Freeze time

There are moments that I really wish I could put in a bottle and then when I have a bad day or want to remember my family at certain ages I could just pull it out and relive that moment over and over again. Yes, I know Dumbledore might be able to help me out with that one :)

Yesterday was one of those days. Both Jim and I were sick so we stayed home with all four kids. In between trying to rest to get better, we spent the day cuddled on our bed watching Olympics, Living Scripture videos and playing card games. Around 2 PM we decided to go on a Sunday drive which turned into a pre-spring exploration walk (I am married to Jim :) It was perfect and kids, dog and parents loved being outside. One of those perfect moments I don't want to let go of.

The new 6 year old in the house

Today Lizzie turned 6. Was it really six years ago that I held that cute girl in my arms for the first time. She was beautiful then and is beautiful now. I often say she is the one that makes me laugh the most, cry the most, lose my patience the most with, and see the simple beauty of the world the most with. She is amazing, frustrating, beautiful and stubborn all at the same time.

Anyways in honor of Liz turning 6- here are 6 of my favorite Lizzie sayings.

1. "I wish Heavenly Father made me be a dog so I wouldn't be afraid of myself." (Age 5)
2. While listening to U2 on the radio.... "Mom, is this country music? When I said no she then asked "Is it city music?" (Jan. 2010)
3. One day Ethan was trying to explain to Lizzie that we are mammals because we don't lay eggs. Lizzie's response was "Good! I don't want to sit on an egg all day because that means I can't go to pre-school." (Spring '08)
4. "I am never going to have a piano when I am a mom because I don't want my babies to fall off the bench." (Feb. 2010)
5. Telling here that tomorrow is Thanksgiving.... "Well, should we go kill a turkey today?" (Nov. '08)

6. And finally her first time on the Tidal Wave at Lagoon
"SAAAAAAAAAAVE ME MOMMMMMMMYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look what I can do!

There are just some milestones that parents are not excited for :)

Just this week Afton has learned to climb/ fall out of her crib. It is kinda cute to see her try to climb over to visit Lilly (although dangerous).
Big girl beds will be coming soon.

Lilly on the other hand has decided that for every naptime she needs to try to take off as many items of clothing as possible (socks, pants, DIAPER, and as much of her shirt as she can.) I did not include a picture for obvious reasons :)

Afton does try to copy her sister but only gets about one arm out of a sleeve (above picture) and then realizes there is climbing work to be done.

Ah, good times.....

XXXIII

Well since everyone else in our family gets a post when it is their birthday- I will write about myself.

Here are some of my favorite things about this years birthday festivities. I like to celebrate for a full week :)

1. My dad made me a delcious birthday dinner of my choice (a few days early)- A Wok. Oh it was so delicous and I love my dads cooking.
2. We had a family party it was really nice to get together. Thank you everyone for coming (and for the perfect gifts!).
3. I decided to treat myself with some new pants. I did my semi- annual trip to the DI and found 4 pair of way cute levis for $17. Yahoo!!!
4. I went and spent my Kohl's gift card today and got some cute black shoes and a pair of pants for $27 dollars. Yes, I am cheap :)
5. Progress has actually been made on our basement. Oh, that is such a great present. Painting can begin soon. We are trying to decide on colors.
6. On the night of my birthday Jim asked me what I wanted to do. I picked Leatherby's. DELICIOUS!!! I haven't been there for over 10 years and the Traci's Peanut Butter Cup was just as I remembered.
7. Lizzie got me some "Mexican Coke". Although I am not drinking Coke right now I broke the rules to drink her present. Yum!!!
8. I am sure Jim and the kids would comment on my amazing quality of patience, craftiness, artistic skills and ability to keep a clean house :)


Finally...

When your daughter makes you a birthday card like this




you realize that 33 is a pretty good age to be :)

2010

Wow! Is it really 2010?

In 2010....

This boy will be baptized.


This girl I am sure will continue to be the one to make us laugh the most and of course lose our patience the most with.


And these two will get the chance to show us how much trouble the curious minds of TWO TWO YEAR OLDS can be.


As for Jim and I-
we will try our best to enjoy every moment.


In between those things we hope to go on a family vacation, make a dent in our medical and student loan debt and I would like to run a marathon sometime in this year. Happy New Year!!!

December

Here is a brief recap of the month that seems to be very busy and goes by very fast....

Temple Lights





Acting out the nativity story with cousins





Christmas-

My dad made this AWESOME kitchen piece for the girls!!!


Christmas morning before the kids went downstairs to see what Santa brought


Lilly LOVES Elmo right now

Afton with Ernie

Afton and Lilly learning about opening presents. Afton loved it and wanted to open anyone's gifts. Lilly, well she didn't really care.



Proof that our plan may be working :)

The new haircut
If you scroll down a little bit more you can see a before shot. They had to basically shave him down and we will start all over because he was so matted and his hair was just in awful shape.

7 day trial

We have a daughter (Lizzie) who is to put it lightly, petrified of dogs. Jim and I have talked about this for quite awhile about what we should do to try and help her. We knew getting a dog might be the best option to help her calm at least some of her fears. Yesterday on quite an impulsive decision we loaded up the kids and headed to the Humane society. We have this dog to keep until Christmas Eve and then decide if it would be a good fit for our family or not.

Lizzie has been as brave as she can. She absolutely freaked out at the Humane Society (kicking, screaming, etc.) Finally agreed that we could take it home for JUST ONE DAY (Lizzie's words). She has spent a majority of time since we brought him home on Ethan's top bunk. I would call that progress though :)

The dog is very cute and is so mellow. He is a two year old cocker spaniel mix (which means no puppy stage and it is already house trained). It is in a desperate need of a haircut but we will see how things go here on the homefront first.

As a extra bonus we have also found out Afton and Lilly (especially Lilly) also seem to not like dogs in close proximity to them.