Sisters, Sisters

Most times when I see my girls being cute together, I start singing the song "Sisters, Sisters" from White Christmas. Usually just: "Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters."

I got them to be adorable for pictures in their new Christmas dresses. It's really nice to have a MIL that is practically a seamstress. She is amazing! I usually (when I actually sew clothes) go to her for the hard parts. She usually finishes my project for me... It's nice! I feel bad, but they end up better than I would have done it.

She has started making Christmas and Easter dresses. I love it. I don't have to do all the work that I don't know how to do. Perhaps I should get her to teach me more...I guess that would involve actual sewing, from an actual pattern. I do like to sew, but not generally clothes.


And, in case you are unfamiliar with "Sisters, Sisters" here it is!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! Keep the spirit of the season in your hearts throughout this day and the whole year! It isn't easy to do, but it is so worth it. There are such hard times and if we can all keep Christ in our hearts, it is so much better!

12 Days

Total Cost of 12 days of Christmas in 2008

$86,609

Wow! That's a lot of cash!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!

This morning, CM said that he was ready and excited for snow. I had already let the dog out, so I had seen that it was snowing, so I told him to look outside.

It's supposed to snow. It's nice to have snow in December. We haven't gotten a lot of it, yet this year. It looks like winter, now!

Now, we just have to hope we'll get more for Christmas!

Fall Pictures

We are having a fun fall. I have mixed feelings about the coming of winter, but I guess I can't stop it, so I'll have to embrace it!

The kids had hours of fun in the leaves. We re-raked several times, had leaf fights, leaf parties, burying in the leaves, swimming in the leaves, hide from the passing cars behind the leaves and many more games!



Not to be excluded. Doodle didn't care much for the leaves or maybe it was the grass. She also got lots of leaves when the others threw them close to her.


For Halloween we had Commander Cody (Clone Trooper), Cinderella, Winnie the Pooh and Indiana Jones!!



The spider pumpkin turned out great! Thanks Cap'n Marvelous!

Happy Fourth of July!!!

I just wanted to say Happy 4th of July, to you all!

We are planning a outside workday (well, Mister and the kids anyway. I'll be inside in the air-conditioned house!)


Then we have a BBQ with the extended family, games and all of that. Then, of course fireworks. I learned of a good spot to go where we can see them really well and not hear them. I'm thinking that Princess will just fall asleep anyway, but you never know.


So, it sounds pretty low stress. That is what I am all about right now!


P.S. I got these awesome shots from wikimedia! I haven't perfected the art of fireworks photography. I'll try again, this year, though!

Happy Anniversary to Us!!

Today is my 8th wedding anniversary. It has been a great ride! We have been through so much together that we look back and wonder how we survived. I think the only reason neither of us are staring and twitching in a corner somewhere is that we have each other.

If you want to know the whole story of how I met my hubby (online) then go read at this post! I'm just too lazy to write it again! That's the same reason why I didn't scan any wedding pictures to make this post so cute!

We have a fun date planned and a free babysitter coming over (thanks Grandma!) so it should be fun!

Talk about Tuesday

First off, IT'S SNOWING! I am a lot more excited about it than I thought I would be this year! I love it!

I haven't done a Talk About Tuesday before. I thought I'd show our Christmas decorations. I keep adding new things. And I just realized I forgot to take pictures of two my new additions this year. That's probably because I can't figure out how to put them up, yet.

I made these cute nativity blocks for the kids to play with and learn about the Savior's birth. I love them! They were easy, once we could get the paint to dry.


They usually look more like this, though.



I also made a plate with vinyl lettering on it. I won a nativity on ebay!! I have wanted one like my mom's since we got married! I kept trying to find one that was good enough, but none of them were good enough. I finally decided I wanted that one. I won it for $4.99 plus shipping and insurance!

Last year, I made the matching stockings, tree skirt and advent calendar. Thankfully, I still like them.


This is one of my favorite ornaments. Aaron's mom gave it to us the Christmas we were engaged. I think it is really sweet and fun!



Luke thinks it is a fun game to get Belle to hug him! It is so sweet! They are really good friends, lately! I hope they keep it up. It is a lot more fun for me that way!



Go over and Talk About Tuesday with Lara!!

It's My First 29th Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to me!! I have had a nice day so far and Aaron is making my cake as I type! It's carrot. I love carrot cake!

I really don't care about how old I am. I just don't want wrinkles or gray hair!!

Happy Birthday, Belle!

Today is my sweet little girl's second birthday! She is such a gift in my life! She is loving & kind. She is usually mellow and willing to please. It is so refreshing to deal with her. And then there is her Ms. Hyde. If she is tired or hungry, she can wear out several adults and cause a big raucous! She definitely wants to get her way.

She is a genius with facial expressions! She can show you exactly how she feels with her face as has especially expressive eyes!

Belle is also very smart. I know, most people say that about there children, but it is true. Since it is her birthday, I'm going to brag a little. She is learning her colors and can spell her name out loud if you write it (and she knows what it says). She recognizes some other letters as well. She tries to count, but only says 2, 3, 2, 3...It is fun to see her learning all the time.

She loves babies and LOVES to take care of her baby dolls. She also loves to play with hand held dolls and other toys. Belle loves music. She loves to dance, sing and play on the piano. Her favorite song is "Twinkle, twinkle, little star."

Belle loves to wear shoes. She almost always insists that she have some on and if she doesn't, she'll usually find some to wear. She also loves to wear her Tinkerbell shirt.

Anyway, I just wanted to write some of the things about Belle on this day. She is amazing and I love having her in our family!

4th of July Pictures

Aaron used to do a lot of Revolutionary War reenactment. He started when he was about 15 and stopped a few years ago. Recently, he has gotten back into it! So, what better time to dress up and play a period instrument, but the 4th of July??(He's the one with the black and yellow hat on the left... playing the fife.)

So, we went to a city parade and had a lot of fun. I met a woman who adopted a child from my home town in Florida...how random is that? She was super nice and let the kids sit on her tarp (right on the curb) so they could see better.

Belle really liked the free flags they gave out. She even stole one... We gave it back and the little girl's mom gave Belle a smaller one that she could handle better. She had a lot of fun waving it around.


Since the parade took place near an Air Force base, we got to have planes fly by along with the fire trucks, police cars, and Hummers with soldiers in them.



Miss Utah is also in the military!! She served some time in Afghanistan (or Iraq, I don't remember). I thought it was pretty cool that she wore her uniform with her Miss Utah sash and carried her crown in her hands! It is awesome what women can accomplish, now! I want that kind of example for my daughter. (Sorry the pic isn't better, when the camera was ready again, she was too far away.)



As always, there are a few...different entries:

This one was a casket being pulled by a motorcycle.



I don't know why this founding father was put on a fake elephant, but he also had a guy chasing after him with a shovel to make sure he didn't leave a trail... HA!



Then, there were the most eligible bachelors. I guess they weren't having any luck with the dating scene, so they entered the parade, rode motorcycles and put their phone numbers on their backs. It was pretty funny!



We then went back to Aaron's parents' house and had a BBQ. It was a nice day and we all had fun! I hope you all had a great 4th of July, too!!

Memorial Day

We had a really nice Memorial Day. Every year we go to the cemetery in Aaron's hometown. We go to the graves of his ancestors, starting with the most recent.
This year, Luke was old enough to understand and start learning who many of these people were. It was a really nice day. Belle thought it was great fun to walk on all the gravestones! We had to be really diligent to keep her from it.

After putting flowers on the graves, we went to Aaron's uncle's home (the old family home) for a barbecue. We had a really nice time visiting with family. The kids had fun playing. They were the only little ones, so they had to enlist cousins, aunts and parents to play with. There is this circle of trees in the backyard. It is really cool and makes a great play area!

Belle had a wonderful time smelling the flowers! She loves to smell any flowers! I love it when I can get her to do it for the camera!

(I had fun playing with this picture!! I think it turned out really neat! ---Even if I do say so myself!)

They also had a fountain she had fun looking at. I am amazed she didn't splash around in it!!

It was a good day!

Triumph and Trauma

Okay, so this is going to be a post full of variety. I have a lot to catch up on!

First, Aaron got the history job at his school!! We are so excited! He has been teaching special education. He loves teaching and loves the kids, but the paper work, meetings and incidents are just too much hassle and stress. So, we are really glad to know what is going on. I hate not knowing what it going to happen. It is so much easier to know where we are going to be and even better to be able to be the ones to make the decisions, now. We can decide when and where to move rather than having to wait for someone else to decided if he can have the job. We will probably stay where we are for another year and then, sell our townhouse and move closer to work! It is such a relief! We are both excited to get him ready for teaching this. We are going to make costumes and find recipes to enhance his class! It should be a fun summer!!

Second, Luke's birthday went well. We had dinner outside and that was fun, except for the wind that kept the candles from staying lit. We had to take the cake inside to let him blow out the candles!


We had a pinata and the kids had fun hitting it. It finally had to be hit, knocked down and beaten on the ground by Luke's aunt who's birthday is also coming up!


Here is a cute picture of Luke playing with some of his loot. There wasn't any candy because his cousins aren't allowed! :(


He made out pretty well! He got cool men to play with(Stormtrooper and Bionicle), a board game, Play-doh, a bat and ball, a book with read-along CD, toy armor, and a bike!!


Sunday night was finished with a birthday dance! Luke and Belle needed a bath after playing all evening with their cousins. I got them clean and Belle dressed for bed. Luke got his underwear on and then stood on my bed, looking in the mirror on the dresser chanting, "I'm five!! I'm five!! I'm five!!" It was so cute. He was dancing, doing karate moves, and posing with pretend guns!! It was a lot of fun to watch. Belle eventually joined in, too! I would have gotten pictures and video, but I thought it was a bad idea, since he was only wearing underwear!!

Third, I had a great Mother's Day!! I have been a mom for 5 years and it has been a great time!! I love it!! I got a couch!! We have been using a futon for a while, now and it was time to get rid of it. We went to DI (thrift store) to see if they had anything we liked. We found one in pretty good shape. It has some tears and we need to clean it, but I think we can use it for a while!! It is really comfy, too! I also got a book and candy from my MIL. She said it was to escape! Cute! The book is The Peacemaker. It is about how Christ's atonement works in our lives. I like it so far!

And, finally, the trauma!! Yesterday, after Belle got up from her nap, she was outside and she tripped and fell onto the concrete sidewalk! She broke her fingernail off, I think the whole thing will fall off soon! It was so sad. After I got it cleaned up, she just wanted to sit on my lap and watch a movie. Now, she won't leave a bandage on. I think I'll just have to clean it often and see how that goes. She bumps it once in a while and then she wants it wrapped. I don't know what to do about it. I hope a new nail grows back well!! Poor thing!

Update: Belle's nail fell off, but I have been able to look at it better, and there is still some at the base, so I think she'll have no trouble with a new one growing back in. She is still bumping it, but we have been able to keep it quite clean considering she still doesn't really want a bandage on it.

Happy Birthday, Little Boy !!!

Today is Luke's birthday!! He turned 5!! We had a fun day with a party at Grandma's house!! I'm tired and the pictures aren't on the computer, yet, so details will have to come later!!

I have been a mom for 5 years, today! Wow! It is hard to believe! He is such a fun little boy, too!

Happy Birthday, Little Brother!!

Today is my little brother's birthday. He is 27. (That makes me...Well, older than that!!) There is NO way that he is reading this post, but I just looked at the date and thought that I'd write just a little happy birthday for him! He is a smart and really funny guy who has made some REALLY bad choices with his life. I wish there was some way that I could reach him and help him to see that there are so many good things in life. There is so much good to be had, and he chose to bypass all of that.

I love you, Little Brother!!!

Pictures of Christmas....A little late

We had a really nice Christmas! It started out on Christmas Eve with "Santa Dennis" paying us a visit. Aaron's uncle dresses up and has great time with the little kids! Luke was his normally shy self, but he was at least willing to talk to him...
Belle freaked out! I wasn't expecting that. She is usually very social and happy with whoever is paying attention to her. I had to just hold her next to him, and she was at least not screaming.

(We left the camera at my in laws, so we didn't get pics in the morning, but we snapped a few in the afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa's house.)
Luke helped with the present giving.
(He's wearing one of the shirts we made. It has Link on it!)

Belle was being cute this morning in her Duckie t-shirt from my mom.

Happy New Year!!

I thought this toy was really cool and very fitting for New Year's!! I hope you all have a wonderful new year! Happy 2007!


Click here to get this from pimp.myYearbook.com!!

Christmas break

We have had a great Christmas break. We still have a three-day weekend left! We have gotten a lot of things cleaned and/or organized!! THANKS Aaron! He is awesome! The house is in better order than it has been in a long time. We have been able to spend a lot of time relaxing as well.

The Wii is a ton of fun! Luke and Aaron have really enjoyed the new Zelda game and we have all liked the sports game that came with it.

I have also gotten to crochet quite a bit, which makes me happy. This double-sided blanket I am doing for my niece is going to take a while. I don't think it'll be done for the shower...it is only a few weeks away. But, I do have about 2 months before she is born. That is a more attainable goal. It is turning out really cool, though.

We made cream horns last night. We have never worked with phyllo before, and so it was a really interesting experience. By the last few, Aaron had figured out how to actually do it and it was pretty easy. We'll actually be able to duplicate it. Oh, they were SO yummy!

Recovery

I woke up at a little before 2 am on Christmas morning and couldn't go back to sleep. You'd think that it would have been the kids, but no, it was me all excited for Christmas. The kids had a great day and loved their gifts! We really enjoyed watching them open and play with all their new things! Christmas is for kids, it is so much more fun when you have little ones to watch and play with on Christmas morning. Somehow, I had energy to make it through the day, until about 2 pm or so when I got pretty tired. We were at my in laws' home until about 4 or so and by the time I got home, I didn't want to nap and then not be able to go to sleep for the night.

Tuesday was a busy day where I still didn't get a chance to clean the house from all the messes of Christmas. So, this morning, we are left with a huge disaster! Aaron is home still and so between the two of us I think we can get this place livable again, soon!

I did it! I did it! I did it!

I was actually able to complete the blue blanket that I was crocheting for Luke for Christmas!! I was so excited to be finished. I had enough yarn with some to spare! I thought I might get into trouble at the end. It turned out very well and looks great. I'll post pictures after Christmas. (I have a lot of things to post after Christmas, eh?) Even though I couldn't hide the fact that I was crocheting a blanket for him, I still wrapped it and put it under the tree for Luke to open in the morning.

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!