Baby Fitness 101...

(You may need to wait a few seconds for the video to 'buffer' after you push play. If it doesn't start right away, fast forward a little then push play again and hopefully it will work like it did for me.)

March's fun little stories...

Kennidy was one of 4 Wonkateers, or narrorators, for the Arroyo Vista Elementary School production of Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. She had her own wired microphone and sang and danced like a star! Her friend Morgan Butler was the cutest 'school kid'. The costumes, set designs, special effects, choreography, and singing make these plays over the top!




Chris made his basketball coaching debut as Madison's Head Coach this winter for Saddleback Recreation. Madison found a new favorite winter sport! She also got invited to the neatest birthday party--An American Girl Mystery Party with her good friend Gracyn Belnap! We got to dress them and their dolls just right for the occasion!

Carter's latest 'item of the month' are Chris's mountain biking gloves which he found in the car and has not taken off since. He has his friend Alexander convinced they are magic and I have to really persuade him to take them off for eating and sleeping!
McKinley has begun her two-year old tricks! She wrote on my cupboards, her car seat, the car and herself for the first time! It amazes me how calmly I deal with these events....guess going through it a fourth time means there aren't as many surprises. ;0)

On March 16th, McKinney-Kins turned 2!

My friend and I were just talking about how little kids' birthdays are the best--all you need are some balloons, a cupcake, a few siblings, a present from the dollar store, and Wowee--you've got a party! McKinley has recently discovered the thrill of playing dress up, so with her purse & phone from Grandma and princess shoes from mom, she was one Happy Birthday girl!

This little girl is definitely a 'spirited' 2 yr old! She closely resembles Kennidy at this age with golden curls all over her head and big blue eyes. However, she has some personality traits similar to our Madi. She gives the best squeeze-hugs and when she gets a ride on the swing at the park or in our backyard, she immediately yells "UNDERDOG, UNDERDOG"! (meaning she wants to be pushed so high you can run under her swing...and believe me, she doesn't stop calling for it until you do it!) Every time we get in the Sequoia for carpool she yells "Tartar's chair, Tartar's chair!", which means she wants to sit in her big brother's booster seat--which of course she is NOT legally old enough, tall enough, or big enough for yet! You can see a picture posted below of how she likes to ride the Teeter-totter--standing dangerously in the middle of it! Her absolute favorite book is Olivia, which is the story of a precocious girl pig to whom her mother says "Olivia, you really wear me out...but I love you anyway." Perfect choice I think!


We kicked off McKinley's birthday with a visit to Chuck E. Cheese with our good friends the Sheldon's the night before. The whole night had a 'Baby Doll Theme' and McKinley and her closest friend, Maysen, LOVED it! Then on her birthday morning, we had our family's traditional surprise Birthday Breakfast! I then spent her entire birthday doing things just for her. We went to storytime at the library, then to the park with her 3 little friends, Lauren & Maysen and their moms, then to lunch with Dad where she and Carter could play in the fountain. Then I read her favorite book and snuggled her to sleep. What a treat to take a day just for her. Wish I did it more often...

Changing the Blog layout....

Since a few friends have asked me, I will tell the secret to changing your blog layout....just log on to either of these websites and follow the easy step by step instructions to copy and paste FREE blog layouts that are ultra cute!

http://www.theblogfairy.com/

http://www.leeloublogs.blogspot.com/
(this is the one I used)

Seriously, whomever created these websites is brilliant! ;0)

This is for the grandparents--to see MARCH's POSTS--click on my 'older posts' button below.

MARCH--a month of 'Firsts'!

*Hosted my first Bridal Shower on Feb.27th for one of our favorite babysitter/nanny/tutors, Lisa Sanford. Putting 40 people in our house was one crazy party! Thank heavens for the 3 other ladies-Heather, Cheryl, and Linda- who helped me TONS with food, games and more! Best part were the 35 vases I got for free which we then filled with Trader Joes ($1.29 for TEN stems) daffodils and used to decorate my house AND also give as party favors!





*Updated my Easter decor (just a bit) for first time in 13 years--just in time for the bridal shower guests of course!




*Worked all weekend March5-6 (behind the scenes of course) on our church young women's group first professional-scale Modesty Fashion Show with around thirty vendors donating the clothes and over 50 teen girls thrilled to wear them down a catwalk in front of 400 people (with real stylists doing their hair & make up too!).






*Carter cut his own hair for first time at church=awesome! McKinley found a pair of shoes that she absolutely won't take off (and some of her sister's dolls too). Kennidy and Madison took their American Girl dolls 'ice skating' for first time! (Chris was a little worried when Santa brought those dolls to our house two years ago, but seriously they have been the BEST thing for sister-bonding! Worth every penny in my book ;0). And last, we tried out Fire and Ice BBQ (our old favorite restaurant in Providence RI), right here in Anaheim, CA with my brother Brycen and his latest round of DECA recruits!

February Happenings....And blog advice?

Wow--trying out a new system for posting on the blog as soon as I download the pictures. How do you guys do it? I am trying not to fall behind again ;). Does it take you FOREVER to upload videos? I think maybe I will go back to using youtube...

Feb.1st--got to see Mom & Dad for one day at Santa Monica pier during their layover from the Antartica Cruise!!
Feb.4th--CJ bday dinner at Red Robin! He flew in from work in San Fran just in time for his own party! ;0)
Feb.6th--Kennidy's 2nd Piano recital--all 3 songs memorized and performed perfectly! (Far better than her mother ever did!)
Feb.12th--our new favorite FREE attraction here in the O.C.--Irvine Great Balloon ride and Family Ice Skating--balloon goes up 400 feet with views to the ocean! We went with 3 other families from church and between us and all our kids, we nearly sold out the 8pm skate time slot!
Feb.15th--Loved celebrating President's Day off with 20,000 other people at the San Diego Zoo (wish I was joking)! For $5 the kids got to hand-feed giraffes! Look at that long BLACK tongue! It measures almost 2 feet! So glad cousin Jared and his AMAZING wife Amy could join us for some SoCal tourist fun--San Diego Mission was first one established back in 1776!
February--can't even remember the date cuz it was insane, but this is what my friend Heather looked like on the tram after 9 hours at Disneyland with 8 kids under 9 and us two adults--PARTY TIME! ;)
February--Madi started Rec League Basketball with Chris as her coach and 3 good friends on her team!

2010-Starting Fresh for the New Year!

Okay, so we've lost most of 2008 and all of 2009, but here's to 2010! (I am so sorry we had that darn bird on our blog for OVER A YEAR! ha ha ;0) Here's how we are starting off the new year-Carter driving like a wild man with his good friend at Disney's Autopia, Chris on his mountain bike on a gorgeous California WINTER day, a Beehive activity with my Stake YW Board whom I spend A LOT of time with ;0), Madison at her Children's Gym Class, McKinley on my lap at a Boot Camp I joined with some friends, Kennidy at her 2nd Piano Recital ever and the new Kari & Sean Duncan family in Arizona! We also grabbed some 'girl shots' before the wedding!