January 27th, 2010

Last Saturday I took the girls to the bridal fair up here in Logan. I thought it'd be a fun "girls date" and they would have fun seeing the fashion show with all the dresses. Well, I was right. We had a great time together and best part.... it was free. We got there and looked around at the different booths and at just about every booth they had chocolate, a sucker, cake samples, ice cream, eclaires... just about everything. We ran into a lady from our ward and she told us they had the upstair catered for samples as well, so we went up there and had crackers, cheese, grapes, sandwhiches, delicious chocolate goodies, coconut dipped in chocolate and wedding cake. Mmmmmmmmmmm! Then we hit the wedding dress fashion show. They were so much fun to be with. I loved it and so did they!

Our sweet Elizabeth turned 7 on Monday. It was a crazy day. Wee-Mama, Papa John and Caroline (my Caroline) went to lunch at her school with her. After school she had a piano party until 5:30, then we ate dinner and opened presents. Every Sunday she's been saying she wants the Holy Bible, I think because her friend has it, but whatever. So we got her a set with her name embossed on them. She was pretty excited about that. It's been a great 7 years with this girlie and we sure love her!

For me

I love pictures (as we already know) and I love seeing pictures and the way people change over the years, especially my kids. But I like seeing how I've changed too and looking back over the years, so today, since I actually straightened my hair, I thought I'd go take some pictures of myself. I think every Mom and woman needs a good picture of themselves that makes them feel pretty. Now, I'm not saying all these make me feel pretty, but it was kind of fun. I'm not a hat girl, but something happens when you put on a hat, it can give you a different personality, or am I just weird? Like a sports hat makes me feel more athletic and guy-ish, or a cowboy hat make me feel like a cowgirl. Am I the only one? Anyway, this hat was fun to play with. It made me feel stylish and girlie even if it looks silly on me. I think I need to get some more hats!

Amen!

How could you get mad at a face like this?! So cute!

18 months and ice skating

Well today marks 18 months for miss Isabelle. It's kind of crazy 'cause she seems so little to me. She's such a sweetie though and I love seeing her learning and growing. She basically only says "daddy" still. We almost got mama but she's not giving me that kind of satisfaction too soon I guess. We still need to get her off the passy. I think tomorrow is the day... after the shots of course. I can't believe she's still on it. None of our kids lasted past 4 months. It's been nice though, until now... the breaking off stage.

The girls have been wanting to go ice skating, heck, it seems like they've been wanting to do everything lately!!! But there's a park that floods out the area and makes an outdoor skating rink, so we took them there today. The skates were horribly dull so I could barely even skate. Luckily I had the stroller to keep me balanced. I don't know how the others managed. Bri says he can't even remember not being able to skate. Lame! But, I did catch him skating backwards, so he has got some skill. :) I'd say it was fun, but I'm not so sure it was. Caroline had an okay time, Liz didn't until she was in her boots on the ice.

Thought this was a cute picture. Love this girl!

The temple was in the background which was pretty. Brian was even able to skate holding Isa. I told him he must have been born wearing skates. :)

I love pictures!

I love pictures! I love them! There are so many great things about them. Capturing expressions, laughter, joy, personality. Capturing a moment you don't want to forget. I love seeing colors, clarity and a billion other things. I love this picture. I know it's not all professionally set up or no matching clothes and such, but I LOVE it! Mom and Dad you look great! I think everyone looks good in this picture.

And just as much.... this one! I love how Bella is covering her eyes and I think the funniest is .... Greg. I have to laugh out loud about that one. I don't know if he knew we were doing funny faces or not so it makes me laugh even more! Mom and Dad you look great!

We had a great time with the fam for New Year's. Caroline (Big Caroline as we call her) put together a game tournament. Each couple was in charge of a game, treat and prize. We did Wii bowling for ours, then there was a race in  Perfection (the game), nerf darts and foosball and Greg's personal favorite... Time's UP. Acutally, not really his favorite. It was good times.

Isabelle got this super cute dress for Christmas and I had to get a picture of her in it. She is growing up, yet not really getting any bigger. She seems to petite to me. Her cousin who is 7 months younger is taller and heavier. She's like our little pixie doll.

After dinner we had some cupcakes from a friend. I love her smile, her eyes and the messy face. Can you ever get enough pictures of that?!

Today she grabbed a dress up and I put it on her. I can't believe that I've only put a dress up on her one other time and that's when she got one from WeeMama for her bday. Elizabeth lived in dress ups by this age! Oh the difference! Doesn't she look so cute?!

Cooper got all snazzy for church so I had to grab a picture. He wouldn't keep the tie on. A few too many Sundays without a tie. Hope we can work him into one.

So far, a good start to the year!

Winding Down

Well, tomorrow is the last day of 2009. 2010...weird. We've had a great couple of weeks. Bri's been crazy busy at the office and we've been doing fun things here and there. After Halloween I bought some makeup on clearance and thought it would come in handy some time and sure enough... we got bored and played around. I got progressively better. I started with Elizabeth, then Caroline and lastly Cooper. His was the best IMO. It wasn't the best stuff, and I'm by no means a drawing/painting artist, but they seemed to enjoy it none the less.

We had some fun in the studio. They actually asked me to take their pictures. Now that's something we can have fun doing together! There are some more here if you haven't seen them. I LOVE this one.

We did another round or two of sledding. We went to the Utah State campus hill this time. It was way better! It was a blast. The kids had a great time. Even Elizabeth did some pulling up the hill with Isa on the sled. It was cute and so fun to see the kids enjoying eachother.

Since our last post we've caught 2 more mice. Who knows how many are in this house. Anyone want to come visit! Luckily the only signs of their presence have been in the kitchen. Well, luckily and still gross!

Christmas Eve the kiddos got to eat their gingerbread houses. They didn't get very far. Kind of gross after a month of sitting out!

Christmas was great and so fun to watch the kids open their presents. Isabelle was the funniest. She "wowed" everything. It was super cute. We were blessed with a great Christmas.

I had a lot of fun with this Christmas making gifts this year. I made Cooper a Superman cape which he loves. We've been tying blankets around his neck for the last few months. This one was super easy and fast (thanks to a tip from Mom). No sewing required! I made 2 in less than 45 minutes. I made an apron for Bri and my bro-in-law Paul. I think they turned out pretty good. There were a few other things and it was a lot of fun. I think I might try it again next year.

My cute family. The kiddos are all in their PJ's made by Grandma (Chudleigh). Don't they look cute?! Thanks Mom. I just love Isabelle's face in these.

We hope you all had a great Christmas season and we're looking forward to 2010! Love you all!

Sledding

Brian's been so busy with his choir stuff this week that since we had a few hours this morning, I thought it'd be fun to go sledding. One of the very few reasons to be grateful for snow! Well, or at least one of the few ways to enjoy it... for me anyway. It was fun.

I love my bunch!They can be a lot to handle, but they can also be lots of fun!

Brian is, of course, the more daring crazy one. I like to stand on the sidelines and document it all.

Even Isabelle had fun. She enjoyed eating the snow and a few runs down the hill.

I liked going on the tube. It felt safer to me. It was fun going down on our stomachs. The kids would hitch a ride on our backs. Good times, good times.

Brian's been in charge of FHE this month and has been doing fun things for the kids. Last night we made Rudolph paper bag puppets, the week before was gingerbread houses. I thought he was nuts. I didn't even want to attempt that, but he was so cute. He came home with bags and bags of candy and got to work. The kids did really well and it was actually fun.

Brian and Cooper worked on one together. There were a few fallen roof tops, but it worked out.

Elizabeth and Caroline did their own. Very creative work I must say!

Bri and Cooper's final product...

Caroline workin' the camera and showing her final product...

Elizabeth's final product.....

And eventhough I hate this picture, Brian said I had to put one of me in there, so..... my final product......

Now we're just trying to keep the kids from eating them until Christmas. So far we've only lost a few parts. Good times!

A poem by yours truly...

Hickory Dickory SNAP!

3 mice now caught in our trap

How many will be

Joining those 3?

Hickory Dickory SNAP!

Hickory Dickory one

Your dying was surely not fun

Still alive while smushed

Though your guts did not gush

Hickory Dickory one.

Hickory Dickory two

So sad you didn't get through

Your lungs must have failed

Under the fridge and lost your tail

Hickory Dickory two.

Hickory Dickory three

Your death was the most easy

You got caught by your head

and were hopefully soon dead

Hickory Dickory three.

Okay, kind of gross and we actually feel bad when we see these little mice, but how do you get rid of them  without killing them? We have a live trap out, but they aren't taking the bait (hahaha). Last night Brian and I were playing games and at the designated time (9:42-9:48) we actually HEARD the mice squeaking. The other two nights I heard them eating. Last night I think they were conversing  wondering where their peanut butter was that we've been so kind to put out for them to eat the last few nights. We've tried 3 traps. One (the clamp) they just eat the peanut butter and get away (well, except for number one). The other one is the live trap and after one night,  no success there. The best.... the old school wooden slats! FYI.

Christmas List....

All she wants for Christmas is her front tooth. Ha ha ha!