Epic Failure!

Last night we went and took a drive around the Festival of Lights,
The kids of course loved it and as we were driving around all the different displays we came upon The Nativity! The conversation sounded like this:

Me: Look at that! Who is that in the Manger?
Whitley: Baby Jesus, and his momma Mary and his Daddy Joseph.
Me: Good Job Whitley!! ~ I also have a smug smile thinking, my kids have actually learned something that Grandma Linda or I have taught them- Okay so probably Grandma Linda!


Me: Look its the three Wiseman, What did they bring Baby Jesus?
Karden:( after contemplating for a minute) They brought him Coal!



I have learned from my dad that if you do get coal for Christmas at least you would have a warm butt! But Seriously I have failed my child!! I guess we will be in primary on Sunday, obviously I'm not doing something right! :)

2 of My Favorite Things...

The Zoo and Christmas lights, What could be better?




Saturday we ventured up to Zoo for our annual trek to ZOO LIGHTS!!
Our fun Neighbors Lowell and Jaycie and there kiddos joined us and we had a great night! It seemed like this year they had more lights but less animals out for observation. When We were in the reptile house, the alligators were awake and actually got up and moved a little bit, I thought Whitley was going to come uncorked! She not only has an irrational fear of Santa but Alligators as well.
She kept saying "alligators only eat chickens, not little girls" I think she was trying to convince herself, it was very sad.

No trip to the zoo is complete without a ride on the Merry-go-round. Whitley chose the baby elephant-
because she was sad we didn't get to see the real one- and Karden chose the snake
( Shocker- He has never rode ANYTHING but the praying mantis). Oh yeah we also snuck baby Tyson on to the carousel, because Ryan was mad they punched our punch card three times? Tyson wasn't that impressed, but ryan felt vindicated!

Another must for the zoo is the train ride, well with it being Winter this is an close as we got to the Zoofari Express:


We had a great time and look forward to doing it again next year!

Dear Santa- Define Good!

Every year we go to Mountain View Hospital to see Santa, (My mom works there and they bring in santa for employees families)

Whitley has decided she doesn't like Santa, but in order to get presents she does like Santa's brother. Weird, weird, child!! So all day in preparation for the big event I am prepping Whitley, telling her that Santa is Grandma Lindas friend and that he is nice and how can Santa tell his brother what you want for Christmas if you don't sit on Santa's Lap. Plus I have a "themed" outfit and I really want her to wear it! She is wanting no part of it. So I know we will be leaving with a happy boy and a girl in tears!!

When we get to the hospital and the line is long, like always!! But this year they have paper taped to the wall and hand each little kid a box of crayons and turn them loose.
Now in all reality this is not a good idea when they have colored on the walls at home, but at the moment it made the wait lots more enjoyable!!

When it was finally our turn Whitley starts to panic a little and so we let Karden go first, Karden of course jumps right up and starts telling Santa ALL the things he wants, They were having quite the little conversation. Whitley must of sensed it was her turn because the "Hold me, Hold Me" started. When we pulled Karden away Santa I set her down and started to walk up with her, Then shock or all shocks she let go of my hand and jumped on his lap. I just about died.
She sat there and smiled and smiled (even if she still looks a bit nervous) and then told him she wanted a dollhouse! What!! A Dollhouse?- This is the first I have heard of this. After she was done she hopped down and wanted her gigantic cookie, yeah no candy canes here, they give huge Granny B cookies!!
I guess santa needs to tell his brother to go shopping for a dollhouse!!

His Name Is ISABELLE!!

We received our Elf from Santa a few days ago and let me tell you how fun this is.
It comes with an elf and a book from santa telling them how the elf is his helper and everynight the elf flies back to the North Pole and tells Santa is you have been good during the day. We had to pick a name for our elf. We were trying to think of a neat name when karden started getting more and more frustrated because no one was listening to him. He wanted to name him ISABELLE. Okay Isabelle it is!( Were he gets these names is beyond me, he once told my mom he was going to have a horse and name him RODGER) This poor elf is going to have some gender confusion issues!! Every night when he gets back from reporting to Santa he is in a different spot in the house. The kids run around the house every morning looking for ISABELLE. It is so so funny.
If the kids are being naughty a simple " Oh no Isabelle is watching" nips bad behavior in the bud.

MyNiceSpace.com

Whitley has even gone so far as to carry her play cellphone in her pocket so in case we are out and about she can call home and tell Isabelle. We have had to tell Whitley that even Isabelle doesn't like a tattletale.

Now if only I could think of an excuse to leave Isabelle up all year long!!

Oh Christmas Tree!

The tree is finally up!! I am so excited, it seemed like we could never find a spare evening to put it together.
Whitley had a blast decorating her favorite branch.
Karden only wanted one side of the tree decorated because when Santa comes in the front door, He will love to see the tree.
When the tree was "done" to there satisfaction they decided to play "Santa" Karden had on a Santa Hat and Whitley had to pretend she was asleep because Santa doesn't come unless your asleep
When the lights were off Karden would bring stuff and put them under the tree.
Some shoes,a basket and a baseball!! I wish Santa could get away with that :)
Next it was Whitley's Turn, so of course off come all of the bedding again. .
What did Santa bring Karden- Oh Yeah!! A pirate mask and a library book!! Score! It was so Funny!!


After the kids were in bed, I had to redo the tree, I'm taking bets on how many times I fix it when the kiddos are asleep- Wanna make a wager? :)

2 Nights of Lights!!

There are lots of things Ryan loves...Me, The kids, His job and the light parade!! (hopefully in that order) Every year around the 1st of October I start hearing things like- "ShopKo Has there Christmas lights on sale" "What should I do for the light Parade" etc. It sometimes makes for a long November! This year was no exception.

The whole week before Thanksgiving my car was banished from the garage as the construction was going on. I learned three very important things:

1. I am thankful for my garage.
2. I hate to scrap windows.
3. That Spanish Fork Wind Is Damn Cold!!

But After lots hours of work the float took shape and it looked REALLY GOOD!!


The kids love the light parade and couldn't wait to cheer on Daddy -Even if he stiffed them on the candy- so we had to find something to pass the time-
Grandpa's Diet coke always does the trick! (Its amazing what happens when your dad become grandpa- He would NEVER drink out of the same bottle as me, and second he never even let me drink in the Car.) They had a blast clapping for all the neat floats!
Karden also wanted to see Santa- Whitley well she has decided she doesn't like Santa, but she does like Santa's Brother! I give up on that child :) Once again Santa didn't dissapoint!

This morning while discussing taking apart the float and getting out the Christmas tree, My mom called to tell Ry about the light parade in Santaquin. Well within 5 minutes our day went from decorating the house to Light parade mode again. (Thanks MOM!)

We made the trek over to Santaquin and after assembling the float made a drive by to Little Grandmas Resthome! The residents all came outside and oohed and aahed over the float! It was my favorite part of the weekend! The Santaquin light parade went well and Ry walked away with the "Mayors Choice" award. Which came with this sweet basket from the Red barn. The prize is not why Ry does the light parade but is a nice surprise!


I love that Ryan loves Christmas time so much- Tomorrow maybe we will tackle the Christmas tree!!

3rd Birthday Bash!

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Whitley turned 3 on Friday the Thirteenth, I am hoping this is not a precursor for the year to come! I will think positive and be happy that we survived the terrible twos- Yeah:)

We decided to take her up to Princesses on Ice for her birthday, Well actually Ryan decided I should take her up to the show and he would go to the movies- Thanks Ry- It was fun and Whitley and Cadie had a great time.!
It was really funny when the princesses would come out because The girls would squeal really loud
My apolgies to the adults sitting in front of us! Whitley enjoyed her snowcone while the rest of us were freezing from walking to the car in a blizzard.
Sunday we had a family birthday party

The kids had fun playing with all there cousins. I'm sorry Bradley for making you wear the pink princess tiara! I hope you still love me :) We of course had ice cream and cake -Thank you Aunt Becky for the awesome cake-
and presents.
Wow- did Whitley ever get alot of presents? It looked almost like Santa had been here.
Thank you for all the neat stuff everyone!!

We are so glad Whitley is in our family even if she is a bit dramatic- We love her to pieces and wouldn't change her for the world- Love you Whitley!!

PS. Karden ate breakfast today at school and actually gave the lady his REAL name and didn't eat food off the floor- I am So Proud!!

School Lunch Outlaw!!

So apparantly in Kindergarten you are cool if you eat breakfast or lunch at school!! When I try to be a nice mom this is what happens!!


My awesome neighbor Nicki is kind enough to watch Karden when I am at work on Fridays. I send him over at 6:45 Am and she sends him to Kindergarten with her son Matty and picks them up after school and Watches him until Ry gets home around 4:00. ( yes, I am eternally grateful!!) So every once in a while Matty and his older brothers eat breakfast at school. Karden is SOO Jealous when he finds out that Matty eats at school and that he doesn't get to. So Nicki and I plan to send the kids for breakfast today. Last night as I am getting things ready for the morning I talk to Karden telling him that he needs to pay for breakfast and to give the money to the lady that is helping the kids. He agrees and we decide to put the money in a ziplock bag and them put it in the small pocket of his backpack. This Morning I remind him were the money is and remind him what to do. He is so Excited. So off to Nicki's and work we go.

Fast Forward 10 Hours: I ask Karden how was breakfast at the school? He says they got to eat pizza, but he pulled off the sausage because it was hot, he got a whole banana and they got to choose what kind of milk he wanted and he picked chocolate. After that he goes off to play. I'm proud of him for doing what he was supposed to and don't think anything of it.

Fast Foward 15 minutes: I am cleaning out his backpack and look in the small pocket and see a ziplock bag with $1.75 in it. The same amount I sent him with this morning.
I inquire why he didn't pay for his breakfast. He says they wanted his school lunch number, but he didn't know it. I am thinking they put it with Nickis kids breakfast and make a mental note to pay Nicki back for the breakfast she just bought my son.

Fast Forward 30 minutes: Nicki calles my laughing hysterically!! She says that her older kids are telling her what really happened this morning. When The lunch lady asks for Kardens lunch # and he doesn't know it, they just ask for his name, Karden then thinks he is in trouble and asks the lunch lady if his name can be Timothy, she says if that is your name so Karden says his name is TIMOTHY DEVENISH!! What the heck!!! They feel bad for the poor kid and just probaly out of frustration let him eat. So he goes and gets his food of breakfast pizza, that he drops on the lunchroom floor and they proceeds to just pick it up and eat it, after he pulls off the hot sausage of course!!! I guess he doesn't realize the 10 second rule does not apply to school lunch rooms!!

So now my kids did not only pay for his breakfast, he lied about his name too!! I'm Afraid this is what I will find when I go pay my debts on Monday!!

A Dentists Dream!!

Wow! Halloween being on a Saturday made for all day trick or treating and a whole bunch of Candy.
This year for halloween Whitley decided to be Tinkerbell
and Karden decided to be Jenga Fett ( some guy from star wars) but after ordering his costume online on October 6 and not getting it in the mail we had to compromise and go for the skeleton pirate costume.

We hit trick or treat on Main street during the day, with Bradley and Brooklyn
wow- it was nuts!! There were tons of people and everyone seemed to be in my bubble. I was going a little crazy.
After we went to visit Little Grandma at the resthome
were she loaded the kids up with more candy, and them ended the night with Trunk or Treat in Goshen. So if you happen to see my kids running up and down the street chasing make believe dogs they are probally just on a sugar high!!

The Answer : 6

The question :

How many times you must mop your floor after spilling an entire sams club size bottle of pinesol, so you can walk through your kitchen without falling on your butt!

Just in case your ever wondering!! :)

California or Bust!!

We Survived, had a great time, and are now back to reality!! Our long awaited vacation is over,
and although I as glad to be home, I am a little sad that I don't have anything to look forward too...

We flew out bright and early last Saturday and after lugging 6 suitcases, 7 carry-ons, 2 car seats and a double stroller we landed in San Diego!! We decided that because we got there so early and couldn't check into our hotel for a while we headed to San Diego zoo.
We have been there before ( okay so 4 times before) It was a little less exciting than it has been in the past but we still had fun!! It was hot, and after a bus tour
and a few animals sightings
we called it a day and left.
That night at the hotel eating dinner Karden crunched down on his corndog and he happened to lose one of his bottom teeth.
He was so excited to put his tooth under his pillow and get some money. We had to reassure him that the tooth fairy knew he was on vacation and would still come. He got 2.00 and thought he had died and gone to heaven. He was so excited to tell his kindergarten teacher so he could have his name on the tooth board at school.

The next day we headed to Sea world!!
I love sea world, Ryan on the other hand is what I call a "S.H" or in other words a SHAMU HATER! He has never had fun at sea world before and was just going to make me happy!!-Thanks Ry- We got there early enough to see all the shows, we seen the Elmo show, the sea lion and otter show and or course the shamu show
It was so fun to see Whitley stand up and chant "shamu" with the rest of the crowd while he splashed all of the suckers that sit at the bottom of the stadium. It was even funnier to hear her add in " Shamu, Shamu, Daddy hates shamu!!" I guess I have teased Ryan to much about not wanting to go to sea world! We were even at the right spot at the right time and got to feed the dolphins..
It was awesome!!! Even though it was $6.00 for 4 fish. It was worth it !! After that we checked out the sesame street section or sea world
and rode on the rides and the kids got to burn off some energy on the huge playground!!
We checked out the sharks, polar bears and by then we were exhausted and on our way for a 1 1/2 hour drive up to Anaheim on the California freeways!! Wow- lets just say I'm glad the kids were sleeping so they didn't pick up all the "daddy" words that were said on the drive.

The next 3 days we did Disney!
We got there bright and early and hit a few rides before it was time for the "only" thing Karden wanted to do in disneyland- Jedi Training Academy-
Believe me this has caused me major anxiety over the last few months!! Trying to explain to a star wars crazed 5 year old that he may not get picked for the show, and having to prepare him for disappointment if that happened. As well as having to prepare myself, a non star wars crazed mom, for sitting in show after show waiting for him to get picked. I have done a gazillion Internet searches for hints on how to get picked,so with jedi clothes and with sign in hand,
we waited and low and behold he got picked second!! I don't know who was happier, me or karden!! He had a spot on stage instead of the floor and loved every minute of it.

He did awesome and got to fight Darth Maul!< We could of left right that second and I would of been happy!!
The second day we did the princess breakfast, It was as good for whitley as star wars was for Karden. We got to see Ariel (in a dress, instead of fins, which confused the heck out of Whitley)
Snow White Belle
Cinderella
and Sleeping Beauty
The look of Whitleys face was priceless, she just stood on her chair awestruck, While she waited for her turn with the princesses!

We got to go on all the rides we wanted to. Ryan loved Pirates and Matterhorn. Karden loved all the rides except Tower of terror were I scared the crap out of him. OOPS!He had a ball and was tall enough to go on all the rest of the rides.
Whitley on the other hand LOVED the teacups,
I have a much greater respect for my parents who went on small world with me over and over because I was too Chicken to go on anything else. Small world is still my favorite!
We got to meet most of the characters as well. Mickey Mouse
Goofy
Army Man from Toy Story
One neat thing we found in California adventures was a "Whitley Jewerly store"
Now no one can say my kids names are too "weird" to have anything personilized with there name on it (ex. pencils, cups, bike license plates, etc)

On our final night at disneyland we got to go trick or treating with Mickey Mouse.
The kids had a great time getting candy, dancing with the incredibles
and meeting some neat characters.

It was a fun but late night. We decided to stay for the parade before making the "death March" back to our hotel and while waiting the kids became really quiet, When we checked on them we found this.
and this

Well at least Ryan and I enjoyed the parade :)
Thursday was Universal Studios.
It was a fun place to visit. But A place I would go back to with older kids, Karden was either too short to ride the rides, or the ones he could go on scared him. Although the shows were really good! But we still got to meet some fun people.
Dora
Curious George
Shrek
and spongebob
After another fun filled drive on the freeway we ended up at Pirate Dinner adventure! It was ok food and ok entertainment and A+ eye candy!! :) Karden really enjoyed it and even got to be part of the show and shoot muskets at the bad pirate captain. He thought he was Neat!! Whitley well she slept through most of this too!
Friday morning was Whale Watching. It was quite neat and we actually got to see 3 fin whales, 1 minke whale, and a whole bunch of sealions and dolphins that swam around our boat. What wasn't fun was that I get seasick!! I got seasick on the cruise, Why I thought I would be fine on a boat 20 times smaller bobbing up and down on the ocean is beyond me, I guess I didn't want to be a party pooper. So I load up on the dramamine and low and behold- Seasick!!!
Happy Megan- still on shore
"Starting to get seasick"-
"Get me off this Damn Boat"
Although the kids and Grandma and Grandpa had a great time

We then trudged all the luggage back to the airport to find that our already late night flight has been delayed a hour. Darnit! I apoligize to anyone on the flight out of Long Beach to Salt Lake City because it was MY 2 year crying for the first 15 minutes of the flight because she wanted a Sprite! Someone just give the girl a sprite!! We got home a little after 1:00 am and today we are trying to tackle the mounds of laundry and sort out our fun souvenirs. I'm glad to be home!!