Birthday Girls

Today was McKenzie and Madisynn's Birthday. It was a great day, and I'm so glad it's over! =) McKenzie turned 5 and Madisynn turned 3. They are growing up so fast. I can't believe it!

McKenzie 5 years old. =)

Madisynn 3 years old. =)

So sweet!

Sorry about the bum crack, she always has one! LOL I love this picture though, it's so cute! I love my girls. =)

The girls were so excited that their birthday had finally arrived. They wanted their cake and presents, and this is what I had to listen to all day long. "Mom can I have my presents???" I got tired of repeating myself. The girls wanted to have another princess party this year. McKenzie Sleeping beauty, and Maddie Ariel. I decided to get creative this year with the cake. I made a princess castle cake. Here it is:

I thought it turned out pretty good. The girls liked it, and that's all that mattered!

Here are the girls blowing out the candles:

It was so fun singing happy birthday to them. The girls were singing happy birthday to themselves. It was funny, and very cute. It's one of their favorite songs to sing, so they are pros!

Then came time for presents, the most exciting part by far! They quickly forgot about the cake and were tearing into their presents. So here is some pictures of what they got:

Sleeping beauty and Ariel of course!

Here is one with the girls and my Mom:

She gave them these cute masks that they can decorate, some sidewalk chalk and sidewalk chalk paint, and some other crafty things to do. They loved it! We also gave them some water balloons, and squirt guns, and bubbles because we plan on being outside a lot this summer. We are tired of being cooped up in the house! So their was our day, no huge party or anything, we just kept it small and simple. Again I'm glad it's over, and I'm so ready for bed! Happy birthday to my 2 baby girls! =)

1 year

Well we have officially done it. We have made it 1 year in our house. I can't believe it!!! Buying a house was one of the most stressful things I have ever done. I really don't want to go through it again! LOL If we have too, then I will, but for now we are staying here. I love it here, love our neighbors, our ward. It's a great area! I'm looking forward to doing more in our home. We weren't able to afford to do anything really last year, but now that we got our taxes back we have done a little. The first thing that we did was buy a new fridge. I love it!!! This is the one we bought:I love that the freezer is on the bottom. I love black. I love the space in the fridge. So organized! I love the ice maker, and water dispenser too. Very convenient! It's beautiful!

The next thing we did was buy ceiling fans for our kitchen, and our bedroom. I love them! They give off so much more light then the lights we had before. Here is a picture of what they look like:So yes some nice additions to our home! Looking forward to doing more! =)

Bun in the oven

No I don't have a bun in the oven!!! LOL =) I went to a friends baby shower last week. She is having twins (Identical) Crazy! The invite said Casie has some buns in the oven etc etc etc. and for the party they had these:
Cute huh? I thought so! They smell so good too! Just thought I would share. =)

Those sneaky leprechauns!!!

Yes I'm posting our St. Paddies day a couple days late. oh well sue me! =) I was planning on getting up early to get things done, but I had a rough nights sleep and didn't get up as early as I wanted too. I finally dragged my butt out of bed at 7:40 or so and went to make Chocolate chip pancakes for the kiddos. I dyed the pancakes green. I wouldn't let the girls in the kitchen to see what I was doing. They were so curious! When it was time to eat the girls were so excited to see green pancakes, and even more excited when I poured milk into their cups and it turned green. I said "those sneaky leprechauns, look at what they did to your milk!!!" Then I said" it's St. Patrick's day today, the day when leprechauns come out, and you wear green, and try to find the leprechauns pots of gold." The girls were in awe! It was hard to get them to eat breakfast because they were so excited. We also bought the girls these St. Paddies day necklaces to wear because they don't have green shirts. We also drew 3 leaf clovers on there cute little cheeks. Here are the necklaces we bought:They light up too! SWEET!!!!
McKenzie went to school, and I was so excited for her to come home to see if leprechauns came to their classroom. Madisynn was so cute she kept asking where the pot of gold was, and she would use necklace as her flashlight to search for it. Too funny! When Kenzie came home she immediately went to her room to see if leprechauns came and messed up her room. Apparently leprechauns made a huge mess with the toys, and the chairs were on top of the tables. They left coins for all of the kids. How nice! She asked me if leprechauns came while she was gone. Nope I said, but let's keep our eyes open because they might be here again.
For lunch I made Ham and cheese sandwiches. I put green dye in the miracle whip, and spread it on the sandwiches. After I was done, I walked to the table to talk to the girls for a minute and then I turned back around and said oh my goodness look at what those leprechauns did to your food. They ran over and were amazed again. I put green dye in the cups and again and it dyed the water. They saw it come out clear, and then when they looked in their cups it was green. They were so excited again, and because so it was hard to get them to eat the food yet again.
So I had plans to mess up the toy room because kenzie was so set on the leprechauns doing that, so I decided the perfect time would be after I got ready. I let them play outside while I was doing that. When I was done I made sure they were still outside and went down to make a mess. Kenzie caught me... yikes! She scared me! She asked what did the leprechauns do? I was quick and said I was just going to come and get you to come and see what they did to your toy room. Kenzie then says those sneaky leprechauns! I said look closely they left something. She looks and sees the pennies on the floor. I told her to go get madisynn so they could gather them up together. So she did, and they had fun, and then kenzie goes up to her room to see if they came there yet. She was kind of disappointed that they hadn't gone there. I said you have all day, and maybe they just don't want to go in the bedroom.
She also kept saying maybe the leprechauns will mark all the rocks with X's to show where their pots of gold are. We have this book called the night before St. Patrick's day. At the end the kids catch a leprechaun and tell him to tell them where the pot of gold is and to tell the truth. The leprechaun says oh alright. He tells the kids to go in the backyard and it's under the rock with the X. So the kids go outside and see X's on every single rock in the backyard. The leprechaun gets away and says ha ha I tricked you, better luck next year! Happy St. Patrick's day! It's a cute book, and I think it's so cute that kenzie wanted that to happen. I didn't plan for that though so it didn't happen.
For our last hoorah for dinner I made a green jello salad, green mashed potatoes, and green beef stroganoff. When I was done, Matt came in and put the chairs on the table and came back out into the living room. We sat and talked for about 5 minutes, and then said let's eat. We let the girls go in first. It was so funny to see the reactions on their faces when they saw the chairs on the table. Both girls said those sneaky leprechauns! Look at what they did! We laugh, and take the chairs off the table. We got the glasses to fill with water. I quick got the dye when the girls weren't looking, and put it in the glasses. We filled the girls cups first and quick say look the leprechauns did it again! They both ran over to see the water coming out clear and then turning green again. Then I grabbed my cup, and Matt's cup put the dye in and forgot to hide the dye. Kenzie was really quick about it too. She saw it, and I think she thought it was a leprechaun. She asked what it was, and I was quick again and said oh it's a present for us. She didn't ask anymore questions....thank goodness! So Matt filled our cups and says oh my goodness look they did it too our water too! Again we hear those sneaky leprechauns. They keep jumping in our cups and turning our water green. We burst out laughing again!
All through dinner kenzie kept saying she was going to see a leprechaun. Matt finally says leprechauns will only let you see them when they want you too see them. Kenzie was like really??? We also said that it's night time now and the leprechauns are going back home, and that they wouldn't be back till next year. Kenzie asked why. We told her they only come once a year. She was sad, but I brought up the Easter bunny, and that got her mind off the leprechauns. It was a fun St. Patrick's day! The girls keep talking about the leprechauns. This morning at breakfast Madisynn says sneaky leprechauns. It was funny to hear her say it out of the blue. I'm so glad that we were able to pull it off. The girls aren't to the age where they figure things out quick. Kenzie had 2 opportunities to see that it was her parents that were doing everything and not the leprechauns. So we will just keep saying those sneaky leprechauns until they figure it out!

Followup

I just wanted to let everyone know how things are going with McKenzie, and Grandparents. In February McKenzie had her Kindergarten check up appointment, where they found blood in her urine. They thought it might be a possible UTI. The first came back negative, and so I kind of freaked out because blood in the urine is hereditary in Matt's family. I wanted to be sure. So the Doctor has us come in again to retest. They found blood again. The test came back negative again. The doctor wanted to do some more tests, so he has us go to Primary children's hospital to get Kenzies blood drawn, and do a urine sample, and a 24 hr. urine sample. Lovely. McKenzie did beautifully! She was so brave when getting her blood drawn, she barely even winced when they stuck her with the needle. She was all into it! Totally amazed!!! Such a better experience than what I had to go through with madisynn.
The 24 hr urine sample was easier than I thought it would be. Kenzie had fun, she thought that she had to pee in a cup for the rest of her life. Silly girl. When she was done with the 24 hr sample, she comes and says mom I have to potty and goes to get the cup. I hurry and stop her,, and say you don't have to use the cup anymore. She was disappointed, but she got over it pretty quick. So moving along the Doctor calls back a few days or more later to tell me the tests all came back normal, and that the next step was to do a renal ultrasound. She had the ultrasound on Friday and did great! The doctors that checked her said everything looked good, but to followup with McKenzie's Doctor. He called me back yesterday and said things are normal, but to schedule another appointment in 3 months to followup on everything. I'm so glad everything came back normal!!!
Last week I was able to go and visit my Grandpa Kotter, and my Grandpa and Grandma Zollinger. It was hard to see my Grandpa Kotter looking so frail, and hurting. I'm glad we were able to stop by for a little bit and help him get ready to go to a doctors appointment. I was able to make him some cookies my friend Shaina's Oatmeal butterscotch cookies. I hope he liked them. I know we did! Thanks Shaina for the recipe! Visiting my G & G Zollinger was really nice. We were there for almost an hr and a half! They spoiled the girls with there Bingo winnings! It was comforting to be able to go see in person how they were doing. I know they aren't doing great, but they are hanging in there.
My grandma is amazing you know she is hurting, but she never voices it. Grandpa every breath, you can tell he is hurting. He voices it more than grandma, but that's OK. My hat is off to anybody that has to go through that much pain, and be alive. Wow. I wish that we could have Gone to visit my Grandma Kotter in the hospital, but she wasn't ready for visitors at that time. She is ready for them now, and I want to go see her soon without the kiddos. She is doing remarkably well. I really didn't think she was going to make it through this whole ordeal. She is very lucky. I'm just sorry that she is in an incredible amount of pain still. Any kind of open surgery is very painful. I'm so glad she is here with us still! Thanks for your thoughts and comments. =)

chchchchanges

Lot's of change happening. Some good, some bad. I'm trying to deal. My Grandparents are not doing good at all. It makes me sad. Last week my Grandma Kotter was life flighted to a hospital here in the Salt lake area. She had serious complications from her earlier gall bladder surgery. She was not healing as expected. She had surgery and they determined that the intestine had been nicked during the Gall bladder surgery and extensive infection had resulted and part of her intestine was removed. It's very serious, and she has had a few surgeries over the past week. She has done well through it all from what I have heard. I don't know how long the recovery process is going to be. I'm sure it's going to be quite extensive.

My Grandpa Kotter isn't doing so swell either. When my Mom called and told me about my Grandma, I started to worry about my Grandpa as well. He hurt his back from overdoing it last October. He has been miserable. It's to the point where he can't even take care of himself. He has a hard time walking. I wanted to call him and see how he was doing, but I was scared to. I know that's silly, but you see he is hard of hearing, and he is very hard to understand when he talks. I love my Grandpa, and I really wanted to see how he was. I kept putting it off for a day, and then I talked to my Mom the next day and she says you really should call him. He would really love it. So I prayed for help, and called my Grandpa. It was a really great phone call. It was nice to tell him that I loved him and we were thinking about him and Grandma. My Mom went and saw him yesterday, and she said she couldn't believe how frail he looked. It's so sad. I hate it!

My Mom's parents are also not doing so great either. Grandma and Grandpa Zollinger. My Grandma had another mini stroke last week. I think this makes 2 that they know of. It has worn her out even more, from what my Mom says. My Grandpa is frail, and just not doing well. He is just in constant pain no matter what. He can hardly feed himself. He just doesn't have the strength. My Mom went to visit them too yesterday. They had a good visit.

I plan on going out this week and visiting all 4 of my Grandparents. I don't know how much longer they will be here on this earth. I have so many feelings about that. I want them here, but I don't want them to have suffer anymore. It makes my heart ache so much. I was in tears for most of last week. I just want them to know that I love them, even though It's been hard to get out there way to visit them.

More change....matt's schedule changed and not to something that we like. He is now working Thursday and Friday 10 p.m. - 7:30 a.m. and Saturday and Sunday 6 p.m. - 7 a.m. I just want a normal schedule. Is that asking too much? He is starting to look more seriously for another job. Maybe this schedule will be good for a little while so he can get out there more and see what's available. Job hunting sucks, especially these days. Enough said.

Last change that makes me sooooo happy. Look at this:

Spring is coming!!! I have Tulips growing! Yay!!! I came home on Thursday, and glanced at my flower bed and saw something green that wasn't there before. I got out of the car and went to see what it was. I was so happy I yelled to the girls to come and see. They were as pumped as I was about it! I'm looking forward to this change and doing more with our yard this year. Sorry if this post seemed negative, or depressing. I just have lot's of emotions going on about everything. I'm handling it though, so that's good, and that's what matters. I've just got to leave it in the lords hands and ask him to do his will. I love Family....they are Everything!

Sledding

Last Saturday we went to Evanston to my Brother Chris's house to go sledding. We did this last year and had a total blast. We figured since it was so much fun let's do it again. As the date got closer to go sledding Matt comes up to me and says "Karen do you think they have any snow?" I say " well if there isn't Chris or Sarah would have called to let us know. I'm sure it's all good!" So we left bright and early Saturday morning. As we get closer to Evanston I was thinking boy I hope they have some snow. Their was nothing! So we get to Chris and Sarah's house and see that they have snow in there yard, so it must be OK. We go inside, and start talking and Chris says, we almost called to tell you guys to plan on doing something else because of the slim pickings on snow. Matt and I just laughed! Luckily there was just enough snow to go sledding and have a great time!

This year was so different from last year. Last year was so windy and freezing cold that we only lasted about an hr. Plus there was way more snow to trudge through. This year we ended up taking our coats off because we got too hot. The wind wasn't even blowing. It was so nice! We ended up sledding close to 3 hrs. or so. Also Matt wanted to buy another sled to use. He went to walmart and bought one for $30. You think that is expensive for a sled, and yes it is, but it was worth every penny! Everyone wanted to use this sled. It was easy to steer, and got Lot's of speed! In fact I think I set the record on distance on that baby! Sweet!!! Here are pictures of our sledding day fun:

Kenzie with her 2 cousins Gabe, and McKell:

Kenzie again:
I was so proud of her this year. She really acted like a big girl, and sledded pretty much the whole time. Last year she went down 1 or 2 times, and didn't want anything to do with it after that. I think it helped to start on a smaller hill this time.

Matt's turn, this is the sled he bought:

He had so much fun! I'm surprised that he was so alert seeing as he hadn't even gone to bed. He was up for over 24 hrs!

Me giving Madisynn a push start:

Madisynn just cracks me up! She has no fear. She would lay down on the sled waiting for someone to push her down and just lay there waiting for someone to drag her back up the hill. A picture to prove it:
Then when she had enough sledding she would roll down the hill, or push herself down the hill on her back with her feet. It was hilarious!

Here is madisynn the snow alien climbing up the hill:

Picture of my Mom, Me, and my Sis in law Sarah just hang in out:

Everyone except for Sarah who was taking the picture. Thanks Sarah! :

One of all of the Grand kids except for 2 who happened to be sick, and Grandma:

And lastly Madisynn and Trace being pulled back to the parking lot at the end of the adventurous day:

The good life!!!

It was so much fun! Thanks Chris and Sarah for letting us come crash up your way, and spend the day with you! =)