Just to vent for a minute. I have this incredibly tactless neighbor. About a week ago I was out front with my girls and this neighbor happens to be out at the same time. We have always been friendly to each other and have considered her a friend. She is generally polite but I could see how she might be one of those "open your mouth and let your brains fall out" kinda people. So, we are outside and she asks me how I have been feeling, referring to the pregnancy. I tell her I am beginning to feel a lot better. She continues, " I wasn't going to say anything but you sure were getting big there for a while but you seem to be slimming down now, have you been walking?" Obviously, my jaw is about on the ground and my eyes are welling up with tears. How can she be so thoughtless. The only thing I can think of saying is that it must be what I am wearing that day.

So today, Madalyn and I are getting back from our walk and here is this dumb lady again. She again asks how I am feeling then goes on to reiterate what she said to me last week. You can imagine what I am thinking....She says, " you really must be cutting back because you have really slowed down, what are you doing? ( meaning what are you doing to lose all this weight while you are pregnant, you lard ass?) I can't even think of anything to say so I tell her I have visiting teachers coming and that I need to get inside. But she insists, what are you doing (you fat ass) to slim down? So finally I say, " I guess that is the curse of pregnancy, you have to get good and hefty around the middle before you get that pregnant belly." I have no idea what to say to her. What I would like to say would be less than polite and include some vulgar name calling. She better not say it again or she might really get it!

We made a trip to the Children's Museum at the Gateway. It is the cutest place ever! My girls (and Darin) loved every bit of it.

Check out Madalyn's cute little caboose. She's looking in a little mouse hole.

Darin loved the Life Flight helicopter on the roof of the building. We all got in to check it out. He pushed a button that "started" the engine. It wasn't real of course but it sounded so real inside. I had to check to make sure the propeller wasn't spinning. Maile and Madalyn got out and took off running. So a few minutes later this little stud in the soccer ball t-shirt shows up. Darin was still sitting in the cockpit admiring the controls and decided to play a little trick on this kid. He told the kid that they were going take off and pushed the "start" button. The kid is panicked like crazy but trying so hard to keep his cool. He started moving in every direction in an effort to escape before the 'copter took flight. He jumped out and speed walked-not run because that would look wimpy-behind a big sign. Darin and I were cracking up. We probably could have done that for hours if there weren't so many parents around. :)

Today Madalyn and I were talking about animals and who has animals and who doesn't and who likes them in their house and who doesn't. She made the quick connection that G-ma Clark likes lots of cats in the house and G-ma Adams wouldn't dream of such a think. She thought for a minute and says; "Why did Heavenly Father send Grandma Clark so many cats and not any to Grandma Adams?"

I didn't realize that Maile looks so evil in this picture, red eyes and all. Anyway, you can see how much Grandma Clark's cats like the girls.

One day Madalyn and her little buddy Nikki come play. Things got real quiet so I headed downstairs to check the playroom and got a little panicked when they weren't there. I ended up finding them snuggled in my bed. They told me they were tired and needed a nap.

I just love how different they look. I think it makes them more fun to watch play. Nikki is so brown eyed, gigantic brown eyes and even bigger/thicker/ longer lashes and brown haired, and Madalyn is so blond, and so blue eyed. We are so glad Nikki is her buddy!

Nice face.

Mean face.

Ahhh, so sweet!

Captain Underpants and her Trusty Sidekick

Does Maile look like she's ready to rob a bank? I can just hear it now: Uh, officer, I couldn't find my ski mask.

Someday these photos might make a really nice addition to...say....a wedding video.

I would never!

Be glad this is isn't in your neighborhood! Everytime we have gone to St.George we end up staying in one of the resorts that causes us to drive by this lovely display of artwork. It is quite the landmark. Maile insisted we stop and take a picture, and I didn't mind since it makes a good blog post. Real estate just dropped in this neigborhood thanks to all of the yardart.

St. George for the weekend....For my birthday Darin booked a condo in St. George! It was pretty fun except for the fact that I was sick the entire time. I intially thought it was morning sickness so I kept a steady stream of Sprite down my throat but when I started afever, chills, body aches and sore throat I decided it was more than that. We ended up coming home a day early. :( I don't think anyone was disappointed though.

The sand dunes were a big hit! The girls loved being buried and Darin loved burying them. Maile started a rock collection while we were there. She was so fascinated that the rocks were red and orange. As we were leaving the dunes a boy had caught a lizard. We overheard their family talking and being excited about it. Maile looked up at me, shrugged her shoulders and said "I guess he's making a lizard collection."

Of course we had to play in the pool. The girls should have been mermaids. They love the water! Of course, we couldn't get Madalyn to look at the camera....Maile on the otherhand really hammed it up for us. Thanks Mai!

Everytime we go to St. George we have to stop at the temple. I LOVE the ST. George temple. I really think the Church should get a new photo to curculate because the one they are using is not giving justice! This is my favorite picture of the whole trip. The girls knocked, and knocked but to no avail. As they walked back down the steps Madalyn, who was highly disgusted, said; "I guess Heavenly Father is taking a shower" Of course we laughed and laughed inside! She's so cute!

WATCH OUT FOR BEES !!!!!!

Inspired is how I would put it....I am going to do better about the blog.

Madalyn's first question for today: "How do you say ribbit in Chinese?"

It is so funny to me how kids perceive things. As adults we do our best to explain things to them but things sometimes just get lost in translation. For instance, Maile's pre-school class talked about Martin Luther King and civil rights. Maile came home and was telling me all about King Obama (I about flipped--if you know my stand on politics you know why) and how he couldn't drink his coffee in the coffee shop and that he has to sit in the back of the bus. Once she got to the bus part I knew it wasn't King Obama she was talking about but Mr. King she was talking about. I later talked to her teacher and asked her about Civil Rights Day at pre-school and informed me that she had tried to help the kids understand that if the civil rights movement hadn't happened we wouldn't have a black president. The activity for the day was to paste colored hands with ways to be "civil" on them. Darin and I loved the one about the babysitter. Overall I think she got the point. :)

One Sunday morning we woke up and found the girls sitting on the back porch enjoying breakfast....aren't they cute?

Maile is always wanting to exercise with me. A few times when I have come home from running she will be waiting for me in her "running shoes" for just one more trip around the block. The funny thing is that she giggles the whole way. She thinks it is so fun. What makes it even more fun is if we match and have snacks or energy as she calls them between every rep. The night we took this picture she brought a bowl of chocolate chips and raisins and an apple downstairs just in case we go hungry. Funny thing is she ate all of the chocolate chips and left the rest. Yesterday, I got all ready for a walk and she insisted on riding her 2-wheeler (since she no longer has training wheels) with me. It was great until we had to come back up the hill---which in Herriman there is no avoiding the hill--then I carried her bike for her. :) She's a great little work-out buddy! :)

btw--not the best pic. especially the red eyes.

And so another year goes by.....Maile graduated from pre-school a few weeks ago and I have to say I didn't think she was going to emotional one bit about it but I was wrong! The graduation was so cute. All the kids sang songs and performed some of their own dance moves along with the lyrics, they told us what they wanted to be when they grow up. Of course, Maile wants to be a chef. She does whip up a mean fruit salad! :) Then there was the slide show (the emotional part) and the presentation of the graduates. They were all so cute!

On the drive home Maile tells me that the slide show made her "mostly happy but a little sad." I didn't pay much attention to her comment but let her know that I knew what she meant....cause it made me kinda sad. When we got home she went straight downstairs and popped her copy of the slide show in the DVD player. She came back up with wet cheeks and red eyes. I asked her if she was OK and she blew me off like she didn't want to talk about it. Then I found her in her room just sobbing! Literally sobbing! She told me she was sad pre-school was over and that she already missed her friends, especially her friend that moved to Arizona half way through the year. Poor little Maile has a tender heart.

Maile loved pre-school this year. She had a hard time in the middle of the year and I seriously thought about pulling her out. I am so glad I didn't. Pre-school is one of those things I didn't ever think I would put my kids in but I think the fit between Maile and Mrs. Brooksby was perfect and just what Maile needed.

Maile's BFF, Emma.

We couldn't leave out her first crush, Kolby. She was too shy to pose with him so I had to get him solo. He's cute, isn't he?

Maile and her teacher, Mrs. Brooksby.

A few months ago Maile had one of her first slumber parties. She is always begging to have someone stay or to stay at someone's house so when Lauren came to town from Washington we had to make a plan. I am not sure they did anything except giggle----and I mean giggle! They laughed in the car, when they played, while they ate and of course when they couldn't sleep it was certainly because they were giggling! Now everytime Maile comes across the pictures from the gigglefest all she can do is giggle and say how much she likes Lauren.

Our sweet Maile graced us with her lovely presence five years ago. It has gone so fast. I can hardly beleive that she has gone from a little bundle........

(Tell me she's not the prettiest newborn you have ever seen.)

.....to a full blown diva in five years.....

For her birthday she planned her own party. She had 2 things she wanted to do and they were; musical chair and pecicures. It was so fun! The girls were so cute and acted so grown up. Before the party Maile and I went shopping and picked out smelly fingernail polish and decals. The girls loved it. Maile also planned her own cake as well, that I didn't get a picture of. It was HOT PINK with GREEN polka dots. For t he menu we served all of Maile's favorite snacks; punch, strawberries dipped in sour cream and rolled in brown sugar, and Granny Smiths and carmel dip, and tootsie rolls and suckers. I think only one of her friends even ate the snacks (besides the candy), I think Cate really liked them though. It was so fun, I think I will do another one some day.

Out of frustration Madalyn, while gritting her teeth, told me she was going huff and puff and blow my house in.

Maile bonked her head today and told me she "totally smacked her brain bone."

Although I can look into the face of one of them and call her by her sister's name they really are complete opposites. I have to laugh when I think about the two of them because they are sooooo different. I could spend hours typing to illustrate my point instead I'll just share one instance; The other night at bedtime Maile was inquiring about the sun and the moon and how they work. I explained in lame man's terms (the terms I personally feel most comfortable with), but she kept asking why, and how. Maile is very interested in magnets lately so I explained the basics of magnetism to her and how it is associated with the sun and the moon. Pretty much I was becoming blue in the face and getting nowhere in our discussion. Finally Madalyn sits up, pops her thumb out of her mouth and says in an annoyed tone, " Maile, the sun just does this rrrrrrrrrrrrup in the morning time" while she was ever so slightly moving her head up and around as well as stretching her neck out at the same time. There you have it, Maile wants to know details of why, why, why, Madalyn on the other hand just takes it as it is....much like her mother. The lovely thing is that Maile was very content with Mad's explanation....why didn't I think of that.

Just as video killed the radio star, Facebook has killed the blogger. Join me

A while back we got to watch Morgan. When she got here she was asleep but the girls woke her up shortly after only to realize that one must never wake a sleeping baby. Morgan was happy for about 10 minutes then.......let just say we were really glad when her mama came back! :) Morgan was just not into us! We hope she changes her mind someday because we think we are pretty darn fun! :)

Rock On Dude!