Fluffy Feathered Friends!

Kourtney and her class mates have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of their fluffy little feathered friends. Kourtney's teacher brought in an incubator with 20 eggs. They have had the opportunity to watch and track their progress for the past few weeks. After a 24 day waiting period the eggs began to hatch! For the past several days we have had daily updates on the fluffy friends. Kourtney has been begging me to let her take Makell to the school so she could see them first hand. Kaitlyn (as well as the rest of the school) has been seen in the class room on a daily basis. I have to say that Mrs. Shepherd is such a good sport:)!


This experience at school has been really fun for Kourtney. I love the excitement she has as she runs in the house after school to fill us in on how many eggs have hatched. Can you guess what she wants in her Easter basket?
I discovered Kaitlyn is a really good chicken sitter! She wouldn't put them down! Maybe in a few years we will up grade to a larger animal and then on to children:). She loved holding the soft little animals which surprised me some what. Short Story: A few day ago as Kaitlyn was helping me cook dinner, she pulled a few eggs out of the refrigerator and was totally disgusted after she had smelled the egg shells. She said, "Mom, did you know eggs smell totally disgusting! How exactly do chickens lay eggs"? Before anything came out of my mouth I looked over at her and she had the most disgusted look on her face. I asked her what was wrong? She said, " I think I just figured it out! Eggs come from chickens butts don't they?! How gross and disgusting!!!!!! I am never eating or touching another egg again"! (one of her favorite things for breakfast is scrambled eggs! lol!!)





Makell was a little hesitant at first. After she touched it with her finger and realized it wouldn't hurt her she was all for holding one! We even found out that you can hold a chick upside down by it's tiny little leg and not cause any trauma to it(oops)! She is now asking for one in her Easter basket as well. I think I will send this discussion Adam's way!

Do You Like Green Eggs and Ham?

Happy St. Patric's Day! Last week I was reading Green Eggs and Ham to Makell and realized St. Patric's Day was just around the corner. I had a plan! These were their responses when I called them for breakfast this morning!

Kaitlyn: (disgusted) Mom, why is it green? What is it? Do we have to eat that?!
Kourtney: (surprised) It's green eggs and ham! Oh, that looks soooo cool, but I bet it's not going to taste very good!
Makell: (disgusted) Ewwww! I HATE that! I just want cereal!

Kourtney was the only one brave enough at first to even try them. It took a little coaxing and prodding and the other two finally decided they would try it!
Kourtney, Kaitlyn, & Makell, Do you Like Green Eggs and Ham?

After trying it, this was their response!

Kourteny really liked it. She said it didn't taste any different than it normally does.














Kaitlyn liked it until about the fourth bite. I guess the look of it was too much! (It's amazing how a touch of food coloring can make things look so disgusting!)

Makell expressed how gross/sick it was and refused to eat another bite!

I wounder what would happen if I made it again for dinner tonight? Adam........... do you like green eggs and ham;)?

Shhhh! Even though I didn't try them, I think I would have to agree with Makell! The look says it all! Yuk!

A Visit with "Grammy Texas"!

We have been fortunate to spend a wonderful week with "Grammy Texas"! The kids hoped the week would never end! The last time she was here was about 1 1/2 years ago, so it was a special treat for all of us! Talking on the phone just isn't the same! We missed Grandpa Jim and hope to see him soon! Makell was just a baby the last time we spent any time together. Although the week was pretty much uneventful we did manage to get a few fun events in! On Monday we made a trip to the Draper Temple Open house with lunch afterwords. The kids loved that grandma would jump on the trampoline with them! I think they went on several "bear hunts", which made them giggle and laugh! With Lori hear we also saw a lot of Megan. It was fun staying up late playing games and one night we all went to Jumping Jacks. Since Adam is still recovering with his arm and I hurt my back, Lori and Megan became the big kids! I'm not sure who had more fun:)? Personally I loved staying up late at night and just talking with Lori! It's times like this when I really wished we all lived closer. I want my kids to know their grandparents and have a special bond/relationship with them! It can be hard where we live so far away. I love their visits! I know the girls will remember this forever! I am so grateful for my in-laws! I really think I have the best! When we took Lori to the airport know one wanted her to leave! As we got back to the car Makell expressed that she didn't want Grammy to go:(! All three girls had sad faces. Maybe that means we will have to make a trip to TX in the near future;)!

Out of Commission!

Hairdo Independence!

Makell has really been into the independent stage more than ever lately! At times it is absolutely wonderful and other times not so great. She thinks she can do anything and everything for herself. I beg to differ at times!
It was bath night and once again she insisted on brushing her own hair. I left the bathroom to check on the other girls and when I came back I found this! I have to say I was pretty impressed for a three year olds ability. I said WOW, what are you doing? She told me that she had fixed her own hair and as she was looking into the mirror said, "I look pretty huh mom"! My reply,(with a smile on my face) "Of course you do sweetie"! She was so proud of herself!
As I got a closer look, bobby pins were everywhere!
Not a bad job! Most of them were pretty straight!
26 bobby pins in all! I am sure if I hadn't of came in at that time she would have emptied the whole container! Makell is such a sweet heart! She is always making me laugh and putting a smile on my face!

Happy 90th Birthday Grandma!

On Thursday February 19th my Grandmother turned 90 years old. Talk about seeing a lot of changes throughout her life! She is an amazing woman and she holds such a special place in my heart. She has been faced with many situations that most of us will never experience. I love to hear her tell stories about her childhood and the things she had to do as a young girl. All I can say is I am grateful I was born when I was! I really don't think I could have handled the potty pot or the outhouse in the middle of the winter(or anytime for that matter)! I seriously can't imagine doing laundry by hand and having it hung all over the house when it couldn't be hung outside. I am grateful that our family can just hop in the car and go without rounding up a team of horses to make a trek somewhere. She is always expressing her gratitude for modern day conveniences. She definitely has taught the lesson on not taking things for granted. I admire her love for the gospel and her family. Throughout her life she has always thought of others before herself.

We had a family party in honor of her today. It was wonderful to celebrate her life and to see so many of the cousins! Some cousins put together a wonderful video of pictures throughout grandmas life and a cook book with some of her "famous" recipes for each of the grand kids and great grand kids. I am so grateful that I have such a special and close relationship with her. A few words to describe my grandma are; strong, obedient, loving, talented, faithful, example, frugal, teacher, hard worker, homemaker, wonderful cook, giving, and determined. She has taught me so many different lessons through out my life.
I am also grateful for the relationship my daughters have with their great grandmother. They call her "Grammy Great" because she is GREAT! They love the little saying she tells them when we are leaving from a visit. She says, "I love you ,a bushel and a peck"! Meaning: I love you a whole lot plus a little more!

I had to get a picture with all the girls. Our oldest daughter is named after grandma Alice. It's interesting how similar they are in their likes and interests. We love you Grammy Great!

The "BIG" Girl Bed!

Makell finally has her "BIG" girl bed. This is definitely the longest we have waited to put one of them in a twin size bed. She had been sleeping in a toddler bed(thanks Jackson) and we have felt that it was time to move in to something a little bigger. Adam spent a day putting things together and Makell absolutely loves it! I will find her lying on her bed reading books, playing with dolls, or anything else she can get up on her bed. The first night she sleep in her bed she was in her pajamas by 4:30 p.m. We held her off for a while. Waking up with her the next morning about 3:00 a.m. didn't sound like something I was willing to do. We decided to hold family prayer in her room that night and after we had finished she told all of us, "Get out now, I'm going to sleep in my new bed"! She said it in such a sweet soft way that it made all of us laugh. We left, turned the light out, and didn't hear another sound from her until 6:45 the next morning!

Several people have told me I need to share our experience of how Makell's bed came about. So hear it is! WARNING: It's a little long!

We have been looking for several months know for a bed. I have absolutely loved the sets we purchased for Kourtney and Kaitlyn. They are solid wood, sturdy, and cute. We wanted to get Makell the same set and found out that they didn't make it anymore. I was so disappointed! Well, we found ourselves going from store to store, looking at online ads and just couldn't find anything we liked. As we were looking I kept having these feelings that we needed to be patient. For something that was made really well it was expensive and out of our price range. Beds that were in our price range were built cheap and looked cheap. We had a company build a piece of furniture for us a few years ago and thought I would call and ask them if they would come out and give us a bid. If you find something you like this company will take a picture and build it for you. They can do it a lot cheaper than you can buy it in the stores and they look awesome! I called them and they came out to give a quote. It was still more than what we wanted to spend. The salesman told us that they had one in their store that was very similar to what we wanted and it was at a reasonable price.
On the following Monday I was checking our banking account and saw that $150.00 had been deposited in our account that was from something I had totally forgotten about. I called Adam and asked him if he had remembered and he had totally forgotten about it as well. At that point we decided when Adam got home from work we would run over to this particular store and look at this bed they had told us about. We were looking around and there was that feeling again to be patient. I thought I had been patient long enough! I found myself getting frustrated. We left the store and Adam and I talked about going to one last store before heading home. We pulled out of the parking lot and Adam looked across the street and he said, "Analice, look at that"! I looked and their against this house was the EXACT SAME bed we bought for Kourtney and Kaitlyn. I told Adam to turn around and I would go ask if it was For Sale. Adam and I knocked on the front door. A gentleman answered and said that it wasn't his. It was his sister-in-laws and thought she was selling it but she wouldn't be home until later that night. He gave us her number so we could get in contact with her. Evening came and we called and she told us that YES she was selling it and she would take $50.00 for it. I couldn't believe it! It was in great condition! I had wanted this bed for Makell from the beginning! I finally realized why I had had the feelings to be patient so many different times! I asked her if she wouldn't mind if we came over that night and picked it up and she said that was just fine! I had really wanted to find a matching bedroom set but was thrilled to find "the" bed. Adam left and I stayed home to put the girls to bed. About twenty minutes later the phone rang and it was Adam. He said are you sitting down? He proceeded to tell me that he asked if they had a dresser that matched the bed and if they were willing to sell that as well? Crazy!!! These people said they did but it was in a set with another bed that was exactly like the one we had just bought. They didn't want to break up the set and figured they could get more for it that way. They were moving and still had it in storage but would be getting it that weekend. Then the man said, "let me tell you what, if you want to buy the other set we will sell it to you for $100.00. SOLD! We feel we were totally blessed. Know we have the option of keeping the second bed or selling it. We purchased two beds and a dresser for exactly the amount that had been deposited into our account that morning because of our "10%" at the beginning of the month:)!

The very next morning I received an e-mail from my wonderful father-in-law that said, "One never gives a crust to the Lord without receiving a loaf in return". How TRUE is that?!! I am sure some may think that $150.00 is not much and it was all just a coincidence. I believe it was much more than that! I truly believe that if we have faith, do our part, and be "patient" the Lord WILL do his part in what ever situation it may be!