Spring Break, Easter, and Other Happenings

So, I have a lot to post all-in-one! The past week and a half have kind of been a blur for me. I have been fighting my asthma. I even headed to the doc to get some steroids. I came down with a horrible cough (asthma related) and I have sounded and felt like crap. I have also been constantly hooked up to my nebs. I am feeling somewhat better, but I don't sound like it yet. I did rest some but that doesn't last long for me... life must go on.
Me and the girls put the trampoline up while Ky was in Utah. That was quite the workout for the back of my arms, they were sore for days! The girls love having the tramp back up and Kami wants to jump all day long rain or shine! We also had a couple of visits with James and George I think they end up more tired than the girls when all is said and done. The girls sure have fun with them and get so excited to see them.

We started our tomatoes and peppers just over a week ago and they already look like this.

You can't see but the peppers are up too.

Last week we hung out with Mar a ton since she was flying solo while everyone else was in Minn at the Mayo clinic.
Since the girls only had a few days for spring break we wanted to get some stuff done and have some fun. We went through all their clothes and pulled out everything that didn't fit and then inventoried summer stuff. I ended up getting Ash 4 new pairs of shorts for summer. Yes, I am already buying summer stuff since the long shorts sell out so fast.
We planted my lily bulbs and some flowers. The girls were a big help. My irises are already looking good.

We spent some time outside (maybe too much time) the girls are sporting minor sunburns.

And we finished the girls' bears today. They have been looking forward to this since Kami's birthday. I think they did a good job.

We dyed eggs!

This is always a fun event. Kami dyed most of hers orange, of course. We even found a small snow bank to pore all our leftover dye onto. Kami really enjoyed Easter this year. She is at that fun age where she has figured out what is going on. She had a ball at the S&R egg hunt.

Kaite has her own system down.

Kaite was the only one that got a prize this year.

Easter was crazy around here. Ash woke up at 3am! She gets so excited for things. The day started out pretty early and went pretty late. Here are the girls in their Easter dresses.

Typical! I have tons of these ones.

We had my fam up for Easter dinner and got to see James before he headed back home. We had a good meal and visit.

Ky started school last week and had a very busy first week. He has had tons of homework. He spent all weekend working on an entourage for one of his architect classes. He is really enjoying it even though he says it is exhausting. We both had a funny moment on Tuesday when he came home with an assignment to do a power point presentation, neither one of us has ever given a power point. Thankfully, we had it on our computer and we were able to walk ourselves through it, but that didn't stop Mar from totally making fun of us. I have started giving Ky crap about being the oldest one in the class! I told him he is old enough to be their dad! Anyway, with school being super busy I am afraid the basement will take longer than we would all like, oh well.

We have also started getting the barn ready for summer. The commissioners granted us our permit even though they didn't want to but legally had to. I really didn't think that would happen, now the work begins.
We spent last Thursday at the school for science night. The girls had so much fun last year. They were so excited this year that Ash reminded me like 10 times the day of.
It is definitely warming up around here and we have already had a few night visitors. Last night Ky was Elmer Fudding a big skunk and the house did not smell good when I went to bed. A couple of nights ago we had an even larger skunk roaming the garden, I hope it wasn't pregnant! Sam didn't like that one and was going crazy at 3am. I am praying that nobody gets sprayed this year that was awful!
Saturday morning Briant had his appendix out which stirred up a whole ton of emotions for me. I don't think I will ever get over that horrible experience. I remember it like it was yesterday and it was so scary, she was so small. Thankfully, Briant wasn't nearly as sick as Kaite and he is doing great. He even got released that afternoon, crazy! Kaite was pretty excited that her and Briant are the only two in the family that have had their appendix out. She just loves Uncle Briant.
This week we are wrapping up a few projects and I am excited to watch the royal wedding on Friday. Okay, it is just because I can say I have been there! Plus I do want to see what London looks like in the spring all green and pretty!
That was a long post and I am sure I left a few things out. I know that it is just going to get crazier around here as we start getting the garden going and working on all our summer projects, I am glad I have such good helpers! They don't even complain and actually love to do most anything.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAMI!

Last Thursday was Kami's 3rd birthday. I can't believe my baby is three already! I know she is growing up but she still seems so little to me. I thought I would do a slide show since I haven't done one in awhile. I forgot how long they take but here it is.

Here are her birthday photos Ky took last Sunday before church. They are classic Kami.

This was my favorite.
She was so excited for her birthday. The first thing she said that morning was "I get to wear the birthday hat!" She was very excited about that, I think it was the highlight of her day. She was so excited and wanted to open her presents all day, we made her wait until Ky and Ash got home. Ky spent the last 4 days in Utah helping Gene on a job so Kami was very happy he came home on her birthday. She had a very good day and birthday thanks to everyone who came and made it special.
I spent three days making her cake. The first day I made all of Peppa's appendages and head. I made of the mistake of not making her dark enough to account for the fading of the fondant from sitting out. This is what she originally looked like.

Definitely more the right color for her. Also, I didn't check my red frosting when I went to do her dress and I was out. I should have just made her dress orange (Kami's favorite color) and what she requested but nope. In my defense though my Asthma flared up and I felt like crap, I was glad when it was all over. Poor Peppa her head was too heavy and when it tried to fall off I managed to poke a hole in her face! Kami loved her cake though and that is all that matters! I am glad she had a good birthday.
Happy 3rd Birthday baby girl we love you!!!

Catch Up

Okay so I have been trying to post once a week, or I should say hoping to post once a week. Yeah that hasn't happened. So this is what we have been up to.

We celebrated 13 years of marriage! I would do it all over again!

I turned 26 again, poor Kaite was so confused as to what my real age was! Mar gave me an awesome present complete with all my favorite songs!

I also went and saw Erin and she hooked me up with a new cut and some color. She is awesome!

My other awesome present... a new console table! Thanks to everyone who contributed!

I also spent my birthday visiting with the girls' teachers. They are both doing great (of course) and Kaite's teacher is shocked with her reading skills. Kaite is already reading where Ash was in first grade, she is so cute!
The greenest tongue ever!

In the past week we had Callie over to play, her family came up for the day. Ash was so excited, I think Callie is still her best friend even though she is now 4 hours away.

They played in the mud just like nothing has changed!

I went to the dentist...no cavities :) We now have an awesome new dentist, well me and Ky anyway.
We have also had numerous doctors visits. Kami got sick again last week and when I took her back in she had strep again. Kaite brought home some horrible cough from school (that Kami now has) she spent an entire week home from school. I think the pharmacy knows me by sight now!
We also spent last weekend watching conference with Chris, Chantelle, Chelsea, and Ben. Two days of conference is just too much for the kiddos, but we survived. There were some very nice messages given. We had a nice visit with Chris and Chantelle it has been awhile since we have seen them. We love hanging out with them and need to do it more.
We also spent last Saturday night with the S&R, they had their annual appreciation dinner. We had a night of prime rib, shrimp, talking and fun. We heard all about the cruise and Jerah finding all sorts of stuff in his shorts in Belize. We also heard all about the cruises they are now planning for next year and Christmas.
We have been finishing the framing and electrical in the basement. I am hoping we are ready for sheet rock next week! The girls are so excited to have their own rooms, they have been a big help.
I took Ash shopping today. I wanted to wait until the end of May before I picked up a swimsuit for her but they seem to be selling out so fast. We went to town today and picked her up a really cute suit that will give her a little room to grow. We also found some cute dresses on sale and I found the cutest pants ever!
We have really been enjoying watching the snow melt. We had some really bad wind last weekend and that has really sped up the melting, until it snowed today!
And Ky would be really upset if I left out his biggest project... he got the new engine in the car and it runs great!
The new engine.

Ky taking it for the first ride.
We have been driving the car everywhere and we are enjoying the gas bill! Way to go Kyle!
Kami has been making the most of being sick. I have to bribe her with Oreos to take her medicine.
We watched Idol tonight and were very upset to see Pia go home, Pia and Lauren where are favorites. Ky said he doesn't care to watch idol anymore, hmm we will see.
Tomorrow is mom's day at school, Kaite is so excited to have me go with her. I always love seeing the girls in their own element. She is growing so fast I can't believe it.
We have another busy weekend planned and next week is already filled with party preparations, it will take me three days to make the cake. What I won't do for my kids!
Hopefully, I can get another post in before Kami's party, or shortly after...

Weekly wrap up

So this past week and a half has had its ups and downs. Last Sunday Kaite and Kami had a head vs. tooth collision. Kaite bled so much. On Monday it was still really hurting her so I took her in to the dentist Tuesday morning and he pulled it. She broke off part of the root in the collision but the dentist said it was dissolving nicely. Here is a picture Ky said it is gross and I shouldn't post it. You can see the part that broke off. And her permanent tooth is already pretty far in, we are hoping there is no damage to it but we will have to wait and see.

Also on Monday my washer stopped working. I was so frustrated because it isn't even two years old. Thankfully we were able to call a local fix it man who came out and pulled one of Kami's socks out of the pump. Now I am bagging all their socks before I wash them. He was awesome he only charged us $65 and even tore the dryer apart for us (which is a lost cause). Sears wanted to charge us $149 or $215 (depending on the warranty) plus parts and time. I am glad it was something simple apparently that is a common problem with certain models.

Ash got her hair cut this week and I think she looks so cute!

We said goodbye to our cell phones and our Verizon service. We transferred over to Virgin Mobile because we got a good price. I am not fond of Sprints coverage but for now until Verizon lowers their prices we will be Sprint people. I will miss my chocolate! Mar said it is so trashy looking. I have dropped it so many times the face doesn't stay on without tape, but it still worked great!

Here are some of my pics from the last couple of years that were on my phone.

And here is a pic from last week of Adly, Kami, and Kaite watching Tinkerbell.

Ash before the Operetta and without her glittery eyes.

I think the best news of the week though is that my lymph node is shrinking! One of the docs I don't normally see put me on a new antibiotic I have never used before and my lymph node is less than half the size it used to be! I am so excited! I am hoping it will shrink completely and they won't have to biopsy it. I even called and got another round of antibiotics to see if it will keep getting smaller. The bummer is that this particular antibiotic has some very nasty side effects, but hey it beats a large needle!
They canceled church today. Winter is just hanging on up here. We were out back the other day attempting to swing and I sunk past my knees. I am envious of everyone's flowers that are already popping up and we still don't have a stitch of grass! I keep hoping we can set the trampoline up soon and the girls are ready to get their bikes out.
Ky has been working on the Kia this week. The old engine is out and the new engine is almost ready to go in. He should have it up and running the beginning of this week if all goes well. I am excited to have a car with decent gas mileage again. I filled up my Tahoe the other day and choked on the cost. We would have loved to have kept our Camry but it needed some work and it had 198,000 miles on it. We really think this Kia will be a good car plus since Ky will be driving to school and back every day we will save a ton on gas. We have decided if it doesn't run like we want we will just sell it and get something else, hey we only paid $200 for the car anyway and it will be worth tons more than that by the time he is done.
This next week will be keeping us busy too. We have parent-teacher conferences, an anniversary, a birthday, a trip to the dentist, and an S&R dinner along with our usual routine, plus I am going to try and get my hair done somewhere in there! It never lets up.

Operetta

Well it has been three weeks since I have posted and all I can say is OPERETTA. We have been fine tuning the dance and costumes for the past few weeks and I am happy to say it is finally over! I really had no idea how much time it would take, but it was fun. The girls were really excited and looked so cute in their costumes. I honestly wasn't sure if it would all come together in time for the performances but it did. My girls were so nervous and the Friday night show had so many people they were super nervous. I do hope they put one of the other two performances on the DVD, they were much better. Here are a few pictures I took over the couple of days they performed.

Getting ready to perform Thursday morning

Group photo
All the kids Friday night

The rainbow cupcakes I made for each of the girls

Kami wearing Ash's costume, she has been walking around the house in it for days!

Thanks to everyone who came up and supported Ash. The play was so cute, I loved the frogs they were my favorite (besides the rainbows of course). All of those kids worked so hard on all of their parts and it really did turn out so cute!

Ky took video of the Friday night performance since I was cuing the girls. The camera cut off the end though.

Missy took a great video but I have been having a hard time loading it onto the blog, any suggestions? And you have to click on the view it on utube option.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/w5XIh3OY2T0

Friday night after all the craziness we hung out with Harriet, George, Mar, and Missy. We stayed up until almost 3 am playing Monopoly Deal. Harriet is heading back to England for a couple of months to finish up some of her immigration stuff and go to a wedding. So we won't be seeing her for awhile, we will miss her it will be all warm when she gets back.
Besides the operetta (which really has consumed most of my time) we have also been busy seeing the doctor (we all enjoyed a round of strep), getting Ky set up for school (classes begin in like 3 weeks), sitting through another meeting about the barn, and visiting the orthodontist.
So, our doctor is awesome and gave us all antibiotics even though Kami and Kaite were the only ones with strep at the time. However, he did check my thyroid and told me I need to come back in when I am feeling better and have a biopsy done on my lymph node, yeah that sounds fun. I have been trying not to think about this, a big giant needle going into my neck- sounds like a pleasant afternoon! Also, what if they find something and what if they don't, I really have been going crazy thinking and worrying about it. I finally had to just put it in the back of my mind to worry about later.
We have also been having fun setting up Ky's schooling, most of which is done. He registered for classes yesterday morning. That was a mess by the way, he had one class that he really needed to take or it would put him a year and a half behind in his schooling (because of track assignment and the class is only offered every other semester). Anyway, there was one spot left so he was up and on at 6 am but when he added the class it told him it was too early, ugh. He spent the next hour just trying to get back to the add course page, he was so frustrated, and of course by then the class was full. Thankfully, he called the professor and explained his situation and the professor added him!! We have no doubt now that this is what he is suppose to do, see the professor said that he had previously decided to add two more students and Ky was that second student he added even though he had talked to numerous students that morning already (Ky was at dad's day for Kindergarten and called at lunch when he got home). I am still baffled as to why he picked Ky over all those students that called before him, Ky said it is a blessing and this is what he is suppose to be doing so everything is falling into place. What a nightmare though, now we just have to buy books!
Okay so the orthodontist. Ash saw my orthodontist a few weeks ago. We are worried because those front teeth stick out so far, well it is not buck teeth- thank goodness! Her jaw is growing in wrong, it is growing down and out. So her jaw angle scored an 8 which is surgery level but because she is so young he thinks we can fix it while she is growing otherwise she needs her jaw broke and reset. So she will be going in next August to have a special retainer put on and then she has to wear head gear all the time, but not to school. He said that there is a slight possibility of not needing braces if everything moves smoothly. She will still have to wear the head gear and stuff for at least two years, poor girl. At least we can fix it and yes I think it is so worth driving an hour to see him, he is an awesome orthodontist!
I am not even going to mention the barn since all of this is because of lies, frustrating!
So here is the cutest picture of Kami and Ben. Kami went and found her baby doll and blanket and set it up just like Ben. And now anytime she sees a baby (boy or girl) she says "there is Ben" she is so cute!
These past couple of days we have been watching Lincoln and Adly while their parents are on a cruise. A bunch of the S&R went on a cruise to Belize but at the time we were both still planning on both going to London this May, too bad though I can't imagine a funner group to go with. Anyway Kami is doing better than I thought, but yesterday she got mad at Adly and said "no that is my mommy" (Adly has been calling me mama). Kami is so cute and has been wanting more attention these past few days. Just today and tomorrow to go then we will do something special together.
This morning we had ugly green pancakes, Ash's idea, for St. Patty's day. I still remember going to the parade in Denver when I was little- awesome! Ashley was walking around last night trying to set leprechaun traps, they set them in school. She was disappointed this morning not to find a leprechaun, to be a kid again!
Let's hope the next three weeks aren't as exciting as these past three. I need some rest!