E.T. and no sleep

Last week was the first time that MaKaya watched E.T. from start to finish. Her and Savanna were anxiously waiting for the moment that Elliot and E.T. met. They each hid their eyes when E.T. came into view and then screamed when the dog barked and E.T. screamed. The next day she talked non-stop about E.T. She told me how he got sick and he turned gray, she told me about the men in white suits. She explained how the little girl gave E.T. the flower. She commented on Elliot yelling to E.T. She also said that it made her cry when E.T. left. So all in all I thought that E.T. was a good movie for her to watch. WRONG!!! She has nightmares about the little guy every night. This is her dream. E.T. walks through the door, Sammie barks then E.T. screams his really scary scream and then MaKaya screams. It frightens her so much that she comes in our room and can't go back to sleep. My sleep and my bed are very important to me. So grudgingly I get out of bed and go sleep with her in another bed. Thanks a lot E.T.

Lexi's Stories

Lexi loves to write and illustrate stories. She is now learning how to use punctuation. I love to see her drawings. I have no artistic ability, so seeing her all ready drawing so good makes me happy!

MaKayas Art

Mom I hope you don't get Mad MaKaya Kearns
Her picture of me and her
She drew this of her dad while we were in church today.

I love the creativity that children have. MaKaya tells her pre-school teacher that she wants to be an artist one day. Miss Julie tells her that she all ready is an artist. I hope that she continues to draw and color forever. MaKaya was out of school all last week. Because she was bored she was naughty and I was mad a lot. I think that is why in her letter she says she hopes I am not mad.

I feel so Loved!

After I got home from my fun overnighter, Shaun was very eager to take me out. The girls were at my moms so we took off to the mall. Shaun does not enjoy shopping so for him to take me and let me go from store to store to store was a HUGE birthday present for me. He wasn't just going from store to store he was really happy about it. I almost wondered where Shaun had gone and who was here replacing him. My parents were going out with the Baxters so we had to be back by 7:30. It was quarter after and as we were leaving Dillards Shaun indicates that he needs to go to the bathroom. I am a little annoyed because I know that this is most likely not going to be a speedy event. I wait and I wait and I wait. I am getting more anxious because my mother was so adament about us being there by 7:30. I call him on his phone and tell him we have to leave NOW. Five minutes later he strolls out. It is now 7:23 and we are late. I start lecturing him that he needs to learn to speed things up when taking a dump. I am tired of waiting for him all the time. My mom then calls (I'm waiting for her to chew me out) and tells me that they will just bring the girls to my house. When we pull into the driveway I see my dads truck there, as we walk in through the garage into the house it is dark as can be. I am thinking to myself Dad you could have turned a light on. I then turn the light on and a big huge SURPRISE welcomes me home. I am shocked and overcome with Surprise. I am looking from face to face to face and just can't believe that all these people are here to celebrate with me. I am also shocked that I absolutely had no idea that a Surprise Party was being planned for me. I try not to but the tears start to come and I can't make them stop. Lexi and MaKaya come running to me and they are crying as well. Who could have possilbly put this all together without me knowing? Well of course Adam. He was glad he was holding Boo so that his emotion could be hidden by her. He is the greatest most thoughtful brother I could ever ask for. There was so much food, my house was all decorated with purple streamers, West Side Story soundtrack was playing, he called and invited so many people. So much thought and preperation went into this night just for me. He even bought me two dozen roses, got a gift certificate for a pound of chocloate to Sees, and gave me the cutest denim skirt from Nordstroms a store I rarely shop at. It still brings a tear to my eye thinking about how much work he put into it. It was also a very overwhelming feeling seeing so many people there for me, to wish me a Happy Birthday. Stephanie bought me this really sentimental card that spoke right to my heart. I looked up while reading her very touching card saw all my friends and started crying all over again. Everyone was so generous with their gifts. I guess you just don't realize how much people really do love and care about you. I was also informed that Shaun was in the bathroom at Dillards talking to Adam to see if we could come home yet. He was stalling for my benefit and he got chewed out for it. What a wife. Thanks to all of you that made turning 30 the absolute best Birthday I have ever had!!!

Best Birthday Ever!!!

Destiny, Monica, Amanda, Vanessa

I have been dreading turning 30 for a year now. I feel like once you are 30 your youth is gone. Being in your 20's you still can be considered young, but there ain't nothing young when you say 30!!! So this year thanks to my wonderful friends we planned a very fun weekend. We set off on Friday afternoon to the Zermott Resort where we enjoyed a relaxing massage (except for Mr. Chatty giving me my massage) and a delicious dinner. Then we went to Heber's one room Movie Theatre (it kind of reminded me of the Villa back in the "young" days. The smell of throw-up was even lingering) and watched Fools Gold. Loved it and LOVED Matthew. After that we went to the Homestead and had a chocolate brownie with ice cream, hot fudge and whipping cream. After our 5000 calories we were feeling so slender we decided to break out the swim suits and go to the Hot Tub. As fun as that was we just wanted to go back to the room and talk without any husbands or children interrupting us. The next morning we had a delicious free breakfast (bad service = free food) and then off to Park City for some shopping. My favorite purchase was my MAC makeup. They had all the colors that I have been wanting. We went to lunch at Baja Cantina where none other than Mr. Footloose himself was there. I was tacky enough to ask him for a picture. Dumb me took just him instead of me with him. None the less it was so fun to eat at the same restaurant as someone famous. Because our clothes weren't fitting tight enough we ended our adventure with a trip to the Chocolate Factory. Yummy!!! All day long my phone kept ringing and ringing. Friends and family were calling to wish me a Happy Birthday. They were, Adam, Stephanie, Taylor, Mom, Danelle, Kate, Dana, Kenny, Paula, Shaun, My Girls, Laraine, April, Melanie, Kara and Krista. Thanks to Monica, Destiny and Vanessa for taking a night off with me, and thanks to all the rest of you for making my day so GREAT!!!

Happy Birthday

Shaun turned 37 today. I am getting old but he is still older. Shaun is so simple that making him happy on his birthday is not too hard. His presents were white socks, church socks, his favorite gum, a pair of shorts, and a chocolate ice cream cake from Maggie Moos. Of course his favorite present is something I will choose not to share :) We went out to dinner and then went to Barnes and Noble and looked at books about teaching your tweens about Sex. It was really a great night! Happy Birthday!!!

I Do.....

Stephanie and Taylor got married on Feb. 9th. They invited us all to the Homestead in Midway to celebrate their special day. Savanna and MaKaya were her flower girls. They loved being the center of attention. Savanna walked half way down the aisle caught sight of me and then ran the rest of the way. Lexi was a bridesmaid and was just beautiful. Stephanie looked gorgeous and Taylor very handsome. There was so much snow it made the setting just perfect. I was able to sing at their dinner and the girls helped me by throwing confetti. This was the highlight of their day. When it was over MaKaya said, "That was so fun, can we do it again." It was a great way to spend a cold day. After the wedding Shaun and the girls went swimming. They had a blast.

Life with Boo

Savanna is still driving me crazy, and I am still wondering if life with her will ever get easier. As much as she challenges me, I often find myself laughing because of her. She loves our dog Sammie. She loves to put her blanket on her, she loves to get in her bed. She gets one morsel of dog food and feeds her. She lets her out and then back in. She bosses her around and gets very annoyed when she does not obey. MaKaya is her best friend and she follows her around constantly. My Dad has always called MaKaya Mak. Because Savanna is still challenged when it comes to talking I taught her to call MaKaya Mak. So all day long when MaKaya is at school or playing at a friends or just simply out of her sight she asks me, "Ere Maa" As much as she bugs MaKaya the two of them are pretty good friends. When she wants a drink she sucks her lips like she is drinking from a straw (a little too much Pepsi mom) When she doesn't know something she shrugs her shoulders. The words she does know she doesn't say the last letter and a lot of them she says deep in her throat. It is very amusing(when I'm not frustrated)to listen to her talk. I never knew how hard it was to say some of our letters until Savanna came along. She tests me daily but having her around makes me happy for the little things.

MaKaya MaKaya MaKaya

MaKaya has always been my child that is very aware of EVERYTHING around her. Good luck on trying to pass anything by her. Because of this when we are out in public she watches people and then asks me questions about them. I have tried to teach her not to point and not to make other people feel uncomfortable by things she might ask me. Usually she is pretty good. She has this fascination with handicapped people. She loves Build a Bear and there is a wheel chair that she wants so so so bad. It seems that whenever we are at the mall or at the dollar movie a group of severely handicapped people are there on an outing. I always get a little nervous wondering what she might say. She has never put me in an awkward position but she is discretely watching them as often as she can. On one occasion we were riding in the car and she said, "Mom look I am handicapped". I look back and she had her head laid back leaning to one side and her mouth wide open with her eyes closed. I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing at all. She hasn't pretended to be handicap for a while, and then today we were shopping. She had her friend Macy with her and I hear her say "Macy lets pretend we are handicap". Then they both proceed to tilt their heads to one side and hang their mouths open. I don't exactly know how to handle the situation. She is not doing it to be rude or to make fun, she is simply just curious and copies them like she copies me when she plays house. Maybe its something she will grow out of, or maybe one day she will be a caretaker for handicapped people.

All grown up

Lexi is 7 going on 17. She and her friends went to see the Hannah Montana 3D movie. Tickets were $15 so the moms decided that we would rather buy a shirt than spend the money for us to see the show. So we let the girls go by themselves. I was a little nearvous at first but then realized how grown-up Lexi would feel going all by herself. Myself and another mom just hung out at the mall until the show was over. They had a really fun time, and so did we. It is really fun watching my girl grow-up. She is such a good kid. She loves to do her homework, loves to read, loves to go to church. She can be emotional but I think its a fair trade off for how good she usually is. She gives me hope that Savanna can turn into an easy child, but then again maybe I got an easy one to make up for my hard one.