Gingerbread Tradition

So we are going to start a new tradtion in our house during the holidays. We are going to build gingerbread houses. We got our kit at Costco, which was neat because it came with candy, icing and the gingerbread was all made, we just had to put it together. The kids had fun putting the candy on the house that Cam built. However, I think the kids ate more candy than they put on the house. It turned out way cute. The temptation was too much for the kids and they began to nibble on the house shortly after. Our cute little gingerbread house lasted about a week. Oh well, Bailee and Braden had fun and thats what really matters.

Malia Sprouted Teeth

Over Thanksgiving, we noticed that Malia was unusually fussy. So we checked in her mouth and noticed TWO TEETH!! She is 5 1/2 months and can't believe how fast she is growing up. Her favorite thing to do is push her tongue against her new teeth.
Well I have come to the conclusion that Malia is stubborn with a Capital S. I guess she gets it from me. We are trying to give her a bottle, so mommy can have a little break once in awhile.
But she refuses to even try to take it. She will arch her back and just scream. You would think someone was hurting her. On friday Cameron and I have a date. It has been a long time that we have been together without the children. Grandma Linda is going to watch our kids while we have fun Christmas shopping. The problem is she wont take a bottle!! I've tried to pump but I dont have enough milk to make a bottle. We need help, does anyone have any suggestions on how to make it work for all of us.

Happy Trick or Treating.

Our kids had a blast dressing up and going to our ward carnival party. After, we took them trick or treating in our neighborhood. We couldn't believe how much candy they got. Thanks to Grandma Linda we could both go out with our kids while she helped out with candy and Malia.
Apparently our subdivision is the spot to go trick or treating. We will have to remember to buy lots more candy for next year. It was neat to see people come to our door, in Pocatello no one came. This year Bailee was a blushing bride, Braden was Luke Skywalker, and Malia was a butterfly

Award Winning Cornbread

On Saturday, our ward had a Chili Cook-Off, where people can bring their best chili, cornbread, or dessert and they would be judged by the young women and men. Well I thought I would enter my cornbread. Well when we got there their was so many versions of cornbread that I thought I dont have a chance, surely there would be better tasting cornbreads than mine.

But to my surprise, Mine WON!! I was excited. Mine won as the sweetest tasting cornbread according to the young women and men. If any are interested in the recipe here it is. I hope you try it out.

1 C. margarine, melted 1 1/4 C cornmeal
1 1/2 C sugar 2 3/4 C flour
2 C buttermilk 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Mix all the ingredients together and pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Cook for 35 minutes at 375.
If you want to make a smaller batch, just cut everything in half.
Enjoy

Happy Birthday Braden!!

We celebrated Braden's 4th birthday on Saturday, the 13th. Even though October 15th is his birthday. He wanted to have a big party with all of his new friends. We had 10 little kids running around and having fun. Our good friends, Shane and Missy, and Fonda came with her kids. Also Grandma and Grandpa Clark came. Grandma and Grandpa Samson gave Braden a big surprise. They flew in from Salt Lake to come to his party. They orginally weren't going to come because of the long drive, but my brother works for Skywest airline as a aircraft mechanic so they can fly free on standby. This was there first time flying to our house and the kids thought it was neat to see them come off the airplane.

Braden loved his party and loved playing Duck Duck Goose, Red Light, Green Light, and Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Thank goodness it was good weather or we would have 10 kids running around playing games. We had a big football birthday cake and our house was decorated with a sports theme. Braden had such a great time opening his presents, he had lots of lego sets and mom and dad gave him a leapfrog leapster with the Cars game. Its hard to believe our boy is 4 years old

Malia Laughs!!

Well Malia has started to laugh when tickled, it is actually pretty cute (I have 3 kids, I can say cute). Mary is pretty happy since I could get our other kids to laugh pretty easily and she couldn't. This child is definitely Mary's since she can get her to laugh and I can't. The funniest thing was saturday after the afternoon session of conference, Mary went to get her hair trimmed and I was rocking Malia. Bailee walked up to her growling and she went nuts, laughing. She laughed for about 20 min, it had us all laughing too. Malia is now almost 4 months old and is growing like a weed.

We Just Love Construction!!

It must be the season for construction, because we have new houses being built behind and across the street from us. Of course there is still the hospital being built too. Instead of looking at the bare fields we look at huge cranes, backhoes, and hear lots and lots of pounding. I guess it's good to have more neighbors. Hopefully it wont take them very long, it could get old seeing gross men working. Now if they were cute it would be a different story. HAHAHA!

Well I just planted some tulip bulbs in my flower bed and we will see if I have a green thumb or not, when they come up in the spring. Its been fun working in the yard even though I have no idea what I am doing. I guess we all have to start somewhere.

Cameron and I have new callings in the ward. Cameron is the Cubmaster and teaches the 11 and 12 year old primary class. I think Cam will do a wonderful job and will have fun with the boys. I was called to be an assistant Den Leader for the Bears. I had to laugh when they told me I would be in cub scouts, because I was the den leader for the bears in Pocatello. At least I will know what I am doing, and can bring in some ideas from before. It will be fun to work with Cameron in scouting. Wish us luck.

Halloween in September?!?!?!?!

It's Halloween at our house!! Well not really but the kids are celebrating a little early. Grandma Judy came up for a few days to visit and to give the kids their halloween goodies. Daddy and Mommy got some candy and some halloween decorations for the house. Bailee and Braden got some candy and halloween balls. Grandma also gave them a CD that has some kid halloween songs. They love the songs and want to hear them all day. While Grandma was here, we went to the dollar store and we found some Halloween costumes for the kids to play in. Bailee wanted the witch costume and Braden found a Ninja. They were so excited to get home and try them on. For only paying 1.00 they were pretty cute.

Grandma brought up Malia her Halloween costume. Aunt Megan and Grandma Judy found this cute butterfly costume at Shopko and had to buy it. We think she looks adorable, and is ready to go trick or treating. We just hope the excitment of Halloween will still be there in a month.

Picture Day

Well yesterday was picture day at Bailee's school. And of course she had a nice shiner under her eye, thanks to Braden running her over on his bike. If you know Braden at all he doesn't always watch where he is going. Mom tried to hide with makeup but it was a huge scap, and makeup doesn't like to stick to scaps. Oh well It reminds me how when I was little we (as in my brother and me) would experiment with the scissors and play barber shop. I always got a cute new haircut, with half of my bangs cut almost to the scalp. My mother would just cry because it would be around picture day. So to say the least some of my pictures didn't turn out too cute. Im sure Bailee's pictures will be just adorable.

Yesterday I was bored and painted Malia's tiny toenails. I think I got more on her skin than on her nails. She looks cute with painted nails. Thanks Cami for showing me how cute baby girls look with painted toes. However, we will have to wait to paint her fingernails, for she always has her hands in her mouth. I was going to post a picture but for some reason Im having difficulties with the picture software. Will post when i figure it out.

Bailee's First Day of School

Even though Bailee has been to school for a week. I wanted to let everyone know that Bailee is loving Kindergarten, and told me she is excited to learn how to read. She goes in the afternoon at 11:55 to 2:55, which gives me three hours to do my errands and play with Braden. He likes it when I teach him "school". Braden already knows how to write his name.

Bailee also likes her teacher, Mrs. Dickensen. On the first day of school, she already made a new friend Cierra. I'm glad that Bailee is starting to be more outgoing. Well here are a few pictures of her first day.

About Me

Jobs That I've Had:
Certified Nursing Assistant
Administrative Assistant for Chartwells
Mother

Places I've Called Home:
Sandy, Utah
Grace Idaho
Twin Falls Idaho
Pocatello Idaho
Back to Twin

Movies that I never get sick of:
Fools Rush In
Harry Potter
The Karate Kid (I used to have a crush on Daniel Son)

Favorite TV shows:
Greys Anatomy
the Home and Garden channel
30 Minute Meals

Favorite Vacation Spots:
Hawaii
Texas
Just being away with family

Last thing I ate:
Leftover meatloaf

Eye Color:
Brown

Summer or Winter:
Summer, however, Fall is a close second

scary or Happy endings:
Happy

Speaking in Church and the Kids New Toy

Today I spoke in church about obedience. Usually I get so nervous and can't speak without tears. Well today I turned over a new leaf. I just read my talk and I got through it without being nervous. It was probably only a few minutes, the shorter the better. Right. Cameron gave me a blessing of comfort and i think that helped tremendously. Now the people in our new ward wont think of me as a crybaby when ever I talk in church. Watch they will call me to be a relief society teacher where I would have to talk all the time. That would be horrible.

Cameron recently got his first paycheck and we thought we would buy the kids a swingset to play on. It took Cameron two days to put it together. Too bad it won't hold me and cam if we want to swing. Hopefully Bailee, Braden and Malia will have many happy times on thier new toy.

Malia is Two Months Old!

Malia went to the doctor yesterday for her 2 month well child checkup. Where she received three shots. There was a newly graduated nurse who gave malia her shots. You could tell she hasn't had much experience because she did one vaccine one at a time and put the band aid on after each shot. I'm used to the nurses doing two at a time and then putting the band aids on after they were all done. Poor Malia was just hysterical. Luckily for me, Cameron was there to help out. Mommy has a hard time holding kids down and watching them scream bloody murder. We thought Malia would weigh in around 10 pounds. Boy were we wrong, she weighed in at 12 pounds. I thought wow you are fat. So today I looked at what the other kids weighed at 2 months and was surprised. Braden was 14 pounds and Bailee was 12lbs 2 oz. So I guess she isn' t that fat. .

Mount Malia Erupted

I'm so proud of Malia, she slept through the night!! She slept from 10:00 to 5:00. When she woke up at 5:00 she was eating like there was no tomorrow, just gulping away. She went back to sleep so I thought I would burp her before laying her back in her crib. Thats when she erupted!! Throwup went everywhere, all over me, her, the carpet ,and the chair. So of course I had to clean it up and change Malia's clothes. By this time she was wide awake and wanting to eat again since her stomach was on empty. I was a little hesitant to feed her again.
She ate for like two minutes and was back to dreamland. I hope Malia will continue to sleep through the night. Wish us luck.
Later today she goes to the doctor for her two month checkup and shots. I hope the shots wont make her fussy all day.

It's That Time of Year

It's that time of year again when summer is over and we send our kids to school. Bailee is so excited to go to Kindergarten. School starts here on the 27th of August. What will we do all day without Bailee? Running errands in less time. Dragging three kids around to more than one store is an errand in itself. I took Bailee school shopping for some clothes and she was so cute she wanted everything she saw. I would pick out a shirt and would say, Do you like this? Of course moms taste didn't match little Bailee's.
I remembered the good old days when my mom would take us school shopping. I love getting new clothes!!

7 Random Things About Me

My best friend Cami tagged me to do a 7 random post about myself. I would like you to know it was very hard coming up with 7 things that no one really knows about me. Here it goes.

1. When I was a child I used to bite my fingernails. My mom thought I would stop when she would put nasty medicine on them. Oh no! I would just suck off the medicine and continue to bite down. When all ten of my fingers were down to nothing, I would start on my TOES. Gross I know. Its a good thing I've outgrown that habit. Its not pretty to see people putting their toes in their mouth.

2. I used to hate salad dressing. When at home or at a resturant I would ask for no dressing whenever I had salad. People thought I was pretty wierd to eat just plain lettuce.
Its been only a few years since I made the switch to salad dressing, but it can only be Ranch and only just a little. I also can't have mayo or miracle whip on sandwiches. Just call me Plain Jane!!

3. My first two children are birth control babies. Cameron thinks I missed a day, but I faithfully took the pill each day, maybe not at the same time every day but I took it. Maybe God gives us children when he is ready not when we are ready. Thats the lesson I had to learn when we found out we were expecting Braden. Bailee was only 6 months when we found out. I was taking the mini pill. Doctors didn't tell me you have to take it at the same time every day or the effectivness goes way down. I'm glad though I have my children, I couldn't imagine life without them.

4. I'm a corn on the cob lover. I look forward to the summer when corn is in season. I could eat corn on the cob for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My poor family gets it alot, at least every other day. When we only have two options for a vegetable that the whole family will eat, corn works out just fine. The other is broccoli.


5. Cameron and I dated for only a month before we got engaged!! I guess Cam didn't waste any time when he found the right girl. I'm glad I said yes, because the last 6 years has been wonderful. Cameron is such a great guy.

6. I'm not very coordinated when it comes to playing sports. I can barely hit a baseball. I throw a football like a girl, I was on my junior high's volleyball team, but didn't play much. However, I'm still trying to convince Cameron that dancing is a sport. Dancing was my life in high school. I loved performing at half times and at competitions. Our dance team brought home over 10 trophies every year. We ROCKED!

7. I also have the gigglepees, probably most women do after having children. i have to cross my legs when i laugh, cough and sneeze. Cameron makes fun of me all the time.

Let's Ride!!

When we visted Jef and Sarah a couple of weeks ago, Their boys Logan and Mason let Bailee and Braden ride their motorcycles. Of course they were so thrilled especially Braden. They learned quickly how to ride and how to release the gas to stop. Mainly due to daddy and uncle Jef screaming STOP!! Bailee almost took out a parked car, luckily for us she missed it. They could have ride for hours if they could. Here are a few pics of them riding.

Bailee's New Baby Doll

Bailee thought it would be fun to put Malia in her baby doll stroller and take her for a ride. ( mommy watching very closely) Malia thought it was pretty fun and loves being with her big sister.

Malia is One Month, Trees and Flowers

Malia is one month. It's crazy how time flies by. She is getting so big and is now fitting into her clothes. She also has her first cold, it sad to see her with a runny nose and a little cough. Oh well kids and colds go hand in hand. I will post some pictures when our computer gets set up with a faster internet connection. Malia also has moved into her new room and slept in her crib for the first time. Now we just need her to sleep through the night.


Bailee and Braden has made some friends, thank goodness. That means I wont have to hear them complain that they are bored or listen to them fight with each other. Luckily there are kids around their own age to play with. At least the boys are not into star wars!!!

This weekend my parents came up and helped us with some yard work. We planted our very first tree. Well three trees to be exact. Cameron was nervous making holes into our grass. What a baby! Just Kidding. I also planted some flowers. It was fun doing something to our yard.
Today I started my first official workout to get rid of my buldges. (spelling) hopefully I will be able to keep doing it, my motivation is not the best. My walking partner lives to far away to help me.

Well we finally moved in to our new house. Now it looks like a tornado touched down. The easy part is over, now comes the hard part decorating. Its very hard for me to decide where to put pictures and all of my nick nacks. Usually there are many nail holes in the walls. Cameron and I do not get along at this stage of decorating. Not to damage our freshly painted walls I have to contemplate very hard on everything I hang up.

Bailee, Braden, and Malia have adjusted to our house and are very excited to have their own rooms.

Malia Marcelene

Moving On

This is our brand new house in Twin Falls ID. We love the fact that we are leaving apartment life for good. We have lived in apartments for 6 years and we are so excited to start a new chapter in our lives. Cameron got a job in Jerome working as a Physican Assistant (PA), which he will be starting on August 13.

Our house has 4 bedrooms 2 bathrooms and a really big kitchen, which I love the most. Best of all it has a dishwasher! I would still probably hand wash our dishes out of habit though.

The kids are excited for our garage. A little strange if you ask me.

According to the kids we need to buy lots of stuff. They would always ask "when we have a house can we have this." I think the first thing we will get for them will be a swing set.

We are going to miss the playground at our apartment, and most of the little friends that Bailee and Braden would play with. I'm going to miss the neat friends that I have made over the 5 years we have lived in Pocatello. Too bad you can't take them with you. It will be a sad day for me when we move on July 14th. Twin Falls is only an hour and a half away, so we can always visit. (that is a hint to our good friends and neighbor the Jepsons)

Our Happy Family of Five

We are now a family of FIVE! We welcomed Malia to our family on June 18, 2007, big sister Bailee and big brother Braden, love having her in the house. Braden would always ask "why do we have a baby?" and "do we get to keep her?" I was a little worried how our kids would take to a new baby, but they have adjusted well, thank goodness. Bailee always asks if she can hold the baby and tries to be Malia's mommy. When I was pregnant, Bailee would say to people that she would do everything for the baby except changing those dirty diapers. That was going to be my only job.

Malia Marcelene weighed in at 7 lbs. 8 oz. and was 21 inches long. She is our smallest baby so far. Bailee wins by weighing 8 lbs. 7 oz.
Maila's name is Hawaiian for Mary, I always wanted a girl named after me but a different variation. So when we vacationed in Hawaii we learned that Mary was Malia. So when we found out that we were having another little princess in the house I knew exactly what we were going to name her. Luckily Cameron liked the name as well.
Marcelene comes from her paternal great grandma.