The Ashby Family

The Marathon

2011-05-24T00:25:00.000-05:00

So...did I mention Ben ran a marathon??? True story. Of course blogging about it has been a little delayed but what can I say...story of my life :) Anyway, Ben ran a MARATHON! Actually his second full marathon. Because he's a rockstar. Obviously.

In order to properly cheer on our participants, my mom has a carefully planned route of awesome stops throughout the marathon where we hold signs and yell and generally just try to be high energy...ya know, to keep everyone motivated! This year, I wanted to pay special homage to Ben so in addition to our signs I also made shirts for the girls to wear. Unfortunately it was pretty cold for the non-runners and the t-shirts ended up being covered with sweatshirts and blankets, but they were still pretty cute!

And this year I googled to find some good signs. Thanks to Jenna who came over and helped me make all the signs! While watching Easy A. Which is HILARIOUS. But don't watch it mom...not your style :). Anyway, we wanted to do some specially for Ben, but also wanted to generally support everyone who decided to wake up at the crack of dawn in 40 degree weather to run 26.2 miles :)

We are so proud of Ben for how well he did! We actually had to skip two of our regularly scheduled stops because we didn't have time to get there before he would have already passed! Pretty crazy, right?!

The girls were SO proud of their daddy!!! They loved jumping out of the car and running to each stop to wait for him to come. Then they would yell and cheer and try to get to him as fast as they could. And then Bryar would cry when he was gone! (She was quickly consoled each time though since we packed up right away and headed to the next stop to "find daddy again") Overall we all had a blast getting out and supporting Ben in his awesome accomplishment.

But...here's the thing. Ben obviously has some kind of major conspiracy going on. We are INCAPABLE of getting a legitimate, clear "crossing the finish line" picture! I can't figure out why, but it just doesn't seem to happen (hence my conspiracy theory...there is no other explanation). 2 years ago he ran the half marathon and we actually missed him finishing because he was being too speedy (sad!). Then last year they moved the finish to the 50 yard line of memorial stadium and we had some camera malfunctions that ended in us missing getting his finish on film (stupid point and shoot cameras!). Then there was this year. This year I was DETERMINED that we were going to get a good shot of Ben crossing the finish line. Epic fail. I had my mom take a picture of the big screen and I was going to get the actual crossing. My mom was able to get a picture of the big screen. It's a little blurry but better than what I got. I honestly laugh now every time I see the picture I took...let's just say a wind gust+big flag=blocked shot. Haha!

***I would just like to point out that the conspiracy is real because there is a photo service that takes pictures you can purchase from the marathon website and ALL 3 pictures of him running across the line he had his eyes closed!!! I mean come ON, seriously!?!?

It took Ben about a half hour to get across the start line (10,000 people ran this year!) so his OFFICIAL finish time was actually 4 hours 13 minutes 38 seconds! He actually dropped 57 minutes (yes...as in almost a full HOUR) off of last year's time! I guess that's what doing some training will do for you :)

Congrats Ben, you are AWESOME!

P.S.

A little girl and her princess stroller

2011-05-02T23:32:00.000-05:00

Less than 2 weeks after we got a bag and officially started keeping track of her money, Hayden reached her goal! Let's just say she is VERY motivated! That and we have some generous friends and family who helped her out :) carrying things, dusting, and cookie delivery were all able to earn her anywhere from a little spare change to a couple bucks and she was very grateful for it!

We even went ahead and got her a little piggy bank to keep all her money in. We figured if she was really going to be saving then she should have a good place to keep her money! I can't believe how attached she became to it...she was constantly carrying it around and once I even caught her talking to it. "I love you Piggy, you're my friend!" Then she hugged and kissed it! I was seriously cracking up, it was just too adorable!

It took us a few days to actually get her to Walmart to get her stroller, but on the day we went she was SUPER excited! Unfortunately the trip was a slight comedy of errors...starting with me leaving the camera sitting on the couch :( We got a few snapshots with our cellphones, but haven't uploaded them yet. Anyway, upon getting to her princess stroller (it was the last one at the store!) she was really happy and of course she wanted to hold on to it but didn't want to relinquish her piggy bank, which ended in a tragic plunge that caused poor little piggy's demise. It was extremely heartbreaking! Hayden's eyes welled up with tears and she said "it was just an accident" as Ben and I scrambled to figure out how to collect the money that had spilled all over the place. Poor girl, she loved Piggy!!! Anyway, Ben ran and got a little Ziplock container and we scooped all her money up. Luckily Piggy split into 3 large pieces and only a couple extra little pieces so clean up was relatively easy, but I was still really sad for Hayden! Thankfully the purchasing of the stroller was exciting enough to keep her distracted. The cashier rung it up and Hayden took all her "green dollars" out first and handed those over. Then came the longer process of counting out change, which is where I mostly took over while Hayden checked out her new wheels ;) In the end she paid only about a dollar in anything but quarters and actually had probably $3-$4 left over! She couldn't have been happier to be leaving the store with her stroller AND some "monies"!

She LoVeS her princess stroller and she wants to play with it constantly! And even if it does drive me crazy that it's so big in our teensy house, I'm so stinkin proud of her that she was able to stay dedicated to that stroller, earn the money and buy it! That is pretty impressive for a 2 1/2 year old!

Now the real question is, what will she save for next?!

The value of a penny

2011-04-08T10:25:00.001-05:00

A number of weeks ago I was at Walmart with the Hayden and Bryar (and Rebekah and Eli and Millie if we are being particular) when Hayden spotted something that caused her to gasp with excitement. It was an umbrella stroller. I know, weird right? BUT it was a *Disney PRINCESS* umbrella stroller, and if you know Hayden you know that makes anything gasp worthy. Hayden begged and pleaded, "Mommy can we get that princess stroller?" "Mom are we gunna buy that princess stroller?" "Mom are you gunna get that princess stroller for me?!" I told her no, that I couldn't spend $20 on something we don't need just because it was *Princess*. She was disappointed but took the news fine. Until the next day. Again it was "mom can we get that Princess stroller from Walmart, please?" Again I told her we didn't need it to which she replied "But it's for Toddler Belle!" (Her doll) Finally I told her that if she wanted something like that she was going to have to save up for it and pay for it with her own money. Talk about lighting a fire under someone! She immediately went in search of all the "moneys" she could find (any change is "moneys" to her) on the floor, under the couch, on nightstands and in all my purses and anytime she found some she would excitedly bring it to me and show me that she found moneys to buy her Princess stroller at Walmart. This has been going on EVERY day for weeks and weeks. Finally last week I decided that if she wasn't going to let it go (which she clearly wasn't as it is mentioned about 5 times a day every single day) that I should help her, so I got her a ziplock bag and she put in all the change she had found. I also allowed her to raid the change pocket in the diaper bag (who knew I was carrying around so much weight in change?!?) and added up her total for her. Would you believe that at that point she had $8.84?! She was ecstatic seeing all her moneys together in one place. Since then, with a little help from 2 of daddy's "green moneys" and the constant hunt for any and all change, she is up to $11.90! Obviously she is still a ways off from collecting the the $20 she needs, but it has been fun to see her get excited over every penny she finds. The funniest thing to me is her consistency...being only 2 1/2 you would think she would have moved on to wanting something else but no, 5 times a day its "mom, do I have enough moneys for my princess stroller?" To her, every penny she earns is one step closer to her princess stroller, and I love that she is working so hard to save $ and achieve her goal. Let's just hope she is that dedicated when she is actually old enough to be earning money instead of getting it out of my diaper bag and off Ben's nightstand!

Tidbits and stuff...in no specific order

2011-03-18T15:23:00.000-05:00

-Baby A is going to be 6 months old this week. I can hardly believe it! She is getting SO big! I wish I could post pictures but alas, I cannot. Although I guess you have never seen pictures before either so it's not like you would have anything to compare her current size to. How's this: Just imagine a newborn and then a six month old. See the difference? My point exactly :)

-Bryar only has one month to go before starting nursery! They really need a junior nursery...ya know, for kids 12-18 months who aren't old enough for real nursery but are so absolutely ridiculous during the church block that it sometimes seems pointless to even bother because all you do is sit out with them in the foyer anyway? (And by "you" I mean Ben, because let's face it, I'm in primary so I only have to be around the craziness for sacrament meeting, and yet somehow that is still just too much!). Am I rambling? All I'm really saying here is kids have a ridiculous amount of energy. And Bryar starts nursery next month. Thank heavens.

-Hayden constantly makes me laugh. She definitely has some serious "I'm 2 1/2 so I'm going to be as sassy as possible" moments, but overall she is an awesome little girl. She carries her dolls everywhere, swaddles them, sings them songs, rocks them and then lays them in her bed and closes the door. Then she comes out and informs everyone that they need to stay out (and quiet) because her babies are sleeping.

-I love that I KNOW Hayden is learning in nursery! A few weeks ago Hayden was sitting at the table eating lunch and started saying "Baptize, baptize, baptize" in a sing songy type of voice. Intrigued, I asked her if she was going to get baptized, and she promptly replied (in a valley girl sassy-pants type voice) "yeah...at Tursery...and my hair is gunna get wet like Jesus!" She completely made my day! I love that she calls it tursery and i love love love that she is remembering little tidbits of nursery lessons!!!

-Hayden is learning her full name and is constantly pretending to talk on the phone, so now whenever she gets on she says "Hello, this is Hayden Olivia Ashby" and I think it's adorable. I'm trying to teach her the breakdown of first/middle/last but for now I think it's sweet that she is "Hayden Olivia Ashby" and not just Hayden. Oh, and she actually says Hayden, with a d, which used to always be Haynen...my little girl is growing up! (And she tells me so all the time..."i'm growing up mom..." and "I'm all growed up" are frequently heard from her.)

-I know it's a silly way to describe it, but Bryar is the new Hayden. Seriously...seems like everything going on with Hayden when I started this blog are now things Bryar is starting to do. Her biggest thing right now is dressing up. She frequently puts on dress up clothes, gets one of my purses from my closet and heads for the door, all while waving and saying "bye." Luckily for us she can't actually open the front door so mostly it's just a funny process to watch.

Photo editing

2011-02-18T00:20:00.000-06:00

So I love photoshop actions...anyone else? They make editing pictures so much faster and can produce such awesome results! I was feeling a little nostalgic today and decided to look at wedding pictures, which of course led me to a little editing, and I'm loving how they turned out! I used MCP Actions new Mini fusion action (cuz it's free...and I love free!) and I think it worked perfect. Of course I actually loved the pictures before which could be making a big difference...so pretty much what I'm trying to say is I love photoshop actions and I LOVE my wedding pictures. Haha :)

The action is at http://www.mcpactions.com/mini-fusion.html if you want it...

Another giveaway...

2011-02-14T10:01:00.000-06:00

Ok, i'm not planning to make a habit of it, it just so happens that some fab giveaways have come up in the past few days that you can blog about for an extra entry...so here I am, throwing up a blog post shout out for another giveaway. It's hard to say no when so much fantastic free stuff is on the line! So, feel free to check out the giveaway...it's http://www.jessicafeely.com/blog/2011/02/valentines-day-giveaway-just-for-moms/ and everything you can win looks awesome!

A ginormous giveaway...

2011-02-13T20:25:00.000-06:00

There is a GiNoRmOuS giveaway going on at Laura Winslow Photography (http://laurawinslowphotography.com/blog/2011/02/07/2600-61-shops-1-winner-the-awesome-photog-love-giveaway-from-laura-winslow-photography/comment-page-74/#comment-53336) that is worth a total of $2600 from 61 different shops. Only one person gets to win and obviously i would LOVE to be that person, so here I am blogging about it to get an extra entry in the drawing. Feel free to NOT enter so that I have a better chance at winning...OR maybe you could SHARE if you see this post, enter the drawing and then DO win...because that's a LOT of stuff!!! Anyway, check it out.

holy frigid batman...

2011-02-03T16:49:00.000-06:00

it is COLD! BAH! For realisies, it can stop anytime... but until then, we are up to our eyeballs in this:

and this

and when we are avoiding that stuff (which we usually are...) then we have some of this:

and even this (she went into her room shoeless and came out like this, haha!)

And then of course a little of this:

Because my girls LOVE to talk on the phone. Sometimes actual talking (Hayden is getting good at having conversations with Ben) and most of the time they are on their play phones, but either way they love to talk, talk, talk!

Anyone else having fun being cooped up in the house because of the snow?!

Time flies when you're...avoiding blogging?!

2011-01-27T23:30:00.001-06:00

Man...it's been forever. I mean REALLY, is my last blog post about my Bryar's birthday party?! She turned one in October! Obviously I have been sorely neglecting this portion of my life, but don't worry...I'm back on the wagon so let's just hope I don't fall off again any time soon. Obviously recapping would take way to long so let's just start with the now, shall we?

It's cold. I started this winter with a sort of zen. I wanted to balance out Ben's ridiculous hate of winter (have I blogged about this? I feel like I did...) so I went into winter thinking hey, this won't be so bad. That lasted for a bit. As in lastED...PAST tense. As in i am SO over it! Having 3 kids who have to be super bundled up to even step out the door, 3 kids who all need help with buckling in to carseats, and 3 kids who seem as anti-cold and wind as there father has made my zen for winter a serious thing of the past. That (coupled with all the cute spring clothing lines coming into stores now) has this girl is seriously dreaming of warmth. Who's with me?!

While my complaints of winter may not be showing it well, I have been adjusting more to life with 3 kids under 3. Sort of. I am trying to plan/organize more now. Mostly that just means that I try to get a lot more done when baby A is on visits with her bio parents (which she has every day at different times and for varying lengths) because taking 2 kids to the store is way easier than 3! But other than actually leaving the house, things have gotten better. Baby A has really turned a corner with the whole crying thing and is now a happy and energetic baby girl, which we are all loving! She smiles huge, giggles a lot, and likes to be on the floor/bouncy/bumbo where she can see everything and interact with whoever catches her eye. My favorite thing is how much she babbles! She is destined to be quite the talker because she babbles constantly! I swear she is trying to tell me something...I'm just not sure what yet :)

Bryar is such a handful! Pretty much anyone who has seen her probably knows that but it's crazy how much spunk she has. It's honestly hard to pin down because she can be so hard headed and independent one minute and then so snuggly and sweet the next. I joke that she is baby bipolar because she can go from laughing to crying to laughing all in the same minute! While I sometimes get overwhelmed by her mean streak (she totally dominates her big sister) I do love that she is so playful and goofy! She talks a lot (although I think you have to be me or Ben to understand her much) and loves to pretend play (talk on phones, play with baby dolls, etc) and watching her with her toys is unbelievably entertaining. While she can sometimes be hard to handle, I wouldn't trade her sweet cuddly moments or hilarious goofy moments for the world...she is just a crack up!

Hayden is definitely starting to hit her 2 year old phase pretty hard. Most the time she is the sweetest girl around, wanting to help mommy with EVERYTHING and often trying to be the mommy herself, but lately that 'tude has been coming out more and more. I think it is also more noticeable because all of a sudden she seems to be talking way more and having a MUCH bigger vocabulary (sometimes good, sometimes not...). The other day Ben did something she didn't like and she goes "I'm mad at you because you're being rude!" It's one of those moments where you can't help but crack up even though you are trying to tell her that's not ok... I really need to start writing down the things she says because the mantra that "kids say the darndest things" is just SO true! She surprises all the time with the random things she says! We have definitely had our not so pretty 2 year old tantrums (it feels like this week has been full of them!) but through it all I love how much she loves her family. She is the best helper and big sister and I am grateful for her every single day.

Right now we are just living it day to day and seeing what comes. Ben is in his first actual nursing school class, which is super exciting and he seems to be liking it, and I am officially NOT in school for the first time since...well since kindergarten. It's kind of freaking me out to not have homework, deadlines, papers and reading. I have to say I kind of miss it...but for now I am content to just be home with my menagerie of pink :)

Now like I said...let's hope I stay on the blogging wagon. I will post a few pictures soon but they are still on the camera and the transferring/uploading process feels a little to daunting right now. Another task for another time (plus that sets me up for my next blog post, which should be helpful for me!)

Being 1 is just s’more fun…and so are family pictures ;)

2010-11-17T17:02:00.000-06:00

SO…delayed (as usual) but better late than never: Bryar had her 1^st birthday and we celebrated with a fun little party! We decided on a s’mores theme since it’s fall and that seemed like a fun activity. Of course on the day of her party it was about 70 degrees out, which doesn’t really lend itself to sitting around a firepit, but hey, who can complain about nice weather in November!? Not this girl! So we just went with it and it turned out really fun! We had an assortment of s’more making options (classic, mini, berries and cream, pb cup, and mint) and all in all it was delicious. Peanut butter cup seemed to be the most popular of the non-traditional options, but I wouldn’t know because by the time I went to make myself one the whole bag of Reese’s were gone! Bryar seemed to have a blast and got nice and messy with her melty chocolate and gooey marshmallow, just the way it should be (plus I got Grandma Ashby to clean her up which was a fantastic bonus!)

Our friends Dan and Courtney

The super cute mini S'mores...which I did in fact roast...bite size and delicious!

Grandma Ashby and Hayden

Also, we got our family pictures done! A guy in our ward did them for us and we were really happy with them. The girls weren’t the most cooperative subjects (at least not at the same time…of course!) but there are still some awesome shots. We did some with baby girl and some without, that way I would have some to post! Here’s just a few of them:

The girls don't look too enthused but the concept was good!

Gorgeous Bryar Mckinley

My beautiful little "big girl" Hayden

HAHAHAHA look at Bryar's face...priceless!

Sweet sisters

Walking together

AWW :)

Sweet kisses


Me and Ben ;)

Halloween (a slightly belated post...)

2010-11-06T17:19:00.000-05:00

We had a lot of fun this Halloween! We had first, second and third Halloweens amongst our kids and there was some definite craziness trying to keep all the pieces and parts of costumes on long enough for pictures, but it WAS fun. We started a few days before Halloween with our 3^rd annual pumpkin carving and caramel apple extravaganza with our friends Katie and Mark Barrera (and baby Cohen!) and our other friend Jenna. It was fantastic and we had lots of awesome pumpkins in the end (plus, who doesn’t love a caramel apple?! YUM!)

We made a quick round at our building’s trunk or treat and for some reason didn’t think to get the stroller out for Bryar and baby girl….bad decision! Ben and my arms were dying! Hayden had fun collecting candy though! Then we ran to the stake center and saw my family at their chili feed and then headed home. The surprise of the night was that Hayden threw a really big fit when we tried to put her to bed because she wanted her candy! I definitely turned into “that mom” because I told her I was going to throw it away and she wouldn’t get any if she didn’t cut it out! Luckily she got over it because there was obviously no way I was going to give her any candy after that! 2 years old and already candy obsessed…she really is a mini-me! Scary!

On Sunday our friends Courtney and Dan come over to see the girls in their costumes and we had lots of fun. They brought 2 hilarious wigs that ended up being very entertaining (see the pictures!) and it was fun getting the girls all dressed up again J They looked so cute in their costumes! Then we went “trick or treating”…but only over to the Barrera’s so we could see Cohen in his costume! Then they came over and played games and relaxed. All in all an excellent Halloween! (Of course we won't be posting any pictures of baby girl but rest assured she looked adorable...she was a bee!)

Being a mother of 3

2010-10-13T23:22:00.000-05:00

I have long felt that the jump from 2 kids to 3 kids was going to be the most difficult for me. Personally, 1 kid was easy peasy... she could go anywhere we went with minimal extra effort. The hardest thing was probably remembering everything to keep in the diaper bag and that couldn’t really be considered hard.

When we (quickly) took the jump from 1 to 2 I wasn’t really concerned. 2 kids plus 2 arms equaled still totally doable. Hayden could walk well by the time Bryar was born so it just worked.

It was only when we thought about a baby #3 that my heart would stutter ever so slightly. We were going to wait a while, take a small baby break and let the girls grow a bit, but then we got the call about our new baby girl and we both instantly felt right about it. Never mind the fact Bryar isn’t even 1 and still isn’t walking, nevermind that would be 3 kids in 3 years (aka 3 kids 2 and under...) we just said yes and took the plunge. And I have to say that while I have my moments of going crazy, it isn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it could be! While I now wait to do some things until Ben is off work and can either go with me or watch the girls while I go, I have found that I am actually still able to do a lot of things with just the 3 girls and me. I go to Target and walmart or anywhere else that has a cart (Baby girl in her carseat in the main part of the cart, Bryar in the child seat of the cart and Hayden walking or holding on to the side and riding) and feel pretty good about what am I able to accomplish. Overall, 2 to 3 has been quite a bit better than I expected it to be.

A few things though...

*If you see me in a store, feel free to NOT stare at me like I’m a freak or a baby factory or something. It is CRAZY how much people unabashedly stare at us! Even when I look at them and they can see that I see them, they continue to stare! I appreciate that we are somewhat of a spectacle and I would probably look at me too, but sheesh! I would even mind less if it looked like plain curiosity, but sometimes people just glare at us...so bizarre!

*”Wow, you guys have been busy!” is a really awkward thing to say. Seriously.

* A question...how do you get all 3 kids inside when they have all fallen asleep in the car? Does anyone know where one could purchase an extra arm? Because man that would be convenient...

* There is really no way to know what our future is with our sweet new addition, but if we did end up keeping her permanently we would be SO grateful! But can you imagine 10 to 15 years from now?! I mean really...13, 14 and 15?! 15, 16 and 17? 19, 20 and 21? I’m kind of panicking just thinking about all that estrogen. After giving it serious consideration I think we figured out that the only time it won’t be TOO insane around here would be when they are like 4, 5 and 6 up till 8, 9 and 10. Either way though we couldn’t be more excited about our family right now and while MANY people think we’re crazy (or at least stare at us like we are) we are as happy as can be :)

Our whirlwind!

2010-09-27T21:17:00.001-05:00

Just a quick update on the newest member of our family! This weekend we were blessed with a brand new baby girl! We got the call from foster care workers Friday and Saturday evening she was here :) it is an amazing blessing for our family and while we are probably a little crazy (a two year old, an 11 month old and a newborn?!) we couldn’t be more excited for this new adventure and can’t wait to see where this all leads. Either way we are grateful to share our love with a beautiful girl who could use it.

Heather
P.S. I wish I could post pics and more info, but sadly I can't :( foster care rules, have to protect the little angel! Sorry friends. Locals can come visit though!

Tonsillectomies and French braids :)

2010-09-18T20:45:00.000-05:00

I thought I’d make a quick update (in hopes of avoiding yet another post that is novel length) to let everyone know how things are going. Hopefully with all the travel and craziness behind us I will do a better job of updating regularly, but I make no promises :)!

ANYWAY, Ben got his tonsils out!!! YAY! The doctor told me afterward that the surgery went very well and that Ben’s tonsils were huge and definitely needed out (as if the constant strep throat and tonsillitis weren’t hints to that fact…) so we are very grateful we were able to get that taken care of. Hopefully now he won’t be sick constantly….or ever…or at least for a VERY long time! His recovery has definitely been a bit of a struggle, but he has been such a trooper! Absolute minimal neediness or complaining, just a lot of sleep (thanks to his pain meds) and some popsicles. I can definitely handle that! I know he has had quite a bit of but of pain but he has actually seemed to turn a bit of a corner today so we are hoping the worst is over!

Other than that it’s really just small things going on around here.

Hayden has been super entertaining for me lately! She has always been very girly and clothes obsessed, but she has really kicked it up a notch! She is constantly getting into her and Bryar’s clothes (current and grown out of) and puts on as many layers as she can squish into. It’s bad for the laundry but it balances out with how much it makes me laugh!

You can't see it here but she actually has a pair of jeans on under the white fleece pants and has two tank tops under the shirts that are visible (she had 5 shirts on!)

Matching is obviously something we need to work on!!!

Also, I did Hayden’s first French braid! Her hair has been driving me CrAzY lately because it’s getting long but is still super thin “baby hair.” Because of this I really can’t just leave it down (or else it is crazy and NOT cute) so I have decided to embrace this problem and really get into doing her hair cute.

As for Bryar, she is getting so big! She will be one in a month (I can’t believe it!) so we are really pushing the table food and sippy cup situation because once the 1^st birthday hits bottles go bye-bye in this house! This week Bry had her first go at eating spaghetti on her own, and while it was a big disaster she also ate a ton! Of course from looking at Hayden you would think it was HER first time eating spaghetti…yikes!

I think that’s about it for now!

Heather

ROADTRIPPING...

2010-09-12T21:44:00.000-05:00

So apparently I have been seriously neglecting my blog! It’s for good reason though, because to say it’s been a crazy few weeks for our family would be such an understatement! Before this Bryar had never even left the state and now she’s been to Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California!

Our life in a nutshell…

It all started in mid(ish) august when, very sadly, my uncle Ben passed away from an aggressive form of cancer that left us all pretty stunned. I can only be grateful that he is now in a better place and that I had the opportunity to go to his funeral. Unfortunately Ben had school and work and there was no way he could make the trip, so the girls and I hitched a ride with my dad and little brother and drove from Lincoln to San Diego, California. In case you weren’t sure, that is a LONG drive (made that much longer by a potty trained 2 year old and somewhat ill 10 month old! Amongst other things that slowed us down…) and we drove it straight through! Let’s just say I was VERY grateful when we finally got there. The service was beautiful and fit my uncle’s style very well…casual and lighthearted. I am so glad I was able to be there with many family members to celebrate the life of a kind and loving uncle.

While we were there for a pretty sad reason, we were also able to have some good family time. We got to go to the beach twice, and it was awesome!!! The first time it was the girls and I, my parents, and my younger brother David. The second trip also included an uncle, two aunts, 6 cousins and my grandma! It was great spending time with them!

Because my uncle was buried in the family plot in Brigham City, Utah we decided to stop for the service on our way back and take a day break from the trip so it wouldn’t be quite so intense for everyone involved. It was an excellent decision! We were able to see even more family there as well as stay the night at my childhood best friend’s house and do some catching up, plus I was able to meet her fabulous fiancé before we came back the next week for their wedding…(told you we did a lot of traveling!)

Anyway, we were excited to be home for a little over a week before we turned around and went back to Utah for the aforementioned wedding! The drive was ok (we discovered on our California trip that while Hayden refuses to watch any tv at home, she WILL pay attention to movies in the car and we exploited that with an insane number of Disney classics!) but we were once again grateful to arrive in Utah!

We were excited to be able to attend our niece Sophie’s baptism while we were there! It was great to be there for one of their family events, as that NEVER happens with the distance between locations. Then we rushed from the baptism in Springville to the wedding of my oldest friend Caitlin to her fiancé Creighton in the Draper, Utah temple. It was a fantastic sealing (the sealer reminded us of Bob Barker…) and we couldn’t be more excited for them! Then we headed back to Springville to spend some more time with Ben’s sister Emily and the rest of the fam, before heading back to Salem for the wedding reception. We were very on the move!!!

The reception was awesome! They had AMAZING food (chef prepared crepes and pasta dishes...YUM!) and the atmosphere was great. Backyard casual and fun but still VERY beautiful!

THEN (oh yes, there’s more!) we left the next morning and headed back, but made a stop in McCook (we couldn’t just not see our Blomstedt’s!) and had an EXCELLENT extended labor day weekend extravaganza! We went to the Circus (kind of a big deal for me as clowns totally freak me out) and Hayden rode an elephant! She is such a daredevil, she just marched up the steps and climbed on, completely fearless! She also rode a camel with Staci and Jackson, and then we headed in to the actual circus tent. There were some awesome acts, but I have to say one of my faves was the super creepy contortionist who fit into a tiny box! Crazy stuff!

The next day we headed out on the boat for a fantastic day on the water. Ben and Staci did some waterskiing and then we all went TUBING! Have I ever mentioned that I love tubing?! Because I do. A lot. Like it’s one of my favorite things. In the world. So needless to say I was excited to get out there! First I went with Ben and we had SO much fun, up until the end when we crashed HARD! We flew off in my direction and I’m pretty sure all of Ben’s limbs contacted me in a violent way on our way into the water! I got the wind knocked out of me for a second but after a quick breather I was back and better than ever. However, while I was taking my break Ben and Jason decided to give it a go and they were doing amazing at withstanding Staci’s attempts to throw them off, all until a big jump resulted in Ben hitting his face on Jason’s fist, giving Ben a bloody nose! Oops!

We had a few mild runs so the kids could get out on the tube for a bit before we went back to trying to throw people off, and then it was time for me and Staci to take a turn. Jason did his best to throw us, and he came close (a lot of times!) but we ended up just dropping off the back of the tube during a calm moment because we were tired and wanted to avoid a violent landing! The last tube ride of the day was me and Jason and I have to say we pretty much dominated :). Staci is pretty impressive at driving to throw off tubers but we lasted an amazingly long time. Needless to say we had an AWESOME time! We love spending time with our Blomstedt’s, they are the best!

So THAT, my friends, was our past few weeks. Now can you see why I haven’t updated my blog?! I am making it a goal to update more regularly now though, don’t worry :D.

Oh and sorry for the inundation of collages, but I will be able to use them as scrapbook pages and it takes way less time than uploading 57 million individual pictures!

Oh, and for anyone who might be interested, Ben is getting his TONSILS REMOVED tomorrow morning!!! It’s a good thing because he has had constant tonsillitis and strep throat for months (literally) but it will be a tough procedure (or so “they” say) so any prayers sent our way would be appreciated!

Until next time,

Heather

A day to celebrate

2010-08-16T02:05:00.002-05:00

I can’t believe the way time flies! Yesterday my “baby Hayden” turned 2 years old and I can hardly believe it! I wouldn’t quite say it feels like yesterday that she was born, but it definitely doesn’t feel like 2 years ago! She is such an amazing little girl and Ben and I are so blessed to have her in our lives. I can’t believe how much I love her and how much joy she brings to me every day!

And as if it couldn’t get any better…it was Ben’s birthday too! The love of my life turned a quarter of a century yesterday J And yes, I tease him about it like crazy. It’s not even old, it’s just a big milestone!!! Yay for Ben!

I love my family so much!

Digital Scrapbooking

2010-08-03T12:42:00.001-05:00

I started another new kind of crafty, kind of domestic, lots of fun activity last week. I had never heard of digital scrapbooking before coming across it on a blog last week, but after looking into it I am definitely loving it. I like scrapbooking but it’s just too expensive...until now. Plus, I avoid gluey, glittery, sticky fingers and layout remorse (which happens when I finish a page and realize something would have looked much better if only I had put it two inches to the left...or something like that). There are TONS of free downloads if you surf the sites, so I have spent a lot of time downloading and am just now starting to use all the things I have to makes pages. But without further ado, here is the few pages I have put together so far (Click on them to make them bigger!):

A few of our favorite people

2010-07-21T17:14:00.001-05:00

Have I ever mentioned that I love Target? Because I do…a lot. SO much so that my ONE criterion for moving is that I won’t live somewhere that doesn’t have one. But then I have weekends like this past one and think maybe I could live in a small town without a Target if it meant being near some of our best friends in the world. The jury is definitely still out on actually moving to McCook, but I’m glad we at least get to visit every now and then so we can see Staci and Jason (and Jackson and Axel)!!!

This visit we were actually able to visit Friday-Monday, which gave us an extra day to play compared to normal and that was really nice! Somehow that ONE day really seemed to help us feel more like we were on a mini vacay and less like we had to cram things in before we turned around and drove home.

***Warning...a million pictures are coming...:)***

One of the great things about seeing the Blomstedt’s is that we had our bowling buddies back! We haven’t been bowling in what seems like forever (because we lost our bowling buddies…) and we couldn’t have been more excited to go. PLUS it was Hayden’s FIRST time bowling. She and Jackson had their lane (with a bumper) and then me and Ben and Staci and Jason had our lane. Now here’s the lowdown on the bowling situation with us: Staci wins most of the time. Jason and I have a rivalry that ends up pretty even in the win/loss column (though we both pretend we win more often than we do). Ben is the wild card...you never know where he is going to end up. If you take a look at the scores below you'll see that we pretty much stayed on track with that. It was pretty hectic between helping the kids bowl, feeding the younger babies, bathroom trips and our bowling game, but it was still a lot of fun!

P.s. usually our scores are higher than this, but it’s a girl’s win all around so I’m ok with it!


Hayden’s first time ever bowling and she got a strike!

Ben helping Hayden…

Staci looking all professional like :)

Grossest thing ever! Staci went to use a ball and there was a bunch of ketchup in the thumb hole!

(although I think that ball is like 13 pounds!)

Cute bowling buddies!

Just hanging out :)

Question: What does the number 2 mean to you? Maybe it’s your kid’s age (Hayden WILL be 2 in a few weeks…) or the number of years you’ve been married (I have been married for 2 years until Sep. 1^st rolls around) but to ME the number has been a little more of a taunting number. As in, it has made me slightly bitter, because 2 represents the number of summers in a row I have been pregnant and rendered unable to tube. Obviously I have been slightly traumatized by this fact… Not that I don’t love my girls, because I do, it’s just that being pregnant 2 summers in a row was pretty rough for me. But not this summer! THIS summer I am pregnancy free and I was NOT going to miss out on some serious summer fun! SO out on the boat we went, and it was a blast!

Bryar’s first time boating!

The view I had of Jason ;) cute huh?!

Adorable daddy/daughter moment!

Axel and Bryar

Ben skiing!

Staci slaloming…if that’s even a word…

Me! However this is the only pic you will see of me trying to ski, because I never actually succeeded…Oh well, maybe next time!

Cooling off!

Me and Hayden just relaxing…although I think we were actually like that because I had issues NOT floating with that ridiculously powerful life jacket on!

Hayden driving while Jackson is on flag duty…man they grow up quick ;)

I think Breezy was just grateful to get the life jacket off for a while!

Haha Hayden looks so evil-eyed here! In actuality she just was refusing to smile for the camera…ah the terrible twos…

Hayden’s first tube ride!!! (and YES, I was terrified the WHOLE time)

Cute sister moment on the beach :)

Another “I’m not going to smile” moment!

Haha…a little awkward!

And then my favorite picture of the trip…I took the liberty of pointing out Ben, just in case you missed him :D

Other than that we just spent some good quality time with our friends, which would have been worth the trip by itself. I was heartbroken when we had to leave! It’s ok though, you can bet we’ll be back soon :) We love our Blomstedt’s!

And last but not least, here’s just a few cute shots of the kids throughout our visit:

Bryar, red eyed from a day of boating!


Playing ring around the rosy! THE END!!! I told you there were going to be a million pictures! At least I warned you, right?!

Creations

2010-07-13T23:42:00.002-05:00

Fireworks setting on my camera = super fun! I took these pictures using a sparkler and I can’t believe how excited I was about them! Haha I’m a nerd, but seriously…pretty cool, right?

So I have been really working on my domesticity these days (I can actually see the jaws dropping through my screen…) and my recent projects have been of the sewing variety. I don’t have any patterns so I have mostly adapted my ideas from craft blogs, but a few of them have just been things I made up as I went….ya know, creative juices and what not ;). Anyway, here’s what I’ve done so far:

This was a shirt I just made up/created as I went and I think it turned out really well! (and I know Hayden isn't wearing pants but this IS a shirt, don't worry :D)

a little mommy/daughter matching!

The other "creative juices" outfit...I just went with it as I sewed. The straps are braided, which you obviously can't see. Anyway, I'm really happy with it!

And then a few embroidered onesies with matching burp cloths. These ideas were adapted from craft blogs and I wanted to give them a shot. It is AMAZING how quickly you forget just how tiny newborn onesies are!!! It was crazy just trying to stretch them enough to sew the stuff on the front and not attach the back as well! (Although part of the problem is that i am a huge amateur!)

Anyway, I am really enjoying this whole sewing thing! It's fun creating new things and seeing the girls wear things I've made them!

Milestones

2010-06-27T16:34:00.001-05:00

It seems like nothing and a lot of things have been happening all at the same time around here. I know that doesn’t make sense, but it’s how I feel. What I mean is nothing "big" has happened. No vacations, births, graduations, visitors to the house...nothing is going on. BUT on the other hand, SO much has happened with the girls in the past few weeks!

#1: Hayden is potty trained!!! She is doing AWESOME and rarely even pees in her pull up at night (we usually put her to bed in underwear). I can’t believe how great she has done for such a young girl! Of course now it annoys me even more that we can’t seem to get rid of the binky. I mean really?! You can pee on the potty and hold it ALL night, but can’t manage to survive without a binky? I dunno, it just seems a little silly to me.

#2: Bryar is mobile. I wouldn’t really call it crawling yet (more like an army crawl/scoot) but she is SUPER close to real life crawling and can get anywhere she wants to (and she gets there fast!).

#3: Bryar waves. On purpose. As in not just flapping her arms around, but actually smiling and WAVING to say hi. It makes me happy :)

#4: Bryar claps! Man she’s done a lot of stuff lately! She pretty much seems to be big into the imitating these days, which is making is easier to teach her to do things and I love it!

#5: Hayden has learned how to jump. As in off both feet at the same time. Doesn’t seem that exciting, I know, but it’s a developmental milestone and has brought with it a lot of fun, laughs and a little terror, because she now jumps off EVERYTHING. Side tables, bar height chairs, couches, you name it and she is climbing up to jump off. I’m convinced that she is going to be in the x-games some day because she is such a crazy girl! And slightly fearless. Which in turn scares me to death.

I can’t believe how much the girls are growing up!

On that note, Hayden went to her first official movie! (Technically she’s been to a few, but this was the first one where she was actually supposed to be watching as opposed to snoozing in her baby carseat.) The big feature?! TOY STORY 3! We loved it so much! We saw it in 3D, partly because I think 3D movies are fun but mostly because I wanted to get pictures of Hayden with the ridiculous glasses on! She did pretty dang good for a first movie experience, except for the part where she choked on sierra mist and proceeded to puke up pop for a bit…that was a rough patch! She also decided she had to pee with 10 minutes left in the movie, but hey, when a 20 month old's gotta go she’s gotta go! She seemed to love the whole movie experience and it was fun for Ben and I to take her out on a little date by herself (Bry stayed with grandma Leffler).

P.S. I know I said Hayden is probably going to be in the x-games someday, but if that doesn't work out then perhaps gymnastics will be a back up plan:

Summer time

2010-06-17T01:59:00.001-05:00

A little sunshine and some rain too

2010-06-04T20:47:00.002-05:00

This winter I realized that I have FINALLY, after over 10 years, become accepting of Nebraska winters. Maybe it is to compensate for poor Ben, who has lived here his whole life and yet told me last week that he is already getting depressed about winter coming (umm hello, it’s june…?!?). ANYWAY, I used to hate the snow, now I don’t. I used to hate the wind…I still do…but I have accepted it as a part of life here. I have become increasingly impressed with myself to the point where I really wondered what the big deal was about summer. So it’s warm…so what? The cold isn’t so bad, right?! And then came this BEAUTIFUL weather, and now I am sitting here questioning my sanity and how I could ever, even for a second, think that summer is anything but the most amazing season that exists. I mean really, snow Heather?! What was I thinking?! Summer is where it’s at my friends! Need examples of why I was crazy to think winter was even an acceptable season? Read on…

1. Family outdoor car washing! How cute is it to watch little Hayden grab her soapy sponge and scrub dirt off of the car?! (And the cement, and Ben’s hair, and her clothes…)

Could you do that in the winter? I suppose you could but then I would be forced to question YOUR sanity!

2.. Memorial day. There is a reason that doesn’t happen in winter. It is a day meant for swimming, barbequing, s’mores, picnics, and all around outdoor enjoyment. This year Ben didn’t work (thank Heavens he doesn’t work at V.I. anymore and can actually enjoy a holiday with the fam!!!) and we had a blast doing ALL the things meant to be done on Memorial day. We enjoyed our day with our friends Courtney and Dan and basically relaxed! We had a picnic at the park (Hayden is SO obsessed with swinging!) then went swimming at Star City Shores:

Then we had a fabulous barbeque of hamburgers and hot dogs (and chips and cheetohs puffs and cookies and pop and all that delicious/terrible for you food) and then roasted s’mores. It was a BLAST!

3. Summer storms! I mean really, the word SUMMER is in the name because they just don’t happen in the winter. Tornado season is upon us and our family is loving it! Crazy thunder, lightning, sudden downpours…all the makings of some great pictures and an AWESOME nights sleep. Really, we LOVE storms. One of our favorite family activities is sitting outside and just watching the skies go crazy…it’s so beautiful!

Hopefully when winter comes I will once again be able to put behind me my love of beautiful summer weather and remember that winter really isn’t so bad, and that summer will be back again soon…but with as well as this summer is already going it might be a harder task than I thought it would be!

Well, I think that’s about it for today, but I wanted to leave you with a lovely photo montage (as if I haven’t already posted a zillion pictures!!!) that I like to call “The world according to Hayden.” Enjoy :D

The end!

My little look alikes!

2010-05-30T14:08:00.003-05:00

Oh my goodness! I was scanning in some old pictures of me as a baby and came across THIS!

Apparently the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree…even when it comes to making funny faces!

And not to leave Hayden out (since she is the one who really looks like me!)

I am going to have to get some baby pictures of Ben now and see how they match up!

Life goes on...

2010-05-28T22:30:00.003-05:00

I think I'm getting the hang of this blogging thing...I just post every few weeks and between posts I take lots of pictures so that when I decide to post again I have some visual reminders of what we did! This time our big event was: Henry Doorly Zoo! I LOVE going to the zoo (I could watch the penguins all day long) and Ben is a big fan too, so this year we decided to get a season pass. We have to go 3 more times before next March to get our money's worth, and I definitely think we can handle that. This trip was an Ashby extravaganza! It was Ben and I, Hayden and Bryar, Scott and Rebekah and their 2 kids, Andrew and his girlfriend, and Denise and Seth. Our friend Courtney came too...she isn't an Ashby but we let her come along anyway :D We had a great time and it was a beautiful day to go to the zoo! (Even if there were about a million elementary and preschool kid groups there with their ridiculously bright neon t-shirts).

The zoo map was Bryar's favorite thing about the trip...just look at the evil eye she is giving me when she thinks I am going to take it from her! :)

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The other exciting thing about these past few weeks?...Hayden is potty training! This has been a LOOOOOONG time in the making (she has been going on the potty inconsistently for over 6 months!!!) but we finally decided to buckle down and get her fully transitioned to her "Princess underwear." She is currently obsessed with Disney princesses so this has been a big motivator for her :) Anyway, just ask her about her princess underwear and she will have no issues with showing them to you (regardless of how many clothing layers have to be removed to get to them) because she looooves them! She has been doing pretty well (except when you come over, Courtney Felix...I don't know what that's about but she really likes to have accidents when you're around!) and stays dry through naps and even a lot of nights. Keep your fingers crossed for this to be a quick process!...I'd definitely appreciate it :) Oh, and if you're looking for a fabulous potty training book, I found one at Barnes and Noble entitled "Princess Potty" that I think is hilarious and perfect for any little girls that loves pink and sparkles. (An exerpt? "Hear ye, Hear ye I need to pee pee..." Poetic isn't it?!) It even comes with a tiara for them to wear while on the potty and jewel stickers to put on the tiara each time they go on the potty! It never ceases to amaze me how strange the things I love are now...I mean a potty book, really?! But hey, whatever keeps you enthusiastic right? Gotta love being a mommy!!!

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To wrap it up I wanted to post a series of pictures that make me laugh EVERY time I see them (literally). My crazy girls have a lot of personality!

I was so excited to catch this sweet moment :)

And then it got a little awkward...

I tried to get them refocused on the picture taking, which obviously wasn't working...

THIS is the one that kills me...Hayden decides to cooperate and then look at Bryar's face! I have NO idea what she is trying to tell me here, but she looks hilarious!

Hayden officially gives up and starts to push on Bryar's back and WOW, does Bryar NOT appreciate that...probably the funniest angry look I have ever seen...especially from a baby!

Then Bryar realizes Hayden really has given up and decides to take advantage of this opportunity for a solo shot! What a sweet little smile :D

Happy Mother's Day! (one day late...oops!)

2010-05-10T22:10:00.001-05:00

Happy Mother's Day everyone :) Motherhood is truly a divine role and I am very grateful to be a mother and to have so many amazing mothers in my life (My mom and mom-in-law as well as all my amazing mommy friends!) that truly inspire me! We work hard and it is nice to have a day that reminds us that the things we do aren't overlooked, but are appreciated and important! Hope you all enjoyed your special day :) I know I did!

(The pictures are from our mother's day gift for my mom and mom-in-law, which were made into a little photo collage...I felt very crafty when I came up with the idea all by myself!)

Some good times...:D

2010-05-04T01:41:00.000-05:00

SO...it's been a few weeks since my last blog post, but I am now ready to post blog number 4! Yay me (I am feeling VERY accomplished right now!...blogging is good for my self esteem!) Anyway, here's the run down of the past few weeks: A Wisdom tooth-ectomy~The passing of a family member~Got our family pictures back~Hayden's first pony tail~Lots of time spent outside~a trip to Kearney~ and a MARATHON! It sounds like so much happened when I pack it in a nice little package like that...

So: Wisdom Tooth-ectomy...I ended up only having to get one removed, and it was pretty easy-peasy! A little local anesthetic and enough yanking to think my jaw might crack and bing, bang, boom...out popped a wisdom tooth (which, in case you were wondering, was WAY bigger than I thought it would be!!!) I had no bruising or swelling and very little pain...I took an Aleve that day and that was it. My jaw was stiff for a bit but I had no major pain to speak of. Yes, I know I was VERY lucky. People told me SO many horror stories before hand that I was VERY scared!

Our little family member: I am very sad to say that our small puppy Peaches passed away a few weeks ago. It was the worst experience our family has had to endure as of yet. She had blood sugar issues that she ultimately was not able to overcome. We loved her very much and Hayden misses her puppy SO much. I don't know if that is something to be glad about, but I really am glad that she is young enough to not be as tortured by the trauma of losing a pet. Ben and I have had a hard time with it, but I think time is the ultimate healer in situations like this.

Family Pictures: We got our pictures taken in the end of February and we got them back a few weeks ago! We absolutely love them and think our photographer did a great job!

Hayden's first ponytail: Well, that's pretty self explanatory but it was VERY exciting for us when her hair hit the length that I am FINALLY able to pull it back!!!

Lots of outside time: Another self explanatory one I guess...but we LOVE having a park basically right next door :D It has been REALLY great! Hayden loves the swing so much and she is also a huge daredevil. She climbs right up the steep steps to the tall slide and slides down, which is always funny because she flies so fast and sometimes goes right off the end and plops on the ground. Bryar likes to swing but that's about as much as she can do at the park. Luckily she loves to watch people so she is content to hang out and watch the madness swirl around her!

A trip to Kearney: We went and saw Cornell run! Ben couldn't come because he was working, but my Dad, David and the girls and I all drove together. Cornell did awesome and it was a lot of fun to be able to see him! He got a personal record on the 400 and we were able to take him out to eat afterwards and spend a little time together. Hayden loves seeing her uncle, even if it's only for a few hours!

And last but CERTAINLY not least...Ben ran his first MARATHON! Yes a marathon, a FULL marathon, as in 26.2 miles of running! I am SO proud of him for accomplishing such a HUGE goal!!! My dad and mom and David and the girls and I all saw him off at the start, then made a bunch of stops along the way to cheer him on in his awesomeness :) We held signs, helped with shoe changes and got him anything he needed (oranges, water, vaseline...the marathon basics) as he ran...and ran...and RAN!

And one last thing to finish off this post: I bought a new pair of high heels today (I LOVE high heels even if I don't wear them all that often) and princess Hayden apparently loves them as much as I do because as soon as she saw them she would NOT leave them alone! She put them on and even walked around in them! VERY impressive if you ask me!!!

WHEW! If you made it through this whole thing then THANKS, I appreciate your dedication :) This has been a long one and makes me feel like we did do a lot these past few weeks!!!

Bye friends!

Shoot, one more thing...

2010-04-11T23:53:00.000-05:00

AND I forgot to mention...
We had our one foster son, then the next day we got his 3 1/2 year old brother. However our house is only big enough to be licensed for one child, so they were looking for a home to place one of the brothers in. However, it turned out that Grandma was able to be approved to have them placed with her, meaning that we now have neither boy :( We were excited to get our first placement and the boys were great but we know that this kind of things happens a lot, and it is good for the boys to be able to be with a family member, so we are just hoping to be able to get another placement soon.

Spring has sprung :)

2010-04-11T23:30:00.004-05:00

Post #3...pretty soon I won't even need to put a number because I will have sooooo many posts that I won't be impressed with myself anymore :) ANYWAY...

Wow, is it beautiful outside or WHAT?!? Ben, Hayden and I are loving it SOOO much. Unfortunately Bryar and that great shiny orb of warmth seem to have a much more fickle relationship and apparently need more time to bond.

(But maybe no more today...it would seem she has hit her limit!)

We have so many things to update on! First off we hope everyone had a fabulous Easter! We definitely did...

The Easter bunny came and left eggs for Hayden on the front lawn and she had a blast picking them up...she honestly gasped excitedly at almost every single one! It was super cute to watch :)

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I got a bike (pink, of course :D) and we got a bike trailer! We have already gone on a couple family bike rides and are loving it so much!

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My "little" brother Cornell FINALLY had a track meet in Lincoln, YAY! Ben was working (aww, sad!) so I took the girls and headed to the UNL track to watch him, but you know how track meets are...he was running three events and there was 3 hours between the first and the second! SO...we watched the first (He did good!) then headed home for a snooze until the second. However, while driving back to campus to watch his last two events I got a call from Ben (weird since it was 4:45 and he was supposed to work until 5) and heard the 4 most traumatizing words EVER..."I'm in the E.R.">>>(Insert major panicking here!!!). Luckily (if you can call it that) I was in the perfect location when he called and was able to get there QUICK! Anyway, long story short Ben works at a group home for teen boys with behavior issues and one of those boys decided to sucker punch him in the side of the head/neck area leading to Ben's first ambulance ride! He was pretty shook up but thankfully (after a ct scan) they determined that all seemed fine and he just had a contusion (aka bruise) from a "traumatic blow to the head." Still scary, but we are very grateful that this was the outcome because it could have been SO much worse! So my point is...sorry I missed your races Cornell!!! Blame Ben. Or that stupid kid who somehow thought that punching a staff in the head would get him what he wanted. (Let me tell you how well THAT worked out for him...) Either way it wasn't my fault I missed it! Oh, and for those who want to see a super awkward looking picture of Ben in the hospital with his neck brace on, never fear...he took one. And then promptly posted in on Facebook.

And for those who might have been wondering what the view was for him during the time he was stuck in the brace, don't you fret, he obliged and took a picture of that too...

It is times like these that I wonder if the invention of the camera phone was really a beneficial thing for society :) (if you know me you know I'm totally joking...I use the camera on my phone constantly!)
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And finally, to round off our last couple weeks my 16 year old sister Jasmine stayed with us for a day. We thought it would just be a nice time for her to come hang out with her nieces and for us to spend some quality time with her. It ended up being a lot of fun! And for those who think that I am the pickiest eater they know, the throne has actually been abdicated. I mean who doesn't like chicken?! Really??? Other than that things went smoothly though :) We actually went to the park today and flew kites (we bought them two years ago and hadn't opened them yet...poor, sad neglected kites!) and it was a blast.

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Ok I know I already said "and finally, to cap off" blah blah blah, but I wanted to throw in some pictures from sunglasses shopping (for Hayden) with "Auntie" Jenna! Here is Hayden in some bug-eye glasses, and the the stunner shades we bought for her:

And a couple little photoshopped pics just to spice it up a bit...

And that, my friends, is what I like to call a REALLY long post with a LOT of pictures :)

One big weekend :)

2010-03-30T00:42:00.001-05:00

***Blog post #2...I think I have a good thing going here!***

-Kenneling the big dogs for the weekend: $50

-Hiring the little brother as the little dog sitter: $10

-2 Tanks of gas: $135

-2 days with some of our very favorite people?! PRICELESS :)

This weekend we drove to McCook, NE (don't feel bad if you don't know where it is...if they didn't live there i wouldn't know either!) to see some of our FaVoRiTe people in the WHOLE world, the Blomstedts (of the Jason and Staci variety) so we could see the new baby and just spend some time with our friends. Of course I have already arranged the marriage of their 2 boys to our 2 girls, so we figure it would be good to have them see each other every once in a while. (We'll see how that works out for me!!!)

Anyway, why they abandoned us for that town that doesn't even have a target (*shudder!*) I will never know, but they did, so now we have a stupid 3 1/2 hour stretch of ugly black pavement between us. Sad :( ...BUT the important thing here is that this weekend we made the trek and we are SO glad we did! The trip was short but definitely worth it. Our kids are so cute together and here are the pictures to prove it:

Aww...look at them on the horsey together! (cough, cough MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN, cough)

And then there are the baby babies...already peaceful together. Now I know Bryar may look a bit big for him, but a 4 1/2 month gap only matters when you're a 5 month old and a 3 week old...give them some time, people...they'll even out!

Swing, swing!!!

Prepping to take on this HUGE slide ;) On your mark...get set...

GO!!! HAHAHAHA this one is by far my favorite! Perhaps Hayden jumped the gun a bit but I have to give a shout out to Staci's excellent photography skills on this one...just look at that face! And that hair! A classic for sure.

And that, in a pictoral nutshell, was our fabulous trip to McCook. Thanks friends, we had a blast and we miss you already!

+++HOWEVER,don't stop reading now because there is more to be discovered here: In other exciting family news...we got our first foster child today!!! (Hopefully I didn't bury the lead to bad on this one). It all happened so fast that it has been an insane whirlwind! It started with a phone call at about 1pm this afternoon and then boom, at 7:10pm (10 minutes after arriving home from McCook!!!) a 10 month old baby boy was dropped off at our house! And yes, for anyone who didn't catch the significance of the baby's age, that DOES now mean we have a 5 month old, a 10 month old, and a 19 month old. YIKES! We never denied that we're crazy :D but man are we excited!!! It's all very new but he seems like a total sweetheart and he has been sleeping soundly since 8pm (KNOCK ON WOOD) which really only leads to one conclusion:

I now have 3 children under the age of 2 and they have all been asleep for (at the very least) 4 hours, which makes me an IDIOT for still being awake. Goodnight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally...

2010-03-24T14:41:00.001-05:00

It's 2:30 in the afternoon:

-I haven't brushed my hair (even though my visiting teachers came this morning!!!)
-Bryar is still in her pajamas
-Hayden is running around in a pull up and with one shoe on because she won't leave her clothes on or her shoes off...

HOWEVER, the important thing is that: (drumroll...)

I FINALLY GOT OUR FAMILY BLOG UP AND RUNNING! YAY! I can check that off the long term list of things to do. Phew. :)

I'm not sure how this is going to go, but all that matters to me right now is that I have a blog with its first post.