Sam's favorites & Aunt Kari

Sam of course loved the games with the balls. He kept begging for them and would look up the ramps to see if any balls would magically come out. He couldn't quite master the rolling in skee ball, but he knows how to use his arm to get the ball up to the top and hit the plexi glass. I'm surprised it didn't shatter. We loved having Aunt Kari accompany us to join in the fun.

Horse rides and bumper cars

I think this horse was one of the favorites because they all rode it several times. Dani loved the bumper cars and dad even enjoyed the fun. Poor Sam was pretty upset that he couldn't go on them.

A night at PoJos

Taylor wanted a family day for her birthday which I was thankful for instead of having a whole bunch of kids over. Grandma had sent some "coupons" to take the family to PoJos awhile back so we finally decided to use them. The kids had a blast - who wouldn't? Sorry Chuck E Cheese, but you've been ousted.

Celebrating

Our family came over to celebrate Taylor's birthday Sunday. Taylor wanted a cake decorated as a flower, so I drew many pictures of flowers for her, but none of them were what she had in mind. Instead, she drew me a picture of a flower and according to her the cake looks just like it. I really won't complain because the decorating took a tenth of the time as my usual elaborate cakes and I wasn't really into spending much time this time around. I did have to do some explaining, however, as to what it was.

Party time

We were invited to a costume party and attended last night. Unfortunately we are not as into dress up as much as our children, but we managed to come up with something. Our babysitter said she wouldn't take a picture unless we would post it on our blog. So this is for you Julia.

I've been tagged

My friend Debbie tagged me, but there's nothing too interesting to post. I'll see if I can come up with something.



1. I have what Mark likes to call piggy back toes. My pinky toes cross over. It is a trait I was born with that was passed down from my mother, who got it from her mother. I believe it even went back to her father. I've had several opportunities to get them "fixed" for free, but I feel they make me unique, and why would I want to change something that makes me who I am? I secretly fear that getting them fixed could end up disastrous (like not being able to walk anymore - or at least strong discomfort). Who wants to have surgery if it's not necessary - they don't bother me except in some shoes.

2. I graduated with a degree in Elementary Education because I thought I would love to teach. It's not necessarily what will make me happy and I kindof dread the thought of ever actually having to be a teacher. If I ever had to go back to work I really don't think the pay would be substantial enough for our family and I'm pretty sure I could find something I liked a lot better for more pay. If I choose to go back to work, I'll definitely look at other areas. I would like to go back to school, but I haven't figured out for what yet. I've always been good with and enjoyed computers, math, and numbers so I've considered accounting, but it sounds kindof boring doesn't it?

3. I attended Ricks college and I would have to say it was the best two years of my life so far. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to downplay my marriage or family and the time I've spent with them which I wouldn't give up in order to go to college, but that time in my life was the biggest growing experience for me. It was the first time out on my own and I got to experience everything for myself (I know, kindof selfish). I have the greatest memories from this period in my life. I would have loved to serve a mission, because I've heard similar things about that time in people's lives. Hopefully, someday.

4. Almost everypiece of our furniture was a hand-me-down or was bought second hand. I'm not sure whether this is something to be proud of or embarrassed by. My secret desire is to have a nicely furnished/decorated home, but I don't have the means. First of all, I'm too cheap and don't want to spend the money. Second, I have no fashion/style sense. I can find certain things I like, but I cannot coordinate them whatsoever. We always talk about hiring a decorator one day when we're rich, but I hate not being able to do things myself.

5. We never anticipated staying in this house very long (We've already stayed two years longer than we thought). Mark is itching to buy some land to put a few cattle on and he wants to design the house/shop himself. The thought of this does not excite me in the least. Not that I'm against it, but for the same reason as above (no decorating sense) and because I am one of the world's worst decision makers, I would much rather find a home that I can walk into and say - yes I like it, then start from scratch and criticize every decision I made for the next 20 or so years. Of course, the flip side is that there's no way I would find a house that would fit all my wants.

6. I used to pride myself on being one of the cleanest, most organized people I knew. I'm not sure exactly when that fell apart, but the fact that I can't keep anything organized anymore eats at me everyday. I can spend all day organizing closets and straigtening the house, and by the next day it's back the same way. I'm not sure that I can simply blame it on just having kids (although they sure help) and being busy, but I sure hope it doesn't stay this way until I'm retired, because it's driving me insane. I have noticed that I've become somewhat of a hoarder. I can't bring myself to throw much away. I collect a lot of stuff that I may use one day and we're just running out of space to keep it all, so this has probably heightened the problem.

7. I don't like fruit. I'm not sure when this started, but I don't remember ever liking it. I think most of it is a texture issue, but there are definitely some tastes that I can't stand (mainly bananas). I can manage apples as long as they're not mushy and I do love olives (if you consider that a fruit), but beyond that, eating anything else is torture. I actually crave fruit sometimes (especially during pregnancy when I'm looking to eat something healthy), but that doesn't get me to eat it. I like fruit juices and Mark has tried on many occasions to get me to eat fruit - to no avail. I'm worried that I'll pass this on to my children. I try to buy fruit, having it around the house, and offering it as much as possible, but I don't think this will be enough. I've already noticed them averting more than I'd like them to.

Not too exciting, but maybe you learned something about me.

Here's 7 people I'd like to tag, but I'm not going to link their blog without permission - sorry.

Kristy M.
Holly P.
Alli D.
Shani W.
Sheryl J.
Sherri B.
Patty M.

And I encourage anyone else to who is willing, because I would love to learn 7 things about you.

Who are you voting for?

If you haven't decided who you're voting for yet, maybe this will sway you.


http://www.tsgnet.com/pres.php?id=370743&altf=Nbsl&altl=Kfqtpo

Costumes for who?

In Grandma's package, she sent little Halloween costumes for the children's Build-a-bear's that she had bought for them. They were excited to dress them up and take pictures with them. It's kindof strange to see an Easter Bunny dressed as a witch.

Grandma's package

Grandma's package came yesterday and the girls couldn't wait to put on their matching dresses. Taylor insisted on doing both of their hair which she plastered with hairspray (Dani's was brushed out by this point). Taylor drew in her notebook with her new pens most of the day. Here are pictures she drew of Ariel, Mulan, and Cinderella. Dani wanted to include her drawing of a pencil.

Possible costumes

Both of the girls were Elmo during the previous years, but the costume is still a little big for Sam. I thought I should at least get a picture of him in it so we can have one of all the kids wearing it. Sam will most likely be a cowboy for Halloween (surprised?). Taylor had originally planned on being a dog, but we already had this horse costume and while trying it on, Taylor had the idea that she could be Sam's horse. We'll see if she sticks to that. We're still unsure about Dani.

Professional cowboy

Here's some of the professional pictures from the portrait studio.

School carnival

It's amazing how excited kid's get for something like school carnivals. We gave the children a certain amount of tickets and they got to decide what to do with them. The first was of course the face painting (which came off as soon as we came home). The best photo ops of course came after my camera batteries decided to die (which I had just changed the day before). I missed some good pictures of the kids on a "tractor" ride as well as a pony ride, where Sam was amazingly still and let the girls hold him without even squirming. It wasn't much, but the children enjoyed themselves. I also have to mention that I felt like I should volunteer in some way, but not wanting to take time away from spending it with my children at the carnival, I signed up to clean up after. I realized how silly this was (being 7 months pregnant - moving tables etc) but was going to go anyway and try to be of some help, when Mark stepped in and took my spot. What a great act of service for me. Thanks Mark.

Sam's fun

A little R & R by Sam. I walked into the room and Sam had sprawled out on the little couch "reading" a book (notice it is upside down). I just thought it was cute. It's funny the things they pick up on. We also just got his pictures taken. We got some special ones for Daddy in his cowboy attire, so here is a preview, but the real pictures will be posted as soon as we get them back.

At the park

As part of the field trip we ended up at the park. Sam loves to go down the slides.

Nature Center

Dani's preschool went to the nature center. We didn't spend a lot of time looking at anything due to limited time, but they did see some stuffed animals, birds, and fish.

Super dad

I just thought I'd give Mark credit for being a super dad. I've been out all weekend with some kind of bug that Taylor brought home from school. We've only been in school for 3 weeks now and she's already brought home something twice to the rest of us. It seems to hit me harder than the rest - maybe due to the pregnancy. Anyway, Mark stepped in and didn't do an ounce of homework and kept our house in tact and actually got the kids to happily work which I haven't been able to do (although I think money was involved). I think we're both getting a slight case of senioritis. Mark seems to be around and doing a lot less homework lately, but I fear it will hit us near the end of the semester. That scares me a little due to the fact that will be when the baby comes. For now I'm enjoying it though. It's exciting to hear the job offers pouring in already, but somehow we need to focus on the here and now and get to that point. We're finally getting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I'm sure there will always be another tunnel ahead of us.

Wal-mart

Mark went to Wal-mart tonight, which I vowed I wouldn't let him do anymore. He found those cowboy boots (in Sam's size) - and do you think he got them? Silly question. Sam also ended up with a huge blue bouncy ball - why else? Because I'm sure he pointed to it and daddy said sure. It's nice to have a dad who loves you and cares.