I Love My Sister

Today is my sister Karri's Birthday! I just wanted to let her know how much I love her. She is my best friend and I'm so glad that we get along and that we are able to vacation together. Right now we (Pat, Karri and I) are on our way to San Diego for Comic Con! I am so excited! It's going to be alot of fun.

(These are all pictures from our Girls Disneyland trip last year)

Anyway, I love you Karri!

Happy Birthday!

I Give In..

I just signed up for Facebook. You happy JD???????

So if anyone is on facebook, look me up :)

My Mara Girl

I know that I probably blog about Mara more then I do Xander, Pat or even myself, but my little girl has just captured my heart. And c'mon what child doesn't! So here are just a few of my favorite pics of the last week or so.

We went to our friends house for dinner last week with a big group of friend from High School, and of course I took my camera. But dumb me, I only took pics of my kids! We should have gotten a group shot of all of us together, but we didn't :( Thanks again Tashina for hosting the party! Can't wait until the next one.

But here is Mara in an awesome Banana Chair, she had picked up a mini book of "The Children's Song Book" and told me that she was reading a story! So cute!!

Last Tuesday me and the kids went to lunch with Pat's sisters and mom for his mom's birthday. It was fun to have a girls lunch (plus 8 kids), afterwards my loving sister Lana took Xander for the afternoon to give me a break and let him play with Noah. And Tammy (my mom in law) brought him home for me, which was another treat, not to have to go get him. Anyway, Xander was upset that he had to go home, so Lana gave him a dumdum sucker for him and one for Mara. So when he got home he gave Mara her sucker, and of course it was blue. When she was done her whole mouth was blue and even her lips. I got a good pic of my blue girl!
After much thinking, I cut Mara's hair. I really want her to have long hair, so I hate to cut it, but it just looked so weird when I did piggy tails. The top layer of her hair is really straight, and the bottom of her hair curls, so it just looks funny pulled up. So I decided to trim it up a bit, and it looks really cute!! Here is the before -
And the after -
And then when it's dry. I have yet to pull it up, so I hope that it looks okay, if not, Oh Well!! I'm not cutting it again for another 6 months, or until I have to!
This was last night: We were celebrating my sister's birthday and she wanted pictures with all the nieces and nephews. Afterwards Mara had to make her funny face! She has perfected this one!
And this is just barely: She picked up the camera and wanted to "say cheese"!
Oh how I love my little girl!

New BNL

So a few months ago Barenaked Ladies came out with a new album called "Snacktime". It has a bunch of songs for kids. I totally love it!! I have a few of the songs in my playlist here on the blog.
This morning I got an email from the fan club saying that a new music video is out now. It's of my favorite song "Pollywog in a Bog". So here it is!!


Here is the first video from their album, called "7 8 9". Xander loves this song and asks for it constantly in the car! Good thing I like it too :)

A Short Trip

Ok, I promise this is my last post for the day. I'm just trying to get caught up on everything.

Last night Pat & I took the kids with us and went to the cabin for the night. Pat works weekends and has Wednesday's off, so it is alot easier for us to get away in the middle of the week. It was kind of weird because this was the first time we have been down alone, we usually have my mom or sister with us. We borrowed my mom's Jeep (because we needed to make a few more water runs) and left about 5:30. We got to Fairview and ate at T-Cee's! They have good food and good shakes. When the cabin was being built, no matter what, my dad would stop at T-Cee's and get a chocolate carmel shake. It's pretty much a tradition to eat there!! They even have a gum ball machine with a chance to win prizes. We got an orange gum ball with the word "winner" on it, so we got a FREE large ice cream cone!! Yeah us!!!! When we got to the cabin we cleaned a bit and just played around. Xander loves being there and probably wants to go at least once a week. In the morning we watched Cinderella while I made breakfast and while Pat worked outside. It was so nice because the kids woke up after 8, and we had a semi-late breakfast of eggs, Lego Eggo waffles, and cinnamon rolls!! Yummy!!!! Xander loves to play checkers whenever we are there because the board and pieces are so big!! He is usually making up his own rules though, so it's sometimes hard for me to play, LOL. I am always trying to get a good picture of me & Mara, and this is the best one of the day :) Before we left I went to Target and found a cute Pokemon shirt for Xander. About a week ago he asked me if we could go to The Disney Store and buy a Pokemon shirt for him. It took me awhile to explain to him that you can't get Pokemon stuff at the Disney Store, but I told him that I would find a shirt and get it for him. And sure enough, I found one! Too bad I only know one of the three Pokemon on it!! It says: "Did someone say.... BATTLE??"

Before we left Pat was running around with a butterfly net and was able to catch a few!! They are really pretty up there. We then ate some lunch, cleaned up, and headed home. I love going down there, but I wish that we could spend more time there. So hopefully we can do more of these mid-week trips.

I set up the camera on a timer, put it on the deck railing and got a family picture. And it was only 1 take too!!! Yeah for the kids looking at the camera!!!

The Wait is Over

After waiting for a few (5) weeks, my Indiana Jones mail away toy finally came on Monday!! I love the little box that it came in because it looks like a crate!!

Here is my way cute Indy on a horse. They are two separate figures and so so so cute! They totally compliment my collection :) I love it!!!!

Big Shoes to Fill

Whenever my mom comes home from work Mara always follows her around. She will usually "help" (which means she wants to be with you) her change clothes and the such. More often then not, Mara will make Mana wear a certain pair of pumps, because she loves them. This time Mara wanted to wear them and I was able to get pictures of her on Monday wearing this pair of Mana's shoes! She even followed Mana downstairs in the shoes! Mara is just getting so big! I so love the look of little feet in big shoes :)

Another bag

My mom was able to find the colors that she wanted of a placemat and ribbon. So I was able to make a bag for her on Saturday. It turned out really cute! She even had me put a strip of ribbon inside to hold a pen and pencil!!

We showed off our bags at church and alot of the sisters liked them. So I will probably do a class sometime next month! I love to be able to share my knowledge with other people! Thanks again Kristen for the idea!

The Fascinations of a 4 Year Old

Xander is growing up so fast it seems these days. He's getting into alot of things that I thought we had a few more years to go until that happened. The first is his fascination with Pat's new Nintendo DS. We have Dr. Mario on it and he loves to play it! He asks me just about every day to play it, and I think he plays the first level over and over again because it's so easy. He has always been into video games. First Star Wars Lego, he got started with that when he was 2 and we had the game on Gamecube. Now that there is a Wii in the house he plays Mario Party 8, Super Mario Galaxy (a fav of mine), and Indiana Jones Lego. With the IJL, I wouldn't let him play until Pat and I had finished the game, so when he started to play I noticed that he would only play story mode on any level that he started. So of course the great mother in me, I started a game just for him, and he's doing great with it. Anyway, I'm so used to him playing the regular video games that I never thought of him playing the little ones!!! At least not for awhile, come on, he's only 4!
Next is the fascination with his new bike helmet. We finally remembered to buy one, and I can't get him to NOT wear it!! He's even wearing it as I'm writing this post! He will wear it around the house, playing outside, and even while eating lunch and playing video games!! He was wearing it on Sunday when my family came over for dinner. Everyone that came in went over to him and knocked on the helmet and asked if he could feel it! Which was so funny, because they all arrived at different times! Needless to say, he wore it all night, and even on the way to Morri & Liza's house. I'm surprised he doesn't want to wear it to the store and to church!
Next we have the fascination that drove me crazy at first, but now I have dealt with it, and am accepting it and moving on! HE LOVES POKEMON!! I have my nephew's Jeremy and Carter to thank for this. They are both 12 and have DS games that are Pokemon, and Xander loves to watch them play the games. Jeremy has even started to teach Xander all the names!! Whenever we would go to the store and were in the toy section, he would get stuck looking at all the Pokemon toys. Finally I let him get a plush of Turtwig (a turtle). A few weeks after that, he got an actual Pokeball with Bonsli, and then about 2 weeks ago, with his earned money he got a little figure of Lucario. Needless to say, he is a full fledged Pokemon fan. Pat even built a Pikachu out of Mega Blocks. And we even found a good deal on a Pokemon movie! I guess we are fueling the fire. LOL
I love Xander and all the new things that he likes. He's a little boy that is growing up too fast for his mom's liking. But what else do you do, but sit back and enjoy the view.

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July!

We started our celebration in Provo on Thursday morning. We got up really early, left the house at 6:15, and went to see the hot air balloons! It has been years since I have been there. I always think of my dad because there was one year that we went just the two of us! Anyway, we went with my mom and met up with Brent & Lisa! It was cute to have the kids together. After they all left the ground, we went and ate at the annual Kwanis Breakfast (which we had free tickets to) It's always nice to get a free meal :) It was a great way to start the holiday!

Thursday night I took the kids and went to the cabin with my mom. Pat was working late and had to work Friday, so he stayed home. It was nice to get away and enjoy the cabin. There was alot of movie watching and card playing. I always play solitare games when I am there. When my grandma died 9 years ago, my mom got a little book of different solitare games and I love them!! There are so many types, like The Clock, Threes in the Corner, and Pyramid. And of course my favorite one I can't remember the name!!

I was finally able to sew a little placemat bag (I have had the makings for about a month). I got the idea from Kristen's blog. (Thanks for your wonderful crafty skills!!!!) It is so cute, and is perfect for Scriptures. My mom instantly wanted one, but didn't like the ribbon and placemats that I had, so we are going shopping to find some for her. I might even teach an Enrichment Night on how to make them!!! We got home from the Cabin around 3 pm, Pat got home from work at the same time, and we went to Springville to Gwen & Doug's for a family BBQ. It was great to have good food and good company. I was able to give Tammy her birthday present!! Last year I made a calendar for her that goes July to June, and it has pictures of the whole family. Well, I started a tradition, so I made her another one this year. It was just missing the finishing touches, but she left this morning to go to California for her birthday, so I gave it to her early, and will just get it back later to finish it. It's fun to make these for her, but also alot of work. I know that she enjoys it so I will continue to make them! I think I need to get started on next years right now!! Thanks again to my family for getting pictures for me :) After the BBQ we headed home to put the kids to bed, since it has been alot of late nights and early mornings lately. Our neighbors we doing fireworks in the street so we joined them for the awesome Cul-de-sac of Fire!! Overall it was a great 4th, I am thankful for my family and the chance that we have to live so close that we can see each other regularly. I love this country and the freedoms that we have. And I still can't believe that it's July already. Time is just going way to fast!!