These are a few...

of my Favorite Things!

Wordless Wednesday

wordFUL Wednesday and the kids that don't stop growing

I am shamelessly copying Cecily's "wordFUL Wednesday" (I usually do wordless wednesday, but it's too hard) and posting a picture and writing about it because I can't NOT talk about it! Am I weird or what?

This is my gorgeous girls taken in 2004. Long time ago, huh? I was reminded this week of how little they used to be. I was reminded in a weird way. You see...when they were adopted, they were ages 4, 3, and 20 months. They WERE little. Now they are ages almost 10, 8 1/2, and 7. Everyone always says that they think Meghan and Rachel look like twins because they are both blondies. Lately though I think it is Jenny and Rachel that are more like twins. Jenny, who used to be teensy tiny, is growing like a freaking weed and just won't stop. She is as tall as Rachel and they wear the same size clothes.

The problem is that I like to use the "pass down" method in clothes usage around here and her being the same size as Rachel completely SCREWS that up! Just this morning I had to go to the store and buy her a coat because she has outgrown her other one, but yet Rachel still fits just fine in the one she has and can't pass it down. So I had to go and buy one the exact same size as Rachel's for Jenny! ARGH! Stop growing already!

I just want her to be little again. Matter of fact, I want all of them to just be little again.

rundown on the Halloween event

We had a fun Halloween yet again. To all the candy that my kids received...my diabetes says Thank You. For the first time ever, Mike and I tried to be a little more lax in our candy eating rules. We bagged up the candy minus anything chocolate, and sent it down to their bedrooms with them. We had bets on whose candy would be gone before 9 pm and sure enough...it was Jenny! The kids all dressed up- Jonathan as a Knight, Meghan as a 50's girl, Sidney the bug, Rachel the Go-Go dancer, and Jenny as the Queen of Hearts.Unbeknownst (is that a word??) to us, Sidney had grabbed a bag of M&M's out of her bucket and had eaten through the wrapper and smothered herself in chocolate. I spent a majority of today handwashing a costume that is not supposed to be washed. Good times!
And last but not least...it would not be Halloween unless our good friends the Bankheads came over and we did a group shot with all the kids together. We seriously have to do this each year because Porter and Jonathan always want to be the same thing.

Hooray for Halloween!

Oh yeah, and it's NaBloPoMo Day 1...check. Hopefully I can keep it up all month long.

Wordless Wednesday -Peek...A Boo!

Lego my birthday!

Jonathan wanted a fun cake for his birthday. I made him a Lego-shaped cake since he had asked for some Lego sets for his birthday, and it could kind of go along with the theme...if he was having a themed-birthday. Which he wasn't. But, he COULD have. I am a shameless bragger and I personally think that the cake turned out GREAT! Bottom line- Jonathan was happy with it!
Blowing out his candles. It took him 3 tries. Stupid asthma.
Posing with his favorite presents--his Lego sets, and his camo robe. It doesn't take much to please this little guy. Thank heavens!

*the crown is courtesy of his preschool. His mom is not THAT awesome that she makes crowns for her kids to wear on their birthdays. :]

Wordless Wednesday

Starting school...

Jonathan started preschool yesterday. He was so excited. He said, "Mom, can you do a mohawk in my hair?" What he meant was a faux hawk, so we did it and he was thrilled! (How handsome is he?????) Then he told me that he needed a picture by the door, since it was his first day. What a character!

So far he has accomplished two days at preschool and hasn't gotten in trouble yet. I know you all must roll your eyes because I say that in every post about my kids..."and they haven't got in trouble yet"...
But you've got to understand that around our house, not getting in trouble is a BIG deal and frankly this mom's day revolves around how many times someone has or has not gotten busted for something. Sad, but true.

Also true to form in our house is what we like to call Picture Crowders. And we have yet another one. That's right. Miss Sidney is our latest and greatest. While taking the picture of Jonathan, she totally BUSTED in and started scooting him over so that she could be in the picture. I wish you could have seen it live because it was pretty funny!

Future Falcettes

My cute girls (well, three of them...) had the opportunity to do Future Falcettes this week. The Falcettes are the drill team for Clearfield High and every year they do this little drill team camp for young girls as a fundraiser. Then at the game that week, the Falcettes and the future ones perform during halftime. The girls were way excited to do it and especially because their good friend Catie was doing it also.
Here they all are with Kaydee, the girl in my ward that is on the Falcette squad. Their performance was carnival-themed which explains the weird face makeup. Sorry I cut your head off Catie!

And below are some action shots. They aren't very good because I had to use super zoom on my itty bitty camera and it doesn't like to do that. But at least I "pointed" them out for you!

WoRdLeSs WeDnEsDaY

Just a couple highlights from this weekend...

She's a daredevil. Really. She climbs up on my hope chest- don't ask me how she does that- and then does her version of "River Dance" as fast as she can. I'm just waiting for her to fall off. Well, why don't you just NOT let her climb up on it you ask? Ummm, she kinda has a mind of her own. It's not likely that I could actually stop her.
Jenny was creating with Legos again on Saturday. I love to see the things my kids can create. They have such vivid imaginations.

WoRdLeSs WeDnEsDaY

First day

Well, the first day of school went off without a hitch. THANK HEAVENS! Mike had to go out of town for business, but he didn't have to leave until mid morning, so he was able to help me get the kids to the school and to their classes on time. We have been kinda lazy the last two months during our summer break, and so getting back into our routine will take some time. (Hopefully by the end of the week we will have it down!)

Jonathan insisted on putting on his backpack and being in the picture even though he is only going to preschool this year and doesn't even start until September. Oh well. He didn't want to be left out!

And the best news is that I didn't get any phone calls from the school! No one got in trouble! Let's just hope that they can keep that up for the rest of the year!

WoRdLeSs WeDnEsDaY

Children of the Corn! Hahaha

WoRdLeSs WeDnEsDaY

Random, random, random

So first off, some randoms need said....

1. Dark Knight ROCKED! Mike and I went on a date (a DATE!) on Wednesday night (thanks Shan and John for watching the kiddos) and we went and saw it. Mike was dying because apparently he "wanted" to fight the crowds and go on opening night, but we were in Idaho for the temple open house. So, instead we were 5 days later in seeing it and it did not disappoint! Love, love, love Christian Bale! And Heath Ledger was a VERY believeable Joker. I'm not jumping on the give-him-an-Oscar bandwagon, but he was super creepy and super good in character.

2. We try to take the kids to the dollar store once a month. Well, we have missed a few months as the kids keep reminding us, so today when it was too hot to work out in the yard, we loaded up in the car, got the kids their $2 each out of their money jars, and headed for Dollar Tree. Oh yeah! Fun times! I bought for myself a new heel scraper and some silicone brushes for cooking with. Oh yeah, and toothbrushes for the Stake activity thing we are having next month. (our ward got assigned to bring 200 toothbrushes) ...ANyWAy...
We always let the kids buy whatever they want. WHATEVER. Sometimes that backfires on us. Like the time that Jenny bought maracas. She now doesn't not get to buy anything musical...and for good reason too. Jonathan usually buys toy cars or guns, Rachel gets dolls, but Meghan....well, lets just say that she goes into the dollar store with a mission and does anything she can to accomplish it. Today was "mission accomplished"! She seriously is a fashionista. She just is. I couldn't help but take her picture when we got home of her and her $2 spent. YOU GO GIRL! 3. Sidney is apparently an "apprentice" fashionista because every day (no, seriously...everyday!) she pulls open the bottom drawer of my hope chest where random things have been placed and pulls out Meghan sling from when she broke her arm 2 years ago and then she drapes it around her neck. It's so cute! Sometimes Jonathan puts his batman cape on her too and then she looks really silly! And she will just toddle around the house dressed like that for hours and hours. :] It's all about accessorizing!!

Photo fun!

Okay, so I am totally LOVING my new camera! It has so many different options that my old one did not have. Yesterday, the kids were outside playing and I thought I would try out the sepia setting. LOVE IT! Enjoy the pics!

Happy Birthday Sidney girl!

Can you believe that I FORGOT to do a fun little post about my baby complete with pictures for her 1st birthday! What a loser, right? It's okay, I am a cheater and I will just post-date this one and no one will know....wait, I just told you. OOPS!

My little baby turned 1! It's crazy to me how it feels like forever that I was pregnant and that was only 9 months. And the first year of her life has gone by in a flash and it was 12 months.

BIG, FAT mommy all pregnant with Sidney. Eight months and counting.....
Miss Sidney just one day old. What a cutie!
I love it when she smiles. She brings such sunshine into our home.
And she has been known to make some pretty weird faces too. Maybe it's just gas?
Already playing with Barbies. Yikes, they start early don't they!

Just for fun...this is me at 6 months old. Quite a resemblance to Sidney!! (And check out my mom's hairdo! LOVE IT!)

This is what I live for. Kisses from my baby! We'll work on the fact that she uses her tongue when she's older. :)

It's not just for laundry anymore...

I thought this was fun. I heard Sidney giggling and came out of my room to see Meghan and Rachel pulling her around in the laundry basket. You would have thought that they were the only kids in the world to think it up when they said, "Look Mom! Look what we are doing with Sidney"!
So, of course, then I HAD to show them that pulling a baby around in a laundry basket has been done by older siblings since probably the dawn of time! Here is my older sisters Amy and Marni pulling me around. And I was even the same age as Sidney is. Funny!

wOrDlEsS wEdNeSdAy