a monkey called sevy and her apprentice teik

The Big 3-0 . . .

2012-01-08T14:01:00.002-06:00

It's official, I'm now an adult. I've been looking back in my life and trying to determine the 30 ultimate events that made me who I am now at 30. This list is in no particular order, and I know I'm missing a bunch, but here it is:

1. Working as a welder for my dad for basically every summer of my life.

2. Scuba diving in various parts of the world.

3. Playing in the half-time of a bowl game.

4. Lake Powell: with my family, friends, perfect strangers, and the Naccarato family!

5. Studying the Book of Mormon in South America.

6. Meeting a boy with the worse bleach-job I've ever seen at Ricks College my freshman year.

7. Working with Grandpa Walker.

8. The Ultimate Summer where we rock-climbed, waterskied, and long-boarded every day after work.

9. Studying art in Italy.

10. Graduating BYU.

11. Traveling Europe with my mom and Candice.

12. Standing in the top of a pillion during a race in Reno.

13. Taking a spontaneous trip to Canada to go skydiving.

14. Various random road-trips to California in college (some without knowing where we are staying!).

15. Marrying Jon--the kid with the bad hair--after 2 months of dating and 4 years of friendship.

16. Moving to Texas.

17. Sevryn Kelly.

18. Becoming a fitness instructor.

19. Kristian Teik.

20. Training for and completing the MS 150.

21. Running my first 5k.

22. Competing in my first triathlon.

23. Drumline

24. Deckland Knute.

25. The Sunnyside Branch.

26. Hiking in the Swiss Alps.

27. The SSU (if you don't know what this is, you are missing out)!

28. Learning to quilt.

29. Hawaii with my mom and sisters.

30. My family. (this includes all Bagley's, all Walker's, all Ormson's, and all non-related "family" members who helped mold me into who I am today.)

I look back at my first 30 years and can only hope my next 30 are as fun, adventurous, and worthwhile! Hopefully we will be added more kids, cousins, friends, in-laws, grandkids, trips, memories, and more!

Finally! The Disney World Post!

2011-12-20T16:30:00.005-06:00

Happiest Place on Earth? Well, pretty dang close! My parents treated the whole family to a trip to Disney World! I don't know who was more excited, the kids or me! We had a blast! Here are some of the fun times that were had!

I'm sure if I go back through my pictures, I'll have a repeat of this one when I was eleven years old! The main difference would be the kid attached to the front of me, and the 18 years that have passed since then!

Jaclyn and I at Futureland on a ride that we had to get to by elevator. Very fun!

Animal Kingdom Safari . . . WOW! Seriously awesome! Fun roller coasters and crazy fun shows at that park as well! (and please note Candi's crazy blue eyes! Jealous!)

Dori and Marlin: The Crush show was seriously worth going to! The kids loved it!

Gran and Pappa at Epcot

Kristian Teik Ormson
*Viking*

Sevy, Teik, and Lleida

After the many times I've been to Disney World, I've never really witnessed the sword coming up! Leave it to my kids to make it happen! Does that make us royalty now?!

Teik and Woody

Getting their official racing driver's licenses.

Lightning McQueen--Kachow!

The Grandbabies! (minus 3).

Such a fun trip to get together with the whole family! Wish Jon could have come with us, but this guy:

made me feel like he was there! (We found him at Epcot in Norway!) Ahhh, Disney World!

What's Coming . . .

2011-12-11T22:35:00.001-06:00

I fully intend on blogging about our awesome adventures in Disney World. Here is a sneak peak of the two happiest kids EVER! More to come . . .

How would it be to be a baby?!

2011-11-21T09:49:00.002-06:00

I know I am no longer new to the whole "new baby" thing, but am still constantly fascinated. Our little Dex is 12 weeks old now and really is such a great baby! He is now sleeping an 8 hour stint at night, only to wake up wanting to be fed, and then go back to sleep. I think he sleeps so well at night, because he doesn't have an older "helpful" brother trying to attack him. And with that, he is very tolerant of Teik trying to lay on him and play with him and read to him and basically torture him without any real fuss. Because of that, poor kid is still in my room because we FEAR what will happen with our helpful Teik and little Deckland! He loves Sevy and she is still the main person we go to if we want him to laugh. Jon has the special trick too, but Sevy is a rock star at it! He's still a string-bean, but we know when solids hit he will likely chunk out! I swear I'll post pictures soon, but I figured a little update would probably be good!

My "Scary" Children

2011-11-04T17:39:00.005-05:00

Oh how far we've come from our Fairies and Gnomes! This year, my kids decided they wanted to be skeletons and vampires for Halloween!

I will be the first to admit, they were pretty darn cute if not somewhat frightening! Teik was super scared of the make-up we had put on Sevy and tried to put on him, and Deckland kept his thoughts to himself.

Sevy's school had a "Funfest" which was super fun for the kids to go to--even if our kids were the only ones in costume! Sevy got to go bubbling, they played lots of cool carnivalish games, and the whole theme was Dr. Seuss and even had Whooville!

Sevy in Whooville . . . Sevy "bubbling" . . . Teik sad because after standing in line for an 90 minutes we learned you had to be FOUR to go bubbling. Poor guy!

Update of sorts . . .

2011-10-20T20:33:00.006-05:00

Life has been a little crazy since Deckland has joined our brood. Here are some of the things we've been up to:

Sevy is a little personality of her own! She came walking in the other day wanting a picture because she is a cowgirl now! She can't decide what she wants to be for Halloween because it goes from skeleton to cowgirl to vampire!

Last weekend we went to Dewberry Farms for some Fall fun!

While we were there, Jon was a magic-man getting smiles from our little guy!

Of course Sevy LOVED the cow train!

Super fun slides!

What's a farm without some hay?!

The entrance!

My parents came into town the beginning of this month, and the

kids had a blast having them here!

We took the opportunity of having our folks in town to bless little Deckland!

This is quite possibly my favorite. Since I've been on maternity leave,

I somehow got knocked off as an employee at LA Fitness.

So, as I've been trying to get back on, I've had to do many odd adventures all over Houston.

For my re-audition (since 5 weeks off constituted needing to re-audition),

we ended up in Spring, which is by the temple. I thought it would be fun to take

Teik over there just to see it, and as we do our quick drive-by, he starts bawling.

When I asked him what was wrong, he explained he was sad because I didn't marry him!

I had to stop and take a picture and he was still just so sad I would not take him

in there to marry him! I tried to explain I was already married to Daddy, but he didn't care. Poor guy! At least he knows where he wants to get married!

Deckland Knute Ormson

2011-09-03T12:01:00.005-05:00

Having a scheduled c-section is kind of a nice way to have a baby, just because it's no surprise when we go in! August 30th was our day, and we didn't have to be at the hospital until 10am. Super nice! Here's some of the breakdown for the day!
Teik and I had one last chance to compare bellies. I won!

Last belly kiss before we got to meet baby!

Not a pretty shot--but one of my first views of baby! Look at his little blue hand! I somehow always forget how off color they are for the first day! He was officially born at 12:22pm and weighed in at 7lbs 15oz and 20.5 inches.

Daddy and Deck. Jon always gets the first glance of our babies and will instantly tell me what they look like! Teik looked just like Sevy, and Deckland looked just like BOTH kids!

First sibling photo! I LOVE my kids!

Big Brother Teik. He absolutely loves his little brother and wanted to name him Dragon! Maybe he knew we would end up with a D name . . .

With Mimi Ormson

Sweet kisses!

Kris and Ashley (I was shocked the first night with him when I took off his hat and really
saw his hair for the first time all cleaned up.
What a head of dark hair! I know it'll lighten up, but such a stud!)

He's our first to like his fingers. We are quickly trying to get him to take a binky instead because you can take away a binky--not so much his fingers!

Sevy

Heading home. It was my shortest stint in a hospital (like only 2 nights), but I was ready to get out of there (me and a few nurses did NOT get a long). I love how little our babies are in their car seats at first and then how quickly they grow out of them!

At home. He loves to sleep on his belly!
I don't know if I should be concerned or just go with it to make my life easier!
For the past two nights I've slept with him lying on my stomach and as a result have been able to sleep in 5 hour stints. I'm sure this will change, but I think both me and Dex needs it!

Jon gave him his first "bath" at home this morning. He was not a happy camper until Jon--the super swaddler--bundled him up and held him. Jon really has a swaddling gift that has come in handy with our kids! Love it!

So far we are doing good with our brood of 3.
I'm so glad it's a holiday weekend though and plan on recovering myself so maybe
by Monday I'll feel human. For now, I'm enjoying my pain meds, sleeping on the couch,
and being as lazy as humanly possible. Staples come out Tuesday
and I fear that more than anything so far!
Wish us luck!

Seven Years!

2011-08-27T10:08:00.002-05:00

I can't believe it's been 7 years since I married my best friend! Seven years, three moves, three kids (since the 3rd is coming in just a couple days, it counts!), and numerous funny memories and adventures! Not every minute has been great, but it's totally been worth it! Because I was too lazy to round up a wedding picture of us, here are some from my current computer!
This summer at the Astro's game! (maybe I'll post a picture later of what we look like TODAY, but maybe not! I'm just a whole lotta belly now!)

December 2009. One of the best things about marrying a guy the same age as me, is that we have the same fond memories of things like Ninja Turtles, and both have high school flashbacks when certain songs come on, and went through the same awkward stages in basically the same years!
This is from last summer. One of my favorites of us! Partially because I miss my waist! Oh! So not good going through pictures 9 months pregnant! BUT, I love this picture because we have the temple behind us, and just witnessed the last of either of our siblings marrying their eternal companions! Very cool! How blessed am I to marry into a family that, just like my own, I can enter the temple with!

Love you Jon Jon! You are by best friend, the father of our crazy kids, and my favorite person to pester!

First Day of School!

2011-08-22T14:14:00.002-05:00

Sevy started Kindergarten today! We set her very own alarm clock and when she got up you could see the joy in her eyes! She told me that she had to wake up in the middle of the night to get ready for school! (since it was still dark out when she woke up!)

Backpack on and showing off her super cool lunchbox! I'm jealous! I love her little owl!

At her school desk ready to go. She asked me to walk her into class, but as soon as she got there she quickly dismissed me! My little girl is all grown up!

Worse Week Ever

2011-08-11T19:22:00.001-05:00

Have you ever had one of those weeks where everything that could go wrong does? We seem to get these a lot lately. This week is definitely no exception.

It all started just a week or so ago when our trusty Nissan decided it was time to have major problems. A warning light had been on for a couple months and we knew we needed to get it fixed, but were avoiding it. Well, this all changed when the temperature gage decided to give up the ghost which lead to a/c issues. In Houston, not having a/c is not an option, and since Jon was heading off to Amarillo, and I would be driving the Nissan, we had to buck up and pay. One thousand dollars later, the Nissan is rocking again and we were in business!

Now for this week. We've been enjoying the last week of summer with Jon which means a lot of driving and a lot of fun. This was true until our a/c started to give out in our Honda. At first it was sporadically coming and going and then it totally gave up. Keep in mind that all week has been over 100* and I'm 36 weeks pregnant, AND we have kids who sweat in a snow storm. Awesome. Jon's been looking up potential problems, and if it's what we think, it'll be $1000 to get it working again. Keep in mind: Houston=hot until November=not having a/c is not an option.

Now for the best part. After dinner, I headed upstairs to get our guest room cleaned up and noticed it was uncommonly hot. Oh yes. Back in March we were having this problem and had it checked out and learned we have to get a major a/c unit part replaced, but put it off because 1: it cost a lot and 2: after the freon refill, it's been working just fine. Well, it's lasted a good while but our luck has run out again. Here's to another $1000+ bill heading our way--which once again is a necessity, not a luxury.

For me, I don't think this would all suck so bad except the fact that we are students, and since I'm so pregnant, the money I would be able to bring in thanks to my classes is basically nonexistent for the next few months. I physically cannot teach much, and everyone is coming back from vacation which goes all the water-aerobic subbing I could actually do, and baby is coming this month so I won't be teaching after that for a couple months anyway. Grr.

It's just turned into one of those "when it rains, it pours" situation that makes us focus on all the other crappy things going on; like how uncomfortable I am, how Sevy starts school so soon and we'll have to pay a load in gas and parking, how we still don't have a name for this baby, and how our house value keeps dropping. Yeah, we are full of optimism in our household right now!

So, if anyone has any great names, any really cheap meal ideas, or any happy thoughts, send them our way! We could sure use it! On the bright side, baby is officially coming August 30th, so at least we have that to look forward to!

Summer Fun!

2011-07-31T10:48:00.003-05:00

I seriously love summer! Even more with Jon being off to enjoy it with us! In honor of this, we've been trying to have the most fun possible!
A couple of weeks ago I took the kids to the zoo after a doctor's appointment. A nice lady took this picture of Teik and sent it to us! He was fascinated!
I think this is a given, but we go to Sea World a lot! We hit it up one last time before this baby comes and the kids got to hold a shark jaw! Teik LOVES sharks!
Jon and the kiddos!
The Sesame Street 4D movie is a real hit for us at Sea World!
Yum! We know Sevy is definitely our daughter with her love of bbq! We always have to hit up Queen's Bbq in Galveston whenever we go to the beach (with Jon)!
Teik giving us a thumbs up after a day at the beach.

Now the kids are off to another adventure of the summer! They are heading to Amarillo to see Mimi and their cousins while Jon goes fishing! They are stoked! It's sad that this is really our last carefree summer before Jon officially starts the real world, and I still can't believe Sevy starts Kindergarten in just a few weeks! Our family is growing just way too quickly!

TIme to Update

2011-07-17T10:53:00.006-05:00

Jon reminded me the other day that I haven't updated our blog for awhile, so this post is for him! We've had a really fun summer so far! We try to keep busy and so here is some of the things we have been up to! This post is not going to be in any particular order!
Last Wednesday I took the kids to the zoo. Houston really has a great zoo and we try to take advantage of our memberships! I sometimes forget why we don't really go in the summer though! I was dying and the kids were melting!
Sevy and the rhino. Please not the platypus she has in every picture! That's Perry!
Teik and the monkey! Teik has discovered temporary tattoos recently. Somehow his skin doesn't like them to wash off either. Hence the lovely forearm art.
Last weekend we were invited to a party at the house of Jon's classmate. His wife is already a dentist with a few practices and they had a gorgeous house on a lake! Our friend Jeremy was nice enough to help Jon take the kids on a ride on the lake!
On the dock by the lake. The drop-off to the actual lake was pretty severe, hence why I didn't take the kids out with Jon. I would have never made it back up!
We've been hitting up the birthday party scene this summer! At our friend Logan's, the kids got vampire teeth. Teik loved his and wore them all night!
Of course we have been going to the beach! Sevy was excited the other day because we went with her friend Mason. Last summer the Morgan's were our weekly beach buddies! This summer we haven't been able to pull it off as well, but hopefully will make up for it!
For the 4th of July we went down to Friendswood for their parade and festivities. Growing up in a small town, I expect a lot from a parade. This one was okay. Not great, but they did have a bunch of old tractors which I fully approved of!
The family waiting for the parade to start.
Preggo shot. I think this is about 30 weeks. I am almost 33 weeks, so the belly is even larger now! I'm still feeling pretty good and teach most of my classes until the end of July when I'll just stick with water aerobics. The belly is getting in the way now with spin, and by-golly I'm getting tired!
June 27th, Teik turned 3! This was his birthday cake. Sometimes my good ideas fail! I tried to make red frosting. After 100 drops of food dye (the recipe said 50 would do), I still had florescent pink frosting. I tried to add red sprinkles to hide the fact that the frosting was pink, but that didn't really work. Oh well!
Mimi gave Teik a life size shark puppet! He sometimes attacks the kids! They both love him and named him Sharky. We have to remind them often that Sharky is not allowed to hang out with us when we run errands.
Teik and his cake! He really had a great birthday!
Of course we have been to Sea World this summer (and plan on going again soon)! Teik got a cool new hat while we were there this last time! He loves Cookie Monster and that just cracks me up!
My dream growing up was to be one of the Sea World stunt skiers! Watching the show now, I still want to be on the stunt team!
Teik is finally tall enough to go on a lot of the rides! He was very excited about this! This ride spins and Teik LOVED it! He was stoked to go on all the rides that Sevy has been going on for the past couple years! Now I'm REALLY excited for our Disneyworld trip!

My "huh!" moment

2011-06-26T12:35:00.002-05:00

Today we had a really small Primary. So small, that it was just my two kids! So I sent my counselors to Relief Society and decided me the kids were just going to sing! I had the Sharingtime lesson prepared, but was struggling with how I was going to teach it to a younger group from the get-go, so didn't really worry about teaching it. Near the end of our hour (we only have 2 hour church currently), Sevy asked why we hadn't done Sharingtime yet. So, I taught it. I've been teaching Primary so long and every week decide that the kids don't listen to me. I'm always annoyed or frustrated or just tired. Today though, teaching Sevy one-on-one (Teik was aimlessly wandering the room), I realized, she really is listening. She knew the answers to all my questions, and caught on a lot better than I expected. It made me love teaching again--even with our simple 10 minute lesson where the majority of it was spent helping her spell out words to fill in a worksheet! I was telling Jon about this on our way home from church and we decided that for FHE, we are going to teach her out of the CTR manual that she would be learning out of if we had the regular church schedule. I do now feel that she is learning and missing out on great lessons. The best part--it makes FHE easy because I have the manual and an activity book that goes along with it! We are redetermined to tackle FHE!

Hmmm . . . it's been awhile!

2011-06-23T12:11:00.002-05:00

Remember that one time I was going to blog about our road trip in multiple parts? Well, I've given up on that! Just know, it was AMAZING and we saw so many loved ones and the kids had a blast!

Since then, it has been Summer as usual her in Houston! We've spent a lot of time at the beach, at the pool, and at various splash parks! The other day we even went to an Astros game with Kris and Ashley! It's a shame the Astros are terrible! The best part of the night was during batting practice, Jon and the kids were trying to catch fly balls and as one was coming straight to Jon, a guy shoved right in front of him, Sevy, and Teik, to catch the ball, AND THEN DROPPED IT! The guys in the field threw it back up to the guy, who was getting glares from everyone in the area because they saw him shove over kids, and he quickly ran out of there!

Tomorrow, we are heading to Sea World--one of our favorite places ever--to spend a couple of days enjoying the shows and the water park! Jon has a couple of days off and since I put him straight to work when he has a break, we decided we better have some play time too!

Roadtrip: Part One: Utah and Yellowstone

2011-05-31T14:27:00.003-05:00

We started our marathon of a roadtrip by going up to Utah. This first round there, we stayed with Zane and Bridget. Always fun! Sunday after church we went up to Provo Canyon. I don't think I'd been up there since right after Jon and I got married, and it was a blast!Action photo of Jon playing frisbee!

Action photo of Teik playing frisbee!

Nyah and the butterfly she caught!

Sevy and Nyah on a scooter.

After Utah, we headed up to Idaho to see a bunch of my family! Because we were so close, we had to make a trip up to Yellowstone!

At the entrance of Yellowstone Park.

After Old Faithful went off, we discovered this awesome seat area where we could have watched the whole thing on comfy rocking chairs and a warm building!

Lamar Valley. This is Jon and Kris's favorite place in Yellowstone because there is always an abundance of wildlife (bears, elk, buffalo, etc.). It was in this valley, as Teik slept, that he decided to blow up diaper wise, then top it off with throwing up. Bless that boy!

Right outside of Lamar is Mammoth--can't remember the full name!--In the parking lot, there were elk and buffalo all over the place! Technically we are not suppose to get this close, but they didn't seem to mind!

Summer Goals

2011-05-30T12:49:00.002-05:00

I will soon update from our awesome roadtrip, but first I decided I need to write down my summer goals. I always feel if I write them down, I'm more likely to actually do them!

1. Finish my load of craft projects without starting new ones. (I made a new list yesterday, so hopefully I won't find new ideas!)

2. Teach Teik colors, shapes, and the alphabet. He gets neglected on stuff like that.

3. Make summer program for Sevy to keep up on all the awesome stuff she learned in school.

4. Organize baby stuff.

5. Finish Sevy's room.

6. Get an stellar tan. (I'm really not one to worry about skin cancer!)

7. Get Jon in shape. (His goal too--school does a number on normally active people).

8. Keep working until at least the end of July--except my water classes which I should be good through August.

9. Keep my garden flourishing (aka, remember to water it.)

10. Make my lawn presentable. It's really sad right now.

I really should include things like: Eat out less, Keep up on my housecleaning, Cook more, Save money, etc. but honestly, I don't know if that will happen. It's our last official summer here in Houston and I want to hit up the beach, and Sea World, and pools and such, and in doing that, I'm sure I'll be picking up food, and spending money on gas and sunscreen and frankly-clothes that fit! My house is always that last thing on my mind. Still hoping the kids will take me seriously when I tell them to pick up their toys!

Easter!

2011-04-24T20:46:00.004-05:00

I love Easter! I love the lessons surrounding the Resurrection, I love Easter baskets, I love the songs we sing at Church, I love getting/making the kids cute outfits, and I love dressing up and taking pictures! This year, was no exception! Being in the Branch, and the Primary at that, I get to teach a lot of lessons every Sunday. This year, both Sharingtime and CTR revolved around Christ's death, resurrection, and the fact that thanks to Him, we shall have Eternal lives! Loved it! What made it even better was the view right as we pulled in! Do you see that in the picture above?! That's right! Our new building is ACTUALLY getting walls! We also learned this week that the new building will have a font! So exciting!
After church, we decided to take pictures. Every time we drive down 288 we pass this random steel yard with funny sculptures. For the past 3 years I've been wanting to take pictures here! Today, my dream came true! This is Teik under a Rhino.Jon and the Hippo.
Me and a Stegosaurus. Oh, I'm basically 21 weeks pregnant! AND a shout-out to my mother-in-law for the outfit!
I LOVE this picture of Sevy and Teik. I will crop out Jon when I print it! Check out the random sculptures! I love this place!
Sevy and her new dress I busted out yesterday in 3 hours! I'm not in love with the top, but I love the bottom! I stole the idea from here. Not willing to spend the money, I did my own thing with muslin and tulle and a Butterick pattern I've had for awhile!

Tonight we had a fabulous dinner with our friends the Talbots, Greg Opdahl, and of course Kris and Ashley! It was amazing and I think I ate ham for 4 hours straight and still could eat more! Happy Easter!

Strawberries!

2011-04-04T14:44:00.002-05:00

In Alvin (about 30 minutes away) there is a fantastic farm that you can go pick your own strawberries! I've been aching to go, so finally, Friday, Jon got home early and we went! The kids loved it! They got pretty good at picking the nice strawberries, though Teik kept going for some weird ones!
One of the best finds of the day! Teik was pleased! It's like 5-in-1!
In the end we picked about 4lbs of the freshest, yummiest, strawberries ever! We've gorged ourselves on them all weekend, and I made 6 jars of freezer jam, and we still have quite a bit left for shortcake tonight! Ahhh, glorious strawberries!

March Madness

2011-03-25T15:28:00.007-05:00

Lots of fun things have been going on this month here in the Ormson home! Here's just a few of the many adventures!For Jon's Spring break we took our adventures up to Amarillo/Lubbock to see family and talk to a few Dentists. On our way we passed these AWESOME signs and had to stop!I don't care that I don't like pecans, put my name on a building and I'm all about a picture!
While we were in Amarillo, we hit up Cadillac Ranch. As per tradition, we wrote our names down in pen.
The family. One day we'll actually take a "real" family photo!
Sevy kept picking up all the spray cans she found and tried to make her mark. Apparently all the spray-painting I do at home is rubbing off on her!
On our way to and from Amarillo, we hit up Sea World! Sevy is now a big fan of roller-coasters now which makes these trips even more fun!
While at the "Shamu Rocks" show, Jon insisted on the splash zone. When that time came, I pulled a true mom and ran for dry ground! When I came down, both kids were screaming. You can tell by the picture that Sevy didn't get over it quickly!There's a new area that's all about Sesame Street! We took pictures with many of our favorite characters! Teik was not a fan of these guys, but he got better the more we saw!The count is probably MY favorite from Sesame street! I think he's trying to give a thumbs up!Belle has needed a hair trim, but when I took her to the groomers, it was worse than I thought!Here is Belle after the cut. They had to shave her! I didn't recognize! I still crack up, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be!Sevy turns 5 on Sunday, and this year she wanted her first "girly" birthday party! We had her two little girly-friends over and had Sevy's Fairyland in our backyard!We decorated our tent in the backyard with butterflies and these flower-lights I've fallen in LOVE with! Thanks again to my friend Julie who came to help decorate!This is part of the lunch they had! I loved how everything turned out, and I think the girls had fun. Sevy did at least! I still can't believe my little girl is going to be FIVE!

Our Crazy Life

2011-03-06T15:16:00.004-06:00

Our life has been a little crazy lately! I like to use that as the excuse for being so behind on updating our blog. Here's the rundown for basically February. One night, while getting the kids ready for bed, Teik was running around like a crazy person. We heard a huge wood-splitting crack, and this is what happened.
Of course they didn't see us for hours in the E.R., so Teik knocked out, and I curled up on the chair trying to get some sleep. In the end, they put a little vaseline on his cut and sent us on our way. I was mad. I could have done that at home. Less than two weeks later we were back at the E.R. with Teik. This time he was running around like crazy, bounced off the couch and straight into the corner of our Ikea coffee-table. Jon took him that time. He got a CT scan, but thankfully checked out alright. Boys.
My sisters came to visit in February! It was a BLAST! Have I ever mentioned how much I love my sisters?! We went shopping (3 of the 4 shirts in the picture were purchased on the trip!), and crafted, and went to Galveston, and just chatted and hung out!
This is a funny store we found in Galveston. I always just go to the beach, but we were touristy and walked around The Strand. Jaclyn found a sweet ring at "The Witchery", and now I know where to go if I ever need to buy a cauldron, or need my palm read!
We had our final farewell party for our dear friends the Martinez's! We really are excited for their new job, and I'm also super excited that they have relocated super close to the temple! Now we can see our friends, and go to the temple in a single trip! Primary really hasn't been the same without them!
And finally, guess who's now about 14 weeks pregnant?! We are super excited, but it has added to the craziness of our lives thanks to being super sick, tired, and busy! Bless Jon for being totally fine with eating chips and hot sauce almost nightly for dinner, and for Sevy who is convinced that I will never get better, and doesn't understand why I get so sick making a baby, but Aunt Brandi is fine! Ahh, gotta love kiddos!

The Branch!

2011-02-21T09:27:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we had a picture taken of our funny little Branch. I think this only really happens when a great family is moving away from us. (I think the last picture was right before we lost the Malnar's and Poll's). This time around we are losing the Martinez family. They got a great job offer that would be impossible NOT to take, and so we are really excited for them, but really sad to lose them. Their youngest kids Julie and Diego are in my Primary and I just LOVE them! The oldest kids Shay and Eliza are our favorite babysitters and the kids beg Jon and I to go on dates so they can come and play! Raph and Tamara have been great neighbors and friends and a huge asset to the Branch. We are so sad to see them go, but they will only be an hour away, and we plan on visiting and camping near their new home! Bless the Branch!

First Tooth!

2011-02-06T14:34:00.002-06:00

We had a very exciting morning! Sevy has had a loose tooth for a few weeks now. She is really young to actually have a loose tooth (not even 5 yet!) , but the permanent tooth has been coming up too! This morning it was super close, so Jon decided to take it out!

Right before we took it out! She was super excited!

Right after we got it out. You can see the tears! She was a real trooper! We videoed the whole thing, but figured not a lot of people would want to watch! It was fun watching Jon work. My dad used needle-nose pliers. Jon used tweezers and floss. Yeah, I think it would be scary either way you do it! But, Sevy is VERY excited for who's gonna come visit tonight!

In other news: This is for our former Sunnysiders! Here is our building and parking lot. Now, when you turn around, instead of a big lawn and lots of trees you see this:

Oh, yes. That my friends is progress!

The trees are down, the grass is cleared, and by my book, that's a lot more than what has been happening the past years and promises of a new building!

Which Gringo's?

2011-01-29T12:55:00.003-06:00

I've been craving Gringo's fajita's for weeks now, so I finally convince Jon to take me yesterday at 4ish to avoid a crowd (after 5pm and you are bound for a long wait). This place is AMAZING (well, their fajita's are) so I was excited. As we are eating, Jon remembered he got a text about getting $1 off an adult entree. So we show our waiter, and he brings over his manager. The manager looks at it and goes and talks to his boss. No one has heard of this text. Jon gets texts from Gringo's a couple times a week. So the GM asks Jon to forward it to his personal phone, but is nice and gives us $2 off our meal.

After he walks away, I lean up to Jon and had to ask, are we at the right Gringo's for the discount? Back home, in Rexburg, there is also a Gringo's Restaurant that is most excellent. They have a appetizer called a Cheese Crisp that I literally get EVERY time we go there as my meal, and just talking about it makes me want it! I'm pretty sure last time I was there with Jon (I go basically every time I'm home, even if Jon's not with me!), we signed up for the texts to try to get some $$$ off our meal.

In the end, I'm pretty sure it was the Rexburg Gringo's that got us a discount on our Houston Gringo's meal! Bless you Gringo's . . . every one!

We Had a Date!

2011-01-23T21:37:00.003-06:00

This is a little behind, but Jon and I had a date! And not even our "free movie" date either! We went to an Aeros Hockey Game. For those of you who are hockey clueless, the Aeros are not a NHL team, but rather and AHL team (like minor league). The Minnasota Wild (an NHL team) takes their players from the Aeros, and if one of their guys suck, they drop them back down to them. Anyhoo, the game was highly entertaining, and we had a blast!
The Aeros play in the Toyota Center, which is also home of the Houston Rockets (for those of you who are basketball clueless, they're a NBA team, and sometimes quite good).
We got our tickets through Groupon and so as part of our package, we got a picture with the mascot . . . who I totally forgot his name! Oh well! He and I made Jon jealous! Gotta love a great date!

AWESOME!

2011-01-22T16:59:00.002-06:00

Today, we got a check in the mail for $50. How did we randomly get this money, you ask. Well, let me tell you! This was money that was owed to me back in 2003 (or so) while I was living in Utah. It was probably a deposit or something silly like that, that I didn't even realize.

Okay, totally not making sense here, let me back up. A while back we were at our Aunt Judy's and she was showing us how to look up unclaimed property. You go to this website, and look it up by state. So we did, and lo and behold, MY name came up in Utah! A couple of years later (present day) Jon was bored and looked it up again. My name was still there, so we filled out the paperwork, sent in proof of address (I randomly still had crap from my Liberty Square days), got it all notarized, and voila! Just a few weeks later I had a check in the mail! So funny!

Most states actually show what is owed (Utah is not that nice). Like in Idaho, you can find out that you are owed "less that $5", "$50-100", or "$100+". Apparently my dad is owed less that $5. Not really worth the effort!

It's like a highly addicting game, and I'm still floored that it worked out! We may have to celebrate by going out to dinner!

Why I Love My Rotten Teikerton

2011-01-17T21:41:00.002-06:00

Teiker's is a boy, through and through, and while he is a rotten stink (as proved by my earlier post), he always does something to crack me up. Like Saturday, he decided he wanted to wear underwear, and then decided to dress himself. The photos are as follows:
Okay, out of order, but here is Teik in his outfit. It's hard to tell, but he is wearing a button-up shirt, followed by a polo shirt, and then threw on a pajama shirt--backwards--to finish up his top. His bottoms are his church pants which in hindsight, was a really dumb idea to let him wear while in undies since he is in no way potty-trained. Luckily, it wasn't too cold for wearing shorts to church! (Teik only owns two pairs of pants!)
Teik--post bath--showing off his undies! He's posing so I could take a picture of his cutie behind featuring Buzz and Woody!
Now for the "no pictures Mom!" pose of the front! I think he's learned how to pose from his sister! Oh! This kid makes me smile when I don't want to rip out my hair!

Adventures at Church

2011-01-16T20:11:00.002-06:00

So, many of you know, the Branch is not a normal church at all! First of all, we don't really have a church building, but meet in an old home that was probably built in the 1950's. (For a picture and a funny account of our Branch check out my friend's blog here.) In this old house, we are constantly fighting for rooms. The Primary uses the Sacrament meeting room (which has a kitchen in it) for Sharing time, and have a big room for classes, but if I want to split into separate classes (not mixing 2 year olds with 10 year olds) we use the small area outside Jon's clerks office. Anyhoo--There is a bathroom, that would be like a half-bath in most old homes (complete with a padded toilet seat), that is in the hallway of our two main rooms. The handles are old, the lock is a twist lock that was likely original to the home, and the only way to really do anything to the door is if you are on the inside. It was this bathroom, that my 2 year old decided to lock himself in today.

In hindsight, it shouldn't have surprised us. He kept disappearing on my all day, and Jon mentioned he was trying to play with the door when he took Sevy to the bathroom earlier. So when I was trying to leave and the end of a long day at church, and my son goes missing, of course this is where he ended up.

We spent a long time trying to talk to him and tell him what to do. He was calm for a good 5-10 minutes, but then started freaking out. We tried to take off the knob, but that really wouldn't do anything because of the twisted lock. Jon and I didn't know what else to do, so we finally ran up to ask the Branch President. Brother M. heard the news, and came down to start busting down the door (something we wanted to do, but you don't just start doing with all those people around and without the consent of the presidency!). During his time with the door, he pinky got a little too involved, and last I heard, he was in the emergency room for his pinky which got really ripped up. Jon took his turn at the door, when a linebacker of a 14 year old came up to help. The thing about this situation, is it wasn't just busting open a door--it was busting it open with a frighted 2 year old on the other side, and a garbage can and sink that was probably going to get attacked on the entry. Isaiah did the trick! I think it took him one try and the lock tore through the wood and Teik came screaming out. Poor kid was a little traumatized, but I feel terrible about Bro. M's finger and the church's door.

On a happy note, they have started work on our new building! It's been promised for years, but now there are trees down, and machines in place, and a deadline! I'm so excited to not have to share rooms, to have our own official piano specifically for the Primary, and separate rooms for all my classes--even if I don't have separate teachers for them!

Random Christmas Break Photos

2011-01-07T15:09:00.004-06:00

You know why I LOVE Chick-fil-a? Because the good one's go out of control at decorating. Like having this guy next to Santa! (that's Santa's hand in the photo. His statue was huge!)

Or having these guys lined up! Honestly! Where do you even find Nutcrackers that big?!

And here we have Jon and I at our New Year's dinner at "the club" with the Ormson's.
It's our second year doing this, and the dinner was about the same, but the dessert is ridiculous! It's a shame we are always too full to really eat it!

Our Christmas Card!

2010-12-19T15:40:00.001-06:00

2010 proved to be an exciting year for us Ormsons! Jon passed his boards this year with flying colors! The countdown continues as we get closer and closer to the real world (scary!)! He also got a wish granted with an addition to the family in the form of a yorkie named Belle. Kat checked multiple things of her “Bucket List” this year by completing the MS 150 (a 2 day and 150 mile bike ride for multiple sclerosis), competing in her first sprint triathlon, and first (and second) 5k runs! Sevy is still a little smarty pants! She learned how to swim this summer and was the ultimate beach babe. She is learning how to take care of Belle and is in charge of taking her out to go potty so Mommy doesn’t have to! Teik suddenly grew into a little boy! He is a complete pest to his sister and tries to do everything she does. He is a terror to Belle, but loves her so violently it’s funny! The poor dog has to hide so Teikers won’t get her! Belle, the newest member of the family, is by far the smallest! She is still just a puppy and at under 3 lbs, she’s about the biggest she’s going to get! She wreaks havoc in the house, but the kids love her!

Merry Christmas!

WAY behind!

2010-12-12T17:12:00.005-06:00

I feel like I'm way behind on my blogging. As a result-here is the edited version of what's been happening in H-town--in reverse order!

Last night, this is how we found Teik. I thought it was just too cute not to post!

Also last night we made "gingerbread" houses at our friends house!

These were the end results! The kids had fun eating everything, but Sevy did a good job decorating hers! It's the one in the front row on the left!

Jon and his "shark" house!

The Houston Zoo opened up their new African Forest exhibit which has been in the works since we moved here. I must say, it is fantastic!

Here Sevy is smiling with a chimpanzee! And yes, that's me in the reflection!

The drums in the African Forest. I'm embarrassed to say that as a percussionist, I suck at these drums, but the kids were AWESOME!

Being Christmas, we figured we had to visit Santa! At Outdoor World, you get a picture with him for FREE! This sold us on going! I have to say, the Santa was adorable!

Running down to see Santa.

The cutest Santa ever! He sat and chatted with the kids for like 5 minutes! I was super impressed!

The beginning of the month, Mom and Dad came to visit!

Mom and Teik at Brazo's Bend. Sadly, we only saw 1 alligator.

Dad, Sevy and Teik at the air museum in Galveston. Yes, it's December and Sevy is wearing shorts. It was a beach-worthy day!

That is basically the update! Sevy has her school Christmas program tonight, so there will be another update soon!

Our newest family memeber!

2010-11-22T14:08:00.002-06:00

We don't know what possessed us to do it, but we got a dog! Well, it's more like a puppy! She's a Yorkie and the kids are in LOVE! It's Jon's fault we got her! He's wanted a dog for a long time and I think it was love at first sight!
Sevy has named her Belle. We don't know if it's short for Princess Belle, Ladybelle (she sounds just like Lady on Lady and the Tramp when she's in her kennel!), or Tinkerbell. Or maybe Isabella--Sev's favorite Fireside Girl from Phineus and Ferb! Sevy's jobs with the new pet is to make sure she always has food and water, to take her outside and try to get her to go potty, and to take her on walks!
Teik started out frightened with her, and now I have to force him to set her down and to leave her alone! She doesn't seem to mind! She is a little princess though, insisting on laying on the couch snuggled in the pillows! She's basically fully grown too! What have we gotten ourselves into?!

Juliet Rose Lofgran

2010-11-06T08:13:00.002-05:00

I'm heading up to Idaho for the funeral of the cutest little angel. My heart breaks with this tragedy but I know Heaven needed our little diva. She is loved and will me terribly missed. Keep her family in your prayers.

Zoo Boo!

2010-10-24T17:55:00.004-05:00

Friday morning we went to Zoo Boo! Being a weekday, I thought it would be a little less crowded. I guess it was, but we still had to park forever away and walking with two kids in costume passed a golf course and multiple parking lots, was not fun.We took this right as we walked in. Can you see how tired they already are?! Yeah--dang walking! Teik's boots need a little fixing, and we lost them a couple of times while I carried him, but the overall effect is awesome!
My little garden gnome, eating grapes--on the ground--in the middle of a sidewalk. At least he's happy!
My little Tinkerbell! She was very particular about her hair, and I couldn't quite get the "ball" she wanted on her head! Oh well. It was so hot, that I'm glad it was at least slicked back because she was sweating!
They had a cute area called The Pumpkin Patch, where the kids could go in and decorate their own mini pumpkin. Poor Teiker's hair is all wet from the sweat. After growing up wearing coats over our costumes, I fear my poor kids were going to melt in theirs!
Sevy at the Pumpkin Patch. You can see the cool "tatzoo" she got at one of the booths.

I liked this little test-run of the kids costumes! I now know I need to add some snaps instead of hooks, and do something about Teik's boots to keep them in place. Zoo Boo was pretty fun. Will we do it again next year? Probably not! (Aren't I a terrible mom?!) I just wasn't that impressed, but that may be the heat and exhaustion talking!

Dream Shoes

2010-10-21T21:55:00.003-05:00

If I had money to burn, and I'm talking A LOT of money to burn, I would buy these shoes. I first found them in my Octobers InStyle magazine. One word: HOT! But I'm a fairly reasonable person who doesn't really wear gold that often. So then I found this version of them:
Yeah, I think I may faint! I'm so in love with these shoes. The major "ugh!" moment comes when I look at the price: $1,285. I don't think Jon's car is even worth that much! Sad. So if any overly wealthy person is out there and takes pity on a poor mother-of-two-married-to-a-dental-student, this is what I want for my birthday. It can count as Christmas also. And maybe the rest of my birthdays until I'm 50! Hmmm . . . I think I'm drooling over the gold ones again!

Hacked

2010-10-17T18:25:00.002-05:00

My email has been hacked multiple times now and I'm getting really annoyed. Thanks to the hacker, all my friends, family, coworkers, and church associates have been sent an link to a sexual enhancement drug straight out of Canada. Awesome. Looks like I'll be getting a new email soon. On the plus side, I'll probably get to clean up my email address list which is embarrassingly long and I don't remember half the people on it. Look at me and my positive side!

Race for the Cure

2010-10-03T15:08:00.002-05:00

I finally did it! Read about my latest event here!

Crafty Crafty

2010-09-19T14:02:00.004-05:00

I've been in a crafting mood lately and am never short on projects. I picked up these tea towels and fabric when I was in Idaho, and finally finished dazzling them up. Here are a few of my favorites.

Love me some stripes!

This was my first one, I still actually like how it turned out, although there are things I would change . . .

Okay, to explain this picture. This velvety beauty was found at Goodwill with a lovely peach matte and a regular wood frame. So I did what I do best and changed it to suit my needs . . .

And thankfully after some mod-podge, spray paint, and a different picture, it turned into something I actually like! I LOVE spray paint! I changed a terrible green/gold frame, a yellow frame, and a couple wood frames to finish off the 8x10 frame needs I had! I think the grand total was $15 for 4 frames plus paint!

This was another Goodwill frame find. I spray painted it white, then the top half is metal (another Idaho find) and I made the magnet from a brad. The bottom part is cork board that I painted and added stickers. I doubt I'll ever use the cork board part, but I like how it turned out!

This last one is just a book I made for a friend. The cover is awesome with this velvet textured paper. Simple yet not. I love it!

This is only a small selection of what I've been up to lately! I'm currently looking at fabrics for a dress for me, a dress for Sevy, a skirt for me, and Teik's Halloween costume!
(anyone know where I can find a fake beard?!)
Also I made a terrible mistake of picking up the latest DIY Magazine (totally a fav of mine!) and have a wood craft I'm excited to try! Now to find a jigsaw . . .

really, the rest of the road trip!

2010-08-19T13:00:00.006-05:00

On our way back to Houston, we stopped of at Willy's Crossing, in Wyoming to visit my parents on their mission! The kids were so excited to see Gran and Pappa and had a great time! The trailers in the background are what they have been living it all summer. Basically the size of their bathroom back home!
The kids somehow got Gran and Pappa to give them rides in handcarts! They were loving it!
There is a little school house on the property that the kids had a lot of fun in. Sevy enjoyed drawing on every slate, and sitting at the teachers chair!
My parents were so kind to let us take their Jeep out and explore the trail! They even kept the kids which made it even better!
This was the path we were taking. Yeah, it makes me glad I was not a pioneer and could take a jeep instead of a handcart up this trail.
This is the way we roll to a reception! When we got back to Amarillo, Jon took advantage of having keys to the Ormson's Jeep!
My pretty girl at the botanical gardens in Amarillo where Kris and Ashley had their second reception!
This is Sevy's "model" pose. She gave me lots of shots like this and was crackin' me up!

The rest of the road trip!

2010-08-09T16:01:00.008-05:00

After Idaho, we headed down to Utah. I got to meet up with most my girlfriends for lunch. I'm sure Zuppa's wanted to kick us out with our toddlers running around and being terrible while we talked and laughed, but we had a great time!

Then we got to go visit Sevy's bff Kenzi! They were so excited to see each other!

They lead a hard life! Jaxson and Teik are so cute side by side, but they don't exactly get along!

We got some raspberries from a farmer's market and made the most delicious milk shakes. I'm still craving them!

The girls again!

Jeni and Kenzi!

Cousins Nyah and Sevy! I love what good friends they are!

My cousin Traci! I hadn't seen her in years and was so excited to meet up with her for dessert!

Sevy loves her aunt Torrie, and naturally she looks more like her than me!

An actual picture of Jon and I (not even taken by Jon or me!)

Bride and Groom

Two of my LOVES!

I just love this picture

Beautiful bride and darling girls! They all LOVE her!

Daddy/Daughter dance! How cute are these little girls?! Momma O has some mad skills!

Sevy is my little pretty girl!

Road Trippin'

2010-07-25T17:34:00.009-05:00

With Jon's boards coming, we decided it was a good time to bail town so he could study. We started our roadtrip by stopping off in San Antonio to go to our favorite place: Sea World!
Sevy and Teik love the sea lions and of course Shamu!
My favorite show will always be the Sea World ski show! This is us in the stands there! My dream is still to be in that show, but I may have outgrown the age limit!
Blessed Nancy (mother-in-law) helped us drive from Amarillo to Utah where we stayed with Zane and Bridget and the kids had a blast with their cousins Nyah and Kohen!
Then we were back in the car to go to Idaho! There was a little neighborhood parade at Brandi's house, so we went over there with all the family! This is Sevy, Anders Lofgran, Lleida Brunson, and Sarah Rail--just a few of the cousins!
The sibs. It was great to be there with all of us!
Mom and Dad took a break from their mission to visit that weekend and so we had the whole family! They were surprised to see me in town, and we were surprised to see them!
Sunday, Shawn and Chantal were blessing their baby, so we took the opportunity to take some photos. This is my favorite of Teikers!
Baby Aviel Marie Bagley! She is getting so big at 4lbs!
Our family! It's a shame Jon wasn't there to complete the photo.
The WHOLE family (still minus Jon). We have 13 grandkids now and of course Moo Cow is in the picture. We love her!
My cutie Sevy cruisin' the tricycle at Gran and Pappa's!
We went to the splashpark and Teik found a new favorite person in cousin Elayna!
Sevy and Lleida!
Teikers and Juliette! They look like they could be siblings and are so funny together!
This picture is to commemorate the girl's shopping day, and I tried to make the kids look cute for the babysitter!
I ran my first 5k with my best friend Kalle! And thanks to her, I ran WAY faster than I could have imagined finishing in 30 min 41 sec! Kalle finished ahead of me, but I actually kept pace with her for the first half and my goal was to finish under 40min!
We went to St. Anthony's Pioneer Day Parade, and took along Lleida! The kids had a blast watching the floats pass by and calling out for candy to be thrown. They got quite the loot!
Kalle, Aaron, Maya, and Braeden Reynolds.
Lleida and Sevy and their bags of candy!
We finished up our 24th at Kalle's aunt's house in St. Anthony which is right on the river! Gorgeous! The kids had a good time sitting with their feet in the river.

Summer Fun!

2010-07-07T19:34:00.002-05:00

We try to keep busy in the summer for the sake of sanity! We've discovered the joys of a public pool that only costs me $1 and the kids are free, and thanks to the library reading club, we have lots of free passes! They have a little shallow pool with a life guard and I sit and tan while the kids play! It's a hard knock life! (Sevy is showing off a little frog she caught in the pool!)
Teikers is my little stud-muffin! I don't know if it was him or Sevy who picked out this outfit, but I was dying when they brought it in to me! His little personality is coming out and I don't know if he's a flirt, a bully, or a little bit in between!
The most exciting thing for Sevy is that we've put her in swimming lessons. Unfortunately, nature is against her! Monday she had a great lesson and really enjoyed herself (cautiously of course!), Tuesday there was a huge accident that took over 8 hours to clean up and caused the trip to the lessons to take 50 minutes instead of 15, so she only caught the last 10 minutes of class. Today it's been raining like crazy, but eased up enough that I think she actually got a lesson (Jon took her because I had a class to teach).

Me and the kiddos take off for out road trip sometime next week, so we will have many more fun adventures and pictures to share!

Teikers Turns Two!

2010-06-29T17:04:00.003-05:00

Teik got his first REAL haircut in honor of his upcoming birthday. If you ever wonder who he looks like, we have a picture of Jon around the same age which is identical to this fabulous mop top!
He was a little studmuffin by the end! Not that I'll ever actually fix his hair, but it looks a lot better!For his actual birthday, we had some friends come over for cupcakes! He was excited to chow on those!
He loved his super cool cards from his Gran and Grammy!
And loved his cool peekaboo game from Grammy! He also got a backpack, which is constantly filled with toys and worn around the house, and a hooded shark towel from us! I can't believe my baby is two! He's turning into a little boy, and boy do we LOVE him!

I DID IT!

2010-06-27T18:55:00.003-05:00

I finished my first triathlon this morning. Read all about it here!

The Latest

2010-06-23T16:44:00.007-05:00

Here are some of the many tomatoes from our garden. Yes, I even impress myself with these bad boys, although I won't be eating them anytime soon!
The zoo has a temporary dinosaur exhibit for the next few months so we went to check it out. They move and roar and the kids were slightly frightened!
This is Teik trying to hid from them. Yes, he was like this the entire time through the exhibit.
He didn't like this one at all, even though it was the only one that didn't move and you could pose with it!
We try to hit the beach at least once a week. We all love it!
Yeah, how cute are these guys!
We've had a lot of seaweed the past couple weeks, but they don't seem to mind.
We went to Nasa this week and they have a new Star Wars exhibit in the center. It was pretty cool, and if the kids were a little older they would have loved it!

Okay, that's the update of the past couple weeks!

A Weekend with Kris and Ashley

2010-06-12T20:02:00.004-05:00

Teik and his new favorite person, Ashley. I've been demoted.
The boys and the kiddos at Gringos! A must-go here in Houston!
Seriously, how happy is this boy with his new girlfriend!
We tried out Jon's new toys at the beach. Um, we all are terrible, but it's Teik's perfect size! We are expecting sponsorship any day now!
Sevy and her body board. She's our little beach bum! Super fun weekend with the Funcle and his future wife!

Jon Jon turns 28!

2010-06-03T22:48:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was Jon's big birthday! He had to go to school all day (real downer for a birthday) but for dinner we actually got to go out by ourselves! I was so excited! We had a fantastic meal at Saltgrass Steakhouse, and then went and bought a Wii! Yeah, our purchases never make any real sense! Jon also got a skim board and body board for the beach and a Star's gym bag (or overnight bag--since he never comes to the gym with me!) Sevy helped me make and decorate a cake for him (blue frosting, lots of sprinkles) and all and all it was a good day! Jon is my best friend in the whole world and I'm so stinking lucky to have him! Love you honey!

Vacation!

2010-05-19T13:59:00.006-05:00

This past weekend we took a family vacation to SeaWorld! (actually, it was a trip to San Antonio, but we always spend most of our time at SeaWorld!)
The kids have a love/hate relationship with swimming. They love splashparks, just not deep water. This was one of the better moments!
Jon took Sevy on the Atlantis ride! I was so excited she was big enough to go. It's pretty intense (big drop off and giant splash) and I'm so proud of her for going!
Randomly we were there for Christian weekend, so we watched the Veggie Tale movie "Pistachio" and saw Larry and Bob in person!
Our hotel had a rockin' pool area, which we hung out at a lot!
Teik really loved the little waterfall at the outdoor pool. They even had a bunch of kid-friendly pool area!
On our way to see "Believe" which is the Shamu show. Kind of lame now that the trainers aren't getting in the water. There was a baby killer whale that was too cute. That made up for the disappointment in the show. (I really have no problems with them not getting in, but they could have done the show better.)
Jon and the kiddos at the waterpark.
Teik getting up-close and personal with the camera.
Sevy and I in line for the Shamu ride.
Teikers at the Alamo. It was closed, but they light it up awesomely at night!
Sevy at the zoo in front of the kimodo(?) dragon habitat.
Kris and a bird getting a little intimate!
The Kristian's.
Sevy and the bugs!
My little munchkin's!

Yeah, the pictures are in reverse, but it really was a fantastic weekend to get away! The kids had a blast and it was fun to see Kris briefly (he was in Austin for a test and met up with us!), and it was REALLY nice to have Jon to ourselves for a weekend! He's back to the books at school already.

Semi-Famous

2010-05-10T10:32:00.002-05:00

I love throwing myself out there in hopes of becoming semi-famous (in my own world!). I did it a couple of years ago with my weightloss story that was put in Self Magazine, and then more recently shared my MS 150 story with this cute "women rock" blog called Bella Rosa. Check it out!

Before and After

2010-05-08T16:56:00.003-05:00

BeforeStage II: Sanding

After

Yesterday I finished my first major project! I found a great bedside table at Goodwill for $10! After some sanding and a new coat of paint, it's our new side table for the new (craigslist) couch Jon bought for our new media room (we also inherited a projector this week!) Not bad for a week's work! (I also did a cute pot redo this week, but I'll post those pictures later when I get the plants in!)

Friends

2010-05-06T14:55:00.003-05:00

We have been really blessed with the people we have met since moving here. These past couple weeks have been so nice weather wise, that it's been fun taking advantage of hanging out with good friends and good weather! Sevy has definitely been enjoying playing with her friends. We went to her little friend Jackson's house to swim and she was LOVING it! I need to get her into swimming lessons this summer because she just loves the water! We also celebrated our friend Marnie's birthday with a bbq at the Opdahl's home, and really, you couldn't have picked better weather! It's a shame it's gonna get really hot really quick because I could actually handle living in Houston for good if it stuck like this! (Minus hurricane season. Okay, I retract that last statement!)

The weather is warming . . .

2010-04-25T14:54:00.003-05:00

The weather has definitely been warming up, so we've been trying to enjoy it! We started by visiting one of our favorite splash parks!
We were invited to a party at a lake house this weekend. The area around Lake Houston is amazing! Nicely out of town, but still close. It was there that we went swimming and just hung out!
My garden has been growing too! I've already eaten my radishes, but look at my peas grow! I love garden fresh peas! My tomatoes are flowering and we recently planted some beans that have sprouted!
Saturday night we went to our friends the Talbot's house. They just built a firepit, so we roasted smores and played croquet! So fun! It's a shame the weather is really going to heat up soon, because this week has been perfect!
And finally, here is my latest sewing adventure. I've started attempting my size clothes and I've learned that they make kid sizes run big, and adult sizes run slightly small. Oh well! I did the sleeveless option because I didn't have enough material, but I like it with a cardigan. It's really boat-necked and my material choice is kind of heavy, but I love how it turned out!

MS 150

2010-04-19T13:51:00.004-05:00

I did it! I rode over 150 miles in two days in the fight for the cure for MS. Definitely an AWESOME experience. I'll be updated my 1 to 150 blog so check it out here!

Catch Up

2010-04-11T16:03:00.009-05:00

Thanks to computer issues and other things, it's been awhile since I've posted, so here is a catch up in--of course--no particular order!
Easter morning: the kids got bath stuff and pj's in there baskets. They LOVED their new pjs!Easter egg hunt #2--vastly different from the snow and mountains of hunt #1 a day before in Utah!

Easter egg hunt #1 in Utah with BFF Kenzi! Sevy was so excited to spend a day with her favorite person in the world!
Hanging out at Kenzi's. We decorated eggs and played played played!
We got a lot of snow (especially for April!) while we were in Idaho! Sevy loved playing in the snow!
Random home shot. Teik loves to play outside and drive his car!
So handsome! We were in Idaho for Brandi's baby blessing.
Temple trip with the family and Aunt Betty and Uncle Terry! We missed Jon and Steve, but it was cool going there with all my siblings and the Rexburg temple is sincerely gorgeous!
Baby Ava! It was her blessing day! She is Brandi's 6th baby and so stinking cute!
Sevy and I freezing at the Rexburg airport watching Pappa land Ole Yeller.
Sevy's birthday! What can beat a party with the cousins?
Okay, not the best picture. This is from Sevy's SUPER birthday party the week before her actual birthday. Mimi and Uncle Kris were there as well as friends from school, church, and the gym!
Super Sevy!

Okay, that was the quickie version. We've had a great few weeks with a trip to Idaho and Utah, birthday parties, and me still training for the MS 150. It's been a lot of fun and Sevy and Teik loved the trip home!

I wish I were an Oscar Meyer weiner . . .

2010-03-01T10:12:00.002-06:00

I love running into random things. So when we went grocery shopping at HEB and happened upon the Oscar Meyer weinermobile, it was like hitting a goldmine! The kids were super excited and we got to go inside (very pimped out), and they got little whistles and Sevy got a little backpack. Sevy naturally announced that she wanted to ride in it, which we sadly didn't get to do, but it made for a fun shopping trip!

The Prophet Said to Plant a Garden

2010-02-15T21:49:00.003-06:00

We've been very crafty Mormony-Mormons this week! This is just a recap: Saturday, I decided it was time to finish a big project I started Monday, and Jon decided it was time to fix our slightly crooked fence.
Yes, the project I started Monday was a garden! Here are my little tomato plants I had started indoors a couple of weeks ago and put in the ground Saturday.
Here is our little garden. See that pile of sod? That's one of two. My family is skilled in a few random things--sodding is one of them. Tearing up sod, on the other hand, was probably the worse experience of my life! It took me 3 hours to do and 2 days to get over my aching muscles! Then, because the ground is so awesomely claylike, I (with the help of Jon this time) made a little wall to do it slightly above ground. Then we filled it up with soil and voila! We planted corn, onions, red potatoes, carrots, peas, artichokes, radishes, grape tomatoes, and strawberries! The galvenized tubs on the side were my previous garden. They did a good job with tomatoes and peas, but we wanted to go bigger. I planted awesome flowers in them, so I hope they turn out!
I also made a quilt this week for my Mom's birthday! (It's on Wednesday!) This is my favorite part of the quilt. I know, a little bit kiddish, but I loved the colors and the fabrics!

Here is a picture of basically the whole thing. My mom gave me an awesome sewing machine for my birthday and it comes with a quilting foot that I've been aching to try out. Very fun, but I may be sticking to baby quilts after this one! (This one was just a little bit smaller than a twin size.)

And that's our crafty crafty week! I'm excited to see if our garden turns out! I planted some peas in December that I get to snack on now, so I'm hoping we hit it early enough before the heat comes!

2010: Why do you hate us?

2010-02-08T21:33:00.002-06:00

Needless to say, this year has been pretty crappy. Well, maybe just January, and we are still getting the reprocussions from it. So, we just ordered Vonage. For the first time in our married lives, we are going to have a home phone. Why? you ask. Well, because our last cell phone bill was $250. What the?!? Why so high? you ask. Funnily enough, it was because we were constantly on the phone dealing with the rest of the crap happening to us (doctors, insurance, afaa, kmart--don't even get me started). We'll let ya'll know when we get our Vonage stuff and set it up. It should be interesting, but it's so we can use our home phone instead of our cell phones for all the church stuff, and random 1800 numbers we have to call to get our life back in working order.

My First Real Ride!

2010-02-06T21:47:00.002-06:00

I finished my first real bikeride today! I went 48 miles!!! Read about it HERE! (It's my bike riding blog). And remember, if you want to help me raise money to find the cure for MS, go HERE! (It's my website for the MS 150)!

If you asked me . . .

2010-01-30T17:13:00.002-06:00

Recently, I've had a lot of conversations dealing with people wanting to lose weight. I love my job as a fitness instructor and always want to give people game plans of success (or what I think would lead to success), but no one really ever asked me, so I'm telling you what I would do anyway. Maybe I should become a personal trainer so I could really do this more. Oh well. Here's what I would suggest as a weightloss game plan:

*First-you know your body. You know how hard you can go. If you are starting from ground zero, ease into it (30 minutes a day--3 days a week). Don't go freaky. Two hours of exercise a day is the most I would suggest. If you do more than that, it comes across as an addiction/problem.*

Before you start. Take measurements! We like to see improvement! I would suggest: Weight, waist (the skinniest area or from the naval), chest, ribcage, arms (center point from elbow to armpit), hips, butt, thighs (just under the curve of the bottom), and calves-if you really want. Don't weight yourself daily-rather do it once a week at the same time (Monday morning for example).

Diet: You don't really need to overhaul your diet unless you eat like crap and a lot of it. The key is moderation. If you want chocolate-eat it! But stick to a serving size! If you crave McDonalds-fine-but go for a Happymeal instead of super-sized fries. Don't restrict yourself--you'll just end up craving it. Have lots of veggies available to munch on--just hold the fatty ranch and go for fat-free. Calorie wise, most people need to stick between 1500-2000 calories. Try to keep fat lowish, saturated fat even lower, and trans fat non-existant. If you are going to exercise, you need to eat to keep up energy. Just watch what you eat and you'll be fine.

Exercise: This is where I am passionate! If you really want to lose weight, shoot for burning at least 500 calories a day (and don't replace these lost calories!). Stick with cardio every day you workout (at least 3-5 days a week), and lift weights at least twice a week.

Cardio Options: (gym class goers)
With kickboxing, bootcamp, spin, and step aerobics you will easily burn at least 500 calories in a 60 min class. Zumba, hip hop, and other dance classes should be pretty close also.

Cardio: (on your own)
Treadmills, elipticals, and stationary bikes are great and usually have monitors to gage calorie burn. Walking is good-better with light hand weights, and running is stellar (I average about 100 calories per 10 min/1 mile-I am not really a runner!). If you workout on your own, play with speed, inclines, and intensity. Don't be afraid to push yourself. Your body needs a shock every now and then to make it work! You can also do your own bootcamp with jump ups, stair runs, jumping jacks, sprints, track drills, pushups, etc, to give yourself a rockin' workout!

Strength Training: (gym)
Most clubs have some sort of group lifting class. This are fantastic for a total body workout. Most focus on light weight, lots of reps, sort of training. This is a great way to get definition without the bulk (which us girls normally shoot for). They also keep ya moving. I average about 400 calories in an hour class, which is high for lifting. Other great options are pilates and yoga. If you've never tried one of those classes, you will feel muscles the next day you didn't know existed!

Strength Training: (on your own)
If you have your own weights, do a circuit training hitting all your major muscles (shoulders, biceps, triceps, back, chest, quads, hams, calves, and abs). You can do upper body one day, and lower the next, or just hit the whole body twice a week. I like to listen to upbeat music with a heavy beat and lift with that to keep a tempo and keep me going. No weights? No problem! Grab some cans, your kids, water bottles, (or anything else) and use that! Pushups, situps, dips, squats, and lunges can be done with just your own weight. There's lots of workout videos with the same ideas (Jillian Michaels has great ones, and of course all the pilates and yoga videos available at the library, ondemand, and probably at any friends house!).

Get yourself on a schedule so you know what to expect. For a gym goer example:

Monday: Cardio-kickboxing 60 min
Tuesday: Cardio-run 30 min, Strength training-circuit train 30 min
Wednesday: Cardio-spin 60 min
Thursday: Cardio-run 30 min, Strength train-class 60 min
Friday: Cardio-kickboxing 60 min
Saturday: Cario-step aerobic 60 min, Abs

On your own:

Monday: Cardio-treadmill or run 45 min
Tuesday: Strength-pilates video, Cardio-walk 30 min (find a hill!)
Wednesday: Cardio-kickboxing video or do your own bootcamp 60 min
Thursday: Strength-lift weights-total body-60 min, Cardio-walk 30 min
Friday: Cardio-treadmill or run 45 min
Saturday: Cardio-bike ride 60 min

Realistically, you should only lose 1-2 lbs a week if you really need to lose weight, or about 1-3 lbs a month if you just think you need to lose weight (you skinny folk that are never happy with your skinnyness). Don't expect miracles! You will probably gain a little weight at first with the muscle you are building.

If you want your own personalized game plan-let me know! I thrive on this crap. I know what worked for me, and what I've seen work for others! And basically, this is what I would have you do, if you asked me!

Cleaning the Temple

2010-01-23T19:55:00.002-06:00

Jon and I have not had the greatest year so far. Frankly, 2010 has been horrible to us. So when our Branch was told that we needed to send some people to go and clean the temple, Jon and I quickly agreed to go. We have lived here for 18 months and had yet set foot in the temple here. Our good friend watched the kids for us, and we were off! Cleaning the temple is not glamorous at all--cleaning rarely is--but there's something peaceful about being there dusting floorboards, and glossening trashcans. You wouldn't believe the detail they take to make that building so beautiful. It was actually really fun to be vaccuuming up the hall and pass a room where Jon was dusting. There really is something amazing about seeing your eternal companion vaccuuming the Celestial room! If you ever get a chance to clean the temple . . . do it! You will not regret the time spent on your hands and knees cleaning the house of the Lord!

Christmas Break (in no particular order)

2010-01-04T21:48:00.006-06:00

I realized after I uploaded my pictures that I hadn't downloaded my New Year's pictures. Those will have to wait. And now for our Christmas break in no particular order: After Christmas we went up to Amarillo and celebrated Christmas and my birthday and I got to wear the party hat. (It's tradition!)

Sevy momentarily played Santa and passed around the gifts.
Sevy and her cousin Avery. This picture is to show off my mad sewing skills! I promised my Mom a picture of the dress that I made for Sevy with the material we picked out while she was in town and my first major project on my NEW sewing machine that she gave me for my birthday! I think it turned out rather cute!

Jon got the box set of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that came with the original 3 movies, TMNT, AND as an added bonus, the masks! Teik enjoyed being Michaelangelo.
The family as turtles. (Obviously, Teik like being Mikie better than Leonardo!)

Jon's big gift from me. It was a miracle it even got to me after it never arrived for weeks and then showed back up at the seller's house, but we got it in time! (It's a signed photo of Mike Modano--Jon's favorite Dallas Star--and Marrow).
The traditional staircase picture take before we can see what Santa brought.

We went to Nasa--one of our favorite places--while Jon had off. These were my boyfriends for the day. Jon was jealous, and Teik did not like them.

Jon and I ready for take-off. Sevy was our photographer. She didn't want to get in with us.

Sevy and her preschool! They did the cutest Nativity play! Sevy was the inn-keeper and they all had lines and sang, and it was the funniest thing ever!

This was the scene before the kids saw what Santa brought. The after picture is quite scary and I think we are still missing pieces of the train. We need to figure out a way to bolt that sucker down!

We had the kids paint hand wreaths for Christmas Eve! They got a little dirty and our house is slightly tinted green, but they loved it!

Teik in the painting aftermath! At least his binkie matches!

And that was our Christmas break in a nutshell. We dolled up for New Years, so I'll add those pictures later! Good times had by all!

Christmas Card 2009

2009-12-17T21:18:00.002-06:00

Ormson family times

Jon: the man of the house has been missing for the past year and a half. The dental school who kidnapped him claims we’ll get him home in 2012 as long as we keep paying them the big bucks.

Kat: finally bought her dream bike. Thanks to the missing jon, she’s only managed to put one mile on the thing.

Sevy: started preschool this year. Unfortunately, she is now convinced she is smarter than the rest of the family and is trying to teach them all a thing or two.

Teik: finally started walking and almost talking. He is now the smallest most destructive being of his kind!

Merry Christmas!

What Made Me Smile.

2009-12-02T22:49:00.002-06:00

My kids are typical, pull-your-hair-out children, and today was no different with Teik screaming in the car for 30 minutes straight, and Sevy . . . well, she was actually good today. Anyhoo, as I was going through pictures in my computer, I stumbled across these two, and I just had to smile! Sevy the crab. (and in a diaper! So don't miss those!)

Teik and Mutt. We miss you Mutt. It's been awhile. (How can you not want to kiss those cheeks?!)

I love my kids. They make me smile even when they drive me nuts! I love being a mom!

I'm finally on Etsy!

2009-11-30T19:44:00.003-06:00

So, I'm finally on Etsy, a super cute website where you can find all sorts of crafty things. Please, check out my stuff!http://www.etsy.com/shop/booksbykat

(Tell your friends!)

Fun Times

2009-11-11T16:44:00.004-06:00

We had fun with Candice and Sarah in town, so here are some of the high lights. Okay, this actually from today. Teik likes his chocolate chip cookies!

We went to the zoo where Sevy showed us her amazing climing skills on the elephant.
Here is Sarah on the bike. The kids LOVED playing outside!Sevy and her awesome car/hat/glasses.We went to the beach and played. I loved Teik's profile here!We went to Nasa which was awesome! We took a tram tour and saw Mission Control, the room where they practice fixing things, and even a space ship! All the people there are super nice and have actually worked there so they really know what they are talking about. I'm a fan!Candice, Sarah, and Teik on the tram tour. I just thought it was a great picture of Candice!

Having them here was way fun! It's always great to hang out with family, let cousin's play, and playing tourist in the city you are living!

Halloween!

2009-11-01T19:04:00.004-06:00

In no particular order. Halloween: Ormson style. This is to show off Teik's awesome belt. He was an American Gladiator circa 1989.

Our friend Jill threw an excellent Halloween party so this is her in her Cleopatra glory!
Teik, showing some shoulder and looking for victims.Fuzzy, but here are the kids before trick-or-treating. Sarah (pumpkin) came from Utah to hang out for awhile! She just flew in that morning.

Here is my sublte 80's look. I went more extreme for my spin class Saturday morning, but decided to calm it down for church parties.

We carved pumpkins at our friends the Talbot's house. This was our creation! (Thanks to a pattern!)My little American Gladiator. He enjoyed smacking all of us with his weapon!Sevy's too cute preschool. They had a party Thursday and LOVED it! Super heroes and fairies. Is there anything better?!

Sevy and her long lost sister Tinker Bell.

Teiker's bringing Sexy back!

2009-10-16T17:23:00.002-05:00

Jon won't let me cut his hair. Honestly.
A boy and his fish.
Um, I ignored him too long after lunch.
Sevy at the pumpkin patch. Teik was not happy to be there, so I didn't include his picture. (It was sad).

My Family

2009-10-09T14:02:00.001-05:00

Make your Stick Figure Family at FreeFlashToys.com

Project Central

2009-10-04T14:37:00.010-05:00

Conference weekend always turns to a major crafting weekend for me. Staying busy helps me pay better attention! So, thanks to all that, many a project of mine has been completed. Here are a few that I've been working on this week and finished this weekend! For starters, the kids' room is now basically finished with the decorating, so here it is: The reading corner. The blue comes out really bright here, but it's not overly bright, but it is. Does that even make sense?!

This isn't a permanent fixture. I'm debating between keeping these cubbies for toys, or putting in a bookshelf since it's right next to the reading corner. Oh, the tree on the wall is an idea I stole from Pottery Barn Kids. My friend Jeni mention hot glueing soda tabs to the back to hang it, so it's finally up a year later!
Yeah, that's Teik sleeping while I'm taking pictures. We have a few Hockey themed stuff for him, not pictured is a cute hockey coat hanger that my mom got for him that just needs to be hung. That's a job for Jon.Here's Sevy's corner. My friend Jill helped me with the decorating placement of everything. I quite like how it turned out!

Jon and I made the shadow boxes, and Sevy picked out the flowers, picked the colors for the letters, and painted her bird house. I modpodged the letters last night at our Priesthood meeting girls craft night event.
This is the quilt I made for Sevy this spring/summer. The colors are crazy enough that any color scheme goes!

I just finished this quilt this morning for our friend's the Martin's. It's like a rag quilt, and thanks to my moody sewing machine, I hand-quilted it, and hand-stitched the binding. I think it turned out mighty cute!These are the flower hair things my old roommate makes! She posted a tutorial for me. I love them and they are quite addicting to make!

Well, for the afternoon session I plan on working on Sevy's Halloween costume and cleaning up my various crafting messes. Maybe I'll sketch out Teik's costume too. More pictures to come!

The Joy of Painting (pictures to come)

2009-09-29T15:46:00.003-05:00

I just finished painting the kids' room and I'm exhausted! It was a two day event, and my hands are totally blistered. It's funny though because I grew up painting everything from metal, wood fences, and even a billboard, but painting this room knocked me out. I don't think the rest of our house is going to get any color unless Jon can help me! Dang textured walls.

Crafty Crafty

2009-09-15T15:57:00.004-05:00

I've been in a crafting mood this week thanks to an old roomies blog! This is what I've been up to: These little flowers just clip in the hair. Super cute as a single, or bunched up.

I put these on elastic bands to dazzle up any ponytail (a style we are constantly wearing in my house!)

And of course, a headband. This is cute doubled up too. Sevy is too fun to doll up.

Last night I made a bunch of crayon rolls too. They are perfect for church, and I have lots of cute fabric remnants that make some cute rolls!

So here is my question to the masses. Has anyone tried selling stuff on Etsy? I've been thinking about it, since I have a lot of random crap I make in the bunches, but don't know if it would be worth it. Let me know your thoughts!

Poor Sick Sevy and Pictures that make me smile!

2009-09-11T10:04:00.003-05:00

No, this is not a picture of Sevy puking. This is Sevy sleeping on the toilet. Sevy is sick, and it is so sad. She sleeps all the time and gets up to puke in the toilet (yes, my three year old is so good that she gets up to puke in the bathroom!) Most the time she just falls asleep right there on the toilet (as in the picture) or curls up on a towel on the floor. She has an appointment this afternoon so hopefully we can get her feeling better. Sick Sevy's are no fun.

Kerry and Nancy came into town for Labor Day weekend and we had a blast with them here! Of course we had to go to the beach--which the kids just love.This is in the Rainforest Pyramid at Moody Gardens in Galveston. It was very exotic inside.

We went to the aquarium at Moody Gardens also. Always a favorite in our family!
This is the picture from Sevy's first day of pre-school! She was so excited! Yesterday was the saddest thing ever because she got dressed to go to school and then I had to break the news to her that we were skipping it because she was sick. She was so sad.

Teik's new favorite toy is the garbage lid. I'm glad I clorox this thing often, because when he gets his hands on it, he'll play for about an hour-opening and closing the lid and then sitting inside!

My little budda-baby! This is from yet another trip to the beach, but honestly, how relaxed does he look!

We LOVE Chick-a-Lay! (chick-fil-a) So of course when they had a "dress like a cow and get free food" we were totally there! Here are my little cows! We got free kids meals thanks to these shirts and ears!

Sevy eating ice cream. Yes, she picked the psychodelic blue flavor herself.

Pucker up! Who wouldn't want to kiss these two!

Sevy Started School Today!

2009-09-01T23:17:00.002-05:00

My little girl is all grown up and started school today! Okay, so it's just pre-school, but she was so excited once she figured out school wasn't the gym! When I picked her up she told be all about her snacks of apples, how she wrote her name, and how she has new friends and likes her teacher! I'm excited to send her somewhere with kids her own age and religion, with a teacher that's not me!

(note: I did take a picture of Sevy today. This is not it. My card reader wouldn't cooperate.)

Have you ever wondered what a 3 year old would take pictures of?

2009-08-22T23:39:00.006-05:00

Let me show you Sevy's latest photo shoot:

She took about 40 pictures. She likes a lot of closeups of herself, made sure she took a lot of me with not makeup on, and took probably at least 10 of her feet while announcing to me that she's taking pictures of her feet. She's our little photographer!

We Took a Trip

2009-08-16T16:57:00.008-05:00

After a new camera, a trip to Utah/Idaho/Montana/Wyoming, and over 800 pictures, we finally have a blog update! We spent our first few days with our good friends the Polls in northern Utah. We took a trip to the Dinosaur park in Weber and holy cow was it funny! The whole thing was more of a photo shoot than an educational experience, but to be honest, that's the way I like it anyway! Here is Teik and Jaxson not liking what's for dinner.

Jon and Sevy, riding a dinosaur.Our clan at Lava Hot Springs--the greatest water park in Idaho. (clockwise: Jed, Jaxson, Jeni, Kat, Jon, Teik, Kris, Sevy, Kenzi.)
When we got home, Jac and Zach came to visit right away bringing bikes and kids. The kids had a blast (this includes the older boys who raced to see how far they could ride the kids bikes down the hill and around the driveway). (Lleida, Jac, Sevy, Cairo, and Teik).

We were able to go waterskiing/wakeboarding in Island Park while we were staying at the cabin. The water wasn't as cold as I feared, and in the middle of the week we scored some great runs.

We then went up to Yellowstone Park andhad a blast up there. We did see a bear in the wild which was crazy, and Sevy enjoyed the waterfalls, hated Old Faithful, and wasn't a fan of all the driving.
These are some of my favorite geysers. I love just love the deep colors and how freaky they are considering you are in the wilderness, usually freezing, and here is this steaming stinking pool.

The biggest potatoe in Idaho. This can be seen at the Spud Drive-In as you drive from Rexburg to Jackson Hole. The next adventure we had.It's a gorgeous drive to get to Jackson, but there really isn't a whole lot we did there except shop. They have some fun shops, and the style is just country, which I enjoy. If I had a lot of money, I would get in trouble shopping at the jewlery stores there. This is us in front of the antler arches in the downtown square.Just down the street (like a mile or so) from my house is Yellowstone Bearworld. Up until this trip, I had never been there. My dad would fly low over it so we could see the animals, but it's hard to REALLY experience it that way. So, Sevy, Lleida, and I went while Mom graciously watched the boys (Jac's kids were hanging out this day), and Jon and Kris went up to Yellowstone park again without us. It was so stinkin' fun! The girls had a blast and I couldn't believe how up close and personal you could get with these bears! One even bit the bumper of our Jeep!

There was a petting zoo with chickens, goats, and my favorite-dear! After growing up almost hitting a dear everytime I went to school, it was so cool to actually pet one! Lleida made Sevy brave when it came to petting, and Sevy made Lleida brave on the rollercoasters! They were a blast together and probably the easiest 3 and 4 year olds to deal with--ever.

We went back up to the cabin and Sevy fell in love with a true Idaho pasttime. Four-wheeling! It was fun. We enjoyed riding around "the neighborhood" surrounding our cabin. The weather was chilly, but that is normal when it comes to summertime at home, and Sevy begged to go on rides even when my fingers were frozen. Teik took his first steps while we were at the cabin too! We were super excited for that milestone!

The last day there I got to meet up with some of my high school friends! It was so fun considering 4 of the 5 of us have 3 year olds and 1 year olds. (Kalle is a year behind us with an almost 2 year old and one on the way!) The kids had fun playing, and we had fun catching up! Here we have Nancy-moving to AZ, Darci in CA, Tash (sorry I chose the pix with your eyes closed) livin' in NY, Kalle in UT, and me in TX. Random to get us together when we all live everywhere.Here are the kids. Danny, Faith, Maya, Sevy, Teik, Claire, Gavin, Bella, ?, Alice, and ?. (Darci's sisters were there also, and I don't their kids names.)We had FHE with my family at the nature park the night before with left and here is Mom with some of grandkids: Sevy, Lleida, Anna, Mom, Teik, Juliet, Elayna, Cairo, Laurel, and Anders. We missed Sarah (and Candi and Andrew).

The trip ended with Zach having to go back to Iraq (so sad), and Jon breaking his toe. Nothing like going through the airport with two kids and a husband in a wheelchair.

To Do List

2009-08-14T01:23:00.002-05:00

-I need to update the blog. It's been far too long. We just got back from the best trip ever and I took like 800 pictures (this is not even an exageration). An official update is coming.
-I need to go grocery shopping. We have no milk and no cheese. Two staples at my house. Well, that's not exactly true. We are out of Teik's milk, which just makes me feel like a neglectful mom.
-I need to unpack. We aren't in the pathetic stage yet, but it has been a couple of days since we got home.
-I need to do laundry. Not unpacking=no clothes for the kiddos.
-I need to get the dresser out of the closet. It seemed like a good idea. It wasn't.
-I need to move the bookshelves back/I need to fix our pathetic broken cheapo bookcase.
-I need to finish and send out baby gifts. I meant to have them done before I left town, it didn't quite happen.
-I need Jon's foot to get better so I'm not doing everything on the to do list myself. (Long story short, the Bagley staircase took another victim).
-I need to give up diet coke after 8pm.
-I need to go to bed (see above).

Lake Powell and Teik turns One!

2009-07-05T19:49:00.006-05:00

So our trip is going to be a little bit in reverse, but that's okay. Let's start with Teik's birthday. Our little baby boy is officially One! I can't believe it went so fast! He is a monkey extrodinaire and won't walk for anything, but he is a cutie! Here are some shots of his big day: Getting ready to open presents and moving the "happy birthday" sign to make room for the good stuff.

He is just too cute! You can't see his batman shirt he's wearing. Adorable!

We had a joint Mickey Mouse birthday with Teik and his cousin Avery who turned two. This is our impromptu cake we (Jon and I) made for them!

Teik's little cake--just for him.

Teik eating his cake. He had a double ear infection and had the flu earlier in the week, so we were super excited he even ate a couple of bites of anything. He didn't attack like we hoped, but this is how it works in our family!

Next subject. For the ultimate family vacation, we met up with my family in the greatest place on earth . . . Lake Powell! It was AWESOME!

Jon and I on our drive home. This was a cute cafe about 90 miles out of Hall Crossing. They had great burgers and this random rock formation called 'twin sisters' or something like that.

My mom has mad photography skills. We can't get our camera to cooperate for us for anything and she grabs it and makes a closeup shot with a quick click. I don't get how she does it. But please, check out that tan! (yes, I'm that vain!)

Here's a shot from our first camping spot. It was so cool! The water was freezing there, but we had shade--a rare commodity in Powell.

Rainbow Bridge! It is like a 3/4 mile hike to get up to it now, but is still as awesome as ever! We used to cliff jump just below where the bridge is. Yeah, that is no longer allowed.

We went to some Anasazi ruins. This is a view throw the chimney of the "church." These houses were clear up in the rocks. The crazy thing is they were built before the lake was made, so it would have been even higher.

The petroglyphs right next to the ruins. How stinking cool!

Another view from our first campsite. It was in a winding canyon an completely in a crazy cove. We slept on a slant, but it was awesome! All our camping sites were really cool actually!

This is at our last spot. We were attempting to wash our hair. Chantal obviously won on the cool shampoo hair do, but Wolverine, I mean Shawn, had a pretty cool style also! Jaclyn and I were channeling our inner "Grease."

And this is how we rinsed off. We had a nice little two foot jump and another about six foot jump off in this last campsite. That, along with a shelf to sit on in about a foot of water, made the last spot awesome to chill in!

Candice and I on Day one. This was before we got our awesome tans! And there you have it! Candice has some great pictures oh her blog also. It was so fun hanging with my family! I think it's safe to say we all had a blast, and had a great time breaking out our mad skills that we have been hiding for years!

Snowcones and Splashparks

2009-06-13T23:52:00.002-05:00

Sorry, no pictures for this one. Today was the ultimate summer day. With Jon being gone, I have no desire to be home, so we have spent a lot of time at the various parks around here. Today we went to the Centenial Park splashpad and ate a yummy strawberry snowcone which I have been craving for years here in Texas, and Sevy played in the water, I basked in the sun, and Teik drank his juicebox! It was a good afternoon! After a nap and some lunch at home, we ventured out to Wallyworld to pick up some needed diapers, and refill our water jug, which I managed to leave in the cart I traded right as we walked in because of technical difficulties. There's a good jug wasted because naturally, when I realized I forgot it, it was already gone. I'm never going to attempt to get water by myself with the kids again. Too much to juggle. Anyhoo, we then hit up McDee's for some Happymeals, and then to Southdown park to have a picnic! To give you an idea of our past week, it looked a little like this:

Sun-neighborhood park
Tues-Centenial Park
Wed-Southdown park
Fri-Zoo, and then Southdown Park (for concert in the park)
Sat-Centenial Park and Southdown Park

Yeah, we like us some park action. It's already sooo hot, that it's the best way to cool the kiddos down. Bless the person who came up with splashparks!

Just some pictures

2009-06-09T19:14:00.004-05:00

So these a pretty much for Jon since he's GOT to be missing the kiddos by now! Here are just some of our recent adventures. Nothing too new, but they are fun.

Sevy and Teik at the beach. Teik loves the water, as does Sevy.

Sevy posing in the water. What a dollface.

Sevy has been pretty helpful lately, which is good, or else I would be pulling my hair out. Teik has been another story. He's recently turned needy, but also snuggly. He loves stuffed animals now and cuddles them. On top of that, he now has a new girlfriend at the gym in which he planted a big wet one on the other day. Yup, definitely an Ormson! (ha ha Jon!)

"I've got a bucket on my head but don't call me a buckethead." So this is probably a repeat picture, but it makes me smile every time I see it. My daughter is crazy. That's all there is to it. And somehow I lost the top of that swimsuit which is driving me insane. I love that suit.

So, I know I posted before about our failed Halloween attempts, so of course NOW Sevy loves to dress up. And since she was so cute, we decided to dress Teiker's up in what he was suppose to wear for Halloween, which never happened thanks to the "dragon/fairy" disaster of '08. (Check out October's/Early November's post if you missed the disaster. I'm sure I posted pictures.) Aren't they adorable?!

What We Like About Houston

2009-06-02T22:11:00.002-05:00

I'm not the most optimistic person about Houston, or Texas for that matter, so I decided it was high time I made a list of some of my favorite things about Houston.The Beach: Never in my life have I lived 45 minutes to a beach. It's awesome for an afternoon of mini vacation. The kids LOVE it, I LOVE it, and Jon LOVES it. How can you go wrong?!
Real Sporting Events: We have real teams here! We went to an Astros game about a month ago and sure we sat in basically the highest/steepest/scariest seats possible, but we were there for a real game and the hot guy from Desperate Housewives threw the starting pitch. Very cool.
Our Friends: Basically friends make a world of difference when you live so many miles away from family. We have had the oppertunity to meet some of the greatest people here. Our best friends the Polls (Sevy's BFF Kenzi) just moved away from us to start real life back in Utah. Just looking through our pictures with them, we've gone through a lot together. We camped out together during the aftermath of Ike. Jeni and I took the kids to the park, "Chickalay", the mall, or each other's houses basically every day. We had mulitple Sunday dinners, date nights, and game nights with this family. We also had another slumber party with them when they were homeless and ready to leave Texas. It was like girls camp all over again as we played games until way late, and then Jeni and I stayed up talking until way too early in morning! We've been blessed to have the Talbot's here with us still! They are the greatest and love to play games as much as we do, and love the beach as much as we do, and are willing to help at the drop of a hat. How bleesed are we!The Branch: I know we talk about and frankly complain about the Branch all the time, but really, it's what makes our Houston experience a true experience. This is a picture from our Memorial Day Barbeque. This is basically everyone who comes to church minus the Boston girls, and there are a couple of random people in the photo who just come for the food (which was GOOD!) The big kid in front is Timmy who I always have stories about, and all the younger kids are my primary! The building behind us is where we go to church. Like I said, an experience.Awesome Parks: I don't know what I would do if it were not for awesome parks that usually have a splash pad. Sevy could go every day and never get bored. This is the beloved Kenzi. Sevy's BFF. She asks to go to her house every day, and now that I answer that Kenzi lives in Utah, she wants to go to Utah every day.

There's just a few of the things we love about Houston. Not listed are: Ikea, LA Fitness, Pearland's Chick-fil-a (they have the nicest ladies who come around personally to refill your drinks, always respond "my pleasure" and really make you feel like it was their pleasure!), Queen's Bar-b-que, The Galleria, and Gringo's. Doesn't this make you want to come visit?!

FHE=72 hr kit

2009-05-18T16:54:00.002-05:00

Today for FHE we decided to put together a 72 hour kit. This sprouted from a conversation I had with my mom the other day about being prepared and having certain stuff on hand. Not 24 hours later we were without power, at night, with a dead flashlight and no spare batteries. Yeah, definitely time to get prepared. After Hurricane Ike we now have a better idea on what we would like in a kit. Here is a basic list of our new and improved kit:

-Propane burner
-Extra propane
-Granola bars
-Juice boxes (well, Capri Suns)
-formula
-fruit cups
-apple sauce cups
-cup'o'noodles
-soups (just heat, nothing needed)
-crackers
-cereal (dry and baby)
-peanut butter
-water
-paper towels
-toilet paper
-toothpaste
-diapers (a size that would work for both kids.)
-batteries (AA and D)
-emergency flashlight and radio
-etc

We still have a few things to add, like a spare change or two of clothes, and we will probably grab bread and such if we gotta grab and go like we did with Ike, but other than that, we actually have something packed away and ready. We actually decided that those closet light things that you click and they glow are a great investment to have in a blackout. We ended up using that the other night when our flashlight was dead and it lit up the room amazingly! A must for blackouts and toddlers.

Okay. I know, not the most exciting post, but I was quite pleased that we did something productive today!

Wow! A catchup of photos!

2009-05-05T15:38:00.006-05:00

Teik and Mutt and Jon thinking he's funny.

We went over to the Texans draft party the other Saturday. It was cool going over to the Reliant Stadium and it was free! We saw the girls trying out to be cheerleaders, and that was about it.

Teik and Mutt at the zoo.

Teikers at the water park. He is sad without Mutt.

Teik at the water park reunited with Mutt.

Teik and Mutt fishin' for Jaxson.

Sevy at the water park. Watching her run around in just her suit and sneakers made me miss the days that I used to run around like that not knowing I should worry about my belly sticking out or my chubby thighs.

The blasted rain in Houston. It doesn't mess around.

Teik holding Mutt.

Teik and Mutt teaching a class.

Teik, Mutt, Sevy and Kenzi at the Galleria. Teik insisted on standing up in his stroller to be up with the girls.

Sevy and Kenzi right after Disney on Ice. I loved it, Sevy cried through most of it. It made me understand why my parents were insistant that I stay for the end even though I would beg to go home because it was "scary" when I was little.

Teik and Mutt getting busted eating a green crayon.

And finally, we went to a baby shower for our friends the Brannocks and theis is a picture of Crut, Jon, Richard (all the dental boys), and of course Teik, Mutt, and Sevy. I just enjoyed the fact that the other guys are holding our kids and Jon is stuck with the toys!

This is quite the conglomoration of pictures, but we had a great month! We enjoyed Disney on Ice, "Who's Bad" who is a Michael Jackson lookalike band, a baby shower with Cafe Rio salads (this is a big deal out here in Texas where we are STATES away from glorious Cafe Rio), the Texans draft party, a couple of trips to the zoo, and we topped it off by going to a Dave Matthews Band concert on Friday! We've decided we've got to live it up while we are living in an area that has so much to offer!

Update: Easter and Mut

2009-04-16T22:16:00.003-05:00

So for starters, funny story: The other day Teik did "the face" which every parent knows as the poop is coming. Jon, the quick thinker, picked him up, stripped off his diaper and put him on the toilet. Sure enough, he pooped AND peed on the toilet. Yes, he is amazing! We asked Sevy why she couldn't do it since Teikers could and she got offended and started crying. Mad parenting on our part, but honestly, she's hopeless in the potty training arena.
I love Easter and Easter dresses and Easter egg hunts and all that good stuff. For church we did our own little hunt and Sevy and Kenzi (bff) were dressed up in their new and homemade dresses. If you look closely, you may be able to tell that is the same pattern, just different finish (aka-Sevy's is a bubble skirt, and Kenzi's has an overlay.) I thought they look "practically perfect in every way!"
Teikers was also a studmuffin dressed to the nines in his little man Gap shirt and pants, and his little tie!
And, the big news in our house is the arrival of Teik new BFF "Mut"--short for Hel-Mut. It's just to help reshape his head and really, Teik has taken to it like a fish to water, which is a good thing, because he'll be wearing it 23 hours a day for the next few months. We will start posting the many adventures of Teik and Mut.
This is Teik and Mut chillin' in the rocker reading a book. Teik and Mut are very intellectual and like to read on many an occassion. So, keep posted for the latest of Teik and Mut!

Awesome Video

2009-04-14T13:58:00.000-05:00

Sound of Music Train Station @ Yahoo! Video

Sevy Turns Three

2009-03-30T22:42:00.005-05:00

I can't believe I have a THREE year old! It's crazy how time flies. For Sevy's birthday she told me she wanted a Mickey Mouse birthday, so by-gollee, that is what we gave her!
She got some awesomely cool gifts. This is Tinkerbell that Gran sent her.
The outfit is from our friend Amanda, and the sweet ride is from Mimi.
Teik and Jaxson chilled during the party being little mice on the floor.
Sevy loving her Little Einstein toys from Kenzi.
Kenzi Poll, Sevy's BFF.
Logan showing off his amazing cupcake decorating skills! I wish the colors came out better, it was straight out of Willy Wonka or that fake food fight on Hook!

Sevy loved her birthday party with the games and the decorating and the music. She refused to let us light the candle (still anti-fire) and sing to her, but it was the first birthday without tears being shed, so that is definitely an accomplishment!

We love our little Sevy Girl! She cracks me up and is truly my little best friend! She tries to take care of me and Teikers all day long while Daddy's at school, and lets me know just what she thinks about EVERYTHING! I don't know what I would do without her and am so blessed to have her! Love you girl!

Spring Break

2009-03-22T21:46:00.006-05:00

We are so lucky that we got Jon for basically 10 days for his spring break that we tried to make the most out of it. My friend Kristen came to visit so Jon watched the kids on his first day off so that we could have a full day of girl time! It was so fun! The next week we spent a couple of days "gardening" which was really just planting some tomatoes and raspberries in galvenized tubs and hopefully they will grow. We also worked on our lawn, and organized our garage. Our house is still a mess. When I think of Easter, I always think of cute dresses for Sevy, but it dawned on me that Teiker's needs to look studly also, so I got him a dress shirt and tie. Isn't he cute?! He's like my own personal barefooted little man!

Okay, now for our excitement of Spring Break. We decided to take a quick trip to San Antonio just to visit Sea World! So stinkin' fun! This is Teik and I in the 4D movie. We screamed and ducked and got puffed on and wet, and yes, Sevy hated every minute of it and forced Jon's hand up to cover her eyes! Maybe it was too much for a 3 year old?!
This is our family shot right before the Shamu show "Believe." I should have taken an after shot because we were in the soak zone, and they had 4 killer whales get us! Sevy loved it!

Jon and Teikers. We were in the shark area, I believe, which would explain why both boys are so happy!
Miracle of miracles, they had a Sesame Street show and we happened to hit it. I don't think I have ever seen Sevy so happy! She was so excited and danced and loved every minute of it! Thank you Sesame Street!

We saw this cute penguin and thought maybe Sevy would like a picture with it. No. Sevy got scared and cried in my shoulder as the penguin tried to console her!
Going to Sea World with Jon is like having an extra little kid. We always had to sit in the splash zones, which to be honest, is the only way to do Sea World!

Another thing we learned at Sea World is that Sevy is very much like her mommy and LOVES roller coasters. They had a few little kid ones and she had a ball! Jon and I also took turns on the Great White roller coaster and I forgot how much I loved the adrenaline rush of them!

We got home Friday night and Saturday afternoon we headed down to Galveston. There were a lot of spring breakers there, but we still got a nice little spot of beach. There were jelly fish all over the place and it grossed me out.

Sevy and Jon had a blast in and out of the water. The water was a bit chilly, but really not bad for March!
Jon dared the water with both kids. Yeah. He loved it, Sevy loved it, and I think Teikers didn't know what to think! I was also told it was a must to wear a collared shirt with swim trunks. Who knew!

We kept Teik in his stroller most of the day because of this. Yes, he is eating the sand. It cracked me up and reminded me of a photo of my little neice doing the same thing when she was probably close to his age. Don't worry folks--we cleaned him up right after this!
If you can see it, this is Sevy with her name in the sand.
And of course Teikers iwth his name!

I totally think I needed Jon's Spring Break as much as he did! It was fun hanging out with him and having some extra help with the kids and also some time to myself or with just one kid. Of course I wish we could have been more productive, but we had a lot of fun together, which I will take over productivity anyday!

A lot of Pictures

2009-03-09T15:08:00.003-05:00

Since I haven't updated this in awhile, here is the update of our lives this month. Sevy and Teikers are best friends and like to hang out in laundry baskets together.

We have three hockey sticks just Teik's size and he's a natural!

Bath time is our favorite time. Sevy really really loves it!
We've discovered the carousel at the zoo. Sevy LOVES it! She's been telling me over and over that she rode a zebra and next time she gets to ride a puppy!
We also recently ventured out to the driving range. Of course we went late and it was getting dark and we got funny looks for having a toddler and a baby in a stroller there, but it was fun hitting the balls and watching Sevy try to hit the balls and gathering up all the balls she could find!

This is just the goofiest picture of Teikers! I love it! He's slightly a mess when he eats, but he's so happy that it's funny! I can't look at this picture without cracking up.
As I mentioned before, we love bathtime! This is Teikers' stellar mohawk. He likes to eat the bubbles.

This is probably Jon's favorite picture of Teik!
Another zoo shot (surprise surprise). Sevy loves this statue and has to climb on it whenever we pass it.
Teik is an "in your face" sort of boy. This is my view of him whenever I'm laying on the ground.

Mimi and Papaw came to visit us the other weekend, and so this is the matching girls chillin' on a rock (at the zoo). Sevy is showing off her leaf that she found.

Okay, that's our update. Have a happy week!

Jaclyn: My own personal librarian.

2009-02-23T16:19:00.002-06:00

I got the best package unexpectedly in the mail! A whole box of books from Jaclyn's own personal library! One of the closest libraries to us was destroyed in Ike and I haven't found another one yet and have been in dire need of books. I've just read the Twilight series again for the 60th time and was hurting for new material! Thank you Jaclyn! I've already finished one and know my productivity on life is going to be put on hold, but that's alright by me! Love you!

Happy Presidents' Day

2009-02-16T09:48:00.003-06:00

PRESIDENTS’ DAY 2009

Okay, so we are not exactly on the ball so instead of the boring and mundane Christmas card, we are sending the new and awesome Presidents’ Day card!

Highlights of our life since last President’s Day:

We bought our first home!
Kristian Teik Ormson was born (June 27, 2008)
We moved to Houston, Texas
Jon started Dental School
We went through Hurricane Ike (it’s a big deal for an Idaho girl!)

Goals for the next Presidents’ Day:

Have Sevy potty trained
Have Teikers walking
Jon surviving what is known as the 2 worse semesters of dental school
Kat competing in some sort of race (shooting for a triathlon, but will take what I can get).
Finish unpacking

Happy Presidents’ Day!

Love--The Ormson Clan (Jon Jon, Kat, Sevy, and Teikers)

crocodiles, kites, raccoons, and my amazingly genius children

2009-02-10T17:00:00.008-06:00

This Saturday we went to Rosensharon Park with a bunch of Jon's dental school buddies. Holy cow! This place is awesome! We took a picnic lunch and fishing poles and enjoyed a gorgeous day in the great outdoors. (all of you still playing in snow--it was a balmy upper 70's and I got a tanline!)

They have a visitor's center where you can pet a baby crocodile. Of course Sevy freaked out, but at least Teik sat next to a raccoon.

We've recently bought Sevy a kite for our next trip to Galveston. Well, we broke it out at the Park and I was super impressed with our $1 purchase. Sevy loved it!

This is Jon next to where the boys were fishing. If you look closely, you can see the crocodiles (okay, I don't know if they were crocodiles or alligators.) but there is one in the background of this picture. How cool is that?! We were chillin' in a park where these crazy man-eating beasts roam free!

And now for my genius children. Yesterday was quite the day for us. Sevy was playing with the packaging of some things I got when she told me to look at her bird house. I looked over to find this! Seriously, this girl is a genius! Sadly, she reminds me of Shawn and I growing up making airplanes out of Hot Tamale boxes and contact viles! But we were well over 3 years old!

And then Teik decided he would not let Sevy up him on anything so he started crawling! We have it on video, but it was taking WAY too long to upload. Anyway, this is a full 2 months before Sevy started. Teik just decided last week he would really start rolling, and just got two teeth this past week. Needless to say, he's been sleeping pretty good thanks to all the stress of accomplishments. My kids are amazing!

2009-02-05T22:24:00.000-06:00

Walking in Bed Art - Click here for more home videos

The Latest

2009-02-02T13:09:00.003-06:00

This is a picture I just took today. I thought it was too cute and even though Sevy's hair is a mess, this is how Teik always responds to her!

Last week we just played a constant failing game of potty training. One direction we took was letting Sevy pick out her own undies. She picked out these Mickey Mouse little boy briefs. I thought, huh, maybe this'll work. No. She pooped in one pair, peed in the other, and that was after only 1 hour of wearing undies. The battle continues . . .

Jon actually had the weekend to spend with us instead of with cadavers! Yeah! We tried to be as productive as possible. We got his car in the shop for an oil change, Jon finished putting up blinds, we cleaned the downstairs of our house, I weeded, Sevy and I attempted to move the bricks to the backyard in hopes of organizing our garage, and Teik took a couple of good naps. All in all it was a very productive Saturday! I really think it would have been even better, but we had to make a couple of trips out to Firestone because Jon's car has issues. Oh well. Maybe next Saturday we can finish the garage . . .

My Moment of Glory and other random things

2009-01-22T16:10:00.003-06:00

I'm seriously late in posting this, but it had to be posted! I was officially famous for the month of January! If you turn to page 68 in January's Self Magazine you find this: Yes folks! That's yours truly! I was super excited to be chosen to be put in my favorite magazine, even though my stats are the lowest on the page. Oh well. I was famous for a month! (my scanner wouldn't work, which is why the picture is so fuzzy.)

Jon is mister fix-it at our house. He put in all the fans and automatic garage door opener when we first moved in and 6 months later we are finally putting up blinds. We gave in and purchased the $5 blinds, but hey, we finally have privacy. It's still a project in the works thanks to tests and quizes finally popping up, but we are halfway there to complete privacy!

Okay, I realize this picture is totally sideways, but oh well. This is Sevy and Kenzi at the park today. It was a balmy 75* day and they enjoyed the sun and riding Sev's bike! They are hilarious together!

We went to the zoo on Wednesday and do you notice anything odd about this pirhana? He's missing an eye! Weird huh?!? We've been going for months and I only noticed it this week. It deserved a blog comment!

Another park picture from today. I loved the way it looked looking up the slide at my daredevil child, but it was too bright to show the real coolness of the shot. One day I will be an awesome photographer . . . until then, this will do!

And here is my big boy! Jon likes to dress him up--hence the sweat bands and Sevy's bike helmut. He sits up like a champ now and is the happiest kiddo (at times)! He cracks me up . . . of course I'm the center of his world and it's fun to be loved so thoroughly . . . but he's just too cute!

Christmas Break Catch-Up

2009-01-08T16:01:00.012-06:00

I don't think I'm going to do this in any particular order. I'll just throw on the pictures and give you my commentary. There's a lot of pictures. Here we go.

My mom (Gran) made all the grandkids the cutest pajamas and each family matched. Our family was monkey (very appropriate for my kiddos) and they love their pjs! So, here is my photo of my two little monkeys in a bed!

Sevy got a Tinker Bell costume for Christmas from Gran, and Tinker Bell just happens to be one of her favorite movies! She got to wear her costume for her cousin Nyah's birthday party too! Way too cute!

Pappa made little rocking chairs for each family. Teik loved ours and it's the perfect size for him!

So every girl in America has her "Twilight" picture. Here is my families! We finally went while I was home and 4 of the 5 waited to see it together!

One of the cutest things about going home is seeing the little cousins interact together. This is Juliet who just turned one with our little Teikers. So fun that they are only 6 months apart!

This is Teik with Cairo, his other cousin who just turned one. They were poking at each other while sitting side by side in Pappa's chairs.

Jon's favorite gift this Christmas was hockey tickets to see the Dallas Stars. He went with his brother Kris, and even though the Stars lost, they had a really good time!

Every time I'm in town, my best friends from high school make the greatest effort to get together. This year we managed to get four together and it was so fun to chat and chill and do what we do best . . . EAT!

We did the nativity with the Ormson clas and Teik was a humble shepard, Drew was Joseph, Nyah was Mary, Sevy was an Angel, and Avery was just not happy!

Last year Sevy was horribly afraid of the snow and this year she LOVED it! I was so excited. We tried to get outside everyday (even in the freezing Idaho weather) to let her play. Moo cow came along occassionally, and Sevy loved it!

Teikers chillin' with Pappa.

The Ormson clan on Christmas Eve. I have to mention that a missionary took the photo and somehow managed to cut off Kerry's head. At least all our feet were originally in the picture!

This is Teiker's the Little Elf. I know, too cute right?!

Since Jon has to pay dues for his classes parties, he got a Keg for Christmas! Party at our house!

I just love how cutey this was of Juliet! She's so little and has been walking around for a few months! I especially like how you can see her reflection in the glass!

This is mom and I after the dance recital. I love the picture and love the snowflakes in the picture!

Santa came to visit the Ormson house on Christmas Eve before he did his rounds! The kids were super excited and decorated cookies for him (pictures of that are farther down). Of course my kids cried, and Avery didn't want to be in the picture, but Drew and Nyah let him know exactly what they wanted!

This is Teik and his oh so perfect picture in front of the tree! If we only had one child, this would have been our Christmas card photo. Maybe if I do Chinese New Years cards, this would be a good option also. It is a true rarety to get a good picture of both kids together, but by themselves we can catch a few good ones!

Sevy got Elmo Live! for Christmas and loves him (almost too much. This makes sense if anyone has read our unpublished book called "Violent Love" written by my sisters and I.) He's a riot!

I had three neices and a sister in a dance recital while I was home! It was so fun to watch and brought back so many memories of the dance recitals of our youth. I was just too thankful to be in the audience and not on stage. (I was never any good!) The girls did awesome and Jaclyn was amazing! Click Candice's blog if you want to see the video!

The typical cousin picture. I love this one because everyone is looking in a different direction, none of which is the camera!

The cousins decorating cookies for Santa! I was impressed with how good they all did! They all really liked it too, and we all enjoyed their final work! Thanks Jaclyn for your recipe!

This is Jaclyn's little boy Cairo! I haven't seen him since they got him last year for Christmas and he just has the funniest little personality! He's like a little man . . . quiet, but super smart! It was fun to get to know him a little on our trip!

For my birthday, Jon and I went bowling! There are two sports I like to play against Jon because I can hold my own. They are air hockey and bowling! I totally kicked his butt! It was really fun!

And there you have our Christmas break rundown. If you didn't read anything (don't worry--I rarely do) I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Random Thoughts

2008-12-23T18:13:00.002-06:00

Just a few random tidbits on my mind. I spent the first part of December in Idaho and loved the snow and the family time. (I promise I'll post pictures one day). Candice and Sarah spent the better part of the time with us and it was fun seeing the interaction between Sevy and Sarah only being a year apart! We were there for Shawn's and Candi's birthdays and had a party for all of us (December is a big month for our family)! Talking to Candice is like playing 20 questions and I realized I need to do that more. She asks question after question to get to know me even though we've been sister's for almost 27 years. I've decided I need to ask people more questions to get to know them better. I enjoy answering questions, and love to hear other people's stories. Maybe I'll add it to my New Years Resolutions list.

Another thing I've come to realize is just how cool my cousins are. I think I have overly creative, artistic, and freakin' awesome cousins. If you don't believe me, just check out some of their links under my "family" lists. They are creating records, are on itunes, amazing photographers, talented chef wannabes, awesome ad campaigns makers, competing in races (and winning!), and are story tellers to boot. I just learned how to make my blogpage snow thanks to my cousin's blog! Family reunions are a riot, and I'm sad that I've missed out on the past few. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that my family's got skill.

I'm also excited to share that I'm famous! Okay, not really, but I'm in a magazine! My immediate family has a few published bragging rights. My Mom was Miss December in the Diet Center Calendar when we were kids. My Dad was a centerfold (not that kind--ya sickos) in a German magazine with his T-28. And now I'm on the list with my photo in Self Magazine in the January issue (page 68). Self is my favorite magazine and they had a thing to write in on how they helped you lose weight. I sent my story in and voila! The picture and quote are totally nerdy, but I'm excited. Be sure to check it out!

I'm thinking of sending Chinese New Years cards out this year since I failed once again at Christmas cards. If you are interested in receiving one, be sure to post your address!

We are now in Amarillo to spend Christmas with Jon's family. Everyone will be here so it should be really fun. They just did a home makeover on basically the majority of the house and it's amazing! The kitchen is any chefs dream! (Once again, I'll post pictures sometime). Sevy is loving her cousin time again and it's going to be hard going back to Houston after all the time she's had with ALL her cousin's this month! Hopefully I'll get some photos downloaded. Until then, Merry Christmas!

The Lights at Temple Square

2008-12-11T11:51:00.004-06:00

We've made it to Utah and to start things off we went to see the lights on Temple Square! I hadn't seen them since I was pregnant with Sevy and they are just amazing! We went early enough (and in the middle of the week) that we missed any crowds and were there early enough to see them come on! Very awesome!

Sevy taking care of Teikers on the plane.
Aunt Candi and cousin Sarah.
Orange lights (Teik is the bundle in front of me!)
Salt Lake City temple at sunset.
Flollowing the leader.
A family shot!
Go figure yhough. The day we get into Utah, it's snowing in Houston!