6 Crazy/Weird Things...

I may have done this tag before, I can't remember... but here are 6 crazy/weird things about me that you may not know:

1. I absolutely can not stand long fingernails. And by long, I mean any white at the end...at all. I cut my nails (and my girls' nails) probably twice a week at a minimum. Clean and short, that's how I like it. I also get physically sick if I see anyone chewing their fingernails, or actually just putting their hands in their mouth at all. This is the most disgusting habit I can possibly imagine. SO unsanitary. YUCK.

2. When I got my wisdom teeth out a few years ago, the doctor hit a nerve or something, and I still can't feel the right side of my tongue. For a few weeks/months afterward, I would find myself biting my tongue all the time, and causing it to bleed without even knowing it (if that isn't weird, I don't know WHAT is...). I have learned to compensate by only chewing my food on the left side of my mouth.

3. My knees crack really loud EVERY time I bend down. Although it sounds like this might be annoying, I actually like it, like a person likes cracking their knuckles. It's like it releases tension or something.

4. I absolutely must clean my kitchen from top to bottom every night before I go to bed, or else I can't sleep.

5. I wake up every morning at 6 am so I can get showered, dressed, and get one load of laundry started before the girls wake up. If I wake up any later, I honestly feel like my entire day is shot. I would love to be the kind of person that can be more laid back about their morning routine, but I just can't. I get all panicky if I feel unproductive by 9 am or so.

6. I am completely addicted to Carmex. I can not sleep without putting it on right before bed.

Like Crystal said... I tag anyone who can relate!

I crossed over to the dark side!

What do you think?

Princess Pre-School!!

Question: How do you teach a group of 5 two-year old girls about the Nativity?

Answer: I'm not sure I know...but I sure had a lot of fun this morning trying to figure it out!! :)

First, we watched the "Joy to the World" video. The girls really loved all of the animals, the angels, and of course....Mary and the baby Jesus!



Then, we all sat down for a little story-time to learn the Nativity story a bit better...

..and then the girls each got a turn to dress up like Mary, travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem on a donkey (yep, that was ME), and lay their baby in a manger.








Then, we had a few more lessons on "swaddling"... which Ivy turned out to be especially good at!

Then it was coloring time!

Look how well Tatum holds her crayons! Amazing!
Honestly? Could she be ANY cuter???
Shy Miss Claire... (oh, and Xan...she spilled the beans on the baby's name (I think), and I love it!)
I know what Ella is thinking here. "Why the HECK do I always get stuck in this high-chair?" lol


Nice work, ladies!



Then we played games, like, "Find the Star", sang Christmas songs, ate a lot of snacks and apple juice, and then...it was FREE PLAY!





And I know what Ella is thinking here, too... "What? Did someone say CARMEL CORN?" lol


The girls went home with a little foam Nativity kit, a star ornament, their colored Nativity pictures, and some treats in a candy cane.

...and here's the next generation of Princess Pre-School, rearing to go!


I'm just waiting on Aimee, Sara, and Amanda to get on the wagon and populate this group with some more girls! Xan's doing it...why shouldn't the rest of you? lol

So, again...I'm not quite sure if the girls actually learned anything today...but we sure did have a blast trying!

Oh, and here's that carmel corn recipe..., it's SO easy, and SO good. I HIGHLY recommend it!

1 bag microwave popcorn (I like it extra chewy...if you don't then use 2 bags popcorn)
1 stick butter
1/3 cup light Karo syrup
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Pop popcorn and remove all unpopped kernels. Microwave butter, Karo syrup, and brown sugar for 4 minutes - stir after 2 minutes and again when it is done. Add baking soda and vanilla to hot carmel. Mix well and pour hot carmel onto popcorn. Work quickly and use a plastic spoon to coat all popcorn. Pour onto waxed paper to cool.



Enjoy! I know we did! :)

Uuuughh...

Kim Tait is NOT feeling so "goooooood" today....uuuuuuugggghhhhhh (groan).

Sick. Very, very sick.

Room spinning. Must....lie.....down.

Let the Christmas Season Begin...

Christmas cards ordered? Check.

Christmas lights hung? Check.

Christmas tree decorated? Check.

Christmas CD's in car / "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" in the DVD player / Ava singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" from beginning to end? Check, check, and check.

Christmas lights at the temple adequately viewed and appreciated? Check.

Christmas shopping completed? Check, baby. CHECK.

Let the Christmas-ing begin. Kim Tait is feeling gooooooooood.

Fitting In / Standing Out

So I went to the Australian Pink Floyd Show last night...

I know. It's not like me.

But hey...why not try something new, right? And I actually gained a real appreciation for how prolific that band is (was?), and the artistic nature of the music they wrote. And, I got to spend a fun evening with David and some friends in the meantime.

But, I started to realize as soon as I entered Dodge Theatre that I simply did not belong among that band's demographic. I, Kim Tait, stood out like a wide-eyed, blonde little sore thumb.

Maybe I would have felt more at home if any of the following statements were true:

1. I own (and wear regularly) tie-dyed clothing.
2. I have long, curly/frizzy salt and pepper gray hair.
3. I am in my mid to late 40's.
4. I am male.
5. I enjoy the occasional doobie...
6. I can passionately sing every word to every song from "The Dark Side of the Moon" to "The Wall" (I learned both of those album names last night thankyouverymuch)
7. I am not a young mid-twenties little blonde girl wearing my bangles and ballet flats who couldn't name one Pink Floyd song if her life depended on it.

It was pretty entertaining at one point to just take a look around during the concert at all of those mid-40's, graying men, wearing their tie-dyed shirts from college and reliving the glory days. Closing their eyes. Swaying to the music. Rockin' out when the music got intense.

And then there was me.

Well, the next time I see some scrubby older man wearing a tie-dyed shirt, looking bewlidered at a Sarah McLachlan concert...I just might have to give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, as if to say, "I've been there, my friend. I've been there."

Happy Halloween!

Now that I have kids, I love Halloween! Playing dress up and loads of candy...how could you not love that?!

Here's a recap of the Halloween extravaganza...

Last weekend, we went to Boo at the Zoo. We didn't want to ruin the Ava's real costume just yet, so we made use of her fairy princess costume from last year. Her friend Payton made a super cute Ariel, and Ella looks like one tired chick. Poor Ella was being dragged to the zoo during her morning naptime...but did she complain? Nope. She just kind of hung out in the stroller for a while, then drifted to sleep.

Then, Thursday night was Trunk-or Treat, and our baby chick was reborn!

(I love Ella's big toe in this picture...lol.)

Friday morning we went to Mother Nature's Farm with Ava and Ella's cousins, Kate and Jake.

This is the pumpkin of Ava's choice...

....plus a few decorations. :)

The kids loved seeing all the animals...especially the pigs.

...and Ella was there for moral support, if they needed it.

Finally, Halloween night came! After a fun little neighborhood cookout, we made our way out to do some major trick-or-treating! We decided to give Ella a break from the chick costume, and she hung out at our house with my mom to pass out candy. But Ava was rearing to go, and here she is..... as Cinderella!

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween, too! Let the Holiday Season begin!

And the "Mother of the Year" Award Goes To.....

Here's a recap of our day at church today. One of those days where you just have to laugh and roll with the punches, I guess...

Made it through Sacrament Meeting with no major catastrophes....phew.

But then all the fun really begins....

Ella is sitting on her blankie in Sunday School at our feet, between Dave and I. We are in the front row, of course (don't ask me, Dave makes us sit in the front every stinking week!!!), when Ella starts to tip over, and before I can catch her, she falls over and hits her head - hard - on the corner of the piano. There is a huge thud, and a collective gasp from everyone in the room. I scoop Ella up as she starts to scream and I make a beeline out of the room.

As I get into the hallway, I see the nursery leader walking down the hall with Ava. Ava has apparently just sneezed - big time - and there is green snot all over her face. The nursery leader was taking her to the bathroom to wipe her nose, and didn't seem all to happy about it (which I wouldn't be either). As I am relieving the nursery leader of wiping my child's snotty nose, with my poor crying baby in the other hand, a member of the bishopric comes down the hall to make sure that Ella is okay, because he had heard about the "piano head trauma incident" from two different people in the hall. Great.

It is at this point that I also realize that I was in such a rush to get everyone to church on time that I have forgotten to feed Ella since she woke up from her morning nap! It has been nearly five hours since she has eaten. So I send Ava back off to nursery and head straight to the Mother's Lounge.

Then, as we are leaving church (and people are still coming up to me, asking if Ella's head is okay), I go to pick up Ava from nursery. As I give her a quick little hug, I also notice that her diaper is completely full and wet. I figure we'll just wait until we get home to change it. Besides, my hands are full anyways. I am holding Ava's hand, the diaper bag, my scriptures, Ella, Ella's blankie, and pacing the halls, trying to find David. Meanwhile, Ava is jabbering on about something (as usual), and I am kind of tuning it out, just trying to quickly find David and get home. Then, a little tap on my shoulder from my friend, Staci.

"Ummm...Kim, you might want to know that, ummmm... well, see, Ava...is....ummmm....."

I stop and slowly look down at Ava.

Her wet Pull-Up is around her ankles.

Yes, we have been walking down the entire length of the hallway with Ava shuffling along as her Peed-In Princess Pull-Up was dragging along the floor. I now realize that she has been saying "Momma, my di-dee! My di-dee!"

Sheesh.

So, please refrain from calling Child Protective Services if you see any sick, bruised, starving children walking down the street in soiled diapers. That's just us leaving church.

Odds and Ends

So, of course we all know that the weather was beyond gorgeous last week, so we had to take advantage by taking several trips to our favorite park in the neighborhood. Lots of green grass, big, beautiful trees, a huge lake with lots of ducks, a fun playground, and weather that actually didn't feel like we were roasting in an oven.

It was heaven.




Time for some bubbles!


Ava kept chasing after the ducks, saying, "Hi ducks! How are you? What is your names?"

It was pretty funny.
And here are just a few more random pics that I just downloaded....

It's funny, people ask me every now and then if I belong to a gym (which I do, I just never actually go there...lol). But, as all you moms know, this is the best workout there is.
Oh, and yes...we finally got Ava into her "Big Girl Bed" in her own bedroom!! YAY, Ava!

The transition was actually not that bad at all. She still waits in her bed for me to come get her up in the morning and after naptime (shhhh.... we won't let her in on the fact that getting out on her own is even an option...). She loves her new room, and Ella now has full reign of the nursery.
Finally...David's 32nd birthday was last week! Happy Birthday, honey! We love you a ton.

Here's the Happy Birthday song from two of your biggest fans.

AAAHHH!!

I am so out of my mind excited about my new photographer and our little family photo shoot last week. YAY!!

She has a few more of our family pics on her blog, too. Check it out: http://nikaelacurtis.typepad.com/

I highly, highly, highly recommend Nikaela if you are looking at having some family pictures taken! She made us feel so comfortable and captured such incredible moments (isn't the lighting cool?). She had such great, unique ideas, and was just basically AWESOME! (okay, okay, I'll stop gushing now. But I mean every word, and every exclamation point.) :)

(And she was unbelievably reasonably priced... I think she could charge 3 times what she charged us and it would be worth it...)

Thanks, Nikaela!

Oh, and P.S. Emily and Alison, if you happen to go to the website, and happen to notice that I am wearing your shirt and accessories... ummm.... you know I had to rock the Forever 21 ensembles as long as they were in my possession. lol Now it can truly be documented Forever.

IV REAL

So last night I went on pretty much the most amazing girl's night of all time...

We went to see the So You Think You Can Dance concert!! FOR REAL!

"But, Kim...is that all you have been doing since the last time you blogged..." you ask?

And to that, my reply is simply, "Read on, my friend...read on."

At the end of September, we went on a kid-free trip to Chicago to take in a Bears game. We also took some time to go on an architectural tour and do some shopping.

Here's a shot of yours truly on the Chicago River. The weather was so perfect!

"Well, Kim...what did you go shopping for in Chicago?" Good question. Keep reading.

I bought my little satin dress for my TEN YEAR HIGH SCHOOL Reunion!!

Last weekend we went to good old Hermosa Beach for my reunion, and had a really great time. I am so glad that I went!

We also just basically enjoyed yet another kid-free weekend, this time at the beach. The weather wasn't exactly perfect...but it was cool, and I wasn't complaining one bit!!

And now, of course...no blog would be complete without a little update on the girls, right? Well, check it out....

I have been trying for months now to capture one shot...both girls, both looking at the camera, good lighting, and no red-eye. And....I finally got it! Not once, but twice! Here are my favorite pics of the girls thus far:


Ava has also been very interested in make-up lately. Here she is, working on getting her mascara just right. That's a trip to the hospital waiting to happen, I'm sure.


Ava also got a little house in the backyard. She is always inviting me to come to "Ava's house".

And Ella..... sweet, sweet Ella. All I can say is, I'm ruined. I can never have another baby again because it's all downhill after how easy this baby has been. She's just an absolute angel.

And, I know this is a random way to end my post, but I have been playing with Play-Doh quite a bit lately. Here is my latest and greatest creation. Feel free to be impressed. Or, to think I'm crazy and have way to much free time on my hands. The nose is my favorite... lol.