What will she become?

I often wonder what my kids will be when they grow up. Do you ever wonder that? Lately, I am especially curious as to what Laney will be since she is so determined, and a little bit strange sometimes. She LOVES food of course, and that would explain her little butterball-"ness" that is one of my favorite things about her. She really LOVES to make messes (seriously, she thinks it is so much fun...it is not just a terrible two thing), which Kadie never liked to do really. She LOVES to have a drink in her hand at all times. She LOVES to make silly faces at herself in the mirror. And, she really LOVES to tease Kadie - she gets that from Josh.

Lurpy lbs diet diaries

Is there something wrong with this picture? This is not what I want to look like in 10 years, when I am done having children and my head looks 10 times too small for my body. Anyone interested in a diet? This is my first diet ever...and it is inspired by sugar. Sugar is so so sweet, but does TERRIBLE things to my mind and body and I am sick of it. So my friend Mandi dedicated a blog page to the diet, and reigned a bunch of us in to join her in our war against sugar! I already screwed up by eating oatmeal this morning thinking I was doing good (We are sticking to the South Beach diet or a version of it). So wish me luck, my goal is to get rid of the sugar cravings which happen so often when Josh is gone late, or I have had a day from you know where. If anyone is interested, go ahead and take a peak at the blog! I am sure there will be lots of good ideas and funny stories to help us all along the way.

Superfrank's is Superfun!!!

If you live in close to Pleasanton, California, then you need to go to Superfrank's! It is our favorite family place to be. It is like Chuck E. Cheese but we love it TONS more! Laney had her 1 year old b-day party there, and her 2 year old b-day party there. So we thought it would be fun to take Spencer and Debbie there while they were visiting!

Above: Josh is determined that Laney will be a softball player when she grows up. We gave her some fun and cheap training at ski ball! Luckily not too many people were there to get decked from her fast ball!

Below: Get him Kadie! Kadie takes on Josh at air hockey.

Weekend Fun!

Josh's Brother Spencer and his wife Debbie came to visit us from Utah last week. Debbie would want me to clarify that they are not from Utah, and do not plan on staying there much longer. Debbie really hates the snow. Unfortunately it snowed right as they got back from California. But the weather was warm and sunny all weekend for their visit!

Josh took Kadie, Spencer and Debbie to a Giants game to start off the fun weekend!

For all of you "Christmas" fans, Kadie took her puppy to the game too! (Her puppy's name is Christmas).

After the game everyone came back and we decided it was warm enough for a little swim! Yes, Laney is flying through the air from Josh to Debbie. Make no mistake, it is harder than it looks to throw a compact 33 lb toddler to another person in the pool.

I love this picture of Kadie paused - right before she jumps! Kadie is a fish, and she loves loves LOVES to swim and always has. Oh yes, funny too that Kadie is wearing Laney's swim suit. Laney didn't fit in to her size 3 suit for the summer, so I had to switch their suits. But, it seemed to work out just fine. We are flexible...2 year old toddler, here is your size 5 suit! 5 year old almost kindergartner...do you mind squeezing into this size 3? Great, let's go!

Country at Heart

Many of you may not know...but I am a country girl at heart. I didn't grow up in the country, or ever really plan to move to the country, but I really love everything about it. The wide open fields, the big sky... horses. I think it just reminds me of visiting my grandma and grandpa Packs' house when I was a little girl. We would dress up in "pioneer" looking dresses, and cowboy hats and make all sorts of things in the trees of their yard. Having said that, country music just makes me happy. Not the sad twangy songs...but the fun up-beat songs by artists like TAYLOR SWIFT and RASCALL FLATTS. Josh and I went to the last concert on their tour together last Friday night. It was a blast! The third concert of Rascall Flatts we have been to and definitely the best!

Above: Taylor Swift was so much fun to see in concert. FULL of energy and flipping her hair all over the stage like a Rock Star. She had the most sparkly guitar I have ever seen, hence the "bright" image that is supposed to be her in this picture.

Above: Rascall Flatts. I think I love them because they have some Rock n Roll style to their music. The stage set up was sweet, and even though we were farther away from the stage as we wanted to be, they came and performed on this rotating platform not too far in front of us.

Below: Cowboy Josh, boots and all. Hey, are you laughing? Stop that! (wink)

Artist in Training

Kadie has suddenly sprung come creative genes. She loves, and has always loved collecting small things. Now she likes drawing her own version of it. This one started out with some flowers Kadie collected from a tree near by. She lined them up, talked about how pretty they were and then drew a picture of a small flower getting bigger and bigger and turning into a tree.

I just loved how she was so proud of it being her own piece of art. And of course, she had me take a picture of her pretending to be the "tree". I had to document this because it is sad that it will be blown away with the windy spring weather.

Laney reverted to eating the chalk like she eats everything else. FYI - Laney weighs 33 lbs. Kadie weighs 35, and they are 3 1/2 years apart.

Conference Weekend

This conference was so strange not to see President Hinckley on the stand, to hear him proclaim his love of the gospel, and hear his funny jokes. But it was amazing how comfortable President Monson looked as prophet. I was excited to be able to sustain him and the other leaders. It was really great to be able to explain this new man as prophet to the girls.

My favorite talk was from M. Russel Ballard. I think it was the second to last talk of the whole conference weekend. I felt like he was talking straight to me. Everything I have ever struggled with, especially lately as a mother, he addressed. I really felt appreciated and lifted up as a mother from hearing his words. I felt like what I do all day DOES make a difference and it is the right choice for our family.

The funniest thing was when he said that he wanted to talk to the children. Josh and I said to Kadie "Listen, he is talking to the children. That means you". And we tried to act really excited about it. Then he proceeded to say things like "pick up your toys, when you are a little older, make your bed" and a few other things having to do with helping your mother. I was cracking up with a pillow in front of my face because of the look on Kadie's face like "What is he telling me to do?" Then Josh said to Kadie "Did you hear that? You can start to make your bed!" and Kadie said "No, he said when I am OLDER dad". It was a cute thing to say...and I will give her credit because she is good at helping out already. Laney is the one we need to teach to clean up after herself!