Moving Stinks!

One of these days, I'm going to hire movers. These movers will pack, load, drive, and unload. They will do it all in one day. I will not have to lift anything. I will not have to move a piano. I will not have to move seven times when I'm actually only moving once. I will not have to let a flu-infested Benjamin run around naked while smelling like puke because I only have twenty more minutes to clean the apartment. I will not eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch from a community bowl while sitting on the kitchen floor. I will not have a community cup, either. I will not volunteer to help at church activities on the day that I have to move. (Why am I so darn nice?!) If needed, I will purchase the king of all storage units, so I don't have to scream to Willie, "Get out, this is not safe!," while "tossing" a thirty pound box full of my dishes fourteen feet in the air praying that it lands on the top of the already precariously high and leaning stack of heavy boxes. I will not have to take apart the bunk beds. Furthermore, I will hire a maid. I will stay in a hotel with a jacuzzi tub while my movers break their backs and strain their muscles. The kids will stay with grandma. I have a dream.

Wedding Pictures!

Last week we had the opportunity to go up to Seattle for Mari's wedding. Quickly, as I take a short break from the boxes and packing tape, here are a few pictures of the wedding, Willie's early birthday celebration, and the Betancourt homerun ball that we got during the Mariners game!

Fun Stories

This morning Emmeline got sent to her room. When she got there, she proceeded to call Luke and asked, "Do you know why I'm in my room?" Luke said, "No, I don't." EmJ said, "Neither do I!"

Last night we went to a magic show. The kids LOVED it...they have been making things "disappear" all day. Benjamin even got into it. When the magician pulled a the silver dollar out of his (Benjamin's) ear he got a huge grin and started laughing and clapping. It was so cute and right on cue! Joshua and Emmeline both got called up, but Joshua was too shy, and another girl ran up there before EmJ could. (Grrr!) Another little volunteer was so nervous that she wet her pants! I enjoyed watching the kids watching the magic show, but didn't really enjoy the show. I work so hard trying to catch the illusion that I miss all the fun. Anyway, that's it! We had a great week.

Happy Easter!!

They were so cute I had to post them all!

Kirstin is 25!?!

Just a quick note: When you read the next post I want you all to notice that Benjamin is wearing a Yankee t-shirt. We shot the video on opening day!

Alright, alright! A quick post about my birthday. It started Thursday with a trip to the temple. The picture of Benjamin's bruised and scraped face his his temple fountain war wound. I think the fountain won. Then on Friday, we all went to my volleyball game. After the game, Willie ran up to me and said, "Come open my present my got you. It's in the car. It's some baseball gum." Followed by Emmeline's, "You're not supposed to tell her. You can't look in the trunk, Mom." Followed by Luke's, "You're not supposed to tell her not to look in the trunk!" So, hence the picture of Willie, me, and my baseball gum--which he picked out all by himself and is so proud of. Finally, there is a picture of my gorgeous Twinkie Cake. YUMMMMM! It was fabulous!

Tonight, we went out to dinner at a new restaurant near our house. It is a basketball themed restaurant, with tables set up on a basketball court, lots of memorabilia, and trading cards for the kids. It was really nice, and if it was a baseball themed eartery it'd be perfect!

P.S. Willie doesn't like Twinkies. sigh...

Cute Video!

A few weeks ago, Luke asked, "Who wants to say prayers?" Benjamin's hand shot into the air along with the other two kids. Now whenever we ask a "who wants to...", he raises his hand. So here's a fun video of it for your viewing pleasure. The sound is about four seconds behind the video, but because it's just a question/answer type thing, it still makes sense!

The Newest Member...

of our family! That is an Emmeline exclamation point, not a Kirstin exclamation point. As you all know, I am anti-animal, however, Aunt Traci gave EmJ this beautiful beta for her birthday.



EmJ is upset that he he a boy. She started crying because she wanted to give it a princess name and said that, "Girls can be red, too!" I suggested a name like Prince Charming, and she said, "Oooh, I want to name him 'Thero Mance'!" (Aside: In the Cinderella preview it says, "The magic, the mystery, the romance!" As it says, "the ro-MANCE", it shows a picture of the prince. So in her five year old head, the prince in Cinderella is named Thero Mance.) It was hysterical, but she gave up on the prince thing and just named the fish LUKE!

Emmeline's Birthday, Part Two

Here are just a few quick pictures from Emmeline's actual birthday. I can't post any from her party because there are other kids in the pictures, so the pictures are as follows: Opening presents from Puppy Grandma, sitting in the "I'm 5" chair at McDonalds (we went out to breakfast on her birthday), and all dolled up waiting for the party to start. Her cupcake is the pink one!

She had a blast with her friends at the party. Not one of the girls stayed in the princess dress that they came it, which was pretty cute. The girls beaded bracelets, played dress up, ate pizza, and devoured cupcakes. It was really fun, but I was super tired when it ended!



Just a note: Our home has become a free-for-all. I'm trying to be friendly, but at times I just shut the blinds and lock the door! A few weeks ago, Luke brought home a zillion doughnuts from work. He passed them out to all the kids that were playing outside. That night, there were random children knocking on our door until 10 p.m. More showed up the next morning to see if there were more doughnuts. Then, after Emmeline's birthday party, the uninvited playground kids made themselves at home and finished up our pizza. One little girl even said, "Mmmm, I love pizza. And when I'm done I'm gonna finish off that orange soda, and I'll have THAT cupcake right there." Needless to say, I hid my orange soda!