Wonderful World of Whitney

So, we are lucky to have my Grandpa Kimball here with us in Idaho for a couple weeks. This week my mom took him down to Utah for a few days to visit with friends and family so we got to have Whitney with us. There are six kids in my family, I'm the oldest, she's the youngest so there is a bit of an age gap. I have been laughing non-stop since she got here and realized a few things. One - that no matter what I think I'm getting old and Two - that my younger sister is so wonderfully naive and innocent and soooo teenager, much like myself at that age. Here are a few of the conversations we've had this week:

Me: Whitney -you've never heard of Karate Kid?

Whitney: Nope

Me: You've never heard anyone say "wax on, wax off" or do this (picture me with my hands and one leg in the hair)

Whitney: Well, I've seen someone do that, but I didn't know it was from Karate Kid.

Me: Wow, I guess I'm old.

Whitney: Sooooo...When you were a kid Karate Kid was like as popular as High School Musical?

Next conversation happened while watching Hannity & Colmes (one of my favorite shows since I secretly desire a second life as a political pundit) and went something like this:

Whitney: What does liberal mean?

Me: Like a democrat, like you beleive in things like gay marriage, abortion, big government, things like that (You can probably tell which party I support by my description of the other). The opposite is conservatives.

Whitney: Oh

Chan: Whit, do you know what conservative means?

Whitney: Like, you want to save the plants?

This is probably my favorite one of all:

Me: I hate that commercial about Meth, it's too scary for kids.

Annie (our neighbor girl): Ya, a kid at my sister's school got arrested for selling drugs.

Whitney: People can SELL DRUGS?????

Me: Well where do you think people that do drugs get them from?

Whitney: From the STORE, Maverick sells tons of cigarettes.

A few other one liners I have said this week:

You've never heard of Ghostbusters?

You don't know what your calf muscles are?

She still has one more day here, so this may be updated. It has been wonderful having Whitney. Just imagine being able to go into the store and post office without hauling two kids, that's how great it has been these past few days. By the way I do have her permission to post these conversations if I pay her a dollar, so enjoy them because this is costing me.

Standing Mice????

So, I should tell you before I begin that I usually sing my kids a few Primary songs as the last step in our little bedtime routine. One of my favorite songs to sing them is "If the Savior Stood Beside Me." It's a beautiful song and is also one of the Primary Program songs for 2008 so it also has practical applications. I should also tell you that while we are driving McKinley usually asks to listen to either Primary Songs, Disney Songs, or songs from the musical Hairspray.

A few days ago we were driving and listening to Scripture Power (a favorite in our car) and then I asked McKin what she wanted next and she said "How about the mice song?" I was REALLY confused by this, I asked if she wanted the song from Cinderella and she said "NO, you know with standing mice watching over me." Now, I was really lost. A few very frustrating minutes then ensued with McKinley nearly in tears and trying so hard to explain by saying over and over "standing mice watching over me." I just kept telling her that I was sorry but I had no idea what she meant, and was frantically scrolling through the ipod to see if I could get any clues. I then came upon "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" and it hit me. The last line of this song says "if I could see the Savior standing NIGH watching over me." This whole time she thought it was about mice watching over her. What a funny little girl!

A little dirt never hurt anyone right?

So yesterday morning, McKinley was outside playing with the neighbors and I brought Halle to the basement with me so I could hurry and type a letter to my brother on a mission. His p-day is Monday and I always forget to e-mail until Monday morning and I'm always in a big hurry to do it so I can make sure he gets it before he checks his e-mail. So I was almost done and Halle had crawled upstairs, but I didn't hear any crashing so I hurried and finished and then ran upstairs. This is what I found......

McKinley had apparently brought a bucket of mud that she had been playing with and set it inside the door on the floor and Halle had a hay day. There was dirt all over her, the floor, the table, the door, ALL OVER. These are right before she got cleaned up. After that we got her a new outfit, I put the bucket outside, we were good. Until McKin came in and out and left the patio door open while I was using the bathroom.... I came out to find Halle on the patio doing the same thing again! The bucket then got chucked to the outer regions of the backyard and clean up began again. I really do watch my kids, really, really I do. How much dirt can a 1 year old eat in a day and still be ok?

Memorial Day Weekend

We were dying to get out of the house come Memorial Day weekend and test out the new car and do something fun. We thought about Yellowstone but it was supposed to be rainy, so we just bagged it. Then the Cannons called and wanted to go to Salt Lake so we were off...

We met the Cannons and ate dinner Friday at Costa Vida in Layton. Then it was to the hotel for some swimming. Chandler and Jennie were brave and got into the pool with the kids. There was no way I was exposing the world to my large pregnant swimsuit body and Curtis isn't much of a water guy. The kids had a great time, McKin is really proud of herself for going under the water and Halle loved it too.

Easton Cannon hanging by the pool, what an adorable little guy, huh?

We then went to the rooms and ordered "Horton Hears a Who" for the kids and called it a night.

The next day we took the kids to an aquarium, tried (but failed) to visit a boy in our ward that we thought was at Primary Children's Hospital (he had gone home but it's the thought that counts right?), went to Benihana's for lunch and then the boys went to a Bees game, while Jennie and I (emphasis on I) got some shopping done as she introduced me to the wonderful world of Tai-Pan and Ikea. I know I'm lame, I had never been to either one. Jennie's sister Amy took McKin, Allie, and Easton to play at her house, which was VERY nice.

Monday, we visited my Grandma Wahlen's grave, had a great lunch with all the Wahlens and then saw Ironman. Well, I saw the first half and Chandler saw the second. Halle was not cooperating. This is becoming a theme for us.

Whitney, McKin & Easty Beasty

Halle being silly.

McKin and my youngest cousin Vanessa Wahlen.

Ralene, Easty, and Mom aka Nana

Preschool Graduation

A couple of weeks ago was McKin's pre-school graduation. I was really proud of McKin. She said her part and sang all the songs and did really well. Although she will have one more year of preschool so she's not technically "graduated.". Her teachers are so great, all the kids had parts, wore graduation caps, walked up the aisle, and got scrapbooks of their year in pre-school and all the fun things they did. They rode a school bus, went to the fire station, had a Polar Express party in their jammies, had a Halloween party, a picnic at the park and lots of fun things. We are looking forward to another great year!

Catch Up

So, due to computer problems, Halle's sudden development of an attitude, and pure procrastination I haven't been very good at blogging lately so here's what we've been up to the past couple of weeks.

On May 1 we welcomed little Macki Cammille Dunn to the world. She weighed 6 lbs. 2 oz. and is the daughter of Rich and Kambrel (Chandler's sister). She is such a sweetheart and Camdyn has been a great big sister. Regretfully, we seem to be having a hard time getting a picture of Macki besides on our cell phones so I will post those later. Congratulations Dunns!

Also, while we are on the subject of the Dunns, yesterday was Kambrel's 27th birthday! We are only 10 days apart and I love Kambrel. She is so funny, helpful, a great mother, giving, and a source of sanity for me in this world. Hope you had a great day Kam! We love you!

On May 9th, I had a great birthday and my family came down to watch McKin's dance recital and then we had a little barbecue afterward. McKinley did so good at her dance! She really loves it and it was so fun to watch her. I've been trying multiple times to get the video posted of her doing her dance but with no luck, so here's some pics.

Getting ready to go

Also, 2 weeks ago I got released from my church calling as the Primary President. I was very sad at first, but now that I'm realizing some extra time and have experienced attending church without having 50 million things on my mind and a Sunday with no meetings, I'm quite enjoying it. I will however miss spending time with all of the wonderful kids in our ward, they are so great!

The other big news of the day is that Halle, who has barely learned how to walk, has now mastered climbing the ladder to the top bunk of McKinley's bunk beds all by herself and pretty much tries to scale everything in sight. Heaven help us.

Happy Birthday Ang!

I wanted to wish Angie a happy birthday on her blog since I know how much she loves reading them. You are a great wife and an even better mother to our 2 girls, soon to be 3 girls. I hope you have a great day!

P.S. You better know how much I love ya by doing this blog post.