Khristie Needs to Blog

After 2 years of wishing my siblings would blog I have one more sister to jump on the bandwagon... Khristie! She just emailed me these pictures and I love them. Cute hair! I agree that it may not work well for leaning over people's mouths all day, she's a dental assistant, but who cares when it looks awesome. (A W E... S O M E, Awesome! It's awesome! Hey, hey, it's awesome!)



Here is Khristie's living room newly arranged with a $5 yard sale find... her new rug! If I saw it for $5, I'd get it too.



So sassy! Love the A-line. I like to think I came up with it... do any of you remember back in jr. high when I got an A-line cut? Did Posh not copy me years later? Come on...



Alright... that's all you've got to do sister! Throw up some pics, add narative and call it a blog!

Sister Norton

We just had the Norton family over for dinner tonight. And when I say we I mean myself and the kids. I can't put my life on hold just because my husband works dinner time hours. And if I am always waiting for him to have a day off... I'll spend most of my life waiting and miss out on lots of friends and good times! Let me tell you, GOOD TIMES!



I don't think she realizes it, but Sister Norton and I knew each other in the pre-existence. Before Justin and I moved out to the middle of no-where I prayed and asked the Lord to prepare myself and the people I was about to meet. I prayed for the ward I would move into and the people in it. Can I just say I have never felt more at home with these wonderful people I have met these past 6 months! Sister Norton feels like a long lost sister-mom. She stayed after dinner, as her husband and son left, and totally helped clean the kitchen, give the kids a bath, read stories and go to bed. AND then we got to visit more while the kids were in bed. Kennedy, MacKenzie and Grayson LOVE her! They love going to her house and watching her movies and playing with her toys... love her! Anyway thanks Sister Norton for such a fun night and for joining us for dinner!

Dedication to Kelly

My friend Kelly and I LOVE American Idol! One day I was traveling with the fam "down the hill", about an hour away, when I realized we were not going to make it home in time to see American Idol. This is the one show I HAVE to see. Especially on voting night. So Justin called Kelly to make sure I could watch it with her on DVR. And there you have the beginning of a beautiful friendship. There is nothing more entertaining than this year's contestants on American Idol. We have since watched many shows together or on the phone agreeing that Michael Johns should've been in the top 4 along with Jason, David and DAVID! (Love David Cook)

I can't tell you how many times we have been totally in the middle of the show at her house, when MacKenzie:
Poops in her underwear
Pees
Dumps out dish soap (entire bottle) on the carpet
Poops on the floor
Dumps out finger nail polish on bed spreads

And other times at Kelly's, MacKenzie... colored marker ALL over school pictures! Seriously! My kids just can't help themselves when it comes to making a mess.

So this morning here's what happened when Justin and I thought we were enjoying laying around in bed while the kids were quietly "watching TV". At least it wasn't at your house Kelly :)

It's frosting. As you can see Grayson is very happy with the lid. I finally found the container in the girls bedroom, where else should it have been?

My 1st Hair Cut

I am scissor happy! I love cutting hair. I have cut Justin's hair since before we were engaged and I must admit there have been a few "ummm, just wait a few weeks" but many more "oooo, nice job"! Today Grayson had his first experience with clippers!



Nice job on sides! Look how smooth... how even!



Of course I mentioned he was a better customer than Justin... then he started crying at the clippers, but was fine with scissors. I should've taken better before pictures, but the sides were patch-i-ly long.



He is such a sweet baby. We love our Grayson and his new du!

Press on nails anyone?

Was it American Idol that made mention of Lee Press on Nails? Well some where in the past few days I heard it on TV and then I found Kennedy with these.



And this was TOO cute! I went to put Grayson down for a nap during lunch time. When I came back there was no chicken left on my plate, but Kennedy's was full of chicken and other food. It took me a minute to realize I'd been robbed!

What Cha Think?

I tried to take a shot that makes me look 20 pounds lighter. Yeah? Not really, but not too bad. These are my new glasses. How stylish! How fancy! Happy Mother's Day to me... belated on the delivery. The last time I got a pair of glasses was about 5 years ago. I figured this time around I would get EXACTLY what I wanted! So I settled for the cheapest, coolest, w/ a warranty, glare resistant kind. Oh what the heck throw in some sparkles too!



For a pretty penny more I could've been name brand with the words "Prada" on the side. It reminded me of the time in jr. high... or was it elementary school... that I ripped the tag off my "Jordache" jean shorts to sew on a triangle that said "Guess". Guess what? Guess who? And what's with the triangle? Did it have special flying powers? Why did I feel the need to belong to a triangle club? I just wanted to be cool. 15+ years later I'm still not cool, but like to think of myself as a little bit sassy!

Little Missionaries

This post is especially for Will, our German friend. We have some Elders in our ward right now and one of them has your name... we had to take a picture.



I should've got a picture of the Elder, he looks like he could be a cousin. We thought it was fun that he has your same last name... common name, but haven't seen it on an American. Maybe it's a sign that one day you'll be Mormon:)

Our Reptile House

When asked what her father does for a living, Kennedy replied, "he finds lizards and snakes for me and MacKenzie". There you have it! When Justin walked through the front door a few nights ago he was carrying a sock... probably smelly, with a knot at the opening. He told me, "Ohhhh, the girls are gonna LOVE this one." I didn't even ask.



Justin really does work... he just finds reptiles on his way home from the office. This sweet little thing is a King Snake, assumed to be a hatch ling of no more than one year. Think of it as a glorified worm and it's not so creepy.



The girls took turns, as politely as 2 and 3 year olds "take turns", holding this poor creature. They liked watching him "slime around" too. Worms don't slither the same as snakes:)

Water Friendly

In the desert there should be NO grass. It's expensive to water, not to mention ecologically wasteful, and who wants to mow in the heat? Thus, every yard should be grass free. Here are a few pictures of my dream yard! I LOVE it!





P.S. This is just down the street from the house we put an offer on! Yes you've hear it here, Justin and I have put our first offer on a home. This means absolutely nothing! We may very well be rejected, but the offer is out and by the end of next week we should know if the bank accepts it. If not, no be deal... besides the fact that I LOVE the house... but we've got 6 more months until the end of our lease here. It's really not in our best intrest to break the lease unless it's an AMAZING home (which it is).

Alright Rebecca

I've driven by this crazy yard hundreds of times and never once thought to take a picture until I saw Rebecca's cow going up in the billboard. I mean seriously... now I've got to top the cow! And although this is no cow, it's quite the land mark on your journey down Route 66. Here we have Barstow City and a surf board.



And every beer bottle yard needs some antlers.



AND a broken down jeep... or wagon.



Are those ice picks?

Every Morning

We live across the street from an eye soar. It's like a shoe box... though I've seen more attractive shoe boxes in my day. I just wonder what builders were thinking when this happened. I feel sorry for this house. Every morning I look out my kitchen window to see beautiful dessert mountains... and this house.



What's almost more baffling is someone is building this SUPER cute house across the street from the eye soar! What! There are so many other lots around the lake and you build by the most ugly? Hmmm...

Sweet Children

I mean look at this face... love the picture, love the face! And she was coloring on paper. Rosy cheeks, blue eyes... Justin & I have beautiful children.



And then we see what happens when I am preoccupied for 5 minutes. Khristie this is why I don't read during the day and at night I'm busy cleaning this mess. I need a maid! In case you're looking close there are 2 boxes of mac & cheese in view, but 3 more scattered from here to the end of the world.



I decided since the camera was out (since-ya-was up), I'd take a few more pics. These were my currently well behaved children.

Escape...

I HAD to take this picture... not for the blog, but to send to my sister khristie. The caption I thought was, "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful." The caption she mentioned was, "Don't you ever want to... Escape". So true:) In all reality if I ever take a shower at night and go to bed with wet hair... all hair is smushed up and hangs over my face. Looks rediculous!!! Felt like sharing it with the world.

Ready for church?

Welcome to getting ready with the Pollock's. We get everyone ready to go and then... MacKenzie decided on "surf hair" product. Hair spray just wasn't cutting it for her! As you can see she is dressed, her hair was fixed in a pony tail with a cute little bow and then puts hair paste ALL over her head. I was NOT fixing that again. So Justin put her in the shower, washed her hair (bow, pony tail and all) and put her clothes back on. So she went to church with wet, frizzy, ratted pony tail hair!

My Savior

I love the Savior! The best moments in my life revolve around Him. Feeling the Spirit quietly tell me as a teen that everything would be okay, regardless of my parents getting divorced. While a young adult I cried and cried. I couldn't stop! And then as I called upon my Savior... great peace. I knew breaking off an engagement was absolutely the right thing to do. As a missionary I saw the power of His gospel when tears of love and joy streamed down the faces of 15, once angry, tourist. Just weeks ago His priesthood filled my soul with hands on my head and blessings of comfort spoken. I love my Savior!



I have waited almost a year to find just the right frame and matting for my tribute to the Lord. I found it... I love it! There is no mistaking who the center of our home is now, and what a reminder to our children! Immediately Kennedy and MacKenzie identified... "JESUS"! My greatest hope is to raise my children to know and love the Lord. At times I wonder at the great spirits they once were. My favorite quote from modern day prophets is, "our children are not yet ours". We must earn the right to an eternal family by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel. Hmmm... good luck to all parents in earning the right to be parents forever!

The Skink

Our sweet Kennedy is such the reptile charmer! Justin caught this skink, type of lizard, out in Apple Valley the other day, and brought it home for the girls.



It has 2 tails. Kennedy wanted to hold it all day... I think it's cute, but don't make me touch it. MacKenzie feels the same way.




Here's Kennedy with her friend from nursery, Mela. Aren't they so cute! We had her and her family over for dinner and swimming and it was SO entertaining. All the kids (8 together) had a blast splashing in the pool, playing with toys and watching movies! Thanks Torres' for a fun night!

Mother's Day Gift!

Dad & Pennie called yesterday to say they were stopping by on their way to Palm Springs. It was almost dinner time so they ate with us and then.... CLEANED MY HOUSE!!!!



The BEST present I have ever recieved in my life! I do NOT like mopping, sweeping, doing the dished, cleaning the stove... but I like a clean kitchen. Hmmm.

So as my Dad was cleaning the dishes after dinner I said, "Too bad you're not staying over night, I'd let you mop the floor too". As you see from the picture he mopped too. And Pennie read to the kids, put their toys away and vacumed! What love. I am easily won over by anyone willling to clean my house. Thanks for the best Mother's Day present Dad & Pennie!

MPG's

So today Justin called to tell me he got 40 miles to the gallon in his little car! NO... we do not own a hybrid. What's the trick you ask, it's driving 55 mph.

I attempted this with our "people mover" which normally gets about 18 MPG... I went 60 mph until I almost lost my mind. I felt I could walk faster and gave in to 75 mph. Come on, the freeway?! I can't handle simi's passing me! But now that I see it makes a HUGE difference to drive slower, I'm doin' it!

My advise to all those out there that drive... try going 55 mph and see how long your tank of gas will last. If you're not sure how to calculate... when you fill up reset the short distance odometer to zero. When you fill up again, do the math on the mileage you went and the gallons you just put in. It works when you fill it up ALL the way before and after.

Happy driving, and hey... if some one's honking their horn at you because you're going "too slow", smile and wave at the gas money NOT wasted:)

Old Blue Eyes

My parents and Justin's parents have blue eyes... all of them. Thus our children's beautiful blue eyes:) And let me put in a plug for Jordan and Heidi (in-laws). When Kennedy visited them a month ago I gave them some money to buy her a "spring" church dress. I should have them do ALL my kids clothes shopping! They found these cute dresses (even thought you can't totally see them) for both the girls. Love them! Thanks Jordan and Heidi.



Grayson and Grandpa Manuel. So here's the REAL Fresno story. While at Grandpa Ben's birthday party.... my knee totally went out! Now this is a 15 year old ski accident injury come back to haunt me and I really could do with out it. So instead of staying one night in Fresno and returning home, I spent a week in Fresno. Justin had to ride the bus/train to pick me up because I still couldn't walk or drive (right knee)! My mom and Manuel were fantastic at taking care of the kids and letting me get some sleep. I can't tell you when the last time I had a 5 hour nap was! Thanks Mom and Manuel!!!



My kids LOVE the dirt. And mud... come on that's the best of both worlds, water + dirt! Kennedy and MacKenzie had a blast splashing and swimming in the mud hole, well now it's a hole, in Grandma and Grandpa's side yard! Here's Kennedy's bag of rocks... "they're swimming in the water in the bag".



We have a car with a VHS... yes you've heard it right a VHS player in it... doesn't work. If it did, we do have some old VHS, but we haven't looked in to getting it fixed. Instead our kids look at books, whine, eat lots of fruit snacks and occasionally sleep during our long car rides. Mapquest time it should take 4-5 hours to get home from Fresno. We left at 9:30AM, we got home around 5:00PM... you do the math.



MacKenzie just likes to be big looking at the pictures. They are both so cute when they read:)



Okay then we resorted to wearing the fruit snack box! It was a hat until it turned into a skirt. Kennedy was so mad it didn't fit right with the car seat buckles.



When we pass Mojave, with out fail someone needs something and they NEED it RIGHT NOW!!! MacKenzie needed to go potty. Not to worry we have our own potty chair on hand, I just think it's funny the way Justin and I think differently. With me I put the chair in the passenger seat and let the kids climb up, sit and do their business. This way I don't even have to get out of the car. Justin... gets out of the car, gets the kids out and hides behind some sage brush:) What a sweet daddy and husband! If you look close you can almost see someone sitting on the other side of the brush. Note: the girls were suddenly more interested in stepping on the ants than doing business... one stop no pee, that's annoying.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Ben!

I made the trek up to Fresno this past weekend by myself with the kids! Well I went to Bakersfield to see the latest addition to our family, Katerine, click right here! Jacob & Laura have 2 little girls now and they are both SO beautiful... but especially baby Katherine. I love picking up little newborns and not feeling a thing. Like little dollies:) Good job Laura!

Anyway after visiting our new little cousin and niece, we spent a few nights in Derby Acres before journeying to Aunt Carol's house in Fresno for Grandpa Ben's 77th birthday party! It was so fun to see him and Angie AND all my cousins I haven't seen in a LONG time. So without further ado here's the slide show...

In my family there are lots of women... funny, talented and bossy women who have recently entered the world of blogging. Thanks goodness for blogs!!! But according to my cousin Luke, my sister Rebecca's blog takes the cake with originality and humor. For a dose of Rebecca click right here.