Ben, Katie, Emma, and Audrey

Old Navy and more updates

2011-06-14T13:56:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share an amazing deal I got at Old Navy last Saturday. All denim shorts were 60% off and I had a Groupon to use so I went to the store. My Groupon was a $20 voucher I paid $10 for. I was there at the right time because they were significantly marking down a bunch of baby/toddler clearance items to $1.97 or $0.97. So I picked up a jacket and pjs for Emma, 2 sun hats, a batgirl onsie, and shoes (for next year) for Audrey, some 3-6 month pjs (for my gift bin), and a pair of bermuda shorts for me.

My total out of pocket at Old Navy was $0.88! Yep. I gave them 88 cents at the store. Score! Even with the $10 I paid for the Groupon, it is still a rockin deal! On sale the shorts themselves would have been over $11 by themselves, so its like I got everything else for free. Anyway, it was a happy day. :)

I've had a few people approach me about giving them coupon lessons. I'm happy to share with them what I know. Maybe there could be more to this coupon game than I thought.

My sweet baby Audrey is a thumb sucker! Emma was a pacifier baby and Audrey is a paci-hater!!! They may look a lot alike, but they each have their own cute quirks. I love them!

We went 'neighborhood shopping' in The Woodlands the other day and we may have foung the perfect area!...within our price range, too. We would be very close to the elementary school, the library, a YMCA, a park, and our church building which would make us all very happy. Here we are just playing at the park.

Life is good. Busy...always changing, but good. There could be some big changes ahead!

Walgreens is AWESOME!...and family updates

2011-03-31T20:20:00.000-07:00

Okay...so I am getting WAY into this coupon thing. Today was my first Walgreens coupon adventure. The on sale (nothing was regular retail price) price of everything, including the extra 15% off coupon which I had, was about $21. With my manufacturer and Walgreens coupons I saved $12.85...and so I paid with tax $8.46...and the best part is that I got $6 in Register Rewards which I can use on my next purchase(s). SO its like I spent $2.46 for $21+ worth of stuff. Woohoo!

P.S. This was my first time having to BUY a toothbrush!

Audrey also had her 4 month checkup this week. And she weighs 16 lb 4oz and is 25.25 inches long...putting her in ~90th percentile for weight and ~75th percentitle for height. Yep...she is one growing baby.

Emma talks about her upcoming birthday EVERY SINGLE DAY! I'm not complaining...I'm just surprised that she is so excited about it considering that she cried for the first 45 minutes of her party last year. So, yes, everyday she tells me what kind of party she wants and today she changed it from an Ariel party to a "Signing Time" party with "Signing Time" brithday candles. Oh goodness. For Joy School this week we learned about the letter R. We did R is for Rainbow. After school Emma drew this rainbow for me. It made me smile. :)

Ben had a great week at work...busy, busy, busy! But he loves what he does...and I like it, too. Its nice and convenient being married to a really good chiropractor/Airrosti provider. Ben has started this new way of eating...its called Paleo. He doesn't eat grains or rice except during his "free" day. So we have lots of fruits and veggies...and a TON of protein smoothies! He feels good...I'm getting on the bandwagon, but I'm not as hard core about it. I still love my pancakes and sandwiches!

As for me...well, my favorite hobby right now is getting deals. My favorite coupon blogs right now are The Krazy Coupon Lady, Savvy Spending, and Hip2Save. I would make links to them, but I don't know how and don't want to figure out how to do it. If you want the websites just let me know...or you can just google them. I am still exercising...love that, but I have resorted to P90X...which is awesome, but its not as much fun working out alone. Ben does them sometimes with me though which is nice.

Life is good! We have been soooo very blessed!

Math and Physics not a waste

2011-03-08T12:42:00.000-08:00

So this morning Emma and I were playing with her slinky. She was holding one end and me the other. We started shaking it and laughing, and I told her "Look, its a sin wave." And she said, "No, mommy, its a slinky." Ah yes. I was just impressed that I remembered what a sin wave was. All of those math and physics classes weren't a waste after all. :)

The scientific/school oriented part of my brain still works sometimes. The other day someone was asking what the name of the fluid is that surrounds your brain and I remembered that, too...I said Cerebral Spinal Fluid. I hope that is right.
I am sooooo very grateful that I worked super hard in high school and at BYU because an education is an invaluable thing! I will always be a life long learner, but I am grateful that right now I get to learn about motherhood and teaching my children principles and preparing them for formal education. I am so proud of Emma because her favorite song right now is the ABC song. On the days we don't have joy school we try to do a page or two out of the pre-k workbook. I love seeing her learn and work hard. She can sometimes be a little perfectionist...I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

For the last 6 months or so my happiness has significantly increased...yes, we are down to 1 car, yes we owe the hospital some $, yes we are still renting...but as a family we are SO HAPPY. Stuff doesn't bring happiness. What does bring happiness is having faith in the Savior and Heavenly Father and accepting their plans for your life. My life has turned out significantly differently than how I had it planned out at 18 years old...its so much better! I have accepted my role as a stay at home mother. Honestly there is no other place in the world I would rather be...nor should be. My daughters are my world right now. Raising them in righteousess and helping them gain self-confidence and a strong and abiding testimony is what MY role is right now. Am I perfect at it?...of course not, but that is my goal. I am so grateful that I get to be home with my cuties everyday.

Perhaps someday I will be able to accomplish my formal education goals...a masters in Public Health, etc., but until then I am going to try to enjoy every minute of this special time while my girls are young. I am reminded of Elder Wirthlins quote...something like "Come what may and love it." Everyone has a different mission here on earth to accomplish and I feel that I have found one of mine. I hope to live my life in tune with the spirit so that I may continue my education here on earth whether its with crayons and fingerpaints at home or lectures and labs in the classroom.

Target Clearance

2011-02-21T14:37:00.000-08:00

I was a very happy camper today because I got some AMAZING deals on Valentine's Day Clearance stuff at Target! The display said everything was 75% off...but nope...everything was 90% off! And some things weren't even marked...for example: I found the Dora book in the media/book section of the store not marked on clearance or anything. So when I did a price check I was like, "WHOA!"...I may have even said that outloud. $0.69 marked down from $6.99. I'll take it!

Here is everthing I bought:
4 placemats
3 Sets of window cling-ons
1 Valentine's Day Banner
1 Set of Valentine's Day Bingo (Emma will hopefully like this next year)
1 Set of 75 cupcake liners
1 Hershey Kisses/Hugs Box (I may be able to eat chocolate again) :)
1 small box of chocolates
1 Dora & Diego box of chocolates (Guess who picked that out!?)
1 Dora Valentine's Day Adventure Book

TOTAL: $3.88 with tax!!!
(and on my receipt it says that I saved $33.80)

I was partially sooo excited because we have ZERO Valentine's Day decorations! And I just love a good deal on stuff I like. So I tried arranging everything in the shape of a big heart for the photo. Hopefully you can tell. I just wanted to share my awesome deal I scored today. Bargain shopping rules!

Name that Baby!

2011-01-26T11:56:00.000-08:00

Our daughters look like TWINS 3 years apart! Can you tell who is who?

Audrey Eleanor McKee

2010-11-21T17:35:00.000-08:00

Miss Audrey arrived Tuesday, November 16th at 9:00pm weighing 7lbs 10oz and was 20 inches long.

At the hospital.

Epidurals are your friends.

Proud papa

Peek-a-boo!

Daddy and his daughters

Emma said she would like a little sister if she wore a kitty cat shirt home from the hospital. :)

Ready for our first outing.

Audrey 3 days old.

Introducing Princess Emma.

Ready for church. Audrey and I literally left church right after the sacrament.

Emma is so proud to be a big sister!

Emma brought her chair out so she could sit by Audrey.

Me and my girls!

Mummy Calzone Recipe, etc

2010-10-21T13:37:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone can read this okay. Just click on the pic and the whole pic should appear. I will email anyone the recipe, too. Yummy Mummy Calzone-y in my tummy! :)

Erika: I'm so glad you like the letters I did. It was so fun! I mod podged paper on all of them but the pink M. I painted it pink and I painted the sides of the E pink, too. For the pink M I glued on flowers I had cut out from the same paper pack that I used for the other letters. Then I mod podged the whole thing (expect the back of course). For the E I just mod podge paper to the front (SOOO EASY), let it dry then used my awesome craft scissors to trim it down. Then I mod podged that whole thing, too. I used the matte formula of mod podge. I didn't take a close up pic of the M. Hopefully that info helps!

Who's Your MUMMY?

2010-10-18T13:09:00.000-07:00

Howdy, ya'll. I just wanted to give a little update on what I have been up to.

First, I have been in a baking FRENZY lately. I finally opened a cookbook we have had for 5 years (wedding gift) and decided to make this MUMMY Calzone! I have never made anything like this ever! But I must admit that it was delicious and it was fun to start trying some fun Halloween recipes.

I was MAJORLLY (is that a word?) craving cold stone ice cream...we have a Marble Slab Creamery like 5 minutes from our house so it had to do. Ben called it "Cold Maggie Slab Creamery." Emma of course wanted a "sparkle's" cone with GREEN ice cream.

This pic was taken October 9th...so about 7 1/2 months pregnant. Hooray, I am almost done! I feel like a Thanksgiving Turkey and my belly button is like the thing that pops out of the turkey when it is done.

So I love love love being creative and making things! And I was so happy to FINALLY do a project. Our Relief Society had a Super Saturday and I made these for Miss E's room. I used a different "technique" for each letter...but I still ended up with Mod Podge all over my hands for each of them.

This morning Emma asked me to fix her slinky. Check out that knot! The only way I know how to fix THAT will be to cut it below the knot. Looks like Slinky will be getting a trim.

Other Stuff: Earlier this month I started a joy school with some friends in the ward. It was been soooo much fun and the kiddos love it! Today they learned H for Halloween and Emma got to wear her Dora Costume.

I can still wear flip-flops everyday!...and shorts (if I had any that fit). The Fall weather here is beautiful to me! The leaves are starting to change a little bit, but it is still gorgeous. I am just thankful to be living here. I hope we are here for a LONG TIME!

So those are a few things that this mummy has been up to lately.

My Baby Belly

2010-10-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

So I have had a few requests for baby belly pics! We FINALLY got the internet this weekend! These pics were taken last month. The first one was on August 11th...it was the best pic to show off my belly. We were at the Garden of the Gods with our friends the Turners. The other pic was taken August 25th at our temporary home in San Antonio. I will post an updated pic soon. We have less than 2 months before our little Audrey arrives!!

Its my party and I'll cry if I want to

2010-08-29T14:55:00.000-07:00

This summer we went to the beach Point-No-Point with some friends. Emma and I had a blast. And check out the view from the beach!...gorgeous!

Emma's birthday was over a month ago, but she is still talking about it. She talks about her green Dora party and the candle shaped like a 3 that she got to blow out. She will break into "Happy Birthday" periodically. Her birthday was a great day...we had a mini family party with a special cake just for that. She actually wanted to wear the party hat...all day!

Emma apparently had a great time at her birthday party, but she wasn't a happy camper when the party began. Here is her cute Dora cake and the party favor bags I put together.

So sad!

After cupcakes and lunch Emma became our happy girl again. Its amazing what sugar can do!

The hit of the party was the bubble wrap floor.

And finally a big smile with daddy!

Emma went fishing, we went on a train ride, & Happy Birthday, Ben!

2010-06-20T22:22:00.000-07:00

We got together with our friends/family the Chapmans and Emma loved going fishing.

Emily and David came up for the weekend and us girls went on this awesome little train ride around a park. Emma loved it. For some reason little kids love trains!

Family dinner this month was at Aunt Margarets and Uncle Lloyd's house. They have a cute black cat. Emma is very much like her mom because she went right to him and loved playing with him.

After dinner Emma devoured her ice cream. The tell tale evidence is on her face!

After dessert we took some group shots. Here is the pic of the McKee clan who were there.

Happy Birthday, Daddy! Emma loved telling Ben that all day long!

Ben shared his Red Robin ice cream dessert!

Ben turned the big 29! Ben's cake was the new dessert cake from The Olive Garden. Yum!

The month of Ben is starting to draw to a close. But I think he had a great birthday! Happy Birthday, Benjamin!

Vegas Vacation

2010-05-25T14:22:00.000-07:00

Vegas is a bit of a conundrum to me. I both love and hate the city...well Las Vegas Blvd to be specific. I love the amazing architecture of the buildings and there are a ton of things to do and I love the sunshine, but its like scensory overoad on crack sometimes. And there are a few other things that drives me crazy...like how women (and men) are often objectified in ads and stuff...that's the part I hate!
But I also LOVE Las Vegas because my brother Lance and his wife, Ana, live there and we had a blast with them! I also love Vegas because it has several Cafe Rios and it was divine eating there again! But my favorite thing we did with Lance and Ana were play in this hat store called "Hattitude." I only got one pic before they told us no photos! Sad. But we had fun with some cowboy hats, soldier hats, mad hatter hats, crocodile dundee hats, derby hats, fancy southern belle hats, and a baseball cap with a fake ponytail (Ben and Lance looked sooo funny!). I wish I could've taken pics!

We strolled around Aria one of the evenings. These watertubes were in the mall. We also checked out the really fancy stores like Tiffany and Co and Porshe athletic, and Louis Vitton just because we could. We had fun guessing the outragous prices of the merchandise!

These stairs were beautiful!

There is a really cool waterfall thing outside the Aria.

Our first evening Ben and I strolled up to the Bellagio and the Paris.

The Eiffel Tower is 1/2 the size of the original.

Beautiful fountains! The song that was playing was "God Bless the USA." It was pretty powerful hearing it with the wonderful fountains going.

A cute pic of us.

So I should mention WHY we visited Vegas in the first place. The MAIN reason was so Ben could attend an Active Release Technique (ART) seminar. I went to lounge at the pool and read my book everyday (it was glorious!). Ben passed with 96% so he is ART back certified. Woohoo. It was a huge bonus being able to spend time with Lance and Ana. Out of all my siblings I think we have seen them the least. sad. So hopefully this makes up for that.

I loved our weekend getaway. I was VERY ready to come home though. And there is no perfect place...you have to accept the good with the bad. And thats okay. Viva Las Vegas!

Baby #2 is on the way!

2010-05-17T17:31:00.000-07:00

Its official!...we are expecting baby #2! Hooray! Whats with weekend getaways and coming home with a bug!?!? haha...jk! We are very excited for this little addition to our family! Our baby is due November 24th! I thought for sure that we were having twins because I have been eating like a crazy person!...an ENTIRE meal every 2 hours! Thankfully that has toned down a bit and I'm feeling good! We are also getting Emma excited about being a big sister!
Here are a few of our 12 week ultrasound pics...

January and February

2010-03-09T14:27:00.000-08:00

Hey Hey! Time for another update!

In January Emma & I went to Idaho for a week. Emma looooved the snow!...and I loved just being with my family. My Grandma is one of my favorite people! She always has such good stories to share and she makes me feel so loved!

Sledding and playing in the snow! Emma loved being able to play outside in the snow. In Iowa it was always too cold to actually enjoy being outside in the winter.

February was a big, important month!

For Valentine's Day I made Ben a candybar poster...cheesy I know! Since we WERE still students it was a fun and very inexpensive way (I even got the posterboard for free!) to tell him how much I love him!

Here's a close up

BEN GRADUATED! Ben and I both went back to Davenport Iowa to celebrate this awesome achievement! Ben is officially Dr. Benjamin N. McKee DC

Here we are at the Banquet dinner with our friends the Turners. I was so excited to see these guys!

Ben recieved a rehab intern award! And he graduated Cum Laude. I like that it is written on his diploma. :)

Sometimes we felt that graduation would never come! But it actually did. It was something that we were anticipating for so long that when it finally arrived it was a bit surreal. I am sooo glad that I was able to go back to Davenport for graduation, too. Ben thinks (and I must agree) that going to chiropractic school really was a team effort. Those students are put through so much during those 3+ years...its like a 5 year program squished into 3. Don't know why they do that. Anyway, its amazing how much Ben knows and how much good he can do through the skills he has learned.

Life is good. So many blessings have been coming our way!

McKee Manor Adventures

2009-12-31T09:03:00.001-08:00

Moving in and getting settled were a pretty big adventure in and of themselves...but there was no relaxin after that because Emily's wedding was within a month! It was a hustlin' and bustlin' time at McKee Manor getting everything ready. But of course everything turned out beautiful and amazing...and we were very grateful when the wedding was over! When Emma gets married I am hiring a wedding planner!!
Here's me and the girls the day before the wedding...people were still decorating the cultural hall for the reception. We took Emily out for a little bachelorette party.

Emma and Daddy dancing at the reception. Emma and the other nieces wore these ridiculously cute tutu's and they LOVED them. I was asked to be a bridesmaid, too...I was honored! I will have to put a pic up later of me and Emily together!

Emma loved these little lights that lit up the potted trees. She would gather them from the other pots...she had 5 or 6 lights in one pot at one point. She eventually got one for christmas in her stocking.

Emma still asks to wear her tutu! Its like little girls just know that there is something special about tutus!

Emma saw Santa twice this year...once at Ben's office and the other at Fred Meyer (they were doing free pics with Santa!). Both times I sat with her for the pics. I'd rather have a smiling child for photos and I would prefer not to scar my child for life! ha jk She will probably have a better idea of who he is next year.

Whenever Grandpa comes home Allison & Emma immediately start saying "Incredibles"...but it sounds more like "care bears". It means that they want to sit in Grandpa's lap and watch The Incredibles. Usually their persistence works.

Decorating the Christmas tree with two 2 year olds was quite entertaining. They had a blast helping Grandma.
These ornaments are called "bubbles" by Emma. When Emma and Allison first started putting the "bubbles" on the tree they only needed one branch to hang them on as you can see! :) That branch got pretty heavy! Eventually they started spreading out the ornaments more.

The end result was adorable and hilarious! All the ornaments only made it about a third of the way up the tree.

Poor Santa!

We went to Zoo Lights at the Point Defiance Park Zoo on Dec 23rd. The lights were spectacular! It was a fairly chilly night...I am loving the Washington winters....Iowa winters were a little harsh!
The indoor aquarium was still open during the Zoolights and we had fun looking at all the fish and sea creatures until my new brother-in-law David was eatin by a shark!!! That kindof ruined the evening.

Yay...Christmas Eve dinner with the McKee Manor Clan. The newlyweds were visiting for a week (David wasn't really swallowed by a shark) and we all enjoyed a super yummy dinner! BBQed salmon with twice baked potatoes and all the fixins'. And for dessert we had vanilla ice with strawberries.

Emma and Allison were super excited about their matching pj's they got Christmas Eve. It was a tradition in my house growing up that you got to open 1 present Christmas Eve and it was always pajamas. You gotta look cute Christmas morning for pictures!

We had a great Christmas! And we are excited about this new year! It is going to be another big time of transition for our family...but things just keep getting better!

A New Post!

2009-11-22T22:20:00.000-08:00

So I have started this post about 5 times and am finally finishing it! Hooray!
Our little family moved about a month ago from Iowa to the Tacoma, WA area! Ben is in his last semester of school and is precepting with a chiropractor here. It has been a crazy month since we arrived here in Washington. But this post is about the fun times we had in Iowa before moving.

We went with our good friends the Turners to a River Bandits baseball game...which is a minor league baseball team. We had a blast and got about 6 free twinkies...it was the last game of the season and they were throwing them out like confetti!

For my last Young Women's activity we decorated mini pumpkins. Here is mine. It turned out much cuter than I originally planned. Serving in Young Women's was such a treat for me. I treasure the time I had serving there!

Miss E and I would go to the Eldridge library a couple of times a week for storytime or to just let Emma play in the kids corner. So it may sound silly but I sometimes miss that library.

The hardest thing about moving for Emma was saying goodbye to her best friend, Lily.

Ben got one last round of golf with a few of his Palmer buddies. Torrential rain did not stop these guys from playing!

We finally visited the children's museum within a week of moving. Emma can find a stuffed animal anywhere we go!

The Rocket Park was Emma's favorite park. We went to this part dozens of times. There isn't a park like that here!...that I have found at least.

Lagomarcino's was divine! I wish we would've visited it earlier. We had a delish lunch and then shared a yummy sundae. On our way out of town we ate breakfast at The Machine Shed...definitely want to eat there again in Feb! The cinnamon roll could feed 4 people!

We lived in Iowa over 3 years and we finally visited the John Deere Museum within a week of moving! What's with that? Emma loved playing in the tractor and other ridiculously ginormous riding machines! I wouldn't want a big sugar cane harvester coming at me!!

Our last Palmer Trick or Treat. Miss E got to pick out her costume this year...she chose to be a ladybug. I was excited about her choice. She insisted on carrying her pumpkin even though it was getting way heavy with candy.

En route to WA we stopped at my parent's house for a few days. It was a good breather during the long road trip! We played outside quite a bit. Her favorite thing to do was running away from this cute black and white cat that would come into the yard. You can see it right behind her. I just really liked this pic, anyway.

We have already had some adventures here in WA, and I promise it won't take 4 months for me to post again!

Happy Birthday, Emma!

2009-07-20T13:27:00.001-07:00

Our dearest Emma turned 2 on Sunday! She is a joy without measure! We are so grateful that she joined our family!

Sweet baby smiles!

Emma getting her first teeth

Yum...cereal

Emma in her beautiful blessing dress

Emma's birthday picture last year.

Emma's first ponytail.

An update on the Iowa McKee's

2009-06-24T12:01:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted very much lately. Things have been crazy!! We closed on our house, packed up and moved down the street (which is way more annoying than moving across the country), we celebrated Ben's birthday, I was at Girls Camp for 4 days while Ben had to take care of Emma and take finals and see patients, and we had to quickly get unpacked and settled in to our new house because Ben is now in Honduras for 2 weeks! Pheww. This summer is already awesome and busy and crazy. It will be like this until mid July when I get back from Idaho.

Here are some pics of what has been going on since April...and fyi, they are totally out of order. I'm too lazy to fix that. Just kidding...they are now mostly in order...

For my birthday this year Emma and I got to spend time with my parents and my sister's family down in Dallas. We had a blast...here us girls (and baby Zachary) are eating lunch at The Cheesecake Factory...divine!

Emma has a fascination for drinking water out of big cups (and spilling it all over :)), sliding screen doors, and bubbles. The week before we moved from our beloved condo we spent a lot of time out on our deck.

Eating at The Outback for Ben's birthday dinner (I scored a free gift card for there)! And Ben totally wanted steak for his b-day, so it worked out nicely! My man is 28!! And I don't know what it is about posing for pictures, but Emma just doesn't appreciate having to do that.

In May my brother, Dave, graduated from med school and MBA school...and his wife, Elizabeth, graduated from dental hygiene school...they both have a lot of letters behind their names now! We went down to Kansas City to see them! After graduation we went to this awesome park and walked around. Emma loved smelling the roses and running around.

As you can probably see Emma loves being outside...as much as possible! We generally go to a park everyday, or at least sit out on our back steps and blow bubbles.

Girl's Camp was at Camp C.S. Klaus this year. In this pic one of the girls from our branch is about to repel down a 40 foot wall!...I did it, too...twice! Girl's Camp was a blast...I think going as a leader is way more fun than being a participant! Us leaders got to just hang out (no 5 mile hikes for us) and chill all 4 days...except we got the least amount of sleep!...probably 3 or 4 hours/night. The weather was perfect except the last night it we had a major thunderstorm, but the girls loved it! We had a skit night and our branch's ROCKED! We did a parody on Johnny Lingo!...instead of saying Mahana was a 10 cow wife, she was a 10 rock (or ring) wife...and we had her wear 10 BIG ring pops on her fingers...included in our skit was Captain Jack Sparrow, a Seventeen magazine, shoe stealing, and a few other random things that fit perfectly, actually. We also had awesome costumes!...the camp director brought a few big bags full of costumes and we took advantage of that!

As you can tell I had a great time at camp inspite of the Jiggers that attacked my neck and head and the daddy long legs everywhere and the lack of sleep!

SOLD!! Woohooo! The purchaser of our condo wanted a pic with us...so we got one, too. Why not? I just noticed that Ben, Emma, and I are all coordinated...blue, brown, and white. It was super surprising to us that we sold our place so quickly...we thought we would be living there until we move to Washington this fall! But the Lord blessed us and that load was lifted off our shoulders! I think the buyer will love living there...we sure did. But I am grateful for our new place...I feel very comfortable here and we have more space which is a huge plus!

Ben is now in Honduras for a Clinic Abroad...our friend Aaron England is posting updates about their trip...check out the England's blog...its on my blog list. Ya, Ben ate raw, squirming clams...gross! But he is helping soooo many people down there with his chiropractic skills! Chiropractors rock! And I miss him a lot!...10 more days to go!

Marseilles Dress SHABBY APPLE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-06-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

Marseilles Dress SHABBY APPLE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

I totally want to win this dress!

Now I Know My ABC's...

2009-05-05T11:57:00.000-07:00

We made this video last month of Emma saying her abc's...she learned them through these awesome Signing Time DVDs. Her vocabulary is quite extensive...of course she is naturally very smart, but learning sign language has helped to expand it...I'm sure! Emma's favorite letter's are K and M...she points them out everywhere! Right now we are working on learning colors...her favorite (non) color is white...she definitely knows the sign for that one. Yesterday she learned the Hokey Pokey song and the game "red light, green light"...its so fun to see what brings her joy. She loves fun songs and games and anything that has to do with animals. Our neighbors have pets and she knows their names and everything. Its so fun to see her learn about the world!!

The Real Forks

2009-03-25T12:24:00.000-07:00

While visiting Ben's parents in Seattle a few weeks ago, Becky (his mom) and I decided to visit Forks. I wanted to see what the town and area were really like as opposed to what my imagination had. Visiting Forks on purpose must officially make me an official crazed fan...and that's okay...I accept that. I must say that Forks, La Push, and even Port Angeles has embraced their new found fame. At the Forks Chamber of Commerce there was an employee there just for Twilight fans! And I was (pleasantly) surprised that we weren't the only "Twilight tourists" visiting Forks. There were some college students there for Spring Break, some teenage girls on spring break, some groups of moms, and even a few families (husbands, sons, and everything) there, too. We had a blast! Here are some highlights from Twilight

Here we are at the Forks Chamber of Commerce. They found a truck that looks like Bella's. And yes, we really were in Forks...it just happened to be a beautiful sunny day!

This bumper sticker made me laugh

Dr. Cullen's parking space at the Forks hospital.

The real Forks high school. At least for they got the sign right for the movie

This bed and breakfast was dubbed "the Cullen's house" on our tourist map.
This whiteboard was on the porch of the house...pretty cute.

In Forks we also saw and got pictures of the Police Station and "Bella's house."

We then made our way to La Push...apparently this is the boundary line. :)

There wasn't a whole lot in La Push to take pictures of, but when we got to 1st beach I took a ton of pictures! I love the ocean. It is so beautiful and the noise of the waves at high tide is amazing.

On our way back home we stopped in Port Angeles for dinner and we had to eat at Bella Italia. :) The food was pretty good...but I enjoyed Emma's pizza more than my own fancy salad.

And the bookstore was on the same block as the restaurant...and the movie theater, too.

What a busy day! We left the McKee's house at 8:30am and got back about 8:30pm. Pheww! What am awesome day!

Dance Dance EMMA-lution!

2009-03-07T21:17:00.000-08:00

Tonight Emma was hilarious at dinner. The music was pretty loud at the restraurant and she just started dancing! Her favorite songs to dance to were "Jack and Diane", "Footloose", and ALL of the hip-hop songs. When that girl turns 3 she is taking dance lessons. She was pretty entertaining. She can shake those hips!

The Scriptures Rock!

2009-02-22T20:43:00.001-08:00

For whatever reasons, I have had a really tough winter. Plus, I really hate the snow and the cold! I have good days, but sometimes life can be just crappy. Thankfully, I found a scripture that has helped me to feel better.

Alma 36:3 reads:

"...whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, in their troubles, and in their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day."

I really needed that today. I am so grateful for the scriptures. They can definitely help push away gray clouds and reveal a beautiful sunny day! I know that trials are meant to help us become better, stronger...more Christ-like. And thank goodness for the scriptures to help us get through those storms!...and these crazy Iowa winters! :)

Our sweet and silly Emma

2009-02-12T20:15:00.000-08:00

Emma is very sweet and very silly. Today she brought me a pizza sheet and wanted to sit on it on my lap!

Emma really enjoys rearranging our DVDs...She thinks they look better on the floor.

Emma thinks that the silverware holder in the dishwasher is a purse. Her favorite things to carry around in there are sprinkles containers!

Will you accept this rose?

2009-01-27T10:07:00.000-08:00

I am a huge fan of the Bachelor...especially this season! Last night I was watching it, and Ben came up to me with this little rose and asked, "Will you accept this rose?" How cute is that?! That just made my day! I have such a sweet husband who is soooo good to me! And of course I said, "Yes!" Its so cute to me that he made the rose out of a napkin...it was quite impressive!...it had the spiraling petals, and a leaf, and everthing! So sweet!

"Driving would've been faster than flying"

2009-01-22T13:29:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas vacation started out a little bit like a crazy christmas movie...it could've been called "Driving would've been faster than flying." On average, it takes about 17 hours to drive to Poky from here. It took us 24 hours just to FLY from Moline to SLC on Dec 23rd! Lets just say that all of us were extremely tired by the time we got into SLC. Thankfully my parents got some rooms at a Residence Inn for us to crash in for a few hours before driving us up to Poky. Here are some pics from the rest of our adventure.

Hooray for Christmas! Here's Ben and Emma Christmas morning. I love Emma's "whoville" hair!

Sweet kisses from Emma!

Check out these icicles! Yikes!

I took pictures of Emma playing with my scarf. This one I took when she was done and walking away. I almost erased it, but it made me laugh. Her stance is like the blurry pictures of bigfoot walking in the forest! ha

Emma loved playing with Grandma Berrey! They have a very tight bond! I swear Emma remembers her

almost immediately, even if its been months since getting together. My mom came to help when Emma was only 2 days old and stayed for 2 weeks. I think that really impacted her bond with Emma.

My cousins and I went to lunch at the cafe at Thanksgiving Point...yummy!

We spent some time with my little Grandma Berrey. She is so sweet, and she is the type of person that always makes you feel so good about yourself whenever you are around her! I love people like that!!!

Emma is playing with her cousin, Shelbie.

Okay, so check out this beautiful kitchen! JR, Ben's brother (pictured), and his wife Heather were living in her grandparents house while their's was getting finished. This kitchen is the guest kitchen in the basement!! Oh my goodness...the entire house was beautiful! I wish I would've taken more pictures!

We spent 4 days or so in St. George and we loved it! On Saturday we went with my brother Dave and his wife, Elizabeth to the temple.

We ate at Ruby River...gotta love a good steak!

Our flights back to Iowa were much smoother!! We actually arrived early! Woohoo! This is a very short, choppy account of our Christmas break! We had so much fun and we know that we want to check out St. George and Vegas as potential places to settle. We love warm!!!

I finally updated our blog!

2008-12-20T20:34:00.000-08:00

I have to thank Michelle for motivating me to finally update our blog. It has been a while!

For Thanksgiving we drove down to Kansas City, MO to spend the weekend with my brother, Dave, and his wife Elizabeth. We had a blast with them! They showed us around KC and my brother compared it to a ginormous Pocatello...and I agree! We ate at the famous Jack Stack restaurant and visited Dave's med school campus...and of course ate a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner! I must admit that Elizabeth and I pulled off a great meal!!...and the boys helped too. Here's a pic at one of the parks near their home. And we visited Liberty Jail...very cool!!

Emma tried chocolate pudding for the first time...and loved it as you can see here!

Emma is making a funny face in this picture! Ben makes the same expression sometimes...daddy and daughter connection :)

December has been an awesome month so far! On December 5th, Ben was officially cleared to work in the student clinic!...woohoo!! It was a huge mile marker!

We also had fun getting together with some friends to make gingerbread houses. A lot of them used actual homemade gingerbread...we used good old fashioned graham crackers. Ben basically put the whole thing together and I decorated it. I think we make a pretty good team. Our little house is 3 stories tall with a 1 car garage...complete with a lighted driveway! :)

On December 12th Ben and I enjoyed a Brian Regan perfomance...oh my goodness...I have never laughed that hard in my life. And I thought Ben was going to fall off his chair into the aisle a few times! We actually had 4th row seats right next to the middle aisle!! We scored awesome seats! One of the reasons why Brian Regan is such a great comic is because he makes fun of everyday things...like refridgerators, phone companies, dinner parties, airline flights...stuff like that.

December has also great for my business. I had to wrap about 45 Christmas gifts for customers! Pictured here there are about 30 of the gifts. It felt really good being able to help my customers with their Christmas shopping. And it was so fun picking out wrapping stuff...and I must thank Julie for helping me with that. Mary Kay has some great Holiday gift ideas and it is so satisfying to have friends and customers get excited about them! I made a good choice becoming part of the Mary Kay family!

Last, but not least, we had a great time at our branch christmas party....but Emma was not a fan of Santa...next year will be a different story I am sure!!

That has been our December so far! We have a ton to do before we leave for Idaho on Tuesday. Christmas break is actually going to be pretty busy!! Life is good!

Emma and her favorite things

2008-11-02T17:57:00.001-08:00

I FINALLY started scrapbooking again...I havent done a thing since April! I made a page on Friday and have plans for at least 5 more already. Its been a while since I did a Katie's Creation's post. I actually missed scrapbooking...that might be kinda weird, but I do love anything creative. I like making stuff. So here is my page.

A Baby duck and her balloon

2008-10-19T17:47:00.000-07:00

I posted most of these pics on facebook, but its fun to blog them, too. Last Wednesay there was a big trick-or-treat party at Palmer (Ben's school)...so its like an early Halloween for the kids. You go around campus picking up candy from various offices, etc. Some departments had way cool decorations...there was Gotham City, the Circus, Candyland, and the Yellow Brick road to name a few. It was so fun to see all the kids dressed up cute and just get together with everyone. Emma was a baby duck...some people called her a baby Big Bird or a baby chick, but she was and is a baby duck. And we get to dress her up again for our branch's trunk or treat bonanza next week.

Emma got a purple balloon at Palmer and it was her favorite thing when we got home from the party. She loved playing with it and dragging her pumpkin around with it. :)

Sour "Pumpkin" Patch Kid

2008-10-12T19:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at the Pride of the Wapsi. The Pride of the Wapsi is a family-sponsored fair that happens every fall here in Iowa. We had a blast!...although Emma wasn't the happiest. At the fair there is tons to do...There are little rides for the kids to go on and they have shetland pony rides and you can pick your own raspberries, and feed the farm animals...goats, chickens, pigs, etc...and we walked through their corn maze (in pretty good time, too), and took a ride to the pumpkin patch and we picked out a few pumpkins for ourselves.

Emma is about 2 and a half feet tall. Last year we measured her at the Wapsi and she was almost 2 feet tall according to this big ol ruler.
The original painting of this farm couple was actually painted here in Iowa I guess. Can you see Ben and me living on a farm?
Here we are at the pumpkin patch.

Emma turned sad and "sour" in the pumpkin patch :(

Emma needed a hug...and to sit down...take a break

I am super excited about going to the Pride of the Wapsi next year...I think Miss E will have more fun, too!

They Built It, So We Came!

2008-09-28T13:17:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we finally made it to the Field of Dreams movie site right outside of Dyersville, IA...we had been meaning to visit since even before we moved here! Ben was especially excited...anything that has to do with sports gets him all fired up! We had a ton of fun...we drove up with our friends, the Turners...here are some fun pics!!

Ben and Jeff pitched the ball to each other for at least an hour straight...they had so much fun!
I really like this pic with Emma way close, and Ben far away getting ready to pitch the ball.

Emma and Lily with the fence post sign.

Ben had some good hits that went all the way into the Corn Field...luckily, we were able to find the balls!! But we each got our chance to hit...and I actually enjoyed it...and I got to run around the bases. I sometimes forget that I am pretty athletic.

Here is Emma, the house, and our picinic stuff.

Emma was fascinated by the rocks and dirt on the field...she tried eating a few rocks...thankfully, they didn't taste too good and she spit them back out.

Another one of Emma and Daddy on the baseball field.

Here we are walking out of the corn...
Emma is notoriously sticking out her tongue.
I got kisses from Emma. :)

We had such a great time that day! I'm really glad we made it up there!!

My Affirmation Poem

2008-09-20T18:49:00.000-07:00

Last Monday I directed my weekly Mary Kay meeting. To begin the meeting you introduce yourself then share an affimation poem. I guess there are a few generic ones you can just read to everyone, but I wanted to make up my own. So here is my poem...

I love to see the blessings flow,
as I see my business grow.
These both go hand in hand you see,
because the Lord knows whats important to me.
My faith first, and then my family,
I love the Lord, Ben, and Emma oh so gladly!
One of the next priorities on my list
is bringing home the dough, if you get my jist.
Mary Kay has helped me with that pursuit,
just check me out in my hot, red suit!
Sharing and caring have gotten my this far,
and someday I will be driving that car.
I know it will take faith, work, and time,
but in the end the reward will be mine.
And I know you can achieve YOUR goal,
just don't dig yourself into a hole.
Get out and breathe the fresh air in,
and then you'll know where to begin.
Take one step and then another,
your path will be unlike any others.
The Lord will lead you as you go,
and let the blessings in as He helps you grow!

I definitely believe in the power of positive thinking! I recommend that you write down at least 10 positive affirmations about You and put them somewhere you will see them everyday! Seriously, try it out for a week.

When you join the Berrey family...

2008-09-08T12:32:00.000-07:00

When Ben and I were dating I remember him telling me that he wasn't that fond of golf. My first thoughts were, 'When we get married that is certainly going to change'...and so it has. When you join the Berrey (my maiden name) family, you inevitably learn to love golf. As soon as Ben got his own golf clubs (from my parents, of course) he was immediately hooked to the game. How hooked?...well, while I was in labor with Emma guess what he was watching on TV?...a golf tournament-the British Open. My sister-in-law Elizabeth has also taken up the game. And my neice Shayla asked my parents for her own golf clubs for her 8th birthday. So golf is just a way of life for the Berreys. So it will make sense when I tell you that we took Emma golfing with us when she was just 11 months old. Start em young...Well, actually, when I was ~6 months pregnant Ben and I went golfing...I carried my own clubs and everything.

Here are a few pics of our golf outing with Emma, while we were in Idaho/Utah...and a fun pic of my little family at BYU (you can see the Y way up on the Mountain)...go COUGARS!

My dad is showing Emma a golf ball and golf glove...lessons from Grandpa.

I really like this picture.
Emma loved riding on the golf cart...she loves anything that makes wind blow in her face.
Ya gotta wear a hat when golfing! Emma wasn't a fan of her sunglasses.

Red is my new favorite color!

2008-08-27T13:32:00.000-07:00

I am officially a RED JACKET...woohoo. Most of you are probably wondering, what does that mean?...it means that I have 3 active team members and that my business is growing like crazy. Becoming a red jacket is a sign of hard work, happy customers, and a desire to do great things in Mary Kay. As a red jacket I have also been enveloped into a whole new level of sisterhood within MK...Amanda actually smacked my arse at the end of meeting because I was a part of the group...ha. I wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that...I think I laughed. But anyway, here are a few pics documenting my fun night!

Melissa is my team leader and my new director starting Sept 1st...she is holding the box. Melissa has been an awesome friend and mentor to me. I love that she can see my potential and isn't afraid to give me a challenge.

I love opening presents!

I got a new pin that says "Star Recruiter" and all us Reds said the Red Jacket oath or pledge...or whatever, I don't remember any of it.

All the other red jackets gave me gifts...and all the gifts had to be red. I got some fun stuff. In this pic is Amanda (she is the one laughing) and Mel.

A new red wallet...cool!

Gwen is my adopted director. Gwen is one of the nicest people in the world. She is always so happy to see me and she gives the best compliments! She thinks that Red is definitely my color!

Gwen put Ben on the spot by asking him a few questions, but he has some pretty good answers. I am so glad that he and Emma came to support me....rare are the meetings where spouses and kids are invited. But anyway, Ben has been supportive of my business since day 1 and I am so blessed to have a husband who cheers me on and encourages me to accomplish my goals.

Me and my cute family!

Two of my team members were able to come...Jerusha and Ruth. I am so grateful that they were able to come.

Me and my Red Jacket amigas! Amanda, Judy, me, Melissa, and Mel.

1 year pics and Emma vs. Cupcakes

2008-08-17T19:07:00.000-07:00

Here are Emma's one year pictures!...And enjoying her birthday cupcakes!

Emma's Grandma McKee made this dress for her. We took these pictures before the cupcake ones! :)

Emma vs. Cupcakes! Emma's strategy was simply "one cupcake at a time"
The cupcakes didn't have a fighting chance! Emma gobbled them right up!
Whatchu lookin at?
Miss E is our joy! She is so sweet and happy and loving! We love that she gives big kisses and hugs! And we love that she still sticks out her tongue sometimes! We love her dark brown eyes and her chubby legs. We love that she squeals when we play our crawling chasing game. We love how she loves to learn and loves to explore. We love that she is our daughter! She is our angel sent from Heavenly Father! We love you, Emma!

Happy Birthday, Emma!

2008-08-07T07:51:00.001-07:00

Emma turned 1 on July 19th! This year just flew by! To celebrate Miss E's birthday we had a combined party with our friends, The Noorda's, whose daughter Kennedy is 3 days older than Emma.

Here we are opening Emma's first birthday present ever! Its from Grandma, of course!...a cell phone!...its one of her favorites now!

These are the cakes Emily Noorda made for the little girls. They each got their own!
Here is the big cake that the rest of us shared. Isn't it just beautiful!?!
Emma wasn't a fan of the party hats...
...especially not in this picture either.
Here are the birthday girls right before getting their cakes.
Okay, so this is the cake before and after Emma dug into it. She licked frosting from her fingers a few times and that was about it. She is very dainty and clean I guess.
Ben helped Emma open her gifts...someday she will appreciate the gifts more than the wrapping and packaging.
Emma loves turtles.

Our thanks goes out to our friends who came to her party. We appreciate all of your love and support. It was a great day!

Our Bix Baby Champ!

2008-07-27T18:02:00.000-07:00

Emma "ran" in the Bix this year! She was a Diaper Dash champ! Go Baby Go!

READY!!! Here is Emma and Daddy right before the big race!
SET! Here they are lined up on the carpet! (sorry it's a little fuzzy)
GO!!! Emma wasn't sure what to do...she got really sad. Then she spotted me across the carpet and then took off like a rocket!
Great job, Miss E! You can still see a few tears in her eyes! I was so proud that she crawled to me! She was a speed racer!
Emma's first medal!
As tradition (as seen by Nadal after winning Wimbledon), Emma had to bite her medal.

Escape From Iowa...literally, we took our Escape

2008-07-18T19:48:00.000-07:00

We drove out of Iowa in our Ford Escape on June 12th, but the inevitable happened...our fun family-filled vacation came to an end, and on July 10th we returned to our home in the corn country known as Iowa. We enjoyed our little escape from the humidity and "everydayness" of our life in Iowa, but at the close of our western adventure we were ready for our usual lives to resume. Here is a picture recap of our Escape from Iowa.

Okay, so this first picture is of a car we saw during one of our stops on the way to Idaho. This poor car has a boo-boo...I hope that bandaid makes it feel better...ha.

We broke the trip to Idaho into 2 days! Thankfully, our friends Nicky and TJ let us stay at their house in Lincoln, Nebraska! They were so fun and nice, and as you can see, Emma enjoyed the attention from Kaylee and Malia!
Our first weekend in Idaho we celebrated Father's Day and Ben's birthday! Check out that cake my mom and I made...and nevermind that it was leaning a bit...it was "scrumtrelescent"
Here is my Dad and Emma. Emma would try to copy everything Grandpa said! And check out the background...that is the view from my parent's deck! I love that view...I miss it!
Here is Emma and her new bestfriend (besides her white teddy). My Mom held Emma for over 2 weeks straight! And Emma was so sad to leave Grandma...she actually cried when we had to leave...sad, but so sweet!
Ben spent most of his time on the golf course! He is getting really good!...one day he and my brother, Mike, and Nephew, Alec, played 33 holes! And Ben and I played with our friends Sterling and Ellen Davis. We played in Poky and in Rexburg...on 2 different occasions (just in case you were wondering).
I enjoyed golfing during the break, too. I didn't get to play nearly as much as Ben because I was a Mary Kay machine during the trip (more on that later), but I loved playing with Ben. He would always give me good encouragement if I had a bad shot. In this picture I actually have my Invisalign in...you can't tell...because its supposed to be invisible...ha. I was way excited to get Invisalign because my bite needs aligning...perfect.
Okay, so I think I did 7 Mary Kay parties during my trip...thats right...tax write off!...did I mention that our trip was 3700 miles? But more importantly, I was finally able to give facials to my family and friends (and a ton of my mom's friends) back home. This picture is of my sister-in-law Elizabeth, my Grandma Berrey, and my Aunt Dawn after our facial party...lookin good girls!!!
We spent the last week of our trip in Provo, Utah. We arrived at midnight and Emma woke up when we got her out of the car. And so of course Ben's mom, Becky, wanted to hold her. I can tell that Emma was still in a sleepy daze because we put the sunglasses on her and she actually kept them on! And check out the mohawk!...we gave her a bath right before leaving Poky.
Here are a few fun pictures of Emma I took in my parent's yard after church. Thanks for the outfit, Emily!

Here Emma is saying goodbye to Uncle Dave (my brother) and Aunt Elizabeth. They only got to stay a few days in Poky...for Dave's 10 year high school reunion.

Lets see...a few other highlights from Poky were BBQing on my parent's deck, seeing Sterling and Ellen so much, seeing old high school friends (Sam and Shauna!), just relaxing, playing the piano, helping my Grandma, and having lunch with my Aunt Dawn.

A few fun highlights from our Utah time were hanging out with Ben's Mom, sister Emily, JR, and Kayla Ray, hanging out with our friends Ryan and Erin (and Sadie) and going to Sadie's baby blessing, going to lunch with my mom and her sisters and my Grandma Eyring (and giving them Mary Kay facials, too), seeing my Little One, Lupita, and her hubby Jason so much.

Sometimes everyone just needs an escape from real-life...and our Escape literally took us far far away for a while. I certainly wouldn't consider Iowa confinement or anything, but we do consider it a "temporary" home.

An Empty Box = FUN!

2008-06-10T09:05:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Ben and I decided to declutter our condo yet again...this happens a lot! So we brought up an empty box from our garage. SOMEHOW Emma found the box and got in it before we could put anything clutter it. :)

Tagged

2008-06-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

Three tags.... I have to write down 3 of each: joys, fears, goals, current obsession/projects, and random facts.

3 joys: Emma, Ben, the scriptures

3 fears: not taking enough pictures of Emma, getting in another bad car wreck, and not getting the best deal possible on stuff

3 goals: get my first free car from Mary Kay this year, go back to school to get an MBA, be a size 4 forever

3 current obsession/projects: I love The Office, anything Stephenie Meyer, and all my Mary Kay stuff

3 random facts: My sister got me a signed copy of THE HOST. My husband has declared June the Month of Ben because it is his birthday month. Sometimes we just have sandwiches for dinner because I don't want to make anything...like today. :)

I tag... Rosie, Emily, JR

The Key(s) to get Emma crawling...

2008-05-27T16:19:00.000-07:00

The key to get Emma crawling is quite literally keys! Ben and I have been trying for weeks to motivate Emma to crawl...we tempted her with snacks and toys, even demonstrated how to crawl, etc. But the only thing that worked were my keys! Here is a short video of Emma's first attempts to crawl.

Memorial Day

2008-05-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

We were so excited to let Emma splash around in our friend's pool, but she did not like it! Nope...not at all! She would curl up in a little ball in our arms and would cry when she got splashed. She was so scared...poor thing. We tried putting her in the water a few times, but it didn't help. We hope she will learn to like it...she loves her baths and her dad is practically part fish...so really, she should like the pool (at least, eventually).

Recent Family Photos

2008-05-22T20:28:00.000-07:00

Emma was 9 months old when we took these photos. I didn't get to scan a few of them because they were too large 10x13 (which is my favorite one) or were already framed and I was too lazy to take down the frame from the wall and get it out. Sorry. Anyway, I hope ya'll like these McKee family photos. And I must mention that it was fun to get a pic of just me and Ben...that does not happen anymore.

Mommy, I love these sandals...

2008-05-18T19:33:00.000-07:00

I caught Emma playing with my shoes! She has already developed a shoe fettish!...thats my girl!

Dinner for Two

2008-05-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

Saturday Ben and I divided the evening's duties...I gave Emma a bath and got her to bed and Ben made dinner. And I was pleasantly surprised to see everything set up outside! I just had to take a picture! How sweet is my hubby?!!?! And dinner was scrumptous!...smothered steaks and bell peppers...and oj! :)

A Mary Kay Lesson

2008-05-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

Last night I attended my second Mary Kay weekly meeting. And it started with the usual...lots of clapping and songs, and reports and gifts and rewards and food. But the last hour was devoted to a lesson that I found very interesting and valuable. We learned the "DISC" personalities. We began by doing the worksheet ourselves. I was definitely an "S."-supportive, stable, sentimental, shy, etc. Second, I was "C"-calculating, concerned, careful, etc, third, I was "I" influencing, impressive, inspirational, etc, and fourth I was a "D"-dominant, driven, demanding, etc. What I found really interesting about "DISC" is the idea that you should try to become equal in all of the personality types. I agreed that everyone contains some of all of these personalities (depending on the circumstances), but in order to become a well-rounded person you should try to become equal in all of them. I think that is a cool goal. I would love to come a bit more of a "D" while still keeping some of the good "S" qualities. I am so glad that I was able to learn about "DISC" last night because it will definitely help me in my Mary Kay business...it will help me to read people and understand what they are thinking and why they are thinking it. This will help me to know how to present products and ideas to them in a way that will appeal to them. Wow...I am learning so much!...and I have only just started Mary Kay! Yay!

And by the way...I want to be driving a PINK Cadillac SRX in 5 years!!

Katie's Creations- April

2008-04-24T11:14:00.000-07:00

Here are a few things that I made last month. Its been pretty crazy around here with my Mary Kay stuff and Ben's 14 million exams (well not that many, but it felt like it). Anyway, so here they are...

Okay...so this is the last Christmas page I am going to do this year...I did three...thats kindof a lot. But I really like the snowflake stickers on this one...and I was excited to show off our gingerbread house. :)

I made this card for Rosie. I sent her some pics of our baby girls from my trip back west. It was fun to make a card with a kindof random theme...happy spring.

This card was obviously made for Miss Lily for her first birthday.

And I have a recipe in my head that I think would be good...but I am going make it first just to make sure it will be yummy...but it contains cheese, pepperoni, bread and some other stuff...basically it will be a funky version of pizza.

Swing, Slide...good times

2008-04-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

Monday was a beautiful day so Emma and I decided to meet Julie and Lily at a park. Emma and Lily really liked the swings and the slide, too. It was so nice to enjoy the sunshine!! And I actually and finally got to wear flip-flops!!...yes!! They are my shoes that aren't shoes...hopefully that makes sense. I wouldn't mind ending up somewhere that I could wear flip-flops all year round. :)

And it was fun to break out Emma's cute summer hat, sandals, and capris.

Love Triangle

2008-04-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

Miss Emma McKee is apparently in love with two different boys! A few weeks ago she first showed a preference for the dashing olive-skinned Connor Young. While at the Zoo she reached from her stroller to his to hold his hand. But this last Saturday night she was caught playing "footsies" with the stunning toe-head Rock England at her mother's birthday dinner party! But who is going to win fair Emma's heart? Will Connor reclaim her affection, or has Rock permenantly pushed Connor aside? We can only watch as this love triangle unfolds.

Don't you love good weeks!?!

2008-04-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

I have had a very good (almost perfect) week. Emma is the only PERFECT thing in my life! But anyway, I had a great week! And I love being busy! I don't like being too busy or overwhelmed, but being "just" busy is great. I feel that I get a lot more accomplished during my day when I have a structured schedule...and I just feel happier in general. Deciding to do Mary Kay has been a good decision for me. I get to be with my Emma, but have my own thing, too. I am feeling super blessed right now. And who doesn't love to be happy!?!?

This next week is going to be pretty crazy, too...especially for Ben! He has 4 exams and my birthday to plan for! :)

Usually I will put Emma on the floor right outside the bathroom while I do my makeup everyday. But this week she just didn't like the idea of being on the floor by herself while I got ready, and since I can't really hold her and get ready at the same time I put her in the bathroom sink. And she loved it!...she would laugh and smile at her reflection and of course play with my makeup bag! Good thing she doesn't move a whole lot. Needless to say this will not become a habit, but I thought it was pretty cute.

Katie's creations- March

2008-04-03T17:17:00.000-07:00

Here is the easter card I send to the McKee Grandparents...the pics a little fuzzy. The center of the middle flower is brown and so are the dark outlines. To me they look black in this pic.

And here is the McKee Christmas page for Emma's scrapbook. That was a fun page to do! The page is brighter in this photo than it actually is....it isn't blinding in real life. :)

I didn't have a recipe to share last month...but this month I do!

Beef fajitas improvisation- these are super easy and tasty!

ingredients-

1 lb ground beef
1/2 chopped onion
1 chopped bell pepper
1 can black beans
1 can enchilada sauce (I used medium red sauce)
1 cup cooked rice (I used brown minute rice)
tortillas
burrito fixins- cheese, ranch or sour cream, salsa

directions-

cook beef in large skillet and drain grease
add chopped onion and pepper to skillet and cook on medium-low for 10-15 minutes (until tender-crisp)
add and mix in black beans, rice, and enchilada sauce
reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes
serve burrito style with the fixins and enjoy!!

Mary Kay

2008-04-03T17:02:00.000-07:00

I became a Mary Kay independent consultant! Can you believe it?!!? I am actually way excited about it. I've been getting a bit bored lately mostly because Emma is just an angel so I have way too much free time...and I can only read books and scrapbook so much...and an opportunity presented itself, so I joined! My big premiere GNO (girls night out) is next Wednesday at 7 pm at my house...all ya'll bloggers are invited...you will be getting an email and/or call from me. But I DO NOT want you to feel pressure to buy anything. I'm not a pushy sales person. If you want something, great!...I'll order it for you, but don't worry if you don't want to or can't or whatever. But I would like you to come to my party!!! Anyway, I love Mary Kay products and the company seems great so far!

Wild West Adventrure

2008-03-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

Emma and I spent 2 weeks back west in Idaho and Utah this month. Oh how I miss those beautiful mountains already! I love the west...people would ask me how I like Iowa and I would usually respond..."well, I like Emma and Ben...and our friends...and our branch...and our condo...but thats about it." Sorry any Iowans who may read this. Anyway, Emma and I enjoyed being spoiled by my parents and Ben's family. On our trip Emma was reacquanted to Allison and Makayla, and she also met her Reber cousins...which includes cousin Zach who is only 2 weeks younger than her. Now Emma is a giant compared to little Allison, but Zach totally towers over Emma. He is one big, but very cute baby boy. He has the longest eye lashes!...my sister would say that he has "snuffleupagus eyelashes"...you know...from Sesame Street. It was fun getting pics of Emma with all of her cousins...and her Berrey grandparents.

Most of our trip was consumed with family stuff...eating, playing, eating, playing, sleeping...oh and driving (a lot of that was done on this trip). Sorry to those who I didn't get to see! Ben and I will be back in July...we hope to see you then! And I spent some time going through my old bedroom...clearing out old school work, finding fun forgotten photos, looking at yearbooks and old journal entries, and cleaning out old clothes and dance costumes...I have a lot of old stuff! I did have some good finds that I brought back to Iowa...a pair of barely worn docs, exercise pants, etc. Yay! But I will have to finish up my old bedroom project on the next visit.

After our first week away Ben said, "You can come back now." He had just finished taking his boards and didn't need to focus on studying for that anymore. But I had another busy week to go. Seeing my brother Lance was really nice, too. I find it interesting that me, Brenda, and Lance all got our teeth cleaned while we were there. It is convenient having a dad that is a dentist. :)

I'm also glad that all the "utah" McKees and I were able to hangout one night. It was a miracle we were all able to get together since they are all so busy. And a big thanks goes out to Rosie and Brian for letting me stay at their place.

And the day I came back to Iowa my parents, sister (and Zach) and I had lunch with the Eyring side of the family. My grandma Eyring and a few of my aunts joined us for lunch in SLC. I must admit that I enjoy seeing Emma be adored. And they gace her a super cute plush easter bunny.

All in all, the trip was awesome, but there was just one person missing...my Benjamin. I am glad to be back home with him. We missed him a lot.

Katie's Creations- March

2008-03-05T12:41:00.000-08:00

I have 2 cards and 2 scrapbook pages to share. I am currently working on the McChristmas scrapbook page. The first card is just a general thank you note. The second card was for my friend DeAndra for her birthday. She had recently had her son, Bradley, aka Rock, hence all the baby boy b stuff. The 1st page is from our Christmas adventure to the Oregon Berrey's. And the 2nd page is of Emma's 6 month pics which are posted below.

Emma + paper = entertaining

2008-03-05T12:20:00.000-08:00

Anytime Emma gets paper in her hands she either eats it or shakes it like crazy! Its quite entertaining! We haved watched them a ton and thought we should share the fun! I took this video on the 29th.

Emma is adorable in White

2008-02-29T08:30:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics from our last photo studio visit. Emma really is so beautiful in white! She was 6 months old in these pics...now she is over 7 months old. My baby is gettting older...but she is as cute as ever! Lately her word of choice has been "bababababa" We did hear a "maba" the other day...hmmm...getting closer. :)

"Berrey" McCHRISTMAS 2007

2008-02-24T15:09:00.000-08:00

We had an awesome Christmas break this year!

Emma was able to meet her 2 McKee cousins and

some of her Berrey cousins. We spent most of the trip at Becky and George's (Ben's parents) in Washington. We had so much fun...we went to the Woodland Park Zoo and the Pacific Science Center and we ate super good food and also enjoyed playing games and just relaxing. And Makayla made Emma laugh so hard...cackle, really. It was so cute. And Emma and Allison I'm sure will become the best of friends, too as they get older. Its neat having 2 baby girls in the family!

We spent a few days down in Eugene to visit my brother Mike's family and my parents. Emma was of course instantly hugged, kissed, and adored by all! And we loved playing with our nieces and nephews. Ben was the wrestling buddy and I was the "hey Katie, look what I can do" and the"Hey Katie, guess what..."person. I love Mike and Kiana's kids...and of course we love Mike and Kiana, too.

To sum it all up, we were spoiled this Christmas! We are so blessed to have such loving family members!

My Benjamin

2008-02-22T19:02:00.001-08:00

This blog is supposed to have stuff about Ben, too! Well, he just finished his 4th trimester at Palmer!...woo hoo! And he has been training to do a Triathlon this summer. He loves being a dad...and he is so good at it. I love seeing him smile at Emma...pure joy! This last fall Ben participated in the Chiro Games down in Florida...he swam...and of course he won all the breaststroke events!...and his team took 1st in the swimming competition. During Christmas break Ben was able to go skiing with his dad...he loved it! And it was nice spending time up in Washington...he hadn't been home in 2 years. Whenever Ben looks up the weather online he always checks the weather in San Antonio...just to show how much better it is there! He once said that if heck were to freeze over it would be called Iowa!

February Creations

2008-02-19T12:13:00.000-08:00

I have three things to share for the month of February. The first is Emma's blessing day scrapbook page. I love red, black, and white together...it makes it dramatic...plus, it makes Emma's beautiful white dress pop! The second is Ben's valentine's day card. I used the same paper as the scrapbook page and the same black sticker chipboard letters. I am a huge fan of chipboard letters...no cutting or coloring...and they look great!

The third creation is a Mexican Pasta recipe. Ben and I ate this pasta dish last night...mmmm. This is a modification of Becky's "Easy Mexicali Dinner."

Ingredients:

~1lb beef
1/2 cup diced onion
3 cups cooked pasta (i used bowtie)
1 small can tomato paste
1 can Rotel tomatoes with lime juice & cilantro
1 can corn
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 small can sliced olives
~1 cup chedder cheese (divided)

Directions:

In a large skillet brown hamburger with the onion. Pour off fat. Cook pasta while browning the meat.

Add cooked pasta and the remaining ingredients to the skillet, except just half the cheese. Mix together, then top with remaining cheese. Cover and let simmer for ~10 minutes.

Serve with ranch dressing or sour cream. We also had biscuits. Yum!

Katie's Creations

2008-02-19T12:08:00.000-08:00

So every month I am going to post pics of stuff I have made-scrapbook pages, cards, etc. and recipes I have come up with (or modified from another recipe). I want to do this to give ideas if someone is feeling a little stuck and because I love being creative. I love projects!

Emma's first cereal and first 2 teeth

2008-01-29T17:17:00.000-08:00

Emma's two bottom middle incisors came in! And her two top ones are slowly making their way down. She certainly loves chewing on stuff...everything from my hair to the mail to her toys...pretty much everything.

Recently she starting laughing more often. The other night she kept cracking up whenever our friend's pomeranian would bark. It was very sweet to hear her laugh. I love it!

She also enjoys eating rice cereal and veggies...the pic shows her first time eating rice cereal!...she wasnt a fan yet, hence the tongue sticking out. Although she is notorious for having her tongue out.

Scrapbook pages

2008-01-08T14:10:00.000-08:00

Here are a few scrapbook pages from Emma's scrapbook. It takes me a long time to do a page, because I come up with my own layouts...but I am getting faster...my latest one only took me only a few hours...after thinking about different ideas the whole day before...I know, I'm doing it the hard way.

Miss Emma

2007-11-27T11:51:00.000-08:00

Emma is our 4 month old daughter. She is our jewel! She is so sweet. And for her first Halloween she was a princess. She tolerated her costume, but you could tell she was a little uncomfortable. And halfway through the party she fell asleep in Grandma McKee's arms.

But doesn't Emma look so cute in her costume?!!? I think so.

The Iowa McKee Family

2007-11-27T09:56:00.000-08:00

Well, I finally gave in to the blogging extravaganza craze.