Tanner and Brooklyn

VCUG's are no fun

2011-04-21T16:54:00.000-07:00

So Tanner had his 2nd Ultra-sound and VCUG at Primary Children's yesterday. It was much better than last time. I highly recommend sedation if your child ever has to go through with it. Brooklyn also had to have it done once when she was about 2 years old and it was horrible. She wasn't sedated and she screamed the entire time.

It's a terrible test where they give them a catheter and fill up their bladder with dye. Then they take x-rays to watch and see if the dye goes up from the bladder back towards the kidneys. (Which it shouldn't). With Brooklyn, it didn't but with Tanner it does. He has whats called bladder reflux. He basically gets UTI's a lot because of it. Hopefully he'll out grow it soon. I feel so bad when he's up in the middle of the night crying because it hurts to go to the bathroom and he's in there every 30 minutes.

We have a follow up appointment with the Urologist next week to see what plan of action they think we should take. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Its Swing Baby!!

2011-04-20T19:04:00.000-07:00

So I picked up a really great book at the library on a whim. It's called Vixen.

Its a book about flapper's starting out in the speakeasy club life. There are gangsters, high society life, romance (ooh-la-la Marcus), and some serious betrayl. I wasn't sure how it would be, but I'm actually wishing it were August already so I could read the next book Ingenue!

I can't wait to see where it takes Clara, Gloria, and Lorianne. Plus the romance part will be wonderful!! Why couldn't I have grown up during a fashionable time like the 20's or even the 30's and swing?

and the Oscar goes to...

2011-03-02T20:36:00.000-08:00

I decided I don't have enough to do as it is with work, PTA, and 3 church callings. So on Saturday afternoon I planned an Oscar dinner party. Knowing I was the only person who would really care or notice all the trouble I went to, I figured I'd share it you - whom ever you may be that is taking the time to read this.

I had a dinner and each menu item was themed around one of the nominees for best motion picture. I think it turned out very well thanks to some great input from my sister Kelli, sister-in-law Julie, and my good old trusty mom!

First up we had "127 hours" - It was about a hiker who got stuck in the desert/mountain under a rock here in Utah and ended up having to cut off his arm to escape. (based on a true story actually). I had trail mix - I felt it was a staple to every hikers supplies. My cute nephew Jonas even had a severed hand he was going to give me to put inside with it but I ran out of time and couldn't get it before the party.

Next up is "The King's Speech" - This was about King Henry (I think) and how he had to hire a secret speech therapist to help him with his stutter. Sounds like an interesting story - This also won best picture in case you were wondering. I served English scones with Jam and a Tea Pot was the prop.

for "Inception" I had my drinks as props since they weren't actually tasty. We weren't drinking alcohol so I used cherry syrup and oil actually. I went with layers to link in with this movie since they go through layers into peoples dreams. I also served chocolate covered strawberries which were layered in a sense.

The movie "Black Swan" is about a ballerina who is given the part of the White Swan and also the Black swan in Swan Lake. One part is pure and innocent, the other dark and evil... by the end of the movie, she is definitely in the part of the Black Swan. We had Cheesecake drizzled with chocolate and Oreo mud pies for the kids which were black and white.

In "The Fighter" its about an Irish Boxer... I guess I don't really know much more about the story. I guess just the choices he has to make. Any how, we served beer - root beer any ways, since the Irish always seem to be drinking!

For "Toy Story 3" I had Toy Story fruit snacks and PBJ Uncrustables for the kids to eat. It was a hit - if you don't know what this movie is about... you really need to get out more.

Our main course was based around the movie "True Grit". The original was a great western, but I felt this one was just as good. We served pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches .... yum! Note the Cowboy hat and gun for decoration.

The side dish we had was for the movie "Winters Bone" which is by far one of the strangest movies I've heard of. It's also based on a true story about a girl looking for her father whose mixed up with some crazy hill-billy gang. She ends up having to go through some terrible things and I will never see this movie! They end up shooting squirrel and eating in the movie but I didn't really want to do that. Instead I had squirrels as props. We ended up having Debbie's delicious baked beans! They were a hit!

In "The Kids Are All Right" its pretty much about a lesbian couple that have 2 kids that want to meet their "father/sperm donor". Julie gave me this idea to a point - she suggested deviled eggs, since it had to do with eggs/babies. I took it a little farther just to see if anyone would notice.

My proudest moment, also the hardest to think of was "Social Network". This is about how Facebook was started. I made blue Jell-o into the Facebook logo. Yeah!!

We served popcorn and snacks and voted for who we thought would win - we only ended up watching about 30 minutes of the whole show, but it was still a great night! Let me know if you want an invite to next years party!

Mexico

2010-05-02T12:58:00.001-07:00

Our trip to Mexico

view from our hotel - it was a really fun hotel. The kids had more fun than the adults I think.

Brooklyn's Birthday

We Celebrated with dinner at a Steak House. Brooklyn still thinks the whole trip was for her birthday.

Family Photo at the Beach

We went to celebrate my Parents 30th wedding anniversary. It was by far the best family trip the Ralls crew has been on.

Tanner on the Zipline

He waited all week to go, and it rained the whole week. We finally just went with the stormy weather. He thought that was the best part of the trip.

Chichen-Itza
This was an amazing once in a life time experience.

Since no one really reads my blog, just ask me if you want to know the details!

Cute little Prayer

2010-03-24T15:24:00.000-07:00

Last night my sister in law had her baby. We explained to the kids that the baby came earlier than she was supposed to and wasn't quite big enough. We asked Brooklyn to make sure she said a prayer for mom and baby. This is what was included in her prayer:

Bless we have a good night
bless baby li'jah has a good night
bless laura she has a good night
bless baby she has a good night
bless baby and laura they come home safe when they come home
bless baby li'jah will be a good brother
bless the baby she'll be a good sister
bless baby li'jah and baby will be friends....

So so cute! Today... we've been watching Elijah so his mom and dad could be together at the hospital with the new addition. Brooklyn has been little miss mom. She's given him snacks, made sure he didn't go up and down stairs, hugs him when he falls. And every time he does a silly little cute thing, she runs over to me and says, "baby lii'jah did this mom. Isn't he cute!"

I guess she'll be a great mom. With her "boyfriend" Dan from Virginia if she gets a chance!

Shots for Sale!!

2010-02-27T13:25:00.000-08:00

Today, while cleaning the house... my kids opened a shop.

Tanner was the sales man, and Brooklyn a customer.

She must not have been very good because while Mike and I went about our cleaning, Tanner started his sales pitch, and slowly got louder and louder.

"SHOT FOR SALE... only 6 cents. Comes with a case for free! Get it with Vitamins for only 12 cents! GET YOUR SHOT AND FREE CASE HERE. Half price on Saturdays!"

I think we have a born salesman on our hands!

Busy Bees

2010-02-16T20:12:00.000-08:00

This weekend we did so much! Mike ended up having Monday off work, so we made it a day out! We went to breakfast as a family, went shopping for a wedding gift for Ju-Ju, went to see Percy Jackson the movie (it was OK... pretty scary though for PG rating), then shopping! I'm pretty sure the shopping part was painful for mike. He didn't seem to happy. Then..I headed over to a friends house and cooked freezer meals for the month! It takes a long time to get 24 meals cooked, but it sure will be nice to have dinner ready every night with out thinking about it.

Now I just have to get ready for another busy weekend. We have a magic show for the primary kids on Saturday morning, and then I'm in charge of our Ward Game night Saturday evening. Hopefully at least a few people will show up!

I can't believe we leave to Virginia in only 2 weeks. I haven't lost any weight for the wedding, and I still haven't made up my packing list. This may be the first trip we've gone on that I haven't been packed more than a week in advance. I don't know why, but packing is my favorite think to do. I love getting everything organized for trips.

Oh... by the way... did I mention to everyone that I've decided to be the PTA president next year? I hope it doesn't kill me!

Larry the Cucumber's Cabin

2010-01-31T10:25:00.000-08:00

We spent this weekend at my Dad's friends cabin. All the kids call him Larry the Cucumber. We had a great time. We played in the snow, stayed up late playing games, watched movies and visited with family. The guys also tried to kill everyone when they started up the snowmobiles. They hadn't opened the garage enough and the fumes from the motors blew straight into the house. Everyone had to evacuate until the air cleared.

Another great moment was when my sister and I were told to hurry outside to break up a fight between the little boys. We went front to find them both black and blue and Tanner standing over the top of Abe with a shovel. Needless to say, it was nap time after that.

all in all we had a great time. All of the boys, little and big, made a huge ramp in the snow and would try to go down the big hill as fast as they could on the sleds. I don't think anyone was seriously injured, which always means it was a good trip!

Christmas Time

2010-01-11T15:14:00.000-08:00

I'm finally posting pictures from Christmas... just a little late, I know! We did have a great month though. We had a chance to go to Temple Square to see the lights. We ended up running in to a bunch of people we knew too. We had brought rice crispy treats and hot chocolate to snack on and the evening ended up being really fun!

We had a great Christmas as well. Delicious Prime Rib dinner at my parents house on Christmas Eve, and yummy Honey Baked Ham on Christmas day at our house with the Koen's family. The kids loved their presents and gifts from everyone. Santa was very

kind as well and some how didn't leave coal for both of our kids. He must really love them!

Pictures

2010-01-11T15:06:00.000-08:00

We went to a park and took a few pictures. I just thought I'd share them. Tanner was very proud to have 2 missing teeth right now and loves to show his smile!

"Water Tribe"

2009-12-02T22:25:00.000-08:00

This is one of our favorite clips at home lately. When the kids are being crazy, we will tell them we've "got our eye" on them, and one of them will whisper "WATER TRIBE". Brooklyn's version is the best. By the way... we LOVE the Avatar. We have to pretend to be benders all the time.

Uhhh Dad?

2009-11-07T12:47:00.000-08:00

Were driving down the road today running errands. Brooklyn and Tanner are pulling the classic brother and sister fighting in the back. They keep saying..

"your crossing the line.. your on my side"
" she's on my side of the car!"
"He touched me again!"

Finally Mike turns around and says, "Can't you two just learn to co-exist peacefully?" to which Tanner replied, "Dad you do know that we don't understand what that means - right?"

Touche Tanner - Touche!

ARRRR!

2009-10-19T17:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a fun evening with Grandpa Ralls. She took the grand kids out to buy a new outfit at the mall. Then we drove down to Orem where we went to a Pirate Pizza place. They all came dressed up in their Pirate attire. The kids menu's were also pirate hats as well. They had a huge arcade area and a play land where the kids had a blast. The restaurant was decorated like a pirate ship and all the people who worked there were in full pirate swag! It was a really fun place and the food was actually pretty good. If your looking for a new fun place to go... I would certainly recommend it. It was well worth the drive!

Home on the Range

2009-10-19T16:48:00.000-07:00

We went up to Idaho a couple of weeks ago to visit my Grandpa and let the kids have a chance to see their Great Grandpa and help on his farm. The kids had a great time! They loved seeing the cows and riding the horse. I think Brooklyn liked chasing all the kittens the best. The boys thought that chopping the wood was neat and eat ting cookies. We all ended the day by going to the park and having a picnic with Grandpa and Grandpa and ended the afternoon with family pictures. It was a great trip!

Let me try it first...

2009-10-10T05:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I'd had enough of watching Brooklyn pick her nose. Finally after dinner I told her, "If I see that finger in your nose one more time I'm going to get out the wooden spoon and spank you. Do you understand!" She just stared at me calmly for a few seconds and then went back to playing. A few minutes later I saw her walking out of the kitchen and her underwear were around her ankles. I asked her what she was doing. As I looked closer, she had the wooden spoon in hand, she told me, "I'm just going to try it and see if it hurts".

I Guess she figured she really wanted to pick her nose and better see what the spoon was going to feel like since she knew she was going to be spanked with it. Needless to say I had to go hide behind the door because I was laughing so hard.

What really happens in the Boys bathroom

2009-09-21T19:07:00.000-07:00

Today I got a call from Tanner's school from the Vice Principal. Of course when I saw "HL Elementary" I was worried. He told me nothing was wrong and tanner hadn't done anything bad, but there had been an "incident". Bracing myself for the worst, I listened.

You'll never believe what he told me. "Tanner and his friend were in the bathroom at the Urinals and I guess his friend decided it would be funny to PEE on him. He's shirt and shorts are all wet and he needs a change of clothes. Do you think you could stop by the school with some?"

OH MY HECK!!! What is wrong with kids! Who would do that! Not only that, but who would not have taught their children that this would absolutely not ever be ok to do? I understand boys are boys, but there must be line some where that's drawn. Tanner said he wasn't mad at his friend, but it did make him feel sad.

These are the days that make you want to keep your babies safe at home in your arms where no one can be mean! I guess we all have to learn it the hard way!

It is a quite week...

2009-09-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

This week will be so quite in our home. Mike and Brooklyn flew out to Virginia to be with his family. His Grandma past away this weekend and he really wanted to be with his Mom to help her out. Sadly, Tanner and I had to stay home. Tickets at the last minute are crazy expensive - even WITH buddy passes from our great brother-in-law. Plus... Tanner has an eye doctor appointment on Tuesday at Primary Children's which takes months in advance to schedule, so we couldn't miss it. Now I get the luck of working lots of extra hours too since I have no kids home during the day to play with.

Last night Tanner stayed at his cousins house since I had to work early this morning. The house was so quite and me being the chicken I am, not only triple checked all the doors and windows, but also locked my bathroom and bedroom doors just in case.

Today Tanner and I are going to hit the last Bee's Baseball game and then have the ladies from our neighborhood over for games and snacks. I have a feeling it will mostly be visiting, but since that's my favorite part about our get togethers, I really don't mind. Now I just need to figure out how I'm going to get Tanner to bed early and keep him there while everyones over to our house!

oh what do you do in the summer time....

2009-07-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

I can't believe summer is nearing its end. August is almost hear and Tanner will be starting school in a month. Even though we've been car-less for the last 2 months, we've really done a lot.

Here are a few things....
- Virginia and New York (May counts as summer... right?)
- Fire works and fun for the 4th and 24th of July
- Manti Pagent
- Camping in Ferron
- Swimming at the "beach" in Herriman

and here's what is still to come....
- Papa Mickey visits in August
- Cherry Hills
- Harvest days
- back to school shopping... my favorite!
- Movies in the Park
- Grandma Debbie visits in September

Luckily I now have a car, so hopefully we can add a few more fun things to the list. If you have any good ideas, let me know!

Camping in Ferron

2009-07-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun camping in Ferron, Utah. We stayed for 5 days, and yes... we stayed in a tent. I always wonder why I do it, but I guess making memories with your kids is what is important. Everyone had so much fun and got along great. The fishing was terrific and the

Weather was perfect. It was a little hot, but luckily it only rained for about an hour the whole trip. Here are a few pictures of our exciting trip!

Rain, Rain, Go AWAY!!!!

2009-06-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

So it has been raining non stop for the last few weeks here in Utah. It has to wait until school is out to damper everyone's fun. Since we aren't able to go swimming outside or play at the park, we decided we better still have fun. Tanner, Brooklyn and I went outside to splash and dance in the MASSIVE rain storm we had this afternoon. We jumped in the HUGE puddles by the road and chased leaves down the streams. We found the biggest worm I have ever seen in my life. Brooklyn decided it was so big that it had to be a snake. She carried it around on stick and kept it safe under an umbrella. When we told her he needed to stay in the garden and she couldn't bring him inside, she started to cry. She said, "But he's my best pet snake!". After a little coaxing, we convinced her that we could come visit him any time if she left him in our garden. By the time we came inside, there LITERALLY was not a dry square inch on either of them. Now were kicked back in our warm dry robes watching "Drake and Josh" and eating marshmallows with hot chocolate. (not in the drink.... just by the handful!) Lets hope the rain stops some time soon. I don't know if I can be stuck inside my house all summer with both my kids and no car to drive anywhere!

Mary and Tim's Wedding

2009-05-28T08:05:00.001-07:00

This is Mary and Tim's wedding from Brooklyn and Tanner's point of view: Brooklyn: "Mary... I have a e-cret to tell you. Last night, when mommy was at the church, they were walking out to the car, and they heard a big BANG. mommy and daddy went to -ee (see) what it was and your wedding had fawen and kwashed. Now the lights are all broken."

Amber: "Brooklyn!! You were supposed to tell her that secret!!"

Tanner: " Hey... take a picture of me jumping. I'm a super hero. Can I see the picture?"

Tanner: " Mom it's way to hot out here. I can't wear these stupid clothes."

Amber: "Take of your jacket and roll your sleeves up. You can go hid under that bush for shade."

Tanner: "You want me to go under there in the dirt?"

Brooklyn: "Lizzie, your my best friend. Look we have the -game drwess."

"Hi baby Lijah....your just so cute. Kiss"

"Hey Dad... Take a picture of me.

Let me see it. Ok.. lets do it again.

Take a picture of me doing this now...."

Amber: 'Don't they look so cute Tanner?"

Tanner: "Why did Mary and Tim

do that weird dance. Who does

light saber fights at their wedding?"

Tanner is making that face because

he's sitting next to Mike's massive hair.

In case you were wondering,

this is what it looks like in the morning....

Brooklyn: "Hey mommy... these are my friends.

This is Abby and this is my friend."

Amber: "Do you know her name?"

Brooklyn: " No... its just friend."

A- "Tanner go ask the little girls to dance"
T-"No way" A- "I'll pay you"
T- "Ok... for $5" A-"No... $2" T- "$2.70"

A- "Ok deal. But you have to do a slow dance too"

T- "Only if you make it $2.80"

2009-05-28T07:54:00.000-07:00

One of the first things we did on our trip to DC was go to the Zoo. I'd have to say it's one of my favorite things to do when we visit. The weather was perfect that day and everyone had a great time. We were able to see almost all the animals, including a cute little baby gorilla. Brooklyn and Lizzie were more excited to see the birds and catapillars. It was so much fun, but I have say its not easy pushing two kids up those hills. Thanks for your help Jen! We'd still be stuck at the Zoo if it wasn't for you!

Tanner's Teeth

2009-05-03T14:44:00.000-07:00

Tanner had to go to the dentist to have his front two teeth pulled. His permanent teeth had grown in completely behind his baby teeth and were not going any where on their own. Tanner was such a brave little man. He was in and out in less than 20 minutes! He had both teeth pulled and a cavity filled with out any fuss! It might have been valium they had me give him before we came, but Tanner says its because he got to play "Lego Star Wars" on the XBOX while they did his dental work. I guess you CAN get him to do anything with video games!

The Doll House

2009-05-03T14:35:00.000-07:00

I'm mostly finished with Brooklyn's doll house. It was mine and Kelli's when we were little and we loved it. I refinished it, got adorable furniture made for it, and hand made all of the pillows and blankets. It was a lot of work, and still isn't done, but it sure is fun to play dolls in! Even Tanner gets in on the act by having his playmobil men and Ninja Turtles jump off the roof. Just let me know if you want to come over to play!

Happy 3rd Birthday Brooklyn!

2009-04-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn had a wonderful birthday party today. We had a tea party that was very fancy for a few of the little kids and then had family over for birthday cake.

I can't believe she's so big already It amazing to see how much she has grown in the last 3 years....

Baby Animal Days

2009-04-15T15:51:00.000-07:00

Mary was kind enough to invite us up to see Baby Animal Days in Logan last weekend. I drove up with the Kids Friday morning and planned to just stay for the day. The lines to get in were so long, but thanks to Mary we didn't have to wait at all! We stayed all day and we had so much fun that we had Mike drive up from Salt Lake when he was done with work. We ended up staying at a hotel and we all went swimming that night. We went to Baby Animals days on Saturday and spent most of the day enjoying the great weather and fun. The kids had a blast and there was so many things to do. We made crafts, played games, held all the baby animals, rode a pony, watched a puppet show, went on a treasure hunt, played in the Teepee's, held snakes (well not me), held baby turtles, saw the Easter bunny, went on a wagon ride, shot a bow and arrow... the list goes on and on. Tanner threw a tomahawk and Brooklyn became best of friends with one of the mountain men. He actually said he wanted to bring her home with him, and I think she would have gone happily. The highlight of the trip was watching Tanner star in Mutton Bust'in! He was the first kid of the group to go. He got right on that sheep and went right down. I think he stayed on 2 seconds at the most. The best part was, after his body slam to the ground he threw up his fingers and gave a number 1 on the dirt. Then the clown helped him up and he threw his fist in the air to the crowd! He was by far the best to watch. All the other kids just burst in to tears. We even heard someone a few rows back say that he was the funnest one to watch! Thanks Mary!

from Start Student to Principal's Award

2009-04-03T17:51:00.000-07:00

Every day when I pick up Tanner from school I ask him, "what did you do today in class?". Once a month he tells me "they had the start student award. But I didn't getting... AGAIN!!. I do everything I'm supposed to and I never win. I'm super nice to everyone in class, I do good at my work, and I'm always a good helper. I don't think the principal even knows I'm there."

This month was Tanner's lucky month though. On Thursday May 2nd, Tanner went to the Start student award assembly as usual. All the kids from Kindergarten through 2nd grade meet in the gym. Two students from each class get a "Star Student Award" and then 1 student get the "Principal's Award". His teacher had called us ahead of team so we were able to be there to watch. Tanner was so excited when they called his name. He couldn't believe that he'd won not only the great Honor of being a Start Student, but for the extra special surprise of getting the "Principals Choice Award". He got a star pencil, and a Pin that says "Principal award". He also got a certificate for Wingers for a free kids meal, and 1 free kids meal to Applebee's. He's so excited about both! (Although that does mean we now have to buy dinner for everyone else in the family in order for him to use and enjoy his award. I love the way corporate America works.)

His Teacher Mrs. Hargrove and Principal Ichiman said he was given the award because, "Tanner is a dependable and hard working student." We are so proud of Tanner and how hard he works to be a good student and an even better friend and example. We love you so much Tanner and are so proud of you!

Our Favorite Things

2009-03-31T10:10:00.000-07:00

A few of our Favorite things

Breakfast-
Tanner:Oatmeal
Brooklyn: Sausage Links dipped in syrup

Place to eat out-
Tanner: Panda Express
Brooklyn:Any place I don't have to play on a playland

Game to play-
Tanner: Mancala or Checkers
Brooklyn: Dolls or Candy land

Color-
Tanner: Blue or Purple
Brooklyn: Orange

Song-
Tanner: Star Wars Remix (Techno)
Brooklyn: I don't like any music (really she doesn't)

TV Show-
Tanner: Sponge Bob Square Pants
Brooklyn: Max and Ruby or Caillou

Movie-
Tanner: Star Wars & Indiana Jones
Brooklyn: Anything with a Disney Princess

The line I say most-
Tanner: "That's not fair!"
Brooklyn:"Stop it Tanner"

Place to be-
Tanner: My friends house
Brooklyn: Nana and Papa's

When I grow up I want to be.....
Tanner says "An Olympic runner or a poop-poo head with a monkey in space"
Brooklyn says "I want to be big and strong"

If I had one wish it would be.....
Tanner would wish for "A real life saber"
Brooklyn would wish for "a baby mermaid"

The one thing I look forward to most right now is....
Tanner "Going water sliding at Cherry Hills this summer"
Brooklyn "Having a Tea party with Lizzie... she's my best friend"

"That's the money you could have saved with Geico"

2009-03-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

So I thought I'd play a little joke on Mike. He leaves to work at about 5:30 am, so I had to get it all out the night before. I stayed up late after he went to sleep and set it up. When he went out to his car this morning and turned the key to back out of the garage,this is what he saw....

I had put "money eyes" on his dashboard and put the music in his CD player. He called me from work this morning and said he thought it was great. I think we might pull it on my mom. They have the music for free on Geico.com if anyone else would like to pull this prank on someone!

St. Patrick's Day Catastrophe!!

2009-03-18T09:19:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday while I was working, Mike and this kids had a catastrophe! Brooklyn had woke up from a nap grumpy. Tanner, being the nice brother he is, decided he'd try to cheer her up. He got out his frog so she could play with him. I guess while the frog was out, Tanner decided he'd give him a tour of the house. He showed him the back porch, gave him a bath in the sink, had him sit at the desk and watch Tanner play a video game. Then he decided the frog would like to watch TV with him. I guess he sat him down on the couch and forgot he was there. When Mike asked him where the frog was, he realized HE WAS MISSING!!!

Mike and the kids tore the house apart looking for the frog, but couldn't find him. I was prepared to find a dead frog underneath our stove in a few weeks and to deal with a distraught Tanner. Luckily when I walked through the door Tanner was waiting for me with a beaming smile and his frog. My house really was a mess from their searching. Every cushion on the couch was off, the book shelves and desk were all moved, nothing was where it should be. The funny thing was, after all of their tearing apart of the house, the frog was hiding under the corner of the rug right next to the couch. I guess he hadn't gotten very far after all!!

Tanner, Frog, and Brooklyn are all much happier today. I guess we'll see what adventures lie in our path next!!

Princess Brooklyn

2009-03-12T14:40:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn is certainly in her prime of the terrible and terrific two's! She loves to play dress up and wears a different princess dress every day to pick up Tanner at school. She just recently got a gold fish which she killed with in 2 days. I walked in to her room after 1 day and found her standing on her toy chest over the fish bowl with a toy spoon. Tanner informed me she was trying to squish it against the bowl with the wooden spoon. From that point on the fish was swimming vertically instead of horizontally and he died with in a few hours. She cried for about 15 seconds and has never looked back. Although she did ask me yesterday if we could get the fish out of the toilet so they could play.
For those of you who don't know, Brooklyn will be turning 3 on April 17th. We are planning to have an "Alice in Wonderland" tea party. She is very very excited and has asked that everyone come in a princess dress. We may have to alter the party attire a little though. All of the guests will be her brother and cousins, 99% of which are boys. If you'd like to attend... please let us know and we'll be sure to send you an invitation!

Tanner's 100 days of Kindergarten

2009-03-12T14:31:00.001-07:00

Tanner just got his report card from school. His teacher says he is doing wonderful! He received almost all 4's (which is like an A) and just a few 3's. He is reading at a beginning 1st grade level and his teacher said he is probably the best student in class at math! (which we all already knew!) His Kindergarten class just celebrated their 100 days left of school. They each had to make a project with 100 of something. Tanner was very creative and came up with an idea to make a night sky with 100 fireworks. It was all his very own idea from start to finish. We used colored Christmas lights to make the fireworks, and Tanner drew pictures of himself and his friends on the grass watching. He even drew a picture of a man selling glow sticks and candy in a stand! He received so many compliments about it and all the older kids in the school told him they liked his best of all. He was very proud of it and were very proud of him!

Have you ever seen someone blog less?

2009-03-12T14:28:00.000-07:00

The Rowlett Family is still here... we just don't blog much! You'd think I've been really busy or something, but I really haven't. Our family is doing great. Mike and Amber are the same as usual. Brooklyn is going to be turning 3 in April and is still a smarty pants. Tanner is doing great in school and can't wait for the summer. Hopefully I can be a little better at this whole blog thing!

Virginia... here we come!

2008-11-05T12:59:00.000-08:00

We can't wait for Christmas in Virginia! We got really excited and set up all our Christmas decorations super early! I justify it by saying if we waited until after Thanksgiving, we would have only had 20 days of decorations since we're leaving to Virginia on the 18th and I love Christmas to much to miss out on decorating! One small problems I've run into though, Tanner keeps asking when we are going to get presents under the tree!

We got to babysit Elijah!

2008-11-05T12:45:00.000-08:00

Brooklyn and I were so lucky! Today we got to have Baby Elijah come play with us while Laura and Tony took a little trip to Park City. I know your all a little Jealous so I'm posting pictures for you to see how cute he is! I guess being the closest aunt gives you the lucky gift of babysitting!

Let it Snow!

2008-11-05T12:34:00.001-08:00

Well Winter hit Utah late last night! Tanner was so excited we had to get our snow clothes on and go outside as soon as we woke up. Brooklyn of course did not want clothes on, but after some pursuading, she finally got dressed and came outside.

Tanner taught Brooklyn how to eat snow and he also showed her how to throw snow balls. Mostly he just threw them at her but she thought it was funny!

The snow was really coming down all day as you can see from the video!

Crazy Brooklyn

2008-11-04T12:46:00.000-08:00

Brooklyn really misses her dad today!

2008-11-03T22:35:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JONAS!!

We went to Jonas's 7th birthday party at Classic Skating. He picked the DJ Party room. The kids had a blast with the black light and mixing the music. They all had a blast running around like maniacs and not having a care in the world. Jonas wants everyone to know that we are all invited to his next birthday party... in EGYPT!!

Brooklyn was Miss Sassy as usual. She had just woke up from a nap. Don't you just love the hair!

Tanner thought he looked really cool wearing both his regular glasses and the glasses from the party.

Tanner and Grandpa had a blast being "DJ's" for tTanner and Grandpa had a blast being "DJ's" for the night.

2008-11-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Pumpkin Walk at West Jordan Park

2008-10-21T11:46:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Reader beware....

2008-10-21T11:09:00.000-07:00

So Monday morning at 6:30 am I went in to Jordan Valley Hospital for out patient surgery. I had Nasal Septum Reconstruction and Submucous Reduction of Inferior Turbinates. I still am not sure what that means, but it is supposed to get rid of all the headaches I've been having. I had my mom drop me off at the hospital so Mike could stay home with the kids until I was done. We all know how wonderful Tanner and Brooklyn would have been in the waitting room for 4 hours. I went back to the OR around 7:30. I was chit chatting with the nurses when suddenly, "OOWW! That really burns. Is it supposed to be burning?" I asked the anesthesiologist. "Oh yeah it will burn a little" he said. "Oh no.. it burns a lot" I laughed. So the nurses said, "well that's the first time I've had someone laugh about it hurting". The I told them, I could taste it in my mouth, then I felt it hit me, and I was out!!!

I woke up around 9:00-ish so tired! The nurses were really nice and told me just to rest. Soon I was in the recovery area and I was able to get a drink which was much needed. They called Mike and told him to bring the kids up because I was actually the only patient there! It was so nice and quite. The nurse took out my IV and wouldn't you know it, that is when the nausea hit. I drank some sprite and it helped a little. Mike ended up taking me home about 10:15 so I was home by 10:30. It went really quick and I wasn't in to much pain.

When we got home the nurse had suggested I try to eat right away. I did try.. but it didn't help. The nausea was back. I ended up throwing up lots and lots of blood. It must have been in my stomach for quite a while because it was black. Yuck! Well... Mike got back with my drugs and I took some pain pills which helped me get to sleep. I was only able to sleep about an hour because my mouth was so dry. I've had to sleep with my mouth open because I'm not able to breath AT ALL through my nose. The worst part to is.. I can't blow my nose. I can't blow it for a week! Its so horribly annoying. Well... all afternoon Monday it was mostly a cycle of drinking lots of water because I was so thirsty, then throwing up lots of blood, then trying to eat a little so I could take a pain pill to help me sleep, then waking up again super thirsty.

I feel much better today. I am still just super stuffy and its really hard to breath. My nose is tender and a little swollen but other than that I'm doing great. I am just waiting for Brooklyn or Tanner to jump on me and hit my nose and then I'll burst into tears. Well... lets all keep our fingers crossed that this will do the trick to get rid of my headaches!

The X-ray

2008-10-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

Well... This is my x-ray that shows my septum. The row shows my crooked septum. the 2nd row shows more of why I was getting so many headaches. You can see the doctor put a little X on the picture. That is the back of my septum. There was a bone spur that was pushing on my turbinate. He said it causes headaches for a lot of people.

Is it just me?

2008-09-23T23:54:00.000-07:00

So Tanner has only been in school for 2 weeks now. His kindergarten teacher was only there the first 3 days. She's had a DIFFERENT substitute every single day. This has gone on for 7 school days straight. The office tells me she is out with strep throwt. Who is sick for 7 school days (that 11 if you count weekends) with strep? Well Tanner went to school yesterday and saw he had another sub. He burst into tears crying that he didn't want to go. He didn't know the lady who was teaching and he just wanted his real teacher back. I can't say I blame him. I almost started crying when I saw her too. She looked so mean! Just like that mean sub from "Miss NeilsoThn is missing" only this wasn't the same teacher in disquise. She did have painted on eye brows though. Well when I came to pick him up he I asked how his day went. He said it was horrible and their teacher yelled and them and told them they had to put their heads on their desk. Then he tried to convince me that she made them do it the whole day. I didn't buy into that, but he really was upset about her. I talked to the office and they said his regular teacher would be out the rest of this week too and that the sub with painted eye brows would be here all week. Oh what a relief. A crazy mean looking lady who yells at my sweet little tanner. Well.. I didn't make him go to school today. I'm on strike. You can't start a kindgerten class off for the year with out some kind of stability. I'm not ok with him going to be taught by different teachers every day and then having people who can walk in off the street be his subsitute. The only requirement that you need to be qualified to be a sub is to have a high school diploma. If you are working with 5 year old kids - you need to be on your way to saint hood. You can't just be any average Joe. I'd kill a room full of 25 kids that were 5 and 6. That's why I don't teach! But, I do expect the people who are teaching my little baby to be good to him and for him. Is it just me or would you feel the same way?

2008-09-15T16:39:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox photobook

School Fair

2008-09-15T11:39:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox postcard

New Baby!

2008-09-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

Baby Elijah Koens

7 lbs 2 oz

20 inch.

8:20 pm

September 14th 2008

The newest addition to the Rowlett Family is here! He is just so cute too! Luckily we called Jenny to see where Lauara was yesterday. Tanner and Brooklyn had made cupcakes to bring to her for her birthday and we couldn't get a hold of her all day. Finally we figured we'd call Jen and see if she knew where she was. Wouldn't you know.... She was in LABOR!! Well I drove up to the Hospital in such a panic of excitment, calling everyone I could think of to tell, that I took the wrong exit(s) and was suddenly driving to Park City. Then I get a call from Debbie saying, "She's going to start pushing! She's already to a 10 and she's going to start pushing! Get up there!!"

When I finally pulled into the hospital parking garage (which I also couldn't find), I ran the whole way there. Sure enough, as soon as I walked into the room the Dr. was getting her preped to push and telling her what she needed to do. I got to say Hi really quick and wish her luck.

Then the waitting game started!!

Ok.. after an hour of sitting I was beginnning to wonder what was going on. Tony had said he'd come out to get me as soon as the baby came. So I figured I'd be the nosy Amber that I am and decided to go back and get the scoop from the nurses. The nurse told me to go on back and Laura would explain what was going on. What was going on? What did that mean? I walked in to the room and there was Laura, no belly, and no Tony. "What's going on Laura?" I asked. Laura said, "well we had the baby abut 20 minutes ago, and he was having a hard time breathing, so the rushed him to the nursery. Tony is with him to see what is going on." We talked with the Nurse and she said he was just fine, they just wanted to be sure he got all the water out of his lungs so he could breath better on his own. I sat with Laura for a little bit so she wasn't left all alone jittering like a jackhammer after the drugs wore off. Then she said, "Hummm... I haven't heard from Tony. I wonder how the baby is doing?" So I went down to the Nursery to see how he was. Tony was beaming in the nursery! He looked like such a proud dad! He was WONDERFUL! Just the cutest thing I've ever see! So super soft and perfect little cute fingers, toes and nose. He is just so cute! I'm already in Love with my new little nephew!

Mama Mia

2008-09-03T15:28:00.000-07:00

PIZZA!!

We decided to make home made pizza for dinner. The kids thought it was so much fun to do.

We were covered in flour by the time we were finished. They kept trying to eat the dough thinking each time that it would some how taste good all of the sudden. I had to keep reminding them it was cookie dough. Tanner was a very careful about how he placed the cheese. He didn't want to have to much. Brooklyn just took a huge handful and plopped it on! They loved putting all the toppings on, and then of course took it all off when it came out of the oven. It ended up taking a lot longer to cook than we planned. It was about 30 minutes and we had two batches of pizza's to cook. In the end, the evening turned out a success! The Pizza was delicious and everyone had fun eating their own personal pizza!

Tanner's 1st day of school

2008-09-03T15:07:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox postcard

Camping in Ferron

2008-08-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

We went on our annual camping trip to Ferron, Utah in July. It was so much fun. Brooklyn and Tanner loved the fishing. We were able to stay for 5 days which I thought would seem like eternity, but surprisingly it went really quick. I was the chef extraordinaire for the week! I love to plan so it was lots of fun. I got to do lots of dutch oven cooking which I don't get to do very often. Tanner and Brooklyn loved throwing rocks into the lake. We caught lots of fish and only got hit with a rain storm once. The best part about camping is always the stars at night. I've never seen as many stars as you do when your far up the mountain. It was absolutely beautiful! Camping is a lot of work, but its all worth it for the views!

The Wedding

2008-08-21T10:34:00.001-07:00

The wedding was a great success! I had so much fun planning and decorating everything. I have to toot my own horn a little and say I thought the set up of the food was great. It looked really cute, and it tasted pretty good too. Laura looked so pretty! Mary and I even got a chance to start planning for a future wedding for her one day! Watch out Julie, you will be next!

Its finally here!!

2008-08-21T10:31:00.001-07:00

I've finally caved and started a BLOG!! Hopefuly we can keep in touch better now. I don't know how often I'll keep it up, but hopefully once a week.