Memorial Day...

Happy Memorial Day! I love this day... no its not because its a day off from work and school but for me it represents family and friends and more importantly freedom. I am soooo grateful for all the brave soldiers that have fought throughout history to ensure freedom in this wonderful country. We are truly blessed. So to all those that have sacrificed their time and especially their lives to serve the U.S. I say thank you.

Five crowns...

I have a love/hate relationship with the game five crowns. I love it because you don't have to think too hard to play. No thinking=great conversation. BUT I have the worst luck when I play this game. Seriously, every time I play Five Crowns I lose and not just by a little bit. -ugh- I was trying to explain this phenomenon at game night the other night and no one believed me--until we started playing...

ya, I lost again.

oral report....

Nicole did her first official oral report in school and she did a GREAT job!

(the inspiration for her report....our poison dart frogs)
We didn't bring the mom and dad frogs because their terrarium is so stinkin' heavy with all of the live plants and the waterfall, however we did bring the aquarium with the four baby frogs. The class was so excited, especially when Greg fed the frogs some fruit flies.

I am so proud of all of the hard work and studying she did to prepare for the big day. You wouldn't think a report would make me so sentimental but I can remember doing MY reports in elementary and all I could think of is my little girl is growing up. Wow how time flies.

Watermelon...

I love watermelon!

We bought our first watermelon of the season the other day... I walked around Costco for a good half of an hour debating whether or not a watermelon this early in the season would be juicy enough, sweet enough, for the $5 I was paying for it. (seriously, $5!) We were not disappointed.

I've been tagged (again)...

How To Play This Game of Tag: Post these rules on you blog. List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

JOYS:
1. Spending time with my kids and my wonderful husband, laughing and having fun.

2. Alone time. Especially when Greg takes the girls for a couple of hours and I have the house to myself. ;) *and yes, I know this pretty much contradicts the joy that I stated above.

3. When my kids tell the truth even if they might get in trouble.

FEARS:
1. That my family won't have any clean underwear because I haven't done laundry for over a week...

2. Stairs. I HATE it when kids play around stairs, it gets me so nervous!

3. Not being prepared.

GOALS:
1. Finish reading the Book of Mormon w/ Nicole by August 2, 2008.

2. Lose a ba-gillion pounds by August 23rd... (ten year high school reunion-YIKES!)

3. Be more patient and understanding with my kids and hubby.

CURRENT OBSESSIONS/ COLLECTIONS
1. Maggie Moos' Mango Sorbet w/ Strawberries...you so need to try this!

2. Pixel Junk Monsters a.k.a. the PS3 game that Greg and I will sacrifice way too much sleep for just so we can successfully move on to the next level.

3. Jane Austen movies-I really should read her books....

RANDOM FACTS
1. I sing with my "crazy" voice on the top of my lungs when I am driving alone in my car...kind of embarrassing if I forget to roll up my window though.

2. I've decided that I am going to learn Dutch. I don't know when but I figure that I should probably learn how to say my last name correctly sometime before I die :)

3. I like talk radio......more than music stations usually. I am sure that my kids are going to groan at me about it just like I used to groan to my dad about it when I was a teenager.

WHO I'M TAGGING:
1. Heather
2. Caron
3. Mandy

My five year old . . .

It's official, Kaydee turned five yesterday. I have mixed feelings about this-- five is the age that kids go to kindergarten, five is the age where the whole independent thinking really takes off, five is the first step in growing up. Ahhh! I kept asking her if it was okay if she stayed four for at least another year.... she didn't like the idea... go figure.

A little about Kaydee .... she is full of spunk and surprises and she definitely keeps us on our toes. She loves 1 on 1 attention and she has such a sense of humor! (just take a peek over to the side column). Kaydee is also very creative in her thinking, in her art and especially in what she chooses to wear :) She loves doing "grown up" things like getting the mail and vacuuming the floors and "babysitting" Natalie when I'm cleaning the house. She thinks of others often and can be such a peacemaker at times!

Kaydee's favorites . . .
food: ice cream, cake and pizza
color: all of them, except black because black doesn't show up on black paper :P
movie: Robin Hood and all of the Barbie movies
date w/ mom: ice skating
date w/ dad: going to the movies
book: the Scriptures (and no I didn't prompt her on this one) and Up Up Down by Robert Munsch
sport: riding her bike
toy: Barbies and little pet shop diary

Kaydee's b-day cake, the girl that is always wearing skirts wanted a race track cake . . .

I sure love ya, Kaydee!

John Pinette...

I love this guy. I was first introduced to him in Vegas while visiting Greg's brother (Scott) and sister-in-law (Dana). He is HILARIOUS!