Sledding!

We wanted to take the kids sledding. So we got ready and thought we could just go to Wal-mart, buy a couple of sleds and go sledding. WRONG!! Wal-mart was sold out and so was every single store around us! We really tried 12 stores and everyone was sold out! We ended up borrowing some from our neighbor and went. Maddie loved it and kept saying "AGAIN"! Jack was nervous at first and then he loved it. We had so much fun and it was a great day.

Merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas and we hope everyone else did too!

Christmas Cookies

Cute Jack Jack trying really hard not to squish the cookies with his fingers.
Decorating (and eating) some cookies.
Maddie decorating her cookies. (She's going through a no-shirt phase)

The finished product! We won't be giving any of these out. Someone licked the frosting off of a few of them!

Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

This was Jack's first time playing in the snow! They didn't stay out very long. Maddie didn't want to wear her gloves, so of course Jack didn't want to wear his either. Their poor little hands were so cold, they had to come inside.

O' Christmas Tree!

Twilight's youngest fan!

I put Maddie and Jack to bed and went to clean the kitchen. An hour later, I walked into my room and this is what I saw. She was just laying on my bed, with her feet crossed, "reading" Twilight. I thought she was asleep. Silly girl!

What a multi-tasker!

Hey Nema and Bumpa! Does this look familiar?

Jack Jack helping Dad fix the car.

One Of My Favorite Pictures

Tiffany took this cute picture of Jack. Isn't he so handsome?

Thankful

I am so thankful for everything I have been blessed with. I am so thankful for my sweet and loving husband. I know I have found the perfect person to spend my life with. He is so easy going and loves me even with my flaws. I am grateful for my two children and all the smiles and laughter they give me everyday. I am grateful for my wonderful parents who are so kind and so generous. They are wonderful examples to me. Whenever someone is hurt, or sad, or sick or anything like that I think what can I do for them, what do I have that I can give them? I know exactly where I learned that from. I am so grateful for my brothers and sisters. They are always there for me no matter what. I am thankful for Derek's parents. I'm so thankful for everything they do for us. They are so sweet and the best Nema and Bumpa. I am thankful for Derek's brothers and sisters. They are wonderful friends to me and they support us in everything we do. I am so grateful for my friends. Not very many people are lucky enough to have the same friends their whole life, but I am. They know everything about me and love me anyways. I am grateful for my neighbors, Connie especially. She has so many challenges in her life, but you wouldn't know it. She is so strong and so loving and caring. I am thankful to have a warm roof over my head, and my children have food to eat and clothes to wear. I am so blessed to have all that I have, and it's so important to help others who don't.

Nana

Derek's sweet, sweet Grandma passed away on November 24. I was lucky enough to get to know her and know what a wonderful and loving woman she was. She LOVED her grandchildren and her 11 great-grandchildren. She was always so thoughtful and sent us a card for every Birthday, Christmas, and Anniversary, and even crocheted everyone in her family the cutest Christmas stockings. She was so funny, she would innocently tell you the truth, even if it was a little hard to hear. We were able to attend her funeral in California. It was in the most beautiful chapel on top of a hill. We miss you and love you so much Nana, but we are happy that you are with Grandpa and Michelle.

New Moon!

So I just read in the new People magazine that they decided to make New Moon into a movie! I am so excited! I LOVED Twilight. They are using all the same actors, so you know it's going to be good.

Run Jack!

I just had to post this, it was too funny. I was trying to cut Jack's hair, but he hates it and was screaming. All of a sudden Maddie yells at me, "Jack doesn't want it!" Then she turned to Jack and pushed him on the back and says, "Run Jack!" I laughed so hard. It's so much fun when kids start talking. It's amazing the things they say.

We love you Nana!

Jack loves puzzles!

Jack loves to do puzzles. Every chance he gets he opens the cupboard and pulls them all out. He can finish some of them with no problem. Some of them are a little hard for him, like numbers and counting, but he's getting pretty good.

Funny things the kids have said:

Since I'm not very good at writing in journals I wanted to write some things the kids have said before I forget them.

Maddie:

-We walked into church and Maddie saw a big picture of Jesus and she said, "Whoa, a big Jesus!"

-We pulled up to the drive-thru at Wendy's, and Maddie said, "You need a Dr. Pepper, Mom?" It's crazy the things they pick up. I didn't even know she knew what Dr. Pepper is!

-She saw a scary witch at the store and was really scared of it. A few weeks later, Jack was crying and she said, "Jack is scared of witch."

-She doesn't just say, "Thank You", but it's always, "Thank you SO much."

-She says, "I Luba", instead of I love. It's always, "I luba grass", or "I luba purple".

-Today we came in from playing outside and she was trying to take her jacket off. She was trying to pull the zipper down, but it was stuck, and she said, "Oh man, this not working."




Jack:

-On Saturday a couple of weeks ago, I got Jack out of his crib and took him in our room and he saw Derek. He said, "Oh Dad! Wow!" Derek said, "I guess he doesn't see me very much."

-He was chasing the cat around the house with a sandwich, saying, "Kitty! Bite? Bite? Bite?"

-When he laughs at something he giggles and then gets serious and says, "Funny."

-When he's looking for someone he says, "Where are you you you?"

-I was watching my neighbor's little girl and she went in his room with me to get him after a nap when he saw her, he said, "Ooh Sara!"

-He says "Dahtee" for Thank you!

-He will make a huge mess with his food, or crayons, or toys and say all innocently, "Uh oh, mess."

8's

Jane tagged me so it here goes:

8 Favorite TV shows:These aren't in any order
1. The Office
2. Reruns of Friends
3. General Hospital
4. How I Met Your Mother
5. 30 Rock
6. Everybody Loves Raymond
7. King of Queens
8. Super Why (Not really a fav, but I watch it a lot!) :)

8 Favorite Restaraunts
1. Piccolos
2. Timbermine
3. Roosters
4. Tepanyaki
5. Olive Garden
6. Wendy's (Especially their buffalo chicken wraps, Yum!)
7. The Roof
8. The Greenery

8 Things I did today
1. Went to Rod Works
2. Shopped at Target
3. Bought Jack a tie and shirt at Children's Place
4. Watched the Tinker Bell movie
5. Blogged
6. Text Bonnie
7. Played with Jack
8. Cuddled with Maddie

8 Things I look forward to
1. Having a lawn next summer! Hallelujah!
2. Christmas
3. Derek finishing school
4. Getting a bedroom set
5. Playing in the snow with Jack for the first time
6. Roxie moving back!
7. Derek and I going on vacation somewhere by ourselves
8. Being organized

Happy Halloween!

My pumpkin pancakes. It looked cuter on the pan then when it was done.


Buzz Lightyear. He didn't have quite as much fun in his costume as Maddie since he'd been wearing it all week!

Tinker Bell. This is the best picture I got of her because she wouldn't sit still. She kept saying, "I'm Tinker Bell, and Jack is Buzz."

Tinker Bell, Buzz Lightyear, and a scary monster! This is our cute neighbor Gage.

The front runner

On Saturday a couple of weeks ago (I know I'm behind) we were on our way to go grocery shopping when we saw the front runner at the Ogden station. Derek said, "Let's go!" So we grabbed the kids, the double stroller, and the "I hope it's packed" diaper bag and ran to the train. When we got there a guy came to us and said, "Do you have tickets"? We told him no. So he handed us his UTA business card and said "Here you go, if anyone gives you a hard time just show them this." So we jumped on and were on our way to Salt Lake. We went to the Gateway, ate at California Pizza Kitchen, and played in the fountain. Then we ran to catch the Trax back to the front runner. (Which wasn't easy with the double stroller!) Derek had Maddie on his shoulders and he tried to push the button to get on the Trax, when the bell rang and it drove away. Derek was really standing there with his finger pointed. Then Maddie started bawling because it left without us. I was laughing so hard! We didn't have to wait long for another one and we made it in time to get back on the front runner. It was such a fun and spontaneous day!


Here we go!

What a good Dad!

Maddie is dancing with the water to the music.

This is when we got home. As you can tell by Jack's face he had enough fun for the day.

My own little Buzz Lightyear

This is my little Buzz Lightyear eating breakfast this morning. We had our primary Halloween carnival last night and ever since he won't take off his costume. I had to pry it off of him before his nap today. I think I'm in for a long couple of days!

Maddie's ABC'S- That's cute!

Maddie's Room!

Maddie getting ready to paint.

Here it is before we started painting.





It's finally done! I think it turned out pretty cute! Thanks for all your help Ashlee and Spencer. And thanks so much to my sweet and paitient husband. Maddie loves her PINK room!

Welcome Baby Claire!

My sister Deidre, her husband Adam, and their 3 boys welcomed little Claire Lucille to their family! She was born on Sat and weighed 8lbs and 9oz!
She is so cute! She has a ton of black hair that sticks straight up. What a lucky little girl to have such great parents and brothers. We love you Claire Bear!

Our Life...

Derek has been really busy. He is working and going to school at night. He has a really hard semester this time, with some tough classes. And if that wasn't enough he managed to get the sprinkler system done in our front yard! We decided to do seed since it's half the price of sod, so hopefully we'll have a yard next summer. Hallelujah!
My kids and I went and visited with my Mom today. She is doing really well. I am so proud her and all she's been able to do. She gets discouraged because she's not better yet, but she has come a long way since January! She even started driving a little! Which I think is amazing!
I decided that I really needed a change. So what's the opposite of long and blonde hair? Short and red! That's right! I chopped my hair off, and dyed it red! Well I didn't, my good friend Katie did. She did a great job. I really, really like it, and it's exactly how I wanted it. Thanks Katie! Derek really likes it. He said, "Whoa, you don't mess around!" (I'll post pictures later).
Maddie is starting to talk so much. And I love the girl, but she talks A LOT! It's so crazy I can actually carry on a conversation with her. I can't believe how grown up she is! She loves to sing. Her favorites are: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, The Bear Necessities, and the ABC's.
Jack is as crazy as ever. He is starting to talk a lot too. We know he picks up A LOT from Maddie. He can count to three, and he knows a few letters. So far B and O are his favorites. If he sees a letter he says they are either B or O. He needs to learn some new letters, today he was just talking away and he spelled out B-O-O-B! We're so proud.

Jack's artwork

Well it finally happened, Jack colored on the wall. I was trying to take a picture of him by his artwork holding the crayon, when he turned around and started doing it again. Lucky for me, they were washable crayons. I learned my lesson after Maddie's pictures all over the walls with regular crayons. I will have to post her drawings another time.

My crazy Jack Jack!

Jack wanted to get out of the bathtub, so I pulled him out and put his jammies on. Maddie wanted to stay in, so I went to finish cleaning the kitchen. I got distracted and the next thing I know Jack had climbed back in with his clothes on! I didn't even know he could climb in by himself! I'm going to have to keep my eye on him! What a crazy guy.

Maddie's first chore

Maddie has been putting the silverware away for me. It's her first chore! What a big helper! It's been nice to have a little help and she seems to enjoy it. I thought if anything it will give her a little responsibility and help learn about sorting things. I know I say this a lot, but I can't believe how fast she is growing up. I love you Mads!

yearbookyourself.com

Ashlee found this web site where you can put your photos on old yearbook photos. Just go to yearbookyourself.com. Derek looks great! Hubba Hubba! Too funny!!! I couldn't help myself, I had to do Maddie and Jack too.