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.

Kennedy & Regan

Did the makers of Dino Bites know they would provide such meal time fun? Kennedy has a cute little friend Regan. Their names match and they play SO well together.


As they were eating yesterday they decided it would be fun to take the dino's for a fly through the air. Good times with fun food!


Kennedy was playing so quietly with her princess characters I just had to take a picture.



Then out of nowhere MacKenzie came along and knocked them down! And took off running in the process.

Grayson Goes Snorkeling

Our sweet little boy was up 1,000 times last night with breathing problems. We pulled out the humidifier... still not breathing great... opened the freezer, let him soak in the cool moist air... didn't work. This morning when he was STILL having problems we decided to take him to the Dr. which means Urgent Care. Out in the Twilight Zone, which is where we live, the doctor offices only schedule appointments a month head of time. For example a few weeks ago Justin and I were sick and were not getting better so we called the dr.'s office. I asked the nurse if we can come in the morning or the afternoon.

Nurse: Oh, we don't have any openings today, but we can get you in May 7th.
Me: Oh, okay I'll just stop being sick now and then reschedule to be sick in one month!
Nurse: Okay so you want to schedule it then?
Me: Are you kidding me! How do sick people get better?
Nurse: Well that's what Urgent Care is for.
Me: Ummm... I thought that was for people without insurance on the weekends...

Anyway before I took Grayson to U.C. Justin gave him a blessing.

While in U.C. the Pediatrician called me back saying they wanted to see Grayson right away! So we went and....


he got a breathing treatment! Immediately following his breathing was SO much better. So now we have a nebulizer that he snorkels on every 4 hours. Sad that he seems to have asthma, but so glad to have medication for it.



Meanwhile look who found the formula!!! Those little stinkers dumped a can of formula on the kitchen floor and proceeded to dance in it until I realized what was happening!

Seriously... play with your toys! Isn't that what they're for?

Last week

Dad and Pennie stopped by our house on the way to Utah. We fed them some yummy bar-b-que hamburgers and visited for a little bit until they had to keep going. Everyone on your way to Utah, you are always welcomed to visit and eat!


The girls LOVED seeing their grandparents, but Bella (the dog) was the most exciting visitor for Kennedy. The 2 of them share the same energy level:)


And this was a stake RS morning for my friend Kristen's old stake in San Bernardino... that's us with Pres. Hinckley's daughter Virgina! Talk about church celebrities. I usually don't bug them for pictures, but come on... I had to put just one picture on the blog!

I know someone crafty!

I am so amazed by all the fancy things my friend Summer can do! Years ago she started creating vinyl letters, which are HUGE now, and she started a blog which is where I got the idea to blog. And now... she has a web store called "A Tres Chic Boutique". I just got an email from her saying it was open and asking to put it on my blog so she could get a little more traffic... so I did AND I bought something already because she has necklaces on there that I've been wanting, but never go to the store for. Fantastic prices! I encourgae everyone to give her site a look and tell me what you think. Click on the picture to the right!

... a rose by any other name...

Hopefully I smell good too. I'm unique, but not the only one with my name:)

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 128 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Prayers

I am the Enrichment Leader. I was called about 2 months ago. In the past, enrichments were far and few between and numbers were counted on 2 hands or less. As I was set apart I remember specifically being counseled that I would spend time on my knees asking for the Lords help in this new calling.

I kneeled to pray that night. I asked the Lord to help me know what to do and to be an instrument in His hands to help the sisters come closer to Him through socializing together. I asked for 30-40 sisters to come to our first enrichment night that was quickly approaching.

One Sunday the teacher in Relief Society finished her lesson 20 minutes early! I thought it was my golden opportunity to question the sisters and get feed back. I wanted to know what they envisioned happening at enrichment and what they never wanted to do again... it turned into an all out brawl! I got some good ideas and I got sisters complaining very loudly as to how bad the enrichment has been in the past! I couldn't believe my ears, however in the midst of all of it one sister whom I had not seen before offered her husband to teach a self defense class.

I called that sister and came to find out it was the first time in 9 months that she had attended Relief Society! What were the chances that all this fell together...

Long story short, I just got back from enrichment tonight. 40 sisters showed up to our Asian themed potluck and learn self defense!!! The night was a total success and as I was driving home I couldn't help but be grateful to my Heavenly Father for how well His enrichment meeting went tonight. Decorations were beautiful, food was fantastic and the lesson was phenomenal!

So a little prayer, a little faith and any thing's possible.

Katelyn's getting hitched!

Katelyn is my sister-in-law and she is in love with a young man, who I have not offically met in person, named Dan. They got engaged a few weeks ago and we are so excited! Here's a picture of the 2 of them, don't they have "the look"?



I stole these pictures from her facebook page which explains why they are so little. This is Kennedy going with her and the 2 grandmas to check out wedding dresses. I think Kennedy is taking after me just a little bit. Before children I LOVED being in pictures. Am I vain? Don't know... I just thought it was fun. I know I'm in thousands of graduation and wedding pictures "casually" in the background, or planned, hmmm.



Back to Katelyn, I was so excited to hear she met Mr. Wonderful. I just think it's fun to see others get married especially when they are so happy! The sad part is... Dan is over in the war! Can you imagine being engaged long distance?!!! We love you Katelyn!

Where's the head?

Here's Kennedy's fish. Another guy, more professional than us, actually caught it and let Kennedy reel it in. Don't worry... Justin can catch fish, just not that day. Here's the headless fish. Kennedy said, "Oh, his head ran away!"


She ate over half the fish!!! We couldn't believe it. You couldn't get me to eat it unless I had to. I didn't have to :) Note the pool in the background. I cannot wait for summer! I want to go swimming! And I want my kids to be SO exhausted from swimming all day that they take long leisurely naps in the late afternoons.




This came in the mail... Justin's new sleeping bag! It's a -20* bag that sleeps up to 6'6". My husband, for those who haven't met him, is 6'3". A regular joe sleeping bag is on the short side, not so comfy at night time, at least for him. If it were me and I had a short sleeping bag I'd cut a whole in bottom and stick my feet out. I can't handle my feet being under the covers. After watching the Discovery Channel I know now that I was an otter in my previous life:) They stick their "feet" out of the water to regulate their body temperature.

This is for Julia...

When she came to visit we discussed kitchen sponges. Here's the deal.

1. Buy them from Costco- they are so much cheaper and they will last for a LONG time.
2. Don't let them sit in the sink full of yucky water and food! That totally makes them smell!!! Rinse and SQUEEZE them out after use!
3. Yeast and flour... totally stick to your sponge and it pretty much has to be thrown away after cleaning up dough. So be careful.
4. To make your money last even longer Julia introduced me to cutting them in half.

So here's to cutting my sponges in half!



Another thing my sister enjoys is Ikea! Justin and I just went to the West Covina store last week and got all kinds of fun new things. An activity table and stools for the girls, a dresser for the TV, kid plates and cutlery, glasses, WAY oversized night light for Kennedy and... dinner plates for $0.59 a piece! They were not the plates I HAD to have if I could choose from any, but for $0.59... I got 15!


On a sad note... my clock is offically broken. Julia and I went shopping in Arizona what, 2 years ago? Anyway I found this clock for $29.99 and wanted it so bad, but then thought I'd pass. Lucky for me Julia was there and said, "would you just get the stupid clock. You know you like it." So I did and have been VERY satisfied with it, until it broke. I've used 2 new batteries in one week and the time is never correct. So farewell to my favorite clock :( I hope to replace you with a fancy Ballard Designs model :) click here

Middle Name

I've been tagged by Kendra...

These are the rules: You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don’t have a middle name, just use your maiden name. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name.

Keen
Apt
Treasure
Elementary

I now tag Rebecca, Julia, Laura, and Benjamin. Click on their names to see their blogs.

Uncle Jordan & Auntie Heidi

The COOLEST adventure for Kennedy and myself took place a few weeks ago when Uncle Jordan & I met half way between our houses to drop off Kennedy for 4 days! Kennedy is good at being the oldest child, but has never been the only child... she had a blast!!!


Uncle Jordan lived with Justin and I for a few months after he got home from his mission in Finland. We were renting a house with a basement at the time and Jordan got the entire space to himself... unless I needed to watch TV:) Anyway Kennedy was about 14 months old and finally learned to walk at that time. She was quick about getting downstairs to see Jordan and watch Baby Einstein. She has a special bond with her "favorite" uncle and equally LOVES her Auntie Heidi.


They live in Ventura as Jordan is finishing school and Heidi is working as a Hygienist. Aren't we all a little jealous of beautiful Ventura at times:) As I was half way there I wanted to go too!


After so much fun, when it was time to come home she did NOT want to leave. When Justin and I showed up to get her, Kennedy was screaming and wouldn't get out of Jordan & Heidi's car! On our drive home she screamed in protest for a good 15 minutes before she was calm enough to say, "I don't want to go home, I want to go with Jordan and Heidi!"


While Kennedy was gone I noticed little to no screaming from MacKenzie or Grayson and couldn't believe the difference one child makes... So thanks Jordan and Heidi! I guess we just have a screaming quota in this family. Kennedy was making up for the lack of it on our ride home:)

Nowhere-land

We live in a quiet neighborhood in the middle of nowhere. For miles and miles dirt, sand and joshua trees happily place themselves along old route 66... then you see it! This small community build around 2 man made lakes. In my teenage years I secretly wondered what it would be like to live in "nowhere". It's awesome!!! However in my imaginations I didn't see people driving golf carts along the streets.

Justin and I finally got our association cards and fishing supplies which means we can now go fishing, golfing, use the club house and attend the parks without getting kicked out. Immediately after getting our cards he took the girls fishing. They were SO excited to open and use their fishing rod!

Kennedy was a little more excited about the night crawlers! (Remember that Benjamin)

I fed the baby and ended up taking Grayson and MacKenzie home to take naps.

My Computer...

Got the alphabet picked off... thanks to our good friends bringing their laptop over, I checked my email and HAD to put up some pictures! Don't worry, the warranty should be covering the replacement keyboard on our laptop, but what an inconvenience! I feel like I have no link to the outside world. However it must be good timing... MacKenzie is pooping on the toilet!!! No computer vs. not buying anymore size 4's for a while... I'll go without a computer for a few weeks:)

Hold on to your pants...

What happened to my previous post? It mysteriously disappeared! It was about me getting pants by my sister. Anyway I read the comments on it and think it's funny that I receive more comments on the blogs I don't have pictures for:) Anyway here's to your feature Julia... a ghost stole it!

Khristie...

Khristie is my twin separated at birth, she being just a few (18) months older. We spend a lot of time together on the phone now that she moved to Idaho. Not the same as being right there, but it’ll have to do. My usual hour of calling is about 10pm our time which is 11pm her time... she still answers the phone:)

Speaking of answering the phone, if you ever call her house just keep talking to the answering machine for a few minutes. At some point she'll find the phone and answer the call. Unless there's no battery power... then you're out of luck!

Growing up, Khristie and I watched LOTS of movies together. We can spend an entire afternoon quoting movie lines, laughing hysterically, while others have no clue what just happened. For example:

“’Long ago the delicate tangles of his hair felt the emptiness of my hand.’ Would ja like to hear it again?”

I mean that’s funny and I’d like to know if anyone out there knows what movie that’s from. Currently we've watched:
First 3 seasons of The Office
Becoming Jane
Sweetland

Another favorite past time is playing duets on the piano, one piano, four hands… and a little spunk. It may not have been entertaining to the extended family during “talent show” portions at the Christmas reunions, but we love it.



This is Khristie with MacKenzie if you can believe that!

Rebecca...

... is my oldest sister making her 3 years older than me. She has 5 kids and is therefore my go-to person when I really have no idea what I'm doing as a mother. A story that comes to mind takes place a few years ago.

I was asked to play the piano for a stake baptism even though I had a nursing baby and an 18 month old! I warned them to ask someone else, I was not paying a babysitter to watch my kids so I could play for 5 minutes. "Everyone" else (in the stake) had been asked and they were all out of town.

I showed up at the baptism early and dressed, though my kids were in jammies. I sat down to play when they began SCREAMING! And why shouldn't they... no one was watching them! It took about 3 minutes for the leaders to "let" me go. They had "just realized" someone else could play. Totally embarrassing and annoying!

So I left and went to Costco, the only place to go where the kids fit in the cart comfortably and get free snacks:) I was on the phone with Rebecca as I pulled up and told her what happened. To my surprise she just had the same experience, but her kids were,

"in back with gameboys (they were the well behaved ones), 2 year old running down the halls screaming 'ready or not, here I come' and slamming doors, Brendan trying to take his clothes off while I try to play and hold him close to me with one leg, and Sierra in back LOUDLY saying, 'Mom, what do you want me to do?! You said watch them but nobody is listening to me!'"

And that's what I love about my sister, her ability to relate to all my embarrassing life stories. Her stories are more eventful with 5 kids though... you should write a book Rebecca! I'd read it and I'd laugh too:)

This picture was just sent to me from her. She moved to Texas from Utah just in time to escape the snow... and it snows in Texas!!! HA! Happy snow days Rebecca:)

My Brother

I have a sweet brother named Benjamin. He is so lucky to have 4 older sisters and will subsequently be the best husband in the world:) I'm serious about that too. I thought with all my blogging I would do a little feature on each of my siblings. As I was watching one of the videos he posted on youtube, I found this one from his mission. He served in the Milan, Italy mission and would mention from time to time how difficult the work would be. After viewing this video I wonder why it was tough:) Hahaha. Justin didn't think this was funny, but I thought it was hilarious! Let me know what you think of the video.