My teenager

When I picked up Emma from her last day of school she was really excited that she got a little phone book for all the kids in her class. Well, we were home for about 30 minutes and the phone rang. There was this little boy who was so timid on the phone, but he wanted to talk to Emma. I asked who it was, then he shyly said that his mom wanted to talk to me. So she gets on the phone apologizing, saying that she told him he couldn't call because they were heading out the door, but apparently he wanted to talk to Emma, so he didn't listen :) Then about 5 minutes later the phone rang again, another little boy asking for Emma. I gave the phone to Emma. She didn't quite know what to do :) She's not used to talking on the phone. This little guy wanted her to come over to his house...did the mom know? nope!

It's super cute to see that Emma has all these little people wanting to be her friend. But it doesn't surprise me. She's so gentle and kind with people (she DOES have her moments sometimes when she's not her normal happy self!) and for some reason kids are drawn to her. I love that she's so willing to be friends with everyone. I'm just wondering when the phone calls from boys will turn into a "liking" thing, instead of a "little buddy" thing. So cute.

I hate coming up with a title for the post

so there isn't one.

We've had a lot going on lately, and since I never use my desktop anymore I never want to blog b/c a blog post isn't any fun without pictures and I don't have any pics on the laptop. So unless I decide not to be lazy, there won't be any pictures.

We finished off April with helping Adrienne's fam move into another house, I had youth conference and Dave went to a dental conference, then he turned the big...let me think...32? I think he's 32. Haha-we celebrated and I can't recall how old he is. But he's old enough for THIS BABY:

It's an airsoft gun and he's like a kid in a candy shop with this thing. Very cute to watch his eyes light up when he talks about it and lets all the guys shoot it.

My sisters, mom and I got so go to Gardner Village to celebrate Mother's Day-holy cow I had heard good things about that place, but WOW! So much to look at. I got Dave's Father's Day present while there...you'll have to wait and see what it is. Pretty awesome. And there was a fabric store that I wanted to convert into my bedroom. I made a promise that I wouldn't buy any more fabric until I used up my stash, and let me tell you, that was STINKIN' HARD in that place. So now I've gotta get sewing so I can get all the new stuff out there. We saw some pretty funny quotes while in there that totally apply to us:
"Sisters are like ladybugs. They are little ladies that bug each other" and "Blessed are the children of the quilters, for they shall inherit the quilts" When Mom dies we might just fight a little bit about who gets which quilts :)

Emma turned SIX! And she's still just as sweet as ever. She loves to play with all the kids in our neighborhood and be outside all the time. Her little face and arms are already starting to tan from being outside-I've got to remember the sunblock. She loves Hannah Montana and got the soundtrack from the movie for her birthday and a "real microphone that works", so she spends a lot of time in her room now dancing and singing along. Reminds me of me and my Whitney Houston tape and radio when I was her age :) She was determined to go to Chuck E. Cheese for her birthday and pretty much invited the whole neighborhood. I had to reign her in a bit, and when I reminded her that the big mouse will be there, she decided that she'd rather have a pinata at home and go there when she turns 7. So, a party later this week that I've got to plan.

And Bree is potty-training!!! I know, she's how old??? But it's been an easy process, only a few accidents on Saturday and now she's good to go. Except for #2. We're working on that. She's fought me so much on it before so I didn't push the issue, and she came to us on Saturday with her underwear, so we jumped on that real fast. I'm glad we waited until she was ready. And about a month ago the binky fairy came and took her binkies and left the Barbie Mermaid Tale movie. It's a little hard to let go of my "baby."  But that's not why she had the binkies for so long, I promise. She is still so funny and making us laugh all the time with her made up songs and dances and the silly faces she makes.  

The end.

that's my girl!

And just so you don't think Emma is the only one making us laugh lately...

I went to walmart this morning with Emma, Bree and my niece Eden. I'm in the produce section and Emma keeps saying "Mom. mom. mom." I keep saying what and she just keeps saying my name and I'm getting aggravated that she won't tell me what she wants. So I'm spending all this time paying attention to her and Eden and getting my stuff that I don't even notice the 2 women cracking up. One of them lets me know that my other child is going from vegetable to vegetable, licking each one.

Nice.

Raised from the dead

Emma just ran in the house. She got a cup and filled it with water because she found a dried up worm outside and was going to pour water on it to bring it back to life. I don't think I've ever talked to her about reconstituting dried food...

Dinosaur teeth!

I had to take Bree to the dr. today and when we walked into the room I sat her on the exam table. She was being all fussy and whiny b/c her knee hurt. So in an effort to cheer her up I pretended to be angry and try not to smile, then I started laughing. Her eyes got all huge and she exclaimed, "Mommy, you have dinosaur teeth!!" (lisp included) and started examining my mouth and "pointy" dinosaur teeth, which she would NOT touch b/c she thought they would cut her.

Emma's thought process...

"Mom, what are the magic words I can say to make me grow wings so I can fly and have a pink unicorn and a dog that doesn't grow big?"

Our latest happenings

I know I'm a blog slacker. Don't be a hater.

One highlight of January was that Matt & Kyla came to visit us!!! And we're lame. The only picture we took of the whole weekend was one I took of them in front of their old apartment in Wymount. It's hard to take pictures when you're LAUGHING THE WHOLE TIME! They came in on a Thursday evening and we made sure to get them to Tucanos quickly :) Friday we went to BYU campus to see the old stomping grounds, then we headed up to SLC to meet up with Paul and Anna for a date. The three musketeers together again!! There's something magical that happens when we're all together. We've hung out with P & A a couple times since we've moved back and I feel like I'm cheating on Kyla or that I'm betraying her or something :) Do you feel like that Anna? We went to Macaroni Grill and there were moments that I thought I might pee my pants we were laughing so hard. Guys-I can't wait for our "cruise" (wink wink). Then on Saturday Dave & Matt went skiing and Paul was nice enough to watch the kids while the girls went to the outlets! Then we all met back up at the Jackson family condo in Midway. Of course, it was the weekend of the blizzard! So we were surrounded by a TON of snow! It was so gorgeous. The condo was a great place for the kids to play (aka, not sleep) and we stayed up sooooo late. M & K had to leave early the next morning-boo. Thanks for coming you two! These 2 couples are lifelong friends and I just love them so much.

We also had a great valentine's day, complete with awesome cookies I made. I found a great glaze recipe. Now if only I can remember where I found it. And I made some more clothes for the girls and a shower curtain which I LOVE. We've gotten together with a lot of friends and family and I've even gone to a few girls nights (and totally looking forward to a girls trip!!). We're finally getting into the swing of things here. I'm serving in the Young Womens at church and it is so much fun and I love the girls and women I work with!

Bree started preschool and gymnastics-she's a big girl...and I have a couple hours on tuesdays and thursdays ALL TO MYSELF! I cleaned today. yay. But I'm so happy that she's doing this-she needed some sort of stimulation. She is so funny. We have a walmart down the street, which I frequent quite often. It's a quiet, unbusy walmart. The second we walk in she starts performing. People just start laughing when she walks by...or I should say "prances" by. She does shoulder shimmies and struts and does twirls all down the aisles. All while singing made up songs at the top of her lungs. I love this girl.

And Emma came home from school with a new story. I didn't know about it until we were doing something in the kitchen and she randomly asks me if I knew that we all have invisible buckets. She goes on to explain that some people are bucket fillers and bucket dippers. When you do nice things and are kind and respectful you are being a bucket filler. When you are mean and rude then you are a bucket dipper. She is quick to point out when we are being bucket fillers or bucket dippers. It's become her new way of scolding Bree. Bree "aggravates" Emma quite often, and Emma has now resorted to scolding Bree with, "BREE!! You are being a bucket DIPPER!!!" She is growing up so fast. She's already started learning about doing the splits (remember those days on the playground??) and she's constantly talking about wiggly teeth and learning to tie her shoes. I don't think I'm quite ready for this yet...

Can you tell...

I moved the desk into the basement. It's helping with my internet addiction, I think. I haven't been on the computer in so long! I check my email about once a day instead of 50 times. And the house might be just a titch cleaner. And without seeing all the fabric that I can buy online, my bank account is a bit healthier too. We'll see how long this lasts :)

I also haven't been taking any pictures. So here's one I took a couple months ago. No, it's not some random picture of towels making a mess on the ground. That's an Emma lump and a Bree lump. This is what they do when they get out of the tub. They curl up in a ball on the ground so they can stay warm. It's actually kinda cute when I'm not in a hurry.

Happy Anniversary to us!

It's been nine LOOOONG years. Just kidding. They've flown by. Last week was our anniversary and not only did we get to go out that night BY OURSELVES, we were also treated the next night to a Jazz game. Two nights in a row with a baby-sitter (my sweet sister Kimmy). We were in heaven.

And Dave came home with flowers and this card. Why yes, I DO laugh every day of my life.

We've been busy...

*Warning-lots of words and pictures :)

One of my new year's resolutions should be staying up to date with the blog. If I did posts in little spurts then it wouldn't seem so overwhelming to put everything on. But I'm a slacker. Why make a resolution when you know you're going to fail? That's just stupidity. But I'll do my best to stay more up to date.

November and December were so full of family things and getting ready for Christmas. We moved here and I wanted to get together with old friends, but the holidays slammed us hard :) So, to our "old friends"-we WILL be calling to hang out...just give us time to detox from the holidays.

I hope everything we did helped create memories. We hosted Thanksgiving at our house...the day BEFORE our new couch arrived. I was so stressed about not having enough space for people to sit and veg out after eating, but it all worked out in the end. I tried a new turkey recipe, cornbread stuffing recipe, and mashed potato recipe. Turkey and potatoes were a hit, stuffing was gross. Poor Dave, he loves stuffing and this was such a disappointment. I might have to do a "make-up" Thanksgiving dinner for him...sometime in February.

December started off with the girls being sick-we missed our ward's Christmas Night in Bethlehem party, which I heard was the best party they ever had, that it really helped everyone feel the spirit of Christmas. But at least we made it to Dave's office party-ugly sweater and all! They do a variety show of sorts and it's mandatory for the doctors to participate. So a couple weeks before we all got together to plan their skit. It was a spoof on Black Friday shopping and to see Dave and Dr. Nate dressed in women's clothing made it completely worth it. I really hope someone out there has pictures, b/c I was involved and couldn't take any. The office is so huge and there are so many employees-I'm still trying to remember who is who! But it was a really fun party and we're so glad he works there!

I made an advent calendar and in each box was a scripture and fun activity. One of those activities was painting everyone's toenails, and Dave joined in the fun. He admitted that painted toenails DO make your feet look prettier :) But when I bought some jeans for him to try on he was having a hard time commiting to any pair b/c he kept seeing his painted toenails with them. And one month later and the polish is still on. That's right ladies, a real man doesn't care. The girls also made ornaments and cards for grandparents, had breakfast for dinner, painted a wooden snowman, made sugar cookie houses (MUCH easier and less messy than a gingerbread house!), and a few other activities. But lesson learned-next year's advent calendar will not have an activity for each day. There were so many that we couldn't find time for them all.

Emma's dance class had a small classtime recital. It was a dance that lasted maybe a minute, but it was cute. I'm looking forward to their huge production in June-even the little ones are in awesome costumes and participate. And I think in March I'll be enrolling her in Irish dancing-that's always been my dream for her. Yes, I live vicariously through my girls. But that's a story for another day.

Once family came into town we were BUSY. We saw the Chipmunk movie, went to BYU for bowling, sang in Adrienne's ward, ate a lot of food, went sledding, went on a DATE (woohoo!), and rang in the New Year at our house. We had so much fun being together. My sister took all my parent's old VHS tapes and Hi-8's and had them all transferred to DVD. So we spent some time watching old family videos. Dave hated it and I got offended. He said he can't even stand watching his own family videos. So I'm over it. I think I mostly wanted him just to see me in my skinny days :) Although I hadn't yet done the plucking eyebrow thing back then, so that might have been a turn-off anyway.

Siblings minus Kimmy, who had the nerve to go on a cruise. No, I'm not jealous AT ALL.Emma and Bree both got to be "angels"-with star wands and all!

Can't go to Kayte's house without playing make-up and getting nails painted! That lipstick was still on her mouth Christmas morning!

Sledding on New Year's Eve. This girl was eating snow almost the entire time!

Emma, Bree and Noah

Bree going off the jump!

Dave and I at least got in ONE run :)

Getting ready to do the poppers!

I still don't know what her problem was...

The grandkids and the hats they made. HAPPY NEW YEAR!