The Montana Skinners

A few words...

2010-02-20T17:24:00.003-07:00

One of the most wonderful things about marrying into this family is that I had a chance to know Grandpa Gilbert. From the first time I met him, and Grandma too, they both welcomed me into their lives unconditionally. I always looked forward to our trips to Utah just to see them. There was always an overwhelming feeling of love and peace in their home. Even though I only knew him for 5 years, I feel extremely lucky for that time. I know Kennedy feels the same way. She asked if she could take a stuffed animal to give to him to remember her by. I just wish that Rowan would've gotten a chance to know him. We love you Grandpa and will miss you.

Merry Christmas & Pee Potty

2009-12-24T18:03:00.004-07:00

We've been trying to get Rowan potty trained. We have bought 2 toddler toilets and a toilet seat for him yet he is as resistant as can be. When you ask him if he needs to potty he just screams "Rowan no like PeePotty". One day we took off his diaper and made him sit on his potty chair and then put Elmo next to him so he would see it's okay to sit. We even let him sit on it and play the V-Tech. One day he said to Lucas he needed to pee and Lucas got him on his toilet seat and he finally did! He got a treat and was so proud of himself after we kept cheering for him. Unfortunately it hasn't happened again. I still get "I no like PeePotty". We tempt him with treats and it's no use. We even bought him big boy panties for Christmas... no luck. Hopefully it will start catching on soon. We'll just have to wait and see...

Lucas had to head to Alaska on Sunday so we had a "faux" Christmas that morning with him. Kennedy tore threw her gifts but Rowan opened one and was fixated on it. He really didn't care that he had alot more to go. Here he is with his new trike... it took him a while to get on it without being scared. Now he zooms around the house on it every chance he gets.

Kennedy had a great time too. She got an iPod for Christmas and feels all grown up with it. Let's hope she can keep this one out of the washing machine.

Here are our little trees all ready for Christmas morning. That is all we got up this year because of my elbow surgery. It was fine though... kids will open presents anywhere.

Thanks to Little Grandma, Grandma Skinner and Grandma Rena for their Christmas donations. With their help and ours we were able to load up a Toys for Tots bin and donate $200 to each the Food Bank and the Womens and Childrens Center. I took Kennedy and one of her friends to help me with the donations. They were very thankful for the donations. The girls even had a chance to tour the shelter to see why it's important to give. They said that they were happy to help those in need at Christmas time. I'm thankful for those who helped us and hope we can do this every year.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving and what I am thankful for...

2009-11-26T17:36:00.003-07:00

First and foremost, I am thankful for my husband, Lucas. He spends 6 months of the year apart from the family to go work in dreadful conditions where is light all day or dark all day and survive freezing conditions, just so he can provide a good life for us. Secondly, I am grateful for my kids. There's not a day that goes by that they don't make me laugh and smile. I am thankful for my mother who is dutifully serving her country in less than great conditions. From what she tells us about her life in Iraq, I know I would break down in tears everyday, but she sees the bright side of everything and that is something I am jealous of. I am also grateful for all those times I was a bad kid and my mother restrained herself from beating me to death. I am grateful for my Mom and Grandfather( who recently passed) who taught me the value of hard work and doing a job well done. That is a gift that has helped me out so much in life. I am thankful for my brother and sister. We don't always get along great, but I know that we are always there for each other. I am especially thankful for my brother who suffered for years to care for my grandparents when my father did not step up. He is now suffering from wrath of Terry (my father) and doesn't deserve it. I wish I was there to support him and help him out. I am thankful for my nice home, when I know there are people who will be sleeping on the streets tonight. I am thankful that I didn't have to cook the big thanksgiving dinner. I let Kennedy decide what she wanted and chose a Stouffers Frozen Lasagna. All I had to do was stick it in the microwave and she told me this was her best thanksgiving. Selfishly, I am grateful for my computers and the knowledge that they have given me. Who would have ever thought that a 22 year old girl who one day picked up a computer manual would end up working for Microsoft. I am really blessed. I am thankful for the gym (I know it sounds weird) for keeping me healthy both physically and mentally. I am grateful for Lucas who puts in so much work in the summer on our 1/2 acre lot. You don't really know how big it is until you try and work on it. I am grateful for the entire Skinner and Gilbert families. Since day 1 they have always welcomed me into their homes and never once judged me... just loved me and Kennedy like we were on of them. I am grateful for all the Skinner girls. It's nice to have a big family to lean on. I am grateful that I can run, jump, talk, see, breathe and all the other gifts that God gave me. I am grateful for so much more that I just can't fit in... but most of all, I am grateful for all of you who read this today. Thanks for the love and support!

For Josie

2009-11-17T18:52:00.003-07:00

Hey Josie, here are the designs. If you guys don't like them then let me know and I'll work on some more. Thanks for asking me... I was getting bored. Just click on the picture to see them full sized.

Happy Halloween from the Pirates!

2009-11-04T17:27:00.004-07:00

Since Lucas will be gone for Thanksgiving and Christmas, we decided to go all out for Halloween. We all dressed up as Pirates. It was really fun!

Rowan actually left his hat on all night... we think it's because he thought he would only get candy if he had it on.

Kennedy and her friend Addee. She dressed up as a pirate too.

The whole family!

Dad and Rowan. What a couple of cuties!

Don't forget Kennedy. She looked pretty adorable herself.

Kennedy turns 8!

2009-11-04T17:09:00.004-07:00

Well, another year has come and gone and my little girl turned 8 on Halloween! How time flies... it seems like yesterday that she was just a baby. Now she's all grown up with earings and everything.

Here is a picture from her party. We made masks out of feathers and jewels. That was about as creative as I got for this party.

Kennedy blowing out her candles. Rowan got a few of them before she did so we had to re-light some for her.

As you can see... I went all out on the decorations... HaHa! It was a pirate themed party and we actually had a bunch of really cute pirate things.

Yes, this is her cake and yes, I made it all on my own. Let me tell you... fondant isn't as easy to put on as they make it look in the pictures. As I was trying to smooth it down over the sides it kept ripping so I made a thin layer to go around the sides again. That's why there is black icing around it... to cover up the seams. To top it all off, none of the girls liked the fondant and ripped it all off of their pieces. Oh well... she loved her cake anyways.

Happy Birthday my little buttercup!

More Random Times

2009-10-25T15:57:00.005-06:00

Kennedy got her ears pierced (early) for her 8th birthday. Now all she does is beg me to let her take them out to put dangly ones in. Only 3 more weeks to go.

Yes, this is Rowan eating turkey meat off of his toolbench. He flatened it out and then tried to eat it up.

We made a fire in our fire pit on Friday night and let the kids roast marshmallows for smores. They ate the marshmallows but couldn't be bothered with the chocolate or crackers.

RoRo on his Harley again.

We caught Rowan drinking some of Dad's drink off of the desk. He's so sneaky.

This is Kennedy right before she left for the bus on school picture day. We put a whole ton of curls in her hair and pulled the bangs up and it was really cute. I thought things were going to be great until she came home and told me she took out her bangs right after she left. RETAKES!

We finally put up our fall decorations. Rowans says its "scaries".

Little Grandma came up for an overnight visit last weekend and little Rowan fell asleep right next to her. How cute!

Well, she's not blind, but she's got bifocals. Kennedy got new glasses and unfortunately Rowan broke them today. Nothing in this house lasts long when he's around.

Rowan playing with his sisters boots. He loves shoes.

We bought Rowan a new snow coat for the winter and I had him try it on and he wouldn't take it off for over an hour. He just ran around in a coat and diaper.

This is what it looks like after he feeds himself. Note to self: don't let that happen again.

Rowans Temper Tantrums

2009-10-25T15:44:00.002-06:00

Rowan has started getting punished when he does naughty's and his actions are just hilarious.

Pouting on the time out seat.

Burying his head on the kitchen floor.

Burying his face into the desk.

Stuck in timeout.

It's just so sad that he has such evil parents to punish him like that!

Random Times

2009-10-10T12:15:00.006-06:00

We haven't blogged in a while so here are somerandom pictures of the kids.

I still love laundry baskets...

Really bad hair day!

I love playing dress-up!

I found my sisters glasses... don't I look cute!

Cartoon Time!

My first experience with corn on the cob. He really liked it.

Kennedy doing her puppet show. They are great!

Rowan loves sitting on his potty although he doesn't get that you are supposed to use it... hopefully someday soon!

It was only a matter of time...

2009-10-02T18:18:00.002-06:00

Rowan made a trip to the Pediatricians today because I discovered a bead up his nose. I tried getting it out with tweezers but that only pushed it in further. I just couldn't help but laugh because it seemed like such a boy thing to do... and it was a pretty big bead. Just wonder how long it had been there?

RoRo's 2nd Birthday!

2009-07-10T15:24:00.005-06:00

It's hard to believe, but my baby boy just turned 2! I still remember the day we brought him home from the hospital.... now he is a walking, talking trouble maker who is getting into anything he can reach. We had a fun little birthday with Grandma Rena, Grandpa Craig and Grammy Tammy. They brought up the 4-wheeler that Grandpa just won and here is Kennedy in the little helmet that they bought so she could ride it. She just loved it and has been begging for one every since.

Here is RoRo opening his presents. He got lots of toys and now our house is officially overrun with all of them. Legos, carpenter tools, a golf set, dump truck and lots more. Grandma Rena got him a bike from Germany made from wood that has no peddles so it is made to teach little kids how to balance so they can move on to a real bike easier.

Kennedy loved the toys too!

Our little Tiger Woods... not!

We threw him a SpongeBob SquarePants party and got him a cake for the occasion. Here he is covered in it.

The cake...

I don't think he had a clue of what was going on but he had a great time anyways. Now I guess I have to call him my "Big Boy".

Some random moments...

2009-07-10T15:08:00.005-06:00

Grandma Rena came up to visit for Rowans birthday which was really nice up until this point. I took Lucas to the airport on Sunday night and while we were gone Grandma decided to give Rowan some raviolis to eat on his own.... which is something we don't really do. Well, here's what happened...

As you can see... he loved it. She said she bathed him after that but had to clean out the bathtub because it was covered in spaghetti sauce. She should have known better...

Here is Kennedy and our dog CoCo. She just loves him to death.

Grandma brought back some goodies from her trip to Mexico. This was one of them. Too cute not to capture on film.

A rare moment where the kids actually like each other. As RoRo gets older he starts getting a bit more violent and Kennedy hates it because she is unsually the center of his attacks. But here they just hung out on the couch and watched some TV.

The picture after this shows Rowan as he fell asleep on the couch watching TV. Kennedy wanted a picture too so here she is faking a nap.

Kennedy pretending to be Harry Potter riding her broom.

Rowans latest obsession is with shoes now. Especially with shoes that aren't his own. Here he is in my high heels. He walked around in them all day. We keep a basket by our back door with our everyday shoes in it and right now it is full of flip flops. He usually grabs those and walks around in them too. It's cute to see him in Lucas's shoes. I don't know how he manages to do it.

There it is... a moment in our life.

Our trip to the Black Hills

2009-07-09T18:27:00.002-06:00

We went on a mini vacation out to the Black Hills a few weeks ago. It worked out nice because we had a few free nights at a hotel in Deadwood. We decided to do all the "tourist" things like ride the 1880 train and go to the Petting Zoo and Bear Country. As you can see here, we all enjoyed the train ride except for little RoRo. It was nap time and we managed to get him to fall asleep on part of the ride.

Here is Kennedy holding a baby chick. That was her favorite part of the Petting Zoo... even more than the pony rides.

The Petting Zoo had a little train ride (well it was a few barrels turned into cars pulled by a lawnmower) and the kids loved that too!

Here is Kennedy with the cows.

Here is Rowan on the slide at the playground. That was his favorite part of the Petting Zoo. Bit of a waste I think.

Here she is on one of her pony rides. It was pretty uneventful since they just walk around in a circle for a few minutes, but she seemed to like it.

They got to go play with sheeps and goats in their pen. Rowan was a bit afraid but warmed up to them after a while.

Kennedy loved it in the pen. She just ran up and petted everything in site.

In Deadwood they got to watch the gunfights and ride the trolley which they liked too. Then on the last day we went to the big waterpark in Rapid City. I think it was a bit overrated but we still had alot of fun. All in all it was a nice little vacation that we desperately needed since the minute we got home all we did was yardwork.... but at least we have all of our rock laid now. I'll have to post a picture of that because I think we hold the award for the most rock in a yard.

Happy 2nd Birthday Rowan!

2009-06-29T13:09:00.004-06:00

Hard to believe that my little guy just turned 2. I can still remember when he was a little baby and we brought him home from the hospital. Now he runs and jumps and repeats every little thing we say... he has quite the vocabulary. We are so blessed to have him in our life and enjoy every minute with him. Even though he doesn't realize it, we hope he has a great birthday.

Lucas and Steph have a new number...

2009-06-29T13:06:00.003-06:00

We signed up for a program called magicJack which offers internet phone service for only $19.95 a year! It's pretty good sounding and you can't beat that deal. Our home phone number is now 406-225-5271 if you can't reach us on our mobile phones.

Lucas and Steph

I just can't get him out of those laundry baskets!

2009-06-04T15:53:00.003-06:00

The little rascal keeps taking my laundry baskets and just sits in them. It's his new favorite thing to do.

The kids are learning to eat...

2009-06-04T15:40:00.002-06:00

So now that it's only 25 days until he turns 2, I figured I better start letting him learn to feed himself. You can see here that he had a rough time with his applesauce but did better with his Pasta Pick-ups. What a mess this whole process is!

Kennedy wanted in on the action too so she decided to show me how she can eat like a dog. As you can imagine, I am just so proud of her.

My Mom and Josie should be proud...

2009-06-04T15:34:00.003-06:00

I planted some tomatoes this year and they actually started to grow. I'm pretty shocked myself and excited to have fresh tomatoes soon...

We finally planted...

2009-05-25T14:43:00.004-06:00

It took us a while but we finally planted in the front yard. We found some cute lilac trees and gardenia plants for the area.

When we bought the trees Kennedy insisted that we name them after ourselves, so there is a Kennedy Tree, a Rowan Tree and the Mom and Dad tree. Here she is with her tree.

Sorry Mom...

2009-05-02T10:39:00.003-06:00

Sorry Mom... Rowan got a haircut and I'm sure you're not too happy about this one. Don't worry though... it will grow back!

Kennedy's Spring Music Recital

2009-04-22T11:03:00.004-06:00

Kennedy had a Spring Music Recital this morning and it was all about the Tortoise and the Hare. Here is the video of her performance on one of the songs. They were singing a lullaby to the Hare who was taking his nap during the race which caused him to lose. She just looks so adorable. The person you can hear in the background is her music teacher helping them out so I'm sorry that it drowns her out.

Kennedy and Rowan

2009-04-20T08:40:00.005-06:00

Here is a video I took of the kids on the "Twist Roller" yesterday while it was warm.

Then I was going through the videos that were recorded on my camcorder I found this cute little message from Kennedy...

She really tells it like it is!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-16T12:34:00.007-06:00

Since Lucas was in Alaska and we didn't want to spend the holiday alone, we decided to drive to Grandma Rena's house and spend it with her. The kids had a great time hunting for eggs and going to church. Here is Kennedy in her new dress that Grandma made for her.

She also bought them each a "Twist Roller". It's this toy that moves around when you spin the front wheels. Rowan just pushed it around with his feet but Kennedy mastered it and rode it around constantly.

After church we hid some easter eggs and let the kids go hunt for them. Rowan really didn't get the concept so we helped him out a bit but Kennedy ended up with most of the eggs. He did however love all of the candy in the eggs. He couldn't eat enough jelly beans.

Sorry to everyone we didn't get to visit. The other thing we got when we went to Utah was colds. We are all sick right now and we really didn't feel like doing much of anything on Monday when we planned on visiting everyone. We'll make sure we get to you all next time.

The Past Two Weeks

2009-04-04T20:14:00.005-06:00

Lucas worked a 4 week hitch and his plane got delayed one day due to the volcano in Alaska so we've only had him home for a week and a half. As you can imagine, we have spent all our time with him and I haven't had a chance to blog, but I'm taking a minute now. A few days before he got home we had a bit of a heat wave... it hit the high 60's one afternoon so we took advantage of the nice weather and played outside washing the car and running through the sprinklers.

The other big thing that happened is that Kennedy started soccer. She has had two practices so far (in the freezing cold weather I might meantion) and she is doing great for not having much experience at all... except for the lessons that Jewls and Josie gave her. I'm a bit worried because they say that the kids are expected to play rain or shine... or even snow. I plan on going to support her but after the freezing cold practices I don't know if I can handle a freezing cold game with Rowan. Her first game was last night and she did great. She caught three goals when she was the goalie and has a pretty good kick. Here she is all dressed up for the game.

One other thing that I think is so cute... Kennedy got some IKEA childrens dishes and pots and pans from my Mom for Christmas last year. We keep them in one of the bottom drawers in the kitchen so Rowan can play with them which he loves to do. His new thing is to eat out of them. He will go to the drawer and pick out a plate or bowl and eat his meal out of it. This night he picked a tart pan to eat his pizza out of. He was just so cute doing it.

A new addition to our family... an NO... I'm not pregnant!

2009-03-03T17:44:00.004-07:00

Yesterday we got a dog! Lucas promised me on if he lived outside but that's okay. He's a pomeranian mix and we named him CoCo. He is an older dog and very mellow and just makes the perfect addition to our house. He's very good with both the kids unless RoRo start to yank on him. Now I'm just hoping that when Lucas get's home he'll love him just as much as we do!

She tries so hard

2009-03-03T17:39:00.003-07:00

Kennedy went to a birthday party sleepover on Saturday night and insisted on making the card herself. Here is the picture of it. I know she tried really hard and did a pretty good job I think for a first try.

What NOT to do

2009-03-03T17:31:00.003-07:00

I was completely tired from my night out with the girls and the next morning I woke up to put RoRo in the tub. As you can see, I left his diaper on him by accident. I'm not kidding.... when I pulled that thing out it must have weighed 10 lbs. Guess they can hold alot of pee! He had a bit of a Beyonce butt after that!

Houston and a few other little things

2009-02-22T10:22:00.004-07:00

For Valentines Day and our Birthdays as well, we decided to take a trip down to Galveston, TX. It worked out because Lucas was in Houston to do some Schlumberger training and I headed down on the weekend to meet him and we headed to the beach. It was rainy and muggy but it stopped raining long enough for us to take a walk on the beach. We saw dead jelly fish that had washed up on shore and collected seashells for the kids. Lucas even convinced me to visit an Off Shore Drilling Rig museum so I could see what he did. It was actually pretty interesting and I learned alot about what he does. Then we headed back to Houston the day before we left and went to a large mall called the Galleria. It had all the best stores... Gucci, Chanel, Tiffany's, Versace, and Fendi. I was in heaven until I learned that we couldn't afford anything in any of them. Oh well... window shopping was just as fun.

Lucas and Schlumberger.

Out on the rig.

He looks a little bummed cause he's in a Halliburton hat.

One of the rigs out on the ocean.

Me and Gucci.

Me and Chanel.

Me and Fendi... with my Fendi!

It snowed a few days after we got home and RoRo decided to help Dad shovel the snow. He loved it until he realized how cold the snow was on his hands.

This is a picture of Kennedy giving us her best pose. Her Art teacher in school is a black man named Mr. Beal. He is a really nice young guy and one of Kennedy's favorite teachers. What was funny is that he taught Kennedy this move and I caught it on film. She thinks she's cool! The other exciting news with her is that she finally learned to tie her shoes. We kinda forgot to teach her that one but a friend of hers at school did one day and now she wants shoes that tie so she can do it all the time. We're very proud of her.

The only other exciting thing in our household is that I turned 33 today. I'm actually quite excited about it because I am at a point in my life where I have so many things to be grateful for... like my loving husband and my two wonderful little kids. We are so blessed and I am so happy to have great family (and extended family) and that I get to spend most of the day with my husband before he leaves for Alaska again. That's all! Loves and kisses from the Skinners in Montana!

Rowan got butchered...

2009-02-06T10:02:00.002-07:00

Rowans hair was getting pretty long and I decided that it was just a bit too much to take him in for a haircut every month that was going to cost $15.... so I thought I would take it upon myself to start giving him haircuts. My stylist told me to buy some clippers and tried to show me how to trim it up. She told me to use the 1 inch guard so it wouldn't be too short. Well, I gave it a shot yesterday and this is what we ended up with. It's pretty darn short and there are a few spots where it got really short but there was nothing I could do about it. I guess it was okay for a first try and hopefully it will get better the more I do it... for now, he's butchered!

Before:

After:

Rowans Harley

2009-02-05T09:32:00.004-07:00

It was a nice suuny day here yesterday so we took Rowan out to ride his "Hog". Now that he's got the hang of it, he loves it!

And it only took 2 years!

2009-01-29T15:48:00.002-07:00

Here are the pictures from Rowans (finally) decorated room. It only took me 2 years to get on the ball and paint, hang curtains (Thanks Lucas) and put up some pictures. It is a Classic Pooh theme and even though I don't consider myself to be much of a decorator, I think I did pretty good on this one. Now maybe if we can fit in some time next time Lucas is home, I will get Kennedy's done too.

Rowans Turn!

2009-01-25T15:19:00.007-07:00

I loved reading about my cousin Max so much that I decided to write my own entry (with a little help from my Mom).

First of all, my favorite thing in the world is brushes. I just can't get enough of them. When my Mom is not looking, I sneak into her bathroom and pull all of hers out and just play. I'm even getting good enough to start brushing my own hair but it's not quite as good as Mommy does it.

My second favorite thing is taking a bath. The minute Mommy says "tubbie" I start running for the stairs up to the bathroom. I'll sit in there til the water is freezing cold but I don't mind... I just keep splishing and splashing.

Then there's my blankies. I have three of them and you'll always find me dragging one around behind me. I also love it in the morning when I wake up and Mom wraps me up in one of them and let's me cuddle on her lap while I drink my bottle. I think she kinda likes it too!

I love laundry day too! Mom makes a big pile of the dirty clothes and I play and jump on the pile of clothes until she has it all sorted out. Then I start crawling in and out of the full laundry baskets.

I love my Mom's computer too! I am always pushing all the buttons on it opening the cd-rom drives and occasionally hitting the power button and shutting it off. Mommy gets mad at me when I do that but I still do it anyways. I just don't understand the word "no!".

Here is me and my big sister playing. I really like her alot. She always makes me laugh and plays fun games with me. In the afternoon I stand by the front window and watch for the bus to bring her home. I can't wait for her to be back from school.

This is a new favorite "toy". Mom bought a stool for the kitchen and I think it works better as a hat.

See?!?!

This is when Daddy dressed me up to go play out in the snow, but you'll see I have my keys with me. I used to always take Mommy and Daddy's until they got smart enough to make me my own set to play with. I never go anywhere without them.

Oh... this is a bad hair day. I generally wake up with some sort of "fancy" new 'do in the morning. It always makes my parents laugh.

Daddy let's me play with his hats, but I don't do it very much. Mom caught me here with it on one day.

This is my new Harley. It was actually my big sisters but she's a little too big for it now so I get to have it. I like pushing the buttons that make the motorcycle noises better than driving it but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon.

Here's some videos of me and my new motorcycle. Mommy got a new little camcorder so she'll have lots of new videos of me soon.

I'm not perfect all the time though. Mommy keeps calling me a "naughty boy" cause I can get into so much mischief. I figured out how to open the cabinets that Mommy put locks on so I am always getting into those. Then I figured out I could pull the chairs from the table into the kitchen and start getting into the drawers. I love banging the silverware together. Oh, and the best one yet... I can get the battery cover off of the remote control and take all the batteries out. That one drives Mom crazy. She's seems to always be chasing me around making sure I'm not doing something that I shouldn't do. Maybe I should give her a break... nah! I like it too much.

I've also started talking a little bit. I can say "Mom", "Dada", "shoes", "socks", and "outside". The other day I also learned how to say "hot" when my noodles were a bit too warm for me to eat. Now I say it anytime Mom tries to feed me, no matter what it is. Speaking of which, I love food too! I've got 16 teeth now so I can eat about anything, and I do. I love noodles, all sorts of fruits and vegetables, and my crackers.

Well, I better get going... there's something laying around this house just waiting for me to get into it...

Love, RoRo

Update on the Girl Scout Cookies

2009-01-22T09:21:00.002-07:00

We will be turning in the cookie order form on February 6. They will start delivering the cookies to us on approx. February 25. If you have any orders please get them to us by then.

Thanks!

It's Girl Scout Cookie Time!

2009-01-10T14:11:00.003-07:00

Hi Everyone! If you didn't know, Kennedy is a Girl Scout Daisy this year and that means she gets to sell cookies. If you want to order any, here is a list of what they have to offer this year:

Lemon Chalet Cremes: A delicious vanilla sandwich with a zesty lemon creme filling. 20 per pkg. (My favorite)

Trefoils: Delicate shortbread that is simple and satisfying. 36 per pkg.

Do.Si.Dos: Crisp and crunchy oatmeal cookies with a creamy peanut butter filling. 20 per pkg.

Samoas: Tender vanilla cookies, covered with caramel, rolled in toated coconut, and striped with a rich chocolate coating. 15 per pkg.

Dulce de Leche: Sweet, indulgent cookies are rich with milk caramel chocolate chips and stripes. 15 per pkg.

Sugar Free Chocolate Chips: A classic favorite with real chocolate chips-now Sugar Free. 15 per pkg.

Tagalongs: Tasty cookies topped with creamy peanut butter and covered with a lucious chocolaty coating. 15 per pkg.

Thin Mints: A thin wafer with a smooth chocolaty coating. Made with natural pepermint. 28 per pkg.

The cookies are $3.50 a box but you all know they are worth it. Who doesn't love a girl scout cookie?! Send me off an email and let me know if you would like to help out Kennedy and order some. Our troop has decided to donate the money they earn by doing this to help out the Lockwood Schools. I will mail them to you when they arrive unless you live in Gillette, then I will just bring them down on a visit.

Thanks everyone! We love you all!
Lucas, Steph, Kennedy and Baby RoRo

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2009-01-02T11:43:00.005-07:00

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone... a bit late. We actually hit the road Christmas afternoon for Gillette and then off to Kansas so I haven't had a chance to blog until today. Christmas was wonderful at our house. Santa brought the kids so many wonderful toys, and unfortunately, some very loud toys as well. If those ones happen to break I won't feel too bad. We also had Grandma Rena here with us which was nice.

Looks like she had a little too much eggnog... if you know what I mean!

Looks like Rowan got into it too...!

Here's Kennedy and her new FurReal cat. Since we don't have any pets, this is the closest she'll get. It's actually pretty cool because it meows, purrs, and moves around just like a real pet.

We headed down to Gillette to spend a day with Ang and Miles and Mom and Dad which was nice before we had to leave for Kansas. Thanks everyone for all the gifts!

This here is the neighbors dog, Trouble. The kids fell in love with him and got to feed him all the leftover food that Grandpa collected from the restraunts we ate at. That dog eats better than most humans when Grandpa's around.

Rowan loved all the toys that Grandma had to play with.... even though he doesn't look like it.

His favorite part was sitting in the box.

Dad and RoRo had some bonding time too. That trip took alot out of us and the kids.

Last time we went to Kansas which was three years ago, Kennedy rode around on the tricycle and it was just her size. She barely fit on it this time. Her knees kept banging into the handle bars and we figured it was time to retire that toy.

For Funsies: There is a town in Kansas called Lucas so we just had to stop and capture the site on film. Lucas thinks he's pretty funny!

When all is said and done we had a pretty good time on the trip, except for the long drive. The kids had enough of the car and so had I. I am so glad to be home!

Thanks so much to everyone for all we received. It was a great Christmas and we hope you all had the same!

Waiting for Santa

2008-12-23T18:46:00.002-07:00

So we were really lucky to have my mom come up last weekend and stay with us for Christmas since I was starting to get really lonely. She decided to keep it a secret from Kennedy and boy was she surprised when Grandma knocked on the door. It's been nice having her here and I'm sure she loves spending time with her grandkids. She's even been nice enough to help make Christmas goodies that we will bring down to share with those of you in Gillette. For the rest of you, sorry... they're all pretty good. Right now we just heard from Lucas and he is on schedule to be home for Christmas Eve tomorrow. Let's all pray that there are no hold ups in the Seattle airport that would prevent him from getting home. It would be really sad to spend the day without him. We'll update again once we open presents on Christmas morning to let you see how our day goes.

Love you all!

Kennedy and Grandma making German Sugar Cookies.

Kennedy and Rowan helping Grandma.

Kennedy all dressed up for church.

She loves dresses. She would wear them everyday if I let her...

This is Kennedy getting all dressed up and ready to play in the snow. It takes her 20 mins to get it all on and only 5 to go outside and realize it's too cold to be out there. We've been spending alot more time in sub zero temperatures than not. I don't envy our heating bill this month.

I know it's been a while...

2008-11-19T10:29:00.010-07:00

So I can't really remember the last time I posted up here and I don't really have a very good excuse other than I was abducted by aliens and because none of you will believe that you'll just have to get mad and get over it. Here's 5 mins for you to do so......................................................

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are you done? Good! Now I can move on. The past 5 months have been a blur but I'll try and catch you up on some of the fun things that have been going on.

1. We took a vacation to Yellowstone.

This is us at at stop on the Beartooth Highway from Red Lodge to Yellowstone. It was the most beautiful (and scary) drives I've ever been on and I recommend that you try it if you ever have the chance.

This is us at a really cool waterfall that we found on the way into Yellowstone.

Self-explanatory....

We just couldn't resist getting these photos... whoever left them was a huge animal... or Lucas.

Dad and the kids in front of Yellowstone Lake.

We saw this on the side of the road on the way from Cody into Yellowstone. It was just sitting up on the top of a hillside. I thought it looked so interesting so I grabbed a photo. If you know what this is, please let me know.

This is Kennedy in the hotel catching up on her current events.

We had a good time there even though we didn't get to see it all. We thought we could fit everything in in 2 days but you really need 3 or 4. We bought an annual pass so I guess we'll go back and do it again when it gets nice.

2. Kennedy started 1st grade.

This is her with her new haircut. She wanted it to look like "Trixie" from Speed Racer and I'd say it's pretty close. She loves it short and so do I because now she can do it every morning. My little girl is growing up just too fast.

3. Grandma came home.

Grandma Rena finally got to come home from Germany. She came up to see us as soon as she did. Boy did the kids miss her. Let's just hope this is the last time she has to leave us.

4. Kennedy had her 7th birthday... and Halloween.

Little Miss Kennedy was none other that Hannah Montana for Halloween. Here she is with her best friend Addee who was the same thing. They just looked too cute for words.

And here is Rowan... Yoda of course. He hated the ears we put on his head but I managed to get a picture before he figured out how to rip them off.

Here she is showing off her skills from one of her birthday presents.... her Easy Bake oven. It doesn't even seem to phase her that it takes us 30 minutes to make a cake the size of a cookie. She even made Dad one while he was home.

These are some photos we took one fall afternoon her in Billings. I wanted to try out my new camera so we went down by the river and took some pictures. I don't think the kids enjoyed it as much as me since it was really cold.

This afternoon Lucas and I took the kids to feed the ducks down at the duck pond. You're not actually supposed to feed them but everyone does so we do too. There were so many and they stuck around even with Rowan chasing them everywhere.

Rowan loves his John Deere boots. Thanks Grammy Tammy. He'll even wear them with his PJs.

We always wonder what it's like on Rowan to have Lucas be gone for three weeks at a time but everytime we pick him up at the airport Rowan still remembers him and it's back to business as usual in no time... like here. He loves his Daddy.

There are two things that Rowan absolutely loves around the house. Laundry and dishwashers. Whenever I do laundry I dump it all out in a large load in the living room and he immediately runs and jumps into it. Then he takes turns getting in and out of all the baskets as they are getting filled. It makes my job a little tougher but it always makes me laugh.

This is him hanging out in Ang's dishwasher. You have to be careful because anytime you open it up he immediately is going for anything and everything he can grab. He'll even stop and have a visit if you let him...

I know that this really doesn't cover the last few months very well but it's a good try. I promise to keep up on this more often so I don't get harassed anymore. Love you all!

The Food Channel

2008-07-06T18:36:00.004-06:00

It's close to dinnertime and I ask Kennedy what she'd like for dinner. I walked her though the pantry, the freezer and the fridge naming off about 10 things I could cook. When I got done she asked me to turn on the "food channel" so she can decide what she wants. I go over to the TV, turn it to the Food Network and they are showing a cake building competition. "No!" she says... "the 'food channel'.... that channel that shows you what you can have for dinner and let's you choose!" I told her there was no such thing as that and she swore that she had seen it before. When I said again that I didn't know what that channel was she stormed off to her room telling me that I'm wrong and I just won't show her. I wish there was.... and they delivered!

He's a walkin!

2008-07-03T14:42:00.003-06:00

Well, this is the best video I've caught so far but he's been crusing around the house today so I'm sure I'll get some better ones soon.

Happy First Birthday Rowan!

2008-06-29T21:46:00.006-06:00

Our little Rowan James Skinner turned 1 year old today! Even though Dad wasn't able to be here, we wanted to make him some cupcakes and open the present from Kennedy and myself. Kennedy chose one of those phones that ring and you drag behind you with a cord. I'm sure most of us played with one when we were kids. I decided to top Oddies "Redneck Ballpit" with the "Ghetto Ballpit". It's a childs inflatable pool filled with 300 balls. Rowan absolutely loves it but I am really starting to regret it... balls may start dissapear when no ones looking, but you didn't hear that from me.

I decided that cupcakes would be the better choice for the day so here they are.

It took Rowan a minute to figure out that the cupcake is good...

But only a minute...

And this is the outcome...

More ended up on the chair....

And the tray than in his mouth!

He hit the shower to be hosed down after that.

I've decided that Rowan has good hair kinda like Brad Pitt. You can pretty much do anything with it and it looks good.

Now here is Kennedy's first birthday cake. She wasn't too impressed.

She did it pretty gracefully compared to Rowan. He has no problem getting dirty...

Gosh... those two look at lot alike at this age.... we'll have to see how this progresses.

Check back tomorrow for a little tribute to his first year.

The Week in Review

2008-06-28T14:55:00.004-06:00

Tooth #3 came out this week. As you can see here, she was playing around with it trying to get it to come out and she completely twisted it all around. Then she said it hurt too bad to turn it back so she was left like this for a day.

Early the next morning though she had played around with it a bit more and out it came. She was so excited for the tooth fairy to come. She decided to leave her tooth on the counter so it would be easier for the fairy..... and it was. She left her some sugar free gum, 2 dollar bills and 8 quarters.... the tooth fairy must have been on hard times that day. It didn't matter though... Kennedy was thrilled. Now we've got one more on the bottom that's about to come out too. She can't wait.

One thing I've done for Kennedy to keep her from being so bored this summer is buy her a pedicure and nail kit for little princesses. Then I let her pick out some of the $0.99 nail polishes for kids that dry quick, and then I picked out a black one for Rowan as you can see below. It took a bit of trickery to control him long enough to get it on but I think he looks rockin! Kennedy just wanted pink with some star stickers on top. I'm also trying to use this to make her quit bitting her nails. One can hope...

Rowan really likes those Gerber pasta bites but they cost like $1.50 for 1 so I am finding other ways to feed him. Bertolli started making mini pastas like the bowties and the penne so I loaded up on those and we'll start figuring out some healthy pasta recipes for him. I really don't have to worry too much because this boy will eat whatever you stick in his mouth... just like his dad.

Besides that, Kennedy got to have her first sleepover this week. Wednesday night we invited her friend McKayla over for the night. We ordered pizza, had juice and popsicles and watched movies. I was expecting the worst from how Kennedy is when she sleeps over with Taryn and Tristen but she did really good... good enough that we will do it again soon.

We also (finally) found a regular babysitter. Her name is Riley and she is 14 years old but she has 5 younger siblings so I trusted her with the job. I brought her over yesterday and showed her around the house and let her know what she needed to do for the kids and then I went and ran some needed errands. When I got home everything was great. She is a very sweet girl and I'm glad that I can use her 2 or 3 days a week for a few hours to get out and get things done and maybe have a bit of time for myself.

Now that the sprinklers are fixed this has been a pretty good week after all. Rowans birthday is tomorrow so I am going to make him some cupcakes and we will have a little party and I will give him my gift. When Dad get's home he can do his special time with him and then we will still be coming down to do the family party on the 12th. We'll figure out how to handle that soon. Check back tomorrow for the birthday post!

The Sprinkler Problem RESOLVED!!!!

2008-06-28T14:46:00.002-06:00

That's right! I fixed it. You may have been wondering why there were just a bunch of pictures up of our sprinkler system. Well, I came home one afternoon and noticed that one zone of the backyard was soaked... I mean it was practically a pool leaking down into the rest of the yard. I freaked out and called Lucas in the middle of the day (the time he sleeps now cause he's on nights this trip), and he was so out of it he just told me to turn off the water and we'd figure it out later. Well three days later I figured it out... with a good bit of assistance from Jeremy! I owe you one buddy. He told me to check on thing on the valve and I unscrewed it and did but noticed that it wasn't screwed on very tight in the first place. I cleared out all the dirt and tightened it back on and viola!... all is working! Now I have to run the sprinklers like crazy to make up for the days we missed. Let's just hope the grass still comes in... it's pretty covered in weeds at the moment but if we all pray like you've never prayed before for the seed to start growing... there may be hope yet. Get to it everyone!

The sprinkler situation

2008-06-25T19:29:00.005-06:00

I went and turned on the water in the basement and nothing came on. I manually set the zone to turn on in the box and it did but it never tripped the on/off lever. I turned on the lever and then turned it off and the water still wouldn't go off, so I finally shut off the water in the basement.

Our Honeymoon... and it was only 2 years late!

2008-06-20T13:00:00.008-06:00

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who helped take care of our kids while we finally got to take our honeymoon. That includes Little Grandma, Oddie, Shayla, Josie, Jewls, Grandpa Craig, Corde, Jeremy, Max, Bridger and Ang, Miles, Taryn and Tristen. We really needed that time to get away and we really appreciate it! It ended up being a great vacation... our only regret is that we didn't stay a few days longer. Maybe in another few years.... mark your calendars!

This is Lucas driving us to Rapid City where we would take off on Allegiant Air. If you ever need to fly cheap to Vegas, this looks like a good option... until you start adding in all the fees, like $15 to check just 1 bag. Then there's the $10 per person fee to choose your seat. Then there's about another $75 in misc fees that you don't find until the end. Oh, and when you think of a no-frills airline you generally think Southwest. Well, these guys top them. You pay for drinks and snacks ($5-$10) and don't even think of asking for a pillow or blanket. They don't even offer those.... but you can buy a souvenir one for $15. No thanks!

This is us on our NO-FRILLS Airplane. I'm surprised we're smiling instead of flipping off the crew.

This is Lucas in our luxurious suite. He should be smiling here because this was the best. It is actually the basic room at the Palazzo but it's nicer than any place I've ever stayed. We payed $179 a night but it was worth it. The bed in the room was like sleeping on a cloud. If we could've smuggled that out we would have tried our best. There were two large flat panel LCD tvs, one in the living room area with the sectional and then one in front of the bed. Then we also had a smaller one in the bathroom... the bathroom with double sinks, separate shower and tub and vanity area for me. I would bet it was at close to as big as Rowans room.... very nice. I was supposed to take some pictures so if we ever got to build our dream house I would include that bathroom. Guess we'll just have to go back and remember to take pictures the next time.

This is the happy couple outside the hotel in front of the fountain. A nice couple asked if we could take a pic of them and then they would do the same for us. As you can see... I'm always a little bit more excited about things than Lucas. We were actually waiting for Aunt Linda to come pick us up to head over to the Bellagio to see the water show.

Me in front of the Bellagio. Once again... to excited for words. We never actually ended up getting to see the water show because of some mechanical problem. That sucked.

This was a beautiful Lexus that I just had to have a picture of. I told Lucas if we won big that he was going to have to get me one again. Maybe not that fancy, but pretty close. If anyone wants to know what I want for Christmas.... you could all chip in.... I'd prefer it in white though. Thanks in advance.

This was inside the French bakery that was the only thing we found to grab something to go. Here are some of their fancy pastries. Lucas ordered some apple fritter thing and I ordered a small sweet pastry and then we ordered a smoothie... a $9 smoothie. I think we paid around $20 for that little snack we had. That's Vegas I guess.... they not only take your money at the tables and the slots... they now take it with every little thing you do.

More pastries.... I didn't buy one because we would've had to mortgage the house to afford one.

And I thought making my Banana Bread and Chocolate Chip Cookies were hard.

The happy couple at the pool. I was so proud of myself for putting on a bathing suit and going out in the water. I have been very conscious of my weight but I figured it didn't matter what I looked like... I was in Vegas.

And you know what??? I saw alot of people out at that pool that probably had the same philosophy as me. Good on them!

Dad lounging by the pool. I think he was talking to Chelsea about baby Madden.

And what do you know... here he is again on the phone. I should just get one surgically attached because it really never parts his side.

Lucas insisted on taking this picture of me. It was right before we went to Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian which is the sister hotel of the Palazzo. Lucas let me buy a few new dresses for the vacation and this is the one that ironed easiest. I was happy to get fancy if only for a few hours.

Well, I gotta say my husband is pretty great. He has fulfilled one of my many wishes in life. I have always wanted to see Phantom ever since I heard the Broadway soundtrack. I just fell in love with the music. I guess you could say from an early age my mother thought that I would love the theater.... my sister would say it's because I'm so dramatic. Anyways, she has taken me to the traveling shows of Cats, Les Miserables, Mamma Mia, The Secret Garden and a few others. The only one I said that I was desperate to see was Phantom. Well, turned out that was the one she didn't take me to... and to top it off she came home and said she hated it. I thought she deserved a pie full of laxatives for doing that to me... but I promised myself I'd see it someday.... and it was more amazing than I ever could have imagined. Unfortunately they cut the show down to 90 minutes for the Vegas theater but it was still spectacular. If you love the theater, I highly recommend it. Lucas said it was okay but about 20 mins too long. I'm just happy that he took me. 1 wish down, only 50 to go. The Lexus would put it at 49.

The next day we decided to go to the Adventure Dome at the Circus Circus to ride the roller coasters. That was really fun but it's quick to make you feel old because you can't handle those things like you could when you were 15. We ended up getting Kennedy a spray painted T-Shirt with SpongeBob on it and her name below it. We were able to convince her when we got home that he had made it for her. She was a little more than jealous on that. I also had the chance to have my wedding ring resized for my chubby little fingers cause it hasn't fit me for the past year and I have felt naked without it.

Little ol' Steph wanted to visit a real nightclub in Vegas in the hopes of meeting Justin Timberlake. I know... it was a Wednesday and my chances were pretty slim, but I was gonna give it a go. Dear Sweet Ashley and one of her friends were able to get us into the Beatles Revolution Lounge at the Mirage as VIPS. Unfortunately, the VIP badge only went so far. You got free drinks but no where to sit. The seating areas were reserved for the people who had either paid massive amounts of money or actually were a VIP celebrity. I talked to one bouncer who said that Criss Angel the Magician was going to be in that night, so I waited... and waited... and waited. He never came. I was totally bummed out so Lucas and I decided to call it a night at 5 A.M. I have to say it was still really fun cause I got to feel like a 20-something again.

That's where Criss would have been sitting.

The next morning we had to pack up and leave after only a few hours of sleep but we survived. Got to Salt Lake City and drove my mothers pickup home so we could work on the yard. That drive was pretty tough since we took off about 8:30 P.M. and arrived at Ang's house when the sun was coming up at 5. Lucas was great and took care of the kids while I slept.

All in all it was a fun trip. Still doesn't compare to Sydney but the flight is a bit more tolerable. We'll see when that one fits back in...

Thanks again everyone for letting us do this!

The Sweetest Thing Ever!

2008-05-26T19:03:00.002-06:00

For months now I've been trying to teach Kennedy the importance of giving to those less fortunate than us. We have been very blessed in life and I want her to learn to share with those in need. One night we tried going through her old toys and separated out some that we could give away to others in need. Well, the pile of toys started off good but every few items or so that ended up in the give-away pile kept ending up back in her toy boxes. She just didn't want to part with her things saying "Now I don't get any toys!". I felt like a failure because I hadn't been able to teach her that very important lesson... until now. We picked up Kennedy and Rowan in Sheridan this afternoon and as we got off the exit to our house we saw a man with a sign asking for any little bit of help to get him some gas to get him home. Kennedy saw this and said "Mom, we need to stop and help that man... he needs our money, he needs our help".

If you have ever spent very much time in Billings you will notice that we have a regular group of beggars that are out everyday in the same spots with the same signs. I used to want to help them until I realized that no matter what you could do for them they would just continue in their ways.

This man on the side of the road seemed different. I'd never seen him before and I felt like he truly did need some help. I asked Lucas if I should turn around and go help him and he didn't think it was necessary, but Kennedy and I could not get him out of our minds. When we got home she went up to her piggy bank and got out all the "silver" coins, a $1 bill she had and then Lucas and I tossed in another $5. She begged me to drive back to the exit as fast as I could and hoped that he would still be there so she could help him. He was still on the side of the the road and Kennedy walked up to him with a little ziploc bag full of dimes, nickels, quarters and a few dollars and told him that he could have what she had to spare. Turns out he was driving into Billings to turn in some scrap metal but the business was closed due to Memorial day. He said he would be able to use the money to take care of himself until the next day when the scrap yard would be open. He also went to his truck and got Kennedy a small little porcelin tray that looks like open childrens hands. It wasn't much but it was nice that he wanted to do a little something back for her. We got back in the car and were driving home and she told me how happy she was that she could help that man out and that we needed to give to those who need things more than we do. I cried the whole way home and still do as I keep thinking about how generous she was. It was only a couple of dollars of coins from her piggy bank but I think she finally understood the meaning of charity. I am so proud of her and hope she remembers this lesson throughout life. I hope it also inspires others to do what they can to help those around them in need.

VOTE FOR DAVID COOK!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-05-20T20:40:00.002-06:00

1-866-43657-01

1-866-43657-03

1-866-43657-05

I know I'm from Utah and should be voting for that David Archuleta teenybopper but I won't. He can sing but other than that he has no talent. Vote for DAVID COOK cause he rocks!

And I'm done.

Happy 3rd Anniversary!

2008-05-20T19:54:00.003-06:00

Just a little something I pulled together for your anniversary. I didn't have many pictures of you kids so this is what you end up with.... oh and I know how much Miles loves Hall and Oates so he should love this and just want to watch it over and over again! I have to say that it's full of laughter, tears, drama and suspense, oh and the occasional car chase scene.

I really hope you guys like this and find it funny cause it worked on it for like 3 hours. If you don't then prepare to meet my little friend.... his name is Rowan and his shit stinks. I swear it's like something died in his butt and then he let it out for all the world to smell.

This one's for Lucas... the yard.

2008-05-19T08:43:00.003-06:00

Here's how the lawn is looking. Like I said... sporadic patches of grass. It's getting better but I know we need to lay down more seed and if I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna lay it down thick. No matter how much we use it will still cost less than sod.

Here's our lovely tree in the front yard. I can't even remember what kind it is but it's pretty.

WAYNE WAS RIGHT!!! Those trees weren't dead.... at least one of them for now. For those of you who don't know, we bought three aspen trees last fall when they were all on clearance. They looked very healthy at the time and so we left them in their containers and watered them daily... or at least when we remembered. Well, we never got around to planting them because I was indecisive and didn't know where I wanted them. They basically sat in front of the garage and we kept forgetting more and more to water them. When winter hit we eventually thought that they were goners. Well, the nice man named Wayne that came to level out our yard a few weeks ago told Lucas that the trees weren't dead and that we just needed to plant them. So we took them in the back yard and loaded them up with healthy soil and have been watering them on a regular basis to try and bring them back to life. Well what do you know... I looked outside this morning and one of the trees came back to life. The other two still don't look great but they only cost us $10 a piece so I won't cry myself to sleep if we only rescue one.

Some fun new pictures

2008-05-19T08:26:00.003-06:00

Rowan tried putting Kennedys snow hat on his head the other day. Once I fixed it he just looked too cute not to put on film.

Yesterday afternoon we went over to our neighbors, the Morris', and had a barbeque and played on their new waterslide. This is Kennedy and all her friends. They had a great time. Note to Shasta and Sicily... most of the pictures I took inside of the girls didn't turn out because I didn't have the flash on. Sorry.... we'll try it again.

We had a great time and were glad to visit with our friends. It can get a bit lonely when Lucas is gone.

Happy Mothers Day Grandma Rena!!!!

2008-05-11T08:22:00.003-06:00

A little photo tribute to our Mom, Grandma Rena!

Look at this fine bunch of kids you raised. Can you believe we are all standing next to each other and not beating each other up or flipping off the camera? It was a monumental day!

Mom, we love you because you think your funny.

See, she tried it again... still not funny.

Kennedy and Grandma.... she was always napping on the job. I would've demanded my money back... if I'd actually paid.

Look Grandma... I can ride a bike if you hold me up and push me!

You even passed on your loves (obsessions) to our kids.

I'm not sure how many child experts would recommend giving a 4 year old Diet Coke...? And sitting on that counter looks like a safety hazard.

With good supervision you can be trusted with a baby... Rowan wasn't crying or anything!

Oh wait... maybe you can't. I'm sure Kennedy has recovered physically from this incident... but it may take years of therapy to help her mentally. I hope you sleep well at night....

Aside from all of that... we love you. I only know what it was like to raise one child on my own and how difficult that was. You did it with the three of us and though there were difficult times we all know you did the best you could. I am so happy that I was chosen to be your child and I can't thank you enough for the life you've given me. You are kind and generous and have sacrificed so much for all of us. I only wish there was a way to thank you enough for being my Mom. Just know that if I ever find Elvis alive, I will kidnap him on the spot, take him to the basement of Casa de Sugarhouse and you can keep him forever... or at least until he dies for real. I love you, Steph.

P.S. Please remember that when you want to make me my favorite desert for my birthday it's chocolate cake... not that pineapple crap cake. That's Angs favorite!

The Montana Skinners have a new number

2008-05-07T22:41:00.002-06:00

For those of you who haven't read this on the Skinner blog:

We finally broke down and got a new line added to our cell phone plan with a Montana number. The number is 406.670.1140. I still have my Utah line for business reasons so you can still reach me on that for a bit. I will slowly update all contacts with my new number and then leave my old line available for my clients only so please start using the new number.
Thanks!

My little curls

2008-05-06T09:18:00.008-06:00

Rowan here... my Mom was being silly today and put some gel in my hair and all these curls showed up. I can't tell if I look goofy or not but I guess it's not really up to me since Mommy does what she wants with me.

This is a picture of me outside helping Daddy in the garage. As you can see, I'm not much help... but I'm make up for it because I'm so cute.

Our new fence!!!!!

2008-05-05T12:16:00.006-06:00

One year and $7,000 later... we finally got our fence put in. We were very lucky that 1/2 of our fence was already up because our neighbors had done theirs... otherwise this never would've happened. We probably would have duct taped together some cardboard boxes and called it good. Here's a few pics and one of our "lone" tree. It was the only thing we managed to plant last year and we were really scared that we probably planted it wrong and then we would have had a $100 fire log. We were excited to find this morning that it had started to bloom. There's a picture here of Rowan hanging out with Mom and Dad while we were working in the yard. He's got Mom's skintone (which means it will burn in no time flat) so we put Mom's hat on him to keep him protected. That's why he looks a bit dorky!

Funny side note...

2008-05-05T12:08:00.002-06:00

Yankee Candles makes air fresheners for cars now and I bought some that were "flavored" Sun & Sand, which I think does smell a bit like being at the beach. Well, I hung one up in the car and a few hours later when Kennedy got in she said "Eeewwww... it smells like sunscreen in here!". I keep trying to explain to her that that's how part of the "beach" smells. Guess we'll have to take her there one day and let her experience it for herself.

Kennedy's Day at the Carnival

2008-05-03T21:49:00.006-06:00

Kennedy got a 100% in her Learning Lab Language Arts test last week and so we promised to take her to the carnival as a special treat. I also brought along her friend Addee so I wouldn't have to go on any of the rides. They ate cotton candy, rode dozens of rides and had a great time.

Some Random Pictures

2008-05-03T21:10:00.009-06:00

This was taken at Aunt Ang and Uncle Miles house. All the playing must have worn him out...

This is a cute picture we caught with Dad's hat on Rowan.

Rowan has been waking up in the middle of the night and we, as lazy parents, just pull him into bed with us. I had woken up and got Kennedy off to school for the day and when I came back upstairs this is what I saw. It was too cute not to capture on film.

Rowan will pretty much sleep anywhere. This was during his afternoon nap. He just crashed out on the floor.

Laundry baskets can be fun to play in... what we didn't capture was all the crying when he fell over 5 seconds later.

This is Dad's fault! He didn't seem to realize what would happen when he handed a 10 month old a piece of licorice. I will say that Rowan loves the stuff. He was pretty upset when I took it away. Then I made Dad go hose him down in the shower so I could have my precious little boy back.

This was taken in Kennedy's classroom after the Spring Sing. Rowan loved seeing all the kids.

This was also taken right after the Spring Sing. A good time was had by all!

Kennedy's Spring Sing Recital

2008-05-03T19:45:00.007-06:00

Kennedy performed with her class this week in their Spring Sing Recital. She is the "animated" girl in the upper right hand corner on the top step. I was only able to record 60 second clips on my camera so you don't get the whole song but it's still pretty cute. Enjoy!

Picture Day

2008-04-23T21:50:00.005-06:00

We decided to take the kids out to get some new pictures done of them. Kennedy got to go to the salon to have her hair done which she just loved. Rowan was much more agreeable at this photo shoot than the last. The last one he cried the entire time but this one he was quite happy but it hard to keep him sitting still for any period of time. Anyways I think that we got a few good ones and here they are. Don't worry... we have a hard copy that you will all get soon!

Rowan (really) crawls

2008-04-03T14:02:00.003-06:00

He finally figured it out... He still does his little army crawl most of the time cause he can get around faster but I'm sure that will change soon. It's funny to watch him do it because you can tell he is so proud of himself. Time to start baby-proofing the house...

Easter in Utah and Montana

2008-04-03T13:47:00.006-06:00

While we were in Utah we went to Aunt Janaes house for an Easter Egg hunt with all the kids. Here are some pictures with Kennedy and all her cousins...

Then when we got back home to Montana we found that the Easter bunny had visited our home.

Kennedy on the Farm

2008-04-03T13:36:00.004-06:00

We went to Utah over the Easter weekend and stopped by Grandma and Grandpa Gilberts farm on the way. Kennedy got to make good friends with the new calf which Grandpa Gilbert had named Butch. There was one other new day old calf that Grandpa was going to let Kennedy name. We couldn't get close to the calf because its mother was being very protective so we didn't know if it was a girl or a boy. She decided it would be Emily if it was a girl and George if it's a boy. We'll have to go back to find out what it's going to be. Here are some pictures with Butch.

Dad got a new toy

2008-03-18T10:36:00.004-06:00

I've never seen Lucas more excited than when his new riding mower arrived yesterday. He couldn't wait to take the kids out for a ride.

Kennedy on Diaper Duty

2008-03-18T10:29:00.003-06:00

Kennedy offered to change Rowans diaper the other night. I warned her about getting shot in the eye if she didn't do it quick enough but she didn't know what that meant. In the end we were the ones who got the diaper on but it was fun to watch her try...

Rowan does the Army crawl

2008-03-18T10:25:00.003-06:00

Here is Rowans attempt at the Army crawl. He's gotten much faster over the past few days. It will be any time now that he figures out how to really crawl and then we are in for trouble...

Grandma in Africa

2008-03-04T13:49:00.001-07:00

Kennedy does Thriller!

2008-02-29T17:33:00.004-07:00

Sobe Life Water has a commercial out there that has lizards dancing to Michael Jacksons Thriller. Everytime Kennedy saw it she begged me to watch the video. I kept telling her that it might be a little scary for her but she insisted she could handle it. Well, she watched it twice and then started doing the dance herself. I thought it was pretty cool what she managed to pick up in just a few short minutes... and kinda cute too!

She told me she's going to keep praticing until she has it down perfect. I'll make another video if it gets any better.

Corduroy comes to visit!

2008-02-24T12:02:00.003-07:00

Kennedy's kindergarten class has a class bear named Corduroy. Each child gets take him home for a few days and this weekend was Kennedy's turn. We are asked to include Corduroy in our daily activities and then write about what we've done in a notebook. The kids are also asked to draw their own picture of him. He will go back with Kennedy to school tomorrow and her teacher, Mrs. Carlson, will share the story with the class... but it will probably be a pretty boring story. All he has gotten to do is help Kennedy clean her room and go to Walmart for groceries. Oh well... she has been very excited to have him here and will miss him when he goes back.

Hey

2008-02-21T14:39:00.002-07:00

We sure have cute kids! Rowan likes he might have his mom's good looks and hopefully not her athletic ability!

We didn't want to be left out...

2008-02-21T13:22:00.004-07:00

I actually started this a while back but we never got it quite finished until now. We're not living in an exotic country nor do we have a baby on the way so please don't expect anything too exciting to be posted here. For now just some pics of the kiddies...