April 2011

Finally nice weather has come our way. It's been hit and miss, but we've taken advantage of the good days and been outside. When we have been outside we've  mostly played chalk. This was the first time Kinley has played with chalk. She did a great job at mimicking her brother and learned quickly what to do. She ate it and sat in it, but none of that hurt her so it was fun to watch! On the bad days these two have been side by side! They have learned to love each other and play well together.

Also on the nicer days we've been out working on the yard/ flower beds/ garden. Mostly Patrick has been the one doing all the hard work, but on his day off after tax season we decided to make it a big family thing. When we first went out it was pretty chilly, but as the day went on it got warmer. We were pulling weeds with about a foot long roots! It was CRAZY! Our yard has been a lot of work! TONS and TONS of dandelions and you can see what our flower beds looked like before we got to them. That's what you get for buying a house that wasn't lived in for about a year. BUT YAY the sprinkler system is working GREAT! 
Oh and Porter even learned what Hop-Scotch is! Too cute!

Firework Shooting

Well this is what happens when you aren't careful with fireworks. Tonight we had a BBQ with our neighbors. Mind you this was the first time we had ever really hung out with our neighbors the Blacks. They invited us over for BBQ and Fireworks. I was thinking oh how fun! Even though I knew Porter would be afraid and not want to hold a sparkler or anything. I knew kinley would be pretty into watching the the fun flashing lights and such so I kept her up so she could see. 9:30 pm rolls around and it's dark enough to start. We did a couple sparklers and when I say we I mean Ronan did a few and then we did one big firework and then started onto the second. The second one started out kinda whimpy and then started to go crazy. All of a sudden a spark goes FLYING ZOOMING past PAtricks ear (right between he and I) Then I start thinking I should look out cuz another one might come flying this direction. Right as I thought that very thought I quickly decided to put my hand over Kinleys face. She was sitting on my lap facing forward and had her blanket covering her so she would stay warm and covered from the mosquitos. So my hand was on her face and my forearm was covering her body. Then immediatley another spark comes zooming our direction and sure enough it Slams into Kinleys Stomach. I felt the kick from it hitting her and I jumped up trying to get the spark to fall to the ground with hopes it wouldn't catch fire on her. Too late... She is crying mostly in fear, not because of pain (though there was a little pain in the sound) There was no bucket of water around us and so I didn't really know what to do. I almost put my hand over the fire to diffuse it and smother it out, but in the heat of the moment (no pun intended) I honestly didn't know what to do So I cradled her and pulled her in as close to my body as I could get her so she knew I was going to take care of her and make sure everything was alright and I RAN as fast as I could into our house to hopefully get everything ok, I ran into the kitchen laid her on the counter and threw her blanket off of her to check and see if she was still sorta on fire. By this time she had stopped crying and I noticed it was out and done so no need for spraying my daughter down with water! WHEW! Then I really looked to see where it got her and I saw the marks on her pajamas and rushed to take her PJs off so I could check her body out to make sure there were no burns. While undressing her I realized the marks were right where her diaper was. YAY! All was well! No burns! Nothing! WOOT! Then everyone comes running in to make sure we are ok. And patrick picks up kinleys blanket and says Whoa! Thank goodness you had this wrapped around her! I truely believe that it was because of that blanket that all was alright. That blanket kept the spark from hitting Kinleys skin. It added an extra layer AND it ,along with my cradling her, smothered out the flames.
So lesson learned #1: don't sit too close to fireworks, #2: Always keep a bucket of water nearby, and #3: If you catch fire... STOP DROP AND ROLL!
We are very blessed that Kinley and I aren't hurt and all is well. Just a few traumatized people is what resulted and a pretty beat up blanket. A few minutes after we pointed out kinleys blanket, she KNEW and kept crying "bittey!" which in her language means Blanky! She knew it was hurt and ruined. So she fell asleep on my chest tonight while I talked on the phone with my mom to see if she still had some of this material left over. YAY for grandma because she does have some and will be getting us a new blanket in a few days! THANK YOU!

ALL IS WELL and we are just fine! I'm keeping this blanket as a reminder and for any sort of talk or fireside that might come my way in years to come. We are also thinking we could call a news crew or the Fire department head chief! They would love something like this to show everyone to be careful! But... I don't want to be on TV for that reason... my daughter getting hit with a firework. I'd be known as the stupid mom who didn't sit far enough away!  Oh my pride my pride! haha

March 2011 Part 2

Happy End of March 2011 to you all! This month has been rockin AWESOME!! The second part of this month has really been a blast! We started it off with March Madness. And yes it started out great! My bracket ROCKED the first day. Patrick came home early to watch the games! We ate dinner downstairs, totally not my thing...but we did it to have some fun!
Then the next day was Porters Birthday! And YES I can believe it! It totally feels like it's been 3 years since I held him in my arms a newborn baby boy. Since this was the first year he really understood what a birthday is.. we decided to make it a BIG day for him. And how could we not when we live 10 minutes away from trains and he is a TRAIN FREAK!?! So We rode Front runner (a.k.a Trains) down to Salt Lake. Porter ATE that up! He was at first a little nervous when we told him but then warmed up once he saw that it was harmless and really a ton of fun!
We met up with family and went to the Clark Planetarium. We wanted to do the Discovery museum.. but not in our price range. So the Clark Planetarium wasn't anything big! Porter didn't get it and to be honest... it wasn't anything spectacular to me either.  To the left is a picture of what our stroller looked like! HAHA No Kids! But we were grateful for the stroller anyway!
After the Planetarium we went to eat at California Pizza Kitchen. Not the best place I've eaten at that's for sure.. but not that bad. We opened presents and enjoyed being together.  Then did a little shopping and looking around Dick's Sporting goods! Porter really liked it in there. Atta Boy!! From there we rode Trax up to Temple Square. Porter loved riding more "Trains" and then really loved seeing Moroni and being able to touch the Temple! He told his Nursery leaders all about it.We went to the South Visitors Center and then down the the Church History building. They have a kids level where the kids can do hands on play and learn stuff. I actually think Kinley got more of a kick out of that than Porter did. Either way they had a blast.
We rushed to get back onto Front Runner to get back home and Porter once again was in Train Heaven! Literally... there are trains all over, he was glued to the window and had his ears perked waiting to hear the whistle and the railroad crossing bells! Seeing him so happy made me probably more happy than he was that very day! It was great.
We got home and had dinner and opened presents. Porter got more Thomas the train stuff and clothes and a Cars book and last but not least a Wheel Barrel that he can use to help Dad out in the yard. After presents we turned on the BYU vs. Gonzaga Game! It was so great to see them play so well and WIN! As Porter put it "Best DAY EVVER!"
Then the week following we had my sister Carrie and her family come stay with us for a few days. Porter loved having cousins to laugh and play with! WE took them to see the trains outside the Train museum and they LOVED it! Sadly I forgot my camera. But because of having cousins over Porter learned to get into my make up from his cousin... Found him looking like this one morning after they left.
On the upside though, I've noticed how much he learned from them and he is really growing and learning so quickly! He watched his older cousin using the Potty and enjoyed seeing that someone his age did that.
This past monday March 28th I decided you know what I need to see if he'll do the whole potty thing so I can see just how far he's coming along with things. So I asked him if he wanted to wear his Thomas Underware and he said Yes! So I told him "OK! No more Diapers! From now on we wear big boy underware like Dad and Grandpa and Uncle Gavin and (all the boys he looks upto)" And I'm happy and so glad to say that it is now Thursday and we have only missed the potty 3 or 4 times!
HE IS SO PROUD OF HIMSELF! And SO AM I!!!! Although right now in the training process.. it's a lot harder going places. And he still doesn't get that he can't go at night. But all in all we are WELL on our way!
And Kinley is always so happy! She has really been hitting her teething hard again lately. But she is now Walking! She is still a little unstable, but she can do it and she chooses to do it for the most part. She can say binkie, blankie, bottle(all three sound like bitee), baby, ball, bath, No(neh), Yes (yeh) and of course her very favorite...Daddy!

Lately it's been extra rough on her with dad being gone for work. She wakes up in the morning and says Daddy... and then points into my bed where she thinks she'll find him, but then I tell her he's at work and she loses a lot of her spunk. Then she hears a car drive by outside or a big truck which sounds like our Garage Door opening and she looks up at me with these wide excited eyes and says "DADDY!" Then I sadly have to tell her no sweetie dad is still at work. Then she either starts to cry and drop the floor whining, or she just gets really sad and just goes silent and cuddles into me and her blanket with a somber attitude. She loves her Daddy! It's adorable! But can break my heart at how much she misses him throughout the day. And lastly She loves to Dance and wiggle! She is so full of spunk and very energetic!

March 2011 Will be divided... it's such a big month for us!

This month has already started off with a bang! Nice weather has begun to come and with that means playing outside which equals happier kids and also yard work, which we have TONS to do! Also with nice weather comes new friendships. You put yourself outside and you see lots more people and learn lots new things. Like we got to get to know our neighbor a little bit better and she told us that there is a park walking distance from our house! Plus they are putting a splash pad in at that very park! We are so excited!
The beginning part of this month we celebrated both Patrick and I's birthdays. His work was really good to him and let him have a half day of work on his birthday and not work at all on my birthday(which was a Saturday this year)
So my Mom came up and celebrated with us! The last time we went and saw her she gave us a gift card to the movies. So she came up and watched the kids for us so we could go out and enjoy a movie and dinner date. So we went and saw Adjustment Bureau with Matt Damon. We liked the movie, it isn't at all what you think it's going to be from the previews. But it was good, Definitely a Hollywood movie with some sort of agenda behind it.
Then after the movie we walked across the street to the Salomon center and checked out  Flowrider and the iFly. It was awesome to watch people doing those things! I would love to do that sometime! So once we were done laughing at people Patrick took me to go get a NICE frame for our front entry Picture that I have all planned and I'm stoked about! It's going to look AWESOME!!! Then after that we went to eat at a REALLY nice restaurant called the Timbermine. Steak restaurant and SO YUMMY! Its very similar to the Big rock candy mountain restaurant, but Bigger and done up a lot more! Great food though! Then after that we came home and had cake.
So let's go back a day to Patrick's Birthday. Friday he came home from work and we had lunch and hung around. Did dinner and opened presents. I gave him a Digital Picture frame for his office and then I made him a magazine that was all about him. He really loved it!
After Patrick opened his presents, Porter opened his present from Grandma C. Since it's his birthday in a week we figured we might as well open the present so Grandma can see the look on his face. She gave him a brand new Remote controlled Thomas and Friends Tank Engine named Molly. Too bad it was a defective one! We ended up running to Wal-mart and buying him a new one! Then we came home and had Patrick's Favorite...Banana Cream Pie.  Then we watched the BYU game in which Jimmer scored 52 points and set a school record! That was awesome!

February 2011

On to a New Year and the last month felt weird, but I guess I'm getting used to saying 2011...anyone else??? The first weekend this month my wonderful  husband, Patrick, let me have a girls night here at our place. So Paige, Mikelle, and Mirae all came up and we partied all night! I'm surprised the kids slept through it all. We had a blast and made some fun music videos and were crazy! I can only be that crazy girl around them and I guess a few other people(Yes...you know who you are! And don't you love that you know me, that freaky crazy girl?! haha You should feel privileged.)
Then the next weekend was marvelous, because Mom and Dad Munson and Kels came up and saved us parents and watched the kids for a few hours so we could go to our wards Valentines Dinner/Date activity. Patrick and I needed it so much, not just for ourselves and being together, but it was a really great night for us to get to know some people around here in our ward. There was a live band and ballroom dancing, which you all know we didn't participate in, but we did do a line dance i'm proud to say! It was fun to get dressed up and be fancy and nice for our spouses! It was just an all together great night.
Then the next day(a saturday) we spent with Mom and Dad and Kels! That was awesome! We love to be with family. Dad helped Patrick in the yard and around the house, while I showed Mom and Kels the Ogden Area and went into some fabric stores! I got some curtains for Kinleys room and I'm stoked because I can finally see her room coming together in my mind and I can hopefully get to work on it here soon.
Also this month Patrick and I decided to read the book series called The Hunger Games together. It's the first time we have read a book together and we are enjoying it. It gives us something else to talk about and brings something else to the table. haha P.S. We thought the books were pretty good. Not AMAZING but good and kept you wanting to read and conitinue on with the book! For me, ( i'm not a reader) it did something..so I guess that is sayin somethin..Right?!
Kinley is starting to learn how to walk. She loves to have you hold her hands and walk her around the house. Once you start the fun don't stop though. She is beginning to show her true personality and BOY does she have personality! We love her spunk, yet i'm a little scared for the next few years with that spunk.
Porter is Still madly in love with Thomas the train. But he's starting to venture to Magic School bus a little bit more. He is so cute and such a good little boy!
We are still in the Tax Season Rut..actually it's getting crazier!