You & Me

Ok Shaina, I'm copying you and posting this as well!
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.
Let's see whatcha got!

Cheer Camp, & a Funeral

I was really looking forward to this week, because I had something for my girls to do. Well to go back to the beginning. Father's day Sunday one of the girls in our ward comes up to me and asks if I would be interested in signing my girls up for cheer camp. So I didn't tell her yes right away because I had to go home and check the calender to make sure we weren't doing something else already. Well we were free, so I called her back and said sure I'll sign my girls up. It's a 3 day thing. Two of the days they they practice from 10-11, and the 3rd day they practice from 10-10:30 and then they perform from 10:30-11. $15 a piece and they get a shirt.
So Yesterday I woke up really excited, got the girls up and tried to get them excited about it as well. So we rushed out the door, and got to the high school right on time. Went and found the group they were supposed to be in. First off their were only about 6 cheerleaders in charge of our group of about 20. Kind of hard to teach that many 3-5 yr olds. So McKenzie just stood there twirling her pigtails, and playing with her tongue. I was so frustrated!!! Madisynn was doing more than she was. This was the first 10 min. Then Madisynn decided she didn't want anything more to do with it. So I went back down to the people in charge and got my money back for her. Come to find out the kids were supposed to be at least 3 to do this. The girl in my ward said oh any age can do this. Madisynn did pretty good for her age and attention span.
We then go back up to where McKenzie is, I give madisynn some pretzels, and try to cheer McKenzie on. McKenzie still wouldn't do anything. I told her to come to me and I asked her if she wanted to do this. She says yes, so I told her to get back over there and watch the cheerleaders and do what they do. Well we went through this process about 3 times, and then she starts to cry. I ask her why she is crying? She didn't answer so I said are you scared? She shook her head yes, and I said oh you don't need to worry because I'm right here, I won't leave. She wouldn't stop crying, so I asked her again do you want to do this? She said no. I said OK let's go. So I went and got a refund for McKenzie too. I didn't want to make my kids do something that they didn't want to do. I don't want to turn into one of those obsessive parents, and make my kids miserable. I really don't want my girls to be cheerleaders, but if they end up doing that fine. I do want them to be involved in something.
The part that makes me the maddest is that she was acting like a baby the whole time she was there. I'm not mad that she started crying. It's the standing there and not trying, and twirling her hair and doing things that a little baby would do. She has been doing this a lot, and it really concerns me. Baby talk, it drives me nuts when they are as old as they are. I don't know how to get her to stop. I've tried telling her I can't understand you when you talk like a baby. It works, but I just hate to sit there and say it all day long. She is a very smart bright girl, and I don't want her to be a baby. She is far from it. I want her to act her age. The other thing that made me mad too, was the second we got back into the car she asks if she can watch a movie. That really worries me that she doesn't want to try something new, and would rather watch a movie instead. I told her no, we're going to go home and play, read books, and do preschool. I don't want my kids to turn into couch potatoes, they need to be active, get the energy out so they sleep well. I let them watch 1 movie a day, and that's it. They get to watch some t.v. while I do their hair as well, so it's not like they're going without.
So I remembered the park and the free lunch and we went and did that instead of going home. We stayed there for almost 2 hrs. and then we left. The girls didn't want to leave, but I remembered I needed to go to walmart to buy Matt's cousin a bridal shower gift. I missed her shower this past weekend. So when we got into the car we guzzled a bunch of water, and left. Thank goodness walmart was only 5 min. away from where we were. So then we pull into the walmart parking lot, and McKenzie says Momma I think I'm going to puke. I was like please noooooo. So I hurried and parked and went to get McKenzie out of her car seat. I barely got her out, and she dry heaved and then puked all over the parking lot. Poor thing she puked so much! It was so sad. I think that the heat got to her, and that she guzzled to much water, and also the motion. She instantly felt better afterwards, and was fine the rest of the day. I'm so glad she didn't puke in the car or inside the store!!! I just feel bad people would have to see the puke in the parking lot, not much I could do about it though. Sorry people!!!
Matt's cousin Stephanie died this last Saturday. She just didn't wake up. I have no idea what happened. She was only 18 yrs. old. So sad, she had her whole life ahead of her. I have only met her twice, and the last time I went she still looked like a little girl. When we got to the viewing and walked through the door, the spirit was so strong. It was very hard to go in and look at her. She didn't look like herself, she looked like a young woman. I don't do well with funerals. I hate to see people so sad, and crying. It just brakes me heart every time. I especially don't really handle them well after going through it with my Dads funeral. That was one of the hardest things I've ever had to go through.
Moving along....Stephanie's parent's got a divorce, so she has her Mom (Matt's Aunt) her Dad and step mom. I think a lot of Stephanie's step Mom's side of the family are inactive and don't really have an understanding of the plan of salvation. It's very sad, if you don't have an understanding of that. I couldn't imagine not being able to see my Dad again, or any other part of my family that has passed on. How agonizing would that be??? It's just sad that they are no longer here in the physical sense. Stephanie is in a better place now, she won't have to be tried, or hurt, or go through awful things ever again. How lucky is she?! Stephanie seemed like an amazing girl from what people said about her. I wish that I could have known her better. I will get to know her someday, I can't wait for the day I get to see my loved ones again!

Hives, flowes, weeds, trees, paint, waterfun, & Karaoke.....a crazy weekend!

Remember when McKenzie got stung by a bee? Well I found the hive, and it's not a bee hive, it was a wasp hive. Yeah I didn't even think to look in the ends of the swing set, because for some reason I thought they were solid and not hollow. Whoops. So I had Matt do the dirty work, since he is the Man of the house! He got the wasp spray and sprayed the wasps nest. It says not to remove the hive for 24 hrs, so I thought well what a perfect time to take a picture. Oh yeah there was also a hive on the other side as well. Crazy! I'm so glad my baby wasn't stung multiple times. Guess what I have flowers blooming! Yay! I didn't kill something! It actually grew! Here are my pretty flowers:

I'm going to have to transplant later, and make them more spread out, and add other fun things to it too. So exciting!

So when we moved in to this house on the fence there was this ugly looking vine stuff which was brown because it was early spring. Any who this vine stuff is a flower, but it's basically a weed. It grows like a weed. We have already trimmed it twice, and I'm not talking a dinky trim, it was major. I'm sick and tired of it! so I finally caught site of my neighbor while he was outside one day, and I asked him if he was at all attached to this stuff. He said absolutely not, so I said do you mind if I get rid of it then. He was all for it! yay so the weekend of the 24th or sometime around that time frame we are getting rid of it. Here is what this stuff looks like:

This stuff was touching the ground on our side, and it's touching the ground on the other side, it continues to grow out and makes a huge mess everywhere. This is what we trimmed from our side of the fence last week:

The picture doesn't do it justice of how much we really trimmed off.

Here is a pictures of our front yard from the front doorway. Please excuse the dryness of the lawn, we are doing our best!

I wanted to get peoples opinions. I hate this pine tree, yes it creates good shade, but I hate pine trees in general. I like to be barefoot a lot on the grass and you can't really walk around to well when their are pine needles everywhere. So this is what I was thinking. I want to grow some trees along the front park strip, put another little tree in the left corner of the front yard by the driveway and when that grows to a good size tear out the pine tree and plant a globe willow in it's spot. So just want to know what you think, and what kind of trees should I plant in the places I said.

My Mom started painting her house this last weekend. I wasn't able to help out because Matt had worked and was sleeping, and he had to work this last Saturday. It was normally his day off, but they called him to see if he would fill in, because they were shorthanded. So getting back to the point I couldn't exactly take my girls over there with me while I painted because let's face it there would be nothing for them to do, and they would probably get into the paint and make a huge mess. So me being the good daughter and Sister that i am =) wanted to help in someway, so I talked to my sister and said I will watch your kids at my house so you can help Mom without worrying about your kids as well. They jumped at my offer, so my brilliant plan worked. This Saturday was crazy, but I'm glad I was able to help.
This is what we did to keep busy, so Matt could sleep as well. I forgot to stop recording, whoops!

So some fun game that Kaleb the oldest made up. The kids had a blast! They love playing together!

Here are fun pictures of them posing:

So we spent a good couple of hrs. or more outside. Then it just got to hot and we went in and watched a movie with popcorn. Fun Fun and more Fun!

Sunday we were just dragging. We didn't feel like doing anything. Matt had to work again, so no fun for Sunday night as a whole family. I was talking to my brother in law josh online and he said that they were going to see the fireworks at Weber state university. He then asked what are plans were, and I said a big fat nothing. How sad is that???? Well later I decided that the girls were going to have a karaoke night. I would do most of the singing of course, but the Kenzie and Maddie, loved watching. They ate their cracker Jacks, and watched me sing. Then when they were done eating the cracker jacks I dressed them up and let them hold the mikes and sing and dance the way they wanted to! It was a lot of fun, so the night wasn't a total depressing one.

Here are some fun pix and a video of the girls:

I was so ready for bed when we were done, but you know I had to have my alone time so I stayed up for another 45 minutes to sing in peace. We will have to do it again! It will be so nice when they both can read and follow the words on the screen! Then the party will really begin!

Update on our lovely car

So our car was finished today. Yay! I'm so glad. I have to say I guess it doesn't matter if we get crappy or nice cars, we always have major problems. So the above picture is the type of vehicle we own, which is a 2001 Acura MDX. It's a beautiful car, and we love it! We just always end up getting the Lemons. I'm just glad that we have someone we completely trust to fix our Lemon, and that would be my brother in law J. He's been so good to get us through this. and I'm proud to say I have not shed one tear over this, which is a major step for me. I usually don't handle things like this very well. So all through the day J was calling me to let me know the status of our car.

The first time he called me he says "k do you want the good news or the bad news?" I said "give me the bad news so we can get it over with." So this was the bad news. Now our rear AC is not working, just lovely. The good news was our AC is fixed and is working great!!!! That's a relief! J was testing the temp of the air as he was driving and talking to me. He said he was gauging the air at 45 degrees while driving, and when it was just idling about 50 degrees. So nice and cool. J wanted to know what we wanted to do about the rear AC. He said he would do some more research on it, and let me know and go from there. So later I get a call back from him and he told me a bunch of mumbo jumbo that I can't remember right now. Anyways he asked if we wanted a diagnostic done on it. I said "absolutely, let's find out why this sucker isn't working!" So that cost's an extra $75 on top of what has already been done.

Then I get a final call from J and he said the rear power transistor needs to be replaced. That will cost $125 for parts and labor. He suggested we wait to fix it. I quickly agreed! We were fine if we were getting some cold air. Then I asked what the total bill was. So here it is folks: $950.67. Nice. I told J "now I need to go puke. " He said "call the Acura dealership and ask them how much it would cost to put in a new AC compressor." I just laughed, and he said "no seriously it will make you feel better." so I said OK I will call and see. So I did and this is ridiculous. When I talked to a service guy he said it would cost anywhere from $1300-$1700 just for the part. Then he goes on to say we would also have to check to see if any lines or pumps were damaged as well and need replacement. and that would cost along with the compressor just for parts about $2800. When he told me all of this I had the biggest smile on my face! J was definitely right, it did make me feel a whole lot better to call and find out it was way more expensive to get the car fixed at the Acura dealership. Thanks J! =) So our total total with rental car added on top is $1182.85. It's still Sickening, but I'm glad we had the money to do this. The sad part though is we could have bought a second car for what we spent on repairs. I guess the second vehicle will have to wait until next year. Hurry up next year's Tax refund!!!

How in the world did the Pioneers do it????

K so I have been trying to save on our electric bill by not turning the AC on as much. I think we've done a marvelous job so far!!! I was talking to my Mom about it awhile ago, and she gave me an idea that she and my Dad tried when they were really poor, way before I was born. No they were not rich after I was born either if that was what you were thinking! Anyways their idea that worked for them was to open the windows to get a cross breeze, then get a fan and put it in one of the windows facing the outside. It's supposed to suck the air back into the house and create a great cross breeze and cool things down. Well I hadn't tried it since we talked about it, and I thought I would try it last night. When I went to bed it was about 86 degrees in the house. I had opened all the windows on the upstairs floor, and opened the kids' door so that we could get a cross breeze going. I went to bed at about 1 a.m. and tossed and turned until 3:30 a.m. I couldn't take it anymore, I was so hot and uncomfortable. I finally got up and shut all the windows and turned the AC on and set it to 78 degrees. I finally slept! Oh yeah when I went to turn the AC back on it was only 84 or 85 degrees. Crazy!!! I think I didn't have the fan high enough in the window to do anything. I'll have to put a box or something on the chair and then put the fan on top of that and then see what happens. So my thoughts turned to the pioneers. How in the world did they do it???? We have all of these things that help us to be more comfortable, and they really didn't. I'm so grateful for modern inventions! I'm grateful to have the option of turning on the AC if I just can't take it anymore, or a fan. The pioneers were just built to be able to handle what they had to go through. I know that I probably wouldn't have survived if I lived back then. I think that we should always be grateful for what we do have, because their is usually someone else who is worse off. So there are my random thoughts for today. What are your random thoughts for the day? =)

Work, School, Car repairs, Cleaning, & Moving.... My favorite things.

I'm totally exhausted!!! It has been such a long day today, I'm glad it's time for me to go to bed. Yeah so Matt's graveyard shift is killing me. I hate having to keep the kids quiet all the time so he can sleep. I feel bad when he wakes up dead tired, because he hasn't slept very well because I was yelling at the girls, or they were being noisy, etc, etc, etc,.... Anyways some good news: They moved Matt to the west valley branch to work, which means that it is only 10 min. away from us! Before he was driving about a half hr. or so to the Sandy branch. So yes he is closer, but he is still on graves. nuts =( We were really hoping to have him on days. Maybe it's for the best though. It will give me the chance to have our car during the day, so I can do things. I don't want to lose my sanity again, because I wasn't able to leave and go anywhere. I'm just grateful that he has a job, and that he can support us. It might not be the greatest job in the world, but hey it's getting us by for now! We just need to move on to the next step, and get some schooling behind us. I'm trying to get Matt to enroll in a trade school. I hope it will happen soon!
Today we took our car in to get the Air conditioner fixed. They said it would probably be a 2 day job to get it fixed. It is going to be so expensive to get this fixed. I'm going nuts just thinking about it. We rented a car, because we only have the 1 car, so we can add that to the expenses as well. Nice....please i hope they get it fixed quickly, and that nothing else will be wrong with our vehicle. I have to say that it was nice to get into an air conditioned car today after we dropped ours off to be fixed! I even got cold, but I wasn't about to complain. I was grateful for the cold air!
My Mom just recently bought a home that is about 6 minutes away from us. I'm so excited for her to be closer to us! This home that she bought was a foreclosure, so she bought the house as is. It's a beautiful house. It's about 5 years old, in pretty good condition. My mom wants to paint all the walls before she moves in, so today we cleaned house. A bunch of woman from my Mom's ward showed up to help. I'm so glad they did because it would have just been me and my mom. Nothing wrong with that, but it would have just taken us forever to deep clean everything. We started cleaning at 6:00 p,m. and didn't get done until almost 9:30 p.m. We are exhausted. Man I have a hard time cleaning other peoples dirt, especially people that I don't know! I cleaned the bathroom, which was not bad. I just kept getting a lot of hair, and it was making me gag! Yuck!!! I'm glad that it's all cleaned, now just needs to be painted, and then we can move my mom in.
So this better be the last time someone in the family moves for a very long time, because we are all sick of packing, and unpacking, cleaning, and cleaning. My family just loves to play Musical Houses! Lot's of fun, want to play???? =) Anyways I'm just grateful that things are coming to an end in many things. It feels good to be able to move on, and get past things! Life always goes on, we just need to go with it. I'm trying so hard, it's exhausting but good. So that was my day, I'm definitely glad it's over. =)

Preschool

So I enrolled McKenzie in Preschool yesterday. McKenzie is so excited to be able to go to school! She really needs this, and it will be good for her to learn from someone else other than Matt and I. It will also be good for me too. I know it will help wean her away from me when she goes to Kindergarten. McKenzie's preschool teacher has been teaching preschool for almost 8 years now, and she was a prior school teacher before she had her own kids. I know she will do a good job teaching McKenzie! McKenzie loved the house and the backyard, and did not want to leave when I said we had to leave. School starts September 2, it will be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 A.M. to Noon. Miss Brandy is McKenzie's teacher also does field trips once a month. I really like her setup! The kids will have a blast, and will learn so much! Today McKenzie asked if she was going to preschool, and I said nope, she said why? I said because it doesn't start until September. I then counted the days on the calender and told her she had 52 days left or something like that until school started. She was like oh.... I did buy her some preschool learning books that we could do together. She really likes them a lot!!!! Oh a couple of other nice things too are first 6 girls will be in Kenzie's class so she will finally have some little girl friends to play with. She has always had boys, and there is nothing wrong with that, but it will be nice to switch it up a little bit. Second nice thing is that she already has a friend from sunbeams going to the same preschool, her name is Makayla. Maybe we can carpool too. I need to talk to her mom to see if she wants too. That would be so nice! yay we are excited!