I've Been Horrible!!

I have been so bad about keeping up the blog. It's not that there hasn't been a lot happening, it basically comes down to a working mom of 5 trying to keep up with everything!! There are lots of stories to tell and pictures to post and I promise that before this week is over - they WILL be here!

JANUARY BLAHS!!

OK - I know that it is now February, but this year the January blahs have definitely hit me!! It could have something to do with the overwhelming stress level that I have been experiencing the past couple of weeks. Been kinda crazy with work and home and it's just plain wearing me out.

I guess all you can do is stay positive, right. Even when things are really bad, if you focus on the bad things - does it make them any better? Nope. However, if you focus on the good things and think positive thoughts I think it invites and allows the Comforter to basically do his job.

So I'm deciding that positive will win out. You know - living where and like we do - our worst case senarios are about a million times better than most of the rest of the world. Find joy in the journey and don't sweat the small stuff!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KINSLEE!!

4 YEARS OLD!!!! I cannot believe our baby girls is four. She has been such an incredible blessing to our family. She came to us when Connor was nearly six years old and we had had 3 miscarriages, so we weren't sure that she would stick around through the entire pregnancy, but she did - she's a strong kid!


She has such a sweet relationship with her Bampa. They are best buddies! If he is in town - they are together. They run errands, go to the post office, go on walks, or just do whatever! This year she started Joy School, so mommy gets to be her teacher every 5 weeks and it has been so much fun to see her LOVE school.


As the only girl, she has everyone wrapped around that little finger. In fact, mom has taught her to talk to her pinky and say "Hi, Dad!" We are trying to stave off the diva fits that are starting with the crossed arms and stamped feet, but overall she is a sweetheart. We love her soooo much and are so happy that she is our Binzer!! Happy Birthday Sis!!

MUST BE JANUARY

We have been hit by the bug! Actually there have been several bugs that made a temporary home here. Quinn got a nasty little sinus infection, but it was wiped out quickly with a round of antibiotics. Gav started showing signs of something not good and we thought he was headed down the same road. Nope, Gav got a good old stomach flu. And not a quick one, one that comes and lingers with a fever and the works (not to mention, a horrible diaper rash - poor guy!) Dedi followed Gav by one day, but it looks like she is finally in the clear! Fingers are crossed that no one else gets it because we are supposed to go to Midway for an overnighter on Saturday and I REALLY want to go! Wish us luck!

Oh, and by the way, I finished my February stitch club project! I'll get a picture up soon. Two for two - Yeah!!!!

A BIG DAY FOR OUR COUNTRY

Well, as we all know, this day will go down as history making for our country. No matter how you what side you fall on polically, it is an important day. I am a big American history fan (as any of you who have been in my house know). I have an "America" wall with framed pictures of Washington and Lincoln, the Pledge of Allegience, the Star Spangled Banner, etc., etc., etc., and my decor is all red, white and blue (and a red, white, and blue ring!) It's a sickness! I am facinated by the history of our great county and can't even tell you how much I wish I was in DC right now.

I LOVE DC! It's been a long time since I visited, but would LOVE the opportunity to return. I would love to be part of history and unlike my husband - I love the crowds. Crowds are invigorating to me. I just don't like to have to keep track of kids in crowds. I would love to visit Arlington again, I would love to visit the Mall, and I would love to visit all of the beautiful memorials. This is not to say that I don't think that Washington DC is an incredibly corrupt town. Quite the contrary, but I am very intrigued by our roots and I plan to return someday with my family and take it all in again.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABIES!!

Happy 2nd birthday to our wonderful baby boys!! It is so hard to believe that it's been a whole two years since you guys came to us. We were reminiscing about the day that they were born and realized that the 15th was actually the long day. They were born just after 1 am on the 16th.

The 15th started at 4:30 am as Matt and I had to

be at the hospital by 5:30 for a C-section. Well, as many of you know, there would be no C-section that day as the Anesthesiologists tried to put in an epidural for 2 1/2 hours with no luck. 27 sticks with that HUGE needle - with no luck. I actually had to leave Alta View Hospital still pregnant. They had me go up to LDS Hospital that evening for what I assumed would be a C-section where they would just completely knock me out. By then, I was exhausted and ready to be knocked out!!

But NNNOOO, I was told that the babies were in great position and that the doctor thought that it would be better if a just labor and deliver them. Oh right - did I mention that no one could get an epidural in me???!!! I really didn't want to do this naturally. Well, they had their "best guy" on that night and he wanted to give the epidural a try. It took a little punching through, but he did get it in there (yippee) and I actually ended up having the most relaxing birth of all my kids! Go figure!

Well, they were absolutely beautiful angels then and they still are. They are the lights of our lives. It has been so much fun to watch how identical twins deal with each other. They are so caring and thoughtful towards each other (for the most part) and always have their very best friend right there. They keep us hopping and laughing and cleaning up, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Happy birthday Gav and Quinn - we love you lots!!!

I DID IT!

I did it! You should all be really proud of me! If I think back - I believe this is the first "crafty" thing that I have finished since I was in Young Women. The only exception I can think of is the afghan that I crocheted before Sean was born - and he's 12. I often have good intentions and would love to think of myself as crafty - but it just doesn't ever seem to work out. Now, thanks to my Stitch Club, I have time to get these a good start, then it's up to me to finish them. We are doing one for each month of the year and my goal is to complete them all. Wish me luck!!

I'M EXCITED!!

I know that lots of people didn't really like the Twilight movie for a number of reasons. The biggest complaint I've heard is that the special effects were just not very good.

Agreed, unfortunately there were some things about the movie that screamed "small budget" and it was a tad on the corny side - but those things didn't stop me from seeing it 5 (yes, five) times. I loved it. I loved seeing the characters come to life and I could have spent a lot more time "hanging out with the Cullens". The end of the movie always came way to quickly for me.

I've been excited to see how New Moon will be interpreted and am interested to find out if they have decided to put the necessary amount of money behind it to keep the "small budget" look out of it. Apparently I don't have to wait long - November 20, 2009! Yes - I will be there at the midnight showing just as excited as I was for Twilight. Hopefully it will be just as fun!

SPARE TIME

Another crazy week. Matt, Sean, Connor, and Kins back to school and back to work for Matt and me. So what do we do with our spare time? Not that we have much - but often Matt and I have very different ideas of relax time. I have a couple of "girls night out" groups that I get together with...a book club, movie night, and stitch club (Julee - stop laughing - I can sew a little!), and coming soon - bunco. Mostly it ends up being just a good excuse to have lots of fun girl talk time - but I really look forward to all of them and I am making some really cute things at stitch club.

Matt, on the other hand, will get up at 5am on a Saturday to drive to a frozen lake where he has to set up "camp", drill a hole in the ice, and stick a fishing pole into the hole - hoping that some fish is dumb enough to bite. I, obviously, don't get it!

This isn't to say that we don't have lots in common and one of our favorite ways to unwind is date night at the movies. That's our thing - movies. Not usually dinner and a movie - just a movie. We like comedies, action, drama, he's even seen Twilight with me twice - just no R-rated or horror. So, in the words of Daddy Warbucks - "Let's all go to the movies".

MATT'S NEW YEAR

Matt's new year is finding him embarking on new and exciting things. He started the next semester at school last Monday and is finding that he has a whole new set of challenging classes ahead of him. He did make it through Anatomy last semester and that was huge!

He just started a new job at the Intermountain Medical Center working in the Neuro-Rehab department. A good job where he gave them his school schedule and they come up with a work schedule that fits. Also, great insurance for our family - we use a lot of insurance (see the previous blog entry).

He totalled his car in December when he ran into the back of a trailer carrying heavy steel equipment that had stopped on the freeway (luckily there was no damage to the equipment or Matt). We were floored when the payout that we received on his 2001 Corolla was enough to pay off the remaining balance of our car loan, pay cash for a fairly decent used car (a Camry), and pay our portion of his tuition for this semester. Major blessings!

OK - NOW I'M GONNA START

Well, as you can see, I had great intentions of starting this blog nearly a year ago. Then April hit. April 2008 found us putting Connor in the hospital for a week due to pneumonia complicated by asthma, the next week a dear friend was killed in a freak accident, the next week Kinslee and Quinn were also hospitalized for a week with pneumonia complicated by asthma, and then Matt was layed off by Maxfield's after 5 years with them. By then I had forgotten my login name and password for my blog (which somehow just "came" to me about a month ago, hurray!).

So hopefully this explains a strange 10 month space between my first blog entry and this one. In some recent discussions about what good came from 2008 and some people's difficulty in finding anything good, I decided that the only way to truly find the good is to recount your daily blessings (yes, we get them EVERY day). My goal is to keep this up as somewhat of a journal for the Keddington family as a tangible reminder of everything we've been given. Should be interesting.

And, by the way, Allison and Trisha - I would have laughed at me too!