the kids had such a great time in the creek. adam was such a trooper to help them!

there's nothing like cruisin' the creek bed in an old sandbox cover! 

weird coincidences

sometimes there are just weird coincidences in life. here's a strange one that happened a month or so ago. our a/c went out on us & we had a repairman coming. i was on the phone with mama when i got a beep. i looked at the caller id and saw the name was "repair technicians." thinking that had to be the a/c repairman setting up an appointment, i answered the beep. it turned out to be a wrong number for a dryer repair. (that was an odd conversation, b/c i was just expecting it to be about the a/c. so when he asked if there was a dryer repair, i was like, "dryer?" the guy goes, "yeah, your clothes dryer...", like i might not know what a dryer was. =) anyway, i beeped back over to mama and told her the story. later that evening she called me back with her odd story. she, too, had just had a wrong number call for a dryer repair. some things are just weird!

i am a disaster

some days i feel like that. saturday night i was working on a skirt i was making. as i tried it on to see if i had the right size going, i tripped on the skirt or something and ended up in a heap on the kitchen floor. (only my pride was injured!) sunday morning i took a load of clothes out of the dryer to get something for church out of it, only to find i had washed a tube of lipstick along with the clothes which had melted and ruined several important items of clothing. what a mess that was! then at church a sweet sister sat beside me in relief society and as we were talking about babies and whatnot, i mentioned the funny experience i'd just had of nursing the baby in a mothers lounge that smelled so horrible you could hardly breathe. wouldn't you know that it was she who had changed her 18 month old's diaper in there just before i fed merry grace? what are the odds out of our big relief society that i would have sat beside her and then had the gall to bring up that story? AAAAHHHHH!

the good news is that, while i regularly have those moments, i seem to be on a bit of an upturn. so maybe i can make it through the day with minimal embarassment! fingers crossed, everyone!

Ian & Merry Grace

i think ian looks sooooo much like adam in this picture! what do you guys think? 

 

Ian & his sis

 

Letter to My Younger Self

I read an article in a magazine recently that really intrigued me. Several famous or successful women wrote letters to their younger selves. The advice and encouragement they had for themselves was really beautiful. As I thought about this for myself, I wondered if, at age 16, i could look ahead and see myself now, would I like what I saw? It was a neat concept. While most of the time I think about the effect my actions and choices will have on the future, I liked the idea of looking to the past too. As a child, as a teen, you have so many hopes and dreams for the future and the possibilities seem endless...so I wondered if I have lived up to my own expectations. After thinking about this, I haved decided that while my life has often taken a different course than I would have predicted, its always been for the best. It's been a fun chance to think about goals and dreams I still have for the future. But most importantly, if I could have forseen myself now, I think I would be awed and amazed by who I have become. So here is the letter I wrote to my 16 year old self...

What a beautiful, accomplished young woman you are! You have so many gifts and talents that you have been blessed with. You love learning, you love life, you love people, you love the gospel. You are becoming more and more confident as you blossom into the person you will become. You are so full of energy, so full of hope, so full of dreams.

Don’t be afraid to live in your own skin. Be proud of who you are and where you come from. Step outside your comfort zone and reap the rewards. Read & learn & grow all that you can. Soak up knowledge, indulge in your creativity. These things will be invaluable to you as you get older. Listen to the Spirit as he guides you. He will always lead you down the path you should go. Take some time to stop and smell the roses. Enjoy the anticipation, look toward the future, but live in the present, too. Enjoy the small successes, because in the long run, they are actually the big successes. Don’t worry when things don’t work out like you planned. Someone else just has a bigger and better plan you couldn’t see at the time. But you will. And you will be grateful!

You have unlimited potential. Keep on the path you have started—it is the right one. By staying on it, you will experience more blessings than you can comprehend. What an amazing person you are. Just stand back and be amazed at what you can—and will—accomplish!

Socks By Ian

Grammy gave elise some cool socks for christmas. it was a pack of about 6 pairs of socks of different colors & designs. not only does elise love these socks, but so does ian. so any chance he gets, he will choose to wear one of these pairs of socks. this morning was no different. he picked the prettiest pair of blue & purple polka dotted socks you've ever seen. a few minutes later, while dressing merry grace, i had ian go get her a pair of socks from her closet. believe it or not, all her socks are paired up. but this is what he chose, so this is what she wore! he's on a roll today, folks!

Ian's socks

merry grace's socks

 

Sucker!

cory & i have a running joke. whenever one of us caves in to the kids, (ie...buying a prize at the store, letting them eat candy before dinner, letting them sleep in our bed....) the other one will whisper "sucker" under our breath. last night, cory let elise eat a bowl of ice cream before supper. i made some remark about cory being a sucker. without missing a beat, elise goes, "yeah, and mama's a lollipop!" cory & i died laughing. it goes right along with the saying, "six of one, half a dozen of another." while we both fall guilty of being a sucker from time to time, invariably the other one of us is a lollipop! =)

recipe

i made some yummy homemade salsa & chips yesterday & thought some of you guys might like the recipe. here it is...

Black Bean Salsa
1 can (15-0z) black beans, drained & rinsed
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 onion finely chopped
1 jalepeno pepper, seeded & finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 lime, juiced
salt
2 bell peppers (choose different colors)
chopped cilantro

mix ingredients & chill

Mozzarella Tortilla crisps

olive oil
oregano
pepper
10-15 corn tortillas
mozzarella cheese (or your favorite cheese)

Heat oven to 375. whisk olive oil & 1 tbsp oregano & 1/4 tsp pepper in small pan. heat over med. heat until warm. brush mixture over both sides of each tortilla & place in a stack. cut into strips or triangles. spray pan with pam & place triangles there without overlapping. sprinkle with cheese & salt & bake for 13 minutes or until brown & crispy.

save my spot?

this was a funny picture taken over christmas, but i had forgotten about it. i saw it again the other day & thought it was worth sharing. who do you think got the best spot?

Cory is Adorable!

i sent cory this survey where the person you send it to has to answer the questions about you. when i got back his responses, i was reminded of what a funny, wonderful, cute, adorable person he is & why i love him so much! here it is....

HERE'S A SURVEY WITH A TWIST

YOU fill in the blanks about ME and send it back to ME and ONLY ME. But FIRST, send a BLANK one to all your friends, including ME, so they can return the favor to YOU. BE HONEST, they're really cool to get back, you might find something you missed before.

1. My name: Kristen

2. Where did we meet? Wilmington

3. Take a stab at my middle name: Grace

4. How long have you known me? 10 Years
5. When is the last time we saw each other? today

6. Do I like to get drunk? yeah I am keeping it a secret from you. opps!! not anymore.

7. Do I believe in God? yes

8. When you first saw me what was your impression? angelic

9. Month of my Birthday? may

10. Color hair? who really knows. my guess is black

11. Color eyes? brown no, I mean green!

12. Do I have any siblings? do I have to remind you. yes

13. What's one of my favorite things to do outdoors? picnics

14. What's one of my favorite things to do indoors? in-nics. just kidding. scrapbook

15. Do you remember one of the 1st things I said to you? I remember everything you say to me.

16. What's my favorite type of music? oldies

17. What is the best feature about me? it is hard to narrow it down to just one. I will go with your eyes for survey sake.

18. Am I shy or outgoing?shy at first yes. this survey is long

19. Would you say I am funny ha ha or funny sarcastic? we are not sarcastic in this family.

20. Am I a rebel or do I follow all the rules? are you trying to discover if you are a true rebel. sorry to disappoint you but you are a rule follower.

21. Would you consider me a friend, an acquaintance, or a good friend? ah, my wife. I think that covers all three.

22. Would you call me hippie, glam, nerdy, snobby, or something else?
I would call you a survey nut and I would call you wonderful also

23. Have you ever seen me cry? Do you really need a survey to know if I have seen you cry.

24. If there were one good nickname for me what would it be? move over bacon!

25. Are my parents still together? Another wonderful way to find out your parents have seperated.

26. If I had broccoli stuck in my teeth would you tell me? maybe.
now you know you may be walking around with something stuck in between your teeth.

I love You, and I hope you enjoy this painful survey response.

Cory

who thought that was a good idea?

i've been in an uproar since watching "The Fox & The Hound" with elise last week. that must be the worst movie ever made. i mean, really, who thought making a movie about two animals who become best friends but can never really be best friends sounded good? and the constant stream of losses is almost unbearable. the first scene of the movie is of the fox's mother being shot. honestly! and then when the fox's owner (the sweet little old woman) sets the fox loose in the "wild"...the look she gives the fox and the confusion and lonliness on his face is horrendous. elise & i both cried at parts throughout the movie. i was devastated by the movie, especially when i felt there wasn't even a happy ending where you say, "okay, it was sad, but the ending made up for it...so it was worth it." no! it was just as tragic as everything else in the movie. i hated it from start to finish & will never, ever watch it again. what a disaster! and shame on disney for thinking that making this movie was a good idea!

That's the life!

elise was holding merry grace one day last week. it was so adorable because they both started out awake. by the time i had finished the laundry both of them were asleep. =) if only it were that easy every day! 

Yum!

These pictures are from the warm day last week where elise, ian, merry grace & i met cory at the park near his office. it was lots of fun. there's nothing like nuggets & fries to make for a nice picnic! =) 

Park It!

elise & ian at the park near cory's office. 

Tagged

Lisa tagged me, so here are my answers. all you blog regulars, feel free to post your answers in the comments section. i would love to hear your answers!

Four jobs I have had in my life:

1. cleaning HB Rowe office
2. Bannertown Wesleyan Daycare "teacher"
3. Wachovia Bank Teller
4. Mailer Specialist for Cory =)

Four movies I would watch over and over:

1. While You were Sleeping
2. Mulan
3. Sound of Music
4. 13 Going on 30

Four places I have lived:

1. Mt. Airy, NC
2. Albertson, NC
3. Wilmington, NC
4. Raleigh, NC (two different houses...)
Boy, do I get around!

Four TV shows I love to watch:

1. Law & Order Criminal intent
2. American Idol
3. Law & Order
4. Food Network (pretty much any show....)

Four places I have been on vacation:

1. Florida (different areas..gulf coast, disney world, miami, st. augustine...)
2. myrtle beach, SC
3. NC coast (love the beach!)
4. cross country trip....something everyone should do once =)

Four web sites I visit daily:

1. under the bamboo tree
2. pickapeck
3. trekking the foothills
4. adam's blog
5. susan's blog
6. logan's blog

Four of my favorite foods :

1. any kind of pasta (right now i'm thinking spinach lasagna from italian pie)
2. the steak & shrimp & spinach artichoke dip from applebees
3. chimighangas
4. my chicken enchiladas

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. the beach
2. scrapbooking
3. in the mountains...somewhere like cumberland knob, maybe
4. at the temple

Four Friends that have been tagged that I think will respond

1. probably no one...=)

ian-isms

tonight i made some yummy french toast. cory, elise & i had finished and ian was still messing around on his plate. normally he is my best eater, but tonight mainly consisted of him dipping his fork between his syrup & his milk. occasionally, to mix it up a little, he would swipe his syrup coated fork across his naked chest or tummy. nice. the part that really got us all giggling happened as cory, elise & i sat there watching the ian three ring circus. he wiped his fork across his face, set it down, stuck his finger in his nose and then dipped it in the syrup & licked it off. *sigh* i think that broke every table manner known to man, but the three of us couldn't help but die laughing. what a character! =)

the other cute thing he does, is call merry grace little affectionate names. he calls her "shu-der" (which means sugar) or "sweet-hot" (sweetheart). he's also picked something up from me. a lot of times i'll say something like, "we don't want to get pee-pee on our underwear, do we?" or something along those line. he's got the general idea, if not the specifics...he'll constantly get up in merry grace's face and go, "do we, do we, do we...." over and over. its so funny. i've had to pay attention to what i say. once i picked up merry grace, who was all wadded up and i said, "oh come here little wad!" ian mimicked that to a tee, repeating "little wad" again & again. i love his little pronunciations...he has trouble with g's and k's, but it is too cute. he just came up to me with a kleenex going, "i dot a bid boodie" (i got a big boogie). he says "light" instead of "like", because his k's are wrong. but i love it. i never want him to stop. or at least i never want to forget how his little voice sounds saying the words.

he also thinks his shadow is a monster. if he ever spots it, he'll scream really loud and go "monster!" i've tried to show him how a shadow works and how it does what you do, but he hasn't figured it out & is genuinely freaked out by his shadow.

ian is my little cutie. i just love him to pieces!

i made it!

i took all three kids to the park today to meet a couple of their friends there and visit with the other moms. it went really well & smoothly. its a lot of work, but easier than i thought. the hardest part was when one of the kids needed to go to the bathroom. but we worked it all out. and we had a lot of fun. it was so warm today...almost 80 degrees...so it was a shame not to get out and enjoy it. and i think we all needed a little time out of the house. the kids were great helpers, though, and that made it easier. so it was a success! we did it!

the circle of life

elise has turned on some music on the computer. she's been dancing and twirling around the room while i watched. she came over and asked me, "mama, am i a good dancer?" of course i think she is, and told her so. then i told her how it reminded me of being a little girl and dancing on the woodshed in grandma's yard for my parents. i also have a memory of dancing in my room in our new house, so i was probably eight years old. i remember mama sitting in there watching me dance around & how she told me what a good dancer i was & how i had good rhythm. its funny that i remember those moments so clearly, but having elise ask me that was like, for just a momen,t i was a little girl having the same moment with my mom.

food, glorious food...

On saturday, cory & i got "takeout" from applebee's. i'd been craving something i had there about a month ago--one of their 3-course combos. it's called the shrimp and parmesan sirloin combo and it is fabulous. here is the menu description: "An individual portion of Spinach & Artichoke Dip paired with Shrimp N Parmesan Sirloin. Sirloin with a topping of grilled garlic shrimp and delicious Italian cheeses and herbs. Served with garlic mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables and garlic toast." do you know how sometimes you experience something really, really good and then, when you try it again, you realize that you have built your expectations up so high that the real thing doesn't live up to your imagination or memory of that thing? This was not one of those times. every bite was wonderfully delicious and so perfect--i was in love with this meal. actually, just writing this makes me want to eat it again. i can almost taste that spinach & artichoke dip....

here & there

1--elise's prayer was cute again this morning. she blessed that the eggs would taste good and they "will be cool when we eat them because last time they were hot and burned my mouth."

2--i bought cory some axe body wash a while back. apparently (i have since learned) that is a brand really being targeted toward teenage boys. (there is a warning on the back of the bottle that using the product will result in female attention or something of that sort.) all that is a little bothersome to me. marketing is so annoying sometimes. but....it does smell really, really good! i love getting in the shower after cory & smelling where he has used it. its wonderful!

3--ian is addicted to his tarheel shirt. (the blue one in the pictures below.) now it is not only enough for him to wear it everyday, but as soon as cory gets home from work, the first thing ian says is, "daddy wear tarheel shirt." he will continue repeating this phrase every few minutes until cory puts the shirt on. (and it has to be the matching blue one.) what a trip!

4--what are your thoughts on babies sleeping on their tummies? i know what the medical community says, and i'm all for it. but here's the thing i've discovered...merry grace will sleep about 5-10 minutes if i lay her on her back. no ifs, ands or buts. 5-10 minutes. if i lay her on her stomach she will sleep 2-4 hours. what are your opinions on that? it makes me kind of nervous, but the sleeping is really nice!

5--there are little things i notice everyday now that i'm not pregnant that i love and have missed for so long! i love having cory be able to give me a real hug. i love having the kids be able to sit on my lap...for real! i like shaving my legs without any trouble. i like being able to breathe. i like not having heartburn. i like being able to eat early or late, depending on what i feel like...not having meals be dictated by holding off the nausea. i like wearing (some) of my regular clothes again. i like being able to move around better (like jogging to the car or dashing with ian to the bathroom). i like laying on my stomach or my back if i want to. its little things, i know, but i've missed them!

sister, sister...

elise is the best helper ever. she is so tender & sweet & protective of merry grace. its adorable. 

"i hold mer dace!"

this is what ian says 24/7. he thinks i had merry grace as a personal toy for him. but its so sweet! 

GO HEELS GO!

 

prayer, etc.

elise said the blessing on the food at lunch yesterday. as part of her prayer she blessed that none of us--especially daddy--wouldn't get stuck in traffic. sometimes i just wonder where this stuff comes from!

also all three of the kids took a nap at the same time yesterday. what are the odds?!

merry grace pooped in two or three outfirs yesterday, as well as a couple of blankets & our bed. nice! ian peed in our bed early this morning after he crawled in with us. and this comes on the heels of merry grace blowing it out all over our comforter on satuday! thats babies for you!

bathroom blues

as much as i would enjoy giving you all the details of my recent bathroom escapades, i'll spare you. (well, all except mama & cory who have to suffer through it all.) let it suffice to say that the bathroom has not been my friend over the last week & a half. that has actually been the worst part since delivery. well, this morning i was having a rendezvouz in the bathroom & gracie was in her bassinet. elise was such a great helper...she pulled a stool over beside her & talked to her & helped her with her passy & by the time i was done, merry grace was asleep! i told her how awesome she was & she was justly proud!

Our First Outing

yesterday we took our first "outing" as a family of five. it was so warm here yesterday (about 70 degrees) so cory & i decided that the kids might enjoy an afternoon at the park. so that's what we did. elise & ian had fun running, jumping, sliding & playing and merry grace just slept away in her little baby sling. this park has a lake/pond there, so after playing we went for a walk around the pond. in the spring & summer you can see lots of creatures & critters (snakes, frogs, fish, turtles, duck, birds, etc.), but all we saw yesterday was one lonely duck! but we got a kick out of seeing him! by the time we'd walked all the way around the lake, we were getting hungry so we stopped at bojangles and got some supper. it was a fun afternoon for all of us and we really enjoyed being together. i'm not sure how it will be to take the kids out all by myself (that's a feat we haven't tried yet), but yesterday went really well, so i'm--somewhat--encouraged. as we like to say, "a fun time was had by all."

Sweet Sisters... 

i just love the way she's clutched onto my shirt here. and you can see just how tiny she is, all wadded up there in my arms! what a cute bundle of love! 

i think i have the sweetest kids in the whole world! 

even ian pitches in and helps his sister find her passy. 

elise is such a great big sister. she just adores holding merry grace...and she's really good at it! 

our famous girls... 

ian at the talent show. when elise would practice at home we would have to do this big introduction thing, "now presenting elisie barnett singing 'i love to see the temple'". after her song we would have to introduce ian, "now presenting ian barnett singing 'jesus wants me for a sunbeam'". after the girls performed, ian tried to get up on stage and kept saying, "Sunbean". it was so cute! 

isn't he cute? 

tommy watching the performances. he just got a haircut this week & now he's buzzed. it's adorable... 

tommy and elise at the talent show

they had fun sitting together & coloring. it was very cute & sweet. 

toilet trouble

today ian used the bathroom. of course, being a big boy, he always likes to pee standing up. i've taught him to wipe off any drips on the toilet and he's pretty good at it. but today, i wiped the drip off for him. he wasn't too happy about that, and so he wanted to wipe some more. so as he wiped the toilet off & climbed up on the stool to wash his hands, i left the bathroom to go back and work on some things with elise. about 3-5 minutes later i heard the toilet flush & instantly i knew ian had been filling the toilet up with TP. i just knew it. and sure enough, the water was already up to the very top of the toilet bowl and there was paper swimming everywhere and a gigantic TP clog. i immediately got the plunger and began the task of getting the mess out or down or whatever. after several minutes without any progress i tried getting the toilet paper out with the poker from the fireplace. still nothing. after trying cory to no avail, i got a hold of daddy on the phone. and didn't he have some great news....my next option was to stick my arm down in there and try to unclog it by hand. okay, the water was clear and all, but this is a toilet, not a cup of spring water. so i was completely grossed out! but go at it i did and pulled TP out from the drain or whatever that thing is. it still didn't seem to make a difference and the water was frigid, so after a few minutes, i gave up. so then i thought i had been digging around in the toilet for nothing. but luckily after about 10-15 minutes, the water drained out on its own & it has been flushing perfectly ever since! so thanks, daddy, for the good (but disgusting) advice and the reminder that "if you swallow a toad first thing in the morning, the day only gets better from there!"