Easter 2008

We had such a wonderful Easter holiday. Shawn had spring break the whole week and it was marvelous. The Monday before Easter we went to the Baughs to dye easter eggs for FHE. This was Kinsleys first experience with easter eggs and we couldn't pull her away. She loved coloring on each of the eggs and ended up doing 24! We just couldn't get her to stop. The primary activity was the Saturday before and Kinsley was able to go on an easter-egg-hunt throughout the church building. We didn't do anything special Easter morning but instead waited until the afternoon, as we were having friends over. We also were graced with the pleasure (okay really the stress) of speaking in church that day. Shawns talk was on the atonement and mine on forgiveness. I think we did well. It's always nerve racking speaking in front of a new ward.

Shawn prepared and incredible turkey dinner and I did the fruit salad (tough job, I know LOL). Our friends brought over some candy filled plastic eggs and together with the hardboiled eggs we had quite the hunt. Kinsley and our friends son dashed around the house. Once Kinsley figured out that the plastic eggs had candy in them she wanted nothing to do with the harboiled eggs she had put so much effort into decorating. After the hunt was over we told the kids they could have a little candy after dinner. Kinsley however found some way to smuggle some chocolate. She would have been successful in her secretive indulgence had she remembered to wipe the chocolate off her face before joining the group again.

What a great Easter holiday!

To see more photos from Easter visit our web album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/thesorensenfam/Easter2008

My Projects

There aren't any big events to write about this week and I don't have any new pics that I've taken of the kiddos so I thought I'd write a little about what projects I've been working on.

As most of you know I've been trying to get a photography business up and running. I've got a blog set-up now but there aren't many pictures on it yet. I'll give all of you the link once its ready. I had a photo shoot last Saturday with two senior girls from my old ward. I asked them to come be models for me to help build my portfolio. I took them to Snohomish, a little historic town just 20 minutes away. We had so much fun! Here are a few pics, these aren't necessarily my favs but some random ones I picked out of the like 50 million I took, LOL. None of them have been edited yet. I just need to do a few color corrections. One day I'll get this whole camera exposure thing down! I'll post a lot more on my photo blog shortly.

I've also been trying to get little girls accessories business going. Its called Little Lilies. Here's is a sneak peak of some of the flower hair clips I've been making. They're my staple product but I'll also be selling headbands, and tutu's as well. I'm in the process of figuring out which company to use to process customer credit card payments. Once I get that squared away I'll be ready to launch my little online biz. I'm still selling Layers clothing too and have had a couple of parties recently. I have two more booked for this month and I can't wait! The new spring line is super cute. Oh I've been busy but I'm having a blast. Seriously I don't know where I find the time. I'm really being blessed!

Sunshine Kiki

Here's my beautiful daughter. I just thought I should write this post about how wonderful she is. Although some days are full of time-outs, tantrums (sometime from me, LOL), and other challenges she's my little sunshine--my KiKi Kristine. Her nickname is KiKi because that's how she first started pronouncing her name. It stuck and now I call her that often. She is full of so much life, such enormous personality. She's really into making up her own songs these days. She walks around the house with the kitchen whisk in hand and sings songs about her toys, Granty-Goo (the nickname she coined for Grant), her lunch, etc. She's really into her dolls and stuffed animals too. She's always putting them down for naps or feeding them. I just love her imagination. Her new favorite word is "natural". She say things like "mom I have natural hair." It's really fun listening to her vocabulary expand. She also begins many of her sentences with "perhaps". She says, "perhaps we can play in the back yard today", or "perhaps I can have a candy" followed by heavy batting of the eyelashes. Other than playing in her new backyard her favorite thing to do is read her stories. It seems like most of the day I'm reading her a story or she's flipping through the pages on her own. One of her favorite books is a composition of short poems called "Popcorn". I picked the book up at a yard sale thinking she'd be interested sometime in the middle of elementary. She found it one day and asked me to read it to her. I told her she probably wouldn't enjoy it, but she insisted. To my great surprise she loves it and its not even rhyming verse. Maybe she'll grow up to be an author someday, or at least have an appreciation for good literature. I'm so thrilled she enjoys books as much as I do and hope that she continues to have that love for years to come.

Speaking of stories she likes to tell stories too. Her story telling is actually what inspired me to write this post tonight. I had one of those I-love-being-a-mom moments in the car after she began telling a story to Grant. I forgot to turn on the radio, we usually listen to Veggie Tales so I think the silence prompted her to start. It was an exciting rendition of the "Three Little Pigs" accompanied by the loud roaring voice of the Big Bad Wolf and the tiny high pitched shriek's of the Three Pigs. The way she said "not by the hair of my chiny, chin, chin" sent Grant into bursts of laughter. After she saw the reaction she was getting she told the story over and over again making us laugh again and again.

She has also become a lovely dancer. Kinsley has made up her own little routine that she begs Shawn and me to do all the time. Really "beg" was a poor choice of words. You all know I love to dance so I usually just jump right in once she gets going. It's quite the sight, Grant really enjoys watching us jump around like a bunch of monkeys. Now that we have more space she likes to pretend our living room is a swimming pool and says "come on lets swim with Grant mom". And so there I am on the living room floor kicking my feet and moving my arms with my bright, energetic, and genuine daughter. It really doesn't get any better than this.

Our New Home!

Andrea here, Shawn actually wrote the last post--that's why it was super clever :) I'm back, promise! Sorry I've been gone for so long. I really have missed my blog and all of my super readers! Life has been nearing the brink of insanity since January. We got home from Utah and two days later Shawn, Kinsley and Grant all got the plague. Unfortunately for the kids it took a turn for the worse and we were in the docs office with ear infections and bronchiolitis. Lets just say I had my work cut out for me taking care of the family. While sick Grants waking up 4 times a night turned into six so I was running on two hours of sleep. Plus I started potty training Kinsley the day we got home having no idea that she was going to be sick two days later. We plowed through and she is fully potty trained, yippee! By that Friday I thought I was some sort of super human, with super immunity but alas I contracted the plague too and was stuck toughing it out while juggling the family responsibilities. Shawn helped out as much as he could but with work and school nagging him, it was virtually impossible for him to be home. Lucky for us we have fabulous friends who brought in dinners, helped with the kiddos once they were better, and assisted in priesthood blessings. Oh I love our friends, thanks guys. Now onto the story of the house..........

While we were horribly ill our realtor had scheduled an open house. We thought about cancelling it and had every reason in the world to, but felt like we should go through with it anyway. So we cleaned the place up with every last ounce of energy we had and headed out. The worst part about it was that we were confined to our car. It was on a Sunday so we could'nt go out shopping. And Waiting it out at a friends place was out of the question too, as we were all highly contagious. So fevered and chilled we all hopped in the car and drove around for three hours. We found some great places to take photographs and I actually had a photo shoot yesterday in one of the locations we spotted that day. When the coast was clear we returned home to find that several people had come to take a look at our place. It was the most successful open house since we put our place on the market back in June. One of the couples who viewed the home that day actually made an offer. We accepted, went house hunting (while sick), found the house of our dreams ( I found it Shawn was at school), and started packing. Three days before we were scheduled to close our buyers backed out! We don't really know what happened. Their story was kind of fishy and complex. All a great plot to get their earnest money back.! So needless to say I cried, and cried, and cried thinking that I had lost this house and that I was going to have to unpack. We spent one night in agony (okay so I realize I'm being dramatic) before our lender let us know that our financing would work without the sale of our condo. Good news??? Yes and no. We were obviously able to go through with the deal and close on this beautiful house but now we're stuck with our condo that just won't sell and two huge mortgage payments. We put it up for rent and have decided that we'll take whatever happens first: a buyer or a renter.

So here we are pinching pennies but loving, loving, loving our new house! As if Shawn wasn't busy enough he is now working Saturdays to get some overtime and I'm furiously working to get my photography business up and running to make some extra side cash. I'm also still selling Layers and I've started making hair bows too. I'll post the link for that website soon. Tough times, but we have faith. I really believe everything happens for a reason and I know I'll have a great story to tell years from now. Apparently I think it's great now since I've been rambling and rambling, ha ha!

Onto the brighter side of the story. Here are some pictures of my cute place. It's 2200 sq. ft., 4 Beds, and 3 Baths. These are the pictures from the house listing. I intend to take some better shots later once I have the place decorated. The pictures I've included are some of my favorite things about the house. The first: the house itself, the second: my beautiful kitchen, the third: my soaking tub, and the final: my huge walk-in closet. Ahh.... I just love it. Our fourth bedroom is also large enough for my future photo studio and is currently serving as a playroom/craftroom. We're in a cul-da-sac and the neighborhood playground is at the end of the road. The house is just two miles away from Boeing so Shawn it takes Shawn two minutes to get to work. Anyway I could go on forever and won't bore all of you with the details.

So that's it. That's the big, BIG recap on what's been going on with the Sorensens. Sorry it took me so long to post. Moving is really hectic! Love and miss you all!

Let the People be Heard

I have been waiting for my parents to write a blog post for over a month now. I have been good, taken naps, smiled for the camera and even attemped to walk, but no matter what I do it seems like they are just 'too busy.' That's okay, I will take matters into my own small hands (which let me tell you-with only a 2 inch span, typing is tough). I have taken control of this blog and changed the password. So take a look at these new pics of myself and leave a comment if you like the new 'management.'
I am my own man! You may think that I am needing my dad's help in this picture to walk, but actually, if you look closer you will notice the clump of mud and grass that I have in my mouth. I had tricked my dad into thinking he needed to help me walk while I chomped down on some of my new backyard. It is tasty, not to mention nutritious- Grandma Sorensen would be proud of my 'green meal.'
Sorry to steal your spotlight Granty-Goo, but make room for your big sis! I want everyone to know how much I love my new back yard. My backyard is full of great things to discover and explore. I have a retaining wall of large rocks that has ferns growing out of it. I have a whole bunch of grass that I can run on (notice I didn't say eat- I am much more sophisticated than my baby brother!).There are a bunch of great plants too. We have a cherry tree in the south-west corner of our lot, along with various flowering plants. I can't wait for springtime when they all start to bloom. I even have rose bushes, but you have to watch out for the 'ouchies' that grow on them.
Can your back yard to this? I have jumped up and down all over this back yard and I am sure that there are no neighbors below who can hear me jumping- quite an improvement from the condo.

We're still alive....barely

To answer many of your questions. I feel like I have fallen off the planet! Life has been nutso since we got home. I'll be doing a catch-up post in hopefully another two weeks or so. Once we got home we got the plague, really the whole house was super, super sick for two weeks and then we got an offer on our house and are preparing to move this week. Yikes I just can't keep up with it all. I promise there will be more to come soon.

Miss blogging!

Andrea :)

Christmas in Utah!

We had such a wonderful Christmas visiting our family and friends in Utah. There were just to many fun pictures to share so I decided to make a collage. Travis and Megan came to pick us up from the airport and we ended up there a lot longer then we had expected. For the third time Southwest Airlines lost Kinsley's carseat so we spent an extra hour trying to track it down. They gave us a loaner until they could find ours, what a mess! By that time we were totally starved so we headed over to Wingers. I was very pleased as this is one of my favorite restaurants. My food was great, and so was Shawn's and Travis's. I say Shawn and Travis because I was so hungry I ate my meal and whatever Shawn and Trav didn't eat--what a pig! After dinner we went downtown to temple square and saw the lights. Kinsley pointed almost everywhere shouting "twinkle lights".

The remainder of our time we spent visiting family and friends. The Sunday after I arrived I went to the "Girls Annual Christmas Party". My girlsfriends and I have gotten together every Christmas since high school. It has been so great to gather together to hear and share stories. I luv ya ladies!

I set a goal for the trip to practice my new found love of photography. I just can't seem to get enough. I had my first photo shoot with a family in Lehi. It was a very last minute thing and I said I'd do it without pay, but I got paid anyway :) It was a big family group shot. It turned out okay but I'm learning it's hard to get creative with really big groups. Anyway it was an experience. The rest of my photo shoots were just for fun. I'll be posting the images from those shortly. I would totally appreciate any feedback.

I also celebrated my 25th birthday while we were there. I can't believe I'm 25! I feel old and yet young, anyway.... On Saturday evening Shawn's family threw a party for me. Marie made my fav, strawberry shortcake! On Sunday we went over to my moms who had invited my brother and sister and their families without my knowing. It was a fun surprise to have everyone over. After my moms place I went over to my Dads who had also put together a little party. Lets just say I was feeling really special. It's the first time in my life I've had three B-day parties in one year, wow! Kinsley loved it too, she was all about the cake. When Marie started making the shortcake Kinsley was the first to declair her desire for some. I told her that as soon as we sang the birthday song to mommy she could have a piece. No sooner did I finish the sentence and she was singing Happy Birthday. On Sunday evening we attend the Lundell family reunion where it was annouced that it was my birthday. Everyone started singing Happy Birthday and as soon as the song was over Kinsley shouted "I want cake!" She doesn't miss a beat! The best part of all my birthday festivites was Shawn's surprise. He got us tickets to the Desert Star Playhouse. It's a dinner theatre in Murray and it was a blast. We saw "How the Ging-Grintch Saved Christmas". Of course it was a parody and truly hilarious. It was so nice to go out on a date without the kiddos and spend some quality time together. Kuddos to Shawn! I totally loved it! Speaking of kuddos for Shawn he got another big A+ when it came to Christmas. My awesome hubby surprised me with a beautiful necklace. It was really a special Christmas.

Kinsley and Grant really enjoyed the festivites too. Their favorite toy was a basket of mini fake food like bananas, apples, hot dogs, etc. The best part is that it only cost me $1.00. I love their age group during Christmas time. You can spend partically nothing and they'd never even know it. Honestly, they each got a few small things and it turned out to be exciting for them.

That's all I can seem to remember of our great trip home. Happy New Year!

to see more pics from our trip visit http://picasaweb.google.com/thesorensenfam/TripToUtahChristmas07

Happy Holidays

We got together with the Baughs, Swensens, and Watkins the night before we left for Utah to do some Christmas caroling. Shelly, being the scraper that she is, arranged darling little song books for each of us to hold. I should have taken a picture of them! We sang Away in a Manger, Silent Night, The First Noel and more. We also sang We Wish You a Merry Christmas with homemade chimes from the Baughs. I must admit I'm not so good at the chimes. I kept missing my note. It was really embarssing because honestly how hard is it to hit a pipe with a spoon, oh well! Those we visited seemed to really enjoy our caroling. It was fun to revive an old holiday tradition.

The Subject of Sleep

Since we're on the subject of sleep here is today's nap!

Zzz.......

Kinsley has been falling asleep in the craziest places lately. After I finished getting ready for church this afternoon I came into the kitchen as Shawn was feeding Grant some lunch. I noticed that Kinsley was not with him and asked where she was to which Shawn replied "I thought she was with you". I headed to the back of the house where I stumbled upon Kinsley fast asleep over her plastic chair--hilarious and weird I know! The next two pictures are of her asleep on top of Grants activity blanket and upside down in the rocking chair. A few days previous she had actually fallen asleep on top of a ball. Unfortunately she lost her balance and came crashing to the floor. We were both totally upset, Kinsley because she was startled awake and I because I missed the shot! Anyway I thought I'd share what pictures I have of her crazy sleeping antics. What a silly kid!

Outside!

Today was the first day the sun has come out in ages! It snowed almost four inches at our place Saturday. By Sunday afternoon the snow had turn to rain and didn't stop until today. Many cities experienced flash flooding and power outages. With all the terrible weather we haven't left the house. Kinsley has been stir-crazy in our tiny condo. So today she was thrilled when we took a little trip to the mailbox after Shawn got home from work. Of course I couldn't resist the photo opportunity and am really pleased with the results. The lighting was perfect! These photo's have not cropped or edited at all. What a great afternoon for picture taking! I just love my camera, but more than that I love the smiles and the moments it seems to freeze in time.

To see more pics from outside visit:
http://picasaweb.google.com/thesorensenfam/Outside

Sleep 101

The human body requires a certain amount of rest each day to function normally. The average human adult does not get enough sleep. To compensate for the lack of adequate rest, some people ingest foods and beverages that contain chemicals known to increase alertness. Others, such as the subject seen in the photo above, multi-task by sleeping while babysitting a toddler who plays 'blocks' on his person. The ingesting of chemicals or the multi-tasking both have side effects.
One of the side effects of multitask sleeping is having your spouse sign you up for a medical study where wires are attached to various locations on your person and then you are monitored for a 24 hour period while you try to sleep and nap. On the Uncomfortable While Sleeping (UWS) scale, a toddler playing blocks on top of you is only a 4 while wires glued all over your body and a night vision camera tracking you is a 9.
The nurse who attached all of the wires on the test subject was a large islander from Guam. The next morning the nurse commented that he had never heard so loud of snoring come from such a tiny person.
These pictures come from my second visit to the Center for Sleep Disorders Clinic, which was November 23-24, 2007. My first visit was October 18-19, 2007.