Right now I'm sitting on top of my kitchen counter, and every square inch of our kitchen is crammed with our sofa's, and mattresses. We also can't park our cars in the garage because the piano, computer desk, beds, and every other piece of furniture is crammed in there. Can you guess, we are getting new carpet! Yea, I've been waiting for this day since Kate decided bright pink nail polish would look pretty on our master bedroom carpet. And since Kirk squirted dish soap all over the living room carpet. Not to mention all of the countless other mishaps with food, Dan's health drinks, and dirt. I can already tell that the house is going to feel like new by the time it's all done. The kids have been really good about being sequestered to the kitchen, and backyard. I have taken some before pictures which I'll include once it's all installed. You can imagine what we did all weekend. It started with a long lunch break Friday. Dan and his amazing Brothers, and Brother in-law came over and moved all our furniture. I can't believe how much stuff we've accumulated over the last five years. We've put off getting new carpet because we knew what a chore it would be to move everything. Thank goodness for Dan's Brothers, or else it would have been impossible! Saturday I spent all morning painting our base boards. I figured it was a good time to paint, since it didn't matter if I got it on the carpet. This was the first time I've ever let Kate paint, I figured I'd let her get the chance since she could drip and it wouldn't matter. The Kate is a really good helper. She is always eager to pitch in and work. She also helped wash down the moldings, and walls. Dan removed all of the doors, and finished moving the remaining stuff out. We've been sleeping on mattresses which didn't go over well with the kids. And since the doors are off of the bedrooms, there was no way of containing the kids to their rooms. Saturday night the kids played in their rooms with each other, then finally fell asleep on Kate's mattress. I also have some more good news. Kirk didn't have to be taken out of Sacrament meeting a single time for being loud, or crying, or running around the chapel. It was so nice to sit through a whole meeting, and he was really good to. Dan is on the high council, so most Sunday's it's just me and the kids. I hope this is a new trend for Kirk, because usually I'm taking him out several times during one hour. As for the update on our attempts to have a third child, I'm not pregnant. We've been trying for like eight months now, and I getting sick of waiting. But I guess it will happen when it is meant to happen. Here are some pictures of the new carpet. I just love it. It feels like we live in a new home. I am so happy with the way it turned out!

Gigantic Fun!

Today Dan left on another buisness trip. The kids played so well this morning I thought they deserved to get out of the house and have a bit of fun. I decided to tryout our new museum pass, and go to the Dinosaur park in Ogden. The kids were so cute! They held hands and walked all around pointing to new dinosaurs as they spotted them. Kirk was holding onto my fingers pretty tightly. I had to keep reassuring Kate that it was all just pretend, and that the dinosaurs couldn't move. Then very sweetly, Kate would say to Kirk " kirk don't be scared the dinosaurs are pretend." The kids actually enjoyed the museum more this year than when I took them last year. Kirk is really into dinosaur's because he received a few for Christmas last year. Then we went and got dinner at Arby's. Kate said another really cute thing. After she ate all of her sandwich, and fries she said: "thank you mommy for the sandwich and fries I was really hungry." Can you believe that, coming from a three year old! Wow the things your children teach you are amazing. Both of our children have such amazing spirits. We are so blessed to have them! Kirk of course is just his darling little self. He is developing quite a little personality. He enjoys pretending as well. When we were eating dinner, I couldn't get him to finish his sandwich (surprise, surprise). But I told him to be a dinosaur and made some eating noises, he then started to pretend to eat the sandwich like a little dinosaur sound effects and all. I was able to convince him to eat most of his dinner, in between bites of ice cream. I know, I know the super nanny would have a heart attack over that tactic. But as a parent I say if it works do it. As our family knows, we will be coming out with a parenting book called the Do's, Dont's, and Doughnut's of Parenting. Maybe our sequel should be called A spoonfull of Icecream helps the vegtables go down. Just kidding. We just had a lesson on mothering in Relief Society. They talked about how we all wish kids came with a handbook. Boy wouldn't that be nice. If my kids had a handbook, I think Kate's would be titled, Fragile: Handle with care. Kirk's on the other hand would be titled: Explosive: Handle with care. I don't mean to sound like Kirk is bad! Just the opposite, it's always an adventure to have him around. It's also fun to see what mood he's in for the day! The other day I kissed him on the cheek, and he cried like I had pinched him or something. Then he continued to rub it off! But there's nothing quite like getting on his good side. The Grandpa's know that. Kirk absolutely loves his Grandpas! He really knows how to make their day. Well It's late, I hope you enjoy seeing the pictures. Today was alot of fun!

Summer Fun!

I'm loving this summer! Kate and Kirk are such good little pals. Kate is a very helpful big sister, and always looks after her little brother. The other day they were making a pillow fortress in the living room, and Kate said to Kirk "we are having so much fun, huh Kirk, we are just having so much fun! It ended up being a huge mess, but I think it was worth it. I've set a goal to take the kids someplace new and fun every week during the summer. Today we went to the Tracy Aviary with Anoel, her sister, and their kids. I bought a family pass which will also get us into the Zoo, the Dinosaur park, Ogden Nature center, and a discount at the Living aquarium. It seemed like a pretty good deal for only $40.00. Here are some pictures.

The kids enjoyed seeing the birds, and even chased after a peacock. Kirk called every bird there a Peacock. Afterwards we ate our lunch. The Tracy Aviary is at Liberty Park, which also has this awesome little wadding pool area. It has dozens of little streams and wadding pools that the kids played in. It was a real hit! Kirk would hold onto my finger, and pull me along were ever he went. Kate told me that "this place is just right for me mommy, It's not to deep."

Some other things that we've been doing this summer are trips to the library for story time, Gymnastics classes , running through the sprinklers, and trips to the park. We are going to a swim party tomorrow. We also went to a puppet show at the Clearfield Library. Kate and Kirk loved it. It's nice that the two of them can enjoy the same activities together.

Dan and I have been really busy as well. Dan's still traveling quite often, He's in Houston today. He just laid down some red bark in our flower beds. It looks really nice. I've been quite handy to. My Dad came over and helped me paint our front door. It looks 100% better!

As most of you know, we are trying to have another baby. My period is late this month, so keep your fingers crossed for us. I really hope that I'm pregnant this month. It would be perfect! I'm enjoying the independence of not having a baby this summer, but I'm still really, really baby hungry. I'm excited to have our another, but sometimes I worry to. Life right now seems so busy, I'm not sure how I'll manage a baby as well. I guess you just have to adapt the best you can as each one comes along! We really have been blessed. I love being a Mother. I'm so grateful that I can spend my days with such beautiful darling little ones. I'm using this blog as kind of a journal. So that's why I'm sharing some personal thoughts.

Kate Dressed up like Rapunzel at story time.

Kirk was soooo tired, he found his blankets and crashed on the floor! Poor kid, his parents aren't giving him enough sleep!

Kate wearing the dress her Grandma Mower brought home from China! Of course she loved it! She's all girl and loves dresses!

Kate and Kirk running through the sprinklers with their clothes on! It was a hot day, I was tempted to do it!

The Mower Family

Okay,
I can't believe that I'm actually attempting to blog! This is something I've been wanting to do for awhile, but I've been way to intimidated.

There's been alot going on with us so far this year. I can't believe that it is June already. I swear it's still March, this year is just flying by. Dan and I just recently got back from Paris this month. Dan had a gardening show to do there, so it was a perfect opportunity for me to finally see Europe. I've always wanted to see that part of the world! It was fabulous. We had a great time, eventhough Dan came down with a bad cold. Bless his heart, he just kept popping the Ibprofren, and we still got out to see everything we had planned to see. It was hard to leave the kids for that long, they really missed us. When we got back Kate asked us "Are you going to be home for awhile mommy?" She's a real cutie. Here are some pictures of the sites. We saw so much that it would be alittle tedious to list everything. The highlights were of couse the Eiffel Tower, and we also loved Versilles Palace. France is beautiful, but we were very happy to be back home in the USA! There really is no place like home.

Kate just had a dance recital. She looked so cute! I think she is really going to miss dance class during the summer. I decided to try a gymnastics class. Kate did really well. Kirk however hasn't grasped the concept of taking turns, or staying on task. Well he's only two, what can I expect. I can't believe how big the kids have gotten. It feels strange not to have a baby in tow. But I'm am going to thoughly enjoy this summer with the kids!

Our Family's updates!