Rebecca's dancing

Rebecca had a dance recital set for the Saturday that we were up in Utah a few weeks ago. She was very adamant that she DID NOT want to go to the recital, she wanted to go to Utah, even though our original plan was to leave Sat. after the recital anyway. I was secretly glad that she chose that because we did end up leaving early because of the storm, and also because the girls had to be there shortly after 8 to practice, then sit and watch all the other classes practice. The performance didn't even start till about 10:30 or 11:00. I just don't think my little girl would have handled sitting there quietly for that long too well. So I recorded her in her class practicing for the big recital. She is the one in the purple leotard. Darling girl, with some dancin' hips.

p.s. If anyone knows a trick to post movies you download to youtube, that won't chop off a chunk from the right hand side, please let me know.

From Snow to Snow White

Jerry took the last week in February off work for vacation, so we squeezed 2 vacations into one. We'd planned to leave Saturday morning but heard there was going to be a storm so we decided to leave Friday after Jerry finished work. It's a good thing, because that storm did hit. We went up to Utah first to visit with family.
The kids were so excited to see snow, and they all built their first snowman. Jerry says it was his first snowman too. Even though he lived in the cold and snow for two years while he was on his mission in Canada - the snow was different, almost too cold so it wouldn't pack and he couldn't make a snow man while he was there.

Can you tell we're from Vegas?? Check out Sydney's shoes, um, no stockings at all.

The finished product

And of course there had to be a snowball fight afterwards.

On Monday, (President's Day) we headed to Boondocks and played some miniature golf.

We left Tuesday morning to head back home. We decided to take the Saturn to save on gas, since we were taking two vacations. Needless to say, it was tight, and we were excited to get home. Hayden went to school Wednesday, while we quickly washed some clothes and repacked. Then we squeezed back into the car (not the van) for another vacation. I was actually surprised at how well the kids did in such close quarters.
Disneyland was wonderful. The kids are at such a fun phase. Sydney LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and was so excited to see her favorite characters, from a distance. She was a little leery when they got too close.

She wasn't sure what to think of Goofy

The only bad thing about Disney is that we've figured Rebecca is allergic:) She coughed and coughed the whole day. I think it must be the flowers that are there, so note to self - next time pack the Claritin!! She coughed all night after we left, and even though she slept well, Jerry and I hardly got any sleep. We had to wake her up half way through the night to give her a steam shower to clear out her system. It did help a little though.
We checked out of the hotel at around noon on Friday and figured we didn't have to be home right away, so we should do some sight seeing on the way home.
The GPS said Beverly Hills was only 35 miles away, so we thought it would be fun to drive around and see all those sights like, Rodeo Drive, etc.
So long story short - Traffic is HORRIBLE in LA. It took us about 3 hours to get to LA. After enduring 6 hours in the car with screaming kids, throw up from the stop and go traffic, hunger, quick potty breaks, and horrible rain etc we ended up in Ontario, CA at 6:30. Yeah, it's only 40 miles from the hotel we stayed at in Anaheim. It was pouring rain, and traffic was still bad. We knew we wouldn't make it home before 11 at the earliest. The kids had been in the car since noon so we decided to stop and get a hotel in Ontario. So glad we did.
The ride home was much better the next morning and we were able to have fun with the kids that night at the hotel with pizza and movies. All in all, it was a very fun week of vacationing, even with throw up and traffic.

your going too love this, youll see!

After teaching 3rd and 4th grade for several years I have become probably a little too picky about good grammar and spelling. Sorry, but it is a pet peeve of mine to see the improper use/spelling of the words they're, their, and there, and to, too, and two, your and you're, and you'll and Ewell (haha) You get the idea.
So I was so happy to see my son's valentine card that he made for the family. Either he has inherited it from me, or more likely he has a great kindergarten teacher that has taught him well. Thank you Mrs. Ficklin!!!

You probably can't see it too well in the picture, but his card says (and I'll even keep his original spelling)

Mom you're nise!
Dad you're osum!
Rebecca you're good
Syidney you're good too
and Baby you mite be osum too,
Luve Hayden.

I love that boy!

p.s. I finally figured out how to download the movie I wanted - so go check back on Syd's b-day post to see her cute self. Be warned, don't know how to edit yet, without permanently cutting out parts, so it is a little long. But enjoy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Between Christmas, our anniversary, and Jerry's birthday all in Dec. and Jan, by Valentine's Day I'm romantically, creatively challenged. We did have a fun V-day here though. I took the kids with me and we decorated Jerry's car at work and left fun little goodies inside. It was a fun, small thing to do.
The kids had a lot of fun making cards for everyone.
For dinner Jerry and I collaborated and made nummy fillet mignon, and experimented with roasted red potatoes. The kids ate earlier than us, so we were able to send them upstairs to play while we had a whole 15 minutes of a romantic Valentine's Day meal. It was a great date - even if it was too short.
Since V-day was on Monday we had a good Valentine's FHE on love, and made some Valentines. Then for dessert we had some chocolate fondue. So fun, and very delicious!!
Happy (late) Valentine's Day everyone.

Jerry got a little carried away with the chocolate.

Sydney turned 2

My Baby, is a baby no more! Sydney turned 2 a couple weeks ago. (I know - I'm slow to post) We had a small little family party to celebrate.

She hasn't really been much of a TV watcher till a few months ago when she discovered Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. (Thank You Mickey!!) Now she is obsessed with "Miska" and I can get the dishes done without her climbing all over the door.




She has also, just recently started liking Elmo, and of course she LOVES baby dolls.








Hayden made this card for Sydney. On the inside it says, "I love you." and "You're always silly." And he drew a picture of her sitting on his head. That is so true to life. She is very silly, and loves to wrestle with Hayden and Rebecca, tackle them and sit on their heads.
This girl is such a joy in our lives. Her personality just cracks me up. She knows she is such a big girl, and she is exhibiting her newfound independence constantly. She has started to potty train herself. One day she got on the potty and figured out what the potty is for. :) She still doesn't have it down completely, but she's getting there. And of course when we are in public and she realizes there is a toilet there you can be sure that every 5 minutes she's going to insist on going potty.

She is talking a ton now, and has some pretty cute phrases. My favorite is, "Actually, no" or "Actually, yes."

She has a weird infatuation/comfort in my armpits. Whenever she's drinking her sippy and getting sleepy, or even just "chillin'" with me she puts her hand in my armpit. It drives me crazy, which of course makes her want to do it more. She'll start laughing and say, 'I like Mommy armpit."

Her favorite songs that she requests every night are "Sunbeam ("Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam.") and Temple ("I love to see the Temple.")

She loves to sing and dance. Too cute!

She is my informant. All day, every day she reminds me, "Mom, daddy work." Sadly, even when he's home on the couch right next to her she'll say, 'Mom, daddy work." When I put her down for bed she has to tell me where everyone in the family is. Also many times during the day she points at different clothes, toys, shoes, whatever to tell me who they belong to.
My favorite thing about her little voice when she's "informing" me is that she gets this deep voice. It is so funny.

She is a total mamma's girl. She'd rather hang out with me than go play with the kids.

Her best friend is Maylee! She talks about her all day, (and her cousin, Tanner too). Sydney and Maylee are so adorable together. They speak their own language and understand each other perfectly.

Sydney loves, loves, loves baby dolls. She is such a little mommy. She will be a great big sister to our baby on the way. If she can get over her jealousy issues. She doesn't like to share mommy with anyone.

She has always had a special bond with Hayden. They are little buddies. But recently she and Rebecca have had fun playing together. She and Rebecca love to play school together. I love watching her play with her siblings.

I love that girl.

p.s. I've been trying to download a fun video of Sydney, but it isn't working, so check back later to see if I got it!

Just the way it is...

Last Sunday I got a few phone calls after church from sisters in the primary to tell me about what Hayden did during primary in church. Yeah, tell me that doesn't make you get a little nervous.

Well, they were doing a spotlight. When a child is spotlighted they also get to hear from the kids in primary of why they are special, or why they love them. The spotlight child last Sunday happened to be his best friend, Katelynn. Kids were raising their hands to say what they loved about Katelynn, and Hayden raised his hand and said, very matter of factly.. "I love Katelynn, because I'm going to marry her."

No big deal, it's just how it is. All the adults in the room started cracking up and he had absolutely no idea that they were laughing at what he'd said. It's not news to me because it's just a fact of life around here that he's decided that he's going to marry her. He is too funny.

I talked to Katelynn's mom, Korina laughing about our two lovebirds and just to make sure his future bride wasn't too embarrassed in front of everyone. Luckily she said she kind of blushed a little bit, but she's still in love and planning to marry my boy. Her only concern is that "Hayden is really going to want a Wii, and they are really expensive." I guess he'd better start saving now.

Umm, he's only 6! What am I going to do with that boy?

Easily Replaced

So, I wondered about whether to write this post or not, for fear that it would be taken the wrong way. I found it hilarious, so I'm posting it.

It drives Jerry crazy that I am so jumpy. He can't understand why I always jump and start panting when he quietly enters a room behind me without me knowing. Then when he starts talking it scares me so much. Actually, if I'm being honest, I think it kind of bugs him because I get so dramatic, and it happens ALL the time, and he's not TRYING to scare me. I CAN'T help it!

Hayden, on the other hand thinks it's hilarious. The other day he scared me, and yes he does do it on purpose. As I was recovering he asked, "Did I scare you to death?" I started teasing with him and said, "Well, no you didn't scare me to DEATH. Hopefully you don't want to scare me to death. You'd be sad if I wasn't here."

This loving boy's response???

"Eh, we still have dad."

"But dad has to go to work. What would you do during the day?"

"We'd just go to work with him."

"He can't take you with him, he has to be working."

"We'll just go over to Korina's during the day till dad gets home every day."

"She has her own family to take care of. She can't add 3 more kids to her family every day. You'd have to go to a babysitter (then trying to add drama) EVERY SINGLE DAY."

(drama didn't work)

"EVERY DAY!! That would be so fun to have a babysitter every day."

Oh boy! Where did I go wrong?? Did I mention that Hayden has his dad's sense of humor? He was obviously kidding..... at least I hope! :)