Mommy of three

For my friend Alita,

Mommies of three, at least new ones, don't:
-sleep very much
- get to read their friends blogs much less write in their own
- have clean houses, my little niece Sage finds all kinds of treats under my table
- fit into their pants, they have to wear their husbands
- keep up on laundry, gardens, dishes, housekeeping, mail, or keep up with their children

Mommies of three do:
- put in movies for their kids so they can take naps
- feed their families diets of cereal, sandwiches, hot dogs and whatever you can find in the freezer section at Winco
- take 3 hours to get out the door in the morning and then only have 1 hour to run errands before the baby wakes up
- neglect their older children because they are nursing or sleeping all day
- neglect their husbands for the same reasons
- wear a ponytail or put their hair in a clip every day but Sunday
- find that they love number 3 every bit as much as they did number one
- find that maybe they cherish number 3 even more because it has been such a long wait

To all of the moms out there. You are amazing and I salute what you do every day.

Welcome Leah Meek

We are so excited to announce the arrival of Leah Meek. She is sooooo sweet. We couldn't ask for a better baby. Mom went into labor about 2:00 am and Leah was born just before ten. She eats and sleeps so well. Leah is a little snuggle bug and everyone loves to hold her. Abi and Talmage are thrilled that she is here. They are great helpers and love to hold Leah. Kris loves having a little one to hold on his chest as well. She is a little blessing straight from heaven.

Look what I did!!!

My husband's aunt Nancy told me about this cool website called www.scrapblog.com that is a free digital scrapbooking site. Actually it's a digital scrap blogging site but I just made my page and saved it as a jpeg. This is my experiment to see how it works. After seeing all of Alita's cute digital scrapbooking pages I've wanted to experiment but alas I don't have nifty Photoshop software. This site is amazing and sooooooo user friendly. It is click and drag to change backgrounds, colors, stickers, change photo size etc. Perfect for a non-computer geek like me. Unfortunately the format size is not alterable. Nancy says she prints off 4x6's at Sam's Club but that 8x10's don't work so well. I'll have to mess around and see what I can work with. Anyhow, I was quite proud of myself. If you have any other tips or leads on free digital scrapbooking stuff, I am really interested.

Abi's 7th Birthday

The Birthday Girl and her Butterfly cake

Friend party with Gabby, Zoe, (Abi), Kaydra and Tal

Her favorite present: A PINK Kidzoom Camera

Abi has been counting down to her birthday for months. It's hard to believe that my baby is seven. I must be getting old. She requested a "butterfly" birthday party. We had a fun time shopping for the invitations, plates, cups, decorations and party favors. She decided on a little peg board craft for each girl, brightly colored purses for gift bags, scented bubbles for a prize and a white unicorn pinata'. (It's not a Meek birthday without a pinata'.) She also chose butterfly cakes in lemon and cherry chip and rainbow sherbet and cookie dough ice cream. She's such a little planner.

Her friend party was a lot of fun. When the girls came they each got to choose a peg board craft to do, which mom then ironed. Kris commented that this was the best part because they were quiet. Then we did a cotton ball drop to win the purses and a treasure hunt around our yard for the bubbles. Everyone got a whack at the pinata' with cousin Gabby knocking it from the tree, then Kris dumped it out for everyone. Abi received some really nice presents from her friends and then we had cake and ice cream. Afterwards they went outside to blow bubbles, eat candy, jump on the trampoline and have a giggly, girly time. (This part was not so quiet :)

Sunday we had family over for more butterfly cake and ice cream. Mom made three cakes in all. Abi had been wishing and waiting for a pink Kidzoom camera which she received from Mom and Dad and Nana and Papa Fife. It's her favorite she says and has been having a blast taking pics and movies. She also received other very nice presents from her Nana Meek and aunts and uncles.

Walk A Thon

Abi and Tal cruise through the laps.
Great efforts deserve great prizes.

Abi and Tal participated in the Walk A Thon for her school to help raise money for new playground equipment. She solicited pledges from grandparents and her aunt as well as mom and dad to support her. Each lap was 1/4 mile and they had 1 hour to walk it in. She set a goal to walk 6 laps. Well she blew that one out of the water by walking 15 laps or just under 4 miles. Tal also walked 13 laps or just over 3 miles. Mom was stunned and very proud. After they ran the first 3 laps I knew they were going for the gold. All in all, Abi raised $40 for her school.

Go Beans!!!!!

What I've been doing instead

A few people (I can't say several because I'm not that popular) have commented that I needed to update my blog. So this is what I've been doing instead of blogging. Our little "Sweetie" arrives in just about seven weeks and I still have much to do. I didn't have $200 to spend on a new crib set so I decided to make one. I'm not much of a seamstress so I was looking for one of those little panels that has a coordinating border and then you just quilt it. Well apparently they don't make those anymore. Everyone must piece those amazing and intricate quilts. While fabric shopping I found the cute pink polka dot piece. It is very me. And then I found a very easy pattern that swore you could make a quilt in an afternoon. I took the bait. It took me a bit more than an afternoon but really was easy. My mom helped me tie it, that took an evening and a bit of an afternoon. Then I hand bound it at night while watching TV for several nights. After that I launched into a crib bumper, again not to hard but it did take some time, and a snuggle blankie. My kids each have one of these microfiber fleece blankets, they are soooooooo soft. They still snuggle with them.
Now we just have to finish Abi's room downstairs, ie: finish scraping off the old texture, repair the walls, put in an egress window, trim and paint. That's all. Then I bought a dresser at DI for $15 yesterday that I'm going to refinish and double as a changing table. Plus I have a perennial garden to get ready in back of the house, prepare and plant my little vegetable garden boxes and clean out my flowerbed in the front. Not to mention rake the lawn and apply the humates. Whew!!! I'll try to update my blog a little more frequently but I can't promise anything.

Pinewood Derby

Our Ward held an Elder's Quorum Pinewood Derby and Soup Supper Social.

Tal was sure that our "West Coast Prowler" was his car.

The winning team!!!

Our ward held a Pinewood Derby and Soup Supper Social. Being short on time, Kris and the kids bought a kit car and put it together. It was a pretty smoking "West Coast Prowler." As we didn't have a scale, all of the cars raced in the open division. Our car was eating up the competition until it got knocked off the stage and broke a wheel. After that it just careened down the track smashing into other cars. But everyone won a prize and Abi and Tal were happy with our screwdriver and gummy bears. For my part I made my Mexican Cheese Soup. It's always a big hit, even with the kids.

Mexican Cheese Soup

1 lb hamburger

1 onion, diced

1-2 Tbsp Taco Seasoning

1 quart diced tomatoes - I can my own, so probably 2 cans from the store

1 pint corn - canned or frozen

1/2 brick Velveeta cheese, diced into cubes

Milk to thin as desired

Saute' hamburger in skillet with onion and taco seasoning. Once browned, dump all ingredients into a crockpot and simmer for 3-4 hours. May thin with milk as desired. Enjoy!!!