OMG Justin Bieber!

I may have my hands full with my second child. As I tucked her into bed the other night she calmy informed me that "she is waiting for Justin Bieber to fall in love with her." While this may be a sign of things yet to come at least she is waiting for Justin to fall in love first. This does present another problem as the Easter Bunny gave Danika and her parents concert tickets to Justin Bieber. Mckall knows that there is a concert, and we have tickets (she just doesn't know there are 3). More drama yet to come .....


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Random Thoughts by Small People

Here are two instances in the past week where it has been hard to keep that straight face that patents should have.

- The other night something was going on that Mckall wanted us to stop. In her straightest face and her sternest voice she yells to Burke and I "do that again and I will knock you out!"

- Danika was picked up from school and Pep said he was in the mood for Pizza. She asked if they could get pizza from the little orange guy (Little Ceasers for those not versed in take out lingo). Dude told her no, Pep was in the mood for gourmet pizza. Danika replies "oh, that means we are getting Dominoes."


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

What a busy month

What a busy month March was for us. The highlight of the month had to be when we went to Phoenix to watch Copper play a little baseball. The weather was great (85 degrees) and I also received an offer to come back to work at Amex on the trip. We watched a lot of baseball including an A's spring training game. The girls and I were sitting on the grass in left field and I was trying to coach my oldest to ask for a baseball and autograph from the Mariners players. She is getting to the age where she is a little shy. Not little Mckall she marched up to the fence motioned with her finger for the players to come closer (I thought I should mention instead of her finger through the fence pointing up as normal her finger was pointing down). After a few excuses me, excuse me the players were kind enough to give each girl a baseball complete with an autograph. In my book this is how all pro athletes should act. The rest of the vaca was spent poolside with kids swimming and a margarita in my hand. Of course there is nothing like returning home to Mckall jumping into her princess dress asking when we are going to Disney land.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

First tooth gone

On the way home from a baseball game today Danika informed us that she had a loose tooth. After we got home just before bed the tooth came out! Her first loose tooth, it quickly went under the pillow for the tooth fairy. As she went to bed she told us to make sure Mckall went straight to bed. She didn't want anything holding up the tooth fairy arrival.

When did she grow up?

I typically layout cloths the night beore for th girls to wear the next day. Typically I ask if they want comf's (sweat suit), jeans or a dress. Although there is no point asking M as her preference is to wear a satin shiny purple Christmas dress. That is a whole different subject though. Anyway I had laid out clothes and had departed to work before D got dressed. Burke got the girls read (a two week wait until he begins a new but great job as a medical sales rep). D refused to wear the houndstooth jumper from Gymboree and stated very matter of fact that "that would be a dress I wear if I am going to work with Mom, that is not something for preschool." Ok did she grow up and I missed it.

When will the little green men come?

At the castle we have a visit from little green men every St. Patrick's Day.This St. Patrick's day started off with no visit. When the work day wrapped up I spoke to D and could tell she was very down in the dumps. After a few more probing questions the tears let loose. "The Leprecahuns haven't come, the day is over and we aren't going to be leaving the house, they missed us this year. At preschool we searched for Leprechauns and they were fake! I want the real Leprechsauns to come." Needless to say Burke and the girls went for a walk to pass the time until I made it home. I was a few minutes behind the rest of the family getting home and surprise, surprise the REAL Leprechauns had visited us. Both the girls were running around the house searching for the sneaky little men, but they were happily searching!

The Andventures of Me

One cute thing I have seen out of Mckall lately is when you ask her what her name is she simply replies "Me". I think this is really what she thinks her name is. Her world had shifted to her as the priority (which it should be) as she does a lot of mine, me, and MINE with everything she owns. I would have expected this out of a first child but she is definately letting everyone know the ownership of each item in our house.

Still Catching up - November

As time accelerated towards the holidays princess #1 got excited and princess #2 I think is just hoping that she won't have to sit on Santa's lap again this year. We celebrated Thanksgiving with Burke's family. Time well spent with family and this year it was also Danny's birthday. The day after Thanksgiving was the traditional 4:00 am shopping outing. However this year was missing something. Burke after being laid off and taking his new job as a stay at home Dad reentered the workforce with the guys in brown. His new job (with UPs) is to transition his old customers to brown. Needless to say that poor Burke had to work the day after Thanksgiving assisting drivers, yes to those of you wondering that means he was dressed in full uniform. Depending upon the dollar amount offered by everyone I may be tempted to post a picture or two of Burke in his attractive brown uniform. I also moddled the very attractive garb and probably had more fun than my poor husband. At the end of the month two happy princesses anxiously awaiting snow and Santa.

Catching Up

Well in case you thought I forgot how to type I am making an attempt to catch everyone up on life at the kingdom. In October we had lots of fun. Starting with a visit from Jeremy, Heather and Kylee. It was nice to visit with them. For the princesses it was especially nice to have another princess in the house, after four days of little girls playing there was not one fight, argument or pouting lip (this was something the parents especially enjoyed). We are also looking forward to a new baby for Kylee to play with soon to debut in early January 2009.

The girls also had there fair share of pain inflicted this month. Mckall had a cardiology appointment and we are happy to report that everything continues to do well for her little ticker. Danika also had a large double mole removed that she has had since birth. Everything went fine with the removal and the biopsy was also fine. That was two major checks off of the to do list.

Saving the best for last, was Halloween. This year Danika was Hannah Montana (of course) and Mckall was what Danika was when she was two, a dog. Burke and I even dressed up as Rock of Love season 1, which if you don't know what I am talking about this is a good trashy tv show if you are looking to add to your library. Anyway he was Brett Michaels (the lead singer from Poison) and I was the season one winner, Jess (his girlfriend). As usual a holiday such as this is not celebrated on one day but spread out over the course of a week. The celebration train started with a carnaval at the elementary school Danika will attend. This is a double bonus to go to shcool and have a party. Then we celebrated again with a costume party with friends at Kate and Graces' house. Finally by the actual day of Halloween we kept up our tradition of dinner and trick or treating at Julie's house. This year Danika made both cirles of Julie's subdivision while Mckall only had the energy for one.

This Royal Family Continues to Roll with the Punches

As many of you know we have had to begin to explain things to our kids at an age you never hope to have to start. The term for today was layoff. That's right DHL did their layoff and the Salt Lake team including Burke was effected. So Burke is making the transition to stay at home Dad, fortunate for us he will continue earning salary and bonus for a time to come. So with this large change comes laughter that kids bring. After explaining to not only Danika, but Mary, Willow, Pepper and Copper the difference between fired and layoff we received a call. From Mary letting Burke know that they are hiring a janitor at her school and he can get a job there. Kids are sweet and helpful (as Mary was 100% serious, she thought it would be great to have Burke at school) for now though he will adapt to the stay at home dad.

Asserting her Independence

As of the last month Mckall has definitely started asserting her independence. For example the toddler bath tub and high chair have gone by the way side of the trash can. One thing about this princess is that when she makes up her mind she is very determined. For example when she decided that she was not going to sit in her high chair there is no bending/manipulating/forcing her into it. She has also taken to being exactly like her "Sis". When Danika brought out her backpack to show her Nana and Papa Mckall was at her heels with her own backpack saying "I go school". Even though it was 8 at night Mckall didn't care she was headed to school.

Thank you!

As most everyone knows by now (and if you don't you may be living under a rock, do you have room for more?) my company/job is going through very turbulent times right now (to put it mildly). I will say that in the past week I have learned about things I never thought would come about, I have worked very hard, and am tired both physically and emotionally. As with every major change nothing is for sure yet, only time will tell. As I hope for the best I will keep you all updated, but that is not the reason for my post. I wanted to thank everyone that has reached out to see how we are doing and keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. Some of you I have not spoken to in years and I definitely have to say in a time of stress and sadness it was phone calls from all of you that made me smile and realize just how much worse things could really be. I have my husband, princesses and dog, things will be fine (just not sure what shape when we are done). Thanks again for all of your calls, cheering up and jokes, I really do appreciate it. Thank you!

Busted...

It is definitely true that as kids get older they get smarter. Especially the case with Princess #1 (she may have been born knowing it all). Last night in the car we were driving to the movie store and she said "Mom did you see that cute little dog." I replied it was really cute (having not actually seen the dog, but I am sure it was cute). She instantly said "You are driving and your eyes are on the road, you couldn't have seen it, you lied." Here is where the smart part comes in.. "What color was the dog," she asked. I responded with White, no it was Black and I was done for. Lesson learned, even white lies will be caught be your children starting as early as age 4. We proceeded to the movie store where darling (she is anything but darling right now, she is in a tornado phase) princess #2 picked out another Care Bear movie. She must really like the Care Bears right now because the last month every time she gets to pick a movie it has been about the Care Bears. Well I guess I know what kind of Birthday Party to begin planning for her.

P.S. Kami - You would be proud I have updated pictures, all of 2005 is now on my smug mug site and I will began working up to 2008 soon! (I'll keep you all posted on my progess, as you all know current pictures are my weakness).

Bear Lake Adventures

Well we packed up the kids, boat, clothes, food, toys, (OK you get the picture) and headed to Bear Lake again this year for Labor Day. The girls have become great boaters over the summer. For example I no longer have to wrestle Mckall to the ground to get her life jacket on, she actually buckles it herself. Danika is jumping off the swim deck and swimming in the water. Not to mention she and I went on our first tube ride together while at the lake.

Despite the weather forecast we still got three good days of boating in. Thanks to Pepper who decided to introduce the family to the wake skate we had a new toy to try out. It looks just like a wake board, but with no bindings. Needless to say I was slightly (and Burke totally) skeptical of just how to get up and more importantly stay on the wake skate. Well Pepper figured it out and then we all took a turn on it, however Pepper and Pep were definitely the stunt masters. Burke definitely is getting better at the wake board, giving the boaters some jumps to ooh and ahh about. However it is slightly more difficult experience for Burke to get up when I am driving the boat.

The only downside of the trip was when poor Danika got her finger smashed in the cabin door (the wind blew it shut). The impact was so hard it completely smashed the finger nail off (OUCH)! She cried when it first happened but since then has been tough, so hopefully it grows back quick.

Enough fun for one day

Well I survived! We made our annual trip to Lagoon. Actually we didn't go last year due to Mckall's heart surgery so this was also Mckall's first trip to an amusement park. Let me tell you she did it in true second child fashion. Meaning that anything her sister rode, she wanted to ride. Of course there were a few rides that contained airplanes or things higher up in the air. I didn't dare let Mckall ride on those as it would be my luck she would unbuckle herself and jump out. However, it was a fight (literally) to keep her off those type of rides.

Mckall is into a "Bear" fetish (Care Bears) so of course as we were passing one of the games there was a Care Bear on display as a prize. Mckall instantly identified with it and began shouting "Bear, Bear, Bear". Of course something so cute could not be passed up by two sucker parents so Burke won her "Bear." Danika not to be out done then spotted a panda bear twice her size that she had to make her own. Lucky for me my husband is slightly skilled at these type of activities and after a few more games the panda came home too.

Needless to say at 10:30 that night both my kids were still up and going and I was past ready for bed. Really where do they store that extra energy and can I get some.

I Laughed Myself to Sleep

There hardly is a weekend that goes by these days without Princess #1 asking if she can sleep the night in our bed. Luckily the rule is only on the weekends is sleeping in our bed a possibility, which saves us from this question every night. I am sure Princess #2 would be asking the same question if she knew what was going on while she slept.

Anyway to the real funny part of our night. We were settling in and Burke for some reason beat Danika and I to sleep. For those of you who haven't slept in the same house with Burke he can have a tendency to snore very loudly. This was one of those evenings. Danika pipes up to say Dad stop snoring, Burke sleepily acknowledges and rolls over back to sleep. Ten minutes of silence go by and then the snoring starts again. This time Danika in her sternest voice says "Dad did you not hear what I told you, stop your snoring or you will have to sleep in timeout." At this point in time I am trying to keep my laughter silent as to not provoke this event any longer. Finally we all drifted off to sleep, but I am sure I was still laughing as I was thinking Danika could help me get a good night's sleep every night.

Princess #2 = Attitude

Well it is no secret that Princess #2 always keeps us on our toes. Now that she is adding words to her vocabulary every day we are seeing more and more of her stubborn/mischievous attitude. For example she is not a big fan of the bedtime, this is when all of her fun comes to an end for the day. Tonight we were putting the toys away and she had one book to take to her room at the same time Burke told her he would help her put on her pajamas. We got a loud "NO" to that offer. Then she ran into Danika's room got down on her hands and knees to push her book outside the door, then as Burke came around the corner she hopped up and slammed Danika's door in his face. As this would save her from the bedtime fate. Although it did not work and she soon went to bed, Burke and I were trying hard to keep from laughing at the entire event.

The Greatest American Dog

In case you haven't seen the TV show there is a realty show out there that the princesses are totally into, The Greatest American Dog. So on this weeks show the dogs and owners were doing an obstacle course. Princess #1 and Titleist were not to be out done and after the show was over they made their own course to master. Danika brought up from downstairs her circular tunnel that they have to crawl in and out of as part of the course. She tried a couple of time to get Titleist to go through the tunnel but it was too small, he couldn't fit. We told her that the tunnel was to small for such a big dog, but this did not deter her. She went and got a treat for the dog and for those of you that know our dog, he will do anything for food. So she throughs the dog treat down to the middle of the tunnel and in goes the dog. After eating his treat he realizes that he is stuck in the tunnel. Picture it a small toddler size tunnel with a 100 pound lab stuck in side. Needless to say we thought we were going to have to cut him out but after a few minutes (that felt like years) he worked his way out. Here is hoping that the future shows of The Greatest American Dog are simple tasks, because we have learned. NO more obstacle courses.

Ever Seen a Dog Smile

Today we piled up the royal family (including the dog) and headed to the lake. We did take Pepper with us too as this was Titleist's first time boating. We weren't sure if we would need an extra hand. We got the boat launched into the water and life jackets on (including one for the dog) without problem and then we were off to find a cove and swim. Titleist jumped right in and Pepper even remarked that he has never seen a dog actually smile until now. Talk about your happy family. The princesses were jumping off the swim deck and playing in the water, the dog was swimming laps around the boat and Burke and I were just taking in the sun and happiness. Not sure if Titlesit will get to again this weekend as there aren't too many weekends where there aren't people volunteering to goat boating with us. Needless to say on the way home that day all the kids slept, including one very exhausted dog.

Mornings at the Castle

So I thought I would post this to give some insight to a typical morning in our household. I actually had to go in early so this was the email Burke sent to me letting me know how the girls morning had started off.

Any how I was calling this morning to tell about our morning… Mckall woke up when I got in the shower about 6:35 happy as a lamb, when I got out, I got here some milk and pancakes and turn on her Mickey Mouse movie. Bintzer came in about 6:55 also very cheerful. I figured since it was early I would give them a bath. Bintz hoped right in and Lovin had a melt down. Needless to say it was a quick bath. Got lovin ready put her back in front of her movie with milk and pancakes happy as can be. Bintz got ready brushed teeth and hair and then I made the mistake of asking her to get her shoes on… the little mind of an elephant, wanted to wear her pink flip flops, well we only have one and the other was left at Scott and Jen’s, what 2 months ago??? Any how she asked if she could look silly and just wear one shoe. I said no, she cried! We had little time out session and threaten she would go to Mrs. Jones and not the park. She got up put on her blue flip flops and had blue blanky and pink shoe. I asked if she wanted to leave pink flip flop here so it didn’t get left at Dudes. She said she wanted to cuddle it today….So Dude just called and asked if I am concerned, because your daughter is walking around Target cuddling, hugging and kissing a Pink Shoe.