"On this episode of Kev & Er Plus 2"

Well I am sure all of you have seen the TLC series, "Jon & Kate Plus", if you haven't then get out from under your rock! It's the funiest show about a couple that lives in Pennslyvania with 2 seven year olds and 6 three year olds. Yikes. I have had a pretty crappy week, at one time this week I was going to list ALL of the things that had stressed me out but what good would that do I guess. So on a more postivie note, here is what we have been up to this week:

From the looks of Colt, you would never think he was a picky eater. WRONG! I hate getting this kid to eat anything other than snacks. This was a beautiful sight yesterday, when he ate all of his lunch! I think he looks so much like Troy in these pictures...must be the eyes!
Mom & Me Pose: Ash & Chase, Jana & Dax, Cass & Kiana, Me & Colt
I think the worst part of this week has been the daily swim lessons with the kids. Many da ys I haven't even gotten out of my swim suit until about 4pm before Kev gets home from work. I haven't been able to get anything done while doing these lessons but they have been really fun. It's so fun to see Colt enjoy the water now! I love this picture of the 3 of us. Probably cause I never get pictures of just me with the boys cause I am always the one behind the camera!
Troy's sweet little friend, Madi Worthington, has given me a little peak into having a 3 year old girl instead of a boy. Wow, things would be different! Here are some of the highlight quotes from her 2 hour playdate:

"Your house is beeeaaauuuutiful!"
"Your car is so cute."
"I love all of your shoes, these are my favorite, no these are."

"Where are your girl dress ups?"

"Will you play princess with me? I will be the princess and you can be the witch."

"Where are the girl games to this LeapPad?"

"How do you get your toenails so shiny? Can you do mine like that?"

"My hands are dirty" while fingerpainting....it took a little while for her to get into it!

Madi is the cutest thing in the world and it was so fun having her over. She brightened up my day! I think she has a little crush on Troy, she told me that "Troy is always nice and never mean." At the end of the day, I love having Madi over but I still am glad I have boys!!!

Stampin' Up's New Product Line!

I am so excited, I HAD to share Stampin' Up's new line with you.....Decor Elements!!!! A new product for home decorating!! This new product is made from beautiful, high-quality vinyl and the images can be used to decorate your home, office, daycare, etc. This easy to apply product can be used on your walls, furniture, mirrors, tiles, glassware, frames, scrapbooks and more! Our exclusive Stampin' Up! artwork will include words, monograms, phrases and images , some of these images and phrases coordinate with our stamp sets.

As a demonstrator, I was able to order some of these today so they will be displayed in my home so you can come by next week and check them out if you are interested! Customers are able to purchase them starting July 1st, so let me know if you would like anything! As always, I can have things shipped straight to you.

You can click on a link to the preview catalog at the left- "Stampin' Up Decor Elements" under "Websites That I Love".

Let me know what you think!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

This was a big day at the Madsen household! Troy had his first T-ball game! He is on the Red Sox team with lots of his friends and he had a blast playing! He did so well! Kevin prays that Troy loves sports like he does so he wanted to get him started as early as he could. Colt and I cheered him on from the sidelines. This is the start of many, many, many, many years at ballgames...and I can't wait! I love my boys!

My Shout Out to Miss Mollie!

WARNING: This is a total "Mommy" post! I had to share a picture of my new diaper bag! My friend, Mollie, moved to town about 8 months ago and when I first saw her, the first thing I noticed was her cute hair & her cute diaper bag!!! I found out her mom made her diaper bags for her and I was special enough to have one made for me!!! Yeah! I picked out all of my own fabric and this is the end result! It is sooo cute and it has all sorts of little pockets inside for things. I used it on our plane ride to Dallas and got so many compliments on it!

This is my 2nd favorite thing!!! Mollie made these little treat containers for toddlers...it's my way of "going green" and not using all of my little snack size Ziplock bags! They are so cute and Troy LOVES his! I have to make sure Troy & Colt have the same things in their containers or they want the other one! On the airplane, a lady sitting next to us saw them and said (in a thick southern drawl) "Look, that little guy has a grub box". I got the biggest kick out of that so I think I need new containers that say "Grub Box" :) Thanks, Mollie! You are so darling and our neighborhood has a little more excitement now that you are around!!!

Dallas!

We just got home from a fabulous 4 day weekend in Dallas with my family! We were there to celebrate my brother's graduation from medical school. We are so proud of him! He is about to start his residency in St. Louis at one of the best pediatric programs in the country. I like to brag about him, can you tell :) My parents completely spoiled us this weekend and we had a blast. In 4 days, we eat Tex-Mex food, Cajun food, Southern, BBQ, French, Italian, and fair food! We ate A LOT!!! That's the best part about vacation in our family! Thanks Mom & Dad for giving us the royal treatment! We love you!

Troy loved the hotel pool! We swam at least once a day---the only way to fight that humidity!

Enjoying the Texas Rangers baseball game.

Troy eating his alligator kids meal---that was his favorite meal!

The graduate! If anyone knows any hot single girls, let me know and I will hook you up with a Dr. :) Aubs....help a sista out :)

The best BBQ in Dallas, Sonny Bryans. I can remember sitting in that same seat when I was about Troy's age.

Those onion rings and BBQ sauce make my mouth water!

Kristin, CJ, Colt & Erin

Darren & sweet little Baby Brina

Yummy food at Canton Flea Market....another place I grew up going and the food did taste the exact same way! That turkey leg fed all 4 of us lunch!

A Few of my Favorite Things!

I was tagged by Jessi who had a great idea to list 5 things you have recently came across or bought that you love or has made your life better or easier. If you read this consider yourself tagged and post 5 of your favorite things.

1. Tivo. Need I say anything more? For those of you who know me, know that TV is my "time-out" time and I think every mommy needs Tivo! Some of the regulars in my box are: Lost, Grey's, Jon & Kate Plus 8, Ellen, The Hills, anything on E!..just to name a few :) You know where I am every night once the kids are in bed and my husband is downstairs working on his latest project :)

2. LoveSac. Last weekend, we totally scored at a neighbors garage sale! We bought a brand new LoveSac that hasn't even been broken in for $60...it is $400 brand new. It is everyone's favorite spot in the house, even Colts. He lounges on it with his blankie and watches cartoons.

3. Bare Escentuals Makeup. This is the best stuff in the world. I have used it for 2 years now and could never imagine using anything else! Nordstrom finally carries it so I don't have to buy it online anymore! They have the best lip glosses and eye shadows....everything in my makeup tray is BE except my Mary Kay mascara!

4. Stampin' Up. I have to 2nd Jessi & Amberly. Stamping and scrapbooking is the easiest way to find some quick fullfillment in my creative life. It is so addicting! I love sitting down for 10 minutes sometime in the day to stamp a quick card. I started selling it just so I could get the discount and now I share my discount with everyone else! Aren't I the greatest :)

5. Real Simple Magazine. I discovered this magazine after my surgery and it took me 2 days to get through one magazine. I read every single article and there was such a great variety of things. I immediately signed up for a subscription and now it's the highlight of my month when I get it! I can't bear to throw them away so I need to find something to do with them! And I just discovered online that you can get a free trial on their website. It's awesome...try it out!

Thanks, Bro!

Junior Year Prom

Sophmore Year Prom

Senior Year Prom


My brother's latest project (while he is killing time until he graduates med school next week) is scanning in old pictures of ours for a digital picture frame for my grandma. He emailed me these today and I thought it was hilarious. Ahhh, those were the days---that red dress cracks me up! I LOVED that thing and now it looks so hidious! I wonder where that dress is?!

Preschool Program

Tonight, Troy had his first Preschool Program! It was so cute! They sang the cutiest songs and did a little dance. Troy had the best teacher this year, Mrs. Lori. Troy and I will both miss the 4 hours a week that he spends there!

Boys will be boys!

So this is a total sign that I live in a house of boys! Troy was so excited to show me what his Ninja Turtles were doing....apparently going bungey jumping from my bra! I better get used to things like this!

Girls Night!

Last Thursday, a bunch of the girls from the neighborhood headed up north for a night away! My face hurt so bad by the time I got home from laughing so much! We had a yummy dinner at the Pizza Factory and did a little shopping too! I can't share anything that happened on that trip because what happens in the Honda Odyssey, stays in the Odyssey! Thanks for a fun night, girls! Can't wait to do it again!

Yeah! Spring!

We have had the CRAZIEST weather here this spring! We have gone from 80 degree weather to snow the next day. I didn't know if my bulbs would come up this year because of how crazy it's been but they made it! I just love how vibrant the colors are of these bulbs. I took my mom's advice and bought them all from brecks.com and they were shipped straight from Denmark! They are so beautiful and I can't wait to use my green thumb a little more this spring!

Tagged...again!

Troy has been tagged by Isaac Hughes so here are:

8 Things about Troy

1. He is such a "touchy-feely" kind of kid! He will sit next to you and stroke the back of your arm. If you are not sitting close enough to him, he yells "I want to touch you!" Kev and I are hoping he grows out of this a little bit so we don't have an out of control teenage boy in 10 years!

2. He hates to eat breakfast. I think most kids wake up hungry and ready to eat but Troy will not even think about eating for at least an hour after he wakes up and then, he won't touch any normal breakfast foods. Lately, he the only thing he will eat for breakfast is cold hot dogs. (gag) I guess any food is better than no food....well at least I hope so!

3. He says the sweetest prayers. This week some of the highlights have been praying that "Daniel won't be put in the lions den by the bad guys and the king" or praying that "Jesus won't have to die for us again." He is such a doll!

4. He can now write his name all by himself. We were at Kelby and Tracy's house and he wrote his name on the floor out of Lincoln Logs and said, "Look Mom! My name!" I'm sure his preschool teach taught him because I sure as heck didn't!

5. He is a very friendly kid just like his parents! He walks down the halls of church and everyone tells him hi, young and old! Our bishop brings Troy special eggs from his chickens to eat for breakfast. Kids rush to our seat after sacrament meeting to ask if they can take Troy to primary with him. He is very popular with the older kids and he loves every minute of it!

6. He is our little pack rat. He hauls crap around with him all day. I can not get him to break this habit. I have spent many, many hour searching for his favorite "pet" that he has somehow lost somewhere. Right now, we can't find Underdog, his beany baby wiener dog pet so life is temporarily over.

7. He loves butter and sour cream. We could put it on anything and he would eat it. I have finally gotten him to eat the spray butter which he thinks is pretty cool and it will hopefully prevent him from having a clogged artery at the age of 5!

8. Troy is a very special boy. That is the only word to describe him and he lives up to that word in every way. We love him so much and our family would not be the same without his sweet little spirit!

Now, Troy would like to tag Sabrina, Tag, Caden & Bronco!

Tagged!

I've been tagged by Cass so here it goes!

All you ever needed to know about my Husband

What is his name? Kevin Chesley Madsen

How long have you been together? 6 years & 2 months! We met on Valentines Day 2002.
How long did you date? Engaged after knowing each other 4 months!
How old is he? 27---we are the youngins' in my group of friends here :)
Who eats more? Sadly, we probably eat the same amount!
Who said I love you first? Renee, Kevin's mom!!! We were spending the weekend with his family and his mom told me she loved me---on the drive home, I remember saying how sad it was that his mom said it before he did! That's how he told me he loved me for the first time! Pressure!
Who is taller? Kev - 5'10
Who can sing better? Me, but Kev is pretty good singing on Rock Band.
Who is smarter? He is...I am a blonde down to the core!
Who does the laundry? Both- but since my surgery it's been all Kevin!
Who pays the bills? Kev does--anything with money management stresses me out since I am so bad at it!
Who sleeps on the right side? me - but that just changed a few months ago since my surgery.
Who mows the lawn? Kevin all the way...that is one thing I refuse to do! Even when I was little and my parents tried to pay me VERY WELL, I wouldn't do it!
Who cooks dinner? Me-not Kevin's strong point!
Who drives? Kev--I have always thought it was strange to see a woman driving with the man in the passenger seat...driving is the man's job!
Who is more stubborn? Me. Enough said :)
Who kissed who first? Well we had been hanging out for a few weeks (in college student terms, that means watching movies on the couch and hanging out at the apartment) and I told him I wouldn't make out with him until he took me out on a "real" date. After that first date, I totally planted one on him at my front door!
Who asked who out first? Like I said, he did only after I pressured him telling him I wouldn't kiss him until he did! He took me to the Olive Garden & to see the movie, John Q.
Who proposed? Kevin did---up Provo Canyon while we were fishing. He tied my ring to the fishing line and asked me to untangle his line. Ahhhhh :)
Who has more friends? Probably equal---Kev is a very "likeable" guy who gets along with alomst anyone.
Who is more sensitive? Probably me.
Who has more siblings? Kevin does-5

Who puts the kids to bed? I put Colt to bed & Kev puts Troy to bed on a normal night. Troy always requests Dad to do the night-time duties.

Who wears the pants? Hard to say, he usually lets me make the decisions on day to day stuff but when it's something big or something he cares a lot about, he always has the final say.

Love ya, babe!

~Now I get to tag: Amberly, Erin, Jen R. & Kathi~

Amber's Big Day!

Yesterday was such a wonderful day for the Madsen family! Kevin's only sister, Amberlie, got married! She and Anthony have been together over 2 years so it was a big day for them! The wedding was over looking a beautiful golf course and everything was just perfect! Amberlie looked beautiful & her dress was breathtaking! It was a very emotional day for me because Amber and I are very close and she is not my sister-in-law, she is my sister. And to see her so happy, makes me so happy. All of the sister in laws stayed together in a hotel the night before the wedding and went to dinner and got all of our nails & toes done. Then in the morning, we helped her get ready. I got to help her get her wedding dress on and that was a very special moment for me that I will never forget. She is such a special girl and Anthony is such a lucky guy to have snagged her! I know they will be happy together and we will miss them as they move away today for the summer!

The beautiful bride

Troy, the handsome ring barrier


Heather & Kayla-Amberlie's adorable best friends

Troy giving Anthony the ring

Such an adorable moment! Amber kissed his little cheek & it made me cry!

Done with his "job". He earned his new dinosaurs :) Do all parents bribe their kids like this?!

The beautiful cake

My sweet little family!