Valentine Cupcakes

We decided to celebrate Valentines by making cupcakes. We had so much fun!! Michael loved helping and Swayz loved telling him what to do. Swayz got to invite one of her friends over and then they decorated all the cupcakes. Mike liked to frost his and then lick it off and then frost it again. Overall I think they did a great job!

Content

I am at a place in my life that I haven’t ever been before, I am CONTENT. When I look in the mirror and see those wonderful stretch marks, I smile and think it could be worse. When I look around at my apartment and the disarray of each room I again think, it could be worse.
When I am standing in the check out line at Wal-Mart and hear Swayzee scream, “Mom I have to pee NOW!” I politely ask the lady behind me to watch my groceries, grab Michael out of the stroller and we RUN to the bathroom. This is when Swayzee informs me she is old enough to go all by herself and I have to wait outside of the restroom until she is finished. Not wanting anything bad to happen to her (I suffer from a bit of paranoia) I count to 10 then yell in the bathroom, “Are you ok, babe” and she yells right back, “Mom, I am FINE” in that wonderful, almost 5 year old tone. She finishes all by her self and we run back to our line, thank the now impatient lady behind us and finish checking out. As we are walking back to our car, I think to my self, “well, that defiantly could have been worse.”
Even when I am at the gym, in one of the many classes I try to attend, sucking in air just so I don’t pass out and watching these young, firm ladies jump up and down and nothing moves and they aren’t out of breath and they look great when the class is over. I think to myself, “I made it today, and it really could have been worse!”
I have finally realized that life is what I make of it. It’s not what I have or don’t have, it’s not what my friends and neighbors have or don’t have. If I choose to be happy, I will be. No one can make me feel anything I don’t want to. My husband, wise and enlightened as he is, often tells me, “Kinz, you choose to let it affect you, one way or another.” He is right and I am content. I will keep trying to better myself but in the mean time I am going to love who I am and what I have become. To often we as women put ourselves down and feel like we don’t measure up. Well enough is enough. We are amazing! To all of you who at one time or another feel like you don’t measure up, I hope you take time to realize just how amazing you are and what a difference you have made in my life. Thank you!

The TENT of wonders

So Swayz had a great idea yesterday, she wanted to build a tent. We started out in the front room but after Michael ran and tore everything down we decided to move our tent into Swayzee's room. It didn't take us long before we had our masterpiece complete. There are several different rooms and a few windows in our tent. We played all day in there and Swayz ended up sleeping in there too.
Michael was sad because he couldn't be in there. He stayed out in the hall and banged on the door. We felt bad so we let him in and within seconds he had ruined the left wing of the tent :) We had to kick him back out. The tent is still up and Swayz thinks she can keep it up until she turns 5. There's no way that will happen but I haven't told her that yet.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

Michael turned TWO today!!
It's hard to believe that two years have come and gone since Michael has been in our lives. He has been such a joy and blessing and also has kept us on our toes. He is full of life and loves to GO, GO, GO! When I look at him I see a beautiful, innocent boy who has so much to give this world. For those of you who know him, you know how crazy he is and for those that don't, well, you can take my word for it. I can't wait to see what kind of Man this little boy grows into. Michael, thanks for making life interesting and never dull or boring. You are a blessing to us all and we love you so much! Happy Birthday Magoo!!

Really!?!

I love Michael and am so grateful for him, but there are days when it seems a little harder with him than it ever was with Swayz. Especially when it comes to food. I really don't think there is much more to say, the pictures speak for themselves :)

We LOVE Easter

We have an Easter tradition that I love. Connie (the Big grandma- refer to previous post) works for Davis County and because of that is invited to a huge Easter egg hunt every year. We wake up early and head up to Farmington. Bagels and fruit are served for breakfast and then the Easter Egg hunt begins. The lawn is sectioned off for each age group and each child is allowed a certain number of eggs. Michael is great at the hunt because he isn't afraid of anyone, it doesn't matter how big they are. He is really good at running and telling the other little kids "NO" "Mine" and grabbing the eggs. Swayz is a little more timid and likes to have either Mom or Dad with her. Over all both kids had a great time and I always enjoy sharing the candy with them.

CAKE ANYONE?

I had a sweet tooth the other day and decided to make a cake. Michael and Swayz love to help and it's fun (most of the time) to watch them crack the eggs and stir. We were done mixing everything together and about to pour it into the cake tin when Swayz had a bathroom emergency. Usually she doesn't need or want any help but this was a close call and she needed some help with her pants. I left Michael on the counter (I know what was I thinking) and ran to help swayz. When I got back to the kitchen this is what I found (look at the pictures)

U of U Gymnastics

Here is our family at the U of U gymnastics meet-


When you tell Michael to smile he thinks that means close your eyes!

Toots loving life at the meet



Before I begin this post I just want to express my appreciation to all of you who are so good at blogging. I am amazed at all of you who are so consistent and creative with your blogs. You inspire me... Really you do. So in the spirit of sharing here I go. . .

Swayz has been in gymnastics for the last 2 years. She is pretty good for a 4 year old (other than the fact that she refuses to use her arms when doing bridges, and back handsprings. She is convinced it's better to land on your head) and she loves it. We decided that it would be fun to take her to a U of U gymnastics meet. We went to the last meet of the season and it was awesome. Swayz got to see first hand that it really is important to use your arms and that if you work really hard she could someday do a back handspring all by herself. Michael loved the bright lights and all of the people. Overall it was a success!

Bowling Anyone. . .

For FHE we decided to go bowling. It turned out to be really fun, even with a 1 year old. Swayz loved it and did pretty good. She thought she was pretty big because she got to pick out her own ball and bowl all be herself. Mikey thought that he should get a turn and threw a little fit when he figured out he was only ment to watch and not touch. The siblings got a little competitive, I think I won both games :) Over all we had a great time.

Daddy's little BOY

It's been awhile since our last post. Life gets a little crazy as I am sure most of you know. We are doing GREAT! Well most of the time :) Everyone is healthy and happy, what more can you ask for!
The other day we were sitting in Michael's room playing around with the kids. Shane grabbed the tie from my rob and tied it on his head like Rambo. Mikey and Swayz thought that was the coolest thing ever. Swayz wanted to add to Daddy's look so she put her beautiful blue necklace around his neck. It wasn't too long until Michael wanted to put everything on. So we took it off Shane, put it on Mike and watched him run around for a good 10 min. He kept trying to "chop" swayz and kick us. He would run into the room yelling HIIIIIYAAAAAA. I think he might have watched Kung Fu Panda one to many times. It was really cute thought so we took pictures and here they are.

Oh Christmas Tree...

Smile!
Swayzee where are you?
Hey Mike over here
Hey T are you having fun yet?
My sweetheart
We have a family tradition of getting our Christmas tree the Monday after Thanksgiving. We go out to dinner and then hit the same Christmas tree lot that we have been to since I was 9.
After dinner we headed out to the tree lot. Swayz and Mike were in heaven, there were rows and rows of Christmas tress and all they wanted to do was run through them. After chasing them around for awhile we finally found the perfect tree. It was right in time because Swayz informed us that she needed to go potty. We hurried and paid and rushed home, just making it in time. The tree looks beautiful, now the trick it keeping Mike out of it. He thinks the lights are the coolest thing ever and he loves to run up, hit it and laugh. CRAZY I tell ya!! (em I am still amazed you do this with twins :) )

Snow, Sleds and Bodily Harm

Here we are ready for the cold!!

Mom, Swayz and Mike

Man this is harder than it looks

I am soooo strong!

Picture perfect!
The day after Thanksgiving we headed up to my parents cabin for a nice relaxing weekend. I don't know if relaxing is the right word. For those of you who know Mikey he doesn't exactly allow people to relax. He is going 110 miles an hour and doesn't slow down unless asleep or sick. Anyways on with the story... Shane and I decided it would be fun to take the kids sledding. We all bundled up in our snow stuff (I don't know if you can tell but mikes outfit is just a little big :)) and off we went. My parents cabin is perfect for sledding, the driveway makes the perfect hill and leads right down to the garage. Sways and I attempted the first run, We got situated and off we went. I didn't realize that we would get going so fast, nor did I realize that the rock wall was really the only thing that could stop us. With my feet out and a few screams we hit. I was able to protect Swayz but I must say I wasn't walking as well after that. We soon learned that we needed to start down lower and Shane ended up catching us after that. We had a great time and even Mikey loved it. The best part was climbing the hill, well it wasn't the funnest part but it exhausted mike and swayz and they went to be really early that night.

Painting rocks is so much FUN

What a cute kid

bribing Mike with candy

We ended up painting a ghost, candy corn, pumpkins and a frankenstein

Smile

We decided to paint rocks for Halloween. We walked all around the neighborhood looking for just the right rocks. After an hour or so we had all the rocks we needed, painting here we come. I wasn't sure what to do with Mike, he is a little crazy and sitting still isn't much of an option. I decided to bribe him with candy and stick him in his high chair. After 5 min. Swayz was bored and ready to move onto the next project. Unfortunantly fo her, I was just getting started and we weren't going to stop. After about an hour we had painted all our rocks! We made pumpkins, a ghost, candy corns and frankenstein. We had so much fun.

Happy Birthday Old Man!!

I want to wish my sweet husband a very happy birthday today!! I don't tell him enough how much I love him and how amazing he is. Thank you Hun, for putting up with me, and all my wonderful weaknesses. You handle me with love, respect and patience and I am so grateful for that. You truly make me want to be better. You are also an amazing father. Your kids love you so much and I love watching their reaction when you walk through the door after a long day. I hope you have a great day today!

Asleep..... on the pot!

After getting home from Grandmas a little late Swayz needed to go the bathroom. She walked into the bathroom but didn't come out. I didn't really think anything of it, shes 4 and has been doing this for a while. Well after about 5 min. I thought there might be a little problem. I opened the door and found swayz asleep on the pot! it was so funny!! Shane and I laughed so hard.

Ready, Set, GOOOOOOO

READY...

SET...

GOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Swayzee mastered jumping off of the window seal in our bedroom a while ago. It was quite an accomplishment!! She has now learned how to do twists and flips off of it too. The whole time Swayz was learning how to do all of these amazing things Mikey was watching. He wanted to jump off the window too and would try and get up over and over again. Shane and I were grateful that he never figured it out. It is a little high for him and although he is very tough we didn't want him to get hurt. Well little did we know that swayz taught mike how to get up and jump off and then to do it all over again. I walked into the bedroom and there they were, up on the window seal, holding hands, counting to three. It was a success and now it is the funnest thing that they do!

We love GALOON!!

We went to Lagoon last Thursday with our family and had so much fun. Swayz was so excited to ride the rides and eat cotton candy. She was so funny though, every time we told her where we were going she would say Galoon instead of Lagoon. Our conversations went something like, "hey mom what time are we going to Galoon?" or "Mom Galoon is going to be soooo fun, I can't wait!" When we finally got there she rode all of the little kid rides and then wanted to go on the big kid rides. She was so sad when we told her she had to be a little older and a lot taller to ride those rides. Mike wanted to go on every ride with his big sister too. We let him go on the little boat ride, i was so stressed that he would figure out how to get out and jump in the water that once was enough for him. Shane and I went on the flying ride there. It's one of the rides that you have you have to pay a little extra for. They strap you into a harness, lift you way high in the air and then you drop and it feels like you are flying. I loved it!! Shane screamed the whole way down but I think he liked it when we were all done. (just kidding hun, you were really brave) Over all it was a great day, the kids were so tried when they got home they went straight to be and who can complain about that.