Jenna and Daniel plus 2

New Year's Eve 2011

2012-02-12T23:44:00.000-08:00

Our anniversary was on December 30th. We got home to pick up the kids around 5pm on Saturday Dec. 31st, New Year's Eve. Addie was less than thrilled we were there to get her. We got her to calm down when we told her our plans to go get something to eat and then head home to make ice cream sundaes. So after a stop at Burger King and the grocery store to get ice cream and New Year's hats and noise makers we headed home.

We bathed the kids then broke out the noisy stuff.

Then the ice cream.

After we were done eating we tried to watch the ball drop on TV. Except it never did on any of our channels. Doesn't it usually drop at 9pm our time? Yea, it didn't. The kids didn't care so we put them to bed and I barely made it until midnight. Happy New Year!! And yay that this is my last 2011 post!!

Anniversary in Vancouver

2012-02-12T22:57:00.000-08:00

We celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary in Vancouver, B.C. We purchased a Groupon for a hotel room downtown. It was only 1 night, but with 2 little kids it was awesome just to get away! And we have always wanted to go to Canada.

Friday morning we dropped the kids off at a friend's house (this family is so awesome and is always willing to watch our kids for us!) and headed up north. It was nice to be in the car with no one saying "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" every 5 seconds. Also to listen to my music and eat snacks without having to share! It's the little things that make me so happy.

The line to cross the border wasn't too bad but we were a little surprised at how seriously the border control guard was taking her job. We were a little nervous to talk to her and we weren't hiding anything! Don't mess around with those people, they mean business.

We made it to our cute hotel and the first thing I noticed when we walked in (besides the purple walls) was that the entire bathroom wall was a window. Interesting. Kind of awkward actually. But the room was nice, fun and modern.

After we checked in we headed back out to do some walking. And we walked. A LOT. Unfortunately our cell phones were roaming so that meant no navigation. You don't realize how much you really depend on a smart phone until you can't use it!! We were too cheap to pay the roaming fees. So we just walked. We found some good restaurants, a mall and some fun little stores. The people there were super friendly! We had to stop and ask people for directions several times and they all really tried to help.
The one thing that I really wanted to do was go see the movie New Year's Eve. I was willing to go to a late show after we were done sight seeing for the day. With many failed attempts at finding a theater near by, we finally headed back to the hotel and used their free shuttle service. We rode to the theater in a new, fancy BMW. Daniel was in love! When we got to the theater we tried to use the self serve machine to buy our tickets. We were having some trouble with our debit cards for some reason so we abandoned the machine and got in the long line to buy the tickets at the counter. It was getting really close to the time the movie was supposed to start and it seemed like everyone was buying tickets to see the same movie. There were still about 20 people in front of us when the 'sold out' sign appeared over the movie I wanted to see. I was a bit disappointed. We ended up paying like $30 for a movie we didn't really know anything about. Oh well. That's the story of our lives. When the movie was over we started walking back to the hotel. It was cold and we had been walking all day. I was tired. My feet were hurting. We decided to get a cab. This was the second time I have ever been in a cab, I was glad Daniel was with me!

The buildings there were fun. Lots of old architecture.

It's hard to see but I liked the gas station in the middle of the water. Maybe the white building behind it is something important?

Huge bridge.

On Saturday we drove around a bit. One of the people we talked to on the Sky Train told us about this park that we should check out. We didn't get out and walk much but we did stop to get some pictures of these totem poles.

This is the only picture we got of the 2 of us from the whole trip. :(

I'm not sure what these are supposed to be but they were interesting!

Crossing the boarder back to the U.S took a little bit longer. But that was OK because I had more snacks to eat and music to listen to.

It was a great rip. Next time I would like to stay a little bit longer and maybe plan out some things to go see/do. And maybe not go in December, it was a little chilly.

Christmas Day 2011

2012-02-12T22:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas fell on a Sunday this year. We had 9 am church. We are not morning people. My kids don't usually wake up before 8:30. So getting to church by 9 was a struggle every week. We knew there would be no way the kids would be able to wake up, open presents and have time to get ready for church by 9. So I came up with this master plan. At first I think Daniel thought I was a little nuts to be making such a plan but I think it worked out fantastic!

They are still young enough that they don't fully understand the whole Christmas morning thing yet, I think that's why my plan worked so well. I really wanted to make sure they didn't see all of the presents or else the whole plan would be ruined. My goal was to keep them upstairs while they were getting ready, come downstairs straight in to the bathroom to brush teeth/hair then go out the back door to church.

Daniel and I got up extra early so that we were completely ready to go before it was time to wake the kids. We set up breakfast upstairs in the loft complete with cinnamon rolls, bacon and juice. When they came out of their rooms they were super excited to doing something out of the ordinary.

It will be my lifetime goal to get a decent picture of this kid by himself. I get a lot of side shots.

Goofy faces.

Seriously?! Just one picture is all I ask.

So my plan to get out of the house worked really well. They had no idea that we were keeping them from all the goodness that was downstairs. We made it to church on time and looking nice. :) It was nice to go to an hour of church and to remember what Christmas really is about. Then come home and do all the other stuff.

When we came home Addie insisted on getting back in to her pajamas before opening presents. The night before we closed the pocket door that leads from the kitchen out into the dining room and covered it with paper just in case the kids got curious. Thank goodness these old houses have so many doors, it's great! I don't think they really noticed that their view was blocked until we got home.

When everyone was dressed and ready we let them go...

Johnny D went straight to his new tool bench.

And Addie to her doll house.

Then they realized that there were more presents under the tree.

But he kept going back to the tools. So cute.

Thanks Grandmas and Grandpas!

And when it was all done, there was the mess.

But it wouldn't be Christmas morning without toys, clothes and wrapping paper all over the living room right?

And apparently working on the tool bench is better in your sisters play high heels. :)

25 Days of Christmas: Days 16-24

2012-01-26T14:59:00.000-08:00

Day 16: While Johnny napped we made snowflakes with Q-tips and glue.

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Day 17: Daniel and I went to an ugly sweater party at a friend's house. My sweater was voted ugliest out of the women in group. This meant the kids got to have a babysitter come over, which Addie LOVES.

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Day 18: I don't remember what we did.

Day 19: We went to Fantasy Lights.

Day 20: A friend gave me a story with the symbols of Christmas with little felt symbols.

Day 21: We watched Charlie Brown Christmas. Someone at work gave Daniel the DVD and CD of it.

Day 22: I got out our laminated nativity set for Johnny. Addie got stickers.

Day 23: We read "A Christmas Orange" together. Then of course ate oranges.

Day 24: Christmas Eve! The kids opened one present. They picked the ones that their Aunt Melanie and Aunt Nicole gave them. They were pretty excited.

25 Days of Christmas: Day 15 Pre School Christmas Program

2012-01-26T13:59:00.000-08:00

We headed over to Addie's preschool for their annual Christmas program. Last year I sent her in regular clothes, I think brightly colored striped pants to be exact. When we got there most of the other little girls were dressed in nice dresses! So...this year we were better prepared. She even let me do her hair, which is actually a HUGE deal these days.

I tried getting a picture of my little man while we were waiting for the program to start and this is all I got. Why does he have to be so difficult!?!

I realize that this photo is focused on the guys head in front of me, but you can still see her smiling at me.

I was so proud of her this year. Last year she just stood there the whole time. Not singing and barely doing the hand movements. This year she sang (most of the songs) and looked like she knew what she was doing.

He wants to go to school like his big sister SO bad!

After the program we headed over to the coffee shop next door to get some hot chocolate with our friends. I am not sure why I don't have a photo of Addie and the other kids together.

25 Days of Christmas: Days 6-14

2012-01-25T16:25:00.000-08:00

Day 6:

The kids and I made cookies. When Daniel got home we delivered plates to a few of our neighbors. The kids were so excited to take them to other people!

Loading the plates.

He really wanted to eat them!

And of course there was a tantrum from my 4 year old over who knows what.

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Day 7:

I pulled out the kids Christmas books. They are the books I gave them last year but I kept them with the Christmas decorations so they were like having brand new books because they hadn't seen them for a year!

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Day 8: The kids got to play with their magnetic Christmas tree and ornaments.

Day 9: I found some patterns on-line to make paper snow flakes. I thought I got pictures but I can't find them!

Day 10: We went to our ward Christmas party and the kids got to see Santa. Our friend in the ward is a photographer and took pictures of all the families.

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Day 11: Watched the DVD 'A King is Born'

Day 12: For our family home evening night we talked about the Nativity and had Addie help tell us the story using out felt Nativity scene.

Day 13: Drove around the neighborhood to look at lights. There is a house not too far from here that has their lights programed to music and it plays over a certain radio station. Great entertainment for the kids and we sat there for about 20 minutes!

Day 14: This one didn't really have anything to do Christmas or winter but we can't do something super great everyday! We went to our monthly ward potluck.

25 Days of Christmas: Days 5 Zoo Lights

2012-01-25T15:57:00.000-08:00

Zoo Lights has always been on our list of things to do but it never happens. This year we have a family pass to the zoo so we got a discount on the tickets and decided to give it a try! It was something that was probably fun to do once, I don't know if we will go back again. It was super cold and a little expensive.

The whole zoo was decorated in lights. We didn't get to see any of the animals that are usually out, only lights.

This was one of our favorite displays. It's the Tacoma Narrows bridge.

Here is another view. Love how they used red and white lights for head lights and tail lights.

The aquarium was open. This happens to be Johnny's favorite exhibit at the zoo anyway. Plus it was nice to go inside and warm up for a minute.

We had to stop at the snack place and warm up with some hot chocolate. And silly faces.

25 Days of Christmas: Days 1-4

2012-01-04T22:41:00.000-08:00

Day 1: Paper chain.

We made 2 green links. One for our first appointment with the midwife and one for Christmas.

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Day 3: Santa Parade

Addie looks forward to this all year. This year it was freezing.

But they loved it.

Earlier in the day Addie and I stopped in the Princess store by our house. She had been dying to go in and look around but it's not somewhere I want to take Johnny. Anyway, while we were there the store owner mentioned that the princesses would be back at the store after the parade and there would be hot chocolate and cookies.

She was so excited to go there. There was no talking her out of stopping by that store on our way home even though we were all frozen and tired. She thought being in there with the princesses was going to be the best thing ever.

She's only little for a short time so we went with it. Turned out it was nice to stop and warm up half way home.

And the cookies and hot chocolate were good.

And this 4 year old was in heaven.

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Day 2: (I know these are out of order, sorry!) Christmas pajamas

My kids love their pajamas. I try every year to find matching ones. I'm sure they will be wearing these long after Christmas. Probably until June here!

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Day 4: Little People Nativity Set

We bought this for them last year but didn't pull it out with all of the Christmas stuff. They were just as excited about it this year as they were last. That's what great about toys you only play with once a year!

Daddy's Helpers

2012-01-04T22:24:00.001-08:00

The kids have been on a 'I want to be with Daddy' kick lately. Which is totally fine with me. One Saturday Addie wanted to help rake the leaves and another day Johnny was helping paint the back entry way.

This girl loves to run.

Raking leaves isn't fun unless you get to mess up the pile, right?

She loves to wear her snow suit. All the time. Rain or shine.

*****

Love how Johnny is reaching up like Daniel trying to help.

Chewing on the paint brush.

Johnny loves to get into my tool bag and walk around 'fixing' things. He thought the back door needed some work.

Pirate Party

2012-01-01T21:25:00.001-08:00

We celebrated with a pirate theme for Johnny D's 2nd birthday.

We had masks, hooks and eye patches.

I made a banner.

And some food.

I even found and painted these little treasure boxes for the kids to take home.

Daniel and I (ok, mostly just I) thought it would be fun to dress up as pirates. We had some friends were pirates for Halloween a couple of weeks before so we borrowed their gear.

Love their pirate "Aaaargh" faces.

We even had a plank for them to walk.

Johnny wasn't too sure about it so big sis thought she would help him out.

Snacking.

Mac and cheese for dinner.

My little handsome and me.

I love how all the kids at parties like to crowd super close to the birthday kid while they are opening their gifts. Some even offered to help unwrap them.

I can't find the pictures of eating the cupcakes, I'll have to post those later!

Happy second birthday little man!

Gladiator Rock n Run

2011-12-22T14:36:00.001-08:00

At the end of October Daniel and I and a group of friends did the Gladiator Rock n Run. 'Nitro' from American Gladiators runs the event. It was the distance of a 5k with about 14 obstacles. The obstacles ranged from running through tires, wading through a pool of ice water, crawling through freezing mud on our bellies to climbing over a 10 foot wall. This 10 foot wall was at the very end. We were all so tired it was impossible to get over by ourselves! Thankfully there were guys up there to help pull people over. Afterward, all of the women in our group were talking about and comparing the size of bruises we had from where they grabbed us to get us over! I'm pretty sure those bruises were the only injuries.

We were in the 9am heat and it was absolutely FREEZING. I would have enjoyed it so much more if it was warmer outside. Every time I had to jump into the mud I felt like my heart was seriously going to stop. We were pretty happy with our time. We did it in under an hour and no one got seriously hurt! There were professional photographers at every obstacle to catch all our moves and expressions.

Can you tell I am trying not to have a heart attack from the cold?

This one came up with my number because you can barely see my head as I am going over the net.

11 weeks and counting...

2011-12-22T14:19:00.001-08:00

Halloween morning started out with this...

I don't even think I took a picture of the test with my other two. I've always thought it was kind of weird to take a picture of something you just peed on, but I thought for fun this time I would.

I waited all day to tell Daniel. I wanted to tell him in person and in a fun way. So I made up some signs for the kids to hold. Johnny's said 'Big brother to be' and Addie's said 'Going to be a big sister again'. The kids were excited to help me and show dad their signs.
Getting in position.

Walking in...

reading...

I love his expression. Really?!?!

That night before trick or treating we used the signs to take a photo of the announcement that I would send to our parents. We had to keep it a secret to them for about 4 days before they got the photos in the mail. So worth it to make the announcement fun!

Finishing up Halloween (finally!)

2011-12-22T13:51:00.001-08:00

Hopefully this is the last post about my kids in their Halloween costumes! I never want to get this behind on blogging again!

These first few pictures are Addie and her buddy Sammie reading on the couch. Fully dresses in princess gear.

In the afternoon on Halloween, some of the local businesses downtown were handing out candy. We decided to go very last minute so a lot of the places were already out of candy but the kids had fun anyway.

We ran into one of Addie's preschool friends there. Yes, they are the same age. :) Addie is short and her friend is tall for her age.

My princess.

And my little knight.

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This year we were able to go to our ward's trunk or treat at the church. I thought it would be fun for all of us to get dressed up. Daniel's costume looks a little funny because I did not want to spend any money on making his so I used what we already had.

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Halloween morning we went to a party at a friends house.

The kids played a couple games. One of them was to eat a donut off a string without your hands. Pretty entertaining to watch if you ask me.

And there was food.

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Finally we get to actually trick or treating!!

This year we went to Jack's neighborhood.

It was so hard to get a good picture of these two because they were practically running up to every door!

You can tell Addie is telling him some sort of story with hand gestures.

We didn't get very many pictures of the little boys that night. We were busy helping them not get run over by all of the bigger kids.

Looking at her loot back at the Warren's house.

I think he's practically drooling in this one.

Pumpkin Patch Revisited

2011-12-04T22:16:00.001-08:00

We had to make one last trip back to the Pumpkin Patch before Halloween. Next year we need to be organized and only make 1 or 2 trips instead of 4! I managed to get a few pictures of Johnny in his pumpkin although he refused to sit all the way down in it. We had to bring out the fruit snacks earlier than I wanted so in a few of the photos he is eating. I tried moving the pumpkin to another area of the pumpkin patch and he did NOT want to get back in. So at the end it was all tears and sad faces.

12 Days of Halloween and Painting Pumpkins

2011-12-04T21:34:00.000-08:00

Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. I tried to make it fun for the kids. I did 12 days of Halloween. Everyday they got to do a craft, read a new book or go somewhere fun. Some days it was just Addie because Johnny is still too young for some things. I really wanted to put more effort into it but I was super busy with vinyl stuff. I was disappointed with the jar that I threw together to hold the 'clue' for the day and that some of the projects were rushed, but honestly I don't think Addie noticed.

On day 2 (I have no idea what was on day one, it was a month ago!) she found a little white pumpkin head guy in her jar. She had actually picked him out at the store but forgot that we bought it.

This was his before picture.

Undergoing his make over.

My little painter.

And his after shot. She did all of it by herself, except she needed help with the mouth.

Day 4 were new Halloween/fall books. Have you read these Duck and Goose books? So stinking cute.

Don't mind my wonderful drawing, day 5 we painted/carved pumpkins!

I had to make sure he fit in to it for his second year of photos inside the pumpkin.

Look of concentration.

Daniel's finished creation.

The finished pumpkins.

Some of the other activities were: pumpkin patch, corn maze, ward Halloween party, trick or treating, and costume day at preschool.

Corn Maze

2011-12-04T17:17:00.000-08:00

Every year I say I want to go to a corn maze and we never do. This year I bought a Groupon for one so we headed out in the cold and mud and I can finally say I've been to a corn maze! I was very grateful that both kids own a pair of rain boots. I was really wishing I had a pair myself. My shoes were covered with mud by the time we were done.

Addie insisted on being 'the leader' the entire time. We let her choose which way to go and I was surprised that it didn't take us too long.

Love the hands in the pocket stance.

I know this is kind of a weird picture. The sun had come out so the lightening was weird, but I think it's fun. After the maze they played on the tracker.

They were doing free tracker rides around the pumpkin patch. It was ridiculously muddy, I have to say I was impressed that the machine we were being pulled by didn't get stuck.

Part of the Groupon was that the kids each got to take home a little coloring book and pick out a small pumpkin. Overall I think it was a success. We'll see about doing it again next year.

Forgotten Vegas Pictures

2011-12-04T16:44:00.000-08:00

I was going through pictures and found a group of Vegas ones that had not gotten blogged. Here are a few.

I know I've mentioned before that when we are in Vegas my kids live outside. They want to go out there the minute they wake up (still in PJ's) until it's bedtime. One morning I snapped some photos of Addie and my sister eating breakfast on the porch.

My parents have this giant tent. It takes up the entire room but the kids love it, for about 15 minutes. :)

It's taken some time, but Skyra and Addie have become buddies. She is a really good dog with the kids.

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Saturday we headed over to a birthday party for a friend of my older sister for some swimming. It was her sons birthday party (I've only met these people once before, we went so the kids could get out and swim!)

There were snow cones. The kids loved them. Good thing there was also a pool that they could rinse off in.

In the bouncy house. See the red snow cone juice dripping from his chin?

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After the party we went to my sister's house to help my niece Kadence get ready for her first Homecoming dance. She was beyond nervous, it was cute.

My sister Nicole and Kadence.

Addie and one of my sister's kittens.

This was the kid's ride to the dance. In Vegas dances are done different than anywhere else we have lived. The actual dance is usually only one stop during the evening. The guys went big with their car.

Kadence and her date.

Aren't they cute. :)

My kids thought the truck was pretty neat. The music was super loud and the lights changed color inside.

These were the girls in the group. I'm pretty sure the dresses have gotten way shorter since I was in high school.

Fall Stroll

2011-11-25T23:14:00.001-08:00

Washington is a beautiful place to be in the fall. Once the leaves start changing colors we like to get out and walk around. The leaves are fun colors and shapes, finding cool ones is the perfect activity for the kids!

This was Addie's first find. She didn't realize that there was someone living on it at first. Once I pointed it out (and said how cool it was) she decided that she didn't want that leaf after all.

One of our favorite trees.

Sometimes they can be so sweet to each other. Addie really is a great big sister, helping Johnny cross the street.

This is the stash we made it home with.

Pumpkin Patch and Painting

2011-11-25T22:46:00.000-08:00

Per tradition, we headed over to the pumpkin patch by our house this year to get our pumpkins. I was determined to find one big enough to get Johnny in to. I figure we got pictures of Addie in a pumpkin 2 years in a row so we needed one more year of Johnny.

The kids were not so cooperative this particular day so we only got a few decent photos. The ones of Johnny in the pumpkin will be in another post.

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These next 2 pictures were just for fun.

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One afternoon the kids were sitting down painting. Unfortunately, it didn't last long because Johnny was upset that I would not let him have my acrylic paint that Addie was using. Sigh. I can never win with these two.

Preschool Open House

2011-11-20T22:01:00.001-08:00

In October we got to go to Addie's preschool open house. She is always so excited to show us her school. I think she is still struggling a little because she doesn't love her teacher and she is in a different class than her 2 best buddies but she had fun showing us around anyway!

Posing with Sammy and Samantha.

In her room, I don't think you can see it but she is standing by her chair and her name is on the table.

Addie and Jack in the busy bee room.

Of course this kid was there being crazy like usual.

Babies

2011-11-20T21:45:00.001-08:00

I love watching Addie and Johnny taking care of their babies. They do lots of diaper changes, naps and rides in the strollers. One day they both had their babes in doll carriers. Makes a mama proud to see that they are learning how to love and take care of their babies (even if they are just dolls).

10 Year High School Reunion - Dinner

2011-11-20T20:03:00.001-08:00

Saturday night was a dinner for the adults. It's always fun to get a little dressed up and not have to worry about holding messy kids. Getting to engage in adult conversation is always a plus.

Our school. :)

This was after the football game on Friday. This is the group of kids that I went to junior high and high school with.

Heading out!

For some reason we didn't get a picture of us on our camera, this is from my Dad's phone.

My junior high ladies.

10 Year High School Reunion - Family Day

2011-11-20T15:42:00.000-08:00

Sunday was supposed to be day three of our reunion. It was going to be families at the park. Apparently a lot of people had partied too hard Saturday night and no one really showed up. There were only a few us there so it didn't last long.

This first picture should have been in the post from the football game. :)

A friend (who doesn't have kids of his own) thought it would be a great idea to buy the kids these cookies that were covered in frosting. Frosting that was dyed with something that does not wash off easily!

And they must have been good!

After the park we headed over to Daniel's parent's house. There was lost of piano playing, singing and dancing.

Then there was some time spent with Grandpa Huckaby.

10 Year High School Reunion - Football Game

2011-11-20T15:06:00.000-08:00

In September we took a trip to Las Vegas for Daniel and my 10 year high school reunion. It was fun to see everyone after 10 years! The first night of the reunion was the Homecoming football game. Before the game we watched the parade.

The kids are I flew out a few days before Daniel. Those few days are always challenging. The kids don't behave quite the same when we are out of town and Dad is not around.

There are plenty of tantrums...

being goofy...

and getting into things.

We did some swimming.

This kid LOVES the water. He was even willing to go without his life vest and tried swimming across the spa!

The kids watching to Homecoming parade. We were pretty disappointed with the floats. I guess there was a lack of school spirit this year.

Addie and her little friend Aiden.

The kids liked all of the candy that was being thrown from the floats. I love his
"ooooh" expression.

After the parade we headed to the football game.

Cheering for our team!

Me, Anna and Ninfa. Two of my besties from school.

I think they were waving at the kids in the homecoming court on the field. We stayed just past half time to watch the Homecoming King and Queen get crowned. Our senior year Daniel was Homecoming King and Ninfa was Queen!

Two of my other good friends from school, Suzanne and Steph.

First Day of School 2011

2011-11-14T23:47:00.000-08:00

Addie started her second year of preschool in August (more like pre-k). I saw this idea on Pinterest. You have your child write their name on the first day of school on a white/chalk board and take a picture of them holding it. That way you can see how your child changes through the years and their handwriting as well.

I also threw together a banner (very last minute) that hopefully I will use every year to display the picture I took of her that morning (with the sign).

Addie is in a different class this year than her friends. At first I thought there was a mistake and was kind of upset that they didn't honor our request to have the three of them together. Then the lady that runs the office explained to me why her teacher last year had suggested that she be separated from the 2 boys. I guess there were some issues of possession with the boys over her. The teachers thought she might do better and start to become more of her own person if she were away from them. The first day of school I was still very leery (honestly I am still wondering if it was the right choice to keep her in a separate class) but her new teacher says she is doing well. I'm not sure if she is making any new friends but I guess there is still time.

This to me is funny. When I had Johnny I made these tee-pees (called pee pee tee pees I think). I never really used them. Addie thinks they make fantastic party hats for her dolls! She even wears them herself sometimes. At least they are getting used. :)

Vinyl Projects

2011-11-14T23:23:00.000-08:00

I've been working on lots of new items. Some are just for fun (or gifts), some I make and realize I don't want to make anymore of them and then there are a few that make it into my etsy shop.

Made this for our friends when they had their baby girl.

Laptop decal, apparently not that popular. I like mine though.

For Halloween this year.

This idea came from a friend of mine. She wanted to make them at our Super Saturday (when all the women at church get together and craft, chit chat and eat!). This is actually pretty popular.

The other item we made at Super Saturday.

I have more pictures of my creations that I'll post later!

New Camera

2011-11-14T23:04:00.000-08:00

I know I've mentioned that we got a new camera. We got it back in August. Here are a bunch of random photos from the first couple of days of trying to learn how to use it.

One of the settings you can put it on is black and white.

It just happened that we had Jack and Brody over that day. They were so nice to let me use them to practice on. These two are too cute.

This is one of the other effects you can do. I think it's called sketch. Makes for some interesting, almost scary photos.

Another effect is called miniature. I'm still not sure how it works but this picture is kind of cool, right?

Love the expressions. :)

My baby girls.

And she is learning to dress herself. At first I really struggled with this but then I realized she wasn't going to listen to me when I told her it doesn't match so I've made this one of those battles that I choose not to fight anymore.

Addie's Salon

2011-11-13T23:10:00.000-08:00

Addie and Johnny love to play with the little play beauty kit they have (ok, it's Addie's but really Johnny plays with it just as much as she does!). I managed to catch them playing one afternoon. I love how Johnny is just sitting there eating while Addie is styling his hair.

The pictures are a little blurry but she went through four steps: brush, flat iron, curling iron then blow dry.

Zoo

2011-11-13T22:45:00.000-08:00

In an attempt to catch up on posts I am going back through all of our pictures. Some might be repeat posts but I don't want to leave anything out!

This summer we bought a family pass to the zoo. It's good for a year and gets us in to a bunch of places for free or a big discount. We don't see the sun here much so during the summer we get out whenever we can. It's always such a huge task getting sunscreen on my kids. I love Johnny's face in this one!

His favorite exhibit were the fish. He kept putting his hands on the glass and talking to them.

Addie got to ride a camel. She was soo exited. Can you tell by her face? She held on to the ticket until it was her turn, showed it to the workers then held on to it the whole time she was on the camel. She loved it!!

She was less sure about feeding the birds. At first anyway.

Then she was fine. :)

I tried to get a picture of Johnny similar to the one I have a Addie found in this post. He was less cooperative.

Ragnar 2011

2011-11-13T22:17:00.000-08:00

I thought I had already blogged these but I can't find it. So if you read my blog and you've already seen these, sorry.

This summer we ran the Ragnar Relay again. It was more fun this year for 2 reasons: 1. I didn't have Johnny D with us nursing every 2 hours and 2. I knew what to expect this time! We talked to the truck dealership down the street from our house and they loaned us this huge Suburban. It was a pretty nice ride, although by the end it was REALLY hard on the legs to get in and out of it because we were all sore! We did get lots of looks and "wow, that's big" comments.

We did pretty well running too. I think I only walked a little on the third leg. It was uphill and hot!

We had a guy park next to us at one of the exchanges in a regular sized Suburban. It told us that our truck was giving his a complex. So one of the guys put this on the window.

Our team name.
We were trying to advertise the Trucks, Trucks and more Trucks for the dealership.

Our group. Again this year we failed to get a photo of all 12 of us.

So happy to be done and add our metals to the ones from last year!

Preschool Halloween Program

2011-10-27T16:30:00.000-07:00

Today was Addie's costume day at school. They did a small parade around the chapel (she attends preschool at a Lutheran Church) then sang a few Halloween themed songs. It was fun to see all of the princesses, Spidermans, Batmans, Marios and Luigis.

I am usually running late to these things so I get a seat towards the back. I was all set today and took my big lens so that I would be able to get decent pictures. And of course I was on time, landing us a seat toward the front. I was worried at first that my lens was too close even all the way zoomed out but I think they came out ok. Especially since 1. I still don't know how to use the camera and 2. This is the first time I've ever shot with this lens.

During the parade.

So many different princesses. At one point Johnny D got away from me and ran up to the front. He walked up to one of the little girls and was pointing at her. He must have thought she was Addie!

Waiting patiently to start.

I think we need to work on our posture. :)

They did a 5 little pumpkins song. The whole performance was cute although, I couldn't really hear what they were saying half the time.

I have to apologize for the shakey, out of focus video. The bigger lens makes the camera heavier/harder to hold. And it kept wanting to focus on one of the teachers hat in front of me!

2011 Family photos

2011-10-27T14:19:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of other events that have taken place between our annual family flight and these pictures, but I was going through these today and since they are professional photos they are already edited and ready to be blogged. So, I am skipping ahead to these and will come back to the other things later. Hopefully.

A few months ago we attended a fundraiser auction for the Young Women at church. They were raising money to go to girls camp. A photo session with our friend Brie, BHL Photography, was one of the items being auctioned off. We were already planning on having her take our photos so we thought why not help out the young women AND get our pictures! I did feel a little bit bad afterwards because I outbid (more than once) a family with 5 kids who could have probably used this more than us! We just had them done (we were waiting to as close to Johnny D's second birthday as we could so that we could count them as his birthday photos) and they came out great! It was a super cloudy and cold day but I love them all!

Addie has always been a great subject to photograph (as long as it's not Daniel or myself behind the camera) Johnny on the other hand, not so much. He was more interested in trying to find the airplanes that we could hear but not see because of the clouds. Oh well, at least he looking at the camera in some of them!

2011 Annual family flight

2011-10-16T21:45:00.000-07:00

We took our annual flight middle of September. The kids did very well this year. We were in the air almost an hour. This is something Addie is old enough to look forward to. We had a hard time getting Johnny to keep his head set on, I think it's time we buy the kids some kid sized ones of their own.

Every time we fly, Daniel gets a picture of the back of my head. Kinda funny. I could seriously dedicate an entire blog post to pictures just like this.

Johnny really was excited, this just isn't the best picture.

Looking at the pretty scenery.

We even left the small area around the airport and ventured out to find our house...

and the fair!

See all the dots in the river? Those are fishermen standing in the river by our house. During this time of year it always fascinates us how many people go out there and fish. They just stand there and wait.

But, our flight was fun. For next year we are thinking about actually going somewhere, like to another airport. There are a few in our area that have little restaurants on the field so we would be able to land, eat then come home again.

Puyallup Fair trip 2

2011-10-16T20:38:00.001-07:00

We went back to the fair one evening with Daniel. This time we rode the rides, had some food and looked at more things!

The kids were fascinated with this guy standing on the pole.

Addie in the petting zoo.

The face painting booth was not open when we went to the fair the first time so we were sure to stop by this time. Face painting is one of Addie's favorite things about the fair.
Our friend was working in the face painting so we had her do a train on Johnny's leg. I don't think he was too sure about it.

This is not us in the picture, but one of these times it will be me! On this ride you sit in a chair, get strapped in then it shoots you up in the air like a sling shot. Sounds fun right?!

Probably Addie's favorite ride, the boats. This time Johnny was just big enough that the workers didn't care if he went on it. Most of the rides say you have to be 36" tall but we found that most of the people working the rides could care less about who got on. Johnny got to go on 2 or 3 rides this year and loved it!

This little guy is going to be a drummer like dad.

He even makes a crazy face like dad when he is playing. :)

Addie decided she was brave enough to try one kid sized roller coaster if I went with her. The first drop we went down she freaked out but then she loved it. I even got her to put her arms in the air towards the end.

Thumbs up after we got off the roller coaster.

I like the fair. :)

We love seeing this for 2 weeks every fall. I am still trying to learn to use my camera and some editing software.

This isn't the best picture but I love how Addie had her arm around Johnny for the entire ride!

Daniel signed me up for a photography class next week. Hopefully I learn a lot and can take better pictures!

Dancing...

2011-09-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite things to do in the afternoon when everyone is getting a little cranky, is turn on some music and have a little dance party, tutus and all! These are pictures that I will save for Johnny's future girl friends. :)

This particular day there was even a wardrobe change. I have a cute video to go with this but for some reason it won't load! Arg!

Puyallup Fair 2011- Trip 1

2011-09-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

Last Friday morning the kids and I headed to the fair with our friend Katy and her kids. It was the opening day of the fair so it was free. This also meant that there were a lot of other families there with kids, it was pretty crowded with strollers. Addie was beyond excited to go. We live a few blocks away and she can always tell when it's about to open and gets excited like 3 weeks early.

On our way out the door with their super excited faces.

We love seeing this for 2 weeks. :)
When I take the kids to the fair by myself, we usually just go see the animals and exhibits. My kids LOVE to sit and look at things. Daniel is not a fan of looking at all the fair 'stuff' so we do this without him.

End of summer activities

2011-09-18T16:36:00.001-07:00

I feel like we didn't really have a summer (again) this year. We had a couple of weeks that were pretty warm, warm enough to use our window A/C for a few days. We got out and tried to enjoy the sun anyway.

One of the kids favorite things to do it go to the park. Like everyday. One of the parks by our house has a wading pool that they fill during the summer. We only ended up going a few times, these are pictures from the last time we went before they closed for the season.

One of our other favorite summer activities is the Concert in the Park series that they do at the same park by our house. This year we only made it out to one which is kind of sad because they are free and the kids love them! I have to say how nice it is that Daniel gets home earlier now so that we can enjoy these activities without him having to come home early or for us to meet there.

We like to pack a picnic and go early because it fills up so fast!

Waiting for the show to begin!

On Labor Day we were invited to go swimming with our friends Katy and Clay. The water was a little chilly for me but the kids had a blast! And the food was yummy too.

Pedersen Reunion- Visiting Friends and coming home!

2011-09-17T23:41:00.000-07:00

Hopefully this is the last (maybe 2nd to last) post about our trip. I realized that I uploaded these pictures in the wrong order but I didn't want to take the time to fix it. So they are backwards. I have so many other things to blog about right now I am just trying to get these done!

After checking out from the cabin we went to a park and had a Smith family (Daniel's moms family) reunion. It was fun to see some family members that I actually knew.

That evening we went to a BBQ with some people from the student ward I was in during college. These were people that lived in the same apartment complex as me. So fun to see old friends!

Sunday morning we headed north a little, to another park, for a Pedersen reunion with people from Daniel's dads family. I don't know very many of these relatives so it was good to meet them! It was still super hot and by this point my kids were ready to be home. Right after lunch we started to head for home! We only drove about half way and stopped at a motel for the night.

While we were in the car we: made some hats,

listened to the ipod,

made silly faces,

and used pipe cleaners to make shapes (I think this was a bee?).

I put some of the new toys in brown paper bags so they were a surprise. These were the kids favorite ones to get because they got to open them!

And it wouldn't be a road trip without a picture like this...

and this.

Luckily for us, Johnny did take good naps in the car. :)

Our last night in Utah we stayed with Daniel's uncle. Johnny wasn't sleeping very well (he had major diaper rash!) so he ended up in bed with us. When I got up in the morning this is how I found him. Crazy sleeper!

Two of my friends from college, Carol, me and Tahnee.

Pedersen Reunion- Temple Square and puppet show

2011-09-16T15:04:00.000-07:00

On our last full day at the cabin we set out to tour Temple Square. We started with the Conference Center. We have been inside before but never had a guided tour. It was pretty neat to hear all the facts and little bits of information about the building. the tour guide was very patient with our big group and little kids running all around!

This is me trying to be a photographer.

Inside the Conference Center. They had just finished filming a 9/11 special with Tom Brokaw and the Tabernacle Choir so it was set up a little different.

After the tour we went outside to walk around Temple Square. The kids loved the fountains.

While we were in Utah I celebrated my 10 year anniversary of being baptized. We usually don't kiss for pictures, we were told to because we were celebrating the 10 years. :)

Throwing a quarter in to the fountain for luck!

This kid really wanted to play in the water. Every time I turned around he was over the side and on his way in!

We packed lunch to eat in the park after all the walking.While the little kids were napping the older kids made cars and sock puppets for their craft.

Later they even put on a puppet show!All the kids were given glow sticks before bed. They ran around on the porch for like 45 minutes. These 4 are about the same age. Megan, Nathaniel, Addie and Isaac.

Pedersen Reunion- Family pictures and golf

2011-09-06T23:00:00.000-07:00

Thursday morning we got ready bright and early to meet the photographer for family pictures at 9 am! I was pretty amazed that everyone was ready on time. We drove a few minutes up the canyon to Solitude ski resort. It provided a pretty scenic background! We are still waiting on the actual pictures from the photographer but I managed to get some of my kids while we were waiting for our turn.

After pictures the guys took off and went golfing. While they were gone a few of us took some of the older kids to a pool. I guess I forgot to take my camera because I have no photos of that!

Daniel and Paul

Grandpa and Ben

I was in charge of the craft that day. I let the kids paint their own block then gave them each their name in vinyl. It was so fun to see how creative they all were with the paint!

Uncle Ben teaching Johnny to wrestle. Not what that kid needs but he sure does like it! The video below is also of them wrestling.

Pedersen Reunion- Hogle Zoo, crafts and s'mores!

2011-09-06T21:32:00.000-07:00

Wednesday morning we got up and headed out to Hogle Zoo. I must say going anywhere with a big group is quite a production. I think we stayed together as 1 group for about 10 minutes before people started breaking off in to smaller groups. Some of the kids (including mine) have to keep moving or they go nuts.

Addie, Grandma and Amber

I know the elephants behind us are hard to see but I like this photo of me and my baby girl.

Grandma and Grandpa.

Addie was most looking forward to seeing the giraffes. The zoo by our house does not have any so she is always asking to see them! It was cool we could get kind of close.

The carousel. One of Addie's favorite things. Johnny looks like he isn't so sure but he really did like it!

On the train with Megan. This is one of our few family pictures from the trip.

There were a few of these around the zoo. Some moved, made noise and even squirted water. Addie was NOT a fan. Like, hysterical on the verge of a major panic attack every time we had to walk by one. People were looking at her very concerned. Let's just say we won't be going to Thanksgiving Points dinosaur museum anytime soon.

This elephant was actually moving (most of the animals with the exception of some of the monkeys, only stood still while we were looking at them). The kids got to watch him eat, then poop. It was great.

After the zoo we went back to the cabin. While some people napped, some of us did a craft. Everyday we were there one of the daughter/daughters in law were in charge of a craft. The first day Amy helped the kids make bags with fabric markers complete with a notebook and coloring book to go inside.

Then they headed outside to do parachute games.

Every night a different family was in charge of dinner and clean up. Kind of nice not to have to cook for a couple of nights!

After dinner we went out back to the fire pit to make s'mores!

Siblings! Ben, Daniel, Paul and Amy

The Pedersens.

I tried multiple times to get a picture of these 3. They are the youngest grand kids and do not sit still! Johnny D, Lucy and Amanda

I really want a fire pit at home so that we can have s'mores all the time, one of my favorite treats! For now I make them in the microwave. :/

Grandpa, Amanda, Addie, Megan and Nathaniel waiting patiently.

Look at the concentration on her face. Or it could be boredom? Not sure.

She definitely takes after me. Daniel hates marshmallows.

Love this.

Megan.

And the night wouldn't be complete without Johnny getting hurt. He fell down the concrete stairs. There was no blood, he's fine.

And to finish the night, a Pedersen haircut party.

Pedersen Reunion- Cabin Day 1

2011-09-04T23:20:00.000-07:00

We all stayed in a cabin in Big Cotton Wood Canyon. The canyon is pretty to drive through (and we did drive up and down it several times!). The first time up there Addie made a comment about how pretty is was. I guess she is not used to seeing mountains up close. Especially ones that are not covered with tall evergreens!

So the house was pretty big. 3 stories plus a loft area. 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, a large great room, 2 large dining room tables and a family/game room in the lower level. It also had a sauna, hot tub, fire pit, pool table and ping pong table. There were lots of things to do! The outside of the house was kind of hard to get a picture of so I included what we got.

Great room

Outside.

The back, kind of. :)

Doesn't Johnny D look like a Pedersen? That's Daniel's brother Ben and Grandpa.

Ben, Grandpa, Johnny D and Lucy (the youngest grand kids).

5 of 11 kids. There were 2 outside picnic tables so we could enjoy the fresh mountain air!

Every night Grandma and Grandpa would talk for about 10-15 about their 'story'. It was pretty fun to see some of the pictures from early in their marriage and to learn more about them! After they were done each night, a different family would do a show and tell type thing. The first night was Amy (Daniel's only sister) and Galen's night. They showed a neat slide show of pictures of their family from the past year. Kids listening intently to Gma and Gpa. Waiting for the slide show. I had to include this one. I seriously have so many pictures like this. Really?! Can he smile and keep his eyes open at the same time while I take his picture?

Pedersen Reunion- Addie and Nathaniel

2011-09-04T22:14:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to Addie and her cousin Nathaniel. These two are 2 peas in a pod. They are 11 months apart and get along so well! I don't think we heard them fight once the whole time. It was fun to listen to them because their little personalities are so similar.

After church.

They were watching a movie and sitting exactly the same.

I love this picture. I know it's just feet, but it's their feet dangling on the slide.

And this was taken right after, they are cute!

Notice how red Addie's cheeks are? We had been outside all day.

Once we got to the cabin, Isaac joined the two making it a trio. They have one more cousin their age that they ran around with 4 days, more pictures to come!

Pedersen Reunion- Hanging out

2011-09-04T16:01:00.000-07:00

After we left Rexburg, we stayed one night in Kaysville with Daniel's aunt then headed down to Pleasant Grove to stay with his brother Paul, his wife Jocelyn and their 2 kids Nathaniel and Lucy. It was fun to stay with them because their kids are close in age to ours. I don't think I saw Addie very much for those 3 days because she was so busy running around outside!

Amy stopped by with her kids one afternoon so they all got to play. I'm pretty sure the upstairs room of their house was trashed but the kids had a great time!

One activity I got for the car were some white boards and window clings. Total cost was $3 and they actually played with them for more than 5 minutes.

Gotta love the bath pictures!

I thought it was funny that we drove all that way to see family and Danial and Paul wanted to sit inside and compare apps on their phones.

Johnny, Addie and Megan

Did I mention that it was hot while we were there? Poor Addie was melting. I had to keep forcing her to take breaks because her cheeks were bright red and she looked like she might fall over at any minute. So any chance to get in the water was good.

Lucy.

I was pretty surprised how well these 2 got along. Johnny D can be a little aggressive. There was one incident at the cabin where they were fighting over a ball. They were both pretty determined to have it. In the end I think Lucy grabbed Johnny's cheek so hard he was forced to let go.

One evening we went for a walk in Paul and Jocelyn's neighborhood. And we saw this horse. Everyone must stop to say hi to him because he came right over the fence. The kids were feeding him grass from their hands! Now Addie says she wants to ride one.

She could seriously do this all day.

A rare photo that he is looking at the camera and not making that squinty face.

Squinty face.

Pedersen Reunion Part 1- Driving and Rexburg

2011-08-26T15:26:00.000-07:00

We began planning a Pedersen reunion about a year ago. It's been awhile since Daniel's whole family was together. A whole year of planning and saving went by pretty fast! Before we knew it we were actually on our way. When we put all the pictures together from everyone's cameras, we have around 1,300 photos. So it might take me a while to post all the good ones!

Thursday was Daniel's last day at work. And I mean his very last day at that job (more about that in another post). We had planned on leaving around 5, but not surprisingly we left way later than that. I think we started our 14 hour drive at about 9pm.

We only lasted about 5 hours before we stopped for this...

Friday morning we got up early to begin the rest of our drive. I was a little nervous about being in the car so long but the kids did really well! Some of the toys only lasted 2 minutes, movies were great time killers and of course lots of snacks!

We stopped in Rexburg to look around. Daniel went to school at BYU-Idaho and we lived here for about a year and a half shortly after we got married. We met up with Daniel's old boss on campus. He gave us a quick tour in his campus truck and the kids got to check out the big mowers.

One of the perks of the mini van, diaper changes anywhere!

On campus there is a huge garden. Daniel actually helped build part of it. There are tons of flowers, paths, places to sit and water features. Our kids loved 'smelling' all the different flowers!

Can I just say I love photographing this girl? Her smile is sometimes goofy but she takes good pictures.

I'm still trying to figure out how to use our camera. Did I mention we finally broke down and bought a Nikon DSR camera? I.LOVE.IT

We met up with Daniel's sister Amy in Rexburg. Her son took a tour of BYU-I campus because he wants to attend there in a few years. We went over to the Rexburg Temple with them to walk around and get photos. The temple was still being built when Daniel and I left so we didn't get to see the finished product. Of course it's a beautiful building. The picture above is Johnny and Amy's youngest Amanda. They are about 8 months apart.

Taylor, Amanda, Johnny D, Megan and Addie. 5 of 11 cousins :)

Fourth of July 2011

2011-08-07T16:36:00.000-07:00

We washed cars.

Swam.

And ate popsicles.

Addie is not a fan of fireworks. At all. We had an incident involving a fire pit, hot ember and her nose. For about a year she would not go close to any type of fire. This year we convinced her to hold a sparkler. I have to say I was beyond proud of her. Of course I don't have any pictures of it. Darn. There were tons of huge fireworks in our neighborhood so we pulled out some chairs and watched everyone else send hundreds of dollars worth of 3 second entertainment up in to the sky.

Father's Day 2011

2011-08-07T16:02:00.000-07:00

I honestly don't remember everything we did for Father's Day this year. I'm sure I cooked something yummy and was super nice to Daniel all day. :) I surprised him a few days before with a new car stereo installed in his car. This was a tricky task because I never know what days he is car pooling or not and if he is, is he the one driving or would I still have access to his car. Luckily my mom was here so we used her as an excuse to leave his car home. We asked him if she could use it that day to go run a couple places (he knows she would not want to drive his truck around). I guess he was kind of annoyed that he had to drive his truck (that gets horrible gas mileage and is not fun to drive in stop and go traffic because it is a stick shift). That night we went out on an ice cream date and I suggested we take his car. He was pleasantly surprised when he got in and saw the new radio. I couldn't imagine driving 3, sometimes 6 hours a day with a radio that only works half the time. He deserved a new one.

Addie made him a framed picture at preschool. She was pretty cute giving it to him. It's fun to watch her because it was actually from her. It wasn't something that I purchased and said was from her.

Happy Father's Day love!

*I don't know why the bottom 2 pictures are rotated sideways and I can't fix them, so just turn your head. :)

Addie's 4th Birthday

2011-08-01T22:47:00.000-07:00

I realize that Addie's birthday was almost 2 months ago. Here I am just now getting around to blogging it. That's how behind I am! We haven't even sent out 'Thank yous' yet. I am a bad mom. :/ I did get some cute pictures this year though.

We kept our tradition of getting pedicures (my mom was in town so the three of us girls got to go!). Maybe next year Addie will be tall enough to have her feet in the water AND her back touching the chair. Or I just need to remember to bring a pillow for her to lean on.

Unfortunately, I had strep throat (the second time this year!). After the pedicures I decided to take Addie to the doc. to see if she had it too. Yup. So that night after her birthday dinner at her favorite place (okay it's one of our favorite places too!) my mom and Daniel went to the doctor to make sure they didn't have it. Luckily they tested negative but Johnny ended up having it. By the time we got home it was kind of late but we let her open presents anyway after we put Johnny to bed. I'm happy to say that she was pretty excited about all of her gifts this year. I can't believe she is already 4 and looking older everyday. Happy Birthday Ad!!

Motivation (or lack thereof)

2011-08-01T17:14:00.000-07:00

I got on to blogger the other day and realized that is has been over a month since I blogged. I then thought that is really unacceptable. I see the pictures/videos piling up on our computer waiting to be blogged and shared. I also have a box of "projects to do" that I had high hopes of completing this summer. Yet, day after day I sit on the computer looking at all of the cool things I could make or buy, I take naps or read books. Never really accomplishing the things that I want to. So, I fully intend to catch up on blogging and do a couple of sewing projects before we head to Utah in 2 weeks! Wish me luck (and a little motivation!).

In the meantime, here are 2 random videos.

Addie was giving a concert to an imaginary audience. I would have recorded it from the front, but if she saw me she would have stopped singing. :)

Daniel downloaded a push up app on his phone. Addie was trying to keep up.

Art Birthday Party

2011-06-19T14:42:00.000-07:00

For Addie's 4th birthday party we did an art/paint theme. She loves painting and doing crafts with me so she loved it! We had the party outside on our back porch so the kids could be messy!

The activities included: side walk chalk, painting, hand stamping apron, decorating tails and playing pin the tail on the donkey and decorating cup cakes.

I found this shop on Etsy and downloaded the art party files. It made it really easy to print invitations, the banner and even thank you cards! I made each child a paint bucket with stuff inside for the party favor. There was play dough, a painters hat and a small unfinished wood car with paint.

Addie and Jack painting.

I was pretty surprised how close all the kids got with their tails. Maybe they could see and they just told me they couldn't. ;)

We ate hot dogs and the kids loved the kool aid and the paint balls (dough nut holes with frosting, recipe here).

Johnny slept through the first half of the party but woke up just in time to eat. He loves to be in the middle of the action with the older kids.

Decorating cupcakes with colorful sprinkles!

Addie and her cousin Isaac.

Friends from left to right: Isaac, Addie, Jack and Colton.

Funny that she did not want any girls there. She was VERY specific about who she wanted to invite. We did invite 2 more kids at the last minute (1 girl!) but they were unable to make it. I think 4 four year olds was good. She had fun and got some great gifts!

Happy birthday Addie!

And what would a party be without a small melt down from the birthday girl?

Last Day of school

2011-06-13T23:04:00.000-07:00

I had this great idea of making a banner with my favorite pieces of "art" from Addie's first year of preschool. Unfortunately, the end of the year snuck up on me and I got Strep throat (again), so I was not prepared by the last day of school. I did manage to get a last day of school picture of her and throw together a small banner before I took a nap.

Addie and her teacher's, Ms. Brozick and Mrs. Paper.

The few pieces I found. I hung the picture of her from the first day of school on the left and the pictures from the last day on the right.

Johnny wanted to get in the picture too. I think he was even saying "cheeeeeese".

And they were dancing. :)

Preschool Program 2011

2011-06-13T22:39:00.000-07:00

The week before school got out Addie had her end of the year preschool program. I was curious to see how she was going to do because every time I asked her what songs they were singing she would say "I don't know". She did pretty well, although she did stand there picking her fingers more than I would have liked. The songs were pretty cute! They sang one song for every month they were in school.

As we were getting ready to go to the program, we had a small wardrobe meltdown. She really wanted to wear the fluffy pink skirt with nothing else on her legs. I said she had to wear leggings or pants. 20 minutes of kicking and screaming later we left. She had on the skirt, no leggings or shoes with the intention of sitting in the audience and watching her friends sing. Of course when we got there and her teacher, Mrs. Papen suggested she put the leggings on, she sat right down and put them on and all was well with the world again! Sigh. Addie and I may have some serious issues when she is older because we are both so strong willed.

And of course, the batteries in our camera were dead when we got there, so thank you to our friends for supplying us with these photos. You can see her friends Jack and Micah standing behind her, and her and Jack eating ice cream in the last photo.

Soccer

2011-06-12T00:06:00.000-07:00

We signed Addie up for an 8 week soccer class at her preschool. Each class was only 30 minutes long (right before school) and I think she really liked it! I really liked it because I was able to drop her off and the teachers made sure she got from soccer to her classroom giving Johnny an extra 30 minutes to nap. Here are a few photos and videos from the last day.

Girls vs. Boys

2011-05-25T12:59:00.001-07:00

I know every child is different and there are some girls that are just as rowdy and destructive as boys but my kids fit well into the typical "girl" and "boy" labels. Addie loves her babies, reading and likes to have everything in its' place and in order. Johnny likes to bite and throw babies, climb on everything and will dump out and knock over every toy he can find.

Here is Addie at about 18 months old reading her book, sitting at her table to right way. Notice the chairs are both upright.

Now here is how Johnny likes to use the table. Chairs are always knocked over and he sits everywhere except where he is supposed to. I love him, but I really wouldn't mind if our next one is a girl!

One and a half years

2011-05-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

Johnny D is 18 months old as of this weekend! It really has gone by so fast! At church, kids go into the nursery when they turn 18 months old. The spend about an hour and a half in there playing, having a snack, singing and usually have a short lesson. Today was Johnny's first time in there and he did pretty well. He didn't like it when I left but I think he'll do fine. I did peak in the window while they were having their snack and he was so cute on the little chair eating. He still seems so small to me! The ladies who are in the nursery said he loved snack time. He ate all of his and then helped some other kids finish their snack. That's my boy, loves to eat!

Since we have been sick (for what seems like for forever!) we haven't been to church as a family for about a month. We didn't go on Easter so the kids finally got to wear their 'Easter" outfits today!

We tried to get some good pictures of the kids before church but it was kind of unsuccessful.

My handsome 18 month old!

*Please note, I did NOT take these pictures. Only dad would stand him up on the table!

My boys.

Addie in her pretty dress. You can't tell from the picture that we dealt with a 20 minute melt down right before because she didn't want to wear those tights or have her hair done. Oh, how I love this age!

And this was our attempt at a picture of them together. I wish this picture had sound so that you could hear just how upset he was. :)

Mother's Day Sweetness

2011-05-08T15:12:00.000-07:00

On Thursday Addie brought this card home from preschool for me. (She also gave me a cupcake and insisted that I HAD to share it with her).

As moms, I think we all (at least I hope I am not the only one) have those days when we feel like we are too busy and not spending enough time with our kids. This past week I was trying to catch up on cleaning, shopping and vinyl orders because we had all been sick. Addie kept asking me to play with her, watch movies with her and I would often try to walk around with Johnny latched on to my legs. Then I opened the card and read what Addie had told her teacher to write and my heart melted.

I know that in all my busy craziness she appreciates any small amount of time that I spend with her and that makes me happy.

My wonderful husband...

2011-05-08T14:32:00.000-07:00

bought me this for Mother's Day.

Neither of us really want a mini van but it's what we can afford right now without going back in to tons of debt. It's cute and it will do for a few more years. Thanks babe!

Island Hospital Gala Getaway

2011-05-08T13:51:00.000-07:00

We were able to attend the fundraiser gala for the hospital Daniel is working on again this year. It's about 3 hours north of where we live so for me it was like getting away for 2 days! Daniel has to drive up there once a week for meetings so for him it's just a boring commute.

We went to this black tie event last year but we had Johnny in tow because he was still nursing. This year, thanks to my wonderful brother and sister in law, we were on our own and it was so nice! Very relaxing.

The theme this year was The Kentucky Derby. I had already purchased my black dress (from Goodwill for $12) and so I borrowed a hat from a lady we attend church with. It looked great and it was so fun to see all the fancy and creative hats there!

Throughout the evening the volunteers were handing out cards to ladies with fun hats nominating them for a hat contest. I was nominated for the Most Elegant category. I didn't know I was going to have to get up in front of everyone and model the hat! Of course I did not win, you had to be on a first name basis with the judge to win. Oh, well.

This is the Lydig company group. The man next to Daniel is Gus, the vice president of the company. Next to them a guy that Daniel worked with on his first project and the guy on the far left is the project manager on the hospital that is trying to 'train' Daniel so that he can take over as a PM and get a promotion.

Every year there is a Tulip Festival. Every year I say I want to go and we never do. We were going to be driving by it all on our way home so we took a small detour to look at all those tulips! So pretty to see the rows and rows of yellow, purple, pink and red flowers. I think we were there the last day of the festival. Daniel drove by 2 days later and they were all gone. Sad, but at least I go to see them!

Easter 2011

2011-04-26T17:27:00.000-07:00

I am tired of looking at the date on my last post and thinking how much of a slacker I have been in posting. I also don't usually like to blog unless I have pictures to go with it. Unfortunately, I don't really have anything to write about or any new pictures to post.

For the past 2 weeks we have been battling colds that turned into Roseola. I was busy taking care of miserable kids and came down with Strep. Turns out it wasn't really Roseola but Strep for the kids (accompanied by a Strep rash). So the three of us are on antibiotics and doing much better. Luckily, Daniel has yet to get Strep.

So, for Easter we did not attend any Easter egg hunts or parties, nor did Addie want anything to do with coloring the eggs. Daniel and I colored 24 eggs ourselves. Addie did enjoy finding them in our house on Easter, Johnny not so much. I don't think I even took a picture of their Easter baskets. The movies and books that they got in their baskets came in very handy since all we have been doing is laying around.

On a more positive note, the kids are currently playing (rather loudly) indicating they are feeling better. And Daniel and I are headed to Anacortes this weekend, sans the kids, for a Black Tie Gala fundraiser for the hospital he is working on. I have been looking forward to this for a few months now, so everyone needs to get healthy!

Spring Break 2011

2011-04-05T13:17:00.000-07:00

For Spring break this year we spent a week in Las Vegas. Unfortunately because airline tickets were spendy on certain days, it was just a quick 7 day trip. Addie was crying the morning we were leaving because she wanted to stay there. Who could blame her? The kids spent the entire week wearing short sleeves, shorts and running around barefoot! And as usual, I did not get very many pictures. :(

This one would have been better if his eyes were open, but look at those cheeks! Love.

Grandma Huckaby got a new dryer while we were there so I made a house for the kids with the box. It was also used for a boat and a place to hide things (like water bottles and shoes) among other things.

All the running around chasing the 'woof' and 'mew' wore this kid out. To my dislike though, the kids woke up early (about 7am) everyday. Ugh.

This girl is getting harder to get pictures of. She was working hard building a snake with the magnets.

My brother and sisters. A group shot like this is very rare with me living in WA and my brother in CA. We don't get together often but when we do we play a mean game of Mario Cart and spoons!

The morning we were coming home Addie was crying because she wanted to stay there. On the way to the airport she got a little more excited to go home and see Dad! For some reason the video is low quality but you can still hear her song she was singing.

Not an addict

2011-03-14T15:45:00.001-07:00

I made this sign for my friend to help advertise for her Zumba class. I like all the fun colors!

*I didn't want to start the post out with this picture but blogger won't let me move it*

So, I have to say I am not a Zumba addict even though it may seem that way since this is the second post about it in the last month. It is really fun to and it's a great way to have a little 'girls night out' every now and then!

This Zumbathon was at our local YMCA to raise money for those kids who can't afford to go so it was for a great cause!

People were supposed to get all dressed up in tiaras, feather boas, etc. So I did. But when we got there, it looked like I was the only one! I was relieved when one of our friends showed up in her 70's get up!

He just wanted in on the photo action.

The gang.

2011-03-09T00:34:00.000-08:00

A couple of weekends ago my friend Devon and I drove down to Portland for a Zumba Master Class. With no kids!! Unfortunately, I did not get many pictures. I only have these 2 from right before we went to Zumba!!

We had a great time, although there were so many people there it was hard to actually do the moves. It was fun watching though! And having the opportunity to not hear any crying, whining or changing any diapers for 24 hours was nice too. I did miss my babies but am glad I have a great hubby who played with them while I was gone!

Snow Angel

2011-03-08T23:53:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago it snowed. Just enough so that Addie could wear her new snow bib. Not quite enough to make a good snow angel or snowman.

Addie did attempt the angel and I attempted a snowman. Unfortunately I did not get a picture of the sad little snowman.

VIP Day

2011-03-06T21:47:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos and videos from Addie's VIP Day at school.

It was so fun to be able to stay the whole time and see what they do at school. I even figured out where she learned a few quirky things that I've noticed her doing around the house.

Addie and Daniel with their crowns. The teacher even had Daniel hold the birthday candle doll since it was his bday!

I love the huge finger pointer!

I didn't get a picture of her holding the poster up close. Here she is explaining all of the photos on it.

And talking about her baby.

Each child gets to paint a picture frame on their VIP day. That day the teacher took a photo of her in her crown and put it in the frame for her. So cute!

Addie and Mrs. Papen.

This is a video with her talking about her baby with a lot of prompting from Mrs. Papen. :)

They sing a song called "Number Rock". She was really in to the song for about 2 seconds! She is so easily distracted and gets bored. Oh well, still fun!

We brought our juicer in because it's one of Addie's favorite things to do. She loves to help make juice. We had 2-3 kids come at a time and let them put a slice of apple and some orange in. They each ended up with their own little cup of apple orange juice. Most of the kids thought it was great, we had 2 that wouldn't even taste it!

It was fun to watch Addie play with her friends at school. She got to ring the bell when it was time to clean up and for snack time, pass out the snacks and help with the calender and weather. Johnny also did excellent considering it was his nap time!

Happy Birthday Daniel!!

2011-02-24T21:55:00.000-08:00

On Feb. 23 Daniel turned the big 28! I am happy because for the next few months we will be the same age, I am not older. :)

He took the day off to celebrate (his company gives the employees their birthday off) and so that he can go to Addie's VIP day at preschool.

For his present he got a car jack and stands so that he can change the oil and work on our cars himself. It only took 6 years of asking for me to finally get it for him!

Addie and I made him a crown to wear. I knew that she would be wearing one for her VIP day (blog post to come) and I wanted them to both have crowns!

Of course Red Robin for dinner!

*****

For those of you who read this and don't live here, just so you know the sun doesn't shine a whole lot.

That explains the sunglasses in the house. The sun was shining through the window and her first thought was to go get her glasses because it was unbearably bright.

Love Day

2011-02-19T21:08:00.001-08:00

Valentine's Day morning the kids woke up to this...

And this.

Addie was pretty pleased with what she found in her little love bag. (Johnny still does not have one due to my lack of motivation to make it. Maybe next year little man!)

He did love the balloon.

Then it was off to surprise Dad at work and lunch at Red Robin.
The monkey had to come.

Daddy's cubicle.

******

These next pictures are kind of random. The other day the kids were staring at something outside. I just thought they were cute sitting together. :)

Princess Storytime

2011-02-19T20:45:00.000-08:00

Today some of the Daffodil Festival Princesses were at the library for story time. I took the kids to see. Johnny was not impressed. Addie fit right in with all the other little "princesses" in her tutu. :)

Valentine's Baby

2011-02-13T21:14:00.000-08:00

I found this cute dress at Kmart on clearance for $6.99. I love that store! It came with a matching dress for a baby doll. Addie has never played with baby dolls until very recently so she's never had one of her own. I thought since she was going to have an outfit for the doll I might as well buy her a baby. So I got her one (also on sale for $10 at Kmart) and she loves it!! She carried it around with her all day.

Here they are in matching Valentine's Day pink dresses. I remembered this morning that I hadn't made her leggings yet, good thing they only took a couple of minutes to make!

And I won't forget about this little man. He will be 15 months old tomorrow!

And this is what he learned to do. :)
*******

For Valentine's Day, Addie and I made these cute little fold out books for her Grandparents. It took a minute to figure out how they went together but they were pretty easy!

16 Little Monsters

2011-02-09T11:38:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow will be Addie's first class Valentine's Day party. She gets to hand out little cards. Yesterday we set to work making all of them.

Getting a 3 year old to write her name 16 times is a bit of a challenge, but they are done and I think they turned out cute!

I've wanted to make a banner for awhile. I finally decided to just do it even though I didn't know how to make a really cute one. This one came out cute and I did it start to finish in one day. I wouldn't say I LOVE it because it looks unfinished to me. But it will do for this year.

Isn't that drawing super cute? She did it on her own. I think it was inspired by the monster cards we had just made. She told me she was drawing a "good" monster. The little dots on the bottom and at the ends of the arms are the fingers and toes. I think it's adorable. :)

Come if you can!

2011-02-01T23:24:00.001-08:00

One year ago...

2011-01-31T20:36:00.000-08:00

I was looking through some pictures and came across these. They were taken on January 31, 2010. Exactly one year ago. It is really amazing how much babies change in 1 year.