Lilly's Birthday: Hello Kitty

Lilly turned 6! I can't believe it. I know she's getting older but not really getting bigger. I love my little Lilly! I love spending time with her and doing those "girly things" She is so into nail polish. When I was little I hated my nails painted. I felt so embarrassed. Lilly can't change colors fast enough. My favorite thing about Lilly is how she interacts with Max. They are a team...you could say they are Team Umi Zoomi since they watch it so much. When Max gets hurt, Lilly runs to his rescue. When Max doesn't get his way, he runs to Lilly for her help and attention. When Max gets in trouble, he runs to Lilly for consolation. Many days I feel outnumbered but there's not much I can do about the bond these two have created.

Lilly "this year" loves: Hello Kitty, Sock Monkeys, Team Umi Zumi (SP), Fancy Nancy, homework, making cupcakes, painting, monkey bars and braids in her hair and straight hair with nothing in it. Her birthday theme was Hello Kitty. The girls wore red bows in their hair. Painted noses and whiskers on their faces. Played pin the bow on Kitty, Kitty Kat Attack, meowsical chairs, ate Kitty/kiddy cupcakes and kiddy kones. Pink icing, pink lemonade, pink balloons...all things pink.

Happy Birthday Lilly!

Eater 2010: Sock Monkeys

This Easter had an unplanned theme- Sock Monkeys. The kids mentioned how much they wanted sock monkeys and so the Easter Bunny came through. The kids did an egg hunt, dyed eggs and searched for baskets. It snowed that morning so it felt like Christmas...presents, treats and early morning excitement.

Tony's wedding

The wedding was beautiful. Paige looked so pretty and Tony looked very handsome. I am so happy for them. They are expecting another baby. This is exciting news for Jaylah- she will a have a little ???? (hopefully a girl). I love the photo of my dad and 2 nephews.

At Least I don't have to wear head gear....

Conner's teeth are progressing so well. In just these first few months of orthodontic work his underbite is nearly gone. I am so impressed with our doctor (skanchy). The doc said mine should only take 6 months...he better be right! Can't wait!

Max Moments: Sneaky Peeler Man

I was blow drying my hair the other morning and when I was done something inside my head said, "ya better check on Max." I recognize this voice because it whispers these words to me OFTEN! So I go into the kitchen and I hear a noise coming from behind the island. I peek around the corner and see Max peeling a potato! What in the world?? He slid a chair into the pantry and got down a potato. He then pulled out the garbage can and began peeling. Why he thought this was a good idea, I have no idea.

I never know what Max will do next but I am so grateful for everything about him. I am so lucky that he is my son. He came into this world under interesting circumstances and its a miracle! He is my little buddy. He loves his big sister. Whenever he gets in "trouble" he runs to sister. He makes us laugh everyday.

Basket Ball: Undefeated

Conner's basketball team went undefeated this year. His coach was Mark Sperry, team mates: Tanner , Mitch, Brad, Johnny, Jayden Michael and Gavin. They were all so good! I was really amazed by how much they improved over the last year.

Sledding

I am so behind on some of my entries. On New Year's Eve Day, we took the kids sledding. I think they had as much fun as I did. I'm not much of a winter sports person, hence the jeans instead of snow pants. Conner loved going off the jumps. Lilly did the jumps sometimes. Max didn't like sledding. He hung out with dad most of the time at the top of the hill

Max Moments: Play Group Buddies

Buddies: Cole, Grant, Isaac, Andrew, Wil and Cameron. They love play group. So do the mommies! 10:15-11:45

Max Moments: Belly Flakes

Max eating cereal

Jungle Jim

Jungle Jim's with Kate and Anne and Carrie and then Nicole and Beth. It was cool to be with them. We ate lunch at SouperSalad afterwards. It was fun!

Mommy's New Grill

I finally got braces. I wanted them years ago but now was the time. Only 6 months of a shiny silver smile. I don't even mind being called metal mouth or brace face ::))!! It is what it is! Now that I have my braces, Conner can't wait for his. My kids think its pretty cool. Mommy's got a new grill....(haha)

Max Moments

A few days ago in church (during sacrament) I let Max cut paper with my scissors. I looked up at the speaker then looked down at Max and saw GIANT-4 inch chunks of hair. In a matter of seconds, with me by his side, Max managed to cut his hair. I was in shock. How did he do this so fast and right under my nose? This makes me nervous for the future! What will Max get away with when he is a teenager? Oh well! I will have to stress later. Needless to say, he needed a new hair-do. I miss his long hair. It will grow back, right?

Conner Quotes

Conner asked me if he could do his homework while watching t.v. I said its not in his genetic make-up to "multi-task." (haha) Then I, jokingly, explained to Conner what "multi-task" means and that girls can do it and boys can't. He replies, "Ah, come on! Why do girls have to have more powers than boys?"

More than just water skiing

Conner and Lilly discovered new loves in life. Conner is playing guitar and Lilly is snow skiing. I guess you can say they take after their father.

Jaylah

Tonight was a special night because we babysat Jaylah. Jaylah is my nephew's daughter. She is almost two and is the sweetest thing. She was named after her grandpa (my brother), Jay Lynn. Her presence means so much to me. She is the little reminder of what means the most in our lives and that is... family. Each time I say her name, I think of Jay. We miss him so much. I wish he could have been on the earth when she was born and enjoy her as much as we do. Jaylah's parents love her so much and do everything they can to give her a great life. I hope sweet little Jaylah will always know how much we love her. She is always welcomed in our home. I look forward to many days with Jaylah! xoxoxo

MAX MOMENTS:

• I walked into Max's room while Kyle was changing Max's diaper and Max looks up at me and says, "Get out of my room Mom." UMM, you're two Max, not 16 yrs.

• Lilly asked Max for a hug and he gave her one. Then she asked for another one and Max said, "ENOUGH!"

• Kyle asked me if I knew where his phone was and before I could reply, Max screamed. "I don't have it!

• Max let a fart and said, "oh, noise!"

Family Christmas Photos 2009

Stacie took some awesome photos of the family. She is doing such a good job as a photographer. She also makes amazing cards for Christmas.

10 Things I am grateful for this Thanksgiving

10 things I am thankful for…

1. good restaurants. I love to eat out! I absolutely love to eat out. It is the highlight of my week. If the restaurant has Coke instead of Pepsi then I am even happier.

2. Hair - it looks weird to have “hair” at the top of my list, but it’s true. I finally feel like I am back to normal. 2 years ago, I was totally bald. Last year, my hair was short and curly. This year, its right where I want it. Who knows, maybe I will let it keep growing-why? Because I can. I have hair that grows. If someone told me years ago that I would be grateful for my hair, I wouldn’t believe them. If someone said I would be wearing flowers in my hair too, I wouldn’t believe them either!

3. A washer and dryer. Like many moms out there, laundry can consume our entire week. If I had to wash everything by hand with a washboard and then hang it out to dry; I think I would break down so badly that Kyle would have to institutionalize me. I break down a lot over laundry- it could be worse.

4. A sink disposal. A few weeks ago, our sink disposal broke. This mishap turned our lives upside down. Okay, that statement might be a slight exaggeration; but man, oh, man, life was not pretty. We could not keep up on the dishes. Washing them by hand felt so foreign and old-fashioned.

5. air-freshners. Have you smelled my sons lately? Not pretty. Just pretty smelly. Awhile back, Conner came home from school smelling really funky. I couldn’t pin point where the smell was coming from. This bad odor continued on for nearly a week. He smelled like cat pooh. No joke! It smelled like cat crap. I finally found where the smell was coming from- his shoes. I nearly passed out when I took a whiff of them. A little bleach and the washing machine corrected the problem. The ironic thing about this was that at the time Conner was in Mr. Zani’s class. If you know Mr. Zani, you know that he likes air-freshners (an uderstatement). Could it be possible that he was just covering up my kid’s bad odor? Ha ha.

6. Text messaging. If you text, then you know why I am grateful for texting.

7. Harmons. I love Harmons. Someone once said that Harmons is like the Nordstroms of grocery stores. Going to Harmons is not a task but an experience. Love it!

8. My family. Of course, I am thankful for my family. I have such a loving and supportive family. This also includes extended family and in-laws. For the past few years on fathers’ day and mothers’ day, Kyle’s parents and mine combine for Sunday dinner. Its not common to hear of this arrangement. But I’m sure more people would do it if their family was as small as ours.

9. My friends. Some of my dear friends I consider as my sisters. They are the sisters I never had.

10. The gospel. Sounds so cliché, but its true. The church rocks!

Halloween Night: Trick or Treat and Ute Game

While Kyle, Conner and I were at the game, Lilly trick or treated with her friend Elizabeth. Max went with Grandma Gum and with his friend Isaac. After he came home from trick or treating, he decided that he should go again-but without grandma. Grandma was so scared that she lost Max, but luckily he was just across the street.

Utah Game!

We had a blast at the UTE game last night- Halloween night. Conner had an especially great time. He's been begging us to go to a game for the longest time. Lucky for us we have great friends who gave us some of their tickets. Thanks Jill and Brandon! We had 4th ROW seats by the end zone. It was so cool to see the players up close. The UTES won!

A FUNNY:

We were very lucky and not so lucky that night too! We found a parking spot close to trax but not so lucky because we didn't have cash to buy a trax ticket. We were lucky when we asked the security guard where the nearest ATM was and he said we could just get on without paying. We were lucky to arrive just in time for kick-off but not so lucky when we had no cash to buy a churro for Conner. We were lucky to find our Discover card to buy popcorn and a drink. When I handed the card to the employee she went to the back to swipe the card, while Conner and I started EATING THE POPCORN. When she came back, she said, "sorry, we don't take Discover Card". Sorry for her, we already started eating the popcorn. It was so sad to see Conner's face when the gal dragged the popcorn bucket away from him. When we returned to our seats to tell Kyle the embarrassing news, our good friend friend, Brandon dropped us a $20 and saved the day! Conner got popcorn (not the same bucket), a drink and a CHURRRRRRO !!!