When I grow up I want to be....

Yesterday for Preschool, we went to the fire/police station. The kids had a lot of fun playing in the fire trucks and trying on the uniforms. Damon loved getting in the big truck! The fireman jacket on Damon was longer than he is tall, and was dragging on the ground!! Unfortunately, right as we were getting the kids assigned to cars so we could leave for our fieldtrip, Damon fell off our small retaining wall out front, and scraped up his chin.... blood everywhere, and lots of crying on the way to the station! But Damon ended up having a great day.... and a great battle wound to show off!Damon's preschool class L-R: Lincoln, Savannah, Asia, Kinsley, Amelia, Damon, Sydnee, Perla, Katlyn, and Timmy.

Damon happy as a clam in the huge Fireman Jacket (Resistant up to 800 degrees of heat). And yes, it is quite heavy!

Damon's poor little scraped chin.... Luckily, he seems to have already forgotten all about his owie.

*If you have a child in my preschool and would like to see more preschool pics you can go to my new blog Tiny Scholars Preschool

Sleeping Beauty... and Sleeping Prince Charming???

The kids wanted to watch Baby Einstein one afternoon. I went to fold the laundry, and when I came out of my room, this is how I found Damon and Halle.... sacked out on the floor, with Baby Einstein still playing! Of course I moved them to their beds after taking a few pictures. Ah, the places and positions kids fall asleep in.... once again, another post of my kids sleeping.

If only these amazing sleeping habits lasted through the night! DO NOT BE FOOLED... My kids aren't these amazing little sleepers once night time hits!

MY QUIRKY-NESS

My friend Heather tagged me....so here goes!

1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. List the rules on your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of your own.
4. Tag 6 bloggers to complete the meme.

1. No matter what... Even if it is the hottest night alive, I have to sleep with covers on. And it cannot be just a sheet. Just a sheet doesn't make me feel safe and comforted as I sleep. It has to be some blanket with substance. And I get nervous to have my arms or legs hanging out of the sides of the blankets...(As if the covers are going to save me from some mass murderer.) And if I am sleeping alone and nervous, or just plain cold, I will pull all covers over my head too in order to sleep! I will make a tiny peep hole for fresh air to enter, but that's it. Joe can't stand that part of my quirk. He thinks I have to be killing brain cells.

2. I hate dirty dishes in my own house. Right after dinner I always clean up the kitchen. If I invite you over for dinner, and we are all visiting for awhile after dinner, rest assured, that halfway through conversations, I will get up, walk to the kitchen, and start doing dishes and cleaning up. I have this OCD in my head, only for the kitchen unfortunately. I cannot sit and visit pleasntly if I know the kitchen is still a mess. It drives me bananas.

3. Rap music makes my day. Chances are, if you ever see me driving alone (no kids in the backseat) I will have the rap blasting in the car, and I will try to be rapping along to whatever the song is. (Funny image I am sure.) Truth is... my first year of marriage, I even totalled our car because I was listening to Notorious BIG too loud in my car as I was driving, trying to rap along, and not paying attention.

4. I get so excited when Joe gets home from work, and wants or needs to go somewhere....just a drive, or to Wal-Mart to grocery shop. For some odd reason, I love walking around stores with Joe and the kids....going alone in the evening...not so much. But if Joe is there it makes my day. Or I love it when he wants to just go on a drive, and we go to the gas station first to get a Mountain Dew to share, and then just drive around talking and looking at houses! I live for that, and think that may be what I missed the most when Joe was in Iraq.

5. I vicariously live through and night time drama shows. I am so excited for Grey's Anatomy's season premier this week. And as embarrassing as this next one may be to admit...while Joe was away, I got addicted to One Tree Hill. I know, I know....what can I say?! But I love watching shows with the couples who "need" to end up together.... ex. Derek and Meredith, and Lucas and Peyton. Call me a geek now.... I know Joe will.

6. Cheese could be my chocolate. If I ever buy cheese by the block, I will cut off THICK slices of it and eat big old chunks of cheese as my snack for the day. Give me a block of cheese during a movie, or for a girls night, and I am happy. Don't get me wrong, I love junk food and soda pop too. I am a very unhealthy eater.... But cheese really could be my happy food.... I love cheddar, sharp, medium and mild, Monterey Jack, Motzerella, Meunster, Provolone, Swiss... I could go on and on.....

I now tag Jessie B., Alison J., Misty A., Jodi C., Sarah H., and Heather L.

Happy 1st Birthday Baby Girl...

Happy Birthday Halle. I cannot believe it was already one year ago that you entered this world.... September 15, 2007. At 5:05 a.m. you were born... 7 lb 2 oz and only 18 inches long. It was a made for TV movie how Halle came into this world. I went into labor the night before. I called Joe's sister, Jackie, to come pick me up and take me to the hospital. I had waited until my contractions were 3 minutes apart and STRONG until I called anyone because I didn't want it to be false labor, and be sent home from the hospital. Jackie got us up to UVRMC as fast as she could... going 100 mph on the freeway and letting me squeeze her arm off each time I had another contraction. I texted Joe's email from my cell on the way to the hospital letting him know that I was going to have this baby. A couple of hours after being in labor and in the hospital, my cell got a text from Joe's email letting me know he had gotten my email, knew what was going on, and he would call me when he could, but that his Chopper was leaving Kuwait for Iraq at about 5 a.m. our time, and he wouldn't be able to call me until he was settled in Iraq. It was a whilwind of a night, but by about 4:55 a.m. I was dilated to a 10, and now pushing my little girl into this world. At 5:00 a.m. Joe was boarding his Helicopter and flying to Iraq, and at 5:05 a.m. his daughter was born. She was perfect and beautiful. And I had so much support in the hospital with my parents and Jackie being there. By about 8:30 in the morning, Joe was able to call, and we decided to name our little lady Halle!

Halle has brought such a spirit into our homes. She is the happiest most content little girl. She had struggles and health issues her first 6 months of life, but was still such a calm, sweet baby. Joe often tells me that we got blessed with her. She is the perfect little girl, and we can only be so lucky to have more babies like her. She has a smile that will melt you, and a heart that, even as a baby, keeps giving and is full of unconditional love. It has been a priveledge to call myself Halle's mother. I have loved watching you grow and develop this past year Halle, and can't wait to be your mom for eternity.

I love you more than life little girl. Thank you for choosing us! Happy Birthday Halle!!!

Man I am out of shape...

Damon loves Dora the Explorer...(I know, I know...) Well recently he watched an episode where Dora went into a cave and they found bears. Ever since seeing that episode, Damon begged Joe to take him to a cave. So last Saturday we decided to go hike up the Timp trail with the kids. We had one umbrella stroller, but stopped at Target on the way and bought another one so we could take both of the kids up the trail in strollers. To our dismay, once we got to the parking lot for the Timpanogos cave, there was a big sign that said "NO STROLLERS." Now I haven't hiked this trail since I was a little girl, and thought to myself..."that can't be right...they probably mean big strollers, not little umbrella strollers." But no. No strollers of any sort could be taken on the trail....it is much too steep they told me. We also weren't aware that we should have bought tickets ahead of time to take a tour of the cave, because it was just after noon, and the next tour opening wasn't until 3:30. I was ready to turn around at this point, but once again...I was wrong. Joe said that since we were already here, we might as well hike up for the fun of it. And fun it was. Joe carried Damon almost the whole hike, and I carried Halle almost the whole hike....(other than us switching kids every now and then, and Damon deciding to walk about 5 feet before wanting to be carried again!) Now I know I might deceive people....for I am thin... but rest assured, this does not mean I am in shape. I was huffing and puffing as I was carrying Halle up that trail. Man, they weren't lying....it is steep. Once we got to the top Joe talked one of the guides into letting us go on their tour right then. The 45 minute tour turned into over an hour of Damon inside the cave yelling...."Where are the bears dad? Where are the bears? Are they sleeping? Can you wake them up? Where are the bears.....?" (That dang Dora!) Needless to say, once the tour was over, Damon was quite upset we were leaving the cave without seeing a bear! Poor little guy. The next day I was so sore, and was walking like a lunatic.... But it did end up being a nice, memorable family outing... and the view was absolutely breathtaking. Moral of the story.... I need to get my butt into shape. Oh ya, and I forgot my camara at the car below, so couldn't even take any cute pics of our little family.

Preschool

Well, this is it. This is my very own preschool. I have to admit, the first two days I wondered what I was getting myself into. I was trying to come up with a good routine, and the kids weren't used to any routine... so things were a little bit rough. By my third day I had a bit of an empowering moment though. Suddenly my routine was working, and all the students were starting to pick up on it. Preschool was fun, and the time the kids were there just flew by. In my head I thought... "Dang, I CAN DO THIS....And I am GOOD at it!" I also had one of the mothers tell me that she used to teach preschool and that the hugs from the kids alone are worth all the work it takes to run a preschool. I thought... "Really? That can't be true..." But let me tell you.... The kids already want to help out with everything. I told them they can call me Kirstin, but most call me "teacher" in their cute little voices. They all want to sit next to me or on my lap during story time.... And they just have this unconditional love for me already.... And it IS worth it! So far so good.... I hope things can only continue to get better and go more smoothly. Here are some pics of the little ones. Not everyone has come to school yet. A few of the morning kids are on vacation and/or can't just make it until next week.... but the ones so far melt my heart. Who would have known that this could be my calling in life!!!

Antenna's....

Need I say more?....Halle is being watched during the days as I am teaching preschool, by my friend Heather. Today when I went to pick up Halle, Heather showed me the beautiful hairdo she created on top of Halle's head with what little hair she has. I think Halle looks like the most adorable little bug with two tiny antenna's..... I couldn't stop laughing at my own daughter!