Catch up...

I feel like I am always playing catch up! It has been so crazy lately that I haven't blogged as much as I wanted, so to catch you up on what is going on right now, here are some fun pictures! When Carson doesn't have school it can be a pretty boring day for him, so last week his friend Luke was able to come over and play for a few hours. They kept each other entertained very well! They got really creative with Carson's race track, and ended up jumping the cars off the track and down the stairs. They thought it was awesome!!!Silly Boys!!Yes, those are Luke's shoes they are using underneath the track to get it just right! On Friday Night, before bed, Nick played with the kids, and they had fun riding the "horse!".

We started the project of redoing our master bedroom. Since we built the house over 5 years ago, we haven't done anything new to our room. So we were really ready for a change! So I started by picking out a new bedspread and drapes. I found a blue/brown duvet cover and brown drapes on overstock.com. Then we used the colors to pick out some blue paint for the walls. The first blue color was too bright, so we decided to go 2 shades lighter and it was much better! It took almost 3 gallons of paint to cover the dark brown that was already on the walls. Before we could paint it took a lot of prep work!!! The kids were more than happy to help with that part! Kaylee had too much fun with the tape!

This is what the room looked like once we got all the furniture out.

We got all the prep work done by Saturday night, but didn't have time to paint so we had to wait until Monday before we painted. During all of this, Kaylee's new stroller ripped (the kids both love to sit in it!) and so Nick being a good daddy, got the sewing machine out and fixed it for her. Nice, huh?!?! I didn't even ask him too!!

Back to painting....Nick rolled the walls while I cut in with a brush. Then this morning, I painted the baseboards white again. They can get pretty yucky in 5 years!!!! Now I need to do the rest of the baseboards in the house!!

This is what the kids did while I painted.....watched tv on the floor in Kaylee's room.

This is what it looked like before.....

This is what it is after....just with no wall decor.

While Nick took Carson to scouts tonight, Kaylee and I played, cleaned, and took pictures. She loves to look at her picture right after we take it. She is so funny!

I bought a second duvet cover that I am planning on using as material to make throw pillows and window treatments with. I just have to figure out how to do it! I will post pictures of that once it is ALL done!! But so far I think we are going to like our new room!!! The next project is our bathroom. The shower curtain is as old as the house is!

Quite an Experience!!!!

A few days ago, I got a call from my Bishop asking if I would lead the music for a funeral on Saturday. It was for an elderly gentleman in our ward named Frank, who has been sick for the past year or so and I was not that familiar with who he was, but I agreed to lead the music as long as I could find a sitter for the kids. I am so thankful that Jana was willing to watch my kids....it turned out to be quite an experience than just leading the music! As I walked into the chapel, I was a little later than I would have liked, since they started the funeral a little earlier than scheduled, but I made it up on the stand before they started and sat down. As I did I noticed someone sitting next to Arrin Holt, one of the Bishops Counselors. It took me a second, but then I realized who it was. The Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson!!!! What?!?!? Jana had told me that he may attend the viewing, but I didn't really give it a second thought! He was actually here, at the funeral sitting only a few feet away from me!! The funeral was wonderful and it was amazing to hear the prophet speak on such a personal level. He was funny, sincere, and absolutely delightful to listen too. He even wiggled his ears at one point during his talk (as part of his story)! After the funeral was over, he walked over and thanked the organist and myself, and I got to shake his hand. It was such a neat feeling! Now, I don't think the prophet comes to just any one's funeral.....Frank was a barber at the Deseret Gym and had quite a clientele. Including President Hinckley, Faust, and other GA's. Even a Utah Supreme Court Judge spoke at the funeral, and he was also a client of Frank's. He has been Pres. Monson's barber for quite some time and so that is the connection between the two. It was quite amazing to learn so much about this man and the amazing life he lead! I felt bad I didn't get a chance to know him better in our ward.

After President Monson made his way out of the chapel and walked outside, he took time to shake more hands and take pictures with families. I didn't have my camera in my purse, but I had my camcorder, so I thought I had better get some of this on camera so I could show Nick, Carson, and Kaylee who I got to meet today. I am sure President Monson gets reactions like this wherever he goes, but it was like everyone seeing a celebrity, but of course this was even better!!!! So the video I posted is kind of funny since I was just as excited as everyone else was to see him.

How cool will church be tomorrow when we walk into the chapel and know that a Prophet of God has been there?!?! Again, it was a great morning and I am so glad that the Bishop asked me to be a part of the funeral! It was amazing!!! It makes me realize that there are reasons to our callings and you will be blessed by doing service! So remember that the next time your Bishop or Church Leaders ask you to serve. You don't know what kind of blessings are in store!!!

Silly Kids!

It is so hard to post about the silly things that happen on a daily basis, but to catch you up to what we have been up to here are a few pictures. We have done a lot of baking! And Carson and Kaylee love to help out whenever I make dough.
I think Kaylee enjoys eating the dough more than rolling it out!

This is Carson scraping the "Snow". His favorite part!

So you saw in a previous post that we had bought Kaylee some big girl underwear. She loves her new underwear....especially when she wears it on her head! And she puts it on her head quite often. These pictures were taken on different days....

This one she wore while she ate....she refused to take it off her head!

Hey....this one she at least got on in the right place! :)

Soon we will get her to realize how they are supposed to be worn! I am waiting until we figure out what we are doing with her ears before I potty train her. I would be really surprised if we didn't end up putting tubes in her ears before the month is over and I don't want to have to deal with a surgery in the middle of potty training. So as soon as that is over.....toilet, here we come!

Last Sunday, as I was getting ready to go to stake choir practice, Carson grabbed my boots and put them on. He could barely walk, it was so funny! They look like those fishing pants people wear to go fly fishing! He makes us laugh!!! It is just so fun to see how creative and silly our kids can be!

What we do while Kaylee is sleeping...

Most of the time Carson will nap while Kaylee is napping. But with him getting bigger, he doesn't always take a nap. So it give us time to play while she is sleeping. Today we made peanut butter bars (that are cooling right now in the fridge, so I am not sure how good they are. This is the first time I have tried this recipe!). And then we played with Carson's cool dinosaur race track he got from Nick's cousin Jamie for his 4th birthday. He loves it! We have had it out now for a few days and I just had to get on camera how fun it is! It took two takes to get the cars to hit things just right, but I think it is pretty neat!

Did you hear him talk about his friends "Brendon and Jaden"? Each of his cars are his friends....including Luke and Kenadie! It is so cute! The cars I had were both yellow and they were cousins, according to Carson! On other days we play card games and board games or Carson will play on pbskids.org while I am cleaning. So not only do I look forward to Kaylee's nap every day now, but I know Carson does too!

Our Little Monkey!!!

We have quite a climbing monkey that lives in our house. Her name is Kaylee!!!! I remember Carson being quite the climber and so I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but seriously....she can probably get into anything now!!! Here is the proof....

She normally would get a barstool and climb on the counter, but now she doesn't even need one of those. I think she learned this technique from Carson. I guess it is time to get cabinet locks on the high cabinets again!

Not Sure....

I am not sure what to call this post, but I wanted to share this part of my life with my friends. I hope I don't come across as self absorbed, because my hope is to motivate and inspire. I have seen many posts on blogs recently that have touched on this subject. Maybe because it is a New Year and we always seem to set goals and new resolutions during this time. This is kind of one of those posts, but slightly different. This is about achieving those goals and my experience in obtaining something that I thought was out of reach. In April 2008, I decided it was time for a change. It had been a few months since having a baby and I needed to make myself better. I needed to feel better. And I needed to be happy. I loved being a mom and I loved staying home and taking care of them. But I just didn't feel great about myself. Call it postpartum or call it just being a girl....I didn't like how I looked and felt. So something finally clicked in my head. I was at a friends house and we had just had pizza. She had a scale in her kitchen so for fun I decided to get on and see what I weighed. Oh my....I didn't realize that is what I had gotten up to. I went home feeling like a failure! I didn't know how it had happened. I was never ever a really skinny person, but I don't think I was considered overweight. But at that point in my life, I felt FRUMPY!!!! So I decided to finally do something about it that didn't involve cleansing, fasting, point counting, shake eating, pill popping, or fad exercise machines! I simply started eating less and moving more. I started my journey by walking....EVERYDAY!!!! Within the first month, I think I lost like 8 lbs....by the second 5 or 6 more. By the end of the summer I had lost 25 lbs. Then by Halloween, I had lost a total of 30 lbs. And to this day, I have kept it all off. I don't know how I did it, but I did. It was hard, but looking back, it wasn't too bad. I have simply changed how I live. I work out 6 days a week, but usually no more than 30 min a day. And I love every minute of it. I seriously have a bad day if I can't get my workout in. It is my new addiction!!!! I still have my days, quite often, that I lack motivation to eat better, but I know that if I eat crappy, I will feel crappy! I competed in a Sprint Triathlon last fall and I am now training for a Half Marathon in April. I don't think I would have ever thought that all of this was possible in my life.....but it is, and I know it is possible for any of you reading this and wanting to make a change in your life. I have a few friends that are struggling with their self esteem and self image and I want them to know that they are amazing women and they can do whatever they set their minds too!!!! I know it will be a lot of work and I know that it won't be easy. BUT....if you don't try you will never know how good it will feel!!! Anyway, I just want to say thank you to Jana, who was my inspiration and guide through my journey and still does a great job of letting me vent when I am frustrated or needing support to keep going! I am glad I did this post, because I wanted to keep myself motivated and to remind me why I do what I do. I know that this isn't over, and this will always be something that I will have to work hard at. I know that this isn't permanent just because I did it now, and with the possibility of more kids comes the reality of being a women and dealing with weight gain. But, I hope that with the tools and experience I have I can always strive to be healthy and happy, regardless of my actual weight. But it was fun as I was looking at these pictures, because I totally forgot what I looked like just a few years ago and it made me pleased to see what all of my hard work has done. I hope this might inspire just one of my great friends to achieve a goal of their own!
Remember....Pain is Temporary....Quitting is forever!!!

Is it time?

Is it time to potty train Kaylee? My sister just potty trained her little girl who is 7 weeks younger than Kaylee, so it got me thinking if Kaylee is ready or not. I was asking her the other day if she wanted big girl underwear and she got really excited! It was so cute, so I got the camera out to show you how excited she got when I asked her.

With this type of reaction, I think I might give it a try. As soon as the case of diapers we just opened is close to gone I think we will try. That will be around her 2nd bday which is January 30th. I am trying to find a way to bribe my sister to come from Idaho and potty train Kaylee for me.....wouldn't that be nice?!?!

MONSTERS....

Monster Trucks that is!!! On Friday night, Carson and Nick went to the Monster Truck show with our friends Ike and Luke. They had a blast!
They went prepared with some ear protection to make sure they didn't get to deaf from the loud engines!

Carson came home and told me how cool it was when the trucks jumped over the cars! It was so fun to see how excited he was!

His favorite part was when one of the trucks had a small fire and there was a lot of smoke! They had quite a late night, and didn't get home until 11:15!!! But Carson didn't seem to mind, but poor Nicholas had to still get up early for work the next day (3:45 AM) so it made for a long Saturday!
While the boys were out playing, it gave Jana and I some time to just hang out and have a girls night. Kaylee and Max played so well together too. On Saturday, I went out to lunch at Paradise Bakery with some friends and it was SO good. I had never eaten there before, and I was very impressed! It was delicious!!! I can't wait to go back! I had their Walnut Chicken Sandwich, and it comes with the most amazing cookie! It was just so fun to get out of the house without kids! After 6 days of Nick working, I needed my break!

And today, it was so nice to sleep in. We don't have church until 11. We are excited for this block! And I am excited for Carson to go to his new class today. Last week we were in Idaho and so he hasn't been to his new class in our own ward yet. Well, I better go get ready for church!

What do you do?

When your kids look like this?
You do this....

We had fun making homemade oreos the other night after FHE but the kids got a little carried away with licking the beaters! But they didn't mind, it meant they got to play in the tub! Which is one of their favorite things to do. Just thought I would share these fun pictures!

Oh, and I got my big camera back yesterday and I am so happy to report it is fixed! The flash works great! And the best part is the fact that I didn't have to pay for it to get fixed! Since the warranty was expired, I thought I was out of luck. I then realized that we bought it with our Chase Visa card, and I called them and I was happy to hear that I have Extended Warranty Benefits, which double the Manufacturer's warranty. So my visa card paid for the repair (which was $260.10!!!) I am only going to buy things now with my Visa!!!! Totally worth keeping receipts for big purchases!!! Also, I finally caved and purchased some good warm running clothes so I can train for the Salt Lake Half Marathon in April. I am super excited, especially because my sisters are going to run it with me!! I just wished they lived closer so we could train together! I know it will be hard work, but this will keep me motivated to stay in shape! There is also a Triathlon in May that I am considering doing as well. So we will see!

Starting Off a New Year!!!

Wow.....2010!!!! I can't believe it is already a new year! This picture was taken during all of the Holiday Festivities! We have had a great Christmas Holiday Break. Nick has only had to work a few days the past 2 weeks so we have had a lot of time to play and travel. Carson has really enjoyed the snow! Nick got a snow blower for free from a friend, and with a little work, was able to make it work so he can use it instead of a shovel! So Carson loves to go outside and help him clear the snow! He also loves sledding at the park across the street. He plays really hard when he is outside. In fact, after an afternoon of playing, he crashed out on the couch waiting for dinner. He was one tired little boy!!!

On New Years Eve (Thurs) we headed up to Idaho Falls to spend the weekend with my Sister Marisa and her fun family! They just moved from Boise, so it was fun to have them so close and to go see their new home. Mayci and Kaylee are just 7 weeks apart, so it was fun to see them play together....or fight over dolls and strollers, which is what they did quite a few times!

I don't have any pictures of New Years Eve, but we spent it playing games and watching "Facing the Giants". We were in the middle of the movie when New Years Hit, so we paused long enough to way "Happy New Year" and then stayed up 'til 1:30 AM before finally going to bed. We woke up early though and started out the day by going sledding at the "pit". It was really fun! We had to get all bundled up to stay warm!

Kaylee loved the snow! She would lick it off of her gloves, then spit it out when she realized how cold it was! After getting home and having hot cocoa the kids had a good time playing! Madison was so cute with Carson and they built this fun Car out of a card board box. Carson loved it!

My Mom & Dad came up on Friday and we spent more time playing cards and eating more yummy food. On Saturday, there was more sledding done by the kids and the Adults all headed to the Idaho Falls Temple and we did Sealings. It was so cool doing them with my family. What a great experience. We need to do that more often! On Saturday evening we headed to Rexburg to have dinner at my Grandma Edstrom's house. My Aunt and some cousins were also there so it made it very enjoyable!

Kaylee loved playing with all of Grandma's fun toys while we were there!

Nick and Grandpa Edstrom...they were in charge of the Ice Cream and did a great job making sure everyone got some! It was my nephew Austin's 12th bday that day, so we also had cake to celebrate!

Once we had dinner, we headed back to Idaho Falls and went to the Hotel that Matt & Natalie were staying at to play in the pool. Carson was in heaven....he loves to swim! Chris is always such a great uncle to play with Carson.

My Niece, Hallie, even enjoyed the hot tub so much, she fell asleep. It was the cutest thing ever!

The whole gang! The hot tub was REALLY hot, 104 degrees. So we didn't spend to much time in it since it was boiling us to death, but it was still really fun!

We went to church with everyone on Sunday, and afterwards my Nephew Austin was ordained a Deacon and received the priesthood. We had yummy soup and scones at Marisa's before heading home. It was a great weekend spent with great people. I can't wait to get together again. One of the highlights of the trip is that I talked Marisa into running the SLC Half Marathon with me in April. So we are both registered and now just have to start training! Wish us luck!