Would you like a lemon?

So after my last post Emily said I should try giving Jacob a lemon and see his reaction. He has been fun to give food to and see his reaction. He puckers, smacks, and will even shutter on the blandest of foods. A little while ago Emily and I gave him some sour frosting (I had heard that if you added a package of kool-aid to a can of frosting you would get color and flavor all in one. As sweet as frosting is you don't need to add sugar, BUT it was still very sour. I hadn't tasted it and started frosting cupcakes with it and couldn't understand why all the girls at Ashtyn's party wanted white instead of the pink flavored one? Then I tasted it....oops!) When Jacob tried it, he didn't even flinch but when he ate a banana he puckered like it was a war head. So here ya go Emily, this is what a lemon does for him. Not much of a pucker, just a lot of licking and smacking. He can look like such an old man...We should do a Ferrell/Jacob split screen.
When Alayna was about 8 mos old we were in Phoenix for the fiesta bowl and she had started this screaming stage where she would just let out these loud squawks for no reason. We were eating out every meal and she would squawk the whole time finally Jay put a lime in her mouth. She loved it. She sucked on it until there was nothing left so we asked for another, and then every time we would order, we would ask for limes. It made dining much more pleasant. I wonder if babies have the sour taste buds, or if those ones don't develop until later...?

sour fish

I am trying to introduce solid foods to Jacob. He is 6 months and you would think he would want to jump on the solid train with a one way ticket. But he really struggles as you can see. This is just a normal goldfish cracker but he looks like it is a sour patch and eats it like an old man. I thought is was so funny

Weekends

I finally got the taxes done, which means I can post again. I loathe doing our taxes, until I see the money in the bank. Accounting is not my strong suit, I had such a headache when I finished. But they are DONE!
We actually had a weekend at home. It was so strange to not be running off and sleeping in someone elses bed. Jays sis Cheri and her family came up for a Volleyball tournament in Lehi. Her daughter Caydee is playing for SUVA. We went to 1 game and decided that was enough. Those tournaments go so long....Why? I thought football games were long but these kids have tournaments on a regular basis and they play ALL DAY LONG. Many, many years ago, we had soccer tournaments and they only had maybe 2 games in one day. It will be interesting what happens when our kids are old enough to have a say in their sport choices. Jay and I have such strong opinions about youth sports (and funny enough they are pretty much the same) that it will be interesting what happens. So other than the volleyball game, we pretty much just vegged. It was fun doing things that don't always happen at home. Check out the pics to see what we did




So I know many people feel sorry for Paulo (our golden) but here is proof we don't neglect him every day. Yes that is Jay and Alayna in their bathing suits giving him a shower. Alayna has socks on to protect her feet from him stepping on them (It really hurts). Alayna loves Paulo and will go out and check on him in the tundra of our back yard.









As much as I like Paulo, I am not sure I love sharing a shower with him. We used to go to a place called Shampooches that was a self serve dag wash, but they closed. There are a few other self serve in the SL valley, but sometimes it is harder to take my 3 kids than to have Jay do it at

home.



I am not very good at painting nails. I love to do their hair, but painting nails is not a regular occurrence. So we painted nails. They love to have them painted in a "patteren" Alayna is getting very independent and she painted her left hand then I painted her right.



Ashtyn is getting much better at NOT biting her nails and I even had to clip a few of them. Something I have not done more than 6 or 7 times since she was about 18 months and started biting her nails. If you have seen Jay on TV during a game, you'll know where she gets it. She got her nail polish for her birthday and it smells like pixie sticks (yum!) Good thing I have an emergency stash of pixie sticks or I might have started licking her fingers {{giggle}}




Silly girls. I wonder how many times Jacob will get his nails painted....? With 2 big sisters, I am sure it is inevitable.


So this pic is from last Wed, but I love it. Alayna had been invited to a princess cupcake party at her friends house the day before. Most mornings, she will come down stairs for breakfast in her jammies and stay in them until I make her get dressed. This morning, she knew she had her party (at 3 p.m.) and she came down fully dressed heels, necklace and crown all ready to go. She was so happy and knew she looked like a princess. 3, almost 4 is turning out to be a fun age.

Tagged!

O.k. Emily (R.Kern) It has taken me a few days and a few posts later but I am really excited to play along in the tagging game soooo....here's to my first tag.....





WHAT I WAS DOING 10 YEARS AGO.....








Here we are Emily (R Kern SIL) Jessica and I almost exactly 10 years ago. Jay and I had just married and moved into this apt in Holiday UT at the end of Jan or begining of Feb 1998. This apt had hard wood floors in the living room and green carpet in the kitchen that turned red when I spilled homemade strawberry jam all over it. This was one of my nightowl projects so Jay was asleep and I didn't want to wake him up so at 11:30 p.m. I went to Albertson's to rent a rug dr which they don't rent that late so I stayed home from work the next day to clean up the mess. A week later I looked at the ceiling and there was jam splattered on it as well. (I still am a disaster 10 years later. The only difference is now I can laugh instead getting upset). I was working at Chase Services supporting our little family. I drove a teal blue dodge colt (aka meximobile, thanks Shelly) and at the Holiday gas station on the corner of Highland Dr and Murray-Holiday Blvd gas was only $.89. That is eighty-nine CENTS! I could fill up with $8 and drive to and from work for a month! We had no dishwasher, washing machine or dryer. Jay would wash all the dishes by hand. My running play list included Nine in Nails and 311. Jay has since made me sell all cds with explcit lyrics (Thanks hubby!but man there are a few that I miss)
We would hang out with Keith and Kari of our student ward and Bart and Nan who were living in Murray at the time. We bought rollerblades as our first major purchase and did alot of rollerblading. (St George with Bart and Nan, she was prego with Stockton and I about killed my self on multiple occasions) Amazing how 10 years flys by.

5 THINGS ON MY TO DO LIST TODAY:

1.Clean bathrooms and floors (maybe get baseboard vents, they're driving me crazy)

2. Entertain Jay (He has today off and it is much more difficult and time consuming than you would think) We have already been to the library and costco. I just sent him to Cabellas with a gift card, we'll see how long the keeps him occupied.

3. Work on taxes (dreading this one, I probably won't mark this one off today. Jay has the day off, so I guess I will take the day off from my accounting job)

4. Projects: Everyday I have hopes of getting some project done so maybe I will get one of at least some on one of these done {Paint night stand for bedroom, add legs to other night stand, finish painting frame for mirror in master bath, put up banister going down stairs, start on dining chairs, finish binding on quilt or start duvet cover} I could not live without my projects.

5. Sleep in with Jay {this one is already checked off. It was so nice to have him in bed past 5am}

SNACKS I ENJOY:

If I was tagged with the 100 things I could put 100 snacks, but at the top of my list defintely brownies; Ghiradelli with carmel squares (thanks Em, they were delish!) ones with the chocolate chips in them, frosted, costco brownie bites, brownies made with applesauce (not overcooked!) Yep, love them all. Next on my list is probably licorice black, red, chocolate, pull and peel are among my favs just as long as it is soft. I used to love chewy runts, but as I get older and my teeth get older, not such a fan any more. My biggest temptation for snacks are the stupid hostess cakes #1 on my list right now are the raspberry zingers, but I rotate favs regularly from twinkies, ho hos, and suzy qs. I think it is genetic, In High School I had a class at the Alternative High School next to the hostess outlet and I caught Dad there on a regular basis :)

WHAT I WOULD DO IF I BECAME A MILLIONAIRE

Emily (LS) and I would talk about this for hours and hours as we filled great scott. I would send in the PCH sweepstakes and we would dream about the day we would win. I had the house plan picked out that we would build even the lot we would build it on and the cars we would buy down to the color and where we would vacation and everything that goes with that BUT now I think things would be a little different. I defintely would pay off the house, invest, donate and maybe have enough leftover to vaction in over Europe (Jay would say vacation in the tropics) It definitely was a lot more fun to dream about when we were 14. I do have to say I think I would prefer to dream about it than actually become a millionaire. (Not to say we don't want success, but millions, millionaire seems like more work than it is worth....Hundreds of thousands is more like it {{giggle}} REDICULOUS!

3 BAD HABITS

I have so many more than 3, but here are three and probably not my top 3. I should have Jay enter this one.....

1. Definitely have a problem with bed time, especially when Jay is gone. I will stay up till 2am sometimes later. I am working on it, but I know this one is genetic...

2. Tardiness. Procrastinator. These two go together and I have perfected them both. There is always something else to do or one more thing before I leave, so nothing gets done and I am always late.

3. Leaving my clothes out in the closet, Jay gets frustrated and doesn't understand how I know what is clean and what isn't. I have it very organized in my mind and you never know if you are going to wear those jeans for a second day or not.

5 PLACES I HAVE LIVED

1. Born and raised Nampa ID

2. Rexburg, ID

3. South Salt Lake, Holiday, Murray, UT

4. Lehi, UT

5. Puerto Rico (We went for a Vaction when I was first prego with Ashtyn and were there for 3 weeks after the first week of sights, smells and food I was done and decided any vacation over 6 days was considered residency). We have decided that we should not go anywhere for more than 6 days (EXCEPT the cabin!)

5 JOBS I'VE HAD

1. Substitute teacher (Nampa, Alpine and Murray school districts)

2. Server and trainer at Olive Garden and Chilis

3. Chase Services - office manager

4. Roseberry Labratories - I was practically the CEO {{giggle}}

5. Still waiting for Dairy Queen to call!!!

5 THINGS PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME

First of all I am pretty much and open book, so what I list will probably no suprise....

1. I don't like to wash my hair because it is so thick and even though Jay protests it, I think that if I don't wash it as much it will be healthier

2. I was in cooking 4-h and horse 4-h and went to state for the 4-h horse bowl. I even won a blue ribbon at the fair with my pony Rosie.

3. I have a terrible fear of driving over bridges and always plan for how I would unbuckle all my kids and get them out of a frozen, swift or deep river if I were to loose control and go over the edge. (Seriously, my heart races and the anxiety is rediculous)

4. I have broken 2 legs, 1 knee and a nose, and none of them were my own. SO don't mess with me...Just joking, it was all playing soccer and I NEVER was given a red card for any of them. One ref said because I broke a leg he had to give me a yellow card, she later ended up in the hospital and almost died, her leg was shattered and from the meds or something they had to get out the jumper cables and shock her. They were in my grandmas ward, so word travled fast and I was labeled......by the way, does anyone know of a city league I could play on??

5. If I don't have a lot of time to straighten my hair I prefer to use the clothes iron rather than my CHI, It is so much faster.....(but I do love my CHI, thanks Jay, you're so cute when you buy me girly stuff)

O.k. well that took a really long time, I hope yall enjoy getting to know me a little more intimately {{he he}} and now I tag you Emily Oman and Amy Walton!

Such a happy baby!!

Jacob has been such a fun baby. I have never been a baby person and couldn't understand why people liked babies so much. But now, I can't get enough of this baby. I don't know if it is maturity or just that he is seriously the sweetest thing ever. Maybe after Alayna......What ever it is, it's so much fun to have him smile at you every time you look at him. He will giggle at just about anything, Ashtyn, Alayna, even when he gets his diaper changed, he can let out a big belly laugh. So here are a few giggles we caught on camera.

Alayna's Preschool

This year we decided to do a co-operative preschool. It has been so good for Alayna. Jay even said the other day how far she has come since we started. Today we talked about the letter U and how we are all Unique. We did self portraits and it was so funny to see how each of them saw themselves. One had red spikey hair all over. You can sort of see each of their portraits in the pic above. We had 1 sick and one that had one of those days and didn't want to come. You really miss them when they are not there. Maybe when I grow up I will be a teacher.

This was the very first day of preschool waaaay back in Sept. I was supposed to teach tues and thurs, but had Jacob on thurs. It is crazy how much the kids have grown just since then.

This was bubble painting on the fence. Each of the kids had colored bubble and blew them onto their paper. The green grass and sun is making me so sad that it snowed this morning.

Look how cute these little monkeys are in their smocks. I can't wait for spring, green grass and kids outside again!!!

sleds and snowmobiles

Kids never let you forget or miss a tradition, just because you did it last time, it must be done this time. In a few years we are going to need a 3 week vacation to fit in all the "traditions". With that said, you can't go to the cabin withou sledding. This year Jay wanted to find a 'better' hill so we all jumped on the machines and headed out (even Jacob). Jay found "the one". This hill was ridiculous, the pics and video definitely do NOT do it justice. It was so steep that when you were at the top, you could not see the whole hill, it looked like a cliff and the ONLY way up was by snow machine and if you stopped too early it was so steep the machine would roll. Jay was guinea pig #1 and took the first ride. After a few others, Emily and I braved it. Jay even got the girls to go but after a face full of snow decided they liked the other hill better. You had to put your feet in the snow to slow you emough that you would not kill yourself, but in the process you got a spray of snow right in the grill. As you can see Alayna was not so keen on that. Jacob slept through most of the sledding under Grandpa's reindeer hyde but woke up seemed to enjoy the snowmobile ride. We had him out for 2 or 3 hours and he didn't seem to mind at all. Have I mentioned that he is such a GOOD baby. Mon, our last day there we took another ride, I am still sooo sore from the bouncing. Julie ( Emily's MIL) watched Kennedy, Alayna and Jacob, while the rest of us went. It was a beautiful day until we got to the top of two top. It is amazing how warm you can stay with Gore-Tex, faux fur and a little animal hyde. I thought the trees and mtn top looked just like Narnia. I love being able to see the world from such a different vantage point. A part that so few humans and not even that many animals get to see. We even saw a team of snow dogs ( I know that is not really what they are called, but that is what the girls call them) I was so mad I didn't make them stop for a picture. I wanted to hop on and say MUSH! I guess you always need to have a dream, one day I will mush some dogs.

Forts, snowmen & the Omans

So the :FORT: tradition was started a few years back when the girls were stuck at the cabin with sleeping babies and little kids while the boys went for their manly rides. We started with a small snow cave that turned into a two room snow house with a slide entrance and food coloring wall paper. And since then we can't leave without making a fort. This year it was made at the Omans Cabin and the boys have decided that fort making is 'almost' as fun as going for a ride so they started with a cave and a slide that turned into a slide into a 20+ foot tunnel. The pics are a little dark. We started in the daylight but even with five adult men and all us girls working on it, it was quite a production. In the third picture, you can kind of see there is a railing, and that is where the slide starts, then dumps you out into the street. When we finally got it nice and icy we were too tired to do much playing, but this one tops the forts of the past for sure. Emily, Kennedy, Buster, her inlaws and Alayna, made the cutest snowmen. Jay said "They are so ugly they're actually cute" (Emily, that is a complement, He really thought they were cute) Then we played guitar hero, mexican train and may I with the Omans until the wee hours of the morning. You can never get in enough snow, games, food or sleep when you are at the cabin. I guess that is why I wasn't ready to come home.

Presidents Day Weekend

Just about every year since we have been married we have gone to the cabin for presidents day weekend. It is so fun to have traditions like this and that there is family to around to be a part of these tradtions. Like Utah, Island Park ID has had a ton of snow as you can see in the pic of Jay and Jacob where the snow is over their heads and the cabin in back of them is so high you can't see any of their windows. The Pics of mom and dads cabin show how the snow has completely coverd the front clear up to the roof. The first night there Jay and I were able to go on a ride together (Thanks Em for watching the kids). It had been a while since Jay and I had been on a ride alone carving through the trees and goin off "sweet jumps" (ha ha) and Jay laughing at me when I fall off for no reason on flat snow (usually I just brake too hard and it throws me over the hood). The best part of a late night ride is coming back to the stoked fire at the cabin and stripping down to, well... you know because the loft is so hot for that first part of the night. As you can see Alayna was enjoying the heat as she slept out side of the sleeping bag in "Jacks Hole"

Valentines Day!

My very FAVORITE holifday is Valentines Day. It has been since 2nd grade. I love the love. This year like last, we had our girls camp fundraiser on Valentines Day (and the day before) of dipping strawberries and wrapping roses. I love seeing how many ward members show their love for each other by sending roses to spouses, kids, family even visiting teachers, and friends. It makes me so happy. I love doing this fundraiser because for me it has such purpose. Anyway enough about fundraisers. Jay gave me the best valentine this year. It was the first time we had actually been shopping together around valentines and he noticed what I had been looking at then went back and got it. It was not the actual item that made it so special, it was that he noticed. This was my favorite valentines ever. I love my husband, my kids, my family and my friends. I love my callings and my ward. XOXOXO to all!

Ashtyn's Baptism

Febuary 2, 2008 Ashtyn became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She was so excited to grow up, go to activity days and sit at the grown up table (I don't know where the last one came from, but that what she thinks come with being 8). I can't believe we have an eight year old who is such a beautiful young lady. Jay and I love her so much. She is such a good helper and example for Alayna and Jacob. She can make Jacob belly laugh and can keep Alayna happy for hours when she plays LPS or colors with her. Even when she struggles with the drama of girls and friendships at school, she always finds the positive. She said this morning how much she loves our ward. When I asked her why, she said because of her teachers and the people in it. I agree. We have a great ward with great people. I hope we get to stay here a while and she can be raised by this village. I hope she will always remember her day as a special one. Clint, Cheri and their 2 younger girls came up and they went sledding on "The Hill" near our house. Then Jason, Nicole's family and Emily and her family came for lunch before the baptism. It was so nice to have family support. We understand how hard it is to travel this time of year. Cole, Tara and their family came as well. Thanks to every one who came and who sent letters or packages, she loved them.

Check out my Slide Show!

Daddy Jay

I love watching Jay with his kids. He is such a good dad. I love when he does the everyday things. Watching him give the kids a bath, change a diaper, feed Jacob -- Which is why I am posting this video. It is so cute to watch Jay feed by example, he opens his own mouth for every bite he feeds to Jacob.