I love the Snow

Does anyone else just love the snow. I've been so bummed that it hasn't snowed yet this year. That big storm that was supposed to come through on Saturday was a bust and I was so disappointed. We headed up to bountiful this weekend to "Borrow" some of their snow. We had so much fun!

What a GREAT Aunt! She pushed her up the hill too. That way she got a ride both ways! That's dedication.

It was a good thing he had such a HUGE hat on. He took a wicked header off the tube and it saved his face from snow burn!

My little Eskimo!

I made her at least TRY to walk a little way up the hill. Then I carried her. (she looked so cute I couldn't resist) She outgrew he clothes from last year so she's dressed in Dylan's old stuff. Doesn't she make a cute little boy! : )

Hmmmm she says. I think my hands are getting cold.

Did I mention it was REALLY cold. Only about 20 deg outside. Brrrrr

It's all fun and games until the babies hands get cold! That'll end the fun real quick!

We had so much fun this weekend playing in the snow that naturally when we woke up and saw that it had snowed here. We headed out to play in it. We had a perfect snowy morning. Playing with the kids in the snow. Drinking yummy hot chocolate. Sending out all the Christmas Cards and playing board games. Yep! I sure do love the snow, and perfect snowy, stay at home days!

She's SEVEN!

How did this happen? I swear I blinked and she went from my teeny tiny little baby to this full grown kid, with all the attitude of a teenager to match. This year she decided she wanted to have a girls "late night". Being too young for a real sleepover this was a good compromise. All the girls came in Pj's and we ate pizza, did crafts, painted toe nails and watched movies. Around 9:00 the kids were ready for bed so we started sending them home.

I was a little nervous for this party for some odd reason. Turns out.... I had almost as much fun as Haley. These girls are all so full of personality. I didn't think there was anyone on the planet that could talk as much as she does, but I was wrong. We all laughed over dinner and had fun painting fingernails and toenails. It was really fun.

Some days I feel like I am so unprepared for her to grow up. Being the first child she kind of gets short changed.... they have to suffer while the parents try and figure all this out. I feel like I got a little glimpse of fun girl stuff to come. I am excited. If I can keep the teenage girl attitude out of it I think we will be set!

So happy birthday baby girl. I know you're not a baby anymore but you'll always be my baby. Thanks for adding so much fun to our lives.

Busy time of year!

So I decided this year I wasn't doing all the stuff that makes me crazy. Running around everywhere feeling the need to buy the perfect present for everyone I know. I am only spending time doing things that make the holiday's enjoyable. Thanks to the momumentaly huge black friday shopping trip I am done with the shopping. Now I can spend time with friends and family relaxing.

The perfect example of this was last night me and some of my best girls went out for shopping, food and, fun! These girls are the best. The kind that you can laugh about nothing with. Including being chased out of Target after closing and near midnight. I am so thankful for friends like that!

The only problem with all of this fun was I drank a few too many caffeinated beverages at dinner (which was around 11:00) and then got all wound up like a 5 year from laughing. Then came home and tried to sleep. Not a good combo.

Then to make sure I was really good and tired.....Haley was on the news this morning. Fox 13 filmed at her school so I had to take her there early and wait with her so I could bring her home again. Just in time to leave again with preschool carpool and get them all to school. Whew it was a totally crazy hectic morning but totally worth it! The first grade class sang a couple of songs. She loved it... and I forgot that I got about 1 hour of sleep. I guess it really is the most WonDerFul TiMe of the YeAr!

Where have I been?

When I turned on my computer today I actually blew dust off the top. Seriously! That's just crazy. I did mentinon that I was busy this time of year, but what have I been up to?

Thanksgiving parties at preschool.

One crisis at Haley's school where I got a call because they thought I was supposed to be there for a party but it ended up someone else was supposed to be there. It was a close call!

Shopping.... and more shopping. Black Friday is one of my favorite holiday's!

Planning the next birthday party.

Decorating the house for Christmas

Putting up the tree.

I promise I will post some fun pictures of these events sometime soon.

My little man turns 5

My little man turned 5. I'm not sure how that happened. One minute he's a baby. The next he's 5. Well buddy..... you sure keep us on our toes around here. We never know what's next. Thanks for being your sweet, loving, high spirited self. Our family would never be the same without you! We love you and all your craziness that comes with you. Here's how we celebrated the all important 5th birthday in true Dylan style.

First we woke up and dug into the presents. We've never been a patient bunch around here so of course we would open presents as soon as possible. Dylan was VERY specific in birthday wishes this year. It was not easy to find the exact Lego castle he was desperately wanting (since the whole world seemed to be sold out... of course!) we finally managed to find one and have it shipped. It got here hours before the big day. (Whew!) It was all worth it. To see his little face when he opened it made me forget the hassle.

It took the 4 of us the next two hours (Avery was kind of working against us) to get it put together. He loved it and has been playing with it every minute since.

We had this whole Jedi training themed party planned and all he wanted to do was play with his castle and other birthday presents. Finally we coaxed him out and he had a blast. First we dressed all the kids in some Jedi robes. They looked so CUTE! We trained like true Jedi's. With blow up light sabers.

We saved princess Leia from the "bad guys" by popping all the balloons until we found her picture that has been "locked" in prison (the balloon).

Then they had an obstacle course they had to complete.

Now they were ready for the HUGE light saber fight to prove what they learned. FUN!!! FUN!!! They all had blow up light sabers and passed the training course. Somehow it ended up being all the kids against me. Don't worry I can take em' .....Good times .

Then there was cake, ice cream and presents. What more could you ask for?

Once the cake and presents were done, and the kids were sent home we cleaned up and got ready for the next party. As many of you know the big game was on. We had a little get together to watch and cheer on BYU. Unfortunately all our our cheering didn't help! Oh well. We had a fun day anyway. On to the next party. Let's see we have Thanksgiving (at my house this year!), Haley's birthday, and Christmas. At least I won't be bored right?

The Dreaded Picture Day

Does anyone else dread family picture day? No....? I bet all of you have perfectly behaving, happy, smiling kids. Well, I don't.... so every year I dread getting their pictures taken. They always turn out SOOOOoo cute you would never believe it took an hour and a half of screaming, wiggling kids to get 3 decent pictures. Last year I had my amazing and ever so talented neighbor take my pictures, but I didn't want to take advantage two years in a row.... so we head off to the mall to the standard place of torture. This year did not disappoint. They all cried and wiggled and ran around making WAY too much noise.The only thing different about this year was I was all alone? I always have another adult with me to help wrangle they "little darlings". Today I clearly wasn't thinking when I decided they would be perfect little angles, and therefore could totally handle it by myself. I was wrong. Oh well..... I did get some really cute photos. I am way too lazy to scan them in and show them off since they are already in the frames on the wall. Maybe later! (Plus I'm sure I'd be breaking some sort of copyright law or something) Well, at least I'm done for another whole year. : )

It's all the Same

So the other day Haley comes up to me and says "it's all the same!" Just completely out of the blue. I asked her what she meant. She proceeds to tell me. Everyday....

I get up...

Eat breakfast....

Go to school...

Come home ....

Do Homework...

Eat dinner...

(play a little)....

Go to bed and do it all over again....

She has been doing so much better in school this year. I was somewhat surprised by all of this. She hasn't complained even once about school this year. (Compared to last year.... this is saying a lot) I told her this is what happens when you get older. There are things that you just have to do everyday. Even when they're not fun. I didn't realize that we were in such dire need of something exciting. I guess we better plan something fun and exciting this weekend. After all I would hate for it all to be the Same!

P.S. for all you doubters out there. I really did turn my pumpkins into puree. I have pictures but at the moment I am way too lazy to put them on the computer. It was pretty easy but time consuming. It turned out to be a lot of work for the same exact taste as canned pumpkin. Just in case any of you were wondering. (oh well, I guess I can say I did it!)