Calderwood Chat

2011-12-20T12:41:00.000-08:00

New do

Kelsi got about 6 inches chopped off her hair today. It was such a better experience than her last trip to the hair zoo.

There is a cute kids salon in Post Falls that I take Kelsi to get her haircut. As you can see, they get to sit on cute animals while they get their hair cut and watch a movie of their choosing. Kelsi didn't resist, whine or cry the whole time. She was very excited and she looks so cute with her sassy short hair.

2011-12-20T12:29:00.000-08:00

I'm 4!

Kelsi turned 4 earlier this month and we couldn't love her more.

She asked me a couple months prior if she could have a bunny cake when it was her birthday. VERY last minute (as in frosting and decorating RIGHT before we blew out the candles) I got it done for her and she was very happy.

Very elementary, but all that matters is that Kelsi was thrilled.

We open presents first thing in the morning. When I woke up, Kelsi was sitting amongst all her gifts and asked, "Mommy, whose presents are these?" When I told her that they were hers of course, she jumped up and yelled "OH THANK YOU MOMMY!!".

My creative girl got tons and tons of beads. She has been making necklaces, rings and bracelets ever since.

She also loves her puzzles!

At Kelsi's 4 year old check up, she got all her immunizations, so she is good until she is 11 yrs old! YAY! She is 43 3/4 in. tall (97th percentile) and 43 lbs 2oz. (92%). We love our big girl! She is very excited to be a big sister.

2011-12-20T12:13:00.000-08:00

I'll take some fruit, hold the peanut butter

John and I are expecting a new bundle of joy this June! We are very excited. We found out in October and it is STILL sinking in. I have been really nauseous but haven't thrown up too many times compared to how I was with Kelsi. I am not sure if I should attribute that to this baby possibly being a boy, or the fact that I started downing the Zofran at 7 weeks this time instead of 17 wks with Kelsi. I wasn't going to take any chances.

We surprised my parents with the news when we went down to CA in November. Kelsi was sporting her "Big Sister" pajamas. Needless to say, we STILL had to point out her PJs. We surprised Johns family at Thanksgiving dinner. The Calderwood tradition before dinner is to go around the table and say what we are thankful for. When it was my turn, I mentioned a few things I was thankful for including my pregnancy.

I don't think I will be posting monthly pic updates like I did last time around...it got pretty scary those last couple of months. However, we had our ultrasound at what we THOUGHT was 9.5 wks only to be told that our lil baby was about 2 weeks behind. So, it feels like I have been pregnant forever. I am just about 14 weeks. Baby's heart rates was 160 and then 172 at the last two appts. We are VERY happy.

As for the picture above, all I want to eat is fruit. However, it is NOT good to crave fruit in the winter...in Idaho of all places. Nothing is satisfying me. Sadly, I have an aversion to Peanut Butter, which is usually my favorite food.

I am so excited for these next 6 months to fly by so that I can: brush my teeth without gagging, eat my daily dose of peanut butter, get back into my REGULAR exercise routine, not feel like I am going to vomit at any second, stay up past 9pm (and that is PUSHING it), sleep through the night without having to pee 2-3 times (hoping after a couple months that this baby will be just like Kelsi and sleep sleep sleep), be a happier wife and mommy, stop taking these dumb prenatal vitamins and most of all so that I can cuddle with my brand new bundle of love.

2011-11-29T18:33:00.000-08:00

Trip to CA Nov- 2011

First thing about our trip to CA, was that Kelsi overcame her fear of airplanes. HOORAY! She was great on both legs of our trip. No screaming, no crying and NO throwing up all over Mommy. It was heaven. We arrived on Thursday night and Friday morning we headed to Knotts Berry Farm with the cousins, Aunt Mar & Shays and Grandma and Grandpa Manderino.

Kelsi did pretty good in Camp snoopy. She didn't want to ride the kid roller coasters, but she had fun on the other rides. I WONT mention how long it took me to figure out how to get the kids out of the truck.
Kelsi loved the Mexican Hat Dance. She laughed and laughed the whole time.

Kelsi especially had fun joking around with her cousin Kyle.

Merry-go-round

Emma is quite the daredevil and John was nice enough to go on most of the rides with her. This one, pictured below, I would never go on. It tips you straight up and then fall face forward and then around and around...I got dizzy just watching them.

See! Totally conquered her fear of flying! She's the pilot!

The next day was John's birthday (you can read about that in the previous post). Sunday we went to church and drove out to Tamar's house for dinner. (Thanks Tamar!)

On Monday, we took Kelsi to Irvine Regional Park and visited the zoo. She brushed a bunch of goats, saw bears, mountain lions, coyotes, lots of snakes and birds.

Then we let her play on one of the playgrounds while John and I enjoyed the 75 degree weather before we had to head to the airport.

Did I mention that we went to In-n-out TWICE while we were there? Yum. AND, I finally converted John. I knew his taste buds would wake up.

2011-11-29T18:27:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday John

John turned the big 37 earlier this month. He celebrated it by continuing "No Shave November". Thankfully, he got lonely enough and it didn't make it the entire month. We spent John's birthday in California visiting my family. The day was spent shopping and eating and exploring his new iphone.

John wanted the below banana split cream pie. Thanks Mom and Shayla for the team effort!

We sure love our John! He is so funny, smart, handsome, he loves to play games with Kelsi when he gets home from work and he works SO hard for us. Love you!

2011-11-09T07:41:00.000-08:00

Remainder of October

Kelsi and I took our 3rd annual trip to the farm down the street to feed the animals and pick a pumpkin. We couldn't miss our annual "Sit on a pumpkin" picture.

She loved feeding the chickens, geese, ducks, rabbits, goats, sheep, pigs, dogs, cats and horses.

We let Kelsi decide how to carve our pumpkin this year. She chose the traditional route.

Kelsi dressed up as a bumblebee this year. John and I threw together (literally) a last minute bee keeper costume for our church party.

Here is Kelsi with her best gal pal Jane. They partied hard at their Halloween Preschool Party complete with crafts, games and a yummy lunch.

2011-10-25T09:58:00.000-07:00

SURPRISE!

My friend Shannon moved about an 1.5 away a few months ago. She and her family have been missed greatly. So, a few of us drove up to her house on a Friday night and surprised her and "kidnapped" her! She was blind folded for 45 minutes as we drove to Sandpoint and up to Schweitzer Mountain. It was a good thing we got there when we did, because Miss Shannon was starting to get carsick.

We guided her into our friend Nan's cabin where more of her friends were waiting to surprise her with a birthday sleepover.

As usual, it was a fun night of eating, playing games and talking.

We spoiled Shannon as much as we could since she really does deserve it.

We had a great, almost sleepless night!

2011-10-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

Daddy/Daughter Date

Last month John took Kelsi out for breakfast and he bought her a bike. She was very excited to come home and ride it.

She has been getting some saddle time this Fall, and Daddy finally lowered her training wheels so she doesn't lean and fall over when she turns corners. HA!

She loves her bike!

2011-09-24T18:54:00.000-07:00

6 years/Whistler

John and I celebrated our 6 yr. wedding anniversary last month. We went out to eat at a French restaurant called Fleur de Sel. It was tasty. I feel so blessed to married to John. He is a wonderful man, husband and father. He is also perfect for me.

The following week, we extended our anniversary celebration by heading out to Whistler, B.C. with the people that we always celebrate our anniversary with....The Evans (a little bit of an inside joke). The boys usually go on their yearly mountain biking trips without the ladies, but this year we all tagged along and brought our bikes with us!

Our accommodations were....small, as evident from the loft area in the pic below where the Evans slept. However, the location of our condos could NOT be beat. We were right in the village with views of the Olympic park.

Part of the view from our balcony.

It was coooold. 60 as a high and teeth chattering at night while we walked around in our light jackets and sweaters. It was also VERY beautiful.

The Olympic rings were right outside our condo.

The whole gang below. The Gatten, Wilson, Calderwood, Evans, Dance, Neilsen & Schofield couples.

John had SO much fun downhill biking. It was his first time and said it was the highlight of his trip. Luckily, for me, there isn't a downhill mountain in our immediate vicinity, so he will be sticking with his regular cross country hobby.

The girls all headed out together one day (minus Nichole, since she was 6 months pregnant), and had a lot of fun riding the green trails. A few of the more adventurous girls even tried some blue trails. I am not the biggest fan of anything downhill. A little scary for me, especially since I am just learning how to use a bike with gears! But other than that, it was fun and I will continue to go out with John from time to time to do a little cross country. Can't wait for next year! Maybe, Moab??

2011-09-20T16:17:00.000-07:00

BUSY AS A BEE!

Our little bumblebee has had a fun September. She started preschool! She goes twice a week for 2.5 hours and loves it so far. I think one of her favorite things about it is her new backpack. She hates taking it off. She is learning so many new things, she seems bigger and bigger each week.

Kelsi also started swim lessons. This season, we switched to a new teacher. Kelsi has embraced it and is doing so much better than she was in the summer. Her new teacher has a very different approach to teaching, and it is really working for Kelsi even if it isn't my preferred technique. Kelsi asks her after each lesson, "Can I come back?". In my opinion, she can go back as long as she needs to.

Her favorite thing to do so far, is to wall walk. She also loves climbing out (BY HERSELF) and jumping in and turning to grab the wall.

Here she is practicing her kicking.

Kelsi has also started Ballet/Tap. I think that this is by far her favorite activity. Today after class, she ran over to her teacher and asked if she could come back next time. When her teacher said "Yes", Kelsi said "Thank you" and gave her a BIG hug.

If anyone ever needs some extra joy in their lives...go watch a 3-4 year old dance class. Too cute for words.

2011-08-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

We love mud!

John and I...along with 17 other friends decided to run the dirty dash together. It was SOO much fun. To be honest, I was a little nervous because I had never run over 6 miles before. I actually have only been running just over 3 miles so I thought that I would be holding people back, but it was just so laid back and I was happy with my performance.

These our the manly men of the race. Jean cut offs and wife beater tanks. Awesome.

Here is a pic of the whole CLEAN gang (minus late Lizzie) before we headed over to Spokane.

We didn't want to take our camera on the race since we knew it would get trashed, but towards the end of the race, the path led us right by our car, so John ran out and grabbed it for a few shots. Overall, here is how our day went:

We arrived in time for our wave at 9:40am, but we were chatting and not paying attention when our wave started, so we were a little late out of the gate. We jogged about .25 mile till we got to the tires and then another .25 mile when we got to our first mud pit. Some of the boys didn't waste ANY time, and cannon balled RIGHT in. Then we ran for another .5 or so until we got to another mud pit and some mud tubes (which hurt btw - pebbles scraping your knees). Then it was just a run for the next mile or so when they had a pit stop of water and then another .5 mile or so until the lake where we could rinse off, clean out our shoes, rest if you wanted or just keep going. Then we crossed higher balance beams with another water pit stop at mile 3 and then another run until mile 4 or so where they had a beer/rootbeer chug. Then it was just a series of multiple bales of hay, more running, more balance beams, more mud pits, more mud tunnels until after mile 5 they had the most awesome water slide! Followed by half a dozen wall climbs and bales of hay and a final mud pit.

Our group had a lot of fun together. We walked, jogged, laughed and had a muddy good time.

Here is Kim and I going over one bale of straw.

After the race.

We are so hot.

After the race, we got to shower in freezing cold water with our friends.

I would do it again in a heartbeat. Bring it on Dirty Dash 2012!

2011-08-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

My Parents/ Trash Can dinner anyone?

My parents came up to visit us the first week of August. We had a great time even though my poor mom had a bad cold and my Dad had a pinched nerve in his shoulder.

The Griffitts clan invited us to a Trash Can dinner. I had never heard of this before...it actually made me a little sick to my stomach to think about it...but we went! This is what we saw when we walked up to the house.

Mom, me & Tamar (and baby Zach of course)

My Dad his SIL's.

We are a classy bunch up here in Northern ID and only treat our guests to the best of dining.

The kids all had a great time. There was roughly about 30 to 35 people there.

The house was on Fernan Lake. It was a beautiful set up. There were games set up and plenty of seating for everyone.

Here is the final product. Potatoes, carrots, cabbage, sausage & onions. Normally, they dump the food on a tarp on the ground, but there was a dog around, so they had to dump it high.

In other news during their trip, Grandpa taught Kelsi everything there is to know about iphones.

They paddled around Lake CDA.

They found Mudgy.

We went to the lake a couple times.

We all hiked Tubbs hill...until we were too hot and then went and ate some gooeys.

This little girl was in heaven with all the attention she was getting.

Kelsi loved spending time with her "other" grandma and grandpa.

I feel so blessed to have my family come visit me. I love them so much.

2011-08-10T12:28:00.000-07:00

My sister Shayla

My sister Shayla came to visit us and the question really is...what DIDN'T we do?

Shayla and I tried wakeboarding. We were both unsuccessful (stop laughing), but had fun trying until my wrist and Shayla's hands started hurting.

Shayla even tried the Slolam ski. I was a bit chicken to try that. The water felt GREAT!

She played with her cute niece.

We went on boat rides (I promise that I am tanned...her camera has issues).

We ate yummy "personal sized" gooeys.

We played in the lake (we missed you Kaylee!)

We jumped in the lake...

We laid out....

Shayla made Kelsi brave...now I can't keep Kelsi OUT of the water...all the way up to her neck. Thank goodness for life jackets!

We went horseback riding. It was beautiful and we both got a little saddle sore.

This is Cowboy...he was the most considerate horse ever.

We shopped, kayaked (still waiting for pics - Shayla), hiked Tubbs hill. It was so much fun. I can't wait for Shayla to come back and visit again! Love you!

2011-08-10T12:10:00.001-07:00

Tamar & kids

My sister Tamar, and her 4 kids stayed with us the last week of July. Sadly, I didn't take too many pics. We had a BBQ at my in-laws house let all the kids take a spin on the four wheelers...

Don't let that face fool you, Abby had a great time.

Even Baby Zach got a turn!

Kyle LOOOVED them and was very sad when his turn was over.

Emma was VERY excited because John actually let her drive!

We had fun going to the Park/Splash pad, eating at yummy Cafe Carambola, playing card games, shopping and eating giant cookies. I love my sister and am so excited that she will be moving up to the Northwest in 3 years.

2011-08-09T16:19:00.000-07:00

Last month John participated in CDA's first Mud run. He wasn't planning on it, but a friend called two nights before the event to let him know that a team member had bailed out and they needed a last minute replacement. John agreed and the rest is history.

John came in 2nd overall and his team came in first as a group! :)

It was about a 2.5 mile course. Most of it was just running around the fairgrounds but it started and ended with the mud in the rodeo grounds.

John didn't really fall down, he just quickly made it through all the obstacles.

I had another friend who ran and lost a shoe in the mud and couldn't find it so had to finish the course bare foot!

John and I, along with 18 other friends are running the Dirty Dash in Spokane in a couple weeks. It should be a fun, dirty time!

2011-07-31T18:11:00.000-07:00

GEG to LAX!

My friends, Shawnte, Sarah, Marrisa and I took a trip to CA for a little girl time. Marissa is having a baby (her 5th) in September and Shawnte will be moving soon, so we wanted to make some more lasting memories! Our flight was fast! Marissa and I played games the whole time while Sarah took care of Shawnte across the aisle. Poor girl, got really lightheaded during the flight and almost fainted. But she made it! :)

Our first stop in LA was....IN N OUT of course!! YUM! It was SOOOO good.

I love these girls!

Play time in Santa Monica!

Friday night, after dinner we walked around Santa Monica and the pier. Shawnte and I did the roller coaster a few times and all four of us went on the famous Santa Monica Ferris Wheel.

Perfect beach day at Manhattan Beach.

We ate at the Kettle in Manhattan beach for dinner and at the Creamery for the dessert! We shopped and just had SO much fun. We kept asking, "What time is it?" Then we would laugh and say..."IT DOESN'T MATTER!!!"

We really wished we could have had one more beach day. It was PERFECT. As the sun started to set, it started to get chilly, so here are my girls trying to warm me up! :)

On Sunday we visited the LA Temple visitor center. It was remodeled less than a year ago and is really amazing.

Monday morning bright and early at 5:30am we were lined up for the Price is Right taping. It will air 12/15 if anyone is interested!

Shawnte and I had matching shirts. She made them herself! On the front they said, " Way to Go Idaho" and on the back it said "We won't be duds, pick the spuds!".

We had so much fun at the taping of Price is Right. Doing zumba to keep us energized before we went in, meeting tons of fun and INTERESTING people, playing phase 10 in line and just having a good time together.

Kodak theatre in Hollywood.

We checked our the Chinese Mann, Hollywood walk of fame and shopped on Hollywood Blvd. Marissa was such a trooper. She didn't complain at all while we dragged her everywhere. Her feet must have been killing her.

You would think that I would have tons of pics throughout the years like this...but I don't. You take the things for granted when you live there I guess.

Overall, we had a GREAT time! We all were VERY tired from staying up way too late. Sometimes, even when we didn't want to! ;) We all bonded and what happened in CA stays in CA! :) I love my friends and feel very blessed.

2011-07-23T22:23:00.000-07:00

Summer in North Idaho

We have been having fun this summer here in North Idaho. This has been a busy month so far, and when I say busy, I mean FUN! We've been going to the lake as much as we can and Kelsi is warming up to our subdivisions splash pad. Look at that girl on her toes. She just stands there....and stands there. My silly child.

Prancing around on her toes still.

John has been wanting me to mountain bike with him since we got married. It's just really not my thing, but I finally relented and let him buy me a bike. He took me for an easy beginner ride. I didn't think it was the easiest of rides, being that I have been on a bike 2 previous times in my adult life and prior to that, I haven't been on a bike since I was a teenager...and it was a beach cruiser. LOL! I'm still learning how to use the gears correctly. But, after being VERY timid on the downhills and cursing John for the single track that he promised he wouldn't take me on....I had fun and I really want to go again. Finding time is the hard part. I really enjoyed the climbing part of it and I became more comfortable the more I rode.

My SIL Jalyn has been in town and it has been SO good to see her again. I went with her and my FIL to hike Chilco Peak. It is 3.5 straight and then 3.5 straight back down. The down was rough on our knees and the up was a killer on our calves...but worth the climb once we reached the top.

As we reached the summit, there was tons of snow. I fell and slipped all over the place, and I wasn't happy to find my white "friend" in the middle of July....but we finally made it and it was just beautiful...if it was warmer, it would have been great to have a picnic.

More posts to come....girls trip to LA and John's Muddy Miles fun run!

2011-07-10T06:52:00.000-07:00

4th of July

We had a GREAT 4th of July weekend! On the 4th, we went out to John's parents house for a BBQ and fun on the lake. These pics are a little out of order, but have no fear, I will narrate for you!

For the fireworks extravaganza, we took the boat out to watch the fireworks show from the Hayden Country Club. I've decided that if we are in town, I want to do this every year. The view from the water was incredible. We kept moving our boat back because it seemed like we were going to get hit.

Kelsi LOVED the fireworks. I was a little nervous about being on the water amongst throngs of boats with a screaming child...but she played with her cousins while we waited and once they started she kept shouting "THAT WAS THE BIGGEST ONE EVER! HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!" HOORAY!

Before the fireworks, we let the kids roast marshmallows.

That's my hot eagle scout right there, starting our fire.

True Idaho boy, chopping some wood. My father-in-law would be SO happy that I got a pic of his wood pile!

Before the show, we also went out on the lake. It was really busy on the water.

The only fireworks we bought were some sparklers from a stand outside the grocery store. They were HORRIBLE. They only sparkled for 10-15 seconds before they would fizzle out. But Kelsi still like it.

The biggest surprise of the day for me was that Kelsi went on a 4 wheeler ride. When we first arrived, we went down to the dock and let Kelsi splash her legs in the water. John took her up to the house a bit later and I just relaxed on the dock. When I went up to the house, I was FLOORED to hear that John took Kelsi on a 4-wheeler ride. She is usually SO scared of the noise they make. She was so happy when they got back, that we went out for a second ride as a family later on. Since then, she now wants to go on a ride every time we go to Grandma's house.

Happy Independence Day America! So glad that we don't have British accents.

2011-07-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

June Randoms

We celebrated John on Father's Day. He was spoiled all day. We love him so much and are so thankful for the great Dad he is.

Sweet kisses...

Kelsi and some of her old friends from Clarkston...the Pond girls. They actually moved up to our area the same time we did and we are in the same stake, but sadly...we don't get to see them as much. They had a blast.

This pic was taken the next day at 9:30am! Kelsi had a hard time adjusting to it being light so late and so early. She would wake up between 6 and 6:30 and play in her room until close to 10pm. She wasn't napping and was playing hard. For about two weeks, she would just fall asleep in random places, which is NOT normal for Kelsi. She took her cat naps whenever she could. Thankfully, she is back to her normal wakeup routine between 7:30am and 8.

Our pretty little girl. We got home from church and she was just laying on the floor like this. I started laughing and had to grab the camera. She is quite the ham when she wants to be.

2011-07-03T18:41:00.000-07:00

Swim Lessons

Swim lessons started out great this year. Kelsi remembered Ms. Diane from last year and this year she was able to take the class with 4 of her friends! The first week of swim lessons she was a big show off.

She wanted to be the first to do everything. She wanted every ones attention and she was very cute.

She is so big this year. She was able to "tigger hop" all over the pool all by herself since her shoulders were out of the water. Last year she had to stand on her tippy toes (as usual) and put her head back just to keep the water under her chin.

Then disaster struck. First, she decided she wanted to go on the other side of the rope (the deep end) even though her teacher told her not to. She went under slightly and got scared. THEN she was put into the hot tub after class and that was the last straw. I didn't go to class that day, and if I was she wouldn't have gone in the hot tub...she has a fear of the jets...but it was too late. The second week, she refused to get into the water. She sat on the steps and participated the best she could from dry land. When the rest of the kids would hop close to the rope, she would yell "WATCH OUT!!" and she was SO afraid of the pools' jets.

We will try again next year. ;)

2011-06-07T07:59:00.001-07:00

MAY catch-up

On Memorial Day, we took Kelsi to the field behind our neighborhood and flew a kite.

She thought it was the coolest thing EVER.

The weather was great. Sunny and warm with a cool breeze.

Can you get happier than this??

Our attempt at a family pic. I love my little family.

2011-06-07T07:49:00.000-07:00

WICKED

A group of us went to see Wicked last month in Spokane. It was my 4th time seeing it, and John's 2nd. We both enjoyed it again.

Some of the gang at dinner before....

Some of the ladies before the show....we couldn't seem to get a full group picture.

OK, this is mostly everyone. FUN night.

2011-06-07T07:43:00.000-07:00

When we're helping we're happy!

Kelsi LOVES to help. Anything from folding the clothes, washing the car, mowing the lawn(shocker), putting away the dishes, baking, cleaning the bathrooms...you NAME it...and she says, "Can I help you?"

Honestly, I would much rather do these things by myself...because I am faster and and I don't have to re-do things...but then I tell myself that I better take advantage of this teaching time while I can. I love my little helper!

2011-06-07T07:36:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day

I was treated very well by these two on Mother's Day. Here they are making the fruit salad for dinner.

Kelsi is an excellent peeler.

I have been so blessed to be the mother of this beautiful little girl. She is my whole world and I love her more than I ever thought possible. I love how much she looks like her Daddy and how much of his personality I see in her. I don't quite enjoy when I see parts of MY personality in her. She seems to have gained all of John's positive qualities and some of my BAD ones. I pray that she is a better woman than I am.

I also feel blessed to have been raised by an amazing woman. I cannot think of a woman who has set a better example for anyone than my mother. I love you Mom!

2011-04-29T07:23:00.000-07:00

Thanks Kailan!

Kelsi used to want to watch Kailan - ALL THE TIME. We fed her hunger by DVRing every episode so they were on demand. It's not on anymore (that I can find???), so she hasn't watched it in over a month, but it was a great show. It taught social skills like : What to do if you are feeling angry, how to be patient, how to share, how to include everyone, and what to do if you are sad, etc.

Yesterday, I was having a rough afternoon. I tried a new recipe that night for dinner and somehow when I was about to put it in the oven, DROPPED IT all over the floor. I lost it, said a few words and then started crying (sometimes the stupidest things make me cry). Kelsi wanted to know why I was sad. I called John and asked him to bring something home for dinner and Kelsi asked to talk to him. I handed her the phone and I heard this:

"Mommy is sad, can you help her?"

When she was done, she hugged my leg and looked up at me and said, "Don't worry mommy. Daddy is on his way home and he will make it all better." I picked her up and gave her a hug and told her that she was making me feel better. She pulled back and said "I'll make a silly face". She made the funniest face and said, "THERE! Silly faces always make you happy!"

I JUST LOVE MY LITTLE GIRL!

(For those of you that don't know every Kailan episode by heart, like we do. Kailan is sad one day after a surprise party she is planning is ruined and her friends try to cheer her up by making silly faces.)

So, THANKS Kailan! You are SO wise!

2011-04-25T19:02:00.000-07:00

EASTER

I got home from UT on Saturday and we got right down to Easter prep.

Kelsi had a blast decorating her eggs.

She put a million stickers on the eggs.

See??

Easter morning, Kelsi checked out her basket that the Easter bunny left her.

We had our Easter Egg hunt outside and she had a ball!

We spent time with family and reflected on the atonement and the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. We are so thankful for our testimonies.

2011-04-25T18:45:00.000-07:00

UTAH

Last week I was able to fly down to UT for Kaylee's graduation. When I arrived on Tuesday, this handsome guy picked me up from the airport!

I have missed his mommy very much. We worked together years ago when we both lived in Los Angeles and became great friends. We got to catch up for a bit, go to dinner and then get dessert.Sweet Tooth Fairy....I wasn't sure if it was going to be worth it...but it WAS. Moist and yummy.

Then Kaylee met up with us and took me to her apartment, where I stayed for the night. I got to re-live college life...in cramped quarters and with crazy girls not going to bed until all hours of the night (OK, I went to bed at 11pm...but they were LOUD!)

The boys apartments are across the quad...this cracked me up. Those kids are GENIUS! No wonder they got into BYU.

I loved seeing my parents. I miss them all the time.

We had a lot of laughs....and ate WAY too much food. I'm STILL not hungry.

I took Kaylee to get her FIRST pedicure. WHAT???!!! She's 22!!

Kaylee entertained us with her guitar skills and showed us all of her artwork. Can you say talent??

Graduation day was beautiful.

We took endless pictures, but we were proud of her!

We missed Tamar, but had a great time. I love my sisters!

2011-04-25T18:38:00.000-07:00

3rd time's a charm!

6 months ago, I took Kelsi to Chuck E. Cheese's for the first time. It was a sad experience. She screamed, cried and clung to me the whole time. She wouldn't go near any of the rides, was kind of afraid of chuck e cheese and she kept telling me that she wanted to go home. 3 months later, I braved it again for another birthday party, and to my surprise, she sat on all the rides (except one) but wouldn't let me put any tokens in (baby steps). She was content to run around and play the games and sit on the rides. 3 months later (earlier this month) we went again, and WHAT A DIFFERENCE 6 months MAKE! Kelsi went on EVERY ride...even the dreaded helicopter ride (pic below). I was SO proud of her.

My friend Shannon taught her how to play air hockey.

and she had a great time!

Hooray!

2011-04-12T08:03:00.000-07:00

Feb and March...a blur

Sadly, I don't remember much about Feb or Mar. I think I remember snow in Feb....and snow and then some rain in March. Something like that. I do remember that March was a hard month for me, especially the beginning. I was just down and I couldn't tell you why. I kept thinking of all my wonderful blessings...John, Kelsi, my testimony of my savior, my friends, my home, my health, etc, etc. I kept telling myself that my attitude is a CHOICE, but I just couldn't shake the blues. Even Zumba couldn't cheer me up. I confided in a couple friends who always know how to make me feel better. Another friend suggested Vitamin D....I bought some...started poppin' it and I don't know if my funk just passed or if there is some real truth to Vit D deficiency...but I feel SO much better. So...BA-BYE DUMB feb and march. BRING ON SPRING!!!!!

2011-04-11T14:00:00.001-07:00

CATCH UP

A small tragedy has happened in our home. We found out recently that our laptop has a failing hard drive. Our programs on the computer starting shutting down one by one and a lot of my pictures have vanished. We took it in and the techies were able to recover a "few" of the pics, but basically everything labeled after the letter "H" is gone. Sadly, our wedding pictures, John's bday, Karina's bday, Kelsi, etc, etc are gone forever. Luckily, we have a few pics on our blogs and in books so they aren't lost forever. So, these next few posts won't be that fun to look at, but for journaling purposes I will still write them.

On January 25th I turned the big 3-0. I was not looking forward to it. I know all that hooey about age is just a number and I understand how I feel inside...but 30's???? Yuck.

Anyway, a few days before my bday while we were just getting up there was a knock on our door. John answered it to find a breakfast tray full of "apple jacks, apple cider, apple danishes and a card with a letter A on it that said "ABCDEFG since you're about to turn thirty HIJKLMNOP it's Happy Birthday from A to Z."

My amazing friends up here surprised me ALL day with things from every letter of the alphabet. I did have pictures of EVERYTHING they did, but sadly....they are gone.

That morning, I went to my regular zumba class and a few songs into the class (of 100 people), my zumba instructor pulled out a letter "B" and announced that the next song was dedicated to me for some major "BOOTIE" shaking.

After class I went to put on my boots and inside my boot was a big bottle of cranberry flavored water (for the letter C). Then when I picked Kelsi up from playcare, the worker handed me a box of "Ding Dongs" (guilty pleasure).

When I got to the truck, there was a writing all over the windows saying "Happy Birthday, Flirty Thirty, We love you, etc" and a note. The note read " Hope this does the trick, because "E" is for EMBARRASSING windows all decorated with a coloring stick." What I REALLY wished for is a picture of my friend Shawnte (who was 9 months pregnant at the time - she actually had her baby ON my actual bday) climbing into the back on the truck and writing all over it. I am sure it was HILARIOUS to everyone who saw.

When I got home from the gym, there was a BEAUTIFUL, HUGE bouquet of "F"lowers on my doorstep. Another note was attached that said "G"et ready to be picked up at 12 for lunch, we are going to..."H"erbies (a really good sandwich shop).

When my friends arrived, they handed me an envelope that said "I"nside you will find "J"ust enough coop coupons for a "K"elsi free "L"unch. We dropped off Kelsi at coop and headed to lunch. Once there, another friend handed me a big bag of "M&M's" (another guilty pleasure). When were leaving another friend handed me a envelope that said "N"otes "O"f a"P"preciation (aren't they clever?). Inside were notes from all my friends saying the sweetest things.

Then when they dropped me off I was handed another envelope that said "This is good for "Q"uiet time while you "R"ead with your new..... (I opened it to find a Kindle gift certificate).

Later that afternoon, a friend stopped by with a bath and body works gift set of "sweet pea" scents (my fav!).

Later, I received a text that said "T"ime for "u"nother (what a stretch) surprise! Right away, there was a knock on the door with the cutest little 2 yr old boy at the door with a big "V" taped to his head (his name is VANCE) and he was holding a "W"icked soundtrack CD.

Then another friend dropped by with a huge pack of Xtra gum that said "an Xtra surprise will show up around 4pm". At 4pm, my mia maids from "Y"oung Women, surprised me with value magnets that they had made for me and sang me happy birthday on my doorstep.

WHO WANTS TO GUESS WHAT Z WAS????? Here is the background....I knew it was going to be zumba. I mean, what else COULD it be??? I knew that my fav instructor threw private gigs and I had actually BEEN to a bday zumba private party before. The plan was that John told me we were going rock climbing for our date and that's why I had to wear exercise clothes, but as we were getting ready, my zumba instructor sent me a text that said she lost one of her contacts and she needed her fav doc to bring her one to parkside fitness (which is right by his office). Dead giveaway. So, we stopped at John's office, he picked up a fake contact and then we went to parkside, walked in and all my friends were there with a sign that said "Z" is for ZUMBA!! A few friends from Clarkston even drove up for the party! THAT was a true surprise. Then we had a fun night of dancing/exercising and then went back to a friends for cake. And....I have it all on video.

John later told me that he called my friends and said he wanted to do a zumba party for me. My friends were planning the A-Z thing so it would work perfectly. John said he tried to convince them to do it separate because he knew I would figure it out, but it was SOOOO fun. I LOVE MY HUSBAND and I LOVE my friends. I am VERY blessed.

2011-03-20T20:36:00.000-07:00

STORIES

Kelsi is FULL of energy and she is a true comedian. The other night, I was out and John came downstairs to see Kelsi watching "Horton" on her portable DVD player, only she was watching it through the mirror. He said that she watched the ENTIRE show like this. WHAT A SILLY GIRL!

A few other Kelsi stories:

Today after church, I asked her what she learned in Primary. She said they talked about all kinds of animals and Noah. I asked her what happened to Noah and she said, "He was on the boat with all the animals". ME: "And then what happened" Kelsi: And then the rain came, ME: And then what happened? Kelsi: And then the princesses came and helped Noah not be scared. THE END". HAHA! She is the best storyteller. I will have to get one of her many stories on video one of these days.

I almost typed another story...but I don't know if it is appropriate for this venue. Just ask me about it later if you want to know. It's pretty funny.

Now on a serious note....

Last week, I came down the stairs to see Kelsi flipping through the pages of my scriptures. I said, "Kelsi, what are you doing?" She said "I'm just reading scriptures about Jesus, do you want to read with me?". I sat down with her and she literally read (repeated after me) 12 verses in a row word for word. I kept asking her if we were done and she said, "No mommy, let's read some more!"

Today at church, during the sacrament Kelsi asked me what I was doing. I told her that I was thinking about Jesus. She then asked me for her "Reverent book" (one of the church books I bring for her to look at) and I heard her "reading" it. It went something liket his, "I think about Jesus, I think about flowers, I think about the earth, I think about Jesus and hugs". It made me think of the song I learned in Primary as a child, "....It shouldn't be hard even though I am small, to think about Jesus, not hard at all." While I have to tell her several times to please whisper and sit still during the meeting, or to get off the floor and sit like a big girl, there are several times, when I see her watching me and wanting to do what I am doing during the meeting...

"Mommy, what are you doing?"I am so blessed to be her mom. I hope I can be the example she needs. She is such a sweet girl.

2011-02-13T15:08:00.000-08:00

Kelsi LOVES to pretend. She especially likes to play the "Big Bad Wolf" with John. I didn't get it in this video, but she will say in her "Big Bad Wolf" voice after she tries to blow his house down, "YOU BETTER RUUUUN!!!!!!" and then she chases after John with this SINISTER laugh. It's kind of scary....how does my sweet child make a laugh like that?

2011-01-31T16:05:00.000-08:00

ZUMBA Blast!

I have been a Zumba fanatic for a year now and the fever is not going away! A few Spokane instructors held a ZUMBA blast at a nightclub in downtown Spokane. So my zumba instructor and 5 friends drove down and had an AMAZING time. 2 hours of zumba and I was dripping with sweat and in need of some food...but it was awesome.

A photographer from ZLife magazine was there and I happened to be in a lot of the pics. It was a TINY nightclub and 107 of us zumba crazies packed the house.

I won a door prize for being the only one wearing the new "party hearty" zumba shirt which supports the AHA. Too bad my door prize was a gift cert to the bar. WATERS ALL AROUND!! LOL!

ALSO - John threw me a SURPRISE Zumba party for my 30th bday last week! More on that once I get all the pics loaded!

2011-01-28T11:47:00.000-08:00

My new gig

I've been looking for a hobby/way to bring in a little extra cash for awhile now. Last spring/summer, my friend introduced me to airbrush tanning....it is addicting and just makes me feel sooo good especially during the dreary months of no sun in the northwest. I don't do tanning beds...and the summer is short here.....so...I found myself wondering how the woman that tanned me got started. I found out from a close friend that her sister was a certified tan technician in Las Vegas and that I should look into it. I did....but was hesitant...long story short...I decided to go for it and have now been certified for just over 3 weeks. It is a lot of fun and I am so glad that I went for it.

Here's my tent!! I do this out of my house and also travel to others houses for tanning parties (which are my favorite - they are so fun!)

I have tanned about 30 people in the last 3 weeks and always forget to do before and afters...but here is ONE after picture that I took of these lovely ladies!

and....me next to my white little daughter. HAHA!

Visit my website at: www.endlessglow.com/KarinaCalderwood for more information! You can even purchase products from the website. Flawless faces is THE best (solution comes in a small hairspray bottle...WAY better than makeup!)
What a fun adventure!!! I am loving it.

2010-12-26T15:48:00.000-08:00

SANTA'S HERE!!!

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and that you were able to share this season with those you love. We also hope that you felt the spirit of Christ in your Christmas.

Kelsi "got it" this year. It was so fun to see the magic in her eyes. She understood that Santa Claus was coming to bring her presents if she was good (we used this as a threat on a almost daily basis - and it worked). On Christmas morning, I heard her quietly playing in her room. I opened her door and said "MERRY CHRISTMAS!!" She got very excited, jumped out of her bed and yelled "Santa's here! Santa's here!" and made a mad dash for downstairs! This picture totally captures pure joy.

As she started downstairs, she asked "Where is he?" We explained to her that he just left her presents because he had to visit SO many children. This is a pic of her pointing to her pillow pet and saying "HE BROUGHT ME A LADYBUG!!!". She was THRILLED! She has been wanting a ladybug pillow pet for awhile and has been throwing mini tantrums (some full-on) whenever she sees one in the stores and I tell her that I am not buying it. Santa was nice enough to bring her one instead. She continues to say that it is her favorite gift.

She ran downstairs, looked at her presents and then ran at me saying "I'm SOOO happy!!"

I put her down and she jumped at John. The moment was perfect.

She loves her ladybug.

This is another Santa gift. My little diva loves to sing and this toy is probably a close second to being her fav.

Grandma and Grandpa C arrived shortly thereafter and we finished opening presents with them.

We feel blessed to live close to family. We have started a tradition for the past two years that Grandma and Grandpa C come over for presents and for a breakfast feast.

Merry Christmas to me! John fed my inner nerd by giving me a kindle so we can save room on our bookshelf.

Kelsi is SPOILED. But...she's an only child and I can't stop myself. December is a big month for her.

Santa also brought her some dress up clothes. She looks so darling. She says "Mom, I turned into a PRINCESS!" (On a side note - we took Kelsi to see "Tangled" on Christmas eve and she loved it...after she realized that the movie theater wasn't "scary")

My favorite thing at Christmas time....

Christmas evening, we went to John's sisters house for dinner.

The cousins opening up gifts.

Kelsi didn't know that she should have asked Santa for a remote control car. She played with her cousin Josh's' car and was in heaven.

On Christmas Adam (the night before Christmas Eve - for those a little slow), we got a early Christmas surprise from the Fire department. They brought Santa and handed out candy canes to all the kids in the neighborhood. They turned on their sirens and honked...we were trying to figure out what was going on and SO glad that we looked outside. Kelsi thought it was pretty cool.

I missed my family in California this Christmas, but am so thankful to have family so near. We feel very blessed and wish everyone a happy, safe and blessed new year!

2010-12-22T16:22:00.000-08:00

Pre-Christmas dump

Christmas in Coeur d'Alene

Kelsi was a great helper with decorating the Christmas tree. She put all the red bulbs in one spot, and I loved it.

Kelsi only agreed to sit on Santa's lap at the very end of our ward's Christmas party when she brought her craft that she made to me and I told her to go show Santa. However, we could not get her to smile or take her hands away from her face. Cute line of the night was when Kelsi asked "Where is Santa's sleigh?" I told her it must be outside and she replied " I want to go pet his deer!" What a silly girl.

We took Kelsi to the resort to walk the boardwalk where they light up a number of Christmas light displays.

Ugly sweater parties...

Don't you love John's Bill Cosby sweater?

Hilarious

Time with friends...

And of course, CRAFTS! We had a craft week in October so luckily, all the crafts were finished or started then so I didn't have to worry about them now. BUT it was the worst week of the year. Too much stress for me. There are more, but some are gifts...so...too bad.

I love vinyl. After using a cricut...I want one.

Lucily, I had a lot of scraps from Kelsi's bed, so I didn't have to purchase my lumber.

Merry Christmas to all!

2010-12-21T20:10:00.000-08:00

Stats

My big girl. Her official 3 year old stats are:

Height: 41 inches - OFF THE CHARTS

Weight: 38.5 lbs - 95%

Looks like she will be in the back row of all her school pictures!

2010-12-08T20:22:00.000-08:00

I'm 3, I'm 3!!!

Kelsi has been waiting to turn 3 for a long time. Mainly, because when I go to the gym, you have to be 3 and potty trained to go into the playland. She's been potty trained for a while, but turning 3 seemed so far away for her. She is very excited to be 3. I can't believe how fast time is going by.

I asked Kelsi what she wanted to do for her bday and she said "I want to have a PARTY!" I asked her who she wanted to come to her party and she named 3 friends and so I went to work.We did a very low key "party", but the kids loved it. We went to the Kroc center and had cupcakes and presents and then the kids played in the playland area. They had SO much fun.

We went home and Kelsi took her "birthday nap" and John and I took her to "Old McDonalds" for dinner (McDonalds).We had a second little party tonight with Grandma and Grandpa Calderwood and Aunt Melanie and her 3 cousins who live in town. We had more cake, opened more presents and Kelsi really seemed to enjoy herself. We tried to explain to her several times during the day that we were doing all these special things because it was her birthday....we don't want her feeling entitled, right??!!

and of course, we HAD to have balloons.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELSI LYNN!! You are such a joy. We love you more than words can say. If we could push a magic pause button, we would. Here's to many many many more years of laughter and joy.

2010-12-01T22:06:00.000-08:00

Family Vacation

We went to CA to visit my family over the Thanksgiving holiday. It was the first time my side of the family has been together in over 5 years. It was nice to see everyone and it was even more fun to see Kelsi play with her cousins.

We did not have the best time getting to CA. Kelsi had an anxiety attack (I don't know what else to call it) on our first flight. She started getting agitated on the way to the airport and then it was just downhill from there. I had a whole arsenal of toys and snacks for her and she was not interested in ANY of them. She was so frantic, looking around and she kept saying " We are not falling, I want to go home and sleep in my bed". She kept saying that she needed to "squeeze me" and she would grab my thumb and just squeeze it repeatedly. 30 minutes into the flight she threw up ALL over me. Luckily, her clothes were on the plane so I could change her. Not so lucky for me, my clothes were NOT on the plane so I could not change. We made it to CA and I was able to finally change my clothes and freshen up.

We had a great Thanksgiving, we all ate too much. We also took family pictures. Here are a couple of shots.

On Friday, my sister and I went shopping and that night we went to the Los Angeles Temple to see the lights display. Unfortunately, they were having issues and the lights were NOT on. BUT the visitor center was recently renovated and we spent some time in there. It was pretty amazing.

I had just LOST it with Kelsi that night. We told her we were going to the temple and she got VERY anxious and started whining that "Jesus was not at the temple, he was at the church". I had NO idea what she was talking about, but once we got into the visitor center and she saw the large christus statue, she freaked. She thought he was going to "hit us". I am SO tired of Kelsi being afraid of EVERYTHING. I just don't understand. We decided that night that we were not going to take her to Disneyland. We thought it would just be too emotionally draining for all parties involved. Kelsi eventually warmed up to being in the same room as the Christus, but her daddy had to hold her.

After the temple, we went to one of my favorite places....Didi Reese!!

Didi Reese is a little cookies and ice cream shop in Westwood. When I lived there it was $1 for your fav ice cream sandwiched between 2 fresh baked cookies. They have since raised the price to $1.50...but YOU CANT BEAT THAT!!! Kelsi loved it...and yes those are stickers all over her face. She put them on in the car when I wasn't paying attention and didn't want to take them off.

We had a great time. Our flight was uneventful coming home. Kelsi was great (thanks for the prayers, mom). We had to circle around spokane for about an hour while they cleared the snow off the runway, but we made it in. I love my family and can't wait to see them again.

2010-11-17T17:01:00.000-08:00

Thirty - what??

John turned the big 3-6 last week! Am I really married to a man in his "late" 30's? I'd prefer to say "mid-thirties"...I am sure he would too. John had a very busy birthday but said that he really enjoyed it. He went to work and came home early so we could do cake and presents (no pictures of that because our camera was MIA...so sad). Then we headed on down to Moscow for the BSU football game (or was it the UofI game?) I don't know...but it seemed like UofI never showed up.

We met up with our best friends the Evans and watched the Broncos embarrass the vandals. We saw a drunk get tackled by security, a fight almost break out in front of us and a throwing up penguin...which was also a little too close to us. After the game we went to dinner with our friends and then made the drive home while we read books to each other to pass the time. It actually was a really quick drive.

Kelsi and I are so thankful that John was born into this world! He is such a smart, handsome, funny, caring husband and father. We are blessed to have him in our daily lives. Here's to another 36, John!

2010-10-31T18:58:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween

I can't believe Halloween is over. October went by so fast, I still can't believe it. Kelsi and her classmates at Kindermusik were able to dress up this week. Kelsi is a cupcake and her friend is Dora! You may have seen pics of this little girl on our blog before...she has short curly blond hair so this wig cracks me up.

Some of her classmates...

Our little cupcake...

So cute!

I love this picture. I told Kelsi to go stand by Daddy and she ran over put her arm around him and said "CHEESE!" and then she was out of there. Such a poser.

Trick-or-treating at the church. We had a chili cook-off, games, scary maze and trick-or-treating of course!!

Hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween!

2010-10-29T16:31:00.000-07:00

John and I were able to go to DC for a few days this month. We left Kelsi with a good friend and with my MIL and while we missed her SOOO much, she didn't ask about us once. While that hurt my feelings a bit, I guess it is better than the opposite!

Well, our adventure started by heading to this hotel in Alexandria. It was nice on the outside...but a little dated on the inside....still..we had BEAUTIFUL views of DC especially at night. It was amazing.

The next morning we woke up early and got our comfortable shoes on and headed into the city.

We walked and walked and walked. My Capitol pictures are not uploading for some reason, so I will have to post those later. We started at the Capitol. We took a tour and then walked to the Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian (those pics aren't cooperating either). We then headed towards the national mall and here is a picture of the Washington Monument with the Capitol in the background.

The Lincoln memorial.

John and Abe.

View from the top of the Lincoln memorial.

We walked to the Vietnam memorial. The weather was PERFECT for sightseeing. Mid 70's and overcast. The sun came out for about 30 min and I was SO happy that it went away because it was pretty humid but bearable without the sun.

SO many names.

We went to the Natural History museum.

That's the Hope Diamond in case you are wondering.

We ate here. It is the oldest restaurant in DC, started in 1856. It was delicious.

The next day we headed here to our next hotel. We had a view of an electrical unit, but the hotel was AMAZING. I was originally planning on attending just two lectures (one on managing finances and one on staffing) but the lecturers were so captivating and energetic that I stayed for the whole series. It was very motivating and inspiring. It was great to meet with other people in our situation and we learned some great pearls that we hope to implement soon.

We also got to meet up with my cousin Chase and his wife for dinner our last night. We had a great time and I hope to upload the rest of our pics soon. Check back later!!

2010-10-14T08:35:00.000-07:00

FALL FUN

I took Kelsi to the little farm down near our house where she could feed the animals. It's a cute little place and she loved it even more than she did last year. Kelsi ran straight for the wagons.

She pulled it around everywhere.

She got to feed this Horse a whole carrot.

There were chickens, turkeys, geese, rabbits, goats, sheep, pigs, ducks, dogs and cats.

We took our annual "sit on a pumpkin" pictures.

Kelsi and her friend Jane with their treasures.

These four kiddos are all in Kindermusik together.

Last year I couldn't get Kelsi to sit on these props. What a difference a year makes.

Jane got to pull Kelsi around while mom looked for her keys that she thought she had lost in the pumpkin patch. Turns out they were in her purse all along. Silly mommy.

2010-10-01T21:02:00.001-07:00

Getaway

My friend's family has a wonderful condo up at Schweitzer mountain and she hosted a girls getaway last weekend. Below is the whole gang (minus Amy). It was so much fun. We all trickled in at different times on Friday and just hung out, talked and played games and stayed up WAAAAAAAAAYYYYY too late.

Saturday morning we took a morning walk/hike around the resort. It was so beautiful.
After our hike, we headed back to the condo and had a great lunch and then I had to excuse myself to make it back for the RS broadcast that I was singing in (well, the program before the program) :P With NO sleep and not knowing my solo I was pretty emotional and nearly had a nervous breakdown on the way home since I could NOT get one part of the song down. Miraculously it went well and I was in bed just after 8pm. It was awesome.

It was so beautiful. This was our view from the condo. Can't wait till next year!!

2010-09-19T16:12:00.000-07:00

Burnt Cabin Saddle

We went on a double date with some friends and went four wheeling up Hayden Creek. It was such a beautiful ride. We forgot our cameras, but our friend used his camera for a couple quick shots. It was sad that we had to drive so fast because the scenery was breathtaking. John took us on some fun trails with a bunch of big bumps (I don't know the technical term), but it was fun and I got some good air. He took us on a couple more technical trails that shook me up a couple times after almost tipping my four wheeler and hitting hidden roots. I realized that I like climbing MUCH better than going downhill.

The highlight of our trip was an old fire lookout tower in Burnt Cabin Saddle. It was a really large, rickety tower that we climbed up. We all got a little vertigo but once we reached the top it was worth it. It was a cloudy day, but we were still had an amazing view. From our viewpoint we were as high as we could get.

We got a tad lost trying to find our way back, but eventually made it back just as the sun set.

It was a fun date! Even if by the time we got back we were freezing, wind blown and we had to pick little dead bug flecks off our face! We cleaned ourselves up, had dinner and called it a fun night! I hope to get another ride in before the blasted snow comes.

2010-09-19T15:39:00.000-07:00

Happy 5th

John and I celebrated our 5th anniversary earlier this month by eating at the Clark House. It is a beautiful mansion that is 100 years old and has been converted into a bed and breakfast here in beautiful Hayden Lake. The atmosphere was very romantic, the views were inspiring and the food was delicious!

Our view. Everyday I am taken back by the beauty that surrounds me.
My handsome husband of 5 years.

Me.

We are completing the celebration of 5 years next month when we take a trip together to Washington D.C. It will be John's first visit and I am excited to show him around. It's also our first trip together since Kelsi was born (without Kelsi, that is). We are VERY excited.

I am so thankful to be married to such a wonderful man. He is so perfect for me. Every day has been an adventure.

2010-09-11T14:46:00.000-07:00

POTTY TRAINING - TAKE 2

So after my first frustrating (for both me AND Kelsi) try with pottytraining, I took some friends advice and decided to just let her do it when SHE was ready and wanting to. The days following our first attempt, Kelsi told me that she had to go "poo-poo" and went at least once in the big potty on a daily basis. She especially was good at telling me when she had to go when we were out in public.

Kelsi and I went to CA to visit family and she sporadically still told me she had to go potty. I thought "This is great! She's doing it herself". We came home and she began to consistently tell me she had to go poo-poo and for the last 3 weeks she has been poop trained! WOOHOO! Getting her to go #1 was the issue. She would go sometimes, but again, usually if we were at a store or restaurant.

Today we are going on 5 days of wearing big girl panties (Hello Kitty and her "Tolee" (Kailan) panties are her fav). She has only had one accident so far so I believe we are making progress. I make sure to remind her to not let Hello Kitty or "Tolee" get wet. Last Tuesday she was going to a bday party so when I was at the store buying a gift I slowly walked by the bikes and scooters (I've been wanting to buy her one of those ALL summer long, and haven't). She got VERY excited with the scooter and begged me to let her have it. I told her that I would get it for her and she could ride it if she stayed dry and clean ALL day long. She was a little confused at first and EVERY time she went potty she would say "and now I can ride my scooter!", but she was patient and....IT WORKED. Here she is on her scooter! The next day after staying clean and dry she again proclaimed "And now I will ride my SCOOTER!!!". Very cute.

She is normally very good at getting on the potty (telling me to "hide" - she likes her privacy) and then she gets right down to business. HOWEVER, at nap time she likes to take her sweet time. She gets the job done and then INSISTS that she is NOT DONE yet. She sings songs over and over again until I make her get off. She will hate me for this in 10 years...but she will probably hate me anyway...so...enjoy!

2010-09-03T17:45:00.000-07:00

LOOK! Up in the sky! It's a bird...it's a plane...it's ME!

For my friend Kim's bday we surprised her with a parasailing trip. Our first attempt was cancelled because it was too "windy" (it really wasn't...or didn't seem like it). We didn't find out until an hour before we were supposed to take flight, so we still took our unsuspecting friend down and showed her what we "wanted" to do for her.

We tried the following week and were able to take flight! It was SO beautiful and SO much fun!
We were pretty high up there!!! When we first took off and were only about 50-100 ft up in the air I was a little spooked for a split second when I saw a HUGE dark object in the water below us....until I realized it was our shadow. HA! Our instructor thought it was funny to shake our rope....but it was otherwise very peaceful and serene. We live in such a beautiful place.

What a beautiful place to be!

2010-08-21T14:29:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhh, Summer

Kelsi and I took a trip to CA to see my family. It was great to see everyone and a great time was had by all.

Notice anything about this pic?? It's the water. The day we chose to hit my sisters neighborhood pool was the day the filter seemed to be on the fritz. So, the kids played in the water and Tamar and I tried to avoid it as much as possible. Kids had a great time though. This is a pic of Kelsi and her cousin Emma. Emma was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on our trip. She is such a special girl.

We took a family trip to a great park. You can't totally tell from this picture, but this toy was AMAZING! It was so much fun. You sit down in it and someone spins you around. You are on a slight angle and it was pretty crazy. As you can see from my smile and Kelsi's smile we laughed the whole time. I think everyone, including the adults took a turn on this toy.

My shabby apple little girl. She's so stinkin' cute.

We took the kids to the zoo. The petting zoo area was closed which I was bummed about, but Kelsi seemed to enjoy herself regardless.

The zoo had a carousel. Kelsi went on it just fine which gave me hope for Disneyland this fall. Last summer she was terrified of the carousel.

Sadly, we were only able to take a couple trips to my favorite place....the beach. We picked Newport both times and both days were just perfect.

Grandpa was great at playing with the kids and he built an incredible sand pyramid that I cannot find the picture of ! Sad!

All the kids were in on the action helping Grandpa build.

Kelsi napped 2 out of the 12 days we were gone. She got some sand in her eyes and all it took was one verse of her favorite song and she passed out on me. Such a sweetie.

Another one of her 15 minute cat naps that she got in (usually in the car).

But overall, she was a HAPPY girl even with little sleep. Then again, she IS eating Cafe Rio in this picture and who WOULDN'T be happy eating that?

More park pictures. Kelsi standing on a small platform almost 7 ft. in the air. She thinks she is SO big. She hates the "little kid" playgrounds.

It was great to see my sisters.

but it was great to come home. Kelsi was SOOOOO excited to see John. It made me well up. She did pretty well on the plane with a few exceptions (such as taking off and landing), but everyone was really nice on the plane and seemed to be more concerned for her than annoyed.

Such a happy reunion. I wish I had a video camera on me. I can't explain just how happy she was. She wanted NOTHING to do with me once Daddy got there and she just laughed and squealed all the way to the truck. It's nice to be together as a family again.

Once again, I didn't take too many pictures of all the fun things we did or yummy things we ate. I got to see an old friend which was great but didn't have to time to see many more that I wished I could have seen. I am so thankful for such great friends and family.

2010-08-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

Zumba

My zumba instructor participated in the 1Goal challenge from Shakira (tape yourself dancing to her Waka Waka song and post on Youtube). I love Zumba. This song is pretty fun...not much booty shakin' in this song (only reason I am posting it). Not a bad job for all of us since it was a newer song!) Maybe I can get my fam to go to a class in a few days while we are in CA!

2010-07-21T21:08:00.000-07:00

"All the single ladies"

I have to rely on my friends to send me pictures of my daughter (Thanks - Cathy!) Kelsi went to her first "by herself" bday party this week. Her friend Sloan turned 2 and had a really cute Dora themed party. Kelsi and her 2 yr old gal pals partied hard!

They played "house".

Chilled.

And got their dance on. As a party favor, Sloan's mommy made tutu's for all the girls and they danced around. When I saw this picture, all I could think of was the song "all the single ladies". It looks like Sloan's older brothers wanted in on the action too! She also pranced around for Daddy when he got home.

2010-07-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

Lilies

I have WAITED and WAITED and WAITED for my lilies to open. I almost gave up hope and chalked it up to the fact that I can't keep ANYTHING alive....when....they finally opened around the 4th of July. They are my favorite flowers and they make me SO happy. We have yellow, pink, white with purple centers and white with pink centers. What beauties!

2010-07-16T15:26:00.001-07:00

Potty Training - Take 1

I wasn't going to document this, but then I thought - hey - this is MY journal and what I write may be beneficial someday OR it just might make me laugh (probably the latter). Just skip this post...just me babbling about not being able to control things (one of my many faults).

So, I decided to finally stop being selfish and cleared my whole day and started the potty training process with Kelsi. A couple weeks ago she had helped pick out some underwear that she liked and the morning of, I wrapped them up and let her open them. She was SOO excited and wanted to put them on right away. I rolled back our area rug (SOOOO much easier to clean up on hardwood than a rug) and we went and sat on our leather entry bench and started to read books (while Kelsi chugged away on juice). Halfway through the books she started to fidget and got off the bench, I hesitated a little too long and she had an accident. I gasped a bit and quickly picked her up and said "No, Kelsi, we go peepee in the potty" and then I put her on her elmo potty and she went a TINY bit more. She got a sticker on her chart and a M&M.I told her it was OK, but that when she needed to go she should tell me and we would sit on the potty. She said "Oh, okay!" I rinsed out her panties and ran upstairs to throw them in the laundry when Kelsi yelled "MOMMY...I'M WET!!!" I ran back to see she had another accident at the foot of the stairs. Again, I picked her up and put her on the potty, but she must have got it all out, because she was DONE. We read LOTS of more books in the bathroom while she sat on the potty, but no more peepee.

She really wanted to watch her favorite show "Ni Hao Kailan" and so I told her she could watch it while she sat on the potty. She did and still no peepee.

THEN we had a snack (and more juice of course) and after we were done, we went back to the potty and had her sit on it while we sang EVERY song I could think of (still no peepee). We went back into the living room and watched the DVD "Potty Power" that someone let me borrow. She liked it and when it was over, we tried the potty again and still NOTHING. She wanted to watch Kailan again and I told her not until she went potty. At this point it had been 1.5 hours since her last accident and she had 4 glasses of juice. She started to whine and cry that she "didn't like her potty". While she was still crying, I put her on the potty again and tried to be as soothing yet excited as I could be, but she just whined and whined and cried and cried. She calmed down when I took her off the potty and just a few minutes later she ERUPTED in screams. She cried so hard she was hyperventilating and started to not make ANY sense. She first said "I have to go potty, I want to sit on my potty" Which she did for 2 seconds and stood up screaming looking REALLY confused. Then the insanity really broke loose.

"I want you to change my bum!!" (Picture each word separated by 3 seconds of trying to catch her breath from screaming). I gave up and said she could wear her pull ups. I put one on her but she continued to scream and ask me to change her bum. She said it hurt and she had an owie. When I asked her where it hurt, she told me "my bum". She sobbed that she "wanted to go home", "wanted to go to sleepy", "wanted to sleep in Daddy's bed", "wanted to sit on the counter", "wanted to lay on the floor". This insanity went on for 40 minutes.

The thought occurred to me that she might be constipated because I had only ever seen her this upset a few months ago when she was in fact constipated (and even that only lasted 15 minutes or so). I felt SO bad that she was in so much pain and I kept telling her that she was a good girl and she could go "poopoo" in her pull up and it was OK. FINALLY after I could think of NOTHING else to do to help her I asked her if she wanted me to say a prayer. She sobbed that she did and folded her arms. I just asked Heavenly Father that Kelsi would feel better and ended it quickly. No sooner had we said "amen" that Kelsi looked at me and SMILED and said "I'm happy mommy!" She stood up and said "I wont potty on the floor, or on the couch or on the piano...just on the bench" (where we were sitting when we prayed). I realized that she MUST have pooped, so I checked her bum and she had PEED. BIG time. Like she had been holding it the WHOLE time (which she was). She held it for a total of just over 2 hours and 40 minutes of it she was in a lot of pain and just wouldn't let it out because......?????????????? I DONT KNOW!! I don't know if I scared her, if she was just confused and it was normal. If she just isn't quite ready. I just don't know.

She was super happy after that, ate lunch, took a nap. When she woke up she told me when she was pooping and once when she was going "peepee", but she didn't want to go in the potty.

Since Kelsi is afraid of EVERYTHING, I was worried that I was pushing her too far and she would develop ANOTHER irrational phobia. So, we were done for the day. I took today off from training because I was so stressed out about it yesterday, but may give it another shot this weekend. I tried bribing with M&M's & she has a sticker chart - but they didn't seem to help. I may have her teach her doll to go potty or try naked potty training (her, not me of course) :) We were going to try it with a friend, but her friend ended up having to start early so she may have it down before we can get the two of them together. I know it will happen eventually. Maybe I will wait until after my trip to CA. Maybe I will make my mom or older and wiser sister do it for me. HINT HINT!

2010-07-15T16:07:00.000-07:00

This summer...so far

I have been a horrible picture taker lately. I used to keep my camera with me at all times, but...not so much anymore. This July it FINALLY became summer in Northern Idaho. Kelsi has been able to chill at the splash pad (not pictured), beach on the lake (not pictured again), at the pool at the Kroc center (nope, so pic) and out on the boat (again....NOT PICTURED). BOO to me.

We took a mini family "vacay" to Clarkston to visit friends over the 4th weekend. The night of the 3rd a bunch of us got together to roast s'mores and let the kids go crazy with the fireworks. WORST NIGHT EVER FOR KELSI. She HATED the fireworks and screamed for an hour straight before we just took her home. She kept saying "I hate the noise! I want to cover my eyes!" So, on the 4th, we decided to put her to bed and lay low...it was a GREAT decision.

We had a BBQ with friends that was SO much fun (no pics of course). I will just have to keep the pictures in my memory. I was able to have my favorite mexican food and see some of my favorite people, so overall it was a great trip! I DID snap a few pics of the cute kiddos of course.

Can you all tell wha't happening in this picture? Kelsi won't come up because of the plants. Grant is showing her it's nothing to be afraid of.

We took a family walk at the river. These two little ones used to get pushed up and down this stretch when they were itty bitty's and their mama's used to walk this stretch when they were pregnant with them! Now they are running ahead. Time is FLYING.

I gotta find some places like this in CDA. They just threw rocks into the river FOREVER.

This activity also kept them entertained FOREVER.

I am going to try REALLY hard to be better about pictures. Summer is flying by. I can't believe it's half over already.

In other news, I took my first real shot at potty training Kelsi today.....all I can say is that girl has bladder CONTROL!!! (not in a good way) More about this topic another day.

2010-06-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

Latest and greatest

Here are a few pis of the latest happenings in our neck of the woods. I threw a baby shower for this pretty lady. She has three cute girls and is welcoming a BOY this September into her family.

Congrats, Leslie!

A few friends from Clarkston came up for the shower, including one of Kelsi's favorite people. She was in heaven and wanted to be everywhere Ali was.
Cute shot from Father's Day.

Kelsi is really good at not getting out of her bed and she usually sleeps in until 8am so the transition to a twin bed from crib was pretty easy. However, sometimes she doesn't nap - but just plays on her bed. This day, she really was tired.

Clifford, the big red dog came to town a few weeks ago. All the other little kids took their pic with Clifford and were content. Kelsi took about 5 pics with him and then wanted to go back for a hug and then wanted to go back again for a kiss and then AGAIN to hold his hand. It was really cute, but I felt a little bad for Clifford.

John's sister Jalyn moved to MS. We are sad that she is gone. Kelsi will really miss her as well.

This is a whole new adventure for her and we are excited for her journey. We love and miss you Jalyn!

2010-06-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

Memories from A-Z - Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Angel Games. I cannot count the number of Angel's games that I have been to. My Dad used to and still does get multiple tickets throughout the season (great seats!) to watch the Angels play. The only time he does not cheer for them is when they play the Red Sox. I now do the same.

Bishop. My Dad was bishop throughout most of my childhood in my ward growing up. He served for almost 8 years.

Cards. My Dad likes to play cards. We would like to have rummy matches and still like to play some type of card game when we are together. I also remember him playing cribbage with my grandpa when he was still alive.

Death by chocolate. My Dad is a self-proclaimed chocoholic. Thanks Dad for passing along the trait.

Entertaining. From his laugh (my sisters know the "real" laugh I'm talking about) to his funny faces in almost every picture with my mom. My Dad is a bit of a jokester and is always looking for the humor in things.

Freeway. My Dad has such a long commute. It is a little better since they moved a couple years ago, but he seems to always be on one freeway or another.

Gospel. He has a great understanding of the restoration of the gospel. He is a wealth of knowledge and I know if I have any question about anything in regards to religion that he will have an answer for it (3 hours later after answering 20 other questions that I didn't even know I had). :)

Handy. He is pretty good at doing things himself. However, one time when we lived in La Puente he was fixing something in the bathroom and he was looking at directions and saying that he couldn't read it and seemed frustrated. I took a look at the instructions and he was reading them upside down....in French. :)

Intelligent. My father seems to know so much about any topic. I could say, "Did you hear about xyz" and he would already be well versed on the subject.

Joy. I love seeing my Dad with his grandchildren. I have seen the face of joy in him.

Kisses. I remember when I was young my Dad would come at me with a fish face kiss. I thought it was so gross that I would run away. He thought he was hilarious. "Why won't you give your Dad a kiss?"

Linda. My Dad loves my mom. They always went out on a date each week. He holds her hand, smacks her bum gives her sweet kisses. He treats her with respect and has been an example to my sisters and I of how a husband should treat his wife.

Missionary. I loved and still love to hear stories about my Dad's mission in Ecuador. He has had so many spiritual experiences that have shaped his life. He continues to be a great missionary today.

Notes. I have several notes/letters/emails that my Dad has written to me over the years, especially when I was having a hard time that have meant a lot to me.

Open. My Dad has always been very easy to talk to. I feel that he has always been open and honest with me.

Pride. Or should I say the "P" word. My Dad does not like this word and would rather say that he is "pleased".

Quiet. Don't laugh. I know that he is one of the loudest people we know. I am talking about how quiet he is in the morning. I've always liked this about him. He always got up before anyone else to get ready and leave for work and still does. I think he is SO quiet and is very considerate of everyone else who is still sleeping.

Rowdy. Funny that this should fall after being quiet! However, I can remember many sporting events where my Dad was threatened by the ref to be quiet. He may have been thrown out...can't quite remember.

Scriptorian. He knows his stuff.

Tailgater. My Dad likes to hug every one's bumper. It's a little scary....especially if you haven't driven with him for almost 30 years. He is pretty aggressive.

Understanding. He has been a great listener over the years and non-judgemental.

Victorian. I always think of my Dad when I see a Victorian home. He has always liked them, probably because he is from Boston.

W (the letter W) - I remember playing charades with my family one night and I don't remember what my Dad was trying to act out, but I do remember a very tall man laying on his back with his legs up in the air trying to make a "W". I also remember that we couldn't finish the game for a while because we were all laughing so hard.

X. I really couldn't think of anything that started with an "X" so I will just say that my Dad is "X-tra" loved!

Young at heart. My Dad still enjoys cartoons and he is great at playing with his grandchildren.

Zealous. My Dad is zealous is everything he does. He is a devoted father, husband, ward missionary, employee, friend, brother, son, etc.

2010-06-10T16:08:00.000-07:00

SWIM

We enrolled Kelsi in swim lessons at a private home in Hayden. I wasn't expecting much. I hoped she would at least get in the water. Kelsi surprised us because she ended up being the most vocal and excited kid there. She was also the youngest (the other kids were 3.5 and 4.5). She would shout out "I LOVE THE WATER" or "I LIKE THIS" at random times which got everyone around laughing. Here are a few pics that I snapped during her swim time.

Having a splash party

Sometimes she turned around so the water wouldn't get in her face, but she laughed the whole time.She played ring around the rosey. The other moms were really helpful, clapping and saying encouraging things to Kelsi everytime she did something brave like go under the water. She would come out of the water looking scared and then a split second later she was basking in the spotlight and the attention of all the "hoorays".

She learned how to Tigger Hop (bounce across the pool). The first week of lessons, the teacher held her and bounced across the pool until I realized that Kelsi was the same height as the 3 year old that was tigger hopping. We realized that Kelsi could touch the floor and she did really good at holding her chin up so the water wouldn't go in her mouth.

Kelsi liked to stand on the "frog" and jump in to Ms. Diane.

Her teacher let her go under the water a few times when she jumped in. She did fine, but the next day she was timid about jumping in and said "I don't wanna go under the water". Broke my heart.

This is Kelsi attempting to be a pancake. The start of learning how to float. Kelsi would just curl up and cuddle with Ms. Diane instead of laying flat....she was a little nervous, but I am so proud of her for doing it and not crying.

Swimming under the water!

Blow this picture up. It makes me laugh. This is Kelsi doing her "puffer cheeks". I don't really know if she was really holding her breath since her cheeks are so chubby to begin with.

Here is Kelsi practicing her kicking. She also used a kick board and practiced "reaching and pulling".

I am so glad that we decided to put Kelsi in swimming so young. After class today all the kids got to pick one toy that they wanted to take home (Kelsi picked a football) and they got a certificate and a coupon for a free kid scoop at TCBY. Kelsi really loved it and I will probably put her into another class this winter.

2010-06-01T19:06:00.000-07:00

Jalyn's Reception

We celebrated the marriage of Jalyn and Bryce this weekend. Due to horrible rainy weather, Jalyn had to move the party indoors, but it looked great and you would NEVER have known it was a last minute effort. It was beautiful. Congrats to you both.

As was her dress.....LOVED it!

Kelsi hung out with the whole family.

But these two were the cutest ever! Hailey and Kelsi are best cousins. They are only 5 weeks apart and had SO much fun together.

They just danced non-stop.

Or played ring around the Rosy.

By the end of the night she was exhausted...which is just the way we like her! :)

2010-05-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

BIRTHDAYS

This week I was able to celebrate the birthday of two fantastic women! Earlier last week I drove down to Clarkston to celebrate my friend Jenny's bday. I love Jenny! She doesn't read this blog BUT she is an extremely loyal and loving friend. She is beautiful, always looks FABULOUS...(seriously...ALWAYS), and would do anything for those she cares about. She takes friendships seriously and I miss her all the time!

I also got to celebrate my "new" friend Cathy's bday. Cathy and I moved to Coeur d'Alene at the same time (our homes closed the same week) so I think we were destined to be good friends. In the 9 months that I have known Cathy she has CRACKED me up with her hilarity (is that a word?), impressed me with her FANTASTIC cooking skills, humbles me with her continuous positive attitude and outlook on life AND she is my Zumba partner in crime. I could go on - but you get the idea.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LADIES!!!! The world is definitely better because of you!

2010-05-20T16:55:00.000-07:00

Daddy

"Daddy's home, Daddy's home, shout HOORAY!

Daddy's home, Daddy's home, time to PLAY!"

That is the little song we made up and that Kelsi loves to dance and sing whenever John gets home from work. It's the cutest thing and John just eats it up! I'll have to get it on tape one of these days.

While Kelsi is definitely a mama's girl at this stage in her life....she sure loves her Daddy.

He tells her stories....

Plays hide-and-seek

Teaches her how to be a dare-devil...

(I just thought this one was cute)

...and walks JUST like him. Poor girl inherited the Calderwood walk. HA!

and not only does she walk like him, she loves to walk in Daddy's shoes....literally.

John is such a wonderful Dad! We love you.

2010-05-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

I LOVE THIS THING

John bought me a heart rate monitor watch and chest strap for Mother's Day. I was SO excited because I have been asking for one. I really enjoy working out (for the most part) and in an effort to get some motivation to stop eating so much - this little baby is a gem!

It's not cheap, but not super pricey (like the body bug - which would be awesome)and it tells me all I need to know - heart rate, calories, duration - you know - basic stuff.

I used it this week for Boot Camp 3 times, Step 1 time and Zumba once and anyone want to guess which one burned the most calories?????? Give up?? OK, I'll tell you......ZUMBA! YAY! I burned between 600-650 calories in the other classes, but Zumba came in with a whopping 746 calories! The kicker is I LOVE IT SO MUCH that it doesn't even feel like I am exercising - well it does, I'm dripping with sweat and breathing super hard - but it is SO much fun that the time flies by and I am EXCITED to go each time.

Now if only I could do something about my sweet tooth. :)

2010-05-09T18:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day

I couldn't let today go by without simply expressing my feelings about motherhood. My mom is spectacular. She possessed all the characteristics that a good mother should have. She was patient, kind, nurturing, compassionate, loving, firm but gentle, smart, talented and firmly rooted in her testimony of the importance of developing a personal relationship with the Savior. I don't know if I will ever live up to her example of what it means to be a mother, but it is something I strive to accomplish.

I am so thankful to be a mother. Kelsi has been such a blessing and has brought us so much joy. I never thought I could love and worry so much! She teaches me every day and I am eternally grateful for the opportunity that I have to be her Mother.

(I know my moms smile is a lot more enthusiastic than mine....but I was her second baby and she is just plain tougher than me.)

2010-04-20T12:56:00.000-07:00

Family Pictures

We met up with Rendy Tucker (of Rendy Tucker Photography) at Manito Park in Spokane. I felt very gloomy as we got in the car to drive to the park, because the skies were dark and it just started to rain. I said a little prayer that I would just relax and enjoy the process rain or shine (come what may and love it - right?) as we were crossing into WA and no kidding....once we were a little passed the Spokane Valley Mall the sky became blue and the rain had passed through. YAY! It was a bit breezy and my feet were numb from the soggy grass, but well worth it. Kelsi wasn't very cooperative. Better than last year, but she really wanted to just play with sticks, flowers and Rendy's props - not smile for the camera. Rendy is so talented that she was able to get a few that we LOVE. Thanks, Rendy! We'll miss you when you move in a few months.

Kelsi started off in a bad mood so we swung her around to get her smiling.

Rendy bought this umbrella and Kelsi LOVED it. We have MANY umbrella shots.

I love Kelsi's smirk in this picture. Her personality is so much fun.

Let me just say that it is SO hard to look at 70 pictures of your beautiful little girl and only pick a few. It was a rather fast process to pick a couple family pics that we liked....but the ones of just her was torture to decide between.

2010-04-11T17:11:00.001-07:00

Family Fun

My parents flew in for a few days. It was SO good to see them. Sadly, the weather was overcast, windy and even some hail. But no weather could stand in the way of our fun!

Kelsi loved spending time with her "Gamma and Pa".

We went to Riverfront Park in Spokane. Kelsi didn't want to ride the carousel (I hope this changes by the summer when we take her to Disneyland). At first, she didn't even want to play on the SLIDE. But eventually, she was having soo much fun that we literally had to take her away kicking and screaming.

We took a gondola skyride over the Spokane falls. It was pretty, but not worth the $7. Better to walk down the stairs of the falls....less money and more exercise.

Kelsi did NOT want to take a ride in the gondola, but she ended up being fine halfway through (notice that look on her face of -" I'm going to throw up any second"). Oh yeah, she also loves sticks. So, we let her hold a few while we were on it....it helped.

She loved talking on Pa's iPhone and scrolling through the pictures.

T for "too cute". One of her favorite things at the park was to feed the ducks and geese.

Thanks for the fun Mom and Dad. We miss you and look forward to seeing you this summer!

2010-04-11T17:02:00.000-07:00

EASTER

We had a great Easter this year. When I told Kelsi that the Easter Bunny came by overnight and left her some presents, she asked if he left them under the Christmas tree. SO funny!

She loved the bunny that was left. She wants to take it everywhere with her.
Here she is looking for eggs around the house.

Finding some eggs!

and decorating John with her Easter grass.

We ended the day with a HUGE family feast. We are thankful for the time we had to spend together and to reflect on the the wonderful atonement and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

2010-04-02T13:10:00.000-07:00

The Bed

I have "lost" a lot of the building process pictures...I can't find them anywhere on my computer...WEIRD! Anyway, in January I came across a really cool blog called Knockoffwood. Ana is truly amazing and has TONS of plans to build your own knock-off Pottery Barn furniture. You'll be hooked....consider yourself warned. I have 2 friends that already built stuff and another one that is getting ready to start. It is super addicting. ANYWAY, Kelsi is almost 2.5 so I thought I would tackle making her a bed. CRAZY, I know!! ME???!!!

SOOOO....I printed out my plans (she gives a detailed shopping list of the lumber you will need) and grabbed the truck and headed on down to Home Depot. The man in the lumber department looked very doubtful when I told him I was making a bed, but pointed me in the right direction for all the sizes I would need. I got a HUGE and I mean HUGE splinter in my hand while I was picking my lumber and pushing that big 'old flat of wood with my hurt hand gave me a few doubts about my plans, I have to admit...but I purchased it all. I also had to buy a few supplies:

Lumber - which is supposed to cost about $100, but I sprung for a few boards that were knot free and pretty so, my total came out just under $140. Then I bought wood glue, 2 & 2.5 in. screws, L-brackets (not necessary, but I bought some anyway) & 1 gallon of paint (didn't even use half of it). Total cost of my bed was just under $200. It was a little more than I planned on...but I spent more on the wood, which I didn't need to do once we got to the next step.

The next day, I took all my wood to my MIL house. Her neighbor has a shop FILLED with the most AWESOME tools. We made all of our measurements and then took them over and cut then with his sliding miter saw (more about this later) and then sent them through the planer to get them sanded (this is why I didn't need the nice wood, that tool is AWESOME. Lost pictures of this. Very sad) I LOVED using the saw. I was smiling the whole time. (My bro-in-law Bryce showed me the correct way to cut).

The next step was to assemble the headboard and footboard. SO EASY. We used wood glue to press all of the planks together and then used a top/bottom trim piece and used a nail gun to nail it all together.

Then came the tricky part and I am SO glad that my MIL and Bryce were there to help me with. We couldn't find the 4.5 in. screws that were listed in the plans and my MIL had the brilliant idea of using L-brackets. We threw a little extra wood glue in and screwed them in place.
We pre-drilled all our holes so we wouldn't end up splitting the wood.

After the headboard and footboard were put together, my FIL and Bryce loaded them back in my truck for me and I took them home and filled the holes will wood putty, let it dry and then sanded them down again. Then I primed them with two coats of some primer I already had around the house.

Then I painted them both with Mosaic White paint (I can't believe how many choices of paint there are! - sorry I don't have a pic of them just painted). I gave them about 2-3 coats of paint. I also painted the side trim and the support beams (not pictured).

I hauled all the wood upstairs into Kelsi's room (John helped of course with the headboard) and put him to work assembling it. Here is where we ran into a few problems. My biggest rookie mistake was pre-cutting EVERYTHING. SOOOO...my measurements were off very slightly on a lot of my pieces of lumber. The support beams were just 3/8in. off and I thought I was going to have to go buy another 2X4, but John said he could work with it. If you look closely on the support beam and cleat on the right hand side of the picture, you will see a gap. Once we had it all together, it just did not seem sturdy enough with the gaps, so I went back and bought MORE L-brackets and we used them to give the bed more support.

Then I put all the slats in place and it was ready for a mattress!

TA-DA!!!!

I love this little quilt. It has so many different textures to it. It's DARLING.

Kelsi loves to jump on, run on and sit on her bed. But does NOT like to sleep on it. Oh well, all in good time.

She's so big I can't stand it.

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED:

1. I'm awesome (ok, I already knew that - LOL!)

2. CUT TO MEASURE, DO NOT pre-cut!!!!! A lot of my wood does not lay flush with the other wood because of this. So sad.

3. Going back, I would have done a toddler bed so I could get all my rookie mistakes out on it before I made the bed I want her to be in until she goes to college.

4. Listen to my friend Leslie (who built two of these beds for her girls) and shorten the legs of the headboard so it isn't SOOO huge.

5. Need to buy a paint sprayer to get a more professional look. I had to brush paint it, and while it has a rustic look to it, it's not the total look I prefer.

6. I am at TOTAL odds with the side trim. Since I don't have a box spring, it is a PAIN in the REAR to make. UGH. My hand gets all bruised from that darn thing. I am soooo close to ripping it off and just drilling in a frame to the headboard/footboard as one of my friends suggested. OR I could put a box spring in, BUT the bed is so high already that Kelsi can't get in by herself. So, I am still wrestling with that one.

OK, sorry for the ridiculously long post, but someone (my sister) wanted ALL the details. I hope this suffices.

All in all, I had a LOT of fun, I learned TONS and now my hubby is going to buy me tools! I already have a few other things I want to build from her site: a headboard for our guest room bed, a night stand for Kelsi, a end table for our living room, an entryway bench, a kids picnic table. I just can't get enough!!!! (One project at a time)

2010-03-30T14:15:00.000-07:00

Little projects

I have been keeping busy up in North Idaho. I FINALLY got around to whipping up some flower clips for Kelsi's hair (did I ever post about her haircut? - She hated every second of it, we cut 4 inches off, not many people can tell because her hair is still long, but it has helped with the tangles issue). ANYWAY....I haven't made any since Kelsi was like 6 months old so I made her a bunch of spring-like clips. She likes them, but she is funny about holding them. She will only hold them by the petal so she doesn't have to touch the "plant" part. Weirdo.

We also got around to installing the hardware on our cabinets. Here are a few before and afters. The knobs were a piece of cake to install, but the pulls were a little nasty. However, we love the finished product!

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Oh, and I made this thing with my two little hands (don't you worry, I got a WHOLE post dedicated to this puppy at the end of this week).

2010-03-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

Just in case...

anyone is missing this face...here she is!

"Pretending to sleep"

Her favorite past time (I love walking in and seeing what she is up to)
Discovering new things...

Playing peek-a-boo

Grinning from ear to ear from Daddy's Valentines day gift to his daughter.

2010-03-06T11:52:00.000-08:00

Greener Pastures

WARNING: This post is purely for myself. Lots of gushing and blubbering. Consider yourself warned.

Yesterday the Calderwood Family lost two members of their family. Our dogs were adopted by a nice couple in Spirit Lake, just north of CDA. They live on 5 fenced acres, have grandchildren and have raised a fair amount of their own labs in the past. You may be asking WHY we would do this, well....on one hand it was purely selfish reasons. Our small once well manicured backyard was being mangled by two cooped-in active dogs. On the other hand, our dogs were EXTREMELY lonely. They have not been allowed in the house since we moved here and labs especially need human interaction. They were not being taken on walks....they were just neglected. Long gone are the days when John was able to take them mountain biking with him on the weekends, or down to the river on his days off. John was their best friend (besides each other). With John being so busy since we moved here, the dogs have grown lonely. We decided to give them away last summer when we first moved into our new home, but when it came down to it, we decided not to because we just loved them too much. 6 months later, we have come to the conclusion that it is the best for both sides.

My sister who is moving to CA volunteered to take one dog, but John felt that if we could find them a good home where they could stay together, that would be best. They have never spent a night apart and even when we bought them two doghouses they refused to sleep in their own. They would rather be squished up together than apart.

We drove the dogs to their new home last night. They were SO excited just to be somewhere new. Their new home is huge filled with tall trees. Their owners have a fenced in kennel that is bigger than our backyard with a homemade HUGE doghouse. It was so hard walking away, but we have exchanged information and have promised to be dog sitters whenever they go out of town and they said that we were welcome to call or come visit anytime we wanted to see the dogs.

We are filled with a lot of guilt and I spontaneously start crying at random times. I grew up with labs and when I think about when they died it still brings me to tears. Giving the dogs away is a very similar experience for me.

I can't help but reminisce about playing hide and go seek with the dogs in the house when they were little, or when I would go out of town and John let them sleep on the BED with them (yuck), Chloe's tender heart where she ALWAYS looked like we just beat her if we were ever said a stern word to her, how excited they would get when they would see John's bikes, how one day I couldn't find Lucky in the yard and then found him sitting in the back of John's truck, and how if you sat on the floor Lucky would still climb in your lap like he was a puppy and want to be held (there go the tears again). The last 4 years have been a fun adventure. I hope their new owners realize how special they are. Here are A LOT OF pics for your viewing pleasure.

Here is Lucky and Chloe the first day we brought them home. They were litter mates and we really just wanted Lucky, but Chloe QUICKLY wrapped John around her paw and we took them BOTH home. They were EASY pups. They kept each other company and only ever had ONE chewing incident.

While I loved BOTH my dogs, I don't think it was a secret that Lucky was my boy.

The dogs LOVE water.

See what I mean about the cuddling?

We would wake up in the morning and they would be on the same bed.

Classic Lucky.

Classic John with the dogs. As much as I love those dogs, John loved them a tiny bit more.

GOOD DOGS!!!

2010-02-13T14:04:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the family (almost)

The North Idaho Calderwood's went out to dinner last night to celebrate the engagement of Jalyn and Bryce. We ate A LOT, enjoyed each others company and all in all had a fun time.

The lovebirds.

Proud parents

The cutest little gringa ever.

2010-01-26T19:45:00.000-08:00

Happy 29th to ME!

I have been really bad at taking pictures lately. Last week my friends Lacey, Trisha & Jenny drove up from Clarkston and Leslie and I met them in Spokane for lunch. It was SOOOO good to see them and we had a lot of fun. I brought my camera....but forgot to take any pics. Then, on my bday our monthly book club was scheduled and the sweet ladies made me a cake. It was unexpected and so nice (and yummy). AND I forgot to take any pictures. After John got off from work, we went out to dinner (forgot to take pics AGAIN), so the below is all I have to document my bday.

John made me my favorite bday cake. It tasted GREAT! I told him that I couldn't have done it any better. He even made my favorite frosting from scratch.
Kelsi was great for me on my bday (mainly because she spent most of the day occupied with the babysitting co-op that I am in so I could meander the mall by myself - John joined me on his lunch break - and I treated myself to a late lunch at Cafe Chulo).

I have a feeling that 29 is going to be a good year for me (despite that I blew out all 29 candles but NOT the good luck candle). How could I not have a good year with a fun hubby and a sweet little angel face for a daughter.

2010-01-24T13:38:00.000-08:00

We took Kelsi's Binky away just over a week ago. Actually, she just decided she didn't want it anymore. The fear I had of sleepless nights was only in my head thank goodness. HOWEVER, Kelsi will NOT take a nap and hasn't since she decided she didn't want her Bink anymore. I even OFFERED her the Bink one day because she REALLY needed a nap. She just said "NO! and pushed it away. She doesn't cry and fight me putting her down, she just talks, laughs, squeals & plays for 2 hours and then I get her up. Around 4-5pm she is overly tired and isn't at her best self. The only time she napped this week, was 15 minutes in the car when we were running errands late one afternoon, and then for about an hour (30 minutes in the car and 30 minutes on the couch) on another late afternoon. I don't like this. She's 2 and still needs her naps. Maybe not everyday, but at least a couple times a week! I hope she snaps out of it soon. ANYWAY, since she likes to play in her crib, she has decided that she needs more than the one allotted stuffed animal and book that John and I give her.

She has done this a few times this week without my knowledge, until I go to put her down. What a stinker!!

2010-01-15T20:54:00.000-08:00

"P" party

For Personal Progress night, I planned a "P" party for the girls and they got SO into it and seemed to have a lot of fun. They all wore as many things that started with a "P"(prizes for the winners) and we had pizza, pretzels and "pink & purple" pop!
The girls that I get to work with are just amazing. I feel very blessed to know every one of them.

2010-01-06T20:16:00.000-08:00

To cut or not to cut

I keep going back and forth. Should I cut her hair or let it grow? This pic is Kelsi's hair half dry out of the bath. It's so stinkin' gorgeous. I wish I could bottle her color and she has the prettiest waves. When it is wet in the tub, it is down to her mid-lower back. It's SUPER thick.

The benefits of having it long:

1) So beautiful

2) ponytails

3)More options for hair-do's

Benefits to having it short:

1) less tangles

2) not having Kelsi scream while I "do" her hair??? (I guess she may still do this)

Hmmmmm......

2010-01-01T20:07:00.000-08:00

Happy 2010

We hope that everyone had a great New Years. We were joined by our friends who drove up from Clarkston to crash at our place. We went to dinner with some more friends and then came back to our house and played games and hot tubbed it. John and Dan continued the tradition of competition by seeing who could last the longest in the snow before jumping back in the hot tub. Pretty funny stuff. I wish I took some pictures....but I only snapped the one below.

This is of Kelsi and Grant giving each other a big hug. It kind of makes me teary eyed the longer I look at it.

I told John that I was happy to see 2009 go. Was it a bad year? Not really, but it was just FULL of change. Change in a big way for everyone in our family. I'm not a big fan of change. However, that change is teaching us so much about patience, humility, service, gratitude, friendship and love. We are very thankful for what the last year has taught us and are looking forward to the trials and blessings that await us in 2010.....but SEE YA later 2009!

I love my little family SO much. I definitely feel like the luckiest! :)

2009-12-25T21:14:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We had a wonderful Christmas. Kelsi is in a "I hate taking pictures phase" and we couldn't get a family pic, but here is the only one I got of Kelsi and I.....

and of course she smiles for her Daddy!

Kelsi was a little overwhelmed with Christmas this year (yup, that is a potty behind her....we are just letting it hang out for now. Mama is still not ready for that yet).

She loved the sunglasses that Santa left in her stocking.

We had John's parents over for breakfast and John cooked us a DELICIOUS breakfast.

Kelsi's spread. John and I didn't really do Christmas for each other this year and we focused on Kelsi.....I have to admit I had a little bit of buyers remorse. She was overwhelmed with the amount of toys that she now owns. I guess I can justify it by saying that I never buy her toys during the year, so she gets a big load in December (her bday and Christmas....it has to last her until next year). We are considering putting some of the toys away and bringing them out every few months.

This is Kelsi rushing in to see what Santa left her. When I got her up this morning, I asked her if she wanted to open her presents and her eyes lit up and she said "Christmas tree??" I told her she was right, we were going to open the presents under the Christmas tree, and she couldn't get down the stairs fast enough.

Kelsi and her Daddy dancing to some Christmas music.

Mom - I want to apologize in advance for the next couple pictures. Kelsi would NOT let me take a picture of her in her Christmas dress. BUT...she loved it She kept spinning around in it. She was really cute.

The 3T fit my big girl perfectly (maybe an inch longer than it should have been, but otherwise PERFECT!) Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Manderino!

We had a very nice Christmas Eve dinner with friends and Christmas dinner with family. We feel very blessed and are thankful to celebrate the birth of our savior.

2009-12-14T10:32:00.000-08:00

2 year stats

Kelsi had her well child check up today. She's still a BIG girl!

36.5 in tall - 98%

(I can't believe she is over 3 feet). Isn't there something about you just double their height at 2 and you will get their adult height. 6'1''?????? She will be the tallest girl on either side of the family if that is true! Wowee.

31 lbs 8 oz. - 93%

Looks like our daughter is an "A" student. :)

2009-12-09T14:59:00.000-08:00

More bday

Here are some more pics from Kelsi's big day. John and I blew up a bunch of balloons the night before. When Kelsi woke up the next morning, she couldn't get down the stairs fast enough.

She opened up here presents from mom and dad and Gma and Gpa Manderino. I loved her expressions as she opened her presents.

I don't know who was more excited about this present, me or Kelsi. She loves her kitchen.

Sad thing about the balloons, is that I let the air out of all of them except one after she went to bed. The next morning she ran downstairs by herself saying "Boons!" and was a little disappointed that they were all gone.
We had family and a couple of Kelsi's oldest friends over for cake and ice cream.

She opened a few more presents and had a blast playing with her new toys.

This is my first attempt at decorating a bday cake. This is Kelsi's present cake. Simple idea I got from my great friend the Internet.

It took few tries to get the candles to go out. Kelsi blows by making the "F" sound.

She loved her cake, but didn't care too much for the sherbet.

Kelsi was an angel the whole day until about an hour before bedtime. She is VERY protective of her new toys and did not like it one bit when her "friend" Katelyn wanted to play with them too. Kelsi was throwing such a fit, that I grabbed her and took her down the hall for a time out and Katelyn ran after me saying "Spank her, spank her!!". Made my night.

2 years of Kelsi Lynn

2009-12-08T14:01:00.001-08:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

2009-12-06T10:05:00.000-08:00

Good times

When my friend Leslie called and asked if I wanted to make a trip down to Clarkston with her I was right on board! We are fortunate enough that it was our old ward's Christmas party and we were able to see all of our friends. It felt like coming home.

Kelsi also got to play with this cute guy.

They had a lot of fun with a few moments of fighting over who had what toy first. Kelsi is still asking for "Gant" and "Owie"(ali).

2009-12-06T10:02:00.000-08:00

Wreath

This is a pic of my Winter wreath that yours truly made herself!! I need to get a red bow for it to cover the wreath hook, but I am pretty proud of myself. I am glad that I ended making one by myself because if I made the same thing with someone else, I know mine wouldn't look half as good as theirs. So, move over Martha....Karina's just getting started.

2009-11-28T12:55:00.000-08:00

Season of thanks

I am thankful for so many things that I couldn't let a Thanksgiving go by without listing a few of my blessings.

I am thankful for a loving husband who is also a terrific, involved father.

I am thankful for those who came before us and the example that they have set. John's grandma Betty was in town for Thanksgiving and Kelsi got some reading time in.
I am thankful for food to eat. I have never gone hungry and I take for granted that my pantry is full and that all I have to do is figure out which food I should eat, and not wonder if I was going to get to eat at all.

I am thankful for family. I feel so blessed to have come from amazing parents and that I have 3 awesome sisters. I have been blessed even more by adding 3 more sisters and a brother and two more parents through marriage to John.

I am thankful that Kelsi has cousins that she gets to play with and get to know. The pic below is Kelsi and Hailey born 5 weeks apart.

I am thankful for health and shelter.

I am thankful for pure innocence and joy.

I am thankful for this Holiday season that allows the world to reflect on the birth of our savior Jesus Christ.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and that we all remember the reason for the season.

2009-11-22T11:43:00.000-08:00

They're Baaaack!

Grandma and Grandpa Calderwood came home from a 2 year mission in Cambodia. We are all so happy to have them home and Kelsi is looking forward to getting to know them better. She is warming up to her "Gamma and Pa".

Like father like son. Lloyd was cracking jokes as soon as he stepped off the plane!
Melanie's family, Jalyn & John and I welcomed them at the airport with a banner and flowers.

We feel blessed for their service and are thankful for their strong testimonies of Jesus Christ.

2009-11-13T21:18:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!

My wonderful husband celebrated his 35th bday this week. He had a really busy day, so Kelsi and I took him to lunch

I made him the usual. His favorite "Pudding Cake"

What a ham....

We opened presents. Kelsi was SOOOOO cute. We can't wait for her bday and Christmas. With every rip of wrapping paper, she would say "WOW!" like it was the coolest thing she had ever seen. (BTW - don't you love her bed head?)

John got a very manly tool kit that he has been wanting for a while for his motorcycle as well as a few other things.

Thank you and you're welcome bday kisses.

We had family over for pizza and games and just celebrated the wonderful man who is my husband, John.

Every night I thank my Heavenly Father for John and all the hard work and support that he brings to our family. I am so proud of the man that he is. John is a great husband, father, and friend. We love you!

2009-11-05T21:07:00.000-08:00

BOO to daylight savings

Poor Kelsi....she has been soooo tired lately. She is waking up between 6am-6:30 since daylight savings and we HATE it. We were running errands the other day and I came home for a few minutes before I needed to run another errand, so I put in a Dr. Suess DVD for Kelsi and ran upstairs to fold a few clothes. Literally 5 minutes later, I came out to find Kelsi asleep on the couch. This has NEVER EVER EVER happened. Kelsi ONLY sleeps in her crib or on long car rides and ONLY if she has her binky. Poor kid...she is so off schedule.

Today, she was fighting her nap, so I went upstairs and asked her if she wanted to sit with mommy. I brought her downstairs and she fell asleep on me in about 3 minutes. Again....WHEN DOES THIS HAPPEN??? I savored it for 30 minutes and then took her to her crib. What a sleepy girl.

PS: John and I are FINALLY being strict about Kelsi's binky use. ONLY in bed at naptimes and bed. She was mad about it the first day, but now she happily leaves it behind. I am taking it as a good sign that she fell asleep TWICE this week on her own without that darn bink! And so, the weaning continues....

2009-11-05T18:02:00.000-08:00

I tried to email these to the fam, but for some reason it said it was too big. So, here they are for everyone to see. Kelsi is pretty good at knowing all of her numbers 0-9 (90% of the time)

Learning numbers. John's favorite is "twoooooo".

Kelsi loves this book. Hop on Pop. It is a simple rhyming book. If you listen closely she says two different words that rhyme. The book says things like "all, tall" and "brown, down". She "reads" this book to herself all the time. Sorry it's out of focus.