Sunday, December 13, 2009

december saturdays

what a busy december saturday.
yesterday i
1st- woke up and got myself and my four kids (clay included) ready for the day.
2nd- drove for two hours to fruit heights (got kinda lost).
3rd- eventually made it to a delightful family party where we ate yummy brunch, made gingerbread houses, read Christmas stories, and laughed as great grandpa bob (anderson) took the little ones on a ride in his new "jazzy".
4th- went to a luncheon where a bunch of people got together from the ward i grew up in. it was so fun seeing my old friends and teachers who helped shaped my life way back when.
5th- made a stop at my parents house and watched my patient dad make sugar cookies with the kids.
6th- went

here

here

and then

here

with my darling friend stacey.
it was a lovely evening.
7th- made it home late and crashed in my cozy bed.
phew.
i feel so blessed to have had such a fun filled day with loved ones.

max.

just now, as i was helping max into his jammies, i couldn't help admiring his soft round cheeks, pouty lips, and his lovely, innocent eyes. i kissed him on the nose where it turns up a little at the tip. i melted... i softly said "max, don't get bigger, ok? stay little just like this." usually he looks at me a little confused when i say this and says "i CAN'T!" but tonight he softly said "ok, i'll just say, i don't want a birthday." and hugged me.
my oh my i love this child.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Halloween '09


trunk or treat



halloween fell on a saturday this year so the day seemed like an eternity. the kids wanted to go trick-or-treating the minute they woke up. i thought i would make a fun early dinner to have something to look forward to. we made spooky root beer, eyeballs (grapes) and i made this creepy meatloaf "hand". i was pleased with how gross it turned out looking. i was trying so hard not to laugh when i put it on the table. none of the kids wanted to eat it.
then after a couple of minutes of clay and i eating and saying how yummy it was, they all decided to try it (after i told them it's just meatloaf). they loved it and it was funny listening to them say things like "i want the pinky" and "i think this is hulk's hand" and "this is such a yummy thumb"! haha



we went to jack and gracie's school for the parade and parties! so cute and fun!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

family pictures

we finally got new family pictures! megan (moondoggie) took them and i'm really happy with how they turned out.
love how she captured the children's personalities.
love this orchard.
love my family.








Tuesday, October 6, 2009

news and applesauce

first off, some news.. i want to make sure everyone
knows that our friends,
Christian and Stephanie Nielson
are going to be on the
* Oprah show *
tomorrow!
i'm so excited.




today the boys and i took a trip down to allred's, while gracie was at dance class, and bought a bunch of apples and peaches. delicious! just another perk this time of year offers us.

when we got home we made applesauce.



it was fun to make...



and very yummy to eat!
and our house smelled like cooked
apples and cinnamon.

mmm.....

tomorrow i might just make peach/raspberry jam.
and a peach pie.
clay will be so happy.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

random things going on around here....

this is something you can see on a daily basis after max gets home from pre-school. he walks through the door and we read his library book and then he wants to go spend time with "peter" our bunny (birthday present for jack and grace). he's usually out there for quite a long time, depending on the weather. he loves when i have carrots and lettuce in the fridge and is very happy and content spending time out on our deck petting and talking to peter. it's seriously so dang cute.





jack just started jr jazz last week. he LOVES it! he's the shortest on the team but it's ok, it doesn't seem to bother him. he even made a basket! fantastic!!! some of the moms of the boys on his team are friends of mine so it makes it that much more fun to go! **clay's not happy that it's jr. JAZZ. he almost didn't let him sign up. what a dork.




little gracie girl cheered at our local highschool football game. it was fun(ny)! she was so cute and tried so hard to remember the cheers and actions that went along with them, but alas, she's six and well, at least remembered a couple! she had a ton of fun down there with a few of her friends from school. she looked super cute and pretty much goofed off most of the time. all in all it was $25 well spent!
**however i didn't love it when some guy (who had a son playing) asked me if i had a son playing! smack!



general conference weekend was wonderful. i very much enjoyed each and every talk. all three of our kids are finally at an age where they will listen (color) for the most of the talks. the second session on sunday, however, they got restless and bored so clay and i just let them do whatever (except for Pres. Monson's talk). jack and max built a haunted fort on the stairs and gracie decided to write and illustrate a bunch of books and play library. the boys were trying to get gracie to "go through" their haunted house and gracie was trying to get the boys to come "check out" her books! they worked together so well and played so nice for the rest of the day. i love that they are such good friends and truly take care of each other. i also love that they are so creative in their play. my brothers and sister used to do stuff like this all the time growing up and i have such fond memories of those special times.

tonight for fhe we had a game night and played go fish and a little candy game i made up. they LOVED it and we all had such a great time being together. i feel like it's the most simple things in life that bring me such joy. i'll never forget clay and i trying not to laugh when we the kids would help each other while we played "go fish" (ie. after gracie asked max if he had any starfishes, and max said "go fish", jack would say "next time ask me"!) clay and i got such a kick out this and had to explain the strategy of the game (again... we play this quite often) hahaha... they just want to help! so funny.
the candy game was really fun too. i had a bought a ton of candy from costco the other day for all my apothecary jars and the kids have been asking if they could have a piece now and then. i pretty much say "no. it's for halloween!" every time, but i thought we could have some for the fhe treats. so i scattered a bunch all over the floor and we all took turns throwing one of my hard metal bracelets trying to get the bracelet to land around or on a piece of candy. the kids thought it was the funnest thing ever and jack kept getting candy. he was sooooo excited every time. like every parent i have so much joy watching my children's successes. even if it's throwing a bracelet over a piece of candy.
lesson learned this evening- tis a gift to be simple.
i love my family.

Friday, October 2, 2009

justin hackworth

a few weeks ago, gracie and i went in to justin hackworth's studio for a mother daughter photo shoot. here are my favorites!




















Wednesday, September 30, 2009

i heart autumn

today i got an itch to decorate the house for HaLloWeEn.




so i got out all of my painted gourds,


filled my apothecary jars with candy,




and hung my little banners.

it was so beautiful outside today. all the colors on the mountain were so bright. the clouds hovered all day long and kept the air crisp and cool. it was the kind of day where i wanted to stay tucked away in my bed all day long. but of course i couldn't so after volunteering in jack's class, i went home and waited for my max to come home from preschool. together we made banana bread and i lit my pumpkin spice candle. the house had such a wonderful smell... it made me smile. before i knew it it was time to go pick up the twins from school. then we went to the park to capture the colors of the mountains but these don't do them justice. they were much more vibrant in real life.
oh well.

jack being funny and grace and paige "freezing"
(it wasn't THAT cold).

jack being silly again...
and gracie pretending like she is having fun



then gracie got too cold so we left. when we got home, i could smell our neighbor's fire in their fireplace. it was heavenly. i am so in love with this weather. it makes me so happy.
the day went on and was very busy and hectic. that's our life right now...
wouldn't change a thing!