These Boots Weren't Made For Walking

Before Katie was even born, Michael found these darling brown boots on sale and got them for her to wear when she grew into them. Katie is finally the right size, but unfortunately, the boots are not. While they're technically a size 5, the makers of these boots apparently failed to take in the measurements of a child's calf that would fit into a size 5 boot! Katie really wanted to wear these today, and it was quite a process to get them on. Once on, the poor little thing could hardly walk. She was walking around, holding onto the wall for support, but still trying to rock her new boots. She wore them for about as long as it took me to take these pictures (since this will probably be the one and only time she wears them) and then when I asked her if I should take them off, she looked sad and said, "yeah". It's ironic that she can walk better in these:

than she can in these:

She's already learning the sad, girlie truth: beauty can be a real pain. Oh, and I got my hair cut too - I love it!

Katie-rella

Well, the time has come, and Katie is finally ready to be put to work around here. No more free-loading for this little girl, oh no, she's earning her keep! She's started to become very interested in helping me out with the household chores, and I'm not complaining! She's really good about putting the things she gets out away again....although sometimes, it is really tempting to pull it back out again a second later. Yesterday, she decided she was ready to take on laundry. I gave her a basket, and told her to take all the dry things out of the dryer and put them in the basket. They went back and forth between the dryer and the basket about three times, I think, but in the end, the job was done. I am very happy with my new little helper.

"Let's get to work Mom!"

Congrats Kevin!

We are so excited! My brother Kevin has been called to serve as a missionary for our church in the Brasil Salvador Mission. Congratulations Kev (or should we say, para bens!) We are so proud of you and excited for all of the fabulous experiences you have ahead of you. WE LOVE YOU!




p.s. sorry I cried like a baby on the phone when you read you were going to Brasil...

At Last

Finally, after a lot of issues, I have been able to really start digi-scrappin' up a storm. (If anyone with Windows Vista ever has problems extracting their zip files after downloading another program like Photoshop or something, go here. It finally solved my complicated problem that NO ONE could solve in the customer service departments of Adobe, Microsoft, and HP. It also made me realize that I actually have no idea how computers really work!) Anyway, I'm having so much fun! Here's a few:

Funny

We've all seen those standard motivational posters hanging around, but after several really really frustrating so-called "customer service" experiences lately, this rang true to me:

These also made me laugh:

See more here.

And One More Time...

Another Test...

Testing Testing 123

Tagged...Part Deux

This one is so funny!

1. My Rockstar Name (first pet, current car):"Peewee Sunfire" ha!

2. My Gangsta Name (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite shoe):"Phish Food Flats"

3. My Native American Name (favorite color, favorite animal):"Blue Monkey"

4. My Soap Opera Name (middle name, city where you were born):"Elizabeth Salt Lake"

5. My Star Wars Name (first 3 letters of last name, first 2 of your first):"Durka" ...sounds about right!

6. My Super Hero Name (second favorite color, favorite drink):"Red Lemonade" yuck

7. My nascar Name (first names of your grandfathers):"Jacob Arthur" now that's pretty cool :)

8. My Stripper Name (favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy):"Cool Water Starbursts" Oh my!

9. My TV weather anchor name (5th grade teacher, city that begins with same letter):"Faulkner Fresno"

10. My Spy Name (favorite season/holiday, favorite flower):"Christmas Calalily"

11. My cartoon name (favorite fruit, article of clothing you are wearing now):"Mango Track pants"...not to be confused with Sponge Bob....

12. My Hippie Name (what you ate for breakfast, favorite tree):"Fruit Oak"

Photo via Black Swan Archives on Flickr

I've Been Tagged

Okay, I've never actually been tagged, and now I'm "It" twice over! I kind of like to read everyone else's answers to these, so I thought I'd give it a go.

A--attached or single? Oh so attached! Lucky, lucky me.

B--best friend? Michael

C--cake or pie? Cake - pie is gross.

D--day of choice? Friday

E--essential item? lip stuff - no one likes gross chappy lips, and if it smells good, that's a bonus.

F--favorite color? blue...no, pink...no, red....

G--gummy bears or worms? Bears - Muddy Bears- since chocolate must be thrown in with everything possible.

H--hometown? Provo, Utah baby!

I--indulgence(s)? Chocolate

J--january or july? July

K--kids? Oh yeah...in case you haven't heard, I'm a baby-making machine - Katie and Olivia...so far!

L--life is incomplete without: Michael and our girlie babes

M--marriage date? August 9th, 2005

N--number of siblings? 1 sister, 3 brothers

O--oranges or apples? Oranges...if someone peels it for me. I'm lazy like that.

P--phobias or fears? Don't get me started!

Q--quotes? "Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart." Erma Bombeck

R--reason to smile? Family, friends, the gospel, music, fresh magazines, new books to read, have I already mentioned chocolate??

S--season of choice? Fall and Spring - I love the "transition" seasons

T--tag 5 friends: I think everyone I know has done this or something similar already!

U--unknown fact about me? I hate the phone. Or maybe not so unknown? I inherited this great dislike from my mother. But, really, I need to get over it because it has made me a terrible friend 'cause I never call anyone. It's not you, it's me :-/

V--very favorite stores? Target, Anthropologie, Ross, TJ Maxx, American Eagle, Target, Bath&Body Works, Michael's, Sephora, CostCo, Borders, Barnes & Noble, any scrapbooking store, Nordstrom Rack, Target. I like to shop.

W--worst habit? Humming when I'm concentrating on something. Seriously, it's obnoxious, but I've done it since I was small and I can't ditch it.

X--x-ray or ultrasound? Ultrasounds for sure

Y--your favorite food? Any form of potato: mashed and fries especially.

Z-- zodiac sign: Gemini. Though why I know this is beyond me since I don't think that stuff means anything!

So It Begins

I know that at some point, every parent ends up seeing themselves copied back to them by their children. I just didn't expect it to be so soon! Sometimes, when Katie is doing something she's not supposed to, I add some extra emphasis to my "No no Katie" by shaking my finger at her. Usually, it's when I'm stuck on the couch nursing Livs and I guess it makes me feel like I'm giving the no extra emphasis by wagging my index finger at her or something. Anyway, two days ago, Michael did something Katie wasn't pleased about (don't recall what) and she turned and said,"No no ....no no" while wagging her little finger at him like a pro. It took me back a little to see her copy me so exactly and we had a good laugh over it. What can I say? She's my own personal "mini me".

Pooltime

It finally feels like summer around here!

Another fun Etsy find

Such cute little prints here. So adorable!

What Do You Do in the Summertime?

This is an awesome list of things to do with your kids during the summer time. I saved it and can't wait to go down the list with the girls when they're old enough! I especially love the flip-flop decorating idea, and the fairy village pics were awesome! Lots of food ideas which are always a good thing, and lots of reading in there too, which I love and hope my girls will love too!

Kubota Gardens

We went and walked around the Kubota Gardens yesterday and enjoyed a rare day of sun!! Katie only bit the dust twice in her exuberance to get out and run around, and Livs just passed out on my shoulder by the end - good day.

Father's Day 2008

Today, I am so thankful to have so many wonderful fathers in my life to celebrate. I have so much love and appreciation for my own father and my father-in-law. They have done and continue to do so much for us and they mean the world to me. I love my Heavenly Father and for how aware he has been of me lately and for the sweet, quiet ways that he has shown me his awareness, comfort, protection, and tender love. And I am so grateful that my girls have such a wonderful man to call daddy. He amazes me and I love to sit back and watch him play with Katie and Olivia and see the adoration and love that they all have for each other. Those girls adore their dad, and it shows in their eyes. Thank heaven for good fathers.

I was so excited to give Michael his Father's Day present, that I ended up giving it to him early! Oops. But, he loved it and it was a fun surprise. I posted all about it on our family blog here.

This is what this wonderful father was doing this morning before church:

Sometimes he does a better job on her hair than I do! And here are the girls with their dad on Father's Day. This picture cracks me up because when we stepped out on the balcony to take pictures, our new neighbor was out on his balcony smoking (boo!) and so Katie wouldn't look at the camera for about 3-4 shots 'cause she was too busy watching him, and Livs wouldn't look either! But, you can see how Katie's cute hairdo turned out!

And here they all are facing front...or at least the closest thing I got!

Happy Father's Day!

Brasil

Michael and I went to see the Brasil vs. Canada soccer game last Saturday at Qwest field. It was so exciting! I've always wanted to see the Brasil international team play soccer(can we say FIVE world cup wins?) so now I can check that off my "life list". :) Someday, we both hope to go back there. I keep teasing Michael that he'll get called to be a mission president there and I will be the rockin' mission president's wife who already speaks Portuguese! But for now, this was almost as cool. The only bummer was we were sitting in the middle of a bunch of lame Canadian fans (no offense to Canadians, but these particular fans were especially obnoxious - note the blatant flag waving in the back of our picture!!) But, we got our revenge when Brasil beat Canada. So there. It was awesome!

In other Brasil news, the Curitiba temple was dedicated on Sunday. It is so beautiful! Hopefully we'll be able to go back and do a session there someday. When we were there as missionaries, the land was only a big field full of trees. I'm missing Curitiba lately.....

Just Finished...

The Host Okay ladies that have read this or are reading it...what do you think? I'm curious to know what everyone else thought! I thought it was a really fun read. It took me until about chapter 13 to get to that place where I really wanted to know what happened next, and then I had a hard time putting it down towards the end! I think I still like Twilight a bit better, but I really enjoyed this one too.

Back from a Break

I took a nice break from blogging. I was debating about whether I even wanted to keep blogging or not since I'm already so busy with the girls and everything I need to do and also trying to squeeze in a few things I want to do! I was concerned that I was spending too much time on the computer, and not enough time focusing on my babies. So, I have reached a compromise. I cut way back on the amount of blogs I check daily which has been a really good thing, and I have decided to blog less, but not stop entirely since it really is a great way to keep tabs on people I love and also a great outlet for me to store great ideas, pics, events, etc. I am happy with this, and I think it will be a good compromise since I do still need my "escape" time every now and then!

Photo by Pink Shebet Photography on Flickr

Howdy Duty

These pillow cases made me laugh. I want them for when Katie wakes up randomly in the night!