Spring is in the air, FINALLY!

Sat., 3/29, Kiki and her fam and Timmy came over for a BBQ.  The girls sure love playing with cousins, aunts, and uncles!


I took the girls to a gospel choir concert on Sunday night, 3/30, in Salt Lake (my friend from back home who lives in Huntsville, Amiee, sang in it). Makenna loved it. Avery refused to sit in a chair by herself because it was the kind where the bottom goes up and down. She was either in my lap or standing next to me the whole time. Funny girl! She also thought the music was too loud, ha ha.  

Anyway, here's how my day went before the concert: Got up, fed the girls and got ready for choir practice (I did everything to get myself ready for church except put on a dress--we practice at the choir director's house, so we don't have to wear church clothes), went to practice, came straight home and dressed the girls and did their hair then fed them lunch and changed my clothes, went to church (was exhausted after nursery), came home and had only an hour to feed the girls again and re-do my make-up and change for the concert.  It was really late when we got home, at least 9:30pm, and I was EXHAUSTED!


Jared got home on Thursday, 4/3, and we had a nephew born in Georgia!  We sure wish we could see him in person!  We went to Jared's mission reunion Friday night then just relaxed all last weekend, with it being General Conference.  Besides conference, I also watched all the final four and championship basketball games, as well as some LSU baseball games.

We had an interview with our adoption counselor on Wed., 4/9, then went next door to DI and shopped for a bit for play clothes for the twins.  That evening, we went and shopped at Costco for the first time.  Wow, it's easy to drop a quick $200 there!  And, of course, we had to get hot dogs, pizza, and fro-yo on our way out.

Oh, here's the email I received on 4/4 about the Boston Pops audition: "After reviewing the program they are putting together for us in Boston, the Pops creative team felt they could accommodate 3 musicians during our concert. They have selected the following musicians to perform a piece with the Boston Pops: Tracy Rowe Adam Thompson Carrie Froyd Congratulations to our selected performers, and thank you to all who auditioned – we are beyond impressed by the auditions we received"  My friend Brandon said, "It was because of the LSU shirt. Haters gon' hate."  Ha ha!  I'm pretty bummed and it was a huge blow to my ego--but, even more, I was looking forward to playing in such a great musical setting, as it has been a while since I've REALLY played the instruments I majored in and I'll probably never get the chance again. Maybe they just didn't have a song in their program that utilized marimba. That's what I'm choosing to believe. That and they're LSU haters!  :P

Here are a few FB posts from the past couple of weeks:

3/28: Kiki posted this funny for me on my wall:  "Raisin cookies that look like chocolate chip cookies are the main reason I have trust issues."  Ha ha ha!  So true!

4/2: My cat ate part of a leaf of one of my houseplants then puked on the kitchen floor (thankfully not on carpet); it was really only liquid and chewed up leaf but I still gagged and puked in my mouth while mopping it up. I'm such a wuss, ha ha! [P.S. Avery was the one that pointed out the puke to me.  She's came running up to me and was like, "Mommy!  Mommy!  There's something on the floor!  Eeeew!" She is hilarious!]

4/2: Watching the snow fall. Happy Spring??


4/6:  Major "The Walking Dead" withdrawals!!! 6 more months...
 
4/6: When I was brushing Avery's teeth tonight, she asked, "What's that in my hair?? It's kind of like circles." I said, "That's called curls! You have beautiful curly hair!" Silly girl just now noticing that she has curly hair?!

4/8: FINALLY a warm, gorgeous day! The twins and I enjoyed a couple of hours at the park with friends. So nice!!

4/8: It's quite unnerving when someone your  exact age, who you've known your whole life, passes away unexpectedly. I prayed when my mom first told me about his wreck and was very saddened to hear the news Sunday morning that he didn't make it. My thoughts and prayers are with the Perk family. I will always remember Richard as my first "boyfriend" when we were 4 and I remember going around telling everyone we were getting married. I also remember having lots of phone conversations as teens. I love his mom and his family, and we share cousins, so I really wish I could be there for the funeral! Praying for peace and comfort for all of his family and friends, especially his two kids. RIP, Richard.
[His mom and my aunt by marriage (to my dad's brother) are sisters. Their parents helped convert my parents, so their kids all grew up in the church, but all of them are inactive, including Richard. *:( sad]

4/9: I was laughing to the point of tears when I realized how Jared rearranged my "EASTER" letters decoration! Yes, he IS a teaser!

4/11: My kids crack me up! Last night, on the way home from an adoption panel, Avery was singing Katy Perry's "Roar". She loves that song. Total cuteness. Today, when I went to change Makenna's poopy diaper, I told her, "If you don't start pooping and peeing in the potty soon, I'm gonna lose my mind!" She said, "Okay! Then you won't talk?" HA HA HA!!!

The twins had a ball at a neighbor's party Fri. night, 4/11! Jared had to go down the slide with Makenna first, then he forced Avery to go down with him; after that, they wanted to keep going on it over and over and over by themselves. Then, Makenna wanted to get on the mechanical bull but she wasn't so thrilled when it actually started moving, ha ha! We put Avery on it but didn't actually have the guy start it. She was NOT happy to get on! So they went back on the slide. They were so upset when we left the party, ha ha! I told them the party was almost over (little white lie) and Avery was bawling in such a pathetic way, "But the music is still on!" It was kind of funny.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Makenna this morning: "Can you get up? I'm hungry. I'm gonna starve!" Drama queen!  Ha ha!

It has been a very nice week here, as far as weather goes, and the girls have gone outside to play every day but it rained last night and has been sprinkling on and off all day today and the temps dropped to the upper 40's; they were expecting to go outside this morning and were very disappointed when I said they couldn't.  Hope the weather gets back to gorgeous tomorrow!  Happy Spring, y'all!

2-month catch-up! (fixed)

1/13-1/20:
We didn't do all that much that week.  I didn't even take any pictures with my camera.  Jared got home from a trip Thursday night and all did was go out to eat and go to church, and he took the girls to his Mom's and Grandpa's on Sat.  Here are a few snippets from Facebook that tell a little about our week:

1/13: Cooking dinner with music on and Avery dancing around me in a tutu and taking breaks to dance with her=awesome!

1/15:  Sweetness of the day: During lunch, Makenna leaned over and stroked Avery's arm and said, "Avery's so cute!" After lunch, Avery said, "Makenna, dance with me!" and they held hands and danced together. Aaaaaw! But then Makenna accidentally pulled Avery to the floor so Avery wouldn't dance with her like that anymore, ha ha!

1/15:  Dancin' before nap. Avery has pants, a t-shirt, a tutu skirt, a Minnie Mouse costume dress, and Minnie ears on; Makenna has pants, a t-shirt, a tutu skirt, and a Doc McStuffins costume on. Funny girls.

1/15: Just when I was gonna stop watching American Idol, after they had Nikki Minaj as a judge last year, they go and put Harry Connick, Jr. on as a a judge. I have listened to his music for over 20 years, I love him as an actor, and now I love him as an AI judge! He obviously really knows music--better than 99% of "artists" out there--and he is hilarious, to boot. I also saw a girl I know from back home, Samantha Calmes on the show tonight! She was the one who said, "Google him right now!", then said Harry was good-looking, ha ha! Samantha, they had to have put you up to that because there is no way someone from back home doesn't know who HCJ is!! I hope we get to hear your gorgeous voice on the SLC episode!!


1/16:  This is seriously cracking me up to the point that I got a weird look from Avery. Mum's the word on which of my siblings I'm thinking of HA HA!!


1/18:  Great weekend so far: Family date night at Culver's last night and a day to myself today, as Jared took the girls up to his mom's house. Literally all I've done today, once I got the girls dressed and out the door, is watch TV and nap, and now I'm scrapbooking. MUCH NEEDED! Thanks, babe

We had a rought night Sat. night (1/18) with the girls and we all ended up "sleeping" in my bed.  Yeah, that means not much sleep for any of us.  They were so cranky before church and Jared said he was ready to just give in and keep them home but we persisted.  They were little demons in sacrament and Makenna screamed like a banshee as I brought her into the Primary room.  But one of her teachers gave her a fabric busy book and she calmed down, then I guess they both did OK until church was over.  Then, we had to stay afterward so I could meet with a bishopric counselor.  They are putting me in as the choir pianist and keeping me in nursery.  Oh goody.  So now I'll have to bring the girls with me to choir practices when Jared is away and pray that they will behave and play with the choir director's kids so we can have uninterrupted practices.  Wish me luck and pray hard! :P

Oh, and here's a video of when Jared got home from his trip this week:
The girls didn't know he was coming home, so I told them there was a surprise when I heard the garage door open.  Makenna still kept asking for a surprise; she just didn't grasp the concept that Jared WAS the surprise, ha ha!

1/20-1/27:
Jared left again on Wed. for 3 1/2 weeks.

1/24: Kiki, Carma and Wyatt came and spent the night with us while Judson and Michael were at a Klondike camp-out.  We had so much fun!

1/26: The girls came home from church today with prayer rocks. Makenna said she was going to put hers under her pillow to help her remember to pray. Avery said, "That would hurt! If you put the rock under your pillow and put your head on it, it would hurt!" Ha ha ha! So funny!

1/26: Mmmmmm that shrimp scampi and homemade French bread Kiki Tassin Tolman made tonight was so good! And the twins had fun playing in her newly finished basement, which looks awesome. 

1/27-2/3:

1/29: Samantha Calmes, you killed it on AI tonight! I LOVED the song choices! And the fanny pack, ha ha! I loved seeing your family cheer you on, too (Allison Calmes Kory Calmes). Your mom was so cute jumping up and down. Way to represent our hometown!

1/29: The twins are cracking each other up big-time in their beds right now. I should go and fuss at them but it's too cute and funny.

1/29: I have a good sized lump behind my jaw, under my right ear. This has happened before, several years ago. The doctor had me spend lots of money to have a CAT scan and it turned out to be nothing. I'm just gonna take it easy and try to get as much sleep as possible and hope that my body kills whatever infection it is fighting. "It's not a toomah!" Name that movie.

1/31: Ya gotta love it when you put both kids in time out and they start laughing at each other. I don't know whether I should laugh with them or fuss at them. Stinkers!

1/31: Makenna after enjoying lots of blueberries. Blueberry juice everywhere, including in her hair. What a cute little mess!

Makenna came up to me and whispered, "Mommy, look at Cleo!" Poor Cleo, ha ha!

    

1/31: The girls just woke up from their nap. I looked at the video monitor just in time to see Makenna standing at the side of Avery's bed, then bend down and kiss her, then rub her tummy. Aaaaaaw! I love having sweet girls!
 
2/2: I've been getting a lot of bad headaches lately, even more than usual, so I'm gonna get my hair cut soon (it's getting quite long and heavy) to see if that helps.  The Super Bowl was today and it was horrible.  The Seahawks stomped on the Broncos 43-8!  The half-time show with Bruno Mars and The Red Hot Chili Peppers was really good, though.  And a good friend of mine from LSU, a fellow percussionist who has been in the Marine Corps Band and is now with The United States Army Band, played the snare drum with the colorguard (there were two snare drummers, two riflemen, and 6 flag holders) that presented the colors before the national anthem was sung.  They showed a close-up of him; it was so cool to see someone I know perform at the Super Bowl!  Here's a FB post from today:

A couple of funny things from today that I don't want to forget:
Makenna sang Imagine Dragon's "Radioactive" a lot today, including during church, ha ha! Only she sings, "Welcome to the new dage, to the new dage!" When we got home from church, Avery told me that Makenna farted in class and that she laughed at her and their friends laughed, too. Is that true, Cristianne Morris Casper? Either way, it was a funny story [much more funny to hear her tell it]! Also, Avery kept asking for more and more milk and, after I said, "MORE milk??", Makenna said, "This is ridiculous!" Sassy pants, ha ha! P.S. Today was our first Sunday going to church at 1:00, after going to church at 9:30am for a year and 1/2. The girls usually nap from 2-5pm, so I was a little worried about how today would go. They did great, though. They were so good in sacrament meeting and I was told they did well in their class; Makenna did cry when I first brought them to class but I guess she only cried for a minute or two after I left. When I picked them up from class, they were dancing around, laughing, and having a ball with their friends. They did great until bedtime, which we did early, holla!! I hope our Sundays continue to go this well at the new time!


2/3: I just remembered something from last night. The girls woke up crying a little after midnight and ended up sleeping with me in my bed. At one point in the middle of the night, Avery laughed in her sleep for a good 10 seconds. It was so funny! I wonder what that little head was dreaming about!

2/3: I knew Makenna had gone in her room so I yelled and asked her what she was doing. She came out into the hall and said, "I'm just going poo-poo! Just leave me alone!!" Bwahaha! She cracks me up!

2/4: The Croods is now on Netflix! The twins only made it halfway through but I enjoyed the whole movie, ha ha!

2/5: I had just put that roll of toilet paper on the holder! Then I left Avery to try to pee on the potty. Thankfully, she didn't pee on it since she had just peed in her pants--besides the fact that she was too busy unrolling all the tp into the toilet! :-|

 

2/7: A little playtime outside today. Avery stayed out for a while shoveling snow (with a sand shovel and bucket). She loves playing in it! Makenna came in long before Avery did to watch Cinderella.

2/7: They were just running around the house playing then I found in my tub...

2/7: Exercising! :)

2/9: Well, one of the duo is finally potty trained. I put Avery in pull-ups for church but she didn't even need them. She told her teachers that she needed to go potty during class so they came and got me to take her to the bathroom. One down, one to go! Too bad Makenna doesn't care AT ALL if Avery is potty trained and getting lots of treats, etc.

2/11: Well, one of the duo is finally potty trained. I put Avery in pull-ups for church but she didn't even need them. She told her teachers that she needed to go potty during class so they came and got me to take her to the bathroom. One down, one to go! Too bad Makenna doesn't care AT ALL if Avery is potty trained and getting lots of treats, etc.

2/10: Avery showing off her potty prizes:

2/14: Some sweets for my sweets on Valentine's Day:

 

And the girls got their first non-family valentines from the boy next door!

Some Valentine sweetness before heading to Aunt Kiki's house for dinner:

 

 2/15: So the twins and I went to Kiki's house last night for a Valentine's steak and Cajun BBQ shrimp dinner. SO GOOD! While I was making my plate, the doorbell rang and it was Jared! He had been on a trip for over 3 weeks and wasn't planning on coming home until Tuesday but he bought a last minute plane ticket to come home and surprise me for Valentine's Day with a quick visit before he heads out again....
The girls loved Valentine's Day. They kept wishing everyone Happy Valentine's Day and Makenna kept bringing me stuff from around the house and saying, "Happy Valentine's Day!" After we put them to bed, we heard Makenna tell Avery, "Happy Valentine's Day!" and Avery respond with, "Happy Valentine's Day to you, too!" So sweet! They also got their first non-family Valentines from the boy next door, ha ha!

The dinner table set-up by Kiki:

 2/18:The twins had their third dental check-up this morning. Avery cried a little at first and there was no way she was gonna let the hygienist clean her teeth but she did let the dentist look at her teeth. Makenna, on the other hand, freaked out. I had to sit on the chair with her in my lap and hold her legs between mine and hold her arms down, since she was thrashing around and screaming. So embarrassing! Especially since the office is the type that doesn't have private rooms. I was apologizing as we left. Good times!
The weather was nice this afternoon so the girls got to play outside when we got home from the dentist and shopping. And I opened the windows for a while. So nice! However, now the temperature has already dropped quite a bit and it is really overcast. Boo!

2/19: So proud of my girls! We took them with us to meet up with Jared's coordinator, who is in town from Denver for training, and they were such little angels and just a joy to have with us. And we had a blast singing in the car on the way home. I love that they are old enough to learn songs enough to sing along with us. I especially love that Avery will sing along and make up her own words or just kind of mumble them just to be able to sing along. They even sang some original songs, ha ha! Makenna is awesome at making up her own songs. So cute!

2/21: Such a fun, much needed girls night out at Cheesecake Factory (with Kiki and Amiee)! So fun!

2/23: Kiki made two AWESOOOOOOOOMMMMME king cakes, one cream cheese and one pecan praline, tonight! Thanks, Buggggg! And watching Jim Gaffigan together was so fun!!

Look at this beautiful, delicious king cake!

Enjoying the king cake with Daddy:

Ashleigh, "my" YW from La. who goes to BYU, spent the previous night with us and came to church with us, so she got to come and enjoy some king cake with us, too.

2/24: The end of the Olympics is always bittersweet. Bitter because I'll miss watching it and sweet because I won't spend near as much time watching TV!

3/1: Today was a great day--I had my second massage of the week this morning, spent time with a bunch of wonderful ladies at a beautiful baby shower, and had a blast hanging out at a Mardi Gras party with several other people from my hometown in Louisiana who also now live here in Utah.

 

 

3/8: We drove a couple of hours north to visit Katie and Colleen.  The girls had fun playing out in the yard and playing Ring Around the Rosie with Katie:

 

3/9: Still in a food coma from having dinner with friends--chips and guac and salsa, steak and chicken fajitas, and homemade cream cheese king cake. Thanks for all the deliciousness, Brent and Tatiana ! The twins had a blast, too!

Oh, and I sang in a trio in sacrament meeting that morning--Oh, That I Were an Angel.

3/12: A special treat after tonight's bath--their first root beer floats!

 

 

3/12: How does she do that? Avery loves to get my tennis shoes out of my closet and play with and wear them. I don't know how she ties the laces in a hundred knots like that! Funny girl.

 

3/13: One of Jared's sisters and her family were in town from AZ.   We all, including his sister and kids who live here, went and enjoyed a pretty day outside at the park, then we all came back to our house to hang out have have dinner together.  The girls had so much fun with cousins!!

 

3/15: Had a blast at their cousin's birthday party (Carma's 9th!):

 

 The birthday girl:

 

 

The party was during their nap so they crashed HARD on the way home!

 

3/17: The lady who was Jared's coordinator in AZ was in UT on a trip with her family (plus her sister and mom) and they came over to our house for dinner.  We were supposed to have a weenie/s'mores roast in the backyard but it was really windy and chilly, so Jared cooked the dogs on the grill and I made toaster oven s'mores.

3/21: Every year, we get to attend a leadership conference for all the managers in Jared's company and their spouses/guests (over 700 people attended last year). This year, it's in Boston! [We've also been to San Antonio, TX; Coeur D'Alene, ID; and here in Salt Lake City--we missed the one in Chicago because the twins were only a few months old.] Besides getting to go to a Red Sox game, the Boston Pops Orchestra is playing at the awards dinner the final night and we have the chance to audition to play with them! Here is my audition video! I am SOOOOO nervous! I won't find out until April 4th if I made it or not. Please wish me luck, pray for me, or whatever! I REALLY want to do this but it's been so long since I've seriously played/practiced. My chops are so rusty, so please don't judge this video too harshly!!

Whew!  That about does it, ha ha!  So sorry for the humongous post!!!

Sunbeams in da house!

Fri., 1/3:  A trip to IKEA for some shelves (a late Christmas present for me) and some lunch. I think the girls tried out every bed they walked past. And they had fun riding on the cart.

One of my former YW (Jennifer Miller) from Louisiana stayed with us for a few days until I brought her to the MTC Wed. :)  She was supposed to fly in last Sat. night (1/4) but her flights were delayed so I had to miss church last Sunday to go pick her up.  The bummer is that I wasn't there for the twins' first Sunday in Primary!  The girls are officially Sunbeams now!  And I wasn't there to see it. :(  But I did snap some quick photos before they headed to church and I headed to the airport and Jared got some pics on his phone:

 On Tues., 1/7, I took Jennifer and Ashleigh (another former YW from La. who is attending BYU; I've mentioned her before because she has stayed a couple of weekends with us) to Temple Square, then we stopped and ate at Popeye's on the way home.

 

 

 

 We went and picked up Ashleigh and brought Jenny to the MTC--they literally only give you 2 min. now to get their luggage out of the car, take a couple of pictures and say goodbye!  So different than we we brought Kiki, Ben, and Tim to the MTC!  But I was so happy to be able to do that for her.  Jared had left for a trip that morning, so the girls went and played with our neighbor, Jason, while I was gone.

 

1/8:   I had a looooooong night with the twins, who kept waking up due to stuffy noses and coughing.  Thankfully, it still hasn't turned into anything more than slightly runny noses.  Yay!

1/9:  Twin convo:
M: You're trying to make me mad!
A: You're making me mad, too!!!
M: Avery, you're making me sad.
Is it bad that I find it amusing when they argue sometimes?  Only because it doesn't happen all that often. :)

We've been getting just a little bit of snow just about every day, so we have just stayed at home until church today.  We did go and grab some dinner last night at a nearby place last night (Sat.) but that's as much as we've left the house.  While we were driving, we passed a dead skunk on the road and I almost puked in the car; Makenna wasn't thrilled to smell it, either. It cracks me up that her sense of smell is as sensitive as mine.  Earlier yesterday, Avery yelled, "Look at my moves, Mommy!" She was shakin' it so very cutely, ha ha!

I was told that the girls did well in Primary again today and I should mention that they go to Primary without Blankie and Lovey!  There probably won't be much going on this week, since it is cold and Jared will be out of town until the end of the week.  We will hopefully be able to do some fun stuff next weekend, though!