HaPpy biRThdAY, PrEStoN!!

Preston turns 1 today! I cannot believe it was a year ago when made his grand appearance! He has grown up so much this past year!Less than 24 hours before I had Preston.

What a chubby baby!

He's sleeping? What? He NEVER sleeps! (Very colicky baby!)

Our Story (It's LONG!)

I know people are always curious about "how you met." I know I am. I like to here the story.

Today is mine and Ben's 5 year anniversary! Five years ago, I never would have thought that time would fly by so fast. So for all of you who don't know how Ben and I met, you are in for an earful. :) Maybe you should go pop some popcorn and grab a soda. I'm being serious. I am known to be very long winded!

The summer after I graduated high school, I flew out here to Virginia Beach to stay with my sister Peggy and her kids. Peggy's husband was on a deployment, and was excited to have some help. We spent the summer at the beach, the water park, or the local pool. It was probably the best summer I have ever had. I got a job working at Sonic Drive-In. I was a car-hop. I even got a pair of rollerblades to make it more official. I'm not sure if car hops still get tipped as well, but I averaged around $75 a night! Not bad for my first job.

When the summer came to an end, I had to make the decision to either 1. Go to Utah to massage school which cost $10,000 , pay for an apartment to stay in, pay bills, ect. Or 2. Peggy offered to let me stay at her house, continue to drive her husband's car, (he was still on deployment), live there free of charge, she would continue to buy my groceries, and go massage therapy school for only $2,000. Really, it wasn't that hard of a decision, but I did pray about it, and knew that I as supposed to be in Virginia! Besides, we pretty much had been living at the beach! (When I had to work, I would go to the beach in the morning, shower there, and go straight to work!)

I started dating a guy around Labor day. He was much much older than me. (Ummm, by about 10 years!) We were getting to the point in our relationship that the next step would be marriage. Apparently, he wasn't ready, and broke up with me right before Thanksgiving. I was devastated. I cried for an ENTIRE week! No joke. By Saturday I had had enough of crying and wallering in my own self pity, that I decided to take Peggy's advice (she had been nagging me for almost a month) and to go to her ward and meet a recently returned missionary who was "very very cute." I remember walking into the chapel that morning, not knowing who I was looking for, or even what to expect. And there he was.

Ben told me later that before sacrament meeting, one of his friends came up to him and asked him if he wanted to go to the single's branch. Ben, who was entirely against the single's branch, told him "no." He asked again, and Ben said, "no." Still trying to get him to go (you know that's where all the girls are, not in the home ward), Ben once again said no, and his friend turned to leave. Ben almost called after him to say that he would go, but he got a firm impression that he needed to stay. (If he would have gone to the single's branch that day, I wouldn't have met him. And I would have gone back to the SB the next sunday. Ben would have gone to the SB and hated it, and been back in the home ward the next sunday. We would have missed eachother and probably wouldn't have met!)

Ben had just returned home from serving his mission in Arizona. He is from Virginia Beach, born and raised. All his family is from Virginia Beach. And I am sure we will always live in Virginia Beach! :)

So, I saw Ben right before sacrament meeting and was trying to devise a plan to talk to him some how. I was watching my niece, Emily, so Peggy could do her calling, and I wasn't able to go to sunday school. I was so afraid I would miss him. After church, I was making my way down the hall and there he was again. Eeek! Here was my chance to talk to him. (BTW, I was very shy, and not very forward. But, I had to make an impression. He was too cute to pass up!) I think my first words to him were "Hey, did you know an Elder Hatch?" How cheesy is that? But it opened up a conversation, and I ended up inviting him to the 1st Presidency Christmas Devotional that night at the Stake Center. He said he would come, and I was walking on clouds! :) All the way home I couldn't stop smiling. I couldn't believe I could be so happy!

That night at the Devotional, I kept waiting for him to come. I honestly couldn't remember what he looked like! Every time someone came in the door I kept looking to see if it was him or not. Was he going to ditch me? Nope! He showed up and came and sat by me. Afterwards, I invited him to my house for "birthday cake" for my friend. He said he would come!

Pretty much after that, we saw eachother every day. The middle of December I had knee surgery, and he took care of me. (Along with Peggy and my mom!) After work he would come by and see me. By Christmas I thought I would get a ring. Nope! By New Year's? Nope! Valentines' Day? Nope! My birthday? Nope! Finally, on February 28th he proposed. At Walmart. (I was working there at the time.) We had to decide on a date. Spring break in April was too soon. (That's when my mom could get off.) May was too soon. So we picked June. June 1st was a Sunday. Temple closed. Same with Monday. So, we picked June 3rd.

We were married in the Washington DC temple. It was a very rainy day. But PERFECT! We only got one picture taken in front of the temple. (Unfortuantly the scan is terrible, but the temple IS in the back ground!

I never knew that I could have married such a wonderful man. He is such a strength to me. He is so wonderful to me. And he puts up with me! How could I get so lucky?

We went on our honeymoon right after the wedding, and came back for the reception on Saturday. It was so nice doing it that way! I would highly recommend it!
My mother-in-law, Donna made my cake. Along with her sister, Cindy, and their mom, they made the food. And everything else. And organized everything. Ester, my sister-in-law did all the flowers and probably more things that made the night perfect. They did a beautiful job.

5 years later. Here we are. Family of 4. Happy, most of the time. And enjoying life, one day at a time! :)

so much to do, so little time! :)

Clean floors
Mow grass
Change shower curtain
Get bed for the girls
Drop off items to Goodwill
Wash laundry
Grocery shopping
Clean fridge
Organize shed

This was our "to do" list this weekend. We had everything done yesterday, (plus some), except getting a bed for Maura and Emily. I got that done after church today, so we are good to go! :) The girls fly in tonight after a grueling flight from Japan. But, we are SOOOO excited for them to get here!

I just got BOTH boys in bed. They are now SHARING a room! Call me crazy, but it had to be done. Preston is in the crib still, Parker in his big-boy bed. They "talked" for about 15 minutes before falling asleep. It was driving me crazy, but I guess at least they weren't fighting, and both were staying in their beds! :)

Parker knows his ABC's! Check it out.... (make sure you pause the music at the bottom of the page!)

My favorite part is when he says "L M N O P". He says "O O O O P". He is is just growing up too stinkin fast!

i DO love my boys!

I really love my boys. I guess I am more frustrated at myself, and my own frustrations at them, than I am at them. They make me so happy, and yet at the same time, drive me cRazY! Will there ever come a point that I can make it through a day without wanting to go climb into a hole and call it quits?

I guess when all is said and done, I wouldn't change anything for the world. Especially Parker and Preston. I love their little personalities. I love who they are. And I love being their mother. They do (for the most part) make me very happy. :)

On a side note, my sister-in-law, Ester, got me the MOST adorable corn holders and butter holder. Who would have thought there was such a thing as butter holders? How CUTE is that?

I'm DONE!!

I'm done, I'm done, I'm done. I am finished. I throw in the towel. I'm done.
Today has been one of those days, and I am DONE! The boys are driving me crazy. They keep fighting, they keep whining, they keep crying. They can't play together. They can't not be in the same room together. They have to play with whatever the other one has. They aren't listening to me. (Are you listening to me? Please...somebody LISTEN to me.) Parker broke his tent. He had the most adorable tent that went on his bed, and he broke it. I threw it outside. That was it. I have had it! I'm done. I'm done! I'm done! I'm done!

Oh well. Gotta go finish dinner.

catch-up

So, today I heard somebody pronounce ketchup "catch-up." Is that how most people pronounce it? Where is the "A" in ketchup? It sounded so funny to me. I guess it sounded as funny as when people call soda , "pop" or creek, "crick." Maybe I have been living on the east coast too long!


But, right now, I am going to play a little bit of catch-up. I have not been keeping up to date on things. (Bad, Kate! Bad!)

1. Ben is off all week! Yeah! His schedule is where he works for 3 days, 24 hours at a time, with 24 hours off between each shift. And then he is off for 4 days. He is taking off the first day of his next rotation, so he is off starting yesterday and going back to work on Sunday. I can't complain that I never see my husband.

2. I went to the scrapbooking store today, aka "heaven". I brought Preston with me, and he managed to dump over the entire bin of blue buttons. (When I got home, I found buttons that had fallen in my rolled up capris! Oops!) I got some adorable paper to make the decorations and invitations to Preston's 1st birthday party. Now it's time to get to work!

3. I made bread today. You heard me right! I made bread! From SCRATCH! :) Thank you, Beth, for the recipe! I think it turned out pretty good for my first attempt! Kinda lopsided, but good! :)As you can see, there is only one loaf of bread, which means we almost already ate the other loaf!

4. We had an enrichment activity tonight. I learned how to make lumpia and pancit! The sister did such an amazing job, (she was so nervous, and she shouldn't have been!) and I think I can attempt making these dishes at home now, and I am not even scared!

5. When I got home from enrichment, the dinner table was cleared off, the dishes were done, the toys in the living room were picked up, the bathroom was straightened up, and THE KIDS WERE IN BED ASLEEP! Did I hire a babysitter!?!? Nope! My wonderful husband did it! I don't know how he managed it, but he did! So amazing! Thank you, Ben, you are the ABSOLUTE best!

6. I got a pedicure yesterday! Very nice treat! I think we moms deserve one once a month! Enough said!

7. I am getting ready for my two nieces to come out and stay with me for the summer. I cannot begin to say how excited I am! I AM SO EXCITED! It is exactly what I need to get out of the doldrums! Just about another week and a half to go! :) Yeah!

8.I found this awesome website that has FREE fonts. And cute ones, at that ! I love fonts that look handwritten, because I HATE my handwriting, and this site is AWESOME! So, if anybody else has cool sites like this, let me know! :)

9.Preston and Parker are getting along a lot more! But, if you ever call and talk to me on the phone, it would not appear that way! They both vie for my attention at that point! I guess tonight as Ben was watching them, they were playing so well together that he started to wash the dishes. They were just playing together, chasing eachother around. They got quite for a while, so Ben went to check on them. Not in Parker's room. Not in Preston's room. Not in the living room. Where could they be? Then Ben heard Preston make a noise, it was coming from our closet. Ben goes into our room, the sliding closet doors are shut, and they are both in there. Parker starts to slide the door open, so Ben holds the door so he can't open it. Parker tries harder to no avail, and says, "Uhh Ohh, Preston." (Meaning, I think we are stuck!) Preston starts to cry a little bit, and Ben lets go of the door. Parker slides it open and sees Ben and says, "Daa--dddyyy!"
What silly boys. All of them! I live with a bunch of silly boys. But I LOVE them so much!

Well, I think it is almost bed time. I got a new magazine in the mail, maybe I will go relax on the couch and read for a little bit. :) Have a good night, everyone!

I am such a bum!

1. I haven't felt like blogging.

2. I haven't felt like getting the computer at all.

3. I haven't felt like doing much of anything.

4. I didn't even wish my Mom a Happy Mother's Day. (And it's almost a week later!)

So, right now, I (1.)feel like doing something, (2.) am on the computer,(3.)blogging, and (4.)I am going to wish my Mom a Happy Mother's Day! :)

My mom is pretty much the coolest mom, ever! She is one of the strongest women I know, and as I get older, and now have children of my own, I am in awe of how she raised 10 children. I love my mom very much, and am glad that I get to be one of her daughters. I love you mom! :) I miss you so much, but am very happy that you are serving a mission!

Because of her, here we are:

Much needed Vacation

This past week we packed up the car and headed to the mountains. It was a long six hour journey across Virginia. The boys did very well in the van, and it was so nice to get up there and get some fresh air. The boys loved playing outside, and now that we are back, all they want to do is play outside. Preston included. But, since we have gotten back, it has been very very rainy and yucky, so we have been cramped in the house! Literally!!

All Parker wanted to do was drive the golf cart. Here is his hair blowing as we are going for a drive. He could just sit on the golf cart all day. Or lawn mower. Or tractor. Such a boy!

Preston and Papaw. Preston has such a chubby face!

Preston took a moment to do a photo shoot! What a ham! :)

Ben roasting a marshmallows. He has never eaten S'mores before! (I know, I can't believe it either!) And, he still hasn't. But, I did teach him how to roast a marshmallows right! Gooey on the inside, crispy on the outside! Yummy!

My boys NEVER fall asleep in the car! They must have gotten TOO much fresh air! :)

Preston's first time at Glenny's. Yummy! Glenny's is a diner/cafe that makes THE best biscuits and gravy. What out, Diner's Drive In's and Dives! :) Glenny's got it going on!

Preston liked the gravy, and the yummy hotcakes.

Parker is making a VERY silly face. He is such a NUT!

We went fishing, and Parker LOVED crossing over the creek on the bridge!

Ben fishing and Parker playing with the worms. Isn't it beautiful up there?

The ONE fish that Ben caught! It's a keeper! Just kidding!!

It was a lot of fun getting away for a couple of days. I am so exhausted now that we have gotten back. Maybe I feel like I am still on vacation! :) Maybe I need to still be on vacation! :)

Happy May Day!

I was reading Beth's blog earlier, and I had to smile. I CANNOT believe they have that much snow there on the 1st of May! One of the many reasons why I am happy to live here in Virginia Beach! :)

This morning I went to our book club meeting. Only, I didn't read the book! It was fun to get away and have some adult conversation, and maybe when I do get the time to read it, I will have some more insight into it! (I did, however, watch the A&E version, and throughly enjoyed it.) Our next book is Jane Eyre, and I am really excited to read it again. I haven't read it since high school. And, I promise, I will actually read this one!

I got my swimsuit in the mail today. I am so excited. I love Shade Clothing, and I think the swimsuit is pretty cute! Eek, swimsuit season!! Not sure if I am ready!

After naps, I told Parker we could go outside and eat ice pops. So, this is how we spent our 1st day of May in Virginia:

Ben couldn't believe when he came home and saw two boys in diapers on the from lawn. Oh well, they were having fun!