The FitzSimon Family

Whoa it's been awhile....

2011-06-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

Mckenzie loves puzzles, this one was 100 pieces and took her a couple hours but she succeeded all on her own!

My new glasses, don't wear them much but I like them, they feel a bit strange though..

Haircut!

My goodness it's been awhile! What can I say, when you're teaching high school kids, blogging doesn't always get done on a regular basis! Fortunately for me, I have been out of school for a month and loving my summer vacation! Funny, last summer I went crazy with boredom and felt like I lost my identity being out of teaching for so long, this summer though I have absolutely no problem reveling in self projects and just relaxing! Family is good, McKenzie is 6 now and very into a lot of things. She can tie her own shoes, whistle, and she draws so well. We just got her hair cut drastically for the first time last week, she only ever had a small trim before. She has it layered and to her mid back now, it's very cute. Today we redid our spare bedroom to be our game, movie, reading, excercise room! I'm hoping to get an excercise bike for my birthday next week, I'm going to be 27 which is really scary!! And I've been doing our Wii Fit everyday and have lost 3 lbs which is great! Other than that not much is going on, we are hoping to get out of town next month for a couple days. Oh and we all had our eyes checked, McKenzie and I have 20/20 vision but I have a slight problem seeing things perfectly clearly at a great distance, lol, so I am to wear mine during driving and when needed. Paul is blind as a bat though but he got really good glasses. I post most stuff on Facebook now so if I don't have you as a friend, add me!

From my little Angel

2010-12-07T19:44:00.000-08:00

Dear Santa,

I am McKenzie and I love you. I have been really good I think. I sleep in my bed all night and I help my mama cook. If you don’t be good, you get rocks…and I don’t want rocks.

Please bring me a zombie doll, play food you can cut, and a Rapunzel dolly with a castle. I saw them in my mama’s computer…so if you have a computer you can look for them there. Mommy and Daddy aren’t getting anything for Christmas. They don’t play with toys, just me.

I live a little bit far away in a brown house on a road. This year we might get on an airplane. Please call my mama on her cell phone and ask her if we are going, because I don’t know. Her phone number is 892-6541-23565.

I saw you at the mall shopping with your wife. I am going to see you there soon at your house at the mall. I love you Santa!

Love,

McKenzie FitzSimon

-Kenzie's Letter to Santa, written by her teacher and dictated by herself. And yes, all of this is very true (Including seeing Santa shopping wiht his wife!) I'm still crying, I love this little girl!

When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces that went skipping about,that was the beginning of fairies.

2010-09-17T18:53:00.001-07:00

We have been way busy lately with school. Classes are all going well and that is pretty much all we have to report! I can't believe sometimes that I get paid to draw with a bunch of kids all day! Anywho, we got Kenzie this photo shoot last weekend at the mall. It was pretty cute, I have to admit I am dissappointed with some of the pictures and especially the lighting, but I am tweaking them in photoshop so they aren't so bad. These are unaltered, but still pretty darn cute. Enjoy!

Andrew and Alexis Trailer

2010-08-20T17:33:00.000-07:00

just a little treat for you. This is a trailer for Andrew and Alexis's wedding video being made soon. It's pretty cute, and it has McKenzie in it so of course it's REALLY cute! Sorry I've been gone awhile, school starts on Monday and I'm losing my head a little! Pictures and updates to come.

http://vimeo.com/14288022

Happy Birthday, 4th of July, and Weeds!

2010-07-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

I was able to spend my birthday with my family for the first time in 9 years so it was pretty fun. I'm 26 now, pretty scary, I'm almost to the last 20s, AHHHHH!!! We got to go look for agates on the beach and found several, and we had a fantastic strawberry cheesecake that my sister Jessica made for me.

We helped my mom weed the garden the day before we flew home and Kenzie just loved it.

For the 4th of July we had a great barbeque and got to see Fireworks on the river. McKenzie loved Jessica's bird Louie and thought it was so cool when he was on her head!

When we got home on Wednesday night I had this beautiful room divider in my entryway from Paul's parents. (A room separating apparatus from colonial times, for those of you who watch Friends, ha ha!!)

My parents bought me this gorgeous Renaissance dress for me to run around and act like a dork in at this year's Texas Renaissance Festival in the Fall. I also got to go buy lots of natural stone jewelry at this awesome bead store we found off of the highway near North Bend, OR.

This is where we looked for agates, it was lots of fun!

Painting the roses red, yes, painting the roses red!!

2010-07-03T18:57:00.000-07:00

Last weekend after Andrew's wedding we went to the Portland Zoo (Pictures coming later!) and the Rose Garden which is a huge garden with roses that have been planted since the early 1900s. It is really pretty and we had a lot of fun. We got to run around with our family and Andrew's friend Brandon who lived across the street from us growing up.

A loaf of bread and butter too is what we truly need, a pleasant walk, a pleasant talk, of cabbages and kings!!

2010-07-03T17:38:00.000-07:00

We went Friday for a drive up the coast to Florence and it was a lot of fun. We found a little shop on the side of the road that has all these natural stones, beads, and charms for necklaces. I went back today for a second trip cause it was so much fun!! We got to go to the beach and get our feet wet (It was very cold!) and Kenzie tried to make a castle. We then went to eat at a cute little restuarant on the docks and look at all the boats.

The Whole Enchilada

2010-06-28T21:47:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to almost all of the pictures from Andrew and Alexis's wedding as well as some from our trip to Oregon. More to come later, stay tuned!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/102949834332150604690/AndrewWedding?authkey=Gv1sRgCIH86fjrqc-CVw#

More Wedding

2010-06-27T23:22:00.000-07:00

More wedding pics. Make sure you scroll down the page and get both posts. More to come!

Ring Ceremony

Greek Dancing (See McKenzie?)

Kenzie showing off the flower girl basket that Andrew made for her.

SMACK!!!

She danced with Andrew a lot. Do you see how red she is??

Taylor and McKenzie dancing

Cutting the cake.

At the Temple

Andrew's Wedding

2010-06-27T22:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is the first of many Oregon pictures from our trip and my brother Andrew's wedding. These are just a few wedding pictures from my camera phone. I have to get everyone's memory cards from their cameras to get the good stuff including Temple pictures. These are all just the reception, ring ceremony, and rehearsal dinner. It was quite the event and lots of fun.

This is the dance tent and my insane daughter who danced for 2 hours straight with every person there. She was beat red, dripping with sweat, and even break danced in her dress!!

April and Taylor ( My sister and her son)

McKenzie

Kenzie enjoying her lamb at the reception dinner

My lovely Greek food, mmmmmm!

Ring ceremony

She was super grouchy!

Rehearsal Dinner at a beautiful place in the woods.

Jessica (My sister) Andrew(My Brother) Alexis(Andrew's Wife)

Table decorations for rehearsal dinner (designed by my sister, April)

The massive amounts of my dad's amazing food!

Happy Father's Day!!!

2010-06-20T10:12:00.000-07:00

I wanted to do a tribute to my Dad and my sweet husband who is a great dad to my beautiful little girl.

I have the coolest dad in the world. Besides him being a famous marine biologist, he is just an all around great guy. I always loved going to his lab when I was growing up so I could hold sea urchins and play with all the stuff in his office. I remember looking out his window with binoculars and searching for manatees in the water. I would take my little sister to his work after school so we could look for aligators. I would draw pictures of him on the marker board outside his office so his post docs would think its funny.

My dad has a lot of talents besides his work too. He is an amazing cook and makes us fine cuisine from around the world. He also knows everything about everything. Really he does, he knows more useless trivia than anyone I know!( It use to be an ongoing joke that I thought he would simply make up the scientific name for everything known to man, but he really does know them all!) He is also a skilled dancer and craftsman, he can fix anything. I can also count on one hand the times that I have actually seen him yell at a person. The man is such a good talker and calm natured person that he has no need to raise his voice.

My fondest memories of my dad include him coming home from work and stealing the brownies from the kitchen that I had made for everyone. Him dancing in the kitchen with my mom while I played showtunes on the piano while he would sing too. My dad is awesome and few people in the world can be as amazing as him, I love you dad!!

He also makes an excellent Charles Darwin, does he not?

My husband is such a good daddy and McKenzie loves him so much.
He has always wanted to be a dad and it's adorable to see such a big guy be so careful with such a little girl. Whenever McKenzie is sick, she wants to go to him for comfort. She loves to be involved in anything he is doing, whether its playing a game or helping fix something. She has always cried if she is present when he leaves for work, she just can't take it. When Kenzie was a baby, she would wear a white onesie and take naps on his belly every Sunday afternoon.

Paul is very patient and good with her. Sometimes he is much better than me at teaching her little lessons and explaining things to her. ( I can have a short temper!) I will always remember him laying in bed with her and reading her stories, making forts in the living room, bringing home donuts every saturday morning, taking her out for pancakes when she gets good grades on her report card, letting her crawl into our bed when she is scared at night from thunder or a bad dream. I love you sweetie, you are a terrific daddy!

Emails Please

2010-06-13T22:44:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone, I just wanted to let you know that I am going to make my blog private. I will leave it up for a week or two so you can let me know what all your emails are to make this safe and secure. Just leave me a comment on this post with your name and email and I will put you on the safe list so you can view my blog. I will not publish your email to the public since I have to monitor the comments anyway, they will just go to my hotmail. Thanks so much!

Faculty Fine Art and McKenzie's Birthday

2010-05-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

We had a pretty good 5th birthday. On her birthday-eve we went black light mini golfing which was lots of fun, and then on her actual birthday we made froggy cupcakes to take to her class and had spaghetti for dinner and an entire cake to ourselves since Paul was working, but it was quite nice! My little girl is growing up so fast!

A lovely Princess and the Frog Cake

Not the neatest cupcakes but I tried!

Ok, this project was just a hoot! I got this idea for me and my high school kids to re-create famous fine art pieces but replace the heads with pictures of different faculty members!! They have created quite a stir and the Dean of Students started out Friday Teacher meeting by saying "So, Mrs. FitzSimon is getting fired..." (She was kidding, I brought my super-intendent to tears with laughter though once he saw these!)

I highly recommend this at schools, workplaces, etc for instance happiness and laughter

The Scream

Madonna and Child

Old Guitarist

Mona Lisa

American Gothic

The Thinker

Girl with the Pearl Earring

Happy Birthday McKenzie!!!

2010-05-19T15:36:00.000-07:00

My baby girl is 5 today! I must say I cried just a little bit! She has grown up so fast and I have loved every minute of it! She is such a little ray of sunshine and we love her so much! We celebrated last night by going black light minature golfing and eating pizza. Today it's just me and Kenzie at home (Paul is at work) and we got her several toy sets from the Disney store, Disney clothes and shoes, 2 pillow pals, and a How to train your dragon board game. We are also going to have cake and watch Emperor's New Groove (Curtesy of my friend Andrea!) It's been a good day and next week we get out for Summer break, woot woot!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

2010-05-08T21:08:00.000-07:00

I have the greatest mom in the world and she has done so much for me! I was very fortunate growing up to have her at home all the time so she could take care of me whenever I needed her. I remember her taking a job when I started Kindergarten as a lunch lady so she could keep an eye on me during my first year of school. I remember her braiding my hair every Saturday night so it would be curly for church in the mornings, something I now do for my daughter. She drove me every morning to swimming lessons when I was 8 years old. She made my birthday cake every year and put a toy on the top. She sewed me princess dresses and capes to feed my fantasy obsession. She picked me up from countless play rehearsals and went to all my shows. She took me shopping all the time and I loved going to the nursery with her to get flowers for the yard. She surprised me for my senior prom by buying me the most gorgeous dress and then taking me to get my hair professionally done. She cried on the night I went to my senior grad night because I was growing up too fast, and she is always there to give me advice and help me whenever I need it.

I love my mom so much and if I can end up being half the woman she is I will have done a good job with my life. Happy Mother's Day mom, I love and miss you!!!

Bluebonnets!

2010-04-11T15:32:00.000-07:00

We went and took pictures in the bluebonnets and indian paint brushes that are blooming in abundance right now all along the highways! Here is the link to check them all out!!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=2049746&id=1029429029

The Great Mumford Art War!!!!!

2010-03-28T15:29:00.001-07:00

I need to get out my frustration of what has happened the past week with my art students and their artwork that they entered in the county fair. For those that do not know what is happening, here are the basics, I need to list them to keep it organized:

-I had 16 kids enter work into the county fair art division.
-The rules clearly state that the work needs to be matted, but you are not judged on matting, just the artwork itself.
-Rules also state that ONE 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place will be give in each category. Ex: Watercolor, photography, sculpture, etc....
-Best of show and Grand Champion winners in each category will be given cash awards.
-$2 entry fee required per student, per entry.

Ok, you know the basics, here is what happened: I helped all my kids matt their work with poster board (We didn't have time or budget to get actual matts, but were told by the Fair people to specifically use poster board) and I took all their work into the fair grounds to check it in. The lady in charge of visual arts was rude to me and asked me if I was going to actually volunteer next year? (She told me previously that if she NEEDED me she would let me know, since I never heard from her I assumed there was no need to bug her about me volunteering) I awkwardly said yes and gave her my information for next year.

The judging occurs on the next day and I try for 2 days to get someone from the fair to let me know if my kids won anything. Several of them attend the fair and they contact me to let me know that Reyes, one my students, got 1st place in his division but literally all of the other students got 2nd place. I'm thinking there is some kind of mistake because how on earth can that happen? I also find out that none of them won any kind of money, but yet people who got 10th place in the science fair won over $100??

At this point I am pretty darn mad and so I go to the fair on Sunday to collect all of the kids' artwork and figure out exactly what is going on. When I got there I wanted to speak to the lady in charge (One that was originally rude to me when I checked in) but she wouldn't stay put, so I spoke to the art teacher from another school district who was helping with the show. I ask her why on earth all my kids have 2nd place ribbons except one because to me that seems like these so called "judges" don't know what the heck they are doing. The rude lady in charge then jumps in and tells me that they told the judges to just be as generous as possible, and in some categories there are as many as 10 first place winners. HOW DOES THIS MAKE SENSE? They then proceed to tell me that some of my kids may have gotten first places too, but then ran out of ribbons. Ok, how do you run out of ribbons? Isn't the point of an art competition to observe the artwork and judge them accordingly, and follow the rules that you put out by simply giving one 1st, one second, and one third in every category!!! It's like they just went around the room saying "Very good, you get 1st, and you, oh and you, OOPS! We ran out of ribbons, ok let's start with the 2nd places!!"

Let's ask a question: Do you feel special or get a feeling of accomplishment when you and 20+ people all get 2nd place???? This is ridiculous and a complete insult!!!! These people have no clue what they are doing and lied about everything!!

To top it all of, the other art teacher then proceeds to tell me that her and the other art teacher from a local district want to take me out to dinner so they can "teach" me how to compete. I know how to freakin compete! But what is the point when there is no sound system of judging and all they get is a 20 cent ribbon???? She told me that my pictures may have done better if they had "real" matts on them. Funny isn't it, when the the rules say that it is ONLY judged on artwork not framing? Also funny since the lady in charge specifically told me to use poster board!!! She also led me to believe that if I had volunteered my kids would have done better. WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH THEIR ARTWORK??? They could have entered their artwork by themselves, I only did it for them to make things easier for them! So why on earth does my volunteering affect that???????

I went around the room to look at the things that got the special "cash prizes" (There were at least 50 of them) and they were total crap!! It was stuff that either had to do with agriculture, Texas, or football. NO JOKE!!! Take for instance a cow skull randomly painted with acrylic paint. Yep, I'm sure that deserves an award more than my student who had a perfectly shaded rendition of an Aztec God!!! Or how about a flower arrangement of stuff that looks like it came from a dusty closet of their grandma's? Yes, that is much better than my students' watercolors with perfect glazing techniques and color!!!!!!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guarantee half of those winners knew someone in the fair. These people are totally unfair and should not even have an art competition if they aren't going to bother with proper and fair judging.

Well that about sums it up. I'm off to go make something for my kids to show them how proud I am of them and apologize for these stupid people who didn't bother to truly judge their work. We will not be competing next year. I will enter their work into national and state competitions that matter and that only give out a certain set of awards. That way if they don't win, they know to work harder and if they do win they will actually have a sense of accomplishment by knowing they are the ONLY one who got a second or first place!!!!

New Couch!!!

2010-03-27T19:54:00.001-07:00

Yes, it's been awhile since I blogged....again. We have had some fun things going on. My kids swept the county fair with their artwork (even if they weren't given cash prizes and the other divisions did! Don't even get me started.....) we had a lovely Spring break with lots of relaxation, we have a brand new green couch that is beautiful!(see below!) had our 6th anniversary, and.....I think that's about it! How's everyone else doing?

Told ya! BEEAAUUTIFUL!

Snow in Texas!

2010-02-23T14:43:00.000-08:00

Wow it's been a loooonnnggg time since I blogged! I honestly update my Facebook page more, so if you don't have me on yours go ahead and add me! Or get a Facebook page! Ok so what's new with us? Not too much. Loving school, my kids are great. I was evaluated by my superintendent which was highly intimidating but I got a great report and they want me back for next year so all is right in the world! I'm also almost done with all my course work for my teacher certification and by Fall I will be officially certified! YAY! The big news today though was that it snowed and we got dismissed early from school cause the roads were getting too bad! That was apparently a huge deal because A: This is Texas, it never snows! and B: Mumford school district usually NEVER closes! And as icing on the cake, we don't have to go to school tomorrow until 10 am to allow all the ice to melt! Can we say WOOT WOOT for sleeping in?! Ok yes, it's sad that this is the most exciting thing going on, but hey we are happy :) I also did some comission work for a fellow teacher that was really fun and I am thinking of marketing. Pictures below, tell me what you think! Also have pictures of some of my work that I did along with the kids doing projects.

My students enjoying the snow. They got to go play for a few minutes!

The snow man one of the kids made on Mr. Bienski's car. He's the superintendent, I hope he thought it was fun.

Making said snowman.

View out my class window.

My "handscape" project.

My Alice in Wonderland picture.

My Watercolor silouette

The comissioned piece. It was for a baby boy's room and his name is EVAN.

If you want to know what my kids are up to, check out our class website at http://mumfordart.weebly.com

Christmas and Random fun

2010-01-02T09:50:00.000-08:00

Well we had an excellent Christmas break and I really sad to see it over so quickley. Mckenzie and I went to see Princess and the Frog which was amazing, and it is her new Disney obsession of course. We have also had a lot of fun baking. We made peanut butter cookies one day and Kenzie rolled the dough into little balls, then into sugar, and placed them on the cookie sheet all on her own! We really are not wanting to return to school next week but I guess we get to count down to summer now!

We got a deep fryer from my sister-in-law so we have been playing with it. We made funnel cakes last night and this is Kenzie trying some (She didn't like it!) Do you know how easy these are to make and how obsurd it is that people charge you $5 for these at fairs?

Unwrapping presents!

Me in all my Twilight nerdiness, right down to the Alice Cullen bracelet on my arm. It was a good Christmas! He, he!

Mckenzie has gotten into a habit of watching movies on my bed!

My little artist decided that an easel was needed, but since we don't have one she improvised one on the fridge. This is definately my child!

Christmas Activities

2009-12-23T20:41:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!!!

Yep, it's been awhile, so here are a lot of pictures again! I had my school Christmas program, it went over extremely well and a lot of parents said it was the best one yet. Our props and decorations looked awesome! Mckenzie is also destined to be a star. The theme for the show was "Christmas through the decades" and her class did the 1980s. She was a hula dancer and she also got to headbang and play air guitar. She outshined everyone and stole the show, it was hilarious! I am enjoying my 2 week break immensely but it has occurred to me that I do not know how to relax, I always have to be doing something! So my house is going to get really clean I guess, which isn't exactly a bad thing. Hope everyone is having a great Christmas!

Mckenzie decorating cookies

She liked to use the sprinkles a lot.

Such concentration!

We went to a Christmas party in houston with her cousins and Santa made an appearance.

Cousin present exchange, she was very excited.

This is the juke box I painted for one of the class props for our Christmas program. It was my favorite piece so I had to post this..

A hippie van my students painted.

The Christmas tree with my students' handmade ornaments.

The lobby decorated with our 7 decade santas. I drew them and my students helped me paint them, they turned out so good.

Yes they are a little out of proportion, but we got away with it them being cartoons and also it being so hard to draw a person that big!

This is the gingerbread house that Kenzie and I made. She did almost all the decorating herself, not bad for a 4 year old!

Christmas lights on our house.

My little 80s hula girl!

She was too cute. I worked the backstage left and during her performance she saw me back there and kept pointing to her face saying "Mommy, they painted my eyes!" I kept telling her to look forward and she finally did, it was so funny.

Our house all decorated.

Renaissance Festival, School Moments, and Random

2009-11-29T11:10:00.000-08:00

Ok, are you ready for ten billion pictures? Well tough, there isn't that many but there are a lot! Sorry it's been awhile, I remain insanely busy with school and trying to get stuff done for this huge Christmas program which is next week. It will be Mckenzie's first stage debut so everyone is invited to come see her. My class and I did the majority of sets, decorations, and props for it and I will be running the backstage crew as well. Needless to say that the stress level is very high! But we did get a nice break from things this wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. We hosted dinner at our house and had a ton of food. (Pictures to come of that and our Christmas decorations) It's so nice to have a house to put lights on and decorate with a fireplace. We have our tree up and decorated, it is huge. I'm pretty sure it was the fattest one on the lot! We did just a tiny bit of black Friday shopping and rolled out of bed at a lovely 8am just to get a few good bargains. Then on Saturday we went to the Texas Renaissance festival which is totally awesome and I'm pretty sure I could live there. It was sad that we didn't dress up though because I had trouble ordering my dress online and ending up just not getting it, but next year we are going all out and bringing lots of money because I could have bought the place out! Mckenzie loved it too, she was amazed with so many princesses and fairies walking around. Paul went pretty crazy with all the armor and weapon shops too. I highly recommend going to one of these if you have never been!

This is my little celtic necklace I got.

My handcarved wooden jewelry box

Mckenzie and her pewter fairy which she just loves.

Paul got a coat of arms of our family from Ireland with the whole history and meaning of our name which is super cool.

This was a cool tree man walking around.

A cute matching couple.

Mckenzie and a mermaid statue.

A guy in the woods playing a harp.

A big fairy lady.

Paul and Mckenzie watching the "stupid jugglers" who reminded us of my brother Andrew. I could see him doing this.

A cool elf man.

Paul and Mckenzie riding an elephant. This was the highlight of Kenzie's day.

This was my favorite store, but the tapestries were so expensive.

Riding the carousel.

Mckenzie watching the birds and eating a pretzel.

The joust.

Relaxing at the joust.

My little elves hard at work making Christmas decorations.

Antique suitcases I'm making for the show.

Boxes of decorations and ornaments.

My room, such a mess.

My 3rd graders and the Turkeys we made of Thanksgiving.

Halloween and new house

2009-11-01T17:26:00.001-08:00

Yes, I know, it's been weeks since I last updated this thing...well it turns out that when you have a full time job that often requires lots of outside time to prepare, you don't have time to update blogs! But I do feel bad so I will try and do it more often! The other problem was, however, that my camera is broken and my laptop with a card reader needs a new power cord, so in order to post pictures I have to borrow a camera and a card reader so things can get a little tricky! We will hopefully be fixing all these things this month though. Anywho, what's new with us you may ask? Not much, life is good, school is good, we are having lots of fun.

I had to paint faces at my school's Halloween festival two days in a row, so for the first one we all dressed up like renaissance people. Unfortunately we didn't get pictures of this but we should take some this month since we got free tickets to the Texas Ren Faire (the biggest one in the country, can we say awesome?!) and we are all dressing up of course.

So for the second day of the festival I was on my own since Kenzie wasn't allowed to go to that one (It was for the bigger kids) so I decided to dress up as a Jedi. The kids thought it was really cool, especially when I charged into the festival and started slaying Juniors and High School teachers! It was a blast.

Then during trick or treating on Saturday we had our car battery die so our candy gathering was cut short since we got our car jumped and figured we better go home. I was going to continue trick-or- treating in our neighborhood but Kenzie had crashed in the car and was snoring loudly, so we decided to call it a night. And it was a good thing we came home because the car didn't start up again once we got it there. So Sunday was spent getting a new car battery instead of church, which stunk but we would have been very early to church since I had forgotten about daylight savings time! Here are some pictures of Halloween and our house.

Our backyard

Our back deck

Kenzie's room , it's messy and usually has a cute rug but it's being washed.

Kitchen cupboards

Kitchen and dining room in back, yes it's messy too!

Entertainment center

Front Door

Living Room

Entryway

Dining room (It still has boxes)

Front yard

Me!

Mommy Jedi

Fairy Princess Kenzie

Mckenzie beating up cousins

Sorting through the loot

A tiring 24 hours...

2009-09-11T14:40:00.000-07:00

We had an interesting 24 hours these past two days. Yesturday at school around 10:30am I got a call in my room from Mckenzie's teacher telling me that she fell off the monkey bars on the playground. She scraped her face up but had stopped crying and everything so they thought she was fine. I was still worried, so I went to go check on her at lunch and she seemed happy and doing ok. Well I picked her up after school and took her to my room and she complained that her tummy hurt. She sat on my floor till 4pm when we can leave, and started to cry really bad. When we got out to the car, she threw up in the parking lot 3 times. I figured maybe she had some kind of stomach bug. On the way home she told me to pull over and threw up again. Then when we got home it was 2 more times and she was getting drowsy so we got pretty worried. We ended up taking her to the emergency room where she got a CT scan and the doctor ruled that she was fine accept for a concusion, which was the reason for her vomiting. So she threw up some more at home but seems to be doing better now. She still won't eat today and is sleeping a lot, but she isn't throwing up which is good. She is such a brave little girl, the hospital didn't scare her at all. I was a little upset at the fact that her teacher and the teacher's aid didn't see it happen so no one could tell me exactly what was going on, only the other little kids saw it happen. But Kenzie tends to think she can handle things more than other kids, so we had a talk about no more monkey bars. It was not fun going to school today without her knowing she was home hurt, I just hate it!
But I have to say she is definately my child, she threw up at least 10 times and stayed clean throughout, that's my little girl!

School is awesome, life is good.

2009-09-09T18:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been awhile since I updated this thing, we have been busy and I usually post stuff on my Facebook page first. Anyway, did I mention the fact that I have the most amazing job ever? Seriously, who would have thought teaching art and then getting to help people draw and make projects all day could be so wonderful? I have great kids who are so much fun and Mckenzie just loves coming to school with mom and then going to class all day. She is doing very well. Paul is loving his job too. He laughed at me today because we got our insurance cards in the mail for Blue Cross Blue Shield, which is what my parents had growing up, and I about cried and said "Wow, no more student insurance, this is REAL insurance! I feel so grown up!" It's funny how I excited I am to make real money and pay bills and start saving for retirement!

Anywho, we may get to move into our cute house at the end of the month, which is very exciting indeed. Hope all is well with everyone else. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment.

This is my room all decorated. Those stars on the ceiling light up so when I do power points on the projector I turn them on to give a lovely effect. I have great art prints all around the room and I love that boat bookshelf!

This is Mckenzie on the first day of school.

Quite excited! Yet after the first day when I went to get her after school, she was so exhausted and confused that some of the other preschool kids cried all day long. She fell asleep in my room and wouldn't talk to me for awhile. I was so worried. Luckily, she has been fine every day after that because the kids finally stopped crying. She loves playing and learning new things.

Daddy and Kenzie before school.

Our house and Paul's new job!

2009-08-10T21:37:00.001-07:00

Backyard and deck

Ok, most importantly: PAUL HAS A NEW JOB!!! He got the one he wanted too! He is the new SAC instructor at a middle school here in town. The best part is that all three of us have the same schedules, we will all go to school then come home, have evenings and weekends together and summers off! Also, Paul is going back to school. He is going to slowly get his degree through the local colleges by doing night classes, online, and summer classes.

Ok, next good thing is we got an awesome house to rent. It's a 3 bedroom 2 bath and the guy who owns it is giving us a great deal and letting us paint it and everything. We are moving in next month once Paul goes back to Rexburg to get our things out of storage. So we are all pretty ecstatic because everything fell into place! Mckenzie is so excited to go to school and I am so happy I get to keep an eye on her. My classroom is looking great and very "artsy". It turns out I won't be teaching Drama, just Art because so many students signed up for it. Paul and I start our training this week and then school starts in two weeks! Life is good!

Outside of the house. There are two big trees, a 2 car garage to the left of that door, and I'm going to put roses and a fountain under that window.

Mckenzie's room

Master bathroom, I love that floor!

Guest Bathroom

Entry way

Master Bedroom

Living room

Kitchen

Dining room

Want to see my new classroom?!?!

2009-07-30T21:59:00.001-07:00

I got to go see my classroom today. It's beautiful! I have my own desk with a dell computer, counters, sink cuboards, a closet, tv with vcr and dvd player, dry erase board! I also got to go around the school and find a whole bunch of brand new art textbooks to use (I get to spend the next few days going through about 6 teacher manuals to figure out which ones I want to use!) and some art supplies too. We also found a whole bunch of nice art prints which I hung up around the room in cronological order. Kenzie also got to see her classroom, it's quite cute and she is so excited to go to school with mommy.

We had a bit of an adventure after we left my school too. On the drive home we saw smoke from a huge fire and it was really orange smoke, so we guessed it was some kind of chemical fire. They were closing off the highways, but we didn't think too much of it. Well we went to the swim park and while we were there I heard on the radio that they were evacuating Bryan, because it was a chemical warehouse that was burning up, and we were in the evacuation zone. So we went home but decided to just stay inside. Hundreds of people left and all businesses, even the great Walmart, closed but turns out it was kind of blown out of proportion and the evacuation was uncalled for. So it was a pretty eventful day.

This is just a funny picture of Mckenzie last night, she did her own hair, can't you tell?

These little tables and chairs are being taken out and replaced with large, high school sized ones.

Oh yeah, check out all it's majesty!

ZOO, Damn Yankees, and Misc.

2009-07-29T16:17:00.001-07:00

We have been having lots of fun here in Texas. I start new teacher training on August 13th and I won't know how many classes I have or anything till at least August 7th, so I am just having a lot of down time right now. Paul got a new calling, he is assistant ward mission leader so he has been keeping busy with that. Mckenzie is having lots of fun with the puppies and playing the Wii and computer a lot. We got to go to the ZOO on Monday which was a lot of fun. And I have been painting the set for the local community theatre's production of Damn Yankees. They like it a lot and said I could design and paint any set I want next season. Only problem is it's all voluntary and once school starts I probably won't have the time, but next summer when I am off work I may do "Into the woods" since I painted it at BYU-I before and I'm thinking I may audition for the part of Little Red Riding Hood (It's one of those parts I want to play before I die!) Paul has had several job intervies that look promising. The one we really want is one he has this coming Monday for a SAC paraprofessional at a local middle school. It would be perfect because we would all have the same work schedule so we would all be together in the evenings, weekends, and summers. So everyone keep your fingers crossed!

This is the back wall I designed and painted for Damn Yankees.

This is a really cool tunnel they had at the zoo where you could crawl through the fish tank. Mckenzie loved it and went like 10 times!

Mckenzie finding her "Inner Floridian" and watching the albino aligator.

A tortoise.

Kenzie the prairie dog.

Brushing a goat. (Much better than feeding them, eh Jessica? ;)

Daddy pushing Kenzie, it was way hot and then we had a lovely storm, but then it was extra hot and muggy!

I'm a Teacher!

2009-07-18T17:25:00.000-07:00

FINALLY!!! After being interviewed for 5 different jobs and getting denied for 3 of them, I got hired for the PERFECT job! I will be teaching at a small school district about 20 minutes away, teaching high school art AND drama. They gave me drama classes after finding out that I will be certified for both! I have always wanted to teach both of them! Also, the whole district is on one campus and they have preschool so I get to bring Mckenzie with me and if I stay at this district, I can go to school with her and bring her home every day through 12th grade! (I hope she will realize she can't get away with anything with mom on campus!) Also, Paul has an interview on Monday with a computer company, so if he gets this our luck has seriously changed! We also are finalizing our apartment contract, a pretty 3 bedroom overlooking the pool area in a gated complex by a stream and park with deer. It has crown molding, built in book shelves, our own washer and dryer in a laundry room, balcony; it's so cute! Thanks to everyone who has been praying for us and sending us good thoughts, I think it finally worked and we are so excited!

Some general Mckenzie cuteness

Last week Paul and his parents went down south for his grandma's burial, so Mckenzie and I stayed here with Paul's sister and we painted their guest bathroom and I painted hibiscus flowers on the cabinets. I think they turned out pretty nice. I also just painted the set for "Damn Yankees" at the community theatre, those pictures to come soon.

Birthdays, Job Update, Puppies, and more!

2009-07-05T21:58:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to ME! I am 25 today, getting really old, I know. We had a good day and a good 4th of July. We started out on the 4th by going to the George Bush museum which was really cool and we got our picture taken at the replica of the oval office. (Pictures to come) Then we ate dinner and saw some not so good fireworks, but it was fun anyway. For my birthday we had smoked brisket, baked beans, watermelon, and keylime strawberry cake. Tommorow we are going birthday shopping which will be really fun.

We have also been having fun with two little puppies for a week now. Pauls mom and sister each got a shih tzu puppy from a friend of theirs. They are only 6 weeks old and spend their days playing in a pack n play, they are so sweet! The puppies came at a good time because Paul's Grandmother died this week so they are having a hard time, but doing alright and enjoying the puppies as a good stress reliever.

As for the jobs, the hunt is still on. I didn't get the middle school art job or theatre auditorium manger job, but both liked me a lot and are putting goods words in for me in the school district. I do however have an interview this week for an elementary school art teacher job and even though I never wanted to teach little kids, maybe its where I am suppose to be. Paul is still waiting to hear back on his, we keep calling them to bug them but they say they are still processing things. But we are having a good time with family and are trying to be patient so we can do what we are suppose to do.

This is the boy, his name is Mutzerella or "Mutzy" for short (even though he is a pure bred!) He sleeps just like our dog Darwin did!

Mckenzie hugs them all the time, it's a good thing Shih Tzus are very tolerant puppies.

I love his little patch over his eye!

The brown one is his sister, her name is Elpheba or "Elphie" from the musical "Wicked"

Happy Fathers Day!

2009-06-21T17:54:00.000-07:00

For Fathers Day, Mckenzie and I went to the park and took pictures of us, and then put them in a big frame for Daddy. He really liked it. We also had a big barbeque complete with Great American Cookie cake, which was heavenly! We are still waiting to hear back on jobs. I got another interview this week to teach tech theatre and run the brand new auditorium at the new high school in town, and I find out tommorow if I got it. So I will hopefully be either a theatre teacher or an art teacher. If you would like to see the pictures we took you have to go to the link on facebook because it would take too long on blogger to add them all:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024431&id=1029429029&l=4600920a95

Happy Fathers Day!

Kenzie and Diploma

2009-06-10T14:05:00.000-07:00

So my diploma finally came in the mail, isn't it pretty? It's signed by Thomas S. Monson which is pretty cool. Also, Kenzie got her outfit from her Grandma that looks so adorable on her. She kept doing silly poses for the camera.

Sea World, Jobs, and Misc..

2009-06-03T17:34:00.001-07:00

We got a wonderful treat of season passes to Sea World this weekend so we went with Paul's sisters for the day and it was way fun! This was Mckenzie's first theme park experience and she just loved it! Shamu was by far her favorite animal, we sat just feet away from the tank (in the splash zone, but somehow we were spared!) and she thought he was so cool! Then we went on the big Atlantis ride. I was a bit worried that she would scream, she just barely met the height requirement but I showed her the boat going down the big waterfall and asked "Do you want to do that?" and she responds "YEAH!" She loved it and asked for more afterwards. She did well on the Rio Loco too until the waterfall soaked her to the bone, so then we decided to stick to the shows so we could dry off.

Some of you may have heard that I had an interview at a middle school last week for an art teacher position. I am still waiting for the results. They liked me a lot so I am pretty hopeful, and the lady told me yesturday that they are just checking my references so once that is done I will know if I got it or not. Paul is still waiting to find out where his assigned prison will be. We called them too and they said they are still waiting for backgroud checks and such. So all this waiting is killing us but we are patient and doing good. Everyone keep us in your prayers so we get hired soon!

Kenzie watching the sea lion mystery show.

The silly sea lions.

Puffins!

Penguins!

Kenzie and a penguin

Trying to dry out!

Happy Birthday Mckenzie!!!

2009-05-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

My baby girl is 4 years old! I just can't believe she is this big already! We had a fantastic week. She got great presents: Twin dolls with tons of accessories, a fairy bike (Pictures of our first bike rides tomorrow!), and got to go birthday bowling and arcade game playing! She is also really big on Wall-e right now, and it's hard to find Wall-e toys, so she got a Wall-e cake instead.

Outing with the Twins

Wall-e Cake!

Opening the loot!

New jammies from Great Grandma Perez

The Spread

Birthday Bowling ( She beat me the first time, and beat everyone the 2nd time, how sad is that?)

Birthday Balloons

Sulking before all the festivities

Time for an update!

2009-05-10T14:35:00.001-07:00

Yes I know it's been a long while since I posted anything, but our lives are a little hectic these days. First of all, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the mommies out there. So I have a job now, YAY, well sortof, I am substitute teaching for the school district in which I have applied for a full time teaching job, so hopefully this will get me noticed by the principals so they can hire me for the good job. But they pretty much always need subs so at least till the end of the school year and again next fall I can sub till I get hired on. I have only one small complaint from subbing thus far: BOYS ARE REALLY BAD! That is all. But I have been told that I suffer from a napoleonic complex so it's nothing I can't handle. Kenzie has been terrorizing her grandma's dog and her cousins. She is liking the attention and socializing that she has been getting. They got her a manicure yesturday and she totally loved it and she shows her nails to everyone who comes by. Here are some fabulous pictures for your entertainment.

Kenzie in her beautiful polka dot dress.
The lovely baked brie and blackberries I made one day.

Kenzie with her hair french braided.

My silly little girl, she comes up with this stuff all on her own.

Update

2009-04-24T15:25:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick update for you: Job hunts going well, Paul has applied to several law enforcement places but now it's a waiting game while they do the hiring process. Whoever gets it done first will get him, so we will see what happens. I may be getting a long term substitute teaching job for the rest of the school year which will get my foot in the door in the school district and then hopefully give me a perk for an art teacher position at the middle school which will start in Fall. I'm hoping I get it or a theatre teaching job at the other middle school, so I can spend the summer finishing up my certification. Everyone keep your fingers crossed! Mckenzie is just fine, was sick for a few days but seems to be doing better. She loves it here and plays with grandma's puppy all the time.

Graduation 2

2009-04-11T09:48:00.000-07:00

Well I had my second graduation ceremony yesturday morning, and Elder Anderson came to speak. (He was really good) The whole thing was a little weird though, more like Sacarament meeting than a graduation, and we weren't even allowed to throw our hats so it was a bit strange, but its all over so YAY! Then we all changed and hopped in the car to go drive to Jackson hole, which was also not all its cracked up to be but the drive was really pretty and fun. We had lots of fun with my dad and were really sad to see him go. Mckenzie stuck to him like glue, held his hand all the time and if she lost sight of him would yell "Where's my Grandpa?!" So we had a really fun couple of days.

Elder Anderson

President Clark

Me at my first graduation.

Mckenzie in the lobby.

The commencement. I'm on the opposite side sitting on the bleachers. It was like playing "Where's Waldo" in there, I finally spotted my dad about halfway through the thing but he never found me.

Graduation!

2009-04-09T22:26:00.001-07:00

One down, one to go! My college graduation was tonight for the performing arts. It was fun. My day today was so bad though. I put curlers in my hair last night thinking it would turn out cute, it was a huge mistake and made me look like a poodle this morning. So I had to wash them out really good this morning. Little did I know my hair would look bad all day due to static and rain. Then I looked online and saw that my Math final didn't have a grade, so I called the testing center only to discover the dumb student workers gave me the wrong bubble sheet with my test, so I had to go down and fix that.(I thought I should have gotten extra tests points for their mistake, but of course that can't happen!) But the finals all went well and my dad is here hanging out with us so we just have the big commencement ceremony tommorow. More pictures to come once I get them from my dad.

I am on the last row, 2nd to the left, and was the shortest one on stage, highly embarassing!
Me in all my cap and gown glory.

Mckenzie's hair was a success with the curlers, we will just stick to using them on her hair.

Hey now, you're an Allstar!

2009-04-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

Mckenzie has been playing on the computer all the time and she has learned, all on her own, how to open my play list and find the "Allstar" song from "Shrek" and listen to it over and over again while singing. I thought it was too cute so here it is in two videos for your enjoyment.

Graduation Stuff and Fairy Boxes

2009-03-19T20:56:00.000-07:00

Today was Grad Fest at the University Bookstore where we had to go pick up my cap and gown, which was really weird, got all my information for graduation, picked up some great free BYU-I swag (T-shirt, waterbottle, keychain, bumber stickers, etc...because you know when you graduate you have to paste this stuff everywhere so the world can see it!) and when we got home there was a box in the mail from Kenzie's Aunt April in Texas. She got all kinds of clothes, fairy toys, and these super cute fairy overalls that she loves. They were a bit big but thats good cause they will fit along time! She was so excited!

Yes I know people are wanting pictures of me in my cap and gown, but I figure I better go through the whole graduation ceremony thing before I post pictures of me in it!

Kiss us, we're Irish!

2009-03-17T19:45:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We wore our green, our Celtic necklaces, had our corned beef with cabbage and bread. Did everyone else do their traditional Irish day stuff? I saw too many "Bah-Humbug" people not wearing green today and being Irish I was just apalled! Hope everyone had fun!

Fairy Princess

2009-03-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

Well the night performances of the play are done, now just a few more weeks of day performances for elementary schools! Oh did everyone know that I graduate in a few weeks? I don't know if I ever broadcasted this, so yeah, I am finally almost done! The job searches are going better, Paul has several law enforcement interviews, 3 in Texas and its looking like we are going to get one in Rexburg too. I actually got a phone interview this coming week to work at "This is the place" to be a performer. It's that cute little pioneer town in Salt Lake. Unfortunately I don't think it will pay enough for us to be able to move for it, but we will see. I am now painting a new backdrop for my professor for his "Celtic Tales" Irish show this coming Friday. This one is like Disney World for me because its all castles, fairies, elves, and trolls. Here are some cute Mckenzie pictures for your viewing.

Mckenzie has been dancing around today in her ballet leotard and princess crown that I made for her.

We finally let her start playing on the computer since she has been trying for years. She is a totally brilliant child, she figured out how to do everything in about 10 minutes. She played Disney's Magic Artist,(It's my game from when I was a kid!) for two hours straight and figured out how to do all the controls on her own, and there are a lot of them!

The painting goes on and on and on...

2009-03-07T20:01:00.000-08:00

Well the good news is that I have to paint less in terms of square footage, but I have more detail to do. I do have more time to do it in though so that is good. I am now doing a new drop for "Celtic Tales" a show with a bunch of short Irish plays for St. Patrick's day and its going to have great celtic scenes all over it. Here are some other pictures from this week.

This was so cute, Mckenzie climbed up on our bed where Paul had put the laundry to fold, and she started folding it. Unfortunately it was better than I can do, I am horrible at folding!

When I got up on Saturday morning to go to rehearsal, Mckenzie got out of bed and said she wanted to watch Disney. I told her to wait till I got out of the shower. When I got dressed and came out in the living room this is what I found, I guess it was too early for her.

This was our beautiful dinner that I made the other night and I thought it just looked so pretty. Its bacon wrapped pork steaks with garlic roasted potatoes, asparagus with hollondaise sauce, and bread.

These are some not so good pictures of my drop, its on the ground because we can't hang it till Monday morning, but you can see some of the work, I really like it, the Celtic one will be even better though!

Economy Sucks, but here are some pictures..

2009-02-27T14:48:00.000-08:00

So the job search goes on...we are hopeful but still waiting. Paul actually has an interview Monday so everyone cross your fingers! Sorry I haven't posted for awhile, I have been really busy painting 50 feet of muslin for my children's theatre show, but its looking really good! Hope you enjoy these pictures from the past few weeks.

Mom and Kenzie Exhausted and worn out
Dad and Kenzie exhausted and worn out (More us than her, she is just very sympathetic!)

Mckenzie watching cartoons looking so cute.

Playing

Kenzie decided she wanted to put all of her hair accesories in her hair, she spent hours doing this.

Mckenzie really likes to go on the porch with a blanket and sit in the rocking chairs, I only let her do it for about 5 minutes though because it is way too cold.

Mckenzie colors and draws all the time and she is really good, she can make little faces already...and she decided they all had to go on the fridge.

She drinks water all the time in her "Enchanted" cup.

She is too cute!

Update

2009-02-05T15:38:00.000-08:00

We are not very happy here. I have been sick since Monday and it keeps getting worse, feels like my throat is on fire! And Mckenzie caught it yesturday but is being a trooper and it won't stop her from playing. It really stinks that all my classes put so much emphasis on attendance because I have had to go to all of them this week feeling miserable, luckily I had no school today. The job search is still on and we are just so glad to live in the great state of Idaho, the 3rd worse state to find a job in during our lovely economic crisis. All the stores here have posted "No openings" outside their doors and the newspapers have nothing, but we are still trying. Luckily, we have applied for numerous jobs in other states and there are a couple law enforcement jobs that it looks like Paul could get...no one has responded to me yet though, (Grumble, grumble). But on the up side for me, they doubled my salary for the children's theatre at school that I am making and designing masks for, designing and painting sets, and running lights and sound. Also my professor wants me to help him teach a mask making workshop with him next Saturday so I was pretty excited about that, it will be a good resume thing. We are just happy that I am graduating in April and we can leave here because Idaho has come to a complete dead end and it sucks here! Oh please let us move somewhere with lots of jobs and warm weather!

We are Freezing!

2009-01-27T18:53:00.001-08:00

We are completely and totally freezing here! It was -27 this morning when I went to class, I almost didn't go because who on earth leaves their house when its that cold? But I made it, even though Rexburg refuses to clear the roads unless there is a foot or more of snow. Then after class we had to venture out again due to our lack of milk in the house, it was not nice! Anywho, we are super lonely, Paul still isn't back yet and we don't know when he is coming. School is going well though, and I'm pretty sure I have applied for about 50 jobs so far, so we will see what happens! I'm surviving my math class, identifying igneous rocks, learning about the government and biology, and making animal masks for a play so life is fun at school. Thats pretty much it for our boring lives right now, here is some more cuteness for you...

What we've been up to.

2009-01-21T20:45:00.000-08:00

It's been an exhausting week. School is fun, but it is wearing me out, and there is never any parking! We found out that Paul is actually coming home next week. For those that don't know, he is being medically released from the army for arthritis in his knee and asthma. We all weren't too happy at first and really stressed about the whole situation, but both Paul and I feel that it will all work out and so we are both applying for jobs like crazy right now for when I graduate and will move wherever they are. So we hope this will all work out ok. Mckenzie has been having fun with her British nanny. Here is some cuteness for your enjoyment.

I love this picture. She loves juice boxes and the little headband she is wearing she just loves, and calls it her "princess" band.

Bagels and cream cheese are her new favorite thing.

This is the day Paul left, she grabbed a picture of him and carried it around with her.

Mckenzie after she ate a blue cupcake, she thought she was so cute...she was right.

Bunraku

2009-01-14T12:48:00.001-08:00

I got to go to a really cool workshop today. Last semester I learned about this ancient Japanese puppet theatre called Bunraku. They have these gorgeous puppets that blink their eyes, move their fingers and look so realistic, and they are operated by 3 master puppeteers on each one. They put on classic Japanese tales and they are so cool! Well today instead of having my Children's Theatre class, this troupe came in from the University of Missouri who sends students to Japan to be trained on the puppets and they tour the country doing shows. So we got to learn about them and play with them, it was sooo neat! I so badly want to make one! I didn't take my camera, unfortunately, so I found some pictures online to show everyone what they look like. Seriously cool!

Update

2009-01-07T18:41:00.000-08:00

Yes it has been a while since I wrote a post but we have been quite busy. Starting on Sunday we all three began crying for two days off and on, until finally we got to Tuesday and we were all pretty calm...said goodbye to Paul around 4pm and put him on the bus to Salt Lake, and then Kenzie started to cry which set me off crying....and then we got to talk to Paul on our cell phones when he was on the way down to his hotel and we all cried off and on, and then today he had his last examination, did fine, and got put on the plane to Oklahoma, and then once he got there he got put on another bus to the Fort and called me and we cried some more (Hey, he has never been gone this long, leave me alone!) but he is doing fine and is at his basic training now for 10 weeks. We get to talk to him just on Sundays but it will be nice once he graduates and goes to his Job training because then we get to talk to him every night. I started class today for my last semester, WHOO HOO! They are all going really well and I am way excited. Even my icky math class shouldn't be too bad. My only "fun" class is a children's theatre class and my professor is paying me to design his sets, make masks for the play, and do lighting and sound so that is really fun. After the play is rehearsed, we bring in all the local schools to come watch us perform so it should be really exciting. Mckenzie is doing better, she is still confused about where daddy is but she has her own British Nanny ( My old roomate who is my best friend and she is from Liverpool) and she just loves her to death! Today they watched Finding Nemo, played blocks, and had a tea party. And in just 15 short weeks I will be all graduated and packing our little house up to move wherever the army sends us. Please keep us all in your prayers since we are all a little shaky still and nervous, but things seem to be going well and we know this is the right thing for us. Pictures to come, I just haven't had time to take any.

Post Christmas Post

2008-12-26T13:25:00.000-08:00

This is Mckenzie making good use of her play-doh box.

Our Front door and the snow that was piling up from the blizzard, and the snow overhang was out our side window and we were contemplating making a giant poking device to knock it down! The Snow was so bad, that all the roads in the state of Idaho were closed on Christmas because no one was out plowing!

So we had a good Christmas. On Christmas Eve we had to go out to get ingredients for Bon Bons (A Young Family Tradition) and it was a total zoo at the stores! We then took Kenzie to Mcdonalds so she could get a happy meal and play on the big playground thing. Little did we know that she was going to decide to live up there and I had to crawl all the way to the top and drag her down (those are not so easy to play in anymore!) Then we watched a Christmas story on TBS, another tradition of mine, had our Christmas Spread and watched Jumper, then put the little girl to bed and watched as Santa put the many presents under the tree at exactly 11:40, because thats when he got to Idaho! Then I was woken up at 7am by Kenzie to open presents and we got to watch our new movies and have yummy roast beef for dinner. This is my spread, and no I didn't eat it all! Oh, and I apologize for the strange layout, I am experiencing technical difficulties with my blogger!

We decided to organize our movies by genre and this is Kenzie making good use of the table, she is easily entertained. Today she is totally wilted on the couch with a bad cold and cough, at least it waited until after Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T07:26:00.000-08:00

For years Stephanie has told stories about her parents trying to sleep till a decent hour on Christmas morning and how she did her very best to subvert their desires. She was proud that she got them up early. Well last night Steph stayed up late watching a movie and Mckenzie got us up a few times last night. Well as 6:30 this morning Stephanie learned the hard way how her poor parents must have felt. We got up at 6:30 and had our present opening. Mckenzie loved all the presents everyone set her. Kenzie played on the floor and mommy went back to bed. Paul's family tradition is to have gingerbread and hot cocoa for breakfast Christmas morning so that's what he did Christmas morning. But for now Daddy and Kenzie have a Disney Christmas parade to watch, so Merry Christmas everyone! -Paul

Wait...haven't I seen this before?

2008-12-22T19:20:00.000-08:00

So tonight Mckenzie was all cuddled up with my Carebear baby blanket that I have had since I was born, drinking her milk, and I thought to myself "This looks familiar....

Oh yes that's right, her cousin Taylor does the same thing with my sister April's baby blanket, drinking his milk....I guess it's a Young family thing!

Holy Freaking Coldness, Batman!!!

2008-12-22T13:30:00.001-08:00

Mckenzie and I make a point to open the door and yell "Not nice!" out at the snow everyday, but today we yelled it twice because it is really bad! You can't tell much from the pictures, but the wind is whipping the snow around everywhere and it is really bad out there! We have been trapped in our house for three days during a non stop dumping of snow! Paul decided this morning that he needed exercise because he is suppose to be getting in shape for basic training, so he walked 2 miles to the video store to exchange one of his video games for another. He walked through snow that was almost up to his waist in places! Needless to say he got a lot of exercise!

BRRRR!!!!

Can you find our car? Look carefully, that little blip of silver is it!

Fairy Mania!

2008-12-20T13:40:00.000-08:00

We have had all kinds of fairy-ness going on these past few days. At Kmart they were clearancing off their Tinkerbell room accessories, so Kenzie got a hanging toy organizer. Then a couple days ago I noticed that she didn't have anything on her walls, but we did have one of those Tinkerbell kits full of coloring posters so we spent all day coloring fairies and then we hung them all up on her wall. And last week I sold Mckenzie's Winnie the Pooh table and chairs since it was getting to small and we are doing her room in fairies, and her aunt was going to send her a fairy table and chairs to replace them. So I had to tell her that the new table was coming in the mail. She asked EVERY DAY if the fairy table was here yet, and we had to tell her to be patient and then finally today it came and this child has never been more excited! We were going to save it for Christmas but when the Fed Ex guy dropped it off, Kenzie was first to the door and once she saw it there was no getting it away!

You can't get more Disney Fairies in this room!

The new table and chairs

This was just her being cute eating some crackers and cheese, note the fairy sweatshirt!

Our hard days work (She's really good at coloring huh, :)

Cutest Baby Contest

2008-12-19T20:16:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends and family, just letting you know that I entered Kenzie in this little online cutest baby contest. The kid with the most votes gets $2500 so everyone needs to go vote for Mckenzie!!!

https://www.greatamericanphotocontest.com/voter1/index.aspx?referid=EmailFriends&p=949478&x=.JPG

Here is the link, much appreciated, thanks!

Mckenzisms

2008-12-17T23:09:00.001-08:00

I was looking at old pictures of Mckenzie (That sounds so funny since she is only 3!) the other night and I just wanted to cry because she was so tiny and has changed so much. I feel like she is such a big girl now and I can see so much of myself in her. A couple of funny things she did this week: Last night around 4 am she called for me and with her eyes closed and being barely conscious, she asked for me to put Wall-e on (She falls asleep to a movie because it helps her sleep and she is afraid of the dark) and to get her a drink. So I pushed play on Wall-e and went to get her some milk and when I came back to her room she was singing " It's a slick town Barnaby" along with the movie but it was like she was doing it in her sleep, it was so cute. Also tonight we had to run to Wal-mart, which was a bad idea because it was about 7 degrees and we were dying, but Mckenzie was thoroughly amused because she discovered her breath in the cold and watched it the whole way in and out of the store. Ah the things that amuse 3 year olds!

This is Mckenzie when she was about 18 months

6 months

About a week

Christmas Dress

2008-12-14T11:32:00.000-08:00

Well we didn't make it to church today due to our 1 degree weather and roads that haven't been cleared in 2 days....but Mckenzie wanted to wear the dress that Grandma sent her for Christmas so we took some pictures of it. Hopefully we will get to go next week for the Christmas program.

Family Time

2008-12-11T22:37:00.000-08:00

Whoo hoo, two posts in one night, the pictures are loading great! Ok so we had lots of fun this week. I found out how insanely hard it is to hide Christmas presents from this little girl! We went Christmas shopping on Thursday and we had to distract her a ton and it didn't always work, so when she caught sight of her presents, Paul had to pick her up and run with her to another end of the store! I am also having an impossible time getting anything for myself because I just want to buy her toys! Christmas is so fun with little kids!

This is a picture of my future, she is already over half my height and in just a few years I think I will be looking up to her!

Snow finally came to Rexburg last Monday, luckily most of this has melted but the ice stayed unfortunately!

Mckenzie got new fairy gloves and a hat which she just loves. I thought she was so cute all pink and yellow!

Ready to brave the storm!

We went to DI yesturday and they had all these baby dolls that someone had made blankets for and wrapped up all cute like for Christmas. Well we got a couple and found that one of them was an American girl doll knock off, but on another doll we found an official American girl doll dress, so we bought the two and put the doll and dress together to get a make shift Felicity doll which was cute and Mckenzie loved them, it was her present for being good while Christmas shopping and they were only a couple dollars anyway.

"It's Priest, have a little Priest!"

2008-12-11T20:02:00.000-08:00

For those that don't already know, I am obsessed with Sweeney Todd, and I had to give a presentation last week as the production designer for the show and act as an advertising agent for it. So I dressed up as Mrs. Lovitt and designed all the technical elements for it, came in with bloody hands and a meat cleaver, and gave an outstanding presentation! We also had to make a treat for the class that had to do with the project so I naturally made meat pies (well, apple and cherry). I was the only one in the class to do so much, pretty much everyone read a piece of paper and stuck an internet picture on a poster board which I think is sooo lame! So I'm not ashamed at all to say mine was the best!! HA!! I also got the highest grade on my one-act in the class, ( Yes I am bragging big time but its the end of the semester so I am going to do it anyway!)

Here are the left over cherry pies, they weren't the prettiest ones but you get the idea

The dress is big on the top and has a lot of layers so it was not the most flattering, but it was fun to walk around in.

I began my presentation by running in wiping blood off of the cleaver, handed out menus to everyone for meat pies and said " Sorry I was late, I was um....baking" ( In a lovely Mrs. Lovitt voice!)

This was my concept art for the set. I made it distorted on purpose, wanted it really creepy and twisted.

These are my two actors from my holocaust one-act, don't they look great?

TAG!

2008-12-08T22:06:00.000-08:00

He, He, this one is fun, from my sister, you copy it to your blog and bold the ones you have done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (I'm counting singing in one)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (nope, just Disney World)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (I've been to Venice, does that count?)
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by
. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person
101. Learned to play an instrument

I tag everyone with an "i" in their name!

Princesses don't take naps!

2008-12-07T21:36:00.000-08:00

A few days ago we got a box in the mail from Paul's mom with winter clothes for Mckenzie, which was much appreciate because this child grows like a weed. Well there was also a princess dress-up dress in it and unfortunately we couldn't run and hide it to save for Christmas before she saw it, so she has been playing in it all week and dancing around the house. She aslo got an Enchanted plate set from her aunt that she loves.

Christmas Decorations!!

2008-12-05T09:32:00.000-08:00

Yay, my pictures posted! Here are our Christmas decorations. We got our tree last Friday and Mckenzie just loves it. She kisses it goodnight everyday when she goes to bed! We had to rearrange our whole living room to fit it in by the window but it worked out ok.

Here are our stockings, we have one extra to balance it out. And Mckenzie was exhausted from decorating.

This is my nativity

Our tree, we really need some more ornaments!

The new living room layout

My snow man cookie jar and christmas village I painted

GRRRRR!!!!

2008-11-30T22:07:00.000-08:00

Well I have tried about 10 times to upload our Christmas decorations pictures, but stupid blogger isn't letting me so everyone is just going to have to wait until it stops being mean to me!

Address

2008-11-28T15:46:00.000-08:00

If anyone needs our mailing address for Christmas cards and what not, just make a comment and let me know and I will get it to you, or you can email me at:

Stephanie454@hotmail.com

I didn't want to put it on the internet for all to see, so just let me know, it is different from the one last year if you are wondering if you have it or not, thanks!

More Thanksgiving Pictures

2008-11-27T20:14:00.000-08:00

More Hungry Hungry Hippoes, she figured out how to cheat after 3 plays too!

Paul assembling the game, he didn't want pictures.

As promised, here is Kenzie's rendition of "Eve" from "Wall-e" isn't that good for a 3 year old?

Happy Turkey Day!

2008-11-27T19:13:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! We have had a wonderful day, for the most part. We got up early, watched the Macy's Parade, and then had to run to the only store open today, Kmart, to get trash bags and a turkey baster, only to find that they were doing their big Christmas sale today, so we bought a few buy one get one free board games and came home to play them while the turkey cooked. After dinner though, we had to make another mad dash to kmart to get benedrel since Mckenzie broke out into hives all over the place. All she ate was mashed potatoes and a new kind of sage stuffing so we think it was something in the stuffing! It freaked me out but an hour and one teaspoon of medicine later she was all cleared up.

She loves hungry hungry hippoes and she beat us 3 times!
Our Turkey was super moist and good!

We don't have a kitchen table anymore because our apartment is kindof small, so we ate around the coffee table.

We're in the Army now

2008-11-26T18:21:00.000-08:00

Paul scored really high on the ASFAB test so he got the job he wanted, we got our bonuses, and he passed his medical so we are officially a little army family. He is almost home so we are going to celebrate by getting our Christmas tree and decorating it. He goes to basic Jan. 7th, same day I start Winter Semester, and then he will graduate first in March, then I graduate in April, then we're off to who knows where! Pretty exciting, we are looking forward to this new change and hopefully off to warmer weather.

I'm bored, sooo some random thoughts..

2008-11-25T21:39:00.002-08:00

Well Mckenzie and I are bored out of our minds....we have been through 3 Christmas movies while cleaning the living room and kitchen (Fred Claus, Elf, and The Grinch), also Hancock which is fabulous, completed my take-home directing test after cursing the name of my teacher a few more times since I hadn't hit my quota for the week, and now we are still awake and don't know what to do! I should probably also explain why its just the two of us all alone....for those that do not know, Paul is in Salt Lake at MEPS for the army because he is joining the military. This is something that we have been discussing for a few months and looking into, and Paul has basically brought the idea up every year since we have been married but I usually crush the idea. Well this time I explored the idea and did my research and after much prayer we decided that it is the right thing to do. Paul has always felt a need to serve his country and the military has always been something he was extremely interested in. So as long as he passes his medical exam tomorrow, he will sign his papers and go to basic training on Jan. 7th, the same day I start Winter term. So Kenzie and I will be alone here for about 3 months then Paul will graduate basic and his training school, and I will graduate here in April and then he will come home to help us move to wherever they send us and I get to take a little break before I start teaching in a year or two. So Mckenzie and I are getting a taste of what it will be like just the two of us and I gotta say, we need to find more things to do than a million movies and cleaning! I think I'll write a book and learn to sew...yes that sounds nice. I was also sitting here wondering why no one ever comments on my blog.... I know lots of people read it, but I wonder if I have done some kind of terrible deed to offend everyone.....I don't think I have, but oh well, at least it is therapeutic to put your thoughts out into the Internet universe for random people to read. Still, it makes me wonder why people are interested at looking at your blog if they don't like you or if they don't want to comment at least once in a little while. Also while I am watching The Grinch, I realized that my favorite part of Christmas isn't presents at all. Actually, Christmas day is rather depressing because its all over and you have to then take down your tree and get ready for another year. I love watching Christmas movies, shopping in the mall with Christmas music playing and the smell of fudge from the candy stand, the decorations everywhere and in your house, and baking all day long just to pack it up in tins to give to your friends. Its just so much fun and this year we are having such a hard time trying to figure out what we even want! We are unfortunately going to hit up Walmart on Black Friday mainly because there are some deals for Kenzie that I just can't pass up, but nothing for me that I really want. It's funny how that changes from when you are young to when you have kids, I could just buy her stuff for the rest of my life and not buy me anything and be completely content. (Yes my child is spoiled, but I only have one right now so that's allowed!) Anywho, thanks for listening to my little bored rant, hope I entertained you a little and if I did please leave a contribution in the comment box :) ( I feel like a street musician!)

Let us bask in the majesty that is Twilight!

2008-11-24T22:00:00.001-08:00

My wonderful husband took me today to see the fabulous Twilight movie! (And my 3 year old sat through the whole thing like a little angel!) I love it sooo much! And to all you bitter people who claim its not as good as the book, nothing ever is but it sure did capture the essence beautifully! Can't wait for the next installment, and we also got to see the new Harry Potter trailer which has us pretty excited for July!

All Praise Disney and Pixar!

2008-11-21T23:13:00.000-08:00

Ok, Wall-e is officially the cutest movie ever! Disney and Pixar are just amazing, how do they do it?! Never has anyone been able to make such creative stories and have such an incredible attention to detail! Mckenzie and I just watched this and I gotta say, I wanted to cry 3 minutes into it because the little guy is so stinking cute! And he dances around to Hello Dolly, who couldn't love that? I think this one ties with Ratatouille as my favorite Disney/Pixar flicks but they are all awesome, there isn't one that isn't fantastic!

Don't you just want to hug him?

This is Wall-e's love interest, Eve, whom he wants to hold hands with and watch Hello Dolly with, Mckenzie wowed me today when she was able to draw a near perfect likeness of her, face and all, which I found to be very advanced for a three year old. That picture to come once I put batteries in my camera.

Tired...so very tired...

2008-11-17T22:38:00.000-08:00

It's been a few days, but I'm still here, exhausted and trying to get through this wretched semester. I do believe it may kill me, so if you don't see a post for more than a week, you may want to call me just to make sure I'm still here.....anywho, on a happier note, my little girl is too cute. For those that don't know, Mckenzie loves to watch movies and she calls the movies not by their actual names, but assigns them ones based on what they are about. For example, Toy Story is "Lightyear", Madagascar is "Move it Move it", Sleeping Beauty is "Princess", and 101 Dalmations is "Puppy". She has names for all of them but this weekend when we rented movies she immediately assigned 2 knew ones that were just adorable. We watched the new Indiana Jones movie and afterwards Mckenzie picks up the case and says " Do you want to watch, dun dum dun da dum da da!"(She hums the Indiana Jones Theme!) I just cracked up, because she did it really well! And the other one was Kung Fu Panda which she has fondly named "Hi-Ya!" The kid is just too cute!

My final word...

2008-11-12T14:12:00.000-08:00

OK, this is seriously my last word on this ridiculous subject and then I refuse to speak of it again, unless something horrific in the country happens. I have apparently been accused of being racist simply because I do not like our new president. Let us clarify a couple things, shall we? First of all, I grew up in a high school full of diversity and have several African American friends, of whom I still speak to. When I say I am tired of hearing about the fact that Obama is black, I am saying it because I know that it is the #1 reason as to why he got elected. Many young people and people who have never voted, came out to vote not for what he was saying or doing, but because they finally wanted a black man in office. I understand that it is historic, it is, but face it, if McCain had said half the things that Obama had said in the election than NO ONE would have voted for McCain! I am tired of hearing about his race because we should be talking about the things he will do for the office and we should vote on those reasons alone. I don't trust the man and once I found out he was elected, I got the most horrible bad feeling in my gut and felt like now is the time to prepare for the worst because I am really scared as to where our country is going to go. I sincerely hope I am wrong, I hope that this time next year I feel really stupid because our country is doing great and he is doing all the things he promised that will supposedly get our country in a good spot. But lets face it, how many democrats actually do what they promise? I could go on an on with lists from his election that shows how deceitful this man it, but its not necessary. Bottom line, I don't like him, don't trust him, but he is the president now and all we can do is wait and see. So everyone that loves him to pieces, whether you like him because it is the current "popular" thing to do or you actually like him for his politics, keep it to yourself and let me respect my views to. You all have permission to rub it in my face later on if he turns out to be wonderful, but right now lets let the issue drop and be quiet about it.

This made my day...

2008-11-08T17:17:00.000-08:00

Everyone needs to go see this: chttp://www.theonion.com/content/video/obama_win_causes_obsessive:

This totally made my day, thank you Andrew!

And so the wish list begins..

2008-11-06T22:21:00.001-08:00

So we got the new catalog for all the toys at Wal-mart for Christmas, and I used it to distract Mckenzie tonight when Paul went to work so she wouldn't cry. Over an hour later she is still sitting on the couch and coming over to me every few minutes saying "Mommy, I want this!" This is the first Christmas where she actually has a preference as to what she wants. And what is it she really wants? Why Fairy dolls of course! She also likes some princess barbie things as well. It's just too funny, I remember as a little kid waiting for the big Jcpenny catalogs for toys for Christmas and picking out things I wanted, and now my daughter, who is only 3, is doing the same thing!

Mckenzie likes to snuggle with Paul when he takes a nap: this is her pretending to close her eyes.

Still no words..

2008-11-05T08:46:00.000-08:00

Well is anyone else terrified and feeling that this is the beginning of the end? I am! Still can't believe how incredibly stupid americans are. You get a guy that promises to give you lots of free stuff, and who is black and oh, oh, we have to vote for him! Little do they know that this is going to put the country in turmoil, bring terrorists attacks back since we have to pull all the soldiers out right away, and the list could go on and on and on. And if one more person mentions the fact that he is black I am going to have a heart attack, WE KNOW HE IS BLACK, WHO CARES, THIS IS A PRESIDENTIAL RACE NOT A RACIAL DEBATE! Bottom line is this is a stupid, inexperienced man who is a flat faced liar and a puppet of his vice president! I'm buying a gun before he takes away the right to bare arms and I'm becoming a hermit!

Thank you for letting me have my vent session, everyone have a lovely day!

Pop goes my heart!

2008-11-02T22:43:00.000-08:00

Yesturday, Mckenzie decided to take a break from the new Tinkerbell movie that her grandma got her (which she has watched a million times already!) and came to watch her other favorite movie "Pop goes my heart" as she calls it. (Music and Lyrics to the rest of us!) Here we have a picture of her showing off her slammin 80s dance moves! She is too funny and she loves to dance and she sings all the time! She knows all the words to this song!

More Halloween

2008-11-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

Well the couple of pictures I took during trick-or-treating were apparently without my memory card in my camera, so they were lost, but thats ok they weren't that great. Mckenzie had a great time going door to door. She would say "trick-or-treat" and "Thank you much!" to every house she went to. Everyone loved her costume, they all thought we got it in China rather than it coming from the Disney store. When we got home, she dove into her stash and after sneaking several pieces of candy, she came over to me holding her stomach saying "Mommy, I hurt." I said "I wonder why" and then she layed down and fell asleep.

These are our sugar cookies that we made from scratch as well as the frosting, and they are really good!

The tummy ache sleep

Tagged!

2008-10-31T22:44:00.001-07:00

My friend Rachel tagged me, grrr, but this one is kindof fun....

A) The rules are posted at the beginning.
B) Each person answers questions about their sweethearts.
C) At the end of the post, the person then tags people and posts their names; then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment, letting them know they have been tagged.

What is your husbands name? Paul Laurence FitzSimon

How long have you guys been married? 4 1/2 years

How long did you date? Dated for 4 months, engaged for 10 months

How old is he? 28

Who is taller? Paul, by 1 ft 3 inches

Who can sing best? I'm afraid that would be me, he is a bit tone deaf!

Who is smarter? We are smarter in different areas, he is smarter with math, science, and anything happening in the world, I'm better at English and arts.

Who does laundry? Usually me, but he does is sometimes. He is way better at folding than I am though, and I usually make him put the clothes away.

Who pays the bills? Thats all me, he doesn't like to handle the money.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Which right? Stage right or audience? If you are standing at the foot of the bed facing it, I am on the right side.

Who mows the lawn? No lawn yet, but that will most likely be him. Unless we get one of those awesome riding ones, then I might mow it too!

Who cooks dinner? Usually me, but he handles the meat because he cooks meat way better than I do.
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? It depends on the situation, we vary

Who kissed who first? He kissed me, I kept pulling away because I was scared, but he finally won.

Who wears the pants? I'm agreeing with Rachel, we each have a leg in, it really depends on the situation.

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-10-31T13:41:00.000-07:00

Mckenzie got in a practice run last night for trick-or-treating. The nursing home does an indoor trick-or-treat carnival with all the residents so Kenzie got to dress up and practice before the big event tonight. These pictures are in reverse order, sorry...

Crashing after the night's ordeal.

After our first piece of candy, blue laffy taffy.

Elizabeth Swann, Pirate King!

She really likes the tassles on her crown.

Mckenzie loves her costume, she thinks she is a princess. No one can really guess that it is actually from the "Pirates" movie, so she is basically an asian princess. More pictures to come tonight after our trip around the neighborhood.

Oh the horror...the humanity!

2008-10-27T20:35:00.000-07:00

Well I have been laying on the couch all day long after what can only be described as one of the worst days of my life! (Don't you just love my uplifting posts!) I woke up this morning around 7am with this blinding pain in my lower abdomen and so I got up to take a bath and could barely walk. It seriously felt like labor pains all over again! After hobbling around for about 15 minutes I called Paul home from work to come help me and take me to the doctor. I actually saw them for this same pain a couple months ago and they gave me a bunch of medication and assured me that it would go away, well they were wrong and now it is worse! They poked and pricked at me all morning and ordered an ultrasound for tomorrow so until then I get to lay about on the couch in my misery and without pain meds since I can't seem to keep them down! Lovely eh?And to top it all off, because I can barely walk I wasn't able to go enter the student art show that I have been anticipating for so long! So because I am tired of laying down I have managed to sit up and do this tag that my sister put on me! This tag will be the highlight of my day:

7 Things I can do
1. Draw
2. Paint
3. Drive well
4. Act
5. Decorate (Thanks mom!)
6. Bake
7. Write essays and poems

7 things I can't do
1. Monkey bars
2. Handle stress well
3. Reach things up high
4. Lift heavy stuff
5. Sew (Although I have a sewing machine to teach myself)
6. Keep my mouth shut when something is on my mind
7. French braid, I just can't do it!

7 things that attract me to Paul
1. His blue eyes
2. His nerdy-ness
3. His desire to help people
4. His passion for things he likes to do
5. His good heart
6. His strong arms and bear hugs
7. His sense of humor

7 things I say too often

1. Crud in a bucket!
2. For why?
3. Go to your room!
5. I don't feel good
6. Shoot
7. Good Grief!

7 Fave celebrity admirations
1. Stephenie Meyer
2. Johnny Depp
3. Anne Hathaway
4. Mel Gibson
5. Tom Hanks
6. Julia Roberts
7. M. Night Shymalan

7 Fave foods
1. Cheese
2. Jelly Bellies
3. Granola
4. Fruit
5. Crackers
6. Pasta
7. Popsicles

(Beginning of the second tag)

8 shows I like to watch
1. Iron Chef
2. Desperate Housewives
3. Lost
4. Project Runway
5. Top Design
6. Top Chef
7. Friends
8. Scrubs

8 things that happened yesterday
1. Started feeling sick
2. Watched first knight
3. Made pork chops and noodles with green beans for dinner
4. Did Laundry
5. Finished a take home test
6. Visited with our friends Vance and Cathy
7. Cleaned living room
8. Bathed Kenzie

8 of my favorite places to eat
1. Gringos
2. Bajio
3. Wendy's
4. Olive Garden
5. Great Hunan
6. Texas Roadhouse
7. Applebees
8. Quiznos

8 things I'm looking forward to
1. Halloween
2. Christmas
3. My graduation next fall
4. Being a teacher
5. My one-act next month
6. Paying off medical bills
7. Our trip to Texas in June
8. Losing weight and looking fabulous!

8 things on my wish list
1. A Kitchen aid
2. Baby Momma DVD
3. Indiana Jones DVD
4. New paints
5. New brushes
6. Good health
7. Nothing else

I tag everyone who reads this!

Post # 100!!

2008-10-23T18:19:00.000-07:00

Well this is my 100th post, whoo hoo, and what am I going to do with it? I am going to GRIPE about stupid people! Well OK, just a little bit, and then I will tell you about our week. First you get to hear about my day. I got up, went to my Directing class and started to fight with people over who to cast in our one-acts. We get to do this every time we do a project, fight over which actors we get and by using a process of "Pick the number in my head" from my teacher, one of us ends up with the actor we hopefully want. Well we decided just to hash it out beforehand so we could all peacefully discuss options for our plays. Ya, that didn't happen. It was a blood bath of threats, bribes, and attempted sabotage. We cast them next week and I am praying I get the guy I need because he is the only one that can play the part in my show! I am way intimidated, we have to do a one-act complete with costume, lights, sound, set, etc, and all the professors come to watch it. Can we say EEK?! Next I went to observe an art class at a middle school which was enlightening.....then I went to my art methods class (the one I did the amazing project in last week) and I was completely enraged because one of the people who presented their projects today stole ideas from MY presentation!! I really hope my teacher notes this and doesn't award her full credit for her lack of creativity and need to steal other people's ideas! And to top it all of, there were many stupid random people today saying and doing their typical stupid BYU-Idaho things, but no need to get into all that, we know these people are in abundance here!

Anywho, on to happier things... Paul purchased the game Fable 2 for our XBOX this week with his birthday money and for those that don't know, Fable is the most fabulous game ever created! We have had the first one for years and it is just so much fun. So between homework, work, cleaning, cooking, school, play rehearsals, and sleep, we have squeezed in some much needed video game time. Let the happiness begin!

A funny Mckenzie moment: Mckenzie has started standing on her stool in the bathroom and making faces in the mirror. Today I heard her cracking up in there and found her holding her hair up on both sides saying " I'm Shrek!" it was too funny.

Halloween Fun

2008-10-18T16:33:00.001-07:00

Our camera has batteries again so here is an update. We have been getting festive these past few weeks. Mckenzie has moved on from "The Little Mermaid" to "Sleeping Beauty".

Kenzie with her Aurora doll

We made our own window decorations.
Mckenzie on the porch showing off the pumpkins.
We made the door decorations too.
We decided to get these new Mr.Potato head things to put faces on our pumpkins until we carve them in a couple weeks. Aren't they too cute?

I am the champion, of the WORLD!!!

2008-10-14T18:09:00.000-07:00

So today was the longest day ever, I had so many things due and I have been stressing about it for weeks! First I had my acting scene due that I directed and I was so scared it wasn't going to be good enough, turns out mine was the best one and was praised immensely! My actors did such a great job! Then I had a test to do in play analysis which was actually the least stressful point of the day. Then I had to give an 18 minute presentation on John William Waterhouse and I was so scared that my power point presentation wasn't going to convert to the macs used in the classrooms, luckily I came super early to class and my teacher converted it and it worked great, not one technical problem! I didn't have a flaw in my lesson and I was the only one who didn't go over the time restriction! WHOOOO HOOOO!!! It feels so good to get up and teach lessons, I am super ready to be a teacher!

Happy Birthday Paul!!

2008-10-12T12:20:00.000-07:00

Today is Paul's 28th Birthday, yay!! Unfortunately I still don't have pictures because I forgot to get batteries again for my camera, so I will just tell you about our weekend. Last night we went to an intercultural dance celebration in the Kirkham Auditorium. Only two performances were good: the Pollynesians who were hilarious, and the Koreans that played drums. Everyone else kindof stunk but it was fun to get out. Paul's work made him a cake and gave him balloons which Kenzie loves, and Mckenzie and I went out yesturday and put him together a basket full of goodies for his presents. It is hard shopping for boys! Today we are watching NCIS, sorting through our closets, and making slow cooker pork in the crock pot so the whole house smells delightful. It has also been snowing all day, not too heavy yet but enough, so I am pretty bummed about that.....and the neverending homework continues today, but I am putting it off for awhile so I can clean the house. Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Ok, I think I can breathe again...

2008-10-09T20:33:00.000-07:00

I just got done watching the new Twilight trailer in all it's majesty and I gotta say that I am insanely excited and highly anticipating this movie!!!! Everyone needs to go watch it on either http://www.myspace.com/ or http://www.twilightthemovie.com/ it is soooooooo good!!!!!!

Here we go again...

2008-10-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

I'm tagged again, can't complain though it gives me something to do other than "work" he he..

Answer each question with only one word.

1. Where is your cell phone? couch

2. Where is your significant other? bed

3. Your hair color? brown

4. Your mother? cute

5. Your father? goofy

6. Your favorite thing? juice

7. Your dream last night? fantasy

8. Your dream/goal? teacher

9. The room you're in? living

10. Your hobby? painting

11. Your fear? pain

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Oregon

13. Where were you last night? home

14. What you're not? tall

15. One of your wish-list items? kitchen-aid

16. Where you grew up? Vero

17. The last thing you ate? crackers

18. What are you wearing? jeans

19. Your TV? samsung

20. Your pet?darwin

21. Your computer? dell

22. Your mood? relaxed

23. Missing someone? April

24. Your car? silver

25 Something your not wearing? shoes

26. Favorite store? Ross

27. Your summer? Hot

28. Love someone? Kenzie

29. Your favorite color? Sage

30. When is the last time you laughed? today

31. Last time you cried? days

Procrastinating Homework

2008-10-08T13:29:00.000-07:00

Since my camera still isn't better, and I have an 18 minute lesson to prepare on Waterhouse, I thought I would procrastinate a little longer and do this post from my sister's blog.

Answer all the following two-word leads.

I am: a wife, a mom, a student, a painter, a designer, a writer, a high school teacher(soon), a mask maker, a cook, a cleaner, a fabulous driver, an actress, an all around creative being.

I think: that college students really have to stop being so stupid. A girl yesterday in one of my classes asked a guest speaker, who told us about internships in Washington, if the intern companies could guarantee to her that she didn't have to work on Sundays. He told her she won't get an internship if she asks. Honestly, what are some people thinking? The world does not stop for Mormons.

I know: That life has been much happier since we left that horrid hotel.

I want: To make sure my little girl is happy and to accomplish all my goals in life.

I have: A ton of purses. I never really got into shoes or hats or anything, I am all about the purses!

I dislike: Crumbs and things not being clean. I feel like all I ever do is clean because I'm so much happier in a clean house.

I fear: Something bad happening in the world. Government collapsing, terrorist attacks...please just everyone be good and get along! (And I watched "The Happening" yesterday, now I fear the plants attacking us!)

I feel: Tired, I never get enough sleep, too much homework.

I hear: The wind outside, the cars out on the street, and my "Friends" DVD in the background.

I smell: Baby wipes that I just used to clean the counter, and the cold air, we have snow coming and I'm not happy about it!

I crave: Pumpkin pie, (I hate how the holidays are coming now that I am losing weight!)

I cry: all the time, I am extremely sensitive. I cried during "Enchanted" for goodness sake!

I usually: Try to stay positive, if I sit and tell myself that I can do something and stay pumped up, I can get through it better.

I search: for my keys, all the time, and Mckenzie's shoes.

I wonder: where I will be in 10 years and if I have achieved everything I wanted to.

I regret: Taking so long to convince myself of my chosen major, I could have been done by now, but on the flip side I have learned a lot and gained a ton of experience.

I love: My family, my husband works so hard and does so much for us, and my daughter is a terror sometimes but she is also insanely cute.

I care: About people's opinions of me. I am one of those people that if someone doesn't like me I have a really hard time with it.

I always: move around, I can't do anything staying still.

I worry: all the time, about everything, and I can't seem to stop.

I am not: a good singer. I would like to be, but I'm too scared to even try.

I remember: High school and it seems like a million years ago, and its hard to remember things from before I was married and when I had Mckenzie, it feels like Paul and her have been with me forever.

I believe: I want to concur with my sister on "The gospel is perfect but "church" is not." Especially living in an LDS populated place you realize how true this statement is. I also believe that some of the nicest people are not LDS but are definitely more righteous than many LDS.

I dance: To TV show theme songs, my current one is the NCIS theme when it comes on, we have been watching them everyday.

I sing: Only in the car. I belt out to my show tunes and pretend I'm really good.

I don't always: Wear makeup: sometimes a t-shirt, pony tail, and no makeup just feel comfy and good.

I argue: a lot I'm afraid, especially with people in classes and with articles in the newspaper.

I write: a lot, on my blog, my children's books, my many notes and play analysis' due every week!

I win: At nothing! I am horrible at all games and the few times I do win it's a major shocker! But I still love games.

I lose: Everything, and my mind frequently.

I wish: 2 things: 1- Some rich person would leave me lots of money. It's hard sometimes being poor and in college, but I know its almost over. 2- That it was a year from now and I was graduating, had a great job offer and Paul was starting his corrections job and we were out of Rexburg!

I listen: To musicals in the car, Enya in the bathtub, and Friends or some kind of TV show when I'm cleaning.

I don't understand: Why people only care about themselves. It really annoys me. Just the other day Paul helped a little old lady with her groceries when we were at the store, she was amazed and said no one had ever done that. Isn't that sad in a town with hundreds of Mormons and return missionaries that no one would help her?

I can usually be found: At home doing homework, or in the theatre wing of the performing arts building doing some kind of theatre project.

I am scared: Of bad things happening, of losing someone close to me, of not graduating-I'm just waiting for something to go wrong!

I need: to stop worrying, take a break now and then, and stay positive always. (easier said than done!)

I forget: Hmmm random things from time to time, but I actually have a really good memory.

I am happy: When I'm at home with my family, doing little activities together. I can forget about the other stresses and just be happy.

I tag: Everyone, MWHAHAHAHA, and put a curse on you that if you don't do this within 3 days, the milk in your fridge will go bad!!!!!!!!!

Blogging on hold

2008-10-05T12:28:00.000-07:00

Sooo my camera battery died today and I am out of batteries....and who knows when I will go to the store next, so cute pictures from us will be on hold for awhile. I know you are all going to cry yourselves to sleep, but please try to press on...

Princesses come in all shapes, sizes, and countries!

2008-09-30T21:12:00.000-07:00

It is no surprise to say that my daughter is a lot like me in the sense that she likes princesses and fairy tales and all things girly (Although much to my dismay I believe her favorite color is pink!). This week she discovered the remake that Disney did of Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. We found it used at our video store and she has been watching it constantly. Well she really wanted to dress up like a princess so she could dance around her room during the ball scene. Two years ago she was a princess for Halloween, but of course that dress was too small. She tried on her Tinkerbell dress but found it to be too itchy. Finally I gave her the Elizabeth Swan Costume from Pirates of the Caribbean and told her that it was a Chinease princess dress, and she has been twirling around in it ever since! I think it will be the winner for Halloween this month because it is warm and comfy.

These are her watching the movie and dancing.

These are Kenzie and Ava playing, more little princesses!

Princess and the Pea: Everytime I make my bed, Mckenzie thinks that my pillows are some kind of maze for her to play in, so she climbs up and ruins my bed every day!