Kidman

{Smitten}

2012-01-27T21:48:00.000-08:00

Right now I am completely smitten
with my two little ladies.

Truth.

Lately they have become
the very best of friends.
I'm not gonna lie,
they have their moments where
they argue, but mostly they
want to spend every second together.

At bed time Adyson snuggles into Sienna's bed
and they read in the dark with their reading lights aglow.
It's the sweetest thing.

And each day after school,

they get their treat homework done
as fast as they can so they can play
dance class, teacher, and listen to Justin Beiber.
(I tried to prolong the Beiberfever...I really did,
but it hit them just like every other kid from 5 up. Boo.)

They even share friends
without any fighting.
Most of the time.
It's glorious!

I keep praying and hoping and crossing all my fingers and toes
that they continue their friendship.
A sister is something special.

I adore these ladies of mine.
Adore them.

Princess Party

2012-01-16T20:08:00.000-08:00

About a month ago when Trav
went in for his treatment at the
Cancer Center, he was informed
that One Wish Inc. had paid for our
little ladies to go to the Princess Party
hosted by the Child and family support center
in the USU ballroom.

What a fun surprise for our girls!
And for us!

Not only did they let us have
such a great time at the party,
but they sent Snow White and Cinderella
over to invite the girls to the party!
(Sure wish my video upload would work!)

This couldn't have come at a better time.
Travis was feeling pretty terrible, and Sienna was
home with the flu.
We were all feeling pretty blue.
But nothing cheers you up like princesses
on your front porch.
Trust me.

They brought a huge bag full of surprises
for the girls. Princess dresses,
movies, tiaras, wands, a barbie..
I mean, the list is long and the ladies LOVED it.

We waited a very long week till the day of the party
and then it was time to go.
They got in their darling new dresses
and we headed up to the ballroom where they....Got their makeup done.
(Sienna chose black. Lovely.)Got their hair done...Made beautiful jewelry...Were given a rose from Prince Charming.Got their nails done...Met Snow White,
(And Cinderella, Rupunzel, Tinkerbell, Ariel, & Belle)

And on their way out they even ran into
the Fairy God Mother!It was such a fun day!
We are so grateful to
One wish
for donating this to our family.
If you read our Cancer Blog
you know that the past week
has been extremely tough on our family.
It was lovely to have a day to forget
everything that was going on
and just spoil our girls.
Thank you for thinking of us.
We really are so. very. thankful.

Click here to link up to One Wish Cache Valley.

{Christmas Day}

2011-12-29T19:44:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning we awoke to signs that Santa came!
He always leaves the ladies slippers on the stairs with candy inside...
but this year there was a lump of coal in there!
They weren't sure if that was a bad sign or not...

And before the ladies came downstairs I noticed that
the Twix and DP were gone!

Here they are, sleep in their eyes waiting

to go downstairs. Just a little excited!

The stockings.
Santa stuffs our stocking very, very full.
It is his (and my) favorite part of Christmas.
Each year we seem to stretch the stockings just a bit.
Crazy hair.
Sleep in her eyes.
Still pretty darn beautiful.
Love the wonder in Ady's eyes over an umbrella!
She cracks me up!Santa numbered their gifts, and here they are opening #1.
They asked for video camera's this year...
and were a little confused when they opened this gift.
Adyson yelled "A phone!!:
No, she did not get a phone.
But Santa did give them ipod touches.
(Dad had some serious influence here because mom
wasn't super excited about it.)
But, they were a hit, and have continued to be since then.
They are in love.

And Adyson gave Sienna her second favorite gift of the year.
Pop the Pig.
She's been asking for it for a good year,
and has played it about 100 times since.

And in return, Adyson got this fun barbie tent from Roo.
They've had a blast with it all!

I didn't take many pictures this year, because we were just enjoying it all
so much, but we all got way too spoiled, and enjoyed the morning so much.

We enjoyed church after opening gifts. I wish Christmas would
fall on a Sunday every year. It was so nice to dedicate that hour to what
was truly meant to be celebrated. I wish it happened every year!
(Not to mention how much I loved seeing all of our ward family on Christmas Day.
We really love them all!)

We spent the rest of the day at my parents eating too much food
and watching the kids play.
It was just so lovely!!

{Christmas Eve}

2011-12-28T19:13:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was spent with the Kidman clan.

The kids were all so excited to get to the presents and party,
but I was able to get them to pose for a quick picture.

We ate dinner and then Grandma broke out her stack of games.
We played the usual 7-11 game with loads of candy.
Travis may-or may not have, hid all the Reeses Peanut butter cups....

The ladies were thrilled with our bounty!

We were in the middle of another game (Guesstures),
when the doorbell rang.
Tiff went to answer it and was quite surprised when Santa
came barreling in!
The kids eyes about popped right out of their heads.
It was so much fun.Each of the grand kids sat on his lap and he
chatted with them all for a few minutes and
then gave them a gift. And then he pulled out gifts for the adults too!
It's been a while since T and I have sat on Santa's lap.
So funny.
All the grand kids thanking Santa before he left to get his sleigh and
deliver the gifts. He made them promise to go to bed early!After Santa left we played the usual pass the present game,
where a story is read and you pass the gift left or right when it's
said in the story. Well, Sienna started out with a gift she didn't
want to give up...and she very quietly tried to pass the other gifts while
holding onto hers. She really thought we didn't notice,
but we were all laughing so hard we were almost crying.
It was too cute!

Somehow I missed taking pictures of the kids opening gifts,
but rest assured, they got VERY spoiled and loved every second of it.
(As did T and I).
It was a lovely night.

We came home to open the traditional Christmas Eve PJ's.

After a quick bath Sienna tried them on and
was pretty happy about them....Adyson's fit wasn't quite as good.
Somehow the store sold us a size 7 top, with size 10 bottoms.
So funny. We tried to teach her the hammer dance before bed.Dr. Pepper and Twix left out for Santa,
Our version of Cookies and Milk.
A reading of the Nativity from the Bible.
Prayers.
And bed.
Sienna was asleep in seconds.
Adyson-hours. I kid you not. Hours.

Christmas Eve is by far my favorite part of the Holiday.
So sad it's over!!

{Christmas Eve Eve}

2011-12-27T19:58:00.000-08:00

This year my side of the family celebrated
Christmas on Christmas Eve-Eve.
It was such a great way to kick off the Holiday!
The ladies were quiet excited to see their cousins!

They played all day long on Friday taking full
advantage of the parents being busy preparing
for the party and tearing Grandmas house apart!

At one point during the day Jody jokingly told
Sienna he was gonna take her on a date to get
some ice-cream.
(He was craving a root beer float and thought
he'd tease her in the process.)
Little does he know,
our kid will do pretty much
ANYTHING
for ice-cream.
30 seconds after he said that she came running
into the kitchen and said
"I've got my shoes on, Let's go!"
It was too cute. She's so lucky to have such
great uncles.He took her to get her ice-cream and brought
some back for all the kids.

And a few hours later we were ready to party!

For the Johnson family,
a party is all about the food!

Crab Wontons
7 Layer dip
Cranberry-jalepeno dip
Southwestern eggrolls
Stuffed mushrooms
Mexican ranch dip

Yes, we ate good and were stuffed the rest of the weekend!

Cody and Amy looking good.
Jody and Heather. Aww.
T and I.
Wish I would have gotten a pic of my parents! Grandma let the kids have a picnic in her front room and they were thrilled.Then came games.
The kids loved the race to pull the napkins out
of the box.
(Thanks Bishop for teaching us that one!)

Lucy LOVED the mess!And rolled each other up with TP.
Brielle enjoyed it!
And then it was present time!!
The kids were so excited for their first gifts of the year.
And they were spoiled, like always.My mom made them these darling skirts.
I adore them!
Aren't they fabulous?

The next day we had a little farewell dinner before they took off
for home. Me and Breezy in our purple jackets.
Love this kid!

We came home to prepare for our Kidman Christmas Eve
and found that Mrs. Claus hadn't forgot our tradition.
Each year she surprises the girls with a cute little outfit to
wear on Christmas Eve, and they were so excited to see her gifts
under the tree! Since they were already dressed they saved
them for Christmas day, but I think they were pretty happy
she remembered them.It was a great time with the Johnson clan.
We are so blessed with a great family!

The week before Christmas:

2011-12-26T20:47:00.000-08:00

We opened some darling presents from friends.
Cutest headbands ever.

Went to our favorite Christmas party

at my Grandpa Oenes' home.

Somebody wasn't too thrilled about
the new sweater his mom picked out...

We were able to kick off the Holidays
with our favorite people.

And this one kept us smiling all night long.

Love that hubs of mine.And Sienna entertained us with her Christmas
program at school. She was adorable.
(Sure wish I could upload a video, but it's just not working for me!)And then Adyson had her Tavaci program.
She looked beautiful, and dazzled us with her singing.
She was in a special number this year and it was
the cutest thing ever...
You will have to trust me because the videos are still. Not. Working.
Grrrr...

To come: Christmas Eve Eve-Christmas Eve-And Christmas Day.
And all the other goodness since then.

How is it already over?

{All I want for Christmas}

2011-12-13T13:02:00.000-08:00

The Tooth Fairy has been

BUSY!
This last week our little Roo
lost her first tooth!
Brave little thing let her
Uncle Cody pull it out for
her without any tears.

She couldn't wait to go
to school and show her friends her
'jack-o-lantern' smile.

Isn't that the sweetest little tooth?
The Tooth Fairy did deliver and she was thrilled.And the next day at school Adyson lost her
another tooth.
She was pretty excited that she lost it at school
and that she could come home and surprise us all.
Love this crazy smile picture.So the Tooth Fairy came again.
2 nights in a row.
She's out of money-in case you were wondering.

{Christmas Best}

2011-12-10T21:48:00.000-08:00

The ladies got new Christmas Dresses.
Naturally I wanted to take some
pictures because they look mighty pretty.
Right?

One of the ladies indulged me
by letting me snap a few pictures.
She finally gave me her fakest smile after
the 3rd take.
When did she grow up?The other little lady got mad when I
turned off the camera.
She was in her modeliest of moods.
For real,
I have at least 4 more shots a little like these.

Stay little Roo.
Forever.

Man, I adore these girls of mine.

{Rockin' the Halls}

2011-12-03T21:15:00.000-08:00

This little lady of mine LOVES to read.
She spends every single night reading in bed
after we tuck her in, and usually she begs for
'just a few more pages...".

Adyson's been working hard to earn
AR points for rewards in school.
She earned lunch with the principal a while back-
(pizza and CANDY!),
and Friday she earned the chance to
ROCK THE HALLS!
Last time they did it she was only 2 points away,
so she was excited!
What is rocking the halls you ask?
It's when the whole school stands in the hall
and cheers as you break the rules and run
through the halls (led by the principal)
to the tune of

"We will Rock you."

Here's a little sideways video for you,

if you care to watch.

Sienna was really excited to be able to
cheer her sister on, and I'm pretty sure
it inspired her to earn those AR points
so she can run through the halls too.
What fun!
We really are so proud of Adyson for
being such a great reader and mostly
for loving it so much.
Adyson's such a smart little lady!

And this portion of the post is dedicated to my sis Heather,
who has been begging to see the girls friends Christmas gifts,
and I've been promising to post them for a good month now.
We love to do a cute gift for the girls friends,
so they can see how good it feels to give.
The problem is that they have quite a few friends..
and it can get pricey. This year we found these
adorable snowman printables here, and opted to
wrap them around 8 oz. jars filled with candy instead
of candy bars or popcorn.
They turned out really cute! The hats are gloves. (One stuffed inside the other).
So...for those of you who have little girls who play with
my little girls...sorry we ruined the surprise!:)

{Glimpses...}

2011-11-27T19:48:00.000-08:00

...Of our Thanksgiving weekend.

We decorated the downstairs tree on
Tuesday. This is the tree we let
the ladies loose on.

I heard Sienna say-
"And for the finishing touch"...
5 times.
It had lots, and lots, and lots
of finishing touches on it. :)

Thanksgiving Day
(and really, the whole weekend),
was spent at my parents house
with my entire family.
It was lovely to have everyone there-
and just what we all needed.
I really am so grateful for a
family who really always understands
what we are going through,
who makes us laugh-always,
and to let the cousins enjoy
each other all weekend long.

Brielle and Roo.
Are they really only 1 year apart??

Oreo Turkeys.

I tried to get a picture of Sienna,
and Ellie and Kutter snuck in.
Cuties.

Kutter just turned 8 and is now a Scout.
Quite possibly the proudest Scout ever.
He made Simon and Adyson each their own
paper kerchief. So cute.

Trayson

Breje

2 Stooges.

There was a lot of board games going on.

Even Lucy got in on the action.

The boys playing Risk.
It gets loud, and ugly.
And Amy, who always works her tail off
on Thanksgiving, got the day off to relax.
It was so, so great to have her there.

Me and the ladies.
So grateful for them.

When the cousins left and we could finally drag
our kids home, they found a pretty exciting surprise
waiting for them.

Skeeter is back!!
Do you see him?

Take a closer look.
Here he is sitting on our chandelier.
The ladies couldn't have been happier.We ended the weekend
by decorating the upstairs tree.
It looks like Christmas over here!
I am so excited already!

{Weekend Update}

2011-11-20T18:21:00.000-08:00

This weekend:
Travis began the huge chore of cleaning out
our cold storage room.

I'm thinking that alone will send him to heaven one day.
Cause it's a big job.
And I have no desire to do it.

I ran the turkey trot 10k in the ice and snow,
and decided to spend the rest of the day laying
around in my pj's.
I decided that I earned it and savored every second.

The ladies:Put on their snow gear.
A lot.

First on Friday, when they made the
first snowmen of the year, and spent
hours rolling the biggest snowballs they could
around the house.

And making snow angels.

And then Saturday they got the sled out
and cruised down the hill in our backyard.
Those girls were flying!

And all snow days should include hot cocoa.
It's pure fact.

Here's to many more beautiful snowy weekends!
I do not hate being snowed in.

{Playing Hooky}

2011-11-17T19:59:00.000-08:00

This past week Travis had to work in Savannah, Ga.
and I was pouting a little because I
really, really wanted to go.

I was able to go with him last year,
and I fell in love.
I was unbearably jealous.

So I decided to drag my mom into taking a
day off work, and took the girls to play hooky
for the day.

It's my opinion that all daughters
should have a night in a hotel,
with delicious food,
and lots of shopping with their moms
at least once a year.

Who's with me?

Here's my mom and the ladies.
Cause who doesn't whip out their camera at
the Cheesecake Factory?

We do.
I love these girls.
I can't say how grateful I am
to be their mom.
I'm kinda lucky.
Really.

We were pretty excited
to run into Santa in the mall.
And since I'm too cheap to buy the $30
picture, an after shot will have to do.

The ladies are crossing their fingers they will
get what they want....

{First Dam Run}

2011-11-06T19:52:00.000-08:00

Remember back in January I wrote this post?
Well, the rumor is true---writing something down
really does guilt you into accomplishing your to-do lists.

Saturday I ran the First Dam 10k with some of
my favorite girl friends.

From L to R
Kristin, Mindi, Heather, Moi, Becky, Courtney, and Candace.
Love these girls!

I was so happy to see these
bright coats waiting at the finish line.
They were cheering me on and pretty excited to see
me cross. Sienna said I came in second....
Totally not true.

Not even close, but gosh I love her!
Trav stopped at Kneaders on the way and
picked up Cinnamon Rolls for all of us.
Have I mentioned how awesome my husband is?
Just-so-awesome.
I ate every single bite for dinner.
I earned it, right?

{Halloween Goodness}

2011-11-04T12:02:00.000-07:00

Each year my mom throws a little pumpkin carving
party for the kids. They love it, and the men pretend
to hate it while being utterly competitive and breaking
out special drills and tools to make it perfect.

It's always fun to watch.

Here's Adyson gearing up to carve, with
a little help from Gpa.

And Roo. So excited!

They turned out really great!

On Halloween the ladies had
a parade at their school. We moms wait outside
for a good half hour watching for our kids
and picturing them being excited to see us....

but Adyson pretty much snubbed me.
She looked my way, smiled-and ran past
as fast as she could.
Stinker.

Sienna at least gave me a quick smile.Before Trick or Treating I wanted to get
a cute shot of them together.

My kids should really work on their posing.
(Total Sarcasm)

We always love seeing what Amy comes up with
for Simon and Lucy. This year Simon was
a boy turning into a werewolf. Pretty fabulous!

I sure love Halloween and am a bit
sod it's over...but bring on the Holidays!

{Pumpkin Walk, Ward Carnival, Crazy Hair Day}

2011-10-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

The other day Sienna's class went to the pumpkin

walk on a field trip and I was able to go along.

Adyson went that weekend with friend and told

Sienna how fun it was, so she was very excite to go!

She was in awe of all the displays,
especially liking the Sunny Patch and Tangled,
and Angry birds. Naturally.

It was so much fun spending the day with
my little Roo. I've adored spending
half the day with her before she goes to school
and hope this year crawls by because I don't
want it to end!Tuesday we had our annual ward carnival.
The ladies love it because it's their first chance
to unveil their costumes.
This year we have
An angel...
and a Devil.
Let it be known that each of my kids
is really half and half...but this will do.

Sienna felt awfully pretty, and was awfully sparkly.

Adyson was feeling very cute, and spunky.

Can you tell?

The carnival was fabulous.
They had usual donut on a string.And pumpkin decorating.

We had a great night and can't wait
for the actual Holiday to come!

Today was Crazy hair day at school.
We went big.
And crazy.

The pictures just don't do it justice.
It was huge!

I just love these ladies of mine!

{Unloading the Camera}

2011-10-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

Okay...
the mojo is still missing,
but I will blog

mojoless, just so i can catch up!

I unloaded the camera and here are a few things I found.

An apology note from Adyson to a friend.
I had to take a picture of it when it happened
because I died laughing at the way she spelled
idiot.
We can't help but say
'idiet' now.
Oh it's cute stuff.
Try not to be
'really big idiet's' if you can.

Last weekend we went to the Kidman's
house to celebrate Larry and Ron's B-days.
The kids had a blast decorating Halloween Cookies
with Grandma.
Sugar anyone?
We were able to have Rheagen over
for a bit the other night.
The girls fought over her for a good
chunk of the time!
Nothing better then a picnic with cousins.And this weekend we have been excited for
for quite a while.
Kutter's baptism, which meant a
whole weekend in Mountain Home.
The ladies couldn't sleep for days
in anticipation.
They were sooo excited!

First stop, out to dinner to
celebrate Kutter and Heather's Birthdays.
Fun was had by all.

These two still are inseparable.
They didn't leave each others sides.

And neither did these ladies.
Hams, they are. Hams.

Tray, sure love that kid.

And Breje, beautiful as ever.

I adore her.

Heather and I.
Yes, one of us needs a bang trim....
Hint: it's me.Don't be jealous of the hot couple.
We can't help it.Part of the thrill of going to the Wolfleys house
(also known as the farm),
is the animals and the motorbikes.
Poor Jody gets hounded by the girls
constantly for rides.

Ens and Ellie.
Best of friends.Saturday was spent preparing for the main event.
Aren't they beautiful all dressed up?

And the man of the hour.

He's about the most handsome little person I know.
And his baptism was beautiful.
We are so happy for him, and proud of him.

What a great kid he is!

My mom makes a special book for
the kids on their baptism.
Here are the kids admiring Kutters.
Adyson can't wait till she gets hers!Then it was home for more playing,
which naturally included dressing up as
cheerleaders. It was a great weekend
and we are so happy to have had a little family time!
We sure missed Cody and Amy and their kids though!
Next time...

PS, if you don't read the C blog, Trav is having scan on Thursday.
Cross your fingers for us?

Mojo.

2011-10-12T23:09:00.000-07:00

My Goodness life is busy!

To those of you inquiring why I've

lacked in the blogging department...

we are fine.

I've just lost my mojo.

Anyone care to find it for me?
Let's cross our fingers that I will
find it....

{This Goon & #3 & #33!}

2011-09-18T20:32:00.001-07:00

Hallelujah!
The pesky summer checklist is done!
Yes, I know...fall is here, but still.
It's done!

We finished #3
(Cutting down flowers and putting them in vases in their rooms).
No pictures. Sorry.

And #33.
Lagoon!!
Saturday was ICON Lagoon Day,
and the ladies have been patiently waiting for it to come.
Last year when we went as we were walking
through the parking lot to buy our tickets
Sienna exclaimed very excitedly,
"I LOVE THIS GOON!
Since then, Lagoon is only called
this goon.
And the ladies still love it.

The weather wasn't fabulous this year
and it rained for the first hour we were there,
but the ladies didn't mind.

They were just so excited to be there,
and we were so proud of how brave
they were!
Rickety Roller Coaster. check.
Fire Dragon-check.
Spider-check.
We didn't quite make it to Wicked...
next year.

It was great having the ladies tall enough to
go on rides together, while we watched from the sidelines.
We aren't big fans of those spinning rides-
cause, well we are old.
But they did love them, and were thrilled
that Selena Gomez was playing while on
the Music Express.
Yes, another picture taken of T and I,
by T and I.
He does love the camera.

It really was a great night.
No lines, lots of ride
and very happy ladies!

{As of Late}

2011-09-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

My Goodness life is busy!
I had forgotten that when school begins..
homework begins.
And Dance class.
And Tavaci.
And Piano.
And I'm sure we've only just begun.

Here's a glimpse of what we've been up to.

Sienna and I joined Ads for lunch the other day.
She was very excited to see us....
and then chatted with her new best friend Kate
and ate as fast as she could so she could get to recces.
We felt very appreciated!
(Really, so glad she is loving school
and isn't homesick for me......at all.)

We packed up last weekend and headed

to Park City for a little getaway.

We walked around Main Street

Friday night and ate dinner and then made a stop

at the Chocolate Factory for dessert.

And for breakfast Saturday morning...

T and I looking completely smashed.

We drove around the city for a bit
and then surprised the girls with the
Alpine Slide and Mountain Coaster.

They were nervous!

(Before we headed up the lift).
They made us promise we would use the brakes,
a lot.

And then as soon as we started going down the slide

they both wanted to go FASTER!

It was a complete blast.

The ladies laughed the entire way down.

After shot...aren't they cute?

Here we are headed up the coaster.

They adored this too,

it as just so much fun!

They asked right about here if we could go
a few more times.
Love taking these ladies to do new things.

The girls got out their flower box out the other day
and attacked poor dad while he was trying to relax.
I think he looks FABULOUS though...don't you?And lastly, Roo decided she wanted straight hair
for school the other day.
I think she looks lovely.But I adore her curls! Adore I say!
This week we are finishing off the last 2 items on our
summer checklist.
Better late then never!

{9}

2011-09-05T22:55:00.000-07:00

Today Trav and I are celebrating our 9th anniversary.
9 years!
How are we celebrating-you ask?
Well, T is working all day.
Then golfing for his mens association.
And he'll return at 6:45.
And I will leave at 6:50 for Young Womens.

We might smooch around 10.

Now, maybe it sounds like I'm complaining...
but I'm really not.
I love our beautiful, and sometimes chaotic life.
We've built it together.
And it's full.

And sometimes I really can't believe my luck.
Life is just so good.

{Kindergarten}

2011-09-01T17:26:00.000-07:00

Little Roo started Kindergarten today.

I'm unsure how she is old enough for this.
She's my
BABY!

But she was ready, that's for sure.
Adyson started a week ago
and it's been rough for Sienna to have to wait.
We had a countdown.
And lots of jealous tears.Most of which were caused because she wanted
to wear her new back to school clothes.
She does look adorable, yes?Last Year

This Year.

I'm gonna miss spending so much time with her.
She is really such a sweet tenderhearted kid
with a BIG personality!
She is always dancing, bouncing, and willing to play.
She's a smart kid and is gonna love this year!

{#24}

2011-08-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

#24
Decorate cupcakes.
We did it.
They were cute.
And very frosted.
Very.

(And yes, I know that school has started,
but we are only 2 away from finishing and I'm ok with
giving myself an extension!)

{2nd Grader}

2011-08-25T22:57:00.000-07:00

Last year we had a nervous little first grader.
A very cute, nervous little first grader.

Today, I sent her to 2nd grade.
I sent my very excited, not quite as little-girl to 2nd grade.

And don't want to brag...

(I only say that when I really do want to brag)
but I think she might be the cutest 2nd grader around.

This year she got very into school shopping and
spent a good chunk of time picking out the first day outfit.
We went from store to store till she settled on this.
What a cute little fashionista I'm raising!

She loved her first day.
Loved her teacher.
Loved recess.
Sat by a great friend from last year.
Didn't complain about her homework!
And couldn't sleep tonight because she
can't wait to wear tomorrow's outfit.
(Is it wrong that I'm kind of proud of her excitement over clothes?)
I adore this kid of mine.
She's so smart, so kind, so tenderhearted, and so much fun!
Can't wait to see whats in store for her this year!I must go nibble her now.
She's edible.

{One Last Day of Fun!}

2011-08-25T22:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we finally able to get together with some

friends we've been trying to hook up with all summer long.
It literally took all summer,
but at least we made it happen!

My friend Rhonda invited us over for a little water party,
and the ladies loved it.

Relaxing on the hammock.

They are all just adorable!

And a little crazy!

Thanks girls for the fun day!
So glad we finally got together!

{#17, #20, #21, #31 & Our back to school dinner}

2011-08-23T14:01:00.000-07:00

#17
Paint Picture Frames.
They did it-and they turned out darling.
You'll have to trust me on this one.

#20
Read A Family Chapter Book.
The Boxcar Children.
I'd forgotten how much I adore that book.
The ladies loved it too.
I will take any suggestions for our next read....

#31
Go Miniature Golfing.
We went last week and the ladies loved it.
Each one scored a hole in one.
And I don't wanna brag...but....I beat Travis.

Cody was the winner.
But I think he cheats.
Just Sayin'.

#21
Help Cook Dinner.
We chose to do this one for our annual back to school dinner.
The ladies really wanted to help us cook dinner,
and then pretend we were at a restaurant and serve us.
We made our very favorite pasta dish and garlic bread.
The ladies loved squeezing the lemons, and putting the
butter on the bread.

We sat outside and they brought out a paper and pen and took our order.
Here's me and my darling waitress.

T and his.
The service was impeccable.

Trust me, it tastes better then it looks!

Then our servers sat down and joined us for

some dinner and we discussed our big plans for the year.
We decided on our theme for the year,
Be Confident.

I'm not quite ready to send them off to school!

After dinner we did this adorable back to school scavenger hunt,
found here. I changed a few things to make it fit what they needed,
and it was so much fun. The girls loved toting their
backpacks around the house and filling them up!
Dad reading a clue, Dr. Pepper in hand, natch.After the hunt we went on a bike ride,
made some yummy ice cream sundaes,
and then each child got a Fathers Blessing,
my very favorite part of the night.
I do love this family of mine!And I believe we are ready for school!
We only have 3 things left on our list...

{Camps & Lessons}

2011-08-21T23:07:00.000-07:00

A good chunk of our summer was full of camps and lessons.
So many, in fact, that between our checklist,
vacations and birthdays, we haven't had
any down time.

Next year, I've gotta cut something out!

That being said, they loved every single thing they did.

They did a 2 week Art Camp at the AVA.
Adyson did it last year and loved it,
And Sienna was thrilled to be old enough to participate this year!!

The theme was the future.
They made robots, costumes, kaleidoscopes, paintings,
and they do a few days of cooking, as well as dancing and music.

It's fabulous, and the ladies love it.
The last day they do an art show where their art is
on display like in a gallery.
Then they put on a show-displaying some
songs they've learned, and dances, and this year
drumming.

Here are the ladies singing.
And Adyson dancing...with a boy!
They weren't thrilled about that....

And Roo, drumming.

That kid likes a crowd.

They also attended Golf Camp.
An hour every single week, the whole summer long.
Dad was so proud!
And have you ever seen such cuteness on the golf course??

Love their pink clubs!

They also took 2 weeks of swimming lessons,
which, mother of the year that I am,
I took no pictures of.

They loved them. Lots.
And have turned into little fish.

I'm glad I managed to get this all documented
before school starts (in a mere 4 days!)

I love fall though, so I'm not complaining.
Peace out.

{#1, #9, #11, #27}

2011-08-13T20:18:00.000-07:00

#11

Go to Willow Park.

We usually do this about 100 times
during the summer.
It's cheap, it's close,
and the ladies love it.

But this year we have had a rough time
making it for some reason.

We had a little picnic there today and the
ladies
loved it!

#9
Go to the Beach.

We were able to go with some of our friends to
Bear Lake this week.

It was crowded, but really, really lovely.
The kids just played in the sand and shallow
water, while the moms
chatted, relaxed, and basked in the sun!

Adyson was thrilled to collect seashells and
build a sand city.

Roo was loving building a 'pool' with the

few boys who were there.

Me and my dear friend Candace. Total babes...The crew.
Love them.#1
Go get a Slurpee.

Done and Done.#27
The ladies also checked off going to breakfast with their Dad.
Except we cheated a bit and it was breakfast for dinner...but still,
summer's almost over so a bit of pretending is fine!

{Family Time & #26}

2011-08-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in my last post that my beautiful

sister was able to come be here for my Birthday,

and then she stayed to party all week long.
We really had such a lovely week letting the

kids tear my moms house apart, eating way too much
late night running, and watching movies.

I sure wish they could live here!!
Here's a few pics of some of the fun we had.

I was able to do Breje's hair, and think she is
just so beautiful! I adore her.

There was lots of swimming in the pool..
I tried to get a cute shot of them together,
and then realized how in the sun Tray was....So I got him to shrink down, but Kutter was over it.
He'd held still long enough!

One night we surprised the kids by putting up an outdoor
movie in my moms backyard. We bought the kids pack trays
from the theater and filled them ourselves.
Yum, popcorn, sprite, and starbursts.
The kids were thrilled when they came outside to see
their blankets and pillows all lined up, treats,
and a movie. It was pretty fun!

And you'll notice we accomplished another item off
our summer checklist.
Tye die.
Awesome.
Oh, and we also accomplished #7,
with no pictures...
Go school shopping.
They got spoiled and may be the best dressed
kindergartener and 2nd graders in the land.
I'm sure we will have a back to school dinner
and I will embarrass them by making them
do a fashion show, and then I will further embarrass
them by posting in on the blog.

I love this shot. It cracks me up.
My cousin Amber is here visiting from Connecticut.
We don't get to see her very often, and were really excited
to have a family party so we could see her, and each other.
Unfortunately I didn't take very many pictures because
we were too busy chatting and sitting in the shade,
but it was really fun. I love my extended family and it's always
great to see them more then just at Christmas.

Sean and Camille hosted it in their backyard and bought
a pinata, that my Aunt Sue filled to the brim (and then some).
The kids loved it.

And they seriously got more candy then they
will ever, ever, ever need.

They spent hours going down the slip-n-slide
and playing in the pools they had set up in the yard.
It was such a great week spent with so many people we love.
Only 2 more weeks before school starts and we are trying to
fit all of the fun things we had planned in!
Stay tuned....

{30}

2011-08-01T22:21:00.000-07:00

Saturday I went and tuned 30 years old.

30!!
You all know I love Birthdays and was even
looking forward to turning the old age of 30.
I just think Birthdays are fabulous!

I woke up to some fun decorations in the yard,
just in case anyone in the world didn't know it was
my birthday...My darling mother in law put these adorable flowers
all over the yard with the number 30 written on them.
The ladies loved them!And this gem was posted on the side of the house,
so everyone who drove by could see it.
Gee, thanks Lorraine! :)

After we got ready for the day we
headed to the crepery to get some
delicious crepes,
courtesy of some very dear friends
who wanted to treat us to brunch.
YUM!!

And then the day got boring.
I mean really boring.
And remember, I like birthday's done big.
really big.
So we came home from crepes, and sat.
And sat some more.
And I was doing my best not to get grumpy.
But I wasn't succeeding.

I couldn't believe there was nothing to do on my
Birthday, and couldn't believe Trav hadn't planned a thing!
Except he did ask me to go to the grocery store to
buy garbage bags...
And I nearly cried.

After the extremely boring day of nothing,
we headed to Cafe Sabor to celebrate with
my lovely family.

(Me and the ladies before dinner).

(T and I at dinner).

(Lovely).
Don't be jealous of my hot 30 year old self.

We left dinner and I was feeling a little better.
My beautiful sister came up from Idaho that morning
and she wanted to come see my kitchen,
so we went straight to our house so I could
show it off.
And then we sat there.
Again.
More sitting.
My dad and Cody fell asleep on the couch.
And I was
not
super
thrilled
how I was starting
my 30's.

Around 9:00 my they all went to leave and my
sister told me I had to come get my gift at my moms.
She said it was too big to carry.
And we were planning on going running so I told
her I'd be over as soon as I changed into my
running clothes...to which she quickly replied,
"But your gonna want a picture of this gift, it's awesome."

You'd think that I would have realized something was up,
but I was far too grumpy to even think about it.
I was a let down Birthday snob.

We got to my moms and she told me it was out back,
and when I went back there I found the backyard full
of people I just adore.
My family is pretty much amazing!

Here are some scenes from my party,
taken by my dear friend Eileen.

There was like 10 different types of cupcakes
on these adorable stands all around the yard.
We are all gaining much too much weight because
we can't stop eating them!

My mom had the idea to plan the party,
with a lot of help from Travis, a few of my ward friends,
and these beautiful people below.

Kerry and Shelly Otte.

The Otte family lived across the street from us growing up.
We spent almost every single Christmas Eve with them growing up,
and they are some of our dearest friends.
Their kids are also some of my favorite people in the
entire world, and I really just love them.
They are family.
Before they left the party they
were telling me about the day I was born.
It's a little crazy to think we've been friends for that long.

Kyle and Tami Griffiths.
These are some more amazing family friends.
We've been friends for as long as I can remember,
and I used to babysit their kids, who are now married,
and one with a baby.
(If 30 doesn't sound old, that fact alone makes me feel it!)
Tami is a fabulous party thrower and has helped
in each of our weddings, and these are just people who
would do anything for us.
They've helped us through some pretty tough times,
and we just love them.
They too, are family.
This is Connie,
who quite literally makes
the best cake I've ever tasted.
Connie lives just behind my mom
and she is just a great friend.
She is always thinking of others and
would give you anything you'd ask of her.
She's such a great friend to my mom,
and to all of my family.
We look forward to her coming to Sunday dinners.
She too, is like family, and made some
of the cutest, and tastiest cupcakes for my party.

I was pretty happy to see the women in Trav's family
there. My mother in law loves to
do Birthday's up big, especially big b-days like 30!
She's been sending me darling gifts all month.
She's such a fun, thoughtful person!
We'd been trying to find a time to get
together and celebrate, and it just wasn't happening,
so I was so happy
to see them there,
but we missed you Tiff!!

(Lorraine-my MIL, Michelle-my SIL, and Rheagen-my niece)
And some of my beautiful friends were able to come too!
I love these ladies. They are there for me whenever I need to complain,
cry, eat, or shop. They drag me out of bed to run in mornings,
and stay out late chatting whenever we get the chance.
They always seem to know what I need and always come through
for me. I adore them and wonder often what I'd do without them.

(Connie, Dedee, Chanelle, Courtney, Candace, Katie).
Eileen is behind the lens. But I love her too!My kids had no idea about the party till
they were on the drive over,
and man they were excited!
I love these ladies of mine,
and my adorable niece Brielle too!It was so fun getting to introduce my family to some of
my friends!

My beautiful sister.
Words can't express how much I love my sister.
She is one of the most talented, beautiful, kind people I know.
She is such a great example to me of what life should be like.
I wish, so much, that she didn't live so far away!
And while I love her so much,
I hate her a little because she's my older
sister, but she looks much younger then me!
Blah!
But really, I adore her and wish everyone could
have a sister like mine. The world would be a better place!

And T.
My love.
Who puts up with so much crap from me.
Let's be honest,
I was mad at him.
I thought he had failed me on my
30th birthday!
And I'm pretty sure in this picture
he's saying something like,
"Would I really let you have a crappy birthday
with you being the birthday snob you are??"

He is the best of men.
And I couldn't love him more then I do.
And I'm pretty happy he puts up with my
spoiled self.

I'm trying to mug on him here for
forgiveness....

My brother, Cody, and his wife Amy.
My brother is brutally honest, and a little uncouth.
He's one of the funniest people I know,
and one of my best friends.
Growing up we weren't the best of friends,
but now I talk to him at least every other day,
and miss him when he's not around.
And I owe a little of that love to the fact that
he made the smart choice of marrying Amy.
Amy is one of my dearest friends.
She is one of those people you can just be yourself around.
And she and I aren't very similar, but we get along
famously. I can't imagine life without her.
She's funny, beautiful, and just so easy going.

Love them.

,And my parents.
Man, I adore my parents.

My dad.
He is about the most tender hearted person I know.
He is always here helping in the yard or doing whatever we ask of him,
and even when he grumbles,
we all know there is no where he'd rather be then here helping us.
And he is a great grandfather to my kids,
and they all adore him.
And I love him.
A lot.

My mom did a lot of work for this party,
as she has always gone out of her way to make
things special for me.
My mom is one of those rare people who found the
balance of how to be a parent, and a friend.
It's maybe a little (or a lot), pathetic how often
I talk to her, hang out with her, and beg favors of her.
She is just a beautiful person, inside and out and I hope
someday to be half the mom she is.
She really made my day special, and I am so grateful to her!
Love you mom!

{Fireworks}

2011-07-27T23:54:00.000-07:00

Sunday night we did our fireworks celebration.

I really look forward to it each year because my kids
just love it, and because it always ends up being a big neighborhood party!

The ladies, patiently waiting for the sun to go down.

Just a few of the kids who were present.
By the end of the night we had some long time
family friends come over too.
I wish I would have gotten a picture of all the chaos
and all the beautiful people who came.
We have some fun friends!

We sure love these neighborhood kids!

I adore this picture of my girls learning to play
'down by the banks', because I remember doing the exact
same thing. It melted my heart.Sparklers! Yay!It was such a great night. We bought
our cheap fireworks and then watched the big beautiful
ones that people just a few blocks away bought for the rest of the
night. They were amazing and it was a great way to end the weekend!

{Checking them off}

2011-07-26T21:05:00.000-07:00

I'm gonna ask you first, to forgive me
for the poor quality of all the pictures below.
They are awful.

That being said, in between
swim lessons,
girls camp,
golf camp,
the kitchen remodel,
and our vacation,
I'm just happy to have a few more things
checked off our danged list,
even with ugly, and in some cases,
no pictures to prove it.

#2
Go to the Fun Park
Travis took them while I was
at mutual.
Yes, he's the best dad ever.
I hate that place...

#19
Make Homemade Ice-cream.
We've never done it before, and it
was sooo good.
And it helps explain while I may never meet
my goal weight. :)
Delish!

#14
Sleep in a tent.
Our lovely neighbors put this out for their girls
after we all did fireworks one night and quickly learned
that if you put up a tent,
the entire neighborhood will ask to sleep in it!
It was adorable though, to see all the cute friends
piled in for games and a late night.
I was shocked that they all made it till morning!

#19
Family Home Evening

Okay, let the judging begin.
We used to be really good at FHE.
But we kind of lost our mojo,
and our sweet kids had to have us put it on the list
for it to get done.
(Trav calls this post the blog o shame!)

That being said, we now are revved
up to keep our FHE's a weekly thing!

Trav planned a great lesson on tithing,
and after our kids asking why we
were stealing their hard earned
'art money'
from their piggy banks, they learned what was needed.
I think.

#22 on our list was to
run through the sprinklers.
They've done it about a million times.
I just always forget to capture it.

And
#23 was to go to lots of parks.
Also done, just without any pics.

I hope we can finish! What's left are some big ones!

{Scam Artists}

2011-07-21T21:58:00.000-07:00

These little ladies look sweet,
but they are ruthless and savvy when it comes
to money.

I learned this the hard way.

Yesterday they spent a few hours painting,
and then they said they were going outside to
sale their paintings.

I assumed they were sitting on the curb with
their paintings, and the cute little
for sale sign they painted.

But I was wrong.
Those little monkeys went from house
to house asking people to buy their
paintings, for a dollar each!

And my sweet neighbors bought them.
All!
They made bank.

And came home so proud.

Love this 'sine if your giting a panting'.
I'm sorry neighbors for my little entrepreneurs.
I will watch a little more closely from now on!

{Kitchen Remodel}

2011-07-17T22:12:00.000-07:00

It began with the floor.

When we were in Spain our ice maker in
the fridge leaked and damaged a good
chunk of the floor.

They were yellowing, looking pretty ugly,
and now they were lifting due to the damage.
So we made an insurance claim,
and thought we'd get a nice new floor.

(Before)

(After)
They are dark, shiny, and lovely.
I can't even tell you how much I love them.
I asked Travis if it would be strange to lick them.
He said yes....so I just stare at them instead.

(Done by Carpets of America,
recommended by the very kind and talented Jason Jeppson).

I was telling my dear friend Chanelle,
(who has a passion and a knack for designing everything),

about the floors getting done.
She then stayed up all night designing my kitchen
and figuring out a way to get me more space.
I adore Chanelle for dreaming this all up!
She had the brillaint idea of taking the 'L' bar out
of my current workspace, and flipping it to create an
island. She's brialliant I tell ya. If you don't have a
Chanelle in your life, you need one.

(Before)

(After)
All flipped and black! Yum.
Our cabinet work was done by our
very good friend Dave Lund at
Rivermill Cabinets.
They are fabulous.
He is fabulous.
And he is married to Chanelle,
so they are an unfairly talented pair.

Trav's only request through the entire
process was that he was getting a new sink.

(Before)

(After)

We have wanted better lighting in the kitchen for years,
and since we were already doing all the work...
(which seems to be the theme of the entire remodel),
we got us some new lights.

(Before)

(After)
Our kitchen feels so much warmer
and brighter now!
Our lighting was done by Eclipse Electric,
yet another talented friend and neighbor.

Our fridge was pathetic. We bought it used

when we bought the house and it was
quite literally falling apart.

(Before)

(After)
The best part is that the ice maker works
once again! It's divine.
We kept most of our cabinets the same,
except for adding a yummy dark glaze to them.
(Before)

(After)
The glaze just got rid of some of the yellow in the
cabinets and really made them look new again.
It was such a great easy and cheap way to update them.
A few more details.
The new back splash,
which still needs to be caulked...
And we changed a bit of paint.
(The bead board was red before).

We don't really miss this at all.
And are really pleased with the new layout.
I feel spoiled!
(This was my birthday gift from Travis).
I wonder how he'll top it next year...
I'm kidding of course.
Unless he wants to try and top it...
and then I'm totally not kidding.

{#10} Go to yellowstone! {#13} Go Camping {#32} Stay in a Hotel

2011-07-05T22:52:00.000-07:00

This past week we spent in Island Park, Id.

with my entire family.

It was heaven.
Perfect weather.
Delicious food.
Beautiful lodging.
And great company!

First we headed to our beautiful cabin.
It slept all 16 of us very comfortably and it was gorgeous!
My type of camping, for sure.

After checking in we decided to go see
Mesa Falls. They were breathtaking!

The next morning we got up bright and early and headed to
Old Faithful.
I couldn't wait to take my kids to Yellowstone.
I have such great memories of my childhood here,
and have so many pictures of my cousins and I
in these same places.

It was something special watching my kids
and their cousins experiencing the same
things. So much fun!

Waiting for Old Faithful to erupt.

Love the awe look on their faces.
They loved it!

All the cousins together.
They are a good looking group!
After Old Faithful we headed to fishing bridge.
Maybe my favorite spot in Yellowstone.
It's just so beautiful!
I love this shot of my dad telling the
kids about the time he got chased by a grizzly at
fishing bridge when he was a young boy.
His love for Yellowstone is infectious.

Then we headed to the mud volcano hot pots.

The buffalo were loving the warm pots and this

once crossed the boardwalk about 2 seconds ahead of us.
We were a tad bit scared...

And after the smelly pots, we headed to the upper falls.
I've never seen the falls quite like this,
they were so powerful and really beautiful!

The next day the boys did some fishing/golfing,
and the girls spent the day shopping in West Yellowstone
for souvenirs and going out to lunch.
I adore the women in my family.
Love this shot of their matching hair dos.
And then the boys met us at the Bear/Wolf discovery center.
Sweet Lucy was exhausted from all our shopping!

The kids loved getting a good glimpse of the bear and wolves.

The next day we headed back into Yellowstone.
Our first stop was at Norris to see some hot pots.

Me and Goose.And then to Mammoth for ice cream.
We all remember doing this with our cousins, so it was
fun to take the kids.

Our goal the entire trip was to see a bear.
We've been so many times, and never have seen a bear,
and were starting to think it was all a myth!
After Mammoth we decided to head to Tower Falls.
We'd heard that this loop was where most of the bears
were being spotted, but were kind of figuring
we were out of luck...

All the sudden the car about 6 in front of us slammed on it's
breaks so hard that it almost caused a little pile up.
I looked out my window to see why he stopped,
and saw something black, and then we all freaked
out a little bit.Sure enough, we got to see a black bear,
right next to the road.
The timing was so perfect because we didn't have
to wait in a traffic jam to see it,
and as Cody and Amy (who were 2 cars behind us)
drove away the bear was heading back into the woods.
We got really lucky, and it made our whole trip.

Then headed to Tower Falls.
We were bummed to see that we couldn't
hike to the bottom because of an
"animal den" on the trail.

We were able to see 2 more grizzlies off in the trees, but
from much farther away.
It was a great to end the trip!
Sure loved spending time with my
silly, rowdy, crazy family.
Love them all!!

(We were able to check off #10-go to Yellowstone,
#13-go camping (This is as close as we come),
and #32-stay in a hotel. (We are running out of time, a cabin is close enough!)

{#8, #18}

2011-06-28T22:55:00.000-07:00

{#8}
Ride Our Bikes To Mack Park to Play

Oy Vey.
Today was a doozy.

Mack Park is a mere mile from our house.
Both of the ladies have done this ride before.
Sienna, has done it a lot
because we used to go while Ady was in school.

So I assumed it would be simple and easy today.
{Here is where you learn I am sooo not mother of the year.}
We got about a block and a half away, and Sienna was struggling.
She was going really slow, and kept saying
"I just can't do it."
And she was crying.

Meanwhile, Adyson and her friend were a
good 2 blocks ahead, waiting for us (im)patiently.

And it was
h
o
t
!!

So I was (im)patiently
trying to get her to MOVE.

I may have said the sentence
"Sienna, you've done this before!
You are acting like a baby. Just go!"
Once...or twice.

It was awful.
And did I mention HOT?

Finally, my mom came to the rescue and picked
Sienna up and threw her bike in the trunk so
Adyson and I could finish the ride.

Cut to tonight when Trav looks at her bike and sees that
somehow she's got the brake on her front wheel.

How awful do I feel?
VERY.
Poor kid pretty much had the workout of her life today.

In my defense, she didn't say a word about the wheel
not spinning. She just acted tired.

I know, I suck.
Silver Lining....
we checked it off the list.

{#18}
Go Swimming.

I know, it's a little pathetic that we are
just barely crossing this one off the list!
The ladies got a double dose of swimming today.
After our awful bike ride, we went to my moms
and they dove in her pool.
And LOVED it.I loved it too. I sat in this chair, shoes off, and Sonic in hand.
The kids were so happy, and the wind was blowing,
and the leaves were making pretty music.
And their backyard is just so beautiful and private.

It was a good moment.

And then tonight we had our ward swim party
at the Logan Aquatic Center.
We love our ward, and love sitting and chatting with them.
We are very lucky to live in such a great place.

The ladies loved it.
All half hour of it.
Because the lighting started
and we had to leave. :(

{#6}

2011-06-27T20:53:00.000-07:00

{#6}

Go To Temple Square.

They loved
The flowers.
The Beehive House.
The Joseph Smith Memorial.
The temple.
The Sister Missionaries.

Spending time with Cousin Breje.And me...I hope.And the Christos.

And the beautiful pools and fountains.

I loved every second of spending the day with my beautiful girls.
(And Breje and my mom).
And eating here. Oh my.

{#15, #25}

2011-06-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

{#15}
Color a big sign that says 'Welcome Home Daddy!'

My mom watched them the other day while I ran to the
store and knocked this one out while I was gone.
They had so much fun making it,
and they couldn't wait for T to come home to see it.

It was uber windy when we went to hang it,
so we layed it on the garage floor..
whatever works, right?

Simon, Roo, Ads, and Lexi.And some pictures, just cause they are adorable.{#25}

Go to a movie.

We saw Rio, and loved it.
(This picture was taken at Lowes, just after the movie).

The checklist is getting smaller,
but the ones left are getting harder to check off.
I'm really hoping we can get it done...

{Fathers Day, #5, #28 & #30 }

2011-06-23T22:59:00.000-07:00

Fathers Day weekend was lovely.

We were able to see both of our
fabulous dads,
eat delicious food,
and lounge around cuddling.
The ladies made T huge cards,
loads of candy,
and lots of rounds of golf...so he was thrilled.

I asked to get a picture of them...
and silly girls that they are,
this is what I got.But I finally got them to stop playing long enough for
a half decent one.And a smoochy one too.
The ladies adore their Daddy,
and I do too.
We are very, very lucky.

{#30}
Stay up till Midnight.

This one was a tough one for
me to follow through with.
I love my kids going to bed
early, and I love a schedule.

But, it was on the list....
So we let a friend sleepover.

And we stayed up late watching a movie.
And then showed them the clock,
and they were thrilled!Then, we tucked them into bed,
and Travis fixed the clock back to it's
actual time.

Yep. We totally lied to our kids.
In our defense it was still 11:00,
which is extremely late for the ladies.

Stop judging.
{#5}
Take cookies to someone, just because.

We baked the yummiest oatmeal
chocolate chip cookies ever.
They chose to give them to my mom's neighbors
who they adore, and who are moving shortly.
It was fun. :)

(Do you adore the make-up?)

{#28}
Go on a picnic.

Check.
The ladies complained about %90 of the time
that it was too hot.
Next time, we will find more shade!

{Dentist-Morning Routine-Summer Jars}

2011-06-18T22:12:00.000-07:00

{DENTIST}

Adyson got 2 more teeth pulled
at the Dentist the other day,
making a grand total of 8 teeth
pulled in his office.
OUCH!
I was really proud of how brave she was.
And the tooth fairy even left a note this time!

She now dons the name
'toothless doofis'.
(How do you spell doofis anyways?)

We dig her.

{MORNING ROUTINE}

I really want to keep Adyson
reading every day during the summer.
Each night when she gets in bed she reads a
few books before falling asleep.
And it's started a little routine between the ladies.
Each morning when Sienna wakes up,
she crawls in bed with Adyson and wakes her up,
and Adyson reads her the books she has
from the night before on her nightstand.

I cannot tell you how much I love this.
They spend a good half hour snuggling,
reading, and playing nice
before the day begins.

It is such a beautiful way to start the day!

{Summer Jars}

We decided to make some fun summer memory jars
to store some of our favorite summer moments in.

I got 2 regular Mason Jars and dumped out my
entire bag of Ribbon odds and ends.
The ladies loved sifting through them
and picking their favorites.

After we found their favorites we cut a circle out of
white card stock to put on the lid of the jar,
and they colored whatever they desired.

Then we put it all together.

{Adyson's}
{Roo's}

The plan is to throw our keepsakes
{movie tickets, pine cones, swimming bracelets, sea-shells}
from some of our favorite activities inside
so we can remember all the fun we've had.They turned out darling, I think.
And I think the ladies will love filling them up.

(These weren't on our checklist this year, but certainly will be next year!)

{Summer Checklist #29 & #4}

2011-06-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

Last week we made a checklist of things we

wanted to do this summer.
(Cuz summer is looong and I need to entertain the ladies somehow.)
I'm hoping to document our checklist along the way.

#29
Ding Dong Ditch with Ding-Dongs.
Found the idea here.

The girls were so excited for this, and it ended up
being a hoot.

They chose to go to take them to our
dear friends the Mullens, who live just
a block away.

So we drove over there just to see the ENTIRE
family outside.

Fabulous.

We chatted and they looked at us like
we were crazy for driving around at 9:30 at night,
while sick,
and in our pj's.

Fantastic.

We told them to please, just go inside-
then drove around the block again
and let the ladies go at it.

They had a plan-
1-Adyson was to set the ding-dongs down.
2-Sienna was to ring the bell.
3-The ladies were to run to the 'getaway car.'

Well, Adyson set the box down
and Sienna knocked.

And they ran.
But Adyson was almost in tears
because Sienna was supposed to ring
the bell and knocked instead!

It was classic Kidman drama.
Adyson likes things done
the right way. And Sienna
just goes with the flow.

It was really fun though.

They are already plotting who to get next!
(And I can blog about it because I'm pretty sure those smart Mullens figured it out.)

#4
Have a Pajama Party.

Um, a day where we stay in our pj's all day.
And don't do our hair...
Yes.
Please.

We ate pancakes for lunch.

And ventured to the dollar store in our uglies
to get a craft (for fathers day...shhhh).

I could do a few more days just like this.
I adore my pj's!

{All I want for Christmas}

2011-06-11T20:16:00.000-07:00

Adyson has had her two front teeth
very,
very,
loose for the past month.

She'd wiggle them,
and wiggle them,
but would not let
us get anywhere near them to
yank them out.

We tried.
Trust me,
we tried.

Last week she and Sienna had their
regular checkup at the dentist.
He saw those babies, and just yanked them right out.
Adyson sat up and looked at me with her cute
little toothless smile,
and I said "Adyson, your teeth are gone!"
And she said,
"They are?"

And then a few minutes later told me how bad it hurt...
Little drama queen.

Here is her goofy new smile.
Love this kid of mine!

And we all know the best part of loosing your
teeth is a visit from the tooth fairy.

Stay tuned. At her checkup last week
we scheduled an apt for this week to
get 2 more pulled, poor thing.

I wonder if she will ever lose a tooth like most kids do,
at home. So far it's always been at the dentist.

{Summer Time!}

2011-06-05T22:03:00.000-07:00

Adyson went and graduated from 1st grade

last week.
Making me a mother to a 2nd grader!
I know you are all sick of hearing
about how crazy it is to me that my kids
are growing
so
quickly,
but I just can't get over it!

Adyson adored her teacher this year and
learned so much. She is a really amazing
reader and has excelled this year in so many ways and
graduated with all top marks.

The night before her last day of school she drew
her teacher a card and I forgot to get a picture of it,
but for memories sake I must document it.

It said:
Dear Mrs Fullmer,
You teach us about math and reading
and rocks and science, but most of all
you teach us about friendship.

(Yes adorable. And I now see that she inherited my love
of all things cheesy.)

We are so proud of you Adyson and can't wait to
see what you will do in 2nd grade!

We are now ready to start having some summer fun!
This weekend was full of yard work,
running through the sprinklers,
and tonight we had our first marshmallow roast.

It was lovely.
And by the time we came in at 10:00 tonight
we had a backyard full of neighbors, treats, and laughter
making my heart feel full and happy that we live in
such a great place.

Now just teach me how to keep my kids
from fighting all summer long and I will be
one happy mother!

{Kindergarten Bound, Crazy Hair Day, and a Quick Trip}

2011-05-30T20:58:00.000-07:00

Someone tell me

WHERE
in the world the last 2 years went
because this little lady is
done.
DONE
with pre-school.
And moving on
to
Kindergarten!

(1st day of pre-school 09')(1st day of pre-school 10')

I feel
old.
And a lot
excited for her...
and a little
sad
for me.

Sienna has had such a fun year
and learned so much and is
SO
excited to be a
Kindergartner!

We will sincerely miss
Teacher T,
who has been a big part of our lives
for the past 4 years.
We adore her.

Adyson's class earned a
crazy hair, pajama day read-a-thon
at school last week.

She got home and I got her in the bath
before I realized we had taken a picture,
so here is a random few shots for ya.

We opted for a faux hawk,
and, apparently, to the other 1st graders,
it was a hit!
Cute huh!

We headed to my
lovely sisters house this weekend in
celebration of Brielle and Breje's Birthdays.

My kids were ecstatic!
They love going to Heather's house,
and even think it's worth the
extremely
long
and
ugly
drive.

Adyson and Kutter
were pretty much inseparable.
They spent the whole weekend playing
and I saw them for a total of 5 minutes.

I dread the day they realize that
he is
all
boy.
and she is
all
girl.

But for now they make it work,
and it's heartwarming.

I tried really hard to get a good picture of them,
but it was darn near
impossible.

Saturday we took Breje shopping and to lunch to celebrate
her turning 14 (how did that happen?).
We left Adyson home with Kutter
(because heaven forbid we separate them),
and took Brielle and Sienna shopping with us.
They are such sweet friends and fit in with us
big girls just fine. ;)

They spent the time browsing through magazines
and eating as many cookies as we would let them
before stuffing them with lunch at the cheesecake factory.

It was a lovely weekend, and so nice to be
with my sister and her gorgeous kids again.
Now it's back to reality! One more week of school before
summer starts....I wonder if it will stop raining anytime soon?

I can't even stand it.

2011-05-20T10:10:00.001-07:00

My Brother in Law got this shot of Sienna
at her revue and I just die when I look at it.
She's such a little ham!

{Weekend Update}

2011-05-15T20:27:00.000-07:00

This weekend has been eventful!
(It seems like this time of year EVERY weekend is eventful!)
But it was full of goodness.
It just went by too fast!

I woke up bright and early to run the
Health Days 'Conquer the Canyon' race.

Me with friends Natalie and Chanelle.
Chanelle, Natalie, Candace, Courtney, and I.

After the race we played catch up in the house and yard.
And then got Sweet Roo ready for her big dance recital.

Yes, I want to nibble her a bit!
Isn't she adorable?

She did such a great job! We were all so proud of her.

She loves the spotlight. ;)

We topped the weekend off by flying some kites
in this windy weather.

Here's to wishing next weekend comes soon!

{Why I'm Smiling Today}

2011-05-13T09:53:00.001-07:00

Because the sun is shining.
I'm baking my favorite cookies,
while given my own personal concert.

Life is good.
So good.

{Mothers Day}

2011-05-09T22:20:00.000-07:00

Mothers Day I woke up to
A beautiful card from Adyson
(with a pin she made in school),
A darling picture frame Sienna made in school,
A Cold Dt. coke and gifts from T,
breakfast I didn't have to make (or clean up!),
and most importantly lots of hugs from my
little ladies and a kiss or 2 from my Trav.

I just can't say how blessed I felt the entire day.
I am
so
lucky
to be their
mom.
I'm so thankful.
So thankful for my own amazing mom who still
sets a beautiful example for me to follow, and taught me
how to be a friend-and a mom to my kids.
And for my mil, who raised Travis to be the fabulous father/hubs he is.
For my Grandmas, who I miss daily.
For my sisters, who are also my best of friends, and amazing examples.
For my girlfriends, who are beautiful, beautiful people.

I love a day where we can celebrate the women in our lives!
I hope you all had a beautiful day.

(2 new posts below:)

{Soccer and Tavaci}

2011-05-09T22:05:00.000-07:00

Soccer is quickly coming to an end.
Sienna has had such a fun year and really improved.
I just had to post this picture of her and her 2 cute little friends,
wearing their shades while they take a break.
Adorable!Adyson isn't a big fan of soccer, but she is a fan
of singing and performing!
She had her Tavaci Spring Concert on Saturday
and did a beautiful job.
She's so fun to watch and has such a pretty little voice.
And how beautiful is she??

I'm so proud of my little ladies for being
such talented and brave little things.
I sure love them!

{7 Year Old Gift Guide}

2011-05-09T21:01:00.000-07:00

This year Adyson got some really fun and
amazing gifts for her Birthday.

Over the past few weeks we have had so much
fun playing with her gifts.

My parents gave her a Science kit.
(Which was right up her ally.
Remember last year she asked
for a microscope.)

We mixed color tubes:

Experimented mixing colors:

And Made Snow:

This gift gets an A!
We had fun for a good week straight doing experiments
and the kids just loved every second of it.

My sister got her a butterfly kit.
We got 5 tiny little caterpillars
and watched them grow into
big ugly caterpillars, and then
chrysalises,
and then beautiful butterflies!
It was really amazing to watch them
change, and fascinating to
see them let their wings dry and
learn to fly.

We kept them for a few weeks
(while feeding them sugar water and oranges),
and then we finally decided to let them go.
Adyson's teacher was kind enough to let us bring
them to school and let them go in front of the kids.

Adyson was really sad to let them go,
but doing it in front of the kids helped her be tough.
All she wanted was for the butterfly to sit on her hand.

I told her not to get her hopes up.

She opened the cage and they didn't
want to leave their little home.
So she turned it upside down and shook it
till they finally came...

All but one.
One didn't want to come out,
so she reached it
and it crawled right on her hand,
making her dreams come true.

It was magic.

That butterfly hung out on her hand
for a good 5 minutes before we found a good
spot for them to make their home.

We are so doing this again next year!
Another A.

Trav and I got Adyson an
'Illustory'.

Basically it's a Make your own Story kit.
You write and illustrate your own story
and mail it back to them and they will publish it for her.
She had so much fun coming up with her own story
and drawing the pictures.And a few days ago it came, and it's so adorable!
We paid a few extra dollars so they wouldn't
fix her spelling errors, they just make it so sweet.

It's entitled
Gabreela (Gabriella) Moves.
It's about a little girl who has to move because
her dad gets a new job.

And she's a little nervis (nervous).

Don't worry, it has a happy ending.

Can't wait to see what she gets when she turns 8!

{Mustard Yellow}

2011-05-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

I've become slightly obsessed with the color
Mustard Yellow.

Really, I'm obsessed.
I buy any clothing item in that color I can find.
My purse is that color...
And I've been in the market for a yellow cardigan for months.
and I needed to pull some of it into my home.

So I painted my front table first...
This is a big deal friends.
I
do
not
craft.

But decided it wasn't enough...
so my
very,
very,
very,
talented and creative and
thrifty!
friend Eileen
helped me out.
I wanted a vingette of frames and mirrors
and we found some great ones at the DI.
The white one was hilarious (It's actually a mirror),
but it had light pink stitching on it and there was still
a kiss mark on the mirror.
It was awful.

But after a coat (or 2) (or 3), of mustard paint-
they look brand new.
I added a 'K' that I had on another wall because I
needed to fill just a little more space.
I love it!
Now that I know how to spray paint things,
I have all sorts of ideas floating around in my brain.
(Shhh, don't tell Trav).

Thanks Eileen for your help!
What would I do without you??

{An Exert from Adyson's Journal: Earth Day Edition}

2011-05-01T18:48:00.001-07:00

Adyson writes in a journal each day in school, and brings it home at the end of each month. Some of the entries are priceless and I sure wish I would have documented a few of the entries here on the old blog...

It's not too late to start, so enjoy a new segment to the blog: An exert from Adyson's Journal.
(Misspelled words and all).

I help the earth by:
I do not no if this counts but one day I put a bottle outside when it was raining and in the morning I domt it in the grass and sometimes we pray for Japan pieple and outside I picked up trash.

(I'm sure her teacher is real impressed with the Kidman Family's efforts to save our planet.)
(And I sure think it counts that she 'dumt' rain water on the wet grass.)

Sure love that Ads of mine.

{Sienna's Best Week Ever}

2011-04-29T21:29:00.000-07:00

This post is all about-

My little Roo.
My curly headed lady.
My little spit fire.
My little lady with the most contagious of laughs.

She's seriously has had the
BEST
WEEK
EVER.

It began with her special day in Pre-school.
Each child in her class has a day where they are
celebrated for being who they are, and being so special.
I love it. (Her teacher is something else!)She was very excited (and a little nervous for her day).
After being introduced to the darling kids in her class,
she gets her 'I am special' crown.
And then the class sings a song to her
about how wonderful she is.

Then Teacher T reads some fun facts about her.
And Sienna grins from ear to ear.
That smile didn't leave the entire time we were there.

She shows off her poster (full of pictures of her and her favorite things),
and then passes out rainbow donuts to her friends.
We agree, this little lady of ours is nothing sort of
Spectacular.

The next morning she woke up a 5 year old!
Yes, my baby is 5.
I can't even deal with it.

Here she is her first morning as a 5 year old,
and ready to pose.

I cannot even stand how cute she is.

That day we went and picked out a cake (oreo ice-cream).
I let her pick whatever she wanted for lunch,
seriously, told her I'd take her anywhere....
She chose Wal-Mart chicken nuggets??
She's a strange little 5 year old.
After school we got geared up for a soccer game.
We had a chat about being aggressive before the game,
(she even has what we are calling an 'aggressive growl').
And it worked.
She wanted
to score her a goal,
and went after that ball every chance she got.
And about 2 minutes before the game ended she scored!
We were so excited for her, and it made her b-day
extra special.

(Post game smile. Blue lips courtesy of the cupcakes we brought for treats).

After the game we headed to my parents for
dinner, cake, and presents!

She had a fabulous b-day!

And then she topped off her fabulous week by celebrating in style
with her friends. This year she chose a
RAINBOW
themed party. It wasn't as easy to plan as I
had hoped, but it turned out pretty fun in the end.

Here she is, ready to party!

The Invites.We colored rainbow pictures,
made fluffy clouds with rainbow streamers and
made rainbow (fruit loop necklaces).And read the only book our library had about rainbows.
The kids actually really enjoyed it...so we lucked out.

Here's some fun details.
(Rainbow napkins found at Michaels, Chalk board plate from a friend).Rainbow mini M&M's (my favorite!), a pot of gold, rainbow licorice, rolos.
Rainbow cupcakes.The treats all set up on the plate...
do you think they went home ready for dinner??

And the cupcakes had a fun surprise when they took the wrapper off.
They were such fun to make, and the kids loved them.The crew.
Yes, there was a TON of them.
Sienna is such a social kid and makes friends everywhere she goes.
Aren't they all just adorable?

We sent each child home with a little thank you token
found here.It was such a fun week for my little Roo.
But I gotta admit, I'm a bit exhausted!
And feeling rather old having a 5 year old and a 7 year old
around the house.

Now, I'm off to bed. Please bless I wake up in the morning.

{Easter Weekend}

2011-04-24T22:38:00.000-07:00

Easter Weekend has been
busy.
busy.
busy.

Saturday began by heading to Sienna's
soccer game.
Here is a shot of her first time at Goalie.
And her last.
She was TERRIFIED to be goalie.
Scared to death.
Lots of tears fell before we caved and took her out.
(But in Sienna's defense, she was awesome out on the field
after her meltdown and more aggressive then we've seen before.)
And seriously, how cute is she?!

Right after the game we headed to
Treemonton to celebrate
Easter,
Sienna's upcoming Birthday,
and
Trav's upcoming Birthday.
She asked Grandma Lorraine for a Rainbow Cake.
Adorable!But before we got to the B-day Festivities we got to
the egg hunt.
They loved every second.

We then got to the cake!
Sienna was pretty excited about her first
Birthday party of the year, and is counting down
the next few days till her b-day is finally here.

Then it was present time!

For Dad too! :)Saturday night just before bed Adyson made
this card for the Easter Bunny.
I love this kid of mine.

And in case you can't read it, here is what it says.
(With added punctuation and correct spelling)

Thank you for coming here. You are very nice.
My name is Adyson and my sisters name is Sienna.
Our last name is Kidman. You are wise, kind, and sweet.
You are a big bunny and your the biggest. That's very cool.
And my moms name is Hayley and my dads name is
Travis. We love each other in our family. We have a great
family. Thanks for coming Easter Bunny. Happy Easter.
I'm seven.
I love you.
Love Adyson

Yes, she 's adorable.

This morning they woke up to their baskets and a
few surprises. Yes, those are Ken dolls.
They make their friends go home and get theirs
every time they play Barbies because we don't have any..
so The EB hooked them up.

They also got some new scooters and were
beyond thrilled with them...but they were
so busy riding them that I have yet to take a picture.

Here they are in their Easter Duds.
Beauties, I'm raising!

After dinner we headed to my moms to
celebrate with my family.
Another Egg hunt!
Yeah!

We spent the rest of the day eating my moms
delicious food, playing games with cousins, and
Trav and I snuck in a nap! It was a lovely Easter!
I hope you all had a great one too!

{Cold Spring Activities}

2011-04-21T22:41:00.000-07:00

My lack of blogging I blame on the weather.
The
really
cold
weather.

It makes us be boring and watch
a lot of movies.
(Tangled and Lemonade Mouth).

Here is how we've managed to bide our time.

Trav broke out the girls
cutest golf clubs ever
a few days ago and took the ladies
out back to practice their swings.

It was windy! And Cold!
But they had such a good time
and cannot wait to get up to the course with T.

I've found the ladies doing this often when it's too
rainy to go outside and play.

I LOVE Adyson being able to read.
It's such fun.

And Soccer started.
Adyson chose not to play this year,
so Sienna has all of us cheering her on.
And she lucked out cause Trav is her coach.

So far, we've had to cancel every practice day
(due to rain),
and we've played 1 game, in the pouring rain.

Maybe someone should have told Coach
it was FREEZING outside and shorts were a bad choice....

What is cuter then 4 and 5 year olds playing soccer?
It's just so funny.
Sienna did fabulous and our team scored a few goals...
(They scored a few for the other team too. We are currently
working on teaching them to run in the right direction.)

Now, go pray for the sun!
Go. Now. Go!

{Reminder}

2011-04-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

(Picture taken by Roo,
just before she got in trouble for playing with the camera.)

I'm sitting here in my front room
with the windows open
watching it snow.
I'm listening to one little lady
take the lids on and off of her markers
as she is drawing a picture for her
Grandma, who is on a cruise.
(Lucky!)
And another little lady is playing
with her Barbies in her bedroom.
They are currently flying around in search
of something...I'm not quite sure what.

This week hasn't been a typical Spring Break
for us.
We've done nothing Springy at all.
I've sat by the window reading,
and dreaming of sunshine.
We've played with friends.
A lot.
We saw Gnomeo and Juliet,
which-btw-is LAME.
And we've watched
Tangled 15 times, I think.

But boy, has it been lovely.
We've lazed around each morning
in our pj's.
And we've danced around the kitchen
to their new favorite song
(Who says-Selena Gomez).
The ladies wake up each morning and
play for hours together.
And my house feels warm
and
I
feel
content.

And just today have realized
that even though I promised myself
when the New Year started that life
would be like this
all
the
time.

It's not.

I still get carried away with
work, weight, PTA, church, cleaning, cooking,
and everything else on my too long list.

But I'm working on it.
And I write this as a reminder to myself
to put whats important first.
And to relax, just a little.
And I feel so very blessed to have such a lovely life
with kids I want to squeeze every second.
And a husband I love. Loads.
And a warm house full of laughter.
And even when it's full of little girls fighting,
I kinda love it.

Life is good!

{O Town}

2011-04-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

Friday we headed into Ogden Canyon to
stay in some condos with Cody, Amy and their lovelies.
We did nothing but
lay around, eat, shop, play games, and watch movies
for
2 days straight.
Jealous?
It was lovely,
though somehow we all came home
feeling rather tired.

Could is possibly be because we had one
7 year old,
two
almost 5 year olds,
and
the cutest baby ever
echoing coughs at all hours of the night?

We did make a little excursion from our secluded
spot in the mountains to go to the dinosaur museum.
The ladies love it and were so very excited about it!
The ladies and Simon.

They were told to make their scariest faces.
You are scared...
aren't you?
(I love how Roo can't even manage a scary face.
It all ends up smiles.)

The fam.

They were in awe watching a man work on a fossil.
He opened his window and talked to them for like an hour.
They were in awe of everything he had to say,
especially Simon.
It was a very fun ending to a fabulous morning for them.

I'm already ready for another getaway!
And for warm weather...where is Spring?

{Adyson's turns 7!}

2011-03-29T20:36:00.000-07:00

This little lady went and turned 7.
And good gravy,
she was excited about it!We do Birthdays big 'round here.
What is better then a day to
just
celebrate
you?
She woke up to heart shaped cinnamon toast (her favorite breakfast).
And was surprised with a kids meal from
Wendy's (her VERY favorite)
as she walked down to the lunchroom.
Her friends were jeeealous.

We let her pick her restaurant of choice for dinner,
and of course she chose The Olive Garden.
It's Her most favorite of foods, and Travis isn't a fan,
so she used her b-day to her advantage and negotiated her way there.
Smart cookie.

She was extremely excited because Heather and Jody
were able to come visit and help us celebrate.
Just look at the overflowing table of gifts!

Opening her illustory from T and I.
I cannot wait to see what she comes up with!

The cousins. And I swear this is the only time you will ever see
Miss Lucy cry.

The next day we decided to celebrate with the Kidman
side of the family.
Adyson chose Caspers ice-cream.

Sienna was pretty happy about it.....

She chose an ipod cake.
Tell me, where are the days of princesses and teddy bears?
She grew up fast.
It still hurts.

Adyson, Rheagen, and Sienna.

Singing Happy Birthday.

Adyson is such a great kid. She is bright, beautiful, and unique.
She marches to the beat of her own drum, and I adore that about her.
She loves to learn and loves to create, and really loves to love.
She's sensitive and caring, with just the right amount of spunk (most of the time!).
We sure love this kid, and are so thankful she is ours.

But I sure wish time would slow down, because my little lady is
getting big, too quickly.

{Johnson Family Pictures}

2011-03-27T22:52:00.000-07:00

Today the Johnson side of the family got pictures taken, which was good because the kiddos have grown since the last batch, and sweet Lucy has been added to the fam. :)

Amy's sister Jen took them and did a great job...head to jenisophotography to take a peek.

Thanks Jen! They are darling!

{Adyson's Art Birthday Party}

2011-03-19T21:04:00.000-07:00

Next Friday marks Adyson's 7th Birthday.
Let's not think about how old that seems to me.
7!
Instead, I will show you some pics of her lovely Art themed
Birthday party that was held today.
She is a true artist at heart, so this theme fit her to a T.

Here are the invites. Easy, cheap, and cute.We were able to hold the party at the school my
mom works at in the Art room.
It was the perfect venue.
The kids had plenty of room to create
their masterpieces.

The tables each were covered in butcher paper
rather then tablecloths so they could decorate them
to their hearts desire, and I was able to write their
names on each spot before the party began,
(which made it so we didn't get any of their artwork mixed up).

Each table had an activity.
First we made round crayons.
I had all the crayons broken into small pieces and into
a bowl with their coordinating colors.

Then they put whatever color combo they wanted in
my mini muffin tin.
(I had tape above with their name on it for each girl,
so they wouldn't get them mixed up.)
Then we baked them in the oven,
and let them cool.
They turned out really cute!

One table each girl made a self portrait on 8x10 papers
with gold, silver, and hot pink frames printed on them.

We then sculpted birds out of cornstarch dough.
Thank goodness T was there to help with this fun project!
The girls had so much fun doing this, and their birds
ended up looking pretty cute.

Adyson's Creation. Darling.And Sienna's.
She went feather crazy!!

Then we posed for pictures, of course!
The group.

Sienna and Rheagen.

Then we went to the food table,
where the ladies dined on paint cupcakes.
Pretzels dipped to look like paintbrushes....
(Use your imagination people!) :)And instead of ice cream they ate these
adorable Popsicles that look like crayons.

While they ate, they colored the table and I found this little
gem written on someones spot.
It doesn't take much to please these girls! ;)Then it was present time.
Guess who's
really.
really.
really.
excited?!

She was spoiled rotten by her cute friends,
and then her last gift was from Sienna.
Yes, we are proud owners of two fish.
They have appropriately named the gold fish
Goldie,
and the white fish...
guess.....

Sara.
Random.

We played a little pictionary to pass a few minutes and then
sent them on their way with these goody bags filled with art supplies.
It was a fun day... but I'm so glad it's over!

We have a fun week planned full of things to celebrate
our almost 7 year old.
Sure wish I could freeze time and stop them from growing!

I was inspired by this website for the party,
though my version isn't nearly as cute or well done.

{Sea World}

2011-03-17T18:35:00.000-07:00

Our last day of vacation was spent at
Sea World. We LOVE Sea World.
First we grabbed some maps.
Then Sienna posed with hers, naturally.

Then we headed to the helicopter ride.
Everyone loved this one.
But me.
I was carsick 1 minute in.
Does that mean I'm getting old?
(Do not answer that!)

Then we headed to see the Polar Bears and Beluga Whales.
This is my favorite place in Sea World.
I love the Belugas.
And I love this picture of Roo.

A good chunk of my pictures from that day look just like the one below.
The ladies were enthralled with all there was to see.
And Adyson just soaks all the information in.
I think she may have a future working with sea life,
she just loves learning about it all.

Then we headed to see the dolphins. We didn't have as much
luck as last year, and the dolphins kind of kept to themselves.
The trainers did have them do a few tricks and that was great to see.

Then we headed to the Sea Lions Live show.
We really love that show, it's just so funny.

The man who warms up the crowd 'Biff', called T and I
out of the crowd with my camera. He then said he wanted to
take a picture of us...
but then he made T move over-
pulled a random dude out of the audience to stand by me-

and then pulled out a few random kids for our family portrait.
Cute eh?
My kids didn't find this too funny...

Then we headed to the tide pools to pick up some starfish.
They were amazed by this and I think could have stayed there all day,
but we had to fit in the dolphins show and the pet show.

But we had to move on to the Shamu show. A great way to end our day,
and our trip.

I now have the California blues and am trying hard to remember
how warm, green, and blue it was.
Spring cannot come soon enough!

{San Diego Wild Animal Park}

2011-03-16T20:52:00.000-07:00

After our lovely time in Disneyland, we packed up and headed
to San Diego. I love the drive from Aneheim to San Diego,
it's green, and the ocean looks lovely, and each time we make the
trek I think I should live there....
(Your welcome for that random bit of info).

We first went to the Wild Animal Park.
I give it a C-.
It's a lot of walking.
But not a lot of seeing animals.
Except for that 15 minute bus ride.
Unless you want to pay $50 for a ride upgrade.
That being said, it was still a nice day and much better
then being stuck in the cold!
And we got some good pics to share....

The ladies. I love this shot.
Aren't they beautiful?!
This little lady is turning 7 in a week.
And I think you can see how grown up she is in this picture.
It's heartbreaking.
They did love the splash pad here and Sienna
could have played here all day.

Tiff, Lorraine, Larry, and Adyson.

Lovely Roo.

T, Me, and Roo.

We did love the up-close look at the
sleeping lion on the jeep.
Sienna managed to yell loud enough to make
him wake up.

We ended the night back at the pool
and the ladies became bathing beauties.

Somebody help me.
I'm raising divas.