BIRTHDAY

Here's the pictures from my previous post about how my birthday began. (Click

HERE if you don't know the story.) This is what my car looked like when Stephanie got ahold of it.

I have to say how sweet she was. Most people won't get this, but on one of the windows she wrote "I Love You Mail-Butt-Knee". Mail-Butt-Knee was the silly way my dear friend Sarah used to write my name when we were in high school. She passed away a year after High School and my family all knows how hard that was for me. We still make little comments about her & remember little jokes & it was so sweet of Steph to put that on the window! (And Mimi even gave me "prizes" that day! *Another Sarah saying that Mimi always tells me.) Anyway, It took some serious work to clean my car & my nails were blue & red for days! But, it was fun!


While we were locked out of the house we took some silly pictures. What else can you do? Here's my girls being mad at the door..



Kylie was too busy laughing. Here's some more silly pics & Jadyn's just sums up how we felt about the whole morning!


We were suppose to make it to a birthday party for "Grandpa Hallows" that afternoon, but I was too beside myself with stress. (Of course, totally my own making.) Plus, Erik was gone most of the day with his dad. (Turns out he had fractured his hip. He's in rehab right now. He had to have surgery. He's hoping to get out of rehab this weekend. We're also hoping for a speedy recovery! Unfortunately, he HAS to get back to work!) Erik got home in time, thanks to his brother Ron, that we were able to go to the temple with my fanily later in the afternoon. We started a tradition a few months ago to attend every 2nd Saturday. This month it got switched to the 3rd Saturday - because of Valentine's. Mimi got sick, so Mimi & Papa couldn't come. That was YUCKY! But, it was still fun. I love being able to do sealings with our little group. SO NEAT!! After the temple we headed to Cafe Rio for dinner. A HUGE THANK YOU goes to my sister Stephanie for making that all possible. She watched our girls & the Hallow's kids at my house so that we could go. She ROCKS!! The day ended on a high note. Thanks again EVERYONE!!

VALENTINE'S

We had a very fun VALENTINE'S DAY this year. We did the unusual & spent the day with my S-I-L Rennie & my nieces & nephews. (Unfortunately Luke had to work & we didn't see him until later that night.) We drove down to Sahuarita - it's a little south of Tucson - to spend the day & night with the AWESOME Hallow's family. It was so fun. We went to Madera Canyon to go do some hiking & exploring during the day. The kids were troopers while hiking a little trail. A trail that was skinny with some steep drops on the other side at times. Which, of course, gave me a heart attack thinking kids were going to go falling down the mountain. But, everyone made it safe & sound. There was snow on the ground at some spots which spawned some small snowball fights. Then, at the bottom of the trail we did some exploring around & just had a BLAST!!!

We were even lucky enough to have a visit from DOPEY!

And a leaping 2 year old! I can't even teach my 9 year old how to leap like that in dance!

And don't forget crossing the stream over a log. I was actually impressed our girls did it since they're so scared of EVERYTHING. But, upon looking at the pictures it looks like Erik was more scared than they were! Check out that balancing!

After all that fun the girls earned a well deserved tub full of bubbles.

Luke got home later that night & we spent the night just chatting it up. We woke up Sunday morning to some more hanging out time before we headed back home while the Hallows headed to church. We are so blessed to have such WONDERFUL family! Luke & Rennie are always so inviting & make us feel so welcomed. We love hanging out with them. THANKS again guys!!

AWESOME PARENTS

Just a quick note to clarify some things. Upon talking to my mom the other week I did my usual remarks at some point in the conversation of, "thanks for that trait mom." She just said, "I know, I know." Then, I just re-read my previous post & realize I actually say that to my Dad a lot as well. I would like to publicly apologize to my wonderful parents! I only say this in my joking, loving way, but want to clarify that I in no way truly mean it. Sure, we get traits from our parents, but that's no excuse for the dumb things I do myself. I am an adult & need to act as such. (Yeah - still working on that one.) If you're not lucky enough to know my parents then, I feel bad for a you a little. They are AWESOME!!

I'm even lucky enough to have 2 mom's & 2 dad's. In fact, the other day Jadyn told me she can't wait until she can have 2 mom's & 2 dad's. At first my reaction was - "Uh, No way!!" But, as I thought about it that was a wonderful compliment that she didn't know she was giving. She just knows how wonderful my parents are & how close we are & sees it as fun. And even though she should not hold her breathe out for her wish - in a way it was sweet.

So, again, I LOVE my parents - they rock!! And they are my rocks. It's not a secret that I'm a Daddy's girl in every way. Now I am the mother of 2 Daddy's girls & I can see how that would hurt my Mom. I think of how close my girls are to Erik & think they don't love me as much. I can see my Mom feeling that way & it makes my heart ache. It's not true - just a different love. (Now, if I can only tell myself that about my girls & truly believe it.)

Just had to share & hopefully this weekend I'll have a chance to catch up on what's been happening this past month with pictures even. Oh - if I could only have a minute to breathe....

SREIOUSLY?! PART DEUCE

Again - I have no time, but had to jot this story down.......

This is how a what should have been a 15 minute trip to Target turned into a 40 minute trip to Target....

We ran into Target (Me & Jadyn after dropping off Kylie at school) really fast to grab something for Jadyn to color because I had to go into the office again today. While browsing the coloring isle Jadyn turned around to look at something & bumped her nose into the cart. (**Jadyn has a very sensitive nose. She can smell stinky things a mile away & if it's bad enough she will literally start gagging. She also has a tendency to hit her nose & have it start bleeding uncontrollably.**) At first nothing happens & I didn't think she hit it that hard. She, in true Jadyn fashion, starts freaking out. I told her it was fine. She kept asking if it was bleeding & I told her no. Then, it started... I saw a little trickle & she went to wipe her nose on her sleeve. First of all - GROSS!!! Second of all - I knew as soon as she saw that she would REALLLY start freaking out. And she did. We had toilet paper in our cart & I tried to bust into it, but couldn't get it open. At this point it's really coming down. I then hold my hand under her nose & start running for the bathroom.

She's trying really hard not to gag because the blood was all over her face & still free flowing. (Sorry if this is too graphic.) Some workers see us & ask if we're ok. I told them we had an accident in the coloring isle & there's blood on the floor - while I was running. That got them moving. We find the bathroom & start the clean up process with a very distraught child. She had blood ALL OVER her face. Some workers come in & ask if we had an accident in the store. I told them what happened & they asked if we needed anything. (I think they were worried we were going to sue them or something.) I'm cleaning her off & trying to get her to hold her nose to stop the bleeding & she was shaking all over in fear. Her hands were shaking so hard. I felt so bad for her at that point.

Finally the bleeding stopped & we got her cleaned up. We took a minute to assess the damage & noticed she had blood on her clothes. Which meant she got a new outfit out of the deal because we couldn't go home. So, for my girlie-girl.....she got some coloring stuff & a new outfit. Not so bad after all. But, for me & my lovely aversion to blood (thanks for that trait as well Dad) I am still shaking. Now, if I can calm myself down....

SERIOUS?!

I am WAY behind on blogging. I still have last weekend to update with, but I'm starting with this..... I have been up for an hour & a half & here's what has happened so far.

I was awoken at 7:00 AM by a ridiculously loud phone ring. Yeah - that would be my phone. Luckily it was my mom wanting to be the first one to wish me Happy Birthday, otherwise I might be really upset. As I was walking downstairs I noticed balloons at the front of my house. After I got off the phone I went outside to see what it was. There was balloons & a Happy Birthday poster taped out side my door. CUTE!! It looked like Allison's handwriting so I text her to say thank you & she asks what I'm talking about. Apparently it wasn't her - it was my other sister Stephanie. WOOPS!! Then, my husband comes downstairs & tells me that he just got a call from his parents that his Dad fell off his truck last night at work & is hurt. He needs help getting dressed & getting to the doctor. So, he takes off to go help. As he's leaving he tells me I better go look at my car. I do & Steph had also written all over my windows. Silly girl! I grab the girls to come look & my camera to take pictures. After looking we go to walk into the house.........well, we were locked out. Someone - who knows who - accidentally locked the door. I, of course, have no keys & no phone. We walk to a neighbors house & use a cell phone to call Erik. He had to quickly drive all the way back to let us back in. He also tells me his Dad's hip is hurting & he can't move it. He's broken it once before & Erik thinks it may be broke again. He informs me this may be an all day trip. I'm not worried about that - I just hope he's ok.

Anyway, that's my day so far. What a wonderful beginning! I can't wait to see what other disasters occur today. Maybe I'll just stay locked IN my house all day & forget everywhere I need to be today....

P.S. - I'll post pictures later. I've got to get back to work now.

KYLIE'S POEM

Kylie came home from school yesterday & informed us that she had won the poetry contest in her class along with another girl. Now her poem will be sent to the principal to see if she can win for her grade in the school. (I think that's how it works.) Anyway, I just had to post this poem because it made Erik & I laugh out loud. I talked to her teacher today about it & she said she had to pick it because she laughed out loud as well. Now let's see if you do.....


FAMILY by Kylie Parkinson

My family is the best,
there is no one who is a pest.
That's how my family rolls,
and we love to shop at Kohl's.
We are always in a rush.
We don't live in Alaska,
so we don't say "Mush"!
We love to watch T.V.,
especially ABC.
We have a loving house,
that is even loving for a mouse!


We did not help her in anyway on this one. We didn't even know anything about it until she came home & told us she had won. Her teacher said she asked Kylie when she read it, "Does this say 'That's how my family rolls'?" Kylie said "yeah" - as if to say "duh". So, her teacher picked it because that was too funny. She said Kylie's quite a good writer & is very creative in her stories. Creativity is definitely not something that child is lacking!! We love that girl!

TRICKER

I'm not the best at jotting down little stories & silly phrases that my kids say. Here's an attempt at that one...

Jadyn says the funniest things & I sometimes forget that she's only 5. She uses some big words at times & I'm not quite sure where she gets them. For example, my stepmom told me that they were in the car with my girls & that they were talking about one of my younger nieces Abbi & how she use to say "you naughty" all the time when you did something she didn't like. They elaborated at how she doesn't say that very much anymore because she's older. To which - I'm told - Jadyn replied,"Yeah, she's in preschool now & that's impressive." What 5 year old says that? Maybe a lot & I'm being silly, but I thought it was funny.

Here's another one....This past weekend we were talking about who knows what & the topic of some dinner came up that Jadyn liked. She told me that it was an "outstanding" dinner. What? I almost fell on the floor because who even says that anymore? I really don't know where that one came from.

Our Jadyn is quite the silly kid also! She loves to tease. She teases Kylie quite often & Kylie hates it. It's a trait that she has inherited from her dad. He's a big teaser.

Well, this past Sunday Jadyn decided she wanted to bear her testimony in church. She talked Erik into going up with her. She told Erik to please go first & he said ok - assuming she'd stand next to him & be ready to go, of course. Well, they walked up together & headed to the pulpit. As soon as Erik moved the mic to start talking Jadyn headed to a seat on the side to sit & wait her turn. Erik just said "she tricked me." And got quite the laugh from the congregation. Then, in the middle of his testimony, Jadyn got up & ran back down to me! Which started another round of giggles from the crowd. I guess she got nervous sitting their by herself & decided to bolt while dad couldn't do anything about it. It was hilarious! Erik looked a little stunned for a second, but ended strong. Jadyn just came & snuggled next to me saying she got scared. I told her it was ok & then dad came & did the same. Then, the urge kicked in again & she decided to head up for another shot. She was told dad wasn't saying his again & that she needed to go first. Which she did & did a very sweet, beautiful testimony with minimal help from dad. This was her first time doing it & it was her own prompting to do so.

We love having such sweet little girls. Even if they love to tease at times....