ASHLYN

Just thought I'd give an Ashlyn update for journaling purposes mostly. I can't believe how fast she is growing up- too fast for me, but not fast enough for her. Tonight as we were driving home from dinner with Brad's family she says, "Mom it's taking a long time for me to be 4. I've been 3 for a long long time." She is so anxious to be 4 years old and go to preschool and do all the things big kids do. In the last month she has taught herself how to spell. Brad and I can't take any credit for it- she somehow figured it out on her own. She was sitting at the table coloring and I heared her spell her name as she pretended to write the letters. I asked her to spell it again and she did it perfectly. She just memorized the letters on her wall with her name. She can now spell mom, dad, and Tanner, and she's learning new words all the time. She is so curious and loves to learn. Although she uses that word "why" all the time and it can get a little annoying after being asked it 100x a day.

She loves to cook and is a great help in the kitchen (most of the time). When I have the patience it really is fun to have her help me. Last Sunday we made cookies and we had the best time- I let her put surprises in each of the cookies. She loved watching Brad take a bite to see what was inside (all the surprises were eatible). I have to remind myself that messes only last minutes, but memories last forever. She wakes up every Sunday and reminds us it's muffin day. She can look on the back of the muffin box and tells us exactly what we need to make muffins. She has the brownie instructions down pack too. She is a true Gunnell Girl. She LOVES her brownies (just like her dad and Grandpa)! She is learning the concept of money. The other morning as I walked in from the gym Brad and Ashlyn were eating breakfast and she says (before she says good morning or hi mom) "Mommy will you give Dad some of your money so he doesn't have to go to work." Apparently she had been asking Brad why he had to go to work and he said he needed to earn money to buy us food etc. She thought about it for a second and then decided I had money and could just give some to him so he could stay home. Too bad it doesn't work that way! She also decorated this little jar (okay, its not so little) to put her money in that she earns. She decided the other day she really wanted jelly bracelets so I let her do some jobs around the house and she saved up her money. We headed out to Hobby Lobby to get the bracelets (she said she had seen the bracelets there). They ended up not having the right bracelets so we headed over to Target and she spent her money on Dora socks and bubble tape!

My little dancing princess. I really need to sign her up for dance or gymnastics. She calls this her dancing suit and loves to put it on and dance. She has almost mastered a cartwheel (she just lands on her knees instead of her feet) and can pretty much do the splits. She loves when Brad turns on his rowdy music and they have dancing parties. Ashlyn loves playing with friends and has her best friend Afton that lives across the street. These girls can play together 10 hours a day and then still want to play together the next day. For the most part they get along really well... but they do have their moments.

Ashlyn is always saying funny things and making us laugh. Yesterday she was helping Brad in the yard and they were weeding the flower beds. When I got home she told me, "Mom, we made some beds for the flowers so they can go nigh-night." As we were driving home tonight she was looking out her window and Brad asked her what she was doing. She answers, "I'm just looking at my beautiful sunshine!" She is such sweet girl- with lots and lots of spunk and energy!

Tanner's 1 year Pictures

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting (okay you get the picture) for Tanner to get over his ear infections so he'd be happy enough for his 1 year pictures... he still has those blasted ear infections- its been over a month now :( Poor kid! There was a period in there of like 4 days he was ear infection free and then they came back with a vengeance. We're trying to figure out if its allergies causing all the congestion or what, but the poor little guy has been miserable. Anyway in that 4 day period I jumped on the chance to get his pictures taken and the little stinker was just that- a stinker! The pictures are adorable, but it took the photographer a good 45 min. to get even this much of a smile out of him! (Next time I'm calling Jodi and having her just take candid shots- I think the whole photo studio was just too much for him.)

Happy Birthday Mom

Today was my mom's birthday (don't worry mom, I won't mention the year)! Anyone who knows my mom already knows she's amazing, but I thought I would share some of my favorite things about her.

The top 10 reasons my mom is a QUEEN

1. She is so thoughtful and aware of everyones needs around her. She is the queen of cute gifts and pick-me-ups for anyone having a bad day. If you were to run into her at the store and you were having a hard day chances are she would give you a hug and give you some sort of gift she just happened to have in her purse or her car that she bought the other day, but didn't know why (now she knows why she bought it)!

2. On that same line she is the queen thank you cards and thinking of you cards. I always have good intentions of sending cards, but must admit they rarely make it to the mail. My mom on the other hand is right on top of sending those thank yous.

She sent me this cute card in the mail last week after I had been complaining of how much trouble Tanner had been getting into that day. She always reminds me how lucky I am that I get to be home with my kids- even if they do get into trouble!

3. She is spontaneous and loves to have fun. She is the queen of unplanned ice cream trips and random stops.

4. She is the queen of shopping! If you need to find something and want it for a good deal leave it to my mom. She is so fun to shop with!

5. She is the queen of optimism. She is able to find the positive in anything. Whenever I call her to complain about something I always get off the phone feeling better and more positive. She never complains about what she's going through. This is amazing to me. She is hard of hearing and I never hear her complain about that and ask "why me?" She just smiles and sometimes pretends she knows what people are saying when really she didn't hear a word and then she'll ask one of us later what someone was saying or what she agreed to without knowing!

6. She is the queen of supporting and encouraging everyone; from all of her kids and grandkids, to her aides at school, to the neighbors. Its not uncommon for me to call her to see what she is doing and she's heading out to see an aides break-dancing recital or someone in the neighborhoods something or other! And I can't forget to mention her special needs young women- she is so cute with them. 7. She is the queen of sanity! I can't believe she isn't nuts after having 6 kids in 8 1/2 years... I'm very grateful she didn't stop at 5! 8. She is the queen of making memories. All of her grandkids are going to have incredible memories with their Grandma because she doesn't care if things make a mess or if things take a lot of time as long as they make a good memory. Ashlyn is already counting down the days until she's old enough to be a "Secret Garden Girl" and can't wait to paint rocks at the cabin with Grandma.

9. She is a queen that respects her king. I know how much she loves my dad- it is apparent in everything she does. She has been such a role model for me in how to be in my own marriage.

10. She is the most loyal friend anyone could dream of. She is the queen of staying in touch. I've been thinking about this lately as I haven't seen one of my best friends for over 6 months and she lives 5 min. away... pathetic! On the other hand my mom is still great friends with her 7th grade gym teacher and still finds time to stop by and see her and keep up on her life. She is a friend for life and a great one. I'm so lucky to be able to consider her my friend and my mom!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Need a Good Book to Read?

My mom sent this book home with me last Sunday and told me to read it- so naturally I did. Anyway, just thought I would share the title if anyone was looking for a quick read that is uplifting and inspiring, and a true story. It was a good reminder to me about how many great people there are in this world that are really trying to make a difference. And that God cares about everyone regardless of race, religion, social status or anything else. And that there is a purpose and a plan for everyone. So if you get a chance you might like it!

Work and Play

We FINALLY have some spring weather around here. It snowed 2x this week, no exaggeration! I seriously thought I was going to cry. When we woke up Thursday morning and there was snow on the ground- again, Ashlyn looks at Brad and says, "This is going to make Mommy really sad when she sees the snow." I just happened to be walking in from the gym as she said it. I was really sad. But it was soon forgotten with the beautiful weather we had yesterday. We went from coats on Thursday to sunburns on Saturday. I didn't even think to put sunblock on the kids... oops!

Our backyard is becoming my "summer sanity saver" as I call it. I love when the kids are able to play outside. It makes them happier, they get fresh air, they wear themselves out, they get really dirty, but in return they're not messing up the house and watching TV. Completely worth it in my opinion. Thanks to Brad- we have all this. He is AMAZING! I always wonder when I see him complete a project how he knows how to do so much. It seems to just be natural instinct for him to build, fix, create whatever we might need. He is the brains and the muscles behind all the work!

So as he worked all day Saturday, the kids and I played all day. I felt a little guilty eating ice cream and basking in the sunshine while he worked... but atleast we were out there keeping him company- right?

This is our fun little playground- complete with shredded rubber for the ground, a retaining wall to keep the rubber from spilling onto the grass, a nice little fence to keep the rubber out of the garden, and all the pictures of Brad working is him setting the footings to do a walkway from our back porch through the playground and into the garden. Brad did this all himself- from hauling in the rubber, to building the wall, putting up the fence, assembling the playground... the list goes on and on. Lucky us, wouldn't you say?

Tanner was a really great helper! He would run away from the power tools, but loved the dirt! This kid needs to learn how to walk if he want to keep playing outside though. I can't afford him wearing holes through every pair of pants he owns when he crawls on concrete!

The shredded rubber serves many purposes. Tanner thinks it tastes pretty good and cleans out between all the retaining bricks looking for some treasure to eat (he decided dirt wasn't too tasty though). Ashlyn fills any kind of container she can find and pretends the rubber is anything from rain to breakfast cereal! So I had to add this last picture of Tanner's messy face and hands after eating an icecream sandwich. Anyone who comes to our house with kids knows we're kind of anal about washing hands and sticky fingers. Ashlyn doesn't even have to be reminded after she is done eating to go wash her hands before she does anything else (she even does it after eating pretzels) and we're just as bad with the kids wearing bibs. So we were outside, I knew the kids were going to get filthy in the dirt anyway so I handed Tanner a chunk of an icecream sandwich that I knew would drip everywhere and make a mess, but we're outside so who cares right? A few seconds after I did this Brad just looked at me and said, "You are amazing." The tone of voice he used wasn't that of real admiration, but rather complete disgust. He really couldn't believe I was letting Tanner get that messy and sticky! I thought it was kind of funny and as you can see Tanner thought it was pretty great too!

Ballroom Reunion

Tuesday night I was able to get together with a bunch of friends from my high school ballroom team. It was fun to see what everyone was up to and reminisce about the "good old days"! That reminiscing went on into the early morning hours (about 3am) and by the end my stomach and cheeks hurt from laughing so much.
I was lucky to have such a good group of friends in high school and to have so many opportunities to be part of so many things. We laughed and joked with Paul (our coach) about how he kept us at rehearsal till all hours of the night and how many times we were yelled at in his office. It was time consuming and demanding, but all so worth it!

This picture is of my team my junior year (most people at the "reunion" were from my jr year)

Some of our favorite memories to reminisce about....

FLORIDA!! (Thanks to Ben we had video footage to help us remember everything that went on. He carried his video camera everywhere he went.) Our Florida trips were the best. We had so much fun and I'm sure caused a scene every where we went. But we always had great time.

Our very FAVORITE dance to perform was "Cross that Line" an extrememly high energy swing. We watched the video over and over remembering Paul yelling, "DO IT AGAIN. We're not going home until it's perfect." Watching the time Ben dropped Lisa on her head or showing Paul that during the entire year Emmilee and John Bass never once did the back flip (they faked it the entire year... and Paul thought he saw everything)!

Team Match was always so much fun (and I can brag now that it's 10 years behind us- we always won and that made it more fun)! The most memorable team match was at SUU when we were tied with Centerstage and Paul and Rick Robinson had a dance off with the West Coast Swing. Again all on video we watched as our team won and Paul was hoisted up into the air on all the guys shoulders.
Next is the time Ben and I won 1st place in the swing at a Rick's College Competition. The judges said afterward they were so glad they gave first place to us because of the reaction we gave. Everyone was jumping around and screaming and yelling- yes, it was only the swing, but it was 1st place nonetheless.
And last but not least- the lovely school plays! Being on the ballroom team meant you got a lovely part it all the school musicals. These productions were amazing when all was said and done, but they were sure a lot of work. We would live at the school during these times. These memories are all so bitter/sweet. Most of the time we had a really great time, but sometimes it was a little much!

It was fun to visit and catch up with everyone. It is kind of interesting where some peoples lives have ended up. But you know, regardless of the different lifestyles everyone has chosen to live we were all able to just have a great time and remember the "good old days"! Thanks Rachel for putting it all together.