Blessings in disguise

There have been so many things lately that I feel so blessed. One of the biggest things I have to be thankful for happened just last week. Joe and I put an offer in on a house! The next morning Joe and I woke up with the worst feeling about it. We started doing more research, to find that directly across the street a registered S. Offender resides. There was a park right behind that house that my children would have walked nearly in there backyard to get too. We were able to cancel our offer immediately. We felt so blessed to be able to have found out this information before it was to late. We have both decided to be in less of a hurry to find a home and to research it to it's fullest extent before our next offer goes in!

Then on our trip over memorial day, Madelyn had been complaining of her nose hurting. I figured with the dry air, and change of altitude it was probably nothing and left it at that. WELL after probably 2 weeks of this off and on occasional "a nose hurt". Kaitlyn was getting her dressed for church when she came and said "Madelyn has a pink thing in her nose". WHAT? Joe and I went to investigate and sure enough there was a pink thing in her nose......

Fortunately we were able to pull it out with tweezers. Poor kid. I am starting to wonder about my mothering skills. This little one is all of a sudden giving me a run for my money.

A day in the life of Madelyn:

1. Poor a whole box of rice krispies on the floor because they taste better off the floor.

2. Stick a paper clip up your nose!

3. Help set the table and grab an entire pitcher full of grape cool aid off the counter onto my head and all over the floor.

4. While bathing and taking care of the grape cool aid she grabbed the towel out of my hand I thought to dry her face, Nope just to put it in the bath tub to "wash" with.

5. Other misc. "FUN" things to do when mommy has her back turned. Take out all the wipes one by one and scatter everywhere. Climb on everything! We love to rip paper right now too. (that is fun especially when they are Mommy's bills! Oh yes and bathroom fun we love water, and somehow can manage to climb onto the sink and help our self whenever we want. She also helps her self to the fridge often. Can 3 go gurts be considered dinner....

I love this little munchkin and I am so grateful that the paper clip ordeal didn't end up being worse. I feel blessed it was only coolaid and not hot soup. And well, her climbing and water skills should come in handy at a later time in life right??

Madelyn's TWO

Madelyn had her second birthday. I can hardly believe that she is 2. It has gone so fast and she is getting so big. I love hearing her talk and start trying to put sentences together. She absolutely adores her sisters. She is a great little helper and loves doing laundry and wiping things with a cloth. She can also be quite messy, mixing all sorts of things into cups, or helping herself to an entire box of apple jacks, by dumping it in the middle of the floor. ( somehow it tastes better all dumped out.) I think they know when they turn two though. She said just days after turning two, " I want juice......NOW!" We love her and are so glad that she is a part of our family.



For her birthday we had a small little get together with some friends in the park. It was a fabulous Saturday afternoon (minus the wind). When all of a sudden the sprinklers turned on! 3 o' clock on a Saturday afternoon and the sprinklers turn on! The kids had a ball! We had bubbles, cake and ice cream and a water party all at once. The kids were a complete mess when we left, soaked with sand everywhere, but happy!

I can't seem to locate my pictures of her party! I will post them later when I find them.

Memorial Day Weekend

Over Memorial Day we thought we would try out the trip back home. I realize now, ( which is a little late) we are not as "close" as I thought we were! But there is something to be said for being able to drive, and stop when you want(or NEED) to stop. We went to Pocatello to visit Joe's family. This will probably be the last time we are all able to get together for a few years. Joe's brother is headed off to dental school!
We had a great time spending time with everyone! We had a lot of fun in fact maybe a little to much. It took us a week to recover from our vacation. We couldn't stop talking, and each night got later and later! It was so fun to catch up on everyone and the goings on in each of there lives. We had a wonderful visit and can't wait to come back . Big thanks to Dan and Julie for letting us stay with you! Here are a few pictures of all the girls in their dresses Grandma Yates gave them for Christmas.

The Yates Paparazzi catching it all in action!

Mother's Day gifts

I can finally post this, because I finally delivered them. I found this cute idea on sugardoodle. (I am an idea thief) These were so easy and turned out so cute. I couldn't help but post them. To make our mothers appreciate it even more. My friend Carrie and I made them while our husbands were at her house for an Elders Quorum activity. We had 5 kids here 4 under the age of 5. The kids painted little animals, and we tried to paint. We did pretty well I thought. It was a fun night, and considering all things pretty productive too. Thanks Carrie for the idea!!

Okay drum roll please it only took me over a month to finally post the site where we got the directions from. (sorry guys I'm a little slow these days!) THE PROJECT

Mother's Day

I am a little behind in blogging land and am trying to get caught back up.

I can't go without putting a little note for Mother's day though. My girls and hubby are too cute! Kaitlyn and Jenna were so excited about Mother's day. It is fun to see them so excited. I think the little plants and trinkets from school started a week before Mother's day. Kaitlyn made a "list" of things she wanted to do. I indulged some but quickly took "Chucke Cheese" for Mother's day off her list! She did request some frosting and cookies with strawberry's so she could whip up her "special recipe". A little scary coming from a 7 year old! This is her masterpiece. She calls it her Volcano recipe...

Chocolate chip cookies, with lots and lots of frosting in between, stacked together, with a strawberry on top!

Joe made me a fabulous dinner the night before flat bread fajitas. They were really good. Then Jenna's idea was to make breakfast in bed with tulips. (I think she thinks tulips are roses.) That was also yummy cold cereal with muffins, and roses! She was so sweet the roses lasted about a week, and she was so sad when they started to wilt. She took it very personal. Madelyn joined in by being the entertainment. She was so wound up and being so silly all morning. I just love my little family, they are so darn cute!!

Is this child abuse?

Kaitlyn wrote a paper today in school about 3 wishes....

I wish for a small puppy, because I love pets and animals.

I wish for a kitten that is cute, because they are nice animals.

I wish that I can stop sucking my thumb so I can get a toy, because I don't want my DAD to break all the bones in my mouth!

( We have really been trying to help her understand why it is important to stop sucking her thumb. It is starting to affect the bone structure in her mouth. This comes from a conversation about why her teeth don't touch together like other peoples, and why her jaw hurts when she wakes up after sucking her thumb all night!) Poor Kid, I think I scared her to death. But she is still sucking her thumb!

Beautiful Girls

Today was a first in our family. We actually got ready for church and had a half an hour to spare! We decided to take a few pictures of the kids. I cannot believe how fast they grow up. It really dawned on me tonight when I put Madelyn in her pajamas. They were the pajamas that Kaitlyn wore when she was 2. Yes it is sad, my baby turns 2 in 2 weeks! Where does the time go!




Kaitlyn: I cannot believe she is 7. Today she has been very concerned about a family in our ward that was not at church today. I thought it was because the lady teaches her class, but it turns out she has a bit of a CRUSH on her oldest SON! ( I am sooo not ready for this!)She was saying her prayers and asked that Heavenly Father would help this family that they could be at church next week. She ended her prayer with the biggest grin on her face! We all just started laughing. I wish I had a better relationship with Kaitlyn. She has been a demanding little sole ever since she wanted to come to earth! I think she is 7 going on 17, and isn't afraid to step up and speak her mind. However there are always those precious Mommy moments that make you realize that it is all worth while. A hug, an I love you, or moments where we are on the same page. She is a great big sister and a good helper. She is still always singing a song. Her new favorite thing is to take a shower, because I can turn on the bathroom fan and she can sing her little heart out, without having to worry about bothering the neighbors! She is struggling so much right now with sucking her thumb. It is such a habit for her, and has gotten even worse since we moved. We have tried to set goals for 1 week. She flat out can't do it. Even if she makes it all day, at night it goes right in. I have tried everything I can think of. It is so hard to watch her struggle with this and know that my options are limited. We are in the process of fitting her for a mouth appliance that will hopefully help her.



Jenna: (Notice her very long straight hair) She loves to straighten her hair! It is the only time the poor kiddo gets to BRUSH her hair. We don't do it very often but when we do, she combs and combs her hair! She is getting so grown up. I am going to have a hard time parting with Jenna next year when she goes to Kindergarten. She has been so sad because Madelyn couldn't say her name. Finally Madelyn came up with something that resembled enough of her name for her satisfaction. She calls her "Nanny", and Kaitlyn "Cake". That was a great day! We had tears after every prayer that Madelyn said, and couldn't say her name.

They are finally becoming pretty good buddies!
Jenna helped her make a laundry basket bed while Mommy was sick, so they could make vegging out in front of the t.v. just a little more fun! I have an awesome friend that has been so willing to watch my girls while I help out at the office a few hours a week. Jenna LOVES going there. It has been such a blessing for me. I think Jenna had the hardest time adjusting without any friends. So it makes her day to go play with 2 darling little girls, and be the " BIG SISTER" for the day to all of them! (Thank you so much Carrie!)

Madelyn: She has grown so much lately. She is really loving singing songs. Her favorites are twinkle twinkle"Inky", wheels on the bus, and the 2 songs daddy always teaches them sneaky snake, and the bee. There isn't much that gets by her. She has discovered after climbing 3 flights of stairs 3 times a day it is much easier to hitch a ride with Mom. It doesn't matter how full my hands are she insists on being carried! I can't seem to let this one grow up though. I still rock her every night for a few minutes. ( she calls it bocky bye) I so love that time with her. I am a little frustrated with her sisters who have so rudely taught her to burp! I keep trying to remind them that princesses do not burp! But with a 7 year old in the house, bodily noises are the funniest thing on the planet hands down! At least she will say excuse me now! She also picked up this disgusting little habit......

Oh we love her! I think she knows she is about to turn two! Just last week she tried out the drop down roll around, kick em tantrum thing! You gotta love the terrible 2's, however I think the 3's are worse! Here is another funny picture, she certainly takes after Jenna in the fashion world. She loves SHOES, and picking out her clothes herself. Here she is sporting Capri's with her Winter BOOTS.