Take a Closer Look...

Yesterday our little lady learned to stay out of the way when dad is playing Tennis on the Wii

~ Look closely and you can see her shiner!

Why am I no fun this week??

My oldest has strep throat .

My youngest has ear infections and pneumonia!

Makes for a lovely week...

Send your happy healthy thoughts our way!

My Primary Colors!

Since the summer of 2004 I have been serving in the Primary.

For the first few months I was the chorister ~ I know it

sounds funny to those of you who have heard me sing,

but I loved it and I like to think that I was pretty good at it!

I may not know how to carry a tune,

but I like to think I know how to have fun with the kids.

For the last few years I've served as the Primary president,

and today I was released from that calling.

When I began serving in Primary my oldest was a Sunbeam...

He will be baptized next week!

It has been such a blessing to watch and see how Heavenly Father

touches the lives of those people who serve in Primary.

I have felt the love He has for the children and I have been

able to feel the sweet spirit that children have.

I have also been there on the days where the children were

incredibly restless and uninterested in what was being taught -

in their defense... some days are boring in Primary -

we as leaders are not always prepared well.

I have been able to serve with some amazing women these last

four years in Primary. I have learned so much from them ~

I would never have been able to feel successful in my

calling without the support and help from them.

I was so grateful today when the new primary

presidency was announced ~ they are going to be fantastic...

these children are in good hands!

Modern Day Cinderella ~

My kids love to watch Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader!

The other night Miss America was on the show.

Our little girl ~ who loves all of the Disney princesses says, "Look mom, Cinderella is on the show!"

***

It was so cute... and it really did look a little bit like a modern day Cinderella. She was wearing her sparkly crown and a light blue dress-suit. Can you answer a few her questions?

1. Lake Superior borders how many US states?
2. More than 99% of the mass of our solar system is in what heavenly body?
3. What is the greatest common factor of 12 and 36?
4. What is a homophone of "night"?
5. Who said, "Give me liberty or give me death?"

A New Photographer!

This is my new cute little camera! It was a surprise present for Christmas -

in the last decade we've been married, I've never been surprised...

I guess I had been complaining about our old camera for so long that he

finally got tired of my complaints. I was told to take good care of the camera and NEVER to leave it in a place where any children could get to it!

~

These were the picture taken today with our camera -

... and this was our photographer!

- OOPS -

Although you can't really see it, my deodorant is under his shirt. It was cute the way he was trying so hard to get it in the right place... he is always getting into things he shouldn't and I've been told that I really ought to start documenting all of the funny - and not so funny - things he does. I took the picture, a little disappointed that it didn't capture the essence of the deodorant application and put the camera down on what I thought was a safe place - Dad's bureau. I should have known that this little guy could scale the bureau and find the camera... little did I know he could also find the right button and start taking pictures! Cute little bugger...

My monkey's mess!

This is what I came downstairs to the other morning.

Our little guy is determined to make messes ~

Our snow fort

The kids have been busy outside in the snow fort!

The weather will be reaching near 60 this week,

and I think their fort is going to start melting soon~

Happy New Year!

Our family rang in the New Year at home with friends.

Even the two year olds were up until the ball dropped at midnight!

It is always fun to have people over to celebrate the holidays ~

I've got to start thinking about a few New Year resolutions!

What are some of your New Year resolutions that have been successful?

A Flower Party

My little lady turned 5 today! She wanted a Flower Party...

The flower party was complete with a home-made pinata... which was perfectly engineered by dad to appropriately release the candy from the secret trap door inside. It was crafted to sustain a certain number of blows - making the game fun, but not last for hours (as it did with big brother's 6th birthday party). She loved spending time with her friends!

~ This little guy started the day by dumping a bowl of powdered sugar on his head. He thought it was funny. I didn't! He made up for his naughtiness by sleeping through the entire birthday party.

It turns out he is a sweetheart after all...

Christmas ~ Unwrapped!

Play doh has not been allowed in our home for the past few years, until we discovered how much the little guy loves it! He will stay occupied for minutes ~ for those of you who know our little guy, being occupied for a few minutes without getting into trouble is good!

Our 2nd grader thinks he is smarter than a 5th grader (he probably is),

let's try it out and see if mom and dad are smarter than a 5th grader!

Two brown eyed, brown haired little ladies...

"Alexis" has been blessed with a roller blading adventure each day.

More Holiday Memories...

It's hard to believe the picture on the left is 30 years old.

(I am on the left in the left picture and on the right in the right picture)

Losing teeth...

Tooth #8 came out last night -

The toothfairy did not leave any money under the pillow...

At first we thought she must have forgotten ~

This note was found next to his toothbrush in the bathroom!

(along with a crisp bill, of course)

Holiday Memories...

2006

Trying to get all three kids to cooperate was a daunting task. This year our pictures were taken by a professional ~ not that it made a difference!

2004

A few days before the holidays we went to NYC with my parents and my sister. We let the kids fill up their own bucket of chocolate at the Hershey Store... It didn't take long before someone got into it! A cute chocolate mess!

2002

Here I am 9 months pregnant and ready to pop!

The little lady was due the day after Christmas,

we are glad she waited a few days longer...

Gingerbread Houses

We made our own "Gingerbread Houses" out of graham crackers and frosting.

The best part was eating them after we made them!

~ YUMMY ~

Cupcakes...

Zeeny and I made 200 cupcakes for a Christmas Party.

- 8 cake mixes -

- 2 dozen eggs -

- 6 lbs powdered sugar -

I thought our cupcakes looked pretty spectacular!

This picture shows only half of our cupcakes!