Pictures

More pictures that are a bit more presentable.

Family Pictures

We went and had our very first official family photos. The kind where you pay someone and go on site and get it done. I'll post some more pictures in a few days. But first let me give you a preview of how most of the photos turned out.

Here is your first clue.......

Did Maggie ruin the pictures or make them better?

I say that she made it the greatest photo shoot ever.

I love every one of them.

They all make me smile and shake my head.

And that's what the photographer gets for saying "smile".

Family Fun

Something as simple as sugar cookies can make Charlie say, "This is the greatest day of my whole life."

He even remembered the last time we did this in Utah. He was only three years old then. Good memory and also sad that it has taken me that long to do it again. There are no chocolate chips in sugar cookies so I usually don't waste my time.Charlie, Maggie, Jane
Jane

Mags got stuck with one single sprinkle and wouldn't let go.

Surprisingly there were still a few red sprinkles left in the shaker.

Good memory making.

Bern and Mags

Theirs is a love hate relationship. Maggie loves to share her food with the dog. She loves to give Bernie kisses. She loves to boss her around in a big loud mean voice. Strangely Bernie listens to Mags.

Then there is the size factor. Bernie is big and when she is running fast she can side swipe Mags and knock her to the ground. It happens all of the time. About once a day. Maggie has learned to cling to the wall when Bernie is running up or down the stairs.

Here is a set of pictures for your enjoyment.

Maggie spilled the water.

They both enjoyed the clean up.

Baptist Bible School

our neighbors invited charlie and jane to their Baptist Bible School yesterday.

they went for three hours and made crafts, sang songs and learned more about the Savior and his birth.

made some cute "Jesus" necklaces.

fancy Christmas ornaments.

okay so the date is wrong.

they must have had a lot of extra programs from last year.

this is one of many beautiful crucifixes that they made and brought home.

jane had a blast and charlie, well.... he said that his favorite part was recess. sounds like he had as much fun there as he does at our church activities.

Championship Baby

Charlie age 6

Sure he's in the "Ankle Biter" league. That doesn't stop the fact that we won the whole stinkin' division. Oh yeah baby. Check out that trophy. Being that it's Charlies first trophy I think we're in trouble. Any little old trophy won't do in the future. Today I even got an email about what size Championship Ring he wears. ha. ridiculous? absolutely.

Repeat the ReTreat

I'm not crafty.

So when I invited myself to my sisters "crafting, project" getaway my sister was more than a little concerned about what I would be doing with my time. (yes, i'm talking about you tamara.) She even went so far as to bring material and a book for me to sit and make pin cushions.

I prepared myself. Purchased shirts and fabric to make some things for my girls.

A couple of days with no children calling my name.

Sleeping through the night.

Working on projects.

Taking walks.

Reading books.

Laughing.

Heaven.

Sew What

Many moons ago I purchased a pattern for a "colonial" style dress. I figured that Jane needed that type of a dress up if she was truly going to fit in here on the East Coast. I can't sew. Don't even own a machine. But I know a gal who does.
That's really all it boils down to in life right? You don't have to know how to do everything you just need to know a guy. I learned that from my brother in law Dave.

Sew thanks to Aunt Debi we received this great package this week. It's already been worn to pre- school and just lounging around the house. She is in heaven and I think it's pretty adorable too.

Confidence

I have confidence in sunshine. I have confidence in rain.
I have confidence that spring will come again.


Besides what you see, I have confidence in me.

Yes, we went out in public like this. To the store. With the green face. On purpose.

Another Good One

Not to be out done.

Maggie gave us a great quote the evening of my last post.

She was being a major stinker at the church during our friends Baptism. She was happily squirming, jumping, yelling and making Mike and I crazy. I took her out into the hall for her time out. (We try to make the hall much more miserable so that going out is never better than staying in the meeting.) I sat on a chair in the hall and held her tight so that all of her wiggling got her no where. She kept saying "chop it Mom" "wet go of me". But I didn't. Then finally she reached out for the wall with a picture of Jesus on it and yelled, "Jesus, help me, help me Jesus!"

Clever.

And I guess he did help because it made me smile, laugh and give her a great big smoocheroosy.

Quotables

Charlie: "For crying out loud Mom. I said not my pants."

Charlie: Mom, I'm not going to college.
Mom: Really? Why not?
Charlie: They don't have any toys at college.
Mom: Well, by the time you go to college, you won't care about your toys.
Charlie: Yeah right mom, I'm going to care about my toys my whole life. Even when I'm a dad I'm going to just sit around and play with my toys.
Mom: Good luck with that.

Charlie: I'd really like to be an Orphan.

Mom:We can make arrangements.

Charlie: I just need to get out of here for a few days.

Maggie: du dog why u ya followin me? du dog why u ya followin me?

Overheard

Charlie was yelling out of his bedroom window to his friends across the street.

"Hey guys wait right there. I'm coming out to play I just had a little diarrhea accident in my pants so I'm going to change real quick."

Jane: "Mom did you know that when we eat chicken it comes from a chicken?"
Mom: "That's right. Where does hamburger come from?"
Jane: " I don't know."
Mom:"A cow. Where does bacon come from?"
Jane: " A pig."
Mom: "Wow, good job. How did you know that?"
Jane: "The Holy Ghost told me."

So Big

Big girl underpants
Hello kitty rear end.

Yep, it's true she is so big.

I had many ladies telling me that Maggie was ready to be potty trained; neighbors, friends, ladies at the gym. The only problem is that I wasn't ready. We all know that Mom is the one who has to be ready. So finally the perfect opportunity came during conference weekend. She was ready. It was a breeze. And I am a succor for my children's soft squishy bottoms in undies. A lot more pinching and squeezing happens now.

I love it.

Dance - For Real

The real thing. A real teacher. Real ballet shoes. Real tap shoes. A real leotard.

Paige, Paisley, Dayton, Carys & Jane
This is serious.

Charles

He's Big. He's Bold. He's Six.
It's official, our baby boy is all grown up. He loves kindergarten, friends and football. He even acts like he loves us now and then.
He has agreed to let me paint his bathroom blue and denies ever wanting it pink. (glad I waited.)
Charlie has discovered that he likes to draw.
His reading has drastically improved.
We celebrated his birthday with a family dinner and a perfect light saber gift.The girls and I also took some treats to his classroom yesterday. We arrived at the end of computer lab time. Charlie came over said hello to Jane and then led her back to his desk and was showing her how to play the game. He found Maggie and led her to the toys. I was so impressed with his kindness. It appears that he is learning all of the things I've mentioned over and over. Weird, repetition does work....eventually.
Side note: Charlie's teacher took me aside and mentioned that she tries to have one on one time with Charlie and she is always surprised at how bright he is. She said "in class he always acts like such a boy" (meaning disinterested) After discovering that he is a good reader she went back to look at his kindergarted pretest and found out that he got a perfect score. Since that time she is requiring more from him. hooray for that!
Way to go buddy. We love you.

Sleep Not

We say to our children...

"Tonight let's have a sleep over in Mom and Dad's room."

We didn't know the amount of excitement that could bring. They invited all of their friends and made beds for them too.

I purchased the movie Annie (because I loved it as a kid). We stayed up late watching it and now Jane wants to rename Bernie to Sandy.

There is also a lot more singing and tap dancing to be had around here. Annie has been playing on the t.v. every day for the last week.

CHikCeN

"Hey Mom, come ear, come ear. MOM, Ders a chiken in ar house."

Then Maggie led me to the laundry room where she said,

"See"

and there was a cute little live bird, scared to death.

I don't know how long Maggie had been torturing it.

He is now back out in the wild.

Last Beach Bash

What? Not our last beach trip of the year! Nooooo!

warm weather

ocean breezehappy dad

warm water

happy kidshappy birds

played past sunset