My Quirks

Well I got tagged and I thought it sounded like fun so here are six of my many many quirks:

1. My Closet and My Kitchen- I think most people think I am insane, but I have to have my clothes all facing the same direction, and color coordinated, first the tank tops then the short sleeve then the 3/4 length and then long sleeve. I kind of do it when I put away Allan's clothes too, but I am not nearly as picky about his. I am also like this in the kitchen, I have almost every Pampered Chef tool ever invented, and I have usually had a pretty small kitchen, but I find the perfect way to fit it all in. Allan still refuses to do dishes because I guess when we were first married he loaded the dishwasher wrong and I got mad. If he would just load the dishwasher now, I think I wouldn't care, but each time I move to a new dishwasher, I figure out the perfect way to load it so that the most dishes fit in and get clean.

2. I am a perfectionist. I love to make lists, everyday I make a to-do list and I love to check it off. I am very competative and like to be the best at everything. I have been taking classes at BYU-I and I have this need to be the very best in my class. I got a 91% on my last test and I was really disappointed. I also kind of like to be the teachers pet, lame I know. I am also like this when I work out with people, in Florida I used to go to the gym and do a class, and I wanted to be the best one in the class. Now I am running with a group of girls, and I am out of shape from just having a baby and it's driving me nuts because I am not as fast and my endurance is not what it used to be. The problem comes that if I don't have time to do something perfect, sometimes I just won't do it at all.

3. I like to party. Not the kind of partying like high school kids do, but I love to have people over, or go over to peoples houses, or go out with people, whatever, as long as I am with people. I like big groups, small groups, it doesn't really matter. Allan and I both have this quirk, and we will stay at your house till you tell us to go home, or until it is very late and we need to take our kids home. I also love to play games with people. One time the prophet talked to the priesthood about spousal abuse, and Allan came home and said, "the prophet says I can't beat you anymore," and I said, "why not?" because the only thing he beats me at are games and that's what I thought of.

4. I like to be involved in everything because I don't want to miss anything. I really want people to like me, and I hate the thought that someone doesn't. I will pretty much overwhelm myself with commitments because I hate to say no, not because I feel bad but because I don't want to miss out on something. If I am invited I will allmost always go somewhere. Also, I love to know secrets, like who is pregnant or moving or dating or whatever. I like to talk on the phone too. I need a lot of human contact every day.

5. I am a sucker for direct sales. I sell Pampered Chef and Mary Kay, I own a ton of Shade, Modbe, Molly Me, etc. clothes, I have a Vita Mix and a Vacuum that I bought from demonstrations, the list could go on and on, but I am poor so I try to limit it to things I absolutely love.

6. I have a good memory of random things. I can see a movie, especially a musical, and recite lines or sing the songs the very next time I see it, or ten years later. I remember phone numbers, credit card numbers, social security numbers, drivers licence numbers, birthdays, etc. Not so crazy that if I glanced at your credit card I would remember the number, but once I enter mine in a few times I have it memorized.

So there you have it some of my quirks, gosh I could keep going. I tag everyone who reads this, which I am pretty sure I have about four of you who read my blog, and Natalie already did it, so my guess...Emily, Arin, Mary, and Zoe.

Lilly Two Months and Shots All Around

Lilly is doing so well, a few nights she has slept from 11-5 and last night she slept from 10-7. I go running at 6, and she was still sleeping when I came home, I was so surprised! It probably won't happen again, but here's hoping! Yesterday I took her to the doctors and she weighed 11 lbs. 7 oz. She is starting to be awake more often, and gives a quick smile every once in a while. I tried to get a picture of her smiling but haven't caught it yet. Her sisters still love to help out and I am trying my best to cope with that, I try to keep them away when she is sleeping, but they just love to hug on her any chance they get. While at the doctor, Hailey also had her 6 year old check up, that little girl only weighs 37 lbs, and they said she lost 1/2 a pound, but I think it's because she was weighed in the winter with heavier clothes. She eats well, and they weren't too concerned, but they said 1/2 a pound is a lot for them to lose. We also did Ally's kindergarten shots and threw in a few shots for Natalie as well. Lots of fun...so then I took them to Coldstone after their appointment and got everyone ice cream. All together, we did something like 11 shots between the 4 kids and poor Ally got 5 of those! What a day.

The Backyardagains

So I have my very own backyardagains! Our backyard backs up to four families with kids, and since only one of those has a fence, the kids all go out and play and wander from house to house getting snacks and whatever. It is so fun. Today Dawson Abrams, Kaiden and Connor (not pictured) Dixon, were over, and often, we also have Savanna, Dawson's little sister, Katie and Gabe Bingham and sometimes Mack Poole wanders over to join in the fun. My kids absolutely love always having someone to play with, and I love it too!

T-Ball Update

Hailey At Bat
Hailey at her Perch
Ally Climbed so High!

The Lions
Ally Running Home!

T-ball has been going much better, Hailey's game was at a different time this week, so I got to see her play. She did awesome, she ran really fast and even beat a kid to third who was trying to get her out! There was two hours between their games, so we just staed and played at the park. Hailey has started to like to climb trees, so and Ally joined her. Ally and her team have been doing better too, they have even been getting some outs. (the kids still run around the bases) I took some pictures today and the one of Ally running home is halarious, I guess Natalie Taylor, one of the moms on the team told them to pretend a monster was chasing them and they aren't safe till they get the the base.

4-5 T-ball

Lined up and ready to play
30 seconds later.

I am trying really hard to be a good mom and let my kids play sports even though they have very little athletic ability. I really wished that I had played in more sports a small child. So anyway, not that I had to, but I decided to coach Ally's t-ball team this year. it's been a lot harder than I thought to get 4 and 5 year olds to learn the game. There are a few kids on the team that are pretty good, but there are a lot who just lay on the grass or just stand there. This hasn't really bothered me before I try to get them to stand up and play, but if they don't, it's just t-ball who cares. Well today it got to me, I am sure it is my fault, I didn't eat much before I went, and if you ask my parents they'll tell you I am not fun to be around when I haven't eaten or when I am tired. So anyway, we were playing a team that was way better than us and way bigger too. We are down 5 of our players, at least 3 of which are some of the better players on the team. The ball would go soaring out into the outfield and two of the boys would run out to get it, because they were the only ones we could get to pay much attention to the ball, and by the time it was infielded their players were typically to third. After two innings of this I was done, but there was still time to play another inning (oh joy) so we took our bats and then by their turn to bat I was just like whatever, just get the ball to the tee whenever you can and 10 batters and we will be done. Well anyway after the game I was already upset just at the idea of t-ball in general and the other coach felt like I thought they were being bad sports and she came over to tell me that she was sorry if I felt that way but they just taught their kids to play and that is what they were doing. Well I wasn't upset with how her kids were playing, we were just unevenly matched and I told her so, but I basically felt like: sorry I know how to coach and you don't. I have also been frustrated because Hailey plays on a 6-7 year old team and we have had almost all of our games at the same time and I haven't even been able to see her play, and then this coach tells me that she has big kids because they are the siblings of players on the team and that is the only way that they can play, well anyway I don't want Hailey on a 4-5 year old team, I want her to play with her friends, like I said, I had just had it today. I am really sorry if you are reading this and your child is on my team and you think I hate coaching, I don't. I really do love all of the kids on our team and I could care less if we win or lose the games it was just one of those days. Thanks to all of the moms who help me at the games with my kids and with the team.

Hair Cuts!

Hailey Before
During
After

Ally Before

During

After

Total inches...Hailey-13 1/2 Ally-12

I have been getting so tired of combing out my girls hair while they are screaming about how much it hurts, so about a month or so ago I started talking about locks of love and how they use your hair to make wigs for kids who have cancer and their hair falls out. They were really excited to do it, and I am excited for them to have shorter hair, and maybe even learn how to do their own hair! They look so cute!

Water Fun!

The Johnsons in our ward have this huge yard and every summer they flood it a few times and let people come over and play, luckily one of my good friends is their grandaughter. Today was the first time they have been able to do it this year because of the weather (view previous blogs) but we had so much fun. We went over after lunch and were still there when Allan got home. Natalie is so cute I just had to get a few pictures of her!

Happy Fathers Day!

1. What is something dad always says to you? (A)Go get in the bath and Go to Bed
2. What makes dad happy? (A) Cleaning our bedroom (H) Listening to what he says
3. What makes dad sad? (A) Not obeying him
4. How does dad make you laugh? (H) He makes up songs
6. How old is your dad? (H) 29(she’s right on!)
7. How tall is your dad? (A) Tall...really tall. (H) 22 feet tall
8. What is his favorite thing to do? (N) outside (All) Sometimes we help him work outside and that makes us happy.
9. What does your dad do when you’re not around? (A) Find us
10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for? (H) Making lots of money
11. What is your dad really good at? (A) Gardening
12. What is your dad not very good at? (A) making food
13. What does your dad do for his job? (H) Tooth Doctor
14. What is your dad’s favorite food? (H) eggs
15. What makes you proud of your dad? (A) when he helps me put my seeds in (flowers in the front yard)
16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? (A) Boots
17. What do you and your dad do together? (H) jump on the tramp
18. How are you and your dad the same? (H) we are part of a family
19. How are you and your dad different? (H) he wasn't born in your tummy
20. How do you know your dad loves you? (H) he's our dad...he gives us hugs and kisses (A) He helps me do my garden (N) outside

We love Allan he is an awesome husband and father, and this is a great day to be able to celebrate all that he does for us.

p.s. I stole this from my friend Emily cause I thought it was a good idea...Thanks.

Haileyally and Joe

When we lived in Florida, some of our best friends were the Sanders. I miss Shaunna so much, and the kids still talk about Joe on a daily basis. We used to hang out almost every day. This weekend, Shaunna and her kids were in Utah, so I drove down and spent a couple of days with them. I wish I would have taken some more pictures, including one of Shaunna and I, I kept meaning to but just never did. Joe always refered to my girls as Haileyally (one word). We went to the Dinosaur Museum for Joe's birthday.

Future Paleontologists at Work!

Are you kidding me? SNOW.....IN JUNE!!!

So, the weather has been miserable this entire summer....Who am I kidding, this entire year! Any day that actually gets a little warmer, like 60, is so windy you can't enjoy it. The last week or more has just been crazy windy, yesterday the wind blew our trampoline a few feet!

This morning to top it all off we woke up to snow again! SNOW IN JUNE!

I love Idaho summers, it is one of the reasons I wanted to live here, it is my very favorite time of year, the weather has always been so nice, perfect for being outside. I don't know what kind of cruel joke this is.

The Wizard of Oz!

The girls ballet did The Wizard of Oz this spring.

Ally was a Flower Pot on Friday night.
I need to get pictures from my mom of her on stage.

Hailey was a Canary Bird on Saturday.

This was the best picture I could get of her on the stage, again maybe my mom has better.

Thanks to every one who could come and see them, it was fun for them to be on different nights and see eachother perform, but every one else were great sports to go two nights in a row!

GO BLUE DRAGONS!

Hailey played soccer for the second season, and her dad coached her again. It was lots of fun because there were a lot of kids from school on her team. She did loads better this season too. (that's not saying too much, but baby steps I guess?) We are going to skip out on Fall soccer this year because we will be in Provo for half of the games, so for right now we are hanging up our shin guards and cleats and focusing on T-ball.

Hailey's Cake

I made a peanut butter silk cake for Hailey to bring to Grandma's house today. It was like a big Reces Peanut Butter Cup, yum yum!

It took her a few breaths but eventually she got them all out!

Hailey's 6th Birthday and Slumber Party

Here's how the night went.............
Invite 3 Friends
Kate

Madison and Katie

Guests arrive and make Personal Pizza's!

Eating Pizza with our new Water Bottles!

Makeup and Nails!

Ice Cream Sundaes and Cupcakes!

Decorating Pillowcases!

Finished Product!

Ready to watch Mr. Mangorium's Wonder Emplorium!

Breakfast!

There was a whole lot of playing in between, but you get the picture, a fun night was had by all. They all stayed and even went to sleep without any problems and everyone got to take home a new purse with their water bottle, nail polish, lip gloss, a wash cloth, and a fancy pen. Over all a great night and great first sleepover!!!

We got a Trampoline!

Our playland is now complete...oh we also planted fruit trees, peach, pear, plum, appricot, and apple, and some rasberries. Yum!

Lilly's one month pictures!

A friend in my ward, Miranda Johnson, took some pictures of Lilly for me. She did an awesome job even with an uncooperative baby. They were great, and these are a few of them. It was so hard to narrow it down so if you ever want to come over and see the rest you are welcome!


I love this one...so cute!


Pretty Ballerina!

Another sweet one!

She was not thrilled about taking this one! Don't you just love a sleeping baby!

Thanks Miranda for all the great pictures!

Fun in the Mud!

We had our friends, the Pettingills, over tonight to play some games, and of course the children found the mud! We haven't gotten the bark that will be covering all the planters yet so with all the fun stuff to do in our yard now what do you think the kids wanted to do? Make mud balls of course!

Hooray for Grass!!!

This weekend, after 3 long days of work, we got our sod laid and our swing set put up! I am so excited because now that the weather is getting nicer, the girls have somewhere to go and play. We still have a long way to go before our outside is finished, we are going to lay bark in all of the planter beds, and hopefully get some trees put in. Unfortunately because of finances, we will probably not be getting any flowers or shrubs this year, but what we have is so much better than dirt! Also, we are planning a garden, and Allan already has starts in my windows for peppers and pumpkins and watermellon. If he can keep them alive until after memorial day when we can move them outside, we will be in really good shape.

LIlly's Blessing Day

Lilly was blessed by Allan today. We had lot's of family come up for the blessing including Kristy's parents and Arrington grandparents, Allan's parents, Aunt Dot and Uncle Everet, and all of his siblings and their families, except Jonathan in Arizona. After church we all went to Allan's parent's house for dinner and family time.

It was such a great day, I love our families and the support that they give to us. I am also grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the influence that it has on our family. It makes everything easier when you have an eternal perspective on life. I also just want to mention that Allan and I had our seven year anneversary last week, and how grateful I am to have him as my eternal companion. He is such a great husband and father. I love having someone to share my life with who I know will always have the same goals as I do.

Lilly is 2 Weeks Old!

Lilly is two weeks old today, and she is such a good baby! She sleeps very well and only fusses when she wants to eat which is still pretty often during the day but only a couple of times at night. She is starting to be awake more often, and Kristy managed to get a picture of her with her eyes open today. We took her for her check up and everything looked great. She weighed .. 8lbs 7oz and was 20in tall. Kristy is also doing great, her recovery has been pretty easy, and she is falling into a routine with four children. Hailey, Ally and Natalie all love to help with Lilly, and think she should never be alone, so they take turns laying by her and watching her. They also alert us the second that she starts to move around and root by running to us and telling us she's crying! We asure them that this is not crying, so you can tell how often she actually does cry.

What happened to Global Warming?

Okay so really I don't believe much in global warming, I think the earth just goes through cycles and sometimes it is hotter and sometimes it is colder, but I am really tired of the snow. It is now May, and this is what we woke up to this morning. I am begining to dread the days when it gets into the 70's because without a doubt it snows within 2 days. I guess I also know that there has been serious drought in past years, and this "moisture" is good for that, but I just want to be outside and not be miserable!

Lilly Elaine Staker

Kristy was induced on Thursday April 17th, everything went well and Lilly was born at 4:43 p.m. and weighed 7lbs 15 oz. She was much smaller than we expected since Hailey and Natalie were both over 9 lbs. We are all really excited to have her in our family. We are planning on blessing her on May 4th, in our ward at 1:oo so anyone who can come is more than welcome. Afterward we will probably have food at Lee and Jean's because we don't have a yard in yet.

The Big Hunt!

We did our big Easter Egg Hunt on Conference Sunday this year because Jeni and Shane had been on vacation, and we were wanting it to be a little warmer. It was a really fun day, we all got out there about 9:30 and had a yummy pot luck breakfast. Then we watched the first session, and then had 3 seperate hunts, one for the kids 6 and under, one for the big kids, and one for the Adults. It was lots of fun. The little kids are always fun to watch, and of course all of my kids fall into that hunt. Then Allan had lots of fun hiding Chelsie's eggs super hard because she said it is always too easy and boring! (she got Amber to climb the tree to get her egg for her) But then she got her just rewards because she hid our eggs. I tried to tell her to be nice to her big pregnant aunt, but I don't think she listened. We had eggs in trees, inside wheels, lawn mower bags, wood piles, behind the compost pile, and lots more. There were only about 2 eggs that were easy to find, and that was just because it started to snow so she wanted to go inside. After we sorted out the candy and money, Grandma opened up the big store in the basement, and the kids all got to go down and pick out a bunch of toys. Mom always does way more than she has to every year, but we all appreciate it, and the kids have so much fun. That all ended about 2:oo so it was perfect timing to watch conference, but good luck listening with all of the kids and their new toys! We took most of them out to the cars, and shooed the kids out. After conference, we ate dinner and played games till we got kicked out by Dad who was ready for a break from the craziness!

Road Trip!

We went down to Arizona over the weekend to visit Allan's brother. We drove down, so there were 4 days of traveling in the car, and basically 2 days in Arizona. It was lots of fun to let the girls play with their cousins. Allan's brother Jonathan, is a pediatric dentist, so one main reason to go was so the girls could get some dental work done. I know this seems kind of weird after four years of dental school, but with Allan working on the reservation, he can't do our dental work. Plus it was a good excuse for a vacation. On the way down, we used a computer program to map out our route, and it took us on a 43 mile dirt road through Southwestern Utah! It was kind of fun, and there were a lot of pretty views, but it was also kind of a crazy road of ups and downs. On the way back, we went over Hoover Dam, and met my parents who were driving up from California, then we went to Vegas to M&M World. The best part of the trip though was Tuesday morning because it was April Fools Day, and a lot of people had been worried about me making the trip being so pregnant, so we called everyone and told them I was in Labor, and we were going to have the baby in Arizona! It was halarious, everyone fell for it! In this picture, (although it's not great lighting) you can see how big I am, but the funny thing is this is the Arizona/Nevada State line, so I am in AZ and the baby is in NV!

If you look closely, you can see Hailey's 3 silver teeth!

Happy Birthday Allan...It's Snowing!

Today is Allan's 29th birthday, and it is snowing! My kids woke up this morning, and asked "Where's Daddy?" I told them at work, and they told me, "He can't be, it's his birthday!" I am sure he agrees with them. Then they looked outside and asked, "How can it snow in the Spring?" I had to tell them that we live in Idaho and hopefully it won't be snowing in the Summer! I guess the weather just wanted to prove me right because I said the snow wouldn't be gone by Allan's birthday. This has been a very long winter for my poor children after living in Florida for four years, the other day they saw a picture of themselves in the Summer, and they said, "That picture was taken in Florida because you can't wear shorts in Idaho." I hope Allan wishes for better weather on his birthday candles!

Happy Easter!

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a great Easter. We had some ups and downs, we had lots of fun with the family and the Easter Bunny brought lots of yummy treats and presents, but unfortunately Natalie had a bit of a flu, so Allan had to stay home from church with her. We went out to The Staker's after church and had dinner, dyed eggs, and had a small egg hunt. (For any of you who know Jean, the real egg hunt is coming conference weekend because Jeni and her family went out to Nauvoo and some other Church History Sites this week for the break) Durring the hunt, Natalie found a cracked egg, and stopped hunting to peel and eat it. That's the one track mind of a two year old for you!

Alexandra and Danny's Wedding

I got to fly into Orlando for my friend Alexandra's Wedding. It was a lot of fun to go back to Florida, even though it was a short trip. I stayed with Amanda Pickard in Orlando, and it was a lot of fun to catch up with her. The next day I went to the temple with Alex and Danny. There were lots of people from the Fort Lauderdale Ward there. Then I drove down to Fort Lauderdale with Lisa Davis and Marlin King. I stayed with Shaunna Sanders, and she had set up a fondue party at Chris Brown's House. Shauna Leinweber, Amy McCaan, Shannon De Mare, and Meesa Jhonson were all there. I was also able to go to the ward Easter party, and also see some of my friends from The Little Gym before going to the reception. The ward had helpped out a lot with the reception, Kyla Bodily did the flowers, with Meesa's help, and the Browns catered, and the Carters helped serve, and Maya did the pictures. It was all beautiful. I was so excited for Alex and Danny, and now they are living in our condo for a little while, and I am excited about that also!

Natalie is Potty Trained...well most of the time!

Allan's mom has been putting on the pressure to have all the will be 3 year olds potty trained, because she is taking us all on a Disney Cruise next January, a week after Natalie's third birthday. I was a little skeptical because when Natalie was born, I had 3 in diapers! I was totally unsuccessful at potty training Hailey until she was ready, but Natalie had been showing some signs of interest, so I took her into the bathroom Monday morning, took her pants off, and sat in there with her all day and put her on the potty when she started to go the first few times. After the second time she got the idea, but for a good 3 days we were going every 5 minutes. She does really well now most of the time, and I am very proud of my big girl. She is the youngest of the 4 cousins that will be 3, and the only one potty trained!

3 of a Kind

I just have to brag on my kids for a minute, they are the best sisters! Okay so admittedly I don't have the most experience with sisters, but my girls play together so well, and they just love eachother to bits! They do everything together, eat, sleep, play, and hardly ever fight. They are such a blessing, especially when I am big and pregnant and don't feel much like getting after kids. They even do a pretty good job helping me clean up. I love them so much, and they make me so happy!

Ally's Pirate Party

Ally turned 4 on and we had a Pirate Party with some of the kids in the neighborhood. It was lots of fun, we dressed up, made spyglasses, played disappearing islands, had a treasure hunt, ate hot dogs that looked like pirate ships, and had a treasure chest cake. The party would have been perfect if I would have scheduled it for an hour and a half, but it was two hours long, and I kind of ran out of things to do, so they just played in the toy room for the last half hour. Pictures to come because I made a CD of them and can not find it anywhere.

Kim's Wedding

My Cousin Kim got married on December 31, in San Diego, so I got to go down with my parents for a few days. It was a lot of fun, I got to pick her up from her hair appt. help her get dressed, and take her to the Hotel Del Coronado. She was a very beautiful bride, and her husband Robert is a really nice guy. I had fun taking pictures although I think some people might have been worried about me putting myself into labor.

Merry Christmas

We got to celebrate Christmas for over a week. We started out by going down to Utah and going on The Polar Express train ride in Heber. The girls had lots of fun, and got to see Santa Claus, Natalie wasn't so sure about him, but it was a lot of fun! We also got to see both sets of Kristy's grandparents, and some Aunts, Uncles and Cousins, and of course open the first set of presents. Then we went home to a VERY white Christmas, and the kids spent Christmas Eve playing with Daddy in the snow! After opening presents on Christmas morning, we went out to Allan's parent's house and spent the day with all of his family.

The Year 2007 in Review

Allan graduated from Nova South Eastern University College of Dental Medicine in May of 2007 and we moved to Idaho Falls, Idaho, Allan's home town. We stayed with Allan's parents for the summer while our house was being built, and moved in August and found out I was pregnant that same time. Hailey started kindergarten, is learning to read, and played t-ball and soccer, and is in ballet with Ally. I dropped our camera at graduation, and we didn't get a new one till Thanksgiving, so unfortunately all of our pictures for this period of time are hard copies and not on the computer. We of course had BYU season tickets and got to go to all of the games, and it was a great excuse to go down to Utah and spend time with Kristy's family, when they were in town. Hailey and Ally's ballet performed The Nutcracker at Christmas time. It was very fun, especially since their cousin Kallie was Clara. Mostly it has been great being close to family and seeing everyone for holidays and birthdays.