My uterus is really flattered...

EJ is convinced we are getting a little brother soon. She brought this picture (above) home from Primary today. It is her family tree. See the one named "Bear"? That is apparently her baby brother and his name is Bear. (DMP and I have joked that we should have a boy and name it Bear after Bear Grylls of Man v. Wild)

It seemed to start a couple of months ago. We were in the freezer aisle of Wal-Mart and she blurted "I want one of those". I was scanning the frozen potato products and said "What honey- popsicles?".

"No, one of those" she said, pointing to a young Mom with a little baby boy. "Oh" I said, "A baby?" " Yep" she said, "a baby brother."

I told her we'd go to baby section and see if we could find one that we could buy...

After our neice Kira announced her pregnancy, we started getting the baby stuff out for her. EJ became convinced it was for her baby brother. She has very seriously been telling Birdy for weeks that she shouldn't play with the bouncy, clothes or anything else that is "baby brother's".

Birdy has gotten in on the act- patting my tummy and saying "you got a baby in there". I most definately don't but I'm feeling like there is a campaign on the part of my girls to have a sibling. I'm afraid they've started telling family, people in the ward and whatnot that they are having a baby brother.

So to quote Anna Paquin denying recent pregnancy rumors "My uterus is really flattered by all this attention..." but I'm afraid there is no occupant. Yet.

Neener, neener, looky what we have!

Oh yeah- I know you are jealous. Somehow we won the family lottery and we have Cynj's boys- Sam and Thomas- while she is having their little girl TOMORROW!!!

EJ and Birdy are over the moon to have a sleepover with their boy cousins.  DMP is excited to have boys to play with (and someone for the girls to play with besides him!).  It should be a lot of really good fun for a couple of days.

When we were telling EJ that the boys were coming for a sleepover, I said "Do you know why they are coming to stay at our house?"

"No" she said.

"They are going to stay with us for a few days while their Mommy and Daddy go to the hospital to have their baby sister"

"Why? Don't they want to see her?"

Tulip Festival 2009

We went to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point with Cynj and the boys yesterday. It was so much fun and beautiful. The weather was perfect for picture taking (overcast and warmish), so of course the girls wouldn't cooperate!  But here is our story in pictures.

Enjoy!

 

 

The End!

Easter 2009

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="294" caption="Birdy is excited about her treasures!"][/caption]

We had an awesome Easter. We went to Aunt Cynj's house where it has become a tradition to have an egg hunt with the cousins. 

My sister totally outdid herself with a great crepe and min-pancake breakfast.  Then, after the egg hunting, she made a ham dinner, funeral potatos (yum!) and all she let me contribute was some measly asparagas (that J cooked on the grill- very yum!).   It was a delicious meal.  Then, to top it off, she made Aunt Venta's pioneer peach cobbler- the best ever.  *Sigh* I love food.

The girls LOVE their cousins and EJ in particular loves to hang out with Sam and her other cousin Sarah.  Aunt Jenn, Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Brad were all there to join in the fun. It is always great to hang out with the big family and the day was beautiful for it.

[caption id="attachment_523" align="aligncenter" width="294" caption="EJ, Sarah and Sam- on the hunt"][/caption]

As awful as it is, the Easter Bunny came to my girls 3 times this year. Yep, 3.  He left baskets of toys and treats in the morning before we left to Aunt Cynj's.  Then he hid eggs all around her yard. THEN he hid eggs in our house when we got home while the girls and I were walking Chester.  Amazing! 

[caption id="attachment_525" align="aligncenter" width="294" caption="Look at Sam's game face! All the kids got leis. I don't know why..."][/caption]

We went for a walk a little while after we came home and EJ kept asking if the Easter Bunny was going to leave stuff for them to find when they got back. DMP and I said that we thought 3 times in one day is his limit and he was probably tired.  That night she prayed for the Easter Bunny that he wouldn't be too tired!

In all it was a fun Easter. There was good food, fun with family, sugar meltdowns, and sunny spring weather. The perfect holiday :)

[caption id="attachment_524" align="aligncenter" width="293" caption="DMP was photographer and he mostly got Birdy shots. Favoritism?"][/caption]

No need to wonder why I am the way I am

I love food. It is a VERY important part of my life (perhaps that is why I'm sucking at Weight Watchers??? Damn you cheese fries and ranch!).

I was amused by the comments left by my family about my fried chicken and wafffles comments. Several members de-lurked to also ponder this strange-yet-strangely-compelling dish. I come from a family of foodies, I tell ya!

Here is some more proof:

Here is a comment by sis Bek on another blog we both follow, Light Refreshments Served:

"Am I the only one in the world that enjoys both?? We love both events in our house and each event has annual “must have” foods… (Back in the day we used to host parties for these events, but now we have too many kids and are too lazy)… for Superbowl we always have those Bisquick sausage cheese balls.. um, yes please. We also do Cowboy Caviar….. for the Oscars we have baked brie w/ ham and garlic and blue cheese fondue (for the brie…saute up some large chunks of ham –think costco spiral sliced–place in bottom of small ish baking dish. Throw in 20 whole cloves of garlic (I usually buy mine pre peeled and sometimes roast them the day before), cut up chunks of brie…bake till the cheese is bubbly, serve with bread… you dip the bread in the brie, smear on some roasted garlic and then top with ham…. sigh.. I love food…"

I read this and was literally drooling. I didn't know blue cheese fondue existed, but hook me up, Bek!

A couple of weeks ago, another sis, Jenn, sent an announcement to the fam that her COOKBOOK is thisclose to being published!

Even the "boring" eaters of the family (I'm looking at you Kate and Brad) appreciate good food- just so long as there is no condiment or vegetable touching it.

It all started with my Dad, I think. We used to think he was joking when he said he wanted to be buried with his pepper grinder, but know we know he is serious. When he kicks the bucket, we will ceremoniously grind pepper on his grave every memorial day.  Nice mustard was always a must-have in our house, too. None of that nasty yellow stuff for the Kinsels!

It is nice to finally know why I am the way I am :) It is all genetics.

Two Birthdays...

So I'm playing catchup for the month of December. Christmas update is coming, but I wanted to share some pics of DMP and Uncle Brad's birthday parties.

Putting sprinkles on Daddy's cake.
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From December_2008

The finished product

From December_2008

Blow out the candles!

From December_2008

Uncle Brad's Turn (Different cake, same pan!)

From December_2008