just killin' time....

i'd LOVE to have updated pictures of our 'hole'. i'd love to have pictures of the daily progress of our house. unfortunately we are still waiting on the BUILDING PERMIT FROM THE CITY!!! i'm getting so stressed about the time issue here...i might have to drive up there myself and bribe the city employees with root beer floats or something. ;o) really! let's get this house going people!!!! my stress level can't handle this anymore!

so here goes my post of randomness in the meantime...and hopefully soon we'll have progress on our lot.

1st of all, i was looking up showtimes for movies because we were going to try to go on a date this weekend. i guess the young women are all on a trip this weekend...so there goes the date idea. but i came across this on a movie theater's website...and it made me sick! it states:

"Note: No Children Under Age 6 Will Be Admitted To Any R-Rated Feature After 6:00 PM. Valid IDs will be required to attend Rated "R" movies."

really?! R-E-A-L-L-Y?!!!!!! what on this EARTH is this world coming to? no children under the age of 6 after 6pm...but before 6pm the R-rated movies are any cleaner? so people really take their kids THAT YOUNG to R-rated movies anyways?! wow. i think i'm going to be sick. that is just disgusting. and wrong.


on to some other randomness....

when my mom and i stayed at nate's parent's house when i was house hunting, we were able to learn about gun safety, and the pros and cons of having a gun in the household. as Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "Fear always springs from ignorance." i completely believe that. i've never let nate get a handgun...not because i think it's a horrible idea, but because i knew nothing about them, and i was completely afraid of them. nate's dad was kind enough to explain things to us, and actually educate us about them, so the fear would turn to knowledge. and then of course he let us do a little bit of target shooting, so we could see what kind felt better, kicked back more, etc...

don't mind the smile...she's got a mean aim!

and don't mind the hood...i was freezing! i have arizona blood people...

watch out!

and YES i kept (and scanned) my target! i tried to circle and point to my 'bullet holes'. ok, ok...some of them were probably from my mom's mean aim too. but at least i hit the target a few times!

the hole!

it's STARTED!!!! i have NEVER been so excited to see a hole dug in my entire life! we are pushing the limits of time to get our house built in time, so when the realtor called today and told us they started digging...i think i did a little celebratory jig. my mom ran over to take pictures for me. pretty nice lookin' hole, eh? hopefully it'll go as quickly as they are planning. pray for good weather!

caitlin's bday festivities

caitlin wanted an american idol birthday party this year (which worked out well since she got a karaoke machine for her birthday). it was too spendy to buy all the real american idol party supplies, so we just made our own a.i. party. she had a blast...and the girls had so much fun singing and dancing!

the stage

contestant registration. this was serious business folks!

a huge THANK YOU to linds for doing these cute shirts
and YES we hung cd's from the ceiling. (well, Nate hung them from the ceiling. thanks Buns!)

it's a MICROPHONE cake...get it? ok...so it doesn't look great. but it was gluten-free and it at least RESEMBLED a microphone, right?

Your Next American Idols....

Caitlin's school had their carnival on Caitlin's birthday, in honor of her. Thanks VVL! Haha...but it made for an easy birthday afternoon and evening!

she made it to the top! way to go bday girl.

she's also got quite the hip movement...

abby's favorite part of the carnival: the sparkley butterfly face paint.

seven?!

how did THAT happen so fast? time flies so fast when you are raising 3 of the most amazing girls ever! HAPPY BIRTHDAY sweet Caitlin. i love you more than words can say. you are sweet, smart, an AMAZING trooper, and the best big sister anyone could ever ask for. thank you for being mine!

bye bye "beentees"

BYE BYE TO THESE:

Did anyone else have an incredibly hard time getting rid of these for their kids? It pulled at my heartstrings, I'll tell you what. I decided the night before last that I was DONE with them. No going back. They all got 'lost' yesterday, because I didn't have the heart to tell her I was getting rid of them. She screamed in her crib for over an hour-and-a-half for her nap, when I finally just got her out and she fell asleep on my lap on the couch. Last night and tonight she has gone to sleep without a hitch though, so that's wonderful. It's hard saying goodbye to the 'baby' part of Emma. Wish she could stay a baby forever. And YES I bawled my eyes out when I threw them away in the garbage outside yesterday. Ok? Normal? Probably not. :o)

So what's next? Potty training. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!

the happenings

Just a catch-up of a few things going on around here lately....

EMMA TURNED 2!!! And BOY does it ever fit her. She is such a sweet, funny, fireball little girl. But she can flip the switch and turn into a shrieking tantrum in a split second. I missed her Birthday when I was in Utah looking for a house...but we had a party for her and Nate the other night to make up for it. And of course she insisted on a 'monkey' party. She's obsessed with monkeys. Still.

Party girls

Nate's mom sent this card back from Utah with me for Emma. Something about it struck Emma's funny bone...she ran around the house giggling with it in her hand, then she would run back in the living room to show us all, then run away laughing again.

Happy Birthday Daddy....

I flew out to Utah for 4 days (yes...sans girls. It was so hard I cried about 10 times on the way there) to find a house. A BIG thank you to my mom for helping me, and to Nate's parents for letting us stay at Hotel Nielson the whole time. (Oh yeah...and to Nate for playing Mr. Mom fantastically! I had to re-teach Emma when I got home that I am MOMMY...she called me Daddy the whole 1st day back.)

We decided on a cute new subdivision going up in Springville. Our house will look just like this:

and this....

but right now it looks like this:

YIKES! They had better get a move-on!!!

Abs had to have a couple scopes and biopsies done due to some crazy blood test results that came back. They were barely positive for Celiac, but some other results made the G.I. doc want to scope her from the top and bottom. She was such a trooper...what a sweetheart. We find out results this week sometime.

Before.....

At home after. Still smiling of course.

And of course...HAPPY EASTER!!!

Egg decorating girlies.

Emma couldn't figure out why she had a basket of candy at breakfast time.

Such a beautiful morning!

happy birthday buns!!

happy birthday to my forever love

you are the most amazing person i know...

I LOVE YOU BUNS!!!