The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly...

Sisters are great. I should know, I have 7 of them.
I'm so grateful for my own sisters, and was so excited when we had Sophie so that my girls would have the privilege of being sisters. There are sweet times...

 

There are quiet times...

 

There are sad times...

 

And tired to the point of dropping times...

 

But through it all, the good, the bad and the ugly...
Sisters are sisters, and they are the best.

Toothless...

Our Hayden-boy lost his first tooth this week! He was so excited and proud - he couldn't wipe the toothless smile off of his face all night. It's amazing how much older he looks with just one less tooth...

 

The Latest in Retractable Roofs...

Last week, Rob stayed home from church with the kids because they were all harboring germs of one sort or another. Which was kind of nice for me, I could actually sit and listen, uninterrupted. Upon arriving home, this was the scene... A ladder, lumber, an extra table, every blanket in our house... all in the family room. It had to have a retractable roof so that they could sit on the couch, in the fort, and watch a movie... What a great Dad! He even cleaned it all up that night.

Sweet Dreams Stella...

This was the scene that I encountered when I walked in the door this afternoon...

 

Apparently, pillows are required for her highness.

Free Standing...

Sophie's newest trick... She stands alone! Hooray!! Now if she would just take some steps...

Mother-Daughter Date Night...

Ana and I went out on the town on Friday, in full Princess regalia. I was feeling like Ana needed a little individual attention, so we got her all dressed up; she picked out her own outfit and got to wear "mommy" jewelry... We even did her hair "fancy".... A spritz of the usually "off limits" perfume, and we were off...
Me: Ana where do you want to eat dinner?
Ana: I want to eat somewhere really FANCY!
Me: What restaurants are fancy?
Ana: The ones with play lands!
So we picked the fanciest of the fancy, Chick-Fil-A, it was divine...
After our feast, we headed out for some shopping. Like any princess, Ana wanted to check out all of the purses... And the jewelry (this girl is going to cost some guy a lot of money someday)... We looked for a new tea party set, but to no avail, we could not find one that was of princess quality. We had a marvelous time, just us girls. I can't wait for our next mother-daughter excursion...

Precious Girls...

My friend, Marylin, watched my girls while I went to the dentist yesterday (wahoo - no cavities!). She took these cute pictures of them while they were there. Thanks again, Marylin! I just had to share these, they were too cute!

Entertaining the Masses...

The babysitting swap continues... tonight's agenda - 6pm: doggie tea party (Stella is such a good sport to put up with the "royal treatment")...

 

7pm: fishy crafts (Hayden came up with this project and had it all prepared when everyone got here, he was so excited)...

 

The girls REALLY get into the crafts, don't even try to swipe their glue sticks...

 

8pm: babies in bed. caramel corn and a movie for the big kids; zombies within minutes...

 

Such a fun group of kiddos, it makes for enjoyable chaos.

Just Because...

The other night I was sitting on the couch, after a very long and busy day, just watching my kids. Sometimes I marvel at the fact that I have three kids. I still feel like I'm 19, and here I have a family of 5! And then I think to myself, "I wouldn't trade any of this for the world!" And it's true, I love being a Mom (and a wife, but this post is about being a mom). I love that I get to spend all day playing with my kids and teaching them things. I marvel at how fast they learn, at how tender their little hearts are, at how much they really do understand things that you think are beyond them. I love to laugh at how their hair looks in the morning, at how they try to pour themselves cereal and get more on the table than in the bowl, at how they try to help each other do things that they can't even do themselves. Mostly, I love to see how much they love each other, it makes you feel like you might be doing something right. So back to my story, I was watching my kids from the couch, they weren't doing anything special, they were all just totally content in their own world of childhood. I wanted to remember that moment, the happiness that I felt with life and the love I felt for all three of them.
Sophie, pushing a basket around on her knees, picking up socks and baby shoes, and depositing them in random places and then going back and doing it all over again...

 

Ana, dancing and singing in front of the big mirror that has been sitting on the floor in our front room for almost three years, but I can't bring myself to hang it on the wall because she enjoys it so much...

 

Hayden, eating his dinner, while carefully studying a map placemat, talking to himself about the difference between a "regular tea party" and "The Boston Tea Party" that he learned about in school, which lead us to a lengthy conversation about the Revolutionary War and the freedoms that we enjoy because of it (he totally digs that kind of stuff)...

 

None of this may mean anything to anyone else, but to me, it was a special moment in my chaotic life, that I always want to remember...

Peachy Perfection...

Do you ever walk by the kitchen and get a whiff of something, and you absolutely have to eat it... right away?!? That was me this morning! (And every morning for the last 4 days, if I'm being honest.) When we went to Utah over the weekend, my mother-in-law gave me a box of the most delectable peaches I've EVER tasted - really! So we've been eating fresh peaches in every way, shape and form. My favorite is the traditional "peaches and cream", mmmmmm - to die for. But we have also had a fresh peach pie, peaches and ice cream, and peaches on our waffles. I seriously could continue to eat these peaches everyday for the rest of my life. I just wish they never went bad...

 

For all of you Utah locals, she got the peaches from Allred Orchards - run, fast... they won't last long!

When You Wish Upon a Tree...

The kids love to visit Nona's because there is always fun awaiting. I hope that I am half as fun of a grandma as Wendy is to my kids. Watch out kids, we're clearing for take-off...

 

Sophie gets the royal treatment at Nona's, anything she wants, and more. She liked sitting at the kid's table, like one of the big kids...

 

Hayden's favorite thing to do at Nona's is to fill up the tiny squirt guns that she stashes away just for him, hide behind the furniture, squirt her as she walks past and watch her dramatically overreact EVERY time, no matter how many times he does it (that's a true grandma). The rest of us get squirted plenty in the process. The cutest thing ever though, is watching Ana and Wendy immerse themselves in all things girly - nail polish, hair bows, dolls, tea parties, and always princesses. Nona told Ana that the big tree in her back yard was a magic wishing tree, that anything you wished for at Nona's house came true. Ana stood on the balcony overlooking the yard, stretched her arms out wide and said, "I wish, I wish that I was a princess!" I love the perfect faith of children - she really believed her wish would come true. As we were leaving on Monday, Wendy told Ana to go and check the wishing tree to see if her wish came true. Ana dashed out to the tree and came squealing back in with a perfect pink package, tied up with pink ribbons of all sorts. "It came true!" she yelled. She tore the package open to find a frilly, pink hair bow with princess tiaras all over it. It was the cutest thing to watch, as she revelled in the thought of a "real" wishing tree. On the drive home, she kept asking if we had a wishing tree at our house, we assured her that the only wishing tree in the whole wide world is at Nona's house.

The Cake, Lindsey!

These pictures are for my sister Lindsey, they were easier to post here on my blog than to email. Everyone else... just ignore.

 

 

 

 

See ya later Sooners...

Another hightlight of the weekend was the BYU vs. Oklahoma football game... what a fun game! Needless to say, BYU is off to a
1-0 start for the season. GO COUGARS!!

Labor Day Parade...

We took off to Utah for Labor Day weekend, a bit of a drive for a weekend, but we had so much fun! Saturday, both Rob and I's families got together for a hike, when you get two big families together like that, it makes for one heck of a hiking parade... 28 people to be exact, even little one-month-old Adlee came out for the event.


"Does everyone have their hiking buddy?"

Dynamic Duo #1: Jon and Ace, I don't know if an Uncle was ever loved more than how much Ace loves Jonny...

Dynamic Duo #2: Ana and Alta, "connected at the hip" is too loose a phrase for how these girls are when they are together. What fun it is to have a BCF (Best Cousin Forever)...

Dynamic Duo #3: Lindsey and her fiance, JJ. Aren't they cute? "Connected at the hip", also too loose a phrase here...

Caught in the "head over heels for each other" action...

Dynamic Duo #4: Rob and Kari, I've realized that Robbie and I hardly have any pictures of just the two of us, so this is for posterity, and to let everyone know that after almost ten years, I still love to hold hands with my sweetheart...

Dynamic Duo #5: Papa and Ana, the picture says it all...

Dynamic Duo #6: Sophie and Dad, "connected at the hip"... literally.

A stop for lunch on the way back, Sophie thought that she was pretty big stuff sitting on the log with the big kids...

We made it all 3 miles, only minor injuries to report, a scraped knee and a bonked head, pretty good considering the size of the crowd. It was a super fun hike...

Preschool or Pandemonium?

The day that Ana has been waiting for for months, finally arrived today. Her first day of preschool! She was so excited, she could hardly contain herself. Armed with her new princess backpack she was ready for the day...

 

We are doing a rotating home preschool with some of our good friends, kind of like "Joy School", if you're familiar with that. The kids all looked so cute in their little backpacks...

 

What a fabulous letter "A"...

 

Music time in the kitchen, it doesn't get any better than this...

 

Preschool, Day 1: A Super Success