Student of the Week

McKell is student of the week this week at school. She had to fill out a questionier about herself and bring in a few pictures for the display. Here are her answers:

My name is McKell

I was born on August 31

I am 5 years old

I have one brother and one sister

I have 0 pets

I am a dancing star!

I wish I could fly

The best thing about me is I can swim very well

I like to ride my bike

When I grow up I want to be a rock star

My favorite color is pink

My favorite food is yogurt

My favorite book is Fancy Nancy

My favorite animal is monkeys

My favorite movie is Cinderella III

My favorite sport is soccer

My favorite toy is baby doll

My favorite place is the beach.

I'm a little bugged, McKell got an award at her school two months ago and I wasn't notified about it. I talked to another mother today and she said it is a pretty big deal. They have a big assembly and everything. McKell came home from school that day and asked me why I wasn't there to see her and I didn't even know it was going on. Her teacher totally knows my email. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now but still- little bugged!

McKell is such a great girl. She is such a great big sister. Her teacher says she would like to clone her and have a classroom full of her. She is growing up so fast, I can't believe it. I went to the YW broadcast tonight and thought to myself, before you know it you are going to be sitting here with McKell and Alyssa in YW. Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! No time, please SLOW down!

Easter 2008

What a fun Easter weekend we had. We decorated eggs on saturday and the girls had a blast doing it. On Sunday the girls woke up to a trail of half eaten carrots throughout the house. It went from their room to the kitchen over the counter, under the table and ended by their Easter baskets. They loved the 'hunt' and couldn't figure out what would be at the end of the trail, don't ask me why it was such a wonder.

On Saturday night for story time we talked about Jesus and why we celebrate Easter. Alyssa kept saying she does not want to live in heaven right now, she wants to stay and live in her house. She also doesn't believe that there will be lions who are nice, nor ants who won't bite (have you heard her ant story?). McKell reassured her that 1st dad will die, then mom, then her and then Alyssa. Mckell said "The oldest people always die first, and Alyssa don't worry about all the animals they really will be nice." Alyssa of course believes most anything McKell says, so all was well.

McKell asked me to make here cinnamon rolls so I woke up early and made those and then made some potato rolls for dinner. They are SO good, I will post the recipe later. So I was cooking most of the day, but it fun. We went to church and had dinner after with some friends. The Easter bunny left eggs out back so we did the egg hunt after dinner, it was SOOO COLD! I want the warm spring to come, NOW!

Anyway, here are some pictures of the kids before church. I made these cute skirts with some friends last week. Phil was in charge of picture taking and for some reason didn't get any of them standing, sorry for those of you who wanted to see the full skirts.

Nate is Walking!

Nate started walking last week. The girls were younger when they started walking, McKell was 9 months old and Alyssa was 10 months old. He still seems so young and little to be moving around, but is it so fun to watch him get more and more confident with it. Here are some pictures and videos of him for grandmas and grandpas- sorry it took me so long to post them.

Feelin' Lucky!

For some reason this year I was really excited for St. Patrick's Day to come. I bought the girls a book about Leprechauns to get them excited with me. The night before the big day we set a trap to try and catch a leprechaun so we could get all of his gold.

The girls went to bed and when they woke up there were gold, chocolate coins from their bedroom down to the pot the leprechaun had left with gold candy in it. He also left the girls some hats and green rings which lit up. McKell and Alyssa were so excited when they woke up, they couldn't believe the leprechaun would leave stuff for them even though they didn't catch him.
For breakfast we had green eggs, green (blueberry) muffins, and green apple juice. Again, the girls loved that it was all green, they are easy to please.
A group of our friends got together at lunchtime for a party with all the kids, it is spring break here. It was lots of fun and we had lots of good food. Oriental Chicken salad, guacamole and chips, green Sprite, green jello jigglers, green fruit salad, yummy beer bread, mud pie, sugar cookies for the kids to decorate and sandwitches, chips, and gogurt for the kiddies. I will post pictures later when I get them from my friend. We had such a fun day filled with lots of green! Happy (LATE) St. Patrick's Day!!

Whats UP?

Here is a little on what is going on around here.

Nate is now 11 months old and is still a crazy boy. We sure love him! He really enjoys going up the stairs and down the stairs. He does really well but I am still nervous about it because he is so young. He loves to mess with Alyssa all day and get into her 'stuff' he knocks down her baby stroller and inspects the wheels, daily. As you can see in the pictures he puts EVERYTHING into his mouth but is good at not swallowing too quickly, I know why would I let him have a rubber band but it is better than the little Polly pocket shoes and everything else he confiscates from the girls. He is usually seen with this little bat in his hands, he loves to hit things and push things with it. As I said- he is such a boy!

The girls have both just finished swimming lessons where they both passed their levels. They both LOVED going each day to swim lessons and can't wait for summer time to come so they can swim everyday. McKell told me she wished she lived in a pool. This is McKell with her friend Morgan. They also are very into Barbie movies right now. They watched the new Mariposa movie and love it. They also got the Nutcracker when my mom was here and they act the movie out now. McKell as the princess and Alyssa as the Nutcracker(prince). Here they are dancing around, they have to switch rolls when the prince picks up the princess, but then they go back to the previous rolls. It is hilarious to watch because they are so serious about it.

Phil spends his days at work and his nights asleep on the couch or asleep with the girls while putting them to bed. And while he sleeps I contemplate getting those great pettiskirts! Seriously, I can't get them out of my mind. I am also planning a few parties- St. Patrick's Day and Nate's bug birthday; preparing lessons and activities with the young women; and planning a few outings with my girl friends- we are going to Des Moines during spring break and to Chicago for a wonderful no kids/Wicked/shopping trip. I can't wait!
I have also been on a book kick. McKell brought home a little project she did at school which had some easy (cat, hat, vat) words on it. Alyssa sat down and read the words! I couldn't believe it. So, I went out and bought the Bob Book sets and today Alyssa read 3 of the beginner books and McKell read the level 2 books. I think all of the resources you can use for kids to help with reading is awesome. We watched the Leap Frog letter factory and word factory last summer- thanks Kasey and Jen for the recommendation. They are the greatest things ever and now Alyssa can read. I also got the new Fancy Nancy book, which is cute, and Horton hears a Who, in excitement for the movie coming out.

The bad devil

We have had some talks at our house about the choices we make. Alyssa has gone throught the phase of telling lies and we would ask her why she lied and she would say that the bad devil told her to. I think Phil was telling them a story at bed time about one of his patients last year in the ER who had put both a nail and a screw into her head. The girls were wondering why she would do such a thing and Phil explained that she had bad voices in her head. So Alyssa tells me she sometimes listens to the bad devil and pulls McKell's hair or tells a lie. She is starting to realize what she shouldn't do and has been doing a lot better telling the truth.
I was complaining to a friend yesterday about how much I HATE the fact that my husband never knows when he will be coming home for the day. I guess the newness of this 'life' has worn off and I am offically over it. It was really bothering me and my sweet friend called me up and told me about a wonderful man in our ward who was given his last 24 hours to live, he has cancer. We talked about how great it is to have good health and be glad that our husbands can go to work and help people. So I told the bad devil to stop telling me to feel sorry for myself and be happy that Phil comes home after work and enjoys being with the kids and me.


I am in love with these pettiskirts and have decided that my girls NEED them for Easter. I told Phil about them and how much they cost and he about flipped and said no way. I know they are way too much money, but the bad devil tells me it will be worth it. A friend of mine told Phil the other day that I was the one who was rational and conservative in our group in regards to spending money. You should've seen Phil's face, he had to pick up his jaw off the floor. Since I am loosing my identity out here in Iowa I think (the bad devil included) that I should buy these skirts, I mean I have been doing so good if I have this identity. Don't you think they are SO CUTE!

Primary Theme

Alyssa turned 3 in November so is now in Sunbeams at church. She loves going because she gets to be in the 'big' class with McKell. Last week she was given a paper that asked her to give the theme today. The theme for the month is 'Jesus Christ is my Savior'. So on Sunday, last week, we talked about it and had her say it a few times, yesterday we talked about it again and she remembered it. While getting ready for bed last night she was jumping on her bed naked (she had just gone potty) yelling 'Jesus Christ is MY Savior' over and over again. While trying not to laugh we were telling her not to be so loud. She started telling Phil that Jesus was her Savior not his Savior, he tried to explain to her that Jesus died for everyone and she was like 'no, the theme says he is MY Savior so he isn't yours.'
Later last night when Phil and I were going to bed Alyssa woke up and came into our room. I had her lay down by me and she went right back to sleep. Phil carried her into her bed and she said in her sleep 'Jesus Christ is my Savior'. We were laughing thinking that she would not need any help at church today. During primary she went up to the microphone to say it and we didn't go up to help her. One of the ladies in the primary presidency quickly came up to help her. She started to whisper it to Alyssa and Alyssa said with a dirty look 'I know' and then looked out to the kids and said in a loud voice 'Jesus Christ is my Savior'. She was very pleased with herself and we were glad that she wasn't shy about it.
Alyssa sure does keep the laughs going around here. She is always coming up with something clever to say or a new funny look that she keeps doing. We love her and are so happy to have her in our family.