Saturday Night Curlers

Every Saturday night of my childhood was the same. Dinner. Bath. Pajamas. Curlers. You girls that grew up in the 80's know which ones I'm talking about. The pink plastic and foam ones. The ones that made it hard to sleep because your head was covered in uneven lumps. And there was always that one curler with that one hair that was pulled too tight. Then came the morning when one of the curlers had fallen out so you had one strand that didn't look right. But I have to hand it to my mom... she had six heads of hair to do, four of which were girls, so it's no wonder she took shortcuts. My sisters and I look back at those nights now and laugh. So I couldn't help myself. I decided to put Ellie through the same torture and put her hair in curlers on Saturday night. I tried it once when she was like a year old but Jesse snuck behind my back and loosened them all before she went to bed, which obviously led to disaster in the morning. While I was putting the curlers in Kaden came up and said, "Oh Ellie, your hair looks so pretty!" Erin, Keri and Casey, this one's for you! (Like the song? hahaha)

And then the next morning...


Holy Macaroni! Can you say Shirley Temple? Every curler I pulled out I laughed harder and harder. It was so stinkin curly! Kaden came in and I asked him if Ellie's hair was pretty and he said, "No, it looks silly!" People at church kept asking me if I had permed her hair. Jesse and I have been laughing all day. It is sooo curly! Way funny. Is this what my hair looked like when I was little and nobody told me? You looked gorgeous today Ellie, that's the only reason people were staring! Hahaha! Still laughing.


It's hard to see how short it made her hair with the couch in the background, but her hair is usually past her shoulders.

First day of school

Today was Kaden's first day of preschool. I wanted to put him in last fall but he kept saying he didn't want to go to school. So I figured one year of preschool was enough. But then he realized all of his friends go to preschool and his mom is pretty boring so his teacher let me enroll him for a half year. He only goes once a week but it's great to warm him up for full-time preschool in the fall. He was so funny, he said "Mom, you and Ellie can't go to the Fun Zone while I'm at school!" The Fun Zone is this arcade and play gym in town. He loved his first day, and loves to do his homework. It's nice to have some time with just me and Ellie at home.


Oh, and by the way, I am NOT pregnant, nor do I have a desire to be. But thanks to Jami and Jesse for the jump start on the rumors!

Better spaghetti and six loads of laundry

So I've been sick this past weekend and Jess has had to do pretty much everything around the house. You name it, cooking, laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, errand running, kid-tending... EVERYTHING. And I must say, it would have made me feel a little better if he didn't do it so well. I would have felt a little bit of satisfaction if he had struggled a little bit and wondered how I did it all day, every day. But no. He totally outshines me in the Mr. Mom category. On Saturday he completed six loads of laundry, (a feat which I can never seem to do), made the best spaghetti we've ever had, went grocery shopping, worked on his computer for four hours and took care of the kids all day, including their bath. Didn't break a sweat, didn't miss a beat. Got me thinking, maybe he should be the stay at home dad and I'll go to work full-time. But no, he still makes more per hour than me at work. I can't win. But then again, it looks like I did the day I married him! Thanks for all you do sweetheart! I love you!

Peg Leg Chubbs

Poor Chubbs. Wednesday night I came upstairs to find he had peed on my floor AGAIN. I opened the door and tossed him out on the grass and the next thing I heard was him yelping in pain. He landed right on his little foot. I instantly felt bad and cuddled him for an hour. He wouldn't put any pressure on it all night. I felt so bad! I cried myself to sleep and woke up and took him to the vet. Three broken toes. The vet tried to make me feel better saying she sees little dogs with broken bones all the time. So he has to wear this cast for a month. It hasn't slowed him down at all. He cruises around the house at top speed still. I was excited because he finally got enough of his shots to get his hair cut... now we have to wait a month until his cast comes off. Scruffy Peg Leg Chubbs.

She did what?!

Below is pictured the potty Ellie got with her doll for Christmas this year. She makes her baby go potty all the time and loves to play with it. Well, I was doing stuff upstairs for a while and came downstairs to find Kaden hiding by the couch. I asked him what was wrong and he said "Look what Ellie did." Ellie had decided that her little bum could fit on the toilet too and had pooped in the toilet. Ya, I'm not kidding! It was discusting! I went upstairs and found her on the toilet finishing her started project and I said, "Ellie, did you go potty in your baby's toilet?" She looked at me like she couldn't believe that I had found out. Then she said, "Ya, but I didn't mean to!" Whatever Ellie. Aren't you glad I cleaned it before the picture?
Oh ya, and we had a lovely Christmas! The kids weren't as excited as I thought they would be but they love all of their toys. They were definitely spoiled by grandparents.
Lights at Temple Square a couple days before Christmas.
Reading the Christmas story on Christmas Eve.
Kaden with his most coveted weed-whacker and goggles.
Ellie watching her favorite Christmas present Beauty and the Beast.

Happy Birthday Jess!

Today Jesse turns 28! He gets to celebrate by going to church meetings all day! Actually in our house Jesse gets a birthweek so he'll have lots of partying to do. We're having some friends over for dinner to celebrate and help us eat the ice cream cake he requested. To keep in line with my new birthday tradition I am going to list 28 things about Jess that I love. Here's Jesse 101:
1. He has the prettiest shade of green eyes.
2. He doesn't eat sandwiches on bread... has to be toast.
3. He likes to play jokes on people. (Is this really something I love or tolerate?)
4. As my sister Casey said yesterday, he treats everybody like a friend.
5. He loves to play with the kids and does play with them A LOT.
6. One of his favorite things to do is hold our children when they are sleeping.
7. He doesn't take life so seriously.
8. He is devoted to his testimony of the gospel. He decided to go on a mission after he'd only been going to church for a couple months.
9. He works hard.
10. He is always very strict with his time card. If he gets a half hour lunch, he takes a half hour lunch.
11. He simplifies his computer language to something I can understand.
12. He eats his cereal in a cup... never with milk.
13. He cannot stand cottage cheese, sour cream or any type of condiment on his hamburger, taco. It will go in the garbage if it is "contaminated". You can't just wipe it off. There are no second chances.
14. He cannot swim... but I love to watch him try!
15. He is very concerned over our children's safety. If any of you know him, enough said.
16. He loves Johnny Cash.
17. He can spin plates and books in his finger. And cookie sheets too we found out recently.
18. He reads his scriptures EVERYDAY.
19. I rarely hear him complain about anything.
20. He can have a THIN stripe of ketchup on his hot dog but it cannot touch the bun. This has taken me 6 years to perfect. Ya, it's that important.
21.He puts crushed up Nacho cheese Doritos on everything. Sandwiches, spaghetti, chicken and rice.
22. He doesn't have much extra time but he always makes sure he spends time with the kids.
23. He loves UFC. Do I really love this about him? I am usually his target for half-nelsons after he watches it.
24. He is patient with me and all of my quirks like my lack of desire to cook dinner.
25. When he laughs really hard, he crinkles his nose.
26. He's never afraid to try something new. (Unless it has sour cream in it.)
27. He treated me like an angel on our wedding day... that still stands out vividly in my mind.
28. Last but not least I am going to post something his friend Zivana posted the other day. She's a Croatian friend he met on his mission. It pretty much explains it all when it come to Jesse.
"I know Jesse is your husband so you know all of his good as well as the bad sides. But I remember him as the most generous elder ever. He had less then most of the missionaries, but it was he who bought a microwave oven to a single mother of three for Christmas. With no one to help out with her kids, spending less time preparing each meal meant the world to her.
He was also the only elder ever to pay for me every time I'd eat out with the missionaries. I worked from 5:30 am till 2:00 pm, every day (weekends included) for 250 $ a month and each time we'd eat out together none of the elders would offer to pay my share, but I'd end up paying for all of us. Only elder Wakley never let me pay. And it's not even about the money, I'm not a stingy person. it's a matter of principle. And respect. And it is exactly what makes one a gentleman."
I love you Jesse! Happy Birthweek!

Happy Birthday Kaden!

Kaden turned four today! It's gone by so fast but it also seems that so much has happened in those four years! Kaden forgot all about Christmas because he was so excited for his birthday. My sister-in-law has a tradition of listing things she likes about a person on their birthday, one trait for how old they are. I am going to copy cat for Kaden today. Here it goes:
1. He has the most tender heart. He cried during the Grinch because he felt sorry for the dog. He's my angel.
2. He has the number one most contagious laugh. If any of you have heard his laugh, which he has been doing since he was 4mos old, then you know what I am talking about. It truly comes from the gut and you can't help but smile.
3. No matter how long I have been gone, he always comes running to me to say hi. I love it.
4. He still likes to cuddle. He always lets me hold him... unless I start in on the kisses.
He had an awesome birthday. He said he wanted another one tomorrow so I reminded him of Christmas. That'll do for now.
Some of Kaden's favorite foods are pancakes and waffles so we met dad at IHOP for breakfast.
Kaden was dying to open presents all day. Grandma Wakley came to the rescue and came up to visit with his presents!
Kaden lit up when we started singing "Happy Birthday". He kept telling me all day to sing Happy Bday to him and when I would start he would say "NO, with the cake!" (Which was Ninja turtles by the way.)
His friend Brayden got him a light saber and a helmet. He looked awesome!
Kaden has been asking for this chainsaw for two months. It must have been the display at the store because it didn't work. Bummer. Should have tested that before I bought it!
When Kaden was distracted with other toys, Ellie pounced on what she wanted. She tried to ride his scooter three times...crashed three times. At least she had a helmet on!