Malaleuca Trick or Treat Fun!

I just got back from taking Kaleb, Jordyn, & the babies to the Malaleuca building where my nephew's wife works to trick or treat. Apparently, every year the different departments each choose a theme to decorate and dress up around! I've always heard about it but never gone so I was excited to get to take the kids. Richelle (my nephews wife) is such a sweet heart and held Porter so I wasn't seriously juggling babies. Anyway, it was so much fun, I was in awe at the time and effort they must've put in to decorating the rooms and putting together costumes. Some of the themes were, Disco, Star Wars, Charlie Brown, Jungle, Rock n' Roll concert, Peter Pan, and Jordyn's most favorite, High School Musical. Right when we got there, they took us upstairs to watch the people in the department perform one of the songs from the show. They had different people playing the parts such as Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay, etc. and had learned the dances off the show so every 45 minutes they would perform again. Jordyn's face was classic, she was so excited and grinned from ear to ear the whole time. Anyway, they have tape all along the floor to guide you around to each department and they hand candy out all along the way by the handfull. Kaleb had perma grin the whole time.... he is the biggest candy-aholic there ever was. Jordyn also loved the Peter Pan room where you first walked by the pirates, then to Captain Hook's treasure box (full of gold coins and candy), then you walked the plank to Peter Pan, and then to Tinker Bell who was handing out "pixie dust" (pixie sticks) Seriously such cute ideas!! My favorite was the jungle room, they went all out with decorations, trees everywhere, a bird cage with real birds at the beginning, a waterfall, a giant paper snake, etc. My niece said it took 3 days to prepare everything. Pretty amazing and lots of fun! Thanks Richelle for the invite.

This was the "High School Musical" cast performing their songs. Jordyn had to be front and center and grinned from ear to ear the whole time. Except aftewards, she came up to me and whispered, "mom, that girl dressed like Sharpay was totally immodest." So all the way home, Kaleb kept saying, "Sharpay's shirt was so immodest, mom" What a mimmick

Jordyn with Tinker Bell

Richelle, Jordyn, & Kaleb

Jordy (as a bride), Kaleb (as a construction worker), Porter (bat), Kamryn (bunny rabbit) So adorable!!

Jordyn's Primary talk

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Jordyn gave this little talk in primary on Sunday. She insisted on doing it all by herself and didn't even seem a bit nervous. She worked hard all week to memorize it and did such a good job. It was an added bonus to have Grandma and Grandpa Rose and Grandma Johnson there to watch her because it happened to be our Primary program also. Good job Jordy!
You've gotta love Kaleb picking his nose for the camera. Yummy!

Sunday afternoon visit!

My kids love it when Jared and Richelle (my nephew and his wife) come to visit. They've been living in Rexburg going to the college but just moved to Idaho Falls so we get to see them quite often. We love when they come to visit!!

New fridge motto

I finally got around to changing my fridge quote this week. I loved this quote by President Monson! It really helps to post these because it seems like I'm at the fridge all day long! Do anyone else's kids have an obsession with the fridge, or is it just mine???? I told my mom one day that I would pay $100 for a fridge lock if there is such a thing, I'M SERIOUS!! I'm sure if I videotaped myself during the day, I would hear myself say all day, "GET OUT OF THE FRIDGE" at least 50 times. By the way, I really do feed my kids regular meals. (really)

pumpkin carving for Family Home Evening

Regan did a great job on hers w/ just a little bit of help from DJ. It is so much fun that they are finally to the age where these types of activities are a lot of fun and not just a ton of work & cleanup. Our ward is having a trunk-or-treat and a pumpkin carving contest so the kids are going to enter their creations.

Jordyn's pumpkin was a cute ghost until she decided to grab a hold of the whole middle section so now we don't know what it is but she's pretty proud of it

I can't even begin to explain how much my kids hate having messy hands! Morgan was grossing out while cleaning out the inside of her pumpkin and kept having to stop and wash her hands but they did such a good job and stuck right with it. Kaleb was determined to "carve" his own pumpkin so we just let him have free reign on his own so his has stab wounds all over. Oh well, it kept him entertained.

Seriously backtracking!

It's been a month since we went home to Cokeville but I forgot to post pictures of the tile job DJ did at his brother, Jonathan's, home. He tiled 2 bathrooms, the entry way, and 1 shower. He does such beautiful work and is a perfectionist so everything he does turns out beautifully. I'm really proud of his work so I thought I'd post a couple of pictures. (sorry, I know we shouldn't be proud but I can't help it)

backtracking

I'm so behind on things and since this is my journal, I need to include a few items. Last Tuesday mom came up to help me can vegetable soup. She was such a huge help and I couldn't have accomplished what I did w/out her help. We managed to can 21 bottles and only one didn't seal. HOORAY!! Mom came at around 10:30 and didn't leave until about 7:30, thanks so much mom! This is really such an easy recipe but just takes a lot of time to chop everything up to put in the bottles. I had everything in my garden to put in it besides the celery so I just couldn't afford not to do it. It's a super easy dinner when you've had a busy day so if anyone is interested in the recipe, here it is.
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. boullion
1 T. parsley
1/2 tsp. accent
pepper to taste
1/2 c. onion
1/3 c. celery
1 T. rice or barley
carrots
potatoes
Pressure cook (15 lbs pressure) for 45 minutes.

I'm happy to report that we didn't blow up the garage. I'm seriously afraid of the pressure cooker so I breath a sigh of relief when the last batch comes out. Oh, if anyone is selling, getting rid of, or sees a pressure cooker at a garage sale, let me know. I really need to get my hands on one but don't want to pay the $150 for a new one if I don't have to.

One other thing about my mom, every holiday she send the cutest care package for the kids full of goodies to cook, crafts to make, fun things for the kids to play with, etc. For Halloween, she sent everything to make cupcakes, the cutest mold for jello jigglers w/ jello pkgs, rub-on transfers for crafts. The kids had such a fun time but unfortunetly, my camera battery died in the midst of it all so I just took 1 picture. We've yet to do the jello making project so I'll post some pictures when we do it. Thanks mom and dad for the Holiday treats. I drove the kids around to some of the widows in our ward and they too took cupcakes to the door and practiced singing their primary program songs to them. They seemed to enjoy it!

Primary Program

We had our primary program on Sunday and the kids did such a great job. It's so wierd to have 3 kids participating in the program and crazy to think that Kaleb will be up there next year. The second the kids got up after the sacrament to go sit on the stand, he burst in to tears because he thought he should go right up with them but he thankfully recovered quickly. I was giddy with excitement when I saw DJ heading down off the stand towards us... could it be, he'd be sitting with us??? I actually got butterflies in my stomach, I'm sure your probably rolling your eyes right now but I was so excited to sit with him. He's been Bishop for nearly 6 months and I have missed sitting with him terribly so it was a nice surprise. Anyway, the girls did so well on their parts and had the songs right down. I LOVE the primary program!!!

Poor little Kamryn

Kamryn has had fevers for the past few days and as a result has been extremely fussy. Yesterday in church she whined and moaned the whole time and spit up half her bottle all over me in Sunday School. I know, I probably should've stayed home with her but it was the primary program so I couldn't miss (more on that later.) Anyway, I scheduled a doctor appt. for her this morning at 11:30, I left in a big hurry because I had 10 minutes to make it clear across town. I made it more than half way when I realized I had left the babies bottles both on the counter at home. CURSES!!! It was feeding time for both so I knew I had to turn back so I called the doc to tell him I'd be late but they told me I'd better hurry because the office was closing. SO, I hurried home, grabbed the bottles, drove like a maniac (not really) and made it to the office just in time, shewed 4 kids in to the office and sat down w/ a sigh of relief. Doctor Smith checked Kamryn's ears only to tell me that they both looked clear and of course, Kamryn was all smiles for him. I think I mentioned in one of my earlier post, kids never act sick at the doctors office even if they are on their death bed 5 minutes earlier. Anyway, he said something like, "she has good color and she seems pretty happy, so that's good," I looked at him and said, "Oh, c'mon Doctor Smith, you don't think I'd be lugging 4 kids in here just for the fun of it, do you?" He just looked at me and laughed and then I told him that some of my kids struggle with bladder infections and wondered if it could possibly be that so the nurse came in to put a catheter in which made me so sad. She was one unhappy camper and for good reason. Those things hurt!! After waiting around for a bit, the doctor came in to let me know it was a urinary tract infection. He prescribed some antibiotics and then sent me over to the hospital to deliver her urine to the lab for further testing and then told me I need to have a test done to see if she has urinary reflux. So, we'll be doing that in a few days and hopefully the medicine will kick in. What I thought would be an hour, at the most, at the doctor turned in to 3 hours and much more running around than I had anticipated. I didn't pack my stroller because I really didn't think I'd need it but I was kicking myself while carrying two extremely heavy babies through the halls of the hospital in their carriers. On the bright side, I'm getting some bulging biceps and I end up meeting and talking to a lot of people wherever I go because people are just drawn to crazy ladies carrying 2 babies in carriers with 2 little kids trailing behind. I finally got home around 2:30 and thankfully, Kamryn slept until 4:30 and Porter was a little angel so I was able to get some dinner prepared. Kamryn's been generally miserable this evening the poor little thing. I always feel so helpless when my kids are sick and just want to take all the aches and pains away. I really hope the meds kick in soon and that she'll be back to her happy self soon.

A fun afternoon with the girls!

This afternoon, DJ stayed with the babies and Kaleb while I took Regan, Morgan, and Jordyn up to the college to watch the BYU Ballroom Dance Team. They come to perform at the campus once every year and this is our first time attending but if I can help it, I won't miss it again! It was spectacular (okay, I've always hated that word and swore I wouldn't use it) but, I can't think of a better word to describe the show. We were completely entertained for 1 hour and 45 minutes and the girls were totally engrossed. Jordyn was so cute and took every opportunity to clap and yell for them after their numbers and she would whisper things like, "wow, that's amazing mom, "look, they changed costumes so fast, they must be magic, "I like that costume cause it's modest," "wow, that dress is gorgeous," "did you see that amazing move, mom" and on and on. She was bummed when she found out they had a night performance and we wouldn't be attending. After the show we stopped by to see one of my good friends that we used to live by 7 years ago, she has 6 of the cutest kids ever (twin boys at the end) so we have tons in common. Anyway, after a short visit we headed to ice cream at a place called BRC's. They have the yummiest custard ever with your choice of toppings, one word....YUMMY!!! (Thanks, Tisha for the certificates) It was such a great afternoon spent with the girls, even though I miss the other 3, it's nice to give the girls some attention w/out babies in my arms.

Mouse "tales"

Did you know mice like goldfish crackers & marshmallows????? Well, this particualr mouse we caught in our cold storage has a snacking problem evidently and unfortunately chose my kids favorite snacks and left my bargain boxes of cheerios (my kids least favorite cereal) untouched. One morning last week I went down to the storage to grab some stuff for breakfast and discovered some rather large holes in the marshmallow bags and goldfish! Yuck! I ran upstairs to inform DJ before he went to work and he quickly set traps and put out the trusty sticky traps on the shelves where the little creepy thing had been. Just for the record, this is the first mouse we've had in our house, that we know of) Anyway, the last thing I said before he left was, "I better not catch that thing while you're at work." (just because I think they are completely disgusting and I didn't want to have to dispose of it) Well, lunch time came and I decided I better go check to see if we'd caught anything, I opened the door slowly and there staring me right in the face was a mouse with his feet stuck to the sticky trap doing a little dance!! I seriously thought I was going to either vomit or pass out but instead I started doing my "shiver down the spine" dance" and let out a few squeels so Jordyn and Kaleb came running to check out the mouse. I didn't dare leave the thing there for fear it may fight itself loose (I know, probably wouldn't happen) but there is always a chance....not one I was willing to take. So, I called my neighbors across the street, a retired couple, and prayed that they would pick up the phone. Much to my excitement, Diane answered the phone and I proceeded to ask her if her husband is afraid of mice to which she replied, "no," just deathly afraid of spiders." I informed her of my rodent problem and told her I was willing to pay him what I would pay an exterminator if he would just come and get the mouse. He came right over and disposed of the thing and only asked for some yummy brownies in return. (I can't believe he actually still wants to eat brownies made from my house after what he's just disposed of) but, whatever.....so the next day I made him a yummy treat made from ingredients straight out of my UPSTAIRS pantry. I can't believe we actually had a mouse in the house, am I disgusting or what???? Well, it's been a week since we caught the little bugger and so far no evidence of another so we'll just wait....sticky traps and all, to see what happens.

Well, in the meantime my kids have taken it upon themselves to tease me relentlessly over this mouse adventure.....particularly, Regan, she is quite the little tease like her dad. On Monday the girls had a Birthday/Halloween party for the neighbor girl, so while they were gone I ran a few errands and when I got back they were already home so I walked in the kitchen and Regan says, "mom, hold it right there, we found a mouse" once again I started doing my little "shiver down the spine dance" as she points to the floor in the corner and there was a little black mouse. I let out a squeel and the girls all started laughing their heads off and picked up the FAKE mouse they had gotten as a parting gift from the party!!! Impeccable timing, if you ask me!

She keeps trying to scare me with things like bringing granola bar boxes up with gaping holes in them (that she's made with her finger) and sticking fake mice in sneaky places. She definetly takes after her dad!

Pics of Reg and Morg by the river

Last Saturday it was beautiful weather so I decided to take the girls pictures down by the river. My friend went with me with her 4 girls and I snapped some shots of them too. The lighting wasn't great because it was in the afternoon but I think we came back with a few good ones.

They had so much fun finding different spots to sit and pose so between her 4 girls and mine, I took over 100 pictures. It was so much fun and the best part is I didn't have to wrestle with the babies....DJ stayed home with them so I could go and have fun.

Porter & Kamryn- 4 months old

Porter not only likes to suck his fingers, but he especially loves Kamryn's

I took the babies for their 4 month well-baby check today. Porter wighed in at 14 lbs 13 oz. and Kamryn weighed in at 12 lbs. 10 oz. It's interesting how they have consistently about 2 lbs. difference this whole time and Porter is atleast 1" longer than her. Both seem to be doing well and the Doc didn't have any concerns. Porter's Torticollis is getting a lot better so I haven't taken him to therapy for a few weeks; I just do stretches and such here at home and that seems to be working. They are both sleeping through the night quite often now (hooray), both have rolled over a couple of times, and they are starting to take an interest in toys but are still in the beginning stages where they like them for a couple of minutes and then all the sudden get really ticked at the toys and start screaming. Oh well, 2 minutes is 2 minutes, right?? They are the cutest little people and just grin from ear to ear and have even giggled a few times. I love this stage!!

I can't locate Porter's pictures so I'll have to add to the post tomorrow.

Motto for the week!

After conference last week, I decided that we should post one thought a week on the fridge that we could say as a family each morning. I chose, "In the strength of the Lord, I can do all things" from Sister Dalton's talk. I initially thought she said, "In the strength of the Lord, I can do hard things but last night I was reading her talk again and found I was mistaken but I'm leaving it as is because it helps me get through my hard days. I love this gospel and the message of hope, peace, and comfort it gives me. This is my fridge door for the week, I'm working on next weeks.

Sunday morning we were all up and ready by 8:30 because the kids and I went to Logan for Cannon's blessing. (my sister, Julie's baby) Since it is a rare occasion that we are all up and ready by the time DJ leaves for church meetings, I decided it would be a good time for a family picture. Grandma Johnson snapped these and I think she did a good job. Thanks Grandma!! Also, we had a great day with Julie and Stanton and the family. Cannon is such a little cutie!

We're dreaming of Hawaii

Okay, I know it's mid October but I've had these matching outfits forever and kept forgetting to put the babies in them so after bath time today I had to dress them and take a quick picture. I promise they are in warm clothes now.

Don't they look like they are whining about the cold weather and wishing they were on the beaches of Hawaii, okay maybe that's what I'm thinking! (darn you, Julie)

Kids Creations

The kids love to do artwork. They color for hours at a time up at the bar so after school yesterday they decided to decorate for Fall since their mother is not on the ball. I felt really guilty so I helped them make some ghosts to hang on the trees and I ran down to the pumpkin patch in town and bought a few pumpkins. After FHE the girls decided to make a scarecrow. I get a good laugh everytime I go out on the porch.

Here are a few more creations from the past week. I think we go through a ream of paper every two weeks.

Regan's Creations

Morgan's Creations

Jordyn's Creations

I think I might have some finger suckers

I keep catching Porter and Kamryn sucking their fingers. Yesterday I went in to get Porter up from his nap and he was just as happy as can be sucking his thumb. On Saturday I put Kamryn on the floor so I could help the kids do a few things and she was pitching a big fit, next thing I know I turned around and she had 2 fingers in her mouth sucking away. Crazy! I keep taking the fingers out and putting binkies in but at night neither one takes a binky so I'm now wondering if they are sleeping so well because they are sucking their fingers. I snapped some pictures because I have to admit, it's stinking cute!

Last week of soccer! HURRAY!

The girls have there last soccer practices and games this week. As fun as it has been to watch them, I have to admit I'm ready for the break from running kids to and from everything. It is so much work to take the babies anywhere and now that it is cold, it takes us 45 minutes to get everyone suited up in winter attire just to be out for 1 hour. Both girls games last week were stinking cold and they both lost so that was a bummer! Oh well, both played very well and were aggressive, so it really doesn't matter what the outcome is if they try their best.

This stroller has been a life saver and the little winter outfits that belonged to Regan and Todd once upon a time have been awesome! It was around 45 degrees for Regan's last game with a bit of a breeze so I bundled them up and then threw a huge blanket over the stroller for the whole game. After it was over I felt their cheeks to see if they were cold and they were both toastie warm.

Give me your opinion!

I took Jord and Kaleb down to the river yesterday to snap some photos with my new camera! The weather was beautiful and the kids had fun exploring in this fun area that we went to. I would love your honest opinion on the pictures, some are good, some, not so good but I'm hoping there are atleast a couple that are "hang on the living room wall" quality. Kaleb was extremely difficult to photo because he's 2 and can't stand still for a second so out of at least 60 shots I managed to get 2 good ones. Oh well!! It was so cute because while I was taking pics of Jordyn he pointed to the river and started singing, "when Jesus Christ was baptized down in the river Jordan" with the biggest grin on his face. I also took them by the temple because the trees are beautiful this time of year and he broke out in to song, "I love to see the temple...." What a cute kid! Anyway, 2 1/2 hours later, this is what I came back with!

My friend took pictures of the babies today so I'll be posting them later and I plan to take Regan and Morgan for pictures by the river later this week IF the weather cooperates. Grandma's and Grandpa's, you will soon have pictures for your walls so look out!