
Jake actually looking at the camera(wearing Great Grandma's sweater!)

Mommy and Sis

'The other day was actually nice, so I packed up some lunch and took the kids to the park. I don't like the park in our neighborhood because the ends of the slides are so far off the ground, but this park a few blocks aways is great because the slides go all the way down. So it is easy for Kenzie to play on and I don't have to worry about her. She is our little dare devil so I have to keep a close eye on her at playgrounds. She loves them and will try anything. A little while after we got there the wind picked up(like it always does in Eagle Mtn) and it got a little cold, but like the kids care. I think I was the only one who noticed! They were both running around and never stopped for a minute so I am sure they were warm.
I am really excited for Jake for 2 reasons this past weeks. One, he actually ASKED me to take his picture. We were at the park and he said, "Mom, will you take my picture please?" I was so in shock he had to ask me again because I just stood there staring at him. Jake HATES pictures, as many of you know. Now he will say "Cheese!" and look at the camera. I guess he is growing up, but we'll see how long it lasts.
AND.......Jake has been peeing on the toilet about 3 times a day for the last 4 days or so. This also might be a phase, but hopefully one that sticks. We have just been encouraging him since we started(forever ago) and not pushing too hard for fear it would cause a bad experience and then he would never want to do it. I know it will come, it will just take time and I am trying so hard to have patience ~ something I didn't have much of before I had kids but have much more of now!
Tonight we went to Great Grandma Stone's house and made her dinner and fed the ducks. She has this great apartment that has a creek right out back where there are lots of ducks to feed. There is also a lake down the road where there are more ducks and fish that the kids love. Tonight we saw a mommy with 12 baby chicks. It was really cute to see the kids watch them. They love going to see Great Grandma for this reason but also she gives them treats mom doesn't have and she has a great toy box. More pics below.......





Kenzie inspecting her feet after her shoe came off. She has quite a collection of shoes. I guess I am living vicariously through my daughter. =)
Our little dare devil. She LOVES slides!
Great Grandma Stone and Jake