2010 Rockland Annual Easter Egg Hunt

The twins got to hunt eggs last Friday in Rockland's Annual Easter Egg Hunt. It didn't take them long to figure out what was going on. The egg hunt is during school, so it is only for pre-schoolers. Pretty Cute! The weather couldn't decide if it was winter or spring so the twins had several layers on. We have alread had enough candy to last us until Halloween and it isn't officially Easter yet.
Elizabeth

Emily

Crash & Burn

I was cleaning the bathroom the other day when I suddenly noticed that my house was unusually quiet. This is not normally a good sign, when my kids are quiet that usually means that they are getting into trouble somewhere. I went searching for the kids and found Abigail playing with her doll house (Abigail - check). Then to find the twins. Emily was passed out on the couch, I guess Elmo was too much for her to handle, that monster has a lot of energy you know (Emily - check). Elizabeth was the strangest discovery, she had literally fallen asleep on top of Abigail's Hannah Montana guitar. When they crash they crash! (Elizabeth - check). The picture was taken after I had covered her up with a blanket. I didn't dare move her, and yes our playroom is that messy most of the time. That is why it is a playroom. I only get around to cleaning it once a week.

Basketball

Abigail's basketball season ended in February, but we just got the team pictures. What a goofy group of kids.

More Dancing

Yesterday, was Abigail's second dance competition of the year, well I don't really know if it was a competition because the judges didn't show up. Oops! Oh well, it didn't make a difference to Abigail, she wanted to stay the entire six hours and watch all of the dances, she didn't even want to leave to go get food. Now that is dedication!


Ariana, Abigail's cousin came to this dance competition. Ariana is a dinosaur and Abigail is a birthday party girl.

Abigail did two dances at this competition, she was supposed to be a mime or harlequin for her second dance. She danced to Bjork's Oh So Quiet! It was pretty cute and I loved the song.

Spring is Coming

Spring in Idaho is a big tease. One day it is beautiful outside with the sun shining and 45 degrees, and the next day there is snow on the ground. Darin has started being away from the house a little more and more as he finds different projects around the farm to do and our Cows are still calving. Darin bought a few more Cows, so by summertime if everything goes well we should have 17 momma cows, 17 calves, and a yearling bull. I hope his ranching business does well this year.

The girls love to go out on the farm with their daddy.

Poop Everywhere

Warning: Do not keep reading if you are easily grossed out or offended by the topic of toddler excrement's.

First off I need to say AaaaaaaHhhhhh! For the twins second birthday they got all of the things that they needed to start potty-training. I wasn't really planning on potty-training them until this summer, when it is okay to run around the house in underwear, but I thought if each of them got their very own potty chair, Elmo that pees, and big girl panties, we could start talking about going pee-pee and poo-poo in the potty. I think I have created a monster. Elizabeth is a little bit interested in the potty and she loves to wear the panties over her diaper, but Emily is a whole different story. Emily will actually go in the potty #1 and #2 if I catch her at the right moment, but here is my problem. Emily will wear a diaper, but as soon as she goes #2, off goes the pants, and off goes the diaper, with all content inside. Does she tell me that she is poopy? NO! I think she is playing nicely in the play room and then I hear screams from Abigail and Elizabeth. "Eeeeeeeewwwwww Poop!" as Emily is stomping in her dirty diaper or wiping it on the walls, etc.. What is her freaking problem? Does she know how disgusting that is? This has not happened just once, it happens almost everyday. I have talked to her about how poop goes in the potty, I have had her help clean the mess up, and I have sat her on the toilet hoping that she would poop there. HELP!!! What do I do? I am totally disgusted by cleaning up poop mess everyday. This has gone on for about two weeks and I am at my wits end! Good thing she isn't a puppy or she would have been kicked out of the house days ago!

Abigail's New Do

We got Abigail's hair cut today. We cut 6-8 inches off. Big change! She looks so much older. Hopefully, this new hair cut will elimintate some of the hair brushing fights that we have in the morning before school.

Going On A Trip

For the past few days Abigail and the twins have been pretending that they are going on vacation to Texas. They set the laundry baskets up in the hallway to sit on like they are in the car and they pack all sorts of things in the boxes. They even thought to bring the DVD player. Who could go on a trip with out one of those babies? Abigail sits on a trash can behind the twins and drives to Texas. I guess she gives a whole new meaning to back seat driver. I am pretty sure they are tired of the cold winter weather and are ready for some sunshine. Watch out Grand Nan here they come.

Birthday Dance

Abigail had her first dance competition of the year last Saturday. It was at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. Her dance class did a Character Jazz routine to The song "A Very Happy Unbirthday" from Alice in Wonderland and "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to." Her team took 1st place in their age group (6-8) and category (character jazz). We were pretty excited because Utah is known to be pretty stiff competition when it comes to dance. The other teams from her dance school did well too. Go Abi! She has three more competitions, so I will up load a video of her dance sometime in the future.

New Calf

Our big red cow had a baby on 2-12. She isn't a very good mother though. Every time her baby comes up to nurse she walks away. Darin has been having to milk the momma cow and bottle feed the baby. I can't really blame her though every time I look at her utters, I imagine that she is in pain and doesn't want to be touched. Poor momma cow. Poor baby calf.

This is 2-12 our baby calf. I hope it grows up to be a healthy steer.

Little Cuties

We haven't had a whole lot going on lately, we have celebrated a lot of birthdays in January and February though. First the twins1-9, then Grandpa Del 1-24, then Ariana 1-27, then Misty 2-1, then Darin 2-2. The twins are growing up so fast and they keep us really busy. I got a new camera for my birthday and I am excited to use it.


Emily loves to push a vacuum and hold a baby at the same time. I wonder where she has seen this before?

The twins love to sit in the recliner together and drink their sippy cups and watch movies.

Missing The Summer

Elizabeth, Abigail, Emily

My good friend is a budding photographer and she took these pictures of my girls last summer. I decided to finally post them. I can't wait until it is summertime again. I love summertime in Idaho! Abigail, Elizabeth, Emily

Abigail

Emily

Elizabeth

Basketball

Abigail gets to play basketball for about six weeks this year. She has fun and likes it because it is a pretty fast moving sport. It is pretty funny watching a bunch of 5 & 6 year olds try to make a basket shooting from the middle of the basketball court. Go Abigail!

Like how Abigail's eyes are closed while she tries to make a basket.

Visitor Etiquette

Darin and I got into a discussion about what appropriate visitor etiquette is, so I started wondering what other people think about this topic. I think this depends on how a person is brought up and their cultural influences. So I wanted to take a poll. Answer the poll to your right so I know what you think. Let me give you an example. Darin thinks that it is totally okay for visitors to drop buy unannounced and stay for as long as they want and he does the same thing to other people. He will just drop by people's houses to say hi without telling them he is coming. I think that a person should always call before they come over to see whether or not I am available to visit. What do you think?

A. It is okay for anyone to stop by my house unannounced to visit for any length of time.
B. Only family members are welcome to stop by my house unanounced all other people should call first.
C. I would really prefer if anyone that wanted to come by my house call me first and see if I am available. I have a busy schedule and not all times are the best times to chat.
D. People should visit my house by appointment only. I don't like surprise visitors.

For the Strength of Youth

My church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) just created an amazing website for the youth of our church. It has all kinds of stuff on it that is absolutely great for the youth of today to be able to use as a resource and put on the armour of God to fight the daily battle against Satan. Go to this link to visit the website https://beta.lds.org/youth?locale=eng

I am so glad that God did not send me to this world to wander around aimlessly wondering what I should be doing with my life. He has given us the Holy Scriptures as a guide on how to live our lives to be able to return to Him. He has also given us modern day prophets to guide us in the world today. One of the things that our modern day prophets have given us is the For the Strength of Youth booklet. When I was a youth I was very aware of this book, but I was more annoyed by it than anything. I was annoyed because it basically had all of the answers in it on how we should be living our lives and what we should do when we encounter specific situations and I knew that there were some changes that I needed to make in my life. I have recently gained a strong testimony of the importance of this booklet. If we follow the teachings in this booklet, then we will not fail. It is just like following a tried and true blue ribbon recipe. If you follow the recipe, then you will get pleasing results, if you don't follow the recipe, then the outcome will be unknown and sometimes a disaster. I think everyone should use this booklet as a guide for their lives along with the scriptures of course. This book is an amazing parenting tool too. Click here to go to the website of the contents of the book.

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?locale=0&sourceId=3f46be335dc20110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=59cf5f74db46c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

Happy 2nd Birthday Emily & Elizabeth

The twins had a birthday on January 9th. I can't believe that they are 2 already. I guess time flies when you are getting little sleep. We had an Elmo birthday party with grandma & grandpa, aunts and uncles and cousins. I have decided that I am not doing a birthday party where they invite friends over until they turn 5. We are so happy to have Emily & Elizabeth in our family.


Emily in her party dress admiring the balloon bouquet that Heather made.

Elizabeth has the balloons now. A few more and she just might float away.

Getting ready to blow out the "2" candle on their beautiful Elmo cake made by Aunt Kim.

Crazy fun with seven kids under the age of five.