Midwest Keech

Last week, Amelia was terribly excited to inform us that she had been selected to give the talk this week. She was so proud of herself. She went back & forth about who she wanted to help her (whisper in her ear) - Mom or Dad? I won, I guess. She picked me to help her, but I g uilt-ed Bry into coming to watch. After all , this WAS her 1st talk & she's so excited... Here is the talk that we wrote for her. Before we were born, we lived with Heavenly Father. We chose to come to Earth. Heavenly Father created families for us. In my family, I have a mom, a dad, a big brother and 2 little sisters. I like to play dress-up with Adelaide. I like to build Legos with Adam. I like to play dolls with Allison. Families teach us how to be good. We say prayers and spend time together. Families love each other. I can be with my family forever.In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. She took her little paper into Primary. She sat in the special chair at the front of the room marked "Talk...

Here are the great cake pictures. 2 years old? Can she really be 2 already. W ow. I LOVE this picture (ignore the cluttered kitchen)...such a funny smile! Here are the kids waiting to "help" blow out the candles. Isn't she too cute ? I got Allison got some fun things. She got a play purse with lots of little girly things to go in it. She also got an Aquadoodle mat & a Little People playset . Here's a cute little video of the kids playing. Today, we received a package with gifts from Grandma & Katy. Fun, Fun. She got a play puppy & another dolly. Allison especially likes the baby doll. It talks, and Allison thinks it's funny. It's really cute...it knows some of it's body parts (eyes, ears, tummy, toes, etc.) I thought it was adorable that they matched . What a coincidence that I'd dress her in the same outfit? What a goofy smile ! Of course, we get the camera out & everyone wants in on the action. Allison is such a good sport to...

I decided to suck-it-up and take the family to Chuck E. Cheese for Allison's birthday. In AZ, the kids really liked going to Peter Piper Pizza for pizza & games. We've been here 2 years, and I've managed NOT to make it into Chuck E. Cheese. The kids have asked many times, but it just hasn't happened. So, I thought it would be a treat for them. A friend of mine gave me some coupons & I printed some off the Internet too. We got tons of tokens, pizza & soda for everyone. We had a pretty good time, except for 3 emotional meltdowns - ALL thanks to Mia. One meltdown because she wanted to play a specific game, another when we were down to our last 2 tokens (one for Adelaide & one for Mia). Her final tantrum was on the way out when she changed her mind at the last minute about which prize she wanted (after our turn was over). We'll have to think seriously about another birthday @ Chuck E. Cheese. - Mia says she wants to have her birthday there next month. W...

I got these cute suckers for the kids. Aren't they adorable? Happy Valentine's Day! Allison loves her binky still. - To her, this was just like one. Let me kiss you with my big lips. Allison sat playing with some dolls with her sucker in her mouth. STICKY!

Happy Almost-Valentines Day! Things seem a little weird around here. I don't know if I'm just still "coming-down" from Christmas, but I got some little things to give the kids. Usually, I don't make a big production out of valentines day (being a made-up holiday & all). I figure that the kids get enough candy, etc. from school. I also HATE valentine cards. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind letting my kids participate, but they want to keep every scrap and piece of paper! I still have not figured a way to get rid of all the cards without the tantrums or taking days to toss them little by little. Anyway, enough of my rant. This year, I got the kids a little $5 gift & a couple of candies. I also made a little card/picture for each child. I also printed one of each for Bry and got some little magnetic frames for him to take to work, so he hang them in his workspace. I would love to go out to dinner for valentines, but I just can't do it this year. I...

We had preschool today, and while it has warmed up considerably, I still made Adelaide & Amelia wear their heavy coats this morning. I would've let them wear a jacket or sweater, if they had been hanging up or somewhere that we could find them. I was getting my shoes on while Amelia & Adelaide put on their coats. Allison, not wanting to be left behind, tried to put her coat on too. The trouble was that it was still hanging on the hook! She got one arm in (it was even the right armhole), but couldn't for the life of her get that other arm in. She tried really hard. I just thought it was the funniest thing. Allison is like her siblings in a lot of ways, but she's also very different. She seems SO independent. I know she's turning 2, but she wants to do things for herself. She tries to put her own clothes on (can't yet, but she tries). She has mastered the art of finding something to stand on to get up to the counter. She wants to sit at the counter (on a stoo...

This morning, I hosted our YW Presidency meeting at my house. The 4 of us are friends & work very well together. It's a bonus that we're all pretty much in the same stage of life & all have kids about the same age. We discuss our agenda items, while the kids play & entertain each other (for the most part, anyway). There are always a few squabbles over toys, etc. but they work it out. Between the 4 of us, we have 14 children. Half are in school, which leaves 7 (18months - 4yrs) with us. 3 of them are my pretty little girls. The rest are boys. One of the boys goes to preschool with the girls and is in Adelaide's primary class at church. When he was leaving, Adelaide kissed him! Yes, on the lips. He just smiled his shy, goofy smile & hid/wiped his face on his sleeve. How do you explain to a little, bitty girl that we don't kiss our friends? We had the same problem a few weeks ago when visiting a friend's house. - Only, that time, it was Mia. She was kis...

Life is pretty boring lately. It's been cold, and I like staying in when I can. Besides, I've been totally obsessed about digital scrapbook designs lately. Bry says he needs to do an intervention. I have downloaded several GB of very cute papers, embellishments & alphabets. I decided to give another try at designing my own blog background. I think it turned out really cute. The big letter are from Shabby Princess, but all of the other elements & paper came from Digi-Designs by Nicole . - It's her "Rustic Grass" collection. I think it's so cute. I love the colors too. They remind me of the way I feel like I'm in-between spring & winter. I'm waiting in anticipation for spring to arrive. Who isn't? This week should be a busy one...with being in charge of joint activity, preschool, valentine parties, Allison's birthday...I could probably keep going, but I want to be able to get out of bed in the morning without feeling too overwhelmed. ...

OK, so I'm on Facebook & a couple people have "tagged" me to do this. I figured I might as well post it in both places. I know it's dumb, but I've been thinking a lot about this, but we'll both have to see if I can come up with 25 things. 1. I am the oldest of 7 kids. 4 brothers then my 2 sisters are #6 & #7. 2. I was born in Phoenix, AZ & grew up (mostly) there. 3. I have lived in Tucson, AZ & San Diego, CA. We moved back to Phoenix when I was 7, and I lived there until 2 years ago. 4. I moved to IL 2 years ago. - It is the farthest East I have lived. 5. I met my husband before his mission, but I did not "wait for him". I was actually engaged to someone else while he was gone. 6. I went to NYC and I went up in the World Trade Center the year before 911 happened. It was CRAZY-High. 7. My family lived in Western NY for a bit. I have been to Niagra Falls 2X, Palmyra & the Hill Kumorah Pageant 2X, NYC and the Statue of Liberty. I nev...

Today Denny's is giving a free Grand Slam Breakfast to everyone...at least until 2pm. Anyway, this brings me to my morning. We did all the usual Tuesday morning stuff. Got up, showered, fed the kids, got Adam off to meet the bus and got all the girls dressed & ready to go. After dropping them off at preschool, Allison & I met my friend (with 2 little boys in-tow) at Denny's. Lucky for me, she'd already gotten a table & saved me a spot. That place was CRAZY. - Totally Packed! The service was pretty quick for us, and we enjoyed our meal. It was about 10am when I eventually got out of the parking lot. I didn't need to pick up the older girls until 10:30, but I decided I would go ahead early & read while I waited for the preschoolers to come out. Well, it snowed last night. Not a terrible amount, but more than I might have expected. I usually don't have a problem driving in snow (even though I'm an AZ girl), but I guess I wasn't being as careful ...

For my birthday (in August), I got a digital scrapbooking program called Memory Mixer. I LOVE it! I chose it mainly because I can print some of my own things @ home, but it is SO cool. I can even use it for things other than just creating scrapbooks. I made our Christmas card this year. I also made invitations & handouts for our Young Women New Beginnings program. For those of you who haven't heard yet, they added the value of Virtue to the Young Women's Theme. So, I made a cute handout for the girls. I really like the way things have turned out. It's a lot easier to create the project, save it & upload the file to Sams Club for printing. I was introduced to it by a friend of mine who has also really gotten into digital scrapping. I was kind of worried at first, because I really like all of the paper, stickers, di-cuts, punches, scissors, embellishments, etc. But, my new obsession is getting FREE digital scrapbooking stuff. Sometimes, it's only a piece or 2. O...

I have been busy, but not getting much done lately. So, I haven't been blogging a lot. Besides that, I haven't had much to write about. Last week, Adam participated in Pinewood Derby, but I am waiting for Bryan to get the video clips off of the camcorder & into a format I can use. This year for Christmas, I made a photobook to give to my mom, mother-in-law & Gramma 2( Bry's Gram). I also saved it in a different format, so I could share it here. Enjoy.