Merry Christmas

I have to say that I am thoroughly enjoying my Christmas Eve at home with my wonderful family. We slept in and then all stayed in bed until about 10:00 and then we did our Christmas grocery shopping along with the rest of Cedar City. Now Kevin and Kassidy are napping as I play on the computer. We made sugar cookies for FHE on Monday and Kassidy was definitely a big help! She made her own cookie that was more sprinkles than anything. More frosting ended up in her hair than on the cookie! But we had a good time and I can't wait for Christmas morning and seeing Kassidy's face when she gets her new kitchen set. Merry Christmas everyone!

HOLY SNOW!

Living in Utah you pretty much get used to the bizarre weather. Like the fact that I only had to turn my heater on a few times during the month of November, or that it sometimes snows in the summer. Well, Cedar City has sure received it's share of bizarre weather! It hasn't stopped snowing down here for about 2 days and it's starting to really add up. Here are some pictures of Kevin shoveling our driveway for the 2nd time in an 8 hour period. I couldn't believe how much of it was stacked up (and yes, he's on the phone while shoveling snow!). Kass loves the snow and keeps pointing out the window and telling me, "Ish Snow!"We've been having a grand old time since school let out last week. Santa came to the daycare (where I'm now working so I can be with Kassidy) and the kids got to go see him. Kassidy freaked out...not just crying or not wanting to sit on his lap, but she was clawing me trying to climb on my head to get away! It was sad but very entertaining! Her picture is me holding her while she screams. Our class picture turned out pretty cute though, despite some sad faces. Santa gave all the kids a book and even gave me and Miss Stacy a card and gift (thanks Beverly and Leaya!). I got movie tickets, so Kevin and I are going on a date sometime soon! We couldn't stop there with our fun filled day, so we let the kids decorate cookies. Kassidy sure enjoyed hers, as you can tell! Merry Christmas everyone!!

And Kevin too!

Now I can post that Kevin's done with school too! Wahoo! Life is good and we're excited for the future. Hopefully we start hearing from pharmacy schools soon. I'm so proud of my hubby and all his hard work. He's the hardest working best student I've ever met. I love you honey!

Officially done!

I just had to announce my proud news that I am now officially done with school! Forever if I want...yay! I just finished up my big final project and my teaching license will be on it's way soon, so I'm pretty pumped and proud to be done. That's all...

Grandma Russon and naptime

Lucky! I can never get Kassidy to hold still and fall asleep in my lap. She must just love her Grandma's more because they can always do this!

Giving Thanks--Thanksgiving!

We were so blessed to have such a wonderful Thanksgiving break with the Marchant clan. We had 5 out of the 7 Marchant families that were able to come to Beaver and spend 4 days together, and let me tell you, it was a house FULL! We had a wonderful time eating and playing and eating and not sleeping. Mama Marchant was so gracious and patient will all of us and we had a wonderful time! Kassidy was the only girl cousing there, surrounded by 6 of her boy cousins (the other girls are in the 2 families that couldn't make it). The kids had a blast messing up grandma's house and Grandpa Bruce loved taking the kids (and adults) for horse rides. The food was wonderful, although that part always seems to go by too quickly. We also had a great time on the traditional Christmas tree hunt, which if there was a prize, I totally would have won! I think I drove the whole family crazy because I couldn't find the perfect tree. After about an hour the rest of the fam went back by the cars and I hauled Kevin clear up the mountain side. We finally found it, the big one! She's a beaut! When the chainsaw started up, Scott said, "Well, either they found a tree or Kevin got sick of his wife!" So true, sorry babe! We also started what I hope will be a new tradition this year, where the girls all made ornaments and Christmas cards one night. Thanks for sharing your stuff Kristin! At the end of the week we were all exhausted from lack of sleep, but very sad to be leaving. I hope everyone else had just as great a Thanksgiving! Here's some pics: Kass and mom riding Doc.Kassidy and "Bumpa" Bruce riding Doc.
Kassidy, me, and Whiter-the-pooh Christmas tree hunting.
Yeah, the tree's a little too big for our tiny apartment, but we love it!
Grandma Marchant and Kassidy at Beaver's light parade. Yeah, it was 5 floats long!
Me and my love at the light parade. Thanks for ruining the pic Kevin Smith!

Prayers

So I've been the biggest slacker blogging lately...too much going on I guess. Kass and I are fighting our yucky colds and trying to make it through just one more week of school. I've been thinking a lot lately, trying to decide what to do with my life now that I'm finished with school. Do I job hunt? Do I substitute, stay home with Kassidy, work at the daycare??? Too many hard decisions and not enough information about our future to decide. It sucks not knowing what's coming next, but I guess that's what makes life exciting, eh? Pretty much I think I've worn out the Lord with all my pleas and begs for guidance (and health). I'm grateful he listens to me and doesn't tell me to stop whining. Only three days left of school and I'm hanging on for dear life, trying to stay motivated and not get too sad about leaving my favorite kids in the world. It's amazing how much those little buggers can affect you, I love them all so much! Here's a picture of my cute nephew at our wedding. THis was at the Salt Lake Temple in the mirro pond and is one of the coolest pictures ever! My photographer bro-in-law took it...he's amazing! This is pretty much how I feel this week, wet elbows and all!

The final countdown

I've got that great song in my head, "It's the final countdown! Da da dun dun, da duh dun dun dun...!" It's great, but that's how I feel with only 9 more days of student teaching left to go! Wahoo! It's been a great experience, but I'm really excited to be to the end of my formal schooling, for now anyway. I just finished my TWS (Teacher work sample), which is like the big project you have to do before graduating and finishing your clinical practice, and I'm feeling pretty elated. It's a good feeling to accomplish something big like that and feel proud of your work. Now I can focus on worrying about Kevin and getting into pharmacy school...

High School Tag

Thanks for the tag Lindsay! This one looks fun.

1. DID YOU DATE SOMEONE FROM YOUR SCHOOL? yes
2.WHAT KIND OF CAR DID YOU DRIVE? I didn't have my own car until college, so I shared the good old Windstar mini van with my mom, but we sure had some good times with the double sided doors and automatic closing buttons:)
3. DID YOU PASS YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE TEST YOUR FIRST TRY? yup
4. WHERE YOU A PARTY ANIMAL? no way!
5. WERE YOU CONSIDERED A FLIRT? You'd have to ask the boys that, but I don't think so.
6. WERE YOU IN BAND, ORCHESTRA, OR CHOIR? Acappella choir
7. WERE YOU A NERD? No, but I did well in school
8. WERE YOU ON ANY VARSITY TEAMS? Can you say "Athletically Challenged"?
9. DID YOU EVER GET SUSPENDED/EXPELLED? No
10. CAN YOU STILL SING THE FIGHT SONG? Um, I don't think I could even sing it in high school.
11. WHO WERE YOUR FAVORITE TEACHERS? Mrs. Dart and Carrie Christensen
12. WHERE DID YOU SIT FOR LUNCH? In the commons against the wall or in between the main doors.
13. WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL'S FULL NAME? Spanish Fork High School
14. WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL'S MASCOT AND COLORS? Go Don! That's like a fancy zorro guy, and our colors were red and gray and every year at the opening assembly our principal would say that if you cut him he'd bleed red and gray.
15. DID YOU GO TO HOMECOMING AND WITH WHO? Yes, Braden Jex. Awesome night! We had a blast!
16. IF YOU COULD GO BACK AND DO IT AGAIN WOULD YOU? No because I had a pretty great high school experience with no regrets. I'm afraid I'd screw something up if I went back, plus I love growing up and getting married and having my sweet baby! Looking back now I realize that life just keeps getting better and better.
17. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER MOST ABOUT GRADUATION? I was really nervous, I thought I would mess up my graduation speech or trip on my gown because I was the first one to walk and everyone was watching. And I was also afraid of telling the graduating class to move their tassle from the wrong side, lame huh?
18. WHERE DID YOU GO SENIOR SKIP DAY? Um, I pretty much just sluffed whenever I felt like it and used the excuse that I was doing 'council stuff' and Carrie would excuse it. I think I probably went somewhere with John, but I can't remember.
19. WERE YOU IN ANY CLUBS? Yeah, Fondu Freestylers, National Honors Society and some others that I never actually went to the meetings.
20. HAVE YOU GAINED SOME WEIGHT SINCE THEN? Um, hello...I've had a baby. You decide.
21. WHO WAS YOUR PROM DATE? John Frampton both years.
22. ARE YOU PLANNING ON GOING TO YOUR 10 YEAR REUNION? I think I might be burnt out from having to plan the 5 year reunion and I already call dibs on not having to do the 10 year. But maybe.
23. DID YOU HAVE A JOB IN HIGH SCHOOL? Shopko...I lived there.

I tag Jenny, Christy, Janna, Kristin, Whit and Mel.

Halloween!!

So our Halloween weekend was full of fun! Kassidy was a blast to dress up and take to the trunk-or-treat. She and her buddy Brynn were pretty intimidated by the bigger kids and Jenny and I practically drug them around, but it was a good experience. We made off with way more candy than I would have liked (because I know I'll end up eating much of it)! The rest of the weekend was nerve-racking as Kevin and I had to prepare our talks for Stake Conference. It actually went a lot better than I expected, although I really would have preferred not to cry at all. Kevin was amazing, of course, and I think mine was decent. It was a great experience and very humbling to speak with amazing people like our Stake Presidency and the St. George Temple President. Anywho, here's a couple pics of Kassidy and her cute witch buddy Brynn.

Stake Conference

So I just finished writing my talk for Stake Conference tomorrow. I'm feeling a bit of sickness is my belly just thinking about it! Pray for me that I can make it through the entire 10 minutes without puking or forgetting what I was saying! Oh yeah, and don't come listen.

Too long, tag #2

So post #1 was too long, so you can read this one later if you're sick of hearing about us.

1. I've never had a cavity in my life. And I still have two of my baby teeth. Weird huh? The adult teeth are up there, they just never had the guts to push the wee ones out. I guess it gives me something in common with my 1st graders!

2. I can fall asleep in the shower. I love to sit down in the tub and let the water run over me like a warm rain. Gross, don't picture it! But it's fun, I promise.

3. In the 4th grade I could out-type my computer teacher. I know for a fact that he wasn't just letting me win because we did a race with our blue buddies covering our hands (like a cloth so you can't peek at the keys), and I beat him by about 10 wpm. I was pretty pleased with myself, but what can you do with that?

4. Kevin got tagged too, so I'm writing one for him. Kevin hates breakfast, which wouldn't be weird, except for the fact that his mom cooked the Marchant clan hot breakfasts every day of the week and he would just look forward to Saturday when he could have cold cereal. Weird child! I had cereal every day and was sick of it!

5. I have a plethora of bizarre nicknames: Robine of the nine (dad), Old-Bird (weird guy in my old ward), Rob-dawg (HS friends), Robert (Kevin's nephews...hate this one by the way!), Robster Bobster, Bob (Cade Nielsen), Robby-Roo (mom), and Me-bird (myself at age 2). People have too much time on their hands. Robyn is easier to say than all of these!

6. I have two brother-in-laws closer to my age than my husband. Sometimes people think that I'm married to one of them because we are always hanging out with them. Awkward!

7. Kevin is going to be a pharmacist but refuses to take any form of medicine unless it is dire! He won't even take a tylenol for a headache, and he's had this nasty rash on his leg that he won't try anything on either. Figures! I guess that's a good quality in a pharmacist so I don't have to worry about him getting addicted or anything.

Thanks for the tag Kristin! This was fun and helped me procrastinate!

I tag Christy Clark, Steph Dudley, Nichole Hiatt, Jenny Morris, Megan Wyatt, Cecily (who's way too busy, I know), and Alyssa Smailes.

Hmmm, tagged twice

So I've been wondering why none of my friends love me and why no one will ever tag me at this stupid game, and I guess I got what I wanted. It's now 9:00pm and I should be doing homework but I got tagged twice and I know I won't be able to focus on school work until I post something. Janna tagged Kassidy, so here's 7 things Kevin and I love about her:

1. Kassidy will fall down on purpose just so she can come running to us and get a kiss better on her "OWeee!"

2. Bath time is always fun with nudey little cheeks sliding all over the tub. I'm convinced she'll fall and break her head open on the tub, but she always manages a smooth landing.

3. Kassidy has to brush her "teef" (said while pointing to her little razor teeth on the bottom) before she can go to bed each night. And she even wipes off her mouth so clean when she's done.

4. We love the kisses when she completely sucks her top lip in her mouth and protrudes the bottom lip so she has a bitter beer face. Classic! I need to get a pic of this one.

5. Kassidy knows her sign langauge very well and is sure to sign when she wants MORE of something or is ALL DONE. It's very convenient, except when she gets mad because I'm not looking while she's silently signing behind my back!

6. Baby girl calls Kevin Mommy when they're together and me Daddy, but gets our names right when we're all three together.

7. Kassidy has the most gorgeous eyes and she knows how to work them! Watch out boys. Of course, she also enjoys about poking them out when she's naming her body parts.

We love you Kass!

Farewell 1st grade!

So we had a pretty eventful weekend, but I'm too pooped to post the load of pictures we took, so I'll play catch up later this week. But I do have time to talk about my cute 1st graders! Wednesday was my last day with my 1st grade class and it was the best ending to my time with them. We got to go on a field trip to the pumpkin patch in Paragonah, and the kids had a blast! It was so fun to watch them run around and pick their pumpkins, they are just all so cute. While I didn't have any pants pooping like Kerri, we had a good time and it was a fun way to say goodbye. The kids were sweet and I got lots of hugs and goodbye pictures and letters from them. Now I'm on to 4th grade, starting tomorrow! I'm excited for a change and the kids are probably excited to have their teacher back now. Here are some cute pics I took at the pumpkin patch.

Wow, I love these kids!!

This is my sweet buddy Lainey. Isn't she cute?

Snow?!

Are you serious Mother Nature? Do you not think that we'll get enough snow in the actual winter this year? This IS Utah after all and it practically snows until July here, but you had to throw in that extra storm this weekend. Well, I guess I'll just have to deal. I really do love the snow, but not until I have resigned myself to the fact that winter is here, believe it or not. I used to love the winter more, but that was before I had a kid and realized that any sort of bad weather keeps you both cooped up in the house all day and it's not that fun for 12 hours! Luckily it snowed on a Saturday so I didn't have to go out to recess and watch 4 classes of 1st graders run around and get soaked and freeze my buns off, but Kass, Kevin and I did enjoy a pretty peaceful day in the house. Kassidy and I wore our matching white sweaters and we just enjoyed each other's company all day.

Oh yeah, and Kassidy ran around the house in her birthday suit playing karate kid. I thought it was pretty cute, as long as she only does it when she's a baby!

Frankly my dear, I don't give a dang!

This weekend my sister came with her high school drama group to compete in the Utah Shakespearean Festival. My mom accompanied her as a chaperone, so we were glad to see them both this weekend a few times. Part of the reason for coming down to compete is the opportunity to view some of the magnificent plays put on by the talented actors in the festival. My sisters group had extra tickets to their plays on Friday and Saturday, so I was lucky enough to get to go and see the plays with my mom and sis. We saw "Gaslight" on Friday and "Moonlight and Magnolias" on Saturday (Melanie, my sis-in-law, came with us to this one). I had such a good time and am grateful to have gone for free, since the tickets run about $35 for cheap seats. Gaslight was a murder mystery and very intense with acting that makes you feel the same emotions as the characters. Moonlight and Magnolias was a hoot from start to finish. However, the play was definitely NOT suitable for children. It wasn't the best pick for an auditorium filled with high school students. The play was filled with sexual inuendos and curse words from start to finish. Many of the inuendos were subtle, but nontheless inappropriate. I was proud of my sister and some of her friends who left during the intermission to wait in the hallway for the remainder of the play. That was probably the last thing I expected from a group of teenagers. Of course, my mom, Melanie and I stayed and enjoyed the smut!!

Farewell 2nd ward!

So Kass is picking up on the copy-cat stage of life that most little kids go through. It's amazing to watch her and see how much of what we do rubs off on her. I guess it's a little incentive to only do good things so she doesn't give our faults away by doing them in public! Today at church she did a couple of these copy cat acts. First, Kassidy took my chapstick and started writing on the chalkboard and talking like she was teaching a class. She picked this up from assisting Kevin in his study group he teaches twice a week at the University. Second, Kass has learned how to throw things in the garbage can, which is good when she throws away the right things. We always clap for her when she throws a piece of garbage away, so today at church Kev gives her a piece of Laffy Taffy (he hides treats in his suit and pulls them out to coax Kass to be his buddy, like she isn't already enamored with him) and tells her to throw the wrapper away. She does and then turns to us and starts clapping and yells, "Yay!" right in the middle of class. Everyone turned around and laughed. Kids, gotta love 'em! Today was also our last day in the 2nd ward since Kevin and I just got released and we no longer live in the ward boundaries. We both gave talks in sacrament today and were replaced in our callings, so we're free to go to our new ward. It's really quite sad and we'll miss all the wonderful people and Bishop Rees. See you around friends!

BaCk To SnOw CoLleGe

Last weekend we made a quick day trip to Ephraim to go say congratulations to Kevin's old Chemistry professor who was retiring. Kev's mom came with us and while we were there we watched the football game. I took some pictures of Kev and Kassidy that I thought were really cute. Kassidy has this glowing adoration for her father. She always wants to be around him, but then, who wouldn't? This sometimes makes me feel a little like chopped liver, but Kevin is a great dad and I'm grateful for his involvement in helping raise his daughter. Kevin is a very hands-on dad, never afraid to change a diaper or take Kassidy out and play with her just the two of them. I don't know how I was so lucky to find a man like him!

All is well

Hmmm...I really need to get a life so I have something wonderful to post about. As usual, Kevin and I are totally immersed in school and busy as all get out. Kassidy is a peach and has adapted well to the new schedule and unfamiliar adults watching her at daycare every day. We're truly blessed to be able to get our education and love it as much as it is possible to love something you dread doing every day:) I promise to take some pics and put them up soon...Kass is growing like a weed and cuter every day.

From the world of a first grader

So I've been thoroughly enjoying my experience in first grade these past two weeks. Hard to believe that a bunch of six year olds could make you laugh and want to scream in the same minute. But I'm really lucky to have such an amazing mentor teacher who works with me and helps me learn what I'm supposed to. I've been teaching a unit on self and community and we had a lesson on friends the other day. The kids make accordion style books and drew pictures of their friends in them. One of my cute little boys asked if he could put me and Mrs. Prisbrey in the book. This is the beautful illustration that followed:


Yes, it's true, I have a skullet! Isn't this hilarious? I loved it and needed to share it with you all. Besides that I just wanted to thank my Dad & Cathy for letting us come and visit this weekend. Thanks for entertaining us, we had a blast playing with you all!

Student Teaching

Just a quick report on my semester thus far...I'm supposed to be working on homework. For those of you who didn't know, I started my last semester of school Monday and I'm doing my student teaching at Fiddlers Elementary in Cedar City. My first placement is in 1st grade, and after 30 days I'll move up to 4th grade (yay!). It's gone pretty well so far, and I'm remembering why I love teaching so much. I have an amazing mentor teaching and she's all too willing to help me to become a better teacher. Tomorrow she'll be gone all day and she's hired a sub but told her that I'll be teaching the entire day. So cross your fingers that I don't mess those kids up in one day! There are definitely some down parts to teaching first graders, like I tie about 50 shoelaces a day, hand out 20 bandaids and yesterday a kid pooped his pants...for real! It's very rewarding too though when the day's over and I get to go home feeling like I've done something productive. Kassidy's adapting fairly well to Daycare but still crying occassionally. It'll take a bit of time to adjust, but I'm proud of my little boppy. Kevin's doin well at school too, working on a senior research project (testing steroids on fish), taking a full class load of upper division courses, and being a TA for two professors who absolutely adore him. We have high hopes for Pharmacy school this year. Thanks for thinking of us and know that we miss you all!

M-Dawg's wedding

This last weekend I had the opportunity to escape, to flee from Cedar City and motherhood and all responsibility and just have a wonderful girl's weekend. I am so thankful that Kevin stayed home with Kassidy and made this possible...you're wonderful honey! One of my best friends from HS got married, so I got to go up and hang with the old crowd and get in some sister/mother bonding time. Marie's wedding was beautiful and she was the prettiest bride I've ever seen! James is a lucky guy to be getting a gal like Marie. I rode up to Logan to the temple with Hawken and Eric and Janelle and we had a ball! The boys were a little worried that since I got married I wouldn't be any fun, but I think we laughed and talked the entire drive up and back. Alyssa met us up at the wedding breakfast, so if Jen had been there it would have been complete! We missed you Jenny-poo! After all the wedding hoopla, me and my mom and sis went to the movies and saw Mama Mia! If you haven't seen this movie, take a bunch of girls who you really like and be prepared to laugh for 2 hours! It was fabulous and I had a ball with my girls. The weekend was fabulous and I was a little reluctant to come home to "life" again, but my house wasn't burnt down and Kassidy was happy and well, so I feel like I wasn't too much of a delinquent. I took too many pics to post, so I'll put them in a slide show if you're interested.

My little Mozart

Kassidy loves to play the piano, and I'm amazed at how she already knows how to push all the buttons to change the songs and the voice of the piano. She's a regular little Mozart...I just wish we lived close enough for Grandma Shelly to teach her piano lessons in a few years!

Here's the little master at work. "Look Mom! I can even play backwards!"
Cheesy grin...Ta Da! I did it!
And...she's done. "That was exhausting!"

As a rule, man's a fool

Although I don't really have anything new or exciting to share today, I feel the urge to post today. I'm sitting here at two in the afternoon listening to my daughter scream in her bedroom. After she managed to put off her nap for 2 hours I snapped and decided she could just cry herself to sleep...I know, horrible mother, that's me. Babies just don't get it! They have it great: Someone else changes their poop, they get to eat about 6 times a day, not to mention 2 hour naps in the middle of the day. So why are they so determined to do what the big people are doing? I guess that just goes to show how our society runs; we always want what we don't have. My mom always quotes this poem which I know I'll slaughter:

As a rule, man's a fool.

Always wanting what is not,

Never wanting what he's got.

When it's cold he wants it hot,

When it's hot he wants it cold.

Never wanting what he's got,

Always wanting what is not.

Or something like that. By the way, it's hot today and I wish it were cold :)

My little cutie pie

Just wanted to say how much I love my little munchkin today! She's such a blessing in my life and I don't knopw what I'd do without her. She definitely keeps me busy, but then if she didn't my life would be pretty boring. I love you Kass!

Xander's birthday

Here's my second post for the day. I guess that's what happens when you try and play catch-up. Kassidy went to her friend Xander's 1st birthday party on Tuesday. It was so fun to see all the kids swim and play together. Kassidy kept trying to pull Xander's b-day hat off, I'm not sure why. Thanks for the invite Bree and happy birthday Xander!

Bear Lake & July 24th

So we finally had our first vacation of the summer...all the way to Beaver, Spanish Fork and Bear Lake. We were just excited to get out of Cedar City! Our 24th of July vacation started in Beaver where Kevin's sister and fam came to visit. Kass had a blast playing with her cousins and being around other kids. This is Kassidy and Lyndie in the tub (they're only 11 days apart, but Kassidy's got Lydie outweighed by about 6 pounds! ), aren't they cute?

Next we made our way up to good ole' SF, my hometown. Kevin and I got to the rodeo with my brother Kevin (two Kevins) on the 23rd while Gma and Gpa Hicken watched Kassidy. Apparently she cried the whole time, sorry!!! But the cowboys were great and the Mutton Busters were so cute! The next morning we had a good time at the Fiesta Days parade with the Hicken clan. Kassidy was very interested in the floats and sat so nicely in her chair.

Isn't this a cute picture?

Next we made our way to Garden City to play at Bear Lake for the weekend. We stayed at Grandma and Grandpa Bills' trailer (thanks!) and played at the beach Saturday. The weather was gorgeous and we all had a blast...even Karina, who for some reason didn't want to come and play with us (she's a teenager).

The fam at the Bear Lake pizza place. We waited almost 40 minutes for our pizza, but it sure was delish!

Kevin got a little sunburnt on all that white skin because he didn't listen to me and put on sunscreen. Told you so!

Loungin' in the lake with Mom

Over all we had a blast and a great vacation. Thanks Mom!