What do I look like?

Last night Kassidy was laying on her stomach watching stuff on the computer. Kori stepped onto Kassidy's back and Kassidy yelled out, "Kori, I am not a stool!" Kathryn and I have never said that before. It is amazing to me that at 3 she can associate that people step on stools, and since she was getting stepped on she felt like she was being used as a stool. I underestimate her all the time. She always blows me away when she makes such intelligent comments.

Keith

Picnic

Keith asked me yesterday if I had done anything fun with the kids while he's in Houston and I said no. Feeling guilty today I took the kids shopping to Wal-mart and while at Wal-mart I was thinking about what I could do for cheap that would be fun too. The idea came to me, A picnic at the park down the street from our house. I told Kassidy I was going to get McDonald's and then drop the cold groceries off at the house and then we would go on a picnic to the park. Kassidy proceded to tell me that in order to have a picnic we needed a blanket and a basket. I don't know where she learns this stuff, but I told her I would get a blanket out of the house. We went to the park and I set out the blanket and got the kids out of the car. We started to eat and then Kassidy said "This is not a real picnic because we don't have a basket". I told her we didn't have a basket and she said we need to get one so we can have a REAL picnic. I told her we'll have to get one before we go on our next picnic and that satisfied her for now. Our kids are so smart, I have never taught her about picnics but she learned it from somewhere and I got a good and much needed laugh out of it.

The love of my Life

This week Keith went to spend time with his family in his hometown. I could tell he was home sick so I told him to go ahead that I would be fine. There are very few times anything Keith does gets on my nerves, although in those times which many of us have you don't ever think what if they were not here tomorrow. This week has given me a new perspective on what Thanksgiving really is. I probably don't tell Keith enough how much I love him, appreciate him, want to be near him every second of the day, can't wait to sleep next to him at night. I wondered while he's away does he think I don't miss him or did I tell him enough while he was here that it carried over into his trip. I could not live my life without Keith, he is the reason I'm at this point in my life. When making the decision to go to school he told me that he knew I could do it. I worried about me not working for a while and he told me we would get through it and be better off once I'm finished. Keith is always there by my side supporting me and giving me confidence in myself. Keith is and always will be my Best Friend. I didn't know what that word meant till I met him and I thank God everyday for our pushy friends forcing us to attend a young singles activity one day years ago. Its hard to think of any time in my life and remember Keith not being there, since the day we met we have been attached in a way I can't explain. I feel I knew him in the pre-existence and we were destined to be at this point in our lives together. Thank you Keith for showing me what true friends can be I was not given that opportunity in my youth to have close friends,we always knew we would just be moving. Thank you.

Jesus Loves Me

We have been talking to Kassidy a lot about Christmas. Kathryn asked Kassidy if she knew why we celebrated Christmas. Kassidy replied, "Um no." Kathryn explained to her that we do it for Jesus to celebrate his birthday. Kassidy said, "because Jesus loves me, and he wants me to have presents!" This reminds me of the many blessings we receive when we live the teachings of Jesus. Jesus truly does love us and wants us to have presents. As long as we do what is right we will all be given these presents to help us have fuller happier lives. One of these presents is being able to return to His presence if we live the commandments. Children are so wise without even realizing it. My kids teach me life lessons every day.

Keith

My Treat

Today Kori pooped in the potty. It is really the second time, but we want to make a big deal out of it to encourage her to want to go more. It had been a while since she had done it last, and we haven't really been pushing her to be potty trained because she is still only one and a half years old. We were so excited for her and we all clapped. Even Kassidy was telling her good job and cheering. Then we decided to give Kori a piece of candy as a reward. This is also what we did with Kassidy when she was potty training. Well Kassidy wanted a piece of candy too so she told Kathryn, "I pooped last year." just to get the reward. It was so funny. She poops everyday, but she remembers the time when she got candy just for doin' her business and wants to go back to that. I think all of us should get candy every time we poop. Or, ice cream sundaes even.

Keith

What's 'er Butt?

Kassidy made up a new saying and dance the other day. Kathryn and I still don't know why or how she came up with it. She turns around with her back toward you, then she starts shaking it back and forth. Then she asks "what's-a-my-butt?" and then answers her own question by naming any inanimate object like "It's a toothbrush, or It's a vacuum." She thinks it is so funny. 1 and 1/2 year old Kori wants to be just like big sis, so she stands right next to her shaking her butt too and saying "butt, butt" over and over again. It may sound strange, but it is so cute and hilarious to see them doing it.

Keith

It's Awkward

The other morning while Kathryn was at school, the girls told me they were hungry. I looked in our bare pantry to see if I could muster up something for them to eat. We really did not have much of anything in there seeing as how we are trying to support a family of 5 on less than 2000 dollars a month. Our house payment is half that. Anyway, all I could find were some raisins that someone had given us. No one in our family eats raisins. I tried to give them to Kassidy and she said, "No they are too awkward." I then gave them to Kori who will eat cardboard and dirt if you let her. She started to eat them, and then tried to offer some to Kassidy again. Kassidy rejected the offer a second time by telling Kori, "No, They are not too tasty to me." Then later I asked Kassidy what she thought of the raisins and why she did not want any. She told me she thought they were weird.

Keith

Backseat Driver

The other day I was trying to pull out of a parking lot onto a busy street. Kathryn and the kids were in the car with me. I could not find any gaps in the traffic so that I could pull all the way to the middle lane like I needed to. Finally there was a small gap to where I was going to have the chance to make it. Kathryn told me, "Go after that car." Then 3 year old Kassidy yells out from the back seat, "Just go Dude!" It was so funny. I think it is because if I am stuck behind someone really slow, or behind someone that has had many chances to go and doesn't take them, then I say "Just go Dude!" She was just mimmicking her father.

Keith

School's Cool!!!

This month we went to vote for our new president. In our area we have to go to the elementary school to vote. We told Kassidy that we were going to go vote at the school. She said, "I wanna go to school and vote." I knew she did not know what that meant. It wasn't until we went to leave the school after voting when I realized what she thought it meant. Kassidy burst into tears. Huge Crocodile tears. Her mother and I asked what was wrong and she said, "I want to stay at school with my friends and draw pictures." We told her that she would get to start school next year. She was so devastated. She really wanted to go to school right then, because she tells us she wants to learn. She is extremely smart compared to most 3-year-olds. I am so proud of all her accomplishments at such a young age, and admire her natural desire to learn everything she can.

Keith

What's In A Name?

Recently, I have been trying to get the kids used to their full names and the full names of their siblings. I randomly use their full names when I talk to them so that they know that they have a first, middle, and last name. This is because we call Korinne "Kori" and we call Harris by his middle name, so when they go to places like nursery at church, or the doctor, or when they start school, people always refer to them by their full first names. The other day I was leaving for work and I said "Bye Kassidy Moriah Potter, Bye Korinne Kay Potter, Bye Reed Harris Potter." Then Kassidy yelled back, "Bye Reed Daddy Potter." It was so funny.

Keith

How I Met Your Mother

I will never forget the day I met Kathryn. Little did I know, that on that blessed day, the rest of my life would never be the same. I have had the best life since she came into it. It was September of 2000. I had just moved back to Houston from Arizona and had nothing to do. My ex-girlfriend called me up because she was the young single adult president and she wanted me to go to a singles activity at the home of one of the other singles. Since I was not actively practicing the Mormon religion, and also since we were no longer dating, I really did not want to go. I tried everything to get out of going, yet some how she convinced me to go anyway. Sometimes persistence can be really annoying. On the other hand, however, it was because of not only my ex-girlfriend's persistence, but Kathryn's as well that we ended up being together forever. I drove to the activity and parked on the street right behind a car with Utah plates and a UK (University of Kentucky) sticker in the window. Since I had served my mission in Kentucky and had many companions and friends from Utah, I was really interested in meeting the person from Utah who was so proudly displaying UK. I figured we would have a lot to talk about. As soon as I got into the activity, I immediately asked whose car it was and it ended up being Kathryn's. She has also just moved back to Houston from Utah. The UK sticker was because her dad had gone to school there, and they lived there for several years. We spent the entire night talking to each other and basically ignoring everyone else that was there. After that night, Kathryn continued calling me to go out, or showing up to my work to say hi. It is all because of her persistence that we stayed friends. It is funny how fate, or destiny, or God (whatever you want to call it) works. So many things had to happen exactly right for us to have met. If I had not given in to my ex-girlfriend, I would have never been at that activity. If Kathryn's dad had not gone to UK, I would not have been inspired to ask who's car it was. If I had not served a mission, or had gone somewhere besides Kentucky, I would not have even cared about the UK sticker. We have since discovered about a million things that help connect me and Kathryn. There are too many to list. Without all these little things, we would not be together, and have our 3 amazing children. I am so grateful to God for that day in my life. I have been greatly blessed since Kathryn came into my life. I can not imagine where I would have ended up if I had not met her. Together, we have come so far. I love her more than any other person on the planet, and she is one of the only people who doesn't drive me absolutely insane, ever.

Keith

What's the point?

To me, the purpose of this blog is for my kids future reference. I want them to be able to go back and read about the early days of our family. I want them to have stories about the adorable or intelligent things they did when they were small. Most importantly, though, I want them to know about me and their mother. You never know how long you will dwell on this Earth, and I want them to know the many things important to me about how to have a happy life. I want them to know how I feel on Political issues, moral issues, and just life in general. I also want them to hear stories about how I learned these valuable things and know why I feel the way I do. All my blogs will be addressed to them. Every blog will be things I want them to know that I feel are important. Hope the rest of you enjoy them as well.

Keith

The Movies

The kids favorite movie that they watch all the time is Madagascar, I mean they watch it alot. One day a while back they saw the previews for Madagascar 2 and that day made my life hell. I have to watch that trailer online at least once a day for an hour over and over and over. So we finally went and watched it today. The kids loved it, even Harris watched for a while. Kori started shaking her butt back and forth when the "Move It" song came on and saying "Move It" loudly with the music. Kassidy was just glued to the movie the whole time only pausing for little moments to take a sip of drink or get a new handful of popcorn and never taking her eyes off the screen. They laughed We laughed it was the most fun we've had together in a while doing normal things that other families do. I can't say when the last time I saw a movie in the theater was but we definitely made a good choice tonight. Its amazing that once you have kids you don't do things anymore because you want to but they end up being enjoyable because of your kids. I always have fun when our kids have fun.

Kassidy

So we have been talking with Kassidy about christmas and told her we could sit down and write a letter to Santa and mail it to him. I came home today and Kassidy had gotten out the crayons and decided to write the letter to Santa by herself. She showed me the paper and had written the letter "O" over and over covering the whole page, she said "I wrote a letter to Santa to mail to him for christmas" I did not realize she would take what I said so literally. She wrote the letter "O" to santa in her mind writing a letter to Santa meant writing one letter of the alphabet over and over and mailing it to him. It was the cutest thing ever and she was so proud of her "letter" to Santa and how excited Santa was going to be when he gets her "letter" for christmas. Kids are so smart. I forget sometimes that if I don't explain things well enough she will come up with her own explanation that makes sense to her. I love these little moments that remind me why I had kids.

It's a Hard knock life for us. Sometimes I feel like no matter what I do I am still drowning. Do you ever get that feeling? I was sitting in school, my most boring class ever, pharmacy calculations. While I should be paying attention because a mistake in math would kill my patient I simply start thinking of how much school I still have left. Wow I've done 7 months already but I still have 2 and a half years left. How long can my family survive me going to school? How long can they starve? How long can I keep my self-esteem going? I then realized I need a break to re-evaluate my worth and why I'm sitting in this very boring class right now. 6 more weeks and then I will be able to see my parents and that will hopefully give me the boost I need to go on. It doesn't help your self worth when you apply for every job and don't recieve any responses. School keeps delaying my CNA classes so until I get that I can't really work anywhere worth while. Ever since I was a young woman I knew medicine was what I was meant to do, but at what price does it become too much. I can't give up, its not in my blood but it is extremely difficult. I feel the guilt of not spending time with my children like I feel I should, I feel like I neglect my husband, and my housework suffers greatly. Meanwhile I don't have a job so our finances become so stretched at times I don't know how we are making it. I know that Satan wants me to feel worthless, he wants me to give up, he wants me to fall away. I won't give him that satisfaction. I am ready for this downer day to be over.

All the kids and us on Halloween 2008
We definantely had
an awesome time.

I am new at this so you'll have to bear with me while I get all the kinks out. I will hopefully writing alot about our new adventures in life. With three kids I'm sure we will have alot of them.