Craig Corporation

Liney ism's

2011-10-13T11:55:00.000-06:00

Since the last post of hilarious things my children say, I had to add just a few more before I forget them.
That being said, I had about 7 to post and can only remember 3.

Caroline was born tongue tied. For those of you who don't know what that is; the little piece of skin that sticks up under your tongue. Usually it doesn't attach close to the tip. In Liney's case, it did. So we had some speech issues early in life and since she has had the darn thing clipped, she is still relearning some ways to speak. However, these are just plain funny. She thinks this is really how the word is said

WORDS OF THE DAY: (little Foxworthy maybe but still funny)

HORCRUPS= HORCRUX
ANOMANIC= AUTOMATIC
and my personal favorite
ASS KING=ASKING
I don't swear often. I don't normally write it either, but Caroline thought she was swearing every time she would ask for something! We were rolling so hard when this one came out, my tears were streaked across my face!

Love my Liney Lou! She just cracks me up!

Black Island Farms and Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-03T12:54:00.001-06:00

A little blurry as he was moving so much. But we are off to Black Island Farms. This week mom is cool.
Little Miss MacKenzie is 6 months old now and she was awesome at the patch.
JJ found this tunnel and he and his new buddy Wesley had a ball!
They got to ride the tractor ride, pick a pumpkin, and play in the farm. WOW! this is a cool place!
These are just a few of the many pics I took of JJ and MacKenzie. They both were so good and they are both sleeping right now. That is why this post is up so quick. We had so much fun. There were a bunch of people from the ward, we all had a blast. I got some great produce dirt cheap too. JJ loves his pumpkin and wanted to take it to nap time, but it is waiting for him on the kitchen island when he wakes up. Thanks to everyone who helped push my 2 strollers, and we will be adding this to the "to do in the fall" category.

out of the mouth of Caroline and Hunter

2011-09-22T17:09:00.001-06:00

So as I was thinking about what to write this week. I had my Caroline, who is always good for a laugh, say a few things this week. And while I would love to quote them all, I have 1 that just cracked me up. Also, I have one from Hunter.

Last week I had to take Hunter and Caroline to the doctor. They needed a shot. Apparently you need more in Utah than in Florida. Thank goodness these two kids are good about shots. No one cries. They just do it and we are on with life. Well the Dr. office calls and says they are both due for a physical as well. Awesome. So I take them in.

This is the first time they have had to be in a hospital gown to do the physical. I of course do not tell Hunter what she (yes she) is going to be looking at, until right before she comes in.

Quote 1

Hunter: SHE'S GONNA LOOK WHERE?! SHE'S GONNA DO WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN I HAVE TO COUGH! Enough said.

Fast forward to this week Caroline stabbed her middle finger with her pencil. No biggie, but it looked gross. So I take her into the Dr. She then sends us to the xray place next door just to make sure there isn't any lead left in her finger. So true to Caroline, she just cracks people up

The xray tech sends me to the other side of the xray proof wall (whatever) and takes the first picture of Liney's hand palm down. Then turns it palm up

Quote 2

Tech: Okay Caroline, I need you to just show me the middle finger for the xray.

Caroline: NO! Heavenly Father will be mad. I can't show that finger!

Tech: Caroline, this is the only time he won't get mad at you.

Caroline: Oh yes he will! And I will have to repent. And I know it is bad. So that's even worse!

Tech: Caroline, you need to just do it.

Caroline: Well, okay but it's true ya know.

Tech: What's true Caroline?

Caroline: That now we both have to repent. So you better tonight or He's gonna know. (with finger pointing in the air)

So just goes to show, I have wonderfully humorous children. LOVE THEM!! Never a dull moment!

Peace out!

My new anthem

2011-09-13T12:24:00.000-06:00

So it is high time I got back to silly, crazy, Katie. So the song you are now hearing just cracked me up! It is by an artist named MIKA. The song is called Big girls (you are beautiful).

Now it is not just the beat that makes me move or groove, but the lyrics as well. My favorite part being

Diet Coke and a pizza please.

Diet Coke and I'm on my knees,

sayin, big girls, you are beautiful!

If that doesn't make the sum of my parts, then I don't know what will. HA! so enjoy!

Funk

2011-08-30T13:41:00.000-06:00

We have officially been in our house for a month. While it is starting to feel like "mine" I can't help being in a funk.

Not complaining at all. I just can't seem to find my rhythm. Stacey was telling me that usually by now I have my "friend" and yes usually I do. I have that one person I find that gets my weird personality and usually I'm good. I can go on, figure other people out. But as long as I have that "friend" things move smoothly. I just haven't got that person yet, and I don't know if that is keeping me in my funk or what.

The kids and Brent on the other hand area adjusting magically! Abbey loves school. She has a little friend who is adorable. She loves activity days, and she loves church! Hunter is the same. Loves school, scouts, church. Caroline is doing great as well. She loves her teacher, has a little friend, church is awesome and she gets to go to activity days with Abbey. Jackson loves being able to run free in the house and do whatever he feels like. Within reason. MacKenzie loves to chill and just have a ball watching everyone doing whatever it is we are doing. So quick to smile. She is overall a wonderful baby. She is starting to teethe. Which is not fun, but she is coping great. Brent is doing great with his job. The lack of responsibility is good for him. He needed a break from being in charge of everything.

But me? I just can't figure it out. I'm not unhappy, I just can't seem to grip what it is that I need to be doing right now. Brent and I got callings as team teachers in primary. We haven't done that since we were first married. It is kinda fun to think about. Ask me again in a few months after being with the kids for a while;)

Think thats it for now. See ya soon

Happy birthday June people

2011-08-26T10:45:00.000-06:00

For those who don't know Hunter, Caroline, Brent and myself all have a birthday in June. It is usually like Christmas at our house with the amount of sweets and presents roaming. This year was totally different.

1. We moved, 2 times in the month. Sucked, enough said

But Hunter had a great time hanging out with his buddy Bryce for 2 whole weeks before we left. I didn't see him from the day school was out until church that Sunday and then off he was again. He loved it. So for him his birthday was perfect. I felt bad, no party, a few presents, but he was so content.

Caroline had a birthday and a baptism this year. Family from KY was in Rosie and James, Mark and Maria and kids. And my family came in the day we were loading everything up. It was Kelly's first time out to Fl and of course it was a whirlwind tour. We were loading everything, sightseeing, eating. It was just crazy. On the 19 was Carolines baptism. Her dress was amazing. Rosie and Kelly spoke, Katelyn played the piano. It was just beautiful. Stacey was doing a wedding in Atlanta, but Paul brought the kids to see Liney Lou. We went to golden corral after with a huge group and just hung out. It was great.

MacKenzie was blessed on Sunday morning. She did so well. Brent cried. He really is in tune when he gives a blessing. I admire his priesthood and how he holds it so reverently. promptly following the blessing Kelly, Mom, Katelyn left with Abbey and Jackson so they could catch their flight home. Pennie stayed and drove across the country with me and the rest of the family.

Brent and my birthday was celebrated in West Jordan at Pennies house where we had cake and ice cream with the Parkinson's, Oakeson's, mom and us. It was a long day. One that I'm sure I'll forget but hey I'm supposed to right it down. I love my birthday, it's my day. All about me, but this year it sucked. Just sayin. The cake and stuff was awesome but the day itself was just crap. Still, I'm grateful to be around famlily for the kids and I know this move was inspired. I just need to get on board I guess.

Anyway that covers birthday and Blessings, and baptism. Moving on!!!

Time to catch up

2011-08-26T10:31:00.000-06:00

So if I ever needed a kick in the pants last night was the night.

I went to RS and we were talking about family history. Yes, yes I know we have started ours and I was really looking forward to seeing how other people do theirs. However, after the dinner portion, (which was awesome. I met some really cool people) the speakers talked about making their own memories which led to family history. So of course people scrapbook, blog, take pics, so on and so forth. And one of the ladies mentioned how they put everything in their blog. WOW! someone like me. Yes I do keep things pretty nice on here, but this is my journal after all and sometimes you just have a bad day. Yes I do!

So I will be posting some nice baptism memories, and blessing memories. But this post is about Jackson...

When Brent's parents were here a few weeks ago we were having a ball! The kids were in the basement, Brent and James were grillin out back, Rosie and I were chatting while getting the table stuff going and up come Jackson balling!

So I'm trying to figure out what in the world is going on and Caroline comes up and says "well he might be crying because Abbey and I were dragging him on the carpet and he might have a rug burn" So I instantly look at his back and low and behold! He is bleeding on his back in two area's and the rest of his back is in a huge rug rash! OH MY GOODNESS!!! Thank heaven Rosie is a nurse! She ran to the store and got some neosporin and lanacane. I sprayed him with the lanacane (which did not go over well) and she put the neosporin on the bad parts. We gave him some motrin and he fell asleep. over the next few days, it got so much better. I felt like mom of the year for sure. It looked like he was burned with a hot poker or something. It was bad. I felt so low. We aptly grounded the girls and stated to them that under no circumstances if he is laughing or not, we don't drag people on the carpet. I wish I would have pictures to share but honestly I want to forget it even happened.

Jackson part 2.
The day after the rug burn, JJ had an eye appt to see if his eyes needed surgery. This has been a long road back and forth deciding if it is really needed. Long long story short, his eyes are just fine now! Lots of prayers were answered. He is seeing straight and the doctor said his vision is correcting on its own. So thank goodness we don't need a patch, surgery, or glasses. He will probably need glasses eventually because hey, who doesn't. But for us it was a win.

post 1.

2011-08-10T12:53:00.000-06:00

Okay I told everyone each item from the last post deserved its own.

Let's get the gross one out of the way first.

House

After looking for houses for a couple of weeks, we decided on two. One was too nice for us and then there is this one. The size is great, quiet neighborhood, landlords seem really nice. A little aloof, but nice nonetheless.

So up here the kids are in year round school. The landlords didn't want us to have to start the kids late, so they let us in a week early under the condition that we would patch some holes from pictures, clean blinds. Ya know, normal stuff when you move out. I said sure! I like that sort of thing anyway. However, upon move in day there was more than just a little wear and tear.

1. house gross! not just like move out gross, like I haven't ever cleaned my oven gross, or I have 4 boys and they never cleaned a toilet gross! Now I know I have 5 kids, a husband and me. But if I can find time to clean my house, so can you!!!
So while we were moving in boxes, I make Brent go buy a bunch of cleaners so I can get started. The oven was promptly set to self clean as well. So hot in the house but I didn't care. Then I got to work with the elbow grease.
2. They only left 4 blinds in the whole house and they are all broken. So we had to go buy some blinds then some curtain rods and curtains. This must be the first time they have rented a house to someone.
3. The walk through: "I know we didn't leave the house super clean, but we expect it cleaner when you move out" (Katie raises an eyebrow) um, ok. (thinking to myself "I live so much cleaner than this, no problem") Holes in the wall. Okay I see the picture holes no problem. Did you mention the holes in doors. like baseball sized? the towel bars pulled from the walls? hmmmm. Well good thing I know how to patch right? Your island counter has chunks taken out from it, did you know that too? Your stove has a heating element that has been fried, did you know? of course not, you would have to clean under the drip pans to see that!!!
Let's just say I marked everylittle think on that list so I am not held responsible.

On the upside. I love the neighborhood, the house is big for everyone to have their own room. Babies are sharing though. They did spend money in some good places. Bathrooms are gorgeous,(when cleaned that is) and they upgraded the flooring on the main level. Lighting is beautiful. Yard is fenced and green grass everywhere!

Once it was cleaned, I truly am loving this home. I am making small adjustments to the house. New light fixtures in the girls rooms from IKEA. Love that store! and bedding and paint. All in all it has become my home. I hope when the landlords come over they see how much I really have done to improve the house.
I'm a bit overbearing with how my house looks, and now I can see some potential growing in it.

If we like the ward enough here, I can see us buying this house. The landlords would love that. If that becomes the case, I will make sure some serious improvements are made before we buy though.

I will post pics once each room is complete. Until then I will get crackin on the next post

Black and White

2011-08-02T19:43:00.000-06:00

While we are settling into our new rythym. I was asked to catch everyone up.

1. We are in our new house. Long story short (it needs it's own post)

2. Kids have started in school. Year round. All the kids love their teachers

3. MacKenzie is growing like a weed. She has a doctor appt. tomorrow

4. Jackson is all trained in his toddler bed.

5. I've started working out again. Kinda. 20 min pilate video

Okay so that's the main things goin on. I am posting some pics from the baptism in FL and the blessing. Stacey of course did an amazing job. Thank you so much.

I will post about each item later. There is just still a ton to do here;)

Love you all

Our newest addition

2011-06-09T09:03:00.000-06:00

WOW oh Wow! Has it been a long time to post.

Alot has happened in the last couple of months.

We have a new baby. Her name is MacKenzie Snow Craig. She is named after my dad's side of the family with Snow being Lorenzo Snow. We came upon this little bit of information while we were in KY for Christmas. We always name our children after one side of the family and this just seemed to fit. MacKenzie joined us a little soon. She was born at 36 weeks. She weighed 6 pounds even. For a Craig baby, she was super tiny! She started to lose weight her first two weeks. Doctors had us on a strict feeding schedule and we are happy to say that at her 8 week

appointment she was 11.4! YAY! So I have got my Craig baby back for sure now. She looks

like Caroline but with much darker hair, and she has Abbey's eyes. I would like to say that it only took me 5 babies to get one that looks a little like me. She has my nose and Brent's cheeks. We all love her so much. The kids love on her all the time and Jackson is so good to give her cuddles as much as we let him.

We are moving to Utah again in a week. I have mixed feelings about it.

On one side we are moving "home" I am from UT so I should be happy right? And don't get me wrong, I love UT. My family is there, the church is bigger there, great opportunity for Brent there. But I have grown to love Navarre! It has truly become my "home". This is the longest we have ever lived in one town, the most "roots" we've laid. And let's face it, it is a great place to visit. We have beautiful beaches, sunshine most days, and the kids love school, friends, and church here. It will be crazy to be back with all our family again. I look forward to it. But a little piece of me will be staying here in Navarre. We will miss all of our friends and new family.

Anxiety

2011-01-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

I know the word can have many meanings. For me lately I have had a lot of them.

First, we are getting ready to have another baby. Not that I haven't done it before, but just the sheer knowing its getting closer and I just don't seem ready yet.

Next, we found out from our landlords that they will not be renting our house after our lease is up. (don't know what that is about but Brent and I have our thoughts)
We were looking at maybe finding a place with cheaper rent, but now we have to look. Nothing like that to get you worked up.

Living in limbo, not knowing where we are going to be living scares me. I am such a planner I know, but I have people who have bought tickets to come out for the baptism for Caroline and blessing of the new baby girl. I need to know where to tell them to come. Brents parents will be coming down too, so I need to tell them where to look to stay.
(this has partly been remedied. We found a house but we haven't signed a contract yet)

Brent's job, he hasn't heard anything official, but he sees things. He knows things. He just has that intuition and I don't like when he doesn't know what's going on.

Calling. I am in the RS presidency. For the most part our presidency works so great. I feel like sometimes I am letting them down though with my lack of things to do. I am in charge of planning out our activities and I am over the new YSA's that come into RS. I love both of these items and I conduct every 3 months and teach once in 3 months. Not a bad calling at all. But I feel like I am just letting them down. They haven't said anything and I know it's in my head, but I just can't shake the feeling.

Kids. To put it plainly, I am worried that I am not doing everything I can do for their education. Abbey has about 2 hours of homework every night. NOT Joking. Every night. Hunter, Love the child is so self sufficient and I feel like he gets left out of the attention because he knows so much. Caroline has really good homework days and really tired "I just want to rest for a while" days. I never know which one is coming home so on good days we get as much homework for the week done we can. With the stupid FCAT coming up, there is so much pressure placed on the kids and I don't want to pressure them. I keep telling them that either you know it, or you don't. I want you to do your best and that is all I expect. But for Craig children, they put so much pressure on themselves. I just don't know how to handle it all sometimes.

There is light at the end of my anxious tunnel though. FCAT will be over soon, we will have a place to move into, our new baby will be born and home, and family will be coming to visit. RS is something I will just have to do everything I can to make sure I am not letting the sisters down. Visiting the sick and elderly more, making some dinners or just calling to check up on them. I really do feel a love for the sisters, I just hope they know that.

Okay enough pity party for one night. Time to kick start the new year with renewed look on life:)

Our little man turned 1!

2010-11-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

So if you can believe it. Jackson is now 1 year old!

This year has flown by! I tell everyone that with the older 3 it felt like it took forever for them to turn 1. But not Jackson! Maybe we have had more time to enjoy all of his milestones. I don't know, but I do know that he is such a blessing in our life!

He waits for the kids by the door everyday to see them get off the bus. When they walk in, his face just lights up and he gets the biggest smile! The good thing is the kids are just as excited to see him!

They all have such a great bond with each other. The age gap hasn't seemed to phase them at all. I am so glad to have Jackson in our lives. We love him so much. He is a absolute doll baby. He is happy most of the time, a great sleeper, and I have yet for him to meet a stranger. He must be a Craig!

Happy Birthday little man.

Love Mom and Dad!

The Ants go marching....

2010-11-01T16:00:00.000-06:00

Yep I said it. ANTS!!!
Right now I feel liket this is the only way I can express what I am feeling

I keep a very clean house. I know that when my kids come home it goes to crap. I know that after a long day it gets cluttered. I know that I have to do my dishes every night so I don't get bugs. I know, I know, I know. And I follow those rules to the letter.

So what the crap is going on in my house right now??? Oh nothing but some freaking ants trying to set up shop in MY HOUSE!!!!!

So it all started a few days ago. We found some in the kids' bathroom. We sprayed, cleaned them up. Had the talk with the kids about leaving candy wrappers around. yadda yadda

Then two days later they are making home in my kitchen 6am I might add that we are cleaning and spraying them up. Now I am getting a little frustrated. but I can't find the source of where they are coming from.

Next day. Find them in the pantry on the floor. Piece of dog food left out. Okay nothing on the floor. Got it.

Next day on my counter tops. Spray mop clean again. See a pattern??? I am pissed now. Because every time I find them, I spray the whole kitchen and think I got em!

Next day, in the laundry room eating cat food. AAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGG!

Next day, underneath and in the cabinets. Yep all my small appiances now gone! waffle maker, snadwich maker, bread maker, all gone because I don't trust the poison to not be safe on those things.

Today!, Under my sink in the kitchen (where the ant spray is!) in the dishwasher seal, and in my bathroom! What the freaking crap?!!!! All I can think of is in the bathroom maybe some were on me and they got transferred. I don't know! I feel like I have poisoned my whole house and they are just moving from place to place. I can't find the source either.

There are no trails! Just pockets of ants, ants, ants. I emailed the landlord and asked for an exterminator. Do they pay for that or us? I don't know. I am waiting for them to tell us that we are dirty or something!
Anyone who knows me, knows that a dirty house is not what I keep. I am so anal about it! So what can I do? I just feel like I have been so violated! I don't want people to think I am dirty. I do my homemaker duties to the fullest. So why oh why is this happening?
Some people have said that it is the time of year. It is getting cooler so they are moving to warmer places. But I haven't ever had that problem in the past! Why oh why is this happening?

Books, Books, Books

2010-09-16T09:30:00.000-06:00

Wow so since girls camp is over, kids are back in school and Jackson is such a great baby, I have had some time to do my ever favorite hobby. READ! Oh I love it. I went to Liz's house a few weeks ago and borrowed Mocking Jay. (last book in the Hunger Games series) WOW it was great. The author had so many surprises up her sleeve still. I won't do any spoilers to those who haven't read or finished it. But I really liked the series.

Second she gave me a book called A Countess Below Stairs. This was a quick read. It was really good too. I loved the time period that took place and I couldn't put it down. Now remember most of the stuff I like is Young Adult novels. I love to see how authors explain life through a teenagers eyes. The classics are good too, don't get me wrong but I love how authors are able to explain teenage life in our time. However, this book is set back in England and Russia during the cold war. Great novel.

The most recent book I have borrowed from my personal friend's library was The Book Thief. WOW. It is a historical fiction book as well. Set during WWII and about an girl who goes to live with foster parents. Yes there is the typical holocaust stuff and the hiding of a Jew. But what people don't realize is all of the other Germans during the war. There were Germans who flew the flag on the right days and kept their noses clean as to not get thrown in jail or go to war. But they did not really believe in the Nazi party. This book is about them. I was riveted to the book. I was sad, and I laughed and I loved the narrator. It was death! I was kind of surprised at first and was wondering how that was going to work for me. But in this book Death has a sense of humor.

My next saga I am borrowing is Dreamhunter and Dreamquake. I have just only started the first and I will give my feed back when I am done with them. But, I just needed to put my little opinion out there for a couple of great books. And a special thank you to Liz for feeding my hunger with books. I feel a bit like the book thief at her house ;-)

Carolines Birthday!

2010-08-26T08:11:00.000-06:00

Yeah! Caroline turned 7 WOW!

Unfortunately it was a hard day for all of us with me finding out about the miscarriage. But Mark and Ria were there to save the day! (Thank you so much guys! It really meant a lot and we were able to end on a high note!)

So Mark and Maria took all of us on a Sunset Dolphin Cruise! It was amazing! It was 2 hours long. We took some amazing pics and Caroline, Hunter, Abbey, Sarah and Ben all got a turn to drive the boat! They even have certificates. They had a blast. We needed some good family time. The kids got to feed the birds of the poop deck(aptly named) and then see a bunch of wild dolphins in the gulf.

After the cruise, we went to dinner at a place called Fuddpuckers. It has all sorts of food. But the kids were more interested in the Live Gators you can pet and touch! Ewwww. But they loved it!

Caroline had a great birthday, We look forward to seeing her be baptized next year. WOW! I love you Caroline you are such a great little girl. Your smile is contagious. Your laugh is as well. You make me smile and laugh everyday. Just because you are who you are. Nothing is forced with you. Your hugs make me happy. I love you!

Mom

Hunters Birthday/ Baptism

2010-08-26T07:49:00.000-06:00

Right so Hunters baptism.

I know long time comin

So Hunter had a great showing for his baptism. Aunt Pennie, Granny, Grandma and Grandad, Uncle Mark and Aunt Maria, Sarah and Ben all came to support Hunter.

It was a great day. He was nervous, but excited. Abbey played the piano when they were changing their clothes. She did a great job.

Everyone was such a great support. Thank you so much

Hunter got his own set of scriptures from us!

Tip's birthday was amazing. We had good food, people laughed, and it was just a chilled out day. We loved it.

Hunter, we love you so much! We are so proud of you for choosing to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. You are a very special spirit to us and your Heavenly Father. We love you. You will be an amazing young man who will serve Heavenly Father always. People flock to you. You have an amazing personality!

Happy Birthday

Mom and Dad

Time for school.

2010-08-25T18:42:00.000-06:00

So I know I still need to update the kids' birthdays I am doing that next so you will need to read a few posts. Sorry.

Anyway, this week we started school. I am happy to say that both girls love their teachers! Yeah!

Hunter however is another story. For those who know Hunter, know that he is quite an intelligent little boy. He loves to read and do math. Of course there is the video games like most little boys, but all in all, the boy loves school. So imagine to my surprise when I walk into Hunters class to meet his teacher and the fireworks began

First. We go to the meet the teacher day before school. This should be the day that the kids have the most fun. New class, New School (for Hunter anyway), New School year. Right? Well no.

We get into the class and you know how there is a ton of paperwork to fill out. Well the teacher asks the kids to go and get a book. Hunter says he just wants to sit by me and watch people. Fine by me, but no miss S decided to tell my son he has to get a book and read. So I tell Tip to just go grab a book. He comes back, doesn't even sit down and the teacher says, "Buddy, that book isn't your level. Why don't you choose a book from this pile?" I kid you not. This boy comes back with a Berenstein Bear book!!! What? He hasn't read those since kindergarten, plus she said it in front of the whole class and parents. Of course you can imagine my look then right? "umm did you really just belittle my child" oohh I was angry.

So anyway, the teacher does her shpill on the rules and then states. "Your children are in this class for one reason. They can't read" WHAT? MY KID CAN'T READ?!!!!

I let her finish then she asks if anyone has a question. I raised my hand and said "yeah, I have a few". I said that it was a total shock to me that my son was placed in this class. I haven't ever received any information that my son was struggling. He has always been the head of his class. All of his grades have been A's through school. Where did you find anything to support him being in this class?

"Well his SAT 10 scores put him here"

"So you only looked at 1 test?"

"Yes, Miss Craig"

"Okay, so if my son does need this class, how come I wasn't notified? Also, if he needs this class I will get him to where he needs to be. However, could it be, just could it be that he had a bad testing day?"

"Well I don't know Maam"

"ok, I will find out"

So I leave the class with Hunter. On the way to the car he tells me that the teacher hurt his feelings. Really? Tip can't blame ya. Mom will take care of it.

Okay, so I come home, lose it with Stacey. I was shaking! Can't talk to Brent because he was in a meeting so I had to wait until he got home.

He gets home. I explain what happened. He tells me that we have 3 options.

1. fight it

2. let him do the first weeks testing and have him prove he doesn't belong there

3. let him just be in the class.

Well option 3. was first out.

The next day I called to speak with the principal. Left a message (she was in a meeting). So I had a break between clients and I called back. I will say this for WNIS. The Principal and Asst. Principal really listen.

I explained what happened to Hunter, I then wanted an explanation as to why he was placed in this class. I said that I would get him help if it was needed but I just didn't see it with Hunter. The asst. principal pulled up Hunters grades, and saw that he has always been at the top. He did say that he most likely had a bad testing day. He was personally going to test Hunter at the beginning of the week, and Brent and I have a meeting with him today. I have been talking with some people who are teachers and they all say that Hunter is right where he needs to be with reading. He is just fine. So hopefully today we will have some answers.

Side note. the asst. principal spoke with Hunters teacher. She then called and apologized to me for her behavior. I told her and the asst. that even if Hunter needs to stay in the program I want him out of her class! I told her that if she spoke to him the way she did with me there, then what was she saying when I wasn't? So either way Hunter is out of that class as of today! Yeah.

WoW alot to get off my chest but soooo worth it.

I know I need to post more I'm getting on it

2010-07-20T09:43:00.001-06:00

Okay so I will post on Tip and Liney's birthday in a few days. But I just had to share the best somewhat compliment I have.

One of my YCL's from camp has chosen a new life. She has decided to keep that spiritual high she had at camp. She then went to Youth Conference and was uplifted in her choice. Since then, she has changed who she is hanging out with. Her countenance is so strong! Her spirit radiates from her. Her smile is true and not forced.

She told me that it all started with the planning of camp, and the week of camp, really changed her outlook on life. I am so proud of her! She has started a blog about how she is changing. I am so encouraged that one life was touched by camp. I will post later about camp as well, but just know that it was everything I had hoped it would be and beat it out of the park by a mile as well.

Love, one proud serrogate mother!

My famous words of wisdom

2010-06-19T15:15:00.000-06:00

Well they really aren't mine, but I have had to learn to say and live by them the last little bit of my life. Whether it is to cope with something, or to just calm myself down. Two little phrases come to my mind

"It is what it is"

"Just Roll with It"

I have had many times in the last couple of months to learn to do the above stated sayings.

Girls camp is not what it should be here in Pensacola and I am having to learn that the hard way. Luckily I am surrounded with people who think the same way I do on the matter and once July has rolled by, I will be done with it.
Don't take me wrong though, I love girls camp. It is my all time favorite part of the YW program. I am very blessed to work with some awesome adults and YW. But the politics of being a stake camp director can be testing to me. I know I am very headstrong, I know that I like things done my way, but somethings I am actually right on. I followed the book to the letter and I am some how wrong. But oh well. Next year they can do it themselves, then we will see how much Katie Craig actually knows about camp.

Just roll with it. Right?

Then this week we had just what no parent ever wants to hear

I am so sorry, you have had a miscarriage.

It is what it is.

Well right now, you are probably thinking "why is she posting this?" but for me this is my journal and I am getting it out. If you don't want to read this part I am ok and will not be offended. But it is something I need to do.

We waited to tell everyone we were pregnant with a few exceptions. (close friends, and family) We misscarried in 07 with a blighted ovum. This was sad, I had to have a D and C and everything was ok. Yes I mourned not being pregnant but there wasn't an actual baby in there so it for me anyway was a pretty quick recovery period.

This time however, I was 11 weeks pregnant excited for JJ to have a buddy to play with. I guess you could say that this one was somewhat planned. I know that we get prego really fast and all but this was just one that we were hoping for.

We went to the doctor on Monday, Liney's birthday (post to follow soon I promise for both Tip and Liney) we had an ultrasound. When we went into the room and saw no heartbeat we both just knew. The cute little lab tech said, "the doctor will come in and speak with you about the ultrasound" (code for: oh crap I don't want to tell them) and our fears were confirmed.

So the doctor came in and we talked, scheduled another D and C for Tues. Can I just take a moment to tell you how happy I am that I am surrounded by some amazing people? Thank you to all who keep babysitting me during this time! My surgery went well, except for a horrible sore throat. The tubes aggrivated something bad in my throat for sure. Anyway, we came home and Stacey, Missy, Liz and Mark and Maria were all here for us the whole way. From taking my kids, to cooking dinners, to offering to babysit me. They were all here. Then comes the next wave of people who are so close to us, Carrie, Carla, the Alvarez girls, Sarah Lazane, Dene, and April, even Natalia who I do not know very close yet, they were all here showing support. I do need to mention My family and Brents as well. I know you are not close to us but thank you for all you do and show your support.

The kids have taken this all on them. I have to apologize to them for seeing their mom spontaneously burst into tears all day. That is not something I want them to see. But we have had a few talks and they just want to make sure I am not in pain. Brent is the best too! He has said to me so many times "I just want to make you better. I know that we are not having a baby right now, but my priority is you" WOW. That is so what I want to hear. MY husband loves me so much that he even gets mushy with me. I love you moneymaker!

So thank you to all that are standing by us, by me, by my kids. You don't know how much we love you. I don't know if we will try right away for another baby, but we are not out of the mix just yet.

The great thing that I think about is very simple. It makes me cry to think of it. I have a beautiful family. I can have babies. I have a forever family. My marriage is eternal. I have a Heavenly Father that knows my needs and knows my weaknesses. I am supposed to learn from this and I will. I know that Heavenly Father knows what is best for our family. I am so blessed to know for sure that he has my best intrest at heart.

Sorry for the long post, but like we say "It is what it is"

Happy Anniversary

2010-05-18T09:35:00.000-06:00

So this last week Brent and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. Our original plan years ago included a wedding ring that didn't turn my finger green but only "if" we made it to this anniversary. It has been our little joke for a long time. However, on year 8 Brent found a screamin' deal at a jeweler going out of business, so I got that ring 2 years ago.

Or other plan was to go on our first cruise for our 10 year anniversary. Well, we had a beautiful baby named Jackson at the end of year 9 and I just can't leave him so young for our anniversary.

Year 1:

A night at home with a newborn Abbey.

Year 2:

A night at Anniversary Inn 8 months pregnant with Hunter in a bed shaped like an octopus and only I fit in it. Good times

Year 3:

Another night at Anniversary in pregnant with Caroline. This however was a huge bed! we made sure

Year 4:

A night at home once again

Year 5:

Spent apart. Brent helped Nate move

Year 6:

Once again spent apart. He moved to South Bend and I joined him 6 weeks later

Year 7:

Spent at home. lovely night

Year 8:

Spent in an apartment on the West side of Pensacola (New Wedding Ring Year)

Year 9:

Went to Crabs on the beach with Brents Parents! It was so much fun.

So what did we do then you ask?

Well, May, 13th this year fell on a Thursday. So the kids were at school, we dropped off J.J. to a friend and we went to lunch on the beach and shopped for the kids. WOW what a day. However, I got to spend the whole day with Brent. We really don't get much of that. Baseball, work, piano, church, life in general makes being a husband and wife a trial to spend an entire day together, but we enjoy every minute we get to be together.

So although we just got to hang out. It was a great day. I love you money maker. You make my life a blast. I truly am married to my Best Friend.

Love ya

Happy Mommy Day to me!

2010-05-10T17:22:00.000-06:00

So this post is just one for the books of Katie Craig.

So Liz asked a few months ago if Abbey, Anny, Liz and myself could sing a song for Mothers day. Sure Liz no prob. Well there was a problem it is a beautiful song. When I first heard it, I couldn't stop sobbing! I am such a baby since I have had kids.

Anyway, you would think months of practice would desensitize you of the whole beautiful song right? Hey Liz and I even did a practice run through on Mothers Day right before sacrament. No problem we say to ourselves. Then the water works began.

Abbey started the song solo. It was beautiful! I just love it when she sings. (Not like other kids that sing and you think aww thats nice) But she can actually really sing! I love it! Anyway I was looking around and a few people started to get teary eyed. I was fine.

Then Anny sang her part. Still doing okay.

Then the girls sing the chorus together. I look to the back of the room to see a sister BALLING in the back. Thats it for me. I start balling too!

So I try to sing my part. Try being the operative word. I struggle through but it wasn't horrible.

Then Liz sings her part and she is balling too! Oh my, could we have started the whole chapel balling? Yep we did. Anyway we finish strong by singing with the girls the chorus. It was a great song. I am posting the lyrics at the end just so you can cry too.

It is in the Childrens songbook, but I had never heard it. Thank you Liz for bringing such a beautiful song into the Craig family!

Teacher, do you love me

(we substituted Teacher with Mother)

Abbey

Mother, do you love me?

Mother, will you care for me?

Even if I turn away, or disobey, or go astray?

Then will you love me still?

Anny

Mother, will you teach me?

Mother, help me choose the right

When I do not understand the Lords command, please take my hand

And lead me safely with his light

Girls together

I need you love, I need you light

To show me how to be like Jesus

The Saviors love will light the path

To lead me safely home

Oh yes, my child I love you

My child I'll always care for you

And with the savior as our guide, I'll share the light I feel inside

And you will feel his love for you

Liz

Oh yes, my child I'll teach you

My child I'll help you choose the right

And when you do not understand, the Lords command, I'll take your hand

And he will lead us with his light

All of us together

I need your love, I need your light

To show me how to be like Jesus

The saviors love will light the path

To lead us safely home.

Anyway, I just thought I would share my mothers day blubber with everyone. I hope it touches you the way it did to me

Found a pic I took!!!!

2010-04-25T13:59:00.001-06:00

A birthday wish come true

2010-04-22T15:55:00.000-06:00

I know it is almost a month since her birthday. I know I didn't take any pictures at all. I know, I know, I know. And that is what makes this post suck that much more. However, Abbey said it was the best one yet!

We decided to take our ENTIRE tax return, and go to Utah for Abbey's birthday. We went for a week. We saw all of the family out west including driving up to Idaho to see Bryon and his family. It was a world wind trip. Brent and I even saw Grandad for a whole 3 hours! (He flew in to ordain Will to a high priest). Wow it was a great trip but back to the birthday girl

Abbey is now 9! WOW I have really mixed feelings about it too. On one hand, I am so glad she is growing up. She helps me out so much with Jackson. She is so smart and it shows, and she is one of the most compassionate 9 year old I know. She is always willing to help out with the kids, and is now dabbling in the art of cooking with me at dinner. I have had to hand over the reins a little bit too. I know she is still a little young, but I want to encourage her learning to cook. Last night in fact, she helped me make spagetti. I wish I took some pics while we were in Utah, but I didn't bring my camera. We went to church and then had spagetti at Pennie's. Then that evening the Oakesons came out for brownies and ice cream. It was great to see everyone.

So for now, big girl, I love you. Dad loves you too. We know that you will become a beautiful daughter of your Heavenly Father. While we get to raise you, you will be in our hearts and prayers everyday. You are on your way to be a great young woman with a personality that everyone will crave to be around. You are such a great girl already!

Love you

Mom

Just because she so knows me

2010-04-07T11:10:00.000-06:00

Okay so this is an email I got from an awesome friend who just knows how to brighten my day. I love you Dene.

This just goes to show how much I really don't have any secrets! Especially about being messy!

I was a little bored today so I Googled myself - yes, that's right, I Googled "Dene Brooke." I like to see what other people see if they were to ever Google me.

Well, imagine my surprise when I saw something about Dene Brooke recipes. You are so funny. You do know that I don't make them up, right. I just change

the names (sometimes) and then make it so often that everyone thinks it's mine.

There's a new one I tried called Cake Balls. So easy and the kids would have fun making them. Found it on a blog called Bakerella.

I used a box Red Velvet cake. Bake it according to the instructions on the box. Don't get fancy and make layers - just a regular

cake pan. After the cake has completely cooled, crumble it up (yes, Katie, with your hands) into a big bowl. Then take a can of

cream cheese frosting - see, I didn't even have to get anything dirty making the frosting because I used the ready made kind.

Anyway, mix that can of frosting in with the crumbled cake. Come on, Katie, let the kids do it with their hands. You might even

need to get your hands dirty too.

After the frosting and cake are completely combined then roll it into small balls and place on a cookie sheet that has been lined with

wax paper. Put the cookie sheet with the cake balls on them in the fridge - or the freezer to speed up the process. When they are

cooled and set enough - melt some Almond Bark - the same stuff you use for the Elk Droppings. Roll the cake balls in the melted

Almond Bark so they are completely covered.

Depending on the season you could melt some white Almond Bark and put food coloring in it and drizzle it over the chocolate covered cake ball,

Like pink and red for Valentine's day, green for St. Patrick's day, Red, white and blue for 4th of July, or red and green for Christmas.

Whitney is make this for her Book Club in Columbia. They are reading Twilight - again. Whitney is going to call them "Blood Balls."

Can you believe she sent that? Well I can. I love you Dene!

My little Phineas and Ferb addiction

2010-03-16T12:09:00.000-06:00

Okay so if you have kids, you have to have seen at least one episode of Phineas and Ferb. I think it is hilarious and of course Jackson absolutely loves it. I know he is only 4 months old. But I can put him in front of something else and he cries. Phineas and Ferb, he is kicking his legs when they sing, and totally in awe the rest of the time. Even Brent has his favorite episodes. Dr. Dufinschmirtz is his favorite!

So in honor of Phineas and Ferb, here are my favorite clips.

Squirrels in my pants

Gitchi Gitchi Goo
Busted
And Brents being the one where Isabella has her tonsils out. Dr. Dufinschmirtz is the best in that one.

When I figure out how to post the video on here I will. But for now please look at them on Youtube. They are hilarious!!!!

March Madness

2010-03-02T13:37:00.000-07:00

I know if you are a college basketball person then you know what March Madness is, and believe me we do too! GO WILDCATS! But that is not the meaning of this post.

March is just going to be absolutely crazy for us. Hunter and Caroline started Tball and Baseball this week, we have piano on Tues., Branch presidency, Work, and Girls camp planning, and Abbey's birthday to look forward to. Oh yeah and we are going to Utah for a week at the end of the month.

Needless to say we are going to be busy.

I also moved to a new salon. I was a little nervous about the move, but I am so happy there! The owner is so good to me. She lets me come and go as I need to. I have learned a lot from every stylist there. All of them are totally okay with me asking questions, and observing if I am not busy. They say they have even learned from me too! That makes me feel good.

Jackson turned 16 weeks on Sat. He just got his 4 month shots and did great. He is sleeping through the night which is awesome. He is such a good baby! He is so happy and loves his entire family. Brent said that J.J. likes him more than the others did at this age, but that isn't true. They all loved him and being with him, he was just gone a lot so it didn't seem like it. Now however, Jackson is quite content with just hangin with dad.

Caroline's reading is coming along great! I am so proud of her. She has worked really hard to get better at reading. Now if we can just stop kissing boys in class and getting caught we will be okay.......

Hunter is amazing! He is such a great student. He brought home his report card with straight A's I was so proud. He loves to read which is great and his math is just like dad so what can I say. Super stud Tip is on a roll.

Abbey is busy studying for FCAT (State standardizing tests). She is working really hard to do well on the tests. She just wrote a 2 page paper on Teddy Roosevelt and it turned out really well. Her piano is coming along just great. We have an excellent piano teacher who is also in the primary at church. Abbey has been playing for us at FHE and doing a great job. Her next recital will be coming up soon I can't wait.

As for Brent and me we are just trying to keep our heads above water with the kids right now. We love having them active and doing things, it just takes it's toll on us old foagies. But we love it.

Paul moved in with us this week and is hilarious. I really did miss having the Irwins around and now we will be getting them back with us. Paul will be staying with us until the end of the school year when Stacey will bring the kids down to live in Florida. I am so excited to have them around again.

Well Go Cats. Go Craigs. March Madness here we come!

In the spirit of Valentines day

2010-02-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

Brent and I met the night of Brent's homecoming. After serving a mission in Jacksonville Fl.

He came to a YSA dinner (not official) but we were all there from the singles ward. He came in with another girl named Holly. They were not dating, just lived in the same home ward. She brought him to the dinner and game night but left him hanging all by himself! Me being the not so shy person that I am, walked right up to him and said, "Hi, my name is Katie" Brent being the new guy says in the most southern of accents "Hi, my name is Brent"

OOOHHHH, I love me some southern accent!

That night I hung out with him. He played some games with the crowd (I know now that he would never play those cheesy games ever again, but he played them none the less).

We said good night and he was gone just as fast as he came.

The next night was family night. We met in the mountains for a bonfire FHE. Brent was there when I got there!!! Yea! I was all dressed up in my work clothes, but I still had fun. Brent was sitting by the fire and I went to sit by him. We started talking but then he said that he was kinda warm by the fire and he excused himself to go sit by a picnic table. Me not wanting to show him how much I liked him waited a few min. before going to sit by him again. Next he asked if he could ask me a weird question. I said sure. He then asked if I liked professional wrestling. The funny thing was, that I did. My dad used to watch it and it was one of the things I still remember about him. So it wasn't that weird to me. Any way we ended up talking most of the night.

Tuesday that week, we played volleyball. The YSA's were all there. No Brent. So I asked if anyone had his phone number to call and invite him out. Luckily someone did. So Brent came and we had a blast playing Volleyball.

Wednesday that week we went to SLCC to a murder mystery night. Of course I positioned myself next to Brent (are we seeing a pattern here? I am not a stalker!) The actors did a great play, and on the dinner tables, there were these note cards. On them they read, Who did it? Who died? Motive? So after we all filled them out, there were a few left on the table. I snatched one up and wrote the following:

Who did it? Katie Bowman

Who died? Brent Craig

Motive? He wouldn't ask for her phone number!

I turned it over and slid it in his direction.

INTERCEPTION! I friend of mine grabbed it, and read it. Then he flipped it back down, slid it over to Brent and said "hey man you need to read this" So Brent picked it up, and read it. Then finally he leaned over to me and said "so whatcha doin on Monday? Do you want to come over and watch Monday night RAW?" Of course I do!!!
"sure that sounds great"

So on Monday night, I go to his house. I ring the bell and he is home alone. We go to the basement to watch tv. His parents were supposed to be home anytime.

Every red flag in my YW head is going off. No one home, in the basement. WHAT??? Oh well he is cute!

So we go to the basement and about 30 min later, his parents are home. His mom comes downstairs to introduce herself and I instantly loved her! She was so nice. His dad was parking the car. So then Brent's dad comes downstairs. UMMMMM WHAT THE HECK?

"well hi sister Bowman, I really enjoyed your talk last month, how have you been?"

"very well thank you sir."

"Okay well you kids have fun. See you later"

"Okay..."

and they go upstairs

My heart is pounding. Brent's dad is the high councelman for my home ward!!!

So I say to Brent "you could have told me your dad was a high councelman!"

"oh I thought you figured that out"

"dude, Craig is a pretty common name"

"oh, sorry"

And so at the end of RAW, he walks me to my car and asks if he can call me again. I said sure. and then he leaned in and kissed me goodnight! WOW!!!! He finally got that I liked him!

Brent and I saw each other everyday after that crazy week. We dated steady for a month and then he asked me to marry him. We continued to see each other everyday until he went to Owensboro for a week. Longest week of my life, but he came home to me.

We met on Oct. 11th, and were engaged by Thanksgiving, and were married on May 13th. This year we will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary! I am so happy to have him in my life! I love him and he is truly my best friend. He makes me laugh everyday. And I am glad to have him as my eternal companion. We have a beautiful family and I am so happy that he is the priesthood holder in my home.

I love you Moneymaker!!!!!

Gulf Breeze, Florida, Local Weather

2010-02-04T17:35:00.000-07:00

Gulf Breeze, Florida, Local Weather

Quilts by Katie

2010-02-04T16:57:00.000-07:00

So funny story. Well not really funny just coinsedental I guess.

I started reading my girlfriends blog and she happened to post about quilting. I had been thinking of this post for a while, and now I have to post it to show off my new amazing hobby

Liz turned me into a quilter I guess. I was looking for a baby quilt for the baby and couldn't find one that I liked. So Liz said, "why don't you make one? They are not that hard and you get to pick the fabric".. Yeah, Liz, I don't even sew the button's on Brents pants.....

After some encouraging words and her promise to help me I went to the fabric store. I spent like 3 hours picking out the right fabric's (its hard to pick out the ones that all go together) Anyway, after picking out fabric Liz said okay lets go home and rip them up/

WHAT??? Rip $40 worth of fabric? um Liz, are you sure?

Yep, it gives the straightest lines.

Okay....

So we rip and then she says,"Now you have to iron the strips"
Ahhhh, Liz, I don't even own and iron!

Ok, you can borrow mine

So here I am ironing and finding that this is not what I signed up for at all

Then the fun part started. Liz had this book that walks you through how to make a "Log Cabin" quilt. I loved this book! It made sewing the squares a piece of cake!

So after the squares were made, I had to sew them together. Not hard at all.

Then I had to put the batting and back on and pin each center square to the back.

Then Liz taught me to hand quilt. Not hard just time consuming

After that was done, we added the binding. (This was the hardest part) just because the binding can slide. YOu have to keep it pinned on and sew over the pins. But the finished product was one of my proudest "Homemaker" moments

So Liz made the comment, "I have to warn you, that this is an addicting hobby" sure, Liz....

WEll it is and as soon as I finished JJ's I started on one for Stacey's baby

And I loved it too!

As I was finishing Stacey's, Brent said "when will you make me something?" "You always make things for other people, when can I have something?" So I embarked on my hardest project yet.
A king size quilt for our bed with Utah fabric and KY fabric. After having Pennie and Rosie get the most important pieces, I was off. It is not finished yet. I sewed the squares together and sewed the top together, now all I need to do is the borders and finish the edges off and my crowning achievement is done.

I have to say that this is my new favorite thing to do. In fact I might be embarking on a huge project here, but I can't post it just yet. I will let you know soon

Sometimes being a mom has its complications

2010-01-25T16:27:00.000-07:00

Okay so here is the story.

Abbey comes home from school and says "Mom, I really hate to tell you this. But I got a note from school. I just know you are going to hate it."

So in my freaking out mommy moment all things go through my mind. From "What did you do?, to How bad is it?, and What is broken?"

Oh no, nothing like that at all. Abbey has to make a volcano!!! Out of some baking clay.

Now if you know me at all, you know I don't do messy, or clay and really not paint or playdoh. AAAAAHHHHHHH! This is my worst nightmare.

So I have to play it cool for Abbey and tell her no problem we will work it out. Now originally I was going to make Brent do it with her, but he was all tied up with church stuff that week (secretly I think he just wanted to see me suffer).

We got the clay and I called Pennie to ask for advise on how to make a volcano. In telling her the story, she busts out laughing at me!!!! Thanks a lot Pen. But follows with, "Katelyn in 16 and we have never had to make a volcano. Good luck!" And thats it.....

Wow so here we are on our own. I look on the box and there is a website to learn how to make a volcano! AWESOME right? no. the website has since taken off the procedure, but you can pay to download it. Ummmm no.

Back to the internet... I find a way to make it with tin foil and a canister. So we undertake this "volcano" and get started.

Abbey had a blast playing with the clay. I got to roll it out, and she put it on the foil.

We had to buy a lot more clay than expected, but it worked really well.

Next we baked it. It came out kinda soft at first, but the package said in bold letters not to over bake it. So we took it out.

I am glad we did to. As it cooled, it got really hard. (thats what she said).... lol

Anyway, the next day, we painted the "Volcano" and Abbey wanted to take it on the bus to school instead of having me drop it off.

She got on the bus and had a great time in class that day. They "erupted" their volcano's and the whole project was worth 100 points. Abbey got full credit and I am so glad that is over. She did bring it home that afternoon where it met the garbage can full force.

So glad that is over..

Christmas at the Craigs

2009-12-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

Well like everyone else, our Christmas was great. The kids all got what they asked Santa for
Abbey- a nintendo DSi
Hunter- a nintendo DS
Caroline- the Polly Pocket roller coaster and the Toy Story Mania game for the Wii.
Jackson- a high chair and mega saucer

Brent got some much needed dress shirts, ties, socks
also he got his annual Madden game and some cologne.

I got a griddle, the perfect brownie maker, a sewing machine, the office dvd game, and the Twilight movie dvd game.

All in all it was a great Christmas. I also got to print some pics that I took of the kids by the tree. We printed some for my mom, Pennie, Rosie and me. I love them!

Enjoy as much as we do

In the interest of Christmas Spirit

2009-12-20T15:04:00.000-07:00

So in the interest of Christmas, and the 3 older kids say so, I must add my sugar cookie recipe to my blog for anyone at Christmas time.

This is all coming about because Santa decided to leave a note last year stating that while mom's chocolate chip cookies are good, her sugar cookies are Santa's favorite. Abbey being my social child, said that everyone should be able to leave Santa his favorite cookies, and I shouldn't keep the recipe a secret anymore.

So here you go Santa....Thanks a lot.

1/2 cup butter (not margarine)
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 cup sour cream
3 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
4 cups flour

Cream the butter and the sugar together. Add the soda to the sour cream (it is important you do this before adding to the creamed mixture. It makes the cookies stay soft). Add the sour cream to the mixture. Add the eggs and the vanilla. Mix together. Add 1 cup of flour at a time to the wet ingredients. Chill for 1 hour and roll onto a floured surface, and use cut out. Bake on Greased cookie sheet for 8-10 min on 350.

This is a family secret recipe and I will probably here about it. But I just couldn't argue with 3 very interested kids.

Enjoy!

Christmas Parties bring out the best in people

2009-12-16T07:05:00.000-07:00

So let me start with saying that Jackson came with us to Brent's work party in Jacksonville. He usually loves to just cuddle and hang out with people. However, at the party he was a mommy's only little boy. He was not happy with anyone but me. Weird. Anyway back to the party

So we drive to Jacksonville in the rain. Lot of rain, lots of accidents. Not just fenderbenders, we are talking cars in the trees accidents. So we were a little late to the party but we were in one piece so I chalked that up to being okay.

There is this stereotype about bankers. They drink coffee in the morning and drink (and I mean drink) in the evening. Not the prime environment for us mormon goin' folk, needless to say. The party always does a white elephant exchange. You bring one nice gift of about $20 and one dirty gift. Can I just say that the majority of the "nice" gifts were wine. So we are always lucky to walk away with something somewhat not alchoholic.

So people are giving wine as gifts, and getting a pretty good buzz going and Brent and I just sit back and laugh at peoples conversations. So much so I just had to share this one.

Tanya is probably the best dressed banker I have ever seen. Now Heather is a business banking team lead for the Jacksonville area (i think...) anyway she works as a partner to Tanya
Conversation as follows:

Tanya: wow Heather you look great tonight!
Heather: Really that means a lot coming from you
Tanya: Why do you say that?
Heather: well my shoes are from Payless and I know you wouldn't be caught dead in there. My stockings are from Walgreens. My skirt I found in my mothers closet. My cardigan is from Steinmart. That is a kind of nice place I guess? But my gold watch is a real movolo. So I guess that counts right?
Tanya: wow you make me look like such a "devil wears prada" in front of my husband.
Me: laughing histerically "Wow Brent you can't say anything about what I wear now"
Tanya: Katie why are you laughing?
Me: this is so going on my blog.
Tanya: great now the whole world will know what a priss I am.

Just to say, Tanya is the sweetest person. She makes me laugh when I see her. This story just had to go up here though. So enjoy it however you wish but to me, it was hilarious.

The long wait is over

2009-11-14T11:20:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Finally James Jackson Craig has joined the Craig Corporation. He weighed in at 8.5 and was 19.75 inches long. He was born on Nov. 7th. at 4:36 pm.

Labor stories are so much fun to tell aren't they? We all have them and so I feel like I should share mine as well

Friday I went to the doctor with a plan of attack. She was going to induce me no matter what this weekend. I had it all planned. Start with the friendly and if I had to I was going to pull Mrs. Katie Craig out of hiding (IT can be really bad). Any way, I got to my room, undressed and my hands got all sweaty. I heard the doctor outside my room and got real antsy. She came in and said my blood pressure and heart rate were up and my hands were sweaty, she wanted to know why. So I told her my sob story about Brents parents coming in town, and Brent having to go to Jacksonville if I didn't have the baby this weekend. I told her I was nervous because she hadn't let me go into labor this far what was going to make her now. She was so cool though! She scheduled me for Sat. at midnight to come in and induce labor. However, she stripped my membranes before I left the office and said that I would probably be in labor by that night.

Side note: getting your membranes stripped freaking HURTS! just in case you didn't know.

So Friday after my appt. Caroline got her tongue clipped. While at the doctors office, my contractions got really painful, not regular but incredibly painful. We came home got things organized (again) and had Sarah spend the night. At 2:30 that morning my contractions started coming at regular 5 min intervals. We left for the hospital at 7:45.

Hospital triage
Triage nurses have been horrible, however, these nurses were amazing! they checked me in within 30 min. Off to the L&D room.

My nurse in L&D was fabulous! after about 45 in L&D I was ready for my epidural. The anestesiologist was there super fast! they put in my epidural and watched me for a few min.They wanted me to be even with the numbness so they were moving my pillow from under my right hip to my left. after a few blood pressure checks I was good and they left. Good to go right? Wrong. My blood pressure started to fall, my breath was really labored, my heart was racing, and my vision started to be blurry. I got kinda scared. The nurse and anestesiologist were back just as fast as they left. checking blood pressure, gave me oxygen and checked the epidural. They moved the pillow from under my left hip and I instantly felt better. INSTANTLY. It was crazy. So they put it back under my right hip and I was good to go.
My nurse went to lunch since I was okay. Not even 5 min later, my pressure dropped again. This time the nurse was a lead for the maternity ward and she wasn't messing around. She hopped right in there and made my IV start dripping like a waterfall. (She was squeezing the bag) and this time I was better real quick.

So the time passes. We watched football, Notre Dame was losing really bad, started to come back and what do you know I was dialated to a 10. This is the good part.....

So I tell my nurse (Amy) that I am a great pusher. She made the cute "sure you are dear" face and asked me to give a 1/2 push to see if the baby would co-operate. ha ha ha lady I will show you.
So I 1/2 push and he starts to crown. HA how do you like that? She tells me to stop and she would get my doc on the phone to come in ASAP. They had the doc on call in the room with me waiting just in case a contraction started to push him out before I pushed. I have to admire the man he was watching the ND game with Brent at that point.

In walks Dr. Duke she scrubs up, gets the apron on, puts the gloves on, and says to push. So I did. 2 contraction and 4 pushes, James Jackson was here at last.

It took a while for my epidural to wear off this time but I didn't feel a thing and I was grateful for that. I loved my overall experience there. We did have a hiccup getting out on Monday but it wasn't horrible. It just took a while to get out of there. Oh and there was a hurricane turned tropical storm that came through too. So they were trying to get everyone that could go home to get there before the storm hit. That was fun driving let me tell ya. But overall I am so glad he is here and safe. The kids absolutely love him and Brent is amazing. He is loving to help me and I don't have to ask for a thing. He is on top of me taking my meds, and feeding schedules and the whole 9 yards. I appreciate him so much. He is the love of my life and we have a beautiful family together.

I am so done.

2009-10-27T08:47:00.001-06:00

Have you ever seen the Christmas comercial from BK that sings the carol of the bells? They sing "ding fries are done" "ding fries are done" well that is exactly how I feel.

I have been given the okay to start walking, have lots of sex (brents fav), and my voodoo friend (not really, but thats what her kids call her) gave me some oil and told me pressure points to bring on the labor. So that being said, we had a crazy weekend with RS craft day, piano lessons, and primary practice, oh and a funeral (we didn't go but we set up for) you would think I would have gone into labor on Sat.

Well I told the primary pres. I wouldn't walk til after Sundays program. So we came home from church, we had lunch, walked, used the oil and still no baby. I feel like I am just so done already. I am only working 3 days a week from now on, which is great since there is so much going on. They did an ultrasound on Friday and determined that the baby weighs about 7.6 which is what Abbey weighed full term. Tip was 2 weeks early and weighed 7.12 and Caroline was born at 36 1/2 weeks at 6.8 so this baby is ready. The weather is rainy today which I have been told brings on contractions ( and it has, though not consistant), but I just feel ready.

I cleaned the house (No scoured is more like it) yesterday with the kids. We even did base boards. I even ironed Brent's shirts for work. ( I know I know, I don't iron). What makes me mad is that I know I am nesting and nothing happens from it. I feel like if I am exerting all this energy, that the baby should come. I like things on my time table not someone elses (suprise suprise right?) But I feel like we are prepared.

Brent has things all lined up at work. I have my work situation handled, the kids sitting is all arranged, what else is there to do? Oh and I finished the quilt for the baby. So if you look at the Craig situation, we are ready for the baby. Apparently the shot to stop labor lasts a while. Now what to do to get it going again. hmmmmm..

Emotionally and Physically drained..........

2009-10-12T15:32:00.000-06:00

So where to begin with this one.

Thursday I was having contractions right on 5 min apart. They didn't really hurt. They just were uncomfortable. So I waited all day, called my doc. she said to come into triage since this was my 4th baby. I can understand that, she said that if my labor was going after 34 weeks, she wouldn't stop it. Well we go into triage (which I have never been in a triage in my life. This room sucks!!!) and we sit for an hour and no one comes in at all. (I can understand there was an emergency c-section they were doing) then they came in to check me. I am at a 2 cm and 50% effaced. Okay so they watch me for an hour come in and check again. No change in dilation, but my contractions are now coming every 2 min. So they watch me for another hour. (Did I mention this room has nothing to do in it. No tv, pictures to look at, magazine nothing!) After that hour, they check me, nothing so the doc on call comes in and says "we are going to give you a shot to stop your labor. WHAT? I thought you said I should come in and you weren't going to do that..... but it is better for the baby to stay in there longer, I get it and he isn't my doctor. So they give me a shot, it is supposed to slow the contractions and speed up my heart rate. Well after an hour the contractions are back to 5 min apart but thats it. So they give me another shot of this aweful shot. This dose in 20 min makes me feel like my heart is going to jump out of my chest. the baby hates it too. He is freaking out all over in my belly. So the nurse comes in after 20 min and takes off the monitors and sends me home. WHAT? My heart is killing me. And you are sending me home.... okay what ever 4 hours in this hateful room I want out. Did I mention we had the kids at Liz's house, and the Alvarez's lined up to watch them all weekend. It just sucked.

Friday.
I am still contracting,I call the doctors office, my doc is now out of town. GREAT. So I go in and talk with one of the partners. He is on the same page with me though I really felt like he was listening to me. He wanted to give me a pill to slow my labor (which is a smaller dose of the shot from the night before) then he gave me 2 options, 1 take the pill, he will admit me to the hospital and watch me overnight. He was the doc on call so I was okay with that. The other option, take the pill at home and come back in a few hours if the contractions are still going strong. We took option 2. Why be in a hospital bed if you might not have the baby anyway? So we came home went to get the pill and Walgreens is out of it! The pill to stop labor 'we will have it on Monday'. retards. So I decided to just come home and chill out the rest of the day and see what happens.

Saturday.
Stayed in bed all day contractions 10 min apart not really hurting, so just took it easy.

Sunday.
Brent took the kids to church, I stayed home and chilled, when all of a sudden the contractions start coming stronger and faster. I waited til 7 and after a contraction that I started crying after, (freaked Brent out) we lined up our sitters and headed back to the hospital. Apparently on the way there my contractions were fiction, since the nurses said to me 'Tell me when you think you are having a contraction' and sent me home after a half hour. I was pissed, hurting, and being called a liar. HMMMM. I was not happy at all. Now I look like the woman who cried labor. My contractions did slow down last night. That or I passed out. I took Tylenol PM and tried to sleep. That worked for about 3 hours so I endured all night.

Today.
Called my doctor. Talked to the nurse who talked to the doctor who talked to the other doctors. Whatever. The decision at this point. Take the pill from Friday and be on limited bedrest. or start nesting and walking and exerting energy to start the contractions to be stronger. So rest or nest? The doc said she won't stop me if I go into labor. She would like me to be 36 weeks if I can make it but she won't stop it if the contractions are really strong. She won't help it along either this week. But next week she said she would break my water if we come in. So we are opting for both right now. I have deep cleaned Abbey, Caroline, Hunter, toyroom. I mean meticullously cleaned their rooms. My contractions are stronger, I rest inbetween them, I now have some real pressure in my pelvis (Brent thinks I look funny) so we will see what happens in the next couple of days.

When it rains, it pours.

2009-09-28T18:50:00.000-06:00

Not that I have a ton to post about, but this week is just starting off on the wrong foot for me.

Well most everyone knows that Brent has shingles. It sucks really bad. Not only have I had it myself, but Brent has to go to work in a shirt and tie everyday. The needle pain is ridiculous and I feel for him. He did have a blessing and the medicine is working, I see it everyday that he is feeling better.

Friday and Saturday I was riding in a huge truck. We went to dinner with some friends on Friday, and then I went with the same friend to the RS broadcast. I had to jump into her truck to get up into it. My back has been having some spasms since Friday. Not that I am sad that I went out both days, but it has taken its toll on my pregnancy muscles.
Also, I think my pelvis is broken. Not really, it just feels so painful everytime I move or roll over or sit or stand. It sucks.

Abbey wasn't feeling good on Sunday so we stayed home. Her tooth was hurting. I thought it was because she is teething the tooth that was absessed before so it was hurting her. Ya know when you have a baby and they teethe through the gums? Well I figured that Abbey was having that pain since her tooth was pulled so long ago that the gums had totally healed. Well I was half right. Her tooth is coming in, and the tooth behind it is swollen as well. So to be sure that the other tooth was alright I took her to the dentist today. (Side note: this dentist is the coolest person ever!) Sure enough the tooth is absessed as well. So now she is on amoxicillan to get the infection under control and she has to have the tooth pulled next Tues. At least she knows what she is in for, and she is okay with it. She just wants the pain to go away.

Caroline is finally seeing an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor next Tuesday as well. She has been in speech for the past 3 years, and her pediatrician finally sent the referral to the ENT for her tongue to be clipped. Maria (Brents sis-in-law/speech pathologist) says that this is the only way we can get her 'l' to come in correctly, plus it is safer for her to be able to put her tongue on the roof of her mouth if she needs to (to get bread of the roof of her mouth without choking).

Now that I have totally downed myself with self pity, I should talk about something on a high note I guess.

We are getting excited for this new addition to make his appearance soon. We are getting the crib ready, bottles ready to go, outfits lined up, bag packed to head to the hospital. I go to the doctor on Friday and this is my last 2 week appt. From hear on out, I will be going weekly. I know that I am not due until Nov. 15th, but I know this baby is coming sooner (call it mommy intuition) but he is measuring a little big, and Tip was 2 weeks early and Liney was 3 1/2 weeks early. So I could be having him at the end of Oct. Which is fine as long as it isn't on Halloween. I am crossing my legs that day. We are naming him James JACKSON for crying out loud I don't need a JACK-O-LANTERN child. So wish us luck on that.

Other than that, things are going really well. We got midterm reports back this past week and the kids all have A's and 1 B. I am so proud of them! They work really hard at school and I am glad that they love it!

You know you live in redneck Fl when.....

2009-09-23T07:33:00.000-06:00

Okay so for lack of anything that is really going on here in our neck of the woods, other than growing a baby, and Brent getting shingles. This is the funniest thing I have ever heard.

This is a conversation Brent had with one of the sales people at one of his branches.

Brent: So I think I have shingles, Katie had them when she was pregnant with Caroline, and it looks the same. I think I am going to go to the doctor and get some medicine.

Banker: Brent, there is no need, I have the cure for you. It works in 3 days, but you have to follow the directions to the letter.

Brent: okay...????

Banker: First you need to find a black chicken.

Brent: (totally laughing) a what?

Banker: A live black chicken. Then you take it home, and kill it.

Brent: (totally trying to stop laughing) okay?

Banker: Then you cut it open and drain the blood from it, and rub it on your shingles.

Brent:(still laughing but a little scared) uh huh.

Banker: then leave it on for 2 hours. Then take a bath in epson salt and rub off the blood. I swear in 3 days it will be gone. You just have to remember; black chicken, live, then kill it, then drain the blood, rub, 2 hours, epson salt bath.

Brent: ( totally not trying to hurt her feelings but still laughing) Yeah,,,,, I think I am still going to go to the doctor. But if the medicine doesn't work I will try this. By the way, where do I find a black chicken?

When Brent was telling me this story I literally peed my pants, I was laughing so hard. So even though we have awesome beaches, a beautiful community, and sunshine most of the time, it does come with some expenses of crazy white trash folk.

A laundry list of things to update.

2009-09-01T06:32:00.000-06:00

Okay so according to Brent I don't update often enough now. So here is my laundry list of whats been going on the past few weeks.

Girls Camp:
Okay so girls camp was amazing! It was a lot of work to prepare for but I was very proud of the YCL's. They pulled of camp beautifully. My feet swelled up so bad. Everyday I had to put them up (not because I wanted to). The location was great, the adults were great. It all was good. You will have to hit me up for some fun stories. I could blog about camp forever. I am really excited to work on camp next year as well. I will be very busy in the coming months for that.

Kids come home:

First of all thank you to Pennie, Mom, Kelly, Katelyn, Rosie and James. Rosie and James took the kids out to UT, Pennie, Mom, Kelly, and Katelyn took care of our kids the entire summer. They never had a dull moment either. Well when you have Caroline there is never a dull moment anyway, but my family kept them quite entertained. The kids were in Swimming all summer. They had Lagoon passes. They went once a week. They went to the movies, the park, the pool, the list goes on and on. The library was a favorite for them too. The whole thing ended on a high note with a surprise trip to Disneyland! Thank you to all of you who took the time to take care of the kids so I could finish school. We really appreciate it! Pennie brought them home and hung out for a few days here in Navarre and of course it rained. It has rained everytime she has come.

Work:

I love the people I am working with right now. I have an individual who nobody gets along with and he will be gone by the end of the week, so as long as that goes through I will save the drama in that department.

YW:

Well I am expecting to be released soon. I love the girls and don't really want to be released, but with the baby coming soon, I don't want the stress of YW and being prepared enough to be an issue to me or the girls. It isn't fair to them. There is more going on with YW than people know and if you know me I can't handle that kind of drama. So I am meeting with the branch Pres. tonight to discuss what I think is going to happen in my immediate future with YW.

J.J.:

I went to the doctor 5 weeks ago and took the glucose test. Eeewww. And come to find out they gave it to me 5 weeks early. Awesome right? So yesterday I had to take it again. Everything looks great. He sounds great. He is right on track for size, and the doctor says I am really an easy patient. I told her "just have the epidural ready when I come in and we are still easy". I can't tell you what I will be like without one, just that you don't want to see it. So besides some at times sever pelvic pain. I am good to go. I have only had one hot flash this whole pregnancy, and it was in the first trimester. I am now in the 3rd trimester, and this is usually when I start to get all hot and weird. So we will see what is going to happen in the next 10 weeks. Yep can you believe it? 10 weeks and we will have a new baby.

Kids school:

I really can say that I like all of the kids' teachers so far this year. I think all of the teachers fit each of the kids' personalities well. Caroline goes in for her evaluation for her tongue to be clipped in a few weeks and that is our biggest concern right now. Other than that we are good with schoool.

I think that is about it for now. That kinda sums up whats going on at the Craig Corp. Talk to everyone soon.

I did it! I am now a stylist!

2009-08-09T08:25:00.000-06:00

So this is my little victory dance. On Tuesday of last week, I took my state board exams. I had a blessing from Brent the night before and I know that alot of people were saying a prayer for me. I passed the exam, and went straight to work.

It was a good thing too, because our male stylist ended up having to leave (whole other post) which left me as the only stylist. On my first day I had 4 client walk-ins. I was so happy. I love my job. And each day since being licensed I have loved going to work. Sat. was so busy and I was the only stylist. It made my day go by so fast I couldn't believe it!

Now with that test off my laundry list of things to do, I can focus on girls camp.(Which is tomorrow) and then get ready for the kids to come home. I have missed them so much it is ridiculous. (That is another post as well) But they come home on Thursday and I won't be here (Camp) but on Friday I will get to see my kids again. Pennie is coming for a few days as well. I am hoping the weather cooperates for her this time. Last time it rained the whole week they were here. So camp, back to school. and then our life is a little back to normal. (well at least until Nov.)

Speaking of J.J., everything looks great so far. I took my glucose test and the doc. informed me that they made me take it 4 weeks early, So I get to take the nasty orange drink at my next appt. oh joy. After camp I will post again. Until then, thank you for reading and supporting our little Craig Corporation

A name is just a name right?

2009-07-21T06:48:00.000-06:00

Okay so we had the ultrasound a couple of weeks ago and we found out the sex of the baby.

Now according to Brent's brother Bryon we were having a girl. (He has 3 girls and 1 boy). Jealousy I think

Mark has one of each. He really didn't weigh in on what he thought we were having.

Will has 2 girls, 3 boys and 1 boy on the way (Congrats Kristy!) they didn't say either

Nate has 3 girls. Amy and I talked a lot about babies when I saw her but I don't recall her saying what we were having. Sorry Amy if you did :)

So here we come to Brent and Katie. We had a girl, then boy, then girl. So we were both happy with whatever we were having but I had a feeling we were having a girl. Brent thought boy. (for the record we have both been wrong every pregnancy so this was a big step) Someone had to be right.

Well we are alternating again. We are having a boy! We are both very excited. We alternated each pregnancy which is really abnormal according to the doc. but whatever!.

Now for the name:

These are the 3 we like the most

1)James Jackson (aka J.J. or Jackson)
2)James Braden (aka Brady)
3)James Logan (Logan)

We will have James as a first for sure (each kid has been named somewhere after someone) James is Brent's first name, his dad's first name and his grandad's first name.

We took a poll and James Jackson is winning out.

So we are very excited to say that our baby will be called Jackson or J.J.

Thank you everyone for your input. We really appreciate it.

Birthdays

2009-06-26T15:09:00.000-06:00

I am so getting really bad at posting.

Well it that month in the Craig Corporation when we all get a little older.

Tip: June 8 turned 7
Liney: June 14 turned 6
Brent: June 24 turned 31
Katie: June 26 turned 29

I have to say we have had a great time this month. Hunter and Liney had so many bday parties it was ridiculous. Here, Rosie and James, Pennies, twice.

Brent and I chilled out on Wednesday. He isn't a big bday person. We went to Hooters for dinner, had a good looking waitress. (I even offered to tell her it was his bday) He said he was to old for it now. Whatever. I think it is because he is in the branch pres. now.

Today I had my first official bday party at school. I always had sleepovers, but never an actual party. The girls at school were awesome and brought food, banana cream pie, candles on brownies, sang to me. You name it, it was a party!

This afternoon my YW came and decorated my living room, kitchen, and front entry for a bbq we are having this evening. What a great suprise!

I love my bday. Brent isn't really big on them but I really do appreciate that he has made this one off the chain. He even ordered an edible arrangement for me. If you don't know what that is, it is like a fruit flower arrangement. He got me chocolate covered strawberries. It is beautiful.

So thank you to every one that made this bday so special. Thank you for all of the phone calls all day as well. I didn't even get in trouble from school for answering the long distance ones.

All summed up

2009-06-06T08:17:00.000-06:00

So it has been like a month and I haven't updated. Not because there wasn't anything to say, but there is so much going on.

Getting ready for UT. The kids are super excited about UT and I am for them too. I will miss them terribly but they are going to have a blast. I am so happy that Pennie has offered to watch them and keep them super busy the whole time they are there. Thank you Pennie! I so owe you one. (Katelyn can come spend a summer any time)

School. It has been a ton of work. I am trying to get out early from school, which is taking its toll on me and the family. This week I volunteered for our local PBS station answering phones for extra hours. It really isn't a bad gig. They feed you and you talk when you are not on the phone taking a pledge, but it is from 6 to 10pm after a whole day of school. Then I have to drive home 45min. So it is a little stressful. Thank goodness it is over though. I made up an extra 24 hours this week from it. Which is a week of school time.

YW. Wow we have a ton planned coming up and I am in charge of some menu's for an etiquette dinner we have planned. The only problem is finding the time to make them cute and fun.

Abbey's final days as a 2nd grader. She had a couple of performances, (including a beautiful solo) you can watch on my facebook page. Then the end of the year performance and picnic. Of which both I will post pics soon. Abbey finished her SAT 10 above average in all category's with exception of spelling. (Which I think was test anxiety) she has 100 on all tests throughout the year.

Hunter finishing 1st grade. This was a great achievement for him. He really took off with both reading and math this year. His scores for the SAT 10 were all above average. He really is a Craig. I am so proud of him this year

Caroline and Kindergarten. I am not going to sugar coat it, Liney was placed "at risk" at the beginning of the school year. I have been working extra hard with her to make sure she was going to be ready for 1st grade. I have to say that all the hard work on Liney's part paid off. She scored above average in all area's except sentence structure, and at that, she was at the top of the average section. So I can rest easy knowing she is right on track.

Baby Craig. Well the morning sickness has subsided. (Brent is happy since we can have pizza again) and as of Friday, the baby looks and sounds great. We find out what we are having on July 3rd. So I will update as soon as I know. I did find out this week that 2 of my highschool buddies are having babies around the same time as me. That was great to find out as well.

This is just an update and pics will follow soon. Thank you for being patient with out very hectic lives
Katie

A week off of school.

2009-05-07T17:08:00.000-06:00

So I know it has been a while since I posted, but I feel like I needed to really have something to say before I posted again. After nothing for like 2 weeks this is what I got going now.

A week from school work and all I could think about was work when I am done. I have been really contemplating what I will do when I get out. I have figured out that now that I am a senior, I am supposed to graduate in Aug. However, I am practically going to kill myself getting out early. I am going to be at the school every waking hour I can be to get out.

So this week, I decided I was going to observe a couple of salons in Navarre and find an atmosphere I thought I would like.

First I went to 2 salons and introduced myself, asked if I could observe later in the week. Both salons were eager to have me come in.

Things I learned:

1. both salons are booth rent ( you pay by the week to be there) you are responsible for your products ie, color, styling, shears, tools. Which if you can make it work you will make more money in the end. You are your own boss and you come and go as you please. Not bad being a mom.
2. commision is good starting out. If you go commision, you split what you make with the owner. Not a bad option if you don't have a clientele yet. The salon finds you clients and you are busy. You are supplied with everything as well.
3. Most salons in Navarre are booth rent and the one that is commision, has a bad reputation so I really don't want to work there.

I learned a lot from the salon I observed yesterday. I made a questionare asking the salon owners how I did. I asked questions such as; "would you be willing for student to assist before licenced?" and the salon said yes, because it is the best way to learn.
Another was; "If this were an interview would you hire the student?" And again it was a yes because I am well rounded and eager to learn. Student asks relevant questions pertaining to services. I really got a boost in what I am trying to do with my life.

After I got home yesterday, Brent ran some numbers, and we talked about how much I will be working after the baby comes. He said that I can be a booth rent person, and told me how much business I will need to do to make it worth our while. Also I will be doing hair out of my home on Mon,Tues, and Wed. this is straight income into my business, and if it is slow at the salon, it will help buffer.

I feel like I am not ready to be totally on my own yet, and I have a lot I can learn from others in the business. However my ultimate goal is to work solely from my home, but for now, I need the education from people in the "know".

Saturday I am observing the second salon and hopefully that will go well too. I want my feet in as many people's door as possible, so when the time comes I have some viable options.
I know that I should have just taken the week to get my house in order, and relax but this has been pressing on me for a couple of weeks. I had the time and energy to accomplish it and I feel like I was promted to go to the salons I have observed thus far. Hopefully things will pan out here in the near future.

Wish me luck!

With a new pregnancy, comes a new Do.

2009-04-20T16:28:00.001-06:00

So I always do this so it should come as no shock. But I did go for a totally hair stylist new look. I am really digging it and it is really easy to do.

Here are some pix of the new look.

A little announcement

2009-04-13T16:45:00.000-06:00

So for those of you who do not get on Facebook. I would just like to say that I am pregnant.

We went to the doctor on Friday, had an ultrasound. (I was really nervous) and everything looks great!

We are due on November 15th

Abbey's baptism and birthday

2009-04-06T07:03:00.000-06:00

Okay so I have a couple of pics of the event, however my memory card was erased who knows how. But my mom and sister have some pics. As I get them I will put them up. She really did look radiant.

Okay so if you know Abbey, she was a little nervous about being dunked backwards upside down in a tank of water. Now thank goodness for Brent, he has a way with her that I just don't.

We did her hair all pretty so we wouldn't have to fight it after she got out of the water(Very tender headed). Not trying to brag but it was really pretty. Her dress was gorgeous.

Her interview with the branch president went well. And she came out and said she had "passed".

My family and Brents family were all there in attendance. My friend Janine who is not a member, even brought her girls to support Abbey.

The talks were great. Grandma Rosie spoke about Baptism, and my friend Liz who was Abbey's teacher for a while spoke on the holy ghost. They were both amazing talks and I thank them both for doing it.

True to the Bowmans side, Abbey was dunked 3 times. One Brent said the prayer a little off. The second time he said it wrong again and Abbey's foot came up. The third time is the charm. She said to Brent after the first time that it was a piece of cake to be dunked backwards.

Katelyn played an amazing arrangement of My Heavenly Father Loves Me while Abbey was getting dressed. Thank you for all of your hard work Katelyn!

After the baptism we came back to the house for some desserts and of course presents. Abbey got scriptures from us, a case from Grandma Rosie and Grandad. She got some really nice pieces of jewelry from Pennie, Debbie, Stacey and our babysitter Sarah. Thank you all for the great gifts. She keeps all the jewelry in her new box that Liz got for her. It is beautiful.

After the dessert, we had a bbq with the family and of course it was like Christmas with presents for her. We all had a great time being together as a family for a while. It rained the entire time my family was here, and was sunny for one day while Brent's family was still in town. Oh well I guess I can't complain. No body came for the weather right? They wanted to support Abbey and the weather was a plus.

Thank you for supporting our oldest this year. We look forward to doing it again next year for Hunter and the year after for Caroline.

Liney's first K-program

2009-03-23T10:04:00.001-06:00

Abbey's first piano lesson

2009-03-23T09:50:00.001-06:00

So Abbey has started Piano (Finally) and here is a few pics with her and her teacher her name is Penny.

Here is liney at her first K-program. It was all about fish. She danced around like a little fish and did the cha-cha. So cute!

Tip's first T-ball game

2009-03-23T09:41:00.000-06:00

Okay so here are some pics of my little man showing his momma proud!

Hunter was 3 for 3 and hit a double his first at bat. I am so happy that he is getting back into his favorite (and most talented) sport.

T-ball is totally consuming our life right now so poor Abbey just isn't seeing the benefits right now. I will post some pics of her first piano lesson next.

Tips first t-ball game oh and Liney once again

2009-03-18T13:08:00.000-06:00

So as much fun as I would like this post to be, all about Tip and how he had a blast I can only say on a good note, that Tip did hit a triple and got to third base before all the hoopala happened.

Now for Liney.
Bless her little heart, she wanted to watch her brother hit. She and Abbey were playing in the playground, saw that it was going to be Hunter's turn to bat, went to leave the playground, Liney pushed the gate open so hard that it swung back and busted her lip wide open.
Now if you have ever heard Liney cry, you know everyone knew something happened.
Luckily, one dad on the team is a dentist and one mom was a nurse. They said her teeth were fine, but she did need some kind of stitches (glue or normal). Of course.

So Brent had to pull Tip from the game. (I was at YW). He called and told me he was on his way to the ER and asked if I could pick up the other kids and take them home. So I left YW super nervous to see how my baby looked.

I don't have any pics while she was busted up, but I do after she came home. She will not have a huge scar according to the doctor. By next summer we shouldn't be able to tell. So they say. We will see.

Side story: She was so worried I would be mad because she ruined her white shorts with blood all ober. yes ober. (not a typo). I thought that was so cute.

So sorry no pics of Tips first game but we do of Liney. Tip does have a game on Thurs, so we will post those pics. WTG Tip for your first triple!

Caroline's First T-ball Game

2009-03-14T15:35:00.000-06:00

I was so sad that I couldn't be there today however, Brent took some adorable pics of the cutie herself all dressed in her bright orange uniform. She hit twice and got on base twice. Way to go Liney.

If you have ever seen Brent or myself run, you know that we Craigs must whack the crap out of a ball to get on base. The same holds true for Liney and Tip. Well oh well we all had fun right?

Enjoy some pics of the Liney in action.

Fab-You-Lous

2009-02-26T18:06:00.000-07:00

Okay so I know I am a bit premature, but Brent came up with the name of my salon. It is called fab-You-lous! I love it. He says that I always say fabulous so this was a great name. I have already had people ask for my card, so Brent ordered me some. I love them too. I have been doing some hair at the house, and I have a great station set up. Complete with Shampoo bowl and chair, Hydrolic Chair, 2 Roll abouts, a station, and Mirror. I have to say that Brent has hooked me up!

I have been getting appts. from the Branch members as well as word of mouth to the ward! I had the RS pres from the ward ask me to do her hair 2 weeks ago. Thank you everyone for telling people that I am doing hair.

I just need that licence in a couple of months to go public and I am set to go. I think it will be an awesome career for me.

Side note: Rosie and James love my set up too. Rosie loves to have me play in her hair, and I cut James' hair and washed it while they visited last month. I am stoked to be rockin' the hair world. Watch out corporate salons, fab-You-lous is coming your way soon.

Off to Utah

2009-02-25T17:25:00.000-07:00

Well we did it! We officially bought tickets to UT for the kids. They are going to Nashville on Hunters Bday, then flying out with Brents parents to UT. Then they come home on August 13th. They will be flying home with Pennie to our house.

Brent and I are so happy that Pennie is able to take care of the kids this summer. It will be saving us a ton of money and not to mention that the kids adore the Parkinsons. We are sad as well that we won't see them for 9 weeks! Wow that is a long time without your kids. The good thing is, we have webcams to keep in touch.

The reason you ask for the kids awesome summer? I have school almost the entire summer and summer camp is ridiculous here. I can't miss that much time from school. The fact is, the sooner I am done, the sooner I can get my career going. It is a bitter sweet summer coming up. The kids will always remember their time in UT with Aunt Pennie, and we will miss them terribly, but I know this is the best option for us at the time.

So although we will be without kids this summer, we will still be parenting from a distance. And the kids will probably not want to come home, since Pennie is so good to them.

They are going to be in swim lessons, and have Lagoon passes, so the entertainment will definitely be there.

Thanks again to everyone that is making this a possibility. Brent and I really do appreciate it!

How to make rice in a rice cooker

2009-02-19T19:10:00.000-07:00

Okay so I know that I have a recipe blog but laugh all you want at this one. I know I did.

So tonight I decided to make rice in my new rice cooker. I have always made minute rice so real rice isn't my thing. I made real rice a total of 2 times when we were first married, and both times I scorched it so since then it has been minute rice.

For Christmas, Brent got me a rice cooker. According to everyone I know, "throw in the rice, water and turn it on, walk away" Yeah freakin right!

I couldn't understand what the crap it was telling me. Add rice to inner pot, add water to 2nd line of pot. add cooking water to cooker. What the crap! What is cooker water? What kind of directions are "add water to 2nd line of pot"? this is ridiculous.

I finally had to call Stacey, she said my rice cooker is to high tech for her. But she did walk me through it. We had a good laugh about how I can make almost anything, but real rice isn't my thing.

So it did turn out and the kids really liked it. That I guess is a good thing, however, I think we will have some minute rice on hand just in case I am rice cooker retarded again.

Ode to the Hubby!

2009-02-11T16:28:00.000-07:00

Okay so if you know anything about Brent and I, it is that we are not the most romantic people in the world (well he isn't anyway). But since it is really close to Love day, I thought I would express my love publicly to him.

Humorous
Brent has got to be the best friend I have ever had. He makes me laugh everyday. I talk about him to everyone. I have to say that he truly the funniest person I have ever met.

Thoughtful
Well he has a good heart anyway. He knows how to cheer me up if I am having an off day. He constantly checks up on me. He loves to see me happy. Although we are not the most romantic, he know the way to my heart (fast food)

Honest
Well if you have met him ya know.

His own kind of romantic
So he knows just how much I love a good chick flick. He hates them, but when I am down, he will sit there and watch one with me just to make me feel good.

Side story. The most romantic thing he has ever done for me he didn't even know he was doing it. We were in St. Augustine, and I was looking for shells on the beach, his parents were there with us. And wouldn't you know, the next thing I see is him finding shells for me. It turned into a great long walk on the beach (I know its cliche but hey its Brent) Has to be the best moment ever!

A great priesthood holder.
I love that this man keeps us on track. I love to know that I can call on him for anything and he is worthy to come through for us.

Last but not least
He puts up with me everyday. He takes my bossy side, my crazy side, my romantic side all with awesome stride.

I am very glad to call him my best friend, lover, husband what ever you want to call it
Brent is mine and I love the Craig train.

Happy Valentine's day moneymaker!

A "clean" slate

2009-02-07T19:29:00.000-07:00

Okay so Brent always teases me that when the house is clean, I must be angry, and while this is usually true that was not the case today.

Our poor garage has not been fully cleaned out since we moved in June. We have tried to just push things around a bit to make it look a little better but to no avail. So today we tackled the garage!

We hung bike hooks, we packed and I mean packed the attic full of our stuff. We did however organize all of the totes that are now up there. It is even labeled and put up there in order of use for the upcoming year. I am so proud of us. It was a lot of work, but it is so worth it. We can walk around the cars, and open the doors all the way!

Then we came inside to find that the kids had done their cleaning as well. I was so proud of them. They cleaned their rooms and organized the dirty clothes for us to wash. They even made themselves sandwiches for lunch. ( so as not to bother mom and dads groove)

We had to run a couple of errands and the kids were good sports. We came home made dinner and wrote out a total of 45 Valentines for next week.

I wish I could say that the cleaning was for us to enjoy, and while I am loving the organization of the house today, it was really for Brent's parents who are coming to see our house for the first time. I want it all to look amazing for them.

So I am proud of the entire Craig Corporation for pitching in for next weekend.

The really, really, really bad day.

2009-02-05T18:17:00.000-07:00

Okay so today was probably one of the worst days of my life. I now remember why I had guy friends growing up. So if you don't want to see the other side of Katie you don't have to read this one, but just know I am actually human, and I am not always happy.

So this one has a preface to the bad day. Yesterday I was a bit frustrated at the standards that the school changes on a daily basis. We have a quota we are supposed to meet in order to work on each other as students. If you don't have your quota, you don't getcha hair done. Simple as that.

Well I saw a couple of girls getting their hair done everyday this week (it just happened to be the same girls each day) I was frustrated to see that none of the instructors were checking the quota sheets. And of course you can read me like a book so the instructor asked what was the matter.

After class, I spoke to the instructor and my two friends were in the room. So was a guy named Korey. My 2 friends were not in the conversation, nor was Korey. The conversation was between a student and a teacher. The teacher said that they should be checking the quotas and she would speak to her peers about the situation.

Fine

Then stupid gay guys has to start crap.....

So today, after lunch I was in the locker room when one of the girls comes in and asks to speak with me, and my 2 friends. My one friend got really defensive, and decided that this other girl shouldn't talk to her that way. Anyway a lot of yelling insued between them and I interjected and claimed all that was said was from me. Just then, the dept. head came in and pulled us all into his office. ( I haven't been in the pricipals office since 8th grade)

I let my friend be excused since she wasn't involved. In the office. I let all three girls vent their frustration.I was told that because of my age I should know better, that they had lost all respect for me, and that I shouldn't hold the standards so high for them and not others. I kept a very calm demeanor, and was quiet. When asked for my side. I explained exactly what had happened. The look on the girls' face was of utter embarrassment. They apologized and asked for forgiveness. I told them that I do not hold grudges, but that they needed to speak with my friend and apologize to her.

Needless to say, it was a big misunderstanding, and the people involved in feeding a fire that wasn't there (Korey) has been rectified.

Then I got home and Brent tells me that his mom and aunts are unhappy with a post I made on my facebook page.

Can it get any worse today? honestly?

Long story short. I made a note that stated a couple of things that a YW leader shouldn't say, and that were offensive to others. I called and apologized to Rosie and I removed the post.

The post was a joke, I am sorry that I have offended people, and I will be more careful in the future about what I write.

I see the point that Rosie was trying to make, and lets face it Ro doesn't intervene often, so it must be bad. I have also decided that jokes sound better in person and not on paper.

This all being said, it has been a very long day of putting out fires.

To end my day, I have made a cherry cobbler, and a carrot cake for girls at the school for their birthday's.

Go me

New blog

2009-01-29T21:00:00.000-07:00

So I started my own recipe blog. here is the link so you can take a peek when you get a chance.

Dene you blog stalker, you can check it out too.

http://thecraigsecret.blogspot.com/

A whole bunch of Blah...

2009-01-26T18:34:00.000-07:00

So as most of my friends and family know, Brent's uncle passed away this past week. We did get to see a lot of family we haven't seen in quite a while. And while that was so great, the circumstance we were seeing each other in was just not fun at all.

Mitch was a great guy. He welcomed me into the Tipton side of the family at once. I will always remember how funny he was, his obsession with KY basketball, and always having something to tell me that would make me blush. So hats off to you Uncle Mitch.

Other than that, there really hasn't been much action here at the Craig Corporation. Caroline and Hunter have baseball tryouts in a couple of weeks and Abbey did get the solo for the spring concert in March.

Brent's parents are coming out for Pres. day weekend and the kids are so excited. The kids were in grandma and grandad overload. Rosie has two sisters that look so much like her, the kids say its the other grandma Rosie (connie) and the other other grandma Rosie (sandy). They love family that is for sure. Rosie's two brothers always give Hunter alot of attention as well. He is named after their Dad, so that is a huge attention getter every time we are up there. He is now Little Tip according to Uncle Buddy and Larry.

As for Brent, work is really consuming alot of his time right now. With the time he took off for the funeral, he is really trying to catch up. He is studing fora a licensure he has to have for his job, so that has been fun trying to work into an already busy schedule, but what are you going to do. He is looking forward to the Superbowl this weekend, and the projector is in full swing for the event.

As for me, I have had some great color classes, I have done a couple of transformations for some people in the branch (and they look amazing!) and we did find out in class that we are doing a hair show in late April. So I am looking forward to showing off some more of my work. On a side note, tomorrow I am meeting with a salon owner who is interested in having me assist her until I get my licence. Wish me luck. The salon is right next to the kids' school so that would be a big bonus if I got a chair there.

Other than that, there really isn't alot to say for us. We will keep you posted on the upcoming projects that are coming to play soon.

The great broccoli episode

2009-01-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

okay so I do not like veggies and I haven't made my kids eat them either. But one of my goals for the new year is to have veggies so this is our first attempt at them. Enjoy!

2009-01-02T12:30:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

New Years, and yes goals

2009-01-02T12:01:00.001-07:00

So we had a party on New Years eve and we all had a great time. My friend Cristy's husband is deployed in Iraq, so we had her and her kids come and hang for the night. Liz and her family came out for a while until Liz's dang allergies came a courtin'. The Alvarez family came and we all played games, ate a ton of food, and really had a good time hanging out. I am excited for the new year.

This last year was a doozie of action for us. With the economy the way it turned up we really could be in a worse situation than what we are in. I am not trying to float our boat or anything believe me we have had our share of issues this past year but in all we really had a good one.
Brent got his dream job, we moved to FL, our kids are healthy and happy, and I am having a great time in hair school. We really can't complain. Now we need to maintain the momentum and bring in a great 2009.

My goals....

Our YW pres. asked the girls to make goals for the new year and I wanted to try and make some for myself this year.

Physical: To have a veggie at dinner every night
Mental: To keep reading (I feel like I get more stupid unless I am reading)
Family: To hold FHE every monday night
Spiritual: To read my Sunday school lesson before Sunday/ and make sure Abbey is prepared for baptism
Talent: To learn a new song to sing every month
Really my overall goal is to make sure my family is strong, healthy and prepared for life. I love the new year. It makes me feel like we can start over again. I need goals and I am really going to work on these this year. I hope if nothing I can keep the one about Abbey. It is really important to me that she understands what she is doing when she is baptised.

I am ready to go back to school, learn a lot. and ready to kick butt and take names this fall. So all of you looking for a stylist I am for hire.

Christmas in a nut shell

2009-01-02T11:57:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

It has been a great time being home with the kids and here is some of the action.

Gingerbread houses, pinecones, hair and Wii

2008-12-22T15:59:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

So this weekend we had some friends come out and make gingerbread houses. Not the premade kits you buy from the store but I made gingerbread, rolled out the dough, measured how big I wanted them all to be, cut and baked it. I bought the candy (navarre is out of gumdrops!), made royal icing (cement) and away we went.

Now the recipe I use is from the Scovile bakery in Nauvoo. It is a soft gingerbread and it tastes amazing. Problem... it is soft and needs time to harden. I didn't have time so that might have been where it went terribly wrong.

Janine and Kayla were excited to come out and make their first gingerbread houses. Janines kids came out as well and were as cute as can be. Kayla is a newlywed and her husband Nolan was supposed to come out but got called out of town for a job he is working on. Either way the adults put the houses together then the kids decorated.

For the record, the houses were all standing at one time. They just were to soft to hold the shape. The kids all had a great time decorating their family house and Kayla was awesome enough to let my kids help her decorate hers too. I will say that Kayla was the most patient and her house was the only one standing at the end of the day.

PineCones...

So we have a million pinecones in our backyard and the kids painted glue on them and shook glitter all over to make them shiny. Janines kids hadn't ever done this before either (I honestly don't know what she does for fun lol) so the kids had a great time with that.

Janines hair...

We went to Kayla's moms salon and she told us how to do Janines hair. We bought the color, developer and went to my house where we colored her hair a gorgeous red! While she was processing, Janine and Kayla played Mariocart Wii. They had a blast and I am so glad they had a great time.

So this past Saturday was a mess, and we had a great time making it. (I know I hate messy, but what do you do?) I am glad I got to share some traditions with my new friends and I hope they had a good time too.

Side note: We made reindeer food for the kids to take home as well. (Of course this was a new thing for Janine and Kayla as well) All I can say is us Mormons have some fun traditions and I honestly don't know what people in FL do for Christmas.

Cosmetology is so the way to go!

2008-12-22T15:54:00.000-07:00

okay so I am out of school and we had an awesome weekend. I will post on that next. But today I did hair all day and I got paid for it too! I am so glad that I have decided that this is the right career path for me. I have a great time everyday and I am making some bank money. Now where I go from school is up to me and there are so many people who are in need of good people to work for them in a salon. My plan is to keep my Mondays open at home for people in the church and neighbors (most salons are closed on Mondays) this way I can still work from home and work in a salon to learn more about the business.

I have taken a class with a potential employer and she says that I have some good potential working with her. I like the sound of that. So just a little blurb about hair. I love it and I love how people love what I do to make them fabulous.

Time for some relaxation (Not really but maybe)

2008-12-17T06:52:00.000-07:00

School for the semester is finally over for me! (yeah). I have learned a lot in school and I am actually using the information on real people now. I love cosmetology and I really like that I am passionate about something again. I have a good time in school and I love being on the floor making people fabulous! I have taken a couple of extra classes in color with a prospective employer and she seems to like my work so far. I have also leaned heavily on Stace~ for support if I have a question. I love that she lets me figure out what I need to do and then confirms. This really makes me feel like I know what I am doing.

My grades are really good this semester as well. I recieved all A's except one B plus (how you can get a B in specialty services I will never know but whatever) Anyway I really liked school this semesster and I was kinda sad it's over til Jan.

Now I get to be in the mode of Christmas. We are having some friends come over this weekend to make homemade gingerbread houses (the Scoville recipe from Nauvoo) and I am really excited. I am also cutting hair, and finishing up the Christmas shopping. I know that this is supposed to be a relaxing time for me having a break but I am looking forward to having friends and family to spend it with.

The kids are in school the rest of the week so after grocery shopping I will be wrapping all of Christmas up and then hiding it before they get home. This is a fun time for me. I like the feeling of Christmas and being able to see others happy as well.

So for now, I am on relax and go go go mode. Wish me luck.

Merry Christmas!

Camera issues and Abbey's Chorus debut!

2008-12-09T19:40:00.000-07:00

Okay so until Christmas I will not have any cute pics to post. The reason being, my camera got stolen right before Thanksgiving at school. Long story and I will have to post after the holidays. But the real reason for the post is Miss Abbey Lynn Craigs Singing debut!

So Abbey is in the West Navarre Primary Singing Stars at her school. She has been practicing everyday at school, and is constantly practicing at home. On Saturday, she had her first public singing debut at Christmas at the Navarre Beach Park. Her group sang 5 songs and they were so stinkin cute!

Tonight was the Christmas performance. Brent and the kids and I went to the concert. They did the night before Christmas and sang a bunch of songs. Abbey was front and center of the action. She was so happy on stage (wonder who she takes after?) She had a great time and didn't wave to mom and dad like the other kids, she kept her composer the whole time! After the performance she said that was the best day of her whole life!

After we left the performance, we went to Firehouse Subshop. (really good hot subs) and came home to settle down for bed.

Abbey's debut was not caught on film but I have her autograph ready to sell to the highest bidder.

2008-11-23T14:08:00.000-07:00

Okay so a couple of friends and I went to see Twilight this weekend. Can I just say that it was a good movie. I went into it knowing it wouldn't be like the book and that was a good thing. For the most part it followed the book enough, on the other hand, the most romantic scene was quite dark and not at all like the book.

I really did get into the movie at some parts. Just wanted to update and say that I would see it again.

The people that went were Liz Andrews, Lisa Carver, Tim and Erika Smith (he was on his best behavior and he read the book), Sarah Lazane and myself. We really did have a great time.

The Holiday Season

2008-11-18T17:56:00.000-07:00

So if you know me at all you know that my Holidays start in October. I only decorate for 2 holidays, Halloween and Christmas. Since we are going up to Kentucky for Thanksgiving, I thought that I should decorate the house with Christmas before we go up there. I have my trees up (only 1 is decorated) and most of the decorations as well.

This time of year also makes me homesick. I miss my family back in Utah and so do the kids. Pennie just had a major surgery and she is in a lot of pain. It is hard to see your family need you and be almost an entire country away from them. I know that they miss us and that helps too but family is family around the holidays. I am grateful to have Brents family be only a day away from us. That makes seeing family a little better. I definitely have great in laws and I adore Brents brothers and sister-in-laws, and of course those grandkids! I am really looking forward to the holidays with them.

I also miss my friends this time of year. Black Friday has been my own holiday with Stacey for the last couple of years and this year we have to do it by ourselves (just not fair if you ask me) but we have been with the Irwins for the last couple of years and they are a true extension of our family. We miss them so much. Not only me but the banter that happens between Stacey and Brent is hilarious! (if you have ever seen it you can testify) My kids always want to know what is going on with the Irwins whenever I talk with Stace~

I just miss people around the holidays and I want everyone to know that the Craigs are thinking of you this holiday season.

Family ties

2008-11-10T16:35:00.000-07:00

Okay so this is just a quick post on my mood today.

My mother only has 1 brother and he had 2 girls. My only cousins on my side of the family. On Brents side there are lots of cousins and uncles and aunts to go around for everyone but today we found out that my uncle has passed away.

My uncle was a great man who was very healthy. He jogged everyday and had a great life. We found out 2 weeks ago that a hip replacement went awry and he ended up with a quadrupal bypass which led to a heavy sedation and then an absolute loss of brain activity. This has led to my oldest cousin to make a decision for my uncle whether or not to let him off life support. Knowing my uncle he would not want to live by a machine and my cousin knew as well. He was let off life support earlier today and passed a little while after. So now my family is in mourning but we know we will see him again.

Just a somber note to end a day. Be thankful this time of year for your family and friends. I know I appreciate all of my family both on my side and Brents, as well as my friends both here, Utah and South Bend. I miss all of you and today has made me very aware of all that I am thankful for.

Take care

Halloween, Trunk or treat, you name it anyway you want but I call it candy fest 08

2008-11-04T17:20:00.000-07:00

Okay so we had a great time at our trunk or treat. The kids dressed up in their new costumes (thanks Granny) and they had a fun time at the church. I invited my friend from class Janine and her family. Her girls have never been trick or treating before let alone a trunk or treat so they were in heaven.

On Halloween we went to a friends house to trick or treat, play some games and watch a movie. Can I just tell you that my friend Liz raised the bar for Halloween parties? She had a donut eating contest (Brent won for the adults and Caroline for the kids) but we played a ghost game, read Halloween stories, and watched the great pumkin Charlie Brown, It was sooooo amazing and the kids fell asleep at her house. The kids had a great time and so did the adults.

Caroline won the cake walk for our family and if you can believe it they had a bunch of brownies with no orange on them!

Hoop Dee Doo Review

2008-10-27T14:08:00.000-06:00

So the best way I can think of to tell all about Disney, is to tell one story over a couple of weeks. They are all hilarious and each deserves its own post. I know everyone will be sick of Disney from reading for so long but they really are funny.

So first Hoop Dee Doo Review.

There is an interactive dinner you can go to at the wilderness camp at Disney. You wouldn't go there unless you were going to a show or camping there on the property, so not many people know about it.

Pennie said that they had gone to this show once and it was so funny we had to go. Now the $ is $50 a pop so we went as adults. Katelyn watched the kids in the hotel.

Pennie being the very organized person she is, made reservations the day they became available. This put us on the front row of the action. Believe me front row.

So there is a show that calls on people in the audience and Kelly got picked to say where we were from. They sang about the MOTAB and that was funny.

Then Brent began....

They sang the hokey pokey and a very blond cute girl was showing her leg to everyone. Of course this sent Brent a heckling. Comments like Oh yeah, THats what I'm talkin about, and his dirty laugh were all in effect that night.

The characters broke character at one point and asked Brent to come on stage.

Now Brent is all about heckling but not so much making a fool of himself on a stage (thats my job) but the actors asked him if he would participate and he said okay.

They called 4 people total to come up on stage and play a role, THere was an Indian, cowboy, can can girl and brent the star of the show.

All of the people were hilarious and played up thier respective parts. THen Brent came out twirling and blowing kisses, followed by a rump shaking right in my face just off the stage. I was crying so hard and so was my family. All I have to say is way to go brent and thank you for being such a good sport!

A little bit of Walt Disney World Craig Style

2008-10-24T16:55:00.000-06:00

I don't have alot of time right now to update but we had a great time in Disney world. I will update everyone in a few days but sit back enjoy the pics and I will be back to explain every detail (including the too too brent is wearing)

Dolphins revisited.

2008-10-07T17:54:00.000-06:00

Okay so 2 weeks ago we got the camera to work at Tip's football game here are some freaking cute pics of the family decked out (ND was playing and they happen to be the same colors as the Dolphins, Everybody Wins!) And some great ones of Hunter posing and in action. Just in case you didn't know he is #20 and he plays on the line

Just a small update. The Dolphins scored they're first touchdown last week. And the week that these pics were taken the Defense (where Hunter plays the best) held the other team to 12 points. The Dolphins have only 13 players and you need 11 to play. Tip sees alot of playing time. But with tired players the other teams get a lot more rest than the Dolphins. Hunter is loving it and we love to support him each week! Love you Tip Dawg.

2008-10-07T16:27:00.000-06:00

Five Things
Five Things on my "to-do" list today:
1- Clean up the mess we made last night before bed. (again)
2- Get my study guides updated so I can turn them in before Orlando
3-Do laundry for Orlando
4-Go to the store and get memory card for Orlando and nite panties of course
5- Change sheets for housesitter
Five years ago today I was:
1- Just had Caroline wow she was so small
2- Just had moved to Hebron (Chicago) and hated every minute of it!
3-Got a new minivan that we loved before the Tahoe of course
4-Just started going back to college.
5- Trying to find any way to get us back to family and out of Chicago. KY or UT didn't care just out of Chicago
Five Things I like to Snack on:
1- Diet Coke (fountain)
2- Sugar Cookies (my recipe)
3- Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
4- Crunch and Munch
5- Banana Cream pie
Five Places I have lived:
1-Rose Park, UT
2-Owensboro, KY
3-Hebron, IL
4-South Bend, IN
5-Pensacola, FL

Now those of you who know me Brent and I have moved 13 times in 8 years but these were states and times in my life
Five things I would do if I won a MILLION DOLLARS:
1- Pay off all debt and relieve some stress
2- Buy a salon and clientele.
3-Buy season passes to Disney for the family
4- Buy plane tickets for the family to come to Fl for the next 3 years (baptisms ya know)
5-Travel and Explore

My little Diet Coke Monster!

2008-09-28T13:08:00.000-06:00

Okay so on Thursdays we can make up an hour in our class or get ahead an hour, whichever you need. (I need extra since we are going to Orlando). We are not allowed to eat while we work or observe. We can however drink. I thought to myself "self bring a Diet Coke and you can drink that while you observe today". Now those of you who know me I do not carry cash ever. I take my Diet Coke, write my name on the side in permanent marker put it in the school fridge and go to class. Then at lunch I went to get my coke out of the fridge and low and behold it is gone. I ask you W.T.H!!!!!! Now I don't have a coke, no money to buy a coke and the little monster is coming out to say something I will probably regret.

I went into the salon to observe and of course my face tells everything, where is your coke Katie? So I start on a 5 minute rampage of who steals 1 can of coke. I am so angry my fists are shaking and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. I know it isn't anyone from our class, because they were all with me. But we do share the building and breakroom with the juniors, seniors, and massage therapists. I am just so angry that I can't get anything that I want to explode. Luckily a girlfriend had heard about it and brought me a Coke from McDonalds so I was okay. So now I had a coke, and needed to repay someone the next day.

My feelings are this, If you need a diet coke, bring one. If you don't have one borrow a dollar. If you would like a diet coke, have no money and have to much pride to ask for a dollar, then suck it up! Do not steal someone elses and put them in the worst mood ever! I am getting over it now and I will not put another Diet coke in the fridge unless it is in my lunch bag, but I had to get that horrible day off my chest. Thank you to Tierra for thinking of my monster on Thursday!

Trip to Elizabethtown KY

2008-09-24T16:48:00.001-06:00

So this past weekend we went up to Ky. Brent's brother Mark got tickets to the Rider cup(this is an annual golf tournament that moves every year and it is really popular). Brents brother Bryon came all the way from Hawaii to go to this thing too. Another reason we went up to KY was for Grandma Rosie and Grandad and Hailey's birthday. Now my kids haven't seen cousins for a couple of months so this was a big deal. Abbey, Sarah and Rachel all get along so fantastically and they were so happy to see each other.

The Golf outing..

So the boys went golfing on Friday grandad, and all four brothers and Nates friend Aaron ( i swear he is a nathan clone!) they were having a good time when of course Brent got up to tee off.......

Okay so Nate and Aaron were down the course a bit, Bryon and James were about 20 feet in front of Brent on the side, and Mark was behind Brent (where he should have been). Brent goes to swing, hits the ball and hits a line drive into Bryons arm!! Yes in his arm just above the elbow. If he would have been an inch lower he would have broke the elbow. Now from Nates point of view "I saw Brent hit the ball and Dad double over, I thought Brent hit Dad".

Dad says "When I saw that Bryon was okay I doubled over with laughter"
Bryon says "I am just glad you didn't break it"
Mark says "It's my weekend off so stop hitting people with balls Brent"

All in all they had a great time and Brent will not live this one down for awhile.

Rider cup...

They all had a great time and the golfing was awesome. I really don't know alot of what happend but Brent was glad to spend time with his brothers and dad for a couple of days. I got to hang with Rosie, Maria, Amy, and Maria's mom Dolores. I had so much fun giving manicures, and just catching up with how everyone was doing. It was like we were all back in Rosie's house on a Saturday afternoon just hanging. I was in need of some family time and this was perfect!

So now the horror story of KY.......!!!@@@%$^$%$

Sarah (M&M's daughter) has a friend that lives next door. His name is Collin. Now his mom's name is Dawn, but the previous owner of the house is Terri and my kids adore her. Collin has a pool. My kids wanted to go swimming. They asked and I said no it is getting to late in the season, and we didn't bring any swimsuits. Abbey asked me 4 times if she could go swimming. After the 4th time I told her if she asked again she was in the house the rest of the time we were in KY. The mommies were in the living room and my mommy radar went off. I went outside to check on the kids and low and behold, Hunter is drenched, Caroline is naked, and Abbey is getting ready to get into the pool. DId I not just say no? After a good spanking outside with no parents around might I add (even the owner) They were guided to the basement where they spent the rest of the afternoon in a corner, cleaning up toys, and not playing with cousins the rest of the day. It is so hard to dicipline when you are not at your own house so we told them we would be revisiting this issue when we got home.

Update: they were so grounded until today and I mean no nothing at all fun. toys, video games, movies, tv you name it banned until today. they have been very sorry and after a long talk about how they could have died. a light seemed to click. so that was the bad part of the trip but everything else was absolutely perfect

36 Things you didn't know about me

2008-09-17T17:08:00.000-06:00

Okay so Stacey got this from one of her friends and challenged me to it so here we go.

1. I hate cake

2. I do not like to be alone.

3. I am super organized.

4. Banana cream pie is the best

5. Music is my outlet. I like to sing, and listen

6. I am a huge flirt

7. Reading is a passion and an outlet.

8. I hate the outdoors and it hates me!

9. I am allergic to bee's, Tide, and Vitamin E.

10. I love the Jonas Brothers.

11. My husband and kids are all that matter to me in life.

12. I can't say no.

13. I don't get mad in front of people. ( Brent hears it later)

14. I sleep sitting up.

15. Diet coke runs in my veins.

16. I can give a public speech like a pro. Adlib everything

17. I hate popcorn

18. I can fry a mean chicken.

19. I do not procrastinate

20. I'm never late. Ever

21. I used to skateboard

22. My favorite clothing is a good hoodie and beat up jeans

23. I love other people to pamper me.

24. I worry about everything

25. I wish more people posted comments on my blog.

26. I love Disney movies.

27. I am a sucker for a good chick flick

28. I don't like to go to the movies

29. I make friends fast and keep them

30. I don't like other peoples kids. (unless you are family or just as good as)

31. Chocolatier is the best game ever.

32. I love Rhianna music

33. I miss my friends badly

34. I love football (college and pro)

35. I love professional wrestling

36. I laugh everyday with Brent. He cracks me up everyday!

So my challenge is on to Amy, Nate, Carey, Cristy, and Amanda to get your 36 things up on your blog too.

7 or 15 who knew?!

2008-09-11T18:07:00.000-06:00

So today started off with a bang and just because now it is over I can actually blog about it. Those of you who do not find this funny can just not comment.

Okay so Brent or myself will take the kids out to the bus every morning for school. They get to bring a snack and a water bottle if they want to. So I notice that Abbey has her water bottle not in her backpack and I tell her I will put it in her bag and turn around. THis was followed with a "no thats okay I will hold it" my mommy ears get perked and I ask "whats in your backpack ab?" she says "nothing" and I say "turn around abbey"

Low and behold there is a whole wardrobe in the bag. My first instict is
"is she trying to run away" of course you would think that.

No she just didn't like what she was wearing to school and wanted to change on the bus. She even brought a jacket so the other two kids could hold it up as a shield for her. Now I was mad but I also thought it was incredibly funny too. I would like to think I handled the situation well it is as follows

"Abbey why dont you like your clothes today?
"I dont know but I wanted more options
"But you picked out your clothes that you are wearing
"I know mom but I just wanted to dress up like a kitty today and I need to wear all one color
"Abbey do you not realize why you cant be naked on the bus?
"no
"okay 3 things 1. mom said no 2. mom and dad could get into trouble for letting you be naked on the bus, and the bus driver could get in trouble too. 3. What if someone wanted to touch you in your private area. that is not good at all.

The wheels started turning and she started to be very sad that she had disappointed me and brent. Needless to say I thought I had a 7 year old but apparently I have a 15 year old instead. Sneaking clothes to change into when your mom wasnt there and then changing back before you get home (comeon you know you did it too) but seriously this is something Pennie should be dealing with not me!

Wow needless to say that was the morning and this afternoon. But rest assured she was grounded the whole day, had to talk with dad and mom, and hopefully she has learned her lesson.

The Dolphins.

2008-09-06T17:10:00.000-06:00

Okay so on a good note, we got a phone call on Wed night from Brother Smith in the branch. He asked if we had ever thought about putting Tip into football. We said yes but Hunter is a little to nice for football. Brother Smith said that he could come to a practice and see if Hunter wanted to try to play. Brent took him on Thursday and he had a blast! He didn't mind falling down and he loved being able to push people over and not get into trouble! We signed him up and he had his first game this morning.

Our little dolphin has the biggest helmet they make, a complete pad outfit (including the jock strap) now try to explain that to a 6 year old.
Brent actually did a great job with that one.
He put it on Tip and flicked it! Hunter laughed so hard it was making me cry. Then he took it off him and asked Tip if he could flick it again. This was followed by a hold of the crotch and a no way dad. So the strap stays.
He had a great time this morning. His team only has 13 people on it and you need 11 to play, needless to say Tip saw a lot of playing time. He is a natural and his coach said so too. Well what should we expect? His dad played and had the biggest head too. He unlike his father does not have a huge Orange sticker on the helmet (that means you can't carry the ball cause you are to big) and he loves the game and the kids. His cheeks I have to say are so adorable in the helmet that I could eat them. I know I am a bit biased but he looks the cutest of all the kids on the team.

Gustav

2008-09-06T17:01:00.000-06:00

Okay so we made it through gustav with no problems. we took the kids to the beach to see the big waves and took some pics. We called Pennie and Mom and they both thought we were crazy to take the kids out but it really wasn't horrible outside (mom even called me an idiot!) but all in all we are fine.
Thank you everyone who called to make sure we were okay.

Ike
Now this one has got Brent a little worried (although he won't admit worried, but for lack of a better word worried) the path looks like it could come right up here. So we will know by Monday if we will be getting some boards out of the attic. I think if they make us evacuate, brent will get his workers settled then I will make him leave with me and the kids up to KY but if not we will stay holed up here. I have to say I am a bit concerned with this storm so we will let you know what we decide.

Fay, Gustav and School and church...wow what a week!

2008-08-31T17:54:00.000-06:00

Okay so my family is wondering what is going on down here and I really should have updated a bit quicker but still better late than never right?

Okay so about a week ago we had Fay roll in and spit on us (litterally) it had disipated enough by the time it got around to us that it really wasn't anything to ride home about. We had some friends over for a tropical storm party and we all laughed at the mist outside. We did play some fun games and got to know each other a bit better too. Rock band is Brent's new favorite game!

School.

So I get ready on Monday for school, get all dolled up with the hair, makeup get the kids on the bus and head off to school. I get there and the Cosmetology building is all but deserted. I think "what the crap" go inside and talk to the one lady who I have actually ever talked to the entire enrollment process all to find out that school starts on Thursday! Can you believe that?! I had it written as the 28th I knew it was the 28th, but for some reason I thought that the 28th was a Monday. The rest of the college started on Monday and I go to school Mon-Fri so why wouldn't it be Monday? well it sucked and I looked really stupid and hopefully I never see that lady ever again.

Let's try again. Okay so I go to school on Thursday (yes I know are you sure?) and I had a great day! We got our kits and went through the inventory and played with all the stuff in my bag. I crashed at home by 8:30. I am so old now that I couldn't even hold my head up.
Friday we learned how to do old lady roller sets on our manakins and I loved it! The theory class stinks and it is totally busy high school work. (write out the glossary terms in the back) but the clinic is fabulous.

Gustav.

Well this looks like it will be a little bit more severe than Fay. We already are seeing some rain and hopefully it will stay west of here. We are in a tropical storm warning but nothing we have to put up the boards for. We have food, water, and a generator with gas already to go if we lose power. Yes the babies will be taken care of and we will be in touch after it is over.

First Day of School

2008-08-18T17:33:00.000-06:00

So today was the first day of school and what a day it turned out to be.

We got up early got the kids all dressed for school did the girls' hair and Brent even made a hot breakfast for the kiddos (Rosie says kids need a good breakfast before school). So we said goodbye to dad and we went to wait for the bus outside.

The kids saw the bus coming down the street and were so excited. I had the camera all ready to snap some quick shots but low and behold the bus turned, yeah thats right turned. It was our bus and drove right passed us. I was so livid that I called transportation and got that little mess all cleaned up.(not a happy mommy, especially because I thought everything was taken care of last week) So I drove them to school and dropped them off.

Bus home.

The kids were on the bus home for an hour and fifteen minutes home. On the good side, the bus is air conditioned and Abbey got her reading homework done on the bus. They were dropped off really late and I had the "opportunity" to speak with the bus driver. Now she did apologize for not picking them up and promised that the bus kinks are being worked out.

Now I understand the first day of school stuff and I consider myself to be really nice. But do not mess with my babies if I am trusting you to take care of them in my absence. Hopefully tomorrow will go better.

Now as far as the kids go, they all had great days. Everyone came home with high marks for behavior today! They all got lunch and ate yummy good stuff. They were all tired as soon as they got home. So we will see how the rest of the year plays out.

The Craig Band Concert

2008-08-15T15:53:00.000-06:00

Okay so the kids were in Ab's room yesterday with the door closed for a very long time. When Dad got home we were led into the "concert hall" and a Diet Coke, bag of chips, raisins, crunch and munch were waiting for us.

The kids introduced themselves and we were invited to watch our kids put on a "concert" for us. They were so freaking cute and the kids loved watching us rock out with them.

Abbey was complete with Mic, Hunter with a guitar, and Caroline with a make shift drum. It was great to watch our emerging talent in the family.

Back to school chaos!!!!

2008-08-14T15:24:00.000-06:00

Okay so I consider myself a pretty easy going mommy (for the most part) but straight out incompetance is just not acceptable!

So I take the kids to back to school today. (They get to find their class and meet their new teachers)

First stop. the Cafeteria

So I go into the cafeteria and the bus people are there. Great I need to make sure they know where to pick up my kids and drop them off. But low and behold you have to have a magic form filled out. Okay but the form is in the office! The line behind me was nothing short of rediculous so I say we will be back.

Second grade

So Abbey's teacher and I are probably going to butt heads a bit this year. Plain and simple she is way to professional to teach 2nd grade. She only talked to me and not Ab's and she was not organized at all. Hopefully that was just a first day kind of thing but I was a little put off by her whole presence to be honest.

First grade

Hunters teacher was so polar opposite of Abbey's that is was scary! She was animated, excited, talked to all the kids, and did a short presentation of what she expects of the kids and parents! Now that is what I needed! She was great! If her school days are anything like today Hunter will always have a great day.

Kindergarten

So Liney's teacher is perfect for K. She talks so kindly to the kids, has their every attention and just loves her job ( you can just tell) she had a project for the kids going while she talked to us parents and they all loved her. I had to talk to her about allergies and speech and all that jazz but she was fantastic and took amazing notes. Thank goodness.

To the office I go

I waited in the office line for the magic form for 30 min (with 3 kids who were just done waiting) and headed back to the cafeteria.

Cafeteria 2

The line was around every lunch table and out the door to talk to the bus people! Hello no organization. We waited another hour just to talk to the same man I did the first time. He said "Oh this is the form we need" and I just could have gone postal on him! But I calmly asked which bus we were, what time are we picked up, and made sure they knew they were to be dropped off at a different location. I met their bus driver and she is very nice. She said because we have a Kinderperson we will be picked up right at the house and dropped off right at Trena's Yeah!

Then we got to go back to all the teachers and tell them our bus #'s and now we are good to go to school on Monday.

All in all a productive day but totally unnessasary if a little bit of organization would have taken place.

High note: At this school you can pay your lunch money online! how cool is that?

Slides of Utah

2008-08-11T16:52:00.001-06:00

Little pics of Utah

2008-08-11T16:15:00.001-06:00

The Utah, Vegas, and reuntion trip

2008-08-11T15:34:00.000-06:00

Okay so I know that I have been home for almost a week and I haven't had a chance to write about the trip. So this might be another long one for those who need a little heads up about an entry.

The plane.

So we got to the airport and Brent was able to get a gate pass which was fantastic to help me put the kids on the plane. We gave Hunter a dramamine before the plane and no puking this trip Yeah!. Our first plane a sister in the ward, a cute little German lady named Brigette (br-ig-i-tt-a)helped me take the kids to the potty and find our next plane in Atlanta all before finding her own connection to D.C. So can I just give a little prop to her? Thanks soo much!

Vegas 1.

So Vegas was very congested to get out of and Pennie was an expert in navigation back to I-15. Katelyn and Pennie met us in Vegas and the kids were on cloud nine seeing them! We stopped for food in Mesquite and talked a whole bunch on the way home.

Pen's house.

When we got back to Pennies house, Granny and Kelly were waiting for us and the kids got an extra surge of energy all over again. (not good when you get home at 11) The kids said good night and we all went to bed.

Granny's B-day.

My moms birthday was on Wed. and we had the whole day planned out. We met mom at Training Table for lunch ( on the list of places I had to go to while in UT). The kids, Pennie and Katelyn, Debbie and Rachel were all there to say happy bday to mom. It was a great lunch.

That night Katelyn watched the kids while all the adults went to the temple. Now we have been trying to get my grandparents work done for a while and it just all came together last minute. I had to get my new reccomend but that is a whole other story. Kelly drove himself, Pennie, Granny, and myself to the temple. Steve was to meet us there after work. We got there and mom and deb were taking care of paperwork and Kelly was waiting for Steve. We had to get dressed really quick so we wouldn't be late for the sealing and still no sign of Steve. We got dressed and so did Kelly and still no sign of Steve. Now Steve comes home from Layton everyday and Debbie was starting to show small signs of panic. We assured her he would be there eventually though. It came down to the wire and Steve still wasn't there. We went upstairs and low and behold there is Steve waiting in the sealing room for us! Apparently he was a little early and just went where he was supposed to.
Now everyone knows that I am not super churchy but I was a huge ball baby during the sealing! Knowing that my mom finally has a place in heaven is huge for me. I was such a cry baby that after it was over, Pennie turned to me (the only one not crying I might add) and said "Is that you boobin' behind me?" and true to Katie fashion I followed up with "Can you say Boob in the temple?"
Pennie and I just started laughing. totally ruined the moment. oops!
All in all a great day though

Thursday.

We were going to go to Lagoon but it was sooooo hot I just couldn't bring myself to be in the sun all day. So we got some lunch (apollo burger) and went to the park to play. 10 minutes at the park and we were ready for the pool. We went to the pool and the kids HATE water! 5 minutes with Kelly, Pennie and Katelyn and my kids are fish! who knew? The kids swam for 2 hours and didn't want to go home, but I was done. They slept soooo good that night.

Friday.

I met two of my friends from high school at MCDonalds for lunch with the kids and my goodness we all look the same! Jamie has two kids Colton and Vanessa, and one on the way! Kristie has a little girl named Isabelle. They are all so cute! We talked for a couple of hours and then I had to get Pennies car back to her. I felt bad leaving her deserted like that anyway. I promised to go to the reunion on Sat and we could keep talking then.

Sat... the reunion......

So this was really a good night. I picked up Kristie, (0f course she wasn't ready) and got the opportunity to catch up with her mom. We got to the reunion and Tracy was was waiting for us. Jamie showed up not 5 min after we did. So we all walk in together. It was cool to see everyone again. At most the turnout was dismal but our table was rockin' we had a really good time. We took a ton of pics and really had a good time catching up.

A highlight of the reunion.. Abbey who is obsessed with the weather and the news saw that one of my old friends Lincoln was a news anchor in Boise. She stalks his facebook all the time. He was there at the reunion and I had to ask for a pic with him to show Abbey I really did know the famous guy on TV.(how rude, doesn't she trust her mother?) Well Lincoln was thrilled (at least he acted like it) and obliged to have multiple pics with my buds and me. His blog is listed in my bud list. Abbey was sooo excited to have a new way of stalking him! Thanks Lincoln your the best.

Sunday.

We had early church and Kelly was conducting sacrament so of course we had to go. He bore his testimony and cried like always! (love you Kelly man) and put into words all the things I think our whole family would have liked to say. Church was fast and the afternoon was memorable.

That afternoon we had a bday party for all the summer bdays. Granny, Hunter, Caroline, me and Steven all had a little present (brents was a tie from mom) and we grilled out and just hung with the family all afternoon. I wouldn't have had it any other way. Steven even came and the kids attacked him . Thanks Steven for being a good sport!

Monday..
The last day there was pretty uneventful. We played games all day and the kids ran through the sprinkler again (apparently fish like to run and make butt prints on the side walk too!) My family was content to hang with the Craigs no prob.

Tues..Vegas baby Vegas!

So we went back to Vegas and went to the M&M factory. The Coke place is under rennovation but still super cool. We went to get something to eat and of course Hunter threw up. I tell you that kids loves to puke! So Hunter and I went back to the room, I gave Pennie the quarters I got for the kids to play in the arcade and mom and Pennie took the kids to play. Gone for about 30 min. and I get this phone call "Katie, you will never guess what just happened. Caroline hit the jackpot and won 500 tickets" (what are you waiting for take that girl upstairs and pull a slot already) anyway the kids ended up with a crap load of toys when they came upstairs and they even got stuff for a sick little brother! Way to share sistas.

Wed. time to go home...

The plane ride on the way home wasn't too bad. They were ready to see dad and so was I. We had a minor lost Polly Pocket on the plane but other than that we were good to go home. Dad picked us up and we all fell into bed together.

It really was nice to go home and see family. Special thanks to the Parkinsons and Granny who survived the Craig Invasion another year. See you all in Oct. at disney Love you all.

Cosmetology acceptance!

2008-08-09T15:40:00.000-06:00

Okay so I went to Utah and I have been waiting for a letter of acceptance into the fall semester or the spring. I just needed to know so I can have a plan of action. I called on Monday and they said that I was in! I was so excited! Now I have to pay tuition, get some scrubs and shears and here we go! I will update about the reunion and the trip to Utah soon but just to update real quick school is happening this fall!!

Cosmotology Orientation

2008-07-22T16:02:00.000-06:00

Okay so here is the deal. I went to orientation today and learned absolutely nothing about the actual program or if I will get in this semester! Crappy huh? Well I did get to meet the professors and that was a good glimpse of things to come. We met some of the freshman who are moving on to real people in the fall and they all had great feedback for us. I took the Test of Adult Basic Education or T.A.B.E as they call it and I passed!!!!! I am so excited. I hate tests and it has been a long time since I have taken any math. I passed and that is all I can ask for.

So the wait begins...again. They said we should know in a week if we get in. The bad part is, in a week I will be on a plane headed to Utah. So Brent will be calling for our messages and getting the mail. Hopefully they will call and I can call them back to let them know I am very interested in starting the fall term.

So if everyone can say a small prayer that would be very appreciated. If I don't get into the fall term I will surely get into the spring, but I would like to get this show on the road.

Thanks for putting up with all the back and forth with this process!

The house pics

2008-07-15T21:23:00.001-06:00

Memories about me and you

2008-07-15T12:33:00.000-06:00

So Stacey got this from Lou (her buddy in Utah) and I thought it would be fun to see what others remember about their experiences with me.

1. Leave one memory that you and I had together, as a comment on my blog. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments

The tooth fairy strikes!! Yikes!

2008-07-15T12:17:00.000-06:00

So Abbey has had two teeth pulled as a result of her parents strong teeth. But last Monday she lost her very first tooth! Abbey left the tooth fairy a note and the tooth fairy responded. Then last night while Brent was talking to Kelly, Abbey lost another tooth! That is two teeth in one week people!. Abbey again wrote a note to the tooth fairy and she gave Abbey an extra .25 because she lost two teeth in one week. Wow that tooth fairy is going to be broke if Abbey keeps this up!

Oh yeah she has one more that is really wiggly so it will probably be out next week too.

Just think we have 3 kids all in tooth losing ages. I guess the tooth fairy better get another job to pay for all this.

a little more to catch up on...

2008-07-14T18:27:00.000-06:00

Okay so the rest of the story is that. we got the girls' beds delivered two days before the rest of the house. I have almost all of the house unpacked now and we can park one car in the garage. Brent got up into the attic and put the christmas stuff up there. Here are some pics of the house right now.

Time to catch everyone up......

2008-07-14T16:00:00.000-06:00

Birthdays....

So everyone knows that everyone in the Craig corporation has a Birthday in June with exception of Abbey. So it was very crazy here for a couple of weeks, not including the move. So here it is. Hunter had a great birthday with exception of the nunchuck controllers. After Stacey retrieved them for us Hunter loves his game! Grandma Rosie and Grandad got Hunter a bike and he absolutely loves it!

Caroline had a great day too. We went to the mall and she got to pick where we ate for the day. Of course she picked Taco Bell. Later that night she was so excited to hang with the family. We went and saw the new Indiana Jones movie (liney totally fell asleep). We came home and had some homemade cake from dad. All in all a good day.

Brents birthday......

So here is the cool one. Rosie and James came down to watch the kids because I had to fly home to watch the packers in the South Bend house. We did get to go to dinner at a crab place that was awesome! We ate on the beach and grandad laughed at me trying to eat crab legs.(who knew they made utinsels to eat crab with?) We came home and gave Brent his presents. Rosie and James got Brent a golf bag and I got him new golf clubs. Nike somethings. I don't know but James really liked them so we will call it a good present. We had to celebrate Brents Birthday the day before because he was in Talahasse all day of the 24. Fun huh?

My birthday..........

Well what can I say? I sat in a house of people I didn't know at all and watched them pack all day. My friend Carey took me to lunch and I did start to feel like it was a cool day. The waitress heard me say it was my birthday and they all sang to me. Now we all know that I love attention, but only when I am prepared for it. These people totally took me off guard. I was so red in the face. But Ada liked it. After lunch I headed back to the house to find the same people still packing the house. That was pretty much the highlight.

Now that is the bad part of the birthday. While Brent was in Talahasse, a jeweler was going out of business. Now Brent never ever and I mean ever spends money on jewelry so when he said he got me jewelry for my birthday I laughed at him. The kids gave me a really pretty bracelet and necklace that I can wear to the formal thing we go to. Brent and I have this joke about my wedding ring. He got it at Sams club 2 weeks before the wedding and it turns my finger green but who cares right. He always joked that if we got to our 10 year anniversary he would get me a real ring. Apparently he decided to bet on the anniversary and got me a new wedding ring. It is soooo gorgeous!! Now I had to ask why Brent would spend money on stuff like this, and his response was true Brent Craig. I wasn't going to until I saw the nice markdowns! I knew it. But I am still so happy anyway. Thank you moneymaker.

So that was the birthdays in a nut shell.

2008-07-14T15:59:00.001-06:00

A quick update

2008-07-09T17:13:00.000-06:00

Okay so I know that people want to see the new house, and I would love to put some pics up real soon. I just need to unpack the camera oops! Just to let everyone know, we are in the new house, it is great, and the unpacking never ends. Will advise soon. Thanks for being patient.

Craig Birthday

2008-06-10T18:01:00.000-06:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Birthday and the move

2008-06-10T17:49:00.000-06:00

So I am totally not a good blogger right now. But here is a quick catch up. We moved to pensacola last week. It has been a great new adventure. The beach is beautiful. We went to church in the new ward and they are all really nice people. We had Hunters birthday party here and in KY but we didnt know we were going to have one at grandma rosie and grandads. So here is a quick what has happened.

The Drive.
So the drive really wasnt horrible. We stopped at rosie and James to stay and see them. Rosie had planned a whole birthday party for hunter and caroline so that was so fabulous! Mad props to grandma rosie and grandad! We rolled into pensacola early the next evening and found our new apartment. It was gorgeous! It is fully furnished and all we needed was food. They did give us a great snack basket so they must of knowm we had kids.

Pensacola..
Pensacola in one word is wow! It is so beautiful here. The sun makes you want to be happy. You cant help it. The homes on the sea are so crazy they are on stilts! but still fantastic. We went to a crab shack and I tried crab. It was actually really good.

Birthday disaster...
So I am a horrible mom. Hunters birthday sucked really bad. We got presents and brent made a cake which was really cute, but the wii game we got needed the nunchuck and of course we didnt bring that. I called stacey to get it and mail it. Of course the door to the den was locked. So we are screwed now with the game for a couple of weeks.

We went to the zoo a couple of days ago and that was really cute but nothing really making a great impression right now. I feel like I am just trying to remember everything right now and it just isnt coming so I will post again when my head is clearer.Sorry guys who actually read this

Katie