ZooZooZoo

We had a great time at the zoo last Saturday!  We got in free because we did the Zoo's "Wildlife Stampede" 5K right before it.  And I got into the 5K free because I did advertising for them on UtahRunningGuide.com and mentioned their event on my last KSL Studio 5 stint.  It was a very good day :)  

Scrabble Jr is Serious Business

Grandpa's 94th

We enjoyed trekking down to Spanish Fork for grandpa's birthday party! He's still the most active, positive, kind, wise old guy out there. I hope Brian turns out like Gpa McKell. And I hope I do too!

Indecisiveness led to Jon Schmidt

I've always wanted to go to a Jon Schmidt concert. He's the best pianist on the planet. So I felt like the luckiest girl on the planet when I went out for an evening run and happened upon a Jon Schmidt concert!
So awesome! I've never seen anyone stand up and dance around like crazy while playing incredible piano music combining songs like Phantom of the Opera+Don't Worry Be Happy.
Brian eventually called, worried cuz I had been out "running" so long....I think he was jealous when I told him where I really was, cuz he didn't offer to come pick me up. So I had to run home. But it's ok. I had great songs stuck in my head the whole way.

TV tshirt

It's 1am and I've just finished making my shirt to wear for my KSL Studio5 11am television appearance today. I'd say television debut, but that would be entirely inaccurate considering recent events. How do these things happen to me?! I don't especially WANT to be on TV, as I'm just reminded how round my face is and how often I stumble over my words. Maybe I can blame it on 7th child syndrome - seeking after media attention. Explain that one, Dr. Mom! :) So.... have you ever done iron-on transfers to make shirts? It's SO EASY and fun!! I've never considered myself a craft person, but I could REALLY get into this!

Totally inexpensive too. Just $1 for the transfer paper, and of course the tshirt and printer ink costs. Family - don't be surprised if you receive custom tshirt gifts from me for every holiday/birthday from now on.

Dr. Courtney

Anything to keep them happy

A favorite game of the McKell children is to jump from the trunk to a pile of moving boxes. A little WT maybe, but they like it, it gets their energy out, and makes use of the boxes we collected for the move we had planned next month, which is no longer going to happen. Kinda bummed, kinda relieved. It's a longish story, but basically some plans fell through when our application to rent a big cute house in Bountiful got rejected due to Brian failing his background check. Two bankruptcies and some criminal history showed up. Hmmm. Naughty Brian. Of course this was all cleared up when the dumbum landlord figured out she misspelled his name, but it was too late- they bailed on us and made other plans. Soooo...we stay for awhile. I dream of my kids running around a larger home and yard, but that will have to wait I guess. And these boxes will continue their existence as odd entertainment.

Babywearers in training

Twin snuggling

Courtney's all about the huggy snuggly stuff.
Bennett...
Notsomuch.

Daddy & Girls

Just a little heartwarming. 

"Rescue us, Prince Bennett!"

Their latest imagination game. The girls are the damsels in distress, and Prince Bennett has to lift them up to safety. Sometimes he's even required to kiss them.

Related story: Bennett took off his shoes in these ivies and we couldn't find them. Actually, all the kids took off their shoes. Why in the world can't they ever just keep them on?! This is a daily battle. So we were searching everywhere for the shoes, and came across a toy ball thing. Bennett grabbed it and started walking away (the kid is obsessed with balls) and Brianna ran after him yelling, "NO! Bennett, you can't take that! What if a small child returns looking for their ball and can't find it, they'd be so sad! Leave it here!" Bennett was of course entirely confused, as he's quite sure everything in the world belongs to him. But I was just a little proud of my Brianna, thinking of others. Or maybe she just delighted in depriving Bennett of a toy. She's like that sometimes...

Out of Brianna's Mouth Lately

-"We need to un-do what we've did!"

-"No mommy, I can't eat anymore. I'm trying to listen to my body."

-"Courtney, you're pretty in your own way."

-" If you get lonely and need a kid to sleep with you, I'm available"

- "My toot was like a spit! But not at you, at the ceiling."

- "Quick, Courtney, come with me to the Evergreen Forest, where I can protect you!"

- "My tummy NEEDS a ketchup and bread sandwich!"

-"If you don't read me a story... I'm going to get ANGRY!"

 -"Mom, you're like the brightest star twinkling in the sky shining so brightly."

- "Come with me Courtney. Let's make you look FABULOUS!"

-"One time when I was watching Snow White I realized I didn't know how to sleep so I need you to scratch my back and sing me a lullaby so I can fall asleep."

- "Mom, you're like the brightest star twinkling in the sky shining so brightly"

Just hanging around

If Courtney had Down Syndrome....

She might look something like this!

She must be allergic to whatever bug bit her right on her upper nose.
Sad looking, I know, but she's acting totally normal.  So it just looks odd!

My 3 minutes of fame

It must have been a slow news day last week, because 3 news stations thought a little lost-and-found story was evening news material!

Here's the feature on Fox news.    Here's KUTV's take on it.     And KSL's.  

Those links will die off eventually, so I recorded one (very LQ style, just put my video camera up to the screen) and put a copy on YouTube.  Not self-aggrandizement here - no one watches the dozens of videos I put on YouTube  (except that bizarre situation where I suddenly got 78K+ views on a cute video of Brianna going down the stairs).  I just have to keep copies of this, because Brianna has been asking to be on TV ever since she saw me on TV. So I've told her she either has to do something really BAD, or really GOOD.  But doing something GOOD is a better option, because doing something BAD will get her on tv AND into jail, where the food is really crappy and they don't even give you paper to write letters. Or so I've heard.

I have to "thank" my friend Sally Wright for tattling on me.  Since I'm not busy or anything.  Plenty of time to deal with the paparazzi hounding me. 
:)
Lessons learned from being on TV:   SUCK it in.  Do something different with my hair. Somehow hide the double chin. PRACTICE what I say first so I don't stumble all over myself.  Should've found a way to tie Utah Running Guide into this so I could've reeled in more LIKES on my FB Page!  Sheesh.  Wasted opportunity. 

Insider scoop on the lost camera story:  there's one major detail I couldn't tell the news people. I didn't even tell Brandy, the girl whose camera I found and returned.  It involves exactly where/how I found her camera.  Brian doesn't want me telling too many people. But I'll happily tell you if you want to know, because I think it's funny  :)