Kate is Hilarious!!

Kate has been so funny lately. She loves to watch TV on any day, and lately she is way into infomercials. In her mind, infomercial= absolute truth. She will watch with total attention and then repeat the selling points back to me almost verbatim. "With the Krafty Kutter light you can always cut a straight line." "With that plant watering bulb you will save time!" "Mommy, you need that in our home today!" If I fail to respond appropriately (and by "appropriately" I mean "with complete seriousness and enthusiasm") she becomes totally mystified as to why I would purposely deny myself the benefit offered by the suggested item. I guess a career in sales isn't far off.

Also, we were driving to church yesterday in the spring snow storm, and she said, "I thought April was supposed to be a sheep." I guess she was confused by the March/lion/lamb analogy.

Let me tell you who isn't funny: Maggie Ruth Hatch. She has been so sassy lately. She is stubborn and single-minded and downright naughty. Heaven forbid you say the words, "no, no" to her, because she will throw herself to the ground, bang her head on the floor, and scream. I've tried to take pity on her, because I think she is cutting a tooth, but my sympathies are reaching their end.

Hoppy Easter!

The Easter Bunny found us yesterday morning. The girls had to look for their hidden Easter baskets. Kate looked upstairs, but Kiki apparently has a gut instinct for these matters, and she zipped downstairs where they were both hidden.

Look at the motherload!! I thought these bunny ear glasses were hilarious.
My only mistake was getting Kate a whistle. When will I ever learn???

Here we are ready to go to church.

These are the girls' Easter dresses. I thought they were so darling. Kiki refused to wear shoes, so she looked like a hippie at church. She was SO NAUGHTY at church. She would run away from us, and when we would go to get her she would laugh and run even faster. She crawled under the pews and re-emerged a couple rows later with a bunch of toys that belonged to other people. She rubbed string cheese parts on our neighbor. Naughty, naughty.

In the afternoon, my mom and George and John, Lindsay, and Preston all came for dinner and an Easter Egg hunt. It was a delicious dinner and there were lots of treats to be found. All in all it was a beautiful and fun day. We were so happy to have warm weather!!

The Hatch's New Cat

Everyone knows how much I love cats. I just couldn't resist adding this lovable kitty into our home. The real story is that Kate loved this YouTube video and has asked me to play it many times. "I don't want to adopt that cat!" - Kate

Disney on Ice

We loaded up the car to head to Salt Lake. So far, so good.

Elise and Liza.

Kate and I.

Charlie, Liza, Merrilee, and Kiki

Kate and Elise had a really fun time.

Disney on Ice was a really fun show. It was Princesses on Ice, and there were lots of little girls dressed up like princesses in the audience. Liza and I weren't that ambitious. Kiki was very naughty. She didn't want anyone to hold her. She screamed and cried and fell down the stairs. It's a good thing we were in the suite that had only 5 carpeted stairs, otherwise a stair fall at the Energy Solutions Arena could be deadly. She got off easy with only a scraped up eye. Bruce finally calmed her with a cheese quesadilla and a slice of watermelon. George made some enemies on the way out by remarking that Tinkerbell looked a little on the chubby side. He got some evil looks, but I will say the girl looked like she came from a gymnastics background- she was very muscular. All in all it was a good time.

On Friday, I accidentally poked Kate in the eye when I was emptying my shopping cart, and her eye has been really red. Between her and Kiki's facial injuries, they went to church on Sunday looking like they had been in a street fight.

Kate dressed herself for school and did her own hair. She looked so cute I had to take a picture. She was going to see "Amelia Bedelia" for her preschool field trip and wanted to look her very best.

Why my pediatrician hates gym day care

As I said before, Kiki has been sick- it looks like today she is out of the woods. I think I have found the culprit- gym day care. Before you all go, "Duh. Like anyone doesn't know that the gym day care will make your kid sick.", let me just say that I was under an extraordinary amount of peer pressure. Make that spouse pressure. Bruce had remarked several times that it was silly for me to beg my dad to babysit or pay Paige (my regular gal who we love) when we paid extra for a gym membership that gave us free day care. Last Friday I finally caved and took Kiki to the gym day care while Kate was at pre-school. I don't think it's a coincidence that within a day she was sick with the rotavirus. Guess that's the end of that.
I survived my food storage class last night. The girl I partnered with is a great teacher, so she definitely carried the bigger load. We cooked soups and I actually used some food storage items in them, and they turned out pretty tasty. I admit that I have been feeling a sense of urgency to get my three month supply in order- I hit the case lot sale twice this week. At the class we did a little menu planner and recipe worksheet so you can make sure that you have all the right ingredients on hand for your three month supply; I guess I will practice what I preach and get those done today.
Tomorrow is a big day- it's Disney Princesses on Ice!! Kate somehow got the idea that we were going to Disneyland, so hopefully she isn't too disappointed.

A Long 48 Hours

Poor little Maggie has been so sick. It all started Sunday with some projectile vomiting. I wound up scrubbing the couch and rug, mopping, bathing her, running a load of laundry, and then showering. Yesterday was general listlessness and a fever. Today is diaper blow out day. She would drink, but didn't want to eat anything. Until she laid eyes on these cheez-its anyway. So this morning she finally ate cheez-its, then I coaxed down some yogurt and cheese. She is taking her second nap of the day and it is only 11:30, so you know the poor kid is just worn out. If she isn't coming out of it by this afternoon we are taking a trip to Dr. G.
Jack came by yesterday to pick up some branches for the dump. He laid eyes on Kate and said, "By the way, your kid is dressed like Pamela Anderson." Sure enough, denim mini-skirt and Ugg boots. Not as much cleavage though.
Last night I had a little enrichment meeting. We are planning this Thursday, which is a class about three month food supplies and recipe ideas. If you have any super great ideas on the topic, will you let me know?

Garden Time

Here's Kate and Bruce planting the seeds so we can start our garden. We have never really done a garden before, so this is very exciting. Bruce has the perfect spot picked out. Thank goodness he worked so hard last year finishing our yard; now we can concentrate on this. Hopefully I'm canning lots of yummy food this fall.

I thought I'd feel out of place in my buttless chaps...

Until this chick showed up in her buttless jeans. Now, how does a person go about getting a hole like that in her pants? Well, there's only two ways. One- you get dragged on your behind for a mile behind a wild cow you just roped. Probability of this scenario being the likely explanation: .000001%. Scenario two: You think to yourself, "Hey, I'm going to the Rascal Flatts concert tomorrow, and I think I'd like my butt to be hanging out." So you get out the pinking shears, cut a SQUARE hole which we all know never occurs naturally when you tear your jeans, and enlarge it until you can see cheek. Strangely, it never occurs to you that your seats are in the SUITES where the only people who will be seeing your behind are people like your co-workers and your boss.
"Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug." "Tighter, girl, so I can get armpit cleavage." Lindsay and I watched these four drunk girls in total disbelief. They had a super great time, though. At one point, a girl in the suite next to us was just staring at them, and the look on her face was priceless. You just knew she was thinking, "You have got to be kidding me." She must of felt my eyes on her, because she looked over and we made eye contact. I mouthed, "I know!" and we shared a private laugh at the hoochies' expense. P.S. MY HUSBAND IS YOUR BOSS AND HE HAS TOTALLY SEEN THESE PICTURES, FOOLS.

P.S. for Lindsay's full fashion recap, visit thebarrattclan.blogspot.com

Becca and Lindsay hit the town

My sophomore year of college, I went to the George Strait concert at the then Delta Center. I was definitely dressed for it, in my pocketless wranglers, Justin boots, and a brush popper. I remember sitting in the absolute nosebleeds looking down at the suites and thinking, "What's a gal got to do to sit there?" Well, now I know. Last night, Lindsay and I hit the Rascal Flatts concert and thanks to Bruce, sat in the luxury of the suites. We got special green bracelets to separate us from the commoners, and, most importantly, there is a private bathroom. The suite is basically at "center court" so it was a great view of things. P.S. What you can't tell because of my "blousy" shirt is that I am wearing my "skinny" jeans and there was no junk hanging over. Woohoo.
Rascal Flatts puts on a great concert. Sometimes, when you go to concerts, they don't even sound good, and you realize that the singer probably took 25 takes blended together just to get a song that sounds on pitch. Well, not this guy. He must have perfect pitch or something, because he never once hit a rotten note. They played for two solid hours.
Their instrumentalists were also fantastic. Makes you want to learn to play the fiddle.

I Painted Her to Look Like an Indian

Bruce in San Diego last week.

"Grandpa Jack, I painted her to look like an Indian." You have to look close because it's pink, but Kate was very busy.






We went to lunch on Saturday at a local Mexican joint. It was kind of fiasco. Kate bossed our poor waitress around, I spilled my drink, and Kiki put hand and face prints all over the window. Bruce was feeding her some beans, and he blew on them so they wouldn't be too hot; she ate them, and then blew them back OUT at him. I left a 30% tip and still feel guilty.
I ate the steel cut oats again this morning, and I must say they are getting better. Maybe I knew to expect the lead belly, and that made it easier. The food journal is working still- I've lost another couple of pounds, so the goal is less than 8 lbs. away. I think I can, I think I can...

I Saw It in the Movies/ Kiki Says a Word

As we speak, Kate is leaning out of her bedroom window (it lacks a screen) and singing, "Ah-ah-ah-ah! Ah-ah-ah-ah!" like the girl in Enchanted did to summon all the rats, roaches, and pigeons. We saw the movie several times, so I guess she has memorized a little more than I realized.
Also, this morning Kiki said a real word. She babbles quite a lot, and will say "Uh-oh" and "Ba" for bath but that has pretty much been it for her. I had pulled her out of a kitchen drawer for about the third time (she loves to scatter plastic bags about) and when I set her on the ground she said to me, "Mama! Mama!" It was a very stern tone of voice and I am certain I was being scolded.
I went to see Merrilee's house this morning- it is getting very close to done. Her cabinets are all up, the tile is in, and they are almost done painting. Still no driveway though. It is a beautiful home and it is going to be fun to have her so close.
I just ate some of that steel cut oatmeal that Oprah raves about. It was only a 1/2 cup serving with a little soy milk, and it feels like my guts are filled with lead. I guess that's the point...so I don't go filling up on brownies or something. Less than 200 calories, too, so maybe I'm just not used to things with that much nutritional density.