Too Much Sugar

This little lady is not often allowed sugar. And definitely NEVER in these quantities. But from about 8-10 I think she ate any candy she could get her little hands on. She apparently LOVES chocolate the most. But Jelly Beans and anything else will do the trick too. Needless to say Church was not much fun with Sicily. I'm guessing she had the worst tummy ache ever, cause nothing helped.

Proof that Mom was NOT the one giving her all the candy.

The Easter Bunny brought the cutest Chocolate animals this year. Phoenix got a Chocolate Chicken, Aspen got a Duck, and London actually got a Jack Rabbit.
For all you "Burnt Peeps" out there we found a 3 eyed Peep. It tasted just as good as any 2 eyed one ever did.

Easter Eggs

Gotta love the hunt for those last few eggs that the Easter Bunny can't seem to remember where "he" put them.

Every Dads traditional Easter position. "Let the kids do the hunting and then I'll help with the eating."

And you just gotta crack 'em on your old noggin. The ONLY way to open an Easter Egg.

Louisianan Easter

Our wonderful neighbors are originally from Louisiana. Apparently Crawdads are in season around Easter so it's tradition to load up with a HUGE Crawdad Boil. They bought about 75 lbs of Crawdads from some guy who drives them over here for all the LSU folk.

They kindly brought us over 4 dozen or so of these little babies, not even a dent in their 75 lbs. And man, with all those Louisianan Spices those things were tasty, even if my tongue was numb by the time we topped them all off.

Mo mo mo mo

We learn new sounds everyday. This is just the cutest.

He bit me

It was my own fault really. Notice the 2 tiny red dots right in the middle of the picture.
So as many of you know we have a pet Corn Snake named Flame. He's bright red and orange and about 4 ft long, we've owned him for about 2 1/2 years and he's never bit anyone.

I'd just fed him and pulled him out to play with the kids. Phoenix accidentally knelt on him while crawling after him, so I picked him up so he wouldn't get hurt again and he struck me on my forearm. Didn't latch on, just struck. It didn't hurt much, scared me more than anything. The bite is only about a 1/4 of an inch. Not much to brag about, but it did bleed.

So though I've read it a million times, I'll actually remember this time, don't play with snakes just after they've eaten.

179th Semi-Annual General Conference

I love Conference. I love hearing our Priesthood Authorities teach us. I love the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I love the Spirit that's in my home as I listen to it all. I just love Conference.

This year Conference was a bit different for my family. Jared's been out of town for work for over a week now, so I got to do Conference with the kids on my own. You'd think that because you're home it'd be easier (definitely easier than church on my own). But I think the longer Jared is gone the more obnoxious and disobedient my kids get.

Let's just say:

London listened to most of Conference, but that was really only because he got Chocolate Chips every time they said Jesus and Graham Cracker Sticks every time they mentioned the Prophet. Though to his credit, he did take some good notes that we're planning on talking about tomorrow.

Aspen colored in her Conference Packet for about the first 15 mins., then mostly bounced around the room till I'd get annoyed enough to kick her outside or upstairs. She was, although, very good at finding the picture of all the General Authorities that spoke, which earned her a sticker each time.

Phoenix learned to pump himself on the swing on Friday and has had no other interests since. So with the low 80's wonderful weather we had today, he was either outside swinging or standing in the doorway complaining that no one wanted to come play with him because they were actually trying to listen to Conference.

Sicily, well ... she's 18 months old ... enough said. She was ready for her nap about 30 mins. into the first session. Then was wide awake and giggly ALL through the 2nd session. Truly LOVED London for all the Chocolate Chips he kept feeding her and really ADDED to Phoenix's complaints by forcing us to keep the back door open so she could climb in and out and in and out for over an hour.

So in the end I actually tape recorded the entire 2 days of Conference and the little snipits that I happened to hear I REALLY truly did enjoy. But when it comes down to the meat of the Gospel, let's just say I'll be watching Conference for the next few nights after the kids are in bed. :)

Brilliant Children

I got a phone message while I was out from the School Nurse. She told me not to worry, it wasn't an emergency, but to call her as soon as I got in. So I called. Well, as in every other day, I swear,, Aspen went in to the Nurse for something or another. I thought for sure she'd FINALLY lost her 2nd loose tooth. But alas...that was not the case.

Aspen has been wearing these silly little sticker earrings to school the last few days. Well she must have gotten bored in class today and stuffed one of them INTO her ear. The Nurse was able to remove it fairly easily but laughingly told me that as she tossed it into the trash Aspen pulled off its pair and threw it away too.

Why is it that kids stick things in their ears and up their nose? I will never understand.

Learning the Stairs

I turned around for 1 second and she was up the steps, but when she'd come back down she'd sit then slide on her butt. Not safe in the least. So we're practicing SLIDING on our tummy. Much better for Mommy's heart. And she's ever so proud of herself.

She eventually made it about 6 steps up with some bribery on top.

Happy April Fools Day!

I pulled a horrid prank on my Mom when I was in High School. Before I'd left April Fools Day morning I twisted a rubber band around the sprayer on the sink and strategically positioned it to douse my poor Mom when she turned it on. I'd forgotten all about it while I was at school, but laughed my head off when I came home and my Mom told me all about getting soaked while getting a drink after working in the garden all morning. :)

Well, my old prank backfired on me today.
No, I did not do this to myself. London was hoping to get Aspen and I helped with the plot, but didn't realize he'd set it all up. When I put the kids to bed and was cleaning up I turned it on and got soaked. It took me a few seconds to realize what the heck was happening.

Lesson learned: NEVER TELL YOUR KIDS THE DIRTY TRICKS YOU USED TO PULL!!

Using our Imagination

We love Joy School! This week we're learning all about Imagination. That's a pretty big word for 3-4 year olds. But they understand the concept PERFECTLY.
So yesterday it was all about the boxes. Gotta love boxes. I just got new neighbors and they're super friendly, so we have a wonderfully nice box supply until they're unpacked. LOVE IT! This structure was a tiger cave, castle, police station, Batman's cave, rocket...etc. They had so much fun.

You know it's windy in March and April, so you need a good sturdy Kite or two. These are sturdy for inside use only, construction and crepe paper wouldn't last too long in those Spring Winds. These 2 raced all over the house and loved every minute of it.

Yeah for Aunties!!!

Aspen's Aunt Christine made her the most beautiful quilt ever.

We just got the box off the porch and the quilt is headed straight for the bed TONIGHT! She is most excited and now has a new favorite Aunt. Thank you Aunt Christine!

Super Sick

My poor little Aspen. She was every so sick when she came home from school last Thursday. She zonked out on the couch at about 4:00, and was more or less out till the next morning.

But after a nice 4 day weekend for her she was back to normal.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I am 30 today! Yeah for me!But I think I'm going to be 29 till next year, we'll see.

Transformer Birthday Party

After much, and I mean much, deliberation Phoenix finally settled on a Transformers Birthday.
We started out with a nice round of pop the balloon, to get the picture of your team (Autobots or Decepticons) out of the balloon. Needless to say, me and the other Moms did the best bouncing ever to get those balloons to pop. Aspen finally got a fork out to help. Clever girl.

So now that we had teams we raced for the ice. Decepticons had to freeze Bumblebee, while the Autobots had to freeze Megatron. Break it down for ya, big cooler of ice in the middle, 2 buckets on either side about 10 ft from the cooler. They had to pick up the ice with their hands. The first to cover their guys picture won.
Next up, water balloons. Same teams, same concept. Get your guy. I honestly think not 1 balloon actually popped on the fence. They all bounced off and popped on the grass. London was the only one that ended up a bit wet. I think I may have popped one over his head, but at this point it's a little unclear. :)

Phoenix had a great desire for a chocolate cupcake cake. Yeah! Easy for Mom. There was so much icing though it wasn't funny, but that's usually the only thing the kids want anyhow. And if the kids were a bit wired afterwards it wasn't only due to the sugar, it takes A LOT of dye to make white icing that color. :) Plus add in some icecream, I'm guessing a few might have missed their naps that day.

Blue teeth galore.I had to go to 3 different stores to find a Transformers Pinata. Those things are hard to come by. The boys loved beating the crap out of this thing, cute little girls would lightly tap it. Not my girl though, Aspen was the one that finally cracked it open. Plus by the time she came around we got out the metal baseball bat. This Pinata was made really well.Just a little video of opening family presents before bedtime. Hence the half naked boys. My batteries gave out at the end. The last gift was a bow and arrow. We opened it that night so he wouldn't spend the day shooting his friends.

Stories from Suzy

My children have rather vivid imaginations, and I think it may have something to do with me. Aspen's homework told her to listen to a story then draw her favorite part. So I made one up on the spot. It was good enough and I remembered it all right then that I thought I'd write it down. So enjoy the 1st edition of Stories from Suzy.

Cherry the Fairy

Cherry the Fairy was a red tulip fairy and she lived under a cherry tree. Her best friends were the Cardinals, that live in our backyard. Every morning the cardinals would come to Cherry the Fairy and ask her to pick them some cherries. Cherry the Fairy loved to pick cherries, mostly because sometimes the cherries would pop like a balloon and cover her arms with cherry juice. The juice always tasted so sweet and made Cherry the Fairy smell sweet too.

Next to Cherry the Fairy’s house was a big pond where Cherry the Fairy’s other friends lived, the Gold Fish. They were beautiful gold fish with long orange and white tails. The gold fish loved when Cherry the Fairy picked cherries because she would come take a bath in their pond. And whenever she washed off the cherry juice it always made their pond taste like Cherry Kool-aid, which was their favorite.

Phoenix is 4!!!

Happy Belated Birthday Big Boy! Phoenix turned 4 on March 21st.

We just love our Phoenix. His bright smiley face always makes our home so happy. He's the best big and little brother ever. The best helper to Mommy, and Daddy's little buddy.

For those of you that don't know Phoenix was born in Australia. He still has a few of those Aussies finer qualities, namely a love of sports and action movies. He was petting kangaroos, rode camels in the Outback and an Elephant in Thailand before he could walk. His current favorites include Joy School, Sun Beams, Animals (namely vicious ones ex: sharks, tigers and poisonous anything), Baseball, Football, Jumping on the Trampoline, tackling everyone, FHE and playing with his friends.

We are so happy to have Phoenix be part of our family. We love you Phoenix!!!

Wake Up, Warm Up, Clap your Hands

We sing this song every week at our Library Story Time. Sicily loves it. But, so you know, I'm only posting this for my sister Amy. She's starting her own story time and needs some songs. You can sing this with your toddlers any ol' time, we love it.

So Cold

My kids have never lived in the snow so they have no idea what cold is. We've been enjoying 80* weather lately and it dropped down in the low 50's this week, with a bit of rain. So we've been bundling up. Phoenix just thought he was freezing. If we ever move where there's snow, my poor kids are going to think we live in the fridge.

It's Growing

Apparently a bit of good dirt and some water goes a long way. I can't believe it's actually growing.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that we'll actally get a harvest.

So Cute

So now that Sicily is pulling up onto everything, it's apparently hard work. Don't you just feel like this sometimes when you're days are just a little too long.

Pickles for Breakfast

I've always known my kids were a bit crazy!

This morning while looking through the fridge for jam and stuff to put on our Roll Ups (Crepes)

Phoenix asked, "Can I have pickles with my Roll Ups?"

We said, "On them?"


"No silly. On the side?" Phoenix responded.


"Ok ... I guess," was all I could think to say.


So he and Aspen promptly pulled out the pickles. :) Makes me so proud that I'm raising proper Kenison kids. I love pickles ... but not for breakfast.

Gardening

Well we did it. As many of you know we've planted a garden. But there were MANY weeks and MUCH labor to get it ready.

Step #1: Get some dirt. The dirt here is crap and turns to clay about 6 inches down. So we built up.

London thoroughly enjoyed having his sick day when the dirt came.Step #2: Free Labor. I think every kid in the neighborhood came out to help shovel the dirt into the wheel barrel and then rake it into the garden. Not totally free though, I paid them all with ice cream.
Step #3: Build fence. We have a dog that LOVES to bury his toys and a rabbit that will eventually eat everything, hence the fence.

Step #4: Plant. Aspens sick day (afternoon when she felt better) was spent planting. London was rather sad he missed this step. But he's going to help get the Peppers/Capsicums to sprout, so we can plant some little plants.

Step #5: Wish us luck. I just hope something grows. I think bugs are already getting my tomatoes, any suggestions?

Happy Texas Day!

We get to dress up like Cowboys and Cowgirls for school today. Don't they just look the part.

Definitely need some proper boots for next year.

Yuck!

Phoenix has gotten into this horrible habit of complaining about EVERYTHING we eat for dinner. I swear if I told him we were having Chocolate Cake he would still complain. But, we are horrible parents, and we still make him eat. No matter what.

So I bought a Turkey for Christmas, then we decided to have Ham instead. So I finally got around to cooking the Turkey and thought we'd go for the goal and made mostly all of a Thanksgiving dinner, in February of course. It was excellent, loved every bite. Especially the Pumpkin Pie.

But of course Phoenix did not like anything. He did eat the Turkey of course (he's quite the carnivore), but the potatoes and corn were not going down no matter what. This was the out come of us being horrible parents. Keep in mind he only had about 2 Tbl of Potatoes and maybe a 1/4 cup of Corn.

My Crazy Life

When Jared and I first got married he told me he wanted a type of job that payed him to travel. One where we would move around the world at the employers expense. I told him he was crazy and that jobs like that didn't exist. Little did I know.

Now that we're back in the States this travel has stopped on my part, a bit, but he continues to go from time to time for work.

We were discussing our happenings for this week and which TV shows he wanted me to record, so I posed this question:

"Where you going to be tomorrow night? I mean, what State are you going to be in? That’s seriously a messed up question."

Honestly in the next 3 days, Jared's going in and out of about 4 states. And though we just talked about it last night I honestly can't tell you exactly where he's going to be. :) Welcome to my Crazy Life.

Family Flashback

When I was a kid my oldest sister, Marlene, was frequently left in charge of all 6 of us. Needless to say we did not always do what she said. And like most sisters it was not uncommon for her to loose it on us.

There was one time in particular that I was reminded of today. And I'm sure many of you out there have stories similar to this one. My brother, Evan, did something to set Marlene off one night and she threw a fork at him. It stuck in his arm.

Now I was reminded of this because, my little Sicily (17 months old) stabbed her brother, London (8 yrs old) in the arm right in the middle of lunch. She thought it was the funniest thing in the world. London did not agree.

So even though they're both sick and there's such a difference in age, every now and again the youngest does get the upper hand on the eldest.

Flu Shots

What a bunch of Bologna the Flu Shot is. I know it may help against some strains, but why is it that the 2 kids that actually got the shot are now the only ones with the Flu. (knock on wood) I mean seriously isn't the Flu Shot meant to keep it away.

Sicily started with an ear infection on Sunday which escalated to a fever that night. London woke up Monday morning with the thickest cough ever and a fever just as bad as Sici's. Straight to the Dr we went Monday morning and 8 prescriptions later we are hopefully healing.

Poor things can't sleep due to coughing and just being down right uncomfortable. Jared thinks Sicily was up at least every hour, plus she had 2 baths and 2 bed changes during the night due to vomiting. We are all so tired.

I am grateful for one thing though. Aspen and Phoenix are both healthy and both at school today. It makes it so much easier to just have the sick ones. One more good thing is London is finally catching up on all the Library Books I've had sitting around waiting for him. There are pluses that always go with the minuses.

Elder Pann

It seems no matter where we live we tend to get mighty close to the missionaries. Elder Pann, of San Diego, was transferred into our Ward, in Houston, just 2 weeks after we moved here. That's a total of 8 months in 1 area. And now he's going home.

We are so sad to see him leave. Aspen cried herself to sleep after he left this evening. But we were able to Celebrate his Birthday with him. Aspen gave a rather rushed FHE lesson on the Liahona, and how there was sometimes writing on it giving Lehi and his family instructions. So we made our own Liahona, Birthday Cake, with the writing "Happy Birthday Elder Pann." I think he liked it.

Free Day at the Zoo

Presidents Day at the Houston Zoo is free. But even cooler, the older kids were all still in school. So me and my 2 littlest went to the Zoo with some friends. It was fairly empty, and families that were there were all toddlers too. So fun.

So we started off with the seals. Fattest thing ever, but we only got to pose with the fake one.
Never thought an Eagles nest would be low enough for kids to play in. The ladder helps though.

This cute little Otter swam and swam for about 10 mins. He's like a little beaver but cuter. Phoenix walked off with out me cause I was having too much fun watching him swim.

My little train engineer. This hat was Aspens Christmas present so it got passed on. Too good too, looks so cute on Sicily.

Big scary cave, actually took me a few minutes to convince Phoenix to go in there. Cute little fake fox though.

Phoenix took this shot of Sicily and Me. That's a goat we're petting. They were the most docile things I'd ever seen.

Flamingos are just the prettiest birds ever. And I love how their knees bend backwards.

Coolest animal in the Zoo. Panther, there was a solid black one in the cage too. Looking at him I could understand why women wear fur.

"THE FOSSA ARE ATTACKING!!!" -Madagascar. They are for real animals and they really are from Madagascar.

Just swimming with they Piranhas Mom. Took some convincing to get him in there but then he went through 2 more times after this one.

Burmese Python. Phoenix thought it was cool that this snake could eat Dad.

Put this right by your back gate and you'll never get Burglars. I gotta figure out how to make these. I need a few in my yard.

She can Stand!

I love this stance. She was doing it all morning and after naps it lead to....
this

This standing was a long time coming. YEAH for Sicily!!!

Happy Valentines Day!

The kids had Big Parties at school and came home with more candy than they need. They also got a BUNCH of Carnations each, the kids could order them for their friends and they were delivered to their classrooms.
I on the other hand was alone for Valentines. My sweet Jared had to be away for work. But on the PLUS side he still sent me a beautiful Valentine. We got a knock on our door at about 7:30, kind of late for visitors at our house. When I answered it, it was 2 of the Young Women from our Ward, who immediately burst into, "Let me call you Sweetheart." They even knew ALL the words, I don't even know all those words. :) At the end of the song the pulled, from behind their backs, this beautiful red rose and a box of fudge. Then told me they were from my husband. I was so happy I almost cried. I was missing my Jared a lot, and this just reminded me how much I love him and how much I miss him when he's gone. Thank you, my sweet Jared, I love you!