Kim's Tag

Where is your cell phone? Either on the bookshelf, my vanity, or in the diaper bag...I think. Luckily I can call it if it's not in those places. I wish I could say the same for my keys.

Where is your significant other? Putting the kids to bed.

Your hair color? Blonde except for my 6 inch roots which are a not quite brown, not quite blonde color. It needs help.

Your mother? An excellent example.

Your father? A fun, laid back guy.

Your favorite thing? My family.

Your dream last night? I have no idea. Whatever it was, it was way too short.

Your dream/goal? To get my degree, and to be much more organized than I am right now.

The room you're in? My bedroom.

Your hobby? I like to cook, read, scrapbook, do variety puzzles, and play games.

Your fear? Any of my family members dying, being seriously injured, or even just being really sad about something. I also hate heights, snakes, spiders...pretty much any kind of bugs or reptiles.

Where do you want to be in six years? I don't really know. I'd probably like to be in a bigger house not far from where I am now.

Where were you last night? At my Grandpa Jensen's house, and grocery shopping with my Mom.

What you're not? Organized!

One of your wish list items? A huge tub and a double headed shower. Oh yeah, and a garage...all new appliances...a dining room set...

Where you grew up? West Jordan and Sandy Utah, and Henderson Nevada

The last thing you did? Played games with my family.

What are you wearing? Pajamas, of course!

Your TV? I'm sort of embarassed to say that we have 3 TV's but none of them are all that impressive.

Your pet? I'm way too lazy to take care of animals along with my five bzillion kids. Alright...I know I don't quite have five bzillion kids, but it sure feels like it sometimes.

Your computer? Ummm, not sure what to say about it. It's an e-machine? Don't really know anything else.

Your mood? Pretty tired, but happy

Missing someone? Grandpa Jensen

Your car? Maverick, a Honda Pilot. I still miss Alice, my Oldsmobile Alero, but Maverick's okay too I guess. I just shouldn't have replaced my girl car with a boy. They don't communicate nearly as well.

Something you're not wearing? Socks? Shoes? Earrings? Does it really matter?

Favorite store? Old Navy when I'm not the size of a whale (my infrequent un-prego years). I also manage to spend a lot of money at Kohl's and Amazon when I'm shopping online.

Your summer? As fun as can be expected since it was my morning sick time.

Love someone? Yep!

Favorite color? I love them all.

What was the last time you laughed? Playing what if/then tonight with my family. We had some pretty funny combinations.

Last time you cried? I've been teary a lot this week, but I full on bawled at Grandpa's funeral on Friday.

I tag anyone that wants to do this!

Grandpa Jensen

Moyle Christian Jensen

November 15, 1932 - November 17, 2008

Carter said it best last night when he said "I want Grandpa Jensen to come back alive again." When I'm thinking selfishly I agree with him, but I know that Grandpa is happy now with Grandma, Jerry, and all his other loved ones that have gone before him. I am so grateful to be a decendant of Moyle and DeOn Jensen, and I will live the rest of my life remembering these famous words from my Grandpa..."Always remember whose you are!" I hope I can live up to his expectations and remember who I'm representing here on earth. You will be missed Grandpa, until we meet again.

Bad Girls, Bad Girls...whatcha gonna do?

Fool me once...shame on you! Fool me twice...shame on me!

Apparently I was supposed to learn something from the first two times...

Happy Halloween!

I have to share these Halloween pictures because Lincoln did SUCH a great job! Don't they look so cute? Of course I was an idiot, and I forgot Meleah's wings, but oh well. We had such a fun Halloween this year...taking pictures with Linc and Bre, the Stewart family party, our ward trunk or treat, and my Mom and Rachel came up to visit us for the rest of the weekend. I also got to see Carter's "Halloween Parade" and help with his class party. I'm kind of sad that it's all over, but at least we have Thanksgiving and Christmas to look forward to!

I had Meleah be the classic Honey pot instead of Tinkerbell for Halloween night because it was warmer, and more low maintenance. Isn't she adorable?

Mom's Tag

My mom made up this tag a long time ago and challenged us all to do it. I'm just now getting around to it, since it actually takes a little bit of thought.

Favorite scripture: I LOVE my Mom and Taryn's favorites (2 Nephi 31:20, Alma 37:6) but here are a couple more favorites of mine - "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" ( John 13:34–35), and "And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God." (D&C 14:7)

Favorite hymn: Because I Have Been Given Much, The Spirit of God, Praise to the Man, How Great Thou Art, Nearer My God to Thee, Be Still My Soul, I Stand All Amazed, Families Can Be Together Forever, Teach Me to Walk in the Light, Love One Another, and pretty much all the Christmas songs. Sorry, I love Hymns!

Favorite scripture stories: King Benjamin (why can't our leaders in this day and age be more like him?), Christ's birth, and TONS of stories from Christ's life. For example, I love the story about the adulterous woman where Christ says, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."

Favorite Young Women/Men Leaders: Becky Franks, Kathy Nelson, Laura Scoble, Lorna Cavalieri, Brenda Ashby, Shelley Garrett, Rachel Anderson...I'm sure I'm forgetting some because I had SO many great leaders. I've thought about them a lot these last few years. They spent so much time with us, and were really there for us whenever we needed them. I'm so selfish of my time with my family that I know I would not be as available as my leaders always were for me. Maybe that's why they've never called me into young women's! They're such great women, and I appreciate them more now than I even did when they were my leaders.

Favorite calling: I'm teaching Carter's primary class right now, and that's pretty fun. I don't have to wonder if he's driving his teacher crazy every week, because it's me! I also really liked being primary secretary, and activity days leader. I wish that I would have realized how awesome the activity days calling was while I had it. Don't get me wrong...I totally loved the girls, and we had a lot of fun. I just had a hard time remembering it since it was only the second and fourth Tuesday of every month, so I ended up throwing something together last minute more than I like to admit. I think I'm more used to having a schedule now, and would probably do a better job. I also didn't mind being a Relief Society teacher as much as I thought I would. I was only in there for a few months before they called me as primary secretary, and it freaked me out to teach adults, but it was really nice to just sit and enjoy Sunday School and Relief Society every week. I guess I've been pretty lucky with my callings so far! Oh man, I've already blabbered on forever and I just thought of my all time favorite calling! It was teaching Primary with Randall. I've always been a little obsessive about spending time with my hubby, so I loved being able to be with him for all 3 hours of church. I guess I should have thought out the answer before I started typing! Ü

Least favorite calling: Is it possible for your favorite calling to also be your least favorite calling? Seriously, I loved the women I worked with when I was primary secretary, and we had a lot of fun together. However, it was VERY time consuming and stressful. I also was the "Faith in God Supervisor." I was supposed to keep track of the goals that the kids had already completed for their Faith in God, and it was really difficult to do. I made little sticker charts and everything, but there are SO many kids in our ward. I didn't feel like I did a very good job with it, so I guess that's why it's one of my least favorite.

Who made you laugh today?: Carter did after I explained that we only have two yogurts left and we'll have to share. His reply was: "I don't want to share like you, I want to eat mine all by myself like Daddy." Meleah also cracks me up daily because she's constantly going around saying "eat! eat! eat!" and if she's not saying that she's saying "poo-poo" whether she's really stinky or not. You know, being the third, you kind of have to fight for attention. Maybe she just likes when I pay attention to her even if it's just to check and see if she really does need a diaper change. She also cracked me up when I was singing to her before her nap. I always start out singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" but whenever I try to switch to a different song she interrupts me with "up-a-ba" (up above) to let me know she wants Twinkle Twinkle again.

Who's happier because of you today?: Randall, because I just upgraded our slow high speed internet to not quite as slow high speed internet like he's been asking me to do for MONTHS!

Describe a sweet experience you've had recently: I can't believe I'm saying this, because this has been a very difficult week for me...but there have been some sweet moments. My kids and myself have all had the flu (yeah the yucky stomach, worst kind of sickness for kids to have, flu). Because of that, I've had lots of time holding my poor sick babies. Even Carter took a nap in my lap while he was sick, which hasn't happened in a long time, and Meleah cuddled for hours with me, which has NEVER happened. I spent lots of time babying each one individually since they were all sick on different days. That being said, my house is a total DISASTER right now, but I'm hopefully going to get it back to comfortable chaos at some point today.

What makes you mad?: My kids making huge messes and not cleaning them up, whining, my husband wanting to spend ANY of his scarce free time without me by his side, and people that get into the right lane at a light knowing full well that the lane ends 2 seconds later.

What makes you sad?: This is kind of a funny one, because I always tell Randall I'm sad at him instead of mad at him, (a failing attempt at guilt) so it's kind of similar to the previous question. Honestly though, just thinking about anything bad happening to my family or friends occassionally keeps me up at night, and makes me sad. Even just thinking of my kids being teased at school in the future, or something really minor like that really gets to me.

What do you want to accomplish?: I want to have a healthy baby in January, and POSSIBLY another one a couple years later...finish school...and lately I've been wanting to work for Kids on the Move (Lydia's early intervention program) or maybe a school office or something. I really love kids, but I'm not sure I want to teach 30 of them every day anymore. If I do, I'll probably want to teach older kids like Jr. High or older elementary since that's what my degree will allow.

What makes you want to get up and do something?: Watching Biggest Loser makes me want to exercise, and putting on loud music usually gets me motivated to clean, exercise, or at least dance around and act like an idiot with my kids.

How do you pull yourself out of a bad mood?: I'm a little too scatterbrained to stay in a bad mood for long. Even when I'm trying really hard to stay mad at someone I usually forget, and start being nice to them without thinking. Since my kids are usually the ones distracting me, I guess I can give them the credit for helping my mood.

What talent are you most grateful for?: I guess cooking since it's pretty much my only talent, although I'd probably be a lot skinnier if I couldn't cook. However, I think it's most likely one of the main reasons Randall married me, so I guess it's worth it. Ü

This post has taken me FOREVER, but I recommend it to anyone. I'm really glad that I have all of this information saved for posterity and all that.

Man Tag!

What is your husbands name? Randall Isaac Stewart
How long have you been married? 6 1/2 years
How long did you date? Almost a year including our engagement. That's pretty long for an LDS couple!
How old is he? 29
Who eats more sweets? Randall!
Who is taller? Let's see..I'm 5'4, Randall's 6'3. I guess he's a little taller. Okay, okay, we look like a circus couple! Why do my legs have to be so dang stubby?!
Who said "I love you" first? Randall did. Just an FYI, guys don't like it when you say "What if I love you too?" after they confess their love, even if you tell them you love them later on in that same conversation.
Who can sing the best? Neither of us are all that accomplished vocally. However, Randall can bang out every drum beat to any Metallica song on the radio. (Not on drums, but on the steering wheel, dashboard, rearview mirror, etc.)
Who is smarter? Randall's doing pretty well in his classes, but as far as academics go...ME! When it comes to knowing where your wallet is at all times, discovering that the parking brake is on BEFORE you drive the car for twenty miles, knowing the difference between windshield factor and wind chill factor...that would be Randall.
Who pays the bills? Me. I mean...we mutually discuss and go over our finances together like church leaders and marriage counselors advise. Ü
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I don't get this one. Is it the right side when you're looking at it, or when you're laying on it? I lay on the right side if you're looking at the bed.
Who mows the lawn? Randall. I couldn't start a lawn mower if my life depended on it.
Who cooks dinner? Me! Randall couldn't cook a meal if his life... Alright, that 's not fair. He can make chili mac and peanut butter sandwiches.
Who drives? Randall. I'll admit that I'm not the best/most observant driver out there, and that fact hasn't escaped my husband's notice.
Who kissed who first? Randall kissed me, with the help of Lindsey, Randy, Ryan, and Julia making sure that we were alone for a little while.
Who asked who out first? We were actually set up on sort of a blind date although we had already met each other at a wedding. It was my family that set us up though, so I think I can take credit for it.
Who wears the pants? As far as getting after the kids, I do. When it comes to getting anything you want...that would be Randall.

This was a fun tag to do, and I recommend it to everyone. It made me think about how much I love my hubby, and how grateful I am that we're going to be together forever.

B is for buh-buh Bear Day!

Last week Carter had B is for bear day, and was allowed to bring a teddy bear to school. I just wanted to share with everyone what bear he chose. Keep in mind, we have a plethora of teddy bears, including Care Bears in every color imagineable. In his defense, this is the only one that has red on it, which is his very favorite color at the moment. I gently tried to steer him in the direction of a more gender appropriate bear, but he wasn't interested. When I asked what his friends thought about his bear, he told me that Isabella said "That's a girl bear!" He thought it was funny. Apparently he's very secure in his masculinity. He also informed me that Jackson brought a bunny on bear day, and apparently that is a much more grievous offense than bringing a "girl bear."
He also had crazy hat day, and since I wouldn't consider any of his hats to be "crazy," I had to improvise. I bobby pinned a curly beard that Randall used for Halloween a long time ago to one of Randall's ugliest hats. I thought it turned out pretty well! I'm pretty sure he got more laughs on crazy hat day than he did on bear day. Isn't Kindergarten fun?