"Roger darling...."

McKay played Anita in her "101 Dalmations" play yesterday. She did a great job and her sweet personality fit the role perfectly. Way to go!

Desperate Housewife No-No

I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. These pictures don't even do the damage justice. Jake is going to look at our blog from school and I know he won't be happy. Maybe I'll just start by saying, "Can anyone guess what color of crayon with through the dryer? You can't tell? Let me get closer.
Maybe this will help. Or this.

Like I said before, these pictures really don't show just how GREEN everything is.

Now, I have a few things to sort out. Who put the crayon in their pocket? There are only three people's pants here.....Jake, Kirsten and McKay. That should make it easy.

It's sad but funny. It's sad because Jake's nice (for school) pants were in this load of laundry. Sad because Kirsten's favorite pants were the only one to go in this load. It's funny because they are just so green and because I don't dry my pants that I was saved from this disaster.

P.S. You don't even want to know how green the inside of my dryer is. I've got a lot of scrubbing to do.

Fire engine red

McKay got her wish....sort of.First it was black hair, then it was blue highlights. Blue highlights require bleach and after last year.....the rule was no bleach. So McKay talked her aunt Haley into red highlights....and then asked her mom. I love changing my hair color myself so I said, "Yes, just a few." The best thing is, when they fade out her hair will be back to normal. It turned out cute. What a spoiled girl.

A very happy birthday

McKay is a very simple girl. She had two things on her list this year.

1. 3 Webkinz
2. Black hair

It's really too easy, but I'm not a fan of black hair, and she already has dark brown hair so that was sort of out of the question. Then came the tough part. What to get her. A couple weeks ago she came home with a paper saying that her grade was learning bike safety and they would go on a 12 mile bike ride at the end of the training. Jake had told her we would fix her tires and she would have a bike. McKay was upset. Her bike is pink and she firmly told us she is a tomboy and that she wouldn't be seen with a pink bike. She was so upset. We had decided beforehand to buy her a new bike since her tires were shot and it was too small anyway. It was so hard not to say anything when she got upset that day.

Then a couple days before her birthday she snooped through the garage and found her present. She wasn't upset anymore. (She was looking for something else and came across the hidden bike in the corner, it wasn't really snooping.)McKay opened presents, ate her birthday dinner, and blew out the candles on her cake. She wanted a blackberry cheesecake. I have been running around like crazy the last couple of days since the weather is nice and business is picking up. McKay kept everything simple and I really appreciated it. What a sweet girl! One down and 5 more to go this year. It wasn't planned but all of our birthdays fall in line. From April to September we have one a month and then they are done til the next year.

P.S. Stay tuned for the upcoming header change. It's about time.

double digits

Happy Birthday McKay!!!!McKay is 10 today. We are now into the double digits. I still can't believe how fast kids grow up. We are so lucky to have such a great girl. McKay enjoys playing her violin, teaching herself gymnastics (right now she can do a running round off followed by three back handsprings,) reading, and playing with her friends. She is such a beautiful girl. We love you McKay!

Be a man

On Saturday, Jake was helping a friend in their attic hook up there ceiling fan.

On Sunday morning, (before church) he (accidently) showed me a big scrape caused from a nail in the attic.

Sunday at noon, I finally convinced him to go get a tetanus since it had been at least 10 years. I think the kids did a better job of convincing since they heard all the bad things that can happen.

Sunday evening, he complained of a little soreness in his arm.

Monday evening, he says,

"If I have to get another tetanus shot, I'll die."

It's been awhile since I've had a shot, but if I remember right, it's a lot less painful to take it in the hip (or butt). Why would you opt the painful way?

I think

Spring may be here! Signs of SPRING in Idaho

• Windows are open and we are enjoying the breeze (not wind).
• The heater is off. (Cross your fingers.)
• The grass is finally green.
• We mowed the lawn on Saturday for the first time.
• The girls wore capris to school.
• We had to break out the sunscreen on Saturday.

Now maybe my blogging will come out of hibernation also.

We hope everyone had a Fun and Happy Easter Weekend!
(Since nothing was green, Jake had a brillant idea to take the pictures in the rocks. We will definetly be retaking these in a couple weeks. I'm not too big on the turnouts.)

Science = Magnets and Fun

It was science fair time here...again. After two year of getting second, McKay finally got her first place. Kirsten had a lot more competition and took third. They both did great! McKay's project was an "Linear Magnetic Accelerator." She enjoyed putting it together and learning about it. I didn't enjoy all the pinches I got from not holding onto the magnets when I needed to.

Kirsten's project was on how magnets can repel and/or attract each other . Kirsten and Jake worked hard on their project three different evenings. They built a stool that you could keep adding weights and the bottom wouldn't touch, stating it was possible that magnets could lift her off the ground. She was feeling a little under the weather Thursday but insisted on going to school because this was her first science fair.

After 8 years....

The past....(2001) ....and now the present.

Jake brought home flowers one evening last weekend and a card with a very sincere note. It was for our 8 year mark of our engagement. Now even though he was a couple days early and he mentioned that he knew it was in the coming week, I knew there was still a little romantic side of him left. (It was 8 years from yesterday that he proposed on the beach in Malibu.)

Seven Brides for a Brother in the Circle of Life

Since August I have been studying at ISU. For a number of reasons and through a series of events I will be transferring to BYU-Idaho this fall. Yes, after 16 years, my life has come full circle ... right back to the BYU.

This summer I will be taking a few last courses at ISU in order to ease my transition to BYU-I. I was hoping to squeeze in a religion class so I went to visit the Institute director here on campus. After a nice 20 minute conversation the brother gave me a number so that I could call him later when he was in his office where he could look at the schedule.

Here is a transcript of the conversation we had over the phone:

Me: Hello, Brother Horner, this is Jacob I spoke with you earlier.

Brother: Oh yes, I looked at the schedule and the class you asked about is not being taught.

Me: That's too bad. Looks like I will not be attending institute.

Brother: You should still come .... there will be alot of girls there.

Me. The problem with that is that I am married and have four children.

Brother: Yes you are right ... coming just for the girls would be problem for you.

Drive # 21983647 from Idaho Falls to Salt Lake

DELAYED!!!! When it came time for Hester and Hannah to leave, the weather didn't agree. It was a windy, snowy, mess. Coming home from church you could barely see 10 feet when crossing the roads. This meant we got another night full of fun. This morning we said goodbye and they went back to Salt Lake. Thanks again for coming up!

P.S. Usually I complain about Idaho weather but secretly I was happy that they got stuck another day. Sorry, but it's the truth.

Aunt-lovin' fun

Hester and Hannah came and visited us this weekend. My kids have just loved them.Saturday morning, we got the four wheelers out despite the cold and wind.Hannah did get over the fright and she let Cruz lead the way. Hester dominated on the big and powerful fourwheeler.

Kirsten joined us for the first little bit and then went inside with McKay.

We miss Hester and Hannah. This weekend we have played lots of games, eaten lots of peeps, and played more games. We love it when family comes.

TO BE CONTINUED....

City Slicker

This is what happens when you take the city girl to the country.

Loving Idaho even more

(Things that you never think you will hear....in church.)

After sacrament meeting dismissed the Bishop got back up and announced. "We all know the winds are blowing really hard. Hard enough that the steeple is rocking back and forth. Can we have everyone in the north and west side move their cars just in case it decides to fall?"

After church, we decided to check it out. Yes it is a leaning steeple now.

Lost and Found

Somehow this box got pushed to the back and buried. When I opened it, I had a potato garden growing in my pantry. I guess this shows how much I really love Idaho.

Phones + Sunglasses = Vacation and Fun

This weekend was the first Kerksiek girls' weekend. It was also my first trip without any kids....EVER. I have to admit that at first I had a little anxiety. It was something I'm not used to. Now, I think it should be something that every mom gets to enjoy. Our destination place this year was Park City. We enjoyed zip lining, shopping, eating, ice-skating, and playing many games. Did I mention shopping?

Erika and her girls came up on Saturday to join in on the fun. We weren't complete, but it was a lot of fun! The weather was sunshine and beautiful. It was hard to drive home Sunday morning to snow and rain.

What more can I say....

Yesterday was crazy hair day.

(The girls chose their own "do". McKay even slept on tiny rollers so it would be a "poodle do".)

Officially done

We are officially past the stage of diapers. (There is no coming back.) Katanya was a toss up between Kirsten on being the easiest.

We are now DONE....

• with diapers.
• with wipes.
• and dirty bums.

On to the next stage of life.

hit by a freight train....

or two....or three.

The past three weeks we have been battling various sickness. Kirsten's missed three days of school in three different weeks due to three different things. (I guess it came in three.) I've had three kids to the doctors in less than 10 days.

And now, it's finally hit us, the parents. At least it's the weekend and not much is expected from us. Plus, we all know that the "man-cold" will win out. This reminds me back to the time when I first got pregnant with Kirsten and I got a dose of what morning (all-day) sickness really was. Not just for a couple months either, but for over half my pregnancy. Jake had the nerve to tell me (more than once) that it was all in my head. So whenever he gets sick, (and the complaining has already started yesterday,) I bite my tongue but I just want to tell him it's all in his head.

Anyway, back to the sick part. First we battled the chest cold. Then Katanya got it and it always is worse with her because her asthma triggers in. She was into the doctor with croup and an asthma attack. We've also had ear infections (Kirsten never had an ear infection as a baby, but she got her first one at six years old), the stomach flu, and strep throat. So far McKay is the one with a super immune system and hasn't gotten so much as a sniffle. (Knock on wood).

So is it just us or is the rest of the world going thru this flu time as well?

a flood of flashbacks

Today is our anniversary of our first date. There are a lot of memories that have flooded back over the past couple weeks that I have been reminiscing on. Our relationship started over the Internet on LDS singles dot com. We wrote many letters back and forth during a one week period with finally a phone call on Thursday night that lasted into early morning hours. If I remember right, it was just after 4 am that I finally hung up. He had a test the next day and I had work. He sent me flowers at work on Friday, followed by another phone call that night and with him "sort of" asking me out, "if he had time" Saturday night. Our first date included:

• Jake planning a date with my daughter. He specifically told me not to get a sitter.
• Jake going to the wrong house and picking up the wrong Amy. At this house also lived an Amy, with a two year old daughter, that drove the same color and model of Honda that I did. He even went as much to inviting himself in and persisting that he was going out with her while her husband sat on the couch. Her daughter told him that "mommy said we have to teach the boys a lesson." Meanwhile inside his head he was already planning on throwing away his computer for life thinking this "fake" had used a fake picture, fake conversation, fake everything and set him up. If you haven't ever heard this story, you are missing out. It's priceless.
• After realizing he was at the wrong house, because the middle of the street divided the town, he was over a half hour late picking me up.
• He finally made it to my house, and I had a "code" set up with a co-worker in case it wasn't going to work out, and I needed an out.
• Realizing it was for real.
• Going to Chuck E. Cheese with McKay, and McKay ended up getting sick. We went to the movie store and picked out a couple movies to watch that night.
• Staying up late and talking.
• Finally ending the date at 5 am with church being the next day.

(Back to the present) A couple weeks ago, we were giving the lesson in primary (my friend Lindsey and I teach the 4-5 year olds) and the lesson was on the importance of prophets with a story of King Benjamin in the beginning. Lindsey was teaching while I sat with the kids and it took me back to that next Sunday(following our first date).

Jake ended up coming to church with me since we had stayed up so late and I had the afternoon schedule. He came with me to my class and bore his testimony and told the story of King Benjamin. It was fast Sunday and he also bore his testimony in sacrament meeting. It was that night that I asked him where I stood because I hate playing dating games. It was that night he told me we were exclusive. That first week we spend over 80 hours together (we kept track.)

I'm so happy he wrote me back that first letter.

How much and where?

The past couple of days, I've been entering in the check registers, credit card, and everything else that you have to have in Quick Books to figure taxes.
I've realized a couple things:

• Too much money was wasted eating out. This year is going to be MUCH less. You don't think you do it that much, but for me, it was too much. I'd rather have another trip to Texas or California than to waste it on that kind of food.
• I really don't ever want to see gas @ $4 a gallon and diesel @ $5. When you pay over $970 to fill up two dump trucks that will last less than a week, it's too painful.
• I really should do this monthly instead of yearly. It would be so simple.

I think this is also a first. Because we don't owe, Jake usually doesn't get around to doing this until at least half way through the year. It's a good thing for me that I need something to do while it is still too cold outside. We will probably be done and filed by mid march. WOW!

I think that Eco-terrorists are now authors

McKay came home from school and showed me her science test today. She missed a few questions, so I looked over them. I found the following question:

17. Burning fossil fuels in cars and factories--

A) puts oxygen into the air.
B) puts nitrogen into the air.
C) upsets the balance of the nitrogen cycle.
D) upsets the balance of the carbon dioxide - oxygen cycle.

The correct answer was D. I find the word choice rather interesting. Yes burning fossil fuels changes the O2 CO2 cycle but do they really need to personify the cycle by saying that it is "Upset"? As though by burning carbon we are killing the cycle. I am all for being green but I am not big on this kind of indoctrination disguised as a science book.

Are you ever bothered by the lesson materials that your children study?

only for the strong in stomach

Afternoon church always throws me off. It's hard to get lunch in because you are also trying to get everyone ready. By the time you come home, everyone is starving. Sunday nights are usually leftovers. Yesterday was no exception. (Kirsten finally asked yesterday, "What happen to Sunday dinners and why is it always leftovers?") Everyone chose their own meal, but McKay took it an extra creative level. She wanted some of her favorite foods. Her concoction was chili with pickles and soggy tortilla chips. I'm just glad none of the other kids thought this was the cool thing to do.

And now, with my turn of being sick and battling the stomach flu today, this is the most unpleasing picture I can think of and it makes my stomach churn that much more.

Is there any other weird combos out their that you or you kids like?

Red head

It had been over 6 months that I had a hair cut or my hair dyed. I think that's been a record. Plus, I was starting to notice more gray than I wanted to. Just a little bit here and there but still, I'm under 30. So last week, I went red with a little bit of blonde.

No pain, no brain

I played volleyball last week and I broke a blood vessel in my wrist. It didn't hurt and I don't know when I did it. By chance, I looked down and noticed a egg shaped bubble coming out of my wrist that was as blue as a robin's egg. Since it didn't hurt, I kept playing. It's my one day a week to have a couple hours of alone time and take it out on a ball. It didn't hurt until a couple hours after I stopped playing and then it was only a night of pain, so no big deal.

Five days later, it still looks like this. The bruise is going down at this point. Like I said, it's pain free. So tonight it's back to playing.

Invention Convention

Happy Friday the 13th!Yesterday McKay had her annual GATE Invention Convention. Her creative mind led her to invent razors and other bathroom toiletries that had magnets built into them so they would stick to shaving cream cans, mirrors, metal shelves, etc. With magnets you can never go wrong; they are just too much fun.

mermory lapse

A year ago today we were here in sunny California staying with Harry and Dawn and playing with the cousins. Our trip was only going to be three or four days but neither one of us wanted to go home. Finally after being there a week and knowing the kids couldn't miss anymore school we had to literally force ourselves to leave and go home. I loved being able to go across the street to the park everyday to let the children play. And now, one year later, it's snowing outside and it's still piled sky high, I wish we were there again, at LEAST for a week.

I never said it was good for you. I only said it was good.

Jake has gotten in the snack mode of mixed nuts. Last night we were discussing the "ultimate" nut mix. We decided there were just too many peanuts in the can. Even when they say, "less than 50% peanuts," 49% is still too many. They end up being the last 1/4 of the can and get thrown away. So my weekly trip to WalMart included a few extra snacks.

Here is the new concoction: cashews, almonds, macadamias, pecans, pistachios, yogurt covered raisins, plain m&m's and peanut m&m's. I think this is a good start.

One bear = One visit

Every bear on this bed equals one visit to the hospital. Whether it being a surgical or an emergency room visit. Katanya has the far right five. Yep, five. She's the leader. This doesn't count the visit to the ER when we were in Utah and ended up at Primary Children's. The lone yellow one is Kirsten's tonsillectomy. The most recent is Cruz's brown bear. He got this last Friday when he went under surgery to have......

(drum roll).......

9 cavities filled. Yes nine, my other three girls had perfect checkups but he was the unlucky one. They feared with him being so young that they would never be able to do them all without traumatizing him. He was as sweet as the come and all the nurses loved him. Recovery was fast!

Come to think of it, Cruz should technically have two bears. He had an ER visit in December of '06 when he tripped and fell against the only real wooden door in the house. Jake had been working for a neurologist at the time and he advised us, "if it was his son, he would do this." So Cruz had a CT scan done to make sure everything was okay, which it was. He missed out and didn't get a bear.

NOW, if you could only imagine how much these bears really cost.

Daughter and Son Like Father

We all know how Cruz is a spitting image of Jake. His looks, his face, right down to his smile. Yes, somehow dad's smile has been the way to go and Cruz has made it his own too. Yesterday, Jake was having me take his face shots and I told him to smile. He said, "tell me how." I've never had to instruct anybody on smiling so it was actually a difficult thing to teach. I think this is where Pete comes in. He could always get Jake to smile.

Anyway back to Cruz, I wouldn't give this up for anything.

Now onto the daughter. This one is the one that acts like Jake. She is my counter in every way. How many candies, how many minutes on the computer, especially how many pictures on the blog. We have had many sit down talks how the world isn't fair and not everything is the same, but we try to make everything equal. She is not afraid to express her opinion and what she wants. She is also very independent and stubborn. To make her happy all you have to do is let her pick her own clothes and do her own hair for school. I've bitten my lip many of times when she does her hair, but it expresses herself and I have to let her have some of the control too.Her hair is so thick and full that I love it in rollers. There are some days that I step forward and do her hair for school and church. And almost every time she isn't happy about this. I do miss her hair and how long it used to be. Many times I wished I hadn't gotten it cut. She took her ponytail for show and tell last week and it brought back all the memories.

I wouldn't trade this for anything either.

i just saved....

....over $1600 a year by not switching to Geico. Actually I shopped around lately for our farm and auto insurance policies because I wasn't pleased with the customer satisfaction (nor the price) we were getting from our current one. When the price came back, it was just to sweet we couldn't say no. So when I went in today to cancel the current policy, my adjuster couldn't even get out of his office or say hi. I guess we were only friends when he was getting my money. So long!

knock knock -part II-

After a trip to the library for some joke books and listening to a couple of songs on Kids Stuff the kids were starting to improve. You know it's serious when Jake cracks a book at dinner time to start the knock knock jokes. So here's to the kids and the endless car rides to come; filled with knock knock jokes. (Sorry ahead of time about the video. I was driving and I was going for the sound.)

knock knock? -part I-

Knock Knock? Who's There? Boo! Boo who? You don't have to cry about it. It's just a joke.

This is where it all started. Lately at our house or in the car the kids love to tell knock knock jokes. When it first started it was very hard after five or ten minutes to keep going with the kids because the jokes were so silly. I took this take a little over a month ago when they first started this routine.

To be contiuned....

practice makes perfect

We've become some of those parents.McKay normally does really well at practicing but last week she was lagging and not very motivated. Three days after her lesson and realizing she hadn't practiced at all, the words finally came out of our mouths. "McKay, you need to practice. No games or TV until it's done. All 20 minutes." I am sure of those of you related to Jake, you will be amazed that he has told McKay this plenty of times too. I guess when you get older, you can change your mind about practicing. Although....

....even with a little reminding, for the month she has been learning, she is doing a great job!

A little reminder

Katanya is now 2 1/2 years old. Jake is just now learning how to spell her full name - correctly. He's blaming me that I filled out the birth certificate without him and there was no way he would have ever spelled her middle names that way. I didn't think I would ever be that ignorant. So I did my homework.

(Story leading up to the event)

Our neighbor came over the night before Katanya had her nose cauterized to help administer with a blessing. Jake wrote down her name because he was having a hard time keeping them in order. After the blessing, I glanced at the paper and asked Jake where he had learned to spell Katanya's names? This is where he blamed me.

So tonight, he was fixing his facebook photos, and asked me again how we spelled her names. I just want to clear myself and please click here where I am putting in this little insert. Even though my name is showing as the author, Jake posted this while I was still in the hospital. This was before I filled out the birth certificate. So I know he had spelled it correctly at least once.